Agreed Ways of Working Essay

Agreed ways of working, this is exactly how you will work. It is important to know what is expected of you in your role and in turn what to expect from others. In health and social care, there are agreed ways working you will have with an employer; also, with service users. Some examples of agreed ways of working in health and social care are: An agreed way of working with an employer would be to follow safety procedures relating to health and safety, for example, to follow the Food Hygiene Regulations 2005. This regulation concerns how food should be handled safely to avoid contamination and food poisoning. This is in order to protect the service user from potential harm; in addition, it is a legal requirement. An agreed way of working could be to protect the service user’s confidentiality. As long as a situation does not place the service user in danger or give cause for concern, then a care worker must keep information given to them confidential. It is the responsibility of the healthcare worker to handle information appropriately; this applies to all information whether it is an opinion given verbally, social information, or financial or medical records. If this agreement would be broken then trust would be lost between service user and carer; additionally, it is likely to cause disciplinary action. The refusal to accept any gifts or money from service users, their families or other carers, would be an agreed way of working. This would be to protect both employer and employee from any legal allegations concerning the gifts in the future; also, this protects the professionalism of both employer and employee and protects these boundaries. This would be an agreed way of working with both employer and service users. Another agreed way of working would be to conduct your work within your expected limits and abilities. In each job there are responsibilities and duties you are trained to perform, you agree to not exceed these limits; an example of this would be if a care worker administered medication to a service user without the appropriate training. Such an occurrence could cause serious or potentially fatal harm to the individual the care worker is supposed to protect, disciplinary action would be taken and possibly legal action additionally. An agreed way of working with a service user would be to treat the individual with dignity, compassion and respect.

Students’ Paid Employment and Academic Performance at Carrick Institute of Education, Sydney Campus

