Saturday, August 31, 2019

Cold War Essay

My Name is Eric Novembre. I am sophomore in high school. Everyone can confirm that I am a average student but I am lazy. My favorite subjects are geometry and U. S. history. I am going to enter the University because my goal is to study my favorite subjects in future and to become a professional in this area. I can say that I am a responsible and hard-working student. Moreover, being a sociable person, I have many friends since I like to communicate with people and get acquainted with new interesting individuals. I enjoy my time at school: it is really nice to study and the students are very friendly and ready to help. The atmosphere cannot but make me want to go there every time. I like to receive challenging tasks and cope with them. I am a very enthusiastic student and I think this is a strong point of mine. My friends say I am a very funny with a good sense of humor. As soon as I meet new people who are up to me I feel extremely comfortable with them. I believe that friendship is one of the most important values in human life. We exchange new ideas, find many interesting things about each other, have new experiences. I appreciate friendship and people who surround me. I get okay grades only because I am not motivated and lazy but next year I will step it up. Every time I do my best to be a straight, honest and principled person. I am a good kid to my parents and other elders. My family is a big part of my life and they help me a lot with school. They are real treasures in my life and I appreciate them so much.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Drugs Addiction

Al Akhawayn University Center for Academic Development Information Literacy Skills 1212 Fall 2010 The causes of drugs addiction Prepared by: ABDELAZIZ Under the supervision of: Dr. AHMED KABEL The causes of drugs addiction: AddictionNowadays, drugs addiction is considered as one of the most widespread phenomena in our modern societies. Everyone in this modern world has become aware of the dangerous consequences of being drug addicted, yet opium, cocaine, marijuana, cannabis, and many other kinds of drugs have been used for centuries and are still widely used today by a large proportion of people from different age, sex, and economic status. But, before looking at the factors that push people to take drugs, let us first define drug addiction.According to Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER), â€Å"Drug addiction is a dependence on a street drug or a medication. When you're addicted, you may not be able to control your drug use and you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. Drug addiction can cause an intense craving for the drug. You may want to quit, but most people find they can't do it on their own. † In fact, people often underestimate the complexity of drugs addiction and the fact that it has become a contemporary illness that is similar to other chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease.Moreover, many people used to think that people addicted to drugs were just morally weak; hence, they believe that drug abusers are able to stop â€Å"this habit† if they are only willing to do so. However, recent scientific advances have allowed us to know much more about how exactly addictive drugs impact and change the brain, and how stopping drug abuse is very complex and not only a matter of willpower. But, the real problem is that many people still do not have a clear idea about the causes behind addiction.For most of them, according to Hamid Ghodse, â€Å"the cause or causes of drug dependence ar e not known, or more specifically, it is not known why do some people become addicted while others in the same situation do not† (10). The causes of drugs addiction are numerous and very attached with each other, but the most important factors that interact to lead to this phenomenon are: person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of development.It is, obviously, very important to determine whether genetic factors play a significant role in the process of addiction or not at all. Actually, finding genes which predispose to drugs addiction may undoubtedly be very helpful since it will â€Å"aid in the identification of the biological processes involved in the addiction condition and ultimately allow the development of treatments to counteract the abnormal end-point of the processes† (Paul R. Buckland, 1769).Therefore, countless researches, studies, and genetic approaches have been ongoing for many years in order to find any association or linkage betwe en genetic factors and drugs addiction. As a matter of fact, many of these researches could come up with great results and very useful conclusions. For instance, Hamid Ghodse stated in his book â€Å"Drugs and Addictive Behaviour: A Guide to treatment† that â€Å"the discovery within the body of endogenous receptor systems for a number of psychoactive substances has revived interest in a link between drug dependency and genetic predisposition† (19).In addition, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), â€Å"genes that people are born with, in combination with environmental influences, account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. † In the same context and quoting from experts, Abramovitz, Melissa wrote in her article titled â€Å"Addiction† that â€Å"genetic factors that affect how the brain responds to drugs play a big part in pushing people toward drug addiction, and researches have found several genes linked to nicotine, c ocaine, and alcohol addiction. Also, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) reported that â€Å"once a person has started using a drug, the development into addiction may be influenced by inherited traits. † Therefore, most of researchers confirm the idea that genetic factors play a crucial rule in the process of addiction. However, Paul R. Buckland came up with so many important results, which are in fact a little bit different from the ones stated above, by reviewing and evaluating almost all the studies and evidence that claim the existence of genetic factors in the process of addiction.So, he found that â€Å"the phenotype for addiction to drugs is not well defined, and the heritability of addiction to drugs of abuse is far from clear and may be small compared to that of many other complex disorders† (1773). Moreover, he concluded saying that â€Å"many candidate genes put forward so far as susceptibility genes may be unrelated to the underlyin g process referred to as addiction but, rather, are related to the propensity to take drugs in the first place† (1769, 1770). But, that does not mean that there is no association between genetic factors and addiction process.In fact, Paul R. Buckland himself has confirmed that there are some genetic studies that have reported a great number of success and could ultimately find some linkage between genes and addiction, but he ended highlighting â€Å"the need for even larger samples and new statistical methods or new experimental approaches to identify fully the genes involved in the disease process† (1771, 1772). Of course, genetic factors are not the only cause behind drug addiction; no one can become addicted to drugs if s/he has never started using drugs.Accordingly, there may be other factors that affect the predisposition to drugs abuse. Actually, a person’s environment includes many different influences that seem to play a significant role in initial drug u se. At the first glance, it may spring to many people’s minds that local social problems such as poverty, ignorance, unemployment, break-up of local communities, drug pushers are the main causes of drugs addiction, but according to Hamid Ghodse â€Å"these often-repeated phrases may well be contributory factors,†¦but they are not the causes of drug dependence† (11).On the other hand, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) both consider environmental factors, including one’s family’s beliefs and attitudes, exposure to a peer group that encourages drug use, the socioeconomic status and quality of life in general, as the most important influencers that shape addictive behaviour.In fact, Hamid Ghodse, also, illustrates these factors clearly by showing us how â€Å"peer networks can provide opportunities for drug use and support this behaviour† (16) and how â€Å"the importanc e of peer networks reflect the support or lack of support that the child is receiving at home and the importance of the parent-child relationship as a protective factor against the use of drugs† (16).Therefore, he gives us some situations in which family may play a significant role in the initiation of drug abuse: Factors such as family disruption, criminality and drug abuse of parents and siblings have all been identified as important predisposing factors for drug abuse later on, as have inadequate or ineffective parental supervision and enforcement of rules†¦while satisfactory family relationships and climate, and emotional support to adolescents are influences that appear to delay or diminish initiation into drug use, they can only be developed over a long period of time and attempts to make up for their absence by measures such as a sharp increase in parental control of the adolescent’s behaviour may lead to increased rather than diminished drug abuse (16). In addition to genetic and environmental factors, the age or the stage at which a person starts consuming drugs may have a considerable impact on the process of becoming drugs addicted. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), â€Å"Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. For instance, one study concerning alcohol addiction which is almost the same as the case of drug addiction showed that â€Å"teens who begin drinking alcohol with their friends before age 15 are four times likelier to become alcoholic than are people who wait until age 21 to drink† (National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), quoted in Abramovitz, Melissa). In the same context, Hamid Ghodse said that â€Å"adolescent drug abuse is of particular importance not only because of the potential for drug-induced harm in a young person but also because taking drugs in childhood and adolescence is a strong predictor for drug abuse in adulthood† (17). Moreover, observations as such, he said, â€Å"have led to theories that suggest that using one drug leads on the consumption of more dangerous drugs with a higher dependence liability† (17).Besides, one other reason that we may discover when seeking causes that are related to the stage of initiating using drugs is prescriptions. According to Hamid Ghodse, most of drug-dependent individuals have personality disorders such as low self-esteem and confidence, high anxiety, low assertiveness, and tendency towards hypochondria, so they begin to take some sedatives and tranquillizers or even drugs as self-medication or as treatment prescribed by a doctor to overcome these problems (15, 17). The problem is that many people become addicted to these treatments by continuing using them as Jeffrey Kluger shows in his article The New Drug Crisis: Addiction by Prescription.According to Kluger many people become addicted to some p rescriptions such as Opioid, Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Hydrocodone while trying to find a treatment to some diseases like cancer pain. In conclusion, it is true that taking drugs for the first time may be a voluntary decision, but factors such us person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of development undoubtedly play a considerable role in the process of addiction. Genetic factors that affect how the brain responds to drugs and environmental factors, including family’s beliefs and attitudes, peers’ ethics and behaviour, and socioeconomic status, in addition to the culture and the age or the stage at which a person starts using drugs all contribute in shaping addictive behaviour.The problem with drugs is that once a person starts consuming them, s/he may not be able to give up abusing them; hence, we should all be aware that drugs addiction is not just a normal habit that we can stop whenever we want, but rather a complex illness and a serious diseas e that makes the consumer lose self-control and ability to make right decisions. In fact, drugs addiction is a contemporary chronic disease that can cause harmful long-term consequences not only on the user but also on those around him, but as a matter of fact we can prevent ourselves from all these troubles by just avoiding initiating its causes. Works Cited Abramovitz, Melissa. â€Å"Addiction. † Current Health 2; Sep 1999: 26. Print. Buckland, Paul R. â€Å"Will We Ever Find the Genes for Addiction? Addiction, volume 103 number 11, November 2008, pp 1768-1776. Jeffrey, Kluger. â€Å"The New Drug Crisis: Addiction by Prescription†. Time September 13, 2010: p46-49. Print. Ghodse, Hamid. â€Å"Drugs and Addictive Behaviour: A Guide to Treatment. † London: University of Cambridge Press. 2002. Print. Mayo Clinic staff. Drug Addiction, MayoClinic. com, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2009, web. November 2010. (http://www. mayoclinic. com/ healt h/ drug-addiction/DS00183). National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse and Addiction, MedicineNet. com, MedicineNet. Inc, 2010, Web. 21 November 2010. (http://www. medicinenet. com/ drug_abuse/article. htm).

