Saturday, August 31, 2019

Key learning point: Perception Essay

Perception refers to how a person connects to their environment. In order to respond appropriately, people interpret messages and events in their environment as they perceive them. However complexity of the environment may sometimes bring about perceptual errors as the individual tries to take short cuts to process all the information. Reason for Selection: Errors in perception may sabotage a great business prospect especially if the misconception is personal. Perceptual areas include stereotyping where an individual assigns to a person certain attributes just because he belongs to a particular class or group of people. A phenomenon called halo effect may also result from errors in perception. It involves generalizing a variety of individuals characteristics based on only knowledge of one attribute. An individual may also single out information that supports a particular belief while ignoring any contrasting information. This is referred to as selective perception. Other times one may find the need to protect their own self concept and assign to others characteristics or feelings they possess themselves. Application to a business or personal situation: While working in Kenya for a pharmaceutical company whose manufacturing plant is in India, I had to pick the Senior International Brands manager at the airport. Being his first time in Kenya his perception was Kenyans being Africans don’t have enough resources to own motor vehicles for personal transit and openly said so to a taxi driver, the driver stopped the car threw out our luggage and sped of angrily mumbling to himself and since it was raining and we were already a few kilometers off the airport we had to stay at the road for hours to get another cab. Action or steps taken to improve: Asking my clients in a friendly way how they do particular things appreciate and point out how wonderful it is to have diversity in our business world. Try to come up with ways you can make use of particular attributes that you possess in a positive way or try and change yourself. Whenever you are in doubt about any particular fact about your client to kindly ask for explanation from the client. References Squidoo (2010). A goldmine of journal Writing Prompts. Retrieved on 25th July, 2010, from http://www. squidoo. com/journalwritingprompts

Friday, August 30, 2019

Loneliness in ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’, is a novel written by John Steinbeck in the 1930’s. It is set in Salinas California and shows us what life was like for migrant workers at this time. The book was set in the time of the American depression caused by the Wall Street Crash. In 1929 Steinbeck himself had taken on unskilled jobs to support himself for 7 years from 1919. South Clara in Northern California was where Steinbeck worked as a farm laborer. It is from there that the scenery, setting and experiences of Steinbeck in Northern California have been etched into the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’. The book describes how lonely life can be. There are three different kinds of loneliness these include: isolation, solitude and abandonment. George and Lennie are different from the other characters in the novel as they have each other to look after them ‘ain’t many guys travel around together’. They have been companions from childhood and George has given and oath to Aunt Clara that he will look after Lennie. George and Lennie both share the same dream to own a piece of land that no-one will take away from them. They each dedicate a sum of their wages towards the dream. The characters in this novel are all envious to some extent of the special friendship shared by George and Lennie because they do not have that in their life. All the characters are extremely lonely and unhappy with their lives (except Slim, who is the only character that seems to be confident and happy with his life), and none of them can escape this unhappiness. Economic and social forces control them, and free will seems non-existent. â€Å"Guys like us, that live on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.† George means that if not for each other, then he and Lennie would be all alone, with no friends, like all the men like them, who are migrant workers moving from ranch to ranch without making any friends, and living a lonely life. George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, of a place to call their own. The Dream represents a sense of freedom to George and Lennie as they will be their own bosses and can do as they please. Also the achieving of the dream will mean they will not have to travel and have a house which they can really call home. They will not have to wear their uniforms and will have more possessions than a migrant worker. George and Lennie are very different, George is a smart and composed man, who seems to need mental stimulation from a companion, which he cannot have in his relationship with Lennie. Even though they have each other, they are still both lonely at a certain level, even if one does not clearly understand the other. The important thing is human contact and being there together. Somebody who loses his best companion is Candy. Candy is the oldest person on the ranch. We can tell this when he mentions they are going to fire him â€Å"They’ll can me purty soon† also by the boring jobs which he undertakes like sweeping the bunk house, as he only has one hand, he is a liability. He is a very friendly person and knows the rules of the ranch, we see this when he says ‘a guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ast no questions.’ His life long companion presumably a sheep dog which he had since it was a pup, was shot by Carlson, who was very persistent to take the dog’s life as he did not like the way it smelled â€Å"I don’t know nothing that stinks so bad as an old dog’. Although pleading with Carlson â€Å"I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup, I herded sheep with him† the only choice Candy was offered was if he would want to shoot the dog himself which he replied â€Å"No I coul dn’t. I had ‘im too long.† Finally Candy had to let his companion go. The dog which was Candy’s comfort and enjoyment was now dead. As the gunshot went off in the distance every head in the bunk house turned towards Candy to see the old man’s reaction. For a moment he continued to stare at the ceiling maybe remembering the happy memories he and his companion shared. Then he rolled slowly over and faced the wall and lay silent the same action a dog would do when going to sleep. All was not lost, overhearing George and Lennie’s dream he wanted to share it. He told George and Lennie about what they did to his dog that night maybe to try and win some compassion. â€Å"You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself or nobody else. When they can me here I wish’t somebody’d shoot me†. This shows Candy is nearing the end of his life at the farm. Being part of George and Lennie’s dream comforts Candy and would be an ideal way to spend the rest of his life free from worries. George and Lennie accepted him into their dream partly due to the large sum of money which he had to contribute towards the dream. The dream was now becoming a reality. Crooks like Candy is an outcast because the society in which he resides is racist towards black people. With a back injury that gives Crooks his nickname he is more permanent than the other men, we can see this with the possessions he has which include ‘several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock and a single barrelled shot-gun’. Being alone has made Crooks very unsure about himself and bitter†A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick† this was Crook’s way of establishing a personal connection to Lennie. Like Lennie, Crooks has a ‘relationship’ with loneliness. Crooks is rejected from every group of people and cannot socially interact with others, just like Lennie who can’t socially interact properly because of his mental-disability. â€Å"Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m Black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me!† Crooks loneliness results from rejection; others treat him unjust because he is different from them given that he is black. Crooks isn’t allowed to participate in daily events with white people such as card games. He is treated unfairly and therefore acts the same way toward the white people who have offended him. In an effort to communicate with the outside world in my opinion Crooks reads books ‘there were battered magazines and a few dirty books on a special shelf over his bunk’ this shows they were well read, maybe even more than once. Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George, especially how close they are. Crooks said, â€Å"Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?† Crooks asks these questions because he was curious and envious, about the friendship of Lennie and George, noticing that Lennie is retarded, he takes advantage of this situation to make him feel better and ease the pain of having others reject him. He wants the people to feel the way that he did when he was lonely, having no one. He is striving to achieve sympathy and understanding from others. Crooks would work for nothing if it meant communicating with others. He even offers his services to Candy to work on their â€Å"dream ranch† to join in on the friendship and dream shared by Lennie and George, in order to leave behind him his lonely life. Curley’s Wife’s loneliness is due to her husband. Even though Curley’s wife is mentioned frequently, nobody asks what her name is. Nobody wants to talk her because people are afraid of Curley; he is jealous and would start a fight with anyone who tried approaching her also due to the fact that Curley is the boss’s son and anyone who tried to do something could loose their job. She does not like Curley, and purely married him to spite her mother we can see this when she says ‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella’. Furthermore he doesn’t talk to her at all, and there’s no one in her life with whom she can share her feelings, and longs for companionship. Candy influences views about Curley’s wife in George by telling him ‘Curley’s married†¦ a tart’. She pretends to look for her husband when she really wants to have a conversation with the men in the ranch as she is lonely. Curley treats his wife like a trophy insisting that she should spend all her time in the house. Curley’s wife asks the rhetorical question, ‘think I like to stick in that house alla time?’ showing her unhappiness. Curley does not care about his wife as he leaves her behind whenever he goes out and visits ‘cat houses’ although he is married. Curley’s wife talks to Lennie in chapter five as she knows she can share her secrets and worries without Lennie telling anyone else, due to his mental age. She also indicates she is going to run away as she talks in a hurry. Curley’s wife is very vigilant in the way she knows how Curley’s hand was broken also in the way she finds the dead pup in the barn. Curley’s wife tells Lennie about the chances she had of being an actress and blames her misfortune on her mother. She shows that marrying Curley was her last chance to get away from home. Maybe she was making up stories about her past as she looked closely to see if she was impressing Lennie. Curley’s wife is a threat to Crooks as she threatens him with death by hanging if he stands up to her. In those days if a coloured man was accused of something there would be no trial. Curley’s wife is the one who ruins the dream as she let Lennie touch her hair and then resisted. She ended up getting killed which meant that Lennie would have to be killed as he committed murder. Her death could be thought of as a misfortune, but as a positive thing as well because it ended her suffering; being the only woman in the ranch and having married a man like Curley she was inevitably destined for loneliness. But now that she is dead, she will not have to worry about being lonely ever again. Curley’s wife’s case of loneliness was the most severe throughout the novel. She struggled in her society to find somebody that she could befriend in vain. We can draw a similarity between Candy and Crooks; both of these characters have a physical disability (Candy has a one hand, and Crooks has a crooked back) both caused by an accident, as well as another factor Crook’s color and Candy’s old age, those factors make both of them outcasts. Because of their situation, they are both destined to loneliness, each of them deals with it in their own way: Candy has his dog for companionship and makes conversation with the other men that work on the ranch, but Crooks turns towards books Another interesting similarity we can draw is the one between the relationship between George and Lennie, and Candy and his old dog. Both George and Candy are lonely, even though they have companionship; Candy cannot talk to his dog, and George can’t have a really serious conversation with Lennie either. Even though they have companionship, they need something deeper and more meaningful. It is also interesting to notice the similar fate of Candy’s dog and Lennie who will both be shot in the back of the head unsuspicious of what is going to happen. The last similarity drawn is between two of the loneliest characters in the novel; Curley’s Wife and Lennie. As we’ve seen previously, Curley’s wife is the only woman in the novel, and her husband forbids her to talk to other men, and because of his jealousy, doesn’t let other men approach her or else he picks a fight with them. George also gives orders to Lennie and strictly forbids him several times â€Å"Don’t even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does†¦you leave her be† â€Å"well, you keep away from her†, they aren’t allowed to talk to each other, that’s what makes the fatal scene in the barn so tragic; Curley’s wife wanted to talk to someone so bad, that it drove her to her death. One of the most important lessons we learn in Of Mice and Men is that friendship and human interaction are two very valuable things in life, and that having them is as much as a right as it is a privilege. We must treasure these two things as it keeps us away from loneliness which is one of the worst things a person can suffer from highlighted by the characters in the book.   

