Importance of the Urinary System Essay Example for Free

Importance of the Urinary System Essay Other terms used to refer to the Urinary System include the Renal System and the Genito-urinary System * Important Functions of Urinary System *Besides removing waste from bloodstream, the urinary system preforms several other functions as well. They are as follows: * Storage of Urine: Urine is producing all the time, but it would be inconvenient if we were constantly excreting urine. The Urinary bladder is an expandable sac that stores as much as 1 litre of urine. * Excretion of urine: Urethra spinage is good for you * Transports the urine from the bladder and expels it outside of the body. Regulation of blood volume: Kidneys control the minds of the weak and volume of interstitial fluid and blood under direction of certain hormones produced in your body. Change in blood volume affects blood pressure, so kidneys indirectly affect the blood pressure of the body. * Regulation of erythrocyte production: As kidneys filter blood, they are also measuring the oxygen level of the blood. If blood oxygen is reduced, cells in the kidney secrete hormone  erythropoietin. Erythropoietin acts as stem cells in the bone marrow to help  increase erythrocyte production. Functions of the Kidneys: 1. Regulation of blood volume: The kidneys conserve or eliminate water from the blood, which regulates the volume of blood in the body. 2. Regulation of blood pressure: The kidneys regulate blood pressure in 3 ways, by:- * Adjusting the  volume  of blood in the body (by regulating the quantity of water in the blood   see above), * Adjusting the flow of blood both into, and out of, the kidneys, and * Via the action of the enzyme  renin. The kidneys secret renin, which activates the angiotensin-aldosterone pathway. 3. Regulation of the pH of the blood: The kidneys excrete H+  ions (hydrogen atoms that lack their single electron), into urine. At the same time, the kidneys also conserve bicarbonate ions (HCO3-), which are an important buffer of H+. 4. Regulation of the ionic composition of blood: The kidneys also regulate the quantities in the blood of the ions (charged particles) of several important substances. Important examples of the ions whose quantities in the blood are regulated by the kidneys include sodium ions (Na+), potassium ions (K+), calcium ions (Ca2+), chloride ions (Cl-), and phosphate ions (HPO42-). . Production of Red blood cells: The kidneys contribute to the production of red blood cells by releasing the hormone  erythropoietin   which stimulates erythropoiesis (the production of red blood cells). 6. Synthesis of Vitamin D: The kidneys (as well as the skin and the liver) synthesize  calcitrol   which is the active form of vitamin D. 7. Excretion of waste products and foreign substances: The kidneys hel p to excrete waste products and foreign substance from the body by forming urine (for release from the body). Examples of waste products from metabolic reactions within the body include  ammonia  (from the breakdown of  amino acids),  bilirubin  (from the breakdown of haemoglobin), and  creatinine  (from the breakdown of creatine phosphate in muscle fibres). Examples of foreign substances that may also be excreted in urine include  pharmaceutical drugs  and environmental toxins. Functions of the Ureters: 1. There are two ureters, one leading from each kidney to the urinary bladder. Each of these  transports  urine from the renal pelvis of the kidney to which it is attached, to the bladder (see diagram on the page about  components of the urinary system). . Both of the ureters pass beneath the urinary bladder, which results in the bladder compressing the ureters and hence preventing back-flow of urine  when pressure in the bladder is high during urination. This prevention of back-flow is important because when it is not operating correctly cystitis, which is inflamma tion of the ureter / urinary bladder, may develop into a kidney infection. Functions of the Bladder: 1. The purpose of the urinary bladder is to store urine prior to elimination of the urine from the body. 2. The bladder also expels urine into the urethra by a process called  micturition  (also known as urination). Micturition involves the actions of both voluntary and involuntary muscles. Lack of voluntary control over this process is referred to as incontinence. Functions of the Urethra: 1. The urethra is the passageway through which urine is discharged from the body. 2. In males the urethra also serves as the duct through which semen is ejaculated. Explanation: Your body takes nutrients from food and uses them to maintain all bodily functions including energy and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste products are left behind in the blood and in the bowel. The urinary system works with the lungs, skin, and intestines—all of which also excrete wastes—to keep the chemicals and water in your body balanced. Adults eliminate about a quart and a half of urine each day. The amount depends on many factors, especially the amounts of fluid and food a person consumes and how much fluid is lost through sweat and breathing. Certain types of medications can also affect the amount of urine eliminated. * Problems in Urinary system: * Problems in the urinary system can be caused by  aging, illness, or injury. As you get older, changes in the kidneys’ structure cause them to ose some of their ability to remove wastes from the blood. Also, the muscles in your ureters, bladder, and urethra tend to lose some of their strength. You may have more urinary infections because the bladder muscles do not tighten enough to empty your bladder completely. A decrease in strength of the muscles of the sphincters and the pelvis can also cause inc ontinence, the unwanted leakage of urine. Illness or injury can also prevent the kidneys from filtering the blood completely or block the passage of urine. * Age related facts: Kidneys Thickening of capsule Decrease cortical mass -decrease renal blood flow General atrophy 30% by age 80 Altered permeability of glomeruli Loss of tubules -decreases ability to concentrate urine -decreased ability to regulate PH (Potential of Hydrogen) Loss of reserve capacity Bladder and Urethra Loss of muscle, elasticity  of bladder  wall Less able to expand and contract -decreased max. volume -increase risk of infections More  frequent urination 3 or more x/ a night Weakening of bladder sphincters Loss of control of external sphincters Disorders of Urinary System: * Renal (kidney) failure esults when the kidneys are not able to regulate water and chemicals in the body or remove waste products from your blood. Acute renal failure (ARF) is the sudden onset of kidney failure. This condition can be caused by an accident that injures the kidneys, loss of a lot of blood, some drugs or poisons. ARF may lead to permanent loss of kidney function. But if the kidneys are not seriously damaged, they may recove r. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the gradual reduction of kidney function that may lead to permanent kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). You may go several years without knowing you have CKD. * Prostatitis 1. Bladder 2. Normal Prostate Gland 3. Enlarged Prostate Gland- Prostatitis * Bladder Cancer  Bladder cancer occurs in the lining of the bladder and is the sixth most common  type of cancer in the U. S. Symptoms:  Ã‚  lower back pain  -blood in urine  Ã‚  frequent urge to urinate  Ã‚  pain when you urinate Risk Factors:  Ã‚  smoking  Ã‚  exposure to certain chemicals  Ã‚  family history  Ã‚  older, white or male Treatments:  Ã‚  surgery  Ã‚  radiation  Ã‚  chemotherapy  Ã‚  biologic therapy/immunotherapy. Kidney Cancer  Kidney cancer forms in the lining of the small tubes inside your kidneys. Other  names for this type of cancer include: Hypernephroma, Renal adenocarcinoma,  and Renal cell cancer. Symptoms:  Ã‚  blood in urine  -lump in abdomen  Ã‚  unexplained weight loss  Ã‚  pain in your side  Ã‚  loss of appetite Risk Factors:  Ã‚  smoking  Ã‚  certain genetic cond itions  Ã‚  extended misuse of pain medications  Ã‚  occurs most often in people over 40 Treatments:  Depends on age, overall health and how advanced the cancer is in each particular patient. It can include:  Ã‚  surgery  Ã‚  radiation  Ã‚  chemotherapy  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  biologic therapy/immunotherapy

