Vulnerable Population; Poor

Vulnerable Population: The Poor â€Å"A vulnerable population is a group or groups that are more likely to develop health- related problems, have more difficulty accessing health care to address those health problems, and are more likely to experience a poor outcome or shorter life span because of those health conditions. † (Maurer & Smith,2009, pp. 533) Poverty is linked with marked deprivation of well-being of an individual due to inability to meet basic needs.It could be due to lack of income or resources to buy goods and services or inability to access them. Thus poor people in the population are considered vulnerable as socioeconomic status is closely linked to a person’s health status. People who are poor or belong to low income group have difficulty in providing basic necessities of life e. g. food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their families. They lack resources and opportunities to improve their quality of life. Their behavior and choices are determ ined by their socioeconomic status.In United States poverty is determined by comparing annual income to threshold which is set of dollar value that vary by family size, number of children and age of householders. If a family’s income is below their threshold that family is considered to be in poverty including all members. (Bishaw, & Macartney, 2010) According to the United States Census Bureau in the year 2011 the poverty rate was 15% indicating 46. 2 million people in poverty range. People living in poverty tend to live in certain neighborhoods rather than evenly distributing in different neighborhoods.This increases burden on families beyond their circumstances because disadvantageous neighborhood brings more problems in their lives. Resources in these areas are scarce as the area becomes disadvantageous banks, stores; shopping places or new business doesn’t go in these areas because they don’t see any profit. There is lack of good public schools, housing and sanitation are inadequate, access to health is non-existent and employment opportunities are limited. These people don’t have access to healthy food as it is expensive compare to unhealthy food which cost less and feed more people.They have more fast food places and liquor stores in their areas. There is no place or a safe place for physical activity and recreation as a result people stay at home this limits there physical activity as well as social interaction. The crime rate in such areas is high therefore residents face constant threat to their lives. Youth and adults do not have any positive outlet or recreation available and they adapt behavior as smoking, drinking alcohol and use of drugs.It was also shown in PBS videos that across the country polluting industries are found in communities where population is poor or belong to minority causing pollution and other health problems. Population living below poverty line usually doesn’t have health insurance. Even if they are employed they either do not get insurance from employer owing to small business or if they get insurance they do not enroll to save cost of monthly premium. For them basic needs are priority while health is secondary. Because of the cost they have to choose between needs and health.They usually delay seeking care or avoid going to health care altogether making them sicker. As a result they end up using acute care services e. g. emergency department and have poor health outcomes. In PBS video it was highlighted lack of health care is not the cause of their illness but chronic constant stress in their daily lives exposes them to risk of chronic diseases. High level of stress hormones over time increases arterial plaque raises blood pressure and weakens immune system. This can result in heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.There are certain initiatives by government to address these issues the first example is providing food stamps to the families who doesn’t have any source of income. In PBS video it was shown the amount sometime is not adequate enough to fulfill need of the family where a woman has 200 dollars for the month to feed four people. Second example is providing reduce price meals or free meals to school children whose family fall under poverty level. Finally PPACA has increase access to health care by ensuring health insurance for all but does it solve the problem? The poor population will be oing back to same stressful environment after treatment so they might become frequent visitor of healthcare facility with ongoing health issues increasing frustration in HCP as they will not see any improvement. I would like to conclude by saying to improve health status and life expectancy of this vulnerable population social reforms are essential to provide opportunity to improve quality of life along with improve access to health care. References Bishaw, A. United States census Bureau, (2011). Areas with concentrated poverty: 2006 œ2010 American community survey briefs (ACSBR/10-17).Retrieved from website: http://www. census. gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-17. pdf Bishaw, A. , & Macartney, S. United States census Bureau, (2010). Poverty: 2008 and 2009 American community survey briefs (ACSBR/09-1). Retrieved from website: http://www. census. gov/prod/2010pubs/acsbr09-1. pdf Documentary series: Unnatural causes [Web]. (2008). Retrieved from http://www. unnaturalcauses. org/video_clips. php Maurer, F. , & Smith, C. (2009). Community/ public health nursing practice: health for families and population. (Fourth ed. , Chapter 21). Saunders.

Police Brutality Among Nigerian Males In Philadelphia Essay

Cultural prejudice is like a virus that is transmitted from human to human and like a parasite eats up a society and its reasoning. These prejudices are reflected in our day to day life. How often we see a white women shying away from young African American male on the street reflecting the basic stereotyped assumptions that we make about others every day. These inevitable behaviors of which most of us are victims remain unresolved because of the unconscious state it has entered. Likewise, people who have been victims of racism in the past develop an extreme judgmental attitude, often labeling a simple act as a racist, failing them to ever see well in others. Marilyn French, a feminist fiction writer, in her work on â€Å"Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals (1986),† interprets such bigot behavior as an outcome of a patriarchal world that is lured by power and control over women, children, property, and other men; and subsequently enticed with the idea of superiority using skin color, wealth, religion and ethnicity as its variable. She suggests that the masculine principle is governed by aggressiveness which prevails over the cultural values ascribed to the feminine principle. Quoting from her work, â€Å"World wide patriarchal values and perspectives are so pervasive; many people believe them to be inevitable. Such thinkers believe feminine principle oriented cultures became instinct because of the superiority of Western patriarchy†. She further emphasizes that since western people are oriented in a masculine thought; its end result is anything but cultural prejudice. Further, delving on this theory she suggests that we all are members of the â€Å"in- groups† that offers us a feeling of belongingness and comfort. And all others become members of the â€Å"out-groups†. It is taken as a fact that members of one group will always be antagonist to the members of the other group. Marilyn calls it a â€Å"self justifying dialogue that keeps us from self analysis mixing beliefs with attitudes and values, and morality with ethics† (French, 1985, p. 19). We obediently keep practicing what we have been taught in our lifetime, i. . â€Å"what to think† of those who are members of the opposite group instead of â€Å"how to think† and in turn delaying our judgment about others. Our faculty has stopped responding to a logical reasoning and it has simply turned into a mechanical thought process. Leading all of us to becoming racist, ageist, and ethnocentric in this patriarchal culture. An authoritarian personality clings on to the conventional values of their culture, and refuses at any time the need of self – introspection (Breslin, 1974, p. 51). While delving on this type, Mumia Abu-Jamal stands as a case in point. Mumia Abu – Jamal, a famous radio journalist in Philadelphia was also known as â€Å"the voice of the voiceless†. He used to report on issues concerning police brutality, misconduct and racism on the minority communities and especially, the African American community. In 1981, he became a victim himself of things he always fought against. On December night, 1981, while driving a cab to supplement his income earned through journalism, Abu Jamal drove pass his brother who was being beaten up by the police officer, Daniel Faulkner for traffic violation. Shortly, a gun fire broke out leaving both the police officer and Abu- Jamal injured. Unfortunately, the officer succumbed to his injuries while Abu –Jamal recovered through a surgery. He was trialed for the Officer Daniel Faulkner’s murder case and given a death sentence. However, at the insistence of Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham, Abu – Jamal is currently not facing the death penalty. This is a typical case of a social conflict between individuals and collectivities. Interpreting Abu – Jamal’s case through Lane Cormick’s work, this situation can be termed as a crisis. The media and many literary discussions have depicted this case as that of prejudice and racial discrimination. Race and ethnicity are hence, seen as the controlling dynamics in this case. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter in his book on â€Å" Killing Time: An Investigation Into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu – Jamal†, stated that at the time of Abu – Jamal’s arrest, the Philadelphia Police Department was indeed the most corrupt enforcement operations in the nation. Hence, the decision made by the United States’ judicial system , awarding death sentence to Abu- Jamal, based on the evidences put forth by the Philadelphia police has been widely criticized and challenged. This decision has been labeled as an outcome of cultural prejudice in a society that stands as an epitome of liberty. The United States’ judicial system has been attributed for its racism and discrimination against defendants of color. Noam Chomsky while reflecting on this case called the U. S. prison system a class and a race war. He further emphasized that Abu – Jamal is just one illustration of what’s called â€Å"social cleansing† in US. Philadelphia police is known for its notoriety. The racist attitude that it thrives on is also not hidden from the public. The killing of a young black man, Bryan Jones on the morning of January 1, 2007 is just one in a million cases reflecting brutality dipped with prejudice and racism practiced by the Philadelphia police. According to the Welcoming Center for new Pennsylvanians, seven percent of Philadelphia’s immigrants come from Africa mainly comprising of Nigerians who form the largest African group in this region. Every now and then, there are cases heard against the Police Department of Philadelphia for ill – treating the Africans. Scholars suggest that off all prejudice, the most critical is the Attitudinal Prejudice reflected (in this case) in the Philadelphia police also explaining the reasons of brutality that’s practiced on these minority races. W. T. Jones in his work on â€Å"Perspectives on ethnicity. New direction for student services†, explains that â€Å"attitudinal prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward a person or group based upon a social comparison process in which the individual’s own group is taken as the positive point of reference. † (Jones, 1972, p. 6). Further, to combat the ‘isms’ requires new value assumptions and new social learning.

