How Black Women Are Portrayed in Music Videos free essay sample

One group member will present how Black Women are depicted in music videos. The objective is to analyze the words being sung and how they impact black consciousness in this regard. The criteria for this admitted extremely limited case study research was that the artists chosen for examination had to have been recognized as in the top 25 in terms of popularity at the time. This status was determined by consulting the national music charts such as Billboard Top 100 or Soul Train Top 100 merchandising surveys. Topic: How Black Women are Depicted in Music Videos At first glance, music videos may appear to be a harmless entertainment outlet that promotes the sale of popular music. But closer inspection reveals hat it is indeed a cultural phenomenon that has an impact far and beyond music sales. Since the beginning of Black Entertainment Television (BET), Music Television (MAT), and Video Hits One (VHF-I) in 1 980, 1981, and 1985 respectively, music videos have been a dominant factor in American culture, as well as a platform from which current American attitudes, values, and preoccupations can be readily accessed. We will write a custom essay sample on How Black Women Are Portrayed in Music Videos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Together with the songs melody and lyrics, music videos are powerful tools that impact minds with images that shape a persons attitude. Throughout the ninetieth century, music ideas have influenced various perceptions on the images of women. No matter what the women in the music videos are singing about, or what actions they are doing in the videos, there is almost always a sexual overtone. For women to be portrayed in this way has many consequences, for the images that we view in everyday life shape the way we think. Viewing a music video that has a woman being portrayed in an overtly sexual manner once may not have a very serious affect on a person, but seeing many different music videos all portraying women sexually, and seeing these videos over and ever, does indeed shape a persons mind to view women with much less respect than they would otherwise. This therefore, is where the problem lies. In analyzing current video themes, it is helpful to review historical stereotypes and themes of women.An examination of historical portrayals of black women reveals a staggering semblance to that of the present day media presentations. One of the most common and enduring stereotypes of black women in American culture is that of the Siebel -the hyper-sexual, promiscuous, and lewd black female, depicted wearing little or no clothing. According to Ferris State Professor David Pilgrim, Siebel images from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia depicts the common attitude regarding Black women that permeated American culture from slavery down through the Jim Crow period of the sass.He explains, everyday items . .. Depicted naked or scantily dressed Black women, lacking modesty and sexual restraint. (Pilgrim )To say the least, common household and utility items such as drinking glasses, ashtrays, sheet music, and fishing lures, speak to the objectification and deeply entrenched defamation of Black women and their humanity within American culture. Siebel is a name that survived down through the centuries, in various cultures to denote the wicked and immoral hussy. The historical stereotype of Black women as Siebel in American culture continues today in many aspects of modern media presentations, particularly the role of the hip hop music video siren that will be discussed later in further detail. To be sure, Black women have been a willing and available participator in popular hip hop music videos. Black females that make up a major portion of participants as well as audience Of these videos and the like have fully bought into the notion that their value is reduced to he bump and grind of their hips and buttocks.The deconstruction and analysis of the following top hip hop videos demonstrate the power of stereotypes in not only shaping cultural attitudes, but in the perception of self as well. To take a case in point, in the music video, Sexual Seduction, Snoop Dog is portrayed as a pimp, surrounded by black women, dressed in either leather or lace negligees, in scene after scene of various sexual poses, bending down at his feet, finger in mouth, crawling seductively on the floor, posed on his revolving bed, eagerly anticipating his every sexual desire.This died pales in comparison to his 2003, P. I. M. P. collaboration with fellow rapper Fifty Cent. In this video, F-fifty Cent wakes up with three women in bed, who clean and dress him for the day. He is then escorted to the Pimp Headquarters where Snoop Dog and veteran pimps, including Chicago Magic Don Juan, initiates him into the pimp hall of fame. The following pool party features beautiful and scantily clad women sitting around in celebration as a dark skinned model in earth tone bikini and heels gyrate to the camera angled underneath her crotch.Two submissive female models in negligees ND wearing dog cuff and chains are escorted by a slick dressed female pimp, showing that exploitation can also be a female game. Slow motion frames of jiggling female flesh and body parts and seductive facial shots with lips slightly parted, further demonstrates the objectivity of female sexuality. True, men are writing and producing these songs and videos, however all the blame cant be placed on their shoulders. If there werent the 50,000 women going to audition for these rolls in the videos, then the producers and rappers wouldnt be able to produce the videos, because they wouldnt have the image of sex to sell. Shimmed Videos published an article on Violoncellist. Com specifically talking about the way women are portrayed in music videos. Videos makes a statement and poses these questions: I often wonder, do they realize how they are the exploiting themselves? Are they cognizant of the history of the devaluation of Black womanhood? The women in these videos need to realize the image that they are presenting to the world, and the preconceived notions and stereotypes that they are reinforcing. I believe that the main thing on the womens minds is the paycheck that they will receive at the end of shooting their video. Bell Hooks rites in Anti A Woman, that since woman was designated as the originator of sexual sin, Black women were naturally seen as the embodiment of evil and sexual lust. This is reenacted today in the current music videos. Videos also expresses how essential it is that women of all ages start exploring self loving practices. Which will teach women how to love and embrace, love and respect their bodies. There are artist out there that try to empower the spirits of women through their lyrics. For instance, India Aria wrote a song titled l am not my Hair. This song and video successfully gives off an empowering message to women. India is basically reaching out to Women and telling to embrace themselves as god created them. That there isnt a need for the superficial things to be considered a strong beautiful woman. Our generation is in a great need for artist that are willing to send out messages positive empowering messages. In browsing through Youth, I found a rapper that is using mediums like Youth, and other free online posting sites, to spread his powerful truthful message. Frenchman wrote and rapped a song titled Black Queens, as a tribute to all black women, but mainly to strong powerful Black Women in history. He pays respect to several people: Correct Scott King, Sojourner Truth, Lena Horn, Billie Holiday, Nina Simons and Harriet Tuba to name a few. How Black Women Are Portrayed in Music Videos free essay sample Three different time periods were chosen representing approximately three different generations of black music (40 years apart- sass, sass and sass). Members of the group have researched literature on black music In these specific periods of time, choosing the songs by either black male or female artists to examine in terms of the messages transmitted through their work about the relationship between men and women of the Black Diaspora.One group member will present how Black Women are depicted in music videos. The objective is to analyze the words being sung and how hey impact black consciousness in this regard. The criteria for this admitted extremely limited case study research was that the artists chosen for examination had to have been recognized as in the top 25 in terms of popularity at the time. This status was determined by consulting the national music charts such as Billboard Top 100 or Soul Train Top 100 merchandising surveys. We will write a custom essay sample on How Black Women Are Portrayed in Music Videos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Topic: How Black Women are Depicted In Music Videos At first glance, music videos may appear to be a harmless entertainment outlet that promotes the sale of popular music. But closer Inspection reveals that It Is ended a cultural phenomenon that has an impact far and beyond music sales. Since the beginning of Black Entertainment Television (BET), Music Television (MITT and Video Hits One (VHF-I) in 1980, 1981, and 1985 respectively, music videos have been a dominant factor In American culture, as well as a platform from which current American attitudes, values, and preoccupations can be readily accessed.Together with the songs melody and lyrics, music videos are powerful tools that impact minds with images that shape a persons attitude. Throughout the twentieth century, music ideas have Influenced various perceptions on the images of women. No matter what the women In the music videos are singing about, or what actions they are doing in the videos, there Is almost always a sexual ove rtone. For women to be portrayed In this way has many consequences, for the Images that we view In everyday life shape the way we think. Beveling a music video that has a woman being portrayed In an overtly sexual manner once may not have a very serious affect on a person, but seeing many different music videos all portraying women sexually, and seeing these ideas over and over, does indeed shape a persons mind to view women with much less respect than they would otherwise. This therefore, is where the problem lies. In analyzing current video themes, it is helpful to review historical stereotypes and themes of women. An examination of historical portrayals of black women reveals a staggering semblance to that of the present day media presentations.One of the most common and enduring stereotypes of black women In American culture Is that of the Sizeable -the hyper-sexual, promiscuous, and lewd black female, depicted earring little or no clothing. According to Ferris State Professor David Pilgrim, Sizeable Images from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorable depicts the common attitude regarding Black women that permeate d American culture from slavery down naked or scantily dressed Black women, lacking modesty and sexual restraint. (Pilgrim )To say the least, common household and utility items such as drinking glasses, ashtrays, sheet music, and fishing lures, speak to the objectification and deeply entrenched defamation of Black women and their humanity within American culture. Sizeable is a name that survived down through the centuries, in various cultures to denote the wicked and immoral hussy. The historical stereotype of Black women as Sizeable in American culture continues today in many aspects of modern media presentations, particularly the role of the hip hop music video siren that will be discussed later in further detail.To be sure, Black women have been a willing and available participator in popular hip hop music videos. Black females that make up a major portion of participants as well as audience of these videos and he like have fully bought into the notion that their value is reduced to the bump and grind of their hips and buttocks. The deconstruction and analysis of the following top hip hop videos demonstrate the power of stereotypes in not only shaping cultural attitudes, but in the perception of self as well.To take a case in point, in the music video, Sexual Seduction, Snoop Dog is portrayed as a pimp, surrounded by black women, dressed in either leather or lace negligees, in scene after scene of various sexual poses, bending down at his feet, finger in mouth, crawling seductively on the lour, posed on his revolving bed, eagerly anticipating his every sexual desire. This video pales in comparison to his 2003, P. I. M. P. collaboration with fellow rapper Fifty Cent. In this video, Fifty Cent wakes up with three women in bed, who clean and dress him for the day.He is then escorted to the Pimp Headquarters where Snoop Dog and veteran pimps, including Chicago Magic Don Juan, initiates him into the pimp hall of fame. The following pool party features beautiful and scantily clad women sitting around in celebration as a dark skinned model in earth tone bikini and eels gyrate to the camera angled underneath her crotch. Two submissive female models in negligees and wearing dog cuff and chains are escorted by a slick dressed female pimp, showing that exploitation can also be a female game.Slow motion frames of Jiggling female flesh and body parts and seductive facial shots with lips slightly parted, further demonstrates the objectivity of female sexuality. True, men are writing and producing these songs and videos, however all the blame cant be placed on their shoulders. If there werent the 50,000 women going to audition for Hess rolls in the videos, then the producers and rappers wouldnt be able to produce the videos, because they wouldnt have the image of sex to sell. Chimes Voided published an article on Violoncellist. Mom specifically talking about the way women are portrayed in music videos. Voided makes a statement and poses these questions: l often wonder, do they realize how they are the exploiting themselves? Are they cognizant of the history of the devaluation of Black womanhood? The wome n in these videos need to realize the image that they are presenting to the roll, and the preconceived notions and stereotypes that they are reinforcing. I believe that the main thing on the womens minds is the paycheck that they will receive at the end of shooting their video.Bell Hooks writes in Anti I A Woman, that since woman was designated as the originator of sexual sin, Black women were naturally seen as the embodiment of evil and sexual lust. This is reenacted today in ages start exploring self loving practices. Which will teach women how to love and embrace, love and respect their bodies. There are artist out there that try to empower the spirits of women through their lyrics. For instance, India Rare wrote a song titled l am not my Hair. This song and video successfully gives off an empowering message to women. India is basically reaching out to women and telling to embrace themselves as god created them. That there isnt a need for the superficial things to be considered a strong beautiful woman. Our generation is in a great need for artist that are willing to send out messages positive empowering messages. In browsing through Youth, I found a rapper that is using mediums like Youth, and other free online posting sites, to spread his powerful truthful message.

