Tag: Paper Writing

Greed, Cancer, and Pink KFC Buckets
John Robbins
1 We live in a world of profound contradictions. Some things are just unbelievably strange. At times I feel like I’ve found a way to adapt to the weirdness of the world, and then along comes something that just boggles my mind. It is ironic that the largest grassroots breast cancer advocacy group in the world, a group called “Susan G. Komen for the Cure,” has now partnered with the fast food chain KFC, known for its high-fat foods and questionable treatment of its chickens, in a national “Buckets for the Cure” campaign. The program began last month and runs through the end of May.
grassroots involving ordinary people at a local or community level
2 KFC is taking every chance it can manufacture to trumpet the fact that it will donate 50 cents to Komen for every pink bucket of chicken sold. For its part, Komen is announcing on its website that “KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are teaming up . . . to . . . spread educational messaging via a major national campaign which will reach thousands of communities served by nearly 5,000 KFC restaurants.”
3 Educational messaging, indeed. How often do you think this “messaging” provides information about the critical importance a healthy diet plays in maintaining a healthy weight and preventing cancer? How often do you think it refers in any way to the many studies that, according to the National Cancer Institute’s website, “have shown that an increased risk of developing colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried or barbecued meats”? If you guessed zero, you’re right.
4 Meanwhile, the American Institute for Cancer Research reports that 60 to 70 percent of all cancers can be prevented with lifestyle changes. Their number one dietary recommendation is to: “Choose predominantly plant-based diets rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits, legumes and minimally processed starchy staple foods.” Does that sound like pink buckets of fried chicken?
5 Pardon me for being cynical, but I have to ask, if Komen is going to partner with KFC, why not take it a step further and partner with a cigarette company? They could sell pink packages of cigarettes, donating a few cents from each pack while claiming “each pack you smoke brings us closer to the day cancer is vanquished forever.”
6 Whose brilliant idea was it that buying fried chicken by the bucket is an effective way to fight breast cancer? One breast cancer advocacy group, Breast Cancer Action, thinks the Komen/KFC campaign is so egregious that they call it “pinkwashing,” another sad example of commercialism draped in pink ribbons. “Make no mistake,” they say, “every pink bucket purchase will do more to benefit KFC’s bottom line than it will to cure breast cancer.”
egregious outrageously bad
pinkwashing using support for breast cancer research to sell products, especially products that can be linked with cancer
7 One thing is hard to dispute. In partnering with KFC, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has shown itself to be numbingly oblivious to the role of diet in cancer prevention. Of course it’s not hard to understand KFC’s motives. They want to look good. But recent publicity the company has been getting hasn’t been helping. For one thing, the company keeps taking hits for the unhealthiness of its food. Just last month, when KFC came out with its new Double Down sandwiches, the products were derided by just about every public health organization for their staggering levels of salt, calories and artery-clogging fat.
8 Then there’s the squeamish matter of the treatment of the birds who end up in KFC’s buckets, pink or otherwise. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has an entire website devoted to what it calls Kentucky Fried Cruelty, but you don’t have to be an animal activist to be horrified by how the company treats chickens, if you lift the veil of the company’s PR and see what actually takes place.
9 When PETA sent investigators with hidden cameras into a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in Moorefield, West Virginia, what they found was enough to make KFC choke on its own pink publicity stunts. Workers were caught on video stomping on chickens, kicking them and violently slamming them against floors and walls. Workers were also filmed ripping the animals’ beaks off, twisting their heads off, spitting tobacco into their eyes and mouths, spray-painting their faces, and squeezing their bodies so hard that the birds expelled feces—all while the chickens were still alive.
10 KFC, naturally, did everything they could to keep the footage from being aired, but their efforts failed. In fact, the video from the investigation ended up being broadcast by TV stations around the world, as well as on all three national evening news shows, Good Morning America, and every one of the major cable news networks. Plus, more than a million people subsequently watched the footage on PETA’s website.
11 It wasn’t just animal activists who condemned the fast food chain for the level of animal cruelty displayed at KFC’s “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse. Dr. Temple Grandin, perhaps the meat industry’s leading farmed-animal welfare expert, said, “The behavior of the plant employees was atrocious.” Dr. Ian Duncan, a University of Guelph professor of applied ethology and an original member of KFC’s own animal-welfare advisory council, wrote, “This tape depicts scenes of the worst cruelty I have ever witnessed against chickens . . . and it is extremely hard to accept that this is occurring in the United States of America.”
ethology the branch of zoology that studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats
12 KFC claims, on its website, that its animal-welfare advisory council “has been a key factor in formulating our animal welfare program.” But Dr. Duncan, along with five other former members of this advisory council, say otherwise. They all resigned in disgust over the company’s refusal to take animal welfare seriously. Adele Douglass, one of those who resigned, said in an SEC filing reported on by the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”
13 You can see why KFC would be eager to jump on any chance to improve its public image, and why the company would want to capitalize on any opportunity to associate itself in the public mind with the fight against breast cancer. What’s far more mystifying is why an organization with as much public trust as Susan G. Komen for the Cure would jeopardize public confidence in its authenticity. As someone once said, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but only 15 minutes to lose it.