Health for All Children

Is health for all children an achievable goal? The world’s children have rights to health which are enshrined in international law. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Articles 6 and 24 pertain to the rights of children to life, survival and development, enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of health and facilities for the treatment of illness and the rehabilitation of health (Block 4, p. 94).However, every year throughout the world vast numbers of children suffer ill health and die. Nearly 11 million children still die each year before their fifth birthday, often from readily preventable causes. An estimated 150 million children are malnourished (UNICEF 2001) (Block 4, p. 94. ) What follows is an exploration of the causes and treatments of ill health looking at the major challenges of poverty, inequality, culture and gender, and the social and political dimensions of such matters.The effectiveness or otherwise of international health intervention programmes is analysed and a measure of the progress made so far and the possibility of health for the world’s children becoming a realistic goal is discussed. Health is a culturally constructed concept, a collection of ideas and beliefs gathered from our experiences of living within a family, community and wider society. It is recognised by health professionals, theorists and researchers that being healthy means different things to different people.When considering matters of health it needs to be understood that health and disease are complex terms that are more than just a matter of genetics. Health is influenced by personal, cultural, social, economic and political circumstances. The definition of the term health as used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 1948 is as follows: ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. (WHO, 2009). The WHO definition promotes an holistic view of h ealth that has been criticised for being idealistic and difficult to put into practice.What is important about this definition is that it is a positive interpretation that implies that health for all is something that can be achieved. Certainly this definition has aided thinking around health as more than simply the absence of infirmity and emphasises a social dimension. Globalisation, economics, adverse living conditions, the lack of availability of primary health care, differing social practices and cultural notions of health are all factors that impact on the health of people.These factors present both challenges and opportunities for the world regarding the possibility of achieving health for all children. Medical advancements in the latter half of the twentieth century has seen most notably the development of antibiotics, vitamins, vaccinations for serious infectious diseases such as Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Chicken Pox, to name but a few, along with a vaccination that eradi cated Small Pox.One advantage of globalisation is the increasing awareness of the plight of children in developing countries which has marshalled medical intervention and has resulted in a drastic decrease in child and young people’s mortality rates. However, despite advancements in medical technology, the availability of health treatments has not guaranteed the eradication of some preventable and curable illnesses (for example, Diarrhoea).Diarrhoea can be treated very effectively with a low cost intervention. Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) prevent dehydration which is the cause of deaths amongst children with diarrhoea. However, in studies of the Huli people in Papua New Guinea it was noted that although at first the mortality rate from diarrhoea fell as a result of the ORS intervention programme, the improvements were not sustained and the Huli people became dissatisfied with the treatment.The Huli people desired a treatment that would address the symptoms of diarrhoea: dry u p the runny stools of the sick children. Administering ORS fluids didn’t make sense and clashed with their understanding of the illness. Furthermore, the need to dissolve the ORS medication in water necessitates a clean water supply, something so basic but something that isn’t always available in communities in the South. The ‘Miracle cure’ or ‘Magic bullet’ for diarrhoea, ORS, is an example of how selective, vertical interventions may save lives.But it is also a prime example of how a purely medical approach to health does little to improve the quality of lives when other causes of illness such as poor sanitation and lack of clean water are not addressed. (Block 4, p. 125). A Western biomedical approach to the treatment of ill health has its limitations. Technological cures in the form of drugs, although vitally important, will on their own do little but not enough to make health an attainable goal for the world’s children.The concept of human rights and rights for children has gained increased recognition across the world. The status of children has been raised and children’s interests placed on political agenda’s throughout many states. ‘As of November 2009, 194 countries ratified, accepted, or acceded to the UNCRC (some with stated reservations or interpretations) including every member of the United Nations except Somalia and the United States. Somalia has announced that it would shortly do so’ (Wikipedia, 2010).Yet there remains concern about the real levels of commitment to concepts of children’s rights and concern about the lack of accountability to make nations uphold right’s for children. Through media coverage of world catastrophes, such as famines and droughts and through campaigns delivered by humanitarian and charitable organisations an ethical and moral debate is taking place about the need to address global health that has pricked the moral conscience. What is now required is effective systems that can help realise children’s rights and mobilise efforts to make health for all an achievable goal.The economic power of some nations and global corporations, and structural adjustment programmes (SAP’s) have created imbalances of power and forces that have worked against health goals with the effect of widening economic disparities between rich and poor across and within nations. SAP’s have been imposed to ensure debt repayment and economic restructuring. But some poor countries have had to reduce spending on things like health, education and development, while debt repayment and other economic policies have been made the priority.For many basic health care has become a service that can only be accessed if an individual has money to purchase it. Free health care has become less about a human right and more of a commodity to be bought. A further challenge to health for children in relation to economics is that within coun tries where there is political instability and conflict nations priorities become one of national security, funding arms and defense programmes and as a result there is decreased funding for basic care and education. At present an attitude prevails that nations should ‘look after heir own’. There does exists a humanitarian approach to supporting poorer countries at times of emergency but there are no effective systems that legally oblige nations to work together to ensure that basic living conditions, health care and the right’s of children are upheld. A change of attitude within and across nations and governments regarding whose responsibility it is to intervene and the importance of intervening to produce more egalitarian societies would go a long way to making health for all children an achievable goal.Global medical advancements, the development in the concept of rights for children internationally and world economic systems have been investigated to demonstr ate how they have resulted in both opportunities and challenges to improving health for all children. Yet it is also necessary to look closer at the more personal experiences encountered by children and families and focus on the social and cultural factors that impact on health.Securing health for all children requires more than having medical expertise and drugs on hand to prevent and/or treat medical ailments. Several examples of differing cultural understandings around illness can be offered that illustrates this idea. The Bozo tribe of Mali believe that red urine in adolescent boys, a condition caused by a parasitic infection, is normal and indicates sexual maturity; as such it is celebrated as a sign of males reaching manhood. Within the Bozo tribal people the symptoms are not viewed as a sign of illness and the condition goes untreated.In Nigeria 76% of women perceive diarrhoea as a symptom of teething and as such a normal part of growth and development and not something which requires treatment (Block 4, p. 103). In both these examples the cultural and social dimensions of ill health contrast with Western biomedical approaches to children’s health. When culturally interpreted ideas of health conflict with medical systems where there is a focus purely on the biological causation of illness, the acceptance of a diagnosis and treatment of a condition can be problematic.Some challenges in achieving health for all children is managing and resolving the clash of differing world views regarding health, that is, people’s perceptions of health together with their level of understanding and acceptance of scientific notions of health, and how to increase community participation in health programmes. UNICEF states that ‘chronic poverty remains the greatest obstacle to fulfilling the rights of children’. In the UNICEF book, ‘We are the Children’, it is cited that half of humanity is desperately impoverished and half of the 1. billion people forced to live on less than $1 per day are children. (Block 4, p. 108). UNICEF and the World Bank have defined absolute poverty (less than $1 per day per person) as being the minimum amount that purchases the goods and services deemed necessary for basic survival. (Block 4, p. 49). This definition is most appropriate for those living in the poorest countries of the South, however, poverty affects many children living within the richest countries of the world also.Relative rather than absolute poverty, that is, the inequality and deprivation experienced relative to those better off living in the same society, can impact on health causing emotional stress, humiliation and social exclusion. Andrea Ashworth writing about her experiences of growing up in Manchester in the 1970’s described the multiple effects of poverty that she experienced; living in a flea infested home, eating a less than nutritious diet, the shame of not being able to afford certain basic items of food, the stress that poverty had on her mother and how it manifested symptoms of depression that impacted on the whole family. Reading B, Ashworth). Studies by the Child Poverty Action Group in the United Kingdom concludes that children growing up in poverty are more likely to be born prematurely, suffer chronic illnesses in later life, die from accidents, live in poor quality homes, have fewer employment opportunities, get in trouble with the police and be at greater risk of alcohol or drug misuse. Poverty impacts on both the physical and mental health of children and their overall quality of life. (Block 4, p. 57).In order to make improvements in the health of the world’s children it is necessary therefore not simply to make health care freely available to all but to confront and tackle wider issues of social justice, inequality and poverty. Cuba is an example of a country with limited material resources that has created a more egalitarian society by providing food, emp loyment, education and health care for all. They now have infant mortality rates on a par with some of the world’s wealthiest countries.Similarly, in Bangladesh as a result of a national commitment to invest in basic social services, the under fives mortality rate has decreased substantially. (Block 4, p. 109). This is strong evidence of the ability to make health for all an achievable goal if there is government commitment to tackling social justice and inequality. A further dimension of inequality is the discrimination in matters of health based on gender, birth order and social status at a local level.In cases of malnutrition in Mali, Dettwyler identified that access or entitlement to resources is shaped ‘by the social relations prevailing between and within families within communities’ (Block 4, p. 119). Dettwyler provides an example of discrimination against children that begins with discrimination against the mother. Aminata, since she was fostered by the f amily, was considered to be of low status. When she became pregnant with twins her status was further lowered along with her entitlement to food and freedoms.She had to accept a life of drudgery and hard work providing for others in the family which took precedence over caring for her own children who were suffering from malnutrition despite food being in plentiful supply. Aminata’s quality of life only improved when one of her children died, the other was sent away and Aminata married into a new family. Her social standing increased along with her quality of life. Aminata gave birth to three more children, two of whom survived and were reported to be only mildly malnourished. Reading C). Beliefs about female inferiority within many parts of the world impacts on rates of malnutrition and mortality amongst girls compared to boys. Studies have shown in India and China that girls are less likely to be breast fed for as long boys, are less likely to be given extra food and more l ikely to be abandoned. These social attitudes and practices towards girls can be changed through development policy on the education of females.Through education the chances of health and survival of children can be improved (Block 4, p. 116) It has been argued that to achieve health for all children multiple factors need to be addressed. Free basic primary health care needs to be available to all, yet this on its own will do a little but not enough to sustain health and survival. Sustainability requires adequate housing, sanitation, clean water and an environment free from pollutants. Education, skills training and employment enable people to contribute to society.They are determinants of health in that they raise self-esteem, feelings of worth and have the ability to empower, organise and rally people together to make changes to advance wealth and health. The health of the world’s children cannot be left in the hands of humanitarian and charitable organisations. Unscrupulou s governments and some economic policies are malign forces that impede progress. The ethical and moral questions regarding international intervention and the level of responsibility that different nations should or can have towards the peoples of other nations are difficult to answer.However, the goal of health for all, as complicated or impossible it may at first seem, has seen progress which should not be underestimated. Within sixty years the WHO has been set up, the UNCRC has been established, international policies have been devised that have bound nations to working together, unprecedented medical knowledge has been gained, lessons regarding what has worked and hasn’t worked have been learnt, cultural understandings have been developed and ethical and moral debates keep the issue of poverty and health in the minds of all.The world is entering a crucial phase where the scope to tackle world poverty and health of children is beginning to be realised. The know-how, experti se and resources exist to achieve health for all children. Perhaps the greatest challenge to success is establishing worldwide commitment to the endeavour.Word count 2,505 References Open University (2007) U212, Changing Childhoods, Local and Global, Block 4, Achieving Health for Children, Milton Keynes, The Open University Open University (2007), Changing Childhoods, Local and Global, Block 4, Achieving Health for all Children, Reading C, ‘Cases of Malnutrition in Mali’, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Open University (2007), Changing Childhoods, Local and Global, Block 4, Children, Poverty and Social Inequality, Reading B, ‘Once in a House on Fire’, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Wikipedia 2010 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/UNCRC [accessed 5 September 2010] World Health Organisation 2003 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/UNCRC [accessed 5 September 2010]

