Reality TV Essay

Unscripted program, real people NOT actors in a specific environment Normal people with no discernible talent, no discernible insights, but who are willing, eager to be seen and heard living their own life. -â€Å"real life† television is filmed with out stoppage time, and then edited to catch the viewers eye -certifiable global pop-culture phenomenon Reality TV comes is all different forms now from daily life of real people such as Big Brother and Jersey Shore, sports shows, business shows like undercover boss and dirtiest jobs, talent shows such as American Idol and Dancing with the stars, family shows John and Kate plus 8, and motivational shows like biggest loser and survivor. – This eventually led to being filmed and put on TV in 1948. â€Å"Candid Camera† (CQ researcher: Reality TV: Maryann Haggerty -In 1989 COPS came on air because of the writers guild of American strike. This show followed police during their daily activities. It began with no music or narration just a simple camera following a police. -Over on ABC, beginning in 1990, people were turning their own cameras on family and pets to make â€Å"America’s Funniest Home Videos -In 1992, reality TV was a novelty. In 2000, it was a fad. In 2010, it’s a way of life. Time Magazine article – It wasn’t until the premiere of ‘The Real World’ on MTV in 1992 that we began to witness the emergence of many of the textual characteristics that would come to define the genre’s current format,† -In 2008, the Emmys awarded a stature to the best host of a reality TV show for the first time, which was exciting news to all†¦ – -ABC NBC Fox MTV CBS – -In 2010 Reality TV is now a valid career choice. The New York Times estimated that at any given time, there are 1,000 people on air as reality TV stars. Topic 3: Addictiveness of Reality TV – One reason for their popularity is financial: an hour of reality can cost a few hundred thousand dollars, compared to the one to three million for a scripted drama. – But part of the reason fans become involved in the show is that they get invested in the good guys and bad guys. -That’s how people watch reality TV: you can doubt it, interrogate it, talk back to it, believe it, or not.

Motivation Case Essay

Motivation – is the process encouraging people to work. There are many different aspects of the theory of motivation, and they are: 1. Historically, the early views on motivation to work, such as the policy of â€Å"carrot and stick†. The adherents of this view think that man is by nature lazy, sly, selfish, wants to give less and get more, hence there is a need to constantly force him to work and systematically encouraged to achieve high results. 2. Content theories of motivation (as an incentive to work discusses the inner satisfaction of man, his needs). 3. Procedural theories of motivation (motivation occurs during labor process). Let us consider each of the theories. The content theories of motivation include: †¢ A. Maslow’s theory; †¢ K. Alderfer’s theory; †¢ D. McClelland theory; †¢ F. Hertzberg’s theory; A Maslow (1908-1970) provides the following hierarchy that makes a need for person to work. And Maslow (1908-1970) offers the following hierarchy inducing the person requirements to work: †¢ Physiological needs (hunger, thirst) †¢ Needs for safety, stability and confidence in the future †¢ Needs for love, participation, communication †¢ Needs for recognition and self-confirmation †¢ Needs for self-actualization A. Maslow assumed that needs for this hierarchy arise gradually. Satisfying primary requirements, the person gradually becomes more motivated. People not simply satisfy one need for another, but move up, changing the importance for these or those needs. Self-actualization — is the highest degree of motivating the person; his desire and strong-willed actions. Self actualization — means to become a person that individual wants to be, reach the maximum level of realization that potentially available. The problem is that: †¢ The person often doesn’t know about the abilities, mission or talent †¢ The person knows about the abilities, but doesn’t want to develop them into work. (The will is weak) †¢ The person knows about the abilities, but can’t develop them into work for a number of reasons (material, physical, etc.) According to A. Maslow, the highest level of motivation can reach only about 1% of all people. According to K. Alderfer’s theory of need the person can be combined in three separate groups: †¢ Needs for existence (safety, physiological) †¢ Needs for communication (in belongings to any group and participation in any business, aspiration to be the family member, to have friends, colleagues, etc.) †¢ The need for growth (need for recognition, self-assertion and self-improvement) These requirements are also hierarchical, but movement can go in both directions (unlike Maslow’s hierarchy) †¢ Up, if the previous need is satisfied. †¢ Down, if they don’t satisfied with higher level. In his theory of acquired needs D. McClelland proceeded from the fact that the needs are acquired under the influence of life events, experience, and training and includes: †¢ The need for achievement (the desire to self-set goals, more effectively than before, to reach them); †¢ The needs of complicity (the desire for friendly relations with others, communication, working with people); †¢ The need to dominate (the first group of individuals willing to rule for the sake of ruling, the second – to achieve goals). This system needs no strict hierarchy (as in previous theories) its elements have a mutual influence. Senior Manager, on one hand, should help to meet prevailing needs of employees and on the other hand – to promote development of those that are most needed for the labor process. For example, the need to achieve a goal of ruling with the development needs of complicity or achievements can achieve greater results. In theory, F.Herzberg points out the following two groups of factors: †¢ External or hygiene (or health factors) – wages, working conditions, status, mode, interpersonal relationships, the degree of control over the work; †¢ Motivating – growth opportunities, recognition, promotion, work. F. Herzberg concluded that the factors driving the growth of human dissatisfaction with their elimination does not necessarily lead to increased satisfaction, and vice versa. The transition from a lack of satisfaction is influenced by motivational factors and the transition from dissatisfaction with the absence dissatisfaction under the influence of external factors. Therefore, priority should be given to human dissatisfaction and then only with the help of motivating factors to ensure satisfaction. Manager’s attention only to external factors is ineffective. Procedural theories of motivation includes Vroom’s theory of expectancy, the theory of justice (equality) S. Adams, Porter-Lawler model, the theory of goal setting E. Locke’s, and concept of participatory governance. According to the theory expectations Vroom: Motivation = Expected results of the x x Expected remuneration for x The significance of the result of x (valence) †¢ Valence is positive, if the results are highly valued by the employee; †¢ Valence is negative, if the results are denied by the employee; †¢ Valence of zero, if the worker is indifferent to this result. Variables in the formula can be evaluated with points. The essence of the theory of justice (equality) Stacy Adams; People subjectively feel a fair reward for their work, their own and others compare the costs and rewards, so it is important to pay for the work to motivate employees and achieve smooth arise between negative feelings. S. Adams identified six possible human reactions to injustice. 1. Reducing self energy consumption (â€Å"I’m not going to do my best for this salary†). 2. Attempt to increase the salary for their work (requirements, blackmail, etc.). 3. Revaluation of its features (lower confidence). 4. Attempt to influence the organization or the head to change the payment or the load of other employees. 5. Selecting another object of comparison (â€Å"I do not want to be with them†). 6. Attempt to move to another department or another organization. Experienced manager should feel subordinator’s reactions and possibly smooth over the contradictions. Porter-Lawler model represents the synthesis of the theory of justice and the theory of expectations: [pic] In the model of Porter-Lawler work results are considered as a function of the external compensation (salary, the significance of payment assurance efforts and communication labor remuneration), internal reward (praise, promotion, etc.), awareness of their role in the labor process and abilities. If the size between employee’s external rewards and effort is clearly perceived by the individual communication, motivation system works completely; otherwise the employee is motivated in part with the results of the (second internal feedback) and receives only an internal reward for their labor. According to the theory of goal Edwin Locke’s motivation is determined by his goals and satisfaction with job performance. It is assumed that goal setting is a conscious process, which involves the future goals of man. The results of the individual will depend on: †¢ Complexity of task; †¢ Its features (clarity and certainty); †¢ Profitability (eligibility) it for the individual; †¢ A person’s readiness to make some effort to achieve goal (closer the goal, effort can be increased). Quality of work defined organizational factors and capable employees, which in turn affect the goals, and consequence of his motivation. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with employee by interaction of two processes: †¢ Internal (individual assessment results in terms of correlating them with the goal); †¢ External (human evaluation by others). The disadvantages of this theory include: †¢ Poor uniformity (for uneducated people, such as clarity of purpose plays a big role, and the call for highly objective and its uncertainty leaves room for creativity); †¢ The situation is not clear when the target slave puts the head; †¢ The situation is not clear, when there is group work and the purpose of the group is placed in general; †¢ Promoting labor is not often aimed at a quick goal, and on the quality of the work task. In accordance with the concept of participatory management, employee motivation is determined by its interest in how its activities impact on the functioning of the organization, the desire to participate in the processes taking place in the organization. If an employee feels that he needs to the organization that he demanded it that between his initiative and reward, there is a direct relationship, the intensity of his work is significantly increased. Participative management is widespread in leading Japanese corporations: †¢ Staff makes decisions about the organization of work; †¢ Employees working independently take decisions; setting goals are carried out jointly with the head; †¢ Employees independently control the quality and quantity of output †¢ Employees involved in innovative activities (quality circles, task force committees, etc.) †¢ Employees independently form working groups.