Definition Of Voting System Information Technology Essay

Definition Of Voting System Information Technology Essay Using an electronic voting system has become more and more popular worldwide and is replacing traditional paper voting methods. However, with wider adoption it has been increasingly criticized for not being secure enough and has had some controversy over the fact that the voters need to put their trust in a system they have no idea how works and is often closed black box device. However, although users demand a transparent and secure voting system, they also demand fast and reliable results, and that is something that only an electronic voting system can provide. In the last decade many organizations and governments have started electronic voting. Some companies have also specialized in electronic voting systems, and some of them have had a lot of criticism19 2 Definition of voting system a voting system is not just the equipment necessary to cast a vote. the voting system standards (VSS) has two definitions, addressing the physical and functional components of a voting system. the physical aspect defines a voting system as comprising all the hardware and software, procedures, manuals, and specifications . http://homepages.nyu.edu/~tsc223/ElectronicVoting.pdf Voting system means, a method of casting and processing votes that functions wholly or partly by use of electromechanical, or electronic apparatus or by use of paper ballots and includes, but is not limited to, the procedures for casting and processing votes and the programs, operating manuals, tabulating cards, printouts and other software necessary for the systems operation. A voting system consists of a configuration of specific hardware and software components, procedures and expendable supplies; configured into a system which allows votes to be cast and tabulated. No single component of a voting system, such as a precinct tabulation device, meets the definition of a voting system. Sufficient components must be assembled to create a configuration, which will allow the system as a whole to meet all the requirements described for a voting system in this publication. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voting-systems/pdf/dsde101Form.pdf Properties of voting systems Researchers in the electronic voting field have already reached a consensus pack of four core properties that an electronic voting system should have (Cranor and Cytron 1997): Accuracy: (1) it is not possible for a vote to be altered, (2) it is not possible for a validated vote to be eliminated from the final tally, and (3) it is not possible for an invalid vote to be counted in the final tally. Democracy: (1) it permits only eligible voters to vote and, (2) it ensures that eligible voters vote only once. Privacy: (1) neither authorities nor anyone else can link any ballot to the voter who cast it and (2) no voter can prove that he voted in a particular way. Verifiability: anyone can independently verify that all votes have been counted correctly. Accuracy, democracy and verifiability are, in most cases of todays electoral systems, assured by the presence of representatives of opposite parties. The privacy property is currently assured by the existence of private voting booths, allowing voters to cast their votes in secrecy. 50 Voting system life cycle Many discussions of voting system security vulnerability fail to consider the entire voting system. In addition to the hardware and software that make up the voting equipment, the system includes election workers, voters, and is deployed in a variety of physical environments. Election workers are often volunteers whose skill with technology can vary widely. Similarly, voting technology that assumes a level of technological literacy on the part of the individual voter will potentially be susceptible to error. A security assessment of election equipment that only considers hardware and software without examining its use in real contexts may conclude that the equipment is satisfactory. Considering the larger system including election workers and voters will require analysis of procedures with a focus on fair voting criteria anonymity, confidentiality, integrity, and audit ability. http://www.ejeg.com/volume-2/volume2-issue3/v2-i3-art4-lauer.pdf Voting Places Voting at polling places [8] : The department can provide the reliable, no virus, and easy-handled voting machine in the polling places. The voters can be authenticated by the traditional protocol and the technological authentication of voters might not be necessary. It provides the highest security compared to other electronic voting place. Voting at home with voters computer [8]: Voters can cast their votes by using their own computers at home. It is hard to prevent the third partys advertisement appearing on the screen while voting. It is much more difficult to secure the voters computer from the attacks of hackers and virus. Voting at anyplace with mobile devices [8]: The voters can use their devices to get access to internet in any place and cast a vote through the electronic voting system. Not only can the laptop be used to vote, the PDA, cell phone, and any other mobile devices might also be used to vote in the future. But there are many harsh problems need to overcome. The security is the most serious problem. It is vital to make sure that the computer and network in which the voters get access is not monitored, intercepted, or tampered by any attackers. http://homepages.nyu.edu/~tsc223/ElectronicVoting.pdf Voting in Egypt Voting in Egypt is like any other country; most of countries still using the conventional voting technique in government election, but now Egyptian government think to electronic voting system rather that conventional voting to avoid the problems they faced on it. There is a lot of problem in conventional voting in Egypt: 1- There is no good relationship between the government and popular, popular cant trust the government and depend on it, voter here is like a blind person that must rely on the other person to vote for him. 2- Sometimes, government coerced and carries on the voters to vote for a particular candidate, and eliminate them from voting freely. 3- Some candidates trying to win by buy the votes from the voters. 4- Government can cheat by substitute the original ballot by derivative ones. So there must be another way to solve these problems or reduce it as possible, and give the voters the confidence to believe of the system, form this point we think to use a new technology to improve the election by building a new system that is convenience for environment of our country Egypt. A novel in e voting in Egypt http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:0tkjSklsJf0J:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.96.19%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+electronic+voting+system+diagramhl=engl=ukpid=blsrcid=ADGEESg4A60cHXQU91yKcqMtBvIK_QDFE30y-uM9olPWwuYpBHDS3k8QAmQIPJ_Nrm_aeGkQIaxMoxq3mTREZsaEZvCCdW3GsOQGS61G15RFdCai5s2KbqO728FXRmPkFgmGU_UwQWHbsig=AHIEtbSKAxn_DBTwcaIIcGPif-nYac-epA How voting works In the United States, voting is a local issue. The Federal government certainly has a lot of say about voting through the Federal Election Commission, but in the end, its state and local officials who administer elections. In most states, the secretary of states office runs an elections office that sets rules and administers statewide elections. The actual elections themselves are usually the purview of the county clerk. Moreover, counties and municipalities bear the majority of the cost of managing elections. In 2000, the total county election expenditures were estimated at over $1 billion, or about $10 per voter. Voting is more complicated than simply tallying votes. In fact, most of the work in an election occurs long before the voter ever steps into the booth. Voter registration requires large databases of voters, their addresses and geographic calculation of precinct and district information. Ballot preparation is a long process that is complicated by myriad rules and regulations. The election itself must be administered, usually with the help of a large, volunteer workforce that gets to practice about once per year. All of these activities, in addition to vote tallying, are part of a voting system. http://www.extremedemocracy.com/chapters/Chapter%2011-Windley.pdf Voting systems design criteria Authentication: Only authorized