The Beach By Alex Garland Essays - Fiction, The Beach, Literature

The Beach By Alex Garland Jason Black The Beach by Alex Garland As for me... I'm fine. I have bad dreams, but I never saw Mister Duck again. I play video games. I smoke a little dope. I got my thousand yard stare. I carry a lot of scars. I like the way that sounds. I carry a lot of scars These are the words which Richard uses at the end of The Beach to summarize just how he feels after the experiences he had gone through during his time spent there. Just reading this conclusion alone instantly makes me feel that a lot has happened to this character which has changed the way his life was running until then. After reading the whole novel, I discovered that the events which caused this, not only made him change his thoughts on life, but also caused a breakdown of his mind which eventually lead to hime becoming insane. In this evaluation, I will investigate how Richard's search for paradise eventually leads to the destuction of his sanity. There are three main thems which I will deal with, the first being curiosity and ambition. This theme is mainly dealt with at the beginning of the novel as it is here that Richard finds out about the beach from the curious character, Mister Duck. It is in the first chapter Bitch that we discover that Richard is a backpacker and has been all over the world, not knowing where his next destination was going to be. This instantly creates a sense of discovery and curiosity as he was willing to go wherever he felt that he would discover something different from what he was used to back in England or wherever else he had been. When Richard is first told about the beach, he reacts in a way in which even although he was unsure about exactly what Mister Duck was talking about; he was already slightly curious about what the big deal about the beach was. I was curious, partly, just wanting to know what the big deal about what was with this beach of his As soon as he meets Francoise and Etienne, he has to tell them about the map and the beach as if he doesn't think its right to keep it to himself. As if he would prefer to share this experience with other instead of alone. This may suggest that that even at the beginning, Richard was not strong enough to cope with this experience himself. Or perhaps he thought it would be selfish to keep it to himself. Whatever way it was, it showed that Richard Movies and Cinema Essays

Film Summary - Gattaca essays

Film Summary - Gattaca essays In the course of this film we see Vincent Freeman become Jerome Morrow, a genetically superior human being conceived through a genetically modified birth. Vincent was born through a faith birth, the way of which used to be normal. From the first moments of Vincents life, he is evidently seen as a lesser form of life due to the low quality of his DNA, and a child not worthy of his fathers name. He is condemned to an underclass and enters a life of career discrimination. With the birth of his brother Anton, a vetro child, comes an intense rivalry that is struck between the two. Anton plays a major influence in Vincents life. From an early childhood, Vincents goal and dream is to travel into space. The main constraint preventing him from achieving this dream is his pre-determined genetic makeup and the discrimination against faith births that come with it. At first, while he is interested in astrology, he realizes there is not a good possibility of getting into the Gattaca space program. This way of thinking is changed when he defeats Anton in one of their chicken contests. As the concept of an invalid defeating a valid person is unheard of, this makes everything possible for Vincent. It is the point in which he becomes aware of the depth of his own courage and the inner strength he possesses, and from this gains new confidence and hope in getting into Gattaca. From this awareness, he enlists in the help of a DNA specialist while working as a cleaner at Gattaca, more so for knowledge of the company than employment reasons. We see an array of instances in which Vincent demonstrates his sole aspiration fo r space travel, through himself quoting If the glass is clean it will be easier for you to see me when Im on the other side. When Irene exclaims, If you're going to pretend you dont care, dont l...

How To Make Violet or Purple Fire

How To Make Violet or Purple Fire Violet flames are very easy to make. All you do is sprinkle salt substitute on your fire. Salt substitute contains potassium chloride and potassium bitartrate. If you are familiar with the emission spectra from flame tests, youll recognize that potassium salts burn violet or purple. The color seems more of a blue-violet, but you can get a more reddish purple if you mix a little strontium from the red fire tutorial in with the salt substitute. Keep in mind that violet is not one of the colors your eyes see really well. The subtle glow of these flames can be completely overwhelmed by the colors from trace impurities. This means two things: Use as pure a fuel as you can. I used Heet fuel treatment, which is methanol. If you sprinkle the salt substitute on your wood-burning campfire, the flames will change color, but the color wont necessarily be violet.Use salt substitute and not lite salt. Lite salt is a mixture of normal table salt (sodium chloride) with potassium salts. The yellow from the sodium will overpower the violet from the potassium. Watch a video of this project.

SUCCESS FACTORS IN DATA WAREHOUSE PROJECTS Essay

SUCCESS FACTORS IN DATA WAREHOUSE PROJECTS - Essay Example Why organizations need to bring data together from different working systems? Obviously, the answer is, to be more beneficial, to be more competitive, or to grow by adding value for customers. This can be achieved by mounting the pace and flexibility of decision making, developing business processes effectively, or gaining a clearer idea of customer activities. The data warehouse is a huge collection of the past and current business data that analyze the old business data for offering special discounts and trend assessment in the past business. These systems also facilitate decision makers to retrieve data as many times as they need without disturbing the performance of the core working systems. A data warehouse merges data that are scattered all over the different working systems and makes them readily accessible for decision support applications (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 247; Inmon, 2002, p. 3; Hoffer, Prescott, & McFadden, 2007, p. 47). There are many factors that play a signific ant role in the implementation of a data warehouse. This essay presents a detailed analysis of the critical success factors in the implementation of data warehouse projects. Data Warehouse: An overview A data warehouse is a large size subject-oriented database that is designed and implemented with organization-wide access in mind. Additionally, a data warehouse collects and process a mountain of data from a number of sources and the basic purpose of this data collection and processing is to allow its users to be familiar with the data and information they want for decision making and get access to that information by making use of easy to use applications and tools. In addition, data warehouse encompasses a wide variety of tools and technologies such as multidimensional and relational databases, graphical user interfaces, client/server architecture and many more. In the context of a data warehouse system, all these components work with the purpose of combining raw data and facts fro m a variety of sources into a particular and reliable warehouse that provides an excellent support for decision making and analysis inside a particular domain of the business. In this scenario, the majority of large size business organizations develop data warehouse systems as a key element of their main information systems environment (Alshboul, 2012; Swalker, 2011). Data Warehouse Projects A few years ago, it was a serious challenge for the business organizations to actually make use of the covered data and information and facts stored in the functional systems for management and decision tasks. In this scenario, data management is seen in the sense of data as a significant asset belonging to the entire business organization for management and decision tasks, and not only as the belongings of specific tools and applications, personnel or business areas. Basically, this data collected from a variety of sources is supplied to a managerial part, which is responsible for transforming collected data into understandable and useful information for instance high-class subject orientated information will be accessible just in due course. In view of the fact that data can play a significant role in supporting functioning tasks very competently, hence it does not repeatedly make available information that can transform knowledge and improve the efficiency of business processes efficiency. In the past, these operational data were not accessible in a way that end users could straightforwardly recognize and utilize. In this scenario, in the form of a theoretical framework in the direction of contemporary information processing system a data warehouse was developed for a useful and well-organized practice of the

Hot water System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hot water System - Case Study Example Subsequently, it refers to the condition where the lost revenue or the cost of production for the water system pipes ought to be considered as such. Question 4: 4. Describe the process you would use in sizing the storm water drainage system for a commercial building? Assume that these buildings dimensions are 100’ x 200’ and that the roof will be tapered such that there are two low points, each of equal square footage. What size roof drains are needed? You need to coordinate with the site contractor to determine what size storm water main to run to the front of the building; describe the process you would use to determine the storm water main size and identify the size. 4. It is important to note the system pressures where isolation valve, regulating assemblies and the static pressures at the plumbing zones. A critical roof tank solution is to ensure that the mains water is sufficient and enough to cover or supply the whole building, and thus the aim would ensure suffic ient upward and downward pressure. Question: Section 3: Refer to the Spring Valley plans in D2L and answer the following questions regarding the Drainage, Waste, and Vent systems. (30 Points) Question: 1. Describe the process you would use to determine the total drainage fixture unit (DFU) load on the building sewer for each of the two buildings. What is the total DFU load for each building? (10 points). Referring to the Spring Valley plan the drainage fixture unit it would be important to use the DWV method or the drain, water and vent technique.

