Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Alternative Medicine - Med School Application Essay EDITED

Edited EssayMy reticence regarding traditional medicine does not result from want of experienceindeed, I have spent so much time in hospitals during my life that I am all too familiar with traditional treatments. Born with various congenital defects, my life has been a blur of cardiac, thoracic, and gastrointestinal surgeries, and by the age of five, I was as familiar with taking medication as I was with eating cornflakes.Without denying the substantial benefits I have derived from my treatments, I nonetheless believe that the maintenance of health depends as much upon the promotion of wellness as it does upon the combating of disease. This is a lesson I have learned from my paternal grandparents. Considerably older than my maternal grandparents, my fathers parents always seemed youthful and vigorous. They exercised regularly, ate a balanced diet, used alternative therapies, and had a great deal of joy in their lives. By contrast, my maternal grandparents seemed driven by an almost m orbid obsession with disease. Although they sought aggressive Western medical treatments, my maternal grandparents ultimately passed on fifteen years ago, while my paternal set are still leading healthy lives into their nineties.Since my mother raised me, her beliefs dictated my own health care treatments. We did not consider any alternative therapies to help with my childhood illnesses; all the relief I received came with a prescription. When I went to college and became ill again, I decided that it was time for me to try something new. I turned to my paternal grandparents for advice, asking my grandmother about herbal treatments, nutrition, and lifestyle. She encouraged me to read more about oriental medicine and look beyond my symptoms to the deeper root causes of my illness. Eventually, through a combination of herbal supplements and dietary and lifestyle changes, I was able to wean myself from a diet of prescriptions and gradually find balance in my health.Unfortunately, such k nowledge did not come to my mother. A few years after my medical epiphany, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. Despite my urging that she investigate wellness-based treatment, my mother reacted to her illness in the same way her parents had reacted to theirs: by ignoring it. A few more years passed, and she developed fibromyalgia. Diagnosed with the same unknown autoimmune disease, my mothers sisters found relief in acupuncture and yoga, but my mother turned to surgery to treat her pain. Unfortunately, surgery could not ease her suffering, and my mother still experienced far more discomfort than her sisters.While I recognize that anecdotal data is by definition inconclusive, I nonetheless have enough personal and familial experience with illness to be a firm believer in the power of alternative therapies to dramatically improve peoples lives. Traditional Western medicine certainly has its place, but an individuals role in actively managing his or her ow n health cannot be denied. Health is not something that can be taken for granted, and for me, the responsibility of maintaining health reaches beyond caring for myself.Over the past two years, I have faced the toughest test of my convictions by caring for a dear friend who suffers with HIV. Spending many hours by his side, I have seen how the combination of oriental medicine with traditional Western pharmaceuticals has worked wonders in helping him maintain his vitality. Spending time with him in the hospital, I have massaged his muscles to relieve myalgias and provided him with the moral support that is crucial to effective recovery. This experience has solidified my interest in alternative treatments, and I cannot imagine a more fulfilling and compassionate way to spend my life than by promoting the wellness of others.Customers Comments is wonderful! My editors responses to my e-mails were prompt and incredibly thorough. Her edits added much color and a great flow to my essay. I l oved the way she articulated my ideas so masterfully. She is a gifted editor. I am definitely going to seek her services as I work on my secondaries.CritiqueDear Jane,I read your essay with great interest. It is clear that you have experienced a great deal and that you have developed unique insights into health and illness. Despite the concern you expressed about your lack of experience with alternative treatments, I feel that you have something that is much more importantthe insight and wisdom that will allow you to become a compassionate healer.Your essay was quite good. The most important changes I made were tightening up your language, removing unnecessary passages, and restructuring your essay to improve its flow. Employing a chronological structure in your essay helps the reader understand the evolution of your ideas.Overall, my editing sought to refine your descriptions in order to make your essay even more captivating and convincing. In general, I maintained the basic struct ure of your paragraphs but made many changes at the sentence level. I rephrased some parts that sounded awkward, varied vocabulary, corrected spelling mistakes, adjusted sentence structure and punctuation, and shortened some of your passages.The following are specific comments on the individual paragraphs of your essay:Paragraph 1This is the most important paragraph of the piece. It sets the tone and hooks the readers interest. Your original first paragraph alluded to your work