Abigail Williams Character Analysis Essay

One of the main characters of the play The Crucible, Abigail Williams, is the villain of the play, even more than Parris or Danforth. In Act One her skills at manipulation are very noticeable. John Proctor, who has dumped her after his wife found out about this sinful affair, â€Å"Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you no more.† Since she was also dismissed from her job at their house, Abigail becomes increasingly envious of Elizabeth. Abigail always has a different story from what actually happens and convinces people that her story is the truth. One event that happens that displays this would be when Abigail was in the woods with the girls dancing and took it to the next level by drinking blood and taking off her clothing. Before the questioning of what happen in the woods Abigail states â€Å"Shut up! All of you. We danced. That is all, and mark this, if anyone breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things, I will come to you in the black of some terrible night, and I will bring with me a pointy reckoning that will shudder you!† When she’s on the brink of getting busted for messing with witchcraft, she skillfully manages to pin the whole thing on Tituba and several of Salem’s other woman. The horrible thing is that Abigail is the one who persuaded Tituba to go out and cast the spells. Ever since Abigail’s affair with John Proctor, she’s been out to get his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail convinced Tituba to put a curse on Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take her place at John’s side. It’s ironic that Abigail, who encouraged the witchcraft in the first place, is the one who goes around accusing everybody else. Abigail’s main skill seems to be finding people’s flaws, their weaknesses, and mercilessly manipulating them to her advantage. Act 2 In Act 2, Abigail Williams has thought over her encounter with Proctor for seven months. The more she thinks about the affair, the more Abigail convinces herself that Proctor loves her but cannot express his love because of Elizabeth. Abigail continues to think about her memories until they accurately portray her as the center of Proctor’s existence. Rather than seeing herself as a seventeen year-old who took advantage of a man’s loneliness and insecurity during his wife’s illness, Abigail sees herself as Proctor’s true love and his only choice for a wife. She believes she has only to eliminate Elizabeth so that she and Proctor can marry and fulfill her fantasy. Throughout the play Abigail will tell things to people to make them think and make them believe what she says or make them do what she wants them to do. Most people look down at this quality but this is the way Abigail gets her way. Abigail has manipulated just about everyone in the town with the stories she tells. In the words of Abigail she states to the town â€Å"I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil† When Abigail said this she was just trying to get out of punishment, she knew if she confessed of doing the devils work and state she wanted God she wouldn’t be charged as a witch.

