Circus Elephant Training Abuse by Trainers

It is important to note that the elephant is highly endangered. There were once millions of African elephants who roamed the entire continent. Now their numbers are estimated at around 300,000 and mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa. The Asian elephant is even more critical. Its numbers are down to only about 30,000. There were at one time millions. Not only are some animal acts harming and killing elephants, but they are also doing this to a highly endangered species. In order to train an 8,000-11,000 pound animal – who can be very deadly to humans – to perform tricks seen in circuses such as headstands, tightrope walking, roller skating and the such, often it is believed that the fierce application of negative reinforcement is required. Physical punishment has often been a standard training method for animals in circuses. Elephants are sometimes beaten, shocked, and whipped in order for them to perform repeatedly the routines of circus performance. The Animal Welfare A ct (AWA) does not prohibit the use of bullhooks, whips, electrical shock prods, or other such training devices. The elephants are beaten by several people for up to fifteen minutes at a time with bull-hooks. Their skin being as sensitive as humans, one can understand the torture this entails. Beatings According to congressional testimony provided by former Beatty-Cole elephant keeper Tom Rider, [I]n White Plains, N.Y., when Pete did not perform her act properly, she was taken to the tent and laid down, and five trainers beat her with bull-hooks. Rider also told officials that [a]fter my three years working with elephants in the circus, I can tell you that they live in confinement and they are beaten all the time when they dont perform properly (Rider). To hide this from circus goers, lacerations from bull-hooks are often covered up with wonder dust, a type of theatrical pancake makeup (according to ​circuses.com). The public does not see the violence and abuse some of these elephants endure. Not all animal trainers are abusive; some do care deeply for the animals in their trust. Nonetheless, from the easily accessible literature on the web, it appears abuse does happen. Confinement Possibly even worse than the negative reinforcement, though, is the confinement performing elephants endure. Remember elephants sometimes walk up to 50 miles a day and they are often confined to spaces no bigger than a standard American one-bedroom apartment. In states which require chaining of elephants when not performing, elephants are chained in spaces the size of an average automobile by two legs for up to twenty hours a day. Circuses.com reports: During the off-season, animals used in circuses may be housed in traveling crates or barn stalls; some are even kept in trucks. Such unrelieved physical confinement can have harmful physical and psychological effects on animals. These effects are often indicated by unnatural behaviors such as repeated head bobbing, swaying, and pacing. (Epstein) A study of circuses conducted by Animal Defenders International in the United Kingdom found abnormal behaviors of this kind in all of the species observed. Investigators witnessed elephants that were chained for 70 percent of the day, horses that were confined for 23 hours per day, and large cats that were kept in cages up to 99 percent of the time (Creamer Phillips). Danger Other than the beatings and the chaining, another reason pop culture should consider not attending animal circuses is a human danger. Eventually, after years and sometimes decades of circus life, these large animals sometimes will go mad, rampage, and kill trainers, circus members, and audience members just as Tyke did in Hawaii. In a worst-case scenario situation, an elephant named Janet rampaged with children on her back during a performance of the Great American Circus in Palm Bay. The officer who finally killed her after shooting 47 rounds into the elephant who supposedly had been chained and beaten for years said, I think these elephants are trying to tell us that zoos and circuses are not what God created them for ... but we have not been listening...this is the kind of stuff people protest about (Sahagun, Louis. Elephants Pose Giant Dangers, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 11, 1994).

