Plantation and Race in the Caribbean Essay -- Caribbean History Racism

Plantation and Race in the Caribbean The incredible history of the Caribbean is indeed, one of the most rich, and at the same time troubling, of the New World. Its incredibly heterogeneous population and its social racial base make it a very difficult place to, for instance, live and raise a family. While some children may have a future because of their light complexion, the others are doomed to a life of poverty in the unforgiving culture and society of the Caribbean. Three people have taken it upon themselves to portray the Caribbean in their own ways. The opinions of Sidney Mintz, Michelle Cliff and Antonio Benitez-Rojo are made clear in their works and are discussed below in relation to two main issues; race and the plantations. The Issue of Race Perhaps out of personal experience and perhaps out of direct experience with people of the Caribbean, Michelle Cliff makes, by far, the biggest deal out of the race issue and the role that it played (and still plays) in Jamaica. Benitez-Rojo and Mintz certainly mention race as a factor in determining social status as well, but they do not base their articles on this. Cliff dedicates both Abeng and her article to this issue. It seems to have touched her in a way that the other issues have not. Her works are far more personal than the other two, and this is certainly the most distinguishing characteristic between her and the others. Her accounts, though fictional, are much more gripping and interesting, because they involve so much more feeling and emotion. The others seem to be nothing more than basic historical accounts of the Caribbean. It is impossible to look at her novel for more than a few moments and not pick up some sort of passage about the tragedy of this issue.... ...ean is presented with, neither is able to portray what Cliff can. Simply reading about the dynamics of plantation and race does not illustrate it enough. Though it is certainly very important to understand these dynamics, and thus read the articles of Mintz and Benitez-Rojo, the study of these issues would be incomplete without Cliff’s works on the subjects of the Caribbean. Bibliography Benitez-Rojo, Antonio. "The Repeating Island," Post-contemporary Interventions, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 1992. Cliff, Michelle. Abeng, Penguin Group, New York, 1984. Cliff, Michelle. "If I Could Write This In Fire, I Would Write This In Fire," An Anthology of Literature From the Caribbean, The New Press, New York. Mintz, Sidney W. "The Caribbean as a Socio-cultural Area", as seen in Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean, Garden City, New Jersey, 1971.

