Need Statement

X is a socio-cultural organization     working for social reformations for over two decades. It is a registered NGO, a non-profit organization. Currently, the main thrust of the organization is drug demand reduction amongst the younger generation. Drug abuse and alcoholism are among major causes for social maladies and     they misdirect the youth to antisocial activities and terrorism. The program initiated by X is an exclusive Psycho Analytical Treatment Module, which works on the total personality of an individual (addict). The highlight of our program is craving for drugs and alcohol is erased from the mind of the addict. That prevents the relapse, which is the major cause of worry in most of the drug demand reduction program. The drug demand reduction program of X has changed the lives of many individuals, transformed and rehabilitated families. X therefore, wishes to set up a comprehensive centre for de-addiction as it is felt that with growing number of cases, makeshift arrangements are not enough. X wishes to establish a full-fledged treatment centre.   Many across the country as well as a sizeable number from abroad have enquired about and have suggested for a proper permanent centre for inpatients, which require treatment for a fairly long period. â€Å"It is better to have a world united than a world divided; but it s better to have a world divided than a world destroyed,† said Sir Winston Churchill at the time of Second World War! At that time, perhaps Mr. Churchill did not think about this new war, where the youth of all the countries will join together, the war objective being mutual destruction. Who’s fighting whom in this weaponless, ammunition less war of drug-addiction? The most unfortunate aspect of this war is youth are the Commanders and the Generals! Thousands are recruited, without sex-bias, to this army of self-annihilation.   Mostly, youth partake in this death-march, and one can often hear the beat of the muffled drums, because drug death rates among the youth are increasing alarmingly. Youth have another shameful situation to face. â€Å"Often it is the victims of peddling who are arrested and prosecuted (for solicitation) rather than the traffickers† (UNODC-2007) Youth took to the drugs at a very young age, and walked up to the grave! That is their achievement in life! They have nothing to look forward to in life! The moral collapse of the younger generation is the worst thing that can happen to any country and humanity as a whole. Constructive dynamism should be the watchwords for this generation, but they preferred the ‘warmth’ of the fire-place beside the drug-joints .To provide the complete drug statistics, will mean writing an encyclopedia. The situation is simply mind-boggling. Therefore, the goal of X Organization is to bring total reduction in drug demand among the addicts and transform our drug-afflicted society into a society that is totally liberated from drug and substance abuse and make it   morally strong to stand against the related evils under any and all circumstances. It is no use brooding over the statistics, whether drug addicts are 1 million or 10 million! The menace has assumed alarming proportions, with no signs of abating.   If it is not checked with extra-serious efforts, the disastrous results will be catastrophic!   Youth are caught in it, and the clutches are too strong. The combustible younger generation is burning itself in the fire of various types of drug addictions. The present efforts made by UNODC, Govt. agencies, medical practitioners and philanthropists in the area of drug demand reduction, are like blocking a furiously advancing avalanche with the fence of straw. Or trying to touch the moon by kite flying! Or controlling the rising flood waters of the river by filling pitchers! Statistical studies and data are no doubt needed, but it is no use digging the well when the house is on fire. When there is a war, your goal should be to win the war, no matter how you do it. The initiatives should be implemented by honest people on a massive     scale. The transformation from addiction to de-addiction is like driving a vehicle, in the reverse gear—it is slow; has to be done with extra care! â€Å"When it comes to drug abuse people within a community can be seen as belonging to three different zones. The three zones can be best compared to a traffic light. People in the green zone are those who do not use drugs presently. Those in the amber zone are the early users, who run a great risk of developing problems. Those in the red zone are persons who are addicted. People in the red zone need treatment that is expensive and requires a lot of effort, and relapses are frequent. Therefore, red zone strategies include detoxification and rehabilitation† (UNODC Thematic Pamphlets 9) Majority of the youth addicts are in the red zone! As already stated, X is a non-profit Organization, just covering up its expenses through small donations, but it has the stability and experience of two decades behind it. Some of the philanthropists have been approached and seized of the issue. The activities of the project will be divided into two years. The program chalked out is: 1. Acquisition and possession of land 2. Outpatient department of the de addiction centre will be constructed first to initiate the following activities. a) Specialist and Medical Staff. b) Medicine Room. c) Landscaping for Naturopathy. d) Herbal Garden e) Community Education Program. f) Residential facilities for inpatient treatment. Project Impact: The objective of this treatment is to provide a treatment that treats, cures, detoxifies, recovers and rehabilitates an addict. Also transforms the individual in such a manner that there is a total denial to and abstinence from Drugs, alcohol and any type of substance abuse. With the impact of the project there would be increase in the level of awareness among masses and the stakeholders that there is a technique besides customary medical techniques that can totally transform and reform an addict into a decent individual and make productive member of the society. Counseling has the dominant role to play in the cure of the youth drug-addict.   They are, improving study, deepening self-understanding, and solving personal problems, etc. Solutions and intervention: To treat youth drug-addicts is not like the treatment of patients with cold or headache. Each addict is a special person and his problems are his own and they are quite intriguing. You have to deal with a cluster of problems relating to an individual before he is cured finally. This is a job of great perseverance, apart from the medical knowledge about the treatment. Drug demand reduction is a co-operative effort. Several persons are involved in the treatment of a drug addict. The co-operation of the addict is all the more important. .Monitoring and Evaluation: Internal monitoring and evaluation of the program will be carried out by the Organization Management, evaluation staff will be appointed and trained. The Fund Utilization Certificate will be made available through a registered Chartered Accountant. Conclusion: When a drug addict is constantly nagged and abused, condemned and ostracized by society, he turns into a viler and bitter individual. In such cases showering of pity alone will not help much. Heartfelt care and concern, an understanding approach, and tender regard for feelings are necessary prerequisites to heal the inner wounds, the self-inflicted damage.   Coupled with this, everybody involved in the treatment, directly and indirectly, need to learn to forgive and forget the past of the patient in order to help him build a new identity. References: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime-Strategic Programs Framework-South Asia-2005-2007-Priority Problems –Page 4 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime-Thematic Pamphlets 9–Prevention in the Community-Role of a Community Worker. Word Count:1286

