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Parenting’s Skills, Values and Styles Essay
Subtopic 1: Parenting Skills and Their Development
Description of Concrete Experience : I have found parenting to be a very tasking job yet important responsibility that one has in a lifetime. Unfortunately there is no formal education to guide me in parenting; all I have is a handful of literature materials on the subject. I mostly rely on the experience I received from my parents. I usually do either what they did to me or do what I felt was supposed to be done based on my personal opinion
Reflection: As a parent, rather a mother of two children it has not been an easy task trying to bring them up in the most appropriate way. There is no parenting class offered in school and the guidance given in the hospital before birth mainly focuses on the birth process. No one gives a very comprehensive guideline on how to bring up children until they become responsible adults. Most people muddle along until they make it.
As a single parent my main concern has been to try the much I can to understand my children’s behavior and give them the most appropriate guidance. Knowing that they will at one point become adolescent, I have made efforts to try and get any relevant form of training that will assist me in guiding them when the right time comes. Under the training, I learnt the different reactions of my children to people as well as different events.
Generalization/Principles/Theories : Psychologists have made efforts to research and come up with recommendation on the best parenting tactics. Parents might therefore acquire the parenting skills by going for the appropriate training.
Since the death for my husband on April 2003, it has been very challenging to parent my children singlehandedly. My children lack a father figure and this has affected them in a way.
Psychologists have recommended the best way to ensure that your children are brought up to become responsible adults. It is quite common for children raised by single parents to be seriously affected and if not well guided they might start indulging in unacceptable acts like substance abuse.
Testing and Application : I have sought help from psychologists under the family therapy program as well as the psychotherapy and this has had a great impact in helping me develop better parenting skills.
I can now understand my two children and avoid practices that are unhealthy. I have been able to adapt the best practices when it comes to matters like administering disciplinary measures to them as well as helping them avoid bad habits.
Some of the tactics I use include taking some of their privileges away, for instance, I do this through denying my son the chance to watch television, having fun at the play station, hanging out with his friends, going for skating as well as doing some spanking among other forms of instilling discipline.
For my daughter on the other hand, I do it by basically making sure that she does not get her privileges for instance, by taking away her cell phone as well as denying her the chance to watch television.
Subtopic 2: Parental Values and Attitudes That Accompany Stages in the Development of the Child
Description of Concrete Experience : I learnt that in the early stages of development, the child is in most cases preoccupied with acquisition of knowledge and values and this mainly comes from the environment from which the child brought up. This means my children behave according to the attitude that me as the parent portrays towards them.
If I have a negative attitude towards my children, they tend to behave badly because of the notion that I do not show love to them. Name calling is also a problem. When a parent constantly refers to disobedient child as naughty, there are high chances that the children will grow perceiving themselves as naughty.
This is widely known as the self fulfilling prophesies. In the same way, I have learnt to always have a positive perception towards my children. I believe that they are growing up with a better perception of themselves which is that they are good people expected to behave well.
Reflection : This tactic has worked for me. I always want my children to have a positive outlook towards life and have a high self esteem.
I therefore for focus on their positive aspects and encourage them to develop positive traits instead of focusing on their shortfalls or how bad they are. I correct them by showing them the right values that I want them to acquire. I do my best to act as a role model to them hence showing them the right path to follow.
One cannot for instance expect the child to be hard working if he/she is not providing the best example for being hard working. Children basically acquire their values from the parents whether consciously or unconsciously. If the parent is a drunkard, the child is most likely to become one as that is the value that the child will have acquired.
Generalization/Principles/Theories : the Information Processing Theory of Cognitive Development explains that a child’s brain can be compared to the computer. This translates to mean that the brain accepts input and uses the same information to process the output.
The child will therefore perceive and understand issues according to the input acquired particularly from those parenting them. Whatever occurs in the physical or the social environment of the child greatly influence their expectations or understanding about life issues.
Their social, cultural or even cultural environment greatly influences their development and this is basically acquired from the adults around them. As a mother, I have a very significant role in my children’s cognitive development because they depend on what I teach them or what they learn from my conduct to develop they behavior.
Testing and Application : my children usually prefer to emulate me and other adults as they develop their own personality. In some cases, my children may play the roles of parents in their games and this allows them take responsibilities in a simulated setting making decisions and acting like responsible grown-ups.
This just shows the role that parenting plays in the cognitive development of a child. Children may for instance play games that mimic proper behavioral conduct or routine activities of those values instilled in them in the earlier years.
Children acquire logical reasoning at an early age; they are able to use deductive methods of reasoning to come up with conclusions. Such deductions are in most cases acquired from their environments. Children born in conservative families, cultures or believe systems tend to be conservative. In most cases they stick to the principles and beliefs installed in them and they are very reluctant to act or go against those beliefs.
Subtopic 3: Methods of Effective Guidance
Description of Concrete Experience: as a parent I strife to give effective guidance to my children. I feel that am obliged to use techniques that will minimize conflict between me and them children. In this endeavor punishment and discipline are two different things.
My method of guidance is developmentally appropriate because I now understand what my children want what I expect from them. A consider my children as very important members of my family. As such they need to be loved and I take up this duty to ensure better development. Just like any other child I understand that children need my love and need to know they are loved. I give them unconditional love.
As a single parent, I try to see to it that the children feel my love as they have no one else to look to when it comes to parental love. Even while implementing the disciplinary measures, I make them understand that it is for their own good as I want them to become responsible people.
Reflection : As a parent of a teenage son, it is never easy to give the appropriate guidance whenever the child has made a mistake. Most adolescents become rowdy and they may be unwilling to cooperate in different ways.
Punishing my son sometimes draws him away and he distances himself and hence making it even more difficult for me to give the needed guidance. In such cases, disciplining the child might be of greater significance than administering punishment.
The best way of fostering discipline for me has been to ensure effective communication and openness with the child and talking to him/her about the issue at hand. The method is effective and it can works for children of different ages. In most cases the results are usually positive. In fact, the child is able to contribute to the solution to his/her own problem.
Generalization/Principles/Theories: It is always good to understand the development stage a child is going through. It could be more harmful when I view my child as a failure or a letdown when it comes to the behavior. I understand that my children are still in the age bracket of learning behavior that can be termed as acceptable. As far as I see, the best guidance approach is preventive rather than curative.
This makes me to be sensitive about the feeling of my children and I respect their feelings and address bad behavioral aspects. I always seek establish the reason behind certain behaviors of my children must be established. As a parent I have developed a relationship that is supportive with my children so as to foster the guidance.
Testing and Application: there are some standard guidance approaches that are very beneficial in ensuring that children attain better self control and respect for other people.
As a parent, I have acted as a role model to my children and my zeal to learn better parenting skills has also paid off well as I have managed to keep my children obedient. They always feel loved and accepted as they are and this has helped be foster their self-concept.
I have always given them option that I know I can be able to abide by myself. I also give realistic options and sensible repercussions for defiance. Considering that some behavior come because of the environment in which people grow, I have adopted an approach that constantly changes the environment to avoid certain bad behaviors that may develop.
Subtopic 4: The Role of Discipline: Compare and Contrast Discipline with Punishment
Description of Concrete Experience: Discipline helps children to adopt acceptable ways or habits and it entails teaching good behavior and rebuking bad behavior. Punishment on the other hand is reprimanding bad behavior with aim of preventing such behavior in future or deterrence of unacceptable conduct.
It’s often a parent’s way of reacting to anger. It is a hurtful act that helps to prevent the child from committing the mistake although this is short lived. I know that punishment does not give any guidance to the children but could precipitate into unhealthy relationship between the parent and the child. Punishment is not the best option for in trying to correct my children.
My children need to learn appropriate behavior in a positive way and punishment is just a short-lived remedy to the problem of wrongdoing. Children who are punished may in the long run become very different people as compared to those disciplined.
Reflection : Discipline plays a very significant role in a child’s development. It is meaningful to a child as it enables him/her to rectify the mistake and points to the right thing to do. The child feels appreciated and he/she becomes part of the solution to the problem at hand.
Punishment on the other hand does not show the child what to do. The child is left to feel that he/she is bad. It might in fact have nothing to do with the mistake. It does not make sense to the child.
Generalization/Principles/Theories: In disciplining, I take the position of a role model hence a guide to my children by being a good example to them. In punishment however, I am the judge over the misconduct and I pass the judgment to them by inflicting pain like grounding them, denying them television, taking away their computer games, telephone and for my son sometimes spanking. After one is disciplined, the person feels motivated while punishment results in the demoralization of the subject.
Testing and Application : Punishment might be administered by inflicting pain to the offender or denying them something and this is usually effective because children attach so much value to things like TV and computer games.
However, the only problem is that it may leave negative feeling that as a parent I do not love them 100%, its therefore a great challenge trying to let them know that I punish them because I love them.
In my case for instance, I use both denying of privileges as well as spanking while trying to correct my children’s behavior and they change their behavior and even ask for forgiveness. Whenever the children fail to comply by the discipline I offer, then they become liable for some punishment.
I use both discipline and punishment to ensure that my children will grow to become responsible members of the society. My discipline approach encompasses training and imparting proper knowledge while punishment is mainly inflicting pain, emotional and physical.
Subtopic 5: Constructive and Destructive Elements in Parenting Styles
Description of Concrete Experience: Parenting can be both constructive as well as destructive. Those elements of parenting that are constructive should be encouraged while the destructive ones should be discouraged.
Some of the constructive ones might include; building a good rapport between the children and the parent, reinforcing the desired behavior and letting the children understand the consequences of bad behavior. Punishment is just one of the destructive parenting elements. Here pain or agony is inflicted to the child so as to force them to stop a negative behavior. It might be in form or corporal punishment or verbal reprimand.
Reflection: Discipline coupled with guidance tends to be very beneficial when reinforcing good behavior and this is precisely much of what I use.
Many people know that parents must act as role models so as to instill the desired values into their children. Reprimands if not well used or targeted at a given character might just result in reinforcing the negative character as it gives the child the attention.
In some cases the child might feel slandered and develop a negative attitude. This is the reason why I show a lot of affection to KA and ZA and make use positive reinforcements so as to encourage positive behavior rather than punitive measures. A good relationship makes my children feel more secure and therefore are always willing to comply with my parenting manipulation of their behavior.
Generalization/Principles/Theories: Authoritarian Parenting style is based strict rules and being in charge. The parents using this strategy seek to take total control of all the aspects of their children’s lives. Parent hence institute stringent rules, they are inflexible, unbending and strict. Such parent can be said to use ‘iron rod’ in ruling their children.
Defiance of the rules leads to punishment and the relationship between the parents and the children lacks warmth and affection. Children cannot develop ability to think well as parents do not explain reason behind the rules and they have problems of expressing themselves.
The permissive parenting style is the approach where parents are more loving and the parents do not strive to take control but allow their children to be in charge of their behavior. Parents do not usually institute a lot of rules and even the few that ate set are often lenient.
Parents require their children to develop critical thinking skills to know that bad behavior is harmful to self and others. Children are not often punished because parents fear that they may cause harm or the children would be offended and develop negative attitudes towards them. These parents are kind and loving but problem could escalate when children’s behavior becomes more rebellious requiring strong reprimand.
The democratic parenting styles employ a model that seems to be having permissive and authoritarian attributes. Democratic parents only enforce rules they deem very necessary and are also liberal in dealing with situations. These parents are loving and firm in their stance and are able to strike a good balance between high and low expectations.
This style allows parents and children to work together towards common goals and consequently, the children will grow to love their parents and revere their guidance. Children will grow to become more responsible and this is why I have adopted this parenting style.
Testing and Application : as a parent I have been more consistent as this reduces resistance on the side of my children. My parenting style has developed a harmonious relationship between me as a parent and my two children.
Consequently I often get positive results at the end. The parent needs to be flexible and be willing to listen and negotiate with the child especially if he/she is an adolescent. This reduces resistance and the child feels appreciated hence developing positive judgment. The parent needs to set behavior limits.
The parent must be ready to reward positive or desirable behavior and help the child in developing self discipline. Eliminating negative behavior without reinforcing positive ones might not be that effective. The parent might also deny the child some privileges like taking the phone from the child, denying the child driving privileges, not allowing them to go out with their friends among other strategies.
Subtopic 6: The Challenges to Responsible and Effective Parenting Presented By Contemporary Society
Description of Concrete Experience: The situation in which the society is in today has brought a lot of challenges to parenting. These challenges are increasing becoming more prevalent because of the characteristics of the society as being sophistication. As long as parenting is in the realm of the society, its implication can hence be overlooked. Accordingly, the societal challenges of parenting greatly vary based on individual. Having the knowledge of these challenges have made me better prepared to seek for means or reacting adequately as to be a good parent.
Parenting effectively in the contemporary society is a very challenging task. Most people have drifted away from the ancient ways of parenting. Today’s children are exposed to all forms of media which tends to influence their moral perceptions. They are also prone to the peer pressure and drug abuse. It is therefore not an easy task to instill discipline or good morals to these children.
Reflection : Today’s parents are expected to work so as to carter for their families. They therefore spend most of their time at the workplace and have very little time with the children. It seems as though most of the children today interact more with technology than with their parents.
Children therefore lack role models and they tend to emulate the celebrities. The children today mature faster and become sexually active at a very early age and they are likely to indulge in sexual activities even before their right time comes.
The influence of the society is the main challenge in that as a parent I have been forced to put into considerations the developing norms of the society like allowing my children access to internet and their privacy. Basically I seek to ensure that as much as I try to uphold social and moral rules, I do not end up exposing my children to negative social influence. As such I encourage religious and moral uprightness.
Generalization/Principles/Theories : a major challenge that parents face is having difficult children. These are the type of children who seem to be very hard to control or offer guidance to. This can spark violence as parents seek to take drastic actions to correct their children. As a parent, I seek to do this job with love and temperament and natural understanding.
In the contemporary world, teenage parenting is very taxing because the teenagers are ambitious and exposed to too much information because of the societal sophistication in information technology.
This involves a lot of maturity and I strive to warn my teenage son to be careful on what he watches, reads, and the friends he keep. I have made my children know that my role is to shape their future and not jeopardize their wellbeing.
Because of job demands, I have sometimes failed to attend to what my children do during the day when am not around but I am confident that they would not misbehave on such grounds. I work hard do all the things I deem necessary for my children and I strife to spend much time with them as possible.
Testing and Application : as a single parent, the contemporary society puts much pressure on an individual because naturally a child needs to have a mother and a father. This is the most prevalent challenge in parenting today because the number of signal parent is increasing and is caused by various reasons.
Children brought up by signal parent are thought to be spoilt and irresponsible because of the imbalance of parenting during their upbringing. I understand the impact of teenage behaviors including peer influence, risk of early sexual behavior and risk of drug abuse.
As a parent I learn to stay with my children to help unlearn whatever bad habits they picked from friends or other bad influencers. I use the knowledge of the contemporary challenges to help me finds the best ways of responding properly to these challenges.
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Peeping Tom: The Shame of Being a Voyeur Essay
Although since the times immemorial people gave been struggling for a private life of their own, where no one would dare interfere, people have always felt the urge to take a look at the way the others live. What this phenomenon is derived from is a mystery now. People watch each other to gain the necessary information, and casting a glance plays an important part in the process of socializing. Thus, very close watching a person may be used as a substitution for communication.
However, it is impossible to trace the origins of all psychological twists that a man can possess – or, should I say, that repossess a man. Some of the modern psychologists say that this disorder is the result of the mankind development, with all its abnormalities developing just as quickly as its progress.
It seems to me that the problem has much deeper routs and that it emerged as soon as the mankind started its development. But still the scale of the problem has turned tremendous only in the twentieth century.
The motives of a man behaving in this very way can be explained rather easily, though. As Comer defines it,
Yielding voyeurism and assertive exhibitionism are constantly molding the ideas and modes of behavior of a civilized man. The voyeurism is secret, but the secrecy is a matter of psychological orientation and does not mean that the men must remain in ignorance of their feelings. (167)
As we can see the problem exposed is a double-sided sword. While voyeurism remains a psychical disorder, it can shape into something that can be considered a minor twist, just weirdness or a fancy passion. In this respect, the disorder can inflame one’s unstable mind and voyeurs can pose a certain threat to the society, as well as to themselves.
It is important to bear in mind as well that the phenomenon in question can take two basic shapes. One of them means that the voyeur remains hidden and the victims know nothing about his presence, which is covert scopophilia. The other idea is that the people who are being observed are perfectly aware of this fact and they take it as nothing out of the ordinary. Psychologists call it collusive scopophilia. The latter brings us close to another psychical phenomenon which is called exhibitionism, but that is quite another problem.
The aim that a voyeur pursuits is still a mystery. Is it the fear that a voyeur wants to see? Or does he expect the victim to stay unaware of his presence and his intentions? The problem is quite obscure, and the questions remain unsolved. However, it is quite understood that the chief goal of a perverted man is to get the pleasure he wants, so the clue to voyeurism as a psychological phenomenon might be utter egoism and even egocentrism.
It should be also born in mind that the border between exhibition as a psychical disorder and a normal situation can be rather thin. Thus, for example, a situation when a baby is looking at the mother’s breast is not to be viewed as abnormal.
The Feudist topic suggests that the roots of the problem were the result of a child brought up in a specific way that contributed to the development of the complex. Once being traumatized, perhaps, by the experience of being the victim of this very psychological disorder, a child can turn into a man with explicit voyeuristic makings.
However, the topic suggests that there would be more of assumptions than of the stable theories and the solid opinions of prominent psychiatrists. Even doctors themselves admit that psychiatry is a terra incognita to the modern science.
Considering the movie Peeping Tom, I would say that the problem of voyeurism have been increased several times here.
First, as the action in The Peeping Tom unwinds, it becomes clear that the leading character, Marx, has been abused in his childhood by his father, just the very way he would be treating his victims in future.
Then, there is the man himself who watches people’s private lives and takes his share of pleasure about that. This is the most obvious and the most intriguing part of the pattern, and the only one that audience focuses their attention on. The movie presumes that Marx with all his crimes must be in the limelight, and, actually, this is where the aims of Marx and the filmmaker coincide. Since most voyeurs want to know for sure that the victim is aware of their criminal actions, this is the pleasure for the former to know that the victim feels fear, and trembles in the anticipation of something dreadful happen.
And still there is the third aspect of voyeurism in the movie that usually escapes people’s mind. This is the voyeurism of the audience. According ton the psychological research, watching movies can be considered as a soft form of voyeurism, the psychological disorder expressed in such a small amount that it could be counted as normal. It is much like a game where the spectator puts on a mask of a criminal and gets a chance to be bad and release his or her psychological problems, not hurting the others. In this case TV can be considered as a social pill or, I would rather say, a social arrester.
A modern psycho-movie of today, the film shot in the distant 60ies has outrun the epoch. That determined the critics’ protests and indignant about the cruelty jumping out from the TV-screen and the movie was banned for long. Until today, the movie Peeping Tom has been mistreated and considered the most brutal and inhumane movie ever filmed. Like every horror film, it does make an impression of a misanthrope filming it, but the social problems it has raised makes for the violence showed in the movie in full.
The modern film critics consider that Peeping Tom has changed the concept of the horror film and has filled it with the depth one could never suspect the genre to possess. As Tudor puts it,
The first and the most obvious contrast with the tradition is to be found in the relative naturalism of both films [ The Peeping Tom and Psycho] – relative, that is, to the prevailing melodramatic idiom. (193)
The thing that has to be emphasized is that the film is not a movie in action, but the movie that has a lot to do with a documentary describing Marx’s life, which makes it even more realistic and close to the life situation, which makes the audience believe that what they see might actually be true.
The prevailing tone is a kind of documentary, candid camera if not exactly a camera verite . Peeping Tom, too, for all Powell’s characteristic dependence on stylized color, is naturalistic compared to the excess of, say, The Fall of the House of Usher: the film which opens with Marx’s viewfinder perspective on a prostitute victim as he stalks he, and continues in a similar vein of film-within-film retrograde (Tudor 193).
That makes the problem viewed in the film even more explicit, absolutely naked to the audience. And the latter involuntarily becomes a part of Marx, practically a voyeur, with the victim who’s every trace they follow.
Actually, these are not the usual people that Marx chooses. He picks a prostitute to kill and to fix her dying horror, the expression of fear in her glazing eyes, for no one cares about her, and no one is going to look for her as she disappears, and because the society does not consider that a prostitute is someone people should care about.
His next victim is a model, then comes an actress. There is something in common about the three women, namely their professions. All of them are subjected to being peeped at, and each of them has a certain fleur of exhibitionism about their jobs.
It is also very important that Marx takes the camera with him to fix the process. First, the camera substitutes the audience that Marx needs, it is a kind of an “eye” that watches him killing the women. Then, the camera makes it possible to be reviewed and replayed for the murderer. Why is it so important for him that he could watch the action once again? Is it the cruel pleasure to watch his victim suffering in his deadly grasp, or is there more than meets the eye about the strange idea of recording the show?
Actually, there is. As Freud would say, this is the explicit case of the murderer who has become such due to the problems he used to have when he was a child. Like a child who has done something bad, Marx uses the camera as the way to pretend there was no murder, make the crime unreal and turn the things the way they used to be. The question is whether he really wanted to kill all these women, and the answer would probably be ‘no”. All that he wanted was to see his power over these women, prove his superiority and satisfy his need for the pleasure the way he could. Unfortunately, the two aims did not mix well.
As Kring says,
A true voyeur, almost always a man, does not find it particularly exciting to watch a woman who is undressing for his special benefit. The element of risk seems important, for the voyeur is excited by the anticipation of how the woman would react if she knew he was watching. (241)
This is where the problem of crime and punishment comes. A true voyeur is actually willing to be caught red-handed, for he suspects that his behaviour is anti-social and he feels that he must be penalized for that. Marx is being driven by the same urge, and this is what makes him leave a physical evidence of what he has done, the cruel films that he has created.
In terms of the films, Marx does not associate himself fully with the filmmaker. In this case he wants to stay clear, and it is not him who is a cruel and cool,-blooded monster. He turns the camera into a spectator and a filmmaker, and he lays all the blame on it to get himself clear in front of his own eyes.
His personality is torn in two, and that makes people both hate him and feel sorry for him. He is a monster, but that is something that does not depend on him; he is, so to say, “programmed” to make crimes until his bloodthirsty nature hushes down and he stops ruining people’s lives. It is him who is to be considered as the victim in the first line, and his destiny is much more awful than of those whom he has killed, for he has to live with the awful secret and wear the disguise of an ordinary man, still feeling deep inside that he is not a human being, but a cruel bloodthirsty beast that kills for pleasure. That is far worse than being dead, after all.
He is a monster, that’s right. But those who have stirred the cruel instincts that have been brewing inside him and caused them to rise are twice as monsters. This is where the idea of the parental relationships that Powell has explored is stated. Parents are a model for a child to follow, a kind of gods in the child’s vision, and their actions are what will be used by the kid as the basis for his future relationships with the world. If the family members act unfair or cruel, the child may also do so as he or she grows up. That is the compensation law.
This was one of the points which drew the critics and the public to despise the film. It was a blasphemous idea to think that parents can do any harm to a child.
The idea of sanity and insanity opposed to each other is what the whole film is shot through. It is stressed even by the environment and the surroundings. The dark and gloomy place where the evil can reside is what Marx’s lair is, and it creates the atmosphere of something petrifying and at the same time pathetic, reprinting Marx’s soul and his childish experience of how violent the world can be.
Norm is something that can hardly exist, considering the controversies of a human nature. All people are said to have something extraordinary about their psychological state, and everyone has a certain degree of a psychological disorder. The whole question is about how big the degree is. In case it does not exceed the normal doze, everything is all right. The thing that people have to live with is that there are no absolutely sane people in the world. With all our phobias, neuroses and complexes we are all that people make. It is all counted as normal as long as these disorders do not disturb the people around.
However, there is another thesis that collides with the previous one. It means that a person that is known as completely sane and reasonable, who makes a loving parent and a perfect employee, a model for everyone to follow and a decent citizen of the state, can be a werewolf who turns into a violent beats in the night. The urge to destroy and to hurt can be hidden under such a brilliant disguise that it may take only a professional psychologist to figure out whether a man is sane or not.
Unfortunately, the modern society still has to face the same problems once again.
The problem of voyeurism has been examined perfectly. It has made people think about the voyeurism as a problem that has to be dealt with. Powell tried to make the society face the real facts, but in 1960ies people simply refused to do it.
Ostrich policy made them claim the film as dangerous and posing a threat to the society, causing violence and pushing people‘s thoughts in the unwanted direction. Of course, it was a cinematographic breakthrough then, but as for the nowadays culture, the film is something that does not step out of the ordinary – or, at least, out of the ordinary horror films.
These are all the ideas it conveys that frighten people. The society is used to search for someone to blame, and if even the criminal is a victim himself – a victim of the circumstances and the epoch – then who can take all the blame?
Tragic as it is, the film makes people think about what makes a normal person, what makes a humane person and if these qualities are interdependent. Showing a true human nature, it is an example of how tragic its twists can be. In this respect, the voyeurism exposed in the film plays the role of a social shocker that prevents people from being indifferent.
The voyeurism in Peeping Tom serves as the way for the spectator to see the other side of the world, where the dangers caused by negligence and indifference are lurking. And the more people think of the tragic aftereffects of the psychological disorder, the better they understand what consequences their moral blindness can lead to.
Together with psychiatry, the movie industry can help people to understand the secret needs of their own souls and explore their subconscious to have the heart to face the peculiarities of their souls, and to change something about they way people see themselves and each other.
Shocking and stunning, the movie makes the audience to be voyeurs as well and makes them not only understand the problem, but also feel it. This is what makes psychology and cinema together, and taking into consideration the power that cinema has over people, it is possible to say that intertwined, they can help people to bring their inner world and their own soul in order.
Works Cited
Comer, Ronald G. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publishers, 2004. Print.
Kring, Ann, Sheri Johnson, Gerald C. Davidson. Abnormal Psychology. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.
Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Cambridge, MT: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004. Print.
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History of Pension Abuses Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. History of Pensions
3. Pension Abuse
4. Prevention of Abuses
5. Conclusion
6. Works Cited
Introduction
In traditional times, the welfare of the elderly was taken care of by the tightly knit family set up in which they lived. However, the structure of the community has largely changed and this traditional set up seldom exists. This combined with the fact that we are living in a time where the average life-span has significantly lengthened therefore leading to the presence of a significant aged population has resulted in the need for an apparatus to guarantee the welfare of the elderly.
Pension schemes present such a platform since they create a means through which the elderly who suffer diminishing power can acquire some form of economic and social security (Blackburn 4). Consequently, the issue of pension benefit remains on the foreground of many governments’ policies as increased benefits of security in retirements is sought after.
However, the issue of pension abuse threatens the very foundation of the pension institute. Considering the significant role that pensions play in the lives of the elderly, it is important that these abusive practices be contained. This paper shall set out to provide an informative discussion on the history of pension abuses in our country. The manners in which these detrimental practices can be prevented will also be explored.
History of Pensions
Pension funds are in essence an “agreement by a sponsor to provide income to participants upon their retirements” therefore guaranteeing their well being after they are out of the work industry (Blackburn 5). While the earnings made in the pension scheme are significantly less than those made while in employment, they ensure that the retired person can live comfortably without working.
Jeszeck documents that over 50% of the private sector workforce participate in some form of pension scheme (6). As a result of this, the pension industry has gained such prominence in modern life that those who manage pension products have become big players in the financial world.
Pension funds are vulnerable to fraud and corruption mostly because of a flawed enforcement policy that results in abuse by those who are responsible for the funds (Ferguson and Blackwell 92). As of 1950, the government implemented the Pension Plans Disclosure Act which was meant to ensure that pension plans disclosed more financial information to the Labor Department and to the plan participants (Howard 124).
In recognition that employers had too much power over the pension funds, congress in the 1970s sought ways to reduce this. The formation of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation which was responsible for regulations governing vesting and funding standards was set up. This body required the reporting and disclosure of pension plans by the employers.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 resulted in the Department of Labor being charged with the task of administering and enforcing fiduciary requirements, an act which resulted in the fragmentation of the pension interests therefore ensuring that no one body could exploit the pension funds.
Defined benefit pension plans must meet the requirements set by the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Pension Protection Act (PPA) (Sipe, Metrejean and Donaldson, 177). The most recent act, the PPA is particularly significant since it obligates companies to ensure that their pension schemes are fully funded and if not, penalties are imposed on the said companies.
Pension Abuse
The American system allows companies to manage their employee’s pension funds in whichever way they deem appropriate. While it is assumed that the organization will have the employee’s best interest at heart, this is not always the case and there are instances whereby the company uses the pension funds in ways that are beneficial to the company but detrimental to the employees.
Perhaps the best example of such behavior is the Enron scandal in which the company utilized money from employee pension funds to inflate its share capital (Blackburn 202). When the Enron scandal was made public, the share prices of the company plummeted and as such, employee pension plans could no longer be paid.
Pension funds are often invested in company shares which makes them open to falling prey of corporate greed and indulgence which has resulted in the collapse of many companies in America. Many U.S. corporations are notorious for their extravagant top executive compensation schemes.
The motivation for this is to align the interests of executives with those of the shareholders therefore resulted in huge profits for the company through rising share valuations. This set up often results in executives looking for ways to boost share prices so that they can benefit themselves.
This short-term boost might have a negative effect on the long-tern health of the company which constitutes fraudulent behavior (Blackburn 202). The cost of this share price manipulation by executives will affect the employees who have invested their pensions of the same company.
Another danger that pension schemes suffer from is pension buyouts by financial entities. Purcell, Orszag and Net reveal that buyouts create new risks that could adversely affect the welfare of the workers (137). In addition to this, such buyouts results in the creation of a third-party sponsor who does not have an incentive to manage the plan in the interest of the employees.
This is as opposed to a pension scheme that is sponsored by the company which will have an incentive to properly manage the plan so as to maintain a good working relationship with the employees.
Prevention of Abuses
Blackburn asserts that while a good pension scheme can help reinforce a healthy and sustainable economy, a bad one results in economic dangers and social dis-tempers (4). Pension fraud results in a bad pension scheme and therefore threatens the economy and social harmony.
It is therefore of uttermost importance for means to be sought through which pension fraud can be prevented altogether or mitigated at the very least. Stewart reveals that most workers are highly exposed to risks such as insolvency by the plan sponsors.
Owing to the significance of pension funds to the lives of the people who make the investments, it is of great importance to ensure that the said funds to no fail.
One of the manners through which this can be ensured is through Pension Benefit Guarantee Schemes (PBGS). Stewart articulates that PBGSs are insurance type arrangements which “take on outstanding obligations which cannot be met by the insolvent plan sponsors (2). Such safeguards are especially vital in a volatile market where the health of a company may not be guaranteed.
The PBGS in recent years bailed out over 4000 failed pension plans therefore ensuring that the employees who had been investing in the fund were not affected by the plans failures (Sipe, Metrejean and Donaldson, 186).
Another proposed solution for ensuring that pension abuse does not occur is by imposing of strict rules that ensure that the pensions are at all times funded. Stewart reveals that in Dutch where such a system has been adopted, all pension funds are required to have a certain minimal percentage of funds at all times (9).
While it has been demonstrated that having a 100% funded pension may not be feasible as a result of deterioration of investment returns and other unexpected outcomes, the higher the percentage of minimal funding the lower the risks of a the pension fund collapsing.
The U.S. also has such a policy in place through the PPA which not only dictates that pension is fully funded but it also increases the disclosure requirements for employers funding private pension funds.
Conclusion
Given today’s economic realities, it is important to ensure that the pension funds are safeguarded from fraud. This paper set out to give a brief history of pension funds, the abuses that can be perpetrated against the funds and possible preventions. From this paper, it is evident that pensions continue to be vulnerable as a result of fraudulent behavior by the funds managers as well as little policing efforts to ensure that the funds are kept in the right order.
This paper has outlined the various methods which can be used to perpetrate abuses of pensions. All this methods result in the employees losing a significant or even all of their pension. However, proactive steps have been taken so as to ensure the prevention and detection of pension fraud.
These methods such as the PBGS and the PPA is properly implemented will result in the safeguarding of pensions from fraudulent persons. This will not only ensure the protection of the future welfare of the employees but it will also have a positive impact on the country’s economy.
Works Cited
Blackburn, Robin. Banking on death: or, investing in life: the history and future of pensions . Verso, 2003. Print.
Ferguson, Karen and Blackwell, Kate. The pension book: what you need to know to prepare for retirement. Arcade publishing, 1996. Print.
Jeszeck, Charles. Retirement income: challenges for ensuring income throughout retirement. Diane Publishing, 2010. Print.
Sipe, Stephanie. Metrejean, Cheryl and Donaldson, William. “Defined Benefit Pension Fraud: A ticking time bomb.” Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting Vol. 2, Issue 2.
Stewart, F. “Benefit Security Pension Fund Guarantee Schemes”. OECD Working Papers on Insurance and Private Pensions , No. 5, OECD Publishing.
Purcell, Patrick and Orszag, Peter. Underfunded pensions, pension dumping and retirement security. The Capitol Net Inc, 2009. Print.
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Honoring Fathers: “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” Essay (Article)
My Papa’s Waltz , by Theodore Roethke and Those Winter Sundays , by Robert Hayden, a personal response:
These two poems honor fathers, in very different ways, although their life circumstances may have been equally constrained by economics, opportunities, personality, education, and perhaps even ethnicity. In My Papa’s Waltz , the figure of the father repels and attracts the narrator when he comes home drunk but exhilerated.
In Those Winter Sundays , the father is a remote figure, whose behavior is masked by a taciturn nature and the burden of responsibility. Each is clearly loved by their child, the narrator, although this love may have come too late to be expressed to the parent. Each poem expresses regret that the relationship was as it was rather than some other way, perhaps easier, smoother, more open, more typical, perhaps.
My Papa’s Waltz signals the problem right in the first line about whiskey breath. This is a father who drinks to excess from time to time, or perhaps regularly. The dirty palm suggests that this dad works with his hands, and works hard, in spite of occasional binges. These clearly cause family problems, reflected in the mother’s scowl.
The mom in My Papa’s Waltz probably knows and fears what comes next, after the boisterous singing passes and the child is in bed. Is this a scene foreshadowing domestic abuse? Will the father beat the mother using the same hand with which he marks time? How can a child deal with such possibilities?
This child hangs on, literally, to his dad’s clothes, and to prolong the event, hungry for whatever attention this father can offer. There is even the very subtle suggestion that this father’s attentions may be inappropriate: is it fun or sinister that the child is danced off to his bed?
In any case, these are ambiguous memories for the narrator of My Papa’s Waltz , although they have been clung to, all the way into adulthood, like the dad’s shirt. These poems are clearly meant to be read as autobiographical – and whether or not they are entirely factual, they draw on powerful memories from a child’s perspective, like the intimate contact of ear and buckle. Perhaps they represent a mix of experiences with different adults at different times.
The images in My Papa’s Waltz seem too real to be entirely fabricated. Such vivid moments in early life can be mined like a gold miner panning for nuggets. In light of this, should we be protected from all negative experiences? This is probably impossible, and probably would leave us all with nothing to write about.
Those Winter Mornings is a sweeter memory, although still painful. The narrator in this poem is also in the midst of domestic disruption. The child fears conflict in the household.
This is a deterrent from early rising even stronger than the bitter cold. However, in spite of the conflict hinted at, the dad is a caring and selfless presence, building fires, shining shoes for church, after going to work in some manual labor every day. He does not express his caring and devotion in words, but in self-sacrifice.
It is possible to imagine that the fire of love has been stamped down to embers in his marriage, and that this sacrifice goes on without the rewards of intimacy. Or, perhaps the austerity the poet speaks of has more to do with the economic pressure on the family. In any case, this is a loving father, whose tokens of affection were ignored by the narrator in their childhood, to their everlasting sorrow and regret
Again, Those Winter Sundays this seems to be an autobiographical piece, with the immediacy of personal experience. Such bittersweet memories can be the source of wisdom later on: perhaps the narrator will behave differently with their own children. Perhaps the poet will learn to show appreciation and love to parents and to children from having missed out, themselves, on such things in their own childhood. Memories of the sort that are shared in this poem are instructive of how to love your family while they are alive.
The father in My Papa’s Waltz reminds me of characters in some TV dramas, such as Criminal Minds and CSI. These are people who are in a lot of pain psychologically, and their behavior is shaped, or warped by that pain. Some of these characters struggle with econonimic hardship.
In some cases, their pain has led them to use or abuse alcohol. Substance abuse or misuse makes it difficult to deal with them. The drug or the booze change their mood in a flash, and with no observable reason! Like the dad in My Papa’s Waltz , one never knows whether a phone call or a visit will reveal someone rational and articulate, or morose and incoherent.
The uncertainty colors all interactions with such people who are in the grip of an addiction: it is scary not to know what mood or state someone is in before visiting or calling. The persistence of the memories in My Papa’s Waltz remind us that kids absorb and remember everything, even if they don’t have words for what they see and hear.
Those Winter Mornings reminds me of the differences in the ways that people show love. In some families, it is ok to express lots of affection and emotion, and in others, such demonstrations of feeling are a bit less encouraged. The narrator in Those Winter Sundays is clearly feeling guilty about their obliviousness while a child, and the way that a father’s love was taken for granted.
It is too late by the time this poem is written to let the dad know how much his solicitude and cherishing care meant to the narrator. This makes me wonder whether I express appreciation for the people in my own life clearly enough.
Both these poems, encourage the reader to cherish the family and the family events that we have. It also encourages us to love family while they are here, on earth, and available to be thanked.
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Personality Development: Psychological Models and Theories Analytical Essay
Personality refers to the long lasting traits in an individual. Generally, people tend to evaluate the personalities of human beings around them on a daily basis; this happens consciously or unconsciously.
The difference between psychologists and other individuals, however, is that, whereas we appraise personality informally and focus more on individuals, psychologists employ the usage of personality conceptualizations that possibly applies to all persons. This explains the development of various theories.
Fundamentally, personality may be defined as that which comprises behavioral and trait aspects that tend to distinguish one person from the rest. Therefore, the argument here is that personality comes from within an individual and remains unswerving even as he/she ages.
Generally, there are four basic tenets of personality including Consistency; Psychological construction; Impact Behaviors and Actions, and Multiple Expressions. Personality does influence how people take action to their setting or stimuli, and causes individuals to do or behave in an exacting mode. Multiple expressions on the other hand provide the understanding that the expression of personality does not just occur in behavior, but also in how people think, feel and in their associations with others, as well as in day-to-day interactions.
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
According to Freud’s theory of Psychoanalytic development, a person’s personality appears within the first six years and remains more or less the same over the years. This theory is grounded on the fact that personality and behavior is unconscious and draws back from childhood and sexuality, an aspect he called fixation. He proposes that a child undergoes five stages of human development within the formative years (Friedman & Schustack, 2008).
Freud imagined that sexuality begins when one is very young and goes through what he referred to as fixation. His basic argument is that if these stages are not successfully accomplished and done away with, then people tend to unconsciously maintain them and discharge them later in life as psychological defense mechanisms, so that they unconsciously eliminate anxiety associated with the conflict in abandoning such stages (Allen, 2006).
For instance, oral fixation can have a number of effects, one of them being oral aggressive personality, where one becomes unreasonably aggressive, and antagonistic to the extent of getting to vocally abuse others. Perhaps, this explains why Tina Turner occasionally hauls insults at others. On the other hand, anal fixation brought about by stringent punishment when children undergo toilet training can have a number of effects including ‘The Anal Retentive Personality’.
People who have this sort of personality tend to be very tidy and stubborn, and they tirelessly value perfection (Friedman & Schustack, 2008). Again, perhaps this is the reason Tina Turner has great impatience to non-performers in the music industry and always values fashion and great dress sense; indeed, this may be the reason she ventured on her own. Besides, it could well explain why she is very energetic during her performances on stage.
Eriksson’s Eight Stages of Human Development
Erik Eriksson, in psychodynamic Theory, presents eight stages of human development. The striking thing about this theory is the belief that when one does not fully go or successfully experience a particular stage, then such stage will reoccur later in life, or will define unfulfilment in the latter stages (Friedman & Schustack, 2008).
Accordingly, kids are usually borne with unique temperaments and basic capabilities. Generally, people undergo a number of changes in the process of growing into adulthood and aging.
Eriksson’s each of the stages of human development reckons that the entire psychological predicament associated with each of the stages must be successfully resolved before one takes into the next stage (Friedman & Schustack, 2008). For instance, stage three in Eriksson’s theory, which is ‘’Early Childhood’’ stipulated between ages 2 to 6 and described as ‘’Initiative Versus Guilt’’, can give us a prelude to Tina Turner’s personality and behavior.
According to Eriksson, at this stage, children usually had mastered ‘motor skills’ and therefore they increasingly participate in social interaction. The challenge for children at this stage is that it is imperative for them to strike a balance in their quest for adventure with responsibility.
If this stage is handled well, then children acquire the thinking that some things are wrong to do while also feeling no shame in engaging in independent roles. This perception could be one of the reasons Tina Turner has been very independent to even moving mountains in her musical and acting career path.
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
This theory posits that human beings learn through three key ways: Observation, Imitation, and Modeling. Bandura notes that people acquire behavior and attitudes by observing how others’ attitudes impact on such behaviors (Cited in Friedman & Schustack, 2008).
The ground is that one forms the idea of behavior and therefore acquires personality through modeling and imitation. Therefore, this theory tends to explain personality and behavior in terms of cognition, behavioral interaction, and environmental influences.
Bandura summarizes personality as formed because of interaction between behavior, the environment and psychological processes such as cognitive abilities (Cited in Cloninger, 2008). His theory brings in, the aspect of cognition and defines it as the individualized worldview; it is a way by which individuals order the world around them (Friedman & Schustack, 2008).
Arguably, perhaps this theory, because of its holistic nature provides a balanced conceptual scheme within which to situate Tina Turner’s personality. That she must have learnt many things in her life and career processes and used her cognition to adapt along.
Summery of Tina Turners Biography, in relation to the aforementioned above Theories
Tina Turner, originally Anna Mae Bullock, has been in the music business for about fifty years, and been very commercially successful even to this day in rock music. She has a powerful voice and energetic on stage besides being incredibly attractive, factors which have contributed immensely to her fame (Anonymous, 2011).
Having been born to a family in the segregated South of America, Tina Turner and her siblings were deserted by their parents, forcing her to live with her grandmother. It was after her grandmother’s death that she moved to St. Louis where she re-united with her biological mother.
It was this that opened the break to be in nightclubs of Rhythm and Blues, and it was in one of those escapades that she displayed her talent for performing on stage upon being invited by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm in 1956. She subsequently changed her career dreams and her name soon changed to Tina Turner from Anna Mae Bullock, when her hit song, a fool in love , gained fame.
She was later married to Ike Turner in Mexico; however, after a number of musical successes where Tina proved domineering, Ike, a wife beater, became so violent forcing Tina to attempt unsuccessful suicide, and eventually moving out of the marriage (Anonymous, 2011). Her domineering spirit might correspond to what may have happened during Sigmund Freud’s phallic stage.
It was then after when she was 40, that she suffered low and devastating experiences in her career and would just perform in hotel Ballrooms and Super Clubs.
However, she has since said this was perhaps the best time of her career because she was able to ‘’put her shows together and execute them herself’’ (Anonymous, 2011). This development presents her as an independent person, a trait that corresponds to Erickson’s third stage of human development.
However, her explanation for having dropped in terms of fame and moneymaking is a defense mechanism and can fall in the category Freud calls Rationalization. That, she did not contest for a divorce settlement from Ike, even though she was in big debt having failed a number of promoters and fled the group Revue, brings her out as a forging person, while repression as a defense mechanism comes into play.
She did later, in 1980, having featured in Olivia Newton-John Hollywood Nights TV, impressed upon Newton-John’s management to bring her onboard. The explanation here psychologically is that she must have learnt from her previous mistakes and therefore the model of Social Learning comes in handy.
It was after this that her profile took a higher note upward rise, and her performances with Red Stewart and the Rolling Stones introduced her to rock market, which she had dreamt of pursuing. Later, she was to release a number of albums and singles, which were great hits and sold millions in America, Europe and the rest of the world. It was based on this that she received notable awards and increased her fame.
In deed after this time, her successes had even been all the time enormous and have been an actress in a number of movies including ‘Mad Max beyond Thunderstorms’ in 1995. Here, she received the highest accolade in American Artistry by receiving the Kennedy Centre Honors; thus, ‘’Tina Tuner is the undisputed King of Rock’’ (Anonymous, 2011)
Conclusion
Psychological Models and theories have been used over time and are important in evaluating and attributing behavior and personality. For Tina Turner, there seems to be no specific model that summarizes her personality. Instead, a number of models apply to Tina Turner.
References
Allen, B. (2006). Personality Theories: Development, Growth, and Diversity . Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Anonymous. (2011). Mini Biography: Tina Turner. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877913/bio .
Cloninger, S. (2008). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons . NJ: Prentice Hall.
Friedman, H., & Schustack, M. (2001). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
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Persuasive Piece: A White Paper Problem Solution Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Definition of the Problem
3. Proposed Solutions to the Problem
4. Policy Proposal
5. Limitations and Support for the Tax Alternative Policy
6. Conclusion
7. References
Introduction
A white paper is an authoritative report or a persuasive piece that is written by government by interest groups and government agencies to influence government policies and legislature. White papers are usually formulated to address specific issues or problems that exist in government policies or laws. White papers are formulated to educate the general public and interested groups on problems that exist within a government’s policies and how these papers can be used to help these people make important decisions.
White papers are usually used in policymaking, political decisions and in the corporate world where policy makers involve the use of academic institutions to write white papers that will address policy developments.
The Commonwealth of Nations defines a white paper as an informal parliamentary paper that is used to address government policies and issues/problems that might arise due to the implementation of these policies. White papers are usually issued by the government and they lay out policies and action plans that will be used to address certain issues as well as propose suitable alternatives to the problem.
They are developed to signify a clear intention on the part of the government entities and interest groups that want an amendment to government policies.
Examples of white papers that have been written in the past include Winston Churchill’s White Paper of 1922 that was meant to plan a national home for Jews in Palestine, the 1969 white paper that was meant to abolish the Indian Act in Canada, and the White paper of 1966 that led to the development of emergency medical services by the United States National Research Council.
The white paper that will be developed for this essay will address a national issue that threatens to affect the livelihoods of citizens in America which is an increase in taxation. The government white paper will address the issue of increasing taxation what alternatives can be used to address the budget deficits being experienced by the American government (Congress, 2010).
Definition of the Problem
The recent global financial crisis as well as the war on Iraq had a negative impact on the economy of the US. The stock market faced a serious decline as mortgage lenders and banks faced foreclosure as a result of increased consumer and government spending.
This forced the US government to develop a plan that would be used to deal with the financial situation, a plan that involved increasing taxes to deal with job losses and job cuts as well as increase middle class tax relief to middle income earners.
This tax increase proposed by the Obama administration would see taxes increasing by $970 billion on Americans who earned more than $200,000. People who earned less than $200,000 would face new tax cuts that would amount to $143.4 billion in one year. The tax propositions were also meant to eliminate any preferences for oil and gas companies as well as life insurance products (Graetz, 2007).
Businesses under the new tax proposition would face a net taxation increase despite a gross tax reduction of $93.5 billion.
The tax proposition however faced some criticism with the Senator for Iowa, Charles Grassley commenting that the tax cuts and tax relief proposed by the Obama administration would target people who did not have to pay any taxes at all, meaning that tax relief would be directed to limited groups of people in the American population. Senator Grassley noted that the tax increases would have a minimal or no effect at all on the tax relief that was proposed by the Obama administration.
Many American citizens viewed the increase in taxes to be an unwarranted move by the Obama government given that the country was still recovering from the 2009 financial crisis and many Americans were still jobless as a result of being laid off (Donmoyer, 2010).
The tax proposal by the Obama government was therefore faced a lot of criticism from both government entities, American citizens and other interest groups in the United States.
The administration proposed $3.8 million spending plan that would be used in implementing the tax proposals that would prevent US companies from shifting their off shore profits. Many US corporations such as Redmond, Microsoft, Caterpillar and General Electric Company viewed the tax changes to be an impediment to their ability to compete with foreign companies (Sloan, 2010).
Proposed Solutions to the Problem
The United States Senate Finance Committee decided to act on the Obama administration’s tax proposal by pledging to act quickly on tax legislation that would stimulate hiring. The Senate Finance committee Chairman, Max Baucus, together with Charles Rangel who is a New York Democrat, pledged to act quickly on the tax legislation to ensure that there were tax reforms within the country.
The new taxation laws would see American businesses in the global market being more competitive and viable for investments by other countries. The new tax laws would also see individuals earning more than $200,000 facing a tax increase of 39.6 % up from 36 %. The capital gains and dividend rates for people who earned more than $250,000 would face an increase of 20 %. The tax proposal in general would take from the rich and give to the poor within the American population (Donmoyer, 2010).
Other alternatives to the increased tax proposal that were proposed by Republicans to boost the economy and stimulate job growth within the United States include the alternative stimulus proposal.
The cost of the Republicans alternative stimulus plan was estimated to cost $478 billion US dollars which was a considerable amount when compared to the Obama administration’s tax proposal that was going to cost $1 trillion dollars to implement. Under the alternative stimulus plan, the Republicans proposed that the income tax rates be reduced from 15% to 10 % and from 10% to 5 %. The plan also proposed for tax extensions for the middle-income families that had higher taxes.
The alternative stimulus plan also proposed a tax deduction for small businesses of 20 percent that had an employee base of less than 500 workers as well as a tax deduction for employees who did not receive any tax preferred health care insurance (Pelofsky, 2009).
Policy Proposal
An alternative to the tax proposal that has been tabled by the Obama Administration is a minimal taxation policy that will allow for the taxation of the investment interest that is necessary in computing regular tax. The investment interest is an interest expense that is incurred by individuals or companies who purchase or make investments. An example of an investment interest is a margin loan that exists in a brokerage account.
The interest expense that exists in the investment interest is subject to tax deduction based on the extent to which a taxpayer has an investable income. The alternative minimum tax alternative to the tax proposal will see regular tax deductions being calculated differently (Armey, 2010).
The alternative to the proposed tax reforms ensures that taxation on American citizens, earnings is conducted in a fair and simplistic manner. The current tax codes and policies that exist on taxation in the US are complex and unfair in nature and they have generally failed to meet the priorities of the country.
The alternative minimum tax alternative ensures that there will be a reduction in massive deficits that have arisen in the past thereby strengthening the middle class while at the same time ensuring that every American citizen at every income levels was able to survive on their earnings, The alternative will also ensure that the American Multinational corporations do not loose out their business to foreign international companies (Armey, 2010).
Limitations and Support for the Tax Alternative Policy
The alternative tax policy however faces some limitations in that it does not cater for shared prosperity and the rewarding of hard work. The taxable incomes under the alternative minimum tax policy do not cater for the taxation of all income levels but the taxation of specific income groups that earn more than $ 275,000 in one year.
This policy will therefore benefit the middle and the lower income earners ignoring the taxation needs of the rich and well to do members of the society.
The Center for American Progress addresses the political and economic reality of taxing every individual based on the income levels by proposing an alternative to the tax policy and proposal that would see American citizens being taxed based on a rate schedule (American Progress, 2005).
The alternative taxation policy is however a more superior alternative to the Obama administration’s taxation proposal as it will involve a minimal budget to implement the reforms within the taxation system.
The plan will ensure that American multinational businesses do not loose out their business to foreign-based companies from other countries by ensuring that their investment expenses have been deducted according to their earnings. The alternative policy ensures that multinational taxation changes will have a direct impact on job growth in the United States as well as economic growth.
The institutions that can be used to support the alternative taxation proposal would include the US Senate, Multinational Corporations affected by the Obama administration’s tax proposal, the Public Revenue Authority and the Government accountability office in the United States (Wolverson, 2010).
Conclusion
This essay has dealt with the white paper issue of increased taxation on the American citizen’s income as well as a taxation of multinational corporations. The proposed tax proposal by the Obama administration presents many problems in that it does not improve job growth within the country and it does not address investment expenses that would be beneficial in improving the economy of the country.
The alternative tax minimum proposal bridges the gap that exists between the proposed taxation policy and job growth within the United States as well as ensuring that US multinational companies do not lose their business to foreign owned companies. The alternative tax proposal will cost less to implement by the government and it will ensure that the economy of the US has been stimulated for positive growth.
References
American Progress (2005). A fair and simple tax system for our future . Center for American Progress. Web.
Armey, D. (2010,). Rangel’s alternative minimum tax proposal . America Unbound. Web.
Congress (2010). Congressional record, volumes 109-1 22. New York: Government Printing Office
Donmoyer, R. J. (2010). Obama budget seeks $1.9 trillion tax rise on richest . Bloomberg. Web.
Graetz, M. (2007). Tax reform unraveling. Journal of Economic Perspectives , Vol.21, No.1, pp 69-90
Pelofsky, J. (2009). US house Republican alternative stimulus proposal. Reuters. Web.
Sloan, S. (2010). House Democrats eye changes on tax deal . Congress organization. Web.
Wolverson, R. (2010). US multinationals and tax reform . Council on Foreign Relations. Web.
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Peter Eisenman; Building Germany, the Holocaust memorial Term Paper
The onset of the year 1933 in Germany was marked by the inauguration of the Nazi government into power. This government orchestrated the mass murder of the Jewish settlers in their country; Germany. These killings were methodical, technical and were financed by the Nazi government. In total, by the end of the Second World War, about six million had died as a result of the activities of the Nazi and its allies.
This event was named the holocaust, a Greek word that meant to ‘sacrifice by fire’. The proponents to this state of affairs (the Nazis) were spurred on by the feeling that theirs’ was a superior race and the Jews were the inferior, and for that they were a foreign threat to their race and their sovereignty.
The Jews were not the Nazi’s only victims during the holocaust, other casualties were the weak and disabled people in the society, who were killed on the pretext of the Euthanasia program. This program involved isolating the mentally ill and the disabled people (both adults and children) in the German society, keeping them in some form of concentration camps under the pretext of medicating them.
The whole agenda behind this was that the Nazis wanted a perfect society, one representation of their own perceptions of themselves, and they could stop at nothing (Gilberts, 21). These people were collected and murdered in the concentration camps through overdose of medication and keeping them hungry. Children as young as three years who showed or had any symptoms of mental disorders were also killed.
The other category of people affected in Germany is those who had been serving the German households as workers and slaves to their farms; these included the Russians and the Polish. Politics, contrasting and differing opinions, weird characteristics that were not at par with the accepted social norms like homosexuality were given as the reason as to why other people were prosecuted. The people in this group included those with communist ideas, the socialists, and the people who belonged to the church called Jehovah’s witnesses.
When the Nazi took over, the Jewish population was over nine million, but as it would happen, they lived in countries that Germany would later conquer or have direct influence over their affairs during the Second World War. Around ten years after they took control of government, the Nazis had killed two out of every three Jews, though some two hundred thousand people with mental cases, mostly Germans had been killed through the Euthanasia program.
The Germans and the people who supported them during this ghastly acts mini-estate they referred to as ghettos and other concentration camps, this was to help them monitor the number of the Jews in their country as well as to make it easier when they would later depot them. With time the soviet republic became subject to German rule as they had been conquered by Hitler’s troupes in the year 1941. Organized killing units, then referred to as “ Einsatzgruppen ” trailed The German forces(Gilberts, 65).
They carried out mass-execution of the Jews, the people of the soviet republic and officials of the communist party in the Soviet. These people mentioned above were mainly killed using the gassing facilities, where they were held in confinement and poisoned the air they inhaled inside the chambers causing instant death.
This led to the death of millions of Jewish men women and children, until several years down the line when other forces came together and led a series of attacks against the German forces. In spite of this, they still came across people of the Jewish race in death matches and other prisoners. The allied forces piled pressure on Germany until May 7, 1945, when they were downed their tools in defeat (Gilberts, 75).
After this, the distraught survivors of the Holocaust obtained protection from Displaced persons camps which had been put up by an alliance of the allied forces that thrashed Hitler’s army. The three years after the holocaust witnessed mass movement of the Jews to Israel and other countries.
The Holocaust memorial is a commemorative building designed by architect Peter Eisenman and another Engineer Buro Haplod. It has been put up one block to the North of Brandenburg, in Friedrichstadt. Structurally, the building is erected on a nineteen thousand square meter parcel of land, calculated to round up to 4.7 acres of land. Its construction began in April 2003after much hullabaloo from the political sides.
By December 15 th 2004 construction was complete, but its inauguration was delayed up to May 10 th 2005, when it would coincide with the day the Second World War ended. It was open to the public on May 12 th 2005. The total cost of construction was put at around twenty five million Euros (Eisenman, 24).
The construction of the memorial was not an easy task as it faced setbacks from every quarter of the German population and even the international community. The quest to erect a memorial as a memento to the atrocities of the past was driven by a journalist called Lea Rosh, and in 1989 formed a group that would advocate for its construction and help source for funds. As time went by, more and more people supported their initiative and the Bundestag resolved that the project should go on. The design of the memorial was obtained in a rather funny way.
Artists were called over and requested to give their designs on what they think the memorial should be (Eisenman, 31). It was so open to the point that the only rules outlined were that whatever their designs, their construction costs should not surpass Twenty five million Euros.
Quality was stressed upon, and the submissions were to be vetted by judges whose professions revolved around art, architecture, history, politics and other dimensions and fields the symbolic building would represent. Over five hundred proposals were submitted, and the jury would start their work on January 15 th 1995 led by their chairman, Walter Jens, of getting the submissions.
The days that followed would witness the elimination of all but thirteen of the submitted designs after thorough scrutiny. As pre arranged earlier, the jury met again on the 15 th of March, and this time eleven of the submissions were brought back to the contest as had been requested by some judges.
In the months that followed, thorough review of the submissions led to the recommendations by the jury; an enquiry into whether the costs of some two top most designs would be completed within the price range given. The concept behind one of the finalist’s submission was that of Simon Ungers, a native of Humburg.
It entailed an 85x 85M square girders that were made of steel (Eisenman, 73). The girders were placed above concrete blocks situated at the corners, and on this they would display the names of the various concentration camps. This would further be projected into visibility to the people around by sunlight.
The other design which reached the final two was a project by Cristine Jackob-Marks. The idea behind her design was that of a concrete plate whose dimensions measured 100x 100 M, and its thickness 7M thick.
It could lie at an angle, and reached a peak of eleven meters, special paths to tread had been designed in the structure. The names of the victims of the holocaust were to be written on the concrete slab, and spaces left for people whose names were still a mystery.
The plans to these designs were to be finally vetted by the then chancellor, Helmut Kohl. In 1997, the Bundestag decided on Peter Eisenman’s design of the project through another round of the competition. He had modified his design by attaching a source of information or museum close to the memorial center (Eisenman, 125).
Another incident that almost bugged the construction and put to question the credibility of method of sourcing companies was the Degussa incident. This was a big issue in the country that was trying to forget what it had gone through and live as one nation. The company had in a big way contributed to the state persecution of Jews.
One of its associate companies was involved in the production of Zyklon B, a gaseous substance that had been used by the regime to kill the Jews in the concentration camps. This made the construction of the memorial to be stopped so that the pending issues could be resolved.
After lengthy discussions they decided to proceed with the construction, since they could not exclude all the Nazi companies out of the project (Eisenman, 163). Many people debated on the Degusa incident while the architect himself did not have an issue working with the company. Their resolution set the stage for the completion of the project.
December 15 th 2004 marked the completion of the project, and was dedicated on May 10 th the following year; this coincided with their 60 th commemorations of the V-E day. It was opened to the public a few days later and estimates show that on the first year alone the memorial center received about 3.5 million visitors and the number has grown ever since.
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Philippe Starck as the Great Designer of the World Opinion Essay
For the French, the world widely knows them better probably in design, art and fashion. For years now, the French have almost taken a leading role as market leaders in the clothes, hotel, art, winery and cooking industries not to mention natural sciences and philosophy.
Although France may not exclusively claim for the one of the best positions in the world in comparison to other giants like Spain, Italy and Britain, it however warrants its own space and mention in such a work. Emanating from this view, France therefore comes into light though in general.
In specific terms though, France as a nation has got nothing to take credit for unless in the dissection of its citizenry and great individuals who have poised it to the tip of the mountains. In this respect therefore this work focuses on Philippe Starck among the many great designers of the world and from France.
Philippe Starck was born in Paris in January 18 th 1949 to an inventor and aeronautic engineer father. It is through his father’s works and life that he desired to become a designer and creator thus the birth of the New Design Style genius Starck. Born almost immediately at the end of World War II, Starck’s arrival could not have been any better.
At this period design had come far back from the Industrialization period. In the course of development, design had started from simple carpenters using hands to industrial designs using the invented machines each unique era characterizing its own genius behind.
Starck who had already started ‘designing’ as a child besides his father thus was educated at the Ecole Nissim de Camondo in Paris (Hauffe, pg 164). In his pre star years, Starck worked to produce inflatable designs in the notion that they are usable and must not extend to the higher levels of live that a common person may not afford.
The difference between him and other designers of his or before his time was that he was interested in designing for the mass rather than for the elite. In this concept therefore, Phelipe acted and doubled as his own marketing manager without paying fro such profession as is often the case as others.
Dealing in products and goods that had an impact to every day house hold usage and significance endeared him to the world and thus he won many hearts. Notable among such was the French President Francois Mitterrand who he designed for the interior private Elysee apartments thus propelling Starck to his heights in his career.
In 1969, after a stage of probably trial with bad boy reputation and after a stint in designing houses and imitations he become of his own class and he set up his first firm. In the combination of style, streamlining and organic look Starck has had this rarity of making unusual materials work together like plush fabric combining with chrome or glass joining with stone.
Starck as he was insatiable to national and international recognition could not be destined for great things. Starck has set himself apart a star designer who despite being pleasant in his works includes practicality, simplicity and beauty as one piece of aesthetics easily noticeable.
His career as art director would lead him to owning his company in 1979 after years of designing inflatable objects. Starck’s drive all along can be explained by the fact that he spent years in his father’s workshop and under his drawing board thus ideas in aeronautics and science have greatly shaped his view.
As Houze and Lees-Maffei (46) postulate, the coming into existence of this great star is warranted and accountable back from his childhood and thus shapes his current status as a star designer.
By 1980s shortly after founding his Starck Company, he already had gotten international recognition as an expert interior designer, architect, ecologist and hotel designer, furniture guru and other usable objects like kitchen utensils, computers door handles and frames.
In the famous Juicy Salif design Starck inverts the conventional way of extracting juice from a lemon to Alessi’s behest stunning him and the world. Starck is into an opposite thinker but fits perfectly in his view.
Though drawing criticisms from such geniality use of his talents, Starck has not stopped with a one hit wonder. This was just the case for personal request specifications not to mention others.
As an artist he rises above the par on the context that he is interested with the usable real designs and thus solves or seems to, the world challenges in such refined brilliancy and finesse. In the ensuing challenges of political, economic, moral and social perspectives Phelippe’s work is apparent in a unique yet desirable way.
Starck’s personal life as an international expert is also characterized by the same flair he has in his work. He has got homes in Italy, France, Britain and America. And as if this is not enough Starck’s marriage life spans in the same formula. He has been married about four times siring four children. He has been a lucky parent in the sense that one of his children has taken after him and this is just a chip off the old.
Looking at him as an interior designer he designed the interiors of La Main Bleue” bar in Montreuil in 1976 and “Les Bains Douches” in Paris in 1978 and later the Café Costes in 1984 and this augured well with his already international reputation on the world stage. He has not stopped and seems filled by demons that take him higher and higher in this career.
One after the other Starck would combine forces with an entrepreneur Schrager to re-invent the Royalton and Paramount Hotels in New York.
These hotels captivating appearance and the seeming invitation to pleasure and relaxation have served as a mark of excellence in the hotel industry attracting international and even royal personalities for pleasure and even design. Keeble and Sparke (223) describe his work as mismatched furniture and yards of fabric combined beautifully with spaces of lightness and darkness that is worthy of a stage.
On this note Starck occurs as a designer who escapes criticism due to his high level understanding of images, shape and colour in the making of interiors.
His is a combination of design, decoration, ensemble and celebrity spiraling away and breaking from academics and traditions to bring home special natures of designs that allow designing its fresh approach and frees from age old traditions thus new design style (Keeble & Sparke 89).
In Japan, the Manin restaurant could not resist inviting him and other known cities like, Madrid, Mexico, Miami and Los Angeles. They all can attest to this expert’s class of touch and taste. The moment he sets to work on projects in interior design, his expressionist mark is left clearly and yet these are so mundane ideas but that cannot be copied as easily as they may seem.
Besides international acclamation as an interior designer, Starck has been sought for architecture design by commissions and from companies, individuals and private agencies all over the world to assist in architectural designing.
Among his famous architectural brilliance lie with the Japanese Asahi, Baron Vert and Nani Nani buildings in the late eighties and early nineties that leave their gigantic sense of expression to the world. In architecture Starck has combined his interior design intelligence to redesign new places and hotels that have made him more respected than ever. Other cases to be cited in architecture include the Laguiole knife factory and others like Ecole Natioale des Arts Decoratis in his home country France.
Starck the ecologist believes that we make the world a better place than it is and thus emanating from this philosophy he designed the Bordeaux Airport air traffic control tower in Bordeaux in France in 1977, a Parisian recycling plant and artistic school of arts in Paris. As if this is not enough Starck as a product designer makes heads turn in his industrial design brilliance.
In his comment about searching for magic in reality, Starck baffles one in his easiness of coming up with practical approach. In industrial design Starck’s shadow towers high just like in interior design. As a pioneer of democracy his industrial works has been cited as one of the most inexpensive and popular among the masses thus endearing him to the world more than ever.
His enthusiasm in his designs and the way it is reciprocated by the masses that he dies cannot be ignored. He believes that good things give us signals of intelligence, poetry and humour and thus we can refer to him as conscious doctor.
In his famous industrial designs he is to be remembered for the Juicy Salif, a juice extractor made for industrialist Alessi in 1986. In this design he inverts the way juice is extracted in a most peculiar way by combining the idea of a squid.
This has been a timeless design that awes every eye coming into contact. With the inception of Starck Products Company, he comes across as an enterprising star designer who is ready to earn honestly and diligently coupled with naturalness.
One thing contrary to this fame is that Starck in early life was innately shy. He showed signs of depression and felt like an outcast who only got his relief in his designing as a hobby. For a teen who had lost his father things were meant to be hard for him but his talent has since then raised him from the abyss though he still espouses such boyish tendencies (Hauffe, 206).
In retail break, Starck joined with Target stores to produce a range of products that were directed to the people. In this line he has designed toothbrushes, bathroom suites flower vases and lighting apparatus.
It can never be any better that this for Starck who marketed himself as the people’s designer a brand that was and is found in the community not used to Starck’s irony but had to . To his credit in this field, he has designed boats, eye glasses, toys Olympic flame and also in the cars world.
In international leadership Starck has served as the artistic director for Eurostar train in 2001 and the Thomson Consumer Electronics Group in 1993 to 1996. Starck could have not been well prepared for this mark in his life were it not fro his recognition of his strengths, study and most of all his stint as Professor in Domus Academy Milan in Italy and in Ecole des Arts, Paris France.
Having come from well –off family this star designer’s life probably might be said to have been given but when we come into terms with his problem as a teen and in college we realize that he has come from far.
He has been a subject of jealous and ungrateful competitive designers and companies that he believes deal with products harmful to human beings. His marriage life has been on the rocks far too many times and thus Starck is not perfect as it might be perceived by reading this work.
However, he deserves praise as a one who has changed the peoples view about him and about democracy. He has remained relevant in the application of reality in a most beautiful way that which he knows but cannot be copied. He is therefore a role personality to future artists and a guiding visionary to design history. Among his believes, lays the respect for nature, a point strongly later he expressed as ‘democratic ecology’.
In his own right Starck designs illustrate respect for humanity and seem to urge for change in expressing new designs that change cultures as well as old rooted ways of doing things. In one of his claims Phelipe asserts that it is one of his duties to share with the world his subversive vision of a better world though of his own but accommodates us all perfectly.
He is therefore worthy of awards from word of mouth and even by mementos. With such brilliancy to go unnoticed is to break the heart of all other aspiring talents and assert that the world wallows in unfair treatment of its best sons and daughters. Thus, Starck has been awarded some of the best and top awards for his exemplary talents and work in design.
Starck has been nominated and awarded the Oscar du luminaire of 1986, and has also won an award for excellence in design in Cambridge MA in 1997. To illustrate the luster of this designer a judge in the Raymond Loewy Foundation described Starck as unusual, quirky and a very exciting designer of contemporary times when awarding him the 2004 Lucky strike Designer.
By observation of his ghost line chairs and the club sofa, any one can be sure of the words the judge used. Starck has not stopped being on the limelight, what with his press statements and interviews. He has spanned his career from interior design, architecture, industrial design waving in to waste management and thus has endeared himself all the more to the world (Burdek, 25).
As in stiff competition he ha raised the bar level to lofty heights by being on everybody’s lips again. Starck’s latest works in cooperation with the Leview Boymelgreen developers has seen to the rise of Downtown Condominiums that are amazing in the center of New York, Wall Street.
These penthouses are right in the middle of the city with the right connections to transport and major freeways. As usual rather, they will provide a compliment to the entertainment, arts and culture, nightlife and world class shopping just like the world class star designer.
These forty stories are set to grace New York skyline comprised of three bedroom penthouse suites that are already causing ripples in the market. They are up for grabs from home buyers to real estate investors which amount to three hundred and twenty six each with a space of about of 1145 to 2762 sq foot and going as much as $4.3M US dollars.
Starck’s design of these penthouses still brings ot the star we have described as a celebrity who likes to make the life of others better. In his design of these houses he has included a number of factors that still describe him as the judge did in 2001 Lucky Strike Raymond Loewy award.
He has incorporated the community aspect in that he has introduced entertainment, dining table, reflecting for relaxing, a hedge and his famous lounge. To receive the guests a special high ceiling entrance lobby lays in welcome to mention a basketball court, a bowling alley, a health fitness center, a children’s playroom and a theater room.
In this respect, Starck demonstrates that he is an all round thinker who cares about the families and kinds of human relationship whether old or young.
In this pre-construction analysis the penthouses are set to light up the urban living spaces of the time with spacious rooms, open floor plans, large view windows with the fixtures and finishes coming from the high end world.
His genius is at the best in these projects as his rare combination of materials, taste and touch of his designed products and the fittings and the floor plans are all works of a self styled people’s designer who has the talent to live up to his name.
Works Cited
Bürdek Bernhard E. Design: history, theory and practice of product design . New York , Birkhäuser, 2005. Print
Hauffe Thomas . Design: Concise History Series . New York , Laurence King Publishing, 2006. Print.
Houze,Rebbecca and Lees-Maffei , Grace. The Design History Reader. New York, Berg Publishers, 2010. Print
Keeble, Trevor and Sparke, Penny. Designing the modern interior: from the Victorians to today. New York, Berg Publishers, 2009. Print
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Philosophies that Challenge Religion’s Dominance Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Conceptual Understanding
2. Morality
3. Knowledge
4. Conclusion
5. References
Criticisms of religious beliefs and concepts have been in existence since religion started. However, several philosophers trace the roots of religious criticisms to the 5 th century In Greece while others claim criticisms to religious beliefs were in existence during the 1 st century in ancient Rome (Beckford, 2003).
