Benefits Of Text Messaging For Children Essay

It turns out that text messaging positively affects a child’s literacy and, in fact may even improve it, according to a new study conducted by a Coventry University in Britain. The University researchers involved a group of 88 children between the ages of 10 and 12, for their study. Their goal was to figure out what are the effects of text messaging on children’s communication skills. All the kids were given 10 different scenarios and were asked to write text messages about them, describing each situation. The textisms were divided into categories such as shortenings, contractions, symbols, acronyms, and non-conventional spellings, and examined for the use of the language in comparison with the school performance. When the researchers compared later the number of text messages being used, with a different research that focused on the reading ability of children, they discovered that those kids who used more textisms turned out to be much better readers. The follow-up study and its preliminary results revealed that textism rather improved literacy than had a harmful effect. The alarming warnings in the media are based on selected anecdotes but in fact when analyzing the examples of text speak in essays experts were not able to find many of them, according to the researchers. In opposite, students appeared to completely understand when they were making contractions and taking the shortcuts, that are very common in text conversations. In addition, when asked to write something in a serious way, the kids were able to put those textisms aside. The kids are actually taking the whole language to a new level, even if critics do not agree with it and say that it is not the right one. Basically, every expression and intonation that are being used during normal conversation, has to be inserted in a text message, however in most cases young people who send SMS-s on a regular basis, have no time to do so. Instead, they start using abbreviations, which allow them to write even the most complex and long phrases and expressions with only a few letters or words. One way to achieve this is just removing all the vowels from a word, leaving only consonants. With practice, words that at a first glance seem like a mess, and message with no sense, can actually turn out to be quite simple to understand. The experts also wrote that the association between text messaging and phonological awareness has been found during their study. Dr. Beverly Plester and her colleagues at the Coventry University believe that when the kids are exposed to the text that is based mostly on phonetics, they are better improving their literary skills. According to the researchers phonological awareness has been associated with good reading skills for a long time. This way kids are using more written language and it is a great fun for them. The experts acknowledge the fact that in any case no final conclusions can be yet made, and say that their study does not claim that text messaging plays a major role in children’s ability of word reading. However, they say that the experience and skill can contribute to the â€Å"prediction† of their word reading ability, and that messaging skills deserve additional study. In the conclusion, the researchers added that no link so far was found between the use of text conversations and the spelling abilities of all the study participants. â€Å"This suggests that, as anticipated, at this stage of development there is no evidence of a detrimental effect of textisms exposure on conventional spelling,† they stated in their report. And no matter what is the case, it is becoming more of an accepted fact that texting is neither hurting children, nor it makes them any dumber, or kills the English language. The results of the study are published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Advantages Text messaging is a non-voice communication tool that enables a user to send short messages to another user. The service is available on all modern phones. Text messaging has some advantages over other means of communication. Cheaper: Sending a text message is less expensive than placing a regular phone call or video call. Record keeping: A person can easily deny or misrepresent the information you gave them on a phone call, but when you send a text message, it is stored in your â€Å"sent items,† while for the receiver, it is available in their inbox. It is a good way to keep record and remember contents of a conversation. Signal economy: Text messaging is more efficient in terms of managing service signals. Text messaging uses less amounts of service signals than phone calling, video calling and/or email, which may require the availabilty of at least 3G. Discretion: Text messaging is a good alternative in situations where phone calling is not appropriate, for example, during a meeting, or you don’t want others to hear your conversations. Mild interruption: Unlike a regular phone call, you can respond to a text message at your convenience. A phone call demands your immediate response whether it is convenient for you or not. Reduces unneeded talk time: Text messaging reduces the amount of time spent talking. A phone call could lead to unnecessary talks, but with a text message, you go straight to the point. Most phones have t9 text input which enhances speed typing. Read more: http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/advantages-of-text-messaging.html Disadvantages Text messaging facilitates the exchange of short messages. Text messaging can serve as a substitute to phone calling, could be used in a remote control system, participation in a contest, service requests, advertising, and so forth. However, text messaging has some disadvantages. Limited storage: There is a limit to the number of text messages that could be stored in the phone. If your inbox gets full, your phone can no longer receive anymore messages unless you delete some of them. If your SIM card or phone goes bad, you could lose your messages, if not backed up. However, some service providers have deployed a way around this, for example, Glo SMS4Ever. Length: Text messaging when the content is lengthy is not convenient. A page of a text message could contain 160, 140 or 70 characters [including spaces] depending on the bit of the characters. Although you can send a multi-page text message, the higher the number of pages, the higher the probability of delivery failure. Content: A text message is what it is; it can contain only text. It does not support other media, including videos, pictures, melodies or animations. To be able to send a multimedia message, you must use Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) or MMS. Not suitable in emergencies: In situations that require immediate response, text messaging may not be the most viable option. Security issues: Gartner has recommended that confidential messages shouldn’t be sent using the regular consumer SMS as the contents of a common text message could be seen by the network’s systems and personnel. Not applicable to certain physically disadvantaged persons: For example, a blind person cannot read the contents of a text message on a phone’s regular display. Read more: http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/disadvantages-of-text-messaging.html http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/advantages-of-text-messaging.html