Realistic Dual Natures in Louisa May Alcotts Little Women Essay

Realistic Dual Natures in Alcott’s Little Women â€Å"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual†²s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is† - Carl Jung Each of us has the capacity for virtue or vice, and our daily actions reflect the combination of both.   In literature, however, people are sometimes depicted as being completely one or the other, giving us inaccurate views of human nature.   We identify better with characters who are more like us--neither completely good nor bad.   Meg, Jo and Amy March in Alcott’s Little Women do not flatly portray complete good or complete evil, but their realistic dual natures increase their believability and intensify their moral influence on us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This character duality is first evident in Margaret, the eldest sister, as we receive a description detailing her looks and countenance.   Meg is â€Å"very pretty† with â€Å"large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain† (Alcott[1] 5).   This description leads the reader through sweetness and innocence, finishing with a flaw.   From the beginning, her vanity glares at us as her most obvious fault.   Yet, in â€Å"spite of her small vanities, Margaret had a sweet and pious nature, which unconsciously influenced her sisters† (LW 16).   Contrasting the negativity in Meg’s personality is a kind and remarkable side.   Both vanity and kindness represent themselves throughout the novel as we evaluate the effects this duality has upon our judgment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leading the novel, Meg’s vanity manifests itself in her desires for Christmas.   Times are difficult and money is tight, yet Meg has ideals of her own regarding the Christmas money.   She explains to ... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The implications of the novel may not fully impact us until later, after we take the time to examine the flaws and strengths we see in Meg, Jo, and Amy.   Like us, these three March girls are completely human--possessing dual natures of both good and evil--and because of their realistic natures, they have a greater moral influence on us.   Once we fully examine the characters, we examine ourselves and have the responsibility to act on the characters’ influence.   We can learn willingly from these characters and use their experiences to recognize our faults, like the March girls who are always quick to note their own shortcomings. Note: 1 All further references to Alcott’s Little Women are to the edition listed in the Works Cited and will be labeled simply LW followed by page numbers. Work Cited Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. New York: Signet, 1983. Realistic Dual Natures in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women Essay Realistic Dual Natures in Alcott’s Little Women â€Å"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual†²s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is† - Carl Jung Each of us has the capacity for virtue or vice, and our daily actions reflect the combination of both.   In literature, however, people are sometimes depicted as being completely one or the other, giving us inaccurate views of human nature.   We identify better with characters who are more like us--neither completely good nor bad.   Meg, Jo and Amy March in Alcott’s Little Women do not flatly portray complete good or complete evil, but their realistic dual natures increase their believability and intensify their moral influence on us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This character duality is first evident in Margaret, the eldest sister, as we receive a description detailing her looks and countenance.   Meg is â€Å"very pretty† with â€Å"large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain† (Alcott[1] 5).   This description leads the reader through sweetness and innocence, finishing with a flaw.   From the beginning, her vanity glares at us as her most obvious fault.   Yet, in â€Å"spite of her small vanities, Margaret had a sweet and pious nature, which unconsciously influenced her sisters† (LW 16).   Contrasting the negativity in Meg’s personality is a kind and remarkable side.   Both vanity and kindness represent themselves throughout the novel as we evaluate the effects this duality has upon our judgment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leading the novel, Meg’s vanity manifests itself in her desires for Christmas.   Times are difficult and money is tight, yet Meg has ideals of her own regarding the Christmas money.   She explains to ... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The implications of the novel may not fully impact us until later, after we take the time to examine the flaws and strengths we see in Meg, Jo, and Amy.   Like us, these three March girls are completely human--possessing dual natures of both good and evil--and because of their realistic natures, they have a greater moral influence on us.   Once we fully examine the characters, we examine ourselves and have the responsibility to act on the characters’ influence.   We can learn willingly from these characters and use their experiences to recognize our faults, like the March girls who are always quick to note their own shortcomings. Note: 1 All further references to Alcott’s Little Women are to the edition listed in the Works Cited and will be labeled simply LW followed by page numbers. Work Cited Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. New York: Signet, 1983.

Suicide Is Never Painless

Death became an easy option. She wanted to cry, but she had no time. She wanted to change her life, but she didn't believe in miracles. For all the pain and anguish she had carried with her, it suddenly became too much to bear. Life had dealt her the last card but she had no spirit left to play with. The darkness bit into her, memories like poison flowed through her. She fought against them, but as sleep won out she was dragged back to the past. Death became no longer merely an option but a necessity to find peace. The pills lay next to her. They looked beautiful. She knew they could end it for her but she was so afraid. What would be waiting for her on the other side? Was there another side? All she knew was once she had gone that far, there would be no return. She sat there sobbing quietly, her mind tormenting her. She struggled to make sense of herself. The pain that was once emotional was now purely physical and nothing could heal it. The raw, open wounds would remain as fresh as the day they were created. Everything she had fought so hard to forget tore into her like daggers, dancing across her skin, drawing blood in a tide of crimson that stained any happiness she once had. It was tearing her apart. She cradled the pills in her hands, like precious diamonds. With a breath of courage, she threw the pills down her neck. They fell down her throat with ease, headed towards the emptiness of her own hell. She slowly sank down onto the floor, her head rolling sideways uncontrollably. Her mind started to fog over, numbing all her senses. The baby's cries began to recede as she lay almost motionless on the cold floor. She cried out in pain, the distant sound of her own voice pierced her fragile mind. Her life force once a blaze of colours is now black reflecting her feelings of confusion. She is lost yet yearning to be found. She is drowning in the darkness, helpless as it slowly devours her, playing with her mind until there is nothing left but a shadow of someone who was once whole She wasn't alive anymore, she simply existed. She still looked the same, but she wasn't and never would be. A man who had taken everything from her, her innocence, her virginity and now her life, she never even saw his face. She was left to bring up a child sired by a monster. A child conceived out of hate. Was it not enough that she had to be reminded of it everyday? Every time she woke up in the morning, every time she closed her eyes†¦What was the need of his sinister actions? Was it that he didn't understand the word â€Å"no†? Didn't he realise the screams were out of pure terror; that kicking profusely were signals to stop; that the look on her face was of complete despair and frustration; that the touch of his hand made her blood run cold; that he was stealing her dignity, her pride, her self respect?! She made that same journey home every evening like clockwork; she'd been there a thousand times. She turned away from the buildings, away from the street light and her hollow footsteps were the only sounds that followed her†¦Her heart started to pound faster as she tried to gain vision in the pitch black that she had descended into. Her body felt like it was being mauled and still the real horrors had not begun. Dependant on her hearing as her main working sense, she could hear his approach. His curses screamed of anger at her venerable position, his threats called out like promises, nurturing the fear that grew in her stomach. Gagged and bound, her legs flew from under her as she was thrown to the ground. Mud and dirt covered her like a second skin and fell for what seemed to be an eternity, while above; she could still hear him. The sound of him as he forced torture after torture on her, the sound of him as he violated her body time and again, while she lay there helplessly, the tears biting at her eyes like acid. The thing that hurt the most was the realisation of what had just happened to her. As she scrambled blindly in the darkness, a maze of dangers that had waited to harm her. The unknown monsters that hid in the depths of the shadows warped her mind.