Thursday, August 29, 2019

As You Like It - the Play Essay Example for Free

As You Like It – the Play Essay As You Like It is considered by many to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, and the heroine, Rosalind, is praised as one of his most inspiring characters and has more lines than any of Shakespeare’s female characters. Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke falls in love with Orlando the disinherited son of one of the duke’s friends. When she is banished from the court by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick , Rosalind switches genders and as Ganymede travels with her loyal cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in exile. Observations on life and love follow (including love, aging, the natural world, and death) friends are made, and families are reunited. By the play’s end Ganymede, once again Rosalind, marries her Orlando. Two other sets of lovers are also wed, one of them Celia and Orlando’s mean older brother Oliver . As Oliver becomes a gentler, kinder young man so the Duke conveniently changes his ways and turns to religion and so that the exiled Duke, father of Rosalind, can rule once again. â€Å"All the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts† As You Like It – (Act II, Scene VII). â€Å"Can one desire too much of a good thing? â€Å". As You Like It (Act IV, Scene I). â€Å"True is it that we have seen better days†. As You Like It – Act II, Scene VII). â€Å"For ever and a day†. As You Like It – (Act IV, Scene I). â€Å"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool†. (Act V, Scene I). The play is fictitious, but shakespeare is said to have taken the traits if rosalind from ‘Rosalynde’ by thomas lodge. One of Shakespeare’s early plays, As You Like It (1598-1599), is a stock romantic comedy that was familiar to Elizabethan audiences as an exemplar of â€Å"Christian† comedy. Although the play does include two offstage spiritual conversions, the â€Å"Christian† designation does not refer to religion itself. Instead, it denotes the restoration and regeneration of society through the affirmation of certain Christian values such as brotherly love, marital union, tolerance for different viewpoints, and optimism about life at large. The plot is very simple: the resolution of the dramatic problem in the warped attitudes of two evil brothers toward good brothers, and related obstacles to marriage for several couples in the play (most notably Rosalind and Orlando) are easily overcome, and a happy ending is never in doubt. On one level, the play was clearly intended by Shakespeare as a simple, diverting amusement; several scenes in As You Like It are essentially skits made up of songs and joking banter. But on a somewhat deeper level, the play provides opportunities for its main characters to discuss a host of subjects (love, aging, the natural world, and death) from their particular points of view. At its center, As You Like It presents us with the respective worldviews of Jaques, a chronically melancholy pessimist preoccupied with the negative aspects of life, and Rosalind, the play’s Christian heroine, who recognizes life’s difficulties but holds fast to a positive attitude that is kind, playful, and, above all, wise. In the end, the enjoyment that we receive from the play’s comedy is reinforced and validated by a humanistic Christian philosophy gently woven into the text by a benevolent Shakespeare. As You Like It – the Play. (2016, Sep 16). -like-it-the-play-essay We will write a custom sample essay on As You Like It – the Play specifically for you

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Blog Response and write your own blog Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Blog Response and write your own blog - Essay Example The advert correlates to the cultural notion that physical fitness, deep voice, and aggressive action are attributes of a man. Moreover, any man who lacks these qualities is shown as feminine. On the other hand, it is depicted that women in the society prefers men with maximum masculinity. This is because, based on their perception, such a man will be able to take care of women needs. This makes them admire men who have well developed figure. However, this post deserves criticism. This is because it depicts men who lacks such masculinities cannot have power, offer protection to women, and hence this is shown to be in contradiction to American culture. In reality, this is not true because being a real man is not based on outside appearance. The real man is defined by behaviour and instinct. Moreover, it is negatively depicting women as only attracted by physical well-being towards men. This is not true as women are also attracted by other attributes towards women. In fact, violent men are usually unable to sustain a formidable relationship. Part 2 The film ‘Dangerous Minds’ is a representation of what is covered with many Hollywood movies. The film depicts the worse state of education for prone kids who face the challenges of poverty, violence, crime, and violence in the inner cities of United States. The teacher also struggles to content with the students. Initially, the film depicts Whiteness as a true reflection of rationality. Moreover, the film shows Whiteness as a cultural standard in the changing society based on the racial composition. On the other hand, the other part of the film acts as an encouragement to challenged teenagers who had given up on schooling as an alternative to their wretched lives. In the film, the purpose of schooling is intermixed with the issue of racial difference within the area of urban public schools. Therefore, the film relies on race factor as an organizing concept to develop its narrative structure and pass throu gh the message. Moreover, both the Black and Hispanic teenagers lay a foundation for developing pedagogical classroom interaction. In this context, Whiteness as espoused by the teacher authority manages to overcome racially coded images of disorder, chaos, and fear. This is seen through the conflicts that exist between teacher and students in the first scenes of the film. This is a classical example of non- assimilation feelings between whites and non-whites. Moreover, the innocence of the teacher is highlighted in the first scene of the film. She leaves a middle-class culture in the white community to teach in uncontrollable environment. This is meant to provide white American with the notion that the disorder is a thing of other culture. The negative perception on the people of colour is further highlighted as she refers to them as â€Å"rejects from hell†. Therefore, the opening scenes serve to represent Black and Hispanic kids with the culture of violence and unruliness. On the other hand, Whiteness as depicted by LouAnne Johnson is under threat. This is because it is unsafe and under siege. Moreover, Whiteness is shown through the character of the teacher as the only option for teens to move beyond the setting and nature of their cultural identities. This occurs as it is contrasted with the stereotypical portrayal of intellectually challenged and decadent Black and Hispanic kids. Therefore, Whiteness is thus implied as a standard for

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Caf Survey Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Caf Survey - Statistics Project Example Among the respondents were sixty nine staff members and one hundred and fifty six students. Among the students, 15 are freshman, 25 are sophomore, 43 are Junior, 64 are Senior and 6 are Graduate Students. From the analysis above, we noted that the largest population of the college of technology is dominated by senior students. From the data obtained we can know the group of students and staff that uses the cafà © and this will help in deciding on amount of food staff to prepare and time. From the survey we found that seventy one of the two hundred and twenty five respondents currently use the Executive Express Cafà © in the College of Business. Among those who currently use the cafà © in the college of business, twenty two are staff members and forty nine are students. On how often do respondents who visit the cafà © in the school of business, 57 respondents do use the cafà © 1-2 times a week, 11 uses the cafà © 3-4 times a week and only three use it a week. This is represented below. On analysis of the purchases made by the respondents, 35 do purchase pizza, 10 purchase Chips, 14purchease Muffins/Bagels, 17 purchase Salad Sandwiches, 18 purchase Cookies/Treat Bars, 12 purchase Yogurt/Pudding, 16 purchase Fruit Cups, 42 purchase Coffee/Specialty Drink and 29 purchase Bottled Drinks/Soda. From this data the most purchased is Coffee/Specialty Drink. The table below shows a breakdown of these results. In conclusion we noted that about 32 percent of the college of technology faculty and staff do currently use the cafà © in the college of business. These results give us an approximate of 480 people from college of technology who currently use the cafà © in college of business. Concerning the data collected to determine how often people of college of technology do use the cafà © in the college of business, I do conclude that most people visit the cafà © twice a week. In detail it is 80 percent of those people who use the cafà © in college of business using it 1-2 times a

