Ways to improve the value of employees work contribution Essay

Ways to improve the value of employees work contribution - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is the Upper Room Soup Kitchen as one of the long serving soup kitchens in Prince Edward Island in Canada serving to the need of the needy and hungry people in the area. During a two weeks voluntary work in the soup kitchen, as a management student I realized that the value the employees added to operations of the business and towards meeting the goals of the Soup Kitchen in serving the needs of the hungry in Prince Edward Island were constrained. This is despite the fact that most of the employees in the Soup kitchen were volunteers even though there was other long term paid employees. Notably, the food donation system was in disarray with the records of food donations received not properly managed. In addition, though there were quite a considerable amount of food donations received in a week, at times the soup kitchen would record shortages in key foods required, while have excesses of some other. Some of these foods that were not usually use d stayed in the storage for too long and when they went bad, they would be discarded. This brought a point that indeed not only were employees’ contribution for effective running up of the place low, but also was the food donation and recording system lacking. After learning about SSM method which is a means through which problems can be holistically resolved, the researcher thought of Upper Room Soup Kitchen’s problems and decided to develop solutions based on this SSM model that would help the manager of the soup kitchen ensure smoother running. The expressed problem situation With the above problem situation, phone interviews were conducted with five soup kitchen employees from various departments and the manger of the soup kitchen to get a grasp on the problem. The Upper Room soup Kitchen whose goal is to meet some food needs of the hungry people in Prince Edward Island through provision of low fat high nutrition healthy meals to this population is faced not only w ith low employee contribution in meeting its goals but also inefficiencies in the management of its food donation system. Markos and Sridevi (2010:91) indeed asserts that for value of employee contribution in an organization to be improved, the employees’ activities and goals need be aligned the organizations goals. Though the employees in the soup kitchen perform their daily duties well, a sense of laxity in the organization has made inefficient several systems that are core to the organization meeting its goals. For instance, the employees in charge of communicating the food needs of the organization to various stakeholders in order to align the food needs of the soup kitchen to those that are received have experienced some problems in that some of

Domestic Violence Essay Example for Free

Domestic Violence Essay There are many theories out there that try to explain why domestic violence happens. Some like family violence theory say that it is passed down through the family because basically what you see is what you will do. Others say it’s a chemical imbalance or its based on other things. I believe that it is a little bit of all of the theories but the Culture of Violence Theory is playing a huge role today in helping shape our young children’s minds as to what is now acceptable. During this assignment we will look at four different types of examples of how the Culture of Violence Theory is doing just that. Culture of Violence theory claims that violence occurs at all levels of society and is looked at as a means to resolve a conflict. Violence and force are acceptable and are used even in family disputes. Theories believe that in order to stop a man from beating or hitting a woman then you have to change the way he believes or relies on violence being a means to solve all his problems. I also believe that our culture as a whole is violence driven. As a soldier in the United States Army, I deploy to combat areas and I have meet other new recruits who basically wanted to join the military for that reason. So then the question is why in the world would you want to do something just for the violence? Well we can look no further then what is the main culprit to me and that is the Mass Media. The Mass Media today is the main reason why our culture is so violence driven. First I am going to start off on the news media and movies that are being viewed by our children and young adults. The news media always seems to project negative things. You rarely hear anything about a city not having an violent acts being placed over the news. Instead you turn the news on and your going to see how a father came home and found his wife cheating on him so he beat her to death, then killed all his children before turning his gun on himself. The news always reports the violent acts so that’s what our culture is getting use to see. When we look at the type of movies being depicted that display acts of violence in a family household we look at the movie Precious. This movie won the actress a Grammy Award but in this movie your watching a girl being physically, verbally and sexually abused at home. The only time she was safe was at school. What does this type of information teach? It could teach a positive message but I believe that in reality all it did was downgrade women and especially African American women. Movies and the News aren’t the only means to project violence within our culture. The controversial video game by rock star called Grand Theft Auto has been sparking debates across the nation for years. This is one of the best selling franchises in the video game industry but the message in this top playing videogame for our youth in particular teens is violence. This game depicts family violence, drug selling, murder, extortion, robbery, theft, grand theft auto and many more violent crimes. This game really belittles women I feel because they always use derogatory language towards them. This game always shows â€Å"pimps† and ho’s† and the pimp is always beating on the women. This sends a message that our society is fine with this type of behavior since we generate it for our amusement and entertainment. I am one of those who is at fault by playing this type of games but I do understand that this is not appropriate for our youth because they are still learning and trying to understand what is the wrong and right way to act in society and this doesn’t help them in any way. Our society today is all about technology. Everyone has an internet capable phone and the internet is streaming videos constantly. With that being sad a lot of youth and teens are able to watch music videos either through their phone, laptop or on the television. The new hit song titled â€Å"Try† by Pink depicts two lovers basically having an all-out brawl with each other. They are pulling hair, breaking glasses, hitting each other. This music video shows our youth domestic violence but shows it as a poetry in motion or as just two people really in love with each other so even though they are hurting each other its ok as long as they continue to work it out and try again. So is the message here teaching our society to not harm each other? It doesn’t look that way to me and if this keeps up then we will continue to see the numbers as high as they are. All of the different examples I gave show you how our culture became so violence oriented. From the News stations to the Movies in the theaters to the videogames we buy our children and the music they listen to. What children hear and see is exactly what they will do so yes I believe Family Violence Theory plays a role in my paper but the Cultural Violence Theory is by far the most destructive force we have and we can only blame ourselves. Reference: CJ333 Chapter 3, Research and Theory on Family Violence Video Game Study Reinforces Negative Impact on Youth, Jennifer Leclaire, 4/10/06 Pink gets physical and aggressive in â€Å"Try† music video, Lucas Villa, October 10 2012

The Distributive and Knowledge-driven Models of Politics :: Essays on Politics

The Distributive and Knowledge-driven Models of Politics American politics, for better or worse, is prone to elitist control of various issues, some of which affect the general public in significant ways. This system is described by the distributive model of politics, where people representing narrow segments of society with high stakes in a particular issue influence public policy to a substantial degree. This explanation of policy making can be effectively used to examine and explain some political actions. However, the model is not without its flaws, and other models have developed to explain policy changes that take place under different circumstances, and with anomalous results. In areas dealing with science and technology, the knowledge-driven approach is often employed to explain policy transitions that do not fit the distributive model. The knowledge-driven approach examines how technological and scientific advances that favor diffuse interests can be used by policy entrepreneurs to bring about broad change, often against powerful and determined special interest groups. The case of air bag regulation can be used to describe and examine both the distributive and knowledge-driven models, as it originally fit distributive explanations, and was eventually taken over by the knowledge-driven system. The discussion of air bag regulation will include an overview of the relevant events, an examination of the distributive system of auto safety, and an explanation of the eventual changes ushered in under the knowledge-driven system. The issue of auto safety regulation began to receive attention in the sixties, when death due to auto accidents rose from under 40,000 deaths in 1960 to nearly 55,000 in 1969 (Fortune, 100). In 1965 and 1966 congressional committees held hearings on specific incidents of automotive safety neglect, which resulted in the passing of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (Nader, Unsafe, xvii). This act was the first of its kind, giving the federal government the right to impose automotive safety regulations on the auto industry. The job of regulation was delegated to the National Highway Safety Bureau (now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), a division of the Department of Transportation. This department was given the authority to impose safety regulations, review industry compliance, and study automotive safety in general. In 1970 and 1971 the automotive industry began to discuss the use of passive restraints in collisions to increase safety. Passive restraints are those which do not require any actions on the part of the driver or passengers, unlike seatbelts. The most popular and seemingly most feasible solution was the air bag. This bag, placed in front of the driver, would deploy The Distributive and Knowledge-driven Models of Politics :: Essays on Politics The Distributive and Knowledge-driven Models of Politics American politics, for better or worse, is prone to elitist control of various issues, some of which affect the general public in significant ways. This system is described by the distributive model of politics, where people representing narrow segments of society with high stakes in a particular issue influence public policy to a substantial degree. This explanation of policy making can be effectively used to examine and explain some political actions. However, the model is not without its flaws, and other models have developed to explain policy changes that take place under different circumstances, and with anomalous results. In areas dealing with science and technology, the knowledge-driven approach is often employed to explain policy transitions that do not fit the distributive model. The knowledge-driven approach examines how technological and scientific advances that favor diffuse interests can be used by policy entrepreneurs to bring about broad change, often against powerful and determined special interest groups. The case of air bag regulation can be used to describe and examine both the distributive and knowledge-driven models, as it originally fit distributive explanations, and was eventually taken over by the knowledge-driven system. The discussion of air bag regulation will include an overview of the relevant events, an examination of the distributive system of auto safety, and an explanation of the eventual changes ushered in under the knowledge-driven system. The issue of auto safety regulation began to receive attention in the sixties, when death due to auto accidents rose from under 40,000 deaths in 1960 to nearly 55,000 in 1969 (Fortune, 100). In 1965 and 1966 congressional committees held hearings on specific incidents of automotive safety neglect, which resulted in the passing of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (Nader, Unsafe, xvii). This act was the first of its kind, giving the federal government the right to impose automotive safety regulations on the auto industry. The job of regulation was delegated to the National Highway Safety Bureau (now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), a division of the Department of Transportation. This department was given the authority to impose safety regulations, review industry compliance, and study automotive safety in general. In 1970 and 1971 the automotive industry began to discuss the use of passive restraints in collisions to increase safety. Passive restraints are those which do not require any actions on the part of the driver or passengers, unlike seatbelts. The most popular and seemingly most feasible solution was the air bag. This bag, placed in front of the driver, would deploy