Resilience and Adult Development Essay

The word resilience is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as: â€Å"an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change†. This in the psychological world still has the same meaning as Bjorklund states: â€Å"resilience is the maintenance of healthy functioning following exposure to trauma†. In dealing with life and adult development we are either going to become more resilient or breakdown. It is my belief that the more a person goes through and is tested in life it will determine whether they will breakdown or become a more resilient person. My research has determined that faith and spirituality will help a person become resilient in life. I find great value in the ability to help persons find the meaning to their stressful situations. When we usually think of the word value we tend to think on monetary terms. However, there are something’s that are worth more than money. I believe that being able to help people identify, realize, and find fact the root of their stress and then help them with tools to decrease their stress level is something that money cannot hold value over. I am essentially changing someone’s life for the better. I say that because when a person can reduce their stressful situations they are more likely to be positive. Alternately, if they cannot reduce their stress level they will have to either adapt or let the stress consume them. When the stress level is able to be adapted to the person’s lifestyle then it is considered that the person is becoming resilient. If the person cannot handle the stress they can have a breakdown that can lead to many issues ranging from depression and on. As I stated in my Abstract paragraph, the word resilience is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as: â€Å"an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change†. This in the psychological world still has the same meaning as Bjorklund states: â€Å"resilience is the maintenance of healthy functioning following exposure to trauma†. In saying that, if we are dealing with a client who is in stressful experiences and we assist them in finding meaning for that stress; we in turn give them the strength and ability to become resilient. They will not only learn how to manage a stressful event but they will also welcome more challenging events with skills that will not break them as previous experiences have done. Stress is defined as a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (Bjorklund, 2011). Stress affects humans on different levels and there are many different ways that humans cope with stress. Some adults use a support group of friends or family members that they speak with to work through stress. Another coping mechanism that is also used is when adults choose to fix the problem or the stress itself taking on a role to control the stress personally. While these are only a few of some coping strategies I chose to focus on these two as they are two ways that I also deal with stress in my own life. When I am stressed about school, work, or relationship problems I find that talking to my friends or mom helps me see things clearer than before. When I am doing this, it is referred to in the book as a coping behavior (Bjorklund, 2011). In thinking of one’s development of their intellect and personality as an adult; I believe that each person’s experiences will help to shape who they will be when they reach this age of development. From the readings, we discover that biological and environmental components are mainly what influence our intellect and personality. The biological factors include personal traits and genetics (Bjorklund, 2011, p. 250) while the environmental factors are from a single person’s family history and social structure. As someone who has worked with adults with mental disabilities for over eight years now; I immediately thought of genetic deficiencies as a possible interference of this development in the biological sense. If someone has a genetic disease at birth then that can shape how their childhood and teenage years will be which will influence how they develop their intellect and personality as an adult. If someone is born with the genetic disorder of Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome, they are born with very distinctive facial features, a small head size(microcephaly), intellectual disabilities, and behavioral problems. After going through Erikson’s stages of development, by the time they reach adulthood they may have a very biased view of the world based on if their experiences environmentally were positive or negative. If they were positive then we can expect that this person even with their disabilities will be positive or vice versa. In regards to how the development of one’s intellect and personality can be enhanced I believe that where biological factors may fail; environmental factors can succeed. If I have the above mentioned disorder but throughout my life my environmental factors have been only positive I may have an enhanced view of the world in a positive light and my personality and intellect would reflect that through the way I treated others and how I lived my life. As a psychologist, working with clients I think that this could affect them in both positive and negative ways. If you have both negative biological and environmental factors then you are more likely to present a negative personality as would a all positive personality would have had positive factors. I think that in working with the clients in regards to treatment if nothing but negative traits are presented then the psychologist would see issues of highly negative and possibly aggressive behavior. This would be one of the major issues I could see that the client could possibly be a danger to himself or others. I believe that when working with clients it is in our best interest to lead by example. If I am working with a client and I feel that reading a book is something that the client should do to assist a behavior but I cannot provide a book title I am not being of any help. I believe that some of my ethical impacts such as being honest, respectful, hard-working, provide support, allow me to give the client the most positive model to value and deal with a new person about. The clients will be able to notice my beliefs and will be intrigued by it. This could lead to the client wanting to enter a more positive lifestyle for their own personal gain to assist with their own understanding of what they deem ethical. When thinking of the type of experiences that being resilient is needed I automatically think of death. Death can leave a large gap in a person’s life. Death depending on the adult and their culture can be seen as either highly positive or something to be seen as saddening. While death is a major player in what we experience as a loss, there are other losses that we encounter as adults. For some the loss of their youth could be seen as a stressful time. Some people cannot cope with the feelings of getting older. If a person can learn to cope with things like death and other losses then they will be able to become more resilient. Things that would be a difficult issue when working with clients in this arena would be loss of a parent. As someone who lost their father through a gruesome murder it would be hard for me at first to push my own feelings aside to assist them with their feelings of loss. While I know this area would be difficult I know I would be able to assist them because I was brave enough to get counseling when I lost my father. By admitting that I needed help I gave myself the opportunity to get skills to become the resilient person I am today. Due to that new found resilience I was able to deal with other loss such as loss of jobs. I have lost jobs in this economy and I could be a sounding board for others to let them know that it does get better and I could provide them with resources for assistance. There was a weekly discussion that we talked about in this class about time and how it relates to development I found that discussion to be one of the discussions that plays apart in how we become resilient as well. For example, my physical features from 6 to 16 showed major changes as did my features from 16 to 27. I say that to emphasize that change is inevitable no matter how we try to push it off. Ultimately time is the one thing we cannot dominate. Aging is a natural process. As I stated before the differences I have seen in myself from these ages are quite different and these changes have affected me in positive and negative ways. For example, at age 6 I was a young, energetic, and full of life kid with pigtails and missing teeth. I was not yet at puberty but could see changes in myself. I went up in shoe sizes which made me sad because I had to give away my favorite pair of LA Gear light up sneakers (negative effect), but I got my first pair of Jordan’s (positive effect). As we age, over time our body continues to age and change accordingly. At 16, I had entered adolescence and with that came menstrual cycles, breasts, and braces. I considered all of these as negatives because I was a dancer on my high school’s dance team and extra attention was not something I desired. However, something else I learned at 16 was that doing daring stunts like I did as a child could weigh heavily on me now as a teenager. My bones were not as strong as when I was younger and I ended up breaking my foot. Now at age 27 I wouldn’t dare attempt all of the dance moves that I did in ballet as I have so many aches and pains all signs of the body wearing down or aging. I said all of that to give a personal experience of how we age and now as I near 30 I know that bones break easily, and we are prone to more diseases just from father time continuing to tick. Our book states that a question was posed if primary aging could be stopped by turning back the clock (Bjorklund, 2011). Father time would easily say no. In regards to a professional such as a psychologist; working with patients and knowing the aging process would give the psychologists the ability to not only understand where the person is in their life cycle but also prepare them for their next phase. If a psychologist is working with a 25 year old who is on top of the world and loving life but is afraid of entering their 30’s. The psychologist would be able to explain how the next stage would play out and how there may be some physical changes that may develop but they are simply due to the body adjusting to its new limits. The biggest surprise in the reading was the aging process being affected by our socioeconomic status. If this is true that would mean that lower class persons are sicker, thinner, and more ill than those in richer classes and those monetary values can equate to the value of our aging process and how well it goes. The time and resilient factors are parallel to me in how we develop as adults. It is through our experiences and through time that we learn from our life changes. While one may say that the longer we continue to hide away from things the easier it is to deal. In actuality, by not dealing with issues we are putting more stress in our life that can affect us in negative ways and minimize our chances of becoming more resilient by dealing with our issues head on.

Is There Such a Thing as Bad Art? Essay

Perhaps bad art closes oneself to it. One sees something one doesn’t like, and without giving it a further thought one turns away. Or when one does give it a further thought, one thinks only about how the piece of art was, but not about oneself in relation to it. But is having no response a response within itself. Perchance the judging of art cannot be decided by responses. But rather if one cannot speak negatively of an artistic statement, instead one can only speak of one’s inability to find artistic merit. And therefore, to speak negatively of art is really to speak negatively of one’s own lack of imagination or emotional responsiveness. Or maybe one simply does not understand what the function of art is. However, maybe good art IS only good when it provokes a response. And when one looks back at ones response it is only significant if one notices a change in oneself. Still, these feelings may or may not exist when viewing a piece of art. And if those feelings do not exist it is not because the art is universally bad or good. Instead it is because the piece is bad or good to you. Conceivably art’s sole reason for existence is to provoke emotion. But then what type of emotion? One may see a gory painting that makes one revolt, but is that good art? Is a piece of art only good because it is popular or trendy? And if so then does bad art become good art when it is decided popular. Perhaps a painting is considered good measuring by how much money it costs. Or maybe it can only be considered good by the qualifications of the artist who made it. If so, would a finger painting by a kindergartener automatically be considered bad art while a blank canvas by a distinguished artist be genius? That is if in fact a finger painting can be determined as art at all. What even is art? Is it only considered art if it is on a canvas? Or can art be on the walls of a building in graffiti form? Is doodling in your notebook when bored in Philosophy class art? Or are all these creative forms of expression meaningless because they do not have to professionalism of an art gallery? I can say in confidence that I take a reformed socialist view on this. There’s no such thing as bad art but in return there is no great art either. Everything is subjective. There are billions of people living in different worlds, bad only exists to the person and groups of like people. But to be fair so does good. Perhaps instead of questioning, we should simply just let art be. Acceptance that without yin there would be no yang and without bad there would be no good.

Sustainability and Global Warming Research Paper

Sustainability and Global Warming - Research Paper Example The consequences are varied and many. Global warming is world phenomenon that has a number of effects on the universal level. Global warming has a number of effects that range from the effects to the economy, atmosphere, environment and the health of the human beings. There are varied effects to the atmosphere and nature. One of the most serious effects of the global warming is its effects on human beings in relation to health of the individual, civilizations and nations. There is need to integrate global warming risks and their impact in the risk management and strategic planning activities in the private and public sector organizations (Dincer, Hepbasil and Midilli 424). Sustainable expansion and growth entails a wide range of knowledge with guiding issues and principles that are beyond the understanding of the economic and scientific certainty (Corricut 1). Global warming is taken to be a kind of sustainability factor and it should be considered during the sustainability managemen t concept. Sustainability management is so useful when it comes to managing the global warming based factors and events. The Link between Global Warming and Sustainability The global warming events can either have negative impacts and positive impacts or both at the same time. Risks are always represented by events that have negative impacts; these risks (can) prevent the value of creation or even grind down the existing values. Events that are associated with the positive impacts sometimes offset the negative impacts or rather represent more opportunities. These opportunities are considered to be possibilities, the possibilities of events occurring and positively affecting the achievements of objectives that are in support of value creation or even preservation (Karakoc and Yilmaz 3). The assessment of global warming is quite difficult because of the uncertainty it possesses. The intensity of global warming and its impact is not well known. Uncertainty also comes in among the decis ion makers because they do not know the extent of the impact of global warming at a certain level for their organization. The sustainability management is taken to be not a development (or a onetime event). As the sustainability management (SM) is embedded in the culture it is the necessity of the effective threat to the management performance. The holistic sustainability management (SM) in the basis of environmental, Safety functions and health is considered important to any institution (organization) but more important to the sustainability of the world. The global warming threats more the sustainability of the world. The global warming impacts create very important negative results to the economic, social and environmental systems. Its (global warming) risk is controlled by the holistic management that provides sustainability. The risk management is considered to be a major factor between the global warming and sustainability. Threat Global warming sustainability Global warming r isk management sustainability Sustainability Management Sustainability is based more on the recognition that resources are consumed faster more than they are produced/ manufactured. The resources are depleted and in the end get used up. The societies demand on nature is always in balance with the nature’s capacity of meeting the demand in a sustainable world.

