Monday, September 30, 2019

In Cold Blood Comparison And Contrast

The novel â€Å"In Cold Blood† by Truman Capote focuses on two main characters, Dick and Perry, that murder a family, try to escape and are eventually caught by the police. Throughout the story the author shows off both characters differently towards the reader, he displays Perry as a sympathetic character and displays Dick as being a dick. Truman Capote first came across the story of the murders by reading about it in newspaper, he then decided to article about it for the New York Times, before finally deciding to write a book.The author had many reasons to write the book his mains purpose was to make himself famous, while creating a new genre, and informing the audience about the murders that happened in Holcomb. In the book the author presents two representations of the same time span, one through the perspective of dick and another through the perspective of Perry. While giving the readers the story through two different perspectives the author uses a strong choice in lang uage. In the first representation from novel the author wrote â€Å"Deal me out, baby,’ Dick said.‘I’m a normal. ’ And Dick meant what he said. He thought of himself as balanced, as sane as anyone—maybe a bit smarter than the average fellow, that’s all. But Perry—there was, in Dick’s opinion, ‘something wrong’ with Little Perry. † The authors language in this tries to show Dick using Perry as a foil for his own self-image, often making him seem unimportant for his more eccentric, â€Å"childish,† or feminine qualities, in comparison with which Dick convinces himself that he is â€Å"normal.Another thing the author shows in the first representation is Dick’s pride in himself, which is made clear when the author wrote â€Å"he thought as balanced, as sane as anyone—maybe a bit smarter than the average fellow, that’s all†. Throughout the first representation the authors tone s ounds descriptive and condescending, he describes Dick’s attitude while also looking down upon it and not really giving any reason to his actions unlike his tone toward Perry, the first representation is done very well, in my opinion it is because the author goes into great detail describing what Dick does while sometimes being humorous.The second representation of the time span focuses on the perspective of Perry; it shows how Perry saw the events that took place during that time. In the second representation Capote shows Perry as a more sympathetic character, in the book the author wrote, â€Å"Then he heard dick say, ‘Deal me out, baby. I’m a normal. ’ Wasn’t that a horse’s laugh? But never mind, let it pass. ‘Deep down,’ Perry continued, ‘way, way rock-bottom, I never thought I could do it. A thing like that. † This quote shows an attempt by the author to make Perry seems like a better person, and a more sympathe tic character to improve his image.The author also tries to give depth to Perry’s character in the representation, the author wrote â€Å"And at once he recognized his error: Dick would, Of course, answer by asking, ‘how about the nigger? ’ When he’d told Dick that story, it was because he’d wanted Dick’s friendship, wanted dick to ‘respect’ him, think him ‘hard,’ as much ‘the masculine type’ as he had considered dick to be. † This quote shows how Capote tries to improve Perry’s image because he tries to give reasons to Perry’s actions even though they were bad, by doing so the audience gains an emotional appeal towards Perry and think of him as a better person than Dick.The author shows further sympathy to dick when he himself tries to explain Perry’s action, he wrote â€Å"But if the man was dead today it was none of Perry’s doing; he’d never raised a hand aga inst him. For all he knew, King might still be lying in a bed somewhere†, this passage shows how much Capote connected with Perry compared to how he did with Dick, even his tone in the second representation was very different from that of the first. In the second representation, the author tone was still descriptive but was more sympathetic, and remarkably Capote had a way to make Perry look good even though he was the actual killer of the Clutter family.There are many similarities and many differences between the way author presented the two perspectives even though they are of the same time span. Although the way the author presented the two perspectives are very different, there are also many similarities, some similarities are, he gives the same story and often used the same quotes in both representations, in the first representation the author wrote â€Å"Mountains. Hawks wheeling in a white sky. † In the second representation the author also wrote â€Å"Mountains . Hawks wheeling in a white sky. † This was very important because it helped the reader understand what the author was doing.Another similarity between the two representations is the way the author displays the morality of the characters, in both representations he displays Perry as a more sympathetic character and displays Dick as very proud character. The differences between the way the author presented the two representations, one difference is the tense he used in each representation, in the first representation he uses past tense when giving the story in the perspective of Dick, while in the second representation he presents the story in present tense when giving the perspective if Perry.Another difference is the way he portrays each character, this is very important because it helps the reader understand how the author felt towards each character. In conclusion the way the author presents the same time span from the perspective of Dick Hickock and the perspective of Perr y Smith throughout in Cold Blood helps reader understand the connection he had with Dick and also Perry. He also shows that Even though the two may believe that they need each other and that they are similar in each and every way, they each put their own personal profit above one another whether it is for small change, sex, or even as far as death.The author includes the same time span from the point of view from each character to point out how Dick uses Perry as a foil for his own self-image, often belittling him for his more eccentric, â€Å"childish,† or feminine qualities, in comparison with which Dick convinces himself that he is â€Å"normal,† Perry, on the other hand, prides himself on being â€Å"exceptional,† sensitive, even â€Å"artistic† in comparison to Dick. However, each man looks to the other for affirmation of his own masculinity, Dick latching onto Perry for his â€Å"killer instincts,† and Perry yearning for Dick to think him â⠂¬Å"hard, as much the ‘masculine type’ as he considers Dick to be.

Business Plan: Sugarcane Juice Industry

Executive Summary We are the students of BBA from AIUB; under kind supervisor of sir MD. Mostofa Jaman started to work on new and innovative idea that has not been before in Bangladesh. As a step towards growing entrepreneurship in Bangladesh we students of AIUB have a tradition to present our new and innovative idea in front of people which could benefit the job situation in Bangladesh and so that we could become job givers not job beggars. Sugarcane juice industry is a business idea that deals is product. Our product is sugarcane juice in tin pack or pet bottles.Sugarcane juice is widely used in summer season because of its taste and low costs. Now in many countries it’s produced on chemical basis and there sales are quite high especially in Middle East countries. This juice is widely used in hot weather conditions. Industry Environment Over view of the industry Our business is the part of fruit & vegetable industry of Bangladesh. Agriculture is the largest income and employ ment-generating sector of Bangladesh. About two third population of the country resides in rural areas and directly or indirectly depends on agriculture for their livelihood.The sector is an important source of demands for its products. Company Locations and Facilities We select our industry location in Ashulia, Gazipur because we collect most of our sugarcanes from the north Bengal. The transportation system with north Bengal to Ashulia is very good. Potential customers Our potential customers will be every kind of individuals like: ? Students at every level. (from school to universities) ?Employees who work the entire day in hot condition. ?Households, passengers. In summer season every kind of people with no age limit use this juice, because most of the people avoid unhygienic products.Initially we will only limit our geographical scope to Dhaka and then after initial success we will expand our target segments. We expect we will cover almost 30%-40% of Dhaka’s population w hich could be almost one million we expect that out of these 30%-40% we will capture 60%-70% of the market. Direct competitors We don’t have direct competitors in our product however in substitute products we have mainly big companies like: Pran, Shezan, Akiz, Partex etc. Marketing Business opportunity This is the business plan of a partnership in the name of Sugarcane juice. The plan is to process and market the high-quality sugarcane juice.First time in Bangladesh, juice will be preserved in tin pack keeping them as fresh as at time of extraction. Till now market deals in fresh fruit juices which can be easily preserved however this idea has not been catered yet. Collecting raw materials Bangladesh country is an agricultural country. In North Bengal the farmers produce a huge amount of sugarcane. So it is a great opportunities for us to collect our raw materials. 1st year we buy our raw materials from those farmer. On the other hand in that year we leas 450-500 acres of lan d from the farmers and produce sugarcane in those land.Our sugarcane production will be increase if we grab the market. Company impact Sugarcane juice is widely used because of its sweet taste and being a solution to different health problems. The cost of production and raw material is not so much. It needs not to be marketed so much because it’s a new thing which people will try and love a lot. Simply we can place it in universities cafeterias, gourmet franchises and grocery shops, the only thing we must do is to ensure its shelf life and long time preservation time. Company strategy In first year, our company will market in Dhaka.Dhaka will be sole market for first year. Then looking through our sales history we will expand our business opportunities to other big cities of Bangladesh. More products that will be processed in same way and will be included in product line after making a good repute in the history. Operation Organizational structure â€Å"AAA† is an orga nization that will be legally formed as partnership firm. The partners will be Afroja Islam, Wasif Sabbir Hossain, Jabir Rahman, Shubo Saha and Md. Yusuf Raihan. Each partner will contribute 20% as initial investment in business.Key management personnel 4 important departments will be there: Purchasing and logistics Mr. Wasif Sabbir Hossain with one assistance (employee) will be responsible for all operating materials purchases at best possible rates and delivering at the appropriate time, use of just in time inventory. Production and Financial operations Md. Yousuf Raihan will be responsible for qualify production process. He will also be responsible for financial records and accounting. Md. Yusuf Raihan needs the following staff at the plant in the process. Process workers (1) MarketingMiss Afroja Islam is our marketing researcher. She alone with assistance of Jabir Rahman is responsible to design promotional campaigns and do art work for advertisement. Their main task is to work in celebration with sales department to create demand opportunities and find out new market segments. Warehouse Management and sales Mr. Shubo Saha will be responsible for managing finished goods inventory in Dhaka Warehouse and office and to go generate sales per decided and approved credit terms from financial department. Machinery requirement We use few kinds of machinery in our industry.Like crusher machine for crash sugarcane, filter machine for filter the crushed juice, labeling machine, can lid machine etc. Our plant capacity will be 3500-4000 Liters per day. Preservation system for sugarcane Aqueous ammonia (28% NH3 w/v) was mixed with 500ml batches freshly extracted sugarcane juice at level of 0, 0. 5, 1. 0, 1. 5, 2. 0, 2. 5 and 30% (w/v). the mixture were at a room temperature is sealed glass containers for 7 day period to measure changes in pH and Brix of the juice. Result for pH & Brix during 7 days after treatment are shown in Table 1.It gives the trends in these measur ement for aqueous ammonia level of 0, 0. 5, 1. 0, 1. 5 and 2%. Results for higher concentrations were identical to those for 2% aqueous ammonia. It is obvious that ammonia works well as a preservation especially if fairly high level are used, at level above 2% w/v the juice becomes less palatable for cattle and such situations if should bereft to stand until the excess ammonia dissipates. It has been suggested by Leng and Preston (1976) that the optimum level of available nitrogen in the rumen to ensure optimum synthesis of microbial protein in 3 g N/100 g of fermentable organic matter.Taking this case of cane juice at 14 Brix, then this world require about 1. 5% (w/v) of aqueous ammonia (28% NH3 w/v) in order to provide the required amount of available nitrogen for microbial protein synthesis. In the experiment reported here, the inclusion of from 1. 5-2. 0% aqueous ammonia in the sugarcane juice, thus provided the necessary amount of Nitrogen for rumen systematic protein and also preserved the juice over 6 days. Investment and Projected Financials Capital investment Business will be started with total capital of BDT 10,000,000. Each of five partners contributes 20% capital.Investment BDT Security payment for 10 Marla building Plant & machinery Labeling machinery Can lid selling machinery Working capital Total 200,000 4,060,000 90,000 110,000 4,662,000 9,122,000 Operating investment before earning BDT 4 months rent of plant building Wages for approx 2. 5 months Approximate initial recruitment cost Initial utility bills Total 160,000 100,000 20,000 40,000 320,000 Surplus= (10000000-9122000) =878,000 Surplus will be used to purchase operating materials for supplies for starting production. RA! HAN

