Advantages of Technical Education Essay

It is appropriate for me to seize this opportunity to speak a couple of words on the need to expand Technical Education in the country. In Sri Lanka, technical education began in the 1890s with the establishment of the Colombo Technical College, which, as Government Department, functioned to cater to certain requirements of such Government Departments as Public Works, Railways and Irrigation. Technical Education, because of this limited focus, did not expand in the colonial period; it was after independence an attempt was made to start engineering courses. With the establishment of the University of Ceylon, an Engineering Degree course was started. In the sixties, a network of Technical Colleges came into existence but they taught only trade and craft courses. What the country needed was an Institute which could career to the middle level needs in the field of technical knowledge. Such middle level technical know-how was necessary for the country to undertake development; industry was expanding and new development corporations came into being, and such institutions, in addition to engineers, wanted middle level technical expertise. The Expansion Since there was no organization to produce such men, the Government of the day wanted us to examine the possibility of setting up a Technological Institute which is capable of producing middle level technicians in areas relevant to development. Ampara Hardy Institute, German Technical Institute and the HNDE courses have become popular, and they produced employable technicians who found employment. It was in this background that we established the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) which is now emerging as a centre of excellence in the area of Technological Studies in the country, and its provincial centres have become attractive centres of learning. All students, who pass the Advanced Level examination cannot enter the Universities, and they need to be given opportunities in the field of higher education. This Institute has 18 branches throughout the country which could provide educational opportunities to a large group of students; today this kind of qualification could be easily marketed in a highly competitive world and the middle level technician is as important as a qualified engineer. The Government, based on the Mahinda Chintana strategy on higher education, proposes to develop the SLIATE into a centre of excellence, and we are receiving substantial foreign assistance for the improvement of the Institute. In my view, Sri Lankan higher education institutions need foreign assistance and partnerships to meet the international competition in the Higher Education market. Today the world has become globalized, and in such a context, whatever changes we make, we need to look from the point of view of global considerations. The multiple demands of economic and social development, specially in the context of Sri Lanka, needs diverse tertiary institutions, and the SLIATE, with its network of colleges specializing in technical subjects, can provide the State with middle level technically trained personnel. The very existence of the SLIATE shows that the country needs an education system with increased differentiation; in other words, the development of non-university institutions like higher technological colleges can help meet the growing social demand for higher education. Those students, who fail to find places within the formal University system, need to be provided with opportunities in the technical education sector, and it is through such diversification of higher educational institutions that access to tertiary education can be improved; today nearly 210,000 students sit the Advanced Level examination, out of which nearly 120,000 students qualify to enter the Universities but the annual intake to Universities is restricted to less than 20,000. This is a major problem in the system, and this question has to be immediately addressed. The Government has adopted two strategies; one is to get a sizable section into the Technical education sector, and the rest has been given an opportunity to make use of the Distance Mode. I would like to refer to the expansion of the Open University and the effective use of the external degrees formula. It is through enrollment in non-university institutions that the problems relating to access could be solved. For instance, in East Asia, the average annual growth of University enrollment was 11 percent between 1975 and 1980 and 6 percent between 1980-1988, as compared with 24 and 10 percent for non-University institutions in the same period. Several types of non-University institutions, similar to the SLIATE, have evolved in various countries to expand higher educational opportunities for those who aspire to get into the system. For example, Poly- Technics, Professional and Technical Institutes, Community Colleges and Institutions offering Distance Education. Need for Diversification In the Sri Lankan context, we cannot totally depend on the traditional system of University education. It has served a good purpose, and it is still serving a purpose; in my view, the immediate need is to diversify the tertiary education system with an emphasis on technical and vocational education. In terms of cost, they are low cost programmes and the country can afford such a network of colleges which could provide them with a qualification and training, with which a person can find employment. The emphasis on scholastic education, which began with the establishment of the University College in 1921, needs to be transformed, and the young men and women, who now seek a qualification to get employment, should be encouraged to get a Technical qualification from an Institute like the SLIATE. It is the policy of the Government is to develop the SLIATE into a centre of excellence, it is not a mere Technical College, it is a special kind of Technological Institute, the products of which can make a vital contribution to the process of economic and social development. Technical education, like University education, should become an integral aspect of the development process in the country. Only an Institute of this nature, with varied products of highly skilled labour, which can respond to labour market demands in a country. The reason is that such an Institute can operate multi-disciplinary programmes in various technical fields and the SLIATE is doing exactly that. What needs to be done is to produce all types of skilled labour which a market economy needs; in other words, what the industry needs has to be produced. In Singapore, the employment prospects for graduates of Polytechnics are so good that many talented students seek entry into the vocationally-oriented Polytechnics rather than regular academic programme conducted by the Universities. In my view, the development of the SLIATE is certain to create a similar intellectual culture in the country. Let me make use of this opportunity to speak a couple of words on the role of the teacher. I was a University teacher for more than thirty years. I want all these young men and women to be good teachers, dedicated to the function of teaching. One has to be a dedicated teacher who set an example to the student community; you must be able to command respect among the student community, for which you need an intellectual personality. You need to be an intellectual-cum-teacher and then only you can attract the attention of the student community. Above all, you need to be a man of character. In the final analysis, you are members of the intellectual community of this country, and it is the intellectual community, for that matter in any country, which provides the leadership for the transformation of a society.

Biotechnology Essay

Biotechnology is a subfield of biological science linked to research areas such as recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering. As a result biotechnology is applied in a wide range of industries (Chen & Marchioni, 2008). According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, one fourth of the Biotechnology industry’s financing comes from venture capital and it is not just in terms of money but also managerial guidance to the biotechnology firms. This is attributable to the fact that biotechnology is a knowledge intensive industry and a large amount of capital is needed for research and development (Chen & Marchioni, 2008). Venture capital financing is favored by the majority of business startups including the biotechnology companies. Venture capital is an equity investment until the company matures. Venture capitalists are involved in the development of a biotechnology firm by becoming board members. The venture capitalists also advice the biotechnology firms on potential strategic partnerships (Munroe & Gary & Hutton, 2002). This gives the venture capital backed firms an added advantage over the non-venture capital backed firms. Literature Review Although venture capital accounts for a small fraction of the entire funding in the United States, it plays a major role in the financing of biotechnology companies. The biotechnology companies that are funded through capital venture outperform their counterparts in job creation and revenue growth. In the first quarter of 2009, the biotechnology sector received the biggest amount of funding in comparison to the other Life Science companies. This was however, a 16% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2008, constituting a downward tread in the funding of Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals (VentureDeal, 2009). Due to the prevailing economic crisis, the funding in biotechnology has reversed from an upward tread as the amount of funding has decreased as well as the numbers of companies funded. Sangart Company which researches and commercializes technologies related to oxygen transport agents received $50 million in the sixth round, the largest venture funding during the first quarter. BioVex Company on the other hand received $40 million from a large syndicate of venture capital firms in the sixth round of funding (VentureDeal, 2009). There are success stories in biotechnology venture capital. One example is the case of Thomas Tedder. Tedder collaborated with a venture capitalist, Intersouth and the company provided seed money that helped Tedder’s company called Cellective Therapeutics to develop a business plan and to finalize the licensing agreement. This helped Tedder to focus on the technology development. In due course, Cellective Therapeutics proved a success and the company was sold off at the one year anniversary to MedImmune (Gwynne, 2009). From the venture capitalists point of view, there are issues that are unique to a biotechnology perspective. The venture capitalists look for unique technologies which are critical to the biotechnology field as they are also looking for a market. This means that the venture capitalists are keen on areas such as disease areas which have a large market. The attractive types of research are those that have a widespread target such as cancer, diabetes and infection areas (Rosenman, 2001). Some of the major venture capital firms in the United States are Alta Partners, BA Venture partners, Forward Ventures, Genentech, Latterell venture partners, MedImmune Ventures, Soffinnova ventures and Intersouth (Gwynne, 2009). The geographic clustering of venture capital financed biotechnology firms is similar to the geographic pattern of the biotechnology industry. The biotechnology businesses are clustered together in a region for several benefits. Through the clustering, the companies achieve scale economy; have knowledge and technology spill over in addition to labor pooling and a decrease in transaction costs. The clustering of firms in similar locations makes it easy for workers to change jobs without the need for traveling long distances for interviews and they may not need to relocate homes after a transfer. Labor mobility hence facilitates the exchange of technology, information and knowledge among the biotech firms. Through geographic proximity, the transaction costs are decreased in addition to personal contact being maintained (Antonelli, 2000). This allows in-depth and fast feedback among the economic agents involved and helps build trust, and incentives in economic relationships thus reducing transaction costs. This enhances socialization within the professional network and stimulates co-operation, competition and innovation (Storper & Venables, 2004). These are important factors for life science knowledge. The clustering of biotechnology industries relies on venture capital availability, life science knowledge, large pharmaceutical firms and urban diversity. Before the first biotechnology firm, Genetech, was established in 1977, practitioners of genetic engineering were located around universities and research institutes. These universities and institutions also provide quality labor force. Consequently, the areas that are in close proximity to the science research institutions have better access to trained graduate and post graduate students. In the biotechnology industry, much of the venture capital is concentrated in California and Massachusetts, including San Francisco, San Diego and Boston (Gompers & Lerner, 2006). Methodology This research employs several methods to investigate the importance of venture funding to the biotechnology firms. Examination on the literature review on the subject of venture funding in biotechnology firms supports the conclusions on the industry. However when conducting research, a researcher is always faced with the task of identifying the methodology to use. This is due to the fact that the researcher has to consider the research question (Morgan & Smircich 1980, pp. 491-500). A researcher can lay more adopt either a positivist or post-positivist approach depending on whether the research focuses more on social sciences or natural sciences. The literature review in a research plays an important role in the research as the researcher needs to consider the different perspectives and possibilities before making any conclusions (Armitage & Keeble-Ramsay 2009, pp. 1-36). The review of various information sources helps the researcher in understanding the implications of the research process. According to Knalf & Breitmayer (1991), the authenticity as well as reliability of the literature review is key in any research. The researcher first has to consider the research options in addition considering the data collection methods. This said, the accessibility and availability of numerous sources of information has necessitated the need for a systematic methodology that can be used in decision making. In this research on venture capital in the biotechnology industry, the emphasis is on the existing firms, the firm’s location and funding. This is mainly achieved through analysis of documented sources and case study reviews. The case studies have inherent strengths that allow tailoring of data collection processes to the research question. Nowadays it has become common for researchers to combine both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods so as to increase the validity of the data collected (Denzin & Lincoln 1994). Data Analysis Data analysis helps the researcher interpret the findings of the research hence it is crucial in any research. According to the research, the majority of biotechnology firms depend on venture capital funding to a greater extent. This study investigated the funding of biotechnology firms in relation to venture funding. All proposed hypotheses are supported using analysis, indicating that biotechnology firms favor venture funding. It also shows that the biotechnology firms are clustered in the same areas where there are life science research base, large pharmaceutical firms, many capital venture providers and a large pool of scientists. There is no surprise that biotechnology firms use venture capital as opposed to other forms of lending. The finding that the biotechnology firms are also located in urban areas with talent and a favorable environment for new ideas and breakthroughs is also in line. On the other hand, venture capital is not only important in terms of financial support but also in providing insights, managerial skills and entrepreneurial spirit to the newly established biotechnology firms. Results Biotechnology funding however still has many huddles one of them being lower IPO valuations which has quashed early venture capital funding. The majority of the venture investment has avoided the innovative early stage research and opted for the specialty established companies (Robbins, 2005). Conclusion This study examines venture capital funding in the biotechnology industry. The research examined the sequence of events that take place during the funding and subsequent setting up of the biotechnology firms. The research objectives require the involvement of both the biotechnology firms and the venture capital firms in order to fully understand the relationship as well as the key factors in their relations. The researcher designed and put to use several research instruments to facilitate in the research. The main aim of the research was to bring to the fore the issues involved in the funding process.