An Analysis of Hughes and Gullos Article on Joyful Learning and Assessment in Kindergarten

An Analysis of Hughes and Gullo's Article on Joyful Learning and Assessment in Kindergarten Joyful Learning and Assessment in Kindergarten, Hughes and Gullo Hughes and Gullo begin their article by painting a picture for us of the increase in prekindergarten enrollment numbers. More and more three and four year olds are being enrolled in kindergarten preparedness programs, such as pre-k or More at Four. They also point out the sharp increase in state mandated age cut-offs for kindergarten enrollment. These changes are both illustrative of how kindergarten academic standards have jumped up significantly in the past few years. Hughes and Gullo tell us that kindergarteners are now primarily taught through academically oriented teacher-directed instruction rather than developmentally appropriate methods of learning. They explain that these dramatic changes in the way kindergartners are taught are believed to be because of the inappropriate assessment tools used to gauge kindergartner’s academic progress. These developmentally inappropriate tools of assessment such as standardized testing and worksheets can be traded in for more appro priate means of assessment for kindergartners. Hughes and Gullo use the rest of their article to explain different characteristics of assessment and how we can adjust our means of assessment to promote individual development amongst kindergarteners. Hughes and Gullo define assessment to further expand our understanding of the issue- â€Å"the progress of a child’s learning over time.† Testing children at the end of a unit undermines this definition of assessment. The authors tell us that learning is a continuum and that assessment be used to help teachers identify where children are individually on that learning continuum. This can be done by learning and recognizing children’s learning sequences and using frequent â€Å"embedded† assessments to gauge their mastery of classroom concepts. The authors of the article go on to explain to us that assessment is a comprehensive process- one simple test or type of assessment will not measure the many areas of learning that need to be measured to determine comprehension. In the final section of the article, Hughes and Gullo tell us that assessment should be integrated into the process of the activities being assessed. By doing this, teachers can use assessme nt to change lessons to suit the individual needs of children, and teachers can see firsthand how effective or ineffective their curriculum is. Hughes and Gullo give an example of a teacher that uses assessment to plan activities based on her student’s interests, experiences, and skills. Hughes and Gullo end their article with a powerful statement: appropriate assessment can lead to joyful learning and joyful teaching.

The Dialectic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Dialectic - Essay Example He used crude ways and strategies to get back to the perpetrators of the inhuman acts. This makes the novel to be a captivating tale of bloodlines that exist between evil and ideological good. V is a freedom fighter. He is the only person who dares take the government on, and to point out that they are wrong. He blows up some structures to make a statement against the dictatorship. He executes some guilty people who were being protected from punishment In this novel, the character V specifically condemns the local people more than the government as the cause of the dominant oppression and mistreatment that is ongoing. He blames the people for not reacting to the various exploitation, oppression or fraud they experience in the country. He classifies this issue as a responsibility displacement. He says, â€Å"You gave them the power to make your decisions for you† (Moore 117). This means that people have the power to make their own decisions but they have bowed to the oppressors and given them the authority and responsibility to decide on their behalf. He strived to change this mind set by insisting that people do as they please. He incited individuals to become solely responsible for their lives’ experiences. In the novel, V discourages the local people from shrinking or becoming complacent and letting other people decide their lives for them. He insisted that all people have equal chances and right so no one should b ully the others and make decisions for them. He believed that the citizens themselves were responsible for the shambles that existed in the country. He suggested that people’s submissiveness to the oppressors was what allowed the oppression evil to prevail in the country. He changed people’s perception and motivated them to take action since inaction only brought discrimination and exploitation to them. What the character V does is necessary even though it appears to be very evil.

Project Editiing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Editiing - Essay Example School characteristics such as location, policy and curriculum load also affect student success and should be considered when discussing high school dropout rates. All these predicting dynamics need to be focused on and studied in order to continue the downward trend of high school dropout rates and hopefully eradicate them all together. â€Å"To address the high school dropout problem, educational institutions must identify early on which students are likely to drop out† (Burrus and Roberts, p.1). Among students in America, about more than 33% do not graduate high school with their original classes. The troubling part is the higher 50% of minorities that are not completing their high school education. These statistics affect the demographic trends and creates a concentration of dropouts in poor urban neighborhoods. Unfortunately, 15% of the country’s high schools, mostly in urban areas, yield half of total dropouts (Dervarics, 2007). The issue of teens dropping out of high school is a widespread social and educational problem that has serious implications not only for an individual but also for society as a whole. A great source of data on high school dropouts is the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) reports. For 50 years now, this federally funded research center has aided in serving the institution of education with cutting edge research, practice and professional development. It is known, respected and utilized worldwide. One of its most popular entries came from the High School Journal and was titled, â€Å"Academic Disidentification, Race, and High School Dropouts† by Dr. Bryan Griffin. It described how a student’s ability to identify with academics is a big predictor of whether they will successfully complete high school (p. 71). Griffin went on to identify two models of student behavior that may cause early departure from high school; the frustration-self-esteem model and the participation-identification model. His article then

Strategic managent of Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategic managent of Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The intention of this study is Marks and Spencer as a leading UK based grocery retailer selling primarily clothing and food. The company has grown to be a successful large scale grocery being able to attract more than 21 million people each week. The company offers stylish, outstanding quality and greater value clothing and home products as well as supreme quality foods that are supplied from around 2000 different suppliers worldwide. The company is employing around 78,000 people throughout 700 UK stores and other international stores too. Clothing represents around 49 percent of its total sales and food and other items represent 51 % of the total sales. Food sales, especially as it was supplied from more than 2000 different suppliers, are highly crucial to the overall business strategy of the company. The food sales alone amounted to $ 7.90 billion in 2007- 2008, showing an increase of 1.4 percent over the figure of previous year. As the company is proud of the current business opp ortunities, Marks and Spencer remains to be the most favorite clothing retailer, and has delivered a better performance in the 2010-11. The market share of the company in terms of the value has been increased to 11.7 percent and it experienced a growth across all of its major areas because customers around the UKL sought the quality propositions of Marks and Spencer. According to the latest reports about the market share, Marks and Spencer’s share has been improved on year on year from 4 percent to 4.1 percent within a time of three months, ending in December 2010. (Milnes, 2010). With a mission to deliver quality greater valued food and clothing, Marks and Spencer could increase its potential market role and opportunities in the market and thus has achieved far better results than that of previous years. Environmental Analysis of Marks and Spencer The business environment of a firm consists of all the internal and external influences that impact the business at large, its pe rformance, productivity, revenues, competitiveness etc in particular. A large number of factors like employees, workplace situations, organizational culture, management etc influence the business internally where as other factors like competition, politics, economy, and

Plato and Seneca on Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Plato and Seneca on Death - Essay Example It demands attention, makes us busy with working for a living and fills us with desires, wants and fears. Our search for the truth is also impeded whenever our bodies are afflicted by disease. The body can be said to be the ultimate inhibiting factor in our desire to wander in our thoughts. True philosophers try to separate the soul from the body in their search for the truth. It is in this regard where death provides an avenue for it is only thru this where the body and the soul can be separated. Philosophy, then, is the quest for knowledge and enlightenment and the only way for this to be achieved is thru the separation of the body and soul. The only way to separate the body and soul is death. Those who truly desire to become philosophers must be prepared to live as close to death as possible. This does not necessarily mean that they should always be in near-death situations. Instead, they should not be too much concerned with the intricacies of the body providing only the basic nourishment it needs. It is due to this that true philosophers and lovers of wisdom do not fear death. Seneca, one the Stoic philosopher, offers a rather compelling manifesto regarding the subject of life and time. The pervading notion during his time was that nature has cursed us with so short a life that it often ends just when we were getting ready for it. This kind of thinking not only afflicts the common people who form the majority of the populace but each and every individual member of society including distinguished men and women who had all the means for a leisurely life. Life, as observed by Seneca in most people, is that it is viewed in terms of postponement. People live as though their life is ensured in the future. They talk about their retirement or the time they will be having their own orchards. Seneca argues that life is finite and is essentially about time. However, the greatest obstacle to living was expectancy wherein we set our sights of what lies in the future while we waste the time we have today. We are thus disposed of that which lay in the hands of Fortune, while letting go of that which was in our own. If we live today and in the present moment, we could live every moment of our life as though it would last forever. Seneca says that everything even darkness and light is contained in a single day. To use the present well is to be aware of this completeness. More days, and months, and years, will or at least may make up our lives if we only made wise of our time. In making the most of our time, we make the most of our life. Life is making use of time and time is making use of life. In this regard, there is not much difference between the two less we perceive life as though we have all the time in the world. 3.0 Plato and Seneca on Death Philosophy and death are intricately entwined in the writings of Plato and Seneca. An analysis of their writings would reveal that share many similarities yet diverge in certain issues. To start with, Plato recognizes that opposites come only from opposites. Since the opposite of life is death and that death comes from life, life can also come from death. Plato would counsel his listeners that death can only lead to immortality as the soul is finally freed from the body but this is only true when the soul already existed without the body. While Plato explains death