Creative Spark Talk †Taking Imagination Seriously Essay

Janet Echelman is a self-proclaimed artist who never formally learned the craftsmanship of being an architect, engineer, or sculptor. However, her story is one of determination and perseverance through adversity that fuels inspiration to make imagination a reality. Ms. Echelman was an honored speaker at a 2011 TED Talk conference and the title of her speech was, â€Å"Taking Imagination Seriously†. The focus of her speech is about the ability to utilize numerous inventive methods to bring about the natural beauty of art. Illuminating Stages of Creativity Echelman shares in her talk that she was offered an opportunity to travel to India and host an art presentation. She had been painting abroad for 10 years so she considered herself prepared and had envisaged concepts for the exhibition. However, met with the dilemma of missing painting supplies, Echelman began brainstorming to solve the problem. Recalling that sculpting was esteemed in the area, she entertained the idea of creating bronze moldings but dismissed because the cost, size, and weight would be too great. Stumped in the creative process, a new technique to design aerial sculptures suddenly appears by watching fishermen pile nets on the beach. Acting on her mysterious moment of clarity, Janet Echelman brought into existence with the help of local fishermen, a one of a kind sculpture titled â€Å"Wide Hips†. Captivated by visions of effortless motions and images influenced by every flutter of the wind, Echelman was compelled to master variations of the artistry. Although her beginning works was temporary, they were viewed by thousands and gained her recognition. She was commissioned to erect a sculpture, which challenged a series of actions to achieve lasting results. Her ability to transform the idea of using ordinary material to assemble monumental artwork is stimulating and touching the minds of society. Concepts of Imagination and Curiosity Janet Echelman acknowledged that she required assistance and resources to further the growth of her creations. She began gathering, sorting, and organizing information on what tools or equipment would be needed along with developing relationships with various engineers. This new form of art had not been done before; it was created through the process of connecting visions and absorbing ideas from environment. Janet Echelman was able to put concepts into action by experimenting with existing methods and modifying until reaching the goal. She allowed her imagination to cultivate scenarios of innovations that the world had yet to experience. When presented with the advantage to construct a sculpture in the middle of a city, Janet Echelman’s curiosity was electrified. Future assignments entailed exploring different techniques, learning and understanding how they will work together. With each new project, Janet applied inquisitive thinking skills to explore and investigate how she would accomplish constructing and stabilizing the artwork. Every sculpture took on distinctiveness through color, form, texture, and assembly. As a result of allowing her curiosity to lead her toward additional ideas and perspectives, Ms. Echelman achieved greater knowledge how to use cogitative dimensions. Points Apply to Personal Experience and Beneficial to Society As a culture and in families, people are taught that to pursue dreams or succeed in a career, education is a necessity. However, some people assume a certain path is meant for them but destiny has a different course for them. Janet Echelman shared several points that could be related to personal experiences to find my own creative path in life. As a result of my own adversities with finishing college at a younger age, acceptance into an art institute to study interior design was not achieved. Nonetheless, with encouragement and determination implanted, designing remained a hobby practiced. Nurturing and releasing my imagination to explore various angles, colors, and shapes that correlated or contrasted with one another broadened possibilities. Although interior design is not my career, the creative process of intuitively recognizing issues and formulating questions to solve them, gives guidance in different capacities of life. Janet Echelman referenced topics that are beneficial to society wherein many people struggle with asking themselves questions that are correlated to the core of what drives their thoughts. A person must be  open-minded and willing to visualize the impossible to achieve possibilities. Rejections, loss of supplies, and challenges to create something new and unforeseen, pushed Janet Echelman’s imagination to greater heights. These are attributes that are considerably beneficial to old and coming generations. In conclusion Janet Echelman, an American artist was driven by her imagination to create one of kind sculptures around the world. Her persistence to acquire as much information on the craftsmanship of sculpting shows that the power to create and intuition brings results. Connecting visions sometimes require the assistance of others and in doing so, relationships are formed and the aftereffect is splendor. The finished masterpiece is takes on a form of its own to be enjoyed and appreciated by the magnitude. Janet Echelman’s creations has inspired, mesmerized, and encouraged people to take their imagination seriously. References N.A. (2011). TED Talk. Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/janet_echelman/transcript?language=en