experience, juxtaposing the effectiveness of Western and alternative medicine. This is a fine approach, but you have a much more compelling detailthe story of your own illnessthat could illustrate your point much more effectively. Here is my suggestion for an alternative introduction:My reticence regarding traditional medicine does not result from want of experienceindeed, I have spent so much time in hospitals during my life that I am all too familiar with traditional treatments. Born with various congenital defects, my life has been a blur of cardiac, thoracic, and gastrointestinal surgeries, and by the age of five, I was as familiar with taking medication as I was with eating cornflakes.This new introduction is short and concise, but also quite compelling.Also, please note that very specific details engage the reader and secure his interest. For instance, you should try to avoid excessively general sentences like, Much of my early life was spent in hospitals and while the operations I underwent corrected various congenital defects; I was constantly ill.What congenital defects did you have? Your readers will be interested in knowing this detail, particularly if your defects belong to a known syndrome. What surgeries did you have? I guessed cardiac, thoracic, and GI surgeries since these are common surgeries for congenital abnormalities. Please be sure to replace these details with surgeries that apply to you.The rest of the original first paragraph contained information that you dealt with later, so I omitted this information in order to avoid redundancy.Paragraph 2I integrated the details of this paragraph into the revised introduction. In an essay this short, it is not necessary to devote entire paragraphs to transitions. See how I have streamlined your ideas to transition more rapidly between the first and second paragraphs.Paragraphs 3 4I combined these two paragraphs since the latter serves as a powerful introduction to the former.Be sure to avoid repetitive sentences in your writing. For instance, the following two sentences are redundant: It became clear to me that I needed to look beyond symptoms. I needed to work backwards to get to the possible root causes.Instead of repeating the phrase, I needed, I instead collapsed this sentence to: She encouraged me to read more about oriental medicine and look beyond my symptoms to the deeper root causes of my illness.Paragraph 5This paragraph was generally effective, but it required a few essential adjustments. In describing your mothers diagnosis with an autoimmune disease, you cannot accurately say that she faced her own mortality unless you give more detail. People usually face their own mortality in car accidents or when confronted with life-threatening illnesses. You do not give the reader enough detail to understand why your mothers autoimmune disease was so threatening, especially since you say that her health became worse when she developed fibromyalgia. This disease, while debilitating, is certainly not life-threatening.Another nit-picky point: do not use quotations in formal essays unless you are directly quoting someones speech. Also, the medical term would be unknown etiology, not pathology (you would use pathology to describe a tissue biopsy, not a medical diagnosis). This is not a big deal, but it is good to be accurate.The rest of this paragraph was great. You built a terrific case for alternative therapies and for your decision to pursue a career in this type of healing.In sum, I tightened up this paragraph so that it now reads:Unfortunately, such knowledge did not come to my mother. A few years after my medical epiphany, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. Despite my urging that she investigate wellness-based treatment, my mother reacted to her illness in the same way her parents had reacted toward theirs: by ignoring it. A few more years passed, and she developed fibromyalgia. Diagnosed with the same unknown autoimmune disease, my mothers sisters found relief in acupuncture and yoga, but my mother turned to surgery to treat her pain. Unfortunately, not even surgery could ease her suffering, and my mother still experienced far more discomfort than her sisters.Paragraph 6I suggested some important conceptual changes to this paragraph. While you make a great case for the value of alternative therapies, you should not discount the worth of traditional medicine altogether. Instead, I suggest showing how your interest in alte rnative therapies is predicated upon the assumption that there is a proper time and place for each type of treatment. See my suggestions in the text.Paragraph 7You chose a great way to end your piece. This is the second most important paragraph in the essay because it is the last thing the reader will read before making his decision.Nonetheless, this paragraph could be improved by adding a few more details. What have you done for your friend with HIV? I imagined, based upon my clinical knowledge, that your friend has suffered infections, muscle aches (myalgias), and repeated hospitalizations, but you should replace these details with something accurate.I wrote the following, but be sure to substitute specific details of how you assisted in your friends treatment:Spending time with him in the hospital, I massaged his muscles to relieve myalgias, and provided him with the moral support that is crucial to effective recovery. This experience has solidified my interest in alternative tre atments, and I cannot imagine a more fulfilling and compassionate way to spend my life than by promoting the wellness of others.Again, the content of your essayand your visionis wonderful. It was a pleasure to read and edit your work. I think that some careful fine-tuning and restructuring has made this essay into a clear, powerful expression of your ideas, goals and values, and should make a wonderful impression on the admissions committee.Best of luck with the admissions process. Please keep in touch and let me know about your successes. That is the most gratifying part of this work.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross

Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross Arthur Shawcross, also known as The Genesee River Killer, was responsible for the murders of 12 women in upstate New York from 1988 to 1990. This was not the first time that he killed.  In 1972 he confessed to the sexual assault and murders of two children. Early Years Arthur Shawcross was born on June 6, 1945, in Kittery, Maine. The family relocated to Watertown, New York, a few years later. From early  on,  Shawcross was socially challenged and spent much of his time alone. His withdrawn behavior earned him the nickname oddie from his peers. He was never a good student failing  both behaviorally and academically during his short time at school. He would often miss classes, and when he was there, he regularly  misbehaved and had the reputation of being a bully and picking fights with other students. Shawcross  dropped out of school  after failing to pass the ninth grade. He was 16 years old.  Over the next few years, his violent behavior intensified, and he was suspected of arson and burglary. He was placed on probation in 1963 for breaking the window of a store. Marriage In 1964 Shawcross married and the next year he and his wife had a son. In November 1965 he was put on probation on a charge of unlawful entry. His wife filed for divorce soon afterward, stating that he was abusive. As part of the divorce, Shawcross gave up all paternal rights to his son and never saw the child again. Military Life In April 1967 Shawcross was drafted into the Army. Right after receiving his draft papers he married for the second time. He was sent to Vietnam from October 1967 until September 1968 and was  then stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.  Shawcross later claimed that he killed 39 enemy soldiers  during combat. Officials disputed it and attributed him with a combat kill of zero. After his release from the Army, he and his wife returned to Clayton, New York. She divorced him shortly afterward citing abuse and his propensity to being a  pyromaniac  as her reasons. Prison Time Shawcross was sentenced to five years in prison for arson in 1969. He was released in October 1971, after serving just 22 months of his sentence. He returned to Watertown, and by the following April, he was married for the third time and working for the Public Works Department.  Like his previous marriages, the marriage was short and ended abruptly after he  confessed to murdering two local children. Jack Blake and Karen Ann Hill Within six months of each other, two Watertown children went missing in September 1972. The first child was 10-year-old Jack Blake. His body was found a year later out in the woods. He had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The second child was Karen Ann Hill, age 8, who was visiting Watertown with her mother for the Labor Day weekend. Her body was found under a bridge. According to autopsy reports, she had been raped and murdered, and dirt and leaves were found jammed down her throat. Shawcross Confesses Police investigators arrested Shawcross in October 1972 after he was identified as the man who was with Hill on the bridge right before she disappeared.   After working out a plea deal, Shawcross confessed to murdering Hill and Blake and agreed to divulge the location of Blakes body in exchange for a charge of manslaughter in the Hill case and no charges for murdering Blake. Since they had no solid evidence to convict him in the Blake case,  prosecutors agreed, and he was found guilty and given a 25-year-sentence.   Freedom Rings Shawcross was 27 years old, divorced for the third time and would be locked away until the age of 52, but after serving just 14 1/2 years,  he was released from prison.   Being out of prison was challenging for Shawcross once word would get  out about his criminal past. He had to be relocated to four different cities  because of community protests. A decision was made to seal his records from public view, and he was moved one final time. Rochester, New York In June 1987, Shawcross and his new girlfriend, Rose Marie Walley, were relocated to Rochester, New York. This time there were no protests because Shawcross parole officer failed to report to the local police department that a child rapist and murderer had just moved into town. Life for Shawcross and Rose became routine. They got married, and Shawcross worked various low-skilled jobs. It did not take long for him  to become bored with his new menial life. Murder Spree In March 1988, Shawcross began cheating on his wife with a new girlfriend. He also was spending a lot of time  with prostitutes. Unfortunately, over the next two-year,  many of the prostitutes that he got to know would end up dead. A Serial Killer on the Loose Dorothy Dotsie Blackburn, 27, was a cocaine addict and prostitute who often worked on Lyell Avenue, a section in Rochester that was known for prostitution. On March 18, 1998, Blackburn was reported missing by her sister. Six days