Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Battle of Tours, the Battle of Syllaeum and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople

The Battle of Tours, the Battle of Syllaeum and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople were important battles that averted the entry of Islam into Europe. Had these hostilities been lost to the Arabs, the present idea of European civilization would not exist. Islam and Islamic culture would be the dominant religion and way of life in Europe (both Eastern and Western Europe) and America. The Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers) is considered as one of the most decisive battles in history.On October 10, 732, the Frankish army under Charles Martel defeated the forces of Spanish governor Abd-er Rahman outside the city of Tours (Koeller, n. pag. ). The Battle of Tours was said to have retained Christian predominance over Western Europe by preventing the expansion of Islam in the said region (Culp, n. pag. ). By the 7th century, Islam was the most dominant religion in the Arabian Peninsula. During this period, Islamic armies had already conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt and North Africa and were about to occupy Constantinople and Spain.At the beginning of the 8th century, they had scaled the Pyrenees Mountains and were on the verge of entering France (Whittington, n. pag. ). The Septimania region of Southern France fell to the Moors in 719. Under the leadership of Al-Samh ibn Malik, they invaded the town of Toulouse in the Duchy of Aquitaine two years later. However, Al-Samh was defeated by Duke Odo of Aquitaine and eventually died of war injuries at Narbonne (Whittington, n. pag. ). Al-Samh's loss and demise did not stop Arab raids in France.Islamic forces reached the town of Atun in Burgundy in 725, forcing Duke Odo to align himself with Catalonian Emir Uthman ibn Naissa to maintain peace in the southern border of Aquitaine. But Uthman staged an unsucessful revolt against Al-Andalus governor Abd er Rahman, prompting the latter to go after Duke Odo in retalliation (Whittington, n. pag. ). Abd-er Rahman defeated Duke Odo at the Battle of Bordeaux, res ulting in the mass killing of Christians in the area. Desperate, Duke Odo sought the help of Austrasian Mayor-of-the-Palace Charles Martel. Martel agreed to help him, provided that he will bow down to Frankish rule (Whittington, n.pag. ). Martel and his army waited for Rahman's forces to arrive at Tours (Whittington, n. pag. ). Despite being composed of only 30,000 men, the Franks were well-armed – they had swords, axes, javelins and a small throwing ax called the fran-cisca (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). In addition, they knew the terrain very well and were properly outfitted for the bitterly cold weather. On the other hand, Rahman's 80,000-strong army were equipped with just light cavalry – spears and swords (Whittington, n. pag. ). The two forces only had minor encounters for seven days (Whittington, n. pag. ).Then, on October 10, 732, the Arabs assaulted the Franks. Due to their superior artillery, the Franks easily fended off the Arabs' charge. The Arabs trie d to attack repeatedly, to no avail (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). The Franks struck back as soon as the Arabs' stamina waned. They triumphantly defeated the Arabs and had Rahman captured and killed. The next morning, the Franks discovered that the Arabs had fled, leaving behind their plunder and their dead (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). Martel's victory in the Battle of Tours gained him the title â€Å"The Hammer. † In addition, France never experienced another Arab invasion.On the side of the Arabs, their defeat in the Battle of Tours severely destroyed their unity – a revolt by the Berbers (inhabitants of North Africa) ensued after Rahman's passing (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). Martel went on to crush Arab conquests at the River Berre and Narbonne. He also fought in Frankish expansion wars in Bavaria, Aquitaine, Provence and Alemannia. Martel's sons Carloman, Pippin the Younger and Grifo took over his territories after his death in 741. Pippin became the king of the Franks, while his son, Charlemagne, became the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.However, it must be noted that two more generations passed before the Franks finally suceeded in driving the Muslims back beyond the Pyrenees for good (Whittington, n. pag. ). Historians often claimed that Europe never faced another Islamic threat after the Battle of Tours (Whittington, n. pag. ). This is true to a certain extent – the next Islamic threat that Europe faced after the Battle of Tours was the emergence of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923). Furthermore, the Christians regained Spain from the Moors after the fall of Granada in 1492 (Whittington, n.pag. ). But the Byzantine empire (667 BC-1453) was also crucial for the presevation of Christian ascendancy throughout Europe. The Battle of Syllaeum (677) and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople (717-718) were two important wars that averted the spread of Islam in Eastern Europe (Reference, n. pag. ). The Arab fleet a nd the Byzantine navy were constantly in battle with each other since 672 (Reference, n. pag. ). In 677, the Arabs attacked areas along the coast of Anatolia and the Sea of Marmara, as well as Constantinople and Anatolia itself.The Byzantine army found themselves fighting two different battles, as the Slavs were staging an assault of Thessalonica by land (Reference, n. pag. ). Byzantine forces under Emperor Constantine IV met the Arabs near Syllaeum (Reference, n. pag. ). They defeated the latter through Greek fire, a â€Å"burning-liquid weapon†¦that could continue burning even on water† (Reference, n. pag. ). As the Arabs were retreating, a storm sank almost all of their remaining ships. The Byzantine army then proceeded to conduct a land assault on the Arabs, finally defeating them in Syria.The Battle of Syllaeum was believed to have brought peace over Eastern Europe for almost 30 years (Reference, n. pag. ). But Constantine IV’s death in 685 was followed with power struggles for the Byzantine throne, making the Byzantine Empire more prone to defeat in the hands of the Arabs (Gregory, n. pag. ). Caliph Sulieman took advantage of this situation by sending 120,000 Muslim troops (headed by his brother Moslemah) in 717 in an attempt to occupy Constantinople for a second time (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag. ). An additional 100,000 Muslims with 1,800 galleys from Syria and Egypt served as reinforcements (TheLatinLibrary, n.pag. ). But Byzantine forces led by Emperor Leo III quickly defeated them through the Greek fire (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag. ). The vanquished Muslims later died of freezing and starvation outside Constantinople. Muslim troops from Adrianopolis that were supposed to assist them were destroyed by the Bulgarian army (a Byzantine ally) (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag. ). Several historians argued that had the Arabs won the Battle of Tours, the Battle of Syllaeum and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, the present concept of European civi lization would be altered dramatically.The Arabs would be able to spread Islam throughout European countries such as France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. At most, Christianity would end up being a minority religion (Whittington, n. pag. ). America would have been discovered by a Muslim explorer and Islam would be the religion both taught and practiced by the settlers across the United States. Works Cited Culp, Reid. â€Å"The Battle of Tours. † 2008. CCDS. 28 April 2008 . Gregory, Timothy E.â€Å"Leo III and the Beginnings of Iconoclasm. † 19 November 2001. A Chronology of Early Byzantine History. 3 May 2008 . Koeller, David W. â€Å"The Battle of Tours: 732. † 1999. WebChron. 28 April 2008 . Wallechinsky, David, and Irving Wallace. â€Å"About the Battle of Tours in 732 between the Arab Army and the French Army led by Charles. † 1981. Trivia-Library. 28 April 2008 . Whittington, Mark.â€Å"Day of Decision: The Battle of Tours. † 8 Decem ber 2005. Associated Content. 28 April 2008 . â€Å"Battle of Syllaeum. † 17 December 2007. Reference. com. 3 May 2008 . â€Å"Greek Fire. † 10 March 2008. Reference. com. 3 May 2008 . â€Å"Islam and Europe Timeline (355-1291 AD). † n. d. TheLatinLibrary. 3 May 2008 .

Friday, August 30, 2019

(P2) in a Business Report: Task 2: Describe the Different Stakeholders Who Influence the Purpose of Two Business Organisations You Have Selected. Essay

In a business report: Task 2: Describe the different stakeholders who influence the purpose of two business organisations you have selected. NHS Stakeholder: Stakeholder is a person, group or organisation that has interest or concern in an organisation. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organisation’s actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government, owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources. The stakeholders of NHS are: ïÆ'ËœManager – The manager influence NHS, because the manager is the one who makes decisions everyday which includes what medicine or service should be offered should be offered and the manager also decides who he/she should take into service or fire. ïÆ'ËœDoctor’s have influence on the patients as they have to help people by treating patient’s illness, providing advice and support, and seeing the effects of both ill health and good health from the patient’s point of view. They have to examine the symptoms presented by a patient, and consider a range of possible diagnoses. If they are unable to do this it will affect the patients and the company as the patients will lose their trust in the doctors, and as a result it will affect the company’s reputation. ïÆ'ËœPatient/Client have an influence on the company, because without the patients/clients NHS won’t have any service to offer. This means that if there are no patients then the Government will decide that the company should shut down. ïÆ'ËœAdmin and Clerical staff have a great influence on NHS, as they are responsible for paper work e.g. keeping patients records and send e-mails and letters to patients regarding their health. ASDA’s Stakeholder: The stakeholders of ASDA are: ïÆ'ËœEmployees influence ASDA because employees are the people who are responsible to carry out variety of business activities, e.g. they are involved in decision making of the business, controlling the Health and Safety regulations and planning the merchandise. ïÆ'ËœCustomers want low-priced, good products. Modern customers also have high expectations of organisations. They will want them to get involved in the local community. They will then want to know about them. ASDA stores and depots have community notice boards and a monthly magazine is produced which features community events. ïÆ'ËœSuppliers at a national level are the very large providers to ASDA. They will want to sell goods in volume at good prices. This gives them economies of scale. ASDA has worked hard at building up links with local suppliers. It works with small and medium-sized businesses that are able to provide products for groups of stores at terms that suit them. ïÆ'ËœColleagues like to serve the community. The retail industry is not highly paid – customers demand low prices and operations require a large number of colleagues. So working with the community helps to motivate colleagues. All the events that ASDA holds are shared in an in-house monthly newsletter.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Hurricane Katrina Essay