Often, these criticisms have been developed as philosophies which question or attack the concepts, validity and practices taught in religious circles. To affirm their arguments, critics who challenge the dominance of religion say that, religion is misleading because it seeks to brainwash children; cheats people that they can be healed, just by having faith, among other events.
Some critics do not also shy away from attributing the source of certain ills in the society to religious dominance. For example, the increase of religious wars (such as jihad), discrimination against certain individuals (like women and gays), have been attributed to the dominance of religion in the society (Beckford, 2003, p. 2).
Among the pioneers of anti-religious views are personalities such as Dennet Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins (and the likes) who note that religious doctrines were not divinely inspired, as is believed, but rather, the authors of religious scripts were ordinary people who sought to fulfill a religious, social or political void that existed in the society (Dennett, 2006).
More works developed by anti-religious crusaders have often bombarded the public and they have so far managed to influence our morality and knowledge on the subject. This study seeks to further explain this point, but to do so, we will analyze how antireligious doctrines are effected and reflected in a major historic event – September 11 th attacks in New York.
Conceptual Understanding
The September 11 th attack in New York City is largely seen as an extreme religious attack orchestrated by the Al-Qaida terrorist group (Muslims) against America, which is largely a Christian country (Buzzle, 2011). The event has been perceived to be an example of the effects of extreme religious activities, especially on the side of the Muslim terrorist group, Al Qaida.
Some philosophers who have criticized the dominance of religion in the society have equated the September 11 th attacks to similar religious wars such as the Middle East conflict between Israel and its Muslim neighbors, the Sudan civil war, the 2008 London terrorist attacks among others (Buzzle, 2011).
One major ground identified in the argument against religious dominance is that religious leaders normally use war and violence to uphold or propel their religious ambitions and goals (Hitchens, 2007, p. 4). An example is Osama bin Laden who has been termed the leader of Al-Qaida terrorist group and a typical example of a religious leader who has successes at using violence to promote religious goals.
From this analysis, we can see that religious leaders are capable of promoting secular wars through their support of religious doctrines (such as jihad in Islam).
Morality
Morality is a controversial issue, not only in religious circles but also in social circles. Philosophies that challenge religious dominance have often been directed at this very basic concept of humanity because they have been developed to show that religion has no place in morality (Dennett, 2006, p. 5).
Instead, such philosophies suggest that morality should be based on a man’s education, sympathy and social ties. The reason behind this argument is based on the fact that, many philosophers who have criticized religion have studied man’s behavior and determined that they are usually affected by fear, the hope to be rewarded and death (Dawkins, 1991).
All these factors are attributed to faith because religion teaches that man is bound to be punished or rewarded for the wrong or good deeds that he or she has done while on earth. This fear of punishment or hope for reward influences the behaviors of people and ultimately affects their morals.
The September 11 th attacks in America provide the best ground for the understanding of this fact because the violence can be largely perceived as an act by an extremist religious group which recruits and undertakes its activities, based on religious teachings which assure its followers of rewards if they carry out extreme religious pursuits.
In other words, the participation of these offenders in religious conflict is motivated by the goal of achieving eternal peace if they take part in these wars. From this understanding, we are able to see how religion redefines morality because what is a wrong act is justified under the doctrines of religion.
When analyzed in the context of the September 11 th attacks, we can see that the Al-Qaida terrorist group justified their terrorist activities on religious principles because it is in their belief that they are fighting a religious war (Buzzle, 2011, p. 3).
The same can also be said of America because after the attack, it launched a revenge war in several Muslim states such as Afghanistan and Pakistan where it believed was the home to such terrorist groups. The attack eventually led to a lot of civilian casualties in the affected regions, but the action by the US was largely seen as justifiable because they were victims to religious extremism.
Both scenarios (attacks on America and Muslim states) therefore redefine the concept of morality because without the inclusion of religious doctrines, both attacks would obviously be immoral because they lead to death and violence which is morally wrong.
Religion has therefore been widely used in the society to draw the line on what is moral and what is not. This is the same case depicted in the painting, done by Michael Angelo titled: the last judgment .
In the painting, the open inclusion of naked human bodies caused a lot of controversy because when analyzed from a religious point of view, it was immoral to show human genitalia in public. More condemnation was observed from the painting because it was housed in the Vatican, which is considered one of the holiest Christian places on earth.
The controversy took a different twist when the “holy painting” was later to be compared to Angelo’s nude paintings. This controversy later forced the then pontiff to extricate himself in light of such an argument, saying that in his defense, he was in no place to judge hell’s artifacts. As a result, critics were concerned over the fact that immorality was being condoned in a holy place (the Vatican).
In close relation to the moral lines drawn by Christianity, the Islamic faith has also been criticized by philosophers who teach against religious domination because it has over the years taught dogmatic principles which were only meant to promote matters like hygiene, political stability or other ancient issues which do not apply today (Dennett, 2006).
From this analysis, we can see that the society has been conditioned by the teachings of religion to perceive what is moral and what is not. An example could be the fact that Islam teaches that, women who fail to entirely cover themselves in religious clothing, are immoral and are subject to sexual assault.
Religion has therefore been known to trample over human compassion and morality because it advocates for a strict adherence to the scriptures’ teachings, at the expense of one’s individuality.
This can also be seen from the painting, the last judgment because the painting was a representation of the artist’s ideas (nudity), but he was not allowed to express himself because of the teachings of Christianity. In other words, his depiction of the naked human form as a part of his creative work could not be accepted because of what was morally perceived in the eyes of Christianity.
This critical analysis of morality from a religious point of view definitely tramples over human individuality and what an individual perceives as moral or not.
This prevents the growth of human personality because everyone has to conform to certain principles articulated in the scriptures and therefore one cannot be true to him or herself in the process. Religion therefore twists humanity to be a systematic relationship between man and God; beating the whole sense of being human in the first place.
This is the ground which religious institutions command power over the people because they assume they are bestowed with special knowledge of interpreting or redefining what is moral and what is not. From the same grounds, they have also successfully managed to curtail further debate on real issues that affect humanity today, such as same sex marriages, stem cell research and other morally sensitive issues.
Knowledge
The September 11 th attacks in America show just how much acts of terrorism are perceived as a small battle which is consumed in a larger global religious pursuit (Buzzle, 2011, p. 3).
Though terrorism may be largely perceived as a sophisticated art, it is apparently clear that most of the offensive is undertaken under the surety of religious doctrines which affirm to its subjects that God is with them, and they would be heavily rewarded for their acts (because they are justified to do what they do under the religious doctrines they believe in).
Often, it is usually difficult to convince either side of the religious divide that they are doing a wrong thing, especially if they believe that they are undertaking a religious pursuit, or fighting a religious cause.
Probably, an example of a misguided religious fanaticism is the Siege of the Beziers in 1209, where it was affirmed by one leader on the offensive that: “Kill them all, God will recognize his” (Locks, 2011, p. 13).
From this understanding, the September 11 th attacks in the US significantly changes the knowledge assumed to constitute religion because to a large extent, religion seeks to unite the people under a major cause of humanity and the love for God.
However, the attacks significantly change the knowledge that makes up Christianity and Islam because both religions speak of peace and the love for every human being. More importantly, religion speaks against revenge because it assures its believers that revenge should only rest in the hands of God.
All these teachings are breached by the protagonists because the US launched an offensive against several Islamic nations, under a conglomerate of other Christian allies such as Britain and Canada while Islamic unity became more apparent, across the globe, as a victimized religious group out on revenge.
This is a true departure from the teachings of religion and its aim of upholding social cohesion and peace across the world. To a large extent, the September 11 th attacks reinforce criticism against religion that its doctrines are based on irrational actions, unscientific fallacies and unreasonable actions which are clearly portrayed by the actions of the US and extreme terrorist groups.
The knowledge believed to encompass Christianity and Islam are therefore completely tarnished by the actions that followed the September 11 th attacks
The movie, the deep impact , also represents a departure from the usual beliefs associated with religion, based on how the world ends.
This is true because the movie proposes a scientific way of how the world would end but on the contrary, it is firmly rooted in the beliefs of Christianity that Christ will come back to take his people and separate evil from good. This manner of representation of how the world will end is written in the book of revelations and it is in sharp contrast to what the movie, deep impact , represents.
In religion, there is no inclusion of scientific concepts regarding how the world would end. In fact, most of the events preceding the end of the world are largely religious and have nothing to do with science, or that a comet will come crashing into earth and virtually mark the end of humanity.
The biggest distinction in the movie is that, there is no separation of evil or good in the deep impact , because a large part of the film suggests that the comet would indiscriminately kill all humanity. This is a departure from religious doctrines because the separation of evil and good is at the centre of the end of the world belief.
It is also important to note that religion provides no manner of redemption for humanity against God’s wrath but deep impact assumes that humanity could redeem itself in the wake of destruction by simply digging a deep hole underneath the earth’s surface and accommodate a million people who will survive the disaster.
The redemption of humanity is also skewed along the lines of wealth and power where the people to be redeemed are largely sourced from the United States and Russia, representing the wealth divide that exists in the world today.
Religion actually preaches the contrary because it is believed that the poor, weak and the humble will be redeemed by God during the last day.
The September 11 attacks also seek to reaffirm the argument proposed by certain critics of religion that religion is delusional and causes normal human beings to act in an irrational manner (Dawkins, 1991). In other words, such critics note that religion causes normal human beings to do “mad” acts and still consider them holy in the eyes of God. One such act is killing fellow human beings and expecting rewards from God.
These claims have set forth a series of studies done under research on mysticism and its possible connection to child abuse which set forth a series of other studies investigating the effects of religious possession and its effects on humanity (such as epilepsy).
As a result, literatures such as Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark have developed and suggested that extreme religious beliefs may have a possible connection with mental disorders (Dawkins, 1991, p. 11).
From this point of view, it is firmly believed by proponents of this school of thought that, what many religious believers perceive as vision, episodes and other mystical experiences may be nothing more than the stimulation of temporal lobe seizures.
From this argument, it is not exceptional to assume that the September 11 attacks on American soil may have been caused by a delusional motive among the offenders because their actions cannot be possibly justifiable under normal human state of mind. In other words, their actions and mindsets were obviously poisoned by religious doctrines, such as that affirmed by Bradshaw (2006) who suggests that:
“Some forms of temporal lobe tumors or epilepsy are associated with extreme religiosity. Recent brain imaging of devotees engaging in prayer or transcendental meditation has more precisely identified activation in such sites — God-spots, as Vilayanur Ramachandran calls them.
Psilocybin from mushrooms contacts the serotonergic system, with terminals in these and other brain regions, generating a sense of cosmic unity, transcendental meaning and religious ecstasy. Certain physical rituals can generate both these feelings and corresponding serotonergic activity” (p. 8).
In other words, it can be said that religion makes one conform to the beliefs and values of an unusual culture (which ordinary people would perceive as outrageous) because not even the actions pursued under these pretexts can be perceived justifiable under ordinary religious beliefs. When analyzed in the context of the September 11 th attacks, it therefore becomes apparently clear that these acts of terrorism depict delusional behavior among believers, which only seek to reinforce the idea among critics of religion that religion encompasses irrational beliefs and possibly, delusional acts.
From this analysis, there is a clear drift of the actions of believers and the teachings of religion. This belief has been depicted in several works of art such as the musical rock opera titled: Jesus Christ the superstar . In the rock opera, the composers omitted certain basic beliefs which are at the core of Christianity such as the resurrection of Christ.
This move by the musical composers was motivated by the fact that Christian believers normally held irrational beliefs about religion and particularly Jesus Christ. In other words, they tried to tone down the “supernatural” element attributed to Jesus Christ and rather focused on his human side.
To affirm their controversial stance on religion, the musical piece tore down on some of the most basic beliefs about the scriptures of Christianity by stating that some of the books in the New testament, like Mathew, Luke, Mark and John had several inconsistencies because they were in the first place not originally written in English, but rather, interpreted from Greek.
Moreover, because the musical piece focused less on the Jesus’ supernatural nature, it also focused on Judas, which was largely perceived by Christian fundamentalists as an abomination to Christianity. This work only seeks to reinforce the arguments purported in increasing volumes of philosophical works developed by several authors, concerning the negative dominance of religion in the society.
Conclusion
This study identifies that the September 11 attacks significantly change the manner we perceive morality and the knowledge associated with religion in the first place. The precursor events and the actions that followed the attacks seek to redefine the concept of morality in the society and seem a departure from the basic teachings of religion.
These events are perceived as irrational and not in conformance to the teachings of Christianity by any means possible. This is the ground pursued by philosophers criticizing the role of religion in the society because as evidenced from the September 11 attacks, religion seems to play a harmful role in the society.
References
Beckford, J. A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bradshaw, J. (2006). Ockham’s Razor, June 18, 2006, A God of the Gaps? Web.
Buzzle. (2011). Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America . Web.
Dawkins, R. (1991). Viruses of the Mind . Web.
Dennett, D. (2006). Breaking the Spell. New York: Allen Lane.
Hitchens, C. (2007). God is not Great . New York: Twelve.
Locks, S. (2011). Kill Them All; For The Lord Knoweth Them That Are His Steve Locks. Web.
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Philosophy and Curriculum Essay
Admittedly, education is always affected by the contemporary philosophy. For example, any teacher plans the curriculum in accordance with his/her opinion as for the main points and less important issues. Since teachers are brought up in a certain culture based on a particular philosophy they form their curricula in terms of this large context.
Moreover, teachers tend to develop not only their students’ mental activity, but they strive to foster people characterized by the major values of the culture they pertain to. Of course, it is not the most important for teacher to teach students to do sums or know where human’s heart is.
Teachers develop learners’ ethical qualities so that students become worthy members of the society. Thus, teachers try to shape their curricula so that not only student’s mind and brain but student’s soul and heart could be developed (Brummelen 2). Many educators pay much attention to the correlation between philosophy and curriculum.
For instance, Brummelen provides many effective approaches to plan the curriculum in accordance with contemporary philosophy. To my mind, he helps not only teachers but students as well since he articulates many useful points which teachers can implement. As far as students are concerned they also benefit from reading such books since they start understanding the importance of this approach. Moreover, the book enables learners to focus on what is really important.
What impressed me most was the attitude towards religion and its place in the curriculum. For instance, it is suggested that all disciplines can and should be integrated with major principles of religion (Brummelen 229).
Of course, it is not surprising when religious issues are considered during History or Literature classes. However, I was a bit startled while reading about using such principles during Biology or Physics, for example. I used to think that science and religion are in different camps since sciences always tried to debunk certain points promulgated by religion.
In its turn religious people often denied some major findings of scientists or condemned them for interfering in some divine activities. Besides, I often disliked when teachers started moralizing, so I thought that any deviations from curriculum was useless waste of time. I thought that school should provide students with pure science. However, the book impressed me greatly and made me change my mind.
I used to think that philosophical, religious and cultural principles should be learned at home, but I think that teachers can do it better since they know how to educate young people. Moreover, to my mind some ethical norms are acquired better when they come within some particular discipline.
Thus, now I admit that such integration is possible and even preferable. Whereas, nowadays teachers explain that people’s longing to knowledge and, in fact, ability to learn and perceive is given by our God. It goes without saying that contemporary students can benefit from knowledge which is accompanied by “guiding principle for life” (Anthony and Benson 375). To my mind, curriculum is only strengthened by philosophical (religious) principles.
It is very important to make young people see what is right and what is wrong since they are exposed to so much information at present that they can easily get lost and make many mistakes. Thus, I gather that curriculum is, in any case, influenced by curriculum, so it is better if teachers know how to make students benefit from it.
Works Cited
Anthony, Michael J. and Warren S. Benson. Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education: Principles for the Twenty-First Century . Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2003.
Van Brummelen, Harro. Steppingstones to Curriculum: A Biblical Path . Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications, 2002.
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Photography as a career Research Paper
The art, science and practice of creating photographs has been one of the most interesting occupations in all history since it plays a pivotal role in preserving priceless memories that have touched people.
The career of photography is often sought after because of its prestige, the love of creating photographs, and the opportunity to immortalize exciting, captivating, or thought provoking events in life. Thus, I chose photography as a profession because of its reputation and my love for taking pictures to represent memorable moments in life.
It is of essence to note that a number of variations exist in the field of photography, for example, self-employment and commercial photographing are just some of the ways one can successfully earn a living as a photographer. Photography is an interesting profession.
In summary, the work of photographers involve generating and saving images which paint a picture, illustrate a tale, or document an occasion, through either using traditional cameras or a digital cameras to record the memorable images.
Traditional cameras store the pictures on silver halide film, which is later reproduced on paper (Ingledew, 194). And, digital cameras overcomes some of the problems of traditional cameras through electronically storing the images and thus enhancing the quality of the pictures to be reproduced (Warren, 215).
After taking the pictures, in most cases, the films are usually taken to the labs for processing and this ensures that the pictures produced are of the highest quality. Color photography, which forms images either as positive transparencies or as color negatives, needs costly apparatus and exacting situations for the precise processing and printing of the images produced by the process.
Other photographers, particularly those who use black and white film or who need special effects, often process the films on their own; however, they should have enough technical experience to operate a fully equipped darkroom or the required computer software for the digital production of the pictures.
Thus, my current major of visual and graphic arts is related to photography in the sense that it will equip me with relevant creative skills in the design and production of quality images. Consequently, I will be able to apply them in my future work as a photographer.
The average salary of a photographer is based on many things; nonetheless, the amount of money a photographer takes home is based on whether he or she is self-employed and the size of the company the photographer works for.
“The average annual salary for a low-class photographer is $29,440, and the lowest 10% earn less than $16,920, the middle 50% between $20,620 and $43,530 while the highest 10% earn upwards of $62,430” (“Photography salary information,” para.5).
For one to succeed as a photographer, he or she has to have strong imaginations and technical skills in photography, and, importantly, the most competent persons have degrees in photography or journalism.
It is of essence to note that both portrait and freelance photographers ought to have some technical experience that is attained by some kind of training offered by numerous colleges and training institutions that equip the learners with the essential skills required to be successful in this profession.
In New Orleans and Louisiana, individuals can successfully make a career from photography in three main ways. These are doing wedding photography, submitting pictures to various stock libraries, and submitting images to magazines and other publications in the states.
Works Cited
Ingledew, John. Photography . London : Laurence King, 2005. Print.
“Photography salary information.” Adigitaldreamer.com . A Digital Dreamer, 2011. Web. http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/articles/photography-salary.htm
Warren, Bruce. Photography: the concise guide . Clifton Park, NY: Delmar/Thomson Learning, 2003. Print.
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Physical Education and Its Benefits Exploratory Essay
Physical education should be an integral part of the curriculum. It is amazing that schools can compromise physical education with all its benefits. Schools in particular know the benefits of physical education in a student’s life and should be able to fight for the children’s rights.
Physical exercise promotes blood circulation in the body especially in the brain and such activity works to reduce stress and improve on mood and attitude of the student as work without play makes Jack a dull boy. Moreover studies have proved that physically active children achieve more in class.
The national association for sports and physical education recommend at least sixty minutes of exercise daily or for most days of the week.
Statistics show that over ten million children aged between six and nineteen are overweight in the United States. Among the adolescents, the number of the over weights toady is four times than in the last decade; a very alarming rate. The dangers of being overweight are too adverse to be true.
Some of the health risks associated with obesity and overweight are polygenic disorders like pre-diabetes and diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, apnea and many more.
Additionally, nutritionists say that an obese child is likely to be an obese adult. The fact that fat cells are capable of increasing in number during childhood but in adulthood the body system can only work to fill the existing ones and not to form new ones supports this claim.
Obesity is a major health concern in most of the countries and especially in the US as aforementioned. Obesity is hard to manage not mentioning its health related risks; it calls for specialist medical care, which is very expensive to a given country; therefore, nations cannot afford to cut down the programs that help to manage and/or prevent obesity.
With most foods working to accumulate fats in the body and the changes in lifestyle, policy makers cannot ignore this pertinent issue. Physical exercise in schools should draw their support from family members, the society and the government.
The government should set aside money for physical exercises in particular in the national budget as it does not only affect the students positively but also saves the country’s economy greatly for a ‘sick’ nation is an unproductive nation.
There are other benefits associated with physical education, which should compel parents and the government to embrace the activity. Physical activity improves on the students overall confidence; for instance, performing in the field instills courage in the student.
In addition, many students learn of their talents in school sports most of whom secure sporting jobs internationally which is beneficial to the individual student, the parents and the nation and this underscores the need to revive this dying yet necessary activity.
Physical activity also promotes a healthy lifestyle in adulthood. Students grow into responsible citizens who influence their children positively; the best news is that this behavior passes from generation to generation hence giving rise to a healthy nation.
Hygiene and sex education are part of the physical education curriculum. These work together to give birth to an all round person. Another virtue learnt is teamwork as most sports in schools are holistic and this promotes the spirit of unity in a student’s life.
The factors above would be lost if the government does not intervene to save the dying physical education. Schools will not be a place of molding one into a responsible citizen, as the curriculum would be incomplete without physical education.
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Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola: Man Is a Miraculous Being Essay
Pico Della Mirandola was born in 1463 and lived through to 1494. He was born in a royal family in Italy. During his youth, he paid visits to prominent French and Italian universities.
He also challenged scholars to a debate of his nine hundred theses in Rome in 1846. However, the Pope forbade any such debates because of the heretical nature of some of the theses. Consequently, he suffered prosecution and was absolved by Alexander VI in 1943. Pico sought knowledge and his works are compounded with mysticism. He was a theologian, philosopher and a humanist.
He also sought after knowledge. He wrote different types of works such as sonnets and elegies. He wanted to reconcile philosophy and religion. His work on oration on the dignity of man claimed that man was a miraculous and wonderful being. This discussion shall look at the reasons why Pico considered man a miraculous and wonderful being and whether human beings are truly free.
Pico considers a human being a wonderful creature. He urges that man is a miraculous being because he can choose what he wills. God granted man the power to choose. Thus, man can choose to be good or evil because God created him with seeds of all possibilities. This means that man can become whatever he cultivates be it bad or good.
For example, some men turn out to be plants, others become brutish and others become angelic and sons of God. Man can also recollect himself if not satisfied with all the creatures. Then become one in spirit with God. The ability of man to transform himself made Pico claim that man was a wonderful being.
Man is a miraculous being because he was created in the image of God. The creation story tells about all the things that God created during the first six days and on the seventh day, he desired to create a creature that resembled him so that he could have a relationship with it. The creature that he saw fit for his desire was a human being whom he fashioned in his own image. Thus, man is the only being created in God’s image thus making him a wonderful creature.
Man is a miraculous creature because he can take many forms. In both Christian and mosaic writings, man is sometimes called all flesh and other times every creature. A man is called by these different terms because he is able to fashion, mold himself, and assume any characteristic that he so desires.
In this regard, Evantes concurred with Pico when he said that a man is born with no specific semblance but has many according to his will. Man is unique and cannot be classified as heavenly or earthly. Furthermore, man does not fit into the categories of immortal and mortal.
God created man this way because he wanted him to be free to be the shaper of himself into whatever form he preferred. Man can attain any level he desires such as become the least of all creatures or be reborn in the divine order. Pico came up with a new creation allegory that depicted Adam as a man who had unlimited choices.
Among all the creatures, that God created only man can admire nature. Man has the ability to admire the vast creation of God and marvel at its beauty.
That is why God created him after He had finished creating all the things in the universe. He felt a need of having a creature that would be like him. He created man in a unique way and he did not fashion him from any archetype on earth. God wanted to create a being that would contemplate about the universe and man was the answer to that need.
Man was placed at the center of the universe. God placed man at the center so that he could easily see whatever was in the earth. Man is the only creature with the ability to look around his surrounding and admire it making him a wonderful creature.
Pico is of the contention that humans are to be envied by angels. He says that angels should envy human beings because a man can choose their destiny unlike the angels who are destined to serve God and cannot change their form. I think that angels can envy human beings because man has the power to power to admire the universe unlike the angels.
Angels can also envy man because he has the power to become like them or attain their level by observing the life of angels. On the other hand, angels are destined to serve God and are thus assured of a life in heaven unlike man who has to decide his destiny through his actions.
If man is not careful, he can become a brute or a plant and therefore fail to enjoy the things in the high levels. A man has to live through life in which he faces many things and it might become difficult for him to focus on doing good in order to become like angles in a world full of so many evils. Still, man is a being to be envied by angels even by all other creatures because of his unique nature and ability to shape his destiny.
Pico posits that man has freedom but must observe the universal law to enjoy the freedom. God created man and give him the freedom. Freedom is the essence of dignity in man. It places man in high rank because only man has the ability to be free in the cosmos. Man is able to realize the possibility that is heavenly through his actions.
Man can reach this divine possibility by meditation, which ignites compassion, intuitive and intelligence. A man who aims to be one with God will activate the three qualities by practicing moral science and purifying the soul and abandoning dialectical reasoning.
Thus, man is free to choose if he wants to be one with God or separate. Pico urges that man is a free being because he has many gods within him and can choose whatever he wills. Pico asserts that the essence of man’s freedom was to enable man to die in flesh and live in God in form of the mind.
Man is free to choose to either follow the nature within him that pulls him towards divinity or low sphere of trouble. If he chooses to be driven by discord, he will be separated from gods and banished into the deep realm. On the other hand, if he chooses to follow the moral philosophy that teaches love he will be able to attain peace. If all men choose to practice moral philosophy then the world will become peaceful and men can live like brothers and sisters.
Freedom gives man an opportunity to live wherever he so wishes. When God created man, he placed him at the center of the earth. From this position, man is able to see all the things that are the world. God placed him there so that he could in accordance to his own judgment and desires choose any place to call home. The freedom that God gave man set him free unlike animals that are constrained by laws he has no limits.
It means that only man can choose the limits to place in his nature. Thus, he has the freedom to occupy whichever place he desires. For instance, man has been able to reclaim the sea and build cities because he has the freedom to do so yet no other creature can do such a thing.
When God created man, he wished to have a relationship with him forever. Thus, he gave man freedom of will so that he could choose salvation and live with God forever. Man can acquire salvation through his deeds and just as God told Adam when he created him, it was upon him to choose and live his life according to his own will. Thus, freedom can enable man to attain salvation.
Lastly, a man is free to choose his destiny unlike the other creatures that are controlled by external factors. Man defines and fashions his own destiny. I think is the highest trait in man that distinguishes him from all other creatures that walk on the face of the earth. The freedom innately found in man truly makes him a wonderful being.
On the other hand, hand can be evil and make the life of his fellow miserable through his actions such as hatred and even wars that lead to so much suffering.
However, I do not think that man is truly free because some men are controlled by other men and have no say in whatever they are asked to do. For example, some men have been turned into slaves by others and denied the freedom to think or even do, as they will. Their masters dictate what they should do and in this case, such men cannot be said to be truly free.
They carry out the evil deeds due to a command because they are not given a choice and failure to carry out the orders may result in sever punishment. For example, some perpetrators of atrocities during the Nazi era claim they were only obeying orders. Were such men truly free? Nonetheless, man is a free being and can choose to be whatever he wills.
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Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes Poems Compare & Contrast Essay
As poets Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes differed greatly, not only temporally and geographically, but also in respect to the life situations that each poet drew from when creating their poems. Both poets harbored revolutionary thoughts and used their poems to express these thoughts to a wider audience.
This essay will present general impressions toward each poet’s work, and will assert that despite their differences, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes shared an essential common trait. Both poets spoke out against the hypocrisy and oppression that they witnessed and faced during their lifetimes, albeit in very different ways.
Emily Dickinson lived a privileged life from a financial perspective. She was born into a wealthy Massachusetts family headed by prestigious lawyers and educators, and enjoyed a stellar education, much more advanced than many men had access to at that time in history, at Amherst College where her father served as treasurer (Wolff 261). Emily Dickinson spent the majority of her life in Massachusetts, in the house she was born in, and never had to work (Wolff 261).
The general impressions of Emily Dickinson’s work are that it contains a reticence that hides a sharp and astute intellect and subversive soul.
Although she lived the life of recluse, she missed nothing, and wrote critically about the society she lived in. Emily Dickinson’s intellectual horsepower surpassed many minds of her generation; however her solitude, reclusive bent and shy demeanor meant that few of her poems saw the light of day during her lifetime (Wolff 261).
Emily Dickinson’s poetry covers the gamut of human experience – death, loss, love – and many of her poems contain a penetrating intellectual analysis and insight into the human condition. An example is Because I Could Not Stop for Death . This poem speaks to the human view of death as something to be avoided and feared, rather than a natural part of life: “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality” (Dickinson 1).
Emily Dickinson describes the busy social obligations of life that melt in the face of our own demise and render themselves largely meaningless: “We slowly drove – He knew no haste, And I had put away, My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility” (Dickinson 1). Emily Dickinson’s keen eye saw the hypocrisy and ludicrous avoidance of death she encountered in her everyday life, and wrote about it in a quiet yet penetrating way.
Another example of this exists in Emily Dickinson’s Much Madness is Divinest Sense . This poem reads as a scathing indictment of the false and arbitrary nature of the human social construct, and largely defines that which is deemed mad as having the most meaning when compared to that which is deemed socially acceptable, whether or not it makes sense.
In this poem Emily Dickinson describes society in the most deplorable terms as consisting mainly of conditioning and mob rule: “Much Madness is divinest Sense – To a discerning Eye – Much Sense – the starkest Madness – `Tis the Majority, In this, as All, prevail” (Dickinson 2).
Much Madness is Divinest Sense also provides some insight into Emily Dickinson’s treatment at the hands of those she confided her genius in: “Assent – and you are sane – Demur – you`re straightaway dangerous – And handled with a Chain” (Dickinson 2).
This poem speaks to quiet radicalism and staunch non-conformity that punctuated much of Emily Dickinson’s work; she remained a singular soul on the fringes of her society, and thus her poems became an important outlet for her own distinctive voice and distinctive view of the world.
The general impressions of Langston Hughes’s poems Langston Hughes also sat comfortably in the fringes of his society, and wrote about racism, although his work tends to be much more effusive and openly critical. Langston Hughes, by contrast to Emily Dickinson, travelled the world and spent extended periods of time living and working in Cuba, Mexico, Paris and Russia (Rampersand 497).
Being black in the United States during the early part of the twentieth century, Langston Hughes’ family lacked the financial means to support their son, and although he did gain access to a formal education at Columbia University and Lincoln University, he struggled with poverty for much of his life (Rampersand 497).
Many of Langston Hughes’ most famous poems deal largely with his personal experience of being a black man during an extremely racist period of American history, and his work deals with his ensuing feelings of separation and isolation.
Langston Hughes’ poem Theme for English B speaks to this condition: “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races. So will my page be colored that I write? Being me, it will not be white. But it will be a part of you, instructor. You are white– yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American” (Hughes 5).
Another example is Harlem , and the poignant rhetorical question that opens the poem: “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes 3). Harlem describes the pain and anguish of a generation of human beings denied access to fundamental human rights on the basis of pigmentation.
The poem is distinctive in that as it progresses, it describes a range of human emotions in response to oppression: “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?” (Hughes 3) In these lines the reader witness many potential reactions: the phrases “dry up” and “fester” might refer to suicide, depression, or addiction (Hughes 3).
“Stink” may refer to death (Hughes 3). “Sags like a heavy load” speaks to the weight of oppression and its impact on the lives of the millions who endure it (Hughes 3).
Interestingly, the poem ends with the image “or does it explode?” (Hughes 3). Hughes ends the poem with a violent image, that may refer to anger, and in many cases may be the harbinger of the racial rebellion that eventually took place in the United States forty years after the poem was written during the Civil Right movement.
As poets, both Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes Emily Dickinson wrote about the social mores at work during their lives, and while each poet lived an extremely different life, both drew from personal experience and observation to write critical responses and commentaries on the worlds they lived in.
Although Emily Dickinson lived as a recluse, she wrote penetrating insights into the society she lived in. Similarly, Langston Hughes wrote about the hypocrisy of racism. Both poets tailored their revolutionary thoughts to be expressed through their poems, and used their creative talents to criticize the society they lived in.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. Reading for English 2 . Mark Connelley and Joseph Trimmer, eds. Oxford, U.K.:Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.
Hughes, Langston. Reading for English 2 . Mark Connelley and Joseph Trimmer, eds. Oxford, U.K.:Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.
Rampersand, Arnold. “Hughes, Langston (1902-1967).” Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature: Volume One. George B. Perkins, Barbara Perkins and Phillip Leininger, eds. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. Print.
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. “Dickinson, Emily (Elizabeth) (1830-1886).” Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature: Volume One. George B. Perkins, Barbara Perkins and Phillip Leininger, eds. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. Print.
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Policing the Drug Problem in United States Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Pros of Policing the Drug Problem
3. Cons of Policing the Drug Problem
4. Conclusion
5. Reference List
Introduction
As Cratty (2010, p.1) argues, controlling the ever-increasing availability of drugs in the American streets is one of the primary challenges that the federal government faces.
Although the federal government since time memorial has dedicated a good portion of its budgetary allocation to the anti-narcotics department, as research studies indicate, majority of its efforts have achieved little; hence making many to question the worthiness of the government’s efforts.
In its struggle to deal with the drug trade, the American government works closely with anti-drug agencies, for example, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which works closely with the FBI, when it comes to drug cartels across international borders.
To control the spread of drugs the American streets, DEA works closely with local police units, which have proved very important to the war on illegal drugs.
That is, through application of the current multi-lateralized drug policing strategies, the federal government has managed to control the spread of drugs from the American streets, through arresting and prosecuting masterminds of the illegal drug trade.
Such arrests and eventual prosecutions are of significance not only to the government, but also economically to the American government and societies, because of the role they play in maintaining a peaceful and secure America.
Although this is the case, it is crucial to note that, drug policing is one of the most expensive ventures hence, the tendency of the federal government to deviate funds, which it can use in solving other problems the American citizenry (Feyerick, 2009, p.1).
Pros of Policing the Drug Problem
As research studies by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on the effect of drugs on the American Citizenry show, substance abuse is one of the primary troubles facing the American citizenry. As statistics indicate, more than twelve million Americans abuse drugs, a factor that has contributed in many health issues and economic burden on individuals, and families, as most substance abusers rarely have control over their habits (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010, p.1).
With the current technological advancements, the situation has turned worse, as most drug sellers and distributors use high-tech systems to ensure they evade the long arm of the law. For example, with the advent of the internet, some drug dealers conduct their trade online, a case that is very hard for most community initiatives to combat hence, the current governmental drug policing initiatives (Crespigny, 2002, pp. 70-76).
One prime problem that policing has helped to solve is the high drug related insecurity cases that existed previously. As research studies show, to defend their trade, drug dealers use anything at their disposal, for example, guns to ensure their trade prospers.
In addition to crime by dealers, to sustain their drug needs, most drug abusers engage themselves in violent activities, for example, robbery in order to get money to meet their drug desires. However, with the current extensive policing measures, the federal government has managed to control drug-associated crimes hence, ensuring secure American societies.
Although most individuals may argue that, drug policing has achieved little as far as the war on drugs is concerned, currently the situation in societies is better as compared to some times back, when present policing measures were not present (U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004, p.1).
In addition to reducing the crime rates, policing the drug problem is of great significance to the government, because it gives law-enforcing officers an opportunity of expanding their criminal expertise. Such exposure is of great significance in dealing with the current drug trade systems, as most drug dealers use high-tech technologies in their business dealings.
In addition, because one primary agenda of the government is to ensure the American citizenry remain secure, policing offer an opportunity of protecting its citizenry from negative effects associated with the drug trade and abuse.
It is important to note that, the drug trade is one of the most extensive illegal trades that transcend beyond international borders. Therefore, because of the national security threats posed by transnational and local organized criminal gangs, policing plays a central role in eliminating such threats hence, a secure America (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2010, p.1).
On the other hand, policing the drug problem has many economic advantages not only to societies, but also to the government. Success of any policing endeavor will mean that a society can sustain itself economically, because most of the resources that individuals dedicate to drugs are of great economic significance if the government succeeds to eliminate such drugs from the American streets.
Societal economic sustainability is of great significance to the general economic well-being of a nation, because it helps in reducing the general governmental spending. In addition, appropriate policing strategies can help to minimize such expenses through eliminating illegal drugs from the society (International Institute for Environment and Development, 2010, p.1).
Cons of Policing the Drug Problem
Although policing the drug problem can be can be of great significance economically and socially, with the current state of the drug trade, the entire process is one of the most expensive ventures. Annually, the federal government spends millions of dollars to deal with the illegal drug issue, although as research studies indicate, most of its efforts have achieved little in controlling the selling of drugs in the streets.
Therefore, economically, policing the drug problem will mean that, the government has to increase its expenditure to its justice department at the expense of other development sectors.
For example, to train police officers and equip them with the necessary gadgets needed to deal with the ever-changing illegal drug trade systems, the government has to allocate extra cash to the justice system, hence greatly jeopardizing other developmental initiatives. Although many individuals may argue that most federal anti-narcotics agencies requires no government support because they are able to sustain themselves using funds got from drug barons, the government must subsidize their expenses (Blumenson, 2010, Para. 1-7).
Another disadvantage of policing the drug problem is that, although the constitutions spell out every American citizen’s rights, from the time of arrest to imprisonment rarely do law-enforcing agents respect such rights in drug related cases. As research by the Drug Policy Agency, police officers harass majority of suspected drug dealers, because in most cases police officers conducted unwarranted searches and deny them their freedom of speech.
In addition to such harassments, most law enforcing agents rarely investigate reasons behind an individual’s drug habits hence, jeopardizing chances of the society reforming such individuals’ characters (Drug Policy Alliance, 2010, p.1). On the other hand, because policing requires the cooperation of community members, likelihoods of law enforcing agents exposing individuals are high; hence, posing many security threats to members of given societies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although policing the drug problem can be of great economic and social significance to the government and society, for policing to work effectively in eliminating drugs from the American streets, there is need for the government to review it policies on the illegal drug trade. This is because, as research studies show, some illegalized drugs can be of medicinal purpose, have no associated dangerous health effects, and can increase the government’s revenue collection.
Reference List
Blumenson, E. (2010). Policing for profit: the war’s hidden economic agenda . Web.
Cente r for Diseases Control and Prevention (2010). Illegal drug use. CDC. Web .
Cratty, Carol. (2010) Mexico drug cartels extend reach in U.S. CNN. Web.
Crespigny, C. (2002). Double jeopardy: disadvantage and drug problems. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 8(1), 70-76.
Drug Policy Alliance. Drugs, police and the law. DPA. Web.
Feyerick, D. (2009). Drug smugglers becoming more creative , U.S. agents say. CNN. Web.
International Institute for Environment and Development. To legalize or not to legalize . IIED. Web.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2010). UNODC organized crime . UNODC. Web.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. (2004). Drug trafficking in the U.S. Almanac of Policy Issues. Web.
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Political Theories of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay
Table of Contents
1. Similarities
2. Differences
3. Conclusion
4. Footnotes
In post-war America, the fight against racism threatened to turn the country upside down. The struggle reached a climax in the mid 1960s, and in the midst of it all were two charismatic and articulate leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
Their philosophical differences forced them to be at odds with each other as each strategized about how to win the fight for equality and justice for African Americans. Yet, these Civil Rights leaders shared certain attributes. Their similarities allowed them to cross paths and establish common ground, while their actions made them iconic leaders of the African American race.
Their shared passion for freedom and equality made them targets, and their commitment to their ideals caused them to die in the prime of their lives from an assassin’s bullet. Irony particularly surrounds the violent death of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose political ideas were deemed too passive and unradical by some critics. Yet, his contributions helped to shape contemporary African American politics.
Similarities
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X walked different paths; however, there were commonalities between them. For instance, both championed an end to the status quo. Furthermore, both men agreed that American society could be transformed only through dramatic changes in attitude and actions at the individual, community and national levels.
Each man believed that he had a major role to play in this struggle, and each leader altered his birth name to monikers we now consider legendary. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born Michael King, and Malcolm X was christened as Malcolm Little. [1]
Their ideas and words came from a religious base. Both were ministers in their respective religions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the son, grandson and the great grandson of Baptist ministers, and when he grew up, it was unsurprising that he became a fourth generation Baptist minister. [2] Malcolm X was also a preacher’s son. He joined the Nation of Islam while incarcerated and then became a lay leader in the Muslim religion.
When King and Malcolm X spoke, their power and charisma were obvious and their distinctive styles were honed in their respective congregations. The ideas that each brought forth were characterized by religious undertones and influenced by sacred doctrine.
Their political ideas stemmed from a hope that all African Americans would be ale to walk the streets with their heads held high. A dream of total emancipation from the negative effects of slavery and the desire for freedom in all aspects of life.
In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech at the March on Washington, he said, “It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream . that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” [3]
This excerpt illustrates the burning passion in his heart. The same can be said of Malcolm X who refused to accept standard discriminatory practices and was consumed by a vision that someday African Americans would no longer be treated as second-class citizens.
Both their teachings outlived their lives and transcended beyond the geographical boundaries that confined the two leaders. Just as their teachings appealed to the same group of people in different ways, the spread of their ideologies has also taken different paths.
Malcolm X teachings have remained in non-mainstream minority groupings only surfacing when such groups find a leader similar to Malcolm X in their defense of the ideology and quickly leave the mainstream with the departure of the leader.
In a similar pattern, King’s ideologies have penetrated the mainstream just as they did before and continue to influence policy and personal aspirations of equality along all lifestyles. The pattern of the ideological spread remains unchanged for both leaders’ political theories.
Differences
Although both African American leaders shared similarities, they were totally different when it came to the core principles of their political theories. Malcolm X believed that African Americans needed to be more aggressive. He believed that they had to assert themselves when it came to their constitutional rights as citizens of the United States of America and their God given rights as human beings.
More importantly, Malcolm X’s core teachings were all about “moral principles of self defense, retaliation, and power.” [4] Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand, chose nonviolent resistance “through unconditional love and direct action.” [5] In other words, Martin Luther King, Jr. believed firmly in the principles of nonviolent resistance against the oppressors of the Negro race.
Their differences in this regard may partly explain why King was admired more than Malcolm X, arguably. Once a year, Americans celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which illustrates this icon’s national importance. In addition, Martin Luther King, Jr., at age 35, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievements in the fight for equality, freedom, and justice using nonviolent means. He was and is considered as one of the youngest to ever receive a Nobel Prize.
The second major difference can be seen in how both gentlemen envisioned the future when it came to the relationship between blacks and whites. King wanted integration. He not only believed that racism could be eradicated, but also that black and whites could live in relative harmony.
One writer captured King’s actions and beliefs more succinctly when he wrote, “Although King’s Gandhian tactics were radical at the time, his goals in 1965 were mainstream: inclusion of black citizens in an integrated American democracy.” [6] During this period, some questioned the effectiveness of this approach. In fact, there were many criticisms hurled at King, but, in the end, it was all justified.
Similar to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s critics, Malcolm X felt that King’s vision was a mere illusion void of logic. He emphasized the slim likelihood that white people would relinquish control of their positions of authority.
One commentator summarized the rationale for the call for separation as opposed to integration; citing Malcolm X, the author wrote the following: “Because they believed they would never ‘pierce the present white power structure’ they decided to form a separate party and elect Negroes to office.” [7]
This reasoning is why many disapproved of King’s nonviolent stance, which Malcolm X viewed as illogical, given the entrenched power of white people.
Malcolm X clarified it further by stating: “In the etiquette of race relations, the condition of the oppressed was ameliorated, if at all, through entreaty and supplication and only by the dominant class and at its pace.” [8] Malcolm X felt that progress was moving at a snail’s pace and something had to be done.
Malcolm X regarded action as the only way to influence change on the American political atmosphere. His rhetoric is full of the feelings of oppression that African Americans felt under the political ideological system of the time such that each African American saw themselves as victims.
When Malcolm X spoke to address the grievances of African Americans, he did so as a victim just like those whom he was representing. Therefore, his teachings resonated more with the heavily oppressed and poor compared to the relatively well-off enjoying mild social status in the American socio-economic system.
The extremist boldness of Malcolm X added to his resentment of the prevailing law in America. According to his rhetoric, Malcolm X saw that there were only two options of putting a stop to the oppression of the African American, using the ballot box or an armed struggle.
Either choice was not favorable with the existing government or therefore he became an enemy of the state as long as he advocated his political ideologies. Contrariwise, King’s ideology presents a variety of choices that aim to bring the oppressed and the oppressor to a common ground without the feeling that one group is taking from another.
Malcolm X’s teachings resonate well with revolutionary causes and therefore capture the spirit of minority groups in all aspects of their lives [9] .
His teachings brings out the lack that minorities experience and seeks to compel them to put an end to their dissatisfaction by joining an uprising that will ultimately uplift their socio economic status to the level of those that oppress them. Unfortunately, none of the individuals forming the prevailing political class falls under the classification of the oppressed as described by Malcolm X, therefore they cannot relate on a personal level to his teachings.
Other than their revolutionary proclamations, Malcolm’s teaching depended on his energy of message delivery; he had to display a strong unwavering character capable of no compromise in championing the causes of the oppressed. His teaching was forceful compared with King’s powerful teaching.
It must also be pointed out that their differences are exemplified in the way they crafted their speeches, declarations, and actions when in the public eye.
Their personal and political views affected the way they handled their social and political activities. It can be argued that both men were activists, though only one became an expert at dealing with mainstream politics and managing the tension between the oppressed, frustrated black minority and the white majority.
For instance, Martin Luther King, Jr. was able to work with former President Johnson, and their collaboration resulted in the creation of landmark laws whose impact is still felt to this day. [10] Malcolm X, on the other hand, succeeded in alienating himself from mainstream society and failed to exert a positive influence on the White House to help him to reach his goals.
Martin Luther King, Jr. may have had a better feel for politics, but in the eyes of his critics, that political savviness became a liability. The radicalized segment of the African American community wanted substantial results and possibly interpreted King’s cautious stance as a sign of weakness.
King’s strategies were viewed with contempt by many African-Americans, especially some young people. Malcolm X’s fiery rhetoric was more desirable for many of them. In the words of one author, “They weren’t willing to wait for the slow, patient, methods of the NAACP, or even the civil rights movement, to take effect.” [11]
Despite the speculation, no one will know how far Malcolm X was willing to go when it came to his ideas of self-defense and retaliation, because of his untimely death. But, it can be said that the nonviolent approach to the issues of racism has proven more effective than the alternative.
While King’s ideologies of non-violence and dialogue portrayed him as a weak leader in the eyes of the oppressed African Americans, his method proved more effective compared to that of Malcolm X. King had power that resided in the principles he preached about. His ideology embodied universal principles of love and acceptance such that it would be adapted to a variety of courses against oppression [12] .
In addition, his message depended on the belief of the listener more than on the messenger. As a result, King’s followers were true converts of his principles and would become advocates for the same to other people. King’s relative success of penetrating the state and converting a few individuals lies in the power embodied in his message rather than his character.
Conclusion
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X shared the same dream of the eventual elimination of racism. They hoped that the members of the Negro race would come to know the true meaning of the phrase “all men are created equal” and be treated fairly. However, they differed sharply in the methods chosen to make this dream come true.
King adhered to a Gandhi-like, non-violent approach and sought to integrate with the mainstream society. Malcolm X opted for more radical measures and was willing to retaliate against oppressors. Radicalized members of the African American community frowned upon the less aggressive tactics of King and most of this constituency doubted King’s effectiveness. They were excited with the ideas articulated by Malcolm X.
But, in the end, it was the non-violent, civil disobedience approach of Martin Luther King, Jr. that awakened the conscience of Americans both black and white and more so resonated universally. Every year, Americans commemorate the contributions of King through a national holiday that bears his name, and that practice alone is enough to testify to the positive impact of his legacy.
Footnotes
1. “Malcolm X (1925-1965).” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Education Institutue. Web.
2. “King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968).”
3. Ibid.
4. Laurence Bove. Philosophical Perspectives on Power and Domination: Theories and Practices. (Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 1997), 223.
5. Ibid.
6. Nick Kotz, Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws that Changed America. (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005), 297.
7. William Terence & Martin Riches. The Civil Rights Movement: Struggle and Resistance. (New York: PALGRAVE, 1997), 92.
8. William Sales, From Civil Rights to Black Liberation: Malcolm X and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1994), 168.
9. Baggins Brian, “ History of the Black Panther Party ”. Marxists Internet Archive. Web.
10. Kotz, 112.
11. Beatrice Gormley, Malcolm X: A Revolutionay Voice for African Americans. (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2008), 87.
12. James Cone, Black Theology in American Theology. (Journal of American Academy of Religion, Vol 53, No. 4, pp. 775-771, 2008), 759.
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Politics of Globalization in Taiwan Essay
Table of Contents
1. Taiwan’s political system
2. Patterns of globalization
3. Global cities and competitive advantage of Nations
4. Taiwan and non-polarity
5. Economy of Taiwan
6. Taiwan’s geopolitics of energy
7. Works Cited
Taiwan’s political system
According to Chen ( np ), Taiwan has developed by using mercantilism which proposes the economy is inferior to politics. Economics is looked at as a way of escalating state power therefore national interest takes priority over the market place. Wealth and power are corresponding contending objectives and economic dependence on other states should be completely evaded.
Mercantilism believes that economic action is and should be subsidiary to the major goal which is to build a strong state. Economics is a political tool whereby ones state’s loss is another state’s gain. Recent mercantilist way of thinking has led to the successful development of East Asia states not excluding Taiwan.
Patterns of globalization
Arguably, Taiwan has adopted a transformationist pattern of globalization. From the 1970’s Taiwan in its efforts to escape from the colonial divisions of labor and forge economic development, it majorly emulated Japan. It adopted an export-oriented industrializing approach, carving out markets for itself in the world economy. Furthermore, Taiwan’s nation state has been evolving, especially political democratization, with the state been a catalyzer.
The winners and losers in Taiwan can be represented through the NIE perspective.
Taiwan contends that globalization is the vital driving force following main economic, cultural, social political changes in the population of the world today. The new world order “architecture” is advancing looking at the general outcome of directly intertwined activities leading to change in various fields for example, technology, governance, communication just to mention but a few (Castles 24).
Global cities and competitive advantage of Nations
According to Kwok (163), Taipei, the capital city and the largest city in Taiwan has become one of the global cities through the production of high technology and its components. In reference to China Economic News Service, Taiwan is now one of the creditors of economy, which holds one of the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves.
The GDP per capita in Taipei is US$48,400 making it the second highest in Asia following Tokyo and 13 th among world cities.
Taipei holds the industrial area of Taiwan, which holds both secondary and tertiary sectors. This shows that not only is Taiwan a developed nation but its capital city is one of the global cities in the world today showing that Taiwan is not only developed as country but also its cities are developed as well (Castles (24).
Taiwan products can not enjoy monopoly rent although they have a huge market share this is because competition ion Taiwan itself is quite stiff and the fact that there are other cheaper goods flooding the markets from foreign countries makes the situation worse.
Most Taiwan industries belong to individual families and efficiently thoroughly supervised, hence there is no motivation as both the owner and manager are like minded and their thoughts and goals are the same. This most certainly why, Taiwan firms and industries have been enabled to act in response and fine tune fast to the ever changing competitive advantage (Fitzgerald 104).
Taiwan and non-polarity
According to Chen, Taiwan’s liberal foreign policy is an effort by the country to fine tune itself to the age of non-polarity. Taiwan’s cessation from China and its overdependence on the United States of America had a huge negative impact on it. This largely affected its GDP dropping form 5.7% in 1999 to -2.17%in 2001; with the help of the United States of America crisis in 2007 Taiwan’s GDP was at 4.13%. Taiwan needs to make sociable relations with other countries so as it can continue to grow economically. At the moment, Taiwan is pushing for “bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) with particular nations that make up the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
Economy of Taiwan
The relations between the state and the corporations in the country can be described as collective capitalism, which was first developed in Japan after the Second World War.
Looking at the Taiwanese economy, real process of the capitalist socialization of production is evident though in an unclear means because it does not take into consideration the seminal reality that the rights to the means of production are privatized are held by the capitalist companies, unlike in market-oriented capitalism where it belongs to individual capitalists. The economy embraces free competition and monopolistic private enterprise. There is collective labor of many employees in large companies and the correlation of various stages and sector of production.
The Taiwanese economy is driven by “relational markets,” which put much emphasis on the cooperative long-term engagements. For instance, in the intertwined share rights, where majority of the organizations hold rights in other firms; as seen this has resulted in a lot of collaboration between the concerned firms, since each is concerned of the other’s activities.
Taiwan’s geopolitics of energy
The country has considerable natural resource, for instance coal, petroleum and natural gas deposits. Taiwan’s energy generation is approximately 55 percent coal-based, 18 percent nuclear power, 17 percent natural gas, 5 percent oil, and 5 percent from renewable energy resources.
However, due of the extensive exploitation all through from Taiwan’s pre-modern to its modern time, its natural resources have been almost depleted. “Nearly all oil and gas for transportation and power needs must be imported, making Taiwan particularly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices” (Munck 45).
Due to this, Taiwanese Executive Yuan intends to increase power generated from renewable sources to 10 percent by 2010, doubling it from the current 5 percent. Through encouraging renewable energy, “Taiwanese hope to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, and develop it into an export market.
Taiwan is rich in wind energy resources, with Wind farms both onshore and offshore, though limited land area favors offshore wind resources. Solar energy is also a potential resource to some extent” (Munck 47). This energy situation in Taiwan has attracted American and German corporations, which have constructed numerous wind farms.
Furthermore, much of its forest resources, were greatly exploited during Japan’s regime rule for the building of temples, though efforts have been made to recover then. Nowadays, forests do not contribute significantly to timber production largely due to production and environmental concerns. Many industries have been subsequently shut down due to depletion of the scarce natural resources and also due to the down fall of international market demands.
Taiwan’s domestic politics believe that outsourcing is a key pillar towards its financial recovery and to take advantage of its strategic positioning in global production.
It has continuously supported outsourcing though incentives, such as taxation, and marketing its outsourcing industry. Notably, the country has been able to solve the puzzle of economic development considering its emerging economy and its global standing.
Works Cited
Castles, Stephen. “Development, Social transformation and globalization.” Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies workshop 23-25 June 1999 . 1999. Web.
Chen, Jin. “Taiwan Pursuing Free Trade Pacts with ASEAN states.” Taiwan News . 14 Oct 2008. Web.
Fitzgerald, Scott. The competitive Advantages of Far Eastern Business . New York: Routledge, 1994. Print.
Kwok, Yin-Wang. Globalizing Taipei: the political economy of spatial development . New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.
Munck, Ronaldo. Globalization and social exclusion: a transformationalist perspective . Bloomfield CT: Kumarian Press, 2005. Print.
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Popular Music and Thinking Errors Essay
The contemporary society is full of things that can, possibly, affect the minds of young people adversely. Whatever these young people listen to, watch on television or in videos or even hear from others has the possibility of influencing their lives for the better or for the worse. One such phenomenon that has greatly polluted the minds of young people is music.
Young people are fond of listening to controversial music that can adversely affect their minds and even lead to depression in them. Being young, I am no exception.
My favourite genre of music is rock which is mostly filled with pessimistic and angry messages in its lyrics. This paper is an exploration of how the lyrics in popular music may cause thinking errors in people and, possibly, lead to depression.
Rock is one kind of music in which most songs portray the same message. The message in the lyrics of rock songs is mostly that life is not worth living with the lyrics filled with numerous pessimistic and angry lines.
Take for example the rock song I Hate Everything About You that is done by Three Days Grace. The lyrics of this song show a lot of hopelessness. First the singer shows how much he hates his girlfriend and asks why he does love her.
This is an indication that relationships are more or less meant for convenience and that a person can hook up with just anybody. The listener may fail to get the reason why love is mixed with hate in this song. The singer claims that he loves his girlfriend and yet he hates everything about her.
Life is also portrayed negatively since it does not make sense for the singer to continue seeing his girlfriend if he hates everything about her. As stated above, the lyrics show how hopeless life is to the singer. This is a perfect example of thinking errors caused by depression.
It can be assumed that the singer spends a lot of time thinking about how imperfect his girlfriend is and being angry about it. This is the definition of depression. The song can potentially make another person to scrutinize their relationships more leading to a depression like that of the singer.
Another similar song is She Hates Me , a rock song done by Puddle Of Mudd. The singer explains how he met a girl and fell in love with her. After knowing each other, he came to realize that she hated him.
It is apparent from this explanation that the singer is very negative towards relationships and life. All he can see in the relationship is that the girl hates him and he cannot help to say he is glad that he split up with her.
The lyrics are very hopeless and shows a person who lacks self esteem and who is probably in depression due to the same. The negativity in the sing can also be very infectious to a listener who likes the song. It may make the listener to develop the characteristics of the singer portrayed in the lyrics.
From the discussion above, it is apparent that the lyrics in popular music can have very disastrous effects on its listeners. People listening to negative, pessimistic and angry lyrics in a genre they like may be influenced to develop these characteristics. Most of these cases may eventually result in the depression of the listener due to the thinking errors in the song.
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The Problem of Global Overpopulation Response Essay
Introduction
Based on the data presented in Chapters 2 and 3 of the book a grim future for humanity is seen wherein farmlands have turned into deserts, freshwater is nonexistent, the climate is hellish and natural disasters abound as a result of the ill-advised nature of the voracious human exploitation of the planet’s resources.
Insights gained from the chapters reveal that the main reason behind the problem of resource overconsumption which threatens the very future of the planet is the rampant overpopulation of humanity which threatens to drain the resources of the planet. It is revealed that as the population of humanity grows so to does the strain the human species places on the planet.
This strain can be seen in the increased consumption of water which has drained underground water reservoirs; formerly lush plains turned into arid deserts and the very sky itself filled with CO2 gases as a result of humanity’s rampant consumption of fossil fuel-based products and resources.
The impression I got from the book itself is that humanity can be compared to a swarm of locusts, consuming everything indiscriminately in its path and leaving nothing but ruin in its wake.
I say this because if current trends are not changed what will be left will be nothing more than a dry empty shell of a planet with few exploitable resources and nothing more than a hellish environmental scenario for future generations.
As such in order to prevent this future from coming to pass one of first initiatives that should be undertaken is population control since with fewer people utilizing resources the more time humanity has in fixing the problems it started.
The Problem of Overpopulation
The inherent problem with the concept of overpopulation is the fact that the finite resources available on Earth cannot hope to support the potentially infinite expansion of humanity. The Earth itself is a closed-off ecosystem with no resources entering into it, as such its surface can only support a certain population of species, both human and animal alike before the ecosystem inevitably collapses in on itself as a result of a severe strain on the planet’s natural and ecological resources.
Nature itself has a specific system of prevention in place that prevents populations from growing beyond their means due to the predator and prey dynamic. Humanity, which long ago evolved to be the dominant species on the planet, does not have an imposed system of control placed upon it by natural forces and as a result can expand exponentially due to this apparent freedom. It is this exponential expansion that I believe is at the heart of today’s problems involving land, water, and climate change.
While there are initiatives towards conservation and the use of renewable energy resources through energy transition the fact remains that such initiatives will become totally useless in the face of a growing human population that has already exceeded the means by which the Earth can support it.
An Examination of an Inconvenient Truth
In the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore presents viewers with the results of human activity on the planet. He shows how storms are getting stronger, droughts are getting longer and dryer and as a result of humanity’s unmitigated use of fossil fuel resources the Earth is getting hotter resulting in global climate change which has severe ramifications for the future of humanity.
He explains that it is within the past 70 years that humanity’s expansion and consumption has reached a critical point resulting in the slow decline of the planet’s natural ability to replenish resources. ).
The rapid expansion of the global population following the period of the 1960s resulted in humanity consuming more resources than the planet could replenish resulting in the present-day conditions wherein 6.8 billion people are consuming the equivalent of 1.4 Earth’s.
This phenomenon described as an “ecological overshoot” can be seen in the rapid degree of deforestation in various countries around the world, the rampant overpopulation in developing and Third World countries as well as the sheer amount of pollution currently in the planet’s ecological system.
This has affected weather and climate patterns to such a degree that it has actually caused artificial climate changed resulting in an increasingly warm atmosphere due to the accumulation of pollutants such as C02 in the air as a result of cars and fossil fuel burning power plants. Based on the information presented it can be seen that the current growth of the human population is unsustainable in the long run due to the finite resources on the planet.
As a result, the problems currently facing humanity will only get worse if nothing is done to prevent human overconsumption and ecological abuse from permanently disrupting Earth’s natural ecosystem. Based on the movie and the earlier statements involving chapter 2 and 3 it can once again be seen that main problem is not really humanity’s overconsumption but rather the size of the population that has lead to overconsumption.
The problems that Gore states can never be truly overcome so long as overpopulation persists, If true change is to be established what is needed is to reduce the problem of humanity’s burgeoning population which would result in the other problems taking care of themselves over time.
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Position Paper on ‘Lament for America’ by Earl Fry Report
America has being a super power for a long time after the fall of the Roman Empire. The country has not only been powerful economically, but also politically. However, a critical analysis of the issues that the country is facing especially in the current century indicates that its power is declining. In the book ‘Lament for America’ by Fry, the author clearly illustrates that the super power is on the decline.
The situation has been caused by various factors such as the effects of globalization, problems and challenges within the borders of United States as well as the stiff competition arising from other countries and nations within the European region. The signs of decline have already been evident in the first decade of the twenty first century.
As much as anyone may want to be optimistic, there is no doubt that the issue of America as a super power will be history. With that background in mind, this paper strongly illustrates that it is true that America is on the decline as illustrated in the book ‘Lament for America’ by Earl H. Fry.
As much as the challenges facing United States are from without, studies indicate that there are a lot of domestic problems which are affecting not only its capability to influence other nations but also the country’s ability to support its population and provide a better and comfortable life to the present and the future generation.
The economic situation in United States is troubling bearing in mind that the country has always been recognized as a super power in the past. For instance, United States is leading in terms of the government debt. The United States’ public and private sector borrow seventy percent of the world’s savings.
Although the private sector is growing tremendously, the huge government debt becomes a real obstacle to any type of development. Analysts project that the problem may become worse because during the last three decades, the government debt increased by twelve times.
Although United States was the largest creditor after the First World War until 1980s, it is the largest debtor country currently. The citizens, corporations and well as the government have been living far beyond their means and that is why the external debt is on the increase [1] .
The popularity and the importance of the United States dollar is a major contributory factor to the United States popularity. Dollar has been a major currency in the world for long time although Euro and Yean as well as the Swiss franc are replacing it. It is clear that currently, the United States dollar is the chief international currency since it accounts for about sixty percent of the central bank reserves.
However, analysts project that in the next decade, the reserves will fall to less than fifty percent. Most the United State’s competitors like Brazil, China and Russia are in the forefront pushing for diversity in the monitory system. Due to such issues and increased government debt, it is clear that it is difficult for United States to remain as a super power.
It is the duty of each nation to provide health care to all citizens irrespective of their economic status. As studies of Fry indicate, it is true that United States health care is almost the most costly system in the world and worse still, it lacks equity. Further studies explain that compared to other western countries in the world, United States spends twice as much on health care only.
On the same note, it is important to point out that though America spends twice as much, many people in the country lack any medical cover, while those that are already covered lack full cover. Due to lack of medical cover, many Americans die every year after succumbing to various sicknesses.
While most of the countries western regions spend around twelve percent of their Gross Domestic Product on health care, United States spends around seventeen percent. Families in United State spend more on healthcare more than on any other need. Health care costs have been increasing consistently and as a result, it is expected that the trend will continue in the future decades.
Most of the private companies that are operating in United States have been evading provision of medical cover to their workers. In addition, some of the companies have been shifting their operations to other places where the health care is more affordable like Canada. In that case, it is clear that the situation in America will continue to become worse.
It is easier to argue that the situation can improve but as the studies of Fry [2] illustrate, viable solutions would only have been applicable about two decades ago. Therefore, while focusing on the health care only, it is clear that United States is declining daily and the situation is becoming worse. Moreover, the viable solutions may not be of much help currently, or they may take quite some time before they are implemented.
As highlighted in the introductory part and contrary to the views of the majority, America is poorly prepared to support its population especially them that are expected to retire in the current decade as well as in the subsequent decades. Studies indicate that a quarter of the population in the United States was born from the year 1946-1964 [3] .
The same studies illustrate that the same population is expected to retire in the current and in the following decades. The situation clearly illustrates that the obligations of the programs that are meant to take care of the retirees like the Medicare and Social Security will increase.
Although the increased spending of the benefit programs like food stamp and health care are worsened by the economic recession and may reduce once the economic improves, spending by Medicare and Medicaid may not be affected positively. The problem is worsened by the high life expectancy, which ranges from 80 years for women and 75.4 for men.
Initially, life expectancy was much lower but due to various reasons, it is on the increase. As a developed nation, America ought to be prepared to take care of the aging population. On the contrary, no program has been put in place cater for the same. Such a situation will continuously deplete the savings, a situation that will contribute to the decline of the country as a super power.
Globalization has many benefits in many countries as it has in United States. However, disadvantages of the same are present in most countries of the world. To begin with, globalization leads to interdependence not only among states and countries but also among business corporations as well as among different societies. Due to that, domestic affairs are seriously affected by decisions that are made in foreign countries.
For instance, United States depends so much on the petroleum products from other countries and the same has a great effect on its industries. In addition, globalization calls for increased international interaction between various countries. Such activities and engagements are serious disadvantages to a super power like United States.
For instance, studies of Fry [4] indicate that the government debt of United States was doubled during the time of the George Bush administration. In the view of the fact that United States was actively involved in solving some of the international problems, the money spent on defense increased greatly [5] .
Consequently, foreign countries like Japan and China hold more than half of the public debt after buying various instruments of debt like bonds and shares. Such situation is very dangerous to a super power like United States because the economic status is highly dependent on countries that buy the country’s government debt.
The upcoming competitors like China and Japan are challenging the economic and the military power of United States. The economy of China is growing very fast and if the trend can continue for two decades, it can surpass the economy of United States. European Union, which has twenty-seven states, is also becoming stronger, politically and economically.
In addition, there is a high possibility that Euro can replace the dollar. Countries like Japan and Brazil are also becoming stronger economically as well as countries from the South East Asia. If such countries can continue with such trend, they will get a voice in making of the international decisions and will eventually challenge the international standing of United States.
The study has indicated that it is true that United States has been a super power for many years. However, as Fry [6] illustrates, there is a high possibility that the future generation will know a poorer nation and not an economic giant. This is because its economic and political power is on the decline.
As much as anyone may want to disagree with the book ‘Lament for America’, reading through the text indicates that valid reasons are used to project the decline of the United States.
A critical analysis of issues pertaining to globalization, competitors as well as domestic problems of United States indicates that the current trend is not promising at all. In the view of the fact that implementing changes is not only a long process but also a lengthy process, it is clear that the decline is inevitable.
Works Cited
Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010. Print.
Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Footnotes
1. Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009 pp. 181. Print.
2. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.26. Print.
3. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp. 33. Print
4. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.28. Print
5. Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009 pp.. Print.
6. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.2. Print
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Positive Impact of Islamic Art on Society Argumentative Essay
History of Islamic Art takes its roots in the seventh century and encompasses all types of visual art produced by people who inhabited culturally Islamic territories.
Though Islamic art long stayed remarkably loyal to spiritual and religious traditions, it can still be perceived as sophisticated mixture of Arab, Turkish, Persian, and even Roman and Byzantine influences (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2010, p. 178).
Just like other external artistic and scientific trends have influenced the formation of the Islamic traditions, the art of Islam have reached other spheres of human activities, such as architecture, culture, media, and politics.
Its impact of social and cultural development of the Islamic World and other cultures can be considered to be positive because it has introduced uniqueness, originality, and unity of Islamic culture, architecture, media and politics.
Islamic art is mistakenly believed to be narrowed to religious motives, although most of the artistic elements involve predominantly secular themes. Although religious motives were less prominent, Islamic architecture is equally marked by spiritual and impious styles that still effect the construction and design of structures and building in Islamic culture (Kleiner, 2010, p. 277).
Similar to the art of Islam, architecture has also been impacted by Roman and Byzantine geometrical motives and calligraphic elements. Interestingly, the Islamic artists convert “the architectural surface into a textile surface – the three-dimensional wall into a two-dimensional hanging – weaving the calligraphy into it as another cluster of motifs within the total pattern” (Kleiner, 2010, p. 278).
In a whole, the development of Islamic architecture continues to prosper from the emergent artistic movements and trends that impact neighboring artistic centers, particularly in South Asia and Turkey.
Thematic concerns of Islamic art have also a tangible impact on cultural development, particularly on literature and language. Just as Islamic artists were often considered as being pure, complex, and sophisticated, Islamic literature is also narrowed to the this aesthetic tradition, being “a symbol of a deeper reality” which is tenuous and intrinsic (Leaman, 2004, p. 54).
The same arguments are also applied to calligraphy as the chief Islamic art form. Being the key aesthetic feature in Islamic culture, calligraphy underscores the importance of religion and spirituality as well as essence of the Arabic language that is attributed with a unique status in Islam world.
Hence, literary and cultural sphere is considerably marked by the presence of calligraphic elements acting like meaningful images and turning writing into something more than exposition of ideas; rather, language and writing capture peculiar configurations of colors and shapes.
In general, calligraphy can be recognized as an independent Islamic art form labeling the Arabic literature and making it unique and original.
The spread of the Eastern culture, particular Islamic cultural movements, has occurred as an apposition to the biases created by the Western culture and media. Currently, Islamic media has captured the World Wide Web and has become as ubiquitous as the American culture (McGraw and Formicola, 2005, p. 135).
Hence, the Internet enables Muslims to advance opinions and disseminate news that specifically concern Islamic cultural and aesthetical development. Manifold perspectives provided by the Internet have influenced the advancement of modern networks and discussions about Islamic activities both within the Muslim society and beyond it.
Being under the influence of Islamic traditions and art, the world has learnt much about peculiarities, originality, and uniqueness of Islamic art and culture that is not narrowed to spirituality and religion only. Furthermore, the deployment of Eastern traditions has diminished a considerable imposition of the Western world on the global culture.
Such distinctive features of Islamic art as calligraphy and geometry being presented as variants within one identity are closely associated with political movements and ideologies.
In particular, politics is considered one of the main forces contributing to the creation of new forms of Islamic ornament and calligraphy that are produced with political context reflecting the essence of Islamic culture (Tabbaa, 2002, p. 167). Political trends matter when it comes to Islamic art being defined as representation of national and cultural image and as an opposition to other cultures.
This concept is specifically applied to the conflict between Muslims and Byzantium defining the conflict moment in Islamic history. Therefore, political dimension is largely defined by the language and historical development of the art and culture in Islam.
In conclusion, it should be stated that Islam culture has a positive and balancing impact on the Muslim society in particular and the world community in general.
Its influence of cultural and social development can be perceived as positive because it spreads the concept of uniqueness, originality and identity being the basic prerogative of every culture. Furthermore, it serves as a power confronting intensive deployment of Western trends, ideologies, and movement assimilating minor cultures to the global one.
One way of another, such elements of Islamic culture and art as calligraphy, geometry and ornament has entered politics, architecture, and media creating more opportunities for developing distinctive features of political ideologies, architectural elements, and media channels that are not confined to religious and spiritual themes only.
Reference List
Duiker, W. J., and Spielvigel, J. J. (2010). The Essential World History . US: Cengage Learning.
Kleiner, F. S. (2010). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective . US: Cengage Learning.
Leaman, O. (2004). Islamic Aesthetics: An Introduction . UK: Edinburgh University Press.
McGraw, B. A., and Formicola, J. R. (2005). Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously: Spiritual Politics on America’s Sacred Ground . Texas, US: Baylor University Press.
Tabba, Y. (2002). The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival . US: I. B. Tauris.
