college – Page 3 – J. Palmer

PBHE413 Week 3 Forum – Medical Disaster Response

The following was written in response to a classroom forum:

Respond to one or both of these questions (respond to the second one only if you have experience with this):

Experience has shown that the hospitals nearest the scene of a disaster are often overwhelmed with self-triaged patients before the first EMS transports are dispatched from the scene. In your opinion, why do the “worried well” seek emergency services during these times, even if they are not sick or injured? How can organizations prepare for this expected influx of non- or mildly injured patients while still retaining the ability to care for the truly injured?

OR

Does your local law enforcement community have a program such as Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) in place? Have you had experience with it? What are some of the challenges tactical medics face?

There are many reasons as to why anyone classified amongst the “worried well” might seek care during a disaster situation; the most common reasons likely being connected to some incarnation of fear, misinformation, ignorance, or a combination of these elements. If we were to take an individual off the street and poll them on how they would respond to a given scenario, we might find that their response is one that differs from what we—varying members of the emergency community—would necessarily expect or recommend; this is simple ignorance of the proper methods, procedures or actions. The individual would, however, likely supply some sort of response based on the level of knowledge they possess of the given scenario, or some similar situation, referring to their simplest and most basic training in life—which, in this case, would likely be to seek immediate assistance from a professional.

To the medical professionals in this course—you have likely seen, responded, or worked on cases where a patient did not need treatment—or if they did, it could have came from a first-aid kit or a trip to the corner drugstore. Many of these patients may have been ignorant to the simplicity of their injury/ailment; some may have been knowledgeable—or would have been—had they not been influenced by the situation in some manner, triggering a flash of fear and confusion.

[Fear, confusion and other emotional responses can come at odd times and have quite an effect on our behavior. I had known a person that had broken their arm, and responded to it with an “Awe, cool!” mentality, chasing their siblings with a wildly flailing arm. Later in life, that very same person fainted from the sight of the pinkish skin he revealed on a finger after pulling back and ripping off a nail-cuticle. An odd tale–but one that shows how an individual can react differently to varying stimuli. In this tale, we can see how a single person may calmly respond and await treatment—arm flailing—or seek immediate treatment—cuticle—based upon their reaction to the event.]

To the parents of multiple children in this course—how many times did you rush your first-born infant or toddler to the hospital? Did you transport the child in your personal vehicle or await an ambulance? Did your next child make as many trips to the ER, or had you changed your perception of an emergency? Initial responses to a new situation, such as the care of a child are heightened, where there may not be a base of comparison or a personal knowledge-bank.

[Picture this one—your first-born infant is spiking a nice temperature. You do have knowledge that Tylenol can bring it down; you even have a bottle or two in the medicine cabinet; yet the sight and sounds of the baby in discomfort wipes your memory of this information. What do you do?—you likely respond by seeking a professional, either through calling a doctor, a family member, or by loading the babe in the car and driving to the hospital—and if you drove, it’s because you ‘knew’ that an ambulance wouldn’t come fast enough. Now, with the third or fourth kid, you simply mutter to yourself, grab a doser, and sigh when that sticky pink fluid drips down junior’s chin and all over that clean Onesie…]

With these examples of everyday possibilities to facing the “worried well”, we can understand how the numbers may grow in disaster situations—when people may be relatively fine or unharmed. Facilities must expect that there will be a greater influx of these patients as well as patients in true dire need of assistance. In order to prepare for these scenarios, the involved organizations must work to establish a triage system in which all patients can be evaluated and prioritized according to medical condition. Unfortunately, these efforts are only as effective in relation to the numbers of staff and personnel available, the size of any facilities involved, and the number of patients that arrive. Additionally, efforts will be affected by the communication between any agencies involved, whether any plans laid out are followed, and the unknowns involving the patients/public themselves/itself.

In communities where more than one hospital or medical center exist, multiple locations can be coordinated and organized for the receipt of the varying levels of trauma; clinics and related facilities may be used for low-priority trauma and first-aid, while larger hospitals are reserved for high-priority cases. Organizing, designating and publicizing such locations in such a manner would greatly reduce some of the headaches associated with a massive event; however, there would still be issues related to members of the public incorrectly identifying their injuries to either extreme, or bypassing a designated location out of personal preference. Staffing requirements and transportation may become an issue as well.

