Table with emergency situations

Explain the visitors' procedures and wait for a member of management to attend. Depending on the circumstances management will call the police to report the incident. However should the intruder become agitated they will gain the attention of another staff member who will contact the police. Should the person leaves prior to the police arrival staff will take note of the direction and means of transport which will then be passed on to the reporting officer. Verbally ask the person not to return the school again whilst in the presence of the police.Review security immediately Log incident and actions as soon as possible. Missing child or young person Upon Discovering a child is Missing Notify immediately the class teacher. If the teacher is not available for whatever reason they must inform the classroom support staff if there is one, or, if there is not, the nearest available teacher. They should state the name of the child (if known) or a description of the child (if the child's nam e is not known to them), what the child was last seen doing and where, and how long since they last saw the child.Thereafter they should assist with any organized reach for the child as directed by the class teacher or the Head teacher. Conduct a search of the immediate surroundings, I. E. Indoors, in the classroom (looking under tables, work surfaces and other possible hiding places such as cupboards), adjacent work areas and classrooms, nearby cloakrooms and toilets. Outdoors – in the immediate area where the child was last seen including looking under bushes and up trees etc.The teacher should quickly arrange for another adult (e. G. Support staff or neighboring teacher) to supervise their class while they conduct any search away from the lass for which they are responsible. If this initial search does not find the child the teacher shall begin a wider search of the school buildings and grounds including searching public areas in other parts of the school e. G. Library are as, toilet and cloakroom areas, corridors, hall etc.If this search does not discover the missing child within a reasonable time the teacher must inform the Head teacher (directly or via the school office) Of the missing child and the facts surrounding the child's disappearance. The Headaches will: Take charge of the situation. If satisfied that the class is adequately supervised the Head teacher will join the teacher (and support staff if applicable) in searching the school premises for the missing child directing the teacher (and others) where to search (e. G. Hill he searches externally, the teacher searches internally) Alternatively, the Head teacher may direct the teacher (or support staff) to return to their class in order to continue supervising the class and to be a familiar adult should the missing child return to their classroom. In this situation the Head teacher will continue the search alone or with other available adults. When the Head teacher is satisfied that the chil d is not on the premises he will instruct the office staff to contact the child's parents and inform them of the situation and to enquire if the child has returned home.

Gladstones social and economic reforms in his first ministry Essay

Gladstone’s first ministry (1868-74) was elected in favour of Disraeli’s Conservatives, despite the fact that it was the Conservative Party which passed the Second Reform Bill, because the electorate felt that Gladstone had consistently supported reform. As such, his ministry passed many reforms in their first tenure. There are a range of criteria by which these reforms can be deemed successful, and many interpretations of Gladstone’s reform programme. One interpretation of the reforms of Gladstone’s first ministry is that it was, in the words of historian E. J. Feuchtwanger, a â€Å"great reforming ministry†. In terms of social reform, there is much to commend this view. Although far from the most notable reform carried out by this ministry, the Married Women’s Property Act (1869), which gave married women legal status and allowed women to keep à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200 of their own earnings, was one of the most important pieces of legislation regarding women’s rights. The Education Act of 1870 also made advances in gender equality, as it made provision for girls to attend school, leading to the suffragette movements in 1918 and 1928. So, in terms of women’s rights, the social reforms of this ministry can be judged a success, as although the changes may not seem hugely significant, they were the foundations for further campaigns and reforms. The 1870 Education Act greatly pleased the working classes and in dicated a move away from laissez-faire in government legislation, but it also caused divisions in terms of religious teachings, with Catholics clashing with Anglicans. However, the short-term drawbacks are dwarfed by the protracted consequences and the benefits therein. It is clear at this juncture that Gladstone’s ministry was committed to extensive reform. The Cardwell Reforms of 1872 concerning the British Army were more focused on making the Army a more efficient Imperial force, and the Judicature Act of 1873 aimed to simplify the British legal system, establishing a single Supreme Court of Judicature and tidying up the organisation and roles of the courts. Both of these measures show effective and logical attempts to cut public expenditure and count as unequivocal successes, despite opposition from the House of Lords and Queen Victoria with regards to the Cardwell Reforms. The Irish Church Disestablishment Act (1869) showed a willingness by Gladstone to make concessions in Ireland in order to maintain peace. The reforms of this ministry, then, can be deemed successful when judged against Gladstone’s own aims of ‘peace, retrenchment and reform’. In terms of economic reform, Gladstone’s ministry was perhaps less successful: entry to the Civil Service on the basis of a competitive exam (introduced in 1870) qualified as a success in terms of ‘reform’ and ‘retrenchment’; in terms of clear economic policy, however, there was very little done by the ministry, perhaps because the economy was faring well and did not require government intervention. So, it can be seen that the programme of reform passed by Gladstone’s first ministry, although not complete successes, consisted of effective and progressive changes which shaped the future of the country. The ministry reformed with good intentions, and impr oved efficiency of some the nation’s key institutions. However, another interpretation of these reforms is that they were not part of a ‘programme’ at all; more that they were a series of unplanned reforms that alienated supporters. The aforementioned Education Act is a good example of one of the main problems with even the most successful reforms made by Gladstone’s ministry: while they may have appeased or please one faction of the population, they served to alienate or anger another. Sometimes reforms alienated two sides: the 1872 Licensing Act drew criticism from temperance groups like the United Kingdom Alliance for not being harsh enough on drinking, but also incurred the wrath of the working classes whose access to beer was restricted. This mild piece of legislation had highly adverse consequences for the Liberal Party, and they further irritated the working classes through economic reform, namely the Trade Union Act and Criminal Law Amendment (1871). This Act and Amendment, which gave trade unions full legal rights before banning strikes and picketing, cost Gladstone a great deal of working class support, and shows a distinct lack of success in his aim of ‘reform’. However, the introduction of the Trade Union Act allowed for support of the whole labour movement, and can therefore be seen as a long-term answer to an omnipresent problem. Reduction in income tax in 1874, from 6d. to 3d. in the pound may have satisfied the people and given stimulus to the economy through higher general spending, follows the Gladstonian aim of ‘retrenchment’ in one sense, as it gives the government less to spend, but it may also mean that more progressive measures are not taken as a result of cost. In terms of Gladstone’s aim at ‘peace’, his ministry was again arguably unsuccessful. While the Irish Church Disestablishment Act was a progressive concession to the Irish, it heightened expectations in Ireland, which in turn increased the chances of future unrest. Again, Gladstone’s ministry fail to preserve ‘peace’, then. Cardwell’s abolition of the purchase of commissions caused outrage in the elite classes and obscured the far-sightedness of other army reforms. A pattern is emerging: Gladstone’s reforms seem to irritate every single faction of the population (even Queen Victoria, who opposed the Cardwell Reforms), and this cost his ministry so much support that the Liberals lost the 1874 elections. This is not the mark of a successful ministry, and it can thus be said that, although Gladstone’s ministry may have had good intentions, the haphazard and unstructured programme of reforms single-handedly lost them the subsequent elections, qualifying these reforms as unsuccessful. Perhaps it would be most prudent to argue that although Gladstone lost support in the short-term, his ministry reformed with regards to the future. Theirs was a far-reaching and innovative programme of reform, and it covered a wide breadth of areas, from women’s rights to army reform. At the cost of support and a consecutive term in government, in a fashion similar to Peel and his Corn Law Repeal, Gladstone’s ministry pushed through many unpopular but effective reforms. And although to proclaim that his first ministry was ‘one of the finest instruments of government that ever were constructed’ may be rather hyperbolic, it worked with honest aims at progressive reform, rather than the more cynical reform of the preceding Disraeli administration. A successful programme, then, with bad consequences for the party.

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary Every individual holds stereotypes. A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (pg. 730) as: ‘a relatively fixed and oversimplified generalisation about a group or class of people, usually focusing on negative or unfavourable characteristics’. When people put too much faith in stereotypical descriptions of people they can become prejudiced and can often discriminate against other groups. This can be very harmful and has led to countless atrocities, such as the racial purging of the Jews by the Nazis. Prejudices still are being fought through laws, such as Equal Opportunities legislation. However, the subject being discussed is not whether stereotypes are harmful or justifiable; it is whether they have a practical purpose, or are wasteful. It is generally the common consensus that stereotyping and prejudice should not continue. However without stereotypes we may find the social world a lot harder to perceive and understand. We rely on stereotypes to h elp us function in society. With such a diverse population, the environment we live in could be very confusing. Unfortunately stereotypes may block out a lot of what makes our society so diverse and just group people into simple categories. They may also affect peoples’ choices in life. Career paths people may want to take could seem inappropriate for someone in their group and so are avoided. From an evolutionary standpoint, stereotypes must have a use because they exist. People start creating stereotypes from a very young age and they are hard to break. However, having a purpose doesn’t exclude the fact that stereotypes are wasteful. The main beneficial use of stereotypes is that they greatly speed up cognitive processing. The world is full of people, they all look unique and the all behave differently. If each person chose to actively perceive and evaluate every individual they encountered, there wouldn’t be much time for anything else. This is why stereotype s exist. People can glance around a room, see a spectrum of faces and not have to stop to think about each person. This frees up the brain for more important tasks. Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen (1994) as cited by Taylor, Peplau, & Sears (pg. 184). conducted an experiment to see if the priming of stereotypes can leave the brain freer to process other information. Students were presented with a list of trait words for an individual and, at the same time, information about Indonesia. Half of these students were first given a group label for the individual, e.g. Black or Italian. Those given the group label remembered more traits that were label consistent and more information about Indonesia. This demonstrates that stereotypes make the social world a lot easier to process and are definitely very useful. However, this oversimplification of the world we see can lead us to prejudice against other groups, and can lead to discrimination. People often look only at the negative characteristic s of a group. In doing this we may waste the important contributions that these different groups’ perspectives can offer. Taylor, Fiske, Eticoff, & Ruderman (1978) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 185) asked participants to observe a conversation between people of a mix of races. When asked to remember which individual made certain contributions the participants would often only be able to remember the race of the individual. This shows that people often place far too much emphasis on group membership and can ignore the attributes of the individual. This can lead people to ignore information that comes from a source that they may deem inferior.

