Regional integration arrangements Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Regional integration arrangements - Coursework Example Examples of regional economic integration include the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Corporation), NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Association) and the EU (European Union). This is just a few of the many regional economic arrangements currently proliferating across the globe. Regional Integration Arrangements (RIAs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in a modern context; what are the effects of regional integration on political actors' Do RIAs promote multilateralism or are they stumbling blocks, as opposed to stepping stones, to collective action' Seeking to address these concerns and many more with respect to the increased prevalence of RIAs in an era of globalization, the following will explore regional integration and multilateralism in a comparative context. Using an analysis of regional integration, organizational growth and multilateralism within the EU, this essay will determine whether multilateralism is hindered or facilitated through regional integration. We begin first, how ever, with a concise overview of the modern globalization phenomenon. Globalization is an international phenomenon with important geopolitical ramifications. ... Events from the late 1960s reverberated in the Communist world and finally came to a head in the 1980s with total economic and political collapse. The Soviet sphere, coupled with the former Yugoslavia, provide the best examples of this phenomenon. Additionally, the end of the Cold War has had important implications for the already precarious states of Africa and has coincided with the emergence of Asian economic "Tigers": a global economic shift towards emerging East Asian powerhouses. Globalization, as it exists today, rests largely on the shoulders of neoliberal economics and the global entrenchment of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the world. Neo-liberalism, the belief in laissez-faire economics, was best articulated by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States in the 1980s. US President Ronald Regan famously remarked "government was not the solution but the problem"1. Neo-liberals put all of their faith in the distributive capabilities of the invisible hand of the free market, and believe that business was inherently good and that government bad. The government was longer interested in the provision of welfare but existed to stimulate the capitalist economic market. The United States under Ronald Reagan was thus described as the "greatest of the neo-liberal regimes" (Hobsbawm 1994). Accordingly, The essence of neo-liberalism, its pure form, is a more or less thoroughgoing adherence, in rhetoric if not in practice, to the virtues of a market economy, and, by extension, a market-oriented society. While some neo-liberals appear to assume that one can construct any kind of 'society' on any kind of economy, the position taken here is that the economy, the state

Theoretical Framework Essay Example for Free

Theoretical Framework Essay This chapter includes a review of related literatures and studies conducted by both local and foreign researchers, that the writer considers relevant to the study. Definitions of Leadership Bass (1981) accepted the view of leadership as an interaction between members of a group. Leaders are agents of change, persons whose acts affect other people more than other people’s acts affect them. Kanter (1983) defined leadership as the existence of people with power to mobilize others and to set constraints. Misumi (1985) wrote: Leadership is understood as the role behaviour of a specific group member, who, more than other members, exerts some kind of outstanding, lasting, and positive influence on fulfilling the group’s functions of problem solving or goal achievement and group maintenance. Weiss (1986) pinpointed the concept of leadership as the top level executive and his dominant coalition of the organization which is invested with the power, status, and resources to manipulate, interpret, and negotiate constraints and resources into policy. Kellerman (1984) defined leadership as the process by which one individual consistently exerts more impact than others on the nature and direction of group activity. Gardner (1986) waffled at the end of his definition by attaching the last phrase: leadership is the process of persuasion and example by which an individual induces a group to take action that is in accord with the leader’s purposes. Sergiovanni (1989), an influential leadership scholar in education, defined leadership as the process of persuasion by which a leader induce followers to act in a manner that enhances the leaders purposes or shared purposes. Two more recent books on leadership have been based on military leaders, and they promote the same understanding of leadership. Roberts (1989) considered leadership as the thing that wins the battles. Bailey (1988) an anthropologist, defined leadership as the act of controlling followers. Finally, Schatz (1986) summed up much of what this view of leadership represents: â€Å"Leadership is the total effect you have on people and events around you.† Leadership for Rost (1991) is an influence relationship among leaders and  followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. A leader does the right things (Bennis and Goldsmith, 1997). Doing the right things implies a goal, a direction, an objective, a vision, a dream, a path, a reach. Leading is about effectiveness. It is about what and why. It is about trust – about people. Bennis and Goldsmith (1997), defined leadership as innovating and initiating. It looks at the horizon, not just the bottom line. Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. For Drucker (1996), leaders move people from selfish concerns to serving the common good. Leaders can refocus people’s energy with direct interventions or do so indirectly by adjusting the system so that people naturally gravitate toward what needs to be done. It will be hypothesized that the Indang II District elementary school principals’ leadership styles (Block 2) will affect school effectiveness (Block 3) at Indang II District, Division of Cavite. The mediating variables will be the elementary school principals’ leadership styles consisting of seven dimensions, namely: a) idealized influence; b) inspirational motivation; c) intellectual stimulation; d) individualized consideration; e) contingent reward; f) management by exception; and g) Laissez-faire. The aforementioned dimensions will be discussed in the conceptual framework. The five indicators of school effectiveness will be the output variables. Each variable will be explained thoroughly as part of the related literature of this study on school effectiveness. The line connecting the mediating and the output variables show their relationship. This will imply that the Indang II school principals’ leadership styles affect the effectiveness of the Indang II schoo ls at Indang II District, Division of Cavite. HYPOTHESIS On the basis of the questions that will be proposed in this study, this hypothesis will be tested. There is no significant relationship between the principals’ leadership styles and school effectiveness in the elementary schools in Indang II District, Division of Cavite.

Factors that Influece a Healthy Heart Essay -- Exercise, Health, Lifest

Healthy Hearts 1. Different ways in which exercise keeps your Heart Healthy. Cardiovascular System (preventing Angina and Cardiovascular diseases) Citizens who regularly exercise, significantly have less cardiovascular diseases such as Angina (which described in in image 1a is caused due poor blood flow through the blood vessels in the heart.) lowering their risk of heart attacks, strokes, and impotence. Regular exercise lowers blood pressure, raises the level of protective high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, stimulates weight loss, decreases inflammation and helps prevent blood clots. The Harvard Alumni Study found that the incidence of heart attack was proportionate to the amount of exercise performed. Men exercising less than 2,000 kcal a week had 64% higher risk of heart attack than those who exercised at higher rates. Another study showed that a three-month period of intense physical activity, can alternatively increase HDL cholesterol as much as 33% and decrease in LDL cholesterol as much as 9% reducing chances of Cardiovascular diseases. Even Non-intense exercises as much as 20 minutes of walking reduces 19% of such chances. b. Deduction in the Heart Rate (increase in lifespan) The average resting heart rate for an normal adult ranges between 60 to 100 beats per minute (The table below describes the pulse rates for different age groups). Generally, a lower heart rate implies a more efficient heart function and a better cardiovascular system. For example, a well-trained athlete might have a normal resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute. Researchers have also found that men with fast resting heart rates are more likely to develop high blood pressure symptoms than those with slower rates. Some sympto... ... - Heart & Circulatory System. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . 3. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/long-work-hours-extra-weight-women-article-1.1112902 Images- "How Angina Pectoris Occurs?" Health Giants RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . 2. Vasagar, Jeevan, and Martin Williams. "Teachers Warned over Befriending Pupils on Facebook." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . 3. "Running in Cork, Ireland." : Running Marathons May Cause Damage to Your Heart. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .

Evaluation of Early Childhood Development

The early childhood stage of development is the time of physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Infants enter the world with a limited range of knowledge, skills and abilities. A child beginning to develop new motor, cognitive, language and social skills is a source of wonder for parents and caregivers, but sometimes may not be so much of a wonder. The study of development is a rich and varied subject, because sometimes factors may influence a child’s development to take an atypical route.Developmental psychology seeks to understand and explain how people grow and change through the entire lifespan. Researchers study the enormous range of influences including how genetics shape a child's development as well as how experiences play a role. Because of this, it would be a good idea to devise a developmental policy to monitor development and hence provide the necessary support and treatment for children who are having certain difficulties in their developmental proc ess, thus minimizing the challenges of family caregiving.Under psychological basis and using prior knowledge of policies, leadership skills, legal strategies and organisational dynamics a programme can be devised to inform policymakers and government agencies as well as health-specific caregiver organizations, on legislation and policies that can assist family caregivers, including community based supports etc. Methods to measure the impact and effectiveness of the program implemented will be taken by conducting interviews with several persons and experiments will also be done.The programme will be called ‘The Children’s Basic Integration’ and will be a faction under the American Psychological Association (APA) that targets the development and of children between 3-5 years of age, of early childhood, referred to as the Initiative vs. Guilt stage by Erik Erikson. During this stage, children begin to acquire a desire to copy adults around them and thus take initiat ive in creating play situations during play time. At this stage, Erikson states that children become involved in an ‘Oedipal Struggle’ and resolve this struggle through social role identification.Children at this stage become frustrated and experience a feeling of guilt if they do not obtain something that they naturally desire, if they are abused or neglected or feel as though they have done something wrong. This stage was chosen because a lot of behavioural patterns can be detected and identified, it is a relatively early stage to install change if necessary and they can take part in dialogue in acquiring data for the evaluation.

International Trade and Tariff Essay

Tariffs Explain the various impacts of an import tariff in small nations vs. large nations. The impact of an import tariff in a small nation is entirely unlike then an import tariff from a larger nation. When smaller nations imposes a tariff, it does not affect world prices, however the price of the importable commodity will start to rise, usually by the amount of the tariff for manufacturers and trade in the small nation. When large nations impose a tariff, it will reduce the volume of trade. Large nation tariffs also improve terms of the nation’s trade. Since the volume of trade is being reduced, it tends to lesson the nation’s welfare. However it also can improve the nation’s welfare. It depends on the welfare of the nation to if it actually rises or falls depending on the two conflicting forces. What are the three main reasons governments prefer using a tariff to restrict imports versus quotas? A few reasons why tariffs are better option than import quotas is because, tariffs can generate revenue for the Government, import quotas can lead to administrative corruption, and import quotas can cause smuggling. The reason the government can make money off of tariffs is because there can be a percentage put on imported goods that will generate extra money. There are millions of different things that are imported into a country and the small percentage of tariffs generates a lot of revenue that would be lost of the government unless their trade had an authorizing fee on goods being imported. This can lead to administrative corruption, if there are no restrictions on importing goods then the government has the ability to pick and choose who can import and who cannot. This can give the custom officials a lot of power since they would have the ability to favor and only allow certain corporations. Tariff system helps to rid the possibility of corruptions. This not just the price, but also the quantity sold through supply and demand. Smuggling can occur with an import quota when there are large shortages. A tariff cannot provide a set number on the goods or products that are coming into the country so the number of imports will increase when the demand for it goes up. Should our government use a weak dollar exchange rate policy to make imports more expensive in order to help our exporters? The weakening of the U. S. dollar means that the dollar has fallen in value compared other currency. The weak dollar is good for exports, but not good for importers. The value of currency will decrease when the demand for that specific currency is low, which will make importing goods more expensive. A weak dollar can make things difficult for exporters that are selling to the United States. If a foreign company wants to sell goods to the U. S. it either needs to up the price of the product or sell it at a lower price because of the exchange rate. What roles do the IMF and WTO play in trade and the use of tariffs? The IMF or International Monetary Fun is an global business of countries that strives to guarantee the constancy of the worldwide financial and economic system. The IMF tries to make sure that there is balanced growth to international trade, it promotes exchange constancy and helps to give countries a way to balance payment issues. Tariff rate data comes from the IMF database and the country’s authority figures. The WTO or World Trade Organization is a global company that works on the rules of trade between two countries. It helps to ensure that international trade moves smoothly and generously. It also gives countries a helpful and just outlet for dealing with arguments over importing issues. The WTO regulations permit a nation to defend certain businesses if the elimination of tariffs would have detrimental side effects, such as the loss of necessary national trade.