With regard to those persons who are more-or-less in a state of shock, suffering little to no injury at all, medical centers would need to respond with staffing persons able to handle the psychological aspects of disaster. Supplying a psychological support staff might be easier than it seems—as many of the patients are in a shock state and not necessarily psychotic, it would be possible to train additional staff in disaster psychology—support staff such as secretaries, housekeeping and maintenance, as well as staff from other supporting emergency services could be utilized to calm and speak with the patients.

In every aspect of the disaster situation, the medical community might benefit from establishing a medical reserve corps or nurses auxiliary; keeping in good contact with such reserves and inclusion of these additional resources in planning and exercises would be mandatory for successful operation and organization, however.

EDMG340 Week 1 – Definition and Scope of Consequence Management

The following post was originally submitted in response to a class forum:

Post your response to the week 1 forum question here. Just because it is a terrible act, is it an act of terrorism? State your position. Remember to respond to the posts of at least two of your classmates for full credit.

Terrorism is associated with violence, politics, toppling governments and religion. Terrorism is difficult to define because it is a value term. It implies that the violence used to achieve the goals of the group is not justified. However, the use of terrorism is common to many “good” causes in history, including the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, and the French Revolution.

Terrorists do not try to achieve military victory but count on creating public opinion that will result in the changes they seek. Terrorists do not call themselves “terrorists”. Terrorism is a label used by the dominant power to create an image of the terrorists as “evil”. Terrorists see the world in Black and White. There is no middle ground. They believe they have the higher moral ground and often believe they have divine knowledge. Terrorists do not recognize the concepts of innocent bystanders, neutral parties, civilians, or noncombatants.

Early terms associated with terrorism, such as zealot, assassin, thug, terror, and class warfare, come from many countries around the world. The use of terrorism can be found in early American history in the American Revolutionary War, the treatment of Native Americans, the American Civil War, and the interracial violence that occurred following the American Civil War.

One of the most horrific terror campaigns in the United States was the lynching of African Americans. Lynching’s were common from 1870 to 1915 and continue up to the present day. Lynching were much more than extra-legal justice. The victims were brutalized, tortured, and put on public display as a warning to others. This display was intended to change and alter behavior of a portion of society this making it terror. What do you think?

The Ku Klux Klan was one of the most notorious domestic American terrorism groups. In the twentieth century, Americans feared the terror posed by Communist revolutionaries and other Communist-Marxist-inspired governments and groups. The reaction of the U.S. public and government to Red Scare in many ways resembles the reaction to reaction to the September 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent war on terrorism.

As stated in the prompt of this forum and in other course materials, terrorism can be a difficult term to define. It seems to be agreed upon that the basic concept of terrorism is an act in which fear is either employed from the start or becomes an end result of actions taken in resistance to or against some law, practice or ideology; the element of fear may also be the trigger of a terroristic—possibly revolutionary—act.
In more modern times, terrorism has been defined by the United States government as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.”

Terrorism has also been defined as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

With these definitions—the loosely accepted common concept, as well as the two defined by our government—it is fairly easy to question what actions are terroristic with an evil or immoral undertone, and which are a more natural and acceptable movement of civil unrest. One good example of such questioning raised in the course material as well as this forum prompt is the American Revolutionary War.

The Revolutionary War and acts leading up to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence could easily be defined as an act of terrorism, with both sides—Britain and the Colonies—being equal participants in feeding the fears and creating violence. An oppressive government body led to unrest among the people, who then began to organize and protest—one of the most noted protests being what became known as the Boston Tea Party. Though the Tea Party itself may not have necessarily been a violent act—with physical harm coming to a person—it still bore elements of terroristic acts. Additionally, varying American Patriots did perform terroristic acts causing physical harm, such as the tarring and feathering of customs agents, ships captains and Royal sympathizers; Patriot actions such as this aided in raising levels of fear amongst British serviceman, eventually leading to events such as the Boston Massacre.

Were any of the measures and actions taken prior to the Declaration justified? Were they terroristic? Time has shown that the later results of the acts led to “good” with the creation of a “great” nation, spawning the movement toward democratic republics across the globe. Over two and a quarter centuries later, we can easily justify the actions of the Patriot movement; but if we attempt to place ourselves in that time, we might find the question difficult to answer, as the actions were terroristic.

PBHE413 Introduction and course goals

The following was originally written in response to a class forum:

In this Forum, please introduce yourself to the class. You may include such things as the type of work you do, your organization or branch of service, where you live, how far along you are on your degree path, family, interests, etc.–anything that will allow us to know you better.

