Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Summary - Assignment Example The concept of universality was further expounded by classifying it into two types: the substantive universals and the formal universals. As disclosed, substantive universals construct the description of language; while formal universals were deemed more abstract; yet formalized and highly structured in terms of observance to grammatical rules. Samples of different sentence structures (deep, surface, A over A convention) were presented to differentiate the concept of universality. The criteria for evaluating grammar was likewise discussed based on four syntactic structures, being that: (1) sentences are deemed acceptable to the native speaker; (2) the case of ambiguity noted to be represented by constructional homonymity; (3) alleged diversity in interpretations of sentences which appear superficially similar to be likewise represented by varied derivational histories; and (4) understanding sentences in similar manner to have been apparently represented at one level description (Tranformational Generative Grammar 5-6). Finally, the discourse differentiated between linguistic competence and performance by indicating that competence is knowledge of a particular language, while performance ensued from this competence as a production and comprehension of language (Tranformational Generative Grammar 5). Other differentiating factors were presented to expound on their disparities to include boundaries, linguistic factors, incompetencies, situational factors, and creativity of the speaker, among

Steroids in the World of Sports Essay Example for Free

Steroids in the World of Sports Essay During the 1930s, scientists discovered that anabolic steroids could help the growth of muscle in laboratory animals, which led to abuse of these drugs by bodybuilders and weightlifters and then by athletes in other sports. Ever since the beginning of sports there has been different techniques used in order to gain an edge over opponents. The question that has been most frequently asked is, which of these techniques is considered cheating, and which ones are fair game. The use of steroids is now the most well known form of cheating in recent sports history, and has drove many sports commissioners into a full investigation, that has lead to unique unprecedented punishments. Professional stars must realize that they are huge role models in today’s society, and are influencing young athletes all over the world. Any player in today’s society knows that there is a major punishment for using any kind of performance enhancing drugs. Not only do they get suspended immediately but if and when they return are often booed by fans, and are basically embarrassed in front of the entire league. Since steroids has been such a major subject of late, and such closely watched, I think anyone who tries is just asking for trouble. If an athlete in one of the major sports is caught using performance enhancing drugs there is immediate media frenzy. Many people believe that if your caught using performance enhancing drugs, any accomplishments you made during your career should be erased. You then might ask yourself, what would drive an athlete to risk their playing career by using steroids? Steroids are manufactured to enhance testosterone and are usually taken to build muscle, boost performance, and improve appearance. Often older players use steroids when they are injured because they do not recover as fast as they usually would when they were younger. In sports, size is extremely important, and that extra thirty or forty poun ds will have a major factor in how an athlete will play. One of the biggest problems with performance enhancing drugs is that scientist keep coming up with new drugs that the public doesn’t know about. All of the major sports now drug test their athletes, but since these newly developed drugs aren’t well known there is no way they can regulate the test. We have seen baseball players like Mark McGwire and Jose Conseco admit to the use of a drug called Andro. Andro is now one of the performance enhancing drugs being tested by the league. During the time that Mark McGuire and Jose Conseco were playing not to many people knew about the drug, and was considered to be legal. As the major sports try to put an end to this steroid era, we see some of the biggest stars being linked to steroid use. It is very easy to link this to the amount of teenagers in high school and college that are now using performance enhancing drugs. Over the past decade the percentage of young adults that have admitted to using steroid has almost tripled. Since most of the players being caught are major stars, it is easy for young adults to think all they need to do is take steroids and they’ll have that extra edge. The sport that has been affected most by this steroid era has been Major League Baseball. Ninety-five percent of the people who vote on the Baseball Hall of Fame agree that if a player has been associated with the use of steroids, they would never vote that athlete into the Hall of Fame. This is a very important subject because there have recently been a number of baseball players that would be a lock for the Hall of Fame if they were not linked to steroid use. It is very hard to determine the penalty for these players because nothing like this has ever happened before. Some fans believe that the use of steroids have very little effect in certain sports, and do not understand the big deal. Some have actually suggested making steroids legal, and the athletes can take them at there own risk. Although I think this idea is fascinating, I do not believe I could ever happen. The pressure for players to use steroids would be almost impossible to resist, and would lead to everyone to take them. The style of play in most sports would change from skill and technique to power and strength, which would take away from the beauty of the game. The most important reason they could never legalize steroids in sports is because of the health reasons involved with taking steroids. Steroid use is one of the most controversial subjects in today’s society because of many different reasons. There are so many supplements that are considered to be legal, but there is just as many that are considered to be illegal. Athletes must ask themselves if it is worth it to risk their careers on trying to just get an edge. The problem with this is that most people do not think of the consequences until after they get caught. The most important thing most major league players don’t think about when they use steroids is how it affects young athletes in today’s society.

What Factors Influence Internet Use Among Teens English Language Essay

What Factors Influence Internet Use Among Teens English Language Essay The Internet has become part of todays teens culture and they are very familiar on how to use and navigate in it. This paper reflects on the factors that influence internet usage among teens based on a survey compiled by Pew Internet American Life Project on a sample of over 1,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 who were interviewed randomly by phone. It indicates that 9 out of 10 access the internet regularly which is an increase of 75% in comparison to the year 2000. This high number is in contrast to the findings that only 66% of American adults use the internet. The study further showed that most teenagers first accessed the internet between the age of 10 and 12. 87% admitted using the internet regularly, with 52% of them accessing the internet daily, an increase from 42% in 2000. About 50% of these teenagers, their families used a speedier broadband connection with the rest using other means such as dial-up connections. Teens were found to use the internet for instant messaging, online blogs, initiating online chats and sending e-mails. In the survey, 75% use instant messaging compared to 42% of adults as a means of communication with their fellow age mates. The survey also indicates that 75% of todays teens use the internet to read news which is a sharp increase from 38% in the year 2000. University of Diegos technology trackers such as Susannah Stern expect instant messaging to keep growing exponentially due to peer influence. Though Teens interviewed felt that internet use was a source of indispensable fun and a means of communication and research. Amanda Lenhart, a Pew researcher who participated in conducting the study, found that Teens are very selective-theyre smart about their technology use. They use it for the kinds of things they need to do. The older teenage girls between ages 15 to 17 contrasted the myth of the tech-savvy boys since they were found to use the internet more than their male counterparts. Literature review To determine factors influencing Internet usage among the youths such as demographics and socio-economic and peer influence, a literature review of the available Pew research has been conducted, focusing on factors influencing teenagers access to the Internet or World Wide Web except for e-mailing purposes. According to the literature, students are the main users of the Internet. Jones and Madden (2002) conducted a study on high school and junior college students Internet usage. Browsing the Internet was a daily activity; 73% of these students used the Internet more than the library for research. Seventy-nine percent of the students agreed that Internet use has had a positive impact on their academic experience (Jones and Madden, 2002). Princeton Research Associates on behalf of Pew Internet American Life Project conducted nationwide phone interviews, and did an analysis on how respondents penetrated the Internet. The data results show that all 59% of the general population penetrated the Internet less than 86% of students (Jones and Madden, 2002). Study Framework and Hypothesis Development There are various factors influencing internet use among teens. This review provides a basis for this study based on the Pew Internet American Life Project survey and shall primarily test on the influencing factors such as demographic and social-economic factors. Testable hypothesis shall then be proposed. Demographic factors The particular factors of gender, race/ethnicity, location of residence and age were very crucial in determining internet usage among the teenagers in relation to their education status. There was a general increase for both students and non-students access to the internet. There was also an increase in the proportion of teenagers who accessed the internet across common races in the United States such as Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. However, these increases have not been uniform across these groups. Most high school drop-outs were observed not to have been on the internet for the past one year with only less than 33% answering to having accessed it. This was in sharp contrast to the over 90% of junior college students who have had regular access to the internet in the age bracket of 18 to 19. Internet access tended to increase with increasing levels of education and was highly used by junior college students and post-secondary students. The widening gap between those in school and the drop-outs access to the internet is projected to rise due to increasing encouragement and facilitation of internet access points in schools. If older students already in college are exposed and encouraged more than younger students in high school, as is normally the case, age will become an important demographic factor since internet usage prevalence will be higher in older students. Internet usage was clearly greater among whites than any other race especially among males. 71.8% of white males accessed the in comparison to 50.5% of Hispanic males and 40.7% of black males. The open-ended question on where a particular teen accessed the internet was phrased and the answers tabulated using the categories of home, school, library, friends/neighbors, and other. Most teens were found to be more comfortable accessing the internet at a friends home whereby over 34.7% of males and 29.3% of the teens responded to this. Although access points such as the library were chosen by only one in eight, this was an improvement from 4.7% in 2000 to a current12.5%. Economic factors Teenagers from low income and high poverty areas have been most disadvantaged in accessing the internet. A survey carried on teen Internet usage reveals social and economic disparities (Taylor et al., 2003). A relationship between incomes, race and education was also observed. Levels of education were higher in Whites than any other minorities whereby the proportion of whites who completed high school was more. This had a direct impact on the number of internet users. Teenagers from low-income households estimated at three million, most of them black, have no access to the internet. Therefore, these kids may not find adults who would otherwise teach them on how to responsibly use the internet. Daniel Bassil, president of Cabrini Connections, notes that, Even the kids that have access dont necessarily have people mentoring them to use the information to their greatest advantage. Teens from low-income backgrounds are less likely to access the internet for services such as instant messa ging and emailing as a way of communication since most of their friends are not online more frequently. This finding may indicate a difference in choice of content creation versus content consumption in different socio economic groups (Bosah, 1998). c)Social factors Free and unlimited Internet access When freshmen register today, they get a student ID card, a meal card, and most, important, a free personal e-mail account. Theyve got no online service fees to pay, no limits to their time logged on, and computer labs open for their convenience round-the-clock. Its an Internet users dream. 2. Huge blocks of unstructured time Most college students attend classes for twelve to sixteen hours per week. The rest of the time is their own to read, study, go to movies or parties, join clubs, or explore the new environment outside their campus walls. Many forget all those other activities and concentrate on one thing: the Internet. 3. Newly-experienced freedom from parental control Away from home and their parents watchful eyes, college students long have exercised their new freedom by engaging in pranks, talking to friends to all hours of the night, sleeping with their boyfriends and girlfriends, and eating and drinking things Mom and Dad would not approve of. Today, they utilize that freedom by hanging out in the MUDs and chat rooms of cyberspace, and no parent can complain about online service fees or their refusal to eat dinner with the family or help out with chores. 4. No monitoring or censoring of what they say or do online When they move on to the job world, college students may find suspicious bosses peeking over their shoulder or even monitoring their online time and usage. Even e-mail to co-workers could be intercepted by the wrong party. In college, no ones watching. Computer lab monitors tend to be student volunteers whose only responsibility is to assist anyone who needs help understanding how to use the Internet not tell them what they can or cannot do on it. 5. Full encouragement from faculty and administrators Students understand that their schools administration and faculty want them to make full use of the Internets vast resources. Abstaining from all Net use is seldom an option in some large classes, professors place required course materials solely on the Net and engage in their only oneon- one contact with students through e-mail! Administrators, of course, want to see their major investments in computers and Internet access justified. 6. Adolescent training in similar activities By the time most kids get to college, they will have spent years staring at video game terminals, closing off the world around them with walkmans, and engaging in that rapid-fire clicking of the TV remote. Even if they didnt get introduced to the Internet in high school, those other activities have made students well-suited to slide into aimless Web surfing, skill-testing MUDs, and rat-a-tattat chat room dialogue. 7. The desire to escape college stressors Students feel the pressures of making top grades, fulfilling parental expectations, and, upon graduation, facing fierce competition for good jobs. The Internet, ideally, would help make it easier for them to do their necessary course work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Instead, they turn to their Net friends to hide from their difficult feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. 8. Social intimidation and alienation With as many as 30,000 students on some campuses, students easily can get lost in the crowd. When they try to reach out, they often run into even tighter clicks than the in-crowds of high school. Maybe they dont dress right or look right. But when they join the faceless community of the Internet, they find that with little effort they can become popular with new friends throughout the U.S. and in England, Australia, Germany, France, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, and China. Why bother trying to socialize on campus? 9. A higher legal drinking age With the drinking age at twenty-one in most states, undergraduate students cant openly drink alcohol and socialize in bars. So the Internet becomes their substitute drug of choice: no ID required and no closing hour!