PKG Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

PKG - Assignment Example It is now apparent that the meaning of ethics is rather difficult to discern and quite many people may not know the meaning of the word. Many literatures define ethics as the set of rational standards of right and wrong, pertaining to what people ought to do, their rights, obligations, benefits, fairness, and virtues (Blackburn, 2001). For an illustration, ethics place reasonable obligations on people not to murder, assault, slander, fraud, rape, or steal. Additionally, ethics deal with honesty, compassion, loyalty, and rights to life, privacy, and the right to freedom for good health and life and right to freedom from injury among others (Blackburn, 2001). In this century, ethics could also refer to the study and development of ethical standards for the contemporary and future society. As the world changes, earlier established social norms, peoples’ feelings, and laws could deviate from what was considered ethical, making it necessary that ethical standards are constantly examined to ensure they are not only reasonable but also well-founded. Thus, in the 21st century, ethics entails the endless efforts at studying and exploring peoples’ moral norms, beliefs and conduct so that the concerned institutions help in shaping the solidly based and reasonable ethical standards to live by (Blackburn, 2001). This paper thus undertakes an in-depth analysis of the 21st century’s ethical status, more so with regards to the moral choices that people make in ethically challenging situations. The ethical or moral rules and standards governing peoples’ existence and actions in the contemporary world have changed greatly in the 21st century. Although barely into its second decade, the 21st century’s moral climate has been marked by hitherto unknown levels of dishonesty not only in the public spheres but also in peoples’ private lives (Bailey, 2004). Examples of the aspects of life that are faced

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 13

Strategic Management - Essay Example This essay presents a discussion about a strategy for competing against Apple Inc, a well-established and successful firm with an established brand and a capability for in-house VLSI design. Apple Inc, which first incorporated on January 3, 1997, is a company built on ability in electronic design and a capacity for taking an entrepreneurial risk at a time when the market suggested a future for personal computers and electronic gadgetry (Linzmayer, 2004, Pp. 1 – 10). Its founders Stephen Gary Wozniak and Steven Paul Jobs had an interest in electronic design and they were able to impress Armas Clifford, a retired software designer with connections and capital, who stepped in to help them with US$ 92,000 of his own funds and a secured credit line worth US$ 250,000 from Bank of America. The capital meant a lot to the backyard operation that Jobs and Wozniak had been operating to make electronic gadgets for some time. With continued success, Apple Computers went public in 1980 when Job’s initial 45 % stake translated into 7.5 million shares, worth US$ 82.35 million when Apple Stock was at an all time low in 1982 or US$ 2255.85 million in the year 2000 when the company stock record high. Within the relatively recent past, Apple Inc recorded net sales of US$ 32, 479 million in the year 2008, with a net income of US$ 4, 834 million (Apple Inc, 2009, â€Å"Annual Report for 2008†). This result is an improvement on the result for the year 2007, when Apple recorded net sales of US$ 24,006 million and earnings of US$ 3,496 million. However, despite the fact that Apple has enjoyed success, it is important for this computer company to remain vigilant in difficult economic times when competition amongst computer manufacturers is intense and efforts to exploit its weaknesses are possible. Thus, it makes sense to examine the present market environment for Apple and to reflect on a

Judaism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Judaism - Research Paper Example Even though evidence cannot be provided for the existence of the one or may Supreme beings, there is evidence for the power of religion. There are numerous religions across the globe. However, the most distinct one are Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These religions have symbols, narratives, and sacred histories whose purpose is to explain the meaning and origin of life. In the same way, from their beliefs about human nature, the people may derive ethics, morality, and religious laws. The religions have the clergy, organised behaviours, Holy Scriptures, holy places, and a definition of what makes up adherence. The practice of religion may also include things like commemoration, feats, festivals, prayer, sacrifices, sermons, and rituals. Besides that, they also have myths, funerary services, and other aspects of the human culture. Drawing on a variety of sources, the paper will address Judaism history and the present practice. It has been evidenced that Judaism is among the oldest religions on earth that exist until today. Its history, traditions, and beliefs are recorded in the Hebrew Bible. Judaism is a religious tradition that dates back to about 4,000 years ago, and is rooted in the eastern region of Canaan. Canaan is the biblical name of the region between River Jordan and the Mediterranean. This is the equivalent of the current Palestinian and Israel territories (Shahak, 1994). This was during the Bronze Age in the Middle East. Even though the Jewish calendar dates back to more than five thousand years ago, various scholars argue that the commencement of the Judaism faith is linked to the Israelites and their forefather Abraham. This is estimated to be around 164 B.C.E. The beliefs and practices of the classical Judaism did not emerge until the 1st century (Schachter-Shalomi & Segel, 2013). In this regard, Judaism

Eleanor's Shareholds in the Comany Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Eleanor's Shareholds in the Comany - Assignment Example The director owes a fiduciary relationship to the company; the director has to exercise the duty of care in discharging his/her duty. In Re Smith and Fawcett Ltd, it was held that the directors were required to act â€Å"bona fide in that they consider – not what a court may consider – is in the interests of the company, and not for any collateral purpose. In RE: Marquis of Bute Case where a director who failed to attend a board meeting once in 38yrs was exonerated from being negligence. However, the company is free to impose a duty on directors to attend board meetings iii.The directors may delegate work to some official whose past record may not cast doubts and distrust may be exonerated on negligence on the ground that he exercises due care.this is illustrated in Dovey vs. Cory where it was held that the director was not liable for negligence as he had failed to verify company accounts. It, therefore, implies that the directors can promote the success of the company when he owes the duty of care avoiding negligence. However, the employee’s mistake cannot be bound to be that of directors provided he showed that he acted in good faith. 5. An accountant is a person who prepares the financial statement of a company in line with the IFRS.the quality of information should enable the users of accounts to make accurate and transparent judgments regarding the company’s financial statement. The reports or the books of accounts, for example, the balance sheet and income statement laid in, show the true and fair view of the company at a given period of time. Therefore, on a company’s board of director needs to have an accountant so that he can communicate the economic information to the non-accountant directors for decision-making.  

Computer Mediated Communication at a Weight Management Website Essay

Computer Mediated Communication at a Weight Management Website - Essay Example The thing is that most of the communication I had with people at this online forum was internet-mediated. Thereby though I shared many aspects of the weight problems people talked about on this website, being marred by the same health issues myself, initially I found it difficult to make a viable sense of the messages they posted because of an utter lack of the nonverbal cues related to the information they posted. However, within a few days I was immensely motivated to contrive strong interpersonal bonds with many individuals at this website, and innately and many times subconsciously started developing strategies for overcoming the glaring lack of nonverbal cues associated with the messages posted by them. This process involved sensing the emotional content in the register used by them, perceiving the sense of urgency and concern inherent in the messages by analyzing the vocabulary resorted to by many people, making an emotive sense of the non verbal symbols placed by people in the ir messages, noticing the frequency with which the messages were posted by specific members. Soon I found myself forming emotional relationships with some individuals in this online forum, with whom I shared similar health issues and general approach towards health and dieting. Though my initial interactions with people at this website were task-oriented, it was not long that I started to contrive emotional bonds with many individuals who engaged in internet-mediated communication at this website.

