Famous Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Famous Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez - Essay Example While Rodriguez today has achieved tremendous critical acclaim this was not always the case. Rodriguez started from humble beginnings and in-large part carved the path for his own success. This essay examines Chicano filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Robert Rodriguez is Chicano American, with both of his parents -- Rebecca Villegas and Cecilio G. Rodrà ­guez – being of Mexican descent. While many people struggle to discover their path in life, from a young age Robert Rodriguez knew he was interested in artistic production. In his autobiography, Rodriguez indicates that â€Å"I associate my earliest memories with the movie theatre† (Rodriguez, p. 1). Here there is the recognition that Rodriguez formative youth was occupied by his life at the movie theatre. One considers the understanding that oftentimes foreign languages are difficult to learn late in life. Rodriguez early youth obsession with the cinema seems to have profoundly affected his cognitive development. Rodriguez indicates that his mother took him to the Olmos Theatre in San Antonio and he would watch classic films (Rodriguez, p. 1). While many mothers allow encouraging their children to read books, Rodriguez mother was unique in that she encouraged the future filmmaker to watch these classic films. Rodriguez’ ability to watch classic films was a great benefit for the filmmakers, as the Olmos Theatre was a rare art-house theatre. Rodriguez access to these films then further shaped his development as a filmmaker. Rodriguez first great break as a filmmaker came after he filmed the short ‘Bedhead’. This short film featured a girl and her brother. The film had a very simple plot, with the boy having disarranged hair. The boy’s disheveled hair causes him to come into a number of conflicts with his sister, as her fastidious behavior is at odds with the boy’s awkward appearance.

The war on Polio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The war on Polio - Essay Example President Roosevelt thereby established the Warm Springs Foundation; a polio hydrotherapy center. The organization grew rapidly since it received much support and funding from several sectors. At the time of Roosevelt’s death in 1945, the foundation had already been transformed into the National Foundation which had become a strong organization dealing with voluntary health issues and funding polio research in the United States. In 1948, a significant discovery was made in the United States in relation to the fight against polio. The discovery was made by John Enders with a team of scientists from Harvard University. It was discovered that the virus which caused polio could be cultivated in the non-nervous tissues of the body. This important breakthrough led to the subsequent manufacture of the Polio vaccine. Jonas Salk took a keen interest in this realization and created the formalin-inactive virus that became known as the Salk’s vaccine. Before its release into the ma rket, the vaccine underwent very intensive trials and authorizations in a bid to ensure that it could safely and effectively immunize people against the polio virus. Even though other vaccines became accepted for use against the Polio virus, the Salk vaccine was largely adopted in the United States in the fight against the disease. For instance, Albert Sabin came up with an Oral Poliovirus Vaccine (OPV) in 1948 which was extensively used across the world throughout the next two decades. The OPV eventually ousted Salk’s IPV as the choice vaccine in the United States. This was basically out of the fact that OPV was administered orally and not through injection. Secondly, OPV used a powerful mechanism called â€Å"herd immunity† which could effectively provide immunity to unvaccinated people living near those already vaccinated. Even though the challenge of polio was much addressed in the United States, there was still the danger of the virus since frequent epidemics were a common occurrence in many parts of North Africa and Europe in the post-World War II days. In the mid-1950s the two vaccines effectively helped in combating the menace hitherto realized as a result of the polio virus (Orr 78). IPV and OPV have eradicated most cases of polio from several regions across the world. It must be admitted that the fight against polio is one of the most successful battles ever launched in the history of medicine and healthcare. In the developed world like the United States, it can effectively be stated that polio is no longer a great challenge compared to some of the emerging healthcare issues. However in certain parts of the world, polio is still a major challenge given the remoteness of these areas which limits their accessibility to the polio vaccines. In any case, the few cases of polio normally reported in the United States are basically imported from the developing world where the disease could still be a challenge. The war against polio might not h ave been a really smooth affair throughout the long timeframe. Many challenges always characterized the undertaking from the onset of the research on the vaccines. These challenges range from the post-polio syndrome to the financial aspects in dealing with the challenge in the developing world. Nevertheless, amid all these limitations, it can be well argued that the research