Minimum Wage Legislation Essay -- Minimum Wage Essays

Minimum Wage Legislation I am going to pose the question to you the students of Sir Sandford Fleming College, do you really want the minimum wage legislation left in affect? As college students you are not benefiting or gaining anything from minimum wage legislation. The minimum wage legislation requires all employees to be paid at least some fixed given dollar amount per hour. This sounds good, but it isn't all that it seems! Minimum wage is an example of government intervention. The government has put a minimum on the dollar amount that employers can pay their employees. Unfortunately when we implement solutions like the minimum wage, it is too late to actually fix the problem, so in most cases it has effects that we cannot foresee as it is a reaction instead of a prevention method. Minimum wage actually helps very few people. The only ones that benefit from minimum wage are those unskilled workers who are currently employed. Minimum wage restricts employment opportunities for the young, unexperienced, and those people with educational disadvantages. They will continue to find themselves handicapped in the job market as long as the minimum wage legislation remains in affect. In society today the demand for "unskilled" workers is low and the supply is high, therefore there is a surplus of unskilled workers in the job market. The effect of a surplus drives down an individuals reservation wage, as they are willing to do and take anything for work. Minimum wage only makes this fact more severe, as it increases the supply of workers. Minimum wage increases the cost of doing business, and unfortunately in today's economic conditions employers are not able to pass on the extra costs to the consumer. Minimum wage is not helping workers, it is hurting businesses, and to maintain any profit, and follow legislation companies have to cut labour costs somehow. Companies are being forced to take other alternatives because of higher labour costs for unskilled workers. Businesses are forced to: 1. Cut back current employees hours 2. Not hire any more employees &n... ... should be rated and fluctuated by these categories. Unfortunately minimum wage disregards all of this. Regardless of your education, skills, effort, you can still receive minimum wage. Minimum wage is a fixed dollar amount that is paid for many jobs that can not even be compared. Most of these jobs should have different pay rates, especially when the degree of skill is higher, but they don't. The government keeps increasing minimum wage, and making it tougher on businesses and at the same time discouraging unskilled workers from bettering themselves, and for what. The economy is not booming, and even with increasing minimum wage rates the economy is not seeing any extra money being put back into circulation. As well, the higher minimum wage rate keeps raising the level of unemployment. I feel that if we put the burden on the people of Ontario to be and do the best they can that we would not need minimum wage. The skills that we could produce would be widely demanded, so it would be to the benefit of many other unskilled minimum wage earners to support the abolishment of minimum wage legislation. You could receive better wages, and at the same time decrease the unemployment rate.