Microeconomics Versus Macroeconomics

Microeconomics Versus Macroeconomics Microeconomics and macroeconomics are two of the largest subdivisions of the study of economics wherein micro- refers to the observation of small economic units like the effects of government regulations on individual markets and consumer decision making and macro- refers to the big picture version of economics like how interest rates are determines and why some countries economies grow faster than others. According to comedian P.J. O’Rourke, â€Å"microeconomics concerns things that economists are specifically wrong about, while macroeconomics concerns things economists are wrong about generally. Or to be more technical, microeconomics is about the money you don’t have, and macroeconomics is about money the government is out of.† Although this humorous observation pokes fun at economists, the description is accurate. However, a closer observation of both fields of economic discourse will provide a better understanding of the basics of economic theory and study. Microeconomics: Individual Markets Those who have studied Latin know that the prefix â€Å"micro-â€Å" means â€Å"small,† so it shouldn’t be surprising that microeconomics is the study of small economic units. The field of microeconomics is concerned with things like consumer decision making and utility maximizationfirm production and profit maximizationindividual market equilibriumeffects of government regulation on individual marketsexternalities and other market side effects Put another way, microeconomics concerns itself with the behavior of individual markets, such as the markets for oranges, the market for cable television, or the market for skilled workers as opposed to the overall markets for produce, electronics, or the entire workforce. Microeconomics is essential for local governance, business and personal financing, specific stock investment research, and individual market predictions for venture capitalistic endeavors. Macroeconomics: The Big Picture Macroeconomics, on the other hand, can be thought of as the â€Å"big picture† version of economics. Rather than analyzing individual markets, macroeconomics focuses on aggregate production and consumption in an economy, the overall statistics that macroeconomists miss. Some topics that macroeconomists study include effects of general taxes such as income and sales taxes on output and pricescauses of economic upswings and downturnseffects of monetary and fiscal policy on economic healtheffects of and process for determining  interest ratescauses for some economies growing faster than other economies To study economics at this level, researchers must be able to combine different goods and services produced in a way that reflects their relative contributions to aggregate output. This is generally done using the concept of the  gross domestic product  (GDP), and goods and services get weighted by their market prices. The Relationship Between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics There is an obvious relationship between microeconomics and macroeconomics in that aggregate production and consumption levels are the result of choices made by individual households and firms, and some macroeconomic models explicitly make this connection by incorporating microfoundations. Most of the economic topics covered on television and in newspapers are of the macroeconomic variety, but it’s important to remember that economics is about more than just trying to figure out when the economy is going to improve and what the Fed is doing with interest rates, its also about observing local economies and specific markets for goods and services. Although many economists specialize in one field or the other, no matter which study one pursues, the other will have to be utilized in order to understand the implications of certain trends and conditions on both the micro and macro economic levels.

Articles of Confederation AP essays

Articles of Confederation AP essays In 1777, the states enacted the Articles of Confederation to preserve democracy and prevent tyranny from those who sought to centralize power. But in their efforts to keep their independence, the states created a weak central government that was unable to improve an insolvent economy and poor foreign relations. Although the confederation gained some substantial powers, the crucial powers to tax and regulate commerce remained with the individual states. Each state passed their own currency, and therefore created inflation and made "Continentals" in circulation worthless. Compounded with restrictions on trade to Great Britain and down the Mississippi River, the states became mired in a heavy depression. John Fiske, of the conservative view, realized the precarious situation when he stated "the Nation was under the verge of collapse and near-anarchy and that the five year period after 1783 was the most critical time in American History."Robert Morris, secretary of finance, resorted to desperate measures with the Newburgh conspiracy in an attempt to raise funds for a depleted military; but it took an impassioned plea from General Washington himself to put down the rebellion. Furthermore, the Articles allowed for personal rights abuses such as unsubstantiated foreclosures on farms and ill advised loans to certain " small groups", the antithesis of republicanism. As Arthur Schlesinger Jr. stated "the Articles were to impotent to govern." Lastly, no judicial system was provided for to enforce laws and therefore allowed for insurrections such as Shays Rebe llion. In addition, to pass legislation required a unanimous consent and more than not a single dissenting vote prevented the ratification of strong economic bills. Overall, the Articles were ineffective in improving the economic state of the new nation. Although Thomas Paine (Common Sense) believed that the Articles and decentralization was a logical choice of government after...

How Shampoo Works and the Chemistry Behind It

How Shampoo Works and the Chemistry Behind It You know shampoo cleans your hair, but do you know how it works? Here is a look at shampoo chemistry, including how shampoos work  and why its better to use shampoo than soap on your hair. What Shampoo Does Unless youve been rolling around in mud, you probably dont have hair that is truly dirty. However, it may feel greasy and look dull. Your skin produces sebum, a greasy substance, to coat and protect hair and the hair follicle. Sebum coats the cuticle or outer keratin coat of each hair strand, giving it a healthy shine. However, sebum also makes your hair look dirty. An accumulation of it causes hair strands to stick together, making your locks look dull and greasy. Dust, pollen, and other particles are attracted to the sebum and stick to it. Sebum is hydrophobic. It waterproofs your skin and hair. You can rinse away salt and skin flakes, but oils and sebum are untouched by water, no matter how much you use. How Shampoo Works Shampoo contains detergent, much like you would find in dishwashing or laundry detergent or bath gel. Detergents work as surfactants. They lower the surface tension of water, making it less likely to stick to itself and able to bind with oils and soiling particles. Part of a detergent molecule is hydrophobic. This hydrocarbon portion of the molecule binds to the sebum coating hair, as well as to any oily styling products. Detergent molecules also have a hydrophilic portion, so when you rinse your hair, the detergent is swept away by the water, carrying sebum away with it. Other Ingredients in Shampoo Conditioning Agents:  Detergents strip away the sebum from your hair, leaving the cuticle exposed and susceptible to damage. If you use soap or dishwashing detergent on your hair, it will get clean, but it may look limp, lacking body and shine. Shampoo contains ingredients that replace the protective coating on the hair. Silicones detangle hair, smooth the hair cuticle and add shine. Fatty alcohols help prevent static and fly-away or frizzy hair.Shampoo typically is more acidic than soap, so it may contain ingredients to bring down the product of the pH. If the pH of shampoo is too high, the sulfide bridges in keratin can break, weakening or damaging your hair.Protectants:  Many shampoos contain additional ingredients intended to protect hair. The most common additive is sunscreen. Other chemicals protect against heat damage from hair dryers or styling aids, chemical damage from swimming pools, or build-up from styling products.Cosmetic Ingredients:  Shampoos contain aesthetic ingredients that dont affect how well the shampoo cleans your hair but may make shampooing more pleasant or affect the color or fragrance of your hair. These additives include pearlised ingredients, which add sparkle to the product and may leave a faint glimmer on hair, perfume to scent the shampoo and hair, and colorants. Most colorants wash out with shampoo, although some subtly tint or brighten hair. Functional Ingredients:  Some ingredients are added to shampoo to keep it uniformly mixed, thicken it so that it is easier to apply, prevent the growth of bacteria and mold, and preserve it to extend its shelf life. A Word About Lather Although many shampoos contain agents to produce a lather, the bubbles dont aid the cleaning or conditioning power of the shampoo. Lathering soaps and shampoos were created because consumers enjoyed them, not because they improved the product. Similarly, getting hair squeaky clean actually isnt desirable. If your hair is clean enough to squeak, it has been stripped of its natural protective oils.

Business Ethics Assignment 8_08 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Ethics 8_08 - Assignment Example It can reduce all the possible negative outcomes. Management of any organization can take right decision at right time by using this theory. Traditional utilitarianism has a couple of flavors. These are act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism states that right or wrong act depend on the situation or consequence. If outcome is good then it can be said that right strategy was applied for getting such positive outcome. Again in case of negative outcome, the opposite judgment can be observed. Rule utilitarianism is very simple by nature and it states that morality can be maintained by anyone by obeying moral rules. Now moral rules are basically those guidelines which provide maximum happiness to the maximum number of people (Taleff, 2009). The below mentioned considerations can be taken to determine what moral things have to do in any particular occasion. Utilitarianism is attractive to many persons as well as many organizations for different reasons. These reasons are as follows. From the organizational point of view this can be analyzed that different people have different interests and sometimes conflict arises from such different interests. It hampers the organizational activities. Utilitarianism helps to trade off between interests of different parties and reduce egoism in a particular group. It always focuses on the actual interest. Self interest is maintained by using this theory after fulfilling the group interest. This theory is attractive because people can judge the right and wrong decision by using utilitarianism. Second reason for the attractiveness of utilitarianism theory is reflection of morality. This theory is simple, powerful and rigorous system of morality. It establishes relationship between relatively correlated basic principles. This morality helps people to understand the wrong and right decision. This theory constructs a consistent and powerful philosophy and this philosophy can be applied in any situation