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher Essay

The Gothic tradition has played a central role in creating architecture, poetry, literature, film and even art, such as Henry Fuselis’ 1781 painting, â€Å"The Nightmare†. Oscar Wilde borrowed heavily from the gothic tradition when creating his 1890s novel, â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† and in this essay I am going to be looking at certain gothic sections of Oscar Wildes’ novel where he utilizes the fundamental aspects of the Gothic tradition. I will be looking into â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† and how Wilde plays on the horror, the horrific, the suspense and the supernatural that all contribute to a Gothic mood. The term Gothic commands a vast semantic field of varied terrain; a range of meanings, definitions and associations. It is therefore very hard to define because it covers such a broad portfolio of different aspects. Historically the Goths were one of the several Germanic tribes who were one of the peoples who freed Europe from the clutches of the Roman Empire, culminating in its collapse in 476 AD. History itself has manipulated the term Gothic to be associated with the idea of freedom. One of the reasons the Gothic genre is so arduous to define is that it is constantly evolving and so after being associated with freedom it began to be linked with dreams. The rigid hierarchy of the Victorian era meant that the only place you could explore true freedom was in your dreams. And so again the idea evolved once more to nightmares where you could explore the dark side of human nature. The Gothic novel first became popular in England during the late 1700s and the early 1800s. At the end of the eighteenth century, England found itself in the midst of a social upheaval and it was out of this that the gothic genre emerged. The Gothic novel was invented almost single handledly by Horace Walpole, whose 1764 novel â€Å"The Castle of Otranto† contains essentially all the elements that constitute the genre. Walpole’s novel was imitated not only in the 18th century and not only in novel form but also in poetry, art and even later films. Poe’s, 1839, novel â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, also possesses the innate features of the Gothic tale: a haunted house, dreary landscape, mysterious sickness and doubled personality (which will be discussed in a later paragraph). A mysterious family or past is a very popular theme throughout the Gothic genre and this is clearly evident in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, where Poe likens the house to the genetic family line of the Usher family, which he refers to as the house of Usher. In the novel the building is described as â€Å"neglected†¦crumbling†¦old†¦discoloured1† which refers not only to the mansion itself but is a potent metaphor for the Usher family itself. Furthermore in â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† we see that Dorian’s past is exactly this. His typical Gothic family history includes duels to the death, suicide, young brides and romantic marriages. This also shows the obvious link between the Romantic Movement and the Gothic. One could say that the Gothic genre is Romanticism gone wrong. For example they both have castles but in the Gothic the castles tend to be derelict or haunted and, damsels in distress are seen in both genres as well. Throughout the Victorian era women were thought of as always being virtuous even though the expected behaviour of a husband was the complete opposite. The Gothic genre was an escape from reality and so in the genre emerged the controversial use of women not as pure, chaste people but as monsters and seductresses. Such examples of this could be the tragic death of Dorian Gray’s lover, Sibyl Vain: â€Å"she had swallowed something†¦some dreadful thing they use at theatres†¦either prussic acid or white lead†¦2† The girl’s death is typically gothic through the sheer horrifying nature of the death, swallowing acid, and highlights the waste of tangible life. In addition the women at the opium den is primal gothic, where she asks James Vain: â€Å"why didn’t you kill him [Dorian Gray]3†, which is a horrific question in itself. It is said that she: â€Å"hissed out† these words, which is a potent onomatopoeia, as if she is a snake; a typically frightening and monstrous creature to some. Also her face is described as â€Å"haggard4†, and is perhaps used by Wilde as if to liken her to a witch, only adds to the gothic aura. When James Vain looks back: â€Å"the women had vanished5†, making the women seem in a way, supernatural, another crucial theme in a gothic piece of literature. This was very effective to the Victoria audience as it was totally out of the normal and something that many would never dream of seeing. Furthermore writers in the Victorian era used many contempory issues as a basis of their works in order to bring the horror more to life. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s â€Å"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde†, the horrific murder of Sir Carew was linked to the similar murders by the infamous Jack the Ripper. This theme is very common, and recurrent in many gothic art forms. In Francis Ford Coppola’s, 1992 film, â€Å"Bram Stoker’s Dracula† Lucy after being bitten by Dracula, starts to become mysteriously sick and evil. Soon after there is a scene where she is about to feed on a baby, demonstrating how the damsel in distress has became evil. Women in Dracula are made into characters to fear rather than the embodiment of purity and goodness. Damsels in distress are also in Poe’s story where Roderick’s sister, Madeline is entombed before she has actually died. This idea is evident in â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† as well, where the damsel is Sibyl Vane who dies early on in the novel however one could also say that Basil, the artist who painted the portrait, is the damsel in distress too. The Gothic genre allowed you to escape from reality, to explore freedom elsewhere and in â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† Dorian tries to find a freedom that takes him away from his reality and his ever-growing sins. The opium dens offer him this release from his memory which are depicted â€Å"like a horrible malady, [that] was eating his soul away6†. This is proven by the fact that Dorian Gray flees to one of these dens, after murdering Basil Hallward; to presumably forget about the awfulness of his actions by losing conciseness in a drug induced languor. The dens located in the most derelict sites of London, maybe represent the squalid state of Dorian Gray’s mind and the actual dens described with words as: â€Å"tattered†¦dulled†¦distorted†¦greasy†¦ochre-coloured saw dust†¦spilt liquor7†, perhaps reflect his mortification of his soul. Drugs seem to give a new tempry freedom for Dorian to experience. Drugs seem to give a freedom which is what the Gothic represents in its entirety. One of the elements of the Gothic is the horrific and this is very vividly brought to life in â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† where Sible Vane kills herself with prussic acid and also when Alan Campbell graphically destroys Basil Hallward body in Dorian’s attic which is almost like Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, â€Å"Frankenstein† reversed. The main idea of a Gothic novel was the frightening and so in Wilde’s novel this is used frequently. The use of far off lands terrifying to the Victorian audience, is a key effect, and one relating to the original idea of the Gothic, although the Victorian Gothic novel found little need for ruins, rugged landscapes and derelict castles, the new landscape was the city as a source for menace and the dark. For example on Dorian’s way to the opium dens one day Wilde describes the route with prime Gothic vocabulary: â€Å"dimly-lit streets, past gaunt black-shadowed archways and evil-looking houses†¦ grotesque children†¦monstrous apes8.† For the upper classes reading the book, would never have been to the dark east end of London so they were left feeling as though they were in some desolate wild place. Another effect Wilde utilizes to scare the audience is how he likens inanimate objects to living things such as when he describes shadows as if they were alive. For example the way that Wilde likens shadows to living things: â€Å"†¦fantastic shadows were silhouetted against some lamp-lit blind†¦ they moved like monstrous marionettes, and made gestures like living things9.† Wilde is also able to make shadows frightening, by personifying the darkness: â€Å"the evening darkened in the room. Noiselessly, and with silver feet, the shadows crept in from the garden. The colours faded wearily out of things10†. From these extracts Wilde creates a typical Gothic mood that is dark and scary. There are some sections of Wilde’s book that seem as though they are describing certain Gothic works of art namely Henry Fusel’s, 1781, â€Å"The Nightmare† where he exploits all the original Gothic traits into a painting showing a women lying on a bed with a grotesque creature on her chest. Also it has many shadows and an ere horse in the background. The picture has all the elements that make the Gothic genre: dark setting, full of shadows, odd creatures, a damsel in distress and the unnatural. The Gothic theme is also represented in the painting, â€Å"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters† by Goya, 1799. They both have in the paintings a person sleeping and Gothic images around them suggesting that they are in the persons’ dreams. Double personalities, or doppelganger is used a lot among Gothic writers and is demonstrated in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, with Roderick and Madeline, the mansion and the genetic Usher family and this element occurs also in â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† with Dorian. In the novel the double personality is Dorian and his painting, Dorian representing the physical and the painting representing the â€Å"inside† or the soul of Dorian. However the theme is much more widely spread and is in other Gothic works such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s â€Å"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde†. As in â€Å"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† where one character, transforms in to another, when Dorian Gray has the idea to kill Basil Hallward, his urge is described in the book as: â€Å"the mad passions of a hunted animal [that] stirred within him11†. This particularly animalistic description, perhaps serves to highlight the gothic genre even more by making a comparison between animals, that are not restricted in society to act in a certain way, and are thus free to act as they please. By stark contrast, Dorian Gray as a human is restricted to act in a certain way, that is considered morally correct. His act of killing, in human society is considered as a sin. The supernatural is key in increasing the horror of a gothic novel, such as the fact that Dracula does not have reflection in the mirror. In addition when Harker describes how Dracula left the castle: â€Å"†¦I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and began to crawl down the castle wall†¦12† from this extract we can see that Dracula is a supernatural character as his actions are unexplainable. However the supernatural theme running through the book, reaches a dramatic zenith with Dorian’s end. His fatal error is absolutely supernatural with the description of the unrecognisable wrinkly old man where there had recently been a vibrant youth adding to both the awful moral and supernatural effect of the novel. Above all the most gothic and supernatural thing in the book is the portrait of Dorian Gray himself. The painting acts as a guidance to Dorian and almost becomes a moral barometer. After murdering Basil Hallward, the portrait reveals the sin by changing. The portrait is described as a canvas that had: â€Å"sweated blood13†, a blood that is expressed as a: â€Å"loathsome red dew that gleamed14†. Dorian grows increasingly uncomfortable over the course of novel with what the disfigured portrait signifies about himself. And as the novel progresses and the painting continues to register the effects of time and dissipation, and we start to see the degree to which Dorian is undone by the sins that his portrait reflects and the degree to which he suffers for allowing the painting to act as a â€Å"Visible emblem of conscience†. This in itself is a very gothic idea living a life without consequences and letting the portrait bear the sins and this is exactly what Dorian did until his sins caught up with him. The Victorian era was very difficult to live in because of its rigid structured social hierarchy that allowed no â€Å"impurities† or non ethnical or righteous ideas. However the Gothic genre allowed you to do all these things and to explore irrational fantasies and social taboos. This is probably why Wilde liked the genre because being a homosexual he could not explore his own freedom in his own life but instead he possibly explored this through the homoerotic theme of novel. He managed to escape and explore another freedom through the gothic genre. â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† is not an entire gothic novel but a fair amount is and I think that with the gothic sections Wilde has successfully created a primo piece of Gothic literature. 1 The Picture of Dorian Gray, By Oscar Wilde, Published by Penguin.

