Sampling and Data Collection Plan Essay Example for Free

Sampling and Data Collection Plan Essay Simple random sampling would be used. The senior, middle, and young customers of the organization would be selected randomly to conduct the survey. Validity and Reliability Validity and reliability is very much important for a research. If the data would not be reliable or valid then the research would be of no use. To maximize the validity and reliability, a pilot testing would be conducted. Moreover, survey would contain questions that support the research question and help to the expected results (Validity and Reliability, n. d). Protection of human subjects The respondents would fill the questionnaire anonymously. Their names would not be leaked out. The questionnaire would also contain the statement that â€Å"All the responses will be treated confidential and used for the purpose of research only†. No one would get a clue that who participated in the study. Data collection The data would be collected with the help of the questionnaire. The questionnaire would be send to the respondents through email. Some of the questionnaire would also be given in person by giving to customers at the same time that they want to try something in the store. Physical collection of the data The questionnaire then would be collected from the respondent after two or three days. Protection and storage of data Hardcopy of the questionnaire would be stored in one box and it would be labeled with key information so that it could be accessed easily. Moreover, the records would be stored in a locked room so that it does not get in wrong hands. The responses that would be obtained through email would also be protected in an effective manner. The computer would have password and it would not be accessed by anyone. Moreover, there would also be the backup copies of all data to prevent any kind of loss (HEI Records Management, 2007). References HEI Records Management. (2007). Retrieved August 10, 2014 fromhttp://tools.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/downloads/bcs-rrs/managing-research-records.pdf Validity and Reliability. (n.d). Retrieved August 10, 2014 fromhttp://www.nationaltechcenter.org/index.php/products/at-research-matters/validity/

Should Parents Be Allowed To Choose Sex?

Should Parents Be Allowed To Choose Sex? Sex-selection is the attempt to achieve a desired sex by controlling the gender of the offspring. The selection can be accomplished through pre- and post-implantation of an embryo, as well as at birth. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) and Microsort technique are two new technological methods used to achieve the embryonic sex selection. Prenatal sex discernment, a blood test to test the fetal DNA after the seventh week of pregnancy, is performed after implantation. Microsoft technique is the process where the sperm is sorted to increase the chance the egg is fertilized by a sperm which carrying the desired chromosome. A more precise and accurate, but also more expensive and invasive technique is PGD, a method where the embryos are created and analysed outside the female body or in test tubes before implanted into the females womb. The genetic disorders at the embryonic stage are screened using PGD. Unfortunately, many American clinics offer PGD as a way to choose their babys ge nder by implanting only the fertilized eggs of desired gender into the mothers uterus. Unfortunately, sex selection is illegal in most parts of the world. Several countries like Canada, Australia and also the United Kingdom all have banned the use of PGD for sex selection for nonmedical purposes. In other words, PGD is only justified if a couple has the family history including any sex-linked genetic disorder. Sex selection has raised a lot of arguments whether parents should allow to choose the gender of their future child or not. Before that, what is the factors causing gender selection? Most of the parents are hoping and praying for a baby of a particular gender. First, Male offspring is desired due to the cultural factors. There are a variety of factors causing males more economically and socially valuable than females. For example the property inheritance and the family name of the male heirs, and the workforce can contribute more to the income of once family.1 Women, on the other hand, require the expensive dowries and leave the family upon marriage which are unproductive investment. Since there are many arguments in gender selection, there also rise up the controversy regarding to the abortion or the female infanticide. Although sex-selective infanticide and sex-selective child abandonment is illegal in most parts of the world, they still exist in some countries. The development of ultrasound scanners which can use to determine the sex of unborn children in womb led to the sex-selective abortion, especially in China and India.2 Due to the cultural factors and also the single-child policy in the 1980s and 1990s, male is the only child that ensured or determined by most of the families. In 2000, 120 boys were born in every 100 Chinese girls. 3 Similarly in India, the illegal ultrasound scanning and also the sex selective abortion of female fetus are widespread.4 The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study indicated that there are 112 boys for every 100 girls born in Albania, while the figures stand at 110 and 109 boys per 100 girls in Kosovo and Montenegro, respectively.5 Besides, the president of 1 Miller, B.D. (1997). The Endangered se: Neglect of female children in rural North India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2 Greenhalgh, S. (2008). Just one child: Science and policy in Dengs China. University of California Press. 3 The Economist (2011, April 7). Add sugar and spice. 4 Lakshimi, R. (2013). Study: Sex-selective Practises May Be Common in Families of Indian Doctors. The Washington Post. 5 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) the population Research Institute, Steve Mosher also provided some important information on sex-selection abortions in the United States through an article at National Review.6 Dr. Sunita Puri who wanted to find the reason on why many immigrant Indian women in the United States were so eager to know the gender of unborn children and went through abortion if they found out it was not the gender they wanted. Surprisingly, 89% of the women conceiving girls wanted for abortion and nearly half had aborted girls before.7 Sex selection has raised a lot of arguments whether parents should allow to choose the gender of their future child. Another root problem led to the famous gender selection is from the couples with one or more particular gender of children, in which they has an intensified to have another gender of the child. There was a case of a Scottish couple, Mr and Mrs Masterton who had four sons and lost their only daughter in an accident. They were preparing to challenge the HFE Au thority in judicial review due to its refusal in granting the fertility clinic the licence to select the right gender on their embryo to have a girl.8 There are some points and its corresponding argument in whether the parents should allow to choose their future childs gender. First, the incidence of infanticide can be prevent through gender selection. Some of the cultural places still have high incidence although that it is important of having at least one of the particular gender of the child. So, we can prevent the trauma and stress of not having a desired gender of the child which might have negative cultural connotations. The advance of technology doesnt enable us to find which gender the child is. Thus, some couples will be disappointed, then, they abort it and try to conceive again. So, wouldnt it be perfect for the person to choose instead of aborting it until they get the right one? Furthermore, the abandon of children is the most common consequence of the gender selection.9 Some of the parents are willing to throw away their children or hating them because of the undesirable gender. In the past, infanticide was seen the o nly solution if the infants did not have the desired gender that the parents want. But, now, with the advanced medical technology, many parents are going to have an ultrasound scan to determine the sex of the baby. As the ultrasound test and abortion became more available, the trend toward more boys than girls accelerated steadily after 1986.10 A former medical director from the countrys largest abortion provider had mentioned that it was common for the women to decide to terminate their pregnancies because of the gender of the baby.11 Besides, the Dr Vincent Argent had a same opinion and he believed that some of the doctor felt it is reasonable and had arranged the terminations relating to the gender of the foetus.12 The performance of the abortions for the purpose of sex selection is widespread, especially those in South and East Asia like China and India. In India, parents are often willing to pay for an abortion if 6 Mosher, S.W. (2011). Sex-selective Abortions Come Home. National Review Online. 