Democracy in the USA Essay

Text of the US Constitution does not contain the word â€Å"democracy†. The U.S. Constitution was not a perfect document. Originally it contained provisions that are can be recognized as ambiguous. â€Å"The US Founding Fathers† did not create democracy in the modern sense of the word, but the republic. They did not fully trust the wisdom of the American people and their ability to make sound decisions. For many years America was considered to be an ideal democratic country, however in recent years the situation has drastically changed. Among the most important challenges facing America today is the growing social inequality, discrimination on racial, ethnic or religious grounds, practice of indefinite detention of prisoners without charges, judicial bias, operating outside the law in prison, use of torture, the impact of government agencies on the trials, weak penitentiary system, infringement of freedom of speech, Internet censorship, legalized corruption, limiting of citizens’ voting rights, acts of intolerance based on race and ethnicity, the violation of the rights of children, extraterritorial application of the U.S. law, leading to human rights violations in other countries, kidnapping, tracking dissidents, disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators, application of the death penalty to minors and the mentally ill, etc. At the same time, the international legal obligations of the United States, continues to be reduced to participation in only three of the nine core human rights treaties, providing control mechanisms. The USA has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006. At the same time, Americans continue to wrongfully position themselves as an absolute authority and unquestioned leader in the field of democracy and human rights. They are engaged in mentoring, trying to teach others how to build their democracy and ensure human rights. Of ten they do this roughly, ignoring the basic international law principle of state sovereignty. Often their attempts to take care of human rights in other countries is bordering on outright interference in the internal affairs. At the same time, in the USA the situation with human rights remains very complicated. Fundamental political rights of Americans in today’s society, are not only exempt from the archaic elements, but they become even more vulnerable. Elections cause the most serious complaints. The U.S. president is still not elected by direct popular election, and by the Electoral College. Many rightly believe this system obsolete and undemocratic. With it, in particular, the voice of a resident of Delaware or North Dakota has mathematically much more weight than the voice of the voters in the larger states, such as California or New York. With this system, three times in the history of the U.S. the candidate with fewer votes than his opponent was elected the President (George W. Bush in 2000). And Gerald Ford has never been elected. At first, he was co-opted by the Republican National Committee instead of thieving Vice President Spiro Agnew, and then automatically took place of Richard Nixon who departed from his position because of the Watergate scandal. In general, the U.S. political system is based on the absolute monopoly of the two political parties which is far enough from the European-style multi-party democracy. More than 5.8 million Americans (2.5% of all potential voters) are deprived of voting rights because of a criminal record. This means that in general every 40th American citizen has no right to vote, among them every 13th African American (7.7% of total), and in some states, such as Kentucky, Virginia and Florida, more than 20 % of black Americans are deprived of voting rights. According to the Census Bureau, of the 75 million eligible citizens who did not use this right in the presidential election in 2008, 60 million were not able to do so due to lack of registration, which is associated with many cumbersome procedures. Currently only the states of Missouri, South Dakota and New Mexico, as well as the District of Columbia have laws that allow the access of international observers during the elections. In other regions, the issue of the activities of foreign observers is in the competence of local authorities. The implicit control over the population is being enhanced. The current U.S. law, in effect, allows the intelligence community to carry out a total censorship of all electronic communications of foreign and U.S. citizens without a warrant. It also requires telecommunications companies to assist the Government in gathering intelligence about foreign objects and to keep the information gathered in secret. Currently under consideration in Congress, the Cyber ​​Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – CISPA, according to human rights activists, practically does not limit the possibility of the U.S. government to monitor web browsing of individuals. Freedom of speech is being limited. For attacks on journalists covering the action of the Occupy Wall Street movement, NGO â€Å"Reporters without Borders† in January 2012 lowered its rating of the U.S. in its annual global press freedom index for 27 items at once and put the U.S. on the 47th position (57th with the territories in which Washington exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction). According to an investigation of the Coalition of Independent Lawyers (Protest and Assembly Rights Project), only in New York from September 2011 to July 2012 at least 18 accredited reporters have been arrested. The site WikiLeaks was the subject of persecution by the U.S. administration in retaliation for the publication of the diplomatic dispatches. According to the latest Google report on the availability of services of the company, during the period from July to December 2011, the amount of requests for removal of content received by it from the U.S. government has increased by 103% compar ed to the previous reporting period. U.S. law enforcement agencies requested removal from YouTube video sharing hosting of 1.4 thousand videos that â€Å"contain insults.† 6.3 thousand queries required disclosure data of more than 12.2 thousand users of this company. 93% of these requirements were met. Quite specific topic is absolutely abhorrent practice of extrajudicial killings abroad. As part of the â€Å"war on terror† in Washington highly specific approaches have been developed, the application of which caused not only massive violation of many international legal norms, but also killing thousands of innocent people. Crimes against humanity committed by U.S. soldiers abroad often do not receive proper legal assessment of the national judicial system. Illegal abduction and detention of people remain in the arsenal of U.S. intelligence. In September 2006, President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons. As it became known later, in 2002-2003. secret services built about ten such detention facilities, including in foreign countries – Afghanistan, Iraq, Thailand, Morocco, Djibouti, Romania, Lithuania and Poland. In January 2012, a special prison at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) â€Å"celebrated† its 10th anniversary. U.S. President B arack Obama, despite his campaign promise, failed to close it because of counteraction of Congress. The practice of torture condemned by most countries of the world remains legalized in the United States. April 6, 2009 the Department of Justice published four memorandums, prepared in 2002-2005 by the lawyers of this agency. They thoroughly substantiated the legality of application of harsh interrogation techniques to prisoners of CIA prisons in terms of U.S. and international law. Along with other human rights violations in the United States numerous cases of police brutality have been recorded. Human rights activists note that the level of sexual crimes among American police is much higher than among the U.S. population as a whole. Mass practice in the United States have become systematic violations of human rights in detention. Business, which uses the prisoners’ labor flourishes in the USA. One in 10 prisoners in this country is contained in a commercial prison. The other fact demonstrating the low level of democracy in the USA are as follows: 1. In 33 U.S. states the death penalty is still permitted and applied; 2. Hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. are abused which results in some cases (in 2010 – 1.6 thousand) to a lethal outcome; 3. In the U.S., social and economic rights are seriously disrupted. In the country there are 12.8 million unemployed, 40 million people do not have health insurance, 14.5% of families are experiencing food shortages; 4. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the USA has one of the highest levels of income inequality; 5. One of the most rightless segments of the population of America are migrants, who make up at least half of all those employed in the agricultural sector of the country; This brief review shows that the issue of human rights, facing all of humanity, is acutely relevant for the modern United States. All claims of the United States to be the moral leader in this area require a lot of preliminary work to clear own American â€Å"Augean stables.† Works Cited Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Study on Targeted Killings, Human Rights Council, 9-11, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/14/24/Add.6 (May 28, 2010).