Quality management focuses attention on continuous improvement Essay

Th e work of W. Edwards Deming is a cornerstone of the quality movement in management. 27 His story began in 1951, when he was invited to Japan to explain quality control techniques that had been developed in the United States. â€Å"When Deming spoke,† we might say, â€Å"the Japanese listened. † Th e principles he taught the Japanese were straightforward, and they worked: Tally defects, analyze and trace them to the source, make corrections, and keep a record of what happens afterward. Deming’s approach to quality emphasizes constant innovation, use of statistical methods, and commitment to training in the fundamentals of quality assurance. One outgrowth of Deming’s work was the emergence of total quality management, or TQM. Th is process makes quality principles part of the organization’s strategic objectives, applying them to all aspects of operations and striving to meet customers’ needs by doing things right the fi rst time. Most TQM approaches begin with an insistence that the total quality commitment applies to everyone in an organization, from resource acquisition and supply chain management, through production and into the distribution of fi nished goods and services, and ultimately to customer relationship management. The search for and commitment to quality is now tied to the emphasis modern management gives to the notion of continuous improvement—always looking for new ways to improve on current performance. 29 Th e goal is that one can never be satisfi ed; something always can and should be improved upon. Evidence-based management seeks hard facts about what really works. Looking back on the historical foundations of management, one thing that stands out is criticism by today’s scholars of the scientifi c rigor of some historical cornerstones, among them Taylor’s scientifi c management approach and the Hawthorne studies. The worry is that we may be too quick in accepting as factual the results of studies that are based on weak or even shoddy empirical evidence. And if the studies are fl awed, perhaps more care needs to be exercised when trying to apply their insights to improve management practices. Th is problem isn’t limited to the distant past. 30 A book by Jim Collins, Good to Great, achieved great acclaim and best-seller status for its depiction of highly successful organizations. But Collins’s methods and fi ndings have since been criticized by researchers. 32 And after problems appeared at many fi rms previously considered by him to be â€Å"great,† he wrote a follow-up book called How the Mighty Fall. 33 Th e point here is not to discredit what keen observers of management practice like Collins and others report. But it is meant to make you cautious and a bit skeptical when it comes to separating fads from facts and conjecture from informed insight. Today’s management scholars are trying to move beyond generalized impressions of excellence to understand more empirically the characteristics of high-performance organizations—ones that consistently achieve highperformance results while also creating high quality-of-work-life environments for their employees. Following this line of thinking, Jeff rey Pfeff er and Robert Sutton make the case for evidence-based management, or EBM. Th is is the process of making management decisions on â€Å"hard facts†Ã¢â‚¬â€that is, about what really works—rather than on â€Å"dangerous half-truths†Ã¢â‚¬â€things that sound good but lack empirical substantiation. Using data from a sample of some 1,000 fi rms, for example, Pfeff er and a colleague found that fi rms using a mix of well selected human resource management practices had more sales and higher profi ts per employee than those that didn’t. 35 Th ose practices included employment security, selective hiring, self-managed teams, high wages based on performance merit, training and skill development, minimal status diff erences, and shared information. Examples of other EBM fi ndings include challenging goals accepted by an employee are likely to result in high performance, and that unstructured employment interviews are unlikely to result in the best person being hired to fi ll a vacant position. 36 Scholars pursue a variety of solid empirical studies using proven scientifi c methods in many areas of management research. Some carve out new and innovative territories, while others build upon and extend knowledge that has come down through the history of management thought. By staying abreast of such

Present Progressive Tense of Spanish

Present Progressive Tense of Spanish The present progressive tense of Spanish is formed with the simple present tense of estar followed by a present participle, also known as a gerund. Differences Between Progressive and Simple Tenses Thus, the present progressive forms of comer are: Estoy comiendo. I am eating.Ests comiendo. You are eating.Est comiendo. You/he/she are/is eating.Estamos comiendo. We are eating.Estis comiendo. You are eating.Estn comiendo. You/they are eating. Something you may notice right away is that the simple present tense can also be translated the same way. Thus comemos can also mean We are eating. So whats the difference? The main difference is that, like the other progressive verb forms, the present progressive (also known as the present continuous) tense emphasizes the process, or that something is in progress, more than the simple present does. The difference can be a subtle one, and there isnt always a big difference in meaning between the simple present and the present progressive. Again, the matter is one of emphasis. You may ask a friend,  ¿En que piensas? or  ¿En que ests pensando? and they both would mean What are you thinking about? But the latter places more emphasis on the thinking process. In some contexts (but not all), the connotation of the Spanish progressive might be conveyed in a sentence such as What are you thinking? where the English verbal emphasis gives a slight change of meaning. How the Present Progressive Is Used Here are some examples of sentences where the in-progress nature of the verbs action can be seen: Estoy escribiendo el plan de negocios para mi empresa. (I am writing the business plan for my enterprise.)Estamos estudiando la posibilidad de hacerla bianualmente. (We are studying the possibility of doing it biannually.) ¿Le estn saliendo sus primeros dientitos? (Are his first baby teeth growing out?)Me estoy rompiendo en pedazos. (Im falling apart. Literally, Im breaking in pieces.)Los libros electrà ³nicos estn ganando popularidad. (Electronic books are gaining popularity.) The present progressive can suggest that something is happening right now, and sometimes it can indicate that the action is something unexpected or likely to be of short duration:  ¿Quà © es esto que estoy sintiendo? (Whats this Im feeling now?)No me molestes. Estoy estudiando. (Dont bother me. Im studying.) ¿Ãƒâ€°sto es lo que ests diciendo? (This is what youre telling me?)Puedo ver que ests sufriendo. (I can see youre suffering.) And sometimes, the present progressive can be used for almost the opposite, to indicate that something is constantly happening over and over, even though it may not be happening at the moment: Sabemos que estamos comiendo maà ­z transgà ©nico. (We know we are constantly eating genetically engineered corn.)Las unidades se estn vendiendo ilegalmente en los Estados Unidos. (The units keep on being sold illegally in the United States.)Los barcos de aluminio satisfarà ­an bien si usted est pescando mucho en los rà ­os. (The aluminum boats would be quite suitable if you are fishing all the time in rivers.) Keep in mind that while many of the sample sentences here are translated using the present progressive in English, you shouldnt habitually translate that English form to Spanish that way. Spanish students frequently overuse the progressive, partly because it is used in English in ways that it isnt in Spanish. For example, the English sentence We are leaving tomorrow, would be nonsensical if translated using the Spanish present progressive, as Estamos saliendo would typically be understood to mean We are leaving now or We are in the process of leaving. Other Progressive Tenses Progressive tenses can also be formed by using the other tenses of estar. Although some of the tenses are seldom used, they are used much like their English counterparts. As with the present tense, the use of a progressive rather than simple tense puts an emphasis on the continuing nature of the action. An example is the preterite progressive, which indicates that an action continued over a period of time but came to a definite end. This can be seen in this sentence: La compaà ±ia estuvo comprando derechos de agua. (The company was buying water rights.) The same sentence could be reworded into the imperfect progressive (La compaà ±ia estaba comprando derechos de agua) without a change in translation, but its meaning would change slightly. In the imperfect, the sentence doesnt clearly indicate that the purchasing came to an end. Progressive tenses can even be formed using the perfect tenses of estar. For example, the future perfect progressive is used in this sentence: Habrà © estado viajando aproximadamente 24 horas. (I will have been traveling about 24 hours.) Key Takeaways The progressive tenses are formed by combining a form of estar with the present participle or gerund.The progressive tenses emphasize the continuing nature of the action.English speakers should be careful not to overuse the progressive tenses in Spanish, which uses them less frequently than English does.

