Substance abuse counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Substance abuse counseling - Essay Example The Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011 edition stated that ‘persons interested in counseling should have a strong desire to help others and should be able to inspire respect, trust and confidence.’ This description would eliminate persons who are not people oriented or those who tend to be intrinsic or selfish in their desires. Apart from the requirements stated in the handbook it takes someone who possesses a strong character, a strong will and one who is able to separate himself from the problems of his client yet is caring enough to use all the facilities at his disposal in the search for a solution. The counselor should someone with a genuine interest in persons having this type of mental order. A person without this strong conviction will easily become frustrated in the face of challenges and problems associated with substance abuse counseling. The situations are often challenging so a counselor should be someone with great courage, having excellent interpersonal skills. One of the qualifications as outlined in the handbook is that a counselor must possess high physical and emotional energy. This is needed to deal effectively with the stressful cases and situations that are present on a regular basis. In some instances the counselor may work with groups or families but for the most part the job involves situations where they have to perform their tasks on an individual basis. The counselor has to be someone who has the ability to work independently or also work as a team. He should be a good listener and someone that has good rapport. He or she also has to be patient and develop measures of avoiding confrontation that can disrupt the counseling process. The counselor also has to adhere to the code of ethics. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice provide guidelines for counselors enabling them to make decisions that will uphold a high level of professionalism and ethical

Supply, Demand and Price Elasticity Essay Example for Free

Supply, Demand and Price Elasticity Essay A commodity is a basic good that can be bought, sold, or even used as currency in parts of the world. Items such as coffee, sugar, soybeans, gold, silver, wheat, gasoline, corn, platinum, oranges, and crude oil are examples of commodities in the global marketplace. Consumers demand commodities to meet their needs in the consumption of food, or the creation of other goods or services. Suppliers, often farmers, supply the commodities to the marketplace. Several factors can affect both the supply and demand of commodities. Selected causes that affect supply and demand will be discussed as well as the effects these causes have on price, quantity, and market equilibrium. Finally, the paper will determine whether the chosen commodity, sugar, is a luxury item or a necessity, identify the availability of substitutes, and discuss how these attributes impact sugar’s price elasticity. Supply and Demand Impacts and Effects As mentioned above, the commodity chosen for discussion is sugar. Much of the world considers sugar an important commodity, used for sweetening foods, and in making other products such as baking. For these reasons, consumers highly value sugar, so its demand remains high. Crops such as sugar cane and sugar beets produce refined sugar. These crops grow in many areas of the world, including the United States, Australia, and India. Sugar operates within a market economy, so several factors cause shifts in supply and demand. Perhaps the most important factor that affects the supply of sugar is weather. As a crop grown throughout the world, sugar cane or beets are subject to extreme temperatures, flooding, drought, and even insects. Recent severe flooding in northeastern Australia has diminished the world sugar supply (Josephs, 2010). As large amounts of sugar are lost to weather, the supply curve shifts to the left, quantity supplied drops, prices increase, and market equilibrium increases as overall demand decreases. Another impact to the world supply of sugar is the development of farming and harvesting techniques to allow planting of sugar cane or sugar beets in new nvironments and climates. This scenario increase the quantity of sugar supplied to the world marketplace, shifting the supply curve to the right. When this happens, quantity increases, prices fall, and market equilibrium edges lower as demand increases. Importing and exporting of sugar directly impacts sugar supply. Nations that produce sugar determine how much sugar to export, what price they will charge for the sugar, and whom they are willing to supply sugar. For example, India is currently exporting less sugar than expected (Josephs, 2010). This action reduces the quantity supplied, in turn increasing price and market equilibrium because of decreased demand for sugar at higher prices. Another impact to the supply and demand of sugar is speculative buying. In this case, buyers purchase sugar in hopes of raising the price of sugar by reducing the supply available on the open market. The effect of the reduced supply causes prices to rise as well as market equilibrium. As prices rise, the buyers sell their sugar holdings, increasing the total sugar supply in turn reducing prices and market equilibrium. Price Elasticity Determination Though used by people in nearly every country, sugar remains a luxury item. Sugar is mainly used to add flavor or sweeten foods such as baked goods, fresh fruit, tea, and coffee. According to recent studies, the average American consumes 150 – 170 pounds of sugar per year (Regan, 2011). Excess sugar consumption produces side effects such as weight gain, hyper activity, diabetes, or high blood sugar. To counteract these effects, numerous sugar substitutes such as Equal, Splenda, Stevia, Truvia, and high fructose corn syrup exist in the marketplace. The availability of many sugar substitutes in the marketplace creates elastic demand for pure sugar (Hubbard O Brien, 2010). As sugar prices rise, consumers seek lower priced substitutes. Substitutes lower the demand for sugar without changing the quantity of sugar supplied, signaling a shift of the demand curve to the left, lowering the price as well as market equilibrium of sugar. Conclusion Many factors such as adverse weather, farming innovations, importing and exporting, and substitute availability influence both the supply and demand of soft commodities like sugar, coffee, and wheat. Each effect on supply or demand influences price, quantity, and market equilibrium differently. Luxury items with many available substitutes, like sugar, have a more elastic demand than necessity products like gasoline or heating oil having few or no substitutes available.

Causes and Effects of Drunk Driving Essay -- Drinking Driving DUI DWI

Cause and Effect Essay on: Drunk Driving Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is one of the most dangerous things you can do. There is a mass of research evidence to show that driving performance and reaction times are seriously affected by alcohol. Our law in Georgia states, â€Å"that it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) exceeds .10%. Georgia observes a "per se" law. (Craft) If you drink and drive, you are not only a danger to yourself but also to your passenger, other road users and pedestrians. In fact, every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in alcohol-related crash. Every 30 minutes! And last year alone more than one million people are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down body reactions and the working of the brain. Each year drunk driving is responsible for about 25% of these deaths. The risks of drinking are alcohol-related accidents and violence. The effects of alcohol are poor coordination and slurred speech, double vision, decrease of self-control loss of consciousness and death. There are legal consequences due to drinking also. The more a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions becomes impaired. After just one drink, a driver can lose their ability to perform the tasks necessary to drive a car. At a certain point, a driver will become illegally intoxicated and can be arrested for attempting to operate a moto...

Educational Philosophy Statement Essay -- Education Teaching Progressi

Educational Philosophy There have been many philosophies passed down through the years by many great educators. Views and opinions that have varied from individual to individual. Some ideas were widely accepted and others were not. I feel that it is important for every educator to obtain their own individual educational philosophy. An individual philosophy is good way to help an educator become grounded in what they believe and strive to make that philosophy happen in the classroom. It is a belief that should be strongly believed in and in the end have an impact on the people it is aimed for, which is the students. Over the last few years, I have developed a philosophy that I strongly believe in, because it has proven itself to me, and I want to prove it to others. The philosophy I have developed is that education is the key that opens the doors of opportunity and every student needs to understand the opportunities that await them with an education no matter who they may be. First, who are the students? The students are a group of individuals who lack knowledge and understanding in particular areas. They are the teacher’s main focus. In my particular area of concentration, I will be dealing with younger children who, because of their lack of knowledge and understanding, have a certain nature. According to Rousseau, children have the tendency to be selfish and self-centered. As a teacher, you must first change this selfish nature by educating the student about the concept of sharing and giving to others, and then motivate the student to desire to follow the idea. The nature of students generally is at first to be self oriented, and this attitude can affect the learning process. This attitude of being self-centered can affect ... ...en this causes the child to get frustrated and lose interest in an education. Also, in the elementary classroom there are areas that are of particular importance. These areas would include math, english, spelling and reading. I feel these areas should get the most concentration. These areas provide critical learning that students will use for the rest of their lives. I feel the areas that I have touched in this paper along with my personal philosophy statement, reflect my views and opinions as a future educator. I have spoke about areas that are of importance to me, and ideas that I feel will make a difference in someone’s life. As a teacher, I truly want to make a difference and teach students the importance of an education, and the opportunities that are available to them. Education can take people places and I feel more people need to come to this realization.