7 Puri, S., Adams, V., Ivey, S., and Nachtigall, R.D. (2011). There is such a thing as too many daughters. But not too many sons: A qualitative study of son preference and fetal sex selection among Indian immigrants in the United States. Social Science Medicine,72(7): 1169-1176. 8 London: HFEA, 2003; www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/final_sex_selection_main_report.pdf 9 Jha et al. (2006). Low female[corrected]-to-male [corrected] sex ratio of children born in India: national survey of 1.1 million households. Lancet, 367: 211-218. 10 Lafraniere, S. (2009). Chinese bias for baby boys creates a gap of 32 million. The New York Times. 11 Newell, C. and Watt, H. (2012). Sex-selection abortions are widespread. Telegraph. 12 Newell, C and Watt, H. (2012). Paragraph 2. it is a girl. Although sex selection test and abortion have been banned for 15 years in India, the figures still state that there are 750,000 girls are aborted each year.13 From an article, Harsh reality of Indias unwanted girls, some Indians believe it is much better that a girl is killed before born rather after.14 Although they know it is a sin to abort, they still turn themselves as a blind eye to let the growing incidence of gender selection. Well, the counterpoint of this is the population of course might become imbalanced if most people just choose a particular gender. These imbalances are harmful because it will interrupt or damage the gene population. The imbalance is expected to steadily worsen among people of childbearing age over the next two decades and could trigger a slew of social problemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. If youve got highly sexed young men, there is a concern that they will all get together and, with high levels of testosterone, there may be a real risk, that they wi ll go out and commit crimes says coauthor Therese Hesketh.15 An investigative research published in the British Medical Journal, attributed the imbalance almost completely due to the decision of couples to terminate female fetuses. About a million female fetuses are terminated and 10 in thousands of girls are missing.16 Most of the Chinese families in China preferred sons which directly increased the rate of female fetus abortion due to the one-child policy. This policy not only increased the abortion rate, but it also led to a gender imbalance. A study has found that there are currently 32 million more boys than girls under the age 20.17 A similar situation is happening in India too.The data shown that 914 girls are aborted in every 1000 boys in India.18 The termination of female fetuses is not occurred because the parents do not want and love their daughters, but due to the social reasons making them prefer sons.19 Second, the parents should have their own freedom of choice. Why shouldnt the parents to decide their own childs gender, given that no harm is done to others in their decision? The article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: Men and Women of full ageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ have the right to marry and to found a family. 20 With this right, it should understand and cover the right in making decision on how one family should be built up. Besides, why should a family having a large number of one gender be expropriated of the chance to have a different gender of a child if the technology exists? As the director of the Fertility Institute states: these are grown-up people expressing their reproductive choicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are really happy when they get what they want. 21 13 Prasad, A. (2007). Harsh Reality of Indias unwanted girls. BBC News. 14 Prasad, A (2007). Part 2: Dowry burden. 15 Strickland, E. (2009). Sex-selective Abortions in China have produced 32 Million extra boys. The Discover. 16 Leung, M. (2011). A structural model of sex selective abortion: the effect of one-child policy on sex ratio imbalance in china. University of Minnesota and Washington University in St Louis, p.1-49. 17 Zhu, P.W.X., Lu, P.L., and Hesketh, T. (2009). Chinas excess males, sex selective abortion, and one child policy from 2005 national intercensus survey. BMJ, 338. 18 Lakshimi, R. (2013) 19 The Economist. (2011) 20 U.N General Assembly. (1948, December 10). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieves from United Nations. 21 Stein, R. (2004). A Boy for You, a Girl for Me: Technology Allows Choice. The Washington Post. Well, there is the argument where the freedom of choice is important but it should not be conferred at the unconditional love for ones children. According to the Georgetown professor, the sex selection is a threat to the main value of parenthood that usually expressed by the commitment to unconditional love.22 As Harvard professor Michael Sandel notes, consider the father who wants a boy in hopes of having as a son the athlete he had never been. Suppose the son isnt interested in sportsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ what sorts of expectations will burden a child who has designed with certain purposes in mind? 23 So, the children should be loved whoever they are, not because they are who we wanted. For that reason, parents should be encouraged to love their children equally regardless of gender, and the freedom of choice should not be allowed in this regard. Third, the other argument point regarding to the sex selection should be allowed is with sex-specific, the genetic diseases can be prevented. Some family are carriers of the known sex-specific diseases, it is obviously by gender determination can ensure that the disease will avoid from passing to the next generation or their child. Nearly most of the sex-linked diseases are either more serious among one gender or more common in one gender. For example, haemophilia, HIV, colour blindness, and muscular dystrophy are more common to a male suffering from one X chromosome.24 While, the disease of the immune system is most commonly affected by women.25 Therefore, the Microsoft technique used in sorting the sperm carrying the Y and double X chromosome to determine the gender as well as determining the genetic disorder is carried out. This technique is not harmful to the human genes. Statistical data has shown that over 1200 babies have been born using this advance technology.26 On the other hand, 100% accuracy is not happened for all technology in determining the genetic disease that carries on. Therefore, the medical costs should be considered together with medical benefits. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis involved the embryo development outside the womb and then tested for gender. Only the desired gender is implanted in the womb and how about those are not of the desired gender? All the undesired embryo is destroyed. Over a dozen of embryos or human life has been created with the purpose of destroyed, its also a kind of abortion. The data shown that by using the gender selection technologies, the accuracy rate for choosing a girl is 93% and 82% go to the boys which inevitably most of the selections go for males.27 Thus, most of the couples are so keen to have a child with particular gender and unwilling to take the risk of having one of other gender. Although the Microsort technique is harmless to the parents, some scientists like Lord Winston expressed the fear that the technique will damage the sperm and genetic mutation might be more likely to occur. 22 Stein, R (2004). Page 4. 23 Stein, R (2004). Page 4. 24 Macnair, D.T. (2010). Fragile X syndrome. BBC Health. 