Euthanasia Case Essay

Let’s start off by defining the word euthanasia so that this paper is clear and then we can get in to why it can be passive or active. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma (dictionary.com). Euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide and more loosely termed being mercy killing, basically means to take a deliberate action with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable suffering. Some interpret euthanasia as the practice of ending life in a painless manner. Many disagree with this interpretation, because it needs to include a reference to intractable suffering. Euthanasia is illegal. Now that we know what euthanasia is we can breakdown the two procedural classification of euthanasia (medicalnewstoday.com).†Passive euthanasia† is usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient’s death. For example, if a patient requires kidney dialysis to survive, and the doctors disconnect the dialysis machine, the patient will presumably die fairly soon. Perhaps the classic example of passive euthanasia is a â€Å"do not resuscitate order†. Normally if a patient has a heart attack or similar sudden interruption in life functions, medical staff will attempt to revive them. If they make no such effort but simply stand and watch as the patient dies, this is passive euthanasia. â€Å"Active euthanasia† is taking specific steps to cause the patient’s death, such as injecting the patient with poison. In practice, this is usually an overdose of pain-killers or sleeping pills. In other words, the difference between â€Å"active† and â€Å"passive† is that in active euthanasia, something is done to end the patient’s life; in passive euthanasia, something is not done that would have preserved the patient’s life. An important idea behind this distinction is that in â€Å"passive euthanasia† the doctors are not actively killing anyone; they are simply not saving him. You would surely not be prosecuted for homicide. Thus, proponents of euthanasia say that while we can debate whether active euthanasia should be legal, there can be no debate about passive euthanasia: You cannot prosecute someone for failing to save a life (pregnantpause.org). Euthanasia has been a very controversial and emotive topic for a long time (medicalnewstoday.com). The beliefs that I have on euthanasia is that is right and it is wrong at the same time. I feel that asking someone to play God is not the way to go. Active euthanasia is just a way for someone to take the easy way out. I understand that they are hurting and are in pain but that’s why the medical field has many different types of pain medicines to keep the patient comfortable enough to deal with everyday life. I think that if a doctor agrees with giving his patient a lethal dose of medicines to end their life is wrong and that then becomes assisted suicide and that they should not have been a doctor because they have violated their oath to protect and heal patients and keep them alive. Whose place is it to decide if one lives or one dies? No one here on earth, I feel like the person that is requesting this type of method to end their life is committing suicide and you are not supposed to take your own life those are my religious beliefs. Another religious belief is that God will not put more on you than you can bear, which means this is all about the endurance you have to preserve life until it is time for you to die a natural life. The other reason why I feel that it is kind of wrong to have a passive euthanasia is because you should not give up on life, you should try all the ways to survive that you can except in the situation of being brain dead or being a vegetable. But then I feel that it is that person right to decide do not resuscitate because that is there right they have that medical right to decide if they do not want to be helped and hooked up on machines just to live. If I ever get to that point I want my family and the doctors to do all that they can do to keep me alive unless in the event like I stated earlier which is brain dead or in a vegetable state. But those are just my beliefs and I cannot change the way others think or how they dictate their lives, everyone has their free will to decide about their life when it comes to passive euthanasia. Assisted dying violates the sanctity of human life speaking from a Baptist person. I agree with that because I am a Baptist and I am a Christian and that is how we were taught was not to kill yourself because you are supposed to die a natural death no matter what the situation is. That means you are allowing God to do His job and that is to letting Him decide when it is time for your life to end, no one can do that for you. Even if you allow yourself not to want to be attached to machines or get resituated you are still dying a natural life. Right to die is just that the right to die but when I say it I mean a right to die of natural causes, not by the hand of another person or by a high dosage of pills to end your life. I understand that if you have a do not resuscitate then that is your choice and I support that choice because you either or going to die or you will pull through which gives that a 50/50 chance. But you are still having your request met by not being resuscitated. so I think that it okay to die a natural life like I have stated before but to have a euthanasia I do not agree with because it is not your time to go, it is the time that you would prefer to leave the earth not when you are meant to leave. Patient suffering at end of life, I hate that people has to suffer but it is a part of life everyone will have their ups and downs in life and unfortunately pain and suffering is life. But the medical field has expanded so far that they are easy to solve the pain or I should say make it easier for patient to be much more comfortable in their time of need where they will not suffer as much as they normally would. I agree that it is good that it is a law against euthanasia, because it does help prevent abuse and protect others. Slippery slope to legalize murder is something that should not be tolerated. Especially with regard to taking life, slippery slope arguments have long been a feature of the ethical landscape, used to question the moral permissibility of all kinds of acts (procon.org)†¦ In my opinion it is giving people a reason to want to die only because they consent to it because they have less than a certain time to live. No one knows the day and time that they are going to die unless they commit suicide and still if they do that that they do not know the time they can only assume how long it will take to die, that is just like the doctors giving patients less than a week to survive and they live and extra month so euthanasia is nothing positive as well as the slippery slope to be legalized. If terminating life is a benefit, the reasoning goes, why should euthanasia be limited only to those who can give consent? Why need we ask for consent (procon.org)? If the slippery slope to legalize murder is so right why does it cost for the insurance company to pay for it and why should they even be in the hospital using up space that someone else that needs and wants a chance at life could be at. The people that want to kill themselves should just go ahead and do it at home and save everyone the time and money it cost to get euthanasia. Not trying to be rude about it. Hippocratic Oath and prohibition of killing the much-quoted reference to ‘do no harm’ is also in need of explanation. Does not doing harm mean that we should prolong a life that the patient sees as a painful burden? Surely, the ‘harm’ in this instance is done when we prolong the life, and ‘doing no harm’ means that we should help the patient die (procon.org)? Surely not, we should not kill someone because they are in pain we should do our best to make sure that patient is as comfortable as possible and there is plenty of medicine out there that can do the job of making people comfortable instead of killing them. Like I said previously that if God wanted them to die then he would make them die of natural causes not because of euthanasia, which is not the way to doing things in my eyes. You are causing more pain on them by trying to end their life because you do not know if the way they die will be a pain free death with the euthanasia it could choke them or it could cause them tremendous pain before they die nothing on earth is pain free. Doctors are made to save lives not take them, that is their oath and that is what they should do is save the patient and keep them as pain free as possible to make their life a lot more comfortable. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect’†¦ In forswearing the giving of poison when asked for it, the Hippocratic physician rejects the view that the patient’s choice for death can make killing him right (procon.org). Government involvement in end of life decision, when do we withhold which therapies and allow nature to take its course? When are we, through our own indecision and fears of mortality, allowing wondrous medical methods to perversely prolong the dying rather than the living (procon.org)? I think that we as medical people should prolong life as long as we can because the health care business is about taking care of the ill, elderly, and people with disabilities. Once the medicine starts not to work any longer then it is up to that person and family to request that they no longer get any medication (treatment) and allow them to die a natural life even if that means them dying in pain. That is the only time that I feel that a person should stop trying to prolong life is when nothing else is working for them and they are ready to suffer the pain to die a natural death. Euthanasia is definitely not the answer. However, I think that it sad that the government has to make decisions on infants and elderly people with disabilities that cannot stand up for themselves and make the decision in a way they are just kind of treated like a number, or who they think will live the longest will get to live and the people that cannot make it to live they are wrote off. Palliative (end of life) care, every appropriate palliative option available must be discussed with the patient and, if reasonable, tried before a request for assisted death can be accepted (pro con.org)†¦ And even then when everything is done that needs to be done physicians cannot assist in suicide or euthanasia they can only cute off the treatment and let them die a natural life. There are very few hospice facilities, very little in the way of organized hospice activity, and few specialists in palliative care, although some efforts are now under way to try and jump-start the hospice movement in that country (procon.org). They have very limited options once they get to this point of life. Healthcare spending implications, considering the way we finance healthcare in the United States, it would be hard to make a case that there is a financial imperative compelling us to adopt physician-assisted suicide in an effort to save money so that others could benefit (procon.org).. In so many ways that sounds so harsh but the reality of it is true. If it was legal for physicians to assist in suicide then they are saying that more people could be helped due to the fact that they are killing people off to save more money for others to be taken care of. In a way they are saying that they are saving money from people with terminally ill disease will make it better for the healthier person, which is just my opinion and what I am getting from the information. Savings to governments could become a consideration. Drugs for assisted suicide cost about $35 to $45, making them far less expensive than providing medical care. This could fill the void from cutbacks for treatment and care with the ‘treatment’ of death (procon.org). I did not know that it cost as less as $35 to kill someone off, that is sad. But it will save a lot of money in the end. However, I am still against physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Social groups at risk of abuse, those who died by physician-assisted suicide were more likely to be college graduates, more likely to be Asian, somewhat younger, more likely to be divorced, and more likely to have cancer or amytrophic lateral sclerosis†¦ the reason for more people with cancer wanting assisted suicide or euthanasia is because they know that there is ultimately no cure for this disease and they feel like they want to skip out on all the pain before it gets that bad. Moreover, although 2.6 percent of Oregonians are African American, no African American patients have chosen assisted suicide (procon.org). Since I am African American I see that those of my ethnicity have the same views as I do about physician assisted suicide and euthanasia in Oregon where it is legal for this to happen. It just shows that just because you live in a state that allow these things to happen does not mean that everyone believes in going out (dying) like that, they as well want to get the best treatment they can get until there is no more treatment that can get done. But even if they wanted to get it done they have to say it and have it in writing a certain amount of time within a certain amount of days for any of this to happen. Religious concerns, some wonder if it is right for you to commit suicide or if it’s okay to ask someone to take you out of your misery which is euthanasia. Well it is not right why put that sin on yourself and then why go ahead and involves someone else in your sin to get them to sin for your benefit? That is wrong on all kind of accounts. If you think that you want to do something that is morally wrong then you go ahead and do that, but do not involve an innocent person into the situation because we are all held accountable for our sins, this just goes off my beliefs and background. But Catholic leaders and moral teachers, they believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God- a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion. Our tradition, declaring a moral obligation to care for our own life and health and to seek such care from others, recognizes that we are not morally obligated to use all available medical procedures in every set of circumstances. But that tradition clearly and strongly affirms that as a responsible steward of life one must never directly intend to cause one’s own death, or the death of an innocent victim, by action or omission (procon.org)†¦ both of our views seems to match up, so do you think it is right or wrong? Living wills can be used to refuse extraordinary, life-prolonging care and are effective in providing clear and convincing evidence that may be necessary under state statutes to refuse care after one becomes terminally ill (procon.org). It is always a good thing to have a living will so that your plans can be carried out by your family. Having this document will cut out a lot confusion and questionable decisions because you have documentation off everything. Without a living will then there is where the problems come from and that’s when the medical office staff have to get involved in it as well as other authorities. In Texas, where I live physician assisted suicide is illegal and I think that it should remain that way. Because there is no need for a doctor to help you commit suicide just because you are uncomfortable in life. That’s just like making regular suicide legal and not doing anything to those people that are trying to harm themselves when they really need a doctor to help them and care for them which is what doctors are supposed to do. In Texas it is illegal for physician assisted suicide. It is considered a class c misdemeanor if no suicide or bodily injury results, which means that they attempted to commit suicide but it did not go right. But if it does go right and the doctor helps kill the patient then it is a state jail felony, which means that the suicide was attempted with bodily injury. Then after that I randomly decided to pick Minnesota as my other state to see what the differences were in laws. Again it is illegal for physician assisted suicide in Minnesota and the conditions are way harder than in Texas. In Minnesota you receive up to 15 years in prison and/or a fine up to 30,000 if suicide results; up to seven years in prison and/or a fine up to 14,000 if attempted suicide results. The differences between the two are fines and different types of cases, in Texas it could be a class c misdemeanor whereas in Minnesota you will go to jail or pay the fines. In conclusion, you have seen and read all of the information above and it clearly states that I am against physician assisted suicide or euthanasia. It is morally wrong to kill someone and it is morally wrong to kill someone else to take their pain away. Minnesota laws are a lot stricter than Texas laws for as physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Which I thought Texas would be where I live, would have the stronger laws with the harsher punishment which surprised me. I learned a lot throughout this paper and learned that there is a right and a wrong way to do things in the medical field and you have to follow command. It is your duty to protect and save lives rather than end them. I do however; agree that it is right to die a natural life. REFERENCES Dictionary.com (2013) Retrieved from: http://dictionary.reference.com/ (n.d.)(2010) Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.pregnantpause.org/euth/types ProCon.org (2013) Retrieved from: http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000126