Contract manufacturer Essay

Executive Summary: Danshui Plant No. 2 in southern China is a contract manufacturer that assembles electronic products and has a one-year contract with Apple Inc. to assemble 2.4 million iPhones. Monthly production target for DC is 200,000 units but in the first three months of the contract, the plant is unable to assemble as many phones as expected and is operating at a loss. Wentao Chen, manager of Danshui was anxious on reviewing the monthly operation’s performance of august as in the third month of the contract, production was only 180,000 units. The plant has had difficulty hiring enough workers despite raising wages over 30%. Issues: 1. Assembly process for an iPhone is complicated. 2. Danshui has underproduction. 3. There is a lack of qualified labor. 4. Insufficient information to train their workers. 5. Insufficient experience to manage operations. Requirements: 1. The plant manager considers whether a flexible budget would be more useful for uncovering problems than the static budget currently being used. 2. Need to perform breakeven and flexible budget analyses and calculate price and usage variances as they consider solutions for the plant’s problems with the iPhone contract. 3. What should be the total expected cost per unit if all manufacturing and shipping overhead (both variable and fixed) were allocated to planned production? What was the actual cost per unit of production and shipping? 4. To suggest as to how Apple iPhone 4’s would have been have to have been completed for Danshui Plant No.2 to break. 5. What are some strategies or decisions that Wentao Chen should consider in trying to solve the problems with the Apple iPhone 4 contract in the next nine months, how these would change the costs and profitability of Danshui Plant No.2 and the iPhone 4 contract. Hypothesis: It is expected that the contract price should be raised in order to be profitable as variances observed in the analysis suggest cost overruns and  lack of production handling & control while damages are also observed in material handling. Thus DC is expected to cover efficiency of its production while reducing loss / damages to materials. Suggestions and recommendations: 1. The most cost effective way to boost up production level under same capacity. 2. Motivate employees’ morale and concern their welfare. 3. Achieve learning curve effect under well-organized OT plan. 4. Mix balance strategy is advised: Over time schedule plan plus pay for performance policy. Alternative Strategies: 1. Over time schedule plan 2. Cellular manufacturing 3. increase wages 4. pay for performance policy 5. Outsourcing

Research Proposal Guidelines

Research Proposal Guidelines Research Proposal Guidelines Research Proposal Guidelines: How to Write the Research Proposal of a Good Quality? As it is understood by the name of the article the research proposal guidelines in this field of activity can play the important role for the person and especially students. When the person gets the task to write the research proposal there are immediately a lot of thoughts in the head. How to make it good qualified and correct? This is not that difficult, as al you are to do first is to search the Internet or some other sources and to find the necessary information about this type of the written task. Research Proposal Guidelines: What Points to Consider?The person should take into account the research proposal guidelines while working on the research proposal in the process of the research. What is also necessary here is the level of the material used in the content of the article, besides the process of sorting the material needed for the proper accommodation of the facts. As for the leve l of it you are to take into account the fact that the person should feel confident with the period of time needed for the proper writing of the present work. The research proposal writing is quite necessary for the graduate student, as a rule this kind of the written paper is quite necessary for the person trying to get some degree. One more point that can be of some help here is of course the professionalism of the writer, as in this case the person should be quite acknowledged with the topic of the present research and also with the field of activity. As at any case the person should feel assured with the facts discussed in the article and also with the level of material that presupposes the high quality of it. The proper acquaintance with the topic is quite important here, as the person should understand what he or she is writing about. The scientific level of the material is quite necessary here as the proper understanding and processing of facts is quite of hel p, especially for the person, who tries to become the real professional and finally get the qualified and proper research paper. Professional Help with a Research Proposal If you need professional help with your research proposal writing, you are welcome to rely on professionalism of our writers. Our researchers are qualified to handle any project. We deliver written papers on time, and we never plagiarize!

Free Essays on Election

This year’s election was the first election that I participated in. I watched the debates (or at least read the transcript from them), and I also voted. I have mixed feelings about how the election turned out. Being a Democrat, I did not vote for George W. Bush, however, he was elected to serve his last four years in office. I am concerned for our economy. Before Bush was elected, our stock market was performing the best it ever has, jobs weren’t scarce, and we certainly were not about to go to war. Bush has put so much money into this war with Iraq, and not enough has gone to things a little more close to home, for example, the issue concerning Social Security. When I retire, there may be no Social Security left but all Bush cares about is the â€Å"War on Terrorism†. Another thing that concerns me has to do with the whole gay rights and pro-choice issue. Bush is against gay marriages and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. I am a pro-choice advocate, and I think it is important to have the right to choose. There are situations where a female should have that right. I’m not suggesting that Bush should support abortions, but he shouldn’t try and do away with them completely. I don’t think that abortions should be used as a method of birth control, but if a female doesn’t feel that having the baby would be in the best interest for her and the unborn child, she deserves the right to choose what to do with her body, so long as it is within the first trimester. Regarding gay marriages, I just don’t see the big deal with letting gay people get married. I would say that I do not necessarily agree with letting them marry in a church, but if two people love each other and want to get married, then they should certainly have the right to do that. The bible says the sacrament of marriage is intended for procreation, and therefore same-sex marriage would go against what the bible says. But many gay pe... Free Essays on Election Free Essays on Election This year’s election was the first election that I participated in. I watched the debates (or at least read the transcript from them), and I also voted. I have mixed feelings about how the election turned out. Being a Democrat, I did not vote for George W. Bush, however, he was elected to serve his last four years in office. I am concerned for our economy. Before Bush was elected, our stock market was performing the best it ever has, jobs weren’t scarce, and we certainly were not about to go to war. Bush has put so much money into this war with Iraq, and not enough has gone to things a little more close to home, for example, the issue concerning Social Security. When I retire, there may be no Social Security left but all Bush cares about is the â€Å"War on Terrorism†. Another thing that concerns me has to do with the whole gay rights and pro-choice issue. Bush is against gay marriages and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. I am a pro-choice advocate, and I think it is important to have the right to choose. There are situations where a female should have that right. I’m not suggesting that Bush should support abortions, but he shouldn’t try and do away with them completely. I don’t think that abortions should be used as a method of birth control, but if a female doesn’t feel that having the baby would be in the best interest for her and the unborn child, she deserves the right to choose what to do with her body, so long as it is within the first trimester. Regarding gay marriages, I just don’t see the big deal with letting gay people get married. I would say that I do not necessarily agree with letting them marry in a church, but if two people love each other and want to get married, then they should certainly have the right to do that. The bible says the sacrament of marriage is intended for procreation, and therefore same-sex marriage would go against what the bible says. But many gay pe...

Free Essays on Random Acts Of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness A well known Japanese proverb reads, â€Å"One kind word can warm three winter months.† One word, one action, one simple display of affection can be more than you could ever imagine. From saying good morning to volunteering around the community, the number of ways to pass along kindness is endless. Many underestimate the little things in life – which actually end of being extremely valuable. I would like to share with you all this evening some examples of random acts of kindness, how they affect others as well as yourself, and hopefully transform or reinforce your views on passing kindness along. There are several different forms of random acts of kindness. Ranging from holding an open door for someone, to picking up litter, to working at a retirement home. I myself volunteer at the local Virginia Living Museum, and I love working with the animals and guest. A well known book, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II, comprised of heart-felt stories shares one on love and kindness. READ â€Å"A SIMPLE HELLO,† PAGE 97. Actsofkindness.org posts recent stories of inspiration as well. An anonymous member writes how she randomly felt like doing something special for her neighbors one day. She went out and bought a bunch of flowers early in the morning and with those flowers, stuck one in the plastic bag of each of her neighbors’ newspapers. Imagine the expression of these peoples’ faces when they got a little something extra to brighten their day. After giving you a few examples of random acts of kindness, you can probably guess how they affect others. Carmelia Elliot once said, â€Å"Make yourself a blessing to someone. Your kind smile or pat on the back just might pull someone back from the edge.† These simple acts allow others to feel special, to feel appreciated, or even to feel loved. You should not only recognize those who you yourself care for – but when you affect a stranger, you can ... Free Essays on Random Acts Of Kindness Free Essays on Random Acts Of Kindness Random Acts of Kindness A well known Japanese proverb reads, â€Å"One kind word can warm three winter months.† One word, one action, one simple display of affection can be more than you could ever imagine. From saying good morning to volunteering around the community, the number of ways to pass along kindness is endless. Many underestimate the little things in life – which actually end of being extremely valuable. I would like to share with you all this evening some examples of random acts of kindness, how they affect others as well as yourself, and hopefully transform or reinforce your views on passing kindness along. There are several different forms of random acts of kindness. Ranging from holding an open door for someone, to picking up litter, to working at a retirement home. I myself volunteer at the local Virginia Living Museum, and I love working with the animals and guest. A well known book, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II, comprised of heart-felt stories shares one on love and kindness. READ â€Å"A SIMPLE HELLO,† PAGE 97. Actsofkindness.org posts recent stories of inspiration as well. An anonymous member writes how she randomly felt like doing something special for her neighbors one day. She went out and bought a bunch of flowers early in the morning and with those flowers, stuck one in the plastic bag of each of her neighbors’ newspapers. Imagine the expression of these peoples’ faces when they got a little something extra to brighten their day. After giving you a few examples of random acts of kindness, you can probably guess how they affect others. Carmelia Elliot once said, â€Å"Make yourself a blessing to someone. Your kind smile or pat on the back just might pull someone back from the edge.† These simple acts allow others to feel special, to feel appreciated, or even to feel loved. You should not only recognize those who you yourself care for – but when you affect a stranger, you can ...