Crisis and Disasters On August 23, 2005 the tropical depression 12 formed in the Caribbean then it rapidly became tropical storm Katrina on August 24, 2005 as it drifted toward southern Florida. Then on August 25 it strengthened into hurricane Katrina. No one at this time had any idea of what was coming, that this would be on the five deadliest hurricanes in Untied States History. Resulting in the death of around 1, 820 people. From the Gulf coast along Florida to Texas much damage was caused from storm surge. The main amount of damage was in New Orleans, Louisiana which flooded due to levee systems failing, resulting in 80% of the city being flooded and the flood waters lasted for weeks, destroying homes, buildings, and entire communities. . Hurricane Katrina began in the Bahamas on August 23 and as it made it was into southern Florida it became a category 1 hurricane before it grew rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf in became a category 5 hurricane but weakened before it hit southern Louisiana on August 29 becoming a category 3 hurricane. In just 9 hours the storm went from a category 3 to a category 5 hurricane, this was due to the storms movements over the warm waters of the loop current, which increased the wind speeds of the hurricane. On August 26, the National Guard was activated in Mississippi to help prepare for the oncoming storm. The next day the state activated its Emergency Operations center along with 57 other emergency shelters opened along the coastline and evacuation orders were put into effect. Louisiana’s hurricane evacuation plan calls for local governments in areas along and near the coast to evacuate in three phases, starting with the immediate coast 50 hours before the start of tropical storm force winds. Persons in areas designated Phase II begin evacuating 40 hours before the onset of tropical storm winds and those in Phase III areas (including New Orleans) evacuate 30 hours before the start of such winds although many people at the time were unwilling to evacuate due to the fact they didn’t want to leave their homes, business, or even pets. Many private facilities that relied to bus companies and ambulance services to evacuate people failed due to the fact that they waited too long. This happened when the Governor did not sign an emergency waiver to allow licensed drivers to transport evacuees on  school buses. On August 27, George W. Bush, President of the United States, declared a state of emergency in certain areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. On August 28 almost all infrastructe had been shut down along the coast making it even harder to evacuate people. On the morning of August 28 with winds up to 175 mph and category 5 statues it hit Louisiana. On August 2 9 Katrina made its second landfall as a category 3 with winds up to 125mph near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. Katrina’s third landfall was near the Louisiana/ Mississippi line as a category 3 hurricane with 120mph winds. After reaching Tennessee it was downgraded to a tropical depression and finally lost it’s power over the Great Lakes region. From the Gulf coast along Florida to Texas much damage was caused from storm surge. The main amount of damage was in New Orleans, Louisiana which flooded due to levee systems failing, resulting in 80% of the city being flooded and the flood waters lasted for weeks, destroying homes, buildings, and entire communities. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said this was â€Å"probably the worst catastrophe, in the country’s history.† The aftermath from Katrina had many negative effects. The economic effects from the storm were the worst. The Bush Administration asked for 105 billion dollars in repairs and reconstruction for the area. Katrina destroyed 30 oil rings in the Gulf Coast and caused 9 to permeably close. Mi ssissippi’s forestry industry was affected being that 1.3 million acres of timber was destroyed, this was around 5 billion dollars worth of damage. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without jobs after Katrina. Hundreds of thousands of people were sent all across the United States to different shelter locations. The levee failures in New Orleans are accounted to be the worst civil engineering fail in U.S history and a lawsuit was filled against the U.S Army Corps of Engineers who built the levees by Judge Stanwood Duval but this was thrown out due to the sovereign immunity in the Flood Control Act of 1965. There was also another investigation of federal agencies which resulted in the resignation of FEMA director Michael D. Brown. On September 12, 2005 Brown resigned, stating that it was â€Å"in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president.† Before his resignation Brown had already been taken away from his job as coordinator in federal efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by Homeland Security secretary Michael  Chertoff . It was been said that Brown was forced out of the administration rather that voluntarily resigning.. . Katrina destroyed many wildlife habitats and breeding grounds for marine mammals such as turtles, fish, birds, and many marshes for migrating ducks were destroyed. Seven million gallons of oil were leaked into the ocean. Many spills were cleaned up but some managed to leak into the ecosystem and some towns were even flooded with oil mixed waters. During the clean up, flood waters were pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, which took 43 days. Those waters contained many toxic things to wildlife such as bacteria, raw sewage, pesticides, toxic chemicals, and oil. Many citizens starting looting stores in New Orleans in search of food, water, and many other items for personal gain. The news media reported rapes, murders, thefts during this but many reports turned out to be inaccurate. The National Guard was sent in to restore order and over the first week that’s what they accomplished. The Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team was sent into Louisiana to to verify, document, and cha racterize deaths caused by hurricane Katrina. It was found that there were 971 Katrina-related deaths in Louisiana and 15 deaths among Katrina evacuees in other states. Drowning was the cause of (40% of deaths, injury and trauma caused 25% of deaths, and heart conditions caused 11% of the deaths that were the major causes of death among Louisiana victims. After hurricane Katrina many state, local, and federal agencies were aware of the serious devastation of the area but were unable to communicate with each other properly into order to coordinate a rescue response such as help citizens, provide law enforcement, and evacuate the rest of the city. During the first two days the federal government forces had no commutation with the states national guard . resulting in either agency being able to operate at full efficiency. No one had any idea what the other agency was doing or had already done. This resulted in the delay of many ground forces be assisted to the area. FEMA requested assistance from DOD not knowing what the National guard had already done to fill the same needs. This also resulted in no formal command relationship which caused confusion o n what jobs both sides need to do. The destruction of communications infrastructure made it impossible for emergency responders and citizens to communicate effectively. With 70 percent of the city’s  police officers being victims themselves there was not enough law enforcements to restore order. The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security had to send it different agencies of law enforcement t to help the New Orleans police department . Many hospitals were destroyed during Katrina and with thousands of people needing assistance it was devastating. Most local and State public health and medical assets were overwhelmed by these conditions, placing even more responsibility on federal agencies.. The process for approval for the reimbursement for medical and public health services provided by Federal agencies created delays and frustrations among health care providers, patients and the general public. Triage was also a big factor during Hurricane Katrina considering the fact that the number of people needing help was much greater than the number of first responders. Many people needed to be rescued and were injured and with the conditions of the city it was a hard task to find people and be able to transport to them a care center. This was a long task considering first responders had to locate a victim, transport them somewhere for help, get back to the same area and keep looking only to repeat the process over and over. It was hard to pick and choose to would get help first considering the fact that only numbers of people would be found at a time. During Hurricane Katrina DMORT set up the Find Family National Call Center in Louisiana. This was the center of operations for finding the location and reuniting families that were separated during Hurricane Katrina. Out of 13,000 people that were missing, around 7,000 were reunited to their families thanks to the DMORTS operation. DMORT were given two missions during Hurricane Katrina. One was to set up a base camp for DMORT and the other was to set up a base camp for the 1600 person Urban Search and Rescue crew. Other duties were to set up temporary morgue facilities, do victim identification, forensic dental pathology on diseased bodies, processing, preparation of diseased bodies. One major thing that was learned during Hurricane Katrina is that during such a major disaster declaring a state of emergency and an evacuation of a area is not enough to reduce the amount of fatalities during a disaster. A big problem was that During Katrina many agencies had no ways to communicate and set up a chain of command in order to operate at full efficiency of their abilities. When it is known that a natural disaster is going to take place , the agencies that are going to respond being state or federal need   to know in advance in order to set up a plan for each agency so that no one is doing the same thing over. Good communication methods need be planned out before hand since this way such a major issue during Hurricane Katrina. Another major issue during Katrina was triage and the lack of first responders. Once it is known that a major disaster is about to take place local medical centers can not be relied on being that there is a great chance they can be destroyed or without any power as seen during hurricane Katrina. Centers need to be set up away from the danger area and transportation of these civilians need to be prepared in advance. Small issues that can lead into big problems such as the Governor during Katrina w did not sign an emergency waiver to allow licensed drivers to transport evacuees on school buses are objectives that need to be taken care of in advance to avoid such issues. Centers that are set up need to be well equipped and supplied to handle the amount to people that will be sent there. Organizations such as the American Red Cross should be asked in advance for their assistance, not after the disaster has already taken place. Assistance on how hospitals to get paid back by federal funds for their assistance should be taken care of during advance being that this was a major issue during Katrina. Federal teams that will be needed just be warned in advance for their assistance and be told to be on immediate standby. This should include professional search and rescue teams , the National Search and Rescue Response team, the National Guard, DMORT, Psychologists, EMS, Firefighter, state and federal police agencies, and DMAT should all be prepared .

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Compensation and Benefits - Financial Reward System Term Paper

Compensation and Benefits - Financial Reward System - Term Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that Compensation and Benefits in financial reward system are very important for organizations because it helps in the systematic organization of tasks and human resources with the purpose of attaining sustainable growth of the organization. Employees’ performance and motivation are depended on the financial as well as non-financial rewards provided by the organization and thus it can be stated as one of the important factors to boost the performance of the employees. An effective financial reward system should consider the organizational structure, its culture along with the need for affiliation by the employees, rewarding employees financially. It should also consider that each person working in the organization receives appropriate financial recognition for their i ­Ã‚ ­ndividual as well as group contributions in the organizational performance. Job evaluation is a system or process in which the contribution of an employee is det ermined with due significance to his/ her position in an organization. A good financial reward system enables the organization’s employees to receive financial recognition for their contribution and job role in the organization and thus can create a positive impact on the workforce. It is worth mentioning that the reward system should be dealt with effectively to have a positive impact on the employees. The output of job evaluation is used in various fields of an organization such as for making remuneration system, human resource management, and for decision making in the payments of different job profiles. The flowchart in the figure represents a theoretical perspective regarding job evaluation. Initially, documentation of position should be performed to view the complete picture of each position in the organization. Determination of remuneration range considering the market competitiveness is another important step in job evaluation process. The performance appraisal system should be well- designed to avoid inequality among the employees. Then a review should be conducted to check the above steps and identify if the goals are achieved within time limits followed by the final determination of the reward system. The job evaluation should be done fairly and there should be no discrimination on the ground of sex or other attributes. There should be equal pay for both male and female. Equal pay for the work of equal value also should be considered in order to maintain sustainability in the organization. Wage survey is a method of collecting information about workers’ remuneration for analysis of existing compensation system which is used to determine the remuneration of employees. Wages are basically paid on daily basis to the workers in any manufacturing or production unit. According to the ‘Fair Labor Standards Act’ of 1939, wages are paid on the basis of hours worked.