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Possible Causes and Solutions to Global Warming Analytical Essay
Introduction
Global warming is a climate change issue that has captured global attention, thus the worldwide debates by individuals, political leaders, business-related firms and international organizations especially the environmental activists.
It is arguably the leading concern compared to other environmental issues. Researchers concerns are connecting different but conflicting views, which make it difficult, understand the global warming issue, particularly the possible causes and solutions to the matter.
Thesis Statement
This essay presents a critical analysis concerning the challenges of global warming. It provides an investigation of possible causes of the occurrence and particularly forms a critical view of the effects of population growth to global warming.
Is future population growth a major and potential consequence to the issue? The essay also forms a substantive argument in relation to researched solutions over the issue of global warming.
Some of the analyzed solutions include population growth, the possibility of reducing the emission rates through reduction of consumption rate, enhanced campaigns to inform people on the need for commitments to controlled population growth rate, and reduced pollution rates. The first part of the easy will form a general investigation of the possible causes and solutions to the problem thus elucidate facts from confusions and discussions that are not sustentative.
Challenges
Various human activities such as excessive production of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are the root causes of global warming. The gases form part of the atmosphere and traps heat that would normally escape to the outer space. Natural occurring greenhouse gases assist in maintaining global warmth to adequate amounts that are able to support life.
Increase of greenhouse gases causes alteration of weather patterns and thus influences duration of seasons, leads to existence of severe storms such as El Nino and coastal-related floods. Use of fossil fuels also causes excessive production of carbon gases. Another significant source of global warming is the human act of deforestation. When the environment has few trees, there is production of more carbon dioxide than it is used.
Concerning the discussions concerning the effects of global warming researcher, scientists and activists often fail to incorporate the issues of population growth. According to Weiss (p.A-8), scientist have qualitative analysis concerning measures of reducing global warming effects such as floods, droughts or other climate catastrophes.
This is achievable through reduction of enormous carbon gas emissions. However, he raises a main concern over neglect of the issue of global growth rate (p.A-8). There is need to undertake an examination on effects of slowed population increase on global warming.
How the Global Population Growth Causes Severe Environmental Crisis
As commonly known, the ‘green groups’ seem to lack considerable discussions concerning the issue of human population increase. Nevertheless, various suggestions as indicated by Lyon and Barnston (p.18), shows that, a collective demand on population growth reduction would be the biggest way to confront the issues and gain higher environmental development.
In accordance with Weiss’s article (p.A-8), if people would be in a position to put into practice a growth rate control and have a less than one billion population change by mid-century as opposed to the expected two billion, then this would translate to approximately 29% emission reduction. Current scientific research predicts that 29% emission reduction rate is the requirements by 2050.
Developed Vs. Developing Countries
Is there a difference between the impacts of growth rate in third world countries against the developed countries like United States? The emission rates are higher in developed countries due to higher consumptions and consequently there is obvious excessive waste production. There are remarks from developed countries that place blame on poor agricultural practices such as horticulture in developing countries.
The U.S. has greatest influence due to the amount of emission in comparison to other countries. “An average U.S. resident emits four times as much carbon dioxide as a resident in China and twenty…times more than… an African” (Weiss, p.A-8). However, In relation to Weiss’s article (p.A-8), the population size is not the only major concern. People must change how and where they live.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (p.1), current population of people, sharing finite resources such as water and food is 6.6 billion, with an expected growth to nine billion by 2050. These environmentalists show that most, if not all environmental problems are due to worsened population growth rates.
Leaders on the other hand fail to either note this factor, or ignore it due to the heated debate it may turn out. 194 nations met to discuss the environmental agreements and establish an accord at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 7 to18, 2009 (Athanasiou, 1).
Each country agreed to set emission targets for 2020. According to Athanasiou of ‘The Cornell Daily Sun’ (1), United States submitted its goals to United Nations on January 28, 2010 when President Barack Obama’s commitment indicated a cut of green house emissions by four percent. These human induced emissions affect evaporation and consequently precipitation.
In relation to scientific results, unless all the other global countries follow the same style, then there is an urgent need to consider other fact such as the reduction of human population growth as a major way to reduction of resources reduction as well as excessive emission of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere (Lyon and Barnston, p.18).
Other Related Problems Brought About By the Adverse Population Growth
The adverse population growth is the main cause of increased emission of greenhouse gases as well as deforestation that lead to loss of the wildlife and thousands of plant spices. Adverse growth is also responsible of the current land developments or commercialization of more than half the earth’s land surface.
The population growth rate is a simple indication that in a couple of decades, scarcity of water due to high consumption demands will have distressing effects to more than half of the world’s population. The ecosystem imbalance is due to lack of proper measures to address top environmental issues such as population growth (Lyon and Barnston, p.18).
Status of Population Growth Rates and Possible Solutions
The developing countries lack proper family planning campaigns or mechanisms to enhance control over population expansion rates. They either lack access to control methods or suffer from traditional-related practices.
The leaders fail to tackle the issue straight on, since people are not enlightened and thus stick to cultural practices and traditional religious believes (Weiss, p.A-8). This is one of the main sources of the rapid population increase in such countries for instance, those across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. They lack access to clean water, food and adequate shelter.
Contrary in the developed countries such as the United States or Germany, the population rate is currently diminishing or levelling, but the consumption rates are high and thus a great drain of the available resources. For instance, Americans are only four per cent of the global population but consume approximately 25% of the international resources.
Developed countries are highly industrialized and are thus heavy contributors to climate and ozone depletion, compared to developing nations. The issue of immigration to developed countries is a contributor to population increase in developed countries. When the residents migrate, they also emulate the heavy-consumption and emission lifestyles. According to Weiss (p.A-8), an estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates a population increment of 129 million-growth expectation by 2050, mostly resulting from immigration.
Policies that can assist to Control Global Population Growth
The current relationship between the environmental problems especially global warming and population increase requires urgent redressing. Most people wish for changes on the consumption as well as emission levels in developed countries, while there is need for reduction of population growth rate in developing countries.
Environmentalist and human right activists consider support for family planning as the most efficient way of controlling escalating human population to relieve environmental pressures as opposed to endorsement of legal clauses in support of abortion.
Conclusion
Main cause of global warming include human-related activities that cause excessive emissions of greenhouse gases, the use of fossil fuels and deforestation in the aim of attaining better development levels. One of the main concerns on the issue of global warming is ignorance by government, individuals and activists over effects of high population growth rates. Some of the common effects of global warming include distorted weather patterns, climate related catastrophes such as coastal hurricanes, floods and droughts.
The most important strategy is to project future effects of global warming from present. Current effect of global warming impact on most human aspects, spanning from human health issues to biodiversity. Immediate action may diminish the possibility of worse projected effects of global warming.
Reducing and eventually overcoming the effects of global warming requires a combination of factors such as personal commitment or implementation of viable policies by governments. Individuals have the greatest influence over factors affecting the environment such as global warming. Most important solutions to the issue include reduction of carbon gases emissions especially in developed countries, deduction of the global growth rates and control of carbon emissions.
Works Cited
Athanasiou, Katerina. Copenhagen: Sustainable of Superficial? The Cornell Daily Sun. 2010. Web.
Lyon, Bradfield. & Barnston, Anthony. International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) . 2005. New Jersey, NJ: Palisades. Print.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Climate Forecasting . 2010. Web.
Weiss, Kenneth. Ideas to ease global warming by taming global population . LA Times Journal. 12 October 2010.Print.
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Poverty and the Environment Expository Essay
Table of Contents
1. Poverty and the environment
2. World poverty
3. Persistence of global poverty
4. Addressing global poverty
5. Benefits of global poverty
6. Reference List
Poverty exists when one lacks typical socially acceptable things or possessions. People who are in poverty lack basic needs vary from one context to another. The common understanding of basic needs is things necessary for continued existence.
Many people around the globe face the problem of poverty. Poverty links to human population and their activities on the environment. The human population affects the environment negatively due to poverty resulting to environmental degradation and a cycle of poverty.
Poverty and the environment
Poverty and the environment are interlinked as poverty leads to degradation of the environment. On the other hand, the issues of poverty eradication and degradation of the environment are often treated separately hence failure in addressing the issues effectively and reducing poverty around the globe.
Human activities have led to destruction of the environment and the trend shows that there is a bleak future ahead unless the destructive activities on the environment are halted or regulated to avoid destroying the environment further as the future generations are in jeopardy (Ezeonu, 2004).
For instance, people living in poverty destroy natural resources such as forests to clear land to plant food. Consequently, deforestation leads to environment challenges like flooding. Moreover, the high number of human population also causes destruction of the environment when people live on land near rivers and clear tracts of forests to inhabit.
World poverty
Close to forty per cent of the world’s total population live in poverty according to World Bank estimate in 2004(Whitman, 2008). Explosion in population causes a strain on the environment and pushes millions of people into poverty. Poverty varies from one country to another and poverty in developing countries is dire than in the developed countries.
Poverty depends on class, race and gender. For example, more women than men live in poverty (Kendall, 2009). The poor struggle in their lives as they are disadvantaged in the society and often face prejudice of being lazy.
World poverty is caused by a number of factors such as inequality of resource distribution, wars and conflicts, natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding and droughts, degradation of the environment and social inequality among others. It is important to note that the levels of world poverty have reduced with global economic growth but many people are still living in poverty.
Persistence of global poverty
The reasons for persistence of world poverty are things such as discriminatory trade policies that favor only the developed countries at the international market and exploit the developing nations hence they are unable to make a profit that can be used in fighting poverty (Wade, 2004).
Wars and conflicts that emerge in countries from time to time keep people in poverty for instance the war in Iraq has contributed to high levels of poverty to the citizens. Other factors such as corruption in governments make fighting poverty impossible as a few rich embezzle public funds.
The continued unequal distribution of resources confines people to poverty. Furthermore, those born in poor families are unable to breakaway from the cycle as they do not get opportunities to acquire education and thus grow and live in poverty as their poor parents (Pogge, 2008).
Addressing global poverty
However, world poverty can be addressed by acknowledging that poverty and the environment are connected. Then look for ways of helping people to acquire food without having the need to deforest. If people can access food they are can concentrate on economic activities to improve their situation.
Governments should also deal with corruption because it leads to misuse of funds that would have been used to lift the standards of living of the people.
The international business laws and policies should also change to give all countries a fair opportunity at the international market. More importantly, people should be empowered through training and given access to loans to start small businesses to gain a source of livelihood.
Benefits of global poverty
Some countries may favor continued world poverty because it enables them to take advantage of the poor countries that depend on them by exploiting resources in such countries through multinational corporations.
The organizations in such countries that concern themselves with the issue of poverty may never want to see poverty eradicated because they would not have any business and many of their employees would become jobless. The countries may also want poverty to continue so that they can lend loans with high interest to poor nations (Mack, 2009). Thus, world poverty may benefit a few countries.
Reference List
Ezeonu, I.C. Poverty and the environment: sociologizing environmental protection in sub-Saharan Africa. Review of Black Political Economy , 31(3), 33-42.
Kendall. D. (2010). Social problems in a diverse society . 5 th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Mack, E. (2009). Absolute poverty and global justice: empirical data, moral theories, initiatives. New York: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Pogge, W.T. (2008). World poverty and human rights: cosmopolitan responsibilities and reforms . United Kingdom: Polity.
Wade, R.H. (2004). On the causes of increasing world poverty and inequality, or why the Matthew effect prevails. New Political Economy, 9 (2), 163-188.
Whitman, S. (2008). World poverty . Infobase Publishing: New York.
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Power and Systems Transformation in a New World: Overview of the Topic Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Economic Development
3. Urbanization
4. Revolutions
5. Conclusion
6. References
Transformation of powers and systems in the new world has been evidenced since the 21 st century and many dimensions have been advanced to explain the change. Because of this transformation, many nation-states have emerged, some of which stand to date but others have collapsed out of the same pressures. However, preceding the emergence of nation-states, transformation of nation powers and systems led to the collapse of empires like the Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire and the likes (Shackman, 2010, p. 1).
The two major world wars are also characteristic of the change in power systems among wealthy nations and so far, they have been able to transform international relations through the creation of new ideologies and the inducement of change in world power.
Transformation of power and systems in world politics partially incorporates elements like growth in democracy (which has been evidenced the world over since the 20 th century); armed conflicts and issues to do with terrorism. However, these transformations incorporate a number of many other driving factors which will be further analyzed in this study.
Introduction
Since the creation of mankind and the development of government, the world has constantly been experiencing change. Every decade bears with it a different change in world political systems and countries continuously grow as a result of this unstoppable force. Basically, a change in political systems refers to a change in the institutional functions of a given country and partially, a change in its constitutional makeup (Andrain, 1994, p. 90).
With a change of these systems, a number of social, economic and political transformations are experienced, especially touching on aspects to do with education, health, welfare, industry, or even a country’s foreign policy with another nation (Coleman, 1975, p. 86).
These changes are usually propelled by a number of variable elements in international politics. Such elements include globalization, leadership change, evolution and revolution of the economy among many other factors (Andrain, 1994, p. 90). These forces (and many others) have worked over centuries to transform political systems each day.
However, one of the biggest driving forces in world political systems today is the transformation of the composition of the social economy. This affects the way most countries deal with the change in political systems across the spectrum but political systems are also affected by income disparities within the general populace; economic dependence and the poverty index of a nation (Andrain, 1994, p. 90).
This study analyzes the components affecting the transformation of power and systems of the world’s political systems, with a special reference to the factors driving the change and its potential impact on the country in question. Reference will also be made to existing political theories explaining the change, as well as how a change in political and power systems in world politics transforms existing world economies.
Economic Development
Economic development has been one of the leading drivers of change in the world’s political systems because it determines the distribution of power in world politics (Allied Publishers, 2010, p. 41). Some of the most influential nations in the world today trace their superiority from their robust economies, as can be evidenced from the case of America, which is one of the world’s superpowers, due to its strong economic power.
Britain has also over the decades commanded a lot of power in world politics, especially in the 17 th , 18 th and partially into the 19 th century because of its strong economic makeup, as was characterized by the industrial revolution. In this context therefore, it is correct to say that the influence of world superpower nations can be easily traced to their strong economic strengths.
There is always a strong relationship between economic development, income distribution and citizen equality within any given nation because there is a chain-linked development course of these factors to a country’s social, economic and political parameters. This relationship can be explained by the linear theory which in Routledge (2010) states that “economic development leads to urbanization which leads to communication which leads to high levels of education, and in turn, leads to Democracy” (p. 51).
The linear theory through this analysis, perfectly explains why political systems change in the new world because, as it is evidenced on the world today, wealthy nations across the globe such as Japan, United States (US) and certain European countries, exhibit an almost equitable income distribution system than most developing nations; meaning that economic systems (which dictate income disparities) determine the strengths of nations in international circles of power.
Robert Mundt (cited in Routledge, 2010, p. 51), a political researcher, in the US affirms this statement by stating that:
“in advanced industrial nations the wealthiest ten percent of households receive about one quarter of the national income, while the poorest receive forty percent, and about twenty percent get only fifteen percent of the national income; in middle income countries like Brazil, the wealthiest ten percent gets forty-six percent of national income and the poorest forty percent get only eight percent.”
In some cases, the social economy can greatly spur political change, as can be evidenced in the case of Russia where the social system led to the collapse of communism in the state. In the past, the Russian political system was characterized by state-owned assets and many people believed in communal ownership of assets and in the operations of a central-owned government (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 3). This perception changed with the advent of a new socioeconomic order.
Nonetheless, the collapse of communism does not mean that the communist system was a failure, because in the past ten years or so (preceding the change), Russia and some communist economies were able to compete effectively with other world political powers in global politics, but as time went by, and economies revolutionized, it was quite hard for these regimes to keep up with capitalistic economies, and this necessitated a change in their systems of governance (since it was apparently too difficult to control their economies in the wake of stiff competition from capitalistic regimes) (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 3).
In fact, when analyzed in terms of their global competitiveness, communist products and services were of poor quality while their production was based on a need-basis because the efficiency level in production was very low (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 23). Basic necessitates like food and water also became very hard to access, and many people hard to wait long cues to get basic services, since everyone was entitled to the same services and nobody had more rights over another.
This situation created some form of social unrest because Russians started arguing with the government, about the provision of social amenities. In 1991, Russia went through the worst inflation in its history; brought about by the escalation of the incumbent situation, but later, the country changed its communist policies by establishing the Russian federation (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 13).
Urbanization
Urbanization is a great reason why political systems change, because with it, many people are forced to move from their rural homes into urban areas, to seek basic social amenities, or search for employment opportunities in cities. The biggest driver for this rural urban migration is the quest for a better life, for the migrants and their families as well.
With urbanization comes a number of changes in the sociopolitical makeup of a nation because there is bound to be a new population growth in cities and an increased need to plan for the accelerated use of infrastructure to cater for the building human population in cities. These concerns also bring a change in policies (Coleman, 1975, p. 86).
In the same light, as more people move to cities, more jobs are created and, many more industries are established, so that the entire social economy is in tandem with population growth.
A change in political systems is often evidenced in this case by the creation of new governments which are more critical on foreign policies and trade to cater for the increased global and local needs of its economy (for sustainable future development). As time goes by, these changes in political systems force the newly formed governments to resemble those of developed nations (Coleman, 1975, p. 86).
Revolutions
Revolutionary change has changed the world’s political systems, in the past, and even at present. It also still continues to shape how specific regimes in the world operate (Paynter, 1992, p. 1056). Strong examples of how revolutionary change affects countries’ political systems were evidenced in Russia and Germany.
After the First World War, many Russians believed that the revolution finally marked the end of imperialism and capitalism, because before the war, the country was dong well in terms of economic and social development, and even the people were generally happy with the state of affairs; however, the war changed the status quo (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 5).
The change was evidenced by Russia’s participation in the war because they went to fight Germany and as an aftermath to the conflict, the then government collapsed, as well as the economy.
This eventuality created a big dilemma for the then government because the collapse of the economy was unprecedented and they did not have a clue of what to do after that (Paynter, 1992, p. 1056).
Amid all this confusion, a group emerged, advancing the opinion that the economy had to be modernized and made more democratic, in tandem with Western forms of government, but in a strange twist of events, the leader of the moderate democrats went contrary to his agreement with Western regimes and instead brokered a peace agreement with Germany to end the Russian conflict with the European nation (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 5).
This marked the start of the Russian revolution and the creation of a new unity between Germany and Russia, to bring an end to capitalism and imperialism (Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 1). After Russia became a communist regime, revolutionary change became more apparent, as can also be evidenced in the progression of China’s government, because the two share a lot of similarities, in that, China experienced a revolutionary change just like Russia, in the Maoism era (which was based on guerrilla tactics to liberate the people of China from oppressive regimes and empower the people) (White, 1993, p. 21).
In this revolution, Maoism emphasized a lot of importance on the views of the peasants because its proponents were majorly constituted of the peasant population; even though they failed to topple the government of the time (White, 1993, p. 21).
In this regard, communism became a typical characteristic of China’s government and it can also be evidenced today.
Britain is also another such country which was widely affected by revolutionary change but it stands unique to the other countries because its revolution not only affected its own self but also other nations across the globe. In this context, Great Britain got the infamous connotation as the “mother of all governments” across the globe because it is indeed the oldest government in existence and its revolution as a government has been studied and emulated by many regimes across the globe.
In fact, components of today’s democratic governments (such as the legislature, Judiciary and the Executive), were evidenced in Great Britain, as far back as 1066 (Andrain, 1994, p. 90).
The famous Bill of rights which is characteristic of many constitutions around the globe was also part of Great Britain’s revolution which guaranteed the right to freedom, right to life, (among other rights) for everyone. Over the years, the country hasn’t had many changes after its tremendous political changes, due to many reasons, which some researchers identify as the decline of the grand old party plus the economic change the country is currently experiencing; however, despite the relatively low economic performance of Great Britain in recent years (when compared to other emerging countries), the country has still managed to stand as one of the most stable economies in the world, and indeed one of the most powerful nations globally (Andrain, 1994, p. 90).
Conclusion
Many countries have had various types of changes in political systems, but presently, there seems to be a stronger inclination to the Western form of government by many regimes. Even though many theories have been advanced to show that democracy is a commendable solution to world problems, the concept still has its own challenges.
Currently, communism remains an unviable idea; going by the way history has treated communist regimes but China stands as the strongest communist regime and it has not yet shown any indication of changing into a democratic regime (Lawrance, 1998, p. 2).
Overall, political change has been greatly spurred by various types of socioeconomic factors but the common types of changes are revolutionary change, economic development and urbanization. In most cases, social unrest or anxieties, especially with regards to the provision of social amenities; unemployment; corruption; welfare; education; health and such like parameters, spur political reforms.
As countries evolve, people’s attitudes also change with the pace of reforms and nations which command a stronger power in political and economic standings must also have a stronger nationalistic feeling among its citizens. For instance, the happier the people are with their governments, the more they are likely to participate in nationalistic projects and support their government. When such sentiments are overwhelming, political change is likely to be experienced.
However, there are certain instances where political change is brought about by feelings of contempt because people are normally outraged by slow pace of reforms or poor observance of human rights and this is likely to lead to a revolt against most governments and consequently lead to a change in political systems. Transformation of power systems therefore comes about because of a number of reasons, cutting across the board, but all of them lead to a nation’s prosperity or failure in the long run.
References
Allied Publishers. (2010). Political Systems of the World . New York & London: Allied Publishers.
Andrain, C. (1994). Comparative Political Systems: Policy Performance and Social Change. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Coleman, S. (1975). Measurement and Analysis of Political Systems: A Science Of Social Behavior . New York: Stephen Coleman.
Fitzpatrick, S. (2008). The Russian Revolution . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lawrance, A. (1998). China under Communism . London: Routledge.
Paynter, J. (1992). Encyclopedia of Government and Politics. London: Routledge.
Routledge. (2010). Environmental NGOs in World Politics . London: Routledge.
Shackman, G. (2010). Brief Review of Trends in Political Change: Freedom and Conflict . Retrieved from: http://gsociology.icaap.org/report/polsum.html
White, G. (1993). Riding the Tiger: The Politics of Economic Reform in Post-Mao China . Stanford: Stanford University Press.
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Practical applications of the study Essay
Table of Contents
1. Correlation research
2. Variable from this study
3. Correlation and causation
4. Conclusion
5. References
In an employment situation, leaders should understand their employees to develop effective employees’ motivation mechanisms. Fulfillment of psychological contracts between the employer and employee facilitates development and reinforcement of good employee’s relation. To analyze a real practical example, let us take an example of information technology departments consisting of specialist and their support staffs.
The management should ensure that the employees are effectively vetted before engaging them. Their salary package should be attractive enough and have mechanism and systems to be utilized to communicate their issues to the management. The human resources department should bleach the gap between the employees and the management.
The management should look into satisfaction, intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors and benefits to motivate their staffs. More emphasis should be placed on extrinsic factors. Gender mix in an organization affects the performance of a department; the management should have appropriate measures to ensure that there is a health combination of age, gender and expertise.
Correlation research
A correlation research is a qualitative and quantitative method of research, where a positive relationship existing between two or more variable from the same population or subject is established. In the study, some variables that influence each other in one way or another, what is important is to understand how these variables affect each other.
Relationship between variables is measured from +1 to -1, where +1 are variables with perfect correlation where by a unit change in variable A in direction 1, leads to a unit change in variable A in the same direction.
A correlation of -1 means that the variables are perfectly uncorrelated; a change in variable A in direction 1 leads to a change in variable B in the opposite direction. When the correlation is zero, then there is no correlation between the variables (Eells, 1991).
Variable from this study
Variables are classified into dependent and independent variables. Dependent variables change when an independent variable changes. In this study, staff motivation is the dependent variable and depends on various variables. The independent variables are both qualitative and qualitative variables. They are job satisfaction, intrinsic, extrinsic, benefits, gender, age, department, tenure and position.
In a work place, motivation of staffs is dependent of extrinsic factors, how well they have been affected by the business. They have a positive correlation where improvements in extrinsic variables in an organization lead to an improvement of motivation in an organization.
The decision to choose the dependent variable is after analyzing the results in the exercise. Changes in independent variables where giving rise to changes in independent variables (Galavotti, 2005).
Correlation and causation
In a research study, where certain variables affect the results of other variables, then the variables at hand are correlated, whether negatively or positively. The approach taken by correlation is similar with the underlying philosophy of causation, which aims to establish a cause effect relationship between different variables.
The similarity of the two research variables is that they aim at establish the existing positive relationship of variables in a research. Their difference is on the approach they utilize, in correlation, variables are affected by a common phenomenon and they affect each other. In causation, a variable A causes the existence of variable B (Billingsley, 1995).
Conclusion
Undertaking a research assists a company establish relationship between various variables in the work place: when the relationship is established, it facilitates making of strategic decisions.
References
Billingsley, P. (1995). Probability and Measure. New York: Wiley.
Eells, E.(1991). Probabilistic Causality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Galavotti, M. (2005). Philosophical Introduction to Probability, Stanford: CSLI Publications
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Pain Therapy Before and After Surgery: Is It Necessary for Children? Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Data collection Methods
3. Measurement tool
4. Method of Data Analysis
5. Evaluation Methods
6. Annotated bibliography
7. References
Introduction
According to Gehdoo (2004), medical practitioners have historically undertreated children for pain and painful procedures on the assumption that they do not feel the pain or that they forget the painful experiences faster than adults do.
Gehdoo (2004) further adds that it is absolutely necessary for children to be given an effective pain therapy before and after surgery and as such, it has become an integral part of paediatric practice. The research will seek to find out if preoperative education does in fact decrease postoperative pain scores in paediatric patients.
Data collection Methods
Like in social sciences, medicine employs the use of simple data collection methods like direct interviews. The basic collection methods in medicine are the interviews and conversations doctors carry out with their patients.
Triangulation is also valuable in medical research but considering the age of the patients and the subtlety of the research, its not very applicable (Abramson et al, 1999). In this case, data will be collected from children on all trials that are conducted with them during their pre and post counselling sessions. Most important here will be the collection of data using the “cold probe” technique.
This will involve collecting data during the first session that paediatric surgeons will have with the patients. The first session when the cold probe is conducted is good because the child will be fresh from surgery hence easier for behaviour analysis to determine if preoperative education did help.
Measurement tool
Multiple-choice questions will be used in this case. Norman (2002) contends that multiple-choice questions in medical research help in allowing straightforward sampling of the subject under research. The questions will help researchers to fairly and evenly distribute their probe thought the subject under study.
They are also efficient in terms of cost and time. Given that patients will have mixed feelings, multiple-choice questions are better placed to capture all data in totality. Norman (2002) adds that they maximize the information attained per unit time in research. Again, the questions are more engaging and will make it easier for patients to express themselves on the subject being discussed.
Method of Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics will be used in this research. According to Lang & Secic (2006), descriptive statistics are useful because they help in reducing large amounts of data to small descriptive measures. The experiences that these children will go through will be captured through interviews structured to bring out the descriptive element.
Though inferential statics may come in handy, their absolute necessity is diminished by the nature of the research. Summary that is guaranteed from descriptive statistics will especially precision in reporting the findings.
Evaluation Methods
According to Swanwick (2007), evaluation in medicine is the collection analysis and interpretation of information about any aspect in medicine. In this kind of research, Kirkpatrick’s Hierarchy and Evaluation Cycle methods come in handy. However, the evaluation cycle method will be used.
The method suits this research since it is all encompassing starting with planning of the activity, preparation, teaching and learning of the activity and most importantly reflection and analysis.
However, the Kirkpatrick method may be used as well in analysing this data if necessary. This is because it takes to account the completion of learning or participation of a patient in a program which applies to this research. Its use will be limited though.
Annotated bibliography
Morton, N.S. (2005). Management of postoperative pain in children. Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed 2007; vol. 92:ep14-ep19.
Morton outlines various principles that he believes if followed will help in reducing preoperative pan in children. According to him, medical practitioners need to recognise that children feel pain during surgery hence they need to put in place measure to minimise and moderate it. According to him, doctors need to prevent pain where it is predictable, control the pain and continue controlling it even after discharge from hospital.
On a larger scale, some of the approaches he recommends in reducing preoperative pain in children. Individualised child centre approach, using the least invasive techniques for he anticipated level of pain, matching technique complexity of surgery and holistic care of emotional and physical attributes of pain.
Some of the techniques he advises be used in pre and postoperative pan management include local and regional anaesthesia, systemic analgesia non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the use of paracetamol. He concludes that an integrated use of the above methods and principles in the past has proven successful in reducing pain in paediatric surgery.
References
Abramson, H.J. (1999). Abramson Survey methods in community medicine: epidemiological research, programme Evaluation Clinical Trials . London: Elsevier Limited.
Gehdoo, R. P. (2004) Postoperative pain management in Pediatric patients. Indian J. Anaesth. 2004; 48 (5) :406-414
Lang, A.T. & Secic, M. (2006). How to report statistics in medicine: annotated guidelines for authors . New York: Tom Hartman.
Norman, R.G. (2006). International handbook of research in medical education . London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Morton, N.S. (2005). Management of postoperative pain in children. Arch Dis Child
Educ Pract Ed 2007 ; vol. 92:ep14-ep19.
Swanwick, T. (2007). Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice . Oxford UK: John Wiley & Sons.
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School Preparedness Plan for Tornado, Earthquakes, Fire Emergency Research Paper
Introduction
The preparedness plan is meant to be used by the school in case of any of the disasters listed. According to Hulnick (2004), being well prepared for emergencies and anticipating threats helps to achieve deal with emergencies in a better way. All parents should have a copy of the plan and make themselves familiar with it.
The school will ensure that students are aware of the preparedness plan and that they practice the plan for efficiency. Staff members of the school shall be responsible for assisting the students to put the plan in place in case of an emergency.
Fire emergency
The school is vulnerable to fires due to the use of chemicals, electrical appliances and due to the vast wiring of electricity to all corners of the school.
According to Model School (2010), although fire is unlikely if proper caution is followed, there is a threat of fire if the students are not careful and their actions are not properly supervised. In a school fire is one of the emergencies that can occur and for which the school should be prepared.
Preventative measures
1. Fire drills should be conducted regularly and their importance explained to the students. This should preferably be done beginning the new school year. Hold fire drills on a regular basis. Have the initial fire drill for the school year in early September. All employees should be assigned appropriate responsibilities to assist the students.
2. The students and staff members should be taught how to operate the fire extinguishers and alarms. Fire extinguishers and fire alarms should be properly marked so that all people can access them.
Laboratory
1. Flammable materials should be supervised and stored in appropriate containers. The school will store laboratory chemicals with caution to avoid accidental spills.
2. Incompatible chemicals should be stored away from each other to avoid accidental mixing which could cause a fire.
3. Any expired chemicals should be appropriately discarded. Broken containers should be replaced.
4. Minimal supplies should be kept to avoid risk of chemicals serving as fuel for the fire. Spills should be cleaned immediately.
5. All experiments will be conducted with necessary supervision. Dangerous material shall be stored and supplies made available only to concerned supervisors or teachers.
6. Students shall not be allowed to operate dangerous appliances without supervision. In addition, gas will be turned off when not in use.
Classroom
1. Rubbish should be taken out as soon as possible. Paper waste should not be left lying around.
2. Power outlets should not be overloaded. Wires should be well covered and all electrical hazards removed.
3. Movable heaters should be avoided in addition to candles.
In order to protect the students from a fire, the following should be observed as a prevention measure.
Gymnasium
1. Emergency lighting should be checked regularly.
2. All entrances should be kept clear. Equipment should be properly stored and not left lying where it can cause tripping.
3. Exit door ought to be kept working.
4. Electric wiring should be kept away from floor where it can cause tripping or cause a fire in case the wires become naked.
Kitchen area
1. Cleaning should be done regularly to avoid build up of grease. Particular attention should be given to ducts, filters, hoods and cookers.
2. Spills should be cleaned up as soon as possible.
3. Garbage should be taken out as soon as it is full or near full.
4. Iron boxes should never be left unattended during ironing. Pilot lights will be used for outlets used for the ironing.
5. Air conditioners, fans and dryer filters should be kept clean and clear.
Practical rooms
1. Outlets should not be overloaded.
2. Extension cords should be used for a limited time period.
3. Cylinders containing gas should be kept upright and left undisturbed.
4. Combustible substances should be kept away from heat.
5. Ensure all working surfaces are clean and clear of debris. Waste should be discarded appropriately.
6. Only materials that is to be used in every class should be stored in the practical rooms.
7. All area should be well ventilated.
8. Fire extinguishers should be stored in the room and made easily accessible.
Maintenance room and boilers
1. No combustibles should ever be stored in these rooms.
2. Annual service should be done on all the equipment in these rooms and checks conducted before use.
3. Equipment powered by gas should be stored outside. Fire rated rooms can also be used as an alternative.
Storage areas and offices
1. Electric outlet should not be overloaded. Wires should be kept from exposure, floors or areas they are prone to damage.
2. Cleaning substances should handled properly and used in well-ventilated areas.
3. Materials and equipment should be well stored without blocking the doorways.
Doors and halls
1. Exits ought to be well marked and the doors kept clear.
2. Emergency lighting should be checked regularly.
3. Doors should be checked to ensure they operate well.
4. Bulletin boards should be kept neat and clear of paper waste. They should also take less than 20% of wall space since they are highly flammable.
During a fire
* Students should be directed to save life. Anyone in danger of burning or smoke inhalation should be removed.
* An alarm should be sounded to alert others of the fire. This can be done by starting the fire alarm system of the school or by vocally shouting “Fire”.
* Emergency call should be made to the fire department or by calling 911. Be sure to give all the details asked like the location of the school and possible cause of fire.
* If it is possible to slow down the fire without posing danger to the self, then it should be done. This may include the use of fire extinguisher, closing windows and doorways.
* Evacuation should be done including taking first aid supplies, student’s emergency cards. A sign in/out form should also be taken so that it can be used to check the students outside the building.
* Have a designated meeting point where all the students meet. There should be consideration made for the meeting point so that the students can be kept safe during bad weather.
After the fire
* Students should stay in the designated area and avoid mingling with the crowd or getting in the way of the rescue team. Evacuation route ought to be well marked and all made aware of it.
* First aid should be given to any injured student while the emergency medical team is being awaited.
* Contact should be made with parents as soon as students are cleared to go home. If any students are taken to hospital, parents should be notified as well.
* Await clearance from the fire officials before going back to the school buildings or area.
Earthquakes
The school is vulnerable to earthquakes given its location. The area has experienced some earthquakes in the past and lies within an earthquake belt. According National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (NCTA) (2004), being aware of vulnerabilities and dealing appropriately with previous and new information can uncover new threats.
Although severe earthquakes have not been reported in the area, there is a threat of earthquake and that should guide the preparation for the future.
In case of an earthquake emergency, the school should be prepared to keep the students safe. During an earthquake, the following measures should be followed. All people must watch out for falling objects, fallen power-lines and broken glass.
Preventative measures
1. All classrooms should be made safe from earthquake hazards including the removal of heavy items that are placed above the students’ heads.
2. Books cases should be secured to the walls or floors. This will prevent injuries from falling objects in case of an earthquake. Most injuries from earthquakes happen following falling items.
3. Students’ desks should be placed away from the windows especially in schools in areas prone to earthquake.
4. Breakable items like computers and other items with glass should be secured. Thus, they will not pose additional danger during earthquakes by falling and presenting glass shatters.
5. Students should be made familiar with earthquakes and shown the safe areas they can use to hide during an earthquake. These areas should include under heavy furniture and sheltered halls.
6. Any safety rooms should be well ventilated and located on the ground level. Rooms used as safe places should be on the ground floor and have few windows and vents.
7. Exit doors should be well marked and all people know the doors and can use them to get to safety in a previously designated place or location.
8. Emergency equipment should be assembled and kept within easy reach should need a rise. These supplies should include first aid materials, flashlight, radio (battery operated), water, food (non-perishable) and blankets. Since the emergency crew may not arrive immediately, the administrators should be equipped to offer the most help they can.
9. There should be a file created containing emergency information for all students and workers. This information will be used to contact parents or for use by the response emergency team. The information should include emergency contacts persons, administrator phone numbers, names, and class roster.
During the earthquake
In order to protect the school during an earthquake, the following should be observed during the earthquake.
* Students should cover their heads and sit low facing away from windows.
* The students should be directed to sit under furniture and as far away from windows as possible.
* Direct the students to remain in their positions until the earthquake ends. If there are after shocks, the students should remain in place for about five minutes. This is because of the danger of falling objects. The students should be reassured so that they remain calm and do not walk around.
* The students should also be made aware of noises to expect so that they remain calm.
After the earthquake
* Students should be examined for injuries. Those who are seriously hurt should not be moved to avoid further injuries. All others should be given first aid while awaiting emergency medical help.
* The school should be examined for damages and particularly for areas that could pose further dangers like fallen power-lines or gas.
+ Students should be asked to avoid using electrical equipment including sockets, which may have been tampered with during the earthquake and may pose danger to them.
+ Students should avoid using toilets as the sewage system may be compromised
+ The school should use foods that are likely to be spoilt and leave for last those that are durable. This is especially helpful in case of severe damages when rescue may take several hours or longer period of time.
+ If there is danger of the buildings collapsing, the students should be moved outside and away from the building structures.
+ There should be a designated area or meeting point which all students should meet if they move outdoors. While moving to this area first aid materials and student’s emergency files should be brought along.
* Have a prepared radio fully charged so that the school can listen to official directives in the location of the school.
* Materials that could pose danger like spilt oils among others should be cleaned up if staying indoors.
* Students should be alerted to be careful because after shock waves may happen without notice.
Power outage
The school is vulnerable to power outage especially resulting from other disasters like earthquakes or in severe storm weather. The area has experienced some earthquakes in the past which has caused power outage in some schools.
Although long duration of power outage has not been reported, even short periods of power outage should be prepared for by the school. In case of a power outage, school should help the students remain safe. This is especially in instances when emergency light or generators do not work.
During the power outage
* The students should be kept comfortable. They should be assured they are safe.
* The students should be asked to remain where they are until the teacher or administrators can provide lighting.
* Plans should be in place for lighting before power outages occur.
* The students can be asked to evacuate outdoors if the weather allows.
Tornado
The school is vulnerable to tornadoes although they do not occur frequently. According to Peterson et al. (2001), sometimes the most basic aspects are the most helpful in guiding response especially in addressing common issues. The history of the school area should be used to guide the preparation for tornado emergency.
The area has experienced some tornado previously. In case of a tornado emergency the school should be prepared to keep the students safe. Usually there is a warning from the authorities on impending tornadoes. However if it occurs during school the following measures should be followed.
Preventative measures
There should be an emergency plan.
In case there is time, parents should be requested to have their children at home.
During the tornado
* Students should be moved to storm shelters pending severe storms.
* If they remain in school, the students should be asked to remain far from windows.
* The students can be moved to a cellar or basement for additional protection.
* The students should be asked to hide under heavy furniture or stay in sheltered hallways.
* If the tornado begins during traveling, move the students to a ditch or low lying area. They should be protected from debris and the strong winds.
* The students should be directed to protect their heads by keeping it low with hands behind it and close to the legs.
After the tornado
* The students should refrain from walking around in case of broken glass. In addition, they can be harmed by debris that the wind may be blowing.
* Radios should be used to listen to official information during the tornado.
Conclusion
Emergency preparedness should be about prevention as much as execution of measures to minimize injury and damages. The school should ensure that all students are taught about disasters and what to expect and do in case of a disaster striking. The school should ensure that all precaution is taken to avoid disasters that originate from human error. In addition, the school should have emergency equipment and material put in place and coordinates assistance from outside emergency response teams.
References
Hulnick, A. S. (2004). Keeping us safe: secret intelligence and homeland security. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Model School (2010). Preparedness plan . Web.
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (NCTA). (2004). 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report. New York: W.W. Norton.
Peterson, M. B, Marilyn, B. and Wright, D. (2001). Intelligence 2000 revising the basic elements: a guide for intelligence professionals . Sacramento, CA: IALEIA and LEIU.
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Pride in Ancient Greek Essay
This paper discusses the character and behavior of two Heroes in the Iliad with the aim of explaining the Geeks’ concept of pride. Considering the lives of Achilles and Patroclus, as presented in the Iliad, it is clear that for ancient Greek heroes, honor meant everything.
In actual sense, a Greek warrior or man would rather choose to die than be ashamed or embarrassed by someone else. Honor meant so much to them that they did everything to attain it. Honor was the lifetime goal of every ancient Greek man and people sought it at all costs.
Unfortunately, their concept of honor could be interpreted as foolhardy pride in our days. As will be shown through focus on Achilles and Patroclus, had they not been driven by their pride, they would not have met with their downfall; the way they did.
Achilles was a great Greek warrior who had helped the Greek with his might and skills. Like all Greek men, he wanted to do his people proud and the people were proud of him. However, his desire for honor leads to his downfall when he confronts the king over a woman. He had been given the woman as a prize for his valor in war against the Trojans.
When the king takes away the woman (prize he had given to Achilles), Achilles out of pride challenges the king and refuses to go to war. His decision not to go to war against the Trojans is what prompted Patroclus to pick up his armor to face Hector. Moreover, apart from refusing to fight for the Greek, Achilles out of pride chooses to argue or disobey the gods.
Priam, his mother intervenes, and again out of pride, Achilles chooses glory over a long life. In the life of Achilles, one can see pride or honor being prioritized over every other important thing. For instance, it is out of pride that Achilles refuses to go to battle prompting his friend Patroclus to stand in to lead the Greek armies against the Trojans.
Patroclus, just like Achilles, was a great warrior. He was one of the great warriors from the Greek side and would have been instrumental in defeating Hectors on behalf of the Achaeans.
However, desire for honor and pride got the better of him. Hectors was more skilled and the only person who could match him from the Greek side was Achilles. Patroclus had been warned against engaging or fighting Hector because he was not his match. However, as it would have been expected of any Greek hero, Patroclus goes against every warning that he should not engage Hectors in a battle.
Having won a number of battles, he is so full of himself that he thinks not engaging or fighting Hectors is a cowardly act. Secondly, he also stands up to Hectors to save himself the shame of having failed his people in a battle. Consequently, this willfulness leads him into dying at the hands of Hectors.
In conclusion, from the two examples given, it is clear that the Greek priced pride over all other values such as safety. It can also be noted that desire for honor and pride, among Greek heroes, was what propelled them to great heights but also what led to their downfall. In search for honor, the heroes did their people proud but out of pride they often became willful and untactful leading to their downfall.
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General Motors Corporation Pricing Strategies Analytical Essay
Introduction
Based in Detroit, General Motors Corporation was founded in the early 90’s, with Durant W. C. being the company’s controller. Operating under automobile industry, General Motors produces several magnificent brands such as GMC, Chevrolet, Vauxhall, and many more others. Denoted as GM, the company suffered severely following the economic crunch that hit US and the world as a whole.
1. GM distributors transport body parts and automobiles from the company’s production division to several customers around the globe. It is also the duty of GM distributors notify the company about their encounters and observations.
2. Distribution strategy is the designing of channels that ensure the free flow of commodities from manufacturers to consumers (Gitman & McDaniel, 2007). The strategy entails giving a concise description on how the company will meet its distribution objectives such as swift penetration, timing, and geographical coverage.
3. There are several other potential ways that GM can use to distribute its products. It can either distribute its products via dealers who will later on sell them to consumers, or expand its outlets and distribute their product via those outlets.
4. & 5. GM has several websites and email accounts that act as avenues for communications between the company and its customers. Additionally, the company provides information to its customers’ via media and customer care units. As a way of advancing its communications, the company can increase its face to face communication with its customers. Furthermore, Faxing and mailing can also act as a way of communicating to consumers.
Advertisements are used as avenues for introducing and informing consumers about new products. However, the costs behind advertisements are often exceptionally high. Apart from creating rapport with customers, employing personal selling develops a remarkable consumer-producer relationship. Furthermore, personal selling provides adequate room for clarifying any misunderstanding. Personal selling can be practically impossible especially when consumers are numerous.
Sales promotion such as free gifts provides an opportunity for consumers to test certain commodities. However, this approach requires massive investment for its impacts to be realized. Public relation develops consumer and societal trust thus placing a company at a better position of winning several commercial contracts. Public relation is a sovereign department thus the danger of delivering inaccurate information to the public.
7, 8 & 9The amount allocation for the company’s communication is determined during budgetary allocations period; however, the communication department settles on how the amount is going to be spent. Price is the cost or worth of a commodity; however, other sees it as a way of communicating a product’s quality. Upper limit price is the uppermost possible price that a product can be valued in a market; whereas, lower limit is the lowest probable market cost of a product.
10 11 & 12. Pricing objectives are the targets that a company intends to attain through pricing (Pride & Ferrell, 2007). It is essential for the objectives to be measurable, realistic and attainable. Companies’ price their product by taking many factors into account.
Such factors may include: competition, current market prices, profits, production cost, market forces, and many more factors. There are several other pricing strategies such as customary pricing, premium pricing, valuable pricing, flexible pricing, leader pricing, and bundle pricing (Avis, 2009).
13 & 14 Different tactics are often employed in pricing commodities; some of them include: discounting, skimming, loss leader, penetration, Odd value pricing and many more others. The final decision on pricing commodities is based on the amount consumers are willing to give. Additionally, the price should be able to attract other new customers.
Conclusion
General Motors is a well established organization that employs different marketing strategies. However, there are a number of different marketing approaches that the company has not employed. There are several strategies and tactics that companies employ in order to achieve a favorable price.
References
Gitman, J. L. & McDaniel, C. (2007). The future of business: the essentials . Florence: Cengage learning
Pride, W. M. & Ferrell O. C. (2007). Foundations of marketing . Florence: cengage learning.
Avis, J. (2009). P2 – Performance Management, Managerial Level, Page 2 . Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Principles of Bauhaus production Essay
The Bauhaus wants to get involved in the advancement of present-day housing. It is noteworthy that the modern man does not acknowledge traditional way of life. As a result, he requires his house to be furnished with all the modern equipments and furniture. Similarly, the surrounding environment of the machine and the house should be affirmed.
These products must serve the purpose for which they are meant. The products from Bauhaus workshops are of diverse invention and thus the design gives a consumer a choice to pick from. The idea of Bauhaus setting up workshop was original, and consumers are the main beneficiaries.
Bauhaus believes that an object is defined by its surrounding thus before the construction of a house or purchasing of a vehicle one must first study its surrounding. It is a fact that the frequent embracing of the technology will make an individual develop an innovative mind. Similarly, Bauhaus highlights that the standardization of the housing products are an important concept in human life.
Most importantly, individuals tend to appreciate more the design of products than any other thing. When a machine that produces standardized products is used it will lead to production of cheaper and more advanced out puts. Consequently, there are no worries that standardization will restrict the consumers to appreciate and use limited designs.
Bauhaus workshops are meant for the identification and advancement of a product design.
In order to create models of the required standards, an experienced and excellent manpower is required. In addition, these should be individuals who are ready to give out their best potential to ensure they adhere to the set laws and regulations. Bauhaus depict that the difference between industry and crafts mainly lie on the type of tools that are employed.
Similarly, Bauhaus is cautious that the two phenomenons are starting to relate. The ancient crafts are distancing themselves from the modern crafts which are adapting new production units. It is evident that speculative experiments are done to produce models used in the implementation in factories.
The models that have been constructed by the Bauhaus are copied by other companies affiliated to it. The mode of production by Bauhaus does not make it possible for competition in both the crafts and the industry. On the contrary, this setting provides them with the required skill to enable them advance their skill.
The Bauhaus make use of the skilled and talented individuals who work as per the training they have attained. In the end, these individuals will go a head and take over from industries. Most importantly, the models produced by Bauhaus are sold at reasonable prices.
It is noteworthy that the basic needs of life are the same in all human beings. Human beings tend to get enslaved to good household models. As a result, Bauhaus has exploited these weaknesses by producing well designed prototype. These products go a long way and impress the consumers who consider both their quality and price.
Bauhaus came up with the workshop and so as to address the immediate need of the people. This mainly consisted of style and beauty of the modern culture. Bauhaus believed the local population admired the possession of good and modern equipments; the only problem was the fact that they were very expensive.
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Principles of Management / film review Critical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Why I chose the movie
2. Concepts from the course that are found in the movie
3. How well the director presents his perspective
4. Whether I agree with this view of human behaviour
5. Moral issues
6. Contemporary work
This movie Gladiator is a Roman classical tale of the life and challenges of Maximus Decimus. Maximus is an Army General in the Roman Empire. He earned this title through sheer hard work and tenacity.
As the movie starts, it is clear to notice these traits as he leads his Army in battle against the barbarians – who are a Germanic tribe that have consistently attacked the Roman Empire for a number of years. In fact, Maximus’ performance in battle is so great that it impresses his Emperor – Marcus Aurelius. The Emperor has a daughter (Lucilla) and a son (Commodus). Custom dictates that his son should inherit the title of Emperor after his father’s death. However, the Emperor had someone else in mind that is Maximus.
Marcus believes that it is only fair for Rome to go back to a Roman Republic through the senate and this would be achieved through Maximus’ efforts. Furthermore, he thinks of the General as one of his own and deeply trusts him. However, Maximus is very reserved about accepting this offer because he has no political ambitions. All he really wanted was to reunite with his family back in Spain.
On the other hand, Commodus who is now the defunct heir to the throne throws a fit after learning from his father that he will not become Emperor to the kingdom. In fact, he is so enraged that he murders his father.
Thereafter, he declares himself leader of the Empire and forces the true heir to submit to his leadership. However, Maximus is dismayed by the death of his father and rejects Commodus’ leadership. Commodus then orders his men to arrest the General.
Maximus manages to escape despite the fact that he is deeply wounded. He soon realises that his family must be in trouble and rushes to Spain to rescue them. But he was too late because he finds his wife and son dead. What is even worse is that they were killed in the most dishonourable way. Commodus’ men crucified them and burnt them. These images are too much for Maximus to bear and he loses consciousness as result.
Slave traders from North Africa soon visit Maximus’ location and they capture him while he is still unconscious. Eventually, he is bought by a manager to a gladiator school called Proximo.
Maximus is forced to fight for his life as a gladiator and quickly takes to this role. He socialises with Hagen and Juba; a barbarian and an African respectively. These three friends talk about their values and the beliefs. But deep in Maximus’ heart, all he really wants is to avenge his family’s death and prospects of doing this become quite clear when they are all sent to Rome.
When all the fighters get to Rome, they are taken into the Colosseum. Their first challenge is quite difficult because instead of fighting in pairs, they are required to fight in groups. It is obviously clear that Maximus’ team is disadvantaged. They have fewer armouries and appear to be losing.
However, this hero takes on the lead and causes his team to reverse those roles. Eventually, the home team loses to Proximo’s gladiators who immediately win approval from the large crowd. Emperor Commodus then enters the Colosseum to congratulate the victors. Maximus then removes his helmet and reveals his true identity.
As a result, Commodus is appalled and immediately wants to kill Maximus. However, his nephew Lucius gets in the way and prevents him from doing so. The crowd is always the one that decides the person who will leave the arena and the one who will die so Maximus is put back in. He then fights one of the greatest gladiators of his time called Tigris.
Until that time, no one had ever defeated this gladiator in battle. Eventually, Maximus defeats him and is even required to kill him. However, Maximus lets him go and thus wins great admiration from the crowd. Commodus gets even more jealous of Maximus and plans to kill him.
Commodus’ sister Lucilla and the Senator Gracchus meet Maximus and tell him that he still has the support of his former Army. They plot to get Commodus out of power through his Army and a loyal servant to Maximus called Cicero. Lucilla and Maximus had a romantic relationship in the past and this further contributes to the intrigue in the movie.
However, Commodus starts suspecting something and blackmails Lucilla to give away the details of the plot by threatening to kill her son Lucius. She tells Commodus everything and he then causes Maximus to walk into a trap. Cicero, Hagen and Proximo are all killed during this attack by Commodus’ people. Maximus is now captured and under Commodus’ control.
They are taken to the arena to meet head to head. However, Commodus stubs him on his side to weaken him. Despite this tremendous disadvantage, Maximus still manages to outdo Commodus in battle by dropping his sword. The Emperor asks for another but the loyal guards do not oblige. Eventually, he realises that he is on his own. He gets out a dagger but Maximus still outmanoeuvres him and manages to kill him.
Shortly after, Maximus succumbs to his wounds and starts to slip into unconsciousness. At this point, he now holds power in his answer and is immediately awakened by Graccus who wants to know what his wishes are for the Empire.
He asserts that power should be returned back to Rome and he also asserts that all the captured gladiators from Proximo’s group should be released. He then dies and joins his wife and son in the afterlife. At the end of the movie, Juba takes figurines of his wife and son and buries them alongside Maximus’ body.
Why I chose the movie
This movie was a major blockbuster. It caused a resurgence of interest in ancient tales and the Roman Empire in general. Most movie goers had positive comments about it and it won so many awards. Therefore, such a critically acclaimed production would definitely be a good place to do management analysis.
What is most important though is that this movie is a depiction of the complexities of leadership and people. It clearly presents conflicts, interests and values prevalent whenever one has to deal with people. Power struggles and administrative challenges are all issues that characterise the workplace. Consequently, this movie would be a great for the assignment.
Concepts from the course that are found in the movie
This movie covers all the four functions of management. There is something about planning. Managers often need to have goals in an organisation and they need to direct resources towards achievement of those goals. This was something that has been covered in the movie through Maximus’ plot to overthrow Commodus.
It was poor planning that eventually led to a failed coup. He should have realised that Commodus had the ability to permeate into their network and extract their information. Consequently, they should have covered this aspect in planning. Similarly, managers need to realise that planning is quite a complicated function that should always allow for external factors from one side or the other.
In the film, some aspects on organisation have also been highlighted. For instance, Maximus had to organise the rest of the gladiators when they had first entered the colosseum so that he could defeat the stronger team. He also had to exercise organisation skills when leading his Army during the battle against the barbarians at the beginning of the movie.
There were clear lines of authority in this Army and each person needed to know their responsibility for victory to occur. Likewise, managers in the workplace need to realise that setting goals is not enough; they need to organise resources well so as to achieve this. They need to clarify the lines of authority early enough so as to ensure greater success in their endeavours.
Perhaps the most important issue covered about management in this film is leadership. Maximus is a powerful leader; he is able to command respect and loyalty from a group of Army men who had been placed under another authority. He had the capacity to inspire other members of the gladiator school to defeat a seemingly stronger team.
Conversely, Commodus was lacking in strong leadership qualities. He forced himself into power and commanded minimal loyalty from his people. This can be seen in the last battle scene when he confronts Maximus. After Maximus drops his sword, Commodus asks his guards for another one but they defy his orders. This individual therefore lacked influence in his empire.
Similarly, managers need to realise that employers will never do much if they are not inspired and persuaded by their leaders. Managers can do this by setting their own example and also by fostering great communication between themselves and their subordinates.
In the movie the function of controlling has also been assessed. Emperor Marcus evaluated his empire and realised that they seriously needed to mend their ties with Rome.
He realised that this goal had not been achieved and that some corrective actions needed to be implemented by selecting someone other than his son to be heir to his throne. Managers can learn from this leader by realising that poor monitoring will always undermine the achievement of goals. Lastly, ‘Gladiator’ also illustrates that decision making is a crucial aspect in leadership.
The movie is laden with a series of crises and disturbances. There are plots to oust Emperor Marcus and Emperor Commodus, attacks from the barbarians, invasion by slave traders and many more. These disturbances required prompt and efficient decision making. To this end, managers can learn from their counterparts in the movie.
They need to handle crises, discontentment from their employees, conflicts with unions and other interest groups. It is a delicate balance to manage all these issues but once one is aware of them then one can work towards them and results will always be easily achievable.
However, it should be noted that this scriptwriter did not just have one view point. At one point, it is as though he held the view of scientific management where he simply focuses on the tasks at hand. In this regard, leaders are determined by the positions they hold and their work should be to ensure things get done.
In the movie, the citizens of this Empire were not involved in leadership selection. Theirs was to accept and follow what they had been told by their Emperor. On the other hand, the director contradicts this aspect when the guards refuse to obey their emperor Commodus in battle.
Maximus influences Commodus; men to support him in a plot to overthrow their ruler. Also, the crowd in the collosuem appears to hold some degree of power since they prevented Commodus from killing Maximus immediately. This view is symptomatic of the behavioural management theory which holds that employees need to be motivated in order to perform.
How well the director presents his perspective
The director did a good job of presenting his view of management. He does this by making his hero very endearing to the public. Maximus is supposed to be the rightful heir of the throne and the trials and tribulations that he goes through are indicative of what other human beings go through.
This implies that one is likely to agree with this viewpoint. However, because the hero eventually dies in the movie, one realises that there are more powerful forces than Maximus.
Authority was something that he was so close to getting but he never really did. If I was remaking this movie, I would eliminate the part about joining his wife in the afterlife because this seems like a consolation prize to the hero for missing out on the actual goal of leading his nation
Whether I agree with this view of human behaviour
I agree with this view of human behaviour because it is quite complex. There is no clear good buy or bad guy in the movie. Although Maximus is the hero, he is still driven by revenge. Also, although Commodus is supposed to be the villain, he still gives Commodus a chance to defend himself in the arena. I think others would agree because movie goers prefer realistic depictions of their heroes.
Moral issues
The author addresses the issues of jealousy and disloyalty in Commodus by causing him to die. He also deals with the dangerous issues of vengeance by eventually allowing the death of the main character of the movie. He did not however address the conflict between loyalty to a past love and loyalty to one’s child as undergone by Lucilla. He therefore punishes his characters for a flaw in the character.
Contemporary work
If this was a contemporary work, it is likely that much would not have changed in the plot of the movie. This movie was made in 2000 which is just eleven years ago. Audiences have not changed too much from back then. On the other hand, it is likely that scenes such as the afterlife will be changed so that the movie can be more realistic.
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Privacy and confidentiality of patients Problem Solution Essay
Health care providers have the duty to make sure that the information they have about patients is held in confidence. Some criminal activity that a patient may be involved in is the trafficking and use of prohibited drugs. Upon the realization of such drug use, the heath worker is faced with the dilemma on whether or not to report such cases to relevant authorities.
If they do so, they will be infringing on the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality. This paper is will look at ways in which health care workers can best deal with such situations. Discussion
There are cases where a medical worker is legally expected to breach the patient’s confidence by reporting criminal activities conducted by such patients. In other instances however, the health worker is not obliged to disclose any such information and in such a case, they can be successfully sued for not protecting patient’s privacy.
The practitioner has to consider whether he is legally bound or not (Pauls, LeBlanc, and Campbell, 2002).
Reporting of a patient’s criminal activity is encouraged where the actions of the patient are likely to injure another identifiable person. It is the duty of the physician to determine how much risk is placed on society by the patient’s criminal activities.
In case the risk to the community is high, then the physician should not protect the patient’s right to confidence and should give all necessary information to the authorities. If such a risk to community is low or if criminal activity is on property, the patient’s privacy should be protected.
In order to reconcile his obligation, the health care worker should have an open discussion with the patient prior to making any decision. He should take into account the position of the society as a whole as well as that of the individual patient (Pauls, LeBlanc, and Campbell, 2002).
One of the reasons why the health care providers should not always report crimes committed by their patients is to encourage individuals to have trust in hospitals and for them to be able to disclose important information when seeking medical attention.
In case the physician suspects that his patient is a sexual offender, he should first carry out some investigation to determine whether a person has been offended before reporting the patient (Tony, Sally, Charles, 2003).
Another consideration that the health care provider should have in mind before reporting any criminal activity is whether or not the affected persons are in need of the type of criminal protection that is generally provided.
If not, then the patient’s privacy and confidentiality should be maintained. There would be no point in infringing on a patient’s privacy in the affected person does not stand to gain (Brown, 2010).
Conclusion
Where there are no set rules on whether to report or not to report criminal activities, the physician should be guided by both the ethical principles as well as what he feels is morally right and has a greater benefit. In case a criminal activity is carried out by a patient and a third party wishes to report it, then the health care provider should not report should instead maintain confidentiality.
The physician may also arrange for the patient to receive help such as counseling in order to prevent the criminal activities from continuing without necessarily infringing on the patient’s privacy. This should however be done after the patient has given an informed consent and is comfortable with the idea.
Reference List
Brown, B (2010). Protecting the Confidentiality of Medical Records in an Interconnected Environment. Journal of Health Care Compliance ; Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 12 Issue 6, p35-38, 4p. Web.
Pauls, M., LeBlanc, C., and Campbell, S (2002). Ethics in the trenches: preparing for ethical challenges in the emergency department. Can J Emerg Med 2002 ; 4(1):45-8. Web.
Tony, H., Sally. F., Charles, F (2003). Turning a blind eye to crime: health professionals and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Web.
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Problems in Marriage: Is Divorce the Only Option? Report
The case under consideration evaluates the situations where a wife and a husband face a number of problems connected with their family life and cannot find another decision but divorce.
The husband believes that it is impossible to trust his wife as she cheats him through the Internet services, and the wife explains that her husband does not want to be involved into their family affairs. Both partners are not confident in the desire to remain committed to each other in this marriage; still, they have to sons, the twins, and have to think about the wellbeing of their children.
The outcome of the situation is not that pleasant: the husband hospitalized because of suicidal ideation subsequent. Both partners are in need of professional help; both partners should evaluate the situation and their life, and both partners should be provided with a chance to develop appropriate communication with each other.
To help two people comprehend their mistakes and choose the most effective solution in such situation, it is possible to make use of Reality Therapy offered Dr. William Glasser at the end of 1965 (Zastrow, 2009).
The main point of the chosen therapy is that it is usually available to anyone and aims at helping people reconnect. This theory best addresses the chosen family’s treatment need as it focuses on the present. It is sometimes wrong to evaluate the actions taken in the past as the main reason of human problems is present discontents, present problems, and present feelings.
People have to comprehend the results of their actions and inabilities to find some common decision. A man could lose his life, and a woman is so involved into personal satisfaction of needs. They cannot evaluate the situation from numerous perspectives and admit how terrible their problems in regard to their children are.
There are two main components of the chosen therapy: the creation of trusting environment where two adults are able to develop conversations and the choice of the ideas which help to define what the patients really want, create a plan, and evaluate whether some negative outcomes may be expected.
The results of the case assessment show that two people are sick and tired of their relations and cannot find appropriate reasons to continue living together. Still, they have already faced similar problems before and managed to find some successful solutions.
This is why it is possible to evaluate their present feelings and problems. This couple is diagnosed as the one with inabilities to plan their future and to think about positive aspects of their life together. The prognosis is the following: in case the couple avoids mutual judgments and constant blaming, they may learn to prevent the situations which may destroy their relations.
For example, it is possible to create a plan according to which the demands of the couple are met. One day is organized in accordance with wife’s demands, the next day is for husband, and one more day has to be devoted to children’s wishes only so that parents could comprehend that they are responsible for two lives they gave birth to one day. If the wife and the husband agree to follow the treatment, the prognosis may become rather promising.
There are some other relevant treatment goals which may be expected: the couple has to be provided with fun and entertainment that is possible in human life. In case they are involved into some activities, they are not bothered with the memories from the past and the misunderstanding they may suffer from.
Finally, it is necessary to keep in mind that human behavior is hard to changes, still, it is possible to create the conditions under which people may feel safe, protection, and pleasure of being together without taking into consideration the troubles and discontents from the past.
Reference List
Zastrow, C. (2009). The Practice of Social Work: A Comprehensive Worktext. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
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Problems related to Physical and Mental Health Issues Problem Solution Essay
Physical and mental health issues are very widespread in United States. These issues affect everyone despite gender, age or race (Kendall, 2009). Consequently, they have been a cause of so many problems in the society. These problems include:
* Homelessness,
* Unsteady and broken families
* Substance abuse and dependence
* Non-employment and poverty
* Lack of residential stability
* Spread of diseases including HIV
Ways to lower or Control Spiraling Health Care Cost
Insufficient funds is among the barriers to proper health care is a barrier to proper health care in the United States of America. This means that the funds given are not enough to cover for provision of proper medical care for all who need it. In addition, f funds provided are not used appropriately and sufficiently in ways that help those suffering from mental and physical illnesses (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009).
Thus, if there would be an increase in the funds and a clear way of follow-up to ensure that the funds provided for medical care are used for that goal and in the best way so as to benefit all who need it, then these rising health care costs would be easily controlled.
Furthermore, the revision of present insurance plan for public so as to strengthen it and give people authority to negotiate for lower prices of medical care; services and goods, would help in controlling the rising medical care cost.
Giving people the chance to bargain would mean that each would reach a reasonable fee which he or she is able to cater for and this means that everyone is able to access medical care which is an important thing.
This would especially be applicable in insurance plans which are sponsored by the government. If this is done, then it will force the private medical insurance providers to lower their prices too thus benefiting everyone.
In addition, there is need to reduce the spending done on any medical procedures which have low benefit and yet cost so much. This would make patients not to overspend on unnecessary medical procedures which are not are not worth the cost.
We cannot deny the fact that there is a correlation between crime, substance abuse and health care. Generally, those suffering from mental and physical illnesses are affected by various problems among them homelessness. These homeless people normally suffer from substance abuse since they are not in a place where they can be properly attended to.
Most of them normally self-medicate themselves which leads to addictions (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). In addition, since these people lack good physical health, it becomes very hard for them to get employment thus resulting in crime and substance abuse due to frustration.
Most criminals are also involved in substance abuse. Due to this problem of using drugs, these people end up with health problems. In a certain study which involved 661 male prisoners who abuse drugs, it was found out that a criminal history which was more extensive was connected to more problems in the general physical health. This was in comparison to mental health (Mateyoke A, et al, 2011). This therefore, proves that there is indeed an existing correlation between crime, substance abuse and health care.
The cost of health care contributes to substance abuse since when people like the homeless are unable to meet the cost of health care, they result in self medication which leads to addiction while on the other hand, people who are involved in crime are also mostly involved in substance abuse thus increasing the number of people in need of health care.
References
Kendall, D. (2009). Social Problems in a Diverse Society. 5 th Ed. New York. Allyn & Baco
Matekoye, A. Webster, Hiller, J., Leukefeld, S. (2011). Criminal History, Physical and Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Services Use Among Incarcerated Substance Abusers, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 19, Kentucky. University of Kentucky
National Coalition for the Homeless, (2009). Mental Illness and Homelessness. National Coalition for the Homeless
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Process of Writing and Editing a Research Document Reflective Essay
Although most of the people who have ever tried writing a research paper, prefer to speak of the way that has driven them to the certain results than of the results themselves, such is a man’s psychology that it is easier to enumerate the data than to follow one’s course of thoughts. Still this is what I am going to do. Despite the memory process is hard to restore, I will try to explain my course o thoughts as I picked the particular research and was writing the document.
As Clare (2004, p. 3) outlines, “A research report is written to fulfill the researcher’s contractual or moral obligations to those who put up the resources that enabled the study to be undertaken”. With the burden of the moral obligation I was bearing from that day on, I started out with the purpose of my future research. What needs does it have to meet? What problems does it have to touch upon? What topic does it have to deal with?
As these hard questions were finally answered, I went on to draw a brief plan of what my research would look like.
It seemed to me that a good research is much like a well-cooked pie. That is why I started with the basis for my project, that is, with the dough. It had to be thick and stable, and that made me search for the most reliable and well-established facts that were the axioms for my research to ground on.
Most of them have been taken form the encyclopedias and the trusted sources, such as research papers and other scientific sources. It was a matter of the credibility of my future research, because once a false idea has crept into the paper, it is ruined for good.
Then I had to arrange somehow the material that I had gathered. There were three basic types of them that I subdivided them into. These were the facts that I found well-known and that could be presented as an introduction to my research paper; they helped me to explain better the subject I was dealing with. These were a kind of common place, yet they helped to concentrate on the subject and frame it. The next were the facts that I was actually operating with as I continued the research.
Those facts helped me to get the necessary information for my research to operate with as I was coming up to the part where my individual research began. Those facts were like the flowers that I had to make a bouquet of. I had to work carefully to arrange them in the very best way, so that the audience could trace my train of thoughts and understand the course of the research well.
Those facts provided a food for my thoughts as well, since there was a lot of contradicting information in them, and at times it was hard for me to understand the way the facts were driving to.
Finally, as I had dealt with the hardest part of the research, the time came to decorate the “dish” of mine. That was the right time to use the information that I defined first as the additional one. The peculiarity of the information of that kind was that it actually did not influence the results of the research in the least, but it was funny to listen to and it made the research sound a bit more vivid, not that dry as it could have been if I had presented only the results themselves. It made the audience feel much more relaxed, and because of teat their attention was focused on the research all the time.
And, finally, as the plan was drawn and all the facts were arranged in the right order, it was the very time to get down to writing the research itself.
The process of writing might seem far not that interesting to you, but I should say that I was trying to make it sound both scientific and exciting. That took all the boredom of the writing process.
The results of my research speak fort themselves. Now I am glad that the work I have done was just as exciting for my audience as for me.
Reference
Clare, J., & Hamilton, H. (2004) Writing a Research: Transforming Data into Text. Churchhill, London: Elsevier Science Ltd.
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The Enhancement of Professional Knowledge and Abilities with APA Essay
Human beings are endowed with unique talents and abilities that they use for self advancement and the common good. Most, if not all of these abilities are nurtured through acquiring the relevant knowledge and skills.
As one pursues the preferred career, it is critical to be well informed about the principles and guidelines that govern the chosen profession (American Psychological Association, 2010).
Educational and medical professions are examples which are run by common set of principles that helps its members to practice and adhere to the expectations of the profession. This essay provides a description of the American Psychological Association and how it can help in the enhancement of professional knowledge and abilities. The influence of these knowledge and abilities on the development of my career is also explained.
Psychology is a very well developed disciplined especially in the United States and has clear guidelines that guide all the professions within this field. The American Psychological Association, usually abbreviated as APA, brings together American psychologists. It is the leading scientific as well as professional association of psychologists in America. With a membership of more than 150,000, it is the largest association of psychologists in the world (Evans & Cadwallader, 2004).
The APA brings together scientists, clinicians, educators, students, and consultants who are engaged in the provision of psychological sciences. The association usually operates on an annual budget of up to $70 million. The APA’s main undertaking is to ensure progression in formation, communication and utilization of psychological knowledge (A. P. A., 2010). This will in turn lead serve to benefit the society as well as improve the lives of the people in general.
It is also determined to become the most valuable, effective and highly influential association when it comes to the advancement of the field of psychology as a science (Evans & Cadwallader, 2004). The American Psychological Association strives to facilitate the stimulation, enhancement and propagation of psychological knowledge and skills through the provision of the appropriate resources for all its members. This goes a long way in increasing professional knowledge and abilities.
Furthermore, the APA relies on key values to attain its vision and mission (A. P. A., 2010). The first value is the continual pursuit of excellence, followed by the need to acquire knowledge using approved scientific methods. The third value is the provision of outstanding services to its members and the society at large.
The association is also based on a fourth value of social justice, diversity and inclusion as well as ethical action in all its operations as the fifth value. The association’s structure ensures the implementation of the guidelines. Psychological services involve the interaction between two persons, the counselor and the client. These values, therefore, will ensure that the members of the APA are quite aware of what is expected of them.
The provision of specific knowledge and skills to all APA members has had tremendous impacts on their career development. The members are accredited and certified according to their fields of specialization and this motivates them to explore their fields even more. I am convinced that the commitment by the APA to be innovative in educating, developing as well as training psychological scientists, educators and practitioners provides a platform for career advancement.