How do You Spell High School? †S-T-R-E-S-S :: Personal Narrative Writing

How do You Spell High School? – S-T-R-E-S-S When I ask people what their most memorable times are, most tell me that their most memorable times occurred in high school. I entered high school a year ago, and it has been fun, but very, very stressful. I try to organize and make time for everything that I am assigned to do, but still everything seems to bunch up and become overwhelming. Sometimes I just want to give up and stop trying so hard. I don’t just feel pressure from school, but from my family and society as well. Since I am Hispanic, I am expected to defy all those stereotypes that people might have of Hispanics. Some examples of these stereotypes are that Hispanics are not well educated, that they are always loud and that pregnancy occurs at a young age. I might be loud sometimes, but I am very educated and I am not considering having a baby any time soon. But still my parents expect me to exceed all expectations and be the very best, which is pretty hard. Since second grade I was in the Gifted and Talented Program, which is a program for students who are a bit more advanced than their grade level. I was in that program until fourth grade and then I entered the Delta Program at Booker T. Washington M.S. 54. The Delta Program is also for students that are a bit more advanced than their grade level, and in that course I found it very hard to be the best. For the four years that I was in that school, the most I could do was get in the Honor Roll, and for the last two years it wasn’t very easy. My parents always told me that I had to have good grades and get a scholarship to a good college and that was how it was going to be. Before, it didn’t bother me and I would just do everything I was told to do, but now, it is getting very stressful because the work is getting harder and I find myself with more responsibilities. Some studies show that many Hispanics either drop out of high school or don’t ever get to college. Because of this, I am expected to do very well in school and make it into a good college. I am not saying that it isn’t something I want, but this goal seems very difficult, because the stress I am experiencing is working against me and slowing me down instead of pepping me up and encouraging me to keep moving ahead.

Spartans and Special Forces

The Spartans were the Special Forces (SF) of their time. Now we have Delta Force, Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Marine Force RECON and Army Rangers. All are small elite groups of warriors trained to kill. How many of today’s warriors would equal one Spartan? Given the vast differences in technology and the way that battles are fought, who would come out on top? Spartan warriors are taken from their families at the age of seven to begin the training of a warrior. These boys where placed into groups also referred to as â€Å"packs† and sent to Agoge, what we today call boot camp.While in Agoge they became accustomed to hardship and given just minimal amounts of food and clothing to survive. By having just enough to get by they were encouraged to steal. If they where caught stealing they would be punished, not for stealing, but for being caught. The boys where also encouraged to compete in mock fights and games to promote unity. They learned songs of Spartan victories and how to read and write. They didn’t learn how to read and write for cultural purposes, but rather so that they could read maps. When the boys reached the age of 12 they became youths.Much more was demanded of youths than children. They began a more intensified physical training regime, were given extra tasks and discipline became harsher. They were forced to go barefoot and wear only a tunic in both summer and winter. When the boys reached the age of 18 they became young adults. They served as trainers for the youths. Also included in this category where the most promising youths. These elite boys where the ones that stood out among all others and chosen for possible leadership positions. When a Spartan turned 20 years of age he became eligible for service in the military.They joined a â€Å"messes† ( a group meal ) consisting of fifteen men of various ages. The ones who where not chosen for the messes where given a lesser citizenship. Only soldiers where of equal status an d rank. Until the age of thirty the Spartan soldiers spent almost all of their time in the barracks with the unit. This included even soldiers that where married. Spartans remained in the military until the age of sixty. Today, at the age of seven, children are in school and living with their families in a warm home. They have enough food and clothing provided that there is no need to steal.The only type of training they are receiving is basic schooling and fighting gets you in nothing but trouble. The only other type of military training a child can receive would be if they where sent to a military academy and only wealthiest of families can afford to do that. At the age of 12 what was expected of youths is a little more demanding than that of a child. You are expected to do more chores and the physical training is from playing with your friends or gym class at school. We definitely didn’t wear a tunic in both summer and winter and you are only barefoot if you want to be.We have plenty of clothes for all seasons and footwear to stay protected from the elements. Now we reach the age of 18 and you have either graduated from high school or received your GED. Then and only then you are allowed to join the military after meeting one of these two goals. For the most fortunate of this age group, they may go to college. For the ones who want to become leaders in the military they go to a military academy like West Point or The Citadel to become officers. For those who chose to just join the military, they go to basic training. This is nothing compared to what the Spartans have already been through.They have already been in training now for 12 years. Basic training only lasts eight weeks and then you go on to your military occupational specialty (MOS) school which could last up to a year. If you become and infantryman like a Spartan begins as, you have an additional 11 weeks of training to complete. In the Army you can apply for Special Forces Green Berets, and if you are chosen you now begin more intensified training. If you are one of the few enlisted men or officers chosen for Special Forces you now must complete the SF Qualification (Q) Course.The Q Course can last anywhere from 12 to 24 months depending on the MOS you choose. Special Forces soldiers have four MOS categories to choose from: Weapons Expert (18B), Engineer (18C), Medic (18D) and Communications (18E). When an officer trains for SF they are only given one MOS to choose from Career Management (18A). When you have completed your SF training you are then assigned to your unit and then to your team. At age 20 you have been in the military for two to three years and have moved up the ranks to at least a Specialist or Corporal in the Army.If you chose to go one of the military academies you are half way through your training and the process of getting your degree, which is required to be an officer in the military. Unlike Spartans though, today you are allowed to be at home wit h your family and only if you are single you are not committed to staying in the barracks with the unit. There are other daily rituals that you do while with your unit, such as physical training (PT), training with the unit at the range and cleaning your equipment. Those are only a few of the things that you do with the unit.Special Forces units, unlike Spartans, have what is referred to as a Real World Mission, meaning they can deploy to any part of the world within 24 hours. They are SF Teams deployed today in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, the war on drugs in Central and South America and SF Teams in Africa on Peace Keeping missions. When you reach your 20 year mark in the military you have the choice of retiring or staying in longer. If I where to have stayed in for twenty years I would have retired at the age of 42.Being part of the military until the age of 60 is not required of any soldier today. Spartans, like the citizens of many other Greek States, where trained as soldiers and used the Phalanx formation in battle. The Phalanx formation was rectangular in design and the Spartans where the masters in the use of this formation. The traditional formation consisted of a strait line of men in a file 8 to 12 deep. This formation used pushing and required a lot of strength and stamina to endure long days of fighting. The Elite, as they are referred to, would take up the honorary right flank when fighting with their allies.When they broke through the line of the enemy, as they usually did, the Spartans would sweep left and roll through the enemy. The picture below is that of a Phalanx formation and shows the position of Elite forces on the honorary right side of the formation. [pic] [pic] The above picture is that of a Phalanx formation. The tactics of today’s soldier are vastly more superior because of the way battles are fought. Battles today are not fought by masses of men on one field of battle slugging it out with spears, swords and shields. Today, we rely heavily on technology to fight our battles.The Spartans didn’t have the luxury of a Tomahawk cruise missile or artillery barrage to soften a target before attacking the enemy. Special Forces soldiers are taught Small Unit Tactics, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) tactics, Combat Skills Training and Special Forces Field Craft Training. All of this training combined prepares the soldiers for their Unconventional Warfare Combat Exercise called â€Å"Robin Sage† at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This exercise demonstrates the skills that the Special Forces soldiers have been taught over a 28 day period.For a Spartan to have achieved this type of training he would have been training for almost 14 years. The Spartan would have been much more refined in his combat skills than the average Special Forces soldier. Spartans wore hoplite armor which consisted of armor with flanged bronze cuirasses, leg greaves and a Corinthia n style helmet. The weapons they would have carried into battle would have been a bronze shield weighing up to 15 pounds known as a Hoplon, a 6 to 10 foot spear called a Sarissas for thrusting at advancing soldiers and a two foot long sword called a Xiphos for thrusting and cutting in close combat.All of this equipment was simple and yet very effective on the battlefield. Below is a picture of a Spartan soldier with all of his equipment needed for battle. [pic] The equipment of a Special Forces soldiers varies drastically from one combat theatre to the next. The basic equipment used consists of a uniform with boots, knee pads, elbow pads, protective eyewear, Interceptor Body armor with Ballistic plates to stop a hi-powered rifle round, a ballistic helmet. The weapons carried by Special Forces Soldiers also vary from mission to mission. The basic weapons carried on a mission for an SF soldier are an M-4 5. 6 millimeter Carbine, M-9 9 millimeter pistol, a bayonet, ammunition for both the pistol and rifle and hand grenades. Below is a group of Special Forces Soldiers posing for a photo in Iraq. [pic] In my opinion, the Spartans would be the toughest of the tough. They endured many more hardships over the span of their lifetime. They where taken from their families at the age of seven and spent their lives in the military. We, on the other hand, have all the luxuries one could ever want, and more. We are not brought up to be killing machines like the Spartans were. Thankfully most of us will never have to kill another human being in our lifetime.References Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual (FM) 3-05, Army Special Operations Forces, September 2006 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces_Qualification_Course Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Robin_Sage ABC News, Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ht_berets06_070530_ssh.jpg Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: November 11, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: November 11, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartan_Army Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_formation Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hop2.jpg Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved: December 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greek_Phalanx.jpg Military Factory, website about ancient and modern weapons and armor Retrieved: December 13, 2009 from http://www.militaryfactory.com/ancient-warfare/spartan-hoplite.asp

