Should Terms Of Us Senators Congressmen Be Limited Politics Essay

Should Terms Of Us Senators Congressmen Be Limited Politics Essay The twenty second amendment of the United States Constitution sets forth term limits for the United States President. It states that no person shall be elected to the office of the presidency no more than two, four year terms. Congress passed this amendment on March 21, 1947 with the requisite number of states on February 21, 1951. No serving president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has served more than two terms. Currently, our United States Senators and Congressmen are not limited to term limits that the president is subjected to. The founding father of this nation believed that politics should not be a career as long serving politicians could only bring harm to the nation. Currently, the United States is facing many unique challenges that include the involvement in two wars, rising national debt and high unemployment to name a few. Many of these challenges are due in part to the no term limit for our Senators and Congressmen. I strongly believe that our Senators and Congressmen shoul d be limited to a certain set number of terms that he or she may serve. When the founding fathers drafted the Constitution, their wish was to produce as brief of a document as possible. (1) Term limits were not included in the original documented for various reasons. Many of the framers felt that including term limits for Congress was unnecessary (1). Congressional service was viewed as a part-time job by citizen legislators who would go to Washington to do their duty and then return home to their farms and businesses to resume their lives once the legislative adjourned (1). The wish to not enact term limits in the Constitution stemmed from the fact that many of the founders of the United States were educated in the classics and quite familiar with the benefits of frequent rotation in political office (1). The concept of term limits or rotation in office dates back before the American Revolution (1). The framers knew the importance of maintaining a close connection between government and the people it was designed to serve. Because of this they envisione d a citizen legislature to retain control of government by the people. Only since the early days of the twentieth century have American politicians ignored this legacy and pursued careers in elective office (1). Congressional and Senator Term limits is becoming a bigger issue with every day that passes by. The nation needs to enact term limits or we may see the United States of America self destruct. Congress, whos arrogant spending has bankrupted our nation and destroyed our currency, sets its own self-figure pay plus perquisites and pensions as if compensation were to be calculated based on its unbridled spending rather than on prudent governance. Congress has created a counter-productive envy based tax system which penalizes extra effort and success (2). The dream of citizen legislators that our fathers believed in should not be dropped by the waist side. By enacting term limits, our elected officials will try to do more when they are in office and now hold off legislation until the next election. Our elected officials would be able to focus on the job at hand and not worry about constantly running for reelection. This will open up the process to more Americans to show what they have to o ffer (2). Until this issue is addressed in Washington, we will always continue to have a broken political system. The problem concerning term limits will not simply fade away. While in the past, attempts to amend the Constitution to enact term limits have faded, more and more support for it has been on the rise, especially in the GOP party. A group of senators in the Republican Party have been advocating as of late to push for a Constitutional amendment to make term limits a reality. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint (R) argues that Americans know that real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians. As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward spending tax payer dollars to buy off special interests, covering over corruption in the bureaucracy, fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork in short, amassing their own power (3). Over time, career legislators are more likely to promote the interest of the establishment of which they are a part than that of the larger public. New blood, new faces need to enter the senate and congress, on a frequent basis. This will help avoid the highly influenced Congress that is filled with old people with old ideals. There are too many career politicians that have been sitting in office much longer than they should be. Although, as a democratic nation, we have the ability to vote for whom we wish to see service in political offices, but the problem is, if no one new is running, what happens? The same politician who has been sitting in the same seat will get reelected because of no opposition. By enacting term limits, this may change the way our democratic nation works. Term limits may actually increase a voters choice at the polls. What politician is going to run against a popular individual who is running for his or her third or fourth term? In states where term limits have been applied to legislators, the result has been more candidates running for office (4). This country is founded on basic principles that we are a melting pot society, unique in the fact that we are made up of many different cultures and values. This could be beneficial in the fact that with many different views and values th at so many of us have, the United States can continue to be a successful nation in the twenty first century. Continuing the views of our current politicians will only keep the country in the dark ages. Term limits have already been placed on 15 state legislatures. In each of those states, the term limits have proved successful in increasing the number of diversity of political candidates (4). It is time that the same is held true from the federal level. Politicians elected into office are supposed to be representatives of the people, voted in by the people. As more career politicians sit in office, the more they are removed from the rest of the country. They no longer understand the people that they are suppose to be representing. While allowing senators and congressmen to be reelected, they are given the chance to continue building relationships with lobbyists and interest groups, a phenomenon that has been occurring in Washington for way to long. Too many Americans have lost faith in their government. Term limits may in fact help restore respect and faith in our government. Use of discreditable tactics like pork barreling that has powerful electoral effects is a major cause of declining respect for and satisfaction with Congress. Term limits would arrest this decline of congressional legitimacy, ensuring that members would be more truly representative of their communities and would renew American citizenship by writing into law th e principle that people can govern themselves (5). In many places of employment, there are people who feel that because they have been employed the longest, they deserve everything. Its a pretty common philosophy that many Americans believe to be true. The same can also be said of our nations politicians. An unlimited term creates a need in the legislature for a seniority system, in which mediocre politicians thrive. If they can be reelected a few times, thereby earning the right to serve in important committees and chairmanships, they cement their chances of being reelected continuously, not because they deserve it, but only because of the power they wield and the media exposure they receive, enhancing their name recognition (6). The seniority system that has been in place in the countrys history has proven to be disastrous. Term limits can help new individuals win support based on the merit of the work theyve done and not based solely on seniority. Like many sides of an argument there are always those that oppose a particular subject for some specific reason. The debate of term limits is no different. There are many who feel that there is already too much adequate turnover in both the house and the senate and that by creating term limits, the turnover rate would be even higher in the future then it currently is at. It was not until 1900 that the turnover rate first fell to one-forth. And turnover remained in at least the low double digits until 1968. Since then, turnover has often fallen into single digits and has averaged at about 15.2 percent. That is far too low, especially when compared to the 40, 50, and 60 percent turnover common a century ago (7). This figure shows that the turnover is too low and that the argument that term limits would only increase that number is false. Politicians in the eighteenth and nineteenth century were able to accomplish more in the two and three terms they served before returning home to thei r private lives. Turnover was high, but legislative was accomplished. The same cannot be said of the twentieth and twenty first century politicians. The country is facing high unemployment throughout a majority of the fifty states. Many hardworking Americans have been out of work for quite some time, some more than others. While many private citizens fear for losing their jobs, there is one place where unemployment is low and that is in the House and Senate. Because of this, the public is extremely mad at Washington, mad at the corruption, the underhanded deals, the earmarks, and the sense of entitlement that comes with lifetime employment (8). Robert Byrd is currently a Senior United States Senator from West Virginia. Byrd has been a Senator since January 3, 1959 and currently is the longest serving Senator in congressional history. Byrd is an example of an individual who has been receiving lifetime employment for more than fifty one years. Byrd also represents what our founding fathers feared. Its time to remove the security of lifetime employment and lawmakers might actually have to do something productive (8). In addition to the opposition that many face enacting term limits, many feel that by forcing term limits, it would be considered unconstitutional. Term limits are not unconstitutional. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution requires the presidency of the United States to have term limits (9). It was initially Congress who passed this amendment back in 1947. Congress felt that it was necessary for the president to have term limits but cries foul when it comes to a proposed amendment for term limits for themselves. The major political parties do not want to lose their grip of government (9). Although, the 1995 Supreme Court ruling against term limits was struck down, majority of the general public is in favor of imposing Congressional term limits. Americans believe that term limits in Congress is positive. We should realize that our constitutes are elected to serve the citizens of this country, and because most Americans believe in term limits, the government should come together to ap prove the necessary two-thirds majority, or 290 votes to successfully pass an amendment to the Constitution. At the heart of the debate in addition to whether or not term limits should be enacted, a second question would be, how many terms would a congressional member be able to serve? Currently, members of the House can serve unlimited two year terms, while senators can service unlimited six year terms. This is way too long for someone to be sitting in power. It todays Congress, 42.9 percent of the House members and 45 percent of senators have been in office for 12 or more years. Term limits supporters think those 12 years in Congress is plenty (10). Term limitation will accomplish a number of positive things, but one stands out, it will improve the quality of leadership of our congressional public servants by replacing careerists with citizen legislators