Thursday, October 31, 2019

Seasory Perceptions Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Seasory Perceptions - Term Paper Example The nature has laid down this error free network of neurons in such a way that there is no reason left why we should not believe in the accuracy of our sensory perceptions. (2) The law of size constancy is another reason why sensory information is always correct. Even if the visual angle of the object changes, its size as perceived by our sense of sight always remains the same. Visual angle is the size of that inverted image that is formed on the retina of the eye by the light reflected from the object. This perception of an object size even after a change in its visual angle is accurate enough even in an infant of a few weeks. (3) Human ear is able to perceive sounds that are as deep as 16 cycles per second and as high in pitch as 28,000 cycles per second. â€Å"Some people have "perfect pitch", which is the ability to map a tone precisely on the musical scale without reference to an external standard† (Zamora, 2006). This makes us believe that sensory perception is very accu rate. Factors contributing to the accuracy of sensory data The biggest factor that contributes to the accuracy of the sensory data is Nature itself. Nature has provided man with best and perfect tools like eye for sight, nose for smell, ears for hearing, tongue to taste, and fingers and skin to sense touch. These tools and their senses are so perfect that nobody can dare to challenge the accuracy of these. There is nothing compatible to Nature. Other factors that contribute to the accuracy of sensory data perception involve genetics obviously. Genes tend to pass on traits from one generation to the next. It is seen that individuals are different from each other because of their genetic makeup granted to them by their parents. Some can perceive information in a better way than others. This is because their genetic traits carry such information in them that help those individuals to perceive and think in a better way. Also, the accuracy of sensory data depends upon the correctness of sensory organs too. If there is a fault in the eye like â€Å"certain corneal injuries† (Miller, 2006, p.54), the vision is disturbed. If an ear is faulty, hearing is affected. This is the case with all the senses. Thus, the accuracy of sensory information also depends on the accuracy of the sensory organs. Roles of â€Å"nature† and â€Å"nurture† in the interpretation and evaluation of sensory data Sleeper and Chudler (2007, p.14) assert that â€Å"nature refers to skills humans are born with, and nurture refers to skills humans learn.† Every human being has some inborn or hereditary qualities that are passed over to him through genes; but, there are a lot of other qualities that he learns over time through knowledge and experience. Some researchers support the argument that nature is responsible for the makeup of an individual’s behavioral patterns which help him perceive, interpret and analyze sensory data. Opponents of this approach argue that this interpretation of sensory information has nothing to do with genes because a human being and his sensory perception of knowledge can be modified into whatever kind the nurturer wants him to grow into. We believe that both perspectives are correct. As stated earlier, genes tend to gift a person such traits that help him to use his sensory organs in the best way. Also, a person’s sensory interpretation can be improved through artificial ways like training sessions,

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Chicana feminists movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Chicana feminists movement - Essay Example They were discriminated by the men of their lives including their father, brothers, and husbands. They were stereotyped to perform only the roles of child-bearers and homemakers without any opportunities for educational and professional pursuits. So, Chicana feminism began in 1970s because of the Chicano womens struggle for equality with Chicano men and the need for their prominence in the family setup. Chicana feminist movement was formally initiated in 1971, when about 600 Chicana women met in Houston, Texas for the Mujeres Por La Raza Conference, labeled as first National Chicana Conference. The Comisià ³n Femenil Mexicana Nacional was formed in 1973 and it also played an important catalytic role for Chicana feminism. A number of Chicana feminist groups were formed after the 1971 conference by Chicana women in different parts of the United States. These groups worked for the equality of Chicana women in family, professional, and social life. It also fought for their equal access to education, establishment of childcare centers, reproductive rights, and others However, when viewed from another perspective, the chicana feminist movement was criticized or blamed for tearing certain key values of the Chicana culture, because Chicana feminists were viewed as anti-culture and anti-family. So, the question that arises is: Does the Chicano feminist movement focused more on gender inequalities or cultural

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Online Game Defense Of The Ancients Media Essay