Statistics questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Statistics questions - Assignment Example (a) From the box plot and the table presented, it is evident that the most deprived group exhibits the most variability in employment scale. An evaluation of the minimum and maximum value says it all. Similarly, the standard deviation backs the conclusion. It is evident that the minimum and maximum values for the least deprived and most deprieved are 1681, 3811 and 5000, 90780 respectively. The standar deviation for the least deprieved group was 649.67 while that for the most deprieved group was 20,388. (b) Measure of central tendancy are used to give readers an overview about the data. In this paper, there is a huge difference between the mean and median for the most deprived group. This can be explained by the fact that there are outliers at both side, too large data and too small data. In order to best represent the center of the employment scale values for the most deprived group, I will use mean since the data is derived from a large sample size. (c) Based on the findings above where the calculated t is in the acceptable region the null hypothesis is accepted at 5.0% level. Therefore, the percentage of adults supporting the healthcare law at the end of March is significantly higher than the percentage who supported the law in November (d) There are a number of factors that contribute to significant changes in the findings of research that study the same issue using data from a sample derived from the same population. In this case, it was established that there was a conflicting conclusionarrived by two major polls. The major explanation can be on the wording used on questions to collect the relevant data. The AP-GfK poll provided respondents with three options support, oppose and neither support nor oppose. The other poll provided respondents with only two option, oppose and support. This usually gives different data hence findings. More importantly, the timing is another significant factor. Polls conducted before a

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Advanced HealthCare Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Advanced HealthCare Management - Assignment Example Likewise, the understaffing and being overworked could result to errors (medication errors, documentation errors, and even errors in the effective deliver y of patient care); as well as low morale, low productivity, job dissatisfaction, and high turnover. As reported in a news article, â€Å"a study of physicians in Massachusetts released today indicates poor RN-to-patient ratios in hospitals are resulting in significant harm and even death for patients. According to the survey, physicians rank understaffing of registered nurses as the biggest problem in Massachusetts hospitals directly affecting patient care† (Massachusetts Nurses Association, 2005, par. 1). The proposed solution to this motivational problem are as follows: job redesign through (1) a review of the staffing requirements based on the number of patients that are regularly confined in the health care setting; (2) determining the most appropriate nurse-patient ratio; (3) hire new or temporary nurses as deemed needed to addressing understaffing concerns, either on a short-term or long-term basis. Through these recommendations, the root cause of the problem would be determined through identifying the current number of patients who are being attended to, as well as the current supply of nurses in the organization. Current changes in the external environment could have significantly altered the demand and supply of patients and nurses which contributed to the problem. The second motivational problem is inadequate support or resources. For instance, in a nursing unit, there should be some expected level of supplies, equipment, medications, and hospital forms which are critical in undertaking the stipulated responsibilities. The list could include medical supplies and equipment in the emergency cart, prescribed medications, as well as patients’ charts and forms, among others. If any of these are inadequate, the performance of nurses would be jeopardized in terms of potentially affecting the level

Monday, August 26, 2019

Volcanic Smog in Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Volcanic Smog in Hawaii - Essay Example The volcanic smog created by Kilauea volcano is hazardous to the surrounding population as well as the whole island, economically, socially, environmentally, and physically. A volcanic smog results when sulfur dioxide mixes with different other gases, moisture, and sunlight in the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide is produced, whether the volcanic activity was small or big. The effects of volcanic smog are greatly felt by those people living very close to the volcano. However, those living far away from the volcano are still affected, though in a lower measure. This is mainly because of the action of winds, which transfer the smog to different areas. In Hawaii, it is estimated that there has been approximately 50 volcanic eruptions in the twentieth Century only (Rado Web). Water in the area is greatly affected by the volcanic smog. First, there is the formation of acidic rain when sulfur dioxide in the gases emitted reacts with Oxygen in the air. The acid rain is lethal to plants, animals, and human beings. This therefore leads to other major effects. People in Hawaii Island mainly depended on rooftop rainwater for drinking and domestic and farm use. Therefore, when the volcanic smog results in acidic rain, this means the people cannot benefit from this water, as it is not safe for any use. This water cannot be drunk as it is contaminated. Therefore, they have to look for alternative sources of water for domestic use. Similarly, the acidic rain is not good for plants and other organisms. Most people in Hawaii Island practise farming as their main source of income. They plant different crops including flowers in plantations. When acidic rain occurs, the crops in plantations are destroyed, and this has forced most farmers living around Kilauea Volcano to abandon farming and look for alternative means of survival (â€Å"NCBCNEWS† Web). The sulfur dioxide in the volcanic smog has had disastrous effects on one Kau district. Many farms and nurseries have been destroy ed, in addition to putting at risk flower and vegetable farms and other crops such as tomatoes, lettuce, medical marijuana, as well as sunflower, and roses. The Hawaii government, because of the economic depression has not been able to compensate farmers for the losses, forcing most farmers to relocate. This has therefore disrupted the economic and social set-up of people, including farmers, as some have been compelled to move out of Hawaii in search of different jobs (â€Å"NCBCNEWS† Web). Apart from the economic effects, volcanic smog also affects the health of people. The volcanic smog comprises a variety of dangerous gases, and small particles and droplets that have high levels of acidity. All these can be inhaled by people, to rest in the lungs. This affects the mucus membrane and lungs, as well as lung function. This is in addition to the worsening of lung conditions such as asthma, and bronchitis, among others (â€Å"MedlinePlus.† Web). In 1997, the National Ins titute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) noted that respiratory problems due to sulfur vapors mostly affect young children (Rado Web).This is because their lungs are still developing and so might have long-term effects on the children. This puts at the risk the future population of Hawaii Island, as these children are the future of the society. Collaborating with the Hawaii Department of Health, the NIEHS conducted a health research in Hawaii to establish the relationship between volcanic smog and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Early Intervention for the Child with Autism Essay

Early Intervention for the Child with Autism - Essay Example Being a well informed and an emotionally strong parent could go a long way in ameliorating the child with Autism. Many a times parents tend to evince a lot of worry when they learn that their child has Autism. This is because they know that their child faces specific challenges and may find it difficult to socially integrate and engage in learning, if not rendered a timely professional help and assistance. Certainly, it is natural to do so. However, Early Intervention could play a decisive role in the case of children with Autism. With the help and aid of Early Intervention, parents of children with Autism could relieve themselves of much indecisiveness and confusion. The very recognition of the fact that it is possible to help an autistic child in a professional manner that could help one deal with one’s problems in an effective way is in itself much relieving and hope giving. Hence, Early Intervention is vital for children with Autism, especially in the first few years of th eir life. Early Intervention not only facilitates the salient tools required to diagnose a child in the Autism Spectrum, but also plays a crucial role in facilitating the children with the requisite help and services that go a long way in helping them develop the necessary development skills (Ross & Jolly 159). It goes without saying that early intervention also divests the parents of children having autism of much stress and tension. It is a fact that autistic children tend to face some problems in life that are not faced by other children. Precisely speaking, the autistic children happen to face difficulties in three main areas of life that are issues associated with social interaction, the affiliated communication related difficulties and difficulties associated with the capacity for imagination. Autistic children do many a time find it difficult to learn to speak or to be able to carry on and sustain a conversation (Szatmari 138). Autistic children also find to difficult to shar e their feelings with others and in understanding the varied other aspects of social interaction like body language (Szatmari 138). Though many autistic children do evince a capacity to grasp facts and figures, yet when it comes to topics like politics and religion associated with complex ideas and language, they may find it difficult to grasp such issues (Szatmari 37). One other thing that has been seen in autistic children is that they evince an affiliation to a very narrow range of activities with which they engage in a repetitive manner (Szatmari 37). For instance they may develop a strong interest in a limited and narrow range of activities, may happen to be quiet inflexible in the matter of preferred activities and interests and may exhibit body movements that are repetitive. If not helped through early intervention, the autistic children may have to face secondary issues like behavioral problems that may pose multiple challenges, sensory problems, mental health issues, and sl eep disorders (Szatmari 38). Thereby the main challenge faced by the parents and care givers of autistic children is to help them integrate in the society in a balanced and meaningful way. Therefore, much success depends as to how early an autistic child is subjected to intervention. Thereby early intervention could play a decisive role in enabling an autistic child to deal with the social, mental and communication issues faced by one. Hence, it is really important for the parents to know as to what is Early

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Does the way in which accounting represents the world facilitate the Essay - 1