Storm Born Chapter Seven

I couldn't believe it when Wil told me he wanted to go too. Why did everyone suddenly want in on what was probably the most dangerous trip of a lifetime? I sure as hell didn't want to go. Why did they? If only I could have given up my spot. â€Å"No,† I told him. â€Å"You'll get yourself killed.† I sounded just like Roland now. â€Å"Yeah, but you said I wouldn't actually go in body. Only my spirit would go.† â€Å"Doesn't matter. The spirit is still your essence, still tied to your being and body. Someone does enough damage to it, then your body's toast too.† He didn't seem to care, which I found ironic for a guy who seemed to be so afraid of everything else. His final argument was that Jasmine would be scared and traumatized; his presence would comfort her in the face of being carted off by more strangers. He had a point, I supposed, but I warned him he would only be a reflection in that world, bearing little resemblance to his human self. She might not know him. Accepting this, he remained undaunted, and I decided if he wanted to get himself killed, that was his problem. So long as he didn't drag me down in the process. I also made sure he paid me beforehand. Best not to take chances. When the appointed night came, I brought Tim with me. Since Wil would not be able to go physically, we'd need someone to watch his body. Tim treated it like going to summer camp, bringing a tent and a drum and everything. I told him he was an idiot, but he had grand plans for how he could later tell his groupies he went on a vision quest. The way he saw it, he would only be half-lying. I could have brought Roland and had a little less absurdity, but I didn't trust him not to sneak in after me. So Tim it was. We drove outside of town, traveling winding roads that snaked through the desert. Wil waited for us in a secluded spot, away from some of the more public access areas. It was a beautiful night, with the stars and moon crisp in the sky and saguaros standing watch. There were a few other thin spots between the worlds I could have used, but I chose this one because I liked the privacy and because it was one of the strongest. I wanted to waste as little power as possible in the transition over, particularly since I'd have to work to bring Wil along. As it was, we had enough trouble even getting him into a trance. â€Å"Jesus,† I said irritably, watching him in the dim lighting, â€Å"how much coffee did you drink today?† He probably didn't even drink coffee. Too many carcinogens or something. â€Å"I'm sorry.† He attempted to stay still. â€Å"I'm just so worried about her.† He lay on a blanket near our small campfire, the smell of burning sage hanging in the air. Tim sat back near the tent with his iPod, smart enough to leave me alone and do my job. With the way Wil kept twitching, I doubted anything short of Valium would calm him down. Not that that ultimately would have done us any good. â€Å"Are there coyotes out here?† he demanded. â€Å"Some have been known to attack humans. Even with a fire. They could have rabies. And snakes – â€Å" â€Å"Wil! You're wasting our time here. If you can't calm down soon, I'm going without you.† Already the crescent moon had reached its zenith; I didn't want to transition too long after its descent. At my wits' end, I produced the pendulum and hung it before Wil's face. I didn't really go for hypnosis, but I'd had good results with it in the past for clients needing soul retrieval. Hoping it would work on him, I began walking him through the stages of unconsciousness. It worked. Or maybe just my threat to leave him behind did. Finally, I saw him fall into a waking sleep, the perfect time for his soul to loosen from his body. Holding out my wand, I drew his spirit to me so it clung like static, felt but not seen. Then, relaxing my own consciousness, I let my mind expand and touch the walls of this world, pushing its limits into the Otherworld as far as I could go. As I expanded out, I held on to an awareness of my body, working hard to bring it over in its entirety. Unlike so many others, I was even strong enough to bring other material things – my clothes, my weapons. At first nothing seemed to happen, then the landscape around me shimmered, almost like we were trapped in a heat mirage. My senses blurred, making me feel disoriented, and then my surroundings clarified. I found myself breathless, a wave of dizziness sweeping me. The effects passed quickly. I was pretty good at crossing worlds. â€Å"Oh my God,† breathed a voice that sounded vaguely like Wil's. Looking to my side, I saw his Otherworldly representation. Not even powerful enough to come over in elemental form, he appeared beside me much like any spirit in my own world would have: vague shape, translucent, and smoky. â€Å"You did it. You really brought us over.† â€Å"Hey, I live to serve.† â€Å"Actually, mistress, that is our job.† I turned around and tried to hide my surprise. My minions stood before me but not as I knew them in the human world. In this world, the Otherworld, they were more corporeal, appearing in their natural forms and not as a projected sending. Nandi stood tall and rigid, a black woman in her mid-forties. Her face had hard lines and angles, beautiful in a regal and hawklike way. Iron-gray waves of hair framed a face as bleak and expressionless as her spirit version's. As for Finn, I'd expected him to be small and spritelike. He, however, was almost as tall as me with shining, sun-bright hair that stuck up at odd angles. Freckles covered his face, and the grin he showed me mirrored the amusement I usually saw when we were together in my plane. Volusian looked the same as always. I didn't exactly know what to say, seeing them like this. It was kind of startling. They watched me silently, waiting for orders. I cleared my throat, trying to appear haughty. â€Å"All right, let's get this moving. Who knows the way to this guy's place?† They all did, as it turned out. We stood at a crossroads, mirroring the one we'd left in my world. The country around us was beautiful, warm and balmy in the evening twilight, pleasant in a different way from Tucson. Cherry trees in full bloom lined the roads, shedding pink-white petals to the ground as the breeze rustled their leaves. â€Å"We stand in the Rowan Land, mistress,† explained Nandi flatly. â€Å"If we follow this road, we will eventually reach the part of the Alder Land where King Aeson lives.† I glanced at the road. â€Å"What, no yellow bricks?† Nandi didn't get the joke. â€Å"No. The path is dirt. The journey will be long and must be taken on foot. Likely you will find it tedious and wearying, plunging you into misery and making you wish you had never set out on this quest.† â€Å"Quite the endorsement.† She stared at me, puzzled. â€Å"It was not an endorsement, mistress.† We set out, and I discovered in about five minutes that conversation with this group was pointless. So instead I focused on studying my surroundings, like any good soldier would. I had crossed over in body a few times, but I had never stayed long. Most of my jaunts had been to chase down wayward spirits. I'd always jumped in, done my duty, and jumped out. With such beauty, it seemed incredible the residents here would want to keep sneaking over to my world. Birds sang a farewell to the setting sun. The landscapes we passed were gorgeous and exquisitely colored, like a real-life Thomas Kinkade painting. It almost looked unreal, like Technicolor gone crazy. There was also magic here. Strong magic. It permeated the air, every blossom, every blade of grass. It set my hairs on end. I didn't like magic, not this kind, not the magic that filled living things. That was a gentry thing. Humans had no magic within them. We took it from the world with tools and charms; it was not inborn with us. Feeling it so heavy in the air unnerved me, almost making it hard for me to breathe. Suddenly we crossed an invisible line, and cold wind blasted against my skin. Snow lay in drifts along the side of the road – which stayed miraculously uncovered – and icicles hung daintily on the trees like Christmas ornaments. â€Å"What the hell happened?† I exclaimed. â€Å"The Willow Land,† said Finn. â€Å"It's winter right now. Here, I mean.† I glanced behind us. A chilly, white landscape stretched back as far as the eye could see, no cherry trees in sight. I wrapped my arms around my body. â€Å"Do we have to go this way? It's freezing.† â€Å"You are the only who is cold, mistress,† noted Volusian. â€Å"Yeah,† said Wil brightly. â€Å"I can't feel anything. How cool is that? I bet those boots of yours won't protect you from hypothermia.† I rolled my eyes. Stupid spirits. All of them. Alive or otherwise. â€Å"How much farther through here?† â€Å"Longer if we keep standing around,† said Volusian. Sighing, I trudged along, pulling my coat tighter. I wore my usual one, the olive-green moleskin that went to my knees. I had put it on mainly to cover the arsenal underneath, and it had seemed too warm back in Tucson. Now it felt ridiculously thin. Teeth chattering, I followed the spirits, focusing mainly on putting one foot in front of the other. In only a short while, we crossed another unseen boundary, and thick humidity slammed down on me, much like my sauna. Heat boiled around us, and this time I took off my jacket. In the fading light, deep green leaves rustled together, and cicadas sang in the trees. The flowers here were different than the delicate ones in the Rowan Land. These had richer, deeper colors, and their perfume was cloying. The minions informed me we'd crossed into the Alder Land. I cheered up, happy to find it wasn't winter here and that we were so near our goal. Until we crossed back into the pink-treed valleys of the Rowan Land. â€Å"What's this? Are we going in circles?† â€Å"No, mistress,† said Nandi. â€Å"This is the way to King Aeson's.† â€Å"But we just came out of the Alder Land. We need to turn around.† â€Å"Not unless you want to take days to get there. Your friend's body wouldn't survive that long.† Volusian inclined his head toward Wil's ethereal form. â€Å"That doesn't make any sense.† â€Å"The Otherworld doesn't lie like yours,† explained Finn. â€Å"It's hard to notice if you haven't been here a lot. It's more obvious when physical. The land folds in on itself, and sometimes what seems longer is shorter. And what's shorter is longer. We've got to cut back through here to get to Aeson's. Weird, but there you have it.† â€Å"It sounds like a wormhole,† I muttered as I walked again. â€Å"Worms do not travel this way,† said Nandi. I tried explaining what a wormhole was, how some physicists theorized space could wrinkle and fold, making it possible to travel through those folds and end up on the other side more quickly. As soon as I reached the word â€Å"physicist,† I gave up, realizing I fought a losing battle. We soon crossed into the Oak Land, a breathtaking landscape of fiery orange trees and scattered leaves, enhanced by the burning orange sunset. Here, it apparently was autumn. I swore I could smell wood smoke and cider on the wind. Something else also caught my attention. â€Å"Hey!† I stopped and stared off into the trees. I had just seen a sleek orange form dart by, its white-tipped tail flaring behind it. â€Å"It was that fox again. I swear it was.† â€Å"What fox?† asked Finn. â€Å"I don't see anything.† â€Å"Neither did I,† added Wil. â€Å"My mistress has gone mad at last,† Nandi said on a sigh. â€Å"Long before this,† muttered Volusian. â€Å"There was a fox watching me back in my world†¦and now I just saw another one.† â€Å"The Otherworld has animals just like yours does,† said Finn. â€Å"It's probably coincidence.† â€Å"But what if it's not?† â€Å"Well, it could be a spirit fox. Was it really big? Sometimes they're – â€Å" Volusian cried a warning just before the horses came crashing through the trees. I had my gun and athame out in a flash, firing without hesitation at the first assailant I saw. There were twelve of them, men and women, some armored and some not. Their clothing looked like something you might get if the cast from Lord of the Rings went to a rave. All of them rode horses. Charmingly archaic. The man I shot screamed. Steel bullets and gentry flesh don't mix so well. Unfortunately, he had shifted position at the last minute, so I only took him in the arm. In my periphery, I saw Volusian flare with blue light; I hoped he was fighting on my side. One of the riders bore down on me with a copper sword alight with magic. My iron athame caught it, and we stood locked there for a moment. Iron, the emblem of technology, fought back against the metal it had supplanted, but in the end his magic was stronger. There was simply more of it, and the wielder had more brute force. He pushed me backward, and I stumbled into someone one of my minions must have unseated. In one fluid motion, I regained my balance and slashed at the man with my athame. Blood gleamed through his shirt, and then I clocked him in the head. He staggered, and then another hit took him down. Another rider came at me. I fired, and she jerked backward as the bullet hit her in the chest. Underneath her shirt, I saw leather armor and wondered how much that would have softened the blow. I took aim at another rider, and then a sharp female voice called out to me. â€Å"Stop, human. Unless you want your friend to die.† Glancing over, I saw a tall woman with long black hair worn in two braids. She inclined her head toward a young man whose arm extended gracefully outward. Above the palm of that hand, Wil's spirit floated. A golden, viscous glow encased him, giving him the appearance of an insect stuck in amber. I had no clue what kind of magic it was, but I knew he was trapped. And at risk. Damn it. This was exactly the reason I hadn't wanted him along. He had indeed succeeded in getting both of us killed. I glanced around. Seven of the riders were injured, unconscious, or possibly dead. Not bad for the four of us, I thought, as I assessed our odds of taking out the last five. My gun was still trained on my target. The woman gave me a thin smile as though reading my mind. â€Å"You could kill him, but your friend would be dead before your next eye blink. As would you.† â€Å"What's it matter? You'll just kill us both anyway. At least this way I'll take company to the next world.† A new voice spoke: â€Å"No one's sending you to the next world. Not yet anyway.† One of the unhorsed riders clambered to his feet. Presumably one of my spirits had fought him, because I didn't recognize him. Yet†¦something about him struck me as vaguely familiar. White-blond hair hung to his shoulders, and ice blue eyes studied me carefully. He approached slowly, a sly smile spreading over his face the closer he got. I didn't know who he was and wondered what tactical advantage I'd gain or lose by turning the gun on him instead. Was he the bigger threat? When he was only a couple feet away, his face lit up, and he lost himself to great, booming laughs. â€Å"I don't believe this. I don't believe this! The mouse has walked right up to the cat. Unbelievable.† The black-haired woman fixed him with an irritated glare. â€Å"What are you rambling on about now, Rurik?† He could barely contain himself. â€Å"Do you know who this is? This is the Dark Swan herself. Eugenie Markham, right at our doorstep.† I flinched at the use of my given name, though I knew it shouldn't surprise me anymore. â€Å"By the gods, I never expected this. I fought her only a week ago, and now here she comes, offering herself to me.† â€Å"If you consider me shoving my gun down your throat offering, then yeah, I suppose I am.† I eyed him curiously, and then I knew. â€Å"It was you. You're the ice elemental from the hotel.† He sketched me a bow. â€Å"And now I'll finish what I started. Happily, even. The sight of your naked body has haunted my dreams for many a night.† â€Å"Yeah? The only thing I remember about you is how easy it was to kick your ass.† Rurik grinned. â€Å"You'll remember a lot more before I'm done.† Behind him, a few of the other men regarded me with renewed interest. I felt myself go rigid, despite my bold words. The black-haired woman eyed Rurik distastefully. â€Å"If you think I'll let you give in to your†¦perversions here, you're wrong. You're as bad as them.† â€Å"Stop being so prim, Shaya. You know who she is.† â€Å"It doesn't matter. You can have her later if the king says so, but you're not doing anything while we're on patrol. My patrol.† I didn't quite take that as female solidarity, but it was better than nothing. I'd come expecting a grisly death, not a gentry gang bang. Wil might be a lost cause, but if I fired on one of the guys, my minions could probably do serious damage to the others. I tensed, ready to fire. â€Å"Stop,† Volusian suddenly said, moving forward. â€Å"Don't touch her.† â€Å"We don't take orders from you,† replied Shaya. Volusian was unfazed. â€Å"No, but you do take orders from your king, and my mistress has business with him.† I saw the men freeze. So did I. Business with their king? Ah, right. We were in the Oak Land where Dorian ruled, the king Volusian had originally wanted me to see. Suddenly I wondered if this winding way we'd taken had been a ploy of his to get us to Dorian after all. If so, I wondered if he'd imagined capture as part of the plan. Shaya regarded me coolly. â€Å"King Dorian has no business with her.† A few of the men looked like they doubted this, and I jumped on it, as well as what Volusian had said about Dorian earlier. â€Å"Are you so sure?† I smiled, portraying the same smug confidence I used with the minions, even as my heart pounded in my chest. Too many eyes on me. It was like public speaking. â€Å"I've come a long way to talk to him. How do you think he'll react if he finds out you've killed me before I've delivered my message?† â€Å"Tell me your message,† she said impatiently. â€Å"I talk only to him. Alone. I don't really think he'd like you getting the gossip before he did. Or not getting it at all if you kill me.† â€Å"We won't kill you,† said Rurik cheerfully. â€Å"We have plenty of other things we can do. You'll still get to the king†¦eventually.† Volusian fixed his red eyes on Rurik. â€Å"And how do you think Dorian will feel when he learns you've been at her before him? The king's tastes are quite†¦particular.† In another situation, I would have decked Volusian. Whose side was he on anyway? Stupid question, I realized a moment later. He was on his own side. As always. The gentry all appeared put out. They looked like they really wanted to kill someone. The woman verified as much. â€Å"They've killed our people. We cannot let that go unpunished.† One of the other female riders strode forward. â€Å"No, actually. Everyone's still alive. Some just barely†¦but if we can get a healer out here fast enough, they'll live.† All alive? So much for Team Eugenie. I'd known gentry were stronger in their own world, but this†¦It didn't bode well for our gallant attack on Aeson and his people. Next time I'd aim for the face. I doubted they'd come back from that. â€Å"Let's kill the weak human anyway,† suggested one of the others, â€Å"just for fun. We can still bring her to the king.† â€Å"The king's going to offer me hospitality,† I informed them, still talking out of my ass, â€Å"for my whole group. He'll be pissed if you kill one of them. It'll make him look bad.† I was lying, and Shaya looked like she knew it. â€Å"You seem very sure of yourself, Odile, but I'm less convinced.† The other woman crossed her arms. â€Å"We have to get a healer. We need to go back for help now.† Shaya thought about this and then gave a sharp nod. She delegated people to stay with the wounded and others to escort my party back. Before she did, she ordered me disarmed. Rurik made a great show of this, touching me a lot more than was really necessary as he took away the athames – handle first, of course – and wand. When he wrapped his fingers around the butt of the gun, a look of shock crossed his face and he recoiled. â€Å"Damn it!† he swore, cradling his hand. â€Å"It's†¦I don't know what it is. But it doesn't feel†¦right.† I smiled sweetly. Thank God for polymers. Almost as effective as iron. The commanding woman's eyes flashed. â€Å"Someone take it from her.† No one moved. â€Å"All right, then, one of you spirits. You take it.† My minions didn't move. â€Å"They don't take orders from you,† I said, parodying her earlier words. â€Å"They do from you. Order one of them to do it now, or I will have the life squeezed out of your friend, regardless of King Dorian's anger.† I studied her, trying to decide if she bluffed. Wil suddenly made a piteous sound as the golden aura around him tightened. God, I hoped Volusian was right about this Dorian ridiculousness. â€Å"Nandi,† I said simply. She strode forward and removed the gun from me. One of the riders offered up a cape so she could bundle it up. When it looked like a smothered baby, he reluctantly took it. As for me, I was hoisted onto Rurik's horse for the trip back to Dorian's. The spirits needed no such transportation. He wrapped his arms around me, ostensibly to reach the reins, but I was pretty sure he didn't need to touch my breasts to do it. His hold tightened. â€Å"I wouldn't want you to fall off,† he explained. â€Å"I'm going to cut your balls off the first chance I get,† I informed him. â€Å"Ah,† he laughed, urging the horse into motion. â€Å"I can't wait for you to meet the king. He's going to love you.†

I’M Not Her by Janet Gurtler Isu with Summary

I’m Not Her by Janet Gurtler Written by Jordyn Leavens The novel that I am reading is â€Å"I’m Not Her† by Janet Gurtler. It is about the struggles a young girl, named Tess, goes through when she finds out that her sister, Kristina, was diagnosed with cancer. Tess has always been looking up to her older sister, because her sister was always the center of the crowd, sporty, beautiful one and Tess was always the smart, un-popular one. It was always hard on Tess, so when her sister was diagnosed with cancer, she felt as if she could finally be known.All of Kristina’s friends started befriending Tess, now that her sister wasn’t at school. Although Tess loved the popularity, she did have a lot of trouble too. Not a lot of people were asking how Tess was doing about the whole cancer situation but there was one person who was always there for her. His name was Clark. After talking days upon days with him, Tess began to want to be more then friends with hi m. But Tess also knew that she had to be there for her sister and didn’t have time to have a serious love life at that point in time.Then Tess met a boy from school named Jeremy. Jeremy has a little crush on Kristina, but is also now good friends with Tess. Tess was wondering why he would always talk about Kristina, and then he finally informed her that he always hangs out with her at the hospital when he is visiting his mother, who also has cancer. My initial response once I read the first third of the book was that I am really going to enjoy it. I thought that because it has a very strong plot which makes it very interesting for me to read.I like how the author gets right to the point, but still makes you think about what is going on in the novel. Another thing that made me think it will be a good book is that it is very realistic so I can relate to what’s happening and really understand the things going on. A few things that I really like about this novel that I rea lly like are that the author writes with a lot of meaning and it makes you feel what’s going on much better, the characters have a lot of personality and there is a lot happening.One thing I didn’t really like about the book is that you kind of get lost with all of the friends of Kristina’s talking to Tess all of the time. Another thing I dislike about the novel is that it’s lacing literary devices, which makes it a bit easy to read. Although some parts of this novel are a bit confusing or aren’t the best, it is still a really good book so far and I’m really enjoying it. I really like all of the characters in this book because they are all so different and they all have their own personality.If I had to choose one that I liked best, I would have to say Kristina is my favourite. I like her the best because she is a very strong teenager. It must be very difficult to go through everything she’s been through, and I’m sure there is still a lot more things that she will end up going through. If she didn’t have Tess as a sister, there to support and comfort her, I’m sure she would be in a very different place, because her parents aren’t being too supportive, knowing that she is having a hard time with this all.In conclusion, I think this is a really well written book and I am super excited to continue reading the rest of the book. It never gets boring and always has something going on. I feel like I can’t put the book down when I’m reading because at the end of almost every chapter, the author would leave you with a cliffhanger, which I like a lot. So far, this is a great book and I would recommend to anyone to read it.