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Multimedia Networking - VoIP (Communications and Networks) Essay

Multimedia Networking - VoIP (Communications and Networks) - Essay Example Moreover, it enables the companies to perform complimentary telephone calls that make IP-PBX extremely well-known these days. Thus, distant or international phone-calls are becoming a great deal less expensive at this time thus companies are saving a large fraction of expenditures that they had to spend on worldwide and long distance phone calls. Furthermore, IP-PBX presents less costly telecommunication facility that enable businesses to stay in touch with the people in the different areas on the earth. In this scenario, with the adoption of IP-PBX hundreds of businesses have controlled to reduce their operating cost as well as become more beneficial. However, the main need of IP PBX is the accessibility of broadband internet link. In addition, IP-PBX is extremely proficient with respect to its cost and technology. Furthermore, at present Telecom corporations present many IP-PBX technological facilities so that clients could be able to regulate IP-PBX according to their requirements (CallingTools., 2011; TechTarget, 2005). This paper presents a detailed analysis of the IP-PBX technology. This paper also outlines the facts due to which the use of this technology is growing rapidly. This paper will assess main advantages and architectural confines of IP-PBX technology and present its main SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) technology that is a significant promise to provide tighter incorporation between business processes, desktop applications, plus collaboration tools. IP-PBX and Its Principal Characteristics A Private Branch Exchange (PBE) is a user’s site telephone framework that has the capability to handle telephone calls coming to the corporation as well as works as a door for the outside voice communication networks. In this scenario, a network router or switch transmits coming data packets to the suitable data communication network. Conventionally, two different communication networks are required in order to perform this procedure: one network is required for voice and other network is required for data transmission. Moreover, in place of 2 different networks, simply one communication network is preferred when voice data is divided into packets (VoIP) and transmitted on communication network. Furthermore, an IP-PBX is a merger of a router/ switch and a PBX that manages Voice over IP (Silicon Press, 2010). As shown in below given image: Figure 1IP-PBX Working, Source: http://www.silicon-press.com/briefs/brief.ippbx/brief.pdf In an IP-PBX, systems could be connected in a shared LAN (local area network) that is usually connected to the IP-PBX. In this scenario, telephones have to be straightly linked to the IP-PBX. So this configuration eludes QoS (Quality of Service) concerns that could take place if both telephones and computers are configured on a joint LAN. In the same way, communication voice packets will need to struggle with data packets intended for the network based joint LAN. Thus, less effective telephone voice featu re will take place if network voice packets are not broadcasted in a suitable way (Silicon Press, 2010). An IP-PBX works like a gateway that offers voice links (for example voice lines, T1s) to a LEC, a large scope business, etc. as well as data links (DSL, cable, E1, ISDN) to a LEC, a cable operator, an Internet Service Provider, etc. In addition, IP-PBXs

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Fiscal Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fiscal Policy - Essay Example However, fiscal policy is more effective in the short-run as in the long-run there is stabilizing economic forces that ensure the output moves back to its potential (Taylor, 2009). The fiscal policy involves increasing government spending or reducing taxes to stimulate aggregate demand or vice versa to reduce demand. Some countries focus on the supply-side of the economy to ensure a more permanent change. The paper will discuss the effects of fiscal policy on the economy. Taxation Expansionary fiscal policy involves cutting taxes and increasing government spending. Taxation is a source of revenue for the government to fund expenditure. If it decides to cut taxes, then it runs a budget deficit. A reduction in income tax leaves individuals with more disposable income to spend on consumption thus raising aggregate demand. As demand increases, the producers are forced to produce more and employ more factors of production. This leads to more output and employment and increased economic ac tivity (Sexton, 2008). However, income tax can only be adjusted annually on the budget hence it is difficult to apply this policy. It also depends on whether the households use extra income for consumption and not saving since savings is a withdrawal from the circular flow of income. The government can also increase transfers such as unemployment insurance, and in turn disposable income leading to more consumption (Riley, 2006). Lower taxes and increased transfers act as an incentive for workers to add more hours and increase productivity hence increased output and employment. Increasing taxes acts as a disincentive to work. If workers get less income by the end of the day compared to what they were getting, they would be dissatisfied and would not be willing to work extra hours. However, some would put more hours to cover the lost income but would lose their productivity due to low morale. There would also be low labour supply as not many individuals would be willing to work leadin g to low output in the economy (Taylor, 2009). Indirect taxes can also be used to discourage consumption especially of demerit goods. A government can impose duty on alcohol and cigarettes leading to lower demand for the items hence low output and employment. Tax incentives such as Subsidies to producers on the other hand lead to decline in cost of production hence reduced prices and consequently increased demand. Increased demand leads to production of more output hence increased economic activity (Creel & Sawyer, 2009). A decline in corporation tax attracts domestic and foreign investors’ hence increased fixed capital spending on technology, labour skills, infrastructure (Mankiw, 2008). Tax allowance on research and development encourages innovation and more business start-up thus increased employment and consequently increased aggregate demand. Government Spending Fiscal policy entails increasing government spending but a contractionary fiscal policy involves reducing gove rnment spending to curb excess demand. A government spends on infrastructure, and provision of essential services such as education and health. This adds directly to the aggregate demand of the economy hence stimulating economic activity. The government can finance its spending by borrowing from abroad or domestic market as raising taxes can lead to further weakening of the economy due to reduced demand. Improved infrastructure leads to more investments due to opening up of new markets and entry

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of one or two particular Essay