Does the way in which accounting represents the world facilitate the control of organizations - Essay Example They way in which accounting represents the world does not always facilitate the control of organizations. Representation versus control Not every nation has adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) delivered in 2001 by the IASB. Because of this, there are independent and corporate investors that have identified opportunistic tax havens across the world. The ability to utilize foreign business accounting practices as a means to shelter resources continues to cause problems with how other businesses internationally perform their strategic management functions. For instance, Singapore has amended its tax laws as it had not, until 2009, adopted global accounting standards (google.com, 2009). Previously, businesses operating in Singapore maintained the ability to act as corporate and private investor tax havens as financial reporting from businesses in this country were able to manipulate data in a methodology that would be considered illegal in countries using the IFRS. Cost accounting not measured against IFRS, internally, eliminated the need for external auditing consultants, provided opportunity for less fiscal transparency, and allowed for strategic policy formation where allocation of costs was not standardized. What this speaks to is a lack of corporate governance in countries that are not yet fully standardized in the accounting function. Especially in terms of fiscal transparency and auditing practices, the businesses required less control and managers or executives with access to costs had the ability to shuffle currency or provide tax havens for investors with clever allocation of resources. â€Å"Culture is often considered to be one of the most powerful environmental factors affecting the accounting system of a country† (Tsui & Windsor, 2001, p.144). These authors consider accounting to be a â€Å"socio-technical† activity that involves human-based resources and financial resources in a way that is inseparable (Tsui & Windsor, p.145). In collectivist cultures, there is a mentality related to tradition and group affiliation where values are consistent with securing the needs of the group. These values are common in countries like Singapore and India. Thus, there is a resistance to change regarding adoption of international accounting standards that change the scope and policy formation related to resource utilization and fiscal transparency to the rest of the world. â€Å"Differences in accounting practices are manifestations of nationally different cultural systems† (Askary, Pounder & Yazdifar, 2008, p.145). Thus, businesses operating in one collectivist nation might have more focus on expansion whilst an individualistic country such as the United Kingdom might have more focus on developing more cost control by building a culture of lean production philosophy. In this situation, the method of accounting would differ, as would most assuredly those management systems in place in terms of c ontrol. In the individualistic culture that has adopted international standards, the implementation of new technologies to facilitate cost control and inventory control might be organisation-wide, such as new enterprise resource

Friday, August 23, 2019

John F. Kennedy, the Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

John F. Kennedy, the Film - Essay Example Kennedy. Overtime, there have been numerous theories and wild speculation as to what and who was really behind the events of that fateful day. Some of these are brought out in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film, JFK. In this movie, the producer outlines some of the events following the infamous assassination through his eyes. It is a film that has been met with a great deal of criticism, with critics dismissing Oliver as a conspiracy peddler. This essay examines some of the controversy surrounding the movie and outlines the criticisms advanced against it. In the film, the primary theory advanced by Oliver Stone is that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, did not act alone. Following the murder of John Kennedy, there were brisk investigations into the occurrence. Earl Warren, the then Supreme Court Justice presided over the hearings. In the end, the commission drew the conclusion that Lee Oswald did, in fact carry out the assassination by himself (Knight, 62). For this reason, it does not c ome as a surprise that there is controversy surrounding the suggestion by Oliver Stone that Lee Oswald was just a pawn in the plot to assassinate the president. In the movie, Oliver Stone brings out the conspiracy angle, arguing that there were many people that wanted to see the president dead, including the Mafia, the next president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the CIA (Stone â€Å"JFK).

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Christ of Velázquez †Poetry Visits Art Essay Example for Free

The Christ of Velà ¡zquez – Poetry Visits Art Essay Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying, â€Å"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. † There is no better illustration of this than the inspirational painting of Diego Rodriquez de Silva y Velazquez –The Christ of San Placido, more commonly known as The Christ of Velazquez and the equally moving poetic meditation on Velazquez’s painting by Miguel de Unamuno centuries later. Painting and poetry, as da Vinci suggested, join together in a unique way – the artist painting what he feels in his soul and the poet feeling in his soul what is painted. The Painting Diego Velazquez was one of the foremost Spanish painters of the 17th century. And one of his greatest paintings was The Christ of San Placido which was painted in 1638 for the convent of San Placido, but now resides in the Museo de Prado in Madrid. This stirring depiction of Christ just after His death offers an open invitation for the viewer to meditate on this epic moment. The body of Christ on the cross stands alone on the backdrop of a black sky. The crucifix has no flourishes or embellishments. Velazquez chose to portray this solitary Christ with His head hanging and the right side of his face covered by his hair. (â€Å"Diego†) This veil of hair has prompted many explanations. The Museo de Prado’s explanation is that Velazquez could not copy Christ’s expression on that side of His face and so he â€Å"opted to cover the left [right] side with His falling hair instead. † Another analysis assumes that this disruption of the composure of the body was done to recall the torture and the cruelty that Christ suffered. Yet another attributes this half-hidden face to the artist’s intention to lead the viewer of the painting into the spiritual world. (â€Å"The Painted†) Whatever the artist’s purpose might have been, it cannot be denied that this purposely simple representation of the dead Christ, dripping blood can inspire deep spiritual reflection. Its Inspirational Connection to Poetry Ekphrasis Ekphrasis, purely defined, is: â€Å"a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art. † (â€Å"Ekphrasis-Merriam†) This is, of course, a sterile definition that cannot begin to convey the true connection that art and poetry can enjoy. The term goes back as far as Homer’s The Iliad, in which he vividly describes how the blacksmith god forged the Shield of Achilles. Modern ekphrasis tends to focus only on works of art; and not so much by extraordinary description as in the case of the Shield of Achilles as by how the art inspires or moves the poet. (â€Å"Ekphrasis: Poetry†) This is what Miguel de Unamuno undertook to do with his book-length poem El Cristo de Velazquez. Unamuno expressed his spiritual doubts through his poetry. With El Cristo de Velazquez he confronts the painting of Velazquez to â€Å"define a uniquely Spanish Christ. † (â€Å"Miguel†) The stark figure of Christ on the cross elicited deep feelings from Unamuno, some mystical, some perplexing. He put these thoughts into lyrical form over the course of seven years producing a piece that is considered by some to be a most important religious poem. Its 2,538 lines are divided into four parts. They relate to Christ as a symbol of sacrifice and redemption, as a reflection of His many names, as God painted with the brush of Velazquez and they end with an invocation to the Holy Spirit to guide Unamuno as He guided Velazquez. (Nozick 178) The Personalization of The Christ of Velazquez by Unamuno In his book on Unamuno, Martin Nozick speculates on why Unamuno would have chosen this painting by Velazquez rather than any of the myriad of others he could have chosen as the subject of his poem. He notes that Unamuno thought that the representation of Christ that was adopted by the king of Spain as his official symbol was â€Å"bland† as compared with the image of Christ painted by Velazquez and that the Christ of Cabrera was â€Å"granitic† and the Christ of Santa Clara more like a wooden mannequin. (179) It seems that the Christ of Velazquez was ordained to be his choice. The posture of Christ in Velazquez’s painting is somewhat unique in that it suggests that death has already occurred. His head is hanging limply while His face, now as lifeless as His body, is veiled by his mangled locks of hair. Undoubtedly this moved Unamuno to comment on Christ in Part One as the white Lamb of God whose death took away the sins of the world. (Section XVI) He continues with expressive commentary on Christ as the host of wheat ground under the millstone, an apt expression for one who had gone through so much suffering for mankind. (Section XVII) The symbolic use of the colors of white and red to contrast the magnificence of Christ as the Son of God with the human suffering of the Son of Man run throughout this part of the poem especially. Unamuno stops to reflect on the white linen in which Christ’s body is so meagerly wrapped; and refers to Him as the white lion of the desert, among other references to the color white (white cloud, white light, white bull, etc. ). These references are juxtaposed against the stark images of the red blood that runs from the wounds of Christ. Unamuno â€Å"paints† this in one line as he describes Christ’s â€Å"whiteness dotted with bloody riddles. † (Section XXIV) However he does not merely explain the vividness of the white dotted with red. It is evident through his verse that he is also deeply affected by these aspects of the painting. The exhausting effort that is manifest in this first part may have prompted a weaker, less driven man to end the poem there. But Unamuno forges on. In Part II the painting inspires a recounting of earthly forces such as fire and water and storm intertwined with deep insights into the soul of Unamuno. This second part also reflects the biblical aspects of Christ and His mission of salvation. It evokes an historical aspect often citing events from the Bible as well as some of the many titles of Christ such as â€Å"Lion of Judah†, â€Å"King of the Desert,† â€Å"Light of Life† and more. From the powerful imagery of Unamuno in this part emerges the soul of a man who is trying to grasp the full meaning of salvation, seeing it as something that mankind was given as a gift but did not deserve. God the Father is seen by Unamuno as the sun; Christ is seen as the moon and the earth is the Virgin Mother. As Cannon puts it, â€Å"It is a mythic triad in accord with ancient beliefs in the magic and perfection of three-ness and in the family organization of the cosmos. † (28) Cannon tells us that Unamuno even made a full-page drawing which he attached to the final manuscript representing this cosmological triad. This seems to infer that Unamuno saw in Velazquez’s painting more than what was physically there. The painting evidently inspired a much greater vision in the mind of Unamuno – one that portrays him as â€Å"an intoxicated evangelist† (Nozick 180) Unamuno does come back to earth however in Part III by concentrating on the visible features of Christ in the actual painting – His head, face, eyes, ears, arms, hands, etc. Consider this translation in the section dealing with the eyes of Christ. Shivering russet which dew on your eyelashes, Pearls of fire shudder liquid And going through the closure of the eyelids Viewed with dark eyes . . . . The imagery is magnificent and throughout this imagery are woven references, once again, to the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Unamuno himself calls this â€Å"a sort of rhythmoid, dense prose. † (180) This third part of the poem is probably the most descriptive of the painting itself whereas the prior two parts were more illustrative of the feelings that the painting evoked. As Unamuno leaves the more descriptive portion of his poetry behind, he approaches what Cannon considers the most famous part of the poem. (Cannon 28) It begins and ends in darkness, but in between Unamuno presents the â€Å"luminous white body of the glorified Christ. † (28) Here again, Unamuno pulls hope out of despair, joy out of sorrow, expectation out of apathy. The images that the painting of Christ by Velazquez inspires in Unamuno are powerful ones that make a lasting impression on the reader. It may be that Unamuno has personalized Christ in a way that may not occur to the casual observer of this or any other painting of Christ on the cross and in this intense personalization Unamuno vitalizes the depiction of Christ with hope – a way out of the darkness. Velazquez painted his Christ on the cross to be a stark and solitary figure devoid of the sympathetic eye of the observers present at the crucifixion. Unamuno supplements the darkness of the artist’s work with a renewed sense of anticipation of his own death and rebirth in Christ. He ends his poem with a plea that he may enter â€Å"the clear day that has no end, my eyes fixed on Thy white body, Son of Man, complete Humanity . . . my eyes fixed on Thine eyes, oh Christ, my gaze submerged in Thee, oh Lord! † His life was admittedly full of theological uncertainties, but the spiritual doubts that may have manifested themselves in the life of Unamuno are put to rest in this profusion of imagery inspired by The Christ of Velazquez that was written and rewritten over seven years by Unamuno. The sweeping dynamic of the painter’s brush met the commanding inspiration of the poet’s pen so that together they make an impact that neither of them alone could manage. Works Cited Cannon, Calvin. â€Å"The Mythic Cosmology of Unamuno’s El Cristo de Velà ¡zquez.† Hispanic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Review 28 (1960): 28 – 39. Complete Works of Miguel de Unamuno. Ed. Ricardo Senabre. Vol. 4., Madrid: Jose   Ã‚  Ã‚   Antonio Castro Foundation, 2006. Madrid: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes 20 Oct. 2008    http://www.cervantesvirtual.com.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Segmentation Essay Example for Free