Music essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music - Essay Example Occasionally, certain similarities in musical characteristics may emerge between different eras. However, there are unique and notable distinction between musical styles from the medieval and that from baroque or renaissance periods. Medieval, also referred to as the Middle Ages, is characterized by monophonic musical texture. Monophonic texture has a single melody. Melodic lines are not only simple but also pure in vocal uniformity. In medieval music, the relationship between voices is in perfect consonance. In terms of accompanying sounds, medieval music used limited instruments. Absence of instruments can be witnessed in the iconic music, Canticles of Ecstasy by Hildegard. In fact, simple instruments like bells and flutes were introduced towards the end of the medieval period. Among the most famous composers of medieval music include Hildegard von Bingen from Germany, Guillaume, de Machaut from France and Francesco Landini from Italy (Smith 29). Despite the difference in the composers’ cultural backgrounds, all their music had pure and solemn melodic textures. This style of solemnity and purity in melody is a unique characteristic of medieval music. Renaissance is synonymous to rebirth. This was a period of renewal. Renaissance witnessed increased advances in social, cultural and economic aspects of life. Music from this period evolved substantially. Medieval music was monophonic with pure melodies and limited use of instruments. Contrarily, renaissance musical styles disregarded monophonic melodies at the expense of polyphonic melodies. In medieval music, there was no range in tonal variations. However, renaissance favored a wide range of tonal variation and often blended different tones to create intervallic polyphony (Smith 31). Unlike medieval music with only one tone, renaissance music comprised of two-four tones. Multiplicty in tones is evidenced in Farnon’s song, The

Transformational Leadership.Criticisms And Arguments Against Essay

Transformational Leadership.Criticisms And Arguments Against Transformational Leadership - Essay Example I will go ahead and take my stand on the matter and support my stand based on several writers and what they have written about transformational leadership. This is a paper that will extensively be a research on the topic of criticism of transformational leadership. By the time you are finished reading this paper you will have shaped your opinion on the matter of transformational leadership. Theory of Transformational leadership Cox (2001) stated that there are two primary groups of leadership. He stated them as transformational and transactional. However, Downton (1973, as cited in Barnett et al. 2001) was the first who came up with the difference between transformational and transactional leadership but the concept garnered little attention until the articles on political leaders by James McGregor Burns’ (1978) came to be published. According to Burns he made the distinction between transformational leaders as being outstanding/extraordinary leaders who engage with supporters , with their focus on higher order intrinsic needs, and brought up awareness about the value of specific results and new ways in which those results might be obtained and transactional leaders as being ordinary leaders who interchanged tangible/concrete benefits for the loyalty and work of supporters (Barnett et al. 2001; Cox 2001; Gellis 2001; Griffin 2003; Assess & Piccolo 2004). The theory of transformational leadership was further developed by Bernard Bass by questioning Burns’ perception of transformational and transactional leadership as opposites on a procession. Instead he suggested that they are individual ideas and that good leaders illustrate the features of both (Judge & Piccolo 2004, p. 755). Hitler is a good example given of a transactional leader while the best example of a transformational leader is Gandhi. The interest in transformational leadership is as a result of two tendencies (Simic 1998, p. 50). First, important international changes in the economy fro m the early 1970s meant that a lot of large companies in the west, such as AT&T and General Motors had to put into consideration extreme changes in their methods of conducting business. Some of the factors were the rapid changes in technology, an increase in the circulation of products from recently industrialized nations, increased competitiveness among the competitors, pricing strategy in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) being volatile, and changing market structures led to a strong, volatile and competitive atmosphere in which important changes in the organization were crucial. Downsizing and adopting of new types of business agreement were the most common changes carried out. Therefore these changes took their toll on employee empowerment and satisfaction. This broke the old social agreement that had long term employment and in exchange get the employee's loyalty (Griffin 2003, p. 1). Secondly, in the 1970s, we had the contingency theory on leadership. Th e theory on leadership was established in research of behaviors, character, and circumstances and did not account for several untypical features in leaders (Simic 1998, p. 50). These are the fact tendencies that led to the realization of the theory of transformation. Odom and Green (2003), based on research and the analysis of a number of legal cases, claim that when the concept of transformational leadership is used in ethical dilemmas that managers face there is less litigation and better moral results than if the transactional approach to values that is common was used. Within academic surroundings, as a result of transformation

Hamburger Hill The Things They Carried Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hamburger Hill The Things They Carried - Essay Example Irvin’s film showed that one of the first things that the soldiers faced when arriving â€Å"in country† was a stark reminder of the serous risk to their lives, as they were asked to sign insurance papers and various other legal forms in case they did not survive. This legal reminder of the danger that faced them was backed up by a serious of training talks given them while in camp, including sessions showing them how serious, stealthy, and committed their enemies were, and even how such normal personal concerns such as hygiene and communication could lead to injury or death. At every level, the new recruits were told to follow orders and to respect their fellow soldiers, and they were told that the only way they would come out alive is if they stuck together. This was perhaps the major theme of Irvin’s film and it played a strong element in O’Brien’s essay, in the story of the dead soldier Lavender, who died because he wandered off. This process of early acclimation also included instruction on the use of weapons and the necessity of negotiating the many different factors that they would face during the war, from physical wounds to sexually transmitted diseases to psychological wounds from opinions of the people back home when they returned. O’Brien describes the variety of planned and makeshift provisions that the soldiers carried with them into battle, including bug spray, odd superstitious charms, and varieties of weapons. Each man carried their own materials, but O’Brien’s essay suggests and Irvin’s film represents that they also carried their humanity, their hopes and fears. Only in the battle did they also learn to love each and appreciate each other and stick together. Irvin’s film spends a great deal of time in the early moments showing the soldiers horsing around and fighting, listening to music and playing cards, in order to stress the need for camaraderie among the soldiers. One o f the keys to this camaraderie was following their leader without question. While the new recruits learned to take this lesson in stride during the early training, they didn’t quite believe it. When they are dropped in the combat zone at minute 41:20, one new recruit tries to calm the nerves of another by saying â€Å"these guys know what they’re doing† in regard to their officers. The nervous recruit replied with a sarcastic â€Å"Oh yeah, definitely.† By the end of the film, all such sarcasm had disappeared. They had seen the necessity of trusting one another and pulling together in the heat of fire. They had learned that their leaders and the bravery of their fellow soldiers was perhaps the most important thing ensuring their survival. O’Brien’s essay echoes this sentiment, as he relays the feelings of the fictional leader of the platoon he describes. He shows how Lt. Cross takes personally the loss of soldier under his command because he lost focus for a moment. He claims that Cross â€Å"felt the pain... blamed himself† (p. 6). He had become distracted by his own humanity and his own personal needs for a moment and the soldier had wandered off, not to fight but to urinate. He was killed. Both works stress the way soldiers kept each other honest and diligent, looking out for each other even as they argued among each other. One of the major themes that Irvin emphasizes throughout his film is the difficulties of navigating race

Understanding World Happenings in Africa Essay Example for Free

Understanding World Happenings in Africa Essay When Paul Theroux visited Africa during the 1960s, many African countries were forming their own governments after doing away with colonial rule (An Interview, 2007). Paul taught English to children in Uganda and Malawi during that time. But when he returned to Africa almost forty years later, he was shocked as well as disappointed to see that his good old school library, which used to be the core of one of the finest schools in East Africa, had no light bulbs and all of its book shelves had been emptied by plunderers (Theroux, 2003). Doing away with colonial rule was not so good for the African countries after all. Rather, according to Paul, African countries after the colonial rule â€Å"have fared badly, because of poor leadership, lack of resources, the colonial hangover, the subversion of foreign institutions. † Moreover, corruption is rampant, and the African governments rely on the poverty of their peoples to get foreign aid. Someone besides the African people seems to be using the foreign aid, however, seeing as the African people remain poor and needy. What is more, countless African people whom Paul encountered during his second trip to Africa, reported that they would like to move out of Africa altogether (An Interview). Paul describes poverty as such a big problem in Africa that he almost lost his life because of it. In northern Kenya and on the road known as Marsabit, some â€Å"shifta† or wandering bandits shot at the travel writer. They do not want your life, bwana. They want your shoes, Paul explained in his book, Dark Star Safari: Overland From Cairo to Cape Town (Theroux). Did Paul imagine at the time that he would perhaps have been safe if the land of Africa was still under colonial rule? The law and order situation in the Western world – the colonialists and the imperialists of yesteryears – are definitely seen as safer places on our planet, despite the fact that UNDERSTANDING WORLD HAPPENINGS IN AFRICA Page # 2 they have their own share of violence to handle. And yet, the law and order situation in other parts of the world cannot be compared to what is happening in the Western world. In the non-Western world, a lot of countries have remained poor and needy even after doing away with the colonial rule. As a matter of fact, the colonialists were pushed out of many nations in hordes close to mid-twentieth century. What did the countries that pushed out the colonialists achieve in the name of freedom? – Perhaps only the belief that they are basically separate from others. In actuality, the so-called ‘freedom’ and ‘independence’ gained by the African countries, the subcontinent, and other non-Western regions of the world has not be true freedom and independence from heartbreaking problems such as beggary, sickness, and illiteracy (Theroux). While the Western world grew richer through the Internet and globalization, starting from the latter half of the twentieth century, various non-Western regions of the world remained poor and needy without good use of the Internet and globalization. Even Japan and China continued to believe in economic nationalism without feeling the need to make immense profits through globalization. Paul experienced the difference between the Western world and the non-Western world during his second trip to Africa especially through the word, â€Å"safari. † According to the writer, â€Å"safari† is a Swahili world which essentially means ‘incommunicado’ or being completely out of touch. So, if anybody (like Paul) wants to spend time in a place where there are not many (if any) Internet cafes or means to access mobile phones; he or she must be visiting Africa to get away from it all (Theroux). Technology has not made its way into African countries in a big way. Without technology, the African nations have undoubtedly stayed behind UNDERSTANDING WORLD HAPPENINGS IN AFRICA Page # 3 the Western world in terms of their economies and living standards. They have not been able to encounter progress along with the Western nations that are technologically advanced. Thus, the African countries – like many other technologically backward nations in the non-Western world – have failed to develop. These countries are dependent on the Western world for aid. What is more, although the majority of people of such nations have undeveloped minds because of lack of education, the countries as a whole have shown great arrogance in terms of shunning colonial rule and its likes. In Hong Kong, the British government stayed in power almost until the end of the twentieth century. Today, Hong Kong is very advanced. But Africa and the subcontinent are not advanced at all, the reason being that they pushed out the colonialists before the latter could work wonders for the nations they had probably come to occupy for a good reason. America, too, had pushed out colonialists before the African and Asian countries followed. However, America was backed by another Western power at the time of its independence. Hence, its history cannot be compared to the history of the non-Western world. The fact, therefore, remains: Our world has been divided even after the world wars, and would not easily allow developed countries to take over underdeveloped ones in order to solve the problems of the latter. When and if the developed countries do take over, they must encounter hatred and distrust, which eventually pushes them away and out of the undeveloped nations for good. References 1. â€Å"An Interview with Paul Theroux. † (2007). Book Browse. Retrieved from http://www. bookbrowse. com/author_interviews/full/index. cfm? author_number=886. (11 April 2007). 2. Theroux, Paul. (2003). Dark Star Safari: Overland From Cairo to Cape Town. Boston: Houghton Miffin, 2003.

