Weekly ass. #11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly ass. #11 - Essay Example Charts are also help especially when they is competition involved, a presenter who uses charts looks better than other presents who do not use charts (Peltier, Parà ¡ 1). Charts may also be beneficial to the presenter since they may hide the fact that the presenter may not know much of the topic he is talking about. In a management meeting there are several types of charts that may be used. Among them is using a pie chart. There is so much that is discussed in meetings which a pie chart can simplify and make it easy for the people attending the meeting to understand. A pie chart may have a legend which is used to show the various aspects that are to be discussed in the meeting. Different colors may be used in labeling the components to be discussed as well as the legend. Usage of different colors in the legend ensures that there is minimal confusion to the recipients on the information. If incase the gradients of the charts are similar when using a 3D pie chart, you can eliminate the legend and data labels within the pie chart (Peltier, Parà ¡ 3). Further improvement may be made by changing the pie graph to a column so as to have distinction in the

The Music of Hollywood Films Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Music of Hollywood Films - Assignment Example Then one day an engineer comes to the village to build a dam. The engineer Rajeev had a very strange problem since his childhood and that was his inferiority complex regarding his looks. He thinks that he is very ugly and no one would like him. Then one day hears Roopa singing religious songs in the temple and meets her. As they continue to meet, both fall in love each other while Rajeev had no idea about the facial disfigurement of Roopa. Roopa did not tell him anything wither as she was scared of losing the only love of her life and kept Rajeev in dark. Rajeev falling deeper and deeper in Roopa’s loves goes to her father one day and seeks his permission to marry Roopa. Roopa’s Father happily agrees as He knew they both loved each other and all He could ask for was the happiness of her daughter. After getting married, Rajeev gets to know about the reality of Roopa and He thinks that she is not the girl he fell in love with and this was all a plan to cheat him. Disappointed and frustrated both, He kicks Roopa out of his house while Roopa pleaded and begged him to believe that she is the same girl he fell in love with and she did not cheat. Desperate for her love Roopa decides to meet her husband daily in the night with her face covered. Rajeev with this supposedly different girl falls in love and they start to meet every night. One day Roopa realizes that she is pregnant. Rajeev, when gets to know about this, suspects her again of cheating as he did not know that Roopa and that girl are the same people. Then one day, due to heavy rain, the dam breaks out and everything gets washed away in the rain. There Rajeev realizes how wrong he had been and saves her wife Roopa from the flood and gets her back to his home. There are many archetypes and stereotypes displayed in the movie. For example, how could two people fall in love with each other without even seeing each other face?

Hobbes VS. Locke VS. Rousseau Essay Example for Free

Hobbes VS. Locke VS. Rousseau Essay â€Å"I am at the point of believing, that my labor will be as useless as the commonwealth of Plato. For Plato, also is of the opinion that it is impossible for the disorders of the state ever to be taken away until sovereigns be philosophers . . . I recover some hope that one time or other this writing of mine may fall into the hands of a sovereign who will consider it for himself, for it is short, and I think clear. † -The Monster of Malmesbury (Thomas Hobbes), Leviathan1 Thomas Hobbes was born at Westport near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England. 2 A wealthy uncle paid for his education and sent him to Magdalen Hall, Oxford. 3 Hobbes lived at a time of immense intellectual excitement, and the universities of his day were far from being at the cutting-edge of intellectual advance. 4 The Oxford curriculum still consisted largely of scholastic logic and metaphysics, which he regarded as sterile pedantry and for which he had nothing good to say. 5 Leaving university with a degree in scholastic logic and, it has been said, several more degrees of contempt for Aristotle in particular, and universities in general, Hobbes obtained a post as tutor to the Earl of Devonshire. 6 He travelled widely with the Duke, moving in increasingly aristocratic circles and even meeting the celebrated Italian astronomer Galileo, in 1636. 7 Hobbes also met another important figure, Sir Francis Bacon. Francis Bacon was a philosopher who rejected the Aristotelian logic and system, which basically was a speculative system, started out from some major assumptions and through deductions developed his philosophical system. 8 Thomas Hobbes has a more cynical and realistic, view of human nature than the Greeks. 9 Whilst he agrees that people have regard for their self-interest, there is little else Hobbes will accept from the ancients. 10 Hobbes was considered by many of his contemporaries to be, if not actually an atheist, certainly a heretic. 11 Indeed, after the Great Plague of 1666, in which 60,000 Londoners died, and the Great Fire straight afterwards, a parliamentary committee was set up to investigate whether heresy might have contributed to the two disasters. 12 The list of possible causes includes Hobbes’ writings. 13 Hobbes’ books are a strange mixture of jurisprudence, religious enthusiasm, and political iconoclasm. 14 Hobbes’ political theory, then is that of someone who experienced both the English Civil War and the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. 15 This fact is important to our understanding of it. 16 He formulated his political ideas several times, but it is in Leviathan that they find their most complete and influential statement. 17 His approach to politics is self-consciously scientific. 18 His technique of enquiry is delivered partly from the ‘resolutive-compositive’ method associated with Galileo and Bacon, and partly from the deductive reasoning that had so impressed him in Euclid. 19 If we are to arrive at a sound understanding of politics, we must first analyze or resolve social wholes into their smallest component parts: namely, individual human beings. 20 Then, having studied the properties and behavior of those parts in isolation, we can deduce from them, as it were from first principles, rational conclusions about social and political organization. 21 He breaks down (by analysis) social phenomena into their basic constituents, and only then synthesizes these to produce a new theory. 22 It is this technique, as much as his theory of power as the motivating spring of mankind, that makes Hobbes a distinctly modern thinker. 23 His materialism is central to his account of human behavior. 24 The body of each human being is, he thinks, only a complex mechanism, somewhat like a clock. 25 Hobbes has a mechanistic Weltanschauung. We are bodies in constant motion. 26 He seems in other words, to have a kind of materialistic psychology in which human behavior exhibits the same, as it were, mechanical tendencies as billiard balls that can be understood as obeying, again, geometric or causal processes of cause and effect. 27 Before we proceed to his account of the state of nature, we will explore first some of his important ideas. First, is his skeptical view of knowledge. Hobbes was obsessed with the question about what can I know or, maybe put a different way, what am I entitled to believe, and there are many passages in Leviathan that testify to Hobbes’ fundamentally skeptical view of knowledge. 28 He is a skeptic not because he believes that we can have no foundations for our beliefs, but he is skeptic in the sense that there can be no, on his view, transcendent of nonhuman foundations for our beliefs. 29 We cannot be certain, he thinks, of the ultimate foundations of our knowledge and this explains you may have wondered about this, this explains the importance he attributes to such things as naming and attaching correct definitions to things. 30 Knowledge, in other words, is for Hobbes a human construction and it is always subject to what human beings can be made to agree upon and that skeptical view of knowledge or at least skeptical view of the foundation of knowledge has far reaching consequences for him. 31 This argument of Hobbes resembles the thesis of Berger and Luckmann’s book. The ongoing process of objectivation-externalization-internalization to construct, reconstruct, and deconstruct the world. In other words, knowledge and human reality is ‘socially constructed’. 32 If all knowledge, according to Hobbes, ultimately rests on agreement about shared terms, he infers from that our reason, our rationality, has no share in what Plato or Aristotle would have called the divine Noos, the divine intelligence. 33 Our reason does not testify to some kind of inner voice of conscience or anything that would purport to give it some kind of indubitable foundation. 34 Such certainty as we have about anything is for Hobbes always provisional, discovered on the basis of experience and subject to continual revision in the light of further experience, and that again experiential conception of knowledge. 35 Next, is his idea of the laws of nature. Fear is the basis, even of what Hobbes called the various laws of nature. 36 The laws of nature for Hobbes are described as a precept or a general rule of reason that every man ought to endeavor peace and it is out of fear that we begin to reason and see the advantages of society; reason is dependent upon the passions, upon fear. 37 The natural laws for Hobbes are not divine commands or ordinances, he says, but they are rules of practical reason figured out by us as the optimal means of securing our well-being. 