Examining a Paragraph
Read the following paragraph from “Cancer, Greed, and Pink KFC Buckets,” noticing how all the details relate to one point and explain the topic sentence, which is highlighted. The topic sentence identifies the topic as animal welfare and states that KFC claims its animal welfare advisory council is key to its animal welfare program.
KFC claims, on its website, that its animal-welfare advisory council “has been a key factor in formulating our animal welfare program.” But Dr. Duncan, along with five other former members of this advisory council, say otherwise. They all resigned in disgust over the company’s refusal to take animal welfare seriously. Adele Douglass, one of those who resigned, said in an SEC filing reported on by the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”
After reviewing the key details in the reading “Greed, Cancer and Pink KFC Buckets” in Chapter 3 of your textbook, what do you think is the author’s main point in this essay?
What is he trying to convey to you, the reader, and what makes him effective or ineffective
?

You will be reading “Help Me Follow My Sister Into The Land Of The Dead” by Carmen Maria Machado and then will be answering some questions at the end.
Reading:
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead by Ursula Ruiz
19 Backers $1,395 Pledged of $5,229 28 days to go
Back This Project $1 minimum pledge
The project will only be funded if at least $5,229 is pledged by July 24, 2015 3:41am EDT.
Aid & abet a heartwarming sibling reunion–albeit under grievous circumstances — in a terrifying place where no mortal has any business treading.
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead
15
This is the thing about my sister and I: we’ve never gotten along, even when we’ve gotten along. This is what happens when you have parents who fetishize family, and the viscosity of blood relative to water: you resent the force with which they push you together with this person who is, genetics aside, a stranger. And that’s what my sister is: a stranger.
Not to mention a strange girl. Even when we were children, she had a weird fixation on contradicting everything I said, just because. She would pick a phrase to scream at the top of her lungs and do so over and over, like a computer glitch, until I ran out of the room. Whatever. It’s not important now. But she’s always been trouble. Our moments of connection have always been purely artificial, forged by necessity, by parental birthdays and holiday travel plans.
When I tell you that my sister has absconded to the land of the dead, do not mistake me. She hasn’t died. She just did what she always does-i.e., go to a place where she isn’t welcome and crash the party just because she feels like it. She heard that there was some “cool stuff” happening on the other side of the veil, and went. I only know where she is because I managed to sober up her stoned-out roommate vis-à-vis a cold bucket of water to the face just long enough to get access to their Wi-Fi. I found her search history, her bus ticket to Bethlehem (the nearest portal), her texts to her friends about how it’s going to be “so amazing,” etc.
(in the interest of full disclosure, I also searched her email for my name, but aside from an occasional ping regarding the aforementioned birthdays and travel, there was nothing.)
I am sorry and embarrassed that I have to even ask you for money for this endeavor. The truth is while I’m doing pretty well, all things considered, I don’t have the liquidity necessary for this.
Olive will be embarrassed that I put all of this online, but maybe a dose of shame will do her some goddamned good.
If you sense a tone of resentment to this entire project, that’s because I have to go chasing after my wretchedly ungrateful sister into another dimension to tell her that our parents are dead.
16
Stretch Goals
Anything over $5,229 is welcome and will be donated to a TBD mental health charity.
How Will I Spend the Money?
Here’s how the costs will break down:
$36.95: Bus ticket to Bethlehem. $176.05: Cost of ingredients (salt, sage, cypress branch, matches, mandrake, yew, chalk) to summon the necessary portal. $16: The cheapest bottle of whiskey that I can force myself to drink. $5,000: A one-time fee, for crossing.
Risks and Challenges
The land of the dead is the land of the dead. Sometimes people don’t come back.
FAQ
Do you remember when Olive was born? I remember the time my mother had Braxton-Hicks contractions — the fake kind–and I went to the hospital with her and my father, and the doctor informed her that she wasn’t really in labor. As we left the hospital, I went into hysterics, because I’d been promised a baby sister and one had not been delivered to me. We walked past a woman who was holding her own baby, and I lunged toward her howling “THAT one! I want THAT one!” My parents had to carry me out as I screamed. But of Olive’s actual birth, I remember nothing.
How did your parents die? You know how there was that SUV recall recently, because the brakes in some of their cars were failing for no reason, causing a series of high-profile, deadly accidents? I wish that was how they died. No, my father shot my mother through her left eye and then turned the gun on himself. Nobody knows why.
Who found their bodies? I came over for dinner. Olive had been invited, too, but she backed out at the last minute. She said she had “stuff to do.” Which honestly is better than her arriving two hours late with a weird dude in tow. Anyway, thank God she wasn’t there.
When was the last time you spoke to Olive? I don’t remember.
When was the first time you spoke to Olive? I don’t remember.