25 Doe, J. (2000). Immune System Disorders. Time. 26 Genetics and IVF Institute. (2008). Microsort. Genetics and IVF Institute. 27 Genetics and IVF Institute. (2008). However, one of the points against in sex selection is the pre-selection of sex uses costly medical care for frivolous purposes. The treatment required for gender pre-selection was initially designed to prevent the disease. But many of the patients using the treatment which is capable of conceiving healthy children. A director from the Genesis Genetics Institute said that 70% of patients would not have needed IVF, in other words healthy and fertile couples are choosing this higher risk, sometimes painful and also expensive treatment when they could conceive a baby naturally.28 But, it still depends on the individuals to make decisions whether this treatment is worth or not. There is an evidence from parents who has gone through the treatment. They said that the sex selection of their children was not a frivolous or ridiculous purpose. Sharla Allen replied They are. Theyre totally everything I could ever wantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but why arent having two daughters that will be just as wond erful as they are? when she was asked whether her three boys had still not been enough for her.29 So, no-one is harmed in this treatment; thus, it should be the parents choice to have the treatment since they know the risks beforehand. On the other hand, the abortion rate can be reduced with this expensive medical technology. The abortion, especially sex selection, is illegal in most of the country. Its same to India where most of the clinics doing illegal abortion were shut down. However, the reality is that sex-selective abortion is still happening behind the door. Thus, it is difficult to control and its not only restricted to the poor.30 There is an evidence that happened to Pooja who married to a multi-millionaire industrialist and had 10 years old twin girls. When she pregnanted another girl, his husband forced her to abort it even he was rich and afford to grow another daughter. She claimed that a girl would only take money with her to her-in-laws without bringing any wealth in.31 Due to the this negative mindset, sex-selective abortion becomes even worse from year to year. Another debate points against the gender selection is the children should not be designed or created to specifications. Children are not pets or toys. So, they are no meant to be designed to let their owner more convenient. Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel argued that it runs the risk of turning procreation and parenting into an extension of the consumer society and it is also one step forward in designing baby.32 The selection of eye colour, hairy ears or hair colour soon will be requested by the parents if the gender selection is allowed. That is only the beginning. This is because we are encouraging the false ideas of perfection if we allowing sex selection. Moreover, there has been no justification for supporting such indulgence at public expense. The gap will grow even bigger between poor and rich people, as the rich designer will want both their design and the appearance of their children to reflect their property or wealth. Let say, if a gay gene is discovered, would parent s be allowed to eliminate embryos containing it? We should follow the idea that we appreciate on everything what we are given. Otherwise, the people will reject their own child more likely when they did not get whatever they want. 28 Gajilan, C. (2005). Gender selection a reality, but is it ethical? CNN Health. 29 Gajilan, C. (2005). 30 Lakshimi, R. (2013) 31 Prasad, A. (2007), Part 3: Tolerated Abortion. 32 Stein,R (2004). Page 1. In contrast, parents have their own right to choose the gender to build up of their family if the technology is available. This can improve the chances of the child to fit into the dream of their family and they are more likely to get loved. Every individual can choose their own partners, and also have their freedom to choose the time of getting pregnant according to their age, wealth or prosperity.33 Parents sacrifice so much for their children. They invest a huge mount of their wealth and years of their lives in growing up their children. So, Isnt fair that in return, they get to choose their child with the gender that they want? This is also an extension of the rights of reproductive field. But, according to the report of Nuffield Council on Bioethnics, an attitude of natural humility, where the parents accept their children is an important feature of parental love. The love the parents owe their children and not dependent on the characteristics of a child.34 Besides, it is a wonder or surprise process in having a child. So, the childbirth should not interfere with human motives. Some people have an opinion that the time of conception is decided by God and do not attempt to play with God. Dr. Mark Hughes, who helped in pioneering the procedure, intended it in preventing the disease of the gender, unfortunately, is not a kind of disease which has no illness and no suffering.35 Furthermore, many people view that there is no morally difference between the new technologies and the abortion where a potential life is taken away. In 2011, there are 196,082 abortions in England and wales.36 How many cases is the consequence of gender selection? The recent news or articles published that the illegal abortion on the grounds of gender might take place in Britain within immigrant communities by analysing the birth statistics.37 As we know, the termination of pregnancy based on the gender is illegal in the UK. But, the abortions of fetuses up to 24 we eks are allowed if the pregnancy was on ground of physical and caused psychological risk to the mother, or in cases the child was severely physically or mentally abnormal.38 According to the recent article by Elena Ralli, there are also evidence shown that the sex-selective abortion is spreading in Europe and the U.S. too.39 If the sex selection is legalized, it will cause the selective abortion became more common and parents will simply kill a human life legally because they want to choose the desired gender of their child. While, there are some arguments stating that the mystery of childbirth is not easy to shatter. Sharla Miller, who go for gender selection, denies the suggestion that it is like playing God. She believed that it is just like every procedure that medical can do for us.40 For example, when the elder child suffers from spina bifida, they fixed it out. Were they playing with God? Moreover, the gender selection is important and helpful for parents to plan their childs future like choosing the clothes, naming etc. The sex selection happened in many countries and cultured by abandonment of unwanted babies or selection abortion. Everyone felt that this is a cruel and terrible waste of human life and also very dangerous for the mother. Obviously, many people strongly object the abortion on moral grounds. The development of new technologies in determining the gender in the early stage of pregnancy will definitely reduce and eventually stop the use of selective abortion. 33 Meek, J. (2001). Baby Blues. The Guardian. 34 Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Genetics and Human Behaviour (2002). The ethical context, Para13.78 35 Leung, R. (2004). Choose the sex of Your Baby. CBS News. 36 Harker, R. (2012) Statistics on Abortions. Page 2. 37 Mason, R. (2013). The abortion of unwanted girls taking place in the UK. Telegraph. 38 HFE Act 1990, Schedule 2, para 1ZB. 39 Ralli, E. (2013). Alarming rise in abortion of female fetuses in Europe. New Europe Online. 