Saturday, September 28, 2019

How to Compete in India Essay

1. The political environment in India has proven to be critical to company performance for both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India. What specific aspects of the political environment have played key roles? Could these effects have been anticipated prior to market entry? If not, could developments in the political arena have been handled better by each company? 2. Timing of entry into the Indian market brought different results for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India. What benefits or disadvantages accrued as a result of earlier or later market entry? 3. The Indian market is enormous in terms of population and geography. How have the two companies responded to the sheer scale of operations in India in terms of product policies, promotional activities, pricing policies, and distribution arrangements? 4. â€Å"Global localization† (glocalization) is a policy that both companies have implemented successfully. Give examples for each company from the case. 5. How can Pepsi and Coke confront the issues of water use in the manufacture of their products? How can they defuse further boycotts or demonstrations against their products? How effective are activist groups like the one that launched the campaign in California? Should Coke address the group directly or just let the furor subside? 6. Which of the two companies do you think has better long term prospects for success in India? 7. What lessons can each company draw from its Indian experience as it contemplates entry into other Big Emerging Markets? 8. Comment on the decision of both Pepsi and Coke to enter the bottled water market instead of continuing to focus on their core products—carbonated beverages and cola-based drinks in particular.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Performance Baseline Development for Severs and Networks Coursework

Performance Baseline Development for Severs and Networks - Coursework Example The analysis indicates the health status of the network. Data capture or sniffing tools can be used to monitor the stream of network data. Also, other protocols such as sFlow or NetFlow can be alternatively be used to capture the data stream. The two are less storage-intensive compared to sniffing tools. The administrators can see trends in application usage by performing packet analysis. The trends will help in assigning the percentage of utilization for each application in reference to total network usage. Finally, the monitors are left to run and gather points of data. The most preferred time to be allocated is about seven days. The seven days will allow effective and accurate monitoring of window and thus the determination of performance trends. A baseline for each data metrics is then set. The ranges that were obtained will determine the network performance baseline. (Tomsho, G. 2009, pg. 143) Some windows programs and tools can be used to gather the information that can be used to create the baseline. These include the Windows Forensics Toolkit (WFT) and the KDiff. WTF is an analysis tool developed by McDougal. It can be used to collect data. It is done by using the command â€Å"wft-fetch tools†. The KDiff is a comparative analysis tool. KDifff accepts both a baseline file and an updated file.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Bean Trees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Bean Trees - Essay Example merican parental rights and issues related to a psychological realm often operated within the context of myriad literary age concerned with the coming of an age is handled uniquely and brilliantly in the novel. Coming of an age which is quite interlinked with the themes of transition, metamorphosis and advancement of growing time or approach of old age is the central theme of many texts. The plot of the â€Å"The Bean Trees† demands a unique representation of the theme. The â€Å"Bildungsroman† or coming of an age is typical of a genre which focuses on the psychological development of the protagonist that comes with the maturity of his or her growing chronological age too. The genre of the novel also speaks about the quest for an answer or experience quite evident through the life of the protagonist of â€Å"The Bean Trees†. The genre also presents a conflict between the sensitive person and the society in which he lives and this conflict gives oxygen to the development of the plot. In â€Å"The Bean Trees†, Taylor with her trajectory in her old bug learns new phase of life with weird experiences of getting a baby child to meeting Mattie, who is an ocean of wisd om in terms of perceiving life. The plot, character portrayal, theme, setting and language of the novel from the outset represents the sound and hue of Kentucky life. The trajectory of Taylor, the protagonist of the novel and her meeting with the baby girl whom she names Turtle builds not only the plot of the novel but at every stage, her encounter with new people and their life style displays a set of colourful characters. The syntax and the language of the novel are quite lucid and full of colloquial terminologies launches the novel almost into a paradigm of folklore. The discovery of motherhood is almost like encountering an accident by carefree, independent, young girl named Taylor and her story of love, friendship, abandonment and sudden revelation of resources that are surprising in an area which

Textual analysis - Writings from the French Revolution Essay

Textual analysis - Writings from the French Revolution - Essay Example The tax burden placed on poor civilians was not enough to alleviate the crisis faced by the administration. However, he presents a group of people who were longing for their rights and privileges. He uses an unpredicted, composed tone and manages to maintain a calm logic as he presents quite provocative facts about the revolution. He makes wrong, unjust, illogical situations to appear as though they were quite normal and the people could stomach any evil. He presents how the National assembly ironically apprehended power in the name the French nation. The 14th July 1789 Fall of the Bastille did not surprise him. He uses soft words to describe the distressed self-righteousness and radical jubilation that followed and/or provoked the revolution. The riots in Paris and other places are covered extensively to illustrate the devastating effects of the revolution; properties, innocent lives, and immaterial things were lost. The author manages to present the facts while maintaining a relatively neutral position that leaves readers wondering whether he supported the unwarranted revolution. Issues of great concern are presented in a down-to-earth and compassionate manner that easily s ways the readers to pity with the innocent people unjustifiably affected by the revolution. The assertion of the rights of man passed in 1789 was aimed at supporting a later constitutional change. The contents of the Act are not presented. It could as well imply that the Act further devastated people’s efforts to salvage themselves from the undue sufferings and/or acts of the administrators. While the author seems to perceive the rights as inalienable, many such rights were violated on several occasions. Religious divisions are also considered to be a significant factor in understanding the revolution. According to the author, â€Å"The programme of the church reform was also ideological, inspired by the rationalism and

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

National Incident Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

National Incident Management System - Essay Example NIMS said that "effective communications, intelligence management and information and intelligence sharing are critical aspects of domestic incident management, especially when the 2 Continuation.Events leading to establishment of NIMS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- complexity of the incident necessitates a response from local, state, federal, and tribal emergency actors" (page 2). The two most compelling disastrous events which inspired development of NIMS were the 9/11/01 terrorist attack of World Trade Center Twin Tower and the Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina disaster during the 2005 hurricane season. According to the author, experiences from both incident revealed that needed communication effectiveness during a disaster is dependent on the ability of the different parties to understand one another. NIMS was developed with the belief that clear and effective communication can be achieved by establishing shared standards and protocols. NIMS was established out of a directive from President Bush on February 28, 2003 through the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) No.5 with the primary objective of "establishing a single, comprehensive incident management system in order to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents" (page 2). The author further reveled that NIMS was initially created out of 22 existing federal agencies created by virtue of Homeland Security Act of 2002. Key features of NIMS NIMS was created out of carefully chosen representatives of different agencies across America including the federal government, states, territories, cities, counties, tribal...Each of the more than 700 inquiries received were immediately and directly answered. The single PIER site of the university received almost 4 million hits, a proof that the communication was needed and well accepted. In a community located in the direct path of Hurricane Ike, responders started posting updates and bulletins to their PIER sites three days before the landfall and continued to provide the same totaling 40 updates during the onslaught. The updates were distributed to media and community leaders and members. Further inquiries from media and community members were managed effectively thereby providing the needed assistance and safety assurance from the active emergency responders. The community PIER site experienced more than 600,000 hits throughout the hurricane onslaught and response efforts. Complete ICS 200: Basic ICS. (All personnel listed above plus single resource leaders, first line supervisors, field supervisors and other emergency management/response personnel that require a higher level of ICS/NIMS Training); Complete the National Response Plan Course IS-800 NRP: An Introduction. (All personnel listed above plus middle management including strike team leaders, task force leaders, unit leaders, division/group supervisors, branch directors and multi-agency coordination system/emergency operations center staff); Complete ICS 400: Adva