Portfolio for Managing business responsibilities Essay

Portfolio for Managing business responsibilities - Essay Example This makes its more complex to sustain their social relationships. Recently, I had to watch two of my friends, male and female of medium age, argue after they had failed to agree on the way they should organize their group meetings. They failed to agree on the day they could meet to handle their assignments. Since each member proposed a day of their own when they would be free, they failed to reach a concession since every one of them wanted their decision be taken into consideration. At the end, they started shouting at one another and this resulted to a serious argument that I had to intervene. My boyfriend felt that the lady should submit to his suggestion while the lady felt that the boy was exercising male chauvinism and this was against the principle of equality which she upheld. On intervention, I advised them to calm down and avoid the row that was now attracting a larger crowd. I felt that it was not a good idea for each person to pursue personal interests as this was would be a selfish behaviour that may affect the process of socializatio n. Evaluating the idea of cultural influence in the social realms as expressed by many scholars, personality crashes arise due to the cultural social behaviour that people acquire in their traditional lifestyle (Melà © & Sà ¡nchez-Runde, 2013: Li, 2007). While the two friends may have given selfish propositions, their ideas may be in a way regarded as correct. They followed the decision making process that they feel is most suitable. While my male friend seems to have been brought up in a society where the males make decisions, the lady seems to have been brought up in a culture where females are empowered and they have the same rights to make decisions. Therefore, this kind of crash was a result of their cultural understandings. However, it would be important for them to learn to listen to each other so as to sustain their social relationship. They should solve their problems more easily by

Sales Operations and Planning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sales Operations and Planning - Assignment Example The sales team will support the promotion mix through demonstrating professional understanding of the product. Their customer-centered attitude is expected to generate satisfaction and the confidence to buy the products among customers (Belch & Belch, 2006). Their appearance through dressing in branded T-shirts and caps will be significant in promoting the product as well as the company’s presence in the UK. The salespeople will offer essential advice to customers regarding the application of products to ensure that they derive maximum utility. The job descriptions of salespeople and their remuneration plans also need to reflect the corporate objectives. This alignment is a significant step aimed at maintaining the financial well-being of the company. It motivates the sales team to engage in activities that enhance corporate objectives by avoiding sever connections between what the organization is trying to accomplish and the aims of the sales team. If the alignment is not est ablished, there is a likelihood of the sales people overemphasizing on certain products or activities that they associate with maximal gains in terms of compensation while disregarding others (Stone & Jacobs, 2001). This may negatively influence the company’s market expansion especially in the efforts for new product launch as salespeople focus much of their energies on the already established products in the market and fewer efforts to the slow-moving and less known products.  

Assessment for Training Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Assessment for Training Project - Assignment Example The training program can have a positive influence on teachers’ performance improvement. Teacher training program is a type of adult training which facilitates to develop personal knowledge. The teacher training program is designed to provide a context regarding the requirements of teachers and their desired learning activities (Wati 79-104). Nowadays, education is going through a serious transformation with the arrival of globalization, increase in social along with demographical diversity among students, the introduction of the knowledge-oriented economy and initiation of information and communication technology (ICT). Thus, traditional teaching activities are unable to generate skilled employees which are required for fulfilling the demand of present employment market. These changes have resulted in the development of the teacher-training program by Microsoft to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning procedure (Al-Hattami, Muammar and Elmahdi 39-45). In accordance with the opinions of Teachers Forum organized in 2005, it has been observed that most teachers believe that they are required to offer different learning experiences to the students. In the Teachers Forum of 2006, the teachers insisted on facilitating innovative learning activities by involving in authentic and meaningful tasks which can develop critical thinking and enhance their problem-solving ability within their respective environment (Microsoft Corporation 1-21). AREA OF TRAINING NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED With respect to education, it is worth mentioning that the education system, designed for grandparents is not appropriate for present day’s students. Educational systems in various schools have not changed fundamentally in over a century. Thus, the key question arrives in this context is that if the traditional educational system is able to satisfy the requirements of the students of future generation? (Microsoft, â€Å"Teacher Training Programs†) Educa tional investigators have long proposed the schools to follow a new model of teaching and learning. One key priority with respect to teaching is to alter the core of schooling from teacher-centered to pedagogy-based understanding of students’ thought procedure, their abilities to learn and use theoretical concepts in order to derive the solution of practical problems. In order to understand the areas that must be addressed in Teachers Training Program a questionnaire has been designed for teachers (see appendix). About 50 teachers from various schools have been surveyed for recognizing their requirements. According to the outcome of questionnaire, it can be recognized that most of the teachers have not participated in any professional development training activities in last three years. Among the respondents who have stated that they participated in training programs in last three years depicted their participation in courses which are particularly related with their respecti ve subject areas, educational conferences and seminars and formal school arrangement training. The respondents also stated that the training programs

Using Power in Achieving Different Goals Assignment

Using Power in Achieving Different Goals - Assignment Example Barack Obama's eloquence has been fundamental in establishing trust and influencing other people within the society. Such influence has been fundamental in winning elections throughout his political career. He has effectively utilized power to influence multitudes and gain essential support from different socio-cultural groups. He has used power in achieving different goals from promises made during the camping periods. Commitment and accountability have been fundamental traits in the utilization of power by President Obama. He always appears calm and relaxed despite the challenges facing the government in containing growing socio-economic issues, within the country. Effectively members of the government have been empowered to perform and make decisions regarding the state at the international level (Nye Jr, Rachman, Mead, & Mearsheimer, 2012). Many of the ambassadors perform their responsibilities independent of governmental influence. This has been an incremental approach to ensuri ng the passing of power and subsequently gaining positive benefits. Many international relationships have been established and restored following this careful transfer of presidential power to ambassadors. Within the real world, individuals become advised to refrain from hoarding power in seeking to ensure that power empowers others. The transfer of power must be undertaken carefully to eliminate the possibility of misusing such power. The element of communication remains incremental in ensuring power enhances social agendas and not personal benefits (Bal, Campbell, Steed, & Meddings, 2008). The language utilized in communications must, therefore, be clear and eloquent in delivering messages. This effectively results in insufficient understanding between communicating individuals or centers. Individuals can establish relationships based on an understanding of each other, and reflection of their situations and emotions. Fundamentally, individuals exhibit power through their capacity to transmit ideologies and perceptions  effectively, to other individuals.  

Managing Change- Strategies for mergers and acquisition AOL and TIME Essay

Managing Change- Strategies for mergers and acquisition AOL and TIME WARNER - Essay Example In both the cases of mergers and acquisitions, two separate entities decide to come together; a change is certain to happen in the new amalgamated set-up. The change is expected in the company policies, management hierarchy, and customer relations among other major things. And if the merger is that of the largest merger till date, we can understand the proximity of the change. Merger of Time Warner with America Online proves the fact. Beginning its journey with the name of Quantum Computer Services, America Online (popularly known as AOL) has been one of the most successful brands in the world of internet. Proving the fears of many experts wrong, AOL was successful even after the free internet service providers entered the market. AOL also successfully survived the dotcom bust when many of its competitors had to shut their business. For a long time Time Warner has been a part of various mergers and acquisitions. The company, Time Warner, was formed in 1990 when Time, Inc and Warner Communication decided to merge together. It has a wide array of business initiatives ranging from producing films, publishing books, broadcasting, etc. Some of its leading brands are Time, CNN, Warner Brothers. It was early January of the year 2000 when the biggest corporate merger was announced as an all stock transaction. But there were certain issues to be settled before the deal saw day’s light. After about a year, on 11th January 2001, with the approval of FCC, the deal was signed of making AOL Time Warner, the largest media and entertainment company in the world. Though, both the companies claimed it was ‘a merger of equals’, but actually AOL shareholders owned 55% stake of the new company and the remaining 45% stake of AOL Time Warner belonged to the shareholders of Time Warner (McCullagh D., December 2000). The new company initially traded at the New York Stoke Exchange with

Using Power in Achieving Different Goals Assignment

Using Power in Achieving Different Goals - Assignment Example Barack Obama's eloquence has been fundamental in establishing trust and influencing other people within the society. Such influence has been fundamental in winning elections throughout his political career. He has effectively utilized power to influence multitudes and gain essential support from different socio-cultural groups. He has used power in achieving different goals from promises made during the camping periods. Commitment and accountability have been fundamental traits in the utilization of power by President Obama. He always appears calm and relaxed despite the challenges facing the government in containing growing socio-economic issues, within the country. Effectively members of the government have been empowered to perform and make decisions regarding the state at the international level (Nye Jr, Rachman, Mead, & Mearsheimer, 2012). Many of the ambassadors perform their responsibilities independent of governmental influence. This has been an incremental approach to ensuri ng the passing of power and subsequently gaining positive benefits. Many international relationships have been established and restored following this careful transfer of presidential power to ambassadors. Within the real world, individuals become advised to refrain from hoarding power in seeking to ensure that power empowers others. The transfer of power must be undertaken carefully to eliminate the possibility of misusing such power. The element of communication remains incremental in ensuring power enhances social agendas and not personal benefits (Bal, Campbell, Steed, & Meddings, 2008). The language utilized in communications must, therefore, be clear and eloquent in delivering messages. This effectively results in insufficient understanding between communicating individuals or centers. Individuals can establish relationships based on an understanding of each other, and reflection of their situations and emotions. Fundamentally, individuals exhibit power through their capacity to transmit ideologies and perceptions  effectively, to other individuals.  

Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anselm of Canterbury - Essay Example God â€Å"cannot be even thought of as not existing† (Anselm, 360). Having made the existence of God a given, Anselm defines God as the greatest thing that can be thought of. God is superlative, because the human mind, created by God, cannot conceive of anything greater than its creator, who exists eternally throughout the ages. The rest of his argument proceeds from this definition. If the perfection of God is not accepted, Anselm’s argument does not hold. God exists in understanding, because the concept of God as â€Å"something than which nothing greater than be thought of† can be understood. Something which exists in reality is greater than something which exists only in understanding. If God exists only in understanding, he cannot be the greatest. Since Anselm has established that God is the greatest, and nothing can be greater than God, if follows that God must exist in reality. Therefore, Anselm’s conception of God as the greatest, as Perfect, is the very foundation of his argument for God’s existence. If Anselm’s belief in the ‘Perfect God’ is discarded, his ‘proof’ of God’s existence must be discarded along with

African American Dance Essay Example for Free

African American Dance Essay Assignment: After viewing the video Dance on the Wind: Memoirs of a Mississippi Shaman what is your opinion of the connection that Mr. Washington makes between African dance and African American Dance? Do you agree or disagree? Please be specific as to why and use examples. If you agree give an example of a popular African American dance in which you see the connection with African Dance. Your assignment should be in essay format and a minimum of one page typed. My Response: The connection in my opinion is the Mr. Washington made a connection between African-American Dance from his child-hood memories because his parents had to complete personalities as for his mother’s side of the family he took the memories of the dancing in church and being in the mist of the Holy Spirit and brainstormed some stick figures and contemplated on how his body could smoothly get through each step flawlessly. As for his father side of the family enjoyed dancing every. Saturday and he realized the common factor was the rhythm and blues and that they each danced to feel freedom and immortality and to show enjoyment and fulfillment of hard work. As he grew older he gained more access to the world and traveling. So he went a paid his ancient ancestors, he was amazed at what he saw and immediately put himself in his ancestors shoes. Culturally he is an American but religiously, spiritually he is an African American. So the connection was the rhythm and blues and the ancestors’ roots of music.