What is your biggest regret? In order from greatest to least: being born, having a little sister, not being adopted, caring at all.
What is your biggest fear?
Genetics.
Pledge $5 or more
9 backers A thank-you email from Olive, which I will make her deliver.
Pledge $20 or more
52 backers a small gift from the land of the dead-a pebble or a twig or a finger or something which I will deliver in a small, sealed jar.
KEEP IT IN THE JAR.
Pledge $50 or more
1 backer I will send you salt from my personal tears, in crystal form (hand evaporated). Grinder optional.
18
CARMEN MARIA MACHADO Pledge $100 or more
1 backer I will drive my sister to your house, where you can ask her any question. Limited to the contiguous United States.
Pledge $500 or more
0 backers You will receive an exclusive copy of my and Olive’s life story, written with my own hands, and complete with a happy, narratively satisfying ending detailing the success of our journey.
Update #1 · Jun 26, 2015
Starting Out I know I haven’t hit my funding goal yet, but I’m just going to put it on a credit card and pray. I’m on a bus to Bethlehem, which has a pretty decent Wi-Fi connection but, weirdly, no toilets. At least three drug deals have happened in the seat next to me, and in between deals the guy is singing this one part of a song out loud that I recognize from somewhere. I think it might be Paula Cole?
Update #2 Jun 26, 2015
Still Here Oh, yeah, it’s definitely Paula Cole. It’s that weird chanting part of “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” Just that part. Over and over. This is why I don’t do drugs.
I’m assuming Olive has no idea I’m coming because there’s no reception in the land of the dead, but I have been texting her every hour on the hour anyway, just to cover my bases. I haven’t told her why I’m coming, because I can’t tell her that our parents are dead via text message. I mean, I could, but despite what she thinks about me I’m not a monster. I just keep writing “Need to talk to you, v. important.” But Olive has no sense of what’s important and what isn’t. Even if she got the messages, she’s probably all “Oh man, Ursula’s just having one of those days,” which is something I overheard her telling our mother once, just because I was upset that she didn’t want to be my maid of honor. Not that it mattered in the end, with the wedding being called off, but it was upsetting nonetheless.
I’m so fucking tired.
Update #3 • Jun 27, 2015
Past Midnight I wake up and the bus is parked at the depot. I’ve probably been here for hours. I’d been dreaming about Olive. While I was sleeping my face had been pressed against the window, with my mouth hanging open.
I walk two miles to the elementary school playground. I get a blister and do the last half-mile limping and barefoot. Then I have to pee, and since I don’t know what the restroom situation is in the land of the dead, I squat in some bushes. As I do so, I wonder if my sister is also peeing in a semipublic place. (If the land of the dead can be considered public at all, I guess.)
There is another woman standing here, burning her sage and drawing sigils on the pavement. She doesn’t look like she’s chasing a wayward family member; she looks like she’s ready to party. She has a lot of eyeliner on. I feel angry at her, like she’s Olive. She says something and the portal slides open, like the door of a minivan wreathed in smoke. I look away–it feels rude to stare. When she’s gone, and it’s dark once again. I draw the sigil and arrange the ingredients according to my notes. I say the spell, the unfamiliar syllables catching behind my teeth.
When my portal opens, a faceless creature is standing there. All and roughly shaped, like a dust storm or a swarm of gnats. There are dimples where its eyes should be, but I feel like it’s looking at me anyway. It takes my credit card, holds it for a moment, and then hands it back.
Backers, please keep in mind that I’m still paying off my student loans.
I also got a comment on this page from Olive. Three comments.