An Existentialist View of The essays

An Existentialist View of The essays An Existentialist View of The Sweet Hereafter Jean-Paul Sartres concepts have always fascinated critical thinkers and creative artists alike. In this paper I am going to evaluate his many topics and schools of thought as explained in the book Ten Theories of Human Nature by Leslie Stevenson. I intend to specifically explore the concepts of good and bad faith using examples from Atom Egoyans film, The Sweet Hereafter. I shall draw existential parallels between Sartres concepts and Egoyans in order to point out certain motivations that are found within the characters of Egoyans film. I will especially focus on the films main characters and how the concept of community versus outsiders affects them Jean-Paul Sartre defines the universe as being absurd and without God. He denies the existence of God merely because he feels that the responsibility of a mans life belongs in the hands of himself and nothing else. Sartre believes that if man believed in the existence of God, he would not try to make his life meaningful knowing that he had God as a safety net. Therefore, once man denies the existence of God and realizes that he has to depend on himself and only himself for his survival, he will be forced to take his existence into his own hands and make it meaningful. In Atom Egoyans film, The Sweet Hereafter, the small town community of Sam Dent is faced with an existential crisis. After a school bus accident kills nearly all of the towns children, a lawyer is called in to represent certain families who wish to receive monetary compensation for the loss of their children. This creates tension between the families that wish to seek legal mediation and those who wish to solve the pro blem within the community, with no outsiders, like always. The lawyer, Mitchell Stevens, is this outsider that plagues many characters in the film. Before the bus accident, the members of the town of Sam Den...

Strategic Management project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Strategic Management project - Essay Example Fahad Al-kaabi, has various objectivities that he is seeking to achieve from the business. The group decided to do an interview with the owner to identify the various objectives he has for the business. The interview was useful in the analysis of the business’s strategic plan and in acquiring the data needed for completion of project. The Maganees cafeteria lacks some official statements such as mission, vision, values, and objectives because it is a new entity in the market. Subsequently, the group developed appropriate statements by matching what the owners said about the business, which guided the project team in building the statements. In addition, food industry in Qatar is characterized by high levels of competition whereby each competitor want to get the largest proportion of the market share; hence, significant for an entity to study the industry by evaluating each competitor in the market. Competitors in the industry include Tea Time cafeteria, Chapati, and Karak, which were selected and compared with Maganees cafeteria in in reference to various business aspects. Maganees cafeteria has strengths such as the innovation of products, providing high salaries for the employees and financial aids to motivate its workers leading to competency within the business. However, the firm is facing a number of challenges including the lack of advertisement, promotional campaign, inexistence of official website, and unable to deliver the products to the customers house. Based on the external environment, the cafeteria has opportunities like the low rent of outside areas and the preferences of customers for the traditional foods. In the other hand, it faces some threats such as the high level of competition in the market. In reference to market competitiveness and market position, Maganees cafeteria adopted focused differentiation method because it offers unique products, which are the traditional foods of Qatar for specific customers living in the northern

Infusing Technology in the Classroom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Infusing Technology in the Classroom - Essay Example At the departmental meeting a group of teachers presented on more effective means of constructing ‘word walls’ – these are walls of relevant terminology that go up in all the classroom. They opened their presentation with an attention grabbing video and then proceeded to demonstrate ways world walls could be constructed daily through videos instead of the traditional way. There are also other development opportunities. There is even now a site called TeacherTube that is formatted much like YouTube, except that the uploaded videos are a related to teacher development. Many teachers report personally using this for professional development purposes on a number of occasions, and believe that its pool of communal knowledge could be implemented by teachers throughout the nation in developing more efficient means of instruction. Other uses of educational technology through the internet have occurred in the growing use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) among students and teachers. The institution has implemented Ning.com in a number of projects. Ning is a social networking tool that allows students and teachers to create their own social networking site and designated whether it will have a closed or open invitation policy. This technology has been used with great success in a number of classrooms. In some of the humanities classrooms throughout the nation, it has been implemented extremely effectively as students are required to develop a site that corresponds to a particular character, for instance, Hamlet.

Making Solar Energy Economical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Making Solar Energy Economical - Essay Example With the realization of this inefficiency, current manufacturers are manufacturing solar cells with an improved efficiency through laying the cells into multi-layers that has the ability to push the efficiency to about 35%. Using nanotechnology, engineering of solar energy generation devices can make structures on sizes that are comparable to molecules and atoms that are measured in nanometers whereby nanocrystals from the elements selenium and lead are utilized (Beard et al. 2506). The technology improves the inadequacy presented by standard cells that produce useless excess heat and less impact while the Lead-Selenium nanocrystals release further electrons rather than heat thus boosting the output, which can also be replicated in Silicon. With the use of nanocrystals technology, the efficiency of the generation of solar energy can use efficiencies of up to 60% and therefore engineering technologies are required to integrate nanocrystal cells in transmitting energy in a circuit (Bea rd et al. 2512). How to Make Solar Energy Economical The use of new materials for solar cells can help in the reduction of fabrication costs that has a positive impact in reducing the costs of solar energy and making its implementation for generation of electricity economical (Lewis 799). The purity of the material is important, as modern solar cell designs require higher purity content in order to make the flow of electric charges be seamless. To achieve this, manufacturers will be required to use thick materials in one dimension to absorb sunlight and thinner materials in another direction to transmit the charges which would require that the solar cells are made of nanorods or tiny...This essay outlines the growing importance of the solar energy among other sources and determines the factors, that will ensure larger electrical generation based on solar energy conversion. Solar power is usually generated by collecting the light spectrums from sunlight and converting them to energy in the form of electricity using solar panels that have cells in them. Solar energy forms an integral part of the supply of energy to human beings and the earth in general. The contribution of the sun to the energy requirements of the earth is substantial despite the fact that it has not been taken up by most people and forms only a fraction of the energy consumption market. In order to make solar energy economically competitive, there is need for those tasked with the manufacture of solar technology devices to improve the efficiency of the cells in commercial solar cells as well as lower their costs of manufacture. The use of new materials for solar cells can help in the reduction of fabrication costs that has a positive impact in reducing the costs of solar energy and making its implementation for generation of electricity economical Despite the fact that technology may help in the production of solar cells that generate cheap and efficient electricity, it would be uneconomical if the solar energy generated is not stored. The need for storage of electricity generated from solar has been necessitated by the fact that not all the days will the earth receive sunlight as this may be blocked by clouds or darkness at night.