The association can also equip me with effective and appropriate knowledge and abilities that will enable the handling of personal, regional and global issues in multicultural as well as transnational contexts. This presents a range of opportunities for career development of the members.
The essay has briefly described the American Psychological Association. It has discussed its vision and values that guide the APA members and how the association can significantly contribute to the enhancement of professional knowledge and abilities. The association, therefore, has significant impact on the career enhancement of all its members.
References
American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6 th ed.). American Psychological Association
Evans, R. B. & Cadwallader, T. C. (2004). The American Psychological Association: a historical perspective (2 nd ed.). American Psychological Association
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Implementation of Physical Restraints in the Intensive Care Unit Problem Solution Essay
Introduction
The aim of this paper is to present an implementation plan for the research problem that deals with the use of physical restraints in the intensive care unit. The steps and resources that will be used in the plan will also be presented. The paper also acknowledges the importance of evaluating any plan put in place to solve a problem.
Towards this end, the paper will present the evaluation plan of the proposed solution and the anticipated outcomes. Lastly, the paper will touch on the dissemination of evidence for nursing practice.
Description of Solution: Best Practice Staffing
Best practice staffing is defined by the Emergency Nurses Association as “that which provides timely and efficient patient care and a safe environment for both patients and staff, while promoting an atmosphere of professional nursing satisfaction,” (Robinson, Jagim & Ray, 2004).
Based on best practice, staffing will be done taking into consideration the following factors: patient census, patients’ acuity, length of stay of patients, nursing time for interventions and activities by patient acuity, and the mix of registered nurses versus non-registered nurses’ skills.
The Implementation Plan and the Steps and Resources that will be Used
An automated tool (in this case an Excel workbook) will be used to calculate the number of fulltime equivalent (FTEs) that is needed to provide quality care to patients in the intensive care unit. The tool will then split the FTEs into a skills mix of registered nurses (86%) and non-registered nurses (14%). The ratio of RN to non-RN needed in intensive care units was determined by the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) system (Robinson et al., 2004).
Once the tool determines the total number of FTEs needed for the ICU patients, they will be distributed throughout the day according to the trends of the patient volume. This staffing technique based on best practice will enable the unit to acquire the appropriate number of nurses as well as support staff needed to provide utmost care to the ICU patients.
It is hoped that by having adequate nursing and support staff, the need to use physical restraints would be reduced drastically (Kielb, Hurlock-Chorostecki & Sipprell, 2005). Moreover, having adequate number of nurses and support staff will ensure that physically restrained patients do not go for hours without being checked.
In addition to best practice staffing, the solution will include a thorough observation of the patients. One important aspect of the action plan is the assertion that restraints or their alternatives should not be used as a substitute for observation. To enhance observation, the patients considered to be high-risk will be located in rooms that are closest to the nurse’s station.
Safety rounds and patient checks will then be done after every one hour, with more frequent safety rounds at highly risky times (for instance during shift change). Documentation will be part and parcel of the assessment procedure. The documentation of the patient’s physical, emotional and psychological state will be done after every assessment.
The records will be inserted in each patient’s folder and placed at the bedside for easy access by the nurse. As a result, the number and severity of injuries that often result from physical restraints’ use would also decline (Winston, Morelli, Bramble, Friday & Sanders, 1999).
Evaluation Plan
The effectiveness of the action plan can be evaluated through quality assurance indicators that include the attitudes of the medical staff towards physical restraints use, types and number of patients’ injuries, and number of patients who have been restrained before and after the program.
The attitudes of the medical staff towards restraint use will help to gauge the effectiveness of the education program offered within the program. The number of staff who favored the use of restraints before the program will be compared with the number of staff favoring restraint use after the program.
The evaluation plan will be conducted through data collection using questionnaires as well as from medical records of the patients. As a result, the resources needed include human resources to carry out the actual data collection and statistical tools to analyze the data.
The projected outcomes from this plan are many. First and foremost, it is expected that the attitudes of the nurses towards ICU patients will be more positive than was the case before the plan’s implementation. This is due to reduced work load resulting from an increase in the number of staffs in the organization.
Second, it is expected that fewer patients will be physically restrained because physical restraints will be used only in extreme circumstances. Third, it is expected that the number and severity of injuries that result from physical restraints will reduce.
Dissemination of Evidence
Dissemination of evidence for nursing practice can be done in a number of ways. First, conferences organized for the nursing professionals are a great channel of disseminating evidence as they allow for extensive discussion of the evidence and criticism from peers.
Second, the evidence can be disseminated through publications in professional journals, periodicals, organizations’ newsletters, books, newspapers and magazines. Publication in peer-reviewed journals is the best option because experts in the field can criticize and appraise the evidence thus making it more credible.
The evidence can be published in various journals including: The Journal of Aging & Social Policy, Pre-hospital Emergency Care, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, and Journal of Nursing Practice to mention but a few. I would choose the Journal of Nursing Practice to disseminate the evidence. This is because this journal covers a wide range of topics in the nursing field practice and is therefore not as limited as the rest. As a result, the journal has a higher readership rate than the rest.
Conclusion
Based on evidence from the literature, this paper has provided a solution for the problem of physical restraints in the intensive care units. The paper has also presented an implementation plan of the solution as well as the means through which the evidence can be disseminated.
Reference List
Kielb, C., Hurlock-Chorostecki, C., & Sipprell, D. (2005). Can minimal patient restraint be safely implemented in the intensive care unit? Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses, 16 (1), 16-19.
Robinson, K., Jagim, M., & Ray, C. (2004). Nursing workforce issues and trends affecting emergency departments. Topics in Emergency Medicine, 26 (4), 276-286.
Winston, P. A., Morelli, P., Bramble, J., Friday, A., & Sanders, J. B. (1999). Improving patient care through implementation of nurse-driven restraint protocols. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 13 (6), 32-46.
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Professional Workplace Dilemma Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Description of my experience on ethical dilemma
3. Analyzing the ethical dilemma
4. Evaluating the outcome
5. Conclusion
6. References
Introduction
One may encounter several professional dilemmas at workplaces. Therefore, it is essential for individuals to handle such dilemmas with caution since they can significantly advance or tarnish one’s career. In most cases, ethical dilemmas occur due to conflict of interests among employees (APPA, 2010). Such instances occur when one is in a dilemma of whether or not to report his or her colleague who is doing unethical acts (APPA, 2010). This often proves challenging especially when the parties involved have a close relationship.
Description of my experience on ethical dilemma
As an employee in a company that produces containers, I encountered a certain ethical dilemma that posed a threat to employees’ health. The dilemma began by a contract that the company won, and it entailed production of three hundred containers within a one-year period. However, as par the company’s capacity, only two hundred containers could be produced within the contractual time.
According to the company, producing the containers was not the problem, but instead it was the paint that took a longer time before drying. After careful consultations, the best option was to use a different paint that could dry quicker.
Unfortunately, the paint to be employed had some toxic substance that could prove hazardous to employees. Therefore, they had to train employees on how to administer the paint safely. This proved challenging because training employees would take approximately six months thus they could be beyond schedule.
Following the challenge, the management team decided to hold a secret meeting consequently deciding to employ the paint without training the employees. Mr. Brian, the safety and health manager, was uninvited in the meeting and had no idea of what was going on. Fortunately, the information leaked consequently leaving Brian aware of the management’s unethical intensions. This was the point where I got the information i.e. via Brian given that I had a close working relationship with him.
As the safety and health manager, Brian had two options i.e. either confront the management of their unethical intensions or keep quiet and do nothing about the situation. Considering the consequences, Brian could lose his job if he confronts the management while, on the other hand, if he decides to do nothing employees’ health and safety would vastly be endangered.
Analyzing the ethical dilemma
There existed a difference in power by the fact that the management team could make final decisions on the overall running of the company. On the other hand, Brian could only influence matters that affect the employees’ health. Considering this fact, Brian could end up losing his job if he confronted the management team. Normative ethics that include virtue theories, duty theories and consequentialist theories was put on hold by the management team if they were to employ the toxic paint (Fieser, 2009).
The management was subjected to violate the normative ethic in the context of virtue theory and duty theory i.e. by perilously exposing employees to toxic paints. Several personal values were at stake both to the management team and also to the Brian as the safety and health manger. Some of the values included honesty, dignity, teamwork, integrity, generosity and optimism only to mention a few.
From Brian’s point of view, there existed two possible outcomes i.e. either decides to do nothing about the issue or use the information at hand to confront the management team about unethical intensions. Talking about the consequences involved, if Brian decides to do nothing employees will perish while, on the other hand, he risks losing his job incase he confronts the management team.
As an employee in the company, my health would have been compromised if Brian did nothing about the situation whereas, on the contrary, if he confronts the management, it would mean working in a hazard-free environment.
Evaluating the outcome
Fortunately, guided his instincts, Brian confronted the management team by reporting them to the board of directors. Brian’s decision was courageous since he never minded the consequences that was awaiting him incase the allegations were to be false. Following Brian’s decision, my colleagues and I were able to work in a danger free environment since the toxic paint was put on hold by the board.
The consequences were to our advantage on the argument that our health and life were not jeopardized. On the contrary, the management team was subjected to the disciplinary board thus facing the full consequences of their intensions. Subsequently, most of the management team members lost their jobs while others put on probation.
During my course of study, I’ve gained much on how to handle different dilemmas ethically. Based on what I have learned in combination to my working experience, my position on the dilemma would have been the same. This is because, according to normative ethics, an individual should do precisely what he or she expect others to do for them (Fieser, 2009).
Arguing from this point of view, I would also act in the same manner that Brian did by protecting employees from unethical intensions of the management team. Furthermore, it was Brian’s duty to ensure that employees work in a safe environment.
Conclusion
It is crucial to understand and be educated about ethical standard since everybody is vulnerable to ethical dilemmas. Better understanding of ethical standards assists in making the right choices that are considered ethical in the society. Additionally, one should also comprehend the consequences that follow their decisions. Ethically, one should act empathetically by placing yourself on others’ shoes. This assists in determining whether or not an act is ethical.
References
Fieser, J. (2009). Ethics . Internet encyclopedia of philosophy (IEP). Web.
American philosophical practitioners association (APPA). (2010). Dilemma training . Web.
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The Link Between Professionalism and Ethics Essay
Professionalism and ethics are key factors in a job setting. These two aspects work hand in hand. Engineering is no different case. Ethics seeks to evaluate deeply on moral aspects. It entails the practices that the staff carries out in an establishment. It incorporates; good value, code of conduct, moral value, principles and virtues. The ethics enable one to outlay professionalism in undertaking his engineering career.
Professional ethics helps a lot in proficiency and comprehending problems encountered in this field. Ethics assists one to know the good and bad sides of a person in a work setting. Engineering ethics are the codes of standard applied in the field of engineering. These ethics portray good conducts in professional engineers.
In accordance with the innovation in science and technology one needs to uphold high moral standard in terms of principle and practices. It concentrates on doing the right action with out inconveniencing other parties. In engineering one needs guidelines that propel him or her to success in this field. The guidelines are set values that give the ability to make correct choices, decisions and action. Not all values are equal.
It all depends with the perception of a person and his/her experience. One can modify and create beliefs that define his identity. Thus he may hold characters such as social skills, peace among co-workers, truth and honesty. Perseverance, discernment and accuracy are also values that one needs to have in order to relay services professionally. This boosts his moral behavior and upholds professional skills.
In addition to values and morals a professional needs work ethics. These ethics ought to be principled and easy to interpret. Employing attitudes of work value will need a lot of motivation in order to succeed. This goes along way to increase the productivity and overall performance in engineering.
In the work place the relationship among co-workers and employees in the organization, depends heavily on the ethics. The engineers tactfully apply the code of ethics to tackle problems encountered in the field. The engineer should offer high standard of service to the client. He should work towards achieving set objectives as part of strengthening his skills in the profession (Naagarazan 41).
Moral issues may arise at certain times in an organization. This will require one to apply professionalism to tackle such issues. Issues such as resource crouch may lead one to be manipulated and unethical termination of projects. Another issue is applying double standards in making decisions and selection of projects.
The management may seek to fulfill their interest more than the employees. The employees may develop poor attitude to providing services to the consumers.
These issues can be sorted through normative inquiry where norms are used to guide the employees and the management to run the organization. The management should come in strongly to offer a neutral field for implementation of these norms.
Another way of curbing moral issues is by conceptual inquiry where all the employees are directed and informed of the concepts and principles. Factual or descriptive inquiry is another way to solve the moral issues arising in an organization. This inquiry provides information about practices and effectiveness of the system.
When one upholds professionalism he or she expects to be loyal to the organization, have high level of integrity, be knowledgeable and applies tact in undertaking tasks of the organization. He should be a social catalyst and serve the management and other employees without biasness.
The professional conduct helps to gain trust in the public and improve professional development (Naagarazan 39). Professionalism in the public domain determines how resources and other activities are carried out. A professional will bear responsibility of his work in the sense that he becomes liable and accountable for action he takes in the organization. By carrying out his duty well, he gets appraisal from the management due to his success.
A competent professional will strive to meet the requirement of the client. It is highly recommended that clients confidentiality to be observed. This is also part of professionalism since the client builds trust in the employee.
Other attributes of a competent professional is to respect the management and other employees as well as the client. Courtesy when communicating to client will boost confidence in the engineer from the client perspective. They should also be ready to offer services to a diverse population.
The employee should avoid fraud and misuse of resources at all times. Above all discipline is very important. In a sum up professionalism is the equality of being honest and faithful to the profession. Always honor the law and observe rules and regulation of the State.
Professionalism may be hindered by a number of factors such as poverty levels and high level for illiteracy in the society. Most engineers may take advantage of these situations in the society and offer substantial services to them. To curb this situation the engineers should be given adequate remuneration to refrain them from exploiting the less fortunate (Philip 74). Professionalism and ethics work hand in hand.
For one to be a successful professional he or she needs to have all the ethics values and virtues. Successful engineers are as a result of the moral behaviors and work ethics they endorse in their day to day undertaking. If these ethics are advocated world wide then the world will absolutely have more engineers who are professionally fit.
Work Cited
Naagarazan, Ramayan. Textbook on Professional Ethics and Human Values. New Delhi: New Age International, 2006. Print.
Philip, Sadler. Management consultancy: a handbook for best practice. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2002. Print.
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Progression of the European Settlement and Development Mississippi (1500’s-1817) Essay
Table of Contents
1. Legacies Left in MS by European Influence
2. Modern MS Culture and Society
3. Bibliography
4. Footnotes
Dwelling upon the progression of the European settlement on the Mississippi river from 1500’s until its becoming statehood in 1817, it should be noted that Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto was the first European who visited the river during 1539-1542. [1] The French research on the territories of the River was crucial, as it lead to the creation of the first permanent European settlement (Fort Maurepas) in MS territory in 1699 by explorers Pierre LeMoyne Sieur D’Iberville and Jean Baptiste Sieur D’Bienville. [2]
The wars which took place on the territory of MS River were crucial, as a result the territories were divided between England and Span. The most important war was French and Indian one, as France was defeated and had to pass control over the territory to England.
The Treaty of Paris (1783) as a result of American Revolution gave way to the development of the territories of Mississippi River and the spread of European progression and settlement.
Thus, according to the Treaty of Paris (1783) the USA and the GB got an open access to the territories of the MS River, and the USA received the right to control the territory. Winthrop Sargent became the first Territorial Governor of the Mississippi lands in 1798.
During this time the territory of the Mississippi was established. 10 th December 1817 is considered to be an important date in the history of Mississippi territory, as it was the date when it became a state. [3]
Legacies Left in MS by European Influence
The European influence has left its imprint on the legal side of the territory development. Four legacies of European influences on MS should be considered. Black Code of Louisiana (Code Noir) was the document established in 1724. It dwelt upon the relations between slaves and colonists and in fact restricted the eights of slaves on the territory of the Rives.
The second document was connected with economic dependencies, agriculture and slavery in particular. A lot of slaves from Africa were taken on the territories of the River to increase the agricultural development and produce more sugar, rum, molasses, and syrup. With the creation of the cotton gin, the agricultural development on the territory increased, that gave rise to its economic growth. [4] The third legacy which was possible because of the European influence was religion and language impact.
The Catholic religion began popular due to the French and Spanish expansion. The language was influenced by English, France, and Spanish settlers on the territory of the River. The fourth legacy dealt with political philosophies as due to the changes of the influence on the territory, the constitution changed as well. Thus, there were four different constitutions in the Mississippi region, in 1817, 1832, 1868, and 1890. [5]
Modern MS Culture and Society
As for me, the most crucial legacy is the third one, connected with religion and language. This legacy helps easily understand the roots of the modern culture and society on the territory of the Mississippi River. Thus, being influenced by Spain the citizens of the regions adopted not only the Catholic religion, but also the traditions.
Continuing the development under the influence of the Spain, England, the USA and other Catholic countries, the territory of the MS rives had no choice but to assimilate. Adopting the language of the countries, the citizens of the Mississippi had to take some specific customs and traditions, that one of the main roots of the culture on the modern territory of the Mississippi River and created its social norms.
Bibliography
McCall. “Mississippi Studies”. Class Notes , January 2011.
Usner, Daniel H. American Indians in the Lower Mississippi Valley: Social and Economic Histories . Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Footnotes
1. Daniel H. Usner, American Indians in the Lower Mississippi Valley: Social and Economic Histories . (Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press, 2004), 3.
2. McCall. “Mississippi Studies”. Class Notes , (January 2011), n.p.
3. Ibid.
4. Usner, 77.
5. McCall, n.p.
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Project Management and Project Alignment Strategy Essay (Critical Writing)
Introduction
Project management has been practiced mainly in the engineering and construction sectors. This is mainly due to the fact that tasks in these sectors have to be organized in a systematic manner if they are to yield the required results. However, since the 1990’s, project management has gained prominence in other sectors as various firms execute their operations in forms of projects.
As such, project management is no longer restricted to the creation of products but it has been used to facilitate business transformation as well as to business improvement during the implementation of strategies. The rapid rate at which project management is being applied in businesses is currently being referred to by business critics and commentators as the “the projectification of society” (Cicmil and Hodgson, 2006).
As Hauc & Kovac (2000) reiterate, “Projectification in an organizational context has resulted in the apparent agreement that projects and project management are an efficient means of implementing organizational strategy.” This paper shall discus this statement by reviewing relevant literature pertaining to this topic.
To this end, a brief discussion exploring the content, limitations and potential problems brought about by strategic alignment of projects shall be provided.
Brief overview of project management
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as a temporary work effort that has “a clear beginning and end that is intended to create a unique product or knowledge” (PMI, 2004). Projects vary in size and they may involve the effort of a single individual or even hundreds of people working as a team. Project management involves “application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques” so as to achieve the desired end-result (Cicmil et al, 2006).
While small projects may be undertaken without necessarily applying project management, a significant project must involve project management. Experts agree that while good project management does not guarantee the success of a project, poor management invariably leads to a project’s failure. For this reason, the project management component is very essential for any sizable business project.
Projects and strategies
Strategies refer to the overall plans and procedures designed to execute a particular goal or objective. Cleland and Ireland (2006), state that projects mainly dwell on the equipments, tools and techniques. The project manager must come up with a strategy that lays out how the various aspects of the project work together to yield the expected results.
The alignment of projects presents various opportunities and challenges. However, as Grant (2005) reiterates, the success or failure of any given project depends on the strategies formulated to facilitate in the implementation processes of each project. To this end, if an organization aligns its project in such a manner that the success of one project affects the others, there may be problems if cases of misappropriation of funds or failure to meet the set deadlines occur.
Importance of project management
Without PM, projects would be delivered late, have cost overruns and in most cases; the product would also be of inferior quality. Project management involves coming up with a plan so as to ensure that all the objectives are clearly stated and everyone involved in the project knows their role.
Without such a plan, the project is bound to be delivered late and at a higher cost. Also, owing to the fact that the roles and objective are not clearly defined, the final product will be of inferior quality.
Project management involves balancing conflicting demands to ensure resources are optimally utilized to achieve the end-product. To achieve this, the Project Manager begins by clearly defining the objectives that the particular project aims to achieve and the scope of the project (Kerzner 2003).
The project manager then develops a detailed schedule that contains the various activities that need to be undertaken and the resources that shall be utilized to fulfill the same. An organizational structure that highlights the duties and responsibility of each member of the project is also developed to ensure the effective management and implementation of the necessary work. Some of the main objectives of PM include but are not limited to:
* Defining the objectives and scope of the project
* Developing a schedule of activities and resources required
* Developing an organizational structure for the project
* Ensuring the commitment and backing by the project stakeholders
It should be noted that no project can be successfully undertaken without the commitment and approval of the various stakeholders of the project, chief among them being the financiers and the senior management. The project manager will therefore set out to gain the approval of these important parties. Successful projects are characterized by having clear objective, good project plan and effective communication among the involved parties (Freimut, et al, 2001).
Project risks
All projects involve some measure of risk. Risks arise as a result of the uncertainties that are inherent in each project. One of the things which make risk management hard in all projects is that there is no standardized approach to dealing with risks (Norris, Perry & Simon 2000).
This is because no two projects are alike and as such, each project had its own unique environment and variables which leads to differing risks (Kerzner, 2003). To this effect, risk Management is normally ignored since most project managers deem it as unnecessary paperwork. This notion leads to aggressive approaches to dealing with problems that appear in the life of the project.
Risk analysis and management
Risk analysis and management involves the recognition that risks exist. It entails a thorough assessment of the project to identify what could go wrong. The concept of risk management involves conducting a detailed assessment of a particular project so as to identify significant things that could go wrong with the project. Norris, Perry and Simon (2000) assert that project risk analysis and management if properly undertaken increases the likelihood of successful completion of a project on time and within stipulated costs.
Value of risk management
By undertaking risk management, the project manager increases his/her control of the project as risk management provides a framework which enables the future activities to be undertaken in a consistent manner (The Institute of Risk Management 2004).
In addition to this, risk management stipulates that project risks be identified beforehand. This will lead to an improvement in decision making since the decisions will be based on facts. The efficiency with which the project will be undertaken will therefore be increased as project activities will occur in a consistent and controlled manner and capital and resources allocation will be efficiently performed.
As such, risk management is important to projects because it provides a framework, through which the project activities can take place, improves decision making, planning and prioritizing, contributes to the efficient allocation of project resources and optimizes operational efficiency of overall project (KMPG 2002).
Resolving risks
The fundamental goal of risk evaluation is to be able to reduce or altogether, eliminate risk (Lycett et al, 2004). Once the risks involved in the project have been identified and subsequently classified according to their frequency of occurrence and the impact that their occurrence may have on the overall project, risk resolution activities should be undertaken.
However, in most cases, the project team only has a vague idea as to the nature of the risk. As such, further research on the risk should be carried out for the project team to have an intimate understanding of the same.
Some risks are inevitable in the project and they should therefore be accepted as a part of the project. The project team should however anticipate these risks and have measures put in place for dealing with the same. Some risks are deemed as being too high and for the project to proceed favorably, measures must be taken to mitigate the same and establish contingency plans in case the risks arise. These are the steps that should be followed in risk management: Research, acceptance, reduction and elimination (Barney & Bennett, 2000).
Strategic alignment of projects
Archibald (1988) reiterates that project management has over the years been useful in ensuring the efficiency and subsequent success of projects. The author further states that project management has helped many managers formulate and implement various strategies which ultimately guarantee the success of a project.
However, Anderson and Merna (2003) argue that the failure of most projects is as a result of poor strategic planning during the implementation phase. In addition, Cicmil et al (2006) reiterate that on average, 80% of failed projects are as a result of the managers failure to map out clear procedures and priorities regarding to a given project.
According to Aalto (2000), strategic alignment of project refers to the process through which organizations select the projects to be accomplished within a particular period of time and prioritize their completion according to the available resources and their ability to remain aligned with the organizational resources.
Thiry (2002) further contends that other organizations group their projects using a managerial framework. This enables the organization to space the projects accordingly thereby minimizing and chances of rippled failure (Maylor et al, 2006).
Maylor et al (2006) define project strategy as the unique approaches a project utilize so as to achieve the set strategies of an organization. To this effect, project strategy acts as a link between the proposed project plans and the organizations strategies.
The authors further assert that the project strategy provides the rules that govern the behavior of the project team and ensures that they meet the deadlines within the given timeframe and budgetary allocation.
However, it should be noted that there is a very distinct difference between project management strategy and project strategy. Anderson and Merna (2003) assert that project strategy refers to the executive plan that aims at achieving the set objectives of a given project while project management strategy refers to the strategic approaches used to manage a given project.
In other words, project strategy refers to the directions that the senior management gives the project managers in order to meet the organizational objectives while project management strategy are the procedures, plans and policies that see the project to the end (Artto et al, 2008).
Inherent problems to project management
Measuring project progress is essential in all projects since it gives the project team and manager control. However, there must be measurement metrics and unity between the strategies formulated by the project sponsors, the organization and the project managers which make use of project deliverables to measure progress.
Morris & Jamieson (2005) state that it is the role of the project manager to give detailed specifications to the team as regarding to the methodology and techniques that are to be employed during the collection and retention of project metrics. When there are many projects being conducted for the same organization, the project team may develop some conflicts of allegiance since there is no single strategy that can effectively be used for different projects.
In addition, the business world is characterized by a high degree of dynamicity. To this effect, the organizational objectives may change in order to conform to the market and competition trends. If the projects are aligned to meet the organizational objectives, they may fail in the event of a drastic change (Hodgson & Cicmil, 2006). This may lead to losses of an unprecedented scale.
Consequently, the organization may end up loosing the trust and respect from the sponsors as well as a great market since the projects would be rendered useless.
In regards to costs, projects often require a large amount of capital. If the project management team is inefficient, they may fail to follow the policies and procedures set by the senior management. This would subsequently lead to great losses that cannot be easily recovered. In addition, if the strategies stipulated by the senior management are inefficient, this would lead to the failure of the whole organization.
Also, as Crawford (2005) explains, each project must have some unforeseen risks. This fact makes project very unpredictable. With this in mind, aligning projects with the organizations objectives may prove to be costly since failure of a project affects the overall performance of the organization.
The project manager is expected to come up with a project plan which should explicitly specify the processes to be used to measure and control the quality of the work and the resulting work products (Couchman et al 2008). To this effect, handling many projects at once may invariable lead to confusion and corrosion of set objectives thereby affecting the success of the project as well as the quality of the results yielded.
As Artto et al (2001) explain, some projects may require the attention of various departments within the organization. However, despite the fact that each department within an organization aim at achieving a common organizational goal, each has a set of departmental goals that have to be met. Bearing this in mind, cases where members from different departments may tacitly try to influence the project decisions such that they favor their departments.
Project management tools that ensure successful alignment of projects
To ensure success in projects, there are vital tools that can be used to monitor and control the progress at each stage. This is especially important because most of sizable projects are complex and very sensitive. As such, any mistake no matter how tiny may lead to the failure of the project (PMI, 2004).
Gantt charts
Gant charts are used to asses the progress of a project. The X axis is the time scale over which the project will run and task is represented as a single horizontal bar. Activities which can run concurrently can be plotted on the same Y-axis while those that are dependent on the completion of others can not begin before the others complete (Jenkins, 2006).
As such, each stage can be marked and the expected date of completion highlighted so that all members know what to do and when to do it. This ensures that the project resources are efficiently utilized which in turn avoids wastage of finances and resources.
Pert Charts
Pert charts are used to indicate project milestones and dependencies. They are also used to calculate the critical path which is the set of tasks which have to be completed in time for the project to beat the deadline (Larsen, 2005). Pert charts show the longest path from start to finish. The milestones are marked as nodes with numbers and the critical path is from activity 0-2-4-6-9-10. Any delay in any of these activities will lead to delay in entire project.
Most biotechnological projects require calculations and equations. There are various formulas that can be applied to come to an answer. Most projects fail because they lack options and if the main methodology fails, the project is therefore wasted. The pert charts provide the project team with options from which the most efficient can be applied.
Conclusion
Project management is an essential part of any substantial project and it involves planning, identification of risks and progress tracking. Risk management which involves addressing the risks attached to the project activities, is crucial to the success of a project.
In the end, it is the project manager’s obligation to assess the risks and make decisions as to the path that the project takes (The Institute of Risk Management, 2002). Due to the popularization of project management in the business realms, care should be taken by project managers to ensure that projects are successful.
Even though the concept of project alignment is still at it’s preliminary stages, business entities should make an effort towards implementing it in their operations. Not only does it offer a competitive advantage to businesses, but it also improves productivity and performance within the organization. This is mainly due to the fact that the projects are synchronized with the organizations objective. As such, the success of a project also means the success of the organization in general.
References
Aalto, T. (2000) Strategies and methods for project portfolio management . University of Technology, Helsinki.
Anderson, D and Merna, T. (2003) Project management strategy: Project management represented as a process based set of management domains and the consequences for project management strategy, International journal of project management , 21, 387-393.
Archibald, R. (1988) Projects: Vehicle for strategic growth, Project Management Journal , 19, 31-33.
Artto, Lehtonen et al. (2001) Managing projects front-end: Incorporating a strategic early view to project management with simulation, International Journal of Project Management, 19, 255-264.
Artto et al. (2008) Project strategy: Strategy types and their contents in innovation projects, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business , 1, 49-70.
Barney, B and Bennett, R. (2000) Risk Management for the NASA/JPL Genesis Mission: A Case Study. Web.
Cicmil, S and Hodgson, D. (2006) Making projects critical: An introduction , Palgrave MacMillan, New York.
Cicmil, S et al . (2006) Rethinking project management: Researching the actuality of projects, International Journal of Project Management , 24, 675-686.
Cleland, D and Ireland, L. (2006) Project management: Strategic design and implementation . McGraw-Hill, New York.
Couchman, P et al . (2008) Lost in Translation? Building science and innovation city strategies in Australia and the UK. Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, vol. 10, 221-219.
Crawford, L. (2005) Senior management perceptions of project management competence. International Journal of Project Management , vol. 23, 7-16.
Freimut, B et al. (2001) An Industrial case study of implementing software risk management . Web.
Grant, R. (2005) Contemporary strategy analysis. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.
Hauc, A and Kovac, J. (2000) Project management in strategy implementation–experiences in Slovenia. International Journal of Project Management , 18, 61-67.
Hodgson, D and Cicmil, S. (2006) Are projects real? The PMBOK and the legitimation of project management knowledge . Palgrave MacMillan, New York.
Jenkins, N. (2006) A Project Management Primer . Web.
Kerzner, H. (2003) project management: A system approach to planning, scheduling and controlling . John Wiley & Sons Inc, New Jersey.
KMPG. (2002) Program management survey . KPMG, UK.
Larsen, D. (2005) Project Management Process. Web.
Lycett, M et al . (2004) Program management: A critical review. International Journal of Project Management , 22, 289-299.
Maylor, H. (2001) Beyond the Gantt chart: Project management moving on. European management Journal , 19, 92-100.
Morris, P and Jamieson, A. (2005) Moving from corporate strategy to project strategy. Project Management Journal , 36, 5-18.
Norris et al . (2000) Project Risk Analysis and Management . The Association for Project Management, Buckinghamshire.
PMI. (2004) A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK guide. Project Management Institute Inc, Pennyslvania.
The Institute of Risk Management. (2002) A Risk Management Standard . AIRMIC, London.
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Promoting Behavior Change among Teenagers Application Essay
Introduction
Substance abuse among teenagers is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon in the community. Substance abuse involves the use of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. Research on the use of drugs among teenagers indicates that majority begin using the drugs as early as the age of 9 years (Fisher and Harrison 43). The use of drugs among teenagers is responsible for the poor academic performance among those who use them.
Besides, substance abuse has led to an increase in diseases such as lung cancer among teenagers (Fisher and Harrison 56). The efforts made by the government and the parents to address this problem have yielded little results. It is against this backdrop that I intend to organize a social event that aims at sensitizing teenagers on the effects of substance abuse.
The Event
The Participants
The event will be held on 25 th of January 2011 at the community’s social hall. The preparations will begin a day earlier. The preparations will involve advertising the event through posters and decorating the venue (Kilkenny 78).
The event will start at 9: 30 am and end at 5:30 pm. The speakers will include parents, teenagers and community health officers. The speakers will be asked to volunteer and offer their advice for free. All participants will be asked to carry packed foodstuffs and drinks.
However, the guest speakers will be given free food and drinks. Apart from the education, there will be entertainment activities such as singing competitions. The entertainers will be the participating teenagers who have a talent in singing and can volunteer to perform within a short notice.
The Agenda of the Event
The theme of the event will be “promoting behavior change through social networks”. The event aims at persuading teenagers to stop substance abuse in the neighborhood. The first step will involve sensitizing the teenagers on the negative effects of substance abuse. This will be followed by an explanation on how to cope with the problem of substance abuse.
This aims at helping those who are already involved in substance abuse to manage their conditions. Finally, the teenagers will be educated on how to avoid the use of drugs. The education will focus on how teenagers can use social networks such as twitter and facebook to share information on the dangers of substance abuse and how to avoid or cope with it.
Objectives
The event aims at achieving three main objectives. First, it aims at creating awareness among venerable teenagers on the dangers of substance abuse. Second, it seeks to equip the teenagers with the knowledge and skills that they can use to avoid substance abuse. The skills will also help them to cope with the problem.
Finally, the event aims at promoting responsibility among teenagers through sharing information with the help of social networks and peer education. The main goal is to reduce cases of substance abuse among teenagers.
Time Table
Item Time allocation
Speeches 9:30 am -12:00 pm
Lunch 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Group discussions 1:00 pm- 3:00 pm
Entertainment 3:00 pm- 5:30 pm
Budget
Item Cost ($) Remarks
Printing posters 150 Fixed
Decorating the venue 250 Can be increased if necessary
Guest speakers’ food 250 Can be increased if necessary
Cost of the venue 300 Fixed
Miscellaneous 50 Fixed
Total 1000
Works Cited
Fisher, Gary and Thomas Harrison. Substance abuse: information for school counselors. New York: Pearson, 2008. Print.
Kilkenny, Shannon. The complete guide to successful event planning. New York: Atlantic Publishing Company, 2006. Print.
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Healthcare Service Provision: Business Start Up Proposal
The business plan provides a basis for starting a sustainable business in healthcare service provision industry to both male and female customers typically aimed at the low and middle level income bracket.
The business owner is a dedicated entrepreneur, who has identified a business opportunity in body fitness service provisions and has strategized to exploit the opportunity by offering the services at competitively low costs tailored to meet customer needs and satisfaction.
The core competencies that characterize the entrepreneur is experience and thorough training in providing services in the fitness industry for several years and the self motivating drive to offer the fitness services in healthcare services. The business will be branded as Fitness For All (FFA) (Cooper, 1993).
Findings
A number of research findings led to an informed decision to start the business. Key findings indicate that an exponential demand for healthcare services is on the rise. FFA is a precise timing. Typically, other findings indicate that within the proposed Witherands locality, there is only one business that offers fitness services without competitors. Their services are expensive and rarely are the lower and middle income cadres enjoy these services reinforcing the reality of an already available opportunity to exploit (Liao & Witsil, 2008).
Statistical findings indicate a rise in obesity facilitating the demand for health fitness services. The business is projected to grow with the use of marketing strategies and tools such as advertising and the internet to facilitate access to the market (Guidebook for facilitating small business team arrangements. n.d).
Location
The FFA business is projected to be located north of the Danby district, some several meters from the local medical community health facility. It is conveniently accessible from all points of the city and typically an appropriate location.
Population Statistics
The statistical findings about the demographic distribution of the population indicate 57.5 % of the population is female while 42.3 % of the population is male. Further demographic data of the female population shows that 10 % are aged 70 years and above, 28% are aged above 50 years and 70 years, 35 years and 50 years are 32 % while below 35 years and 20 years are 20% while those below 20 years are 20 % of the female population. On the other hand, the male population is 23% below 20 yrs, 27 % between 35 years and 45 years and the rest above 45 years are 53 % (Sample business plan fitness plus. n.d).
The Population
Analytically, the population has a significant number of obese people and the income levels are not evenly distributed. 45% lie in the lower income bracket while 40% of the population lies in the middle income level and the remaining % are in the upper income bracket forming a minority of the population. That will doubtlessly influence the pricing matrix for market entry targeting the middle and lower income groups.
Conclusion
The fitness for all business enterprise will be a sustainably viable business pursuit coming at the correct opportune time demographically fit for the population.
Recommendations
It will be important to conduct further analysis of the pricing matrix, entry market entry and penetration level, and the legal environment.
References
Cooper, R. G. (1993). Winning at New Products, 2 nd ed. Addison-Wesley.
Guidebook for facilitating small business team arrangements. n.d. Department of defense office of small business programs. Web.
Liao, P., Witsil, A. (2008). A Practical Guide to Opportunity Assessment Methods . Web.
Sample business plan fitness plus. n.d. Web.
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Fighting Domestic Violence in Pocatello, Idaho Proposal
Table of Contents
1. Solution
2. Benefits
3. Cost Analysis
4. Conclusion
5. Works Cited
Domestic violence is a problem that is prevalent in the American society and latest statistics show that it is running out of control. Therefore effort must be made to stem the spread of this vice which has now been declared a criminal offence.
While statistics explain the extent to which this social vice has been ingrained in the society, the social vice is having a number of effects. It problem has been declared as a criminal offence as well as a social and health issue. It affects men, women as well as children in equal measure.
Women and children however are the largest number of victims of domestic violence in America (Hayward, Steiner and Sproule para 1). The offence includes the physical attacks, psychological torture, economic manipulation as well as sexual abuse and harassment. These abuses have both short term and long term effects and leaves the victim in a poor emotional, social and even economic state (para 2).
Furthermore those victims abused by an intimate partner tend to have more emotional, mental and physical consequences than those who that are victims of attacks from strangers. There have been attempts to record statistic on the occurrence of this crime by state. In Idaho alone, it has been reported that about 6177 domestic violence incidences occurred in the year 2009. This is a worrying statistics and shows that at least 17 cases happen every 24 hours (Laird para 1).
As such, the family, which is the basic unit that forms the society, is bearing the brunt of this social vice. Therefore there is need to intensify the fight against domestic violence. Several programs have been put in place to stop the vice. This includes jail terms for offenders, legal fines, restrictions and incarceration. Other programs include behavioral and attitudinal modification for the offenders (Hayward Steiner and Sproule para 4).
However this seems not to be enough. More partners such as corporate organization need to be engaged in activities that involve the sensitization of the society at the family level. Therefore Walmart has organized a sensitization program in Pocatello, Idaho.
Solution
Having realized the need to involve the family unit in dealing with this vice, Walmart has organized a sensitization program that will involve the education of whole family to increase awareness on the issue.
Walmart will team up with like minded companies and corporate organizations, in the organization of the event that has been dabbed “ Walmart Stands Up Against Domestic Violence.” The purpose of the vent will be to involve the family in several ways.
During the event all family members including children will be encouraged to engage in positive dialogue at home as a way of enhancing peace and constructive domestic conflict resolution (Daya para 3). This will help avert situations that would degenerate into domestic violence. The family unit will also be educated about the gross effects of the vice and the possible counter effects.
Each family member will also be sensitized on the roles they should play as individual’s at home and even in the society to avert the crisis. Most importantly attendants will be given useful information on groups that they can turn to for help should they fall victims to domestic violence.
The event organizers will also have session’s where people are informed of the legal options available in the state of Idaho that deals with domestic violence. Lastly, attendants will be educated on how to identify traits and signs in their partners and take cover before they fall victims.
There are several business communities that will be involved in the event. They are Family Service Alliance, Ridleys Family Markets and Rose Park Aquatic Complex. Each of these will have specific roles they will play in making the event a success. Family Services Alliance will provide information and education services for attendants.
While Rose Park Aquatic Complex will organize parallel recreational and entertainment activities such as swimming and face painting for children, the parents can use that opportunity to visits family services alliances stands and get useful information about domestic violence (Daya para 2).
Educators will provide and use such educational, materials such as brochures and posters. These two materials contains condensed information, while booklets, information guides and reports are a bit detailed and will be used for further learning and reference (OPDV para 1).
The organization will also organize open forums for adults with the intention of getting the public opinion on the vice and possible methods to eliminate it. Rose Park Aquatic Complex will play the host and has volunteered to provide the following services during the three day event. They will provide catering for volunteers, and participating teams free of charge but will also set up a temporary café for family snacks.
The host will also provide recreational facilities such as swimming competition for children, face painting as well bouncing castles. There will also be adult fun events such as tag of war. Ridley Family Markets will provide support staff that will be very handy in coordinating the event. It will also provide refreshments and snacks offer to transport volunteers to and from the venue.
Benefits
The benefits of this event cannot be quantified as there would be no proper mechanism for that. However, there will be certain achievement that can be identified at the end of the event. Most importantly, the event, being held for three days, will increase awareness of the problem in the Pocatello, Idaho community (Lehmann para 3).
This is because part of the training will involve statistics of the nature and trend that the vice assumes. The participants will also be encouraged to share the information during the event with any person who they know is a victim of domestic violence. This information will include contact for support groups for such victims.
The event organizer will also importantly gather public opinion and knowledge on the vice, which will be use in further developing educational materials for future events. The event has also established mechanism for any participant who wants to share information in confidence.
Such will include participants who want to share persona experiences or reveal names of possible victim they are aware of. Should such people be identified follow up will follow with the aim of linking them with relevant support groups. Most importantly the event organizers have organized dramatized scenarios that highlight the importance of dialogue in resolving family conflict.
In addition to these benefits, the participating business organizations will benefit greatly from such social events. They will have an opportunity to team up together and show concern for the community. Such community involvement will enhance the businesses’ publicity that will improve the companies’ public image and popularity.
Moreover the vent will be used by Walmart to prove that it embraces fair competition from small business such as Ridleys. Walmart will also use the event to market its promotion that is offering discounted family packs such as breakfast, sanitary, laundry as well as soft drinks for the local Pocatello community in its local outlet.
Cost Analysis
The following is the break down of the costs for the three day event:
* US$ 5000 for renting Rose Park Aquatic Complex recreational facilities like swimming pools, bouncing castles and swings
* US$ 2000 for refreshments for volunteers
* US$ 4000 For advertising and printing educational materials
* US$ 1000 for paramedics, security and firefighting services
* US$ 500 for hiring portable restrooms
The grand total budget for the vent is US$ 12500
Conclusion
Domestic violence is real and happens to common people every day. It is a vice that should not be tolerated because it is the violation of human rights the supreme constitution seeks to uphold.
Statistics prove that more people than imagined are victims of such heinous acts. As such there is need to involve the family by the way of helping it acknolwged that the problem persist and that it’s the family that stands to loose. Sensitizing the family will involve the corporate world.
Companies will thus get this opportunity to show that they care for the family unit and by being involved business organization will prove that they are concerned about the social welfare and development of the family.
Walmart will as use this event to show that it cares for the family by running a parallel promotion that offers family goods at a discount to the local community. This will boost the organizations public image.
Works Cited
DAYA. “Daya’s “One Voice” Initiative During Domestic Violence Awareness Month.” Indo American News . 2010. Web.
Hayward, Karen., Steiner, Susan and Sproule, Kathy. “ Women’s Perceptions of the Impact of a Domestic Violence Treatment Program for Male Perpetrators .” Med Scape Today. 2007. Web.
Laird, Darien. “Pocatello Aims To Halt Domestic Violence: Family Services Alliance Kicks Off Awareness Month Activities” . Local News . 2010. Web.
Lehmann, Christine . Campaign Vows to Raise Awareness of Domestic Violence. Psychiatric News . 2001. Web.
OPDV. “Publications & Public Education Materials.” 2010. Web.
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Pros and Cons of Abortion to the Society Argumentative Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Pros of abortion
3. Cons of abortion
4. Relationship between abortion and the course on religion
5. Conclusion
6. Works Cited
Introduction
If you’re studying the pros and cons of abortion, the essay below will be a great place to start your research.
For a very long time now, the right to abortion has been one of the most controversial topics on the planet, pitying two major sides. On one side, pro-lifers insist that it is immoral and amounts to murdering an innocent child, while pro-abortionists argue that it is just a form of birth control. The latter claim that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it as all children should be born when they are wanted.
The numerous legislations, policies by governments and even hard-line stands by some organizations like the church have made this subject more controversial instead of offering solutions. At one point, one may argue that there would never be a consensus on abortion’s pros and cons in any essay or discussion.
This debate is likely to go on for several years unless the sturdy stands taken by both pro-lifers and pro-abortionists are softened. People have to find ways of accommodating the views of each other regarding the subject. The author will evaluate the issues surrounding the abortion debate. Analyzing the pros and examining the cons of abortion, the essay will seek to find solutions to the conflicting ideas.
Pros of abortion
There are several arguments that one forward in support of abortion. First of all, any birth of a child should occur when the parents want and not by chance (Potts et al. 229). This way it would go a long way in assisting the world to have an environment where all children that are born in this world have an environment conducive for proper development.
There is no need for inflating the world with many children who cannot have access to basic needs like adequate clothing, food, shelter, and education. It should also be noted that when a person decides to carry out an abortion it is not out of her dislike for children but because she feels that it would not be a wise decision to proceed with the pregnancy as it is still not yet the right time to have a baby (Potts et al. 229).
In the case of rape or incest, keeping a pregnancy is very traumatizing to the person raped as no one would wish to keep a child that is a result of this, and the best solution to this problem would be to abort the unborn child.
For the case of rape, the emotional effects of the occurrence are too traumatizing and take time to heal, and some rape victims do not recover at all. Adding a child to the rape victim is like adding more salt to a wound and would be a constant reminder that is likely to add more emotional trauma to the victim (Khoster 35).
Many studies on the morality or immoralities of abortion have found that some of those against the morality of abortion tend to agree that it is acceptable to abort a pregnancy that is a result of rape.
For instance, the gulp poll carried out in Canada found only 13% of the respondents were against the practice completely while interestingly a whopping 65% were of the view that it is acceptable to abort an unwanted pregnancy in certain conditions like if it is a result of rape (Flanagan 130)
There has also been an unending debate on the exact time that a fetus acquires life and becomes a person with rights and ability to have feelings (Sather 159). Sather further argues that before the 24 th – 28 th week, the fetus has not yet acquired human features and it does not amount to murder if you perform an abortion before this time.
Pro-lifers led by the Catholic Church insist that life begins at conception and anyone who is found guilty of having performed an abortion could be excommunicated from the church because of committing murder (Kohmescher 137). That is not all several studies when life stars in the case of an unborn child have resulted in conflicting dates.
The impending standoff as to, when a person can and cannot have an abortion, have left it possible for anyone to conduct an abortion. It is not clear as to when life begins, and as so long as a woman feels that she cannot have a baby, she has the freedom to do it since it is not yet clear when the life of a person begins.
Sometimes complications can occur to a pregnancy that may put the life of the mother or unborn child in danger and even at times all of them. In this case, abortion ought to be permitted to save the physical health of the mother although some of those advocating for abortion have often argued that the mental health of the mother ought to be included when talking about health (white & Baldwin 113).
At this point, the life of the mother is given first consideration as the fetus cannot survive without the mother, and in any case, the chances are that the mother can always get other children if she wants, but there is no way a fetus can survive on its leave alone getting other parents which is impossible.
Cons of abortion
Several disadvantages of abortion are argued out by pro-lifers. Most of the books on the subject are mostly in support of the drawbacks of abortion as compared to the advantages. According to Koster abortion is only a temporary and irrational decision that make women feel that they have gotten some relief to an unwanted child against chances of permanent loss of infertility (Koster 304).
She further argues that although removing an unwanted pregnancy may somehow offer relief to the woman the possibility of becoming infertile especially if an unqualified person performed the operation is very significant and once you lose your fertility there is zero chance that you will regain it.
Even when performed by a qualified medical doctor there is a chance that complications may arise like in some medical procedures and if this happens, you could definitely lose your fertility. In fact, interviews conducted on women who had complications when performing an abortion revealed that a majority of them had lost the ability to conceive or hard a miscarriage (Koster 304)
The relief that one feels after procuring an abortion is usually short-lived, and it dies after some time leading to a permanent feeling of guilt and sadness. In fact, in most of the times, this feeling of relief is just a deliberate attempt by the psychology of a person to delete the sense of guilt and shame that creeps in immediately one procures an abortion (Holman 321).
Holman further adds that although most of the legislation and policies concerning abortion allow the practice in the case of schoolgirls the idea that you once killed part of you is not likely to go away and will haunt you forever.
A lot of pro-lifers would equate abortion to murder, and it is therefore morally wrong and should be outlawed. Genovesi defines murder as an intentional act of taking away the life of a human being (Genovesi 340). Fro this he further adds that since the fetus of a person has life, then taking it away will amount to killing it, which is the same as murder.
Of course from this reason arguments are bound to arise as to when the life of a person actually begins. To all Christians led by the Catholic Church, it is completely unacceptable to allow a person to take away another person’s life for whichever reason and at whatever stage in life as it is still murder.
The late Pope John Paul is on record as having condemned the practice and even stating that it would threaten the freedom and dignity of humankind as it promotes a culture of accepting death as a normal thing (Zastrow & Kirst 82)
Procuring an abortion is not the only solution in the event of unwanted pregnancy as the child could also be put to adoption. It is estimated that in all married couples in the United States alone, between 10% -15% of them do not have the ability to have children (Grunlan 217).
This figure is so high that more and more Americans are turning to other countries overseas in order to get children of their own and as Grunlan further adds; this figure has been increasing in the recent years as more mothers turn to abortion as a way of controlling birth.
Furthermore, as Zastrow & Kirst add, in this age where there are so many available contraceptive methods; there should be very minimal unwanted pregnancies that warrant the need to abort a baby who has already been conceived (Zastrow & Kirst 82).
Relationship between abortion and the course on religion
The main concern in the abortion controversy is whether it is morally and ethically right or wrong. Ethics and morality are significantly discussed in unit one of the course.
In unit one, the main issue discussed is how to know what is right and what is wrong. As argued by Aristotle in part of the course, to become ethical he should first reason well and have good character, and total happiness can only be achieved if people are noble.
The abortion debate centers on ethics in that while those who are for abortion argue that it offers a solution to lots of problems that could be brought about by having unwanted children, those against it argue that this relief is only temporary.
Unit three of the course is mainly on how to live a good life as Christians. In this essential part, the unit deals on acceptable Christian virtues and values. One such virtue is having unconditional love towards others. On abortion, it is argued that when one performs an abortion automatically, she does not have love for that child regardless of the conditions.
Moreover, all Christians should preserve human life and have respect for Gods creations, and failure to do so is a sin. People are also supposed to think critically of their actions and be held accountable to these actions, and, as discussed in the unit, they should avoid searching for quick-fix solutions to problems facing them.
The Catholic Church has been the most vocal in speaking against abortion for a long time, and as it stands, there is no chance that this sturdy stand will be reverted. In the book Catholic morality and human sexuality, the author argues that immediately after fertilization, the resulting zygote has human features and should be respected as a human being. Removing it from the uterus amounts to murder (Genovesi 344).
Furthermore, if you reject human life at any point, it is like rejecting God as humans are created in the image of God (Ferrara & Ireland 20). Accepting abortion has been argued by the church as accepting a culture of death and living without Jesus Christ as it amounts t killing an innocent creature of God who has not yet performed any sin.
Even in cases of rape or incest, the church does not permit abortion (Kohmescher 138). In this case, a woman may seek treatment immediately after the incident but not abortion weeks after the incident, and even if the pregnancy is a threat to human life, there should be an attempt to save both lives human lives are sacred and equal before God an none is unique to the other.
Conclusion
As it stands today, it seems the debate on abortion will not come to an end soon. The stands taken by both the pro-abortionists and anti-abortionists are so rigid, and there have not been any attempts to build a consensus.
For instance, the church will certainly not relent on its claim that abortion is murder and therefore a capital sin while pro-abortionists argue that having a child should be a choice. The conflicting policies by different governments regarding the issue have added more controversy to this subject instead of offering guidelines.
There should be efforts to provide a clear policy on this issue that would be acceptable in the whole world through an international body like the United Nations. Apart from that the church and other organizations that are anti-abortion ought to soften their stand in some incidences like rape which are too traumatizing.
Works Cited
Ferrara, Jennifer & Ireland, Patricia. The catholic mystique: fourteen women find fulfillment in the Catholic Church. Huntington: Sunday visitor publishing, 2004. Print
Flanagan, Thomas . Game theory and Canadian politics . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Print
Genovesi, Vincent. In pursuit of love: Catholic morality and human sexuality . Minnesota: Hutts Publishing, 2002. Print
Grunlan, Stephen . Marriage and the family . Michigan: Zondervan. 1983. Print
Holman, Thomas . The family in the new millennium . Westport: Praeger Publishers. 2007. Print liturgical press, 1996. Print
Khoster, Winnie. Women and abortion in the Yoruba society, Nigeria . Amsterdam: Aksant academic publishers, 2003. Print
Kohmescher, Matthew. Catholicism today: a survey of Catholic belief and practice the third edition. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1999. Print
Potts, Malcolm, Diggory Peter & Peel John . Abortion . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Print
Sather, Trevor . Pros and cons: a debaters handbook 18 th edition . London: Routledge, 1999. Print
White, Stuart & Baldwin, Timothy . Legal and ethical aspects of anesthesia, critical care, and preoperative medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2004. Print
Zastrow, Charles & Kirst, Karen. Understanding human behavior and the social environment: 8 th edition. Belmont: Brookscole, 2007. Print
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Protagonists in Literature Compare & Contrast Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
3. The Stolen Party by Liliana Hecker
4. Works Cited
Introduction
In many stories the protagonists see themselves differently from the way other people in the story see them. To elaborate this statement we will focus on two stories; the story of an hour by Kate Chopin and the stolen party by Liliana Hecker. In both of these stories the aspect of the protagonist seeing themselves in a different way as opposed to others in the story has been clearly brought out.
The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
The story of an hour was written by Kate Chopin in 1894. The protagonist in this story is a woman called Mrs. Louise Mallard who has a heart problem. On learning the news about her husband`s death, her sister Josephine and her husband`s friend Richard are having a hard time in coming up with a way which they will break down the sad news to Mrs. Mallard. This is because she has got a heart problem hence if the message is not communicated in the best way possible severe consequences might follow.
Both her sister and her husband`s friend are worried on the best means to pass this message to her because of her health condition. This is because it is not easy for anyone to hear and accept the news of the death of someone they loved, especially a spouse one has spent many years living together.
That is why her sister, while breaking the news down to her, used broken sentences and veiled hints that revealed the theme of the message but not its real content. We are told that, “It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing” (Berkove 153). Richard also had to be sure that the message about the death of his friend was true before telling it to the wife.
That is why after receiving the news of his death, he had to assure himself by another telegram. Josephine and Richard at this point see Mrs. Ballard as weak both physically and emotionally thus taking this news is going to be very difficult for her.
On receiving the news, Mrs. Ballard broke down into tears immediately and went to her room to have some time alone. While in the room she discovered that she was not really sad, but instead it is like she became free from her misery and will be able to live the rest of her life for herself and herself alone. In the story we are told that, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her……….
She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free!” (Berkove 154). Instead of being sad she felt relieved and free unlike what Josephine and her sister thought. This is because she is the only one who knew the suffering she was undergoing in that marriage and that she did not always love her husband.
The Stolen Party by Liliana Hecker
This story is about a young girl called Rosaura who had been invited by to a friend’s birthday party. Although Rosaura thought that Luciana was her friend, Rosaria’s mother thought otherwise. This is because she was their maid and her daughter will not be viewed any different.
However, Rosaura had been spending a lot of time with Luciana, playing together and even helping each other with their homework. She had never felt any negative attitude from her friend or her family and this made her to believe that she was a friend and not the maid’s daughter and that is why she did not want to moss the party.
Her mother on the other hand thought her daughter was putting herself in a class she did not belong to; the class of the rich. That is why she told her, “The problem with you, young lady, is that you like to fart higher than your ass” (Gwendolyn 2007). Not trying to kill her hopes, she prepared for her a cute dress to wear in the party and even made her hair to look beautiful.
While at the party, Rosaura felt part and parcel of the occasion because she was interacting well with all the other kids except from the girl with a bow on her hair. This girl clearly stated that she knew all of Luciana friends but did not know Rosaura nor even heard of her. From her talk Rosaura remembered her mother’s words and admitted angrily that she was the daughter of an employee who somehow brought down her self esteem.
However her self esteem was rejuvenated when Sefiora Ines asked Rosaura to assist her in serving the food and hotdogs. She even had the privilege of serving the cake which made her feel so powerful. While playing charades all the boys wanted her to be on their teams. All this made this party to be the best one in her life.
While leaving the party every kid was being given a present; a bracelet for a girl and a yoyo for a boy. However, Sefiora Ines did not give Rosaura a bracelet or a yoyo but gave her money and told her, “Thank you for all your help, my pet” (Gwendolyn 2007). This made Rosaura to finally realize that she was just the daughter of the maid and nothing more. All her thoughts were just a huge illusion.
Works Cited
Berkove, Lawrence . Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour.
American Literary Realism 32.2 (2000): 152-158.
Gwendolyn, Diaz. Women and Power in Argentine Literature. Stories, Interviews, and Critical Essays . Texas. University of Texas Press (2007).
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Protest songs in the 1960s Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Protest Songs
2. Artists/Musicians involved and their messages
3. Conclusion
4. Works Cited
As one author quoted, “Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself” (Henry Ward Beecher). He couldn’t have been more right. Protest songs are considered to have span over the centuries, continents and race.
They are songs that majorly address issues that range from social injustices like racism and slavery to political matters like wars. They either inspire crowds for mass actions or simply just create awareness of the problem. Protest songs are, however, known to be associated with peaceful social movements.
In the 1960’s, the prevalent issues then were the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. This article explores the many artists/musicians who were actively involved during this time and the protest songs that they sung that meticulously addressed the then current issues.
Protest Songs
Protest songs stem from the folk music (Protest Song 1) that was present in the early 19 th century. The folk music of that period addressed matters of social injustices and folk music eventually transitioned to protest songs in the1960s as a result of the dissatisfaction of the public and their current political and social environment especially after the end of World War 2 (Hurry et al. 162).
Folk songs were generally characterized by their simplicity and repetitive choruses (Hurry et al. 162). These songs were also appropriate alternatives to the other genres especially jazz (Gonipraw 4).
Protest songs however transitioned from the “acoustic-oriented folk styling to rock-based rhythms” (Protest Music 1) although this entirely depended on the musician. Gonipraw attributes this transition to “artistic decisions, record company involvement and a growing disillusionment among young people” (Gonipraw 5).
The then artists/musicians were known to contribute greatly to protests that sought to address the civil rights concerns and the Vietnam War (Gonipraw 4). Gonipraw has argued that: “when the needs and goals of the people were sung together by the people, a force was created, capable of defeating alienation” (Gonipraw 4). Peter Seeger who was a known musician in the 1960s summarized it rightly.
Artists/Musicians involved and their messages
Some of the popular artists and groups of this time were: “Woody Guthrie, Peter Seeger, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joe Hill, The Weavers, Leedbelly, Joan Baez, Neil Young, The Doors, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane among others” (Cogan et al. 126). Peter, Paul and Mary were also another famous trio during this time (Protest Music 1).
Woody Guthrie and Peter Seeger were very vigorous in their approach since they traversed their country and actively became involved with the political events of that time (Gonipraw 3).
For the Vietnam War, songs that were composed had messages that basically advocated the end of the war or showed its ineffectiveness. “Where have all the flowers gone?” (Perone 20) is one such a song written by Peter Seeger, and it even had the privilege to be sung in Vietnam by the soldiers.
The song’s story is about “young girls picking flowers that eventually end on the graves of their dead soldier husbands” (Ruehl 1). Another song by Peter Seeger “Last train to Nuremberg” (Perone 61) is seen to directly point accusing fingers to the President Nixon and others as to blame for the blood shed in Vietnam.
Barry McGuire is also one such artist whose song “Eve of Destruction” in 1965 had a stern message against the war in Vietnam (Protest Music 1). Bob Dylan is also a famous artist whose music mostly addressed “world problems” (Cogan et al. 128). His lyrics unlike other musicians were not as direct but were “deliberately trying to obscure the meaning of his politics in a political context” (Cogan et al. 129).
He is considered to have been the best of them all since “he redefined what protest music said and what it sounded like” and he is also know to have mentored many others (Gonipraw 7). Some of his songs that were really popular include “Blowin in the wind” and “Master of War”.
During the Civil Rights Movement, the African Americans really made use of song as a way to “send hope, calm sorrows and heal” themselves even as they struggled to find freedom (Freeman 2).
The songs they sang had been used in the slave era and were changed to work for them during their other struggles: for instance “Oh Freedom” sang by Joan Baez was initially “written about freedom in heaven…” (Freeman 2) but it was adapted to describe “the harsh realities of segregation that included shootings, burning and bombing of churches” (Freeman 2).
The protests were to fight for equality with other Americans and they were sang “almost nightly in the churches from the South” (Freeman 5). The fact that these musicians even stood by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. is very remarkable, since it signifies that it was not just about African American civil rights struggle but it was more of a joint effort from leaders and musicians alike.
In about 1968, the vitality of protests song was on the decline and this could be attributed to many things: President Nixon’s administration may have had a hand in it (Protest Music 1). Nevertheless, John Lennon’s song “Give Peace a Chance” in 1969 seems to have brought a good closure of the protest songs to more of peaceful songs (Ruehl 1).
Its message was just simply summarized in its title and its popularity did not stop then but continued throughout time especially where there was any “peace movement involved”. Not only did the songs lose their power, but time also saw some very influential musician like Phil Ochs who started out very well, lose ground as a musician (Gonipraw 6).
The question however is, did the songs achieve the purpose for which they were composed? They did. Simply because protest songs were a part and parcel of the movements in 1960 and the two went in hand in hand (Gonipraw 6). The popularity was more on the musicians as compared to politicians since they had much more impact than the latter (Gonipraw 6).
Conclusion
Songs and music definitely have a very great impact be it in mobilizing masses or passing a message across from time immemorial. The protest songs in their time are known to have had a great influence on the leaders, the Vietnamese soldiers and even unifying many from all races during the Civil Rights movement.
Their popularity in the 1960s fully served their purpose and some of the songs are even sung to date and they even persisted through the 1970s. Though not as popular, there are songs which are sung presently that could fall in the category of protest songs.
Works Cited
Cogan et al. Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media and Popular Culture. Santa Barbra CA, 2009. Print.
Freeman, Tracy. Spiritual and Freedom Songs . Coded Communication, n.d. Web.
Goniprow, Dan. Where have all the Protest Songs Gone? Senior Honors Projects, 2007. Web.
Hurry et al. Heinemann Advanced Music . London, UK: Heinemann, 2001. Print.
Perone John. Songs of Vietnam Conflict. New York, NY: Greenwood, 2011. Print.
Protest Music . American Renaissance . Music, n.d. Web.
Protest Song. Music . Neo Himanism, 2004. Web.
Ruehl, Kim. Best Classic Anti-War Songs . Folk Music, 2011. Web.
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Protests and Music of the Vietnam War Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Music and Vietnam War
3. Effects of the music
4. Protests against the Vietnam War
5. Effects of the protests
6. Relationship between music and protests
7. Conclusion
8. Works Cited
Introduction
The Vietnam War was perhaps the worst war the U.S. ever took part in. The government suffered massive losses, and the war substantially tainted its image. As the war progressed, the government faced great set-backs because public were totally against the war.
The government had lied to the public about the intentions of the war but as the 60’s decade came to an end, war veterans brought the truth home. This was amid an announcement by President Nixon that the war had escalated to Cambodia.
As the public absorbed the announcement, and the truth behind the war, they were angered by the fact that many American lives had been lost in the war, and the fact that the government was still directing young-adult males to go to Vietnam. Mass protests, that had begun earlier, increased with students forming the frontline of the protesters.
Anti-protest police killed and injured a number of the protesters leading to even more protests, and irresponsibility during the protests as protesters quelled their anger. These protests continued until the government made a decision to withdraw troops from the war.
Music and Vietnam War
The Vietnam War led to an era of music that can be associated entirely with the events of the war. Music was part of the war as soldiers used in many occasions during the war. This can even be evidenced by the number of movies produced after the Vietnam War because the movies were characterized by battle scenes that have music playing in the background. An example is the movie Forrest Gump .
The troops in the Vietnam War had their own music tastes. A good example of a track that was popular among American troops is the song We Gotta Get Out of this Place .
The song Happy Birthday Abey Baby also became popular during this time because of its message, which reflects the racial aspects of the Vietnam War. Another popular song was the track, “We Will All Go Down Together” (Miller 1), which is done by Billy Joel.
During the war itself, soldiers had tapes which they were fond of listening to even as they engaged in gun battles. There were a lot of references to music by the troops as the war progressed. For instance, before soldiers fired their guns, they would sometimes say that they were “ready to rock n’ roll” (Fish 1). Additionally, as bullets or missiles were fired from a helicopter, the phrase, “Puff the Magic Dragon”, was commonly used.
Even more surprising is the fact that in certain areas, music would be playing from loud speakers as the combat progressed. An example of a song that was commonly played during combat is the song “Night in White Satin” done by Moody Blues.
People who had the privilege to have been alive during the Vietnam War agree that music had a special role to play during the war period. In fact most of these people, who are grannies now, recommend several songs to anyone wishing to know what went on during the Vietnam War.
They recommend that one listens to the message being passed by the artists of the time, and the deep meaning of the songs. The message in the music was that of a people desperate for peace in a war-torn world.
Some of the tracks showed how the government had misrepresented its intentions in the Vietnam War, and how the public was angry towards the government’s decision to be involved in the Vietnam War (Tuso 9).
It is for this reason that the 1960 decade went down in the books of performance-music history as the decade that had a record number of concerts, and number of people in concerts, in comparison with what was experienced before the decade.
Effects of the music
The discussed anti-war music had great socio-economic and political implications for the American government, specifically in relation to decisions about the war in Vietnam.
The anti-war music took the American youth of the 1960’s; especially college students to a high level as far as political matters are concerned. The anti-war musicians gave clear messages to the youth of the time; that the country had gone to political dogs, and it was time the public took control of their own destiny.
With time it was apparent that the young generation was very alert on political matters, and that the youth was not going to watch as the government misrepresented facts about the situation in Vietnam. Moreover, some combat veterans were already returning from the war and unearthing the government secrets about the intention of the war in the first place.
The social climate that was created by the presence of people who knew the truth about the war, and the presence of musicians whose lyrics and music were a reflection of the collective conscience of the public, saw the end of an unjust and barbaric war, which the government had been sweeping under the carpet with the tag “police action” (Schifferes 1).
Protests against the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was characterized by so many protests that it can be confidently argued that the protests marked the greatest anti-war movement in the history of the United States. The protests were sparked early in the 1960’s, during which they were based in colleges and large cities. With time, however, troops in Vietnam grew to more than half a million Americans.
This was after 1964. After the increased presence of American troops in Vietnam, the public grew more restless, and protests became more serious and frequent (Sayre 1). By the close of the decade, hundreds of thousands of American citizens were protesting at various locations all over the nation.
The year 1970 saw the peak of the protests as the public was angered by several attempts by the police to quell the protests. This was after four students who had been involved in a peaceful demonstration at the Ohio’s Kent State University were shot dead and other nine students injured by gunshots.
These atrocities were carried out by the National Guard Troops in an attempt by the government to contain the situation created by the mass protests against the war in Vietnam.
This increased the protests, with some protests being accompanied by violence, bombings, vandalisms and arson. The students were expressing their anger towards the shedding of blood in the Kent State protest by government agents, as well as expressing their displeasure of the government’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
By the end of the year 1974, American troops had been withdrawn from Vietnam, and the protests had also subsided (Miller 1). The puppet regime that was in Vietnam before the war had also collapsed, and thus the Vietnamese were no longer under foreign colonization.
President Nixon had made an announcement during the last day of April in 1970 that the war had extended to the neighboring Cambodia. This was, perhaps the motivation behind the protests at Kent State.
The killing of the four students, as well as the announcement that the war had escalated, led to an increase in the intensity and volume of the protests in terms of protesters. The four killed were students at the Kent State University, which is based in Ohio. This was the inspiration behind the song Ohio done by Young, Crosby, Nash and Stills.
During the first week of May, there was a general strike for lauding antiwar protests in Oklahoma University. Close to a thousand protesters went to the streets with one of the protesters displaying a communist flag belonging to Vietnam. He was arrested by the police under the Oklahoma law.
This led to angry exchanges between the protesters and a number of police and highway patrol officers. Several protesters sustained injuries during the exchanges and other three protesters were arrested (Garrity 1).
This led to mass protests by the students in response to the arrest of the student who had unfolded the Vietnam flag. This, combined with protests in other states like Ohio, created an environment that could be regarded as that of pure protests.
Effects of the protests
The protests that took place during the Vietnam War shaped the socio-economic and political set-up of the United States significantly. Prior to this, protests were being taken seriously, and the public was not properly protected against the atrocities of the police during peaceful protests.
The Kent State killings, in particular, led to development of appropriate laws for freedom of expression that were tailored to ensure that the public is able to express its displeasure towards the excesses of the government, and other similar issues.
Apart from this, the fact that the Vietnam War ended in the year 1974, barely a decade after the U.S. sent troops to Vietnam, can be attributed to the contribution of the public unrest.
The protests had peaked in 1970 and thus the ending of the war in 1974 can be seen as an indication that the protests made a great contribution towards efforts to end the war. The protests also revealed the fact that the ultimate power of making political decisions rests on the public, but not the political class (Fish 1).
This is because all the senators were unanimous about the decision to send troops to Vietnam. As mentioned above, the war protests led to development of a more conducive climate for expression. Thus after the war, courtesy of the protests, people had more freedom of expression than before.
Relationship between music and protests
Music formed a very important part of the protests that took place against the Vietnam War. Most of the music that was played during the time was a motivation for protests against the War in Vietnam. For example, the song Ohio done by Young, Crosby, Nash and Stills was used to call the public for more action after the killing of the aforementioned Kent State students.
In the year 1969 the song, Fortunate Son was released by the band Creedence Clearwater. The song was a protest song dedicated to the youth who were being forced to be involved in the Vietnam War.
Some of the lyrics of the song include a line that says, “It ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, I ain’t no fortune one” (Garrity 1). Another part of the song says, “When the band plays hail to the chief, they point the cannon at you” (Garrity 1), depicting the cruelty that the protesters were facing from the military.
The songs were therefore meant to act as motivations for unrest. Music was also a consolation for the masses since they had been failed by their political representatives and thus they needed somebody with whom they shared the same sentiments.
The music played during this time also had a number of cultural influences. For instance, the impact of The Beatles was so enormous that the members of the group were trendsetters for the society. For instance, they were responsible for the popularity of long hair among boys. They set a record 21 hits that topped charts during the time.
This record has never been beaten by any other band. Their popularity was so great during the time that the guitar player of the group, one John Lennon, was prompted to think that his group was “more popular than Jesus” (Streich 1). Of course this statement attracted substantial outcries from religious crusaders but all he meant was that The Beatles were unimaginably popular.
Conclusion
As evidenced in the discussion above, the Vietnam War was characterized by the largest anti-war protests ever experienced in the history of America. These protests were mainly caused by the fact that the real reason of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was not known to the public. The public also saw carelessness on the part of the government, and ill intentions.
This was aggravated by the government’s requirement of young-adult males to be involved in the war after college in the late 1960’s. This requirement made college students to be actively involved in the protests, which saw a number of students being killed, and others injured by anti-protest police.
After a number of violent incidences involving students and the police, specifically the Kent State shootings and protests in several other universities, the protests increased and the number of people being involved in a single episode of protests also increased. This situation continued until the U.S. government started withdrawing troops from Vietnam in the early 70’s.