Infant Observation: 10 Month old Baby

Infant Observation: 10 Month old Baby Infant Observation Ivan Mitsko Less than a year ago my close family friend delivered a second baby. And since we lived close to each other and the couple already had an experience with infants I realized that it was a perfect place for my observation paper. I decided to observe the child three times at different dates and time of day because it could help me better distinguish infant’s psychological behavior. The baby’s name was Alex and at the time of the observation he was ten months old. He was born healthy and without any complications. At the first day of his life he weighted 7.5 pounds and was 19 inches tall which is considered a normal range (Zinsser, 2015). The parents are very diligent and hardworking people and take care of their children very well. The behavior of the new born baby reminds me of a chain of reactions in response to new sensations which surrounds the infant during first year of life. When I observed Alex it was almost impossible not to notice his reflexes, senses, and natural instincts. When the mother tried to touch his lip with a finger the baby immediately opened his mouth and was prepared to suck. However, I noticed that he more prefers to suck his own fingers rather than someone else’s. When the mother put something sweet on her finger the baby used to start sucking it and in response to something sour or bitter he immediately wrinkled his face and tried to clean his mouth. This phenomenon can be explained by research conducted by scientist who claimed that humans’ affinity to sweet taste over any other taste corresponds to human genetics (Tatter, Schubert, Timischl, Simbruner, 1986). Another very interesting response I observed was a reaction to the loud noise. The sudden loud TV sound made hi m to furrow his brow, he looked very aware, and at the same time very scared. It seems that all of these reflexes are involuntary and the infant doesn’t have a knowledge or experience to realize that he is a baby and that he is the part of the world. All of the infant’s natural reflexes and instincts were very well described by Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist who is known for his studies with children. According to Piaget’s cognitive stage theory, the babies have an innate schema which is developed before they have any experience with surrounding environment. These cognitive structures are responsible for innate reflexes which are genetically programmed inside of us (Huitt, Hummel, 2003). For instance, most of the infants have sucking reflex which can be triggered by touching baby’s lips and based on these observations Piaget came up with the idea that infants have a sucking schema. Paget’s schema development can be applied to many other innate reflexes. For example, when something touches baby’s palm he will experience the grasping reflex, or similarly, the rooting reflex in which the child will turn his head in direction of the cheek you touched. For instance, during my observation I realized that rooting reflex works much better when the baby is hungry. Once the mother touched his cheek the infant turned his head right away and slightly open his mouth. It was very interesting to follow this process because it helped me to visualize how the schema works in real life situations. Moreover, I felt like the baby was waiting for the next signal which is food consumption. Both of these actions are nothing more than a reaction to touch which makes the life itself a very unique phenomenon. The overall baby’s physical appearance is very similar when he is still in the womb. His body, arms, and legs tend to take position in the way in which they were occupied in mother’s belly. When I asked my friend to hold a baby, the first thing I noticed was how the musculoskeletal system was undeveloped. Newborn babies tend to have very weak muscles which don’t allow them to hold the head or anything in hands. On the other hand, I noticed that when the infant grasped my finger I felt quiet bit of a power produced by the muscles. This interesting observation made me think how the voluntary and involuntary muscular contractions developed and their role in adaptation with surrounding environment. An innate reflex is the specific response to external stimuli. The study of reflexes is mainly used to assess the state of the nervous system and all of the related pathologies. There can be some exception but in most cases children are born with grasp reflex. In order to activate it the parents should simply touch the palm of baby’s hand and he will immediately flex his digits. Usually, some of the reflexes can be noticed from the birth and it is very important for young parents to distinguish any abnormalities in infants. (Futagi, Toribe, Suzuki, 2012). During the first month of the life the baby spends most of his time lying down either on a bed or in the mother’s hands. Also, it was very obvious to see that the baby liked being rocked, and when the parents surrounded him. I believe that most of the baby’s behavior is strictly automatic rather than deliberate. All of the actions are meant to evoke a sense of attachment. For example, when the infant starts crying he is probably hungry or wants to be held. During the infancy period most of the babies are far away from language/speech development. However, I realized that communication does exist between parents and the child. All of the babies tend to cry a lot and this is one of the main sign for a caregiver that something is wrong. During my observation I realized that babies cry because they feel some sort of discomfort which requires immediate attention. For young parents it might be often difficult to understand what happened and why the baby is crying. However, over some period of time caregivers begin to distinguish main concerns. As a future parent this observational experience was very educational for me. I learned that it takes a lot of compassion and hard work to take care of the baby. This a very demanding job which requires a lot of time and hard work and the knowledge of developmental psychology is a good way to understand scientifically what is like to be a baby. Paget’s cognitive stage theory is a great way for new parents to get familiar with the environment and psychological behavior of the new born baby which can be applied in order to establish connection between caregiver and child. References Futagi, Y., Toribe, Y., Suzuki, Y. (2012, June 11). The Grasp Reflex and Moro Reflex in Infants: Hierarchy of Primitive Reflex Responses. Retrieved February 11, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384944/ Huitt, W., Hummel, J. (2003). Piagets theory of cognitive development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved February 4,2015 from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/piaget.html Tatzer, E., Schubert, M., Timischl, W., Simbruner, G. (1985, October 12). Discrimination of taste and preference for sweet in premature babies. Retrieved February 4, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4064994 Zissner, K. Physical development in infancy [PowerPoint slide]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes https://uic.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_87219_1content_id=_4081122_1 Is Memory a Constructive Process? Is Memory a Constructive Process? Gemma L Sobah ‘Memory is a constructive and active process’ Psychology To be able to successfully evaluate this claim, it is important that some research is done. A lot of relevant research supports this claim but what information we process and store is actually being actively processes by our conscious and how much of this is being stored in a more automatic, passive manner? Before we can delve any further into memory, we need to find a way to break it down into what memory consists of. This essay will look at the research conducted on memory and evaluate to what extent the memory is a constructive and active system. As we know already, memory is a part of our everyday lives. It enables us to carry out daily tasks and skills from knowledge and gives us access to information we may need at a later date, but has been stored in our memory for the mean time. It is an essential part of our lives, and this makes it important for psychologists to be able to understand how it works and its functions. Over time research has been done that breaks memory down in to three component processors. Encoding Putting information into memory Storage Retaining information into memory Retrieval Getting information back out of memory (Brace et al, 2007) Encoding is putting information into code and then inserting it into our memory to then be stored. Storage is when information is retained and is kept in the form or visual, physical or other depictions. Retrieval is when we try and retrieve information out of our memory, into our conscious mind. The memory is not only broken down into processes but also has subsystems that work parallel to and include sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. William James (cited in Brace et al, 2007) was one of the first psychologists to make this connect and present memory as having these three subsystems. His theory also included the idea that the brain used a primary memory permitting conscious mental activity and a secondary memory responsible for storing knowledge. (Brace and Roth, 2007, p.g 115) This alone supports the claim that memory is a constructive and active process, for it not only receives stores and retrieves information, but it also sorts the information we receive into sections. If the brain was a passive process, we could believe that all information processed would be generically stored. It would take a conscious and active memory to be able to decide which information will be logged as short term, and which should be logged as long term. We will look at th is more later. Memory is an ability that we as humans and also animals to some extent, depend upon to be able to recall different events, relate to experiences, and connect with people. It is a very important system that allows the brain to acknowledge and receive information from our surroundings and from our own bodies, (also known as stimuli), store it, (in either short or long term memory, depending on the information), and then allow it to be accessed in future occasions (known as retrieval). It allows us to continually live one day after the next, without having to relearn everything, giving us the ability to learn from our past actions, relive experiences in different times of our life’s and use all the information we have stored, to carry on and grow. If you think about the first time you read a book or tried roller-skates; those are memories formed, either short or long or term. If we have no memory from the past, you would never learn; thus unable to process and understand. Without memory we would constantly be faced with new and unfamiliar things. This alone and cause us distress. We only have to look at someone with dementia to understand how fragile and vulnerable we would be without the capacity to remember, our everyday lives and actions would be affected and so would our survival. More and more research is being uncovered that suggests that the brain works as a whole, integrating with all areas of its self and aren’t small separate sections doing independent work. When processing a new memory the brain sends information to the Papez circuit which involves many parts of the brain. Research on the brain shows that forming a memory causes physical changes to the organisation of neurons and maybe even the neurons in a process called brain plasticity. (Brace et al. 2007, p.g 146) Ever since William James (1890) first revealed his theories on memory, a substantial body of research has followed. Many other psychologists have shared approaches that conce ptualize memory as a flow of information through a sequence of sub-systems. It is believed information is recoded as and when it is carried from one sub-system to the next. Let’s look at the short term memory. Some research suggests that this form of memory is just a temporary store. But Baddeley and Hitch (1974) (as cited in Brace et al, 2007, p.g 117) allows us to understand it better. They believe that to be able to really understand the functions of short term memory we have to first understand what we use it for. They suggest it has several functions. Brace, 2007 puts it like this: One key function is to concentrate on processing new inputs, and rehearse and code them for transfer to long term memory. Another function is to retrieve information relevant stored knowledge to assist in making sense of these inputs†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..STM is an active store holding information that we are consciously thinking about- it is attention-limited ‘work-bench’ system of memory. (Brace et al, 2007 page p.g 117) Here memory is described as active, and the reason for this is simple. Memory is constantly working or organise its information for the purpose of our life. We are constantly learning and developing, and our memory processes are constantly sorting through all the information we receive, to make sure the everyday things we need to remember, such as how to tie our shoes are stored in the right place, the information we only need temporary, such as the number we are typed into our phone, can be stored for the appropriate length of time, then discarded to utilise the space. We interact with many things in our everyday life’s and our brain are aware of that, and is constantly on standby to help us live, so to speak. Another reason we can say memory is active and not passive is for the simple fact that we are able to consciously control what we want to retrieve from our memories and what information we would rather no remember, at that present time. For example, a young has lost her house keys, and in order to help her find them, she decides to try and remember when she last seen them, this is her consciously selecting memories from a specific time. She hasn’t decided to try and remember the colour of the keys, or when she very first came to own the keys, she has consciously tried to recall a specific moment in her life when she had the keys. This is her memory actively working to select the relevant memory and disregard any memory that is not currently needed that may be related to the keys. If our memory were passive, maybe it would automatically recall every memory she has had with the keys, which wouldn’t help the woman find the keys, it would just create confusion and possible frustration. Memory might for this reason be seen as a perceptually active process of the brain that derives from three key components. As we can see memory isn’t a simple matter. It is very complex and there are still many aspects of it under research and not yet understood, and because memory cannot be directly monitored, psychologists have found ways to analyse it enough to be able to have some understanding of how our memory works and why. Our memory serves a crucial purpose and without it, we cannot evolve, and learn and although it does more good than harm, it can from time to time cause us distress and many other things. Our memories are key to making us who we are and there are times that some people’s bad memories impact their lives greatly. Nevertheless, our memory is active, and we can us this to our advantage. We can change our memories, we can implant some memories deeper than others, and we have found ways to hide or keep some memories dormant. We can actively strengthen and challenge our memories daily and find ways to get the most out of the memory process, because without memory, we can not survive. Word count:1444 References: Brace, N., Ilona, R. (2007) ‘Memory: structures, processes and skills’ in Miell, D., Phoenix, A., and Thomas, K. (eds) Mapping Psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Psychology18th March 2014