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Analog and Digital Formats Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analog and Digital Formats - Essay Example Smith asserts that : . flexibility is one of the chief assets of digital information.   The bits of data can be recombined for easy manipulation and compressed for storage. Digital images will not degrade when copied as analog formats degenerate. Information in digital formats can over access and can be downloaded millions of times. The process of converting analog to digital format is known as â€Å"digitization†. It is also important to note that digital format is best used with electronic communication such as PCs, Ipods , DVD players, and other electronic equipment. The main function of digital recording is the conversion of the analog wave into a stream of numbers and records the numbers instead of a wave. Usually, a device known as analog-to-digital converter (ADC) does the conversion. However, a multimedia PC can also perform the conversion by using audio editing software. There are many formats that you can choose from such as Windows WAVE (.wav)  ,QuickTime Movies (.mov), RealAudio (.ra, .ram, .rp),MPEG Audio (.mpg) Moving Picture Experts Group MIDI (mid) Muscial Instrument Digital Interface, and Windows Media Audio (.wma). The choice of format determines delivery speeds, quality of sound, plug-ins required and size of the audio file. The quality of sound is affected by the sampling rate especially in analog-to-digital conversion. Certain distortions such as noise can happen if the sampling rate is not achieved. The website pctechguide suggests that ideal sampling rate in audio recording for personal use is 44.1 kHz .Due to the different formats available, some players cannot recognize the format, thus, programs like â€Å"codec’ can make this possible. There are many types of codec such as divx codec, avi codec, MPEG-Layer 3 codec depending on the user’s needs and preference. An important factor in converting analog to digital formats is compression. Compression enables your files to download quickly. Compression

Monday, September 23, 2019

LOG502 MoD 5 SLP Assignement (Logistics Design Alternatives) Essay

LOG502 MoD 5 SLP Assignement (Logistics Design Alternatives) - Essay Example The global market has become highly turbulent and competitive in most of the industries. In mobile industry there are many companies who have come up strongly and created a good impact in the global market. There is huge amount of competition in these industries with many major players like Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Motorola etc. The logistics system used by Nokia globally to have a competitive advantage over others is very agile (Schroeder 45-48). The agile supply chain and logistics system does allow the company to be flexible and also adapt to the changes in a quick time. This type of logistics system is been used basically to have a good response to the changes in demand in the market. The main focus of this logistic system is to have a good method of reaching to the customers and providing the customers the correct model at the correct time (Slack, Chambers and Johnston 89-94). In agile system of logistics the system is more dependent on the demand system than on forecast-demand. The extensive sharing of information among the suppliers and the buyers does create a lot of information for the company and as a result the inventory is filled with more of information than physical items (Branch 64-73). Nokia does use the best of information system and automated systems to make sure that they have a good communication with all the members of the supply chain network to make sure that they keep getting the information both about the products and also about the market de3mand on a continuous basis (Meindl and Chopra 45-53). This helps in a building a good level of integration among the partners of the entire logistics system. The distribution network used by the company is very extensive as it has got its warehouse and offices present in all the major cities across the world (Collin and Lorenzin, 43-49). From these warehouses the products are been send to all the retailers and the distributors based on the demand of each individual product (Waters 123-127). The mobile

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Bullying Essay Example for Free

Bullying Essay According to cyberbullying. org, cyber bullying can be defined as the harassment, humiliation, torment, embarrassment a child, preteen, or teen faces from another child, preteen, or teen. The perpetrator uses the Internet, interchangeable technologies, or even their cellular phones to carry out the illegal act. Those who are faced with such an issue should reach out and make their voices heard. Bullying by any means, is undoubtedly wrong and painful for those who are victimized by it the effects cyber bullying can have on a child or teen can be utterly dangerous or in some extreme cases, deadly. Quite recently, in the news, was a story about Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, committing suicide allegedly due to two students streaming a video of him and another male being intimate. The two students who live streamed and recorded Clementi were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy. It is reported that 9 out of 10 gay children are harassed or bullied and are four times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual children. In my high school, a dear friend of mine felled prey to cyber bullying. A group of classmates discovered a video online of a girl, who looked somewhat similar to my friend, in a sexual act. These classmates then went around the entire school, showed everyone the video, and attempted to convince students that the girl recorded was in fact my friend. However, the girl in the video and my friend had significant differences about them that made it clear to me that these bullies were simply targeting her based on their personal vendetta against her. As a result, unfortunately, my friend started missing many school days and later I discovered she was cutting not only her arms but her legs as well. Any type of bullying can lead to emotional distress, lack of self confidence, and thoughts of suicide; these effects could last a lifetime. According to bullyingstatistics. org and statistics from the I-safe  foundation, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying. Countless amount of teens are unaware of the fact that the many things they post online, whether it be good or bad, can eventually come back and haunt them in the future, especially when applying for a job or college. What can truly be done about cyber bullying? Sadly, most incidents of cyber bullying go unreported; possibly because a great number of people don’t find the issue that big of a deal. In my opinion, cyber bullying can be averted by educating students on the matter, not only in schools but at home as well. Schools should set up programs and seminars educating students about bullying and its effects. The College of Mount Saint Vincent has taken the initiative of creating the counseling center where students can walk in and discuss any issues that their having with counselors who are more than willing to listen and offer their support. Parents should monitor their children and their actions. They should be conscious of who their children are talking to and who their friends are. For many like my friend and Tyler Clementi, cyber bullying has already taken a dramatic toll on their lives, but if more students come forth and speak on their experiences on the issue it is without a question that this horrific trend can  end.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Child Development Theories and Practice

Child Development Theories and Practice The Scottish Government (2010) has issued national guidelines for adults working with children from pre birth to three years informing them of the four key principles which promote positive outcomes for young children and families. Nine features have been identified to put the key principles into practice. The four key principles are rights of the child, relationships, responsive care and respect. Research has shown that birth to three years is a critical age for growth and brain development. The Scottish Government (2010 pg 15) note that Forming and reinforcing connections are the key tasks of early brain development. It is the early experiences and developing relationships that cause the connections in the brain to increase rapidly. It is essential that staff form warm and respective relationships with young children. Quality interaction with adults at this age is important in order for the child to develop cognitively. Attachment is seen as one of the features of the key principles. It is the process through which young children form close relationships with a few well known people ie parents or grandparents. Bowlby the theorist at the forefront of this theory maintained these relationships act as a lasting template for shaping the childs ability to make and keep successful relationships with family and friends. It is thought these early experiences with the first people who looked after us may shape our long term emotional wellbeing (Birch 2007). Mary Ainsworth (1969) built on Bowlbys work. She maintained that caregivers should be sensitively responsive, be aware of the young baby or childs signals and be able to interpret them accurately and respond appropriately and promptly. Through my observations it was apparent that the child had a strong attachment to both his parents, see appendix 1, observation 1. During my project I was open and approachable with both parents, finding out about the child s temperament, routines, likes and dislikes, making both parents and child feel comfortable in my company. According to Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010 pg 24) one of the most effective ways of demonstrating respect for children and families is where staff express a genuine interest in them. I have been able to witness the benefits of working with a family in a home environment and feel that home visits should be arranged in order that a relationship can be built up with parents, children and practitioners before younger children attend an early years setting. This should make the transition from home to the setting run smoothly, enabling the child to feel safe and secure in a new environment. According to Dryden et al (pg 81) Having a secure attachment to their primary carers and to a key worker in a nursery setting appears to impact on a childs ability to cope with major life changes. This emphasises the importance of stable and sensitive care for very young children in an ear ly years setting. Goldschmeid was influenced by Bowlbys work and introduced the keyworker concept (The Early Years Foundation Stage 2007). This approach sees an adult being responsible for the care of a small group of children, getting to know their routines well and tuning into their needs. Ratios of staff to children could be a challenge of the system. It is not always possible for the same person to attend to the needs of younger children. Also rotas and turnover of staff may mean that other colleagues in addition to a childs keyworker will be required to know childrens routines and preferences. There are various models that can be used to track the growth and development of children in the early years. The medical and checklist models can result in a deficit view of the child, focusing on what the child cannot do. Learning should always start with what the child can do. The conventional method of studying child development has been to use the Normative Development model. Mary Sheridan carried out research in the 1950s. This work was used to develop a framework for child development. This uses the milestones approach and suggests that children should be able to achieve certain things at a certain age. Although there are recognized sequences of child development it is thought that as children develop at different rates it is more appropriate to look at a childs development holistically (Dryden et al 2007). The EYFS (2007) has divided learning and development into the following six areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication, Language and Literacy, Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy, Knowledge and understanding of the World, Physical Development and Creative Development (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2008) Observations and assessments should be completed in order that childrens development can be tracked and progression can be seen. It is important that there is a good record keeping system in place. Experiences offered during this project were not based on learning outcomes as this type of curriculum is not suitable for a child of this age. It is not appropriate to plan weeks in advance. By observing the child, together with information gained from parents I was able to go on to plan experiences based on his individual needs, see appendix 1, observation 3, I promoted play and supported and extended the childs learning where appropriate. I will take this into account when working in an early years setting, building childrens learning around their daily experiences and encouraging them to interact with others in the setting. Lev Vygotsky was a leading theorist of cognitive development whose thoughts are very current. He is seen as the founder of the social constructivist approach who be lieved that through social interactions with adults, children learn cultural tools and social skills. He felt that culture and community were essential elements of childrens cognitive development (Linden 2005). Children learn to think and put into practice their thoughts as a result of social interaction. Dryden et al (2005 pg82) notes the most important element of a high quality play and learning environment for babies and children up to three is the adult. I realize that I must provide an environment rich with child initiated learning to enable children to develop their language and cognitive skills and recognize that I will have to make reflection a part of my work routine. This will allow me to look at the opportunities of play that are provided and ensure children are being given the tools to make choices and decisions regarding their play and learning. Throughout my project I demonstrated to the child that I was interested in his learning by interacting with him and responding flexibly, tuning into his interests, enabling me to plan responsively for his learning. During observation 3, see appendix 1, the child was wrapping himself in curtains and on further discussions with his mother I learned that he liked to hide in the understairs cupboard and under tables and chairs. On reflection I thought this could be an envelopment/containment schema. Chris Athey (2003) identified schemas as a pattern of repeated actions. Children exhibit schemas when they are playing and trying to find out more about the world. Practitioners can use schema theory to interpret childrens actions and go on to support and extend childrens learning by providing appropriate resources. It may be difficult to explain schema theory to parents and I believe it may be helpful to use a video camera as a means of observation which may help the parents better understan d their childrens learning. Observation of childrens learning from both the home and setting can be shared and their learning taken forward from there. Working in partnership with parents is one of the features of the key principles in practice (Scottish Government 2010) Language acquisition is one of the key milestones in early childhood development. BF Skinner the theorist associated with Behaviourist Theory thought that children imitate the language of their parent or carers. The behaviourists believe that children learn through positive and negative reinforcement, using praise when a childs spoken word is recognized and ignoring unsuccessful attempts at speaking. This line of thought was challenged by Jerome Bruner a Social Interactional Theorist who believed that language development is both biological and social and that language is influenced by the desire of children to communicate with others. Bruner believed that through using a Language Acquisition Support System, various approaches can be used such as pointing out and naming objects and responding to childrens utterances all help children to acquire the language skills required for cognitive and social development. Bruner called this scaffolding the childs language acquisition (Birch 1997 ). I put this into practice during observation 2, appendix 1, talking to the child throughout, naming objects and responding to his gestures. The child seems to have good understanding of words but has a fairly limited vocabulary but this should increase rapidly around this age. After taking into consideration government initiatives and guidance, various theories of child development and my observations of a young child it has become apparent to me the importance of establishing a relationship between keyworkers, children and parents which is both respectful, responsive and nurturing. Research regarding the rapid development of babies brain development means practitioners must be aware of the impact of their practice on very young childrens social and cognitive developments. I realise the importance of continuing professional development in order to keep up to date with government legislation and any advances in child development which will help me make informed decisions regarding my practice. I believe it is important to put in place policies and procedures in early years settings that will facilitate the reflection on practice with practitioners, colleagues and parents.