On becoming white :: Ethnicity Personal Narrative Racial

On becoming white As a European immigrant in the USA, I have encountered many new cultural phenomena in the last 4 _ years that have challenged me to perceive who I am differently. This experience has been even more polarized by the fact that I have lived most of that time in Los Angeles, a melting pot to be reckoned with. Coming to America, I expected these adaptations to my Irish self but the intensity of becoming cognizant of my label of 'whiteness' has mocked the limitations of my anticipations. This cognizance really ensued when I first started work as an educational therapist in a residential placement for severely emotionally disturbed teenage girls. Being in such a arbitrary position of power was difficult enough with people who have issues with control and lack of respect from elders but I also happened to be the only male ever in this position at the facility and a "white guy" to boot. Ninety percent of my clients happened to be Latina or African American. This ethnic flash point did not initially bother me because of my lack of awareness of its existence and my naive determination that it was not important for my therapeutic and educational goals. However, of course I had not really considered at that time what being 'white' really entails in this society. Consideration of one's identity is obviously key to successful educational and therapeutic interventions but it took the actual experience of being what I call "white-washed" to make me realize that skin color may a ctually have something important to do with one's perceived identity. The incident actually occurred in my home in a banal everyday interaction with a plumber who was fixing our shower. Firstly, the plumber who was Caucasian continually bombarded his younger, Latino assistant with racial insults mostly to the tune of "you stupid Mexican". When he realized that we were staring at his comments he explained that his assistant "gets it from his mother's side". This young man was in fact the plumber's son! He then went onto talking about how America is today, and how being a fellow American, I should understand that. Of course I immediately responded with: "I'm not American," to which he countered: "Oh! I thought you were white!.....I mean American." I think that this slip by the plumber reveals something of great importance about attitudes, assumptions and beliefs about ethnic identity that is very open to semiotic analysis.

Essay --

A camp focused on not only torture but death. something so permanent, so final. thousands of prisoners thrown in this camp every day just to be killed (about 800,000). With no rhyme or reason, besides the thought of the jews being completely worthless and not even deserving of living on this earth and breathing the air. The logic in this time is completely lost, they jews were treated no better than dirt under the guards shoes. On a list of the nine worst concentration camps Treblinka is the second. ( the first being the worst.) This camp in particular has gas chambers made to look like showers. even including shower faucets and tile.With pipes running across the ceiling which of course was designed to appear as pipes for the water when in reality the pipes were filled with carbon monoxide gas ( a deadly gas). When the prisoners piled in they were gassed to death.The guards often referred to the tunnels to the chambers as â€Å" the road to heaven†. The other prisoners were sometimes just machine gunned or even â€Å"spilled onto the railroad platform† Bodies were often thrown into huge ditches located east of the chambers. Containing nothing but filthy, scrawny, and hopeless bodies. Five thousand to seven thousand Jews arrived each day increases to about 12,000 a day, though thousands were dead on arrival. This camp was the the last camp whose sole purpose was â€Å"extermination†. It was only fifty miles from the large city of warsaw, which blows my mind that people will still fully confidently try to convince people that the camps never happened. It became known as Treblinka I when the death camp, Treblinka II, was built. The camp was laid out in an irregular rectangle, 400 m by 600 m, surrounded by barbed wire and anti- tank spanish hors... ...revolt took place, approximately two hundred managed to break out. Only sixty of those who escaped were alive at the end of the war to tell the world about the horrors of the awful, terrific camp called Treblinka. When this final gassing was completed, the camp area was ploughed over and trees were planted. The camp was turned into a farm, a guard then settled with his family to protect the crime scene. Perhaps because people were very interested in the rumors they were hearing about what the germans had been conducting in this camp. I would find it hard to believe too, in order to take in all the cold hard facts I also would want to see it with my own eyes. It was because of all the other people who also felt this way that the retired guard felt obligated to â€Å"protect and or guard† the historical area of land where the unforgettable and unbelievable took place. 

Indicate a Person who has had a Significant Influence on you, and Describe that Influence

Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. Cholera was prevalent in the U.S. in the 1800s before modern water and sewage treatment systems eliminated its spread by contaminated water. Only about 10 cases of cholera are reported each year in the U.S. and half of these are acquired abroad. Rarely, contaminated seafood has caused cholera outbreaks in the U.S.However, cholera outbreaks are still a serious problem in other parts of the world, where cholera affects an estimated 3 to 5 million people and causes more than 100,000 deaths each year. The disease is most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine. Common locations include parts of Africa, south Asia, and Latin America. If you are traveling to one of those areas, knowing the following cholera facts can help protect you and you r family.Cholera CausesVibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is usually found in food or water contaminated by feces from a person with the infection. Common sources include:Municipal water supplies Ice made from municipal water Foods and drinks sold by street vendors Vegetables grown with water containing human wastesRaw or undercooked fish and seafood caught in waters polluted with sewage When a person consumes the contaminated food or water, the bacteria release a toxin in the intestines that produces severe diarrhea. It is not likely you will catch cholera just from casual contact with an infected person.Cholera SymptomsSymptoms of cholera can begin as soon as a few hours or as long as five days after infection. Often symptoms are mild. But sometimes they are very serious. About one in 20 people infected have severe watery diarrhea accompanied by vomiting, which can quickly lead to dehydration. Although many infected people may have minimal or no symptoms, they can still contribute to spread of the infection. Signs and symptoms of dehydration include:Rapid heart rateLoss of skin elasticity (the ability to return to original position quickly if pinched) Dry mucous membranes, including the inside of the mouth, throat, nose, and eyelidsLow blood pressure Thirst Muscle cramps If not treated, dehydration can lead to shock and death in a matter of hours.Yellow fever is caused by a virus. The yellow fever virus is a single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the Flavivirus genus. After transmission of the virus occurs, it replicates in regional lymph nodes and subsequently spreads via the bloodstream. This widespread dissemination can affect the bone marrow, spleen, lymph nodes, kidneys, and liver, in addition to other organs. Tissue damage to the liver, for example, can lead to jaundice and disrupt the body's blood-clotting mechanism, leading to the hemorrhagic complications sometimes seen with yellow fever. Yellow fever is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes.Various species of Aedes and Haemagogus mosquitoes serve as vectors and are responsible for the transmission to human and nonhuman primates, which serve as reservoirs for the disease. Three transmission cycles for yellow fever have been identified. Sylvatic (jungle) cycle: In tropical rain forests, infected monkeys pass the virus to mosquitoes that feed on them. These infected mosquitoes then bite humans who enter the rain forest for occupational (for example, loggers) or recreational activities. Intermediate (savannah) cycle: In humid or semi-humid regions of Africa, mosquitoes that breed around households and in the wild (semi-domestic mosquitoes) infect both humans and monkeys.The virus can be transmitted from monkeys to humans, or from human to human by the mosquitoes. This is the most common type of outbreak in Africa. Urban cycle: When infected humans introduce the virus into urban areas with large numbers of unvaccinated individuals, infected m osquitoes (Aedes aegypti) transmit the disease from human to human. This form of transmission can lead to large epidemics.

Distribution of US Budget in Military and Education

Even though the Cold War era is a distant memory, encased in glass forever like some museum piece, our government is still spending as if the Soviet Union was in its prime. If the arms race is a forgotten memory, then why is the military still spending 86% of what it was spending during the Cold War. It†s not that us Americans do not want a solid military, we just believe that our military is wasting billions of dollars at the expense of our children†s education and well being. 50 years ago our country, and the entire world was in disparate need of a strong U.S. military. We inflated our military budget, and gave the government and private businesses an enormous appetite. Without a major threat to the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, our government seems to be in competition with itself. 50 years ago we sent tons and tons of troops overseas to fight in a foreign land, while we pumped private businesses up with the manufacturing of military equipment. The need for such products and the need for an over-healthy military allowance is long gone. While we sunk billions after billions of taxpayer†s money on wars that we were boisterously proud to spend (it gave us all the prestige we could ever ask for), our Allies were investing in their children†s education and well being. The result now is that while we have the most elite military capabilities, our children†s educational level is extremely under developed. European and Japanese children significantly outperform American children in math and upper-level reading. This should not be too surprising, our children are studying history books that are from a decade ago. This creates difficult obstacles for our children to keep up on current politics and other global events. Also the over crowding of classrooms makes it extremely difficult for your child to get that personalized learning which may determine his or her ability to learn at all. Every child learns at a different rate and possibly in different ways, this makes it virtually impossible for teachers to tap into every child†s full learning potential. If your child needs that extra, personalized attention, but is not â€Å"defined† as handicapped their specific learning needs will most likely be overlooked and that may be the beginning of your child†s inability to learn. According to a study done by the state of Tennessee, reducing classroom size in early grades (K-3rd) can improve a child†s performance even after being placed back into their regular sized class. Another major problem hindering our children†s education is the fact that the teachers with the priceless responsibility of developing our child†s mind are absolutely underpaid. Teachers barely make an honest living and are often subliminal role models to our young students. Although there are countless exceptionally dedicated teachers in America, a significantly higher salary would ensure the quality of almost all teachers. Remember what we were taught about incentives at a young age, the carrot in front of the rabbit, well that would definitely apply for these individuals we need to count on everyday. So, where is all of the money going to come from to improve our children†s education, well, remember our friend with that uncontrollable appetite? During the Cold War†s prime the U.S. was spending $325 billion a year. And today, with the Cold War boxed up and put on a shelf, the military is still spending $290 billion a year (NCR,1999). This is an alarming figure that we are spending on a military without any outside threat to contend with, in fact it seems to be their only real mission is to play servant to the United Nations, fighting little skirmishes in countries that don†t want our help. One would be hopeful that since we are in an era of peace time that we could enjoy â€Å"peace dividends.† However, the military and those private sector businesses that created such an enormous appetite refuse to exercise a Post-Cold War diet. Maybe we need to e-mail the pentagon, they might be reading our children†s decade old history books, in that case they wouldn†t know that the Berlin Wall is down and the Soviet Union has collapsed. Another astonishing fact is that our country has become the world†s largest arms dealer, selling to almost any country with the money to do business. And if they can†t afford them, our government will put them on a payment plan, acting much like a scene right out of The Godfather. Is this our government, or is this Don Corleone, striking deals with some pretty shady characters. One can†t help wondering where all of this cold hard cash is going from these deals. It is no mystery that our government budgets are in desperate need of reform, well, there are active groups lobbying to change the spending habits of our government. One of the most effective of these groups is the Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, which is comprised of influential individuals like Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry†s; and former assistant secretary of state, Lawrence Korb, along with a cabinet of ex-military and big business leaders. The group is most certainly not an anti-military faction, however they are dedicated to refocusing the military†s useless spending (NCR, 1999). They are not opposed to our military having the best equipment possible, that is if someone were to donate it to them. If the decision is for the military to have a great new ship, or for our children to have a better education, of course the military is going to have to make due. Currently the federal government only participates in 7% of the funding for our schools, while the state and the local community split the rest. This is an raises enormous concerns due to the fact that poorer communities are at a significant disadvantage. Some communities can spend up to five times as much as less fortunate ones (NATIONAL PTA, 1996). To achieve these goals for a better future for our kids and further more, our country, we need to make education our biggest priority. Adding up the military†s inflated $290 billion a year, and comparing it to what†s left over for all other spending, including education, a meager $246 billion (NCR, 1999). This is an insult to our children†s development as growing intellectuals. 6% of the entire budget is allocated for our children†s education, this states the true fact that their education is not important. The money is truly there, we simply need to redirect it and our governments priorities. Like stated by Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, † The winners and losers are not going to be determined by the size of their gunboats, but by the level of their children†s level of education.†