40 Leung, R. (2004). After stating the arguments arising in whether the sex selection should be permitted and the most serious effect- abortion because of gender selection. So, what is your opinion on sex-selection? Should the parents be permitted to pre-determine their future childs gender? In my opinion, sex selection should not be permitted to the parents to choose the gender of their future child. From my perspectives, gender selection is extremely bad for women. In other words, girls are discriminated by the social. As mentioned above, the cultural preferences for boys led to the male children are more likely to be educated and employed in good jobs which can earn enough income to support a family. Besides, boys are also expected by the families to contribute to the familys well-being and take care of aging parents. Unfortunately, the girls were not only treated as liabilities rather than assets, they also did not have the same treatment in education and employment.41 But, these ideas were no longer establish in 21st century global culture. We know, of course, that women can also success in education and workplace if there is no sex discrimination and they are given the same opportunities as men. Furthermore, women can be the one to help in raising their families and communities out of poverty. Therefore, we should not offer the sex-selection services that support false and outdated aristocracy system. Next, again sex-selection is not fair to women and even to the baby girl. We know, of course, conceiving a baby need man and woman to work together. It is actually known that the male plays an important role to determine whether the baby conceive is boy or girl. In other words, man is the one who produces heterogametic sperm which containing either X chromosome or a Y chromosome to decide the gender of their child. Why I argued that it is not fair to women? This is because a huge number of husbands keep blaming his wife for not conceiving a boy. Whats wrong with the women? Women only provide an immotile egg to let sperms (which decide the sex) to fertilise. Unfortunately, many husbands still push this responsibility to women and give pressure to their wife. The reason why the women felt that they were unable to save their daughter because many women became the victims of family violence when they were carrying girls. Some had been slapped, bumped and shoved around by aggressive husba nds and in-laws, or even kicked in the stomach in an effort to let them miscarry.42 While, some denied food and water in order to coerce them to abort their unwanted girl babies.43 Most women, who come to the fertility clinic to ask for help in conceiving a boy, are likely under pressure from her husband or her husbands families to avoid from any mishap happened to them. It is not fair to let a woman to undertake this heavy responsibility. Although the reproductive technology today is able to help women free from coercion or pressure, it is actually bringing to the severe problem later on. It will turn to the continuous controversial if gender selection services are allowed. After helping in relieving the pressure of women from their husband, it comes to other problems where the imbalance sex population occurs. Due to this imbalance population, again more and more problems happened. 41 Pande, R., and Malbotra, A. (2006). Son preference and daughter neglect in India: What happened to living girls? Washington, D.C.: International Center for Research on Women. 42 Raj et al. (2011). Abuse from in-laws during pregnancy and post-patrum: qualitative and quantitative findings from low=icome mothers of Infants in Mumbai, India. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 15(6):700-712. 43 Puri et al. (2011). Pg. 1174 If gender selection is permitted, it will bring to the social and economic consequences. Although not every family prefers son over daughter, but it sure will lead to the imbalance of population. For example, the one-child policy which has a limitation on the number of children in each couple, causing the couples with strong son preference.44 Consequently, the shortage of women in China has disastrous and serious social effect. . For example, in China and India, many young men are unable to find a partner, resulting in the rising of sexual violence, prostitution, kidnapping and forced marriage.45, 46 In addition, due to the selfishness of the parents to have a male heir and abort the girl fetuses, it may increase the mental health problems and severely abnormal social behaviour among men as well as leaving some men unable to get married and having their own family.47 The sex-selection problem might lead to the marriage squeeze problem which is happening now in China. This problem has commonly happened between the uneducated male in rural area. A study indicated that 15% of uneducated men at age 40 were still single, whereas there are only 0.5% among those were university-educated men in the early 1980s.48 The percentage keeps increasing from year to year. The Chinese officials predict that after 2030 some 30 million young men will be unable to find a marriage age.49 Besides, the sex-ratio imbalance in one country not only increases the crime, but also the number of sex workers with HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. There is evidence that young single men with HIV positive are more likely to pay for sex.50 There are many negative consequences of sex selection which we can clearly know from some of the country like China and India. So, should the gender selection permitted because of ones individuality? Moreover, gender selection reinforces in oppressing and false gender roles. This problem is most probably happened to the population which utilizes gender selection technology after having one or more same gender of children. An evidence from the Slate article How to Buy a Daughter, profiled a woman named Megan Simpson who was grown up in a family of four sisters and like to sew, bake, make up and so on and she wished to share these interests with her girl who can dress in pink. 51 The problem, of course not every little girl like sewing, baking or even dressing up in pink. Thats same go to the boys, not every little boy like sports, blue colour shirt. So, the relationship between the gender of children and their preferences is unpredictable, changeable and not exactly like what we think. Why we need to have a thought that which things are suitable for girls and which one is for boys? Is that good to allow parents to engineer their children based on their interests or the purpose of achieving the cultural norms? The sex-selection should not be allowed due to this reason. The child will be the one to suffer if their interests are entirely opposite with their parents wish or cultural norms. In this situation, obviously either the child or the parents will disappoint with each other. 44 Leung, M. (2011). Pg 12. 45 Christakis, E. (2013). Rape in India: A Result of Sec Selection? Time. 46 Dagar, R. (2001). Life enhancing mechanisms, life depriving outcomes: case of female foeticide. Chandigard: Institute for Development and Communication. 47 Leung, M. (2011). Pg 12. 48 Wang, F. (2005). Asia Pacific Issues. East West Centre. 49 Vermeer, E.B. (2006). Demographic Dimensions of Chinas Development, Population and Development Review, 32: 115-144. 50 South, S.J., and Trent, K. (2010). Imbalanced Sex Ratios, Mens Sexual Behaviour, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infection in China. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 51 (4): 376-390. 51 Sidhu, J. (2012). How to Buy a Daughter. Slate. In conclusion, so far we have discussed the use of sex selection in a reproductive field, where it is practiced for the purpose of preventing hereditary sex-linked disorders. We see no reason why, if a method to determine the sex of a child before fertilization is developed, this technology should not offer to a couple who have good medical reasons and purposely want to choose the gender of their child. But, if an easy and efficient technique of ensuring the conception of the particular sex of the child became available, some couples would obviously hope to make use of it for the purpose of social reasons.51 Such decision will affect the family and the children involved and somehow would bring the implications to society. It is actually hard to predict, either in the short or long term, this practice effect on the ratio of the males to females within society. Studies have shown that the majority of couples would choose the boy as their first child. If this happened, it again raises t he controversy where there is considerable evidence that the first child may enjoy more advantages over the younger siblings. Since there are difficult to predict the outcome of any such practice, we have not found it possible to amend the laws and regulation in the sex selection. 52 Cmnd 9314, London: HMSO, 1984.