Writing Tips Shortening Sentences - Proofread My Papers Blog

Writing Tips Shortening Sentences - Proofread My Papers Blog Writing Tips: Shortening Sentences Brevity is famously the soul of wit, but it’s also highly valued in academia and the business world. Why? Because writing succinctly will help you get your point across clearly, making your work more impactful. Perhaps the simplest way to make your writing more succinct is to shorten your sentences. Handily, we have a few top tips for doing exactly that! 1. Avoid Redundancy â€Å"Redundancy† means using additional words that don’t add anything meaningful to a sentence. The phrase â€Å"twelve midnight,† for instance, means exactly the same thing as â€Å"midnight,† so the â€Å"twelve† is redundant. It’s therefore a good idea to check your sentences for unnecessary words, as cutting these out will make a long sentences shorter. For example: In actual fact, every single nurse worked from 3 am in the morning to twelve midnight. Could be easily rewritten to say the same thing with fewer words: In fact, every nurse worked from 3 am to midnight. Must be why Florence Nightingale always looked so tired. 2. Break Up Long Sentences Sometimes, long sentences are easier to follow if broken down into two or more statements. The following, for instance: Making a sentence too long can be confusing because it is easy to lose track of what was said at the beginning, since they do not give the reader enough time to process what they are reading and by the end of the sentence you might have forgotten where it started! That’s 51 words with barely a pause for breath. It would make sense to break it down into three shorter sentences: Making a sentence too long can be confusing. It is easy to lose track of what was said at the beginning, since they do not give the reader enough time to process what they are reading. By the end of the sentence you might have forgotten where it started! 3. Beware Padding Words Padding words and phrases are things like â€Å"in my opinion† or â€Å"as a matter of fact,† which make a sentence longer but don’t usually add much meaning. Saying â€Å"In my opinion, the political atmosphere is toxic,† for instance, means exactly the same as â€Å"The political atmosphere is toxic.† If you need to shorten a sentence, try looking for padding phrases you could remove. 4. Use the Active Voice We’re often taught to avoid the active voice in academic writing, but sometimes using the passive voice makes sentences unwieldy. For example, the passive sentence: The hypothesis was supported by the results. Could be made a little simpler by using the active voice: The results support the hypothesis. 5. A Final Thought†¦ Using only short sentences can make your writing lack fluency. To make your work engaging, the best thing to do is vary sentence length. You can then save shorter, punchier sentences for when you need to make a forceful point or ensure clarity.

Introduction to Externalities

Introduction to Externalities When making the claim that free, unregulated markets maximize the amount of value created for a society, economists either implicitly or explicitly assume that the actions and choices of producers and consumers in a market dont have any spillover effects onto third parties who are not directly involved in the market as a producer or a consumer. When this assumption is taken away, it no longer has to be the case that unregulated markets are value-maximizing, so its important to understand these spillover effects and their impacts on economic value. Economists call effects on those not involved in the market externalities, and they vary along two dimensions. First, externalities can be either negative or positive. Not surprisingly, negative externalities impose spillover costs on otherwise uninvolved parties, and positive externalities confer spillover benefits on otherwise uninvolved parties. (When analyzing externalities, its helpful to keep in mind that costs are just negative benefits and benefits are just negative costs.) Second, externalities can be either on production or consumption. In the case of an externality on production, the spillover effects occur when a product is physically produced. In the case of an externality on consumption, the spillover effects occur when a product is consumed. Combining these two dimensions gives four possibilities: Negative Externalities on Production Negative externalities on production occur when producing an item imposes a cost on those not directly involved in producing or consuming the item. For example, factory pollution is the quintessential negative externality on production, since the costs of pollution are felt by everyone and not just those who are producing and consuming the products that are causing the pollution. Positive Externalities on Production Positive externalities can occur during produciton such as when a popular food, such as cinnamon buns or candy, produces a desirable smell during manufacturing, releasing this positive externality to the nearby community. Another example would be adding jobs in an area with high unemployment can benefit the community putting more consumers with money to spend into that communitry  and also reducing the number of unemployed people there. Negative Externalities on Consumption Negative externalities on consumption occur when consuming an item actually imposes a cost on others. For example, the market for cigarettes has a negative externality on consumption because consuming cigarettes imposes a cost on others not involved in the market for cigarettes in the form of second-hand smoke. Positive Externalities on Consumption Because the presence of externalities makes unregulated markets inefficient, externalities can be viewed as a type of market failure. This market failure, at a fundamental level, arises because of a violation of the notion of well-defined property rights, which is, in fact, a requirement for free markets to function efficiently. This violation of property rights occurs because there are is no clear ownership of air, water, open spaces, and so on, even though society is affected by what happens to such entities. When negative externalities are present, taxes can actually make markets more efficient for society. When positive externalities are present, subsidies can make markets more efficient for society. These finds are in contrast with the conclusion that taxing or subsidizing well-functioning markets (where no externalities are present) reduces economic welfare.

Management 2 (protective security) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management 2 (protective security) - Essay Example Efficiency has been defined as measure of productivity or operational excellence concerned with operational margins improvement and cost minimization. Effectiveness on the other hand is associated with the business’s ability to identify and embrace opportunities of business via exchange relationships. As a result effectiveness is concerned with a company’s plan to develop a growth that is sustainable within its market (Stefanos, 2007). My organization has invested heavily and made tremendous efforts in balancing these two critical aspects of operations management all in an effort to increase the market share and maintain competitive advantage. The objectives of my organization are essentially to increase the market share and decrease the overall costs of running the organization. The target is to increase our market share from the current 15% to 20% within a period of two years. Another target is to introduce certain changes within the organization such that the overall costs would reduce by 5% within a period of one year. These changes include reducing field managers by 50% and employ more Close protection officers with advanced qualification. The organization had an objective of increasing its market share. The company embarked on a market wide research effort to identify client needs that were not being met. The organization realized that many business entities with huge capital bases required specialized protection service from the protective security firms. This service required CPO’s with a special kind of skill set which many security companies lacked. This created a need for the company to hire more CPO’s with the necessary skill set resulting in increased operational cost. After a thorough cost and benefits analysis, the company decided it would be more profitable to hire five specialized CPO’s to meet this need while at

RU486 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RU486 - Essay Example The mechanism of action of RU486 is that it sensitizes the myometrium to prostaglandin-induced contractions and then softens and later dilates the cervix; the Gemeprost would then stimulate the uterus to contract and expel the fetus (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). The drug is to be taken with precaution among asthmatics and among those with blood disorders or those taking anticoagulant medications (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). This drug cannot be taken by smokers aged 35 years and above. Moreover, Aspirin and NSAIDS should be avoided while taking RU486 as it can increase bleeding (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). It is contraindicated in uncontrolled severe asthma, suspected ectopic pregnancy, chronic adrenal failure, and porphyria (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). Its side effects include nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, and possibly severe vaginal bleeding (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). In case the abortion is not successful, it is advised that other means of abortion be applied in order to complete the abortive process (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). Some of the issues with this drug are related to the fact that no actual testing has been performed on the drug before it has been released into the market. Apparently, the only testing which has been conducted on the product before 1988 was a test to determine dosage. Such tests did not resolve or address the drug safety in actual usage (MacDonald â€Å"RU486). Large scale testing of the drug has been conducted in France and in England and the reports reveal alarming results for women. Severe and violent side-effects on women have been seen after administration of this drug. These side-effects included nausea, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding and the bleeding has been known to last up to 35 or 40 days with an average duration of 8 to 10 days; some women actually required blood transfusions after profuse bleeding following administration of this drug (MacDonald â€Å"RU 486†). Those who oppose the use of

Week 5 d1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Week 5 d1 - Essay Example Because of this, organizations can develop efficient and productive business process, which meets the expectations of the market. Management integration brings all operations under one roof or umbrella, which is the core in developing parameters for improvements as well as checking the progress (TechNet, 2014). Additionally, management integration helps in network management by event monitoring, security and reviewing performance (TechNet, 2014). It becomes easier to monitor the performances of an integrated management because all the departments are together. Similarly, it allows for automatic reporting that is vital to making the organization to progress (TechNet, 2014). Lastly, management integration assists in network management by offering support response as well as alert services that an organization may require at any given time (TechNet, 2014). It allows for timely delivery of information or critical data as may be needed at any given time to assist the organization is meeting the goals. For instance, Integration with IBM NetView network management system is essential in automatic reporting (TechNet, 2014). There are also other network management services, which offer different services required by the

Research Article Assignment for Supply chain Essay

Research Article Assignment for Supply chain - Essay Example The first type of postponement approach is the product postponement. In this approach, a firm designs a product and uses standardized components to delay its customization (Brown, Lee and Petrakian 67). For companies like Xilinx, the final configuration of the product gets done when it is manufacturing or distributing its products. Implementation of the postponement approach was helpful to Xilinx because there was risk pooling. One of the benefits is that the risk pooling occurs particularly when aggregating the demand for the finished goods. In addition, the aggregate demand in the market becomes less uncertain which lead to Xilinx holding fewer inventories to offer similar level of services. Xilinx also benefits from having a reduced degree of customization which remains low through to the front-end stage (Brown, Lee and Petrakian 76). Firms prefer the traditional method of inventory management because it makes it easier for them to have virtual business models. For example, in the case of Xilinx, the business model allows it to operate at a high rate of flexibility and still maintains its processes at a low-cost. Xilinx also benefits from this model because it had new technical innovation and re-engineering ideas as a result of its improved manufacturing processes. The on-time delivery process of the products is also improved. One of the challenges is that redesigning a product to promote the process of postponement requires the manufacturer to wait for some time until the time when the customers change their designs (Brown, Lee and Petrakian 70). This happens in the new product generation releases. There is little that is done for a company that has implemented a postponement strategy and wants to create products without necessarily using the front-end stage strategy. Xilinx uses three processes to make their process postponement more effective. The first is the inventory modeling operation initiative and the second is the

