Police Ethics and Deviance Assignment

Running head: POLICE ETHICS AND DEVIANCE ASSIGNMENT Police Ethics and Deviance Assignment Axia College Police Ethics and Deviance Assignment Police officers live by a specific code of ethics that helps them to their chosen profession in the noblest means possible. The problem is that officers are human and as humans, they sometimes give in to temptation and bad judgment while trying to fulfill the completion of those duties. A few of the deviant behaviors that officers succumb to are corruption, misconduct, and brutality. Some officers will partake in the items previously listed in the name of doing the â€Å"right thing†. This has been given the name â€Å"The Dirty Harry† syndrome, after the movie of the same name (Dempsey & Frost, 2005). Regardless of the goodwill behind it, any abnormal behavior by a person sworn to uphold the law cannot and will not be tolerated. Ethics can be described as what one does that is considered right and wrong to society and people. Ethics helps one make decisions and behave in specific ways that will not bring shame and disgrace to one’s self. A police officer’s code of ethics has to be higher than the people they are protecting and serving. T. O’Connor (2005) cites the following Law Enforcement Code of Ethics: |The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics | |As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the | |innocent against deception; the weak against oppression or intimidation; and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to| |respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality, and justice. |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or | |ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in my thought and deed in both | |personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever| |I see or hear of a confidential nature or that i s confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless | |revelation is necessary in the performance of my duties. |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities, or friendships to influence my | |decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and | |appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill-will, never employing unnecessary force or violence, and never accepting | |gratuities. | |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I| |am true to the ethics of police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself | |before God to my chosen profession — law enforcement. (para. 12) | As one can see, it is very specific about the treatment of others and how an officer is expected to act while working in the public trust (O’Connor, 2006). This code ethics provides an outline for the officers and takes away any gray areas that may cause some confusion and wrong choices by the officers. One of the first items of the code deals with an officer’s duty to protect and not deceive. Unfortunately, some officers do not apply this part to their working lives or they choose to forget it. This will lead an officer to the darker side of police work such as, corruption and misconduct by the officer. In Los Angeles, for example, corruption presents itself in many forms, such as financial kick-backs, drug-dealing, obstruction of justice, and theft (Staff, 2009). These acts will degrade an officer’s identity and create an air of mistrust amongst those they are supposed to help. Not to mention, they are against the law the police officers have sworn to uphold. This will lead to the officers answering for their actions and being reviewed by other officers, whose duty is to weed out the corrupt officers. Even lesser types of corruption, like taking gratuities and â€Å"cooping†, will compromise an officer’s integrity and effect how they do their job. By taking gifts they will show favoritism to those individuals giving them the gifts. Cooping is the term for when officers rest, sleep or just are negligent in doing their job. That is why it is very important that officer’s followed the code of ethics and remain above the public in everything they do. Misconduct is also something that an officer can do that will tarnish the whole department. Misconduct is what an officer does when they break departmental rules and regulations that guide police behavior. This is not a misuse of authority, but of how an officer acts in regard to the force. This type of deviant behavior shows the police force in a bad light and paints a negative picture of the police and what they do. Some of the types of misconduct are using police property for personal use, unsafe use of police property, failure to write reports, and improper searching of suspects. This is only a small collection of the many types of misconduct, but all are damaging to the character of the officer (Stevens, 2005). Police brutality is probably one of the most egregious of all the deviant behaviors that has been listed previously. It is the use of excessive force against suspects, civilians, and offenders (Dempsey & Frost, 2005, p. 308). This type of deviant behavior has been present since the inception of police work. These acts of aggression are direct infringements of constitutional rights against people who officers are supposed to protect and help. The needed trust in the police officer by the public is broken and is difficult to try to repair. Even if citizen oversight committees are formed and officers are punished for their actions, public trust usually is not restored. Police brutality usually goes hand-in-hand with perjury by the officer committing the brutality. An officer is more likely to lie under oath instead of risking punishment from the court and their department (O’Connor, 2005) Thankfully, most police officers follow the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. Only a small fraction of â€Å"rogue† officers use the influence of the position to gain power and monetary gain. What needs to be done is to have more honest officers stand up and police their own. Only then will society be able to purge this nefarious aspect from its policing expectations and create a culture free from deceit and wrongdoings by those charged with protecting others. References Dempsey, J. S. , & Frost, L. S. (2005). Police and the law. In (Ed. ), An introduction to policing (pp. 250-290). Retrieved from Axia CJS 210. O’Connor, T. (2006). Topics in police ethics. Manuscript submitted for publication. Retrieved February 19, 2010, from http://www. apsu. edu/oconnort/3300/3300lect04. htm O’Connor, T. R. (2005). Police deviance and ethics. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from http://policecrimes. com/police_deviance. html Staff (2009, July). In the news: police corruption. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles. latimes. com/keyword/police-corruption Stevens, M. (2005). Police deviance and ethics (Masters Thesis, California State University – Fresno, 2005). Retrieved from http://faculty. ncwc. edu/mstevens/205/205lect11. htm

Experiencing the Schizophrenia of Christianity Essay

â€Å"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion,† asserts Albert Einstein. â€Å"It should transcend a personal god and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism. † While other physicists and mathematicians love Lao Tzu’s Taoism, most Chinese embrace both and add Confucianism. For thousands of years, these have been the three philosophies of China. While Judaism, Islam and Christianity also made its way to China, these religions did not bear as much fruit because of their schizophrenic nature. Unfortunately, many in the West still suffer from â€Å"split minds† due to Christian indoctrination. There are many factual stories in the news today about the Christian crisis, but fiction writers also have their own adaptations or interpretations of these stories. For instance, in the short story Sixty-five Million Years, Father Hennessey portrays the schizophrenia of Christian clergymen and Christianity in general. Father Hennessey is the main character or protagonist of the story. He â€Å"found himself lured into a kind of salacious appetite for some of the things he was privy to; there were sins his parishioners confessed that seemed nearly attractive to him, not as temptations, but as something close to entertainment, amusement. † He became obsessed with the sexual confessions of Mr. Graham, â€Å"the most popular teacher in the local high school, who taught math along with science. † Graham is also â€Å"kindly, softhearted, resourceful, passionate about his work, a dedicated and devoted educator. † But he is childless with his wife of 25 years, a woman who is â€Å"several years older† than him. After a 15-year old girl, a remedial math student, came to see him regularly, he started to experience sleepless nights with â€Å"sexual tension. † He keeps seeing himself â€Å"reach for her. † She waits for him â€Å"to tell her the answer to a problem,† but he â€Å"can’t do it because† he has â€Å"to use all† his â€Å"mental resources to keep from grabbing her and trying to kiss her and begging her to let† him â€Å"have her. † Father Hennessey finds Graham’s mental anguish â€Å"entertaining,† and Hennessey, in the beginning, always looks forward to Confessionals with Graham. He â€Å"was guiltily aware that this was because of the strange absorption that had taken hold of him concerning the details of the story. † There came a point that it preoccupied his mind so much that he couldn’t administer mass properly anymore. He also couldn’t listen attentively to other confessions since Graham’s story always distracted his mind. There is also a 15-year old boy who regularly confesses to Hennessey. He has â€Å"close-cut blond hair† with a â€Å"crooked nose† and â€Å"a round head. † He also suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, spending much time in bed, reading books, as a result of his condition. His condition also resulted in fingers that â€Å"were knotted and curved slightly with the arthritis,† but they were â€Å"beautiful†¦in their strange variance from the hands one expected a fifteen-year-old boy to have. † Hennessey finds out much later that he is the twin brother of Graham’s obsession. Their mother is mentally ill and has been confined in the hospital since their father left them. The twin siblings have been living by themselves at home without any supervision. The young boy’s mentally-ill mother keeps asking the boy numerous doubting questions about God, so he goes to Father Hennessey for the answers. But he fails to answer them. â€Å"Father,† the boy asks during a confessional with Hennessey, â€Å"the dinosaurs lived here for millions of years. We’ve only been here for a little fraction of a second in terms of evolution. What was God thinking? † The boy explains that the Bible is ignorant of dinosaurs. â€Å"Saint Peter didn’t know about the dinosaurs, Father,† he says. But Hennessey doesn’t take him too seriously. He feels that â€Å"the boy might be less than sincere, and that this was all at his expense. † But the young boy is persistent. He visits Hennessey regularly at his confession booth; Hennessey not knowing that he is the twin-brother of Graham’s obsession. The boy even calls up Hennessey’s housekeeper to ask about the priest’s character or behavior, which the boy seriously doubts. Unfortunately, Father Hennessey fails to help Graham and the young boy. Instead of healing the mental illness or perversion of Graham, he makes it worse. Instead of answering the questions of the boy correctly, he gives a stock answer—faith. â€Å"There is no perfect answer, son,† Hennessey says, â€Å"except faith. † He considers them as forms of entertainment like watching interactive television. Hence, he makes both of their lives worse. Graham becomes perverted with his student, committing adultery with her multiple times, even on campus, where they are caught in the gymnasium equipment cabinet, and he is terminated from work. He also ends up in jail for contributing to juvenile delinquency and loses his career. The young boy couldn’t help his mother who is mentally ill, and in turn, the mother couldn’t help her daughter, who ends up with a sexual relationship with Graham. Father Hennessey had internal conflicts that split his mind or made him somewhat schizophrenic. Consequently, he also failed himself. One night, he was very troubled, and â€Å"What disturbed him most that night was that he had gone through everything in these last few weeks only in terms of himself. † He also â€Å"began to wonder if he were not becoming unhinged. † These problems are actually consequences or reflections of much more serious problems in the Catholic Church. Sometimes, it isn’t Graham or the young boy who develop such problems; it is the priest himself who develops sexual relationships with parishioners. Sometimes they rape them or molest them, as the thousands of cases broadcasted in recent television news reports. That’s why many Americans are now turning to Asian philosophies such as Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism which are in harmony with science and psychology, unlike Christianity which is in conflict with science. â€Å"For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory,† asserts Niels Bohr, a Nobel-prize physicist acclaimed for the Bohr model of the atom and his contributions to Quantum Mechanics, â€Å"†¦(we should study) those kinds of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence. † This is the answer that both the boy and Graham were seeking from Father Hennessey. The elementary questions that the boy asked can all be answered by the three philosophies of China easily. The boy wanted to reconcile science with religion. He needed answers to scientific questions that contradicted the Bible or showed its ignorance. Graham would have had a clear answer from a Buddhist too. Although he visited Hennessey to confess his sexual perversions, he was really seeking a solution to his illness or his obsessive compulsions. He wanted to heal it or get rid of it, along with the suffering that he was experiencing. Buddha’s First Noble Truth asserts that life is dukkha—impermanent, uncomfortable, sometimes even painful and deadly, like riding a wooden cart with uneven wheels or hearing a screeching uneven potter’s wheel turn. Lao Tzu explains that the bumpy cycles of life, moving up and down, are the result of natural forces in the universe, which are now understood partly by physicists as gravity, space and time. It creates polarities in everything—male-female, good-bad, day-night, up-down, mania-depression, life-death, white-black, desire-aversion, happiness-sadness, economic boom-busts and so forth—with infinite degrees in magnitude, along with multiple combinations in proportions. The Chinese call this Yang and Yin, respectively. The Second Noble Truth then asserts that dukkha or the impermanent cycle of suffering is caused by the physical existence of Yin and Yang, such as Graham’s aversion and desire, as stated in Rodney St. Michael’s book Sync My World. Consequently, the Third Noble Truth then says that to manage dukkha, one must â€Å"extinguish† the polarities of Yin and Yang, or in Graham’s case, aversion and desire. Finally, the Fourth Noble Truth asserts that to â€Å"extinguish† these polarities, one must follow the Middle Way or the Eightfold Noble Path. To make a long story short, one of the eight guidelines in this path is meditation. Desire and aversion, for example, are caused by imbalanced hormones and neurotransmitters. By practicing breath meditation daily, Graham could biologically alter his brain chemistry to neutralize the imbalance in his system. There are also many other suggestions that a Buddhist could give to Graham, such as what to think when desires start burning him. Buddhists would also explain to him the concept of karma, or the principle of cause and effect, which explains all the possible consequences of ignoring his problem. As for the young teenager, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, explains that the â€Å"force,† acting as God or nature, creates everything in polarities such that some are monstrous dinosaurs and some are cute lambs. Some are carnivores and some are herbivores. Everything lives and dies and goes around in a cycle. People should never expect anything to last, whether it be marriage (which normally only lasts 10 years), jobs, prosperity, happiness or anything good. Incorrect expectations cause mental anguish, but managed expectations produce relative stability. One must realize also that the darkest period of night is the time just before sunrise, so any bad situation will eventually turn good, even if death itself has to trigger it. In the end, while Hennessey failed, his experience changed him: â€Å"He stood in the shadow of the church, and looked up. It was a building; he had a moment of being frightfully aware of it as mere stone, the work of human hands, stone and brick and mortar and wood. † He became aware or enlightened of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is mortal. It is not the divine house of God. He is not a divine worker. There is nothing supernatural in what he is doing. He’s just human. The doubt of the boy made him doubt himself and the Church. But now he has the chance to change everything. And slowly but surely, America is also realizing that they now have a chance to do the same. Works Cited Bausch, Richard, â€Å"Sixty-five Million Years. † NarrativeMagazine. com. St. Michael, Rodney. (Including citations from Einstein and Bohr). Sync My World: Thief’s Honor GA SK. Raleigh: Lulu, 2009.

