To Make the World a Better Place
I have developed a strong sense of social responsibility at Brown, in part due to the politically interested student body, and in part because I decided to concentrate in political science with a focus in political theory. I chose this subject because it was the one that made me think the hardest, and the one that energized me the most. My heart beats faster when I hear something new and compelling in class; the satisfaction I get from writing a successful analytical paper is, for me, proof that I chose wisely. I also chose a subject that tries to answer, or at least ask, what are in my opinion some very difficult questions, about justice, human nature and the way we live our lives. Brown has been an academic dream come true for me, providing intellectual challenges and exposing me to what I believe are some of the most important issues we face as a society. I have always been a school person, and Brown has been my ideal school.
Despite my general academic zeal, I just decided not to write a thesis. I have always considered a thesis to be the crowning achievement of a college career, but lately, the idea has become much less appealing to me. Perhaps it is because I have been abroad in Sweden this semester, and facing non-academic challenges has made it clear to me that personal success can be much more important than academic success. Perhaps it is because I am thinking about graduation a year from now and realizing that my real-world experience is rather limited. My extracurricular interests have shifted focus as well. Throughout high school and my first two years at Brown I was heavily involved in theater; it is certainly a place to make a reputation for yourself, and it can be a useful tool for social commentary. However, I started to feel that I was living in a sort of privileged dream-world; I needed to give back something more substantial than a good show. I taught learning disabled children last summer, and volunteered last semester at a preschool. I am currently looking for a job in politics for this summer, and I hope to use my time next year working on a great (as yet undetermined) public service project.
I feel extremely lucky to have been educated at Brown, and I believe that it is my duty to try to make the world a better place with the knowledge and skills I have gained.
Within school, I have participated in Glee Club/Chorus and Drama Club. I have a strong interest and love of both and hope to continue with them in the future. Last year, I had the privilege of being selected for our school's select choir, North Naturals. The Congregation Sons of Israel in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania honored us with the chance to perform at their annual Holocaust Memorial Service. The Messiah College Women's Choir also invited us to perform as a guest in their annual spring concert, in which I performed a solo, along with some members of the Women's Chorus. This year, I consider it a great prestige to say I participate in my school's select choir for ninth- and tenth-graders- Cantamos. In Drama Club, I have performed a variety
In 1912, Alfred Wegener, a German scientist, was the first to notice this and develop the theory of plate tectonics. He noticed that the earth’s continents fit together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. This, combined with the fact that similar fossils and rock types are found on different continents separated by large bodies of water, helped him formulate his conjecture. He contended that the plates at one point formed one large continent called Pangea, which allowed like fossils and rock types to become closer together, which broke apart. Despite how well the continents fit together and the facts about the geology, the general public would not accept Wagener’s proposal. This is largely due to religious conflicts and the lack of evidence presented to them.
Sickle cell anemia is the most common in hemoglobin mutation diseases due to mutation to beta-blobin gene. The substitution of valine for glutamate at position 6 of the beta chains paces a nonpolar residue on the outside of hemoglobin S. the oxygen affinity and allosteric properties of hemoglubin are virtually unaffected by this changes. However, this alternation markedly reduces the solubility of the deoxygenated but not the oxygenated form of hemoglobin. Thus, sicking occurs when there is a high concentration of the deoxygenated form of hemoglobin.
"Values and Norms of the Deaf Community." College of the Canyons. College of the Canyons, n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013.
Imagine this; the year is 1836. You are a 17-year-old student interested in learning more about the world around you; however, such an opportunity won’t come your way because you are black. Due to this fact you have no hope of furthering your education past the reading, writing, and arithmetic their slave masters taught your parents. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The minds of many African American’s go to waste due to individual ignorance of their people and thus of themselves. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were put into effect to educate the black mind and eliminate the ignorance. The discussion of whether Historically Black Colleges and Universities are still necessary in the 21st century has taken place in recent years. Within the discussion many debate that due to the fact that the world is no longer like it was in the 1800’s, the time period in which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created, the purpose of them no longer exists. However, the cultural significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seems to be overlooked by those who argue their importance and relevance in a time where blacks have the option of attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The purpose and grounds on which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were developed are still being served. The need to increase efforts to not only rouse, but support Historically Black Colleges and Universities is necessary now more than ever in order to preserve our past, fulfill the purpose of our present, and ensure our future.
In practice capital punishment is flawed in a multitude of ways and should not be practiced, but in principle capital punishment is ethical and can be a legitimate sentence. Capital punishment can be supported when the crime committed is extremely horrendous and when the individual under question who has committed a serious crime cannot be rehabilitated. As a rule of thumb rehabilitation should be the first goal, but if that goal cannot be completed the individual is a threat to society and capital punishment can be justified. There are few exceptions to the rule above. There are certain crimes that are so horrendous that the individual deserves capital punishment regardless of their capacity for rehabilitation.
The most common forms of the differing Thalassemias are Alpha-Thalassemia and Beta-Thalassemia. Thalassemia is also commonly known by Cooley's anemia and Mediterranean anemia. Alpha Thalassemia is when genes related to the alpha globin protein are altered or missing, which is known as gene mutation. Alpha Thalassemia is primarily dominant in people from Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China. Alpha Thalassemia has 5 subtypes while Beta Thalassemia has 3 main subtypes. Beta Thalassemia exists when defected genes alter production of the beta globin protein. Beta Thalassemia is prominent in people from the Mediterranean region, Italy, Middle East, Greece, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Southern China. However, Alpha and Beta Thalassemia both have a major and minor form of...
The concepts of the development of artificial intelligence can be traced as far back as ancient Greece. Even something as small as the abacus has in someway led to the idea of artificial intelligence. However, one of the biggest breakthroughs in the area of AI is when computers were invented.