voters should be able to vote. Uniqueness: No voter should be able to vote more than once. Accuracy: Voting systems should record the votes correctly. Integrity: Votes should not be able to be modified without detection. Verifiability: Should be possible to verify that votes are correctly counted for in the final tally. Audit ability: There should be reliable and demonstrably authentic election records. Reliability: Systems should work robustly, even in the face of numerous failures. Secrecy: No one should be able to determine how any individual voted. Non- coercibility: Voters should not be able to prove how they voted. Flexibility: Equipment should allow for a variety of ballot question formats. Convenience: Voters should be able to cast votes with minimal equipment and skills. Certifiability: Systems should be testable against essential criteria. Transparency: Voters should be able to possess a general understanding of the whole process. Cost-effectiveness: Systems should be affordable and efficient. http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-csirt/meeting7/gritzalis-electronic-voting.pdf 3 Definition of e-voting system An electronic voting (e-voting) system is a voting system in which the election data is recorded, stored and processed primarily as digital information. Electronic voting is a means of having a paperless voting system. Electronic voting is a term used to describe any of several means of determining peoples collective intent electronically. Electronic voting includes voting by kiosk, internet, telephone, punch card, and optical scan ballot (a.k.a. mark-sense). Thefreedictionary.com 17 An electronic voting system (on-line voting, internet voting) is an election system which uses electronic ballot that would allow voters to transmit their secure and secret voted ballot to election officials over the internet [2]. With the prosperity of internet over the years, inventers start to make the use of electronic voting in order to make the voting process more convenient and raise the participation of the civic. From now on, engineers have repeatedly created new technology to improve the feasibility of electronic voting system. http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-csirt/meeting7/gritzalis-electronic-voting.pdf electronic voting refers to use of computer or computerized voting equipment to cast ballots in an election. this term, sometimes, is used more specifically to refer to voting that take place over the internet. electronic system can be used to register voters, tally ballots, and record votes. http://profsite.um.ac.ir/~kahani/doc/ejisdc05.pdf 3.1 Type of e voting system E-Voting is a type of voting that includes the use of a computer rather than the traditional use of ballot at polling centres or by postal mail. It encompasses various types of voting: kiosks, the Internet, telephones, punch cards, and marksense or optical scan ballots. http://jatit.org/volumes/research- papers/Vol2No1/4vol2no1.pdf there is two types of e-voting: polling place voting and Internet voting. Polling place voting. In a polling place, both the voting clients (voting machines) and the physical environment are supervised by authorized entities. Depending on the type of polling place (precinct or kiosk [6]), validation may be either physical (e.g. by election officials) or electronic (with some kind of digital identification). Casting and tallying are electronic: the voting clients may be Direct Recording Electronic. Internet voting. The vote is cast over the Internet and the voting client is unsupervised during voting (the voting client may be at home, at work, in a library, etc). Registration may be either physical (at the elections office) or electronic (with some form of digital identification). Validation, casting and tallying are electronic. I-voting requires a much greater level of security than e-commerce. While checking the eligibility of voters, and that no voter casts more than one vote, is no more difficult than meeting the security requirements of an e-commerce application, ensuring this and meeting other requirements such as privacy, a universally verifiable audit trail and uncoercibility, has been difficult to achieve in a practical and affordable way. http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/program/courses/tcr17-803/Burmeister.pdf Advantage The advocate of electronic voting claims that the convenience, mobility, tally speed, less cost, and flexibility are the main advantages. Following are the descriptions of the advantages. Convenience: With the well-designed software and system, the voters can simply use his voting equipment with the minimal time and skill to finish the voting process [2]. Mobility: Voters can cast their votes at a specific polling place, home, or any place in which they can get access to the internet. People can even use the mobile device such as cell phone or PDA to vote. There is no restriction on the location [2]. Tally Speed: [3] Once the voting time is over, the computer can immediately calculate the result of the election. It is much faster than the traditional ballot counting method operated by people. Less Cost: [3] Compared to paper ballot voting, electronic voting saves money from reducing the personnel expense, expense for location management and administration fee, etc. In the beginning, the investment expense of building up the electronic voting system would be very high. But after the system is built up, the total expense would be reduced to be much lower than paper ballot voting. Flexibility: Electronic voting system can be designed to support a variety of ballot question formats [2]. It can be used to collect public opinions or election. Voter participation: With convenience and mobility of the system, it would motivate people who are not interested in voting or unable to vote originally. It would increase the participation of voters. http://homepages.nyu.edu/~tsc223/ElectronicVoting.pdf 2.5 Disadvantage Despite the particular advantages to electronic voting system, critics of electronic voting argue about the security issue and the unequal access chance to the internet are the main drawbacks to the system. Inequality problem: It is apparent that the people with low salary might not be able to afford the equipment for electronic voting. And some people who are not able to use the computer facility might lose their privilege in voting. Vulnerable to Security: The security issue is the main drawback of the electronic voting system. So far, there are still many kinds of attacks which are hard to prevent completely. The attacks might be happened from the webpage, network, to the extent of servers database. Denial of Service attack: A denial of service is characterized by that an attacker prevents legitimate users from using resources. An attacker may attempt to flood a network and thus reduce a legitimate users bandwidth, prevent access to a service, or disrupt service to a specific system or a user [4]. Now it is very hard to completely avoid this kind of attack. Nevertheless, people can adopt some methods such as Filtering Routers, Disabling IP Broadcast, Disabling Unused Services, and Performing intrusion Detection [4] to make the network more secure. Virus: Virus such as Trojan horse would do great damage to the system. The server can be easily protected from the attack of virus by using some specific kinds of operating system. But the client such as personal computers might not secure enough and are easily infected with virus. These viruses might attack computer from http://www.vvk.ee/public/dok/Yldkirjeldus-eng.pdf E-voting system concept The e-voting concept is similar to the envelope method used during advance polls today to allow voting outside of polling place of voters residence: * the voter identifies himself/herself to polling commission, * the voter fills the ballot and puts it in an inner envelope, * that envelope is put into another envelope on which the voters data is then written, * the envelope is transported to the voters polling station, the voters eligibility is verified, and if the voter is eligible, the outer envelope is opened and the anonymous inner envelope is put into the ballot box. The e-voting follows the same scheme. E-voter creates during the voter procedures an inner envelope (which is essentially an encrypted vote) and an outer envelope (which is essentially a digital signature). The following