The Bribery Scandal at Siemens Ag

1. †¢ In your opinion, is â€Å"bribing† unethical & illegal or just a cost of doing business? Discuss this in light of Siemens’ bribery scandal. We believe that bribing is unethical because it takes away the fairness of a business transaction between bidders of a contract. Bribing also has a negative impact on competition because it allows for oligopolies and monopolies to emerge in an industry due to smaller competitors being unable to financially compete with the amount of the bribes. This in turn   creates a barrier for entry for prospective companies and promotes the oligopoly or monopoly in place.The lack of competition affects consumer choice by reducing their options which then stifles innovation within the industry as there is no need to generate a competitive advantage to attain customers. The legality of bribing depends on the laws of the home country that the business is based from. For example, Siemens is a German based business and German law states that bribing officials of another country to win business contracts is illegal. So, under German law, Siemens was guilty of bribing an official when it bribed employees of the Italian company Enel to gain a contract as Enel was 68% owned by the Italian government.The counter-argument is that bribing is the cost of doing business. We disagree with this because the economic benefits gained from bribing are not outweighing the cost to a company’s reputation. As we see in this case, Siemens paid a 6 million euro bribe to secure a contract valued at 450 million euros which would seem like a cost of doing business for Andreas Kley and Horst Vigener but the legal and political cost almost triple the value of the contract in euros and a loss of reputation.These executives were fortunate to escape imprisonment for the illegal actions that were committed. A company must avoid bribing government officials to win business contracts however they can ask their own government for some type of aid in the situation. We believe that having your home government involved in fostering or mediating the trade relationship with another company can potentially give better results than bribing. Siemens should have gone on a business trade mission with German officials to another country because trade missions can help form a relationship and are sources f contacts which are valuable tools to win business contracts. †¢ What options do companies have to win business contracts without bribing, especially in foreign countries? Companies can use a combination of a number of alternatives to gain a business contract without violating the law. Internally, the organization can build a better product through investing money into research and development which would then provide them with a competitive advantage to entice other businesses to choose them over a competitor.Externally, the organization can (1) contribute to the host country, (2) use complementary relations, (3) establis h the status as a market leader, (4) provide attractive business trade agreements, (5) offer outstanding business intelligence, and/or (6) differentiate service with quality contractors. Contributing to a host country would include assistance in a country’s development in terms of infrastructure, job generation, investments, and through imports. The use of complementary relations is a common practice in the business world.An example would be the relationship between car manufacturers and host countries. For a foreign company to enter the Chinese auto market, they need to establish a joint venture agreement with a local car manufacturer. It is a policy that the Chinese government imposed to protect the local auto business from strong foreign competitors. (source cited http://factsanddetails. com/china. php? itemid=349&catid=9&subcatid=62 ) Establishing the status of a market leader is less risky for a company with strong sales and a promising market for its products.This can b e an advantage in securing a deal with a strong company status in the industry. Providing attractive business trade agreements by making bigger concessions when negotiating a deal can be a great way to win a business contract. By offering a larger bulk order discount or other forms of compensation such as a royalty after a set number of units sold. This shifts the bribe from an illegal under the table pocketed amount of cash to an above the board legal bonus contingent on performance.Offering outstanding business intelligence skills is the ability to transfer organizational skills to better manage costs, strategies, and tactics in developing quality products and services in the foreign country. The transfer of these skills will most likely develop a long term relationship between the company and the foreign nation it operates in. In addition, companies value intelligent partners. With this in place, companies can stand out with this knowledge or expertise. 