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of one or two particular research methods (e.g. ethnography narrative enquiry surveys q - Essay Example Social science survey research is significant as it seeks to measure previous and current behavior, as well as future behavior (Marelli, 2004). As can be seen from political survey polls, these polls evaluate public opinion likely determining how people would vote in upcoming elections. The surveys also in public health would assess health behavior including eating trends, exercise trends, smoking behavior, wearing of seatbelts, frequency of routine exams, and other related relevant health behavior (Marelli, 2004). These studies seek predictions and trends in human behavior and how such behavior can be changed. In effect, individuals without health insurance can be surveyed using questions on how willing they are to pay health insurance. The surveys can also be applied in determining if individuals would buy more fresh vegetables if these were cheaper (Hatch, 2009). Survey subjects likely covered for survey research include those who can be accurately evaluated through subject respon se (Hoppe, 1998). Physical measures can sometimes be accurately assessed if the subjects have standard resources. In other words, height, weight, blood sugar, nutrition, and blood pressure can easily be measured where the subjects apply standard measures. Medication use can also be evaluated based on an individual’s prescription information. Clinical results, however, are sometimes not being measured during the survey research especially as they need health care professionals to carry out the process (Mathiyazhagan and Nandan, 2010). Health care application would fit well for surveys since the responses can be taken from the subjects, insurance records, or the written records. Disease incidence and prevalence are often more complicated to measure as they call for accurate means of diagnosing (Hatch, 2009). Mental health diseases are considered exempted because they are often diagnosed using survey scored within or outside the mental health system. Validity The validity of sur vey research is evaluated by measures similar to clinical research studies (Hatch, 2009). The covered population must still be specifically defined and a sample population extracted. The most relevant source of bias in survey research is on sampling. As soon as the target population is established, random or representative samples have to be chosen and those chosen must then be asked to participate in the study (Glasow, 2005). For some populations, the samples are easy to define and extract. Samples in clinical settings can be randomly chosen from the medical records. Inclusion and exclusion criteria, including condition, age, gender, treatment can then be compiled before the sampling process is initiated (Hatch, 2009). Patients with existing relations with the researcher would likely entertain calls or invitations to participate. The larger population however would be more difficult to locate and include in the sample population. Granting that the target is a population of adults i n a city in the eastern coast of the United States, the first task would be to identify all the adults in the area. The sources would also have to be laid out. Telephone listings are considered one of the sources of names, however not all adults have listed numbers, and others use cell phones, and the rest, do not even have phones (Hatch, 2009). In some instances, other

Monday, August 26, 2019

The rise of industrialization in the United States Essay

The rise of industrialization in the United States - Essay Example Without industrial revolution, the modernization of many societies would not have been achieved, and America would not be exceptional. Therefore, it becomes relevant to discuss the rise of industrialization in the United States, with a focus on what were the important components? Who were the major players and in what industries did they thrive? Assessing how technology was applied into this developments and how the working class fitted into the plan, as well as the significance of the labor movement in this process also forms the subject of this discussion. Industrialization initially started in Britain, and eventually spread to the rest of Europe and America. Before the industrial revolution, the US was using horse-powered machinery to run its factories2. This eventually changed to the adoption of water power, before industrialization revolutionized the whole manufacturing and production systems. There are several components that saw the rise of industrialization in America. First, after the end of the Civil War, agriculture in the country flourished, with a high production of raw materials such as cotton, which was being used in the textile industry for the manufacture of clothing. This being the case, the demand for production systems that would enhance the use of the readily available raw material contributed to the need to establish a more robust system of production, which saw steam-powered manufacturing, effectively replacing the water-powered machineries1. The other aspect that contributed to the rise of the American industrialization is the increased demand for manufactured goods that rose significantly notably between 1780s and the 1840s2. Considering that agricultural production in America had improved a great deal, there was sufficient food and other necessities obtainable from the farms, but a shortage of industrial products. This served to increase the demand for manufactured commodities, which eventually sparked off industrialization. Improved t ransport system also contributed to the rise of industrialization in America. In the period leading to 1820s, there was a high investment in transport systems such as canals and later the railway around 18353. An abundance of natural resources that were required in the manufacturing of commodities also played a great role in the rise of industrialization in America. America was endowed with vast natural resources, which formed the foundation for the rise of industrialization. Considering that natural resources such as steel, coal and oil were not to be imported, but simply to be obtained domestically, then, a manufacturing system that would take advantage of these resources had to be established, paving way for industrialization. Most significantly however, is the fact that foreign investment, availability of labor and technological innovation played a major role in the rise of industrialization in America4. There was a massive wave of investors shifting from the already industriali zed countries such as Britain, Germany and France, who came with a wealth of experience and capital to spark off the industrial growth. Coupled with that was the technological innovation that was occurring in America, which had resulted to the discovery of more efficient and highly productive systems. The foreign investors were able to invest and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Transfer to UIUC from a community college for international business Essay

Transfer to UIUC from a community college for international business major - Essay Example I got to meet students from different backgrounds and gained a lot through my interactions with them. At the summer camp, we all got together to club in our strengths and expertise in various fields to develop a marketing plan for a pizza fundraiser. We worked very hard; from designing flyers and posters to creating the hype to bringing in the crowds. We won. That little exercise taught me the rudiments of marketing and communication. I got more and more fascinated with further developing these skills and employing them in pursuing something I KNOW I was born for! I got my taste of leadership during my time as Secretary of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at my community college. Interaction with students from across the globe narrowed my choice further down to International Business, a coming together of cultures and practices for mutual benefit.I would love to share my culture and heritage with others at the same time learning from them. I believe we can take business out of geographical confines, a point that has been proved time and again, hence my application for admission at UIUC. I believe that it’ll help me kick-start my career and equip me with all the necessary tools I need to excel. Now when I look back, I finally understand what years ago my mom told me about business: it is not just about money and trade. It includes the art of communication, diligence, creativity, comprehensive understanding, social networking and generously repaying society.  And what better place to start than

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

Schizophernia - Essay Example ioning for six months accompanied with disorganized behavior, mixture of psychotic symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), disorganized speech, motivational impairment and emotional disturbance. The disorder typically begins during early childhood or adolescence. Here, patients may not show symptoms or may show mild traits like mild cognitive disorganization, impaired social competence and anhedonia (diminished capacity to feel pleasure). Such traits may only be recognized in retrospect. They may be noticed more with impairment of academic, social and vocational functioning (Noll, 2007). In this phase, subclinical signs and symptoms may emerge. Such symptoms include isolation or withdrawal, unusual thoughts, irritability, perceptual distortions, suspiciousness, and disorganization. The onset of clear Schizophrenia (hallucinations and delusions) may be slow and insidious (over years) or sudden (over weeks or days) (Noll, 2007). In this phase the individual experiences psychotic symptoms such as delusions, grossly disorganized behavior and hallucinations (Noll, 2007). It is the state of full development of the disorder. The behavior of the patient may be so bizarre and extreme that it is necessary to hospitalize them. This phase may last for many weeks or months in case the patient is not treated with medication. In this phase obvious psychosis subsides but the patient still exhibit negative symptoms like lack of emotion, social withdrawal, and extremely low energy levels. The patient continues to hold strange beliefs, supernatural intelligence (Noll, 2007). The signs and symptoms of the disorder fall into three broad categories: negative symptoms, positive symptoms and cognitive symptoms. The positive symptoms refer to psychotic behaviors that are not seen in healthy individuals (Noll, 2007). Patients with positive symptoms usually lose touch with reality. Such symptoms include Individuals have trouble organizing their thoughts or connecting them logically.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Economic Issues of KFC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic Issues of KFC - Essay Example As the report declares most of the people already face budget constraints due to either decreasing salaries or increasing inflation. The point here is that towards the end of the day, in a recession, people find themselves with less disposable income, they take rational decisions and become thoughtful about ways for spending it. Customers become more and more price conscious and look for low priced products, low priced substitutes or discounts and others. This explains why despite of this brutal recession, low cost retailers like Wal-Mart, Target Corporation, Aldi and Asda have been able to actually pose strong sales growth over the past four years. As mentioned earlier, during recessions, people look for low cost providers since they want more value for their money. Rather than spending on premium versions of the product, people shift to lower prices thus boosting the businesses of low cost providers. This essay stresses that quite understandably, during recessions, people can cut down their purchases of luxury products or purchases, which can be delayed under normal circumstances such as alcohol, clothing, home equipment, automobiles, and others. However, food, grocery, medicine, and drinks do not come in this category. Despite the fact that KFC is serving food but when faced with financial constraints, consumers avoid dine-in at restaurants or cafes and prefer to cook food at home, which can save them money. (Hemerijck, Knapen & Doorne, pp. 230-234, 2010). They throw parities at home rather than celebrating at fast food chains. This attitude of the consumers means that the business of food retailers is more likely to grow and statistics indicate that food and grocery retail business has showed steady growth, but at the same time, revenues of fast food chains like KFC and other restaurants decreases significantly. This pattern has pushed many small restaurant chains at the brink of insolvency (Wit & Meyer, pp. 390-394, 2010). A careful analysis may reveal that during a recession, some of the competitors do not only leave the marketplace due to bankruptcy or insolvency but these economic recessions also present a unique opportunity to upper middle class entrepreneurs who are willing to take the risk. The Bank of England has set the interest rate at 0.5 percent which the record low level in the history of UK