Causes Of The Genocide In Bosnia

Causes Of The Genocide In Bosnia In 1980, the president Josip Tito of Yugoslavia died. After the loss of their president, Yugoslavia had political and economic chaos. Slobodan Milosevic became the leader of Serbia in 1987. He was a strong Serb nationalist and encouraged his beliefs in Serbia and in other republics with large Serb communities. The Serbs in Bosnia were not happy feeling like they were now part of Milosevics Greater Serbia. The Yugoslavian Army mostly had Serbs. Radovan Karadzic led Serbs who built their own Republica Srpska in the East, while a Bosnian Serb army was in control of the other  ¾ of the country, driving out most of the Bosnian Croats. Then the European Union tried to help both sides, and failed. The U.N. didnt want to get involved, but helped a little by providing some troop convoys for humanitarian aid. They later decided to help more by providing six safe areas. The Serbs invaded five of the six safe areas and ethnically cleansed them. The Background: Bosnia is one of the several small countries that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia, a multicultural country created after World War One. Yugoslavia was composed of ethnic and religious groups that had been historical rivals, including the Serbs (Orthodox Christians), Croats (Catholics) and ethnic Albanians (Muslims). During World War Two, Yugoslavia was invaded by Nazi Germany and was separated. Following Germanys defeat, Tito reunified Yugoslavia by merging many countries. Tito, a Communist, was a strong leader who maintained ties with the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War, playing one superpower against the other while obtaining financial assistance and other aid from both. After his death in 1980 and without his strong leadership, Yugoslavia quickly plunged into political and economic chaos. Organizers: In the late 1980s, a new leader by the name of Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Yugoslavia. He used religious hatred to control the people by sparking old tensions between the Serbians and Muslims. He took advantage of complaints from the Orthodox Catholic Serbs by taking control of the country Kosovo, where the Serbs were the minority. Milosevic then turned his focus to Croatia, a country with 12 percent Serbs. With the assistance of Serbian guerrillas, Milosevic invaded the small country under the pretenses of protecting the Serbs. Milosevics motives for this genocide were strongly based on retaliation. Many Serbian citizens had been subject to genocide during World War Two and they finally had a chance to get even with their enemies. After 13 years at power, the Yugoslavian nations revolted and a national strike followed. Milosevic was tried on the following counts in 2002: genocide; complicity in genocide; deportation; murder; persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds; inhumane acts/forcible transfer; extermination; imprisonment; torture; willful killing; unlawful confinement; willfully causing great suffering; unlawful deportation or transfer; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; cruel treatment; plunder of public or private property; attacks on civilians; destruction or willful damage done to historic monuments and institutions dedicated to education or religion; unlawful attacks on civilian objects. Mi losevic died on March 11, 2006, at the U.N. war crimes tribunal detention center. Victims: In the Bosnian genocide, hundreds of thousands of people were victimized. About 80% of these people were Bosnian Muslims. After The Yugoslav Republic of Bosnia declared its independence, Bosnian Serbs along with the Yugoslav army attacked the Bosnian and Croatian civilians. Between 1992 and 1995, Serbia decided to ethnically cleanse the Bosnian land by removing all Bosnian Muslims systematically. Many were forced into concentration camps. The Muslims were tortured, starved, and eventually murdered. Over the war, about one million Bosnian Muslims were forced out of their homes. In 1993, the Security Council in the United Nation had Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Goradze, and other Muslim territories in safe areas that were protected by United Nation peacekeepers. At a safe area in Srebrenica, Serbs held a very large massacre. Many of the Muslims escaped the fighting by running away. The men that were able to fight were kept behind and killed. The elderly, women, and children were taken to a Muslim controlled territory on busses. Once the massacre ended, the bodies were moved by bulldozers by the Serbs in attempts to conceal the evidence. World Response: As a result, U.S. President George Bush chose not to get involved militarily, instead recognizing the independence of Slovenia and Croatia. In April 1992, the U.S. and European community recognized Bosnias independence. Even though media showed the secret camps, mass killings, and destruction of historic architecture in Bosnia, the world community remained mostly indifferent. The United Nations finally responded by imposing economic sanctions on Serbia and the U.N. also deployed its troops to protect the distribution of food and medicine to dispossessed Muslims, however, the U.N. strictly told troops not to interfere with military against the Serbs. Through 1993, the U.S. and European Community still hadnt taken any military action until August 30, 1995. On this day, The U.S. led a massive NATO bombing campaign in response to the killings. Aftermath: Top of Form Peace negotiations were held in Dayton, Ohio, and an agreement was signed in December 1995. Bosnia is now divided into a Croat-Muslim Federation and Republika Srpska. A NATO peace-keeping Implementation Force of 60,000 was deployed; it was later replaced by a NATO Stabilization Force. The war in Bosnia led deaths of tens of thousands men and boys that left the country without enough workers to keep their economy stable. Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims who make up the Federation of Croats and Muslins are not getting along because of their political and economic differences. There is a rotating presidency of a Bosnian Croat, Bosnian Serb, and a Bosnian Muslim every three years that many experts consider to be dangerous. The ethnic differences between Muslims, Croats, and Serbs are still keeping the nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina from being one, because they all want more governmental control over the other. The effects of the Bosnian Genocide still float in the background for this troubled country. Because there is still ethnic disturbance in Bosnia, there is fear that genocide could occur once more in the torn country. By now, over 200,000 Muslim civilians have been systematically murdered. More than 20,000 are missing and feared dead, while 2,000,000 have become refugees.

To what extent do pressure groups undermine democracy

It is a varied opinion in society that pressure groups undermine democracy: some people believe strongly, some people don’t. It is hard to begin to analyse whether this is the case or not, as there are a varying amount of factors that need to be considered before a final decision and be made. In the first instance of answering this question, we need to find out the two types of pressure groups; elitist pressure groups and pluralist pressure groups.Elitism is the theory that political power is concentrated in the hands of a few, which therefore sort of emphasises a dictatorship in some instances. Whereas the other type of pressure group ideology is the theory of the distribution of political power that holds that power is widely and evenly dispersed in society, rather than concentrated in the hands of an elite or ruling class, which from an outside point of view, would look like it promotes democracy.Supporters of pressure group would lead this on to say that pressure groups en hance this sense of pluralism in our democracy and make our democratic system much more effective. Although the opposite argument to this is that people claim that many organized groups can undermine the policy making process because they are dominated by people with vested interests concerned only to improve the position of certain groups within society, not the welfare of the whole country.Pressure groups also help to promote democracy because they widen the distribution of political power because pressure groups compete against one another and this ensures that no group can remain on top of all the others, so prevents an elitist situation whereby the ideologies pluralism is completely outcast from the situation. However as one group begins to turn more influential, other groups come into existence to combat them and offer rival viewpoints.Due to this, public policy is created through an ongoing debate between rival groups that ensures that political influence is widely and evenly dispersed. However, as we already know, a healthy democracy needs a high level of political participation in order to function correctly. Pressure groups are thought to have a positive effect on political participation because pressure groups support single issue politics because most pressure group are seen to be fighting for one issue, and people like this sense of working to one targeted issue and it has become popular amongst young people  to join in with the grass-roots activism that pressure groups are promoting, so supporters of pressure groups say that they increase political participation.Evidence for this increase in political participation is that in the 2005 general election the turnout was 61. 4%, however the 2010 general election saw a 2 million increase in the electoral turnout to 65%: from 2005 to now, there has been an ever-increasing number of pressure group memberships, so this may show a positive correlation between pressure group memberships and political par ticipation.Supporters of pressure groups would also say that pressure groups are good for democracy as they educate the electorate. Pressure groups promote political debate and argument and in doing this, they give birth to a more educated voter and this then leads to and improved quality of public policy. Without this education, it would be simply down to the media to educate the electorate on this issue, which is a very flimsy way of doing so. Pressure groups also offer alternative view points and widen information available to the public.For example the NSPCC offers a huge education programme on their website in order to educate their members on the wider issues of child cruelty. In many ways, pressure groups are able to raise the quality of political debate by introducing specialist knowledge and greater expertise. However pressure groups do hinder democracy in the sense that they sometimes hold a disproportionate influence over the government due to the power which particular g roups hold. For example the BMA represents only a small proportion of the country.Yet it has great influence over the government because its members provide an important service. A further example of this factor is the NFU. Again, they represent a small proportion of the country, but retain a huge influence over the government as they provide Britain's food supply. Another undemocratic feature of pressure groups is the way in which their influence can rely on financial clout rather than the proportion of public support. This theory applies to many of the protection groups whom have greater capital than many well supported causal groups.An example is Bernie Ecclestone who used to have connections with Tony Blair to arrange a meeting in which the prime minister agreed to extend the deadline for the removal of tobacco advertising in formula one racing by 5 years, a few months later Ecclestone made a 1 million pound donation to the labour party, so connections like this from pressure gr oup members to high profile people, lead to undemocratic things like this occurring. In addition to this, power held by pressure groups can depend on the size of the membership.Initially, this many seem more of a democratic factor rather than a undemocratic feature; surely if a group has a large membership it represents more of public opinion than one which has fewer members. An example which proves this is that of Anti-vivsection. The anti vivisection group has a reasonably large membership, yet the vast majority of the public support animal testing for medical purposes. In fact, up until 2005 no pressure group which opposed the views of anti vivisection even existed. If we were to go purely by the membership of these group prior to 2005, the data would indicate that 100% of the pubic supported anti vivisection.One of the main reasons as to why the pluralist image of group politics is bad, is that it doesn’t simply just disperse power more widely and empower ordinary citizen s, pressure groups simply tend to empower the powerful even more and it therefore increases political inequality. Pluralists argue back and say that political in equality is broadly democratic, in that most successful groups are the ones with the large membership base however in reality, the most powerful pressure groups are the one which have the most money, so this is another reason as to why pressure groups undermine democracy, because they increase political inequality.In conclusion I believe that there are several ways in which pressure groups do undermine democracy, however I agree with the pluralist view that allowing a wide range of beliefs and ideologies to flourish promotes democracy, mainly by educating the public into making informal judgements on current affairs.