Resolving Conflicts With People Essay

Abstract Conflict in the workplace just seems to be a fact of life. There are situations where different people with different goals and needs have come into conflict. And if the conflicts are not resolved they can be intense personal animosity between individuals involved. There are bound to be differences, arguments and conflicts in the work place and conflict resolution is an essential skill that a person should have. This is a skill that is thought or acquired through experience and learning from others. Resolving Conflicts Over the years I have been involved in situations where there were arguments, differences in opinion which all usually resulted in a conflict of some sort. I think conflicts also have magnitudes and the scale of a conflict and how important the situation is to the job can also dictate how and when it is resolved. In this paper I will describe one of the situations where I was involved in a conflict, what transpired and how it was resolved. A couple years ago I found myself in a situation at work where I was not happy with one of my colleagues. I was about to go on a month log vacation and after a conversation with my manager he designated a colleague as my back up and suggested I updated them on things I was working on and what they needed to do to keep the work progressing while I was gone. Basically my job is to support airlines by responding to questions and issues that they have about the Airplanes that by company sells to them. This was a very critical part of what the company did and was part of supporting customers to keep them happy and potentially buy from us again in the future. So I scheduled a meeting with my colleague and we talked about all the projects I was working on, the status of the projects, what needed to be done to complete the project and how to support the new incoming projects. I told him about the issues I was having with some airlines, the point of contacts and how to best reach them to resolve the issues. There was a specific client that had a very urgent issue that needed to be resolved and I relayed to my colleague the status and told my colleague the deadline for the inquiry was near and he needed to close out the case before moving on to anything else. When I got back from vacation about a month later, I realized that a lot of the cases I was working on were still open and even worse the deadlines had passed and the customers had not gotten the responses they needed to keep opera ting the planes. When I asked my colleague about the situation he explained to me that he was very busy and was not able to spend a lot of time working on the issues that I had left him to take care of in my absence. My initial perception was that my colleague was irresponsible and unreliable. I was very frustrated and angry because a lot of customers were disappointed and unhappy because of the lack of response from my company. This burden fell on me because everyone knew it was my responsibility to respond to the customers and I was blamed for the dissatisfaction on the part of the customers. From my colleagues’ point of view, the manager asked him to step in a back fill for me while I was out, he was told to still work on things that he needed to do and also back fill for me at the same time. The manager had told him that I was going on vacation and he would need him to keep any eye on the things I was working on but still make sure he worked on his projects. My colleague decided to prioritize himself and chose to do most of his work rather than prioritize to see if any of my cases were urgent and respond in a timely manner. Ultimately his perception was that he just had to do a little bit to get my work moving along but was not responsible for making sure that all my work was completed in time. I asked my coworker why he had not helped the customers and he explained to me that he was overworked and did not have enough time to get the job done. I decided to confront my coworker because it bothered me and I thought it was better to air the grievances in the open than to let them fester. I was very upset and told him I thought he could have done a better job and I felt his job ethic was pretty bad because this was work he was supposed to have done. There was a bit of an argument and some harsh words were exchanged. The argument centered around me thinking he should have done more to make sure my work load was progressing while I was gone, a nd his main response that he could not manage my work load and his at the same time and be as productive as I expected him to have been. We were able to resolve the conflict before it escalated without, having any long term grudges against each other. Some of the reasons the conflict was resolved was because we spoke calmly to one another and tried not to be aggressive. I have learnt that listening to the other person’s point of view helps to understand their position and see things the way they had understood it. The main reason for the conflict was miscommunication on the managers part. The manager told my coworker to do what he could to help out when he could when I was gone, by what I thought my manager told me was that my coworker would be taking over for me while I was gone. So I had different expectations for what I thought my coworker was going to help me with. We both spoke to our manager about what had transpired and how the miscommunication had affected the current workload, he understood our individual points, apologized to both of us and neither of us was blamed or held responsible for the late responses to the customers. The main reason why we were able to resolve the conflict and have the desirable outcome, is the reality is that it can take time to reach a win-win solution, and we did not want to spend hours trying to decide who was wrong or right. There was increased understanding, increased cohesion and improved self knowledge between us which made resolving the conflict much easier than if we had not agreed resolving the conflict without placing blame was our priority. Communication and the willingness to listen is very important in resolving a conflict, however, if the conflict was not handled effectively, the result could have been damaging to the cohesion of the team and perception that we had of each other. Talent is wasted as people disengage or are dissatisfied with situations in the work place and it’s easy to end up in a vicious downward spiral of negativity and recrimination. There was no better solution to how this conflict was resolved, but one thing that could have been done d ifferently was to increase communication with the manager and involved the manager when my coworker and I had the meeting. This way the manager would have been able to set expectation for each of us and cleared up any competition. But because we both received instructions separately we both interpreted differently and that cause confusion. The trust level between my coworker and I actually increased after this incedent, because after communicating with him more I got to know him on a more personal level and understood that he had a very good work ethic and was only doing what he was instructed to do. What could have helped come to a better outcome is sending emails to the customers letting them know I was out of town and that even though somebody was standing in for me while I was gone I would do my best to follow up with anyone who had not received help by the time I got back from vacation. I would also have sent an email to the manager detailing my interpretation of his instructions and reiterating his expectations from my point of view. Last thing I could have done different is to document the transition plan of things that my coworker needed to do and sent it to my coworker and manager to make sure that everyone was on the same page. References Arnold Anderson. (nd).Workplace Examples Of Workplace Negotiation. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-examples-conflict.negotiation-11402.html Naomi Drew. (nd).Six Steps For Resolving Conflict Retrieved from http://www.learningpeace.com/pages/LP_04.htm

A paper describing a current or emerging trend that has or will impact Essay

A paper describing a current or emerging trend that has or will impact occupational therapy service delivery - Essay Example The impact will not only mean an increase in health promotion based on value rather than volume but it will make the work of occupational therapists easier, make their clients more self-reliant and teach the whole community how to handle occupational therapy for their members. It will also reduce the current burden and work load occupational therapists are having as the number of people requiring this form of therapy will have reduced drastically with the new trend (Jaffe & Johnson, 2014). Research from the British Journal of Occupational Therapy indicates that with the current trend in occupational therapy, old age people between the ages of 60 and 90 were able to be better. After being introduced to the health promotion program for a period of 8 months, they were able to have better cognition, reduce their levels of depression, were less functionally dependent and were generally able to increase their quality of life (Mountain, Mozley, Craig & Ball, 2008). The occupational therapist’s service delivery to these aged people was therefore lessened as they only had to minimally assist them. In line with these positive transformations, the occupational therapists are therefore able to have more time to handle other different types of clients as they are not tied down handling only a few clients. Research indicates that majority of the occupational therapy clients are old people who have developed various forms of disabilities such as in their hearing, seeing, walking and even in terms of memory. The journal article by Turcotte, Carrier, Desrosiers & Levasseur, (2015) indicates that the current trend in occupational therapy can be able to assist the old people to prevent developing these disabilities or be in a position to manage them better in case they have developed. By so doing, they will have reduced drastically the amount of money and even time they spend on seeking health care for their