Psychoanalytical Approach to Family Counseling Essay

Whether one is conscious of it or not, we all have our respective worldviews. The way we view life in general and our approach to it is the worldview that control and guide us in every decision that we make – in the way we cope pressures, and even as we celebrate and enjoy good days. Since on a particular worldview a person stands or falls, it is very important to constantly check and evaluate one’s philosophy of life. If I will be asked the question: â€Å"Which philosophy is the best philosophy? † The best answer that I can come up with is, â€Å"Of course, the philosophy that encourages intellectual development. † Christianity is a religion that has been compared, every now and then, to many philosophical persuasions; and most of the time, it was either mixed with other worldviews which were totally strange to it, or the proponents of other strange worldviews have attempted to enjoin Christianity to their philosophy, which inevitably have resulted in confusion and clever duplicity in individuals who follow and experiment into this game (Cheung, 2007, p. 34). For generations, people in different civilizations have become witnesses of how their fellows advocated multiple philosophical disciplines. In fact, today, if one would just observe closely, many hold a compound of various beliefs that got rooted and accumulated for years in the family via environmental conditioning. The by-product of this kind of influence is an individual who cope through the varying situations and circumstances of life with the competence of a chameleon. This kind of approach will not properly help in the development and growth of a person as he or she wades his/her way through college. Contrary to the perception of many, the Biblical Worldview is the one philosophy that encourages the pursuit of true knowledge. It, in fact, commands the engagement of the intellect in the pursuit and exploration of true scientific studies. What precipitated the period of Enlightenment? Was it not when people were hungry for the Truth (Shelley, 1982, p. 55)? And these are periods in the history of humankind when the Biblical Worldview was being brought to the fore of society’s endeavors. If there are two philosophies that developed naturally from one to another, they are Judaism and Christianity. The flow of growth from beginning to consummation is recorded in the Old and the New Testament of the Bible (Escalona, 2008, p. 87). B. Literature review The Extent of Usefulness of the Theory A survey in literature reveals that there is little evidence so far in studies that deliberately seek to determine the efficacies of psychodynamic approach in comparison with any of the other approaches in the treatment of abnormal behavior. A few which came out, in particular one research looked into the applicability of treatment in anorexia and bulimia cases which utilized the psychodynamic model and other models such as cognitive orientation treatment. Results of the experiment by Bachar et al (1999, p. 67) showed positive outcomes where this particular approach was used. It must be remembered that mainstream psychology and psychiatry widely use the cognitive model in explaining and treating abnormal behavior. In the controlled, randomized study by Bachar and team members however, the research highlighted the efficacy of psychodynamic approach in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia disorders. Other studies however show that therapists usually employ a combination of cognitive and psychodynamic approaches or an integrative method in the psychological treatments and interventions (Kasl-Godley, 2000, p. 92). Many of the cases today then, support this view rather than a single method in an efficacious treatment of many of these mental and emotional diseases. The disadvantages of the psychodynamic approach in many of the studies done based on a using this as a single method is that of the apparent difficulty of precise measurements on the treatment procedure itself. The approach usually is limited by whether it can be exactly replicated. Specifically, one other limitation or disadvantage is that the cause of phenomena (i. e. , symptom substation) cannot be located. In addition, another setback is that not all individuals can be hypnotized when using hypnosis in the therapy especially (Kaplan, 1994, p. 431). Reference: Bachar, Eytan, Yael Latzer,Shulamit Kreitler, & Elliot Berry 1999. Empirical comparison of two psychological therapies: Self Psychology and Cognitive Orientation in the treatment of Anorezia and Bulimia. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research. American Psychiatric Association 8:115-128, Freud, Sigmund. [1901] 1990. The psychopathology of everyday life. New York. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. Halonen, JS and JW Santrock, 1996. Psychology: Contexts of Behavior, Dubuque, IA: Brown and Benchmark, p. 810. Hilgard, ER, RR Atkinson, and RC Atkinson 1983. Introduction to Psychology. 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanich, Inc. Hurlok, E. B. 1964. Child Development. New York: Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. Kaplan, HI, BJ Saddock and JA Grebb. 1994. Kaplan and Saddock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behaviroal Sciences clinical psychiatry. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. Kasl-Godley, Julia 2000. Psychosocial intervention for individuals with dementia: An integration of theory, therapy, and a clinical understanding of dementia. Clinical Psychological Review. Vol. 20(6). Leahey, B. B. 1995. Psychology: An Introduction. Iowa: WCB Brown and Benchmark. Rathus, S. A. 1990. Psychology 4th ed. Orlando Fl. : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Sdorow, L. M. 1995. Psychology, 3rd ed. Dubuque, IA:WCB Brown and Benchmark Publishers Santrock, J. W. 2000. Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. ________ Models of abnormality http://intranet1. sutcol. ac. uk:888/NEC/MATERIAL/PDFS/PSYCHO/ASPSYCHO/23U2_T5. PDF Part II. Integration Section A. Introduction Nowhere is counseling more relevant than the conditions and dilemmas faced by man today. The Bible mentions about the the fears that assail humans then during the early days, and which will be experienced also as time draws to a close. Jeremiah 17:8 implies about the kind of fear which some if not many, will succumb â€Å"when heat comes† (RSV). This illustrates as well that the stressful days are but natural to one’s existence; an affliction to being born into a fallen world. Ephesians 2 is even more clear what befalls on a person who is â€Å"dead in trespasses and sins† (KJV); he is subject to the dictates of a world system (v. 2a, KJV), being in the clutches of the evil spirit (v. 2b, KJV), and awaits the anger that God has on them (v. 3, KJV). All these may position any individual to a life of anxiety, depression, wrongful habits ((v. 3, KJV), substance abuse and other addictions that definitely determine the deterioration of overall mental and physical health. The functioning therefore of any person may be compromised and taxed to the limits, producing individuals who are abusive and getting abused. When not operating in optimal condition, man is sure to experience what psychology tends to diagnose and label as malfunctioning and maladjusted; at worst, the evidence of mental institutions’ existence only shows how this truth has long been spoken about in the Bible. Hence, the Bible becoming more relevant, and a theologically and scientifically trained counselor is even more needed these days. In the field of counselling, the primary considerations that those in the field who are practicing directly or indirectly have something to do with the previously held belief system, or the worldview or philosophy behind the notion of human behaviour. This goes to say that one who ventures into the business of healing and curing emotions and psychological problems must get into a thorough understanding of his/her personal approach to the study of human behaviour. The counselor seeks to explain human nature, the issue of sin or prbably emphasizing or reducing the Scriptural mandate and God’s verdict (whichever side he/she is on), and which eventually dictates intervention strategies, if any. It is even bold as to say that counseling in whatever front is basically â€Å"religious† in nature because in the end, what is upheld or emphasized by the counselor expresses deep-rooted philosophy or religious beliefs. The paper thus seeks to present a personal understanding of how practice in counseling is believed to be done considering the personal qualities, depth and realizations of Biblical truths (this is pre-eminent), and many of the nitty-gritty concepts that comprise the practice of counseling in one’s context. Being in contemporary America, with the recent economic meltdown that leave many surprised and shocked of the reduction of most of their economic capabilities to barely the minimum, being relevant as a counselor is not only a necessity, but it is the very important ingredient to helping many survive with their mental faculties intact. Therefore, this paper makes bold assumptions about human nature in general, how this is addressed in various situations that the average man will be meeting, and how growth (which is interpreted as a positive direction the individual will take) in all areas of his existence may take place. B. Psychoanalytic therapy Leading figures Primary importance is given into the development of one of the most influential disciplines in the world today and that is psychology. This is due to the fact that psychology seemed almost foremost in virtually every kind of decision making process that man makes. Because of this serious biblical ministers and/or scholars or theologians have long studied these effects and have come up with their answers and with their verdict. A Brief History of Modern Psychology by Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. (2006, p. 23) starts to trace the roots of psychology when Wundt, in 1879, initiated what is now recognized as the first psychology laboratory. The author Benjamin satisfies the reader on what made the psychology today a very much pursued subject of interest as well as a career. Tackling on the lives of the people foremost in this discipline, the book made an otherwise boring and usually uninteresting subject matter into an exciting topic any student will be able to handle. The author mentioned details of the pioneers’ lives and the social milieu that characterized their lives and culture during their day which in all realistic evaluation had made its contribution to what their theoretical perspectives had developed. Other important highlights include the development of psychological tests and assessment techniques that Stanford and Binet spearheaded among others. The following narrative on one of psychology’s key players and foremost in what is now known as the â€Å"first force† in the field gives the reader the importance of their contribution to cotemporary psychology (Benjamin, 2006, p. 76). -Freud, Sigmund Viennese neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) took his medical degree at the University of Vienna in 1881 and planned a specialist’s career in neurology. Lack of means forced him to abandon his research interests for a clinical career. His interest in what was to become psychoanalysis developed during his collaboration with Josef Breuer in 1884, which resulted in Studies in Hysteria, The Interpretation of Dreams appeared in 1900, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex in 1905, and the General Introduction to Psychoanalysis in 1916 – a book which contained the evolving theory of the libido and the unconsciousness, in subsequent years, Freud’s outlook became increasingly broad as revealed by the titles of his later works (Benjamin, 2006, p. 54). C. Psychoanalytic Theory The psychodynamic perspective is based on the work of Sigmund Freud. He created both a theory to explain personality and mental disorders, and the form of therapy known as psychoanalysis. The psychodynamic approach assumes that all behavior and mental processes reflect constant and unconscious struggles within person. These usually involve conflicts between our need to satisfy basic biological instincts, for example, for food, sex or aggression, and the restrictions imposed by society. Not all those who take a Psychodynamic approach accept all of Freud’s original ideas, but most would view normal or problematic behavior as the result of a failure to resolve conflicts adequately. This paper attempts to distinguish itself in trying to not only understand the theory that Freud pioneered and polished by some of his faithful followers but especially determine the extent of its usefulness in explaining and treating abnormal behavior.. It is the aim of the author to present in precis a description and explanation of the psychodynamic approach and its usefulness in the context of abnormal behavior (Kaplan, 1994, p. 657). To interpret the theoretical framework of Freud in the context of the Christian religion or Biblical Christianity is essential in order to discover whether their fundamental teachings can mix well in mainstream Christianity. Freud taught about the personality constructs of id, ego and superego; about free association, instincts (life and death); his very controversial psychosexual stages of oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital; the fixation and cathexis concepts. In general this is a theory of personality dynamics which is aimed at the motivational and emotional components of personality. It sounds good that according to Freud, man inherits the life and death instincts (libido and mortido). In the Biblical perspective, however, all these concepts are traceable to the sinful nature which all human species have inherited from the first couple Adam and Eve. In some portions of the Biblical record (Roman 5:12), Adam is said to be the federal head and from him has proceeded both sinful nature, which is inherent in all men, and death – which is the Fall’s eventual outcome. The Bible highlights sin as the main problem of all of the manifestations of abnormality as reflected or manifested in the psyche or human behavior (Bobgan, 1987, p. 543). This theory discounts religion’s God’s pre-eminence, sovereignty and will, and active role in a person’s life. It also discounts man’s ultimate accountability before an almighty God. Moreover, it discounts many of the fundamentals that the Bible teaches, like sin and repentance, just Freud’s other followers propounded (Bobgan, 1987, p. 544). Fundamentally, environment is not to be blamed. Nothing could be more accurate than stating it in exactly the same manner that the Apostle has echoed the true state of affairs. It is somehow true to say, â€Å"It’s all up in the mind. † People violate neighbors because first they have violated the laws of God. And so, â€Å"In the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness† (Eph. 4:17-19). As daily news in the headlines air everyday, and practically speaking, people have made it their daily business to work driven by greed, never minding what they leave behind in their wake. Because the fight has long been lost – which is in the level of consciousness – everyone now is at the mercy of chance, relationally, in this world. And it goes both ways. Many of the disorders or mental illnesses recognized today without a doubt have their psychodynamic explanation aside from other viewpoints like that of the behaviourist, or the cognitivists. From simple childhood developmental diseases to Schizophrenia, there is a rationale that from Freud’s camp is able to explain (Kaplan et al, 1994, p. 76, 98, 456). I. The Psychodynamic concepts A. Theory of Instincts Libido, Narcissism, Instincts and Pleasure & Reality Principles. Freud employed â€Å"libido† to denote to that â€Å"force by which the sexual instinct is represented in the mind. † This concept is quite â€Å"crude† or raw in its form hence this refers far more than coitus. Narcissism was developed by Freud as his explanation of people who happened to have lost libido and found that in the pre-occupation of the self