Zoe’s Tale PART III Chapter Twenty-Four

I entered the storage deck of the other Obin ship. â€Å"So this is the human who has an entire race to do her bidding,† said the Consu waiting there for me. It was the only place on the Obin ship where he would fit, I guessed. I smiled in spite of myself. â€Å"You laugh at me,† the Consu said. It spoke perfect English, and in a light, gentle voice, which was weird considering how much it looked like a large and savagely angry insect. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said. â€Å"It's just that it's the second time in a day that someone's said that to me.† â€Å"Well,† the Consu said. It unfolded itself in a way that made me want to run screaming in the other direction, and from somewhere inside its body a creepily humanlike arm and hand beckoned to me. â€Å"Come and let me get a look at you.† I took one step forward and then had a very difficult time with the next step. â€Å"You asked for me, human,† the Consu said. I developed a spine and walked over to the Consu. It touched and prodded me with its smaller arms, while its giant slashing arms, the ones the Consu used to decapitate enemies in combat, hovered on either side of me, at just about head level. I managed not to completely lose it. â€Å"Yes, well,† the Consu said, and I heard something like disappointment in its voice. â€Å"There's nothing particularly special about you, is there? Physically. Is there something special about you mentally?† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"I'm just me.† â€Å"We're all just ourselves,† the Consu said, and folded itself back into its self, much to my relief. â€Å"That is axiomatic. What is it about you that makes hundreds of Obin allow themselves to die to get to me, is what I am asking.† I felt sick again. â€Å"You said that hundreds of Obin died to bring you to me?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† the Consu said. â€Å"Your pets surrounded my ship with their own and tried to board it. The ship killed everyone that tried. They remained persistent and finally I became curious. I allowed one to board the ship and it told me that you had demanded the Obin convince the Consu to help you. I wanted to see for myself what sort of creature could so casually demand this, and could cause the Obin to fulfill it at such a cost to themselves.† It looked at me again curiously. â€Å"You appear upset,† it said. â€Å"I'm thinking about the Obin who died,† I said. â€Å"They did what you asked of them,† the Consu said, with a bored tone. â€Å"You didn't have to kill so many of them,† I said. â€Å"Your pets didn't have to offer up so many to sacrifice,† said the Consu. â€Å"And yet they did. You seem stupid so I will explain this to you. Your pets, to the extent that they can think, did this intelligently. The Consu will not speak to the Obin for their own behalf. We answered their questions long ago and it does not interest us to speak further on the subject.† â€Å"But you spoke to the Obin,† I said. â€Å"I am dying,† the Consu said. â€Å"I am on† – and here the Consu made a noise that sounded like a tractor falling down a hill – â€Å"the death journey that Consu prepared to move forward are permitted if in this life they have proven worthy. Consu on this journey may do as they please, including speaking to proscribed creatures, and may if asked appropriately grant a final boon. Your pets have spied on the Consu for decades – we were aware of this but did nothing about it – and knew the route of the death journey and knew the ceremonial ships those on the journey travel in. Your pets understood this was the only way they could talk to us. And your pets knew what it would require to interest me or any Consu enough to hear them. You should have known this when you made your demand.† â€Å"I didn't,† I said. â€Å"Then you are foolish, human,† the Consu said. â€Å"If I were inclined to feel sorry for the Obin, I would do so because they had wasted their effort and diverted me from my journey on the behalf of someone so ignorant of the cost. But I do not feel sorry for them. They at least knew the cost, and willingly paid it. Now. You will either tell me how you demand I help you, or I will go and your pets' deaths will have truly been for nothing.† â€Å"I need help to save my colony,† I said, and forced myself to focus. â€Å"My friends and family are there and are under threat of attack. It is a small colony and not able to defend itself. The Colonial Union will not help us. The Obin are not allowed to help us. The Consu have technology that could help us. I ask for your help.† â€Å"You said ‘ask,'† the Consu said. â€Å"Your pets said ‘demand.'† â€Å"I demanded help from the Obin because I knew I could,† I said. â€Å"I am asking you.† â€Å"I do not care about your colony or you,† the Consu said. â€Å"You just said that as part of your death journey you can grant a boon,† I said. â€Å"This could be it.† â€Å"It may be that my boon was to the Obin, in speaking to you,† the Consu said. I blinked at this. â€Å"How would it be a boon to them just to speak to me if you won't at least think of helping me?† I said. â€Å"Then it would be you who wasted their sacrifice and effort.† â€Å"That is my choice,† the Consu said. â€Å"The Obin understood that in making the sacrifice the answer might be ‘no.' This is another thing they understand that you don't.† â€Å"I know there is a lot I don't understand here,† I said. â€Å"I can see that. I'm sorry. But I still need help for my family and friends.† â€Å"How many family and friends?† the Consu said. â€Å"My colony has twenty-five hundred people,† I said. â€Å"A similar number of Obin died in order to bring me here,† the Consu said. â€Å"I didn't know that would happen,† I said. â€Å"I wouldn't have asked for that.† â€Å"Is that so?† the Consu said. It shifted its bulk and drew in toward me. I didn't back away. â€Å"I don't believe you, human. You are foolish and you are ignorant, that much is clear. Yet I cannot believe that even you did not understand what you were asking the Obin for when you asked them to come to us for your sake. You demanded help from the Obin because you could. And because you could you did not ask the cost. But you had to have known the cost would be high.† I didn't know what to say to that. The Consu drew back and seemed to regard me, like it might an amusing insect. â€Å"Your capriciousness and callousness with the Obin interests me,† it said. â€Å"And so does the fact that the Obin are willing to give of themselves for your whims despite your lack of care for them.† I said something I knew I was going to regret, but I couldn't help myself. The Consu was doing a really excellent job of pushing my buttons. â€Å"That's a funny thing coming from someone from the race that gave the Obin intelligence but no consciousness,† I said. â€Å"As long as we're talking about capriciousness and callousness.† â€Å"Ah. Yes, that's right,† the Consu said. â€Å"The Obin told me this. You're the child of the human who made the machines that let the Obin play at consciousness.† â€Å"They don't play at it,† I said. â€Å"They have it.† â€Å"And it is a terrible thing that they do,† the Consu said. â€Å"Consciousness is a tragedy. It leads the whole race away from perfection, causes it to fritter its efforts on individual and wasteful effort. Our lives as Consu are spent learning to free our race from the tyranny of self, to move beyond ourselves and in doing so move our race forward. It is why we help you lesser races along, so you may also free yourselves in time.† I bit my cheek at this bit. The Consu would sometimes come down to a human colony, wipe it and everyone in it off the face of their planet, and then wait for the Colonial Defense Forces to come and fight them. It was a game to the Consu, as far as any of us could see. To say that they were doing it for our benefit was perverse, to say the least. But I was here to ask for help, not debate morals. I had already been baited once. I didn't dare let it happen again. The Consu continued, oblivious to my personal struggles. â€Å"What you humans have done to the Obin makes a mockery of their potential,† it said. â€Å"We created the Obin to be the best among us all, the one race without consciousness, the one race free to pursue its destiny as a race from its first steps. The Obin were meant to be what we aspired to. To see them aspire to consciousness is to see a creature that can fly aspire to wallow in mud. Your father did the Obin no favors, human, in hobbling them with consciousness.† I stood there for a minute, amazed that this Consu would tell me, in seemingly casual conversation, things that the Obin had sacrificed half their number for so many years ago but were never allowed to hear. The Consu waited patiently for my response. â€Å"The Obin would disagree,† I said. â€Å"And so would I.† â€Å"Of course you would,† the Consu said. â€Å"Their love of their consciousness is what makes them willing to do the ridiculous for you. That and the fact that they choose to honor you for something that your father did, even though you had no hand in it. This blindness and honor is convenient to you. It is what you use to get them to do what you want. You don't prize their consciousness for what it gives them. You prize it for what it allows you to do to them.† â€Å"That's not true,† I said. â€Å"Indeed,† said the Consu, and I could hear the mocking tone in its voice. It shifted its weight again. â€Å"Very well, human. You have asked me to help you. Perhaps I will. I can provide you with a boon, one the Consu may not refuse. But this boon is not free. It comes with a cost attached.† â€Å"What cost?† I said. â€Å"I want to be entertained first,† the Consu said. â€Å"So I offer you this bargain. You have among you several hundred Obin. Select one hundred of them in any way you choose. I will ask the Consu to send one hundred of our own – convicts, sinners, and others who have strayed from the path and would be willing to attempt redemption. We will set them at each other, to the death. â€Å"In the end, one side will have a victory. If it is yours, then I will help you. If it is mine, I will not. And then, having been sufficiently amused, I will be on my way, to continue my death journey. I will call to the Consu now. Let us say that in eight of your hours we will start this entertainment. I trust that will be enough time for you to prepare your pets.† â€Å"We will have no problem finding a hundred volunteers among the Obin,† Dock said to me. It and I were in the conference room General Gau had lent me. Hickory and Dickory stood outside the door to make sure we weren't disturbed. â€Å"I will have the volunteers ready for you within the hour.† â€Å"Why didn't you tell me how the Obin planned to get the Consu to me?† I asked. â€Å"The Consu here told me that hundreds of Obin died to get him here. Why didn't you warn me that would happen?† â€Å"I did not know how we would choose to try to get the Consu's attention,† Dock said. â€Å"I sent along your requirement, along with my own assent. I was not a participant in making the choice.† â€Å"But you knew this could happen,† I said. â€Å"As a member of the Council I know that we have had the Consu under observation, and that there had been plans to find ways to talk to them again,† Dock said. â€Å"I knew this was one of them.† â€Å"Why didn't you tell me?† I said. â€Å"I told you that attempting to speak to the Consu would come at a high cost,† Dock said. â€Å"This was the cost. At the time, the cost did not seem too high for you.† â€Å"I didn't know that it would mean that hundreds of Obin would die,† I said. â€Å"Or that they would just keep throwing themselves into a Consu firing line until the Consu got curious enough to stop. If I had known I would have asked you to try something else.† â€Å"Given what you required us to do and the time in which we had to do it, there was nothing else,† Dock said. It came to me and opened up its hands, like it was trying to make me see something important. â€Å"Please understand, Zoe. We had been planning to petition a Consu on its death journey for a long time now, and for our own reasons. It was one of the reasons we were able to fulfill your requirement at all. Everything was already in place.† â€Å"But it was my order that killed them,† I said. â€Å"It is not your fault that the Consu required their deaths,† Dock said. â€Å"The Obin who were part of the mission had already known what was required to get the attention of the Consu. They were already committed to this task. Your request changed only the timing and the purpose of their mission. But those who participated did so willingly, and understood the reason for doing it. It was their choice.† â€Å"They still did it because I didn't think about what I was asking,† I said. â€Å"They did it because you required our help,† Dock said. â€Å"They would have thought it an honor to do this for you. Just as those who will fight for you now will consider it an honor.