Online Game Defense Of The Ancients Media Essay Nowadays, game are well known by people around the world. Many people play games for many reason. Some of them play games for the sake of entertainment but there are also some people who make game as a work field. Furthermore, games give an activity besides reading a book, sport activities, and hang out. The tremendous popularity of game can be attributed, in part, to characteristic elements of games that fulfill certain societal and personal needs. Some of these elements are real-time interaction goal and stages. Increasing audience and expanding demographic point to the further evolution of video game in their ability to incorporate these elements in way that fulfills players needs. Different game elements appeal differently to people. Culture and society have a major impact on the success of game because of this ability (rabin, 2010, p 55) There are so many games which are play by poeple, it starts with nintendo, playstation, and online game. Online game already spread out over the world, because of the globalization era that use the high technology such as internet. The player of the game, also known as gamers are actually children until adults, and most of them are male. The contunuing intense interest in computer game may be een from a number of factors. The entertainment software association repotted on the popularity of computer games. The average game lplayer was found to be 35 years old and had been playing games for 12 years, furthermore, 40% of game players were found to be female. (tobias and fletcher, 2011. P. 5) One of the online game is DotA ( Defense of the ancient ) the popularity of dota is also well known for gamers in indonesia. The indonesian gamers are basically children and adults. There number is growing over time and will still increase in the next two until five years (www.ligagame.com). Dota is a short for defense of the ancient, this game can be played on-lined and offline with using LAN ( local area network). Dota is strategy game were players can choose sides and heroes. There are two sides in this game, the sentinel and the scrouge. There are 108 choice of heroes that we can choose, it is defided in 57 heroes in sentinel sides and 51 heroes in the scrouge sides, because there are alot choice of heroes, the team can created their own combos and strategy to make a powerfull line ups and beat the opponent. The purpose of this game is to destroy the opponent base. Heroes started in a level 1 and can leveled up until 25 times, hero gain level up during this game by killing oppone nt creature called creep and opponent heros. Hero gained new skill when they leveled up. This game can bey played starting one versus one up to five versus five. Dota was originally developed by map maker named eul. There was a various kind of map dota, the one whose most popular is dota allstars. Guinsoo is the dota allstars map developer, when he was retired, he substituted by icefrog until now Although this came can be played in one versus one mode, but this game can be more interesting and challenging if played in five versus five mode. The player should ncan be cooperate with the team and together create the strategy to win the game. The popularity of DotA has increase over time and got many attention from many people in the world. In June 2008, Michael Walbridge, writing for Gamasutra, stated thet DotA is likely the most popular and most-discussed free. Non-supported game mod in the world. In pointing to the strong community built around the game, Walbridge stated that DotA shows it is much easier for a community game to be maintained by the community, and this is one of the maps greatest strengths (blog dota, 2011,p2) In this paper the writer wants to observe the phenomenon of on-line game, in this case the writer will focus to discuss about the phenomenon game DotA(Defence Of The Ancients) In Sedes Sapientiae senior high school. C. FIELD OF THE STUDY The field of the study is focused on literature, especially Pop culture D. SCOPE OF THE STUDY In this case, the writer used online game Defense of the Ancient all stars (DotA) as his reasearch. Popular culture are the approaches which his choose to know how the popular of this game in Sedes Sapientiae high school. E. PROBLEM FORMULATION The writer has two major problems in this research: What makes DotA popular for students in Sedes Sapiantiae high school? What makes student in Sedes Sapiantiae start to play DotA? F. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY From the problem formulation above, the writer has two objectives to answer that problems formulation: To find the aspects/elements that make DotA is popular in Sedes Sapiantiae To find the reason that makes student play DotA G. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This research is intended to increase the knowledge about popular culture and to discuss and prove the phenomenon of the popularv culture of games Defense of the Ancient in the Sedes Sapiantiae high school student. H. DEFINITION OF TERMS In this reasearch, there arev two terms that need explanation in order to avoid confusion from the readers. Those terms are the words popular culture and on-line game. H. 1 Popular culture Popular culture is the shared knowledge and practices of a specific group a specific time. Because of its commonality, pop culture both reflects and influences the peoples way of life; because it is linked to a specific time and places, pop culture is transitory, subject to change, and often an initiator of change (EKA =salah) An obvious starting point in any attempt to define popular culture is to say that popular culture is simply culture that is widely favoured or well liked by many people (Storey, 2010, p.5) H.2 Online Game According to Gamemile.com/dictionary, online game is a game that can be run from an internet browser and requires the