Comparing philosophy of nursing and education Essay

Comparing philosophy of nursing and education - Essay Example In any given community, education and nursing play a great role in promoting development. According to Carroll it means a certain kind of thinking or a certain kind of attitude to a certain problem (carrol, n.d). Edward reports that nursing philosophy is the assertiveness towards life and reality that circulates from individual nurses (Edward, 1997). For individuals to develop a certain philosophy of nursing one must consider the abilities to which a nurse obligates her heart and soul to. The main purpose of this article is to compare and contrast the philosophical statement of Richmond medical facility and that of Virginia Common wealth Medical College. The mission of Virginia Common wealth Medical College of Virginia School of Nursing Philosophy (V CU) is to improve health and the general human state. This shall be achieved through conducting nursing study under proper administrative leadership. The institution will provide aim to provide nursing education that will translate to quality nursing services. Thus in order to achieve all these, the facility has to maintain its excellence in education through preparing future scholars for nursing and health care services. The institution seeks to be essential in the change and growth needed in clinical research countrywide. Through caring out these practices it thus provides services that are beneficial to the community and also credit the profession. The facility will provide its expertise and novelty for best practices in education and practice so as to be a national model for clinical scholarship (Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013). They facility educates nurses so as to improve the services offered by the nurses for the benefit of the patient. However VA provides direction on what qualified nurses need to practice when caring for the veterans. They issue leadership on the therapeutic nursing role on care of patient.    On the other hand the mission of Veteran Affairs (VA) is to provide direction on all the issues related to nursing practice. The institution provides the much needed guidance in medical programs and in the various care delivery sites that impact the veterans. The facility has been obliged to fulfill the president Lincolns promise â€Å"To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan†( Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address, 1865, p.1). the facility will do this by serving the men and women who are America`s veterans. The main difference between these two institutions is that VCU seeks to impact knowledge on scholars especially nurses so that they can be able to practice in future. In that they provide edu cation to the students who have no experience and also impact skills in them. The VCU since its birth in 1968, like the other facilities it wants to a firm its ground as a leading university among the nation’s pre-eminent public university. To achieve these levels the university has continually encouraged research. It has gone to the extent of giving back to the community by the students providing health care to its neighbor’s. This has improved the access to health care to the most vulnerable and underserved population. VCU next major step is to look for peculiarity as a public university centered on students triumph. It aims to do this bearing in mind that there are scarce resources and increasing call of accountability and demonstrable value for higher education (VCU, School of nursing 2013). Contrary, to the statements above VA is a diverse group of compassionate professionals whose main focus are veterans who served America. They ensure that the needs of the entir e veteran population are represented, this involves putting resources where veterans are and where resources are most needed (United States of Veteran Affairs, 2013). According to "United States Department of Veterans Affairs" (2013) there are some core values that guide the nurses as they practice. They are supposed to maintain

The writings of Augustine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The writings of Augustine - Essay Example The political satires used in the writings of Augustine were aimed drawing a close relationship with the spread of Christianity in the western societies. Augustine was a Christian theologian who was concerned with showing the compatibility between the politics in the western society and the spread of Christianity. Augustine was the bishop of the Roman province in Africa. Augustine was a prolific writer and a strong proponent of Christianity. The writings of Augustine led to the spread of his increasing popularity and he was regarded as the father of the Church. The most important works of Augustine where he established a strong compatibility between the politics and Christianity are namely, City of God and Confessions. The age in which Augustine wrote his works resembled empiricism. The writings of the eighteenth century, however, reflected the growth of mercantilism. The growth of capital and the politics of the rulers showed that that they developed a strong urgency for the growth of capitalism which would help them to develop into stronger powers. The bold writings of Augustine that were produced in this age contained political satires that that unfolded the nuance and the political interests that created destructions and affected the spread of the religion of Christianity. Through his bold writings, Augustine expressed his deep concerns in showing the compatibility between the political environment and the spread of Christianity. â€Å"The worshippers of the many false Gods whom we worship by the customary name of pagans, blamed the Christian religion for the disaster and began to blaspheme the true God more sharply and bitterly than usual.† (Augustine,  Kries and  Fortin 1) After the conversion to Christianity, Augustine started to develop his own philosophies and theories based on the principle of the Christian religion. The tenure of Augustine as the Bishop in the Roman province in Africa saw the increase of slavery and influence of the politi cal interests in converting masses to religions of interests. This was heavily supported by the increase in capitalism and exploitation of human freedom. Augustine believed that by the grace of Jesus, the spirit of human freedom should be restored in the world and this should not be affected by the political measures in the western societies. The brave writings of Augustine in the area of politics and Christianity considering the socio-economic conditions of the eighteenth century have drawn perfect reconciliation of politics and Christianity which was driven by the attempts to restore humanity and curb the evil forces of power and politics. â€Å"Look at the Roman Republic which having changed little by little from the most beautiful and best, has become the worst and most disgraceful† (Augustine,  Kries and  Fortin 16). Augustine’s philosophy did not allow him to endorse the beliefs of the New Testament through ways of violence. Instead he believed that the true spirit of humanity lies in the peaceful politics that aims to take necessary steps for overall development of the society. Augustine also never wanted Christianity to dominate over the religious beliefs of other sections of the society. The reflection of these philosophies was done with the perspective to reconcile the political interests and the growth of Christianity. The reconcilement of politics and Christianity was the major concern in the political writings of Augustine as he realized that the holy spirit of man could develop in an environment which is peaceful and politically stable. Augustine showed deep concerns in reconciling politics and Chri

Categorical definition arguement writing about heros Essay

Categorical definition arguement writing about heros - Essay Example His personality used to be exalted. In mythology or in the great epic of the world Ramayana, the hero is Ram. Ram is shown as an obedient, selfless, and the most valiant person of the world. But in the modern time the concept of hero has changed. The hero is supposed to be the person who has glamour due to his qualities. The modern heroes can be of different field such as the hero in sport, cinema, or politics. The hero in modern term is the person who has his influence on the people and he is an idol for them. The influence of the hero could go even to that height where the ordinary people start thinking him as a divine figure and they worship him. In India, especially in South India the people are so crazy about films and the heroes of the film that they have built the temples of these heroes. It is the different thing whether these people deserve worship or not, but the major point here to be considered is that the height of influence of the hero can go at any stage. It is always the quality of the hero to battle hard and reach to the pinnacle of success by overcoming all odds. These heroes have tremendous power and strength. There are different types of heroes; among them are seeker, victim hero, anti-hero, tragic hero, epic hero, culture hero, folk hero and reluctant hero. A Hero is a man who ardently devotes his life to the divine and inner truth and shares his vision with the rest of the world. For Carlyle, this is the definition of a true man: one who is a deep and spiritual being, living his life by divine truths. Carlyle in his book â€Å"On Heroes, hero-worship and the heroic in history,† he talks about the following different categories of the heroes† â€Å"All sorts of Heroes are intrinsically of the same material; that given a great soul, open to the Divine Significance of Life, then there is given a man fit to speak of this, to sing of this, to fight and work for this, in a great, victorious, enduring manner; there is

Mills and Boons Collaboration with the RFU Case Study

Mills and Boons Collaboration with the RFU - Case Study Example There are various ways of segmenting the market. There are mainly four bases on which a consumer market can be segmented. The geographical segmentation is based on the area and the population's characteristics of the segment. Then there are demographical factors that include the age, gender, income and status of family and other related factors (Stanton, Etzel, 2003). Psychographic factors are the attitudes of the people in the market segment, whereas behavioral segmentation is the price, brand loyalty and price of the product. Demographic factors are a useful indicator because the marketer would need to see that what age group reads the novels of Mills and Boon. Normally the age bracket of its novel readers is between 18 to 34 years of age. Age is an important characteristic because the demands of an individual changes with time and therefore it is necessary for the product to fulfill the desires of each one of the changing demands. The novel should have something for everyone. Their target is females who are more inclined towards romantic novels. The idea behind this deal between Mills and Boons and RFU is to increase the female readership of Boons and Mills novels. By including the rugby players as the heroes of these novels, it will make them more attractive and appealing for young women who are educated and who would love to see the energetic, glamorized players as the romantic heroes. This is expected to boost the demand for the novels as those who already read them will get an extra flavor to it, wh ereas even the sports fans might just go ahead and buy these novels. The marketer will have to access the psychographic factors in the market because only those will be willing to buy these novels who either love to read romantic fiction or are a sports freak. People who are not into reading and sports will not care to pay attention to it at all. Moreover who are risk takers would like to try to read something different and look forward to the new subject. Also the buying of the romantic novels depends on the mind set of an individual, the lifestyle and the culture altogether. Behavioral factors can also be utilized to segment the market for readers. For this the kind of people to be targeted will have extensive knowledge related to the subject therefore while marketing the novel to them the marketer will need to satisfy them. The there are habitual buyers who have a passion for romantic novels. There will be some people for whom the price will be a consideration and can affect their decision making, while there will be some who would buy it out of brand loyalty (Kotler, Armstrong, 2003). These factors can be utilized by Mills and Boons and RFU in order to divide the market into segments and then come up with an appropriate marketing strategy for each one of them. This will help to allocate resources effectively and make work easier. Question - 2 Mills and Boon was founded in the year 1908. Over the period of time it has