who truly want to serve our county and see that the United States always remains a superpower in the world. When the delegates were drafting the Constitution, much debate and compromises occurred. One of those issues at hand was how to be sure that each state received equal representation. The final compromise became known as the Great Compromise. This compromise permitted that each state would receive equal representation in the senate. This bicameral legislature resulted in the current United States Senate and House of Representatives. Although the issue of state representation was addressed at the convention many who oppose term limits feel that this would in fact become a disadvantage to many of the smaller states. Smaller states historically though have attempted to compensate for this by continually reelecting incumbents regardless of their views on issues in order to accumulate power with seniority. Without such seniority, goes the argument smaller states would be at the mercy of larger states (5). The 23 states which had placed term limits on their congressional delegates before th e Supreme Court outlawed this practice; all of those disregarded this argument regardless of size (10). No citizen themselves ever complained about their equal representation regardless of the size of the state. Citizens just want their representatives to do legislation that will benefit them and the country. In conclusion, our founding fathers who drafted the government of the United States believed that it was important that no politician should make politics a career. Their philosophy was to serve their country and go home. Because too many have become career politicians, Congress has bankrupted our nation and forgot what their true duty is as congressional members. Although support for an amendment continues to gain momentum, there are still many who oppose having term limits. Many feel that they have the right to continue to serve because of their seniority such as Senator Byrd of West Virginia, while others feel that there is already too much turnover and term limits would only cause an even higher turnover. Others argue that term limits would be unconstitutional. Each member in the House can serve unlimited two year terms and members in the senate can serve unlimited six year terms. If a Constitutional Amendment is passed and congressional members are subjected to term limits, the country could successfully eliminate many of the problems that the country is facing. It was not the citizens of this nation who caused the massive trillion dollar deficit; it was not the citizens of this country who created the long-term short falls in both Social Security and Medicare. The Wall Street and auto maker and bank bailouts were not because of the American citizens. These issues that plague our nation were issues created by our long extended serving members in the House and senate. For these reasons alone, I strongly believe that our Senators and Congressmen should be limited to a certain set number of terms that he or she may serve.

A Closer Look on Bilingualism

Bilingualism is not uncommon to many people and in many parts of the world. As long as there are people who migrate from far off countries to different places in the world, bilingualism will exist, and prosper.This has become a bigger reality in today’s world where different countries are brought closer by technology, and globalization has become commonplace, especially to more prosperous and industrialized countries where migrants tend to gather.Hence, cultures become interrelated and languages are no longer limited to their areas of origin. In fact, it is normal for many people to use two languages, or even more, in the course of day-to-day living, some by choice and some by necessity.As evidenced by studies and observation made by scientists and educators, bi- or multilingualism exists because humans are not limited to learn a single language in the course of his/her lifetime.Although there were no studies that have determined how many languages a person can learn in his/he r lifetime, there was no question that it could be done, given the relative ease by which children learn languages.The brains of a human being hold endless possibilities. It is not a jug that has limited capacity; it can absorb so much more information (Alladina 6). Hence, it is not surprising that more and more people are learning and making use of different languages.It is not uncommon to see a person who makes use of a different language at home, in school or in buiness, a particular language is used depending on the appropriate situation.As we attempt to explore different facets of bilingualism, it would be most logical to explain briefly the meaning of bilingualism and how it is commonly perceived in order to offer a better understanding as to why it has such great impact on the society.More importantly, this paper will deal on the overall effects of bilingualism on children, adults and families, as well as the influences of schools, its systems, and society at large to people who are bilingual, and vice versa.We shall also delve on the choices that different bilingual-background families have or have made with regard to rearing their children as bilingual or monolingual, and the subsequent effects of these choices.We shall shed light on these concerns, partly, by going through the personal experiences of three individuals, with different degrees of bilingualism, who were interviewed exclusively for this paper.We shall examine how bilingualism played a part in their lives. Their bilingualism resulted from different circumstances surrounding them as they were growing up that were mainly rooted from their families.For instance, the first interviewee and her parents migrated to Norway from Pakistan, where she was actually born and raised until she was eight years old, the second one has parents whose mother tongues were different from each other, while the last interviewee was adopted from Colombia when she was eight years old.