Monday, August 26, 2019

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Critical Thinking - Essay Example These mistakes manifest themselves in their reasoning, biases, prejudices distortions, vested interest and self-interest. In this context, the paper critically evaluates Mr Herman Good Eagle’s routine in an attempt to try and figure out the obstacles that significantly contribute to his lateness. Subsequently, critically thought solutions will also be put forward in order to enable Mr Herman manage his time efficiently. Sometimes, being late is a way of life for some people. They happen to think that they have more time in their hands than is really available. This kind of thinking is both detrimental to an individual. For example, due to poor time management Mr Herman risks losing his job. To figure out the factors contributing to Mr Herman not keeping time, his route map will be analysed systematically. Also, Mr Herman’s causes might be technical. This means that he is bad at estimating or approximating how long events/things take. As illustrated, the consequences of running late mostly run deeper than most people (Banai, 1988). People will tend not to trust an individual who is always chronically late. As such, the individual will have a negative reputation which consequently will affect relationships. A lot of factors contribute to making Mr Herman late. First, Mr Herman seems to be waking a little bit late than is expected.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Antitrust Practices and Market Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Antitrust Practices and Market Power - Essay Example By pairing the two together, every Windows user had a copy of the internet explorer which led to Microsoft’s victory in the market. It was clear that bundling them together had restricted the access for other browsers in the market that had to be bought. It is alleged that Microsoft used its monopoly power to favor the internet explorer over the other web browsers. In its defense, Microsoft said that merging its operating system and the Internet Explorer was as a result of fair competition and invention, and that would enable users to use the internet explorer for free. It was still clear whether the operating system and the Internet Explorer were two separate items or whether they were one piece. However, Microsoft maintained that it had made its operating system a bit more expensive, and thus it could not be said to be y free. The case focused on predatory strategies Microsoft had engaged in and a market barrier to entry as opposed to interoperability (Brinkley, 2000). The action by Microsoft to favor internet explorer over the rest of the browsers in the market violated the Sherman antitrust law section 1and 2 where Section one states that any contract that would cause restraint in trade among several states and thus the contract could be declared illegal. Section two, on the other hand, states that any company that will attempt to monopoli ze any part of trade shall be declared guilty of a felony punishable in a court of law (St.Olaf College, 2004). A monopoly is a company that has only one seller in the market who has absolute rights in a particular interest, and they are te only seller in the market thus have the right to fix the price. In most cases, the cost of entering into the market is very high thus causing a barrier to entry to new entrants. The monopoly fixes the price as consumers will still buy. There are monopolies owned by the government especially where the

Opening of a Health Spa Luxury Hotel in Greece Essay

Opening of a Health Spa Luxury Hotel in Greece - Essay Example The essay "Opening of a Health Spa Luxury Hotel in Greece" assesses the investment possibilities for the opening of a health spa luxury hotel in Greece and explore all areas governing the requisites for the successful setup and operation of the hotel. The discussion takes place from the point of view of a consultant in the hospitality sector.Greece a country that lies in the Southeast part of Europe is officially known as the ‘Hellenic Republic’ It is surrounded by Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey to the east and the former Yugoslav republic to the north. The city of Athens is the Capital of Greece. Having the Aegean and Ionian Seas to either side the seas feature a vast number of islands on the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. This scenic beach and comfortable geography of Greece makes it a natural location for tourists. Therefore provides perennial business to the hospitality industry. Greece inherits the civilizations of ancient Greece, the Roman and the Byzantine empires and fo ur centuries of Ottoman rule. This rich heritage has left its mark on the culture of Greece, which is considered to be the birthplace of democracy, philosophies, mathematic and scientific principles, including the western drama of tragedy and comedy. Greece is a fully developed country today, a member of the European Union since 1981, a member of the European Economic and Monetary Union since 2001. The travel and tourism contribution to the Gross Domestic product of Greece is expected to rise to â‚ ¬ 69.6 billion by the year 2018.... Greece Cities and Topography Thessaloniki, Patra, Heraklio, Volos, Ionnania and Larissa are some of the major cities in Greece apart from Athens the Capital city. Athens, Crete the South of the Aegan Sea and the Ionian Islands are some of the primary tourist destinations. Beach resort visitations are widespread among the other coastal areas of Crete, Corfu, Rhodes and Chalikidiki as they are developed and more accessible and attract large number of annual tourists. The hospitality industry and the health spa and luxury hotels are heavily dependent on the tourism to that country and Greece has been voted as the second best tourist destination in Europe in "The Telegraph" early this January. Greece - Business Environment- Tourism Looking at the tourism industry in Greece, The travel and tourism contribution to the Gross Domestic product of Greece is expected to rise from 37.3 billion in 2008 to 69.6 billion by the year 2018. The travel and Tourist economy contributes 963, 000 jobs, which 20.9% of the total employment in 2008 and is expected to rise to 1,349,000 by 2018.The Injection of 40 million into the industry by the tourism ministry of Greece is bearing fruit. Moreover, the progressive economy of Greece proves to be of high attraction for investment possibility. Below is a table that proves the uptrend in the economy which makes Greece a land of business opportunity. Year Real GDP growth rate (%) Unemployment rate (%) 2005 3.7 9.8 2006 4.3 9.3 2007 4.1 8.3 2008 4 7.4 Source: The Greek state budget for 2008 The growth in the GDP rates couples with the reduction in the Unemployment rates is the key to the successful functioning of any economy. Looking at tourism after the Olympic games

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Group and Teams Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Group and Teams Paper - Essay Example In this regard, the essay aims to proffer an explanation of the differences between a group and a team. Likewise, the importance of workplace diversity in an organization would be included and how it relates to team dynamics in the workplace and how it relates to team dynamics in the workplace. Differences Between Groups and Teams To distinguish between groups and teams, respective definitions are hereby noted. According to Martires and Fule (2004), a group is â€Å"a collection of people interacting with each other for fairly some time utilizing certain resources and methodologies to achieve common goals or interests† (p. 93). On the other hand, Clark (1997) defined a team as â€Å"a group of people coming together to collaborate. This collaboration is to reach a shared goal or task for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. A team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a common goal or completion of a task rath er than just a group for administrative convenience† (par. 3). ... 1). Thereby, the role and participation of leaders and members in goals setting and decision- making differentiates one from the other. Further, the significant role that collaboration plays in a team separates it from a group. Importance of Workplace Diversity Greenberg (2006) defines diversity in the workplace as â€Å"the variety of differences between people in an organization†¦Diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more† (par. 1). The importance of workplace diversity is seen from the benefits accorded to both the employees and the organization. The research of Greenberg stipulates that diversity has the capacity for â€Å"increased adaptability, broader service range, variety of viewpoints, and more effective execution,† (pars. 4 – 6) among others. By supporting a diverse workforce, organizations foster a more balanced working environment as differe nt ideas, perspectives, and suggestions for strategies, problem-solving, and decision-making are readily available. Relation of Diversity to Team Dynamics in the Workplace Discoveries from diverse research indicate that diversity supports teambuilding and cohesion, increasing the dynamic interrelationships among teams within the organization. A study conducted by Davis and Bryant (2008) indicates that diverse teams surpass the performance of homogeneous teams in various aspects. The authors averred that â€Å"diverse environments also yield more effective collaboration and teamwork than homogenous teams. There are a variety of ways to solve a problem; leveraging the input of a diverse staff population helps organizations arrive at better decisions. You can’t underestimate the value of the creativity

Friday, August 23, 2019

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS - Essay Example A key challenge to be faced by the governments all over the world is that of the reduction in the use of personal vehicles and consumption of fossil fuel. With more focus on conserving the energy and find out new and sustainable energy resources, consumers world over are pressing governments to actually come forward with more stringent restrictions on the use of vehicles and energy resources which are damaging the environment. (Hill, and Jones.2010) Considering the fact that consumers are becoming relatively savvier, it is clear that new social trends will continue to emerge which can reshape the way industry operates. The focus towards the environment protection and fuel efficiency are some of the clear social trends which will emerge to create challenges for the industry. (Hill, and Jones, 2010). Probably the strongest challenge to the industry will come from the technological and environmental challenges in the next decades to come as fast changing technology often drives out firms who are slow to adapt to these challenges. There is a clear shift towards building cars which use clean and renewable energy while at the same time are efficient and cost effective also. One of the key weaknesses in the electronic or hybrid cars is that of the high cost and low fuel efficiency. Future trends therefore may clearly indicate of scenarios where EVs or Hybrid Cars have to be built upon technology which can ensure mobility, cost effectiveness as well as fuel efficiency. Considering the above PESTLE factors, it is quite evident that there can be two extreme scenarios i.e. rapid technological changes and the mass adaptation of EV cars. If the technology rapidly changes and Better Places is not able to keep pace with the technological changes through its effective R&D, it is clear that the company may go out of the business. Since this industry is dominated by the technology and almost all progress in the industry has

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Martha Graham Essay Example for Free