38 Ignorance of the law of nature is no excuse. 39 According to Prof. Bacale-Ocampo LlB, there are two doctrines of the natural law: everyone must seek peace and follow it, and man being able, if others were too. 40 Hobbes also said that there can be no unjust laws. There are two reasons for this proposition, according to Prof. Bacale-Ocampo LlB: law precedes justice, and the sovereign is the embodiment of all the people’s rights. 41 This argument justifies Hobbes’ defense of the absolute and authoritarian power of his sovereign. The power of the sovereign, Hobbes continually insists, must be unlimited. 42 This notion also resembles Art. XVI, Sec. III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, that, â€Å"The State may not be sued without its consent. † In a very real sense, a suit against the State by its citizens is, in effect, a suit against the rest of the people represented by their common government – an anomalous and absurd situation indeed. 43 Now, let’s go to his notion of the state of nature. The state of nature, a shocking phrase calculated to arouse the wrath of the Church, directly conflicting with the rosy biblical image of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. 44 Hobbes thinks the ‘human machine’ is programmed to direct its energies selfishly. 45 He doubts if it is ever possible for human beings to act altruistically, and even apparently benevolent action is actually self-serving, perhaps an attempt to make them feel good about themselves. 46 Hobbes tells us, â€Å". . . in the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of Power after Power, that ceaseth only in Death. †47 The desire for power is the cause of human strife and conflict. 48 Finally, Hobbes most quoted statement, that in the state of nature, â€Å". . . there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the Commodities that may be imported by Sea; no Commodious Building; no instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. †49 The state of nature is simply a kind of condition of maximum insecurity. 50 Hobbes continues, â€Å"Hereby it is manifest, that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called War; and such a War, as is of every man against every man . . . the nature of war, consisteth not in actual fighting; but in the known disposition thereto, during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary. †51 There are three principle causes of quarrel. The first is competition, for gain; the second is diffidence and a compulsion for safety; whilst the final one is the compulsion for glory, and for reputation. 52 Yet they all precipitate violence. 53 Hobbes tells us, â€Å"The first use violence, to make themselves Masters of other men’s persons, wives, children, and cattle; the second, to defend them; the third, for trifles, as a word, a smile, a different opinion, and any other sign of undervalue either direct in their Persons, or by reflection in their Kindred, their Friends, their Nation, their Profession, or their Name. †54 Hobbes also asks the readers, â€Å"Let him, the reader, therefore ask himself, when taking a journey he arms himself and seeks to go well accompanied. When going to sleep, he locks his doors even when in his house, and even when in his house he locks his chest and this, when he know, he says, there be laws and public officers armed to avenge all injuries shall be done to him . . . Does he not therefore as much accuse mankind by his action as I do by my words? †55 In short, the members of the Hobbesian state of nature employs the classic prisoner’s dilemma. The strategic interests of the two individuals are antithetical to each other, and that keeps them from forming a social solidarity that would be best for them altogether. 56 The prisoner’s dilemma is analogous to a social world in which public goods would be quite valuable to have, but in which individuals would lose something from contributing to the public good as long as other people do not. 57 There has to be an assurance that the other side will live up to the bargain; but there is no way of knowing that, and in fact one can figure out that other people will act just like oneself. 58 Whether one assumes that the other person is ultimately selfish, or merely distrusting, the outcome is the same. 59 Rational selfish individuals dealing with other rational selfish individuals will never sacrifice anything to the public good, since it would be a waste. 60 That is what makes the situation a dilemma. 61 Hobbes constructed his state of nature, using logic, not using historical data. The state of nature, for him, is rather a kind of thought experiment after the manner of experimental science. 62 Hobbes is the, again, the great founder of what we might call, among others, is the experimental method in social and political science. 63 How can we escape the horror of the Hobbesian state of nature? By establishing a sovereign by means of a social contract. He would understand (1) that it is rationally necessary to seek peace; (2) that the way to secure peace is to enter into an agreement with others not to harm one another; and (3) that having entered into such an agreement, it would be irrational, in the sense of self-defeating, to break it for as long as the others kept it. 64 By this chain of reasoning, society would be created. 65 It would be created by an agreement – a ‘compact’, as Hobbes calls it – made by individuals no one of whom has interest in anyone else’s good per se, but each of whom realizes that his own good can be secured only by agreeing not to harm others in return for their agreement not to harm him. 66 But, there must be an enforcer, because Hobbes argues that, â€Å"Covenants without the sword are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all. †67 So the people will have to, â€Å"Confer all power and strength upon one Man, or upon one assembly of men, that may reduce all their wills, by plurality of voices, unto one Will . . . This is more than Consent, or Concord; it is a real Unity of them all, in one and the same Person, made by Covenant of every man with every man . . . that Great Leviathan, the Commonwealth, and it comes about when either one man by War subdueth his enemies to his will, or when men agree amongst themselves, to submit to some Man, or Assembly of men, voluntarily, on confidence to be protected by him against all others. †68 The sovereign is created by, but not a party to, the compact. 69 He therefore cannot be got rid of because he is in reach of the compact. 70 If he could be, his power would not, after all, be sovereign. 71 Hobbes remains one of the most impressive and influential of English political theorists. 72 He is also, though he several times twits himself on his own timidity, a writer of considerable intellectual courage, who expressed unpopular views at a time when it was dangerous – mortally dangerous, indeed to do so. 73 He also â€Å"provides an antidote to the high-minded reasoning of the schoolmen and indeed the Ancients. †74 Starting from a pragmatic assessment of human nature, he strengthens the case for a powerful political and social apparatus organizing our lives. 75 And with his interest in the methods of geometry and the natural sciences, he brings a new style of argument to political theorizing that is both more persuasive and more effective. 76 But from Hobbes we also obtain a reminder that social organization, however committed to fairness and equality it may be intended to be, being motivated by a struggle between its members, is also inevitably both authoritarian and inegalitarian. 77 Virtually all subsequent attempts to treat politics and political behavior philosophically have in some sense had to take Hobbes into account. 78 â€Å"Though the water running in the fountain be everyone’s, yet who can doubt but that in the pitcher is his only who drew it out? † -John Locke, Second Treatise79 John Locke was born into a Puritan family in Somerset, England. 80 His father was a country lawyer who raised a troop of horse and fought on the parliamentary side in the Civil War. 81 Locke went up to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1652. 82 Like Hobbes before him, Locke found the old fashioned Scholastic curriculum uncongenial, though his association with Christ Church was to last, with interruptions, for more than thirty years. 83 He became a senior student – that is, a Fellow – in 1659. 84 In 1667 he became medical adviser and general factotum of Anthony Ashley Cooper, created first Earl of Shaftesbury in 1672. 85 When Shaftesbury was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1672, Locke became his secretary. 86 Earl Shaftesbury went on to three notable political achievements: he led the opposition to Charles II, he founded the Whig Party, the forerunner of the Liberals, and he pushed Locke into politics. 87 John Locke is a kind of ‘lowest common denominator’ of political philosophy, the intellectual forebear of much of today’s political orthodoxy, a role that befits a thinker of a naturally orthodox turn of mind. 88 He also â€Å"fitted the times very well (Bertrand Russell even described him as the ‘apostle of the Revolution of 1688’). 89 His philosophy was actively adopted by contemporary politicians and thinkers; his influence was transmitted to eighteenth-century France through the medium of Voltaire’s writings, and inspired the principles of the French Revolution. 90 And his views would spread still more widely, through the writings of Thomas Paine, eventually shaping the American Revolution too. 91 Although Locke’s reputation as a philosopher rests almost entirely on the epistemological doctrines expressed in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he made a great and lasting contribution to political thought. 92 This contribution consists mainly in his Two Treatises of Government, especially in the Second Treatise. 93 It is usual to regard the First Treatise as being mainly of antiquarian interest. 