Dsm changes (ass 2 psy 5035) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dsm changes (ass 2 psy 5035) - Essay Example The medical community emphasizes that a quality diagnosis comes from objective formats and is consistently reliable. The diagnosis of ADHD seems to be reliable only if done by experienced well trained diagnosticians. These very diagnosticians are calling for stabilizing criteria being added to the DSM (Biederman & Faraone 2005). For many years, the idea that ADHD persists into adulthood has been met with varying degrees of skepticism. Thirty-five studies follow-up studies of children diagnosed with ADHD have shown that it does persist into adulthood. Symptoms ad described in the present DSM do show a decline in the severity of symptoms. By the age of 30-40, clients will no longer meet the full criteria for the diagnosis however clinically significant impairments are still noticeable. There is a noted risk in adults for the comorbitiy of personality disorders, poor occupation performance, traffic accidents, injuries and some anti-social behavior. Additional diagnostic criteria for adults is likely to be added to the diagnostic criteria and it may be broken down at the lower end as well (Biederman & Faraone 2005). More and more very young children are being put on medications. Perhaps adding age specific criteria for under seven should also be added. In many cases, clinicians have taken integrating material into their own hands by using the Connors Assessment System. It is likely in the future such integrating criteria will be included in the diagnostic criteria to provide a more objective outcome. There may be a new developmentally divided list of behaviors including reports from others that will be added (Rassmussen et.al 2004). In an effort to increase diagnostic reliability the new research can be helpful. We now have insight into differences in brain function that can be seen in brain scans. As that becomes more available and more definitive we may see such scans used for diagnosis. We also have more definitive evidence about the

Inter-firm analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Inter-firm analysis - Essay Example This amplified the revenues to 1.4 billion dollars every twelve months and 207, 772 dollars cash and equivalents of cash at the end of 3 month period. Abbeycrest became extremely busy in that it opens new outlets every three hours. It has twice the market share of other shops and their closest competitors. Through its over twenty three thousand shops internationally, Delta serves about 1% of the world’s population with uniform and uniform related facilities on any given day. The biggest attraction and the backbone of the corporation are uniforms. By constantly coming up with new-flagged items to add on the catalogue, both Abbeycrest and Delta maintain it is ready for action advantage. Towards the end of this paper, there will be answers for every question concerning Abbeycrest and Delta (John, 2008). The codes of ethics that govern Delta Corporation are exceptionally clear and mostly address dividends. They fully commit to them, and they have staff whose work is to check and make sure it followed to the letter and complied. Many issues that the shops heads audit against, periodically by both internal and external mechanism spell out because of this code of ethics. The code is a form of promise that promises to conform to standards of business behavior. Integrity and keeping off potential conflicts that maybe in private or public nature are among the things the code promises to maintain. This makes sure that Abbeycrest especially is transparent on its course action that they use to resolve any action. By so doing they work towards convincing relationship with the stakeholders who include their customers. Delta Corporation has the ethical conscientiousness of declaring the returns to the shareholders on the economic gains. These returns strictly observe, punctual, accuracy, transp arent and required depth. The promises that the codes give are to

Managing Conflict and Negotiating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Conflict and Negotiating - Essay Example for instance can easily be managed or hindered even though everyone is competing is the thought that the human resource is appreciated as all best in their own way and are capable of innovating the best possible products. An organization is susceptible to fail because of lack of teamwork. In order to apply the idea of affiliation in an organization, teamwork must prevail and should be added as substantial core value, in order to help everyone treat each other as colleagues rather than adversaries. One way to improve cohesiveness of a team is to employ this idea, which tries to influence everyone to work as one for the same goal. Another important core value that should be initiated along the process of conflict management is respect. An organization is susceptible to incur troubles due to lose of respect. In the presence of respect, autonomy could be exercised. A team requires everyone to have respect for each other especially in the kind of decision they make. To ensure conflict will be managed, each department for instance, must be able to be allowed to exercise their freedom to decide for as long as everything is fully in line with the company’s direction. At small scale, the same approach must be initiated among everybody in the group. Another core value that could be enhanced in an organization is recognition, which could promote individual status. Superiority complex is common to every organization. Nobody should be treated inferior as there must be something in each of one that could be recognized as potential contribution to the entire team. In this case, it would be important to initiate quarterly evaluation of individual performance and commending with all sincerity where each one might be good at, by which the point of doing this is to minimize superiority complex within the team. Mostly, conflicts ignite from existing role. The accounting department and marketing department for instance usually have conflicting roles. For this reason, it is

Philosophy of the Mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Philosophy of the Mind - Essay Example For example there is a reason why I go to school and this is because of a career in the future. The fact that a college graduate would have a better opportunity to have a career is the objective reason that is a universal truth in its most appropriate sense. The subjective is the more agent-relative reason wherein the reason why I want to finish college is to have a higher salary in the future career I hope to be able to get hold, or, it could just simply be for reason of the future career. This is relative and may be different according to each person but the more universal equation of a college degree as equivalent to a career is the more universal objective reason. In the case I will finish college and achieve a career is only incidental to the objective. Had any other person finished college, the principle would still apply. Nagel suggests that people perform actions according to what effects they would bring. The right circumstances compel people to be moved according to such re asons. This highlights the outcome as the ultimate reason in the performance of actions.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Marketing - Essay Example as been characterized as ‘the process of using promotional tools in a unified way to create synergy’ (Egan 2007, 338). Reference is also made to the needs and the effectiveness of marketing communications tools, which have been characterized as ‘the channels that send messages from the business to its customers and vice-versa’ (Smith, Berry and Pulford 1999, 14). Three different marketing campaigns have been chosen in order to highlight the terms of success of IMC in the context of the modern market: a) the City of West Chicago campaign, know as the ‘This is West Chicago’ campaign, b) the Seneca Park Zoo ‘Zoobilation’ IMC Campaign and c) Raging Waves IMC Campaign. ... need for increasing the awareness of the public on the services offered by the organizations involved; at this point, it should be noted that the second and the third marketing campaigns refer to organizations operating in the same industry, i.e. the entertainment industry, b) they use similar marketing communication tools, as analyzed below; this means that through these campaigns, the effectiveness of specific marketing communication tools within different market conditions can be tested and evaluated (Koekemoer & Bird 2004) and c) all these marketing campaigns had performed well, meaning that they have achieved the targets set by their planners. 3.0 City of West Chicago IMC Campaign 3.1. Target Audience The target audience in the specific campaign would incorporate the following categories of people: a) the residents of the city, b) the visitors of the city; the term visitors refer to those visiting the city for tourism purposes but also those visiting the city for work or in the context of specific social obligations, as for example for family reasons and c) the potential investors; meaning those who would be potentially interested in investing on the city. 3.2 Marketing Objectives The marketing objectives of the specific campaigns could be described as follows: a) to increase the satisfaction of city’s residents regarding the assets of their city, b) to increase the value of the assets of the city (by developing the assets of the cities through the funds of potential investors, the value of the city’s assets will be increased, leading to the increase of the power of the city as an important economic centre), c) to increase the income of the city from tourism; by improving the assets and the facilities of the city (using private funds) more tourists are

Media Study Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media Study Assignment - Essay Example Primary journalistic beats and comparison with other newspapers The stories covered in the newspaper are mostly issue-centric related to public cause and the role of the politicians in improving the current scenario like â€Å"Occupy Ann-Arbor†, â€Å"Ann-Arbor City Council Candidates Discuss Public Safety†. It also covered news on some exclusive events and developments in the university campus like â€Å"Hundreds of E-mails Spam Students on U List serve†. The theme of the newspaper seems to have ample material to grab the interest of the readers. In comparison, another student newspaper THE DAILY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON mainly focused on stories related to the university campus like â€Å"Campus Watch: Guns on College Campuses†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"A Catwalk to Education†. The difference between the two is in their unique style of presentation and layout. THE MICHIGAN DAILY seems to have two segments of stories. The ones related to Ann-Arbor commu nity are thematic as they are issue based and the others about the campus are episodic as they are event based. But the other daily covers stories that primarily revolve around information about the university activities. Therefore the stories are mainly episodic as each one records a specific action. In way of presentation THE MICHIGAN DAILY seems to hold a neutral stand and opts for a non-committal role whereas THE DAILY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON seems to be more direct in its approach and tone. The news story and the four information biases The story that I have chosen for my analysis is â€Å"Occupy Ann-Arbor† from THE MICHIGAN DAILY. The article is the follow-up of the article â€Å"Occupy Wall Street† by the same writer and discusses about the protest movement undertaken by the common people of Ann-Arbor against the politicians for protecting the rights of the common people. The reason for selecting this particular beat is that it reflects the four informat ion biases mentioned by Lance Bennett. The article starts with the lines â€Å"In the middle of Occupy Ann Arbor’s assembly on the Diag last night, University alum Matt Bussey asked the crowd of about 200 students and Ann Arbor residents to take out their cell phones and call U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D–Mich.).† The effect is clearly one of dramatization. The story is captured right in the middle of an extremely provoking action. Throughout the article the focus has been on maintaining the high drama quotient by the use of action words, direct quotations and criticizing remark. But drama does not seem complete without the involvement of some personality and a collision with authority. This explains the attempt to personalize the story by referring to characters and at same time making an implication towards authority-disorder. In this article people like Whitney Miller and Luciana Sabgash who were involved with the movement are directly quoted. Sabgash’s di sappointment with the system is conveyed in her words â€Å"I voted for none of this. I voted for change and saw all the same.† Most of the readers would share the same feeling and immediately connect with the story. The disgruntled attitude of the common people towards the political rulers is the bottom line of the article. The authority-disorder bias underpins the entire argument. Though the