Friday, August 23, 2019

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 4

HRM - Essay Example onsibility for any defeat, injury, or damage resultant from, or occurring in association with, the use of in order contained, described, disclosed, or referred to in this account. The research work starts with the foreword of human resource management. The task will try to center on the idea of human resource management strategies and human resource behavior of McDonalds eating place ltd, the association where I am working. The object of this assignment is to connecting the models of HR strategies with McDonalds and summarising HR behavior like presentation management, incentive and rewards and HR planning. For the reason of HRM strategy I am applying the best practise and best-fit replica with McDonalds. Furthermore, it explains the human resource activities of McDonalds eating place ltd and finish with an suitable conclusions and recommendations that can get better the HRM strategy, HR behavior and the role of the HR meaning within McDonalds eating place Ltd in arrange to achieve greater than before organisational presentation. According to the yearly report of Macdonald human resource management is a strategic and logical approach to the management of an organisations the majority valued possessions: the people operational there who individually and together add to the achievements of its object with the great competence. The aim of HRM is to help the organisation to attain success through the help of public. HRM strategy is an approach for creation decisions on the tactics of the organisation (Dowling P.J, Welch D.E, 2004). These tactics are concerned with the worker relationship and its staffing, training expansion, performance management, rewards and worker strategies. The basic behavior followed by HRM is that of as long as services to internal clientele. These include middle management team head, line managers and employees. The services cover all the aspects of HRM like human resource planning, staffing and selection, worker development, worker rewards,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Phar Mor Case Essay Example for Free

Phar Mor Case Essay Between 1985 and 1992, Phar-Mor grew from 15 stores to 310 stores in 32 states, posting sales of more than $3 bi11ion. By seemingly a11standards, Phar-Mor was a rising star touted by some retail experts as the next Wal-Mart. In fact, Sam Walton once announced that the only company he feared at a11in the expansion ofWal-Mart was Phar-Mor. Mickey Monus, Phar-Mors president, COO and founder, was a local hero in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. As demonstration of his loyalty, Monus put Phar-Mors headquarters in a deserted department store in downtown Youngstown. Monus-known as shy and introverted to friends, cold and aloof to others-became quite flashy as Phar-Mor grew. Before the fa11of his Phar-Mor empire, Monus was known for buying his friends expensive gifts and he was building an extravagant personal residence, complete with an indoor basketba11court. He was also an initial equity investor in the Colorado Rockies major league baseba11 franchise. This affiliation with the Colorado Rockies and other high profile sporting events sponsored by Phar-Mor fed Monus love for the high life and fast action. He frequently flew to Las Vegas, where a suite was always available for him at Caesars Palace. Mickey would often impress his traveling companions by giving them thousands of do11arsto gamble. Phar-Mor was a deep-discount retail chain se11inga variety of household products and prescription drugs at substantia11ylower prices than other discount stores. The key to the low prices was power buying, the phrase Monus used to describe his strategy of loading up on products when suppliers were offering rockbottom prices. The strategy of deep-discount retailing is to beat the other guys prices, thereby attracting the cost-conscious consumers. Phar-Mors prices were so low that competitors wondered how Phar-Mor could do it. Monus strategy was to underse11Wal-Mart in each market where the two retailers directly competed. Unfortunately, Phar-Mors prices were so low that Phar-Mor began losing money. Unwi11ingto a11owthese shortfa11sto damage Phar-Mors appearance of success, Monus and his team began to engage in creative accounting so that PharMor never reported these losses in its financial statements. Federal fraud examiners discerned later that 1987 was the last year Phar-Mor actua11ymade a profit. Investors, relying upon these erroneous financial statements, saw Phar-Mor as an opportunity to cash in on the retailing craze. Among the big investors were Westinghouse Credit Corp. , Sears Roebuck ; Co. , ma11developer Edward J. de Bartolo, and the prestigious Lazard Freres ; Co. Corporate Partners Investment Fund. Prosecutors say banks and investors put $1. 14 biUion into Phar-Mor based on the phony records. The fraud was ultimately uncovered when a travel agent received a Phar-Mor check signed by Monus paying for expenses that were unrelated to Phar-Mor. The agent showed the check to her landlord, who happened to be a Phar-Mor investor, IUnless otherwise noted, the facts and statements included in this case are based on actual trial transcripts. Case 6 Phar-Mor, Inc. : Accounting Fraud, Litigation, and Auditor Liability and he contacted Phar-Mors chief executive officer (C~O), David Shapira. On August 4, 1992, David Shapira announced to the business community that Phar-Mor had discovered a massive fraud perpetrated primarily by Michael Monus, former president and COO, and Patrick Finn, former chief financial officer (CFO). In order to hide Phar-Mors cash flow problems, attract investors, and make the company look profitable, Monus and Finn altered the Phar-Mors accounting records to understate costs of goods sold and overstate inventory and income. In addition to the financial statement fraud, internal investigations by the company estimated an embezzlement in excess of$10 million. 2 Phar-Mors executives had cooked the books and the magnitude of the collusive management fraud was almost inconceivable. The fraud was carefully carried out over several years by persons at many organizational layers, including the president and COO, CFO, vice president of mark~ting, director of accounting, controller, and a host of others. Many factors facilitated the Phar-Mor fraud. The following list outlines seven key factors contributing to the fraud and the ability to cover it up for so long. 1. The lack of adequate management information systems (MIS). According to the federal fraud examiners report, Phar-Mors MIS was inadequate on many levels. At one point, a Phar-Mor vice president raised concerns about the companys MIS systems and organized a committee to address the problem. However, senior officials involved in the scheme to defraud Phar-Mor dismissed the vice presidents concerns and ordered the committee disbanded. 2. Poor internal controls. For example, Phar-Mors accounting department was able to bypass normal accounts payable controls by maintaining a supply of blank checks on two different bank accounts and using them to make disbursements. Only those involved in the fraud were authorized to approve use of these checks. 3. The hands-off management style of David Shapira, CEO. For example, in at least two instances Shapira was made away of potential problems with Monus behavior and Phar-Mor financial information. In both cases Shapira chose to distance himself from the knowledge. . Inadequate internal audit function. Ironically, Michael Monus was appointed a member of the audit cOIpmittee. When the internal auditor reported that he wanted to investigate certain payroll irregularities associated with some of the Phar-Mor related parties, the CFO forestalled these activities and then eliminated the internal audit function all together. 5. Collusion among upper management. At least six members ofPh ar-Mors upper management, as well as other employees in the accounting department, were involved in the fraud. 6. Phar-Mors knowledge of audit procedures and objectives. Phar-Mors fraud team was made up of several former auditors, including at least one 2Stem, Gabriella, Phar-Mor Vendors Halt Deliveries; More Layoffs Made, The Wall Street Journal, August 10, 1992. 27 Beasley / Buckless / Glover / Prawitt fonner auditor who had worked for Coopers on the Phar-Mor audit. The fraud team indicated that one reason they were successful in hiding the fraud from the auditors was because they knew what the auditors were looking for. 7. Related parties. Coopers ; Lybrand, in a countersuit, stated that Shapira and Monus set up a web of companies to do business with Phar-Mor. Coopers contended that the companies fonned by Shapira and Monus received millions in payments from Phar~Mor. The federal fraud examiners report confirms Coopers allegations. The complexity of the related parties involved with Phar-Mor made detection of improprieties and fraudulent activity difficult. During its investigation, the federal fraud examiner identified 91 related parties. Attorneys representing creditors and investors pointed out that every year from 1987 to 1992, Coopers ; Lybrand acted as Phar-Mors auditor and declared the retailers books in order. At the same time, Coopers repeatedly expressed concerns in its annual audit reports and letters to management that Phar-Mor was engaged in hardto-reconcile accounting practices and called for improvements. Coopers identified Phar-Mor in its audit planning documents as a high risk audit, and their auditors documented that Phar-Mor appeared to be systematically exaggerating its accounts receivables and inventory, its primary assets.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Acute Kidney Injury Aki Health And Social Care Essay