Interview with a Senior Citizen

My husband was a pilot In the Alarm Force ? o handsomely Both of my parents died when they were fairly young. My mother at 56 and my father at 42. They were both ill. I had my first daughter when I was 28 and my second daughter when I was 31 . I started working at the Flamingo Hotel right out of high school as a front desk clerk. After I got married when I was 20, I became a stay at home mother and am currently living off of alimony checks and social security. Q: Did you go back to work after your daughters left home (Initially)? A: No, he left in 2007 right when the economy was crashing and it was Impossible to find a Job.Q: What are the most memorable experiences that you have had? A: The most memorable experiences that I have had are all good ones. My marriage Is one and the birth of my children. Q: What would you say were most stressful life's events? A: The death of my parents was very stressful for me. They were all the way in Pennsylvania and traveling across country for the f uneral was hard – emotionally and financially. The separation from my husband was especially stressful; I thought I was going to have to file for bankruptcy and foreclose on the house. Q: If you had the opportunity to change anything would you and what would that be?A: Of course I would change the passing of my family members besides that It would be my spending habits when I was young. Maybe then, I would have more In my savings. I try not to live In a world of what-It's. No regrets my husband always said. A: Housework, of course; golf, swimming, I Jog three times a week on the treadmill I have in the garage. Q: What types of activities do you do to stay social? A: My daughter taught me how to do social media. I go to the country club with the girls every Sunday for a game of golf and a swim when it's really hot.I also do bingo on Friday nights at one of the Station Casinos. Q: Can you tell me about your medical history? Have you had any major falls, bruises or scrapes? A: I do have a slightly high cholesterol but I'm working on lowering that through diet and exercise. Fortunately, I never had cancer or diabetes and let's hope I never do. Q: Are you religious? A: Yes, I don't go to church as much as I used to, but I am still a woman of faith. When my parents passed, it really made me think about the whole scheme of things. Some people allow death to make them feel powerless, but not me.I took it as an excuse to really start living and now I take care of myself better than I did when I was young. It's never too late! Part II: Interview With a Senior Citizen I interviewed my parent's neighbor, a 67 year old woman named Shirley. I met Shirley when I was helping my parents move back into their Lass Vegas home. The experience was very humbling and amazing. Shirley home smelled of cookies and backing bread, the home had a mix of traditional and modern furniture and had a lot of her children's photos on the wall and on tables.Her daughter, who still lives wit h her, was in the kitchen baking. Before taking a seat, Shirley looks out the front window, commenting about the neighbors newest vehicle; apparently they have had many which has not gone unnoticed by Shirley. I started by taking out my phone to use as a recording device. After closing the curtain halfway, Shirley sat down, ready to start and so was l. I started with the basic topics that were listed on the worksheet and asked some questions of my own. I noticed Shirley had a smile on her face every time she spoke of her childhood and her daughter.She responded to all my questions in a positive manner, which made me think she may have been trying to play everything up, but towards the end of the interview, I was able to see that although she had During the interview, when speaking about the deaths of some of her family members, she became a little emotional. When I asked her how she feels about the deaths of her loved now, she responded by saying that while she has come to terms wit h their passing, she knows that she isn't completely powerless when it comes to every day, pushing her to be healthy so she can stick around longer for her daughter.Shirley expressed that the other events that played a major role in her life are the birth of her daughter and her divorce. I gathered that she was a family oriented person and that the separation with her husband was tough on her. Her adult daughter living at home with her and her membership at a local country club seems to help her stay generative (Berger, 2011). Shirley expressed that living with her daughter keeps her young. Shirley recreational and social activities include golfing, puzzles (crossword and Jigsaw), computer games, bingo, and social media.By engaging in mental exercises and active conversation, Shirley will be able to help sustain cognitive function (Berger, 2011). In my assessment of Shirley, she seemed to be a healthy aging adult. When I first met Shirley, I would have guessed that she was a woman i n her late fifties, as opposed to ere biological age of 67. When I asked her questions about her physical activities, I found that most of her exercise was in the form of a thirty minute Jog on a treadmill, which she has in the garage, three times a week.Shirley also expressed that she visits the country club where she golf with friends and swims on occasion. She has not had any major falls, bruises or scrapes, she was very level and by playing golf it can be assumed that she still had good eye sight and accuracy for the ball. Shirley stated that she only drank wine on occasion and did not smoke, but behind ere in the kitchen her daughter shook her head and rolled her eyes, pointing to the two empty wine bottles still in the trash can implying her mother may have been under exaggerating her alcohol intake.Shirley is a woman of average height and weight, Just a little weight around the stomach. When I inquired about her medical history, she said that she has been fortunate enough tha t she has not been diagnosed with anything major, such as cancer or diabetes, but she did state that she had a slightly high cholesterol and is working to reduce that by being more active and eating well. She seemed to be in overall great health besides her alcohol intake.Shirley had great optimism about the future and her kids and about someday being a grandmother. Shirley is in overall good health. She goes on social media, plays golf and bingo to fulfill her social needs. She maintains a good exercise routine and exercises her mind with puzzles. The most valuable information that I received form this interview is to stay active, social, and to take care of my health. Interview with a Senior Citizen I am interviewing my 72-year-old cousin; she is a mother of 4 children, 3Boys, and 1 Girl. She is still married her husband of 55 years is semi-retired from the family business. They both still live in the same house that they raised their 4 kids in. 1. What physical activity were you doing in the past and now in the present? When I was younger I ran the kids everywhere. To school, and school functions, such as sports, clubs, dances, play dates. I went shopping with my sister and mother, with the family or just the kids. I was involved in clubs with my girlfriends such as card games, tennis. I played the piano, did yard work, worked in my garden, laundry. My husband and I went out to dinner, spent time with friends. I also worked in the family business when I could and more so when the kids could work there too or at least help. Now I work at the business 3 times a week, meet cousins for lunch once a month, meet friends for lunch a couple times a week. Still play cards, we take turns on whose house is hosting it. I go with my husband when he shows his cars at the Frog Follies. I spend time with my grandkids. I also have to keep the house up; it has 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, den, living room, and kitchen. I dust, vacuum, and mop floors. I also have treadmill and walk on that, and other excercises I do to keep my joints limber. 2. What do you do to keep yourself mentally alert, any activities or excercises you used in the past and present? Well in the past I helped the kids with their homework so that kept me on my toes. I was also working as the bookkeeper for the family so I was doing a lot of math. I have always read a lot, and I love puzzles, find a word and others. Even now I still work and do the books, I am still reading only on my iPad instead of actual books, still doing puzzles, find the word, and others. I am on the computer or my iPad surfing the net and playing games on Face Book, such as finding hidden objects. Word games, card games and others, I really like cross word on line no erasing. I also took some craft classes on line and learned to crochet, and cross-stitch. I now belong to a book club on line and we read a chosen book and then discuss it, and not just fiction but nonfiction. 3. What meaningful activities give your life meaning? I think spending time with my grandkids gives a lot of meaning to my life, being a grandmother. I did not always get to spend time with my kids. Not like I can with my grandchildren and spending time with my cousins, our family has all but died out except for our generation the 2nd. We all grew up together we were all close. Not our kids they don’t know their cousins like I did mine that’s why we get together now so we can keep in touch, and that’s sad because they have missed out on so much, and I don’t know how that happen with the 3rd and 4th generation of our family. I guess that is why it means so much to me I grew up with them and we are all friends. And we will continue to get together every month until there are none of us left. Our kids come to the lunches but not enough to get know each other. 4. Do you pass on to others what you know, or teach others? Well what crafts I do I have passed on to my granddaughters, just like my mother did, she taught my younger cousin to crochet, and other things. So I am doing the same thing, just like my husband is passing on what he knows about restoring an old car to our grandsons. I know some of my cousins are doing the same thing. I think you should pass on crafts and other thing that we know so they do not die out. 5. What do you do for recreation or leisure now? Well I love cards and still play cards with my friends we get together once or twice a week. My husband and I go to car shows all over the place. I love to go to flea markets and yard sells and will get my sister and we will do that. I still do crafts. I do ceramics, and will take my grandkids with me sometimes. I keep my days full; I am always busy doing something. 6. She and her husband still live in the same house that they have lived in for 45 years; it has 5 bedrooms, a den, living room, kitchen, and 3 baths. It is a brick home out in the country on the Westside of town. It is not out in the boonies like it use to be it is about 5 miles from USI (University of Southern Indiana) but it is not in the city. She still drives they both do, and goes everywhere, she still goes to social events that her and husband belong to. They are very civic minded. For her age she has not slowed down one little bit, she runs her errands goes to the store all on her own. I do not see her stopping what she is doing unless her health becomes an issue, but she has her children that will be there as well as her husband to take her or do for her at any time. As for as environmental issue even the weather does not slow her down, she takes everything in stride, she is not careless, but just has a positive attitude and will continue to do what she has been doing until she cannot do it any longer. She does not feel her age, she does realize how old she is but does not let that define her, she follows the old saying you are as old as you do feel. Part II – My cousin surprises me with her get up and go attitude, she is happy, and projects a very positive outlook for someone her age. She does not let being 72 stop her from doing the things that she has been doing for years. I am sure she has her down days everyone has those but I am sure not very often. She surprised me by all the things that she does in a week’s time, she actually works circles around me and I am her junior by 10 years, it does not seem to bother her that she has aged, she is happy with who and what she has become [ (Berger, 2011) ]. Her overall functioning is amazing; her memory and brain activity does not show any kind of slowing down on her part. When asked about her memories of what she did in the past the way she talked and relived them you would think that it happened yesterday, she is alert, and as total recall, she may have some cognitive problems but I didn’t witness any during the interview. According to our book it states the brain slows down as we reach old age. The elderly does not think as fast as a younger person. When talking with her, she did not have to sit and think about what or how she was going to answer the question there was no hesitation, her recall did not seem to have slowed down at all (Berger, 2011). Her appearance has changed from the blond/brown hair color to a all white color. Her skin is a good color, although it does show some saging under the eyes. She doesn’t wear makeup unless it’s some place required such as funerals etc. She is no more that 5’ 4† she is the shortess in our family and her weight for her size is right. She has no age spots, deep wrinkles, she also does not have the hump on her back like so many adults of her age. She wears reading glasses when she reads but doesn’t require glasses. Her vision has not changed much over the years (Berger, 2011). Her hearing is the same and she says it is better than most of her friends. After looking over the material in our book she is very healthy for a 72 year old women. She keeps activity, excercises, eats the right food, gets enough rest she seems to be doing everything right. Any improvements on what she is doing are very few, maybe slowing down a bit might be in order, but that’s not likely she has always been this way. She doesn’t take on more than she can handle. She is doing very well on keeping as little stress out of her life as she can (Berger, 2011). Talking to her was interesting and it was not as hard as I thought it might be. I am aware that not everyone will talk as freely as she did to me, but it was very imformative on finding out about someone by asking questions. Taking down the information and then writing it out. I noticed that while talking she was very relaxed, arms to her sides or laying loosely in her lap. She also appeared open to the whole interview, everything about her was open and relaxed, at the time I wasn’t aware I had been watching her in this manner until I went to transcribe my notes. I did it without thinking. I hope to follow her inspiring example.