Secondly, please tell me about your goals for this course. What did you think about when you saw the title of this course and registered?

Your initial Forum post must be a minimum of 250 words, and must be submitted by Sunday of Week 1.

Call me Ishmael.

No, actually, don’t call me Ishmael—that’s not my name; but it’s a catchy first line! It’s also the extent of what I know of Moby Dick…

Yours, truly My name is Jeremiah—if you somehow missed seeing the title and author lines of this post. I’m in my early thirties, and haven’t done much with my life, aside from raising a family and attending school. I live in a quiet little town in Kentucky, called Cynthiana—maybe you’ve heard of it, there’s some sort of fictional cop turned zombie hunter from here.

I play around with the local EM from time to time, maintaining all the social media outlets as best as I can—voluntarily, and frequently from my phone. I’ve helped out in a few disasters—potential ones, more than actual ones—usually in a clerical or “gopher” capacity. I’ve been volunteering with the local EM for about ten years, became interested through my dad—he’s been attached to the agency for about twenty, director for the past eight.

Honestly, when I first saw this course, I thought something along the lines of, “Aw, cool! Mom’s gonna like this one!” My mother is an RN at the local hospital—ICU and TCU, with the fun of pulling house every couple of weeks and the occasional ER duties. Though she’s enjoyed hearing me speak about the varying topics I’ve covered in previous courses, I thought she might find it entertaining to hear me speak about a class that has a dose of medical information included.

I really can’t think of much more to say about myself, family or schooling, so feel free to Google me if you’re curious; the full name is Jeremiah Hall Palmer and the Internet handle is my amateur license, KG4VMA.

EDMG340 Welcome to EDMG340!-Introductions

The following was originally posted as a response to a class forum.

Call me Ishmael.

No, actually, don’t call me Ishmael—that’s not my name; but it’s a catchy first line! It’s also the extent of what I know of Moby Dick…

Yours, truly My name is Jeremiah—if you somehow missed seeing the title and author lines of this post. I’m in my early thirties, and haven’t done much with my life, aside from raising a family and attending school; I’ve three children, Taron (8), Nivea (6) and Violet (2). The Mrs.—Diana—is the bread-winner, and I’m the homemaker. We live in a quiet little town in Kentucky, called Cynthiana—maybe you’ve heard of it, there’s some sort of fictional cop turned vampire hunter from here.

An Essay on Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” (Final Assignment for ENGL200)

An Essay on Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”

Nathaniel Hawthorne has received recognition to be one of the most brilliant minds of American literature, primarily for the subject matter he tackled in his varied shorts and novels. Born into an area rich on old Puritan-Christian ideologies, Hawthorne frequently tackled matters of psychology and philosophy—challenging the basis of religious and civil morality; frequently evidence of these arguments were buried within symbolic elements, revealing themselves later toward the end of the narrative. Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark employs these techniques, allowing the reader to sit and ponder about the tale’s moral as well as which characters might be villainous or heroic.

The Birth-Mark carries multiple symbolic elements, and leaves the reader with an array of morals to decipher—the battles of man against nature, the struggles of character in relationships, the dangers of hubris; interestingly, all of these messages are encompassed in and surrounded by the birth-mark.

Aylmer was a stereotypical man of science—knowledgeable and arrogant, carrying a number of neuroses that would have undoubtedly entertained the like of Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. In reviewing the way this character was described, we might come to the conclusion that the scientist suffered from narcissism, perfectionism, and something between megalomania and a god-complex. This man wise and worldly eventually fell for the lovely Georgiana—an idealist—whom seemed to be perfect in every way, save one small blemish on her left cheek. Described as a relatively small mark which no other would pay mind, the reddish birth-mark favoring the shape of a tiny, hand was enough to drive Aylmer mad. In Aylmer’s obsession over the imperfection he began to associate the mark with nearly every negative that humanity and the world had to offer; to him the blemish symbolized “his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and [die].” (Hawthorne, par. 8)

Following an evening discussion about the mark, Aylmer’s hatred and obsession infected his dear wife. Georgiana—young and naïve, possessing a great love and admiration for her husband—clung to his words, and desired the mark to be removed by the wondrous magic of his science—even if it would possibly result in death. Aylmer hastily proclaimed that he had been concocting methods and formulae in his mind that should yield positive results and forever erase this fault of nature. Aylmer thusly obliged Georgiana’s wishes, disregarding a bad omen received in a dream as well as words to the wise offered by his assistant, Aminadab.