or the ego, like in the cases of dementia praecox or schizophrenia. Persons afflicted with this mental illness appeared to have been reserved or withdrawing from other people or objects. This led Freud to conclude that a loss of contact with reality is usually common among such patients. The libido that he conceptualized as innate in every person is herein explained as invested somewhere else and that is precisely the role of self-love or narcissism in the life of one afflicted. The occurrence of narcissism is not only among people with psychoses but also with what he calls neurotic persons or in normal people especially when undergoing conditions such as a physical disease or sleep. Freud explains further that narcissism exists already at birth hence, one can expect realistically that newborn babies are wholly narcissistic (Sdorow, 1995, p. 67). Freud classified instincts into different distinguishing dimensions namely: ego instincts, aggression, and life and death instincts. Ego instincts are the self-preservative aspects within the person, while aggression is a separate construct or structure of the mind which is not a part of the self-preservative nature of the human mind. Its source is found in the muscles while its objective is destruction. Life and death instincts called Eros and Thanatos are forces within the person that pulls in opposite directions. Death instinct is a more powerful force than life instinct (Rathus, 1988, p. 55). The pleasure and reality principles are distinct ideas that help understand the other aspects of Freud’s theory. The latter is largely a learned function and important in postponing the need to satisfy the self (Sdorow, 1995, p. 98). B. Topographical theory of the mind Much like real physical mapping or description of a land area, the topographical theory appeared as attempt to designate areas of the mind into regions; the unconscious, the preconscious, and the conscious. The Unconscious mind is shrouded in mystery (Kaplan, 1994). It is the repository of repressed ideas, experiences and/or affects that are primary considerations when the person is in therapy or treatment. It contains biological instincts such as sex and aggression. Some unconscious urges cannot be experienced consciously because mental images and words could not portray them all in their color and fury. Other unconscious urges may be kept below the surface by repression. It is recognized as inaccessible to consciousness but can become conscious by means of the preconscious. Its content is confined to wishes seeking fulfilment and may provide the motive force for the formation of dream and neurotic symptoms. In other words, unconscious forces represent wishes, desires or thoughts, that, because of their disturbing or threatening content, we automatically repress and cannot voluntarily access (Santrock, 2000, p. 43). The Preconscious is a region of the mind which is not inborn but developed only when childhood stage is beginning to emerge. The preconscious mind contains elements of experience that presently out of awareness but are made conscious simply by focusing on them. Freud labelled the region that poked through into the light of awareness as the Conscious part of the mind. Conscious thoughts are wishes, desires, or thoughts that we are aware of, or can recall, at any given moment. It is closely related in understanding as that of the organ of attention operating with the preconscious. With attention the individual is able to perceive external stimuli. However, Freud theorized that our conscious thoughts are only a small part of our total mental activity, much of which involves unconscious thoughts or forces (Leahey, 1995, p. 433). C. Structural Theory of the Mind Freud conceptualized the mind into what is called as three provinces equivalent to its functions: the id, ego and superego. The id is that aspect which only looks forward to gratifying any of its desires and without any delay. The ego is the structure of the mind which begins to develop during the first year of life, largely because a child’s demands for gratification cannot all be met immediately. The ego â€Å"stands for reason and good sense† (Freud, 1901, p. 22), for rational ways of coping with frustrations. It curbs the appetites of the id and makes plans that are compatible with social convention so that a person can find gratification yet avert the censure of others. In contrast to the id’s pleasure, the ego follows the reality principle. The reality principle has a policy of satisfying a wish or desire only if there is a socially acceptable outlet available (Halonen et al, 1996, p. 43). The superego develops throughout early childhood, usually incorporating the moral standards and value of parents and important members of the community through identification. The superego holds forth shining examples of an ideal self and also acts like the conscience, an internal moral guardian. Throughout life, the superego monitors the intentions of the ego and hands out judgment of right and wrong. It floods the ego with feelings of guilt and shame when the verdict is negative (Halonen et al, 1996, p. 43). As children learn that they must follow rules and regulations in satisfying their wishes, they develop a superego. The superego, which is Freud’s third division of the mind, develops from the ego during early childhood (Hurlock, 196, p. 66). Through interactions with the parents or caregivers, a child develops a superego by taking on or incorporating the parents’ or caregivers’ standards, values, and rules. The superego’s power is in making the person feel guilty if the rules are discovered; the pleasure-seeking, id wants to avoid feeling guilty. It is motivated to listen to the superego as a moral guardian or conscience that is trying to control the id’s wishes and impulses (Hilgard, et al, 1979). From the Freudian perspective, a healthy personality has found ways to gratify most of the id’s demands without seriously offending the superego. Most of the id’s remaining demands are contained or repressed. If the ego is not a good problem solver or if the superego is too stern, the ego will have a hard time of it (Halonen et al, 1996, p. 43). D. Therapeutic goals Sigmund Freud offered a psychoanalytic viewpoint on the diagnosis and understanding of a person’s mental health. Other perspectives, the behavioristic paradigm offers to see this in a different light. The psychoanalytic perspective emphasizes childhood experiences and the role of the unconscious mind in determining future behavior and in explaining and understanding current based on past behavior. Basing on his personality constructs of the Id, Ego and the Superego, Freud sees a mentally healthy person as possessing what he calls Ego strength. On the other hand, the behavior therapist sees a person as a â€Å"learner† in his environment, with the brain as his primary organ of survival and vehicle for acquiring his social functioning. With this paradigm, mental health is a result of the environment’s impact on the person; he learns to fear or to be happy and therein lies the important key in understanding a person’s mental state. Considering that the achievement and maintenance of mental health is one of the pursuits of psychology, the following is a brief outline of what psychologists would endorse a healthy lifestyle. The individual must consider each of the following and incorporate these in his/her day to day affairs: 1. The Medical doctor’s viewpoint – well-being emphasis than the illness model 2. The Spiritual viewpoint- a vital spiritual growth must be on check. 3. The Psychologist’s viewpoint- emotional and relationship factors in balance. 4. The Nutritionist’s viewpoint – putting nutrition and health as top priority. 5. The Fitness Expert’s viewpoint- Exercise as part of a daily regimen. The theory I have in mind then is an amalgamation of several approaches, primarily the integration of the Christian worldview and the theories set forth by Cognitive-behaviorists and psychoanalytic models, and biological/physical continuum. There are other good models but a lot of reasons exist why they cannot be â€Å"good enough;† a lot depends on my own personality. Being authentic to who you are, your passion, is effectively communicated across an audience whether it is a negative or positive one. The basic way of doing the â€Å"amalgamation† or integration is that the Christian worldview takes precedence over the rest of the approaches. Although many of the concepts and premises of each theory mentioned are sound and at times efficacious, when it clashes with the faith-based theory, the former must give way to the latter. It is understood then, that I thoroughly examined each of the theory and set them against the backdrop of spirituality. Interpreting a problem that a client suffers for instance, entails that the theoretical viewpoint that I am convinced with, has better chances of properly understanding the maladjustments that the client had been suffering. To come up with the balanced worldview (an integration in other words), the balance between the realms mentioned, including the true frame of human individuals and the true nature of God (or theology) are properly considered. Thoroughly accepting the fact that there is no contest between the natural and the spiritual; only that troubles arise when one realm is overemphasized at the expense of another. This thin line or slight tension between the two levels is best expressed in the personhood of Jesus Christ, who was a perfect man as well as God. If we start to equate ourselves with that notion (which is usually happening) and we start to think that we are balanced, then we surely lack understanding or real self-awareness of the fact that we are deeply and seriously out of balance and this is one reason why we need help. ~ What are your general goals in therapy? Christian counseling admittedly embraces in reality, a basic integration of the biblical precepts on the view of man and psychology’s scientific breakthroughs in addressing the dilemmas that beset human individuals. Depending on the persuasion of the practitioner, especially whether he or she comes from either the purely theological or â€Å"secular† preparation, Christian counseling can either lean to certain degrees of theology or psychology. According to Larry Crabb, â€Å"If psychology offers insights which will sharpen our counseling skills and increase our effectiveness, we want to know them. If all problems are at core spiritual matters we don’t want to neglect the critically necessary resources available through the Lord by a wrong emphasis on psychological theory† (Crabb in Anderson et al, 2000). Dr. Crabb’s position certainly ensures that science in particular, has its place in counseling in as much as theology does. He made sure that all means are addressed as the counselor approaches his profession, especially in the actual conduction of both the diagnostic and therapeutic or intervention phases (Crabb in Anderson et al. , 2000). Trauma inducing and crisis triggering situations have spiraled its occurrence and in its primacy in the US and in many other countries in recent years. Its broad spectrum ranges from the national disaster category such as that of Hurricane Katrina or the 911 terrorist strikes in New York, Spain and England, to private instances such as a loved one’s attempt at suicide, the murder of a spouse or child, the beginning of mental illness, and the worsening situation of domestic violence (Teller et al, 2006). The acute crisis episode is a consequence of people who experience life-threatening events and feel overwhelmed with difficulty resolving the inner conflicts or anxiety that threaten their lives. They seek the help of counselors, paramedics and other health workers in crisis intervention centers to tide them over the acute episodes they are encountering. These are defining moments for people and must be adequately addressed else they lead lives with dysfunctional conduct patterns or disorders (Roberts et al, 2006). In the integrated or eclectic approach the goal of the therapy is not just relief to the patient or client. Although an immediate relief is very helpful, this may not always be the case in most illnesses. The goal as mentioned in the preceding pages is to provide long-term reduction of the symptoms and the occurrence of the disease altogether if possible. The management then is not impossible but neither is this easy. Specifically, the counselee or patient must want to heal or believe that there is going to be curative effects in the process. It presupposes that he/she must learn to trust the therapist in his/her capabilities as well in leading or facilitating the changes or modifications. It is very much essential that (in the perspective of a cognitive-behaviorist) that the client understands ownership to the deeds and choices in thought patterns he/she made are crucial to the recurring or occurring condition that s/he experiences (Rubinstein et al. , 2007; Corey, 2004). Moreover, the identification of specific treatments or interventions according to the diagnosed issue will be accommodated and implemented based on the chosen treatment modalities fit with the therapeutic approach utilized. It may be a single modality based on a single approach (e. g. , learning principles and desensitization for a patient with specific phobias) or it maybe a combination of many modalities (CBT, Rogerian, Phenomenological, or Family systems) (Rubinstein et al. , 2007; Corey, 2004). E. Summary Every theoretical approach has its own assumptions. In the psychodynamic theory, the following three assumptions help guide a student of human behavior or an expert in this field determine the underlying factors that explain the overt manifestations of specific behaviors. These assumptions therefore, help guide the diagnosis of the presence or absence of mental illness. They are the same assumptions that guide the therapist in choosing what treatment that will better help heal, cure or alleviate the symptoms. These assumptions are: – â€Å"There are instinctive urges that drive personality formation. † – â€Å"Personality growth is driven by conflict and resolving anxieties. † – â€Å"Unresolved anxieties produce neurotic symptoms† (Source: â€Å"Models of abnormality†, National Extension College Trust, Ltd). The goals of treatment here include to alleviate patient of the symptoms is to uncover and work through unconscious conflict. The task of psychoanalytic therapy is â€Å"to make the unconscious conscious to the patient† (â€Å"Models of abnormality†, National Extension College Trust, Ltd). Employing the psychodynamic viewpoint, the therapist or social scientist believes that emotional conflicts, or neurosis, and/or disturbances in the mind are caused by unresolved conflicts which originated during childhood years. Reference: Corey, Gerald, 2004. Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Thomson Learning, USA. Corey, Gerald. 2001. The Art of Integrative Counseling. Article 29: â€Å"Designing an Integrative Approach to Counseling Practice† Retrieved May 9, 2009 in < http://counselingoutfitters. com/vistas/vistas04/29. pdf> Crabb, Larry, 2000. Found in Anderson et al resource. Christ-centered therapy. http://books. google. com/books? id=Rn-f2zL01ZwC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=effective+biblical+counseling+by+larry+crabb+critique&source=web&ots=WFVYLIqP1n&sig=MqIhqE_XfGzIQODAKV5iMPjqz14#PPA19,M1 Davison, Gerald C. and John M. Neale. 2001. Abnormal Psychology. Eighth ed. John & Wiley Sons, Inc. Ellis, Albert 2001. Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Prometheus Books Kaplan, HI, BJ Saddock and JA Grebb. 1994. Kaplan and Saddock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences clinical psychiatry. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. Benjamin, Ludy T. Jr. 2006. A brief history of Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition. Bobgan, Martin & Deidre. 1987. Psychology: Science or Religion? From Psychoheresy: The psychological seduction of Christianity. Eastgate Publishers. Retrieved May 6, 2009. http://www. rapidnet. com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/psych. htm Boring, Edwin G. et. al. 1948. Foundat