The Theory Of Leadership Theories - 1483 Words

There are volumes composed on Leadership theories in about every discipline. Bolman and Deal filtered through the puzzling hypotheses of literature and joined with their experience, investigations, observation and experience on four-frame model. Frame can be described as the lens of a glass so that everyone can see the world. Frame are used to through it. Frame gives every individual to establish their own business and to run smoothly. People need these frames because to know the real world and what sense and to experience it, it also helps us to guide our action. Bolman and Deal propose that each individual has individual and favored casings that they use to accumulate data, judgments, focus conduct and clarify conduct. Every frame gives†¦show more content†¦These steps may include: ïÆ'Ëœ Organizational goals should be clarified. ïÆ'Ëœ Taking the external environment under control ïÆ'Ëœ Implementing, designing and developing a clear structure appropriate to task, and environment ïÆ'Ëœ Clarifying lines of authority ïÆ'Ëœ Concentrating on given task, facts, and logic, rather than on personality and feelings. 2. The Human Resource Framework The human resource deals with people’s views as it is the heart of any organization system and it gives supportive responsive to needs and goals to achieve commitment and loyalty. The most important thing on human resource management is to support and liberation. The HR administrator listens well and imparts individual warmth and honesty. The people engages individuals through support and actions to pick up the assets individuals need to carry out work well. HR supervisors go up against when proper yet attempt to do as such in a friendly atmosphere. ïÆ'Ëœ Organization is there to serve the people or human needs, rather than the human existing for organizational needs. ïÆ'Ëœ People and organization both are important to each other. Because organization needs power, talent and ideas to implement and more over people need basic needs like shelter, food and clothes the organization provide these all in the type of salary and opportunities too full their dreams. ïÆ'Ëœ When there is a misunderstanding between the individual and organization both will suffer and when

A Home Away From Home - 1235 Words

Sebastian Franca Eng. 201 Professor Pari Essay #1 Poetry A home away from home Imagine yourself to be taken away from your homeland and live somewhere else where you don’t belong, or imagine your country or hometown being invaded from other populations that want to just make a profit out of it. In â€Å"Africa† by Maya Angelou and â€Å"Heaven† by Cathy Song these feelings are well expressed in different ways. While reading through the poems we can easily get involved and be a part of what the poets want to share with us. We can find that the poems are similar because they show sufferance, melancholy, and a desire to return home. After I read the poems, I couldn’t have a better way to express the meaning of those statements. Throughout the poems, I found interesting how the two are somehow related; at the end, both of them shared something really strong, something that we can only see if we read the poems carefully. In the poem â€Å"Africa† after I read scrupulously the first lines, I instantly started reading the poem as a woman was speaking to me about how much she suffered and how much her homeland has, as well, suffered because of the European invaders. The poet uses a really good figurative language throughout the whole poem, and she turns the poem into a personification of a woman and a land. On the other hand, in the poem â€Å"Heaven† the suffering is expressed differently, but it is still palpable, present. Throughout the poem we see that the poet tents to compare twoShow MoreRelatedStarbucks : A Home Away From Home Essay1111 Words   |  5 Pagesthe product. Starbuck’s founding partners wanted to create a coffee shop that was a home away from home. They wanted Starbucks to be another stop in between work and home. For many individuals, Starbucks is just that and here is why. Starbucks does more than just sell coffee in the retail store. 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A tragedy is staying in an unhappy marriage, teaching your children the wrong things about love†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is the general idea of divorce, once one has decided they’ve had enough it’s okay to quit. In some situations I would agree that it is absolutely necessary for divorce. I am not against divorce but I am in favor of the children that have to experience it. If you google ‘divorce’ what pops up is celebritiesRead MoreWhy Teeagers Run Away from Home951 Words   |  4 Pagesthat the number of youth who run away from home is increasing at a dangerous rate, and millions of parents suffer every year because their children run away from home. These parents say it is like a never-ending nightmare, and they are left to struggle with the question of why their child would leave home. Too many teenagers run â€Å"from† something rather than â€Å"to† something, but runaway teenagers claim they leave home in search of safety and freedom. Running away from home is usually a quick decision,

The Myths And Its Impact On Society - 1007 Words

Since the beginning of time humankind has either accepted, rejected, or altered history. Accepting and rejecting a particular point of view can ultimately lead to conflict due to a difference of opinion. Altering history can also lead to conflict, but the individual modifying the details of history do so to satisfy what they believe to be the truth. That being said, worldview boils down to individual truth. The purpose of this essay is to explore various worldviews derived from, or in response to, Christianity to analyze how their disparities led to conflict. John Lennon once said, â€Å"I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?† (Lennon, n.d,) This statement depicts a similar truth that the Enlightenment worldview had. Enlightenment at its inception shifted the essential focal point from God to self. With this shift humankind became more in control of their own beliefs. Belief is something based on facts, reason, or a combination of both. Humankind began to reason their foundation of faith with what they considered facts hence, they became more enlightened and in control of their destiny. Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Enlightenment movement began to surface and subsequently gained momentum as a viable option for a worldview. To this point Christianity and Judaism were the predominantShow MoreRelatedCreation Myths And Its Impact On Society1188 Words   |  5 Pagesour world came to be. Whether we are in church, the synagogue, or the temple humans have established ideologies. Humans use the creation myths to bring about some understanding as to how humans magically or purposely inhabited the earth. However, even though myths satisfy this yearning for how and why, the scientific world revolted with the idea that creation myths are no longe r satisfactory. 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Myths involving the Amazons even sometimes have versions of the same myth with different Amazon warriors, making it difficult to understand what Amazon women is associated with the certain myth. Throughout Greek mythology, the Amazons were portrayed as fierce warriors and this carries over into today’s society. The Amazons were daughtersRead MoreMyth And The Old West1019 Words   |  5 PagesMyths have existed in the world for thousands of years. They’ve become an important part of history and have strongly influenced society, especially in the United States. Myths have impacted history in both positive and negative ways. One particular example of the myth in American culture is the Old West. This myth of the West became extremely popular, not only in the United States, but also throughout the world. People typically think of Greek mythology and characters like Hermes and PoseidonRead MoreChallenging Aging Stereotypes : Strategies For Creating A More Active Society Essay1548 Words   |  7 PagesIn Dr. Marcia Ory’s article titled Challenging Aging Stereotypes: Strategies for Creating a More Active Society, many common misconceptions about the elderly are presented and disputed, while also addressing the effect these stereotypes have on the elderly’s view of themselves and how it affects their physical wellbeing. Solutions to getting the older population active and engaged while taking care of their bodies are also presented. This assessment provides a comprehensive breakdown of these topicsRead MoreEssay on Diversity: The Ethical Choice1410 Words   |  6 Pagesincreasing diversity and working to break the glass ceiling. Given both types of institutions are granted their power by civil society, a society that is increasingly made up of minorities (Kinicki Kreit ner, 2008), it is a societal obligation, the ethical choice, and good business, to increase diversity, address equality issues in the workplace, and turn the American melting pot myth into reality. Employers are powerful institutions that are responsible for allocation of resources like salary, benefitsRead MoreThe Word â€Å"God† Or â€Å"Christianity† Is Often Thrown Around1274 Words   |  6 Pagesof our society, but instead helps to construct the society itself. Personally, before reading Christian America and the Kingdom of God, by Richard T. Hughes, and exploring the concept of Christian America, I also was under the assumption that America is Christian. Likewise, most Americans accept the claim without question, thus allowing a religious justification of national, political, and societal interests that have virtually no biblical basis. In order to determine the national impact, HughesRead MoreHades, an Influence on Greek Society1029 Words   |  5 Pagestheir deeds in their myths. Gods can either show jealousy, courage, or kindness to mortals and other gods, so Greeks label the gods based on their qualities. In most circumstances, the Greeks decide whet her to worship or despise a god only by whom or what they rule over. For example, Greeks show reluctance in worshipping Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Greeks hold celebrations and festivities to earn favor from the gods. Greek gods can either have a positive or a negative impact on Greek culture.Read MoreWomen s Influence On Women1545 Words   |  7 Pagesbigger role in society compared to that of Greek women in ancient Greece. Women were cogs in a patriarchal dominated society woman were very much under their husbands control according to law and the most important role of women was to raise the children and work at the house with the slaves if they could be afforded. Women could not vote in Greek society, they could not own property, and women could not have much communication with males outside their immediate families. In Roman society however thereRead MoreMyths: Education and Family1664 Words   |  7 PagesInterpreting and understanding myths depend on an individualâ₠¬â„¢s personal views, beliefs, and ideas. With that in mind, the myth regarding the nuclear family and the myth of education and empowerment are all interpreted differently and argued, for and against, in many ways. Both have been perceived negatively by society, yet they have not always been a harmful folktale. Rather, the myth that education can improve someone’s life has been used, year after year, to motivate the youth in order to improve