Later Adulthood Development Essay

During our life time it is inevitable that we will grow older. People 65 an older are living longer lives. This age group has been increasing over the years with the help of new technology. During this stage in life we will go through many life transformations. First we will change not only physically, but mentally, and emotionally, and socially. Our roles in life will change drastically and if not prepared it will not be a smooth transition. If a person was once very independent in their younger years and now will need to be dependent on others for assistance it could become a big problem. They may need help with basic daily health needs such as bathing, cooking or may need help getting around town. There are many assistant living facilities that will assist them if needed. Another issue in aging is they may become victims of crimes. Elderly people have physical limitations that will make it harder for them to defend themselves. Discrimination will now become another issue that they will have to face. It may be hard for them to land a job at this age because many companies might be worried that they will constantly be out of work or can’t physically do the job. Compare living accommodations such as accessibility and the need for health care: There are numerous nursing facilities for the elderly to live in. In the past these facilities were ran like institutions and less like a home. The new facilities are well equipped with everything they would have in their own homes. Facilities provide entertainment, social gatherings, everything you would need to enjoy your elderly years. Many elderly people would prefer to live and maintain their own households with their spouses and not have to resort to facility living. Health care is important to the elderly generation because they are more apet to have health problems. Because of the increasing cost of health care Medicare and Medicaid programs were put in place to reduce the cost of health care for this age group. Another medical issue for the elderly is that Physicians are primarily  trained in treating young people and the elderly does not receive the quality care they need. In that age group medical care is crucial for their survival because they are more frail and sick than the younger generation. The transition from work to retirement is a major part in anyone’s life. Mandatory retirement was once created for people age 65 an older, it was meant to abolish the oversupply of available workers. Congress eventually stopped this law because it was discriminating towards the elderly. Retiring is a major adjustment in life for those who worked there whole lives. One of the many adjustments are living on a smaller income, and no interaction from fellow coworkers. Social Security benefits is a financial assistance program for retired people 65 and up but it was never intended to make a person financially independent. It is impossible to live comfortably just off of social security checks alone. About 95 percent of older adults receive Social Security; for 18 percent of them, Social Security is their only income. Americans who did not prepare themselves finically will need to work for the rest of their lives. Those who did not prepare themselves for retirement will have to worry about money and possible have to rely on government assistance. Those who did prepare themselves financially will not have to worry about money an can enjoy their leisure time and enjoy the many things that they weren’t able to do while working such as traveling, golfing, etc. Many people at this stage will get bored an unfulfilled without a job to go too. Volunteering their time and possible a part time job are a few ways an elderly couple can do to stay productive and be a contributing citizen. Older people volunteering their time can also lead to a higher feel of worth and self-esteem. Many changes go in in marriage, family, and peer relationships when we grow older. Older people are married they are happier than the non-married ones. When we age we will have to understand that one spouse will have to take care of their spouse. The caretaking spouse will get frustrated, angry, overwhelmed with caring for their spouse. When a spouse is ill this can drain the family savings and add more stress over finances. When a spouse dies it can be very emotional for the spouse that is left behind they will begin to experience loneliness’, depression and will have more things to take care of on their own. The surviving spouse will have to be emotionally ready to move on with life without their mate. Peer relationships will also change beca use  friends are sick and dying and reminds them that the end is near. This can lead to elderly people staying in the house and distancing themselves from other people and family. Some elderly begin to live with family and like the idea that they are around their loved ones. Others do not want to put a burden on to their family and decide to move into a nursing facility instead. Living with someone else can become a major shock because they are used to living on their own. The social policies that affect the older adults are Medicaid, Medicare, social security benefits, and the older Americans act of 1965. Medicare was created to assist older people with the cost of health care. Everyone 65 and older will be eligible for this service. Everyone in the United States is eligible for some sort of social security benefit after retirement age if they worked. This Money is paid into the social security system from taxes from employees and employers. It is a certain amount of money given every month to offset the cost of living. Some elderly people live off just social security alone because they did not plan correctly for the future. If a person does not have any pensions, savings and other income it will not be enough to live comfortable off of. . The Americans Act of 1965 is a law and its amendments and they are the basis for federal aid to states and local communities to meet the needs of the older generation. This law assists with an adequate income, physical and mental health, housing, employment opportunities. The final service made for the elderly is Medicaid. It provides services for low income families, and those who need public assistance. Each state is different with the Medicaid benefits. When we age we will all change mentally, physically, physically and socially it’s all a part of this life cycle. With proper planning and research growing older can be a smooth transition in life. Financial planning, family support, resources are all positive can contributions to everything an older adul t needs. References Dale, O., Smith, R., Norlin, J. M., & Chess, W. A. (2009). Human behavior and the social environment: Social systems theory (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Communication Climate In the Film “On Golden Pond”

Climate in movies can be developed in a variety of ways, depending on the theme, characters, and genre. The movie On Golden Pond has an award winning cast. Two of the actors are father and daughter in real life, Henry and Jane Fonda. The task of creating a communication climate is centered on an important contemporary theme: the challenges of aging, bonds between male and female, man and child. These topics are all issues that theatre-goers can relate to. The communication climate, thus, becomes a central element story development and creating pace while keeping the viewer’s interest peaked. The film opens with breath-taking view of New England landscape, panning in and out of the quiet, peaceful lake. This reinforces the emotional attitude of the film from the beginning. Enter crotchety old Norman Thayer and soft-spoken, yet affirming wife, Ethel. The film-maker, well-aware of the highly publicized problems revolving around Henry Fonda and his son and daughter, uses this to add impact to the film’s emotional sentiment. Norman and Ethel arrive to their remote vacation home without anyone in sight. Ethel’s hands are full and she cannot open the door. She needs Norman’s help and knocks on the door. â€Å"Someone’s at the door,† says Norman, not even looking up from his book. â€Å"It’s me you old poop,† Ethel says. This brief dialogue speaks volumes about who is the enabler in this marriage. Norman’s age and life-long frustrations are clouding his memory and his ability to keep up with life. Norman expresses his concerns over death in subtle ways. He vents his frustration on loved ones by being irritable, short-tempered, and using quick-witted sarcasm. It’s obvious that sarcasm has been a life-long sentiment in the Thayer household. The sarcasm between Norman and his daughter Chelsea has built walls that have silenced their ability to express true feelings for one another. Thus, Norman uses discomforting messages for the majority of the film. Here’s an example of Norman’s sarcasm regarding his daughter’s new love. â€Å"She’s fallen in love with a dentist,† says Ethel, full of compassion. â€Å"Good God! They’ll be staring at our teeth all the time,† is Norman’s response. The humor of the scene makes its mark while viewers are led to question Norman’s love and respect for his daughter. Does he, on a subconscious level, regret his lifetime of treating Chelsea unfairly? The film, unfortunately, treats the stereotypical grumpy old man with simplicity, never reaching into the heart of the matter. In fact, the only recognition between Chelsea and Norman comes in the closing scene of the film where they embrace as Chelsea says, Goodbye Norman†¦er dad. † This verbal message does hold impact but the true reconciliation between father and daughter remains unknown. Ethel, in contrast to Norman’s character, uses confirming messages entirely through the film. Her deep love for Norman is shown by her willingness and unconditional acceptance of Norman’s less than joyous persona. Norman creates more humor in a scene that normally would lead people to show a little respect; for, an elderly woman who also lived on Golden Pond died recently. Norman doesn’t even bat an eye as he informs the mailman of this news and says, â€Å"one of the lesbians expired. † More disconfirming messages by Norman. The film maker shows Norman with his guard down in a scene where he gets lost hunting for strawberries near the house. He runs back until he bumps into their property. Norman waits for the mailman to leave before stating his angst to Ethel. It is one of the rare times, maybe the only time, that Norman uses confirming messages. â€Å"(I had to) Come running back to see your pretty face. I could feel safe. I was still me. † â€Å"You’re my knight in shining armor. † Ethel responds as she held his face gently in her hands. â€Å"You're gonna get back up on that horse and I’ll be right behind you. And away we’re gonna go, go, go. † Ethel, once again, uses her confirming voice to heal. Billy Ray Jr. upon meeting Norman shows respect. It’s Norman’s 80th birthday celebration. Billy Ray Jr. tries to make a connection. â€Å"I just had a birthday two weeks ago. † Norman says, â€Å"Hmm. We’re practically twins. † Billy Ray Sr. also shows respect for Norman, using confirming messages. â€Å"Love your house,† says Billy Ray Sr. â€Å"Thank you. It’s not for sale,† retorts Norman. Their dialogue continues as Norman uses more disconfirming messages and Billy Ray Sr. uses confirming messages. â€Å"Norman? You mind if I call you Norman? † â€Å"I believe you just did,† says Norman coolly. In closing, communication is what creates the climate of the film. Dialogue and body language are what keep the story moving along at a jovial clip. It is a wonderful film with a message about how challenging life can be for individuals when communication has little honesty. When people put up fronts and refuse to share their feelings, it leads to disjointed relationships and people wind up feeling hurt. This pain can cause further distress on a person’s life. The only solution is to share feelings and believe in the power that results when a cohesive family bond develops.

Leading the Catholic School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Leading the Catholic School - Essay Example This paper declares that culture is a complex concept that admits of several definitions, but the most comprehensive is the synthesis proposed by Gallagher of â€Å"culture† as a notion that contains the following characteristics: human, traditional and dynamic, evolving and religious, shared by and with others, involves complex visible factors, an expression of a vision, contains behavioural norms and response patterns, institutional or symbolic, adds meaning to what is ordinary, spiritual and religious, self-communicating, fallible and renewable, and rooted in religious consciousness. This discussion explores that culture changes or evolves over time, defined and altered by interactions amongst the individuals who make up human society Culture is not monolithic because the human agents or actors who are imbued with intelligence and free will give culture its dynamism through interaction and co-operation, giving rise to sub-cultures that add to societal diversity. Culture is a feature of any human society and is shaped by the behaviour of everyone in that society who learns and shares that culture with future generations. Culture also shapes their behaviour and outlook on life, and determines how they think, feel, and act. Culture can be analysed using several perspectives and frameworks since it is visible to observers. These manifestations range from the very tangible and overt that one can see and feel to the deeply embedded, unconscious, basic assumptions that form its essence.