An Issue Of Bone Marrow Donors

An Issue Of Bone Marrow Donors Thousands upon thousands of people living all around the world are searching for a bone marrow donor this very second. Finding a donor with a genetic match is crucial, and will make the difference between life and death for the patients in need. Finding a donor that has bone marrow with the right genetic components as the patient is not an easy task. It is very hard to find a person with a match because there are not many people willing to become a donor. There is a huge controversial debate on whether bone marrow donors should be compensated. As of 2014, unfortunately, it is still illegal for a bone marrow donor to be compensated. Bone marrow donors should undoubtedly be compensated because the number of donors will increase astoundingly, bone marrow does grow back in one’s lifetime and is not like an organ that doesn’t return, and this positive initiative will save a tremendous amount of lives. The number one concern of everyone involved should be about the patient re ceiving the right match for a bone marrow transplant, and surviving, not about how it is considered â€Å"unethical.† While finding a perfect match for a donor isn’t easy in 2014, within the next ten years, hopefully our federal government will see that compensating bone marrow donors isn’t harmful to anyone involved and will save many lives. Compensating bone marrow, by providing scholarships that are completely from charity donations, will be a low-cost solution to make more people interested in becoming a donor. This will immensely increase the number of matches for each patient, because there will be many more donors to choose from. It also must be stressed that charity donations will strictly provide these scholarships, not the patient, or the patient’s family. That would be a financial burden to the entire family, which is not something the family should have to worry about, as well as all of the medical concerns. These compensations would not depend on the financial income of the family, â€Å"†¦so there is no danger that the incentives will â€Å"aid† only the rich† (Rowes 2011). The number of donors will multiply when people interested in becoming a donor see that there is a positive incentive involved. It is illegal to compensate both organ donors and bone marrow donors, but the two have a characteristic that is completely different from one another. When a person donates their organ, it does not grow back. It is gone forever. When a person donates bone marrow, it will eventually grow back again in time. It is perfectly legal for egg, sperm, and blood donors to be paid for their donations. Many people think of bone marrow and think of it as something huge, while it is just blood cells that are just immature. Why is it legal to compensate blood donors, but not bone marrow donors? The procedures used for both blood donations and bone marrow donations are very similar. Bone marrow donors should be treated like egg, blood, and sperm donors. Each of those types of donations will save or create new lives, and the donor will either already have, or gain more of what they donated (sperm, blood, egg, and bone marrow) quickly after the procedure. Many people argue that bone marrow donors shouldn’t be compensated because of its unethicality. Whether or not it is ethical, or right or wrong, shouldn’t stop anyone from seeing how much compensation could really make the difference between life and death for almost all patients. While people may want to donate for the wrong reasons, compensating donors will increase the amount of donors, which is ultimately the most important thing. It is also argued that unethicality of compensation, will raise safety concerns for the patients receiving the transplant and that â€Å"†¦the promise of compensation may cause the donor to be less forthcoming, placing either the patient or the donor at unnecessary risk† (Petersdorf 2011). This means that a person with certain diseases may apply to be a donor and apply for the money aspect, while keeping some of their medical history hidden, putting themselves and the patient in danger. A way that this can be avoided is by maki ng every donor that is applying to provide his or her own complete, official medical records, while also making it mandatory for them to take screenings for certain diseases, and receiving any immunizations, if necessary. This will eliminate any uncertainties concerning safety of compensating donors. By offering compensation to bone marrow donors, and requiring medical screenings and records for those who apply, thousands more lives will be saved every single day safely. Offering compensating to bone marrow donors is the best option to get more people interested in becoming a donor, which will then drastically increase the number of lives that are saved. The donor pool will become much larger so it will be much easier for patients to find the right genetic match. The cells of bone marrow grow back very soon after the donation is given, just like sperm, eggs, and blood do, which is why it should be legal for a bone marrow donor to also be compensated. A bone marrow donation should not be treated like an organ donation because they are very different from one another. An organ will not grow back. Bone marrow is renewable. Bone marrow donors should be rewarded with small scholarships because it will increase the number of donors, it is very similar to donating blood, which is legal to be compensated, and it will make the difference between life and death for most patients. Patients right now are searching for their perfect bone marrow match within the l imited pool of donors, in what may be their last years, months, days, minutes, or even seconds of their lives. This devastating fact can be changed forever, if we allow compensation to bone marrow donors. It can make all the difference. Lets give these patients the life they deserve, and help them live for many years ahead.

Electric and magnetic fields Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electric and magnetic fields - Essay Example In the universe, magnetism has a great importance as most of the heavenly objects are influenced by the magnetic fields. The planet earth has also a constant magnetic field around it, as the magnet has a north and south poles; the earth has also the north and south poles. These poles were being in use from many years and people find their ways and directions utilizing the earth magnetic poles. Magnetic and electric fields are utilized to generate electrical power. Similarly, electric and magnetic fields are utilized to convert the electrical energy into mechanical energy by the utilization of a motor. A field of physics is dedicated to study the electric field that is Electrostatics. Electrostatics studies the electric field in relation with the electric flux, electric potential energy, electric potential, electrostatic induction and electric dipole movement. Electric field is a vector quantity having no fixed direction and has the units of N/C (Newton per Coulombs) or V/m (Volt per meter). The field is produced due to the movement of the electrical charged particles. The movements of the charged particles produce a magnetic field. The magnetic and electric fields are such linked to each other that one influences the other. In this way, the electric fields can be described by force that a charged test particle face. The force directs the electric fields in the similar direction as that of the force (Oatley 5-27). In this perspective the idea of electromagnetism grown and referred as the field dealing with both the quantities. Magnetic field is termed to be vector; the field has a direction and magnitude. The movement of the electrical charge produces the magnetic fields (Herlach & Miura 1-65). In this way, electrical charge or the charged particles highly influence the magnetic field. Magnetic fields are much important in determining the direction on the ship along with the most modern system like GPS (Global positioning system). Changing the magnetic

Issues that affect human rights of a group of Indigenous people Essay

Issues that affect human rights of a group of Indigenous people - Essay Example The position, land and demographics of any particular state decide the spectrum of rights for the people of that particular region (Council of Europe, 2011). From past studies, it can be said that human rights are those associated with people living in a cross-cultural or multi-cultural spectrum. A cross cultural spectrum is the one which could comprise people of different identities like indigenous people. Category of indigenous people is one major category within a multi-cultural system, in which human rights fall at the highest human distinction (An-Na'im, 1995). Talking about Australia, a country of 22 million human population holds a diversified multi cultural system. People who belong to different cultures, casts or identities reside in such cross-cultural country. There are partially several indigenous groups that dwell in different districts of the country. Human rights of indigenous people in Australia are always under the question. This is because of avoidance and negligenc e given by the government officials in the indigenous section. Concerning Australia, there are mainly two indigenous communities (aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) which are always on the discussion (Kinley, 1998). This is because of their consistent proclaims that government ignores their fundamental native rights in the region (Eniar, 1999). From historical evidences, it can be said that indigenous Australians are truly identical to the continent, as they fall in the geography since 40,000 years ago. Due to a couple of reasons the native Australians often fall behind the human rights appearance, as majority claims them to be a minority within the region. There are couples of issues that relate to native Australians, which would be part of the discussion of this study. Here is a brief introduction of two major communities who became the victims of human right violence in the country: Aboriginals Aboriginal is a name used for native Australians. The word became popular for indi genous Australians who migrated from Southern routes of India to nearby islands of the country. Aboriginals migrated to Australia 50,000 years ago, a time when their forefathers adjusted them to different regions of the continent. For such reason, aboriginals are truly to be called Australians holding original identification and by birth distinction of the place. Their presence can also be found on parallel geographies of the country like in Tasmania or in other adjacent islands (Aboriginal affairs, 2003). Aboriginals face a lot of problems in the continent in which the major problems are about the deprivation of land, social injustice, minority treatment or cultural discrimination. Since the last couple of decades their problems have been increased instead of decreasing which is because of big racist presence within the country region (Aboriginal affairs, 2003). Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islander is another big indigenous community which resides in the northern side of the state of Queensland. Natively they belong to Torres Strait Islands which are places of their ancestors’ origination. It was 40,000 years ago when Torres Strait Indigenous arrived at the continent. It was their expected best place of reside, holding a natural identify of their forefathers’ attribution (Heritage Division, 2010). Torres Strait Islanders are natively true Australians, which according to racist’s communities is not a sufficient factor that can give them their

Child abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Child abuse - Essay Example In this regard, the role of school nurse is very important. A school nurse interacts with children on regular basis; therefore, she should have sufficient knowledge about different child maltreatment laws. If the nurse finds any sign of maltreatment, she should immediately report to CPS (Child Protective Services). The CPS will investigate the matter in detail. Moreover, the practice of school nurses and its standards also emphasize on reporting maltreatment incidents and taking adequate actions against child maltreatment (American Nurses Association (ANA) & National Association of School Nurses (NASN, 2011). Society has observed Children’s maltreatment at all levels. However, in schools nurses can control it significantly. Therefore, nurses have greater responsibilities regarding their growth in education and learning relevant laws. Clearly, their better understanding will lead the society towards an excellent and maltreatment-free society. USDHHS, (2010). (United States Department of Health and Human Services), Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau. Child Maltreatment (2009). Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm09 /