Segmentation Essay Market segmentation is where marketers split the market into groups with similarities that would make it easy to target their product to the consumers, if they do not do this then they could waste money and time on targeting the wrong people. The company would be trying to maximise their sales so that they can gain as much money as possible. Using market segmentation could mean a business could gain a commercial advantage as they would be advertising to a specific audience, they would be matching target audience and the product effectively. Demographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of their Gender, age, race/nationality, family size, occupation and education. For example McDonalds advertise happy meals to children because they would keep bugging their parents to take them to get them it. Geographic’s are where the companies target market would be to a group because of where they live, for example an expensive store wouldn’t come to Burnley because most of the residents are working class and don’t have a lot of money. Psychographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of personality, lifestyle and interests. For example subway would advertise to people with a healthy lifestyle. These segmentation methods are used to split up the market so business can find the perfect target market, if companies didn’t use these methods then the companies wouldn’t have a good understanding of the people they are trying to advertise to. ACORN or A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods, is used to segment the market into different classifications, the classifications are split up into 5 categories, which are: †¢ Wealthy Achievers – wealthy people who already have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Urban Prosperity – wealthy people who are aspiring to have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Comfortably Off – people aren’t particularly wealthy but have a decent sized house etc. †¢ Hard Pressed lower classed people, who are live in high rise flats etc. Moderate Means – working class people, live in terraces. Another method of segmentation the public are is a system created by Experian called Mosaic, this assigns people to groups based on their post code, neighbourhood etc. and it makes assumptions about peoples likes, dislikes and lifestyles based on their postcode area. †¢ A Career professionals living in sought after locations †¢ B Younger families living in newer h omes †¢ C Older families living in suburbia D Close-knit, inner city and manufacturing town communities †¢ E Educated, young, single people living in areas of transient populations †¢ F People living in social housing with uncertain employment in deprived areas †¢ G Low income families living in estate based social housing †¢ H Upwardly mobile families living in homes bought from social landlords †¢ I Older people living in social housing with high care needs †¢ J Independent older people with relatively active lifestyles †¢ K People living in rural areas far from urbanisation McDonalds target markets are happy meals, saver menu, portion sizes, fillet o’Fish, breakfast and hot drinks; the happy meal is targeted towards children as they will use pester power to make their parents take them to McDonalds. They sell small portions that contain a healthy snack and you get a free toy in them, the toy is themed towards a children’s cartoon film, they normally advertise on nickelodeon, cartoon network and Disney channel because that’s what most children watch. They advertise after 3 o’clock because that’s when most children get home from school as if they advertised before 3 o’clock then not a lot of children would see it; the happy meal would also suit the elderly as they won’t be able to eat a big meal. The saver menu would suit students and people who don’t have a lot of money; it would suit students as they won’t have to spend a lot of money on the larger meals and they can spend it more important things or going out at the weekend. It would suit people who don’t have a lot of money as they are relatively small portions and it is only 99p for a burger so it is a cheap. The portion sizes would be good for when people who aren’t particularly hungry or they are really hungry, as if they aren’t hungry they can get a medium meal, If they are really hungry they can get the large meals. This is good as it creates more of a target market for McDonalds to attract. The Fillet o’Fish as people who don’t like eating meat can get this instead of just getting chips, this is good as well as it McDonalds look like they are family orientated and they don’t miss anyone out. The McDonalds breakfast suits people who have to get up early as they do normal breakfast meals instead of a burger they could get sausage or something else. The hot drinks are good for when it is winter as people won’t want cold drinks as they would want warm drinks like coffee or hot chocolate etc. McDonalds will have a variety of different targets for their products and services. 4 examples can look at: Families: Families are targets as when families go out, they normally go to places that the kids will enjoy as if the kids aren’t happy, then parents will not be happy as they will be seeing their children unsatisfied with where they are. McDonalds will advertise all they can to make it look more appealing to all generations of families, These services aim towards providing friendly environments for the customers to have fun at and enjoy meals at affordable prices. They will be close families, as they will be visiting places with the idea of where is best suitable for the kids and themselves to enjoy themselves. The gender is not again specific as families could be of mixed gender. The age range will be from 1+ as a nice little outing to McDonald’s with the family is always nice. Parents with Children: parents with children will take their child to McDonald’s to give their children a treat. This is a product that McDonalds has produced to attract children between the ages of 1-10, as it has a free toy with the meal it is aiming to attract children and not only will the food be a treat but they will also get a free toy to play with. The target markets for happy meals is the parents buying their children food will be identified as young children ranging from ages of 1-10 as the toys that come with the happy meals look suitable for children of that age. Teenagers: Teenagers usually have limits to how much they can spend on food, As they may have limited pocket money or more important ideas of something they may want to purchase so cannot afford to spend their money on fast food. This is why they are attracted to the saver menu, the saver menu is where you can buy food for a reasonably price. Also teenagers are known to be the main users of social networking sites and users of the internet, so the idea of free WIFI access available in their restaurants is also another way to attract people to their restaurants. So, the target market for the saver menu will be identified as someone who wants to enjoy McDonald’s at an affordable price and the target market for the free wifi will be mainly teenagers as a stop at a restaurant for a quick check of their social networking sites will tempt them to buy something quick to enjoy whilst they are in the store. The age range for both the saver menu and WI-FI will be from 16+ as people from the age of 16 + are identified to be the age range of social networking sites and the saver menu is for everyone. Local Workers: Whilst on their breaks; local workers may pop in to the closest McDonalds, they have nearest to them to have a hot meal as it’s usually served very quickly and this makes it very efficient for the workers as they may have a short break. The lifestyle of these regular workers will be busy as they are working and may not have enough time in mornings to prepare dinner before they leave so they visit cafe/restaurants that are close by to eat in at and then head back to work. Also, they will need reasonable prices as they may have budgets for their dinner/meals. Gender of local workers will also not be specific in this case as you can be of any gender to have a job. The age range will be that of 18+ to about 65, as 18 is the age you most people start working and usually people retire at 65 and are not likely to be regular customers, as fast food places as due to being older than maybe teenagers, they have to be more careful with their diets as they can be more affected easily health wise with regular takeaway consuming. A Business Person: a business person will visit McDonalds during the morning, maybe for a brew or the breakfast, Also their food can be eaten in a vehicle without it affecting a busy work schedule, as they can use the drive thru, McDonalds have many drive thru’s which is a service that makes it efficient for people that may not have enough time to eat in to enjoy their products in their vehicles. The target market for a drive thru will be busy people that do not have enough time to eat in. The gender for business customers will be both male and female as in the modern world. The age range of established and busy business people is most likely to be about 30+.