Ethics Of Trial Design Health And Social Care Essay

Compare and contrast the rightful outlooks that patients and research topics may hold of the medical professionals they encounter in the clinical and test scenes. What aspects of test design prevent chase of the research topic ‘s best medical involvement? Be every bit specific as possible. Rights of patients in clinical scenes and the right of research topics in the test scenes Introduction Narratives of patients who have been denied attention or coverage with black and sometimes fatal effects[ I ], together with a series of incidences in the past such as the Washington Post narrative in late 2000[ two ]( of a 1996 medical experiment conducted by Pfizer research workers in Kano[ three ], Nigeria, depicting the slow decease of a 10-year-old miss known merely as Capable 6587-0069 while Pfizer research workers, watched her deceasing without modifying her intervention, following the protocol designed to prove their antibiotic Trovan in kids ) and the â€Å" Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male †[ four ]has led to 1 ) relevant governments taking legislative and oversight involvement in the intervention of patients and the behavior of clinical tests, 2 ) a subdivision of the public naming for confidence that all those involved with patient hospitalization or intervention and clinical tests will put the protection of the rights and public assistance of patients and human topics above all other involvements and 3 ) patients and research topics anticipating and demanding certain rights. There are similarities and unsimilarities in outlooks that patients and research topics may hold of the medical professionals they encounter in the clinical and test scenes. Similarities Areas were similarities exist include ; 1. Rights to information Patients in clinical scenes expect to hold a right to information about their intervention program such as type of intervention and options available and the hazards associated with them, so that they can do informed determinations. Similarly, topics in test scenes expect to be good informed about all facet of a test they are about to inscribe in such as the rights, benefits and hazards. This is usually done via an â€Å" Informed consent †[ V ]mechanism. 2. Rights to decline intervention or medicine As a corollary of the above, patients and capable alike besides have rights to do of import determinations such as refusing, authorising or holding to undergo specific medical intervention or take any medicine or take part in a test. This is possible through the procedure of communicating between a patient and medical practicians ( a.k.a. informed consent[ six ]) , which is non unlike in the instance of topics in test scenes. In both instances the medical practician must obtain informed consent from the person concerned without coercion and incentives, utilizing a linguistic communication that they understand. The cardinal message is that consent is voluntary with freedom non to take part or retreat any clip. 3. Rights to Confidentiality Another country of similarity is the issue of confidentiality. Patients in clinical scenes have the right to speak in private with medical practicians and to hold their wellness attention information protected at all times. Similarly topics in test scenes expect medical practicians to do equal commissariats to protect their privateness and keep the confidentiality of their records. Dissimilarities[ seven ] Areas of contrast in outlooks between patients in clinical scenes and topics in test scenes include ; While patients expect that the result of their relationship with medical practicians will ensue in the proviso of medical attention, clinical tests in topics aim at advancing improved medical attention from cognition gleaned from controlled experimentation. Subjects enter into tests without the chances of holding any medical benefit. These tests are conducted on the footing that the cognition to be gained will be valuable and hence warrant the hazards. On the other manus, patients accept the hazards of medical intercession on the footing of possible medical benefits to their individuals. The medical practician has a fiducial duty to patients in a clinical scene to work in their best medical involvement. On the contrary, because the chief purpose of clinical tests is research, the medical practician in test scene has no fiducial relationship with the topics enrolled in the test. Decision In contrast to Thomas Chalmers place that the pattern of medical specialty is more or less the same thing as carry oning clinical research, because harmonizing to him every practicing physician conducts clinical tests every twenty-four hours as he sees his patients and that â€Å" clinical test † research is nil more than a formalisation of this procedure[ eight ], the similarities and unsimilarities enumerated above prompts one to differ with his positions because the unsimilarities are so important that disregarding them will ensue in non seting in topographic point the right steps to guarantee the best involvement of patients or topics are served in either the pattern of medical specialty or in clinical research. Aspects of test design that prevent chase of the research topic ‘s best medical involvement In order to reply this inquiry we have to define between healthy and non-healthy voluntaries. The facets of test design that prevent the chase of the non-healthy topic ‘s best medical involvement during research, is the usage of placebo controls, randomisation, blinding, protocols curtailing intervention flexibleness, and research processs to mensurate survey results during tests.[ nine ]This concerns whether a control group in a test must have the same intercession as the trial arm. For illustration, tests that compared a short class of Retrovir with placebo for the bar of antenatal transmittal of human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) infection generated considerable contention as some participants were intentionally put at hazard.[ x ]These issues are non of concern in surveies utilizing healthy voluntaries. Another aspect common to both healthy and non-healthy topics is in instances were there might be â€Å" Financial Conflicts of Interest In Clinical Research † . Significant fiscal involvements in human topics research can show serious issues and expose topics to hazards[ xi ]. The Task Force on Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research, under the protections of the Association of American Medical Colleges, in their 2001[ xii ]study pointed out that â€Å" chances to gain from research may impact – or look to impact – a research worker ‘s judgements about which topics to inscribe, the clinical attention provided to topics, even the proper usage of topics ‘ confidential wellness information † . â€Å" Fiscal involvements besides threaten scientific unity when they foster existent or evident prejudices in survey design, informations aggregation and analysis, inauspicious event coverage, or the presentation and publication of research f indings † they added.

With Reference to Best Practice from Your Experience, Explore How Essay

With Reference to Best Practice from Your Experience, Explore How Social Networking (And Particular of Facebook and Twitter) Can Be Used For Tourism Marketing - Essay Example With an overall viewpoint, social networking can be regarded as the grouping of people. It may take place through a face to face communication, but when termed to be as online the communication takes place through social sites, i.e. the websites used for social networking such as the Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, and so on most commonly known as the Web 2.0 (Social Networking, 2010). Online social networking has somewhat the same characteristics as the face to face communication, although with a different mechanism and a higher value in the modern perspective. Evidently online social networking is gaining increasing importance in the modernisation of the business world. Organisations today, in the modern realistic world are tending more towards the inclusion of online social media in their adapted marketing strategies. It is mostly due to the fact that online social networks reward the individuals with an ease to build up relationships with other persons having a common interest in terms of preferences and perceptions. Moreover, the barriers in terms of age group, geographical dimensions, economic status and other variables also have a negative impact while opting for social networking as a marketing tool. ... To face these challenges the utilisation of social networking again proves to be beneficial for the tourism groups (Middleton & Et. Al., 2009). This paper thus focuses on two main questions, i.e. how can the social networking be used to promote a tourism company and what are the pros and cons of this process. Hence, the further discussion of the paper shall be concentrated on the features of two most used social networks, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter as Social Media Presently there are numerous social networking sites used by different organisations to promote their business. Few of them are Twitter, Flicr, Facebook, Youtube, Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, Orkut and many others. But among them the most targeted social sites are the Facebook and the Twitter. The impact of these social networks can be evidently witnessed all around the world. Facebook This social site was created by Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskocovitz and Chris Hughes in the year 2004. Initially the site wa s started to be used only by Harvard students. But after recognising the actual potential of the site it was expanded for the inclusion of high school students, business groups and other internet users by 2008. Presently the site is ranked as one of the most visited social network sites. During 2008, the company had a base of around 67 million active visitors all around the world. And in the current scenario the site has more than 500 million regular visitors. This is indeed a remarkable achievement of the site. The basic features of Facebook similar to other social sites allow the users to enter their personal information along with e-mail, phone number and

Evaluate the factors necessary for a successful multicultural Essay

Evaluate the factors necessary for a successful multicultural workplace - Essay Example How can we enable excellence at work and leverage on the diversity of culture, given the practical challenges brought about by human differences? While there are multiple factors which influence, impinge upon and determine the extent of success of any workplace, here we examine only those factors that have a bearing on the cultural aspect of the divergence. We also examine the challenges specific to a multicultural workforce and examine the factors that are necessary to make a success of the business operations in such an environment. Business is about people. A well-adjusted and satisfied workforce is the corner-stone of a successful business. A business or a transaction is largely, if not wholly, dependent on communication, which, as we will examine more closely later on, is almost inseparable from the underlying culture of the people involved. This is why it is of essence to understand this fact and hence expend effort towards creating a work culture that utilizes and thrives on the divergence of its workforce rather than allow the differences to create problems leading to an ineffective working environment. Culture in inherent. We live it, breathe it, represent it, but take it for granted. We are almost always affected by the underlying influence of culture but most of the time not conscious of it. Culture not only dictates how we live and behave, it also intrinsically determines the patterns of our reaction to people from other cultures. So what is culture then? Summarizing the many, varied and meaningful definitions, culture can be understood to be the window through which we view the outside world. It is the looking glass which colours what we see around us. It is the primary determining factor on how we speak, behave, work, grow and react to the world around. In the context of business, culture determines our practices and business communication. Business does not occur in vacuum. Nor is the business context, neutral. Business

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative Essay

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies; identify the major characteristics of both methodologies - Essay Example A research method that includes the collection of words and illustration through the text comes under the research methodology called as qualitative research method. It does not include the numerical values for elaboration of the research approach (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The investigation of real-time study of scenario is the best way to understand the related positive and negative aspects (Cresswell, 2009). The qualitative research methodology presents a huge related textual material regarding the concerned matter. The views and beliefs of different authors from the literature are presented in quantitative research method. Also the actual field study results and views are generated and compared to other practitioners that leads towards the final wording about the underlying challenges. The real world scenarios are studied under this method and presented in a theoretical form. In the qualitative research method, less number of respondents are found, because each of them has to pay his/her time for conducting the survey prepared by the qualitative research analyst. It consumes time of another person for gathering the information. Without having the knowledge of field persons, only literature is not enough to understand the phenomena that cannot produce the exact outcome of the concerned matter. The selected individuals have to answer the open ended questions, which take much time as compared to close ended queries. The qualitative analysis uses different kinds of techniques for the collection of data (Cresswell, 2009). The assessment of data through the numerical values comes under the definition of quantitative research methodology. The results generation procedure is composed of tables, graphical presentation, and statistical analysis (BSBA, 2012). The quantitative research methodology requires proper procedure for sampling. All collected results regarding a single question is measured numerically and statistical analysis is performed for

History Of Olympics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History Of Olympics - Coursework Example One of the major characteristics of the ancient Greeks was their nature of competitiveness. The Greeks laid a lot of emphasis for confrontations and rivalry in the area. They majorly competed in creativity and physical and intellectual development. The prizes included olive, humble wreaths of laurel and crowns among others. These competitions culminated into dancing and songs in the honor of their God. The physical development, later on, emerged as athletics competitions. Comparison The ancient Olympic allowed people of Greek descent only to participate. On the other hand, the Olympic today features all countries in the world. Only men were allowed to take part in the ancient Greek games. Athletic in ancient Olympics was part of every free male citizen's education. In the modern day Olympics, women and men are given a similar platform for competition. Lastly, the ancient Olympic Games were a religious event in the honor of the Greek God, Zeus. On the other hand, modern day Olympic ga mes are professional affairs majorly for recreation and a source of income. Women participating As it has been stated, women were not allowed to compete in the ancient Olympics. In this case, it was rare to find a woman contestant in the Greece Olympics. However, there exists evidence that girls ran in the Olympics. Periegesis Hellados, in his description of Greece, declares that females run in the Olympic to honor the goddess Hera. Evidence on the rules applied to women participating in the Olympic can be depicted from a bronze statue.