Civil Action Movie Tort Analysis Free Essays

Background A Civil Action entails a major class action suit brought forth by several families against major conglomerates (including W. R. Grace chemical company and Beatrice Foods) that were alleged to have negligently damaged the environment of a small town to the extent that its practices led to the spread of leukemia. We will write a custom essay sample on Civil Action Movie Tort Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Jan, a personal injury attorney, decides to represent a woman that claims that her child and other neighbors of a small town in Massachusetts have been diagnosed with leukemia. The lawyer finds evidence that there were some factors that could have led to the contamination of the town’s water supply by the conglomerates’ factory. In the course of the lawsuit Jan gets other attorneys in his Boston law firm to assist him. Jan spends lavishly for experts, but the length of the discovery process and opposing counsels’ maneuvers stretch all his assets to the limit. Jan concentrates his efforts against the parent company (Grace) since they had personal testimony of a former employee of Grace who had witnessed dumping. The case against Beatrice Foods was dismissed and would then lead the firm to accept settlement from Grace for $8 million. Jan later files for bankruptcy, and the firm is dismantled. Jan then submits the case to the EPA after it concludes, in a report, that both companies had contaminated the wells from sludge removed from the site. Ultimately, due to the lawsuits brought forward by the EPA, Grace and Beatrice Foods are eventually forced to pay for one of the largest chemical clean ups in the history of the United States which cost about $64 million. Brief Analysis for Cause-in-Fact The issue that arises in this plot is whether the conglomerates are negligent for the contamination of the water supplies of the town, and if their negligence contributed to the injuries (leukemia) of the multiple plaintiffs. After finding that there has been a breach of duty, one must consider if the defendant’s conduct was the cause-in-fact of the injuries. An actor’s conduct is the cause-in-fact of someone’s injury where if we can say that â€Å"but for† the actor’s conduct the injury would not have occurred. In other words, the dominant â€Å"but for† test asks: â€Å"if we could go back in time and remove the actor’s conduct, would that have prevented the injury? † In Hill v. Edmonds, the court found that where two causes of negligence combine to produce a single injury, each individual is liable for the entire result even though its act alone may not have caused the result. In that case, the conduct of the truck driver was a ‘‘but for’’ cause of Hill’s injuries. If Bragoli (D) would not have left his truck in the middle of the road, Edmonds (D) probably would not have hit the truck. The minority test was molded in the Anderson case, where it was held that where several causes concur to bring about an injury and any one alone would have been sufficient to cause the injury, it is sufficient if D’s conduct was a â€Å"substantial factor. The court in that case concluded that it would be unfair to deny the plaintiff liability, simply because the plaintiff cannot show that ‘‘but for’’ the negligent conduct of one defendant, the injury to the plaintiff would not have resulted. In this instant case, the conglomerates were likely negligent since they failed to provide a duty of reasonable care in managing the factory in the town, causing detrimental damage to the environment and the town’ s water supply. The question of whether the conglomerates were liable to the families lies on the causation of the leukemia, and whether it can be shown that the water supply contamination was a direct cause-in-fact of the leukemia. Jan was unable to promptly show this causal connection, and his cases against the other two entities involved were dismissed before settling with Grace. It was difficult for Jan to pinpoint the conglomerate’s negligence as a cause-in-fact for the plaintiffs’ leukemia. In fact, in the deposition the defendant’s council articulated that there may have been a wide range of other reasons for the plaintiffs’ cases of leukemia. Everything from family history, food consumption and lifestyles were addressed as possible alternatives. The major difficulty in Jan’s case against the conglomerates lies on causation. The water contamination may have been caused by all the entities involved in the factory near the town’s river. First, it must be shown that the dumped chemicals, especially the industrial TCE, had gotten into the wells. In Anderson, the court reasoned that if a fire set by the Railway’s (D) negligence unites with a fire of an independent origin, there is joint and several liability, even though either fire would have independently destroyed the property. Likewise, even if the wells could have been contaminated by either defendant, the Anderson test will provide that where a plaintiff is injured by the negligent conduct of more than one tortfeasor, each is independently liable if they are each a substantial factor in bringing about the plaintiff’s injury. Grace and Beatrice Foods were both substantial factors to the water contamination. Their negligent management of the factory was evident by the former employee’s testimony that they had dumped materials unto the river. Hence, Grace and the others’ negligence could have all contributed to the ensuing injuries. The problem here lies in whether the water contamination was the cause-in-fact of the leukemia and second, if it had, whether the pollutants killed the leukemia patients. As shown in the movie, the EPA would ultimately prevail in forcing the conglomerates to pay for damages. It may be assumed then that further expert testimony and findings uncovered that the water contamination was indeed a cause-in-fact of the leukemia. If , however, it were not for the EPA’s extensive resources, Grace and Beatrice Foods may have been able to escape liability on the lack of evidence showing that the water contamination was the cause-in-fact of the widespread leukemia. How to cite Civil Action Movie Tort Analysis, Essay examples