About James Mercer Langston Hughes - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1655 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category People Essay Level High school Tags: Langston Hughes Essay Did you like this example? James Mercer Langston Hughes, born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin Missouri born to his mother Carrie M. Langston, and father James N. Hughes. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "About James Mercer Langston Hughes" essay for you Create order Both his parents were born of mixed race descent which made him not entirely black, but rather brown and of mixed race. His non-black ancestry included a white slaveholder who fathered children with a woman he owned, who was of a French and a Cherokee Indian woman. Hughess mother came from a family of respected black educators and activists. His great uncle from his mothers side became the first black congressman who ran for Virginia. Hughess grandmother Mary Patterson Langston, attended Oberlin College during a time where not a lot of women attended school to gain an education. Her first husband passed away in John Browns Ferry which was a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry Virginia. Her second husband which was Langston Hughess maternal grandfather was an activist for abolition and black education so that his people could get an education. Most of his family were educators which made him come from a family of scholars. After his parents separated, his father moved to Cuba then to Mexico. Hughes was mostly raised by his mother and grandmother, but later then raised by a couple named the Reeds. Growing up, Hughes attended public schools in Kansas and Illinois and was named the class poet for his outstanding writing skills, which sparked up his thirst for poetry. Furthermore, he remembered the value and importance his grandmother had taught him, she told him stories about heroic and courageous slaves who were abolitionists that struggled in order to get away from slavery and gain their freedom. Her tales impressed his nobility and views on black people and the importance of patience and laughter in the coming of hardships. After his grandmother had passed, Hughes didnt cry nor reacted. Something about her stories taught him the uselessness of crying. Instead, he used the value of laughter as a shield to hide his pain. After the death of his grandmother, Hughes often became a lonely and unsettled child , where he experienced an off childhood. He said he found the values of books as a coping mechanism. In 1916, at Hughess 8th-grade graduation, he was elected class poet, where he later felt that he was a victim of a stereotype. He noted that there were only two Negroes in his class and his English teacher was always stressing about the importance of rhythm in poetry. Thats when he felt that he wouldnt let his classmates down, and has been writing poetry ever since. Soon after, his mother and stepfather settled in Cleveland Ohio where he began high school. While attending school, Hughes teacher, first introduced him to famous poet writers such as Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, which later became a significant influence upon his career. His high school classmates, (who were mostly white), referred him as a handsome Indian-looking youth, who was remembered by his natural abilities and respective behavior. Hughes was also an athletic individual who won athletic letters in track and was held office with medals and awards. After he had graduated from high school, Hughes decided to travel to Mexico to be with his father so that he could pay for his college tuition. His father James N. Hughes, had left the United States in order to escape and get away from racism. His father disliked black people because of the racism he encountered. When Hughes arrived in Mexico, but his father would constantly discourage him for his poetry, he wanted him to be an engineer rather being a writer. Hughess poetry was beginning to show in the Brownies Book, which was a publication written for children edited by W.E.B Dubois. Hughes started to work on more ambiguous material for adult readers. His poem, A Negro Speaks of River, marked one of the main developments on his career, which later then appeared in the Crisis magazine in 1921. Hughes later moved back to America and attended Columbia University in New York City. Life in the nations capital was filled with racial tensions, which made Hughes feel discontent about his decision staying there, however, he fell in love with a neighborhood called Harlem in just east of New York City. He felt that thats where he belonged the most. The people there enjoyed his work and his poetry. In 1923, he signed up to work on a large ship, so that he could travel and see the world. On his first voyage, he visited the west side of Africa where he stayed for a while. On his second voyage, he visited Spain. In 1924 he spent six months in Paris, France, and felt happy and put together. He felt that France wasnt as racist and discriminatory like America was towards the blacks. His racial rhythmic like poetry sparked up his coming of success. He later started to appear on many African American publications. He also appeared on Vanity Fair Magazine, which was relatively popular among middle, and upper-class woman. In 1924, Hughes went back to live with his mother in Wa shington, D.C. He hoped to earn enough money to return to back to college. Hughes then landed in a job where he was a personal assistant for a scholar that worked at the Association For The Study Of African American Life and History. He later realized that he was into more millennial jobs and preferred to focus more on his poetry as its the best thing for him. He got a job as a busboy, which paid very little money. One day as he was cleaning down tables, he spotted a poet writer named Vachel Lindsay, who is one of his favorite poet writers dining alone. Hughes was determined to get his work out there so he slipped a stack of his own poetry on to his table. Lindsey read his work and was amazed and kept him in touch with famous editors at a publishing house called Alfred A. Knopf. That was when Hughes knew he was gonna make it. He was able to write many poems. His poem called The Weary Blues won first prize in a literacy competition that was sponsored by a magazine published by the National Urban League. In 1926, that was when his professional life sped off. He was apart of a book published by Knopf which was a collection of poetries. He initiated a magazine titled Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted To The Negro, which was an outlet that talked about emerging the works of black writers. Hughes also published an essay called The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, which talked about his outline on the a rts of philosophy and the problems that are among black artists. After the making of his second publication called Fine Clothes to the Jew, many Black critics didnt approve of his work because of how much Hughes focused on the negative aspects of Black culture. Hughes later responded with a quote from the essay The Negro Artist, We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesnt matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. [] If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesnt matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves. In 1929, he graduated and received a bachelors from Lincoln University. Upon the following years, he published many poems in which he talked about the hardships and risks Blacks had taken. In 1932, he joined the Soviet Union with a group of African American Artists, in order to make a film about the treatment of black people throughout the United States. Although the film was never made, being there drew Hughes into the Communist party. He felt that their racial equality was more liberal than American Politics. Throughout his sophisticated life, Hughess creative aspects influenced him into the very many genres that his work provided him with. In 1934, he published a short story collection called The Ways of White Folks which talked about the bitter reflections about the race relations that took place within society. Hughes traveled back to Spain to write about the Civil War as a journalist for the Baltimore Afro American newspaper. He traveled with another journalist named Zora Neale Hurston, in which they both wrote a play called The Mulatto which was a play that talked the cause and issues of racial identities. Hughes also founded three theatres, which were located in Harlem New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Most of Hughess plays were commercially successful, which later became an outlet for many other Black editors. During World War 2, Hughess politics had grown. He published a memoir called, The Big Sea in which he confessed his feelings towards his poetry. He also started to write a column for the Chicago Defender newspaper in which he created a fictional character that would talk about the racial issues and t he observations in life that he would encounter. These columns eventually made their own 5 separate books. Hughes later published the book Montage of a Dream Deferred in 1951, which was remembered for its powerful imagery and language. In 1954, the book, Simple Takes a Wife, gained an award for the outstanding views on the racial issues among Black people. Over the next few decades, Hughes continued on with his work, doing the variety of projects that he had to get done in order to make improvements among the Black community. On December 30th, 1960, Hughes was presented with the Springarn Medal for achievement by an American. On May 22, 1967, Langston Hughes passed away because of abdominal surgery which leads to prostate cancer in New York City. His legacy still lives on for fighting for black rights through his works of poetry.