Pablo picasso and marcel duchamp

Pablo Picasso & Marcel Decamp Pablo Picasso is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He was born in Spain but worked mainly in France, where he became the most well-known artist of his time. Picasso massive output of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and ceramics was inspired by many different sources. In the early sass, Picasso developed a movement that signified him, it was known as â€Å"cubism†. This movement marked the beginning of modernism. Marcel Decamp has been known for his rebellious ideas and actions in the 20th century.He was born in France but moved to the USA, and became a US citizen in 1955. His works were known as â€Å"Ready-made†. Duchess's ready-made changed what art meant. He bought elements that would never have been regarded as art. Some people saw it as less art and more â€Å"putting together†. This movement was called â€Å"Dadaism†. This essay will discuss two artworks; â€Å"The Weeping Woman† â⠂¬â€œ by Pablo Picasso, and, â€Å"The Shovel† – by Marcel Decamp. â€Å"The Weeping Woman† is a famous work by Pablo Picasso and holds a lot of meaning.Picasso painted this work in 1937 after a town of Querying was bombed. The artwork holds a lot of symbolic meaning and was inspired by the events of that point in time – the Spanish Civil War. The artwork focuses on the main victims of the attack – the women. The artwork is full of emotions and grief which is expressed through the use of thick lines and different colors. The work is basically the face of a crying woman. The woman was said to be Dora Mar, whom Picasso described as â€Å"always weeping†. She was his close agent when he was most involved with politics.The focus of the structure is the rough area of hard blue and white forms around the out and teeth, clamped violently on a handkerchief; the flesh seems to have been peeled away by acidic tears to reveal hard white bone and the ha ndkerchief she stuffs in her mouth is like a shard of glass. Her eyes are expressed as black holes. As the eye travels up the artwork, we can see that the eyes and forehead are also broken and disordered, and the woman appears literally ‘broken up' with grief. The roughness of the forms is backed-up by the roughness of the colors.The face, neck and hand are painted in an acid, inconsistent yellow and violet and green. These colors may represent decay and decomposition. The yellow and violet however, are opposite colors, as are the blue and orange-red of the woman's hat. Furthermore, the background is painted in strong yellows, contrasting with the blues of the hat and the blues and violets of the hair. The inconsistent color scheme intensifies the impact of the painting. The Weeping Woman is a study of how much pain can be communicated by a human face.The artwork translates the human emotions by paint. Picasso intention was for the viewers to feel the pain when viewing the pai nting. Marcel Duchess's artwork, the shovel, is very different compared to Picasso work. At first sight, it could easily be misinterpreted into being an everyday object kept in almost all homes. A person would not know it as art and would be confused to see it in an art gallery or museum. â€Å"Shovel† was the first Redeemed to be made by Decamp in 1915, after his move to the United States.The Shovel may seem important and artistic to Marcel because no such object existed in France (from where he came). This shows that the shovel was nothing extraordinary to the citizens of the US, who would later be the viewers of the artwork, but something unfamiliar to he artist, therefore, an element of art in his sense. The original shovel was bought from a corner store from where Marcel lived. However, after his move, it was thrown away by his sister. Marcel replicated it and along its lower rim, he wrote the phrase: â€Å"In Advance of the Broken Arm/ (from) Marcel Decamp 1915†. It is stated that the â€Å"from† in the phrase conveys that the object came from the artist, but was not made by him. According to the artist, the phrase written on the shovel is the main color to the artwork. It's a play on words. The phrase refers playfully to the function f a snow shovel which is to remove snow from the ground. Duchess's title shows that without the shovel to remove the snow, one might slip and fall and even break an arm. Marcel Duchess's artworks show that there is no difference between an artwork and an everyday object.The shovel could easily be mistaken for a simple shovel if it were not suspended from the ceiling in a museum. Therefore, the location and position of the artwork stands as a critical part of the piece. Pablo Picasso Weeping Woman can be looked at under the subjective frame as it is basically all bout human emotions and feelings. The main subject of the artwork is the broken face of the woman. By looking at the artwork, one can feel the p ain and sorrow that the subject would have been going through.The work can also be placed under the structural frame as the face is made up of geometric shapes and the colors and their tones play a vital role in conveying the message. The cultural frame can also be a part of the work as it is stated that the Mater Dolorous, the weeping Virgin, is a traditional image in Spanish art, often represented in colorful, elaborate sculptures tit glass tears, Just like in the Weeping Woman. As for the Shovel by Marcel Decamp, it can be categorized under the cultural frame as many scholars have seen sexual suggestions in this Redeemed.Some note that the Shovel â€Å"is an obvious phallic symbol† Another once mentioned that the Sanskrit word for shovel is â€Å"langue,† which is almost equal to the term for phallus (â€Å"langue†). In Status-Asiatic languages the same word meaner both â€Å"phallus† and â€Å"shovel. In conclusion, by examining both artists and thei r artworks, we can see that they are form the same mime period, but hold two opposite views to art. The two artists' distinct differences represent a central logical and visual opening in the history and development of modern art.While Picasso viewed modern art as a visual experiment, Decamp came to believe that art was about ideas and attitudes. Picasso artwork was a traditional artwork of that time whereas Marcella was more about shifting the views engagement of the works of art from pleasing to the eye to the service of the mind, challenging the traditional notion that beauty is a defining characteristic of art. According to Marcel, wings become art by putting them in places where one expects to find art.Where Picasso expresses his feelings through colors and lines, Marcel expresses it through words and phrases. Where Picasso makes his artwork, Marcel â€Å"buys† them and plays around with them. Picasso works are made on a canvas and the painting is the crucial part howeve r, with Marcella artwork, only the placement and position of the artwork is crucial and defines it as a work of art. The Shovel is hung from a ceiling in a museum where The Weeping Woman is simply hung on the wall. In the end, both are known as artworks today and are admired.