Friday, September 20, 2019

E-commerce Internet Shopping

E-commerce Internet Shopping Is e-commerce boundary-less? Effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping. Abstract: Regardless of the unusual growth of internet during the last few years, the enormous business potentials of the internet remain largely untapped. There is a general observation that with the internet, national and international boundaries should become irrelevant when engaging in business exchanges. There exist two national cultural dimensions, individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance and their interaction that influences internet shopping rates across a wide spectrum of countries. For countries lower in uncertainty avoidance, individualistic cultures show higher internet shopping rates than do collectivist cultures. Implications for national and internet firm-level web design strategies are discussed. Problem Statement: Is e-commerce boundary-less? Effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping. Although the adoption rate of internet shopping is relatively high in the west, it is still generally unpopular in the east. In spite the promises of the greater global customer reach and potential profits; internet shopping adoption is still systematically affected by cultural differences. National wealth also contributes towards the adoption of internet shopping, because money is needed for necessary internet access infrastructure, subscription of internet services, and online purchases. Although national wealth alone cannot account for the vastly different internet shopping rates among high gross GDP countries. The adoption of internet shopping is jointly effected by a set of contextual factors i.e. national income and educational level as well as two major cultural factors, namely, individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. Research Objectives: The objective of this research is to find the effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping keeping under consideration the Internet shopping adoption rate, individualism index, uncertainty avoidance index, per capita GDP, educational level, unemployment rate, and crime rate. Hypothesis 1: Internet shopping adoption rates are higher for countries with relatively lower uncertainty avoidance levels. Hypothesis 2: Internet shopping adoption rates are higher for individualist than for collectivist countries. Hypothesis 3a: For countries with high relatively high uncertainty avoidance levels, individualism-collectivism shows little impact on internet shopping rates. Hypothesis 3b: for countries with relatively low uncertainty avoidance levels, the individualist countries show higher Internet shopping adoption rates than the collectivist countries. Importance / benefit of study: The importance of this study is that it addresses the issues and problems related to internet shopping and will also help in working around these issues and problems. It will also help in the regulation of e-commerce activities in a proper and efficient manner. Research Design: Exploration: Quantitative. The data was mainly collected from Global e-Commerce Report, Hofstede, World Fact book and United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Data Analysis: The dependent variable under observation is Internet shopping adoption rate by country. Internet shopping adoption rate is the percentage of internet users, who have bought goods or services during the past month. Data on internet shopping adoption rate were obtained from the Global e-Commerce Report of Taylor Nelson Sofres (2001). This report consists of data from 36 countries derived from interviewing a total of 42,742 people. The two independent variables are individualism index and uncertainty avoidance index. The data for both these variables was obtained from Hofstede, which includes 50 countries. The control variables are per capita GDP, educational level, unemployment rate, and crime rate. The data for GDP and unemployment rate was collected from World Fact book, The International Monetary Fund (2001). Data for educational level was obtained from United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Data for internet crime rate was derived from the total sum of the number of offences contained in national crime statistics and major categories of reported crime in each of the Interpol member countries. Nature and Form of Results Schedule: The results which can be concluded from the whole study are: Higher the income levels of a country, the higher the internet penetration rate. It can also be concluded from the case that taking income into consideration, educational level, unemployment rate, crime rate, and economic growth rate do not significantly affect internet penetration. Internet shopping adoption rate is negatively correlated with uncertainty avoidance, but positively correlated with individualism-collectivism. The relationship of uncertainty avoidance with internet shopping adoption is not as strong as expected, and is not significant. All the results support our hypotheses. National income plays a very important rate in both internet penetration rate and adoption rate of internet shopping. It can also be said that whether it is online or offline shopping, the higher the income level, the higher the purchasing power. Cultural factors also play an important role in affecting internet shopping behavior, over and above the effect due to national income and educational levels. Internet shopping is still at its infancy for some countries. The result also support that dimensions of national culture affect internet shopping rate. The national government level, macro level policies that are designed to suit the local culture can be implemented to stimulate the adoption of internet shopping. Facilities and Resources: The resources of this case study are Global e-Commerce Report, Hofstede, World Fact book and United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Bibliography: References: Anderson, J.C. Naurus, A. (1990) ‘A model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working partnerships, Journal of marketing 54(1): 42-58 Hirschey, M. and Pappas, J.L (1993) Managerial Economics, 7th edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers: Orlando, FL. Hofstede, C.H. (2001) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind, McGraw -Hill: London. Leung, K. and Bond, M.H (2004) ‘Social exioms: a model for social beliefs in multicultural perspective, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 36: 119-197. Lynn, R. and Martin, T. (1995) ‘National differences for 37 nations in extroversion, neuroticism psychoticism and economic, demographic and other correlates, Personality and Individual Differences 19: 403-406. Morris, M.W., Williams, K.Y., Leung, K., Larrick, R., Mendoza, (1998) ‘Conflict management style: accounting for cross national differences, Journal for International Business studies 29(4): 729-747. The International Police Organization (Interpol) (2003) Online data, http://www.interpol.com The International Monetary Fund (2001) ‘World economic outlook data.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Our Political Candidate Should Support Abortion Essay -- Politics Poli

Our Political Candidate Should Support Abortion It is very difficult for the two opposing sides in the heated debate of the legality of abortion to see eye to eye. This is mainly because the two sides, who live in the same country, state, cities, and neighborhoods live in all together different worlds. Your neighbor that you see out every day playing with their dogs, washing their cars, and mowing their lawn may live in an exactly opposite world. Are they married? How many children do they have? Are they male or female? What is their job like? Do they have a job? College education? Do they attended a church, synagogue, other place of worship, or none at all? As it can be seen, people who live in the same country, have the same president, can lead entirely different lives and have entirely different views on the world. It is the government’s job to make laws that appeal to both sides, and protect the basic rights of all of its citizens. This makes the legality of abortion debate so very divisive as abortion and its legali ty mean many different things to many different people. (Luker) The key issues are as vast and different as the people who hold an opinion on the topic of abortion. The case of Palko v. Connecticut (Roe vs. Wade) was the first to define a right to privacy. Using this same notion of a right to privacy, in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Roe v. Wade that a woman has a right to privacy in the medical procedure of abortion. This right to privacy according to the court means that she can have an abortion at anytime in any method she deems fit. This case though did allow for the state to impose limits on the right to an abortion as the state sees fit. (Roe v. Wade). For other people, the abor... ...{scholarly primary, print, authoritative} Tumulty, Karen â€Å" A Test of Kerry’s Faith† Time Magazine April 5, 2004 {Popular news, print via internet, reputable} Wallace, James. â€Å"Abortion isn’t Life, Liberty, or Happiness† July 11 1998 http://www.godlessprolifers.org/library/wallace2.html {unrestricted, print modified, plausible} Wilcox Race Differences in Abortion Attitudes: Some Additional Evidence The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2. (Summer, 1990), pp. 248-255. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28199022%2954%3A2%3C248%3ARDIAAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 {Scholarly primary; print via internet; reputable} Wilke Why Can’t We Love Them Both? On Line Book (c) 1998 Heritage House 76, Inc. Chapter 10 http://www.abortionfacts.com/online_books/love_them_both/why_cant_we_lo ve_them_both_preface.asp {Unrestricted; print via Internet; apparently credible}