2. †¢ Was the board r ight in not extending Kleinfeld’s term, especially in view of his over performance as a CEO?The decision to refrain from extending Kleinfeld's term was undoubtedly a difficult one for a number of reasons, however it was the right decision given the awkward circumstances surrounding his term   as CEO. The primary concern with this decision was that Kleinfeld had brought many benefits to Siemens in a short time. In just two years under his direction Siemens' stock price shot up and there was a shift in the way the company did business as the importance of Siemens' customers was stressed as equally important to their technology.Kleinfeld's drastic reform of the corporation, although disliked by some of the older fashioned managers, was visibly effective. This previous concern also sprouts another, by not extending Kleinfeld, Siemens would now have to find a replacement CEO; a task that would surely be difficult after the public backlash resulting from the scandal. However, des pite both of those concerns the decision to neglect to extend him was made. One of the reasons is that although he was impressive in his short tenure, all of the successes of the corporation under his guidance are now questionable.In other words, how much did the corrupt practices of bribery that Siemens was accused of impact the increased success of the company in that same time. This thought alone tainted the view of Kleinfeld's time as the CEO. Even if Kleinfeld was truly fully ignorant to these corrupt practices, it does not absolve him because as the CEO it is his duty to be in full control of Siemens. He failed at clearly explaining to the entire corporation their code of conduct with regards to bribery and the consequences, therefore he is personally to be held responsible for the actions of his employees. It is for these easons that Siemens needed a clean slate if they were to reform their public image. If Kleinfeld had been retained then much of these beliefs would continue and it would have been harder still for Siemens to recover from such a devastating scandal. A new leader was needed to represent an ethical overhaul of the corporations code of conduct in order to effectively rebound from the backlash of the events. †¢ What is likely to be the impact of his departure on the company? Kleinfield’s departure as a CEO from Siemens had an impact on the employees, the board of directors, the company’s revenues, and the intellectual property.Kleinfied was very popular in the company and a charismatic leader to a number of young and proactive employees, there is a possibility that these employees to follow his departure. Also, because of the employees’ admiration of Kleinfield’s management style there is a possibility that these workers might regress to the old fashioned ways of doing things in the company. Another element in the company that was affected by Kleinfield’s departure was the board of directors. We know that Kleinfield did a major restructuring in Siemens, but didn’t create a good relationship with the supervisory board.This potentially made him expendable when the corruption scandal hit, and opened the eyes of everyone on the board of directors to a new change in conduct and social responsibility. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, another way where Kleinfield’s departure might affect the revenues of the company would be in the future election of a new CEO. Given the bad reputation Siemens acquired, it stands to reason that they will have to overpay a new qualified person to become the CEO because that person will have to deal with resucing the company in the wake of this scandal.Nevertheless, one of the biggest impacts of Kleinfield’s departure from the company is the loss of intellectual property. By losing a very efficient CEO, who transformed the company in a short period of time, Siemens lost a great asset that can also become a threat to the company if hire d by a competitor. †¢ Was Siemens really at fault or was it just unfortunate to have got caught given the perception that many companies have to resort to bribing to win contracts?We believe Siemens was unfortunate to get caught but that it is also their fault. Firstly, we think it is unfortunate because there are many other companies that bribe in the world. Being one of the few companies caught bribing made Siemens’ situation unfortunate, but it didn’t exempt it from being the company’s fault. Since the company decided to bribe, they fully understood the consequences of getting caught. Compare this with a thief: just because all the other thieves are stealing, it does not mean robbing someone is without recourse.In the end, because Siemens acted illegally by choosing to ignore its corporate social responsibility and by abiding the rules of the country, it is reasonable to recognize the company made a mistake by taking a poor risk and having it backfire. W ork Cited Helen Deresky,  International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, 7th ed. (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2011), 61-71. Facts and Details. â€Å"Foreign Companies & Foreign Investment in China†. Last modified April, 2012. http://factsanddetails. com/china. php? itemid=349=9=62