Learning management system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Learning management system - Essay Example Educational and industrial applications are the most common classes of learning management systems. The educational learning management systems allow education institutions to manage several online courses with the use of an interface and set of resources. An academic learning management system is designed to provide instructor-led courses and facilitate forums as well as interactions between learners and instructors or fellow learners. Learners complete class assignments and turn them to markers or instructors for grades or feedback – which are reserved in a grade book within the learning management system. The learning institutions see the learning management system as either a system for information technology or academic affair. The major academic learning systems include e-learning courseware, personal learning environment, and course management system. These systems create a class roster, control registration processes, upload and manage documents with curricular content, and deliver course content through web-based interfaces. They also create and publish course cale ndars, and allow interactions and discussion forums (Tumbleson 22). In the business organizations, the learning management system forms an integral part of Human Resources especially in the management of the training delivered to employees. Such training may include the compliance training and professional development training to increase employees’ awareness and manage their talent and skills. The industrial learning management system delivers training modules that are not instructor-led and no discussion forums to allow interaction with others. The systems help to track users during the training and report which modules they have or not completed. They facilitate employees learning and skills development to ensure that they are certified and compliant with the current regulations. Further, the systems provide methods of testing and assessment,

Art - Boston Memorials, New England Holocaust Memorial Essay

Art - Boston Memorials, New England Holocaust Memorial - Essay Example The New England Holocaust Memorial is located near Congress Street in Boston and by Carmen Park. The memorial is surrounded by buildings of Boston; however, the front area is open with a black granite walk that surrounds the memorial. When walking through the memorial, one will notice a stainless steel grate underneath the main pillars. This grate covers a six foot deep chamber, which is symbolic for the several deaths that were a part of the Holocaust. The wall of each chamber is representative of the six main death camps that were a part of the Holocaust. Each is etched with the names of the death camps. When looking into these chambers, one can see coals as a part of the pit. These light the etchings of the six main death camps. The death chambers that are in the memorial are highlighted by six main pillars, each which is made out of glass. These stand at fifty four feet high and are separated only by small frames from one level to the next. The glass is in a straight, rectangular form and doesn’t contain any alternative or outside shapes. The glass is lit from the bottom to the top to serve as a reflective element of this time frame. The memorial is not focused on the main glass but instead on the detailed etchings that are in place and which are symbolic to the memorial. There are six million numbers that are etched in the six pillars of glass to represent the 6 million Jews that died during World War II. The etchings are also known to be symbolic of the required tattoos that the Jews had to wear during this time frame. The concept that Calo speaks of in terms of memorials is to create a figurative and unambiguous way of honoring those that died in a specific situation. In some instances, this is based on human attributes that were a part of this, such as self – sacrifice or duty that one withholds in a specific

Cars Versus motorcycles Essay Example for Free

Cars Versus motorcycles Essay In the united states many people buy cars and motorcycles. Some people prefer driving cars rather than motorcycles. Both are very popular types of transportation these days. Cars and motorcycles have many differences in their cost, convenience ,safety, comfort and maintenance. The first difference between cars and motorcycles are the cost. For example, people need to pay a lot of money if they want to buy or lease a car. However, motorcycles are cheaper to rent or buy. Also, cars are more convenient than motorcycles. For instance, cars can transport many people but motorcycles do not do it. Also, cars have air condition and people can listen music while they drive. Other, advantages have a car is another person can drive for someone when he is drunk. Motorcycles are most popular in young people because is most exciting, easy to parking and avoids traffic. The second important difference is safety. For example, cars have seat beats and air bags can protect the drivers. However ,in motorcycles, people only can use helmet, so drivers are fragile. Also, cars have a cage most protectors in case of accident than motorcycles. Although, the car insurance is the most expensive than motorcycles it covers all damage. Also, people in motorcycle need to use sunglasses for protect their eyes. In case of terrible accident people in motorcycle died, so cars are most safety. Other essential differences are comfort and maintenance .Motorcycles do not have comfort because seats are very awkward. However ,cars have soft seats and if it is raining people will not get wet. When people need to change oil and tires, it is very expensive. Also, cars are most difficult to repair and use a lot of gas. However ,motorcycles are too easy repair because do not have a big motor. Motorcycles are not difficult to maintain. In conclusion ,cars and motorcycles are very different in their cost, convenience, safety, comfort and maintenance. A lot of people buy cars or motorcycles, it is a very common type of transportation .Each person buys a vehicle that they like for their features.