Mickey Mouse Character Essay

A century ago who would have believed a small little, rodent creature would be the icon of not just a multi-billion dollar company but also a symbol of innocence, youth, and, happiness. The icon of course is none other than Mickey Mouse, a character that has hundreds of different meanings to millions of different people. But the Mickey the public knows today is not the same cartoon mouse that audiences knew when he made his first public appearance in 1928. Rather throughout the eight decades he’s been around, Mickey Mouse has evolved and grown, just as the public has. Where Mickey was once a mischievous, abrasive, adventurer over the years he’s transformed into a cheerful, calm, educational tool. But the question lately has been whether Mickey Mouse is still a relevant figure in a fast paced, high-tech world full of video games and action films. Where exactly does the eighty-three year-old Mickey Mouse fit in with newer icons such as Super Mario and Spongebob Squarepants? Disney hopes to answer this question by rebranding the aging character to once again become an important character in the upcoming decade of the teens. By going back to the essential qualities of humor, heart, mischief, and adventure that once made up Mickey Mouse, Disney can rediscover a character that is truly timeless. It’s important to note that Mickey Mouse wasn’t always the prize creation of Walt Disney; you see once upon a time there was a young animated creature known as Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was a happy, upbeat fellow who often found himself in sticky situations whether it was run away vehicles[1], danger at war[2] or his girlfriend getting kidnapped by a shadowy figure wearing a top hat when he’s trying to milk a robot cow[3]. Sadly Oswald’s happiness soon came to an end when his creator Walt Disney realized despite being the man behind the character, he actually didn’t own the rights to the animated rabbit, as he was property of the distributor Universal Pictures. Upset over his contract, Disney broke his ties with Universal, which meant leaving both his staff and Oswald behind. When attempting to come up with a new cartoon character he himself would own, Walt Disney’s mind wandered back to the days he spent living in Kansas City. His studio there was frequently overrun with field mice, and he found himself particularly close with one specific mouse. When bored with work he would play with the mouse, training the rodent to remain in a small circle  through the process of operant conditioning by touching its nose with a pencil whenever it began to leave. Walt then decided to make the character modeled after the mouse he grew so fond of. The basic design used for Oswald was still retained, with mostly minor changes to make the character resemble a rodent rather than a rabbit. Walt originally planned to name him Mortimer, but his wife thought the name sounded pretentious. The two compromised on the name Mickey, and with that the most famous cartoon character was born. Contrary to popular belief, â€Å"Steamboat Willie† was not Mickey’s first appearance, but rather it was six months earlier with the short â€Å"Plane Crazy† (1928). Based after famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, the short consisted of Mickey becoming a pilot as an attempt to impress his future girlfriend Minnie Mouse. The Mickey in the short is quite possibly the furthest you could get from what he is today, as his goal throughout the cartoon is to get an unwilling Minnie to kiss him while flying the plane. After several futile attempts, he tries to get the kiss by using force on her until she has no choice but to parachute out of the plane to escape. Mickey Mouse lusting so heavily after a kiss would be deemed bad enough by today’s standards, let alone using physical force to try and get it. Now Mickey wouldn’t be caught dead doing either activity. Soon another Mickey Mouse cartoon was made titled â€Å"Gallopin’ Gaucho† (1928), but it wasn’t until â€Å"Steamboat Willie† (1928) that the character would catch on. â€Å"Steamboat Willie† was a complete revolution at the time in 1928. While The Jazz Singer was the first movie to use sound, it was only used sparingly throughout the film. â€Å"Steamboat Willie† on the other hand was a celebration of sound in film, acting in many ways as a technical show off. Bells chime, cows moo, steam whistles blow, and more to show off the marvel that can occur when the sound one hears directly correspondents to what appears on screen. The short became an instant success and officially launched the career of the young cartoon star. Mickey’s appearance in the short is particularly reminiscent of a rodent, especially when compared with his later design. He has beady eyes, long  tail, and lacks the trademark gloves the character is known for. His nose is more protruded from his face, while his ears are placed closer to his head giving him an overall scrappier look. Mickey is also portrayed as smaller than he’s normally shown, being significantly smaller than a cow. [4] While Mickey is shown to still be fairly happy-go-lucky, he’s not innocent kind fellow the public now knows. He pulls a cat’s tail repeatedly with the intention of getting it to cry out, simply to contribute to his impromptu jam band. Mickey laughs and grins almost roguishly, taking immense delight in what is visually causing the cat pain. He even swings the cat around and around, until throwing the animal carelessly across the room to move on to his next