Assessments for the English Language Learner Research Paper

Assessments for the English Language Learner - Research Paper Example â€Å"The present culture of testing has placed an increased amount of emphasis on the development of state standards, high-stakes testing, and the use of rigid curricular programs† (Brantley, 2007, p. 28). Therefore, an educational assessment is mandatory in today’s highly competitive world. There are three types of assessments; formal, alternative and informal. The purpose of implementing a classroom assessment system is to improve instruction and student achievement. The English language learners are rapidly growing in the population of the U.S classroom. As such, considerate amount of thoughts and training need to be implemented when designing and administering educational assessments. There are many factors that need to be kept in mind while selecting educational assessments for students. Language barriers and educational background factors are the main factors. In the first factors, language barrier factors, different issue like different linguistics background, L evels of proficiency in English, and levels of proficiency of native languages are the three main barriers that should be addressed in the assessment. In the educational background factors issues such as degrees of formal schooling in native languages, degrees of formal schoolings in English language, and exposure to standardized testing should be addressed in the assessment. While administering an educational assessment, it crucial for the classroom teacher to provide the English Language Learning students with fair and appropriate assessments while keeping in mind the various factors that could hamper their academic growth. It is pivotal for the teachers to be knowledgeable about the different assessment types as to provide adequate and fair assess of their students’ progress as well as achievements in the class. As mentioned before, there are three types of assessments; formal, alternative and informal. The formal assessment is mainly based in the results of the standardiz ed tests and other formal exams regulated under the test- taking guidelines. In Formal assessment students are assessed on the basis of their written document, test, quiz or essays. The student’s progress is determined based on the data collected on the student’s performance on the tests. Formal Tests are usually used to assess the overall achievement of the student and compare his/ her intelligence with other students as well as to find a student’s strength or weaknesses in a particular topic. The formal assessment test has its own purposes, advantages and disadvantages. Formal assessment is a good assessment to be implemented to the student to determine their strength and weaknesses. It also evaluates the student’s achievement by comparing their progress with other students. It is appropriate to use the formal assessment to indentify the student’s special needs and it can also improve learning at an individual level for young English language lea rners. Formal assessments are categorized into separate groups such as norm referenced tests and criterion referenced tests. The Norm references tests are characterized by strict rules and implementations. These types of tests are mainly used to compare one student to another, one group of students to another group as well as schools. When implementing a norm reference test teachers should implement the test under specific and similar circumstances.

Use emotional intelligence for your benefit Essay

Use emotional intelligence for your benefit - Essay Example With emotional intelligence, an individual is able to avoid troubles that would otherwise be detrimental to their physical and psychological health. Precisely, emotional intelligence has numerous benefits to individuals who posses and practice the value. Emotional intelligence helps in enhancing self-awareness, which refers to the ability to understand oneself in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Understanding ones strengths is important in a helping one direct their energies towards the most appropriate and beneficial commitments. Exploitation of one’s strengths is important considering that it may lead to self-actualization, which entails achieving the best out of oneself (AlDakeel 52). Understanding one’s weaknesses is also important in helping an individual develop proper techniques to counter the effects of particular weaknesses. Ability to manage effects of particular weaknesses may help an individual in avoiding stresses that may result from the effects. Effective self-awareness brought by emotional intelligence can help an individual to gain skills to detect, identify and manage situations that likely to cause discord to one. AlDakeel mentions that emotional intelligence is also attributable to effective emotional management (52). Individuals who have high levels of emotional intelligences are able to detect and understand particular emotions together with their likely consequence. Understanding emotions before causing unwanted effects also train individuals about techniques and measures to manage particular stressful situations. The ability to manage emotions create ample room for understanding others, and helping one guide others into sober negotiations to resolve issues that are controversial. In so doing, emotional intelligence will be assisting in the process of effective decision-making. Improved social awareness is another benefit derivable from emotional intelligence. Social

Brown v. board of education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Brown v. board of education - Research Paper Example The law does also not recognize the lack of equality in segregating the two races and actually turns a blind eye to the fact that one race is being treated superior while the other remains inferior in their segregated premises. The fact that they had equal facilities does not mean that the facilities were of the same quality only quantity. Having equal number of teachers for example but who are not very much qualified (as they are also of similar race and hence not very much educated) does not shout the name equality at all. The same applies to the state of the other facilities such as the transportation and the building compared with what the whites were receiving. If the same quality of facilities cannot be accorded to the different races and the same treatment being offered to the white cascaded down to the blacks, then there can never be any form of equality even though the law rules that there is according to the fourteenth amendment as equality cannot exist just in one form or term and the rest of the issues ignored or

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

Managing Business Organisations - Essay Example Sexual harassment is an issue of grave concern and it is linked to unequal power distribution in the workplace. Cultures in which male and females are encouraged to work together and where male possess excessive power than women are a victim of this desperate plight. Robbins stated in his article that â€Å"Individuals who occupy high status roles sometime believe that sexually harassing female employees is merely an extension of their right to make demands on lower status individuals.† This shows that unequal power distribution in such culture is often utilized in a negative way. We can deduce from our discussion that organization culture is among the top most factors which overwhelmingly influence the type of politics played in organization and also the extent to which power is wielded. Cultures where individual are aggressive and confrontational and where power inequalities are accepted are especially vulnerable to inimical politics and illegal use of

Banned Pesticides by US Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Banned Pesticides by US Companies - Essay Example Because of ban, companies have resorted to selling their products in cheaper prices and dumping them in developing countries in order to flush-out their existing big stocks. In North, the Government had put a ban on the pesticide called â€Å"Methyl bromide† because of being health hazards and harmful effects to the ozone layer. In spite of being aware of its hazardous effects, it was being openly sold especially in third world countries. Eddleston, M. et al. (2002) examined, â€Å"In 1985, the UN Food and agriculture Organisation (FAO) produced a voluntary code of conduct for the pesticide industry in an attempt to limit the harmful effects of pesticides. Unfortunately, a lack of adequate government resources in the developing world makes this code ineffective, and thousands of deaths continue today.† Redmond, D. (2002) stated, â€Å"The United States is one of the largest exporters of pesticides in the world. Many of the pesticides are so dangerous that they are banned for use in the United States. There is no doubt that the use of these pesticides in the third world countries where they are exported is devastating. "But we are victims too. Pesticide exports create a circle of poison" by returning to the United States in the food we import.† Machipisa, L. (1995) quoted in his article, "If we have stocks we should destroy them. It is wrong to go and create a problem in the South when we in the North do not think it is good for us," said Herren. "One should look for alternatives before and not dump it, because it will lead its abuse.† In conclusion, I would appeal the Companies, involved in this abusive business, to please stop playing with human lives for the sake of few dollars.

Acute vs Chronic abdominal pain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Acute vs Chronic abdominal pain - Essay Example As result, they experience acute abdominal pain. Diverticulitis is another common cause of acute pain among people in this age group. This is a condition whereby pouches develop on the walls of the colon. Older patients also experience bowel obstruction that may result from cancerous cells (Lyon & Clark, 2006). Common causes of acute abdominal pain in a 20-year -olds male may be due to indigestion, stomach irritation, and parasitic infections. Chronic abdominal pain in a 50-year-old male can be caused by colon cancer, gallstones or appendicitis. In a younger patient, chronic pain can be caused by pancreatitis, cholecystitis, hepatitis and liver disorder (Greenberger, 2014). In reference to diagnosis, it is more likely to misdiagnose a 50-year-old as compared to a 20-year-old. This is because older patients are prone to other co-existing diseases that may be the hidden cause of abdominal pain (Bryan, 2015). As compared to younger patients, diagnosis in older patients does not rely on symptoms such as fever, nausea and vomiting (Tazkarji, 2008). This is because most of them do not exhibit these symptoms. Older adults also present late symptoms. All in all, both young and old patients require specialized treatment (Penner, 2015). Greenberger, N. J. (2014). Chronic and Recurring Abdominal Pain. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Retrieved from

Joan of Arc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Joan of Arc - Research Paper Example They again felt that they would be able to hold on to the sovereignty of their nation and have their own king on the throne. Joan of Arc lived her life according to what she felt was the dictate of God. What she did was based on the visions that she had when she was a child living in a village of France. Her rise to power in France was thus meteoric. Her death however, was equally tragic. A gruesome death at the hands of the English Church was hardly what she deserved after the pains that she took for the sake of her motherland, France. Following her death, her memory was recovered and she has now entered into public consciousness through literature and various other sources. This paper shall seek to understand her position as a woman in the fifteenth century and attempt to answer the question as to whether this position affected the different choices that Joan of Arc took. Joan of Arc’s entry into French politics is looked upon with great surprise by many who are familiar wit h the condition that women found themselves during the fifteenth century in France and for that matter, anywhere in the world. This is not a pointer to the immense clout that Joan of Arc wielded at this point, right at the beginning of her career, but to the condition that France found herself in. ... She however, looked at the situation where the Count of Dunois had led France to and sought to reverse it. The siege of Orleans had started to look like a hopeless affair as far as the French were concerned. The siege which had continued for over seven months had started to look ominous from the French point of view. This condition was changed to a large extent with the point where Joan of Arc enters the history of the Hundred Years War. Her journey to meet the Dauphin was the catalyst behind the revival of the French hopes as far as the continuance of their resistance was concerned (Pernoud 1999, 9-11)1. This journey was an uncommon one for any woman to undertake and this was the beginning of her breaking various stereotypes that are often assigned to women. This was a breaking of a barrier of customs that did not have such a precedent. Joan of Arc thus set an example for those who were to follow her, providing them with an example of initiative. In the twenty first century, there a re many women who are lauded for their political initiative and courage. One needs to remember that Joan of Arc’s actions were taken in a conservative society where women were given much less freedom than they are in today’s society. This makes her achievement all the more praiseworthy. Calling her the â€Å"Ideal Androgyne†, Marina Warner talks of Joan’s transvestism2 (1981, 140). Wearing clothes that were traditionally worn by men was something that Joan had to resort to so as to protect herself from sexual advances by male soldiers of both camps. This points to the condition that women had to face in society at the point of time when Joan was active. The importance of this lies in the fact that even a person who was powerful in the larger 1. Pernoud