† I looked at my hands, ashamed to look at Dock. â€Å"You said that you had already been planning to petition a Consu on its death journey,† I said. â€Å"What were you going to ask?† â€Å"For understanding,† Dock said. â€Å"To know why the Consu kept consciousness away from us. To know why they chose to punish us with its lack.† I looked up at that. â€Å"I know the answer,† I said, and told Dock what the Consu had told me about consciousness and why they chose not to give it to the Obin. â€Å"I don't know if that was the answer you were looking for,† I said. â€Å"But that's what this Consu told me.† Dock didn't say anything. I looked more closely at it, and I could see it was trembling. â€Å"Hey,† I said, and got up from my chair. â€Å"I didn't mean to upset you.† â€Å"I am not upset,† Dock said. â€Å"I am happy. You have given us answers to questions we have been asking since as long as our race has existed. Answers the Consu would not have given us themselves. Answers many of us would have given our lives for.† â€Å"Many of you did give your lives for them,† I said. â€Å"No,† Dock said. â€Å"They gave their lives to help you. There was no expectation of any compensation for the sacrifice. They did it because you required it. You did not have to give us anything in return. But you have given us this.† â€Å"You're welcome,† I said. I was getting embarrassed. â€Å"It's not a big thing. The Consu just told me. I just thought you should know.† â€Å"Consider, Zoe, that this thing that you just thought we should know was something that others would have seen as something to hold over us,† Dock said. â€Å"That they would have sold to us, or denied to us. You gave it freely.† â€Å"After I told you that I required your help and sent hundreds of Obin out to die,† I said, and sat back down. â€Å"Don't make me out to be a hero, Dock. It's not the way I feel right now.† â€Å"I am sorry, Zoe,† Dock said. â€Å"But if you will not be a hero, at least know that you are not a villain. You are our friend.† â€Å"Thank you, Dock,† I said. â€Å"That helps a little.† Dock nodded. â€Å"Now I must go to find the hundred volunteers you seek,† it said, â€Å"and to tell the Council what you have shared with me. Do not worry, Zoe. We will not disappoint you.† â€Å"This is what I have for you on short notice,† General Gau said. He swept an arm through the space station's immense cargo bay. â€Å"This part of the station is just newly constructed. We haven't actually used it for cargo yet. I think it'll suit your purposes.† I stared at the immensity of the space. â€Å"I think so,† I said. â€Å"Thank you, General.† â€Å"It's the least I could do,† General Gau said. â€Å"Considering how you've helped me just recently.† â€Å"Thank you for not holding the Consu invasion against me,† I said. â€Å"On the contrary, it's been a benefit,† Gau said. â€Å"It stopped the battle around the space station before it could get truly horrific. The traitor crews assumed I had called those ships for assistance. They surrendered before I could correct the impression. You helped me quash the rebellion before it could get started.† â€Å"You're welcome,† I said. â€Å"Thank you,† said Gau. â€Å"Now, of course, I would like them to go away. But it's my understanding that they're here to make sure we don't do anything foolish with our Consu guest while he's here. The ships are fighter drones, not even manned, but this is Consu technology. I don't imagine if they opened fire on us we'd stand much of a chance. So we have an enforced peace here at the moment. Since it works for me, not against me, I shouldn't complain.† â€Å"Have you found out any more about Nerbros Eser and what his plans are?† I asked. I didn't feel like thinking about the Consu anymore. â€Å"Yes,† Gau said. â€Å"Lernin has been quite forthcoming now that he's trying to avoid being executed for treason. It's been a wonderful motivator. He tells me that Eser plans to take Roanoke with a small force of soldiers. The idea there is to show that he can take with a hundred soldiers what I couldn't take with four hundred battle cruisers. But ‘take' is the wrong word for it, I'm afraid. Eser plans to destroy the colony and everyone in it.† â€Å"That was your plan too,† I reminded the general. He bobbed his head in what I assumed was an acknowledgment. â€Å"You know by now, I hope, that I would have much preferred not to have killed the colonists,† he said. â€Å"Eser does not intend to offer that option.† I skipped over that piece of data in my head. â€Å"When will he attack?† I asked. â€Å"Soon, I think,† Gau said. â€Å"Lernin doesn't think Eser has assembled his troops yet, but this failed assassination attempt is going to force him to move sooner than later.† â€Å"Great,† I said. â€Å"There's still time,† Gau said. â€Å"Don't give up hope yet, Zoe.† â€Å"I haven't,† I said. â€Å"But I've still got a lot on my mind.† â€Å"Have you found enough volunteers?† Gau asked. â€Å"We have,† I said, and my face tightened up as I said it. â€Å"What's wrong?† Gau said. â€Å"One of the volunteers,† I said, and stopped. I tried again. â€Å"One of the volunteers is an Obin named Dickory,† I said. â€Å"My friend and my bodyguard. When it volunteered I told it no. Demanded that it take back its offer. But it refused.† â€Å"Having it volunteer could be a powerful thing,† Gau said. â€Å"It probably encouraged others to step forward.† I nodded. â€Å"But Dickory is still my friend,† I said. â€Å"Still my family. Maybe it shouldn't make a difference but it does.† â€Å"Of course it makes a difference,† Gau said. â€Å"The reason you're here is to try to keep the people you love from being hurt.† â€Å"I'm asking people I don't know to sacrifice themselves for people I do,† I said. â€Å"That's why you're asking them to volunteer,† Gau said. â€Å"But it seems to me the reason they're volunteering is for you.† I nodded and looked out at the bay, and imagined the fight that was coming. â€Å"I have a proposition for you,† the Consu said to me. The two of us sat in the operations room of the cargo bay, ten meters above the floor of the bay. On the floor were two groups of beings. In the first group were the one hundred Obin who had volunteered to fight for me. In the other group were the one hundred Consu criminals, who would be forced to fight the Obin for a chance to regain their honor. The Consu looked scary big next to the Obin. The contest would be modified hand-to-hand combat: The Obin were allowed a combat knife, while the Consu, with their slashing arms, would fight bare-handed, if you called being able to wield two razor-sharp limbs attached to your own body â€Å"bare-handed.† I was getting very nervous about the Obin's chances. â€Å"A proposition,† the Consu repeated. I glanced over at the Consu, who in himself nearly filled the operations room. He'd been there when I had come up; I wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten himself through the door. The two of us were there with Hickory and Dock and General Gau, who had taken it upon himself to act as the official arbiter for the contest. Dickory was on the floor. Getting ready to fight. â€Å"Are you interested in hearing it?† the Consu asked. â€Å"We're about to start,† I said. â€Å"It's about the contest,† the Consu said. â€Å"I have a way that you can get what you want without having the contest at all.† I closed my eyes. â€Å"Tell me,† I said. â€Å"I will help you keep your colony safe by providing you a piece of our technology,† the Consu said. â€Å"A machine that produces an energy field that robs projectiles of their momentum. A sapper field. It makes your bullets fall out of the air and sucks the power from missiles before they strike their targets. If you are clever your colony can use it to defeat those who attack it. This is what I am allowed and prepared to give to you.† â€Å"And what do you want in return?† I asked. â€Å"A simple demonstration,† the Consu said. It unfolded and pointed toward the Obin on the floor. â€Å"A demand from you was enough to cause hundreds of Obin to willingly sacrifice themselves for the mere purpose of getting my attention. This power you have interests me. I want to see it. Tell this one hundred to sacrifice themselves here and now, and I will give you what you need in order to save your colony.† â€Å"I can't do that,† I said. â€Å"It is not an issue of whether it is possible,† the Consu said. It leaned its bulk over and then addressed Dock. â€Å"Would the Obin here kill themselves if this human asked it?† â€Å"Without doubt,† Dock said. â€Å"They would not hesitate,† the Consu said. â€Å"No,† Dock said. The Consu turned back to me. â€Å"Then all you need to do is give the order.† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"Don't be stupid, human,† the Consu said. â€Å"You have been assured by me that I will assist you. You have been assured by this Obin that your pets here will gladly sacrifice themselves for your benefit, without delay or complaint. You will be assured of helping your family and friends survive imminent attack. And you have done it before. You thought nothing of sending hundred to their death to speak to me. It should not be a difficult decision now.† He waved again toward the floor. â€Å"Tell me honestly, human. Look at your pets, and then look at the Consu. Do you think your pets will be the ones left standing when this is over? Do you want to risk the safety of your friends and family on them? â€Å"I offer you an alternative. It carries no risk. It costs you nothing but your assent. Your pets will not object. They will be happy to do this for you. Simply say that you require this of them. That you demand it of them. And if it makes you feel any better, you can tell them to turn off their consciousness before they kill themselves. Then they will not fear their sacrifice. They will simply do it. They will do it for you. They will do it for what you are to them.† I considered what the Consu had said. I turned to Dock. â€Å"You have no doubt that those Obin would do this for me,† I said. â€Å"There is no doubt,† Dock said. â€Å"They are there to fight at your request, Zoe. They know they may die. They have already accepted that possibility, just as the Obin who sacrificed themselves to bring you this Consu knew what was required of them.† â€Å"And what about you,† I said to Hickory. â€Å"Your friend and partner is down there, Hickory. For ten years, at least, you've spent your life with Dickory. What do you say?† Hickory's trembling was so slight that I almost doubted that I saw it. â€Å"Dickory will do as you ask, Zoe,† Hickory said. â€Å"You should know this already.† It turned away after that. I looked at General Gau. â€Å"I have no advice to offer you,† he said. â€Å"But I am very interested to find out what you choose.† I closed my eyes and I thought of my family. Of John and Jane. Of Savitri, who traveled to a new world with us. I thought of Gretchen and Magdy and the future they could have together. I thought of Enzo and his family and everything that was taken from them. I thought of Roanoke, my home. And I knew what I had to do. I opened my eyes. â€Å"The choice is obvious,† the Consu said. I looked at the Consu and nodded. â€Å"I think you're right,† I said. â€Å"And I think I need to go down and tell them.† I walked to the door of the operations room. As I did, General Gau lightly took my arm. â€Å"Think about what you're doing, Zoe,† Gau said. â€Å"Your choice here matters.† I looked up at the general. â€Å"I know it does,† I said. â€Å"And it's my choice to make.† The general let go of my arm. â€Å"Do what you have to do,† he said. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"I think I will.† I left the room and for the next minute tried very hard not to fall down the stairs as I walked down them. I'm happy to say I succeeded. But it was a close thing. I walked toward the group of Obin, who were milling about, some doing exercises, some talking quietly to another or to a small group. As I got closer I tried to locate Dickory and could not. There were too many Obin, and Dickory wasn't somewhere I could easily see him. Eventually the Obin noticed I was walking to them. They quieted and equally quietly formed ranks. I stood there in front of them for a few seconds, trying to see each of the Obin for itself, and not just one of a hundred. I opened my mouth to speak. Nothing would come. My mouth was so dry I could not make words. I closed my mouth, swallowed a couple of times, and tried again. â€Å"You know who I am,† I said. â€Å"I'm pretty sure about that. I only know one of you personally, and I'm sorry about that. I wish I could have known each of you, before you were asked†¦before I asked†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped. I was saying stupid things. It wasn't what I wanted to do. Not now. â€Å"Look,† I said. â€Å"I'm going to tell you some things, and I can't promise it's going to make any kind of sense. But I need to say them to you before†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I gestured at the cargo bay. â€Å"Before all of this.