Theories of Ageing free essay sample

This theory assumes a positive relationship between activity and life satisfaction. One theorist suggests that activity enables older adults to be able to adjust to retirement. The critics of this theory state that it overlooks the inequalities in health and economics that hinders the ability for older people to engage in such activities. Also, some older adults do not desire to engage in new challenges. Activity theory reflects the functionalist perspective that the equilibrium that an individual develops in middle age should be maintained in later years. The theory predicts that older adults that face role loss will substitute former roles with other alternatives. The activity theory is one of three major psychosocial theories which describe how people develop in old age. The other two psychosocial theories are the disengagement theory, with which the activity comes to odds, and the continuity theory which modifies and elaborates upon the activity theory and though in recent years the acceptance activity theory has diminished, it is still used as a standard to compare observed activity and life satisfaction patterns. In relation to my individual, when they reach the Elderly life stage they will probably stay active and socialize with other individuals instead of hiding away as they are a confident person with a large group of friends and family members around them to keep them interacting. However, there is a chance that this might not be the case because there could be a knock to their self-esteem because there will be things that they aren’t going to be able to carry on doing as they get older. For example, if they aren’t able to get around as easy as before to socialize then they might disengage from society. Disengagement theory The theory was formulated by Cumming and Henry in 1961 in the book Growing Old, and it was the first theory of aging that social scientists developed. Therefore, this theory has historical significance in gerontology. Since then, it has faced strong criticism since the theory was proposed as innate, universal, and unidirectional. This theory of aging states that aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the aging person and others in the social system he belongs to. The theory claims that it is natural and acceptable for older adults to withdraw from society. The disengagement theory is one of three major psychosocial theories which describe how people develop in old age. The other two major psychosocial theories are the activity theory and the continuity theory, and the disengagement theory comes to odds with both. Continuity theory This theory of normal aging states that older adults will usually maintain the same activities, behaviors, personalities, and relationships as they did in their earlier years of life. According to this theory, older adults try to maintain this continuity of lifestyle by adapting strategies that are connected to their past experiences. The continuity theory is one of six major psychosocial theories which describe how people develop in old age. The other two psychosocial theories are the disengagement theory, with which the continuity theory comes to odds, and the activity theory upon which the continuity theory modifies and elaborates. Unlike the other two theories, the continuity theory uses a life course perspective to define normal aging. The continuity theory can be classified as a micro-level theory because it relates to the individual, and more specifically it can be viewed from the functionalist perspective in which the individual and society try to obtain a ‘state of equilibrium’. The major criticism for the theory is its definition of normal aging. The theory distinguishes normal aging from pathological aging, neglecting the older adults with chronic illness. However, Feminist theories attack the continuity theory for defining normal aging around a male model. One weakness of the theory is that it fails to demonstrate how social institutions impact the individuals and the way they age. Since this theory is just an extension to the Activity theory, this also applies to my individual. They would hope to carry on/continue with the same activities and social events they were involved in when they were younger. Physical changes of Ageing Skins, bones, joints muscles: When a person ages, their skins become thinner, less elastic and an obvious sign; they wrinkle. Also, their bones become less dense which means they are more likely to fracture. An ageing person’s joints can become stiffer which also may make their movement more painful as the cartilage on the end of their bones becomes thinner and the ligaments also start to become looser. Also, their muscles will start to become weaker. Senses: A person’s sense of balance can become impaired and their ability to taste and smell can deteriorate as they age. Also, other deteriorations can be vision and hearing. Hearing deterioration results in the failure to hear high-pitched sounds. Organs: During the ageing process, it isn’t only the skins, bones, joints, muscles and senses that are affected, the organs are affected too. The muscles in a person’s digestive tract start to become weaker which causes a risk of constipation. Cardiovascular system: The cardiovascular system is affected in which, the heart becomes less efficient when it comes pumping blood which results in a rise of blood pressure. During the ageing process a person’s arteries which start to become narrower due to the high cholesterol levels but also the buildup of fatty deposits which can also lead to a rise of blood pressure but also an increased risk of a stroke and heart attack. The fatty deposits which might build up in the arteries could break away which might result in one of the important arteries becoming blocked which can result in coronary heart disease where the victim will have the symptoms such as breathlessness and chest pain. Respiratory system: Changes in a person’s respiratory system will occur too as their respiratory muscles will decline in strength as they age. As a person gets older their lung also might be less efficient. As someone ages they are more likely to develop chronic respiratory disease, for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema and bronchitis. Nervous system: There are changes in the nervous system to throughout the ageing process, for example there will be a loss of nerve cells that activate muscles and a decline in the efficiency of neurotransmitters which will increase a person’s risk of developing motor neurone disease, experiencing sensory less and changes to their cognitive function. When there are changes to the nervous system there is a chance they might impair an elderly person’s sense of taste and smell and can also make them less sensitive to the cold, therefore increasing the risk of hypothermia. Effects of smoking Since my individual is a smoker and has been since adolescence/young adulthood and is still a smoker in his adulthood there are many risks to his ageing body as smoking can lead to lung and various other cancers. Also it is associated which cardiovascular disease (it causes the arteries to harden and narrow), damage to the respiratory system (especially the lungs) in the form of COPD and emphysema and also damage to the skin. Psychological changes of Ageing It is hard to generalise the psychological changes that are associated with ageing as each individual is psychologically different, their experiences are unique. However, there are psychologists who have observed some common patterns. An example of this is, those psychologists who use the disengagement theory have suggested that older people gradually disengage/separate from society as a result of the ageing process. The psychologist Erik Erikson (1968) stated that once a person has reached old age they are in the final stage of psychosocial development where they develop a sense of â€Å"ego integrity†. Ego integrity comprises an individual making sense of their life. Therefore holding onto a clear but also meaningful sense of who they are which basically shows that those who have a sense of ego integrity are just individuals in old age trying to protect and keep their independence. Alice Heim (1990) was a psychologist who used her own experiences with ageing in her own study along with the experiences of 160 of her friends and colleagues. In her study it showed that even though she had people within similar cultural and life experiences groups, there were variations in how those people experienced later life. When concluding her study, Heim advocated that confidence in participating in practical tasks decreases in old age, however social confidence increases. This decrease/increase conclusion is one of the contradictions in the ageing process. Ageing process and theories influence on Health Social Care provision Most of the older generations are now deciding to remain in their own homes. They either look after themselves independently or look after themselves but with the support of friends and family and/or social services. There are some older people who choose to move into sheltered accommodation due to the rising costs of maintaining a house because of gas, electricity, food prices etc. Therefore because of the rising costs, the average pension payments wouldn’t cover utility bills and food. Also, there are day centres that provide a social setting where the elderly can socialise with others and meet some of the health authorities that assist with physiotherapy and various other health needs. There is a small proportion of the older generation that decides to go into residential care where they have 24 hour care available. These services seek to endorse choice and they are respectful towards an older person’s preferences and wishes.

Molluscs and Natural Selection free essay sample

The process of natural selection is one of the most cited reasons for the evolution of a species, and it was made famous by Charles Darwin’s famous observations of finches in the Galapagos Islands. It is believed to work by way of random mutations; random mutations occur, as it indicates, randomly and spontaneously in a population for a multitude of genetic reasons. Mutations help to create variation of different traits within a species, and they can be expressed with different phenotypes. In times where a mutation has no negative effect on the individual organism, this trait could be advantageous in a new habitat or predatory situation, etc. With an advantage in survival, and thus reproduction, these organisms are often selected for over other members of the species, creating a change in variation of a species over generations. Molluscs, although a very large and diverse group of animals, often share certain features: a mantle, radula, shell, and foot. We will write a custom essay sample on Molluscs and Natural Selection or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The mantle is a thin and fleshy layer which secretes the hard shell of a mollusc. The radula is a grate-like structure in the mouth used to scrape surfaces and drill holes. The foot is a muscle which assists in locomotion and movement of the molluscs. It is hypothesized that all current-day molluscs share a common ancestor, called the hypothetical ancestral mollusc or HAM, because of the similar characteristics and body plans that have been modified in diverse ways over time to adapt to different environments. Two members of the mollusc family include the clam, of the class bivalvia, and the squid, of the class cephalopoda, and these are an example of variation from the HAM that helped them adapt for their particular environment, feeding behavior, and movement (Sigwart, 2007). The squid species has undergone many adaptations. The squid’s radula resembles a beak-like structure that it uses to devour its food, very different from the chiton-like HAM which probably had a small radula. Over time, the radula’s shape has been mutated and then selected for as the squid changed its eating habits – if it provided quicker eating time, then it would be selected for. The squid lacks an outer shell (it’s internalized), so the mantle of the squid has also been modified into muscular â€Å"flaps† that it uses to propel itself quickly through the water, nd thus capture prey or avoid predators, a necessary function due to the squid’s lack of a hard protective barrier (Sigwart, 2007) A large shell would be unnecessary for the squid since it can propel quickly away from predators, and may even hinder its ability to swim; this would lead one to believe that the squid developed a muscular mantle from HAM and then a mutation for loss of the shell was selected for following the muscular body. Also, the foot of the squid has adapted from the single foot of the HAM to become tentacles and arms, used to quickly capture and bring prey closer to its beak-like radula to eat, which is buried behind its many arms. This modified version of its foot is an extremely effective feeding method that, coupled with the squid’s speed, enables it to catch and hold prey that otherwise might be able to escape (Sutton, 2007). The clam is a sedentary mollusc that uses its foot to burrow into the sand. The clam is a filter feeder, straining food particles from the water. The clam doesn’t have a radula, probably the result of a random mutation that caused some clam ancestors to lack the structure, or it may have been modified into another structure that aided in the filter feeding process. The filter feeding process is environmentally selected for because it enables the animal to take in food particles while buried under the sand. The mantle of the clam is found inside of its hard, hinged shell. The strong shell of the clam was environmentally selected for since it prevents predators from easily eating the clam, allows it to bury safely into the sand without affecting its internal organs, and improves the clams ability to survive and reproduce. The foot of the clam has adapted so that the species can dig into the sand with this muscle which can be moved out of the shell, a very different type of foot than the HAM’s muscular, positioned foot which allows for scavenging (Sutton, 2007). The HAM, very similar to the chiton, served as a good base model for this very diverse phylum of animals. Lots of spontaneous and random mutations must have occurred for such diversity – to have sedentary, burrowing animals and predatory, jet-propelling animals in the same phylum of animals is quite a feat.