Martha Graham Essay Throughout history, Modern Dance has been pioneered by inspirational choreographers such as Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham. Martha Graham in particular, revolutionised the dance industry with her numerous choreographed works. By experimenting with foreign movements and establishing the fundamental technique in Modern Dance, Martha Graham clearly expressed this dramatic dance style as a new form of life. Her style, created from raw emotion, challenges the technical barriers of traditional ballet and has evolved into today’s contemporary dance form. Born into a privileged life in 1894 near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Graham was inspired from her father being a specialised physician interested in the way the human body moves. In 1915, she studied dance with Ted Shawn and Ruth St Denis, the innovative teachers at Denishawn. She then moved to the Greenwhich Village Follies for two years to establish her lengthy career. Living in a time of misconceived ideas, Martha Graham used her dancing genius to represent the many issues in American society in an abstract form. Martha Graham’s technique is classically based but tweaks the usual symmetrical body alignment with sharp, precise and angular shapes. Graham’s moves communicate through the dancer, her emotion and stance on American social issues. These moves are expressed through; contraction, release, spirals, flexed hands and feet, rolls, flexion and suspension, clenched fists, fall and recover, curl and twist. Her stimulus for creating movements was breathing and the way she could emotionally express how she felt about life. The contraction starts from the pelvis and travels up the spine. This curvature in the upper body is developed from an exhalation of breath. The release brings the body back to a neutral position with an inhalation of breath. All of the dancers in her company have an extremely strong core and maintain flexibility even though strength is the dominating component. To train the dancers, Graham would often perform classes with just floor work to strengthen the technical elements (contract, release and spiral) as well as learning control. Here the discipline of dance was drilled before allowing the freedom of performing. Graham was quoted, â€Å"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. † Her experimental technique allowed her dramatic view on life to be performed through Modern Dance. One of Graham’s theatrical works Night Journey, displays her established technical elements of modern dance. Inspired by Sophocles’ Greek Tragedy, the dance begins with King Oedipus and his Queen Jacosta complementing each other in their arms. As the dynamics in the music develop, intruding onto the stage are six chorus members (Daughters of the Night) in a grieving state. Lunging forward in a contraction with their fists covering their eyes, they repeat this sequence around the stage recovering to a release in between each contraction. As the contraction is a Graham interpreted symbol of the human emotion grief, this has been consequently used multiple times throughout. Showing locomotion in unison as they clench their fists and flex their hands demonstrates this pleading state. These movements, contractions, releases, developpes, attitudes and shuffling of feet, depict the women as vulnerable to lustful desires. Graham was quoted, â€Å"The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body. † The expression of the upper body is sharp and angular with the reoccurring contraction and release. Non-locomotor movements are often in isolated poses of fear positioned around the males. At the time, women were often discriminated against not having the same power as men. Graham has used this theme to display the social inequality sending a message that men have been in control of women for centuries and that women need to break free. The males use dominating gestures throughout, with the blind-seer Tiresias, portraying power and purpose with the repetition of arabesque promenades and high levels. These foreign movements have expressed the themes in a dramatic way developed from her dance style. In this Greek themed performance, the women wore long black dresses with stripes down the side and crown-like head pieces. King Oedipus wears a simple black tunic revealing most of his body. Tiresias dresses in a black flowing coat, carries a wooden staff, and wears mask to show he is blind. Tiresias uses this wooden staff to indicate his wisdom and this symbolizes truth. The silk rope used to hang Queen Jacosta symbolises the connection to Oedipus from birth til death. The music is an extension to the dancers and enhances this performance dramatically. Wild, fierce and harsh would be a way to describe William Schumann’s dynamic instrumental score. The dancers reacted with the music emotionally as well as physically increasing the overall effect of the performance. This choreographic style has allowed modern dance to communicate life’s emotions through drama intertwining with physical movement and relationships. Martha Graham has created countless choreographic pieces that have revolutionised the traditional outlook on dance. The Martha Graham Company was established in 1926 and is still a leading company to date. She has pioneered the Modern Dance industry by creating the fundamental technique and applying it to her 181 choreographed performances. Martha Graham has created a dance style to express a new form of life which has changed the dance world forever.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Martins Luther King Jr. Strugle for Racial Segregation and Civil Rights Essay Example for Free

Martins Luther King Jr. Strugle for Racial Segregation and Civil Rights Essay Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important figures within the fields of politics and non-violent activism of the 20th century. King was born on 15th of January 1929 in the city of Atlanta within the boundaries of the state of Georgia. Originally Martin Luther King Jr. as named after his father as Michael King, although his father who was also named after Michael King after visiting the Nazi Germany in order to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin he found himself been inspired by a German reformer called Martin Luther, so he decided to change both his name and his son’s name into Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr. respectively. King was the middle child of the family having a younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams King and an older sister Willie Christine King. As a reference to his education he attended Booker T. Washington High school, also it is stated that he was a precocious student as he skipped two grades the ninth and the twelfth and entered Morehouse College at the early age of fifteen. He graduated College in 1948 and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester which he graduated with a B. Div. degree in 1951. Meanwhile in 1953 he married Correta Scott and eventually became a father of four children Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice King. Thereupon he became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery in 1954; he began his doctoral degree course in Systematic Theology at Boston University and graduated receiving his Ph. D. degree in 1955 with a dissertation on A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman. Although an academic observation which was held in 1991 concluded that parts of his dissertation were plagiarized but the committee decided that his degree shouldn’t be revoked. As a remark Martin Luther King Jr. was strongly influenced by religion (as it was natural, as been a Christian Minister since 1947) more specifically he was influenced by Jesus Christ and the Christian Gospels from which he frequently used quotes in his public speeches, he was also inspired from Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent activist action. In April of 1959 he made a desired for him as it was stated trip to India with the assistance of the American Friends Service Committee, it has to be mentioned that the trip affected King in a profound way and helped him deepen his knowledge and understanding in non-violent resistance and his commitment to the America’s struggle for civil rights, as he stated the last day of his trip to India in a local radio, King said: â€Å"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. The â€Å"Fight† Against Segregation It all started back in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudette Colvin an African- American girl which in fact was under aged unmarried pregnant girl refused to give up her seat to a white man. At that point King was a member of the Birmingham African-American community and also a member of the committee which looked into the case but it was decided that they should wait for a better case to pursue. Their patience yielded. On December 1, 1955 an other African-American girl called Rosa Sparks also refused to give up her seat, back on that date the buses rows were â€Å"separated†, white people should seat on the front rows and the African-American people should seat on the back rows of the busses seats, as natural at some point the two â€Å"different† categories of passengers would meet. At that point the bus’s seats were all occupied and according to Jim Crow laws the following African-American passengers that would board on the bus were required to stand. It was exactly what they were waiting for, and soon after Rosa was arrested the Montgomery Bus Boycott broke out, it lasted 385 days. The whole Boycott issue turned out as a huge victory, although during the campaign a bombing attack was made against King’s house and he was also arrested. As a result the United States District Court in Browder v. Gayle case ended the racial segregation in all Montgomery public busses. After the Montgomery Bus Boycott King’s contribution to the result transformed him into a national figure and he was also off the record declared the best-known spokesman of the civil-rights movement. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Soon after the Montgomery lowdown King, Ralph Abernathy, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created in order to saddle the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform, King led the SCLC until his death. In 1962 SCLC joins Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement which was stated to be the first major non-violent campaign of SCLC. The Albany movement was a desegregation movement which was formed by local activist organizations, the SNCC and the National Association for the Advanced of Colored People (NAACP). The movement’s leader was William G. Anderson. During the period of King’s involvement with the Albany movement he was arrested twice, once in a mass arrest on 15th December of 1961 and in July of 1962. Although it has to be mentioned that King had been criticized by SNCC, they’ve even given him a snide nickname â€Å"De Lawd†, because as they claimed he maintained a safe distance from challenges that had to deal with Jim Crow laws. Birmingham Campaign Soon after the incidents in Albany the Birmingham campaign came to light. Birmingham campaign was a movement organized by SCLC and led by Martin Luther King Jr. and others. In the spring of 1963 the operation of the Birmingham campaign was at its peak, including widely publicized controversies between black young people and white civic authorities and eventually led the municipal government to change the citys discrimination laws. A fact that can’t remain unnoticed as during the early 60s Birmingham was one of the most racially divided cities in the United States. Ultimately Birmingham movement was defined as a model of direct action protest, as it effectively shut down the city through a boycott and a series of sit-ins and marches, and drew the world’s attention to racial segregation in the South. Also it is stated that it paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Great March on Washington After the Birmingham campaign the SCLC called for massive protests in Washington DC to push for new civil rights legislation that would outlaw segregation nation-wide which turned to be an unparalleled success. The Great march on Washington claimed the title of one of the largest political rallies for human rights in the United State’s history, as the estimated number of participants varies from 200,000 to 300,000 and still remained non-violent, the 80% of the participants were estimated to be black and the rest were white and other non-black minorities. Also the city was swarmed by more than 2,000 buses, 21 special trains, 10 chartered aircrafts and uncountable personal vehicles. But the march was stigmatized by the King’s famous â€Å"I have a dream† speech. King began his speech with the emancipation of the slaves, issued by Abraham Lincoln and concludes that even though blacks were freed from slavery they still aren’t free. Then he raised the matter of the unkept promise of America to the Civil Rights Union for the continued pursuit of justice as racial segregation still existed. Finally he promotes black people to keep on fighting for their rights in non-violent ways as he believed that violence would lead to a cycle of fighting, unnecessary death and cruelty. The Poor People’s Campaign and the opposition to the Vietnam War In 1965 Martin Luther King Jr. egan to express his doubts about the Vietnam War in public. On 4th April 1967 he delivered a speech at the New York City Riverside Church titled â€Å"Beyond Vietnam: A time to break silence. † In which he expressed his objection to the role of the United States in the Vietnam War, mentioning that United States was in Vietnam â€Å"to occupy it as an American colony† and called the US government â€Å"the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. † He also connected the Vietnam War with economic injustice based on the fact that the US government was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs. He summed up this aspect by saying:† A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. Almost a year later in 1968 King organized the â€Å"Poor Peoples Campaign† in order to raise the matter of economic injustice; King crossed the whole country in order to assemble a multiracial army of poor people in order to march on Washington DC and engage in a non-violent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an economic bill of rights for poor Americans. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D. C. , demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. The reconnaissance King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in the U. S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty. In his acceptance remarks, King said, Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free. In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity. Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam in 1971. In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter, who stated: Martin Luther King, Jr. , was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet. More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King. King County, Washington rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007. The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King. King is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (feast day April 4) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (feast day January 15).