Principles of Law Enforcement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principles of Law Enforcement - Essay Example strength of the police culture is based upon a mission and anything that is done in pursuing that mission is serving the greater good of the community (Reiner as quoted in Hall, 2002, p.1). One of the reasons why this situation exists is because police officers are in such a difficult and sometimes hostile environment. In order for them to work well, it helps when they have the assurance that other officers will have their back if something happens. Since the world of police work is unpredictable, it helps police have peace of mind when they know that the other officers will help them in external and internal investigations by keeping silent. According to Hall (2002) there are eight reasons why the Code of Silence exists. Here are a few:: With this information in mind it is easy to see why this Code of Silence is an integral part of law enforcement. The interesting issue about this is that each officer decides how much of this they will do and it is usually based on their own moral code of ethics. In research done by The National Institute of Ethics in 2000, it was found that 52% of officers were not bothered by the Code of Silence (as quoted in Hall, p. 3). In other words, they were fine with it. Hall also suggests that the root of this comes from the fact that we were told as children not to tell on our siblings and the fact that we were punished if we did. Walker (2001), in his book on police accountability says that the reason this Code of Silence exists is because "officers learned that there was no risk of punishment for backing up fellow officers responses no matter how credible the tale." (Walker, p. 109). Another issue that comes up for officers is that some have compassion for people who have experienced brutal crimes. Because of this, they may begin to think that since the public wants to get rid of an individual like this, whatever they do to get rid of the individual will be seen as the right thing to do. They ignore due process for the perpetrator

How to Make local company international Research Paper

How to Make local company international - Research Paper Example In Saudization the Advance Electronic Company is a leader. In all areas of business and the community the highest integrity has been maintained consistently by the Advance Electronic Company. The Advance Electronic Company is considered as a strategic asset by the Saudi Arabian Government. The recognition as the leading technology solutions provider in the region is the vision of the Advance Electronic Company. The continuous improvement and diversification of the companies’ offerings by alignment of its business strategies with the end customers’ priorities, creation of long-term partnership, harness the opportunities, acquirement of new capabilities, investment I the people and community at large is the mission of the Advance Electronic Company. The Advance Electronic Company aims to be the leader across all the business of the company and to act in the most professional way in an ethical manner. The Advance Electronic Company has access to the   Ã‚  world class and local manufacturing, repair, engineering and maintenance. It also has the access at its facilities to the complete solution deployment capabilities. The access of the Advance Electronic Company to other distribution networks, customers and markets are rapid and easy. As a result, to the highly specialized services, offers and opportunities, the Advance Electronic Company acts as a gateway. An in-depth understanding of the Dynamics and structure of the Saudi and international electronics market is possessed by the Advance Electronic Company. The superior engineering and technical capabilities of the company has helped it to forge close working relationships with many renowned international OEMs. The end-to-end customer support of the Advance Electronic Company, its reliability and its ability to deliver on time and to budget are excellent. the Advance Electronic Company successfully operates in the Industrial business, Military, & Telecom sectors and has shown leadership in it. The service package provided to the customers by the Advance Electronic Company is aimed at standard as complete satisfaction and quality. More than 2000 people are encompassed in the Advance Electronic Company team with a variety of skills, qualifications and experience.  The first company to receive the AS 9100-A2001 certificate in the Middle East and Africa was the Advance Electronic Company.    (Advanced Electronic Company, n.d.) 2.0 Market Penetrated Political system, economical system and the legal system of the host country- The Advance Electronic Company plans to enter Romania as its host country. Romania is an ideal country to expand the business as the country adheres to maintain its openness to the global commerce and business regulation efficiency. Romania is a member of the European Union. By filtering the economies active on the market, Romania has further scope of the attractively /improvement of the Romanian business environment - The political System- Rule of Law Th e major political effects on a business are the political policies of a nation, its stability and the taxes imposed by it on the business. A flat 16 percent tax rate is implemented in both the income and corporate sectors in Romania. An environmental tax and a value added tax are included in other taxes. 26.5 % of the total domestic business equals to the overall tax burden.

Principles of Law Enforcement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principles of Law Enforcement - Essay Example strength of the police culture is based upon a mission and anything that is done in pursuing that mission is serving the greater good of the community (Reiner as quoted in Hall, 2002, p.1). One of the reasons why this situation exists is because police officers are in such a difficult and sometimes hostile environment. In order for them to work well, it helps when they have the assurance that other officers will have their back if something happens. Since the world of police work is unpredictable, it helps police have peace of mind when they know that the other officers will help them in external and internal investigations by keeping silent. According to Hall (2002) there are eight reasons why the Code of Silence exists. Here are a few:: With this information in mind it is easy to see why this Code of Silence is an integral part of law enforcement. The interesting issue about this is that each officer decides how much of this they will do and it is usually based on their own moral code of ethics. In research done by The National Institute of Ethics in 2000, it was found that 52% of officers were not bothered by the Code of Silence (as quoted in Hall, p. 3). In other words, they were fine with it. Hall also suggests that the root of this comes from the fact that we were told as children not to tell on our siblings and the fact that we were punished if we did. Walker (2001), in his book on police accountability says that the reason this Code of Silence exists is because "officers learned that there was no risk of punishment for backing up fellow officers responses no matter how credible the tale." (Walker, p. 109). Another issue that comes up for officers is that some have compassion for people who have experienced brutal crimes. Because of this, they may begin to think that since the public wants to get rid of an individual like this, whatever they do to get rid of the individual will be seen as the right thing to do. They ignore due process for the perpetrator

Analysis of questionnarie Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of questionnarie - Research Paper Example Questionnaire was used to collect the data. The analysis focuses on investigating if students who did not take fruits do not like them and if preference for the fruit is an indicator of number of fruits taken. The following set hypothesis is investigated. Validity and reliability of a quantitative study plays an important role in determining the study’s significance and applicability for an intended purpose. A study that lacks reliability threshold cannot be applied for the study’s sample, for lack of consistency; neither can it be applied in a population because of external validity concerns (Blaikie 185). The study however incorporates a large proportion of the population, 330 out of 521 students who were willing to participate in the study, and this establishes its internal reliability. A significant proportion of the population was further sampled, 124, with a 100 percent response rate and this reinforce reliability of the study’s results and associated conclusions. Consequently, developed knowledge from the data analysis can be relied upon to inform on preference for fruit and fruits taken in the studied week. The analysis can further be relied upon for a model for a relationship between the two variables an d the results can be forecasted to periods beyond the studied week. Of the interviewed students, 116 (93 percent) had visited the cafeteria within the previous 4 or five weeks and this, and assuming external validity, means that majority of the institution’s students visit the cafeteria. The high proportion of students who visited the cafeteria therefore identifies a potential market for a product that is placed in the cafeteria because of the strategic location that many students can access. Strategies could however be necessary for ensuring that all students visit the cafeteria for a wider market. One hundred and one students (81 percent), out of the sampled,