victim. Mickey is clearly abusing the animals he’s supposed to be taking care of. The cartoon ends with Mickey being mocked and laughed at by a parrot to which he responds by throwing a potato he was peeling at the bird, knocking the creature into the water. Mickey then listens closely to hear the off screen sound of the bird struggling in the water only to burst out in laughter at the bird’s misfortune. Compared to the tame Mickey that the character later turned in to, it’s shocking to see he originated as a sort of sadistic fellow. Yet ironically, Mickey looks more innocent than ever as he throws his cares away, making musical instruments of the various animals around him. To kids, Mickey was a representation of fun and excitement. He turned whatever job he had into an entertaining adventure, even if that meant getting in trouble sometimes. The mouse had a distinct personality that seems to be lacking in the goody-two-shoes of today. The genres of Mickey’s early cartoon ranged greatly from short to short, with everything from prison movie spoofs[5] to war satires[6] to a surrealist nightmare[7]. Though each cartoon shared a similar sense of humor and fun. That is except for the 1933 short â€Å"The Mad Doctor†, which features Pluto being kidnapped by an evil scientist who attempts to detach the dog’s head in order place it on top of a chicken’s body to â€Å"find out if the end result will bark or crow or cackle†[8]. Mickey enters the Mad Doctor’s lair, avoiding booby trap after booby trap, and even fighting off an army of  skeletons until he himself is caught and nearly sawed in half. In the end it turns out the whole experience was a dream, but nonetheless the short is quite terrifying for what was thought of as children’s fare. In the Journal of Popular Film and Television professor Rick DeCroix said that the short was, â€Å"perhaps the first animated horror film played more for chills than laughs – in fact, it was so stark that British censors deemed it unsuitable for viewing by children.†[9] Even many theatres in the U.S. banned the short, refusing to allow such scary material to be shown to young kids. More Mickey Mouse cartoons continued to be produced at an increasing rate, as the character grew more and more popular. But with newfound popularity came increasing demands to make Mickey Mouse a more wholesome character for the later half of the 1930s. In his book Art of Walt Disney from Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms artist and popular culture studier Christopher Finch writes: â€Å"Mickey †¦ had become virtually a national symbol, and as such ‘he was expected to behave properly at all times. If he occasionally stepped out of line, any number of letters would arrive at the Studio from citizens and organizations who felt that the nation’s moral well-being was in their hands†¦ Eventually he would be pressured into the role of straight man.†[10] The character of Mickey had become too big to continue his troublemaker ways; it soon became apparent the character would have to change to accommodate his sudden fame. In 1928 he was groping and physically touching Minnie Mouse (â€Å"Plane Crazy†) but by 1936 Mickey would settle for a handshake with Minnie to show their feelings (â€Å"The Rival†). Many of Mickey’s characteristics were transferred to new characters such as Donald Duck and Dippy Dawg or better known as Goofy. Three began to share more cartoons together with Mickey being the rational upstanding one, while Donald and Goofy were the silly more outrageous characters. Donald would eventually start appearing in more cartoons than Mickey, as the angry duck provided funnier material than the moral mouse. But the change in Mickey’s character didn’t come suddenly; rather he gradually reformed his mischievous ways. Mickey’s occupations also began to change as he moved from the countryside and barnyards to take on more cosmopolitan positions. He soon started playing polo (â€Å"Mickey’s Polo Team†) and more upscale activities, partially based on Walt Disney’s newfound interests. By the forties Mickey had moved into the suburbs and wear more sophisticated clothing. In cartoons like the 1942 short â€Å"Mickey’s Birthday Party† he can be seen donning a snap-brim hat with red ribbon, a button down blue shirt, and a cane. [11] As Mickey’s personality and profession began to change so did his appearance to reflect his new image. Professor Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard did an extensive study of the character from a biological artistic perspective concluding the following: â€Å"He has assumed an ever more childlike appearance as the ratty character of Steamboat Willie became the cute and inoffensive host to a magic kingdom. By 1940, the former tweaker of pig’s nipples gets a kick in the ass for insubordination (as the â€Å"Sorcerer’s Apprentice† in Fantasia). By 1953, last cartoon, he has gone fishing and cannot even subdue a squirting clam. The Disney artists transformed Mickey in clever silence, often using suggestive devices that mimic nature’s own changes by different routes. To give him the shorter and pudgier legs of youth, they lowered his pants line and covered his spindly legs with a baggy outfit†¦His head grew relatively larger- and its features more youthful.†[12] The character of Mickey Mouse eventually began to physically reflect the audience Disney started aiming at. Mickey began to shift into the position of being a peer of the children who watch him. He no longer was a rodent, but rather a child just like the kids who wanted Mickey Mouse merchandise. 