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS DESTINY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS DESTINY - Assignment Example does not provide a precise description of destiny but establishes situations in the lives of the characters to show the influence of destiny in their lives (Niebuhr, 2004). According to the Christians’ perspective, destiny is the main determinant of a person’s past, present and the future predicaments. For example, most of the instances in the lives of human beings influenced by destiny include poverty, excessive possession of wealth, greediness, corruption, immorality, relationship and their influence in the society. Moreover, an individual’s future predicaments are also determined by destiny. For example, Christians believe that, ones actions and conduct on earth determines their future situations in terms of hell and heaven. This remains a fact in the majority of the Christianity believers and is regarded as the primary form of manifestation of destiny in the human life. Most of the actions and conducts of individuals on earth are highly influenced by destiny which determines their future position, which is life after death according to Christianity. While formulating the answer to the fascinating question on the destiny, study was conducted on the basis of the teachings of the bible. Evaluation of the different instances under which the lives of the characters in the bible was determined by destiny provides an excellent argument for the research. In addition, a literature review of the existing theologists and their attempts to identify the exact meaning of destiny as depicted in the bible contributed to the study (Nieburh, 2002). Furthermore, more supportive evidence on the topic was obtained by interviewing various Christians on their understanding of destiny and how it has influenced their live (Niebuhr, 2004). The results obtained clearly show that, based on the Christianity view, destiny is an occurrence that determines an individual’s past, present as well as future conditions. It cannot be determined by the person but dictates their

Mandatory Overtime for Registered Nurses Research Paper

Mandatory Overtime for Registered Nurses - Research Paper Example opular profession, such as during the early years of the second World War, there was a surplus of nurses and trained professionals were being turned down for jobs. National and statewide assessments of hospital nurse staffing frequently utilize a measure that averages counts of â€Å"the number of nurses or hours of nursing care given the number of patients or patient days of care per hospital (Aiken, Sochalski, and Anderson 1996; Anderson and Kohn 1996; Spetz 1998; Buerhaus and Staiger 1999; Kovner, Jones, and Gergen 2000; Unruh 2002). These calculations provide a rough measure of nursing staff resources given patient volume, but they do not consider the intensity of nursing care† (Unruh and Fottler, 2006). Assessment has various parameters in delivery. The basic assumption of the current research is that mandatory overtime may compromise the quality of the care the client receives from the healthcare professional, because if someone has been made to work 12-hour shifts, they may be more likely to make mistakes with clients. Therefore, the basic issues are of safety in the healthcare delivery environment, in terms of the quality of car e that is received at the bottom line of the client. of personal problems. . Nonetheless, studies like Day’s feature advocacy of the 12-hour shifts of the flex time schedule in terms of support of both patients and nurses. â€Å"12-hour shifts would have positive effects for patients and staff in a ward environment. The results showed that the new shift pattern offered benefits for patients through improved communication, increased continuity of care and more content staff. The study illustrated the potential a new nursing shift pattern involving 12-hour shifts has for patient care, we well as for staff job satisfaction (sic)† (Day, 2004). In terms of advocacy, Day points out that flex time schedules may be a positive devleopment. But the contrary view is also included in Day’s article as a counter-point. â€Å"The report

The School as a Social System and the Application of Theories Essay

The School as a Social System and the Application of Theories - Essay Example There are 430 students currently enrolled in Pottsboro High. Aside from them, they also have a set of teachers, administrators, staff and maintenance personnel who interact with each other almost during the major part of the year. We can also consider the parents and guardians of the children as an integral part of the school thereby sufficing this condition. It is common to think that teachers influence their student's learning and behavior and the process is only one way. However, teachers are in fact influenced also by their students. One can say that the process is mutual wherein the teacher grasps more fully the meaning of life thru the acts and behavior committed by his students. Furthermore, if there were no maintenance personnel then the student and teacher would not find a suitable learning environment and the absence of a teacher and a student eliminates the need to have a maintenance personnel. In retrospect, each element contributes to the system: the teachers with their knowledge, the students with their acts and achievements, the administration with their management skills, the maintenance personnel with their service and the parents with their support in the development of the children and the school. They, however, also receive something which for the employees is salary and fulfillment. Pottsboro High aims to provid... The school is goal oriented. Pottsboro High aims to provide the students the opportunity to develop themselves to their full mental and physical capacity. They try to achieve this with activities such as sports and academic competitions. The teachers and administration also meets regularly to discuss performance and resolve issues all for the better functioning of the institution. The school has structure. Looking at the organizational chart of the school, one can see that the overall head is the principal. It then branches out to different heads of the department such as administration, teaching staff for a certain field such as Math and Science, Student Guidance and Relations and Security and Maintenance. The students are also divided into classes and levels that serve as an additional evidence that Pottsboro has a structure. The school is normative. When we say normative, we mean that there are certain norms that exist in the school. Rules and guidelines regarding behavior, use of school property and grading system are present and are made as reference by all the segments of the school. The school bears sanction. Erring, troublesome and cheating students are called to the disciplinary office or made to stay after class. The employment of underperforming teachers and staff can be terminated. These are just a few of the sanctions that the school can impose on its members when the rules and guidelines were not followed. The school also has a political facet and power relation inevitably enter into social relations. As earlier stated, Pottsboro has a structure and the higher the person is in the organizational chart, the more power he can exercise. Since this is the case, the Principal's decision is always final and executory.

Euglena Gracilis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Euglena Gracilis - Essay Example Euglena Gracilis, the name comes from the Greek words eus and glne, i.e. good eyeball, which refers to the light-sensitive eyespot. Euglena gracilis uses its eyespot to locate light. This is a minute single-celled nutrient-rich freshwater organism of the genus Euglena, having the presence of chlorophyll, a reddish eyespot, and a single anterior flagellum. Euglena gracilis is just one of the many species of Euglena. Euglenas have spindle-shaped bodies, ranging in size from 1/1000 to 1/100 of an inch (0.025 to 0.254 millimeter) long. Most of the species are green in colour as they contain chlorophyll. Euglena produce food through photosynthesis for themselves, and also serve as primary producers for aquatic ecosystems. Some of the species also eat tiny particles of living matter. Euglena are interesting because they are a sort of combination of plant and animal. One the one hand they can make their own food like a plant, but they can also eat other things, like an animal. They can also swim and move. Scientists argued for years about which Kingdom to put them in, Animal or Plant Right now they are in neither; most scientists put them in the Protist Kingdom with other microscopic organisms, such as amoeba and paramecium. Three membranes surround the complex chloroplasts of Euglena. This is unlike chloroplasts of higher plants and most green algae, which are surrounded by two membranes. The additional membranes present a barrier to the import of chloroplast precursor proteins. Traditionally, the genus Euglena has been divided into several groups or subgenera depending mainly on morphological features of the chloroplast and paramylon and on cell rigidity. Euglena Gracilis also has a flagellum, a long hair-like thing, which is used by Euglena to swim. In this experiment we studied the growth of Euglena over a three week period. We took three jars and put the Euglena in each of them. We put rice in one jar and kept it in the dark. So this Euglena got its nutrients solely from the rice. Euglena in another jar was placed in the light with no rice, and this Euglena got its nutrients solely from the light. In the third jar we put rice and also placed this one in the light, so that this Euglena could get nutrients from both light and rice. Each week we checked on the Euglena jars to see which had the greatest exponential growth; From the experiment, we found that the Euglena in the light only did the best (results are summarized in table-1). Table-1: Growth pattern of Euglena over a three week period Jar-1 Euglena with Rice only (growth-cells per field) Jar-2 Euglena with Light only (growth-cells per field) Jar-3 Euglena with Rice and Light (growth-cells per field) Week-1 28 20 40 Week-2 22 31 35 Week-3 24 44 21 Conclusion It is amply clear that Euglena gracilis do behave like plants as well as animals, because when Euglena gracilis doesn't have enough light to make its own food, it looks for other things to eat. In this case rice supported the growth of Euglena. References: 1. Euglena, available online at http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/euglena.htm (Oct 24, 2006). 2. Woongghi Shin and Richard E. Triemer, "Phylogenetic analysis of the genus euglena (euglenophyceae) with particular reference to the type species euglena viridis", 759-770, available online

Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Book Review - Essay Example These documents are tangible proof of the manner in which governments and titans of the industry have harmed their own people. What is most shocking is the tendency of investigating agencies to later help in the cover up operations mounted by these industrial giants and the so-called protectors of the citizens of the nation. These accounts of governmental apathy and disregard for innocents raises the troubling question of how safe are we, the populace of a nation. In this summary, we shall be discussing this hand in glove attitude of people in power, who treat common individuals as guinea pigs in their quest for control over the world. Edwin Black’s IBM and the Holocaust is a painstaking episode delving into the convergence of technology and the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1945. It is a powerful documentation of how Thomas J. Watson’s (Chief of IBM at the time) greed and his desire to monopolize the emerging market of technological possibilities led him to make covert deals with Hitler’s government. Hitler was not the first man to hate the Jews, but his terrifying objectives of wiping out Jews from Europe was aided by the â€Å"solution providers† at IBM. The IBM Hollerith D-11, card sorting machine, which identified the Jews during the 1933 census, in a way sealed their fates forever. Edwin Black lays the blame for the condition of Jews as much on Hitler as the card machines provided to the Third Reich by Thomas J Watson’s company. These machines helped in cross indexing government, church and communal records. Edwin Black juxtaposed the movement of ma chines from one Nazi occupied territory to another and uncovered that it was these machines, using punch cards, all provided by IBM, which helped in the systematic slaughter to Jews. These lists can be termed as glaring instances of corporate misconduct, because the greed of one company fed the vicious ambitions of one individual,

Supply Chain Strategic Management Research Paper

Supply Chain Strategic Management - Research Paper Example Global business environment is becoming highly competitive as several leading global organizations are trying to develop and implement unique business operation strategies in order to meet current market demand and achieve competitive advantages. Tesco Used to adopt different unique strategies in the business operation processes in order to meet business goals and corporate objectives. The organization always develops customer and employee centric business strategies to attain sustainable business growth rate. Maintaining sustainability in each and every business operation processes can help an organization to maintain effective business performances. Tesco Plc. always tries to maintain sustainability in business operation processes to develop effective relationship with the shareholders and stakeholders. Â  The organization is strongly focusing on the implementation of CSR and sustainable activities across the supply chain network in order to accomplish the strategic plan. The stra tegic plan of the organization is to maintain environmental, social and economic sustainability through ethical business operation activities. Sustainable supply chain activities are helping the shareholders of the organization to take interest in the business strategies of Tesco several organizations are trying to capitalize on the potential opportunities to improve supply chain activities. High carbon emission level in logistics and supply chain due to high consumption of fossil fuel and energy sources are creating. major concerns for the global retail chain organizations. Therefore, Tesco can grab the opportunity to use effective energy resources to maintain low carbon emission level so that the organization can justify its corporate goals and strategic plan. In addition to this, the organization can try to engage employees in the logistics and supply chain strategy development process in order to bring efficiency in the supply chain management process. Capitalization on this opp ortunity will help the organization to improve supply chain activities.