Classifications of Snakes and Reptiles

Classifications of Snakes and Reptiles Reptiles are some of the oldest living creatures on the planet and made their first appearance some 300 million years ago. It is believed that the first species of snakes contained limbs which became more and more reduced through great periods of time, this phenomenon can be seen as a clear indicator just how evolution took place within a group of organisms. Today vestigial structures occur in certain serpent families such as Pythonidae and Boidae, and are remnants of structures they once possessed. Spurs which occur in the posterior position opposite the cloacae in Boas and Pythons is a clear example of vestigial structures that formed through time. Snakes are carnivorous reptiles that belong to the order Squamata (Lepidosuaria), which is regarded the most important assemblage, as far as snakes are concerned. Squamates is a very diverse group of ectothermic (organisms that rely on their external environment to obtain the energy needed to facilitate metabolic and other processes crucial for life), amniote vertebrates which contain the distinct characteristic of being elongated and covered in overlapping scales. Squamata is subdivided into three distinct suborders: Ophidia or Serpentes, containing snakes, Sauria containing lizards and Amphisbaenia containing worm- lizards. The suborder Ophidia contains 15 families which are subdivided into 456 genera that consist of more than 2900 species. Snakes have one of the widest distributional ranges in the animal kingdom, covering the whole planet except Antarctica (Figure 1.1). In South Africa alone there occurs 166 species and subspecies of snakes, 101 of these species have enlarged fangs to deliver venom of which only 15 are regarded as very dangerous and potentially fatal to man. This means that of all our snake species only 8.5% are classified as dangerous, where administration of antivenin is deemed necessary. The remainder of venomous species is of no medical importance to man, in fact in some species the toxicity of their venom is less than that found in bees and wasps. There are a few morphological characteristics of Ophidia which distinguishes them from the other two suborders e.g. the lack of eyelids, external ears, the lack of limbs and the occurrence of a single row of ventral scales, whereas lizards and amphisbaenas differ in the sense that they have various patterns of scales that do not occur in specific rows. Amphisbaenians scale formation is atypical in the sense that scales are arranged in rows around the body of the animal thus supposedly mimicking the resemblance of an earthworm. The skulls of Serpents are very unique in the sense that their upper jaw bones arent united/interconnected at snout of the animal, this enables the two jaw bones to act separate form one another and enables the snake to swallow large prey items. In contrary to popular belief snakes can however not dislocate or unhinge their jaws to swallow large prey items, the two upper jaws are simply connected to each other through connective tissue which is highly elastic a nd serves as the binding factor between the jaws. Snakes fulfill a crucial role/function in nature and can be seen as an integral aspect of our environment both as key predators and as prey. They assist in regulating rodent numbers and are good indicators of the natural balance of the environment (bio-indicators). In addition to this, research and development is being done on the properties of venom in the medical field. Research is being conducted on the applications of venom in fields such as high blood pressure, mental disorders and diseases of the central nervous system to mention but a few. Such is the complexity of venom that further studies, beneficial to man, are essential. It is there for imperative that we conserve our snakes not only for the preservation of our environment, but also for the wellbeing of mankind. Evolution that took place within the Class Reptilia Reptiles evolved from prehistoric amphibians called Labrynthodonts (Flank, 1997), and according to paleontologists made their first appearance in the Pennsylvanian era some 300 million years ago. They were also the first vertebrates to escape dependency on water. The earliest forms of reptiles suggested a mixture of both amphibian and reptilian characteristics, and diversified greatly over the next 200 million years. Reptiles were the dominant animal group on earth during the Mesozoic period, and were represented by 15 major groups. Only 4 of these orders survive today. Extinct are the fishlike Ichtyosaurus, sail-backed Pelycosaurs, flying Pterosaurs, Mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, well-known dinosaurs like Brachiosaurs and many others. The dinosaurs included the largest animals ever to walk on earth-the Sauropods, some of them reaching lengths of nearly 27 meters long. Many of the less familiar dinosaurs were no longer than chickens. (Carr,1963) Several basic advances made possible the rise and wide distribution of reptiles on land. Most important was the amniote egg, with its tough outer covering and protective membranes, and a cornified skin that protected the animals from drying out. The positioning of the limbs also made it possible for reptiles to move more easily on land, and an improved circulatory system ensured that oxygen rich blood reached the animals. In their Mesozoic heyday, Reptiles dominated the land, seas and air, and the reason for their dramatic decline during this period is still not clear, although there are some speculation by biologists that the decline was probably caused by a meteor shower which altered a dramatic change in climate and giving rise to the so called Ice Age. Warm blooded vertebrates (Birds and Mammals) began to expand by the end of the Mesozoic period. By the time the Cenozoic period arose only 4 orders of reptiles still existed, and these same four have persisted to this day. The order Rhynchocephalia is represented by only one species, the lizzardlike, granular scaled Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) confined to New Zealand where its survival is now threatened. The remaining 3 orders have representatives throughout the world. The order Testudines (turtles) is the most ancient, appearing about 250 million years ago and remaining virtually unchanged for the past 200 million years. The order Crocodylia (cro codilians) is slightly less ancient and is traceable to the Permian thecodonts. The order Squamata refers to scaled reptiles that include lizards, amphisbaenids and snakes. This is the most recent order and was not common until the late Cretaceous times about 65 million years ago. In order to classify snakes or other organisms it is necessary to understand the origin and evolution of the species and place them into specific genera and families (Figure 1.2) Scientists believe that modern day snakes evolved from the family Varanidae, a group of lizards that belong to the genus Veranus. The fossils of Lapparentophis defrennei (Figure 1.3) was found in North Africa as we know it today, and it represents the earliest member of the suborder Ophidia. This species however shows no direct link between earlier snake like reptiles, and its origin continues to boggle biologists. Lapparentophis defrennei appeared on the earth around 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period and were around for about 35 million years, were after it got extinct by the end of the Cretaceous period. Boidae was one of the seven families of snakes that arose after the Cretaceous period and was at its peak of speciation during this time. Colubridae in modern day times is the family that contains the largest amount of different snake species, and first emerged some 36 million years ago during the late Eocene, and the beginning of the Oligocene period. During this time Colubrids started to diversify at an immense rate and eventually gave rise to more new species during the Miocene period. This diversification led to the disappearance of some of the more primitive lineages of snakes because they could no longer compete with the better adapted species that was starting to evolve. Viperidae (vipers, rattle snakes and adders) and Elapidae (front fixed fang snakes generally cobras and mambas and their relatives) originated during the Miocene period and belongs to the infraorder Alethinophidia. The family Viperidae is by far the most advanced evolved species of snake in the world and contains highly specialized structures that enable them to be a very successful hunters e.g. heat- sensitive pits that developed on the upper labial and a brightly colored tail tip that occur in Agkistrodon sp. This is just one example of how specialized this family of serpents is to survive. Distinguising features of the suborder Ophidia All snakes are elongated, lack eyelids, external ears and osteoderms. Snakes poses a forked tongue which can be retracted into a sheath (Figure 2.1) All have along backbone. (Some have in excess of 400 vertebrae), with many articulated ribs used predominantly for locomotion and maintaining body shape. The lower jaw is not fused, which allows the snake to engulf large items. They do however not dislocate their jaw. Prey is subdued either by constriction or by the injection of venom. In the case of venomous snakes small prey items are bitten and held in the mouth until paralysis or death occurs, whereas large prey items are bitten and released to ensure that damage do not occur to the snake. The majority of species have only the right lung but more primitive species such as Pythonidae and Boidae also contains a rudimentary left lung. Unlike lizards the tail cannot be regenerated. All snakes shed their skin. All snakes hatch from eggs, some are Oviparous (eggs hatch outside the females body), and some are ovoviviparous (eggs hatch inside the mothers body thus giving birth to live young). Classification of snakes Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Ophidia (Serpentes) Infraorders: -Alethinophidia -Scolecophidia The classification of snakes are based on different morphological structures The general morphology of snakes is a crucial factor used in their Taxonomy. Factors such as the arrangement of bones in the skull and other parts of the skeleton, especially the presence or absence of a pelvic girdle are used to distinguish between separate and subspecies of snakes. The hypapohyses (vertebrae with downward pointing spike like projections), the coronoid bone (a small bone that occur in the lower jaw), structures of the hemipenes (Figure 2.2, Jadin, 2000) and microscopic and biochemical material such as chromosome arrangement and protein analyses are also used in classification of snakes. The presence or absence hypapohyses, especially in the lumbar region of the spine, is used as one of many diagnostic characters when classifying snakes. The hypapohyses is very prominent in the genus Dasypeltis which use them too saw trough egg shells. There occurs much variation in the shape and size of the coronoid bone. It is particularly large in primitive snakes such as Typhlopidae, Leptotyphlopidae and Anomalepididae. The coronoid bone is very small or absent altogether in advanced snake species. A hemipenis is the sex organ of male Squamates. Male snakes has two hemipenes probably for the reason that when one is damaged or injured, it still left with a spare one which can remain to work and carry out its normal function during copulation. This ensures that the males genes dont get lost and can still be carried over through copulation with females. Hemipenes, under normal conditions are used in an alternating fashion when copulation occurs with female individuals. Sperm is carr ied through the sulcus spermaticus (which is the line running through the middle of a males hmipenis) to the female during copulation. By examining the tail of an individual we are able to distinguish its sex. Males usually have a long tail which contains prominent bulges of where the hemipenes are situated and females usually have very short tails without the occurrence of any prominent bulges. The shapes of hemipenes differ greatly from species to species and contain different cranial structures thus forming a very important method for taxonomists to classify snakes into different species and subspecies. Relationships that occur between different species of Squamates as a result of evolution is best explained through the examination hemipenal characteristics of the different species. The function of the spines and ridges that occurs on hemipenes of different species of male snakes, serves as an adaption to ensure that copulation lasts long enough for egg fertilization to occur. Biology Hearing and Vision Snakes cannot hear airborne sounds due to the fact that they do not posses external ears. Snakes do however have an auditory nerve enabling them to hear sounds travelling through a dense medium. They are extremely sensitive to vibrations and can thus detect someone or something approaching them. For this reason people seldom see snakes whilst walking in the bush, the snake senses the vibrations created by footsteps and beats a hasty retreat for cover. There is however snakes that do not retreat when approached and this is a direct result of the morphological attributes they contain. Bitis arietans, Bitis atropos and, Bitis gabonica, are species of snakes that rather rely on their camouflage to conceal them from potential predators and dangers than to move away, and it is not surprising to find out that Bitis arietans is responsible for 60% of all snake bites in Southern Africa. Contrary to popular believe snakes do have good vision. How else would they safely navigate through the bus h except of course via smell? Their vision however is used mainly for detecting movement. Most snakes have monocular vision (unable to distinguish depth of field) whilst some snakes have binocular vision (able to distinguish depth of field) e.g. Thelotornis capensis and Dispholidus typus. Snakes do not have movable eyelids, instead they possess a fixed transparent shield which covers the eye and is shed during sloughing. Sense of smell For this function the snake uses its tongue. The tongue is flickered; picking up minute airborne particles which when retracted back into the mouth is deposited onto organs situated in the roof of the mouth. These organs are known as the organs of Jacobson. Studies have shown that snakes enjoys a similar sense of smell as we do, the epithelium of the organs of Jacobson works in exactly the same way as the olfactory epithelium we as humans possess. The tongue is forked so that the snake can detect the differences in strength of smell and thus enabling it to locate its prey very accurately. Snakes diet consists of quite a few prey items such as: rats, mice, small mammals, birds, frogs, toads, insects, lizards, fish, small antelope, eggs and other snakes, which is swallowed whole usually head first. Shedding Shedding of skin depends primarily on the growth rate. Juveniles for example shed their skin more often than adults for the simple reason that they are growing faster. Juveniles may shed their skin as often as twelve times a year whereas an adult may only shed its skin three to four times a year. During this process the entire skin is shed from the tip of the snout through to the tail including the eye shields. During this time the snakes eyes become opaque, restricting the snakes vision and therefore making the snake not only more vulnerable, but also more aggressive. A snake may often go into hiding during this period. You may also find snakes basking for longer periods prior to shedding, the reason being higher temperature speeds up the development of new skin, thus reducing the vulnerability period. Cold Blooded (Ectothermic) and