Four stages of the learning cycle Essay

During our final chapter, we discussed the four stages of the learning cycle. The four stages of transformational learning are as follows: recognizing a significant problem, confronting it intensely, finding a solution, then integrating a new perspective and a new set of assumptions into ones’ life pattern. I think that a lot of times people go through life not realizing when they have a problem. Therefore, acknowledging your problem is most definitely the first step in learning from it. When you realize that there is a problem, you must confront the problem head on to find a solution. Once you have found a solution, you need to incorporate it into your life. These four stages are important in any learning experience. The transformational experience that I will use for my example is very personal. I used to be in a very abusive marriage. My marriage was damaging to me as a person, and damaging to my children because it prohibited me from making anything of myself. I would always make excuses for my lack of productivity, stating that I couldn’t do anything with my life because my husband wouldn’t let me. Finally, in 2011, I realized that I was wasting my life. The only thing that my daughter was ever going to learn from me, was how to let someone else run there life and impact her choices. We would never have had a normal life! When I realized what I was doing to myself and to my kids, I knew that I had a significant problem. I confronted the problem, and I was very intense about it. I tried marriage counseling, personal counseling, and biblical counseling. I tried talking with my ex, and I sought advice from many people whom I really believed could help. After exhausting my resources, I knew that the only logical solution was to take my children out of the abusive situation and start from scratch. I chose to go first to the police for help, and then to battered women’s shelter. The women’s shelter helped us to move away and start over. I have now been away from him for a little over two years, and I am in my first healthy relationship. By integrating my new perception, I was able to go farther in the past year than I ever did in all of the years of my former relationship. I am now a business owner, I am in school, and I am getting married to a wonderful man who loves me and my children. My children now get to grow up in a loving family and a healthy environment. I am now able to say with confidence that I am doing my best to be an example for them. This was most definitely a transformational learning experience for me. I think that in my experience the main stage that applied in my life, was the integration stage. It is often easier to recognize a problem, and even to find a solution, than it is to follow through on change. Often times the follow through is not so simple. There were numerous times during that relationship where I knew the problem, and the solution was apparent, however I didn’t believe in myself to integrate the solution it into my life. I believe that truly integrating a new perspective, and changing your assumptions is a very difficult stage to master. I am glad that I was able to make it through that final stage, and to become the person I am today. I still have a long way to go, but I am proud to be so far from who I once was.

What are the key influences that have shaped the development of Human Essay

What are the key influences that have shaped the development of Human resources Management in South Korea over the last thirty years - Essay Example The success of industrial organizations in this country is extensively attributed to both management styles and work attitudes. The extraordinary growth of the Korean economy for the last 30 years has got the attraction of academics and business people from around the world. The country got a real annual growth rate of about 8 per cent in gross national product during this time. Growth in the corporate sector was prominent and in fact shaped the basis of the economic growth. However, it had many problems despite its quantitative growth (Park 2001). Bearing in mind that the success of HRM development in the South Korea was remarkably high, the only growth factor cannot give explanation all of performance of this country in human resource development. Therefore, it is not just growth but special characteristics of Korean growth that have in fact contributed to the growth of education. (Mabey 1998) The current economic recession has affected every country of the world. Over the last two years, businesses around the world have been hit by regional economic crisis. In Asian countries, currency crisis and the attendant business slump led to different approaches within the businessmen and financial experts for reducing waste and creating greater efficiencies. The South Korean economy which dodged the recession with a narrow margin has little impact on its business structure. The tight money policies enacted by the government forced Korean firms to reform in order to alter organizational competence and profits. Although there are several historical factors which boosted South Korean economy after 1950, the period of 1945-1961 has roots of HRM development and economic boom in the country. During this period people of this country took great interest in gaining education which was the result of strong social indicators and economic motivations. During the period of 1945-1961, education played a great role in changing the lives of Koreans. The

Organisational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Organisational Analysis - Essay Example She meets with an accident, after which she asks Ed Masry, a lawyer to sue the person who hit her. Ed promises her to win the case, but as the only evidence is that of the testimony of Erin herself, the twice-divorced, unemployed single mother stands no chance against a socially respected doctor. In her desperation to find a job, she accuses Ed Masry of failing her and forces him to give a clerk’s job in his own office. Though she lacks the necessary skills and prior experience, she goes about picking her way through the job. While filing papers one day, she comes across a real estate case in Hinkley. What grabs her attention is the fact that there are medical records of the Jensens family amidst the various real estate papers. Taking the permission from Ed to dig further, she goes to Hinkley to meet the family. Her investigations unfold a large conspiracy by the billion dollar company PG&E. The company has been knowingly polluting the area around Hinkley by leaking a toxic chemical called Hexavalent Chromium into the underground water, which causes serious ailments like Cancer. To cover this up, the company had offered to buy the land around Hinkley, thereby resulting in the real estate case of Jensens. It soon becomes apparent to Erin that not just their client, but most of Hinkley’s residents are being affected by Hexavalent Chromium in one way or the other. Erin goes on to persuade Ed and the rest of the neighborhood to take on the mighty corporation through a legal suit. Her determined fight to win the â€Å"largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit†, forms the rest of the story. (Litoff 2011). Although the protagonist is not a typical employee nor does the story evolve around a big time organization, it is a story that is based on reality and has all the elements of an organizational life – individual goals and aspirations, social, cultural

Mayor Bloombergs Dedication to Arts in Education For New York Citys Essay

Mayor Bloombergs Dedication to Arts in Education For New York Citys Schools - Essay Example The 1970's were a time of fiscal crisis in New York City's public schools. Among the first items to be lopped from the education budgets were classes in the fine arts (Mandell, 2005). While the money would later return, the attitude at the top toward the arts did not change much - Mayor Giuliani even established a "decency commission" to determine what art would and would not be acceptable for public support, and even for public display (Steinhauer, 2005). Mayor Bloomberg, in stark contrast, has demonstrated a serious commitment to the arts in New York City. He has established Percent for Art, a policy that requires the consultation of the arts commission for any significant public-works project. Additionally, he has borrowed sculptures and paintings from galleries and museums across the city and placed them in public areas. He has donated more than $40 million to the Carnegie Corporation, for distribution to 162 cultural organizations in New York City (Steinhauer, 2005). ... Sharon Dunn, the new head of Arts Education for New York City schools, has said that "One of the areas identified as most in need of development is the need to acquaint school administrators with the benefits and elements of arts education." (Mandell, 2005). Under Mayor Bloomberg's leadership, the Department of Education secured a $1 million grant from the Bank of America, aimed at educating the leaders of New York City schools about the importance of culture in learning. Over 400 principals and local superintendents benefited from the Cultural Pass Program, which gave them free admission to 25 cultural institutions in New York City, as well as discounted admission to performances and concerts. According to Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, this program will "better acquaint principals with the many cultural and arts institutions available to their teacher and students across the City" and promote the idea of cultural organizations as "instructional resources" (NYC Department, 2004). Other objections to Mayor Bloomberg's education policy have included the following: an instruction plan that does not cover enough of the arts; insufficient and inequitable distribution of resources, and insufficient facilities and supplies; a shortage of qualified art instructors; and a "variation" in the quality of partnerships between schools and cultural organizations (NYC Council Report, 2003). A lot of these concerns boil down to one issue: money. While the current education budget includes $70 million for Project Arts, and while Mayor Bloomberg is committed to "focus on arts education to ensure that students learn about the arts and fully experience" the cultural life of New York City (Bloomberg, 2005), the City has a mammoth lawsuit to

The Gettysburg Address Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Gettysburg Address - Essay Example They constituted the last line of defense between Lee and the Union capital of Washington D.C. On the third day, the Confederate Army’s frontal assault was repulsed and the Battle of Gettysburg was won by the Union forces. This was the only battle waged in the North and resulted in 23,000 causalities for the Union Army. The Confederates lost 28,000 (BookRags Web site). In the aftermath of the battle, the dead lay unburied, or were hastily bundled into makeshift graves in the fields. Pennsylvania’s Governor, Andrew Curtin, commissioned a reputed local Attorney, David Wills, to purchase land to serve as an appropriate cemetery for the Union dead. This resulted in the acquisition of the 17 acres of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. While the work of reinterring the Union dead from the field graves to the cemetery was still in progress, the cemetery was formally dedicated on 19 November, 1863. At present, the cemetery is home to over 6,000 American service men who died in t he Civil War, Spanish-American War, the World Wars and the Vietnam War (Gettysburg.com Web site). On 19 November, 1863, President Lincoln, members of his Cabinet, Governors of the Northern States and Civil and Military Officials gathered at Gettysburg, along with a crowd of about 15,000 citizens. A crude platform had been constructed on the battlefield, with journalists seated on one side and the dignitaries on the other. The keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony was Edward Everett from Massachusetts, an ardent Unionist and renowned Orator, who was considered one of the best speakers of the time.