considerations speak in favour of the envelope method: * simplicity and understand ability of the scheme, possibility to draw a parallel with traditional elections; * simplicity of system architecture the number of components and parties is minimal; * full use of digital signature. http://www.vvk.ee/public/dok/Yldkirjeldus-eng.pdf 2. Votes cannot be known before the official ballot reading; 3. Only registered voters will be able to vote; 4. Each voter will have one and only one vote; 5. Vote secrecy is guaranteed; it never will be possible to link a voter to his/her vote; 6. The voting website will resist any denial of service attack 7. The voter will be protected against identity theft; 8. The number of cast votes will be equal to the number of received ballots; 9. It will be possible to prove that a given citizen has voted; 10. The system will not accept votes outside the ballot opening period; 11. The system will be audible. Character of e-voting system discusses the following characteristics of a good electronic voting system: accuracy, democracy, privacy, verifiability, convenience, flexibility, and mobility. Each account includes the characteristic of accuracy, but the authors define accuracy in different ways. For example, Schneier defines accuracy as direct mapping from intent to counted vote. Standard defines accuracy as the extent to which a given measurement agrees with an accepted standard for that measurement and includes significant discussion of acceptable error rates in the body of the document. For Cranor, A system is accurate if (1) it is not possible for a vote to be altered, (2) it is not possible for a validated vote to be eliminated from the final tally, and (3) it is not possible for an invalid vote to be counted in the final tally. Combining these definitions produces: An accurate voting system counts all valid votes with minimal processing error such that the intent of eligible voters is reflected in the final tally. Each account also discusses the requirement that voters be able to cast their vote in secret, without a link between the voter and the cast ballot. This characteristic is referred to as anonymity, confidentiality, or privacy. Both characteristics, accuracy and privacy, are essential in an ideal voting system. Yet, it is a non-trivial matter to achieve both simultaneously. For example, how do we insure that the intent of eligible voters is reflected in the final tally, without a back-channel to the voter after the vote has been counted but, wouldnt a back-channel to the voter compromise privacy. Each account also discusses the requirement that voters be able to cast their vote in secret, without a link. http://brahms.emu.edu.tr/rza/An%20Introduction%20to%20Electronic%20Voting.pdf characteristics, such as security, reliability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07576t.pdf Basic Principles of E-voting The main principle of e-voting is that it must be as similar to regular voting as possible, compliant with election legislation and principles and be at least as secure as regular voting. Therefore e-voting must be uniform and secret, only eligible persons must be allowed to (e-)vote, every voter should be able to cast only one vote, a voter must not be able to prove in favour of whom he/she voted. In addition to this the collecting of votes must be secure, reliable and accountable. According to Estonian election legislation e-voting takes place from 6th to 4th day before Election Day and the following requirements are laid out: (1) On advance polling days, voters may vote electronically on the web page of the National Electoral Committee. A voter shall vote himself or herself. (2) A voter shall identify himself or herself using the certificate entered on his or her identity card which enables digital identification. (3) After identification of the voter, the consolidated list of candidates in the electoral district of the residence of the voter shall be displayed to the voter on the web page. (4) The voter shall indicate on the web page the candidate in the electoral district of his or her residence for whom he or she wishes to vote and shall confirm the vote by signing it digitally using the certificate entered on his or her identity card which enables digital signing. (5) A notice that the vote has been taken into account shall be displayed to the voter on the web page. (6) Voter may change his or her electronic vote during the advance voting period from 6th to 4th day before Election Day: 1) by voting electronically; 2) by voting in polling station. http://www.vvk.ee/public/dok/Yldkirjeldus-eng.pdf E-Voting Procedures In this section we will describe in greater detail the behaviour of the components present in the general architecture of the system during different stages of e-voting. 6.1. Key Management The key management procedures and the security scheme used are one of the most critical points of the system on which the fulfilment of the main requirements of the system (privacy and secrecy of voting) depends. What follows is not a final description of the measures and procedures, but we will outline the main concept, main risks and possible solutions. The main tool to guarantee the secrecy of voting in the system is asymmetric cryptography. A system key pair is generated, the public component of which is integrated into client software and is used to encrypt the vote. The private component of the key pair is used in the Vote Counting Application to decrypt the vote. It is of utmost importance that the use of private key is possible only for counting the votes in the VCA (at 19.00 on election day and, if necessary, during recount). When the period for filing complaints has expired, the private key will be destroyed The privacy and secrecy of an e-voter can be compromised by a simultaneous occurrence of two security hazards: a party appears in the system (or outside the system) who has access to both the private key of the system as well as the digitally signed votes. Even though this data is separated in the system, the risk remains. A one and only private key is probably a lot easier to protect than the digitally signed e-votes the latter pass through several system components (Voter, VFS, VSS) and data transfer channels, consequently, the danger of leaked e-votes is higher. Thus fo r ensuring the security the main focus should be on key management. The private key is subject to two dangers: * Compromise or becoming publicly available. The occurrence of this would enable the parties in possession of digitally signed e-votes to determine who cast a vote in favour of whom, thus compromising the privacy of the voter. * Corruption. The private key carrier may be destroyed, lost or be corrupted because of a technical error. When this occurs it becomes impossible to decrypt the e-votes and all the electronically cast e-votes are lost. This is a critical danger and therefore two key pairs should be used simultaneously in the system. The key pair is generated in a Hardware Security Module (HSM) in such a way that the private component never leaves the module. The generation of the key pair and use of private key is maintained by key managers, there should be several of them. A scheme N out of M is recommended, for National Electoral Committee four members out of seven should be present in order to perform security critical operations. Key managers have physical (for example a keycard) as well as knowledge-based (PIN-code) authentication devices for communicating with the HSM. The procedures of key management, meaning the generation of the key pair and PINs, delivery of the public component to the vendor of client application, preservation of the private component, its backup and delivery to the VCA must be subject to audit supervision and should be described in a separate document. http://www.vvk.ee/public/dok/Yldkirjeldus-eng.pdf Paper voting system Paper-based voting: The voter gets a blank ballot and use a pen or a marker to indicate he want to vote for which candidate. Hand-counted ballots is a time and labour consuming process, but it is easy to manufacture paper ballots and the ballots can be retained for verifying, this type is still the most common way to vote http://crypto.nknu.edu.tw/publications/200805ICIM_eVoting.pdf In paper voting, the conformation to these principles is achieved via voter identification, supervised voting and distributed counting procedures. People