94 It is in the Second Treatise that Locke presents his own ideas. 95 The proper title of the treatise is ‘An Essay Concerning the True, Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government. ’96 The master of Locke’s own residential college at Oxford, Balliol College, described Mr. Locke as the ‘master of taciturnity’, because he could not discover, through questioning and so on, Locke’s opinions on religious and political matters. 97 Before we proceed to his notion of the state of nature, we will first explore some of his major ideas. First is his account of the law of nature. There is no modern thinker that I’m aware of who makes natural law as important to his doctrine as does Locke. 98 The law of nature, Locke tells us, â€Å"willeth the peace and preservation of all mankind. †99 Locke adds, the â€Å"law of nature . . . obliges everyone; and reason which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions. †100 Locke also offers the three fundamental rights: life, health, and property. These three rights can never be overruled even by the government. They are also our natural rights, they are pre-political, it means that they are already our rights even before the establishment of the government. The interesting thing about these fundamental rights is that it is paradoxical. There are two reasons for this paradox. The first is that, â€Å"our rights are less fully mine. †101 Our rights were given by God. Locke tells us, â€Å"For men, being all the workmanship of one Omnipotent and Infinitely Wise Maker, they are his property whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another’s pleasure. †102 The second reason is that, â€Å"because our rights are unalienable, they are more deeply mine. †103 These three Lockean fundamental rights influenced the famous 1776 U. S. Declaration of Independence, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. †104 It’s like the ghost of John Locke who wrote this declaration, not Thomas Jefferson. Every sentence of this declaration has something like a Lockean spirit or fingerprint. This Lockean principle also influenced our present Constitution. Art. III, Sec. I of the 1987 Constitution states that, â€Å"No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws. †105 Next, his theory of private property. Locke’s â€Å"account of property; certainly, in many ways, one of the most characteristic doctrines of Lockean political thought. †106 In the beginning the whole world was America, explains Locke, meaning that the world was an unexploited wilderness, before, through the efforts of people, there came farms and manufactures and buildings and cities. 107 With these come trade, and money. 108 But although property is the foundation of political society, Locke traces its origin back not to commerce, but to ‘the conjugal union. ’109 The first society was between man and wife, and later their children. 110 Locke’s view of human nature is that we are very much the property-acquiring animal. 111 Locke tells us, â€Å"Every man has a property in his own person, this nobody has any right to but himself. The labor of his body and the work of his hands, we may say are properly his. †112 This is one of the major premises of Robert Nozick and other libertarian thinkers, that we own ourselves. Locke continues, â€Å"Whatsoever then he removes out of that state of nature has provided and left it in, he has mixed his labor with, and joined to it something that in his own and thereby makes it his property. †113 Locke anticipates Marx’s Labor Theory of Value. Locke continues, â€Å"For this labor being the unquestionable property of the laborer no man but he can hence a right, to what that is once joined to, at least where there is enough and as good left in common for others. †114 Locke adds, â€Å"As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates and can use the product of, so much is his property. He by his labor, does as it were, enclose it from the common. †115 One of the most famous passages in the Second Treatise is that, â€Å"God gave the world to men in common, but since He gave it to them for their benefit and the greatest conveniences of life that they were capable to draw from it . . . it cannot be supposed He meant it should always remain common and uncultivated. He gave it to the use of the industrious and the rational and not to the fancy or covetousness of the quarrelsome and contentious. †116 Locke seems to suggest, that the state will be a commercial state, that the Lockean republic, the Lockean state will be a commercial republic. 117 Labor becomes, for Locke, his source of all value and our title to common ownership and in a remarkable rhetorical series of shifts, he makes not nature, but rather human labor and acquisition the source of property and of unlimited material possessions. 118 The new politics of the Lockean state will no longer be concerned with glory, honor, thumos, virtue, but Lockean politics will be sober, will be pedestrian, it will be hedonistic, without sublimity or joy. 119 Locke is the author of the doctrine that commerce softens manners, that it makes us less warlike, that it makes us civilized. 120 On the ground of Locke’s claim of self-ownership as the foundation of rights and justice, I will offer one of the major criticisms to this view. This is the ‘difference principle’ of one of my favorite political philosophers, John Rawls. First, â€Å"Lockean theory of justice, broadly speaking, supports a meritocracy sometimes referred to as ‘equality of opportunity’, that is, what a person does with his or her natural assets belongs exclusively to him, the right to rise or fall belongs exclusively to him. †121 Rawls’ principle â€Å"maintains that our natural endowments, our talents, our abilities, our family backgrounds, our history, our unique histories, our place, so to speak, in the social hierarchy, all of these things are from a moral point of view something completely arbitrary. 122 None of these are ours in any strong sense of the term. 123 They do not belong to us but are the result of a more or less kind of random or arbitrary genetic lottery or social lottery of which I or you happen to be the unique beficiaries. 124 No longer can I be regarded as the sole proprietor of my assets or the unique recipient of the advantages or disadvantages I may accrue from them. 125 Rawls concludes, I should not be regarded as a possessor but merely the recipient of what talents, capacities, and abilities that I may, again, purely arbitrary happen to possess. 126 The difference principle is a principle for institutions, not for individuals. 127 This is not to say that the difference principle does not imply duties for individuals – it creates innumerable duties for them. 128 It means rather that the difference principle applies in the first instance to regulate economic conventions and legal institutions, such as the market mechanism, the system of property, contract, inheritance, securities, taxation, and so on. 129 The direct application of the difference principle to structure economic institutions and its indirect application to individual conduct, exhibit what Rawls means when he says that the ‘primary subject of justice is the basic structure of society. ’130 The basic structure of society consists of the arrangement of the political, social, and economic institutions that make social cooperation possible and productive. 131 These institutions have a profound influence on individuals’ everyday lives, their characters, desires, and ambitions, as well as their future prospects. 132 The difference principle also â€Å"requires that economic institutions be designed so that the least advantaged class enjoys a greater share of income, wealth, and economic powers more generally, than it would under any other economic arrangement (with the important qualification that the final distribution is compatible with equal basic liberties and fair equal opportunities). 133 We should follow the principle that would be chose under ideal conditions not because it is rational for us to use such a procedure (in the narrow sense of rationality), and not because doing so would maximize total overall utility, but because doing so embodies fundamental values to which Rawls thinks, we are already committed, the values of freedom and equality. 134 In structuring a just society, we must also employ what Rawls called ‘the veil of ignorance’. The situation where you don’t know who you will be. 135 Using the DP and the veil of ignorance, we can assure that the cake will be sliced equally. There are other important Lockean ideas, that I wish to address, but for the main reason of limiting my paper, I won’t discuss them anymore. These important ideas are the Lockean idea of a limited government (which resembles our present form of government), his ‘Appeal to Heaven’ doctrine or the right of the people to rebel against an unjust government (this doctrine is also embodied in the Art. II, Sec. I, of the 1987 Constitution), and his famous doctrine of consent. Now, let’s proceed to the Lockean version of the state of nature. Like Hobbes, Locke makes use of the idea of a state of nature as an explanatory conceit which to build his political theory. 136 As with Hobbes, and despite some ambiguity of language, the argument is not really a historical one. 137 Locke does not take Hobbes’ pessimistic view of how ungoverned human beings would behave in relation to each other. 138 Unlike Hobbes, he does not depict the state of nature as an intolerable condition in which the amenities of civilization are impossible. 139 The drawbacks of Locke’s state of nature would be no worse than ‘inconveniences’. 