Emotional Labour Essay Example for Free

Emotional Labour Essay This report investigates the shop manners and training offered to the floor sales staff at Next compared to that of those who work in the stock room. I would like to know how each environment affects the workers emotions. I think its an important question to ask because the people that work on the shop floor are constantly in contact with customers. It could be said that those that work in the stock room are not part of the stage setting and are more like the stage crew who work behind the scenes. I think it is important then to first address what emotion is. Emotion theory is centred on the relationship of the person and its environment (Lazarus, 1991 p40). This has implications on the question that I am posing as the stockroom workers interact in a different environment to their colleagues on the shop floor. There are two fundamental viewpoints to emotion the organismic and interactionalist viewpoint. The organismic model developing from the work of Charles Darwin, William James and early Sigmund Freud, Defines emotion mainly as a biological process. For Freud emotion affect is libidinal discharge, for Darwin its instinct and for James its the perception of a psychological process (Hochschild, 1983 p205) This leads organismic theorists to believe that there is a basic similarity of emotion across categories of people (Hochschild, 1983). The organismic model brings us to an elicitation-expression model (Hochschild, 1983) Interactionists believe emotion always involves a biological component but adds more points to social factors, which are present before, after and during the experience of emotion. For example why does a customer become violent when refused a refund, what in their cultural environment constitutes their response? If we conceptualise emotion as instinctive we will ignore questions about social entry. (Hochschild, 1983) Emotions are experienced by individuals and through intention or inadvertent communication may be deduced by others who are observing. (Lazarus, 1991 p40) Emotions can be a valuable source of information in determining how people are getting along. However, surface acting can disguise true emotion so you must be wary when reading emotions. Society and biological inheritance creates a pattern of behaviour that shape emotion and expressions of the individual (Lazarus, 1991 p40). I believe this statement relates to the way that shop assistants and customers are expected to behave. As you will see the training offered to the sales staff shows members of the work force how to act in a socially excepted way which is common practice in all chain stores. In a shopping environment how other people feel is a huge factor as to whether they buy something or not. Sales staff to some extent can influence this. I believe that for a customer to feel at home in a shop the sales staff need to be friendly and approachable whereby you feel even if you havent bought any thing this time you are welcome back again. I think that this is the key to the success of stores like Next and Marks and Spencers where staffs have the correct shop manners to keep the customers coming back. From interviews undertaken with staff at Next I have uncovered strict guidelines in training which each new member of staff has to go through. (I will discuss this and whether I think it is appropriate later.) Drawing on my own experience, I have worked in what you would call a downmarket clothes store and no training of shop manners was offered to me. It was my first proper job so I did feel as if I was being thrown in at the deep end. However, the shop was very small and my C.V. demonstrated that I had good people skills as I had worked on a market stall at the weekends and holidays. I assume that management didnt feel the need to train me in what they thought should be the obvious way to behave towards customers. After speaking to senior sales staff at next and sponsors, these are longer standing members of staff who train new staff using the guidelines (see Appendix), I have gathered that management wish the customer to feel that they are the most important thing and that their shopping experience is being made easier by the staff. Next seem to have thought out its training program very clearly and assigns specific amounts of time to each activity. This helps to give the impression that training is viewed as an important part of the job. I think that Next places emphasis on its training as it is a chain store and it often directs customers to local stores if the stock isnt available at the branch at which they are visiting, this calls for a sense of conformity between stores. I evaluated the training sessions which, are appropriate to the questions I am asking, by interviewing staff on how appropriate each session is, how achievable are the actions set out and how they affect emotions. The overall reaction that I had from staff was that they felt the training to be very obvious and many sponsors admitted to skipping through the training as quickly as possible because of this fact. Sponsors felt that by training staff with this obvious manner of behaviour was assuming that the trainee was, when prompted by myself, emotionally incapable of selecting the correct emotions for the customer situation. Training session 1 (Appendix Shop Manners). The trainee is told to be aware and not to get tied down in tasks when I asked staff about the reality of this they said they found it very annoying to be approached by customers when doing a job and often resented customers for bothering them. However, this is where surface acting comes into play the employee hides what they feel and pretends what they dont (Hochschild, 1983). The action is in the body language, for example the put on smile and sweet voice as it is for the people observed by Erving Goffman (cited in Hochschild, 1983 p35). The employee has to think back to their training to pick the right body language. A typical scenario: Now interrupted from a task possibly holding a huge pile of stock in their hand the employees are given a strict formula to follow, eye contact, a smile, appropriate greeting and to be friendly and sincere. This is a hard task when obviously it is inappropriate for the customer to target them and often there is another member of staff nearby doing nothing. However, the surface acting must continue as the corporate motto of The customer always comes first is relayed in your mind, plus I dont want to lose my job if they complain to head office. Company control also works along who fears whom. As with flight attendants the fear hierarchy works indirectly through customers complaining, to head office (Hochschild, 1983). This type of scenario links with the question posed by Hochschild (1983 p89) that when feelings are set by management and where workers have weaker rights to courtesy then consumers do, when deep and surface acting are forms of labour to be sold what happens to the way a person relates to her feelings or to her face? Employees said that when they were the customers they were more aware of the shop assistants emotions and tried to be more courteous. However, they may just feel as though they do this because they wish that people would do this for them. I do believe that this statement does have some truth but surely when the stage setting is different, when they are the customer and not the server they assume the actions of the customer. As on the stage as in life the person is the locus of the acting process. But when an institution is involved various acting elements are taken away from the individual and replaced by institutional mechanisms. In this case the fact that the customer comes first. The locus of acting, of emotional management, moves to the level of the institution. (Hochschild 1983 p49) The people are arranged according to institutional custom and the workers surface act in institutionally approved ways. Training Session 2 (Appendix In-Store Security) This training session makes shop assistants conscious of the need to be aware and the need for acknowledgement of the customers. You can use your training of greeting the customer in a functional way, to help reduce the comfort of shoplifters who are always aware of who is watching them. Senior staff said that it gets easier to spot thieves with practice; you get to learn their tricks of diverting your attention. Even though you have to be suspicious of certain customers you must always remember your training and be polite even if you feel that they are up to no good. Training Session 3 (Appendix Stockroom) As you can see none of the training here is connected to personal conduct, it doesnt attempt to tell you how to act where as the shop floor assistants are told to be friendly, sincere, polite, confident and have a smile. They are even told that conversations must be work related. When questioned on the reality of this last statement floor staff said they do have non-work related conversations but they are of a toned down nature to the way they would speak in private. When I asked the stockroom workers about their conversations they said that if they were in a situation to have a conversation it would be more animated then if having it on the shop floor as they are not in public. Training Session 12 (Appendix Till Service) Customer interaction is crucial at the till point. Again the trainee is told how to act, to be sincere and polite. I asked staff how easy it was to do this. A typical scenario: Its a very busy Saturday and all the tills are in operation when greeted by the customer with comments such as I have been waiting ever such a long time, you know and the like, it is difficult to be sincere and polite as there is nothing the staff can do to make the queue go any quicker. The staff member surface acts with her painted on smile and polite apologies. In the training suggestions of possible conversation are complimenting customers on their choice of purchase. Till operators said they tended to deep act in this case, only saying it if they meant it. Deep acting is a natural result of working on feeling expression is spontaneous (Hochschild 1983). As the Russian director Constantin Stanivlaski puts it a real feeling that has been self-induced (cited in Hochschild 1983 p35). The refund and exchange policy is an important part of training because it is the most likely time for customer conflict. The staff member is instructed to treat the customer in the same way as they would if they were making a purchase, this is easy if the customer has a receipt or is a well-known customer. But if the customer doesnt have a receipt it makes it harder in some cases because you have the suspicion that the customer may have stolen the garment. In this situation the staff member is advised that the best thing to do is get a manager. As formal rules that prop up an institution set limits to the emotional possibilities that staff have to feel (Hochschild 1983). The point that demonstrates this is the manager gets paid more then a shop assistant because their pay package covers them for the emotional insults, which they may receive from refusing to give a customer a refund. I asked the managers how they dealt with abusive behaviour from customers. Managers gain the experience for dealing with inconvenient customers and they assured me that it gets easier as time goes on. You have to detach what you are feeling from the situation and not let your own anger, or in some extreme cases fear get in the way. (Appendix Initial Training Requirement Chart) This gives a summary of all the training offered to the different roles at Next. As you can see all staff members that are present on the shop floor, for any point of their shift, the number one training session is shop manners. This is not part of the stockroom workers training. (Appendix Sponsors Guidelines- 6.Performance Assessment Standards) This table demonstrates that all staff working on floor cover, fitting room, till service or replenishment are those that could possibly come into contact with customers. It demonstrates that shop floor staff members are assessed on their ability to smile and make eye contact with the customer and to be aware of shoppers. Stockroom staff members, on the other hand, are assessed solely on their physical, rather then any emotional objectives. Are our feelings really our own? From the research obtained in this report it is clear to see that the staff working on the shop floor are shown how to act where as in the stock room its much more natural emotion. Institutional practice shapes the way in which shop floor workers are expected to behave. What makes some individuals prefer to work in the stock room compared to the shop floor? I asked the stockroom workers why they liked to work in the stockroom. I received comments such as. You can be more yourself as you dont have to work in uniform. I think that management enforce a strict smart dress policy on shop floor workers to help them get into the role, which they have to play; it is part of the act. In the stockroom you dont have to interact with customers. Some of the stockroom staff said the horror stories they have heard about customers puts them off working on the shop floor. As customers seem to be oblivious to the feelings of shop floor workers and assume that they are there just to serve them. The stockroom has quite a different atmosphere to the shop floor it is more relaxed, you often get shop floor sales staff coming in for a break from the hustle and bustle of the shop floor. The stockroom workers said that on many occasions sales staff come in and tell them about incidents with customers that have just happened. This helps the member of staff to calm down, as the stockroom member often is able to bring them to reality and point out that it is only a customer and not to get wound up. In the surroundings of the back office the sales floor worker is able to put the situation in context of life and go back to the act moments later. Does personality have something to do with whether you like working in the stockroom or the shop floor? From observation and asking the floor staff it seems to me that the quieter people work in the stock room. When I questioned staff members on why they enjoyed working in the stock room I deduced they dont feel the need to be on the stage acting, to them it is false they would rather be left to their own devices. I asked the floor staff whether they minded working in the stockroom as sometimes staff shortages calls for this. They said they didnt mind but preferred the interaction and liveliness of the shop floor this corresponds with previous research, which shows emotional labourers like contact with the customer. Even though customers can be very unpleasant. (MG2076 starter pack: The Survey). Sales floor staff said they wished they could work in the stockroom on days when they were feeling under the weather as the need to act in the corporate superficial way was much harder because their true emotions were harder to suppress. On days when everything is going well staff said it was a pleasure to help customers that are appreciative of their service but a customer who feels it is their right to be served can bring an end to that. This suggests that workers feelings are not their own and shop assistants surface act from day to day. I would like to investigate status and gender differences to see whether men or women are better equipped at working in either environment. Is emotion work as important for men as it is for women? (Hochschild, 1983 p 162) Hochschild believes it is not. Due to firstly lacking other resources women make a resource out of feeling. Secondly, each gender is called on to do different kinds of work, which Hochschild believes to be down to different childhood training of the heart that is given to girls and boys (Hochschild, 1983 p163). I think this gender separation at work is becoming less apparent as equal rights laws are being enforced and changing attitudes of society. At Next there is equality in the work place with men and women being treated equally with both being given the same responsibility. Thirdly, the general subordination of women leaves them more open to abuse. For example, a customer was being very rude to the floor manager on childrensware due to the fact that she refused to give the man a refund, because the garment had obviously been worn. The customer became very rude and abusive, which he thought would give him some hold over the woman. The female manager was about to give in to the customer when the shop manager, a man, noticed the disturbance and came over to assist his colleague. He refused to give the man a refund. I believe that as a man the shop manager saw the customer as a mere man and stood by the initial reaction of the female manager. The customer more intimidated by the act of the shop manager gave in very quickly and left the shop threatening I will let head office know about this. The manager was not browbeaten by this comment, as he knew the customer didnt have a leg to stand on. This situation also lends itself to the fact that a different proportion of the managed heart is enlisted for commercial use. (Hochschild, 1983 p163-164) Women make defensive use of their beauty, charm and relational skills, which due to commercial exploitation can lead them to become estranged from these capacities. For male workers it is more their ability to wield anger and make threats that is used by the company and so this the capacity which they are likely to feel estranged from. (Hochschild 1983) Conclusion Each environment has an impact on the workers emotions. The sales floor is where surface acting takes place throughout most of the working day. The stockroom is a place where deep acting is given more of a chance to occur due to the fact that the company dont suppose emotions upon its workers here. I think the training offered by Next is appropriate as it is what is institutionally expected by society. It is achievable by staff to act this way, as this is what they are getting paid to do. I think it does affect workers emotions being trained how to act because it must be hard to switch off at the end of the day. Eventually it must become instinctive to act in a socially expected way and it must become harder for staff members to express their true emotions when not at work. Bibliography * Hochschild, A. R. (1983) The Managed Heart; the commercialisation of human feeling California: University of California Press. * Lazarus, R. S. (1994) Emotion and Adaptation New York: Oxford University Press * MG2076s Starter Pack MG 2076 Louise Goldstein