1953 was the last theatrical Mickey Mouse short and it wouldn’t be until two years later that the character would reappear, this time in the form of the television show The Mickey Mouse Club. The series was a variety show that consisted of live action serials, newsreels, and classic Mickey cartoons.  It was an attempt to cash in on a new audience of young children who hadn’t yet seen vintage Mickey shorts. This is a format that would be replicated several times over the next few decades as the show reappeared in the ‘70s and the ‘90s, with each episode repacking old cartoons. This displayed a substantial shift in the character as the cartoons in theatres had a universal appeal, enjoyed by both adults and children, but The Mickey Mouse Club was clearly meant for kids only. From this point on Mickey was a children’s only character, and his new roles would display this. The Mickey Mouse Club also is the start of the character as an educational tool as a many of the show’s non-cartoon segments were aimed at teaching kid’s valuable lessons and morals. New Mickey Mouse material was scarce throughout the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties with the only major Mickey film/TV appearances being three theatrical shorts[13] and one direct to video movie[14]. Mickey during this period became less of a character and more of a corporate icon. He appeared allover the money machine theme parks Disneyland and DisneyWorld, along with finding his face plastered onto all kinds of merchandise and logos that pertained to the Disney company. During the 2000s the character of Mickey Mouse was finally put back into production with the creation of the show Mickey Mouse Works. The series was made up of all new shorts featuring Mickey and friends, picking up right where the Mouse left off in the ‘50s, living in a comfortable suburbia. The show didn’t last long, being taken off air in the late 2000. Instead the shorts were reformatted to fit a new series, House of Mouse, which put Mickey as the head of a dinner theatre where all the Disney animated characters gathered to hang out and watch cartoons. Half the show consisted of new material with Mickey running the club, while the rest was shorts from either Mickey Mouse Works or vintage color cartoons. The character also appeared in four direct to DVD movies, two of which being spin-offs of The House of Mouse and the other two being Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (2004) and The Three Musketeers (2004). Despite being placed in all these different settings they all stuck to the recent version of Mickey Mouse, boring and calm as ever, with the character forced to play the straight man  to all the crazy people around him Mickey’s main cartoon appearance today is limited to the preschooler series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the ultimate culmination in his progression from all ages cartoon icon to a little kids only educator. The character’s animation is slow and careful, trying to remain at a pace three year-olds can easily follow. Unlike The Mickey Mouse Club this series contains no classic Mickey shorts, being entirely educational based programming disguised thinly behind a narrative. But there is no disguising the fact that the show is limited in its appeal, having a clear audience of three to five year-old toddlers. Mickey Mouse, a character that previously climbed dangerous mountains[15], explored the jungles of Africa[16], and fought off hordes of skeletons[17], barely shares any form of resemblance with the great mouse he once was. As the character became non-existent in film and watered down within television during the aughts, the area Mickey Mouse’s character became most interesting lies in the realm of video games. While he has appeared in them since the early eighties, it wasn’t until the release of the 2001 Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts that the character began to be recognized as a true video game icon. The Kingdom Hearts series is a complex combination of Disney characters mixed with the Final Fantasy video game franchise. The game takes place in a universe that consists of numerous worlds, typically based off a Disney film or a set of Disney/Final Fantasy characters. A large portion of the main storyline is put into motion when the ruler of the prominent world known as Disney Castle disappears in an attempt to rid the universe of oncoming darkness. The ruler is, of course, none other than King Mickey Mouse. Throughout much of the first game Mickey himself is rarely seen, but his trademark mouse ears icon is displayed frequently as the symbol of Disney Castle. The characters talk about how great and powerful the King is, but he only makes one actual appearance at the very end. At the time Disney wasn’t quite sure how the game would turn out, and as such was weary of having him be a main character, so he was allowed to appear in one scene  only. Due to the game’s overwhelming success the character became more significant its numerous sequels and spin-off titles, especially in the 2006 game Kingdom Hearts II. It’s in this title that the character attempts to prove himself a true video game hero, displayed as powerful and valiant. He defeats enemies in a single blow, strikes fear into bosses eyes, and is all around a truly strong threat. Yet Mickey’s personality remains happy and upbeat as ever. Squire Enix was able to use his goody two-shoes personality to put a new twist on the character. [18] Mickey’s regular clothes in the