Legal Relationship with Powers and its Legal Issues and Implications Essay

Legal Relationship with Powers and its Legal Issues and Implications - Essay Example In my opinion, the relationship is not a limited partnership as Powers played an active role in the management of the computer business. In Ontario, limited liability partnerships can only be used for carrying on a profession, where statute permits. Examples include lawyers and accountants (Shani, 5). The relationship between Lawrence and Powers is thus not a limited liability partnership as they are not in a profession such as doctors and lawyers but rather entrepreneurs in the copier and computer renting business. A partnership is a relation that subsists between persons-individuals or corporations-carrying on a business in common with a view to profit (Shani, 2). A partnership can be a formal relationship (that is, express partnership agreement) or an informal relationship. The court may hold that the relationship is a partnership even if the parties don't realize they are in a partnership (deemed partnership) (Shani, 3). But the receipt of such a share or payment, contingent on or varying with the profits of a business, does not of itself make the person a partner in the business, and in particular, a contract for the remuneration of a servant or agent or a person engaged in a business by a share of the profits of the business does not of itself make the servant or agent a partner in the business or liable as such (Shani, 8). Lawrence told Powers, "If you will agree to operate the new computers, I can pay you more by sharing the profits from that branch of our new business with you." Powers agreed. Hence, there is a relationship that subsists between Lawrence and Powers to carry on the personal computers renting business with a view to profit. However, more information is needed as to whether there is an employment contract between Lawrence and Powers that makes him a servant or an agent. The relationship between Lawrence and Powers for the personal computer renting branch of the business is assumed to be a partnership since there was no mention of contract by Lawrence. Even if Powers is not aware that his relationship with Lawrence is a partnership, the court may construe otherwise. Where there is no partnership agreement, the partnership is governed by the Partnerships Act (Shani, 5). The Partnership Act sets out the fiduciary duty of partners. No partner is allowed to incur secret benefits - that is, each partner must account for all benefits received by him/her personally from any transaction arising from the use of the partnership's name, property or business connections - if he/she fails to get permission of his/her partners beforehand, the benefit then belongs to the partnership (Shani, 6). Applying the law to the case, Powers purchases the computers from Intelli Inc., an office equipment and supply company of which shares are held by Hugh Powers mother and father. Powers has incurred secret benefits because the purchase price of the computers entered into by Powers was at the manufacturers suggested retail price and did not reflect any form of volume discount, even though volume discounts were routinely given by

An identification of factors affecting performance and reward Dissertation

An identification of factors affecting performance and reward management during the time of recession (2008) at Nationwide Build - Dissertation Example 9-16, 1994). In particular, performance and reward management is one of such aspects of human resource management that focuses primarily on ensuring effective performance and subsequently, efficient reward management of employees. In addition, experts (Office of Personal Management, 2001) have emphasized greatly on the effectiveness of performance and reward management (PRM) in terms of ensuring success of the organization. However, during the last decade, the whole world has confronted adverse impacts of financial crisis and recession and this has resulted in cutting down of various departments by the organizations (Perry, pp. 1-13, 2009). Still, a majority of organizations is utilizing the tool of PRM to ensure its success, and thus, the proposed research will include efforts on the same aspect of business field. Background & Significance In particular, it is a fact that every business firm comes into existence with a specific objective to attain, and that usually is achievement of profit. For this purpose, employers create jobs to carry out specified tasks and recent studies have indicated that since two decades, business organizations are now focusing principally on the notion of accountability that becomes possible with frequent review of individual performance (Hartman et al., pp. 23-25, 1994). In this respect, attainment of success at employees’ level enables the firm to attain success at organizational level that is the basic relationship of PRM with organization as it facilitates firms in ensuring its success. This indicates the significance of PRM and thus, PRM has always remained a crucial aspect of business organizations, one of the reasons of choosing this aspect of business organizations that will be very beneficial for the global business community. Before carrying out research on performance management, it is very imperative that the researcher ensures its clarified understanding as it is an observation that vague understandings often res ult in unproductive outcomes. For this reason, experts (Shepard, pp. 4-14, 2000) have identified that the basic responsibility of performance management is to ensure integration of organizational mission and aims with that of employees on individual level. For this purpose, performance management includes techniques to create, evaluate, and review organizational mission and aims and integrate them on individual levels. In other words, performance management is an effective tool for employers to create a platform for ongoing communication with the employees. However, performance management is not enough to ensure such an enduring relationship, and thus, reward management plays its role by regulating this connection with the tools of different types and kinds of rewards to ensure interest and loyalty of the employees. Research Statement In this regard, the researcher will focus on the following research statement to fulfill the aims and objectives of the research: â€Å"

School Uniforms in US Public Schools in Michigan Research Proposal

School Uniforms in US Public Schools in Michigan - Research Proposal Example Moreover, a broad discussion relating to the correlation between student behavior and school uniform has also been discussed. Besides, valuable suggestions for improving the effectiveness of school uniform policies in MI school district and mitigating the problems have also been discussed. Discussion School uniforms are often used in every part of the world as a part which helps in maintaining a proper coordination amid the pupils or the learners by a greater level. The introduction as well as the execution of school uniforms can be duly considered to be a global method of upholding law and order within an educational setting. It can be apparently observed that the educational institutions implementing the policy of school uniforms are less involved in arising disputes amid their pupils (The Michigan Legislature, 1999). The topic of introducing school uniforms in the state of Michigan has been in discussion from many years. It has been stated that the state shares no concern in maint aining discipline in public schools resulting in poor academic performance and incident of violence within their respective campus. It can be affirmed from a broader outlook that school uniform associated policies are often designed to foster the performance of the students in an effectual manner. But in certain cases, it can also be viewed that the implementation of the policy did not proved to be quite effective. While certain critics consider adaptation of the school uniform policy to be a fundamental change in the educational environment, it is also criticized concerning its execution affecting right to freedom by a certain degree. Therefore, it is quite vital especially for the school officials to make effective decisions considering both the positive as well as the negative effects that may arise from employing such policies. It has been viewed that in the year 2000, around 21% of the schools encircling the region of the United States have adopted the policy of effectively usi ng school uniforms amid their pupils. In relation to recognize the problems concerning school uniforms, it can be stated that the main reason behind the increase in adoption of school uniforms in the institutions around the country

Philoshopy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philoshopy - Essay Example Empiricists say that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge. Rationalists have developed their view in two ways. The first one is that "they argue that there are cases where the content of our concepts or knowledge outstrips the information that sense experience can provide. Second, they constuct accounts of how reason in some form or other provides that additional information about the world" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/). Empiricists form lines of thought. "First, they develop accounts of how experience provides the information that rationalists cite, insofar as we have it in the first place. (Empiricists will at times opt for skepticism as an alternative to rationalism: if experience cannot provide the concepts or knowledge the rationalists cite, then we don't have them.) Second, empiricists attack the rationalists' accounts of how reason is a source of concepts or knowledge" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/). In order to be a rationalist you need to adopt one of three claims. The first one is"The Intuition/Deduction Thesis:" Some propositions in a particular subject area, S, are knowable by us by intuition alone; still others are knowable by being deduced from intuited propositions" The second thesis associated with rationalism is the Innate Knowledge thesis. "The Innate Knowledge Thesis:" We have knowledge of some truths in a particular subject area, S, as part of our rational nature. The third important thesis of rationalism is the Innate Concept thesis. "The Innate Concept Thesis:" We have some of the concepts we employ in a particular subject area, S, as part of our rational nature" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/ ) In this same context, Descartes would have offered a brief description of his own experience with the proper approach to knowledge. Begin by renouncing any belief that can be doubted, including especially the testimony of the senses; then use the perfect certainty of one's own existence, which survives this doubt, as the foundation for a demonstration of the providential reliability of one's faculties generally. Significant knowledge of the world, Descartes supposed, can be achieved only by following this epistemological method, the rationalism involved in relying on a mathematical model and eliminating the distraction of sensory information in order to pursue the demonstrations of pure reason. Later sections of the Discourse (along with the supplementary scientific essays with which it was published) trace some of the more significant consequences of following the Cartesian method in philosophy. His entirely mechanistic inclinations would consistently emerge clearly in these sections, with frequent reminders of the success of physical explanations of complex phenomena. Non-human animals, within Descartes's view, are complex organic machines, all of whose actions can be fully explained without any reference to the operation of mind in thinking. In fact, Descartes declared, most of human behavior, like that of animals, is susceptible to simple mechanistic explanation. Cleverly designed automata could successfully mimic nearly all of what we do. Thus, Descartes argued, it is only the general ability to adapt to widely varying circumstances-and, in particular, the capacity to respond creatively in the use of language-that provides a sure test for the presence of an immaterial