Seminar in criminology -classmate response 11 Essay

Seminar in criminology -classmate response 11 - Essay Example Secondly, the other aspect of prison life is that psychotic breaks are common among some inmates. In the documentary, an inmate such as the Armando Doctor masturbates in public and cuts himself regularly which in my view seem like signs of psychosis (HD Documentary, 2014). Hence, this shows that prison is a place that has a high chance of impairing the cognitive function of a man who is mentally stable. Rodriguez has made a perfect comparison between the study and the events occurring in the documentary. By citing inmates such a Doc, Merchant and Mr. Jack, as examples in her discussion, Rodriguez makes it easier for readers and viewers to make the connection between the study and the documentary. Lastly, I noted that Rodriguez also used different sources to reference her work. Though there are no in-text references, she makes it easier to gain access to the study and the film, for any person who might read her discussion for the first time. She has also made it easier for her readers who might be future law enforcement officers, politicians or lawyers to realize that having high rates of incarceration are not helpful for those who are repeat offenders. Sykes, G. (2014). Inmate subcultures. In J. Wooldredge & A. Thistlethwaite (Eds.), Forty Studies that Changed Criminal Justice: Explorations into the History of Criminal Justice Research. Boston, MA: Little, Brown &

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Business - Essay Example In the context of the above statement, the firm’s operational activities have been aligned, as possible, with the principles of the Global Compact (U.N. Global Compact, The Ten Principles). Particular emphasis has been given on the 8th and 9th principles of the Global Compact, i.e. the development of initiatives to promote environmental responsibility, 8th principle, and the encouragement of the development of technologies that are environmentally friendly, 9th principle (U.N. Global Compact, The Ten Principles). ... ing units that use CO2 as a refrigerant’ (PepsiCo, Climate Change) and b2) the firm has promoted green building in all its facilities internationally (PepsiCo, Climate Change). 1. Lessons Learnt The application of the above practices has helped towards the promotion of the 8th and 9th principles of the Global Compact. An indication of the success of the firm’s efforts in the specific field is the following fact: in 2009 the firm was given a series of awards from ‘the U.S. Green Building Council’ (PepsiCo, Climate Change) for its facilities – built in accordance with the green building standards, as set by the above Council. On the other hand, the use of rocks in India for advertising reasons, an initiative, which set the local ecosystem in risk, proved that not all the firm’s practices are aligned with sustainability (The Peninsula 2002). However, the firm’s major competitor, Coke, which also used a similar practice, has also failed in fully aligning its practices with the principles of sustainability (The Peninsula 2002). It should be noted though that the practices of Coke in the area of sustainability, have resulted to important environmental benefits: for example, in 2009 the carbon footprint of the firm was reduced at 11.5% compared to 2007; also, the promotion of green building policies in the firm’s facilities worldwide (Environmental Leader 2010). 2. Recommendations The firm’s current policies in regard to sustainability (referring especially to the promotion of the 8th and 9th principles of the Global Compact) would be further improved through the following practices: a) development of sustainable-related programmes which will be supported by the locals (Ritchie 2000, 51) ; reference is made to community-based sustainable initiatives

Loan Officer Compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Loan Officer Compensation - Essay Example The republicans were in the opposition sector of the bill; in 2010 mid elections the republicans took control of the House. They were the ones who initiated the drive to end the bill, but unfortunately their efforts were gone wasted when most of the republicans joined the other side of the argument in May 2010, this happened when the senate passed a broadly similar bill. Four republicans changed their sides by supporting the new bill passed by the senate; only two republicans were left in the opposition side; however they could not generate enough influence to repeal the bill (New York Times) Loan Officer Compensation rule has been one of the hottest topics of debate in the real estate industry for several months. The changes were mainly designed to be in the favor of the consumer rather than the banks or financial institutions. The main opposition body of this rule consisted of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) and the National Association of Independent Housing Pr ofessionals (NAIHP), they first filled a stay order that was initially denied by the courts, later they their appeal helped them in granting an emergency stay but eventually it was also dissolved by the courts. The main reason why the courts rejected their appeal was the fact that they were unable to provide the courts with the appeal that was up to the standards of the courts to grant a stay order (Kraus) The new rule for the Loan Officer Compensation took effect on 1st April 2011, this rule was an amendment to the original (Reg Z). The rule was intended to limit the originators or the brokers from increasing their compensation at an expense of a disadvantage of the borrower, the primary aim was to incorporate consistency in the compensations paid to the brokers, previously the compensations were not found to be consistent between the transactions, they were dependent upon the broker’s ability to negotiate terms between the borrower and the lender, which at times resulted in a situation that was deemed to be in the favor of the broker and the lender, but not the borrower. The main reason behind the fact is that the borrowers are not always aware of the culture and customs of the borrowing industry, which left them with an obvious disadvantage. There were several problems that were highlighted by the critics of the industry that were present in the changes made by passing the new rule. The very first problem that was highlighted was the fact that the new rule would dramatically decrease the competition in the mortgage industry. It is analyzed as a change that was more favorable for the larger banks rather than the smaller banks of the industry; this was taken as a discrimination factor by the industry. An improvement factor for the whole economy is the one that will promote smaller businesses to flourish in their activities and increase their scale. The second issue that was raised by the group was a prediction that the change will bring about an increa se in the borrowing rate for the consumer in the long run as result from the decreased competition One of the biggest changes that were brought about by the new rule was the fact that the originators compensation is limited to one source only. Before the new rule took effect,

Question about the History of Islam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Question about the History of Islam - Assignment Example Unlike the men who dress in any type of cloth, the women must always cover themselves in lengthy hijabs complete with a veil that covers both their faces and hair (Ruggles 77). The unique attire portrays the society’s archaic treatment of women who must always behave differently when in public space and when in their private spaces. The history of Islam and early Islamic society shows a unique position and roles of women, especially in marriages. At such times, marriages were alliances. The men, therefore, married their female children to specific families with the view of creating relations and alliances with the appropriate families. Prophet Mohammad had thirteen wives a feature that portrays his belief and resects of women. The men in Islamic societies believed that a man could take care of as many women as they wished. As such, the polygamous society encouraged men to marry as many women as they wished. This portrays a situation where women did not influence the structure of their families since just as stated earlier, men served as guardians to the women. Furthermore, all of Muhammad’s marriages had political connotations. They served as alliances that influenced his position in the society and in the faith. According to the Sharia laws, virginity was a phenomenal issue in the society since it represented honor to both the girl’s family and society (Haylamaz and Hülya 121). As such, families raised their female children strictly with the view to guarding their virginity. Another equally important feature of Muhammad’s polygamous marriages was the fact that she married widows as well. A number of his wives were widows. Such was a strategic undertaking that sought to influence the position of widows in a society that valued virginity of women.  

The importance of bees Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The importance of bees - Research Paper Example Female bees have a stinger where venom s stored. In the collection of pollen and nectar, bees pollinate plant flowers. The research project seeks to find out the importance of bees to plants and the ecosystem at large. A discussion on how Human activities positively or negatively affect the life and functions of bees in the botanical world is of concern in this project. It will also highlight the significance of plants in the ecosystem and the need of bees in diversity of plants. The importance of plants in the ecosystem In any ecosystem, the sun is the main source of energy. Plant community forms the largest component of the ecosystem. They trap the energy from the sun using their chlorophyll and make their own food through photosynthesis. In addition, they constitute the primary producers of the ecosystem and pass the energy to primary consumers that feed on them. The energy continues to flow to secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and then the quaternary consumers. It is clear that directly or indirectly plants provide food to all organisms in the ecosystem including humans. They also provide shelter to a number of organisms in the ecosystem (Jorgensen, 2009). Flowering plants dominate the plant community and have flowers (the reproductive organ) as the distinguishing feature. Sexual reproduction in flowering plants involves the formation of gametes and the transfer of the male gamete to the female gamete. This transfer of male gametes or pollen grains (pollination) is by animals or wind. The survival of most flowering plant to another generation depends on the formation seeds from fertilization. The agents of pollination determine the propagation of a variety of plant species (Bailey, 2009). Bees as agents of pollination: research on horticultural plantations Flower pollinators are several. They include bees, birds, bat, other insects, and wind. However, bees play the most important and effective role in pollination. Honeybees are advantageous as pollina tors compared to other types of bees especially in crop production. They collect pollen and nectar from a vast area where plants are growing until the supply is exhausted. Their consistence makes them reliable pollinators unlike other bees and insects that just visit flowers occasionally. They move out in larger numbers making every flower occupied. Honeybees are adapted for pollination in various ways. Possession of certain structures on the hind appendages, allow them to carry pollen. As they move from one flower to another, the pollen falls on the stigmas of the flowers. Their forked body hairs enable them to pick pollen and carry it around while their antennae cleaner enable them to clean the antennae. During this cleaning, pollen grains fall on the stigmas of flowers. According to research, these bees have a way of communicating to other bees (Bailey, 2009). They transmit information about flowering crops to other bees thus making pollination effective and fast. Pollination is not important to some plants such as oranges and grapes. They reproduce without fertilization (parthenocarpy). Only few plants reproduce by these means and all the other fruit plants require fertilization. A few plants are wind and self-pollinated while the others need an animal pollinator. Self-pollinations is rare because plant posses structural mechanism to get rid of it (Lovett, 2011). Experiments on