Georgiana, whilst awaiting the procedure in her husband’s laboratory, learns of Aylmer’s varied experiments, finding a journal of her husband’s. Through reviewing the numerous trials—some of which having been failures, and a number of successes that could potentially unravel the lives of many—Georgiana finds how deeply depressed her husband is. Scrawled throughout the volume Aylmer had described failures as catastrophes, successes as failures; nothing seemed to measure up to the expectations he had set. After attempts to stroke her poor husband’s ego—something which she seems to do our of sorrow and love for the down-spirited man—Aylmer confesses that he had already begun experimentation on the mark, long before she had given her consent.

Eventually, Aylmer presents Georgiana with the elixir and watches her drift into a sleep. As he keeps a watchful eye, documenting the drug’s progression, he sees the ill-fated mark slowly fade. Finally, as the mark draws to a point where it has nearly vanished, Georgiana awakens, and announces to her husband that she is dying.

The birth-mark had become another one of Aylmer’s obsessions—an experiment in manufacturing perfection. His haughtiness and belief that he possessed the ability to challenge and change Nature’s design had proven fateful time and again; this time, however, had caused him to sacrifice his wife. Symbolically, the birth-mark represented any ill-perceived notion of the world and universe that man might wish to change. Additionally, the birth-mark carried symbolic representation of the paradoxical statement that within imperfection there is perfection—sometimes what we may see as wrong is right for certain purpose.

An interesting lesson exists with the view of the birthmark as perfect imperfection that can be applied to man and his relationships. On the surface of the story, we could simply read that no good can come from attempting to change the person that is one’s partner; while this is true, further in-depth reading and psychoanalysis of the text reveals much more. Not only did Georgiana’s birth-mark become an experimental project for Aylmer to fix—Georgiana was the project. Often in relationships—especially when they are still fresh, as is depicted in this tale—a partner might see something that is in need of change; frequently this is a reflection of a terrible match of characters or some issue buried in the partner’s psyche (McKenna, 2006 ); “death” of the relationship or the partner “needing” change usually occurs.

In the relationship described in this tale, Aylmer saw the mark and Georgiana in need of change, because they were not “perfect”—an issue with which Aylmer struggled within himself. Aylmer pushed Georgiana into submission, and killed her—mentally, emotionally and physically. Sadly, Georgiana played into this outcome of her own will, and wasn’t completely victimized. On the other side of the relationship, a partner can be so willing and forgiving of the other that any faults that arise must be their own and not that of the other or the two. Georgiana, holding such an idealization and idolization of Aylmer led herself to believe that the words Aylmer spoke were true (McKenna, 2006); as such, she disregarded the many warning signs and allowed for her partner to destroy who she was.

Aylmer, too, represented sins and psychoses present in all man; fortunately many of these inner issues only exist in whatever degree we allow. Further symbolism and flaws in man may be seen with Aylmer’s interactions with Aminadab. Aylmer’s constant reference to him as a man of clay raises a few possible interpretations: in plain context, this may be more of a demeaning term, as it is outlined that Aminadab is more of a common man—common as dirt, and tough or stubborn as clay, perhaps? Looking religiously, however, there are references in the Bible to men being clay (Walsh, 2009). Aminadab, being a “man of clay” seemed to know better than to go against nature as Aylmer did; Aylmer thought himself to be above it.

Aylmer desired to discover all the answers to life, and wished to do so without realizing that he may not worthy of an answer, or that an answer may simply not exist. Tragically, Aylmer failed to possess concepts of patience, acceptance, and serenity. Had these elements been part of his psyche, his entire character would have been very different, and the poor Georgiana might still have life.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birth-Mark” ENGL200: Composition and Literature. American Public University System. 2011. McGraw-Hill. PDF/Web. Retrieved from: http://ebooks.apus.edu.ezproxy1.apus.edu/ENGL200/Perkins_2011_unit2.pdf

McKenna, John J. “Lessons About Pygmalion Projects And Temperament In Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark..” Eureka Studies In Teaching Short Fiction 7.1 (2006): 36-43. i Web. 29 July 2012.

Walsh, Conor. “Aminadab In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s THE BIRTH-MARK.” Explicator 67.4 (2009): 258-260. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 July 2012.