History of Catherine II of Russia

History of Catherine II of Russia Catherine II of Russia Catherine II of Russia who is commonly referred as Catherine the Great was the Russian Empress from 1762 until her death in 1796. Catherine’s real names were â€Å"Yekaterina II Velikaya†. She was in the category of the â€Å"Enlightened despots† who were rulers influenced by the enlightened principles that embraced religious tolerance, freedom of speech, press and property. Catherine was born as Sophie Augusta Fredirica to her father Christian August., the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and her mother Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein Gottorp. She thus was from a noble family. She received her education from a French governess and included other tutors. Catherine’s parents were devout Lutherans. In 1745 she was to married to Tsar Peter of Holstein Gottorp becoming the Princess. Because of her ambition to get married and become a princess, she abandoned her father’s religion and instead converted to Orthodox Church. The eminent marriage also forced her to learn French, which she did with so much effort to an extent that she got a severe pneumonia attack, because of walking barefoot in her bedroom repeating the Russian lessons. Her and her husband Peter settled in the Palace of Oranienbaum. Unfortunately her husband was immature and impotent and became unfaithful to her. This eventually led to the breakup of their marriage. Catherine read widely on and befriended many powerful political groups that opposed her husband. Empress Elizabeth died on 1762 and Peter succeeded her to become Peter III of Russia. This made them move to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Automatically Catherine became the Empress. By then they had a son named Paul who was the heir-apparent in case of the father’s death. In July of that year, there was a bloodless coup where Peter was dethroned by the Leib Guard who were the military personal guards of the Emperor of Russia. The throne was bequeathed to Catherine; she reigned till she died in 1796. After six months as a Prince and three days after disposition, Peter III died at Ropsha. Catherine the great was very intelligent, hardworking and had a very strong will. Her ambition to become the Empress of Russia saw her strike sharply at those who seemed to try and replace her with the rightful heir of the throne, Paul her eldest son. In her reign Catherine broadened Russian Empires’ boarders both to the south and the north absorbing new Russia, Crimea, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus and Courland. Catherine was eventually able to expand the Russian territory to 518,000 kilometer squared. This was not an easy task bearing in mind that the expansion was at the expense of the Ottoman Empire and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. She was able to achieve all this through a very shrewd statesman named Nikita Panin. In her initial years of her reign, Catherine directed most of her efforts towards making her position in the throne more stable. This was to enable her have an extended period of peace in order for her to be effective in other domestic affairs and foreign affairs. She understood the essence of a cautious foreign policy, which Panin did on her behalf. Panin fell out with her after his plans to counter the power of the Bourbon and Habsburg who had formed a league failed. It was not until 1764 that she felt secure and stable enough to start working on reformation towards improving social conditions in Russia. For such expansive reformation Catherine utilized the ideas of the enlightenment. It was through such ideas that she undertook to change Russia’s old legal system that was inefficient because it was based on the code of laws that dated from 1649. Towards this end she came up with a proposal she called â€Å"The instructions† which was circulated through out Europe and turned out to be a sensation. This is because it provided for a very advanced level of legal system. The legal system was to be enshrined on the principles of equal protection and prevention of criminal acts. This was as opposed to the previous method of meting out harsh punishment. In 1767 Catherine formed a legislative commission to revise the old laws using â€Å"The instruction† as the basis. The commission failed the set purpose leading to the suspension of the review. After Panin fell out with Catherine in 1781, she replaced him with Alexander Bezborodko who was a Ukrainian born councilor. Because of her ideas from the Enlightment, Catherine commissioned the Court betskoy whose sole purpose was to draw up plans to ensure the provision of education for all boys and girls through out Russia. The type of education she advocated for was the European style. As a result of her efforts schools and universities were established throughout Russia. This led to the foundation, for the first time of special girls’ schools in Russia. This also led to the establishment of a medical college whose sole purpose was to provide adequate health care for all the citizens. One good example is the Smolny Institute for girls, which was founded in St. Petersburg. Catherine rarely used violence to consolidate power and strengthen her grip on Russia. However, she resorted to other methods that usually proved very effective. For example during her time the church had become quite powerful, to weaken it she seized the church’s wealth and then employed the clergy as state employees. Foreign affairs demanded much of her attention between 1768 and1774. Catherine made Russia as the most powerful empire during this time. This came about after the first Russo-Turkish war against the Ottoman Empire. This war included the Battle of Chesma (1770) and the battle of Kagul (1770). This war began after Catherine sent Russian troops to support her former lover Stanislaw Poniatowski, who she wanted to suppress a revolt that had come about because of Russia’s influence in Poland. The revolution got support from Turkey and Austria. However, after two years lengthy negotiations with Turkey led to ceasefire. Catherine was very persuasive which came in handy at this time. This enabled Russia gain a foothold on the Black Sea. Acquisition of the right to the Black Sea was an important milestone. This was because Russian merchant ships acquired the right of sea whereby they could sail and passing through the Dardanelles which was an important European waterway. Also from the negotiations the vast steppes of modern South Ukraine were incorporated in the Russia Empire. In 1783 Catherine, in her quest for expansion annexed the Crimea, this led to the second Russo- Turkish war (1787-1792) where the Ottoman Empire sort to regain the lands it had lost to Russia during the first Russo Turkish war (1768-1774). The Ottoman troops lost miserably which led to the signing of the Treaty of Jassy. The treaty led to the end of the Second war and led to the confirmation of Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea. This was because from this treaty Russia’s claim to the Crimea was legitimatized. In 1773 in the Volga River Basin a peasant revolt led by Cossack started but was crushed by the Imperial forces when Cossack was captured in 1774, this was the only time that peace was realized for some time which enabled Catherine concentrate on domestic affairs, especially affairs that concerned the functioning of the government. It was during this time that the education standards were raised. Catherine played a very important role in shaping the role of Russia in the field of diplomacy. In the European foreign issues, Russia under Catherine played a very instrumental role in mediating on disputes that sometimes led to war. She mediated in the War of the Bavarian succession (1778-1779), between Prussia and Austria. It was through Catherine also that Russia witnessed the partitioning of Poland, where all the commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria were divided. After all these expansion Russia turned into a vast empire that was in position to compete with other European neighbors. On the art and sciences scene, Catherine played a critical role. She viewed art and science as a means through which Russia could be recognized as a civilization centre. St Petersburg was turned into a great and dazzling capital. Through her patronage, theatre, music, painting and other form of art improved tremendously. She developed a manual for the education of children which she borrowed from the ideas of John Locke a famous English Philosopher. She established the famous Smolny Institute. It was established for the purpose of educating ladies from noble families and rich merchants. This institute became one of the best institutes not only in Russia, but the whole of Europe as well. Catherine was a prolific writer and exchanged ideas and correspondence leading philosophers and writers like Voltaire and Diderot. She wrote plays, fables Satires and memoirs. The Russian age of ‘age of Imitation’ happened during her reign where the Russians imported and studied the classical works from Europe. She spent millions of Rubles to build the Hermitage art collection. Today, Hermitage Museums that occupies the whole of the Winter Palace is one of the largest Museums in the world with one of the largest art collections totaling to over three million. Despite her great support of art, during her reign there was censorship of the press and publications and sometimes writers were exiled. For example Radishcev after publishing The Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow which addressed the poor leaving standards of the peasant serfs, he was exiled to Siberia. After converting from Lutheran to Orthodoxy, Catherine became indifferent to religion. Thus she never hesitated to suppress any religious dissent and never allowed dissenters to build chapels. However she exploited the Christian faith by promoting the protection of Christians under the Turkish rule. This was to ensure the weakening of the Ottoman Empire. After the partitioning of Poland she sort to control the Roman Catholics. On the other hand, Russia became a safe haven for The Society of Jesus whose members were running away from the persecution of Jesuits across Europe. Catherine the Great personal life was characterized by multiple lovers. She had a total of around 13 lovers in her reign that included Alexander Potemkin. Potemkin was a former lover who she had fallen off with but he continued to select future lovers for her. Catherine was kind to her lovers even after breaking up with them. She had a reputation of rewarding them handsomely. Works Cited Alexander, John.T â€Å"Catherine II, Bubonic Plague, and the Problem of Industry in Moscow† The American Historical Review, Vol. 79, No.3. (Jun, 1974), pp.637-671. Cruse, Mark. The memoirs of Catherine the Great. New York: Modern Library, 2005. Dukes, Paul. Catherine the Great and the Russian Nobility: A Study Based of the Legislative Commission of 1767.Cambridge at the University Press, 1967 Haslip, Joan. Catherine the Great: A Biography .New York: G.P Putnam’s, 1977 Rasmussen, Karen â€Å"Catherine II and the Image of Peter I† Slavic Review, Vol. 37, No. 1. (Mar., 1978), pp.51-69. Thomas, Gladys Scott. Catherine the Great and the Expansion of Russia. London: The English Universities Press, 1947 Waters, Brenda Meehan-â€Å"Catherine the Great and the Problem of Female Rule† Russian Review, Vol. 34, No. 3. (Jul., 1975), pp.293-307.