later her body was pulled from the Genesee River Gorge. An autopsy revealed that she had suffered severe wounds from a blunt object. There were also human bite marks found all around her vagina. The cause of death was strangulation. Blackburns lifestyle opened up a broad range of possible suspects for case detectives to investigate, but with too few clues the case eventually went cold In September, six months after Blackburns body was found, the bones from another missing Lyell Avenue prostitute, Anna Marie Steffen, was found by a man who was collecting bottles to sell for cash. Investigators were unable to identify the victim whose bones were found, so they hired an anthropologist to reconstruct the victims facial features based on a skull that found on the scene. Steffens father saw the facial recreation and identified the victim as his daughter, Anna Marie. Dental records provided additional confirmation. Six Weeks - More Bodies The decapitated and decomposing remains of a homeless woman, 60-year-old Dorothy Keller, was found on October 21, 1989, in the Genesee River Gorge. She died from having her neck broken. Another Lyell Avenue prostitute, Patricia Patty Ives, 25, was found strangled to death and buried under a pile of debris on October 27, 1989. She had been missing for nearly a month. With the discovery of Patty Ives, investigators realized that it was a strong possibility that a serial killer was loose in Rochester. They had the bodies of four women, all who went missing and were murdered within seven months of each other; three had been murdered within a few weeks of each other; three of the victims were prostitutes from Lyell Avenue, and all the victims had bite marks and had been strangled to death. Investigators went from looking for individual killers  to looking for a serial killer and the window of time between his kills was getting shorter. The press also grew interested in the murders and dubbed the killer as the Genesee River Killer, and the Rochester Strangler. June Stott On October 23, June Stott, 30, was reported missing by her boyfriend. Stott was mentally ill and would occasionally vanish without telling anyone. This, along with the fact that she was not a prostitute or drug user, kept her disappearance separated from the serial killer investigation. Easy Pickins Marie Welch, age 22 was a Lyell Avenue prostitute who was reported missing on November 5, 1989. Frances Franny Brown, age 22, was last seen alive leaving Lyell Avenue on November 11, with a client known by some of the prostitutes as Mike or Mitch. Her body, nude except for her boots,  was discovered three days later dumped in the Genesee River Gorge. She had been beaten and strangled to death. Kimberly Logan, 30, another Lyell Avenue prostitute, was found dead on November 15, 1989. She had brutally kicked  and beaten, and dirt and leaves were crammed down her throat, much like Shawcross did to 8-year-old, Karen Ann Hill. This one piece of  evidence could have led the authorities right to Shawcross, had they known that he was living in Rochester. Mike or Mitch At the beginning of November, Jo Ann Van Nostrand told police about a client named Mitch who paid her to play dead and then he would try to strangle her, which she did not allow. Van Nostrand was a seasoned prostitute who had entertained men with all kinds of particularities, but this one - this Mitch - managed to give her the creeps. This was the first real lead the investigators received. It was the second time that the man with the same physical description, named Mike or Mitch, had been mentioned in reference to the murders. Interviews with many of the Lyle prostitutes indicated that he was a regular and that he had the reputation of being violent.   Game Changer On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, a man walking his dog discovered the body June Stott, the one missing person that the police did not connect to the serial killer. Like the other women found, June Stott suffered a vicious beating before dying. But death did not end the killers cruelty. An autopsy revealed that Stott had been strangled to death. The corpse was then anally mutilated, and the body was cut opened from the throat down to the crotch. It was noted that the labia had been cut off and that the killer likely had  it in his possession. For detectives, June Stotts murder sent the investigation into a tailspin. Stott was not a drug addict or a prostitute, and her body had been left in an area far from the other victims. Could it be that Rochester was being stalked by two serial killers? It seemed as if each week another woman went missing and those found murdered were not close to being solved. It was at this point that the Rochester police decided to contact the F.B.I. for help. F.B.I. Profile The F.B.I. Agents sent to Rochester created a profile of the serial killer. They said  that the killer showed characteristics of a man  in his 30s, white, and who knew his victims. He was probably a local man familiar with the area, and he probably had a criminal record. Also, based on the lack of semen found on his victims, he was sexually dysfunctional and found gratification after his victims were dead. They also believed that the killer would return to mutilate the bodies of his victims when possible. More Bodies The body of Elizabeth Liz Gibson, 29, was found strangled to death on November 27, in another county. She was also a Lyell Avenue prostitute and was last seen by Jo Ann Van Nostrand with the Mitch client who she had reported to the police