Artificial Intelligence may come in many forms, but for the purpose of this paper, I have adopted the definition from The Columbia Encyclopedia (2008), which states that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a discipline of computer science that aims to focus on the creation of machines that can mimic intelligent human behavior. It is the attempt to give computers human reasoning and thought processes. Humans have always had an interest in the design, creation and application of smart machines. Consequently, with the discovery and introduction of computer systems and with the decades of research in programming that has followed, humans have now realized that many of their ideas may be possible by the development of these systems. The most intriguing issue with this field of study is that as time passes, technology changes and so does the definition of Artificial Intelligence. It is, in a lighter definition of intelligence, the distinct applications of unnaturally occurring systems or application of artificial systems that rely on use of different knowledge levels to achieve set goals. Artificial Intelligence began with the theoretical work of mathematician Alan T...
Saving a life is a big deal. In many stories the tales of life saving events contain a hero and a damsel in distress. O’Conner’s story is very different from this original view of saving a life. In O’Conner’s story a man walks up to an old farm house and starts to talk to the old lady who owns it. She says that she can give him work and food, but no money. He eventually agrees and begins working for her while living in her old run down car. He vows that he is going to fix it up and make it run. As he stays there the old lady begins to talk to him about her daughter. He daughter is about sixteen and cannot talk and is always doing strange things. The old lady wants Mr. Shiftlet to marry her daughter. Her argument is that she will never talk back or complain to him. Once he gets the old car running then the old lady really starts to pester him about marrying her daughter. Finally he gives in and he marries the daughter. On their way to a mobile when he stopped at a restaurant because he thought that she must be hungry, but once they are seated inside she falls asleep. Then he leaves her asleep in the restaurant and drove on. On the way he sees a boy standing on the side of the road picks him up. The boy does not say much and Mr. Shiftlet begins to tell him things about his mother and how he left her. The boy gets upset all of s sudden and yells at him and then jumps out of the car with his suit case. Then it starts raining and he raced into the Mobile. In this story I think that Mr. Shiftlet saves his own life by working on the car and then taking it. In this way he saves his own life, just like the title predicts. In The Life You Save Might Be Your Own by Flannery O’Conner Mrs. Crater’s life is fulfilled, Lucynell ends up with the...
Individualism is rampant in our world. More and more people are concerned with what they want, when they want it and how they want it. They put blinders on and go about their work, convinced that “looking out for number one” is the only way to succeed and find happiness. If everyone were to adopt this way of thinking and living, the world would become violently competitive, gloomy, and callous. However, if we open our lives and give service to those less fortunate than ourselves, we allow our hearts to receive immeasurable happiness. There are countless members of society, who make service and ultimately self-sacrifice a part of their everyday lives. One of the greatest examples the world has of a self-sacrificing person is Mother Teresa. She said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love… It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.” Doctors Without Borders is a powerful humanitarian organization that was most recently volunteering in Haiti. Part of their mission statement reads, “…We unite direct medical care with a commitment to bearing witness and speaking out against the underlying causes of suffering. Our aid workers and staff protest violations of humanitarian law on behalf of populations who have no voice, and bring the concerns of their patients to public forums…” These are just two mainstream examples of people and organizations that live and work for others, to improve the quality of their lives.
When my mother saw beggars standing on the intersection asking for help, my mom would try to help them by giving them the money, but my father would argue that you should not help because this would only encourage them to rely on other people’s help. My father says they should helped by the government, instate of helped by individuals. It is not our responsibility to take care of them. I disagree with both of them because they do not look at or think about the problem closely enough. I think people are not only facing problems with wealth, but diseases, and war. These are also problems that many people in many other countries also face. If we work together, we may be able to help each other and make this world better. In my opinion, there are several solutions that poor countries and wealthy countries working together could implement that would benefit both.
Artificial intelligence is the engineering of machines, especially computer programs that usually involve human intelligence. Artificial intelligence is using computers to understand human intelligence such as visual awareness, decision-making, and converting language. It could also be described as turning human intelligence into intelligence for machines and technology. The future capabilities of machines are dependent upon how well the machine can replicate human intelligence.
Many people have a stage in their life when they stop for a moment and think “what am I here to do?”. For me that stage in life had arrived a long time ago. I was about fourteen years old, I felt alone, I felt scared, but most of all I felt useless I didn't know in what direction my life was going. I kept asking the Lord to show me, to lead me to what he wants me do to and to shape me into who he wants me to be. When I say purpose most people think about the career I want to have, while having a career is important to me. I feel like that still doesn't complete my purpose. I want to do more for us, for humanity, for our future. I believe my ultimate purpose in life is to help people in need of attention and affection. I think that the Lord has put me through difficult obstacles in life so that I could help the people that went through or are going through the same things that I have left in my past. My motivation for doing this is first of all is knowing that this is what God wants me to do, and knowing that he is blessing me. And then of course is helping the people, seeing their smiles and telling them that they are not alone and that I understand them. And will help them with whatever I can. What I do to achieve my purpose is that I go to many centers, and meet people, mostly children that have been through any kind of abuse.
“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person,” was once said by a man named Scott Sorrell. In today’s modern world and age, everything seems to be progressing and getting larger at a mind blowing rate. This includes people’s attitudes on themselves, on other people, and on the world in general. Many people are insecure and spiteful towards their physique or their overall worth, and bitter and disconnected from other people. Scott Sorrell’s quote is conveying that one can make the world a better place both for themselves and for other people simply by changing their attitude and being positive. I agree with Scott Sorrell’s quote because by choosing to be happy from within, people’s positive attitudes can reach other people and eventually the world, making it a “better place”.