Developing Critical Thinking Essay -- Critical Thinking Reflection

A person is not born as a good critical thinker. The first thing that is needed is a level of maturity having the ability to conceptualize and understand the world (Boss, 2010). The skills that are associated with a person that has good critical thinking are: Analytical Skills: recognize and evaluate arguments to filter through to the truth. Effective Communication: ability to listen, speak, and write effectively. Research Skills: ability to gather, evaluate, and create supporting evidence. (Boss, 2010) In teaching critical thinking, Dr. Chan and Dr. Lau (n.d.) explain good critical thinking, â€Å"as the foundation of science and a liberal democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases and prejudice.† A person with a level of maturity that is able to be research issues, through being analytical, and done by using good communication skills can be considered a good critical thinker. In my life, I have gone from not being a good critical thinker to getting much better as I have matured. In my younger years I used many of the resistances to critical thinking. The one that I used most often was distraction. This was especially true when I was in college for the first time. Many things were able to distract me from focusing on the tasks at hand. Now in my forties returning to school I have more clarity around the goals and this lets me accomplish the tasks more easily. I can listen, analyze, and research the issues more quickly and with more focus to accomplish the mission then in ... ...t created the universe before the big bang? God might not be just a figment created by religion but could be the ultimate creator of all that we see. Works Cited Boss, J. (2010), Think: Critical thinking and logic skills for everyday life (1st ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Chan, J. & Lau, J. (n.d.). Module: about critical thinking. Retrieved from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php Goleman, D. (2001). Daniel Golemen: emotional intelligence. Thinkers. Charter Management Institute. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA85608627&v=2.1&u=lirn_crevc&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Hasan, M. (2012, January 9). God need not be the enemy of science. New Statesman [1996], 141(5087), 19. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA279138538&v=2.1&u=lirn_crevc&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Developing Critical Thinking Essay -- Critical Thinking Reflection A person is not born as a good critical thinker. The first thing that is needed is a level of maturity having the ability to conceptualize and understand the world (Boss, 2010). The skills that are associated with a person that has good critical thinking are: Analytical Skills: recognize and evaluate arguments to filter through to the truth. Effective Communication: ability to listen, speak, and write effectively. Research Skills: ability to gather, evaluate, and create supporting evidence. (Boss, 2010) In teaching critical thinking, Dr. Chan and Dr. Lau (n.d.) explain good critical thinking, â€Å"as the foundation of science and a liberal democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases and prejudice.† A person with a level of maturity that is able to be research issues, through being analytical, and done by using good communication skills can be considered a good critical thinker. In my life, I have gone from not being a good critical thinker to getting much better as I have matured. In my younger years I used many of the resistances to critical thinking. The one that I used most often was distraction. This was especially true when I was in college for the first time. Many things were able to distract me from focusing on the tasks at hand. Now in my forties returning to school I have more clarity around the goals and this lets me accomplish the tasks more easily. I can listen, analyze, and research the issues more quickly and with more focus to accomplish the mission then in ... ...t created the universe before the big bang? God might not be just a figment created by religion but could be the ultimate creator of all that we see. Works Cited Boss, J. (2010), Think: Critical thinking and logic skills for everyday life (1st ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Chan, J. & Lau, J. (n.d.). Module: about critical thinking. Retrieved from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php Goleman, D. (2001). Daniel Golemen: emotional intelligence. Thinkers. Charter Management Institute. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA85608627&v=2.1&u=lirn_crevc&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Hasan, M. (2012, January 9). God need not be the enemy of science. New Statesman [1996], 141(5087), 19. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA279138538&v=2.1&u=lirn_crevc&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Essay --

Malgudi is, and will always be a land of imagination, in which sustains, its own set of problems and dynamics. The set of recurring characters is a reassuring and comforting thought. While embarking on a new Narayan novel, the readers get a feeling of familiarity with the place and the people.Right from his first chapter in ‘Swami And Friends’ to the last chapter he wrote in ‘Grandmother’s Tale’, he strives to show a world of conflict that is Malgudi. This is where, the beauty of his writing lies. Narayan managed to retain an average reader’s interest in Malgudi over a period of six decades. Malgudi was created and written about, by R.K. Narayan, keeping in mind his hometown of Mysore. Seen as place which is more or less stagnated, the same set of characters and places help the reader get a continuous reading experience. Moreover it has helped in creating a unique identity to this place. Saying that Malgudi remains the same over the course of Narayan’s career as a writer, would be unfair. For one could see signs of development in the latter books;which could have been inspired by p...

The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Imagery, Literary Allusion, Struc

The Love Song That was Never Sung A love song or a profession of love usually includes a culminating point where the suitor finally professes his love toward the woman. However T.S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† is almost a guide on how to dissuade oneself from professing love to a woman. It does this by combining several different poetic methods to display a situation of desperation and trapped isolation. Basically, Alfred is clear on the fact that he wants to be a part of this woman’s –whom he loves- life, but he cannot bring himself to the complete the act, to say â€Å"I love you.† The poem itself consists of all of the reasons, going through Alfred’s head, why he should not profess his love. Imagery, literary allusion, and structure are prominent tools used by Eliot to convey the man’s feelings in the poem. Eliot’s criticism of the modern man of his time is another strong theme in this poem. A demonstration of this is clear when Eliot presents Alfred as a modern man, and then he criticizes modern men’s being with Alfred’s thoughts. The inability of taking action, or cowardice, is evidently the over arching theme in this presentation. One of the minor themes that play well into the all encompassing theme is Eliot’s interpretation of the modern man. The modern man, according to Eliot, is someone who lacks the ability to take a leap of faith or risk something no matter the importance. Prufrock is an extreme representation of the modern man and Eliot demonstrates this with these lines, â€Å"There will be time, there will be time...To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and ‘Do I dare?† (26, 38). Time and doubt create a barrier between Prufrock’s heart and his actions which yields him from displaying his tr... ...role of the â€Å"Fool† found in line 118. Once again, Alfred has found even more excuses for not taking any action by relating how he believes he will fail because of his lack of great status. Therefore, he never did take that leap of faith that he earnestly wanted to. No one can ever have courage without fear because then courage would not require so much heart and strength to muster. Even though Alfred possessed a certain fear, he did not have enough heart to be courageous and take a step bigger than those â€Å"measured in coffee spoons.† Therefore, with the use of, imagery, literary allusion, and structure, Eliot was able to create a poem that criticized the modern man that affected his heart. Just think--why men said to themselves--that they finally had a noble and courageous cause to fight for when The Great War began only a few years after this poem was published.