PHL #6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PHL #6 - Essay Example It is therefore, different from other concepts such as Cartesian dualism and Skinnerian behaviorism (Carruthers, 1998). Therefore, the two theories are compatible in this regard as they discuss various concepts of the mind. Their thinking and philosophies are based on the fact that the mind rather than the soul. The man is defined by is relationship to an organic structure. Both theories state that it is not only humans that have souls and intrinsic principles but also beasts and plants (Carruthers, 1998). According to Aristotle, plants have vegetative souls and these include the powers of growth, nutrition and reproduction. Human beings on the other hand, have additional powers of perceptions and locomotion and for this they possess a sensitive soul. The existence of the sensitive soul is manifested by the fact that each animal has a sense faculty(Carruthers, 1998). Functional roles help identify mental states. There are several types of functionalism, and these include: machine state functionalism, psych functionalism, analytic functionalism, Homuncular functionalism and Mechanistic functionalism. All these types of functionalism point to the fact that, mental states are manifested in individual system such as computers as long as the necessary as the system perform the required set of functions (Carruthers,

Existentialism and Finitude - Why existentialists prefer to speak of Essay

Existentialism and Finitude - Why existentialists prefer to speak of finitude rather than death - Essay Example We come into existence without prior definition; we merely come to be. It is when we gain an awareness of self that we come to define ourselves. Man becomes what he makes of himself; if he does not attribute any useful purpose to his life, then his existence remains to be inconsequential (Aquila, 1977). â€Å"’Finitude’ has a particular meaning within Existential thought, of which death is only part. By ‘finitude’ is understood that out lives are finite, they have an end in death.† (Earnshaw, 2006, p. 18). Physical death is of little consequence in life; it is in the realization that we will someday day, that we are constrained to make choices in life. Earnshaw points to an example in the movie Groundhog Day (1993). The hero of this story, faced with a day that recurs without end, lives each repeated day in a different way, and finds out that whatever he does, does not matter because he has eternity to live his life anyway, and he may choose to live well and virtuously in some days, and even live the life of a criminal in other days. He even commits suicide repeatedly, only to awake the next day and discover he is still alive. If life is eternal, then there will always be enough time to experience infinite possibilities. However, when everything bec omes possible, life loses its meaning and therefore its preciousness. It is only in the context of finitude that there is any meaning to the consequence of choices. Theories on finitude predated existentialism as an area of discourse. Karl Solger (1780-1819), German romantic philosopher, believed that in man’s finitude, he could only grasp fragments of reality. His desire to return to infinity requires therefore his sacrifice of his finitude. Solger and other similar thinkers have laid the groundwork for a discussion of man as both finite and infinite, a course of inquiry that led to what became known as the field of existentialism. Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), the Danish philosopher generally acknowledged to be the first existentialist, regarded our common sense regard for human finitude as grounded on our limited understanding of things; however, because of our awareness that infinite possibilities exist (mainly in our concept of God) that in some way we ourselves were infinite. In Kierkegaard’s mind, the two conflicting concepts could only be reconciled by a belief in a Divine Being. Absent this reconciliation with the existe nce of God, man would find himself in a quandary as to how he may conceive of himself as being both finite and infinite (Moore, 2001; Wang, 2006). Kierkegaard differs with French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), in that the latter was convinced that humans would be finite even though they were immortal (Moore, 2001). For Sartre, finitude was rooted in the â€Å"brute contingency of human existence,† and the fact that the exercise of freedoms consequently excluded certain possibilities precluded by that which was opted. Sartre reasoned that it was due to our finitude that we are aware of things that appeared inexhaustible; their very objectivity makes us aware of the infinite points of view such objects may be regarded, not all of which we may occupy because of our finitude (Due, 1995; Jones, 1980). German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was directly opposed to Kierkegaard and Kant and reacted emphatically against the

Examine the key principles related to risk management and discuss its Essay

Examine the key principles related to risk management and discuss its theory associated with the role of the Advanced Scrub Practitioner - Essay Example 3). Principally, risks can be managed and averted with proper communication between members of the surgical team, as well as other clinical teams. The ASP is required to be able to notice unusual occurrences in surgical patients. Surgeons must have clinical privileges to perform surgeries so as to avert risks. ASPs must be on the lookout for risk factors such as surgeries on the wrong patient, medication errors, and performance of the wrong procedure among other risks. ASPs are also expected to have an inspection checklist to be used before surgical procedures and before anesthetizations because of the risky nature of these procedures (Youngberg 2011, p. 343). Principles of risk management associated with the role of ASPs include pursuing every surgery with accurate precision, following all surgical guidelines to the letter, and careful documentation of a patient’s history, physical examination results, and follow up plans. The ASP should assist the surgeon in ensuring that the rest of the surgical team complies to these principles in order to avert risks. ASPs also need to stick to protocols and not take anything for granted so that the chances of risks can be lowered (Osuch & Bonham 1994, p. 272). Rezaei, F, Yarmohammadian, MH, Ferdosi, M & Haghshenas, A 2015, ‘Principles of risk management in surgery departments’, Archives of Clinical and Experimental Surgery, vol. 4, no. 3, viewed 1 November

The Early Days of the Mormons Essay Example for Free

The Early Days of the Mormons Essay In the early days of the Mormon Church, founded by Joseph Smith between 1820 and 1830, periods of strife and tension would follow the early members of the church around the entire United States. Beginning in the East, Joseph Smith would find it difficult to find a safe haven for the organization and headquartering of the Church of Christ. Beginning in Fayette, New York in 1830, Smiths mission was to continue the original Church of Jesus Christ that was no longer on Earth. In 1823, Smith would claim that an angel directed him to a buried book written on golden plates containing the religious history of an ancient people. The Book of Mormon would be the religious texts published as the interpretation of those plates and would be the guiding principles of the Mormon faith. His beliefs that God and Jesus were both once men on Earth before becoming enthroned in the heavens would later become the basis for much of the insults against the Mormons throughout the early years of the church (Abanes, 2002). In the churchs early days of 1830, the Church of Christ would begin to grow and expand through missionaries sent westward to preach the gospel to the settlers. In Ohio, the church would prosper through the work of the missionaries there. As the church expanded into Jackson County, Missouri, settlers in the area became alarmed at the rapid influx of Mormons into the area. This led up to vicious attacks on the Mormons, and the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri. Following he attacks and the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri, Joseph Smith would lead the church members to found a new settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois. Tensions would eventually boil over and Joseph Smith along with his brother Hyrum would be killed by a mob near Carthage, Illinois in 1844 (Baugh, 2000). Brigham Young would emerge as the leader of the later known Latter Day Saints and he would go on to lead these pioneers to the Utah Territory. A provincial government under Young would be established in the Utah Territory. The 1800s in America were a time of rapid westward expansion across North America. Accompanied with this expansion, the American government would be undergoing intense battles between political parties. The lands encompassing the Utah Territory would fall under U.S. control following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The territory settled by Young and the Mormon pioneers would come under control of the U.S. by petition for entry into the Union by Young and his charges. Salt Lake City would become the center of the new State of Utah upon its acceptance into the United States. The Mormons were some of the very first pioneers to travel westward and ultimately founded many of the camps, settlements, and cities along the trails moving west from the Mississippi River. Aside from Salt Lake City, the Mormons founded more than 350 communities, from Idaho to Mexico and west to California. These provinces made travel west extremely convenient for pioneers to come. Mormons were also able to form strong bonds with Native Americans. Their efforts proved monumental to the (short-lived) friendship between Whites and Indians (Abanes, 2002). The Mormons were the dominant group in the Great Salt Lake basin. Discoveries of silver, gold, and other valuable resources would lead to many non-Mormons migrating to the area in order to exploit these resources. Due to the nature of the Mormons religious beliefs, the outright dominance of the group in the area would ultimately slow the admission of the group into the Union as the State of Utah for 46 years. Acceptance of the Mormons way of life as a certainty by the federal government would also lend credibility to that way of life, allowing the Mormons to continue to thrive in their new home and expand to other parts of the country. Throughout the turbulent times of the mid to late 1800s, the Mormons underwent many hardships and persecutions by other settlers of the times that were fearful of their belief systems and lifestyles. Under the government of the day, the Mormons contributions would be extremely helpful in the settlement of the Western United States. To this day, the large Mormon population of Utah and the Southwest United States has continued to make numerous contributions to American society and serve under many different administrations of the government. References Abanes, R., One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2002), 127. Baugh, A. L., A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, (BYU Studies, 2000), 82-83. Howe, D.W., _What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815-1848,_ (2007) pp 705-6