Annotated Bibliography

Using the information from this week’s reading material, submit an Annotated Bibliography of five sources from your Working Bibliography. First, put the source in the correct citation format for your particular curricular division, and then write a brief annotation (summary and use) of that source. Follow the student example and indicate the name and number of the Hacker ( www.hackerhandbooks.com/resdoc) model you are following for each source. Points will be deducted if you fail to do this. Remember, your final paper must include a minimum of seven sources with at least four sources coming from peer-reviewed journals taken from the APUS library.

Jeremiah Hall Palmer
Prof. Myron
COLL300
Annotated Bibliography: APA Style
July 7, 2012

As the requirements of this assignment are to compose an annotated bibliography while making note of which resource model used, sources are categorized by model number and alphabetized by author. Annotations immediately follow the source in italics.

Hacker Social Sciences Model # 7 & # 10 – Article in a Journal with three to seven authors:

Aten, J., Leavell, K., Gonzalez, R., Luke, T., Defee, J. & Harrison, K. (2010) Everyday Technologies for Extraordinary Circumstances: Possibilities for Enhancing Disaster Communication. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3(1), 16-20.

This article highlights a few of the commonly used social networks and personal communications devices that have potential for use in disaster situations. Multiple examples are given in the article to “tested” use of the technologies within the article. In addition, supporting evidence of the potential reach is given through the mention of statistical information on a few of the networking sites.

Mills, A., Rui, C., JinKyu, L., & Rao, H. (2009). Web 2.0 Emergency Applications: How Useful can Twitter be for Emergency Response? Journal of Information Privacy & Security, 5(3), 3-26.

This article speaks specifically on the use of the social-networking site, Twitter. The article gives a background on the founding of the network–including the original concept of the service surrounding SMS communication. The article highlights the benefits of Twitter’s API and SMS gateway; the article delves into discussion of how the service has been used in disaster communication, and provides statistical information.

Hacker Social Sciences Model # 7 & # 11 – Article in a journal with eight or more authors:

McCauley-Bush, P., Mohammad, J., Gaines, S., Llewelyn, C., Armbrister, P., Watlington, A., … Cohen, S.. (2012) Assessment of Communication Needs for Emergency Management Officials in High-Consequence Emergencies. Journal of Emergency Management, 10(1), 15-25.

This article was written more as a study and report of communications technologies within a certain geographic area of Florida. The article uncovers some statistical information on what devices are currently in use by emergency managers and the comfort-level these individuals have with technology. Most useful for the purposes of this project will be the information regarding the wide-spread use of smart-phone devices amongst EM professionals; these statistics will be incorporated with information on the use of Twitter, Facebook and other services to reflect the ease of sharing disaster information with the public.

Hacker Social Sciences Model # 30 – Article in an online journal:

Underwood, S. (2010). Improving Disaster Management. Communications of the ACM, 53(2), 18-20. doi:10:1145/ssre:1646353:1646362

This article addresses some of the emerging uses of technology surrounding the use of mobile phones—specifically those being addressed by Calit2. Though the article is more on the side of discussing Calit2’s research, it contains interesting “sound-bites” discussing the importance of “citizen journalism” and “dual-use” technologies. This article pairs quite well with the one written by Aten et al, and can be used for further foundation on how monitoring and interacting with the public via social media outlets is becoming paramount in effective disaster communication.

Hacker Social Sciences Model # 31 – Article in an online magazine:

Hoover, J. (2011, January 19). FEMA To Use Social Media For Emergency Response. InformationWeek. Retrieved from: http://www.informationweek.com/

A simple article discussing the aim of FEMA in using social media for emergency response; this article is the underlying concept of the research assignment. Contained in this article are quotes from FEMA administrator, Craig Fugate—an avid Twitter user.

Paraphrasing and Direct Quotations

Forums: Week Five Paraphrases and Direct Quotations

Following the guidelines in this week’s reading, post a direct quotation from one of your sources as it would appear within the body of your research paper. Be sure that you introduce your quote with a signal phrase, provide some commentary for the quote, and include the appropriate in-text citations for your documentation style. Follow the source material with closing commentary or analysis to link it to your thesis/purpose. Next, paraphrase the same quotation and use a signal phrase and closing commentary to demonstrate how the paraphrase would appear in your research paper; include an in-text citation in the documentation style you are using for your paper. Be sure to label which documentation style you are using and include the appropriate bibliography entry as the source will appear on your works cited, reference, or bibliography page. Your initial posting is due no later than midnight Thursday and should be 250-300 words; your peer responses are due by Sunday midnight and must be at least 100 words in length and move the conversation forward.

Note: The focus on the forum posts is on quality content, not simple meeting a minimum word requirement.