The Charter of Rights and Free

The Charter of Rights and Freedom and its Affect on Canada Essay The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights granted constitutional status that was introduced in the Constitution Act of 1982 by Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. The Constitution Act is also known as the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. The Charter had several purposes; the first is â€Å"to outline and guarantee the political rights of Canadian citizens, as well as the civil rights of anyone who is residing on the territory of Canada† (The Canadian Charter. 1). Secondly, â€Å"It balances the rights of legislatures and courts through the ‘notwithstanding’ clause, which gives the federal and provincial parliaments limited powers to override court decisions â€Å", while section 2 of the bill enshrines the freedom of the press, allowing the media to release controversial reports without fear of the state (Ibbitson. 2012). Thirdly, it criminalized discrimination in society, government rulings and the judicial system and provides a set of ethical principles for all Canadians to follow, while promoting equality throughout the country. Social discrimination was widespread in Canada at the turn of the 20th Century. Many groups were discriminated against such as minorities and women. This was evident through the introduction of Clifford Sifton’s head tax, the â€Å"enemy aliens† and unbalanced gender equality between men and women. The first step in any change is to identify the problem. During the Holocaust of WWII the discrimination of Jewish people led to a mass genocide of 6 million people. After this affair it was realized that boundaries must be put in place to insure that basic human rights are respected. It was this idea that gave birth to the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. In Canada the declaration paved paths for more government action regarding social and political discrimination, an example being the predecessor of the Charter, the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960. This bill was introduced by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and granted similar rights to the citizens of Canada. The difference between the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill, is that the Bill of Rights could be contested by the government and judicial system whenever anyone sees fit, which gave room for discrimination in government and court rulings. The catalyst to the creation of the Charter was the re-election of Pierre Trudeau and the Quebec Referendum. Prime Minister Trudeau was Canada’s first socialist prime minister, he was heavily influenced by the socialist European culture from the years he spent studying there. Trudeau’s most famous saying was a â€Å"Just Society†. â€Å"The Just Society will be a united Canada, united because all of its citizens will be actively involved in the development of a country where equality of opportunity is ensured and individuals are permitted to fulfill themselves in the fashion they judge best† (Trudeau. 968). During the Quebec Referendum when Quebec’s separatist movement was at its peak, the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution and the enactment of French language and French education rights (which is included in the Charter) were pieces of his platform to halt the referendum and part of his plan for a â€Å"Just Society†. After the refere ndum was rejected Trudeau kept true to his word and appealed the Constitution and enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedom within it. The Charter of Rights and Freedom was a defining moment in Canada’s history as it protected women and homosexuals from discrimination and allowed them to establish an identity. Its creation also shows our country’s commitment to equality, human rights and social justice. The Charter changed Canada’s view on sexuality, gender equality and homophobia; it paved a path for the second wave of the feminist movement, helped legalize abortion, removed barriers for gay marriage and completely redefined the definition of marriage throughout Canada. Abortion was an extremely controversial topic throughout the 1900’s and the reason why free abortion is available in this country is because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Before the 1969 and the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, abortion was considered a criminal offense and no access to it was allowed. The right to having an abortion also brought along questions on gender roles and equality; as men were not restricted to what they could or could not do with their bodies. The catalyst to the Free Abortion Movement was the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s in the USA, which due to their proximity to Canada also had an effect on our society. The revolution was the beginning to contraception, the acceptance of casual sex and sexual liberation. Along with these boundaries breaking changes also brought the legalization of abortion. The biggest push towards free abortion from within our country was the work of a man named Henry Morgentaler. Dr. Henry Morgentaler was a general practitioner in Montreal, who specialized in family planning. He was one of the first Canadian doctors to prescribe birth control and perform sterilization. In 1967, he presented a case before the House of Common Health and Welfare regarding illegal abortions and women’s rights to safe abortion, but was swiftly dismissed. The public reacted quickly to his stance on this issue, and he began to receive requests from desperate women to perform abortions. Morgentaler initially responded with a sympathetic â€Å"no†, but after he realized the life-risking extent that these women were willing to go to for an abortion, he chose personal values over civil obedience and began performing illegal abortions. His bravery and determination was the catalyst to the second wave of the feminist movement and kick started the right to legal abortions for all women in Canada. The section of the Charter of Rights and Freedom that was most significant to the Free Abortion Movement was section 7. Section 7 of the Charter states â€Å"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice† (The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 982). Before the Charter, in 1969 a law was passed that stated â€Å"a child can only be aborted if the life or health of a woman was threatened† and must be verified by a three-doctor hospital committee (Egan. 1998). But after the creation of the charter which granted woman the right to life or to make choices, such as â€Å"whether a woman had made a choice to get pregnant, continue a pregnancy, or end a pregnancy, or, framed differently, to have an abortion, or not have an abortion† (Downie. 2008). If the woman in question had not made the decision to become pregnant or even consented to the act of intercourse, then denying her right to having an abortion would violate the Charter and her right to live. Secondly, by limiting a woman access to medical services and forcing her to carry and support a fetus is an invasion of her right to security and a violation of the Charter. Thirdly, one of the reasons abortion is illegalized in many countries is because in many religions the act of protecting the fetus is sacred, causing many religious government fficers to implement bias laws against allowing abortion due to their beliefs. The charter states that all people have the freedom of belief and religion; if the individual does not believe in the practice of protecting the fetus then they should be allowed to make their decision accordingly. Lastly, the final verdict given by a judge on the Morgentaler case was: â€Å"The decision whether to terminate a pregnancy is essentially a mor al decision, a matter of conscience. I do not think there is or can be any dispute about that. The question is: whose conscience? Is the conscience of the woman to be paramount or the conscience of the state? I believe, for the reasons I gave in discussing the right to liberty, that in a free and democratic society it must be the conscience of the individual. † (Wilson. 1988) If the right to liberty was not given then the outcome of this significant case would be much different and women may have never been granted the right to free abortion. The changes that the Charter brought to the lives of pregnant woman were paramount. It not only allowed them to make choices with their body, but it also brought them closer in gender equality with men (as they were not longer restricted in bodily integrity) and paved a path for future changes in the lives of women. Until the re-election of socialist Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1980 and enactment the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, homophobia was very common in Canada at the turn of the 20th century. Before 1970, homosexuality was seen as a criminal offense and anyone accused of homosexual acts was charged as a sexual offender. Similarly to the Free Abortion movement catalyst to the Gay Rights Movement was also the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s and the re-election of Pierre Trudeau. Likewise to Morgentaler, there is also an extremely significant person to the rise of homosexual rights, Everett George Klippert. Klippert was mistakenly suspected of arson and was detained by the RCMP in August 1965. During his questioning he admitted that he was homosexual and had conducted several sexual acts with throughout the last 24 years. Though it was proven that Klippert was not involved in the arsonist case, the court because of his sexual activities had charged him with 6 counts of â€Å"gross indecency†. This sentence was seen as extremely unfair and cruel. Trudeau, who was the Prime Minister at the time, responded with this statement: â€Å"Take this thing on homosexuality, I think the view we take here is that there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation, and I think what’s done in private between adults doesn’t concern the Criminal Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Trudeau. 967) And within six weeks of this statement Trudeau had created and passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which decriminalized homosexuality. This act along with the Charter of Rights and Freedom gave Canadians the gift of same-sex marriage. After the acknowledgement of same-sex marriage in 1969, it was pointed out that the traditional â€Å"one man/one woma n† biological requirement was not fulfilled. This difference led to the Canadian government denying same-sex partners the same benefits of the law as heterosexual partners. But later this is revoked, as the term â€Å"minorities† expressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms extends to include analogous minorities therefore all federal and provincial discrimination against same-sex couples must be overwritten. Secondly, â€Å"The Charter of Rights and Freedoms introduced in Canada in 1982 prohibits discrimination against homosexual couples on the basis of sexual orientation to counter the Canadian federal law which denies marital status to the group, thus depriving them of the federal privileges allowed to heterosexuals†(Findlay. 5). Later in 1999 because of sexual orientation becoming a form of discrimination, the Supreme Court of Canada pronounced that same-sex partners now legally have the same rights and benefits as common-law couples. Lastly, at the turn of the 20th century one of the most dominant religions in Canada was Christianity. The Christian religion did not accept the idea of homosexuality, and because this belief was so do minant at the time, it created bias laws and discriminated against gay citizens of Canada. Until the creation of the Charter which granted the right to religion and personal beliefs, there was no way to argue against this religious discrimination. Finally in 2003 the Ontario Court of Appeal stated that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the definition of marriage violated equality rights under the Charter. Without the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, homosexuals would not have the rights and acceptance in society as they do in the present day. The Charter completely redefined the meaning of marriage and gave homosexuals the ability to bind themselves to their loved ones with not only their body and soul, but also with vows and aws. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a defining moment in Canada’s history because it protected women and homosexuals from discrimination and gave them several fundamental freedoms that they did not possess before. Women finally gained the right to control their own bodies, and homosexuals received the freedom to love who they wish, without hiding it. The Charter really placed Canada on the map as a place of freedom and expression, perhaps even more so than our neighbor â€Å"The Land of the Free†. It geared Canada on a path to what it is today, a place of diversity, tolerance and the land of the â€Å"The True North Strong and Free.

Consequences of Nick Carraway as Narrator of F. Scott Fitzgeralds The

The Importance of Nick Carraway as Narrator of The Great Gatsby    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald critiques the disillusionment of the American Dream by contrasting the corruption of those who adopt a superficial lifestyle with the honesty of Nick Carraway. As Carraway familiarizes himself with the lives of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Jay Gatsby, he realizes the false seductiveness of the New York lifestyle and regains respect for the Midwest he left behind. "Fitzgerald needs an objective narrator to convey and prove this criticism, and uses Carraway not only as the point of view character, but also as a counter example to the immorality and dishonesty Carraway finds in New York" (Bewley 31). Fitzgerald must construct this narrator as reliable. Due to the nature of the novel, the reader would not believe the story if it were told from the perspective of any other character. Fitzgerald cannot expect the reader to believe what the immoral and careless characters have to say, and he spends so much time establishing them as such. Thus, Car raway is deemed narrator and the reader trusts him. As the practical character in the novel, Carraway is not rash; he is not swayed by the greed and alcohol as some other members of East and West Egg society are. He proclaims, "I have been drunk just twice in my life" (Fitzgerald 33). Fitzgerald constructs Carraway as a follower, not a man of action. He observes Gatsby's parties, never fully experiencing them. He observes the moment before the kiss between the starlet and her director, although Fitzgerald never details the physicality of his relationship with Baker. He observes the affair between Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, but he never confronts Tom Buchanan, nor does he e... ...y to tell the story, but also to critique the mass disillusionment with the American Dream. Carraway's honesty makes him ideal to represent all that the Buchanans lack and legitimizes his admiration of Gatsby. No reader would consider the full impact of Fitzgerald's themes had less attention been given to the creation and execution of the character of Carraway. Works Cited and Consulted: Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fizgerald's Criticism of America." Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992. Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Extremes. New York: Pantheon, 1994. Raleigh, John Henry. "F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Trilling 99-103. Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.

Colonialism, Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions. Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous. The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialists. The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness and amoralness. Colonialism, Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions. Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous. The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialists. The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness and amoralness.