Improving Personal Efficiency At Work And In Life Commerce Essay

Improving Personal Efficiency At Work And In Life Commerce Essay The author of this paper is an engineering professional, who applies science (in the engineering inquiring system) to the real world during his work (Van Gigch, 2006). Organizations are continuously exploring methods to eliminate waste to lower the production cost and increase efficiency. This concept has evolved from a Two Bin System to a kanban System and most recently to a Toyota Production System (Hill, 2005). The author is intrigued by this organizational idea of reducing waste and increasing efficiency. He would like to apply the similar concept to increase personal productivity and efficiency at work and in his personal life. The proposed action plan intends to improve personal efficiency of the author at work and in life. The author deals with a variety of activities and tasks in his personal and work life during the day. These activities and tasks can vary from a simplest activity, such as starting a car ten minutes before departing for work, to solving a complex at work such as why a fastener broke during the assembly, and to writing a research paper for school. The phenomenon of friction is well known in a manufacturing industry. The usual engineering definition of friction is the resistance to relative motion of contacting bodies (Booser, 1983, p. 31). Magnitude of friction is usually expressed as a coefficient of friction ( µ), which is the ratio of the force F required to initiate or sustain relative tangential motion to the normal N which presses the two surfaces together. Thus  µ = F/N (Booser, 1983 p. 31). The right amount of friction is needed for two components to work efficiently and minimize wear. The same concept can be applied in work and life to improve personal efficiency. This action plan will develop a strategy to lower (balance) the friction in order to improve personal efficiency. Progress is becoming skilled consists largely in eliminating the useless (Laird, 1952, p.32). Productivity conceptually has two dimensions: efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is the level and quality of obtained from the amount of resources available (Smith, 1995). Competent performance defines efficiency doing something and doing something right (Smith, 1995. p. 7). The author will be exploring methods to produce a greater quantity with higher quality with the same amount of resources to improve his efficiency. The way in which the provider meets needs and demands of objectives defines effectiveness. A productivity plan is an action plan designed to achieve the twin goals of efficiency and effectiveness (Smith, 1995). Effectiveness relates to the extent to which the provider meets the needs and demands of the objectives. Improving productivity is a multi-faceted concept, which is linked with the achieving the goals efficiently and effectively. A productivity initiative is more than the statement of a set of goals; it is a plan to foster the achievement of those goals. It is an action plan designed to allow the system to get from here to there. (xxxx, xxxx) Productivity = f (efficiency, effectiveness) (Smith, 1995) The author has analyzed through the journaling activities during the course of Strategic Management of Human Resources that Personal Efficiency (PE) is affected by several factors. These factors are goal setting, communication style, negotiation and collaboration skills, art of persuasion, procrastination, locus of control, motivation, behavior and attitude, stress and burnout, influence, power authority, personal temperament, and networking. (Nelson, 2006) Assessment The author has gone through several self assessment exercises to identify his weaknesses and strengths. The author leads a busy personal and work life, thus it is important for the author to be efficient. The author will look at several factors to improve upon his Personal Efficiency within this action plan. The author agrees with Edmund and Morris (2000) that having too much information which uses up too much of their time, causes to feel stressed which, in turn, affects our decision making (Karlsson, 2006, page number) further, The extreme development of natural material resources and their conservation in paralleled by a pitiable neglect of human mental resources (Laird, 1952, p. 1). The development in information technology has provided the author with various planning tools such as a personal computer, blackberry, palm organizer, and Microsoft outlook express, but not necessarily all of these additional aids have improved his efficiency. Within this action plan, the author will develop a plan to understand the utility level of available aids. Action Plan The author used a competency card tally sheet to analyze and assess his competencies. Timely Decision Making, Organizing and Priority Setting are the three competencies on which the author will focus. The author will use goal setting techniques and decision making models to improve upon stated timely decision making, organizing, and priority setting competencies. The author will use performance measurement system (PMS) to evaluate performance of accomplishment. The action plan will use a sequential process. First, data will be collected, second the data will be organized, and third an action plan will be formed, fourth the action plan will be executed. Finally, the process will be reviewed and reanalyzed periodically. Goal Setting A goal is a measurable accomplishment to be achieved within a specified time and under specific time constraints (Rouillard, 2002 p.4). The goal setting offers motivation and a tool for performance measurement (Griffen et al, 2009). The author will use SMART approach for goal setting. The author understands that the goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic and that they should be subject to deadlines. The author will set challenging goals which require effort, yet still be attainable (Griffen et al, 2009). The author will use a sequential process to set goals. First, he will brainstorm all the goals by writing them down on a notebook, those he would like to attain in his life. Second, he will categorize these goals by the time limit he would like to them achieved. The goals will be categorized by month, six months, one year, two years, five years, and ten years. After analysis author may find that some of the initial goals are thoughts and need not be classifie d as goals. The goals will be further analyze for acceptance of author. Next, the plan for accomplishment of all the goals will be set. The progress of each goal will be reviewed periodically. Daily goals will be reviewed daily, monthly goals will be reviewed weekly, semi-annual goals will be reviewed monthly, annual goals will be reviewed quarterly and bi-annual goals, five years. During the review, if it is found that a goal was not achieved within the time allocated than it will be analyzed for the reasons. The analysis will help the author to understand the reasons for failure to make necessary improvements. The analysis will provide information whether the author lacked the resources to accomplish the goal(s), or whether there was an uncertain event that occurred during the period. If analysis presented that the author lacked the resources than reevaluation of the resources will be done. If analysis presented that there was an uncertain event occurrence during the period than t he author will reevaluate the deadline for the goal(s). (Griffen et al, 2009). Procrastination has always been a factor for the poor performance for the author. There are times when decisions are made very rapidly and at other times they take much longer. Procrastination increases stress and uncertainty (Griffen et al, 2009).The purpose of developing timely decision making skills is to be able to make the best possible decision with the information available (Gowin, 1917). Decision Making Model Temperament analysis from the book identified the author as an ESTJ personality type, where E stands for extrovert, S for sensing, T for thinking and J for judging. The T, or Thinking personality most often makes decisions based on logic and optimization. This style of decision making fits with rational model of decision making. There are constraints in relation to available time and information which prohibit practicing a rational decision making model. (Griffen et al, 2009)The author will use a decision support system to understand how to use an alternative decision making model. Herbert Simon suggested that there are limits to how rational a decision maker can actually be. (Nelson et al, 2006, p. 319). The objective is to find acceptability and effectiveness in the results. This decision orders classification forms the basis for the decision alignment framework(Scherpereel, 2005 PAGE NUMBER). Bounded rationality model can be an alternative choice for the author to develop a heuristics approach for decision making. The author will list and evaluate alternatives to select a good enough alternative to make the decision timely.(xxxx). To understand the likely consequences of decisions, the author will analyze the importance of individual factors and choose the best course of action. It is the alignment of decision problem characterization (or primal elements) with available approaches (or dual elements) that determine the adequacy and efficacy of a decision (Scherpereel, 2005 Page Number). The following steps will be used to develop timely decision making competency. The author will define the goal and assign a deadline to achieve the goals. He will record the activities in a log book to track the time spend on each activity. The log book will also be used to create matrix to design the decision support system. The author will practice the timely decision making with smaller tasks to create a habit of making decisions on time. Motor habits, or habits of doing, are all that many people include as habits in their thinking (Leird, 1952, p.44). Form the habit of sticking to a job until it is done (Leird, 1952, p.177). An example of this task would be starting the car in the morning ten minutes before heading to work in winter. The author will monitor this activity through the log book until this activity becomes a programmed decision making. He will develop an evaluation system to understand pro and cons of decisions. After identifying the pro and cons of the making the decisions, he will apply the strategy to make the decisions. If you really want to increase your mental efficiency do these things, do not just read them (Leird, 1952, p.35). The author will continuously read scholarly material and consult with an expert on his decision making competency. Decision Support System The author will develop a decision support system (DSS) to improve upon timely decision making competency. G. Mallach (1994) stated that The Decision Support System (DSS) is a system whose purpose is to provide knowledge with information on which to base informed decisions (Chong, 2001. p. 1). Decision Support System generates information used to support a decision (Chong, 2001. p. 1). Next, the author will use cognitive maps (CM) as a tool to develop the decision support system. In a Cognitive Map, concepts are connected with lines, arrows, and blocks. The information in blocks represents concepts (cn) in the problem domain and the line will represent the causal relationships within the concepts. The causal relationship can be positive or negative. In the case of a positive relationship, an increase or decrease in the cause variable shows the effect variable moving in the same direction. In a negative relationship, the cause concept causes the effect concept to move in the opposite direction (Chong, 2001). Need groceries T1 Total time available on weekend T5 Car needs oil change T2 Finish SMHR action plan T3 Meeting friends in evening T4 + 1.50 hr + .50 hr + 15.00 hr + 2.0 hr Figure 1.1: Cognitive map showing activities on the weekend (Chong, 2001) Figure 1.1 shows a cognitive map to illustrate tasks those need to be completed and leisure time planned for the weekend. Figure 1.1 also shows an incident which was not the part of planning. This cognitive map (CM) is drawn to identify the utilization on available time on the weekend efficiently and effectively. Each activity has given identification e.g. need groceries is identified as T1(Chong, 2001). After the CM is created, it is transformed from a diagram to a matrix. Fist, the diagram is translated to an N x N matrix (where N is the number of activities used in the map). Then, the rows and columns in the matrix are labeled with domain concepts (Chong, 2001). After drawing the CM, the map undergoes a diagram-to-matrix transformation. The process begins with the creation of an N x N matrix where N is the number of activities used in the map. The rows and columns in the matrix are labeled with domain concepts. (xxxx, Page Number) T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.50 T2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .50 T3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 15.00 T4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.00 T5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Fig 1.2: Matrix for the Cognitive Map on Fig 1.1 The fig. 1.2 shows a matrix of the information transferred from the cognitive map shown in fig. 1.1. The matrix shows the entry at row i, column j is the signed degree to which the activity (the source concept) influences (Chong, 2001, p. 3). When there is not relationship with an activity (Ti) to another activity (Tj) the value zero is inserted for the relationship. E.g. the activity T1 has no relationship with T2 on the cognitive map thus matrix has a zero entry for that relationship whereas activity T1 to T5 has a relationship that it will take 1.5 hour from the weekend thus it is given a 1.5 entry. The same concept (c) will be used throughout for information transformation from cognitive map to matrix. The author will be able adapt to this model after few practices (Chong, 2001). The summation of the activities will tell the author whether he was able to utilize the available time for the weekend effectively. For example, the sum of the matrix in the example shown on fig 1.2 is 19.0. The author had 2.0 hours allocated for leisure time from the total 19.0 hours available for the weekend. The summation calculation from the matrix shows that the author used 19.0 hours to accomplish all the activities. Thus he was able utilize the available time over the weekend effectively. The author will use the similar method for more complex problems (Lettieri et al, 2008). The author will make cognitive maps for one concept every week. This information will be made into a matrix as illustrated above. The information will be compiled into another matrix once the concept (tasks within the concept) is completed. The simple calculation for summation will be used to identify the efficiency of the proposed matrix to the actual matrix. Figure 1.2 shows the relationship between two matrixes before and after the completion of concept (Chong, 2001). T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.50 T2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .50 T3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 15.00 T4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.00 T5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.00 T2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .50 T3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.50 T4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.00 T5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Before After Fig 1.3: Matrix for before and after completion of the concept The summation calculation for the proposed matrix before the concept is completed is 19.00 hours whereas 18.00 hours for the matrix after concept is completed (Corral, 2008). This calculation provides the author with information for making future decisions as related to the activities defined with the illustrated concept (c1). The concept (c1) illustrates a very simple activity such as buying groceries as well as the complex activity of writing an action plan for the study course. The decisions the author faces can range from simple, with established programmed rule to complex decisions which require creative solutions (Chong, 2001). Most important is to identify the measures of efficiency and effectiveness based on the stated goals and objectives (Locke et al, 1981). The author assumes that in some cases it may be necessary to begin with new data collection for the appropriate measures. Finally, the productivity improvement process calls for new strategies to be developed for improving and monitoring productivity. Such strategies should be based on the goals and objectives first extrapolated (Griffen et al, 2009). Work and life balance Dr. Adam Butler, a psychology professor, suggested in his research that individuals should avoid preoccupation with work while at home (2010). The author will practice Dr. Butlers suggestion including finding challenges and learning opportunities outside of work and relaxation to enjoy leisure time. The author will also execute a plan to exercise regularly. These activities will help the author to balance life and work to become more efficient. Summary Productivity is the function of efficiency and effectiveness. The author has developed this action plan to improve his personal efficiency by using various decision making models, goal setting and motivation techniques. He will also use decision support systems, cognitive maps, and a strategy for work and life balance to improve his personal efficiency. The author has analyzed his competencies by using competency card tally sheet and other several self assessment tools taught during the course of Strategic Management of Human Resources. The sequential process action plan will be reviewed and reanalyzed periodically.