Enron, the smartest guys in the room Essay Example for Free

Enron, the smartest guys in the room Essay Enron was one of the biggest scandal of all time in the stock market. The three main guys leading the pack was Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and Andy Fastow. The company was not making profit so they decided to do future value accounting. This was shown to shareholders so they can spend money and invest in Enron. The future value accounting just shows a list of future profit that was predicted. What actually happened? Why it can happen again? What can be done to prevent it? and What is now being dont to prevent it? These are the question that will be answered and explained. What actually happened? Andy Fastow was the one who created several smaller companies that would hide the losses Enron had made. Enron showed that they were making great increases in the stock market and others wanted a piece of that. They even convinced their own employees to buy stocks. Enron wanted to hide their scandal so bad that they paid investment company to fire the employee that had any concerns. Enron was behind the California Energy Crisis and made billions off the state. They had the power plants shut down and resold energy for much higher and made outrageous profit. Their company got so big within a short amount of time, but so did their losses. It was getting much harder for them to hide the scandal as their company progresses. A writer at Forbes magazine was the one who started the collapse of Enron. She released an article and what Enron was truly doing and it went downhill from there. Jeffrey Skilling bailed on the company and sold all his stocks and left Ken Lay and Andy Fastow to run the company. Enron eventually collapsed and all the employee lost everything. Jeffrey Skilling and Andy Fastow were sent to prison for the scandal and Ken Lay passed away after the trials. The main thing that can be done to prevent another Enron scandal is the involvement of the investors themselves. The stockholders need to know about everything and anything that goes on in the company they are investing to the best of their abilities. Management and the Board members also play a very big role in avoiding another Enron. They are the one to keep track of the funds coming in and out of the company. Calpers are the current members that watch over the investors money and make sure everything is where theyre suppose to be. Regulators are also important in having strict regulations for companies, but lenient enough so there is room for competition. The Enron Scandal can happen again if a company is using the future value of accounting, but with the new check and order that is set up, it is very unlikely it will happen. These new check and order are very strict and precise on company so that they can prevent another major scandal. Audit committees have the right to access the companys financial statements and have the company cooperate with them at all times. The reason why Enron got away with their scandal for so long was because they had their own audit committee checking up on them. There is no way to completely prevent another scandal, but a scandal as big as Enron will surely not happen again. In the end, check and balance comes in to play to keep any company from pulling a scandal as big as Enron. Because there was a loose leash over the company, Enron took advantage of that to the max and scammed every investor for their money. Now the lesson has been learned and companies are being regulated and watched for the best of the investors.