Chicken Bones and Malunggay Stalks as Plant Growth Enhancer

Agriculture is one of the vital movers of a country’s economy. In the Philippines, almost one third of the total land area of 29.187 million hectares is under intensive cultivation. There is a high potential of generating labor and livelihood and agricultural products and by-products processing and intensification and diversification of agricultural product systems. These potentials however, are being hindered due to lack of appropriate agricultural strategies.Chicken Bones and Malunggay (Moringa oleifera) Stalks as Plant Growth Enhancer aims to integrate new approaches of enhancing the growth of the plant by utilizing the chicken bones and malunggay plants. In line with the aforementioned discussion, the study aims to know the potential of chicken bones and malunggay stalks as plant growth enhancer and compare the quality of the experimental plant growth enhancer to that commercialized product in the industry. Specifically, the study aims to answer the questions:1. Is there a significant difference among the growth of the plant (plant length, leaf area, number of leaves) treated with different concentrations of experimental plant growth enhancer and the commercial plant growth enhancer?2.  Is there a significant difference among the growth of the plant (plant length, leaf area, number of leaves) treated with different concentrations of experimental plant growth enhancer and the vermiculture?3.  What plant growth enhancer yielded the best result?4.  What is the correct formulation of the plant growth enhancer (combination of chicken bones and malunggay stalks) that yields the best result on the growth of the plant?3.2 FindingsAfter the researchers have gathered, calculated and interpreted the data the following information has been found out:1. For treatment 1 (100% malunggay stalks), there is no significant difference in the leaf area, number of leaves and shoot length when compared with treatment 8 (vermiculture). This holds true to shoot length and number of leaves computations when compared with T7. While there is significant difference found in the leaf area when compared with T7.2. For treatment 2 (100% chicken bones), there is no significant difference in leaf area, number of leaves and shoot length when compared to both T7 and T8.3. For treatment 3 (75% chicken bones- 25% malunggay stalks), no significant difference is found in leaf area, shoot length and number of leaves when compared with T7. This holds true to number of leaves computation when compared with T8. While a significant difference is found in leaf area and shoot length when compared with T8.4. For treatment 4 (25% chicken bones- 75% malunggay stalks), there is no significant difference in shoot length and number of leaves compared to both T7 and T8. For the leaf area, a significant difference has been evaluated when compared with T7 while no significant difference has been evaluated when compared with T8.5. For treatment 5 (50% chicken bones- 50% malungg ay stalks), significant difference has been assessed in number of leaves when compared to both T7  and T8, and as well as in the shoot length when compared with T8. For the leaf area, no significant difference has been assessed when compared to both T7 and T8.6. For treatment 6 (no treatment), significant difference has been evaluated in leaf area, shoot length and number of leaves, when compared with T8, while no significant difference has been computed in the said factors when compared with T7.7. For treatment 7 (commercial plant growth enhancer), significant difference has been evaluated in leaf area while no significant difference has been computed in shoot length and number of leaves when compared with T8.8. For the plant location, both shoot length and number of leaves showed a significant difference when the two locations were compared with each other. On the other hand, the leaf area of both locations did not show significant difference in number.There is no statistical ev idence to prove that there is a significant difference in the leaf area, shoot length and number of leaves among the different formulations of the experimental plant growth enhancer.3.3 ConclusionsChicken bones and malunggay stalks have the potential to be analternative plant growth enhancer. Considering the minimal acquisition cost of the materials and the comparative performance it has showed for the leaf area, shoot length, and the number of leaves in relation to the commercially available one and the vermiculture, a latent source of the plant growth enhancer can be the leftover portions from chicken and malunggay and may serve as an alternative for the customary sources of plant growth enhancer, which currently spring from inorganic matter.The concentration of the experimental plant growth enhancer does not affect the performance in the leaf area, shoot length and number of leaves. The concentrations then do not generally influence on the growth performance. For economic reasons , one can use the greater concentration of malunggay stalks without sacrificing the  quality of the plant growth enhancer. Concurrently, this study will significantly help in the research of finding better agricultural strategies for the intensification and diversification of agricultural product systems and at the same time provide alternatives in attaining a sustainable environment.3.4 Recommendations Primary RecommendationsThe researchers recommend further studies on the efficacy of chicken bones and malunggay stalks as plant growth enhancer. As both the main materials are lavishly available in the country and are usually considered waste, an achievable amount of plant growth enhancer can be realized. The researchers recommend using the greater concentration of malunggay stalks (T4 and T1) if the individual is considering the leaf area, shoot length, and number of leaves, as it saves more resources and brings close results from the traditional plant growth enhancer (vermicultur e).Secondary RecommendationsFor the conduct of the experimentation, an accessible, conducive garden should be considered in order to easily carry out regular monitoring on the growth of the plants. Other interested researchers can also invest on other plants that can be easily grown and is receptive to the environment. Using the chicken bones from uncooked chicken can also be done so as to increase the chance of getting higher calcium and phosphorus level from the source.Since the researchers are limited with the resources, only two replicates (plot 1 and plot 2) were administered, thus adding plants to be used for the experiment is recommended so as to increase the probability of detecting a significant difference between two treatments and as well as to increase the confidence level of the results. For the analysis of the data, test on the secondary macronutrient group (Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur) can be done so as to widen the range of the macronutrients to be studied on.

Trung Nguyen Caffee

In 1996 Trung Nguyen was a small business processing coffee in Ban Me Thuoc city. At that time, Vietnam had risen once again to be one of the leading coffee producers in the world, but almost solely producing â€Å"green† coffee (unroasted beans) that were sold on the commodity market. This resulted in no control over the final coffee quality or prices. The Highland region of Vietnam is one of the world's â€Å"top 10† best environments, combining the right altitudes, soils, natural drying conditions, and temperatures for producing the finest of gourmet coffees.Yet the region was not controlling its own destiny to produce these once sought-after coffees. The owners of Trung Nguyen saw that the future for producing gourmet coffee and being reasonably independent of the world commodity markets was to once again follow the best possible growing and processing techniques to produce a world-class coffee, and carry it through all the way to the packaged product.After the revi val of this exotic coffee, the company developed the first Vietnamese franchise of coffee houses and expanded throughout Vietnam and then a number of other countries. Now the most established, respected and successful producer of branded coffee in Vietnam, Trung Nguyen seeks to bring its unique blends to the United States. The West Coast has limited selections of TN coffees available in Asian grocery stores, but most of the US has no source of TN coffees†¦ until now.We are proud to be the first and only authorized Internet shopping source of TN coffee in the US. Trung Nguyen has won numerous prizes and titles for the entrepreneurial achievement of the company, its enlightened business practices, and the excellence of its products. Trung Nguyen coffee growers have been certified by EUREPGAP and Utz Kapeh for â€Å"safe and sustainable† coffee growing practice. Trung Nguyen coffees are grown on smaller farms and using traditional sun-drying methods and natural processing.T heir cultivation supports thriving villages where growers work under contract futures with guaranteed pricing for their products. When you purchase Trung Nguyen coffees, you help preserve heirloom species of coffee and the biodiversity they provide. This protects against the dangerous popularly-held opinion that any one coffee species should be grown in monoculture around the world. Not only does this 100% Arabica movement deny the wide and delicious range of flavors of other coffee varieties, it creates a potential ecological disaster.Advocates of â€Å"1-coffee only† ignore the terrible consequences of past wordlwide Arabica blights that have threatened to change the nature of the coffee plant forever. Trung Nguyen coffees using Arabica, Robusta, Chari (Excelsa), Catimor, Liberica and other diverse varieties preserve the unique flavors and robust nature of the coffee plant and help to create bean blends that are unique and simply broader and better in flavor than any single -source coffee can be. It's good for the future of coffee and its growers; it's delicious in your cup. Enjoy!

Commentary on a Passage from Cry, the Beloved Country

Capee novel, Cry, the beloved country is written by Alan Paton, a great South African writer. The book was published in 1948 and became world wide bestseller. Alan Paton mainly discusses the struggle for Africa and especially the conflicts between the Whites and the Blacks in South Africa. He wants the people to realize that the destruction or breaking apart of a country like South Africa can be mended through hope and this hope can only be reached if people accept and love each other as fellow human beings.The Whites gained power through force and compulsion. The chosen passage shows Western style of thinking which lead to this particular destruction of South Africa. The passage illustrates a manuscript from Arthur Jarvis and is the last thing he wrote before he was shot by the natives. He described that the Christian civilization is â€Å"riddled through and through with dilemma†. The manuscript by Arthur shows that although the Westerners have suppressed the natives and des troyed their culture, their own civilization is full of destruction and tragedy.The Westerners think of themselves as superior and suppress the natives. From the passage it is shown that they deny giving education to the natives because they think that it would not help the country anyways. â€Å"We say we withhold education because the black child has not the intelligence to profit by it; we withhold opportunity to develop gifts because black people have no gifts. Arthur also describes: â€Å"We believe in help for the underdog, but we want him to stay under†, which indicates their need to be superior. The word underdog even makes the natives inhumane. They describe them as underdogs, as animals, which is a really arrogant tone. Arthur also writes in his manuscript that the Westerners think, because they achieved their own advancement in a long period relationship.