Geophagy (Eating Dirt) - A Traditional Practice

Geophagy (Eating Dirt) - A Traditional Practice People around the world eat clay, dirt or other pieces of the lithosphere for a variety of reasons. Commonly, it is a traditional cultural activity which takes place during pregnancy, religious ceremonies, or as a remedy for disease. Most people who eat dirt live in Central Africa and the Southern United States. While it is a cultural practice, it also fills a physiological need for nutrients. African Geophagy In Africa, pregnant and lactating women are able to satisfy the very different nutritional needs of their bodies by eating clay. Often, the clay comes from favored clay pits and it is sold at market in a variety of sizes and with differing content of minerals. After purchase, the clays are stored in a belt-like cloth around the waist and eaten as desired and often without water. The cravings in pregnancy for a varied nutritional intake (during pregnancy, the body requires 20% more nutrients and 50% more during lactation) are solved by geophagy. The clay commonly ingested in Africa contains important nutrients such as  phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron. Spread to the U.S. The tradition of geophagy spread from Africa to the United States with slavery. A 1942 survey in Mississippi showed that at least 25 percent of the schoolchildren habitually ate earth. Adults, although not systematically surveyed, also consumed earth. A number of reasons were given: earth is good for you; it helps pregnant women; it tastes good; it is sour like a lemon; it tastes better if smoked in the chimney, and so on.* Unfortunately, many African-Americans who practice geophagy (or quasi-geophagy) are eating unhealthy material such as laundry starch, ashes, chalk and lead-paint chips because of psychological need. These materials have no nutritional benefits and can lead to intestinal problems and disease. The eating of inappropriate objects and material is known as pica. There are good sites for nutritional clay in the southern United States and sometimes family and friends will send care packages of good earth to expectant mothers in the north. Other Americans, such as the indigenous Pomo of Northern California used dirt in their diet they mixed it with ground acorn which neutralized the acid. * Hunter, John M. Geophagy in Africa and in the United States: A Culture-Nutrition Hypothesis. Geographical Review April 1973: 170-195. (Page 192)

Marketing Plan - Option Care Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Plan - Option Care Services - Essay Example Option Care Services is increasingly looking forward to provide high quality, professional and extremely caring services to its individual as well as its organizational clients, by providing them with highly trained and efficient caring staffs comprising of nurses, cleaners, care assistants and related or necessary support workers. Option Care Services is also looking forward to maintain a line of consistency in terms of quality and professionalism for the personnel provided to the individual or organizational clients. And finally, the organization is also targeting to be acknowledged as the best agency to provide quality healthcare personnel to their clients in the London region. Marketing Audit The marketing audit comprises of analyzing of various factors related to the external and internal environment for a business that comes into play when charting out the role of the various elements of the marketing mix. A typical marketing audit comprises of both the internal as well as the external audit (Perreault & McCarthy, 2006, p.549). External Audit The external audit can be performed by analyzing the business using the PEST analysis as well as an analysis of the competitive environment as well. PEST Analysis: Political Around the year 2008, the government of UK was providing extensive support for domiciliary services availed by the senior citizens of UK in order to retain their independency in their homes or surroundings. The senior citizens of UK, at that time, could avail the need of personal care and other related support activities, with sponsorship from the government or the local council. This led to huge increments in the governmental spending and led to huge public spending deficits. As a consequence of this cut, the local council came up with an effective measuring criterion on the basis of the sickness or the severity of needs in order to avail the services sponsored by the government. This has led to an increase in the personal spending amongst the m asses of UK to avail the personal care and support services on their own. Economical The macro economical factors also played its part in this particular service sector. Coupled with the global credit crunch, came the effect of slowdown in the factory outputs all over the globe, the triggering of fears for a double dip recession in certain part of the world and the extended phenomena and political drama related to the Euro zone crisis. This created a panic among the government policy makers in regards to their huge public spending. As a counter measure to these macro economic factors, the government responded by setting up cuts on its spending in the supporting the domiciliary needs of the people of the UK region. Social In response to the government’s measure to protect the country from possible economic crisis, cuts on the domiciliary needs of the masses, a social effect was triggered as well. As a matter of fact, more and more people are trying to avail the services for ca ring and support by paying from their own pockets. Technological Though the

Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Morality - Essay Example f Catholic moral thinking. Reason informed faith The Catholic Church worked to cease the dichotomy of rational morality and faith morality, otherwise understood as pure humanism and sectarianism (Gula, 1989, p. 1). For the believer, faith and reason can be integrated in its moral tradition to make Christian teachings more understandable for non-believers as well. This is also explicated in Humanae Vitae published in 1968 which pointed that natural law is further made significant by divine revelations as well as in the scriptural writings (Gula, 1989, p. 1). The latter upholds that the moral principles can be taught, using logical inferences of reason, from the perspective of faith (Gula, 1989, p. 32) The bishops have likewise applied this moral framework to resolve the issues on homosexuality which articulated the rational capacity of human beings to understand gender and sexuality; illumined by faith (Gula, 1989, p. 25). This theological position of the issues of morality is also ap plicable to the problems and issues of bioethics, scientific innovation, and other development which put the Christian teachings under social and moral dilemma. Notwithstanding the pressures, the church consistently stood for the dignity of creation and the need to respect human rights. As such, the Catholic Church maintained that such human dignity cannot only be understood separately by reason but by unquestioning faith with conviction that dignity is a gift of God given to any person, even if the same be interpreted using the laws of nature. As such, every person needs to possess an informed faith, illumined by reason, to understand the strategic goal of moral life and on how to behave well as a moral agent. Every Catholic believer must be imbued with wisdom about the role of being as a moral agent. And, as a faithful, must have a reference which served as the criteria for moral judgment (Gula, 1989, p. 9; Blair, 2010, p 1). Common issues with humanity Like other institutions on earth, the Catholic Church is also mocked and rocked with variegated issues (Hamilton, 2013, p. 1). There were instances when the church is being subject of corruption, sexuality, questionable financial relations with state agents, and other social issues such as their involvement in extractive industries, in corporate leveraging, and in amassing real estate properties at the expense of those property-less and those that are bereft of economic capacity to meet even the most fundamental need—food (Hamilton, 2013, p. 1). The resignation of previous Pope was even controversially tagged with varied issues on corruption and political machinations due to some alleged transactions done. There were many priests that were allegedly responsible on sexual relations, which violated the dignity of women;

Project appraisal through discounted and non-discounted cash flow Essay

Project appraisal through discounted and non-discounted cash flow techniques - Essay Example Positive and negative values makes it easy to understand generation of profits and losses as well as assists decision makers to focus only on the highly positive items, the precious time of management can be saved by focusing on the relevant project (Fortes, 2010; Horngren, 2005). Calculations are comparatively easy and data of any finite period can be easily converted into present value of it. Net present value analysis is derived from some basic realistic and practical assumption it is based on a fact that value of  £100 today will be more than the worth of  £100 after a year. Keeping this assumption in mind a net present value of future cash inflows is calculated using a discounted rate, usually the rate of cost of capital of a company or industry this rate represents the percentage minimum requirement of return by an organization per annum. Annuity factors can also be used if cash flows are constant every year. The Net Present Value (NPV) is a useful technique to determine profitability of any item being assessed, but has few limitations as well, it only focuses on factual data that can directly hit the profit generation capabilities of an item and financial aspects only while appraising projects and does not account for the non financial aspects, areas and issue associated to that project; whereas, there is a high probability of any decision/ project to get affected by numerous external or internal non-financial events.