Evaluating Adtopia (Advertising and Utopia) Essay

Evaluating Adtopia (Advertising and Utopia) - Essay Example Hummer: A High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) with supreme off road ability, and a major league attention getter. You can go from being an outcast to a winner with this non-environmental friendly vehicle. This ad attempts to describe a driver's utopia, an advertising promise. When in reality, the Hummer as many other vehicles, pollute the environment, destroy the landscape and may be responsible for injury or death. Could the Hummer in many ways be a secret war on humanity This ad gives the idea that the Hummer is the ultimate off road warrior. However, it drives poorly on the street, and there is no room for such a big vehicle with low power at such a high price. It needs are roads with dirt or mud, preferably with rain or snow. If you live on a farm, a ranch or in the desert, it is one unstoppable and indestructible vehicle but if you live in the city where most of us live, the Hummer is only useful for getting you around the city. The utopia in this ad does identify with the fantasy, idealization and an image of impossible perfection. However, it is evidence that the Hummer is another utopia that has gone sour. Budweiser: Because Budweiser, the nation's most widely consumer alcohol beverage has lost ground recently to liquor and wine, the brewing company seeks a more stylish image for its beer. These ads display new and unusual packing, and are placed in bars and restaurant to create a sense of utopia which Sam Adam as managed to successfully convey. As you mentioned, everyone in the ad is having a great time in such happy togetherness. Negatives of alcoholism, fighting, hangovers and discrimination are absent. The ads do exclude the unattractive, elderly and obese and only contain those who are attractive. But hoping to make its existing products seem more distinctive and without changing the content of the ads, Budweiser new ads are chic and the colorful aluminum bottles give the product a funky post-modern look. The ads give the product a hip, retro-chic appearance. How impressive Though alcohol is harmful to health, through advertising, the brewer has achieved utopia with its more sophisticated, upscale image. Red Lobster: Great service, good seafood where a family can share a plate of crab legs and discuss the topic of the day. Girlfriends can meet to gossip while dipping lobster tails in butter and keeping track of who is doing what. Without the use of people in their commercials, Red Lobster's ads make this connection possible. You are absolutely correct in your observation: endless quantity, no consequences for eating, no people in the commercial, and the relationship with food is significant. But these ads show an extraordinary sense of utopia. In my experience at Red Lobster, the food was delicious and this ad was excellent in delivering my experience. The commercial revealed clues as to where quality and quantity reside. It was a remembered utopian experience. Walt Disney: Welcome to happiest place on earth: Walt Disney World. The television commercials all advertise the utopia that Walt Disney has managed to build. Such ads boast the perfect week, fun for the whole family, not just the kids. These ads typically show a family of four-mother, father, and children-laughing, smiling, and enjoying their time at Walt

Where next for Grant Garden Centres Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Where next for Grant Garden Centres - Essay Example The centre also had a single operating location, in the South East region of England. After taking over, Grant reinvested virtually all profits back into the company, opening two additional branches (Westgarth, 2012). He also renamed the garden centres to â€Å"Grant Garden Centres†. Grant’s passion for gardening makes him adhere strictly to the traditional form of garden centre management, where the head gardener makes all the relevant business decisions and the rest of staff follows. Grant also expects his children, Jane and Malcolm, to toe the line, without any compromise (Pepper, Jackson and Uzzell, 2009, pp. 126–136). The authoritarian management style is costing the business numerous opportunities. For instance, there is a high labour turnover, since workers are not given an opportunity to contribute. Additionally, the firm still uses conventional advertisement methods and it does not have up-to-date technology systems, making it lag behind competitors. To remedy the situation and set the business on a path towards development and profitability, radical changes must be made in the different business functions. External Environment Analysis Technology Technology is one of the principal factors to consider in running a contemporary business setting, failure to which a business is left behind by competitors (Patterson, 2011). This is one of the principal factors negating Grant Garden Centres’ proper performance, in a highly competitive environment. The Establishment lacks an up-to-date IT system, an aspect which hinders proper control of stock. The poor technological capacity also inhibits proper financial management. Development deterrence stems from the fact that, virtually all company operations have to be done manually for each centre, making financial evaluation and stock regulation a highly difficult task. Another technological aspect, affecting gardening centres, is utilization of social media and websites as advertisement platforms. This is barely applied in the case of Grant Garden Centres, thus dragging the establishment behind its rivals (Burke, 2009, p.72). Socio-cultural Aspects The other crucial external environment factor likely to affect the gardening business is the socio-cultural environment. This is because the Centres have to interact with customers, especially due to the services segment of operations. Evident from the business’ profile, Grant Garden does not take social aspects of society into consideration, while carrying out its operations. This is an aspect attributable to Grant’s perception that, customers solely care about the plants that the Centres supply. One of his children, Jane, is largely opposed to this notion and her principal interest is in developing an establishment that plays a significant role in the community, as well as, works with stakeholders to guarantee each partisan’s benefit. If the Company were to adopt Jane’s proposal of enhanced engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) then the Centres’ popularity among community members and other individuals would be propelled to great heights. For instance, Grant Garden Centres could formulate and execute educational programs that focus on increasing people’s awareness of gardening. Such programs would foster individuals’ interest in plants and landscaping concerns thus broadening the Company’s customer base and even appealing to the younger generation. Strengths and Weaknesses Marketing Just like everything else in the Company, marketing methods are dictated by Grant. It is Jane’s responsibility to focus on the stipulated marketing strategies, which principally entail advertisement in the

Management of Financial Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management of Financial Institutions - Essay Example Surely, the central bank is part of the financial institution. It is the British government's financial authority for it hands out periodic currency resources and also controls the supply of credit and holds the reserves of other banks while it sells new securities in behalf of the British government. The other financial institutions include, foundations, non-depository financial institutions, trust companies and others. Many companies use the financial institutions in their daily business transactions. Therefore, the companies being serviced by the financial institutions above can choose which financial institution to use. One of the criteria for choosing is the services that they offer. The following paragraphs discusses the factors affecting financial institution. The contextual environment is often approached covers many areas of business. These areas include technology, the economy, the nature of government, social attitudes and, of course, competitive forces all affect the climate in which business operates. For, the contextual environment sets the context for business to exist and it creates a climate of change with the five areas mentioned here. Technology. Technology. New technological developments in the financial institutions result in advanced production processes. Harvey Jones(2006) wrote that online banking had definitely changed from a minority sport into a mainstream race at astonishing speed. Almost every financial institution, from the biggest in terms of assets in the banking sector to the smallest local building society has brought business transactions between the purchasers and the sellers at split second speed. With the advent of the automatic teller machines, the time needed to transfer funds has been decreased. People will just carry the ATM plastic to withdraw money at midnight or during holidays Moreover, one out of every five British citizen have their banking transactions online through the internet starting in the year 2005. This was the finding of Lloyds TSB. The number of online bankers have dramatically increased until our current time period 2007. Present studies show that young customers between the ages of 45 to 54 years of age to do their jobs through the internet comfortably and safely. are increasingly comfortable managing their finances over the web. Forgotten, depositors and person withdrawing money from the banks would have get a number from bank personnel and wait until their number had been called before depositing or withdrawing their money. The advent of the automatic teller machines has allowed bank withdrawals even at midnight or the wee hours of the morning and on Sundays and holidays. On line banking services include payment of statement of accounts and other bills, getting the bank statement printout, money transfer to another person very far away and management of bank debits. Economy. general economic conditions and trends(Mcrae, 2007) must be taken into account when considering an organisation's activities. Mathew Scott(2003) stated Kevin Cohee, chairman and CEO of OneUnited Bank, looks at One Lincoln Street in Boston's financial district, he sees his vision for the future of black-owned