Leadership Style and Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership Style and Approach - Essay Example Her type of leadership style is democratic. According to scholars and scientists, democratic leaders have certain attributes that include the senior workers in decision-making processes. Democracy facilitates creativity and brainstorming which provides ideas to the whole management process. This type of leadership enhances productivity and satisfaction of both the junior members of management and customers at large. Increase in productivity increase the rate of profit maximization in an organization. Evelyn in her case included her employees in decision-making processes. She also emphasized on workers using their recommended time with customers on the phones lines to satisfy all questions that a customer would have on their products. This type of leadership style can be explained in detail by leadership theories. There are the situational theories that explain that a leader should choose the type of leadership style that suits his/her situation. In most cases, the democratic style of leadership has been proved to obtain the best results. Team members also feel free to express their feelings in case of any new situations. For example in Evelyn’s case, she could spend time with her team members while performing their chores. In case of any problems such as fatigue or rude customers, she would support the members by team members by telling them that she was at the same situation some time but later made it in life. The functional theory explains that a leader should have contingency plans, which are used by the leaders in certain situations (Igbal 2011). Erik Rasmussen Erik Rasmussen on the other hand, has a different type of leadership style. His style consists of two styles namely people-oriented leadership and autocratic type of leadership (Daenzer 2009). He is young, bright and energetic and a no nonsense person when it comes to his areas of supervision. The people-oriented style deals with leaders who are focused in their positions at work and providin g the irrespective results. However, they may do this to the extent of some team members where decisions made by the leader are final. Erik in this case is a graduate and is expected to deliver the expected results. He does not consider the other team members in making decisions. From the case, it is clear that at some point, he deals with cost cutting strategies without considering ideas from the workers. Alternatively, this leadership style without being monitored may be taken too far by leaders who are so much focused on results rather than the welfare of workers and customers. With the autocratic style of leadership, the leaders possess most power and their decisions could be final. In Erik’s case, he seems to have all the powers and his orders are final. He does not care what the previous leaders had put in place to help boost production and profits. However, this style has some advantages such as fast and effective decision-making processes where leaders can make final decisions. On the other hand, team members do not want this type of leadership since their ideas are not included in the decision-making process (Peggy 2006). Evaluation / Judgment Evelyn Gustafson used the

Philoshopy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philoshopy - Essay Example Empiricists say that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge. Rationalists have developed their view in two ways. The first one is that "they argue that there are cases where the content of our concepts or knowledge outstrips the information that sense experience can provide. Second, they constuct accounts of how reason in some form or other provides that additional information about the world" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/). Empiricists form lines of thought. "First, they develop accounts of how experience provides the information that rationalists cite, insofar as we have it in the first place. (Empiricists will at times opt for skepticism as an alternative to rationalism: if experience cannot provide the concepts or knowledge the rationalists cite, then we don't have them.) Second, empiricists attack the rationalists' accounts of how reason is a source of concepts or knowledge" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/). In order to be a rationalist you need to adopt one of three claims. The first one is"The Intuition/Deduction Thesis:" Some propositions in a particular subject area, S, are knowable by us by intuition alone; still others are knowable by being deduced from intuited propositions" The second thesis associated with rationalism is the Innate Knowledge thesis. "The Innate Knowledge Thesis:" We have knowledge of some truths in a particular subject area, S, as part of our rational nature. The third important thesis of rationalism is the Innate Concept thesis. "The Innate Concept Thesis:" We have some of the concepts we employ in a particular subject area, S, as part of our rational nature" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/ ) In this same context, Descartes would have offered a brief description of his own experience with the proper approach to knowledge. Begin by renouncing any belief that can be doubted, including especially the testimony of the senses; then use the perfect certainty of one's own existence, which survives this doubt, as the foundation for a demonstration of the providential reliability of one's faculties generally. Significant knowledge of the world, Descartes supposed, can be achieved only by following this epistemological method, the rationalism involved in relying on a mathematical model and eliminating the distraction of sensory information in order to pursue the demonstrations of pure reason. Later sections of the Discourse (along with the supplementary scientific essays with which it was published) trace some of the more significant consequences of following the Cartesian method in philosophy. His entirely mechanistic inclinations would consistently emerge clearly in these sections, with frequent reminders of the success of physical explanations of complex phenomena. Non-human animals, within Descartes's view, are complex organic machines, all of whose actions can be fully explained without any reference to the operation of mind in thinking. In fact, Descartes declared, most of human behavior, like that of animals, is susceptible to simple mechanistic explanation. Cleverly designed automata could successfully mimic nearly all of what we do. Thus, Descartes argued, it is only the general ability to adapt to widely varying circumstances-and, in particular, the capacity to respond creatively in the use of language-that provides a sure test for the presence of an immaterial

Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Language - Essay Example Kincaid finds displeasure in the speech incompetence of the Antigua young people and the island at large for adopting the language of its colonizers. Baldwin highlights the development of Black English and the role it plays in society. This paper will compare the view of the two authors concerning the role of language. Baldwin’s essay draws the attention of the reader. He elaborates the situations preceding the development of Black English. He offers background information about the status of people of color as slaves. Slavery brought them together in the American continent. These slaves came from different parts of Africa. Because of their diversity, they spoke different languages. These slaves shared only one thing and this was the sad reality about the plights due to slavery. Slavery presented them with a need to communicate. The white man was not willing to educate the people of color unless it was for his benefit. There was a dire need for people to learn a language that would promote communication. Circumstances of being under slavery presented them with similar interests. They needed to have one voice for them to conquer the wits of the white people. They had to develop a unique form of communication so that the white man could not automatically understand. As Baldwin explains, any word spoken, revealed a lot about an individual’s life. ... The black people used language to express their grievances. In the unique language that resulted, blacks used expressions that depicted the passion for living life despite the circumstances that they were facing. For example, the author elaborates one of the words they used that had great significance in later years. The word jazz resulted from the black man’s creativity and was essentially applicable in sexual contexts. It was a unique way of the black man’s expression. In addition, Baldwin illustrates the effect of Black English among the white people. The word ‘jazz’ mentioned above influenced the music of an entire era. White Americans used the word to define the musical in which jazz music was common. They referred to it as the jazz age. Black English proved its potential to influence the culture of the white people. It was initially a language used by the oppressed to express their experience, but it delved deeper into influencing both the black and w hite culture. With time, whites borrowed words from this language to include in their culture. From the essay, it becomes evident that the core role of language is to present its speakers with a mode of communication that enables them to describe their experience. A society without language cannot achieve common goals. According to Baldwin, it is obvious that if the slaves brought to America could speak a similar language, history would be different. The slavery era would have been shorter. Baldwin reckons the reader to examine the role played by Black English. It has built the black community in the United States binding them closely. Through a common language, they have written history of slavery and described their struggle for liberty. Evidently, one

Conflicting Perspectives Essay Example for Free

Conflicting Perspectives Essay â€Å"An important outcome of studying this elective is the realisation that all representations of perspectives are designed to provoke an intended response. † To what extent does this statement relate to your study of at least one of Hughes’ poems and one related text of your own choosing? In some texts authors have the intention to evoke a personal understanding in the audience. However, the personal experience varies between each individual creating conflicting ways in response to a text. These responses to the messages from the authors are shaped through personal experience and values of the individual. The notion of conflict within perspectives is evident in â€Å"Birthday Letters† by Ted Hughes especially in the poems â€Å"Fulbright Scholars† and â€Å"Sam† as well as in Michel Gondry’s film â€Å"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. † The conflict within memory and connections leads to a representation of their conflict in perspectives. The nature and strength of memories is to some extent subjective in relation to events, situations and people. Hughes proves this idea of selective memory through the use of rhetorical questions asked in his first poem Fulbright Scholars such as â€Å"where was it, in the Strand? † and â€Å"was it when I bought a peach? These questions are evidence of his disordered memory. Hughes perspective of Plath is somewhat subjective as he remembers vague details of particular moments and her â€Å"Veronica Lake bangs. † In his second poem â€Å"Sam† depicts the same events as Plath’s poem â€Å"Whiteness I remember† but showing his conflicting interpretation of Plath’s memory. The two poems prove conflicting ideas through the tempo of the first paragraphs and Hughes ongoing use of caesura. Although Plath interprets the event to be a â€Å"great run† and â€Å"high as the roofs† conflicting this idea Hughes describes it as dangerous and Plath having â€Å"lost (her) stirrups. The text â€Å"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind† proves memory to be a selective sense; the character Joel displays merely a memory of selective moments, objects and feelings of his past relationship with Clementine. The key motifs are birthday presents and certain outings. The fallibility of memory can lead the distortion of connections between memory and reality. The author intends to create a particular emotional response to the text that is represented through a connection between the audience and their perspective of the text. The connection between the perspectives in â€Å"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind† show the author is being balanced and unbiased. The perspectives of both the character is shown equally to the audience, forcing and internal response in each individual. In â€Å"Fulbright Scholars† Hughes repetitively uses â€Å"you† to simultaneously speak to Plath as well as the audience, to create a more intimate connection with the text. This continues into his next poem â€Å"Sam† alongside alliteration and assonance in the line â€Å"horribly hard, swift river† increasing the intensity for the audience. In the final stanza Hughes personifies Sam as himself, and positions the audience as Plath. In the line â€Å"you strangled me† he uses accusatory language to gain an emotional response and connection from his audience, which relates back to the publics perceptions of him during this time. It is clear that all authors create their texts to gain a reflection the audience towards the text. Each text is a representation of the author’s perspective response to their memory, creating an emotional connection to their audience, which provokes an internal response. The connections made are used to intensify a reaction within each individual.