STUDENTS' PAID EMPLOYMENT AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT CARRICK INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, SYDNEY CAMPUS Blaga, Sorin. Review of Economic Studies and Research Virgil Madgearu5. 1 (2012): 5-22. Turn on hit highlighting for speaking browsers Show highlighting Abstract (summary) Translate Abstract Thispaper identifies aspects of ‘students' academic performance, in the Hospitality Department at Carrick Institute of Education, Sydney campus, Australia. The academic performance of these students is thought to be negatively affected by participation in paid employment and the language mostly spoken in their work place.The research finding s show that students are deliberately engaged in paid employment for exactly the same reasons identified by the previous researchers, even though the students know that their academic performance may suffer. The paper also looks at how the languages spoken at their work place influence their academic performance. Most of the students at Carrick Institute of Education are international students and the language spoken at their workplaces often coincides with the students' country of origin.In spite of these negative effects, students continue to work even if they are financially independent, in order to build their work experience. The jobs are mainly in the Hospitality Industries. The research finding s open the way for future pedagogical and managerial research in the education sector. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] Full Text * Translate Full text Turn on search term navigation Headnote Abstract: Thispaper identifies aspects of ‘students' academic performance, in the Hospitality Department at Carrick Institute of Education, Sydney campus, Australia. The academic performance of these students is thought to be egatively affected by participation in paid employment and the language mostly spoken in their work place. The research finding s show that students are deliberately engaged in paid employment for exactly the same reasons identif ied by the previous researchers, even though the students know that their academic performance may suffer. The paper also looks at how the languages spoken at their work place influence their academic performance. Most of the students at Carrick Institute of Education are international students and the language spoken at their workplaces often coincides with the students' country of origin.In spite of these negative effects, students continue to work even if they are financially independent, in order to build their work experience. The jobs are mainly in the Hospitality Industries. The research finding s open the way for future pedagogical and managerial research in the education sector. Key words: academicperformance, course difficulties, paid employment, tuition fee, language JEL Classification: I20, I23 1. Introduction There is evidence of a growing trend in many countries for college and university students to combine their academic studies with paid work.In the United Kingdom, for example, the number of students who are engaged in paid work has been reported by a number of researchers and shows a continuous growth beginning from the early nineties. For example, Sorensen and Winn (1993) reported that 27% of university students are engaged in paid work. In research carried out in the UK and the US Ford et al. (i995) reported that 29% of university students took a part-time job; three years later in the UK, Lucas and Lammont (1998) reported that 31% of students also took a paid job. Hunt et al. 2004) found that in 1999, 38% of students were engaged in paid employment and he also he reported 49% of students undertook paid work in 2001. Curtis and Shani (2002) reported that 55% of students had a paid job in 2002 and 59% in 2003. In summary, one can say that in the UK during the years 1993-2003, the number of students taking a part time job increased from 27% up to 59% which is an increase of over 100%. From the 1990s a similar trend has been reported in the Un ited States by Stern and Nakata (1991) who found that the proportion of full-time students employed increased from 29% in 1959 to 43% in 1986.Other evidence emerged at the end of the millennium (Luzzo et al. 1997; Hammer et al. 1998) which indicated that the work participation rate amongst United States students exceeded 50%. In continental Europe, ‘The Euro Student' (2000) report found that student employment rates in Europe ranged from 48% in France to 77% in the Netherlands. In Australia, Anyanwu (1998) reported that 75% of full time students took up to 30 hours of paid work to support their studies.In early 2000, a national survey conducted by Long and Hayden (2001) revealed that 72. 5% of full-time students were in paid employment. Applegate and Daly (2006), in a study conducted at the University of Canberra, Australia, showed that the impact of paid work on the academic performance of students did not have a large impact on students' grades, and a slight improvement of s tudents' academic performance was even noticed in students employed in some jobs; however, working more than twenty hours per week had a negative effect.Applegate and Daly's survey found out that of the 78% of students who had a job, 40% of them worked over the legal limit of 20 hours per week. There is clear evidence showing that the phenomenon of students combining their study with paid work is wide-spread. The succinct literature review cited above, suggests possible reasons for this trend: the availability of jobs in service industries (the hospitality industry, in particular), rising student tuition fees over the years, changes in students' personal lives, and family and community expectations (Stern and Nakata 1991; Ford et al. 995). The aim of this present research is to reveal the nature and extent of full-time college students undertaking paid work and the relationship of this work experience with their academic performance at the Carrick Institute of Education, Hospitality Department. Carrick Institute of Education is a private Australian education institution, which has been established since 1987, and provides vocational and academic education to over 5000 students1 from all over the world in campuses situated in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.One of the most popular vocational choices, among international students, is the Hospitality Department. The Hospitality Department enrolls over 2980 students in their Sydney campuses alone, in all forms of education. The popularity of hospitality courses can be explained by the relatively low level of course difficulty, and relatively high levels of part-time and full- time job availability in hospitality businesses, as confirmed by the following researchers Ford et al. (1995), Mclnnis and Hartley (2002) and Bradley (2006).Most of the time these businesses are owned by students' fellow countrymen who are more willing to offer them employment and make them feel more comfortable in the work place. Th e hospitality courses are also one of the most popular choices among international students as, later on, they offer the opportunity to apply for Permanent Residency in Australia. Many students, for various reasons, are not able to balance the work load they take on and the academic performance required by the Australian Qualification Framework and Vocational Education and Training regulatory body. This brings significant consequences.As a result of the high number of hours in employment, students' academic results are being affected and they perform poorly in the classroom. The high number of students deemed Not Yet Competent (NYC), which means failed in different stages and in different subjects, was 40132 and reflects students' low ability in balancing paid-work and their studies. Another aspect of interest, addressed in this paper, is the possible relationship between the language spoken in the work place, international students' slow improvement in their English Language skills , any adverse consequences in academic performance and later employability.This research is significant as there have not been studies to address these issues in the area of Vocational Education in Australia for a significant period of time; certainly no studies have been undertaken in Carrick Institute of Education. There is an empirical understanding of the problems among management and therefore the research findings will offer a solid scientific base upon which to improve College policies and practice in respect of students' undesirable academic results. 2. Aims and ExpectationsThe academic literature review shows clearly that paid employment is a normal component of contemporary student life (Curtis and Shani 2002). Student participation in the workforce has a number of positive consequences: students receive pay, become independent, learn to manage money, make social contacts, build self-confidence in acquiring a job, and learn generic skills which increase their employability . Some research, however, has documented a range of negative outcomes such as fatigue, lack of autonomy, social isolation, low pay, and high stress (Lucas and Lammont 1998; Mclnnis and Hartley 2002).The aim of this study is to identify the extent and relationship between students' paid employment and their academic performance at Carrick Institute of Education in the Hospitality department, taking into consideration the students needs to balance their personal life with work participation and academic performance. The researcher tested the following two hypotheses: Hypothesis i. The researcher expects that the excessive work load is a key cause of students' performing poorly academically and explains the high number of NYCs. This situation could be created by many variables which will be clearly identified and analysed in the research.To some extent these NYCs cannot be reasonably managed, resulting in an even more difficult situation for the students, such as cancellation of their student visas in extreme cases. Hypothesis 2? is expected that there is a relationship between the languages most spoken at the work-place and students' slowness in improving their English language skills. It is assumed that poor English language skills are associated with poor academic performance and low employability. 3. Methodology used 3. 1 Sample selection The sample for this study comprised 70 students enrolled at Carrick Institute of Education, Sydney campus, Australia.For practical reasons the participants were selected using a quota system, randomly selecting the students from each class according to their respective stages, 5, 6, 7, and 8. The researcher ensured the proportions of males and females sampled were representative the population of students enrolled at Carrick Institute of Education. Data was obtained from 34 females (49 per cent), and 34 males (49 per cent). Ages varied from 20 to over 30 years (Mean = 22. 4; SD = 5. 8). 3. 2 Questionnaire development A ques tionnaire containing 14 questions was developed for use in this research.The questionnaire was developed through a series of tests and peer group discussions at the University of Technology, Sydney. The final version comprised three sections. The first section contained five closed-ended questions relating to the respondent's paid work. Questions pertained to the extent of work performed, reasons for working, and perceived benefits of working. There was an illustrative question linking the study profile with the work performed, as a factor contributing to the education taken, and a question showing the students' ability in finding paid employment in the field of their studies.Two questions directly related to students' academic performance (measured by their NYCs): students' perception of the consequences of poor performance; and student perception of the College's involvement in helping them to overcome these undesirable outcomes. In this case, negatively worded items were reverse- scored and responses to all items measuring common constructs were averaged to form a composite scale. The second section contained questions related to the second assumption and attempted to identify the students' country of origin, language spoken at work and academic performance.This section also contained a Likert-rype item aimed at identifying students' perception of College involvement in helping them to overcome negative academic performance. The questionnaire contained an open ended question which was intended to identify students' enthusiasm for the study they took and their future plans. The last section contained items seeking demographic information, including gender and age. 3. 3 Data Collection Research data was collected by distributing the questionnaires to four classes.One class from each stage in the final year of study was selected to cover the whole range of students in the campus in the Hospitality Department. The respondents were chosen randomly based on their arrival time in class. Time allocated for responding to the questions was at the teachers' discretion and the questionnaires were collected by the end of the day. Secondary data related to students' academic performance was obtained from the College administration. 4. Results and analysisThe rate of subjects' participation in this project was 87. 5 per cent; 80 surveys were distributed and 70 were filled in. From those 70 surveys, two were incomplete, representing 2. 85 per cent of the total participants and generating the No Answer percentage. For analysis purposes the following matrix was created: As revealed in Table 1, the researcher found that 84% of the students had a paid job which is well above the national average of 72. 5% of full-time students engaged in paid employment (Long and Hayden 2001). The increase of 11. % can be explained by the specificity of studies taken (hospitality) by students, and curriculum requirements that students should take paid works to gain work e xperience in the field of their studies. There was also strong pressure on students to take jobs in the hospitality industry from the Immigration Department, as a student qualifies for Permanent Resident (PR) visa requirements at the conclusion of their studies. Availability of part-time jobs in the hospitality industry may be another explanation for this phenomenon.The survey revealed a low number of students with no job (13%) which gives invites speculation on their reasons for not taking employment: the students may be not the principal applicant for PR, or they may have gained the minimum number of hours required. This issue needs more investigation but is outside the scope of this research. The research gained more strength from further examination the work load taken by students. 15% of students took over 20 hours of work per week and, from private discussions, the researcher found that some students took paid jobs well beyond this limit.To further explore the possibility that students' grades dramatically deteriorated if they took over 20 hours of work per week is difficult as further development of the issue could lead students to self-incrimination. Immigration Department regulations stipulate that students on a study visa may only take 20 hours of paid work per week. In support of our findings, research by Greenberger and Steinberg (1986), Professor Warren Payne (2003) from Victoria University, Melbourne, and others, demonstrates that work interferes with academic performance only when students undertake in excess of 20 hours of work per week.These findings were taken on board by Carrick's policies and reflected in Australian Immigration Department requirements. Beyond thispointphysicalandintellectual resources are rapidly depleted and academic performance declines dramatically. The research shows that, apart from the need to earn money because insufficient funds were provided by their family, as declared by 53% of the participants, reasons for engag ing in paid employment were to gain work experience (31. 45%), for social interaction and pocket money (13. 5%) and other reasons such as enjoyment, boredom, and the like (3%). Working and non-working respondents were not distinguished in terms of age, gender or marital status as these factors were not relevant to the topic of research. As expected, the number of students working in the Hospitality Industry was 79% which is in line with the College policies and government regulations. A surprising result emerges when the students revealed that they obtained employment without assistance (67%) and just 31% declared that they got help from family and friends in getting paid employment.College student services which offers employment opportunities was not mentioned at all in this respect which raises serious questions about the purpose and efficiency of this department. In terms of academic results, 60% of the participants declared that they had no grade of NYC, which overall, is not a very good academic performance. Also 13% of participants declared they had one NYC, 10% stated they had two NYCs, 3% of students declared that they had three NYC, and 3% acknowledged they had four NYCs and a further 3% declared they five NYCs.The most questionable category is that of 5% of participants declaring that they had over 10 NYCs which brings the total proportion of students with NYCs to 39%. The research findings strongly supported hypothesis 1 confirming the existence of a strong relationship between students' work load and academic performance. As the Table 1 shows, 30% of students work in businesses where the spoken language is Mandarin and Cantonese; 35% of them work in businesses where Hindi or other languages from the Indian subcontinent is spoken; and only 26% of students declared that the language spoken in the workplace is English.The last statement needs more clarification as ‘English language spoken in the workplace' could imply that English was the only means of communication between employees and customers, or that English was the only means of communication between employees as a result of diversity in the work place. These findings do not clearly support hypothesis 2 as a research question and do not confirm there is a strong relationship between language spoken in the workplace and slow improvement of students' English skills, with consequent detrimental results in academic performance and employability.Because of the time constraint, the researcher has no ability to further investigate this issue. In terms of support received from the College to overcome the undesirable academic results, 73% of the participants declared that they had been helped to get over the situation, and 23% stated there had been no support for them. If we correlate the total number of students with NYCs (38. 5%) and those who declared that they did not receive adequate support (23%) we can assume that they are the same individuals or that there is some o verlap.As an organization Carrick Institute of Education is viewed as a very good educational institution by 10% of participants, good by 34%, neutral by 43%, bad by 4% and very bad also by 4%. The findings reveal a high number of students with an indifferent attitude to services and the quality of education offered. This will be a good question for management to investigate further. The researcher declines any further analysis of the issue which does not fit into the purpose of the topic.The open ended question related to students' future plans revealed an entire range of plans which can be categorized as: getting a good job (20%); embarking upon further studies (9%); starting a small business (7%); becoming a manager and chef (about 7%); getting PR (7%); and what is most intriguing, 29% of respondents declared that, ? Do Not Know'(IDNK). The analysis of this issue is beyond the scope of this paper. Data was obtained from 34 females (49%), and 34 males (49%). Ages varied from 20 to over 30 years (Mean = 22. 4, SD = 5. 8). 5. Discussion and ConclusionsThis paper identifies aspects of academic performance thought to be negatively affected by participation in paid employment and the language mostly spoken in the work place. This research as well as that of Greenberger and Steinberg (1986) and Payne (2003) demonstrates that work interferes with academic performance only when students undertake in excess of 20 hours of work per week which was taken on board by Carrick Institute of Education and the Immigration Department as a threshold. The mean number of hours worked by students at Carrick Institute of Education is 15 hours per week and is similar to the averages reported in previous studies.The jobs were mainly in the Hospitality Industries, similar to those reported by (Ford et al. 1995; Mclnnis and Hartley 2002). Indeed, in situations where jobs and study programs are closely aligned, positive effects may even be evidenced, because job experiences provide stud ents with opportunities to develop values and skills that are transferable to their current studies, and the context of their future careers (Luzzo et al. 1997). Similar findings are reported by Hammes and Haller (1983) and Hay et al. (1970).Findings in relation to the language spoken at the workplace shows that: 30% of students work in businesses where the spoken language is Mandarin and Cantonese; 35% of them work in businesses where Hindi or other languages from the Indian subcontinent are spoken; and only 26% of students declared that the language spoken in the workplace is English. These findings do not support Hypothesis 2 and do not confirm there is a strong relationship between the language spoken in the workplace and slow improvement of students' English skills with detrimental results in academic performance and employability.In clarifying this research question further work have to be done. This research was limited by the relatively small sample of participants and very limited time allocation. Future research should be carried out to obtain in-depth longitudinal data to enable temporal and causal relations between numerous other variables which need to be more clearly understood. This research is significant as there have not been studies to address these issues in the area of Vocational Education in Australia for a significant period of time and certainly no studies have been undertaken in the Carrick Institute of Education.Footnote 1 The numbers of students enrolled at Carrick Institute of Education, in different forms of education, were correct at the time of the survey. 2 The number is valid for August 2008. References References 1. Anlezark, A. (2005), ‘An aid to systematic reviews of research in vocational education and training in Australia', Journal ofVocational Education Research, Vol. 11, Issue 3. 2. Applegate, C. and Daly, A. 2006, ‘The impact of paid work on the academic performance of students: a case study from the Univer sity of Canberra', Australian Journal of Education, Vol. 0, Issue 2, pp. 155-166. 3. Anyanwu, C. (1998), ‘Is internationalisation in the classroom a reverse discrimination on Australian students? ‘ In Black, B. and Stanley, N. (Eds. ), Teaching and Learning in Changing Times, pp. 17-21. Proceedings of the 7th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. 4. Barling, J. , Rogers, K. and Kelloway, E. K. 1995, ‘Some effects of teenagers' part-time employment: the quantity and quality of work make the difference', Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 16, Issue 2, pp. 143-154. 5. Baron,R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986, ‘The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 51, Issue 6, pp. 1173-1182. 6. Barone, F. J. 1993, The effects of part-time employment on academic performance. NASSP Bulleti n, Vol. 76, Issue 549, pp. 67-73. 7. Bella, S. K. and Huba, M. E. 1982, Student part-time jobs: the relationship between type of job and academic performance. Journal of Student Financial Aid, Vol. 12, Issue 3, pp. 22-27. 8. Biggs, J. B. 987, Student approaches to learning and studying, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne. 9. Bradley, G. , 2006, Work participation and academic performance: a test of alternative propositions. Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 19, Issue 5, pp. 481-501. 10. Curtis, S. and Shani, N. 2002, The effect of taking paid employment during term-time on students' academic studies. Journal of Further and Higher Education, Vol. 26, Issue 2, pp. 129-138. 11. Euro Student, 2000, Socioeconomic living conditions of students, viewed 17 February 2010, http://www. his. de/Abt2/ Auslandsstudium/Eurostudent/index. tm. 12. Ford, J. , Bosworth, D. and Wilson, R. 1995, Part-time work and fulltime higher education. Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 20, Iss ue 2, pp. 87-202. 13. Graham B. 2006, Work participation and academic performance: a test of alternative propositions, Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 19, Issue 5, pp. 481-501 14. Greenberger, E. and Steinberg L. 1986, When teenagers work: the psychological and social costs of adolescent employment. Basic Books Inc. , NY. 15. Hammer, L. B. , Grigsby, T. D. and Woods, S. 1998, The conflicting demands of work, family, and school among students at an urban university.Journal of Psychology, Vol. 132, Issue 2, pp. 220-226. 16. Hunt, A. , Lincoln, I. and Walker, A. 2004, Term-time Employment and Academic Attainment: Evidence from a Large-scale Survey of Undergraduates at Northumbria University, Journal of Further Education, Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp. 3-18. 17. Johnson, K. and Lucas, R. 2002, Student Employment Within Services: A UK, Central and Eastern European Perspective, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, Vol. 10, Issue 1, pp. 53-67. 18. Lucas, R and Lammont, N. 1998, C ombining work and study: An empirical study of students in work in school, college and university.Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 41-56. 19. Long, M. and Hayden, M. 2001, Paying their way: a survey of Australian undergraduate university student finances, 2000. Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, viewed 17 February 2010, . 20. Lounsbury, J. W. ; Gibson, L. W. ; Sundstrom, E. ; Wilburn, D. ; Loveland, J. M. (2004), An Empirical Investigation of the Proposition that ‘School Is Work': a comparison of personality-performance correlations in school and work settings. Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 7, Issue 1, pp. 119-131. 21. Lucas, R. and Lammont, N. 1998, Combining work and study: an empiricalstudy of full-time students in school, college and university, Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 41-56. 22. Luzzo, D. A. , Hitchings, W. E. , Retish, P. and Shoemaker, A. 1999, Evaluating differences in college students' career decision making on the basis of disability status. Career Development Quarterly , Vol. 48, Issue 1, pp. 142-156. 23. Mclnnes, C. and Hartley, R. 2002, Managing Study and Work, DEST website, viewed, August 2009, ;http://www. dest. gov. au;. 24.Paton-Saltzburg, R. and Lindsay, R. 1994, The effect of paid employment on the academic performance of full-time students in higher education. Oxford, UK. 25. Stern, D. and Nakata, Y. 1991, Paid employment among U. S. college students: Trends, effects, and possible causes. The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 62, Issue 1, pp. 25-43. 26. Sorensen, L. , and Winn, S. 1993, Student loans: a case study. Higher Education Review. Vol. 25, Issue 3, pp. 48-65. 27. Trochim, W. M. K. 2006, Ethics in Research, viewed 14 February 2010, ;www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/ethics;. AuthorAffiliationSorin BLAGA* AuthorAffiliation * Carrick Institute of Education, Australia. E-mail address: [email  protected] net. au. Word count: 4095 Copyright Babes Bolyai University 2012 Indexing (details) Cite Subject Academic achievement; College students; Core curriculum; Language; Tuition Company / organization Name:Carrick Institute of Education-Sydney AustraliaNAICS:611310| Title STUDENTS' PAID EMPLOYMENT AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT CARRICK INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, SYDNEY CAMPUS Author Blaga, Sorin Publication title Review of Economic Studies and Research Virgil Madgearu Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 5-22Number of pages 18 Publication year 2012 Publication date 2012 Year 2012 Publisher Babes Bolyai University Place of publication Cluj-Napoca Country of publication Romania Publication subject Business And Economics ISSN 20690606 Source type Scholarly Journals Language of publication English Document type Feature Document feature Tables;References;Graphs;Charts ProQuest document ID 1024823717 Document URL http://search. proquest. com. libraryproxy. griffith. edu. au/docview/1024823717? accountid=14543 Copyright Copyright Babes Bolyai University 2012 Last updated 2012-07 -14 Database ProQuest Central