Business Management College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Management College - Essay Example In contrast to the statement under discussion, I feel that man has a very strong urge to maximize. If it was not so then the world we are living in today, would had been a much different and under developed place to be in. The crux of all this can be derived from the fact that growth of business, multiplicity of business - man starts with one and keeps on maximizing the product numbers and range to grow higher and higher etc. is not possible without the man's inherent nature to maximize. The industry is replete with examples of businesses being started as local businesses and then becoming national and finally global. Man is always looking for avenues of expansion. We keep expanding and maximizing. Our society or the consumer at large has always wanted to maximize its satisfaction. The role of business is to create avenues and give options so that this desire can be fulfilled in the best possible way. By doing so the goal of maximizing profits by the production and sale of products and services that in turn maximizes the satisfaction of the society at large gets fulfilled too. Without maximization the implications on the business would have been such that there would have been a dramatically poor growth of the world and its economy. The thought of the world we are living in now would have meant a very bizarre scenario without any sign of reality. It would have been treated as a dream, which would never ever become true. The vast and rapid changes that have overwhelmed us over the years are the fruit of the nature of maximization inherent in man. Because of the nature of maximization in man, we are confident that the entire global economy and business scenario is destined to see escalating growth in future. Due to the man's nature of maximizing the business that is being done all over is real and not a mere vision. Today the issue of diversification is a hot subject in the business circuit. What is diversification Through it the different businesses try to expand their business. What is expansion It is - the will to maximize. Then can a statement like "It is not in man's nature to maximize" be true No matter what the product is, diversification has always been in the agenda. For example those who are selling chocolates are diversifying in the field of biscuits and other related or unrelated products. Those who are selling magazines wish to launch targeted new editions. They try to offer demographic selectivity to the customers. Apart from their regular issues they try to take out demographic editions like - editions for the affluent readers, for health conscious people, for those who love traveling, for 60 plus people etc. These are just the examples of two products opting for maximization of their products and naturally their profits. There are thousands of products in the market. Every busin ess is adopting some or the other agenda of expansion. Hence using the path of maximization everyone is trying to maximize the positive implications of their businesses. Apart from diversification, innovation is also becoming a buzzword. According to Hegde and Krishna (1993. p. 40) "Yet another example of maximizing opportunity to "innovate and excel" has been that of two men who indeed strove to "electrify" our world of today - the German, Werner Von Siemens who created the electric generator and the American, Thomas

Critical Communication Event on the Internet Essay

Critical Communication Event on the Internet - Essay Example The responsibility of the press to relay messages in such incidences was seen to come out very clearly. The public seemed to be very aware of the happenings at that particular time. The media did not assume its role in concealing information but portrayed the information to the mass just as the events unfold. The issue of size policy in relation to the Southwest Airlines came out clearly. With the news, the customers were much enlightened on who they would be dealing with the next time they use the Southwest airlines. With the freedom of the press, many journalists attempted to conduct interview with Emery Orto to have a clear understanding on the views regarding to the issue. From the journalists’, judgment on various online articles, Orto seemed to have an irrational attitude and his communication with the authorities was not at all pleasant. Not only was it his size barred him from flying but his rude approach on the authorities. With the freedom of the press, each and every person is given an opportunity to air their views, in our case study, the huge person, Orto, and the refusal to board on the plane by the Southwest Airlines

Artificial sweeteners Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Artificial sweeteners - Research Paper Example This paper will be about the different brands and types of artificial sweeteners. The focus will be on the effects it has on humans vs. animals. It will explain the safety and hazards of each substance. There are different types of artificial sweeteners that differ from their extract classification. They are large divisions of sugar substitute market, where companies vary from producing it with zero or low calories (Swithers and Davidson 10). There are at least six types of artificial sweeteners (Jaffe 4). Karl Claus who was a chemist discovered the artificial sweetener in 1967. It was approved 1998 for use in beverage. Acesulfame potassium is believed to be 200 times sweeter than the sugar we are used to, and has no calories in it. It is found in beverages, breath mints and baked foods. This type of artificial sweetener is the newest sweetener. Neotame was approved in 2002 as a general sweetener. It has no calories in it, and it sweetness is7000 to 13000 times. Neotame is found in gelatins, puddings, syrups, toppings, jellies, frozen desserts, soft drinks and baked foods. This was the first artificial sweetener discovered in 1879. It was discovered by Constantine Fahiberg as he was working at johns Hopkins University as he was doing a research on the oxidation mechanism. Saccharin has no calories, and it is sweeter than the normal sugar more than 300 times. Biologically, it is not absorbed in the body or metabolized. It is used to sweeten various products ant still used in cosmetics products. Tate and Lyle discovered Sucralose in 1979. Compared to sugar, it is 600 times sweeter and contains no calories in it. The FDA approved it in 1998, where it is used in fifteen different categories of food, including tabletop sweetener. Sucralose is used in frozen desserts, fruit juices, gelatins, chewing gum and beverages. The FDA latter expanded it in 1999 as a general

Quality in Business Terms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Quality in Business Terms - Research Paper Example Quality can be conditional, perpetual or subjective with respect to different businesses and different people. The concept quality is seen differently by different people and different businesses. Quality is also judged differently by different departments within the businesses (Reeves & Bednar, 1994). Quality is judged differently by customers of the business so the business also has to look at the customer’s perspective of perceiving quality. Like we can say the quality for the producer of the products is differently perceived and is measured based on the conformance of quality or may also be judged based on the degree to which the service or product has been produced in a correct way (Lee, Strong, Kahn & Wang, 2002). The report further dwells on the analysis of the term quality within the context of five aspects and has a conclusion based on the overall analysis. Quality in Business Terms In this competitive business world the term quality in terms of business can be define d as meeting the expectations and needs of the customers and consumers of the service and products. Quality in business is the relation between the business, its product, and customer. Through continuous assessment, analysis and by meeting all needs of the customer, process, business and its employees, this relationship is maintained. Quality may include several aspects in business terms but there is no specific definition in which quality can be defined. The term business is dynamic and cannot be summarized in the single area of working (Huxtable, 1994). Quality in business can be defined in various ways. One way is to define quality in terms of the relationship which business shares with its product and customers. The other way of defining quality in terms of business can be through customer’s perception of how they value the product. The human factor and process cannot be separated, thus, when a quality is built and provided in a product it generates attachment, feelings, and emotions within creator of the product. When this product brings smiles to customer’s face, then here quality is probably achieved. The product is of low quality if the potential customer does not find it is worth buying. But this definition of quality in business is not applicable everywhere. When it comes to manufacturing or industry then the quality is perceived as the relation between a product and a customer (Gordon, 2002). The definition of quality in business terms depends on the purpose. But whatever purpose we take, the main factor would always be satisfying customers’ need and meeting their expectations. If it’s about the customer then quality is meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations. Expectations may include the performance of the product, its appearance, availability when required, delivery, reliability, price, and cost-effectiveness of the product, as well as its maintainability.

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance Research Proposal

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance visibility - Research Proposal Example Another pointer to the need for an ERP is when the existing system is unable to support the needs of the organization or when many resources are required to maintain and support the organizational activities. Growth of an organization leading to incompatibility of the various information systems used is also a driving force towards adoption of ERP. Lastly, when organizational employees are unable to respond to questions from their key suppliers and customers, it is time to implement an ERP system (Awad and Nassar 3). In the current world, the main question is not whether to implement an ERP system, but what system they should implement (Awad and Nassar 2). Consequently, once an organization has decided to implement an ERP system, the next step should be deciding on how such project would be undertaken and the goals of such a venture. At this stage, the organization determines the functionalities and modules to be included into the new system. According to Awad and Nassar, installatio n of ERP system demands that companies be able to match its business process to the functioning of the ERP systems (3). Additionally, in implementation of ERP there is a need for the organization to fully understand all the requirements which come with such an initiative. The top management must be willing to support the installation of ERP even after completion of the project by offering education to all employees (Carter et al. 23). According to Jitpaiboon, consolidation of the enterprise resource plan in an organization is critical for its global strategy (2). Consolidation of enterprise resource planning is critical in automating all the functions needed for managing the various local operations. The most critical activities supported by ERP include customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (CRM) and accounting systems. Data stored in ERP system is critical in enabling the employees to gain visibility into consolidated and accurate information about busines s performance (Fawcett and Magnan 24). Furthermore, a well implemented ERP system is a key performance indicator (KPIs) needed by organizations to ensure achievement of the corporate objectives. Moreover, Awad and Nassar explain that an ERP solution can enhance transactional interoperability (3). Organizations can choose to implement ERP solutions for each business division or the entire business can adopt a single ERP system to standardize and centralize its key operations. The chosen configuration can have a significant impact on the ability of an organization to enhance visibility and ensure that they achieve all the operation functionalities envisioned during its development. For globalized organizations such as Thermo Fisher, it is critical to consolidate their business operations into a fewer ERP systems. Problem Statement Thermo Fisher is an international organization dealing with scientific equipment and reagents required for research, diagnostics, analysis and discovery. Th e company has annual revenue of around 11 billion USD and has about 37,000 employees (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Fitzgeralds Translation of Omar Khayyam Coursework