Summary of marketing article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary of marketing article - Essay Example Of these experts, Converse was one of the only to emphasize on customers which has now become the core of the concept of marketing mix. The author has provided a clear timeline which outlines the various authors and their contributions to the concept since 1911 until 1960. The author has provided a clear and concise explanation of the various inputs from several authors in a clear manner. The author further moves on to discuss the ‘blossoming of the marketing mix’, where he has pointed out how Culliton (1948) suggested the name for the concept. He moves on to provide an explanation of how the name developed and how the 1950s saw a growth in terms of the concept and the related theories. Again the author has provided in a very effective and efficient manner the contribution of several authors over the years and how the marketing mix concept grew and formed shape. The author also highlights how the 4Ps of marketing had been introduced and developed in 1960. Furthermore, the author has moved on to discuss an essential aspect of the concept where the future considerations for the marketing mix have been made. Here the author considers and discusses the contributions of Park, MacInnis and Silverman and their suggestions of the 4Ps configuration. The concept came into being based on the several economic theories that were present in the earlier years. However there have been questions about the purpose of the 4Ps and the overall usefulness in terms of stimulating demand. The author has touched upon some important aspects of the current day thought of the field of marketing and has brought out some relevantly new thoughts where the marketing has been recognized to be the organizational culture and philosophy. The author has also brought out essential points which highlight the need for a fresher view on the concept which can be seen in the light of some practical decision making processes of the current

Bureaucracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bureaucracy - Essay Example According to Weber’s Model there are six main elements in Bureaucracy: 1. Clearly defined offices and authorities. 2. Hierarchical structure of offices. 3. Written guidelines for performance of offices. 4. Office as a career. 5. Duties and authorities attached to positions and authority not to the persons. Only way of communication between the offices is written letters or documents. From these principles and ways efficiency of individuals and offices are raised to a great value. Ultimately goal of organization operating successfully and effectively is attained. The whole organization is based on the concept of instrumentalism assuming organizations as machine parts. These machine parts are dependent on each other for greater efficiency. Greater the efficiency of one part or office greater will be the efficiency of the other part or office dependent on first part or office; ultimately this whole scenario will lead to an extremely efficient machinery of. Weber contended that po sitions in an organization are to be filled on the basis of technical capability and knowledge regarding the field office is related to. But in practical world persons holding authority positions in organizations might not be good technically and knowledge of the field. Parson (Weber & Parsons, 1947) raised the question that, do members of an organization have to follow orders due to person or position holding the authority? This question was not addressed in Weber’s model of organizations. Parson raised a question; that if the decisions are made by a person having a less technical capability than in such case whole efficiency of the organization will be at stack. Gouldner (1954) pointed to a slightly different confusion present in the Weber’s model the compatibility of one individual to obey order should be of the two basic reasons â€Å"Orders obeyed by individual is due to reason that it will be helping in achieving the ultimate goal of good efficiency.† Or; â€Å"Orders are obeyed merely due to reason that they are given by the person having greater authority.†Parson and Gouldner have identified major contradictions that are present in the Weber’s model of organizational structure. Parson and Gouldner provided the basis of sociological studies of organizational structure. There are unintended consequences as a result of traditional bureaucratic organizational structure. These consequences are unexpected during the whole operations of the organization and results attained after the rise of these consequences are also quite unexpected This dilemma of unexpected consequences due to human actions was addressed by Merton (1957). Merton’s analysis of â€Å"Bureaucratic personality† stands as a classical statement while talking about organizational behavior and well being associated to it. According to Merton individuals are so busy in carrying out rules and regulations requirements as a result the real objective o f the organization is lost. This results in unproductive results for the organization. Merton advised that rules should be flexible enough to discourage any unproductive results. Gouldners’ patterns for industrial bureaucracy include concepts such as mock bureaucracy, representative bureaucracy and punishment-centered bureaucracy. Mock bureaucracy involves the rules which are rarely enforced routinely and have nothing to do with the objective of the organization. No-smoking rule is an example of such a case. Representative Bureaucracy involves

Microeconomic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microeconomic - Essay Example It argues that if trade in the externalized cost is possible and there are no transaction costs and no substantial barriers to competition, bargaining over the externalized costs will lead to an efficient outcome. Poorly defined property rights and obligations or poor enforcement of those rights can lead people to shirk the obligation for damaging another's goods. Our polluting firm is harming the interests of local fishermen. Assuming a competitive market and the right of fishermen to the property either of the fish or of the water being polluted, the polluting firm will have to buy the rights to pollute either as a contract or buy the river fully. This will lead to an efficient result: Either the firm can't afford it, meaning that the social value of their product was transparently less than that of the fish; or it can, in which case the fishermen will get ample compensation for their trouble and society will get good X. If property rights belong to the polluter, then it is much ha rder for the social optimum to be achieved, as the polluter has little incentive to cooperate with the fishermen. Nonetheless, if the value of fish is high enough, then the polluter would have an incentive to buy the fish before the pollution has gotten too bad, and pay the local fishermen; if it isn't, then society didn't want the fish anyways (Mankiw, 2008, 217). Question #3: Risk averse preferences are preferences when faced with uncertainty to err on the side of caution. Risk averse agents, or agents with risk averse preferences, will choose a lower-risk scenario out of multiple scenarios, even if the ultimate outcome could be higher even after accounting for the risk. Consider a father trying to feed his family: He is not likely to tolerate an investment that has even a 5% chance of failure if that 5% chance could deprive him of feeding his family, even if the growth from that investment was in pure economic senses worth it. Risk averse preferences stem from scenarios whose ris k is more than is quantified economically: In the case of the father, the scenario where he can't feed his family has an infinite negative value. The certainty equivalent is the guaranteed, immediately available amount of money or value that an individual would view as equally desirable as a risky asset. Take a game where someone can play for $1000 or $0 or simply choose $500. Mathematical expectation says that the scenarios are identical, but the person playing wants guaranteed return: Thus, to make the show more interesting, it may offer only $250, meaning that $500 (or even a lower number up to $251) is a certainty equivalent. The risk premium is the amount of added value that a risky asset must bring. If an investment has a 1% chance to fail, I am likely to want a 1.5% growth rate on the investment at minimum so that over 100 years the failure of an individual year does not threaten my growth. Maximum willingness to pay for insurance is determined by these factors and others. It can be quantified mathematically: E.g. if I am offering a client a $1,000,000 life insurance policy, and he won't purchase the policy for less than $1000 annually, than that is his maximum willingness to pay (Besanko et al, 2010, 590-612). Question #4: Expected Utility: EU = (.8) * ? 100,000^.5 + (.2) * ? 50,000^.5 = 252.98221281347034655991148355462 + 44.721359549995793928183473374626 = 297.70357236346614048809495692925.