Balance Sheet and Tax Basis

Week 5 Problem Solution Set Accounting/547 October 5th, 2012 Chapter 15, #83 a) Significant tax issues or concerns that may differ across entity types are: * The business structure’s flexibility * Protection of the liability * The time and cost of organizing the entity Significant non-tax issues or concerns that may differ across entity types are: * Lowering of self-employment and FICA taxes * Flexibility of special allocations * Adding new owners b) My recommendation for forming CCS is LLC.I chose LLC because the organizing business members may reduce their individual tax liabilities by operating as a LLC. CCS should be concerned about FICA and self-employment taxes. LLCs must pay self-employment taxes. As the business grows past 3-4 years, I recommend CCS to look at the possibility of switching to and S Corporation. At this point, compensation needs may have reduced and the members would wish to fully benefit from self-employment tax removal. Chapter 19, #39 A. What amount o f gain or loss does Zhang realize on the transfer of the property to her corporation?Loss Realized = FMV(Stock Received)+Mortgage Assumed–AdjustedTaxBasis = $300,000 + $100,000 – $410,000 Loss Realized= ($10,000) B. What amount of gain or loss does Zhang recognize on the transfer of the property to corporation. No loss is recognized on this transfer because of the requirements of Section 351. C. What is Zhang’s tax basis in the stock she receives in the exchange? Tax Basis = Substituted Basis of the Assets Transferred – Assumed Mortgage = $410,000 – $100,000 Tax Basis= $310,000 D. What is the corporation’s tax-adjusted basis in each of the assets received in the exchange?The corporation’s carryover basis is $400,000; the value of assets received minus the aggregate loss on the assets transferred applied to land. Inventory = $10,000, Building = $100,000, and Land = $290,000. Assume the corporation assumed a mortgage of $500,000 attache d to the building and land. Assume the fair market value of the building is now $250,000 and the fair market value of the land is $530,000. The fair market value of the stock remains $300,000. E. How much, if any, gain or loss does Zhang recognize on the exchange assuming the revised facts?Realized Gain: $300K Stock FMV + $500K Mortgage – $410K Aggregate Tax Basis = $390,000 Realized Gain Tax Basis of Property: $500K – $410K = $90,000 Zhang would recognize a gain of $90,000 on the transfer under the new conditions since the assumed liability is greater than the total tax basis of the transferred property. F. What is Zhang’s tax basis in the stock she receives in the exchange? Tax Basis of Stock Received = Tax Adjusted Property Basis Transferred + Exchange Gain Recognized – Mortgage Assumed $410,000 + $90,000 – $500,000 = 0, Zhang can defer recognition of the $300,000 in stock. G. What is the corporation’s tax-adjusted basis in each of the as sets received in the exchange? Inventory = $10,000 + ($20,000/$800,000 x $90,000) = $12,250 Building = $100,000 + ($250,000 / $800,000 x $90,000)= $128,125 Land= $300,000 + ($530,000 / $800,000 x $90,000) = $359,625 Total= Inventory + Building + Land = $12,250 + $128,125 + $359,625 Total = $500,000 The corporation’s total tax basis is the $410,000 carryover basis plus the gain recognized on the exchange.

Rain Shadows - Orographic Lifting and Precipitation

Rain Shadows - Orographic Lifting and Precipitation Mountain ranges act as barriers to the flow of air across the surface of the earth, squeezing moisture out of the air. When a parcel of warm air reaches a mountain range, it is lifted up the mountain slope, cooling as it rises. This process is known as orographic lifting and the cooling of the air often results in large clouds, precipitation, and even thunderstorms. The phenomenon of orographic lifting can be witnessed on an almost daily basis during the warm summer days in Californias Central Valley. East of the foothills, large cumulonimbus clouds form every afternoon as the warm valley air rises upslope on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Throughout the afternoon, the cumulonimbus clouds form the telltale anvil head, signaling the development of a thunderstorm. The early evenings sometimes bring lightning, showers, and hail. The warm valley air lifts, creating instability in the atmosphere and causes thunderstorms, which squeezes the moisture from the air. Rain Shadow Effect As a parcel of air rises up the windward side of a mountain range, it has its moisture squeezed out. Thus, when the air begins to descend the leeward side of the mountain, it is dry. As the cool air descends, it warms and expands, reducing its possibility of precipitation. This is known as the rain shadow effect and is the primary cause of leeward deserts of mountain ranges, such as Californias Death Valley. Orographic lifting is a fascinating process that keeps the windward sides of mountain ranges moist and filled with vegetation but the leeward sides dry and barren.

The eNotes Blog 6 Budget-Friendly Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged thisYear

6 Budget-Friendly Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged thisYear As a teacher, you know firsthand that students often respond to experiential and interactive learning methods, not to mention they often remember these lessons more vividly. Regurgitating information from a textbook might be today’s prevailing academic model, but you understand that students are more likely to absorb this information when they recognize the real-world applications. So, the question becomes: how can you supplement their core curriculum with age-appropriate and cost-effective activities that engage? The obvious answer is through technology, but this medium- despite its visual and hands-on appeal- can be expensive. Fortunately, there are other tools at your disposal to engage students’ attention and arouse their excitement. These budget-friendly ideas, for both inside the classroom and out, will help make each lesson memorable and, therefore, more effective. Make the following â€Å"6 Rules of Engagement† your educational compass this year. Bonus: they all begin with â€Å"E† to promote rapid recall- because teachers already have enough to remember! Encourage Them to Get Moving Physical movement sparks mental focus, so designate classroom time for students to leave their desks and experience a more kinesthetic learning approach. Combine specific actions with academic stimuli through games that correspond with the concept you’re teaching. For instance, to make arithmetic more interesting, supervise a â€Å"chalkboard relay† competition, where students take turns standing at the chalkboard, writing a math equation, then racing against their classmates to see who can get the correct answer the fastest. Emphasize the Value of Teamwork Although the term â€Å"group project† often evokes a negative connotation among both teachers and students, participating in collaborative efforts is a necessary life skill. Intersperse your lectures with project-based learning activities, that bring lessons into the real world and engage students outside of the traditional lecture, read and show-what-you-know style. Give some of these PBL ideas a try. Exit the Classroom Watching a textbook image materialize up close and personal captivates your students and provides the ideal teaching backdrop for you. Unfortunately, field trip funds seem to run lower and lower each year, making it more challenging to get out of the classroom without spending your own money. Luckily, many museums, aquariums and zoos offer free or discounted admission for teachers and students, making the financial burden a little easier. And don’t rule any opportunities out ­- even well-known places like the Philadelphia Zoo and SeaWorld offer these discounts. Check out this list of free and discounted opportunities for teachers from USA Test Prep and then plan a few engaging field trips for your curious students. Experiment with Teaching Styles There are three basic learning modalities- visual, auditory and tactile- but do you use all of them to reach students in the classroom? If not, consider periodically changing your classroom manner to accommodate all three approaches and connect with each type of student. For example, create a visual presentation with eye-catching PowerPoint slides and colorful imagery to inspire the visual learners. Then, assign everyone a different passage from their textbook to read aloud, stimulating the auditory learners. Finally, organize a group activity that incorporates simple choreographed movements, patterns or rhythms to energize the tactile learners. Exchange Post-Lecture Dialogue Lectures quickly become tedious and redundant for the youthful, hyperactive minds staring back at you, so counteract the typical â€Å"zoning out† behavior by reinforcing student participation instead. Prior to a lecture, communicate the topic using just one key phrase, for instance, The Civil War, and then instruct students to write five predictions about what you’ll cover based on their previous knowledge or assumptions. Suggest that they listen carefully to the lecture to see if any of their predictions were accurate. Afterward, have a discussion on how their preconceptions fared against the historical facts. Engineer Role Playing Activities Since test preparation is intimidating for most students, give them a chance to experience a review session from your perspective- by teaching the material they are reviewing. Allow students to rotate back and forth in five-minute intervals so that everyone receives an opportunity to teach the material that will appear on their upcoming test. Encourage a creative delivery of the content, making it digestible for their fellow students. For example, they could pass around fill-in-the-blank study guides and practice quizzes, coordinate an interactive review game or choose volunteers to dramatize a concept. This is a guest post from contributing writer, Jessica Thiefels.  Jessica Thiefels is the editor of  Whooo’s Reading and an education blogger who’s been featured in publications such as EdTech Digest and Daily Genius. Her favorite books growing up were My Side of the Mountain and The Giver, and she hopes to inspire a similar love of reading in students and educators.