Public Libraries: The Way To Human Understanding Essay

A Discussion on the Process of Human Intelligence and Its Progress Knowledge is one primary reason why the human society continues to advance in terms of understanding and comprehension of advancement. This is the reason why governments around the world are already aiming to increase their competencies in terms of educational progress among their human population. It is innate among humans to be fascinated by the different things that they particularly see around them. It could not be denied then that through the years, this particular fascination within the different elements that could be seen in the human environment actually developed into the many discoveries and inventions that humans produced.   Through passing civilization of humans, it could be observed that the people were never contented with what they already have or what they have already accomplished. This is especially true in terms of science and technology as well as in arts and literature. It is indeed undeniable that people recreate the things that are already existent within their own society.   The fact that they have already been able to see what they could do regarding a certain type of field, they intend to even do better the net time that they deal with the same invention. Yes, humans never get tired of reinventing everything there is in the environment. Why is this so? Human intelligence has always been noted by philosophers as the primary factor that makes the human creation different from that of the other God-made creations. The humans’ ability to innovate their own achievements to even better results for the present generation to see, has particularly noted them to be those who are capable of reinventing themselves to be able to evolve from generations to generations. To discuss this particular fact further, take an example of the human literature. It is overwhelming enough to see that the society today is already flooded by the informations that are presented to humans through the printed pages of literature. More than that, the emergence of internet technology has paved the way even for amateur writers to make mention of their thoughts to the world for them to be appreciated and particularly affect other’s opinions as well. Literature before was primarily defined as an art of writing that follows certain rules that are strict enough to keep its standards within the classical range of reading. However, when the different generations along with the historical events covered the human generation’s development, the art of literature became one of the major process by which humans intended to express their thoughts and their predicaments about the things that are going on in the world. As a result, more and more people joined the bandwagon of writing and began to share their thoughts to the world with regards the issues that primarily concern the human society today. This particular progress in literature has primarily been further fueled by the democratic arrangement of the major governments around the world, giving a chance for the freedom of human expression. It is through this that people became more aware of the world around them, they cared more than ever with the political agendas, the social issues as well as other informations that concern their interests. True, the changing situation in the society and the demand towards progress requires that human intelligence be perfected in a way that it particularly caters to the needs of the entire humanity. The human brain’s ability to store and restructure informations that were accepted by it through the years of an individual’s life is particularly a proof that the application of humans’ intelligence could still be perfected as generations are still to come along. Public libraries are continuously assisting in the process of actually making it possible for humans to make considerable progress in terms of knowing what is present within the society that they are living in. Both young and poor are likely to have better chances of understanding the society through the existence of public libraries. Funding for these types of public institutions serve as primary investments on the part of the   different governments around the world as they are certainly to make great impact to the people, educating them with the knowledge that they ought to understand and apply in further practical actuality in the society for the sake of progress.   References: Robert J. Sternberg. (1989). Handbook of Human Intelligence. Cambridge University Press.

Tourism Product Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tourism Product Report - Essay Example On the other hand, tourism product can be defined as a service that can only be put to some use for deriving benefits. There are a number of features which are of relevance to the way in which travel and tourism products are managed and differentiated from physical goods. These include intangibility, inseparability, perishability, heterogeneity, and ownership (Evans et al. 2003:1994). Intangibility of tourism products makes this business diversified yet accessible to all. Unlike goods, services such as accommodation in a luxury hotel and cruising to an exotic island cannot be bought in physical terms. In other words, these services can only be used by customers and service providers alike. Customers make use of them for fulfilling their purpose of travelling whereas service providers put them to use for making profits. In either way, they cannot be physically located but be experienced only. Baum (2006) argues that in a culturally diversified setup, the intangibility of tourism products enables tour operators and travel agents to adjust to the varying demands of visitors (151). They can increase the stake of services, wherever necessary, to optimise revenues. At the same time, the invisibility phenomenon associated with intangible service products poses some major challenges to overcome. Intangibility itself is an attribute that sometimes appears vague and superf luous. Unless the service itself proves its worth, potential customers may completely or partially ignore it. To take away the equivocation, tour operators usually apply tangible means to promote their services to target customers. This is why video clippings of holiday destinations or cruise ship tours are uploaded on the web to lure in customers into availing of the services. Similarly, tour organisers spend time and money to make creative and visually appealing travel brochures to minimise the uncertainty factor involved with intangibility. Inseparability of tourism products is again a

Customers' and firms' views of using drones in business Essay

Customers' and firms' views of using drones in business - Essay Example A drone resembles and acts like an airplane. Lack of a pilot flying the drone is the major difference between a drone and an airplane. A person in a certain station controls a drone. The individuals are responsible for monitoring areas covered by the drone. In addition, the individual controls the movement of the drone. Drones are common among the military and army squads as they use them to survey enemies’ movement. They also act as bombs for attacking enemies. Development of drone abilities attracted executives who used for surveying areas that was not within the businessperson reach. Therefore, the drone has been of great service as it save time. Businessperson, use the drone for purposes such as delivery, providing internet services, news, photography, agriculture, population and monitoring public service.1 Apparently, the firms using drone and consumer have different views considering the use of drones in business activities. Some view them as advantageous while some view them as a disturber. Nevertheless, it depends on the service the drone offers to the individual. This paper attempts to views and explains the difference and similarities between the customers and the firm’s view on the usage of drones in business activity. The paper also adds the differences that firms and customers have while viewing the usage of drones in the business. It adds that the difference in people view is the main reason for the difference in how people view drones. Despite the many benefits of using drones in business, some firms and customers complain of the services produced. Some firms view the usage if drone in business and efficient. They lay their view upon the fast services produced when using the drone especially when delivering products. It is clear that most firms have experienced a challenge when delivering products and services to consumers in time when delivering products locally. The main problems that firms experience is a

Heart attack Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Heart attack - Research Paper Example that reduce or block the flow of the blood to the heart muscles thus not only decreasing the supply of the blood and oxygen to the heart but also making the muscles to exert more pressure or force for the blood flow. The blockage in the artery damage heart muscles so that it is not able to function normally and lead to malfunctioning of heart or heart attack. If the blockage is not removed fast, it could be fatal and may result in the death of the person (Antman, 2011). On the inside linings of the one or more coronary arteries, plaques or atheroma develop over a period of time, which narrow the arteries thus obstructing free flow of the requisite amount of blood to the heart muscles. High cholesterol are main causes of thickening of blood vessels. If not treated timely, the thickening of arteries could block the blood flow to heart. Many times, high blood pressure also becomes key causes of heart attack. ‘Initial treatment requires attention to any precipitating factors, such as hypertension, anemia, congestive heart failure (CHF), tachyarrhythmia and valve disease’ (Opie,p351). The other forms of treatment are medicine and surgery as follow: Angioplasty is first option to clear the blockage in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart. A stent is later used within vessel and prevents its closing up. It is a metallic mesh tube that expands artery walls when it is inserted within it (Pifarre & Scanlon, 2001). Complications in the treatment of heart attack occur when the patient has many diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney problems. These diseases help delay the treatment or complicate it. Acute diabetic patients tend to avoid operations as blood clotting is a delayed process which could cause complicity in heart operations. I chose this topic because heart is one of the vital organs of living beings. It pumps oxygen and blood throughout the body for life sustenance and serves as major indicator of health and wellbeing. It is

Non-current assets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Non-current assets - Essay Example The paper will look at two standards by the IAS, which are the IAS 16 and IAS 38 regarding non-current assets. This paper attempts to analyze the standards that IAS sets regarding accounting of non-current assets. It sets these guidelines on how organizations and companies should handle both tangible and intangible non-current assets. IAS is responsible for setting international auditing standards so that they act as guidelines for auditors and accountants to follow regarding non-current assets (Kirk, 234). Each part in the accounting profession has its own standards as a guide on how to handle it. For instance, handling plant and machinery under IAS 16 is different from dealing with intangible non-current assets under IAS 38. This creates a form of independence when dealing with various aspects in the accounting process. IAS standards on Property, plant, and equipment IAS 16 defines handling of property, plant and equipment which is different from IAS 38 which defines handling of in tangible assets in financial statements. Property, plant and equipment are all fixed tangible assets; therefore, adoption of a common method when dealing with them in the accounting process. ... The first guideline is their initial measurement which entails the initial cost and all other cost necessary to make the assets ready for use. It also includes capitalization of interest costs. The other step is the subsequent measurement of the fixed assets which entails depreciation and disposal of assets (Kirk, 234). The rule of Impairment and disposing of the assets indicates how to dispose of such assets in terms of the guidelines. Accounting standards regarding these three assets provides a guideline on how to classify long-lived assets that are held for sale and those held for use. Long-lived assets that are meant to be held for sale do not depreciate; therefore, their presentation should be separate. They should be placed separately in a statement of financial position. This is because they are not in the business for use, rather they are for sale; hence, their selling price does not fall. The accounting standards provide rules and formula regarding how to measure this type o f fixed assets (Kirk, 250). The other guideline regarding plant, property and equipment is the discontinued operations for those assets held for sale and those held for use. The impairment test and recoverability test give rules regarding recoverability of fixed assets and those that are not recoverable. There are also rules on the impairment loss on plant, property and equipment under the accounting standards. The standards provide for impairment loss that can be reversed, and that is unversed. This indicates how these types of losses are recognized when preparing financial statement (Alexander, 359). The standards also give conditions on when such losses cannot be reversed, for instance in situations where there is an increase in the fair value of plant,