Fitzgeralds Translation of Omar Khayyam - Coursework Example The best part of his poems was composed during his youth in the quiet and beautiful landscape of Nishpur. The translated version of his famous Rubaiyat (Quatrains) was first published by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859, which made him famous throughout the Western world. "If the mood expressed in the famous Quatrains", says Gibbs, "is not the most heroic or exalted, none-the-less they caught the exact tone of the age, and voiced it as perfectly as eight centuries earlier they had voiced the published hedonism of the cultured society of Isfahan". "Postcolonialism" is the revaluation of Western culture's conception of itself in the light of the repressed history of exploitation of "other" peoples on which Western economic well-being and distribution of wealth is based (Robert 2003, p. 1). Postcolonial criticism is characterized by a skepticism concerning those liberal notions of moral and political justice which historically co-existed happily with iniquitous colonial practices. Consistent with this critique, it also tries to reformulate more plausible concepts for understanding what actually took place under colonialism, redeeming past events from colonial ideologies of improvement from liberation, and evolving new categories for mapping a resistant world from the colonized point of view. In discussing historical work of Omar Khayyam it becomes more and more natural to equate historical differences with cultural differences. The problems faced by the Edward Fitzgerald crossing historical boundaries are so similar to those of the cultural anthropologist that no apology for this conflation looks necessary. Both hermeneutical acts are so closely allied in procedure and intent that we easily forget their differences, or that one must, in some sense, be a metaphor for the other. Or perhaps 'metonym' for the other is more accurate, if assumption of that continuity with the past enabling dialogue is extended or reinforced by the parallel of interpreting Omar Khayyam's cultures. Since cultures are frequently contemporaneous with out own, they can, if allowed, talk back in a more straightforward manner than the past. Equally, interpreters of historical difference (like Fitzgerald) maintain the parallel at their end by understanding as a king of translation the effort by which they try to register the Omar's voice in which the past replies to their questions, a translation which may involve alterations to the language into which the translation passes. When Edward Fitzgerald entered the altered landscape of another culture, he chose not only to translate classical meanings into English meanings but also to "transpose"1 certain alien habits of speech and thought. He did this because, like all great poets, he cared about language and form, and knew that the language of English poetry itself would be strengthened and enriched by the minor violations to which he was willing to subject it. He also found the ancient world itself was far from being a uniform field. Edward Fitzgerald risks distorting the English language under the pressure of translating into it an alien form. But the deterrent of confronting difficulty is a strengthening and enriching of the poet's language. This

Truth-Telling and Confidentiality (TT&C) Precis Assignment Essay

Truth-Telling and Confidentiality (TT&C) Precis Assignment - Essay Example Secondly, he points out that we maintain our privacy so as to keep some aspect of our behavior or life a secret because if other people knows about these secrets it might be embarrassing for them. The third reason to maintain our privacy as he points out, mostly relates to an individual’s medical records. It is important to keep an individual’s medical record private in order to protect that individual from dealing with the consequences of making such record public. The last reason that Rachels points out, for maintaining our privacy is to protect individuals from giving too much information to corporate or institution that are just looking for a specific detail about the individual’s life (Rachels 156). However, Rachels argues that the reasons he has pointed out here does not give the complete understanding of why privacy is important for two reasons: First, they all bases on the unusual situation in which an individual has something to hide and might harm him if let out. Second, in another perspective, the invasions of privacy that result in harm or an embarrassment is objectionable because our sense of privacy cannot just be justified in terms our fear of embarrassment or harm (Rachels 157). He gives his account on the importance of privacy basing on social relationship and an individual’s appropriate behavior. He states that privacy is only important if we are to maintain our social relationship with different kinds of people that we would like to socialize with, since our relationship to other people mostly depends upon how we act towards them (Rachels 157). He further states that people vary the way they behave towards each other according to the social responsibility t hey have towards them. Similarly, Rachel further reiterates the importance of privacy basing on the individuals privacy and his or her personal relationship. According to this account, he argues that the ability of an individual to control who

The Danger of a Single Story According to Adichie Essay Example for Free

The Danger of a Single Story According to Adichie Essay 1. According to Adichie, how is Africa often described? According to her, Africa is often described as a place of beautiful landscapes and animals with incomprehensible people fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and aids. It is a continent of catastrophes where people are pitiful illiterate aborigines who have no possibility of being human equals. They are unable to speak for themselves and are waiting for foreigners to save them. All in all, Africa is a lowly continent with nothing more but scenic places with starving people. 2. Did it affect Africa? How? Yes, it affected Africa so much because it only showed all the negative sides of Africa and did not illustrate the beauty of the continent. It shows that Africa is a poor continent with even poorer people who does nothing to improve their lives. It does not indicate all the magnificence of the continent and the attributes of the people in it. Africa is degraded because of these inadequate and unfitting descriptions. 3. What is a single story? What is the power of single story? A single story is a view of something, somewhere or of someone that only shows one side of the coin. It is incomplete. It may have different versions but they all have the same view. For example, what if I tell you that Boracay is a dirty place where people have no regard for nature? The beach is filled with moss and there are plastics everywhere? What if all the things you have heard about Boracay is something like this? It doesn’t sound inviting, does it? But what if I tell you that those who disregard nature are punished and that they clean up all the rubbish they find. That Boracay is a paradise? Now that is a pleasing sight isn’t it? That is an example of what a single story is. It shows only one point of view. And from that point of view builds another story and so on that will not convey the whole truth about the topic. A single story can be very powerful indeed because it blinds people from a great deal of things. It shows things, places or people as one thing only and emphasizes on the differences and not the similarities. It can not only make a story but it can also make it the only story of that particular topic.

Organization Behavior and Leadership Essay Example for Free

Organization Behavior and Leadership Essay The Expectancy Theory of Motivation One of the most widely accepted theories of motivation is Victor Vrooms Expectancy Theory. â€Å"Expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.† (Robbins Judge, 2007, p.208) [i] In other words, employees will have the motivation to put forth a strong effort, if: They believe the effort will give them positive recognition. (This is called the â€Å"effort-performance† relationship.) That positive recognition must then lead to some kind of desirable reward, such as more money or an increase in status or power. (This is called the â€Å"performance-reward† relationship.) That reward must also be something that fulfills a personal goal for the employee. (This is called the â€Å"rewards-personal goals† relationship.) All three components need to be present for an individual to exert the kind of effort needed to be considered an intense motivation for action and performance of a duty or task. Lets consider the following example: A company that produces a high quality audio products has recently introduced a new production process in an effort to help the employees meet a goal of high production standards. Supervisor As team of employees are not doing well with the production process. Some do not strive to master the process, those that have mastered it are not putting forth effort to reach the goals, and even top-producers dont seem interested in achieving the goals. After speaking to some of Supervisor As team, Supervisor B has discovered that the following concerns are expressed by the team: Some do not feel they can be successful because they believe lack the dexterity needed to implement the process. Some feel that it is not worth the putting forth the extra effort to reach the goals because there is no difference in salary increase for those that meet the goals and those that do not. They believe that performance has to be very slow before it affects the rate of pay. They also say that when a bonus is given, after the withholdings are taken out, the bonus is so small that overtime actually is seen as better way to earn more money than trying to earn a bonus. This scenario lends itself to the perfect situation to implement the expectancy theory of motivation. The employees feel: That there is no recognition for achieving the goal. That there is no reward for achieving the goal. Since there is no recognition or reward, there is no opportunity for employees to evaluated their personal goals to see if reaching the performance goal will help to fulfill a personal goal. The company could implement the expectancy theory by enacting the following steps: Create a specific recognition for those that master process. For those that master the process bonuses can be implemented that exceed those monetary rewards that overtime would bring. Personally interview each employee to discover what their employment goals are and create a personalized plan to reach those goals, make mastering the process one of those steps needed to reach the personal goal. This plan would address all three components of the expectancy theory. However the plan should not be created as one-time policy implementation. Rather it should be tested and evaluated to discover what rewards and recognitions created the most effective levels of motivation. [ i ]. Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2007). Organization behavior. (12 ed., p. 208). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Ayatollah Khomeini and Gamal Abdul-Nasser Comparison