War And Terrorism As A Social Prolem Essay Example for Free

War And Terrorism As A Social Prolem Essay That war and terrorism remain the worst fear of man in the 21st century, is a truism that calls for no dispute. In fact almost every country in the world today has put measures into place to curb this ever emerging catastrophe. The united states of Americas top agenda has also in the recent past become to be the war on terror hence the war has been an age old phenomena facilitated by a myriad of reasons, terrorism is a rather new phenomena characterized by many reasons some of which are ambiguous and misplaced as will be discussed later in this paper. Many authors have not drawn a line between what should be viewed as war and what is to be classified as terrorism. Too many of these authors, war and terrorism are inextricably intertwined and thus affording no distinction one such author is Chris Toms. All players though acknowledge that terrorism mad war is a social problem that needs to be Addressed urgently. The was a result of the Second World War and especially the August 1945 bombing of two Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Here the deaths, maiming and damage of property all a result of war made nations come together to avoid future occurrence of horrid incidents such as the bombing. This paper boards on the Thesis that war and terrorism are related issues. And to be able to successfully address them distinctions should be made carefully further the paper will show how terrorism springs form war and vice-versa. Lastly the paper will strive to elaborate how war and terrorism are indeed a social problem. War and terrorism go hand in hand,and their results have been the worst in the whole world because of their impact in general. Many leaders have used war and terrorism to assend to power or to communicate with their enemies,but all in all war and terrorism should be the thing of the past for better society. People see war and terrorism from different percepctives, they are those see it from negative percepctive,that is those who see it from bad effcts it brings to community or natio, more so to woman and children. And there are those who see war and terrorism from positive sides. This comes from seeing what the war and terrorism will bring to their lifes,or seeing it as the one which will solve their problem. CAUSES OF WAR AND TERRORISM As stated in the introductory paragraphs war has been an age old problem in fact strong empires like the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union and others become powerful as a result of war. Readers of the Bible will also at least to the fact that wars have existed since the history of man. Causes of war and terrorism can be many,can range from poor leadrship to poverty ,which are the main causes. Every war and terrorism which have occurred has its causes. War and terrorism has been there from time memorial,it never started recently. The first war therefore according to the scriptures pelted Cain against each other in the womb (Genesis, 25:22). Reasons for wars are varied as can even be seen from the two bible incidents. In the first instance for example, Cain killed the brother out of sheer jealousy while in the second scenario, it was a battle for supremacy. WAR AND TERRORISM DEFINED War has been defined from the military standpoint to mean a continuation of political intercourse in addition with other means (Carl von Clauswitz). Terrorism on its part has been defined to mean those acts which are intended to create fear are perpetrated for a group (as opposed to being carried in one attacks) and which are deliberately target or else disregard to safety of civilians (wikipedia the dictionary) The wikipedia definition no matter how excellent it may look and sound, it misses out on the fact that a lone attacker can perpetrate an act or acts of terrorism. Secondly an act of terrorism can at times not be motivated by an ideology. In the US acts of terrorism have been committed by one attackers with otherwise no sound ideological backing for instance, Tim Mc veigh to name just but a few. What needs to be known is that terrorism can be carried by lone attackers and that it matters not whether or not an ideology is attached to attacks. In fact many attacks in Iraq on US soldiers arent backed by the jihads ideology but from sheer despair in life by Iraq youth. This can also be evidential by the fact that many attacks are carried out by youths and not middle aged or old men and women. So if Jihad is the motivating factor in Iraq then the old folks should have been at the forefront because it is they who understand the religion better not the youth. ON WAR AND TERRORISM WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE Terrorism and war as earlier stated are closely related issues because both can be viewed as a continuation of intercourse and or ideology. Take the September 11 attacks on US soil for example. After the Taliban regime whom it accused of harboring terrorists mastermind Osama bin laden. This led to invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But did terrorism end there? The answer is no. Attack after attack has been launched in US soldiers in Afghanistan. It has also been reported that in the Tarboro mountains where Osama is believed to be has become the recruiting haven of would be/prospective terrorists. When a war is declared on areas or states suspected tope conducting terrorist activities, two things takes place. One two fronts are created in the war, putting the offended state against the offending state. Two another war is created as a counter attack to the offended state. Succinctly put, there is a shift of goal posts and the hunted becomes the hunter. Take the Taliban overthrow by United States as an example for another time. The Taliban regime did not go to oblivion but regrouped and started sponsoring terrorist’s attacks on us and her allies, e. g. Israel and Britain. Much that these terrorist activities are purely seen as such (terrorists) they are truly speaking and according to their sponsors a war on America. It therefore becomes difficult to draw a line between war and terrorism. But as a matter of fact a line should be drawn because war can at times be necessary but terrorism is simply unwanted. To draw the line therefore, International war standards must be invoked only then will be able to distinguish between a â€Å"right full† war and terrorism. So that if a war springs form that â€Å"rightful† war it is unanimously branded terrorism. CAUSES OF WAR AND TERRORISM Politics: Carl von clau sewitz, a profound military theorist once said that politics was the main cause of war. He went on to state that war is a continuation of political intercourse. (War and terrorism: The never ending fight for freedom) Personally, I cannot agree more with the author because even the Tibet and China conflict is motivated by the politics of independence. This has been to some extent of the motivating factor in the recent time in the conflict between the Tibetans and Chinese has been the sociological imagination among the timberworks that it is the opportune time for them tope granted independence. The problem has also been worsened by the fact that Tibetans are a minority group this other factors make them to imagine sociologically of course that they are oppressed hence their uprising. Given the fact that the Olympic Games will be held in China the Tibetans see this as an opportune time to press for their â€Å"rights† Cultural differences: This is yet another cause of war and terrorism. The world is full of different diverse cultures and each society considers their culture as the superior, but with globalization the cultural way of life is fast headed for the dogs with more and more societies now at home with the American cultural way of life. At this point we are faced with a situation where we have a dominant culture versus the society/societal values, dissenting voices maybe heard and is not addressed, conflicts resulting to war and even as the scarf’s were banned and people obliged, there is still disgruntling among the Muslims in France. Further the social structure can also in itself and with other factors be a brewing factor in wars. Take for example Muslims are taught that when one dies in a holy war, then they go to heaven while a holy war might include the killing of people. Christians on their part have been socialized to adhere to the Ten Commandments. Among Africans wars were seen as arenas for providing self worth ferocious warriors would marry the prettiest girls around and be made chiefs. The social structure was such that the lazy men were considered outcasts. And to prove bravely chiefs would send men for raids in neighboring community (proof. Mbithi, P. Africa religious philosophy) so the social structure should itself be a factor in wars. Change in balance of power: This is another major cause of war. In most developing countries wars arise when a tribe or community feel that one of their own has been denied that which belongs to him or them. This even motivated by history especially where a dominant class has oppressed the other groups. As earlier stated wars are not absolutely unnecessary because even if it is a social problem, states must protect their borders form external aggressors but then again there must be justified cause before going to war others have argued that wars are avoided and barbaric (Chris toms and terrorism, the never ending fight for freedom). This is actually true given the consequences of war e. g. deaths, tape loss of property and so on. Besides other avenues can be used like mediation and so on. Marginalization of communities or states can be another causation of war. The growing gap between the haves and the have not is another major challenge. Revolution world over have been informed by levels of poverty and inequality in distribution of resources thereby creating two classes of people that is haves and the have notch. This problem is vicious in that as it progresses the status quo is changed and the cycle starts all over again. In that the previous haves become the have knots and vice versa. So that the recipe in itself will guarantee endless wars in the future BREAKDOWN OF BODY POLITIC: Yet another cause of war is the breakdown of the body politic. When the body politic breaks down wars may arise to fill the vacuum. A good example is Somalia. After the overthrow of said Barre and in abides by the warlords to take the place of the deposed president there has been a war since 1991. Terrorists have taken the opportunity and now Somali is a perfect haven for terrorism activities. Natural resources: Apart from politics which is thought to be the main factor in many wars and terrorist activities, from the Iraq war which is said to have been motivated by oil to the Niger delta conflict (Nigeria) The Angola diamond crisis and so on, Again wars necessitated by fight for mineral resources should be resolved by both parties and all must be willing to work together by either equitably sharing the resources or by vesting them in people where they are found because wars brought about by the fight for minerals take many years to come to and end. The Angola war took nearly three decades to stop and this has far reaching social consequences like illiteracy, disease and untold poverty among the society. SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF WAR AND TERRORISM A social problem is a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable. This definition when used to weigh whether or not war is desirable products mixed reactions with others viewing it as desirable while to others it is undesirable but the truth is that war is undesirable given the ramifications that come with it. So how do we solve this problem? Since the society has diverse cultures, and that war and conflict not to mention terrorism spring from the differences, there should be a cultural exchange at a very early age. Here children in schools should be allowed to mingle and grow with children form other cultural background by that, they will grow respecting other cultural background by that, they will grow respecting other peoples background and cultures. Social exchange to this end is in available. The second step in addressing the issue is encouraging peaceful 7 co-existence Governments should urge citizens to live in harmony and peace with their neighbors if this is needed then undesired wars will come to a stop. Another way would be engaging in peace negotiations and agreements. Here warring parties are to be given an opportunity to present their thoughts on negotiations and allowed to express their thoughts. (Women Building peace and good neighbors) To solve problems, all dispute evoking situations must be avoided so as avoid undesired conflict situations. Another option is to have in place; mechanisms for early warning and early response of would be war or terrorism situations (NURTURES OF PEACE, SUSTAINERS OF AFRICA) If this is done, then many disputes will be put to rest as quickly as they emerge. If done, then in the next 10-20 years the world would be moving to the dawn of a new era but the achievement wont fully be reached overnight (not even in 20 years time) peace building, perception changes and religious liberty takes time to come by. Having said that, it is prudent to note that it will need more time to have some degree of social order in the world and we should try as much as possible to avoid war and terrorism after seen its impact to the socity and to the whole world.War and terrorism should be condemed from every country ,solving any conflict should be done civized manner References. 1. Good News Bible 2nd Ed (1994) Gen 4:8, 25:22 (pg 6-27) 2. Chris Toms: (2008) war and terrorism: The never ending fight for freedom 3. Mbithi Philiph (1974) African religious philosophy: (p. g 67-72) 4. Women building peace and good neighbourliness: WICCE Report 18-29 sept 2006 MOZAMBIQUE. 5. NURTURES of peace, sustainers of Africa: A report by selected womens peace initiatives

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Does Foreign Financial Aid Work Economics Essay