Comparison of Leadership Theories

Comparison of Leadership Theories The establishment of relationship between followers and leaders that focus on real changes and outcomes that reflects through shared purposes is basically leadership. Leadership also involves in creating change not only in maintaining status quote. Another leadership important feature is to bring people and make them understanding to come together around a common vision and to bring change about desired future. In many aspects, the importance of leadership is vital without it families, communities and as well as organisations would go down apart. In other sense, the way of improving efficiency, morale, customer service and performance is the critical aspect of leadership. It is also essential for the organisations to handle critical situation and lead that effectively and only a good leader with good leadership ability can lead team successfully. There are different styles of leadership basically it is way the person deals with that in order to stay alive in his or her position. Thes e are authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire.( Business:William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes, Jack R. Kapoor,Cengage Learning, 2009 Political Science -p.179) In authoritarian leadership style, leader holds all the power and responsibilities. In this style, employees are assigned to specific task by the leader and expect to get it done orderly. In laissez-faire leadership style, leader gives power to employees. There are two or more alternative decisions taken by leader, employees can choose any of them from there it depends up to them. In democratic leadership styles, leader gives more importance on employees and tries to encourage them and shows attention to individuals. Historical, classical and contemporary approach to Leadership theory: Historically there are many leadership approaches that linked with different theories of leadership. Great Man theory of leadership: 1900s: This is the earliest theories of leadership. At that time most of the researchers believed that leaders are born, not made. In Great Man theory, describes that the main secrets of a great leader lies in being born great. It gives importance on the study of all the great leaders who were great, may be they are from aristocracy or from the lower classes but they had the opportunities to lead. By finding out those people who did great things such as Nepolean, Hitler, Curchill if we go further back then Lord Krisna, Gesus and Hazrat Mohammad were very easy to point out them. According to Great Man theory, it believes that leaders must have some qualities like good commanding power, cleverness, good character, courage, self-possession; fierceness and expressiveness that cant be possessed through learning or through particular taught programmes.(Organisational behaviour-by Hawa Singh,1st ed,2009-10,page-263)( Fire Service Leadership: Theories and Practices-Mitchell R. Waite, Interna tional Association of Fire Chiefs;Jones Bartlett Learning, 2008 Business Economics;page-3,4) Trait Theories of Leadership: 1900s-1940: Trait theories are similar to Great Man theories in some ways. It assumes that leaders must possess general traits or personal features that they get by born and common to all and create them better matched to leadership. In Trait Theory of leadership just tried to find traits of well-known leader that were frequent. This approach was based on the scheme that is individuality and personal intrinsic worth that distinguish successful leader form everyone else. In 1994, Yukl conducted research on traits and skills and linked to organisational effectiveness (Introduction to educational leadership organizational behavior: theory into practice,Patti L. Chance, Edward W. Chance,Eye on Education, 2002,page.87). These were- Energy and pressure patience Self-possession Inner locus of control Emotional maturity Worthiness Supremacy inspiration Reaching orientation Need for affiliation Situational Theories of Leadership: (Leadership in Organizations: There Is a Difference between Leaders and Managers, David, University Press of America, 2009, p 33) In situational theories of leadership gives more importance on the different situations like where the task to be accomplished, fit surrounded by personalities, power and perceptions. Effectiveness of leadership relies on those situations. These situational theories are also called Contingency theories because this Theory is reliant upon the requirements or the status of the situations. 1960s-70: In Contingency/situational theory argues-what leaders perform that can be determined by that situations and that behaviors must be related with that environmental situations in hand (Understanding Leadership Perspectives: Theoretical and Practical Approaches,  By Matthew R. Fairholm, Gilbert W. Fairholm,2008,page.11). A good situational leader can only apply different leadership styles with the changing situations. The best action taken by the leader depends on of the leader depends on a range of situational factors. How the model works simply to achieve results: Identification of detailed job and task Asses present performance Corresponding leader response Different leadership styles could influence by the wide range of variables depending on the different environmental situations and it creates an impact on leader behaviour, in which leader can function. There are some critical contingencies like organisational volume, complexity in task, maturity of worker and so many others. According to situational theory, situational factors are limited and vary according to that contingency and specified behaviour of leader can only work in certain kind of situations not for all. There are three most prominent theories of contingency- Path-Goal theory Feidlers Contingency theory The Vroom-Yettons model Path-Goal theory: In this theory mainly focus on leaders motivational function and it can be enhanced by increasing individual payoffs to subordinates for work goal achievement, gain personal satisfaction by escalating opportunities (House, 1971).According to these theories key occupier is that the effectiveness can be measured through the behaviours of different leaders that will be influenced by situational variables. In broader sense it focused on initial arrangement and reflection behaviour of leaders but later it extended in the form of participative and leadership behaviours in terms of achievement oriented (House and Mitchell, 1974).there are two major assumption on path-Goal theories of leadership- (Leadership  edited by Linda L. Neider, Chester Schriesheim, IAP, 2002, page-116) Firstly, it concerns with the suitability of leaders behaviour to the subordinates Secondly, it concerns with the motivational factors of leader (House and Mitchell, 1974). Suitability: Leader behaviours need to be suitable for the subordinates so that it helps them to function well with different situation. This good behaviour of leader enhances the overall satisfactions of subordinates. Motivation: The role of a leader is important in motivating of employees for particular task to increase the overall performance. Fiedlers Contingency theory: Managing organizational behaviour: Henry, Neal P. Mero, John R. Rizzo  Wiley-Blackwell, 2000 pages.461, 467 In 1971, Feidler proposed clarification on that how group performance can be affected through the relations of leadership orientation, group setting and job characteristics. Leaders situation can measure though various extents like relationships between leaders and members, structure of job and position power (Fiedler, 1978). The relationship between leader and member: This refers to how the leader is liked by the group members. When good relationship exists between leaders and members then all are get high satisfaction in work and organisations values is achieved through individual values. If the relation is going badly then there is lack of common trust. Another important term group cohesiveness, it is very difficult to make all the employees work together when it low. If it is high but bad relation with leader then group works together to harm the organisation as well as leader. Structure of jobs: It is categorised in two ways like high task and low task structure. In high task job structure leader should know what the goal is and how to achieve that. In low task structure job leader must make a decision how to perform task every time to get it done. Position power: In high position power leader has authority to take any important decisions without informing anyone to higher organisation levels. In low position power, leader has limited authority. The Vroom-Yettons model of leadership: This model is widely used in the development of leadership in corporate centre and also gets enough support from practitioners. (Industrial and organizational psychology: linking theory with practice;  By Cary L. Cooper, Edwin A. Locke, page-151,152)The most important aspects of this model is that legitimates both the autocratic and democratic leader behaviour and matching that is suitable in meticulous situations. This model also provides fruitful information about what would be the perfect time of using groups or opposed to personality decision making. This model has some limitations like leaders are always have to take decision in choosing of leadership styles, it considers each decision in term of situation but it does not depend on previous factor. Cognitive resource theory: Cognitive Resource theory is the modification of Feidlers Contingency theory. This theory focused on personality, manners and situational properties. Cognitive resource theory integrates cognitive resources like personal acumen, practical knowledge and skill, job capability, into original model. Assumptions: 1) Plans and strategies are communicated through directive behaviour by mangers. 2) Experienced and smarter leaders have more priority on decision making rather than less experienced and less smart leader. The main limitation of this theory that it is not well thought-out the ability of leader. The Hersey Blanchard Theory: This situational theory developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard and it focuses on activity and operational environment of the organisation. Their main approach was that followers will always get favour from the leader about their willingness to do the job. In this approach leaders have to understand about the followers properly and have to identify their stage of development and according to that apply the leadership style. With taking help from Ohio State studies and develop four leadership styles that is available for managers- (Leadership in Organizations: There Is a Difference between Leaders and Managers by David I. Bertocci;University Press of America, 2009 ,pages.39,40) Directing or telling Coaching or selling Participating or supporting Delegating Directing or telling: Job responsibilities is defined by the leader and inform to followers about when to do that and where to do it and how can it be done. Coaching: Its a two way communication here leader gives supportive direction to followers and sometimes ask for ideas or suggestion from followers as well. Supporting or participating: The leader and follower share in decision accordingly to achieve a maximum values like what will be the best to compete with high worth job Delegating: Followers get little support from the leaders. Implications of this theory: one problem is that it does not matter how hard leaders try but they are against to change from one style to another. Behavioural Theories of Leadership: In this theory mainly focus on behaviour of leaders in the direction of the followers and this became a leading mode of leadership approaching within the organisation. Diverse patterns of manners were grouped together and categorized as styles. These activities of management through training became very famous. Basically these styles are- Task concern-Here leaders give important on objectives accomplishment through high level productivity, and ways to manage people and activities for achieving those objectives. People concern-Here leaders focus on their followers as people what their needs, interests, what their problems, how it can be development and so on. They are not simply units of production or means to an end. Directive leadership. This style is considered by leaders make decisions for others and desiring all the followers or subordinates will pursue that directions. Participative leadership. Here leaders take part in decision-making by sharing among others.(Wright 1996: 36-7) http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm, 6.00pm, 27th Aug 10  Wright, P. (1996) Managerial Leadership, London: Routledge.page-36-37 Charismatic Leadership: This theory is defined by Max Weber and mainly focuses on leaders charismatic characteristics. Through these characteristics leaders influence the followers and they can change anything. It is not possible to access these qualities by ordinary people generally they are extraordinary. They are like magic leaders they got special power to handle complex situations. Transactional Theories: (Introduction to educational leadership organizational behavior: theory into practice,Patti L. Chance, Chance, 2002,page.94) Ok -Leadership in Organizations: There Is a Difference Between Leaders and Managers, David I. Bertocci, University Press of America, 2009, page-48,49 This approach of leadership was most popular at that time and this is defined by Gibson, Ivancevich and Donnelly. It has some similar features with situational theories. Its a kind of leadership where leaders find out what the need of followers to achieve organisational performance as a means of rewards. In this theory has several assumptions like it motivates people through reward and get punishment for the cause of mistakes, followers know what they have to do according to direction for the purpose of getting rewards. Sometimes they use management by exception techniques. The transactional leader sometimes use Path-Goal theory as a framework but leader take all the responsibilities for setting goals, mission for gaining effectiveness. Transformational Theories: Followers are motivated and inspired by the transformation leaders and to achieve results more than desired. This is the most recent theories of leadership. This leadership ability based on different personality factors like charisma, person attention and rational recreation (page-49). Introduction to educational leadership organizational behavior: theory into practice-  By Patti L. Chance, Edward W. Chance, 2002, page-90, 95 There are several effects of transformational leadership defined by Bernard Bass and Bruce Avolio (1994) .These are as follows:- Motivating others to involve them in work from new perception Consciousness about what the mission of the organisation Developing ability of others to achieve performance at exceeds level Involved in determining the benefits of the organisations by motivating the beyond their attention as they could have. Theory X and Theory Y of Leadership: In 1960, Douglus and McGregor described this leadership theory that the activities of leaders are based on their thinking and considerations about the individuals at work. He also described the behaviour of leaders in two contrasting sets of bliefs.These are theory X and Theory Y. The assumptions of Theory X: Average individual do not like work