Emotional Intelligence Academic Achievement Motivation Among Adolescents Education Essay

Emotional Intelligence Academic Achievement Motivation Among Adolescents Education Essay The present paper is an attempt to examine relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation. It also studies the emotional intelligence of students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation. Sample for the study includes 105 students (48 boys and 57 girls) of class XII of Patna. The data were analyzed with the help of product moment coefficients of correlation. The findings of the study reveal positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation. The study also reveals that students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation differ from one another on emotional intelligence. KEYWORDS: Emotional intelligence, Academic achievement motivation. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The rapid development of the era is challenging the adolescents to face the wave of globalization. Thus, the ability to control the emotions has become important for not carried away by the flow of negative and evil elements. A high emotional intelligence helps to maintain a state of harmony in oneself and finally be more self-confident in dealing with the challenges of living and learning in educational institutions. Emotional Intelligence is a cross-section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands and pressures (Bar-On, 2006). It is that part of the human spirit which motivates us to perform, which gives us energy to demonstrate behaviours such as intentionality, persistence, creativity, impulse control, social deftness, compassion, intuition and integrity (Kapp, 2002). Lam and Kirby (2002) are of the opinion that emotional intelligence involves perceiving, understanding, and regulating emotions. High emotional intelligence can contribute to a student in the learning process (Goleman, 1996; Elias, Ubriaco, Reese et al., 1992, Svetlana, 2007). Students low on emotional intelligence may find failure more difficult to deal with, which undermines their academic motivation (Drago, 2004). Academic motivation is defined as enthusiasm for academic achievement which involves the degree to which students possess certain specific behavioural characteristics related to motivation (Hwang et al, 2002). It is the orientation to the actions which is important to compel with the perfect standards. Goc (2010) has stated the factors affecting studentsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ achievement motivation as; effectiveness of the teacher, friends, the individuals attitude towards school, students perceptions about their own abilities, past experiences (positive or negative), the importance given to the students success, parents approaches towards their children and school. For many years educators, professionals and the public alike have been focusing on the intellectual achievement of individuals. In the past, perceived cognitive potential, more than any other factor has been seen as a predictor of academic achievement. It has, however, been established that despite an individual having the intellectual potential to succeed at institutions of higher education, he/she may experience difficulty dealing with emotional issues, have poor relationships, and be ineffective in his/her decision making (Goleman,1995). These observations, among others, have led to the realization that individuals from changing populations may require more than intellectual abilities to exist and thrive academically. All students experience frustration and failure to achieve their goals. They depend on the strength of fortitude to control their negative thoughts and feelings. If they are able to control emotions, they will achieve the academic goals as well (Dweck, 1996). Finnegan (1998) argued that school should help students learn the abilities underlying the emotional intelligence. This he believes could lead to achievement from formal education years of the child. Likewise, Abisamra (2000) reported that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. He therefore canvassed for inclusion of emotional intelligence in the schoolsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ curricula. Parker et al (2004) in their study found that highly successful students scored higher than the unsuccessful group on emotional intelligence. In the same vein, Low and Nelson (2004) reported that emotional intelligence skills are key factors in the academic achievement and test perfor mance of high school and college students respectively. A study conducted by Rode et al (2007) predicted that emotional intelligence was related to academic performance for two reasons. First, academic performance involves a great deal of ambiguity. Second, majority of academic work is self-directed, requiring high levels of self-management. Therefore, individuals with high emotional intelligence would perform better academically. Similarly, a study conducted on children aged 4 years found that controlling the impulses of action have shown their ability in achieving good academic and good social skills when they are in their adolescence (Shoda, Mischel, and Peake, 1990). Contribution of emotional management to academic performance was also supported by research done by MacCann et al (2011). The results suggest that better educational outcomes might be achieved by targeting skills relating to emotion management and problem-focused coping. Svetlana (2007) suggests the need to incorpor ate emotional intelligence training into secondary education curricula, due to a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The intent of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic achievement motivation among adolescents. Scant research exists on the relationship of emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation in India. There are two major reasons for this. First, the emotional intelligence [EI] construct is relatively new (Mayer Salovey, 1990). Second, a century of research on general intelligence and cognitive performance has overshadowed the role of non-cognitive EI factors that may effect academic achievement. This has led to a consensus among educators that cognitive factors, like high scores on intelligence tests, predict student performance in college (Jensen, 1998). Yet, many students still fail to live up to their true potential despite their IQ or previous academic performance. Conversely, some college students with mediocre grades have managed to complete a college or university education. Both of these examples suggest that other factors, specifically non-cognitive EI factors, may be at work. In essence, the importance of emotional intelligence on academic achievement motivation has been found to be very significant. Nevertheless, and in spite of the studies reviewed, there is still a need to further investigate the relationship of emotional intelligence to academic achievement motivation most especially in country like India, where most researchers are yet to show interest in the construct. Investigations that address the interrelatedness of emotional intelligence and elements of academic achievement at institutions of higher education will strengthen the relationships between these constructs. The research findings may also support the need to incorporate emotional intelligence curriculum into college academic programs. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were- 1. To study the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation.* 2. To study emotional intelligence of students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation.* METHODOLOGY: The sample for the present study consisted of 105 class XII students. Out of which 48 were boys and 57 were girls. Simple random sampling technique was adopted to select the sample. Academic Achievement Motivation Test of Dr. T. R. Sharma and Emotional Intelligence Inventory by Dr. S. K. Mangal and Mrs. Shubra Mangal were used as tools for the study. High, average and low groups of academic achievement motivation were formulated on the basis of the norms set by the Academic Achievement Motivation Test of Dr. T. R. Sharma. Product moment coefficients of correlation were computed for the analysis of the data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION TABLE 1 VALUES OF COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Groups Sample Size (N) Correlation Coefficient (r) Total 105 0.275 Boys 48 0.225 Girls 57 0.344 Perusal of Table 1 shows that the values of coefficient of correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation for total sample, boys and girls are .275, .225 and .344 respectively. It means that there is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation among total sample and both boys and girls. It may be due to the reason that as they are better motivated to handle, manage and control their emotions, their academic achievement motivation also increases. The above finding draws support from the findings of Mahyuddin, Elias and Noordin (2009). They also found significant correlation between EQ and academic achievement motivation. However, Bissessar (2008) and Drago (2004) found no relationship between emotional intelligence and intrinsic motivation and achievement motivation respectively. * This objective was achieved with reference to total sample, boys and girls separately. TABLE 2 LEVEL WISE VALUES OF COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Groups Level of Academic Achievement Motivation Sample Size (N) Correlation Coefficient (r) Total High 25 0.320 Average 71 0.198 Low 9 -0.320 Boys High 17 0.422 Average 28 0.104 Low 3 0.127 Girls High 8 -0.012 Average 43 0.200 Low 6 -0.770 Values of coefficient correlation depicted in table 2 reveal that there is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence scores and high and average levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= .320 and .198 respectively). Value -0.320 depicts the negative correlation between the emotional intelligence and low level of academic achievement motivation for the total sample. In case of boys, there is positive correlation between emotional intelligence and high, average and low levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= .422, .104 and .127 respectively). In case of girls, there is negative correlation between emotional intelligence and high and low levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= -0.012 and -0.770 respectively). Average level of academic achievement motivation is positively correlated with emotional intelligence (= .200) for the selected sample of girls. CONCLUSIONS There is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation among both boys and girls that indicates with increase in emotional intelligence, the students are academically motivated. There is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence scores and high and average levels of academic achievement motivation. Emotional intelligence is negatively correlated with low level of academic achievement motivation for the total sample. In case of boys, there is positive correlation between emotional intelligence and high, average and low levels of academic achievement motivation. High and low levels of academic achievement motivation are negatively correlated and average level of academic achievement motivation is positively correlated with emotional intelligence for the selected sample of girls. IMPLICATIONS Excellent performance in academic is the key target and goal for each student regardless of ethnic group. In order to obtain good results, apart from effective learning techniques, students should be able to recognize themselves in particular of self emotions, so that it does not become a stumbling to success. Hence the need to identify oneself, emotional intelligence should be noted not only for academic interest but also for success in life. The key to obtain success of learning is to give full attention and concentration during the process of teaching learning. High level of emotional intelligence can help calm the mind and thus to increase the absorption of information received. As a result it will contribute to their academic achievement. It is recommended that studentsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ academic achievement should be enhanced with the use of emotional intelligence training. The inclusion of emotional intelligence as part of the curriculum could lead to a variety of positive personal, social and societal outcomes. Increasing emotional intelligence may not only facilitate the learning process and improve career choice and likelihood of success, but could also enhance the probability of better personal and social adaptation in general. The educational experience would be more balanced or holistic as it would focus on educating the whole person. There could also be beneficial effects for the institutions, improving the environment in which the educational experience occurs. Students need the ability to appraise a situation correctly, react appropriately in difficult circumstances and exercise stress tolerance or display impulse control when making judgments about academic decisions. Students need activities and advising sessions that help establish proactive patterns that increase awareness about emotional intelligence. The goal is to foster skills that lead to academic success.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Practicality of the Social Contract Essay -- Sociology, Society, G

I.) Introduction Society’s structure has been debated and contested as far back as ancient Greece. Since then, man has developed social systems that greatly differ from anything the ancients had in mind. One such system is the social contract theory, which first came to prominence around the time of the enlightenment. Simplified, social contractarians argued that in order to achieve a balanced and stable society, all of its members must sacrifice certain liberties to a government or similar authority. As Rousseau explains, the contract begins when â€Å"Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will† (148). Essentially, it is an agreement between the rulers and the ruled that produces a stable political state. John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract are both enlightenment works that detail contractarianism, yet each has a unique and different way of considering the social contract. Although John Stuart Mill is also known for his work with Utilitarianism, his essay On Liberty considers consent and other issues relating to contract theory. These authors provide different insights into the social contract, and frequently one will reject another’s idea and offer a new solution. Even after this meshing of ideas and solutions, contract theory falls short of practicality. The idea is appealing, appearing on the surface as a fair and just way of governance. However, true liberty cannot arise from a contract, as man cannot be â€Å"forced to be free† (150). There are two fundamental flaws with contractarianism: it is not practical and it ignores human nature, and even if were possible to establish a true contract-based society, the citi... ...tract theory does raise additional questions. Rousseau envisioned a society in which every voice was heard. A solution to this impracticality is the idea of representation—something which Locke advocated for in The Second Treatise. The idea makes sense; have one person represent a group of people to improve functionality. However, how can a man fully represent an entire group’s interest? Surely there must be some differences between the representative and those he represents. If that is the case, can one call that justice? The man already relinquished certain rights by accepting the contract. With representation, he also gives up his right to full participation in the system. Despite this problem and the other issues with contractarianism, this theory served as a foundation for the American political system and continues to inspire political ideologies worldwide.