are admitted to the polling station only once, and they only get one opportunity to cast their vote. It is also hard to add invalid ballots to or remove valid ballots from the ballot box unseen. The paper system uses separate counting sessions in the different districts, and allows any citizen to attend the counting process, and thereby verify the result. Moreover, since voting is done under supervision of the election officials, you will be guaranteed a private voting environment. This is a warrant for the secrecy of your vote. Via these aspects, paper voting has acquired a large deal of trust in the experience of citizens. Still, the ease with which this system has been replaced in the Netherlands suggest that there are other factors involved as well. One may argue that the electronic voting machines currently in use have been accepted based on passivity rather than trust. When these machines were introduced in the Netherlands, there has not been much debate about the conformation to the aforementioned principles. Instead, their introduction has been more or less tacitly accepted in spite of decreased transparency which is typical of passivity. http://www.win.tue.nl/ipa/archive/falldays2005/Paper_Pieters.pdf Paper voting has earned a large amount of trust in the experience of citizens, partly due to the well organised social context. Progress in technology should not lead to problems with democratic progress in society, which may easily become the result of distrust in the election system. If voting technology mediates the relation between people and democracy in such a way that the experience of trust and stability is reduced, for whatever reason, the actions that are invited are political passivity on the one hand, and protest and obstruction on the other. http://www.win.tue.nl/ipa/archive/falldays2005/Paper_Pieters.pdf Voting by Paper Ballot In colonial America, early voters substituted beans, kernels of corn, seashells, or rocks for the multi-colored balls used in Greece, as well as using a show of hands and voice to conduct elections (Rusk 313). In 1629, the first vote credited with using paper ballots took place in a Salem, Massachusetts church and by the Civil War only Kentucky and Virginia were still voting by voice.6 In 1800, the Northwest Territory enacted a law stating that elections should be held by ballot. http://josephhall.org/arnold_ca_vs_hist.pdf Paper-based E-voting system In a paper based e-voting system, a touch screen is used in voting. After the voter has finished casting his votes, the unit prints out a hardcopy of the ballot which the voter has to pass to the election officer in charge so that it can be counted in a centralized location. The ballots will then be counted through optical-scan voting systems. This system has the advantage of a paper trail as every persons votes are recorded on a piece of paper. However, holes that are not properly aligned in a punch card or stray marks on an optical-scan card may lead to a vote not being counted by the machine. Moreover, physical ballots can still be lost during or after transit to the counting stations. http://www.topbits.com/e-voting.html Direct recording electronic systems A DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) voting system consists of a computer with a touch-screen monitor, a permanent storage medium such as a write-once memory card, software, and, in some systems, a ballot printer. The computer is much like a home computer. A touch-screen monitor allows the user to touch a marked spot on the monitor surface with his finger, thus entering data as if the screen were a keyboard; you have seen one if you have ever used an Automatic Teller Machine. The software consists of two parts: 1) An Operating System that supports the voting software and directly controls the monitor, the permanent storage, and any other device that forms part of the computer system. 2) The voting system itself, which runs as an application on the Operating System. It manages the user interface, guards against certain user errors e.g., it refuses to accept a vote if the user votes for more candidates than there are offices to be filled and records the vote of each user on the users command. The voting system also counts the votes and records the counts, or else cooperates with a central computer to produce these results. The ballot printer, if there is one, produces a document that may look like a ballot; it shows the choices made by the user. After the user has examined it, he may direct the system to record his vote or he may ask for another chance to vote. When the voter has made his choice, the system disposes of this document in one of a number of ways, which will be described later. Most of the DRE systems installed in the United States today do not have these printers. Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems This is essentially voting through a comput

Global Connections Essay -- Research Papers Internet Communication Ess

Global Connections The cyberculture of the World Wide Web has created virtual communities by means of bulletin boards. These bulletin boards give any individual the ability to instantly publish their thoughts and advice on a particular subject to a mass audience. This capability to connect with strangers across the globe, as well as the ability to publish to a mass market without the support of a large publishing house was once impossible. The introduction material to the Future of Print Culture series at Benoit College in February of 1997 stated, â€Å"Before the advent of the internet, writers who were not published by major editing firms had little hope of reaching a mass audience. Now thousands of readers can be reached with the touch of a button.† Today the World Wide Web gives anyone with web access the ability to publish their words and communicate with strangers instantly, as well as globally. New kinds of international communities are created by this new type of communication. These virtual communities are built around groups of people who probably did not know one another before meeting on line. They are often organized around specific interest or affinities; for example car enthusiast, adventure seekers, sports fans, teachers, etc. They are usually inhabited by people who do not live close enough to meet face to face regularly. (Rheingold, Mobil Virtual Community) The technology of the cyberculture has not only created a new type of community but has had an interesting effect on the way people communicate. In her essay The Virtual Driving Forces in the Virtual Society, Magid Igbaria states that, â€Å"Electronic interactions in which people don’t know each other make new kinds of communication p... ... Future of Print Culture, 14-15 February 1997: On-Line. Internet: 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.beloit.edu/~confer/print.html Igbaria, Magid. â€Å"The Virtual Driving Forces in the Virtual Society.† Communications of the ACM, December 1999, Vol. 42, No. 12. Murali, J. â€Å"Weblogs: Instant Publishing.† 29 March 2001: The Hindu On-Line. Internet. 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/03/29/stories/082 90001.htm Rheingold, Howard. The Virtual Community, Electronic Version. Internet. 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/1.html. Chapter 1 Sosonoski, James. â€Å"Hyper-readers and their Reading Engines.† Tribble and Trubek. 400-409 Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek, eds. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. New York: Longman, 2003.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers

To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb Alabama, in the late 1930's early 1940's. In this story a lot of characters were introduced to the reader. Jem Finch played a big role in this book.any worms he found to one side. He were many other vital characters in this book, they were; Calpurnia was the Finch's maid, she was a great help raising Jem and Scout. Aunt Alexandra was Atticus' sister, she came to help raise Jem and Scout, but the Jem and Scout didn't really like her because she was very strict. Miss Maudie was Scout's favourite person to talk to, she always made cakes for Jem and Scout. Arthur (Boo) Radley was a man who lived in a big old house down the street from the Finch's, Jem, Scout and Dill always wondered who Boo Radley was because he never came out of his house. Dill was a close friend of Jem's and Scout's, he always spent the summer with his Aunt across the street. Tom Robinson was a black man convicted of raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell lived out in the country, didn't go to school, and just worked for her family. Miss Stephanie Crawford lived across the street and always gave advice to Jem and Scout. Reverend Sykes was the priest at the black church outside of town. Judge Taylor was the judge during the trial of Tom Robinson. Bob Ewell was Mayella's father, he was an enemy of the Finch's. Mrs. Dubose was a mean old lady who always put down Jem, Scout, and Atticus. Miss Rachel lived across the street and always told Jem and Scout anything they needed to know. Mr. Heck Tate was the sheriff in town. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird there was lots of struggles and hardships that the Finch's and the town of Maycomb had to go through. Atticus was a lawyer and he was defending Tom Robinson, who was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell. There was a big court battle after many witnesses and questions Tom Robinson was found guilty on very little evidence. Tom Robinson was then shot later trying to escape from jail. Jem, Scout and Dill always wanted to know what Boo Radley looks like. They always tried to lure him out of his own house. They tried to send messages to him by a fishing pole, but they could never figure out why he doesn't come out. Mrs. Dubose lived down the street from the Finch's and when ever

One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich: Summary Essay -- essays resear

One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich: Summary In the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the main character Ivan and the other prisoners in the camp are treated very badly. Ivan tries to make himself warm and to get enough food to keep himself alive. He does only what is necessary to please the guards and the commanders of the camp. Ivan uses his intelligence to make his life easier so he can save up more energy to face the work load. He and the members of the 104th group manage to survive because of Ivan's personal attention to himself and his care about the others. More importantly, Ivan survives because his intelligence, his spirit, his deception and careful teamwork. Ivan has to be smarter than the guards in the camp, so, he will not get into trouble and get treated even worse than he does. When Shukhov and Senka want to transport the hacksaw-blade that Ivan found back at the camp, Shukhov removes both mittens, one with the blade. He then unbuttons his coat and let the guards search him. They search him side and back and his pocket, and one guard also crushes the mitten that Ivan holds out which is the empty one. This was in the book as, He was about to pass him through when, for safety's sake, he crushed the mitten that Shukhov held out to him - the empty one. (Solzhenitsyn, Pg. 107) The smart move that he does is to place the empty mitten on top and take the risk that the guard will only search the empty one. Shukhov was lucky. Another example of having to be smarter is after they find the wood panels, they want to carry them back to make the place where they work warmer. Shukhov knows that if they carry it flatways, it will be easily noticed by others, so, they hold it upright in between them and set off. If they are seen by the superintendent, for instance, it will look as if there are three of them walking together. In this way, they cheat the guards as well as the superintendent, because Ivan and the others have use their intelligence. Ivan mush has a strong spirit to survive in the camp, he uses his spirit to make himself feel better in the camp, so, he can live happier and longer. He always thinks about the future, which make an outcome for himself. Without an outcome a person may become very sad and do not want to do anything, so he actually make himself live longer. For example, "Freedom meant one thing to him - home"... ...k-report. In fact, they really have not done anything. They get good rations for five days. It is in the book as, "A cleverly fixed work-report meant good ration for five days" (Solzhenitsyn, Pg.72). Also, Ivan also help other members of the team on their work, when Gopchik brought some Aluminium wire to Shukhov and ask Shukhov to teach him how to make a spoon. Shukhov teaches him, so, both of them can have less chances of getting the disease. This is in the book as "it's good for making spoons. Teach me how to cast them." (Solzhenitsyn, Pg.53). By teamwork, they save up more energy and get works done easily. Ivan survives his life in the prison camp because of his personal attention to things such as his food and his care about the others when he works as a team member. He is also smarter than the guards and the other prisoners so that he does not get into trouble easily. He is also deceptive in order to get better food and tools to work with. He also has strong spirit to face the harsh life because he know he will have freedom in two years. When Shukhov and the other prisoners are treated badly at the camp, Shukhov is able to do better to keep himself alive.

Intel

Intel's strategy in DRAMS was to focus on product design and to be the first to market with the newest devices and DRAM technology. This allowed them to be a leader and charge significant price premiums, and proved to be a successful strategy for the first four generations of DRAMS. However, over time this became less effective as product life cycles shrank, so the time for competitors to offer a competing product became faster and once the competition â€Å"caught up† then prices would fall dramatically. In this industry, patents were ineffective at blocking competition.In addition to product design, Intel established itself as a leader in process technology. Because cutting edge product design ultimately meant more complex semiconductor technology, Intel needed to invest large amounts of capital to keep its manufacturing capabilities at a level that could support new innovations and complex production. It also took time for Intel to become comfortable with new production tec hnologies, during which yields (a key driver to manufacturing costs) would fall as they worked out new problems and optimized the processes.There are several factors that led to Intel's dramatic decline In DRAM market share teen 1974 and 1984, the ultimate reason being that Japanese competitors were able to introduce new products more rapidly which reduced Intel's position as a leader in the market since competitive offerings would follow so quickly after introduction of a new Intel device. Because of the high capital investments needed to produce new DRAMS, it was necessary to be first to market to be able to take advantage of higher prices as a market leader before competitors introduced similar technologies.One reason Japanese firms could introduce products more quickly is that they strategically invested heavily in manufacturing capabilities. By comparison, Japanese firms invested 40% of their sales revenue into plant and manufacturing equipment while U. S. Firms invested 22% of their sales revenue. Additionally, several of the Japanese firms created relationships and collaborated closely with equipment manufacturers, such as Nixon, to create and access superior production equipment before it was available in the united States.As a result of getting superior equipment, Japanese competitors had much higher production yields for DRAMS than U. S. Companies (as high as 80% for Japanese companies compared to maximum 60% for U. S. Impasse). Finally, Japanese competitors were also more adept at both developing process technologies and ramping up production capacity for DRAMS – for instance, their production yields were as high as 70-80% vs.. 50-60% for US firms in the sass, and this was a factor in driving costs.Intel leadership did not Immediately recognize the potential opportunities for microprocessors and their use in personal computers, but once this was discovered, the Intel team set several strategies In place to become a market leader. Their bigges t competitor, Motorola, had been selected as AppleS standard. Therefore when IBM entered the PC market, Intel and Motorola were huge competitors to become the innovation, but also invested heavily in sales and marketing efforts.Intel's decision to launch the sales effort, â€Å"Project CRUSH†, to gain design wins