Acute Kidney Injury Aki Health And Social Care Essay The first description of ARF, then termed ischuria renalis, was by William Heberden in 1802.25 At the beginning of the twentieth century, ARF, then named Acute Brights disease, was well described in William Oslers Textbook for Medicine (1909), as a consequence of toxic agents, pregnancy, burns, trauma, or operations on the kidneys. During the First World War the syndrome was namedwar nephritis26, and was reported in several publications. The syndrome was forgotten until the Second World War, when Bywaters and Beall published their classical paper on crush syndrome.27 However, it is Homer W. Smith who is credited for the introduction of the term acute renal failure, in a chapter on Acute renal failure related to traumatic injuries in his textbook The kidney-structure and function in health and disease (1951). Unfortunately, a precise biochemical definition of ARF was never proposed and, until recently, there was no consensus on the diagnostic criteria or clinical definition of ARF, re sulting in multiple different definitions. DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a protean syndrome of varied severity. It is characterized by a rapid (hours to weeks) decline in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and retention of nitrogenous waste products such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine.2,3 In recent years, it has been recognized that the time-honored term acute renal failure (ARF) fails to adequately describe what is a dynamic process extending across initiation, maintenance, and recovery phases, each of which may be of variable duration and severity. The term acute renal failure suggests that the syndrome is dichotomous and places an undue emphasis on whether or not renal function has overtly failed. This belies the now well-established fact that even mild decrements in glomerular filtration may be associated with adverse clinical outcomes.28-32 The alternative proposed term acute kidney injury has much to recommend it, perhaps better captures the diverse nature of this syndrome, and has entered into widespread clinical use. Historically, patients with AKI have been classified as being nonoliguric (urine output >400 mL/day), oliguric (urinary out-put 26.5 mmol/l) when they occur within a 48-hour period.24 Two recent studies examining large databases in the USA40 and Europe41 validated these modified criteria. Thakar et al. found that increased severity of AKI was associated with an increased risk of death independent of comorbidity.40 Diagnostic criteria for acute kidney injury24 An abrupt (within 48 hours) reduction in kidney function currently defined as an absolute increase in serum creatinine of more than or equal to 0.3 mg/dl (≠¥ 26.4 ÃŽ ¼mol/l), a percentage increase in serum creatinine of more than or equal to 50% (1.5-fold from baseline), or a reduction in urine output (documented oliguria of less than 0.5 ml/kg per hour for more than six hours). A major challenge in the investigation and management of AKI is the timely recognition of the syndrome. It remains difficult to easily and reliably measure rapid changes in the GFR. Although the severity in decline in GFR correlates with the onset of oliguria, the latter is insensitive marker of the syndrome because many subjects with severe renal failure remain nonoliguric. In AKI, there is poor agreement between serum creatinine and GFR, at least until a serum creatinine steady state is reached, and even then, the absolute rise in serum creatinine must take into account differences in creatinine generation rates.42 As a result, definitions of AKI that are based on a fixed increment in serum creatinine would be expected to be biased toward making an early diagnosis in well-muscled as compared with malnourished subjects or in men as compared with women. Creatinine clearances, especially when measured over a short time frame such as 2 to 4 hours, has some utility but may substantially overestimate GFR at low levels of renal function owing to a relatively high proportion of tubular secretion. Even the use of markers such as iothalamate to estimate GFR may be less precise in the acute as compared with the chronic setting owing to alterations in their volume of distribution as well as issues relating to tubular obstruction and backleak. INCIDENCE Acute kidney injury is a common and important diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for clinicians.43The incidence of AKI is difficult to estimate because no registry of its occurrence exists and because up until recently there was no standardized definition. From a variety of predominantly single center studies it is estimated that 5% to 7% of hospitalized patients develop AKI.44-47 More detailed information is available regarding its development in the intensive care unit (ICU) environment, where approximately 25% to 30% of unselected patients develop some degree of AKI, although again estimates vary considerable depending on the definition used and the population casemix. Renal replacement therapy is typically required in 5% to 6% of the general ICU population or 8.8 to 13.4 cases per 100,000 population/year.30,43,48-53 AKI is also a major medical complication in the developing world, particularly in the setting of diarrheal illnesses, infectious diseases like malaria and leptospir osis, and natural disasters such as earthquakes. The incidence of AKI has grown by more than fourfold in the United States since 1988 and is estimated to have a yearly incidence of 500 per 100,000 population, higher than the yearly incidence of stroke. AKI is associated with a markedly increased risk of death in hospitalized individuals, particularly in those admitted to the ICU where in-hospital mortality rates may exceed 50%.44 AKI IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD The epidemiology of AKI differs tremendously between developed and developing countries, owing to differences in demographics, economics, geography, and comorbid disease burden. While certain features of AKI are common to both-particularly since urban centers of some developing countries increasingly resemble those in the developed world-many etiologies for AKI are region-specific such as envenomations from snakes, spiders, caterpillars, and bees; infectious causes such as malaria and leptospirosis; and crush injuries and resultant rhabdomyolysis from earthquakes.44Factors responsible for this higher incidence of AKI in the tropics include hot climate in conjunction with excessive sweating, increased predisposition to hypovolemic insults, poor nutritional status and increased susceptibility to infections.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