The Vietnam War was also characterized by great music influence. After losing confidence in the government, artists started producing songs with lyrics that were a message to either the government or the public regarding the Vietnam War.
The songs therefore acted as a consolation to the masses because they no longer had confidence in their government. The influence of the anti-war music was so much that even the troops in Vietnam used phrases that were actually lines from the lyrics of certain anti-war songs.
They even listened to music played via loudspeakers in some areas as they engaged in combat. However, the greatest influence of the anti-war music was the fact that it fuelled protests and thus acted as a motivation for revolting against the Vietnam War.
All in all, anti-war music and protests remain in the minds of every American citizen who witnessed the activities of the Vietnam War. The war is mostly remembered when people reminisce about the protests or when people listen to the anti-war music.
Works Cited
Fish, Lydia. “ Songs of Americans in the Vietnam War ”. 1993. Web.
Garrity, Patrick. “Music and the Remembrance of War”. 2006. Web.
Miller, John. “Vietnam War Protests”. Oklahoma Historical Society. 2009. Web.
Sayre, James. “Late 1960’s and early 1970’s anti-Vietnam war protests, social and political background notes and a short discussion of some of the best rock ‘n roll music of the times”. 2008. Web.
Schifferes, Steve. “ Vietnam: The Music of Protest ”. 2005. Web.
Streich, Michael. “Vietnam War Protest Music”. 2010. Web.
Tuso, Joseph. Singing the Vietnam Blues: Folksongs of the American Fighter Pilot in Southeast Asia . College Station: Texas A and M Press, 1990.
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The Ethical Code in Provider-Patient Relationship Compare & Contrast Essay
Table of Contents
1. Responsibility to the public
2. Delivery of health education
3. Research and evaluation
4. Conclusion
5. Works Cited
A nurse, in all medical disciplines, practices with concern and respect for the dignity, worth, and distinctiveness of each individual, regardless of the socioeconomic status, personal characteristics, or the nature of the health condition (NursingWorld 1).
The health education profession, on the other hand, is committed to the excellence in the practice of sustaining overall health (National Commission for Health Education Credentialing [NCHEC], Inc., par. 1).
The author asserts further that it is the duty of health educators to seek the optimal standards of conduct and to motive the ethical behaviour of health providers including the nurses.
This paper will seek to compare and contrast the ethical responsibility of the nurse with those of the health educator. It is important to consider the difference in the job description of these professions.
Health educator’s responsibility is majorly focused on public education with the aim of supporting, sustaining and improving the overall health (NCHEC, par. 2); whereas, the nurse is primarily focused on the health, safety, and rights of the patient.
Responsibility to the public
NCHEC, (par. 2) argues that when a conflict of interest emerges among persons, teams, organizations, agencies or institutions, the health educators must take into account all the concerns and accord priority to those that support wellbeing and live standards through values of autonomy and freedom of decision for the individual.
Similarly, in this regard the nurse is obliged to sustain, safeguard, and support the moral and legal rights of the patient to autonomy (Hook 4).
However, in case the patient is not in position to make decisions, a surrogate decision-maker has to be consulted on his or her behalf. Generally, sustaining autonomy also translates to appreciation that certain cultures disregard individualism and place more weight on the family or community ethics in matters pertaining decision-making.
Delivery of health education
The health educators support integrity in the provision of health education. In achieving this goal they ensure that they respect the privileges, dignity, worth and privacy of every persons by implementing strategies and procedures to satisfy the needs of various communities and populations (NCHEC, par. 5).
In this concern, nurses are indirectly involved and apply to specific circumstances. Based on the nursing code of ethics, nurses are advocate and leaders in upholding humane and dignified care delivery.
For instance, nurses are experienced, knowledgeable, and decisive about the palliative care and should be actively take part in relevant study, education, performance, and policy development (Hook 8).
Research and evaluation
Another aspect of health educators’ ethics concerns research and evaluation. Health educators promote the health being of the communities as well as the profession through research and assessments practice.
When arranging and carrying out research or assessment, they do so according to the requirements of the state and federal laws, institut6ional and organizational policies, and professional principles (NCHEC, par. 6).
Similarly, according to NursingWorld (6), nurses in administration, research, and education have responsibilities to the patient.
Nurses in such domains have indirect relationships with the patients in the sense that, they share responsibilities with those who they supervise and instruct. Moreover, the nurse must refrain from illicit practices or delegating duties against profession practice acts.
Conclusion
The ethical code focuses largely on health care delivery, although the level of care delivery is dependent on various organizational circumstances. Because of this relation, health educator’s ethical code should be tailored to the nursing code of ethic, so that nurses are in a position meet the needs of the recipient of the care.
Works Cited
Hook, Kevin, D. & White, Gladys, B. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, 2001 . Print. 18 April, 2011 https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. Health Education Code of Ethics. Whitehall: NCHEC, 2008. Web.
NursingWorld. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Stathome, 2010. Print.
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The Obsessive-Compulsive Psychological Disorder Research Paper
The movie “ As Good as it Gets” by James Brook features Jack Nicholson, an accomplished writer, who has already written sixty-one books. Melvin Udall (Nicholson) suffers from the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that seems to affect his character. In addition, the disorder affects the way he relates with the likes of Simon Bishop and the gay painter both of whom are his neighbors.
He does not care the repercussions of any of his actions; for instance, he comfortably throws his neighbor’s dog down the apartment oblivious of the danger of doing such a thing. His act of tormenting the restaurant’s staffs, for example Carol, further illustrates his intolerable behavior.
When Simon is admitted to hospital, Melvin is reluctant to take care of his (Simon’s) dog. However, pressure from Frank, an art dealer of Simon, forces him to take the dog into his house.
This action opens up Melvin’s, heart making him develop emotional attachment to carol’s sick son and as a result, he arranges for his Medicare (Leong, 1997, p.23A). His relationship with Carol and Simon also improves. Consequently, all these three characters stop living isolationistic lives and become more sociable.
The DSM-IV diagnostic criteria reveal that an obsessive–compulsive disorder manifests itself in three different ways viz. through obsession, compulsion or a combination of both obsession and compulsion. To highlight the obsessions, it is worthy to mention that the patient experiences endless thoughts or images that result into anxiety.
Since the thoughts are not just worries about normal life problems, the sufferer tries to overlook them or sometimes tries to suppress them by having different thoughts (Leckman, Denys, Simpson, Mataix-Cols, Hollander, Saxena, Miguel, Rauch, Goodman, Phillips, & Stein, 2010, p. 509). A sufferer of obsessions is normally able to discern that the thoughts, images, or sometimes impulses of obsession purely come from the mind; the patient acknowledges that such thoughts are not externally generated.
After it occurs to Melvin that he has to look after Simon’s dog, Melvin manages to fight the obsession of cruelty to the dog and accepts to look after it. For compulsions, the sufferers of this disorder display behaviors dominated by repetition for example the act of Melvin continuously harassing workers in the restaurant and continuous wrongdoing without fearing the repercussions.
Given the frequent obsessions and compulsions they undergo, sufferers of obsessive-compulsive disorder face many problems. First, people around them tend to avoid them. At the restaurant, only one waitress is able to stand Melvin’s behavior but she does so in vain. All other workers avoid him because of his character, which hinges on his obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The fact that Melvin gets closer to his neighbors only after he overcomes his condition and starts appreciating those around him implies that his obsessive and compulsive character has been isolating him from people. The repetitive actions by people with this disorder normally results in time wastage and emotional coupled with financial loss.
The standard treatment option for emotionally and financially distressed victims is professional counseling (Freeston & Ladouceur, 2003, p.336). The patients can also receive medication such as a therapy of antidepressant, benzodiazepines , psychosurgery, and electroconvulsive therapy among others.
For small children and adolescents suffering from this disorder, therapeutic treatment is the most appropriate form of treatment. Nevertheless, it is important to note that, antidepressants might have serious side effects given the fact that “even the drug companies themselves admit that they don’t quite know how the drugs work” (Dubovsky, 1997, p.16).
Moreover, Glenmullen warns, “there is also an established direct link between suicide and violent behavior and the use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors [SSRIs]” (2000, p.56). Therefore, antidepressants should be taken under strict instruction of a doctor to minimize or avoid the potential side effects.
In my current or future occupation, I would alter interactions with an individual with this psychological disorder in different ways to suit their needs better. First, since they know that their condition is a result of what happens in their mind and not outside, I would recommend to them the need to see a psychologist. I would also not react violently to their intolerable behaviors but would instead help them to fight their condition.
The effort by Frank to put pressure on Melvin played quite a significant role in transforming Melvin’s heart from being cruel to an emotionally attached person, capable of appreciating what is happening to others. In fact, it forms a basis that sees Melvin stand for medication on Carol’s son.
Lastly, I would suggest for a behavioral therapy in the affected parties. In this practice, I would advice them to always endeavor to fight the anxiety that comes with the obsession over something. As a result, they would slowly start fighting their obsession, which is a bold step towards fighting the disorders and its symptoms.
The characteristics of the obsessive-compulsive disorder are intrusive thoughts. These thoughts always result in
1. Fear
2. Uneasiness
3. Worry
4. Repetitive actions whose main aim is to reduce anxiety
5. A combination of the intrusive thoughts also called obsessions and behaviors also called compulsions are also characteristics of the obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The symptoms of the obsessive-compulsive disorder include
1. Obsessions for example general disarray, fear of death of people close to them, fear of harm from the devil, disease or God, sexual obsessions like rape and doubtfulness that triggers self criticism.
2. Compulsions; for example, biting of nails, plucking of hair, picking of the skin excessively, counting particular things, and doing repetitive actions such as washing hands following a particular sequence or pattern. Compulsions are always aimed at escaping recurrent thoughts.
References
Dubovsky, S. L. (1997). Mind-Body Deceptions: the psychosomatics of everyday life. New York: WW Norton & Co.
Glenmullen, J. (2000). Prozac Backlash: overcoming the dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and other antidepressants with safe, effective alternatives . New York: Simon & Schuster.
Freeston, M., & Ladouceur, R. (2003). What do patients do with their obsessive thoughts? Behaviour Research and Therapy. London: Penguin Group.
Leckman, J. et al. (2010). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Review of The diagnostic Criteria and Possible Subtypes and Dimensional Specifiers for DSM-IV. Depression and Anxiety , 27(6), 507-527.
Leong, A. (1997, December 3). As Good As, It Gets Movie Review . The New York Times, pp. 23A.
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Psychological Disorder: Thoughts, Feelings and Actions Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. The medical model
2. Psychosocial Approach
3. DSM-IV-TR
4. Reference
In a study by Myers (2008), ‘‘Psychological disorder is an enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that is abnormal, distressful and dysfunctional’’. In this definition, defiant behavior reflects divergence from regular way of life. An example of a deviant behavior is a person who has decided to go on a shooting spree.
This is an abnormal behavior but to qualify it as a psychological disorder, then it must cause distress to the person in question or those in the vicinity. An extreme level of distress is dangerous since it can lead to suicide.
Also incorporated in the definition of a psychological disorder is its dysfunctional concept. An explicit example of a dysfunctional behavior is a student who does not respond to questions in a classroom environment. Such a student is against the normal participatory learning evident in class. In this sense, such a behavior which tempers with daily operations is termed as a disorder.
The medical model
Intense medical research reveals that syphilis has an adverse effect on the brain. This finding prompted further scientific research to unearth the reasons behind vast mental disorder. The research also aimed at discovering probable treatment for mental disorder. Medical model came as a substitute to mad-houses. It operates by running a diagnosis based on symptoms.
The medical cure for mental disorder is the use of therapeutic measures available in a hospital setting such as psychiatric hospital. Latest research findings bring to light contribution made by abnormal brain development to disorders. Furthermore, biochemistry plays a role in the normal operation of life.
Psychosocial Approach
This approach justifies the role of Biology in psychological disorder. It strictly alienates itself from environment availed by a given society, culture and past description of a person. Myers (2008) visibly points out interactivity of society, psychology, culture and biology in the formation of specific opinions, feelings and deeds.
This means that environmental factors in conjunction with thoughts, habits and shared expertise have a pivotal role in forming a psychological disorder structure. People in a varied social- cultural background experience different levels and kinds of stress which may lead to disorder. For this reason, they invent their own ways of counteracting the stress.
A common observation about disorders is its anxiety level. On the contrary, disorders demonstrate diverse symptoms depending on cultures. To elaborate on this point is a scrutiny by Myers (2008), ‘‘that anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa occur mostly in North America and other Western cultures’’.
An observable disorder occurring world wide is depression and schizophrenia which are characterized by illogical behavior. The victim also speaks unsteadily. All factors considered, we can conclude that biopsychosocial stand requires an in-depth understanding not only of genetic make up but also of community, culture, physiology, and inner psychology of a person.
DSM-IV-TR
The aim of DSM-IV-TR is to describe a disorder and make a rough approximation of the number of times they transpire. The five axes of the DSM-IV-TR assist clinician in diagnosing psychological disorder. These axes as researched by Myers (2008) are:
1. Is the clinical syndrome present?
2. Is a personality disorder or mental retardation present?
3. Is a general medical condition such as diabetes, hypertension or arthritis also present?
4. Are psychosocial or environmental problems such as school or housing issues also present?
5. What is the global assessment of this persons functioning?
One of the advantages attached to DSM-IV-TR is its reliability level. This means that a diagnosis made by one psychologist will give the same result as the one made by different psychologist or health worker not to mention a psychiatrist. The labels by DSM-IV-TR assist mental health professionals to explain the causes of mental disorders and be able to find treatment.
However, DSM-IV-TR has been criticized for including many behaviors on the range of analysis. To add on this, as the number of disorder categories increase, many adults are seen to fit in. Other complaints relates to the labels which reflects the judgment by society and may distort the actual reality. An example is a person classified or labeled as humble when in reality is an arrogant individual. This person will always assume a humble behavior as expected by the society and not that real arrogant individual.
Reference
Myers, D. (2008). Psychology in Everyday life . New York, NY: worth Publishers.
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Psychological Effects of Parental Employment and Early Childcare Report
Women being the key players in child care and development have resulted to joining the labor force because of the financial pressure facing families and changes in societal roles for the female gender. However no matter what the reason is, it is affecting today’s child development enormously, this is because children have social needs that have to be met and this can be best done by a parent and not a day care program or a nanny as that is the system currently.
Parental employment has led to children being enrolled to schools before they are ready for it and due to this many of them get discouraged and disoriented because of the school system and hence drop out at an early stage.
If they do not get encouragement or support to go back to school they grow into adulthood where they begin a life of struggling in order to survive trough any means hence, all the vices characterizing today’s society. Children lacking parental attention tend to take drugs in their adulthood because they feel desperate and unwanted hence seeking refuge in narcotics.
This children also often become very defiant and antisocial, they consider adult advice as boring and mere talk and,they also grow to be very distant from their parents some even disown them completely. Forming any kind of relationship with other people also becomes difficult because they have not been taught to do so in childhood.
Jacqui (1997) explains that “infant mortality is the number of deaths of children below one year for every a 1000 live births and the type of death could be neonatal, that is, death before 29 days after birth and post neonatal after the 29 days.”
This division is due to the difference in cause of death at these ages. The rate of deaths has been high in the past but it has gradually reduced due to improvement of basic health, improved technology and more trained personnel in the medical field.
The major cause of death has been dehydration from diarrhea; however this has reduced due to the education of mothers about the oral rehydration solution. Currently pneumonia is the most common cause of infant death, other major causes of death are: Congenital defects
These are birth defects and they occur while the fetus is still in the womb, they affect the looks or the functioning of the body. Physical defects are such as cleft lip and palates while functional defects involve the body organs such as the; heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and there are also chromosomal abnormalities like Down’s syndrome, those that are very severe lead to infant death.
Preterm Birth and Low Birth Weight-Preterm birth is birth before the required period of pregnancy is over that is 37 weeks while low birth weight is weight below 2.5 kilogram’s or 2500 grams. Regardless of the length of pregnancy, also referred to as short conception phase, is a span of pregnancy less than 38 weeks. In 2005 babies the number if infant deaths due to these two factors were 4698.
The WHO noted that “Maternal difficulties of Pregnancy-These include preeclampsia, placenta previa, incompetent cervix, umbilical cord and placenta complications among many others; they arise during pregnancy and lead to infant death especially at the time of birth.” Other causes of infant death include malaria, malnutrition, infections, child abuse, abandonment, sexually transmitted diseases and sudden infant death syndrome” (Wegman, 2001).
In developed countries the major cause of death is low birth weight which can be improved through prenatal care to encourage mothers to feed well because most fear gaining weight due to the pregnancy. In developing countries the major problems are diarrhea, infectious diseases and HIV/Aids, they can control this by improving basic health care and providing health education to mothers.
Reference List
Jacqui, W. (1997). Baby Milk Companies Accused of Breaching Marketing Code . British Medical Journal , pg. 167–169. Retrieved from http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Mortality-Infant.html#ixzz0qGjLsLkK
Wegman, M. E. (2001). Infant Mortality in the 20th Century, Dramatic but Uneven Progress. Journal of Nutrition , pg. 131. Retrieved from http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Mortality-Infant.html#ixzz0qGjLsLkK
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Psychological Development: Racism, Affirmative Action and Health Care Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Racism
3. Human Civil Rights (Affirmative Action)
4. Healthcare
5. Conclusion
6. References
Introduction
Human beings have had different relationships among themselves throughout the history of mankind. However, some of these encounters have not been for the good of each party, instead, they have resulted in oppressions, discriminations and related negative consequences. Several sociopolitical factors have been identified as playing a crucial role in shaping people’s psychological states.
This research paper evaluates three of them; racism, affirmative action and health care. It also discusses the potential impact on psychological development, distress and behavior on a culturally diverse individual.
Racism
According to research findings by Anderson, social and political factors determine the kind of relationships which people of different cultural backgrounds have as they interact (2003). The perceptions which members of the society have towards each other are crucial. Racism in America has been one of the most sensitive factors since it can be the source of a range of other negative aspects.
America is one of the most diverse countries in the world due to the high number of immigrants recorded as from the 17 th through the 20 th centuries. The number of Native Americans was overtaken by the arrival of colonists and immigrants from Europe as well as slaves brought from different parts of the world (Thompson, 2009). In general, the U.S has been mainly dominated by the Whites.
Most researchers have established that racism has been a key subject among the Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, American Jews, American Muslims, Arab Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and other immigrants into the United States (Anderson, 2003).
Many institutions in America have for a long time been structured along racial differences. They include educational institutions, training camps and government institutions.
Racism is characterized by segregation and oppression, particularly when it comes to provision of shelter, employment opportunities, and access to education (Thompson, 2009).
Despite the fact that formal racism in America was abolished during and after the World War II, it is still being witnessed across some sectors of the society for instance in politics.
A national poll conducted by Thompson revealed that the voting patterns of most Americans are significantly influenced by racial affiliation (2009). Racial discrimination against Latin Americans, African Americans, and the Muslims is significantly high among the American population. Racism has also been showed to occur across virtually all ethnic groups in the U.S.
Modern critical researchers have concluded that the involvement of U.S. in the Middle East is driven by racial overtones especially in the manner in which they perceive and handle Arabs (Anderson, 2003). Prior years saw the design of foreign policies in the U.S. guided by racial considerations where some races were considered to be superior while others inferior.
Investigators have found that America Muslims have been facing racial discrimination in airports and other immigration policies since the infamous September 11 event.
It is evident that racism has massive impacts on the general development of an individual who is culturally diverse. Someone who is born into such an environment may grow with a feeling of inferiority due to how they are treated.
Discrimination can have adverse effects on the psychological development of a person. Moreover, a person may feel distressed when being taken through detailed screening and interrogation when visiting or immigrating into the United States. Being perceived and treated like a criminal or terrorist can force an individual who feels discriminated to develop criminal behaviors.
The one who is born into the race considered superior will also propagate the same attitudes especially if the person has no chance of interacting regularly with people from other cultural backgrounds. Research findings reveal that individuals who do not meet people of different racial origins are more discriminatory compared to those who live in multi-cultural settings (Anderson, 2003).
Human Civil Rights (Affirmative Action)
With the significantly adverse effects of racial discrimination, there is need to develop appropriate policies that address these problems.
The oppressed members of the society need to be assisted in fighting for their rights. Different groups of people in America have employed various means ranging from peaceful demonstrations, advocacy, agitation, to forced legislations in order to bring equality in the society.
This has led to the formulation of affirmative action in the United States. It is a policy which is designed to enhance access to education facilities and services as well as employment opportunities for the minority groups and women in the society (Wright, 1998).
Affirmative action has been very instrumental in dealing with past injustices and discriminations directed towards the minority. Currently, many institutions such as universities, companies, healthcare providers, and security forces are more representative of the diverse American population, thanks to the Human Civil Rights. Enrolment in universities, recruitment services, and employment has become less discriminatory against the minority groups and women.
Researchers have established that the members of the dominant groups argue that affirmative action increases discrimination against the majority who happen to be white men (Wright, 1998). Those against affirmative action claim that only merit should be used in selecting candidates for different positions or opportunities.
The proponents of affirmative action, on the other hand, argue that there has been no decline in opportunities for the majority group as a result of implementation of the policy. For instance, they point out that there has been notable increase in university enrollment for the majority as it has been for the minority groups. This implies that affirmative action is not an enemy of the common good.
In fact, the proponents of affirmative action have noted that there has always been discrimination among the members of the dominant group themselves. Priority has been mostly accorded to the athletes, children of former students as well as those with special musical talents. This has not been based on merit.
Affirmative action can have tremendous impact on the development of an individual. Members of the minority groups as well as women can feel empowered to achieve their potentials.
An assurance of protection from discrimination by the policy enables them to develop positive psychological orientation. The attitudes towards life of the beneficiaries will also be positive and hence leading less distressing lives.
Healthcare
The primary objective of every nation is to have a healthy population which can spearhead social, political, and economic progress. Equitable provision of health care services is therefore paramount. According to research findings, however, there have been significant disparities in the provision of health care along racial lines (Wright, 1998). Both access and the quality of health care have been hampered by racial discrimination.
Significant numbers of preventable deaths among the races perceived to be inferior occur compared to those occurring among the whites. Some of the reasons advanced to explain these deaths include lack of health insurance, poor service, and failure to seek medical attention in time (Thompson, 2009).
Infamous claims of official experimentation of some medical activities on some races have resulted in almost complete distrust of the entire medical industry. Discriminatory handling of patients by healthcare providers has also been cited as one of the major cause of inequitable health care services.
Inappropriate healthcare provision has direct impact on the psychological development of the individual and hence life in general. Uncertainty of getting proper treatment may cause further problems for the patients. These challenges may result in the development of depression and stress which only serve to worsen the situation of the culturally diverse person.
Conclusion
The paper has evaluated racism, affirmative action, and health care inequality as some of the most common sociopolitical factors that have significant influences on a culturally diverse individual.
The potential impacts of each factor have also been described. It is evident, therefore, that more need to be done if the negative impacts of the many sociopolitical factors are to be minimized if not eliminated from the multicultural American society.
References
Anderson, J. K. (2003). Multicultural America: a historical perspective. [Peer Reviewed]
Journal of U.S Department of Justice, 3 (5), 35-51
Thompson, V. L. (2009). The consequences of racism in America. Community of Mental Health Journal, 43 (3), 224-235
Wright, W. D. (1998). Racism and civil rights matters (2 nd ed.). Greenwood Plc.
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Psychology in Daily Life Essay
Psychologists and researchers have studied the development process of intelligence and personality of human beings in great detail and have proposed numerous methodologies that trigger this process. According to recent studies individual learning process is the primary factor that contributes to the development of an individual’s personality and intelligence. (Bhattacharya, 2006, p. 90)
As stated by Carl Jung, “Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being”. Having mentioned that, an individual’s personality and intelligence are two factors that tie in with each other greatly.
Superior intelligence gives rise to better learning and as a result paves way for further development in the individual’s traits and personality and affects other areas of the individual’s functioning such as memory, social interactions and behaviour, and tendency to adopt certain behaviour. (Bhattacharya, 2006, p. 90)
Intelligence is said to affect various facets of personality and is considered to be an integral part of personality by researchers. The Intelligence-personality relationship is a highly complex one, fundamentally because both these phenomenon affect each other in so many ways that it is difficult to determine whether it is personality that affects intelligence or vice versa. Furthermore, as an individual ages both of these phenomena become more and more intricate and complex. (Weiss & Deary, 2011)
This s partially because as an individual become more advanced in his years, he obtains a repertoire of experiences that help him through the remainder course of life. Recent researches and findings have stated that intelligence and personality can be taken as valid indicators t predict the susceptibility of the individual to fall ill and die prematurely. (Weiss & Deary, 2011)
This study was conducted by Ian J. Deary and Alexander Weiss from the University of and reviewed by Keri Chiodo in the journal of the Association for psychological sciences in February, 2011. Medical and Psychological researchers have stated that there is a huge and major correlation between the individual’s personality and intelligence, and his or her physiological well-being. (Weiss & Deary, 2011)
Though, medical reports and researches have not given sufficient amount of evidence to deal with the subject in absolute and determine the types of disease that the individual is susceptible to. However, the type of personality that the individual possesses is usually associated with the number of hospitalizations and usually, most of the time researchers have associated low intelligence greater number of accidents and the individual partaking in activities and behaviour that can be seriously detrimental. (Weiss & Deary, 2011)
For instance, Type A people are usually more cautious and adhere strictly to treatment regimen and generally more health conscious than other people. And an individual who possesses a Type B personality is more laid-back and a Type D individual has more negative emotional functioning that increases their risk to suffer from an illness and die a premature death due to their high stress levels. (Weiss & Deary, 2011)
However, all these findings are largely based on speculations and there is no set way f defining personality, as the phenomenon is vastly subjective and personality and intelligence is an extremely diverse trait. There is no way intelligence and personality can be quantified. Hence, it is a plausible method to predict the longevity of an individual but requires more evidence t back the theory up.
Works Cited
Bhattacharya, Srinibas. Psychological Foundation of education. Atlantic Publishers and distributors. (2006): p. 90.
Weiss, Alexander & Deary, Ian. Intelligence and Personality may predict illness and death. Journal of the association of psychological sciences. Web: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/intelligence-and-personality-may-predict-illness-and-death.html (2011).
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Contributions in Psychological Clinical Counseling Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Clinical counseling
3. Historical figures in psychology- Alfred Alder
4. Abraham Maslov
5. Conclusion
6. References
Introduction
Psychology is a branch of science that deals with the study of mental and behavioral occurrences. Psychologists are concerned about the well being of a society and they do this by establishing general principles which help them to analyze the society.
With regard to the objective of helping the society, psychologists have always conducted research on behavior in societies. Such research activities have resulted in significant contributions in the science of psychology.
This paper seeks to discuss major contributors to the field of psychology with respect to the branch of clinical counseling. The paper will look into some of the personalities whose contributions to the field of psychology have been significantly recognized. The paper will also analyze significance of the contributions to the modern clinical counseling.
Clinical counseling
Clinical counseling involves the application of “clinical mental health counseling values, principles and methods”(Aegis, n.d., p. 1) in order to help people develop insights into factors that can promote developments in a society (Aegis, n.d.). Such factors include aspects like “self growth, personal effectiveness, interpersonal relations, life adjustments, spiritual growth and mental health” among others(Aegis, n.d., p.1).
The core objective of clinical counseling, following its evolution, lies in the control of traits and symptoms that are socially identified to be negative and promoting healthy attitudes that enhances intra and interpersonal relationships.
In its establishment, clinical counseling thus creates an environment in which services that pertains to general education as well as the well being of mental health are fostered (Aegis, n.d.).
Historical figures in psychology- Alfred Alder
Following the development of the study of psychology, a lot of contributions have been made on the subject from a number of researchers and scholars. One of the figures that have been recognized in the field of psychology for contributions made to the subject is Alfred Adler. Alfred was born in the year 1870 to Jewish parents who lived in Vienna.
Following physical complications in his early life, Alfred made up his mind to be a physician. He grew up in an academic atmosphere and studiedmedicine graduating in the year 1895 from the University of Vienna. He later shifted to psychiatry in the early twentieth century.
One of the major contributions of Alfred is the concept of motivation. He established the idea that all forms of behavior as witnessed in human beings together with what a person undergoes in life are driven by some sort of force. Alfred later attributed this force to be existing in individual persons and he identified the force as the “striving for perfection” (Boerre, 2006, p.1).
The concept of striving for perfection was explained as a self driven urge that a person has for the fulfillment of objectives in one’s life. Alfred’s idea of strife as used in his theory was in reference to reactions that a person yields following other factors in lives such as needs to fulfill necessities in life.
In his theory or idea of strife, Alfred established the concept of a person’s desire to always conquer challenges and overcome situation in a concept that he described as compensation.
The concept of compensation, according to Alfred can be used to gauge a person’s personality through the things that a person can undertake to do and those things that a person cannot do in reaction to a problem of a challenge. Also significant in Alfred’s contribution to psychology was an approach to the society’s general conceptions about gender.
Although he concurred with the observations that were made over masculinity and feminism, Alfred held the idea that the superiority of boys as compared to girls was due to the society’s culture that encouraged the boy child and yet discouraged the girl child (Boerre, 2006).
The ideas of Alfred Adler as expressed by George have been used as some of the basis to clinical counseling psychology. Clinical counseling, with specification to mental counseling is, for example, based on rules that can be traced to the ideas that were laid down by Alfred.
Concepts such as fostering equity when dealing with patients under clinical counseling for example bears its roots from Adler’s ideas of discrimination with respect to gender.
According to Alfred, the society has been biased towards male in which the social set up encouraged boys to express their abilities and potentials while girls were exposed to a set up in which a passive nature was instilled on them.
In the current day’s clinical counseling, the concept of equal treatment is being established by counselors in line with Alfred’s critical idea that men were not actually more superior to women.
It has thus been established that as clinical counselors attend to their patients, attention be paid to factors such as “cultural bias in the implementation and interpretation of assessment protocols”(CMHC, n.d., p. 1) in the process of counseling.
The element of evaluation of a patient’s possibility of posing danger to him or herself can also be related to Alfred’s concept of a person’s ability to react to issues.
As part of professional skills, aclinical counselor examines a client to establish the extent and nature of reaction to issues. Thus in line with Alfred’s concept of response to circumstances, clinical counselors employee screening techniques to try, identify, and if possible threats are considered in a patient, necessary measures be taken in the process of counseling the patient.
Owing to the fact that some of his ideas are beingconsidered in the current application of clinical counseling, Alfred can be considered as a significant contributor to the field of clinical counseling (CMHC, n.d.).
Abraham Maslov
Another personality that has been identified for his contribution to thefield of psychology is Abraham Maslow. Abraham was born in the year 1908 in the United States and undertook his studies in psychology attaining a PhD honor in the year 1930 (Boerre, 2006). Abraham made a number of recorded contributions to the field psychology.
One of his contributions to psychology was the theory of “self-actualization” (Weiten et al., 2008).Abraham suggested that in human beings, motives are organized in a sequential manner in which a level of preference can be identified.
The human needs that act as drivers to these motives were identified to include “needs for knowledge, understanding, order, and aesthetic beauty” (Weiten et al ., 2008, p. 1). These needs were crowned under Abraham’sidea of motivation in which he postulated that “what a man can be, he must be”(Weiten et al ., 2008, p. 1).
The motivational theory that was established by Abraham as based on his idea of “self actualization” expressed the idea of making decisions from among choices that are available for a person’s motive. He explained that an individual must not be indifferent in pursuit for objectives. He also investigated and established concepts about “healthy personality” (Weiten et al ., 2008). In his research, Abraham established that healthy minds were characterized with orientation to a level of growth in an individual.
The results of Abraham’s research into healthy minds led him to a number of conclusions about the people he considered to fall under his category of healthy minded individuals.
One of his identified characteristics of a healthy mind was a person’s ability to understand nature and peacefully cope with it. He characterized factors such as having a mission that is not self centered, established relations with other people, having democratic personality among others as characteristics of healthy minded people (Weiten et al ., 2008).
Also significant among the contributions made by Maslow was his deviation from other psychologists’school of thought that dwelt on how people were subject to stress.
Abraham established ideas of how people can overcome stress and develop healthy minds. His development of ideas about “affection and strong bonding”(Seaward, 2006, p. 1) together with “belongingness and love needs”(Seaward, 2006, p. 1) was instituted in his concept of self-actualization(Seaward, 2006).
The application of clinical counseling to establish developments in personality together with relationships between people as well as that within an individual can be identified to be based on these ideas that were developed by Abraham. His postulates still stand to be recognized in the field of clinical counseling to help patients in developing their attitudes towards a better society (Seaward, 2006).
Conclusion
Clinical counseling is a developed branch of the general psychology. The application of clinical counseling for this reason depends on the concepts and theories that were established by psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Alfred Alder among other figures that contributed to the field of psychology.
References
Aegis, K. (n.d.). Seeing a clinical counselor . Web.
Boerre, G. (2006). Personality theory-Alfred Adler . Web.
CMHC. (n.d.). Clinical mental health counseling . Web.
Seaward, Brian. (2006). Managing stress: principles and strategies for health and wellbeing . London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Weiten et al . (2008). Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century . New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
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History and Concept of the Psychoneuroimmunology Cause and Effect Essay
In the usual analysis held by many scientists explains that, the immune system is self-sufficient. This is to say that, it is self dogmatic and occupation split and autonomous for the rest of the body. In the midst of the mounting hub on the comparatively new science of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), these aged reports are becoming less justifiable.
Psychoneuroimmunology was revealed and reported by Dr.Robert Ader in1975. In his theory, he concluded that there is a connection between our thoughts, our wellbeing and our capability to restore our health. The theory by Dr Robert Ader gives the scientific field of study and the meaning of
Psychoneuroimmunology. (Kiecolt-Glaser, & Glaser, 1999, p.104)
Describe and discuss the implications of each of the following variables on depression and immune function:
Behavior . The field of PNI is not limited in arguments. The PNI brings the fundamental connection linking stress, depression, and immune. Depression is associated with the bringing up of behavioral changes to the people who are said to have depressive disorder.
Some of these behavior changes are lack of eating, excessive drinking, and lack or disturbed sleep pattern. Some researchers argue that, it is due to these “lifestyles” which brings up the reasoning and reduction of the immune functioning. (Andersen, et al, 1994, p.389)
The immune system is very complex and any time there is a state that aggravates the homeostasis of this structure, it is very vital to recognize the entire issues allied with the possible inequity to the structure. “As said by researchers, Personal behavior, choice concerning smoking, sleeping alternations, and alcohol dependence are associated with immune functions and depression” (Cohen, et al, 1991, p.607)
Smoking. This has been linked with a diversity of studies such as depression and reduced action of the immune system; however there is no an abundance proof that has been presented to support this. Bower, added to say, the immune system in males suffering from depression will be reduced by the infrequent smoking. He adds to say those who suffer from depression and alcohol related diseases have the high chances of cancer development. (Bower, 1999, p.358).
Alcohol dependence . This is an additional case that talks about the connection between the immune system and depressive disorders. Werbach, one of the researchers, adds to say if a person is said to have the signs of depression, it is very important to make sure that he has stopped the use of alcohol since serotonin depletion may crop up or brain catecholamine echelons condense causing amplified depression. (Vedhara, & Irwin, 2005)
Sleep alterations . Sleeping disorder, also known as insomnia, is a sign often seen in the people suffering from depression which results to a depressed functionality of the immunological structures. Sleeping disorder persists due to the lack of proper curing methods as well as normal sleep process. (Kiecolt-Glaser, & Glaser, 1999, p.104)
The adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system play a great in the depression and immunity. The reason behind them is that, they help in the pituitary and adrenal functioning. “It is also said that, they contribute a lot in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and stress responsiveness in development”. (Bower, 1999, p.358)
In summary, the connection among depression and immunity is affected by numerous issues such as sex, age and other individual resources. Raising the subject aptitudes to manage stress and to diminish the pessimistic affect by psychological interference may on the other side have a helpful consequence on the immune system.
References List
Andersen, B. L., Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., and Glaser, R. (1994). A biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease course. American Psychologist 49(5), 389-404.
Bower, B. (1999). Depressed smokers ride immune downer. Science News 155(23), 358.
Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D. A., and Smith, A. P. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. The New England Journal of Medicine 325(9), 606-12.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. and Glaser, R. (1999).Psychoneuroimmunology and cancer: fact or fiction? European Journal of Cancer 35(1), 103-107
Vedhara, K., & Irwin, M.R. (2005). Human Psychoneuroimmunology . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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Public Policy and Hurricane Katrina Report (Assessment)
Public policy refers to the guided approaches used by governments or government agencies to cover a specified class of issues that need the attention of the government (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007).
Although public policy is meant to cater for a myriad of government initiatives, it sometimes become evident when a nation is faced with an emergency and it needs an elaborate plan to cater for such emergencies.
When the US government was faced by the disastrous hurricane Katrina, it responded with elaborate policies to ensure that the disaster and its effects were contained.
Hurricane Katrina is one of the most memorable natural disasters in the history of the United States due to its magnitude of destruction (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007). It led to loss of properties, loss of lives and deformation of the natural land, which is of great importance to human beings as well as for the economy of the United Sates of America at large.
Its effects were extremely exhibited in such places like Mississippi, Louisiana City of New Orleans, and Alabama. Two days before the disaster, the president had declared a state of emergency in several regions such as Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007)
The government responded to the hurricane by use of several agencies. Among the agencies that were used by the government was Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Stewart, Hedge and Lester (2007) also note that other stakeholders that took part in this response were private individuals, NGOs and local-level agencies.
This illustrated the concern and empathy that people showed towards the affected ones. People living in Louisiana and coastal Mississippi as well as in Alabama were quickly issued with evacuation orders either voluntarily or by use of force. Among those issued with evacuation orders were about one million, two hundred thousand residents in the Gulf Coast (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007).
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was sued due to the failures of the hurricane protection measures especially due to the role of the identified agency in designing the levee system (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007). Army Corps engineers were found solely responsible, but their sovereign immunity protected them from being held accountable. The response that was received during the crisis from the federal state as well as local government was also investigated. This forced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director to resign (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007).
The resignation of the director contributed to the slowness in the operation offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and of New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). However, there were areas where the response was highly commended such as the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the National Hurricane Center (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2007). The government on its side failed in timely delivery of goods as well as early rescue of victims of the hurricane Katrina.
Generally, the government of the United States of America should be solely committed to natural disasters that may occur in the country through timely response to the situation and provision of the necessities to the affected individuals. The public on the other hand should also play a role in giving support to the affected persons through their generous contributions.
Non Governmental Organizations should offer their support to victims of such disasters fully. These include assisting homeless individuals through tent construction and also creating awareness on the effects of natural disasters. This would ensure full protection of the public as well as solidarity and unity in the country.
Reference
Stewart, J., Hedge, D. M. & Lester, J.P. (2007). Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach. New York: Cengage.
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Agenda-Setting Theory in Public Policy Essay
Nowadays it is possible to find a few people who do not think that mass media affect, to some extent, public opinion. Admittedly, people find out about numerous events and phenomena from mass media. This assumption can be regarded as a basis for the agenda-setting theory. The theory’s major point is that mass media decide what is the most important news and what event (or person) “deserves” less attention.
It is necessary to point out that the basic points of the agenda-setting theory are plausible, and the strength of the theory lies in the fact that media do shape public opinion to certain extent, but the weakness of the theory is that mass media’s impact is somewhat over-estimated.
McCombs and Shaw claim that people “learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information”, in this way media are setting the “agenda” (1972, 176). Admittedly, this basic assumption of their theory is plausible since mass media do “sorts” news and adhere different levels of importance to each event and person.
Thus, many people follow the set “agenda” and pay more attention to most important and less attention to least important. Besides, this principle works in the same way when it deals with political campaigns.
One of the greatest strengths of the agenda-setting theory is that it presents “a vast wealth of research on the impact of mass media content on the public agenda” (McCombs and Ghanem 2003, 68). The theory reveals the major processes which influence public opinion. It is especially relevant when considering political campaigns since at present the “information in the mass media becomes the only contact many have with politics” (McCombs and Shaw 1972, 176).
Thus, politicians’ pledges are perceived through the vision of mass media. Apparently, when mass media highlight the campaign of a politician and there is nothing said about others, people can forget about the existence of “others”.
However, apart from the strengths the agenda-setting theory has quite a significant weakness. Crespi states that the theory “does not accept the discredited image of all-powerful mass media”, but “does ascribe a major role to them [mass media] in the public opinion process” (1997, 40). Nevertheless, even the major role of mass media is quite a disputable issue.
McCombs and Ghanem claim that the plausibility of the agenda-setting theory is supported by the fact that voters do not have “alternative means of observing the day-to-day changes in the political arena” (2003, 185). However, it is not taken into account that voters are usually exposed to different types of mass media.
Admittedly, various newspapers and magazines set different agendas. Some people prefer reading this or that newspaper or magazine because it highlights campaigns and activities of a certain politician. In this case, the voter sets his own agenda by choosing this or that source of information.
These cases are not rare; on the contrary they are rather common. Thus, this is the most evident weakness of the theory which assumes that mass media play the primary role.
In conclusion, it is possible to point out that the agenda-setting theory is very important in terms of the study of mass media impact on public opinion. The major strength of the study is that it reveals certain processes which define the impact of mass media. However, the major weakness of the theory is that it regards mass media as primary source of public agenda shaping.
Bibliography
Crespi, Irving. The Public Opinion Process: How the People Speak. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1997.
McCombs, Maxwell and Salma I. Ghanem. “The Convergence of Agenda Setting and Framing.” In Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World , edited by Oscar H. Gandy, August E. Grant, Stephen D. Reese, 67-83. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2003.
McCombs, Maxwell E. and Donald L. Shaw “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly 36, no. 2 (1972): 176-187.
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Punishing an innocent person Essay
All societies around the world have adopted a set of laws that have been precisely designed to create an environment of peace, order and respect for universal human rights like the right to life.
It has therefore been necessary to create institutions such as the police force and courts of law; which have been given a responsibility of detecting, arresting and punishing individuals that fail to live by established laws in a society.
Generally, we have been intuited by our consciousness and our societies to approve punishments for the guilty (Those that have trudged on other’s rights or broken set laws). However, as we have often observed, our societies are so complex that it is hardly possible to establish a comprehensive system of appreciating the just and punishing the guilty.
Just like the guilty, the innocent have and will continue to be punished. A number of philosophical thoughts have therefore been presented on the morality of punishing the innocent intentionally. These philosophical thoughts have tried to justify the punishment of an innocent person in some specific circumstances.
It is useful here to evaluate the meaning of innocence. According to Murphy (2007), it is much easier to define innocence from the legal perspective as compared to doing the same from a moral perspective.
From a legal perspective, someone can be judged to be guilty (the reverse of innocent) if he/she has engaged in an act or behavior that is not allowed by a set of rules governing a society where he/she comes from (Murphy, 2007).
Moving to the moral field, the threshold moves to the grey scale as one is obliged to apply theories on morality, which often contradict each other, in order to define innocence (Murphy, 2007).
The utilitarian moral theory is oftentimes applied to justify the punishment of an innocent individual (Murphy, 2007). According to the utilitarian theory, an action or behavior can be evaluated to be morally acceptable or not depending on the effects that it will bring to the greatest number of people (Kay, 1997).
When an action brings about happiness and pleasure to an extensive portion of a population that it will affect, then, such an action is morally acceptable in the eyes of a utilitarian (Kay, 1997). However, when an action brings about suffering and pain to an extensive segment of a population that it will affect, then, such an action is judged to be morally wrong in the eyes of a utilitarian (Kay, 1997).
Considering that the process of punishing any person will automatically bring about pain to the one undergoing punishment, such a process will be morally acceptable to a utilitarian if it brings about joy to the most extensive segment of a population (Kay, 1997). The action of punishing a person for breaking a law/laws cannot therefore be acceptable to a utilitarian if the action will fail to contribute in bringing joy to many (Kay, 1997).
The innocence of an individual as it pertains to punishment is therefore of less importance here. What matters however is the effect of the punishment on the largest section of a populace-whether it will be able to bring them pleasure or pain (Kay, 1997).
It is therefore possible to picture some complex scenarios that may justify the intentional punishment of an innocent person as it pertains to the utilitarian theory. For example, let’s imagine that a rioting and destructive mob capable of destroying properties as well as killing and injuring thousands of lives is demanding that a certain individual be killed (Newman, 1995).
In this case, releasing the person whose life has been demanded by the destructive mob will definitely lead to many killings and pain; bringing about suffering and pain to many (Newman, 1995). On the other hand, killing the person whose life has been demanded by the destructive mob will deter the mob, and therefore save many lives and property, preventing pain for many (Newman, 1995).
In this case, although the concerned person may be innocent; at least in legal terms, an individual or party that is guided by utilitarian principles will not hesitate to punish him (the person whose life has been demanded by the destructive mob) even if it means murdering him, because such an action will be deemed to have prevented suffering for the largest segment of a population (Newman, 1995).
What about a person that has not been confirmed to be guilty and is held by the police for the reason that releasing such a person will lead to a series of crimes like murder that will immediately be done by the person in custody from the moment he is released (Newman, 1995).
The person in custody, although innocent, can therefore be subjected to punishment as he is held in a prison where he endures limited freedom and deplorable living conditions in order to prevent him from bringing about harm to a portion of a society where he operates from (Newman, 1995). On the other hand, the person in custody can be given freedom by releasing him from custody, something that will precede a series of sufferings to a portion of a society where he operates from (Newman, 1995).
The preferable action in the eyes of a utilitarian will therefore involve keeping the innocent person in custody, since this will prevent suffering to many. The person in custody is therefore sacrificed in order to save the largest portion of the society from pain (Newman, 1995).
It may also be necessary for a government to design and implement a policy tailored to combat a wrong that has been done to a population segment and bring the level of that segment to that of others in a society, as it pertains to their economic wellbeing among other parameters (Kay, 1997). Such a process will involve establishing policies like affirmative action to specifically favor minorities and the powerless in a society.
Implementing affirmative action means that individuals living in a society where such a policy is implemented will be compelled to sacrifice some of their rights that they would otherwise have enjoyed; such as the access to employment and education, in order for such rights to be distributed to minorities (Kay, 1997).
Although members of such a society may be innocent from oppressing minorities, they have been obliged to endure some form of punishment: when they sacrifice part of their rights (Kay, 1997). Such a price and sacrifice is of necessity in order for a government to accommodate every citizen and for the promotion of equality within a society.
For the purpose of preserving an important moral value that has been threatened in a society, say the value of freedom, a process that may involve punishing the innocent may become a necessity (Newman, 1995). In such a case, it may be necessary for a nation to go to war.
To defeat the enemy, it may be impossible to avoid injuries and casualties including those that are in no way involved in combat (Newman, 1995). It therefore becomes necessary to punish innocent segments of a population residing in an environment that is controlled by an enemy, during combat (Newman, 1995).
Although the principles of morality are hardly counted before embarking in combat, it may become morally right to consider the pain and suffering of populations affected by the war as a necessity required to protect and uphold a valuable moral right such as the right to freedom (Newman, 1995). The threat of terrorism for example has inspired fear and strived to limit our right to freedom (Newman, 1995).
Although the exercise of wisdom and control is of necessity to prevent unnecessary suffering during the war on terror, it may become unavoidable at times for a nation to participate in combat- in the endeavor of mitigating terrorism and preserving societal rights (Newman, 1995).
Conclusion
As has been seen, it becomes necessary in certain circumstances to subject innocent individuals to punishment to achieve certain moral purposes. The utilitarian theory justifies the punishment of a person whether guilty or not on the criteria that such a punishment will inevitably lead to the wellbeing of the most extensive population segment in a society.
Besides, policies like the affirmative action that emphasize on equality oblige government to compel some society members to sacrifice part of their rights for distribution to minorities. It may also become necessary to punish innocent members of communities in an environment controlled by an enemy by a nation that has gone to war to preserve important moral values like the right to freedom.
Reference List
Kay, D., January 20, 1997. Utilitarianism . [Online] New York: Wofford. http://sites.wofford.edu/kaycd/utilitarianism/
Murphy, G.J, 1990. The killing of the innocent. The Monist , 57 (4), p. 527-550.
Newman, G., 1995. Just and painful. New York: McMillan.
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Assessing Academic Progress after Implementing Technological Changes Report (Assessment)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Purpose Statement
3. Research Hypotheses
4. Background
5. Significance of the Research
6. Methodology
7. Reference List
Introduction
The assessment of effectiveness of students’ academic performance is significant for further improvements and measures that may be taken to change the situation at school or any other educational institution. In this respect, it is necessary to evaluate the current situation and conduct research to evaluate the situation after implementing changes.
The evaluation should concern the methods of teaching as claimed by students (measure if students are satisfied with teaching methods and practical implementation of curriculum using a rubric); instances of technology use in classes, student and faculty attitudes, or changes in teaching practices should be measured as well. Analysis of changes in the situation can show how effective the changes can be and what areas of academic activity should receive more attention even after implementation of changes into academic curriculum.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the research consists in the evaluation of situation at an educational institution after the introduction of changes. The research is sure to demonstrate the most vulnerable areas of academic curriculum and technological advancement.
The results of the research will become the evidence for implementation of further practices into academic curriculum and professional development sessions. The purpose of the current research consists in assessment of effectiveness of changes and consideration of their further implementation.
Research Hypotheses
The introduction of changes can affect all parties concerned and it is important to know how effective the changed are in terms of academic progress and satisfaction of students from practical implementation of academic curriculum. If the changes are really effective, researchers should share their experience and claim to make changes at a national level regarding all educational institutions of different academic levels.
If the changes prove to be ineffective, it is necessary to question a necessity of further application of those practices in the educational institution under consideration and prevent other institutions that face similar problems from introducing those changes.
In this respect, it is necessary to evaluate academic progress and effectiveness of teaching methods used by tutors after completion of professional development sessions and skills gained during those sessions to make students interested in class activities and get a feedback and constructive criticism on the strategies used after the reform.
Background
It is necessary to note that every greater change involves minor changes that are sure to affect all areas relevant to the main field that should undergo changes. In this respect, it would be really interesting to take into account Guskey’s (1986 as cited in Walpole & McKenna, 2004, p.188) research and implementation of heuristic approach. “…staff development sessions [should] be targeted directly to changing teacher practice, that data collected to track the effects of that changed practice on student outcomes, and that these changes in student outcomes influence changes in teachers’ beliefs and attitudes” (Walpole & McKenna, 2004, p.188).
As the knowledge gained during professional development sessions can be applicable to real life situation in terms of education, teachers are expected to implement theory into practice during their classes, hence improving students’ understanding of the material and raising their interest and encouraging participation and constructive feedbacks on the curriculum and activities in class.
Significance of the Research
The research is significant due to its original idea to investigate the academic progress of students through their personal assessment of the changed curriculum, technological approach, and design. Analyzing students’ opinion, it is easier to explore the situation from inside, thus, learning the effectiveness of changes implemented after professional development sessions and other alterations introduced into academic process.
The importance of the research concerns the analysis of data and assessment of effectiveness of methods used to improve the academic curriculum, methods of teaching, and students’ involvement into activities.
Methodology
The qualitative approach should be used for more effective collection and analysis of data. It is necessary to complete a survey so that all aspects were covered. As the research should be designed including two parts such as collecting information and evaluation of gathered data, the surveys and criteria should be designed correspondingly.
Thus, the collecting part should be designed in the form of a survey so that every student, parent and teacher could assess the situation concerning academic curriculum, technological implementation of innovations, and teaching methods.
Lodico, Spaulding, & Voegtle (2010) report about the parents’ participation in evaluation of the situation in academic curriculum ad progress of students (p.36); thereby, parents’ assessment of the situation is of crucial importance as it enables researchers to analyze the situation in general as viewed by all parties concerned.
However, it is necessary to complete questionnaires for parents and distribute those among parents during parents-teachers conferences. This will enable researchers to get a feedback from parents as well as from students.
Surveys can be considered the most appropriate method for applying qualitative approach to the institution (Creswell, 2003, p.5). The assessment criteria should be presented in the form of a rubric to define the practices applied to the academic curriculum as those that appeared to be effective, partially effective, or ineffective.
Reference List
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches . Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.
Lodico, M., Spaulding, D. T., & Voegtle, K. H. (2010). Methods in educational research: from theory to practice . San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Walpole, S., & McKenna, M. C. (2004). The literacy coach’s handbook: A guide to research-based practice . New York, NY: Guilford Press.
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Qualitative Data Collection Report (Assessment)
This qualitative research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of various academic activities and determine which of them should receive more attention. In this paper we need to work out strategies of data collection and sampling. At the moment Green Valley Community College has faced the necessity to implement changes into the curriculum due to the fact that many students feel dissatisfied with absence of technology use in the classroom and inappropriate educational methods.
This is why it is crucial to assess the attitude of students, parents and teachers toward the curriculum. On the basis of these findings, the administration will be able to tailor the courses, offered to the learners.
The key method which is going to be used is qualitative survey. This survey will include different types of questions. First, I intend to include contingency questions in this survey. For instance, one of them will look in the following way: “Do you feel satisfied with the quality of training, provided at Green Valley Community College?
If no, tell which areas require improvement.” Furthermore, I would like to apply a five-point Likert scale item in order to measure students’ and teacher’s attitudes toward the curriculum. This question can take this form, ”How do you feel about the curriculum in Green Valley Community College?”. The respondent will need to choose one of these options:
1. Very Satisfied;
2. Satisfied;
3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied;
4. Dissatisfied;
5. Very Dissatisfied.
In this way, I will be better able to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes of the participants. The questions in this survey will prompt the learners and faculty to make recommendations about academic curriculum, the use of technologies, and educational methods.
I do not plan to use Yes/No and forced-choice questions in this survey because they are not very suitable for measuring people’s perception and attitudes.
Under the circumstances, a longitudinal survey study will be necessary, because it helps to understand how attitudes and perceptions change over a certain period of time (Lodico et al, 2010, p 202). In my opinion, this approach will let us see whether the new teaching methods and academic activities have managed to improve the quality of education in this college or not. At the point, I have yet to determine whether it will be a one-shot or longitudinal study.
The duration of this research will depend on the decision of the board of directors. A longitudinal study requires more time and funding, however, its findings are much more reliable. In turn, a one-shot study only measures current perceptions and attitudes, but it cannot track the change of people’s attitudes.
This study will have three groups of subjects: 1) students; 2) faculty; 3) parents. I have yet to determine the exact number of participants; however, I would like to use the so-called snowball sampling, which means that the respondents, themselves, help a researcher to find new subjects (Gray et al, 2007, p 117). In other words, those students or faculty members, whom we have already interviewed, can refer us to their group-mates or colleagues.
It has to be admitted that such approach to sampling is usually very time-consuming, because the number of participants may grow at a very fast pace (Babbie, 2008). Nonetheless, this strategy will enable me to better understand the needs of both learners and educators. According to my estimations, this research will involve at least thirty representatives of each group.
It should be taken into consideration that in the course of this research, I will also need to study several locations within the college. As it has been noted before, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of new technologies. In this case, I will need to pay special attention to computer labs, library and class rooms.
The key task is to determine whether computers and software solutions, used in this college, are well-suited for the needs of the students and faculty. This analysis will allow the administration to see what kind of technologies is most needed. Perhaps, some computers and programs require updating and upgrading. The most convenient method of data collection is observation.
There are several steps which I need to take in order to gain permission for the study. First of all I need to contact the board of directors. These people are the key decision-makers in Green Valley Community College. They will determine the amount of time and funding that would be available for the needs of this research.
I will need to explain the potential benefits of this research for this educational institution. Moreover, I will need to contact the faculty members to make an appointment with them. It will also be necessary to contact both parents and students and explain to them the rationale for this study.
The findings of this research can be of great assistance to the administration of Green Valley Community College and other educational institutions, which have also encountered such a problem as students’ dissatisfaction. Still, the reliability and usefulness of this study will strongly depend on the research design, data collection procedures and accuracy of analysis.
Reference List
Babbie. E. (2008). The basics of social research . NY: Cengage Learning.
Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Gray. P. Williamson J. & Karp D. (2007). The Research imagination: an introduction to qualitative and quantitative methods. Cambridge University Press.
Lodico, M. G., Spaulding, D. T., & Voegtle, K. H. (2010). Methods in educational research: from theory to practice . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Quality and Value of Food Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Food procurement
3. Food storage
4. Food preparation and service
5. Conclusion
6. Reference List
Introduction
Quality and value of food is an important factor in retention of loyal and creation of customers in a restaurant especially when targeting tourists.
Tourists sample food in order to gain the real sense of the place they visit; therefore, this has called for development of local and foreign foods in most restaurants as the competitive factor in the business. Food quality has positive association with value of money a customer is willing to spend on food.
Quality of food has positive effects on retention and creation of customers. Food of poor quality keeps off the customers and even the new customers do not return if they encounter poor quality on their first visit. On the other hand, customers remain loyal to a specific restaurant if they experience food of good quality and value for the first time.
Restaurant business is a very competitive industry and to be above our competitors, we have to look at the quality and value of food we are preparing and serving to the customers. Tourist customers look for aspects such as available varieties of food, quality, and value for money for their satisfaction (Clark & Wood 1998). This paper will look comprehensively at the value and good quality of food in creation and retention of customers in a restaurant.
Food procurement
There are many people such as producers, suppliers, storage personnel, preparation and service staff involved directly and indirectly in determining the quality and value of food. Producers being the farmers are involved in producing food.
Preparation of food of good quality means use of ingredients of good quality thus food production by farmers affects directly the quality and value of food. Customers have to get the value for money they are spending on producing food and this is only achieved if the farming materials used are of high quality.
Farmers have to be in touch with requirements and changing tastes at restaurants. For instance, the quality of locally produced meat, vegetables and organic food has been creating extra value as this is desired by tourists and local customers. Suppliers also affect the quality and value of food offered at a restaurant (Crotts & Raschid 2008).
This means they should supply food on time when still fresh as some foods like vegetables are perishable and lose value with time. Thus this calls for the manager to be careful when choosing his suppliers. This ensures availability of quality ingredients whenever needed to avoid losing customers.
Food storage
According to Crotts & Raschid (2008), food has to be stored properly and safely to ensure it does not lose quality and meets health standards. This calls for the manager to ensure that the restaurant has good storage facilities.
Cold rooms for vegetables should always be well maintained and good hygiene observed when handling food thus the manager should ensure he has employed a qualified and experienced store keeper with knowledge of food handling techniques as this affects directly the quality of food prepared and served to customers.
Food preparation and service
When it comes to food preparation it affects directly the quality and value of food served to the customers. The manager should ensure that he has recruited the right staff with the knowledge and experience in production and preparation of different food items in the menu. This means there should be specialization of roles in the kitchen where by every cook prepares and produces what he/she is good at.
Also, there should be use of specialized tools and equipment during food preparation (Crick & Campbell, 2007). This saves on cost of production as there is minimized wastage of food. With good organization in the kitchen, production and preparation of quality food on time is achievable.
This attracts and retains both local and tourist customers as they are satisfied with the quality of food and get value for money they are spending on food.
The preparation area has to be well arranged to ensure minimized interruptions among the cooks which might cause delay in preparation of food. This ensures there is no mixed flavors’ among different food items thus food served is of the exact flavor as expected by the customer.
Food should be classified depending on their cooking time to ensure they are well cooked and do not keep customers waiting for long. The manager should always ensure his staff is learning continuously to keep in touch with new menu items in the market and changing methods of preparation. Different food items in the market must be prepared well to compete effectively with other restaurants.
In all the preparation and production units the chef should always check and emphasize on maintenance of good hygiene which can never be neglected when it comes to preparation of quality food.
The manager should employ qualified and experienced waiters for them to offer high standard services to the customers. They should be well trained on hospitality as are the ones who are in direct contact with the customers.
They should cooperate with the team in the preparation section and inform them accurately on demand of different food items on the menu and the expressed desires by the customers to avoid losing customers to other restaurants. This calls for a very effective team work in the restaurant in order to satisfy the customers (Ekinci & Massey 2008).
Conclusion
It has been shown clearly that the quality and value of food are important factors in retention of loyal and creation of new local and tourist customers in a restaurant and thus a manager should pay close attention to these factors in order to be the leading food provider in today’s competitive tourism industry.
Reference List
Clark, M. A., & Wood, R. C. (1998). Consumer loyalty in the restaurant industry—A preliminary exploration of the issues. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 10 (4), 139-44.
Crick, A., & Campbell, A. (2007). McDonaldization, Mass customization and Customization: An analysis of Jamaica‘s all-inclusive hotel sector. Ideaz, 6, 22-41.
Crotts, J., Pan, B., & Raschid, A.E. (2008). A survey method for identifying key drivers of guest delight. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 20(4), 462-470.
Ekinci, Y., Dawes, P. L., & Massey, G. R. (2008). An extended model of antecedents and consequences of consumer satisfaction for hospitality services. European Journal of Marketing, 42 (1/2), 35-68.
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Race and Ethnicity
Race is a concept of human classification scheme based on visible features including eye color, skin color, the texture of the hair and other facial and bodily characteristics. Through these features, humans are ten categorized into distinct groups of population and this is enhanced by the fact that the characteristics are fully inherited.
Across the globe, debate on the topic of race has dominated for centuries. This is especially due to the resultant discrimination meted on the basis of these differences. Consequently, a lot of controversy surrounds the issue of race socially, politically but also in the scientific world.
According to many sociologists, race is more of a modern idea rather than a historical. This is based on overwhelming evidence that in ancient days physical differences mattered least. Most divisions were as a result of status, religion, language and even class.
Most controversy originates from the need to understand whether the beliefs associated with racial differences have any genetic or biological basis. Classification of races is mainly done in reference to the geographical origin of the people. The African are indigenous to the African continent: Caucasian are natives of Europe, the greater Asian represents the Mongols, Micronesians and Polynesians: Amerindian are from the American continent while the Australoid are from Australia. However, the common definition of race regroups these categories in accordance to skin color as black, white and brown. The groups described above can then fall into either of these skin color groupings (Origin of the Races, 2010, par6).
It is possible to believe that since the concept of race was a social description of genetic and biological differences then the biologists would agree with these assertions. However, this is not true due to several facts which biologists considered. First, race when defined in line with who resides in what continent is highly discontinuous as it was clear that there were different races sharing a continent. Secondly, there is continuity in genetic variations even in the socially defined race groupings.
This implies that even in people within the same race, there were distinct racial differences hence begging the question whether the socially defined race was actually a biologically unifying factor. Biologists estimate that 85% of total biological variations exist within a unitary local population. This means that the differences among a racial group such as Caucasians are much more compared to those obtained from the difference between the Caucasians and Africans (Sternberg, Elena & Kidd, 2005, p49).
In addition, biologists found out that the various races were not distinct but rather shared a single lineage as well as a single evolutionary path. Therefore there is no proven genetic value derived from the concept of race. Other scientists have declared that there is absolutely no scientific foundation linking race, intelligence and genetics.
Still, a trait such as skin color is completely independent of other traits such as eye shape, blood type, hair texture and other such differences. This means that it cannot be correct to group people using a group of features (Race the power of an illusion, 2010, par3).
What is clear to all is that all human beings in the modern day belong to the same biological sub-species referred to biologically as Homo sapiens sapiens. It has been proven that humans of different races are at least four times more biologically similar in comparison to the different types of chimpanzees which would ordinarily be seen as being looking alike.
It is clear that the original definition of race in terms of the external features of the facial formation and skin color did not capture the scientific fact which show that the genetic differences which result to these changes account to an insignificant proportion of the gene controlling the human genome.
Despite the fact that it is clear that race is not biological, it remains very real. It is still considered an important factor which gives people different levels of access to opportunities. The most visible aspect is the enormous advantages available to white people. This cuts across many sectors of human life and affects all humanity regardless of knowledge of existence.
This being the case, I find it difficult to understand the source of great social tensions across the globe based on race and ethnicity. There is enormous evidence of people being discriminated against on the basis of race. In fact countries such as the US have legislation guarding against discrimination on basis of race in different areas.
The findings define a stack reality which must be respected by all human beings. The idea of view persons of a different race as being inferior or superior is totally unfounded and goes against scientific findings.
Consequently these facts offer a source of unity for the entire humanity. Humanity should understand the need to scrap the racial boundaries not only for the sake of peace but also for fairness. Just because someone is white does not imply that he/she is closer to you than the black one. This is because it could even be true that you have more in common with the black one than the white one.
Reference List
Origin of the Races, 2010. Race Facts. Available at: http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/sld099.html
Race the power of an illusion, 2010. What is race? Available at: http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm
Sternberg, J., Elena L. & Kidd, K. 2005. Intelligence, Race, and Genetics. The American Psychological Association Vol. 60(1), 46–59 . Web.
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American Indians: Racial Segregation and Discrimination Report (Assessment)
American Indians are the native inhabitants of America. They lived in the United States many years before its colonization. Their peaceful existence was interrupted by the coming of the Europeans who forced them to leave their land. Some fought the intruders while others decided to cooperate with the Europeans.
Since then the American Indians faced struggles as they become isolated from the mainstream American life. Due to their disadvantage in numbers faced segregation. The American Indians faced discrimination, segregation and racism due to their status as minorities.
Prejudice of American Indians began after the coming of Europeans. Some of the indigenous American put up a spirited fight against the Europeans and often attacked the Europeans.
The Europeans saw the American Indians as a savage group that deserved to be isolated due to its barbaric ways. The Europeans believed that the American Indians were inferior and they did not given them an opportunity to gain education (Hale, 2002) or convert to Christianity as they were thought to be of a different species from the whites.
The negative attitude towards American Indians led to prejudices against them and it continued long after the country has gained independence and prejudices and stereotypes against the Native Americans continued to promote their segregation.
The American Indians experience racism in America. Racism is reinforced by prejudices that have been passed down from one generation to another. The communities where the American Indians live or the tribal areas lack security because they do not have adequate police officers patrolling the areas.
Consequently, the level of crime is high in such communities and cases of violence against American Indians are high. The rate of prosecuting and bringing to justice people who commit heinous acts against them is slow. There is a feeling that the American justice system does not protect the American Indians.
The mainstream American population often discriminates against the American Indian and stereotypes reinforce the practice of racism against American Indians. It is also important to note that the issue of racism against American Indians is not given much coverage as when people hear of racism they think about African Americans (Fletcher, 2008).
The ideology of segregation was also perpetuated by the leaders such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson who were of the belief that American Indians were savages who did not have the ability to cope in the mainstream American society (Segregation, 2011).
The process of segregation was boosted by the act passed in 1830 called the Indian removal act. The Act forced American Indians to be moved westwards. Many American Indians lost their lives in the march dubbed trail of tears.
The displacement of American Indians from their land amounts to environmental justice issues as the process put the American Indians at a disadvantage when compared with other groups of people in America. As a result, movements have come up to demand justice, equal and fair treatment of the American Indians.
The American Indians also contributed to their own segregation by having their own schools. The other form of segregation was redlining in which banks and other financial institutions discriminated against the Indian Americans by marking out regions where they live not to receive loans. They hence could not improve their economic status (Chavers, 2009).
The duo labor market causes unequal job opportunities. There are good and bad jobs depending on the quality (Hudson, 2008). People in good jobs earn higher wages and have opportunities to advance career wise through education and training. Conversely, people in bad jobs earn less and have reduced opportunities to advance.
A large number of American Indians fall in this group, as they do not have high educational attainment due to lack of good educational opportunities and drop out from school (Glass Ceiling Commission, n.d.). On the other hand, American Indian women face barriers in the workplace. Most are locked from attaining top leadership levels in organizations.
They also face external glass ceiling from the society that is prejudiced against the American Indians. The women also face internal barriers within organizations that deny the women an opportunity to advance. Moreover, the organizations also curtail the opportunity for the women making it to the top at the initial placement where the women are placed in positions that may not lead to growth.
I belong to the American Indian group but it is not easy to tell because it was my father’s great grandfather had pure American Indian blood. I identify with my cultural group and participate in activities that celebrate the American Indian culture. Sometimes I visit my relatives who live in the tribal communities and participate in the communal activities. I read about the history of my people and visit museums to learn more about the culture.
On the other, had I also identify with the American main culture as I feel I am a person with an equal opportunity to achieve whatever I wish as I have an opportunity to acquire an education and pursue my dream career. Thus, I participate at both cultures equally to benefit from both.
Reference List
Chavers, D. (2009). Racism in Indian country . New York: Peter Lang.
Capture, H.G., Champagne, D., & Jackson, C. (2007). American Indian nations: yesterday, today, and tomorrow . New York: Rowman Altamira.
Fletcher, M. (2008). American Indian education: counter narratives in racism, struggle, and the law . New York: Taylor & Francis.
Glass Ceiling Commission . (n.d.). Web.
Hale, L. (2002). Native American education: a reference handbook. California: ABC-CLIO.
Hudson, K. (2008). Dual Labor Market and Its Work-Family Implications. Web.
Segregation . (2011). Web.
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Racial Relations and Color Blindness Analytical Essay
Every country has some rules and legislation that provides its citizens with certain security and regulations that guarantee a normal life. However, the real situation appears to be quite the opposite from what should the government provide its population with.
In this respect, we can see cases of discrimination though it is claimed to have been fought in the same time when Martin Luther King delivered his speech about the necessity of being more tolerant and patient and not treating people of other races as minorities. The history made the United States of America a multinational state where different languages and religious beliefs are brought from all over the world to contribute to the overall image of the country and enrich its culture.
Time passed and people were still coming to the United States to find some appropriate conditions for their families, education for their children, and more advantageous job opportunities. However, the real situation happened to be not as bright and prosperous as people believed.
Status of Minorities
The Civil Rights Act was aimed at outlawing racial discrimination which still persists in the form of racial inequality.
Education
Many people that live in the United States of America experience racial inequality regardless of the claims that this phenomenon was claimed to have been removed from the theory and practice. However, many people face difficulties related to their housing opportunities and educational problems. This does not mean that children of immigrants do not want to receive education – racial discrimination results in much more complicated issues such as lack of educational institutions on the territory of the neighborhoods inhabited by immigrants. Is not this inequality?
I believe that this can be considered the most vivid example of racial inequality when people are doomed to live in neighborhoods chosen for them on the bases of racial discrimination principles. As reported in the documentary series Unnatural Causes , the rate of uneducated children that experience violence or become witnesses of violence in the street is very high due to the neighborhood and inability of authorities to provide all people with appropriate living conditions making no exceptions.
Children are not educated, they lack self-esteem and self-confidence, and they have no plans for future. As experts explain about such children, they make plans concerning what to wear for their funerals instead of thinking about their graduation and more perspective outcomes (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.).
In other words, there is no chance for these children to become good loving parents for their own children as the rate of violence and other external factors are not encouraging at all; hence, people do not make plans to be ready for losses. The situation in society would not permit them to realize their plans to any degree.
Health
Health is one of the most burning issues of the contemporary society. The global community makes attempts to consolidate people all over the world and fight the danger of fatal illnesses and viruses. However, the cases that take place in the racially marked neighborhoods of the united states of American such as “Richmond, California, a predominantly Black city in the San Francisco Bay Area” (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.) demonstrate lack of attempts to improve the health of the population.
Besides, it is unclear whether the authorities do nothing with the health of the population due to the race inequality or they have simply failed to provide certain areas with adequate health care services. In this respect, health policies and programs aimed at improvement of health care services provided to the population of another race and ethnicity than white non-Hispanics seem to have failed.