I-net connection. In most cases online games are freeware programs that can be used for an unlimited time and are available for free. H. 3 Phenomenon According to the American Heritage Dictionari Of The English Language, phenomenon is an accuirance, circumstance, or fact that is perceptible by the senses. H. 4 Sedes Sapientiae A senior high school in Semarang that located in Letjen MT. Hariyono street, number 908, peterongan, Semarang. REVIEW OF LITERATURE I.1 History of Game Game is of the popular culture product in the world. The first concept of games was discovered by Beaur since 1949. In 1949, a young engineer named Ralph Baer was given an assignment to build a television set. He was not suppoused to build just any television set, but one thet would be the absolute best of all television. This was not a problem for Baer, but he wanted to go beyond his original assignmet and in corporate some kind of game into the set. He didnt know excatly what kind of game he had in mind, but it didnt really matter because his manager mixed the idea. It would take another 18 years for his idea to become a reality, and by the time there would be other people to share in the glory, like Willy Higinbotham, who dwesigned an interactive tennis game played on an oscilloscoope, and Steve Russell, who programed a rudimentary space game on a DEC PDP-1 mineframe computer. And then there was also nolan bushnell, who played that space game, and dreamed of a time when fairground midweast would be field with games powered by computers. (Herman, Horwitz, Kent, and Miller, 2002. P 1 ) Through the research and some development in game, there was a bunch of variety of game such as : offline game and on-line game. The writer focusing to discuss about on-line game based on Borko Furth in 2008 online game is fairness in online games is concerned with the problem of ansuring that players perceive the game evolution in the same movement, despite different network latencies ( Furth, 2008. P. 2008) I.2 History of DotA One of the online games is dota. Dota concept and its gameplay is adopting a lot from aeon of strife. Aeon of strife also known as AOS, is a modified map that pioneered the concept of players choosing a single hero for the collective objective of destroying the opposing teams base. Defense of the ancient was originally created for warcraft III: Reign of chaos by lead progammer Eul up until the release of warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Eul did not continue the development onto the frozen Throne; and instead, made the map open source before officially shutting down development. DotA all-stars became the most popular version, and it still the most widely plyaed map today. Dota All Stars DotA all-stars is a custom map and it was development from the current version Defense of the Ancientsm or DotA for short, is a modification of warcraft 3 Frozen Throne. The current version that is a modification by the mainstream group of gamers is version 5.84c, also know as DotA Allstars ( Aziz, 2005. P 16) The Guinsoo While the true origins of DotA All-stars still remains in question today, many DotA players and community members attribute the creation of DotA All-Stars with its first mainstream developer, Guinsoo, who built a majority of the systems that make it popular today. While tbhe concept of using single heroes to accomplish an objective had previously existed (See AoS), Guinsoo created a large number of interesting and unique heroes in addition to uniquely fun item- crafting system, much of which still exist today. (Chart of Heroes) Guinsoo is atributtet to creating and running DotA smost well known clan, Clan TDA (Theme DotA All Stars). Some controversy remins to this day regarding the creation of DotA All-Stars wirth avoid players of the original DotA presenting Guinsoo for supposedly stealing the game concept, action scripts, and ideas of the original DotA. Guinsoo, for his part, maintains that the map was created from scratch (besides the map layout and based only spiritually on Euls work. While, the real reason is still in question, there are some rumors linking Guinsoos departure from the DotA community for world of Warcraft. Guinsoos last official version was version 6.01 The Icefrog Upon Guinsoos departurev shortly after the release of version 6.01 on February 28th, 2005, players. Icefrog and Neichus took over development. Neichushas since dropped from view, and Icefrog is now thec primary point for DotA All-Stars development. While the development of new heroes and items have slowed since Guinsoos development, Icefrog is primarily attributed with bug fixes, tweaks, and balances. In DotA there was a complicated game play that contain of job, role in playing game and also building item, what makes interesting. Every game is different. You buy different items, you lane against different opponents, you have different combod, you pick different heroes, you plan different attacks, etc. Variation is important to stay addicted on something. Nobody would want to do same things over and over again. (Rodriguez, 2011. P14) Role of playing game DotA is a strategy game with a bunch of development by many people in case of playing it. In this game there are some role that you must choose and suitable for your team, each role have a different job. There are Five role in playing DotA : Ganker A hero that usually had decent stunt ability, has slow, or disable, is perfect to ganking a hero. Ganker usually ganks with groups, they never gank alone. The ganker job is to mobile and gank any enemy