An Introduction To Euro-Banking

An Introduction To Euro-Banking As the whole levels of economic are rising, the notion of people and companies about money are more important. Banking is financial institutions to absorb public deposits, issuing loans and bills discounted, and other processing. It through deposits, loans, foreign exchange, savings and other business, take the credit intermediary financial institutions. Casu (2006) said: banks have three roles that are size transformation, maturity transformation, and risk transformation to collect funds from units in surplus and lend funds to unit in deficit.(Introduction to banking, 2006, P: 7) So eurobanking is financial intermediaries that handling services for Eurocurrency market. It has global services for each branches and customers. Besides, it uses modern communication tools, and relies on its advanced technology and management to control transaction for Eurocurrency market. In addition, supply and demand of European currencies was linked to form a number of famous financial centers. Therefore, eurobanking is a tool to help European currency becoming an efficient and getting a high degree of global integration. Summing up, although European currency is a virtual market, eurobanking can help Europe market, and bring effectively working. And the purpose of eurobanking is to provide an opportunity for members to improve for European currency financial markets. Source:http://www.eurobankingonline.net/welcome.htm Main body Facing on economic forces, there are many sides to stimulated and sustained eurobanking. For example, there are comparative and competitive advantages, economies of clustering and agglomeration, location economies, globalisation, and internationalisation to influence and protect eurobanking. Firstly, from the characteristic of Eurocurrency market, the relationship between euronbanking and economic forces can be shown. Eurocurrency market is a very attractive market. It is very different between other market and financial markets in Western countries, as well as traditional international financial markets. Besides it is a free international financial market, and has the following main features of: (1) It is operate very free. Because the European currency market is countries not obey to any restrictions on government regulation and taxation of the market. For example, it is a flexible loan terms, then borrower does not limit uses. Therefore, this market is not only consistent with the needs of multinational companies and importers and exporters, but also in line with many Western countries and developing countries. (2) Its huge funds. The money for Euro market funds is come from around the world. And it could fit a variety of different types of countries and their banks, businesses and the different purposes for different needs. (3) Scheduling flexibility. Euro market is simplicity, and it has a strong competitive. Because these funds without any jurisdiction. The market and the Western countries comparing with the traditional, there is a strong competitive. (4) A unique interest rate system. Its deposit rates relatively high but lending interest rates are relatively low. It is because it is not subject on the maximum interest rates on deposits. Therefore, the deposits and borrowers have same attractive for European market. (5) A wholesale market. its operating is in the majority of transactions between banks. Interbank lending of funds between the money market operations in Europe accounted for a large proportion of the total. It is also a wholesale market, as most borrowers and depositors are some big clients, Therefore, a great amount of each transaction, generally vary from a few million, more than you can reach hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. Source: http://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E6%AC%A7%E6%B4%B2%E8%B4%A7%E5%B8%81%E5%B8%82%E5%9C%BA From this information, we will know eurobanking is a financial intermediary to help the Eurocurrency to get its goal and great benefit. So the eurobanking also has these feature that are free operate, huge funds, scheduling flexibility, and unique interest rate of euro marke. There is bar table figure 13.4 to show income composition of the eurobanking. At begin eurobanks have over 70 per cent net interest income of their revenue from business loans in 1994, but when 2003 the figure had declined to 60 per cent. From this table eurobanking can help European market to operate.Johns opinion (2001)is that eurobanking have large number of small local and regional banks ,however ,with substantial branch operations serving together with the main commercial banks and specialist lenders, a wide range of banking customer.(European banking 2001 P:11) Secondly, Eurobanking is different from other bank about the structure and theory, because it has different background between European Union and other country. In the same part, they are enterprise of running money, and their objective is giving convenient to the social, which is a very important financial institutions member. On the other hand, we can see the different part that the target of eurobank is deposits into currency funds that are idle in the community and micro-currency to savings together. Then in the way of loans to lent companies that need to get European currencies to use. In here, eurobank is as an intermediary to lenders and borrowers to act. Whats more, it is supply many services for a loan between residents and non-residents. It stands for eurobanking is especially department to bring the global economic development and social progress in an all-around way for European market. Because eurobanking have many feature that others banking mot have. For example, its operated very free, no government limit, and services the whole world. Thirdly, in this part is Economies of clustering and agglomeration and eurobanking. We know European markets are component by globalisation and internationalisation banks. These banks have been pan-called Eurobank. So it is not an institution, but it likes function. European market operations consist of two parts: one is the bank lending; another part of non-bank transactions. From the loan funds, methods and operational nature can be divided into money markets in Europe and the European capital markets. Therefore, eurobanking through many different ways, like get concert other banks and offer different services. For instance, it gives international lending business tends to spread, make sources of bank funds from sporadic to large. And use the way about often after the first, provides loans to borrowing, lending interest rates to borrow the interest rate changes with the periodic adjustment. From these methods, European market can assimilate many foreign banks funds and running them. Eurobanking also spend on long-term loans buyers credits and European bonds to offer, so the volume of business increased dramatically. Besides, it often gives the borrower to sign a loan contract, and at a later time to borrow money from other places. Finally ¼Ã…’technological have transformed most industrial sectors, for the technological of banking as information-based firms to deal monetary ,so it is necessary for European market. Casu (2006) proposed: the technological development of eurobanking can supply saving in the cost and time of providing financial services and increased revenues through the development of an array of new financial product. And there are two factors to describe the technological innovation of eurobanking. First, the production function in banking has become more capital-intensive, given that the share of non-staff operating costs has increased in most of the European systems. Second diffusion of in formation technology is transforming banking delivery channels. (Introduction to banking, 2006, P: 361-363) Therefore eurobanking are well placed to take advantage of technological advances. And it can help banking chose the good way to improve their own innovative. Whats more it can purchase bespoke best-practice system and implement tem with less disruption. Conclusion Eurobanking is good place to solve and process the economic services about is not existing in the country market profession. And the market transaction of European is the object of the European Monetary. To determine whether the amount of monetary is Europes money, it will depend on whether the payment of the deposit reserve requirement. In general, this work is done by eurobaking. Therefore, eurobaking is management the bank monetary liabilities the European currency non-resident offshore. Furthermore, it also manages European currencies in the non-residents and non-resident domestic currency loans. Europe is mainly engaged in non-residents and non-resident lending has become separated from the domestic financial markets, the offshore financial market. It can be said that the traditional international financial markets are the external part of the worlds financial markets, while European currencies market is outside the part of the worlds financial markets. By these informantion about characteristic, different, clustering agglomeration, and technological of eurobanking, we can intensively to know what is eurobanking. It is financial intermediaries that handling the Eurocurrency market. And it can bring efficiency to Eurocurrency. Whats more, it has many especially characteristic than other banking. Likely, eurobanking is a tool to help European currency becoming an efficient and getting a high degree of global integration. And it is not limited on some rate and banking services.

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Use of Metaphors in Information Systems :: Technology Computer Science

Metaphors: Here, There, and Everywhere Designing for the Average Joe A metaphor can be defined as â€Å"a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison† (dictionary.com). We use metaphors in our everyday language more than most people realize. But metaphors are also vital in the field of Information Systems, especially in the design of user interfaces. To the â€Å"Average Joes† of the world, or those people who have difficulty understanding the complicated concepts of digital storage, information transmission, and processing, metaphors provide them with relevant concepts to which they can easily relate. Therefore, metaphors allow a significantly larger amount of the worldly population to use many of the common technologies that we take for granted today. Metaphors â€Å"Right Under Our Nose† Every person in that worldly population can relate to the use of metaphors in everyday speech, no matter what their language. It is not uncommon for someone to encounter metaphors multiple times in one day, though many times they go unnoticed even if they are â€Å"right under our nose.† These metaphorical phrases are not meant to be taken literally. For example, when someone tells you to â€Å"bite the bullet,† they are not requesting that you actually put a bullet in between your teeth. In fact, they are asking you to bravely face up to something unpleasant just as many soldiers were asked to clench a bullet in between their teeth (in lieu of anesthetics) to transfer the pain of the amputation or surgery (something very unpleasant indeed) that they were about to undergo (â€Å"Expressions and Sayings†). You may also hear someone refer to a person as â€Å"blowing their own trumpet.† Again, this is not to mean that they are playing a brass instrument, but that they are boasting about themselves, as if they were providing their own fanfare for their arrival (â€Å"Expressions and Sayings†). If anyone were to claim that such phrases were to be taken literally, they would be â€Å"pulling your leg.† In other words, they would be teasing you and not telling the truth. This particular metaphorical phrase originates in Scotland, where someone may have â€Å"withdrawn the legs† from under someone in order to put the person at a disadvantage, perhaps to rob him (â€Å"Expressions and Sayings†). The saying is used in a much lighter sense today, but still remains a very common metaphor.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay --

Education is closely associated in determining a person’s life chances. Socioeconomic status (SES) plays a critical part in higher education today in America. Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to the ranking based on occupation, income and other social components like education. The inequality in college enrollments and degree completion has been a major concern in our society. The students’ SES seems to actuate the opportunities and the achievement they will fulfill in postsecondary school. Sociologists tend to acknowledge that social course is still an important aspect in today’s society. Also, it affects our life chances and choices. Education contributes to income attainment and occupational prestige. Moreover, there is an inequality between men and women from contrasting social backgrounds in terms of education, particularly in college. Education serves as a ladder to success and social mobility. In America, students from low socioeconomic status (SES) families have always been a part of the nation’s higher education and are few in number. Socioeconomic status has crucial effects on students and their performance in college. The subject of SES and how it affects college education has been debated for decades. The social ranking is parallel to whether one will succeed in college. SES insinuates more immense impact on low SES students than high SES students. Low SES students are deprived in schools due to the lack of academic environment and limit their chances of academic success in school. Those circumstances cause low SES schools to be low compliant and impose the notion that only determined and flexible students can avoid low academic achievement. Low SES students are said to be â€Å"similarly u... ...and men. Mention history of gender inequality: how history affect our society. â€Å"Let’s not forget about the history of Women’s Rights. Women are not mentioned in the Constitution†¦ There are natural differences in men and women; Women are viewed weaker and are expected to stay home, take care of the family. Also, might want to squeeze in a little detail about the role of Economics in our society. Accomplishment in college of students from different socioeconomic background varies. If the social deprivation decreases, low SES students should have similar experiences and accomplishments. Social backgrounds continue to negatively affect their college achievement if low SES students have different outcomes or lower achievements (Walpole viriya.net 2003). Different opportunities are brought about by differences of resources and status (Linkon diversityweb.org 2008).

Enders Game vs. For All We Have and Are :: Orson Scott Card Rudyard Kipling

The poem "For All we Have and Are" by Rudyard Kipling examines the sacrifices made in war. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, also analyzes the what an individual must give up for the survival of a group, but two of his characters, Ender Wiggin and Colonel Graff, would have differing views of Kipling's poem and a person's role in war. Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. "For All We Have and Are," is a calling to protect England from a real possibility of falling. Kipling describes an urgent need to fight back, "Stand up and take the war./ The Hun is at the gate!" He knows that fighting means the loss of life, but he believes it is worth it to defend what is at stake, "For all we have and are." Kipling makes the point that as long as England prevails, the death of an individual is unimportant. Colonel Graff would agree with Kipling idea of individual sacrifice. It is the policy of the I.F. throughout the novel to forgo the freedoms of a person to ensure the survival of humanity against the buggers. At Battle School, Graff?s purpose is to train children for mankind to use as tools to fight the buggers. Graff cares for Ender, but he willingly misguides and manipulates him. He takes away Ender?s freedom, takes him from Earth, takes him from Valentine, and forces him to kill. Graff sacrifices his own humanity, so that Ender can become humanity?s tool. Graff explains to Ender the I.F. philosophy which parallels Kipling?s, ?Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. [. . .] if humankind survives, then we were good tools.? Ender could not truly relate to Kipling?s poem because everything to Ender is distant. In Ender?s world the buggers are not the pressing threat that the Central Powers were in World War I. The buggers are light-years away. Ender has only faced them in videos and in his dreams. Ender understands he must be a tool, but he is never given an opportunity to be anything else. Graff understands the feelings Ender?s isolation creates, ?when you never meet people, when you never know the Earth itself, [. . .] it?s easy to forget why earth is worth saving.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Communicative Approach