Top down and control style management

Top down and control style management In the present economic world management Style can be defined as the style adapted to control or lead a business efficiently for the attainment of objectives set by the business. So the effective management style helps in maintaining the motivation of the employees and as a result enhances productivity. It is very important to look at the prominent management styles and how they function in the real world before we draw in to change process. A top-down/command and control style management can be defined as a style where the leader or small number of people takes all the decisions on their own and employees are told what to do and are closely controlled. The top management does not consult his subordinates or takes their opinion in consideration for decision making and dominates and controls the entire task. The person or persons who possess these personal qualities would be task oriented. In other way this can be described as a centralised way of governance. When the changes needed to be taken place involve high risks and the circumstances request quick and immediate decision making, this kind of management style proves to be the most effective. But it involves the use of power and fair amount of politics than the other management styles. As a result this causes demotivation as it implies the skills and ideas of others being ignored and it can also lead to the alienation of the staff. Typical characteristics of a centralised structure of decision making, or governance within an organisation would be an autocratic structure, because everyone is answerable to the leader or the top management. This brings advantages to the organisation in terms of focus and clarity of purpose; everyone is likely to know the companys goals and what is expected from them. Consistency is often a beneficial by-product, possibly because of lack of variety or maybe the attention to detail that becomes viable. The speed at which decisions can be made and passed down to the relevant persons is an obvious advantage. A high degree of flexibility is also associated with centralisation; the ability to change direction with the market is a valuable characteristic. However, it becomes clear that too much responsibility can be placed upon one person, usually the owner or manager. An autocratic nature usually has very little opinion, points of view or other valuable information passed up the hierarc hy; wholly undemocratic, emphasised by the lack of accountability and scrutiny. Centralised models of decision making tend to only work effectively in small organisations, most of the associated advantages are lost in large organisations, for example, it becomes much more difficult for employees to share one uniting aim or goal, speed of decision and information flow would undoubtedly be adversely affected in larger hierarchies etc, as would flexibility. Implementation of change in the organization will require the leader to weigh resistance to change at both the individual and organizational levels. Because change invariably threatens the status quo, it inherently implies political activity. The following chapter looks at different kinds of leadership qualities and how they managing the change process with in an organization. Leadership is cautiously defined as the process of influencing people and providing an environment for them to achieve team or organization objectives. (McShane, 2002). Effective leaders can help individuals or teams define their goals and identify ways to achieve them. Effective leaders also create conditions that enable others to realize their potential in the workplace. Leadership styles will influence the effectiveness of the change management process by recognizing and varying the style with the specific situation. The identification of when to give directions, times to empathize, times to use stretch goals, and times to involve subordinates in decision making will influence the effectiveness of the change management process under the guidance of specific leader. The Directive leadership style or task-oriented leadership is effective when clarification of performance goals, the means to reach the goals, and identification of the standards used to judge reaching the goals is need ed by the organization undergoing the change. The Supportive leadership style is effective when the need is for a leader that is understanding, approachable, friendly, and is able to guide the employees involved in organizational change through stressful situations while treating them with equal respect and showing concerns for their needs and well-being. The Participative leadership style is effective when employees undergoing change are motivated by involvement with the decisions beyond their normal work activities. The Achievement-oriented leadership style is effective when employees are motivated by encouragement to reach their peak performance and the leader shows a high degree of confidence in their ability to set and achieve change goals. Task structure, team dynamics, employee skill and experience, and locus of control are contingencies that will impact the effectiveness of the leaders impact on the change management process. (McShane, 2002). Over the following paragraphs I will be discussing two examples of participative change processes namely Appreciative Inquiry and Public Conversations Project and how they differ from the command-and-control styles of managing change. 1. Appreciative Inquiry In this process there will be ongoing discussion among the organization members at different levels and they will be actively participated on decision making. This type of process normally follows a problem solving method and involves identification of problem, analysis of causes, analysis of possible solutions and possible treatment. Appreciative inquiry takes off on this idea that how we think about, and talk about, our organizations influences how we work in them. Appreciative inquiry is based on the belief that if we conceive of organizations as problems to be solved, we end up in an endless cycle of problem definition and problem solution. This in turn saps energy for productive change since people end up feeling criticized or accused of having done something wrong. Appreciative inquiry removes organizational habits of distrust, animosity and blame, and replaces them with a willingness to learn, mutual respect, and cooperation. Appreciative inquiry sees organizations as miracles to be appreciated. If we see organizations in this way, we begin to understand what is working well and how this is coming about, and we can intentionally amplify those positive factors. This will create forward motion, positive energy and the possibility for lasting change. There are usually four steps of appreciative inquiry. a.  Appreciating what gives life (appreciating the best of what is) This phase is a quest to identify positive stories and spread them throughout the organization. The discovery phase shifts the attention from what isnt working to what is working and may possibly work in the future. In order to find out what is working, an appreciative interview is generally performed. This involves exploring a persons beginnings with an organization, what they value most about themselves, their work and the organization, and their hopes and dreams for the organizations future. b.  Imagining what might be (envisioning what might be) This phase is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big, thinking outside the box, and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. It is a time for people to describe their wishes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, and their organization. This phase takes place in a large group meeting during which data and stories collected in the previous phase are shared. Wishes and dreams for the future of the organization are often acted out to dramatize the positive possibilities envisioned for the organization. c. Determining what will be (dialoguing what should be ) This phase provides an opportunity for large numbers of employees and stakeholders to come together to co-create their organization. This phase allow members to make important decisions on what steps or actions are required to make the dreams come true. d. Creating what will be (innovating what will be) This phase focuses on action planning at both the personal and organizational levels. During this phase, commitments are made to ensure that their dream will be realized. This takes huge commitment from individuals to comply with the action plans, small groups to work on collaboration efforts, and new teams that have been established for new projects. Since all these phases involve large number of employees and stakeholders, the likelihood that these action plans for changes will be accepted and implemented will be high. Appreciative inquiry engages the whole organization in discovering the best of what has been and dreaming about the best of what might be. Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is right and do more of it rather than the traditional approach that focus on what is wrong and do less of it. It focuses on what works and determining how to do more of what works. Positive learning and innovation comes from studying, adapting, and replicating what works. Also, appreciative inquiry is based on the past of all the employees and aims to involve all the employee and stakeholder for the future of the organization. This can only lead to positive attitudes about the organizations future and brings unity among all the members of the organization. Comparing to control command style of management this process takes much longer time to give the result and it is quite obvious as a successful participative change process. 2. Public Conversations Project This is another example of participative change process where the management can work with groups in conflict with in the organization. The main task is to facilitate and create dialogue sessions among the conflict groups or participants and allow addressing their own issues regarding the problematic relationship. Questions like, How did you get involved?, Whats the key issue?, Whats your grey area? Will be asked from both parties. The main objectives are to discuss the popular misconceptions of stereotypes, how to promote better relationships among people and the importance of diversity among people living/working together. The facilitators meet with participants prior to each dialogue, in a pre-meeting designed to exchange their hopes, concerns and experiences. A draft of ground rules being given to the participants intended to prepare them to deal with issues in a way that results in a dialogue rather than debate. Group discussions will be carried out with a facilitator guiding the whole process under his observation, to be start with a series of questions will put forward that each person must answer. The outcome of the dialogue generally will be participants sharing their reflections on the process and exploring implications and next steps. As a main feature of this participation change process members who participated are also asked to fill out evaluation forms and will be requested by the facilitator to participate in follow-up conversations. There will be minimal degree of control, power and command will be involved just to progress with the process. Every participant contributes them selves for the conversation and during the progress a pattern will be identified which will guide them to disclose the information more freely among the members. The facilitator must take action to make sure that every member of the group will be pace with the ongoing conversation so they will be heard. To facilitate change of the information or knowledge they can be asked to interrupt the pattern of conversation or conventions of the group and contribute them selves. Contributions are linked together to conversation will be continued as a joint action. Narrative therapy is another way of participative change process where it views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many values, skills, beliefs, competencies, commitments and abilities that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives. This is a kind of a non-blaming, respectful approach to counselling and community work, which centres people as the experts in their own lives. The client plays an important roll to decide which direction they should take during the consultation, making it more similar to a person centred counselling session. Always maintaining a curiosity stance and willingness to ask questions to which we dont know the answers genuinely are the main features of this process.

The Guidance Counselor Essay -- essays papers

The Guidance Counselor INTRODUCTION According to the U. S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, Counselors are defined as persons who â€Å"assist people with personal, family, educational, mental health and career decisions and problems. Their duties depend on the individuals they serve and the settings in which they work† (169). Examples include Mental health counselors who help people cope with daily life issues such as marital, family, stress management, or addiction problems. These counselors primarily work in private office settings. Rehabilitation counselors help people deal with different aspects of their physical disabilities, these counselors generally work in medical facilities. Employment counselors assist individuals in making wise career choices and most of these counselors work in community agencies. Thus counseling is a diverse field that encompasses an array of situations and settings. This report will center on High School Guidance Counselors. The primary focus will be to discuss the educational requirements necessary to apply for jobs in the field, the needed skills and abilities desired from employers, and the main duties of the job. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS Requirements vary by state for specific types of degrees and or licenses and certifications that must be held by guidance counselors. Missouri Law requires that all High School Guidance Counselors have secondary counselor certification. Criteria for certification is listed below and was obtained from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Individuals desiring to become guidance counselors must understand that acquiring certification requires an enormous amount of time, dedication, and education. Initial Certification The professional certificate is valid for five years from the effective date on the certificate and is issued to persons meeting the following criteria:  · A valid Missouri teaching certificate  · A minimum of two years classroom teaching experience  · A minimum of one year experience working in a field other than teaching or counseling  · Completion of a course in Education and/or Psychology of the exceptional child worth two or more semester hours  · Completion of a master’s degree with a major in guidance and counseling from a college or university meeting approval of the Missouri Department of Elementa... ...ctices. Bibliography: Works Cited â€Å"Certification Requirements for Secondary Counselor (Grades 9-12)†. Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. March 06, 1998 . (November 02, 1998). Chiles, Donna. School Guidance and Counseling. Pupil Personnel Services Recommended Practices and Procedures Manual. Springfield: Illinois State Board of Education, 1983. Ellis, Thomas I. The Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Model. Ann Arbor: ERIC Clearinghouse, 1990. Feller, Richard, & Daly, J. Counselor Role and Educational Change: Planning, Integration, and Basic Skills: Book 5 - Comprehensive School Counseling and Guidance Programs. Fort Collins: Colorado State University, 1992. King, Gloria. Personnel Director, St. Louis Public Schools. Telephone Interview. 27 October 1998. Thomas, Preston. Director of Student Services, Cardinal Ritter College Prepatory High School. Personal Interview. 4 November 1998. Thompson, Rosemary. School Counseling Renewal: Strategies for the Twenty-first Century. Muncie: Accelerated Development Inc., 1992. U. S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1998-99 Edition. Indianapolis: JIST Works, Inc., 1998.