Strategies for Literature Review Searches

Strategies for Literature Review Searches Detail an appropriate search strategy using relevant databases to identify an article on evidenced based practice in the healthcare setting Literature search has been a vital aspect of students academic life, especially with the advance of technology. Burns and Grove (2005) define literature searching as an organised search system which identifies information relevant to the topic of interest. Moreover, searching has an essential role in supporting clinicians who want to keep up with the development of evidenced-based practice in the health professions . The term evidenced-based practice has come to be used to refer to the combination of evidences which improve the quality of information in relation to clinical and patient interests (De Brun Pearce-Smith, 2009). In order to find the best medical resources, a good search technique is required for finding information more efficiently, otherwise the researcher could waste lots of time and find nothing. The aim of this essay is to describe an appropriate search strategy by defining databases and the reasons for choosing the a particular one for this assignment . The essay w ill then go on to describe the search steps used to identify an article on Children Diabetes. Primarily, the fundamental part of searching is formulating a well-searchable question in order to be capable of sourcing an answer in the chosen database. For De Brun and Pearce-Smith (2009) database refers to systemic reviews containing an electronic collection of information that is organised and accessible. There are various search engines in which research could be undertaken and each one of them identifies information and data in its own way. Although there are a range of databases available, the one that has been chosen for this particular essay is Pubmed. The reason for choosing this database is due to the fact that the Internet is a place where all sorts of information can be obtained, whether from experts or not. In other words, there is no guarantee of validity or the reliability of the data. Therefore, information about healthcare topics should be taken from trustworthy sources. Nordenstrom (2007) stated that Pubmed is one of the primary medical information sources which is connected to the major medical database MEDLINE and accessed via the National Library of Medicine. Moreover, it allows people to access data easily and free of charge. In addition, it contains assessed evidenced-based practice articles. However, Pubmed requires following up an appropriate search techniques. A search strategy is a technique which includes lists of databases and applicable terms which could be the key part of the research (De Brun Pearce-Smith, 2009). As mentioned previously, formulating the question is the essential part of a search strategy, the question used during this essay is What are the reasons of developing diabetes in children?. Breaking down the question into identified keywords builds smaller, more manageable questions which lead to an effective search strategy. De Brun and Pearce-Smith (2009) suggested that PICO is the common method in managing the question. Problem, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome is what PICO stands for, respectively. This means that the problem is the diabetes, the intervention is the standard treatment, for example, regulate the insulin by medicine, the comparison is the alternative treatment, for instance, balanced diet and finally, the outcome is the expected results from the treatment which can be a decrease in insulin level in t he blood. Due to the fact that databases are controlled by computers, the search will result in words which have been typed in by the resaercher. Nordenstrom (2007) suggested that at first, searching as wide as possible to make sure the articles of interest are included, was the best approach. For example, entering the keyword diabetes in the query box returns a large number of articles. The next step can be searching by using a thesaurus which De Brun and Pearce-Smith (2009) defined as words with an accompanying selection of synonyms or phrases which can be useful in finding the relevant articles. An example of this technique is using high insulin level or Metabolic syndrome instead of diabetes. In using this technique it is noticeable that the search results have been reduced significantly. Terminology is an essential element in the medical field and changing a letter in a term could change the meaning of the diagnosis. The thread step search technique involves using truncation and wildcards, where appropriate, these are shortcuts and they can save time when using keywords. Truncation is the use of symbols, such as asterisks (*) in order to reduce search steps; in contrast however, this technique may increase the number of articles. Wildcards involve the use of the question mark (?) , to differentiate between different English spellings and it is also useful in dealing with plurals. Though it is interesting to note that Pubmed does not use wildcards (De Brun Pearce-Smith, 2009). One such case of truncation is when using the word child. Here the stem of the word is used and any suffux is removed , adding asterisks instead so the search term becomes child*. The system will look for information that refers to child, children, childhood, etc. The fourth step in strengthening the search is combining words, this is popularly known as Boolean logic. Terms that are used in a search can be more relevant to the formulated question by joining words with: and, or, not, with, brackets and inverted commas. Using AND in a search will display articles that contain both words; for instance, Diabetes and Children. The system will search for articles that contain both words. However, when using OR instead of AND, the results will include articles with either word or both of them; whereas, using NOT will restrict the search. For example, searching about children NOT young people (De Brun Pearce-Smith, 2009). The final step of the search strategy is limitation, this is done by filtering the search results. The limitation process is a search using particular structural units such as age, publication years, abstracts only or full text, etc. Using a search limit in researching diabetic children was done by choosing, articles with abstracts only and published within five years. The Pubmed system reduced the number of articles by retrieving with reference to the selected limits. In using this technique, the number of results fell from 11501 articles to a manageable number of 30. Metabolic syndrome in childhood and adolescence by Barkai and Paragh (2006) has been chosen as a good article because diabetes is increasing globally among young people. This increase is caused mostly by poor health, excess food which leads to an increase in the level of obesity, and finally, the lack of exercise. Therefore, insulin resistance deficiency will occur (Silink Kida ,2003). In conclusion, a good search strategy is the key to obtaining high quality information in evidence-based practice. A clear question, choosing appropriate databases, lists of keywords and synonyms, using truncations and wildcards, combining Boolean operators and applying limits to the results are the principles for successfully finding articles on evidenced-based practice.

The Quiet American Essay -- essays research papers

Fowler constructs Pyle as a naà ¯ve young man who is an innocent victim of dogmatic and simplistic ideologies. Fowler sees American culture and Democracy as a corrupting influence on an innocent Pyle. This is exhibited th relational processes, where Pyle, as the carrier, is given attributes such as â€Å"innocent†, â€Å"young and ignorant and silly†. This innocence is highlight by contrasting it with the attribute of â€Å"the whole pack of them†, Fowlers serotypes of Americans. Pyle’s corruption is seen in the single instance of his operating as a goal, where â€Å"they† are processed as having â€Å"killed† him. This construction of Pyle as corrupted by his environment is further solidified in Pyle’s role in material processes. The conceptual goal, which Pyle is acting upon â€Å"the east†, is processed in service o...

The Fourth Law Of Robotics :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Sigmund Freud said that we have an uncanny reaction to the inanimate. This is probably because we know that - despite pretensions and layers of philosophizing - we are nothing but recursive, self aware, introspective, conscious machines. Special machines, no doubt, but machines althesame. The series of James bond movies constitutes a decades-spanning gallery of human paranoia. Villains change: communists, neo-nazis, media moguls. But one kind of villain is a fixture in this psychodrama, in this parade of human phobias: the machine. James Bond always finds himself confronted with hideous, vicious, malicious machines and automata. It was precisely to counter this wave of unease, even terror, irrational but all-pervasive, that Isaac Asimov, the late Sci-fi writer (and scientist) invented the Three Laws of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws Many have noticed the lack of consistency and the virtual inapplicability of these laws put together. First, they are not the derivative of any coherent worldview and background. To be properly implemented and to avoid a potentially dangerous interpretation of them - the robots in which they are embedded must be also equipped with a reasonably full model of the physical and of the human spheres of existence. Devoid of such a context, these laws soon lead to intractable paradoxes (experiences as a nervous breakdown by one of Asimov's robots). Conflicts are ruinous in automata based on recursive functions (Turing machines) as all robots must be. Godel pointed at one such self destructive paradox in the "Principia Mathematica" ostensibly comprehensive and self consistent logical system. It was enough to discredit the whole magnificent edifice constructed by Russel and Whitehead over a decade. Some will argue against this and say that robots need not be automata in the classical, Church-Turing, sense. That they could act according to heuristic, probabilistic rules of decision making. There are many other types of functions (non-recursive) that can be incorporated in a robot. True, but then, how can one guarantee full predictability of behaviour? How can one be certain that the robots will fully and always implement the three laws?

Elements of Music Essay

Review Questions: 1. The basic elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, melody, and form. 2. Pitch is the frequency of a sound; it relates to the highness or lowness of a tone that we hear. 3. Syncopation involves placing emphasis on normally un-emphasized beats or using a rest on a normally emphasized beat. The types of music that uses syncopation are ska, reggae, rap, jazz, and some forms of metal. 4. The three examples in forms of music are concerto, sonata, and symphony. A concerto is a musical piece in which one solo instrument (such as a piano or violin) is accompanied by an orchestra. A sonata is a musical composition for a solo instrument (often piano or other keyboard instruments). A symphony is a musical piece that has been scored for a full orchestra; it is often an extended composition. 5. Form in music is the framework that a composer uses to create a piece of music. It is the combination of other musical instruments, such as pitch, tempo, and dynamics. Critical Thinking Questions 1. I definitely agree with this assessment because music speaks to different cultures around the world, defining the term ‘’universal’’. Even if two people speak two different languages, such as French or Japanese, they would still relate to their own way of music throughout their language in their types of background. 2. Musical notation is important because it determines how you learn the notes of the music and how the piece is played. The benefits of writing down notes to make a musical piece are creating the melody sharing the music with others by communicating them through the piece, and possibly make more pieces somewhat similar to that. 3. The ways we use music in our society are through listening on the radio in our cars, or on our mp3 players. We use it through TV commercials, movies, in stores as background music, videogames, and mostly on the internet. We can also make music ourselves based off of playing instruments, recordings in studios, and making beats with any object or instrument. This is also how I mostly use music in my life, particularly through being in choirs, singing, and getting inspiration to do so by listening to different types of music on my mp3 player. 4. The experience I felt which changed my mood about the specific music that played is when in 2005 I went to my first concert in California with my mother and my aunt to go see Madonna perform. As we sat in the front row, it began by a huge crystal ball coming down on the stage and while it split in two, Madonna appeared and singed with all the backup dancers surrounding her. It was a strange scenery for me on how she appeared on how she appeared and basing her theme off of glittery, shiny glamorous things throughout singing from her most notable songs. Though I was confused at first especially since I was young and never experienced that before, it made me feel excited and happy listening to the rhythm and the melody of the music, which was mainly fast tempo.