Market Segmentation In Radio Listening Habits

Market Segmentation In Radio Listening Habits Market segmentation plays an important role in radio listening habits due to three important reasons. Firstly, it allows marketers to identify groups of listeners with similar needs and facilitate the analysis of characteristics and listening behaviour of these groups (Soutar Clarke 1983; Kent 1994; Arjona et al. 1998). Secondly, segmentation provides marketers with critical information that are necessary for designing marketing mixes that are consistent with the characteristics and desires of one or more segments (Arjona et al. 1998; Gatfield 2006). Thirdly, segmentation allows radio stations achieved its objectives while satisfying the needs and wants of its customers and listeners (Fitzgerald 2004; Gatfield 2006). According to past research done on radio listening habits had indicated that lifestyle segmentation is an appropriate and effective approach adopted by marketing managers to reach its target audiences (Massy 1971; Soutar Clarke 1983; Evans, Lawson Todd 2006). Therefore, this quantitative study will be focusing on a key research question Do lifestyle predicts radio listening patterns for 6WF and 96FM Radio Station? Firstly, an external market research company was engaged to conduct phone interviews within the Perth metropolitan area and respondents were asked to respond to 43 key sets of AIO (activity, interest and opinion statement). The AIO approach is one of the most common approach use by scholars to measure consumers lifestyle (Li 2004). Respondents lifestyle can be assess through a 1-7 likert scale measurement (where 1 stands for strongly disagree and 7 stands for strongly agree) (Cicia et al. 2010). Appendix 1 shows the AIO questionnaire. Responses were obtained from 400 household in metropolitan Western Australia. Secondly, factor analysis will be used to identify the latent construct of questionnaire as this is commonly use in business research (Hair Jr et al. 2010). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) will be used to verify all the questionnaire are categorized under the latent dimensions as proposed by previous theories or literatures (Soutar Clarke 1983) because the research will be using the 43 seven-point Lickert scale items to gauge if lifestyle influence a respondents listening habits. Thirdly, according to Leung, Fund and Lee (2009) a stepwise regression analysis is an appropriate method used to predict if lifestyle plays an important role in affecting radio listening habits. But before a factor analysis can be conducted the assumption of sample size, normality, linearity, outliers among cases, multicollinearity and singularity, factorability of the correction matrix and outliners among variables before analysis must be conducted. Results: The assumption on sample size was adequate as the research is based on 400 responses which are higher than the rule of thumb of 100. Thus, the sampling size is adequate for a factor analysis. When testing for normality on the AIO items, most of the AIO items seem to be normal with the exception of AIO8, 10,11,14,25,31,32,38. These 8 cases also had a series of outliners. Therefore, a data transformation will be required to determine if these questions can be kept for the analysis. After a series of data transformation, normality could not be achieved. Even with the deletion of outliners, normality was not achievable. Therefore these questions were eliminated from the analysis. Thus a total of 35 AIO items will be used. AIO8: AIO10 AIO11 AIO14 AIO25 AIO31 AIO32 AIO38 Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha Cronbachs Alpha Based on Standardized Items .732 .739 The reliability statistic as indicated above has a result higher than Cronbachs alpha .70, which indicates an acceptable degree of internal consistency. Confirmatory Factor Analysis will be conducted to verify the hidden dimension of lifestyle towards listening habits as well as to determine the number of items categorized under each hidden dimension. The factorability of a correlation matrix can be detected via the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy. In relation to this, the measure of sampling adequacy for each item (as shown on the diagonal of the anti-image correlation matrix) is larger than .5. Anti-image Matrices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. The Communalities table shows the communalities value for each of the 35 items in the AIO questionnaire. Note that aio39 (I listen to the radio for a specific announcer or DJ) shows the highest communalities (.832), whereas aio5 (I have traditional ideas about most things) shows the lowest communalities (.413). The value of the initial communalities represents the percentage of variance in each item that can be explained by all possible factors. Hence, the value of initial communalities of (1.000) means that 100% of the variance in an item can be explained by all possible factors. On the other hand, the value of extracted communalities represents the percentage of variance in each item that can be explained by the extracted factors via the Principal Component (PC) Analysis. Hence the value of the extracted communalities is smaller as compared to the value of initial communalities. Based on the Total Variance Explained table, we can conclude that only 13 factors (with eigen value of more than 1) have been extracted via Principal Component (PC) Analysis. The first extracted factor can explain 11.448% in the items; the second factor can explain 10.115% of the variance in the items, all the way to the 11th extractor factor which explained 3.015% of the variance in the items. These 11 extracted factors can explain 65.518% of the variances in the AIO questionnaire items. Total Variance Explained Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. The Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings column reports information on the extracted factors with their respective eigen values, the percentage of variance and the cumulative percentage of variance explained by the extracted factor after the Varimax rotation. Only 11 factors (with eigen value of 1.055 to 4.007 respectively have been extracted. The first extracted factor can explain 7.744% of the variance in the items whereas the 11th factor can explain 3.727% of the variance in the items. As a whole, these 11 factors can explain 65.518% of the variance in questionnaire items. The Varimax rotation has changed the percentage of variance explained by the 11 factors (for example Factor 1 from 11.448% to 7.744%). The scree plot displays the eigen value for each of the factor. The plotted eigen value is based on the eigen value reported in Extraction Sum of Squared Loadings column. From the scree plot, observation can be made that there are two dominant factors with an eigen value of greater than 3.540. The Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization is conducted to better categorize the component matrix. Each item of the questionnaire that best suited a particular component will be categorized together and highlighted in different colors. For example, component 1 consists of items with a factor loading of 0.831 to 0.874. Appendix 2 provides the series of AIO questions associated to each component. Examination of the items grouping in each component allows the representation of a conceptually distinct aspect of lifestyle to radio listening as indicated in Appendix 2. The Rotated Component Matrix provide a form of content validity as it provide an assessment of the correspondence of the variables to be included in each component and its conceptual definition. This form of validity, also known as face validity, subjectively assesses the correspondence between the individual items and the concept through ratings (Hair Jr et al. 2010). For example, items in component 1 can be classified under a main concept or variables TV Addicts. The mean score of items associated to each component will be computed through the Transform Compute Variables function, for example, mean(aio27,aio20,ai04) of each respondent to form a new variables call Lifestyle_TV_Addicts. Rotated Component Matrixa Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. The computed data had resulted in 11 newly created variables that can be used to perform a multiple regression and provide information if lifestyle influence radio listening behaviour. The list of newly created variables can be found in Appendix 2. A stepwise linear regression will be conducted to address the below mentioned research question: What contributions do the 11 variables make to the prediction of radio listening preference of each radio station? Null Hypothesis: Lifestyle influence radio listening preference Alternate Hypothesis: Lifestyle does not influence radio listening preference Radio Station: 6WF Variables Entered/Removeda Model Variables Entered Variables Removed dimension0 1 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical . 2 Lifestyle_Fashion . 3 Lifestyle_Outdoor . a. Dependent Variable: q3wf The table above shows the order in which the variables were entered and removed from the model. 3 variables were added and none were removed. In addition, an examination of the Mahalanobis distance MAH_1 values had indicated that there are no multivariate outliers among the independent variables as there are no values that are greater than or equal to the critical chi square value of 13.8 at an alpha level of .001 (Coakes, Steed Ong 2010). Model Summaryd Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate Change Statistics R Square Change F Change df1 df2 dimension0 1 .279a .078 .075 1.991 .078 33.576 1 398 2 .332b .111 .106 1.958 .033 14.603 1 397 3 .375c .141 .134 1.927 .030 13.968 1 396 a. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical b. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Fashion c. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Fashion, Lifestyle_Outdoor d. Dependent Variable: q3wf The above model summary indicated that model 1, which included only Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical accounted for 7.5% of the variance (adjusted R Square = 0.075). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Fashion in model 2 resulted in an additional 3.1`% of the variance explained. The inclusion of Lifestyle_Outdoor into model 3 resulted in an additional 2.8% of the variance explained (R Square change = 0.03). The whole model accounted for 13.4% of the variance in radio listening preference, which is highly significant, as indicated by the F-value of 21.635 in the ANOVA table below. ANOVAd Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 133.105 1 133.105 33.576 .000a Residual 1577.792 398 3.964 Total 1710.897 399 2 Regression 189.082 2 94.541 24.663 .000b Residual 1521.815 397 3.833 Total 1710.897 399 3 Regression 240.931 3 80.310 21.635 .000c Residual 1469.967 396 3.712 Total 1710.897 399 a. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical b. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Fashion c. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Fashion, Lifestyle_Outdoor d. Dependent Variable: q3wf The ANOVA assess the overall significance of the model. As p Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 1.120 .267 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical .384 .066 2 (Constant) 2.016 .352 5.732 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical .444 .067 .323 6.625 Lifestyle_Fashion -.266 .070 -.186 -3.821 3 (Constant) 1.280 .398 3.213 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical .452 .066 .329 6.856 Lifestyle_Fashion -.306 .069 -.214 -4.413 Lifestyle_Outdoor .221 .059 .176 3.737 Dependent Variable: q3wf Therefore the overall strength of the model in predicting lifestyle influence on radio listening preference for 6WF is as follow: Adjusted R square = .134; F3,396 = 21.635, p Predictor Variable Beta p Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical .329 p Lifestyle_Fashion -.214 p Lifestyle_Outdoor .176 p Radio Station: 96FM Variables Entered/Removeda Model Variables Entered Variables Removed dimension0 1 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts . 2 Lifestyle_Tradition . 3 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical . 4 Lifestyle_Conservative . 5 Lifestyle_Follower . 6 Lifestyle_Fashion . 7 Lifestyle_TV_Addicts . a. Dependent Variable: q396fm The table above shows us the order in which the variables were entered and removed from the model. Seven variables were added and none were removed. In addition, an examination of the Mahalanobis distance MAH_2 values had indicated that there are no multivariate outliers among the independent variables as there are no values that are greater than or equal to the critical chi square value of 13.8 at an alpha level of .001 (Coakes, Steed Ong 2010). Model Summaryh Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate Change Statistics R Square Change F Change df1 df2 dimension0 1 .273a .074 .072 2.448 .074 31.961 1 398 2 .365b .133 .129 2.371 .059 27.051 1 397 3 .417c .174 .168 2.318 .041 19.607 1 396 4 .449d .201 .193 2.282 .027 13.358 1 395 5 .468e .219 .209 2.260 .017 8.795 1 394 6 .479f .229 .218 2.248 .011 5.388 1 393 7 .488g .239 .225 2.237 .009 4.788 1 392 a. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts b. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition c. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical d. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative e. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower f. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower, Lifestyle_Fashion g. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower, Lifestyle_Fashion, Lifestyle_TV_Addicts h. Dependent Variable: q396fm Model 1, which included Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts accounted for 7.2% of the variance (Adjusted R Square 0.072). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Tradition into model 2 resulted in an additional 6% of the variance being explained (R Square Change = .059). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical in model 3 resulted in an additional 4% of the variance being explained (R Square Change = .041). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Conservative in model 4 resulted in an additional 3% of the variance being explained (R Square Change = .027). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Follower in model 5 resulted in an additional 2% of variance explained (R Square Change = .017). The inclusion of Lifestyle_Fashion into model 6 resulted in an additional 1% of the variance explained (R Square Change = .011). Lastly, the inclusion of Lifestyle_TV_Addicts into model 7 resulted in an additional 1% of the variance explained (R Square Change = .009). The whole model accounted for 22.5% of the variance, which is highly signifi cant as indicated by the F-value of 17.547. ANOVAh Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 191.481 1 191.481 31.961 Residual 2384.479 398 5.991 Total 2575.960 399 2 Regression 343.593 2 171.797 30.552 Residual 2232.367 397 5.623 Total 2575.960 399 3 Regression 448.908 3 149.636 27.858 Residual 2127.052 396 5.371 Total 2575.960 399 4 Regression 518.486 4 129.622 24.885 Residual 2057.474 395 5.209 Total 2575.960 399 5 Regression 563.413 5 112.683 22.060 Residual 2012.547 394 5.108 Total 2575.960 399 6 Regression 590.630 6 98.438 19.486 Residual 1985.330 393 5.052 Total 2575.960 399 7 Regression 614.586 7 87.798 17.547 Residual 1961.374 392 5.004 Total 2575.960 399 a. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts b. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition c. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical d. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative e. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower f. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower, Lifestyle_Fashion g. Predictors: (Constant), Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts, Lifestyle_Tradition, Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical, Lifestyle_Conservative, Lifestyle_Follower, Lifestyle_Fashion, Lifestyle_TV_Addicts h. Dependent Variable: q396fm The ANOVA assess the overall significance of the model. As p Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .534 .537 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .599 .106 2 (Constant) 1.858 .579 3.208 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .566 .103 .258 5.505 Lifestyle_Tradition -.346 .067 -.243 -5.201 3 (Constant) 3.021 .624 4.841 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .624 .101 .284 6.152 Lifestyle_Tradition -.390 .066 -.274 -5.921 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.348 .079 -.206 -4.428 4 (Constant) 4.330 .711 6.088 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .651 .100 .296 6.503 Lifestyle_Tradition -.353 .066 -.248 -5.371 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.292 .079 -.173 -3.696 Lifestyle_Conservative -.363 .099 -.170 -3.655 5 (Constant) 4.539 .708 6.413 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .723 .102 .329 7.084 Lifestyle_Tradition -.330 .065 -.232 -5.042 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.312 .079 -.185 -3.975 Lifestyle_Conservative -.351 .098 -.164 -3.568 Lifestyle_Follower -.195 .066 -.137 -2.966 6 (Constant) 4.187 .720 5.815 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .679 .103 .309 6.567 Lifestyle_Tradition -.325 .065 -.228 -4.984 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.351 .080 -.208 -4.394 Lifestyle_Conservative -.359 .098 -.168 -3.663 Lifestyle_Follower -.220 .066 -.155 -3.316 Lifestyle_Fashion .193 .083 .110 2.321 7 (Constant) 4.560 .737 6.191 Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .666 .103 .303 6.463 Lifestyle_Tradition -.297 .066 -.208 -4.490 Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.360 .080 -.213 -4.525 Lifestyle_Conservative -.333 .098 -.156 -3.395 Lifestyle_Follower -.203 .067 -.143 -3.053 Lifestyle_Fashion .210 .083 .120 2.526 Lifestyle_TV_Addicts -.162 .074 -.101 -2.188 a. Dependent Variable: q396fm Therefore the overall strength of the model in predicting lifestyle influence on radio listening preference for 96FM is as follow: Adjusted R Square = .225, F7,392 = 17.547, p Predictor Variable Beta p Lifestyle_Radio_Addicts .303 p Lifestyle_Tradition -.208 p Lifestyle_Cultural_Classical -.213 p Lifestyle_Conservative -.156 p = 0.001 Lifestyle_Follower -.143 p = 0.002 Lifestyle_Fashion .120 p = 0.012 Lifestyle_TV_Addicts -.101 p = 0.029 The models representing both radio stations, 6WF and 96FM, are not a good model as they only explained 13.4% and 22.5% of the variance (R Square) in radio listening preference. Therefore, lifestyle can be seen as an insignificant predictor of radio listening preference. Therefore, the H0 will be rejected and H1 will be accepted and conclude that lifestyle does not influence radio listening preference. Conclusion: It is apparent that, the two radio stations, 6WF and 96FM, did not have distinct audiences with different lifestyle. This is a direct contrast to the previous research conducted by Soutar and Clarke (1983) that concluded lifestyle plays a role in influencing radio listening patterns. Therefore, the respective radio stations program manager need not have distinct radio programming policy to attract a different group of audiences. However, the research has indicated that lifestyle plays a more important role in predicting the radio listening preference for 96FM than 6WF because the model represented in the regression analysis managed to explained 22.5% of the variance, which is 9.1% more than the 6WFs model (13.4% of the variance explained). Bibliography Arjona, LD, Shah, R, Tinivelli, A Weiss, A 1998, Marketing to the Hispanic Consumer, The McKinsey Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 3. Cicia, G, Corduas, M, Del Giudice, T Piccolo, D 2010, Valuing Consumer Preferences with the CUB Model: A CaseStudy of Fair Trade Coffee, International Journal on Food System Dynamics, vol. 1, pp. 82-93. Coakes, SJ, Steed, L Ong, C 2010, SPSS Version 17.0 for Windows: Analysis without anguish, Wiley, Milton, Qld. Evans, S, Lawson, R Todd, S 2006, New Zealand in the 21st century: A consumer lifestyles study, NZ Post, Loyalty NZ, University of Otago Fitzgerald, J 2004, Evaluating Return on Investment of Multimedia Advertising with a Single-Source Panel: A Retail Case Study, Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 262-270. Available from: ufh. Gatfield, T 2006, Community Radio Broadcasting and Positioning an Australian Perspective, Marketing Review, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 183-189. Available from: buh. Hair Jr, JF, Black, WC, Babin, BJ Anderson, RE 2010, Multivarate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective, Seven edn, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Kent, R 1994, Measuring Media Audiences, Routledge, London. Leung, L, Fung, AYH Lee, PSN 2009, Embedding into out lives: New opportunities and challenges of the internet, The Chinese University Press, NT, Hong Kong. Li, S-CS 2004, Examining the factors that influence the intentions to adopt internet shopping and cable television shopping in Taiwan, New Media Society, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 173-193. Massy, WF 1971, Discriminant Analysis of Audience Characteristics, in Multivariate Analysis in Marketing, ed. D Aaker, Wadsworth, California. Soutar, JN Clarke, YM 1983, LIFE STYLE AND RADIO LISTENING PATTERNS IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Australian Journal of Management, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 71. Available from: buh. Appendix 1 AIO Questionnaire