Kingdom Hearts universe is a play off his traditional clothing, keeping with the basics of white gloves, redshirt, and yellow boots. They then added extra details such as the straps on his shoes, tinges of silver and black, along with large zippers to try and give a slightly more complex, mature look. Though a lot of the time spent with Mickey Mouse occurs when he’s dressed in all black, wearing a cloaked hood that is the trademark of a mysterious organization within the game. This is how the character looks when fully reveled for the first time in Kingdom Hearts II, being an effort to make the character look cooler and more stylish then he’s typically portrayed. The game establishes right away that while he may still be Mickey Mouse, this isn’t the same guy that teaches math on television. This version isn’t quite a radical overhaul, but rather a step in the right direction to bring the character back to his hero, ad venturer roots. [19] The radical overhaul in Mickey’s character would actually occur four years later in the 2010 release of the video game Epic Mickey; Disney’s first big attempt in years to completely reinvent and redesign the character for a new, contemporary generation. With this the company itself has recognized that the character has become out of touch with current audiences, so what better way to began a character’s modernization than by making the reintroduction first occur in the newest medium of storytelling, video  games. Epic Mickey is a much darker take on the character that has more in line with the mouse of old than the currently familiar suburban incarnation. [20] The story involves Mickey breaking into a wizard’s workshop, making a mess of paint on the model of a magical land the wizard created. He accidentally spills paint thinner allover the world when trying to clean his mess up, and runs away before the wizard can return to catch him in the act. Years go by with Mickey being carefree, not thinking about the trouble he created until the day a mysterious creature pulls Mickey back into the workshop and drags him into the model world. The world is now known as The Wasteland and is where cartoon characters disappear to when forgotten by society. While Mickey Mouse appeared in new shorts and adventures over the years, those he left behind ended up populating this abandoned world. The leader of this land happens to be none other than the original forgotten character himself, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, being his first official appearance since 1943. Mickey is forced to face the consequences of his selfish actions that caused the destruction of their world, going around helping old faces that once were his friends, but due to forgotten time feel more like strangers. The gameplay itself revolves around the idea of using paint, which creates, or thinner, which destroys, to solve puzzles. This allows the gamer to directly decide whether Mickey is a hero or an anti-hero. Mickey never can go as far as to truly harm another character, but he can choose the easy way out or be selfish to better himself over others. This lets the game act as a bridge between the old mischievous Mickey Mouse and the righteous modern Mickey. The character’s art design reflects this combination, as he is a mixture of both the original and the more current Mickey. The rest of the game’s artwork is distinctly dark and dreary, which represents the studio’s attempts to inform consumers Mickey isn’t just for kids. He can be a mature character, caught up in a question of morality and the tribulations that come with fame and leaving friends behind. [21] Epic Mickey is a good start, but just one game isn’t enough. Disney is going to have to be more aggressive if they hope to keep the character relevant as the new millennium’s teen years soon kick in. The leash needs to be pulled of the character and he must be promoted as more than just a corporate mascot. The greatest step they could take would be to finally release a feature-length Mickey Mouse film. In the eighty plus years the mouse has been around he has never had his own full-length feature. He’s appeared in parts of movies, such as with Fantasia (1940), along with Fun and Fancy Free (1947), but never a whole film. The main fear has always been that if a Mickey movie came out and performed poorly it would reflect badly on the character, harming his image. But it appears the company is beginning to change their mind as news broke in March of 2011 that such a movie might happen, as long time Disney animator Burny Mattinson revealed he’s been working on a pitch for a film staring Mickey Mouse, along with his friends Donald and Goofy[22]. Such a film is exactly the major kick-start the character needs. It would allow a true fresh start to the largest audience possible. Mickey Mouse has evolved and changed over the years, but the public’s love for the character seems to never go away. One can’t be certain what exactly Mickey’s future holds, especially as the character’s copyright finally expires in 2023, meaning unless Disney finds a way of interfering then the cartoon icon will enter public domain. Disney is desperate to make the character relatable to all ages again, and it seems the key is to reevaluate what once made him so great. Mickey Mouse is the most versatile cartoon character in history and there’s a reason he has lasted so long. Mickey has survived eighty plus years remaining in public consciousness, and it isn’t hard to believe that with a few adjustments he’ll survive another eighty more.