DC:0-5™ Training Handout CASE REPORT: TURNER Turner, an 18-month-old Caucasian boy of European descent, was referred to the program by his child welfare worker. Turner, the only son of a single parent mother, was placed in foster care after the death of his mother due to drug overdose when he was 12 months old. Because none of the mother’s family were able to care for him, and the father, who had been estranged, could not be located, this was an emergency placement to a temporary foster home for 4 weeks. Turner was then placed with a set of foster parents who were interested in longer placement and possible foster/adoption arrangements. Turner’s new foster parents agreed to take Turner after observing him together with his first foster parents for 45 minutes at the child welfare visiting playroom and being told about the death of his mother. By report they felt an immediate chemistry with him and felt they could provide him with a loving, caring home. Turner went to live with the foster family 1 week after this meeting. There was no other transitional process for the new placement. Reasons for referral were Turner’s incessant crying, poor appetite, and his having little interest in his surroundings. When not crying, he often stared silently. He often cried for “Mama” and would go to the window or door looking out longingly. He seldom smiled and had very little speech for expressing himself. He showed little joy or interest in photos placed in a life book of himself with his mother. The worker reported that this child’s foster parents had been considering adoption when Turner was placed with them, but were expressing reservations as a result of Turner’s emotional and behavioral patterns. The foster mother was especially concerned that Turner might be developmentally delayed or otherwise “damaged.” They requested a thorough diagnostic assessment to rule out chronic disabilities which would preclude their adoption of Turner. Assessment Process: Assessment occurred over five sessions: (1) detailed interview with child welfare worker, (2) a review by the worker and the assessor of Turner’s child welfare chart; (3&4) Two subsequent sessions involving home visits to observe Turner with foster parents and to elicit impressions and feeling toward him, and (5) administering the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Assessment Findings: Turner had been exposed to cocaine prenatally and as a newborn had some tremors. He was difficult to console. By 3 months old, he had become a quieter baby who smiled often and liked to be held. Turner’s developmental milestones had been met on schedule. All descriptions of Turner’s early life provided by physician records and extended family report indicated that Turner was developing along expectable lines even when placed in first foster home. There were signs of grief that were expressed when first placed, including calling for “Mama” and difficulty sleeping. However, the intense and prolonged behaviors began to emerge after the removal/transition to second foster family. Cognitive Functioning: Bayley Scales of Infant Development results reinforced finding of adequate developmental course (MDI+98, age-appropriate distribution of items passed and failed.) Turner vocalized little, but receptive language appeared adequate. While performing adequately, Turner showed little pleasure in experimenting with the test items and expressed protest only when an object was removed. His facial expression was attentive, but sober. Turner looked to the assessor to monitor her movements but with no sign of social engagement (detached). For a very young child, there was an oddly business-like quality to his behavior, he behaved as expected, but seemed emotionally detached from the experience. Home Observations: Turner’s behavior at the foster home was quite different from his demeanor during the administration of the Bayley Scales. At home he seemed like a younger baby, prone to wailing at the slightest frustration. When the foster mother picked him up to soothe him, he held himself stiffly in her arms, arching away from her and avoiding eye contact. He cried inconsolably. Nothing seemed to help him (singing, rocking, patting, etc.). He had trouble falling asleep at night, and he vehemently protested bedtime rituals. The foster father appeared to have more patience and more success in calming Turner after bouts of crying or protest. Frustrated and angry, his foster mother eventually resorted to leaving him alone in his crib to cry it out. Foster mother and child were quite detached from one another. The foster father had two grown children from a previous marriage, but the foster mother married later (late 30s) and had deeply wanted children. She sought spiritual meaning in the situation of foster/adoption and saw it as a duty to give love and economic resources to a child who did not have a home. Unfortunately, Turner had not reciprocated the foster parents’ eagerness to form an attachment. From the beginning, Turner’s foster mother felt disappointed that Turner was not the cuddly responsive baby she had hoped for. She found herself irritated by his lack of joy and failure to respond to her positively. She often found herself suppressing the wish to shake him to make him stop crying. Turner’s foster father was affectionate and supportive and felt that Turner just needed time to get used to them and begin to love them. Turner’s foster father was patient with him and able to use his sense of humor and empathic response to calm Turner’s crying. Turner’s responsiveness to his foster father made the foster mother feel patronized and angry with the foster father. She felt guilty about not being more patient with both Turner and her husband. Part 2: Answer the following questions in the discussion forum. 1.What attachment style is Turner exhibiting towards his foster parents? 2.After reading the Circle of Security this semester, how might you support Turner’s foster mother in her relationship with Turner? 3.What strengths do you see in this family unit? How can you help the family draw upon these strengths to support the socialization of Turner? 4.What resources might you seek for Turner’s family as the Early Head Start Parent Advocate? How would you include Turner in your classroom as an Early Head Start teacher?

. Question 1
The following abstract appeared in
PLOS Medicine:
Background: Observational epidemiological studies have shown that high body mass index (BMI) is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women but an increased risk in postmenopausal women. It is unclear whether this association is mediated through shared genetic or environmental factors.
Methods: We applied Mendelian randomization to evaluate the association between BMI and risk of breast cancer occurrence using data from two large breast cancer consortia. We created a weighted BMI genetic score comprising 84 BMI-associated genetic variants to predicted BMI. We evaluated genetically predicted BMI in association with breast cancer risk using individual-level data from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) (cases = 46,325, controls = 42,482). We further evaluated the association between genetically predicted BMI and breast cancer risk using summary statistics from 16,003 cases and 41,335 controls from the Discovery, Biology, and Risk of Inherited Variants in Breast Cancer (DRIVE) Project. Because most studies measured BMI after cancer diagnosis, we could not conduct a parallel analysis to adequately evaluate the association of measured BMI with breast cancer risk prospectively.
Results: In the BCAC data, genetically predicted BMI was found to be inversely associated with breast cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 0.65 per 5 kg/m2 increase, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56-0.75, p = 3.32?×?10-10). The associations were similar for both premenopausal (OR = 0.44, 95% CI:0.31-0.62, p = 9.91?×?10-8) and postmenopausal breast cancer (OR = 0.57, 95%?CI: 0.46-0.71, p = 1.88?×?10-8). This association was replicated in the data from the DRIVE consortium (OR = 0.72, 95%?CI: 0.60-0.84, p = 1.64?×?10-7). Single marker analyses identified 17 of the 84 BMI-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in association with breast cancer risk at p?