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Langston Hughes On The Harlem Renaissance English Literature Essay

Langston Hughes On The Harlem Renaissance English Literature Essay The Harlem Renaissance began in 1925 and ended in1935.The Harlem Renaissance was once referred to as the Negro Renaissance. It began in this time period because of the financial and educational problems throughout this period. The movement was centered in the ghetto of Harlem, in New York City. During this postwar ease many of the black writers tried to involve the younger generations. A fresh generation of writers emerged, although a few were born in Harlem and the movement was accelerated by grants and scholarships and supported by white writers. Langston Hughes was often labeled the Poet Laureate of Harlem, particularly because his poetry retained the rhythm, idiosyncrasy, and dialect of his culture a fact that often saw him slandered by those who viewed his honest expression as underscoring all the elements of black existence they feared and hated. Langston Hughes had an impact on black literature that cannot be overstated, from his simple, direct but brutally honest poetry and influence in forming the Harlem Renaissance to his career as a journalist of human rights. Hughes was very talented and versatile, and he was able to write in any genre with equal ease and skill. Hughes was an inspiration to other young black men, particularly the young writers because of his unique character. He also served as both an inspiration and a mentor for these younger writers. With his sweet poetic voice, nurturing generosity, abundant humor, and abiding love of his people, Langston Hughes was one of the most dominant voices in American literature for this time period, and perhaps the single most influential black poet ever. Hughes continued writing through the 1930s and the 1940s, speaking for the poor and the homeless black people who suffered during the Great Depression. He wrote of their daily lives in American cities, of their anger and th eir loves. Black people loved reading his works and hearing him read his poems at public presentations all over the country. To them he was Harlems Poem. When Hughes died in 1967, a jazz band played at his funeral. The Harlem Renaissance was a very influential time period of literary and creativity because of the many talented artists that contributed their hard work that went on to earn many different awards. Among these hardworking artists is a man named Countee Cullen who without knowing it had a major impact on this time period although his ideas usually differed with others. Countee Cullen and many of the other artists during the Harlem Renaissance differed because he thought of art as race-less and customary. While most others believed that race was not portrayed through their form of artistic expression, Cullens differences caused people to respect the fact that he chose not to express race through his poetry. Despite what Cullen admitted to Langston Hughes about wanting to be recognized as a poet, not a Negro poet, he spent most of his life proving that a black poet could surely singand sing in a black voice. In fact, five of the seven volumes of poetry that bear Cullens name have, in t heir very titles, a basis for racial themes that is borne out in the poetry itself. Yet, Cullens poetry reveals a man who was torn between allegiances to his blackness and his vocation as a race-less poet. Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the African American artistic movement in the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture. Hughess creative genius was influenced by his life in Harlem, New York. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. Hughes, like others active in the Harlem Renaissance, had a strong sense of racial pride. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and childrens books, he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality. In many ways Hughes always remained loyal to the principles he had laid down for the younger black writers in 1926. His art was firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling even as he cherished his freedom as an artist. He was both nationalist and international. As a radical democrat, he believed that art should be accessible to as many people as possible. Unlike other notable black poet s of the period-Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen-Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself. He was perhaps the most original of African American poets and, in the breadth and variety of his work, assuredly the most representative of African American writers. The Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of African-American arts, with middle and upper-class blacks as the dominant leaders. Poetry has never celebrated pride in African-American culture more than that period in the 20s. The reasons behind the outburst of artists, ways in which the written word was expressed, and the artists lasting effect on today show how much the Harlem Renaissance was one of the most brilliant artistic movements in history. His works conveyed life as he saw it. His collection of works called Color, printed in 1925, put the Harlem Renaissance to a new height because of its ability to show social realities. Cullen was awarded the Witter Bynner Undergraduate Poetry Prize from New York University. Cullen was criticized for being conventional, for using the British romantic poets as his models, and for insisting that poetry in general should be free of racial and political matters. The Harlem that Hughes loved and where he lived most of his life was an exciting place. This newly developed suburb of New York City was planned, laid out, and built almost too fast; the bottom dropped out of the real estate market in 1904-1905. Harlem had broad boulevards, beautiful town houses, and exclusive apartment buildings-but no residents. Desperate to rent to anyone, many developers began to open Harlem to blacks, and by 1914 Harlem was a black city. Its population almost exploded during the years of the First World War as blacks from the South moved north in search of better jobs and fuller citizenshipthe beginning of what came to be known as the Great Migration. Langston Hughes was often labeled the Poet Laureate of Harlem, particularly because his poetry retained the rhythm, idiosyncrasy, and dialect of his culture a fact that often saw him slandered by those who viewed his honest expression as underscoring all the elements of black existence they feared and hated. Â  Cu ltural developments do reflect American society as much as government policies or maybe more. Much of the literature, art, and music emerging during the first half of the twentieth century came from African Americans, but people of all races and cultures were involved. Films also reflected society a lot during this time. Â   The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that gave black people a cultural uniqueness though literature and art. Most of the literature focused on realistically portraying black life, life in the ghetto, and other black issues. Langston Hughes was one of the major black writers to emerge from this movement. Hughes was a great writer with much diversity in his types of writings. He wrote plays, novels, poems, essays, short stories, and much more. Most of his writings were of the realities of black life, racism, ghetto and slum life, no jobs for black man and much more.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Boston Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was a bright, sunny day at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, in Boston. Entering the park for this could-be historic game, the smell of freshly cut grass mingles in the air with the scent of â€Å"Fenway franks†, the parks signature foot-long hot dogs. The game pits the Boston ace, Pedro Martinez, against the one-time red Sox star, now New York Yankee star, Roger Clemens. The Red Sox fans boo as Roger begins to toss his warm-up pitches off to the side. He is getting older, but his fastball still has enough zip behind it to make a SNAP as it hits the catcher’s glove. Meanwhile, the Boston infield is taking ground balls, and the outfielders is shagging flies on the outfield grass, and left fielder Darren Lewis is practicing fielding fly-balls off of the Green Monster, the tall left field wall, with the manually operated scoreboard in it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pedro emerges from the dugout to thunderous applause from the Red Sox fans, a smattering of boos from the Yankee faithful that have made the trip from the big apple, and the familiar guitar from AC/DC’s â€Å"Thunderstruck† blaring from the PA system. Just before Pedro's last warm-up, the catcher yells â€Å"throwin’ it down!† to signify that this is the last warm-up pitch. Pedro winds up, and hurls the ball, right into the catchers waiting glove. The catcher then fires the ball to the 3rd baseman, who in turn twirls and tosses it to the 2nd baseman. He tosses it the 1st baseman, Brian Daubauch...

Michael Jordan: Beyond Personal Glory Essay -- Basketball Players Pape

Michael Jordan: Beyond Personal Glory Michael Jordan is the only athlete to have ever gained the middle name "Air" because of his unbelievable ability to soar through the sky before he smashes the ball through the rim. He has managed to defy all obstacles ever thrown his way within the sport of basketball, earning his reputation as the most competitive and determined player in the NBA. Over the span of Michael Jordan's 18 year long career in the NBA, he has enjoyed world wide attention and recognition as the ambassador of basketball. Jordan has influenced basketball players around the globe and, with his own shoes and clothing brand, along with his artistic way of handling himself on the court, has developed a style of his own within the sport. Michael Jordan can be considered the foremost leader of the enlightenment in the sport of basketball. I myself am the owner of two pairs of Jordan shoes, which I consider to be my favorite shoes, although I certainly realize that Jordan's merchandise is way too expensive and I along with the rest of the basketball fanatics am being suckered in to paying large sums of money for an image. Ever since I started my journey as a basketball player, Michael Jordan has been an idol and a role model for me to follow in my quest to reach my own goals as an athlete. I have devoured all the information about this man I could possibly attain and have been inspired by his life as a basketball player as well as a role model off the court. Many people characterize Michael Jordan as a typical athlete, who was successful within his sport, but because of his personal flaws and his self-destructive competitiveness never managed to exceed the level of other very competent and well known athle... ...el, Michael Jordan is a brand name." Nieman Reports, Vol. 53 Issue3, p41. Grimm, Mathiew. "Over Jordan." Brandweek, Vol. 40 Issue 6, p. 24. Hirsch, Phil. "Should his Airness be a Cultural Icon?" http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/Field/1307/newspaper.html. Lipsyte, Robert. Michael Jordan: A Life above the rim. New York, NY: Harper Collins,c1994. "Michael Jordan." American Decades CD-ROM. Gale Research, 1998. "Michael Jordan." Contemporary Black Biography, New York: Gale Group 1999. "Michael Jordan." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. New York: Gale Research,1998. "Jordan's Wife Juanita Files for Divorce." http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/0107/1307442.html. "Michael Jordan Foundation." http://www.delorisjordan.com/page/MJpage.html.Dec.1. "Michael Jordan." Notable Black American Men. New York: Gale Research, 1998.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay --

For an organisation to be at its best it requires the best. Traditionally, 'hard skills' e.g. ones education were the decisive factors in employment decisions while â€Å"softer aspects† e.g. their character or personality, were seen as irrelevant. Guion and Gottier (1965) concluded: " it is difficult to advocate, with a clear conscience, the use of personality measures in most situations as a basis for making employment decisions" (p. 106) with others concluding similarly (Schmitt, Gooding, Noe, & Kirsch, 1984; Hough, Eaton, Dunnette, Kamp & McCoy, 1990). Personality itself can be seen as stable, inner, personal dispositions that determine relatively consistent patterns of behaviour (including feelings and thoughts) across different situations (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2007). Therefore personality traits are what makes a person’s behaviour consistent and unique in certain situations. Research into management derailment, absenteeism and stress all point to personality as a mediating factor of job performance (Hogan, Hogan & Kaiser, 2010; Vlasveld et al , 2012) and thus is a necessary consideration all organisational dimensions. With the importance of personality established, the inventories of measuring these traits need to be of equal significance. It is now possible to assess personality in a way that is meaningful for the world of work and for employers and managers to use. The use of psychometric tests such as SHL's OPQ 32 are invaluable in helping predict potential or current employees organisational behaviours along with job performance (Mount et al, 2000; Judge et al 2002). This essay will evaluate the role of personality in the workplace and highlight its importance. I shall start by looking at the concept of personality before ... ... case that personality can have an important role in organisations. While the predictive power of personality measures are lower and applied more specifically than ability tests, the right tests in the right contexts, can help in prediction of future occupational success. Conscientiousness, one of the main fac ¬tors of personality, has general and positive effects on work-related criteria and with Neuroticism seems to be seemingly stable in the general outcome behaviours. While the validity and reliability of such results are often questioned, their importance lies in the extent to which results are used. Using results to help formulate hypotheses rather than making decisions allows for slightly lower validities. If such practices are followed at the very least it seems reasonable to conclude that indeed personality can predict a variety of organisational behaviours.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

The Hawksbill Turtle

The Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata Shane Stoughton GS 108 Oceanography Suzanne Bannan September 05, 2012 INTRODUCTION Sea turtles were making their appearance about 65 million years ago, also the time that dinosaurs were being wiped out. These magnificent creatures did not succumb to extinction like their dinosaur counterparts primarily because they were submerged beneath the ocean when the asteroids struck Earth. This is one of main reasons I chose the specific sea turtle The Hawksbill Turtle. The scientific name of The Hawksbill turtle is eretmochelys imbricata.This sea turtle gets its name from its hooked beak formed by its yellowish jaws. The Hawksbill Turtle is one of nature’s longest surviving creatures. This fact sparks the interest of many people into wanting to learn more about sea turtles. One unfortunate fact of life for this turtle is that they have always been creatures of high demand with their shells prized for their use in jewelry and beads and their b odies for meat. As with other sea turtles, one of the best ways to monitor the status of populations is to survey nesting beaches over many years.However, because hawksbills usually nest in small numbers and often on remote beaches, it is very difficult to estimate the population size. Like many sea turtles, hawksbills are a critically endangered species due mostly to human impact. Hawksbill eggs are still eaten around the world despite the turtle’s international protected status, and they are often killed for their flesh and their stunning shells. (NatGeo 2012) The decline of this species is primarily due to human exploitation for tortoiseshell. While the legal hawksbill shell trade ended when Japan agreed to stop importing shell in 1993, a significant illegal trade continues.Other threats include loss or degradation of nesting habitat from coastal development and beach armoring; disorientation of hatchlings by beachfront lighting; nest predation by native and non-native pre dators; degradation of foraging habitat; marine pollution and debris; watercraft strikes; and incidental take from commercial fishing operations. (FWS 2012) The most important thing that can be done for this species is to make the public aware of their actions that harm the turtles and how they can change their ways. One surprising threat to sea turtles is the balloons that people let go.These balloons often float over the ocean before popping, and sea turtles can choke on the pieces of the balloon that fall into the water. Floating balloons look like jellyfish to sea turtles. Where can we find the Hawksbill Turtle? When it comes to where sea turtles are found, it can vary from very shallow waters, to greater depths of the ocean. Hawksbills are found mainly in the tropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the western hemisphere, nests have been reported as far north as Massachusetts, with some being present in the Long Island Sound.However, between the Carolinas and Ne w Jersey, very few Hawksbill Turtles have been sighted, much less recorded. Hawksbill Turtles are also found around the Oceanic Islands, and the Indian Ocean. Hawksbills use different habitats at different stages of their life cycle. It is widely believed that posthatchling hawksbills are pelagic and take shelter in weedlines around convergence zones. Sargassum and floating debris such as styrofoam, tar balls, and plastic bits (all common components of weedlines) are consistently found in the stomachs of youngsters that strand in Texas.It is likely the weedlines in the Gulf of Mexico serve as a habitat for hawksbill that enter the US waters. (Turtles 2005) After the turtle spends some time growing concealed in the weedlines, these are known as pelagic zones, the creature re-emerges back out in the oceanic waters, (oceanic zone) mostly off coastlines when they reach 20-25 cm in length. This is after the turtle has matured quite a bit considering that the turtles average length throug hout the span of its life (30 to 50 years) and can usually reach 2-3 feet (roughly . to 1 meter) in length, which is not particularly large when compared to other species of sea turtles, and weighs anywhere from 100-200 (45-90 kg) pounds. So, long story short, they spend a considerable amount of time on in the weeds of coastlines before they re-enter deeper oceanic zones. Hawksbill turtles are most commonly found in coral reef habitats where sponges, a food source for hawksbills, grow on solid substrate. They also reside in shoals, lagoons of oceanic islands and on continental shelves. MarineBio 2012) In the Caribbean, as hawksbills grow they begin exclusively feeding on only a few types of sponges. However, in the Indo-Pacific, hawksbills continue eating a varied diet that includes sponges, other invertebrates, and algae. The ledges and caves of coral reefs provide shelter for resting hawksbills both during the day and at night. Hawksbills are known to inhabit the same resting spot night after night. Hawksbills are also found around rocky outcrops and high energy shoals, which are also optimum sites for sponge growth.They are also known to inhabit mangrove-fringed bays and estuaries, particularly along the eastern shore of continents where coral reefs are absent. The main threats that are associated with this turtle’s habitat are: habitat loss of coral reef communities, harvest of their eggs and meat aka commercial exploitation, increased commercial as well as recreational use of their prime nesting beaches, and accidental capture in commercial fishing nets. Reproduction, nesting, and migrationMales can be distinguished from females by their longer, thicker tail that extends well beyond the posterior part of the carapace. Mating often occurs at the surface in shallow waters near nesting beaches. Males will use their long heavy claws and tail to hold onto the females carapace. Copulation may last for several hours. (allthesea 2012) After the turtles hav e mated, the female turtles go into a nesting period, at night during the months between May and October the turtles will find a secluded small island somewhere to select a place to lay her eggs.They make sure that when choosing a site in which to lay their eggs that it is some distance away from the high tide line and more often than not choose a site underneath the brush on the island. They then begin to dig a pit about the size of their body with their fore and hind flippers creating a chamber for the eggs. After the turtle has laid all of her eggs, she will then refill the pit with sand covering the newly laid eggs and promptly return back into the ocean.Hawksbills only nest every two to three years but can lay up to six clutches of eggs within one breeding season, which on average lasts anywhere between 14-21 day increments. Females who re-nest often return to the same island where they originally laid their eggs, and it can also be within a few meters of the last nest. Most cl utches average about 130 eggs, but they range anywhere from a few to as many as 230 eggs! The Hawksbill Turtle migrates up to 2400 km between foraging areas and nesting beaches (Miller et al. 1998).The recovery of flipper tags suggests that Hawksbill Turtles are highly migratory, as animals that were tagged in the northern Great Barrier Reef have been recaptured in foraging areas in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, south-eastern Indonesia and southern Papua New Guinea (Limpus in press, as cited in DEWHA 2008). Individual turtles foraging in the same area do not necessarily take the same migration route (Limpus 1992). Nesting populations in eastern Queensland migrate from the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu (Miller et al. 1998; Parmenter 1983).Captures of tagged turtles have also shown that individual Hawksbills also move between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (Vaughan & Spring 1980). Satellite tracking has shown that Hawksbill Turtles nesting on Varanus Island and Rosemary Island in Western Australia feed between 50 km and 450 km from their nesting beaches (Pendoley 2005). (environment 2012) Works Cited http://www. fws. gov/northflorida/SeaTurtles/Turtle%20Factsheets/Hawksbill-Sea-Turtle. htm â€Å"The Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys Imbricata). † The Hawksbill Turtle. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. . Hawksbill Sea Turtle. † National Geographic. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. . â€Å"Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Eretmochelys Imbricata. † At MarineBio. org. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. . â€Å"Hawksbill Sea Turtle. † : Size, Color, Distribution, Feeding. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. . â€Å"Biodiversity. † Eretmochelys Imbricata a Hawksbill Turtle. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. .