Ayatollah Khomeini and Gamal Abdul-Nasser Comparison Introduction: Ayatollah Khomeini and Gamal Abdul-Nasser have both played an important role in the historical activities of the 20th century in the Middle East. This is because their leadership was revolutionary, and they played a role in changing the various governments that existed in Egypt, and Iran. It is important to understand that the regimes in Iran and Egypt were monarchies, at the time, and the two leaders led their followers in overthrowing these regimes. The revolutions in Iran and Egypt occurred under different contexts, or social backgrounds. For example, the revolution in Iran occurred when the country was enjoying economic and political prosperity. However, this assertion is contested. This is because at the time of the revolution, Iran was experiencing un-employment rate of approximately 30%[1]. Unemployment is one of the indicators of poor development and economic growth. Based on this fact, the assertion that Iran was politically and economically stable is false, and does not hol d any ground. On the other hand, the revolution in Egypt occurred when the country was experiencing a series of poor political and economic governance. Despite the differences in these revolutions, and the two leaders, Gamal Abdul Nasser and Ayatollah Khomeini shared a lot of similarities as well as differences in their leadership structure and system[2]. One major similarity is that the two leaders were charismatic, and they sought to eliminate any form of opposition to their leadership. For instance, Nasser ordered a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that was opposing his leadership, while Ayatollah Khomeini sought to kill any political supporters of the Shah. This paper takes a stand that both Ayatollah Khomeini and Gamal Abdul-Nasser were charismatic leaders, who influenced their societies and people, despite their undemocratic systems of governance. Differences and Similarities between Abdel Nasser and Ayatollah Khomeini: Gamal Abdul Nasser was the second Egyptian president, and he began his presidency in the year 1956, to the time he died, which was in 1970. He played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Egyptian monarch in the year 1952, and as a result, he was rewarded with a post, as a deputy prime minister[3]. This is an indication that Gamal Abdul Nasser was an important leader to the revolutionaries, and he was held in high esteem. Furthermore, the power and authority that Gamal Abdul Nasser had is depicted when he managed to arrest President Muhammad Naguib, and place him under house arrest. This is an authority that a deputy prime minister cannot possess, and this is because the President is the head of the state and government. President Muhammad Naguib was a president by name, but he did not have real authority[4]. In the year 1956, a public referendum was able to grant him the presidency, and the adoption of the Egyptian constitution. Ayatollah Khomeini on the other hand, does not have any military background, but he was a religious scholar. He used religion to control his people, and consolidate power, after the revolution. One of the leadership styles of Abdul Nasser and Ayatollah Khomeini was authoritarianism[5]. President Nasser wanted complete loyalty from his subjects, and he did not condone any form of opposition. This is depicted in the manner in which he handled President Naguib, and this is because they had different ideological beliefs. Nasser was able to depose President Naguib, and he ordered an onslaught on thousands of people who were opposed to him. Nasser was able to take advantage of an attempted assassination on him, to crack down on any political opposition that he faced. This is depicted when he was able to dismiss and arrest any supporter of President Naguib, who was in t he army or the civil service. This is despite these people playing no role in his attempted assassination, or even having no links with the Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, President Naguib was placed under house arrest, and no trial was held to find out whether he had a role in this attempted assassination or not. This is an indication, that the government did not have any proof that the President played a role in the assassination of Gamal Nasser, however, it was a mechanism of ensuring that the opponents of Gamal were removed, so that he could transcend to power easily. The authoritarian nature of Nasser is further seen when he is trying to restrict the freedom of expression and information. Nasser was able to impose a series of controls on the media and press of the country. This is by issuing a decree that any publication had to acquire the approval of the governing party, which was referred to as the National Union. The major aim of these censures was to prevent the publication of any information that could compromise the character of Abdel Nasser and his leadership. This is a major characteristic of authoritarian regimes. Almost all authoritarian regimes normally prevent a free flow of information. This is as the case of Iran, under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. On assumption of leadership, the Ayatollah Khomeini was able to regulate any information that the media was providing[6]. He did not tolerate any criticism or opposition to his rule. Furthermore, he used the media to create a personality cult that revolved around him. The media therefore played an instrumental role in raising the profiles of Ayatollah Khomeini and President Nasser. This is because they regulated information, for purposes of depicting only the aspects that were favorable to them. Regulation of the media is an important characteristic of states which are not democratic. In fact, Ayatollah Khomeini did not hide the fact that he hated democracy. Khomeini referred to democracy as corruption, and an aspect that can destroy a country. Therefore, Ayatollah Khomeini denoted that anybody who was seeking to promote democracy would be oppressed and hanged[7]. This is an indication that democracy was not a favorable style of governance for Khomeini. Furthermore, he used religion to justify his style of governance. Khomeini argues that religion does not support any form of democracy, and therefore god has commanded for its abolition, and oppression of anybody supporting or practicing democracy. Religion plays an important role in shaping the be liefs and values of people. Khomeini realized this notion, and he therefore used religion to advance and protect his leadership. By citing the Quran, and using religious contexts such as the fatwa, Ayatollah Khomeini was able to consolidate his leadership. Fatwa was a religious term that indicated a death sentence to anybody who did not follow the provisions of Islam. Ayatollah Khomeini also did not accept any opposition, and he executed all his opponents, and the supporters of the Shah. Executions were the order of the day, during his leadership. By the time Khomeini was dying, he had executed approximately 30,000 people. Furthermore, Khomeini was able to oppress and ban political groups such as The Muslims Republican Party, and the National Democratic Front. This is because these groups were advocating for democratic reforms, and good governance. These are policies that Khomeini did not want to pursue. Nasser on the other hand did not believe in executions, or killing of his political opponents. All that he did was to exile or imprison his political opponents. A good example is President Naguib, whom he imprisoned, after which, he forced him to exile. Furthermore, unlike Khomeini, Nasser did not use religion to promote undemocratic behaviors. This is because he played a role in drafting the 1956 Egyptian constitution which did not recognize a multi-party system of governance. This constitution recognized Egypt as single party state, with the party under consideration called the National Union. This party dominated Egyptian politics, and nobody was permitted to vie for any political office, outside this party[8]. This is a characteristic of a state that is not democratic. Countries such as China, and the Soviet Union only allowed political competition within a one party system. Any competition outside the party was restricted, and not allowed. A one party system is normally used to advance the interests and aspirations of the people controlling the party. This is the reason Abdel Nasser was able to influence the constitution so that it could create a one party system of governance. Furthermore, he was in control of the party, and hence he was assured of its leadership, if the constitution was passed through a popular initiative. Furthermore, in 1965, Abdel Nasser was able to use the courts in barring his political competitors from running for office. Through this action, President Nasser did not have any political competitors, and it ensured that he easily assailed to office. Ayatollah Khomeini also played a role in influencing the legal system of Iran. Take for example in the 1998 execution of political prisoners in Iran[9]. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a decree to all judicial courts to judge every political prisoner, and execute anybody who did not repent on their anti-regime activities. It is important to understand that despite the authoritarian and undemocratic leadership of these two leaders, they were highly influential and liked by their people. For example, after Abdel Nasser lost the six day war, and he resigned, he was forced back into office through a large and numerous protests. On the other hand, after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, his was well mourned, by millions and millions of people. This is mainly because their leadership was revolutionary in nature, and they introduced a series of changes and reforms in their countries. This includes constitutional changes and reforms. Conclusion: In conclusion, the leadership style of President Nasser and Ayatollah Khomeini are similar and different in many aspects. One similarity is that both of them were revolutionaries. President Nasser sought to introduce a new constitution in Egypt, which was secular in nature. On the other hand, Ayatollah Khomeini introduced a new constitution in Iran, which was religious in nature, and it identified a Supreme Leader, who was supposed to be an Ayatollah. Another similarity is that both leaders were undemocratic, and did not tolerate any opposition to their leadership. They did not allow freedom of expression, by closing or regulating any content that appeared on the media. In fact, Ayatollah Khomeini is accused of closing any media house that criticized his government. On the other hand, President Nasser used his National Union Party to regulate any content that appeared on the media. The two were also charismatic leaders, and they were able to get a lot of support from the citizens of their country. This is despite their oppressive and undemocratic rule. The major difference in their rule is the use of the military. Both of them were able to get the support of the military in advancing their agenda. However, President Nasser had a military background, and he used his military background to get the support of the army. Ayatollah Khomeini on the other hand used religion to get the support of the military and the people. Bibliography: Berlatsky, Noah. The Iranian Revolution. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Goodarzi, Jubin M. Syria and Iran Diplomatic Alliance and Power Politics in the Middle East.  New ed. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009. McNamara, Robert. Britain, Nasser and the Balance of Power in the Middle East, 1952-1967  from the Egyptian Revolution to the Six-Day War. London: Frank Cass, 2003. Owen, Roger. State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East. 2nd ed.  London: Routledge, 2000. [1] Jubin Goodarzi, Syria and Iran Diplomatic Alliance and Power Politics in the Middle East (New ed. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 62. [2] Noah Berlatsky, The Iranian Revolution, (Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012), 31 [3] Goodarzi, Syria and Iran Diplomatic Alliance and Power Politics in the Middle East, 72 [4] Roger Owen, State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 2nd ed.( London: Routledge, 2000), 23 [5] Berlatsky, The Iranian Revolution,44 [6] Owen, State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 27 [7] Berlatsky, The Iranian Revolution,51 [8] Robert McNamara, Britain, Nasser and the Balance of Power in the Middle East, 1952-1967 from the Egyptian Revolution to the Six-Day War (London: Frank Cass, 2003), 36 [9] Berlatsky, The Iranian Revolution,39