In an article discussing the potential use of technologies for disaster communication, Jamie D. Aten and his peers underline the growth and importance of social media:

Social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn, have become an increasingly popular way for people to stay in constant communication with each other. More than four out of five adults sign access social media Web sites every month. (Aten et al., 2010)

Taking note of the importance, the authors continue to suggest that:

Social networking sites could be used in a number of ways during disaster circumstances, from posting, sharing, and downloading disaster information, to updating news and pictures of developing disasters. For example, the social networking site Flickr, could be used to post disaster pictures to inform people within their Web site community. Moreover, the disaster pictures could actually be tagged by location, so other followers can pinpoint exactly where a photo was taken. The emergence of Internet connections on cell phones will allow users to reach these Web sites without the need of a computer, enabling news to be posted and received even more quickly. Information can be posted to family, friends, pre-established groups or networks, or the general public, who can, in turn respond directly to those at the site of the disaster. (Aten et al., 2010)

If we consider the points and examples given in this article, we can easily see how integrating these tools into approaches and efforts in emergency and disaster management would be of great benefit. The emergency manager would have the ability to be a part of this information process, through dissemination of information directly from the emergency operations center to any of these media outlets, as well as monitoring the same outlets for “community reports”.

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There have been a great number of people across the nation recognizing the importance and growth of social media in the day to day lives of the average citizen. An article in the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Trauma, Jamie Aten and a team of his peers inform us that a recent study shows that on average four out of five adults make use of social media sites every month (Aten et al., 2010). With these numbers, it becomes inherently clear how important the role of social media has become to the public for keeping in touch with news and family.

From an emergency/disaster management viewpoint, the potential of use of these online services is intriguing. In the same article, Aten offers example of how one service, Flickr—a photograph sharing service—could be used for the posting and sharing of disaster photography in near real-time (Aten et al., 2010). Additionally, such a photograph could come directly from the scene via cell-phone, and be geo-tagged by the device’s GPS, giving a specific location of the hazard being photographed.

By being an active participant in these social media outlets, the emergency manager can get up to the minute reports from the public; the emergency manager can also publish reports and information—as well as selected materials from individuals in the public—back into these social media news feeds.

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Works Cited:

Aten, J., Leavell, K., Gonzalez, R., Luke, T., Defee, J. & Harrison, K. (2010) Everyday Technologies for Extraordinary Circumstances: Possibilities for Enhancing Disaster Communication. Psycological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3(1), 16-20.

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This post received the following comments:

Joseph Bailey (July 4, 2012 at 4:43 PM):

Hi Jeremiah,

I read your forum and thought it was interesting, informative and enlightening the way you brought out we all use social media like face book to keep in constant communication with each other such as friends, family and even business. I think what you wrote was great and the way you Incorporated the direct quote into your work was good but what I don’t understand is your not using quotation marks when quoting a source. You are the second person in this class that did not use quotation marks when quoting a source I am not trying to get you in trouble I just want to learn and I am a little confused on using quotation marks while quoting a source. I believe we are suppose to every time we quote any source in our work using what they say to back us up. I looked over your work and thought other than not using quotation marks you wrote a good forum.

Jeremiah Palmer (July 7, 2012 at 11:36 AM):

In APA formatted documents long quotations do not require quotation marks, as the quoted material is blocked and indented–the fact that it is a quote is understood. Parenthetical notation immediately follows the final line of the quoted content.

For paraphrasing, quotation marks aren’t necessary either, unless there is an exact quote contained somewhere within the summarized content. Parenthetical notation follows the end–but before the end punctuation–of the precise sentence which makes reference to the original/sourced idea; if the entire paragraph is a summary of one source–without any additional thoughts added–then notation can follow the end of the paragraph, signifying that the entire paragraph is a summary.

…also, I’m used to formatting documents in HTML and placing long quotes between <blockquote> tags–which tell the browser to format the text that way; I likely would have forgotten the quotation marks for my direct quotes if I weren’t using APA, because I type things up here using the “source view” instead of the WYSIWYG tools most of the time!

…for reference, my favorite tool on decoding the mysteries of documenting sources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ –of all the material I’ve been given or assigned over the years, Purdue’s OWL has helped me the most.

Governing Local Land Use

In a 2-3 paragraph statement, discuss whether or not the federal or state government should govern local land use in disaster mitigation. Be sure to provide evidence that supports your response and cite any references you use. Respond to a classmate’s post with a 2-3 paragraph statement on why you agree or disagree with the others’ post.