Cognitive & Moral Development Theories Essay

ABSTRACT The intention of this paper is to provide an overview of the psychological theories of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. While Piaget’s perspective was psychological, Kholberg’s viewpoint was psychological with emphasis placed on moral development and both theories will be compared and contrasted in this paper. Furthermore, the implications of these theories for counselling will be examined. RESEARCH ON THE COGNITIVE & MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIES OF JEAN PIAGET & LAWRENCE KOHLBERG JEAN PIAGET Jean Piaget, Swiss biologist, philosopher, and behavioral scientist, was born on August 9, 1896 (Piaget, 2001). One of his most significant achievements was his research in developmental psychology and the resultant theory in cognitive development. Although many of the principles developed by Piaget have been criticized, the impact he has made in the field of cognitive development cannot be exaggerated. According to Morris and Maisto (2008), Piaget is the most influential cognitive development theorist. Piaget’s segue into cognitive development started while developing French versions of questions on English intelligence tests at the Binet Institute, Paris, in the 1920s. He became fascinated with the reasons children gave for answering incorrectly on questions requiring logical thinking. He believed  that the incorrect answers showed significant qualitative variances between the way older children and younger children think. Hence, he made a systematic study of children, including his own, by observing and studying them playing, solving problems, and participating in everyday activities. He asked them questions and tested them in order to learn how they thought. His observations and studies led him to believe that children were not only receiving knowledge from their parents and teachers, but they were also creating ideas and cognitive development is a way of adapting to the environment. Paiget found that the differences were not attributed to the younger children being less intelligent than their older counterparts, as was the general assumption in psychology at the time. Neither did they think at a slower pace than adults. Rather, they just think very differently. His interest in how knowledge develops in humans during different stages of development led to what is popularly known as the stages theory or stage theory of cognitive development. The name is derived from Piaget’s description of cognitive development as four distinct stages in children, ranging from sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal, beginning in a logical manner in childhood and ending in adulthood. This four-stage model shows how the mind processes new information encountered. Children are born with a mental structure that is genetically inherited and which evolves over time. This mental structure forms the foundation for all subsequent learning and knowledge. Cognitive development, therefore, is a â€Å"progressive reorganization of mental processes resulting from maturation and experience† (Singer & Revenson, 1997). According to Singer and Revenson (1997) all children will pass through these stages, which unfold over time, in order to achieve an intellectual functioning at the adult level. The sequence of the stages is fixed and unchangeable and children cannot skip a stage but must go through the stages in the same order, although at different rates. Later stages evolve from and are built on earlier stages, with the child acquiring more complex motor and cognitive skills, moving between stages in a very gradual and subtle transition. The main elements of Piaget’s cognitive development theory are schema, the four processes that enable the transition from one stage to another, and the four stages of cognitive development. Piaget was interested in how an organism adapts to its environment and hypothesized that human behaviours are controlled through mental organizations called schemata, also called schema or schemes, which humans use to represent the world and designate action. Humans also have a biological drive to obtain balance or equilibrium between the schemes and the environment and this is what drives the adaptation. Infants are born with schema operating at birth, which are called â€Å"reflexes,† which are used to adapt to the environment. These reflexes are soon replaced with constructed schemata, which are used throughout life as the person adapts to the environment. Piaget’s first stage is the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about two years. Intelligence at this point is based on physical and motor activity without the use of symbols. Hence the child uses mobility, crawling, and walking to facilitate knowledge. The child’s progress is visible through the modification of reflexes in response to the environment. It is at this stage that the child learns object permanence, understanding that objects continue to exist even though they cannot be seen. The end of the stage is manifested in the immature use of symbols and language development that signals the transition to the second stage (Morris and Maisto, 2008). The preoperational stage is the second stage and lasts from age two to about age seven. Intelligence is demonstrated at this stage through the use of symbols, particularly the development of language. Memory and imagination are developed and children are able to mentally represent objects and events. Children are now able to think and process information in a one-dimensional fashion, having the ability to do monological, nonreversible thinking (Coon, 2006). They are very egocentric and find it difficult to see things from another person’s point of view, failing to recognize any duality in conversations. The end of this stage is signaled by the child’s ability to conserve number (Piaget, 2001). Piaget’s third stage, the concrete operational stage, is shown by the child demonstrating logically integrated thought. This stage spans from age seven  to eleven as the child’s exposure to, and integration of knowledge has matured and the child is able to use all three types of knowledge to interact with the environment to a relatively high degree. Operational thinking develops as the child is now able to interact with the environment from more than one perspective. Egocentric thought diminishes. Formal operational stage is Piaget’s fourth stage. This is from eleven years onward or preadolescent to adulthood. Intelligence at this stage is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thinking, however, the individual is moved to a much broader perspective and thinking beyond self (Siegler, 1991). At this stage individuals are able to think abstractly about various issues such as morality, justice, truth, and the nature of existence. They are also able to provide alternative, competing beliefs about these issues. Therefore, cognitive development becomes a pre-requisite for acquiring morality based upon abstract principles. LAWRENCE KOHLBERG Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) is considered by some to be the most distinguished psychologist of recent time in the field of moral development. Expanding upon Piaget’s stages theory, Kohlberg began his lifelong work in studying cognitive moral development (CMD) in 1958 with his dissertation at the University of Chicago (Kohlberg, 1981) Kohlberg suggested that moral judgment develops through six stages divided into sequences of three levels. His stage theory implies that moral changes will always move in an upward direction and individuals must progress through each stage as there is no skipping of stages. Furthermore, varying social, cultural, or religious conditions do no significantly affect the nature of our sequence and only impact the rate at which an individual will progress through this sequence. The three levels are preconventional – the first level of morality, conventional – the second level of morality, and postconventional – the highest level of morality. The preconventional level is open to the cultural norms and labels of right or wrong. However, these labels are interpreted in terms of physical or hedonistic consequences to the individual or in terms of the authority or physical power of the enforcers of the rules. This level is divided into two stages: obedience and punishment and individualism and exchange or instrumental relativist orientation. Stage 1 uses punishment to dissuade the individual from doing the action and continuing to obey the rules. That is, action is motivated by a desire to avoid punishment. In Stage 2, the morality of the action is judged by how it satisfies the needs of the person doing it. Actions are motivated by the rewards or benefits to the individual. At the conventional level the individual’s moves into adolescence and the shift to formal operation thought. The focus is on maintaining the expectations of society and societal roles such as the family, group, or culture, regardless of the consequences. This attitude is one of conformity and loyalty, and level is divided into two stages: Stage 3 – Interpersonal Concordance or â€Å"Good Boy-Nice Girl† Orientation and Stage 4: Society Maintaining or â€Å"Law and Order† Orientation. Moral behavior at Stage 3 is based upon what is approved by others and what pleases or helps others. There is a further shift around mid-adolescence, and the child moves towards respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as being a â€Å"good citizen†. Both stages require the ability to think about abstract values such as â€Å"social order† and â€Å"duty† and to consider the motives behind the behaviour (Morris and Maisto, 2008) 0063. Finally, the postconventional level, referred to as the â€Å"autonomous† or â€Å"principled† level, involves Stages 5 and 6 of moral development and is mainly concerned with universal principles that relate to the action done. The individual tries to define moral values that are valid apart from the authority of groups. This level also has two stages, Stage 5 – Social Contract Orientation and Stage 6 – Universal Ethical Principles Orientation. In Stage 5 existing laws which are created to protect individual rights define moral actions and the individual examines various values and opinions of different people before deciding on the morality of the action. At this stage the individual may consider the possibility of changing the law for  reasons of social utility. In Stage 6, the final stage of moral reasoning, the individual’s conscience, in harmony with the individual’s chosen ethical principles defines moral action. These ethical principles include equality of human rights, justice, reciprocity, and respect for human dignity. As the individual becomes attached to his or her own ethical principles, the judgement may become innate and there is a high possibility that the judgement may violate the laws and rules. COMPARE AND CONTRAST PIAGET AND KOHLBERG’S THEORIES There are obvious correlations and differences between the theories of Piaget and Kohlberg. As stage theorists, Piaget is the first to propose that cognitive development occurs over stages. He hypothesized that intellectual development in children occur in a hierarchical manner, in four stages from infancy to adolescence. Kohlberg hypothesized moral development occurring over five hierarchical stages. However, unlike Piaget who specifies age ranges and limits his development to adolescence, Kohlberg’s theory does not specify age ranges and occurs throughout the life span. Furthermore, Piaget’s theory proposes that cognitive development occurs in conjunction with biological development, whereas Kohlberg believed that moral development and the understanding of what is morally right or wrong stems from socialization with parents, teachers, and peers. Both theorists believed that cognitive development is influenced by the individual’s social environment. Based on Piaget’s theory, moral development occurs in two distinct stages. Children initially believes that their parents or God dictates rules and as such, their moral judgements are based on the consequences of their actions rather than their intentions. Around age eleven, this way of thinking about morality changes as children begin to understand that morals are based on their own judgements and intentions. Essentially, children transition from a more concrete understanding of morality to a more abstract understanding. They now realize that rules are not absolute and really just ways that human beings to cooperate and coexist. Kholberg did not dismiss Piaget’s theory, but built upon them, offering a  more refined and deeper understanding of moral development in children in a six-stage model. Like Piaget, Kohlberg believed that children’s first understanding of morality is based on rules and the consequences of their actions. He also believed that children struggled with similar issues such as relationships, individual rights, social orders, and universality over a period of time. However, his theory provides a more detailed and in-depth understanding of the moral development of humans than Piaget’s theory. IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELLING Counselling professionals need to have a grasp of the basic theory and concepts of the growth periods in human development. This is not only important for the client, but the counsellor as well, who must be self-aware and knowledgeable about any development issues in his or her past that may benefit from a review of the theories. Since many of the psychotherapy methods and approaches reference incidents and issues in the client’s past, an astute counsellor will mentally reference the developmental stages in order to determine how the client’s level of development at the time may have influenced a particular trauma. According to Colin Feltham (2006), a counsellor who is knowledgeable about common age-specific characteristics is better able to provide help in assessment and the planning of and referral for therapy. For example, Piaget believed that children ages zero to seven years, who have not transitioned into the operational period, do not process the concepts of death and loss in the same way adults do. There is a lack of maturity of understanding in this area and a counsellor who is ignorant of this could transpose adult emotions such as loss, grief or anger to a young child, resulting in the child being confused. In the same way, adolescence can be a distressing period as teens and young adults’ transition into the Formal Operations period. They may be experiencing pressure to fit in and conform, while processing significant physical, emotional and moral changes at the time. The effective counsellor who is both informed and empathetic will be better able to support and guide his or her client. In conclusion, significant links have been identified between cognitive and moral development theories and counselling behaviours. There are links  between cognitive complexity and empathy; moral development and empathic response. Counsellors who are at higher stages of moral and cognitive development are more empathetic, usually more able to define themselves and clients in positive terms, are more likely to analyse their reactions to client in an objective manner, and are more aware of the interactive nature of the counselling relationship. That is, counsellors at higher stages of cognitive and moral development are better equipped to handle the complex problem-solving and social interaction that is required in the counselling process. REFERENCES Cognitive and Moral Development 3 APPENDIX THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF COUNSELLING KHOLBERG’S LEVEL AND STAGES PIAGET’S COGNITIVE IMPLICATION FOR COUNSELLING Behaviour Therapy Preconventional Level (Stages 1 & 2)

Buddha & religions

As we come to know it, there are five major religions in our world. For centuries, these five religions, namely Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism have dominated and influenced the world and its views in life, death, heaven, and earth. Now, the writer wishes to state on this paper the different key terms, main arguments, and assumptions of one of the most revered faiths on earth. But before anything else, perhaps we should go through an overview of the history of Buddhism and its founder. The general history of Buddhism started around 566-486 B. C.The traditionally accepted founder of Buddhism is a man named Siddhartha Gautama. Around 486 B. C. , the first Buddhist Council at Rajagaha was formed. It is where the Buddhist Canon, as it still exists today was settled and preserved through oral tradition. Through the passing of centuries, different forms of Buddhism were developed and propagated throughout distant lands. One of the important highlights of the religionâ €™s history is the founding of the Dalai Lama lineage of the Tibetan Buddhism during the 15th century (â€Å"A Timeline of Buddhist History: Major Events†).Today, Buddhism continues to thrive and according to Wikipedia, most estimates put its number of followers at around 310 million (Jones 2006) In relation to the founding of Buddhism, it is a widely accepted fact that Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism. Born in luxury, Siddhartha was the son of a king hence making him prince. At the age of 29, Gautama left his palace to view his subjects. However, what he saw was despair that depressed him so. So one night, he escaped from his palace to live the life of a mendicant.Thus started the Buddha’s long and fruitful life and the creation of the different principles and beliefs that would guide the ideology of Buddhism and influence world history (â€Å"Gautama Siddhattha Buddha†). An event that triggered Gautama’s quest for the truth is the one t hat happened when he left the palace at the age of 13. After seeing the four sights, which namely are an old man, a man with a disease, a corpse, and an ascetic, he became convinced that suffering in this world is inescapable and even all the riches of the world cannot add up to make a man truly happy and in peace (â€Å"Gautama Siddhattha Buddha†).It is also Siddhartha’s experience that meditation alone cannot ease all the anxieties in a man’s mind. After studying with two teachers on meditation, he was not satisfied so he left. He realized that the only way to detach you from all the pain and suffering in this world is through overall tranquility. Buddha is also credited as the creator of the Four Noble Truths. The first of these noble truths is the Noble Truth of Suffering. According to this truth, life is full of suffering such as pain and grief.Even in other religions, they share a common ground; that life is full of torment. According to the Second Noble T ruth, which is the Truth of the Arising of Suffering, the agony that people experience is due to the Threefold Craving. The Threefold Craving, on the other hand, is what brings beings from birth to rebirth accompanied by lust and joy. These three craving are the sensual cravings, and the cravings for existence, and wealth and power. The Third Noble Truth, according to Buddha is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.According to this truth, there is a way for suffering to stop and that is by giving up the Threefold Craving. And lastly, the Fourth Noble Truth is the Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering. It is in this Noble truth that the Eightfold Path is presented. This path is also known as the Middle Path because this path does not commit to the two extremes of self-mortification and sensual pleasure (â€Å"Gautama Siddhattha Buddha†). The Eightfold Path, or the Middle Path, is the principle that guides the followers of Buddhism in eliminating all suffering from his life.The Eightfold Path is divided into three sections. The first section is called Sila. Sila pertains to the wholesome physical actions. Sila also stands for morality and refraining from objectionable actions of the body and speech. Included in Sila are three of the eight parts of the Eightfold Path. The first one is the Right Speech. In this right, the person should speak in a pleasant, truthful way. The second is the Right Actions wherein the person is taught to do good actions and to avoid doing things that may hurt or harm others.The last part of this section is the Right Livelihood. In this right, the follower should always choose a means of livelihood that does not harm anyone including himself straightforwardly or not. The second section of the Eightfold Path is called Samadhi. Samadhi, according to Buddhism, is the mastery over a person’s own mind. Included in this division are another three rights of the Eightfold Path. The first of these three i s the Right Effort or Exercise. This right concerns itself to the effort of the follower in improving his self.The second in this section is the Right Mindfulness or Awareness wherein the mental ability to perceive things with clear consciousness is emphasized. And the third one on Samadhi is the Right Concentration or Meditation. It is in this right that awareness of the current reality that happens on self is realized. The absence of craving or aversion is also included in being aware to the reality in one’s life And lastly, the third section of the Eightfold Path is called the Prajna. Prajna is mainly concerned with wisdom that purifies the mind.The last two rights of the Eightfold Path is included in this section. The first of the two is the Right Understanding. This right teaches that one should reality as what it really is and not just how it appears to be. The last of the rights is the Right Thoughts. In this right, an alteration in the pattern of thinking is taught. D ifferent ways of interpreting the Eightfold Path exists. Some people believe that it is a series of progressive stages. This interpretation stresses out that the mastery of the first right will lead to the beginning of the mastery of the next right and so on.Others believe that the Eightfold Path and its rights should be developed simultaneously (â€Å"The Eightfold Path†). According still to the Buddhist faith, Samsara is the cycle of birth, suffering and agony, death, and rebirth in which humans are bounded. But once a man becomes successful in grasping the Four Noble Truths and in following the Eightfold Path and eliminates all cravings from his life, it is when he experiences Bodhi. Bodhi is the awakening or enlightenment felt by Buddhas. It is also the time when greed, hate, and delusion are eradicated.In addition to this, it is also the time in which Nirvana or â€Å"highest happiness† is attained. These are only some of the basic principles held by the Buddhist faith. The teachings and beliefs of Buddhism are too many to be mentioned in this paper. However, this paper wishes to analyze some of the beliefs of the aforementioned religion. As a world-leading faith with hundreds of millions of followers, Buddhism has influenced not only the faith of multitudes but world history as well. Aside from these, Buddhism has also played a part in the development of oriental art and architecture.One of the strengths of the Buddhist religion is that their followers are not afraid to show that they are devoted to their belief. And being devoted to their belief has its own advantages. Because these followers adhere to their principles, it becomes better for them to be guided in their everyday lives and decisions. However, being too much devoted to the faith has its own disadvantages. Some people become too dependent on the principles that it starts to interfere with their normal lives.However, we cannot comment on that issue since it is their own choice a nd therefore are responsible for their own actions. In Buddhism, there are no recognized gods but there is the Buddha or enlightened beings. In the teachings of Buddhism, it is emphasized that in able to reach true happiness, one must live a simple life. This life that they would live should be one of humility and righteousness. Only then would they achieve nirvana. In parallel with other faiths, especially in Christianity, it is also stressed out that in able to attain salvation, one must live in truthfulness and simplicity.So this is why Christians, especially the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church have their own monasteries where people could live in seclusion; far from all the temptations and sins of the Earth. It might be said that most religions, particularly the five leading ones, share the same principles of the need to do good to others and live in humbleness in able to attain salvation. Others believe that the foundations of Buddhism are vague and inaccurate. And sti ll others criticize them for their unique nature.But let us all remember that even though we share different faiths and beliefs, even though we are separated by cultural and spiritual diversity, some principles are still being shared. And one of those principles is to do the right thing and to never cause harm to anyone. I, as the writer, personally adhere to the belief that we should have religious tolerance. As long as our beliefs do not interfere or cause harm to anyone, then we should free to worship and believe what we desire. And above all, respect is what is needed in a society that prejudices and criticizes what they perceive as odd.In spite of everything, we are all, in the broadest sense, humans, and therefore, equal. Works Cited â€Å"Gautama Siddhattha Buddha. † 12 Sept. 2007 . Jones, Judy, and Wilson William. â€Å"Religion†, An Incomplete Education. 3rd ed.. Ballantine Books, 2006. â€Å"The Eightfold Path. † 2000. About, Inc. , A part of. 12 Sept. 2007 . â€Å"Timeline of Buddhist History: Major Events. † 12 Sept. 2007 .