Outline for Bicycle Safety :: essays research papers fc

Outline for Bicycle Safety  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To explain to listeners how they can operate a bicycle safety. Central Idea: You can keep yourself safe on a bicycle if you follow a few safety rules: wear protective clothing, obey the rules of the road, and be aware of your surroundings. Introduction I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teaching anyone to ride a bike is a most memorable experience, but having them obey the rules and regulations when riding is one of peoples first exposures to obeying the law. Cycling is a great way to exercise as well as a convenient mode of transportation. But before you start riding you should take a few minutes to consider some important safety precautions. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, bicycle related crashes kill about 900 people a year and injure over half a million. Most bicycle deaths or accidents occur between 3-9 pm, and most often occur during the summer months. We can prevent these numbers by: wearing protective equipment, obeying the rules of the road, and being aware of your surroundings. (Transition: Let’s talk about the first rule) Body I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear protective equipment. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear a helmet 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Studies have shown that wearing a helmet can reduce your chances of head injury by 85% 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Select a helmet that fits comfortably. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear a helmet to set examples to others if necessary. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Helmets are required in many places so you should check with the police in your area. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear visible clothes 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear bright colors such as white and yellow. Never wear black. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you have the means get reflective straps or hats. Don’t wear loose articles of clothing. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Never carry anything in your hands. D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you can get reflectors to put on the back , front, and side of your bike so cars can better see you at night (Transition: You have on the right protective gear. Now What?) II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obeying the rules of the road. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Riding a bike is much the same as driving a car 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obey traffic signals 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obey road markings B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Look in all directions 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seven out of ten accidents occur at intersections and driveways 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walk your bike across busy intersections and at crosswalks. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When making turns use had signals to alert motorists. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form an L with the left arm upwards to signal a right turn. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form an L with the left arm downwards to signal stop. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Extend the left arm outwards to signal a left turn. (Transition: You know the rules of the road so what next?) III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Be aware of your surroundings A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ride only in safe places 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parks 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  School grounds 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bike trails 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sidewalks 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Any other bicycle designated areas B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Make sure your bike is adjusted for riding conditions Outline for Bicycle Safety :: essays research papers fc Outline for Bicycle Safety  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To explain to listeners how they can operate a bicycle safety. Central Idea: You can keep yourself safe on a bicycle if you follow a few safety rules: wear protective clothing, obey the rules of the road, and be aware of your surroundings. Introduction I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teaching anyone to ride a bike is a most memorable experience, but having them obey the rules and regulations when riding is one of peoples first exposures to obeying the law. Cycling is a great way to exercise as well as a convenient mode of transportation. But before you start riding you should take a few minutes to consider some important safety precautions. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, bicycle related crashes kill about 900 people a year and injure over half a million. Most bicycle deaths or accidents occur between 3-9 pm, and most often occur during the summer months. We can prevent these numbers by: wearing protective equipment, obeying the rules of the road, and being aware of your surroundings. (Transition: Let’s talk about the first rule) Body I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear protective equipment. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear a helmet 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Studies have shown that wearing a helmet can reduce your chances of head injury by 85% 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Select a helmet that fits comfortably. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear a helmet to set examples to others if necessary. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Helmets are required in many places so you should check with the police in your area. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear visible clothes 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wear bright colors such as white and yellow. Never wear black. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you have the means get reflective straps or hats. Don’t wear loose articles of clothing. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Never carry anything in your hands. D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you can get reflectors to put on the back , front, and side of your bike so cars can better see you at night (Transition: You have on the right protective gear. Now What?) II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obeying the rules of the road. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Riding a bike is much the same as driving a car 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obey traffic signals 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obey road markings B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Look in all directions 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seven out of ten accidents occur at intersections and driveways 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walk your bike across busy intersections and at crosswalks. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When making turns use had signals to alert motorists. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form an L with the left arm upwards to signal a right turn. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form an L with the left arm downwards to signal stop. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Extend the left arm outwards to signal a left turn. (Transition: You know the rules of the road so what next?) III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Be aware of your surroundings A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ride only in safe places 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parks 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  School grounds 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bike trails 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sidewalks 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Any other bicycle designated areas B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Make sure your bike is adjusted for riding conditions

The Hundred Years War? Essay -- War England France Papers

The Hundred Years' War The start of hostilities in 1337 sees the balance of power stacked distinctly in the favor of France. Its population is large, its lands fertile, and its cities prosperous. A population of over 10 million make it one of, if not the strongest population base in Western Europe, with Paris laying claim to title as perhaps the sole great city in Latin Christendom . In contrast, the population of England totals only a third or a fourth of its adversary, with lands less developed and people less prosperous. Additionally, England still faces challenges from Scotland to the north, and though slightly less perilous in nature, revolts of the Welsh and Irish to the west. The marked difference in resource base allows French kings to continually field larger armies for the entire duration of the conflict. The defensive nature of the war for France also conveys considerable inherent advantages. Siege weapons have yet to catch up to the fortifications of the day, and larger walled cities and strongholds are often considered impregnable , requiring attacking armies to resort to the lengthy process of starving out a garrison before the city could be relieved. "The worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities. " Such a process, as in the case of Calais, could take months on end, with a high cost in men and resources which imposed a severe limitation on how much territory could be assaulted, broken, and held in any given amount of time. An army invading a territory as vast as the lands of France, whose landscape is dotted with fortified towns and castles, would be hard pressed to make any permanent inroads without the most tenacious and lengthy of operations. Defending a consolidated position of home territories al... ...t had enjoyed for so long not only vanish, but take root in the minds of their adversary, turning the balance of power so far from their favor as to make the continued struggle in the last years of the war entirely hopeless, carried on only due to the stubborn national pride of an island never willing to concede defeat. Bibliography Burne, Lt-Col. Alfred H. The Crecy War. Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1955. Burne, Lt-Col. Alfred H. The Agincourt War. Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1956. Giles, Lionel (translator). The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Hodder and Stoughton, 1981. Oman, Sir Charles. A History of The Art of War in the Middle Ages, Volume II. Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1924. Perroy, Edouard. The Hundred Years War. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1959. Thompson, Peter E. (translator). Contemporary Chronicles of the Hundred Years' War. The Folio Society Ltd, 1966.

Alvin Ailey :: essays research papers

Every company has what is known as a â€Å"signature piece,† that is, a work which expresses something about the artistic direction and the spirit of the company. For the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater that piece is Revelations. Choreographed and set to traditional music, Revelations was first performed at the Ninety-second Street YM-YWHA New York, NY., January 31, 1960. The lead dancers were Joan Derby, Minnie Marhsall, Merle Derby, Dorene Richardson, Jay Fletcher, Nathaniel Horne, and Herman Howell and the soloists were Nancy Redi and Gene Hobgood. The music was performed by the Music Masters Guild Chorus of the Harlem Branch YMCA under the direction of Frank Thomas. The piece as originally performed consisted of danced portions and music interleudes grouped under three broad headings, â€Å"Pilgrim of Sorrow,† â€Å"That Love My Jesus Gives Me,† and â€Å"Move, Members, Move.† The work was revised extensively a month after its first performance and was agai n given at the Ninety-second Street YM-YWHA. Revelations has been seen in every country that the company has toured and has been universally acclaimed. Born in Rogers, Texas on January 5, 1931, Alvin Ailey spent his formative years going to Sunday School and participating in The Baptist Young People's Union. At age twelve, he moved to Los Angeles and, on a junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, fell in love with concert dance. Ailey began his formal dance training inspired by the performances of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and the classes with Lester Horton that his friend, Carmen de Lavallade, urged him to take. Horton, the founder of the first racially integrated dance company in the US, was a catalyst for Ailey as the young dancer embarked on his professional career. After Horton's death in 1953, Ailey became the director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and began to choreograph his own works. In New York, Ailey studied with many outstanding dance artists, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm and Karel Shook, and took acting classes with Stella Adler. A versatile performer, Ailey won a number of acting roles while continuing to choreograph and dance professionally. In 1958, Ailey founded his own company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. During the Company's first decade, Ailey created approximately twenty new ballets, among them Hermit Songs and Reflections in D. These were followed by The River, The Lark Ascending, Love Songs and many others.