Guide to Mental Health Self-Help Support Group Experience Essay

Guide to Mental Health Self-Help Support Group Experience - Essay Example They touch the family, friends, and caregivers as well. How the symptoms are managed depends on a great degree on the amount of information provided by the mental health professional. In addition, the cultural perspective will often dictate the level of shame and stigma that must be overcome and how treatment will be provided. The medical model seeks to reinforce the importance of lifelong abstinence by encouraging the patient to attend counseling and twelve step groups. These support groups are frequently used as adjunctive interventions and are philosophically interwoven into many social and medical model treatment programs. Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) was founded in the 1930s by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, two alcoholics who discovered that they could maintain their sobriety by helping other alcoholics. AA is often referred to as the most effective and widely utilized treatment for addictions (Royce, 1981) and this is the primary reason why our group chose this mental health support group. Aside from this, it is now an international self-help fellowship which offers support to all people who want to quit drinking. Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous and other anonymous support groups are structured on the AA model and utilizes its â€Å"Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions† as the basis of their recovery program. The fellowship and principles offered at meetings encourage individuals to remain sober by taking life â€Å"one day at a time† and to work toward spiritual development and character change. Alcoholics Anonymous currently has more than one million members in the United States with 52,000 groups while they have almost 100,000 members in Canada with 45,000 groups. They also have members outside US and Canada averaging 730,000 distributed in more than 45,000 groups. They have a total of 2,082,980 members and 105,294 groups in their organization including the loners and members in

The Importance of Education Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Education Essay Can you believe that in some countries education is not free? And in â€Å"Pakistan†, the Taliban doesn’t let girls go to school because they think, that â€Å"God is a tiny, little conservative being who would send girls to hell†. Just because of going to school. In my opinion, the importance of education is undeniable for every single person. It goes without saying that education has a positive effect on human life. All people need to study, only with the advent of education can people gain knowledge open up their mind a little more. Apparently, people may become more useful and civilized if better educated. For example, in areas where residents are not able to receive an appropriate education, life cannot be as thriving and prosperous as locations where there is a high standard for education. In fact, education plays such a rudimentary role on our society that we cannot even imagine a life without it. It is a determined element for the civilization of human society. Not only does It helps us develop healthy surroundings but it also generates an advance community. As a matter of fact, everything we create today is based on the knowledge that we obtain throughout our life by way of education. That is to say, by working and living among foreigners some of the barriers between countries can be broken down, helping to create a more educated peaceful world. As to say diplomatic reaction would be of benefit to all. Malala said â€Å" We call upon the governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world†. I do agree with Malala, every child should have the opportunity to go to school and get some education that will help them have a better future, education is very important. Consequently, education is viewed as a vital key to success in life and knowledge has become every individual aim or concern, each one of us is born in a different medium and different social and cultural norms. However, most of us approve of educations positive effects on society. Therefore, ‘ Why do we need education?  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ is the issues to tackle, to get a better grip of this complex theme we have to distinguish three different types of education, there is the formal education, like school, the life time education, learning through difficult situations and the education by our parents. To lead a successful county we have to keep it on a standard level of education to be able to import the cultural heritage to the younger generation. There is again a division to be made between the inherited educated or knowledge and the education tough at school, education develops a meaningful outlook on life. As a result, education is most important in life like our basic needs food, clothes and shelter. With the beginning we learn how to interact with others how to make friends because of education. Furthermore, Malala said â€Å"Peace is necessary for education. In many parts of the world especially Pakistan and Afghanistan; terrorism, wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools. We are tired of these wars. Woman and children are suffering in many parts of the world in many ways. In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by the hurdles of extremism of decades. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at early age. Poverty, ignorance, racism and deprivation of basic rights are the main problems faced by both man and woman. To conclude, we can say that education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Education is the solution. Education first.

Analysing Helicopter Landing Gear

Analysing Helicopter Landing Gear The Landing gear, an important part of a helicopter, assists the helicopter to land. So, when the helicopter is in land condition, the landing gear should withstand the whole weight of the helicopter. Apart from this, it should also withstand the thrust while landing operation is on. The landing gear of a helicopter can be of three types: Skid type Wheel type The skid type landing gear is the simplest one and cheaper to manufacture. Some skids allow the helicopter to land even on water. If the helicopter need to land on hard surfaces (like runway) regularly, then some special kinds of shoe need to be attached to the skid. The shoe can be replaced upon wearing. The most commercial helicopter has the skid type landing gear. The wheel type landing gear is little complicated and costlier as compared to the skid types but the wheel type landing gear gives easier ground handling and advantageous while rough and crush landing. In our case, we have to design a landing gear suitable for landing on an air craft carrier. The landing condition can become really bad due to the vertical motion of the aircraft carrier. Considering this severe landing condition I have chosen to go ahead with the wheel type landing gear for this assignment. I have used ADAMS/View for creating the design models, ADAMS/Vibration for running the vibration analysis and ADAMS post processing for analyzing and plotting the results. Design of Landing Gear Mechanism Research on Existing Landing Gear From the earlier days of the aviation history, many concepts of the landing gears are used. I will explain few of them here: Landing gear with leaf springs: The uses of aluminum leaf springs are possible for the very light weight helicopter (around 300kg). The design looks attractive. Fig.1: Showing the concept of aluminum spring landing gear The concept of the heavy duty composite leaf spring is being experimented by some of the commercial aircraft manufacturer including AIRBUS. The main advantage of leaf spring concept is its reduced part count. Landing gear with shock absorber: Most commercial applications use shock absorbers for the design of the landing gears. Fig.2: Showing a typical shock absorber based landing gear design Based on the numbers and the positions of the tires, this type of landing gears are typically classified in nine configurations as shown in the below figure (fig.3). Fig.3: Showing classifications of shock based landing gear I have used the Twin configuration of tires for each of the landing gears and used total of three landing gears in my final design. However, before selecting the final design, I have studied one concept with two twin configuration landing gears at rear and one single configuration landing gear at front as well. Design Inputs Few of the design inputs were given along with the assignment and for others, either I googled out from the manufacturers specifications or assumed. All together I have used the following design inputs: Weight of the helicopter = 5126 Kg Length of the helicopter = 15.16 m Spacing between the two rear landing gear = 2.5 m Spacing between the front and the rear landing gear = 5 m Youngs modulus of steel = 2.7E11 N/m2 Density of steel = 7801 kg/m3 Poissons ratio of steel = 0.29 Youngs modulus of rubber = 5E6N/m2 Density of steel = 1100 kg/m3 Poissons ratio of steel = 0.3 Possible design options After doing the preliminary study of the existing available designs, two aspects had come to my mind before proceeding further: one, covering all the assignment tasks and two, simplicity. I was looking for coming out few design concepts, which are good enough to cover all the assignment tasks and simple enough to finish the assignment in time. And I came out with the following two concepts: Design option -1: In this concept, I have used two twin-configured rear landing gears and one single-configured front landing gear. Fig.4: Showing a real life example of the Design option-1 The three landing gears (one front and two rears) are connected to a triangular top frame made up of steel. The top steel frame in turn is bolted with the fuselage. Design option-2: In the second concept, I have used three twin landing gears. One, in front and two are at rear. Please not that I have used two wheels (twin) in front (in design option-1, I have used a single nose wheel in front). The three landing gears are connected with the triangular top frame. The top frame is bolted with the fuselage. Creations of the ADAM models ADAMS is a tool, develop by MSC and used extensively for simulating different types of mechanisms. It has different modules, out of which I have used the ADAMS/View here. I also used the ADAMS Vibration plug-in for simulating the action of the ocean waves on the stationary helicopter on the aircraft carrier. I have used the block option for creating the base (aircraft carrier platform), torus option for creating the wheels , the link option to create the axels, cylinder option to create the top frame (which will be bolted to the fuselage) and the spring option for creating the shock absorber springs . Also, I have made used of the options like point, contacts, joint, force, input channel and output channel. How? I will explain in details little later, while explaining each of the design concepts separately. Fig.5: Showing MSC ADAMS tools ADAMS model for the design option-1 Start ADAMS/View. In the main toolbox right click the Rigid body and click the Point to create the points each at the wheel centers, at the three vertex of the frame, at the top left corner of the base. Again in the main tool box, right click the Rigid body bar and click the Box to create the base. Click on the Torus of the Rigid Body bar to create all the five wheels. Click on the Link of the rigid body bar to create the three axels. Click on the Cylinder of the Rigid body bar to create all the three sides of the top frame. Use the Merge two bodies of the rigid body bar to merge all the three sides of the top frame into one. Under Joint bar, select Revolute to connect the wheels with the respective axels. Under Forces bar, select Translational Spring-Damper to connect the axels and the respective vertices of the triangular top frame. Create sliding joints between the base and back ground and between the top frame and back ground. Under Forces bar, select Contact to create the contact between the wheels and base. Finally, the design option-1 ADAMS model should look like below: Fig.6: showing the ADAMS model of design option-1 ADAMS model for the design option-2 Following the similar procedure as described for creating the ADAMS model for design option-1, I have created the Design option-2 (with twin in front). The ADAMS model of the design option-2 looks like below: Fig.7: Showing the ADAMS model of design option-2 Comparisons of the design options After finishing the ADAMS model for both the design concepts, I run the Normal landing analysis on both design option models. The data used for the Normal landing analysis for both the design options are as below: Vertical descent speed of the top frame = 0.5 m/sec Vertical upward speed of the base = 0 m/sec Spring Stiffness coefficient= 30 N/mm Spring damping coefficient =1 Ns/mm Spring preload = 17000 N I got the following results: Fig.8: Showing the acceleration plot of the top triangular frame for Design option-1 and the Design option-2. The above plot (fig.8) is showing that the acceleration of the top frame for the design option-1 is higher than that for the design option-2. Fig.9: Showing the Z-direction reaction force plot of the joint between the top frame and the back ground (space) for Design option-1 and the Design option-2. The above plot (fig.9) is showing that the design concept-1 is producing lots of Z- direction force, the force that can affect the stability of the helicopter. So, on the basis of the above analysis, I have chosen the Design option-2 for further study. Results and Calculations Spring Calculations Sprung mass = 5126 kg Maximum acceptable acceleration = 0.3 m/s2 Preload on each spring = 5126*(9.81+0.3)/3 = 17274 N Dynamic Analysis Results Normal landing Normal landing analysis is performed based on the following conditions: Vertical descent speed of the top frame = 0.5 m/sec Vertical upward speed of the base = 0 m/sec Spring Stiffness coefficient= 30 N/mm, 50 N/mm, 70 N/mm Spring damping coefficient =1 Ns/mm Spring preload = 17274 N Fig.10: Showing normal landing analysis of the design option-2 for different spring rate Hard landing Hard landing analysis is performed based on the following conditions: Vertical descent speed of the top frame = 3 m/sec Vertical upward speed of the base = 3 m/sec Spring Stiffness coefficient= 30 N/mm, 50 N/mm, 70 N/mm Spring damping coefficient =1 Ns/mm Spring preload = 17274 N Fig.11: Showing hard landing analysis of the design option-2 for different spring rate Crush landing Crush landing analysis is performed based on the following conditions: Vertical approach speed of the top frame = 15 m/sec Vertical upward speed of the base = 0 m/sec Spring Stiffness coefficient= 30 N/mm, 50 N/mm, 70 N/mm Spring damping coefficient =1 Ns/mm Spring preload = 17274 N Fig.12: Showing crush landing analysis of the design option-2 for different spring rate The acceptance criteria of the above analysis are as follow: Normal landing: Minimum acceleration Hard landing: 50 m/sec2 Crush landing: 300 m/sec2 In order to fulfill all the acceptance criteria, I have chosen the spring stiffness as 30 N/mm and proceed further for the vibration analysis. Vibration Analysis Results Fig.13: Showing frequency response of the design option-2 The pick of the frequency response curve is indicating the resonance frequency, which is around 2.5 Hz for our case. Fig.14: Showing PSD plot of the design option-2 The above plot is showing the transmitted power from all the inputs used in the analysis as a function of the frequency. Again, the pick (2.5 Hz) is showing the resonating frequency here. Discussion Task 1 For the Task-1 , I have developed two design options (as shown in section 3.1 and 3.2) and compare the two design options on the basis of normal landing analysis (section 3.3). The result has shown that the design option-2 is better in terms of acceleration and z-direction reaction force. Hence I have selected the design option-2 for the further study. Task 2 For the task-2 , I have run the normal, hard and crush landing analysis (section 4.2) on the design option-2 for different spring stiffness and choose the best spring stiffness to ensure that all the acceptance criteria is met. Task 3 For Task-3, I run the vibration analysis for the design option-2 (section-4.3) and find out the resonating frequency for the mechanism on response to the sea wave. Task 4 For the task-4, I have discussed (section 3) how I have used the ADAMS/View for creating the ADAMS model and also, I have discussed how I simulate the mechanism. Conclusion The emphasis is given to come out with a simple but reasonably good landing gear mechanism, which will be able to pass all the test conditions specified in the assignment. The hand calculations are used for selecting the spring preload however, the selection of the spring stiffness is done on the basis of hit and trial. ADAMS/View and ADAMS Vibration plug-in are used for the whole analysis for getting the quick and easily interpretable results. I believe that the design of the mechanism can be further improved by incorporating the torsion springs along with the compression springs.