Conclusions: BMI predicted by genome-wide association studies (GWAS)-identified variants is inversely associated with the risk of both pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. The reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer associated with genetically predicted BMI observed in this study differs from the positive association reported from studies using measured adult BMI. Understanding the reasons for this discrepancy may reveal insights into the complex relationship of genetic determinants of body weight in the etiology of breast cancer.
When summarizing this research for a lay audience, which THREE details should you OMIT?
*Other studies have found that being overweight is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women but a higher risk in postmenopausal women.
*This type of study is called a Mendelian randomization study.
*The p-value associated with the main effect was p = 3.32?×?10-10.
*Women who were genetically predisposed to being overweight were less likely to develop breast cancer.
The data came from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium .
. Question 2
Questions 2-6 use excerpts from science news stories that appeared in:
The New York Times
, Stanford news,
Stanford
magazine,
Science News
, and
Science
magazine.
One person’s risky bet is another’s exciting opportunity.
This excerpt is most likely an example of which part of the science news story?
*Lead
*Nut graf
*First quote
. Question 3
“Like most people, I used to look at plants as passive,” says lead author Efrat Dener, a master’s student in environmental sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel.
This excerpt is most likely an example of which part of the science news story?
*Lead
*Nut graf
*First quote
4. Question 4
“Being able to look at selection in action is exciting,” says Molly Przeworski, an evolutionary biologist at Columbia University. The studies show how the human genome quickly responds to new conditions in subtle but meaningful ways, she says. “It’s a game-changer in terms of understanding evolution.”
This excerpt is most likely an example of which part of the science news story?
*Lead
*Nut graf
*First quote
5. Question 5
Geckos are the envy of rock climbers. Without glue, suction, or claws, these lizards scamper up walls and hang from ceilings.
This excerpt is most likely an example of which part of the science news story?
*Lead
*Nut graf
*First quote
Question 6
Snakes generally aren’t well suited for flight. So, scientists had assumed that snakes that move through air are merely parachuting from tall trees. However, a new study demonstrates that at least one species of flying snake does glide, and it does so nearly as well as other gliding animals.
This excerpt is most likely an example of which part of the science news story?
*Lead
*Nut graf
*First quote
Questions 7
have more than one possible answer. Grading is based on completion only. After submission, you should compare your answer to the model answer provided.
Rewrite the following sentence to make it more appropriate for a lay audience:
“It is worth noting that in addition to intertumor genetic heterogeneity, variability between cells within individual tumors has been observed.”
Questions 8
This excerpt comes from the transcript of an interview with a scientist.
“The opposite can also happen, that is that during REM sleep and during nightmare, for example, the motor inhibition is lost, and the person can act out their dreams, which is usually violent.”
Edit this excerpt as you would for a Q+A piece.
Questions 9
The following is an excerpt from a paper in
Nature
:
“Here we leverage the wide usage of smartphones with built-in accelerometry to measure physical activity at the global scale. We study a dataset consisting of 68 million days of physical activity for 717,527 people, giving us a window into activity in 111 countries across the globe. We find inequality in how activity is distributed within countries and that this inequality is a better predictor of obesity prevalence in the population than average activity volume.”
Write a brief summary of the design and results of this study for a lay audience. (Do not simply edit or paraphase the original; rather, write a new summary as you would for a news story.)
Questions 10
The following is an abstract from a paper in
Nature
:
“DNA is an excellent medium for archiving data. Recent efforts have illustrated the potential for information storage in DNA using synthesized oligonucleotides assembled
in vitro
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. A relatively unexplored avenue of information storage in DNA is the ability to write information into the genome of a living cell by the addition of nucleotides over time. Using the Cas1-Cas2 integrase, the CRISPR-Cas microbial immune system stores the nucleotide content of invading viruses to confer adaptive immunity7. When harnessed, this system has the potential to write arbitrary information into the genome8. Here we use the CRISPR-Cas system to encode the pixel values of black and white images and a short movie into the genomes of a population of living bacteria. In doing so, we push the technical limits of this information storage system and optimize strategies to minimize those limitations. We also uncover underlying principles of the CRISPR-Cas adaptation system, including sequence determinants of spacer acquisition that are relevant for understanding both the basic biology of bacterial adaptation and its technological applications. This work demonstrates that this system can capture and stably store practical amounts of real data within the genomes of populations of living cells.”
Write an appropriate tweet (<=140 characters)="" that="" introduces="" the="" paper.="" include="" a="" link="" to="" the="" paper="" in="">
Nature
: http://go.nature.com/2vd8tUB

please compare the Pyxis of al-Mughira with another art work listed below:
#43.
Augustus of Prima Porta
#162.
All-T’oqapu tunic
#169.
Wall plaque, from Oba’s palace
#212.
Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan
please describe the content of the Pyxis of al-Mughira and one of the artworks you picked above
Please use specific visual evidence from both works, explain at least one similarity and at least one difference in how the works exemplify propagandistic agendas.
please explain at least one similarity or difference in how the works exemplify propagandistic agendas within their respective cultures. Use specific contextual evidence about both Pyxis of al-Mughira and your selected work in your explanation above

Read “Last Rites for Indian Dead” by Suzan Shown Harjo and answer questions 1 and 2.
What is the issue that Harjo identified? How extensive does she show it to be?
What is Harjo’s position on this issue? Where does she first state it?
Learning from Other Writers In the following two essays, the writers take a stand on issues of importance to them. To help you analyze the first reading, look at the notes in the margin. They identify the thesis, or main idea, and the first supporting point in a paper that takes a stand. As you read these essays that take a stand, ask yourself the following questions: 1. What stand does the writer take? Is it a popular opinion, or does it break from commonly accepted beliefs? 2. How does the writer appeal to readers? 3. How does the writer support his or her position? Is the evidence sufficient to gain your respect? Why, or why not? Suzan Shown Harjo Last Rites for Indian Dead Suzan Shown Harjo is a writer and political activist, advocating for Native American legal rights and cultural protections. As a result of the efforts of Harjo and others like her, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990. MANUEL BALCE CENETA/ AP Images What if museums, universities, and government agencies could put your dead relatives on display or keep them in bags to be cut up and otherwise studied? What if you believed that the spirits of the dead could not rest until their human remains were placed in a sacred area? The ordinary American would say there ought to be a law – and there is, for ordinary Americans. The problem for American Indians is that there are too many laws of the kind that make us the archaeological property of the United States and too few of the kind that protect us from such insults. Some of my own Cheyenne relatives’ skulls are in the Smithsonian Institution today, along with those of at least 4,500 other Indian people who were violated in the 1800s by the U.S. Army for an “Indian Crania Study.” It wasn’t enough that these unarmed Cheyenne people were mowed down by the cavalry at the infamous Sand Creek massacre; many were decapitated and their heads shipped to Washington as freight. (The Army Medical Museum’s collection is now in the Smithsonian.) Some had been exhumed only hours after being buried. Imagine their grieving families’ reaction on finding their loved ones disinterred and headless. Native American march with a truck returning 2,000 skeletal remains of Jemez Pueblo Indian ancestors for reburial in New Mexico. The remains had been in the collections of Harvard University.
Some targets of the army’s study were killed in noncombat situations and beheaded immediately. The officer’s account of the decapitation of the Apache chief Mangas Coloradas in 1863 shows the pseudoscientific nature of the exercise. “I weighed the brain and measured the skull,” the good doctor wrote, “and found that while the skull was smaller, the brain was larger than that of Daniel Webster.” These journal accounts exist in excruciating detail, yet missing are any records of overall comparisons, conclusions, or final reports of the army study. Since it is unlike the army not to leave a paper trail, one must wonder about the motive for its collection. The total Indian body count in the Smithsonian collection is more than 19,000, and it is not the largest in the country. It is not inconceivable that the 1.5 million of us living today are outnumbered by our dead stored in museums, educational institutions, federal agencies, state historical societies, and private collections. The Indian people are further dehumanized by being exhibited alongside the mastodons and dinosaurs and other extinct creatures. Where we have buried our dead in peace, more often than not the sites have been desecrated. For more than two hundred years, relic-hunting has been a popular pursuit. Lately, the market in Indian artifacts has brought this abhorrent activity to a fever pitch in some areas. And when scavengers come upon Indian burial sites, everything found becomes fair game, including sacred burial offerings, teeth, and skeletal remains. One unusually well-publicized example of Indian grave desecration occurred in a western Kentucky field known as Slack Farm, the site of an Indian village five centuries ago. Ten men – one with a business card stating “Have Shovel, Will Travel” – paid the landowner $10,000 to lease digging rights between planting seasons. They dug extensively on the forty-acre farm, rummaging through an estimated 650 graves, collecting burial goods, tools, and ceremonial items. Skeletons were strewn about like litter. What motivates people to do something like this? Financial gain is the first answer. Indian relic-collecting has become a multimillion-dollar industry. The price tag on a bead necklace can easily top $1,000; rare pieces fetch tens of thousands. And it is not just collectors of the macabre who pay for skeletal remains. Scientists say that these deceased Indians are needed for research that someday could benefit the health and welfare of living Indians. But just how many dead Indians must they examine? Nineteen thousand? There is doubt as to whether permanent curation of our dead really benefits Indians. Dr. Emery A. Johnson, a former assistant Surgeon General, observed, “I am not aware of any current medical diagnostic or treatment procedure that has been derived from research on such skeletal remains. Nor am I aware of any during the thirty-four years that I have been involved in American Indian health care.” Indian remains are still being collected for racial biological studies. While the intentions may be honorable, the ethics of using human remains this way without the full consent of relatives must be questioned. Some relief for Indian people has come on the state level. Almost half of the states, including California, have passed laws protecting Indian burial sites and restricting the sale of Indian bones, burial offerings, and other sacred items. However, no legislation has attacked the problem head-on by imposing stiff penalties at the marketplace or by changing laws that make dead Indians the nation’s property. Some universities – notably Stanford, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Seattle – have returned, or agreed to return, Indian human remains; it is fitting that institutions of higher education should lead the way. The country must recognize that the bodies of dead American Indian people are not artifacts to be bought and sold as collector’s items. It is not appropriate to score tens of thousands of our ancestors for possible future research. They are our family. They deserve to be returned to their sacred burial grounds and given a chance to rest. The plunder of our people’s graves has gone on too long. Let us rebury our dead and remove this shameful past from America’s future. Also, answer the following questions:
What type of claim is Harjo making in this essay?