Divine command theory

The most basic difference in divine command theory and Immanuel Kant’s moral theory is where the founding principle comes from. Kant argues that as rational creatures with the ability for autonomous thought and action, we can rationally determine the morality of any situation. Divine command theory requires that humans ascertain the will of God to know the difference between right and wrong. In large part the two theories overlap and many who promote divine command theory would argue that Kant simply did not take his explanation far enough.They would argue that had he determined the source of rationality, i.e. the theory that God endowed His creation will freewill and autonomy, then he would see that even the rational choice theory of morality leads back to divine intervention. However, Kant argued that it is impossible using rational arguments to determine if God exists or not. We can, however, argue rationally that humans are rational beings and capable of autonomous action. Therefore, we can argue that autonomous beings have the rational capability of determining a guiding moral principle.Kant’s theory argues that the moral principle which guides life should be determined in a vacuum, absent of the facts. This was his way of arguing against situational ethics. A guiding principle, the basics of morality, should be determined based solely on rational thought and then, once the principle is established, the facts of the situation may be applied to the moral principle and the appropriate action, the answer to the question, †What ought I to do?†,   can be determined. Kant’s theory requires the identification of the categorical imperative that is essential to living a moral life. Morality is determined by the one rationally determined categorical imperative.If then an action seems within the situation as though it will not be compatible with the categorical imperative, then it is morally wrong and there is no justifying it or ch anging things around to make it okay.   For example, if the rationally determined categorical imperative is that murder is wrong, then it is wrong. This is actually a form of the argument many people use in opposing the death penalty. They argue that it cannot be morally justified to kill someone even if it is being done because he killed someone else. Their categorical imperative is that it is irrational to kill another person. This person should also then be a conscientious objector as there is no circumstance under which killing is not morally wrong.Under diving command theory, the order of God that â€Å"thou shalt not kill† would be an equally definitive moral compass, except that the God’s commands are rarely that direct. One of the biggest criticisms of divine command theory is that it does not indicate how one is to determine what God’s command is. Many point to the scriptures, but those vary, sometimes greatly among translations and faiths. In centuri es past, many believed in the divine rule of kings as God’s voice on earth.Therefore, if the King commanded it, it was the word of God as well and since many of these kings sent men into battle in direct opposition to the commandment against killing, the theory of divine command is weakened by the need to identify God or His commands. Even extending into the modern day, the Pope is considered by Catholics to be the voice of God. Is the word of the Pope then the moral guide for the divine command theory? And, the seemingly contradictory messages of the Bible (or other scriptures) become a much greater problem. If we are basing our morality on God’s command, but His words are unclear, how can morality become clear?Ultimately, the difference between right and wrong in the two theories is potentially huge. Under the divine command theory, anything that God commands can be considered right and anything contrary to God’s command is wrong.   With Kant’s theory , wrong is defined as being immoral and immorality is irrational. Therefore, any act which is irrational could be considered morally wrong.   Thus the two theories can lead to very different conclusions in the exact same case.Essentially, the difference between the two is that though Kant argued that moral theory should be determined in the absence of facts, it is not hard and fast and allows for some circumstantial ethics. The simple problem with divine command theory is that if it relies on scriptures as God’s command, it is clear cut with no room for interpretation. Why then would man be capable of rational thought if there were no rationality needed? With divine command theory any creature that can understand simple commands could be taught to obey the law and the creation of a species capable of rational thought would be unnecessary.Likewise, the problem with moral theory is that it does not have clear cut right and wrong. By arguing that the requisite is rational acti on, Kant has made it possible for anything to be rationally justified even perhaps the greatest of moral wrongs including murder or even genocide, if the reasoning were sound. Because of the difference in their application, the two theories can be applied with completely different outcomes.For instance, assume that a man is walking through the woods late in the evening and sees a man attacking a woman whom he knows to be virtuous (just to make it clear she is the victim here). Because the attacker is in such a rage, the only manner that the observer has to prevent him from killing the innocent is to kill the attacker. If we use the divine command theory to determine our course of action, harkening back to the Ten Commandments and â€Å"Thou Shalt Not Kill†, the observer is left with no action that he can take to prevent the death of an innocent woman.Under Kant’s moral theory, it is completely irrational for the observer to allow an innocent to be killed simply because a Divine Being ordained that killing is wrong. Therefore, under the Kant theory, the observer would be wholly justified in killing the attacker. He would be doing the right thing. While clearly not all moral obligations and decisions would ever be this clear cut, this example illustrates where the two theories diverge drastically.It is precisely this type of scenario which leads me to support Kant’s moral theory over the theory of divine command. The theory of divine command relies on the existence of a Supreme Being and the knowledge of His will in personal action. Like Kant, I am not certain that we can determine if God exists, much less what His divine command would be. In a different age, divine command theory as method of determining morality made perfect sense.The king, ruling with diving right, could ordain the divine commands of his nation and the law would therefore be good, but as we have entered the age of reason and science, the theory of divine command falls sho rt. It does not offer any guidance on issues that were not conceived of when the Bible or other scriptures were written. Unless one accepts that the Pope is the direct conduit to God’s will left on earth, how could on determine what the divine command theory would be on an issue like cloning and therefore what the morality might be.Some religious people might say that cloning is wrong because it attempts to subvert God’s role in creation, but where in the Scripture does it say ‘thou shalt not clone’?   And, if we accept the argument that God did not intend for man to interfere in the creation process, should we not then find in vitro fertilization and even breeding controls on animals to be contrary to God’s law?   The simple failing of the divine command theory is that it does not reach into the modern age and allow moral decisions appropriate to the times in which we live.Kant’s theory on the other hand is perfect for the age of reason, probably based on the time frame in which it was being developed.   When the means test of rationality is applied, virtually any decision can be made, often in the style of Kant’s writings about common sense.For example, the rational mind can identify the moral ambiguity of cloning, especially cloning of a rational being. With all consciousness of thought, we can determine that creating that which we do not understand may be wrong. We can also rationally determine that choosing to mate specific animals in hopes of getting a particular set of genetic traits or implanting an embryo into a uterus is not an evil act simply because it involves creation. Even those who believe in the existence of a Supreme Being cannot argue why a God that is â€Å"good† and benevolent would object to the use of scientific advances to prolong life and to assist the natural process of procreation.As a further example of this, consider the use of nuclear weapons. Though we can default to th e idea that thou shalt not kill as divine command argument against the use of the weapon, the argument falls short when we realize that man has been commanded to kill hundreds of times throughout history in God’s name. However, when we consider the discussion of nuclear weapons using Kant’s theory, we can determine that the use of nuclear weapons on any widespread basis is irrational and therefore immoral and therefore wrong.The rational arguments against the weapons are plentiful: they destroy every living creature for miles, they destroy the land making it uninhabitable for years, and the radiation spread cannot be controlled, leading to countless additional injuries, illnesses and deaths. Ultimately, both theories come to the same conclusion, but Kant’s theory provides a better argument supporting the cause.Objectors will say that the problem with Kant’s theory is that humans have the capacity to act irrationally and therefore immorally. That irrationa lity negates the concept of a rational test of morality. This argument is flawed in that it is based on a premise which we call mental illness. In American society at least, when a person has lost the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong, we determine that they are mentally ill. This means even our system of psychology is based loosely on Kant’s premise that we are rational creatures, capable of autonomous action.Furthermore, nothing in theory would ever preclude a person from acting in a manner contrary to their moral theory. It is completely possible for a person to know an action is morally wrong and do it anyway. Sometimes, they will make attempts to justify the actions in their own minds or to others, but even the great majority of criminals can acknowledge that there is a significant difference between right and wrong even while they are choosing the wrong option. This is the reason that the American legal system recognizes mitigating factors, those ex cuses for why it was okay to do the wrong thing. We understand that the rational mind can also try to reason out doing what it desires.Critics of Kant’s theory would also argue that there are no simple clear cut definitions of right and wrong. That is correct. There aren’t. Ethics and morality are situational, no matter what people want to say or believe. It can be as simple as believing that a little white lie is occasionally okay (Do you really want to tell your mother her new dress looks hideous?) or as extreme as a blatant attempt to manipulate society and yourself that murder is justifiable. Regardless, Kant would argue that the theory holds true. Rational beings know that these actions are wrong and society, which is not a rational being, has dictated that we are allowed to act otherwise.

Roles of First Ladies

Roles of the First Lady Kenya Stanford Ashford University HIS 204 American History Since 1865 Instructor: Tara Ross November 15, 2010 Abstract The roles of the First Lady can vary. Several of the authors describes that some of the First Lady’s roles can be from writing invitations , creating an policy, sharing ideas about political rights, to coming up with health care reform. This essay contains some of the old traditional roles that the First Lady was required to do in the 18th century and how it changes over time. Also, it explains how each century First Lady goes about performing her duties.Roles of the First Lady The roles of the First Lady are really undetermined because it changes due to their interest and the timeframe that they were in. Traditional roles of the First lady The duties of the First Lady vary from time to time. During the 18th century, the traditional roles of the First Lady were being a hostess for our country. White House. Gov states, â€Å"The Preside nt and the First Lady’s job responsibilities are to entertain both national and international guest that were arriving and staying at the White House (White House. gov). It also goes on stating that the reason for hosting the event was to strengthen any existing ties, to stage for new relationships, to establish new partnerships, or just to extend the hospitality of the White House as the â€Å" home â€Å" of our nation leader and every First lady were responsible for writing every single invitation by hand (FirstLady. org). 18th Century First Ladies: Martha Washington and Abigail Adams Martha Washington was a well-respected and very kind-hearted to all that knew her. However, Martha did not enjoy her roles as being the First Lady.According to the article, she statedâ€Å" I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from any many younger and gayer women would be extremely pleased in her place; she would be much rather be at home (White House. Gov). † Just by reading the article on her, it gives me the idea that she was very private about her life with outsiders and she always held her head up. During her time she was called â€Å"Lady Washington. † She had gotten that name during the Revolutionary War era (America. ov). During the war era, Martha Washington was placed into a winter encampment that was the most comfortable to live in (Berkin, Carol). During the war, she and the other general wives served as hostess. The purpose was to lift everyone spirits and giving every solider a reason on what they were fighting for (Berkin, Carol. ) After Martha had moved to the White House, she found out that she was also responsible for managing the presidential household and supervising the domestic affairs at Mount Vernon from a distance (MarthaWashington. us).However, her successor Abigail Adams was a very interesting woman of her time. People viewed her as a very patrio t woman. Abigail’s letter talked about current politics and how she expressed her opinions. During the time of when the famous â€Å"shots heard around the world† started, Abigail was writing John letters to express her concern and her longing to be with him. According to Carol Berkin, ‘Soon I will be in continual arms. Rumors have spread that the British has spread. We know not what a day will bring forth, nor what distress one hour may throw us into (Berkin, Carol). During her husband’s presidential, she would write letters that was expressing her ideas about women’s right. For example, one of her famous letters was when she wrote John telling him to remember the ladies when it came down to the new law (New World Encyclopedia). Basically, she was trying to gives the women more rights that they were entitled to but during the American Revolution that was proving to be was very impossible task. According to New World Encyclopedia, â€Å"Highly cons cious of her role as the president's wife, Abigail Adams saw her role largely as a hostess for the public and partisan symbol of the Federalist Party.Her entertainments were confined to a relatively small home in Philadelphia, turned into a hotel after the capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D. C. (New World Encyclopedia). †. She also attempted to influence fashion, believing that the more revealing Napoleonic-style clothing then popular were too indecorous. Since presidential families were responsible for covering the costs of their entertainments and the Adamses were enduring financial difficulties at the time of his presidency, Abigail Adams's receptions were somewhat Spartan (New World Encyclopedia). 19th Century: Mary Lincoln and Ida McKinley Mary Lincoln was a woman who wanted the public to like her. She was getting to point where she was tired of the public talking about her fashion so she decides to do a makeover for herself and for the White House.At th e beginning through the end of the article, the author discusses how Mary Lincoln was very careless with money and how she would act out if she didn’t get her way (Lincoln White House. org). The Lincoln Institute only notes that Mrs. Mary Lincoln visited the wounded from the Civil War and remodeled the White House (Lincoln White House. rg). Ida McKinley was a very ill person who suffered from being epilepsy. Her conditions were affecting her and her husband job performance. According to Miller Center Public Affairs, â€Å"Although she occasionally appeared at state dinners and in receiving lines, her attendance at these functions was sporadic due to the unpredictability of her seizures (Miller Center, 2010). † It also goes on stating that the president had to ask the vice president’s wife to help her with her duties due to her being sick.Even though she was very sick, she manages to crochet bedroom room slippers for fundraisers and charities. After reading the a rticle, she proves that she was able to show her husband that she cared about how he felt about politics and that she would dedicate herself to it through the end. She was the first to have her spouse to reschedule everything around her instead of the President reschedule everything around him. 20th Century: Edith Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy Following President McKinley’s assassination came about very sudden to Edith.So Edith had to fill in that position as First Lady. Not being a stranger to Washington and to the public, Edith was able to perform her job really well. Edith was very good at managing books and being able to keep up the home. But just like Martha Washington, she kept her life private from everybody including T. R’s extended family. According to the Theodore Roosevelt Association, â€Å"Under Edith's careful eye the White House collection of china and the portraits of First Ladies were begun.The task of restoring the house to its classic and simple federal style, inside and out, while accommodating a large family and executive branch of government for a growing nation came to the Roosevelt’s. First Lady Edith Roosevelt played the major role in overseeing the largest renovation of the White House into the stately and practical government center it is today (theodoreroosevelt. org). † Just like Martha Washington, Mary Lincoln, Edith Roosevelt, and Abigail Adams, the next First Lady named Jacqueline Kennedy tends to follow in some of their steps.Her first big role as First Lady was the historical restoration of the White House (JFK Presidential Library and Museum. ). The article stated that she created a White House Guide and authenticates the artwork. She also created the White House Historical society; posts White House curator, oversaw to creating a publication of a guidebook for the visitors, and finally established the White House Library and the Rose Garden (JFK Presidential Library and Museum. ).Later on, Jacq ueline Kennedy becomes a host for the television tour by CBS in 1962 (JFK Presidential Library and Museum. ). 21st Century: Laura Bush and Michelle Obama Unlike the other former First Lady, Laura Bush manages to go to the extremes with her duties as First Lady. According to National First Ladies Library, â€Å"Education has been the primary focus of Laura Bush's tenure as First Lady and the issue that has bound all the various efforts she has spearheaded.When she eventually was able to deliver testimony before the Senate Education Committee on January 23, 2002, Laura Bush called for higher teacher salaries and better training for Head Start and day care workers. In the nine month of her tenure introduced a National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. based on the model of the one she had created in Texas. Within two years, this festival had inspired the Russian First Lady Ludmilla Putin to host an October 1, 2003 book festival in her nation that Laura Bush attended in Moscow, along with several American authors (National First Ladies Library, 2010).She also went to Afghani to met the women and to hear how miserable their lives have been since the war, and she created a public-forum to help with the techniques to comfort children that were traumatized during and after 9/11(National First Ladies Library, 2010). Again, every First Lady’s ideas about how to perform her job is different just as Michelle Obama have stated. Michelle states that â€Å"This new administration doesn’t view service as separate from our national priorities, or in addition to our national priorities.We see it as the key to achieving our national priorities,† she continued. â€Å"We believe that the only way to build that new foundation for our economy is to establish a new role for service in this country (America. Gov). † The article continues to talks about how Michelle talks about how you can volunteer to make differences. Michelle’s second role as Fir st Lady was to reconstruct a playground and packed over 15,000 backpacks for the children of America’s service members to take with them to summer camp (America. Gov).White House. Gov states that as First Lady, Mrs. Obama looks forward to continuing her work on the issues close to her heart — supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family,   encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and healthy living for children and families across the country (America. Gov) As I stated earlier, every First Lady’s role is undetermined because it changes due to their interest and the timeframe that they were in.Every First Lady has their ways on how they would like to do things. Some of them may not have a lot of experiences when it comes to politics and some may. Whether it is making sockets or reconstructing a playground, these women are using their talents in helping others. Like Michell e stated, â€Å"â€Å"There’s a feeling that you get when you help someone achieve their goals: the fulfillment of putting your faith into action and feeling that you’re a part of something that’s bigger than yourself and doing your part for the greater good.Bibliography America. Gov. (2009, June 29). Retrieved from America. Gov-Engaging the world: michelle Obama defines own Rosle as First Lady: http://www. america. gov/st/usg-english/2009/June/20090629092010degrebsginek0. 475445. html Berkin, C. (2005, February 01). Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for Americans' Independence. United States, United States: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated. Institute, T. L. (2010). Mr. Linclon's White