Overcoming Adversity to Become a Better Person Essay

In every person’s life, facing adversity and overcoming it is one of the biggest challenges that there is. People struggle with different types of adversities and while there some people who manage to overcome them, others are not so lucky and find themselves entangled in a web of problems for their entire lifetime. However, as painful and problematic as they are, adversities are important in that if a person successfully overcomes them, they become stronger in character and as a human being as well. This paper is a discussion of the adversities I have faced as a foreign student having relocated from Saudi Arabia to the United States. The paper will also address family, cultural and personal tradition that are meaningful to my country of origin. Specific adversities I have faced and how these experiences have made me a better person                     One of the major challenges faced by any international student would be the issue of relocating to another country to further one’s studies (Long, 2005).   In my case, it was not any different since I have faced numerous adversities some of which I still struggle to overcome. My country of origin is Saudi Arabia, which means that the major language of communication is Arabic. However, with the relocation to America, this meant that I had to learn English as a second language which is the main language spoken by American citizens. Initially, learning another language was very challenging since the language is not even closely related to Arabic. Communicating with other students in class was very problematic since I could not understand very well what some of them were saying. On the other hand, I would find it difficult to shop for most of the items on the shelves are named in English. Another major adversity I faced is the culture shock of b eing away from an environment and people I had become used to interact with on a daily basis. The culture of Saudi Arabia is very much different from what I have experienced here in the United States. The roles of religion, gender, family and education all differ when I compare them to that of the American culture. In Saudi Arabia, our culture dictates that people should live together in harmony as a family, but in America, this is entirely different. I found it very difficult to adjust to this life since it is not what I was accustomed. However, I have managed to overcome most of these adversities and they have contributed to making me a better person. For instance, now I can speak another language besides Arabic and I have experienced a different culture besides that one of my country. A family, cultural or personal tradition that is meaningful to me                     In Saudi Arabia, the country, mainly comprises of an Islamic culture with almost every citizen being a Muslim (Ham and Madden, 2004).  In this regard, there are many families, cultural or personal traditions that we uphold and believe contribute a lot in defining who we are as a nation (Long, 2005).  One of the most important tradition to us is that women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. The reason for this is that the Islamic establishment ruled that it is a law that every woman should have a male guardian accompanying them wherever they go (Ham and Madden, 2004).  To us, this tradition is important since it gives the man control over her wife and family. If a woman wants to drive, she can only do so with the permission of her husband who instead prefers to drive her. This way, the Saudi Arabian culture ensures that men are the head of the home while the woman is their helper and has to listen to whatever he says. The person I would like to spend a day with (living, deceased or imaginary) and why                     One of the people I would like to spend a day with must be my grandmother who unfortunately passed on five years ago. She was one of my favorite relative and person that I found interesting to spend time with. She always gave me a lot of advice about life and how I should carry out myself in the presence of other people. In addition, my grandmother guided me to stay strong in my faith in Islam and to never forget to say my usual prayers every day. Moreover, my grandmother was a very good cook who loved preparing delicious meals whenever I went to visit her. After the food was ready, I would help her serve it and we would both enjoy it as she gave me stories about our culture and how it originated. She was a very wise woman who knew a lot of things about life in both the present and the past. If she was alive today, I am sure I would still be enjoying her company very much. In conclusion, struggling to overcome adversities is not very easy but once a person makes to overcome them, they become a much stronger person. In my case, I have learnt to overcome adversities related to relocating to the United States alone, which has made me a much better person. In fact, I have more friends who are not from my country of origin. Furthermore, I have explained why the tradition of women is important to Saudi Arabian citizens since it is one of the ways that men are able to assume total control over their women. I have also cited that my grandmother was one of the people that I would desire to spend more time with, were she alive today. All in all, it is these occurrences that have contributed to shaping the person I am today. References Ham, A., Brekhus, M., & Madden, A. (2004).  Saudi Arabia. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet. Long, D. E. (2005).  Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press. Source document

Teacher's Pension Scheme Reforms in the UK Essay

Teacher's Pension Scheme Reforms in the UK - Essay Example Issues involved in the scheme The TPS of UK currently assumes a defined benefit scheme of final salary of teachers. This translates into the fact that retirement benefits, as well as the final salary of individual teachers, is based on the length a teacher has been in service. This has seen calculation of final salary of retirement benefits based on either the best of a teacher’s salary within the twelve months before retirement, or calculated as the best average of any three successive years of salary in the last ten years. However, the union chiefs have taken a stand to demand the reformation of the method that is being used in the calculation of the retirement benefits. The chiefs argue that this method of calculating final salary is unfair, for it only benefits high flyers at the expense of low flyers that are in the same professional groups. Conversely, the government is of the opinion that it is the way to go, and, therefore, rooting for the maintenance of the scheme onl y that the final salary be replaced by a revalued earning scheme that is career averaged (Lewicki et al, 56). Another issue is the retirement age where it has been noted that life expectancy of people in UK is on the rise. This means that retiring at 60 results into teachers spending approximately 40% of their lives in retirement as compared to earlier years like 1955 when life expectancy was low (Department of Education, 1). Government ministers demand that the retirement age take into account the increases in the life expectancy, in addition to, reformation of the normal pension age so that it corresponds with the state pension age. However, the union chiefs are opposed to the increase in pension age to 65. In terms of contributions, the issue is the monthly contributions to teachers’ pensions. The government is of the view that the monthly contributions be increased and that the contribution levels be tied to the earning s to protect the low aid teachers. However, union ch iefs are opposed to this, for this will only function to  favor the employers who will have an upper hand in determining the teachers’ pensions. The final issue is the issue regarding returning to work after a teacher retires. The union chiefs root for abatement of teachers’ pension as the government root for a reduction of pension on return with an increase upon retirement. Tactics employed The government minister’s concern is the increasing cost of running the TPS which is purely unfunded. This means that the contributions paid by both employers and employees are the ones used to pay out pension benefits to teachers by the government department (Education Department, 1). Therefore, in a way of raising these funds as well as allowing for saving, the government figured out on how they can have teachers themselves contribute to this plan. This was transferred to the monthly contributions teachers make to the TPS. It was, thus, consequential that teacher’ s contributions be increased by an average of 3.2 percent that is from 6.4 percent to 9.6% by 2014. This may translate to a person earning forty thousand dollars seeing an increase of up to 64% in the monthly contributions (Lewicki et al, 1). However, this is under the disguise of

Kant's Categorical Imperative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Kant's Categorical Imperative - Essay Example He also suggests that a person’s action as a result of his goodwill is a moral action. Kant’s moral theory emphasizes more on the duty rather than the consequences of an action. This property makes scholars to term Kantian ethics as deontological (Kant, p.56). Deontological ethics claim that some actions are intrinsically wrong while others are intrinsically right. According to Kant, this concept is an order that requires the obedience of the subordinates to it as if it is a moral duty. The subordinate’s obedience to the duty is a requirement that does not regard individual desires. This enables the creation of an unconditional society with the basis of reason and free will. The function of categorical imperatives is to act as a test for the principles of our actions and check whether they are moral or not. The principle behind these categorical imperatives is the principle of fair play (Kant, p.84). The idea of fair play means that a person cannot make an exception for himself for his own personal gains. According to Kant, humans can act according to the categorical imperative by taking three forms of action. The philosopher argues that humans should act only according to the adages which they can will to be universal laws. This implies that humans should act in ways that are universally acceptable (Kant, p.112). He also suggests that humans should treat humanity as an end to itself and never merely as a means to their ends. This implies that humans should perceive their race as having the ability to accomplish many different issues. They should not treat humans as a means to satisfying their needs but rather as a means through which they can achieve their targets (Kant, p.23). Finally, the philosopher suggests that humans should act as though they are members in the kingdom of ends in which they are subject and sovereign at the same time.