Hate Crimes in Canada Essay -- Racial Relations, Minority Victimizatio

According to Petrosino (2003: 10) hate crimes can be defined as "..the victimisation of minorities due to their racial or ethnic identity by members of the majority. " (p. 4) Hate crimes are also known as bias-motivated crimes because the crimes are motivated by a bias towards a person or persons including but not limited to those of a different gender, ethnic background, religion, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes are quite serious and have severe and long lasting-effects for the targeted victims. Due to the severe nature of the crimes many countries have strict laws in place to punish offenders. Hate crime is not widely discussed in Canadian society because it has not been a prominent issue until now. â€Å"..The extent of the problem in Canada was limited to a small number of persons, such activity could create a climate of malice and destructiveness to the values of our society (Cohen Report, 1966:24). As a result of the committee’s efforts, Parliament amended the Crimin al Code in 1970, thus rendering hate propaganda as a punishable offence (Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1986:7) There are several reasons why offenders commit hate crimes, they vary from case to case, however, one key element is fear which is caused by ignorance. The offenders fear the unknown and the competition they feel that exists, them vs. the ‘others’. When fear is accompanied by other factors it could potentially lead to a violent crime. â€Å"The Desmond 2 economic or social success some minorities have attained may result in increased feelings of resentment by members of the larger population. As Levin & McDevitt (1993:48) argue, resentment can be found to some extent in the personality of most hate crime offenders. It may be directed toward a part... ..., or might serve as an entire defence.† and aggravating circumstance is defined as â€Å"Circumstances that make a crime more serious in the eyes if others; in hate crime, for example, racism makes an assault more serious, resulting in a harsher sentence.† (McCormick. Siegel, 2007, p.114) Involvement of organized hate groups or their members, absence of motive and existing patterns of similar incidents in a particular area are signs that a bias-motivated crime may have occurred, this warrants further investigation. Often times the individuals are unaware that they are victims of a hate crime. It is not uncommon to have victims and offenders be a part of the same gender, race, sexuality or religion, it is not always about the common differences but the perpetrator's perception of ‘difference’.

Essay on Picture of Dorian Gray: Looks Can Kill -- Picture Dorian Gray

Looks Can Kill in The Picture of Dorian Gray   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Have you ever heard the saying, "If looks could kill"? Well, they can. Oscar Wilde reveals how looks can be charming, deceitful and even deadly. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are three main characters. Dorian Gray, who is a calm, very attractive young man and adored for his good looks, Basil Hallward who is a painter that idolizes Dorian and Lord Henry Wotton, an older man, who becomes a good friend of Dorian's. As Basil is painting a portrait of Dorian Gray, Dorian makes a wish that only the picture would age and he would stay the same. As he later notices, his wish is granted and the picture begins to age. Not only is the portrait aging, but the face is also becoming more devious looking. This is because Dorian had fallen deeply in love with an actress, Sibyl Vane, and one night he had taken Basil and Lord Henry to watch her act. That night Sibyl Vane was acting so badly that people were beginning to leave. Dorian was humiliated so intensely that he went back stage and told her he had fallen out of love with her. She said the reason for her bad acting was because she no longer cared for acting, just for him. Dorian s till could not take the humiliation and told he was never to see her again. After he left, Sibyl ended her own life by drinking a cleaning fluid that was in her dressing room. Wilde first shows the importance of looks when Basil first sets eyes on Dorian Gray. "I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that...it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself" (7). This was before Basil had even talked to Dorian, and he had already judged what type of personality he had, ... ...e picture itself . . . . He would destroy it . . . . He looked round, and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward . . . He seized the thing, and stabbed the picture with it . . . . There was a cry heard, and a crash . . . . When they entered they found, hanging upon the wall, a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him . . . . Lying on the floor was a dead man . . . with a knife in his heart. He was withered and wrinkled . . . it was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was" (253-254). Wilde uses great characters, setting and plot to explain the significance that looks have. Everyone's life could be altered just because of the way someone looks, or even the way they look. Looks can not only be charming and deceitful, but deadly as well. Works Cited: Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Grey. Penguin, 1992.

Southern Racial Inequality in Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses Essay -- Faulk

Southern Racial Inequality in Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses All the stories in Go Down, Moses had a common thread: the McCaslin family. One story, however, stood out from the rest for lacking a McCaslin main character. This story was, of course, â€Å"Pantaloon in Black.† At first, I thought this story of grief was almost a beautiful love story. When Rider lost his wife and first love, he was so grief-stricken he didn’t even care to live. However, the conclusion on the story took any beauty out of this tragedy. The matter-of-fact way the deputy tells his wife the story, and the even more apathetic way that she accepts/ignores it, was Faulkner’s way of reminding us of the racial inequality in the South. Waiting until the end of the story to throw at the reader the key to the story is typical of Faulkner. We saw him waiting to shock us at the end of Sanctuary with the circumstances of Popeye’s life. He waited until near the end of Absalom, Absalom! to put together all the pieces of that puzzle. While the reader didn’t find out any shocking news at the end of â€Å"Pantaloon in Black,† we were...

Determining Justification for Rfid Technology

Running Head: DETERMINING JUSTIFICATION FOR RFID TECHNOLOGY Determining Justification for RFID Technology Bahram Izadi, Master Student of Business Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran and John Boyd, BASc, Computer Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada Abstract â€Å"What are  the  benefits? † is a  common question for any organization considering implementing a new  technology. This is an especially  important question  for small or developing companies, where an error in  investment could  result in unrecoverable  operating capital loss. As Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are making  deep and impressive  improvements in manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain management and military logistics, it is time to consider  the  quantifiable financial and operational benefits  of RFID in  an organization's competitive strategic plans. This article will review the benefits of RFID implementation against its costs, and demonstrate  how the introduction of an RFID system can reduce production, distribution, and warehousing costs, while increasing  the operational efficiency of an organization. Through financial metrics, value equations, and numerical  analysis this article  will demonstrate  how  RFID implementation  can improve not only an  organizations bottom line, but also  intangible benefits such as internal focus, industry  leadership, and differentiation from its competitors. A sample business case study will be presented to demonstrate to the reader valuable insight to both real-world advantages and limitations associated with RFID adoption. 