Mental Health

One of the many challenges that human service professionals e.g. social workers, counselors, and other professional helpers encounter in the practice of their profession is the need to understand the cultural, language, social and economic problems of people and their families in order to extend appropriate and effective services to people especially those who belong to the minority groups. Any human services worker is bound to meet countless people with diversified culture. Regardless of whether they are Asians, Hispanics, Europeans, or African-Americans, it is the duty of human service professionals to extend their social services without any regard to the persons’ culture or social status.   Everyone deserves to be treated equally.   Although we may hear stories about the existence of discrimination, we could not attest if such is true or untrue or if social services were denied due to the person’s race, sexual orientation, disability or the color of their skins. If we are in a profession to assist people in coping with unemployment, substance abuse, disability, social problems, child abuse, and spousal abuse among others, our main concern must be in the exercise of our profession and take into consideration our professional ethics and most importantly the welfare of those who are in need of our services.   After all, we are all humans in need of basic services.   We only differ in our beliefs and cultural background. Culture The expansion of our diverse cultural growth is due to the civil rights movement that began in the 1950s, in which African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities and other minority groups alerted the country to their distinct identities and long histories of oppression.[1]   The other is the growing number of new immigrants to this country who bring with them unique cultural, language, religious, and political backgrounds as a result of the internal displacement within their own countries, torture, political oppression, and extreme poverty.[2] These days, people of various races are everywhere.   They could be our next door neighbors, seatmates, friends, co-workers, patients, or chatmates in the internet. Culture is the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization which identify the members of a culture group while distinguishing those of another group.[3]   For me, culture is our identity.   It is what we take with us and what sets our community or race apart from other groups.   It may be unique or common, rational or irrational, acceptable or unacceptable but it is something that we have learned, shared and valued. Challenges of Human Service Professionals In other families and in most communities, people speak a language, attend religious or traditional ceremonies, adhere to some beliefs, participate in rituals, strictly observe the intake of foods that are acceptable in their religion and wear costumes that identify their culture.   I grew up with a set of culture handed down by my parents and I had my share of painful experience brought about by my race. When I begin my human services practice and meet people with diversified culture, I know that my personal beliefs and culture may either be similar or different from their own beliefs and cultural practices.   One of the major problems that human service professionals like me would encounter is the language differences as some immigrants could not speak the English language. Although there may be interpreters who are willing to assist us as we conduct interviews and accommodate the needs of our diverse clients, there is nothing more comfortable than being able to speak in a language that both my clients and I can speak and understand well.   Since there are many languages as there are so much non-English speaking immigrants, a lot of human service professionals may find it difficult to learn a foreign knowledge especially when there are piles of cases, reports, and advocacies to work on.   In addition, it takes years of constant practice before one can be fluent enough to speak and understand a native speaker. Although professionals have good intentions in doing what is best for their clients, some African American families look at professionals who provide parent education and support in their homes as taking on roles such as child’s aunt or mother’s sister.[4]   When clients resent the providers’ support, trust is no longer built and they may tend to reject any future support or would no longer seek any professional services. A problem in accepting and understanding the risk factors for the immigrant children and their families is another challenge for the human service professionals.   Sleeping arrangements where children sleep in the same bed or same room as their parents may seem inappropriate in regard to some emotional health and safety issues but typical in terms of custom and nurturance as this risk factor for the majority may be an expression of closeness of kin for the immigrant families. [5] A lot of human service professionals may not be trusted due to the suspicions and fear of the Latinos and some Asian people that they would be deported since a lot of them entered the country illegally, are overstaying in the host country and have not acquired an immigrant status [6]. Personal Discrimination Personally, I feel that discrimination towards another person may be influenced by the negative or painful experience that one has suffered from in the past.   For instance, if an African American child was sexually abused by a white American, she may have a personal hated and would resent having a close relationship with white Americans.   The hated and negative feelings may only be healed when proper intervention is provided.   Hence, without the involvement of any professional help e.g. counseling, discrimination towards a specific race or gender will always remain. In the practice of my profession, I must be fair to any person regardless of their culture, language, gender, religion, political background and economic status.   When I was young, I became a victim of physical abuse by my classmates and schoolmates due to my race.   As a result of this experience, it could be possible that I would be bias towards people who are abusive due to the negative experiences that I had experienced in the past or I would be a good advocate to those who are in a similar predicament.   For me, discrimination cannot be totally eliminated.   It could only be prevented. I believe that my deliberate or unintentional practice of discrimination would be prevented if I will examine my own cultural background, become aware of my personal bias and when I am given the proper intervention and the appropriate training so I could accept any person in his or her totality.   Before I become a certified human service provider, I need to understand people’s differences in the areas of tradition, values, family systems, sexual orientations, and spiritual beliefs, and I must be culturally competent to deliver culturally competent services. In addition to being culturally competent, I must be sensitive and tolerant to cultural diversity and have a wider scope of awareness of how my clients’ experience their uniqueness and deal with their differences and similarities as one of the mission of the human service professionals is to enhance people’s well being, meet their basic needs and to empower those who are victims of oppression, discrimination, injustice and poverty. Conclusion Human service professionals will always encounter new situations and various clients in the practice of their profession.   They also play a great role in providing intervention, economic and social services and linkages in education and training, health, housing and employment.   In order to fully address the diverse needs of individuals and families, the human service workers must be culturally competent and open to diversity. BIBLIOGRAPHY Boyd-Franklin, Nancy. Black Families in Therapy: Understanding the African American Experience 2nd ed. (New York: Guilford Press, 2003), p.58. Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. â€Å"Culture and Language Learning† (2008): 1.   University of Minnesota. Available from http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html Diala, Chamberlain C., Muntaner, Carles, Walrath, Christine, Nickerson, Kim, LaVeist, Thomas, & Leaf, Phil. (2001). â€Å"Racial differences in attitudes toward professional mental health care and in the use of services†. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91, no. 5 (2001): 805-807.   Available from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1446685&blobtype=pdf National Association of Social Workers. â€Å"Diversity and Cultural Competence† (2006): 1. Available from http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/diversity.asp Woolfolk, Tara & Unger, Donald. â€Å"Perceptions of African American mothers involved in Parents as Teachers†. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations Orlando, Florida, November 2004. [1]. National Association of Social Workers. â€Å"Diversity and Cultural Competence† (2006): Available from http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/diversity.asp. p.1. [2]. Ibid. p.1. [3]. Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. â€Å"Culture and Language Learning† (2008).   University of Minnesota. Available from http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html. p.1 [4]. Tara Woolfolk & Donald Unger. â€Å"Perceptions of African American mothers involved in Parents as Teachers.†Ã‚   Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, Orlando, Florida. November 2004.       [5]   Nancy Boyd-Franklin. Black Families in Therapy: Understanding the African American Experience 2nd ed. (New York: Guilford Press, 2003), p.58. [6]. Chamberlain C. Diala, Carles Muntaner, Christine Walrath, Kim Nickerson, Thomas LaVeist, and Phil Leaf, â€Å"Racial/Ethnic Differences in Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Mental Health Services† American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91, no. 5 (2001): 805-807. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1446685&blobtype=pdf.         