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Blood In Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is about a struggle for power in Scotland. Macbeth, the main character, gets prophecies from three witches about his future accomplishments that will come to him. One of his prophecies is that Macbeth will become king, Macbeth hearing this he becomes ambitious and later kills the current King Duncan, making himself the new king. A tragic ending comes to Macbeth when the people leave him and his world collapses around him. Blood is a recurring theme in this play; the theme of blood shows the setting of the play at that time and the different moods and emotions acquired by the characters. This idea of blood in the characters mind reverse from the beginning of the play to the end. Blood traverses the play Macbeth.King Duncan is the first to bring up blood in the play. Scotland at this time is fighting Norway; Macbeth and his best friend, Banquo, lead the Scottish forces to victory. The blood brought up by Duncan shows the honor and the heroic deeds done by Macbeth. "What bloody man is that?" Duncan asked to which Malcolm tells him it is the sergeant who had saved him and fought honorably. The sergeant shares his story of how Macbeth has fought so honorably even outnumbered "carv’d out his passage." This valiant story with the bloody sergeant being weak from his war injuries enhances Macbeth’s heroic appearance. Duncan’s response to the story shows his respect for Macbeth and realization of Macbeth’s honor, "O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!" Blood as it shows the good also shares the evil.Lady Macbeth portrays the evil side that blood offers to contrast with the good. Lady Macbeth hears from a messenger that the king shall arrive at the castle tonight. Lady Macbeth is the evil one of the pair while Macbeth seems full of good in this world Lady Macbeth sees opportunity. The only problem she finds wrong with herself is that she is a woman; she wishes that her weak female body change, "unsex me her, / and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full/ of direst cruelty!" With this change she wants her blood to become thick, thick blood would help Lady Macbeth become strong and let her kill without regret, "make thick my blood, / stop up th’ access and passage to remorse." Macbeth soon finds out what the word blood is to him.Macbeth after he has killed Duncan is in shock, h... ...ks, her maid and a doctor observe her. She rubs her hands together as if she was washing them. She continues to "wash" King Duncan’s blood away until she reminds herself of the bell she rang to summon her husband. "Out damned spot! out, I say!" When Lady Macbeth thought of Macbeth being king she thought that no one could oppose his power and killing Duncan wouldn’t cause any harm to her. "What need we fear who knows it, what none can call our power to account? —Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?" She although adds that Duncan has a lot of blood and this reminds her of her guilt. This guilt plagues her and she is devastated in her dream when she realizes that, "Here’s the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Lady Macbeth’s perspective changed at this point on blood and she will later commit suicide.Imagery is a useful tool used by many authors. Shakespeare used "blood" as an image throughout his play to show the emotions and actions of characters as well as the mood for that part of the play. This imagery is useful because it describes the characters

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Iran Contra Affair

The Iran-Contra scandal had a big effect on the United States but it had a huge effect on Nicaragua. Through out 1985-86, the Reagan administration was selling weapons to Iran illegally in order to encourage Iran to free hostages in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Reagan administration wanted to support the Contras in Nicaragua, a rebel group fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government. The administration decided to use the money made from selling arms to Iran, and had it sent to the Contras without passing through the United States. Walsh, p2. ) In this paper, I am going to provide the background of the situation. I will explain how the money from the missile sales was used to support the Contras. I will also tell how everything became public, the end of United States support for the Contras and about then investigations and public hearings in the United States. But finally this paper is about the significance, or impact, of the Iran-Contra affair. The Sandinista National Libera tion Front was founded in 1963.Named after Augusto Ceser Sandino, it was an extreme leftist organization â€Å"of Castroite and Maoist direction. † There were only about 150 members as of 1975, but sympathy was growing. (Times, 1/3/75) By August 1975, the SNLF had â€Å"begun to gain strength as discontent with the Somoza regime [had] spread through the middle classes. † (Times, 8/6/75) By August 1977 according to The New York Times, Amnesty International said that â€Å"there had been widespread abduction, torture and killing of peasants by the National Guard† during the previous year. 8/16/77) The strength of the SNLF continued to grow. In October 1977, the SNLF, for the first time, was â€Å"joined by non-Marxist opponents of the regime† including some conservatives. (Times, 10/20/77) By May 1978 opposition groups, including the SNLF, were proposing a coalition government that would exclude Somoza. (Times, 5/1/78) By November 1978, the Carter Administr ation was trying to push Somoza â€Å"into a compromise with his opponents. † (Times, 11/21/78) After 4 years of growing violence, including street fighting in the capitol, Somoza finally resigned. 9/17/79) After the Sandinistas took power in 1979, the remnants of Somoza’s National Guard scattered. As Kornbluh and Byrne describes The Iran Contra Scandal, they were reduced to small bands of some 250 men, hiding in Honduras and Guatemala, where they resorted to random violence and stealing to survive. The CIA brought these small groups together. After the Contras started receiving money from the CIA, the number of attacks on the Sandinistas increased a lot. Attacks during this period included, sabotage of highway bridges, sniper fire on small military patrols, the burning of customs warehouses and crops, and ‘the assassination of minor government officials’†( Kornbluh, p. 2; they are quoting from a document in the National Security Archives). On Decemb er 1, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed a finding allowing our government to help the Contras. Beginning in March 1982, the whole thing became public as articles in the Nation, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Newsweek reported on CIA aid to the Contras.Congress reacted to this by passing the Boland Amendment, which read: None of the funds in this Act may be used by the Central Intelligence Agency of or the Department of Defense to furnish military equipment, military training or advice, or other support for military activities, to any group or individual, not part of a country’s armed forces, for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Nicaragua or provoking a military exchange between Nicaragua and Honduras. (Kornbluh, p. ) In spite of this, the Reagan Administration continued to aid the Contras, all the time denying that they were doing so. Among the aid they sent was the Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare training manual, referred to by thos e who knew about it as the â€Å"murder manual. † (Kornbluh, p. 2) The Reagan administration later on came up with a new strategy, to portray the Contras as freedom fighters and the Sandinistas as oppressors. In 1984, the CIA sowed mines in a major port in Nicaragua causing a severe amount of damage. The Contras took credit for this.But a few weeks later the press exposed the CIA involvement. In response, Congress passed a second Boland Amendment, which said that neither the CIA nor the Defense Department could fund the Contras, either directly or indirectly. From then on the administration worked through the National Security Council, and NSC staff member Oliver North. NSC William Clark established Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (housed in State Department but reported to the NSC), Oliver North attended the meetings: responsible for all Contra affairs.Because the CIA was prohibited from operating inside the United States, Director William Case y had senior propaganda specialist Walter Raymond transferred to the NSC. As Raymond declared, his job was to â€Å"concentrate on gluing black hats on Sandinistas and white hats on Contras. † (Kornbluh, p. 5) All this time, CIA intelligence analysts were saying that the Contras couldn’t win, even with American support. Robert Owen, Oliver North’s personal intermediary with the Contras is quoted as saying they were simply â€Å"profiteers. 1 Meanwhile, during 1985-86, as mentioned earlier, the Reagan administration was selling weapons to Iran illegally in order to encourage Iran to free hostages in the Middle East. After the 1979 hostage situation at the United States Embassy in Tehran, Carter had imposed an embargo on selling weapons to Iran. When Reagan came to power in 1981, the Embassy hostages were freed, but Reagan continued the embargo policy. In 1983, the administration strengthened it through operation STAUNCH, a worldwide voluntary arms embargo agains t Tehran. But for several reasons, some people in the administration supported softening the stance toward Iran.The idea that selling weapons would help win the release of hostages encouraged them to act. The way the United States diverted the funds is complex. Basically, the United States sold arms to Iran, hoping to get hostages freed, then used the money they got to arm and support the Contras. All of this was done secretly. On October 5th, 1986, an American plane was shot down by Sandinistas over southern Nicaragua. The two pilots were killed, but the â€Å"cargo kicker,† Eugene Hasenfus, parachuted out and was captured by Sandinista soldiers. He told the Sandinistas everything he know about United States involvement with the contras.The next day, the story was on the front page of every major United States newspaper. Then, on November 3rd, 1986, a Lebanese paper published a story that revealed the United States trading of arms for hostages. (historycommons. org, p. 1) Ha ving these two pieces of the puzzle soon led to people discovering the connections between the arms-for-hostages deals and secret aid for the Contras. Once the Iran-Contra connection had become public, Reagan appointed John Tower, Edmund Muskie and Brent Scowcroft to a President's Special Review Board charged with investigating the affair.People expected the Tower Commission to be a whitewash, but its report brought to light many of the details of what had happened. On November 26, 1986, Attorney General Edwin Meese ordered the FBI to begin an investigation of the Iran-Contra episode. December 19, 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was named to the Office of Independent Counsel to take over that investigation. The Tower Commission, congressional investigations and the work of the Independent Counsel led to indictments of Oliver North and John Poindexter on March 16, 1988.North was convicted on charges of obstruction of justice, misleading Congress, and accepting an illegal gratuity, but an app eals court overturned the verdict because testimony to Congress given under immunity might have affected his trial. Poindexter was also convicted and his convictions overturned on appeal. (Kornbluh, p. xxviii) In 1992, George H. W. Bush pardoned six others who had been indicted or convicted of crimes in the affair. The Iran-Contra affair made the United States look untrustworthy internationally, as well as causing people to distrust their government.The United States government depends on a system of checks and balances among the congress, executive and judicial branches. If the executive branch does whatever it wants and hides its actions from the congress, then the people are no longer in charge of their government. This is a genuine threat to democracy. When Somoza resigned in 1979, the Sandinistas and others who had opposed Somoza formed a junta to govern until there were elections. The country was a mess. There was poverty, malnutrition, disease, pollution from pesticides, fact ory runoff and raw sewage into Lake Managua.The Sandinistas tried to address these problems and might have succeeded if the Contras had not undermined a lot of what they did. Money from Cuba and Eastern Europe was spent on building up an army to combat the Contras instead of being used for other important needs. The Sandinistas won an election in 1984 with 67% of the vote; most international observers deemed the elections fair. Exhaustion on both sides, fear of losing to the Contras, and mediation by other governments in the area led to the â€Å"Sapoa ceasefire† between the Sandinistas and the Contras on March 23, 1988.In the elections that followed in February 1991, the Sandinistas, who were expected to win, were soundly defeated. The new President was Violeta Chamorro, widow of a prize winning newspaper editor who had struggled against Somoza. When the Chamorro government took power, the situation of the country was even more desperate than in 1979. 2 All in all, the Contr as and the United States support for them were disastrous for Nicaragua. Notes 1 This paragraph is based on information from Kornbluh. 2 This paragraph is based on information from Britanica.Works Cited Britinaca. com. http://www. britinica. com/EBchecked/topic/413855/Nicaragua . â€Å"Iran-Contra and Arms-for-Hostages Scandals: Eugene Hasenfus† http://www. historycommons. org/jsp? irancontraaffair_key_figures . Kornbluh, Peter, and Malcom Byrne. The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History. New York: The New Press, 1993. The New York Times, January 3, 1975-September 17, 1979. Walsh, Lawrence E. Independent Counsel Report. â€Å"Executive Summary,† p. 2. http://www. fas. org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum. htm .