1. Introduction The focus of this paper is how to develop an RFID strategic plan to quantify RFID justification through return on investment (ROI). RFID offers strategic advantages for businesses, private or state organizations because it can improve efficiency, cost savings, and yield greater returns  in virtually all areas of business processes and operations. However due to the complexity associated with an RFID system, its uncertain proven capabilities, and high costs of implementation, it is crucial to create solid a business case and justification in terms of ROI, either quantifiable or intangible, which offer the greatest benefit to the company. 2. Background – What is RFID? Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a wireless automatic data collection technology which uses electronic tags for data storage. An RFID system consists of an RFID tag, a reader/writer unit with antenna, and a computer, as shown in Figure 1. [pic] Figure 1 RFID System The reader/writer emits radio signals from its antenna to power the tag, and can read or write data to the tag without a direct line of site. Reader/writer units are available in various shapes and sizes depending on requirement or application. Similarly RFID tags are available to suit most any application or environment from unobtrusive paper thin tags suitable for traditional barcode applications, to large heavy-duty brick sized tags to track heavy machinery. The computer or middleware allows communication between the RFID hardware and system applications. 3. RFID Benefits and Costs RFID offers strategic advantages for businesses because it can improve productivity, efficiency, cost savings, and yield greater returns in virtually all areas of business operations. As an example, Air Canada was losing $2 million USD worth of food carts per year. This initial problem of asset tracking resulted in the deployment of RFID systems which yielded a 2% reduction in total inventory, 5% reduction in maintenance costs, 20% to 50% in trucking charges, 80% reduction in shrinkage, 100% reduction in costs for auditing yearly inventory counts and ROI within 18 months. [Internet, 4] In general some of the main advantages of RFID usage are: †¢ Reduced warehouse and distribution labor costs due to increased data automation †¢ Reduced inventory by omitting inventory errors Improved forecasting and planning due to improvements in visibility of supply chain †¢ Reduced theft by tracking the products point to pint †¢ Reduced out-of stock conditions via better RFID product tracking RFID is used for everything from tracking cows and pets to triggering equipment down oil wells. The most common applications are payment systems, toll collection systems, access control, track people, assets and products without the need for human intervention or direct line of site. [Internet, 5] All of the applications listed have been deployed because they haven proven ROI. . RFID Costs When considering RFID costs a company must consider the total cost of ownership rather than just the initial RFID hardware and tags costs. A complete RFID system includes not only hardware infrastructure, but also service such as design, development, deployment, maintenance, ongoing support, and training. Also to consider are the future costs as the system is scaled beyond its initial pilot or trial phase. Costs should also be associated with restructuring or introducing new business practices. 5. Creating Justification for RFID The potential applications and benefits of RFID are only constrained by a company’s level of innovation. However, before rushing to adopt RFID technology a company can ensure the greatest rate of return and success by having in place a comprehensive strategic plan which quantifies all encompassing aspects of RFID including technology and business processes in order to deliver its benefits for maximum value. In order to justify the costs of an RFID system it is vital a companies RFID strategic plan contains quantifiable  metrics assigned to values of each area which RFID impacts. Therefore when a company does decide to implement RFID, such a strategic plan will allow them to proceed confidently to their strategic objective while ensuring the maximum potential value areas are achieved. By contrast a poor RFID strategic plan without careful and insightful study, risks to dilute the focus and resources of the business and may prove to be detrimental and wasteful, instead of beneficial. Each RFID deployment will have its unique application varying with the application of the company and the company’s goals so there is no single ROI or total cost of ownership criteria for RFID. On the other hand, ROI in many cases is not only found financially but also in intangible factors. For example a distribution center may place value on increasing efficiency throughput in order to save money on labor and reduced shipping errors, where a hospital or healthcare center would place value on increasing visibility of surgical equipment so to have a better chance to save a persons life due to increased response time – economic cost would not be so much as a constraint in this case, but rather the service is of more importance than straight financial justification. . Creating a RFID Strategic plan to determine ROI justification As previously mentioned, there are often uncertainties and reservations when an organization first considers introducing RFID, such as concern of high price or hesitation at the risks of being an early adopter and risking mistakes and learning costs. This is usual behavior in small companies and especially in developing countries where  an er ror in  investment could  result in  unrecoverable  operating capital loss. To overcome this uncertainty and to proceed confidently with the company-wide acceptance of RFID deployment, a plan must include strategic thinking and financial justification. [Sweeney, Patrick J II, Chapter 16] By thinking strategically, we uncover the hard data and information that enables members of organization to make informed decisions and to communicate the rationale of RFID deployment effectively. Performing an ROI study on RFID will allow a company to become reacquainted with current business processes and to identify opportunities for optimization (if RFID is decided to be used or not. Through analysis and calculations, in this process we examine every RFID affected area and assign to them associated value metrics in terms of quantifiable or intangible returns. However in order to obtain the information and data necessary to perform ROI calculations and value equations it is necessary to create a solid and detailed rich strategic plan comprised of but not limited to the fo llowing sections, Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 Involved Steps of an RFID Strategic Plan 6. 1 Form Business Team Since an RFID implementation will affect business process as well as technological change, it is beneficial that the business team includes internal management personnel capable of RFID analysis from all related functional departments. Internal team members, working closely together with external experts and consultants, will be able to offer valuable procedural insight to the development and design of an RFID system. 6. 2 Define Scope and Assumptions A strategic plan should clearly define how RFID will affect the business and define key elements of RFID operation. A clear understanding of affected processes, departments, and areas of coverage, is essential. Assumptions are necessary to ensure a common understanding of how the RFID system will be implemented and what processes will be affected. 6. 3 Identify Strategic and Economic Benefits Benefits represent one of the most important factors in building an RFID business case. To determine justification and feasibility of an RFID system a company must summarize its expected strategic impacts and quantifiable benefits obtained through more efficient RFID enabled processes. Since strategic or intangible benefits can not be easily quantified, it is important for the company to articulate why an RFID introduction is important to business and have a clear understanding of its associated value. This is especially important for companies which place value on product or data visibility. Examples of strategic benefits include internal focus, industry  leadership, and differentiation from its competitors, and product visibility. Quantifiable economical benefits can be tested through metrics and measured with calculations. Quantifiable benefits will vary with industry and RFID application but will generally be attributed to time or process improvements through automation and improved efficiency. 6. 