in October. Nostrand went to the police and gave them the information along with a description of the mans vehicle. The F.B.I agents strongly suggested that when the next body was found, that investigators wait and watch to see if the  killer returned to the body. The End of a Bad Year Had investigators hoped that the busy December holiday season and the cold temperatures might slow down the serial killer, they soon found out that they were wrong. Three women disappeared, one right after the other: Darlene Trippi, 32, was known for pairing up for safety with veteran Jo Ann Van Nostrand, yet on December 15, she like others before her, disappeared off Lyell Avenue.June Cicero, 34, was a seasoned prostitute known for her good instincts and for always staying alert, yet on December 17 she also vanished.And as if to toast in the New Year, the serial killer attacked one more time on December 28, plucking 20-year-old Felicia Stephens off the streets. She too was never seen alive again. A Spectator In an effort to find the missing women, police organized  an air search of the Genesee River Gorge. Road patrols were also sent out, and on New Years Eve, they found a pair of black jeans belonging to Felicia Stephens. Her boots were found in another location after the patrol expanded the  search. On January 2, another air and ground search was organized and right before calling it off due to bad weather, the air team spotted what appeared to be the body of a half-nude female  laying face down near the Salmon Creek. As they went down to get a closer look, they also spotted a man on the bridge above the body. He appeared to be urinating, but when he spotted the aircrew, he immediately fled the scene in his van.The ground team was alerted and went in pursuit of the man in the van. The body, which was surrounded by fresh footprints in the snow, was that of June Cicero. She had been strangled to death, and there were bite marks covering what was left of her vagina which had been cut out. Gotcha! The man from the bridge was apprehended at a nearby nursing home. He was identified as Arthur John Shawcross. When asked for his drivers license, he told the police that he did not have one because he had been convicted of manslaughter. Shawcross and his girlfriend Clara Neal were brought to the police station for questioning. After hours of interrogation, Shawcross still maintained that he had nothing to do with any Rochester murders. He did, however, offer up more details about his childhood, his past murders and his experiences in Vietnam. Shocking Admissions There is no definitive answer as to why Shawcross seemed to embellish the stories of what he did to his victims and what had been done to him throughout his childhood. He could have remained silent, yet it seemed he wanted to shock his interrogators, knowing that they could do nothing to him, regardless of how he described his crimes. When discussing the murders of the two children in 1972, he told the detectives that Jack Blake had been bothering him, so he hit him, killing him by mistake. Once the boy was dead, he decided to eat his genitals. He also admitted that he anally raped Karen Ann Hill before strangling her to death. Vietnam Murders While in Vietnam, along with killing 39 men  during combat (which was a proven lie) Shawcross also used the venue to describe in grotesque details  how he murdered, then cooked and ate, two Vietnam women. Family Reactions Shawcross also talked about his childhood, as if using the experience as a way to justify his horrific acts. According to Shawcross, he did not get along with his parents and his mother was domineering and extremely abusive. He also claimed that an aunt sexually molested him when he was 9 years old and that he acted out by sexually molesting his younger sister. Shawcross also said that he had a homosexual relationship at age 11 and experimented with bestiality not long afterward. Shawcross family members strongly denied that he was abused and described his childhood as normal. His sister was equally vehement about never having had a sexual relationship with her brother. As to his aunt sexually abusing him, It was later determined,  that if he had been abused, he somehow blocked out his aunts name because the name that he gave did not belong to any of his real aunts. Released After listening to hours of his self-serving saga, investigators still were unable to get him to admit to any of the Rochester murders. With nothing to hold him on  the police had to let him go, but not before taking his picture. Jo Ann Van Nostrand along with other prostitutes identified the police picture of Shawcross as the same man they called Mike/Mitch. It turned out that he was a regular customer of many of the women on Lyell Avenue. Confessions Shawcross was brought in for questioning a second time. After several hours of interrogation, he still denied having anything to do with the murdered women. It was not until the detectives threatened to bring his wife and his girlfriend Clara in together for questioning  and that they could  be implicated in the murders, did he begin to waver. His first admission that he was involved in the murders was when he told police that Clara had nothing to do with it. Once his involvement was established, the details began to flow. The detectives gave Shawcross a list of 16 women missing or murdered, and he immediately denied having anything to do with five of them. He then confessed to murdering the others. With each victim that he confessed to the killing, he included  what the victim had done to deserve what they got. One victim tried to steal his wallet, another wouldnt be quiet, another made fun of him, and yet another had nearly bitten off his penis.   