Is America Bashing warranted? :: essays research papers

America bashing is not warranted in the world, it is based on loose facts that have been manipulated. America is blamed as the source of all the world’s problems because it is seen as the most prominent country. Through the analysis of two works- Richard Neville’s Oh Say, Can’t You See? and Chris Middencorp’s God Diss America- this paper will prove this to be the case. Richard Neville begins his argument for America bashing by citing George W. Bush’s decision to renounce the Kyoto treaty as an example of the poor decision making the American government has made that hurts not only itself, but the entire world. In his article Neville seeks to denounce several myths that America still possesses. He starts by arguing against the myth that America is the land of the free. He states that America in actuality has the highest percentage of its citizens imprisoned over any other country. In fact, a quarter of the world’s prisoners are incarcerated in the United States. He goes on to diminish the idea that happiness is honored. He argues that if this is true, how can the country exhibit one of the highest rates of clinical depression. He cites Eli Lilly as saying â€Å"Prozac changed everything, and that’s just the beginning? America promotes global expansion and human rights is his next target. Neville points out that the United State s spurned vital treaties on war crimes, as well as land mines, the prohibition of juvenile executions, arms controls, test bans and the Rights of Children. Neville then goes on to discuss the myth that America is the land of the free. If this is true, Neville argues, then it is unjust that the richest one percent of the population have more wealth then the lowest ninety percent, the largest inequality in the world. He points out that over forty million Americans are without health insurance, a number which increases every year. While these facts do not shed a kind light on America, Neville does point out some of its brighter aspects. Neville goes on to discuss some of the good and admittedly â€Å"irresistible?parts of American culture. Austin Powers, jazz, and the first amendment are among these. He even admits to enjoying McDonald’s on occasion although he is quick to assert that they are destroying the world’s crop varieties by making every country they have a store in grow their standard potato- Idaho Russer.

Our Child of Poverty Essay -- Poverty Essays

Our Child of Poverty From the writer: This paper was inspired by my work on "The Community Child Project" and the book "Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol. The project was a children's literacy initiative that included discussions which pointed to poverty as being a deterrent in children's educational success. I then began to think about perceptions of poverty held by myself an others. I have here attempted to capture those attitudes and identify why I see them as problematic. From the teacher: Sarah found her project for this course (Writing With Theory) in her work in a service learning course she was taking with Rosaria Champagne in ETS. As Sarah began to write, she thought the differences between her own life and the lives of the young girls she was "helping" were extremely large. As she explored her own interests and the conversations she was having with other SU students, she came to think that the differences were much more subtle. Her way of describing the differences, then, came in her use of metaphor and juxtaposition. Sarah was the student in this course who was the most dedicated to the writing--process as well as product. From the editors: This piece addresses the impoverished conditions faced by urban families in America, confronting the issues that many of us dismiss. Smith integrates the novel Push, by Sapphire, with anecdotes of her childhood and reflections upon her experiences with children as a maturing adult. Through application of social theory, textual analysis and literary narrative, this paper demonstrates the author's developing cognition about the hardships endured by the underprivileged and calls for the reader to apprehend these ideals. As Veronica's sisters drove home in their black Lex... ... the negative effects of our behaviors on others. This is apparent in classism with what I'll call the "us-not-them" phenomenon. When we are able to separate ourselves from the other, more specifically the other living in poverty, there is no desire to remedy the situation. When we neglect to foster a sense of community between them and us there is no bond, no relationship. When there is no community it is easy to separate our actions from others. It is impossible to realize the ramifications of classism from within a culture that lacks any cohesive community. We sometimes ask why those living on the streets and in poverty do nothing to help themselves? Let's try to imagine what the reality of their existence is. Try to see what they see. Veronica reminds me as she gives me a ride in her new Pathfinder, "No one would have all those factors beating them down." Our Child of Poverty Essay -- Poverty Essays Our Child of Poverty From the writer: This paper was inspired by my work on "The Community Child Project" and the book "Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol. The project was a children's literacy initiative that included discussions which pointed to poverty as being a deterrent in children's educational success. I then began to think about perceptions of poverty held by myself an others. I have here attempted to capture those attitudes and identify why I see them as problematic. From the teacher: Sarah found her project for this course (Writing With Theory) in her work in a service learning course she was taking with Rosaria Champagne in ETS. As Sarah began to write, she thought the differences between her own life and the lives of the young girls she was "helping" were extremely large. As she explored her own interests and the conversations she was having with other SU students, she came to think that the differences were much more subtle. Her way of describing the differences, then, came in her use of metaphor and juxtaposition. Sarah was the student in this course who was the most dedicated to the writing--process as well as product. From the editors: This piece addresses the impoverished conditions faced by urban families in America, confronting the issues that many of us dismiss. Smith integrates the novel Push, by Sapphire, with anecdotes of her childhood and reflections upon her experiences with children as a maturing adult. Through application of social theory, textual analysis and literary narrative, this paper demonstrates the author's developing cognition about the hardships endured by the underprivileged and calls for the reader to apprehend these ideals. As Veronica's sisters drove home in their black Lex... ... the negative effects of our behaviors on others. This is apparent in classism with what I'll call the "us-not-them" phenomenon. When we are able to separate ourselves from the other, more specifically the other living in poverty, there is no desire to remedy the situation. When we neglect to foster a sense of community between them and us there is no bond, no relationship. When there is no community it is easy to separate our actions from others. It is impossible to realize the ramifications of classism from within a culture that lacks any cohesive community. We sometimes ask why those living on the streets and in poverty do nothing to help themselves? Let's try to imagine what the reality of their existence is. Try to see what they see. Veronica reminds me as she gives me a ride in her new Pathfinder, "No one would have all those factors beating them down."