4 Develop Business Process Models Process modeling consists of creating business-flow diagrams and use-cases to determine and quantify how RFID will impact those processes and associated applications. Adoption of RFID technology will most likely create new additional processing steps, and therefore modified business use cases will be introduced to reflect optimized RFID use. Some sub processes might get streamlined and thus provide efficiency gains, whereas some other sub processes might need to include additional processing steps, which might impact their efficiency rates. The use cases associated with the impacted and newly introduced processes can then be analyzed for benefit [Lahiri, Sandip, Chapter 8]. 6. 5 Determine Costs When considering ROI, one must consider the total cost of ownership rather than just the initial RFID hardware and tags costs. A complete RFID system includes not only hardware infrastructure, but also service such as design, development, deployment, maintenance, ongoing support, and training. Also to consider are the future costs as the system is scaled beyond its initial pilot or trial phase. Costs should also be associated with restructuring or introducing new business practices. 6. 6 Create an Implementation Road Map An implementation roadmap breaks up the complete RFID solution into a series of objective milestones within set time-frames. The main tasks involved in completing this step are developing a scale of implementation from trial or pilot stages to full deployment, and assigning associated metrics of costs and benefits with each stage of milestone. 6. 7 Create Business Case Finally all information should be compiled to form a business case. Each benefit should be associated with a level of impact and time to realization. The level of impact takes three factors into account: whether a benefit generates revenue, mitigates risk, or reduces cost. We may assign low-impact to benefits that meet one factor and high-impact to benefits that meet two or more factors. Time frame is a time period in which the business will see benefit. Short term could be one to two years and long term three to five years. It is difficult to forecast beyond five years. 7. Criteria and Justification Metrics to Justify ROI In order to justify the costs an RFID system it is vital a company complete RFID strategic plan contains quantifiable  metrics assigned to values of each area RFID impacts on including procedures and personnel to ensure  RFID investments yield the greatest  rate of return. Through study numerical analysis value equations and modeling, the  value of various RFID systems can be made apparent and determined to be financially feasible or  cost prohibitive. It is important to present a cost benefit analysis in order to justify the investment in an RFID system and establish a clear ROI. Upon the completion of the strategic plan, the quantified figures and resultant findings can be processed through value equations to justify and determine feasibility of an RFID system. However, ROI in many cases is not only found financially but also through intangible factors. In this case, VOI (Value of Investment) should also be considered. Value of Investment is much more holistic approach to the benefits delivered and includes, next to the hard costs figures, the soft and difficult to measure benefits such as improved quality, staff moral and service perception, and customer loyalty. 8. Sample of RFID Justification through Case Study 8. 1 Introduction This example will show the Return on Investment (ROI) of an RFID solution for a company which sends shipments from its manufacturing plant to its distribution center. The system will be closed loop which means that the tags and their data will be limited to internal company use and will not be used beyond the limited area of distribution center. RFID technology will be used to help automate the transfer process. The overall objectives are: †¢ Demonstrate how RFID technology may be utilized to improve the efficiency of the transfer of shipments. Demonstrate a case which is justifiable in cost due to positive ROI analysis. 8. 2 Background A company’s distribution center is plagued by errors and inefficiencies when receiving shipments from the manufacturing plant. Especially problematic areas are delay in receiving pallets and loss of pallets to be returned. 8. 3 Assigning Metrics to Processes Estimation time to completion (ETC) of items entering the distribution center, wit hout and with RFID is described as in Table1. |No. Process |ETC |Process with RFID |ETC with RFID | |- |- |- |Precondition – RFID tags are|0 sec | | | | |affixed to pallets and | | | | | |individual items at the | | | | | |manufacturing plant. | |1 |Personnel scans barcode on pallet|30 sec |Pallet is placed in RFID |5 sec | | |to validate order and manually | |reader portal and scanned | | | |compares to expected manifest | |along with all contained | | | |list. | |items. Order is checked | | | | | |automatically. | | |2 |If pallet is valid expected |3 min |If pallet is valid but found|3 min | | |personnel enters pallet as | |to have exception it is | | | |received and breaks open the | |broken own, all items are | | | |pallet | |automatically scanned and | | | | | |noted, and extra item is | | | | | |brought to return area. | | |3 |Else pallet is invalid it is |4 min |Else pallet is invalid it is|4 min | | |moved to return area. | |moved to return area. | |4 |Personnel scans all individual |6 min |- |- | | |bar-coded items to validate the | | | | | |pallet contains all ordered items| | | | |5 |If item is invalid personnel |2 min per item |- |- | | |manually notes this and places | | | | | |item in return section. | | | | |6 |Else item is valid and is placed |6 seconds per item|Else pallet valid and all |1 min | | |into received area to be moved | |contained items are present,| | | |into inventory section. (Pallet | |entire pallet is placed in | | | | contains 20 individual items. ) | |received area to be moved to| | | | | |inventory. | | |Time to unload a pallet with no |11min, 30sec |- |1min, 5sec | | |invalid items | | | | Table 1 Estimated time to completion to process pallet at distribution center From Table 1, the estimated completion times (ETC) of Time to unload a pallet with no invalid items is 11min, 30sec without RFID, compared to 1min, 5sec with an RFID system. 8. 4 RFID Solution and Process Detail Placing RFID reader portals at the distribution centers dockside gate allows for automatic identification of all pallets and included pallet items to be scanned upon arrival. This would eliminate the manual steps of unpacking and checking each individual item separately before adding to inventory. An additional processing step of placing RFID labeling on items and pallets before them leave the manufacturing plant would be occurred; however this would not affect distribution center processing time. 8. 5 RFID Benefits Incorporating RFID into the distribution center process provides the following quantifiable and intangible benefits: †¢ Quantifiable benefits include: Pallet processing time increased of 90%, Reduction of loss as all pallets due to total visibility, Labor savings, and Reduced keyboard entry errors †¢ Intangible benefits: Neater docking area, Improved work atmosphere 8. 6 Risks and complexity Potential risks and complexity associated with RFID implementation may include Tag Misread due to damaged tag, moisture on the pallet tag, or proximity to metal surfaces. Site evaluation and proper RFID technology can minimize this risk as well as running barcodes in parallel with the RFID tags. 8. 7 RFID Components and System Costs The proposed RFID system will require estimated infrastructure and services consisting of the following: |Description |Costs Low $ |Costs High $ | |Hardware/Software | | | |RFID gate portal reader (4) |28,000 40,000 | |RFID handheld readers (4) |6,000 |8,000 | |Accessories: Cables, etc |1,000 |1,000 | |Servers and Accessories (5) |10,000 |15,000 | |Software |30,000 |50,000 | |RFID tags (10,000) – Closed loop system, tags can be recycled |2,000 |5,000 | | | | | |Integration | | | |Engineering, Installation and Integration services, training, |60,000 |100,000 | |maintenance (60 person days) | | | | | | | |Business Process Modification | | | |RFID tag application retooling at the manufacturing plant |35,000 |55,000 | | | | | |Total |172,000 |274,000 | Table 2 Estimated RFID Costs 8. 