As She Grows – Creative Writing

â€Å"And it's another thing to have that one person not love you back, not the way you want them to. † (Cowan 106). As She Grows by Lesley Anne Cowan tells us the story of a teenaged girl, Snow, who grew up with no mother or father. The person that acted as her â€Å"parent† was her grandmother, a drunkard. Growing up with no love at home, she leaves for a group home. It is there she makes her life changing decision. To keep her child and to give her a home showered with love and happiness. Throughout this book, the author shows Snow's journey, separation when she leaves her grandmother, initiation when she gets pregnant and decides to keep the child, and return, when she decides to return to her former life in order to raise Betty. In As She Grows, Snow struggles to show her daughter the love that she had never experienced, so that her child might have the life she never had, filled with love and care, demonstrating the power of love to transform lives. The most significant reason for this was the lack of family love for Snow. Snow grows up with her grandmother, an alcoholic. Her mother drowned and her father is unknown. She grows up used to feeling needed by her grandmother, but she is tired of following her grandmother's crazy antics. She finally decides to leave her grandmother and moves into a group home. â€Å"I wait to feel something, anything other than this blankness inside. † (Cowan 277). Snow leaves her grandmother, hoping for a better future, away from her grandmother. When she first arrives at the group home, she finds some bad in each person, giving her a reason for her to hate them at first sight. Yet soon, she discovers that she was wrong and finds qualities in them for her to appreciate. Her â€Å"parents† are now composed of a group of people called â€Å"Staff†. The way Staff acts like a parental figure makes Snow feel a deficiency of love, even away from her grandmother. â€Å"At some point, I saw them differently and I actually wanted to belong. † (Cowan 207). Even though she did not like the group home or the people living there at first, she learns that they were good friends to her when she needed them to be there for her. Another reason for her change is that Snow slowly learns to put trust in her friends. When Snow finds out that she is pregnant, she tries to accept the truth by herself. Yet, she soon finds out that this is too much for her to carry by herself, so she tells this secret to one person. Each person living in a group home is assigned to a counselor. To Snow, going to a counselor is her price to stay in a group home. Her counselor, Eric, slowly persuades her to tell him about her reasons of leaving her grandmother. Soon, she breaks down and tells him why she left and even about her pregnancy. â€Å"Some words spill out of me and other are forced through my throat. † (Cowan 178). At thins point, Snow tells Eric that she is tired, that she does not want to plan her next step in life. She tells him, â€Å"I have no fight left in me. † (Cowan 179). After her friend Jasmyn's persuasion, she tells the group home and Staff that she is pregnant. Soon, Snow learns that sometimes outsiders that are not related to you in any way can become the closest people in the world, the ones you can rely on most. To Snow, going to this group home was her life-changing decision that altered her future for the better. The final reason for this change is to show the maternal love she never received in her childhood to her baby daughter, Betty. Snow struggles to understand the meaning of maternal love. In the very last line of the book, â€Å"If I rise in you, bury me. † (Cowan 289). She tells her daughter that if Snow's life is going to be seen in Betty, she must somehow break away from it. A couple weeks after Betty's birth, she tells her daughter, â€Å"People are afraid I won't know how to love you. (Cowan 225). Snow believes that she will find that courage and bravery in her that is needed to take care of her. Snow is a perfect portrayal of a victim of a society. Society thinks that all teenaged mothers will not know how to love their children. â€Å"Moments when I think, I can actually do this. † (Cowan 126). Snow sometimes has doubts about her ability to raise her daughter, but she also has times where she knows that she can raise her daughter, and not allow her to relive her own life's journey. Yet Snow is not so confident for the majority of the time. â€Å"Look away from her piercing eyes and whisper, ‘I'm sorry', into her soft skin. † (Cowan 277). Snow worries that her daughter's present and future. In the present, Snow is afraid she will not know how and when to love her. In the future, Snow is afraid about what life her daughter will choose to take. She wants the best life possible for Betty, and Snow thinks the life she had was the worst life imaginable, a kind of life she doesn't want Betty to have. In the last two lines of As She Grows, â€Å"If I rise, bury me. If I rise in you, bury me. † (Cowan 289). Snow's difficulties in raising Betty are shown. Her lack of parental love in her childhood has caused Snow to learn maternal love for her child, because she does not want Betty following in her old steps. Even near death, Snow still wants the best for her daughter. She loves her and says that if her bad characteristics or her life ever appear to surface in Betty's life, she is to bury all of this.

Psychological Testing Essay

Psychological testing refers to as a field which is characterized by the use of samples of behavior in to the way of generalizations of every given individual. In psychological testing, however, it is usually not possible to control all the extraneous variables, but the metaphor here is a useful one that forces us on the standardized procedures, on the eliminations of conflicting causes on experimental control and on the generation of hypotheses that can be further investigated. Thus, psychological testing a narrower concept referring to the psychometric aspects of a test. The actual administration and scoring of the test and the interpretation made of the scores. Tests Test is define as an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior. objectivity is at least a theoretically, most aspects of a test such as how the test is scored and how the score is interpreted, are not a function of the subjective decision of a particular examiner but are based on objective criteria. Standardization: that is, no matter who administers scores and interprets the test, there is uniformity of procedure and a sample behavior. A test is not a psychological X-ray, nor does it necessarily reveal hidden conflicts and for-bidden wishes; it is a sample of a person’s behavior, hopefully a representative sample from which we can draw some inferences and hypotheses. Tests are used for a wide variety of purposes that can be subsumed under more general categories. These categories include classification, self-understanding, program evaluation and scientific inquiry. (Kline, 2000). Major Categories of Tests Classification  Classification involves a decision that a particular person belongs in a certain category, For example, based on test results we may assign a diagnosis to a patient, place a student in the introductory Spanish course rather than the intermediate or advanced course, or certify that a person has met the minimal qualifications to practice medicine. Self-understanding Self-understanding involves using test information as a source of information about oneself. Such information may already be available to the individuals, but not in a formal way. For example, a student studying electrical engineering her high GRE scores confirm what she already knows, that she has the potential abilities required for graduate work. Program evaluation Program evaluation involves the use of tests to assess the effectiveness of a particular program or course of action. You have probably seen in the newspaper, tables indicating the average achievement test scores for various schools in your geographical area, with the scores often taken, perhaps incorrectly as evidence of the competency level of a particular school. Program offered by a mental health clinic, or the effectiveness of a new medication. Scientific inquiry If you glance through most professional journals in the social and behavioral sciences, you will find that a large majority of studies use psychological tests to operationally define relevant variables and to translate hypotheses into numerical statements that can be assessed statistically. (Kline, 2000). Major Users and Uses of these Tests  Tests are tools usually used by professionals to make what may possibly be some serious decisions about a client: thus both test and the decision process involves a variety of ethical considerations to make sure that the decisions made are in the best interest of all concerned and that the process is carried out in a professional manner. There are serious concerns on the part of both psychologists and lay people, a about the nature of psychological testing and its potential misuse, as well as demands for increased use of tests. Kline, 2000). Concepts of Reliability and Validity The word reliability refers to the extent that a measure is relatively free or random error and is consistent in the numbers assigned to objects or events while validity refers to whether the number obtained truly reflects what the user intended to measure. Therefore, validity requires reliability because validity is not a property of the measure, but instead it is to the truthfulness of the inferences that are drawn from the measure. However, a concept of reliability usually gives the accuracy of a measurement, while the concepts of validity it relates to the truthfulness of a measurement. The concepts of reliability and validity can be explain as when estimating parameters from some data with statistical methods, it is important to understand the uncertainty of parameters. The uncertainty comes from two sources: sampling and measuring the study units. Often the data is a (random) sample from a population. (Hoshmand, 1994). The first error then comes from collecting the data and generalizing the results to a population level. Another source of error is present when measuring the study units when assessing the quality of the collected and measured data set, we end up with questions: Are we measuring the right thing? How accurate our measurements are? The former question leads us to the concept of validity which is the most important property of measurement. The latter question is related to the concept of reliability. The concept of reliability and validity has a major impact in the field of psychological testing. this is because that since generalizability theory is for investigating and designing the reliable observations, thus, each has test score, a single true score, single reliability and validity coefficient and belong to one family of parallel observations, but the generalizability theory which serves both may produce error which is due to multiple scores. (Rush, First, & Blacker, 2008).

Britains Role in the War Against Germany 1939-45

The role of the British in the war with Germany 1939 - 45 UK played a very important role during the Second World War. It is the longest ally in warfare and can make many contributions to ensure Hitler's fall. The influence of England began on September 3 when Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war against Germany. Why is this so special? This is because he made Hitler the enemy of the West. In fact, Hitler was surprised by the change in the incident and was looking forward to avoid the conflict in the UK. Introduction World War II began when the German army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. On the night of September 3, 1939 two days later, both the UK and France entered a war with Germany. Because they failed in the First World War and created restrictions, Germany has the smallest naval power among the great powers. These limitations of the 1922 Washington Treaty restricted the German Navy's limit on the number of its fleets, tonnage and mortality. - History of Bismarck Bismarck's history began in the spring of 1941. It started a Rheinà ¼bung strategy with two ships and Scharnhorst and Gneisenau returned from Berlin operations. It was thought that Bismarck was sent with the sister ship Tillpitz, but decided not to shorten the training. They will also be sent with Shane Horst and Grenau, but they are not used for the British air strikes. So they sent it along with heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Germany invaded Poland in 1939, eventually leading to the declaration of war between Germany and the UK. However, the Allies adopted a defensive position rather than initiating a massive attack. This is known as the British Phonie War or the French Dora Des degal - an interesting war. It did not prevent the German army from conquering Poland in its innovative electric blast fight within a few weeks. It also helped the Soviet Union to attack Poland. When Germany began attacking the west, the fight of France began in May 1940, and the tactics of the same electric battlefield were found to be devastating there. IDF bypassed the Maguinot line through the parade of the Ardennes Forest. As a shift to this main force, the second German army was sent to Belgium and the Netherlands. In the six weeks of a brutal battle, the French lost 90,000 people. When British and French leaders declared war with Germany on 3 September 1939 they announced they did because the German army attacked Poland and threatened Polish independence. In the war with Germany, the British and French leaders turned the two-day geographically restricted conflict between Germany and Poland into a continental European confrontation. It soon became clear that the reasons for prosecution in English and French are not sincere. After two weeks, the British and French leaders did not declare war against the Soviet Union when Soviet Russian forces attacked Poland from the east and finally occupied more Polish territory than Germany.

Plain Tour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plain Tour - Essay Example Florida Bebidas acknowledges the consumer's freedom of choice, emphasizes its powerful position in its operations, and indicates that production efficiency is subservient to consumer reaction. In order to remain competitive, Florida Bebidas increased its product lines and manufactured bottled water, natural fruit drinks, juices, nectars, flavored alcoholic beverages, and carbonated drinks. Currently, it employs 2.638 people. In contrast to many other companies, Florida Bebidas penetrated different markets such as real estate industry and tourism industry (since 1950s). Today, its three main subsidiaries are in Florida Bebidas, Florida Inmobiliaria, and Florida Capitales. To remain competitive and profitable, Florida Bebidas invests in beverage and bottling industries outside Costa Rica. Florida Bebidas is involved in a vast, complex manufacturing and distribution operation producing a wide variety and assortment of consumers' and producers' goods. This productive mechanism is designed to satisfy a myriad of consumer wants and desires. Complex manufacturing operations are balanced by a complex group of marketing operations. The result is a maze of marketing networks designed to tie the actual and potential demands of the marketplace to company operations.

Performance, Planning and Decision-Making Essay

Performance, Planning and Decision-Making - Essay Example Subcultures are those which give clear reflections about the common situations and problems of the employees in the organization. Company employees strictly follow some of the rules, these rules are shared throughout the length and breadth of the organization is called strong cultures. Cultures which are there with the company’s but are not followed that much is called week culture. Organization cultures are sets of norms which influences how the organization will be shaped. Different organizations are with different organizational cultures. Many times organizational cultures depend upon on the national cultures of that company. It is generally being noticed that organizations with great cultures are always having great success story around the world. It channelizes an organization which way it should go. It is very important for any organization to have a follow a particular culture for long time sustainability. It shows behaviour, values and psychological environment of an o rganization. It might be rules, attitudes, customs and beliefs of an organization. It can be taken as the identity of an organization. Organization cultures can be changed time to time whenever markets demands. These cultures are developed by the particulars company. Every organization is having its own cultures. A culture which is suitable for a company may not be suitable for another company. Organization culture is such a thing that can gives a crystal clear picture about the different attributes of an organization. Great Organization culture can be treated as backbone of any successful organization. All the reputed companies like Apple, CTS and Wal-Mart are having great organizational cultures. In this area of discussion the importance of the organizational cultures are going to be discussed. Great organizational cultures are generally transferred into good performance and provide great productivity for

Internet in life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Internet in life - Research Paper Example However, using a computer today is fun because of the internet. The internet has become such a necessity that it is almost impossible to figure out how our lives would be without it. Since its invention the whole world has become one big community as people are able to communicate with each other despite the distance between them or the different time zones they are in (Rosenberg 22; Tapscott,60) Parents can follow the proceedings of their children’s graduation ceremony through the internet, doctors can communicate with their patients and business executives can have boardroom meetings with colleagues from all over the world. This paper seeks to critically examine the benefits of the internet in our social lives and in sectors like communication, education, economy and politics. Computers have become one of the greatest innovations the world has ever had. They have changed the way people organise, perform, analyse and store their work. Almost every home in the world has at lea st one computer. Today, tasks are performed faster and more efficiently since people are using these machines in executing the tasks. According to Swedin, Gottfrid and Ferro, history of the computer dates back to the nineteenth century when Charles Babbage designed the first computer. The World War II and the Cold War led to the development of digital computers as nations sought to tighten their security. The development of interactive interface SAGE in the United States and connecting computers across the country with ARPANET led to the internet. As people evolve, computers and the internet technologies evolve too (7-9) Swedin and Ferro say that the computer does not organise information like the human brain. Many different jobs can be done simultaneously and the device is able to sort out its files so there is no need for book-keeping. Complex accounting formulas are processed within a very short time. The computer is also able to produce very precise images and graphs and all thi s information can be sent to millions of people across the globe instantly (44) Almasy says that, the internet traces its roots all the way in the 1950’s. In 1973, the U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program, to connect several research databases across the country. In 1988, the Internet began to get the attention in the popular press after the release of the first computer virus at Cornell University. Almasy also notes that 1991 saw the beginning of the transition of the Internet as we know it today. Websites like AOL, Netscape and Webcrawler were invented in the mid 1990’s. Previously, Mosaic and Netscape were the only browsers in use but majority of Americans were still using old methods of communication like the post office. By the mid nineties, a total of four million people in the United States used the browsers each month. Today, Billions of people use the internet each day, some to search the web and others to send em ails. The emergence of social media like Facebook and Twitter has also increased the number of internet users. The internet has become a crucial part of life (Web, 10 December, 2013) The internet has influenced almost all the things done in life today. Houses, furniture, household equipment, dresses and jewellery can be bought online. Not forgetting advertisements that are everywhere on the net. Greenfield discusses the magnitude of how the net has reorganised and reshaped our lives. He has developed a

Sectionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sectionalism - Essay Example They had plantations. These were large family farms that produced tobacco and cotton that relied on cheap labor in the form of slaves which was actually intensified as economic sectionalism grew stronger as well. Both North and South sections tried to have representatives in Congress for them to have the power to pass laws that would benefit their sections. Both wanted to have equal States rights and reasonable government tax on imports or exports. The West was also a section but was not part of the sectional conflict between North and South. However, the presence of the West aggravated their conflict as both sections fought to control the West. The people then moved westward and settled there, of course with the additional struggles faced with the first Indian settlers. They saw the west as an "open land", a free land where new opportunities awaited. As more people moved into the west, they realized how potential the land was which then showed the American development. The presence of fertile soil and flat lands attracted the farmers to Great Plains. The discovery of gold and animals rushed in miners and hunters. The people started to acknowledge that additional development to the land could provide them with lots of money. The settlers then slowly started to develop the land and made it prosperous that appealed to investors. The complexity of city life eventually became simple as people tried to embrace the new culture and economy of the West. There were traders, ranchers, miners and farmers that eventually boost the West economy. The opening of the West was indeed an avenue where people started to have hope, rights and duties in expanding and owning a free land. The opening of the West slowly neutralized the sectional conflict between the North and the South. Slavery, one of the four main issues starts to find its voice and freedom. Slavery was believed to be a sectional trait and since the west did not acknowledge this, slaves were not anymore half-free nor half-slave. They can also enjoy what a free man can. No racial discrimination. Black Americans can as well live and work freely with white Americans. Representation, second issue, the North and South as mentioned above seek representatives that will speak on their behalf and propose laws that will benefit their own sections. This is not the case with the West, as people continue to possess economic power, political power arises as well. As new settlers realized their independency in trading, managing and controlling of their new lands, it was also the beginning of intolerance to the government, the individualism of the people. We are to see here that economic opportunities slowly closed the gap caused by sectionalism; however, it also opened to individualism. Individualism in America has allowed a laxity in regard to governmental affairs which has rendered possible the spoils system and all the manifest evils that follow from the lack of a highly developed civic spirit (Turner). An individualism which made the government out of its function due to the immense success of the West economy that encouraged the people to rule the land expecting limited participation from the government. The individualism made them neglectful on their duties and responsibilities as citizens of America. Looking closely to it, the individualism of the West is as worse as sectionalism. Sectionalism only thinks of its own section while individualism only thinks

Literary Analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Literary Analysis - Article Example The war with the Koreans symbolized a sense of not belonging or alienation in America. The story is a portentous reminder of the devastations that families went through and male emigration during the Vietnam War. The story provides different versions of the Chinese-American experiences and different contradictions that shaped these experiences. The character ‘Brother’ reveals the contradictions that shaped Chinese-American experiences that were felt during the historical period in which the story is set. The younger of the author highly opposed the Vietnam War. The brother was forced to make a decision between running away to Canada and going to the Vietnam War which made him enlist himself in the navy in order to fight in that war even though he joined the navy with no intention of killing anyone. Even though he was born in America and fought for America, the brother remained an object of suspicion. The author points out how many Chinese men were going into America in order to avoid being forced to serve in the Chinese military. During the basic training, he was asked by the company commander on where he came from. He was also found to speak pretty good English which makes him a communications specialist. This entails something analogous to a certification or the confirmation of his Americanness. In this chapter, Kingston imagined of how her brother was able to resolve the contradictions that were faced by the Chinese Americans-this is a sense of a fragmented belonging and identity . He was able to manage both Chinese and American hence bringing in an integrated identity (Ludwig and lexoae-Zagni 152). Her brother moved from one experience to the other and in he returned back to America in the end. The brother had managed both Chinese and Americans but ended up returning to America, which brings in a contradiction of the Chinese-American experience. A similar case is found in â€Å"Birds of paradise lost† by Andrew Lam. The story is

African American Studies-Introduction to the Art of Africa Essay

African American Studies-Introduction to the Art of Africa - Essay Example Adult men in African wear most masks. Nevertheless, there are there is one mask that is not worn by men. The main purpose of this paper is to describe which mask is not worn by men. In addition, there will be an analysis of when the mask is worn as well as who wear the masks. Majority of masks are worn by men as they are the only people in the society who are permitted to conduct ritual activities. Most masks are worn in ceremonial dances, initiation ceremonies, during the war as a sign of being brave among other occasions. On the contrary, the Mende mask is worn exclusively by women (Foster 1). The Mende mask is worn by the Sande societies who are geographically located in the sub-Saharan Africa. To be precise, the Sande society is situated in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Mende people are approximated to be around two million, and their primary economic activity is farming. In the Sande society, women used to perform rituals that required the appearance of the masked figure of the Mende helmet mask. Although there were many variations in carving styles and local practices due to their large population, their significance in performing the rituals was still felt by the Sande society (Schulze 1). In the Sande society, when women reached puberty, the initiation process begun. The goal of the initiation process was to teach young women some of the responsibilities of an adult Mende woman. These Mende girls are taught to be modest in behavior as well as being hardworking. During initiation ceremonies, The Mende women used to wear masks as a show of courage and determination. This was also to demonstrate to the young girls that they are entirely welcome into adulthood. The already initiated girl is then given a unique mask just for her that is carved from a section of a trunk of a tree. In most cases, the carving was made from cotton tree. Before the mask is carved, the woodcarver is let wait until he hears a scream from the girl as she undergoes

Goody Proctor Essay Example for Free

Goody Proctor Essay He asked the question in such surprise and disgust, the author has been very extreme in many every day situations that we would think ordinary, another example is, Martha my wife. I have waked at night many a time and found her in a corner, reading a book. Now what do you make of that this tells us how the people of Salem cry witchcraft at anyone different, that something so ordinary to us may be deemed evil to another. Arthur Miller shows us how different there morals lie and this in turn contributes to our understanding of how Abigail lets things spiral so far out of control. When realizing the cultural difference and conversely the vast similarities that, though sometimes unnoticed, effected both the McCarthy trials and correspondingly us today; it makes the reader draw detections from there own lives and feel empathy for the characters and there unfortunate circumstances. The puritan rules add to the hysteria, as it makes simple life choices so dramatic, Marriage is a main pillar of the puritan lifestyle an example of how marriage becomes more imperative is shows this is the name goody this is the name given to puritans who are married. This shows us that to puritans class married women above others. In puritan realign one is not considered an adult until they are married, this also puts pressure on children to find a husband, this status is shown in an argument between john Procter and Marry Warren Ill whip the devil out of you go to bed -Ill not be ordered to bed any more, Mr. Procter! I am eighteen and a woman, however single. Marry Warren is generally a timid charter but she wants to be classed as a women despite the fact she is not married and because of that she is forced to speak out. This quote shows that a The whole of the puritan lifestyle in focused on marriage and church, both of which Abigail is tampering with, and to understand part of the reason as to why the people of Salem were so distort over whelmed and bewildered at how to cope with the accusation of witchcraft is that puritan people live a sheltered life restricted by the enforcers of there realign. An example of this is uncle we did dance Ill be whipped if I must to our modern day society and people in the 1950s this would seem outrageous and over barring that they want to control your life, but author miller is drawing links between capitalism and Puritanism, both trying to control peoples idea and way of life. It proves that the majority of people believe in what there told by there elected authority, capitalists say communism is bad; they then go round destroying the lifes of those who challenge them. In Salem they say all you must have in your life is church and marriage people that try a devoid from their rules e. g.  supposed whichs, were prosecuted and eventually killed. But there comes a point where a person must stand up for what is clearly and ethically wrong, in the McCarthy trial it was Arthur miller through writing this play, and in Slam it was john Procter, the protagonist in this tragedy, the main character, author millers own creation. The author perceptively wrote Abigails fictional self based on that of a real person, whose identity adds to the depth of the character; a young girl named Abigail Williams, aged 10 in the McCarthy trials was Arthur Millers foundation for the fictional character that was later formed. At first the most noticeable feature is there difference in age however when looking at the fictional Abigail Williams immaturity insinuates this make them more similar than first perceived this is shown in the quote [with a flash of anger]: How do you call me child this shows her irrational unstable emotions and insecurities and as a result her actions make her seemingly more childlike as she seems to be oblivious to the damage she causes throughout Salem. This is also displayed in the way she talks to her friends an example is in the quote I say shut it, Marry Warren! this demonstrate how immaturely and impatiently she deals with people. Another example is though the way she talks to the reverend about others Its a bitter woman, a lying, cold sniveling woman Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar! she is talking to her uncle a senior and supposedly respected family member refer more a man of highest authority within Salem. Yet despite this fact she is still rude, unforgiving and disrespectful whilst in the presence of a man of the church Abigail doesnt refer to her as a person with feelings rather uses the words, its and woman. Moreover she uses lying, cold and sniveling, three descriptive words to emphasize her point, this repetitive technique is a demonstration of how grammar and techniques like this contribute to her subtle yet calculated persuasion. Finally even the grand judge of the court Danforth, if you make me answer that question I shall leave and never come back! this show that even when the truth is shown she is so stubborn that she will deny it until she is blue in face, even when she is about to be proved wrong she stands her ground as she cannot handle anyone challenging her self authority like a child having a temper tantrum. Abigail is determined in her will to acquire john Procter so much so she comes across as spoilt and stubborn. This is shown in the quote you love me John Procter an what ever sin it is you love me yet This childlike character trait is very important as her stubborn and irrational ideas are what drive her to continue accusing witches. Abigails sharp mind helps her convincing overpower the people around her. The other girls look up to Abby, she is always sure in herself insert quote this makes them idolize her and consequently this prompts the girls do what she wants, an example of this is said by one of the girls Marry Warren whatll we do? The whole countrys talking witchcraft! Theyll be calling us witches Abby this show that they confide an trust her, she uses Abigail informal name Abby this suggest she sees Abigail as a friend, this is supported as they turn to her for advice as she seems more mature, but her scheming mind uses this admiration to force them to do as she demands. Her controlling nature is also apparent in the quote Betty? Now Betty dear wake up now. Its Abigail. Ill beat you Betty! My you seem to be improving shes uses a rage of different devices to suit the target audience, in this case Betty is a small child, and so she plays on her dependence on Abigail, by instilling fear this is done through using changes in approach such as variations of tone at first gentle then angry and then comforting, she even resorts to threats till she gets her to talk, she takes the audience through emotional ride with unexpected twists this makes her good not just as a fascinating character but as a device on stage. Secondly innocent people within the village, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah good with e the devil! I saw goody Osborn with the devil! I saw Bridget bishop with the devil! this also shows she has no remorse as she continually accuses and as a results has them killed. Thirdly Abigail is clever this adds to her manipulation she works out how to get around people, a quote which shows this is, we danced that is all breathe a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and however although Abigail sees her self in a higher status to the other girls and as such comfortable in making them experience weakness so they feel reliance upon her. Arthur miller wrote the Crucible as a Tragedy this adds to the drama created by the charters, as we know they are destined for a disastrous and untimely end. The author has included typical themes used in a tragedy. Firstly he is describing the downfall of a great man in this case john Procter. What makes him grate is that he is the only person that sees through the high courts for what they really are however he gave in to temptation insert quote about john sleeping with Abigail this quote tells us his hubris, his weakness it was that he lusted after Abigail and committed adultery. She is his weakness an as such is a hamartia, the person that causes the downfall of the protagonist. Abigails importance as a hamartia is so vital to the play, so much if she hadnt of slept with john, the chain of events that led to his death and the many others in the witch trials, wouldnt have happened. Consequently its Abigails lust for john that causes her to go to the woods, that starts the witchcraft suspicions that Abigail uses to her vindictive advantage. The start of the Salem witch trial was initiation by Abigail Williams, with the soul purpose of accusing Elizabeth and gets her killed. She did this because she is assumed with love for john and wants to believe her feelings arent unrequited, give me a word, john. A soft word. (Her concentrated smile and desire destroys his smile) the remembrance of the affair makes john uncomfortable and unhappy, this shows that where as Abigail is still hopeful, shown through concentrated desire those words show us how unrelenting her love is, she is desperately searching for some reassurance that her feelings are not unrequited. However Abigail says you loved me, john proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! this shows us how insecure she is, that she tries to convince someone to love her, and by saying it out loud shes almost trying to convince herself. This unrequited love makes us feel sorry for Abigail as shes desperately trying to make excuses for him. In his quote she says loving her is a sin, this is an important in the puritan lives, as they are meant live for god. If she is a sin it is understandable that he does not show his feelings for her.

PETRONAS | Employee Health and Safety Case Study

PETRONAS | Employee Health and Safety Case Study 1.0 Introduction The topic that we choose for our assignment in Human Resource Management is employee safety and health. Nowadays, safety and health is a significant issue for an organization to its employees. What is meant by safety and health for employees? Firstly, safety means the condition for employees are being protected from getting any danger, risk or injury in a working environment during the working hour. Meanwhile, health means the organizations efforts to prevent its employees from suffering physical or mental illness. In short, every organization should ensure the safety and health condition in the working environment since employee is the asset of the company. If the employees feel secure in their working environment, they will perform efficiency and effectively to achieve the companys goal. However, if the working environment is not safety and may cause them illness, it will affect the performance quality as the employees will think why should I going to do this, this is not safe for us. Inevitably, it is very important for an organization to ensure that their employees are working in a safe and healthy environment so that it will greatly influence the productivity and overall efficiency in any organizations. Secondly, it will also help to reduce and prevent industrial accidents. Consequently, the enforcement of employee safety and health will definitely help to reduce the absenteeism among employees. Also, it will also boost the morale among the employees inside the organization. Moreover, team spirit could be developed and the sense of belongingness among the employees could be enhanced as they are protected. As a result, the main objective of our topic is to determine the regular review of safety and health performance in an organization. Therefore, the employees can have a better working condition to perform their specific tasks. 2.0 Content: Theory and concept The first theory that we are going to apply for the chosen topic is Bounded Rationality. Bounded Rationality state that a decision maker makes decision at a satisfactory level rather than the maximum level because of the lack of resources and information needed. In order to implement a successful employee safety and health program in an organization, the managements have to well-planned with various choices of alternatives and decide the optimum one. Having said this, when a company intend to install employee safety and health program to replace the existed one, the switching cost involved may be much more higher than expected, that makes it difficult for the company to bear the cost. Therefore, the management shall decide the appropriate method with the sources available to fix the problems, so that both employers and employees could enjoy the benefits from the implementation of the safety and health policy activity. Herzbergs two factor theory is the second theory that we will apply to our topic. The Herzbergs two factor theory is also known as the motivation-hygiene theory. This theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that can cause employees satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the working environment (NetMBA, 2010). The factors that affect employees to become satisfied are the sense of achievement, recognition for their accomplishment by the top management, meaningfulness of the work, growth and promotional opportunities. On the other hand, the factors that lead employees to become dissatisfied are the strict company policy, no fringe benefits, bad physical work condition and low salary. If employees are not satisfied with the working environment, it will decrease the productivity. In order to maximize the profit in an organization, the company should provide a good working environment for employees so that it can maintain the company production quality. Thus, the motiva tion of employee is the key factor for an organization since it is one of the several factors that significantly affect the productivity which in turns increase the profitability in an organization. In the third place, we are going to apply Maslow hierarchy of needs in our topic. Maslow hierarchy of needs can be categorized in five independent levels of basic human needs which are physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem and self actualization that must be satisfied in a strict sequence starting from the lowest level. Physiological needs are the lowest level of basic human needs while self actualization is the highest basic human needs. In this topic we will focus on safety level, which safety needs security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health and property. Furthermore, safety needs for an employee plays a vital role for an organization to take the responsibility because the employees are helping the organization to generate income. In return, the company should provide a proper working environment for the employees. In a nutshell, Bounded Rationality, Herzbergs two factor theory and Maslow hierarchy of needs are the theories that we are going to apply to our topic employee safety and health. Keeping to the adage that safe operations are smooth operations, these theories are extremely important for an organization to follow because it will assist the organization to increase the profit by providing a safety and health working environment to the employees. Significance and contributions In order to utilize individuals to achieve organization objective, we should have five human resource management functions such as staffing, human resource development, compensation, safety and health and employee and labor relations. Consequently, we know that the assignment topic that we choose is pivotal for an organization because this is one of the five human resource management functions. In addition, we know that safety and health not only for the organization to take the responsibility on the employees but also the employees themselves should aware and responsible for their own safety and health. Having said this, when the organization is providing the methods on how to use the machine in a safety way but the employees do not follow the instructions. Therefore, no matter how the organization implement the safety and health policy to employees, it is not effective if the employees do not follow the instructions given. Inevitably, it will cause danger to them and other employee s in the working environment. As a result, the organization and employees should take the obligation together on safety and health. Subsequently, it will assist the organization to increase the productivity by the workers if they are focusing on employee safety and health because employees can have a better satisfaction with the working environment which is safe and secure to perform their task. If the productivity increases, the company tends to sell more products. Thus, it will affect the overall profit of the organization. In addition, it will boost the morale among the employees inside the organization. Team spirit could be developed and the sense of belongingness among the employees could be enhanced as they are protected. As a result, the employees tend to spend more time to perform their task in a safety and health environment to assist the organization to generate income. In short, safety and health is not the only importance HRM function of an organization but also other HRM functions as well. This is because the relationship between these five functions is link together. Without one of them, the organization cannot operate well. Therefore, the organization should focus on all HRM functions areas. 3.0 Case Development (Practice) The company we have chosen to be discussed in our assignment is Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS). PETRONAS is the national oil and gas company in Malaysia. It established in 1974 and wholly-owned by the government of Malaysia (Abdul Ghani Pg.Hi.Metusin and Ooi Kee Beng, 2005). Together with 127 direct subsidiaries and 54 associated companies, PETRONAS, a multinational corporation, has fully integrated oil and gas operations in a broad spectrum of the oil and gas value-chain and with global presence in 31 countries (S.A Zainal Abidin, O.Bekri, A.Jalaludin, 1996). In addition, it also conducts a variety of business activities include exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in Malaysia and overseas; the liquefaction, sale and transportation of LNG; the processing and transmission of natural gas and the sale of natural gas products; the refining and marketing of petroleum products; the manufacture and sale of petrochemical products; the trading of crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical products; and shipping and logistics relating to LNG, crude oil and petroleum products.ÂÂ   Safety issue always is high concern in the oil and gas industry especially since the Gulf of Mexico incident happened in 2010. PETRONAS has around 44,000 of employees. Therefore, it strives to contribute and take care of the well-being of people as well as nations, regardless wherever it operates by developing and adding value to oil and gas resources. It balances the commercial, environmental and social considerations carefully. A report from Social Security Organization shows the construction is one of the highest fatality rate in the accidents among the industry. PETRONAS experiences the worst ever group safety record in 1998 with 31 fatalities and followed by 13 and 17 fatalities in 1999 and 2000 respectively. To ensure the PETRONAS Corporate Policy Statement on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is implemented effectively, a proactive approach must be adopted in promoting Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). First of all, company HSE policy is the basis requirement to implement in PETRONAS as well as to any other organization. Thus, the legal liability of projects and the penalties imposed to owners and stakeholders are clearly outlined in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. A good OSH management will be able to prevent and reduce accidents and ill health in the working environment. For example, HSE Management Procedure will be preparing for every project run by PETRONAS. This is to ensure that all phases of the project and the OSH requirements are clearly defined and spelt out. The purpose of this procedure is to helps the management in complying with the related local OSH Acts or rules and regulations, establishing the minimum OSH objectives to be met at the various stages of the project, developing the necessary guidelines to carry out a proactive management of consultants and contractors on OSH matters and ensuring a continuous OSH improvement for all project activities. In addition, with such procedure and policy, the management can make decision more efficiency and effectively. In the meanwhile, it applies the Bounded Rationality theory in which the decision maker or the management makes decision at a satisfactory level with limited resources and i nformation. When problem occur, the management can make decision at a limited time with the best alternative according to the procedure stated. Furthermore, PETRONAS enhance the governance of HSE through the restructuring of Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable Business Units to have greater accountability. It also proactively in developing a framework to consolidate the mandatory HSE standards to be implemented Groupwide. The Herzbergs two factor theory can be seen in this practice by developing a safety working environment with pervasive HSE culture. In addition, it can decrease the cost of common infrastructures, management system and services. Employee will feel secure and satisfied with their working condition and environment with international HSE standards. For example, PETRONAS won Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Grand Award from Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) in 2010. Such honors definitely will add credit to PETRONAS that lead to the increase of employee confident to company HSE condition. To improve PETRONAS safety performance towards achieving operational excellence, it has carried out a Third Party Process Safety Assessment on its implementation across the Group. The latest external assessment and benchmarking exercise was conducted in August 2010. The assessment recognized that process safety standards and requirements have been adequately established at Group level and translated into site-specific systems and documents at operating units. Action plans have been identified to address implementation issues on specific elements such as management of change, integrity management, work planning and procedures in order to improve process safety performance. As stated before, PETRONAS restructure its Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable all Business Units to have greater accountability, the objective is to raise PETRONAS HSE performance, reduce business risks and exposure and maintain consistency in the implementation if HSE standards and requirements. Therefore, defining a clear roles and responsibilities of all personnel involved in OSH activities for those projects are necessary. Workers should and must know their duties and the knowledge that have to apply in their tasks. The effectiveness after the implementation Indeed, PETRONAS has exercised the human resource practices well in ensuring the safety and health of its employees. As above mentioned, PETRONAS obeys and follows the stated laws and regulations. Besides, PETRONAS also conducts an excellent HSE management system. However, there is still room to improve. It is because many fatal accidents have taken place in 2012. First, there are three fire accidents happened at PETRONAS sites, and two of which involved casualties. Second, the most recent incident that related to PETRONAS involved an oil tanker which caught fire and exploded at the jetty of PETRONAS Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd on 26 July 2012. This incident follows closely from another fire which blazed at the PETRONAS Caligalis Tukau B Platform offshore Miri on 11 June 2012. Moreover, there was a PETRONAS gas process plant in GPP Complex A in Kerteh was rocked by two explosions. Unfortunately, a worker died on the spot while 23 others were injured. There were 2000 workers at the site when the explosions occurred (Koh, 2012). Again, these accidents have indicated that it is time for PETRONAS to reevaluate the safety standards over again. 4.0 Recommendations Even PETRONAS has exercised its practise well in ensuring its employees are safe and health, but there are still a number of accidents that lead to the injuries and death of its employees. Its strongly to be suggested that PETRONAS might use joint labour-management safety team approach to involve its employees in developing safety program as the employees know the potential problem in their workplace more well compare to the management. A safety programme is launched to identify and minimize the unsafe condition to prevent the accidents that might happen in the workplace. It should contains an extensive training and enable autonomy for the employees who perform dangerous job. For example, PETRONAS might held a meeting for the employees and management to come together in order to evaluate the previous safety program and see if there is anything went wrong. If there is anything should be changed or a new program should be established, employees will be given autonomy in voice out their opinion in the meeting according to their working experience on what should be establish, what training should be provided, and what should be done. (Dessler, 2007) Secondly, top management of PETRONAS is suggested to involve themselves in the safety activities. Instead of just giving instruction from the top to bottom, managers and supervisors in safety and health department of PETRONAS are encouraged to involve themselves directly by going to the workplace and discuss with the employees with the production scheduling before the work of the day. Toolbox meetings are the meetings which held in a workplace involving the supervisors and employees to discuss about the work hazard and safety awareness. Toolbox meetings are suggested to be held in every time before the work at the workplace. The SHELL companies in the same industry with PETRONAS, practise it in this way: the supervisor and other employees will first discuss in the general safety with the employees and after this, employees are grouped into a smaller group to discuss in detail about the job procedure of the day, the hazards of the job, the precautions that should be taken to prevent anything bad happen in the workplace and what should be done in order to protect themselves for the duties that they are going to perform after this. The toolbox meeting is not only being held in each time before the work, but also should be held if there is any changing in hazard found. (Steve Beckett) Evacuation plans should be enhanced in PETRONAS as the accidents happened in the workplace often has caused death and injuries on its employees. An evacuation plan should include the three main things: an early detection of problems, the methods to communicate the emergency externally and the communication plans to initiates an evacuation. For example, an initial alarm to alerts the employees on emergency and following by the instruction given on what to do in next. This minimizes the number of death and injuries cause by fire and exploitation effectively(Dessler, 2007). Furthermore, PETRONAS is recommended to establish behavioural-based safety programme which it is to identify its employees working behaviour, understand the way they work and advice and lastly train them to avoid the working behaviour that might lead to accidents (Dessler, 2007). PETRONAS may use Human Resource Internet-Based System to manage their safety programme for it is more efficient and more effective in the way to communicate the safety and health information to its employees from the whole organization. The HRIS included the material safety data sheets from OSHA which stated the precaution that should be taken by employees when performing their duties and what to do in dealing with the accidents. The data sheet based on the new OSHA information can be uploaded and communicate faster to the employees if HRIS is to be used. In the other hand, PETRONAS might create also its own training websites which will allow the company to communicate the safety issues to its employee in the form of video, PowerPoint presentation sheets and etc. By this, PETRONAS will be able to organize and deliver the individual course to its employees according to their needs in anywhere and anytime (Dessler, 2007). 5.0 Conclusion Employee Safety and Health is a significant issue for every organization because employee consider as asset of the organization. Working environment is very important for every employee. It to ensure that provides a safety place for employee to prevent getting any danger or injury. Organization also need to concern employee health to prevent its employees from suffering physical or mental illness. The employee safety and health is high concern especially in the oil and gas industry. PETRONAS is a multinational corporation that has integrated oil and gas operations in a broad spectrum of the oil and gas value-chain. Employee has safety and health condition can perform the job efficiency and effectively and achieve the companys goal. Safety and health can impact the productivity and overall efficiency in organization. Organizations can put efforts to develop the team spirit among employees and to enhance as they are protected in the working environment. It can help organization to prevent industrial accidents and to reduce the absenteeism among employees. An important theory and concept such as Bounded Rationality, Herzbergs two factor theory and Maslow hierarchy of needs for an organization to apply in order to increase the profit by providing a safety and health working environment to the employees. The organization and employees should take the obligation together on the safety and health. Employees themselves should aware and responsible for their own safety and health in the working environment. PETRONAS conducts a variety of business activities in 31 counties. PETRONAS obeys and follow the stated laws and regulations and conducts an excellent HSE management system to ensure the safety and health of its employees. PETRONAS strives to contribute the commercial, environmental and social considerations carefully. A proactive approach adopted in by Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) to ensure the PETRONAS Corporate Policy Statement on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is implemented effectively. HSE policy is the basis requirement to implement in PETRONAS. OSH management can make decision at a limited time with the best alternatives according to the procedure stated. PETRONAS is restructuring the Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable Business Units to have greater accountability. It developed a framework to consolidate the mandatory HSE standard to be implemented in a safety working environment. Employee will feel secure and satisfied with their working condition and environment international HSE standards such as Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Grand Award from Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) in year 2010. It will lead to increase the employee confident during working time with company HSE conditions. The objective of implementation in HSE performance is to reduce business risks and exposure and maintain consistency. Employees must know their duties and knowledge in order to apply in their tasks. Therefore, PETRONAS enable to have greater accountability.

History of the Roman Empire :: essays research papers

Roman Empire, political system established by Rome that lasted for nearly five centuries. Historians usually date the beginning of the Roman Empire from 27 bc when the Roman Senate gave Gaius Octavius the name Augustus and he became the undisputed emperor after years of bitter civil war. At its peak the empire included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring territories during the Roman Republic (509-27 bc), but made wider conquests and solidified political control of these lands during the empire. The empire lasted until Germanic invasions, economic decline, and internal unrest in the 4th and 5th centuries ad ended Rome’s ability to dominate such a huge territory. The Romans and their empire gave cultural and political shape to the subsequent history of Europe from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day. In 44 bc Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator, was assassinated . Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war and political upheaval. After Caesar’s heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals, the Senate in 27 bc proclaimed him Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic, which had lasted nearly 500 years, was dead, never to be revived. The empire would endure for another 500 years until ad 476 (See Ancient Rome). The emperor Augustus reigned from 27 bc to ad 14 and ruled with absolute power. He reestablished political and social stability and launched two centuries of prosperity called the Roman Peace (Pax Romana). Under his rule the Roman state began its transformation into the greatest and most influential political institution in European history. During the first two centuries ad the empire flourished and added new territories, notably ancient Britain, Arabia, and Dacia (present-day Romania). People from the Roman provinces streamed to Rome, where they became soldiers, bureaucrats, senators, and even emperors. Rome developed into the social, economic, and cultural capital of the Mediterranean world. Despite the attention given to tyrannical and often vicious leaders like the emperors Caligula and Nero, most emperors ruled sensibly and competently until military and economic disasters brought on the political instability of the 3rd century ad. The Roman Empire encompassed a huge amount of territory, but also allowed people of many different cultures to retain their heritage into modern times.

Modern Piracy With A Breif History Essay -- essays research papers fc

Piracy is usually determined as a seizure of property (ship, airplane or software) that holds no commission from the owner (â€Å"Piracy† 1). It is mostly linked to the dirty, bearded men that sailed the seven seas and robed merchant ships or ships that carried a valuable cargo. This however, was not the case in the late eighties and is definitely not the case today in the nineties. Now software pirates copy software without the permission of the company for their own personal benefits. Since piracy interrupts trade between nations it has been considered to be an offense against international law (â€Å"Piracy† 1). While the pirates in the medieval age roamed for plunder on the high seas, pirate radio and television stations broadcast, unauthorized software pirates copy to save money and even if one form vanished, another would soon take its place. Although the roots of piracy go as far as 102 BC the true sea pirates golden age was between the time periods of the very late 1600’s and the year of 1923 when almost all pirates suddenly disappeared. Pirates attacked the Romans as early as 100 BC. This was not as rough as the future pirates would be, but the idealism of piracy was present. The so-called piracy’s golden age started in 1695 when the first famous pirate, Henry Every, began seizing sizable treasures in the Red Sea and this made him an idol to many unemployed seamen in England. Piracy offered no more risks than being on board an ordinary merchant or privateering (which is often confused with piracy) vessel and the returns could be indescribably greater than in trade or attacking enemy ships. This started an increase in the number of pirates. Soon, in some parts of the world, for example Nassau, there were so many pirate vessels sailing the seas that the trade between the colonies and the outside world was n onexistent because all the goods ended up in the pirate vessels. Although their ways were inhumane and sometimes highly brutal, they had some sort of passion to sail the unknown and break the law to fight a war on the ordinary world. Some pirates were famous for their incredible brutality or for their otherwise colorful personalities: Edward Teach (alias Black Beard), who terrorized the coastline of North Carolina in 1716-1718; Captain Kidd who was more known for his highly publicized trial than his wrongdoings; and Bartholomew Roberts who was the last and... ...mplies with the law, and that it issues an appropriate policy statement that is signed and respected by all involved (Software Publishers' Association). The sea pirates, the software pirates Hackers and the on the air pirates all have something in common. They all (with the exception of software pirates) do their job for the passion of it. All of these forms are considered illegal because of the losses made to the owner to save costs or to collect prizes (sometimes). Whatever the case, piracy can never be gotten rid of because a new form will show up when another vanishes, history proves that. What will the next form be? Use your imagination. Works Cited Botting, Douglas. â€Å"The Pirates.† Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books 1978. â€Å"Piracy.† Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1995. â€Å"Software Piracy.† CQ Researcher. May 21, 1993 MAS. Byrd, Kelly V. "Kelly's Place" Computer and Law http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~kbyrd/piracy.html: Spring 1996. Software Publishers' Association. "Software Use and the Law". http://www.spa.org/piracy/homepage.html: November 20, 1996. Computers In Society 6th ed. Dushkin Group/Brown&Benchmark Publishers: Guilford, CT, 1996.

Education Fiesta :: Technology Internet Technological Essays

Education Fiesta In Today’s competitive society, we all strive for the ideal occupation, and the best learning skills. Technology is a prevalent tool for us, and the Internet especially has helped bring about efficiency. Distance education is not something that I have personally experienced, but through various information sources, I now am fully aware of what online education is all about. To put my research into play I chose to narrate a scenario in which the authors of the sources I used came to my house for a dinner party. Then I provided my own ideas in an analysis of the facts that these authors presented. I tied it up with a personal reflection of everything that I learned. My dining room table pushed against the wall, buffet style, with steaming chaffing dishes, a basket of assorted fresh baked breads, a caddy filled with festive cutlery, pretty napkins laid out in a crescent shaped pattern, and various plates and bowls with the evenings fixings, anxiously I awaited my five guests of honor for tonight’s dinner: Pam Dixon, Emily Weiner, Marcia Williams, Kenneth Paprock, and Barbara Covington; all experts on the topic and field of distance education. They were to arrive at seven o’ clock, which was in ten minutes. I meticulously set up a table of beverages, and a bucket of ice. I also invited a few of my own friends and family members who were interested and about the subject, and wanted more information about online learning. My mother, who is considering finishing up her degree online, my aunt and uncle who are both in the field of computer technology and programming, my neighbor who is also doing research for school on online lea rning, and my friend Lauren who had just decided to come for the discussion, information and appetizing meal. I finished up some last minute preparation work, as the arrival time of my guests got closer. Distance learning is an alternative method of education in our society, which values time and convenience. Online learning, although not a tangible way to attend a university, allows those with families, people with busy lives, those with jobs, those with physical disabilities, and those who do not have access to universities or the right classes to learn the r skills they need, and attain the right degree, in order to work in our field of choice.

Applications of Biochemistry Essay

Blood is one of the most important fluids in the human body. It helps carry nutrients such as oxygen to the cells in the body and transports out wastes like carbon dioxide and other metabolites from these cells. Since blood is the medium through which the different organs and tissues in our body communicates, keeping a close eye on the constituents of a blood sample would provide a good indication of the functioning of the human body. Blood gas tests are ordered for patients who might have symptoms of pH imbalance, extreme levels of oxygen/ carbon dioxide, or in order to evaluate the functioning of organs such as the kidneys and the presence of disorders such as diabetes. The latter tests are measured through the analysis of electrolytes and metabolites in the blood. Patients who are on a â€Å"ventilator† in a hospital may have their treatment procedures also monitored using a blood gas analysis test. In the Core Laboratory of University Hospital in London, Ontario, the Gem Premiere 3000 Blood Gas Analyzer is used in order to perform tests on patients. There are two analyzers present in this laboratory. Both machines can run tests for levels of pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, partial pressure of oxygen, Na+, K+, Ca++, and hematocrit (Hct). One of the machines however, is also capable of running glucose and lactate tests as well. One other final blood constituent that is also analyzed in this analyzer is for carboxyhemoglobin. If a sample is to be tested for carboxyhemoglobin, the sample must be injected from the syringe into the GEM cuvette. The cuvette is then inserted into another analyzer in order to test carboxyhemoglobin levels. The samples collected for blood gas analysis tests can be arterial, venous, or capillary blood. Reference Range values of measurements in the â€Å"normal range† using the Gem Premiere 3000 (UCSF Medical Center, 2011). All samples are delivered to the laboratory in syringes or capillaries from the bedside of the patient in the hospital. A sample that arrives from the Operation Room can only be stored for and has to be analyzed within 15-20 minutes. Samples that are delivered to the laboratory on ice can be stored for one hour while all other samples must be analyzed within half an hour. Unlike other samples that are analyzed in the lab, these samples are not archived after analysis. All samples must also be warmed between the hands before being analyzed in order to mix the contents thoroughly. All syringes with samples contain a coating of heparin sulfate in order to avoid the clotting of blood samples. Once the source of blood sample (arterial, venous, capillary) has been selected on the display screen of the analyzer, the sample is checked for clots. This is done by testing a drop or two onto a gauze pad. The barcode on the sample syringe is then scanned in order to read the patient ID and store the results. A message then appears on the screen of the analyzer that reads â€Å"Present sample now†. The tip of the syringe can then be inserted at an angle, into the needle that protrudes from the Analyzer. The results will then appear on the screen and be saved on the patient’s profile according to their ID that was scanned. The maintenance conducted on the Gem Premiere 3000 is very minimal. The Gem Premiere 3000 contains a cartridge that has electrodes with all the calibration measurements for the machine. The analyzer is checked daily for printer paper. Every week, quality control tests are run in order to ensure the accurate working of the Gem Premiere 3000. The two control tests administered are the ‘Critical Care QC ContrIL9’ and the ‘GEM critCheck’. The first control tests for the proper analysis of of pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, partial pressure of oxygen, Na+, K+ and Ca++, while the second control tests for hematocrit low and normal levels (UCSF Medical Center, 2011). The cartilage with electrodes for calibration measurements expires every three weeks. However, if there is a power cut or an issue with the analyzer, the cartridge must be changed immediately before any other tests are conducted. Once the cartridge has been replaced, it takes half an hour for the cartridge to warm up after the CVP control has been run and before tests can be run again. Once all the tests are run, they are saved on the patient’s profile and are available for access by all physicians and hospital staff throughout the hospital.

Opportunity Cost Essay

Lets start with a small introduction to the topic Opportunity Cost. Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen). It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone, or group, who has picked among several mutually exclusive choices. The opportunity cost is also the â€Å"cost† (as a lost benefit) of the forgone products after making a choice. Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics, and has been described as expressing â€Å"the basic relationship between scarcity and choice†. The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs. Now lets look at Opportunity Cost from the point of production. Opportunity costs may be assessed in the decision-making process of production. If the workers on a farm can produce either one million pounds of wheat or two million pounds of barley, then the opportunity cost of producing one pound of wheat is the two pounds of barley forgone (assuming the production possibilities frontier is linear). Firms would make rational decisions by weighing the sacrifices involved. Looking at Opportunity Cost from the point of Implicit and Explicit Cost. Implicit costs are the opportunity costs that in factors of production that a producer already owns. They are equivalent to what the factors could earn for the firm in alternative uses, either operated within the firm or rent out to other firms. For example, a firm pays $300 a month all year for rent on a warehouse that only holds product for six months each year. The firm could rent the warehouse out for the unused six months, at any price (assuming a year-long lease requirement), and that would be the cost that could be spent on other factors of production. Explicit costs are opportunity costs that involve direct monetary payment by producers. The opportunity cost of the factors of production not already owned by a producer is the price that the producer has to pay for them. For instance, a firm spends $100 on electrical power consumed, their opportunity cost is $100. The firm has sacrificed $100, which could have been spent on other factors of production. Now lets look at some real life examples from my life inorder to understand Opportunity Costs better. Opportunity Cost Examples that I myself have been across- I have only Rs 1000 to spend and I have two choices, I can eat at a nice restaurant or buy a good cricket bat instead. I spend my Rs 1000 on buying the cricket bat, then the opportunity cost of that choice is the delicious meal I did not choose and let go. Opportunity Cost also works in regards to time. Eg- I only have two hours of free time. I could either go to a movie or meet a friend of mine. I choose to spend my time at the movie, the opportunity cost of this decision is the time I could have spent enjoying the company of my friend. Here’s another example- When for the first time I decided to invest my saved money lying with me. I had two options that I could do with the money I had. My first choice was either investing in Mutual Funds or leave the money in a Savings Account that earns only 5% per year. I invested in Mutual Funds and it returned 10%, here I’ve benefited from my decision because the alternative would have been less profitable. However, if the Mutual Fund would have returned only 2% when I could have had 5% from the Savings Account, then my opportunity cost would have been (5% – 2% = 3%). To summarize Opportunity Cost, scarcity creates choice, and every choice has value to us. That value can be looked at in terms of benefits and in terms of cost. Value is not always measured in financial terms but sometimes measured in terms of time or enjoyment. The opportunity cost of a choice is what must be given up in order to take an opportunity. It’s not the opportunity we chose, but the value of the next best alternative we didn’t choose. Every major choice has an opportunity cost.

Knowing the Culture of India

This paper will review some of the recent literature on the culture of India. This is an important culture to study, because India†s population of more than 900 million makes it one of the most heavily populated countries of the world. India is also important to study because it possesses one of the world†s oldest surviving cultures. In addition, there have long been ties between India and the nations of the West. Beyond these considerations, Indian culture is fascinating to study because it is extremely diverse and complex. Regarding this, Pandian (1995) notes â€Å"the existence of an underlying Indus or Hindu cultural unity (melting pot) which enables us to understand the nature of Hinduism and the caste system† (p. 9). Despite this apparent unity, however, Pandian also points out that â€Å"India is indeed a salad bowl with groups who do not blend or mix, and this fact of non-blending renders the label ‘Indian† meaningless to signify the cultural, linguistic, or religious unity of India† (Pandian, 1995, p. 9). Therefore, the situation of India poses an interesting challenge for anthropological study. Yet another reason why it is important to study Indian culture is because, although many of the nation†s traditions remain strong today, the nation is also undergoing rapid change and development. This paper will examine the diversity that exists in India†s religious beliefs, language, and social and gender roles. It will then conclude with some views on what people should be aware of when they travel to India to do business. In terms of religion, the majority of people in India (80 percent) are followers of the Hindu faith. The concepts of karma and reincarnation are among the predominant beliefs of Hinduism. Karma is the belief that a person†s actions, good or bad, will result in either good or bad things happening in that person†s life. This belief has an effect on behavior because it influences people to treat others, as they themselves would like to be treated. Reincarnation is the belief that a person†s soul will return to an earthly body again and again until it is liberated from the cycle of life and death. The way to become liberated is by becoming increasingly detached from worldly things, a process that is understood to take innumerable lifetimes. Belief in reincarnation has an effect on behavior by giving Indians a more casual attitude toward the demands of time than is found among Westerners (Lewis, 1996, p. 80). Hindus also believe that the goal of reincarnation is to eventually become united with Brahman, the ultimate ground of being, which has no attributes that can be seen or felt. Aside from these basic beliefs, Hindus have a great deal of choice in adapting their own personality to their style of worship. There are different spiritual paths that can be chosen, depending upon whether the worshipper is more disposed to work, devotion or knowledge. In addition, there are hundreds of different deities, both gods and goddesses, that a worshipper can choose from in picking a â€Å"personal god. † The personal god is meant to provide a focus for worship and devotion and to thus help the believer become more aligned with the impersonal god known as Brahman. Even after choosing a personal deity, Hindus still have flexibility in their style of worship. According to Pandian (1995), â€Å"a Hindu may change the focus of worship, emphasizing the worship of different deities in relation to changes in his or her own intellectual/emotional growth, or may remain devoted to the worship of a particular deity† (p. 56). Although there is a great deal of flexibility in Hinduism, it restricts behavior in certain ways because there are many rituals and obligations that must be consistently followed. In addition to the village temples where people gather to worship, each Hindu home has its own shrine for the purpose of worshipping the family deity. Religion is such a pervasive influence in India that Potter (1989) says: â€Å"The daily life of a Hindu villager involves frequent reminders of traditional norms† (p. 338). The Hindu system has also affected behavior because the belief in karma and reincarnation has supported the Indian caste system, in which it is understood that different classes of people have distinctly different roles in life. There is even more diversity in Indian language than there is in the country†s religion. Hindi is the official language of the nation; however, as Mehta (1993) points out, â€Å"it is understood by only forty per cent – or, at most, fifty per cent – of the population† (p. 459). In addition to Hindi, â€Å"there are fourteen officially recognized regional languages, two hundred and fifty major dialects, and thousands of minor languages and dialects,† and many of these are â€Å"completely unrelated to one another† (Mehta, 1993, pp. 458-459). Throughout India†s history, there have been efforts among intellectuals and scholars to develop â€Å"a common pan-Indian religious or political language† (Pandian, 1995, p. 8). Over the course of time, the official national language has changed from Sanskrit to Persian to English to Hindi. Although it seems like a positive thing to try to develop an official language for the nation as a whole, this effort has also resulted in enforcing the social divisions of the Indian people. Pandian (1995) notes that the people of India are required to know how to speak Hindi fluently if they are to obtain successful jobs. As Pandian further notes, this has created an unfair advantage for the 40 percent or so of the total population that consists of native Hindi speakers (p. 34). The social roles of the Indian culture are strongly impacted by the traditional caste system. According to this system, there are four main classes, ranked hierarchically: the priests, the warriors, the merchants and artists, and the servants. In addition to these four major groupings, there are also numerous smaller occupational class groupings, known as jatis. In the words of Madan (1989), castes and families are â€Å"the building blocks of Hindu society,† and â€Å"an overwhelming majority of the Hindus of South Asia, particularly those living in the rural areas, identify themselves in terms of their jati or caste† (p. 64). As a general rule, people never leave the caste they are born into. They tend to marry within the same caste, and sons tend to adopt the occupations of their fathers. Despite the prevalence of the caste system in Indian culture, however, Pandian (1995) points out that the system is more complex than it appears on the surface. Thus, anthropological studies of Indian village communities â€Å"have shown the existence of multiple labels of caste identity and multiple levels of caste ranking† (p. 209). There are also controversial views regarding gender roles in India. According to Azad (1996), working women in India are subject to oppression, poverty and poor health, and they basically live in an â€Å"environment of powerlessness† (p. 220). Indeed, Indian women must contend with such things as arranged marriages, female infanticide and wife abuse, among many other things. On the other hand, Seymour (1999) argues that respect is also given to women in India, especially when they undertake the role of motherhood. This sense of honor is enhanced by the religious beliefs of Hinduism, in which female deities are seen as being the source of power for the male deities. Because of the high status of motherhood and the belief in powerful goddesses, Seymour (1999) says â€Å"female power and authority is real in both secular and sacred contexts† (p. 281). Seymour further claims that there have been signs of change in recent years in terms of gender relationships in India. She reports, for example, that recent studies have shown an increasing number of Indian women taking â€Å"post marital residence in nuclear households where they can be independent of in-laws and have a more intimate relationship with their husbands† (p. 289). Seymour also emphasizes that the restrictions of Indian culture do not only affect women, but the nation†s men as well. Because of caste and religious obligations, â€Å"men also have a series of roles and life stages through which they must move, and they are also expected to control their personal desires for the sake of the collective whole† (Seymour, 1999, p. 280). After attaining independence from colonization, India, within a span of 50 years emerged as one of the fastest developing economies in the world. Ranking as the seventh largest country in area and second in population. She is also the largest democracy in the world. She is the world's second largest producer of rice, world†s largest exporter of tea, jute and computer programmes. She is the third largest manufacturer of motor scooters, the second largest exporter of booster rockets for the space industry, and the second largest center in Asia for low-tech subcontracting and the development of offshore software. On the Economic front, it adopted a Mixed Economic policy on the five-year plan basis. India chalked out a plan for her economic growth in a protective manner. She made major steps forward in improving agricultural output and her industries have expanded to the stage, where she is one among the world's top 10 industrial powers. However, after 1990, India opened her door for liberalization and now the economic growth is approximately 6% per annum. When people travel to India to do business, it is important for them to be aware of the unique characteristics of the nation†s culture. Because India has long had ties to the West, there are many ways in which business relations between Indians and Westerners can be expected to go smoothly. However, Indians also have certain differences in their business style that are related to their cultural and religious beliefs. Belief in the importance of the soul†s liberation, for example, causes many Indians to have a less materialistic orientation than their Western counterparts. Belief in karma has the effect of causing many Indians to have a heightened awareness of right and wrong. Regarding the way belief in reincarnation affects the Hindu perspective on time, Lewis (1996) warns the Western business traveler that Indians often show â€Å"little respect for punctuality† (p. 80). The relatively low social status of Indian women has an impact on how women are viewed in the world of Indian business. According to Lewis (1996), business travelers should also understand that the Western value of individualism â€Å"contrasts with Indian collectivism† (p. 80). Despite the differences in business style between Westerners and Indians, however, Lewis points out that Indians can be shrewd negotiators when they want to be. In business dealings, Indians do not hold Westerners â€Å"in awe,† and they are quite capable of using â€Å"acting skills† in order to negotiate on behalf of themselves or their families (Lewis, 1996, p. 80).

Food Inflations-the Real Problem of Common Man in India

In simple terms inflation, or price rise is caused by too much money chasing too few goods, or, demand being more than supply. The free play of the twin market forces of demand and supply determine the price of any commodity or service. In a mixed economy like India, Government is also an important player in the market. Hence to search for the causes of inflation, becomes somewhat complex. The last couple of months witnessed a sudden and almost a run-away type of food inflation. The way the price of vegetables and other food items soared, it created doubts in the minds of the common people and the economists alike. Winter is generally the time when fruits & vegetables are at the lowest prices. This was not so this year. The prices were way above the expected normal. This happened in spite of the normal monsoon and average inflation in other sectors. It was the other way round this time. Inflation in the food sector spilled to other sectors causing the rise in overall inflation. The government and RBI are working on the lines of monetary regulations like change in the interest rates, CRR etc. But looking at the way the food prices are stuck at the higher side, don’t these monetary measures appear just temporary remedies? There are certain deeper, grass root causes which have to be actually tackled. India has come a long way in case of food grain productivity. There was a time when our Balance of payments, account was always weighed down by food grain imports and the debts incurred for these essential imports. It is not so anymore. We are self reliant now. In case of sugar, global prices are determined by the amount of India’s sugar production! States like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are doing well in the field of agriculture. Production may be slightly short of demand considering the huge population. Such inflation can be checked by importing. But our problem is actually the middlemen. There is a huge difference between the cost of production and the price the final consumer pays. The farmer gets a very small amount of this profit/difference of cost and final price. For example – If we are buying a vegetable for Rs. 40 per kg. , the dealer at the wholesale market gets Rs. 10 per Kg. , and the poor farmer gets a meager Rs. 3. Again this Rs. 40 too will differ depending on the locality it is being sold. Then there is always the problem of black marketing & illegal stocking of goods to get a higher price. So we actually need checks on the middlemen and the retailers. Secondly, the system of direct farm to shops has to be developed, so that the farmers are the real beneficiaries. This will also motivate the farmers to increase production. Wastage is another important avoidable problem, leading to shortage. Production we have raised. But so much is wasted because we still are a laggard when it comes to state of the art storage facilities. Even the government’s huge food buffer stock lies unused till it gets finally rotten. Why doesn’t the government release its buffer stock on time to check shortage and food inflation? Is the buffer stock merely for psychological security? The government has raised the support prices of some food items. This along with the rural employment schemes and high urban salaries has also infused excess money in the market causing the inflation. Lastly, does the government know or sincerely follow, what is happening to the prices which are subsidized or fixed by the government? There are cases where the inflation will not show in the Government statistics, but will certainly affect our household budget. As usual when the Union Budget is presented, all eyes will be on the Finance Minister and his speech will be thoroughly scanned for all the implications on the economy. But this time, there is one particular reason why ordinary citizens will be specially focused on the Budget: the hope that the Government is finally going to act decisively to contain food price inflation. It is not surprising that questions of food security and the right to food have become such urgent political and social issues in India today. Rapid aggregate income growth over the past two decades has not addressed the basic issue of ensuring the food security of the population. Instead, nutrition indicators have stagnated and per capita calorie consumption has actually declined, suggesting that the problem of hunger may have got worse rather than better. So, despite apparent material progress in the last decade, India is one of the worst countries in the world in terms of hunger among the population, and the number of hungry people in India is reported by the UN to have increased between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s. These very depressing indicators were calculated even before the recent rise in food prices in India, which is likely to have made matters much worse. Indeed, the rise in food prices in the past two years has been higher than any period since the mid-1970s, when such inflation sparked widespread social unrest and political instability. What is especially remarkable is that food prices have been rising even when the general price index (for wholesale prices) has been almost flat; thus, when the overall inflation rate was only 1-2 per cent in the past year, food prices increased by nearly 20 per cent. Sharp rise in prices It is evident that the price increase has been so rapid as to be alarming especially over the past two years, with rice prices increasing by nearly half in Northern cities and more than half in Southern cities. Atta prices have on average increased by around one-fifth from their level of two years ago. The most shocking increase has been in sugar prices, which have more than doubled across the country. Other food items, ranging from pulses and dal to milk and vegetables, have also shown dramatic increase especially in the past year. There are many reasons why food prices have risen at such a rapid rate, and all of them point to major failures of state policy. Domestic food production has been adversely affected by neoliberal economic policies that have opened up trade and exposed farmers to volatile international prices even as internal support systems have been dismantled and input prices have been rising continuously. Inadequate agricultural research, poor extension services, overuse of groundwater, and incentives for unsuitable cropping patterns have caused degeneration of soil quality and reduced the productivity of land and other inputs. Women farmers, who constitute a large (and growing) proportion of those tilling the land, have been deprived of many of the rights of cultivators, ranging from land titles to access to institutional credit, knowledge and inputs, and this too has affected the productivity and viability of cultivation. Poor distribution But in addition to production, poor distribution, growing concentration in the market and inadequate public involvement, have all been crucial in allowing food prices to rise in this appalling manner. Successive governments at the Centre have been reducing the scope of the public food distribution system, and even now, in the face of the massive increase in prices, the Central Government is delaying the allocation of food grains for the Above Poverty Line population to the States. This has prevented the public system from becoming a viable alternative for consumers and preventing private speculation and hoarding. In addition, allowing corporates (both domestic and foreign companies) to enter the market for grains and other food items has led to some increase in concentration of distribution. This has not been adequately studied, but it has many adverse implications, including the fact that farmers will benefit less from period of high prices even as consumers suffer, because the benefit will be garnered by middlemen. Sugar is slightly more complicated, as marketing margins appear to show different trends in different regions and also tend to be significantly lower than the other major crops. The dramatic increase in sugar prices is more a reflection of massive policy errors over the past two years, in terms of supply and domestic price management and exports and imports. Marketing margins So what exactly is happening? It appears that there are forces that are allowing marketing margins — at both wholesale and retail levels — to increase. This means that the direct producers, the farmers, do not get the benefit of the rising prices which consumers in both rural and urban areas are forced to pay. The factors behind these increasing retail margins need to be studied in much more detail. In addition to this, there is also initial evidence that there has been a process of concentration of crop distribution, as more and more corporate entities get involved in this activity. Such companies are both national and multinational. On the basis of international experience, their involvement in food distribution initially tends to bring down marketing margins and then leads to their increase as concentration grows. This may have been the case in certain Indian markets, but this is an area that clearly merits further examination. Many people have argued, convincingly, that increased and more stable food production is the key to food security in the country. This is certainly true, and it calls for concerted public action for agriculture, on the basis of many recommendations that have already been made by the Farmers' Commission and others. But another very important element cannot be ignored: food distribution. Here too, the recent trends make it evident that an efficiently functioning and widespread public system for distributing essential food items is important to prevent retail margins from rising. Food security A universal system of public food distribution provides economies of scale; it reduces the transaction costs and administrative hassles involved in ascertaining the target group and making sure it reaches them; it allows for better public provision because even the better-off groups with more political voice have a stake in making sure it works well; it generates greater stability in government plans for ensuring food production and procurement. It is clear that emergency measures are required to strengthen public food distribution, in addition to medium-term policies to improve domestic food supply. A properly funded, efficiently functioning and accountable system of public delivery of food items through a network of fair price shops and co-operatives is the best and most cost-effective way of limiting increases in food prices and ensuring that every citizen has access to enough food. In a context in which the inflation is concentrated on food prices, measures such as raising the interest rate are counterproductive because they affect all producers without striking at the heart of the problem. Instead, if he is serious about curtailing food inflation, the Finance Minister must provide substantially more funds to enable a proper and effect to public food distribution system. Inflation Statistics. Snapping the five week rising trend, food inflation softened to 16. 91 per cent for the week ended January 1, 2011, although vegetables, onions and protein-based items continued to remained costly. Food inflation fell by 1. 41 percentage points from 18. 32 per cent recorded in the previous reporting week. Even as the index of food inflation showed a meagre decline, vegetable prices soared by 70. 3 per cent on an annual basis in the wholesale market, official data showed. Also onions continued to pinch the pocket of the common man as the prices went up by 70. 70 per cent on a year on year basis. Among the individual items in the food inflation index, egg, meat and fish became costly by 16. 70 per cent, milk by 13. 20 per cent and fruits by 17. 71 per cent annually. However, prices of pulses declined by 14. 84 per cent, wheat by 4. 87 per cent, potatoes by 1. 67 per cent and cereals by 0. 12 per cent on an annual basis. Meanwhile, in the non-food category, the prices of fibers and minerals have climbed up by 36. 1 per cent and 16. 70 per cent, respectively. India’s food inflation rose marginally to 15. 57 percent for the week ended January 15 from previous week’s 15. 52 percent. According to official figures from country’s Commerce ministry, the primary articles price index was up 17. 26 per cent in the latest week, compared with an annual rise of 17. 03 per cent a week earlier. India has the highest food inflation of any major Asian economy, but other emerging markets such as China and Brazil are also battling double-digit food price rises.