140 The ‘continous inconveniences’ is that men in the state of nature were both the judge and executor of the law of nature. Locke tells us, â€Å"The execution of the law of nature is, in that state, put into every man’s hands, whereby everyone has a right to punish the transgressor of that law to such a degree as may hinder its violation. †141 Everyone can enforce the law of nature. Locke adds, â€Å"One may destroy a man who makes war upon him . . . for the same reason that he may kill a wolf or a lion; because such man . . . have no other rule, but that of force and violence, and he may be treated as beasts of prey, those dangerous and noxious creatures, that will be sure to destroy the, whenever he feels into their power. †142 How can we escape the ‘inconveniences’ of Locke’s state of nature? Civil government is the proper remedy for the inconveniences of the state of nature. 143 Just like his great predecessor Hobbes, we must mutually agree to give up our enforcement power by means of a social contract. Locke tells us, â€Å"Men being, as has been said, by nature, all free and equal and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent . . . when any number of men have, by the consent of every individual, made a community, they have thereby made that community one body, with a power to act as one body, which is only by the will and determination of the majority . . . to move . . . whither the greater force carries it. †144 Locke has no particular view about the form of government should take, as long as it is based on popular consent. 145 It may be a republic, but it could be an oligarchy and there might still be a monarch. 146 But whatever form the government takes, Locke says, it does need to include some ‘separation of powers’, and sets out fairly precisely the distinction to be made between the law-making part of government – the legislature – and the action-taking part – the executive. 147 The executive must have the power to appoint and dismiss the legislature, but it does not make the one superior to the other, rather there exists a ‘fiduciary trust’. 148 According to Locke’s view of government, there are only two parties to the trust: the people, who is both trustor and beneficiary, and the legislature, who is trustee. 149 The principal characteristic of a trust is the fact that the trustee assumes primarily obligations rather than rights. 150 The purpose of the trust is determined by the interest of the beneficiary and not by the will of the trustee. 151 The trustee is little more than a servant of both trustor and beneficiary, and he may be recalled by the trustor in the event of neglect of duty. 152 Locke also tells us that, â€Å"The great and chief end, therefore, of men’s uniting into commonwealths and putting themselves under government is the preservation of their property. †153 Property here is the general term for life, liberty, and estates or possessions. This Lockean idea is also embodied in the famous The Federalist No. 10 of James Madison, â€Å"The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. †154 Locke – jointly, perhaps, with Hobbes – is the most influential of all English political theorist. 155 His political writing, like all political writing, is a response to the issues and events of a specific time and place, and reflects a particular perception of those issues and events. 156 Locke creates a picture of the world in which ‘rationality’ is the ultimate authority, not God, and certainly not, as Hobbes had insisted brute force. 157 He insists that people have certain fundamental rights and also attempt to return the other half of the human race, the female part, to their proper, equal, place in history, the family and government. 158 Locke’s legacy is the first, essentially practical, even legalistic, framework and analysis of the workings of society. 159 That is his own particular contribution to its evolution. 160 â€Å"Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. † -the citizen of Geneva (Jean-Jacques Rousseau), The Social Contract161. Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712, the son of a Calvinist watchmaker. 162 It was his father who brought him up, his mother having died in childbirth. 163 His father also gave Rousseau a great love of books, but otherwise he had little formal education. 164 At the age of fifteen he ran away from home and began a life of solitary wandering. 165 His was a difficult, hypersensitive personality, with a towering sense of his own genius. 166 Although capable of intense friendship, his relationships never lasted. 167 After leaving Switzerland, Rousseau lived in Savoy and worked in Italy, before gravitating to Paris, at the time the leading intellectual centre in Europe. 168 There he associated with the Enlightenment thinkers – the philosophes – and particularly Diderot. 169 Rousseau contributed articles (mainly on musicology) to their great project, the Encyclopedia, but although he subscribed to some of their beliefs he was never a committed member of the group. 170 He developed his own ideas that differed radically from their fashionable cult of reason and from establishment orthodoxy. 171 Indeed, Rousseau’s most striking characteristic is his originality. 172 He changed the thinking of Europe, having an impact on political theory, education, literature, ethics, ideas about the self and its relationship to nature, and much else. 173 These influences, together with his elevation of emotion and will above reason, make him the major precursor of the Romantic movement. 174 His early ‘Discourses’ offended the philosophes, while his two most famous works, Emile and The Social Contract (both 1762), outraged the authorities, particularly because of their.

Biomechanical Differences: Male and Female Marathon Runner

Biomechanical Differences: Male and Female Marathon Runner More than by brain size or tool-making ability, the human species was set apart from its ancestors by the ability to jog mile after lung-stabbing mile with greater endurance than any other primate. The introductory quotation (Hotz, 2004) simply, yet vividly, expresses the results of a recent study completed by two American scientists, Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman, and released in the journal Nature(2004). Bramble and Lieberman contend that the ability to run long distances was the driving force shaping the modern human anatomy.Hotz’s characterization of early humans as marathon men and women from the tips of their distinctively short toes and long Achilles tendons to the tops of their biomechanically balanced heads (emphasis added) sets the backdrop for this essay—an exploration of the biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners. After a few additional historical comments, this essay opens with a presentation of anatomical differences between men and women with specific reference to running then continues with definitions and descriptions of the term marathon, as a form of organized running sport, and definitions for the term biomechanics in preparation for a discussion of how the field of biomechanics is applied to running. With this information as a foundation, the objective and scope will be articulated followed by presentation of previous methods and findings revealed from a search of the literature on the topic of biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners and closely-related topics. These findings will be discussed and conclusions drawn. Finally, recommendations for further research will be presented. To return briefly to the research findings of Bramble, a paleontologist and biomechanics expert, and Lieberman, a physical anthropologist, to continue setting the backdrop for the essay, Bramble states: Running made us human, at least in an anatomical sense. We think running is one of the most transforming events in human history (Chui, 2004). Endurance running is an activity that is reserved for humans in the primate world and not common in other mammals with the exception of dogs, horses and a few others. Bramble and Lieberman contend that running permitted humans to scavenge and hunt for food over significant distances and that the high protein food they secured was instrumental in developing larger brains (Wilford, 2004). To facilitate running, humans developed several traits including large buttocks with strong muscles which connect the femur to the trunk of the body preventing the body from over-balancing with each step. In addition, humans have a lengthy arm-swinging stride and [l]ong ligaments and tendons—including the Achilles tendon—[which] serve as springs that store and release mechanical energy during running.(Hotz, 2004). Bramble’s reference to today’s running in the evolutionary context he and Lieberman established provides an appropriate introduction to the exploration of the biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners (Wilford, 2004): Today, endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation, but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus. The description of anatomical differences between men and women,which is focused on anatomical features that are involved in running,begins with a gender-neutral discussion to establish a foundation for the more gender-specific information. Rossi (2003) emphasizes the complexity of walking, a precursor torunning. He writes that half of the 650 muscles and tendons in thehuman body are involved in what most people consider to be the simpleact of walking. He suggests that, in the evolution of the human body,there were hundreds of adaptations that had to take place,adaptations that required repositioning of everything in the bodyover several million years. Rossi writes: The arms, no longer needed for branch swinging, became shorter, thelegs longer, the pelvis wider, the shoulders narrower, the neck longerand more slender, the spine changed from C-shape to S-shape. Majorchanges were required in the hip, knee and ankle joints. Hundreds ofmuscles, tendons, ligaments and joints gradually shifted in position,size and function. And of course, the new posture and gait requiredimportant changes in the size and position of all the organs of thechest and abdomen. Rossi suggests that some of these changes were extremely significantfrom a biomechanical perspective. For instance, he calls attention