Is watchmen a good book for education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is watchmen a good book for education - Essay Example Its setting is in the alternate United States history where these superheroes strongly emerge to assist the US win the Vietnam War during the 1940s and 1960s (Harvey, 1996, p. 66). The nuclear war is looming close by between the United States and the Soviet Union, with most of the costumed freelance vigilantes outlawed and the costumed superheroes are either serving the government or have retired. The story therefore mainly focuses on the protagonists’ struggles and personal development. The sudden murder of a superhero under the government’s sponsorship begins investigations which eventually pulls the protagonist from their retirement leading them into war to confront a discovered plot intended to start a nuclear war meant to destroy millions of innocent people. As we shall soon find out, the ‘watchmen’ is no doubt a book that should be used as an educational material because it covers many facets of the literally requirements. Although it was initially designed and written as a mere comic book to provide aesthetical satisfaction of its time, it doesn’t have many rivals of its nature to match. The entire plot, setting, characters, the theme, figurative language, and science-art fiction interrelations are just but a few features of this book that eminently presents themselves even to a layman reader as masterfully structured pieces. In addition, the more perceptions of different categories of personalities are well integrated in the book to give the reader a high degree of determining and comprehending the ones which are more comprehensible than others. This book therefore acts as an individual ethic meter. The ‘watchmen’ is very appropriate to use as a literally educational books it cuts across many boundaries of human life in general. For example, its composition and art aspect can, to some extent be equated to the classical or even oriental literally works. Not only does it enumerate the comic

Life Span Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Life Span Research - Essay Example At certain foreseeable occasions in the developmental process, new and different abilities emerge that have no obvious originations from earlier developmental periods. These developmental plateaus represent a qualitative transformation in maturity. To assist the study of development, developmental tasks are characteristically divided into four primary domains: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. This discussion first defines these development domains then applies these definitions to those of pre-school and adolescent age. Physical development refers to the growth of the body structure including muscles, bones and organs as well as comprising all motor and sensory development. Motor activity is dependent on muscle strength and coordination. Motor actions such as standing, sitting, and running involve the large muscles whereas speech, vision and the use of hands and fingers engage the smaller muscles of the body. Sensory development includes the five senses, sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing. â€Å"The coordination and integration of perceptual input from these systems are controlled by the central nervous system† (Roditti, 2002, p. 11). Cognitive development describes activities such as thought, memory, reasoning, problem-solving and abstract thinking. The use of language necessitates symbolization and memory and is one of the most difficult of cognitive activities. The term language does not mean the spoken word, however. Speaking is a motor activity. Therefore, language and speech are operated by different areas of the brain. Comprehending and expressing language is a complex cognitive endeavor. Social development includes the child’s interactions with other people and involvement in social groups. The earliest social function is the attachment to mother leading to the â€Å"development of relationships with adults and peers, assumption of social roles, adoption of group values and norms, adoption of a moral system, and

Customer Information Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Customer Information Management - Essay Example Companies particularly doing e-business achieve decisive competitive advantages by knowing their customers' wishes in detail, guaranteeing them customized service, and establishing long-term relationships with them. By delivering 24/7 personalized access to customer service via the Internet, a call centre, or face to face, they can get the most from their company's existing customers, and develop an ongoing stream of satisfied customers in the future []. Customer information management covers methods and technologies used by companies to manage their relationships with clients. Information stored on existing customers (and potential customers) is analyzed and used to this end [1]. Automated information management processes are often used to generate automatic personalized marketing based on the customer information stored in the system. In its broadest sense, customer information management covers all interaction and business with customers. A good CIM program allows a business to acquire customers, provide customer services and retain valued customers. CIM applications often track customer interests and requirements, as well as their buying habits. This information can be used to target customers selectively. ... Providing a mechanism for correcting service deficiencies Storing customer interests in order to target customers selectively Providing mechanisms for managing and scheduling maintenance, repair, and on-going support CIM applications often track customer interests and requirements, as well as their buying habits. This information can be used to target customers selectively. Furthermore, the products a customer have purchased can be tracked throughout the product's life cycle, allowing customers to receive information concerning a product or to target customers with information on alternative products once a product begins to be phased out [2]. Repeat purchases rely on customer satisfaction, which in turn comes from a deeper understanding of each customer and their individual needs. Customer Information management is an alternative to the "one size fits all" approach. In industrial markets, the technology can be used to coordinate the conflicting and changing purchase criteria of the sector. The data gathered as part of Customer Information management raises concerns over customer privacy and enables coercive sales techniques (Goodhue, 2002). However, Customer Information management does not necessarily involve gathering new data, but also includes making better use of customer information gathered as a result of routine customer interaction. The privacy debate generally focuses on the customer information stored in the centralised database itself, and fears over a company's handling of this information, especially regarding third parties [3]. Profit from the numerous advantages of an innovative solution for customer relationship management [3]: Reduce your costs by transferring functions in a targeted manner from company to customer, simplifying

Outline the Soviet Union's response to the rise of fascism in the Essay

Outline the Soviet Union's response to the rise of fascism in the 1930s and explain the signing of the MolotovRibbentrop Pact - Essay Example As a member of the League, Moscow participated in the imposition of sanctions on Italy after Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935 (Parker, 1974, pp. 293-332), and called for action against Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland in March 1936. In contrast, following Hitler's election in 1933, Germany withdrew from the League of Nations and began to rearm. Throughout the 1930s, Berlin embarked on an aggressive foreign policy which included marching into the Rhineland, intervening almost immediately in the Spanish Civil War, declaring the Anschluss in March 1938, and threatening invasion of the Czech Sudetenland by September. During this period, the British public also learnt of the persecution of the Jews and other minorities within Germany. What was known about Stalin's purges was equally abhorrent. Yet, much had occurred to suggest to any objective observer of the international situation that Nazi Germany was in fact Britain's greatest threat. Despite this, members of the Conservative Party in particular continued to 'believe Nazis on the whole are more conservative than communists and socialists'. On Aug. 23, 1939 Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin agreed to what became known as the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact. With that, Stalin made World War II possible. Assured that he was protected from Soviet counter-aggression in the East, Hitler invaded Poland a week later, Sept. 1. (Beichman, 1999, 19) The signal that something was up between the two totalitarian powers had come some four months earlier but European chancelleries overlooked it. For on May 3, 1939 came the startling news that the Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov had resigned "at his own request." Litvinov, of Jewish origin and strongly anti-Nazi, had been replaced by Vyacheslav Molotov. His ethnic origins would not embarrass Hitler in dealing with communists. Until the official announcement of the Nazi-Soviet pact, few believed such an agreement possible, especially the Communist Party leaders in the United States and the rest of the world - because the Soviet Union had posed as the dedicated leader in the fight against fascism. When Berlin and Moscow announced on Aug. 20, 1939 the signing of a trade treaty and newspaper dispatches began hinting about a further strategic alliance, communist spokesmen denounced such speculation as fascist in inspiration. They had every reason to disbelieve such a story because, after all, the Comintern line the world over was to seek a united front with the democratic West against fascism in the name of "collective security." Ignored was the editorial in Pravda Aug. 21 that the trade treaty "could be a serious step toward a further improvement of relations, not only economic but also political, between the USSR and Germany." But newspaper speculation about the Nazi-Soviet alliance turned out to be correct. From Soviet archives we have now learned that on Aug. 19, 1939, Stalin told the Soviet Politburo that if a world war should follow a Nazi-Soviet pact it would only serve to strengthen Communist Parties in France and Britain. Stalin then accepted Hitler's suggestion that a German delegation

John Updike`s A&P Essay Example for Free

John Updike`s AP Essay â€Å"A P† is first-person narrative revealing the delusively ordinary story related by the checkout boy in the grocery store named in the title. In â€Å"A P† the first-person narrator is defined largely by his tone and vocabulary. Updike molds his protagonist through the use of specific writing style, thus Sammy is casual and colloquial. The customers in his grocery are referred to as â€Å"the sheep† the commonness of which has been one day disturbed by the appearance of a sexually uninhibited, young ladies in bathing suits. Surveying the three girls as they wander the aisles, Sammy describes the girls, and here Updike’s style is prolifically intoxicated with the description of the girls with the flights of slang language, trying to show why these teenagers deserve the sacrifice: chunky with â€Å"a sweet broad soft-looking can†, breasts, on the other hand, become â€Å"two smooth scoops of vanilla†, the shoulder bones become â€Å"dented sheet of metal tilted in the light†. Besides, Sammy’s narration is lard with the discourse markers that make his flow of narration softer and folksy: â€Å"kind of jerk†; â€Å"she kind of led them†; â€Å"she had sort of oaky hair† The colloquial style is expressed not only in the vocabulary of the protagonist but in the violated sentence structures. Updikes uniqueness lies in his process of detachment. Coming in adjective or adverb modifiers rather than main sentence elements, the ironic posture emerges without affecting plot: â€Å"and a tall one, with black hair that hadnt quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too longyou know, the kind of girl other girls think is very â€Å"striking† and â€Å"attractive† but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much† Not rare are also broken structures like: â€Å"She had on a kind of dirty-pinkbeige maybe, I dont knowbathing suit†, or â€Å"The sheep pushing their carts down the aislethe girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)were pretty hilarious. † The story is presented through the present-tense narration. Such choice of grammar technique imparts narration the sense of immediacy, makes it a chronicle of one event, so that reader feels as if he himself is a witness of that event. â€Å"IN WALKS these three girls in nothing but bathing suits†, â€Å"The girls, and whod blame them, are in a hurry to get out, †, â€Å"Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray. † Updikes striking adjectives appear often: â€Å"kind of dirty-pinkbeige maybe†, â€Å"chubby berry-face†, â€Å"long white prima-donna legs†, â€Å"the cat-and-dog-food-breakfastcereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreadsspaghetti-soft-drinks-crackers-and-cookies aisle†; Their intrusiveness increases and besides literary irony, they produce an ambiguity of intent or author’s attitude (hence diction) in his story, which is matched somewhat by unexpected metaphors or visual comparisons, like â€Å"two smoothest scoops of vanilla†, â€Å"outside the sunshine is skating around on the asphalt outside the sunshine is skating around on the asphalt†, â€Å"his back [was] stiff, as if hed just had an injection of iron†. All of these figures, although appropriate functionally to the text, often call attention to themselves and piece out Updike’s style. Updike, John (1962) Pigeon Feathers, and Other Stories. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Tradition and Modernity Trends in Modern Jewish History Essay Example for Free