† The Obin all looked at me, whether politely or patiently, I can't say. â€Å"You know why you're here,† I said. â€Å"You're here to fight those Consu over there because I want to try to protect my family and friends on Roanoke. You were told that if you could beat the Consu, I would get the help I needed. But something's changed.† I pointed up to the operations room. â€Å"There's a Consu up there,† I said, â€Å"who tells me that he'll give me what I need to save Roanoke without having to have you fight, and risk losing. All I have to do is tell you to take those knives you were going to use on those Consu, and use them on yourselves. All I have to do is to tell you to kill yourselves. Everyone tells me you'll do it, because of what I am to you. â€Å"And they're right. I'm pretty sure about that, too. I'm certain that if I asked all of you to kill yourselves, you would do it. Because I am your Zoe. Because you've seen me all your lives in the recordings that Hickory and Dickory have made. Because I'm standing here in front of you now, asking you to do it. â€Å"I know you would do this for me. You would.† I stopped for a minute, tried to focus. And then I faced something I'd spent a long time avoiding. My own past. I raised my head again and looked directly at the Obin. â€Å"When I was five, I lived on a space station. Covell. I lived there with my father. One day while he was away from the station for a few days on business, the station was attacked. First by the Rraey. They attacked, and they came in and they rounded up all the people who lived on the station, and they began to kill us. I remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I closed my eyes again. â€Å"I remember husbands being taken from their wives and then shot in the halls where everyone could hear,† I said. â€Å"I remember parents begging the Rraey to spare their children. I remember being pushed behind a stranger when the woman who was watching me, the mother of a friend, was taken away. She tried to push away her daughter, too, but she held on to her mother and they were both taken away. If the Rraey had continued much longer, eventually they would have found me and killed me too.† I opened my eyes. â€Å"But then the Obin attacked the station, to take it from the Rraey, who weren't prepared for another fight. And when they cleared the station of the Rraey, they took those of us humans who were left and put us in a common area. I remember being there, with no one looking after me. My father was gone. My friend and her mother were dead. I was alone. â€Å"The space station was a science station, so the Obin looked through the research and they found my father's work. His work on consciousness. And they wanted him to work for them. So they came back to us in the common area and they called out my father's name. But he wasn't on the station. They called his name again and I answered. I said I was his daughter and that he would come for me soon. â€Å"I remember the Obin talking among themselves then, and then telling me to come away. And I remember saying no, because I didn't want to leave the other humans. And I remember what one of the Obin said to me then. It said, ‘You must come with us. You have been chosen, and you will be safe.' â€Å"And I remembered everything that had just happened. And I think even at five years old some part of me knew what would happen to the rest of the people at Covell. And here was the Obin, telling me I would be safe. Because I had been chosen. And I remember taking the Obin's hand, being led away and looking back at the humans who were left. And then they were gone. I never saw them again. â€Å"But I lived,† I said. â€Å"Not because of who I was; I was just this little girl. But because of what I was: the daughter of the man who could give you consciousness. It was the first time that what I was mattered more than who I was. But it wasn't the last.† I looked up at the operations room, trying to see if those in there were listening to me, and wondering what they were thinking. Wondering what Hickory was thinking. And General Gau. I turned back to the Obin. â€Å"What I am still matters more than who I am,† I said. â€Å"It matters more right now. Right this minute. Because of what I am, hundreds of you died to bring just one Consu to see me. Because of what I am, if I ask you to take those knives and plunge them into your bodies, you will do it. Because of what I am. Because of what I have been to you.† I shook my head and looked down at the ground. â€Å"All my life I have accepted that what I am matters,† I said. â€Å"That I had to work with it. Make accommodations for it. Sometimes I thought I could manipulate it, although I just found out the price for that belief. Sometimes I would even fight against it. But never once did I think that I could leave what I was behind. Because I remembered what it got me. How it saved me. I never even thought of giving it up.† I pointed up at the operations room. â€Å"There is a Consu in that operations room who wants me to kill you all, just to show him that I can. He wants me to do it to make a point to me, too – that when it comes down to it, I'm willing to sacrifice all of you to get what I want. Because when it comes down to it, you don't matter. You're just something I can use, a means to an end, a tool for another purpose. He wants me to kill you to rub my face in the fact I don't care. â€Å"And he's right.† I looked into the faces of the Obin. â€Å"I don't know any of you, except for one,† I said. â€Å"I won't remember what any of you look like in a few days, no matter what happens here. On the other hand all the people I love and care for I can see as soon as I close my eyes. Their faces are so clear to me. Like they are here with me. Because they are. I carry them inside me. Like you carry those you care for inside of you. â€Å"The Consu is right that it would be easy to ask you to sacrifice yourselves for me. To tell you to do it so I can save my family and my friends. He's right because I know you would do it without a second thought. You would be happy to do it because it would make me happy – because what I am matters to you. He knows that knowing this will make me feel less guilty for asking you. â€Å"And he's right again. He's right about me. I admit it. And I'm sorry.† I stopped again, and took another moment to pull myself together. I wiped my face. This was going to be the hard part. â€Å"The Consu is right,† I said. â€Å"But he doesn't know the one thing about me that matters right now. And that it is that I am tired of being what I am. I am tired of having been chosen. I don't want to be the one you sacrifice yourself for, because of whose daughter I am or because you accept that I can make demands of you. I don't want that from you. And I don't want you to die for me. â€Å"So forget it. Forget all of this. I release you of your obligation to me. Of any obligation to me. Thank you for volunteering, but you shouldn't have to fight for me. I shouldn't have asked. â€Å"You have already done so much for me. You have brought me here so I could deliver a message to General Gau. He's told me about the plans against Roanoke. It should be enough for us to defend ourselves. I can't ask you for anything else. I certainly can't ask you to fight these Consu and possibly die. I want you to live instead. â€Å"I am done being what I am. From now on I'm just who I am. And who I am is Zoe. Just Zoe. Someone who has no claim on you. Who doesn't require or demand anything from you. And who wants you to be able to make your own choices, not have them made for you. Especially not by me. â€Å"And that's all I have to say.† The Obin stood in front of me, silently, and after a minute I realized that I didn't really know why I was expecting a response. And then for a crazy moment I wondered if they actually even understood me. Hickory and Dickory spoke my language, and I just assumed all the other Obin would, too. That was a pretty arrogant assumption, I realized. So I sort of nodded and turned to go, back up to the operations room, where God only knew what I was going to say to that Consu. And then I heard singing. A single voice, from somewhere in the middle of the pack of Obin. It took up the first words of â€Å"Delhi Morning.† And though that was the part I always sang, I had no trouble recognizing the voice. It was Dickory. I turned and faced the Obin just as a second voice took up the counterpoint, and then another voice came in, and another and another, and soon all one hundred of the Obin were singing, creating a version of the song that was so unlike any I had heard before, so magnificent, that all I could do was stand there and soak in it, let it wash around me, and let it move through me. It was one of those moments that you just can't describe. So I won't try anymore. But I can say I was impressed. These Obin would have known of â€Å"Delhi Morning† for only a few weeks. For them to not only know the song but to perform it flawlessly was nothing short of amazing. I had to get these guys for the next hootenanny. When it was done, all I could do was put my hands to my face and say â€Å"Thank you† to the Obin. And then Dickory came through the ranks to stand in front of me. â€Å"Hey, you,† I said to Dickory. â€Å"Zoe Boutin-Perry,† said Dickory. â€Å"I am Dickory.† I almost said, I know that, but Dickory kept speaking. â€Å"I have known you since you were a child,† it said. â€Å"I have watched you grow and learn and experience life, and through you have learned to experience life myself. I have always known what you are. I tell you truthfully that it is who you are that has mattered to me, and always has. â€Å"It is to you, Zoe Boutin-Perry, that I offer to fight for your family and for Roanoke. I do this not because you have demanded it or required it but because I care for you, and always have. You would honor me if you would accept my assistance.† Dickory bowed, which was a very interesting thing on an Obin. Here was irony: This was the most I had heard Dickory say, ever, and I couldn't think of anything to say in return. So I just said, â€Å"Thank you, Dickory. I accept.† Dickory bowed again and returned to ranks. Another Obin stepped forward and stood before me. â€Å"I am Strike,† it said. â€Å"We have not met before. I have watched you grow through all that Hickory and Dickory have shared with all Obin. I too have always known what you are. What I have learned from you, however, comes from who you are. It is an honor to have met you. It will be an honor to fight for you, your family, and for Roanoke. I offer my assistance to you, Zoe Boutin-Perry, freely and without reservation.† Strike bowed. â€Å"Thank you, Strike,† I said. â€Å"I accept.† And then I impulsively hugged Strike. It actually squeaked in surprise. We unhugged, Strike bowed again, and then returned to ranks just as another Obin came forward. And another. And another. It took a long time to hear each greeting and offer of assistance, and to accept each offer. I can honestly say there was never time better spent. When it was done I stood in front of one hundred Obin again – this time, each a friend. And I bowed my head to them and wished them well, and told them I would see them after. Then I headed back toward the operations room. General Gau was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me. â€Å"I have a position for you on my staff, Zoe, if you ever want it,† he said. I laughed. â€Å"I just want to go home, General. Thank you all the same.† â€Å"Some other time, then,† Gau said. â€Å"Now I'm going to preside over this contest. I will be impartial when I'm observing it. But you should know that inside I'm rooting for the Obin. And that's something I never thought I would say.† â€Å"I do appreciate it,† I said, and headed up the stairs. Hickory met me at the door. â€Å"You did what I hoped you would do,† Hickory said. â€Å"I regret not volunteering myself.† â€Å"I don't,† I said, and hugged Hickory. Dock bowed to me; I nodded back. And then I approached the Consu. â€Å"You have my answer,† I said. â€Å"So I have,† the Consu said. â€Å"And it surprises me, human.† â€Å"Good,† I said. â€Å"And the name is Zoe. Zoe Boutin-Perry.† â€Å"Indeed,† the Consu said. He sounded amused at my cheekiness. â€Å"I will remember the name. And have others remember it as well. Although if your Obin do not win this contest, I do not imagine we will have to remember your name for long.† â€Å"You'll remember it for a long time,† I said. â€Å"Because my friends down there are about to clean your clock.† And they did. It wasn't even close.

Free Essays on Child Labor

Child labor is a serious moral issue. There have been many controversial debates over whether it should be legal or not. Two different viewpoints on the subject exist. Many argue that child labor is morally wrong and that the children should not work, no matter how poverty stricken their family might be. Advocates and major corporations that support child labor argue that it is good because it gives poverty-stricken families a source of income. Child labor first appeared with the development of domestic systems . It was widely practiced in England, America, and other countries during the 16th-18th centuries. Children were paid very little for the dangerous conditions and the long hours they were required to work. Many of these children worked in factories, mills, mines, and other places. Some families sold their children into labor for money to pay off debts. These children worked off the debt and were a source of income for the family. Today, child labor is illegal in most developed countries. There are strict laws that monitor the jobs, hours, wages, etc. that children have if they do work. An example of these laws, is one that requires all children to go to school until they are 16 years of age before they can drop out and be employed full time. Most third world and under-developed countries are where the majority of child laborers can be found. Child labor is morally wrong. The children shouldn’t be forced to work. Most children who work are little more than slaves to their employers. They put up with abuse, starvation, and sometimes never being paid for their work. One eight year-old boy, Munnilal, from Varanasi, India, was freed when a raid was lead on the factory in which he worked and was kept in a slave-like environment. His â€Å"Master† gave him no money for the long hours he worked. He also stated that he was â€Å"hit again and again.†(Kielberger, 6.) Children who are forced to wor k also miss out on life and their chance... Free Essays on Child Labor Free Essays on Child Labor Child labor is a serious moral issue. There have been many controversial debates over whether it should be legal or not. Two different viewpoints on the subject exist. Many argue that child labor is morally wrong and that the children should not work, no matter how poverty stricken their family might be. Advocates and major corporations that support child labor argue that it is good because it gives poverty-stricken families a source of income. Child labor first appeared with the development of domestic systems . It was widely practiced in England, America, and other countries during the 16th-18th centuries. Children were paid very little for the dangerous conditions and the long hours they were required to work. Many of these children worked in factories, mills, mines, and other places. Some families sold their children into labor for money to pay off debts. These children worked off the debt and were a source of income for the family. Today, child labor is illegal in most developed countries. There are strict laws that monitor the jobs, hours, wages, etc. that children have if they do work. An example of these laws, is one that requires all children to go to school until they are 16 years of age before they can drop out and be employed full time. Most third world and under-developed countries are where the majority of child laborers can be found. Child labor is morally wrong. The children shouldn’t be forced to work. Most children who work are little more than slaves to their employers. They put up with abuse, starvation, and sometimes never being paid for their work. One eight year-old boy, Munnilal, from Varanasi, India, was freed when a raid was lead on the factory in which he worked and was kept in a slave-like environment. His â€Å"Master† gave him no money for the long hours he worked. He also stated that he was â€Å"hit again and again.†(Kielberger, 6.) Children who are forced to wor k also miss out on life and their chance...