Hibernation All members of the order Squamata are so called cold blooded (exothermic) organisms. This simply means that unlike mammals and birds which generate heat internally (endothermic), reptiles obtain their heat externally, usually from the sun. All reptiles will bask in the sun absorbing heat from their environment until their bodies reach the correct optimal temperature (ÂÂ ± 30Â °C) which allows them to function at their maximum potential. The advantage of ectothermy is that it is fuel efficient. Mammals on the other hand convert 90% of what they eat into heat in order to maintain biochemical and muscle efficiency which allows mammals the opportunity to function at colder temperatures. This method demands a constant intake of food. Reptiles however become temporarily dormant at colder temperatures and thus waste no energy. A snake can survive and grow on ten to fifteen meals a year. Reptiles will go into hibernation when their optimal body temperature cannot be achieved from the e nvironment. In areas where there is a significant fluctuation in temperature snakes will go into hibernation. The correct term used is topor. Areas such as the lowveld where there is no significant temperature variations will see reptiles not going into true hibernation but rather into a state of burmation. During hibernation snakes live off the body fat accumulated during the warm periods of the summer, and will exhibit very little signs of activity, thus becoming sluggish. A snake will use anything that will offer it protection against the elements and predation. Sites which are used by Squamates during the winter or cold times of the year for hibernation include deserted termite mounds, hollow logs and rock crevices. Reproduction Sexually active males will approach any snake they come across. The reaction of the approached snake will determine how the encounter develops. If the approached snake is a male and reacts aggressively it may give rise to a battle between the two parties. Battles vary according to species, Vipers and Elapids generally engage in a form of ritualistic wrestling, but refrain themselves from biting each other. Colubrids however react violently and bite each other severely. In some species of snakes several males group together amicably and follow a receptive female. Should there be no reaction from the approached snake the sexually active male uses its Vermonasal organ to chemically determine the species and sex of the snake it has approached. It does so with the use of its tongue interpreting the pheromones emitting from the other snake. Should it be of a different species, the male then seeks out a new mate. All reptiles have internal fertilization. The male places his head on the back of the female and winds his tail around the females and attempts to join their cloacas together. This is seldom achieved at the first attempt. It sometimes takes hours, even days, for successful copulation to take place. The sexual organs of the male consist of two penises, referred to as the hemipenes. Each hemipene is equipped with flexible spines which inflate once penetration has occurred making it difficult for the male and female snakes to become dislodged. Sperm is transferred to the female via a single penis in Crocodilians and Chelonians, and paired penises in lizards and snakes (although only one penis is used at a time). Once mating has taken place the male will often stay with the female for a few days to mate again. Fertilization of the ovule and spermatozoid takes place high in the oviduct, then the egg gradually moves down into the oviduct where the uterine glands secrete a substance which surrounds the egg. The length of the embryonic development depends on the species and also within the species depending on climate (temperature), and ranges from 2-5 months. As stated before all snakes hatch from eggs. The method of incubation however does differ between some species. The majority of snakes lay eggs andleave them to be incubated externally (oviviparous) with no parental care whatsoever. Species such as Python natalensis coils around their eggs throughout incubation. This not only protects the eggs but also regulates the temperature to help assist with incubation. In other species such as Hemachatus haemachatus the female retains the eggs inside her body to produce fully developed live young (viviparous). Between four to eight weeks after mating the female selects a suitable site to deposit her eggs. The site chosen is usually a suitably protected place in the form of rotting vegetation, hollow tree trunks or any other suitable location. The number of eggs deposited depends on a variety of circumstances for example, species, size of the female, habitat (availability of food), age and climate. Eggs laid vary between one and two to as many as 60, sometimes more, depending on factors mentioned above. Eggs usually have soft leathery shells which require a specific amount of heat and humidity in order to ensure that hatch. Once the eggs have been laid there is often no parental care with the exception of a few species. In South Africa the young of Python natalensis may stay with the female for several days after hatching, leaving the burrow by day and returning to the female at night. In most reptiles the sex of hatchlings is determined by temperature, for example outer eggs (cooler) will be female while the inner eggs (warmer) within the nest will be male. The eggs usually hatch between one to three months after the female has deposited them. In the case of some species of chameleons eggs might take up to a year to hatch. The young are equipped with an egg tooth consisting of a sharp ridge on the tip of the snout which allows the young to slit open the eggshell thus freeing itself. The young that emerges are exact replicas of the adults, and the hatchlings of venomous snakes are equipped with fully functional venom glands and fangs, and are thus venomous directly from birth. Egg mortality is quite high. Reasons for egg mortality range from predation to unsuitable nest sites chosen. Giving birth to live young may be an evolutionary process to assure the success of a species, reducing the risk of egg mortality in particularly cold areas where the temperatures wont be adequate enough for incubation. Movement (Locomotion Speed) The ability to function at speed and endurance is directly related to the supply and amount of oxygenated blood to the body. Reptiles, unlike mammals and birds, do not receive as good supply of oxygenated blood. Directly translated, this means that reptiles tire more easily and are incapable of endurance. Based on these facts it is doubtful that the speed of a snake would exceed 20km/h which is much slower than the average human. The two fastest snake species world occur in Southern Africa and belongs to the genus Psammophis and Dendroaspis. There are four basic modes of locomotion in snakes: Sepentine This is the more familiar method of locomotion that most snakes use e.g. the family Elapidae which makes use of this method. The body undulates from side to side while the hind part of the snake makes contact with the surface and the rest of the body is pushed in the direction the snake wishes to go. Caterpillar These are usually heavy bodied snakes e.g. Bitis arietans. The snake progresses in a primarily straight line using its ventral scales to propel it forward. Concertina This is when a part of the body is anchored whilst pushing forward. The snake may anchor its head and then drags the rest of the body towards the head. This is often seen in arboreal species when negotiating between smooth braches of trees. Snakes that make use of this type of locomotion usually contain the characteristic of keeled ventral scales, and include species of the genus Philothamnus. Sidewinding This method is most seen in desert species. It is the most effective method of locomotion on loose unstable surfaces such as sand. Only one or two sections of the body are in contact with the surface at any given time. A section of the body is thrown sideways and is followed by the next section. This way of locomotion can be seen as a specific adaption for desert species e.g. Bitis peringueyi, to ensure that they dont get burned by the hot desert sand when moving. Scales Most people refer to snakes as being wet or slimy, which is quite the contrary. In fact if you touch a snake you will notice that it is in fact dry. Scales are horny skin that originates from the snakes epidermis. The primary function of scales is to prevent rapid water loss, an evolutionary process which has allowed snakes to move onto land. Scales can be smooth or keeled. Some snakes use their scales as a warning mechanism. By rubbing them together this creates a rasping sound that serves as a warning to would be predators. Dasypeltis scabra is a species of snake that occur in Southern Africa and which use this specific defensive mechanism to ward of predators. The North American rattlesnakes rattle is also an example of modified scales that formed through evolution. Scales also help in the locomotion of snakes. Scale counts remain one of the main methods in the identification and classification between different species of snakes. There are four methods which can be used to correctly identify a species via scale counts: Head scales This is done by counting the upper and lower labials on each side, taking note of which scales are in contact with the eye. Examine the nasal scales (single, semi-divided or fully divided). Count the number of preocular and postocular scales and check whether a loreal shield is present. There should also be taken note of the arrangements of scales that occur on the temples, and the presence of any fused scales. Observe the relative sizes of internasals, prefrontals, frontal and parietals, and also note the proportions and shape of the rostral scales at the front of the nose. Dorsal scales Note whether the scales are smooth or keeled. And one head length away from head and in front of the cloaca Subcaudal scales The first scale is the single or paired scale that meets the lateral scales on both sides. Count back along the tail towards the conical tip. Note whether scales or anal shields are single or divided as this forms a crucial part of the identification between different families of snakes. Internal Anatomy of Snakes A snakes skull is specifically designed to suit their specialized feeding habits. Because a snake cannot chew its food and must swallow it whole it is important that the snake be able to open its mouth very wide. For this reason the fifty odd bones in the skull are not fused together, instead they are loosely connected to each other by ligaments which allows the snake to produce an enlarged gape allowing it to swallow prey much larger than its head. The concept is similar to an elastic band. Often after a snake has eaten it will seem to yawn, this is done simply to relax the ligaments and bones t their original shape. The structure of a snakes brain is very similar to that of a bird, but unlike birds and mammals snakes lack the enlarged cerebral hemispheres. In mammals (and birds) the cerebral is the part of the brain, which acts as the learning center of the organism. For this reason, although snakes are perfectly adapted to the environment, it is correct to say that snakes are not very intelligent. To allow snakes to engulf such large prey whole the stomach has to be very strong and elastic allowing it to expand greatly once prey is engulfed. Powerful digestive juices allow the snake to digest bone and teeth. Because a snake is for the most part long and cylindrical, the shape of the lung must be somewhat different in order to fit inside the snakes body. The right lung is usually the largest and extends for 1/3 of snakes body length. The left lung, in most cases is absent, or very small. Snakes have in effect only one lung. During feeding the snake is able to extend a muscular extension of its windpipe (epiglottis) from the bottom of its mouth allowing it to breathe while prey is being consumed. Most reptiles have a primitive three chambered heart which is not as effective as the four chambered heart found in crocodiles (and mammals). In snakes oxygen depleted blood gets pumped into one of the top chambers while oxygenated blood gets pumped into the other top chamber, both chambers get emptied into the bottom chamber and then circulated through the body. This is the main reason why snakes tire easily. In proportion to their body size snakes have very large kidneys. The left kidney is situated behind the right kidney in the abdominal region. The function of the kidney is to filter the waste products from the bloodstream and pass them on to the cloaca for excretion. Unlike mammals which excrete nitrogen waste in the form of water soluble urea, snakes excrete these body wastes as crystals which forms a dry white paste which is excreted along with the feaces. This allows reptiles to be extremely efficient in their use of water. Mammals have a separate urinary, reproductive and a nal opening. Snakes however do not. Instead they have a common chamber known as the cloaca which performs all these rudimentary functions. Waste material is stored in the cloaca until eliminated. The claoca opens to the outside through a transverse slit at the base of the tail. It is often possible to tell the difference in sexes between species by looking at the length from the cloaca to the tip of the tail. The longer the distance between these points would signify the snake as being male whereas a short distance between these points would indicate the snake as being female. The reason behind this is that during reproduction, as mentioned earlier, the male wraps his tail around the females. Some snakes, like the Pythonidae family, have special glands which also empty into the cloaca, these glands contain a foul musky scent which can be ejected when a snake is threatened, frightened or stressed. Venom There is no easy describing venom. Simply put, snake venom is highly modified saliva which is produced by modified saliva glands. Venom is a combination of different enzymes, or proteins, that act on other chemicals and proteins thus altering them or simply breaking them down. Many of these proteins are harmless, but some are toxins. The makeup of these toxins varies widely from species to species. Snakes venom can therefore be best described as a cocktail of hundreds of different proteins and enzymes, this complexity alone accounts for widely differing effects of snakebite. In essence venom affects the protein and chemicals of the immune system and the blood, transported through the body via the lymphatic system. The venom glands are situated in the skull slightly behind the eyes. In order for venom to be effective it has to be injected into the circulatory system. It is therefore quite safe for a normal healthy person to drink venom without any consequences. Venom cannot be compared to poison, and are totally different entities. Venom has to be injected (circulatory system) Poison has to be ingested (swallowed) The functions of venom are numerous: Prevents the putrification of prey prior to ingestion. Immobilizes prey thus preventing the snake from being injured. Digestive properties within the venom begin the digestive process prior to ingestion. Snake venom is also antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiprotozoal which protects the snake from microbial diseases which it may contract from prey. As a last resort, self defense when the snake is threatened. There are three types of snake venom: Neurotoxic nerve acting venom (Elapidae). Cytotoxic cel destroying venom (Viperidae.) Haemotoxic blood acting venom (Colubridae). Fangs (Dentition) All snakes have teeth, but not all snakes have fangs. Most snakes have teeth on the upper and lower