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Assignment 4 Brief therapy - Essay Example or â€Å"How can the therapist provide what is needed to get the patient unstuck?† (Budman, Hoyt & Friedman, 1992). Among the approaches presented, I am partial to the cognitive behavioral techniques. In this paper, two of the known ones shall be discussed, namely Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy pioneered by Aaron Beck. It is believed that much can be said about how a person reacts to a situation. In times of successes and positive moments, most people celebrate with joyous reactions. However, in troubled times, people react with different shades of negative emotions. Some spring back right away and take positive action while others dwell in doom and even fall into a dark depressive state. For these people, how do they find their way back to the light? Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is considered to be the forerunner of Cognitive Behavior therapies. Its basic hypothesis is that our emotions stem mainly from our beliefs, evaluations, interpretations and reactions to life situations. Ellis believes that we have an inborn tendency towards growth and actualization but we often sabotage our movement toward growth due to self-defeating patterns we have learned. Through therapeutic processes, the client learns skills to isolate and dispute their irrational views which were mostly self-constructed and maintained by self-indoctrination. REBT helps clients replace such irrational views with rational and constructive ones, thus resulting in more productive change in behavior and reactions to situations. Although Ellis believes that therapists maintain unconditional regard for the client, he also warns against giving too much warmth to the point of coddling, as it encourages clients’ dependence for approval from the therapist. Maturity is expected of the client as great

KAFKA, HAWTHORNE, AND COETZEE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

KAFKA, HAWTHORNE, AND COETZEE - Essay Example The protagonist of Kafka's The Trial, Josef K, and the protagonist of Coetzee's book share a lot in common, even if the latter book is more political than anything by Kafka. These issues, and the full power of Kafka's The Trial, will be explored in this paper. Many might suggest that Kafka's work has no fore-bearers and that it appeared fully formed. There is sense in this suggestion. The period and place in which his books and stories were written were historically unique. The First World War had demolished many naive beliefs about the world and the rapid industrialization of the modern world was creating difficult conditions for many people. World War II and the destruction of European Jewry lurked on the horizon. The sense of dread in Kafka's work seemed in some way to have the power of a fortuneteller. It is truly terrifying. It is almost as if Kafka knew what was awaiting the world. If he had lived, he too may have perished in the Holocaust. Nevertheless, there were works of lit erature before Kafka that in someways suggest his work. One of these is Nathaniel Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter. In this famous novel, Hester Prynne is branded with a scarlett A, after committing adultery. She is ostracized from her community and refuses to publicly identify the father of the child that is then illegitimately born. The community has turned against her. She is removed from the community by the force of the institutions that protect public morals. This is similar to Kafka's The Trial, but the most important distinction to be made, however, is what each authors' real subject is. Hawthorne's target is society's hypocrisy and its willingness to ostracize essentially good people. But however much we may dislike the methods of the town people and their treatment of Hester Prynne, we nevertheless recognize their cruelty and hypocrisy as deeply human. We are familiar with the human hypocrisy which these people represent. Additionally, we might even understand that adultery would be a big problem in a small town in New England during that period. The treatment of Hester may be over the top, but perhaps she did deserve some sort of censure. Kafka's work, however, is very different. There is little to be understood about the forces arrayed against his various protagonists. These forces are not really human, they seem to not even be living. In the Trial, Josef K. is accused of an unspecified crime which he did not commit. Although the i nstitution that tries him appears to be human, it is clear that it is instead a monstrous machine at work, slowly seeking to crush him. There can be no appeal to passion or humanity, as in the Scarlet Letter. Josef K. is trapped by forces that do not feel. At first, he feels like if he just explains himself to the court they will understand: â€Å"He had often wondered whether it might not be a good idea to work out a written defence and hand it in to the court. It would contain a short description of his life and explain why he had acted the way he had at each event that was in any way important, whether he now considered he had acted well or ill, and his reasons for each. There was no doubt of the advantages a written defence of this sort would have over relying on the lawyer, who was anyway without his