Bacterial Transformation Lab Report Essay

Backround: The plasmid pGLO contains an antibiotic-resistance gene, ampR, and the GFP gene is regulated by the control region of the ara operon. Ampicillin is an antibiotic that kills E. coli, so if E. coli, so if E. coli cells contain the ampicillin-resistance gene, the cells can survive exposure to ampicillin since the ampicillin-resistance gene encodes an enzyme that inactivates the antibiotic. Thus, transformed E. coli cells containing ampicillin-resistance plasmids can easily be selected simply growing the bacteria in the presence of ampicillin-only the transformed cells survive. The ara control region regulates GFP expression by the addition of arabinose, so the GFP gene can be turned on and off by including or omitting arabinose from the culture medium. Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to understand bacterial transformation, how it occurs, and to make DNA glow. Hypothesis: If the transformed E. coli is mixed with the ampicillin resistance gene, it will be able to grow in the ampicillin plates, but the non-transformed E.coli will not. Materials: Two microcentrifuge tubes 500 uL of ice cold 0.05 CaCl2 E. coli bacteria A sterile plastic loop A sterile P-20 micropipette 10 uL of pAMP solution A timer Ice A water bath 500 uL of Luria broth A spreading rod Four plates Incubator Procedure: Day before lab 1. Streak E. coli host cells for isolation. 2. Prepare six source plates. Day of lab 1. Get two microcentrifuge tubes, which should each contain 200 uL of cold CaCl2 solution. Label one tube with your initials and a (+) and the other tube with your initials and a (-). 2. Transfer 2-4 large colonies using a sterile plastic loop to each microcentrifuge tube and completely resuspend. Do not transfer any agar. Put the tip of the loop into the CaCl2 solution and spin until there is not any cells on the loop. 3. Close each of the tubes and put them in ice. 4. Ask your teacher to use a P-20 micropipette to add pGLO DNA to your transformation mix. 5. Add pGLO DNA to the (+) labeled microcentrifuge tube. 6. Incubate both microcentrifuge tubes on ice for fifteen minutes. 7. Take both tubes out of ice and immediately place in incubator at 42Ù ¥C for 90 seconds. 8. After place both tubes back in the ice for two minutes. 9. Add 200uL Luria Recovery Broth to both microcentrifuge tubes. 10. Let both the tubes rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. 11. During the 10 minutes, get the LB agar and LB+AMP agar plates ready. Mark your plates with the transformation tube mixture to use (+ or -), the lab group names, and the date on the top of the dishes. 12. Add 100ul of the pGLO transformation cell mixture to the center of the agar surface of the corresponding LB agar and LB+AMP plates. 13. Use a sterile plastic loop to distribute the cell suspension evenly on the plate by â€Å"skating† the loop back and forth across the LB agar plate several times. 14. Use the same loop and technique to spread the same cell suspension (+) on the LB+AMP agar plates. Dispose of the sterile loop in a beaker of germicide. 15. Repeat the procedure by spreading the (-) transformation cell mixture to each of the (-) labeled LB and LB+AMP plates. Be sure to use a fresh plastic loop for the ‘None’ transformation mix. 16. Stack your group’s set of plates on top of one another and tape them together. The plates should be left upright position to allow the cell suspension to be absorbed by the agar. 17. Place the plates in an inverted position (agar side on top) in a 37Ù ¥C bacterial incubation oven for overnight incubation (15-20 hrs.). Day after lab 1. Lower the lighting in the room and use a long wave U.V. light to visualize the transformed cells that will glow due to the expression of the green or blue fluorescent proteins. Data: LB+ (Positive Control) LB- (Positive Control) LB/AMP+ (Experimental) LB/AMP- (Experimental) Bacterial Growth lawn lawn 3 colonies No growth Conclusions: The bacteria treated with the pAMP solution developed a resistance to ampicillin and were able to grow on the ampicillin plate. Those that were not treated with the pAMP were not able to grow on this medium. The plates with no ampicillin served as a control to show how the bacteria would look  in normal conditions. Transformation is never fully effective, Only cells that are competent enough are able to take up the foreign DNA. Therefore, the ampicillin+ plates showed less growth that the control plate. Questions: 1. Record your observations about the color and growth (number of colonies) of bacteria on the Petri plates. If you have so much bacterial growth that you can’t count individual colonies, this is referred to as â€Å"lawn.† LB+ (Positive Control) LB- (Positive Control) LB/AMP+ (Experimental) LB/AMP- (Experimental) Bacterial Growth lawn lawn 3 colonies no growth 2. Calculate the transformation efficiency of your transformation experiments. Transformation efficiency refers to the number of cells transformed per microgram (ug) of DNA. The transformation efficiency of my transformation experiments is 0.0125 cells transformed per microgram (ug) of DNA.