The Work Of Julius Shulman Photography Essay

The Work Of Julius Shulman Photography Essay The photographer assumes a role of tremendous responsibility in reporting literally as a communicator. The mind dexterity and the ability of the person with the camera can become the vehicle by which the image of architecture can be transferred to publications and the people of the world. It is a general assumption that the architectural experience is bound to the architectural work and to the direct encounter with it. Architecture is inherently seen as an experience of which you must be present for, live in or use day to day. The experience is bound to the subjects immediate association with the work its here and now. For that exact same reason the experience can neither be copied nor reproduced exactly like another persons work. However those not directly involved in the profession and even those involved often base their whole understanding and knowledge of architectural works solely on the reading of representations. During the 20th century photography more than any other technique of representation became a decisive factor for our relationship with and understanding of architecture. Success in architectural photography requires an unusual blend of training, background, temperament and personality that has been little discussed. Any art form, even if based on rational and technological conditions can when sensitively applied by an artist become the zeitgeist of the era. Julius Shulman makes photographs that reproduce other peoples work and promotes their work effortlessly. How he achieves this so successfully is what interests me. Everybody emphasizes the fact that a photograph can be reproduced and seen by millions, while a minority of people would know the original building first hand. What is important to me is that if the photographer is an artist they must create a new dimension to their work if they want to succeed or standout in their field. When an art form is immediately accessible to millions through equipment alone it takes special skills to hone in on the craft and excel in the field. Julius Shulman was born in New York on October 10th 1910 and died at his home in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday, July 15, 2009; he was 98 years old. Shulman was a renowned architectural photographer best known for his photography of the californian modernist movement .Not only did his work spread the modernist movement around the world at the time but it also garnered it a new appreciation in the early 1990s. The period I am most interested in is between 1930-1960 when some of his most prolific work was produced focusing on Californian modernism. Julius Shulmans first experience with the Californian desert region came in 1926, when he was 16 years old. He and some teammates on his high school gymnastics team in Los Angeles camped and hiked in canyons around Palm Springs, this connection to the vast natural resources informed his professional work documenting the deserts architectural treasures. For seventy years, Shulman amassed the most comprehensive visual chronology of modern architecture and the development of Los Angeles, photographing architecture by Richard Neutra, Pierre Koenig, and Frank Lloyd Wright amongst many others, and going much further to photograph the emerging petrol stations, movie palaces, and markets of Los Angeles. he documented the changing city over many years which is now stored at the Getty institute in Los angeles. Times have changed; equipment has changed; and architectural photography has changed. Today architectural photographs are more a bridge of communication than they are works of art. Julius Shulman simply viewed the camera as a box with an eye. His view that the architecture should take precedence over the photo and that the purpose of an architectural photograph may be documentary, interpretive, or both but it is seldom the pure art of photography. It may, in the best examples reach this level but only when it first fulfills its purpose as an architectural photograph. In this dissertation i hope to analyse what role Shulman played in the spread of Californian modern architecture along with how he influenced architectural photography at the time which has created his legacy. Shulmans Methodology In this chapter I will look at Shulmans work methodology and briefly touch on the equipment he used during the early modernist period. From the many people who have seen Shulman at work the evidently clear opinion emerges that to view him at work revealed much more than simply viewing his finished work. Shulmans quick fired nature when taking photographs with one shot negative black and white and one transparency in colour got him the name one shot Shulman The manner in which he dressed a scene revealed his desire for a very active image area in which there were no dead spots where the interest level of a viewer might drop off. One of his more unusual methodologies was his choice of spots to take a photograph. Rather than extensively analyse the location and test shoot from a multitude of various angles and locations he simply looked around briefly and picked a spot. This walk to spot method assessing which was best almost immediately adds to mythos of his work and methods. Jay Jorgensen stated while observing Shulman that The hallmark of Shulmans work is to find and exploit the most dramatic lines in structure. Again his ability to enter and appoint the best views very quickly is baffling to the majority of professional photographers even to this day. Some of his most famous images were taken with when compared to todays technology what would be seen as very rudimentary cameras. His photograph of the Kaufmann house was taken with an old Eastmann master view camera and a primitive Schneider Angulon Lense. However this is one of the most widely published photographs of contemporary architecture in the world. Although very open to technology especially in his later work Shulman was always wary of over reliance on technology something which is hotly debated in all aspects of architecture today. In his book The photography of architecture and design Shulmans view was that the photographer should explore all types of equipment in depth and how experimentation is key before deciding on the direction of their work and type of camera. A photographer should think twice before investing in the best. I urge you to consider personal needs and experiences first. Ideally the best should be pursued, but a tool is only as good as its user. Shulmans Favourite Photograph Every artist, designer or creative mind has a favourite piece of work that they cherish. Surprisingly of all of Shulmans photographs one of the most unusual and out of character from the bulk of his work strikes resonance with Shulman the most. Having photographed a striking cotton tree leaf Shulman had found while Golfing, it formed one of his most visionary concepts. He used it in Urban Design schools and Schools of Architecture to describe and illustrate how man can relate to nature. Shulman sees the leaf as the ultimate analogy of how developers should plan out their developments. The need to design a community within a framework in this case which he designates at the outer line of the leaf. The occupants of the development shouldnt trespass onto the nature beyond the leafs shape but let the leaf instead dictate the highways, boulevards and side streets with its veins. The small capillaries dictate where the people should live and the big masses show where the public buildings or large apartments can be built. The message here is to not go beyond the shape of the leaf but instead let all beyond be nature. He saw the land beyond as more valuable to the people living in the community if they can look out on it as nature , trees and the environment. To be left alone by man however Shulman was not against developers but merely wanted to highlight that developers should not act in a away that would put people off why they wanted to live there in the first place. Shulman when recently interviewed before his death was a little perplexed by the current mania for all things sustainable and the recent influx of its influence in contemporary architecture. Weve always had green-those of us who are concerned with the environment, he says. So why should we suddenly discover that green is good? When asked why Koenig never talked about his architecture as sustainable, Shulman says, In the fifties and sixties it was done automatically. The term green meant you related to the environment. Thats all green means: you are the environment. The reason why this architecture photographs so beautifully is the environmental consideration exercised by the architects, Shulman says. It was the sense that here we have beautiful canyons, hillsides, views of the ocean. Everyone loves these photographs because the houses are environmentally involved, and this was before the emphasis on what everyone is calling green. Figure 1 Learning Urban Planning from Nature, A dry leaf found in Yucca Valley, California Framing the Californian lifestyle Neutra and the many other California modernists added a new representation of the extravagant lifestyle being advertised in California, their choice of materials glass, patios that blurred the interior with exterior, sliding doors, and flat roofs where an accurate portrayal of the free spirited lifestyle available in this climate. California , Los Angeles and Palm Springs were at the forefront of the new wave of Modern Architecture that merged inside and outside which was a radical concept at the time. merging the buildings into their sites using topography, light and view while featuring groundbreaking new ideas of form following function and even ornament is crime. Throughout america there are many different photographers synonymous with various different cities. Art Shay documented Chicagos streets intimately delving into the goings on of individual neighborhoods while Arthur Fellig also known as Weegee documented New York with impeccable detail. Los Angeles known for its sparse street life it becomes clear that the photographer most associated with it instead looked into the private spaces framing the Californian lifestyle. The documenting outdoor kitchen areas and unusual shaped pools strengthened the allure of Californias to everyone in post war America. Shulman was a great believer in the California dreaming that emerged post war, ignoring the at times mean streets of Los Angeles instead focusing on the continual sunshine seen in all his work and luminous twilights. Embodying the prevalent optimism of an architecture seemingly morphing into lifestyle and above all architecture as a product to be sold through his images.,Shulmans photographs go beyond the simple facts of the building fabric to propose a blueprint for living. Shulman portrayed something directly influential on the viewer. It was the idea of what its like to occupy a modern house. Shulmans photographs are not innate objects of beauty in themselves or direct duplications of the stunning buildings; they are inviting, compelling images that allow the viewer to imagine themselves the scene. An architectural photograph is seen to evoke three possible desires: I want that photograph, I want that building, or I want that life. Shulmans best work evokes all three. He shattered the common misconception that modernism was cold and calculated. An unfriendly aesthetic suited for clinical, industrial or commercial buildings. He personalised the buildings in an attempt to sell the architecture and Californian style to the viewers. The photographer cannot possibly learn a how-to procedure; but you must learn how to take advantage of the full gamut of experience available to you. The ambition in California and the west coast in general architecturally takes a very different form to that of the East coast. Take New York where the upward dominance of the skyscraper was the focus and identity of the city. The Californian aesthetic was horizontally driven, promoting the fact there was room for everyone to construct an individual marker throughout the landscape Shulman identified this motif and exploited it to his advantage through his work and California as a whole. Shulmans legacy remains in california even though he travelled the world photographing many famous piece of architecture his heart was always in California. His own house which he commissioned Raphael Soriano to design in 1947. Unsurprisingly the design was modern steel construction which also included a purpose built photography studio for Shulman. Garrett Eckbo designed the surrounding landscape the entire site has remained unaltered since its completion in 1950. The house was inducted as a Historic cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles in 1987. Figure 2 Shulman House, Raphael Soriano, 1950 Human Occupancy One of Shulmans prominent features of his photography was the integration of people within his architectural photography. In the early years after photography was invented in 1839, the exposure time required to capture all the architectural details of, a complicated ornamental building on the photographic plate was very long. People were viewed as an unnecessary complication as they could not guarantee to stand still for the entire duration of the shot. This practical barring of people eventually developed into a widely accepted rule brought up by Wim de Wit if one wanted to be taken seriously as an architectural photographer, one should keep people outside the frame of the camera. This attitude towards architectural photography was largely unchanged in the 1930s or 40s when Shulman took up the camera. Modernist architects at that time considered space, massing, texture and color to be the primary tangible determinants for how a building functioned. Photographers were under pressure to promote these aspects rather than how people interacted with the building design. Shulmans approach therefore was unorthodox at the time, he ignored the stereotypical modernist principle of vacant images. He was not interested in wall details or moody empty rooms. Instead, he wanted to show the viewer of his photographs that modern Californian architecture, in spite of its lack of traditional ornament, was livable and an interesting exciting lifestyle choice. Julius Shulman is blessed with the gift of perception the eye that sees! and with it he has become our visual historian. For over 50 years he has shown us how experience can interact with ideas through images. He is what the Greeks had in mind when they said, the soul is like the eye, it never thinks without an image. The mood of the Kaufmann house seen in figure 1 located in Palm Springs California was captured through a long process of time exposures and careful darkroom manipulation. However one of its stand out features is the occupation in this photo of a lady lounging at the pool. Even at the time this divided architects and photographers alike over whether it was diluting the effect of the building with this distraction or ultimately enhancing the reception of the building. Shulman in an interview stated I used her to cover the light in the pool, because the photograph was shot on bulb,, this refers to the camera setting in which the shutter can stay open for a long period of time, unbelievably forty five minutes of an exposure. Its these types of intricate use of people and alternative techniques that add to the photographic art that Shulman is seen to pioneer. Figure 3 Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, 1947, Richard Neutra, Architect Before Julius Shulman arrived on