Assessment and Accountability in Nursing

Assessment and Accountability in Nursing Mentors have responsibility to assist students to develop their clinical skills and knowledge on placements. As well as developing clinical skills, students also develop their interpersonal skills and as a result of this experience gain maturity. (NMC, 2008) .To determine students have achieved the professional standards or competence, mentors must make assessments while their placement. This is vital to protect the public from unsafe and incompetent practitioners. Assessment is an essential role of a mentor. A good assessment process gives the students valuable feedback, it helps them to identify where they are, highlights, deficits in their learning ,identifies what they need to do and enables them to set realistic future goals.(Danny Walsh 2010). A good assessment process help us to predict future behaviour of the nurse we train. However we can cut down the risks by ensuring that the assessment processes itself meets certain standards and criteria which are considered best practi ce. Proper assessments of students are essential because, they are the future nurses are responsible for protecting the public in patient care, (Necklin and Kenworthy, 2000:108).Through assessment mentor can identify the strength and weakness, knowledge and practical skill of a student. According to (Walsh 2010) student nurses are assessed for variety of reasons in their clinical practice. Examples of this; to monitor the students’ progress to give feedback, to discover learning needs, to encourage students, to monitor their progress, to assess students level of competence, to assess knowledge, skills and attitudes, to measure the effectiveness of the teaching and to safeguard the patient and protect the public. As students work alongside with mentors, need to encourage students to perform patient care through instructions, guidance and supervision. While they are caring the patients mentors can observe and give feedback, this means while student is learning she is being asse ssed. Managing the process of assessment and feedback is hugely important. Students fail their placements for a wide range of reasons, but certain key factors can help minimise this happening. The student needs to feel welcomed and wanted to be able to perform into the placement quickly and so get on with meeting their competencies. Duffy (2003) cited several reasons for students failing and the key aspect was the lack of a good mentor/student relationship. Mentors must be meeting with students regularly can identify the problems or deficits the students going through. Learning needs should then be identified and action plan must be put in place. Mentors and assessors have the right and responsibility of making professional judgements about the performance of their student. (ENB and department of Health, 2001).Students needs to be respected while maintaining their professional standards, it is important to recognise the rights and to be supported to succeed in clinical practice. Mon itoring progress is about finding the students quality and quantity of learning and any difficulties students may experiencing that can be identified and action plan to be applied. There are different methods of assessment like observation of patient care, questions and answers, reflection, briefing, self assessment peer assessment, testimonies, portfolios.(Stuart 2003). Duffy and Hardicre (2007) identify the reasons of a failing student are lack of insight, lack of interest poor communication or interpersonal skills, personal issues, being over confident. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC2004a) states that nurses are accountable for their own practice. The public has a right to expect competence from the qualified professional in healthcare. With the purpose of assessment as a form of quality control for the healthcare professions, assessors should be able to identify failing students and provide enough support and resources to overcome the difficulties.

Gorporate Governanace Advisor for case PowerPoint Presentation

Gorporate Governanace Advisor for case - PowerPoint Presentation Example All these aspects of cooperate governance help in decision making capabilities. The decisions that the board have been making from the point of insufficient information and without due regard to either the risks or the environmental, social, and corporate governance issues involved. It is necessary to advice them on the growing importance of governance issues. It is imperative for the role of the good governance in corporate performance, and maximization of share holders’ value and the protection of investor’s rights. The decision by the board to invest a large amount of money which was raised primarily by bank loans, in developing a residential area by constructing homes, villas, a five star hotel recreational site and other required sites are informed by this lack of informed decision on corporate governance. The board should be advised that, the main objective of corporate governance is to reinforce a company, and encourage the standards of self rule so that the intensity of governance is in line with other domestic and international practices. It helps in the responsibility of handling money and the conduct of commercial activities. The serious concerns about the environmental impact of the construction plans and a very high probability that the project will be banned by the government’s Real Estate Standards Agency and the eventuality of the board cancelling the project, with a write off of the expenditure already incurred. This was possible to avoid, if cooperate governance was in place, as the scales of trade, and the size of companies’ bureaucracies’ involved makes it harder for individual control, and makes regulation externally by all the government agencies involved before a project can commence. To avoid the spread of failures corporate governance has come in handy for most companies in economies which are

Investigation on the influence of the recession towards online Dissertation

Investigation on the influence of the recession towards online shopping - Dissertation Example However, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) also indicate that over the past several years there has been considerable progress in retail sales and in 2007 it was note that there was more than 30 percent increase in retail sales in the Netherlands, France, in Germany and in Italy. Moreover, the researchers have also viable proof to suggest that sales in the United Kingdom actually spiked by more than thirty percent in 2008 in comparison to previous years while actual retail stores suffered losses in the sales in accordance with the data collected by British Retail Consortium. In accordance with online retail marketing, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) suggest that retailers have a lot to learn if they would like their online sales to increase, â€Å"such as levels of broadband penetration and the shopping attitudes that differentiate European retail markets†. Constantin (2010) states in his research that because of recession, many countries and many organizations fac e a significant challenge to maintain themselves in the economy. Many sectors within the economy have been affected, top of them being automobile manufacturing, tourism, health insurance and retail. He states that because of recession, there has been a general slowdown in the economy and thus buyers have actually reduced traditional shopping. In this case, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) support this research’s hypothesis that online sales have actually increased over time due to recession. They believe that the patterns of sales show increase because of broadband penetration which has led to people shopping more and more online. Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) along with other researchers also suggest that retail outlets online will have to work on finding the right niche in order to actually obtain sales in these recessionary times since buyers are ready to purchase goods online however, they are primarily targeting their needs instead of their wants. (Grewal and Tansuhaj, 2001; Gronroos, 1989; Keisidou, Sarigiannidis and Maditinos, 2011; Koksal and Ozgul, 2007; Li and Zhang, 2002; Lian and Lin 2008) The study conducted research on ninety three respondents within an age bracket 18 to 51 with maximum respondents (83 percent) being in the age group of 18 to 23 and about 75 percent being males amongst the respondents. Various questions were asked from the respondents to evaluate the concept of traditional shopping versus online shopping and how people have actually moved to this type of shopping particularly in the recessionary times being experienced in this day and age. Based on survey results, a summarization of the results can be that there has not been much impact in online sales of these respondents because they continue with their patterns of purchase irrespective of how the economy has been functioning. The reasons behind this continued pattern of purchase is for reasons other than economic recession where most find it convenient, e asy and time saving to actually shop online in comparison to shopping traditionally in shops. Evans (2009) suggests in her forecast for online shopping for 2013 that despite the negative effects of the economy on shopping, both traditional as well as online shopping. There are various reasons because of which people have reduced their short term online and traditional shopping. Evans (2009) believes that such reasons include various aspects of spending such as lower levels

Customer Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer Management - Essay Example For instance, CRM vendors are integrating functions of business intelligence via internal product enhancement; in fact, this process is involving seeking support from third parties. In this case assessment of CRM capability is considered as a way of bolting on analytics to operational CRM in order to create work for enterprises. In situations, where CRM customers are involved capability assessment becomes indispensable due to identification if crucial word that would drive vendor features set. There are situations where integration trend in the CRM systems that may render business-intelligence vendors unnecessary; thus, there is need for CRM capability assessment. Moreover, this serves as a way of identifying new opportunities for enterprises to identify substantial ROI from the costly implementation of CRM systems (Woodcock, 2005, 270). Therefore, this assessment enables the organization to identify things that are missing and determining whether capability is still turning data int o insights that surpass technology enhancements. CRM capability assessment is also undertaken due to increasing variety of companies, who are concentrating on one or more aspects of analytical CRM. These aspects include clarity in identification of customer preferences, perceptions and opinions. Information gathered during this assessment is fed into critical processes within the entire CRM for increased improvements (Woodcock, 2005, 270). CMR capabilities assessment has enables realization of the contribution made by technological advancement into CRM systems (Woodcock, 2005, 220). In this case, it is affiliating the process of ensuring that CRM systems are meeting firms' requirements. Therefore, CMR capabilities assessment can be regarded as a way facilitating effectiveness of CRM systems, thereby leading to better performance of the business (Woodcock, 2005, 138). Consequentially, this can lead to maximization of profitability in the short term; in fact, this enables identificati on of growth opportunities and building competitive advantages (Woodcock, 2005, 138). Therefore, CRM capability assessment is regarded as a way of applying strategies that maximize shareholders value by identifying and eliminating short term strategies that destroy assets and failing to capitalize on the companies' core capabilities (Woodcock, 2005, 138). ii. Reducing Risk through CRM Capability Assessment Companies have been subjected to serious attacks from customers due to issues concerning relationship and their way of doing business (Woodcock, 2005, 409). These attacks involves attempts by employees to get involved in activities such as fraud, money laundering, illegal trading and exploitation of loopholes in credit or insurance products. In this case, CRM capability assessment involves use of technology advancement in order to ensure that companies are facing fewer chances for face-to-face for processes such as validation of identities and determining credit worthiness(Woodcoc k, 2005, 409). Besides, perpetrators of illegal activities in businesses are likely to work in teams through the internet and model telephony for communication in ways that are difficult for authorities to indentify. Therefore, capability assessment of CRM is utilized as a way of bridging this security