As reported in the documentary series Unnatural Causes , “Segregation and lack of access to jobs, nutritious foods, and safe, affordable housing” (n.p.) can be considered the major factor that contribute negatively to the overall situation with the health of people including residents that have been living in inappropriate neighborhoods for years and even decades and new-comers who experience the pressure of this negative environment.
Health of these people reduces their lives. The major reason for shorter life period of people from disadvantaged neighborhoods is the conditions that reduce their lives. People think about the lack of job opportunities, inappropriate health care services, and lack of educational institutions which causes constant stress and worsens their health.
Sociocultural factors
Though sociocultural issues can be considered the main aspect of the cultural diversity that can be used for benefit of the society and organizations, people often fail to understand this concept adequately and treat it in the same way they treat their own cultural cues. In this respect, sometimes people lack tolerance and patience to learn differences and comprehend the relations between cultural cues typical of one ethnic group and their actions in a certain setting.
When we do not understand something, we try either to learn it better to know how to treat it. At the same time, people may fail to express sufficient understanding; they can express animosity instead.
The situation in disadvantaged neighborhoods is difficult to change though people can make efforts such as performed by the people in the High Point in West Seattle where “Community members, local government and developers took a radical approach in rebuilding this neighborhood – using federal funding to create a mixed-income community with health as its focus” (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.).
In this respect, race matters only for those who got used to stereotypes and biases instead of establishment of new unbiased relations with other community members.
So, the definition of racism is instructive because it marks people of other colors of skin than white and other ethnicities than non-Hispanic as those considered victims of this phenomenon in society. However, any expression of preference or discrimination can be considered racism in contemporary society due to multiculturalism spread all over the globe.
Colorblindness in California
Though California can be considered one of the most multicultural areas on the territory of the United States of America, it can also be treated as the place where people suffer from open discrimination regardless of political claims about tolerance and integrity.
Civil rights
People are discriminated due to their racial belonging in all parts of the world. This can be considered one of the burning issues of contemporary society with regard to a number of factors that contribute to the overall situation in every separate state and the global community in general.
The book Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California written by Daniel Martinez HoSang helps people to understand the problem of racial inequality to the extent of its essence because authorities try to make things look better than they appear to be in the real life. In this respect, people in California are treated with regard to their race taking into account numerous acts, policies, and programs aimed at development of clear and unbiased social relations.
All attempts to cover or even reduce the open demonstrations of discrimination were made in order to lull the vigilance of active opponents and make the country more attractive for immigrants who did not even think about possibility of being discriminated in one of the most democratic countries in the world. HoSang in his book about the history of race in California describes speeches and public claims made to reduce the opposition:
Bowron’s pronouncement echoed the calls of dozens of other civic unity, “human relations,” and “fair play” organizations across the state and around the country during this period; Los Angeles alone was home to twelve such organizations or coalitions by 1944. (ch. 1)
Every such pronouncement reduced the efforts of opposition and made people believe that everything would become better than it was and discrimination would not exist anymore. Though Brown has indicated that “we have no master race” (HoSang ch.1), there are still numerous instances of discrimination and racial inequality in California as well as all over the world.
Colorblindness
Such notions as colorblindness were supposed to make people free from discrimination and society free from biases and racial inequality. However, some people consider this to be one of the major obstacles on the way to multicultural society with specific needs and traditions. In this respect, the “…key signifiers [such as] rights, freedom, opportunity, progress, etc….” (HoSang ch.1) can be considered the greatest concepts of liberalism while people failed to implement those theoretical issues into practice.
Often people fail to perform the commitments they have toward their families and communities; the same happens when politicians say certain things and promise to do something whereas the real situation shows their real actions and intentions that stand behind those actions.
Though “Murphy warned of the ‘exaltation of any race, or nationality as superior to all others’,” (HoSang ch.1), people persist to do things claimed to be negative and inappropriate. This means that there is no color blindness in California as well as in every other area of the earth due to certain peculiar features of human being exercised toward each other.
Every person is free to choose what attitude to express toward other people regardless of their being opponents or members of the same community. This can be considered one of the drawbacks of the liberalism and its major keys.
With regard to all facts mentioned above it is necessary to ask if people are ready to enjoy the freedoms of liberalism that is supposed to ensure freedom though should not restrict people in their desires and beliefs. It is natural that some people can experience biases against representatives of other ethnic groups though this should not be the reason to deprive them of their democratic freedom to choose whom to make friends with.
Real motives of political decisions
The racial hierarchy of people in California is the main issue that should be solved. In spite of positive connotations of the language of the latest propositions made concerning the racial inequality policies, these acts are aimed at development and support of already flourishing racial discrimination typical of this area. Racial liberalism can be treated as an attempt to regulate the situation that has become obvious in California.
Though the concept of racial blindness is urgent for the population of California that suffers from disadvantaged position, the policies are aimed at stronger restriction of rights and freedoms of people so that they could not oppose the conditions and limitations imposed o them by authorities.
Thus, white supremacy can be still observed in terms of hierarchy of races in California. Every claim made against the racial inequality that is supposed to defend the rights of discriminated people can be potentially aimed at bringing racially supreme people to the top.
Conclusion
People all over the world suffer from hunger and diseases whereas the problem of discrimination that should have been solved many years ago is still urgent for population of one of the most liberal countries of the globe. In this respect, people claim that the racial inequality should be reduced and eliminated from the community. However, the actual claims made by politicians and other representatives of political and social power prove to be aimed at changing the racial hierarchy in California in negative sense.
Every person can become color blind in terms of racial biases and discrimination though people cannot be deprived of their liberal powers given to them by political regime of democracy that is known for freedoms and rights imposed on population. The categories of people that have to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods suffer from the liberties and freedoms because they do not have sufficient resources and power to fight the situation; so, their children have to breathe toxic air and go to schools full of violence.
Works Cited
Hosang, Daniel. Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010.
“Unnatural Causes.” California Newsreel , 2008. Web. http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/episode_descriptions.php?page=5
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Reaction Paper for the Article “Thanks for the Memories” Essay
This article discussed the work of cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus from the University of Washington. She contended that when we recall a memory the event is not accurately recreated, but instead we recall a reconstruction of the actual event. She stated that this is most common in criminal investigation cases. Loftus argues that changing minor details in a question can cause a person to recall the event differently or even add in details that were not there to begin with.
She used four experiments to prove her hypothesis. Loftus’ work has been challenged, with some psychologists stating that the memory is not lost, but can be obtained with proper questioning. Recently, Loftus’ research has been applied to repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse that is recalled through the assistance of a therapist (Loftus, 560-572).
Upon reading the article, I found that many of the points made by Loftus make sense. I can easily compare and apply her research to real life situations. If you want current crime dramas, such as Law and Order, you can see the questions the lawyers use to trigger memories with the eyewitnesses.
It was very interesting however that changing simple key words in the question can almost create a memory in the person’s head. For example, Loftus compares the usage of “a” as opposed to “the.” I could ask an eyewitness, “Did you see a knife?” This question evokes a different answer than, for example, “Did you see the knife?” The second question implies that there was a knife at the scene.
I feel that it is up to the lawyers to ask the questions properly so the eyewitness can accurately recall the events, to the best of their ability. Of course, what I find fascinating is that a lawyer could use this method to elicit the responses they need from an eyewitness. By using this research, the prosecuting attorney could, in effect, make an eyewitness recreate an inaccurate event. I can understand where some of her research could be called into question as well.
The end of the article states that the memory is still there, but it is up to the investigators to focus on the right wording, as I stated above. In order to obtain accurate eyewitness accounts, an investigator must be made aware of how a witness will later recall the event in question.
I find it interesting and apt that Loftus’ research is being used to call into question reports of repressed child abuse. While I am sure that the complaining person is not automatically being doubted, a therapist could conceivably manipulate a person into believing that they were abused because it fits the diagnosis.
For example, a therapist could ask a client, “Did he ever touch you?” This could mean a variety of things. The therapist would have to define the type of touch. I think it is important for therapists not to put their own personal spin on things.
They are there to assist their clients in unraveling their problems and offering plausible explanations and solutions. While it is important to question these repressed allegations, it should not be forgotten that if the therapist is at fault, their client is still a victim of their manipulative, whether intentional or not, tactics.
In conclusion, it is my belief that eyewitness testimony should never solely be used to convict someone of a crime. I am thankful that the judicial system does not rely on just one aspect of evidence in order to obtain a conviction. However, Loftus’ research could be used by a defense team to discredit an eyewitness. This must be taken into consideration as well as not all event recall is recreated memory.
I have to agree with Loftus’ research on some level in that I could see how different questions might lead someone to think that there was something there that maybe they had forgotten before that moment. However, I do not think there is enough information on how the brain stores and recalls information at this point in time to make Loftus’ research the tell all and end all to cognitive memory studies.
Reference
Loftus, E.F (1975). Leading Questions and the Eyewitness Report. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 560-572.
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Realism in the Service of Politics: Two Views of War Compare & Contrast Essay
Art has a long history of being involved in the achievement of political goals; consider the monumental imperial advertisement of power and control of resources represented by the huge Colossus of Rome [1] . In the early 20 th century, what was termed realism was not the direction that popular art movements were taking.
However, what was termed realism seemed to serve the aims of totalitarian movements at the time [2] , despite the fact that no art is truly realistic and all art represents a set of choices from all the visual detail available.
Nevertheless, the objections of the Nazi regime to all the non-realist artists is understandable in light of the Third Reich’s goals and methods of achieving them. They were trying to influence people to do things that were difficult and morally ambiguous, if not downright horrible.
To accomplish this, they needed powerfully effective images that everyone could understand without laborious or inconvenient verbal explanation. The artists that the Nazi regime disapproved of had the opposite aim in creating art.
They were seeking to create art that was a vehicle for personal expression. Given this attitude, it is no wonder that non-realistic artists were suppressed. Useful examples of these two divergent approaches are found in the art of Fritz Erler and Otto Dix.
The term ‘realism’ has meant different things over time. It meant something different in the 1800s than what it suggests today.
Before the early 1800s, most painting tried consciously to show everything in as beautiful, serene, classically pure a fashion as posssible, even if this meant deliberately changing things around in the picture, as, for example, advised by an accepted authority of the time, Roger de Piles [3] .
Starting with the Romantic movement in art, there was a gradual reaction away from a classical idealization of the subject, whether a person, a scene, or a landscape.
The gritty reality of the world became more acceptable and desirable in art. An example is the often gory work of Théodore Géricault, a proponent of Romanticism, such as his Raft of the Medusa [4] . This work, and by extension, much of the effort of the Romantic movement, was described as an,” extended, no-holds-barred quest for truthfulness and intensity” [5] .
However, up until the period of the Impressionists in the mid to late 1800s, there was a generally shared goal of depicting the world as most people could recognize it. For example, a person had two eyes symmetrically laid out, sky was more or less blue, and trees were more or less green.
With Impressionism, Cubism, and their successor art movements, this all changed, dramatically. The depiction of objects in the real world was no longer safely to be assumed. Buchloh describes this process of movement away from figurative art as follows:
“the perceptual conventions of mimetic representation – the visual and spatial orderign systems that had defined pictorial production since the Renaissance… systematically broken down since the middle of the nineteenth centry”. [6]
Buchloh is drawing attention to a phenomenon that even non-artists can observe. It seems reasonable to assert that all art imposes a warping of physical reality to some extent. Simply by trying to depict a three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface, there is inevitable distortion.
The tree is not the picture, nor vice versa. It cannot be. The simplest tricks of perspective, such as foreshortening, or narrowing two parallel lines down to a vanishing point, demonstrate this. In any work of art, a process of transformation has taken place as the scene or object is translated by the artist onto paper or canvas or marble.
A recent news story humorously and clearly demonstrated this: A quirky installation artist in Philadelphia, who apparently regularly enrobes local landmarks with knitted textile art, tried to measure the famous statue of Rocky Balboa for a sweater.
She discovered the that the proportions of the eight foot tall statue were wildly different from those of an actual real person’s [7] . However, photos of this statue do not strike the viewer as bizarre. The artist clearly altered the real proportions of the subject in a way that looks normal from a distance.
Thus, even in representing a real-world subject with the aim of fidelity, the process involves the abstraction, or pulling out, or alteration of certain elements and the de-emphasizing of others.
This may be used to indicate, for example, that the subject is a distance away, or to allow the viewer to distinguish the subject from its background. This is a matter of making sure that the viewer can see the forest for the (edited) trees.
Thus, when anyone is uses the term realism in art today, they are speaking relatively. A formal definition of realism describes it as,”Fidelity to nature or to real life; representation without idealization, and making no appeal to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.” [8]
It requires some visual training to understand any two-dimensional representation, as students learn in History of Art classes. It is relatively easier for someone trained by experience at decoding two-dimensional representations to recognize a realistically painted subject.
Nonetheless, when we use the term realism today, implying that the subject of the work of art is able to be recognized for what is intended, we understand what is meant. This term is probably widely and intuitively understood in our era.
The Nazi regime, like many other oppressive governments, sought to use all available tools to alter people’s opinions, direct their behavior, or change the entire form of government. Art was just one of these [9] .
Their goals were often violent and involved hurting other people, such as Jews, gypsies, and the crippled. These folks had often been neighbors and colleagues.
This is a course of action that could inspire ambivalent feelings about cooperating, in many people. The ugliness of the Nazi’s goals, and the negative reaction of the rest of the world, like made it desirable to communicate their intention as much as possible without words.
If the Nazis had said in plain terms that they were going to kill with poison gas millions of harnless people, it would have sounded harsh.
But if the Nazis could make the German people feel that they were threatened and that the threat should be removed in whatever way was most effective, the government could get better cooperation. This threat, as we now know, was blamed on non-German elements in society, especially the Jewish population.
As it happened, the rise of the Third Reich coincided with the development of a new concept in the new sciences of psychology and psychiatry. The idea of archetypal images was pioneered by Carl G. Jung [10] . Jung suggested that the human mind shares a collective unconscious.
This collective unconscious contains within it patterns that reliably generate images, or archetypes everyone can recognize. This, Jung asserts, is true over time and across the globe. He suggested that an example of the expression of archetypal images can be found in many myths, for example the myth of the Hero [11] .
Clearly this is a great convenience for a regime that hopes to affect the population’s ideas and attitudes without actually coming out and saying what they want. Jung himself believed that the trends in Germany leading up to the war were an expression of archetypes that had been repressed. [12]
While evidence for specific use of Jung’s ideas in creating Nazi art is not readily available, it is interesting that Jung and a relative of one of Hitler’s close advisors, Goring, shared the editorship of a psychiatric journal [13] . This suggestst that the Hitler regime was well aware of Jung’s work and ideas.
If the Hitler regime was using archetypes, or even telling a story, they needed for viewers to recognize the message. This is more difficult to accomplish in non-realistic form. This is because the messages that the Nazis were attempting to propogate had to do with human issues and concerns, such as motherhood, or attachment to a place, or pride in one’s heritage, for example.
At the time, artists – those who were innovating and at the cutting edge of their field – were not oriented towards telling stories or sending explicit or implicit messages. They were not oriented towards, “the direct creation of universal beauty”, but instead, “ the aesthetic expression of oneself”, as Mondrian put it [14] .
The movement away from the subject entirely was seen, as expressed by Mondrian, as an evolution of art, and highly desirable Mondrian says that, “by its existence non-figurative art shows that ‘art’ continues always on its true road. It shows that ‘art’ is not the expression of the appearance of reality…nor of the life that we live…” [15] .
This process of making art something that needed only to please and express the artist’s own feelings, can and did result in art that was and is less accessible to many viewers. Buchloh asserts that this inaccessibility was an irritant. He asserts that there was pressure at the time from viewers (the public) against the abstractions that had dominated the art world.
Discussing the swing back to figurative art after the first World War, he says, “And how did this shift come to be understood as an autonomous achievement of the masters, who were in fact the servants of an audience craving for the restoration of the visual codes of recognizability, for the restoration of figuration?” [16]
The leading lights of the art world were not sympathetic, to these consumer longings, if the views of Mondrian are typical. Mondrian, in defending non-realistic art, criticized those who had made, “no effort to know pure abstract art”. [17] These people, he asserted, were against the, “progress of the elite” [18] .
The implication of this attitude on the part of the artist is that it requires specific and rather sophisticated training on the part of the viewer to appreciate the pure abstract art. Mondrian’s atttitude implies that if a viewer is not willing or able to invest this effort, then their opinion is not worthwhile.
Thus, the viewing public that shook their heads in puzzlement at abstract art were dismissed. All these attitudes are very self-centered, and not at all in tune with nationalistic self-sacrifice.
Unfortunately for artists with this seemingly self-centered approach and obliviousness to whether or not the art was being understood, the Nazis, like the Russian revolutionaries, explicitly wanted art that supported their goals, a “heroic realism” [19] . They were concerned about a national elite rather than a class elite [20] .
In Hitler’s words, “For the artist does not create for the artist, but like everyone else, he creates for the people.” [21] Hitler explicitly referred to this isssue of comprehensiblity in the following statement of intention:
‘Works of art’ which cannot be understood in themselves but for the justification of their existence, need those bombastic instrucitons for their use, finally reachign that intimidated soul, who is patiently willing to accept such stupid or impertinent nonsense – these works of art from now on will no longer find their way to the German people.” [22]
The Hitler regime went to extremes in implementing his extreme intention. To see how these conflicting ideas of art for the artist’s sake, and art for the good of the regime played out, it is useful to examine two artists who addressed similar subject matter. They were, however, far differently regarded and treated by the Third Reich.
Both were actvie in and after the first World War. Both artists included war and battlefied subjects in their works. Both were, in retrospective, competent technically. Fortunately, works by both of them survive. It is interesting that two pictures of the same subject, created within seven years of one another, should be looked at so differently by the Third Reich.
Fritz Erler (1868-1940) [23] , who (although he did distort reality) depicted soldiers as heroes, was approved of by the regime. Otto Dix (1891-1969) [24] , who distorted figures to look like monsters, but depicted soldiers as well, was not approved of. They were both technically very competent.
Erler produced a number of war bonds posters for the first World War. One, entitled Helft Uns Siegen, shows an idealized soldier gazing into the indeterminate distance with eyes that glow internally. He is a strapping, well-fed, heroic fellow, with his gas mask down around his neck, alertly at ease after the attack.
He appears fully human, despite those wierdly glowing eyes, oddly elevated mood, and unseen visual point of focus. He is a fellow you would happily share a meal with or for whose benefit you would happily buy a war bond, if you were a loyal German.
Although this picture dates from 1917, Erler had a continuing career. Erler was highly thought of by the Hitler regime. This is attested to by the fact that he was rewarded for his complimentary perspective on the German soldier with at least one commission for a portrait of Hitler. This was a signal honor [25] for any artist or photographer in Germany.
The most famous surviving such piece painted by Erler is probably his Portrait of The Leader. This shows Hitler as the genius and sponsor of art and architecture [26] . The Kunsthalle, Hitler’s most ambitious architectural design that was implemented, is shown in the background. Hitler appears before a heroic statue of a mounted horseman.
It is useful to compare Erler’s work to that of another favorite of the Third Reich’s, Arno Breker. Whereas Erler’s soldier did not look classically beautiful, and in fact has features which are somewhat coarse, Breker seemed to consciously hearken back to Roman and Greek models.
This must have flattered the regime with references to an earlier, very powerful empire. Arno Breker created sculptures of naked men that were heroic in size, and in mood.
They were chisel-faced, with clearly defined muscles and extreme poses. In spite of his close relationship with Hitler’s government, he worked to help artists who were out of favor [27] , indicating that the political beliefs and artistic production were not inextricably linked.
Looking at an artist who was decidedly not in the good graces of the Third Reich, we see a very different approach from either Erler or Breker. Otto Dix, who served in the German army in World War I, was another artist who portrayed soldiers in the action of war-time. He produced a terrifying etching of soldiers wearing gas-masks.
It is entitled Stormtroops Advancing Under Gas [28] . The soldiers look like imps or goblins, or at best, children in Halloween masks. They weapons make a diagonal cross-hatch in the composition, with their bayonets pointing in one direction, and some sort of blunt instrument and fists pointing in the other direction.
They have no grace, and seem to waddle or stumble in the midst of the confusion and terror of battle. Their forms and proportiions are distorted and they are almost cartoonlike. They appear less than human, and unrecognizable as one’s neighbors or son.
When one compares the sturdy and heroic soldier in Erler’s work, and the cartoon-like figures in Dix’s work, it is easy to see why the German government objected to being portrayed that way. Hitler did not want soldiers depicted as space aliens or evil dwarves.
He wanted handsome heroes, preferably looking like the heroes of ancient Greece and Rome. Dix was certainly not showing that – he was showing what it felt like to be on there on the battlefield with stormtroops and mustard gas.
Both artists actually distorted reality, but Dix did it in such a way as to insult the soldiers, while Erler did it in such a fashion as to make them look inspired.
They were both drawing on archetypal images, but Erler’s was evoking the hero, like Theseus after slaying the Minotaur, while the other (Dix) was evoking something more like the Furies descending on a hapless mortal, in the form of stormtroops.
Given the aims of the Nazi regime, it is entirely comprehensible that one should have been rewarded and the other discredited. Clearly, the approach that Erler takes to the subject of the German soldier is more complimentary.
Dix, on the other hand, is obviously critical in his attitude towards war, and its methods. He was also openly critical of the major players in the Third Reich. A painting of his entitled The Seven Deadly Sins actually caricatures Hitler as a baby (mustacheless) demon. He painted this after he was discharged from the art academy in Dresden [29] .
In our own lifetime, the governments of both South and North Korea have used images to control thinking and behavior [30] . This is an interesting phenomenon in light of the overt attempts by previous totalitarian regimes to harness art for their own aims. It is also interesting in light of the power that popular media has today, even in supposedly free societies.
Art has been a tool of governments since the earliest times. Until the middle of the 1800s, there was a shared expectation that art would represent things in the physical world as they appeared to most of the viewing public. The term realism, however, referred to different things before then.
No matter whether the approach is Neo-classical, grittily Romantic, oddly Mannerist, or Impressionist, all art distorts the physical truth of its subject matter. There is unavoidably a choice of what to include and what not to include. Thus, when governmental regimes that say they want realism are actually saying that they want the prerogative to choose which distortions they permit.
Fritz Erler’s particular distortions, which contributed to a heroic image of the German soldier, served the Nazi purposes. His representation was less beautiful than that of Arno Breker, a sculptor of very different style who also found favor with the Nazis. On the other hand, Otto Dix’s idiosyncratic distortions, which made the German soldier look like a troll, was decidely not what the Nazis were looking for in their public messages.
Given that the regime wanted art for propaganda, and self-praise [31] , it is easy to see why they preffered Erler’s sturdy heroes to Dix’s goblins. [32] They wanted the German people to identify with healthy and strong images rather than with ugly representations of themselves.
Such use of art to control opinion is still used today in regimes such as the North Korean’s. We need to be cautious, still, even in democracies, that we do not allow art to become the uncontrolled tool of government propaganda.
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Medweth, Mark. “Jung and the Nazis.” Personality and Consciousness. 1996. Web.
Mondrian, Piet. “Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art.” In Art in Theory: 1900 – 2000 , by Charles Harrison and Peter Wood, 387-393. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002.
Newsweek. “North Korean Propaganda Art.” Newsweek , May 27, 2010.
Platner, Samuel Ball. “Colossus Neronis.” In A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , by Samuel Ball Platner, 130-131. London: Oxford University Press, 1929.
Prometheseus. “Arno Breker Biography.” Prometheseus. 2002. Web.
Wilkin, Karen. “Romanticism at the Met.” The New Criterion 22, no. 4 (2003): 37-42.
Footnotes
1. Such a piece had no function other than overwhelming the viewer with how strong the emperor must have been to have created such an object. The Colossus was a bronze statue 120 feet high, and the Emperor Nero had it erected solely to honor himself and make himself seem more impressive. Subsequent emperors modified it to suit their own purposes, changing the face, and adding rays around the head, for example. The gigantic sculpture gave its name to the Coliseum.Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby). “Colossus Neronis”. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome . (London, Oxford University Press 1929). Page 130A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, 1929.
2. Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. “AKhRR Declaration”, Harrison, C. and Wood, P.. Art in Theory: 1900-2000 . (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002). Page 403.
3. De Piles, Roger. “The Principles of Painting”, in Holt, Elizabeth Gilmore, ed. A Documentary History of Art: Michelangelo, the Mannerists, the Baroque, and the Eighteenth Century . (Garden City, Doubleday and Company, 1958), page 180.
4. Géricault, Théodore. “The Raft of the Medusa”. 1819, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
5. The New Criterion. “Romanticism at the Met”. December 2003. The New Criterion. 22 no4. Pages 37-42.
6. Buchloh, Benjamin. “Figures of Authority, Ciphers of Regression: Notes on the Return of Representation in European Painting”. In Frascina, Francis; Harris, Jonathan. Art in Modern Culture: an Anthology of Critical Texts. (London, Phaedon Press, 1992), page 222.
7. Crimmins, Peter. “Gritty in Pink”.
8. Brainyquote.com. “Realism”. Brainyquote.com.
9. Lenin, Vladimir. “On Proletarian Culture”, in Harrison, C. and Wood, P.. Art in Theory: 1900-2000 . (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002). Page 438.
10. Jung, Carl. “On the Concept of the ‘Archetype’”, in Harrison, C. and Wood, P.. Art in Theory: 1900-2000 . (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002). Page 379.
11. (Jung 2002, 380).
12. Medweth, Mark. “Jung and the Nazis”. Personality and Consciousness . 1996.
13. (Medweth 1996).
14. Mondrian, Piet. “Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art”, in Harrison, C. and Wood, P. Art in Theory: 1900-2000. (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002). Page 388.
15. (Mondrian 2002, 389).
16. (Buchloh 1992, 222).
17. (Mondrian 2002, 389).
18. (Mondrian 2002, 392).
19. (Lenin 2002).
20. Griffin, Roger. “Nazi Art: Romantic Twilight or Post-modernist Dawn?”. Oxford Art Journal, vol. 18, no. 2, November 1995. Pages 103-107. (Griffin 1995).
21. Hitler, Adolph. “Speech at the opening of the Great Exhibition of German Art”. In Harrison, C. and Wood, P. Art in Theory: 1900-2000 . (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002). Page 441.
22. (Hitler 2002, 440).
23. Spartacus.com. “Fritz Erler”. 2011.
24. Art in the Picture. “Otto Dix”. 2011.
25. Of the importance of portraits it has been observed that, “Hitler knew the importance of his image. Photographs of him could be released only with his personal approval. Art was even more carefully watched.” German Propaganda Archive. “Hitler in Nazi Art” 2011. German Propaganda Archive. 2011.
26. Erler, Fritz. “Portrait of the Leader”. 194X.
27. Prometheus. “Arno Breker Biography” Prometheus.
28. Dix, Otto. “Stormtroops Advancing Under Gas”. 1924. Drypoint etching and aquatint. National Gallery Of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
29. Judith H. Dobrzynski. “Sex, blood and War From Weimar Anti-Nazi Otto DIx”.
30. Lankov, Andrei. “Propaganda in DPRK: Ideas and Methods”. 1995. Dirkburghof.com.
31. Florida Center for Instructional Technology. “Nazi Approved Art: A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust”.
32. This sort of preference is expressed in modern North Korea, as noted in the following description:“On the whole, paternalist ideas about “the ruler – father of the nation”, typical of the Confucian philosophical tradition, are the norm in North Korean propaganda. In propaganda stories one can find in North Korean magazines and school textbooks, Kim Il Song depicted as a fatherly figure, a wise and attentive parent caring for his people. In one story, he stops his limo to give a lift to an old woman, in another he personally oversees how a medical help is delivered to a young worker hurt in a factory incident, and in a third he inquires about the living conditions of a handicapped veteran. These stories about the Kims number in the many hundreds, and are constantly repeated in the media and textbooks, read aloud at meetings, or portrayed in paintings. Some of these stories are not simply Confucian in spirit, but are often remakes of popularstories from the Confucian mythology.” (Lankov 1995) A graphic example is found with the other pictures.
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Reasons why developing software for wireless devices is challenging Term Paper
Developing software for wireless devices is challenging for a number of reasons. One of the reasons arises from the fact that the various components of the wireless mobile devices are relatively small (Mahmoud, 2002, para. 7).
This means that developing the software requires the developers to constraint themselves in accordance with the device. For example, mobile devices memory is small. This requires the software developer to critically consider the concept of memory management when designing the various applications (B’Far, 2005, p. 33).
Wireless devices have got limited processing power. As a result, elaborate tasks may take more time to accomplish. In addition, the devices’ input capability is also limited. Due to the size of the screen, the size of the information displayed is also limited.
According to Mahmoud (2002, para. 7), the devices’ bandwidth is low and the networks are expensive and cannot be relied upon. As a result, wireless software developers experience numerous network errors.
The second source of challenge arises from the fact that wireless device software developers are faced with various competing standards with regard to the applications necessary for the development of various devices. In order to overcome the challenge, wireless device software developers are required to customize each device for it to operate (Turban et al, 2008).
Major components of wireless device software
There are a number of software components associated with mobile computing. Some of these are explained below.
Programs – There are a number of programs incorporated in the mobile device software. Some of these include word processors, graphic programs, entertainment software such as games and music and word processors.
User interface – This component allows an individual to interact with the devices’ software. Through the user interface, an individual is able to issue a command to a mobile device. There are three main types of user interfaces in mobile computing. These include the command language, menu and the graphical user interface.
Through the menu, the user is able to give commands by selecting commands as displayed from the list. On the other hand, graphical user interface enables an individual to give commands by selecting specific icons on the screen.
System utilities – According to Golding (p.360), mobile devices are considered to be personal devices. As a result, there are a number of personal utilities which are incorporated. Examples of such utilities include the diary and contacts. Due to technological advancement, there has been an expansion in the number of system utilities integrated in mobile devices.
Command shell – This is a specific software program which enhances direct communication between the devices’ operating system and the user. One of its roles entails execution of the commands entered and displaying the output. The command shell is developed through use of scripts.
Graphic Engine – This include the various components of the operating systems. The graphic engine ensures that the mobile device displays all the information on the screen. As a result a high level of graphic routines is ensured.
Conclusion
Development of wireless devices software is challenging due to the size of the devices and the presence of competing standards. To ensure that, the software operates effectively, a number of components have to be incorporated. Some of these include programs, user interface, system utilities, command shell and graphic engine.
Reference List
B’Far, R. (2005). Mobile computing principles: designing and developing mobile applications with UML and XML. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Golding, P. (2002). Next generation wireless application: creating mobile applications in a web 2.0 and mobile 2.0 worlds . New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Mahmoud, Q. (2002). Wireless software design techniques. Web.
Turban, E., King, D., McKay, J., Marshall, P., Lee, J., Viehland, D., et al. (2008). Electronic commerce: A managerial perspective . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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Face Recognition, Identification and Classification Process Analytical Essay
Face recognition plays a crucial role in our day-to-day lives especially as far as the social relations are concerned. As a cognitive task in life, it plays a crucial role in meeting and identification of new persons as well as keeping in the memory their facial looks for future identification.
The essay discusses the processes associated with face recognition, identification, and classification as well as the roles of concepts and categories in this process. It also highlights the role of encoding and retrieval processes involved with long-term memory and its effects on face recognition. Finally, the paper points out the possible errors that can occur with face recognition.
Face recognition is characterized by three major processes namely; visual detection, perceptual discrimination and a working memory (McCardell, 2001). Face detection being the first step is based on lack of information regarding a person’s identity, intention or even emotion. Perceptual discrimination involves using the face detection to distinguish between persons.
Salient facial features such as the size of the nose, eye color and hair size are used to distinguish among individuals. The information regarding the facial characteristics that different individuals have are stored in the memory that later retrieves the information for purposes of identification.
A working memory is used to encode and retrieve face information later. However, it should be noted that several factors have a hand in determining the process of face recognition. According to McCardell, face recognition especially for crime investigations depends upon several factors (2001).
The time the target face was exposed and the mental condition of the witness. According to Bruce and Young (2006), persons suffering from schizophrenia are characterized by an impaired facial emotion information processing. This in turn has an effect on face recognition.
An effective face recognition process is dependent on several psychological and physiological processes and the processing of visual and cognitive information is vital. Verbal description, according to McCardell (2001), is viewed as insufficient in the recognition of a face.
McCardell is of the view that the viewpoint matters in that a 3-Dimensional view of a face would give a better recognition compared to a 2-Dimensional view. The cognitive processes involved with face recognition are affected by emotionality. Fear, anger, indecision and anxiety have been found to have profound effects on face recognition.
According to Sporer, in cases where crimes are committed and eye witnesses called to testify, the lack of anticipative power that the crime would occur generally affects ones ability to recognize a face (1996).
The confidence level in identification of persons is usually high for those that are correct as compared to those who are incorrect in the identification process. It is true that a high degree of conscious attention yields a better recognition of faces. Paying special attention, reducing levels of interference, and showing intent have proved better facial recognition.
Episodic memory encoding is usually enhanced by prior semantic knowledge. However, it does not depend on one’s ability to apply intentional memorization. A recent study showed that being engaged in an activity that required memory retrieval was as effective as intentional instructions that promote episodic encoding (Bruce & Young, 2006). During the study, the memory of individuals based on whether they remembered old and new words was checked.
According to the findings, the study indicated that the more a test is repeated, the more the memory is improved. This phenomenon is usually applicable in everyday life in identification of persons. It is normal to observe situations where a person seems to be a stranger for the sole reason that you met the person once a long time ago.
People who meet more often usually are characterized by a higher retrieval process and are able to facially recognize each other. The development of social and personal relationships is based on the ability to learn new faces as well as correct retrieval of this information from the memory at the appropriate time.
The development of personal relationships is followed by the establishment of episodic representations in long-term memory and is usually enhanced by semantic knowledge.
The effectiveness of face recognition and eye witness identification has been criticized greatly for their high levels of inaccuracy. According to Sporer, eye witnessing is usually a subjective method to face recognition especially when investigating crimes (1996). A recent crime investigation based on eye-witness identification resulted to the conviction of the innocent whereas the guilty went scot free.
According to McCardell (2001), various factors contribute to these anomalies among them weapon focus. A witness can place much of his/her focus on the weapon used to commit crime and as a result be unable to identify the person involved. False identification may thus ensue leading to false conviction.
The decision on whether or not a face is known is crucial in facial recognition. Self recognition, on the other hand, may be inconsistent especially when we share experiences with people who look similar in one way or the other. This may change facial recognition of our own selves. The notion that a person looks similar to you is also manifested in facial recognition.
The paper has elaborated the concept of face recognition. The facial recognition approach to identification is usually a social asset. Its effective application in crime investigations should be based on an objective approach to avoid cases of misidentification and false conviction.
References
Bruce, V. & Young, A. (2006). Understanding face recognition. British Journal of Psychology , 13, 234-245
McCardell, E. (2001). Face Recognition: Cognitive and Computational Processes .
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamin’s Plc. Co.
Sporer, S. L. (1996). Introduction to eye-witness identification. Psychological Issues in Eye-witness Identification, 5, 3-12. New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Recommendations for Ensuring Food Safety & Reducing Disease-Causing Mosquitoes Analytical Essay
Food Safety
Unsafe food causes many severe and enduring ailments, ranging from stomach upsets to diarrhoeal conditions to diverse forms of cancer. According to statistics released by World Health Organization (WHO), food-borne and water-borne diarrhoeal conditions cause the deaths of an estimated 2.2 million people every twelve months, 1.9 million being children (para. 1).
Consequently, food-borne ailments and unsafe food represent a rising public health challenge and efforts must be made towards the development and implementation of programmes aimed at improving food safety at the community level.
Restaurants have been singled out as a major source of unsafe foods largely due to unhealthy food handling, preparation, and storage standards (Rees & Watson 27). In the case scenario, a mandatory food safety training requirement for all employees should be initiated to counter the problem of dirty restaurants, which enhances threats to food safety.
This recommendation is anchored on the rationale that staff workers to a large extent contribute to the health violations associated with unsafe food. A review conducted recently on restaurant food safety practices demonstrated “…that a typical kitchen worker cross-contaminates food with potentially dangerous pathogens about once per hour” (Norfleet para. 1).
The review found that restaurant workers use aprons and other dirty clothing to dry their hands, as well as making use of the same utensils, gadgets, and surfaces to prepare both uncooked and cooked meals. As such, the focus should be to introduce mandatory employee training especially in areas of food safety to guarantee that appropriate practices in hygiene, food handling and preparation, and sanitation are put in place in every restaurant operating in the community.
As already mentioned, work behaviours may either promote or compromise food safety. The use of aprons and other dirty clothing to dry hands, non-washing of hands with clean water and soap, using the same services to prepare uncooked and cooked food, and non-observance of kitchen hygiene may compromise food safety (Norfleet para. 5). However, strict observance of hygiene and sanitation practices, including washing of hands, preparation of food in safe places, and using clean utensils, is bound to promote food safety in the restaurants.
Vectors
Vectors can be described as “…the transmitters of disease-causing organisms that carry the pathogens from one host to another” (Artsob para. 1), and research reveals that there has been a comeback of vector-borne conditions since the 1970s including the Rift Valley Fever, plague, sleeping sickness, highland malaria, and the West Nile encephalitis.
From the case scenario, there has been an increase in reported cases of encephalitis and a few deaths related to the West Nile Virus as a direct consequence of increased mosquito bites. To prevent bites by mosquitoes that may transmit West Nile Virus, it is highly recommended that people establish physical barriers by using house screens, bed nets, appropriate clothing, and insect repellents (Artsob para. 6).
Many of the disease-causing mosquitoes bite their victims at night and, as such, it is imperative to put physical barriers and wear appropriate clothing during daytime to reduce the risks of infection though bites.
To control the mosquito population in the community, environmental modification geared towards the elimination of specific breeding areas should be recommended. The modification should include draining stagnant water, clearing vegetation close to houses, and using chemical control measures to destroy the larvae or adult vectors (Artsob para. 6). Such a recommendation will go a long way to destabilize the mosquito’s breeding patterns, thus reduce their population in the community.
Works Cited
Artsob, H. Vector-borne Diseases. In: Encyclopaedia of Public Health. (2010). Retrieved from < https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-common-vector-borne-diseases-how-do-they-466324 >
Norfleet, N. Lax Food Safety in Restaurants, Researcher Finds. (2010). Retrieved from < http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37646777/ns/health-food_safety/t/lax-food-safety-restaurants-researcher-finds/ >
Rees, N., & Watson, D. International Standards for Food Safety. Maryland. Aspen Publishers, Inc. 2000.
World Health Program. Food Safety. (2010). Retrieved from < https://www.who.int/foodsafety/en/ >
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Recruitment and Staff Selection Recommendations Essay
Companies should be careful when hiring employees because the kind of employees working in an organization will determine the effectiveness of an organization. There are various methods of recruiting employees; employers can ask for records and official documents from which they can learn about the person or they can decide to do the back ground check, also known as personnel selection.
Health care organizations can advance the quality of their employees by implementing more effective screening procedures to avoid future problems since applicants cannot be trusted to disclose any previous cases of criminal behaviors. In many countries the employer is liable for any mistakes made by an employee especially in the medical field as the employer should have know whether the employee poses a foreseeable risk of harm or danger to others.
Despite all the precautions being taken there is always a possibility of employee indiscipline that could develop later after the employee is hired. It could be deliberate, psychological or could be triggered by an event for example, death of a close person making an employee lose his or her self will. The employees should be handled with care at this stage since they could be a threat to the organization or even against themselves.
There should be correction procedures for such employees, they could be; counseling sessions, warning letters, suspension, demotion, salary withdrawal or dismissal if the situation cannot be completely reversed. The following sanctions should come up progressively so as to provide time for the employee to change, while some like counseling could continue even after the employee has reformed or even after termination for rehabilitation.
When terminating an employee, all details should be recorded in the personnel database including the reason for termination and any disciplinary actions that were previously administered. The termination should be properly planned and the letter should be carefully written because any ambiguities could be used against the organization in court.
The employee should be informed in a private meeting and it should be as professional as possible and brief, because too much talking can lead to unpleasant arguments that the employee could use in court against the organization. All due benefits and salaries should be surrendered in time and the financial transactions should be documented for future use if needed (Lee, 1996).
Designing job advertisements can be quite a challenge because the information given will determine the kind of people who will apply and hence also it will affect those that will be employed. An advertisement should be designed to capture the attention of the right people that are required not just anyone.
The title of the job should be very clear; it should be the first thing that one notices when he or she looks at the advert. The organization should also be written under its official names, location and address also should be included.
The job description should be clearly stated and the entire main details clearly written hence avoiding any ambiguity. This does not mean that the advertisement should be long and prosy; it should just give the right information regarding the job.
This part can comprise of the academic qualifications required, the social qualifications, duties, time; it could be full time or part time, any special requirements like female applicants or the disabled should also be included and may even include the salary but it is not necessary although it can be a good way to regulate the applicants.
The grammar punctuations and language should also be accurate and precise. The most essential skills should be clearly written followed by the extras and other benefits expected. Finally instructions of how to apply for the job should be written down and the mode of application should be clear.
It could be through direct mail letters or even online, however the company should ensure that the mode is reliable and easily accessible to the applicants. The deadline of application is also very important and it should be set depending on the mode of application to be used because some mediums are faster than others (Stone, 2005).
There are two nursing jobs advertisements that have identified; one on the Nursing Jobsite .Com and the other on Career FAQs Medicine.com. The first is advertising for a registered general nurse to work in London south west, the job is temporary, the salary is negotiable, the job reference number is given and the address for application and that is all the information provided.
That advert is very short and too brief, the company or hospital is not mentioned, the qualifications are not stated and neither are the duties of the nurse.
This advertisement leaves the applicants very confused and asking many questions and it may even discourage them because it shows lack of seriousness in the organization. The second advertisement requires a registered and experienced nurse to work in the theater suite at St John’s Royal Hospital.
The details of the hospital are provided whereby, the applicants are informed that they will be trained for free for the specific job by the hospital, the qualifications are well written, other extra skills needed are also stated and also it is noted that the job is full time. The job reference number is provided and the place of sending the applications is also provided.
I would apply for the second job because it has all the information needed about the position, the duties, and the organization is clearly provided. This shows that the hospital is well organized and it is also serious with meeting its objectives hence providing a good place to work for a person’s career development.
Reference List
Lee, E. (1996). “Globalization and employment”. International Labor Review , Vol. 135 No.5, pp. 485–98.
Stone, R. (2005). Human Resource Management . Melbourne : John Wiley and Sons.
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Management Recycling of the Waste Reflective Essay
Objective
Over the past ten weeks, a recycling project took place. The requirement of this assignment was to collect and recycle different kinds of household items from the trash. Various options were given to select from and make a research report on it. In equal quantity plastic and metal was collected to complete the assignment.
After collecting all the recyclable items, it was required to find out their market value and to sell them. So, that one can differentiate that how much is the difference between the real product and the recyclable waste.
In the first week five plastic cups were collected, which were kept in the storage area. In the second week, six tin cans of a carbonated beverage were collected to recycle. In the third week, five plastic water bottles were collected.
In the fourth week, four metal candle stands were collected. In the fifth week, seven plastic hair combs were collected. In the sixth week, four side panels of a window were collected which are made of aluminum metal.
In the seventh week, five plastic tin-tin toys were collected for this assignment. In the eight week, three frying pans were collected which are found almost in every house. In the ninth week, twelve plastic bowls were collected, which are found in every house. In the last week of this assignment, six metal strainers were collected.
Items Quantity Weight
Plastic cups 5 15gms
Carbonated beverage cans 6 300gms
Plastic Water bottles 5 50gms
Small metal candle stands 4 2000gms
Plastic hair combs 7 70gms
Window panels(metal) 4 1200gms
Plastic tin-tin toys 5 120gms
Frying pans 3 6000gms
Plastic bowls 12 180gms
Metal strainers 6 600gms
TOTAL 10535 Grams
Total weight of plastic waste = 435 grams
1 ton = 1000kgs, 1 kg = 1000grams Total weight of metal = 10100 grams
Therefore 1000 x 1000 = 1,000,000 grams 1,000,000 grams cost $2200
1,000,000 grams $1400 Then 1gram will cost 2200/1,000,000
Then 1 gram will cost 1400/1,000,000 1gram = 0.0022cents
1 gram = 0.0014cents 10100 grams = 0.0022 x 10100
Therefore 435 grams = 0.0014 x 435 = $22.22 of metal.
=60.9 cents of plastic.
Total $22.22 + 60.9 = $22.829
Collection of Data
After all the items were collected, it was necessary to keep an account of them. All of the items were arranged in sequenced manner and then the counting was done. All the items were of different sizes and types in the inventory.
Management Skills
Management of the storage area was necessary to complete this assignment. Otherwise, there was a possibility that the recyclable items might get mixed up and then it will become a problem to count them in the end. The most important priority was to keep the storage area clean.
Inventory and Storage Management
Every week a new item in the inventory was being added therefore plastic and metal items were kept separately. Plastic items were kept on the floor whereas metal products were kept on the table in an organized manner. Since, keeping the storage are clean was also a part of the assignment therefore it used to be cleaned after every three days.
Social and Ethical Responsibility
Social and ethical responsibility of every person in this world should be to keep it clean. Recycling should be one thing which everyone is aware off. People need to be aware of how much can change if they start recycling. It is a social responsibility of every human being to recycle plastic as much as possible since it is very harmful for this planet.
Potential Business Enterprises
It’s hard to calculate the number of companies who use such products and recycle their plastic and metal waste and use it for functional things. There are restaurants, organizations which use recycled metal and plastic materials. For example, the SS plastic dining room is a restaurant which is made up of recycled plastic bottles (Tree hugger, 2010). This is one good way of minimizing the plastic from this world.
Recycling Centers and Cost Factors
Recycling center of America is one of the biggest recycling centers of plastic in America. They recycle at a very large scale and have their factories set up in most of the states. If we talk about metal recycling centers then Metal Source America, Inc. is a very big firm which recycles metals at a very large scale. They have recycling centers established in most of the states. Recycling metal is very expensive.
Collectivism
Collectivism is the opposite of individualism. People who are individualist believe in doing things for themselves and not for the entire society.
Collectivism is something in which people work together and for the whole society rather than just for themselves. It varies in cultures; there are some cultures in which people believe in acting as collective society and fighting for the betterment of the people but at the same time there are some cultures in which people do not really care about the betterment of anyone else except for themselves (via-web, 2011).
Plastic Issue
Plastic is a very big issue of this entire world. Plastic bags are light in weight and they are easy to carry but there is one thing that everyone should know about them and that is they are very harmful to this world. Plastic is a non-biodegradable product, it takes about hundreds of years to decompose. Plastic bags if burned become the cause of poisoning the air with toxic. There is no proper solution for the plastic issue but it is a person’s duty to use plastic products as less as one can. If we cannot stop it then at least we can reduce the use of it (Ezine articles, 2011).
During the past ten weeks while completing this assignment, a thing was realized that how important is to recycle and keep the world clean. Since, all these items were picked from within the house therefore it somehow made the house looked cleaner. Every person in this world should realize his role in how to keep this world clean and not destroying the atmosphere by the trash they throw out on the roads. It is our social and ethical responsibility in keeping this planet clean and green.
From the beginning to the end what all was required to produce the recyclable items can be explained through the following lines: Firstly, recycling is not a one man job therefore many employees were hired those who could go around and collect different types of plastic and metal waste and bring them to the factory to be recycled. For all this employees, trash collecting trucks, heavy machineries and workers who knew how to use the machineries were needed.
Supply chain of recyclable items can be explained in three points. First of all, when the trash gets recycled they are to be moved from the factory to the warehouse of the factory. Second, from the warehouse of the factory it is send to the distributors of recycled products. Third, the distributors sell it to different factories or customers who have something to do with recycled metal or plastic.
If a person is collecting and supplying the recyclable items then the chain would be like the following: Since, collecting recyclable items is not a one man job therefore many employees were hired to collect the recyclable items. After the collection was done, these recyclable items were brought to the storage area where all of these items were to be stored. From the storage area these items were to be sold to different factories or customers who pay a price for it.
For collecting these recyclable items on a commercial scale a lot of workers are needed, who could go out on the streets and collect trash, then a lot of trash collecting trucks and drivers are needed those who would bring all the recyclable waste back to the warehouse. Once the recyclable waste is at the warehouse then the distribution process starts in which trucks are again needed so that the products can be supplied to factories those who would recycle these items.
All of the recyclable items will be stored in a warehouse because it will be a place where only recycling items will be getting collected and no other work will be able to interrupt this process.
Starting with one distribution is obviously needed but as soon as more factories ordering for the plastic and metal waste then yes, there will be need of at least two or three distribution centers so that the different distribution centers are easily able to distribute the plastic and metal waste to different factories easily and not getting mixed up. This will be a local operation because it is necessary to clean the society first. Focus will be to collect the recyclable items locally.
Since, the supply load will be generating a lot therefore it will become necessary for outsourcing the parts of supply chain to different providers. Recycling is also a business; therefore, gaining profit is the aim of every business. By outsourcing the parts of supply chain, the work will be distributed and more work will be done in less time.
References
Ezine articles. (2011). The Effect of Plastic Bags on Environment . Web.
Tree hugger. (2010). Floating Plastic Dining Room is Taking Orders . Web.
Via-web. (2011). XIII. Individualism versus collectivism . Web.
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Reducing Drug Trafficking in the United States Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Scope of the problem
4. Effects of drug trafficking in the United States
5. Prevalence of drug trafficking in the US
6. Reduction of drug trafficking in America
7. Conclusion
8. References
Executive Summary
The negative effect of illicit drugs is well known and documented. The use and abuse of illicit drugs has in the recent past threatened the security and health of many nations. The United States of America has been documented as the country with the highest expenditure on drugs. This makes it a lucrative market for drug traffickers all over the world.
Despite this alarming fact, efforts to mitigate drug use and trafficking have to a larger extent proven to be futile. Considering the negative impact that drugs have on the fabric of society, it would be a worthwhile endeavor to come up with better means of mitigating drug trafficking in the United States.
To this end, this research paper shall utilize various sources of information to highlight the scope of the problem and how it can be mitigated. To achieve this, a detailed analysis of relevant literature shall be provided and findings discussed. All this shall aim at presenting a comprehensive and well documented research as to how drug trafficking in the United States can be reduced.
Introduction
In the recent past, drug trafficking has been among the most controversial topic under discussion. This topic has gained much prominence due to the economic and health implications that have developed from drug trafficking.
Arguably, our societies appear unprepared for many of the consequences that have emerged as a result of drug trafficking. According to Brown (2000), the international drug trade receives revenue of about $300-$400 billion annually.
Such an operational budget has enabled drug traffickers to come up with better means of transporting, hiding and producing these drugs. This not only makes it hard to track them, but ensures that their drugs are distributed accordingly without fear of consequences (DIANE Publishing, 2010).
It is from this sad state of affairs that concerned parties propose for measures to reduce drug trafficking in America. In that regard, this study shall highlight various recommendations as to how drug trafficking can be mitigated.
Scope of the problem
In the past four decades, Latin America has played a significant role in the cultivation, production, trafficking and distribution of illegal drugs across the world. Recent statistics indicate that South America has emerged as the leading producer and supplier of cocaine in the world market.
In addition, opiate supplied in the United States originate from Mexico and Columbia. On the same note, Mexico and the Caribbean have been documented as being among the major source of marijuana and methamphetamine that is consumed in the United States. In regard to drug consumption, America provides the largest market for these drugs, followed by Canada and the UK.
Despite these alarming revelations, the war on drugs has had little to no success in mitigating this national scourge. This is mostly attributed to the fact that the United States government lack adequate resources in terms of manpower, technology and finances needed to effectively eradicate the menace.
Effects of drug trafficking in the United States
Nations around the world have acknowledged that drug trafficking is a pandemic that needs to be addressed if societies are to prevail. The United States is among the first nation that shares this sentiment.
This is mainly because it provides the largest market for most of the illegal drugs. Go (2010) states that a survey conducted by Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA) posted startling statistics on drug use in American households. According to the statistics, “an estimated 14.8 million Americans currently use illicit drugs.
In addition, an estimated 6.4 million Americans use cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens (National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 2009; as cited by Go, 2010)”. Drug trafficking and use affects people from all backgrounds leading to life-long dependency issues, violence, and anti-social behaviors.
For example, Ojeda (2002) states that the US looses more than $70 billion dollars to illnesses, deaths and crimes related to drugs. It would seem as though the people involved in this trade are unaware of the fact that it directly or indirectly affects them, their families and the fabric of the societies they live in.
Prevalence of drug trafficking in the US
As mentioned earlier, drug trafficking has been increasing at an alarming rate in America. This is surprising especially when we consider the large amounts of tax payers’ money that is directed towards combating this scourge.
Diverse groups have been blamed for trafficking illicit drugs into America using various routes. Some of the known routes include South American land, maritime, sea and air route. There are some factors that have contributed to the existence of this trade.
Organized crime organizations (DTOs) involved in drug trafficking have in the recent past proliferated Mexico and the United States. This has led to an increased supply of drugs in these countries. According to recent statistics, The United States is the leading country in money spent on illegal substances (United Nations, 2010).
These drug trafficking organizations are at best complex criminal groups outfitted with sophisticated equipments, tactics and manpower that suit the trade (Seelke, 2010). Most of the groups’ activities are aimed at increasing their influence, market as well as popularity with their potential clientele.
According to United Nations (2010), DTOs have political affiliations that protect them from anti-drug agencies. In countries such as Mexico, drug cartels have significant influence on political matters. This is among the key reason as to why the country is among the leaders in drug trafficking.
Economically, the revenue received by traffickers has to a great extent motivated them to supply even more drugs to the US. According to Brown (2000), the international drug trade receives revenue of about $300-$400 billion annually.
Such an operational budget has enabled drug traffickers to come up with better means of transporting, hiding and producing these drugs. This not only makes it hard to track them, but ensures that their drugs are distributed accordingly without fear of consequences (DIANE Publishing, 2010).
Another contributing factor is corruption. By definition, corruption refers to the use of available resources or designated power for purposes other than the intended ones or for personal gains.
It is a very relative concept because it comes in different forms depending on the situation or action taken. In the current society, this vice has rapidly penetrated the social, political and economic realms and is causing pain and suffering to everyone whom it affects.
Corruption comes in various forms and is exhibited at various levels of the society. Perhaps the most rampant and damaging form of corruption is political corruption which refers to a dysfunction in a political system whereby government or political officials and employees use their ranks or the resources allocated to them for personal gains (Shahidullah, 2010).
While all manners of corruption are inherently damaging to the society, this particular form of corruption poses the most significant threat since it is the political bodies in our country that are charged with guiding the nation to prosperity and success. Most government officials and law enforcers have been accused of taking bribes from drug traffickers. This has greatly facilitated drug trafficking in the US.
Reduction of drug trafficking in America
After acknowledging that drug trafficking was indeed a serious threat. The previous government declared war on drugs. The war on drugs is the term used to refer to a campaign that was launched with the sole aim of curbing the rise of drugs in USA.
The US government under President Bush introduced this war in an attempt to face out drug trafficking groups that were threatening the peace and stability of the nation. The war included various military, legal, political and ideological actions that would be taken against drug traffickers.
The main objectives of the war on drugs include but are not limited to; protection of all US citizens and those of her allies. Crippling the cultivation, production and distribution channels of all drug trafficking organizations is one of the methods through which the above aims were going to be achieved.
The need for war on drugs is especially accentuated by the rise of an effective and dangerous breed of traffickers who are not only well trained, but also have been blinded by the lucrative financial gains accrued from this trade.
In addition to this, the traffickers are fanatical in nature who boast of a well organized network and hence, willing to die so as to reach their objectives. It is in view of these that the US government led by President Bush decided to wage an extensive war in an effort to protect the country.
One of the means through which the strength and influence of drug trafficking organizations have been significantly curtailed is by cutting their finances. This has been through the freezing of bank accounts suspected to belong to drug cartels and the imposition of measures to detect and stop money laundering by the trafficking organizations.
While these measures have had significant successes all over the world, failing and failed states continue to be hubs through which cash for drug trafficking activities and resources can be smuggled through. This cash is then used to finance trafficking cells which can distribute in the US.
Another strategy is the implementation of local law enforcement agencies. Local law enforcers have powers which give them the ability to work at the local level in a manner that federal authorities cannot.
A report from the 5th Annual Sovereign Challenge Conference; as cited by Shahidullah (2010) revealed that while the federal government is supreme in matters that pertain to external security and foreign affairs, they have a fairly restricted scope when it comes to local operations.
This is a fact that is corroborated by Finnegan (2005) who states that local law enforcers have deeper resources than the federal agencies which enables them to perform their anti-narcotic works at the local level more effectively.
This is a very important strategy since most of the money is received when the product reaches the consumers. Local law enforcers are therefore better placed to prevent this. In so doing, drug users will not be able to access the drugs and the distributors will not have enough money to resupply.
Another key component in this war against drug trafficking is the reduction in supply of illegal drugs into America. As Warner (2010) states, the availability of drugs in our streets increases the likelihood of them being abused. One of the most effective methods that can used to attain this is by frustrating the production process of these drugs.
This is done by identifying the plantations and destroying them before the drugs are produced. Admittedly, this may be a hard task since most of the plantations are well hidden in the forests. However, success in this strategy may go a long way in reducing the end product that gets to the market.
Similarly, the US government should invest more on the coordination of interdiction operations. This means that various law enforcement agencies work together in this fight against drugs trafficking. As Kleiman (2011) acknowledges, law enforcement agencies can never get all the drugs that get into our country.
However, the author proposes that if different agencies work together, they shall in the end reduce the amount of drugs that manage to penetrate these coordinated efforts.
For this to be effective, the US government has instituted a task force that specializes in the capturing of drug dealers and traffickers. In addition, efforts to train similar agencies in neighboring countries have also been implemented. Cutting the supply line at the source is the most efficient way of ensuring that drugs do not get into the US.
In this regard, the government has allocated immense resources towards availing the necessary skills, expertise, technology and manpower to countries that traffic drugs in America. The success of this strategy can be seen from the increased confiscation of various drugs across various trafficking routes.
Additionally, the government has also promoted transit zone operations. Transit zones refer to the routes that are commonly used to traffic particular goods from one area to another.
In this regard, a detailed analysis of the known transit zones has been outlined. To this end, the weaknesses that are exploited by drug traffickers have been identified and countermeasures implemented.
As Warner (2010) reiterates, having a task force that thoroughly patrols the land, waters and monitors airplane activities around the transit zones will not only frustrate the trafficking industry, but will also cut off the supply line thereby de-motivating traffickers from this trade. Finally, stricter policies and punishments should be imposed on individuals caught trafficking, selling or using illicit drugs.
Shahidullah (2010) argues that most traffickers are not afraid of the consequences since they can easily circumvent the law. However, administering harsh punishments to corrupt officials and individuals found guilty of facilitating drug use may in the end deter others from joining the trade.
Conclusion
Drug trafficking is a serious menace to our society. Not only does it lead to social ills such as violence, robbery and antisocial behaviors, but it also threatens the prosperity of our societies by limiting our abilities to perform, all the while shattering the hopes and dreams of many a citizens. From this paper, a detailed analysis of the problem has been provided.
The effects of drug trafficking in the US have been highlighted and logical explanations regarding its prevalence given. Ways in which the menace has been reduced have also been outlined. However, a deeper look into how this menace can be reduced is not only logical, but a necessary endeavor towards securing a better tomorrow.
References
Brown, M. (2000). America’s strategic choices . USA: MIT Press.
DIANE Publishing. (2010). National Drug Control Strategy 2010 . New York: DIANE Publishing.
Go, P. (2010). How Drug Trafficking Affects the United States and Its Youth . Retrieved from https://ezinearticles.com/?How-Drug-Trafficking-Affects-The-United-States-And-Its-Youth&id=1159614
Kleiman, M. (2011). Encyclopedia of Drug Policy . Washington, DC: SAGE.
Ojeda, A. (2002). Drug trafficking. California: Greenhaven Press.
Seelke, C. (2010). Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U. S. Counterdrug Programs. New York: DIANE Publishing.
Shahidullah, S. (2010). Crime policy in America: laws, institutions, and programs . New York: University Press of America.
Sherman, J. (2010). Drug Trafficking . USA: ABDO.
United Nations. (2010). Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2009 . USA: United Nations Publications.
Warner, J. (2010). U.S. Border Security: A Reference Handbook . New Jersey: ABC-CLIO.
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Communication Technology and Specialization Reflective Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Reflection on the theme of modern communication
3. Reflection on the theme of crossing disciplines
4. Conclusion
5. Works Cited
Introduction
Communication can be as basic as a birdcall at dawn, or as complicated as making a satellite phone call that crosses continents.
Communication takes on many different forms; the most commonly applied media of communication between two people is speech. However, people communicate by use of gestures, facial expressions, the written word, images, or coded language.
In the present day and age, where globalization and technology have led to a level of interconnectedness between people, countries and continents as has never been there in the past, communication remains key (Stein, n.p).
The interconnectedness between individuals, sectors and continents now calls for a different kind of specialized knowledge. The traditional approach is for an individual to focus on one area of his/her discipline, and study that area in-depth. However, it is becoming apparent that there can be over-specialization that results in a narrow sort of thinking and limits innovation.
Cross-discipline calls for individuals specializing in one area delving into other branches of study that are not directly related to their current field (Dupree, n.p).
In my opinion, the more important theme between the two themes under discussion is that of Crossing Disciplines. Specialization remains important because it gives a comprehensive understanding in a specific area resulting in more constructive research. However, having a tunnel vision has its drawbacks; this is because no discipline is entirely independent of all other areas of study, research and innovation.
Reflection on the theme of modern communication
In every American household, there is at least one television set. Eighty five percent of households in America own a desktop. There is an estimate of five billion mobile handsets in circulation worldwide today. It is further estimated that by the year 2013, there will be a minimum of ten trillion text messages sent annually (mobicom, n.p).
Within the past decade, there have been major transformations in the way people choose to communicate. Barely ten years ago, it was considered a privilege to own a hand held device. However, cheaper methods of production and improved technology have enabled these devices be available to almost anyone (Matt, n.p).
While computers, mobile phones and other handheld devices have enabled easy communication, and easier access to information, their negative aspects are now beginning to be understood (Matt, n.p). Some scientists and sociologists argue that these devices have run over our lives; so much so that there is less value in human to human communication.
People are spending less and less time actually talking to and relating with each other as they become more hooked to the virtual realm. The argument is that while these devices have fostered communication, they are acting as a barrier to building inter-personal relations between families, co-workers and the society as a whole (Stein, n.p).
Reflection on the theme of crossing disciplines
Scientific research indicates that specialization comes with a downside. When an individual focuses his or her attention on one subject to the point of excluding everything else, the likelihood is that he/she will miss the forest for the tree (Dupree, n.p).
With the high level of specialization that is to be found in the modern day, especially in the arena of science and technology, the implication is that there might be a lack of balance between innovation and specialization (Dupree, n.p).
Technology is meant to ease our way of life; however specialists who are out of touch with the average day to day lifestyle and needs of an individual may end up making it more difficult instead (Dupree, n.p). Take an example of the microwave oven. When microwaves were first introduced into the market, they came with an on and off power switch, and a knob that was used to set time. A typical microwave today has a panel of buttons.
There is a microwave, grill and defrost option. For defrost, you can choose the item (European or American), choose the weight in pounds, kilograms or stones, or you can opt for quick defrost.
Whoever put the panel on the microwave felt that each of the options was very important. The consumer though, is interested in occasionally warming a pizza and will rarely, if ever be called upon to quick defrost two and a third pounds of European chicken.
This is where crossing discipline comes in. sharing of information between the different disciplines is important because it opens up the spectrum of thought (Benedict, n.p). Furthermore, no one discipline stands independently on its own, and nothing other than good can come from the interaction of people in different fields (Dupree, n.p).
Conclusion
There is the cliché English proverb that states ‘too much of everything is poisonous’. This is true of both too much communication technology and specialization. It is ironical that the technology which was initially meant to make it easier to reach other people might in the long run do the exact opposite.
I am a strong advocate for participation in inter-disciplinary research and learning. While those who are not for it may argue that it is better to be a master of one trade than be a jack of all, this argument in itself is not valid. Having an understanding of disciplines related to your own make one better at what they do.
Works Cited
Carey, Benedict. “You’re Bored but your Brain is Tuned in.” New York Times, August 5 2008: Web.
Dupree, Janet. “Innovative Minds don’t Think Alike.” New York Times December 30 2007: Web.
Mobithinking. “Global Mobile Statistics, 2010.” Mobithinking.com, 2010: Web.
Ritchel, Matt. “Don’t Want to Talk About it? Order a Missed Call.” New York Times, August 2 2008: Web.
Stein, Ben. Everybody’s Business. “Connected Yes, but Hermetically Sealed.” New York Times August 24 2008: Web.
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The Ramifications of Hosting Refugees in the Society in Case of Kenya Reflective Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction and thesis statement
2. Security
3. Co-existence in the society
4. Conclusion
Introduction and thesis statement
It is commonplace that hospitality and generosity signifies the hallmark of true gentlemen in the African societies. Modernization and the recent turn of events have instigated a serious change of values and preferences with respect to this. As a result, persons and societies in general tend to prioritize individual gratification and safety before thinking about those with deficiencies. This paper examines the ramifications of hosting refugees, with respect to security and coexistence in the society.
Security
“I fled from my country, not as a result of national conflict or political clash, but with the wild dream to achieve a rich American life style.” As mentioned in my earlier essay, this reason ranked highest among factors that coerced me to quit my home nation. Just like me, most nationals of the war ravaged, or impoverished countries often seek asylum in foreign countries.
In the whole of East and Central Africa, Kenya is always the destination of choice. This may happen due to several reasons, with the relatively peaceful atmosphere most common. For other immigrants like me, the level of infra-structural development and economic stability lures them to the nation.
They travel hoping that they may establish themselves as business personalities, or have it easier to maneuver from as they seek to travel overseas. While a vast majority of these reasons may appear genuine, experience has revealed that considerable populations of these immigrants bear evil intentions.
It should be noted that some camps are in proximity with the borders, hence increasing the security threats tremendously. This happens incase militia disguise themselves as civilians and infiltrate the refuge stations. Given the global terror threat due to the existence of militia groups which are solely focused on destabilizing nations, it is advisable for governments to enforce strict immigration policies.
These rules will bind all people moving into the nation, and explicitly state the qualifications they are to attain before gaining access. It should be noted that Kenya has received several threats from the Al-Shabaab militia group which is widely believed to be a branch of Al-Qaeda, with respect to security of the citizens and the homeland in general. This warning calls for apprehension by the respective governments in a bid to protect their citizens.
Security within the camp is also vital. Continued instances of rape are commonplace in these camps. New arrivals are the most vulnerable, with predators originating both within and outside the camp. It is difficult to identify these sex pests since they wait for the nights in order to carry out their operations.
They have not shown a preference for any age group, since elderly women, the middle aged and young girls all fall victims to these attacks. In the same breath, the female persons living outside the camp are often victims of rape during cattle rustling, operations by the government forces and attacks by bandits targeting their property.
Co-existence in the society
In the case of Kenya, the nation I went to, a majority of these camps are located in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL zones). This implies that the locals have to contend for the meager utilities and natural resources. By hosting some of the largest settlements worldwide, the nation has subjected inhabitants of these regions to intense competition for the vital resources. “Scarcity of medical service made it impossible to prevent unwanted deaths that easily could have been prevented if there had been a proper medical care.
“That is why there was death news daily”, serves as a pointer to the dire situation experienced by the inhabitants of these camps and members of the society in general, since they have to share hospitals and the essentials therein. It is noteworthy, that numerous charity and other health organizations have labored tirelessly in a bid to supplement the available resources.
In addition, to poor Medicare, residents have to compete for water. This commodity is a necessity of life, both for human beings and animals. Residents require it in large amounts to sustain livestock farming, which is their main source of livelihood. This does not take away the fact that they also need to satisfy their physiological needs.
Consequently, a collision course is unavoidable, since all interest groups focus significantly on supplying the camps with water at the expense of the natives. This served to heighten the “deeply rooted xenophobic feelings”, felt towards the immigrants. It becomes hard to coexist under such circumstances, since one party feels aggrieved by the other.
Nutrition also poses a formidable challenge in this region. Malnourished children constitute the landscape of refugee camps. This is often attributed to the starch based rations that are distributed by the aid agencies. In addition, grown ups have weakened body immunity systems due to the same set of reasons.
It should be noted that the situation in the villages is not any better. While the children in the camp have something to eat irrespective of the quantity, children outside these camps often go hungry for days. Most of them have stunted growth in addition, to nutrition-related infections. This makes it difficult for them to interact due to impoverished health.
Conclusion
While the competition for resources and security threats make it hard for these distinct societies to interrelate, it is clear that they are faced with a similar set of problems. Subsequently, the government and other stake holders need to rethink their strategy, by implementing policies that guarantee members of the society similar, if not a higher percentage of benefits. This is because their predicament and that of the refugees are analogous.
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Enhancing Worker’s Productivity through Technology Essay
The research proposal focused on the importance of applying technology in workplaces to enhance worker’s productivity. The proposal suggested that the use of internet by the employees have both negative and positive effects.
Regarding the positive effects, the proposal suggested that the use of internet for leisure activities such as chatting, blogging and doing personal activities motivates and improves the performance of the employees hence productivity in the workplace.
Such an argument is difficult to understand because employees waste their time in leisure activities while the company is expecting high productivity. Since time is a valuable resource that when wasted is forever gone, it is apparent that time wasted by employees in leisure activities translates directly into loss to the company.
It is difficult to understand how employees can spend some hours in leisure and at the same time increase productivity in their workplaces. Conventionally, employees should dedicate their efforts to working for the company throughout the stipulated time and then have leisure at their own time.
Another difficult concept to understand is how the use of technology would enable human resource management to change the mode of management from subjective to objective management that promotes and motivates workers.
Subjective management involves constant monitoring of workers’ activities throughout their working time, and technology has made it possible for human resource managers to track the progress of all employees during work.
With the use of technology such as internet, human resources managers can have real time access to progress of duties and can assess the performance of the employees even from the comfort of their homes.
Ultimately, the application of technology in work places is more subjective as compared to instances where technology is not applicable because human resources management cannot easily track and assess the performance of employees.
In the proposal, it is easy to understand why and how application of technology in various aspects of work in companies increases employees’ performance and productivity.
Many companies are struggling to keep abreast with the advancement in technology because application of technology significantly reduces the cost of labor and production, thus giving their products and services competitive advantage in the market.
The objective of companies is to automate all process that lead to the production of goods and services to avoid unnecessary costs due to manual processes of labor.
Therefore, the use of technology does not only enhance performance and productivity of employees, but also leads to the reduction of labor cost. Therefore, availability of technology and technological experts in workplaces determine the company’s capacity to compete effectively in the world of business.
Finally, it is easy to understand that internet and web-based technologies are great tools that human resources management can employ in attracting prospective employees and retaining current employees.
For the human resources management to access large and diverse pool of employees from various places and backgrounds, internet advertisement and application process prove to be very effective in this era of technological revolution.
Internet adverts reach millions of prospective employees and this increases the chance of human resource management to recruit potential candidates that suit the needs of the company.
Moreover, since human resource management have great task of maintaining current employees, internet is the most convenient means of communication that is essential in monitoring and training of employees. Therefore, internet provides interactive relationship that is critical in motivating employees in the workplaces.