United States and Mexico's Collaboration Against Mexican Drug Cartels Essay

United States and Mexico's Collaboration Against Mexican Drug Cartels - Essay Example The main role of U.S. has been the supply of funding and intelligence to the Mexican authorities that support their domestic efforts in fighting the cartels. However, there have emerged cracks in this co-operation since it is becoming apparent that the two nations have divergent objectives in the fight (Stewart). While the Mexican government would like to eliminate or at least control the scourge at home, the U.S. government is more concerned with protecting her borders. In addition, some of the moves made in the U.S. such as the decriminalization of Marijuana are calling to question their commitment to the war and the extent to which they are willing to help fight the scourge. This paper will examine the efforts of these two neighboring States to combat jointly the drug cartels, with emphasis on the role of the U.S. in the partnership as well as how its actions weigh in on the fight. The U.S. drug strategy for Mexico is grounded on three principles, which are co-operation, containme nt, and willingness to take the responsibility for the problem (Walser 5). The co-operation between the two countries received a major shot in the arm when the former president Bush and Coldiron signed the Merida initiative that designated over $1, 4 billion dollars into Mexico and other South American nations. The idea  behind these funding was with the mandate to destroy the grip of organized crime in the regions (ONeil 64). In the recent past, the U.S has sent thousands of military personnel in Mexico to aid in training laws law enforcement agencies, they have also deployed drones to collect intelligence about the drugs crimes run-on sentence. In addition, over $3 billion is used in patrolling the U.S border to reduce the incidences of drugs being illegally brought into the United States.

Generating electricity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Generating electricity - Assignment Example Most of the energy is generated in large power stations located too far from where the energy is in use. Therefore, they rely on the importation of energy so as to meet the increasing demand. Electricity is imported from New Zealand, which is characterized by a series of generation plants, and transported to the region through the national grid (David 2002). Natural gas from Taranaki is piped via a series of underground gas pipes and lines, whereas, petrol and aviation fuel produced at Marsden Point Refinery is conveyed to the county via a single pipe. Auckland portrays strong energy demand since the war characterized by high costs of transportation of fuel, increasing reliance on imported energy and low resilience towards altering energy supplies. The council has recognized that Auckland’s continued dependence on imported energy and the lengthy supply chains will pose risks to the future energy security of the country. Therefore, they must appropriately manage their energy so urces by ensuring proper land use decisions are made on the understanding of the current peak oil demand, and the perception of the climate change. Implications of Erecting Additional Transmission Lines The need to invest in the national grid For Auckland wellbeing and continuous economic performance, a secure energy source and supply is required. All the families and business in the region rely on the existence of a dependable energy supply in the form of electricity, gas or in other form. There is a high likelihood of Auckland’s demand for energy to rise in the future. Therefore, Transpower has to ensure that there are sufficient energy sources to meet the rising demand. Security of energy supply in Auckland has raised significant economic issues. There have been various challenges that have raised concern, for example, in 2006 extreme weather conditions lead to a failure at Otahuhu substation disrupting power supply to a large part of Auckland (Ray 2012). The majority of t he Auckland community needs the continuous supply of electricity. It is not only the residential and commercial markets that depend on electricity but also the entire activities of the country. The community’s public utility base or infrastructure relies on the uninterrupted supply of electricity. Other parts like water and waste treatment, schools, hospitals and ports heavily depend on electricity for efficient operation of their activities. Without electricity, the security and safety, health and environmental conditions are adversely compromised. Cost and funding implications Any project designed or implemented will experience and, therefore, meet some costs during the process, which will demand internal and external funding to complete the project as desired and fulfill all specifications and requirement expected. The choosing of a funding system will significantly affect the individual and state contribution to the share of the financial report. Although these effects ma y be negative, they also show the outcome levels achieved by the system, who receives formal support and the level of support given or received. Funding can be tendered by either private or public or both at the same time. Each system is always affected by both political and economical judgments (Sowell 2011). In choosing a funding system, the first criterion is to assess the performance of available

Potential impacts of climate change on food security Essay

Potential impacts of climate change on food security - Essay Example This is in either temperature or a decrease, as well as in precipitation since climate change does not affect certain areas in the same way. Current Trends A look at the production of food following the changes in climate, thanks to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reveals that food production is bound to increase based on a number of factors. This is especially so in the case of regions that grow ice, maize and wheat, as carbon dioxide increases yields of these crops, but that implies that other regions not growing these crops as set to be left out in the bumper harvest (Parry et al, 2004). As per research, the most adversely affected regions are those found in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest variation in cereal production, in a negative level. As for most of Asia, and all of Australia, increases in food production will be increased. As a result, Africa is the only region to suffer from reduced food security, whilst areas close to the north pole suffer seco nd, and the rest of the world experiences improved food security. Carbon and climate change All across the globe, one of the most common causes of climate change is carbon emission that leads to increases in temperature, which begs the question what are the effects of this gas on the climate. This has been concluded that carbon dioxide is a chief contributor to global warming, which is part of why the climate is changing to be warmer in some areas, while others get cooler. As a result, the use of alternative sources of energy that do not entail then emission of carbon into the atmosphere should be encouraged and can be encouraged by use of statistical or empirical data obtained from environmental studies on climate change. One of the ways in which climate change can be mitigated by application of natural resources and sustainability option is through use of renewable resources that have minimal impact on the environment. Those that contain trace amounts of carbon can be used as they do not release any carbon into the atmosphere and temperatures remain stable. Implications of this are that food production remains the same throughout time, and in spite of economic and agricultural activities. Resource sustainability Although there are studies that are indicative of food sustainability through climate change, the larger percentage of the human population is bound to remain in poor nutrition due to food insecurity owing to poor distribution of food resources. The use of renewable resources such as wind power are bound to mitigate these climate changes in that African regions experiencing drastic changes in reduced food production, all thanks to carbon emissions, get to enjoy similar food distribution trends. In addition, climate change can be mitigated to ensure food security by using soil conservation measures, where soil is a renewable resource, and its conservation is a guarantee for agricultural productivity. Because of these conservation efforts maintaining m oisture in the soil adds up to conservation efforts that are a largely required to ensure that soil as a renewable resource is kept intact and highly productive. This then highlights the need for water conservation, as water is a renewable resource, and one that requires the extended use of conservation to balance many other aspects such as maintain