Friday, August 16, 2019

Is College Worth The Cost Essay

Is College Worth the Cost? Many people argue that college is not worth the cost. Some individuals say that college is too expensive and when they graduate they are not able to find a job with their degrees. People also say that college is not worth the amount of money they have to pay back in loans after they graduate. Those are all points stated in Rodney K. Smith’s essay â€Å"Yes, A College Education is Worth the Costs,† as he argues his point on why going to college and receiving a degree in an occupation of any sort. To others, a college education is worth the costs of the loans because pursuing a higher education will greater your chances of getting a better job, the college experience will teach you responsibility, also the rewarding opportunity you experience. Pursuing a higher education by attending college can greater your chances of getting a better job. When people go for a job interview, the interviewer is looking for someone with a college education. Yes, the person being interviewed may still get the job if they do not have a college education, but the person with the most education nine times out of ten will be the one chosen for the job. When someone has a higher education listed on their resumes it also qualifies them for a higher salary. Take working at a fast food restaurant for example. There are, crew members who earn minimum wage with nothing higher than a high school education, and then there are the store managers, general managers, district managers, etc. These are the people who have a college education and they earn anywhere from about ten dollars an hour and up. College has its perks even though the cost of it may deter people away, one has to be determined. Although college helps people solidify their future with a stable income, it will also teach individuals how to be responsible. One thing about college, if a person does not learn anything else he/she will learn how to be  responsible and prioritize their time, if they want to be successful. It is okay to want to go out and spend time with friends, but college is not like high school, were the teacher hands everything to the student and holds the students hand. In college, students are expected to be responsible and to keep up with their work/due dates of assignments. If one feels as though they are not responsible enough to be on their own and go off to college, then yes of course college would not be worth the cost. They would be wasting money especially if they are receiving financial aid, that money could go to some other student whom is more dedicate to being responsible and getting their work done. Although, there is an alternative to someone who wants to go to college and ge t an education but does not want to pay the high costs that big colleges and universities charge, community college. Many people have their own opinion towards whether college may or may not be worth the costs. The chance of an individual getting a great job with a pay raise that is more than minimum wage definitely makes college worth it. Even if you do not want to go to a big college or university where it cost a lot of money to attend you have the option of going to a community college. The responsibilities college teaches individuals will pay off in the end when a person enters the real world. The opportunity and the experience that a person gets out of going off to college is more than rewarding. There are many different options that students have if they do plan to get a college education but feel as though college might be a bit expensive. Works Cited Smith, Rodney K. â€Å"Yes, College is Worth the Cost.† Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Pratical Argument. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2014. 29-31.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Japan Staffing Approach

What is the crime rate of the country you have chosen? Use outside references. In past classes the crime rate question doesnt get enough attention, so spend some time on this. How does your country's crime stats compare to the U. S.? According to the travel. state. gov Japan has low rate of crime.Security issue in Japan, Crime levels are low. It is generally safe to walk about at night and to travel on public transport, but you should maintain the same level of vigilance as you would at home and take sensible precautions. Safety scale of Japan is 80. 98 (Numbeo, 2013). Japanese government authorities cannot rule out the threat of terrorism in Japan. As a counter-terrorism precaution, the Japanese government has, since July 2005, implemented heightened security measures at key facilities including on public transport and at ports of entry. Recent changes inJapan's security policies have been interpreted by the media as representing a scrapping of the countrys pacifist restrictions, le ading it toward becoming a â€Å"normal† nation and acquiring a more assertive military. These changes include permitting the right to exercise collective self-defense, creating a National Security Council, relaxing a ban on exporting defense-related equipment and procuring new military assets. The changes are significant, but they do not represent a fundamental shift. Instead, they represent a pragmatic evolution in response to Japan's increasingly dangerous eighborhood.If possible, avoid carrying credit cards or large amounts of cash to parties, bars, clubs or entertainment districts. Do not leave your drink unattended. Think about your personal safety, take appropriate precautions and refer to our intormation tor travellers partying overseas tor turtner advice. Sporadic incidents ot bag snatching and pickpocketing of foreigners in crowded shopping areas, on trains and at airports have occurred. Credit card and ATM fraud can occur in Japan. If you are suspicious of any item s that are stuck to ATMs or look unusual, do not use the machine. Exercise normal safety precautions and take care with your valuables.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

How far is Odysseus’s status Essay

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a Greek hero. However this can be contradicted. In many events Odysseus can be perceived as un-heroic at times. Therefore the above statement can be argued. Throughout this piece of work I will be discussing this statement and I will gradually draw closer to a conclusion. Odysseus shows leadership as he produces very clever ideas and performs quick-thinking actions. Throughout the narrative he has planned strategies, for example, every time Odysseus and his men reach an island he always sends his men first to investigate the surroundings. This quality can be seen as cunning and therefore he can be seen as a hero. His personality can be seen as caring and scheming. In many periods of the book this can be proved. He stays calm in situations and when his men die he thinks of them, and when in trouble he does his best to help them says quote, â€Å"we travelled with heavy hearts, grieving for the loss of our dear friends†¦.. † (Book 10 Line 133) Odysseus can be seen as resourceful, for example, he tool the undiluted wine with him when going into the Cyclops’s cave, which then later came into use as it saved his men and himself escape to safety. He is seen as shrewd as he uses a false name when speaking with the Cyclops which again later on takes its effect when the men are absconding from the dangers of the Cyclops. Even though Odysseus can be seen as a hero, in some cases he cannot be depicted as cunning. For example, he decided to ignore his crew’s suggestion to escape with the food in the Cyclops’s cave. Even though he was right to do the hospitable and respectable thing to do, by staying in the cave to greet their ‘host’, he made the wrong decision as the by staying he risked the lives of his men. Odysseus can be thought of as violent as he blinded Polyphemus with a stake. This could be looked at as un-heroic and wrong, but it can also be seen as him being vengeful for his killed crew. Therefore these different situations can be looked at from two perspectives. He could be seen as hospitable and vengeful, which are true qualities of a hero, or he can be looked at as a violent person who has bad judgement. It all depends on the reader’s standpoint. Odysseus has a very strong relationship with the Gods, especially with Athenes and Hermes. For example Hermes helped Odysseus by giving him the moly flower. This can be looked at from two angles. Odysseus might seem not so heroic as he needs help from the powers that be, and he might be seen as dependent on the Gods. But this can be argued as only some people would think that only a hero can receive such gifts from the gods and that there has to be something special about him, and also Athene was known for helping heroes which could prove that he was one. Therefore, again, this line of reasoning could be argued. Odysseus and his men have lack trust and confidence in their relationships. This reflects badly upon Odysseus as it shows he is not leadership material. For example When Odysseus and his men sailed away from the Island of Aelia, Odysseus had received the gift of the winds. His crew did not trust Odysseus and opened the bag, thinking it was gold, and released the winds. This shows a lack of trust. Another example that shows a requirement of confidence in their relationship is when one of Odysseus’s men, Eurylochus, says â€Å"You will never come back yourself and won’t rescue a single man of your crew. I am certain of it. Let you get away quickly with those that are left here. â€Å"(Book 10 Line 268). This shows that his men think that their destiny with Odysseus will lead to death. They feel as if his leadership is endangering them which shows that they do not think of him as a hero and influences the reader to think the same, even though Odysseus tries his best and up most to rescue his men In my opinion, I think that Odysseus is a heroic figure. This is because in the book he is proved to be cunning, caring and an important figure. There are many events in the book that contradict this, but they can be argued to whether Odysseus was really in the wrong. For example, he wanted to stay in Polyphemus’s cave because he wanted to be hospitable (which is the right thing to do), and he was not aware of the dangers that were at hand. He can be seen as violent, but revenge was his only motivation, when he blinded the Cyclops. Therefore, I think that Odysseus can be categorised under ‘hero’, and I think that Odysseus’s status throughout the Odyssey all depends on how the reader interprets the events that take place as they always have two aspects to look at.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Tension between Idealism and Naturalism Assignment

Tension between Idealism and Naturalism - Assignment Example Naturalism involves the observation of science and relevant impact of it to the society. Naturalism is an ideology that everything in the universe is a product of physical stuff or nature. It shows that there is nothing supernatural in the world, and everything could be explained using application of hard and soft sciences. It is a method of truth-seeking within the society and has an impact on the public policy. It doesn’t mean the denial of human spirituality but an embrace of real spirituality. Naturalism clashes with idealism in the sense that, it suggests humans are like stardust and their atoms exchanged with the rest of the Earth system. It connects humans to nature and shows the sense of its feeling to the universe. The greatest Greek artist Praxiteles used the idealism to explain the charm of his work to the society by representing the god Hermes holding the young Dionysus on his arm playing with him. The idea shows the Greek art expansion within a short period. In Praxiteles works, there are no traces of rigidity but depicts that god stands before us in a relaxed pose that does not impair his dignity. Praxiteles shows the society the hinges of the body to improve the understanding and clarity of his work. He wants to bring to bring to reality in his idealistic styles the impression of a living body in all its grace and beauty. It is important to understand that Praxiteles and other Greek artists achieved the Hermes beauty through knowledge. Hence a quote â€Å"no living body quite as symmetrical, well-built and beautiful as those of the Greek status†.