carry (if it is possible). Carry : Sometimes called as a Hitter because their primary job is auto attack. But dont be surprised, not only Agility or Strength heroes that can be carry, intelligence heroes has some few carries like Tinker and Storm Spirit. But they dont do the auto-attack, they cast spam spells, spells, spells, and much spells. The carry job is to farm a lot. Killing, and juggling. Support An hero that helps the team, supports usually have heaking abikities, protection skills, and some supporting abilities. Support usually known as Baby Sitter, they usually laning with a carry, to let them farm meanwhile the support is covering them. Support job is to Let carry farm, Support team, and Mobile. Initiator A unique rolr. Initiator are divided into 2 more roles, they are tanker, and Nuker. Tanker job is to tank everytime war happen and to block creeps Nuker job is to spam every single spell that you can on every war and stay behind when war, the longer you can survive, the more damage you can dealt. So, the main point of initiator is, they are the war heroes. Pusher A hero that has abilities to destroy a waves of creeps in instant, or even destroying a tower in seconds. Pusher job is to mobile pushing and prevent being ganked when pushing. Build up item Playing this game is not always depend on the team, you must support your own hero with a suitable and effective equip. The equipment in this game basically has the function for : improve attack, improve defence, regeneration, supporting aura, and get special ability. Team Work Game This game need a team work. First you playing this game, is hard to blend with your team yet, when you get the chemistry you will enjoy playing this game with your team. Playing with team mates is more addicting than playing alone. J. Method of data collection and analysis J.1 Method of data collection The writer would do library reasearch book, internet, and article that related to the topic. J.2 Participant The studebts of sedes Saptentiae senior high school grade I III J.3 Procudure Firstly the writer make a questionare about the popularity of DotA of studebts in Sedes Sapiantiae senior high school. After thet the writer give it to the students, and after that the writer analyze it, and make the data. J.4 Method of analysis Analysis the game by searching in internet and search the theory in and then Calculate the answer from questionnaire and make the conclusion from that questionnaire.

Friday, October 25, 2019

James Gregory :: essays research papers fc

James Gregory is described as "the greatest scientist associated it St. Andrews". Gregory contributed many diverse consepts and helped spread the new teachings of his time. CHILDHOOD & EDUCATION James Gregory was born in a small town just outside of Aberdeen, called Drmoak, Scotland. When he was little James suffered from quartan fever for a year and a half. Because of the fever he was afflicted with fevers in 72 hour intervals. His mother introduced basic math and geometry at a very young age. Gregory was home schooled untill his fater, a wealthy minister, died when James was about 13 years old. After his father died, his older brother, David, sent him to grammar school in Aberdeed. After finishing grammar school James attended Marischal College, Aberdeen University. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS Shortly after college he began to study optics and the construction of telescopes, and wrote his first book, Optica Promota ^1. In 1663 James went to London where he published Optica Promota, which discussed topics such as lenses, mirrors, reflection and refraction, paralax and transits. Optica Promota also discussed Gregory's most famous invention, the reflective telescope. It later became known and the Gregorian Telescope. However, at the time the telescope was only discussed because the mirror polishers could not polish the mirrors properly, so it was never auctually made untill after Gregory's death. He laso invented the feflective burning mirror. In 1664 James went to Puda, Italy and studied under Stefano degli Angeli in geometry, mechanics, and astronomy. While he was there, the published two more worksVera circuli et hyperbolae in which James showed how to compute logarithms by finding the areas of inscribed parallelograms between a hyperbola and its asymptotes, thus leading t o the term "hyperbolic logarithms" in 1667. ^2 And Geometriae para universalis where he attempted to prove that the (little shape thingy that i cant type ...looks like a n mixed with pi) and e are transcendual, unfortunatly, his arguments contained a subtle error which was published in 1668, right before he left Italy for London. In 1668, he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of London. James was appointed the chair professor of mathematics at the University of St. Andrewsin 1669 where he greatly improved the mathematics department. He bought instruments such as clocks, astrolabes, and an armillary spere, he also planned an observatory. However, the masters of the university began to dislike Gregory's new teachings.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Introduction to Art Principles Essay