Nike Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nike Analysis - Case Study Example For fiscal year May 31, 2009, the company has reported revenues of more than $19 billion. These figures include sales for affiliate businesses such as Converse, Umbro, Cole Haan and Hurley International. While the company has recorded a 6% drop in its return on investment (ROI), Nike’s performance between 2005 and 2009 is so much better compared to the top 500 S&P companies. Nike’s success may be traced back to capacity to tap into the international market, which accounts for more than half of the company’s sales. Aside from this, Nike has chosen various Asian countries for their contract manufacturing base, allowing them to take advantage of low operational costs and even lower wages. Known best for its â€Å"Just Do It† Campaign which started in 1988, Nike has struggled with issues involving violations of human and labor rights, and deficiencies in health and safety conditions (Ferrell et al., 2011, p. 387). Like most companies that had to face human rig hts allegations, Nike’s response was slow and ineffective. According to an Amnesty International (AI) report, the company’s response may be summarized in four stages: denial, blame others, damage control, reassert control over damaged corporate image, and give appearance of compliance (Avery, 1999). At the beginning, Nike reiterated the efforts the company is making to improve working conditions and raising wages in countries where their factory is located. In a statement, Philip Knight said, â€Å"every Nike subcontractor is subject to systematic, unannounced evaluation carried out by Ernst & Young and that our own reviews†¦have shown that the Code [of conduct] is complied with in all material means† (as cited in Avery, 1999). Unfortunately, the review evaluation carried out by Ernst & Young did not reveal how may factories were actually audited and what tools were used to carry out its evaluation. Moreover, hiring its own evaluators to assess the companyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s operational practices was counterproductive, according to the company’s detractors. For one, how can a company release a negative report against the same people who are providing them with business? Moreover, as a growing company, Nike was too busy fulfilling client orders, its hiring and standard operating procedures were not yet a subject of scrutiny – until the Asian employees started their strike, that is. With thousands of people in their employ and hundreds of factory locations around the world, Nike failed to institute an internal auditing system (and an internal auditor) which could have helped them ensure the highly viable working conditions they wanted to provide. Another issue that led to Nike’s failure to address corporate responsibility earlier is the presence of a contract manufacture base denuded the company’s ability to monitor the activities in all its subcontracting plants. In addition, because many of the contracting plants wer e located in Asian countries, Nike should have installed an in-house representative who is tasked of ensuring that the new manufacturing plant has adopted the Code of Conduct. Transitions should have been made, and regular audit should have been scheduled to monitor the plant’s performance and adherence to the Code. Aside from its labor issues in the Asian territories, Nike has also earned the disagreement of several thousand people who were formerly employees

The dumbest generation by Mark Bauerlein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The dumbest generation by Mark Bauerlein - Essay Example Throughout his book, Bauerlein concentrates on how the digital era has displaced the common and normal human life, impacting young Americans. The author compares his time period to the current generation (under thirty years of age) in terms of education and their mode of communication. After discovering the many transformations that have taken place, the author refutes technological advancements claiming that they have done more harm than good to the young generation. In chapter one, knowledge deficits, the author embarks on statistical data generated from surveys to explain how the youth are performing poorly in all aspects of life. After comparing the 2005 and 1995 test scores, the author claims that the American youth performed poorly in 2005 because of their over reliance on information technology instead of concentrating on books (Bauerlein 10). The author, however, does not recognize the role of parents, teachers and the community in education because they too contribute to aca demic performance. He does not appreciate the fact that young people are getting more information from the internet as opposed to what teachers and books can offer. In chapter two, the new bibliophobes, Bauerlein disagrees with idea of the youth retrieving information from the internet instead of reading books. He believes that it only books, which have relevant and reliable information for the young people. He considers their over reliance on media gadgets as waste of time. This is not true because the internet helps young people to learn more.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 41

Case Study Example To the larger investors and stakeholders, the management should have informed them earlier with plans and strategies for ensuring that they (investor) would not lose their investments. The larger stakeholders control the public image and therefore should be given much consideration (Miller, 2005). In management, the answers are not different. If the management learned of the impending wine shortage six months, it would give them ample time to select the higher, middle and lower investors. Upon identification, the management would prepare time and strategies for convincing the investors that everything would be okay (Miller, 2005). Investors are afraid of shocks that, with carefully analyzed strategies, they can be convinced that absorbing the shocks is the management’s responsibility that they must ensure to protect their investments. Making the announcement of a potential loss of profits and investments, especially to investors and stakeholders, is always a headache to the management. The best way of action and making of such an announcement is communicating and talking to different groups privately before letting the information out to the public. The stakeholders of the company must know the truth. However, the management must ensure they have a careful strategy of acting to such an impending shortage to ensure that the stakeholders continue investing and supporting the company. To the outside stakeholders, the message should be a different one; it should be competition as usual. Going into detail for outside stakeholders would lead to also informing the competitors of the company’s struggles and strategies that the management cannot afford (Miller, 2005). I think Mondavi Winery’s handling of the new analyst was very poor. The management did not offer all the necessary information to the analyst for his analysis. If he had all the needed information, Solomon smith would not have upgraded the company to a ‘buy’. Mr.

Individuals who suffer from depression are more likely to use drugs Essay

Individuals who suffer from depression are more likely to use drugs - Essay Example Even though there is nothing that could prevent un-depressed people trying to hit a high with the use of drugs, according to the research work available and psychological treatment records on drug abuses and depression, it is the depressed lot who turn frequently towards drugs, although the drug-induced depression too could be equally true. Drug depression could be worse in people who are genetically susceptible to depression and hence, there is a strong connection between them. Curtis (2001) says that depression should be treated without even psychotropic drugs like Prozac and the depressed people should be able to 'pull the plug' on depression with 'directed thinking'. David Healey (2004) called the relationship between pharmaceutical antidepressants and depressed individuals, extremely unhealthy. When medicinal drugs are advised to be abhorred, it stands to reason that hallucinating drugs cannot make positive contributions. Still the fact remains that according to existing research and statistics available in the field of psychology, depressed people reach for drugs as the most hopeful means of controlling depression and feeling ecstatic driven by anxiety, loneliness and depression. Drug addiction can store metabolite in the body with further side effects. Depression and drugs can encourage one another and work together towards a horrible mental and physical end. This does not mean that non-depressed do not take drugs. Their number is negligible compared to the depressed, their percentage is negligible. An astonishing majority justifies my hypothesis and hence, I would like to conduct my study on this hypothesis with the support of researched evidence, articles, journals, books, reports, statistical data etc.

Competitors Analysis for Hoi Tin Tong Essay Example for Free

Competitors Analysis for Hoi Tin Tong Essay Hung Fook Tong (HFT) founded in 1986 and more than 120 stores in China and HK. HFT turned traditional herbal tea shop into a modern and innovative enterprise over the years which have over 100 products, including herbal jellies, herbal tea, homemade soups, and preservative-free healthy drinks. An innovation that helped both the popularity and the portability of herbal tea, they have more than 3000 retail points across the territory, including supermarkets, convenience shops, schools and restaurants. Kung Wo Tong (KWT) was established in 1904 by an imperial physician in the Qing Dynasty, there are total 10 stores in HK and 1 in China. The stores located along a main street and keeps old-fashioned herbal drinks shops in typical sized with limited even no decoration over hundred years. Most of shops sell four to six kinds of herbal drinks, but the herbal jelly is one staple that seldom miss the list. They keeps tradition way and focus more on the health benefits rather than its taste. HealthWorks (HW) started as a traditional Chinese herbal tea shop in 1989 and decided to modernize the company in 2000 in order to follow their global expansion plan. HW use modern technologies involves in develop, produce and distribute an array of traditional Chinese natural nourishing productions including herbal soup, herbal tea, medicinal tea, herbal jelly and other Chinese medicinal diet. There are 22 shops which mainly at MTR stations with trendy decoration and more than 1500 point of sales distributing ready-to-drinks herbal tea in various supermarkets and convenient stores Compare to HTT, customer regard KWT is more traditional and believe the products have more medical function while HFT and HW are trendier and provide health supplement goods. So, customers who go to HTT and KWT will be the local people who believe traditional herbal benefits, mainly the adult and elderly. The customers who go to HFT and HW will be younger age customers with health conscious and even tourists. HTT lost the competitive advances to HFT on product range and market coverage due to HFT do a good job at distribution strategy which has lots of products and large distribution channels. HFT also use price strategy to set their price is the lower among these competitor, these advances make HFT become the biggest herbal tea group in HK according to survey by AC Nelson. HTT use location strategy and branding strategy better than other competitors who have many chain stories and strong image, so HTT have competitive advances on sales network, number of chain stores and customer loyalty.