tothe blood pumping requirement of the upright human form: Daily in eachindividual, approximately 74,000 quarts of blood must travel through100,000 miles of blood vessels from the brain to the feet and legs in acircular pattern. Rossi emphasizes the human engineering challengethat was required to design a system that would counteract the effectsof gravity in moving blood vertically in this manner. Rossi’s commentsare particularly important in the context of the current discoursebecause they provide some insight into the current state of relevantanatomical features of today’s runners and how those features werederived. The anatomy of humans, unlike that of other living creatures,provides for speed and endurance. The unique characteristics related torunning include (Science in Africa, 2005, citing University of Utah Public Relations, 2004): †¢ Skull features. These features, which include sweating from the scalp and face, cool the blood. †¢ A balanced head. This shape of head with a relatively flat face,small teeth, and short snout moves the center of the mass backwardwhich helps to counter the effects of moving upward and downward duringrunning. †¢ A ligament running from the rear of the skill and neck downward tothe thoracic vertebrae. This feature serves as a shock absorber thataids the arms and shoulders in counterbalancing the head during runningactivity. †¢ Shoulders decoupled from the head and neck. This feature allowsrotation of the body while the head faces forward during running. †¢ A tall body. This feature, which includes a narrow trunk, waistand pelvis, provides for increased skin surface allowing for enhancedbody cooling and permits the upper and lower body segments to moveindependently. †¢ Short forearms. This feature permits the upper body to act as acounterbalance to the lower body during running activity while reducingthe muscle power required for maintaining flexed arms. †¢ Large vertebrae and disks. This feature permits the human back to accepted heavier loads when runners impact the ground. †¢ Large, strong connection between the pelvis and the spine. Thisfeature supports more stability and shock absorbing capacity duringrunning activity. †¢ Large buttocks. This feature, and the muscles that form it,stabilize the body during running activity. The connection of thesemuscles to the femur prevents the body from pitching forward. †¢ Long legs. This feature allows humans to take large strides duringrunning activity. The tendons and ligaments permit the legs to belighter and less muscular thereby requiring a smaller amount of energyto propel them while running. †¢ Large hip, knee, and ankle joint surface areas. These featuresprovide enhanced shock absorption by reducing the impact in any onespecific area. †¢ Arrangement of bones in the foot. This feature provides for a morerigid foot by creating a stable arch, allowing runners to push off in amore efficient manner and to use ligaments located on the bottom of thefeet as springs. †¢ Large heel bone, short toes, and a big toe. These features providefor enhanced shock absorption and increased capacity to push off duringrunning activity. With the running-related anatomical features applicable to allhumans as a foundation, the focus now turns to the differences inanatomical features between men and women, specifically those featuresthat are involved in running activity. Holschen (2004) writes that,until puberty, males and females are equal in terms of strength,aerobic power, heart size, and weight; they also have similar amountsof body fat. Starting at puberty, according to Holschen (2004), male and female sexhormones begin affecting bone and lean body mass, circulation, andmetabolism in different ways. A female typically has a wider pelvis,femoral anteversion (inward twisting of the femur), genu valgum (kneestouch but ankles are separated), and external tibial torsion (feet donot line up in a straight manner because of out-toeing from outwardrotation of the large calf bone). Center of gravity differences betweenmen and women are minimal, correlating more by body type and heightthan with gender. (Atwater, 1985, cited in Holschen, 2004). Whencompared with males, females typically have smaller bones accompaniedby smaller articular surfaces. They also have proportionately shorterlegs with resulting decreased potential force in certain maneuvers.(Holschen, 2004). At puberty, girls gain both fat and lean muscle mass due to theinfluence of female hormones; boys lose body fat and add muscle massdue to the influence of male hormones (Holschen, 2004). Women inadulthood have about ten percent more body fat than do their malecounterparts (Greydanus, D. and Patel, D., 2002, cited in Holschen,2004). The basal metabolic rate is approximately ten percent lower inwomen than in men. The presence of female hormones mandates that womenrely more on fat metabolism at any given exercise level when comparedto men. In addition, glycogen uptake, storage, and use are increased.(Holschen, 2004, citing Bonekat, H. W. et al., 1987; Dombovy, M. L. etal., 1987; Frankovich, R. J. and Lebrun, C. M., 2000; Nicklas, B. J. etal., 1989; Tarnopolsky, L. J., 1990) Cureton and associates (1988,cited in Holschen, 2004) attribute the differences in muscle strengthbetween men and woman to skeletal and cardiac muscular hypertrophy andmuscle mass percentage; they contend that muscle mass in men is fortypercent compared to twenty-three percent in women. Changes in body composition and circulatory capacity beginning atpuberty result in approximately twenty percent highercardio-respiratory capacity in men. Men also have comparatively higheroxygen-carrying capacity, larger heart and lung mass, a higher strokevolume, and higher maximal cardiac output which result in greatereffectiveness in aerobic and anaerobic activities, although trainingcan overcome the inherent differences (Williford, H. N. et al., 1993,cited in Holschen, 2004). The results of the current research point to fundamental anatomicaldifferences between men and woman, differences that largely begin toappear during puberty and which have some bearing on runningcapability. The term running can be defined as [moving] swiftly on foot sothat both feet leave the ground during each stride (American HeritageDictionary of the English Language, 2000). The research by Bramble andLieberman (2004, cited in Nature, 2004), which was presented earlier,seems to indicate that running has been part of human existence sinceits beginnings and, in fact, contributed significantly to developmentof human life today. Humans no longer require running for survival, atleast in their normal affairs; that is, typically, humans do not haveto run from danger or run in pursuit of animals to kill for food. Inmodern times, running has taken on a new form—competition foot racing.This competition racing can be against oneself to achieve one’s ownpersonal best or with others. Racing against others can take manyforms ranging from informal competitions between two young friendsracing against one another on a playground to very formal competitionssuch as those in the quadrennia l Olympics. The more formal runningcompetitions are typically classified by the length of the run: 100,200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000, and 10000 meters as well as marathons(Dollman, 2003). There are many terms that refer to specific forms of foot racing: run,dash, sprint, relay, meet, competitive trial of speed, footrace, andmarathon (Webster’s New World Thesaurus, 1997). Of these, the termsdash and sprint are typically used interchangeably to describe ashort, fast run or race (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1988) or ashort, swift movement (Webster’s New World Thesaurus, 1997). Organizeddashes and sprints are commonly of 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters,50 yards, 100 yards, and 200 yards in length (Webster’s New WorldThesaurus, 1997). Marathons are a form of long-distance running, whichare on- and off-the-track competitions of more than 3000 meters (Hlus,1997). Specifically, a marathon is a footrace of 42 kilometers, 195meters (26 miles, 385 yards) run over an open course, or anylong-distance or endurance contest People who compete in marathons arecalled marathoners (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1998).Physiologically, there is a fundamental difference between a sprint ordash and a marathon. According to Pritchard (1994), A sprinter canexert maximum force throughout the run, but this is not possible forlonger runs, where propulsive force must be reduced to match energyavailability. Historically, marathons are not new events. According to legend, thename marathon is derived from the Greek city, Marathon, to commemoratePheidippides’s run from that city to Athens to announce Greek victoryover the Persians. The marathon was introduced to the Olympics in 1896and today’s official distance was established in 1908. (Hlus, 1997; TheColumbia Encyclopedia, 2005) Today, in addition to marathon races inthe Olympics, many cities throughout the world serve as sites forannual or other periodic marathons (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2005). A new form of marathon race has recently taken form—the ultramarathon,which is any organized footrace extending beyond the standard marathonrunning distance of 42 kilometers, 195 meters†¦[they] typically begin at 50 kilometers and extend to enormous distances (Blaikie, n. d.).Standard distances for ultramarathons are 50 and 100 kilometers and 50and 100 miles (Meyers, 2002) with the longest certified race being theSri Chinmoy, a 2092 kilometer race held annually in New York (Blaikie,n. d.). The research produced numerous and varied definitions for the termbiomechanics. The following are representative of the findings: †¢ The study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of theforces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure. (TheAmerican Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). †¢ [The] application of mechanical engineering principles andtechniques in the field of medicine and surgery, studying naturalstructures to improve those produced by humans (The HutchinsonEncyclopedia, 2003). †¢ [A] science examining the forces acting upon and within a biologicalstructure, and the effects produced by those forces (The University ofCalgary, n. d.). †¢ [T]he science that deals with forces and their effects, applied to biological systems (Freivalds, 2004). †¢ [T]he application of the principles and techniques of mechanics to the human body in motion (Snowden, 2001). †¢ Biomechanics is a specific field which evaluates the motion of aliving organism†¦and the actions of forces on that organism†¦acombination of several different areas of study [including] anatomy andphysiology, kinematics (the study of motion without regard to itscauses), kinesiology (the study of human movement) and kinetics (thestudy of forces acting on a system) (National Endurance SportsTrainers Association, 2005). In furnishing a definition for biomechanics, the Quintic ConsultancyLtd. (2005) provides some additional insight into the origin anddetails of the term, stating that the name is derived from the Greekbios meaning life and mekhaniki meaning mechanics, adding that theseindividual terms are combined to mean the mechanics of life forms.The biomechanics discipline includes research into various life formsincluding plants, insects, reptiles, birds, fish, humans, and others.Within the human specialty, topics include mechanics of bone, tooth,muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, skin, prostheses, blood flow, airflow, eye movement, joint movement [and] whole body movement (TheQuintic Consultancy Ltd., 2005). Historically, according to Knudson (2003), the study of humanbiomechanics has alternated between emphasizing each of its twocomponents—the biological and the mechanical. Atwater (1980, cited inKnudson, 2003) claims that, during the first half of the twentiethcentury, scholars emphasized medicine and anatomy under the termkinesiology. The distinct field of biomechanics was born from the workof biomechanists in the 1960s and 1970s. From that point the fieldbegan to emphasize mechanics over biology. Today, the competing forcesto move the discipline either toward a biological emphasis or toward amechanical emphasis continue (Knudson, 2003). The field of biomechanics, already narrowed in a previous sectionfrom consideration of all life forms to only humans for the purpose ofthis essay, can be focused even further to a sub-field called sportsbiomechanics (The Quintic Consultancy Ltd., 2005): Sports biomechanics uses the scientific methods of mechanics tostudy the effects of various forces on the sports performer. It isconcerned, in particular, with the forces that act on the humanneuromusculoskeletal system, velocities, accelerations, torque,momentum, and inertia. It also considers aspects of the behavior ofsports implements, footwear and surfaces where these affect athleticperformance or injury prevention. Sports biomechanics can be divided upinto two sections: performance improvement [and] injury prevention. The Australian Sports Commission (n. d.) furnishes additionaldescriptive information on the application of biomechanics to sports,using a term the Commission calls applied sports biomechanics whichincorporates techniques from physics, human anatomy, mathematics,computing and engineering to analyse technique to prevent injury andimprove performance. The Commission’s division of sports biomechanicsinto two categories—performance improvement and injuryprevention—echoes the classifications offered by The QuinticConsultancy Ltd. Williams (2003) describes how biomechanics can help runnerperformance, specifically that of the marathoner. Leading into hisrecommendations, he describes how marathon runners use a simplebiomechanical strategy known as drafting off another runner whenrunning into the wind to reduce the adverse effects of air resistanceand reduce oxygen consumption for the latter part of the race. Hewrites: The goal of the sport biomechanist is to improve movement efficiency,mainly by maximizing propulsive forces and minimizing resistive forces,and thus provide the athlete with a mechanical edge. Using high-speedcinematography, the biomechanist can analyze a runner’s form and detectproblems in running form that may be inefficient, such as overstriding,and that may waste energy. Although most elite and experiencedmarathoners have developed efficient running styles, even a smallimprovement in running efficiency may make a significant differenceover the duration of a marathon. In addition to the strategy of drafting off another runner,Williams offers several other biomechanical strategies includingselecting the proper sportswear (i.e. uniform and shoes) and optimizingbody weight and composition. Thus far the topics of anatomical differences between men and womenwith specific reference to running; definitions and descriptions of theterms marathon (as an organized, competitive form of running) andbiomechanics; and the application of biomechanics to running have beenpresented and discussed. With this as a foundation, the focus of thediscourse now turns to the topic of biomechanical differences betweenmale and female marathon runners and closely-related topics. The objective of this portion of the essay will be to explore thebiomechanical differences between male and female marathon runnersthrough a review and analysis of selected literature on the topic andrelated issues. The scope of the literature review will include marathon running withspecific reference to available information on the differences betweenmales and females. Although running of shorter distances (e.g. sprintsand dashes) and longer distances (e.g. ultramarathons) as well as othersports activities are excluded from the specific scope of this essay,references will be made to these activities when they related tomarathon running. Performance improvement and injury prevention werementioned as the two primary areas addressed by applied sportsbiomechanics. Gender-specific issues in each of these areas will beexplored briefly as well. REVIEW OF EXISTING RESEARCH ON METHODS AND FINDINGS One researcher who has studied gender differences in enduranceperformance, including marathon running, is Stephen Seiler (1996) ofThe Institute for Sport, Agder College in Kristianstad, Norway. Hewrites: Some years ago it was proposed by some that women wouldactually perform better [than men] at ultra-endurance type activities.This theory has been disproved in the laboratory and in practice. Aslong as women are women, I don’t think they will surpass men, statesNorways perennial marathon winner Grete Waitz (quoted in Holden,2004). The anatomical differences between females and their malecounterparts, specifically those that affect running, were presented inthe introduction. Now an attempt will be made to show that the generalanatomical differences between men and women extend to biomechanicaldifferences that affect marathon running performance and injury. Holschen (2004) writes that [T]he female athlete remains less wellunderstood and less well studied compared with male athletes,especially in the areas of performance factors, repetitive stress, andacute injuries. She continues: Logical reasons for this include: (a)a limited two-generation span of the high-profile elite female; (b)fewer females involved in coaching, research, and sports medicine; and(c) limited areas of female youth sports historically (gymnastics,swimming, dance). The reality of Holschen’s findings proved to be truein the current research activity. There were remarkably few availablesources on the biomechanics involved in women’s marathon running. Mostof the research either applied to males or did not identify the gender.Results from a review of selected research literature will be presentedin this section beginning with gender-differentiated research resultson running performance. Following this, results of research into thetwo applied sports biomechan ics specialties will be presented with afocus on studies concerning footwear and injuries. Holden (2004) writes about performance in running with specialattention to female runners. She quotes physiologist Henrik Larsen ofthe Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre in explaining women’s marathonperformance vis-à  -vis men: Women had not developed long distance;that’s why the improvement is much greater on the marathon. Larsen,who seems to attribute the performance improvements of femalemarathoners to focused training instead of anatomic factors, claimsthat [w]e don’t see any higher oxidative capacity in women. Holdenalso offers comments by exercise physiologist Timothy Noakes of theUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa who agrees with Larsen’sassessment: A smaller body frame gives women an edge on endurance†¦butmen can run 10% faster even when the difference in body size iscontrolled for. Stephen Seiler (1996), who was quoted at the start of this sectionstating that the proposal that women could perform better inultra-endurance activities has been disproved, confirms that there aresome physiological differences between the sexes that impactperformance in females independent of age. He notes that there is aten percent difference in marathon times between men and women, addingthat this difference is the same across the distance runningperformance spectrum. He attributes this difference, not to adifference in training, but to physiological differences. He studiedmaximal oxygen consumption, the lactate threshold, and efficiency toanalyze the differences between men and women as these factors mightaffect long-distance running performance: †¢ Maximal Oxygen Consumption. There is a 43 percent differencebetween men and women with men possessing a VO2 max (oxygen-deliveringcapacity measure) of 3.5 liters per minute and women with a capacity of2.0 liters per minute. Seiler