Writing about art can come across as something extremely challenging for someone who does not have any previous knowledge about art. A formal analysis is a breakdown of the artistes’ materials and how it is used and making a prediction the meaning of the piece. Besides the basic drawing classes I took in high school, a person like me could probably write a general paper on art but may not be able to put together and analytic essay. In the â€Å"Formal Analysis and Style† chapter of the Barnet book, it teaches you how to write a formal analysis, what formal analysis means, and what you should know about a piece of artwork before writing a one. In the beginning of the chapter, Barnet makes it fairly clear that a formal analysis is not a description of art, simply because of the fact that a description is based on what any person might see, rather than someone who is looking for the actual meaning of the work. The chapter then goes into detail on what you should look for when writing a formal analysis. Style conveys different â€Å"distinguishing characteristics† in artwork. It’s how we can categorize types of art (sculpture, painting) and time periods. Next, Barnet shows the reader how to begin to structure a formal analysis. He states that after analyzing the piece, basic notes, or the scratch outline, should be written. Once your scratch outline is finished, your notes should be organized and a more detailed outline should be formed. Once completed you should begin to write a draft. Barnet stresses the importance of knowing â€Å"what each paragraph says, and what each paragraph does.† Knowing the difference between drawings and paintings, sculptures, and architecture, in books and on the Internet is the last thing Barnet mentions in this chapter. He points out the pros and cons of this form of access to art. In conclusion, I fell like this chapter helped me understand how to properly write a formal analysis. However someone with knowledge could benefit just as much as someone who has no prior knowledge.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Battle of the Somme and Source

How far does Source 3 challenge the impression given in Sources 1 and 2 that the Battle of the Somme had achieved worthwhile objectives? Having analysed all 3 sources, it can be said that source 3 significantly challenges sources 1 and 2 giving an entirely different perspective on the battle of the Somme. Source 1 is an extract from Sir Douglas Haig’s final dispatch, published in March 1919. This source begins to describe the Battle of the Somme as a tremendous victory.Haig claims that â€Å"The three main objectives†¦ had been achieved. † Haig also then begins to describe the three objectives, â€Å"Verdun had been relieved†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"German forces had been held down†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"the enemy’s strength had been considerably worn down†. Haig also claims that as the objectives had been â€Å"achieved† this was enough to â€Å"†¦justify the Somme Battle. † This source was published shortly after the war in 1919, b ut was a few years after the Battle of the Somme allowing some time for the truth about the events of the battle to emerge.The source has some limitations as it was an extract from Haig’s own writing, who was Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces therefore the source may be bias towards Britain and their success in the battle. The purpose of the source was to inform people of Haig’s perception of the battle and due to this being one person’s view, the accuracy of the source cannot be verified. Source 2 is extract from a book published in 1929 by Charles Carrington who was a Junior Officer during the time of the Battle.Similar to source 1, this source was written by someone who had authority in the armed forces, and describes the Battle of the Somme as another â€Å"moral† booster for the British Army. The author of the source states there was a â€Å"definite and growing sense of superiority over the enemy† and by the use of the word â€Å"defi nite† the use of facts is now apparent. In contrast, later on in the source Carrington states â€Å"we were quite sure at the time that we had got the Germans beaten†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and by using the phrase â€Å"quite sure† it is now apparent that facts are no longer the basis of this source.Unlike source 1 where Haig describes the Somme Battle as a complete victory, Carrington quickly states that â€Å"we did not win a decisive victory† but is quick to reverse this by stating â€Å"†¦next spring we would deliver the knock-out blow† showing that he feels the end of the war is near. This source was published many years after the war, but it was published by someone who was there, similar to source 1.Also similar to source 1, this source is the view of someone with authority and someone with a high ranking position within the armed forces therefore their opinion may be bias towards the Somme and the British Army. Source 3 is part of an interview with Cor poral W. H. Shaw in the 1960s where Shaw is recalling the first day of the Battle. Already this source differs to sources 1 and 2 as it is no longer an extract but part of an interview. Shaw starts of the source with â€Å"we did not get anywhere, we never moved from the line, hardly†.This is different to source 1 where Haig claims â€Å"Verdun had been relieved†. Shaw states that â€Å"our men were just falling back into our trenches† which significantly differs to Carrington’s statement that â€Å"we had got the Germans beaten†. Shaw claims that the events of the some were â€Å"sheer bloody murder† and that â€Å"whatever was gained it wasn’t worth the price the men had to pay† which is in contrast with source 1 where Haig claims that the results of the Somme where â€Å"sufficient to justify† the battle.This purpose of this source is to spread light on the Somme battle and