What kinds of evidence does Harjo use to support her claim?
What kinds of appeal does Harjo use in her essay?

Situating Masculinity; Immigration, Empathy and Emasculation in Junot Diaz’s
Drown
1.    What is masculinity according to Professor Keith Nurse?
2.    According to literary critic Satya Mohanty, what is the purpose of “identities” and” cultures” in our social reality?
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3.    According to anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu, what are the institutions interconnected in creating social constructs?
4.    What is the dichotomy in masculinity as seen by Norma Fuller?
5.  Explain why Antonio de Moya says that, “masculinity depends on a kind of self-policing among its members”?
6.  Reflection. What is your opinion on masculinity? Do you agree with the definitions offered in this article?
7.     According to the CNN article written by Noah Berlatsky, what is “himpathy” and, what emotional behavior is associated with the term?

In debates on the concept of fairness, some people argue that “fair” does not always mean “equal.” In a New Yorker article from January 13, 2020, Louis Menand writes, “The terrible paradox of the civil-rights movement is that outlawing racial discrimination made it harder to remediate its effects. . . . We took race out of the equation only to realize that, if we truly wanted not just equality of opportunity for all Americans but equality of result, we needed to put it back in.” He explains that this paradox came to be known as affirmative action.
Consider the line between the concepts of fairness and equality. A response in which you argue your position on the idea that “fair does not always mean equal.” Use appropriate and specific evidence to develop and defend your argument.
Q: Paper Writing:
Directions: Assume that you are the SK Chairman of your barangay. Write a letter addressed to your Barangay Chairman about the project you want to conduct, that advocates community effort to increase participation in physical activities, improve nutrition practices, and with consideration to the new normal situation due to COVID19 Pandemic. Your output will be graded using this rubric: Content 50% Organization 30% Punctuation and Grammar 20% Total 100%
Q: Paper Writing:
Jean-Michel Basquiat Please watch the documentary regarding NYC artist Basquiat and provide a two – five sentence response per question through Canvas as to how you feel about the following regarding his work and times: 1) How does race and/or ethnic/identity politics play a role into his work, especially his public art/graffiti art expressions? 2) Speak a bit about his symbolism and/or his “intent” as an artist? In other words, what, in your perspective, were his pictorial concerns? 3) What is your overall impression of Basquiat’s street/graffiti/symbolic/”pop”/poetic work? Do you feel that his work may be relevant today?
Q: Paper Writing:
answer the ff,
36. “Hey, how are you? I missed you!”
A. TURN-TAKING
B. TERMINATION
C. REPAIR
D. NOMINATION
37. “Best regards to your parents! See you around!”
A. TURN-TAKING
B. TERMINATION
C. REPAIR
D. NOMINATION
38. “Good to see you. Anyway, I came to visit you because I want to personally offer apologies for what I did yesterday.”
A. TURN-TAKING
B. TERMINATION
C. REPAIR
D. NOMINATION
39. “Sorry, I can’t decide on that now. I am still focused on my writing assignment. Let’s talk next time, okay?”
A. TURN-TAKING
B. TERMINATION
C. REPAIR
D. NOMINATION
40. “Now, it’s your turn to ask questions.”
A. TURN-TAKING
B. TERMINATION
C. REPAIR
D. NOMINATION
Q: Paper Writing:
After reading “Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces” by John Palfrey (pp. 731-738), present your own argument to your classmates in response to the author’s claim that “free expression and diversity are essential components of democracy.” In your response, be sure to pinpoint specific ways Palfrey defines, describes, or characterizes free speech and diversity, and address those specifically. Your goal is to use all the strategies we’ve discussed in class leading up to this point to make a compelling argument. Practice your argumentative skills this week – and challenge your classmates to further develop their own – as a final exercise to help you deliver a strong argument in your final presentation next week.
Q: Paper Writing:
What would you say is the definition and intention of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)?
Where can you find information about Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)?
What would qualify an activity as “developmentally appropriate”?
How would a consideration of developmentally appropriate risks for young children guide your decisions in planning activities?
Q: Paper Writing:
What is convenience sampling?
How does convenience sampling work with qualitative or quantitative sampling?