How to Write a Research Paper Essay Example for Free

How to Write a Research Paper Essay â€Å"This should be sent to a journal† â€Å"Very good work, but I’m not sure why Alan Bundy hasn’t written this? † Anonymous review: â€Å"Clearly the author fails to understands Walsh’s previous work on this topic† †¢ 1st Lesson †¢ Don’t lose heart †¢ Even if you do everything right, reviewing is imperfect Good papers will be rejected But try to learn from your knock-backs! †¢ †¢ Why you? †¢ Academic career †¢ Publish or perish †¢ Have an impact †¢ †¢ Communicate your results Many have not had the impact they deserve for being bad writers †¢ Writing is fun! Outline †¢ How to get your paper rejected †¢ There are many traps even experienced researchers make Myself very much included †¢ †¢ Hints about how to write a paper †¢ Writing is a craft not a science! How to be rejected †¢ Submit over-length †¢ Blind man: send in 7 pages even though the instructions clearly say 5 Once they see quality of work, they’ll be pleased you sent in more material †¢ How to be rejected Submit over-length †¢ †¢ Diplomatic immunity: put extra 2 pages in appendix Appendices clearly don’t count Similarly, bibliography doesn’t count †¢ †¢ How to be rejected †¢ Submit over-length †¢ LaTeX hacker: †¢ †¢ †¢ change from 11 to 9 point font squeeze inter-line space †¢ No one will ever notice How to be rejected †¢ Submit late †¢ †¢ †¢ Deadlines are meant for everyone else Review schedules have plenty of slack Your paper is worth the wait! How to be rejected †¢ You don’t have room for space wasters like: †¢ Motivation, Background, Related work †¢ Why do review forms always have these on them anyway? How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Proof is trivial, when it isn’t Prove the trivial Fail to cite their work Only cite yourself How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Don’t bother to spell check †¢ What do computers know about spelling anyway? †¢ Use all the old cliches †¢ â€Å"There has been a lot of interest recently in global constraints. † How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Be pompous, boring, †¢ This is science not literature guys, who said it should be fun? †¢ Be overly formal †¢ Theorems and formulas add weight How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Make them really work †¢ After all, these are dif? cult concepts and it took you some time †¢ Ignore reviews †¢ Just keep sending paper in, eventually it will be accepted How to write a paper †¢ Hints about how to write †¢ †¢ †¢ Preparation Writing itself Ethics Preparation †¢ Read, read, read! †¢ To learn how to write, read a lot †¢ I spend over 20% of my time reading †¢ 1 day/week in library Read, Read, Read †¢ Related literature †¢ †¢ †¢ So you can cite it So you don’t re-invent wheels So you know what others think are important research questions Read, Read, Read †¢ Other conference/journal papers where you intend to publish †¢ †¢ So you learn the â€Å"house† style So you can place your work within the bigger picture So you learn how to ask good questions †¢ Read, Read, Read †¢ Any sort of literature †¢ Magazines, novels, biographies, †¢ Writing is a skill, learn from others †¢ I read approx one novel/week as a way of trying to learn how to write And I have the luxury of writing in my own language! †¢ Review, Review, Review †¢ Review as much as you can †¢ †¢ †¢ So you see good/bad writing So you see the newest results (but see ethics) So you ask yourself good questions †¢ What is the contribution here? What are the weaknesses? Write, Write, Write †¢ The best preparation to writing is to write †¢ †¢ Writing gets easier the more you do it Writing is easier if you’ve drafted much of what you already need Writing is the best way to organize your thoughts Writing is a good way to record what you have done. †¢ †¢ Writing †¢ Work out the timetable †¢ †¢ †¢ Rushed papers frequently rejected Late papers are almost always rejected If you always write to deadlines, writing will seem more painful than it is Writing †¢ Work out the message †¢ You should be able to convey this in one sentence †¢ â€Å"We propose a new global constraint, provide a ? ltering algorithm and show it useful on some standard benchmarks† Writing †¢ Work out the message †¢ You should be able to convey this in one sentence †¢ â€Å"We identify an important class of symmetry, and show how to break it† †¢ Write to the message! Writing †¢ Distribute the work †¢ †¢ Play to your strengths If you have a native speaker, have them write intro/conclusion †¢ Write to length †¢ Brutally cut papers are frequently rejected Writing †¢ †¢ Structure paper before you write it I write template for paper with sections and subsection headings ? rst †¢ Intro, Background, Theoretical results, Empirical results, Related work, Conclusions Writing †¢ †¢ Start where you are most happy Often write from the middle outwards †¢ Theoretical results, Experiments, , Conclusions, Introduction, Abstract Writing †¢ †¢ Rule of Three Say everything 3 times! †¢ †¢ †¢ Introduce idea (introduction) Develop idea (body of paper) Summarize result (conclusions) †¢ But don’t copy verbatim the same text! Title †¢ Make it meaningful and brief †¢ †¢ Don’t make a joke Remember someone reading reference needs to be able to work out likely contents Good: the TSP phase transition Bad: Easy Problems are sometimes Hard †¢ †¢ Abstract †¢ Executive summary †¢ Try for one sentence or so on: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Motivation Method Key result Conclusions Introduction †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What is the problem? Why is it interesting? What are your contributions? What is the outline of what you will show? Introduction †¢ Lure the reader in a with a good ? rst sentence †¢ Bad: There has been a lot of work recently on phase transition behaviour Good: Global constraints are central to the success of constraint programming †¢ Background †¢ Often need to set scene †¢ †¢ †¢ De? ne formalism Get reader up to speed Identify research problem Body of Paper †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Derive theoretical results Propose new algorithm Describe system engineered Results †¢ Bullet proof paper †¢ Theoretical results †¢ Experiments only provide a limited view †¢ Experimental results †¢ Theory doesn’t show if results are useful in practice. Related work †¢ Has many purposes †¢ †¢ †¢ You give proper credit to prior work You are not re-inventing wheel You can compare what you do with what has been done before Conclusions †¢ †¢ Remind reader of what you have done Place work in wider context †¢ â€Å"What general lessons might be learnt from this study? † †¢ Flag all the exciting open research directions Acknowledgements †¢ Thank all who have helped you †¢ Provided code, data sets, †¢ Thank ? nancial sponsors Writing †¢ Keep it simple! †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Active, not passive Present, not past or future Long words Short sentences Writing †¢ Avoid temptation to include every result you have †¢ †¢ †¢ Paper needs to be coherent Paper needs to be understandable Many papers are rejected for having too many results! Ethics of Writing †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Authorship Citation Submission Publication Authorship †¢ Who should be an author? †¢ Anyone who has made a signi? cant contribution May not have written any text! Always err on the side of caution †¢ †¢ Authorship †¢ Who should be an author? †¢ †¢ †¢ Ask! You’ll be surprised how often people refuse You can be sure they’ll not work with you again if they feel they should be Authorship †¢ Should my advisor be an author? †¢ †¢ †¢ In ? rst few years of thesis, probably yes .. Once you graduate, you should (be able to) write papers on your own Again, ask! †¢ Citation †¢ Cite all relevant work †¢ †¢ †¢ Reviews always ask about Related Work You’ll want them to cite you It’s central to the scienti? c method †¢ We stand on the shoulders of others Citation †¢ Do I cite myself for a blind review? †¢ †¢ †¢ Yes! You must credit all previous work Either cite [Author, 2004] Or write â€Å"As Walsh has shown previously [Walsh 2004] † Submission †¢ Can I submit to multiple conferences? †¢ What’s the deal with the disclaimer (†This paper is not under review ..†)? †¢ Can I submit to a journal immediately? †¢ †¢ No hard and fast rules My rule, once reviews are back and paper is effectively in press Publication †¢ Can I publish my conference paper as it is in a journal? †¢ Probably not, even though conference is not archival Most journals ask you to extend conference paper substantially †¢ †¢ Proofs, more experiments, Final words †¢ It takes time to learn how to write †¢ Don’t be put off if at ? rst your have papers rejected All of us have papers rejected †¢ †¢ Spend time learning how to write †¢ It will be worth the investment.

System analysis

System analysis 4.1 Introduction System analysis is a major activity which takes place when we are structure a latest system or changing one. Analysis will help us to understand about the existing system and also will know the requirements necessary for the latest system. And if there is no accessible system then system analysis will defines only the necessity. In system analysis the most important factor is to identify and rectify problems in system. A well understanding of the system will enables designer to understand and rectify the system problems. Existing Software The software is implemented in the system hard disc to the server. The server program runs constantly and waits for a connection to be recognized to it and will make available on line system to automate different operations completed in the network. 2.1.1 Existing System In past the company staff uses the legacy system of carrying interoffice mails by the messengers from one user to other user of the company or they can also use the intercoms for call conference or even in some cases emails are used for transmit of messages between the group community There are some disadvantages in existing system * Tedious message broadcasting system. * Communication is not instant. * Message transfer is done through insecure communication media. * Communication delays. * Maintaining the identities of all the members is not efficient. Like using manual books, diaries, etc., for storing of users information. 2.1.2 Proposed System To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional systems, the project aims at developing a multithreaded public messaging system for broadcasting messages to every member in the channel; that allows multiple people (users) to interact with each other in a shared environment. The proposed system aims to fulfill the following: Ã ¾ Sharing of data in a real time environment, i.e., the data broadcasted can be edited online and viewed simultaneously. Ã ¾ Providing fast, secure, reliable and cost effective broadcasting communication medium between community members. Ã ¾ Support for public and private channels of communication. Ã ¾ Multiple media transmission support; like voice, text, images, etc. Ã ¾ Personal peer messaging service. Ã ¾ A user-friendly interface 2.2 Requirement Analysis Requirement analysis provides software designer with a model of: Ø System information Ø Function Ø Behaviour Model can be translated to data, architectural, and component-level designs. 2.2.1 Analysis Objectives Ø Identification of the customers needs. Ø Evaluation of the system for feasibility. Ø Perform technical analysis. Ø Establish constraints. Ø Create system definitions 2.3 Software Requirements Analysis Phases Problem recognition: The existing system provides the information about products in the form of Local Advertisements media and paper advertisements. This is not sufficient to reach the end user properly. So, the company management is willing to maintain a web site which one accomplished all firm in detailed. Evaluation and synthesis: After getting the clear problem definition we focused on what to do but not how to do. Ways to solve the problem and among the different ways we found and we selected the best way to solve the problem. Modeling: We made a rough diagram of the proposed system and showed it to the clients to verify whether their specifications are completely mentioned in that or not. Specifications: The software and hardware requirements and complete specifications are known. The functional and non functional requirements are known. Constraint: The constraints are known and a clear definition of the system is given. Review: A review of the whole process what we did and the result are shown to the clients. 2.4. Feasibility Study Feasibility study is conducted once the problem is clearly understood. It is a high level capsule version of the entire System Analysis and Design process. The main objective is to determine how to solve a problem quickly, at a minimum expense and to check if the problem is worth solving. This system has been tested for feasibility in the following points: Ø Operational Feasibility Ø Technical Feasibility Ø Economical Feasibility 2.4.1 Economic Feasibility Economic feasibility is the most frequently used method for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed system. During study costs are considered like costs of hardware, minimum configuration, system compatibility of H/W, etc., the proposed system minimizes the time effort of the data collection, answering queries and generating reports which results in significant saving. Thus, the proposed system is economically feasible. 2.4.2 Operational Feasibility Proposed projects are beneficial only if they can be turned into information systems that will meet the requirements. As current business methods are not acceptable to the users in terms of speed, timely and accurate results, users welcomed a change that will bring about a more operational and useful system. With the rarely involvement it reduced the chances of resistance to the system and change in general and increased the likelihood of the project successfully. 2.4.3 Technical Feasibility It centers on the existing computer system and to what extent it can support the proposed system. The system can be expanded as the need arises. With the obtained technology there is guaranteed of accuracy, reliability, ease of access and security. Thus, it is technically feasible to design and develop the proposed system. 3. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION 3.1 Software Requirements Operating System : Windows XP,LINUX Languages : Java Java compiler : J2sdk1.4 3.2 Hardware Requirements Processor : Pentium III above RAM : 256MB Hard Disk : 20GB