50 Words for Writing

50 Words for Writing 50 Words for â€Å"Writing† 50 Words for â€Å"Writing† By Mark Nichol As an unabashed proponent of reasonable elegant variation the moderate use of synonyms to avoid tiring repetition of a specific word throughout a passage I offer this assortment of terms for a piece of writing: 1. Article: This word, with the diminutive -le as a clue, refers to a small part of a publication (thus, the extension of the word to mean â€Å"thing† or â€Å"item†) more specifically, a piece of nonfiction that appears in a periodical or on a Web site. (It also refers to a section of an official piece of writing.) 2. Brief: Breve, the Latin predecessor of this synonym for short, acquired the connotation of â€Å"summary† or â€Å"letter† when it was used in the Roman Catholic Church to refer to a missive less extensive than a bull. (That word comes from the Latin word bulla, â€Å"knob,† referring to the seal that ensured discretion.) Brief now refers to a legal summary hence briefcase. 3. Causerie: This noun form of the French verb causer, â€Å"to chat,† directly borrowed into English, means â€Å"a brief, informal essay.† 4. Chronicle: This term, derived from the Greek term ta khronika (â€Å"the annals†), refers to a an account of a succession of historical events. 5. Column: This word originally referred to a vertical block of type on a page, echoing the original meaning of â€Å"pillar.† Early journalistic publications, which made no pretensions to objectivity, laid out various pieces of writing in distinct columns, hence the modern connotation of an article advocating a point of view. 6. Commentary: The Latin term from which this word derives, commentarius, refers to personal writing, but the modern sense is of an opinion piece. 7. Composition: This descendant of the Latin word compositionem (â€Å"putting together†) refers to the assemblage of sentences that constitutes a written effort, either in general or in the specific reference to a scholastic exercise. 8. Critique: A critique, as the name implies, is a work of criticism; the connotation is of a formal, erudite dissection of another written work (or any creative endeavor). 9. Diatribe: Interestingly, this word’s Latin precursor, diatriba, has the neutral connotation of â€Å"learned discussion.† A couple hundred years ago, it acquired the sense, now exclusive, of harsh criticism or complaint. 10. Discourse: The meaning of discursus, the Latin term from which discourse stems is â€Å"the act of running around,† suggesting the process of progressing through a written argument. 11. Discussion: Despite the resemblance of this word to discourse, there is no relation; the Latin origin is discussus, meaning â€Å"to break apart,† which led to the noun discussionem and its sense of â€Å"examination.† 12. Dissertation: The term from which this word’s Latin ancestor, dissertationem, is ultimately derived means â€Å"to take words apart†; the primary sense now is of scholarly writing that examines or debates an assertion. 13-14. Document: The Latin term documentum (â€Å"example, lesson, proof†) now has a generic sense of any piece of writing. Documentation, however, implies information provided to support or authenticate other writing, and is used especially in computing and in academic research. 15. Editorial: This word derives from the direct borrowing of the Latin term editor (â€Å"one who presents†). As the entry for column explains, all editorial content was originally subjective, but in modern journalism, the term refers to a statement of opinion by a periodical’s management or by a guest commentator. The latter variety is often relegated to an op-ed page. (The latter term is an abbreviation for â€Å"opposite the editorial page† that being the sheet on which the publication’s own arguments are printed.) 16. Essay: The meaning of this word is â€Å"attempt† (it’s related to assay, which refers to a test of a metal’s purity), with an original connotation, long since muted by the quotidian ubiquity of the scholastic assignment by that name, of a written opinion presented for the audience’s approval. 17. Examination: The sense of â€Å"test† for this word (or for exam, the truncated form that has largely supplanted it) follows the original meaning of â€Å"test or judging in a legal context† (hence the judicial term cross-examination). 18. Exposition: This word derived from the Latin term expositionem (â€Å"something shown or set forth†) can mean â€Å"narration† or, more often, â€Å"explanation; the latter sense is employed in literary criticism to refer to the author’s technique in revealing background details. 19. Feature: This term, taken from Latin by way of French, means â€Å"a formation.† In writing, it refers to an article specifically, usually a profile of a person, place, or thing, perhaps with a more conversational style, as opposed to a more straightforward news or informational piece or an opinion. 20. Guide: This word from the same term in French, originally meaning â€Å"one who shows the way,† refers to publications that inform readers about how to do something or where to visit. It may be extended to guidebook. 21. Memorandum: Taking directly from the Latin word for â€Å"(thing) to be remembered,† this word, and its abbreviation, memo, refer to an official note. 22. Minutes: This word, which stems from the Latin phrase minuta scriptura (literally, â€Å"small writing†), refers to a record of a meeting or a similar event. 23. Monograph: This word, which literally means â€Å"writing about one (thing),† refers to academic writing on a topic. 24. Narrative: The Latin term narrationem means â€Å"recounting,† and this word is a synonym for â€Å"story,† though it also specifically refers to storytelling style. 25. Polemic: This Anglicization of the French word polemique (â€Å"controversial†) means â€Å"a harsh response to or refutation of an opinion.† 26-28. Paper: This meaning an example of synecdoche, in which the name for a material stands in for something made of that material (as in wheels as slang for car) describes a scholarly written presentation. A variation is white paper, a piece of writing prepared for or by a government entity or a business to inform or persuade. By contrast, a green paper is a preliminary version of a white paper. 29. Proces-verbal: This French term meaning â€Å"verbal trial† is an unnecessary synonym for report unless, perhaps, one wishes to mock the formality or pretension of a report. 30-33. Prolegomenon: This mouthful of a synonym for preface, taken directly from Greek, means â€Å"to say beforehand,† though it may be used in a more general sense than preface, which usually refers to a specific component of a book. (A book preface, by the way, is distinguished from the proximately placed foreword by the fact that it is the author’s statement of purpose, intended audience, scope, and content. A foreword, by contrast, is a recommendation from another person. There may also be an introduction, which orients the reader to the topic.) 34. Propaganda: This word, stemming from the Modern Latin word for â€Å"propagating,† was used by the Roman Catholic Church in the sense of disseminating the Gospel. Since then, it has acquired a derogatory connotation, referring to true, slanted, or fabricated information designed to promote one’s, or criticize another’s, position or ideology. 35. Proposition: Like many words on this list, proposition comes down almost intact from Latin in this case, from propositionem, meaning â€Å"a statement.† In rhetoric, it is specifically the initial statement of an argument, or a point offered for consideration. It is also employed to refer to a type of referendum. 36. Rant: Alone among all the words on this list, rant is from a Germanic language, rather than Latin or Greek: Randten means to talk foolishly, and a rant is an emotional and perhaps irrational criticism in speech or in writing. 37. Report: This translation of the Latin word reportare, meaning â€Å"to carry back,† in noun form refers to a written or spoken account. More specifically, it acquired the sense of an investigative summary and, by extension, a scholastic exercise. 38. Review: This word, from the Latin verb revidere (â€Å"to see again†) by way of French (as the noun reveue) is used as a less formal synonym for critique (a written evaluation of a creative product). 39. Screed: This word (from the Old English term screde, â€Å"fragment,† and related to shred) needs context assistance, because it can mean â€Å"informal writing,† â€Å"a long speech,† or â€Å"a rant.† The last sense is the most frequent, but make sure, whatever usage you intend, that your readers will understand your intent. 40-41. Script: This derivation of the Latin word scriptum, â€Å"a piece of writing,† is versatile. It can refer to a piece of writing in general, to a set of instructions, or to a copy of a play, a screenplay, or a similar work, as well as to a brief computer program. It also has an informal connotation of an orchestrated version of reality that all associated parties are expected to adhere to. Manuscript literally means â€Å"a piece of writing produced by hand,† though now it has the more general meaning of a draft of writing at any stage of preparation, as opposed to a published version. 42. Study: Based on the Latin term studere, â€Å"to be diligent,† the verb gave rise to the noun meaning â€Å"evaluation† or â€Å"experiment† and then to a sense of a written account of the procedure. A case study is an account of a particular person, event, or situation. 43. Testament: Testamentum, in Latin, means â€Å"will,† as in the legal document, as does the English derivation, but it can also mean â€Å"a supporting statement.† 44. Testimonial: This word, derived from the Latin term testimonium, which originally referred to biblical scripture, came to mean â€Å"an attestation of the virtues of a person or thing.† 45. Theme: This word comes from Greek, meaning â€Å"something set down,† and is akin to thesis (see below), though it often refers merely to a student composition. 46. Thesis: Thesis stems from the same Greek root as theme (tithenai, â€Å"to set†); the former word, like the latter, means â€Å"something set down.† The formal meaning is of a piece of writing produced as a requirement for a college degree, but it also has a general sense of â€Å"a statement to be proved† and as such can refer to an introductory argument in a larger work. 47. Tract: A truncation of the Latin term tractatus, â€Å"a treatment,† tract has an often pejorative sense of a piece of propaganda (see above) or something reminiscent of such, often in pamphlet form. 48. Treatise: This word stems from a French derivation of the Latin term tractatus (see above) and refers to an argument that discusses and analyzes a topic. 49. Treatment: Treatment, which has the same root as treatise, is usually employed to refer to an outline or early adaptation of a screenplay. 50. Write-up: This informal term for a piece of writing can carry a connotation of a work with an unduly positive bias, so take care that the context communicates this intent or the lack thereof. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better WriterOne "L" or Two?

You, Social Psychology, and the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

You, Social Psychology, and the World - Essay Example They first had their hypothesis from a distinct field in which they could look at the underlying substance and create correlation between that one and the real world. One gets to understand that during this period, the rate at which they could still have experimental research was very minimal as not many people liked the idea of being the lab rats. They therefore had to correlate analysed data and look for the missing links to create reasonable hypothesis. They would develop qualitative survey items and pilot them on study participants to test the reliability and validity of the items. They also used questionnaires or mental tests as they referred to them. Researchers in this era wanted to understand more on the basis of coming up with clear objectives on understanding how to deal with the cognitive mind. They also sought to study the human performance and basic cognitive skills and its relationship to the theoretical analyses with the realistic world. The researchers in this period mainly aimed at promoting communication of applied research to memory within and between the applied and basic communities. Most of the participants at first were males but this disparity started closing up when the participation of women increased. Clearly, from a number of issues the current social situation in relation to the past researches helps determine how strong or weak an issue is and helps the researchers to resolve fully different issues through future research to yield maximum amount of new information. The general participation of the researchers was done with the exclusive need to organize a research literature by highlighting temporally unf olding developments in the field of interest. In the â€Å"Psycho Bull† published in 1970 by Charles Murphy, he looks at the evaluative and integral research reviews and interpretations of issues in the scientific research of psychology. It primary reports on the empirical studies as there is a need to

Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging Essay

Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging - Essay Example in 2001. The scientists state that while the reduction of concentration of somatotropin during aging is documented, there were several problems with previous researches as they did not exclude the various gonadotropic hormones that were also reduced with old age. The study was performed on two groups, a young group, consisting of 8 men and 8 women, and an aging group consisting of 11 women and 10 men. All the subjects had similar body mass indexes and blood samples were taken from each of the test subjects every 10 minutes for 24 hours. The results from the research showed a marked decrease of 32-56% of growth hormone concentration, each according to its sex. 81% of the young group secreted the highest amount of growth hormone during the night period, while 62% of the aging group secreted most of the growth hormone during the day period. The researchers reached the conclusion that there is a decrease in secretion of growth hormone as age increases for both sexes. The reduced concentr ation of growth hormone was, in turn seen as a lack of growth hormone releasing hormone. (Russel-Aulet et al.) Another research focuses on the problem of sarcopenia, which represents a syndrome that manifests itself as a decrease in skeletal muscle mass, as well as in muscle work output. As the natural process of aging involves degradation of skeletal proteins, sarcopenia is expected to appear in most of the elderly, but this condition can be aggravated by the lack of exercise, leading to more frequent physical injuries such as hip fractures. Aware of the low concentration of several hormones that affect protein anabolism in old age, amongst them the growth hormone, the scientists researched the coupled human growth hormone replacement therapy with resistance exercise, which is known to reduce the effects of sarcopenia, in people aged 60 and over. Although the research can be viewed as retrospective, as it presents the various experiments, as well as the results, performed by other researchers, a case-control trial was described that was performed by the authors of the paper. The study invol ved men from 62-75 years of age which were involved in a 16 week exercise program, consisting of modest to high-intensity training in the form of weight lifting exercises with a small repetition. It encompassed muscles from both the upper and lower extremities. One group was given a dose of 12-24 g/kg/d of growth hormone, while the other, control, group performed the same exercises, but was not given anything. The result from their research, as well as results from other researches, led the scientists to conclude that there is not much difference in muscle mass and strength between the control group and the group that received somatotropin. An increase in muscle mass was present, however, but not focused on the skeletal muscles. Furthermore, the scientists concluded that there were significant side effects from the use of somatotropin replacement therapy in aging people, further criticizing the use of somatotropin as a means to prevent sarcopenia. (Zachwieja, Yarasheski). Sarcopenia is but one of the many physiological