Business research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business - Research Paper Example Introduction It is important to understand the various concepts of a supply chain in order to comprehend sustainability in a business even further. The chain flows from the initial generator of the raw materials to the final person to benefit from the product, that is, the customer. In any business practice, risks are some of the most important aspects to recognize and the management of these threats helps in making the flow of work better and that of the products faster and thus the importance of carrying out research on how to best manage them. The research identifies three aspects of risk management ought to receive a high amount of attention. One of these is risk identification the other aspect to consider is that of risk assessment and then there is risk management. Problem Statement Occurrence of risks is one of the leading causes of business failure over the past few years. This is happens because of the poor management of the risks by the responsible teams. Managing risk in s upply chain management is very vital for the success of any company from the fact that in the unfortunate case of one of the risks occurring, all levels of the supply chain are affected, regardless of the point at which the product was during the risk occurrence (Conroe, 2008, 63). It is thus the duty of every player in the chain to ensure that recognition and evaluation of all risks takes place in an effort to put into place the important strategies to evade the risk. The research aims at showing the different levels of a supply chain and indulge deeply in the risks that each of the level managers go through. Moreover, there ought to be the identification of the two key classes of supply chain risks for the purpose of risk assessment. I chose management of risks in supply chain because I have had various experiences where companies languish from the amount of ignorance portrayed by their administration. An example of this is the BP case where there was the loss of a lot of the comp any’s credit from the oil spill that happened having the company in a recession for a few months (Adams, 2011, 473). The ignorance is mostly in terms of recognizing the source of the risks. Many are cases when companies fail due to the fact that the management thinks that the problem is a minor one and does not have much weight. However, I seek to change this notion in an effort to make people understand that each part of the chain has a role to play in either the success or the failure of the commodity they seek to establish. It all depends on the type of risk management. The issue at hand has had people always take risk management classes in an effort to solve the various arising matters that may have the company in a position to have a risk occurring. Research has shown that companies that do not take the steps end up regretting and consequently having a poor reputation due to customer dissatisfaction. Gaps in the research are in that it has been impossible to find cases t hat show immediate resolution of a risk taking place unlike the many present cases of risk occurrence. Risk Identification and Analysis Over the years, supply chain management has had its fair share of changes providing the need of every business to stay keen on its goals in this highly competitive 21st century. The study shows how the external and internal risks are vital for identification in any

Gender inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender inequality - Essay Example Western feminists, such as Rich argues that rape and violence against women are central to the control of women and their bodies, especially when the advancement of women in the public sphere is de-stabilizing this power base: Patriarchy is' a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men - by force, direct pressure or through ritual, law and language, customs, etiquette, education, and division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male. It does not necessarily imply that no woman has power, or all women in a given culture may not have certain powers.3 People ... whose lives cut unfamiliar paths across the distinctions of rule suggest still other structures of feeling in formation, other sites of power to identify, a wider range of sources to consider, and, not least, other kinds of memories to call on and stories to tell.4 When considering other theories of power, especially in relation to sexuality and race depends upon violence and control over the body, which is an indicator that there is inherent discrimination in the legal, social and political system. However, there is a lot of similarities in Western and Eastern cultures in respect to control and power over women's bodies. Carla Rice states that [w]henever we as women look at ourselves through the lens of culture, we' end up engaged in a war with our bodies, one that we cannot win. Society has inhibited our bodies and we have absorbed into our skin and bones (1999, 317) Stoler introduces an interesting connection between women's bodies and culture; however the modern restraints on women and the body are not new, i.e. history has restrained the body in differing ways. The modern era has heralded freedom in the sense of the mind; however culture has enslaved women using their body again, i.e. the reproductive functions were the prison of the past, superficial beauty is the prison of today. This imprisoning of the mind by using the body is a very old weapon used by the dominating male hierarchical system in fear that women can no longer be so easily controlled. If one considers cultures, such as Asia and the Middle East, being too fat or having a big nose is not a thing of consequence; because women are still imprisoned by their reproductive functions. The male dominated system of the West has been forced to alter cultural images and notions to further dominate women; therefore culture has had to alter by forcing women into a new box, i.e. an underfed , tall, big busted woman. The war waged on women's bodies is first a conflict over shape and size, over the terrain of our bodies, played in a deeply entrenched cultural taboos and a powerful dictate against women taking up space and claiming room of our own.5 This statement of Rice's sums up the conflict between the advancement of women and the restraints constructed by the male dominated culture, which has to adapt to the advancement of women in the late 20th and 21st Century. Rice is correct in her evaluation of the male dominated culture adapting to imprison women from declaring their own rights and space. Foucault6 has provided a discourse that has gone farther than just making women equal to men or races equal, by understanding that

Customer Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer Management - Essay Example For instance, CRM vendors are integrating functions of business intelligence via internal product enhancement; in fact, this process is involving seeking support from third parties. In this case assessment of CRM capability is considered as a way of bolting on analytics to operational CRM in order to create work for enterprises. In situations, where CRM customers are involved capability assessment becomes indispensable due to identification if crucial word that would drive vendor features set. There are situations where integration trend in the CRM systems that may render business-intelligence vendors unnecessary; thus, there is need for CRM capability assessment. Moreover, this serves as a way of identifying new opportunities for enterprises to identify substantial ROI from the costly implementation of CRM systems (Woodcock, 2005, 270). Therefore, this assessment enables the organization to identify things that are missing and determining whether capability is still turning data int o insights that surpass technology enhancements. CRM capability assessment is also undertaken due to increasing variety of companies, who are concentrating on one or more aspects of analytical CRM. These aspects include clarity in identification of customer preferences, perceptions and opinions. Information gathered during this assessment is fed into critical processes within the entire CRM for increased improvements (Woodcock, 2005, 270). CMR capabilities assessment has enables realization of the contribution made by technological advancement into CRM systems (Woodcock, 2005, 220). In this case, it is affiliating the process of ensuring that CRM systems are meeting firms' requirements. Therefore, CMR capabilities assessment can be regarded as a way facilitating effectiveness of CRM systems, thereby leading to better performance of the business (Woodcock, 2005, 138). Consequentially, this can lead to maximization of profitability in the short term; in fact, this enables identificati on of growth opportunities and building competitive advantages (Woodcock, 2005, 138). Therefore, CRM capability assessment is regarded as a way of applying strategies that maximize shareholders value by identifying and eliminating short term strategies that destroy assets and failing to capitalize on the companies' core capabilities (Woodcock, 2005, 138). ii. Reducing Risk through CRM Capability Assessment Companies have been subjected to serious attacks from customers due to issues concerning relationship and their way of doing business (Woodcock, 2005, 409). These attacks involves attempts by employees to get involved in activities such as fraud, money laundering, illegal trading and exploitation of loopholes in credit or insurance products. In this case, CRM capability assessment involves use of technology advancement in order to ensure that companies are facing fewer chances for face-to-face for processes such as validation of identities and determining credit worthiness(Woodcoc k, 2005, 409). Besides, perpetrators of illegal activities in businesses are likely to work in teams through the internet and model telephony for communication in ways that are difficult for authorities to indentify. Therefore, capability assessment of CRM is utilized as a way of bridging this security

Gender inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender inequality - Essay Example Western feminists, such as Rich argues that rape and violence against women are central to the control of women and their bodies, especially when the advancement of women in the public sphere is de-stabilizing this power base: Patriarchy is' a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men - by force, direct pressure or through ritual, law and language, customs, etiquette, education, and division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male. It does not necessarily imply that no woman has power, or all women in a given culture may not have certain powers.3 People ... whose lives cut unfamiliar paths across the distinctions of rule suggest still other structures of feeling in formation, other sites of power to identify, a wider range of sources to consider, and, not least, other kinds of memories to call on and stories to tell.4 When considering other theories of power, especially in relation to sexuality and race depends upon violence and control over the body, which is an indicator that there is inherent discrimination in the legal, social and political system. However, there is a lot of similarities in Western and Eastern cultures in respect to control and power over women's bodies. Carla Rice states that [w]henever we as women look at ourselves through the lens of culture, we' end up engaged in a war with our bodies, one that we cannot win. Society has inhibited our bodies and we have absorbed into our skin and bones (1999, 317) Stoler introduces an interesting connection between women's bodies and culture; however the modern restraints on women and the body are not new, i.e. history has restrained the body in differing ways. The modern era has heralded freedom in the sense of the mind; however culture has enslaved women using their body again, i.e. the reproductive functions were the prison of the past, superficial beauty is the prison of today. This imprisoning of the mind by using the body is a very old weapon used by the dominating male hierarchical system in fear that women can no longer be so easily controlled. If one considers cultures, such as Asia and the Middle East, being too fat or having a big nose is not a thing of consequence; because women are still imprisoned by their reproductive functions. The male dominated system of the West has been forced to alter cultural images and notions to further dominate women; therefore culture has had to alter by forcing women into a new box, i.e. an underfed , tall, big busted woman. The war waged on women's bodies is first a conflict over shape and size, over the terrain of our bodies, played in a deeply entrenched cultural taboos and a powerful dictate against women taking up space and claiming room of our own.5 This statement of Rice's sums up the conflict between the advancement of women and the restraints constructed by the male dominated culture, which has to adapt to the advancement of women in the late 20th and 21st Century. Rice is correct in her evaluation of the male dominated culture adapting to imprison women from declaring their own rights and space. Foucault6 has provided a discourse that has gone farther than just making women equal to men or races equal, by understanding that