Explain the ethical significance of the Sermon Essay Example for Free

Explain the ethical significance of the Sermon Essay The Sermon on the Mount is one of the key sections of the New Testament, in which Jesus builds upon the Decalogue to form the first blueprint of Christian ethics. Jesus was preaching in direct contrast to the Greek philosophy of stoicism, which sought to separate man from his emotions. Emotions, especially love, feature heavily in the Sermon on the Mount. It remains ethically relevant over 2000 years later for many reasons, the first of which is the underlying principles behind it. Jesus did not come to abolish Old Testament law, but to fulfil it. The Jews were trapped in a system of harsh legalism, where obedience was motivated by fear rather than love. The Pharisees made a grand display of holiness by keeping the law, but the Sermon on the Mount teaches that their hearts were empty. Jesus built on the Ten Commandments to create a system ruled by mercy, love and dedication to God. Even if the culture changes the basic ethical principles behind the sermon do not change. It is a moral code that focusses as much on inward moral disposition as it does our external actions: Jenkins wrote, â€Å"inner attention and attitude is crucial. † Even if a typically good action is performed with sinful thought then it becomes immoral. The most important thing to realise about the Sermon on the Mount is that it is impossible for anyone to keep it completely, as it demands perfection. Although they will never be free from sin in this life, Christians use the sermon in order to try and become more like Jesus, who was perfect. The Sermon is all about Christian sanctification. Jesus speaks not only on what Christians should do to be moral, but he also explains why it is important to be ethical in the first place. He states that Christians are the salt and light of the world. Salt is significant because it represents purity, preservation and flavour. Therefore we understand that Christians should maintain a good ethical code in order to set an example to society and to preserve it from total corruption. The image of the light is also key: in the Bible light always symbolises joy and blessing. A light is visible to all, and so the Christian should seek to make Christ visible to all through their actions. A light is also a warning, representing the Christian’s duty to lovingly warn their fellow-men about their sin. Further on in the Sermon Jesus admonishes that, â€Å"If the light then within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! † Furthermore, the Sermon on the Mount gives many specific examples of Christian ethics, the first of which is regarding murder. Jesus equates anger to murder, and speaks of the fires of hell. This is contrary to the contemporary universalist view of Jesus and his death which has led some scholars to claim that when he speaks of hell it is merely metaphorical. Regardless, Jesus is affirming that you cannot be right with God until you are right with your fellow men, which all relates to the salt-and-light reputation of a Christian. Jesus also teaches about adultery and sexual morality. Again he equates the inward sin of lust to the outward sin of adultery. He also declares that marrying a divorced woman counts as adultery, a part of the Sermon that even Christians have begun to disregard. This is contrary to the Old Testament where Moses permitted – but did not command – divorce due to the hard heartedness of the people. The close relationship between a husband and wife mirrors the relationship Christ shares with his Church, which is why sex features so highly in Christian ethics. Love, when fully understood. Is opening oneself to another completely and can succeed only where trust and fidelity are present. Subsequently, another part of the Sermon on the Mount that is ethically significant would be where Jesus deals with how we should relate to other people. The standards set by Jesus are so high it is easy for Christians to look down upon those that are struggling. Jesus, ever a carpenter’s son, uses the metaphor of the speck in your brother’s eye and the plank in your own. We are all sinners and it would be highly hypocritical to judge another when we are also flawed. We never know the whole story about someone and it is impossible to be impartial in our judgement. The Jews were familiar with the concept of loving your neighbour and not judging him, but they did not feel the same about their enemies. Jesus commanded us to show agape love towards our enemies. Such love does not naturally come from the heart, but is instead must be put into action through one’s own will. As Jesus was merciful and forgiving to sinners, so we should be. This is vital to Christian ethics. Another ethical aspect of how we relate to other people is how we treat those who are poorer than us. It is not enough to simply preach to them, but we must take care of their physical needs as well as spiritual. Jesus said, â€Å"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. † Charitable giving was a fundamental part of Jewish life, but Jesus added another element: it was only ethical if done with the correct motivation. The Greek word translated as hypocrite in the Bible literally means ‘actor’. This is why Jesus commands us to give in secret, lest we become boastful. Moreover, there is a definite eschatological aspect to the Sermon on the Mount as it draws to a conclusion. This emphasises to the Christian how their ethics are eternally significant and will be considered on the Day of Judgement. Jesus states that few will enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that not all that profess to believe in him as Lord will be saved. He warns of false prophets who will come in sheep’s clothing; in this situation the ethics presented in the Sermon on the Mount are vital so a Christian can identify who is a true believer. We are not saved by works, but they are an important part of our Christian identity. The Sermon on the Mount also has certain evangelical tones throughout. It shows the unbeliever what is required of them if they follow Jesus, and the severe consequences if they do not. Spurgeon wrote of this passage, â€Å"The shepherd best discerns his own sheep, and the Lord, Himself alone knows infallibly them who are His. † To conclude, there are conflicting theories regarding the nature of the Sermon – certain theologians such as Calvin believe it is a compilation of many separate sermons. Others debate technical details, such as whether it was preached on a mount or a plain. However, something that every Christian will agree on is that the Sermon on the Mount is of the upmost important as a foundation for Christian ethics. Stott said, â€Å"The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, thought arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed. †