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Relationship between Form and Structure in Design Essay
“Form ever follows structure” is a famous phrase that became the leading concept and “an aesthetic credo” of a Modernist architecture movement. A famous American architecture Louis Sullivan coined this statement in his article “The tall office building artistically considered”.
At that time, when it was necessary to abandon the traditions and style of the past, this concept was a perfect decision of a problem. It gave to architects more freedom, as it permitted more functional approach to design. According to this approach, functional requirements and practical use of constructions should certainly be above the aesthetics.
However, this approach produces much debate and nowadays we can say that it is not a universal one. “Form” and “structure” are two distinct notions that are nor so closely related, moreover, they may suggest different approaches to design and function can follow form sometimes.
Louis Sullivan is one of the most influential American architects that put into words the main principle of modern architecture “form follows function”. He is known as a “father of the skyscraper” and the “prophet of modern architecture”. His main intention was to break up with old traditions and introduce new principles of architecture that would allow architects more freedom and serve to society. Michael. J. Lewis (2001, p.1) writes in his article:
“The goal, of course, was reform. A building should not derive meaning and character from the historical motifs that cluttered its skin, but from the direct, logical expression of its purpose and materials. This was the edicts of functionalism, that – as Louis Sullivan put it – “form follows function”.
Surely, it was the main principle of the modern art, especially, in times after the World War II when people were not interested in beautiful forms but simplified forms. Modern building had to serve the needs of society. The style was generally adopted for institutional and corporate buildings. “Form follows function” statement defined the main traditions of the style.
First of all, the result was determined by used materials and function of the building. Secondly, horizontal and vertical strict lines prevailed. Thirdly, the ornaments were rejected and “unnecessary details” were not used.
The best example of the early buildings that “were not copies of Old World design” (Boudreaux 1993, 1) was Auditorium built by Sullivan. It had all the features of the “modern building”. It was the tallest building in Chicago, it was very massive, without much ornaments and very practical.
Sullivan said that “gradual growth on native ground would lead to next generation of design”. (Boudreaux 1993, 2). In general, new perception of “form” and “function” reflected the needs of modern society of that time, it defined the main directions in architecture design for many years becoming a basic concept of it.
However, times change and today there should be (and there are) new approaches to design. These days, the phrase “form follows function” should not be taken at face value. Function is not the only determinative for the building construction. There are also other factors that should be taken into consideration.
They are the materials, climate and even a social structure that can dictate the form of a building. In order to explain the “independence” of “form” and “function” we should discuss them separately. The form of building much depends on the materials that are used. Let us take ancient or prehistoric buildings in different parts of the world, for example, a simple house with people used as shelters.
The function was the same: to preserve warm, hide from rain and wind. However, can we say that all the buildings are the same? “The functional interpretation of prehistoric architecture is especially difficult, because of its fragmentary state of preservation and because possible functions are not known a priori” (Trebsche, 2009, p. 505).
First of all, the techniques are different. Hardly prehistoric “architects” could use concrete, glass and other materials. One more option that is crucial is the climate. Compare the housings in China and South Africa, for example, with indigenous wigwam. Chinese people did not need to use the fells of animals to preserve their homes in warm.
Social structure and the level of development of it are also important factors. When archeologists find ancient buildings, they can say for sure if it belonged to reach or poor person and in which historical period it was built, as according to Trebsche (2009) “limiting factors restrain the feasible possibilities” (p. 506).
The form of the building is a great demonstration of these signs. By the way, the same situation is preserved in our time as well: the richer a person, the better housing it has.
Analyzing the “function” as an independent issue, it should be mentioned that function not always determines the form of a building. It is a common practice, especially nowadays, when a building which had to be a shop, for example, serves as a beauty salon. Thus, the function and form does not have any meaning in such case.
“The number of possible functions seems to be infinite” (Trebsche 2009, p. 510). There are different functions that building can fulfill: economic, social, cultural, symbolic, etc.
If we consider the example when one building is used for different purposes, we can say that there is a primary (denotative) and secondary (connotative) functions. (Trebsche 2009, p. 509-510). If one sees that the form of a building permits to use it for different purposes, it can define its function.
Relation between “form” and “structure” is important, but not obligatory and we can change a famous phrase of Sullivan as “function follows form”. “Form does not follow function alone, because Sullivan’s law can easily be falsified empirically. All the more urgently, the question arises, which other factors influence the form of buildings” (Trebsche 2009, p. 506).
Thus, we can assume that form is one of things that determine the form of the building. There are also economic, technological, social, cross-cultural and many other factors. Modernists considered that architecture “is charged with meaning and acts as symbols” (Trebsche 2009, p. 506).
Progress and functionalism were the core principles of modernism. These days the functionalism stands on the same level with aesthetics. The form and function of a building can influence each other or even go separately. Moreover, the needs of modern society have changed and a social power of architectural buildings does not mean so much anymore.
Trebsche (2009, p. 506).says that “there is no unidirectional relation between architecture and social structures, but that they mutually influence each other”.
Thus, a famous statement of Louis Sullivan that “form follows function” can be debated. Moreover, these days, it can even be changed to “function follows form”. In addition, modern approach to architecture and design proves that “form” and “function” are two independent notions that can influence on each other and even go separately. A number of factors determine the connection between these issues. These are the historical, social, economical and cultural factors.
References
Boudreaux, G. 1993, “Louis Sullivan: The Growth of an Idea”, Auditorium to the Bank. Web.
Lewis, M. J. 2001, “Louis Sullivan after functionalism” The New Criterion .
Trebsche, P. 2009, “Does form follow function? Towards a methodical interpretation of archaeological building features”, World Archaeology Vol. 41(3), pp. 505–519.
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Connection Between Substance Abuse and Personality Annotated Bibliography
Annotated bibliography
Mercer, Deanna, Douglass, Alan B., Links, Paul S. (2009). Meta-Analyses of Mood Stabilizers, Antidepressants and Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: Effectiveness for Depression and Anger Symptoms. Journal of Personality Disorders , 23(2), 156-174.
The research implemented by Mercer et al. (2009) aimed at defining whether mood stabilizers, antidepressants and antipsychotics are effective for treating anger and depression in patients with borderline personality disorder. The present study was based on the surveys which present validated data.
Mercer et al. (2009) reported that mood stabilizers (except divalproic acid and carbamazepine) had quite considerable impact on anger reduction. Antidepressants had smaller, quite sparing, effect on both anger and depression reduction whereas antipsychotics had a moderate impact on anger reduction, and did not affected depression.
However, Mercer et al (2009) pointed out that their survey did not cover the data of the impact of such substances on patients with alcohol or substance abuse and self-harm behavior.
Aharonovich, Efrat, Nguyen, Hueco T., Nunes, Edward V. (2001). Anger and Depressive States among Treatment-Seeking Drug Abusers: Testing the Psychopharmacological Specificity Hypothesis. The American Journal on Addictions , 10(4), 327-334.
Aharonovich et al. (2001) researched whether specific type of drugs caused specific disorders in patients with these substances abuse. The researches assumed that due to their different pharmacological properties such drugs as opiates, cocaine, cannabis can produce different effects on abusers’ behavior. The changes in behavior of sixty participants (50 men and 10 women) were studied. Aharonovich et al. (2001) found that the patients’ behavior can be characterized by increased anger and depression. However, the researchers did not reported about the correlation between the type of drugs and precise change in behavior. Though, the survey scored some elevated depression in opiate abusers and elevated anger in cocaine addicts, these data are insignificant to define the correlation between drugs and behavior deviation.
Fox, Helen C., Hong, Kwang-lk A., Siedlarz, Kristen, Sinha, Rajita. (2008). Enhanced Sensitivity to Stress and Drug/Alcohol Craving in Abstinent Cocaine-Dependent Individuals Compared to Social Drinkers. Neuropsychopharmacology , 33(4), 796-805.
Fox et al. (2008) surveyed whether there were changes in stress response and craving in patients with substance abuse and patients with alcohol abuse. The behavior of forty people of the former group and forty people of the latter were examined. The participants’ respond to the imaginary stressful and more relaxing situations was observed. The researchers reported that drug abusers are more vulnerable to stress and craving than alcohol abusers. The alcohol addicts revealed considerably moderate response to stress. Thus, the survey suggested that drug addicts’ recovery could be hindered by their increased sensitivity to stress and craving.
Mulvey, Edward P., Odgers, Candice, Skeem, Jennifer, Gardner, William, Schubert, Carol, Lidz, Charles. Substance Use and Community Violence: A Test of the Relation at the Daily Level. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 74(4), 743-754.
Mulvey et al. (2006) researched the correlation between the substance (alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, etc.) abuse and violence in patience. The researchers concluded that the use of such substances leads to the increased likelihood of violence. The survey justified that the patients with mental disorders (at a high risk of violent behavior) who took substances like alcohol or drugs revealed increased amount of violent in the following days. The researchers also consider the implications of the use of such substances.
Bond, Alyson J., Verheyden, Suzanne L., Wingrove, Janet, Curran, H. Valerie. (2004). Angry Cognitive Bias, Trait Aggression and Impulsivity in Substance Users. Psychopharmacology , 171(3), 331-339.
Bond et al (2004) surveyed the correlation between substance abuse (and abuse for methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), in particular) and aggressive behavior. The participants of the research were addicts who took the drugs recently, abusers who did not take drugs for a year, and non-abusers.
The participants had to process biased short stories with a key sentence revealing aggression or anger. The researchers concluded that people who took drugs were faster to process aggression biased passages which revealed that they were characterized by angry cognitive bias. Besides, the researchers did not obtain the evidence of particular impact of MDMA. Thus, the Bond et al. (2004) concluded that drug abusers reveal the presence of angry cognitive biased.
Relationship between substance abuse and personality
The latest findings on the problem
The implication of substance abuse is being extensively surveyed nowadays. Researchers report about the changes of behavior and even personality in substance abusers. Such addicts are characterized by more aggressive behavior and more sensitivity to depression and stress.
Various surveys suggest that drug addicts start playing more active role in the social life, they become distant and even indifferent to the world around them. The main concern of such people is their craving to drugs or alcohol. It is necessary to point out that drug abusers are more stressful and aggressive than alcohol addicts. Moreover, drug abusers’ recovery is much more hampered by such behavior changes as aggression, depression, anger and hyper-sensitivity to stress.
Difference substances cause the same effect
It is necessary to add that there can be no such notion as safer drugs or less harmful alcohol abuse. Different pharmacological peculiarities of such substances as cocaine, amphetamine, marijuana, etc. lead to the same consequences: the change of personality.
Of course, apart from psychological deviations any drug abuse can lead to numerous health problems. Any substance abuse affects such important systems as endocrine vascular.
The risk group – adolescent drug abusers
It is essential to point out that substance abuse in adolescents is even more dangerous since the organism is still growing and is more subjected to various factors. There can be no surprise that adolescent drug abusers are more subjected to the changes in behavior. Aggression, violence or depression can affect greatly the development of personality. Thus, the use of drugs is unacceptable for people of all ages, but especially for adolescents.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to note that drug abuse causes severe changes in behavior (or even change of personality), and various serious health problems, irrespective of drugs pharmacological peculiarities. It is also necessary to point out that the drug abuse in young people leads to more serious mental and other health problems.
Reference
Aharonovich, Efrat, Nguyen, Hueco T., Nunes, Edward V. (2001). Anger and Depressive States among Treatment-Seeking Drug Abusers: Testing the Psychopharmacological Specificity Hypothesis. The American Journal on Addictions , 10(4), 327-334.
Bond, Alyson J., Verheyden, Suzanne L., Wingrove, Janet, Curran, H. Valerie. (2004). Angry Cognitive Bias, Trait Aggression and Impulsivity in Substance Users. Psychopharmacology , 171(3), 331-339.
Fox, Helen C., Hong, Kwang-lk A., Siedlarz, Kristen, Sinha, Rajita. (2008). Enhanced Sensitivity to Stress and Drug/Alcohol Craving in Abstinent Cocaine-Dependent Individuals Compared to Social Drinkers. Neuropsychopharmacology , 33(4), 796-805.
Mercer, Deanna, Douglass, Alan B., Links, Paul S.. (2009). Meta-Analyses of Mood Stabilizers, Antidepressants and Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: Effectiveness for Depression and Anger Symptoms. Journal of Personality Disorders , 23(2), 156-174.
Mulvey, Edward P., Odgers, Candice, Skeem, Jennifer, Gardner, William, Schubert, Carol, Lidz, Charles. Substance Use and Community Violence: A Test of the Relation at the Daily Level. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 74(4), 743-754.
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Definition of the Religion as a Form of Diversity Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Religion as a Form of Diversity
3. Conclusion
Introduction
Religions are sets of personal or community institutionalized system of attitudes, principles, beliefs, convections and practices in adoring faith.Religion diversity has taken forefront focus since the history of world’s major modern religions and traditional beliefs. In today’s world of politics, democracy and increased globalization, religions has taken a contentious agenda in many countries and communities.
World religions are numerous and different in beliefs and convections. However, according to theological principles, religion diversity is rampant in modern societies. Religious leaders and sociologies often ask questions on whether there is a popular religion. The major idea is the fact that religious diversity challenges the prospects for religion understanding.
This easy tries to evaluate whether religion should or can be considered as a form of diversity. Particularly, the idea revolves on how religion can change things in the society. If it is capable of changing, is it for better or for worse?
Religion as a Form of Diversity
Religion is a practice of exhibiting the true relationship between man and his creator, provider and protector. Usually, religion is way of life or traditional convection towards God and plays a crucial part or role in lives of most humankind population. Religion and religion diversity are expressed by believers to cause strong opinions and emotions in all environments.
Religion diversity can simply refer to the development of religions that depend on the cultures. In modern societies, religion and its diversity is attached to public institutions. Public institution may include the government, political parties, and family institutions. In addition, schools and public health centers are also associated with religion and its diversity.
Many constitutions around the globe guarantee freedom of religious or faith of choice. All parts of the worlds including Europe and America are serious religious faith seekers. The major religion beliefs in the world are the Judaism, Christianity and Islamic. These beliefs are widely spread in all corners of the planet. Most interestingly, these religion beliefs have regions that are dominated by a particular religion.
In America and Europe, Christianity influences conduct more that it does to other continent and countries. Islamic religion in Middle East influences more that any other religion. According to studies done in most parts of world, people believe in God, practice religion and consider religion as a single most factor to growth in their lives. All countries practices nearly all religions found in the world.
Christianity records the highest level of diversity in many countries. Christianity is divided into Roman Christians and the Protestants. Protestants are diverse to grow major other religions such as, seventh day, Jehovah witness, gospel followers, Unitarians, Mormons, Christian scientists and others.
Other Christianity diversification includes the Catholics, Anglicans, Jews, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Calvinists among many others. This diversity has increased rapidly over decades that have made countries to recognize freedom in faith in constitutions and other rule of laws.
History reveals that religions diversity runs countries at a risk of divisions. One historical event recorded is the Americanization event. During Americanization time, Catholics immigrants fought at Protestants and other denominations were forced to migrate to other countries.
In the ancient empires, rulers were well supported by majority religion, which meant to sabotage growth of other less popular religions. In this regard, religion has provided some commonality to purpose. Important aspect in religion diversity is their role to dividing and unifying populations.
Dramatic political or social growing diversity related to religions may lead to drastic shift in country’s masterpiece towards conflicts. Similarly, the prevalence of religion may prompt tolerance and commitment in facilitating religion maneuvers on some country’s vital issues and fight for respect to fellow religion diversities. Therefore, religion should be considered as a form of diversity.
To make things change in a country, region diversity depends on two factors. One is the organization either public or private, and how denominations or churches are organized. Secondly is the divergence in beliefs, practices and rituals in their religion organizations.
Conclusion
Religion as a form of diversity is one with difficulties. Today’s world is making religion diversities be more visible than how they were in the past decades or olden days. In addition, the diversity has raised concerns over reactions towards countries economic or social policies and other related individuals practices.
The role of religion is commonality to citizens and uniformity in cultures. Diversity in faiths will can results to divisions and conflicts. Therefore, religions can be considered as form of diversity. Besides, its diversity can change a country from good to worse.
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Different Ways in Which Religion Influences the Society Report
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Impact of religion on society
3. Conclusion
4. References
Introduction
Religion has existed as long as man himself, it has been the center of our livelihoods with different communities belonging to different religion. Religion influences the society in many different aspects. This paper looks at the different ways in which religion influences the society.
Impact of religion on society
Effective parenting determines the kind of society that will develop when the parented children become citizens. Parents lead their children to religion where they are taught good and evil, dos and don’ts, moral ethics religious beliefs and so on.
Children are introduced to different beliefs depending on the religion of the parents and they grow up believing what they are taught as the absolute truth. For example, children brought up in a Christian set up grow up believing in Christian basics such as the holy trinity, Jesus and creation among others. These teachings are usually passed from one generation to another.
Religion plays a very important role in shaping the society. All religions have one basic ideology in that they strive to make the society a better place to live in. Religion teaches that there is always ultimate reward for the good people in the society and also punishment for the bad people and quite a large number of people in the society believe in the religion and they practice good ethics.
This makes the society a better place to live in as was suggested by Fagan (2006) when he claimed that “Religion also leads to a reduction in the incidence of domestic abuse, crime, substance abuse, and addiction” (Fagan, 2006, p. 1).
Religion affects the education system which is an integral part of the society. Many religious sectors such as Muslim and Christian community support education system and some of them even run their own academic institutions such as catholic schools.
This has a positive impact in the society which heavily depends on the empowerment of the members of the society a report by Sherkat (2007) claims that “religious factors also influence the context of contemporary higher education. Increasing rates of college attendance in the general population” (Sherkat, 2007, p.1)
Religion affects the political leadership of a given society. Many communities usually belong to a particular religion and as such the leadership of such societies is directly influenced by the religion of that community.
A good example is when a Christian person tries to contest for a leadership position in a Muslim community. The person may have good leadership qualities but is not likely to be elected due to his religious affiliation.
On the other hand religious beliefs are likely to influence the type of leadership since different leaders have different religious beliefs. A report by PRC (2011) suggested that the society expects their leaders to express their religious beliefs “there is more criticism of the president for taking his faith into account too little, rather than too much” (PRC, 2011, p. 1).
Religious organizations usually represent the views of their followers. When it comes to the political arena the religious organizations always try to air their views concerning the issues affecting the community.
PRC (2011) reports that a big percentage of Americans expect their religious leaders to make their stand about pressing issues affecting the community since they believe in their religious leaders to make politically neutral stand on the issues and they are always wiling to follow them (PRC, 2011).
Religion may influence the rate at which the population of a given society increases. Many religion affiliations have their guidelines on the nature of an ideal family set up. Most prefer monogamous family set up.
Others may have allowances for polygamy depending on the prevailing situations. In times of war when many men are killed religion always interpret their laws to support polygamy to protect the population and later interpret differently to favor monogamy this way it is able to influence the rate of increase of a given society.
Religion influences how the rich and the poor relate to one another in the society. Religion gives hope to the poor in the society. Most of the saviors in religion beliefs are usually displayed as poor for example Jesus is believed to have been born in a manger and Muhammud himself did not come from a rich family.
This gives hope to the poor in the society as they also teach them of the importance of hard work that will make them rich. On the other hand religion teaches the rich to be humble and supportive to the less privileged in the society and in this way the society is able to live together in harmony.
Most religion organizations usually influence the society on the best things to be taken and what ought not to be taken. Most of them restrict use of alcohol and other stimulants that have a negative effect on the health of man.
Restriction on alcohol helps to influence the society towards consuming goods that will be beneficial to them and avoid harming themselves hence promoting a healthy society. It has been argued that order within a family setting can be influenced by religion: “religion also leads to a reduction in the incidence of domestic abuse, crime, substance abuse, and addiction” (Fagan, 2006, p. 1).
Religion has also influenced the society in a negative way as was probably seen during the infamous jihad war in north of Africa that left many people dead. This is one case where religion strive to win over the others to a point where war results. When different religious groups differ on matters affecting the same community a conflict arises and this may result to enmity among the members of the same community.
In order for society to exist in harmony there has to be law and order. Laws are made by law makers and different communities have different laws depending on religious beliefs. An example is the Sharia law in Islam which is different from either Jewish or Christian based laws.
This shows how religion influences the legal institutions of a society. Since the society exists within the given law parameters then religion may be said to influence the society in this way. Fagan suggests that “legislators should seek constitutionally appropriate ways to explore the impact of religious practice on society and, where appropriate, recognize its role and importance” (Fagan, 2006, p. 1).
Conclusion
Religion has been found to have profound effect on the society in many ways. Religion influences how children are brought up, legal systems such as Sharia law in the Muslim community, promote good social ethics by making sure the community live as a family, influencing population growth of the community by its model of a family setting.
There are also cases in history when religion influenced the society negatively by creating hatred towards other religious groups as in historic Jihad war that killed many. Religion however is a very important part of any society in ensuring people live together as a family.
References
Fagan, P. (2011). Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability . Heritage Research Reports . Web.
PRC. (2011). Religion and Politics: Contention and Consensus . Pew Research Center . Web.
Sherkat, D. (2007). Religion and Higher Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly . Religion . Web.
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Renato Poggioli: The Concept of a Movement: The Theory of the Avant-Garde Definition Essay
The subtleties of language are not lost on Renato Poggioli. In his mind, “language is our greatest historical revealer” [p. 17].
The Concept of a Movement is the chapter that Poggioli devotes to defining avant garde art. Herein, the author details a crucial distinction between the avant garde and other historical periods of artistic practice, not only in terms of old versus new, but also how the artists named their practice.
Artists that align themselves to a school, in Poggioli’s mind, comprise an altogether different breed than those that identify with a movement. Most significantly, how the artists thought about their practice, for Poggioli, reveals their category.
Art that derives from a school owes its origin to some form of official endorsement or affirmation, which it requires as a necessary element of its creation. School art must be sanctioned, and depends more or less on historical as well as mainstream acceptance. For Poggioli, “the school notion presupposes a master and a method, the criterion of tradition, and the principle of authority” [p. 20].
Conversely, “the followers of a movement always work in terms of an end immanent in the movement itself” [p. 20]. Said end need not be sanctioned, accepted, affirmed, valued, or even understood, by those outside the movement.
Where the school presupposes disciples consecrated to a transcendent end, Poggioli believes, the movement holds multiple paths for multiple participants who may or may not arrive in the same location [p. 20].
Art based in the school form also has a qualitatively different energy than that which originates as part of a movement. “The school [art] is preeminently static and classical, while the movement is essentially dynamic and romantic” [p.20].
Innovation remains muted in the school, since it carries the weight of historical precedence, and its proponents produce work in a somewhat limited field, hamstrung by the need for permission. Movements, on the other hand, remain free of precedent, thus, its participants remain free to germinate and generate based on the present moment and their own experience.
Poggioli also points to the conceptual difference between the two camps, with an emphasis on diverging views in the artists’ understanding of culture.
The school is inconceivable outside the humanistic ideal, the idea of culture as a thesaurus. The movement, instead, conceives of culture not as increment but as creation – or, at least, as a center of activity and energy [p. 20].
This distinction in thought bears scrutiny. Particularly, Poggioli’s use of the term “thesaurus” to describe culture produces a lightning rod [p. 20]. Essentially, artists belonging to a school will always be creating synonyms of the work of their forbearers, in Poggioli’s mind; thus, the work looks backward, and endlessly repeats, reinvents, and rehashes. Artists in the school therefore do not experience time in the present moment, but continually live and create in the past.
Artists who adhere to a movement, on the other hand, not only live in the present moment, but understand culture as a social agreement, one that is constantly in flux. Culture endlessly transforms according to individual epoch and contemporary events.
Thus, these artists create work that reflects their own selves in their own times, times that always change. Therefore the artists of a movement, and their artistic products, more closely resemble the actual experience of life and art: dynamic, fluid, and live.
Poggioli moves on to discuss the difference in purpose between reviews of work that comes from the school and those that emanate from the movement.
The school does not aim to discuss; it intends only to teach [p. 24]. [T]he school prefers to create new variants of traditional poetics and rhetoric, normative or didactic simply by nature [p. 25].
Reviews of avant garde work, conversely, engage in the vital task of
affirm[ing] in words the uniqueness, particularity, or exceptionality of its own theoretical and practical achievements. [Avant garde reviews and reviewers] more faithfully bear witness to divergence and exception: they operate in closer proximity to the sources of the work, closer to the creative process and the experimental phases [p. 25].
Ostensibly, Poggioli challenges avant garde reviews and reviewers to disseminate the conceptual framework of the movement, and become artists themselves in the process.
For Poggioli, the avant garde movement breaks down into four discrete aspects or moments: activism, antagonism, nihilism, and agonism [p. 25-26].
Activism refers to the movement’s propensity to take shape and agitate for no other end than its own self, out of the sheer joy of dynamism, a taste for action, a sportive enthusiasm, and the emotional fascination of adventure [p. 26].
Antagonism names the movement’s tendency to rail against something, be it the school, tradition, or authority [p. 26]. Nihilism labels the urge of the movement to indulge in wholesale destruction, and advocate a cultural fire sale of sorts.
Agonism, finally, describes the element of the movement that produces artistic martyrs, participants who “accept self-ruin as an obscure or unknown sacrifice to the success of future movements” [p. 26]. Poggioli delineates further within the four aspects to attach activism and antagonism to rational pursuits, and nihilism and agonism to the irrational.
The avant garde, as defined by Poggioli, exists as a social force, as well as an artistic one. It differs from the art formed by a school in that it seeks to live in the present moment, and express itself to the public from a shared psychological, physical, and emotional space, indicative of a particular time, culture, and zeitgeist.
The avant garde movement hunts large scale engagement and involvement, both from its members as well as the public, and creates its own end. The school, on the other hand, seeks to teach, and wishes only to reveal its teachings to a select group of converts who will in turn learn, and eventually continue the tradition and teach. Art from a school therefore can remain isolated from the public, and may or may not choose to engage with it.
Reference List
Poggioli, Renato. 1968. The Concept of a Movement . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Andy Warhol and Paul Young: Contributions, Works and Ideas Report
Table of Contents
1. Andy Warhol
2. Paul Young
3. Works Cited
Andy Warhol
There are many talented people, who have already died, still, memories about their contributions, works, and ideas make them alive always. One of such people was Andrew Warhola, also known as Andy Warhol. His avant-garde style and attitude to his paintings made him popular around the whole world.
If I had a chance to meet this person and ask one question, I would like to know about the system according to which he chose people for his clique. The question would sound as follows: “Warhol superstars were one of the most popular cliques in the New York City. Why were you so confident in people chosen specially in Paul America or Eric Emerson?”.
The biography of the artist was rich indeed: being a fourth child in the family of immigrants, the boy lost his father very soon and suffered because of numerous diseases as a result of which a kind of phobia to hospitals and doctors was developed.
He lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then he moved to New York where he died at the age of 58 because of serious health problems (Mattern 6). He got his education at one of the schools as well as at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburg and had the special degree in commercial art. To earn for living, he worked in the sphere of illustrating and advertising.
He also tried himself at filmmaking and printmaking, and painting. And all spheres turned out to be rather successful to him. One of his best projects was the development of the clique Warhol Superstars and the studio The Factory where he promoted various actors and musicians.
The main idea of his work was to provide different people with the bright chance as possible because some of them really deserved this chance. The vast majority of his works are interesting to me as they helped to understand that hope and personal beliefs could change the whole world just as Andy Warhol did it.
Paul Young
Paul Young is a successful independent journalist, critic, art writer, and curator ( Gallery ). His achievements into the world of art remain to be rather influential, and his activities are always under attention of many people. One of his latest interests is 3D technologies and their availability to ordinary people. His projects are always unique and captivating.
One of the questions I would be eager to pose to this person is connected to the ways of how he chooses the themes for his performance. The question is: “When did you understand that 3D technologies could be in demand and were you confident about your success?”. The life of this person does not differ a lot from the lives of many other people.
He was born and continues living in Los Angeles. He got his education in one of the local schools and his final achievement in education was the master degree in film directing. His experience and knowledge provide him with a wonderful chance to earn for living after his graduation.
Though he did not have a day job, his articles appeared in the magazines and journals like The Los Angeles Times, Elle, and New York Times . In several years, he got the weekly column in The Los Angeles Times where he had to highlight the latest news in the sphere of modern art.
One of his projects which are now available to people is SymmetryGates that is performed with the help of 3D technologies. The main theme of this project is not only to introduce how progressive art technologies could be but also to show how changing the world actually is.
Young is the curator who wants to address a variety of ideas in his projects, this is why it is wrong to try to identify the main aspect; still, it is better to enjoy the beauty of the offered performance. It is hard to be not-interested in the works of this person. My interest is based on the possibility to learn the world by means of a variety of details offered in the performance as well as 3D technologies which captivate a lot.
Works Cited
“Gallery”. YoungProjects . N.d. Web.
Mattern, Joanne. Andy Warhol . Edina: ABDO, 2005.
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Reading and Literacy Statistics Report
Educational research on reading and writing has revealed valuable information about recent discussion of reading problems as well as effective strategies for improving this situation. In particular, much research has been done to evaluate such problems as reading approaches to children with disabilities.
Many programs have been developed for fostering children’s adjustment to particular reading instructions. In addition, the National Right to Read Foundation (n. d.) provides the examination of the programs on reading recovery whose major mission lies in evaluating the major effects of whole-language tutorial program (Federally Funded Research, n. d.).
More importantly, reading recovery program also strives to unveil the program is efficiency and implementation is not justified. Finally, educational research has also been dedicated to the discussion of reading models and theoretical frameworks that should be used to improve educational techniques.
While analyzing the history of reading, it purposefully to discuss this aspect from different points of view, beginning with history of reading and ending with contemporary achievements in this field.
In order to examine the historical development of reading, it is necessary to refer to the analysis and definition of spoken language and human communication and consider reading a necessity to sharing and retaining information (A Brief History of Reading, n. d.).
Examining such historical issues as the development of phonetic system and the invention of alphabet allows teachers to better understand what strategies and techniques should be applied to ameliorate children’s reading comprehension. In addition, a thorough investigation of reading history also helps realize the importance of reading as a means of information comprehension.
While comparing past achievements in reading and writing with the contemporary ones involving electronic and digital introductions to reading activities, it is worth saying that technology has greatly contributed to the development of reading techniques.
Report on Literacy Statistics
According to the National Assessment of Adult Literary statistics (1990), more than 19.000 adults take part in state-level and national evaluations representing the US adult population. The evaluation provides the results from a 1992-2003 period to pursue the shifts in adult literacy.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy also presents the information on the literacy performance and background characteristics to policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. The Literacy research involves a list of components that cover the extent of adult literacy in the USA.
In particular, it is based on background questionnaire that helps define the connection between adult literacy and demographic characteristics. Further, the research involves the prison component that evaluates the literacy skills of adults in state and federal prisons. Such aspect as health literacy is also crucial in assessing the adults’ abilities to apply their literacy skills for understanding health-related materials and forms.
Other research has been conducted assess the educational progress (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1990). The project is aimed at evaluating students’ abilities in different subject areas, particularly in reading, writing, science, mathematics, the arts, economics, civics, and the US history.
The research discloses the results in instructional experiences, subject-matter achievements and school environment. It should be stressed that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (1990) does not reveal the results of separate students, but provides the scores of particular groups. In addition, while conducting research, the Committee has chosen particular groups for analysis due to the fact that those groups constitute special interest to the examination.
Reference List
A Brief History of Reading . (n. d.). Live Link. Retrieved from http://www.liveink.com/whatis/history.htm
Federally Funded Research (n. d.). The National Right to Read Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.liveink.com/whatis/history.htm
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (1990) . National Center for Educational Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/naal/
National Assessment of Educational Progress (1990) . National Center for Educational Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
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Strategic HR Management in the Hospitality Industry Report
Introduction
The fact that today’s employees are fundamentally different from employees of yesteryears necessitates the development of new methods and techniques to tackle current and future challenges in the Human Resource industry. Workers are different in terms of skills, motivation, goals, perceptions and many other variables.
Hence, employees cannot be administered using traditional human resource methods. Apart from change in modern day workers, the internal and external environment that most firms operate from has also fundamentally changed.
Human resource has experienced evolution over the years. Strategic Human Resource Management is a new development, which if effectively utilized, could be used to solve current problems facing human resource. Firms are becoming more market-oriented as opposed to production-oriented. Production has become less labour-intensive with advancements in technology.
Firms are more sensitive towards employee welfare because it is crucial for optimal employee productivity. Strategic Human Resource Management offers solutions to current and future Human Resource problems.
Strategic Human Resource Management is a fairly new concept. According to Schuler and walker, human resource management refers to the activities and processes carried out by the employees and managers in an organization to reach business solutions to problems. In essence, Human Resource Management involves the administration of workers/employees in an organization by a responsible line manager.
Strategic Human Resource Management, on the other hand, is the systematic implementation of processes and activities to formulate policies that will govern the administration of workers in a firm. This is done in view of the objectives of the firm.
It is a proactive approach that seeks to plan ahead and develop new ways through which a company can better manage its employees. This report takes a look at HR problems in the hospitality industries. It also puts forward recommendations to counter these problems. In addition, it also undertakes a precise analysis of the current internal and external environment in the hospitality industry (Lockyer, 2008).
A Brief Overview of the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry encompasses a broad category of fields within the service sector. Lodges motels, resorts, theme parks and other recreational centres form this industry. This is a multimillion dollar industry that forms the backbone of most world economies. This sector grows because of the availability of leisure time and a favourable disposable income.
The industry can be divided into various subsectors such as; food and beverages, accommodation and lodging, gaming and entertainment, conferences and events and many other broad categories. Firms that operate in this industry have employees working under various functions of the organisation.
Being a social and interactive industry human resource management is very important. Employees need appropriate training to make guests feel welcome and to build a reputation. In this industry, reputation is paramount.
Employees of a firm can destroy or build the reputation of the firm. Employees play a major role in defining the image of the firm consequently, attracting or repelling customers. Being a dynamic and versatile industry, there are numerous challenges facing human resource practice in the hospitality industry.
Challenges Facing Human Resource Practice in the Hospitality Industry
Technological Advancement
Organisations are moving away from labour intensive production methods to capital intensive methods. This presents a lot of challenges to managers in an organisation with regards to human resources.
New technology means that workers have to be trained in order to equip them with the relevant skills for optimum use of equipments. The firm also has to come up with strategies to combat employee resistance to change. Employees must be psychologically prepared for change if change is to be effective.
In some cases, technological advancement may translate into staff being laid off. Technology may make some workers redundant and hence a liability to the firm. The firm is faced with the challenge of retrenching some of the workers. Retrenchment is a very sensitive matter which if not properly carried out could lead to conflicts.
The firm also has to strike a balance between human labour and machines so as to ensure none of the two is compromised in the production process. For example online booking of reservations has greatly reduced the number of employees required at the reception office.
Globalisation
The world has become a global village. Now more than ever people are moving across countries for both business and leisure purposes. Multinational companies are increasing in size and stature.
The media is playing a very crucial role in promoting foreign tourism. Influx of visitors from foreign countries has created a lot of business for firms in the hospitality industry. Globalisation has brought with it a lot of social interaction with people from different backgrounds.
A firm has to train its workers on how to interact with visitors from foreign culture. Nowadays, ability to speak in a foreign language is an added advantage to job seekers in the hospitality industry. How then does a firm deal with the challenges that come with globalisation?
Value Chain
Human resource focus is shifting from managing activities to managing the value chain. Firms are thus forced to realign their strategies to be based on the value chain. Human resource managers are tasked with the activity of aligning all staff members towards a common objective. For there to be an effective value chain goal congruency is very important.
Labour Turnover
Compared to other industries, the hospitality industry is growing very fast. Such growth and expansion creates a lot of employment opportunities. The human resource function is tasked with the responsibility of recruitment training and retention of staff. The market is flooded with people trained in hospitality fields.
It is difficult for the HR mangers to identify recruit and retain staff. Labour turnover is very high since there are numerous employment opportunities. The HR function has to derive mechanisms of retaining staff. High labour turnover is a cost that a firm must minimize.
Reconstruction and Mergers
Most companies are going global and those in the hospitality industry are not an exception. Most hotels and lodges want to have a presence in the world’s most popular tourist destinations. Hotels such as Hilton and Serena are present in most major cities of the world.
This is made possible through acquisition mergers and takeovers. Such mergers and acquisitions task the HR function with the responsibility of harmonizing staff of the holding and subsidiary companies. If the workers are not well managed conflicts of interest may arise between the two sides.
Peak And Off Peak Fluctuations
One of the main problem facing firms in the hospitality industry is the fluctuation in business during peak and off peak periods. Visitors normally prefer to take holidays during summer and stay way during winter. During off peak periods, most resources of the firm including human resources are left idle.
The HRM function has to be creative to keep workers busy during the off peak period or are forced to lay off some of the staff members. The firm therefore has to avoid recruiting and retrenching workers during peak and off peak periods respectively. It is costly and at the same time inefficient to keep on hiring and firing (Beer, 2005)
Analysis of the Hospitality Industry Environment
An organisation cannot exist on its own. Decision making and policy making is influenced by the immediate and external environment. The internal environment (micro environment) can be controlled by the firm whereas the external environment (macro environment) is not within the control of the firm. These environments have a direct effect on the HRM function of a firm (Brotherton, 2008)
External Environment and How It Affects HRM
Legislation
The hospitality industry is largely affected by government, municipal and other relevant laws and regulations. The human resource function has to keep abreast with legal matters at all times in order to formulate policies that do not contradict the law. The government for example can impose an age limit for sale of alcohol thus increasing or reducing the number of customers.
The HRM function has to train staff to abide by these rules in order to avoid getting into the wrong side of the law. This is important since breaking the law will attract huge fines and bad publicity to the firm.
Political Factors
The hospitality industry is greatly affected by politics. Political instability in a country has adverse effects on its hospitality industry. Travel sanctions to unstable destinations issued by countries to its citizens have a negative effect on business. HRM function has to device mechanisms to counter fall in customers during times of political upheaval. The management also has to ensure that politics does not spill into the work place.
Environmental Factors
The world is going green, the society is more conscious of its environment now more than ever. Corporate social responsibility is a definite plus for companies. In the hospitality industry where image is everything, a firm has to employ eco friendly ways of production. The HRM function therefore, has to instil a culture of environmental consciousness to their staff.
Economic Factors
The hospitality industry benefits when peoples disposable income is high. During recession time, there was a major decrease of visitors to major tourist destinations. These had adverse effects on business in the hospitality industry with hotels and lodges experiencing record losses. The HRM function therefore has to review the salary of workers downwards in order to minimize losses or lay off staff. When business is booming on the other hand, there is a shortage of workers hence the HRM function has to recruit more workers to cater for the deficit.
Social Factors
With the globalisation and expansion of businesses, there is increased diversity in the work place and the hospitality industry is not an exception. Workers are drawn from different cultures and backgrounds creating a cocktail of employees. It is the work of the HRM function to device strategies that ensure that there is no discrimination on the basis of gender, race, age or social class. There has to be some cohesion among workers if the objectives of the company have to be met (Boela, 2005).
Internal Environment and How It Affects HRM
Company Culture
Every company has its own unique culture. The culture of the company is important in the hospitality industry. It is the company’s culture that shall determine a company’s reputation and consequently its image. A good image is a natural magnet to business. In a nutshell the conduct of the employees influences greatly the profitability and image of the firm.
Organisation Structure
The organisation structure is a very vital internal factor of the firm. Employees are divided amongst functional units such as HRM, accounting, marketing procurement among others. Each functional unit has its own functional manager. The HRM function however manages the workers in all functions of the firm.
There has to be collaboration between the HRM manager and the respective line managers to avoid conflicts and misunderstanding. Opposing interests between departments may give birth to unhealthy internal competition that overrides the general goals of the organisation.
Finances
The size and business capabilities of a firm are largely influenced by its financial resources. Finance is the engine of business. HR policies with regards to remuneration allowances and bonuses are guided by the company’s financial prowess. The number of workers to be employed is also principally determined by the ability to pay of the firm.
The HR function is responsible for administering workers salaries and must factor in the company’s financial muscle when drafting pay slips. A company can pay more than the general wage levels in the industry if it has the financial capacity to do so.
Technology
The level of technological advancement is another internal factor of great importance. Companies that are advanced in technology have a capital intensive approach to production while those that are not advanced have a labour incentive approach. Both approaches have their pros and cons that must be factored in when drafting policies that affect the welfare of employees.
Corporate Objectives
Generally, firms’ activities are guided by their objectives. In the hospitality industry, firms have diverse objectives. Objectives range from revenue maximization to building a good reputation for the firm. Whatever the objectives of the firm are, it is the duty of the HRM function to communicate them to the workers through training and civil education.
Apart from awareness, goal congruency must also be ensured among employees from different departments of the organisation. Employee participation must also be ensured in the process of formulation of objectives and any changes communicated well in advance (Campbell, 1998).
Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management
The development of strategic human resource management is largely due to the deficiency of traditional human resource management techniques. Strategic human resource management can be of great use to solve problems encountered in human resource management. Strategic HRM can also be used to formulate policies in accordance to the prevailing conditions in the internal and external environments of a firm. Here are some of the benefits of strategic human resource management (Carnal, 2007).
Goal Congruency
Strategic HRM links Policies and practices with the overall strategies of the firm. Policies and programmes are drafted in view of the general goals of the company to achieve alignment towards a common direction.
Empowering Employees
Unlike traditional human resource management, there is devolution in functions of the HR downwards across the line and staff functions. Employees are empowered to think by themselves and work under minimum supervision. This creates a great sense of responsibility among staff.
Employee Involvement
Strategic human resource management advocates for employee participation if the goals and objectives of the firm are to be reached. Whether the objectives will be reached or not largely depends on the employees themselves. Their involvement is important as it improves accountability and gives workers a sense of satisfaction when set targets have been reached.
Contingency Approach
Strategic human resource management takes a contingency approach towards employee welfare. Policies and programmes are drawn specifically to suit the situation of the firm. Industry practices do not necessarily have to be company practices. Generalizations bring about a lot of ambiguity and irrelevance.
Advocates for Change
Strategic HRM is dynamic. It advocates for changes with changes in trends, technology legislation and other environmental factors. Companies must change if they are to survive in the industry. Sticking to the same old ways of doing things could prove catastrophic for the organization in the long run.
Long Term Perspective
Strategic human resource management takes a long term approach to managing employee welfare. Policies are formulated for the long haul and not merely the immediate future. This must involve a great deal of planning analysis and forecasting (Brotherton, 2006)
How Strategic HRM Can Benefit the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry stands to gain a lot from strategic human resource management. The dynamic nature of this industry makes strategic HRM an ideal approach towards the management of a company’s personnel. Here are some of the benefits that firms in the hospitality industry can draw from strategic human resource management.
Integration of Line and General Management Functions
Strategic human resource management integrates the line and general management functions of the business to create cohesion in the work place. Firms in the hospitality industry can benefit immensely from this since their operations require a high level of coordination of staff.
Goal Congruency
Being that strategic HRM factors in the overall strategies of the firm, it is important in aligning all the staff members towards a common goal. Unhealthy interdepartmental competition must be avoided at all costs.
Strategic Recruitment and Retention of Staff
Recruitment and retention of staff can be facilitated since strategic HRM focuses on the long term perspective. The organisation can forecast its staff needs in the future hence lay down appropriate recruitment selection and training plans.
Coping With Change
The hospitality industry is dynamic as it is largely affected by changes in the external environment economic, legal, political and social environment. With strategic HRM the organisation is able to forecast and plan for such drastic changes in the external environment in order to prevent unexpected adverse effects. The element of surprise and anxiety is therefore partially catered for hence giving all stakeholders some piece of mind.
Performance Management
When the performance of employees is pegged towards some given stated objectives, the employees are motivated to work towards that goal. Without set targets, lacklustre creeps in and the work rate falls drastically. For example, in a lodge, workers could be assigned a given number of rooms which they are supposed to attend to on a daily basis. Failure to clearly assign work would make the workers irresponsible.
Knowledge Management and Succession Planning
Big hotels and lodges in the hospitality industry such as the Hilton hotels use acquisitions and mergers to expand to major cities around the world. This brings a fusion of workers from the subsidiary and holding companies from different cultures and backgrounds. Discrimination in the workplace would affect the motivation of some employees and reduce their productivity.
Employee Involvement
In most organisations, employees are involved when identifying the objectives and goals of a firm. Since strategic HRM considers the firms strategies when making policies, employees are indirectly involved also. Employees can directly be involved through seminars conferences and meetings. For example it would be wise to consult an employee who is working in a restaurant which shift they could be interested in whether day or night.
Long Term Planning
Fluctuations in business between peak and off peak periods necessitate long term planning. Short term planning may give the business for example a tourist resort the wrong impression about expected revenues. Long term planning foresees depressions and economic slumps that are likely to affect revenue hence giving precise estimates.
Wholesome Approach
Strategic HRM is more wholesome as it factors in both the internal and external environment in the process of policy formulation. The policies and programmes therefore are more precise and relevant to the company. Assumption of industry practices instead of identifying a company’s specific needs would work against the company (Randall and Schuler, 1999).
Conclusion
Strategic human resource management offers solutions to a wide array of HR problems in the hospitality industry. Being a dynamic field, a firm must keep abreast with external and internal changes in the organisation. Failure to do so could be catastrophic.
A business has little or no control at all on the external environment, due to this powerlessness, organisations must plan forecast and plan for the future. A short term perspective is a recipe for failure. The contingency approach adopted by strategic HRM is the most effective since each situation is unique and would require different treatment.
Strategic management is all about the goals and objectives of the business. How will a business know if it’s on course with its objectives? Performance evaluation of is personnel is critical.
This can be effectively done through performance contracting. For employees to remain relevant in this ever changing field, they have to be constantly trained and educated on new methods and technologies. Training is also important for career development and job satisfaction (Millmore, 2007).
Recommendations
* In order to avoid a high labour turnover, workers should be accorded equal promotion chances on merit basis. This will motivate the employees to work hard and foster loyalty to the organisation.
* The role of the human resource management function should be evaluated to include a much broader scope. Apart from employee welfare management, staff in this function should be actively involved in policy making if the objectives of strategic human resource management are to be met.
* New workers into the human resource function should have some background on strategic human resource management. This eliminates the need to train workers on once they are recruited.
* Due to the fluctuation of business in the hospitality industry, it would be prudent to employ workers such as waiters, bartenders, cleaners and other subordinate staff on contract basis to avoid the hustle of retrenching staff when business goes down.
* Strategic HRM involves a lot of planning, analysis and forecasting. The HR function should work closely with the logistics function or should bring on board some members of the logistics team so as to have fruitful analysis and planning.
* Long term planning is one of the pre requisites of strategic HRM. The organisation’s mission and vision statements briefly represent its plans for the future. This should be placed in strategic locations in the firm’s premises to constantly remind workers of their duty and obligations.
* In order to keep up to date with current developments in the external environment, the HR function will have to work closely with the public relations team. It is important to find out current trends in the industry, emerging competitors and new opportunities that may benefit the business. A legal advisor could also be hired to advice the business on legal matters, ignorance could turn out to be very expensive.
* Since Human resource management is a fairly new concept not much is known as per now. An organisation may benefit immensely from procuring the services of professional human resource consultants. Advice from qualified professionals would go a long way towards the implementation of strategic HR policies.
* Due to the workplace diversity in the hospitality industry, team building is very important to achieve cohesion in the work place. The HR function should organise gateways, seminars and conferences that give the employees some time to bond and work out their differences (Christensen, 2006).
Reference List
Beer, S. B. (2005) Readings in Human Resource Management. New York: Free Press.
Brotherton, B. (2006) International Hospitality Industry. Oxford: Butterworth Heineman Publications.
Brotherton, B. (2008) International Hospitality Industry: Structure Charachteristics And Issues. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Campbell, D. (1998) Organisations and the Business Environment. Oxford: Legoprint.
Carnal, C. (2007) Managing Change in Organisations. Essex: Pearson Education.
Christensen, R. (2006) Roadmap to Succesful Strategic HR Management. New York : American Managemnt Association.
Lockyer, T. L. (2008) Global Caes on Hospitality Industry. Newyork : Routledge.
Boela, S. G. (2005) Human Resource Mangement in the Hospitality Industry. Oxford: Library Of Congress Cataloguing In Duplication Data.
Millmore, M. (2007) Strategic Human Resource Management : Contemporary Issues. Essex: Pearson Eductaion .
Randall, S. and Schuler, S. (1999) Strategic Human Resource Mangemnt. Boston: MPG books.
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De Beers Group Strategy Analysis Report
De Beers Company is recognized as one of the leading diamond company that specializes in diamond mining, manufacturing, and trading. What is more significant is that the company actively participates in business operations of every industrial category of diamond mining, including underground, open-pit, large-scale alluvial, deep and coastal sea. The mining operations take place in such countries as Canada, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana (De Beers, 2008).
De Beers Group has received recognition on the part of the International Chamber of Commerce World Business Awards because De Beers HIV/ AIDS program that has been selected as the best one among other 10 business projects (PJM, 2004, n. p.). Having an unrivaled expertise in mining, exploration, and marketing, the company takes great care of the human and ethical principles while implementing specific projects and financial support.
In this respect, our company is experienced enough while dealing with specific aspects and problems of social responsibility and, therefore, it is able to provide viable recommendations to the Local Network on increasing and strengthening the compliance with Global Report Initiative according to PR1: “Life cycle stages in which health and safety impacts of products/services are assessed for improvement”; and to PR5: “Practices related to customer satisfaction, including results of surveys measuring customer satisfaction” (Global Report Initiative, n. d.).
In effectively managing health, safety, and customer privacy issues, the company is engaged in specific activities and projects aimed at advancing technologies and leveling up the quality of services and products. In order to analyze the strategies, it is possible to review the details on the Compliance table presented by De Beers Group (2009).
These include: 1) Increasing company’s sustainability for producing more favorable environment for employees; 2) providing support and assistance to customers while delivering services and products; 3) increasing health and safety standard both within external and internal marketing processes.
Arising from our experience, it has been turned out that the third aspect is the most effective in meeting the needs of the customers and creating a favorable ground for the workings of the organization.
Recommendations
I. Establish a favorable environment for creating an added value for customers in a sustainable and safe manner.
Benefits and implications
1. The presented principles provide wider opportunities for De Beers Group to initiate more effective and competitive policies aimed at increasing health and security standards;
2. Sustainability and development can also be achieved through the presentation of specific programs and projects, like HIV/AIDS project;
II. To continue sustainable development and improvement through partnership;
Benefits and implications
1. The introduction of sustainable development and partnership entails the analysis of existing legal and ethical standards;
2. Taking wider responsibilities and liabilities will contribute greatly to the analysis of social, economical and political situation in the country;
3. Improving decision making process and stronger cooperation with our partners will ensure that these natural resources will be considered the signs of economic wealth. Our products can also contribute to the quality of life and to the community prestige.
III. Addressing poverty and economic aspects of development
Benefits and implications
1. Meeting social and economic needs of the community will contribute to enhancing the quality of education and training.
2. The principle will ensure the success of diamond manufacture as well as provide more incentives and opportunities for the community to develop their capabilities and skills;
IV. Providing beneficial conditions for eradication diamond conflicts and presenting healthier environments for business operations and performances
Benefits and implications
1. Conflict elimination is another approach for improving the social and economic welfare of the nations.
2. The principle will help create more communicational channels and establish fruitful relations with other partners.
These recommendations will greatly contribute to the improvement and strengthening Company’s world infrastructure and cooperation with other partners as well as create more favorable climate for building relations and eliminating conflicts.
Lessons learnt
Enhancing sustainable development and advancing quality standards as proposed by the GRI is the core solution for improving social performance and product quality. While considering diamonds conflict, Levy (2003) states that the introduction of transparency, conflict monitoring, increasing accountability of public services and informing communities about the process of conflict management can meet all the above established goals.
Benefits of PR1 and PR 5 Compliance
It should be stressed that PR1 and PR5 provide much more incentives for meeting health and safety needs of community because these are one of the basic needs of customers. Increasing the quality of products and services, the company will manage to advance the standards of production and organizational culture (Hayes, 2008, p. 58). This principle will allow to construct efficient approaches to coping with all organizational and marketing problems.
Risks
The most challenging issue in meeting the recommendations may be faced while dealing with diamond conflict that sometime may amount to the conflict between nations. Therefore, this part of the above-established goals should be tackled with extreme diligence and accuracy.
Conclusion
De Beers Group acknowledges that PR1 and PR5 compliance is extremely challenging, specifically when it come to conflict resolutions. However, the development of sustainability and information management as well as establishment of socially oriented programs will create a solid foundation for measuring customer’s needs.
References
De Beers (2008). The Families of Companies . Web.
Global Reporting Initiative (n. d.) Social Performance: Product Responsibility. Web.
GRI Compliance Table (2009). De Beers Company . Web.
Hayes, B. E. (2008). Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty . US: ASQ Quality Press.
Levy, A. V. (2003). Diamonds and conflict . Hauppauge, New York.
PJM (2004, May). De Beers Group Wins Awards for HIV/AIDS Projects. Archives, Daily News. Web.
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The Problems of Abortion in Modern Society Essay
Abortion refers to termination of pregnancy through the expulsion of the embryo or fetus from the uterus resulting to its death (Boonin, 2003). It may occur spontaneously as a result a complication during pregnancy “miscarriage” or may be induced through other means by use of drugs by a specialist.
Practicing unsafe abortion has led to the death of approximately 70,000 women globally and almost 5million disabilities recorded yearly (James, 1998).
In order to minimize the tragedies resulting from unsafe abortion, the parties such as the woman should access therapeutic advice from a special doctor before carrying out the activity (Zastrow, 2005).
Several groups such as religious ,civil society and governments consider the act of abortion as illegal since it denies the fetus its right to life and therefore calls for the enactment of laws to regulate the relationship between the mother and the fetus (Zastrow, 2005).However, some countries such as United States of America enacted laws to legalize abortion and calls for its implementation by a specialist (James, 1998).
Due to serious impacts to the society, physicians have ethical principles to carry out abortion under the following circumstances stated by the law governing a country and for the societal benefits(Zastrow, 2005).
To start with, the physician may conduct abortion to protect the mother’s life especially when endanger due to diseases such as kidney, hypertension and severe diabetes among others (James, 1998).The diseases may threaten the life of the mother and may result to her death if the doctor fails to intervene the woman must be consulted before the action is executed.
In addition, termination could done to protect the woman from permanent injury that may further lead to mental or physical health of the woman (Zastrow, 2005).The mental problems could result from the woman’s emotional attachment to the pregnancy as well as conservative views in regard to the societal perspective on abortion thus making the woman develop low self esteem .
Protecting mothers life is based on the premise that “a woman is more than a fetus” which has however been rejected by religious and philosophical groups that recognize fetus as living human being with rights similar to others (Zastrow, 2005).
Similarly, the society permits physicians to perform abortion due to uncontrolled number of women going for it through hidden ways. The laws prohibiting abortion fail to apply especially when a woman feels it’s absolutely necessary making the go for abortion conducted without medical care and under dangerous conditions exposing them to more harmful conditions (James, 1998).
This was proved in United States two decades before its legalization in which almost one million women had participated in illegal abortion leading to the death of many of thousands of them (Zastrow, 2005).
In addition, the physician has a legal principle to conduct abortion if there is a reasonable risk in the life of the fetus likely to result into serious physical or mental handicaps (Boonin, 2003).
The problems could result from health complications developed while the fetus is still in the womb giving the physician an ethical principle to protect the fetus from future frustrations through abortion (Boonin, 2003).
Moreover, it is ethical for a physician to perform abortion in order to reduce the number of young girls who might be forced to become parents at lower age such as before fourteen years when most of them are not capable of taking care of the children since they lack required resources since most of them are school-going and jobless hence incapable of raising families in hopelessness and dependency(James, 1998).
Lastly, it is ethical for a physician to carry out abortion incase the woman is impregnated through rape or forceful intercourse resulting to unwanted pregnancy (Boonin, 2003).In this case the woman is exempted from protecting pregnancy that might result into painful memories after the birth of the child.
In addition, since the society does not care for the unloved, brutalized and abandoned these children are exposed to rejection when they grow up, making them develop brutal behaviors against others in the society (James, 1998).
In conclusion, several groups, societies, scholars and even philosophers have argued condemning abortion as an act that denies fetus its right to life (Zastrow, 2005).
They claim life begins at conception hence even fetus should be protected against any activity likely to terminate this right. However, due to continued world catastrophes, the society permits physicians to conduct safe abortion that would safeguard the life of the mother which could be at risk due to the presence of the fetus (Boonin, 2003).
Reference List
Boonin .D. (2003).Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems .New York: St. Martin’s Publishers.
James, R. (1998).Abortion: statutes, policies, and public attitudes the worldover.LosAngeles: Prentice Hall.
Zastrow.C. (2005).Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment .New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
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Resource Allocation Report
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Importance of Resource Allocation
3. Resource Allocation Techniques
4. Conclusion
5. Reference List
Introduction
The rapid globalisation rate facing the world has led to increased competition in most of the resources used in the running of business organisations.
It is because of this that the subject of resource allocation is of great importance to all business enterprises. The limitation in the supply of most resources while their demand is tremendously increasing also calls for effective allocation of the scarce resources.
Resource allocation therefore entails the apportionment of the available resources to effectively run the enterprise or project to its completion without failure. Allocation of resources could also mean sharing the available resources among various projects the organizations could be undertaking simultaneously.
Some of the main resources that ought to be effectively allocated include; human resources, financial resources, economic resources among others (Meredith and Mantel, 2002, p.104). This paper is therefore an analysis of various allocation techniques and the importance of allocating resources in the organizations.
Importance of Resource Allocation
Allocating resources in a company is very essential as the company is usually obliged to make the most out of the least resources it is endowed with. The duty of allocating resources is usually left to the management of the organization or rather the project managers in the case of a project. There are therefore many benefits that arise as a result of effective resource allocation in organization.
* Achievement of objectives – When the resources of an organization are effectively allocated, it ensures that the organizational objectives and goals are achieved. This is majorly because the key factors will be considered during the allocation hence making sure that the required projects are done in the right way thus achieving the goals set by the organisation. This can also be attributed to the role of budgeting in the organisation.
* Cost effectiveness – Through resource allocation the organization tries to be cost effective in that the least resources are used to achieve maximum output. This has the benefit of making the organization save so much on the available resources. For example, the organization could opt to use high percentage of machinery labour as opposed to human labour to save on the cost of labour as well as time.
* Completion of projects- Some of the projects of an organisation are long-term taking up to 20 years for completion. If resources are not efficiently allocated in such projects, they could end up not being complete due to insufficient resources during progress (Meredith and Mantel, 2002, p.108). Thus, the project managers have to allocate the resources at hand to make sure that the available ones will be adequate to complete the project within the stipulated time.
* Best combination- Through resource the best combination is achieved. This is because the management will try out to use the allocation methods to match up the best combination of resources that can be used in the project or organization. This will therefore ensure that the best output is achieved.
* Ranking of resources- It can be agreed that not all resources of an organization will be required in all instances . At times, specific resources will be of need as compared to others. This therefore leads to the ranking of these resources in the order of their importance. Ranking will therefore be achieved during allocation whereby those that are of urgent need or higher priority are made top of the list down to the less important. This becomes essential especially in the long-term projects which may have different requirements depending on the stage of completion of the project.
Resource Allocation Techniques
Due to the fact that resource allocation is an important subject in the running of organisations it calls for effective methods to efficiently allocate the resources (Norton and Kelly, 1997, p.124). Some of these techniques include the following:
* Centralized resource allocation entails the allocation being done by a single department or individual. Therefore the other departments request for the resources they require which are then allocated to them. This method is very simple to undertake although it becomes difficult with increasing size of the organizations.
* In Hierarchical resource allocation the process takes two phases whereby the first allocator collects the requests and assesses them before giving the second allocator to have his or her opinion then the allocations are made. The process takes some time although the decisions are shared hence coming up with the best alternative.
* Random access is another method of allocating resources where the resources are allocated randomly to the different sectors of the organization or project. This method comes about when the entities cannot be synchronized yet there are multiple resources to be shared across.
* Bi- Directional Resource Allocation involves two allocators who independently allocate the resources to the project or organizational sectors. This method is meant to avoid allocating similar resources to different entities. However, the difference is in the long-run resolved through fixed arbitration algorithm of the resources which is a mathematical technique of allocating resources.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be seen that resource allocation plays a major role in the success of any project or organization (Norton and Kelly, 1997, p.124).
It is therefore important that business enterprises practice effective resources allocation if at all they want to match the global competition. Given the different allocation techniques it is upon the organization to select the best alternative depending on its size and available resources.
Reference List
Meredith, J. and Mantel, S. (2002). Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 17th edition.
Norton, S and Kelly, L. (1997). Resource Allocation: Managing money and people. Eye on Education. Print.
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Resource Identification, Evaluation and Selection: Congestive Heart Failure Essay
Overview
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is one of the common health challenges in aging persons. The health condition is one of the major causes of deaths and health complications for individuals that above sixty five years. Congestive Heart Failure is not only a major cause of health complication and death in aging individuals but also contribute high number of re-admission among aging person.
Moreover, treating Congestive Heart Failure cost a fortune and is a major challenge to families with a CHF patient. Considering its significance to the health of aging persons, Health care provision for aging persons should therefore consider CHF management.
Because of increased cases of CHF and its health and cost implications, various recent research studies have focused towards coming up with better CHF management (Whalley, et a., 2002; Ross, J., et al., 2010; Goldberg, et al., 2005; Colonna, et al., 2003).
Congestive Heart Failure as an area of research is not fully exhausted despite of many research studies dedicated to it. This paper will discuss the process involved in coming up with a topic for research study, resources for information, search strategy and summary, and evaluation of sources.
Problem Statement
The major challenge in management of Congestive Heart Failure is frequent re-admission of CHF patients. Considering health risk and treatment cost implication, re-admission of CHF patients have high implication to the patients, their families and health care providers. The cause of frequent re-admission of CHF patients have been a subject to many researchers.
Among the frequently proposed causes of re-admission, include narrow understanding of the health condition among patients and poor adherence to treatment and diet.
Other proposed causes of re-admission include poor management of other health conditions such as respiratory infection and hypertension. In addition, poor discharge and planning and poor follow up of patients are cited as possible factors that contribute to increased CHF re-admission cases (Reis, et al., 1997; Jaarsma, et al., 1998).
Most of literature addressing hospitalization of CHF patients agree that much can be done reduce re-admission cares and improve quality of life of CHF (Kornowski, Zeeli, Averbuch, et al . 1995; Smith, Fabbri, Pai, et al .,1997; Rich, Beckham, Wittenberg, et al. , 1995). This study will revisit re-admission of CHF patients in relation to medication compliance, diet modification and community health programs.
The study will also explore the role of case management in mitigating re-admission. In order to address the problem, the study will seek to provide answers to the question: What are the reasons why Congestive Heart Failure cases have high number of admissions?
Problem Symptoms or Evidence
Congestive heart failure refers to a health condition where the heart is unable pump enough blood to other body parts especially critical body organs. CHF is a major health issue in United States as well as other parts of the world. The health conditions incapacitate patients and can lead to death (Schocken, Arrieta, Leaverton & Ross, 1992).
In United States, about three million people suffer from congestive heart failure. As the number of elderly people increase, without better management programs CHF a major health challenge in the future. Currently, treating congestive heart failure cost as much as ten thousand US dollars.
The cost is definitely very expensive to majority of people and a heavy burden to health care providers and health insurance companies. Apart from the high cost of treating congestive heart failure, the health condition has low mortality at an average of about five years.
Congestive heart failure is a major health challenge and cause of hospitalization for individuals above sixty five years. Symptoms to congestive heart failure include progressive shortness of breath for long, fluid retention in the body, weight gained within three days, loss of appetite, and swollen feet, legs and ankle before admission.
The health condition is correlated to other health issues such as diabetes (Nichols, et al., 2004; Dokainish, et al., 2004). For instance, diabetes patients are almost twice as vulnerable to CHF compared to other individuals.
Literature Search
Keywords
A search strategy is required for a successful research study. Important to a search strategy is keywords. Key words refer to words or phrase that, when used, can help a researcher to identify the appropriate sources and information for a research study. Key word ought to capture the topic under study and direct a researcher towards most appropriate literature. There could be many sources related to a research study.
As a good researcher, one has to sort out the many sources to come up with the most relevant and appropriate sources. The key words that were used for the study were related to congestive heart failure and re-admission. Below is a list of the key words that were used to search for appropriate sources for the study.
1. Heart failure
2. Cardiac health
3. Heart diseases
4. Cardiac Edema
5. Shortness of Breath
6. Cardiovascular diseases
7. Congestion
8. Congestive heart failure
9. Types of heart diseases
10. Cardiac Risk Factors
Among the search terms “Congestive heart failure” was found to be the most resourceful. Searches using the keyword provided important results related to research problem.
Resources
Resources of a research study have high contribution to quality of a study. A good resource should provide wide range of information on a research topic. In addition to wide range of information, a research resource should be reliable. For the study, two primary resources were identifies:
* Google Search
* CINAHL
Modification of Keyword Searches
In order refine results from searches using keywords, modification of search terms was necessary. Modification of search terms helped in identifying specific information and sources to the research problem. Boolean operations were very helpful in modifying the search terms.
The search started by tying the word heart failure, and all the topics related to Congested Heart Failure came out. By putting the word CHF + the word specifically needed such as medication, diet, signs and symptoms, the search brought in specific articles necessary for the study. Below is modification of search terms that were most resourceful
Heart failure OR congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure AND re-admission
Heart failure+ causes and symptoms
Congestive heart failure AND edema
Congestive heart failure AND diabetes
Congestive heart failure AND mortality
Congestive heart failure+ medication compliance
Congestive heart failure AND diet modification
Most Useful Keywords
The most useful word in the search made is Congestive heart failure. A very broad topic to search but with the help of the Boolean sign it narrows down to specific search.
Citation of Sources
Nichols, G., Gullion, C., Koro, C., Ephross, S. & Brown, J. (2004). The Incidence of Congestive Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 27(8)
Reis, S., Holubkov, R. Edmundowicz, D., McNamara, D., Zell, K., Detre, K. & Feldman A. (1997). Treatment of patients admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure: specialty-related disparities in practice patterns and outcomes. J Am Coll Cardiol 30(3), 733-738
Schocken, D., Arrieta, M., Leaverton, P. & Ross, E. (1992). Prevalence and mortality rate of congestive heart failure in the United States. J Am Coll Cardiol 20, 301-306
Jaarsma, T., Halfens, R., Huijer, H., Dracup, K., Gorgels, T., Van Ree, J. & Stappers, J. (1998). Effect of education and support on self-care and resource utilization in patients with heart failure. European Heart Journal 20(9), 673-682
Dokainish, H., Zoghbi, W., Lakkis, N., Ambriz, E., Rajnikant, P., Quinones, M. & Nagueh, S. (2004). Incremental predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide and tissue Doppler echocardiography in the prognosis of patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 45(8), 1223-1226
Whalley, G., Doughty, R., Gamble, G., Wright, S., Walsh, H., Muncaster, S. & Sharpe, N. (2002). Pseudonormal mitral filling pattern predicts hospital re-admission in patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 39(11), 1787-1795
Ross, J., et al. (2010).Recent National Trends in Readmission Rates after Heart Failure Hospitalization. Circulation 122, 1645-51
Goldberg, R., Farmer, C., Spencer, F., Pezzella, S. & Meyer, T. (2005). Use of nonpharmacologic treatment approached in patients with heart failure. International Journal of Cardiology 110(3), 348-353
Colonna, P., Sorino, M., Agostino, C., Bovenzi, F., De Luca, L. Arrigo, F. & de Luca, I. (2003). Nonpharmacologic care of heart failure: counseling, dietary restriction, rehabilitation, treatment of sleep apnea, and ultrafiltration. American Journal of Cardiology 91(9), 41-50
Kornowski R, Zeeli D, Averbuch M, et al . (1995). Intensive home-care surveillance prevents hospitalization and improves morbidity rates among elderly patients with severe congestive heart failure. American Heart Journal 129, 162–6.
Smith L., Fabbri S. Pai R., et al . (1997). Symptomatic improvement and reduced hospitalization for patients attending a cardiomyopathy clinic. Clin Cardiol 20, 949–54
Rich M, Beckham V, Wittenberg C, et al . (1995). A multidisciplinary intervention to prevent the readmission of elderly patients with congestive heart failure. N Engl J Med 333, 1190–5
CARS Evaluation table
Source Credibility Accuracy Reasonability Support
Nichols, G., et al. (2004). The Incidence of Congestive Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 27(8) The article has high credibility. The authors are scholars at University of Pittsburgh. The article is peer reviewed. Methodology used for the study seems to be reliable. The authors reviews and cite other reliable sources and provide comprehensive information. In addition, the article is relatively recent. No bias was observed in the article. The authors were objective in their study and did not side with any side. The authors provide complete list references that they used for the study. Appropriate in-text citations were provided
Schocken, D., Arrieta, M., Leaverton, P. & Ross, E. (1992). Prevalence and mortality rate of congestive heart failure in the United States. J Am Coll Cardiol 20, 301-306 Article has high credibility. The article is peer reviewed and authors are scholars in the field of medicine The article is relatively old and some of information presented could not accurate. No bias was observed in the article. The authors demonstrated objectiveness and professionalism in conducting the study. Adequate support is observed in the article. The article cites and is cited in other journal articles
Nichols, G., Gullion, C., Koro, C., Ephross, S. & Brown, J. (2004). The Incidence of Congestive Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 27(8) All the authors are PHD holders and scholars in the fields of diabetes and cardiovascular health. The article is peer reviewed and therefore credible The study is recent and therefore information in the article is likely to be accurate. Sufficient sample size reliable research methods were used for the study The authors assume a balanced approach to the study. No explicit bias was observed in the article. Supportive article are cited in the article. In addition to providing reliable reference list, the authors provide contact details through which they can be contacted.
Jaarsma, T., et al. (1998). Effect of education and support on self-care and resource utilization in patients with heart failure. European Heart Journal 20(9), 673-682 European Heart Journal is a reputable journal that published credible articles. In addition, the authors are seasoned researchers in the area nor cardiac health The article is relatively recent and uses and appropriate research methodology. However, the sample size used for the study was small to generalize the outcome. The authors were fair in the study and were not biased. The authors give credit to other authors whom they cite their articles
Dokainish, H., et al. (2004). Incremental predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide and tissue Doppler echocardiography in the prognosis of patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 45(8), 12223-1226 The article is highly credible. Journal of the American college of Cardiology is reliable and the authors are credible Accuracy of information in the article appears to be high. The article is recent and therefore information in the article is current. There is high reasonability for the article. The authors addressed the subject under study objectively without apparent bias. The article meets the criteria for support. The authors provided comprehensive background information and cite credible sources in their article
Whalley, G., et al. (2002). Pseudonormal mitral filling pattern predicts hospital re-admission in patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 39(11), 1787-1795 The article meets credibility criteria. The authors are scholars in field of cardiac health and the journal in which the article is published is reliable. The authors provide comprehensive information in the article. In addition, the article is relative recent. The article is reasonable. Comprehensive information is provided and fair method of study is applied Sufficient support is provided for the study and the study is consistent with other recent studies
Ross, J., et al. (2010).Recent National Trends in Readmission Rates after Heart Failure Hospitalization. Circulation 122, 1645-51 Authors are PHD holders in the field of Cardiac health and therefore their study can be credible The study was conducted for a period of six years. The outcome of the study seem to accurate No bias was observed in the article Credible sources are cited in the article.