Monday, August 19, 2019

A Comparison of A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." This quote summarizes Catherine and Henry's love for each other. Even though Catherine died, Henry had a huge space of emptiness left in his heart. Marriages in today's society are very serious relationships although some people don't seem to take them so seriously. Take for example Dennis Rodman, who married Carmen Electra and they divorced a week later. This shows how men are sometimes over powered by looks. My essay contrasts the relationships in Hemingway's Farewell to Arms to the relationships in Steinbeck's East of Eden. E. Hemingway displays a sense of respect for couples whereas J. Steinbeck portrays that women are venerable can't hold a steady relationship. Abra gradually fell in love with Cal and eventually cheated on Aron with his brother Caleb. Cal slowly tries to ruin Aron. Cal influences Abra's thought of Aron by saying sweet things to her. Adam smiled at her. "You're pink as a rose," he said. (590) T he passage shows that Cal is trying to romance Abra. He knows Abra is venerable because Aron is away in the army and she misses him. By Aron absent, Abra needs a man and she turns to Cal. Henry and Catherine hold a steady, loving and trustworthy relationship even through the tough times of war. Even though there are disputes on whether Henry and Catherine really loved each other, they held a good relationship. They tended to each others needs. Catherine took it slow while Henry wanted to rush into things to quickly. "Hello," I said. "When I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me." (91) Catherine and Henry were inseparable. Throughout the novel, their relationship became more serious and Henry had finally decided that he was in love with Catherine Barkley. "I really love you. I'm crazy about you." (92) This quote displays how Henry just can't get enough of Catherine how he wants to rush into things to quick. Henry doesn't like Catherine for who se really is but is taken over by the power of her looks. Cathy is a back stabbing devil and everyone knows it. Cathy tricks Adam into drinking her opium medicine so it allows here to sleep with Charles. Cathy heard Charles footsteps as he returned home. A Comparison of A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden :: comparison compare contrast essays A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." This quote summarizes Catherine and Henry's love for each other. Even though Catherine died, Henry had a huge space of emptiness left in his heart. Marriages in today's society are very serious relationships although some people don't seem to take them so seriously. Take for example Dennis Rodman, who married Carmen Electra and they divorced a week later. This shows how men are sometimes over powered by looks. My essay contrasts the relationships in Hemingway's Farewell to Arms to the relationships in Steinbeck's East of Eden. E. Hemingway displays a sense of respect for couples whereas J. Steinbeck portrays that women are venerable can't hold a steady relationship. Abra gradually fell in love with Cal and eventually cheated on Aron with his brother Caleb. Cal slowly tries to ruin Aron. Cal influences Abra's thought of Aron by saying sweet things to her. Adam smiled at her. "You're pink as a rose," he said. (590) T he passage shows that Cal is trying to romance Abra. He knows Abra is venerable because Aron is away in the army and she misses him. By Aron absent, Abra needs a man and she turns to Cal. Henry and Catherine hold a steady, loving and trustworthy relationship even through the tough times of war. Even though there are disputes on whether Henry and Catherine really loved each other, they held a good relationship. They tended to each others needs. Catherine took it slow while Henry wanted to rush into things to quickly. "Hello," I said. "When I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me." (91) Catherine and Henry were inseparable. Throughout the novel, their relationship became more serious and Henry had finally decided that he was in love with Catherine Barkley. "I really love you. I'm crazy about you." (92) This quote displays how Henry just can't get enough of Catherine how he wants to rush into things to quick. Henry doesn't like Catherine for who se really is but is taken over by the power of her looks. Cathy is a back stabbing devil and everyone knows it. Cathy tricks Adam into drinking her opium medicine so it allows here to sleep with Charles. Cathy heard Charles footsteps as he returned home.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

How did the Tsar survive the 1905 Revolution? Essay -- essays research

How did the Tsar survive the 1905 Revolution? Introduction Controversy surrounds whether or not the revolution was a â€Å"dress rehearsal† for the 1917 revolution or a missed opportunity for Tsar Nicholas II to consolidate a constitutional monarchy. This dissertation will focus on the survival of the Tsar, as it is ultimately an open question whether he would have saved the monarchy. The dissertation will also reveal that in the Tsar’s heart was more in reaction than reform. This coursework will show that part of the key to the monarchy’s survival was the division of the opponents of Tsarism. It took World War I to cause a major breakdown in relations that left the monarchy open to further revolution through total war. The 1905 revolution was the result of the Russo-Japanese war which broke out in 1904. The war saw military and naval defeats for the Russian forces. There were food shortages in cities and the Soviets (assemblies of workers and soldiers’ representatives) were formed in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The event which started the whole revolution in the Russian Empire was â€Å"Bloody Sunday†; the event of the massacre of armament workers by Cossacks in front of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg. The leader, Father Gapon, wanted to present the Tsar a petition requesting an improvement of living conditions and more freedom of expression. Riots spread to Odessa, the Black Sea Port and to Moscow where the Soviets were formed and Trotsky became involved. The battleship Potemkin mutinied and tried to help the Odessa rebels. There was a film made by the director Eisenstein which implied that the 1905 rebellion gave the momentum to a new revolutionary movement. However, ultimately, the revolution of 1905 was suppressed in the short term. Summer brought mutinies from both the navy and army. The loss against Japan at Port Arthur and defeat at Tsushima far from strengthened the position of the Tsar’s government, in fact had weakened it. Autumn saw the transformation of industrial discontent give way to an all-out strike. It was then that the Soviets began to form-councils to demand improvements for the workers, led by Lev Trotsky. Disturbances and riots such as Bloody Sunday clearly proved to be a challenge to the Tsarist system. There are key factors which allowed the Tsar to survive. We can isolate three factors which enhanced the Tsar’s survival: the loyalty of... ...l and social grievances. Stolypin was dropped and he had been assassinated by 1911. The Duma was distrusted and total war after 1914 prepared the road of revolution by 1917. The Tsar survived the 1905 Russian Revolution by a combination of repression, economic reforms and tactics which divided the opposition. Bibliography Ascher, Abraham (1992) Second Edition: The Revolutions of 1905, Stanford University Press.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bushnell, Albert (1985) Mutiny amid Repression: Russian Soldiers in the Revolution of 1905, Indiana University Press. Evans, David and Jenkins, Jane, (2001) Years of Russia and the USSR, 1851-1992, Hodder and Stoughton Educational. Karpovich, Michael (1960) Imperial Russia, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston Inc. Lynch, Michael (2000) Reactions and Revolutions: Russia 1881-1924, Hodder and Stoughton. Lynch, Michael (2000) â€Å"The Russian Revolution: Russia 1881-1924†, Hodder and Stoughton. Morris, Terry and Murphy, Derrick (2000)â€Å"Europe: 1870-1991† HarperCollins Educational Pipes, Richard (1990) The Russian Revolution 1899-1919, Alfred A. Knoph Inc., Pipes, Richard (1970) Struve: Liberal on the left, 1870-1905 Cambridge Massachusetts Press.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Behavior Modification Project