The Concept Of Cinematic Illusion Film Studies Essay

The Concept Of Cinematic Illusion Film Studies Essay Ever since the advent of cinema, the human race has become more infatuated and intrigued by it and it has become more and more an integral part of our culture. In an age where the boundaries of realism are being pushed in cinema through the use of new technologies such as high definition and 3D, the film industry is constantly trying to create a more believable illusion of realism in film. If we strip the premise of cinema down to its most basic form of that of a series of images in sequence creating the illusion of a motion picture we can explore how we perceive this illusion and how it gave birth to the medium of cinema. One of the illusions still used in cinema today is the phi phenomenon. This was first seen in Victorian times with the popularisation of a toy called a  thaumatrope. This consisted of a disc or card with a picture on each side was attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the card rotates momentarily showing each of the two images. The two pictures appear to combine into a single image. This toy was said to be invented by John Ayrton Paris who in 1824 used it in a demonstration to the Royal College of Physicians in London the idea of persistence of vision. Persistence of vision said that there was a processing delay in the brain and when two images were flashed in front of the eye fast enough the delay caused the first image to remain in place for a fraction of a second longer causing it blend into the second one (Bazin 1967). In 1912 Max Wertheimer in his book Experimental Studies on the Seeing of Motion exposed this theory of persistence of vision as a myth. In its place Wertheimer devised the phi phenomenon along with beta movement help to describe the illusions of motion perception. Wertheimer was one of the founding members of Gestalt psychology and this discovery was a big breakthrough for this field of psychology. The phi phenomenon discovered by Wertheimer is a perceptual  illusion where the viewers mind fills in shapes to help link two images together. In his experiment Wertheimer shows an audience a series of two images. The first image is a line on the left side of the screen. The second image shows a line of the right side of the screen. At different timings Wertheimer observed that the viewers reported a sensation of motion in the space between and around the two lines. However the lines themselves did not appear to move, they simply saw what looked like two moving shapes of the background colour surrounding the flashing lines. Beta movement was described by Wertheimer (1912) as apparent motion. To prove his theory of beta movement Wertheimer preformed an experiment. He sat viewers in front of a screen where he then projected a two image sequence with varying gaps between them. The first image of a ball on the left of the screen was projected onto the screen followed by a second image with the ball on the right of the screen. The viewers described how they saw the ball move from one side of the screen to the other when in fact they only had seen two still images. This showed that the illusion of movement was created through the perception of the viewers linking the two images together according to one or more of Gestalts laws, such as the laws similarity and proximity. Another way we perceive motion is through stroboscopic images. Leighton (2008) explains that stroboscopic images are a series of static images that when viewed in sequence at a high enough rate; the static images appear to blend into one continuous motion. A simple demonstration of this is the idea of a flip book. If you have a series of pages with simple drawings on them and the drawings are slightly altering from one page to the next and we flip through these pages at speed we perceive them as one continuous picture in motion. However if you flick though the book slowly enough the eye isnt fooled by this illusion and perceives them as separate images. We must then ask at what point our eye sees this series of images as motion and not just still images. According to Cubitt (2005) critical fusion frequency is the rate at which stimuli can be presented and still be perceived as separate stimuli. To work stroboscopic images have to present visual stimuli such as images to the eye at a higher rate than the critical fusion frequency so that the eye cannot perceive each individual image separately. The critical fusion frequency differs from person to person and depends heavily upon many conditions such as light and contrast but as a general rule it is said to be anything less than a 7th of a second. This means that if we look at a series of images that are playing at anything above 10 images or frames per second we will see then as one continuous motion. From when the first commercial movie cameras were manufactured there was no standard frame rate of the cameras, they ranged from anything from 10 frames a second. This was seen unsuitable for cinema as the motion in the film was very jerky. By the 1920s a standard frame rate of 24 frames a second was set (Bazin 1967). This allowed the illusion of motion in film to be perceived by the viewer to be a lot more smooth and fluid. Through the use of stroboscopic images, the phi phenomenon and beta movement discussed here modern cinema exploits the visual perception of the viewer to create the illusion of motion which forms the bases for all films. As advancing technologies aid this process of illusion they stride to help cinema create the most realistic representation of what our eyes see and helps transport the viewer into the world of the film as if they where there.