Managing Employee Retention Essay

Data Quality: It is important to make sure the data you use is valid. An outlier data point can dramatically reduce the fit of a model, so it is critical that bad data points be moved. In the case of the Store24 data, we will assume that all managers have some experience, so remove any data points where the manager experience is zero. Regression Analysis First, you should run a full model for profit that includes both tenure and site location related variables. Tenure related variables are MTenure and CTenure. Site location related variables are population, number of competitors, street level visibility, pedestrian access, type of neighborhood, and whether a store stays open 24 hours. These variables are also defined on page 4 of the case Store24 (A). First you should determine if all variables contribute to our understanding of the model. Use the p-value for each coefficient to decide (a value of 0.05 is typically used to decide whether a variable should be included). If any variables are not significant, copy the worksheet, remove the variable and run the regression again. In your report you should explain how well the model fits (e.g. describes the factors that impact profit). It is not commonly understood how to evaluate the â€Å"impact† of the independent variables. The variables have to have a p-value that is significant (otherwise we can’t say there is a relationship), but how small the p-value is does not tell us how important the variable is. A good way to understand the impact of the variable is to find the range of values it can take, and then multiply that range by the value of the coefficient. That tells you the maximum impact that the variable can have on the problem. Next, you must address Tom Hart’s hypothesis that manager tenure does not have a linear impact on profitability—that is, that there are diminishing returns to manager tenure. To test this, copy the worksheet, then add the variable MTenure2. To do this, insert a column next to the Tenure column, and then enter the formula =D2^2 in cell E2 and copy this formula to the rest of the cells. Now run a regression on this new set of variables and see if the MTenure2 variable is statistically significant. What to Submit: You are to write a memo from Sarah Jenkins to Paul Doucette summarizing your results. You should explain your regression results: * How well the model predicts store performance (r2, p-value of variables and their â€Å"impact†) * How your MTenure2 assesses Tom Hart’s hypothesis. Does it support his hypothesis? You should include a graph that shows contribution to profit of employee tenure over the range of values in the data set. The x-axis should be manager tenure, and the y-axis should be the predicted contribution to store profit. Finally, your memo should give Paul Doucette a concrete recommendation as to how much Store24 should invest in any new manager retention programs.

Mentoring: A Way of Life -an integrative paper of the course ‘Art of Mentoring’ Essay

In this course, â€Å"Art of Mentoring†, I learned the relevance of mentoring in education, counseling ministry and self-directed learning of graduate students. The objective of the course was to encourage us students to use mentoring in different fields of profession and in service to the religious community. Having finished the course, I am inspired to use the concepts of mentoring in my personal education and be more effective in my profession, other involvements, as well using these concepts in my personal life. I realized that mentoring is a very broad term in a sense that it encompasses profession and organizational duties because it involves sharing of lives and experiences so as to develop ones holistic identity. The term is generally used to refer to the relationship between a mentor, who has the mastery, experience wisdom passion for a profession; and a mentee, who has equal passion to learn from the mentor’s knowledge and experiences (http://www.managementhelp.org/guiding/mentrng/mentrng.htm). Our history tells us that the concept and method of mentoring has been long practiced even before the word came about. When men taught basic skills like hunting and farming, they did it through the use of modeling or mentoring (Cagle, 2004). Now in the 21st century there is an increasing need of mentoring in different fields of profession. And I have come to the conclusion that mentoring is one of the most effective means of influencing and training individuals to be dynamic and efficient leaders, rich in their personal professions in a developing community. The Bible itself shows mentoring as a way of training individuals for leadership, as what is happening in the Church today (Cagle, 2004).   .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     I learned that mentoring is also very substantial in the academe, especially in graduate schools. To develop professional excellence, each student should have professors or advisers who have a strong interest in their growth not just as professionals, but as dynamic individuals, and guide them to that path.   Self-directed adult learning on the other hand, although it is more informal and not necessarily academic, can also be more effective when used with mentoring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As Christians, we are also called to influence the society with godly leadership. Christian leaders in the community can use mentoring to train and guide their subordinates in promoting righteous and godly leadership. I believe that people in the society are looking for individuals who can mentor and motivate them to be better and excellent individuals. Now I understand that I have an important role in the development of my own sphere of influence, where I can help my colleagues to be godly citizens by mentoring them through the use of the Bible and living a godly lifestyle. I then realized that this is one way of personal leadership, that through a deep understanding of godly values and good lifestyle, I can mentor other individuals to be good citizens and future leaders in our community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now with the use of mentoring, church growth, especially in rural areas, can accelerate rapidly (Cagle, 2004). Training and mentoring effective church leaders will result to a growth in their individual churches. As Jesus Christ taught his disciples by mentoring, so they followed his examples and this paved the way for rapid church growth. Mentoring, which also has the characteristic of using motivation and the boosting of self-esteem, can be used in having an effective counseling ministry, where ministers could help and guide a person to his full potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After learning about mentoring and having my personal insights on the method of effective influence, I now believe I can influence my peers better through the art of mentoring. I believe mentoring can occur in two ways. One way could start with an individual who needs another individual capable of guiding and mentoring him to his fullest potential. Then having found the suitable person, the mentor now decides to accept the responsibility of guiding and the mentee. And from there the relationship would develop into a fruitful, guided growth of the individual. On the other hand, mentoring can start with an older person, who sees the potential in an individual, to develop and with whom he can impart his skills and knowledge in a specific field of profession or life in general. Then now it is up to the chosen individual to accept the mentor’s offer to be guided and influenced for his personal excellent growth as an individual. And when finally accepted, the mentoring process now begins.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Although mentoring can be used in large scale institutions like universities and the Church, I believe it is also a way of influencing our peers and colleagues with our personal lifestyles. Like what I said earlier, I believe that mentoring is also a form of leadership. Now, having learned the concept and art of mentoring, I am now confident to influence the young people I know to be good citizens as well as future leaders in the community. Reference: Cagle, J. (2004). Journal of Asian Missions. Pp. 235-244 (March, 2004) http://www.managementhelp.org/guiding/mentrng/mentrng.htm   

Funny Quotes of Wit and Wisdom

Funny Quotes of Wit and Wisdom These funny quotes also shed light on more than a little bit of the truth in the form of witty wisdom. Famous writers  and philosophers often express lifes irony wrapped up as comedy and humor helps to drive the point home. Wit and Wisdom Quotes If you read a lot of books, youre considered well-read. But if you watch a lot of TV, youre not considered well-viewed. -Lily TomlinAdvice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didnt. -Erica JongBefore you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes. -Jack HandeyI know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! -Tom LehrerClothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. -Mark TwainA synonym is a word you use when you cant spell the word you first thought of. -Burt BacharachA signature always reveals a mans character- and sometimes even his name. -Evan EsarIf you cannot answer a mans argument, all it not lost; you can still call him vile names. -Elbert HubbardHe who believes that the past cannot be changed has not yet written his memoirs. -Torvald GahlinI guess a drag queen’s like an o il painting: You gotta stand back from it to get the full effect. -Harvey Fierstein Jealousy is all the fun you think they had. -Erica JongIf were not supposed to eat animals, how come theyre made out of meat? -Tom SnyderIf you dont know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else! -Yogi BerraInstead of holding on to the Biblical view that we are made in the image of God, we come to realize that we are made in the image of the monkey. -Lin YutangIn spite of the cost of living, its still popular. -Kathleen NorrisI think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown, which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments. -Jim MorrisonPeople are too durable, thats their main trouble. They can do too much to themselves, they last too long. -Bertolt BrechtDon’t look back, something might be gaining on you. -Satchel PaigeIn my day, we couldn’t afford shoes, so we went barefoot. In the winter we had to wrap our feet with barbed wire for traction. -Bill Flavinï » ¿If the English language made any sense, lackada isical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers. -Doug Larson