Tradition and Modernity Trends in Modern Jewish History Essay The system of traditional education as evaluated by the traditional society on one hand and the Haskalah on the other According to Katz, Jewish education and participation in the life of the community usually gave the average Jew sufficient knowledge to conduct his daily life. But as circumstances changed questions arose almost daily. The correct application of Halacha in present circumstances was normally not something that the layman could decide. For this, scholars of the Jewish law were needed. (Katz, 1988 p. 142) An earlier generation of Jewish educators had stressed the similarities between Judaism and the norms of American democracy. That position was, of course, shaped by the immigrant experience. A curriculum that consciously teaches the importance of difference is clearly addressing itself to a changed America and more important, another sort of Jew. Those Orthodox Jews who remain within the â€Å"four ells of the Law† reject the non-Jewish world in its entirety, even though they make use of modern technology to further their ends. Their schools do not depart from the core curriculum brought in the Mishnah. Institutions of this kind can be found all over the world. The more removed the school and the population it serves from tradition, the more idiosyncratic its curriculum. The emphasis on identity, particularly in the United States but increasingly so in other places as well, may be a way of saying that what one knows about Judaism is not as important as wanting to be a Jew, or feeling Jewish, something that can possibly be attained without the effort required for real learning. The separatism of those who live in a self-created ghetto is matched at the other extreme by those who reject Judaism and identification with the Jewish people in order to find a place, if not always an identity, in other places. This is relatively easy to do in a modern society that requires no overt or official act in order to leave the group of ones origin nor demands membership or affiliation in a recognized corporate entity. Jewish schools, like all others everywhere, teach more than is implied in the detail of the course of study. The work of Jewish educators in the last 100 years has created, for example, pockets of resistance to oppressive regimes and centers of a counterculture. There is a straight line that connects between volunteer teachers in Vilna in 1893 who taught Hebrew in private homes all over the city in order to avoid detection and the more recent underground Hebrew study groups in the former Soviet Union particularly those in the prison camps that served, among other things, as vehicles for preserving personal identity in a situation calculated to obliterate all individuality. The Jewish concept of Tikun Olam (Making the World a Better Place), for some schools a motif that integrates all that they do, resonates with the utopianism that characterizes revolutionary movements; todays youngsters can achieve the same spirit that moved their peers of an earlier time who attended socialist Yiddish schools that stressed the development of class consciousness as the route to an egalitarian society. The larger message of cultural pluralism remains implied in the idea that Judaism and democracy are not only compatible but also positively influence one another. Pupils in Jewish schools of all kinds who do their lessons well will sense that identification with the Jewish people promises a feeling of community that is difficult to find in society at large. Judaism and Jewish education has become a modern tradition. All modern Jewish movements find their origins in the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Before the Haskalah you were either a traditional Jew or you left the Jewish people to become part of the Christian majority. While local conditions varied, in general, pre-Haskalah Jewry led a life apart from its Gentile neighbors. In Western Europe Jews lived in ghettos (or at least in their own separate areas), in Eastern Europe in shtetls. This independent social life did not preclude commercial relations, but in almost all other respects Jews and Gentiles belonged to separate communities. (Katz 1988 p. 141-145) Jacob Katz describes these movements as: The movement of emancipation appeared in Western Europe at the same time that Hassidism rose in the East. From the 1760s a new type of person appeared called a maskil (an intellectual). This is a person who had studied torah but added to this knowledge ther things such as – foreign languages, general knowledge and interest in the world beyond the Jewish community. Soon they presented a program to change Jewish life – its education, structure of community and life-style. When their program began to dominate a sense of crisis swept the traditional community. This sense of dissolution was caused by processes occurring within and without Jewish society. (Katz 1988 p. 214-215) In the Renaissance followed by the Enlightenment, and the world beyond the ghetto became more welcoming and attractive. For the first time in a long time, the non-Jewish world had something worth having, and there was the glimmer of hope that Jews could have it while remaining Jews. The Jewish incarnation of the Enlightenment, the Haskalah, was the result. The Haskalah begins in Western Europe, and it is there that it gives rise to the first modern Jewish movements. There is no late eighteenth to early nineteenth-century Haskalah in Eastern Europe largely because there is no general late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century Enlightenment there. It is one thing to join the burghers of Frankfurt, to read Schiller and listen to Haydn, or to become a citizen of Republican France, a devotee of libertà ©, à ©galità ©, et fraternità ©. That is real competition for the ghetto and Rashi. But the illiterate, impoverished peasantry of the czarist empire, itself horribly oppressed, was not a club to which shtetl Jews eagerly sought membership. And it would be a while before an enticing Eastern European bourgeoisie emerged. When the Haskalah is finally felt among the Jews of Eastern Europe, it is under circumstances that give rise to very different modernist movements than those that emerged in the West. But it is these Eastern European movements that are the most immediate and influential forebears of the secular Jewish philosophy developed in this book. Later in the chapter I will turn to them. But first we will survey ideological developments among the Jews in Western Europe and its offshoot, the United States. By the eighteenth century a few Jews had permission to live in Berlin (and other German cities) because they were economically useful to the rulers. These Jews were called Shutzjuden (protected Jews). Initially Mendelssohn was allowed to live, study, and work in Berlin because of his association with a Shutzjude. Eventually he obtained this status for himself. Mendelssohn had received a traditional Jewish education from his father, Menachem Mendel, and his rabbi, David Fraenkel. When the latter was appointed rabbi of Berlin, Mendelssohn followed him there to continue his Jewish studies, but while there he also obtained a thorough secular education. (Mendelssohn, 1770 p.476) Mendelssohns first writings in German were secular philosophical works on aesthetics and metaphysics. When he turned to the nonsectarian rationalist philosophy of religion, Christian clerics, inclined to see Christianity as the embodiment of rational religion, challenged Mendelssohn to defend his Judaism. Mendelssohn was disinclined to do it. He had never made any claims of superiority for Judaism, and he was against engaging in religious polemics for principled and practical reasons (Mendelssohn noted that Jews were an oppressed minority in Germany). Still, he reluctantly took up the challenge, arguing that adherence to Judaism was rational for the Jews. Thereafter, much of Mendelssohns work concerned Jewish issues. He translated the Pentateuch and the Psalms into German, and he wrote biblical commentaries in Hebrew. He argued for the improvement of the civic status of Jews, and he intervened on behalf of Jewish communities with various governments. But of most interest to us here are his attempts to modify Jewish custom. (Mendelssohn, 1770 p.478) A loyal, learned, and observant Jew, Mendelssohn denied having an interest in changing any Jewish law or practices rooted in the law. He considered Judaism to be revealed legislation. Jews were divinely commanded and obliged to observe the law. But they were not obliged to have any particular religious beliefs. Judaism was not revealed dogma. Jews were free to believe what they would. Hence Mendelssohn did not view his rationalist interpretation of Jewish practice as an innovation in the religion. But his rationalism did lead to a call for changes in certain Jewish practices that Mendelssohn deemed irrational and unrelated to the law. He thought these practices were based in superstition and degeneracy, the fruit of isolation and oppression. He anticipated two outcomes from the changes: 1) Judaism would more clearly emerge as the rational and dignified religion it essentially was, thereby uplifting the Jewish character, and 2) Jews would ultimately be more acceptable as fellow countrymen to the Gentiles. This second outcome would be a result of the first, combined with the increasing rationalization and liberalization of Christian society itself. (Mendelssohn, 1770 p. 480) There were no Orthodox Jews before the Haskalah. While there were some variations of local customs, there was only one brand of Judaism. Individuals may have been more or less pious, but there was no disagreement about the substance of Judaism.   It was only with the Enlightenment and the rise of Reform that traditional Jewry had to define its relation to modernity. Reform Jews were claiming that it was now possible to join European civilization and remain a Jew, if certain changes were made in Judaism. But of course many Jews refused to deviate from traditional Jewish law. One segment of the Jews who were unwilling to make changes in the law thought that modernity and Judaism were incompatible; these Jews had no desire to join European civilization. They are best termed Traditional Jews. Traditional Jews tried to ignore and isolate themselves from non-Jewish culture. Except for some Hasidic sects, there are really no surviving communities of traditional Jews.   (Mendelssohn, 1770 p. 485) But there was another segment of Jews, also completely opposed to any changes in the law, who believed that strict Torah adherence could accommodate modernity. They constitute Jewish Orthodoxy, which, in its way, is as much a child of Mendelssohn and the Haskalah as Reform is. The basic belief of Orthodoxy, which it shares with Traditional Judaism, is that the Torah is divinely given and eternally valid. Even the authoritative rulings of the future are believed to have been revealed at Sinai. 11 The Orthodox hold that to deny the divine and binding nature of the Torah is to drain Judaism of its substance. The 613 traditional mitzvot, commandments, are divinely ordained and obligatory for Jews. No doctrinal concessions are permissible. Jacob Katz concludes that It was in the field of education that the conflict between tradition and innovation became open war In gentile society a new educational philosophy had emerged that all children should receive the same education, regardless of religion. (Katz 1988 p.229) A maskil called Naphtali Hertz Wessely   came up with a different idea in a famous pamphlet called Words of Peace and Truth: the basis of education should be educational values shared by all men (torat ha-adam) while the teacjing of torah (torat ha-elohim) was to remain only a special supplement of the Jews education. Wessely emphasized subjects such as the local language, geography, history, etc. Even in his proposed Jewish studies he preferred bible studies, Hebrew and grammar which were closer to outside society over Talmudic studies. Wessely argued that such a curriculum would lead to the perfection and salvation of the individual Jew. (Katz 1988 p.230) Compare the responses to Hasidism of the vilna Gaon and of Rabbi Hayyim of volozhin. The Gaon is alleged to have urged his disciples to engage in secular studies; indeed, the example set by the Gaon himself in this respect encouraged the maskilim to take up the banner of general education. The historians who have critically discussed the attitude of the Gaon of Vilna to Haskalah are Ben-Zion Katz, Joseph Klausner, Israel Zinberg, Louis Greenberg, and Raphael Mahler. These authors, though differing in various details, display remarkable similarities in their conceptions of the Gaons position and role in relation to the beginnings of Haskalah in eastern Europe. The Gaons positive attitude to what would ultimately characterize the Haskalah movement, according to the aforementioned authors, is exemplified first and foremost in his favorable approach to secular studies. For example, Katz holds that, although the Gaon rejected philosophy, he loved and greatly admired the natural sciences. (Mendelssohn, 1770 p. 378) During the intermediate days of Passover in 1772, the organized struggle against Hasidism was launched. The community of Vilna, the largest and most important of the Jewish communities of Poland and Lithuania, initiated the struggle and called on other communities to follow in its footsteps. (Etkes, 2002 p. 73)   This was not a struggle over ideas between two currents or what may be called a Kulturkampf. The community of Vilna and the communities associated with it started a total war against what they viewed as a deviant sect. The aim of this war was to remove Hasidism and the Hasidim from the world. For that purpose the community organizations used a variety of means at their disposal: testimony was gathered about the â€Å"crimes† of the Hasidim, Hasidic writings were seized and burned, Hasidic leaders were arrested and punished, and above all, it was forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to maintain Hasidic minyanim. (Etkes, 2002 p. 74) Shimeon Dubnow describes the struggles outbreak according to his general conception of the essence of Hasidism, on the one hand, and of the â€Å"rabbinate, † on the other. He defines the rabbinate as â€Å"the system of the religion of the book, a religion consisting principally of study; expertise in literature thousands of years old, in laws, and in infinitely minute concatenations of law upon law; and scrupulous obedience to the commandments in all their precise details. † In Dubnows opinion, the rabbinate, in this sense, laid the normative foundations of the community organization and established its values. (Etkes, 2002 p. 75) Dubnow regarded the struggle against Hasidism as a natural response, even a necessary one, of the rabbinate and the community leadership against a movement that rebelled against them and challenged them. As he says, the aim of Hasidism was essentially to challenge the scholarly foundation of the religion and to replace it with the element of hidden faith, to emphasize emotion and devotion in the observance of the commandments rather than piling up heaps of regulations on them. By the nature of his discussion, Katz does not deal with events in detail, he does not address the question of the role played by the Gaon versus that played by the community leaders. However, regarding the motivations for opposition to Hasidism, it appears from Katzs account that the Gaon and the community leaders acted from identical motives: the defense of the tradition against those who deviated from it and threatened its integrity.   (Etkes, 2002 p. 79) While Dubnow and Katz believed that the Gaon and the community leaders acted from identical motives, Hayyim Hillel Ben-Sasson contends that â€Å"there were two circles of warriors here, each of which had its own emphasis and preference regarding the purposes of the war and its means. † On the basis of a comparative analysis of the polemical writings those that were, in his opinion, written with the direct inspiration of the Gaon versus those composed by the community leaders BenSasson reached the conclusion that the Gaon and his circle combated Hasidism because of â€Å"matters of faith and ways of worshiping the Creator, † whereas the community leaders opposed Hasidim because of their damage to â€Å"communal and religious order. † (Etkes, 2002 p. 75) When the leaders of the Rabbi Shneur Zalman was forced to deal with the issue of the Gaons authority because the leaders of the Mitnagdim continually appealed to that authority, whenever objections were raised to their claims. In that matter as well, Rabbi Shneur Zalman advanced a Halakhic argument. He did not deny the view of the Mitnagdim that the Gaon was unique in his generation. However, against the opinion that one must obey the greatest authority of the generation without reservation, he advanced the principle of majority rule. True, the Gaon was unique in his generation, but he was still a single man, whereas the maggid of Mezhirech and the other Hasidic leaders were the majority. Altogether, the position that Rabbi Shneur Zalman took regarding the Gaon was ambivalent: he recognized his extraordinary personal merit, but he also denied his authority as a sole Halakhic arbiter. It would not be too much to say that there is a good deal of irony in the fact that the leaders of the Mitnagdim constantly had recourse to the Gaons charisma, whereas the Hasidic leader based his argument on Halakhic principles. (Etkes, 2002 p. 75-92) As noted, the role played by the Gaon at the start of the campaign against Hasidism and the motivations that guided him occupied a considerable part of the letter sent by Rabbi Shneur Zalman to his Hasidim in Vilna in 1797. Later in his epistle, Rabbi Shneur Zalman tells his Hasidim that, after the failed visit to Vilna, the Hasidic leaders traveled to Shklov to take part in the controversy initiated by the Mitnagdim there. When the Mitnagdim realized that they could not refute the arguments of the Hasidim, â€Å"they came with a strong arm and hung themselves from the great tree of ha-Gaon he-Hasid, may his light burn brightly. † Thus the failure to appease the Mitnagdim in Shklov was also connected to the Gaons authority. Rabbi Shneur Zalman further explains to his Hasidim that, not only had the Gaon prevented dialogue and reconciliation in the past, but until he changed his mind there was no hope for reconciliation and accommodation. The constant repetition of the statement that the Gaon was the one who had prevented and continued to prevent any possibility of reconciliation between the Hasidim and their opponents reflects recognition of the exceptional force of his authority. The Gaon regarded the people from whom he received information as reliable witnesses whose word was not to be doubted. At that stage further information came to him: the â€Å"well-known intermediary, † whose identity is unknown to us, told him of a Hasidic interpretation of a passage in the Zohar. The Gaon regarded that interpretation as â€Å"heresy and Epicureanism. † Hence, when Rabbi Menahem Mendel and Rabbi The description of the attitude of the Gaon was not meant to remind the reader of forgotten things. Following those words, the Mitnaged challenges the Hasid: how did he have the temerity to thrust his head in among the tall mountains, that is to say, the Gaon, on the one hand, and the Hasidic leaders, on the other, and to decide in favor of the latter against the stand of the Gaon? Underlying this challenge was the Gaons authority. That authority, whose power permitted the persecution of the Hasidim, is here presented as a reason for rejecting their way. (Etkes, 2002 p. 75-95) Rabbi Hayyims friendly attitude toward the Hasidim who studied in his yeshiva and were guests in his home, the interest he showed in the teachings of their rabbis, and that fact that his son owned Hasidic books and studied them all of these clearly prove that the Mitnagdim had some authority for ignoring the prohibitions imposed by the Gaon on contact with Hasidim. The argument that the Gaons position regarding Hasidism was based on error is not new. As noted, this was the opinion of both Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk and of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady. Both of them absolved the Gaon of malicious intention because he had been misled by false witnesses. Rabbi Shneur Zalman took a further step and presented evidence that even the Sages of the Sanhedrin were liable to err. Hence the error of a communal leader was a legitimate occurrence. However, the author of Maá ºâ€œref Haavodah is not content with these explanations and seeks to endow the Gaons error with a theological dimension. The Gaons opposition to Hasidism was not simply a human error, but the product of the precise planning of divine providence. The Kabbalistic principle that every manifestation of divine light must be accompanied by an obscuration and concealment also applies to the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov. Hence the Gaons opposition was a concealment necessitated by the abundance of light. This surprising explanation of the Gaons struggle against Hasidism is a kind of â€Å"sweetening of judgments, † for the severe persecution of the Hasidim was â€Å"sweetened† and its sting removed. The bans, the humiliations, and the bodily and economic injury to the Hasidim took place only to conceal the strength of the divine light that broke through with the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov and the maggid of Mezhirech. Thus it was possible to maintain both the honor and authority of the Gaon, and the righteousness and honor of Hasidism. This harmonious explanation, which can also be described as the mystification of the struggle between the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim, leaves no doubt as to which of the two warring camps received the divine light and which of them served as a veil meant to conceal it. The effort of the author of Maá ºâ€œref Haavodah to make sense of the opposition to Hasidism led by the Gaon expresses a viewpoint typical in the first decades of the nineteenth century. In the beginning of the century the organized struggle against Hasidism came to an end. The cessation of the persecution can be attributed to a number of factors: the Gaons death, recognition by the Russian authorities of the right of the Hasidim to hold separate minyanim, and increasing recognition that the Hasidim were not heretics. (Etkes, 2002 p. 75-95) Jacob Katz describes Hassidism as a religious and social movement. It emphasized reaching ecstasy through the performance of the religious rites, and socially it set up a new pattern: a group of devoted followers headed by the Zaddik whos claim was charisma, not necessarily scholarship. This community was voluntary. (Katz, 1988 p.76) Works Cited Immanuel Etkes, The Gaon of Vilna: The Man and His Image (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), Chapter 5, pp. 151-208. Karlinsky, H. Harishon leshushelet Brisk [The founder of the Brisk dynasty]. Jerusalem, 1984. Katz, B-á ºâ€™. Rabanut, á ¸ ¥asidut, haskalah [The rabbinate, Hasidism, Haskalah]. 2 vols. Tel Aviv, 1956. Katz, J. â€Å"Jewish Civilization as Reflected in the Yeshivot—Jewish Centers of Higher Learning. † Journal of World History 10 (1967): 698–700. Katz, J. Tradition and Crisis: Jewish Society at the End of the Middle Ages. New York, 1993. Krassen, M. A. â€Å"Devequt and Faith in Zaddiquim. † Ph. D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1990. Landau, B. Hagaon heá ¸ ¥asid miVilna [The righteous Gaon of Vilna]. Jerusalem, 1965. Marcus, I. G., ed. Dat veá ¸ ¥evra bemishnatam shel asidei Ashkenaz [Religion and society in the doctrine of á ¸ ¤asidei Ashkenaz]. Jerusalem, 1987. Mendelssohn translated the Torah (Pentateuch) into German probably starting in the middle of the 1770s.

History of Chemotherapy and Cancer Treatment Research

History of Chemotherapy and Cancer Treatment Research An Early Victory A few doors from Freireichs office at the NCI, Min Chiu Li and Roy Hertz had been studying choriocarcinoma, a cancer of the placenta, which often metastasizes rapidly into the lung and the brain. Choriocarcinoma cells secrete a hormone called choriogonadotropin. The level of that hormone, also called the hcg level, was used by Li to track the course of the cancer as it responded to the therapy. In 1956, a young woman called Ethel Longoria suffered from choriocarcinoma that had metastasized to her lungs. Her tumors had begun to bleed into the linings of her lungs. Li and Hertz stabilized her and then treated her with methotrexate. After the first dose, when the doctors left for the night, they didnt expect that theyd find her in rounds the next morning. But she was alive. After four rounds of therapies, her tumor disappeared; the chest X-ray improved; and the hcg level rapidly plummeted toward zero. The tumors had actually vanished with chemotherapy. The trouble was the hcg level had not gone all the way to zero. Although the tumor seemed to have vanished, Li continued to treat her with chemotherapy based on her elevated hCG levels. The NCI administration disapproved, feeling that Li was experimenting on his patients, and fired him in July 1957. However, Li was ultimately proven to be right. Those patients whose chemotherapy were stopped once the visible tumors disappeared inevitably relapsed, while those who continued the treatment until their hcg levels had gone to zero were cured. Li had stumbled on a fundamental principle of oncology: Cancer needed to be systemically treated long after every visible sign of it had vanished. Mice and Men Adding vincristine to the arsenal of chemotherapy drugs had put the researchers at the NCI in a bind. It would take forever for the consortium to finish its trials because of the large number of permutations and combinations of drugs needed to be tested. Howard Skipper, a scientist from Alabama, provided Frei and Freireich a way out of the impasse. Skipper, who called himself a mouse doctor, was an outsider to the NCI. He had tested chemotherapy drugs in mice with leukemia, lymphomas and solid tumors as models for human cancers and came up with two pivotal findings: Chemotherapy kills a fixed percentage of cancer cells per treatment. The patients would need to be treated multiple times to get the compounded iterative effect; and Chemotherapy drugs are more effective when given in combination to optimize cancer killing capacity while minimizing drug resistance and side effects. Freireich and Frei were now ready to tackle a four-drug regimen known as VAMP, with each letter standing for one drug. VAMP When Frei and Freireich presented their preliminary plan for VAMP to the Acute Leukemia Group B (ALGB) at a national meeting on blood cancers, the audience hesitated. The group refused to sponsor VAMP until the many other trials had been completed. But Frei Came up with a compromise: VAMP would be studied at the NCI, outside the purview of the ALGB. The VAMP trial was launched in 1961. At the end of three intensively painful weeks, the leukemia cells went into remission. The remissions persisted for weeks, exceeding everyones expectation at the NCI. A few weeks later, the NCI sent another small cohort of patients to try VAMP. Once again, after the initial catastrophic dip, the leukemia vanished. The remissions were reliable and durable. In the fall of 1963, some children in remission came back to the clinic with minor neurological complaints such as headaches, numbness, and seizures. To investigate the possibility of cancer cells invading the brain, Frei and Freireich examined the childrens spinal fluid, and confirmed that leukemia cells were colonizing the brain. The neurological complaints were early signs of a more serious devastation. Eventually all the children came back with neurological complaints went into coma. It was a consequence of the bodys own defense system. The blood-brain barrier had kept VAMP out of the central nervous system, allowing the leukemia cells to colonize the one place that is unreachable by chemotherapy. But not all children had relapsed and died. About 5 percent of the treated children never relapsed with leukemia in the central nervous system. They remained in remission not just for weeks or months, but for years. An Anatomists Tumor In 1832, an English anatomist named Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866) found a strange systemic disease among a series of cadavers. The disease was characterized by a peculiar enlargement of lymph glands. He wrote up the case of seven such cadavers and presented it to the Medical and Chirurgical Society. It was received with little enthusiasm. Soon after publishing his paper, Hodgkin drift away from medicine, and his anatomical studies slowly came to a halt. Hodgkins disease is a cancer of the lymph glands. The tumor moves from one contiguous node to another. It is a local disease on the verge of transforming into a systemic one. In 1898, an Austrian pathologist named Carl Sternberg discovered the cancerous lymph cells when looking through a microscope at a patients glands. Henry Kaplan, a professor of radiology at Stanford wanted to use radiation to treat human cancers. He knew radiation could treat solid tumors could be treated with radiation, but the outer shell of the cancer needed to be penetrated deep enough to kill cancer cells. A linear accelerator (linac) with its sharp, dense beam would be ideal for that purpose. In 1953, he persuaded Standford to tailor-make a linac for the hospital. With the linac in operation, Kaplan contemplated on his cancer target. Since Linac could only focus on local sites, his natural target was Hodgkins disease, a predictable local tumor. Kaplan wanted to prove that he could improve relapse-free survival by using a technique called extended field radiation (EFR). Under EFR, the X-rays are delivered to an entire area of lymph notes rather than to a single swollen node. In 1962, Kaplan conducted a trial. The result showed that EFR had significantly reduced the relapse rate of Hodgkins disease. In 1964, he did another trial with a larger field of radiation on a limited cohort of patients with tumors in just a few contiguous lymph nodes. The result showed even greater relapse-free intervals, stretching out into years. Wasnt the logic of extended field radiation similar to radical surgery -carving out larger and larger areas for treatment? Why did Kaplan succeed where others had failed? Kaplan was successful because he restricted radiotherapy to patients with early stage local cancers. Those are the natural disease for radiotherapy. Advanced-stage cancers are inherently different and would require other forms of treatment. An Army on the March In 1963 at the NCI Clinical Center in Bethesda, a group of researchers, including Zubrod, George Canellos, Frei, Freireich, and Vincent DeVita were making a list of cytotoxic drugs on one side of a blackboard. On the other side was a list of new cancers they want to target breast, ovarian, lymphomas, lung cancers. Connecting between the two lists were lines matching combinations of drugs to cancers. One question that came to their mind was whether chemotherapy could ever cure patients with any advanced cancers. The only way to answer that generic question was to direct the growing army of drugs against other cancers. They knew leukemia responded to combination chemotherapy. If another kind of cancer also responded to that strategy, then combination chemotherapy might cure all cancers. To test the principle, they focused on Hodgkins disease-a cancer that was both solid and liquid, a stepping-stone between leukemia and, say, breast cancer or lung cancer. Kaplan had proved that radiation therapy can cure local forms of Hodgkins disease. If they could prove that combination chemotherapy can cure metastatic Hodgkins disease, then the equation would be fully solved. In 1964, DeVita led the test of combination chemotherapy for metastatic Hodgkins disease. He combined four drugs-nitrogen mustard, oncovin, prednisone, and procarbasine into a highly toxic cocktail called MOPP. The nausea that accompanied the therapy was devastating. The toxic cocktail had weakened the immune system allowing pneumocystis carinii (PCP), a rare form of pneumonia, to sprout up. The therapy had caused permanent sterility in men and some women. The result of the study was remarkable. At the end of six months, 35 of the 43 patients had a complete remission. The most disturbing side effect would emerge a decade later. Several patients, cured of Hodgkins disease, would relapse with a second cancer, typically a drug-resistant leukemia caused by the prior MOPP therapy. *** In May 1968, Frei and Freireichs VAMP combination chemo had cured most of the children with leukemia in their bone marrow, but not the leukemia that had spread to their brain. A 36-year-old oncologist name Donald Pinkel thought that VAMP had not been intensive enough. Pinkel, a protà ©gà © of Farbers, had been recruited from Boston to start the leukemia program at St. Judess Hospital in Memphis. He determined to push the logic of combination chemotherapy to its limit with four crucial innovations: To use combinations of combinations of drugs mixed and matched together for maximum effect; To instill chemotherapy directly into the nervous system via the spinal cord; To kill residual cells in the brain by high-dose radiation; and To continue chemotherapy for month after month, even after the cancer seemed to have disappeared. The treatment protocol started with the standard chemotherapy drugs given in rapid-fire succession. The spinal canal was injected with methotrexate at defined intervals. The brain was irradiated with high doses of X-rays. The treatment lasted up to 30 months. It was an all-out combat. In July 1968, the St. Judes team published its results: Twenty-seven out of the thirty-one treated had a complete remission. Ten had never relapsed. The median time to relapse had increased to five years. By 1979, 278 patients had completed their chemotherapy. About 20 percent had relapsed, 80 percent was still in complete remission, disease free, after chemotherapy. The Cart and the House By the fall of 1968, the successes of the trials in Bethesda and in Memphis shifted the landscape of cancer therapy. The success of chemotherapy for both leukemia and Hodgkins disease made it seem like a unifying solution for cancer. In Boston, Farber celebrated the news by throwing a public party. He recast the occasion as the symbolic twenty-first birthday of Jimmy. Conspicuously missing from the guest list was the original Jimmy himself-Einar Gustafson. The real Jimmy had returned to a private life in Maine, where he now lived with his wife and three kids. As clinical oncologists were offering their unifying solution for cancer, cancer scientists were offering its unifying cause: viruses. The grandfather of this theory was Peyton Rous, a chicken virologist at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. In 1911, Rous discovered that a malignant tumor growing on a chicken could be transferred to another chicken by exposing the healthy bird to a filtrate derived from the tumor cells. He concluded that the cancer was transmitted by a virus. This virus is now known as the Rous sarcoma virus, or RSV. This discovery had set off a frantic search for more cancer viruses. In 1958, an Irish surgeon named Denis Burkitt discovered an aggressive form of lymphoma among children in Africa. Analyzing the cancer cells from these children, two British virologists discovered a human virus inside them. The new virus was named Epstein-Barr virus or EBV. Because viral diseases were potentially preventable, the NCI inaugurated a Special Virus Cancer Program in the early 1960s to systematically hunt for human cancer viruses. The cancer virus theory needed a deeper explanation: how might viruses cause a cell to become malignant? The success of cytotoxic chemotherapy raised a fundamental question: how would the therapy, the cure, connect with the cause of the cancer? As Kenneth Endicott, the NCI director, acknowledged in 1963: The program directed by the National Cancer Institute has been derided as one that puts the cart before the horse by searching for a cure before knowing the cause. But for Mary Lasker, this cart would have to drag the horse.