Psychoanalysis in Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment Essay -- Crime and

Analyzing the mind of a sociopath has been one of the most important tasks that psychoanalysts face today. The more they know and understand the complexities of the disturbed, the more they hope to find treatments and eventually a cure for the illness that they believe can cause the ultimate violent criminal. Perhaps Dostoevsky himself wanted to weigh in on the mind of the sociopath and the journey toward their violent lives. Due to his vivid description of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky shows his readers first hand what a sociopath is like. First one must understand that there is no such affliction as sociopath. The technical name is antisocial personality disorder and there are certain criteria a person must meet in order to receive this diagnosis. It is reserved for the most violent criminal minds and therefore is taken very seriously by the psychiatric community. In order to be diagnosed, one must have been previously diagnosed as having a conduct disorder by the age of fifteen. This is what many refer to as the child version of antisocial personality disorder. â€Å"Along with depression and anxiety, the individual also exhibits an increase in antisocial behavior, aggression, destruction of property, and deceitfulness or theft† (Strickland). They may also act out against small er things that they can control, such as smaller siblings and/or animals. Once a person with conduct disorder turns eighteen and is considered to be a legal adult, they are re-evaluated and then diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd Edition lists the criteria that psychologists use to base their diagnosis. They must meet three of the following. 1. fails to conform to social norms, as indicated... ...order, examining Raskolnikov’s actions and personality, and taking a closer look at arrogance, we can assert that Raskolnikov is simply an arrogant man; viewing himself as superior to society. Raskolnikov’s actions were done through purely selfish motives and the mentality that he should not be punished, because the paramount of his actions benefited society. This is the profile of a man that is arrogant and selfish, not the profile of an individual suffering from a mental illness. Works Cited Dostoevsky, Feodor. â€Å"Crime and Punishment†. A Norton Critical Edition 3rd Ed. Levinson, David. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Vol. III. Sage Publications. London, 2002. Merriam-Webster. â€Å"Merriam-Webster Online†. http://www.m-w.com. December 18, 2005. Strickland, Bonnie. The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology 2nd Ed. Gale Group. Detroit, 2001.

Essay --

Where is the line drawn between empowerment and objectification? Do women want to be viewed as objects rather than equals? According to Cameron Diaz.Female sexuality in media continues to be a heated and divided debate between people with conventional and progressive views. The media and various female artists have forced us to repeatedly question whether pushing boundaries is liberating or insulting. Those with traditional values believe that objectifying women sets a negative example for the youth of today. While modern audiences believe that women should choose to empower themselves by pushing the envelope and promote the youth to follow their own path in life. Women in the music industry today are empowering themselves, rather than being objectified, through their music by encouraging individuality and embracing their sexuality. Many with traditional values argue that the objectification of female artists in music media is sexist and demeaning. Breines, a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University, believes. This media imagery shapes how society views women and young girls see themselves. As a result, this leaves women are more prone to low self confidence and eating disorders. This self-objectification shown by oversexualized artists perpetuates the ideal that a woman’s character is solely based on her appearance. Nowadays, teenagers are becoming more and more influenced by social media and have an easier access to images that are not necessarily appropriate. The female artists are promoting stories of female servitude rather than of female equality. Female artists promote a tasteless lifestyle through overtly sexualized imagery. Suit, a representative from Safermedia, stated that, The song lyrics to â€Å"Pour It Up† include.... ... during this debate is self respect. Traditional audiences see a provocative performance or song and assume the female artist lacks self respect. But what must a male artist do to lack self respect? As a result, the youth today pay the ultimate cost by emulating a bad example in their everyday lives. Regardless the message given from both of these artists, no matter how provocative, the empowerment of women and being an individual is evident. However, modern viewers might question why society forces women to be ashamed of their bodies rather than empowered. Audiences can come to their own conclusions, after seeing something provocative, based on appearances. However, regardless of controversial themes explored, only female artists can determine their own self respect and whether it is lost by embracing their bodies and inspiring other females to do the same.

Marijuana as Medicine: More Harm Than Help :: pro use of medical marijuana

Marijuana as Medicine: More Harm Than Help Joan Daly smokes marijuana. She is also a former member of the San Francisco Police Department. When Joan was diagnosed with cancer she began a rigorous chemotherapy program, which has left her in an almost constant state of nausea, to battle her disease. She, and many like her, claim that the only drug they have tried that works to ease their pain is marijuana (Lacayo np). Claims such as this have led to a national movement pushing the legalization of medical marijuana. Marijuana should not be legalized for medicine or any other purpose. (98) Naturally, those who support the cause of legalization will have their arguments, which can be summarized into three main areas. The first is the claim that marijuana is an instrumental treatment for the nausea associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients. The next assertion is that marijuana is an effective controller of glaucoma. Finally, marijuana advocates claim that it is effective in stimulating the appetite for the prevention of AIDS wasting syndrome. (71) Proponents of medical marijuana swear by its ability to ease the suffering of chemotherapy patients, however there is no research to back these staunch claims. To be sure, there is a large body of research regarding cannabinoids, the chemicals found in plants of the same type as marijuana- the cannabis family, but the overwhelming majority of those studies use the already USDA approved dronabinol, a synthetic pill version of marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, THC (NIH np). The pill, claim legalization supporters, does not work to relieve nausea (Lacayo np). There is, in fact, only one study that has compared smoked marijuana and synthetic THC pills. Of the 20 patients studied, 9 had no preference, 7 preferred dronabinol, and only 4 preferred smoked marijuana (NIH np). Critics of the legalization Cleland 2 movement say that using the drug before its safety and effectiveness are determined is foolhardy ("Weed Wars" np). There is evidence enough to support this claim. The number of patients who have been clinically dosed with marijuana for research purposes is a staggering 56 (NIH np). That is an extremely small number to base such large claims on. The treatment of nausea debate generally focuses on the synthetic pill/smoked marijuana trade off. The simple truth is that treatments are available that much more effective than the pill in the form of ondansetron, granisetron, and others. Their effectiveness has not been rated against that of marijuana, but the vast majority of patients respond well to these new treatments, and the benefits of marijuana for the remaining few is simply not known (NIH np). (255) Another use of medical marijuana, says advocates, is for

How to Start an Iphone Repair Company

DeviceTrade How to start an iPhone/iPod repair shop. DeviceTrade iPhone/iPod Repair On average 4. 5 million iPhone 3G and 3GS’s glass screens break every year. In the past the only options were to take the phone to Apple ($200 to repair), take it to a big repair shop ($80 to repair) or do a mail in repair service and be without a phone for 3-5 days. A new trend of home based iPhone repair businesses are now emerging and becoming extremely successful. The factors that contribute to their success are †¢ †¢ †¢ Local – Within 10 miles of customers Fast – Repairs done in under 15 min Inexpensive – On average charging $40 – $60How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Start-up After you have decided that you want to start an iPhone repair business the first step is to learn the repairs. It is easiest to do this by buying a broken iPhone so that you can practice on it and not worry about breaking one of your customers phones. This a lso gives you more time to get comfortable opening the phone up and working with the tiny components. Now that you have mastered the skills of the trade you can begin to determine how you are going to run your business.Things like where are you going to get replacement parts, how you are going to market, and where you actually want this business to take place. There are a growing number of people operating home based iPhone repair businesses and simply set up shop at home. This model works well because it helps to keep costs down on all fronts and you can work form the comfort of your home. Even if you do plan to open a store eventually, starting out of your home and getting a feel for the demand in your market is always a good idea. If you do decide to work rom home it is important to check local laws about running a business from your home and make sure that you are in compliance. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Which iPhone repair makes the most money? The iPho nes front and back glass screen is very susceptible to drops and accounts for 80% of the broken iPhones out there. The rest of the repairs consist of water damage, charging port, speakers etc. The great thing about the front glass screen on the iPhone 4 & 4S is that a replacement screen can cost under $20.This leaves a profit margin of $20 – $40 per repair which takes on average 10 minutes. The business or repairing cracked iPhone screens alone is more than a $200 million dollar business, based on the average price of $50 per repair. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Inventory Your inventory level should grow as your sales grow. However, it is prudent to start small, keeping inventory at a realistic level. For instance keeping enough parts on hand to last you at least 5 – 7 days is a good measure.This way you will have enough time to order more parts and account for shipping time. It is always good to carry a little more inventory than necessary so tha t you are never out of parts if you have an un-particularly busy day. Another big factor when buying parts is the quality. There are dozens of parts suppliers out there and not all parts are created the same. For instance, the iPhone 4 screen has four different quality levels that are all marketed as the same part by online suppliers. You will never know which quality you get until they are shipped to you.There is also the question of using a US or Chinese supplier. It is recommended to start with a US supplier and then based on your own personal risk tolerance, and time you are able to wait for shipping try other options. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Pricing Pricing your repair services is a challenging proposition. Setting your price too low and you run the risk of undermining your profits. While if you set your prices too high you can run the risk of losing customers to competitors.One important thing to take into consideration is your competition and what p rices they are charging. You can find them by doing an online search of â€Å"Your City iPhone Repair† and this should bring up your major local competitors. The one price point that is universal is Apple who charges $200 to repair a cracked screen. It is not always beneficial to undercut your competition, but in a home based iPhone repair business it is usually pretty reasonable since you are cutting costs on having a storefront.Setting your price is pretty straight forward just remember to account for the replacement parts, labor, advertising, and any other expenses that you incur. The typical profit margin for most repairs is $40 – $60. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Income Potential Opportunities in the home based iPhone repair business market are growing exponentially. Your income potential depends on how hard you work and marketing your business because if you live in any city or suburb then the market is there!There are dozens of iPhone repai r businesses started by United iPhone Repair, some full time and some part time. The part time businesses, people just repairing phones in the evening, are able to bring in on average 3 iPhone repairs per day which equates to $37,500 in revenue per year or $30,000 in profit. While the full time businesses can bring in 5 – 10 phones per day and generate revenues over $100,000 annually. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop

Theology 202 Study Guide 1

Theo 202: Quiz 1 Study online at quizlet. com/_b3aow 1. Define the doctrine of eternal security. Salvation in three tenses The Christian has the promise of God that no one can separate him from God. 1. The Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin. 2. The Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin. 3. the Christian will be saved at the Lord's return. True. 13. 2. What was the significance of the council of Dort and it's impact in defining he system referred to as Calvinism Define Grace O. T. en were saved as they are in the N. T. by faith. O. T. expressed their faith by obedience to the law of God What is T. U. L. I. P. Held in 1618 in the Netherlands, determined that Arminianism was hersey, reaffirmed the reformed teaching of John Calvin, and stated their conclusiion in the five points known as TULIP 14. The good pleasure of God extended to save an undeserving sinful man. True. 3. Salvation is a dynamic quality of life, not just a passive point. Who is the founder of Arminianism How do Arminians redefine the original sin? 15. 4. Jacob Hermann.A man becomes a sinner only when he consciously and voluntarily sins, thus appropriating the sin nature of Adam. The idea that Christ wold save and then allow a convert to lose what he did not merit nor achieved in repentance, causes one to question not only His work, but also His character. Means that God first decreed to save the elect, then He decreed that Christ would die and provide salvation for them. Means the decree to save came after a person had sinned and after Christ had died for him. God decreed who would be saved (the elect) and the act of salvation in the same decree.John Wesley, John Fletcher, Francis Asbury, Charles Grandison-Finney. 5. 16. 6. How does the Arminian system depreciate the completed work of Christ by the denial of the security of the believer? Supralapsarian Total depravity. Unconditional election. Limited atonement. Irresistible grace. Perseverance of the s aints. Means a turning to God from sin on the part of the sinner. It is the human side while regeneration is the divine side. 17. What is conversion How is conversion distinguished from regeneration? Define repentance How does repentance affect intellect?How does repentance affect emotions How does repentance affect the will of man? What is faith? What is justification? 18. 7. 19. Means to change one's mind about sin. It changes our thoughts. 8. Sublapsarian 20. 9. Infralapsarian 21. It changes our feelings, makes one have genuine regret. It is an actual forsakiing of sin and an actual turning to God. (most vital) The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. An act whereby God declares a person righteous when that person accepts Gods word.Makes man perfect in God's sight, it's not that man has become perfect, only that god has declared him righteous and therefore he stands perfect in the sight of God. 10. List other church leaders that popularized the â€Å"A rminian doctrinal system. What tests that are used to verify theological truths 22. 23. 11. 1. Consistency 2. Correspondence 3. Priority of data 4. Cohesiveness 5. Thoroughness Separation. 24. 12. What does sanctification mean 25. What is regeneration? The work of God through the Holy Spirit, of placing in one who has faith, a new nature capable of doing the will of God.The Holy Spirit. 38. Bibliography is the theology of scripture Theology proper is the theology of God Christology is the theology of Christians Pneumatology is the theology of the Holy Spirit Anthropology is the theology of History What is total depravity? What is unconditional election? What is limited atonement? What is Irresistible grace? What is perserverance of the saints? What is the basis of faith? True. 39. True. 26. What is the agent of regeneration according to scripture What is the positional emphasis of adoption within the context of soteriology?What are the illustrations found in the New Testament by whi ch the doctrine of union with Christ is taught? 27. He receives the position of son of God instead of child of God like in regeneration. 1. Building and foundation- Christ is foundation and beleivers are construction material. 2. Husband and wives 3. Vine and branches, 4. Body of Christ 5. Human race and adam= union of the beliver with the second adam The relationship with God which we enter by faith in Jesus Christ. Experiential or practical sanctifiction in present life.Involves struggles of victory and defeat of the Christian. God continues to work in teh life of every Christian. Consmmational santification, for God will not complete the process until we either die or are raptured. where God rescues man from the eternal ruin and doom of sin and bestows on him the riches of His grace and eternal life Salvation ceases to be a free gift because in part a person is responsible for the retention of their salvation. Their belief in God. 40. False. 41. True. 28. 42. False. 43. 29. What is positional sanctification? What is progressive sanctification?Any man in his natural state is incapable or unable to do anything to please or gain merit before God. When a man obtains salvation because God began the process by choosing him without any outside influence. When Jesus died He died for those that were chosen by God. Since God of His own free will has chosen (elected) man and Christ has died for him then man cannot resist the power of God that brings hm to salvation. Since man has absolutely nothing to do with his salvation, he will persevere because the Saviour has declared that he has eternal life.Intellectual faith. 44. 30. 45. 46. 31. What is prospective sanctification What is salvation? 32. 47. 48. 33. How does the Arminian belief in apostasy may lead to an implied salvation-byworks doctrine? To what is the validity of one's faith measured? What is salvation accomplished (justification)? What is salvation applied? Prolegomena is the theology of things that are sai d before. 34. 35. It includes the redemption by blood, the reconciliation of man to God. It includes evangelism, regeneratioin, sanctification, and discipleship. True. 36. 37.

Everybody Needs Somebody Essay

Many people vacillate to commit themselves to marriage because of the responsibilities involved, but what does the word â€Å"marriage†, that so many desist from means. It’s the state of being united; body, soul and mind to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife consensual and contractual relationship recognized by both the Lord and the law. Moreover, pledging your allegiance, promising to be there† for better or for worse, in sickness and in health†¦..till death do us path†. A lot of individuals make the decision never to marry; there may be certain circumstances why they may feel that way. For example they may have had awful relationships in their past and of the opinion that their significant other will never be found or plainly the bulk just don’t want that type of commitment. Marriage has its advantages by the bountiful, so if you are in love and sure that you want to subsist the rest of your life with him/her, then unquestionably go ahead and walk down the aisle. I confidently disagree that being single is far more advantageous than being married. Marriage offers companionship. In a healthy marriage, you are never alone. Your spouse will always be there to lend a sympathetic ear. Sometimes, of course, your spouse might not be â€Å"actually† listening to you but it is better to talk to someone than being alone. Additionally, it’s satisfying to have someone you trust completely and love unconditionally to have stimulating conversation with. For instance to discuss ideas, major financial matters and practice your humor and simply want o be consoled at the end of the day. In the period 2008, research done in the USA showed that expressing your feeling, merely talking to your spouse and letting them know how you feel, reduces your chance of divorce, dishonesty and senseless arguments. As well, companionship offers support and can be particularly important at times of misfortune. Thus, the companionship that marriage offer beats being single any day. Marriage opens the gates to a rich social life. Basically by having a partner with you, you can have a social life that is not so readily or easily available for a single person. You can visit romantic places together or holiday together. You can spend meaningful quality time with each other also relaxing without any interruptions for a single person; it may be difficult because usually social life is geared around â€Å"couples†. Hence a single person can often be left out or sometimes just not invited. Although it may be true at times, that having children might seem to encumber your social life but really it brings a pulsating change in your social life also much of that life involves being with your children. Marriage puts a stamp of tolerability in society. Research reveals that married men/women have longer lifespan compared to single individuals. This can result in three points 1. Marriage stabilizers men and women this is so because, the need for multiple partners aren’t considered necessary when you are married besides you can be confident that your trustworthy spouse isn’t going to be adulterous 2. In the case of reducing stress, take for example raising a child, although many single parents do raise children successfully. It seems the stress is less when the tasks are shared with a partner.3. The point of being pleased. Many men/women get satisfied sexually by being married. This is so because by being intimate with someone you pledged your life to and love, you are contented both physically and mentally. Consequently, by having sexual relations when single your mate is random. This type of intimacy is fabricated and has no symbolic meaning. At such times having a marriage has its rewards over being single. As stated above marriage has its advantages, the ones mentioned are just a few to start with. Each marriage is of course different, but the connection that is shared among two married persons who have unexplained love, intimacy and forever commitment is extremely sacred. Being married, said by many people is about accepting a person for who they are, faults include. To be so dedicated and honorable that together you can overcome any type of ordeal life throws also learning to grow from those hardships. It’s about making sacrifices and putting your complete trust in your spouse. Knowing, they would refrain from temptation and be honest when it is needed. There are so many types of definitions that could be used to describe what marriage is nevertheless the one that really carries the most sentimental value is the one shared among married couples. It is forlorn that single people choose to remain unmarried, they may not the joy marriage brings to a person, but marriage is a privilege so why not make use of it.