and avoid if they can Individual need to keep pushing for achieving desired objectives by directing, controlling and threatening through giving punishment This approach can take actions The assumptions of Theory Y: People will work in their own responsibilities and control according to how they are committed. In common people have some qualities like creativeness and imaginativeness The average individuals are not only accepted but look for objectives. Leadership models currently using in different organisations: Now a day, most of the organisations are focusing on leaders behaviours, skills and attitudes that they must have and it is possible to develop those qualities. There are many leadership theories that have gained recognition in different organisational perspective. These are as follows- Situational leadership Transformational leadership Behavioural leadership (The leadership pocketbook, Fiona Elsa Dent 2003, page.09) Qualities of people in leadership positions: There are three levels of leadership positions in an organisation. These are strategic level, operational level and team level. A good leader should possess some good qualities to handle this position effectively and tactfully. These are as follows:- Good character Good personality Devotion Self confidence- this will help them to identify subordinates talent basically that will help the business to go up Good communication capability- it is very important for any business to run effectively without this it is impossible Good learner   it will help them to develop Risk taking ability Problem solving capability Relationships-this qualities need to maintain positive relationship in all areas Creative minded-this qualities help them to bring any change when there is esteem needs in order to sustain in the business for achieving high level of success Positive attitudes Servant leadership-decision making ability through considering the opinion attractiveness with business vision by stimulating the followers Bravery Innovative Good motivation power Leadership approaches for 21st century: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-65357214/behavioral-approach-leadership-implications.html,7:53pm,26th Aug 10 http://www.strategy-business.com/article/19405?gko=3b347,9.00pm,26th,july2010 Main points considering different leading organisations in US for the 21st century: Internationalization and Change in information Technology though change in organisational diversity. Todays most dominant leadership model is situational, transformational leadership model but these theories ignored behavioural approach. Most of the organisations now focusing on main diversity initiatives and it can tackle through behavioural approach of leadership. These diversity initiatives can only be implemented through behavioural approach in todays or tomorrows in the organisations. The main leadership challenges for 21st centurys are forces in market, issues of people and competencies of leadership. Forces in market: The organizational change at a macroeconomic level is mainly depends on market forces and as a result these forces will require further keep in eye from organizations and leaders. For these purposes, so these market forces create an impact on behaviours and desires of those in the market either in terms of demanding or supplying a good or service. These forces consist of increase in globalization as well as the formation of progressively more huge multinational organizations through mergers and takeovers. In compared to larger organizations, most industries grow economies of scale by distributing overhead expenses through production of more units. Through globalization organisations is now offering products and services in different countries and cultures, the market size is increasing and they are serving lot. The overall cost of reaching these global is reduced on the cause of technological advancement. Issues of people: People issues involve interaction with the staff of an organization. With the beginning of the 21st century, these people are involving in conventional full-time. People are now more interested on part-time jobs. Every year more and more people will be self-employed, temporary or part-time. In United States dependent work force the total number of full time worker is reducing day by In future, staff will have different hope and demands on their organizations. Mainly, the organisation will have to focus more on the employee-employer relationship than it did in the 20th century. With their increased complexity and globalization, organizations are demanding skills and abilities from their leaders that are only beginning to be understood, never mind mastered. One of the most important of these will be the ability to balance employee wants and customer requirements globally and effectively in upcoming years. Talent human capital will be the prime sources of success. Competencies of leadership: In 21st century world is going to be more competitive, more complex situations. Leaders must have to focus on vision and goals of the organisation. They will have to tackle situations on day-to-day basis, have to identify stakeholders for the purpose of developing people, have to devote in service. Another explanation of competencies will consist of: development and communication ability for maintaining it in a dynamic market and stimulating others to buy into it; helps in decision making by guiding employees at all levels; committing to a culture while aligning individual and corporate goals, gaining knowledge about development. Another new leadership approach for 21st century is Cross Enterprise Leadership. Cross Enterprise Leadership: Cross-Enterprise Leadership that can generate, capture and distribute worth not only in company but all over the network of companies. Secondly, this enterprise-leadership also meets the challenges of complex and dynamic enterprises. Thirdly, it is not possible to manage enterprise by one leader, so consequently it needs to be distributed. Finally, this approach requires changes to leadership and that must be possessed by conventional business leader. http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article.asp?intArticle_ID=629(10.00pm,26th aug10 ) The current all the theories mainly focus on physical, mental interactions of human in the organisations but spirituals contains. Spiritual leadership: This leadership supplies hope and belief in the organizations vision that will generally help followers to look forward to future. In other ways it can be described through the attitudes and behaviour of leaders that generates sense membership.      Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   In operational field, spiritual leadership deals with the values, attitudes, and behaviours of leaders that are indispensable to inherently motivate ones self and others. http://www.iispiritualleadership.com/spiritual/theory.php,8.0 pm,27th aug10 Comparison Of Leadership Theories Comparison Of Leadership Theories Leadership is the personnel ability which unites power and influence. It means that leadership not only needs power that position given but also needs inner influence that can attract the followers, change their behaviour, inspirit performance and final lead to achieve organizational goals. In the past half century, leadership theory has gone through sots of changes with continue development and improvement of trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory and transformational theory(Naylor.J). These four theories have substantial different in definitions; However,there is a progressive relationship that means the performance has increased though developing leadership theory. This essay will compare four leadership theories and take examples to comprehend clearly. Trait theory The trait theory in the earlier time was tend to researched some common characteristics or quality of outstanding leaders. The personal trait of the leader is the key factor of decision effectiveness of leadership.In other word, the leadership efficiency depends on the leaders traits. it has made a standard of leaders traits. therefore, an enterprise s effort could go toward this standard when cultivate leaders.Afterward,the employees will get reasonable development and the enterprise would gain benefit as well.However,as the trait theory ignore the subordinates needs, did not specify the relative importance between all kinds of characteristics , lacking of the distinction between cause and effect,and ignoring the situation factors, causes failure in explaining the leadership behavior. Example of Trait theory As a manager of a enterprise,Steve Jobs leads apple team beginning with only1300$ of Working capital to a development of Market value with 762 million dollars by the year of 2011.And from a family workshop with two people developed to nearly 50000 employees in the global.The success of Jobs is closely linked with his personal traits.In 1997,when he Became a chief executive of apple company,he made a vital decision which turn the crisis situation that he decrease the types of products from 350types to only 10types. Focus on research and development of 10 types product elaborately ,the company profit increased with high quality of productions.The leadership trait of assertiveness and decisiveness are fully presented though this example,and his intelligence, controlling with crisis can not be ignored as well. 2. Behavioural theory Behavioral theory emphasize the behavior of treating subordinates, it focus on concerning of people and production as well as the angle of superiors control and subordinates participation. Based preference of concern, it concludes tree main types of leadership which are Autocratic,Democratic and Laissez-faine.(Naylor.J)Contrast with trait theory, behavioral theory marks the leadership transformation that from single study for leaders characters tend to a wider range of leadership research.However,compare with contingency theory,behavioral theory seems less concern about the needs of situation, the influence of culture and the expectations of subordinators which are its shortage of leadership. Example of Behavioural theory A typical example of Autocratic leadership is STRONG company which is currently the worlds largest sales enterprise of jelly, pudding ,seaweed and other recreational kind of food.it has strict production chain,and concern more about production than staffs.In the workshop, the staffs just need to follow the strict standard during their work, its target is to product high quality and High output of food. Contrast to Autocratic leadership, the Democratic leadership is more friendly, an example is McDonald.Today the McDonald not only is a food industry but also a service industry,leaders need to communicate with staffs to meet their demands then they would work with enthusiasm and satisfaction, thus,gain better profit to company,staffs get more reward as well. 3.Contingency theory As the insufficient study of Trait theory and Behavioral theory , they have a common defect that ignoring the situational factors leads to disrupt in theory and practicality.Therefore,Contingency theory scholars in the study of the leadership taken situational factors into consideration. It though the interaction of personal leaders traits, behavior and work environment to explain the phenomenon of leadership.Contingency theory has the following three researches which are typical :1)Fiedlers contingency theory 2ÃÆ' ¯Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¼Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °Vroom and Yetton contingency theory,3)Pathgoal theory(Naylor.J). To a great extent, it closes the distance between leadership theory and the actual of leadership as well as meet the actual executives needs to leadership theory. While,there also are sots of situation need to take into the concern ,for example, the ability of leaders influence the subordinates and the role leaders play expected by subordinates. Example of contingency theory Leaders need to analysis situation elements of the different conditions and adopt different leadership to motivate subordinates, then realize effective management. For example,In the military,leaders have higher power , strict sense of discipline and high morale.The effective leadership is layer upon layer decree to make subordinate clearly of mission objectives. However, in a cooperative type of organization,using the way of commanding tasks would not work.Another example is Foxconn which is a high and new technology enterprise .Based on large scale of enterprise and hundreds of thousands of workers,it dose not have good interpersonal relations between subordinates and it have to put clearly task structure to different levels in the company, also need strong position power to lead such large number of workers. Due to these factors ,Foxconn have a military method and the task-orientated leader would be suitable to lead its workers. 4.Transformational leadership Transformational leadership theory links the role of leader and subordinates, it tries to improve both power and the moral level among leader and subordinates as well. Leaders who own transformational leadership though their behavior model like charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation and concern about subordinates to optimize members interaction of organization, then achieve their target and expectations. Therefore, transformational theory emphasize that leaders concern about individual demand levels and inspire work motivation of members to make maximum benefit. Since this theory attaches great importance to the human factor of management,however, human is a complex research object that means there are a lot of things worth our further to study. Example of Transformational leadership Transforming the role of leader and subordinates is a characteristic of transformational leadership that means leaders fully know their subordinates demands also though inspiration to obtain high expectation. McDonalds is one of the biggest and the most famous fast food groups à £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡its success is closely linked with perfect human resource management, before managers choosing inspiring method, leadership style, they set up the humanist management idea and fully understand the difference between the employees demands to give full play to the initiative ,enthusiasm and creativity.Afterwards,subordinates would feel individual consideration and satisfaction with their works.eventually,McDonald would gain the benefit though its leadership. Conclusion Based on above all analysis and comparison of leadership theory, it is clearly that leadership theory has been boosted a lot from the tait theory to the latest transformational theory with the development in the past half centaury. From Trait theory which just focus on researching leaders characteristics, turn to behavioral theory which tend to concern the influence of leaders behavior to their subordinates,while the contingency theory take the factor of different situations into leadership research that fill the gap of trait theory and behavioral theory,However, transformational theory is more comprehensive and flexible than other three theories.However, refer to changeful situations, leaders should choose appropriate theory to manage their subordinates. Moreover, the research of leadership is not stop, to be more systematic is the research direction in the future.