Please start a new thread when creating your initial post and write any responses to others within their existing discussion threads. To receive full credit, be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings.

In my opinion, the current and founding concepts of land ownership/use—being at the discretion of the individual with guidance from the local and escalating governing bodies—is functional and provides the best methods for establishing plans, legislation, or “taking” land with disaster mitigation as the concern.

As a general “rule”, the federal government has no interest in land, aside from federally recognized areas of concern—such as large wildlife preserves/national parks; military installations and points concerning national security; borders/ports/transportation systems affecting commerce; and widely recognized ecological/environmental concerns. Further regulation of land falls to the responsibility of the state, as the governing body of the state should better represent the needs of that specific area/region/community of people (Schwab, et al; 147-8).

State level governance of land recognizes the concerns of the federal government, while applying, recognizing and regulating concerns within the political and/or natural borders of the state. State governance—while establishing stronger regulation—also provides guidance for local governmental bodies.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the local governments to enforce and police very specific needs of land and people—unless this power has not been delegated by or inherited from the state (Schwab, et al; 150) ; it is not uncommon, however, for the local governing bodies to be ill-equipped or incapable of enforcing regulations, conducting feasibility studies, or making purchases of land for mitigation efforts. As such, aid in the form of grants or state/federal recovery and mitigation projects are applied for by the local community (FEMA, 2010).

References

FEMA. (2010). Grants and Assistance Programs for Governments. Retrieved July 4, 2012, from: https://web.archive.org/web/20120322123227/http://www.fema.gov:80/government/grant/government.shtm

Schwab, A., Eschelbach, K., & Brower, D. (2007.) Hazard Mitigation and Preparedness. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Literature and Performance

Whether a written work be a short-story, a novel, or a performance piece, certain essential elements are included in the piece to aid in the development and direction of characters, setting, and plot. Performance pieces—such as plays and movie scripts—often limit how often scenery and direction appear within the text, leaving only specifics to the author’s visions in place.

This week we are prompted with the question of which of the two plays—The C Above High C and The Importance of Being Earnest—relies heavily on the performance elements; we were also asked how this affects the experience of reading the work. After review, I would have to argue that Reed’s “ …High C” uses performance at a degree much higher than that of Wilde’s “…Earnest”.

“…Earnest” is very heavy on dialogue—as is to be expected—and limits direction to initial scene settings, and vocal or expressive cues for the character. These instructions are important, yet if any of the performance elements were removed, the ability to perform the story remains; suggested or understood tone in the dialogue allow for the reader/director to envision the missing elements—due, in part, to the logical progression of the story. “…High C”, on the other hand, goes much further in plot and character development through the use of background action, sub-scenes, visual cues, and shifts in timeline—striking any of these elements and relying solely upon the dialogue would be a confusing nightmare.

Plot and character development in "…High C" also make way for political statements, symbolism, as well as satire—many of these points being lost if we were to use the dialogue alone; for example:

Symbolism, Irony

Louis, after his performance, applies facial cream—so much that his face is “white” in appearance. This element is not mentioned in dialogue and is kept in direction only. Louis is a fairly dark—though not very dark—complected African-American man. He is accepted by both “white” and “black” audiences; yet in a community of rising “black” entertainers—beboppers—he is seen as being very dark—Uncle Tom-like (Reed, I.1.7-8). All of this is mentioned and used during the continual application of facial cream while conversation also expands to the discussion of racial equality.

Symbolism, Satire, Comedy

The character of J. Edgar Hoover is described and portrayed as a short, fat, black transvestite (Reed, I.2.77-80; II.2). Rumors are fairly widely known of Hoover having been a transvestite and possibly bi-sexual or gay; adding the characterization of Hoover being dark-skinned adds an element of satirical humor—creating a visual representation of how Hoover isn’t “accepted as a white man” (Reed, I.2.80). The representation could also suggest that the man was so bent against everyone due to his own personal insecurities and fears of how his inner image would be viewed by society.

Juxtaposition and scene transitions

Several scenes within the play show contradicting views or sub-scenes onstage at one time. Examples of such scenes are: the flash to a bebopper talking jive about Louis in scene one (Reed, I.1.8); Mamie appearing for a monologue turned dialogue with Lil in front of Ike and Kay—which later transitions to J. Edgar snooping behind Lil and Kay (Reed, I.2.46-91); etc.