Article Summary Essay Example for Free

Article Summary Essay Upon reading the article there was a strong emphasis on the interaction from within the virtual classroom and the communication that the students had developed with the instructor and other students in the classroom. Due to the flexibility that the online classroom offers many people are signing up. In the past many people preferred the classroom setting, because it gave him or her, the capability of having interaction amongst peers. However since this has turned into a text, and email world many people have chosen to go to college online. The number one method of conversation used to be either in person or on the phone, now it is through text message and by email. The online classes do require participation and the way that participation is graded is by the involvement that the student makes with his or he peers. While online course enrolments continue to climb, retention and success rates in such courses and programs are frequently reported as typically lower than those delivered in a traditional classroom format; those of us in roles that support online students have a role in reversing that trend! (Schreck, 2006).Online classes take much dedication, and a structure of independence. Life in general can be busy and full of circumstances. It takes a person who can independently work on his or her own, and have a desire to complete task and finish the course facilitator participation When teachers interact with students during online classes, the students tend to participate more. Just knowing that even if there is not a teacher that is standing over you insuring that assignments are done, or that you are participating in group discussions or activities, initiates interaction. According to the text â€Å"the student’s online posts, online quizzes, and tests were analyzed using ATLAS software (Nagel, Blignaut Cronje, 2007). Since the virtual classroom does not have the capability of someone directly standing over a student, a strategic plan had to be developed in order to make sure the students were participating in daily classroom activities, as well as a test of his or her knowledge to  demonstrate that the student was actually obtaining and learning the information that has been taught. Through the discussion forum the teacher is able to analyze if the student is on the correct track, or if explanation needs to be given on a particular subject. Students have to have the desire to learn, as well as the desire to accomplish an online class. However the student must be dedicated to logging in, participating in the classroom discussions, and interacting with his or her peers and instructor. References Nagel, L., Blignaut, A.S., Cronje, J.C. (2007). Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environment, Vol17, 37-51.Retrieved December 10, 2012. Schreck, V. (2006). It takes a virtual village: Practical strategies for improving online learning Retention Rate. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from: www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p /38.htm.