release the truth about the event. Because t his source was by a member of the British Forces and who of which is supplying eyewitness accounts of the events at the front line, this source can be classes as highly reliable. Due to the date of the source, it can be argued that Shaw’s memory may be slightly skewed but due to the lack of censorship at this time compared to during the time of the war, Shaw can now freely speak about the events of the Somme.Throughout all 3 sources it is noticeable that soldiers and officers of a higher rank are more likely to support the Battle of the Somme and argue that it achieved its objectives. Throughout sources 1 and 2, Officer Carrington and General Haig are extremely supportive of the Somme battle. This is demonstrated by Haig’s claims of â€Å"the three main objectives†¦ had been achieved† and Carrington’s view that â€Å"we had got the Germans beaten†.However, neither of these men were likely to have engaged in any front line combat within the tre nches during the Battle of the Somme. This is why source 3 proves very useful as an account of the first day at the Somme. Shaw describes the battle as â€Å"sheer bloody murder† and crushes Carrington’s claims of â€Å"superiority† with accounts such as â€Å"men were just falling back into the trench†. Therefore it can be argued that Source 3 significantly challenges the view given in sources 1 and 2 that the Battle of the Somme achieved its worthwhile objectives.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Republican Women in the US Senate 2017â€2019

Republican Women in the US Senate 2017–2019 Five women represent Republicans as senators in the 115th Congress, running from 2017 through 2019. The number is one fewer than for the previous Congress as New Hampshires Kelly Ayotte lost re-election by only about 1,000 votes. Alaska: Lisa Murkowski First Elected: 2004 (Appointed in 2002 to fill a vacancy)Next Election: 2022 Lisa Murkowski is a moderate Republican from Alaska with a roller-coaster history. In 2002, she was appointed to the seat by her father, Frank Murkowski, who vacated it after being elected Governor. This move was viewed unfavorably by the public and she barely won her first full term in 2004. She won the seat by just 3 points on the same day George W. Bush won the state by more than 25 points. After Sarah Palin routed her father in the 2006 Gubernatorial primary, Palin and conservatives backed Joe Miller in 2010. Though Miller beat Murkowski in the primary, she launched a surprisingly successful write-in campaign and ended up winning a close three-way race. Iowa: Joni Ernst First Elected: 2014Next Election: 2020 Joni Ernst. Getty Images   Joni Ernst was the surprise candidate of the 2014 election cycle as she handily won the US Senate seat vacated by long-serving Democrat Tom Harkin. Democrat Bruce Braley was supposed to be the easy winner, but Ernst played to her Iowa roots and got off to a fast start after running a television spot comparing the castration of pigs to cutting pork in Washington. Ernst is a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard and had served in the Iowa State Senate since 2011. She won her US Senate seat in 2014 by 8.5 points. Maine: Susan Collins First Elected: 1996Next Election: 2020 Susan Collins is a moderate Republican from the Northeast, one of the few remaining as liberal Democrats have steadily increased their hold in the region. She is socially liberal and center-right on economic issues and she was a strong advocate for small businesses prior to her career in the US Senate. Collins is easily the most popular figure in the state and has seen her vote share increase in every election since 1996 when she won with just 49 percent of the vote. In 2002, she won with 58 percent of the vote, followed by 62 percent in 2012, then 68 percent in 2014. In 2020, she will be 67 years old and Republicans hope she stays around a bit longer. Nebraska: Deb Fischer First Elected: 2012Next Election: 2018 Deb Fischer represented one of the few highlights in the 2012 election for both conservatives and the Republican Party. She was not expected to be a contender in the GOP primary and was heavily outspent by two higher-profile Republicans in the state. Near the end of the primary campaign, Fischer received the endorsement of Sarah Palin and subsequently surged in the polls, landing a surprise win in the primary. Democrats saw this as an opening for former US Senator Bob Kerrey, who held the seat as recently until 2001. But it wasnt meant to be for the Democrats, and she defeated him in the general election by a landslide. Fischer is a rancher by trade and served in the state legislature since 2004. Senators Deb Fischer (lower center) and Shelley Moore Capito (above) celebrate passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Getty Images West Virginia: Shelley Moore Capito First Elected: 2014Next Election: 2020 Shelley Moore Capito served seven terms in the US House of Representatives before deciding on a run for the US Senate. At the time, five-term Democratic incumbent Jay Rockefeller had not yet announced his plans. He opted for retirement rather than face the first real challenge of his career in more than two decades. Capito easily won both the Republican primary and the general election, becoming the first woman elected to the US Senate in West Virginia history. She also won a Senate seat for the GOP for the first time since the 1950s. Capito is a moderate Republican, but a solid upgrade from the 50-plus year drought for conservatives in the state.