In reading “…High C”, I found myself wondering what additional action was supposed to take place on stage, as there were several cues for slides to be projected; nowhere had I read any description of the images that were to be shown—other than being described in dialogue/performance cues. I found this void in direction to be a bit annoying, however I was capable of continuing the story.

Overall, I would say that the experience of reading “…High C” was greater due to the depth in which the stage/scene direction went; I was capable of creating a much more entertaining stage in my mind, whereas “…Earnest” left me with simple characters on a stage.

Works Cited

Reed, Ishmael. "The C Above High C". 1997. ENGL 200: Composition and Literature. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Web. 3 July 12

Wilde, Oscar. “The Importance of Being Earnest.” 1895. ENGL 200: Composition and Literature. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Web. 3 July 12

COLL300 — Evaluating Sources

Jeremiah Hall Palmer
Prof. Myron
COLL300
Source Evaluations
June 30, 2012

Source 1: Journal of Emergency Management

In visiting the APUS library for a different assignment, I happened to notice that access to a new publication had been acquired—the Journal of Emergency Management. I took time away from the original task that had brought me to the library in order to peruse the publication; in doing so, I discovered an article which contained some information that I will be incorporating into my research. This new source’s information and my evaluation of said source follows:

McCauley-Bush, P., et al. (2012) Assessment of communication needs for emergency
management officials in high-consequence emergencies. Journal of Emergency Management, 10(1), 15-25. Retrieved June 28, 2012 from:

Credibile Author:

The research reported in this article was conducted by a team of nine individuals; all authors possess a Bachelors of Science or higher and are affiliated with a university in either an engineering or technology capacity.

Reliable Publisher:

I had not heard of the Journal of Emergency Management prior to the aforementioned discovery, nor have I been able to locate any reviews of the publication. I will assume that the publication is reliable as it does appear in the school library—which means that the publication was sought after by a member of the school faculty; if I cannot trust in the credibility of an instructor’s choices, then why am I pursuing a degree with this institution?

Accuracy:

The basis of my desire to use this article lies in the data that was revealed regarding the numbers of emergency managers using certain technologies—primarily smart-phones—and the degree to which these managers feel comfortable in using the technology. While it will be fairly easy for me to find numbers of “average Americans”, discovering the numbers for emergency managers alone would have been more difficult. Based on the numbers being presented for this specific use—as well as other findings this article reported—I feel comfortable in relying upon the accuracy of this report, as the charts seem to align fairly well with those produced for the “average consumer”.

Current Information:

Note is made that the study was first revealed in July of 2011; the latest reference made in the research was to an article accessed in November of 2011.

Objectivity:

It does not appear that any of the participants have any sort of bias toward or against the use of technology. Costs of research are reported to have been covered by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Source 2: American Psychological Association

One of my original picks for sourced material includes an article that was published by the APA. This article focuses on the ability of using “everyday” technologies—such as the social media avenues that are the focus of my paper. This source’s information and my evaluation of said source follows:

Aten, J. et al. (2010) Everyday Technologies for Extraordinary Circumstances: Possibilities for Enhancing Disaster Communication. Psycological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3(1), 16-20.

Credibile Author:

The research reported in this article was conducted by a team of six individuals; all affiliated with a university’s psychology department.

Reliable Publisher:

The APA is recognized as a credible and reliable publisher of materials relating to human capacities and abilities relating to psychology and general mental abilities. As the research I am conducting deals with informing the public of tragic events—which cause varied emotional and psychological responses—a viewpoint from the mental health community is advantageous.

Accuracy:

This article relies upon other studies that have been conducted with regard to the use and consumption of various comminucations technologies by the general populace; included in the technologies are social media avenues, cellular devices, and general “Web 2.0” services. The article also uses examples of the response to events such as the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre—the latter two events having social media available for the spread of news.

Current Information:

Though the article was originally published in December of 2010 and relies upon events occurring more than five years ago, the concept is still fresh; additionally one fundamental value of emergency management is to reflect upon previous disasters in order to learn from them. The article also sources other writings and publications as recent as 2009 and 2010—one of particular interest being an article discussing how a Haitian survived the 2010 earthquake by taking advantage of an “iPhone app”. Further research into this article’s sourced information will likely provide additional information that may prove useful—if not better than that I’ve already compiled—regardless of publication date.

Objectivity:

It does not appear that any of the participants have any sort of bias toward or against the use of technology. There is no mention of any funding for the research, opinion, or conclusion.