Goldberg, R., Farmer, C., Spencer, F., Pezzella, S. & Meyer, T. (2005). Use of nonpharmacologic treatment approached in patients with heart failure. International Journal of Cardiology 110(3), 348-353 International Journal of Cardiology is a reputed journal and therefore the article appears to be credible. The article is recent and consistent with worldview and other related research study The authors provide comprehensive information. Credible reference list is provided
Annotated Bibliography
Nichols, G., Gullion, C., Koro, C., Ephross, S. & Brown, J. (2004). The Incidence of Congestive Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 27(8)
The purpose of the study was to explore prevalence of congestive heart failure in type 2 diabetic patients. Two sample of 8,231 and 8845 of individuals with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic congestive heart failure patients, respectively, were used for the study. From the study, diabetic patient were found to be more likely to contract congestive heart failure at a rate of 2.5. The authors concluded that there was need to control risk factors such as blood pressure, hyperglycemia and obesity in managing congestive heart failure.
Reis, S., Holubkov, R. Edmundowicz, D., McNamara, D., Zell, K., Detre, K. & Feldman A. (1997). Treatment of patients admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure: specialty-related disparities in practice patterns and outcomes. J Am Coll Cardiol 30(3), 733-738
The objective of this study was to explore differences in specialty treatment of congestive heart failure patient and their effect on treatment outcome. The authors compared treatment and result for patients in a university hospital for six months. The focus for study was patients cared for by general physicians and those whose treatment was guided by a cardiologist. From the study, the authors observed that congestive heart failure patients that were cared for by generalists had high chance of readmission as compared to those whose treatment was guided by a cardiologist. The study confirmed the importance of specialist care in successful management of congestive heart failure.
Schocken, D., Arrieta, M., Leaverton, P. & Ross, E. (1992). Prevalence and mortality rate of congestive heart failure in the United States. J Am Coll Cardiol 20, 301-306
The purpose of the study was to investigate prevalence and mortality rate of CHF in non-institutionalized individuals in United States. The authors aimed at providing reliable national data related to congestive heart failure. The authors relied on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for data on prevalence and mortality rate. From the study, the author found prevalence of congestive heart failure to be between 1.1% and 2%. The authors concluded that congestive heart failure had significant mortality rate and prevalence and was a noteworthy health challenge in United States.
Jaarsma, T., Halfens, R., Huijer, H., Dracup, K., Gorgels, T., Van Ree, J. & Stappers, J. (1998). Effect of education and support on self-care and resource utilization in patients with heart failure. European Heart Journal 20(9), 673-682
Self-care plays important role in management of heart failure cares. In the article, the authors investigate the role of education success of self-care. A sample of 179 was used for the study. From the study, the authors found education and support from health care workers especially a nurse to have positive effect on success of self-care. In conclusion, the authors propose integrated education and support for successful heart failure management.
Dokainish, H., Zoghbi, W., Lakkis, N., Ambriz, E., Rajnikant, P., Quinones, M. & Nagueh, S. (2004). Incremental predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide and tissue Doppler echocardiography in the prognosis of patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 45(8), 12223-1226
Prediction of congestive heart failure is among the first steps to successful prevention and management. In the article, the authors investigate effectiveness of B-type natriuretic peptide and early diastolic velocity in predicting congestive heart failure relative to conventional methods. Observations were made on a sample of 116 congestive heart failure patients. The authors found B-type natriuretic peptide and early diastolic velocity to have incremental predictive power on CHF patients.
Whalley, G., Doughty, R., Gamble, G., Wright, S., Walsh, H., Muncaster, S. & Sharpe, N. (2002). Pseudonormal mitral filling pattern predicts hospital re-admission in patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 39(11), 1787-1795
The author’s main objective was to examine whether pseudonormal filling contributed to hospitalization and deaths in congestive heart failure patients. 115 CHF patients were investigated for the study. The study found pseudonormal filling to be correlated with hospitalization and deaths in CHF patients.
Ross, J., et al. (2010).Recent National Trends in Readmission Rates after Heart Failure Hospitalization. Circulation 122, 1645-51
The authors aimed at investigating rate of readmission of congestive heart failure patients. The authors used data from Medicare administration for beneficiaries of fee-for-service program that were discharged from hospital. For a period of six years of observation, the authors found that the average rate of readmission was 30 days. The authors conclude that there was no improvement in management of congestive heart failure since the rate of readmission did not change over the period of study.
Goldberg, R., Farmer, C., Spencer, F., Pezzella, S. & Meyer, T. (2005). Use of nonpharmacologic treatment approached in patients with heart failure. International Journal of Cardiology 110(3), 348-353
Managing congestive heart failure is challenging and calls for more than use of medicine. In this article, the authors explore alternative treatment and management approaches for congestive heart failure. The authors focus on effectiveness of counseling, community settings and patient education in managing congestive heart failure.
The authors found the alternative treatment and management approaches to have positive effect on congestive heart failure patients. They recommend hospital counseling as an effective approach in managing heart failure.
References List
Nichols, G., Gullion, C., Koro, C., Ephross, S. & Brown, J. (2004). The Incidence of Congestive Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 27(8)
Reis, S., Holubkov, R. Edmundowicz, D., McNamara, D., Zell, K., Detre, K. & Feldman A. (1997). Treatment of patients admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure: specialty-related disparities in practice patterns and outcomes. J Am Coll Cardiol 30(3), 733-738
Schocken, D., Arrieta, M., Leaverton, P. & Ross, E. (1992). Prevalence and mortality rate of congestive heart failure in the United States. J Am Coll Cardiol 20, 301-306
Jaarsma, T., Halfens, R., Huijer, H., Dracup, K., Gorgels, T., Van Ree, J. & Stappers, J. (1998). Effect of education and support on self-care and resource utilization in patients with heart failure. European Heart Journal 20(9), 673-682
Dokainish, H., Zoghbi, W., Lakkis, N., Ambriz, E., Rajnikant, P., Quinones, M. & Nagueh, S. (2004). Incremental predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide and tissue Doppler echocardiography in the prognosis of patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 45(8), 12223-1226
Whalley, G., Doughty, R., Gamble, G., Wright, S., Walsh, H., Muncaster, S. & Sharpe, N. (2002). Pseudonormal mitral filling pattern predicts hospital re-admission in patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 39(11), 1787-1795
Ross, J., et al. (2010).Recent National Trends in Readmission Rates after Heart Failure Hospitalization. Circulation 122, 1645-51
Goldberg, R., Farmer, C., Spencer, F., Pezzella, S. & Meyer, T. (2005). Use of nonpharmacologic treatment approached in patients with heart failure. International Journal of Cardiology 110(3), 348-353
Colonna, P., Sorino, M., Agostino, C., Bovenzi, F., De Luca, L. Arrigo, F. & de Luca, I. (2003). Nonpharmacologic care of heart failure: counseling, dietary restriction, rehabilitation, treatment of sleep apnea, and ultrafiltration. American Journal of Cardiology 91(9), 41-50
Kornowski R, Zeeli D, Averbuch M, et al . (1995). Intensive home-care surveillance prevents hospitalization and improves morbidity rates among elderly patients with severe congestive heart failure. American Heart Journal 129, 162–6.
Smith L., Fabbri S. Pai R., et al . (1997). Symptomatic improvement and reduced hospitalization for patients attending a cardiomyopathy clinic. Clin Cardiol 20, 949–54
Rich M, Beckham V, Wittenberg C, et al . (1995). A multidisciplinary intervention to prevent the readmission of elderly patients with congestive heart failure. N Engl J Med 333, 1190–5
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Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen Compare & Contrast Essay
Table of Contents
1. Summary
2. Literary Criticism
3. Related Works
4. Comparison of Two Characters
5. Historical Circumstances
6. Reflection on the Text
7. Discussion Questions
8. Works Cited
Summary
Moon . The story of Moon starts with the description of a girl’s affection to two blond twins who managed to humiliate her in the most violent way. This was a Chinese-American fat girl who took a revenge on those boys and provoked the car accident so that boys died.
The relationships with parents and their attitude to their daughter’s action reflect the nature of Chinese culture when her mother calls her a ‘slut’ and her father goes on “about the Sino-Japanese war” (Chin 15). Justice is the main aspect of the story when a girl grows up and can afford not feeling oppressed by blond twins that used to humiliate her by pissing on her face.
Cake . The parable about twin sisters starts with a story when a woman from the neighborhood offered girls a pie if they “come to the Christmas service with [her] and accept Jesus Christ, our lord, into [their] hearts” (Chin 27). As girls had another religion, the woman tried to convert them into Christianity.
The girls’ parents worked hard and their grandmother looked after them. So, she invented a method to make the Christian woman leave the girls alone with their native religion. Though granny died a few years later, the girls did not want to learn the lesson of their culture and religion; the only thing they knew was that they did not ever want to be as poor as before.
Literary Criticism
Literary criticism is reflected in the article written by Lucy Ellmann in The Guardian who claims that there is no single emotional center in the book however it is full of details which becomes the core positive aspect of the whole boon.
In other words, Ellmann reflects on the book from her personal perspective and manages to indicate the most prominent feature of this work presented with the help of a variety of theological, biological, and other concepts as well as historic and cultural details that enhance understanding of American and Chinese cultures.
Related Works
One of the related works that shares its main theme with the Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen is the book by Pin-Chia Feng Diasporic Representations: Reading Chinese American Women’s Fiction where the author reflects her understanding of Chinese American literary works on various topics.
Relations between family members and the difference between American and Chinese cultures are vividly enlarged on in this book that also demonstrates well-known concepts typical of the Chinese culture such as memory, honor, hierarchy in the family, and combination of cultures that gives rise to a set of brand-new concepts and values applicable to both cultures.
Comparison of Two Characters
Choices . The main characters of the parables are twin sisters who have different choices in their life with regard to their lifestyle and values. One sister was beautiful from the very beginning and helped her parents with the running of a restaurant whereas the second girl was fat but she took a revenge on the people who used to humiliate her and became a beautiful young woman as well.
Motivations . The motivations for two girls were different as the beautiful one knew about her attractiveness whereas the fat one wanted to show people that she could do better.
Historical Circumstances
The period of time reflected in the parables coincides with the contemporary one when more attractive people can humiliate the fat one and the combination of Chinese and American cultures. Multicultural issues as well as combination of different values typical for various cultures is the main historical environment for creation of the text when political and business issues are closely related to culture and its perception. The world is in the condition of continuous conflicts and wars when a lot of misunderstanding rises due to miscomprehension of values typical for different cultures.
Reflection on the Text
I believe that the text of the parables does not reflect all the conflicts that may occur in the everyday life of Chinese people who live on the territory of the United States. However, it is possible to learn more about the relationships of members in Chinese families and customs that take place in their daily lives. In addition, every person who knows what the Chinese culture looks like would understand that every Asian has some difficulties related to his/her identity and background.
Discussion Questions
What emotions do readers feel when reading about humiliation?
The widest range of emotions is experienced in the process of reading and each story provokes different feelings. When the author writes about humiliation, the readers want to offer the girl some alternative options on how to act with those trashy twins.
How is it possible to use concepts from different cultures to reflect the same ideas? Did the author manage to do this naturally?
The author uses allusions on different American and Chinese concepts and individuals which contributes greatly to the understanding of both cultures.
Works Cited
Chin, Marilyn. Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen: A Novel . New York: W. W. Norton, 2009.
Ellmann, Lucy. “Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen: A Manifesto in 41 Tales by Marilyn Chin.” The Guardian, 2010. Web.
Feng, Pin-Chia. Diasporic Representations: Reading Chinese American Women’s Fiction . Piscataway, NJ: Translation Publishers, 2011. Print.
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The Beatles Album Revolver Descriptive Essay
The Beatles is a famous rock group, which is known across the world. The group has a rich historical background as evident in their album called Revolver.
The group is based in Britain; however, they have engaged in numerous performances in many world-class stages, which have made the group internationally renowned. The group’s album called Revolver is their most famous regardless of other popular albums. Therefore, the album is viewed by many as the peak of the group’s career.
Revolver was released in 1966 and started by winning awards in many fronts. After its release, Revolver stayed top of a famous “English ranking called British chart” for close to seven weeks. It also won other top classifications such as the “American chart” where it dominated for six weeks.
These two charts are still top ranking measures in the music industry thus they justify why the album is still regarded as one of the best albums in the history of music. As late as 2009, the album still topped many charts and it was ranked third in a “British magazine known as Rolling Stone” which ranks the best five hundred albums in history of music.
The album is made up of fourteen songs which won various prizes as singles. These include the “famous Good Day Sunshine, Taxman, and Yellow Submarine”. Most of the songs in the album were composed by Paul McCartney who is a famous composer in Britain and he was assisted by Lennon.
A few songs such as “Love You To” and “I Want To Tell You” were composed by Harrison who is a great composer and especially in rock music. The three composers were also the lead vocalists for their songs which are the main reason their voices blended well.
The album was also promoted by high quality instrumentation which went with the songs. John Lennon applied his classic skills in playing the guitar for most of the songs. He doubled as a guitarist and a vocalist thus his voice was well in harmony with the guitar as well as the other instruments. Lennon was assisted in playing the instruments by Mal Evans who has a legendary quality and way of playing guitar.
Other instrument players in the album were “Geoff Emerick who was an engineer” for the musical instruments. Brian Jones was also involved as “he played the sound effects which give a sound of clinking glass as it is heard in the song called Yellow Submarine”.
Revolver is also characterized by songs which have a great lyrical background and the vocalists were able to merge this with the instruments while creating the right tempo. The songs are cross-thematic where most of them are related to love and others are party songs.
However, “Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison” merged their talents well to give the album the quality and reputation it has earned. The quality of their album has made its songs to be preferred soundtracks for numerous movies.
Conclusion
Music is largely dependent on talent but this is not always necessary to develop great music. In many cases, it also depends on the effort put in to come up with the desired music. This is evidenced by the quality of music that Beatles infused in their famous album called Revolver.
The main contributing artists have different capabilities but it took a lot of effort to merge these talents and come up with that album. The album is classical as attested by its continued preference over other new albums. It is difficult to find modern music which has the same lyrical and instrumental quality like the album.
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Perspectives on the Oil Debate Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Mr. Jones (Geologist)
2. Mr. Abdul (Oil Ship Tanker Owner)
3. Ms. Renaldo (Financial Analyst)
4. Dr. Green (Environmental Researcher)
5. Conclusion
6. Works Cited
There are a lot of different opinions concerning the oil industry’s future. However, all parties agree that this issue is a major concern to everyone. It speaks to our pockets everyday, it rings in our ears through the news, and its effects are visible in our environment. Oil is used in virtually everything we have today, from energy to even agricultural inputs (Campbell, 196). Additionally, its importance has led to financial, political and even security concerns (Stern, 1651).
That is why I picked out this topic, because it is such a big concern in the modern world. With so much speculation in the world with regards to oil, I think it makes for a good research. The specific issue about oil being explored in my essay is concerning its supply. I will explore the various opinions that exist and give the proof as regards the specific opinion.
To further illustrate this argument, I have picked out four stakeholders within the oil industry. All of the stakeholders will be arguing out their respective point of view from according to professional and personal interests. They will be used to offer the various opinions that exist concerning the future of oil availability in the world.
Mr. Jones (Geologist)
Hello. My name is Mr. Jones. I believe that the world’s supply of oil is about to run out, and we need to be prepared. Many of you are skeptical of this fact, especially considering how dependant we are on this precious commodity. However, I will show you that it is true, and our inability to act now is a ticking time bomb.
Oil utilization in the past century has increased exponentially; this is common knowledge. As of 2009, the average oil production was at slightly over 84 million barrels a day (Energy Information Administration). This figure is only set to rise over the next few years. The US is currently the largest consumer of oil, and the world is likely to catch up over the next few years.
This will take the total tally of international oil consumption from the 75 million barrels per day in 2004 to 120 million by 2030 (Smale). So internationally, we are increasing our use of oil without thinking of about its limited availability.
We have seen that the international consumption of oil is increasing at a very fast rate. However, we know that oil is a non-renewable resource. The rate at which it can be replaced, if it is replaceable, is so slow that it is negligible (Campbell, 199).
The only way you can drink water from a cup without finishing it is if its supply is infinite, or if it is too much to finish. Unfortunately, our cup of oil isn’t infinite, nor is it too much to finish. Here in the US, oil production peaked in the 1971 (Speedace). Other countries have followed, and internationally Goldman Sachs predicted that oil would peak in 2007.
Oil peaking means that the oil reserve has reached its largest extraction capacity; production from then on is set to decline (Porter, 187). If you do not believe his prediction was true, then you have not been listening to the news. Already, countries have started announcing that their oil reserves have significantly declined in capacity. Even the greatest suppliers of oil in Middle East have recorded dwindling capacities (Porter, 187).
So there we have it, the truth about oil. We are currently consuming more than we can consume in a sustainable way. Additionally, due to population pressures and international growth, we are set to increase our consumption of oil. This is all happening in the backdrop of a limited supply of oil. Since oil is not replaceable, logic clearly tells us that we are going to finish our oil reserves. The truth is all there in the statistics.
Mr. Abdul (Oil Ship Tanker Owner)
My name is Mr. Abdul. I am very worried about the lie that is being peddled around that oil is about to end. The truth is we are not anywhere near finishing our consumption of oil. Switching from oil simply because we are preparing for its running out is simply preposterous.
The people who are arguing about oil peaking are not taking full information to account. Peak oil theory is an old theory, formulated before 1970 (Speedace). The creator of this theory did not have the advantage of the information made available to us through improved technology. Technological advancements have made it possible to efficiently search and drill for oil. These people are using theories formulated before technology considerably advanced to argue about an issue that we now have proper information concerning.
Additionally, everyone is giving contradictory statements about how long oil will last. They are using elaborate and educated guessing techniques to give us their wrong conclusion. Some skeptics are even giving us a paltry 10 years worth of reserve (The Insider). However, the truth is that at worst, we have 1,000 billion barrels worth of oil, an amount that is sustainable for at least 40 years (Smale). This also has not taken into account future explorations.
The truth is that our salvation lies in the use of technology. The latest of these technological achievements is the use of 3D technology to hunt for oil virtually (Schoen). This technology increases the efficiency of hunting for oil. It eliminates the inefficiency of using 2D maps, where locating an oil well and evaluating its potential was an exercise of part expertise and part guesswork.
Today, the use of tedious oil exploration methods has been exchanged in favor of new and efficient methods. This method alone has allowed the exploration of oil fields and even allowed experts to venture further into the ocean. You see, there is oil out there; it is just that we cannot effectively look for it. Imagine the potential held in exploring oil offshore. Offshore exploration of oil is both a very big opportunity and challenge (Schoen). However, technology holds the answer. We therefore have new places to search and previously explored places to efficiently exploit.
Additionally, technology offers us the opportunity to seek oil from other sources, like coal (Schoen). The cost of extracting one barrel of crude oil from coal was estimated at $35 per barrel, a cost that could go even further down if this kind of extraction is perfected (Speedace). A ton produces approximately 52 gallons of crude oil, with useful by products also resulting from the process. Previously unconventional sources such as bitumen and oil shale are also in the process of being utilized (Speedace).
You see, there is nothing to worry about; oil is not running out. We simply have not efficiently explored and exploited it.
Ms. Renaldo (Financial Analyst)
Let me attempt to clear the air concerning the truth about oil’s future. Indeed, it is very clear that oil has become of much importance to all of us, especially in light of its economic implications. What I am about to tell you is an inconvenient truth. However, the inconvenience will only increase if I do not tell you. The truth is this: oil is not getting finished soon, but its price is not coming down either.
Let me explain why. Those who claim that oil is running out are looking at the picture from the perspective of traditional extraction methods. Traditional methods of extracting oil are inefficient since they leave large quantities of usable oil still untapped. There are primarily three methods of extracting oil. The primary method is the easiest. This happens when oil flows out of the ground under its own pressure.
Using this method, approximately 20% of the oil reserve is extractable (Speedace). The secondary method needs pumping mechanism. With this method, between 25-35% of the oil reserve is accessible (Speedace). When we put in the third level of extraction, we can extract an additional 5-15% of the oil (Speedace). In total, on the plus side, we can extract 50% of the reserve. The rest of the reserve is too difficult to access using traditional methods. Therefore, using traditional methods, oil will arguably run out.
The problem with the extraction stages is that they expose us to increased costs as we progress up the stages. As we move from one method to the next the cost of extraction increase. The tertiary process uses a complicated steam process to aid in the extraction, a method that is undoubtedly more expensive than allowing it to flow off naturally.
This is the reality we will increasingly face as we pursue oil extraction. Oil extraction will only become much more expensive due to extraction costs as we continue to pursue their extraction to greater extents.
In Canada, for example, they discovered oil in the sands of Alberta. The oil extraction process here involves extracting the bitumen in the sands (Graham). This is an expensive process as it requires an incredible one ton of sand to produce only one barrel (Graham). In newer techniques, they pump steam into the ground, allowing the tar to melt and then pump it to the surface (Graham). This is still not cheap. It takes a lot of steam and energy to extract the oil using this method (Graham). Desperate scenarios like these are being seen all over the oil industry as they move to secure the “inaccessible” reserves.
There is a whole frontier of unexplored territory in the ocean. This could prove to be very good for boosting the total oil production. However, this method has many expensive challenges. Building oil rigs in the middle of the ocean, surviving harsh ocean weather and pumping the oil to a receivable place are but a few of the expenses that oil this new process will face (Schoen).
In short, there is a lot of oil out there that is not in being extracted properly. Increased international demand will not allow companies to sit around without finding ways of extracting oil from previously unconventional sources. However, the oil is expensive to extract. This will force the price of oil upwards due to its high production cost.
Dr. Green (Environmental Researcher)
Ladies and Gentlemen: we are in a crisis. The world is dependant on energy, and the greatest energy source we know is oil. We have used it and crippled ourselves in the process. However, we are at the beginning of a new era: the post-oil age. Humanity is fast realizing the evil of its oil addiction and began to look for new ways of satisfying its need.
Arguably the biggest motivators to explore alternatives are financial and political (Campbell, 205). The dependency on oil by the US has exposed it to political manipulation by the Middle East (Rodger, 1652). This precious commodity is so vital, that the Middle East have found it a convenient tool to bully the US.
Additionally, the Middle East’s political turmoil has exposed the market to economic shocks due to its strategic holding of most of the world’s supply of oil (Campbell, 194). The world’s biggest economy, the US is currently pursuing alternative energy as a very real alternative. An alternative would release it from this burden of being at the whim of oil speculation and manipulation (Rodger, 1651). The cost savings would be gladly used in some other segment of the economy that would need help.
Additionally, environmental concerns are also a motivation. By ensuring that we switch from polluting, non renewable energy sources to other cleaner alternatives, we come closer to reducing the drastic effects of global warming. The climate change subject is on the lips of everyone internationally, and switching from oil is arguably the single biggest conservation effort possible on the planet.
To prove that the investments in pursuing alternatives are real, one has only to look at the stimulus package announced by Obama. Out of the total package of $787 billion, $150 billion was pledged to the cause of renewable energy (Marquez). This is 19% of the total stimulus package.
Additionally, big shot investors, the likes of Warren Buffet, have started to financially position themselves to take advantage of an expected boom in the alternative energy sector (Marquez). Finance is one of the biggest motivators of change in any sector, and with the kind of investments being made in alternative energy, a solution is sure to pop up.
If you think that the replacement is somewhere far in the distant future, then you are wrong. Already, significant progress is being made in finding an alternative. From biofuels, hydrogen to battery power, new alternatives of energy are being heavily pursued on a real time basis.
Already, we have seen the car industry pioneer hybrid cars that run on electricity. If this industry alone successfully manages to wholly switch to a viable alternative, the reduction in the amount of oil in use would be extremely significant. Alternative energy is indeed a reality.
Conclusion
The oil debate is clearly riddled with many different view points, as the characters have show. However, the most important debate should not be about how much oil is left, but how we are going to solve the financial and environmental problems that oil gives us. Indeed, technology does hold the answers to most of the riddles that oil supply brings.
We either find innovation that makes oil supply cheap or find technology that renders it incomplete. Personally, I am in favor of the second option, do away with oil altogether. This way, we avoid the problem altogether and drastically reduce the environmental damage that we have done to our earth courtesy of oil.
Works Cited
Campbell, Colin. “Petroleum and People.” Population and Environment 24.2 (2002): 193-207. Print.
“Canadian Oil: At what Price.” TreeHugger . Web.
“Future of Oil.” Institute for the Analysis of Global Security 2003. Web.
Kahney, Leander. “Inside Look at Birth of the IPod.” Wired.com 21 July 2004. Web.
Marquez, Horacio. “The Technology That Will Replace 148 Billion Barrels of Oil.” Money Morning 21 Oct. 2009. Web.
“Petroleum and Oil Reserves.” Speedace . Web.
“Petroleum Production.” US Energy Information Administration . Web.
Porter, Richard. “Review.” Journal of Economic Literature 44.1 (2006): 186-190. Print.
Smale, Will. “The World’s Overflowing Oil Reserves?.” BBC News 20 Apr. 2004. Web.
Stern, Roger. “Oil Market Power and United States National Security.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103.5 (2006): 1650-1655. Print.
“World’s Oil Will Run out in Ten Years.” The Insider 19 Oct. 2003. Web.
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Rio Bravo: A Western With Deep Relationship Insight Analytical Essay
Rio Bravo was Hawks’ response on the other western High Moon by Fred Zinnemann. Hawks accused Zinnemann’s sheriff of being weak and unprofessional. Thus, he created his own version of the story, presenting “the most detailed and elegant expression of his typical concerns – self-respect, self-control, the interdependence of select chosen friends” (McCarthy 565).
Thus, the main concern of the film was relationship between the main characters. Wood calls that relationship a family relationship, where Chance is “Father”, “the master of the “home” but with the freedom to move outside”; Stumpy is “Mother”, who almost never leaves “the home/jail”; Dude and Colorado are “the occasionally troublesome sons” (Wood xxii).
Wood stresses that this close relationship is very strong and committed, because “family members are bound” not by blood, but “by personal loyalty and mutual respect” (Wood xxii). Thus, limited settings of the film only contribute to the creation of such intimacy. Hawks creates a small community where such close family relationship is transparent. The small town keeps the main characters together. Hawks deliberately restricts the area to concentrate on the relation.
It is very interesting, that though Rio Bravo is a western, it is more focused on the relationship rather than on the action. Single area setting enables Hawks to create the necessary background for relationship development and characters’ personality development depiction.
As stated above the film is focused on the interrelations and personality development. Thus, each of the characters goes his/her own path to find something inside of oneself and become better. From the very beginning of the film Dude is trying to go this path, and. Finally, he succeeds.
From the very first scene of the film Dude receives the necessary impact to change oneself, overcome his weakness and become a good, strong and reliable person. This impact is actually the key event of the story, event which provokes the whole story. First, the viewers meet a miserable drunk Dude, and then they get to know that this drunk was once a respected man.
Finally, in the course of the film Dude becomes positive and respectful. It is worth mentioning that Hawks doesn’t deprive Dude from being human, and he yields to his weakness and gets drunk, he shows his weakness. But it does not mean he is again that miserable drunk. It only proves that Dude is a strong man who is ready to give his life for his friends and the right deeds.
Another figure that is changing during the film is Chance. This sheriff is very strong and confident; he understands and accepts his responsibility for the order in his town. He doesn’t want and doesn’t afford to accept help from non-professionals. He rejects the help of people of his town, motivating that by the fact that these “helpers” will be only easy targets for the bad guys. Chance is very confident is really like a father, a bit superior and responsible for his family. This is vividly revealed in the scene when they sing a song in the jail, all are involved: Dude, Colorado, and Stumpy.
Only Chance is a little bit apart, watching them, smiling as if at his lovely kids. But he changes and accepts their help, after he sees them to be professionals. For instance, in the scene when they change Dude for Burdette Chance is sure in Dudes ability to win Burdette. Chance finally admits that his “children” are grown-up and can help him. It is worth mentioning that Chance has changed not only in his attitude to his friends.
He also changes his attitude towards women by saying Feathers he loves her. He is ready to quit his lonely life and he is ready for romantic relationship. Chance is not that tough emotionless guy that he used to be; now he is open to new emotional experiences.
It is also very interesting to see the change of the character considering Feather. Being a female character in a western, as Wood suggests, means to be an entertainment part of it; females are often deprived of some independent actions, they are a kind of entourage, though they are also indispensible (Wood xxiii). However, this film reveals Feathers as a strong character who “trains Chance”, trains him “for a relationship of spiritual equals” (Wood 48). Apart from changing Chance, Feather also changes her relationship with herself and her life. She is also changing during the film.
From the salon entertainer she turns into a strong and committed personality, she does not go with the stream anymore; she is ready to take control of her life. One of the pivotal moments of this change can be regarded the scene when Feather talks to Colorado, she admits that her life is different from that it is to be. It may be the moment when she understands that changes are necessary. One more crucial moment for her is when Chance asks her to stop wearing feathers, thus, stop leading the life she led.
Then Chance says he loves her, and that can be the final impact that changes Feather into a respectful woman, who respects herself. Thus, all these characters became better due to interrelation with each other, their help, attention, respect and support made all of them capable to become better.
Apart from creating the atmosphere of intimacy which was to stress the characters’ relationship and personal development, Hawks still succeeded in creating a good western with action, guns and shooting. Hawks was a real professional. One of his best findings was the creation of the affect of suspense. From the very first scenes of the film there is suspense of Burdette’s attack.
After the killer imprisonment the viewer is waiting for the great fight of bad guys and good guys. Everyone in the town is waiting for it, sheriff and his deputies are getting prepared. Focusing on the characters interrelations Hawks never stops reminding the viewer about the coming attack.
Characters dialogues are full of this suspense. One of the ways to enhance the suspense is music. The scene when Burdette pays Mexicans for playing that specific tune. And from that moment the tune never stops, Colorado explains that this is a sign, the sign that the prisoner will be saved. Thus, this continuing melody keeps the viewer aware of the fact that the fight is inevitable.
In conclusion it is necessary to add that Rio Bravo became one of the best examples of westerns due to its originality and preciseness. Not many westerns are as much concerned with relationship and such important issues as professionalism, friendship and responsibility. Thus, Rio Bravo is still watched and praised since, on one hand, it reveals a great example of how to make a good film, on the other hand, it represents classic western with deep insight into the nature of people relationship.
Works Cited
McCarthy, Todd. Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood . New York: Grove Press, 2000.
Wood, Robin. Howard Hawks . Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2006.
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Risk factors, staging, and treatment of breast cancer Research Paper
Introduction
Breast cancer is a disease that originates from the breast tissue and the curative time of the patient is dependent on the level of spread and to what organs it has spread to. In the advent of new technology, computer models have been programmed and developed to help in the staging process and determine how long a person is going to live.
With best treatments available, most of the breast cancer patients can survive up to ten years with a 98% to 10% disease free body within this period. On the other hand, it has been discovered that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer especially with women with the total percentage of 10% of all the kinds of cancer.
This does not mean that it does not attack men but the probability is higher in women. If the diagnosis is fast and early, then the spread rate can be stemmed or even eliminated altogether.
This requires the use of trained oncologists with the right equipments to be able to remove it from the stem altogether or if a cure is impossible then the patient’s life can be significantly prolonged with the aid of a cancer drugs.
This is so because huge amounts of resources have been used in the research and the development of the breast cancer drugs that in effect help the body to combat the cancer by providing additional immune to boost the fighting power of the body.
Additionally in the process of research, new methods that are effective the fight against drugs have been experimented and proven to be effective in the fight against the breast cancer. However, breast cancer remains a killer disease and more research needs to be conducted to ensure that its prevalence level is reduced (Hart, 2007).
Age
Age is very instrumental in determining the risk a woman has in getting breast cancer and the risk to get the breast cancer increases significantly as the woman ages. For instance it has been found that a woman living up to the age of 90 years has a risk factor of up to 14% to contact the cancer compared to a middle aged woman. The manner in which cancer attacks the two age’s differences is quite different.
In older women, the cancer spreads slowly and is not as severe but in younger woman it attacks more vigorously and is difficult to control. In addition, it has also been out that in most cases of breast cancer in older people, a higher depression rate among the patients was noted, and this contributes to the faster death as compared to the younger people.
This is because young people have the necessary hope to fight on due to the life before them but the older people have lost hope in life and when they are diagnosed most tends to seclude themselves or live in denial.
This means that in the research for breast cancer apart from trying to develop cures and ways to eliminate the cancer, lots of research should also be done on the psychological support programs to help stem this tide (Hart, 2007).
Gender
Men have a lower risk of getting breast cancer compared to women but the risk is appearing to be on the increase in men too. This has been noted especially in the men with prostate cancer and in the case a man is affected the prognosis even in the first stage is very aggressive and worse than in women.
The treatment for the cancer in men is the same as the treatment for an older woman and is a combination of surgery radiation and chemotherapy.
Genetics
Change or mutations of genes in our bodies can also increase the probability of having cancerous cells in the breasts. This is supported by studies that explicitly show that up to 10% of all breast cancers are hereditary.
This is supported by the fact that women with both hereditary genes of breast cancer gene 1 and breast cancer gene2 have a higher risk of developing breast cancer with women having breast cancer gene 1 accounting for over 5% of all the cancers that occur.
Human epidermal growth receptor 2(HER2) is another gene that is found on the surface on the human skin and can increase the chance or probability of acquiring breast cancer. This is caused by the over production of the HER2 cells when the gene is altered.
If this happens, then aggressive tumor cells develop which account to about 25-30% of all the cancer patients. If the p53 gene undergoes mutation then the risk is even more. This is confirmed by the studies that have shown that women with this mutated gene have a poorer breast cancer outcome than those that do not posses this gene (Ellmann, 2009).
Family history
The family history deeply increases the risk of having breast cancer especially if a close member had the cancer. To the victims whose mother or father had the cancer then the risk doubles. The following people have a risk of having the cancer depending on the background and according to the genetics. These conditions can increase breast cancer
* Having relatives with breast cancer
* Having relatives with two different kinds of cancer
* Having a male relative with case or cases of breast cancer
* .If the same family is of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage then the odds are even more
* A family history that includes history of diseases such as hereditary breast cancer and diseases such as Li-Fraumeni or even Cowdens Syndromes
Diet
It has been shown that there are higher rates and incidence of the breast cancer in areas that have high fat yield content in their diet like in the USA compared with the low fat yield places like Japan. However, the link between the two is not straight and is dependent on the type of fats that a woman has.
Monounsaturated fats are linked to low breast cancer risk compared with polyunsaturated fats that have a slightly higher prevalence. A study was conducted in the USA that showed that despite the link between the diet and the cancer, the reduction of fats in the diet does not automatically mean or lead to a reduction in the risk of having the breast cancer.
However, it was found out that there is a 9% reduction rate in the postmenopausal women if they followed a strict low fat diet. In the end, it was decided that the cutting of fats in the diet can cause a reduced rate of risk in some women but they did not have the necessary solid evidence to make conclusions.
Hormone replacement therapy
Recent studies have indicated the use of this kind of therapy can add to the risk of breast cancer. In the year 2002 a study was carried out by the group Women heath initiative and it was found out that in they were eight cases of invasive breast cancer in about 10000 women. This represented an increase of about 26% compared to those who did not have the hormone replacement therapy.
On the same note, it was found out that between the years 2002 and 2003 there was an increase in the prevalence rate of the breast cancer. Although the tests and the results are not conclusive or even solid, this little link has alarmed experts who believe that women seeking hormone replacement therapy should consult an expert on the matter to ensure that they are well informed (Foster, 2008).
Tobacco
It had not been discovered that tobacco smoking could cause an increase of breast cancer until the beginning of the mid 1990’s when a number of studies were conducted on the same topic. The study had disturbing results that predicted a higher risk rate for both active and passive smokers. Based on the epidemiological studies and the mammary carcinogens, the rate had reached 70% by 2005.
In the year 2006, another study was done which pegged the risk rate at a higher rate due to the risk of non-smokers who are passive smokers. This is especially rife in young women who can suffer from an increased risk rate of up to 70% if they are in their primary pre-menopausal stage because at this stage, the breast tissue is sensitive to the carcinogens; they are still young, and not fully developed
Staging of breast cancer
This process is used to determine the level in which the cancer has attacked the body making a diagnosis. Knowing the stage of the cancer is very important since the doctor gets to know the best way on which to offer treatment and how to determine the prognosis of the cancer (Foster, 2008). The staging is done in stages that are:
1. Stage 0: This is called the pre-cancerous state because the cancer cells are located in the milk duct and have not yet spread to the breast tissue or have not invaded the nodes or distant sites. Such cancers like lobular carcinoma can be classified as stage 0 cancer.
2. Stage 1: The cancer has started spreading to the other parts of the breast and the tumor is less than 2cm long however the cancer cells have not spread to the lymph nodes or even the distant cells.
3. Stage II: This stage is divided into two categories namely stageIIA and stageIIB. In stage II, the tumor will be located and restricted to the breast with no further spreading. Finally, the tumor can be more than 2cm but less than 5cm and has not yet spread to the auxiliary nodes or the distant sites.
4. StageIIB can involve cancer cells that have a tumor larger the 2cm but being less than 5cm. At this stage, the cancer cells will have spread to auxiliary nodes but the distant cells will be safe. In addition, during the later stages of the stage, the tumor is more than 5cm long but the spread to the chest walls will not have started. This stage also has the cells localized and have not spread to the distant sites
5. Stage III has three sub categories that are categorized according to the level of spreading the cancer has undergone. In stageIIIA, the tumor is less than 5cm in diameter and the cells have spread to 4-9 auxiliary nodes but not to the distant sites. The tumor can be larger than 5cm in diameter and the cells having spread to the mammary nodes but the distant sites will still be healthy. In stageIIIB,the tumor can take up any size and the spread will have encroached the chest walls. The spreading of the cancer can be to the auxiliary nodes in the breast themselves or the lymph nodes that are near the breastbones. Finally in stageIIIC the tumor can be of any size and the cancer cells having spread to 10 0r more of the auxiliary cells or even to 1 or more of the regional lymph nodes or even to the internal mammary glands
6. StageIV: At this stage, the tumor can take up any size depending on the attack and the cancerous cells might have spread to the lymph nodes that are nearby. In most cases, the cells will have spread to the distant cells (Foster, 2008).
Treatment of cancer
Treatment of breast cancer is dependent on the stage the cancer is and the whether the cells are sensitive to hormones. Personal preferences also come into effect with many people preferring one method of treatment to another because of their own reasons. Overall, these methods are all-effective and are all instrumental in ensuring that all the cells are ejected from the body.
Treatment methods
The most common method is surgery. In surgery, there are many forms all depending on the level of spread and the staging. A lumpectomy is an effective way ot breast cancer treatment because the removes the entire tumor plus some surrounding cell tissues that are healthy. This method is however reserved for the smaller tumors. The entire breast can also be removed (mastectomy).In this method the doctor usually removes all the breast tissue and all the parts that border or are integral with the breast.
The surgery can also be performed by removing one lymph node, this is because the cancer will have spread to that lymph alone and if removed the chance of finding cancer in other cells is very low to the point that the surgeon leaves all the other parts intact. On the other hand, several lymph nodes can also be removed depending on the level of spread (Ellmann, 2009).
Radiation therapy
“This kind of therapy involves the use of high-powered beams of energy to kill the cancer cell” (Ellmann, 2009, p. 49). It is done using a big machine that emits the rays to ensure that all the cancerous cells are killed. In most cases, some doctors will recommend this therapy instead of mastectomy to be able to save the entire breast tissue.
Chemotherapy
“This process involves the use of drugs to destroy the cancer cells” (Connolly, 2008, p. 52). Some doctors can recommend chemotherapy after surgery to avoid the cells forming again and it can be used before surgery to allow the tumor to shrink to a level where it can be safely removed. It is used in women whose breast cancer has spread to the other organs present in the body
Hormone therapy
“This is another of treatment to treat breast cancers especially is the cells are sensitive to hormones” (Backus, 2005, p. 379). It can be used after a surgery to make sure that the cancer does not rejuvenate or it can be used to reduce the size of the tumor before any surgery can be done.
The drugs also prevent the hormones from attaching themselves to the cancer cells or they help to eliminate the production of estrogen especially in menopausal women . One disadvantage of these drugs is that they are only used for postmenopausal women.
Herceptin breast cancer metastatic treatment
Due to the increased level of research and dedication, new methods have been developed to curb the spread of breast cancer. One of this is by the use of herceptin breast cancer metastatic treatment.
This kind of therapy is injected in the body by the use of a needle and can be used together with the other types of breast cancer drugs .It is new and still not in use especially in the developing world but its use is catching on.
References
Backus, M. (2005). Is there a role for iodine in breast. The Breast, 10 (5), 379–382.
Connolly, T. (2008). Robbins Basic Pathology . Philadelphia: Saunders.
Ellmann, R. (2009). Breast carcinoma in men: a population-based study. Cancer , 101 (1), 51–58.
Foster, J. (2008). Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 26 (3), 191–198.
Hart, C. (2007). Breast Cancer . London: Faber & Faber.
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Risks in online marketing Report (Assessment)
In the modern world, there is rise in charity organizations which deal with donated product such as books, toys, ornaments and small household goods. Unfortunately, these charity organizations often encounter financial problems due to low prices on commodities of high value. The potential customers of these charity organizations are mainly low wage earners and the old age pensioners.
Due to these challenges, charity organizations have opted to use online marketing to increase their markets. With their resolution to online marketing come several challenges. Consequently, this paper seeks to analyze the possible risks to the charity organizations going online and also provide solutions to minimize the risks that will be encountered.
There are several risks that are related to the organization that opt to work online (Ottessen and Gronhaug, 2006). One of the major risk that is likely to be encountered is payment fraud (Li, 2003). With the use of credit, debit or personal cheque there is possibility of the charity getting defrauded through fake documents. Personal cheques are not reliable source since they might be bouncing therefore the business faces the risk in payment of commodity.
The server providing the charity organization with the internet also known as the internet service provider may break down bringing the activities of the business to a halt. The organization is therefore exposed to threat of making losses due to ineffective performance. The software of the computer may encounter some fault resulting in error or omissions. This permits unauthorized individuals to use the services of the charity organization without the notice of the owner and can result in loss of property due to online theft.
Another risk posed to the charity is the possibility of hacking (Shih and Wen, 2005). The computer system of the organization is likely to be infected by the viruses, botnets, Trojan or worms since it is exposed to insecure usage by potential customers. Therefore, the computer system is likely to break down which in turn will affect the activities of the charity i.e. the organization is likely to make losses.
To make matters worse, data stored in the computer system faces threat from the infection of the virus. The databases, software’s and files are likely to be affected by the viruses, Trojan or worms.
Besides, there is a risk of spoofing. Illegal sites purporting to have a relationship with the genuine charity organization are likely to sprout. There is great likelihood because of the low costs of website creation and the ability to imitate the original pages. Therefore, customers of the business have a greater risk of being conned from by scammers. As a result, customer loyalty is likely to be lost hence the charity will perform poorly.
Given that website development is much easier and cheaper, the copyright, patent and trademark names are likely to be infringed since the hackers can use the information about the business without authority from the owner (McKay and Marshall, 2004).
There is also the issue of libel about the information published on the web page (Smith, 2004). The information that is contained in the web page concerning the charity may be damaged or destroyed leading to decrease of fame of the organization.
Shipment costs are likely to be high since the organization has a responsibility of delivering the products to the doorstep of the consumer (Schienker and Crocker, 2003). This makes it to be an expensive business resulting to losses or minimum profit. To add on, the consumer can claim that the goods were not received or were of poor quality which may lead to compensation.
The link between the organization and the supply channel will be poor or not sufficient since the customer does not have physical and free interaction with the business. Consequently the commodities will not sell as required therefore the stock might be scrapped in order to pave way for the new stock.
Encryption is one of the ways that can secure the transaction between the consumer and the organization. The technology of encryption denies the unauthorized persons the information on the payment documents. This allows the information to be private and confidential therefore it can not be used without the knowledge of the owner.
Authentication is another way to minimize risks in the charity organization. This is the satisfaction of the customer security after obtaining trust in the authority of the organization. This encourages the customer to access the internet business without fear since security is guaranteed upon the use of the commodities in the online business (Li, 2003).
Digital certificates should be issued in order to secure communication of the organization from possible hackers (Reisnich, 2005). This involves the use of electronic files that distinguishes the genuine storefronts of the organization which are on line. Therefore the consumer is protected against the scammers.
Training the staff about the risks encountered is a way of managing the risks that are encountered in the organization (Pathak, 2005). This enables the staff to be aware of the risks involved in the online transaction and this will help to curb down the uncertainties that may be encountered.
The charity should be able to choose the right bank and proper payment methods in order to avoid defrauding and loss of property. It follows that the potential bank should be conversant with the risks associated with online transactions.
The website content about the charity organization should be sufficient and reliable in order to minimize the risks involved in the business. For instance, the web page should consist of shipping, refund and privacy policies. To add on, the page should be easy to use for their consumer.
Making of internal structures that prevent fraud and implementing them is another way to minimize the risks related to the charity organization. This includes the strategies that the business plans in order to counter fraud cases.
Tools that are meant to prevent fraud should be used in order to avoid fraud cases. For example, the use of secured codes in the master and visa cards can greatly reduce chances of being scammed. The charity organization should be vigilant in the use of the credit cards in order to avoid the fraud cases. This involves carefully screening the cards that are used in the online transaction to minimize the risks related to fraud cases.
Possible intruders to the account of the charity organization should be prevented (Shih and Wen, 2005). This is enhanced by protecting the account from unauthorized persons.
In conclusion, it is clear that the charity organization will be at risks when it goes online as compared to when it operates through the physical location. Both the charity organization and its potential customer are exposed to greater risk when the business decides to go online.
However, if the charity organization takes extra caution in order to minimize the risks, the performance of the charity is likely to be boosted up. This is because the sales are likely to increase due to the large number of customers purchasing from the charity.
Reference List
Li, S., 2003. Future trends and challenges of financial risk management in the digital economy. Managerial Finance, 29 (5/6), pp.111-125.
Mckay, J. and Marshall, P., 2004. Strategic management of e-business. Singapore: John Willey & Sons Austria, Ltd.
Ottessen, G.G. and Gronhaug, K., 2006. Pursuing Opportunities: Why so many fail and so few succeed. European Journal of Marketing, 40 (1/2), pp.100-112.
Pathak, J., 2005. Guest editorial. Risk management, internal controls and organizational vulnerabilities. Managerial Auditing Journal, 20 (6), pp.569-577.
Reisnich, R., 2005. E-commerce: Managing the Legal Risks. Managerial Law, 47 (1/2), pp.168-196.
Schienker, L. and Crocker, N., 2003. Building an e-business scenario foe small business: the IBM SME Gateway project. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 6 (1), pp.7-17.
Shih, S. and Wen, H.J., 2005. E-enterprise security management life cycle. Information Management and Computer Security, 13 (2), pp.121-134.
Smith, A.D., 2004. E-security issues and policy development in an information sharing and networked environment. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 56 (6),pp.272-285.
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Justice in Law: Treating People Justly and Fairly Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Approach to Justice
2. Asylum justice
3. Transitional justice
Approach to Justice
Justice is giving a person the right to live in accordance with the laws that have been written down. As humans, we believe we have the right to be fairly treated regardless of our race, economic status, education level or any other factor that can be used to categorize people.
For this reason justice in law can be defined as an act of treating people justly and fairly especially when it involves punishment. Basically, the approach to reach a just verdict depends on the case present.
Asylum justice
In a an example presented in this article, the approach to justice towards immigrants seeking asylum is one way of ensuring that people are treated fairly regardless of where they come from.
Immigrants who flee from their country to seek refuge in another country should have rights to seek better living condition as compared to there own home countries. Most people run away from their countries because they are unable to bare the events happening in their countries.
These happenings may be in form of corruption, brutality, violation of human rights, fights and other kinds of human violation that leads to conflicts or political instability or political witch-hunting. Asylum seekers have troubles in getting the justice they deserve especially because many governments are narrowing the chances of giving immigrants asylum.
In America, especially after the September 11 th tragedy, judges who are in charge of cases concerning asylum have become particular about identifying whether the asylum seekers are credible immigrants by doing a background check up of the countries they are from. The aim of using this kind of approach to ensure that justice is served and to ensure that asylum seekers can now obtain legal aid funds.
The policies stipulated on asylum and immigration Acts are used as a way of balancing asylum procedures of the states involved and to ensure the establishment of a balanced approach to how legal and illegal immigrants are treated. In most cases, the asylum seekers are not represented by attorneys neither with legal advice and this makes it difficult for them to win their cases.
Transitional justice
Another approach to justice is, transitional justice. Transitional justice can be defined as a kind of justice that is used to promote or put a stop to a widespread in the violation of human rights. This kind of justice is usually adopted when people who have been experiencing human rights abuse over along period of time and are now on the verge of recovery.
In such cases, which involve human rights violation, the government is responsible in ensuring wide range of initiatives are enacted to stop the violation. The emphasis of this kind of justice is based on how those involved in human rights violations and victims of the violation get treated in terms of legal and criminal prosecutions.
States recovering from a conflicts or instability may use this form of justice in support with other institutions that support the rule of law to ensure that there is protection of human rights for the state to restore its stability and national protection.
A state that is stable economically, politically and socially, provides its people with a platform for realization of how important human rights are as compared to an unstable state which gives rise to human insecurity, forced displacements and human rights violation.
For this reason, it is important for recovering governments to recognize and support transitional justice which will help in accounting for past violation of human rights and breaking of humanitarian laws as a way of resolving conflicts and will also ensure the government is in support of human rights standards as essential elements of the rule of law.
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Role of Prejudice in Wars in Iraq Term Paper
Abstract
The essay covers the role of prejudice in wars in Iraq. It defines prejudice and explains its role and effects. Other forms or factors of prejudice such as racism and discrimination are explained. The main causes of prejudice are explained and how they can be used to resolve and be used for the benefit of fighting discrimination and stereotyping. Ways in which citizens can assist to promote peace and helping the eradication of prejudice are suggested.
Role of prejudice in wars in Iraq
Prejudice is negative attitude and feelings towards a certain group, which include discrimination of people due to their race, actions, beliefs and/or feelings. Prejudice is commonly used with discrimination and stereotyping since they have the same meaning, and go hand in hand. Prejudice in psychology is the science that affects the social mind.
They are used to disintegrate people instead of bringing them together as one. It breaks relationships which may exists between individuals or groups even if the relationship is negative like in the cases of military patriotism (Plous, 2003). War has been commonly used to dehumanize groups of people with the intention of killing or casualties.
The Iraq war is the most popular in describing prejudice. The U.S invaded Iraq because it is claimed that Muslims from Iraq, who are popularly known to carry out terrorism (jihad) bombed the Twin Towers on the 911 incident. The terrorists retaliated by bombing U.S, thus the cycle of war continues. This creates a gap between the two as the Muslims see themselves different from us and we also see ourselves different from them, thus creating a gap between the humans.
Prejudice has played many roles, the main one being loss of human life, which is generated via war. Those participating in these wars are encouraged by being honored and valued, this being the reason as to why war and prejudice never end. Many lie about what war is and its’ consequences by sugar coating it and in some instances, lie of their involvement.
Those responsible end up being awarded medals or excuses are given, which leave them free without trial or punishment. It clearly portrays racism, sexism, heterosexism and exploitation of indigenous people, animals and the environment at large as some of the major effects that bring about human conflict and enmity.
Racism has led to increased prejudice, which is the main cause of ethnic conflicts and wars in the Middle East and Africa whereas in other states, it has led to debates and controversies on race, racism, nationalism and multiculturalism.
A good example is the genocides which took place in the 1990’s with Rwanda (Africa) being the worst affected leaving millions wounded, homeless and many dead. Other genocides have occurred in Bosnia and Kosovo. These events have led to researches on the issues of prejudice and racism.
Theories have emerged especially on psychological theories which adversely contribute to our knowledge on this disturbing social issue, and offer assistance on how the acquired knowledge maybe put into practice in understanding and resolving intergroup oppression and conflicts. Social researches have been brought forward arguing that prejudice and racism manifest themselves at different levels which include institutional, individual’s, intergroup or even interpersonal (Plous, 2003).
To understand prejudice in relation to psychology, it may be related to discrimination or one having negative attitudes towards someone else basically because he or she belongs to a certain group. With Iraq, U.S discriminated it since it belonged to the Al Qaeda group, which was a terrorist group and was attacking it and killing many innocent Americans.
In the U.S – Iraq war, American soldiers were seen on the media and internet laughing and torturing Iraqi prisoners, while another terrorist group, still in Iraq, showed the video of an Iraqi slaughtering an American civilian. Others had photos showing an Iraq mob killing four American military then hanging them on March 31st.
These murders and tortures clearly show a sign of hatred, enmity and inhumanity among the humans. If mobs and groups of terrorists can carry out the same, one is left to wonder what effect or impact trained military personnel could have like that of the U.S especially on their mortal enemy.
This becomes really hard for the human activists such as the Red Cross, United Nations and Africa Union to promote peace and eliminate prejudice. Reason for this is that many leaders such as the religious, military and political leaders tolerate this kind of behaviors without bring the culprits into justice.
The U.S being the leading in music and film making exercise prejudice by discriminating the Muslim race, in that, they feed civilians with discrimination information in form of movies and music. We expect the military to behave in an extra ordinary manner forgetting that they are also humans who are subject to hatred and discrimination waves against the Iraqis and the Muslim in general as the public is.
Some military leaders have made anti- Muslim speeches to the public and on live broadcasts while in uniform and no form of confrontation or warning was done. He went ahead and authorized for both sexual and physical abuse of the Iraqi prisoners.
Prejudice is mainly promoted by hate speeches from popular leaders, government actions and the media (Clow and Esses, 2007). The three lead to the widespread of prejudice across the world which results into wars and conflicts between countries, groups or even individuals.
Government actions such as interrogations, police detention without trials, profiling at subways and airports, police raids among others are some of the effects causing mainly the Muslims and black\brown colored people feeling insecure and discriminated as they are the main suspects in crimes and terrorist actions.
The media behaves irresponsible through talks, shows as well as news as the government can control any information that would expose it to the public but any other act related to a black colored or Muslim related story is very quick to publish and expose it.
In the previous years Fight against prejudice took another turn when groups and factions forbid any public expression that would lead or encourage prejudice and discrimination of whatsoever manner.
For example, some editorialists accompanied by protestors confronted the president of Rutgers University asking him to step down for discriminating the blacks and calling them “the disadvantaged and without genetic, hereditary background…” Others like Ralph Reed called for a press conference to urge people to denounce the habit of name calling especially with regards to race and color.
Citizens can assist in promoting peace and fight against prejudice in many ways, although eliminating prejudice totally will not be possible since everyone has their own motives and as long as freedom for expression remains, hate speeches and other kinds of prejudice will prevail.
For example, some people believe and will express it out publicly that homosexuality is a disease and disgrace to the society, which is a form of discrimination. This is a form of promoting peace and fighting prejudice as the school policies do not tolerate such speeches (Brochu, and Esses, 2009).
An effective way of promoting peace is via the media. Using the internet, radio, television, computers and printing can be very effective to make humans understand the need and importance of peace. Media if not controlled and well monitored may lead to war as was the case with the Iraq war in 1993. This is due to the civilians being misinformed due to the unverified information and misrepresentation of statements.
Some withhold or release de-sensationalizing information which does not promote peace especially in times of war or near war, thus, steering up war and conflicts. Education in schools mainly junior, high school and colleges should be used to teach students about peace since they interact mostly with others from different backgrounds and of different races.
Dialogue should be used and allowed as everyone has a right to express themselves as long as it does not promote prejudice in any way. The government and leaders should strictly forbid and contain prejudice by laying out strict and just policies, rules and repercussions and making them known to all (Esses., et al, 2008).
Symposiums and conferences should be encouraged and all races should be encouraged and everyone’s view should be addressed equally without favoring anyone and discriminating the others.
Respect for others’ religion should be addressed and adhered to promptly. Another thing to note is that revenge always accelerates war rather than peace. Dr King advocated for peace and called it “not the absence of violence, but the presence of justice,” (Zucchino, 2004).
On elections day, we should strive to elect leaders who know the meaning of peace and are willing to go an extra mile to achieve it and ensure that justice is served to those who seek it. Others may perceive peace inform of justice as those who do wrong by encouraging war or murder to be taken for trial and prosecuted. Also to understand the roots of evil like war, terrorism, murder and any other form of inhuman act (Berreby, 2005).
The law should be closely followed as it calls on us to follow the procedures laid in order to protect innocent lives, apprehend calmly rather than to use force and destroy property and lives.
Citizens can decide to reject the U.S strategies used by the government and advocate for those that respond to terrorism in a positive and polite way by using the necessary resources to prosecute international criminals. During debates the root causes of prejudice and any other source of conflicts that is likely to stir up war or hatred should be addressed and not only the symptoms and effects.
Together as one, we should recognize and appreciate the other parties are taking. This way United States is able to respond effectively and receive assistance from the international body if we are able to identify our role in promoting peace and fighting terrorism.
Challenge the elected leaders to dialogue with Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders in order to formulate solutions and work together to encourage peace and spread it globally. Ask leaders to change from engaging in wars through bombing Iraq to aiding the starving Muslims who majority are homeless and dying.
Increasing the amount of multilateral organizations which are not based on the fact that one is with us or against us, but those that serve all equally without discrimination. Finally, activists and unions can foster the understanding of various cultures and advocate for reconciliation and peace among the inter cultural community (Reynolds, 2005).
In conclusion, prejudice and discrimination cannot be completely eradicated but can be controlled or used to the advantage of promoting peace and reconciliation among the human race. The main perpetrators of prejudice are the government actions which can decide whether or not the war will stop or will continue.
Media which has the most effect as can be manipulated to steer up war by the government or other popular individuals and hate speeches on live broadcast by prominent leaders such as the military, religious and political leaders.
Peace is inevitable since if war erupts only innocent lives are sacrificed and many become displaced but by promoting peace, love and unity irrespective of color or background, a lot can be achieved with the use of those resources being diverted elsewhere like in invention or assisting catastrophic hit areas or even venturing to the out a space.
These actions will not be effective in a year or two or even five years time but will be a gradual process which the following generations will benefit from and the world will be a conducive environment to live in without fear.
References
Berreby, D. (2005). Us and Them: Understanding your Tribal Mind . New York: Little Brown and Company
Brochu, P. & Esses, V. (2009). Weight prejudice and medical policy: Support for an ambiguously discriminatory policy is influenced by prejudice-coloured glasses. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 9, 117-133.
Clow, K. & Esses, V. (2007). Expectancy effects in social stereotyping: Automatic and controlled processing in the Neely paradigm. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 39, 161-173.
Esses, V. Veenvliet, S., Hodson, G., & Mihic, L. (2008). Justice, morality, and the dehumanization of refugees. Social Justice Research, 21, 4-25.
Plous, S. (2003). Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Reynolds, N. (2005). Basrah, Baghdad, and Beyond: U.S. Marine Corps in the Second Iraq War . Naval Institute Press, Maryland.
Zucchino, D. (2004). Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad . New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Roles That Political Parties Play and Have Played in American Politics Essay
The American constitution did not advocate for political parties, but they came into existence in 1790s. Since then these two party systems have played a critical role in politics.
The main parties in the United States are two although there are other minor or third parties. The two main parties have dominated United States political system. It’s almost impossible to find a modern political system with only one party. Political parties have been realized to play very important roles in the society.
To modern nations political parties are very crucial. The two political party systems in the United States have contributed a lot in having a democratic nation. This has been achieved through having two or more parties contend in free elections. One party system cannot be termed as democratic. Political parties in America have brought citizens to the central government.
Moreover, the two party systems take major preferences into policies made by the government. This multi party system has also contributed in shaping the perception of the electorate towards the individuals who do politics under their titles.
The political parties present the citizens’ grievances, likes, and interests to the government. This has resulted to improved quality of democracy in America. The high cost incurred in elections, in parliament, and in government transactions are cut down by the presence of political parties.
These parties have also managed to deal with the predicament of collective actions. In the United States of America, political parties have been seen giving orders to the process of legislation and allowing voters to have something to hold to and can account for. It has been noted that without political parties legislative politics may be instable.
Thus why the legislators who desire to have their policies to be considered are encouraged to form a political party. Through the effort of the political parties, democratic organizations have become more effective in their performances. Political parties in America put efforts in putting both interests and demands of the citizens and direct them into the right channel.
The two party systems emerged in America to fight for a more democratic nation. A two party system is also a sign of modernization of a political system. This system has lasted for so long in the United States as they try to make the government more accountable in their responsibilities. The citizens are more contented with the two party system as the elected leaders are made more responsible for their actions during their serving term.
Through this most of the citizens preferences are addressed and given priority as important matters are discussed. Citizens appreciate the presence of a two party system as the opposing party keeps an eye on the government actions thus the citizens cannot be oppressed by the ruling party.
The two party systems in America are still running smoothly. This is as a result of the two parties making the government to lead people forward basing the facts that the opposing party can take over incase of violations in ruling. The two party systems makes a big nation to be represented by only two parties thus bringing the nation together though divided. On the other hand, these two parties divide the nation as the party leaders battle to take the government.
As far as the two party systems is leading to a more committed government the feeling of division among the citizens is still there. For instance, the Democratic Party that is currently ruling ought to be very careful in attaining the government set goals and objectives to satisfy the public. Failure to which, the Republican Party will be given the chance to rule the nation.
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Routine Activities Theory Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Elements of the Theory
2. Why Offenders Engage in Crime
3. Victimization of individuals and/or objects
4. Rational Choice and Routine Activities Theory
5. Situational crime prevention
6. Conclusion
7. References
Elements of the Theory
According to the Routine Activities Theory, people make decisions basing on how advantageous the decisions will be to them and at the same time minimize the disadvantages.
According to the theory, crime usually occur when certain conditions are prevalent, that is, when there is an offender who is motivated, a target that is deemed suitable and the lack of a capable guardian. There must be an individual who has a motivation to carry out a crime.
Then, there must be a target to which the crime is directed. The target value depends on the offender’s judgment and is not dependent on the economic worth. The offender has to be in a position to reach the target, commit the offence and retreat or escape (Gary, 1968).
For any crime to occur, all the three stated requirements must be present and the absence of any of them prevents a crime from occurring. The three requirements may converge during the daily routinely activities that people undertake like those activities done at work, school or in the homestead (Clarke, 1997).
Why Offenders Engage in Crime
Offenders usually engage in crime whenever the three mentioned requirements converge in the same space and time. The theory holds the victims responsible for the crimes that are committed. The victims make themselves the targets of the offences due to their routinely activities that they take part in.
The fact that an opportunity is availed for the offence to be undertaken and the target is available, then the offender will always utilize the chance by committing the offence. The element of the absence of the guardian is also vital for crime to occur.
The guardian may be the person who oversees the activities of the offender or the one in charge of the offender. Whenever the guardian relaxes his or her responsibility over the offender or is absolutely unavailable then the offender is bound to commit the crime against the target.
The security guards and the police could take the positions of guardians and the fact that they are not available in an area could be a motivation towards crime. The target may be aided when the conditions that prevail make it easier for the criminal to commit the offence. A good example may be leaving the gate open when it is supposed to be closed (Cornish, 1986).
It has been established that crime usually increases with the increase in economic growth. This could be attributed to the fact that with economic growth, people become more economically visible and hence become potential targets for the offenders.
Victimization of individuals and/or objects
The fact that some areas do not have enough guardians could lead to the prevalence of offenders and hence commit more assault against the targets. The fact that some people go to night clubs and other entertainment centers at night, provides ideal conditions for the offender and the target to meet hence the targets are victimized.
Basing on this theory, one may become a target just on the basis of that person developing economically as he/she becomes economically visible. This discourages economic development as people become victimized and fear to develop (Cohen, 1979).
Rational Choice and Routine Activities Theory
According to the theory of rational choice, man has his own reasoning capability and he weighs the consequences, the cost as well as the benefits before making a rational choice.
Before committing crime, the offender puts some organization into it. The Routine Activities Theory puts its focus on the crime characteristics rather than the criminal. Before the offender commits the crime, he/she ensures that all the three requirements are available.
The offenders weigh all possible options, for instance, whether the target is accessible, how to commit the offence and the possibility of retreating or escaping. The person ensures that no guardian exists to prevent the crime.
The Routine Activities theory as deemed to a subset of the rational choice criminology. Crime is believed to be committed not because one is experienced in criminal activities but simply because an opportunity is availed. The opportunity may for instance be availed by the target not being well guard (Felson, 1998).
Situational crime prevention
There is a need for different authorities to channel their efforts in ensuring that crime opportunities are reduced. This has not been the case as most efforts have been channeled towards criminal suspects and their characteristics. By increasing the risks that are associated with crime and reducing its benefits the crime is bound to reduce.
It is believed that crime is usually made when an opportunity is availed. Criminal activity patterns are not just based on the criminals residence but the places where opportunities to commit crime are available what could otherwise be termed as hotspots.
It is also common for certain people to be targets for offenders than others. By using statistical data, resources that are meant to reduce the criminal activities can be channeled towards the right target areas. Education also plays a significant role in reducing crime.
Conclusion
Given the fact that crime occurs when there is a potential offender, a target and the absence of a guardian, crime prevention measure should aim at ensuring that the conditions are not met at a particular time or place. 5this will go a long way in ensuring that the root cause of the problem is met and not its characteristics.
References
Clarke, R. R. (1997). Situational Crime prevation. New York: Harrow and Heston.
Cohen, L. a. (1979). Social Change and Crime Rate Trend: a Routine Activity Approach. American Social Review , 44 , 588-608.
Cornish, e. a. (1986). “Introduction” in The Reasoning Criminal. New York: Spinger-Verlag.
Felson, M. (1998). Crime and Everyday Life. Orklands Carlifornia: Pine Forge Press.
Gary, B. (1968). Crime and Punishment: An economic Approach. Journal of Political Economy , 78 , 169-217.
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Rubber, Rise of an Essential Commodity Report
Origin and exploration or rubber
Many times we do not give any thought to rubber with consideration to its origin. It is evident that rubber originates from a variety of plants. Moreover, high-yield plants are found in native Latin America and the most outstanding ones are Castolloa and Hevea. It is worth knowing that, in the pre-Columbian America, people used rubber for different artifacts like shoes, balls and water proofing.
This, however, had not been evident anywhere else until after Columbus industrial revolution. Rubber was introduced in Europe in 1492 and used for the manufacture of erasers and balls. Furthermore, there were controversies that it melted in the sun, it also had a bad smell and became brittle in cold temperatures.
Nevertheless, it was used for industrial and domestic applications, with Charles Goodyear inventing vulcanization in 1839. The products that were produced from rubber include generators, electrical motors and tires. It is evident that there were contradictions involving rubber as related to its exploitation.
As it was considered to be high-tech and crude. The trees were cut with machetes and latex dripped in cups after which they were transferred to industries in North America and Europe industries. Britain experienced a mushroom growth of manufacturing industry.
Hardships in rubber exploration
Among the first products of rubber in Britain were firestone, Goodyear, BF Goodrich and general tire. Additionally, Poverty and calamities like hunger and death resulted on the course of rubber exploitation. At these early years plantations only flourished in Africa, Asia and Oceania. As a result, Henry Wickham imported hevea seeds via Kew gardens in 1876.
The Putumayo valley in Brazil had vast numbers of Castilloa trees; however, there were few trappers something that made importation of Chinese and Japanese an option that never happened. In 2007, anthropologists discovered the lost tribe in Peruvian rainforest this included the Huitotos.
Liberian conquest of America after 1492 resulted in slavery, genocide and dispossession. The Portuguese started Atlantic slave trade, whereas the entire Hispaniola population died 50 years after Columbus. Walt Hardenburg crossed the Andes in the late 1970 after working on the Panama Canal. Furthermore, he travelled to London to confront the PACO board about the horrors slaves were undergoing.
It is evident from the literature that rubber has come a long way from its discovery, exploitation and use at present. Furthermore, slaves seem to have played a vital role in this process. Rubber was mainly grown in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Thus, the colonialists exploited these resources and developed the current brands of rubber.
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SWOT Analysis of Covad Communications Analytical Essay
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Analysis of Covad’s Strengths and weaknesses
3. Comparison between Covad and other ISPs
4. References
Introduction
Covad Communications is the principal supplier of broadband voice and data communications in the United States. In February 2001, Covad announced plans to provide Internet services directly to consumers as opposed to using resellers. It spent about 200 million dollars to buy a DSL retailer company by the name of Bluestar Communications Inc.
This move was to be a substantial threat to their business as it had them competing with their resellers in offering Internet services to the end users. Blue star communications already had links to small businesses and individuals making its acquisition by Covad a strategy in eliminating the resellers. Covad rebranded Bluestar Communications to Covad Business Solutions.
Analysis of Covad’s Strengths and weaknesses
The management of covad took advantage of their new branch, Covad business solutions, and used it to get feedback from customers. They started by listening to their users and giving a positive feedback to their recommendations.
They diversified their distribution channel. In responding to the needs of consumers, Covad lowered their Internet charges and in the process attracting more end users and small businesses.
Having lowered prices, Covad adopted new mechanisms of marketing and selling their products. Covad communications started using a web-based sale, and telesales to reach out to Internet consumers as well as deploying consultants and experts in the field. Consultants and experts interact directly with the end users.
Small businesses that do not want to interact with these experts have telesales and web-based options at their disposal. Telesales as the name suggest involve the use of a telephone. Web-based sales are whereby customers and staff interact via the Internet using chat or messages.
Covad Business solutions’ strategy to deal directly with small businesses enables them to develop the range of the services they provide. Customized services that suit the needs of the end users are now available. One significant achievement is the customization of Internet speeds. One uses the speed that the business requires and pays for that speed only.
A company that uses only the web interface to access files over the Internet cannot pay the same amount as one that streams and downloads large files. Different DSL speeds offered attracted many consumers from other Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Small businesses and individuals started to enjoy superior web hosting services and given unlimited email addresses for their offices at a reasonable price. Other customized business services include domain name hosting and computer networking (Schneider, 2008).
Covad experienced many challenges in their strategy to serve end users. One such problem is the elimination of resellers. By going directly to the consumer market, Covad acted as a competitor to them. This created a corporate rift between the two partners for a while.
Covad currently faces competition in the cable industry by Time Warner, Cox and Comcast. These competitors are no match to them because they already have a large client base within the United States.
Covad as a company has its strength in the prominent-brand name and its availability in the stock exchange making it a trusted firm. Its weakness was the inability to interact directly with end-users.
Covad identified an opportunity in the form of Bluestar Communications and took it by buying the company. One threat that the company face is a new Internet regulation and copyright rules that limit their customers from downloading anything and everything (Heckmann, 2006).
Comparison between Covad and other ISPs
The major difference between A T & T and covad is that A T & T provides cell phone services besides Internet solutions. They have a vast pool of clients and make it easy for them to market their Internet-based products. Cox cable and Time Warner have concentrated their efforts on customer support (Reese, 2009).
They have the reputation of providing the best customer support services as compared to covad. This strategy has benefited them in gaining many customers.
Covad is famous for having a reliable Internet connection. Though the speed is almost the same as that of cox, A T & T and time Warner, it has a robust Internet backbone that ensures the Internet provided is reliable and has no latencies.
References
Heckmann, O. (2006). The competitive internet service provider , New York: J. Wiley Publishers.
Reese, N. (2009). A T & T U-verse vs. Time Warner Cable . Web.
Schneider, G. (2008). Electronic Commerce, New York: Cengage Learning Publishers.
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