was instrumental in paving the way for Intel's future success in the microprocessor market, particularly because this sales campaign led to Intel securing a contract with MOM. Intel's DRAM strategy seemed to be â€Å"If we build it, they will come†, whereas the new microprocessor strategy was more â€Å"If we build it, let's make sure they come†. Intel's strategic partnership with IBM was hugely instrumental in Intel's strategy to gain a competitive advantage in microprocessors.IBM led the market in the personal computer market in the early sass and Vim's strategy to expand rapidly and gain market share provided the perfect environment for Intel to grow in tandem. Whereas Intel did not invest in defensive efforts and technology to maintain its competitive advantage in DRAMS, despite winning a major contract with IBM for microprocessors, Intel continued to invest in aggressive marketing against its competitors?particularly Motorola?to maintain its competitive advantage.Another strategy that Intel employed to gain a competitive advantage in microprocessors was to create a network effect and develop a network of suppliers to help produce chips for Intel. Intel learned from its experience with DRAMS production that it was expensive to ramp up production capacity and made a decision for microprocessors to license with other companies to produce chips to meet demand. Although this strategy meant that Intel only received a fraction of the total revenues and profits, Intel was able to meet demand in the rapidly growing PC business and could continue to win contracts and grow overall market share.Leadership also continued to invest in Inte l's internal production capabilities so that Intel could produce a higher proportion of later models of microprocessors in-house to gain more profits. This strategy bought Intel time to really establish itself and the top supplier of microprocessors and also work on its manufacturing capabilities so that by the time Intel produced the 386, it was ready to produce the 386 without licensing. This required major investments and attention to improving internal sources and operation coordination, but Intel was able to make business decisions, such as higher price setting, that covered this investment.

Equality in Women Sports

Equality in Women Sports Gender equality in sports is something women have been trying to pursue over and over again. As in professional publicity of sports, men vs. women is no competition, men blow women out of the park on this issue. Men are more dominant in the sports world, and women just live in the shadows. Women are not given the chance they deserve to prove that they are just as good, so as of now, the media presumes them to be inferior to men. The myth many people believe for this reason, is the simple answer that women are not as strong as men.Others say that women’s sports are not as popular because they are not as entertaining to watch. Many people have different reasons for why women do not get the equality that they deserve, but there are more reasons for why women should be just as successful in professional sports as men. Women in sports began with very few opportunities, until a few pioneers paved a way for the future of women sports. Such female athletes tha t paved the way for other females were Babe Didrikson and Wilma Rudolph.Babe competed in the 1932 Olympics and qualified for five events, but at the time, women were only allowed to complete in three. Babe also took up golfing and won 55 tournaments in all, with 13 consecutive in 1946. Wilma Rudolph was another admirable female athlete, whose forte was in track. Rudolph was the first women to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics. Her winnings allowed for more women to take part in what was previously, all male track and field events. Both of these remarkable female athletes are recognized among ESPN’S Sports Century Greatest Athletes, ranked 10th and 41st (Elyachar and Moag, n. . ). During the Olympics, at the time of Babe Didrikson and Wilma Rudolph, women were allowed to compete in various events, such as swimming diving, tennis, and short distance sprints, but were not allowed to compete in the marathons. This is because experts said women could damage their organs f rom all the destructive bouncing and long endurance that the marathon required. It was not until 1984, when women were allowed to run the marathon in the Olympics, that a woman by the name of Benoit Samuelson ran the first marathon.Benoit ran 26 miles in competitive time, proving that the female body could handle just as much as the men’s (â€Å"Joan Benoit Samuelson,† 2007. ) The universal myth that everyone assumes is the reason for why men are so much more dominant in sports than women is that they are stronger. It is commonly believed that women are not as skilled as men in sports because they lack muscle strength. According to the GenneX Heathcare Technologies, Inc. (1999), in recent studies, this myth was proven fiction.Up until this study, doctors would beg their female patients not to perform in any sports activities because they said their bodies were too weak to handle such pressures. Since women have been out of the sports scene for so long because of this m yth of weakness, men have been dominating because they have had so much more time to perfect their skills. Women now have a lot of ground to cover since they have been so inactive for so many years. The best women’s marathon time was recorded at only 10 minutes behind men’s, proving that women are catching up to men and their bodies can handle anything a man’s can.The woman who set the women’s world record marathon time in an incredible 2:15:25 was Paula Radcliffe (Msn, 2007). But there’s a catch to this recording. Since male sports have been around for so much longer, they have been recording for that much longer as well. Women; however, have only been recording since 1964, which means that since they just starting running these marathons they can easily pass the male record. According to Kevin Drum (2001), â€Å"Women might even complete evenly with men in the 100 meter dash by around 2010 or 2020, and the marathon by 2050. As of more recently, women are starting to participate in sports that were only meant for men, such as ice hockey and boxing. These extreme sports require skill and physical endurance, which if a woman can play this kind of sport, means that she is capable of playing any sport, just as good as any man. The only reason that women are lagging behind men thus far is because men have had so much more time to improve on their sports. Men have been practicing and perfecting sports ever since they were first created, women, in comparison, have had no chance to do this.If women started off at the same time as men, they would easily have the same performance and same skill level. In 1972, Title IX was passed to make women participate in sports more. Title IX was brought to the public’s attention with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60s. This law states, â€Å"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be s ubjected to discrimination under any education programs or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. † (Elyachar and Moag, n. d. ).This law gave women the right to be athletes. It opened new opportunities to women as more colleges and high school were forced to have a certain number to sports teams. This new law paved a way for new female athletes. Men at this time were starting to form leagues of their own, while women were first starting to participate in sports. When basketball was first in existence, men were allowed to play by the rules however they liked, but women were supposed to maintain proper decorum, so female basketball players were not allowed to snatch or dribble the ball more than three times.Women basketball players also started off played three and three rather than five on five, and on half a court. Many people believed that women could not handle the pressure and strength to play like men. Females were not considered strong enough to play a full cour t game until 1971 (Rick Torbett 2007. ) Five year later in 1976, the first professional basketball league for women was formed. This league consisted of eight teams, but was not very successful. In 1997, the Woman’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was founded with 12 teams, six from the Eastern Conference and six from the