Information Age & its Impact on United States Essay Example for Free

Information Age its Impact on United States Essay number of propositions. It implies that there is more information now than ever before an indisputable claim. The concept also implies that more people spend more time producing and using more information than ever before another indisputable assertion. Beyond that, the Information Age also suggests that the role of information is more important in the economy than ever before, and that information is replacing some earlier fuel of the American economy (Duncan 1994). These days the primary problem for most organizations and their employees is not the shortage of data but being able to evaluate what is useful and what is not, where to find the good stuff, and then how to use it effectively (Computer Weekly 2005). During the past 25 years, the industry has changed from simple data processing techniques high profile information technology. The challenges of data quality, regulation, access and exploitation are rapidly increasing in urgency (Computer Weekly 2005). For any organization effective information management will make the difference between coping with a dreary burden or using information to gain clarity and build new opportunities. The extended theory founded on this core belief divides U. S. economic history into different eras, depending on the primary economic activity during the period (Duncan 1994). From colonial times until late in the 19th century, the American economy was agrarian. Then, roughly from the dawn of the 20th century through the end of the Second World War, it was preeminently a manufacturing economy. Industry especially heavy industry was the motor that drove the entire economic engine. After World War II, the American economy increasingly came to be dominated by its service sector. By the mid-1950s, more than one-half of all U. S. employment was devoted to providing services rather than to fabricating goods (Duncan 1994). The Pre-Information Age business office was supported by the hierarchical managerial system to keep track of employees and the work they produced (Dmytrenko 1992). Office equipment included information producing tools, such as typewriters and adding machines. Most of the equipment was simple, manual in operation, bulky, and noisy. Clerical staff primarily used this equipment, as they were the appointed information processors of the time. Early efforts to improve office efficiency used industrial engineering techniques, employing time and motion studies to standardize the work tasks of office support staff, and maximize the workflow through effective office design. Information management was categorized as an intensely manual recordkeeping process (Dmytrenko 1992). Filing systems (alpha and/or numeric), and cross-referenced indexes were the prevailing records management techniques employed, and to be on the safe side, offices maintained multiple copies of the same document for back-up purposes. These practices resulted in increasing demands for office space dedicated to files. One source of confusion is the fact that the movements from manufacturing to services, and then to information, were of a different character than in earlier transitions. In the first place, while the transition from an agricultural to a manufacturing-based economy was marked by a decline in the number of jobs in agriculture, there has been no such diminution in the number of manufacturing jobs after the shift to a service economy. Moreover, American manufacturing currently accounts for roughly the same percentage of U. S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as three decades ago (Duncan 1994). As a further complication, many argue that the services sector of the economy simply cannot be seen as a separate segment or an economic subsystem. These observers instead insist that it serves precisely the manufacturing sector it is supposed to have replaced and remains dependent even parasitic on manufacturing (Duncan 1994). Moreover, coming up with clear definitions and boundaries for the information industry is, on reflection, a highly complicated undertaking. The Pre-Information Age home was supported by very basic home appliances. These appliances were either on or off, and the home-user manually directed the status. Outside of some minor kitchen improvements, and the advent of television, the average person saw home advancements limited to seasonal color changes, such as avocado green stoves (Dmytrenko 1992). Ongoing changes prevailed in the automobile industry, but slowly. Overall the era was devoid of any electronic intelligence. Business and the home were very separate and different worlds. The predominant orientation was that working people went to work to work, and the home was a place not to work. The telephone was the only information technology common to both the office and home.

Mega Events And The Legacy It Leaves Behind Tourism Essay

Mega Events And The Legacy It Leaves Behind Tourism Essay City planners around the world get an opportunity for rapid urban development and regeneration at a large scale through mega-event planning. The Barcelona Olympics of 1991 saw a paramount shift in mega-event planning, where city planners focused on the legacy that the event leaves behind and its impact on the city. The sustainable urban development of the city of Barcelona catapulted it to one of the top cities of Europe in a matter of year. Following the success of the Barcelona Games, mega-event organizations such as the IOC, Commonwealth Federation, FIFA etc. began focusing on the legacy plan of bidding cities for determining winning bids for such mega-events. An understanding of the effects of various legacy plans and its implementation in bid-winning cities is essential in formulating guild lines for evaluating the success of the legacy plans. The City of Delhi derived much of its legacy plan from previous bid winners and developed its urban regeneration plan for the city. The intention of this dissertation is to investigate the legacy plan for urban regeneration intended for the city of Delhi through the Commonwealth Games as well as the legacy that the event left behind. A comparison can therefore, be made to determine the extent to which the urban regeneration plan was implemented and how successful it was. The Macmillan Dictionary defines: Legacy: something  such  as  a  tradition  or  problem  that  exists  as  a  result  of  something  that  happened  in  the  past. something  that  someone  has  achieved  that  continues  to  exists  after  they  stop   working  or  die. The mega-event is by its nature large scale, organized by the social elite in the host nation or city and projects secular values and principles through the creation of an official version of the city or nations history and contemporary identity. Performance mega-events are typified in the 20th century by the Olympics and represent a populist cultural expression of the achievements of the host city or nation (Roche, 2000). Reinvention of a Mega-event as catalyst of urban development became prominent towards the late 1970s. Reasons for this were the growing awareness of the pervasiveness of deindustrialization led city planners to take action to stimulate new sources of employment and also that urban regeneration by traditional production based approaches became implausible. This lead to alternate strategies that relied on service industries and consumption to supply growth.(R.Gold, M. Gold, 2007) Mega-events are used by city planners to fast forward the planning and execution process by overcoming problems of urbanism. The recent host cities of mega-events have used it to contain the social disruption arising from rapid urbanization and economic expansion. Host cities use these events to achieve specific local and national goals. The 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games represented an opportunity to redevelop the city using a mix of public and private sector funding that balanced the commercial and social aims. The Fantasy City model (aggressive commercialism and tourist orientation) of the Los Angeles Games were modified and the Barcelona approach emerged as an alternative to obtaining a post-Games regeneration legacy. Since 1992, Legacy has assumed a considerable significance to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as its evaluation process has incorporated environmental and other social dimensions and is now firmly focused upon non-sport related outcomes as a source of legi timation for hosting the Games. The Barcelona inspired modification of the commercial approach to hosting the Games was replicated by London with the 2012 bid creating a combination of public and private funding and partnerships to deliver the event and an ambitious social, cultural and economic legacy. (Poynter, 2009). The Government of India also gave a comprehensive legacy plan to the Commonwealth Federation in order to win the bid of the 2010 Commonwealth Games to Delhi, India over Hamilton, Canada. The study of previous Mega-events particularly the Olympics of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, their legacy plan and implementation, are key to understanding and analyzing the legacy plan for Delhi post the Commonwealth Games of 2010. The key findings of the Greater London Authority on previous editions of the Olympic Games of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 for assessing the Legacy of the London Olympics of 2012, are as follows: Economic Legacy Momentum In the economic sphere Legacy Momentum refers to the capacity of the city and regional economy to continue an upward growth path following the immediate post-Games downturn in economic activity. The capacity to achieve momentum relates to several factors. The Games must complement an already existing regeneration plan that involves new phases beyond the Olympic event. The knowledge-base derived from the preparation and staging of the event is not dispersed when the Games end but is utilized to promote further innovation with the city and region. 3. The negative consequences and omissions from the Olympic-related regeneration phase are addressed in subsequent urban development projects. Barcelona (1992) is the best example of a host city achieving Legacy Momentum. The Mega Event and the City Economy The impact of the Games on a city economy is both tangible and intangible. The intangible re-branding of a city may have subsequent tangible effects, especially through inward investment and the enhancement of entrepreneurial confidence and expertise (Barcelona 1992). The Games provides a significant catalyst for renewal; accelerating the completion of infrastructure projects (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 and more modestly Sydney 2000) but the host city population emerges with a balance sheet of positives and negatives from a process of regeneration that happens to it rather than is shaped by it. Social, Cultural and Lifestyle Olympic Philosophy: Regeneration The IOC commits to ensure that the host cities and their residents are left with the most positive legacy of venues, infrastructure, expertise and experience Urban Renewal All Cities pursue hard legacy gains: infrastructure, the reorientation of city spaces, improved amenity, new types of land use and economic activity. Barcelona is the acknowledged success story here. Planned-in legacy offsets white elephant syndrome in some cases The post-Games use of infrastructure is an important guide to the success of the Games, and in all cases legacy needs to be built into initial conception, design and delivery of Olympic facilities (buildings, but also IT, governance, city brand management, and post Games maintenance contracts). Barcelona Olympic village, Atlanta business tourism, Sydney and Australian tourism and Athens transport systems provide indicative evidence. The Green Legacy The first Green Games, and its Environmental Audit Legacy- Sydney was the first Games to be audited throughout by Greenpeace, who issued a detailed and fairly positive report. Any future Games environmental impact will be judged according to the Sydney benchmark, and therefore cooperation with NGOs (in information sharing, planning and execution as well as in establishing the principles for construction, raw materials procurement, etc) is vital. Sustainability and poverty reduction Environmental sensitivity and sustainable development together form the third pillar of Olympism, as is fully explained in the Olympic Agenda 21 document of 1999. Sustainable development means engaging with the whole worlds needs for clean air and water, and creating opportunities for personal and social development worldwide. Hard infrastructure and urban renewal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Housing, Olympic Village development (Cashman 2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport connectivity and enhancement greener, cleaner and more efficient (Cashman 2006; Essex and Chalkey 1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economic success (Preuss 2004; Cashman 2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sporting facilities permitting increased sports and other community activities/participation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The outward fabric of the city cleaning and greening à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Hotel and other tourist and leisure venues including night time Economy Definition of a Good Legacy While each of the past cities can be seen to have pursued many of these aims, typically each city can be shown to have emphasized in particular instances a narrower range of ambitions. It is the case that typically cities aim to integrate Olympic-based renewal alongside wider urban development agendas.( Preuss 2004). Notable differences in cities starting points Adapted from McKay and Plumb (2001) The Barcelona Games (1992) are often cited as a model for London. These Games represented the regeneration of an entire city of three million people, rather than a narrower geographical area within a larger city. It is also worth noting that the Barcelona Games were the most expensive of the recent Olympiads, as a consequence of the large-scale regeneration program. The Atlanta Games (1996) were not particularly focused on regeneration. Spending was confined largely to sporting facilities (no Olympic Village was built, for instance), and the private funding of the Games left a very limited legacy. The Sydney Games (2000) were less focused on regeneration than the London Olympics are: the Homebush area was regenerated by the Games, but the residential areas were in fact already wealthier than Sydney overall. Athens Some major regeneration projects (2004) included the Athens metro and road systems. Revivification of Athens as a world class tourist city and assertion of relationships with Europe were key aims. Other Legacies Typically, apart from sporting venues, there are four areas of development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transportation: road, rail, tram, air and various interconnections, as well as policy and planning on parking, pedestrianisation and modal shift. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications infrastructure primarily to service the worlds media, but in the future perhaps also developing Olympic area for WiFi and/or other connectivity for visitors à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Housing, especially the Olympic village urban realm and cultural infrastructure night time economy, Cultural activities as well as ecological and parkland projects. There is typically some initial disruption locally, and related concerns about the long and short term impact of such development on various costs, especially on the inflationary impact on rents and prices, not only in the short term period of the Games, when congested transport systems and the prospect of inflated restaurant prices can jar with local communities, but in the medium and longer term, where infrastructure investment, especially improved transport links (as well as reputational benefits for the city) can drive up property and rental prices either city wide or, as is more significant, in certain privileged areas. The Games are welcomed as a stimulus to and accelerator of such investment and developmental change in the city, however; transformations leading to gentrification and house price/rental inflation can rapidly produce divisions. As with any kind of regeneration project, the Games can contribute to an amplification of socioeconomic differences, producing new spatial distributions of wealth and well-being and gentrification effects which sometimes polarise local populations in regenerating areas. For instance, Barcelona is understood to be amongst the most successful cities in terms of legacy. As part of its successful development of its image and infrastructure towards becoming a key European hub and a renewed centre for global tourism and culture, the city has also seen (as a consequence) massive house price and rental inflation (131% between 1987-1992), and the emergence of a large population of wealthy international resident/visitors and property investors benefiting from long term infrastructure investments more directly than some local populations, whose access to housing and jobs may not have significantly improved. Legacy of Sports Infrastructure It is possible to identify a range of subsequent legacy uses for sports infrastructure. The afterlife of the venue is an inaccurate designation, since the short, 16 day Olympic phase (not including the test and training events that may proceed the Games proper) while determining many of the features and fabric of the structure, ideally ought not, exclusively and definitively pre- or pro- scribe subsequent usage. Preuss (2004) suggests four main follow up uses of Olympic facilities, to which we might add a further use, drawing on Cashmans (2006) account of the importance of memory and retrospection in informing the subsequent symbolic and soft legacies of the Games: Follow up usage of Olympic Infrastructure (Table below) Source : adapted from Preuss, 2004 and Cashman 2005 The Requirements There is no direct correlation between such increases and the wide variations in the cost of putting Games on, however; such variance is a function of decisions about how and which sporting and other infrastructure will and must be developed, revitalized or replaced in the particular host city. What the Cities Built: Outlining New and Existing Facilities Clearly hard legacy, as well as costs, are linked to the proportion of new construction undertaken for the Games. This work, extensive as it is, represents less investment than the large capital projects such as roads, rail links and land reclamation leading to fundamental legacy gains (as well as massive cost including cost overruns). However, it is the specifically Olympic buildings and in particular large stadiums that invite most speculation about future usage. The degree of new infrastructure development undertaken by different cites varies (Preuss 2004; Baim 2007; Essex and Chalkey 2003). In part this is a matter of culture, where specific sports and facilities (such as baseball in the UK) are not routinely apart of the host nations sporting habits. Existing development and intended investment planning largely shape this aspect of hard legacy. General Facilities Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens (Table below) Source : Adapted from Preuss (2004) As Carbonnell (2005) suggests, drawing primarily on the Barcelona experience, For any city, hosting the Olympic Games is both an honour and a challenge. Much of the infrastructure required is temporary in nature; it only serves a purpose for the duration of the Games themselves. Barcelona took a very clear-cut approach on this issue: the aim was to undertake ambitious projects which would benefit the city as a whole, convinced that what was good for the citys residents would also be good for the Olympic family (Carbonell 2005). Accommodating the required numbers of visitors to the host city, and ensuring a high quality and secure experience for all, over 16 days, is no small task. However, the scale of host cities Olympic projects, especially when thinking in terms of legacy, must also, and primarily, include consideration of the scale, extent and quality (in terms of delivery and planning for subsequent use) of the whole refurbished fabric of the host city, in and around the main Olympic sites, but also beyond, up and down transport routes and down and through hi-tech telecom and IT infrastructure. Indicative changes in Land Use Associated with Olympic Construction (Table below) Source: Adapted from Preuss 2004 Barcelona The Olympics were an accelerant to and focus for a number of projects, some long planned, others specific to circumstances pre-1992. The Games emerged within transformations involving extensive urban development; of old fish markets, army barracks, a womens prison and polluted waterfront areas3. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The 1936-built stadium in Montjuà ®c Park was refurbished and many new venues were built. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Olympic Village necessitated a new placement of two rail lines that separated downtown Barcelona from the coastline formerly an industrial area. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The industrial section was replaced with beaches, which after the redirection of the metro line re-connected the city to the sea. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The sewage system was also modernised à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Four museums and a botanical garden were renovated in preparation of the Games. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2004 Barcelona was the number one tourist destination in Europe. Observers of host cities in the aftermath of the Olympiad are well used to noting the white elephants, the most common characterisation of infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ One kilometre of beaches in front of the Olympic Village, with a series of piers protecting the sand from the dominant stream that flows in East-West direction. The Olympic harbour with a capacity for 700 boats in the water and 300 ashore, with 75% of public space (bars, restaurants, commercial space etc). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Seaport promenade. 30 meters wide pedestrian seafront promenade with cafes, restaurant and other facilities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Two towers 100 metres high for hotels and offices and other minor buildings. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Highway. Part of the city system of ring roads, with high traffic intensity (120,000 vehicles a day). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Urban nucleus. The basic idea was to link the new residential area with the traditional morphology of the city. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Some 2,000 housing units were built to host 15,000 athletes and 17,000 inhabitants. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There was finally an integrated system of parks both for the use of the communities living around and in the nearby neighbourhood. developments which fail, in the medium or long term to find suitable subsequent usage. The study of Olympic Villages throughout this century is the study of the history of ideas about how to develop the city, how to plan it and how to manage it (Munoz 1998). It is probably unwise to generalise from either extreme; however, Barcelona is an instructive instance of a largely progressive and positively received redevelopment and of imaginative and sustained legacy momentum in the post Games periods. As noted above in term of infrastructure, the Games certainly offer some improvements. Truno (1995) tracked both access and facilities in Barcelona preand post- Games. If the number of installations available in Barcelona in 1982 is compared with those available after 1992, it can be seen that the Olympic and non- Olympic investment effort resulted in an increase of 75.8% as far as installations were concerned, and of 126.4% in the case of sports venues. Altogether, a total surface area of nearly 300,000 square metres was involved (Truno 1995) The figures for use of new sports centres created after the Games: in all the installations which accept subscribers or members, there has been an increase of 46,000 new users. (Truno, 1995) P.T.O Indicative positive legacy developments from Olympic village development Barcelona(Table below) Atlanta Essex and Chalkey (1998) provide a useful summary of the Atlanta infrastructure. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The centrepiece of the Games was the Olympic Stadium (capacity of 85,000) constructed especially for the event with private finance. After the Games, it was converted to a 48,000 seat baseball park for use by the Atlanta Braves baseball team. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other new facilities, such as the Aquatic Center, basketball gym, hockey stadium and equestrian venue, were given to educational establishments or local authorities. The main Olympic Village (133 ha) was located on the campus of Georgia Technical College. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The other main infrastructural legacy to the city was the Centennial Olympic Park in central Atlanta, which was intended to be a gathering place for visitors during the Games and later to enhance the quality of life for local residents. The Atlanta legacy is largely understood to have been committed to business and commercial aims building the reputation of the city. Nevertheless as McKay and Plumb (2001) observe, Atlanta largely used existing facilities to house athletes and as such did not experience the mass residential construction around its Olympic precinct. The Olympics did, however, have a considerable influence on the location of demand by helping to create a more attractive inner city residential environment through improvements to transport facilities, retail amenities and public areas, such as parks and pedestrian walkways. The Atlanta office market has continued to grow strongly since 1996, with more than 520,000 m.2 of office space absorbed across the metro area in 1998. INDICATIVE CASE STUDY: Negative Impacts Atlanta adapted from Newman (1999) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economically deprived African-American areas of Atlanta were affected most by the preparations for the Games. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Residents were relocated from at least six public housing projects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ For these individuals the preparations for the Olympics were disruptive costing many the use value of their homes and neighbourhoods. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ CODAs neighbourhood revitalisation plans failed, and only those areas closest to Olympic venues received substantial support for revitalisation. Newman makes a useful point about tendencies relevant in particular to mega event driven regeneration. He suggests that events such as the Olympics are part of a process of reshaping land use in the city to make room for urban spectacle and display at the expense of the routine aspects of daily life for urban residents. In public housing projects and in low-income neighbourhoods, many families were moved to make way for the spectacle. Newman concludes that: The legacy of newly constructed sports venues and the enhanced image of Atlanta as a world city must be tempered by the continuation of a pattern of moving low-income residents to make way for growth. The study suggests that: Only the most dedicated efforts by business leaders and city government to work with low-income citizens after the Games will change the legacy of distrust the Olympics have helped to perpetuate. Athens The main features of the Athens projects included an attempt at revitalising major tracts of the city precinct. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Remediation of almost 300 ha. of disused wasteland/quarries, and 250 ha. of polluted rubbish dumps, as well as 600 ha. of former army camps deindustrialization and de-militarisation of land use à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Developing park, recreation and environmental education areas covering 250 ha. of urban space (landscaping of 60 dry and seasonal river beds into landscaped parks) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The unification and enhancement of major tourist/archaeological sites à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enhancement of residential districts in the centre and outskirts of the city à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens International Airport Regeneration à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens ring road and designed to take traffic from notoriously congested city à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens Metro, with an intention towards encouraging legacy modal shift necessary in a city well known for congestion problems Sydney The main features of the Sydney Olympic regeneration were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New sports facilities (inc. Olympic Stadium), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications enhancements, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Land remediation in Homebush Bay, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Olympic Village built as new suburb (Newington) with housing the worlds largest solar powered settlement, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Green redevelopment: international benchmarking on waste reduction, water re-use, use of recyclable materials, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Further sports, retail, commercial and transport facilities; widening of footpaths and new street furniture, aimed at smartening up central Sydney à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport the major policy and planning aims of the Sydney Games were to ensure public access. This would have also contributed to the green credentials of the Games. This was achieved practically by: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Public transport being the only means by which spectators [could] directly access events at major Olympic sites; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Satellite car parking venues established in park and ride type schemes. (see Cashman 2005: 200-1) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In addition the Games served as catalysts for catalyst for expansion of Sydney airport including new rail link and Eastern Distributor road linking the airport to the CBD; Cashman, noting in particular that there was a post-Games slump in enthusiasm for all things Olympic. He identifies a range of factors that should continue to be tracked, suggesting that (as with Athens) the legacy needs to mature before some key assessments can be made. These include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Media tracking and analysis of cultural issues city branding, national reputation, attitudes to multicultural issues within Australia, attitudes to disability and sport à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Business and economic outcomes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Impacts on Sport elite performance and everyday participation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ecological issues The Olympic Village, Sydney The aim in building the Village was: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to provide the best possible housing and residential facilities for all athletes and team officials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to apply the highest possible environmental standards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to provide a new suburb for post-Games use The site had previously been an abattoir. After the Games à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Village was made into a residential area, a suburb of Newington à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Medium density housing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 850 three- and four-bedroom architect designed houses and 350 two- to three-bedroom apartments in 94 hectares. Cashman offers some examination of participation. These figures are in some sense more clear, however they do not reveal too much detail about sports participation, rather giving emphasis to generalised Post Games legacy uses civic amenity as much as sporting venue nonetheless valuable social assets. Attendances at the Aquatic Centre in recent years in Sydney (Table below) Source: Cashman (2006) Overall Assessment Source: Greater London Authority ( 2007)