the scene, architectural photography provided exactly what the term implies: photographs of buildings. Such photographs might show single buildings, or groups of buildings, or buildings surrounded by natural landscape; human beings were generally not included. To a certain effect the process has come full circle with a dramatic increase of architectural photography today lacking occupants in the finished buildings publicity shots. Are architects preferring to entice people into their buildings by showing the empty spaces and letting the visitors imagine visiting rather than prescribing their experience there with people within the initial shots. When beginning a photograph Shulman asks the overlying question what does the house represent? His view is that the easiest way to go about portraying the house is through an overall objective full view photograph. However he comments on the pictorial area on the far right of the photo figure 1. The more pictorial architecture elements attached to the living space located there draws the viewers attention and should be the focus of the photograph Another of his successful portrayals of occupancy was the case study house 20 by Buff, Straub and Hensman 1958 figure (?). Shulmans attention to minute detail stemmed as far as telling the young lady in the photo exactly what position to hold the glass aloft which he states was of the utmost importance to the success of the overall photograph. It makes all the difference in the world where her hand was placed. Figure 4 Case Study House 20, Atladena , 1958, Buff , Straub and Hensman Relationship with architects To understand Shulmans photographs you need to understand the close bonds Shulman had with the architects involved and his passion for their work. although having no formal training in architecture through these relationships his architectural vocabulary grew along with his natural photographic abilities. After world war two, book publishers and magazine editors were scrambling for material to fill their publications. Television was still in its infancy allowing the magazine with its diverse subject range and ever changing topics to attract architectural photography. It was during this time a new source of assignments emerged and with it photo journalism was born which enabled Shulman to strike up relationships with many architects while traveling on assignments. Shulman cemented friendships while exposing and engaging people in the architects work through the medium of photography. Richard Neutra Southern California Richard Neutra is seen as having developed an especially appropriate regional architecture, adding a new dimensions to the several regional design systems in that area. His traits which were inspired from simple post and beam construction, were exceptionally modern when applied to residential architecture, his design ethos came into its full range. Transforming buildings into icons, transforming steel and glass into reproducible images, that connected to the viewer yet seemed frozen in time was the challenge set by Californian modernism. Julius Shulman stepped up and took this role, upon meeting Neutra in 1936. One of Neutras apprentices was boarding with Shulmans sister, and he took young Shulman along on a visit to the visually stunning and nearly complete Kun House. (figure 5). Shulman, then an student whod been auditing courses at Berkeley and UCLA for seven years not really sure what his career path would be, shot photos of the crisp white house, using his pocket camera and a tripod. When Neutra saw the snapshots, he realised Shulmans special talent, an ability to capture the aesthetic and emotional intention of designs. The photographer Edward Weston fell in love with stunning cracks in buckly plaster, Neutra complained. His wonderful photos could have served as evidence in court against a plastering contractor. Understandably, the architect preferred Shulmans idealized portraits. Its the stories of each photo that can at times add so much to Shulmans work, especially when digital technology is so widespread today. The details that had to be considered and sheer effort that had to be taken for a singular shot was incredible. For the next thirty-four years, until Neutras death in 1970, the two collaborated. Through his work with Neutra, Shulman met other California modernists, including Pierre Koenig, Rudolf Schindler, Gregory Ain, Gordon Drake and Frank Lloyd. The architects created the buildings and concepts, but Shulman created the pictures that would communicate and interpret the buildings to the general public. It is important to look at the relationships between the architect and Shulman along with the images that made them famous and captured their essence. Figure 5 Kauffmann House Figure 6- Kun House , Neutra Figure 7 Treweek Residence , Neutra Pierre Koenig The architecture of Pierre Koenig, demonstrated an elegance formed from design process that merged plan, structure and nature into a single calming experience. With the use of steel and glass he evolved fresh and exciting solutions to some of the notoriously difficult aesthetic and structural problems at the time. One of his first houses made from steel and glass built in 1950 launched him on an internationally acclaimed career. When Arts and Architecture magazine was seeking inventive architects for their Case Study Houses, they chose Koenig to design Case Study House 22. Over the years Case Study House 22 has become an iconic symbol of Southern California living. It is a spectacular house soaring above the city below, with long cantilevered roof and floor overhangs that extend the viewers line of vision to the distant ocean and the horizon beyond. This appealed and at the same time challenged Shulman to produce one of his most famous images. Shulmans photograph of the Case Study House 22 The architecture critic Paul Goldberger called the photograph one of those singular images that sums up an entire city at a moment in time. In an interview with Shelter Shulman recollected what a unique experience the shoot actually was.Whilst visiting the house with two young ladies who were sitting in the living room when Shulman began, the shot was initially to be an interior shot, however when Shulman exited to get a breath of air he observed the girls sitting with the furniture being illuminated, with the view outdoors to Los Angeles. Shulman ran into the house and brought camera out to change the composition, multiple exposures was taken due to the interior lights being circular, flood lights where needed to make the girls visible with instant exposure. He turned off all the lights in house and flood lights were taken out and flash bulbs were put in instead for instant exposure. Shulman the called the called girls and said to sit in darkness for a short time to allow the exposure to burn the city lights into the negative, a few moments later a flash bulb went off recording them in the scene. But somehow that one scene expresses what architecture is all about. What if I hadnt gone outside to see the view? I would have missed a historic photograph, and more than that, we would have missed the opportunity to introduce this kind of architecture to the world. Rudolph Schindler Schindler is seen as the least understood of the American pioneers of modern architecture. In the 1930s Schindler used a skin construction as opposed to a structural skeleton, because of the flexibility by which forms might be organized without having to respect a structural grid. Through this freedom, he felt, modern architecture might achieve what the past had referred to as style. Schindler contacted Shulman as a result of his successful work with Neutra. Shulman described his relationship with Schindler as a cordial one. Schindler never attended an assignment with Shulman personally. He provided him with essential critiques of his photographs. Shulman recalled a critique of a photograph of Schindlers Daughterly house in Santa Monica. Schindler challenged Shulman on his over use of flood lights whilst photographing illustrating his point by showing Shulman naturally illuminated walls differentiating angular light. Shulman was always open to criticism and expanded and broadened his skills and knowledge from the top architects he encountered. Neutra was the first architect Shulman had met and all his photographs had been accepted with additions requested. This impressed Schindler resulting in Schindler asking Shulman to photograph the Fitzpatrick House in Los Angeles, in 1937 (figure 11+12). This was a fine example of Schindlers spatial ideas of form and movement. In his later projects, some of the crispness of his earlier work was lost as the overall forms became more fragmented. Shulman went on to photograph many of Schindlers work including one of Schindlers finest houses Buck House 1934 (Figure 13). The L-shaped plan with changes in ceiling height which allowed Shulman to exploit the diagonal views. The Large glazed sections open out to the south garden area. Gregory Ain Ains interest in group housing for middle- and low-income families began in his 1937 Dunsmuir Flats. Shulmans image of the four staggered two-story white blocks, the ceiling levels defined by continuous ribbon windows exemplify his design ethos. The panel-post construction was an early effort to reduce cost and was radical at the time. Ain adapted many contractors practices for large or small houses to save construction time and reduce cost. Gregory Ain was seen as the first architect in California to refine the low-cost house. This was exemplified in his Dunsmuir Apartments figure (15). Shulmans photographs enabled the work of pioneers like Ain to be eagerly accepted into professional journals. Shulman commented on how the editors themselves were learning as a result of his photographs to select and present the results of his work. Ains houses impressed the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) greatly and that they commissioned him to design a house in New York on the museum grounds (figure 15). It furthered his workable efficient design ethos and brought his work to a larger audience a recurring effect of Shulmans photographs Gordon Drake Shulman regarded Gordon Drake as a massively overlooked architect and integral to the progression of modern architecture. Although his career was short Drake won many international awards. Shulman cherished their friendship greatly recalling their first meeting in 1946 having been called to Drakes house (figure 16+17) in West Los Angeles. Shulman met his crew who shulman described as All were filled with enthusiasm, possessing a fervor to perform fulfilling architecture , inspired by the spirit of Drake. Shulman fell in love with the house and what it represented discovering that Drakes design was one of the most ingenious assemblies ever to confront me; the photography of which was one of the most joyous and rewarding episodes of my ten years association with architecture. The year the photograph was taken 1946 was the year progressive architecture magazine was running a competition for recognition of architects attempting to improve contemporary standards. In a massively over confident manoeuver Shulman placed a copy of the magazine in the shots of the house which went on to won the award as foretold by Shulman himself. Shulman cherished both his friendship with Drake and his association with what he called a man of brilliant expression, whose designs where not only functional , but adhered so favorably to his clients needs. Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright, was seen as the leader for American modern architecture around the world. He understood human needs and applied them to his work. Above all he sought repose, a peaceful environment free of stress which catered to the mental health and happiness of the occupants. Shulman has been compared to Wright as their work seems to become more accessible over time rather than instantaneously upon completion. In 1950 Shulman met Wright for the first time at the Taliesin West seen in figure (18) where Wright allowed him free reign to wander and snap photos unaccompanied which suited Shulmans work ethos very well. My broad knowledge of current architecture and my acquaintance with scores of architects throughout the nation and numbers abroad seemed to arouse his curiosity. It was this that bonded the pair and a lot of discussion between the two was on the topic the relationships of architects and clients and how streamlining the interactions can have a great effect on the outcome. Shulman had at first regarded Wright from here say from other sources as a belligerent, angry person. Wright did not deny these claims, however pointed out that the sources had probably never met him in person. Shulman had achieved what very few have ever with Wright that of engaging in personal discussions noting that our spontaneous bond resulted from smooth flowing stream of objectivity. Shulman allowed Wright to freely evaluate any photos he obtained from the buildings upon completion at the V.C Morris building figure (20+21). He allowed Wright to study them closely. Upon finding a good one Wright exclaimed at last someone understands in a photograph, my statement you have penetrated the spirit of my design! One of Shulmans famous Frank Lloyd Wright photographs of the Guggenheim interior was commented on by an Architectural historian , during a visit to his studio. Often one photograph creates a fulfilling statement. This one says it all. Figure (22) Due to Shulmans hands on close relationships with the architects that he worked with Shulman was often asked what differences have struck him about the many modernist architects he has worked with diverse designs from the likes of Neutra and Wright. His response was one of indifference he didnt see each designers ideas as radically different. He would compose a scene as long as he could identify with the individuals theme. The love of the building itself was integral to Shulmans work he chose his buildings and shot only subjects he enjoyed or related to. The close up From looking at Shulmans relationship with architects you can see that his personality and persona was as famous as his work. He was a skilled networker and socialite rather than a pedantic mysterious photographer. He blurred the lines of professional conduct with his friendships with clients. Shulmans extremely confident demeanor aided him greatly in the success of his work. Shulman was never afraid to self publicise and right up to his death was a fervent fan of his own work. If Shulman isnt the guest of honour, he is the moment he walks in the door. He assumes he will have an audience, and hes always right. In 1997, Benedikt Taschen responsible for the one hit Shulman nickname purchased Lautners, Chemosphere House, the eight-sided flying saucer that Shulman photographed, and it is where he stays when not in Miami or Cologne. Taschen said that if Shulman had not photographed the buildings featured in his extensive books catalogues, many of which have been razed, the world would never have known them. Figure 23 Lautners Chemosphere Shulman is know to say yes to any opportunity to speak about himself, his work , Los Angeles, architecture or art. He is known for his ability to talk for hours and no matter how many people are there or the subject matter the conversation always centers around him. Shulman identified a problem in architecture that has plagued the profession since its conception. He quipped that it was the worlds greatest problem is lack of communication, It leads to wars and failed marriages. The overuse of words also riled the photographer, som