Monday, September 16, 2019

Notice and Focus: Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield Essay

†Girl Culture† photo essay by Lauren Greenfield’s was shot inside a department store’s dressing room. It is about a picture of a young lady name Sheena, who seems to me, fitting some cloths while another girl, amber, about her age; probably a close friend is sitting on the floor watching her. The shot was taken candid. It appeared like a shot from a hidden security camera of the store. By the angle of where the picture was taken, I think the camera is located near the mirror where it could take a clear shot on the subject’s full frontal image. Sheena was almost half naked, wearing only jeans and a sando shirt in which she pulls up to her chest as she holds her breast. It really gave me an impression that Amber might be a very close friend for Sheena allowed her to see her that way probably to solicits some opinion. By the look at Sheena’s face, I could tell that see is disappointed about something and by the tight hold on her breast, I think she was discontented of its size. There are few things about this picture that captures my attention. The way Sheena holds her breast, the presence of Amber inside the rooms and the camera itself. With this photograph, one could tell how the thread of fashion’s today affects the mindsets of young girls cultures today. Most of our young ladies today, like Sheena, now always dream for a much larger breast. It shows how they are conditions by society that big breast attracts more. Page 2 With the presence of Amber inside the room it reflects how liberated our teens today. They are now less conservative with their privacy but I think it is just fine, for as long as they really know their friends. The good thing about it is that they know how to solicit suggestions among their peers for no one can really tell how good they look excepts for the peoples that surrounds them. This photo might be reflections of how young girl cultures today but what bothers me is the means this photo had taken. It’s a stolen shot from a dressing room of a public place and if this is true, I found it very alarming. This is a clear violation of privacy of every individual entering that room. It’s very abusive on the part of the owner of that establishment. Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield February 10–March 27, 2005 Tisch Gallery

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Music is not just a sound

Music is not just a sound that we hear but it is also a language used by many people. In early times, music is divided into historical periods. Nowadays, music is considered as an effective way of communication. We can say that music serves as an instrument of expression for artist and also for people who loves music. In that sense, people relate their selves into music as an outlet for them to release their feelings or more so for them to acknowledge whatever feeling they have inside.â€Å"Music as a popular communication and entertainment art is a critical aspect of a culture (Jenkins. 2001).† Music has become one of the most popular topics to talk about not just in any TV show, radio show or even in the internet but also in any conversation among people. To this day, music is considered as an effective way of communication because it caters to different genre.Through this genre caters to different generation of the society. In its context, music is emotional because it expr esses the very feeing of the artist. Some music today is too loud but when we carefully listen and understand the very meaning of its lyrics, we will realize that it has a sense and a feeling too that one can relate.It is also an effective communication because it relates the very meaning of it to the people who listen to it. Through the lyrics, people connect themselves to the music and that’s how communication begins. Nowadays, music is used for therapeutic and healing purposes.It creates a language that helps people to understand through its melody and rhythm. From time to time, we have witnessed how music changes for different generation to generation and how it effectively used as a communication tool in different areas of life. Music is widely used on different areas such as in politics, education, and religion and to different people as well.In politics, music is effectively used as a communication tool to convince people to support a candidate. In education, music is used as a subject or simply as entertainment. In religion, music is used to communicating with the Lord and for praising. For mothers, music is used as a language for their babies and for young adults; music is the very heart and soul of their being. Indeed, music is widely use as an effective tool of communication. Truly, many of us is affected by music because  we as individual elate our self to it. Through music we get inspirations as well as learning that provide us the ability to discover our self and to also release whatever feeling we have inside.Music is indeed emotional because musician relates it to their own self. People as well relate it to themselves that it why we can say that music is an effective communication tool. â€Å"Music has been defined so much that it is really not clear anymore what it is or what can be called music (Kosk).†   Nonetheless, music has provided us different types for different people and culture. We hear music and feel it and there is an invisible line that connects us to music and keeps our spirit alive every time we hear our favorite music.   The ever changing of music from time to time makes it more exciting for music lovers to utilize their own self and relinquish such melody that comes form their heart and soul.While music is important, communication as well is very important. The two link together because music is communication and communication is music as well. We may view it differently but the question on how music is an effective communication tool because it is emotional is simply because it conveys messages and influences people in one way or another. Certainly, music entertains us and provides us the same aspirations in life. We as individual relate our self to music because we are also as emotional as the music.It is clearly present in our society today of how effective communication is as a tool. All over the world, music is also considered as a language of heart and soul to people. Through i ts effect and influence it makes, music is a language that effectively communicates to different people and culture. It is a tool that expresses one’s thought and dreams, a communication tool that provides harmony and rhythm and effectively relates its very meaning to people who listens to it. Definitely, music is part of our daily lives and as important as communication, both provides us the ability to be inspired and developed as an individual through its meaning and intention. Music is effective as a communication tool because it is simply emotional on its own and more so it is a line that speaks for its true sense and that communicates to every human being.Works CitedStewart, Cameron. â€Å"Music Theory For Effective Communication.† StatsSheet.Com Reliable Stats,Tools, and Articles. 26 November 2007 â€Å"Music Therapy.† Answers.com. 26 November 2007 Jenkins, Orville Boyd. â€Å"Music as a Language Learning Medium.† 9 June 2001. Orville JenkinsHome. 2 6 November 2007 â€Å"Using music as a therapy tool to motivate troubled adolescents.† Medscape Today. 26 November2007 Kosk, Kairi. â€Å"Some issues of non-human animal communication. Is there a difference between

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Close Critical Analysis of Mrs Midas Essay