Does Foreign Financial Aid Work Economics Essay The current world is categorized into industrialized and developing countries. The chief difference between these countries is the sum of money applied by the governments in their important sectors like health, commerce, and education. A developing nation or a less-developed nation is any country with a significantly lower lever in terms of her material well-being. There is no internationally recognized definition of a developing country. The development levels may vary greatly within the developing nations with some having high average living standards. A developed nation on the other hand is any nation allowing all her citizenry the right of enjoying healthy and free life in a considerably safe environment (Sullivan Sheffrin 471). Aid, or overseas aid, foreign aid, or international aid is a free resources transfer from one nation to the other with the aim of benefiting recipient nation. Giving of aid is a social responsibility of the rich nations and is not just a mere obligation or duty. It entails an element of morality as the rich nations have a moral duty of redressing the diverse economic inequalities, which they have created across the world (Fajardo 184). Majority of the poorer countries are masked in debts due to their unbalanced finances reflected in weak international trade, unstructured system of education, and failed health care. Due to this vicious cycle, the wealthy nations have shown interest in reducing the global economic differences by taking more responsibility towards assisting the unfortunate nations (Sunstein 163). However, this paper wishes to critically examine giving of aid to the poorer nations and take a stand supporting that such aid should not be given. In this, the paper shall examine the fact that foreign financial aid does not work for the poorer nations; the rich nations should not give aid to the poorer ones; and giving aid leads to dependency of the poorer nations. The paper shall also examine the need for refurbishing of the internal issues instead of relying on international aid, whether there are better ways of helping the poorer nations other than giving aid to them, and the reasons why the poorer natio ns should be denied aid from the international community. Today, people and nations across the world are more closely linked. This has seen an increment in trade as well as peoples movement between nations in greater levels than ever. However, millions of individuals still live in much poverty, with the gap between the rich and poor widening in many places. Thus, there are numerous reasons for assisting the poor nations with humanitarian reasons topping the list. Just like the individuals who give towards charity, many nations consider it their social, moral, or religious obligation/duty to assist people in the other nations suffering from drought, famine, diseases, or war. However, a good number of rich nations also make donations for diplomatic or political reasons. This is aimed at maintaining a dependency relationship with the recipient countries governments, or simply to manipulate such government and/or the countries direction. Another factor facilitating giving of aid to the poorer nations is for economic issues. Donors may wish to c ontrol supply of commodities like oil, wheat, or water. Alternatively, such rich nations may wish to ensure readily available markets for their products, whether they are shoes, computers, or planes (Sustein 162-163). However, foreign aid is not automatically the most effective means of helping a nation. One reason for this is that millions of dollars obtained from such aid is often misappropriated or goes missing into the inefficient administration and corrupt governments. Secondly, most foreign-aided projects are inappropriate for the target nation. Numerous agencies construct huge industrial projects or dams, which fail after some few years. Worse still, some of those projects ignore the local people and fail to involve them in the project yet it is meant for them. Furthermore, much of such aid proceeds to the donor in form of expensive experts and specialized equipment from such a donor nation (Birdsall, Rodrik Subramanian 137). Should the Rich Nations Give aid to the Poor Nations? Considering Vietnam and Nicaragua, the two nations are poor with their economies primarily being agriculture-based. The two have suffered due to prevalence of conflict and have also benefited from significant foreign aid. However, only Vietnam has minimized her poverty level dramatically as well as enjoyed a steady economic growth (5% per capita since the year 1988). On the other hand, Nicaragua has floundered in terms of economic performance with her per capita growth being too modest to cause a real dent towards the population of poor people. Until 1994, Vietnam faced an embargo from the US and the nation is still not adopted as a WTO (World Trade Organization) member. Regardless of such obstacles, the nation has found reliable markets for its coffee exports as well as other agricultural products. In addition, the nation has started diversifying her economy into manufacturing sector, especially of textiles. In comparison, Nicaragua benefits from the preferential access of the lucra tive markets of the US and had a huge debt waved off in 1990s. However, her clothing and coffee export industries lag much behind those of Vietnam (Birdsall, Rodrik Subramanian 137). Why does Nicaragua fall some few steps from Vietnam yet they have been exposed to international aid? Answers to such a question are internal: political and economic institutions and history have trumped the other factors in determination of economic success. The access to the American market as well as the donors largesse has not had powerful impacts to overcome the history of Nicaragua in terms of economic and social inequality. In addition, power and land in Nicaragua have been concentrated in hands of some few elites with the government notable in failing to invest substantially in public welfare and infrastructure. Experiences of numerous other developing nations confirm the significance of the specific internal factors. Just like Vietnam, neither India nor China- the two emerging economic powerhouses of the later quarter of the 20th century- has accrued much benefits from international aid and trade preferences. Neither of these two nations has received much international aid compared to the nations in Central America and Africa. Their success is attributed to enactment of creative domestic reforms within their governance systems leading to their notable prosperity as well as plunging of their poverty levels (Hardin 2). Most of the African nations have not managed to match the success of Vietnam despite being more agrarian or no poorer. True, health and education indicators have improved notably in Africa with some countries having achieved higher levels of macroeconomic stability. However, even within the best-performing nations, productivity and growth remain modest with their investment initiatives depending solely on international aid infusions. It could be luring to ascribe some rare African successes such as in Mauritius and Botswana to the high international demand for their garments and diamonds respectively, but limited explanation has been offered so far. Obviously, the two nations could be considerably poorer if they had no access to the international markets. What distinguish these nations is not the external advantages they enjoy, but their ability to exploit these advantages. (Birdsall, Rodrik Subramanian 138) Many developing nations have been hurt by their natural resource endowments . For instance, diamond has hardly conjured images of prosperity and peace in Sierra Leone while oil has been a blessing in disguise for Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and many others. Mexico is a perfect example of how foreign aid can be detrimental in development. The nation has an advantage of bordering the US (a strip of about 2,000 miles), which is the greatest economic power across the world. Since the enforcement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the US has given goods from Mexico a duty-free access into its markets, has continued absorbing thousands of Mexicans into its labor-force, and has made large investments into the Mexican economy. In the course of peso crisis of 1994-95, the United States Treasury underwrote the financial stability of Mexico an implication that outside economic assistance gets no better. Since 1992, the economy of Mexico has grown at barely 1% per capita on annual average rate. This figure is far much below the rates exhibited by the growth superstars of Asia. In fact, this is a fraction of the nations own growth rate of 3.6% on annual basis in the 2 decades, which preceded her debt crisis of 1982. Access t o external resources and markets has not given Mexico a platform of making up for her internal problems (Sunstein 163). The membership of the European Union (EU) is a remarkable exception to limitations of international assistance. By offering their poorer southern and eastern neighbors not just market access and aid transfers but also the hope of joining their union, the European Union has stimulated far reaching institutional changes and policy as well as impressive growth rates in around 20 nations. Unfortunately, accession to EU or even to any other such major power is a nightmare for majority of the poorest economies across the world. In addition, increasing the trading opportunities and financial solutions for the poorest nations is an insufficient substitute (Birdsall, Rodrik Subramanian 138). Which is the Best Way of Helping the Poorer Nations? There exist numerous ways of helping the poor nations as opposed to giving them aid. Some of the mechanisms include opening up the existing trade barriers, removing subsidies to facilitate easier and fair competition of the imported products from poorer nations, or forgiving their international debts. In fact, most of the poor nations economic performance is maimed by the huge interest repayments imposed on their old loans. The requirements of the poorer nations may seem obvious but there is need of examining their real needs as well as implementing solutions, which will benefit them as well as the donors. Material and economic help is essential towards the poor nations that are victims of sickness and famine though it is only a short-term solution. The rich nations should assist the poorer ones but it is a rather utopian idea to envisage that their aid will never be affected in diverse ways by political corruptions in the poorer nations. Furthermore, helping them is a paradoxical action since the political and economic system impoverishes these countries. The best solution could be changing the exchange between needy and wealthy nations, as it is not right to continue living in the current system with so many individuals dying due to the inequalities that have been created (Andre Velasquez Para 2-3). There are many kinds of aid ranging from food aid, to humanitarian emergency assistance, military assistance, etc. The developed nations have for long recognized development aid as vital to assist the poor developing countries to grow out of their poverty. The worlds richest nations in 1970 agreed to offer an annual 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) as an official foreign development aid. Since then, regardless of the billions given out each year, the rich countries have hardly met their promised targets (AJWS 7). For instance, the United States is the largest donor but is rated amongst the lowest when it comes to meeting the agreed upon 0.7% target. International financial aid has always come with some costs towards the developing countries. The first one is that such aid is mostly wasted on the conditions since the recipient nations are required to use overpriced commodities and services from the donor nations. The majority of such international aid does not go to the most needful countries, which would need it most. Thirdly, the aid are often dwarfed by the rich nation protectionism, which denies access of international markets to the products of the poor nations, while the rich ones use aid as levers of opening markets of the poor countries for their products. Finally, massive grand strategies or large projects often fail to assist the vulnerable in such nations as money can easily be embezzled away. Presently, the international system of trade has a wide range of inequities. Rich nations place high tariffs on the imports like agriculture and garment products, which are vital to the economic performance of the developing nations. These tariffs escalate with increase in processing level; hence discourage industrialization within the poor nations. Besides, multilateral trades negotiations are short of transparency hence exclude the developing nations from real action. Employing the procedures of WTO in settling trade disputes and other anomalies needs technical expertise and money, which the poor nations lack. However, saying that such flaws are serious deterrents of development in the struggling economies would qualify as overlooking the notable and outstanding success of China and Vietnam over the preceding two decades in exportation of manufactured products, Chiles wine and salmon exportation, and services exportation in India. All these nations have realized success in exportat ion regardless of the impediments. In fact, barriers on the manufactured exports sourced from the developing nations were higher when Asian tigers arrived on the international scene in 1960s and 1970s (Sullivan Sheffrin 145). Why Deny aid to the Poor Nations? Some ethicists claim that wealthy countries are under no obligation to help the poor ones. They claim that their moral duty is acting in manners, which will maximize happiness of the people as well as minimize their suffering. Aiding the poor countries, in the long term, will produce more suffering compared to the one it will alleviate. Countries with the highest poverty incidence have the highest rates of birth also. One-report estimates 90% of the total population growth of the world by 2025 will happen in the developing nations. Provision of aid to such nations will only facilitate survival and reproduction of more of these people, placing greater demands upon the limited food supply of the world. And as these countries populations swell, more individuals will be forced into the environmentally fragile and marginal lands, resulting into widespread degradation of land, which will further reduce the available land for food production. Increase in the demand of the limited supply of food combined with a reduction in food production will certainly threaten the future generations survival (Andre Velasquez Para 4). Other ethicists argue that little benefit, even within the short-run, is accrued from offering aid to the poor countries. The aid offered to the developing nations hardly reaches the individuals intended to benefit. On the contrary, it is utilized by the oppressive governments in subsidization of their military or on projects, which benefit the local elites only, or even end up on black market. Over 80 percent of the 596 million-food aid offered to Somalia was channeled towards the military as well as other public institutions within 1978 and 1984. Worse still, El Salvador channeled 80 percent of the US dry-milk-aid into the black market (World Bank 17). These illustrations imply that giving aid to the poor nations undermines any form of incentive on these nations part in their efforts of becoming self-sufficient via the programs, which would be of great benefit to their citizenry. Such programs include the ones that would help in controlling population growth or increasing productio n of food. Food aid, for instance, depresses the local prices of food; hence discourage local production of food as well as agricultural development. The poor dairy farmers from El Salvador found themselves facing stiff competition against the US-free milk. Consequently, many nations, such as Sudan, Zaire, and Haiti have become dependent on international aid. There are also some other ethicists who maintain that principle of justice dictates against giving aid to the poor countries as justice needs a fair distribution of both the benefits and burdens among peoples. Countries that have laid out effective plans for the requirement of their citizens through regulation of food production in order to foster an adequate supply of food for the present and a surplus in case of emergencies, as well as the countries, which have implemented programs for limiting population growth ought to enjoy their foresight benefits. Majority of the poor countries have irresponsibly failed adoption of policies, which would stimulate production and development of food. On the contrary, their resources are spent irresponsibly on military regimes or lavish projects. Consider the air-conditioned cathedral worth $200 million, constructed just recently in the impoverished Cote DIvoire nation. Worth consideration is also the 1986 fact that the developing nations spent a bout 6 times, of what they received as foreign aid to strengthen their armed forces (WCED 12). These nations failed the test of acting responsibly and should thus bear their consequences. Therefore, it is unjust for such nations to ask the others that acted responsibly to assume their burdens. All people are entitled to a basic right of freedom that includes the right of using all the resources acquired legitimately as they desire. The UN has somehow coerced the wealthy countries to offer financial and other humanitarian aid to the poor countries, which is a violation of their right of using their resources freely. Thus, aiding the poor nations is not obligatory but is praiseworthy. Summary International or foreign aid is essential towards the social, economic, and political issues facing the poorer nations. In fact, such aid has been significant in the humanitarian crisis faced by numerous nations, including the rich ones such as Japan, and this paper does not refute that fact. Moreover, a good number of rich nations also make donations for diplomatic or political reasons in the poorer nations. Most of the African nations seek international aid to sponsor their elections or referendums as was the case in Kenya in 2010 during the nations urge for a new constitution. However, the paper has shown that there are so many funds that are channeled into inappropriate programs and projects especially the ones favoring the governments receiving them. In addition, the donors (the rich nations) attach strings to their aid and the poorer nations benefitting from their aid must agree with their conditions. The paper has also shown that international aid is not essentially the only means of developing the poorer nations. Increasing market access and aid for the poor nations makes sense but do not have that much effect in terms of such nations development and economic performance. The wealthy countries should push some other measures, which could be more rewarding. Such measures could include giving the poor nations more control towards their economic policy, opening labor markets, as well as financing new technologies that are development-friendly. It is also clear that the rich countries should avoid giving aid to the poorer nations and give them space for their individual economic development. An illustration is the state of Vietnam, which has flourished without market preferences from the leading economic centers or much international aid. One essential means of developing the poorest nations across the world is giving their producers an effective access to the international markets, especially in America and Europe. Foreign development assistance or aid is viewed as being wasted on some corrupt recipient governments, or too much despite the good intentions from the donor nations. In reality, both quality and quantity of such aid have been quite poor and the donor countries have rarely been held accountable. Assumptions by the developed nations that the poor and/or the developing nations can only be developed via aid ignore some key lessons learnt over the past couple of years as well as the ones of economic history. Develop ment can only be determined to a large extent by the poor nations themselves while outsiders can only play a limited role. The developing nations have emphasized this stand but the rich ones often overlook it. Thus, it is true that financial aid as well as the further expansion of the wealthy nations markets are tools possessing only a small ability of triggering growth in such poor nations. This paper concludes that the poorer nations should not be given foreign aid as a means of developing their economies. The nations should rather look into their internal political and economic institutions to foster their governance, which could in the long-run boost their economic performance, development, and independence.