Analysis of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall

Analysis of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall A Critical Analysis of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall Robert Lee Frost was a Four-time Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, who was born in San Francisco on March 26 1874 to Isabelle Moodie and William Prescott Frost Jr. (Dreese) William named his firstborn child after his personal hero,Robert E. Lee who was the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Frosts had only one sibling which was his younger sister Jeanie who was born two years later. Their father, William, was a rough-around-the-edges journalist who was a hard drinker, always carried a pistol, and kept a glass jar of pickled bull testicles on his desk at work. Growing up as a child, Robert was introduced to fear at an early age as his father was a violent drunk. Although his mother was quite the opposite and was very caring it did little to help elevate the pain and fear that Robert went through in his childhood. Nurtured in a house of fear, Robert was a highly sensitive child who often suffered from stomach pains and other mysterious ailments. When he found going to school too much to bear, he was frequently home-schooled by his mother. (Dreese) His mother was very fond of geography and the natural world and this is where young Robert obtained his love for nature. After entering high school in Lawrence he began reading and writing poetry. This interest followed him all through his years of education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1892, and later at Harvard University in Boston. Although very educated, Robert never obtained a formal college degree. After leaving school, Frost became a drifter and had a number of different occupations ranging from a teacher, newspaperman and even the editor of the Lawrence Sentinel at one point. In 1894, he published his first poem called My Butterfly in the New York newspaper called the Independent. One year after publishing his poem, he married and fathered 6 children with Elinor Miriam White, whom he was friends with in high school and who happened to be the key inspiration in his poetry till her tragic death due to breast cancer in 1938. After moving to England in 1912, Robert meet a number of influentially poets such as Robert Graves and Ezra Pound. Through them, Robert was able to publi sh many of his works that helped jumpstart his career. By the time Frost returned to America in 1915, he had published a couple of collections of poems including North of Boston, which was one of his most successfully collections. By the early1920’s Robert Frost became one of the most well-known poets in America. He continued to publish great throughout the remainder of his life time such as; In the Clearing, Steeple Bush, and New Hampshire. Robert Lee Frost died in Boston on January 29, 1963, of complications from prostate surgery. â€Å"Mending Wall is the opening poem of Frosts second volume, North of Boston. This poem like much of his work, invites a range of conventional interpretations; readers may be tempted to meet its homespun wisdom with moralizing humanist pieties, or to match its smug wit with equally condescending judgments about the two characters and their psychological portraits. (Dwokin) The term â€Å"two opposites attract† resonates with analyzing Mending Wall. The poem depicts â€Å"one who seizes the particular occasion of mending as fuel for the imagination and therefore as a release from the dull ritual of work each spring and one who is trapped by work and by the past as it comes down to him in the form of his fathers clichà ©.†(Lentricchia) This poem alludes to many themes such as family traditions, man and the natural world of even language and communications. All these themes are instrumental in understanding the central argument which is individuals with opposing outlooks on life can still build a defining relationship. Mending Wall is a poem about a wall made of stones that divides the narrator’s property from his neighbor’s. Every spring, the two neighbors meet up to inspect the wall and make any necessary repairs. The narrator do not understand why his neighbor insists that the wall stays up as he states, â€Å"He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.†(Frost 583) He believe there is no reason for the wall to be kept there as there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He don’t believe in having a wall just for the sake of it. The neighbor through always reply with, â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors.†(Frost 583) The narrator remains unconvinced of this traditionally way of life and consistently presses the neighbor to not be so closed minded and look past the old-fashioned folly of such reasoning. The narrator sees the world much differently than his neighbors does as he expresses his distaste for the wall that separates their land. In the introduction to the poem, the narrator is examining the wall as he notices the gaps he begins question what made them. He do not believes this is the work of hunters who usually damages the wall after they remove the stones from to pass through. â€Å"Where they have left not one stone on a stone, but they would have the rabbit out of hiding, to please the yelping dog â€Å"As the narrator is looking at the wall he states, â€Å"Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,† (Frost 583) he believes the will corrupt is nature itself saying it dislikes the walls when it tries to break it down â€Å"as the frozen ground swells† (Frost 583) underneath it. He does not know why the gaps appear there but every spring they find them when they approach the wall to inspect. After a quick overview of the damage to the wall Frost a pproaches his neighbor as he does every year to make preparations for fixing the wall. â€Å"I let my neighbor know beyond the hill; and on the day we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us.†(Frost 583). This is very interesting in the sense that the Frost obviously shows little interest in keeping the wall up but agrees to help fix it every year. This interpretation presents a clear and concise understanding that the narrator was actually looking forward to the meeting and would like to maintain or even build on the relationship with his neighbor. This part of the poem introduces us to that neighbor. As the two individuals began to build the wall, Frost emphasizes the isolation between them as he states, â€Å"we keep the wall between us as we go.†(Frost 583) These reasoning for this can be contributed to the neighbors need for privacy and boundaries. As the two repair the wall, the narrator mocks the importance of this unnecessary work when he playfully su ggests that they use a spell to balance the stones on the wall since most of them are like â€Å"loaves and some so nearly balls†(Frost 583) which makes them difficult to stay in place. He later says, â€Å"Oh, just another kind of outdoor game, one on a side. It comes to little more.†(Frost 583) The neighbor however is committed to an end, the fences completion. His participation in the process of rebuilding is, for him, sheer work because he never really plays the outdoor game. (Lentricchia) This is the argument that the narrator brings to his neighbor. He tries to rationalize with his neighbor as he jokingly makes a statement, â€Å"He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never cross and eat the cones under his pine, I tell him.†(Frost 583) By saying this, the narrator expresses his lack of seriousness when it comes to building the wall and makes an effort to get his neighbors viewpoint on this activity. This shows that there is a form of r elationship or at least respect on the narrator’s part as he is attempting to understand the reasoning that his neighbor has for maintain this isolation between the two of them. The neighbor simply says, â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors.† The neighbor’s comments implies that there is some type of moral principle or tradition to keeping the wall intact. This line could be considered as the most important one in the poem as it the defining reason for the separation of the neighbors and also displays how different the two characters in the story are. This phrase has been used in many instances throughout society as certain metaphors for social of emotional walls. In this story however, it has a very simplistic meaning behind it which is to keeping your lives divided keeps things simple and easy. Otherwise, people can intrude upon one another and become too intrusive, leading to disagreements. In this aspect the two character differ greatly. He believes that th e walls does no good to them as it keeps nothing out. The narrators retort to this is, â€Å"Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it where there are cows? But here there are no cows? (Frost 583) He questions the reasoning behind putting the wall back up as he says â€Å"Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offense.†(Frost 583) He almost decided to allude to the notion that eve’s would be offended at the neighbors persistent rebuilding of the wall every year as a joke. â€Å"Something there that is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down. I could say Elves to, him.† (Frost 583) Instead, he decided not to, â€Å"But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather he said it for himself.†(Frost 583) In this instance, it seems that there is mutual respect between each individual. In conclusion, after analyzing this poem the narrator presents a bit of irony concerning his role in this story. He presents a feeling of insecurity about himself. For instance, he is trying to persuade his neighbor to stop rebuilding the wall but yet they meet annually to fix it regardless. It has become an accepted routine by both parties. If he really felt that the wall should not exist then he would have made this clear from the beginning and he would not wait until this annually mending of the wall became a routine. Frost highlights the human tendency to build barriers in some form whether they are emotional, legal or physical ones. Although the narrator does not see the benefit in repairing the wall, he continues to reappear each spring, which suggests he gains something from this experience. A fence is typically associated with separation and the establishment of boundaries but in this poem, it is a motive for two neighbors to work together to accomplish a common goal, buildin g a relationship in the process.

Art Analysis: Safely Contained :: Papers

Art Analysis: Safely Contained Image: Scarface Artist: Miles Donovan This image is one of a series of four other paintings, all of iconic people. The image I am analyzing is of Robert De Nero as Scarface, an example of another of the images is Stevie Wonder. The image I am studying of Scarface is a computer generated image which was produced in Photoshop, the photo from a real shot in the film. The theme that is carried through the images is that they are all placed on a red background. I think this helps to make the images more striking, which works extremely well. With most paintings, such a heavy coloured background would make the foreground image appear o recede; but the artist in this piece has reversed this, making the red compliment the subject. We could maybe say this image is a stem of the 'pop art' movement; although it contains the blocked and flat colour elements, it still remains to be painted in a lifelike colour and composition, and so does not possess the vibrant colours usually related with 'pop art.' The size of the image is unknown but I should imagine it would be on a fairly large scale for it to have an impact, I think at such a size, the red background would be very imposing and would set forward, Robert De Nero the subject of the image. [IMAGE] The form of the image is very simple, subject and background, both of which are easily distinguishable. The image of scarface has been created upon an existing image of which contained a background, this is not transferred to the artists' graphic interpretation. This is done with all the images in the series, the background being replaced with a shade of red. We see that the subject either appears to be standing or sitting, resting both of his arms on something that is not contained within the shot, it almost appears that he is leaning on the frame. This cropping of the subject works very well to avoid as

Biography of Louisa May Alcott Essay -- Louis May Alcott Writers Essay

Biography of Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, an educator and philosopher, and Abigail May, the energetic, philanthropist. Louisa grew up in Concord and Boston, suffering from poverty as a result of her selfish idealist father's inability to support his family. Bronson Alcott habitually sacrificed his wife and daughters by refusing to compromise with a venal world, most conspicuously when he subjected them to an experiment in ascetic communal living at Fruitlands farm in 1843. However, the Alcotts' intellectual environment was rich and stimulating: Louisa's parents assidously encouraged her writing, and her friends included leaders in abolition and women's rights, including the Transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau. Louisa took nature walks with Thoreau and had the run of Emerson's library. By the time she had reached her teens, she felt a responsibility to help her mother and older sister provide for the family. She taught, sewed, worked as a domestic and a companion, and wrote fairy tales and romantic thrillers. When the Civil War broke out, she was eager to participate, animated by her dislike of female passivity as well as her hatred of slavery. She enlisted as a nurse ans served for three weeks in an army hospital in Washington, D.C., until she contracted typhoid fever. She was treated with mercury, which permanently undermined her health. The experience did, however, provide material for her Hospital Sketches, which vividly combines heartbreaking pathos in death of a gental, stoical blacksmith, indignation at male official callousness and mismanagement, and humorous self-portrayal as the warmhearted, hot- tempered, down-to-earth Nurse Tribulation Periwinkle. In that year, she proudly recorded in her journal, she earned almost $600 "by my writing alone," of which she "spent less than a hundred" for herself. From then on, she provided the major financial support for her family, while remaining obligated to help them with the heavy housework and nurse them when ill. She never married. Later on, a publisher approached Louisa to do a girls' book, she accepted the offer only because she needed the money. The result was Little Women , one of the bestsellers of all time. Within four years it had sold 82,0... ... her characters who rebel against conventionally defined female goodness. Alcott, however, did not let her resentment surface in behavior: she constantly sacrificed her personal comfort and the artistic quality of her works to the demands of her family. She "plunged into a vortex" to write Work but had to stop to nurse her sister Anna through pneumonia; when she finished the book, it was "Not what it should be,-too many interruptions. Should like to do one book in peace, and see if it wouldn't be good." When her father was dying, she regularly dragged herself out to see him, although very ill herself; two days after his death, free at last of family obligations, she died in Boston. Alcott will always be remembered for Little Women , the classic American story of girls growing up. In her own time, it established her reputation as a purveyor of perceptive and sympathetic, but always morally uplifting, literature for young people. The subversive, feminist element in her books has only recently been clearly recognized. We now see not so much "the Children's Friend" as a deeply conflicted woman whose work richly expresses the tensions of female lives in nineteenth-century America. Biography of Louisa May Alcott Essay -- Louis May Alcott Writers Essay Biography of Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, an educator and philosopher, and Abigail May, the energetic, philanthropist. Louisa grew up in Concord and Boston, suffering from poverty as a result of her selfish idealist father's inability to support his family. Bronson Alcott habitually sacrificed his wife and daughters by refusing to compromise with a venal world, most conspicuously when he subjected them to an experiment in ascetic communal living at Fruitlands farm in 1843. However, the Alcotts' intellectual environment was rich and stimulating: Louisa's parents assidously encouraged her writing, and her friends included leaders in abolition and women's rights, including the Transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau. Louisa took nature walks with Thoreau and had the run of Emerson's library. By the time she had reached her teens, she felt a responsibility to help her mother and older sister provide for the family. She taught, sewed, worked as a domestic and a companion, and wrote fairy tales and romantic thrillers. When the Civil War broke out, she was eager to participate, animated by her dislike of female passivity as well as her hatred of slavery. She enlisted as a nurse ans served for three weeks in an army hospital in Washington, D.C., until she contracted typhoid fever. She was treated with mercury, which permanently undermined her health. The experience did, however, provide material for her Hospital Sketches, which vividly combines heartbreaking pathos in death of a gental, stoical blacksmith, indignation at male official callousness and mismanagement, and humorous self-portrayal as the warmhearted, hot- tempered, down-to-earth Nurse Tribulation Periwinkle. In that year, she proudly recorded in her journal, she earned almost $600 "by my writing alone," of which she "spent less than a hundred" for herself. From then on, she provided the major financial support for her family, while remaining obligated to help them with the heavy housework and nurse them when ill. She never married. Later on, a publisher approached Louisa to do a girls' book, she accepted the offer only because she needed the money. The result was Little Women , one of the bestsellers of all time. Within four years it had sold 82,0... ... her characters who rebel against conventionally defined female goodness. Alcott, however, did not let her resentment surface in behavior: she constantly sacrificed her personal comfort and the artistic quality of her works to the demands of her family. She "plunged into a vortex" to write Work but had to stop to nurse her sister Anna through pneumonia; when she finished the book, it was "Not what it should be,-too many interruptions. Should like to do one book in peace, and see if it wouldn't be good." When her father was dying, she regularly dragged herself out to see him, although very ill herself; two days after his death, free at last of family obligations, she died in Boston. Alcott will always be remembered for Little Women , the classic American story of girls growing up. In her own time, it established her reputation as a purveyor of perceptive and sympathetic, but always morally uplifting, literature for young people. The subversive, feminist element in her books has only recently been clearly recognized. We now see not so much "the Children's Friend" as a deeply conflicted woman whose work richly expresses the tensions of female lives in nineteenth-century America.