In Mrs Midas, Carol Ann Duffy takes the well-known story of King Midas from Ancient Greek mythology and places it in a modern context from the wife’s perspective. Originally, the story is about King Midas and the power he possesses that turns everything he touches into gold, which leads him to ultimately realise that wealth alone can’t make him happy – even unlimited gold. The moral of the King Midas story is that you can’t buy happiness, and also to be careful what you wish for as greed is sure to overcome you. This is where the present day expression ‘The Midas Touch’ derives from; meaning everything a person does is successful and profitable – as everything in modern society seems to be money orientated. Duffy implies another meaning to the story of King Midas as in ‘Mrs Midas’, Midas is portrayed as the modern day working man who neglects his wife for success and wealth – also reflecting the increasing number of couples having a divorces nowadays. The underlying theme of the poem is about the husband’s selfishness destroying marriage as men are associated with becoming too involved in work so neglect their wives/families. â€Å"He toyed with his spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks† the list of objects that he’s turning into gold illustrates the obsession men have with making money out of continuous successes they have; like Midas’ greed it seems addictive as they keep wanting more and more. ‘Toyed’ implies that he’s enjoying it; he enjoys being the alleged ‘money-maker’ so sees no harm in what he’s doing. It’s a flirtatious reference as if he’s using his male sexuality to get round his wife; this also may reflect how ambitious and prosperous men are perceived as more attractive by women (dependency so ensures security). Midas’ selfishness is highlighted when his wife describes her dream: â€Å"I dreamt I bore his child†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she can only dream of having his children as the reality is she’ll never be able to. It’s ironic how a wife’s ordinary dream of having a child can’t come true when her husband’s senseless dream of turning everything into gold does – Duffy contrasts men’s lust for materialism with women’s needs for simple things such as family. His selfishness is emphasised as because of his foolish actions, his wife won’t be able to accomplish these simple things – he’s already attained many successes it seems yet he’s asking for more. â€Å"My dream-milk burned in my breasts† milk that should be there is left unused so is causing her pain as she’s never going to feed this child, there’s also a sense of longing from her unfulfilled aspirations of motherhood. She’s never going to experience having a family (with Midas), which all married couples deserve to do. Following on from his endless desires, â€Å"But who has wishes granted? Him.† displays how no one actually has their wishes come true; only Midas could make this happen. The livid tone in which this is said suggests that he’s always had a greedy nature; the full stop stressing the bluntness of it as if, actually, she’s not so surprised that he was capable of doing such a thing. Her husband didn’t even consider her when he made the wish; he was that selfish he couldn’t stop to think about how this would impact of his wife. Perhaps this is imitating how in reality, men don’t always feel the need to consult their wives before making a decision as they feel in charge – ‘wearing the trousers’ in the relationship means that what they say, goes. The reader knows that the couple were in love, but Mrs Midas now fears her husband because of his power. â€Å"We were passionate then, in those halcyon days† implies that they did love each other, ‘halcyon’ suggesting that it may’ve been exciting young love as it was an early idyllic stage of their relationship; nevertheless they were in love which is now questionable since she’s afraid of him. â€Å"Near petrified/now I feared his honeyed embrace† portrays how Midas has subconsciously turned himself into something else – a monster – and as a result his wife is frightened of him and what he could do to her. â€Å"Honeyed embrace† sounds comforting – a soothing hug that’ll ensure everything’s alright, but really it means something completely different; it’s this embrace that will turn her into one of his gold pieces – end her life – so now she fears him more than anything. This poem very much seems to depict men as having dominating power over women. When Midas â€Å"sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne† his status is represented as ‘man of the house’, putting him in light of the original King Midas. â€Å"Burnished† proposes that it isn’t any old throne but one polished to perfection, again signifying the lust men have towards a materialistic lifestyle. Mrs Midas feels confused therefore helpless, â€Å"what in the name of God is going on? He started to laugh.† displays Midas taking advantage of her ignorance, enjoying the new power he possesses. â€Å"Laugh† suggests that he’s pleased with himself and doesn’t really care about the consequences of what he’s done. Woman being under the influence of male dominance is shown through Mrs Midas’ obedience and ordinary lifestyle. â€Å"He asked where was the wine. I poured with a shaking hand† she’s acting the stereotypical wife who stays at home obeying the husband’s orders. The clichà © of women being the usual housewife is therefore present as well: â€Å"The vegetables cooked/I served up the meal† implies she does the cooking for them on a regular basis, as this is part of her daily routine. This is mirrored by the clear structure of stanzas, indicating the ordinary and boring life she’d had; the structure’s fixed and predictable. The absence of success for the wife also displays how women aren’t expected to work and achieve things for themselves. However, there is a slight suggestion to women maintaining some sort of power too. The whole aspect of the wife leaving the husband puts women into a different light, proving that Midas doesn’t control everything Mrs Midas does. â€Å"So he had to move out†, she’s made the final decision and he listened to her, he also ‘sat in the back’ of car which illustrates his decline in status from sitting on a ‘burnished throne’. She leaves him, â€Å"I sold the contents of the house and came down here† indicates that she’s taken a stand and even made money from it; the only achievement it seems that Mrs Midas has attained, is as a result of breaking up with her husband. This emulates how women don’t need to depend on men for success; they are capable of being independent and earning a living for themselves. Overall, still it seems that males possess overriding power over females. Despite Mrs Midas leaving Midas, it was fundamentally him who caused the marriage to end. She felt incompetent because of his power, so knew it was crucial to get away from him. At the end of the poem Mrs Midas admits that she misses him, revealing he still has a hold on her emotionally. â€Å"I miss most, even now†¦his touch.† implies she misses his humanity and what they would’ve taken for granted before – the physical side to their relationship, and of course with that the love they shared. Perhaps this reflects another negative stereotype of women where they’re seen as being too emotionally attached: Mrs Midas seems to be in love with Midas ‘even now’ – despite everything and him turning into a foolish, greedy ‘monster’. She doesn’t care for the golden ‘Midas touch’ that destroyed their love (which ironically is a positive association), but the true human Midas touch that loved her in return.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Leadership & Vision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership & Vision - Essay Example Therefore, a vision that mainly reflects "vague dreams" or "thing(s) of imagination" may be detached from reality" (Bogler & Nir, 2001). "Leadership is reciprocal, occurring among people. Leadership is a people activity, distinct from administrative paper shuffling or problem solving activities. Leadership is dynamic and involves the use of power" (Daft, 1997). In order to involve and motivate the employees and to instill a sense of ownership among employees, organizations carry out many activities. Sharing the vision and goals of the company is one of the most practical and fruitful ways of instilling the sense of ownership among employees. This philosophy supported by a visionary leadership builds trust and trust further creates a sense of ownership. In the environment of trust and ownership, overall goals and objectives of the company are understood by the employees in a better way resulting in better performance not just by the employees individually but also collectively by the company or organization. Employees must be empowered to take action based on the basis of their understanding of different situations and scenarios within the organization. This empowerment will develop their problem solving skill and they will become a part of the big picture. This empowerment would not be possible without sound leadership.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Marbury v. Madison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marbury v. Madison - Essay Example The facts that surrounded Marbury’s case were very complex. To begin with, following the election of 1800; the emergent Democratic-Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson won the election against the John Adam’s Federalist Party. This defeat by Thomas Jefferson created an atmosphere of partisan anxiety for the lame duck Federalists2. As Adams became close to completing his term in office, he appointed several justice of peace for the District of Columbia who were approved by the Senate and received the president’s approval. The President’s signature was affixed with the government’s official seal. The commissions were not delivered; nonetheless, upon President Jefferson’s assumption of office by March 5, 1801, he ordered his Secretary of State by the name of James Madison, not to deliver the commissions. One of the appointees called William Marbury, and then filed a petition to the Supreme Court for a legal order or a writ of mandamus that aimed at compelling Madison to show the reasons behind him not being eligible to receive his commission. Chief Justice Marshall was called upon to solve the case, and was to respond to three questions. One of the questions was to determine whether Marbury has a right to writ for which he petitioned. The second one was whether the U.S. laws permitted the court to grant Marbury such a legal order. The third question was, if they did, could such a writ be supplied by the Supreme Court3? Responding to the first question, Marshal made a ruling that stated that Marbury had been legitimately appointed in accordance to the law, and thus, had a right to the writ. He further stated that since Marbury had a legal right to his commission and the law was to award him a remedy. The Chief Justice went ahead and indicated that it was the particular obligation of the courts to protect

Research questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Research questions - Assignment Example That is when I thought social media could actually be an opposite of social and does not make people sociable. Information on this will be easily gathered from my peers and other internet resources. After watching the movie â€Å"John Doe Vigilante,† I was left with too many unanswered questions after I got some enlightening from the movie. The vigilante at some point, in police custody and awaiting court’s verdict, asks where we draw a line between a vigilante and soldiers. They all work for a noble course, but a vigilante will be prosecuted for fighting for the justice of those that the system cannot do justice. In war, many innocent people suffer, including women and children. When do we justify the work of our soldiers as a noble course, where do we draw the line? War journals and articles discussing aftermath of war will be a good place to start while looking for information on this topic. Whenever we do a module that deals with Gender equity and gender equality, I cannot help but think that these two terms are contradictory. In our definition, Gender equity implies to efforts of allocating resources, decision-making, and programs fairly to both females and males and addressing any imbalances on sex basis. Gender equality means all sexes are equal. There is, therefore, contradiction in that we give some sexes what seems to be a free pass to address the imbalances and at the same time, assert that all sexes are equal. Shouldn’t all sexes be treated by order of merit? Should there be posts such as Women Representative in some governments? The internet will be an ideal place to gather information on this

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Analysis of Financial Statements of Bogus Limited For the Year-ended Essay

Analysis of Financial Statements of Bogus Limited For the Year-ended 30 June 2004-2005 - Essay Example The firm's inventory turnover also shows net improvements in its efficiency. In terms of stability, although there is marked recovery in the leverage and liquidity ratios, Bogus Limited's debt ratios imply that the firm is still highly leveraged and may possibly encounter liquidity problems in the future as a result of its financial positioning. Given these outcomes, a potential shareholder is recommended to invest in the company and take advantage of the firm's bright earnings prospect. In light of the firm's highly-leveraged position, a potential creditor is recommended to prudently extend credit line to Bogus Limited. Prior to arriving at an investment decision, potential shareholders and creditors must initially analyse the financial position and health of a particular company. This report provides an overview of the financial standing of Bogus Limited as at year-end 30 June 2005. It intends to aid a potential shareholder in assessing the feasibility of investing in the company's stocks by reviewing the overall and per-share performance of the firm in the past two years. Moreover, this report aims to assist a potential creditor in evaluating the company's financial health by looking at the efficiency and stability of Bogus Limited as indicated by the liquidity, leverage and turnover ratios posted in the given period. Body of the Report Performance Based on the income statement of Bogus Limited for year-end 2005 and 2004, the firm's sales increased by 26% or $554.4 million, from $2,124.1 million to $2,678.5 million. This signals that the company has sustained its earnings growth from operations in the last two years. This assertion on the firm's profitability is supported by the net profit margin posted that rose to 13% as at year-end 30 June 2005 from 11% in the previous year. Although the company's cost of goods sold substantially increased resulting in lower gross profit margin, Bogus Limited is

