American Muslim Minorities: The New Human Rights Struggle

The ramifications of the attacks of September 11, 2001 are felt throughout the United States. However, no minority community is as deeply affected as the American-Muslim minority. Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, Muslims residing in the United States have experienced violations of economic and political liberties, as well as ongoing social discrimination. Media stereotypes and government legislation continually exacerbate these human rights abuses and entrench institutional, social, and economic discrimination deeper in American society. At the heart of this discrimination are clear misunderstandings about Islam and those who practice the faith. In an effort to combat these challenges, Islamic organizations are fighting to protect the community’s civil liberties. Is America turning a corner in the treatment and understanding of Muslim minorities

Rarity

A prose stor

THE DIETARY INTAKE OF YOUNG CHILDREN (2-7 YEARS) WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES COMPARED WITH THE NEW MYPLATE RECOMMENDATIONS.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is estimated to be the third most common chronic disease in young people. Management of T1DM is complex, and if treatment is inadequate, a wide variety of complications may arise. Dietary management is crucial for maintaining near-normal blood sugar levels; however, there is currently no gold standard for measuring adherence to the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) recommendations. MyPlate is the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) new visual tool that serves as a guide for healthy eating at meal times; however, there are no published data to determine if people are meeting the goals MyPlate proposes. The purpose of this thesis was to determine if the dietary intake of young children with T1DM is meeting the new MyPlate recommendations. Data for this study were compiled from one previously conducted study and two ongoing studies to generate a sample size of fifty-five young children (ages 2-7). Three-day diet records were obtained for each subject and analyzed using Nutrition Data Systems for Research (NDSR). Myplate Meal scores and USDA daily scores were calculated using a newly developed scoring system. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI), a validated measure of diet quality, was calculated for all subjects to compare to the new scoring systems. Participants consumed 68% of the daily recommendation for fruit, 43% of the recommendation for vegetables, 59% of the recommendation for grains, 74% of the recommendation for dairy, and 60% of the recommendation for protein based on age-appropriate MyPlate recommendations. Moreover 89% of the children did not meet the recommendation to make half of their grains whole grains based on MyPlate. The average HEI score was significantly correlated with percent calories from saturated fat intake (p=.000), and with the USDA daily score (p=.000), but not with the MyPlate Meal score. Both Body Mass Index (BMI) and Hemoglobin A1c were not significantly correlated with the Myplate Meal score, USDA Day score or HEI score; however, the correlations were trending in the negative direction. No significant relationship was found between fruit and vegetable intake and BMI percentile, and no significant relation was found between percent calories from saturated fat and protein intake. There was a significant positive relationship between dairy intake and percent calories from saturated fat intake (p=0.04), suggesting higher intake of dairy was associated with higher percent calories from saturated fat intake in children. My research suggests that children with T1DM are not meeting the MyPlate recommendations. Adhering to the recommendations would be beneficial to reduce the risk of short and long-term complications. MyPlate could serve as an educational tool for health professionals to use in educating families and children with T1DM about healthy eating in a practical, diabetes specific manner

Fisher of Men

Fisher of Men tells the story of an ancient and secretive group of supernatural balance keepers. When God goes missing, it is up to them to locate him before the armies of Heaven and Hell lay siege to the earth, but they have their own problems. When knowledge of a secret weapon surfaces, they are tasked to find it and destroy it before it falls into the hands of either side. The secret weapon is Charitie Newman, a young woman from rural Indiana who moved to New Orleans with her sister. Charitie has special abilities that have no limits, and after her sister is brutally murdered, she agrees to join forces with the group in order to find God--and her sister\u27s murderer

Examining South Africa\u27s National Rape Crisis and its Legislative Attempt to Protect its Most Vulnerable Citizens

With the demise of apartheid, South Africans eagerly anticipated the freedom from bondage that liberation brings. More than ten years later, however, remnants of the inhumane system still remain throughout South Africa, with the epidemic rape crisis that currently grips the African nation providing dramatic evidence of the continued hold of apartheid. Scores of South Africa\u27s women and young children must contend with the pervasive sexual violence that permeates the country. These would-be victims live in constant fear of physical attack, while advocates await the South African government\u27s response to this national crisis. Unfortunately, legislation that would dramatically change South Africa\u27s current sexual assault laws remains stalled before the South African Parliament almost a decade after its proposal. Further, South Africa\u27s leadership has attempted to shift the focus from the rape epidemic to racism, leaving countless numbers of women and young girls to contend with almost daily violence. The Author argues that the rape crisis demands an immediate response from the South African Government and advocates for the swift passage of the Sexual Offences Bill. The Author recommends, however, that a number of modifications be made to the proposed bill in order to ensure the effectiveness of the legislation. These modifications include: (1) expansion of both the bill\u27s definition of rape and the available defenses; (2) the creation of certain evidentiary rules; and (3) inscription of a written policy into the bill that gives sexual assault victims access to anti-retroviral drugs

Patient Agency, Terministic Screens, and The Role of the Public in the Cases of Karen Ann Quinlan and Terri Schiavo

Humanity has always been fascinated with death, and in recent history, has attempted to delay or suspend death through life-preserving technologies. These advancements in artificial life support, such as ventilators and feeding tubes, have contributed to tenuous and controversial situations in which the dividing line between life and death is unclear. In this thesis, I interrogate two case studies in order to analyze how the various medical, legal, and public discourses have grappled with the ambiguous space between life and death regarding patients in persistent vegetative states. The case of Karen Ann Quinlan from 1975 and the case of Terri Schiavo from the 1990s and early 2000s serve as my case studies for this examination. In particular, these two cases demonstrate how the ambiguous question of brain death, and what it means to exist between life and death, empowers a variety of groups to make significant decisions on behalf of a patient. These influential parties, including physicians, attorneys, family members, and the general public, each approach the issue of brain death from a unique perspective. My analysis is influenced by Kenneth Burke’s notion of terministic screens; in particular, I examine the various medical, legal, familial, religious, and public screens and how each one influenced the outcome of both cases. My primary focus in examining these various terministic screens is the issue of patient agency, including how the patient’s wishes are interpreted, how guardianship is determined and challenged, and how various parties assert their own influences in an attempt to control the patient’s agency and the case’s ultimate outcome

A Review Of Mental Health Screening Tools Used In Disaster Research

Introduction: The effects of disasters are widespread and heavily studied. While attention to disasters’ impacts on mental health is growing, knowledge about these effects is fragmented due to the wide variety of assessment tools used in post-disaster settings. The purpose of this study is to review mental health assessment tools and their use in populations affected by disasters. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar for commonly-used tools that assess PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, and general mental health in disaster settings. Next, a search for scientific studies that used the selected tools in disaster-affected populations was conducted to collect the data for analysis. Data were extracted on study outcomes produced from these tools as well as study characteristics and then analyzed to compare across tools within each symptom assessed. Findings: Ten assessment tools for analysis were identified. Seventy-eight studies using these tools were collected. Most of the tools did not have a suggested cutoff score for determining probable diagnosis. Most of the studies identified were conducted in Asia and used the Impact of Events Scale - Revised (IES-R). The outcomes, including prevalence, sample size, sample type, disaster type, and continent did not significantly vary across all of the tools, with the exception of PTSD tools, which were significantly more likely to be used in studies with non-representative samples. Studies in North America disproportionately used the IES-R to study hurricanes. Conclusion: Although the studies show similar results across tools, the variety of tools and cutoff scores still prevent adequate synthesis of the mental health effects of disasters. It is recommended that researchers and humanitarian workers consider the context of the tool that they plan to use and use a tool with a specified cutoff that has been successfully used in similar settings