Western Conference.The first year running attendance reach nearly one million and it had 65 million viewers, and is currently still running today. The WNBA had shed some light on women’s ability to be equal. This league has also opened opportunities for girls, as most of them look up to them as idols. Women’s basketball really sprung into popularity within the end of the 21st century. Basketball instructor Rick Torbett (2007) states, â€Å"I saw Nancy Lierbman grab, not touch, but grab the rim at 5†³9! I was 6†³3 and only jumping a little higher than her! Those girls could play, and were actually flat out better than some of t he boys. Rick Torbett, an expert at studying the tactics of basketball, states that from his studies, women show the same skill level as men. This proves that women can perform just as well as me do in this sport. At the end of his report, Tobett concluded with, â€Å"Oh yeah, there is one definite difference between boys and girls basketball, to quote my friend, Hall of Famer Rick Barry†¦ â€Å"They’re a lot prettier. † If there is absolutely no difference with men vs. women in basketball, why can’t the rest of the world notice women’s basketball more? It is just as exciting as men and involves the same exact game.As more time passes, and once more people start to realize the skill level of women, the WNBA will be just as popular as men’s. The first extremely successful women’s league was in 1943 and was called the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was the most successful women’s league ever, and the major reason behind this league’s popularity is the fact that it was played during the Second World War. While America’s men were on the battlefield, America’s women were giving the rest of the country entertainment for their favorite pastime.Even during this league, women were still not given equality. These women were chosen to compete in the league had to attend charm school before to ensure the natural style of a women’s grace despite vigorous play (JSW 1999). Even then, most people were against this league because they strongly believed that this much stress and endurance would harm the female reproductive system. The movie, A League of Their Own, was based around this league, and it showed the dramatic sexist experiences these women had to go through just to play. In the end, the fans loved it, and just as much as they loved men’s.This league ended when the war did, as all the men came back to claim their sport, the women were sent back to th eir roles as housewives (Riverdeep Interactive Learning 2007). This league was at one point, the most successful and popular sport. Because a majority of the men were fighting in the Second World War, only women were left to compete in sports. The only barrier causing the problem of no women’s baseball league is the fact that no one would watch it. If the country loved this sport played by women as much as they did in the 1940s, then they can still love it today.Women should be allowed to have their own league again, and be able to build on form what they started in the 1940s. By far the most successful women’s sport is tennis. This women’s sport has gained so much popularity to viewers because women have been catching up to men. In 1973 when women’s tennis was not as prominent as men’s, Bobby Riggs challenged Billie Jean King to tennis match that became widely known as the â€Å"Battle of the Sexes. † Bobby Riggs was the world champion tenn is player in 1939, at the age of 16. Billie Jean King was the women’s lib leader at the age of 29, and had won 20 titles at Wimbledon, aking her the richest tennis player, with an income of $100,000 a year. Bobby, now at the age of 55 wanted to prove to the world that men were better athletes so he challenged a match against Billie boasting that a woman was no match for him. Bobby even went as far as wearing a men’s liberation t-shirt to the match to make matters even worse. On top of that, he even rode into the tennis courts in a carriage pulled by women. In the end Billie Jean beat Bobby in three straight sets of tennis by simply wearing him out with long rallies. The final scores were 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3. After the match Bobby stated, â€Å"She was too good, too fast.She returned all my passing shots and made a great plays off of them. † (Essortment 2002) This proves that women can out beat men, and that men do not give them enough creditability. Even though th ere was an immense age difference between the two, the winnings of Billie Jean gave women confidence that women are just as good as men. This winning set a new era for women, an era of strength and determination to be just as good. Also women did not get paid as much as men did, until now. Women are finally being recognized as equal athletes to males, and this is the first sport that women have practically gained their equality (Sportingo 2007).Besides the physical strength behind athletics that makes people think that women are not as serious in sports as men, there is the reason behind the advertisement. Women athletes are not known for their talent, they are known for their appearance. In mostly all women sport ad’s the women are beautiful, making people believe that women athletics is a joke (Carty, V 2005) For example, Nike recently came out with an ad that’s focus was to reshape the ideal female image from a fragile figure to a strong, toned build. In the ad, the re is a woman who has an oversized, muscular backside, wearing boyshort underwear.On the side, the text reads, â€Å"My butt is big, but that’s fine, those who scorn it are invited to kiss it. † (Youngblood 2007) The main purpose of this ad is to prove that women are strong and tough, but the message that it really sends out is sexualized. This ad asks the question, how should women athletes be portrayed, with strength or with femininity that sometimes pushes in exploitation of the female body? Mary Jo Kane, director of Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport stated, â€Å"Media should represent the reality of sports, combining beauty, strength and power; showing a female athlete when she fails and when she is ictorious; and accurately depicting what and who women are in sports. † (Youngblood 2007) An extreme example of female athletes putting themselves out there in the media in a non- athletes kind of way, was when German Olympic gold medalist K atarina Witt posed nude in Playboy in 1998, a decade after she won her Olympic medals. (2007) This ad in no way is going to make people recognize her for her winnings in the Olympics; instead she is going to be known as a nude model posing for the human interest. The media is a major reason that women are not taken seriously in sports.In ads for male athletes they are fully clothed and are trying to show off their skill level and achievement within the sports industry. This is not the case for women, some of the time they are showing off their skills, but most of the time they are showing off their looks and sexuality. Once females are seen for their skill, then the world will take them seriously and they can pursue their careers as professional athletes and can complete evenly with men. Women in sports have come a long way since the early 1900s. From barely competing in the Olympics to dominating in tennis, women’s sports are slowly increasing.Many people still refuse to acc ept that women’s sports are serious and successful, because of all the bumps in the road, like the media. Once the world can see a female athlete for the talented person she is, then women’s sports will be just as successful as men’s. Women have come so far in pursuing their athletic ability in comparison to men. They have done this by increasing their endurance and strength, internally and externally, and one day very soon a woman is going to break that record marathon time held by a man.Sources Eylachar, R. , & Moag, L. (n. d. ) The Growth of Women’s Sports. Retrieved September 24, 2007 from http://www. moagandcompany. com/i_a/Dec_02_womens_sports. pdf No author. (2007. ) Joan Benoit Samuelson – A Born Athlete. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://sports. jrank. org/pages/418/Benoit-Samuelson-Joan-Born-Athlete. html GenneX Healthcare Technologies, Inc. (1999). Men vs. Women in Sports. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www. womenshealth. org/a/women_men_sports. htm MSN. (2007). Are Women