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Legal issues in criminal procedure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal issues in criminal procedure - Essay Example The fourth amendment defines a search as a substantive breach of personal right of privacy. Further, application of technology to advance police activities with respect to search have been considered as searches. This was held in the case of Kyllo v United States. Use of police dog for detection is also considered as a search unless the dog sniffs from a far distance. The use of a police dog can, therefore, be considered as a technological act to constitute a search.The general rule is that searches are supposed to be made after a warrant has been issued by a court. There are, however, exemptions to this rule and the police can legally search a personal vehicle without a warrant. Such exemptions include â€Å"searches with consent, special need beyond law, exigent circumstances, stop and frisk and motor vehicle† searches. All these exemptions allow the police to make a legal search on Tom’s vehicle. There was, for example, an initial consent, by the suspects, for the se arch. Further, the actual detection of a suspicious material in the car trunk was an instant event. The police can also argue that it was a stop and frisk exercise since the car driver behaved suspiciously in a deserted area. The law also allows the police to make searches on vehicles on transit. Based on these arguments, the court is likely to uphold the search as legal. Under this principle, the law provides that a suspect’s immediate environment can be searched to prevent the suspect from obtaining and possibly interfering with evidence.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Accessibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accessibility - Essay Example Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non government organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design.... For example, a website may have a wide appearance when viewed with the help of a computer; but it will appear in a sleek, oblong from when viewed with the help of a mobile phone. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2013; Seffah and Javahery 2004) Section 508 and Its Impact In USA, Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act (1973) was legislated in 1998 by the means of an amendment. The main motive behind this law is to get rid of barriers in information technology (IT) systems, which people with disabilities confront in general. It also aims at developing techniques that would make it plausible and easier for people with disabilities to have equal opportunity to access information. Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non govern ment organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design. Available Tools for Compliance Testing The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C provides an efficient Section 508 compliance checking

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Transparency and leadership in organisations Dissertation

Transparency and leadership in organisations - Dissertation Example ndful of the fact that the world’s national economies are inextricably linked and therefore the weakness of one is the weakness of all, global financial and economic alliances and unions called for greater transparency and regulatory compliance from all regional unions. The Middle East and North African (MENA) region is among the regions most cited for lack of transparency, with Somalia and Iraq identified as two of the worst-ranked countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. While the UAE is far removed from either of these two, it nevertheless is bound by many commonalities including regional economic, political, and trade agreements. Furthermore, the UAE has been one of the nations which had attracted public attention precisely on this issue. Dubai, more than the other emirates, has been under tighter scrutiny because of the Dubai World debt restructuring and the significant slow-down in development projects, even before the US subprime mar ket crisis hit (Afridi & Angell, 2010). The stigma of corruption and lack of transparency is a mark a country could not afford to obtain if it wishes to attract trade and investment from outside its borders. 1.3 Statement of aim and objectives The principal aim of this dissertation is to assess the degree to which transparency and good governance have been advanced by organizational leadership in the United Arab Emirates, as they impact upon the management of projects within the federation. In particular, the study seeks to fulfil the following objectives: (1) To trace the historical context of the UAE’s imperative for transparency and governance; (2) To understand the measures that have been instituted and are currently in place to enhance transparency and good governance in the UAE; (3) To... The intention of this study is transparency as capable of being seen through; without guile or concealment; open, frank, candid. It is also unavoidable to likewise discuss the concept of concealment. This is because the very concept of transparency is drawn from the absence of concealment. According to Kerfoot, concealment is at the heart of any dysfunctional relationship between the staff, its customers principally, and its other stakeholders. Concealment breeds distrust, and the lack of trust compromises the success of any attempt at a productive relationship. This can be a particularly disadvantageous relationship, particularly in industries where the organization works in close contact with the customer, such as health care services and hospital concerns. For the organization to discharge its function well, it cannot afford a situation wherein customers can find reason not to repose their full trust and reliance upon the firm. The avoidance of concealment, even the very appearanc e of it, is therefore to be avoided by a show of full disclosure and the conduct of an open enterprise. The various and divergent views on transparency is expected to be reflected in the specific application of transparency programmes within the different companies; likewise, the understanding of transparency within the cultural context of the UAE is also expected to differ from that of other countries. This material difference should be taken into consideration during the analysis of qualitative data to be undertaken in this dissertation, so that false conclusions may be avoided by careful qualification.

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Mangment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Mangment - Essay Example Managers find it difficult to budget the money for pay increase of the employees. They also know that employees would be demotivated to know that their hard work would not be rewarded with pay increase or addition of privileges and perks. I think that the greatest challenge for a manager in performance management is to track down and record employees’ performance throughout the year or interval. Some wrong areas that managers focus on while managing performance include long gaps between performance appraisals, highlighting only the deficiencies of employees with no mention of their good points, establish performance as the only criterion for pay increase. Managers are also misled in their decisions by the power and age of an employee. I think about managing performance annually, but believe that this should be conducted much more often, like monthly. The biggest concern is to be able to justify the decisions without demotivating the employees. This is a concern for me because I am poor at collecting daily records of performance. Most important skill in performance management, for me, is accordingly to be able to keep track of employees performance because this is tedious work and seems so unrelated to the organizational tasks at

Friday, September 6, 2019

Operant Conditioning Essay Example for Free

Operant Conditioning Essay The term operant conditioning is heard all over the psychology world. It is one of the first theories that one is introduced to during their psychology learning years. So, what exactly is this theory? While learning about operant conditioning we must pay attention to two necessities, positive and negative reinforcements. These two play a key role in operant conditioning and behaviors. But which reinforcement method works better? Positive or negative? There are a few aspects to look into when determining which method works the best. Once operant conditioning, positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement are learned, then it becomes easy for an individual to take the information and shape a behavior. Along with shaping behaviors, the creation of a reinforcement schedule can also be applied to the selected behavior. The Theory of Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning was created by behaviorist BF Skinner. Operant conditioning occurs through rewards and punishments for behaviors. This creates a link between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. Skinner had believed that it was not really necessary to look at internal thoughts and motivation in order to explain behavior. Instead we should look only at the external observable causes of human behavior (Cherry, 2005). When we have actions that are followed by reinforcement, they will be strengthened and then more likely to occur again in the future. However, actions that result in punishments or non-desirable consequences will be the opposite. These actions will be weakened and less likely to occur again (Cherry, 2005). An example of operant conditioning would be a young child during potty training. The young boy would receive a cookie along with praise right after he goes potty in the toilet but receives nothing when he goes in his diaper. As a result of this, he learns to go in the toilet and  avoids going in the diaper. Positive and Negative Reinforcement Let us first begin with what a reinforcement is. A reinforcement is any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows (Cherry, 2005). Now, there are two types of reinforcements and they are negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement. With positive reinforcement, favorable events or outcomes are presented after the behavior. This is where the behavior is strengthened (Cherry, 2005). This occurs because there is the addition of something new such as praise or an instantaneous reward. An example of this would be little Johnny receiving a dollar right after he cleans his room. On the other hand, with negative reinforcement there is removal of an unfavorable event or outcome after the display of a behavior. This in turn will strengthen the response when something that is looked at as unpleasant is removed (Cherry, 2005). An example for this would be the professor offering to cancel the quiz for week two if everyone turns in their homework for week one. Now as one can see negative reinforcement is different from punishment because in the cases of punishment the behavior decreases. In either one of these cases the behavior of the individual increases. To look at both positive and negative reinforcement, can we decide which one is more favorable or which one will produce a better outcome? It seems as if that would depend on the individual themselves. Not everyone responds or reacts to stimuli in the same way. In an opinion, reaction can be based on personality. For example, a young child could consistently be given the option of money after cleaning their room on their own and still not do it because it is not favorable to them. However, the same child could jump for the opportunity of not having to attend church if all their homework is turned in the week prior. On an individual level, a household can contain one child that responds to positive reinforcement while the other responds to negative reinforcement. The Scenario and Schedule There are two reinforcement schedules, continuous and partial. Continuous reinforcement is reinforcing the behavior every single time it occurs (Cherry, 2005). With partial reinforcement, responses are only reinforced part of the time (Cherry, 2005). There are four schedules with partial  reinforcement, fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio, and variable interval. Fixed ration is reinforcing a behavior after a specific number of responses have occurred. With fixed interval, a behavior is reinforced after a specific period of time has elapsed. Variable ratio involves reinforcing the behavior after an unpredictable number of responses and variable interval is reinforcing the behavior after the unpredictable period of time has elapsed. To better understand these schedules, it would be helpful to apply a selected behavior and first learn how operant conditioning can be applied. As a single parent of two daughters, ages 14 and 11, learning how to apply operant conditioning to shape their behavior, has been very helpful. It was set up for the children to bring home weekly progress reports after a few incidents of missing assignments. If the progress reports were positive with no missing assignments the children were praised on site and each given a dollar per class. If there were any missing assignments in any of their classes, then the children would not receive any money or praise. This is a positive reinforcement choice. The completion of assignments and grades from the children in school increased in order for them to receive a reward. Now, it is time to choose the reinforcement schedule for the scenario just talked about. It is understood that positive reinforcement was used by giving praise and a reward once the desired assignments and grades were met every week. This would be an example of a continuous reinforcement schedule. The desired behavior is reinforced every single time that it happens. With the scenario, every week that goes by with good grades and no missing assignments, the children are rewarded with praise and money. This creates a strong association between the behavior and the response (Cherry, 2005). Conclusion Operant conditioning relies on a fairly simple premise; actions that are followed by reinforcement will be strengthened and more likely to occur again in the future (Cherry, 2005). This can be good or bad behavior. Good behavior was reinforced with the above scenario. However, if you give into the child that kicks and screams every time he wants a candy bar in the store, you are strengthening that negative behavior. Learning occurs with positive and negative reinforcements being key parts to operant conditioning. Both of these help to increase or decrease the likelihood of  the desired behavior. Determining which reinforcement is better, depends on the individual at hand and what their personality will respond to better. With the above scenario the children responded better to positive reinforcement and with the reinforcement schedule, the likelihood that no missing assignments and good grades occur, increases. Operant conditioning is used every day and plays a vital role in the world. By learning about the fundamentals of operant conditioning, shaping behaviors can be easier than ever! Well, not really but hey, Rome was not built in a day. REFERENCE Cherry, K. A. (2005). Operant conditioning. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.htm Cherry, K. A. (2005). Schedules of reinforcement. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm