Abstract
The author of this paper reviews environmental themes from the following five books: "Dust Bowl" by Donald Worster, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, "Everglades: River of Grass" by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, "Killing Mr. Watson" by Peter Matthiessen, and "River of Lakes" by Bill Belleville. This paper discusses the role that culture has played in environmental issues during the past century.

From the Paper
"Douglas begins her book by describing poetically the area she was so devoted to for over fifty years. "There are no other Everglades in the world, they are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote, never wholly known"(Douglas, 5). She speaks of the enormous horizon, the sweetness of the winds, and the miracle of the light as it pours over the green and brown expanse of saw grass and water. She also details the origin of its name, pointing to the oldest English origin of the word "glade"which comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "glaed" meaning "shining" or "bright" (Douglas, 1997)."

Tags:buffalo, hunting, ecosystem, climate, Dust, Bowl, Donald, Worster, Grapes, Wrath, John, Steinbeck, Everglades, River, of, Grass, Marjory, Stoneman, Douglas, "Killing, Mr., Watson, Peter, Matthiessen, River, Lakes, Bill, Belleville

Abstract
The paper discusses how paper records are costly, cumbersome, easily misplaced and cannot be used for any meaningful decision analysis. The paper shows how electronic medical record (EMR) systems have the potential to provide substantial benefits to physicians, clinical practices and health care organizations. The paper focuses on the EMR installation in Belleville Family Medical Clinic of University of Wisconsin and highlights the costs of setting up the system as well as the security and privacy issues. The paper concludes, however, that the effort and costs are worth it because EMR improves the quality of healthcare provided, which is the primary objective of a healthcare organization.

From the Paper
"Information Technology plays a major role in healthcare. The use of computers and computer networks for record keeping, patient administration and diagnostic medical imaging is widespread in clinics and hospitals. Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the electronic compilation of all patient related data. This may include identification and biographical information, insurance related details, diagnostic information, treatment planning and follow up information.
"The art and science of medicine is practiced within a very information-driven environment and most of the information in a clinical setting is based on patient records and related information (Hunt, 1995). Paper records are bulky and take up space. Filing, retrieval of files and the re-filing of paper records are very labor intensive methods with which to store patient information. Creating backups is a huge problem with paper records. Information sharing is a problem - if a record is checked out for one department another department can't access the chart."

Tags:security, privacy, cost, data, ID, chips