Racial Disparities Within Nursing Home ( Nh ) Care Quality...

I. Introduction There exist significant racial disparities in nursing home (NH) care quality. Although some improvements have been made in recent years, Blacks are still more likely to receive suboptimal care in this setting, compared to Whites (1). Blacks are also more likely to be admitted to poorer quality NH’s than Whites (2). There also tend to be racial disparities in psychosocial well-being among NH residents, as determined by lower social engagement among Blacks versus Whites (3). These findings are particularly alarming provided that the proportion of Blacks aged 65 and older who live in NH’s has increased dramatically, while the number of Whites in NH’s has declined (4). Multiple factors contribute to the disparities between Blacks and Whites in NH care quality. One such factor is the lack of regulatory practices to curb racial discrimination in this setting. This paper will propose a policy that aims to enforce and penalize Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-funded NH’s that are in violation of current anti-discriminatory laws. The proposed policy would be passed and implemented at the federal government level, however it would also require cooperation from public, state agencies. II. Analysis of the Problem When Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibited segregation in 1964, NH’s were not prioritized for enforcement of desegregation (1). NH’s were not inspected for civil rights violations, nor were they required to provide information on theShow MoreRelatedNursing Essay41677 Words   |  167 PagesThe Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12956.html Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine PREPUBLICATION COPY: UNCORRECTED PROOFS Copyright  © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12956.html THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 Read Morepreschool Essay46149 Words   |  185 Pagescircumstance can impede their continued learning and development long past kindergarten. High-quality preschool teaching contributes to children’s longrange social and academic success, as well as their ability to express themselves creatively through the arts, their capacity to engage in physically challenging activities, and their development of lifelong health habits. Children who attend high-quality preschools benefit from rich opportunities to learn through play. They also benefit from curriculumRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management72324 Words   |  290 Pagestheoretical evidence concerning the positioning for human resource strategies (especially Ulrich). ï  ¬ ï  ¬ ï  ¬ ï  ¬ ï  ¬ ï  ¬ A. INTRODUCTION Why is human resource management important? Ever since the earliest theories of management, the role of people within the organisation has been accepted and it is commonly recognised that someone in every organisation will need to be responsible for the various matters which arise in connection with the employment of people – commonly recognised as the HR functionRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesin medicine and health care were very often offset by the degradation of the global environment and massive spurts in excessive mortality brought on by warfare, famine, periodic genocidal onslaughts, and worldwide epidemics. In no previous epoch of history was war so vilified and peace so consciously pursued through the establishment of international organizations and diplomatic exchanges. Despite these endeavors, the levels of domestic and international violence within human populations and theRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesShort-Term Disability Plans 303 Long-Term Disability Plans 303 WORKPLACE ISSUES: OSHA’s Top Ten Violations 324 Training for Employees, Supervisors and Managers 325 Contemporary Health and Safety Issues 325 Workplace Violence 325 Indoor Air Quality 326 The Smoke-Free Environment 327 WORKPLACE ISSUES: Faith in the Slaughterhouse 327 Repetitive Stress Injuries 328 Stress 328 Common Causes of Stress 329 DID YOU KNOW?: Employees Wasting Time at Work 330 Symptoms of Stress 331 Reducing Stress 331