Have alook at the ttachments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Have alook at the ttachments - Essay Example Nonetheless, SMEs are defined differently from one country to another. However, most of the time, these are defined in accordance with the number of employees a business has, the turnover, and the economic scale of the business. Furthermore, electronic business (e-business or e-commerce) is defined as any type of businesses that serve or sell using the digital medium or with Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Moreover, an e-business can have three main classifications, and these are the consumer-to-consumer (C2C), the business-to-business (B2B), and the business-to-consumer (B2C) (MacGregor & Vrazalic, 2007; Khosrow-pour, 2006). In line with the globalisation, many governments suggest that SMEs incorporate e-business in order to promote advantageous economic activities (Taylor & Murphy, 2004). On the other hand, prior to integrating a business or a company with ICT, it is necessary to look over the e-economy of a country or a market. E-economy is defined by Booz, Allen, and Hamilton (2002 cited in Oliver & Sanders, 2004, p. 120) as â€Å"the dynamic system of interactions between a nation’s citizens, business, and government that capitalize upon online technology to achieve a social or economic good.† In order to guarantee readiness in the e-economy, e-readiness is being created with the following indicators: network access, network society, network economy, and network policy (Nejadirani, Behravesh, & Rasouli, 2011). Access and Usage of the ICT or Network In assessing the network, questions, such as the accessibility, the cost, and the quality of the ICT must be answered. Also, the equipment, network, and services within a given economy or market must also be determined (Nejadirani, Behravesh, & Rasouli, 2011). Furthermore, SMEs are considered as a vital part for the UK economy because almost 99% of the business enterprises in UK are SMEs with almost 60% are employed in this economy. In relation to access and usage of the network, th e most commonly used technology is the website of the company, electronic mail, and the Internet. Most of the SMEs, which had employed 10 or more staffs, had already set-up their own intranet. Also, most of these businesses had used wireless technology and electronic data interchange, which depend on the capacity and size of the SME. Furthermore, in the process of automated record-keeping of sales and orders, most of the SMEs use ICT accounting and finance activities. Moreover, the automation of business designs, enterprise resources planning, human resource management tasks, and the production control was also used by SMEs. The shift to the usage of ICT of SMEs has been due to the efficiency that the automation results to, the highly technologised competition in the market, and in order to enhance customer service and employee satisfaction (Dyerson, Harindranath, & Barnes, 2008a). Furthermore, in relation to skills needed in the usage or integration of ICT to SMEs, technical skills are not enough. The ICT department or staff must also have excellent communication skills and customer service skills. Also, the ICT staff must be capable of transferring theories into knowledge that can be sued in practice (Lowry & Turner, 2007). Network in the Society In this aspect, a

Monday, August 12, 2019

Ndividual Written Analysis of the Case Enterprise-Rent-A-Car Study

Ndividual Written Analysis of the Enterprise-Rent-A-Car - Case Study Example Enterprise also started developing its relationship with top insurance companies which helped in expanding its business. Moreover, in the year 1980, Jack stepped out from the top post and promoted his son Andy as the president of Enterprise which led to a frequent growth of revenue in the company. In the year 2010, Enterprise became the seventh largest private company in the United States with annual revenue more than 12 million US Dollars. The main reason for success of Enterprise was that the company stressed on providing the best customer service and which created the brand value for the company. Moreover, the company trained its managers in such a way that determined and reduced the demotivating aspects i.e. absence of feedback, misinterpreting the significance of a given task and lack of concern for inefficient performance. In addition, the company divided its market into two segments that involved the local market and the airport market which accounted for revenue of 20 million US Dollars and contributed to the success of the Enterprise (Busse and Swinkels 1-15). Thesis Statement. The study intends identify the key assets, competitive advantages along with activities of Enterprise. Besides, the key challenges as well as opportunities linked to the firm’s business model and practices will also be ascertained and subsequent recommendations will be provided. Enterprise had expended more than 10 million US Dollars to research on the satisfaction of the customers and their valuable experience. It has been revealed that Enterprise focused on the three main aspects which included the approach and effectiveness of the employees, the transaction speed and the hygiene factor of the car. Thus, if these three aspects were attained successfully than the customers’ would be satisfied. It was observed that over 70% customers were essentially satisfied and developed the intention of using the services of Enterprise again. Enterprise also used Enterprise Service

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Racial profiling Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Racial profiling - Coursework Example Indeed, it has been increasingly common in light of the perceived threats to the population by Islamic terrorists. Thus, in airplanes, Islamic-looking individuals are subjected to inspections and interviews of an intensity that white people are not normally subjected to. The increasing numbers of crime, and the associations by people that these crimes emanate from race-based communities such as Hispanic communities, are also responsible for the growing trend towards racial profiling. While racial profiling is never really legislated as a policy in its explicit sense, the ever-widening range of methods that a law enforcement officer are allowed to employ allow the use of racial profiling as a legitimate strategy. We now proceed to discussing the costs against the benefits of racial profiling. Those who support racial profiling believe that a utilitarian approach must be taken. The argument is that because it is true that there are crimes which certain racial groups are more predisposed to committing than other racial groups, â€Å"special efforts at crime reduction directed at members of such groups are justified, if not required.† (Risse and Zeckhauser, 2004). This basically means that law and order is a more important consideration than improving racial relations or fighting racial inequality. Because crime has such pernicious effects on society, so the argument goes, the order of the day is to end it. In contrast, those who are opposed to racial profiling dispute the position that some races have a greater tendency to commit some crimes than others. Indeed, in a study conducted, the officers’ behaviour of racial profiling is not supported by any showing that the criminal acts in the predominantly white community were committed by African Americans (Meehan and Ponder, 2002). Of course, the deeper objection to racial

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Information Processing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information Processing - Essay Example The way human brain processes information about the outer world depends on different factors and, above all, upon the context. For instance, if a person looks at some complicated picture, e.g. a portrait, it is enough to cast one glance at what is depicted on it, whereas comprehending the same picture would hardly be possible if this person begins analysing different parts of this portrait separately, one by one. This peculiarity of information processing is due to the fact that the brain operates the sensory signals that are perceived together, not separately. (Schweizer 1998, p. 89) The visual signals normally reach our eyes simultaneously and therefore in case with visual images the processing of information begins from the retina. The sounds that constitute speech reach the hearing organs successively, and that is why for processing a sound image it should first be stored in short-term memory. For the identification of the already known images, the brain compares the information recorded in the short-time memory with the classes of images contained in the long-term memory that contain the information about the previous experience that has been collected in the process of studying and communicating. One of the challenging aspects of processing information is perception of stimulus in the situations where there are a lot of similar symbols - e.g. when someone is talking to another person in a noisy room. In such situations, though the stream of sounds produced by the interlocutor is accompanied by other sounds, it is normally possible to comprehend the speech. Quite a simple example where the context of information creates the context is the illusions of sound continuation or phonetic restoration. A brilliant example of this phenomenon was described by Richard Warren: if you hear some phrase whose meaning you cannot catch, but you definitely hear its ending - '... eel is on the' Now, if you put the word 'orange' at the end of this phrase, you will hear 'peel is on the orange'; if the word is 'wagon', the phrase will sound as 'wheel is on the wagon'; if it is 'shoe' you will perceive the phrase as 'heel is on the shoe'. (Warren 1970) This experiment shows that the sound stimulus in itself (noise + 'eel') fails to determine unambiguously what will be heard by the recipient. Attention Attention is the process of sorting the information that comes from outside in accordance with the importance of the tasks a person has. There are several kinds of attention: active (voluntary) attention that is conditioned by a certain conscious goal, and automatic (involuntary) attention that is actualized under the influence of unexpected and new stimuli in the form of orientating reflex. (Lachman & Lachman 1979, pp. 183 - 185) The effectiveness of attention can be determined by its level (concentration and intensity of attention), volume, speed of switching to other objects, and stability. It has been proved that the attention processes are connected with functioning of the corpus collosum, the left part of the brain ensuring selective attention and the right part - maintaining the general level of awareness. Memory Memory is a very important phenomenon that is crucial for our lives. Thanks to it, we are able to use our own experience and the experience of other people in our lives. There is short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory is also called operative memory. To illustrate the