The History of Capitalism Essay -- Essays Papers

The History of Capitalism Capitalism is based on the same principles as mercantilism. The accumulation of means, materials, land and other things, this accumulation is called capital and â€Å"the property-owners of these means of production are called capitalists† (Hooker 2). Productive labor, human work that is necessary to make goods and distribute them, takes the form of wage labor. â€Å"The means of production and labor is manipulated by the capitalist using rational calculation in order to realize a profit† (Hooker 2). Mercantilism is the earliest form of capitalism. Mercantilism can be simply defined as the allotment of trading goods for profit. Rome is credited with the first formation of a mercantile society. As the Rome Empire expanded, mercantilism expanded with it, spreading into the Middle East and Western Europe. Due the localizing nature of European economies this enabled mercantilism to expand and was not part of the European culture. Thus by the fifteenth century, when the Roman Empire began to retrench so did mercantilism (â€Å"Hooker†). In contrast to Europe, the Arabic economies grew around a thieving mercantilism. They lived on trade routes between three magnificent empires: Egypt, Persia and soon after the Byzantium, and they found that stealing products, then selling them, to be very lucrative. Thieving mercantilism spread swiftly through Spain, Asia, Middle East, and Northern Africa, where â€Å"Arabic mercantilism assumed an unprecedented global character† (Hooker 1). During the Medieval Age is when the European culture expanded its mercantilism, taking trading to lands far beyond its shores. From the 1300’s onwards, the Europeans would push â€Å"their mercantile practices† forward, (Hooker 1) causing social up... ...ural production of human nature. Of all the economic systems tried to date, Capitalism appears to be the only system that has endured many tests, and has grown to dominate the world. The fact that communism in Russia failed during the 1980 and 1990’s proves that capitalism is the outcome of human nature. Capitalism conforms to the natural laws and conditions of humanity and that anything that falls out of these conditions can only brings misery (â€Å"Wood†). Works Cited - Kan, Fang et al. An Economic History of the Major Capitalist Counties. New York: East Gate, 1992. - Hooker, Richard. â€Å"Capitalism†. The European Enlightenment Glossary. 1996. 8 Nov 2004. - Wood, Ellen Meiksins. The Origins of Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. Wood, Ellen Meiksins. The Origins of Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. The History of Capitalism Essay -- Essays Papers The History of Capitalism Capitalism is based on the same principles as mercantilism. The accumulation of means, materials, land and other things, this accumulation is called capital and â€Å"the property-owners of these means of production are called capitalists† (Hooker 2). Productive labor, human work that is necessary to make goods and distribute them, takes the form of wage labor. â€Å"The means of production and labor is manipulated by the capitalist using rational calculation in order to realize a profit† (Hooker 2). Mercantilism is the earliest form of capitalism. Mercantilism can be simply defined as the allotment of trading goods for profit. Rome is credited with the first formation of a mercantile society. As the Rome Empire expanded, mercantilism expanded with it, spreading into the Middle East and Western Europe. Due the localizing nature of European economies this enabled mercantilism to expand and was not part of the European culture. Thus by the fifteenth century, when the Roman Empire began to retrench so did mercantilism (â€Å"Hooker†). In contrast to Europe, the Arabic economies grew around a thieving mercantilism. They lived on trade routes between three magnificent empires: Egypt, Persia and soon after the Byzantium, and they found that stealing products, then selling them, to be very lucrative. Thieving mercantilism spread swiftly through Spain, Asia, Middle East, and Northern Africa, where â€Å"Arabic mercantilism assumed an unprecedented global character† (Hooker 1). During the Medieval Age is when the European culture expanded its mercantilism, taking trading to lands far beyond its shores. From the 1300’s onwards, the Europeans would push â€Å"their mercantile practices† forward, (Hooker 1) causing social up... ...ural production of human nature. Of all the economic systems tried to date, Capitalism appears to be the only system that has endured many tests, and has grown to dominate the world. The fact that communism in Russia failed during the 1980 and 1990’s proves that capitalism is the outcome of human nature. Capitalism conforms to the natural laws and conditions of humanity and that anything that falls out of these conditions can only brings misery (â€Å"Wood†). Works Cited - Kan, Fang et al. An Economic History of the Major Capitalist Counties. New York: East Gate, 1992. - Hooker, Richard. â€Å"Capitalism†. The European Enlightenment Glossary. 1996. 8 Nov 2004. - Wood, Ellen Meiksins. The Origins of Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. Wood, Ellen Meiksins. The Origins of Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999.

Multi-User Dungeons

This lengthy article on avatars in Multi-User Dungeons (MUD) was informative and useful, though hard for the novice gamer to digest in one sitting. Literature attests to the gaming community using computers as tools to communicate and to link together friendships and partnerships. However, the article points out there is a danger of the gamer becoming overly involved in the community, and to remember that words on a forum/discussion board screen etc does not equate to an entity that reflects a physical community.I agree that there are differences and these need to be borne in mind during the gaming experience, however I find Rhiengold ignores the inherent similarities of virtual and physical communities with regard to their psychological processes (Agress, Edberg, & Igbaria, 1998). The article reviews MUD as a dynamic and â€Å"wild side† to the Internet. Rheingold contends that real magic exists here and that a person's identity is characterized by its fluidity. The imaginary worlds created with huge computer databases of programming languages deliver melodramas and satires, puzzles, education, leisure time and competition.With respect to the article's description of MUD communities Rheingold is somewhat over-exuberant in listing virtues of MUDs. There is an emphasis on fantasy, power, dominance, sexual prowess and violent injury or death. The goals as presented by Rheingold are economic dominance, fame and social power. Another criticism of the article is that it is not structured soundly. The history of MUD communities begins a page or so into the article. The piece then abruptly jumps to describing potential empirical functions of MUDs; such as observing them as â€Å"living laboratories for studying the first-level impacts of virtual communities†.Rheingold does not attempt to outline how such research could be undertaken, what would be measured or how participants would be ensured of informed consent. Numerous ethical dilemmas are obvious whe n considering the use of MUD communities as settings for collecting social and/or psychological data. Unlike the physical environment, MUDs are not â€Å"natural† and field research designs would need to be modified to maintain ethical standards and empirical rigor.Rheingold also suggests that the MUD environments could be used a research environment for evaluation of second-level effect of virtual communities on physical world relationships, such as with family, personal relationships, friendships etc. Interestingly, Rheingold points out that fundamental issue for the western culture are called into question with MUDs, social norms, values and expectations are adapting to the virtual (pun intended) anonymity the Internet can provide. He makes a good point that this in an important issue for a community where many relationships are mediated by technology.Unfortunately, the article has several disjointed jumps, with Rheingold distributing MUD history throughout the piece. He e xplores the idea of gaming being an addiction, due to several MUDders admitting to spending most of their waking hours immersed in virtual worlds. The concept of MUD community addiction is presented in the article as a â€Å"communication addiction† that needs to be experienced to be understood according to MIT's Media Lab Associate Professor Amy Bruckman; How do we feel about tens of thousands of college students spendingtheir time and government-sponsored resources to chase virtual dragons? To answer this question, you have to dive in and explore assumptions about what is a meaningful way to spend one's time. What are the value judgments implicit in various answers to that question? † Rheingold suggests that the first step is to investigate the fascination some gamers have with MUDding, to determine how obsession develops. Identifying unique features of the medium that engage a gamer psychologically and that meets a person's needs and expectations would inform about f ascination.He further states changing conceptualization about what is identity is the underlying cause as to how fascination develops into a dysfunctional obsession. Hence, to Rheingold, MUD communities are an extension of ongoing cognitive changes brought about by innovation, technological advancements and adaption of symbols to suit a communication-saturated society. MUD environments have allowed dissolving of social boundaries associated with time and space, as well as boundaries of identity. A gamer can pretend to be another; they can pretend to be many other people simultaneously.It appears to Rheingold that depersonalized modes of communication allow some people to be much more personal with each other as compared to a relationship in the physical world. However, he questions the authenticity of the human relationship within the cyber context, given the masking of the person and the distancing that the medium can provide. In this way he states that MUDding is not real life. Ho wever, he does not explore the potential for MUD to become a person's life, which from a constructivist point of view, would make the virtual a â€Å"real world† given that a person is seen as constructing their own reality (Riddings & Gefen, 2004).Overall, Rheingold focuses on issues of identity for the MUDder. One of the first activities that a person does when entering a MUD environment is to create an identity. They describe their character for others who inhabit or visit the MUD. It is through the creation of their identity, states Rheingold that the MUD community develops, grows, changes and maintains coherence for its members. It is the roles each gamer plays, points out Rheingold, that guides the socio-cultural value system of the community; †¦the roles give people new stages on which to exercise new identities,and their new identities affirm the reality of the scenario. The fluidity of identity is enabled by the participants being able to communicate using a num ber of public and private channel options; ? private e-mail ? person-to-person chat ? person-to-person chat ? â€Å"say,† â€Å"whisper,† and â€Å"pose† to anybody else in the same room ? form of group chat that uses the boundaries of metaphorical rooms as social boundaries ? turn on or off special-interest CB channels for other semipublic conversations across different parts of the MUDPoses and words are used to communicate meaning in the MUD environment. Rheingold describes the use of pose as useful though disembodied non-verbal language. Another word for posing is â€Å"emoting† and provides an added dimension to communication not possible in the physical world. For example, â€Å"[Instead] of leaving the room, you can disappear in a cloud of iridescent, bubble-gum-flavored bubbles†. Rheingold comments that first feelings of artificiality when posing soon disperse when one becomes aware of the added control they have over the ambience of the co nversation.Posing can provide contextual cues to that are not available through words on a screen alone. The added advantage of having creative powers within the MUD environment takes the experience beyond that of conferencing and or chat sites, â€Å"such as magic carpets that transport their owners to secret parts of the kingdom†. Other characters are able to steal or gain power of objects and avatars of others. As such, the social construction of valuing items and characters is similar in process to that which occurs in the creation of value systems in physical communities.Similarly, the social goal of power, over others and the material world, is a social concept that continues to be maintained in the virual world. Rheingold ignores this salient feature of consistency in what makes a community. In this way, MUD environment's can be considered â€Å"real† as they are experienced by individuals, and they do lead to the construction of social institutions, rules and c ommon goals mediated by a culturally-dependant language.The MUD culture is framed by the technology through which it is made visible and allows interaction, and also, by the physical world from which its computer hardware and software, and persons social rules came from. Much like Russian dolls, worlds within worlds. Navigation of the MUD community provides a learning experience for each character and they learn their roles to play. Gender roles are a dominant determinant of social placement and social expectations within the physical world. So too in the world of MUD.For example, tiny. sex and net. sleazing are techniques used predominantly by male characters to seduce female newbies into cybersex that is recorded and distributed across the globe via the Internet. As such, gender stereotypes remain within the virtual world, and women tend to be viewed as inferior, gullible and unworthy of treatment as equals. Despite social thought advances in the 21st century, the physical world c ontinues to exist within a patriarchial system that creates power struggles between dichotomies.The MUD communities do little to challenge the status quo of inequality with regard to gender, and in many ways (due to its anonymity) increase opportunities for people to act out anti-social behaviors. It must be kept in mind that these behavioral choices are grounded in physical world cultures, so that Rheingold's claim that MUD communities are unlike the â€Å"real world† in terms of social interactions is poorly supported. In conclusion, Rheingold delivers an indepth subjective critique of MUD communities. The critical review before you has evaluated Rheingold's interpretation and communication of the relevance and function of MUDs.Evidently, MUDding is an important psychological and social activity or â€Å"way-of-being† for many people, both female and male. This has sparked much debate in terms of addiction theories, gender issues and perhaps most importantly, ones se nse of identity. This paper has demonstrated that MUD communities have the potential to be research environments if ethical criteria can be met, and that in terms of social processes virtual communities have many similarities to those of the physical world from which they emerged.References Agres, C. , Edberg, D. & Igbaria, M. (1998) Transformation to Virtual Societies: Forces and Issues. The Information Society 14(2), 71-82. Rhiengold, H. (n. d. ) The Virtual Community. Retrieved January 12, 2007 from http://www. rheingold. com/vc/book/5. html Riddings, C. M. & Gefen, D. (2004) Virtual Community Attraction: Why People Hang Out Online. Retrieved January 12, 2007 from http://jcmc. indiana. edu/vol10/issue1/ridings_gefen. html

Warehousing and Logistics

This spreadsheet computer software go away armed service you implement the principles inAchieving Effective stock-taking Management. Completely updated and expanded, this third edition of the spreadsheets features the pertly designed ancestry Performance Simulator, which combines the analytic thinking performed by several of the previous spreadsheets. The spreadsheet package implicates a CD-ROM, sample print-outs and detailed instructions for use. Youll find the following easy-to-use spreadsheets Spreadsheet 1 The take stock Performance SimulatorThis spreadsheet everyows you to perform directing, replenishment, and enthronisation abridgment on up to100 distributor points at a time by loading your selective information into a genius worksheet. Areas of analysis include Differentiating types of usage. For items with recurring usage, identify the best figure formula from among nine methods preloaded into the spreadsheet calculate the forecast and suggested replenishme nt parameters. For items with sporadic usage, calculate form quantity sold/used in one transaction as healthful as minimum and maximum quantities. equalise your current archive value, dollar volume and subject on investment to potential type set. You can then see how varying safety stock and other parameters entrust affect your service level and muniment investment. Employ user maintained controls to still out unusually high or low usage. Graphically review the muniment and suggested replenishment parameters of a specific item comparing the results of all 11 prophecy methods. Compare the current and potential values of these key metrics Inventory turnover Turn/earn index piggish margin return on investment Adjusted pull in margin (i. e. , gross margin chooseing your average inventory investment) dowery of spare inventory Planned wasted (what marketers force you to corrupt in excess of what you need). Spreadsheet 2 Price commit (Item) If a vendor offers y ou a inflict charge per piece for a larger secure quantity, is it a good deal? This spreadsheet get out help you make an intelligent decision. It compares the lower apostrophize per piece to the cost of carrying inventory for a longer period of time. It excessively takes into account the lower reordering cost per unit resulting from the buy of larger quantities.The cost break that provides the lowest Total approach/Piece represents the best buy quantity. Spreadsheet 3 Price Break (Vendor Line) This spreadsheet compares the discount you will receive to the cost of carrying each purchase quantity for the length of time infallible to sell the entire amount (based on your current overall forecast for the vendor line). The result is a calculation of how more than each dollars deserving of inventory will cost when you tip over both the discount and carrying cost. The lower the cost of a dollars expenditure of material, the better the deal.Spreadsheet 4 Price Break (Terms/Fr eight) With this spreadsheet, you will be able to consider freight, terms discounts and extended terms to settle which of three entered purchase quantities represents your best buy quantity. Spreadsheet 5 Value of Lost Inventory This spreadsheet determines the amount of additional sales your partnership must generate to make up for the value of material that is lost, stolen or otherwise unusable. Each of the spreadsheets is provided on a single CD-ROM, along with hard copies of the spreadsheets, and detailed instructions, all packaged in a bad binder.