I don’t remember exactly when I took to smoking or how the habit had developed in me. However I remember well that my pattern of smoking has been fairly consistent, at least for the last couple of years, smoking about six cigarettes a day. There are of course days when I have smoked a couple of cigarettes more or less too. Most of my friends don’t smoke and they don’t like smoking in their presence, although they wouldn’t object it on the face. I am aware of the risks of smoking, its association with cancer and strokes, and had long decided to abandon it.I had convinced myself that I need to give up smoking. However I didn’t have a plan or deadline for it; not that I was ignorant of this fact. I knew that to get rid of any habit, one should have a concrete plan and an anticipated schedule. In my mind, I believed I would soon be implementing one for myself. Unfortunately I did nothing in an effort to quit smoking, only compensating it with a feeling that I have a strong untested will power and can easily quit whenever I wanted. It never struck me that the quitting should start now.It so happened, that I had an opportunity last month to attend a seminar on ‘Modern lifestyle trends and its impact on health’. Here the speaker emphasized that habits like smoking, alcoholism, drugs, sexual attitudes can only be reversed when it is within a reversible range. He said it was his personal opinion that chronic addicts cannot come out of it, no matter what the de-addiction programs he or she goes through. He then went on to give scary facts that awaited the pursuers of these habits. This was when I got really scared, and decided to call it a day.I knew I was not a chronic smoker although I thanked God; he didn’t define a chronic smoker. I realized and accepted the fact that I had not made even the slightest attempt, to give up smoking. I took a resolution that quitting efforts would start right here and right now. I wa s careful enough not to fall back on Behavior Modification Project 3 my will power and put it through an acid test, by deciding to quit immediately. I began to plan a way of achieving a no smoking state in a gradual way. I was happy that although my efforts to quit smoking had been late, it was being done cautiously.Had I taken an unplanned and arbitrary decision, like stopping instantly; and if it had rebounded, there were chances that I would probably never get out of it. For the first week, I had decided that I would smoke no more than six cigarettes a day, so as to average about six or lesser number per day. For the second week, I had planned a reduction of two cigarettes a day, so as to average about four or less per day. Then the most important third week, where I further reduced the number of cigarettes to just two per day. Then the hopefully successful fourth week, where I would be a non-smoker.Although I was confident, I was apprehensive of the possibility of achieving thes e goals. I recollected the times when I didn’t have a cigarette and desperately needed one, and to the extent I went, to get one. As my goal to quit smoking is to be achieved only in stages, I thought it necessary to reward myself whenever I reach the goal, for the week. This would not only be an encouragement for me, but also an acknowledgement of meeting target for that week. I decided to treat myself to a half hour, either in a flight simulator or with friends.This was my roadmap to quit smoking, planned in detail. The first week wasn’t difficult as it was almost like any before; the only difference being that it should not exceed six any day. However, I considered this week as a crucial one because this was the first week I was ever under smoking conditions. I smoked only about five for most days of this week. The second week was more difficult, as I could smoke only four or less. Here too I tried to restrict to the least possible and I smoked less than the target. I smoked only about three per day for most days, touching four only twice that week.I allowed and enjoyed the treat I promised myself, after each week. Then came the ultimate third week Behavior Modification Project 4 where I had to be more resistive to temptations; just two cigarettes a day. It was indeed difficult but I was determined, and knew it was worth it. On the third day of the third week, I had a feeling that things might become extremely difficult, and even impossible in the fourth week. Third week looked achievable, but I feared the fourth ultimate week, where I had to be without cigarettes.I realized, I needed any possible help to keep me off cigarettes. I joined a meditation class by the mid of the third week. By the time fourth week started, I felt I could comfortably keep off cigarettes for the week. I didn’t feel the urge to smoke one that entire week. In fact, I would say, the fourth week was the most comfortable and a confident one as I felt that smoking w as no longer a problem with me. When I went for my treat that weekend, I sensed the feel of being a non-smoker, for the first time. Behavior Modification Project Working out is something I really enjoy doing, but I almost always find some excuse as to why I cannot exercise more than going to Zumba twice a week. It’s not that I don’t care about losing weight or staying in shape; it’s just that the outcome of working out is too small to control my behavior. The contingency for working out is ineffective. Ineffective contingencies fail to control our behavior because the outcomes are either too small (though of cumulative significance) or too improbable.I have a given level of health, I work out twice a week for 60 minutes, and then I have an infinitesimally greater level of health. Although my level of health increasing is small and cumulative, I know neither my body image nor my weight will change by working out one time. I know getting my butt to the gym several times per week will reduce my body fat, but there are several competing contingencies that prevent me from doing so. For example, E. R. is one of my favorite T. V . shows that I love to watch if I have some spare time in my day, I would much rather watch Dr.Carter put in a chest tube to save a little girl’s life than sweat through two tank tops at the gym. If I go to the gym I will lose the opportunity to watch E. R. My performance objective is to workout at least five days a week for at least 40 minutes. The type of exercise does not matter; it can include cardio, aerobics classes, toning exercises, or any combination. I did not specify exact days I had to work out, just that I have to work out five of seven days a week. For my intervention I implemented an avoidance of loss contingency.An avoidance of loss contingency is the response contingent prevention of the removal of a reinforcer resulting in an increased frequency of the response. Each time that I missed any of the five days or working out for 40 minutes I have to pay my classmate and workout buddy Michelle $3. By working out for 40 minutes I would avoid the loss of a reinforc er (money). By setting up a performance contract I know exactly what is expected of me. I am completely aware of the behavioral contingency: the occasion for the response, the response, and the outcome for that response.Since Michelle and I go to the same gym, she holds me accountable and checks with me daily if she does not see me at the gym. I report to Michelle each day before boot camp at 3:00pm. My weeks run Monday-Sunday, and I pay out for each instance of a missed workout Monday before class. Having to give Michelle money that I would have otherwise spent at the vending machine during the class break is very aversive. I keep track of my performance of working out on a week at a glance graph, which I present to my boot camp classmates every Friday.The graph has different shapers of data points indicating the type of exercise I did. For example, I use circles for cardio, stars for weight training, and hearts if I did both cardio and toning. My benefits measure is my body fat pe rcentage. I did not choose to use weight loss as a benefit measure because as I do more toning exercises, muscle is gained so my weight may not fluctuate a whole lot. Body fat is what I really want to focus on because I could care less how much I weigh if my body looks tight and toned!So far the performance management intervention has been overall pretty successful. I am making time to workout many more times per week than I have in a long time. My performance manager Michelle really motivates me to stay on top of my game, and since we go the same gym, our workout buddy system works really well. I began the intervention on June 11, 2008 and I am currently still implementing. My body fat percentage decrease quite a bit at first, then increased slightly (due to poor eating habits).So far I have only paid out $6, which is much less than I ever thought I would have paid out at this point. I made a goal with my performance manager to hit my goal for the rest of boot camp. If I hit my goa l for the remaining 3 weeks at 100% Michelle and I are treating ourselves to pedicures! I have hit my goal of five days a week several times, and only had a few weeks when I did not reach five workouts per week. The first week of the intervention I started on Wednesday, so I missed a couple days to workout. Also, in week 5 I had a migraine so I excused myself from working out.I am currently in the middle of week 9 and so far have worked out three times. The only thing I would revise about this intervention is the diet aspect. I did increase my exercising; however, my results were not phenomenal. I think I need to put some performance management contingencies on healthy eating as well as exercise. I feel great working out more, but I am still eating Twinkies and Taco Bell! This really prevents me form losing optimum body fat! Through behavior analysis (the study of the principles of behavior)

Friday, August 16, 2019

Fahrenheit 451 Equality Essay

Why is equality impossible? In both Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut, the government’s try to suppress freedom by calling it equality. Both the characters, Guy Montag and Harrison Bergeron try to oppose their government’s idea of equality. They show that there will always be individuals who rebel, are not the same, and try to start their own society to fight against the government. In these readings, both authors, Bradbury and Vonnegut, suggest that equality is unattainable because there will constantly be individuals that challenge the idea of people being the same in everyway possible. Even as the government concealed knowledge in both readings, individuals rebelled in order to obtain knowledge. Harrison Bergeron challenged the government, all while he wore a tremendous pair of earphones that mentally handicaps intelligent people. Nonetheless he refused to sit still and live his life like everyone else in the world. Instead he wanted to be emperor of the world and fought until his death trying to achieve his vision. Harrison proclaims on television, â€Å"‘I am the emperor! †¦ Do you hear? I am the emperor†¦ Even as I stand here†¦ crippled, hobbled, sickened- I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! ’†(Vonnegut 3). Despite the fact that Harrison is only fourteen years old and carried three hundred pounds, he rebelled against the government on account that he loathed the world he currently is in. This shows that even if the government forces people into being equal, people will rise up and rebel against them. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag also rebelled against his government. He was not allowed to read or owned books since it was against the law. Knowing this, Guy still rebelled by smuggling books home from his fireman job. Bradbury writes, â€Å" Without looking at [the book, Guy] dropped it to the floor†¦ He kept moving his hand and dropping books on the floor†¦When he was done he looked down upon some twenty books lying at his wife’s feet† (65-66). Though Guy was a fireman and books for a living, he began to doubt and rebel against his government’s idea of equality. As the government burnt books, citizens that normally obeyed the law began to rebel against it and collected books. This shows that even people who enforce the law might rebel against it, if they begin the doubt it. No matter how hard the governments try to suppress knowledge, everyday citizens who want knowledge will find a way to obtain it. Even in the world where everyone is allegedly equal, there will be people that are above others. In â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, everyone in the world is the same, no one is prettier than anyone else and no one is smarter than anyone else. This is untrue because Diana Moon Glampers, the United States Handicap General, is able kill people. Vonnegut writes, â€Å" Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicap General, came into the studio with a double- barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor† (Vonnegut 4). Even though everyone is supposedly equal, the Handicap General has more power than everyone else. She holds the power of life and death in her hands because she is not the same as the other citizens. This shows that there will always be someone that has more power than the rest; thus proving that people will never be perfectly equal. In Fahrenheit 451, the government prevents any person to possess more intelligence than the rest of the population. People who try to gain more knowledge through books are sent to an asylum and their books are burnt to the ground. Montag asks, â€Å"‘ I-I’ve been thinking. About the fire last week. About the man whose library we fixed. What happened to him? ’ [Beatty answers] ‘They took him screaming off to the asylum’† (Bradbury 33). When people try to learn more than others, the government makes sure that they are removed so that no one is smarter than anyone else. Even though they send people in possession of books to an asylum, it does not stop people who want to obtain knowledge from collecting books. This shows that no matter how much the government tries to enforce equality, there will be people that strive to obtain knowledge. No matter how much censorship is used to make everyone the same, certain individuals will always have more knowledge and power than others. As people disagreed with the government’s idea of equality, they band together and form their own society. In â€Å"Harrsion Bergeron†, Harrison Burgeron wanted to start his own empire. He disagreed with the current government and wanted to rule the world. Harrison Bergeron states, â€Å"‘I am the emperor! †¦ I am a greater ruler than any man’†(Vonnegut 3). This shows that Harrison Burgeron wants to create his own world. He opposes the government’s law and plans on creating a different society before he was shot down. Harrsison Bergeron shows that even in the most controlled world, humans who want difference will try to make their own world. When Guy Montag ran away from the society he knew, he encountered a group of people that opposed the way the government works. This group thought that books and knowledge are important unlike the government. Granger says, â€Å"‘We’ll pass the books on to our children, by word of mouth, and let our children wait, in turn, on the other people’† (Bradbury 153). Granger and his group felt that books are important and that individual knowledge is more important than everyone being perfectly equal. They thought that the world is not ready for their knowledge. By having their own group with different ideas from the government’s, they have started a society where people can appreciate books instead of burning them. They have created a society that directly contradicts what he government is trying to accomplish. When people do not agree with the government, they will band together and form a society hoping to overthrow the law. Equality is an unachievable idea due to the fact that there are people who will rebel, be smarter or more powerful than others, and people that band together to form their own ideal society. The more a government forces their citizens to be equal, the more likely people will oppose what the government is doing. In both â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† and Fahrenheit 451, the government tries to censor the amount of freedom and knowledge every individual has, by calling it equality, but people had still rebelled against the government. Both stories show that equality is a truly impossible because certain individuals will always challenge what equality truly is.