Examine the sources of evidence that contribute to professional nursing practice.
Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies.
Identify ethical issues common to research involving human subjects.
Q: Paper Writing:
a letter to a relative describing what you’ve learned about the history of school desegregation in the North based on the readings in this Module. Include a direct quote from each text (Sokol and Spencer).
Jason Sokol,
All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn
Kyle Spencer, “As Other Districts Grapple with School Segregation, This One Makes Integration Work,”
New York Times
, December 12, 2016. PDF
Actions
Q: Paper Writing:
Briefly discuss the relationship between story and plot in The Skin I Live In.
You can write your answer with regards to Arrival.
Answer
The plot was about this Plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard who develops this amazing skin that is resistant to burns and insect bites. He did this conducted illegal transgenic experiments on humans, he is forbidden to continue with his research. However, he still experiments on a young woman named Vera captive and asks Marilia his servant and real mom to dismiss the other servants. Ledgard is out, Marilia’s estranged son Zeca, having committed a robbery, arrives in a tiger costume and asks his mother to hide him for a few days. He sees Vera on Ledgard’s security camera screens and demands to see her in person. She refuses to let her son so he gags her then rapes Vera. Ledgard drives and kills Zeca. Later Marilia tells Vera that Ledgard and Zeca are brothers with different fathers but both of them never knew that. Ledgard went to medical school and married a woman named Gal. When Zeca came back years later, he and Gal ran off together. They were involved in a terrible car crash in which Gal was badly burnt. Zeca had left the scene assuming her to be dead. Here in the present, Zeca had mistaken Vera for Gal, something she did not deny. Gal killed herself one day while hearing her daughter Norma singing in the garden. Gal accidentally sees her own reflection in the window; traumatized by the sight, she jumps to her death. Later Ledgard returns after burying Zeca’s body and spends the night with Vera. He dreams of his past, specifically the night of a wedding six years earlier, where he finds Norma (his daughter) unconscious on the ground. Norma, who had been taking medication for psychosis—having been rendered mentally unstable due to witnessing her mother’s suicide—comes to believe that Ledgard had raped her upon awakening with him above her; she subsequently develops a fear of all men and spends years in a mental health facility. She eventually kills herself in the same manner that her mother did. Vera too dreams of that night realizing that he was originally a guy named Vicente. He crashes the wedding and meets Norma. Like others at the party, he is under the influence of drugs. He walks with Norma into the garden. Norma begins to take off some of her clothes, stating she would be naked all the time if she could. Vicente kisses her and compliments her. While they are lying down with Vicente on top of her, she suddenly starts to have a frantic reaction to the music playing—the same song she was singing when her mother committed suicide—and starts screaming. Vicente attempts to hush her screams, leading to her biting his hand. He slaps her, knocking her unconscious. He rearranges her clothes and flees the scene, looking around nervously for potential witnesses, just before Ledgard arrives; he is unaware that Ledgard notices him leaving on his motorbike. Ledgard tracks him down and kidnaps him and holds him captive and changes him slowly into his ex-wife. During this period of time, Vicente struggles to keep himself sane and cling to the core of his true identity.
After an absence of four years, Marilia returns to work in Ledgard’s house to look after Vera (Vicente). Vera reveals to Marilia that he has been held captive for the last six years.
Back in the present, Ledgard’s new relationship with Vera dismays Marilia, who does not trust Vera. Fulgencio, one of Ledgard’s colleagues, reads a news story about the missing Vicente and recognizes him as one of their sex change patients. He accuses Ledgard of falsifying Vicente’s consent and of experimenting on him. Vera, who overhears their conversation, tells Fulgencio that he is the missing Vicente and in support of Ledgard, states that he is here by his own free will. After Fulgencio leaves, Vera notices a photograph of himself as Vicente attached to the news story about missing persons. During the night, Ledgard and Vera start having sex, but Vera tells him that it is still painful after Zeca’s rape. Ostensibly going downstairs to find lubricant, Vera retrieves Ledgard’s gun and kills him. Marilia, alerted by the sound of the shot, barges into the bedroom with her own pistol in hand and finds her son Ledgard dead on the bed. Vera, who is hiding under the bed, shoots and kills Marilia. With her final breath, Marilia says “I knew it.”
Freed from captivity at last, Vicente returns to his mother’s dress shop

“How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy” on pages 296-299 and “Saving the Self in the Age of the Selfie” on pages 319-331 from
Pursuing Happiness
As you read these texts, consider how Maria Konnikova and James McWilliams’ arguments
Both Maria Konnikova and James McWilliams identify problems with the use of technology. Based on these authors’ articles, how do technology and our “digitized life” present obstacles to happiness? Be specific and discuss both articles.
What solutions does each author present to these problems? How might these solutions lead to an increased sense of happiness? Again, discuss both articles and be specific.

What responsibility do teachers have to teach their students the ethical use of technology and how can they encourage its appropriate use at home? How does this relate to the Professional Dispositions of Learners?