A War On Women And Drugs Criminology Essay

A War On Women And Drugs Criminology Essay In 1986 Congress passed mandatory minimum sentencing. Federal mandatory drug sentences take the decision away from the judge and gives sentences based on: 1. The type of drug; 2. The weight or alleged weight of the drug mixture and 3. The number of prior convictions. The rise of women in prison seems to be correlated with US drug laws and policies. Many researchers argue that the war on drugs has directly become a war on women. In 1999, the Bureau of Justice Statistics documented that 1 in 3 women were likely serving time for a drug offense in comparison to 1 in 8 women in 1986. Three reasons often determine the involvement of women in the criminal justice system, the first would be a history of abuse, the second issue is disrupted family and personal relationships and finally the third is drug abuse. Women that end up in prison have usually been abused and/or battered, are economically disadvantaged, have abused drugs, and/or are minorities. Due to the circumstances just mentioned and stricter policies and laws regarding drugs the outcome is a drastic rise in the incarceration of women. If women are seen as victims of circumstance then they are basically adapting to the conditions of their lives and struggling to survive. The status of women in prison reflects their status in society; they are marginalized by racism and sexism. Women in prison have been damaged by the oppression of patriarchy, economic marginalization and the far-reaching effects of such short sighted and detrimental policies as the war on drugs and the over reliance on incarceration, (Owen, 2000). Female Offenders Women have become the new offender in the criminal justice system. Through the years the amount of women incarcerated has greatly risen. In 2000, there were more than 1 million women in the United States in prison, probation or parole, whereas in 1990 there were 600,000 in the same situation. The rise in the incarceration of women can be greatly attributed to US policies and laws o n drugs and drug related crimes. Women are usually minimally involved in drug crimes but are severely punished due to the mandatory minimum laws in place. The war on drugs does not have laws laid out specifically for men and women, the laws are universal and apply equally to both men and women. Drug laws were originally designed for the male criminal and did not take into account the special circumstances in women’s lives. These women that are being punished under the mandatory minimum drug laws are the wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, granddaughters and girlfriends of many law abiding citizens in society. These women become involved in drug crimes because of their dependence to their significant other, whether it is financially, because of fear or other extenuating circumstance. Women who become victims of mandatory minimum laws are incarcerated and subject to patriarchal sentences because the men in their lives coerced, obliged or scammed them into carrying drugs . Women in jails and prisons are often oppressed and even victimized. There are many race and gender inequalities in the criminal justice system when it comes to addressing women and their needs. Women offenders are more likely to be incarcerated now than they were at any other time in the history of the United States. The legal system has become more willing to prosecute and incarcerate women than at any other time in the history of the United States.