Sexism in the Media

What comprises sexism and feminism? Do sexist images in the media have an impact on women and girls? And, what are the broader political issues here? I am hoping that we can reframe the debate around sexism and nudity in the media in a way that makes sense for socialists. We’re all probably aware of sexist representations in the media from newspapers and magazines to the movies, TV and radio. For example, Rolling Stone magazine didn’t used to be a soft porn magazine, but it is so common now for female musicians to be in soft-porn poses on its cover.Howard Stern, the radio DJ, is always asking his female guests and callers what they are wearing. Stern focuses heavily on women’s physical attributes for the titillation of his male listeners. We also see many movies each year where the female characters are there solely to support and gratify the male characters. Magazines often show only pieces of a woman, such as her legs, or torso so that women are seen as pieces of a human being, reduced to only body parts, which are usually hyper sexualized for male stimulation.The currently popular TV show Desperate Housewives has a predominantly female audience, but tends to appeal to male viewers with story lines involving the women in their underwear or locked out of their houses nude. Soft-core pornography is the staple of many mainstream men’s magazines such as Maxim. In the past decade the decline of the mass movement, and the capitalist’s promotion of escapism, has been at the cost of increased degradation of women in the media. Women’s MovementWebster’s Dictionary defines sexism as â€Å"attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles† or â€Å"discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex. † According to Webster’s, this word came into usage in the period of 1965-1970 and was modeled after the word racism, which itself came into use in the 1865-1870 period, duri ng the revolutionary days of Reconstruction in the South. The timeline of the creation of the word sexism gives us an idea of the dramatic change in the consciousness of women in the 1960s and 70’s, which was directly influenced by the civil rights movement.However for a word with such a short history, a mere 40 years later, capitalism is trying to make women believe that sexism no longer exists. In my research for this introduction, I came across discussion of something termed â€Å"post-feminism† which argues that the old ideas about what is sexism and who is a feminist no longer apply. That it is not sexist, but merely ironic, that naked women are used in advertising such as the TV ad where Nicolette Sheridan from Desperate Housewives dropped her towel in front of a football player to get more men to watch the NFL.The idea is that women are now in control of their bodies and that to object to the use of a nude woman in an advertisement is actually an attempt to repr ess that individual woman’s sexuality, or an expression of prudishness, and not a comment on the exploitation of women for financial gain. The Repackaging of Sexism & Feminism Feminism is being repackaged and portrayed as a repressive police force telling women what not to wear, how to have sex and not allowing women â€Å"to live their personal lives without the constraints of a rigid ideology,† as one post-feminist writer put it.On the positive side women, and especially young women, are more confident about their sexuality, but for some women this liberation is expressed through the assumption of some of the roles, attitudes and sexual behavior previously more common among men. This is what one so-called feminist writer described as a shift from the old ‘victim feminism’ to the new ‘power feminism. ’ In fact the shift is away from challenging the old male-dominated status quo and toward finding a place within it.Christine Thomas in her arti cle The New Sexism writes about this shift in feminist thinking. She writes about the recent trend of the increased acceptance of strip clubs and lap dancing club; â€Å"Lap dancing, it is argued, is empowering not exploitative because, when ‘dancers’ can earn as much as $800 a night, they’re often earn better money than the men they’re stripping for. As one student told the BBC’s Inside Out program: â€Å"I work when I want to. I make the amount of money I want to, and if I don’t feel like it I can quit.No-one is pushing me to do it. † â€Å"But contrast this with the comment of a regular frequenter of lap dancing clubs: â€Å"It makes me feel like a king to be sitting there with all these women surrounding me, giving me loads of attention. Nothing beats the thrill of calling a woman over, sitting her down and talking to her, knowing that if you give her money she is going to take all her clothes off. It’s great to have that kind of control, that power, and it’s an ego boost to have all girls competing with each other to dance for you. â€Å"However empowered individual dancers might feel (and of course not all dancers are well paid) lap dancing itself promotes the idea that women are not thinking ‘whole’ beings but body parts – objects available for men to control and enjoy. † 1 This new ‘feminism’ also represents a shift from a collective to an individualistic approach to women’s equality. If a given woman feels oppressed, feels exploited, or feels demeaned, it is because something is wrong with her. Perhaps she is not aggressive enough or not motivated enough.She has not figured out how to advance within the current system. When women buy into the basic concepts of capitalist culture, the new â€Å"feminists† imply, as many doors will open for women as for men and they will no longer be victims. The new ‘post-feminism’ also ar gues that the male dominated empire is crumbling and that more women than ever are now in positions of power. However, we know who these powerful women are: Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, and Condoleeza Rice. They actually represent a step backwards for women’s equality.Condoleeza’s promotion to Secretary of State reinforces the illusion that racial and gender discrimination no longer exists and that failure to succeed is only the failure of individuals to take advantage of their opportunities. Her work for the Bush administration is helping to increase the attacks on all workers, women and men, which in turn especially increases the burden economically on women. Her promotion represents no change whatsoever for the status quo and for the reality of working class women across the United States. How Equal are We? Women today still consistently make less than men for fulltime work in the same jobs.In statistics from 2002, nationally women average 78% of men’s pay for all jobs. Among the highest paid professionals (doctors and lawyers) women only make from 58-76% of men’s average pay and they make up about a third of the workers in these jobs. On the other hand, those jobs that are predominantly occupied by women such as cashiers or child care workers; women make about 95% of men’s wages. But the average weekly wage for men and women is very low at $250-$300 per week. Also, traditionally unionized jobs like nursing and construction have higher average weekly wages and women make about 91% of men’s pay. 2However, the startling fact is that in the Bureau of Labor Statistics information from 2002, out of hundreds of job categories, there is not a single job where women make more money than men do. There are also a radically higher proportion of women than men living in poverty in the U. S. For many American women, violence is also a nasty reminder of the inequality in this society. Estimates of non-fatal domestic violenc e against women range from 1 million to 4 million a year with nearly 1 in 3 women experiencing a physical assault from a partner in adulthood. Women have a 10 times greater likelihood of being victimized by an intimate than men.Also, 33% of all women murdered are murdered by an intimate partner. In fact the leading cause of death among pregnant women is not complications from pregnancy, but murder. 4 The sexist representations of women in the media are a direct reflection of this economic and social inequality. But these images also serve to reinforce the lower status of women not only through showing us as a commodity to be packaged for men’s enjoyment, something to be controlled, but also by directly undermining women’s self-esteem and emphasizing the unattainable ideal of a ‘perfect’ woman. Up to 80% of American women are issatisfied with their appearance. Much of the marketing of the ideal woman is targeted at women directly. Women’s magazines, both in articles and advertisements (and it is often difficult to distinguish the two) carry a lot of ideas about the ideal woman. In addition 1 out of every 3. 8 television commercials carries some sort of â€Å"attractiveness message. †5 Media Images and Girls The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that 82% of all cosmetic surgical procedures are performed on women. The most common procedures are liposuction, breast augmentation, nose reshaping and eyelid surgery.In the years from 1992 to 2003 total cosmetic surgical procedures increased by 192% with breast augmentation increasing by 657% and liposuction by 412%. 6 Not only are women reshaping their bodies in record numbers to try and fit some type of female ideal, but girls are influenced by this pressure as well. Some 81% of ten year-old girls are afraid of being fat and 51% of 9 and 10 year-olds feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. Of normal dieters, about 5-6% will progress to partial or full sy ndrome eating disorders. 7Eating disorders often start for women in their teen and pre-teen years, and represent an extreme attempt to control one’s body. It may not seem such a distorted priority to young girls to achieve the perfect body through self-punishing starvation or vomiting when record numbers of adult women are voluntarily subjecting themselves to invasive surgeries. Now this process is being accelerated and normalized through TV shows such as Extreme Makeovers and The Swan. Here, mostly women are shown going through a series of major cosmetic surgeries.In The Swan a prize goes to the best makeover. Capitalism sends mixed messages to women that only create anxiety. Their perfect woman is young, thin, and never has acne. However, the unhealthy food big business pushes at us makes this perfect woman even more unattainable. Not only do they profit from selling us this bad food, but the food itself almost guarantees that we will need to spend more money on cosmetics, dieting, surgery, or antidepressants if we buy into this ideal woman concept. We can’t talk about sexism’s effect on women without also iscussing its effect on men who are also damaged by it. From boyhood, men are sent the message that women are here for their pleasure and that they are primarily commodities for their consumption. If this idea is completely internalized, it makes men unable to connect with women in any but the most superficial way, and cuts them off from a deeper understanding of both themselves and women. Just as the oppression of women has forced women in general to develop a more skillful understanding of human relations, so too male privilege tends to stunt men’s relationship skills.Also, for men that have themselves experienced abusive upbringings, it makes them more likely to be trapped into attempting to control women through physical or emotional abuse. Sexism and Capitalism’s new Moral Divide In the 1984 movie, This is Spinal Tap – the fake documentary about an English heavy metal band, a female record company executive lets the band members know that they have concerns with the band’s album cover. They feel that the image of a naked woman wearing a leash and dog’s collar is sexist. â€Å"Sexy,† one of the band members says, â€Å"what’s wrong with being sexy? †There is enormous confusion today surrounding this difference between what is deemed sexy and what it sexist in the media. The recent media hype around the Janet Jackson breast exposure incident and the uproar over the NFL commercial I previously cited are examples of how this discussion is being spun in the media: as the relentless sex-oriented focus of popular culture verses the purity of family values. In an era where some women are losing access to services that help them control their bodies reproductively, we are now seeing the control of images of women’s bodies as an issue in the media.The new ‘feminists’ would have us believe that the ultimate control of an individual woman’s body belongs to the woman herself and so the images are not discussed in the context of sexism. The liberals argue that a woman’s naked body is no big deal and can’t we be mature and realize that it’s just a woman’s body; failing, like the guy from Spinal Tap, to distinguish between sexy and sexism. The family values coalition argues that it is damaging to children to be exposed to nudity and the subject of sex; making it appear that any outrage is due to prudishness.The argument goes that these are the opposing interests in the discussion – leaving little voice for most people. Is it possible that this divisive construct is promoted by the media itself to obscure the real issue? The real issue is the exploitation of a woman’s body and sexuality for the purpose of selling products: magazines, TV shows, movies, football games. If we unders tand it this way, then we have a way to object to the objectification of women without falling into the trap of prudishness.We can condemn CBS and the NFL not for showing us Janet Jackson’s breast, but for exploiting her desire to further her career and the captive audience of viewers to boost ratings, which in the end makes more advertisement money for them. Capitalism typically creates and exploits divisions for the purpose of undermining working class solidarity. Sexism undermines the solidarity between men and women. By failing to point out capitalism’s role in this issue, we can allow a new threat to class solidarity to take root. This non-class based division, created by the media, the so-called â€Å"moral divide. A New Mass Movement The current trends in the media represent a step backwards for women in the struggle against sexism and exploitation. This is another facet of the global phenomenon, regardless of gender, of working class people being attacked more fiercely by the capitalist class. The current onslaught of sexism, besides undermining class solidarity, also serves capitalism by expanding markets for diet and beauty products and for surgery. It also represents a huge drain on the resources of an individual woman.With her self-image and self worth constantly under attack, it is no surprise that some women have fallen into an individualistic, superficial, self-absorption, spending less time fighting to change the workplace and the community. Especially with the failure of working class and women’s organizations to fight on concrete issues that are important to women. However, just as in the 1960s, a mass movement gave birth to the women’s movement and sexism even started to be talked about, so too a new mass movement of workers that confronts capitalism will also confront sexism. Working class women will be at the fore of such a movement.In fact, women play a key role in many community struggles. LMV has been involv ed in the Campaign for Renters Rights a direct action group in which women took the leading role in fighting off Section 8 housing cuts. 8 In the 70’s we saw how differently women could be treated in the media with real stories about real women. There was a trend toward increased realism in TV and film including the portrayal of women. In the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore a working class woman who is a single parent stands up against everyday sexism. The central character is a woman who is strong, funny and insightful.The scarcity of movies like this since the 70’s with strong female characters confirms the degeneracy of not only the popular media but of capitalism itself. Socialism, on the contrary, will not only achieve material equality between men and women, but also allow both men and women to better explore their own individuality, and break free of the base superficiality that market capitalism promotes. January 2005References 1 Christine Thomas , The New Sexism, Socialism Today Issue 77 Sept 2003 2 The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex, 2002 annual averages. Domestic Violence Statistics, District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www. dccadv. org More stats from National Domestic Violence Hotline at www. ndvh. org. 4 Kim Curtis, Murder: The leading cause of death for pregnant women. Associated Press April 23, 2003 5 National Eating Disorders Association at www. nationaleatingdisorders. org 6 American Society of Plastic Surgeons at www. plasticsurgery . org 7 National Eating Disorders Association 8 For more on this struggle see www. laborsmilitantvoice. com