8 Summary of Results Through RFID implementation if you compare the pallet processing times of Table 1, you can see that a savings of 10min, 25secs can be realized per pallet. This is equivalent to a 90% increase in processing throughput times with the condition of a valid pallet and items. If the distribution center receives 500 pallets per day it can realize investment between 10 and 16 months depending on RFID costs, with assumed personnel costs of $10 hour and a 261 working-day per year calendar. If the distribution center is free of invalid pallets 95% of the time return on investment can be seen as in Table 3, as follows: Pallets received per|Savings per day |Savings per day |Savings per year |ROI with low RFID costs|ROI with high RFID costs | |day | |(in $USD) |(in $USD) |(in months) |(in months) | | |(in hours) | | | | | |300 |49. 5 |495 |129,140 |16 |26 | |500 |82. 5 |824 |215,234 |10 |16 | |700 |115. 5 |1155 |301,328 |7 |11 | Table 3 Time to ROI Sample calculations are as follows for 500 pallets received per day: 11min,30sec * 500 pallets = 690sec * 500 = 345000sec. 1min,30sec * 25 pallets = 690sec * 25 = 17250sec. 1min, 5sec * 475 pallets = 65sec * 475 = 30875sec 17250+30875 = 48125sec 345000sec – 48125sec = 296875sec 296875sec/3600 = 82. 46hr, round to 82. 5hours 82. 46hr*$10=$824. 65/day , round to $824 824. 65*261=$215,233. 65/year 215,234. 38/172,000=1. 27 0. 79*12=9. 58, round to 10months 215,234. 38/$274,000=0. 799 1. 27*12=15. 27, round to 16months Once RFID familiarity has been gained and estimated metrics have been realized, RFID may be moved to other areas of the company such as the picking from inventory at the distribution center, or some other RFID application at manufacturing center itself. However, the processes, equipment, results, and lessons learned will be applicable to other distribution centers, and acquired knowledge may be applied to other potential cost saving areas. 9 Conclusion The capabilities and limitations of RFID much be understood on a technical level, but also on a business procedural level to determine how RFID will ultimately impact on business. The decision to implement an RFID system must be carried out diligently with ROI equations. Also important to consider is intangible value which may not be apparent on a balance sheet. RFID is ultimately a business tool like many other IT options and to access its maximum capability, a company must have solid business procedures and plans in place. References Lahiri, Sandip (2005, August). RFID Sourcebook. Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN: 0-13-185137-3 Larsson, Bjorn & Qviberg, Ola (2004, December). Evaluation and Justification of an RFID Implementation Pilot at IKEA Customer Distribution Centre. Master thesis LiTH-EKI-EX—04/083—SE Institute of technology – Linkoping University Department of Management and Economics Industrial Engineering and Management Sweeney, Patrick J. II (2005). RFID for Dummies. Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN: 0-7645-7910-X Ustundag, A. Cevikcan, E. (2007, October). Return on Investment Analysis for Evaluation of RFID Implementation on Cargo Operations, Istanbul Tech. Univ. , Istanbul; Appears in: RFID Eurasia, 2007 1st Annual Publication Date: 5-6 Sept. 007 ISBN: 978-975-01566-0-1 INSPEC Accession Number: 9777002 Digital Object Identifier: 0. 1109/RFIDEURASIA. 2007. 4368145 Date Published in Issue: 2007-10-29 Internet 1 Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility. What is RFID? Retrieved September 2, 2008 from http://www. aimglobal. org/technologies/RFID/what_i s_rfid. asp 2 Axios Systems. (2007, March) Return on Investment: Fact or Fairy Tale? White Paper. Version 1. 1. 0 Retrieved September 5, 2008 from http://www. axiossystems. com/six/shared/downloads/pdf/ROI_fact_or_fairy_tale. pdf 3 Miles Technologies. Common Applications Using RFID for Asset Tracking and Other Applications. Retrieved September 5, 2008 from

Kindertransport †Identity Essay

Do you ever think about what you represent in this world? Do you ever think about how people, as a whole, perceive your personality, your background, your style, your language, and your opinion? I’ve been thinking a lot about how my individuality is recognized by others and how I can change it within one moment’s decision. The definition of identity is truly vague to my knowledge but I think it has to do with everything in your existence that relates to your physical, psychological, and cultural persona. The people that surround my life label me as they see me yet I label myself through experience. My brain cannot obtain a sample of your history and digest through to create a perfect overlook yet it can take in the information that I witness and an idea of who you truly are can start to grow. When I think of Michael Marcel, the words, â€Å"funny†, â€Å"strong-minded†, and â€Å"caring† illuminate. When your father thinks about Michael Marcel, variation among traits will occur. When you think about your way of living, how do you relate yourself to the rest of the world? Usually, the nationality of a person is a red flag for certain stereotypes and pre-judgmental observations. To one’s own self, this might represent a certain uniqueness and pride yet it can, also, provoke a sense of shame and anger. I know that you, as a Dominican/Italian, take great pleasure in voicing your quirked cultural way of living. Kobenhavn and Roskilde will forever morph my character. These two cities within the tiny country of Denmark are home to my relatives, my genetics, and the roots of my place in society. I can remember many instances of being reminded about the pleasant haven. The death of my Mormor (Grandma) sucked all of the energy from my limbs and left me for dead. I realized that her passing shouldn’t be brought downward with sorrow but rather glazed over with past feelings of happiness. She went through hours of pain to produce Diana Rasmussen and in turn, Diana gave her a little baby girl named, â€Å"Freja†. A wave of change rose over my body and I understood that I would always be Diana’s daughter. I am confident within my fair, Danish skin. I can remember how effected I was throughout my time in America concerning my cultural background and my cultural interests. People would widen their eyes as I spoke about my past in Denmark; to them, I was like an alien from a strange planet. In the now, I am criticized for my newly found triple life. I say triple because one part of me is Danish and I have an entire past within my motherland, one part of me is Italian but I don’t have a big affiliation with the country, and one part of me is very tied into the Hispanic lifestyle. I am ridiculed on a daily basis for the last part and I am identified differently because of it. By the Caucasian community, I am insulted on (almost) a daily basis. By the Hispanic community in our school, I am subjected to the label of â€Å"Latina Wannabe†. By the Hispanic community outside of school, I am seen as a very good person and willing to accept and try anything new within their country’s ways. By my parents, I am given odd looks as I sing along to â€Å"Mariposa Tracionera† and they wonder why their little girl suddenly turned Hispanic. Recently, I have been subjected to an act of immaturity and ignorance. There is a guy in my grade that hates my lifestyle more than his own selfish loneliness; when I chat with the so-called â€Å"skin head†, I can hear him saying that my hands are grimy from touching the hands of Mexicans. It hurts my entire body to hear something so harsh come out of a human being’s mouth; he takes the media’s image of crossing the border, the drug cartel wars, and the unpaid taxes, and spits them back into my face. The other night, I was talking with David and he posted on my wall, â€Å"stop being so sad†. That was an inside joke between him and I; it had no concern with â€Å"skin-head†. The ignorant â€Å"skin-head† commented on the post and said, â€Å"Go back to Mexico†. I called you, crying a river upon the keypad, and complained about the words that had left a mark in my mind. Lack of knowledge can drive the process of identity onto a cruel p ath. Every single piece of matter that inhabits the personal world around you has an effect on your identity. The tiny room in which your soul takes life form has an effect. The soil that sticks to the bottom of your feet as you take your first steps has an effect. The way you represent yourself is a lifelong process; you begin to mold your life as soon as your lungs fill with newly found oxygen. The cries that are let out during your first hours on the outside of the womb might travel through time and find themselves spewing out of your mouth thirteen years later because of ridicule over your skin color, musical taste, family situation, etc. Identity is everything and everything is identity. Is it really that simple? Yes, I think so.