Amish Culture :: Amish Culture Cultural Essays

All students should take notice and interest in cultural diversity. There are numerous different cultures in America. One in particular is the Amish culture, which I would like to familiarize you with. The Amish culture consists of many unique beliefs that makes their ways unlike that of any other culture. They lead a life of simplicity and yet have very harsh ways of doing things. The Amish is perhaps the most diverse culture in the entire United States. The Amish of Pennsylvania and Ohio greatly differ with the rest of American society. "Although the Amish look like they stepped out of the rural nineteenth century, in fact they do change," (Amish Cultures). Their lives move more slowly than ours, but they definitely are not stuck anywhere. They move on slowly but surely. Instead of accepting new technology like the rest of American society, they choose to examine change carefully before they approve of it. If the new idea or gadget does not succeed in keeping their lives simple and their families together, they will most likely reject it. Family is among the most important values the Amish stress. They don't like to let anything break their family ties. The fact that they have li ved this way for hundreds of years and not allowed the "modern" world to deter them from their pursuit of their service to God, is truly unbelievable. As mentioned earlier, the Amish do not like anything technologized in fear that it will break the family up. In actuality, they are completely right. If you take a look at an Amish family and compare it to an average American family, you would see major differences. The average American family would be very divided. You'd find the children and parents watching T.V., accessing computers, surfing the internet, playing video games, etc. In the Amish family, everyone would gather together to eat, work, and play. The Amish keep their materials basic. This way they are certain no technological advance can pull them apart. "Old order groups all drive horses and buggies rather than cars, do not have electricity in their homes. Bottled gas is used to operate water heaters, modern stoves and refrigerators. Gas-pressured lanterns and lamps are u sed to light homes, barns, and shops," (The Amish People 14). The Amish place very large emphasis on humanity, family, community, and separation with the rest of the world. They place value on simplicity and self-denial, whereas, typical Americans cherish comfort, convenience and leisure.

Loss Of Freedom Through Apathy :: essays research papers

Loss of Freedom Through Apathy We do have freedom in this country but we simply choose to ignore it. We live in a democracy, the most just kind of government, where we the people hold supreme power. It is an institution that is a culmination of revolutions, wars, philosophies and heroes. It is the greatest and proudest government in the world. One reason for this is that Americans have a right citizens of Iraq and China and North Korea only dreamed they could have. It took one of the greatest military epics in history for our Founding Fathers to receive this right. It took the marching of thousands for women to achieve this right. It took 400 years of abuse for blacks to finally to win this right. It is the highest and purest form of freedom of speech and as Americans it is our single most powerful instrument of self government. It is the American vote and in this Presidential election it is a right 250 million chose to ignore. This year I had the great opportunity to volunteer my services to the Democratic party. I was excited to work for the Democrats because it was my first ever experience involved with the election. For 17 years I stood as a common bystander to this great American tradition. Volunteering my hours made me feel like I was part of something important. Mostly my work consisted of random polling. I would call people up between the hours of 7 and 9 P.M. and ask them a few questions about the election. With every call I hoped for the best, but it seemed that I was calling people at the time they were most irritable. Most would simply hang up, leaving with a polite "Oh, I'm not interested." Others acted militantly to my calling, slamming the phone in disgust. It startled and in a way disheartened me, the way many of the people I polled seemed totally apathetic to the political world around us. To me, spending a minute answering questions about the future of politics did not seem like too much to ask at all. Yet it continued. "Hello I'm calling on behalf of your congressman Bob Toricelli. I'd like to ask a few questions." "I'm sorry I'm really busy right now. I can't talk." *click "Hello I'm calling on behalf of your congressman Bob Toricelli. I'd like to ask a few questions." "Not interested" *click "Hello I'm calling on behalf of your congressman Bob Toricelli. I'd like to ask a few questions." "I'm tired of hearing about this election." *click If I was calling from a telephone company or some other corporate monster

Columbine High School Essay

  You are a sociologist who is interested in studying school violence. Describe how you might approach the study of this phenomenon as a functionalist, a conflict theorist and a symbolic interaction’. â€Å"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars†¦ Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.† Martin Luther King Jr. The problem we are facing today with violence in the schools is a major concern with communities everywhere. School violence has escalated from one-on-one weaponless fights for personal disagreements with said person; this is no longer the case. Due to the outward influences of media, video games, and society in general, this has escalated into all-out, deadly weapon assaults on innocent lives for reasons they themselves are usually unaware for example Columbine High School massacre and Montreal, Canada shooting. Sociologist; however have developed different approaches to evaluate the phenomenon through different perspective; functionalist, conflict theorist and symbolic integrationist, which would be aptly discussed in the proceeding paragraphs. Functionalist look at the implications of crime and control polices rather than directly trying to explain the causes of the behavior. According to Parson Model a social system consist of mutually dependant parts, parts contributing to functioning of system and moving equilibrium. However pertaining to the issue of school violence, I would, following the functionalist perspective look at school violence as way to return to stability within a society thus keeping proper balance . Therefore I would view it as a positive, because the disturbance (school violence) exists more dangerously it encourages the society to come up with better solutions to elevate the problem so it encourages progress. For examples the Columbine Massac with occurred lead to new ideas to combat school violence .A number of new programs were introduced, emphasis was placed on better parenting skills, keeping guns out of hands of kids ,better school security, more counseling programs and bett3er preventative measure, etc. When these methods were implemented no action to that extreme occurred within that society so their fore the youth violence was reduced and the society moved and the society in return became a better place and progress was made. Conflict perspective holds that stratification is dysfunctional and harmful in society, with inequality  perpetuated because it benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. A struggle for dominance among competing social groups (classes, genders, races, religions, etc.). When conflict theorists look at society, they see the social domination of subordinate groups through the power, authority, and coercion of dominant groups. As it results to school violence using the conflict theorist approach, I would say the violence will only exist at level of exploitation and unworthy or treated unfairly compared to other children they felt a level of inequality and they reacted in a way to gain power over the people who inflicted pain upon them. For example let’s take the Columbine shooting, according to the conflict theorist perspective say that the shootings were inevitable as the exploited, bullied kids eventually had enough and rose up against the bourgeoisie, or the kids that did the bullying. Eric Harris one of the boys who participated the shooting opened his journal with the words â€Å"I hate the f—ing world.† Showing high levels of hatred to which he portrayed, he wanted to get back at every one who did him wrong. After analyzing the two individual’s journals it was clear cut that they both had problem with society and somehow they did them something which infiltrated this hate for them. So we can see the reason for them to perform these atrocious acts were to gain a sense of dominances in their mind over these people. When doing the act we see the boys smiling while people were being hurting showing a sign of relief in their face and sense of happiness to them that they revenge to the world for inflicting so much of pain upon them. Analyzing them for a conflict theorist point of view I would say the reason for the boys committing suicide after was to get away from everything they already accomplished the goal they wanted so they decided to end their life what more is there to live for when victory was served? Symbolic integrationist view relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction. Thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation. Symbolic interaction view school violence as