He also blamed many of the victims for reminding him of his domineering and abusive mother, so much so that once he began to hit them, he couldnt stop. When it came time to discuss June Stott, Shawcross appeared to become melancholy. Apparently, Stott was a friend and had been a guest in his home. He explained to the detectives that the reason he mutilated her body after killing her was a kind favor he extended to her so that she would decompose faster. Reaching Through the Prison Bars A common trait of serial killers is the desire to show they are still in control and can reach through the prison walls and still do damage to those outside.   When it came to Arthur Shawcross, this certainly appeared to be the case, because, throughout the years when interviewed,  his answers to the questions seemed to change depending on who was doing the interviewing. Female interviewers were often subjected to his long descriptions of how much he enjoyed eating the body parts and organs that he had cut out from his victims. Male interviewers often had to listen to his conquests in Vietnam. If he thought he sensed sympathy from the interviewer, he would add more details about how his mother would insert sticks into his anus or offer up specific details into exactly how his aunt took sexual advantage of him when he was just a child. Shawcross was transparent, so much so that the interviewers,  detectives, and doctors that listened to him,  doubted much of what he said when he would describe his childhood  abuse and his enjoyment of cutting up women and  eating body parts. The Trial Shawcross pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. During his trial, his lawyer tried to prove that Shawcross was a victim of multiple personality disorder stemming from his years of being abused as a child. Post-traumatic stress disorder from his year in Vietnam was also anted up as a reason why he went insane and murdered women. The big problem with this defense was that there was no one who backed up his stories. His family completely denied his accusations of abuse. The Army provided proof that Shawcross was never stationed near a jungle and that he never fought in combat, never burned down huts, was never caught behind a firebomb and never went on jungle patrol as he claimed. As to his claims to have killed and devoured two Vietnam women, two psychiatrists that interviewed him agreed that Shawcross changed the story so often that it became unbelievable. Extra Y Chromosome It was discovered that Shawcross had an extra Y chromosome  which some  have suggested (although there is no proof) makes the person more violent. A cyst found on Shawcross right temporal lobe was said to have caused him to have behavioral seizures where he would display animalistic behavior, such as eating the body parts of his victims. In the end, it came down to what the jury believed, and they werent fooled for a moment. After deliberating for just one-half hour, they found him sane and guilty. Shawcross was sentenced to 250 years in prison and received an additional life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Elizabeth Gibson in Wayne County. Death On November 10, 2008, Shawcross died of cardiac arrest after being transferred from the Sullivan Correction Facility to an Albany, New York hospital. He was 63 years old.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Assignment 2 - Essay Example In addition, as the world’s demand continues to rise, a lot still has to be done on mismanagement of some resources. People often take for granted free energy resources like wind, water and solar energy. If they increase utilizing this forms of energy that are renewable, then they would not have a bigger problem in the future. There is a possibility of the world meeting its rising demand for energy if it only used its resources wisely. Furthermore, this speaker adds that part of the world’s energy problem could be solved by having good world governance. By having a good world governance, the world would be avoiding an energy crisis in the future by avoiding some countries from taking all of the available resources for themselves. In relation to Tom Burke in video 1, the planet cannot have shortage of energy and is able to provide energy for its current population and even supply the future population. This can be achieved by using the necessary resources to utilize energy resources that had not been utilized fully, for example, water, wind and solar energy. The world is able to cope with its energy supply only if it would avail the necessary capital, political and technology know how towards increasing its energy production. In accordance to Malcolm Wicks in video 1, in as much as population growth in the western world is decreasing, still energy demand is increasing. As the population becomes more affluent and more educated, there energy demand tends to increase. Therefore, this speaker implies that population increase might be a direct factor on energy demand in some cases. In relation to video 2, Professor Al Bartlett discusses about energy use in relation to population. The video starts with a question posed to him if energy is the world’s number one problem. The speaker on answering twists the question and supports the notion that population is indeed the world’s greatest challenge. He emphasizes that population plays a