Social Interaction Activities In Public Spaces Cultural Studies Essay

Social Interaction Activities In Public Spaces Cultural Studies Essay These public spaces are used for various activities based on which the activities can be divided into necessary activities, optional activities, and social activities. Necessary activities include those, which are more or less compulsory going to school or work, shopping, going to supermarkets, waiting at bus stops or waiting for a person, running errands, distributing mails- in other words, all activities in which those involved are to a greater or lesser degree required to participate. In general, all everyday activities and pastimes are included in this group. The major activities included are most walking related ones. As these activities are necessary ones and will take place throughout the year, under nearly all conditions, and are more or less independent of the exterior environment. The participants have no choice. Optional activities this category includes such activities as taking a walk to get a breath of fresh air, standing around enjoying life, or sitting and sunbathing. These activities can only take place when the weather conditions are favorable. This relationship is particularly important in connection with physical planning because most of the recreational activities that are pleasant to pursue outdoors are found precisely in this category. These activities are especially dependent on exterior physical conditions. Social activities are those that depend on the presence of others in the public spaces. Social activities may include children at play, people greeting each other, a lot of communal activities. Simply seeing and talking to each other are also included in this category. Public spaces are of vital importance because they shape peoples experience about understanding the city and of the culture. They become the citys identity. Lawrence halprin describes this process: our collective perception of cities depends on the landscape of open spaces. In our imagination of cities it is these open spaces that we remember. They are the places where people congregate to walk and shop and picnic, to play and bicycle and drive. It is these places that we use and in which we encounter each other and participate in that communal life we call city. ( Halprin, 1981, p.4) This is a result of the way people use the city, the way they commute or travel around the city, the placement of major civic and public institutions, social and gathering spaces, ceremonial spaces, location of significant public events, and spaces for recreation and leisure. These places are an expression of the public culture of a city like the way pubic institutions are. They demonstrate the relationship between the state and the citizens and express the cultures urban values. Pubic space plays an important role in the citys social and environmental life. Public space is often mistaken as the space between two buildings or, merely the all the remaining spaces and street corners. Initially no thought was given to the planning of public spaces, buildings were considered more important. After placing all the structures and important buildings the remaining area was converted to public space. Buildings were considered as the life of cities and were made iconic. Lot of money, manpower and energy was spent in the make of an iconic structure. But an iconic building cant make a city iconic. What makes a city iconic are its public and open spaces and when these public spaces are actively used by people they add to the additional value. A public space is named public because of the people using it. It belongs to the public of that area or city. Everyone are free to use it and dont have to pay any entrance fee to use or access it. It is a place where people from all caste, culture, religion and age can come, sit or take advantage of. I believe that public space should be a place for everyone and that a place should not be defined by its designer, but by its user. Currently many public spaces are impersonal with little thought into the facilities offered for the people who use it. If local people do not feel connected to a place it decays and social interaction around the place is lost. The aim is to create engaging places; increases the enjoyment people have in those spaces; or add something to existing locations in order to encourage a positive response to that space where people interact with the environment and with each other. Elements of a public space. Any public space gets affected by a number of factors. There are reasons why a particular space is formed or you may say redesigned. Some spaces such as public squares or plazas were formed in the early 18th or early 19th century due to the revolution taking place. The main purpose behind creating these public spaces was that people could gather here during times of trouble or any event. Also these squares were centrally located so people could access them from anywhere plus they represented the citys history, culture and became iconic sites of the cities. They became one of the most visited tourist destinations. The centre square mostly contained important art or statues of the person responsible for the cities reform and formation. Some of them were formed due to the political scene of the city. During election times some party made some good public spaces. Some public spaces like street markets, parks, centre squares were formed or designed taken into account the citys social and cultural scene. While some of street markets were just formed by the local people or the community living there marking the culture of the space. Some spaces were just formed due to the citys demands and needs. Other factors which affect or make a public space are streets, climate, interaction, furniture, shopping, culture, playfulness, rallys, religions, money, demonstrations, events, material, health, legislation, policies, law and order, housing schemes, security, environment, crime scenes, government policies, art, architecture, construction details, local community and last but not the least people. In short the main factors which affect any public space are listed below: Political: mostly during countries reform or some election events and rallys Economic: the countries development affects its public space. Developed countries have different public spaces whereas developing ones have a different notion and atmosphere of public space. Cultural: the countries culture affects the public space the most. Its mostly reflected in the appearance of the public space. Social: the people living there are to ones which make their public spaces. Its said that people space their space and then in return the space shapes the people around. London as a cultural hub. From being home to many national treasures, museums, libraries, galleries and universities, London is also a centre for global and contemporary culture. London attracts many visitors for its popular and creative culture and also for its interactive informal exciting spaces. For example, you will see artists plating live music in most of the underground stations, theres live music going at Camden markets and other street markets. Also many stores and bookshops keep on holding any events and fares to attract customers. Its a city which makes peoples visit even more interesting, interactive, fun and makes every visit of theirs worthwhile. When compared to the other cities around the world, London leads with an impressive count. London is the largest city in Europe, with a dramatic variation of people from all ages and cultures offering a huge amount of design opportunities. Population of London is approximately 7 million. London has a diverse range of population, which comprises people from Asia, China, and Europe and also from the states. London also shows diversity in age of this population. You find young school going children, to university graduates, mid age office crowd and also a large number of old retired people. Also you will find a number of school, colleges, universities spread all around London. Because of which it has become a hub for students and learning. Also many international companies have their headquarters here, which make it business hub. The political scene in London appears to be quite stable. Thus all the above factors like, diverse culture, economic opportunities, age ratio, political stability, have made a huge impact on the public life and public places. Table 1.1 major cultural indicators (source: cultural audit, 2009) Indicator London New York Paris Shanghai Tokyo No. Of public galleries 92 N/A 59 6 40 No. Of specialist art HE institutions 12 7 3 15 N/A No. Of national museums 22 16 19 6 8 No. Of other museums 162 85 138 100 71 UNESCO world heritage sites 4 1 2 0 0 No. Of public libraries 395 255 303 248 369 Table 1.2 creative industries indicators ( source: cultural audit, 2009) Indicator London New York Paris Shanghai Tokyo No. Of music venues 400 151 122 148 132 Music performances per year 32.292 22,204 3612 11,736 7419 Theatrical performances per yr 17,295 12,045 15,598 3117 8281 No. Of theatres concert halls 215 111 158 137 132 No. Of cinemas 105 264 88 49 105 No. Of bookshops 927 498 1,076 300 N/A No. Of nightclubs, discos etc 306 279 277 N/A N/A No. O festivals. 200 81 40 22 N/A Social interaction: important element of public spaces. They are our streetscapes and promenades According to us gardens, parks, squares are all the spaces that make a public space. This belief is not incorrect but has to transform. We need to widen our views and think of the bigger picture. We conveniently forget about the streets, paths and the roads on which we travel everyday or rather use daily. We dont consider the above ones as public spaces, but if looked in detailed these are the ones, which are used publicly the most. We dont appreciate but these spaces offer a great deal to our lives than any other spaces. These streets and pathways is where maximum interaction takes place. Meeting people, talking to each other, greeting one another, flirting, talking over the phone while waiting for the bus, queuing at he bus stop, all these activities leads to interaction and takes place on the streets, pathway, and bus stops which we generally use for walking, travelling and to reach out to our final destination. All we expect from these connecting spaces is a flat paved area to walk on, a dustbin, sometimes a bench to sit to munch on a sandwich or sip coffee. A place where maximum interaction takes place offers us very little in terms of services and activities. All the attention is mostly given to the redesigning and improvement of parks, squares and the everyday active streets and pathways are always neglected. These spaces have always been overlooked and taken granted for. The streets and pathways become like a lunch place for those who dont have time to go to a restaurant and for those whos lunch just comprises of grabbing a sandwich and eating on the streets or the bus stops. Even with many coffee shops or restaurant options we still like to munch on the noisy streets or sip coffee looking at the people pass by. The main reason behind this is that we love people, we like to watch people, we like interaction. Even though we eat alone on the streets the sense of people being around makes us feel less lonely. Generally, these spaces whish are used daily have been neglected by the government and remain unimproved. Its the local community or some private organizations or simply the people residing in the nearby areas, which come ahead and make arrangements to make these spaces better. They make a sincere effort to convert these unpleasant under walks to cleaner, brighter and fresher places. Pleasant spaces that make our daily commuting journey memorable. Same way if the government looked into this matter and offered more to people using them, it would not only make our journey pleasant but also would make it healthier. For example, if the streets and pathways are made better by putting new paving, made wider, installed with street furniture where people can sit, talk with each other, munch a sandwich or sip coffee, it would encourage people to walk down the corner or use cycles instead of cars for shorter distance, in a way also helping in a healthier, greener environment. A small change ca n make a big impact on our lives. Same way making small changes on our everyday streets and pathways can have a huge impact on our lives. They would make our journeys memorable, pleasurable and healthier. Below are some case studies where streets and pathways are considered as public spaces and redesigned taking people into account and offering them what they demand for. People are better than no people The above saying is said by an old woman counting her last breaths at a hospital bed, surrounded by a few nurses and a doctor she said people are better than no people. Even during her last few hours she wished for people, she wished someone was there at her side during her last few hours. She wished her people were there beside her to make her feel secure and comfortable. Even though she couldnt talk much she longed to see her loved ones. Just the sight of a few nurses and the doctor made her comfortable and secure even during the most dreadful moment. She said even if we arent in talking terms with some of our loved ones just a sight of them is worth it than staying alone and dying a lonely death. It applies the same way to others also, to share our happiness, to exchange the bad news in the most dreadful of all moments, in loneliness, in life and death we need people around. Even if not to share, the visual sight of people being around or just a person around makes us breathe a sign of relief. More than the need or necessity its the psychological factor because of which we long to see people or just a person around and need some physical contact. Hence more than the need, necessity and longing its the psychology and human behavior that leads us to talk to other people and interact. Socializing, communicating or meeting other people has a lot of other advantages than just the psychological factor. Firstly the good part is that we interact and talk to people, talking to other people teaches us a lot of things. We express our thoughts, our feelings, and our views. We share our happiness and sadness; we share our griefs and beliefs. They say that our happiness multiplies when sha red with someone, while our grief minuses when told to someone. Great ideas come from others, same way, talking to others, sharing views leads to some new innovation everyday. Speaking to someone we acquire knowledge about a lot of things before unknown to us, like, we learn new things about the city, about the culture, history of the city. We understand new traditions and cultures. We get to know people from diverse cultures and their ideas about life, philosophy and lifestyle. We gain knowledge about the daily happenings, city status, country status, the latest news, political and social endeavors, weather updates, season changes, news about social events, sports activities, background information and many other things. Finding out new things or getting to know about the happenings increases excitement in us. A research also shows that talking to people reduces stress and tension. Refrence. Apart from acquiring knowledge a lot of other things are also learnt from interaction, like , we laugh, we inspire, we get inspired, we share, we learn, listen, we fight, we pray, we hope and the most important thing is we care. All these emotions are very important to lead a healthy, happy and normal life. http://www.wikihow.com/Relieve-Stress http://www.essortment.com/all/stressreliefte_psh.htm http://www.tipsforpanicattacks.net/waystorelievestress.html THE DESIGN It all started with giving something more to people than they actually deserved, especially at spaces which they used daily. These spaces were not parks or gardens but spaces like the streets, pathways which people used daily to travel, walk and reach their destination. Spaces were maximum interaction takes place unintentionally and which still have the capability to give more. Spaces where maximum people are already present, and all you have to do is give them some character, some urge, some environment, some force to interact. For the same I couldnt think of a place other than a local bus stop. A bus stop is one such place, which is accessed by one and all. Its a connecting or you may say a waiting point for people going to work, children travelling to school, people going to church, people going for grocery shopping or any other social activities. Its a waiting hub for a diverse range of people. You see people from different cultures, different age groups, different communities and religion waiting for a single purpose called commuting. Where you have so many people around and waiting, why not provide some interesting features and make their wait fun? Why not create an environment which forces people to interact, to talk to each other? Thinking on the same lines, it was possible to make peoples journey more fun, more interesting and more exciting. A wait in an environment where people interact with each other without realizing they are forced to do so. For the same, the bus stop chosen was a local one called Christchurch located near the ealing broadway tube station, west London. This bus stop is on the uxbridge road and is the closest to the mall, church, tube station, shopping stores, banks etc. Plus all the buses travelling towards uxbridge make a stop here. Its the centre of all the major activities, filled with people waiting for the bus almost at any time of the day. A live survey was done at the same bus stop al day long for three consecutive days. Busiest being the morning hours from 8.00 am to 10.00 am and the evenings from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm. The mornings and evenings at the mentioned time above you usually see a lot of office crowd, and the rest of the day specially at noon hours you meet a lot of old people. After interviewing most of the people it was found that waiting at the bus stop had been one of their major and daily activities. Specially the older people, their routine considers of going to the bus stop, then grocery store, then back to bus stop and then back home. The main reason of having this routine is meeting people at the grocery store, having some kind of interaction with at least the sales person or even with come of them at the bus stop. Inteviews HOW DID YOU COME TO THE CONCUSION FURNITURE IS BEST FOR INTERACTION. WHY FURNITURE Examples of good public spaces Millennium Park Various designers Chicago, USA (2005) Millennium Park is a massive 10-hectare project based in Chicago at a central location is a combination of art, architecture and landscape design as a single public space design. It was a 450 million dollar budget, centrally located and can be used as a public event space or even as an informal space. Its a major destination for all recreational activities. The project was created with an initial idea to create a green park to block the unattractive railway lines and car parks, which had strewn the lakefront. These tracks and car parks were seen since the city had neglected the lake and its development. A simple project, which has turned out to be the most ambitious project in USA and one of the most successful public spaces in terms of aesthetics and the use by people. A perfect park with a blend of space, form and function, which bring people together for recreation, interaction and fun contributing to a healthier life. The park has different elements designed by great architects and artists. Like at the centre of the park is a pavilion designed by Frank Gehry, which is used as an outdoor space for events, concerts and other social gatherings. It consists of a proscenium surrounded by Gehrys trademark curves of stainless steel with a large steel trellis spanning the entire auditorium. Connected to the pavilion is the first bridge project which spans from Columbus drive, linking millennium park to daley bicentennial plaza and Chicago lakefront system. Connecting all the major points, and people can take a walk through all. Another interesting element is an elliptical jellybean shaped sculpture by Artist Anish Kapoor, a graduate from University of Arts London, and his first public project in USA.its called the bean because its shape is like a bean. The elliptical jelly is inspired by the liquid mercury, and made of steel, so it reflects the city, clouds and people. Its makes us look at our feel that w e are responsible for our city, our people, and the environment we live in. Its also a way to showcase the beautiful Chicago skyline and weather with people along. Another sculpture is a crown fountain designed by artist Laume Plensa, from Spain. The fountain comprises of black granite reflecting pool, placed between two glass block towers. The glass block towers are 15.24m high and at each end of the reflecting pool. They display graphic animation videos and photos, which are constantly changing with the help of LED lights. This was one of the most notable works done by artist Laume Plensa, and is highly successful. It took about 18 million dollars to build this fountain, but the good thing is that it encouraged physical interaction between people and water. Most of the pictures and videos displayed on the tower are mostly of people from Chicago. So most of the people come to see this fountain hoping to see themselves on the tower. Its a perfect public play area, an interaction space and also an area to beat the heat during summers. Another interesting element is the garden located near the pavilion designed by the team of Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel. The garden is a combination of architecture, planning and lighting. The garden contains a variety of spaces, which helps people enjoy and encourages interaction. It contains small and large spaces, pedestrian areas, pathways etc. that invites more and more people. The millennium park is a perfect blend of pavilions, bridges, parks, sculpture, and art designed by various and famous artists and architects from all around the globe. Its a park which has all activities going on, thanks to the different elements present in it, like the pavilion, the elliptical bean shaped sculpture, the fountain, garden, and the bridge. With elements all over it attracts people and encourages interaction, being a perfect communities space. Though it contains sculpture and structures been designed taking into account peoples need, citys demand, environment, atmosphere but also doesnt neglect aesthetics. USF SQUARE 3RW Architects Bergen, Norway This public space was designed by local architects called 3RW architects and is situated in the Norwegian city of Bergen. This space was initially a car park, which used to be dusty in summer, filled with puddles in rains and slippery in winter. It needed a practical solution and redesigning hence it was decided to cover the whole area with concrete surface. This plaza is used as an artist workshop and also as a restaurant. During the redesign the clients initially wanted a stepped plaza, but the architects convinced to have a sloping concrete surface. They made it as a concrete surface so that it would be rough enough and be less slippery especially during the wet icy weather. A special arrangement is made during winters, heating elements were laid under the concrete so the ice melts and can be used as a public area no matter any weather conditions. This plaza also leads to the cultural centre. Concrete was laid in a grid of 16ft X 16ft and fitted with corten steel strips to create dividers and make shallow gaps. To help make this place interesting at night fibre optics were put into two glass boxes in concrete. An architectural solution to help people use the public space any time they needed to enjoy the weather, have some recreation, interaction and fun. A space to near the water body, a calm restaurant invites many people and helps to promote social interaction. New public spaces The growth of community led projects is creating public space that has a very local and specific uses related to local needs and physical qualities and features of their local environment. Give the people something different Serpentine pavilion Kensington garden, London. Serpentine pavilion is a different kind of public space, situated in Kensington gardens in London. Kensington garden is a huge park with people visiting at all times. To make it more exciting and invite more people