Sex and Violence in Romeo and Juliet

â€Å"I fear this but a dream, too sweet to be substantial,† are the soft words uttered from star-crossed lovers caught in the chaotic instability that permeates Franco Zeffirilli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968), Baz Lurman’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), and John Madden’s Shakespear and Love (1998). Although there are significant differences in each movie’s portrayal of Juliet and her Romeo, they accurately depict Freud’s ideas concerning love and human tendencies. In â€Å"The Einstein-Freud Correspondence,† Freud explains that in nature, violence rules everywhere. Einstein questions mankind’s lust for destruction and Freud affirms that man has two basic instincts: sex and violence. The constant state of instability and antagonism between humankind in nature makes peace unavoidable. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, love can attempt to rebel against the specter of war, but it is always beaten down. Tragically, Romeo and Juliet’s love is inextricably entwined with the aggression that plagues their feuding families. Both Romeo and Juliet try to fight the hostility with love, but all psychical acts (according to Freud) occur in an atmosphere of constraint, and the tension between one’s impulses, and what society will allow, creates an unavoidable instability. Each movie is an interesting interpretation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece; however, Zeffirilli’s Romeo and Juliet is the best representation of true love and human tendencies. Though extremely witty and entertaining, Madden’s Shakespeare in Love does not represent true love and human nature. One of Madden’s central devices is to create a background of events, large and small, drawn from Will Shakespeare's daily life. For example, in the opening scenes Madden shows Will strolling through town hearing lines shouted out from town criers such as â€Å"a plague on both your houses! † Moreover, Madden poses Will as at a loss for inspiration. Hence, William gets the foundations of his next play (Romeo and Juliet) from a chance encounter with a rival poet. Madden’s use of time and space is key to the progression of Will’s character. The events in the queen’s quarters, the tensions between the two playhouses, and the auditions for Will’s new play set up the meeting for the beautiful Viola. Madden creates a real narrative outside the realm of the story of Romeo and Juliet which explains how the masterpiece came to be. For example, the battle between two playhouses, The Rose and The Curtain, is transformed into the feud between the two noble houses of Montague and Capulet in imaginary Verona. Another interesting theme is the idea of chaos. In numerous moments it seems all will be lost, but as Henslow says several times when asked how everything will work it, he answers, â€Å"I don’t know, it’s a mystery. † Among the chaos, Will’s love and inspiration for fair Viola is the fuel that keeps the fire burning. In other words, Romeo and Juliet's modern adapters direct the spectator's attention to what might have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s work. Nevertheless, with love, comes violence (as mentioned above). What produces the lovers' calamity is the depth of their feelings. The truth is, even in a world built on such unfavorable foundations, it should take much more to destroy love. William’s and Viola’s love, on the other hand, is not the best testament to true love. It proves much weaker than the civilization. In the final scenes, the queen decrees Viola leave with her husband. Society succeeds in oppressing their love without resistance. If their love were true, they would fight with every last breath to be together. Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet, like Madden’s Shakespeare and Love, falls short of true love as well. Unlike Zeffirilli, Lurhman set out with the intention of making a modern day Romeo and Juliet with great success. He plays brilliantly with love in relation to time and nature. He toys with time in the opening gang warfare scene, playing the typical montage introduction of the players through a series of speedy zooms that isolate, in turn, the important characters on screen. His use of color and chaos is perfectly representative of Freud’s ideas concerning constant instability. Not only that, but his choice in music creates dramatic setting. The movie itself has numerous speed-up moments but is slowed down in critical scenes to allow viewers to soak up every bit of information. For example, the fight scene is particularly profound. Tasteful music backs the thunder, clouds, and darkness that envelope the screen as Mercutio dies. It is a perfect example of nature coming in and playing a role in the movie. Lurhman does an amazing job with his timing because he allows the viewer to slow down and soak every drop of the scene. One of the most important misreadings of Romeo + Juliet occurs during Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech. Normally interpreted as the drunken improvisation of a jesting wit in relation to dreams, here Mercutio is speaking about the drug ecstasy. Playing to modern times, Lurhman has Romeo take the ecstasy before heading to the Capulet ball. The meeting scene between Romeo and Juliet is thus overshadowed by the fact that Romeo has just taken a drug that inspires enormous amounts of pleasure. Consequently, the implication is that the relationship is founded on artificial feelings. One could argue that Romeo washes away the effects of the drugs in the sink prior to the Juliet-aquarium meeting, but ecstasy does not wear off that easily. True, the rest of the movie holds fast to the love tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet, but the drug-induced meeting is questionable in terms of true love. Finally, Zeffirilli’s old Romeo and Juliet is the best example of true love and human nature. Not to mention the style, dialogue, setting, costumes, and music in Zeffirilli’s version are closely related to the themes and feel of Shakespeare’s famous play. From the opening scenes, the viewer is taken into the old world and shown the incredible violence and resentment between the two houses. Within the first ten minutes, the viewers are given a picture of the impermeable violence similar to that which Einstein wished to stop in his correspondence with Freud. Perhaps love could settle the inherent violence that permeates human nature? In the case of Romeo and Juliet, there love cannot, but it is pure and true. The meeting scene between the lovers is one of absolute beauty. Romeo’s playful pursuit of Juliet is simple, yet elegant. The scene commences at the beginning of a serene song by a boy (incredible choice by Zeffirilli) leading up to the first act of aggression: Romeo’s hand touching Juliet’s. Although their love is forbidden by their family names, it continues to grow. Unfortunately, their time and space is limited and the constraint on their bond is too great. Their suffering is due to the fact that they do not understand what love can accomplish. Instead of uniting the families, they cause a fresh slice in an already open wound. However, the reason they never progress and mature in their love is because of the tragedies of civilization and the violence inherent in it (as mentioned above). Hatred among men rages without restraint, and for Romeo, it causes him to kill Tybalt, a newly made family member. Censored wishes of the â€Å"Id† arise up and transform Romeo when he says, â€Å"Take back the villain that thou gavest me, for fire, fury be my conduct now! † The exile and eventual plot to unite the forbidden lovers is thwarted again by time and space. Zeffirilli’s final scenes are wet with tragedy as Romeo passes the donkey on horseback, which has the letter explaining the father’s plan. Finally, Romeo is unable to live without his Juliet because his love for her is something more. She is a part of him and without her; he has no reason to continue breathing. The sum of one lover’s bliss is reliant on the life of his love. If he or she is dead and their love is true, then the lover has no choice but death. Both Einstein and Freud would agree that the Montagues and Capulets (in Zeffirilli’s and Lurman’s masterpieces) represent civilization and human kind’s natural form of aggressiveness. Juliet remarks after the potent â€Å"love-at-first-sight† scene in Romeo and Juliet, â€Å"my only love sprung from my only hate. † The brilliance of the two lovers’ story is the ancient hatred between their families. Conversely, the tragedy of them is that love connects the characters no more to happiness than it does to sorrow, turmoil and murder. Unfortunately, the two young lovers live under the illusion of physical freedom from the duties and constraints of their families/civilization. The hatred between the Montagues and Capulets is deep-rooted and rages on without restraint (much like society today). Romeo and Juliet’s love is eloquent and passionate but without solidity. It cannot hope to combat the aggression plaguing them. Freud states, â€Å"love is†¦best understood clinically as a response to stimuli† (Freud, 524). The issue is that the stimuli are too short lived. However, what is true love? It is the perpetual question that echoes through the corridors of time with answers always varying. Yet love has a correspondence with time. The way it begins, takes shape, and changes is relative to time and space. In each of the movies, the time and space of Romeo and Juliet’s love is portrayed in the background as apposed to the foreground. The visuals, music, and emotion strike at the subconscious, leaving the viewer in awe. Madden, Lurhman, and Zeffirilli create masterpieces that people desire and want to see. In conclusion, Freud would argue the lovers must understand that human consciousness exists in perpetual tension and instability. Not only that, but true love offers complete happiness to the lovers. In his lectures, Freud gives a poem from Goeth’s Westostlicher Diwan as an example of real love: So it is held, so well may be; But down a different track I come; Of all the bliss on earth hold for me I in Zuleika find the sum (Freud, 520). The lovers find the sum of all bliss in each other if their love is true. However, the power and sum of their love does not mean it can combat the nature of violence and society. Each film, respectively, depicts Freud’s ideas on true love and human nature. Though, human nature can be redefined as violence and aggression. Freedom is limited in each one of the Shakespearean films because the tension between one’s impulses and what society will allow creates an inevitable instability. Both Einstein and Freud would agree that try as the fiery lovers might, nature and violence of the instilled houses of Verona will stop there love from flourishing into something greater.