Benefits of Data Mining Free Essays

Data mining is defined as â€Å"a process that uses statistical, mathematical, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning techniques to extract and identify useful information and subsequent knowledge from large databases, including data warehouses† (Turban Volonino, 2011). The information identified using data mining includes patterns indicating trends, correlations, rules, similarities, and used as predictive analytics. By employing predictive analytics, companies are actually able to understand the behavior of customers. We will write a custom essay sample on Benefits of Data Mining or any similar topic only for you Order Now Predictive analytics examines and sorts data to find patterns that highlight customer behavior. The important behavioral patterns are those that indicate what customers have responded to and will respond to in the future. Also, patterns can indicate a customer base that is in jeopardy with the company, customers that are not company-loyal and are easily lost. Predictive analytics of customer behavior can be of great benefit to the business (Turban Volonino, 2011). Companies are able to build specific marking campaigns and models such as direct mail, online marking, or media marking based on customer preference and are better able to sell their products to a more targeted customer base. Knowing what the customer wants, what they will respond to, and which customer base to focus on takes the guesswork out of marking and product development. Taking the information retrieved and using it correctly will only increase profits (Advantages, 2012). Association discovery using data mining provides a huge benefit to companies. Association discovery is finding correlations or relationships between variables in a large database. For example, in terms of a supermarket, it is finding out that customers who buy onions and potatoes together are also highly likely to buy hamburger meat. These correlations where one set of products predict the buying of another is referred to as associations. Data mining can employ association discovery allowing business to predict buying patterns and allow for more effective operations management and can better pinpoint marketing strategy of coupons and incentives (Association Rule 2012). Web mining is another aspect of data mining. Web mining uses the data collected on the Internet to analyze customer data and gather information beneficial to the company. Any time someone visits a website, uses a search engine, clicks on a link, or makes an electronic transaction data is generated subject to analytics. Companies use web mining to gain customer preference and insight. The information gathered is used to improve websites and create a better user experience for the customers. Web mining can also be used alongside of predictive analytics. For example, on e-commerce sites every transaction is analyzed. When a customer clicks on a product, web mining tools can present a list of products he/she may also be interested in because of other customers with the similar buying interests/habits. This tool can be extremely effective in gaining business intelligence of the buying habits and preferences of customers (Turban Volonino, 2011). Data mining also employs clustering to find related customer information and to provide valuable information to the company. Clustering gathers information and designates clusters of similar products and objects. In data mining, clustering is usually the first step. It identifies similar information and groups them to be further examined. Customer information and demographics are an example of these clusters. The group characteristics are analyzed against desired outcomes to understand the buying habits of customers and what marketing campaigns will enhance customer response (Ali, Ghani, Saeed). Reliability of Data Mining The benefits of data have been examined, but it is important to look possible implications as well. Data mining uses algorithms to predict patterns and customer behaviors. Constant measures are needed to make sure the algorithms are working correctly, but the issue of reliability stems a little deeper. Algorithms and data analysis can only be as reliable as the actual data analyzed. Data gathered from different sources can potentially be t or even conflicting. This greatly affects the validity and result of algorithm, especially predictive analysis. It could alter the customer’s historical purchases or demographic information rendering the information useless and even costly. Data mining is a useful tool and should be trusted up to a point. It should not be the only solution. Companies should not only use data mining for marking and operations decisions. The costs of mistaking customer preference and predicting behavior could be catastrophic (Data Mining). Privacy Concerns of Data Mining. One of the major disadvantages of data mining is the privacy concerns associated with the technique. Three major privacy concerns raised by consumers are identity theft, misuse of personal information, and the â€Å"big brother is watching you† feeling (Orwell, 1954). The first concern is identity theft. With the increasing trend of e-commerce and electronic funds, identity theft has been a huge issue. The sheer amount and speed of information processing through data mining has led to a rise in identity theft making this valid concern. The information could easily fall into the hands of anyone (Exforsys Inc, 2006). The second concern is the misuse of personal information. Companies gather information as specific to customer