Critical Review of Post-Mortem Sperm Retrieval (PMSR)

Critical Review of Post-Mortem Sperm Retrieval (PMSR) Introduction Post-mortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) is a procedure that has given rise numerous legal and ethical concerns, including: consent for procedure, ownership and assignment of sperm as a possession, divergence on the inheritance of the offspring and conflict over the introduction of sperm retrieval in organ donation (Pastuzak, et al., 2013). There is no agreement on the use of PMSR at different levels from institutional to an international level. A report published in 2003 discussed the benefits of implementing guidelines to introduce a framework and therefore simplify concerns with respect to PMSR, which included (Tash, et al., 2003): Consent issues Resource availability Medical contraindications A 1-year time period for careful evaluation of the recipient. Although PMSR is still fairly uncommon, the continuous increase in requests for In-vitro fertilization (IVF) with intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), resulted in an increased rate of PMSR requests (Kerr, et al., 1997). Sperm retrieval techniques With the advent of ICSI and IVF, numerous sperm retrieval techniques have been developed in order to tackle sperm retrieval from various entry points. The most commonly used techniques involve either an epididymal or testicular procedure by open surgery or percutaneous entry (See Table 1): Table 1: Sperm retrieval techniques Key: MESA – Microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration; PESA – Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration; COB Conventional open biopsy; TESA – Testicular sperm aspiration. Micro surgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) An incision in the scrotum is performed to uncover the epididymis. Using a microscope the tunica is incised and a ductule is mobilised. An incision of the ductile then follows exposing the fluid within which is aspirated. Microsutures are then applied, when sufficient fluid is aspirated, to the ductule. In the case that no fluid is observed another ductule is mobilised for aspiration. Microsurgery allows for a precise incision resulting in an aspiration free from any contaminating blood. With this technique a large number of motile sperms can be retrieved and preserved for future use. Also, it allows for preservation of the ductule in the case of further aspirations, if needed. Nevertheless, no evidence is present to affirm that using microsurgery will result in better retrieval in the future. In addition, the technique is very laborious and time-consuming, needing a microscope and an experienced microsurgeon (Siber, et al., 1994; Girardi Schlegel, 1996). Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) By using antiseptic the scrotum is thoroughly cleaned and consequently washed using saline to eliminate any excess antiseptic. In some cases, local anaesthetic is utilised (Gorgy, et al., 1998), then the epididymis head is put between the thumb and forefinger, where it is then punctured, from the scrotal skin, with a needle that is connected to a tuberculin syringe filled with 0.1ml of washing medium. The plunger is then retracted that slowly punctures the ductule. The syringe is then rotated and partially withdrawn staying within the epididymis. Then the suction is released slightly and the syringe withdrawn. Examination of the aspirated sperm is then performed after flushing the fluid into a dish. In the case that motile sperm are not found, the procedure is performed again at a different location. As the location is selected blindly, numerous tries are needed in order to secure good quality sperm. In this case, the procedure is quick, easy, does not need open surgery and easily repeatable. Nevertheless, since the punctured location is random, it cannot be controlled and occasionally ductules can be missed. In some cases, the epididymis can be very small and even covered with fat layers, making retrieval challenging. This can be overcome by using OFNA. Also, there is a higher chance of contacting a blood vessel and therefore contaminate the fluid with blood (Shrivastav, et al., 1994). Testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) In this case anaesthetic is needed, afterwards a butterfly needle is poked around the testicular fluid while suction is applied from another syringe. The fluid is then examined for sperm quality. Studies also show that color Doppler ultrasonography can be used to guide the syringe and go around blood vessels (Balenky, et al., 2001). It is quite a simple technique that does not need any special training or equipment. However, there is a risk of puncturing the tunica blood vessels since it is done blindly. Puncturing multiple passages into the tissue may lead to damage and ultimately haemorrhage. Also, sample volume tends to be quite scanty (Craft Tsirigotis, 1995). Conventional open biopsy (COB) An incision is made in order to expose a testis, afterwards an incision is also made to the tunica and a small piece of testicular tissue is sampled. Sutures are then made to the tunica and the incision closed. It is a simple method that can be performed by a general surgeon and yields a significant amount of tissue. However, testicular vessels can be damages since it is an open surgery procedure, that would lead to the possibility of impaired testicular function as these are end-arteries (Schlegel Su, 1997; Manning, et al., 1998). Key ethical issues Ethical issues can be assessed through fairness, choice and wellbeing of the stakeholders, in order to arrive to a plausible conclusion. I managed to identify the following as the stakeholders; deceased husband, family members (wife/partner, parents etc.), unborn child, physician and society. Fairness With regards to fairness the debate is driven by two main issues; firstly, the right of the father to an heir even after death. In such cases, it is suggested that the father conveys consent for artificial insemination prior to his death (Strong, et al., 2000; Orr Siegler, 2002). This would make the decision more ethically justifiable. In cases where this is not available, inferred consent could also be accepted. However, although very little data is present with regards to the postmortem wishes of men, it is assumed that a large faction of men would not want their spermatozoa used after their death (Pastuszak, et al., 2013). Nevertheless, strict regulation should always be implied, to eliminate abuse where possible (Strong, et al., 2000). Choice The issues of society with regards to PMSR centre about a fear of a continual acceptance of non-conventional practices especially in conservative societies which may lead society to become biased and aversely disapprove of such practices. However, this difference in viewpoint can be seen in all controversial debates, where society criticizes individuals of backing such practices for their own goals and desires. Therefore the introduction and implementation of legislation is important to provide a framework which may help society better understand the uses of PMSR. In the case that family members want to perform sperm retrieval from the deceased based on verbal consent from previous conversations, would the physician be obliged to carry out this task? Basing the answer on the physician’s autonomy, the physician is not obliged to enter in a patient-doctor relationship, unless the patient has no other means for medically necessary care, which is not the case. This means that the physician will never be obliged to perform such duties even if sperm retrieval might be ethically justifiable in certain scenarios. This occurs especially if the physician conscientiously opposes sperm retrieval making him free to decline performing such tasks (Strong, et al., 2000). Also, another question arises, in that would the physician be morally obliged to decline performing practices which may cause harm to a future generation? The Human Embryology and Fertilisation Authority (HEFA) obliges physicians providing assisted reproductive technologies to assess t he wellbeing of the unborn child before proceeding (Parliament of the United Kingdom., 2008). Deciding to perform such a procedure utilizing the sperm of the woman’s partner can be a complex situation to tackle especially without consent. Wellbeing The main concerns when PMSR is sought are with regards to the deceased and the unborn child. Postmortem sperm retrieval affects the welfare of the deceased as it alters the values and beliefs of the deceased (Bahadur, 2002; Orr Siegler, 2002). Also, the child would be considered the heir of the deceased, which has several permanent social implications, especially on the deceased’s family, including, possession distribution and also the child’s upbringing. This could in turn be in complete disagreement with the deceased values (Bahadur, 2002). Family members could also find interest in maintaining the family’s lineage, which could also be in direct conflict with the deceased’s wishes. With regards to the unborn child there are issues too as children born through PMSR will have no father, which may result in difficulties during their upbringing (Strong, et al., 2000). Nevertheless, the claim that post mortem insemination can lead to such dejected views is very complex as it tries to compare existence with something that does not exist. Nevertheless, it is still a very difficult task to raise a child without a father, which may lead to additional costs for the mother and the family which in turn may also be stigmatized (Weber, et al., 2009). Policy and regulatory frameworks for PMSR PMSR has now started to gain international recognition, with different countries starting to implement legislation in order to manage its practice and safeguard its use. Several countries have opted to completely abolish its use. In fact Sweden, Germany, Canada and some parts of Australia have legislation that prohibits the use of PMSR (Bahadur, 1996; Webb, 1996). In addition, regions in West Australia have legislation that prohibits post-mortem use of gametes (Webb, 1996). Israel allows the transfer of pre-embryos to the wife within a year from the death of the husband, even if there is no consent. However, upon death of the wife, the embryos would not be used (Benshushan Schenker, 1998). In the U.K., the Human Fertilisation and Embryology ACT of 1990 does not forbid post-mortem sperm retrieval and storage however it does need prior written consent from the male (Parliament of the United Kingdom., 2008). In France on the other hand after a particular case the Centre d’Etude et de Conservation du Sperme Humain (CECOS) has embraced a practice of not allowing postmortem retrieval, a policy which was backed by the French courts (Aziza-Shuster, 1994). Thereafter, in 1994, France passed an act that prohibits post-mortem sperm retrieval (Lansac, 1996). On the other hand other countries like Belgium and the USA permit PMSR, even in the absence of the males consent (Brahams, 1997; Brahams, 1996). Conclusions The advent of new practices to aid infertility cases, will challenge us with ever increasing ethical issues which most probably will only increase in number. This is why informed consent is a major issue that needs evaluation as it forms an essential part of many programmes. However, for consent to be impartial, all the information with regards to such practices must be given together with counselling to enable proper consent to be given. This means that ideally both male and female should give their consent in advance. Cases involving married couples that have prior consent even with first degree relatives, PMSR should be allowed, although it has to be in agreement with a special committee responsible of dealing with such cases. Cases that might deal with consanguinity or incest for example a mother to be inseminated with her son’s spermatozoa should be prohibited both for ethical and genetic reasons. Also, cases where children are already present, and are heirs, should be al so consulted and consent be obtained. Nevertheless, this review is being written in order to address a number of issues important issues that come with PMSR. Since, such practice is still in its infancy and little data is present, it is difficult to reach any definite answers or conclusions, especially since there is little legislation to produce a framework of guidelines and practices. However, this review might help in furthering the discussion especially since ethical opinions will vary depending on cultural and religious values. Also, the issue is not merely medical and relies also on moral ethical and religious values. A debate will allow for common guidelines to be achieved and with time implemented for future practice and improvement on the subject.