attributes this in part to male size; menare larger. But, even when size is factored in, male oxygen consumptioncapacity is still fifteen to twenty percent higher. Males have agreater capacity to deliver oxygen to their muscles and organs. †¢ The Lactate Threshold. This is the point at which lactic acidbegins to accumulate at higher than normal levels in the blood streamindicating an exercise intensity boundary at which the level ofintensity can be maintained over a long period and that which willresult in quick fatigue. Seiler does not believe that lactatethresholds are different for men and women as a percentage of their VO2max. †¢ Efficiency. After finding conflicting information comparing theefficiency of males and females—revealing that females are lessefficient, more efficient, or the same as males in terms ofefficiency—Seiler believes that differences in efficiency do notaccount for the differences in endurance performance. Seiler concludes with his determination that the ten percentperformance difference between men and women in endurance running canbe attributed to the first of the three physiological factors hestudied—maximal oxygen consumption. Another researcher who explored gender differences in athletics,and especially in endurance events, is Dollman (2003). Citing Shepard(2000), Dollman writes that there is consistent evidence, based onobservations, that males possess larger measures of the following(quoted): †¢ Heart volume, even when corrected for stature. †¢ Haematocrit, which gives males a 13 percent greater oxygen-carrying capacity than females. †¢ Plasma volume. †¢ Total muscle mass, which means that females perform the sameabsolute task at a higher percentage of maximum voluntary contraction,with concomitant vascular impedance limiting cardiac ejection and peakcardiac output. In addition, male skeletal muscles may have a higher succinatedehydrogenase (an integral membrane protein) concentration (Dollman,2003, citing Costill, et al., 1987). Males may produce bettermechanical efficiency during running (Dollman, 2003, citing Miura,1997) although this is arguable as it may be rooted in cultural origins(Dollman, 2003, citing Shepard, 2000). Now attention will turn briefly to a review of selected researchinto the two primary application areas addressed by applied sportsbiomechanics: running performance and injuries. Regarding performance,footwear will be discussed followed by a presentation of selectedfindings on research into injuries. Gender issues will be introduced. Lipsky (2001, citing Hennig, 2001) presented research findings ongender-specific requirements for athletic footwear designed forrunning. The research experiment involved fifteen women and seventeenmen of the same body weights, heights, and ages. Each subject wore thesame shoe size and each tested five types of shoes which included threestyles of men’s shoes and two styles for women. Using Kistler forceplatforms at a set velocity, ground force reactions, tibialacceleration, angular foot motion, and plantar pressures at eightstrategic locations on the foot were measured. According to Lipsky, theexperiment revealed that none of the variables demonstrated asignificant interaction among gender and footwear type meaning, Lipskycontends, that women had the same biomechanical dilemmas in men’sshoes as they did in their own footwear. Despite similarity in thetest subjects’ weight and other factors, men exhibited higher pressurerates in all regions of the foot. Men had sig nificantly higher heelloads, but less midfoot loads, indicating that the arches of women donot support the middle of their feet. According to Lipsky, theseresults support the conclusions that women have a stronger collapse ofthe longitudinal arch†¦during weight bearing and have an increasedtendency of pronation and the smaller amount of pressure to theground. The recommendation from this study is that women should selectrunning shoes that protect against overpronation. This, according toLipsky, will help prevent knee injuries. Bartold (2004) adds to the literature on the differences inrequirements for athletic shoes for men and women. He claims thatrunning footwear is largely designed and manufactured for malerunners, making little recognition that women have significant injuryissues compared to men. Although Bartold acknowledges that reasons forinjuries are not scientifically established, he indicates thatproposals have been made that known differences in structure maypredispose female athletes to differences in running mechanics, andthese differences may lead to specific injuries, continuing by statingthat [a]necdotally, we have excellent evidence [that] the particularbiomechanics of female athletes and the way they run predisposes themto specific injury patterns. With regard to injuries, Parfit (1994) compared running injuries ofmiddle distance runners and marathon runners, concluding that thelatter incur more injuries when compared to the former (approximatelyeighty-two percent for middle distance runners compared to ninety-sevenpercent for marathoners). Acknowledging validity questions due to smallrunner populations studied and lack of injury definitions, Parfit foundthat whilst marathon runners suffered from back problems and hipailments, middle distance runners were more susceptible to kneeproblems, stress fractures, and shin splints. Certain types of knee, shoulder and back injuries are more commonin females and can in part be attributed to differences in body shapeand biomechanics, reports Glasgow, Scotland’s Daily Record (2004).Taunton et al. (2002) found that there were significant differencesbetween running injuries incurred by men and women. According to thisstudy, knee injuries seemed to be the most common injury in both sexeswith men experiencing higher incidences of the following injuries (thefirst percentage shown in parenthesis is for men; the second forwomen): †¢ plantar fasciitis, an injury to the fascia connective tissue on the bottom of the foot (54%/46%); †¢ meniscal injury, a condition in the knee cartilage that acts ascushion between the thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia) (69%/31%); †¢ patellar tendinopathy, a rupture in the tendon that connects the kneecap to the tibia (57%/43%); †¢ Achilles tendinopathy, tendon pain or dysfunction in the muscle that connects the calf to the heel of the foot (58%/42%); †¢ gastrocnemius injury, a condition in the largest, most prominentmuscle in the calf which allows for extending the foot and bending theknee (70%/30%); †¢ adductor injury, a condition, such as a tear, in the muscle in the inner thigh (68%/32%); and †¢ osteoarthritis of the knee, a degenerative joint diseasecharacterized by breakdown of the articular cartilage in the joint(71%/29%). The study by Taunton et al. (2002) revealed that women experiencedhigher incidences of the following running injuries (the firstpercentage shown in parenthesis is for women; the second for men): †¢ PFPS, or patellofemoral pain syndrome, a pain behind the kneesometimes known as runner’s knee (62%/32%, does not add to 100%); †¢ ITBFS, or iliotibial band friction syndrome, a conditioncharacterized by injury to the thick band of fibrous tissue that runsdown the outside of the leg beginning at the hip and extending to theouter side of the shin bone just below the knee joint (62%/32%, doesnot ad

Pro Legalization of Marijuana Essay examples -- essays research papers

Cannabis has been illegal since the Marijuana Tax act of 1934. Yet out of a population of 284 million American citizens, 70 million Americans claim to have smoked cannabis at some point in their lives. Prohibition of cannabis is therefore apparently ineffective at changing the habits of a population, just as prohibition of alcohol was ineffective in 1919-1933. Making otherwise law-abiding citizens fugitives does nothing more than fill the prisons and alienate the populace from their government. In fact the total cost to taxpayers of solely marijuana-related incarceration (in local, state, and federal prisons and jails) of 15,400 people exceeds $1.2 million per year. There have been many studies performed to try to prove that the effects of marijuana are worse than other medications. Unfortunately, 9 out of 10 of the studies found that marijuana is in fact safer than many of our everyday prescription and over the counter drugs. Never in United States history has their been even one case of someone dieing or being injured from the use of marijuana an illegal drug. But every year many people die from use of Americas popular legal drugs. A combined 50,000 plus people die a year from use of over the counter drugs. 90 percent of these deaths are caused by aspirin and caffeine pills. 150,000 plus people die a year from over use of alcohol. Not including the fact that alcohol is the main reason for 50 percent of all motor vehicle accidents and the cause of 60 percent of all murders in the United States. Tobacco, another of Americas highly used legal drugs kills close to 500,000 people per year. If the government did legalize marijuana the National debt would be greatl... ...have found evidence that THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and other cannabinoids have a direct effect on pain signals in the central nervous system, by tracing the biochemical pathway that pain signals follow from the site of an injury, through the spinal cord, to the brain. How can you ignore a drug that aids in the relief of these terminal diseases? Marijuana is more effective than conventional drugs in many instances. Denying cannabis treatment to the sick and dying is cruel and unnecessary. Marijuana has and will drastically help the people of our country in many ways. The terminally ill patients and anyone that uses marijuana does not pose a threat to the public in any way shape or form and there for, with all these facts stated the United States clearly needs to rethink there marijuana laws and legalize this drug of wonders for public use.