purchases, names, phone numbers, addresses, and other information then store it in a database. Once obtained, copies can be made with little effort. Companies can easily sell this information to other companies. This is the exact concern of consumers. Consumer information can certainly be misused, exploited, or for discrimination making this a valid concern (Advantages, 2012). The last concern addressed in this paper is the total loss of privacy, feeling controlled or watched. The government uses data mining to track patterns of criminal activity have considered using the technique to track the movement of people. Some people feel this goes too far, and not giving the consumer the choice of having his/her information in the database takes away personal freedom. This concern is tied into the misuse of information because what stops companies to selling information to governmental or private agencies with the sole purpose being to control or watch an individual. With the volatile nature of crime, and the increasing use of technology by government agencies, this concern is also valid (Advantages 2012). Measures have been taken to alleviate these concerns. Companies that utilize data mining are required to take certain actions that protect their customer’s privacy. One of these actions is to remove and identity related attributes from each customer record before the data is transferred to analysts. Also banks allow for identity theft protection services to alleviate the concern of financial security. All of these concerns are still important and steps will have to be continuously made and adjusted to protect the security and privacy of personal and financial information (Li Sarkar, 2006). Real World Examples of Predictive Analytics Predictive analysis and how it is beneficial to companies has been discussed above in theory. To completely understand how predictive analysis is used is to look at real world examples. The first example is how a fast food restaurant used HyperActive Technologies to predict what customers might order. HyperActive Technologies developed a system that allowed cameras to track vehicles pulling into the parking lot and track customers through the entire ordering process. Using predictive analysis of the data gathers from the cameras, the restaurant was able to conclude that at lunchtime; approximately twenty percent of cars entering the parking lot would order at least one cheeseburger. With this information, the cooks were able to get a head start in food production cutting down on wait time for customers and increasing overall productivity (Turban Volonino, 2011). Another example of a company that uses predictive analysis is that of INRX, the leading provider of traffic information. INRX uses data mining by evaluating real time traffic measuring traffic problems and congestion. This data is collected from road censors, toll tags, traffic incident data, and commercial vehicles equipped with a GPS that continuously report their speed and location. Using predictive analytics, the data is studied to determine traffic patterns at certain locations and times. Drivers now have access to real time traffic information. This information has proven to be extremely effective and useful to drivers allowing them to make better decisions and avoid unnecessary delays (Turban Volonino, 2011). The flower company, 1-800-FLOWERS. om, has also used data mining techniques, specifically predictive analytics. The company collects and analyses data at all contact points. Data collected includes historical purchases to discover trends, anticipate customer behavior, and meet customer needs and preferences. This technique has proven to be an effective way of increasing the response rate to customers, identifying profitable customers, and establishing customer loyalty. Customer retent ion increased by over fifteen percent after the implementation of predictive analytics solidifying its effectiveness (Turban Volonino, 2011). As shown through academic research and real world examples, data mining is a real and effective way of predicting customer behavior and buying patterns. Measures need to be taken not only to overcome the stigma that data mining is unsecure and takes away personal freedom, but to make sure individual information is, in fact protected. If these measures are taken, data mining is a win-win for both businesses and consumers. Consumers will feel heard, understood, and taken care of. Businesses can actually focus resources on building that business-to-customer relationship and will be able to give the people what they need. References Advantages and disadvantages of data mining (2012). Retrieved December 9, 2012 from http://www.dataminingtechniques.net/data-mining-tutorial/advantages-and-disadvantages-ofdatamining/ Ali, R., Ghani, U., Saeed, A. (n.d.) Data clustering and its applications. Retrieved December 5, 2012 from http://members.tripod.com/asim_saeed/paper.htm Data mining: issues. (n.d.) Retrieved December 7, 2012, from http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/ issues.htm Exforsys Inc. (2006). Data mining privacy concerns. Retrieved December 5, 2012 from http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/data-mining/data-mining-privacy-concerns.html Li, X. Sarkar, S. (2006) Privacy protection in data mining. Retrieved December 6, 2012 from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1245621 Turban, E., Volonino, L. (2011). Information technology for management improving strategic and operational performance (8th ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. How to cite Benefits of Data Mining, Papers