Analysis of mentoring, coaching and counselling

Analysis of mentoring, coaching and counselling This report has been compiled by. This report is intended for., and is written to show them the vast knowledge that we have received as a result of the mentorship program. It analyses the mentoring, coaching and counseling principles. Moreover it contains the mentoring program itself and reflections. The primary purpose of this report was to expand our knowledge base on the business by learning through primary research and self learning. B. METHODOLOGY In order to produce this report, sources of research were used. The primary sources consist of the mock interview and tape recordings while the secondary sources are referenced from the internet and major books. A diverse number of databases were also referred to for the research data required. Book references are listed in the bibliography. C. FINDINGS 1.1 Theory 1.1.1 Definition of the term mentor. The word mentor has many definitions around the world. However, the basic definition is that of a wise and trusted advisor. One who is willing to meet others and pass on information (Pegg, 1999). Thus mentoring can be considered as a process by which information is passed on to future mentees thus developing them into better people. Mentoring is an important aspect of modern culture and is practiced in many institutions and business organizations around the world. It is not only a tool by which to pass on knowledge to that person. Mentoring exists also to form a bond between the mentee and the mentor. Mentoring can be seen to have found its place in todays modern society. Companies have started designing and implementing their own mentorship programs to help facilitate their employees. Institutions have already put in place the mentorship programs to help groom the 1st year students and help them to properly adapt to new environments. In this light mentorship can be seen to be a form of leadership. The mentorship process is important to modern society as it helps young aspiring individuals to grow in the light of people who they look up to. By doing so it helps them to succeed in all their endeavors. 1.1.2 Definition of the term coach, Coaching is a process that enables learning and development to occur thus performance is seen to notably improve. Thus being a coach can be defined as one who primarily helps in the development of performance in a specific skill area. Often, people confuse the two terms, mentor and coach and it is usually seen that the two terms overlap. However coaches are seen to be more of strategists and planners who are essentially team builders. 1.1.3 Definition of the term counselor A counselor is one who is mature, respects other peoples opinions, is willing to listen rather than to talk and uses the insights he gets from the persons emotions and words to give advice. Thus a counselor differs from a mentor in that he/she is rational and more objective. Thus the relationship with whoever is being counseled tends to be more professional than personal. 1.1.4 The difference between mentoring, coaching and counseling Most people confuse the three terms and use them interchangeably. However, it can be clearly seen that the three carry different meanings. Coaching refers to the process that improves on performance by enabling learning and development to occur. Counseling as described above is whereby one is provided professional advice based on the counselors insights. These insights are based on the persons emotional state, words as well as appearance. Mentoring is the process of sharing insights, advice or informational that is useful to the mentee. Mentorship is a process in which the insights are drawn from real life experiences and not random facts. Thus mentorship is seen to be all inclusive. This means that it entails coaching and counseling as well. It includes because it helps the individuals performance in a particular area to improve. It also includes counseling as the individuals free to seek help and advice from the mentor whenever possible 1.2 Role of a mentor The role of a mentor is to enable the mentee to become a better individual in the professional domain as well as their own personal world. By doing, the mentor inadvertently improves himself in the same manner due to insight and personal contact with the mentee. Mentors have various duties. The primary aim of a mentor is to aid the mentee to reach a new level of personal and professional improvement thus the mentee is able to accomplish the tasks laid before him/her. The mentee also has the task of ensuring that the mentees progress is consistent. This is accomplished but the mentor providing additional skills and techniques to aid in ensuring the mentees continued progress. The techniques should be based on real-life encounters s these help the mentee make a solid connection with how his/her mentor used the techniques. Often the question is raised on the qualities that make a good mentor. This is normally raised by people all over the world who do not understand the principles of mentoring. Every individual is different by virtue of their personality. Thus the mentor and the mentee have to adapt to each others personalities in order to achieve proper results. Even though each mentor has different personalities, some notable aspects differentiate between a good mentor and a poor mentor. A good mentor should be capable and well experienced to aid the mentee in any sort of situation. The mentors should be able to encourage the mentees by constantly challenging them. The challenges should not discourage the mentees. Mentors must have a certain level of credibility both personally and professionally. Mentors should be able to encourage their mentees thereby enabling them to express their ideas more confidently. Also the mentor should learn to be versatile especially when engaging and challenging the men tees. 1.3 Role of a mentee A mentees main aim is to expand his knowledge and learn new skills. This is facilitated by the mentorship program whereby the mentee has the opportunity to get advice from someone who has much more experience is an invaluable opportunity. A mentee will find that mentors tend to make things much clearer than they were before. Due to the mentor-mentee relationship, the mentee is able to feel more secure as he knows the mentors is there to genuinely offer him help and is primarily there to help the mentee learn from his mistakes. Thus it can be said that this is grooming of the mentee in order to help him achieve specific goals or tasks. Thus it can be clearly seen that the mentee is learning new skills and gaining experience from the mentor. In general the mentee role is crucial as the mentor himself is able to learn more about his own mistakes from the mentee. Thus, it seems the mentor-mentee relationship is of a symbiotic nature in which each benefit the other. 1.4 Relationship between the Mentor and the Mentee. As mentioned above, the mentor-mentee relationship is a symbiotic relationship which benefits both of the people involved. Thus it is crucial for this relationship to be one where honesty and communication are freely exchanged between those involved. The mentor-mentee relationship is one based on trust and it is crucial that this trust is not compromised in any way by either of the parties. Breaking of this trust could result in the breakdown of the mentorship program and essentially the whole process could be discarded. To ensure this trust is not broken, it is essential that what is discussed between the mentor and the mentees stays purely between those involved in the discussion. Both the mentors and the mentees have to abide by this rule if the mentorship program is to succeed. Communication is also an essential part of the relationship between the mentor and the mentee. Communication aids in the mentee being able to seek advice whenever he requires it from the mentor. It facilitates smooth passage of information and enables the mentor to be able to communicate freely to his/her mentees. The crucial role of communication in the mentorship program cannot be overemphasized. It is vital that communication be highly regarded as it ids through this that the mentor is able to spot weaknesses and guide the mentee to improving on the weaknesses. This way the mentee is able to acknowledge the mentors role and accepts his advice. Thus without proper communication, the mentorship program will be for naught and the mentor will have failed at his task. In some cases there is mutual fallout between the two parties. In most cases, it is due to the lack of communication between the two parties. However, in some unrelated cases, it is noted that the mentorship process was difficult. Sometimes this is attributed to sexism and racism when it comes to the selection of the mentees. In other cases, it is attributed to the fact that the selected mentees are unwilling to learn anything from their mentor. This may be because the mentees do no respect the mentor or his employment position. All in all, the relationship between the mentor and the mentee plays a crucial role in the mentorship process it is essential that trust be maintained throughout the process as well as communication. Honesty as well must be upheld. Moreover, the mentees must be willing to form relationships with the mentors for the process to be successful. 2.0 Mentoring Process 2.1 Pitch Before I went before the students to present my pitch, I was very nervous as this was my first pitch. My content emphasized the strong role mentorship had in my life and the unbreakable bond that I had developed with my mentor. Though my voice was shaky and a bit weak, I felt proud because I had attracted three mentees. Reflecting back, the pitch was a good experience as it pointed out my weaknesses thus helped me grow just a bit more. 2.2 Meetings 2.2.1 Progress The first meeting was an informal face to face meeting so that we could properly get acquainted with each other. At this juncture, I should mention that the mentees were Niklas Kainrad, Alexander Kern and Yashar Berry. We mainly discussed about our pasts, our current selves, our future and what we aimed to achieve. Furthermore, we discussed the project, made detailed notes on what we aimed to achieved, proposed and clarified the time frame for which we were supposed to accomplish the set objectives and also set the times for regularly scheduled meetings. During the meetings, I tried to play the role of a mentor by striving to listen rather than to talk. However the first two meetings I noted that I played the role of a coach more than a mentor. I constantly interrupted asking questions rather than listening. As the meetings passed, I noted that I settled more in to the role of a being a mentor. It was really exciting because as the days passed, the more involved we became with further improving ourselves as individuals. We had the strong desire to grow into better people. The mentees were more involved when asked to reflect on their past and who they dream to be. 2.2.2 Mentees Development a) Niklas Kainrad During the first meting Niklas seemed mild-mannered, mature and confident in himself. When asked to think back on past experiences and say a personally affecting experience, he properly communicated his thoughts and his feelings. This was clearly seen as it affected his other mentees. However, it was noted throughout the meetings that though he was a cooperative team player, he could not be called upon to make critical decisions that the team required. Moreover, he was over-optimistic in some situations and at other times, he seemed preoccupied by his own thoughts especially during discussions. Thus throughout the meetings we aimed at improving his strengths while limiting his weaknesses. Throughout the mentorship, I called upon Niklas to share his opinion especially when he seemed to be wandering off. This proved to be very effective as with time Niklas became less aware of what was keeping him pre-occupied and more involved in the class discussions. Thus Niklas who previously was unable to focus on discussions was now major participator and contributor to them. Based on Niklas self perception details in the counseling report (appendix), t was concluded that due to his high maturity, Niklas was able to convince others to follow him. He was inspiring especially with his unique innovative ability. His cooperation skills likened him to working with colleagues who are genuinely interested in his ideas and opinions and with whom he can communicate effectively. Due to his observable discipline, strategic weighing of decisions and making judgments, it was further concluded that his management style would be more of cooperating with his colleagues in finding the way forward or mapping the way himself. As for his weaknesses, it was noted that though he paid little attention to all the specific details in the operations, this could easily be resolved by him working in harmony with someone who does. Thus his performance is likely to greatly improve. Thus during the mentorship meetings, we worked on the above noted strengths so as to grow Niklas. b) Alexander Kern. During the face to face interview with Alexander, he was sent to take great acre especially when answering questions. He seemed to be mentally weighing the quality of his answer against the questions asked. When asked what he thought of the other mentees opinions of certain issues, he carefully drew upon what the others had said and gave his opinions on the same. His slow but yet very effective method of thinking made him out to be a decisive decision maker. The leadership qualities that he displayed during the meetings showed that he was a strategist taking into account all the details in a particular session. Often during the meetings it was seen that most of the other mentees consulted with Alexander before a decision was made. Thus throughout the meeting one strength that defined him was that he was reliable especially when called upon to quantify decisions. Alexander throughout the duration of the meetings was noted to a key player especially when it came to making critical decisions. His major attribute that was clearly visible was the fact that he was a strategic leader. However, he was not without weaknesses. His leadership qualities made him unsuitable for low key situations. Thus during the meetings he learnt how to keep a low profile when situations call for such action. This helped him to adapt to supportive and subordinate roles when necessary. c) Yashar Berry Yashar Berry struck me with her vocal confidence especially when evaluating her strengths and weaknesses. She did not seem ashamed of her weaknesses but rather showed the strong desire to learn ho to improve on them. Over the past few weeks as we got to know more about each other, she showed real ingenuity when called upon to undertake certain tasks. Though this ingenuity earned her admiration from her other mentees, it was slow in showing. This somewhat affected her confidence in engaging in such crucial tasks. However, as time passed, her confidence in herself and her ingenuity grew. She was generally a great contributor especially when during group discussions. Her attitude to tasks had a preference for that tasks that required innovativeness. Thus she was seen as someone who would be more suited to working in mentally challenging situations. This though largely attributed to her innovativeness was also due her above average qualities in self organization and control. 2.2.3 Methods of improvement On the onset of the process, it was rather difficult to improve on the three different people as each their own individual weaknesses. However after thorough analysis, it became clear that Alexanders weaknesses turned out to be Niklas strengths. Thus the two worked together during the meetings, often correcting each other and pointing out their weaknesses. This turned out to be a very effective method of improving themselves. Yashar Berry had limited weaknesses and these were resolved through group interventions during the meetings. The teamwork tasks greatly improved the individuals capability to work in a team. The meetings were not held on a daily basis. Therefore, as a method for improvement the mentees were required to spend the non-meeting days reflecting personally on themselves and their weaknesses. Particularly, we agreed that the reflection sessions focus would be on how to improve on the weakness that each individual had. The conclusions of the personal reflections were then presented to the group during the meeting sessions. We also developed various strategies that were aimed to bolster their performance during the interviews. Thus through constant analysis and motivation the three were able to help each other grow. 2.3 Evaluation and conclusion Reflecting back on the whole process and its effect on the mentees, it can be concluded that the overall impact it had on them ws massive. All three mentees showed more determination to better themselves both professionally and personally. The serious attitude exhibited by all of the showed the real determination to succeed. They took into account all the mentorship knowledge that they had learned during the duration of the mentorship program and were keen to utilize it in the proper manner. On A more personal case, I, as the mentor, have gained valuable knowledge in identifying the personality characteristics of the different individuals. I have also learnt how to approach these case characteristics each in its own manner and properly help the individual to grow. Therefore, I have gained insight into the proper strategies to be used when evaluating the individual and helping him improve himself. 2.4 Comparison and mock interview. In the next session, the performance of mentees shall be evaluated based on how well they performed in the mock and real interviews. The real interview is thus the true evaluator of the total effectiveness of the process. 2.4.1 Evaluation of Niklas Niklas was very striking in terms of dressing during both of the interviews. His vocal strength was strong and depicted open body language. His answers to the questions that were asked proved satisfying. He showed real confidence in his answers and spoke confidently throughout the interview. However, not both interviews were conducted without mistakes. When faced with questions asking him to explain how he would undertake a particular task, it was noted that he continuously ignored the minor crucial details. His arguments to the questions though satisfying were not without flaws. He generally answered the questions but there was hesitation on his part to divulge greater details especially when he was asked to clarify on given points. He showed great improvement during the real interview. It was clear that he had worked on his mistakes and improved on the weaknesses. His answers were now clearer and he did not hesitate to divulge information when asked to clarify on unclear points. 2.4.2 Evaluation of Alexander Kern Alexanders mock interview showed that he had taken what he had learnt during the mentorship program and properly implemented it to improving his behavior. In terms of his oral language he was able to present strong answers in a very convincing manner. His answers still showed that he had taken great care on consideration of the question. Though the speed of his answers was still very slow, it was clear that he had improved greatly since entering the mentorship program. His calm disposition when faced with many questions displayed his oozing confidence when placed on the spot. During the real interview, it was noted that Alexander had noted his mistakes made during the mock interview and made an effort to correct them. The rate of delivery of his answers was speedy and they still contained as much depth as the mock interview answers. Moreover, it was impressive that he showed he could answer even the most unexpected of questions. 2.4.2 Evaluation of Yashar Berry. Yashar Berry was very impressive at both the interviews. Her limited flaws that she had displayed early were now completely erased. Her smooth manner of talking, the ease with which she answered questions and the ingenuity that she displayed all showed that she had garnered a lot of experience from the mentorship program. 2.5 Summary. As a summary of the real interview, which is the final evaluation of the mentors mentoring skills, it was clear that the mentees had listened carefully to the mentors, taken their advice and implemented it properly. They remembered the basic rules which they displayed in the interview. On terms of performance, it was rather clear that Yashar performed more professionally than the other two. It was thus clear that Yashar had carefully listened to what the mentors had commented on and worked on it thereby improving herself professionally. In the case of Alexander, it was clear that with a little pressure he could be pushed to succeed. He showed his decision-making prowess when called upon. Niklas also exhibited marked improvement especially in his concentration. He paid little attention to his own personal interests and concentrated completely on the interview. 2.6 Reflection on my own personal performance After analyzing the performance of my three mentees, I reflected on my own personal performance and progression. I identified three major things that I would have to change given the opportunity to take part in the mentorship experience again. First, I will have to be more observant of how my mentees present themselves. Niklas was unable to give decisive answers during the mock interview. I, as the mentor, should have noted this and worked on it with him. Secondly, though the mentees showed marked improvement, some still exhibited difficulties when answering the questions. Given the opportunity to take part in the mentorship program once more, I will undertake to simulate real life situations with my mentees so as to avoid this. 2.7 Conclusion. The mentorship program was not only a wonderful experience for the mentees. it proved to be a worthwhile experience for me too. Through sharing and working together to eliminate each others weaknesses, it was shown that the mentees showed marked improvement especially in how they present themselves professionally. Helping others find their own weaknesses as well as my own turned out to be an invaluable experience for me. It also showed that people can truly aim higher if they have a common goal and a person who is willing to mentor them and assist them into achieving that goal. 2.8 Recommendations. The mentorship program in the EBS is truly an invaluable source of knowledge. One gets to learn more about him/her, the opportunity to identify their weakness and to work on improving them. The pitching of the program is also very essential as it gives the mentees a positive feel about the program. With all the above said, I would thus like to recommend that the mentorship program be carried over into the other years. This would enable mentors to keep in touch with their mentees thus the bonds are not broken after the mentorship program is finished.