Aol Time Warner- What Went Wrong

In January 2000, AOL announced that it would be acquiring Time Warner through a complete stock deal to create the largest media company in the world. Not only was the merger the biggest ever in the media industry, it was also one of the biggest in the history of the corporate world. As per the merger agreement, AOL and Time Warner stock was converted to AOL Time Warner stock. AOL shareholders received one share of AOL Time Warner for each AOL share owned and Time Warner shareholders received 1. shares of AOL Time Warner for each Time Warner share they owned. While AOL shareholders owned 55% of the new company, the remaining was held by Time Warner. The merger was soon being talked of as the beginning of a new trend: the coming together of traditional and new media companies. According to a report, AOL was ‘a turbo-charged engine' that would bring old media giant, Time Warner, into the Internet century. The merger was expected to result in a 30% increase in profits, amounting to over US $ 40 billion in revenues in the first year itself. The new company had 100 million paid subscribers, which included the customers of AOL's dial-up service and subscribers of Time Warner's cable and magazine divisions. A major setback to the success of the merger was the bursting of the Internet bubble, which was expected to rule the media and entertainment industry in the 21st century. When the Internet bubble burst, there was a steep decline in subscriber growth for AOL, which led to a steep decline in its advertising revenues. Time Warner merged with America Online in 2001 at the height of the dot-com boom, with AOL using its inflated stock as a currency for the transaction. But the marriage of old and new media behemoths baptised quickly went sour as the benefits promised to shareholders failed to materialise. AOL was valued at more than $US150 billion when the ill-fated merger was announced, but its worth collapsed dramatically as the dot-com bubble burst. Time Warner was forced in 2002 to massively write down the value of the Internet unit and the AOL name was removed from the group's corporate title in 2003. As a consequence of this not only lost AOL subscribers to their Internet service but also their portal lost importance leading to a loss in opportunity to promote AOL Time Warner content. As a further consequence income from advertising is decreasing. 3. 0 BCG Matrix of AOL-TIME WARNER 4. 0 ALTERNATIVES REVIEW AND TURNAROUND STRATEGIES After the merger, AOL Time Warner was indeed the unquestioned number one worldwide media company, especially with the phenomenal box-office successes of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Some of the anticipated synergies have actually come about and the company has successfully met a number of its goals, according to industry observers. On the Internet side, AOL must prove it can maintain its paramount position by signing deals across the entire cable industry while it opens its Time Warner cable pipes to competitors. If it can’t, AOL’s position as the undisputed leader in the consumer Internet business could begin to slip. According to published reports, AOL has more than 33 million subscribers worldwide, 25 million in the U. S. and analysts expect AOL to sign 6. 2 million new members for the year. AOL’s Pittman believes that eventually between 90 million and 95 million U. S. homes will be connected to the Internet. In 2001, AOL Internet subscribers spent $33 billion online, 67% more than they spent the year before. America Online has thrived by making it cheap and easy for millions of people to get onto the Internet using a standard open-access phone line and modem. With all of the hype about broadband, nearly all of AOL’s current subscribers still use dial-up â€Å"narrowband† connections, which are far too slow to accommodate the growing demand for rich media that consumers increasingly want from the web. 4. 1 AOL-TIME WARNER TURNAROUND STRATEGY The problem faced by Time Warner after its merger with AOL is an issue which merits discussion. The AOL-Time Warner merger in 2001 resulted in the largest media company in the world. AOL joined hands with Time Warner to create synergy between its online businesses and Warner's media business. Two significant factors affected the post merger company. One, the dot-com burst meant adverse effect on AOL’s advertising revenues. And two, dial-up subscribers decreased thereby affecting revenues and overall profitability of AOL. A key element in the turnaround strategy should be to offer free content on its portal. This strategy will benefit AOL in attracting more online users and advertising revenues. When AOL began operations it soon became the leading company for-pay online subscriber service, bringing easy-to-use Internet service to more than 30 million users. AOL was mainly based on around its dial up business. With customers shifting to broadband, AOL was losing subscribers rapidly. The dial-up segment though profitable, was declining in revenues having lost 2. 6 million subscribers in a period of one year. The share price of AOL Time Warner fell by 60% after the merger. The merger was heavily criticized from all quarters. Growth in advertising business came with AOL establishing itself as a support service rather than an internet access provider. Seeing AOL’s success Google entered into a global advertising partnership with the AOL. Google acquired a 5% equity stake in AOL for US$ 1 billion. In broadband, to be able to beat the competition they should be the first organization to define the category of streaming broadband, bringing relevant content and relevant programming into the broadband household so as to let people search for the video and music they want to view and listen to. Provision of other a la carte and premium services, such as being a place for people to store pictures, documents and e-mails they create or receive while they're on the Web. It makes sense. What people want is all their assets available all the time, regardless of where they are. This is especially important for multichannel users, who will be a larger and larger portion of our customer base. Part of the day, people will need to access AOL from their laptops or at home on high-speed DSL or cable, or a smart phone or communication-enabled PDA. The organization should be re-energized. There should be a reaffirmed commitment, a new management team on the field. Positioning the brand and regaining trust are all smart things to do and it will serve as the litmus tests for the decisions to be made. Now, they must be able to recognize emerging trends and stake out our role in them before they take hold among consumers. The overall success of this business long-term will be their ability to integrate best-in-class technology and programming and create compelling value for each of its targeted customer segments. As a technologist, could you ask for a better role? Every decision matters. 5. 0 CONCLUSION The credo of the combined AOL Time Warner was synergy, the idea that the companies would be greater than the sum of their parts because each of the divisions would help market the others. But the dream never materialized. The fast-growing AOL online service was supposed to be the juggernaut that would cause the whole company to grow at 30 percent a year. It turned out that AOL was unable to sustain its own growth rate, much less carry Time Warner. In the end, however, the true success of the AOL Time Warner merger will be won or lost, on the company’s ability to leverage its promising collection of cable networks into something more than just a way to see the latest episode of miniseries. That will only be done by bringing AOL’s online expertise into alignment with Time Warner’s stable of media properties, and adding a broad vision of the next chapter of the Internet. This means being the first to create an invisible high-speed grid to deliver interactive services and entertainment to consumers without muss or fuss †¦ anywhere, anytime, over any device. If AOL Time Warner can do that, the company may be able to create the most ironclad and lucrative relationship with the consumers of the future. â€Å"

Comparative Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Comparative Politics - Essay Example But knowing the research involved in Comparative Politics, undoubtedly Empirical Approach is not only the most suitable, but also absolutely necessary. Comparative politics is considered to be an area of intense and continuous research, trying to keep up with the world politics, understanding intricacies of international relationships and foreign policies and diplomacies either leading to events or resulting from them. "The study of comparative politics, like the study of the other sciences, has had a logic of its own, a developmental pattern that combined specific questions about the various nations and peoples in the world, specific data, and specific problems, all within a learning process that has taken a specific direction and reached a working synthesis of its own past," Lane (1997, p.2). It is important as it is also the study of different cultures, ideologies, nations and diverse thinking processes. This is different from political correctness and it does not expect all administrations and policies of all countries to be uniform. Actually it celebrates the diversity, accepts peculiarities and the unknown and hence, more natural and less overbearing. It does not revel in terms like barbarians or foreigners. It involves comparing countries, their problems, economic development and democracy, monarchies, military and autocratic rules, violent political dissent and social revolutions, pure and hybrid regimes, predicting the democracies, non-violent political dissents and transitions to democracy, performances of such democracies, design of institutions, new challenges, and in the end, there is a process to compare the comparisons. It also involves in a linear relationship between economic development and democracies, explanations to democratic institutional performances, positive and negative relationships between ideologies and their institutions. Hard facts concerning history, economics, sociology and politics are found through empirism. It emphasizes the collection of empirical data and the rigorous testing of theoretical proposition against this data. "Empiricism: models or theory were non-existent in traditional comparative politics, at least at the level of intention and recognition. Concepts were often employed with little methodological discussion as to their definition and measurement," Bill and Hardgrave in Lane and Ersson (1994, p.2). As unanimity cannot be established in world governments, the interests and attitudes of influential groups that are running the administration in various countries have to be studied under 'Comparative Government' and for this process, there is no replacement of empirical approach. In studies concerning politics, empirical method provides all answers and offers insights to understand diversity. Aristotle, in his days, being disturbed by the infighting and instability of States around him, causing havoc, had studied those governments empirically, by classifying them into three groups and then, by subdividing them into further five groups, according to their wellbeing and wealth, legitimacy, monarchy and tyranny. This is exactly what the present day political scientist does by way of analysing through empirical methods, collecting data, enhancing or condensing the collected evidences and classifying them under various groups, according to their ideologies, forms, institutions, politica l religions, cultures, agendas and national

Design thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Design thinking - Essay Example Just like problem solving, design is a ubiquitous and natural human activity. The beginning of the design process is where dissatisfaction and needs with the current state summed with determination that an action must be taken to solve a particular problem. Scientist from the scattered parts of the world acts as designers in their careers not knowing that they are participating in the design process (Frisendal, 2012). Design thinking has also gained attention in the setting of business. The reason behind the increased attention is that the design of services and products is a great component of business competitiveness. Most well known companies have indeed committed themselves to being design leaders. Though design thinking has recently become an important part of engineering fields, design, and business, it can bring positive effects to the 21st century education across many disciplines. The positive impacts can be since it involves creative thinking in delivering solutions to problems (Menges, 2011). In academic environments students are expected to read critically, think and reason in a logic manner and solve problems that are complex. Therefore, to help students succeed in the digital, interconnected world, educators should provide pupils with systems thinking, design thinking, and teamwork skills. In doing so, it will help them nature their skills of problem solving and prepare them for higher education and career (Ingle 2013). In many fields, knowledge is accumulated and generated through action. Thus, knowledge is utilized to produce work, and work is evaluated to produce knowledge. People who are creative usually work in two different ways. They can work as makers or finders. Finders show their creativity through discovery while makers, though are equally creative they are driven to synthesize what they are aware of in concepts, compositions, constructions, arrangements and patterns.