Emma Bovary - searching for oranges on apple trees? :: essays research papers

To state that Emma Bovary, the heroine of Flaubert’s epic Madame Bovary, looks for oranges on apple trees and refuses to eat apples is a gross over-simplification. Emma would be no happier with oranges than she would be with apples. In fact, if her taste in fruit is anything like her taste in men, she would probably insist on a fruit with all of her desired qualities - perhaps a cross between the consistency of an apple, the fibre of an orange, the vitamins of a blackcurrant and the taste of a strawberry. In saying this, however, the statement is entirely accurate in that Emma is searching for the wrong things in the wrong places and is bitterly disappointed in not finding them as she desires. To analyse Emma Bovary is a difficult assignment, due to the very complex and often contradictory nature of her character, and the many opposing critical theories that have been written since her ‘death’ over 150 years ago. Flaubert’s determination to â€Å"remain outside of his book and to assume the role of a manipulator of marionettes† adds to this sense of mystery surrounding Emma Bovary, who is essentially a confused young woman, trapped in a stifling society who tries so desperately to be something she is not. She is a woman so fixated on creating the life she dreams of that she eventually self-destructs, a broken and dejected victim. Before discussing in detail the various elements of her personality, it is necessary to highlight the social position she is involuntarily placed in. This will in turn give rise to, and in many cases explanation for, the way in which she responds to various events in her life, and therein revealing her true colours. Emma is born a woman in France during the early 19th Century, and as such is doomed from the start to be a victim of the misogynistic bourgeoisie. As was the case for all women at the time, Emma was completely reliant on Charles to provide the quality of life she desired – and indeed her very identity – as she was not in a position that she could exercise such control herself. In marrying Charles, she ceased to exist as Mademoiselle Emma Rouault, and simply became Madame Charles Bovary, the doctor’s wife. Emma realised that she had blown her only chance to pursue the life she felt she deserved. â€Å"Pourquoi, mon Dieu! me suis-je marià ©e?