Solar Energy Essay -- Solar Energy Resources Essays

Solar Energy What do the bubonic plague in the 14th century, the influenza epidemic of the early 20th century and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the late 20th and early 21st centuries have in common? One answer, according to Joel B. Stronberg author of the American Solar Energy Society’s â€Å"Common Sense,† is that they have all been called pandemics. According to Merriam-Webster.com, a pandemic occurs over a wide geographic distribution and affects â€Å"an exceptionally high proportion of the population.† Joel B. Stronberg declares that we are currently facing another pandemic. This pandemic is the combination of the consequences of burning fossil fuels. The two major problems from burning fossil fuels are global warming and decreasing oil supplies. However, Joel notes that there is a difference between this pending pandemic and the pandemics previously mentioned. This pandemic can be prevented. Solar energy is a nondepletable resource that can help us avoid furthering global w arming and decrease our continued dependence on oil. Solar energy is, in the most rudimentary terms, energy from the sun. It can be converted into electricity and heat. Surprisingly, less than 0.1% of our heating, transportation and power energy come from direct sunlight. This is surprising because, according to www.johnbarrie.com, in one single second the sun gives off thirteen million times more energy than the amount of electricity used by the world in an entire year! As we learned during the in-class presentation, hydroelectric power produces about 100 kilowatts of energy. In contrast, about four thousand MEGAwatts of energy fall on the mere area of 0.3861 sq. mil/1 sq. km. The amount of energy that falls on this meager area is enough energy to heat and light ... ...rce to help better our world as a whole and improve our individual quality of life. Works Cited "Energy Kids Page." Solar Energy-Energy from the Sun. Oct 2004. Energy Information Administration. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/solar.html>. "Glossary." John Barrie Associates Architects. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.johnbarrie.com/glossary.htm>. "Solar Energy Facts." Solar Energy Facts Answers. JC Solar Homes. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/solar_energy_facts.htm>. "The Forum for Solar Energy." Solar Collectors: Different Types and Fields of Application. 09 2004. The Solar Server. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.solarserver.de/wissen/sonnenkollektoren-e.html>. Stronberg, Joel B. "A common Sense Solution." Solar Today. 18 Apr. 2005 <http://www.solartoday.org/2005/march_april05/Common_Sense.htm>. Solar Energy Essay -- Solar Energy Resources Essays Solar Energy What do the bubonic plague in the 14th century, the influenza epidemic of the early 20th century and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the late 20th and early 21st centuries have in common? One answer, according to Joel B. Stronberg author of the American Solar Energy Society’s â€Å"Common Sense,† is that they have all been called pandemics. According to Merriam-Webster.com, a pandemic occurs over a wide geographic distribution and affects â€Å"an exceptionally high proportion of the population.† Joel B. Stronberg declares that we are currently facing another pandemic. This pandemic is the combination of the consequences of burning fossil fuels. The two major problems from burning fossil fuels are global warming and decreasing oil supplies. However, Joel notes that there is a difference between this pending pandemic and the pandemics previously mentioned. This pandemic can be prevented. Solar energy is a nondepletable resource that can help us avoid furthering global w arming and decrease our continued dependence on oil. Solar energy is, in the most rudimentary terms, energy from the sun. It can be converted into electricity and heat. Surprisingly, less than 0.1% of our heating, transportation and power energy come from direct sunlight. This is surprising because, according to www.johnbarrie.com, in one single second the sun gives off thirteen million times more energy than the amount of electricity used by the world in an entire year! As we learned during the in-class presentation, hydroelectric power produces about 100 kilowatts of energy. In contrast, about four thousand MEGAwatts of energy fall on the mere area of 0.3861 sq. mil/1 sq. km. The amount of energy that falls on this meager area is enough energy to heat and light ... ...rce to help better our world as a whole and improve our individual quality of life. Works Cited "Energy Kids Page." Solar Energy-Energy from the Sun. Oct 2004. Energy Information Administration. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/solar.html>. "Glossary." John Barrie Associates Architects. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.johnbarrie.com/glossary.htm>. "Solar Energy Facts." Solar Energy Facts Answers. JC Solar Homes. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/solar_energy_facts.htm>. "The Forum for Solar Energy." Solar Collectors: Different Types and Fields of Application. 09 2004. The Solar Server. 20 Apr. 2005 <http://www.solarserver.de/wissen/sonnenkollektoren-e.html>. Stronberg, Joel B. "A common Sense Solution." Solar Today. 18 Apr. 2005 <http://www.solartoday.org/2005/march_april05/Common_Sense.htm>.

A Family of One Sound Essay

As we move forward through our lives we begin to see, new bonds created that makes this group a family. We speak together as one mind, one heart, one sound, so that love and support can be found. Our mistakes are learned from and we begin to look back, on the way things used to be before our music was intact. We cannot be a selfish a selfish generation only looking for fame, what we should realize is that at the end of every year we will never be the same. The truth about this group is that we leave no one out, and we all know to leave no doubt. Our parents always talk to us about setting the example for each other, what they don’t realize is that we are setting the example, for music, our other mother. Through the power of music everything is possible to us and we will not be denied, we need to take a stand and show everyone the power of ‘Jaguar Pride’. I am a witness as are you to the effect of one musician can have on us all, his memory reminds us that WE NEED TO STAND TALL. As our lives continue to change daily our bonds grow stronger, our music creates a common goal, to mourn no longer. My message through this spoken word is simple but everlasting; we should band together as one sound and persevere through our tragic passing. We’re the definition of putting up a fight, we have no weakness, and the ability to make our hardest times into positive memories is what will complete us. As we stand here today as witnesses to the power of music in our lives, we lay our foundation for starting a new, a new chance to strive. Think of me as a voice, a voice of support, my encouragement can be seen as a safe haven, a vocal fort. We often look past those things that are dearest to us, yet one thing stays common, the way music strengthens us. To say that we are one with music is just that, a saying, to be serious about this we must be one with ourselves and together as one unit, to show everyone we are staying. And to the choir directors, our loyal guardians, our second set of parents whom we love dearly, continue to be our guiding lights, our reason to not be weary. For all hardships and difficult situations that come our way, we all need to know that the three of you will stay with us always. I speak to you today through love and inspiration, to let you all, my other family know, that the power of music can help us obtain a new year of recreation that will always help us grow. Our main goal this year should be one that is simple, but always have a part of our heart; we must grow as one and show to everyone that one sound, for one reason, through one family is the purest art. Let us grow as one and support each other daily, we’ll show everyone that we truly are a family.