Education Today Essay -- essays papers

Education Today A college education is suggested to be the most heavily judged form of qualification to be looked at when looking for career opportunities. But what is a college education? Is it something you go out and buy at the most prestigious of College University's? Do you simply hand over 25,000 dollars a year, and at the end of 4 years, give or take a few, you are handed a diploma that says, 'Educated'? In my opinion, this is today's view on what education is. It is less of a conquest of knowledge then it is just a stepping-stone towards a career. John Newman suggested that all forms of education and knowledge are connected together, and that the subject matter of knowledge is united in itself. Each Science that we break our knowledge in to, complete, correct and balance the others. This is what John Henry Newman wrote in, The Idea of a University. This was written to discuss the idea of a Catholic University, so it has a large influence on how we get our education today. We take specific courses that educate us in our major, and a number of other core courses that help shape our ideas and views into that which we are learning. If an education is confined to only one subject, Newman believes the individual's work in life may favor the advancement of a particular pursuit or viewpoint over another, due to ignorance. This is the approach we take at Seton Hall and most other University's in the world towards an education. But is this the only form of education that is valid? Jon Spayde believed that one could gain education in any way he wants. If biology was an individual's serious interest, he could observe life throughout the year and justifiably educate himself that way. Anything you had int... ...roader the education you get the more knowledgeable you will become in all areas of your study. However, I also think that it isn't necessary to pay for a college degree to be truly educated. The problem is you have nothing to show for or prove your intellect. In today's competitive society everyone wants the best, and if you don't complete a college education and have your own individual flares your going to have a much harder time landing a job then perhaps someone you are smarter then. You can't just be the best, you have to show that you are the best. It seems that if you can throw 100,000 dollars away on a degree today, you probably will have a decent job waiting for you when you graduate. So the individual with the advantage in society is the one who loves what he paid to get educated in. Education in a field that you love is the only true conquest of knowledge.

Black & Decker Essay -- essays research papers

Question 1: B&D leads in two product segments, but trails in the third. Why? Answer: It seems from the case that there are several reasons why B&D leads in Professional-Industrial and Consumer product segments, but trails in the Professional-Tradesmen segment. It is also clear from the tests performed by Black & Decker that their products were at comparable, or even better at some cases, quality. Branded as Home Tools: It appears that professional-tradesmen did not want to use the same tools that housewives used at homes (Black & Decker). Tradesmen viewed Black & Decker tools more for home use than being subjected to demands of the job site. This was a perception issue that was hurting Black & Decker big way. Distribution Channel: It is also evident from the data (Exhibit 2) that Black & Decker lacked in capitalizing one of the most profitable distribution channels i.e. Membership Club. On the other hand, Makita who distributed its product through membership clubs, in which Black & Decker did not take part in, proved to be very successful channel (85%) for Makita. Color: I believe that the unremarkable grey color did not help Black & Decker. The color was another factor that was strongly linked to the Black & Decker’s image. The color factor was very clearly demonstrated by lab tests and also by the comments from professional-tradesmen. Multiple Segments: Black & Decker was involved with three different segments Professional-Industrial, Professional-Tradesmen, and Consumer. On the other hand, Makita (who entered the market in 1978) focused on only one segment of the market while B&D focused on three. Question 2: Describe the salient psychological features of the tradesman’s buying behavior (values & need states). Answer: This is Tradesmen seem to believe that Black & Decker’s brand is for Consumer use only. They are well aware of the brand, but regard it as the brand that is more suitable for the tools used at home. As Black & Decker holds about 45% of the consumer market, it has very good brand recognition. In a tradesmen’s mind the association of Black & Decker with consumer segment is so high that they feel that Black & Decker is for home use only and it is not rugged enough to be used professionally. Need: Strong tools, that can be used professionally Value: They ne... ...disassociation from Black & Decker brand  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction of a Black & Decker’s one of the stable brands (DeWalt) that has no negative association  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DeWalt got 70 % awareness rating. This in turn means that Black & Decker will not have to spend money to establish a new brand  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DeWalt also achieved an â€Å"One of the best† agreement percentage of 63%  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also scored 58% on the purchase interest by tradesmen in â€Å"DaWalt-Serviced and Distributed by Black & Decker’ Cons:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It seems that every one at Black & Decker takes a great pride in the #7 â€Å"brand Power† position of the Black & Decker name. It will be a challenge to sell the option at Black & Decker.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Linkage of aggressive objectives of doubling the Black & Decker’s Professional-Tradesmen segment share from 9% to about 20% I strongly suggest that Joseph Galli should drop the Black and Decker name from the Professional-Tradesmen segment, sell the products in this category under the DeWalt brand and build more brand awareness for DeWalt

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy Throughout life I think everyone has a certain calling. God creates special gifts in people to be used to help others. Some people know right away what their calling is. I am sorry to say that it has taken me a few more years to figure out my love for teaching. I was a dance instructor for over fourteen years. During that time I attended College of West Virginia earning an Associates Degree in Business Administration. What was I going to do with that? I really did not like business, but my thinking was it would help in running my own dance studio one day. My real love was the involvement, interaction, and teaching of all my dancers. It was so rewarding to see the children learn the different movements I was teaching that day. The scaffolding method used in constructivism is very similar to how I taught dancing. Each week we would review the dance steps from previous weeks and then add on new dance steps. The children were learning dances that I had choreographed. Being a happy wife and a proud mother of a beautiful boy, I wanted to contribute more to the family financially. Although teaching dance is what I loved, it was not a job that paid well. How could I still do what I love, teaching, and bring in a little more money? That is when my husband encouraged me to go back to Concord College and get my Bachelor of Science Degree in Teaching Physical Education and Health Education. Physical Education and Health Education are two fields I feel very passionate about. Always being active throughout my life, I did not realize how sedentary and unfit our nation is. West Virginia ranks one of the highest states in the nation when it comes to being unfit and obese. I think education could place a more positive influence on this growing epidemic. The purpose of education is to help students gain knowledge to be used in their career, social, and personal lives. Education is important in teaching students the past and helping them make knowledgeable decisions for the future. As a teacher, I hope to be able to touch student’s lives in a way that when it comes to making a choice, they think of what I have taught them, and make a positive decision.