MY BEST APROCHE IN ENGLISH LANGUAJE TEACHING : THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROCHE I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach 2. Two principles of communicative approach †¢ Create a realistic situation †¢ The class should be students-centered III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and speak, and achieve the goal of English teaching 1. Three stages in communicative teaching 2. Communicative activities in class . Achieve the goal of English teaching through communicative approach IV. Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ _________ Abstract Language is a means of communication. Although it is not the only form of communication among human beings, it is certainly the most important. English teaching is to teach the students how to communicate with each other, to train the students good and complete language ability, to express their ideas correctly and to easily adjust themselves to every kind of social situation. English teaching is a case in point. This paper is to discuss some problems of present English teaching approach, to state the principles and advantages of communicative approach, and to give some advice on how to make the English class more communicative and improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems As present, English teaching reform has been carried out in schools, some teaching reform has been succeeded, but there are still some problems in English teaching. The students who have had several years of training in English with classical approaches are still unable to actually use the language. For example, the students can’t understand what the teachers have said and they can’t express themselves, their ability of listening and speaking is not up to standard, and also they can’t communicate with others in English. Now the teachers have been faced with the problem of improving the student’s ability of listening and speaking. II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach Communicative approach refers to the theory of teaching according to the principle that the students and teachers should genuinely communicate with each other using the target language. 2. Two principles of communicative approach Among the numerous principles of communicative approach, there are two pieces of principles, which are more important English teaching. 2. 1 Create more realistic situation The current teaching methods don’t emphasize the real world situations and fail to cultivate student’s spontaneity. Artificial conventions and mechanical question-and-answer sequences fall short of the flexible, spontaneous kind of communicative interaction required for performing a task with the context of situation relevant to the real world. Such classroom teaching forces learners to talk about things that are not of their own choosing and not based on their actual needs. Taught in this way, the learners frequently fail when they are faced with the read to produce the language related to a specific situation. Simulation techniques seem to be a better alternative, as they seek to place learners in a situation where they are asked to take on different roles and to. Accomplish their specific tasks, including problem solving. They offer an opportunity for the learners to practice using the language in the right place at the right time and as appropriately as possible. The most obvious advantage of these kind of techniques is that it puts the learners in realistic situations. By simulating the physical circumstances of certain situations, the students can have the opportunity to use and to practice the sort of language, particularly the vocabulary related to that situation, so that learners are rehearsed for real life. In addition, they can express what they want to say whenever the situation calls for it. The teacher provides the best conditions for learning through creating the realist situation. 2. 2 The class should be students-centered The focus of classroom should be shifted from the teacher to students. The teacher does most the talking and always has the whole class under his strict control by lecturing, questioning, correcting students and often supplying correct answers to the exercises. In such a class, the teacher is obviously the most authoritative person. Students always act according to what the teacher wants them to accomplish put not what they themselves want to accomplish. So it appears that sometimes, even if the students have understood the text they are reading, they do not have the courage to speak out when called upon, for fear that they may not be right. The class should be learners-centered. Communicative approach makes learners to be themselves and requires the classroom instructor to play a secondary role, trying to keep focus on the students not on himself and encouraging students to communicate among themselves. The role and relationship between the teacher and students are fixed by the students-centered principle. It is to say that the students are the main part in communication, while the teacher helps the students to communicate. III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and peaking 1. Three stages of communicative teaching The teacher can divide the student’s learning into three stages: 1. – The first stage, the teacher is a sort of information: he selects material to be learnt and presents it so that the students can understand it and remember it as clearly as possible. The students may do little talking but they should by no means be passive. 2. – The second stage is the p ractice stage. Let the students do the talking organized from cue by the teacher: this practice should be meaningful and memorable. 3. The third stage makes the students to be allowed, under the guidance of the teacher, to use the language freely, even if they make some mistakes as a result. This requires a more flexible attitude from the teachers to mistakes, if the student is constantly stopped and corrected, then eventually he will become discouraged and cease to be motivated to speak. If the students can use the language for themselves, then they become aware that they have learnt something useful and are encouraged to go on learning: perhaps the most important factor is to keep up motivation in the learning process itself. We always talk about listening and speaking together. We must be aware of the fact that oral communication is a two-way process between speakers and listeners. In our class, both the teacher and students are speakers and listeners 2. The class communicative activities Communicative activity provides opportunities for positive personal relationships to develop among learners and teachers. Because of the limitation of the classroom, this requires the teacher to create more various social situations and relationships in the class. 1. Simulation: Learners are asked to imagine themselves in a situation which would occur outside the classroom, and they are asked to behave as if the situation really excited. 2. -Role-playing: is one method of getting the students to imagine they are someone else and play that part. 3. -Discussion: They must present their views in a more public context, there are sticker rules governing who speaks, when and to whom, and a higher level of formality is expecte d. The student’s ability of listening and speaking can be improved in discussions. 4. Interaction: There will also be increasing scope which gives learners greater responsibility for creating the interaction themselves. 5. -Pictures: Extremely useful visual aid. Pictures of people and places are much more interesting than ordinary objects. This is another chance for group work and genuine discussion. Other teaching aids are important techniques for creating a wider variety of social situations and relationships. Communicative activities are very important in language learning. It may be useful to consider briefly what the teacher might hope to achieve through the communicative activity in the classroom. Since this will determine his own attitude toward it and what he gives it in his overall methodology. The learners ultimate objective is to take part in communication with others. Their motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success. . IV. Conclusion The traditional methods of teaching do not allow the learners to express their own ideas, activities and personality, which is though t to be important especially for students. For example, mechanical drills do not allow the students to express their own ideas, therefore, they will not be interested in listening, and their listening efficiency will be impaired. Under the present situation, communicative approach is a better way to improve our English teaching. For the teachers, the new method means more varieties to devise the lessons; for the students as well, the new method more opportunities to practice their listening and speaking, and to have the freedom to express themselves. Thus, the communicative approach makes the teaching more fulfilling. Just as some linguists have said: English language teaching should be made of communication by communication and for communication. English language teaching is an interdisciplinary subject for which human communication is an important source. The communicative approach is no doubt a manifestation of how this theory can be applied in the student’s English learning. It is a good teaching method to improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. Communicative Approach MY BEST APROCHE IN ENGLISH LANGUAJE TEACHING : THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROCHE I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach 2. Two principles of communicative approach †¢ Create a realistic situation †¢ The class should be students-centered III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and speak, and achieve the goal of English teaching 1. Three stages in communicative teaching 2. Communicative activities in class . Achieve the goal of English teaching through communicative approach IV. Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ _________ Abstract Language is a means of communication. Although it is not the only form of communication among human beings, it is certainly the most important. English teaching is to teach the students how to communicate with each other, to train the students good and complete language ability, to express their ideas correctly and to easily adjust themselves to every kind of social situation. English teaching is a case in point. This paper is to discuss some problems of present English teaching approach, to state the principles and advantages of communicative approach, and to give some advice on how to make the English class more communicative and improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems As present, English teaching reform has been carried out in schools, some teaching reform has been succeeded, but there are still some problems in English teaching. The students who have had several years of training in English with classical approaches are still unable to actually use the language. For example, the students can’t understand what the teachers have said and they can’t express themselves, their ability of listening and speaking is not up to standard, and also they can’t communicate with others in English. Now the teachers have been faced with the problem of improving the student’s ability of listening and speaking. II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach Communicative approach refers to the theory of teaching according to the principle that the students and teachers should genuinely communicate with each other using the target language. 2. Two principles of communicative approach Among the numerous principles of communicative approach, there are two pieces of principles, which are more important English teaching. 2. 1 Create more realistic situation The current teaching methods don’t emphasize the real world situations and fail to cultivate student’s spontaneity. Artificial conventions and mechanical question-and-answer sequences fall short of the flexible, spontaneous kind of communicative interaction required for performing a task with the context of situation relevant to the real world. Such classroom teaching forces learners to talk about things that are not of their own choosing and not based on their actual needs. Taught in this way, the learners frequently fail when they are faced with the read to produce the language related to a specific situation. Simulation techniques seem to be a better alternative, as they seek to place learners in a situation where they are asked to take on different roles and to. Accomplish their specific tasks, including problem solving. They offer an opportunity for the learners to practice using the language in the right place at the right time and as appropriately as possible. The most obvious advantage of these kind of techniques is that it puts the learners in realistic situations. By simulating the physical circumstances of certain situations, the students can have the opportunity to use and to practice the sort of language, particularly the vocabulary related to that situation, so that learners are rehearsed for real life. In addition, they can express what they want to say whenever the situation calls for it. The teacher provides the best conditions for learning through creating the realist situation. 2. 2 The class should be students-centered The focus of classroom should be shifted from the teacher to students. The teacher does most the talking and always has the whole class under his strict control by lecturing, questioning, correcting students and often supplying correct answers to the exercises. In such a class, the teacher is obviously the most authoritative person. Students always act according to what the teacher wants them to accomplish put not what they themselves want to accomplish. So it appears that sometimes, even if the students have understood the text they are reading, they do not have the courage to speak out when called upon, for fear that they may not be right. The class should be learners-centered. Communicative approach makes learners to be themselves and requires the classroom instructor to play a secondary role, trying to keep focus on the students not on himself and encouraging students to communicate among themselves. The role and relationship between the teacher and students are fixed by the students-centered principle. It is to say that the students are the main part in communication, while the teacher helps the students to communicate. III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and peaking 1. Three stages of communicative teaching The teacher can divide the student’s learning into three stages: 1. – The first stage, the teacher is a sort of information: he selects material to be learnt and presents it so that the students can understand it and remember it as clearly as possible. The students may do little talking but they should by no means be passive. 2. – The second stage is the p ractice stage. Let the students do the talking organized from cue by the teacher: this practice should be meaningful and memorable. 3. The third stage makes the students to be allowed, under the guidance of the teacher, to use the language freely, even if they make some mistakes as a result. This requires a more flexible attitude from the teachers to mistakes, if the student is constantly stopped and corrected, then eventually he will become discouraged and cease to be motivated to speak. If the students can use the language for themselves, then they become aware that they have learnt something useful and are encouraged to go on learning: perhaps the most important factor is to keep up motivation in the learning process itself. We always talk about listening and speaking together. We must be aware of the fact that oral communication is a two-way process between speakers and listeners. In our class, both the teacher and students are speakers and listeners 2. The class communicative activities Communicative activity provides opportunities for positive personal relationships to develop among learners and teachers. Because of the limitation of the classroom, this requires the teacher to create more various social situations and relationships in the class. 1. Simulation: Learners are asked to imagine themselves in a situation which would occur outside the classroom, and they are asked to behave as if the situation really excited. 2. -Role-playing: is one method of getting the students to imagine they are someone else and play that part. 3. -Discussion: They must present their views in a more public context, there are sticker rules governing who speaks, when and to whom, and a higher level of formality is expecte d. The student’s ability of listening and speaking can be improved in discussions. 4. Interaction: There will also be increasing scope which gives learners greater responsibility for creating the interaction themselves. 5. -Pictures: Extremely useful visual aid. Pictures of people and places are much more interesting than ordinary objects. This is another chance for group work and genuine discussion. Other teaching aids are important techniques for creating a wider variety of social situations and relationships. Communicative activities are very important in language learning. It may be useful to consider briefly what the teacher might hope to achieve through the communicative activity in the classroom. Since this will determine his own attitude toward it and what he gives it in his overall methodology. The learners ultimate objective is to take part in communication with others. Their motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success. . IV. Conclusion The traditional methods of teaching do not allow the learners to express their own ideas, activities and personality, which is though t to be important especially for students. For example, mechanical drills do not allow the students to express their own ideas, therefore, they will not be interested in listening, and their listening efficiency will be impaired. Under the present situation, communicative approach is a better way to improve our English teaching. For the teachers, the new method means more varieties to devise the lessons; for the students as well, the new method more opportunities to practice their listening and speaking, and to have the freedom to express themselves. Thus, the communicative approach makes the teaching more fulfilling. Just as some linguists have said: English language teaching should be made of communication by communication and for communication. English language teaching is an interdisciplinary subject for which human communication is an important source. The communicative approach is no doubt a manifestation of how this theory can be applied in the student’s English learning. It is a good teaching method to improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Norman Rockwell’s Paintings

Norman Rockwell is a very imaginative character. He was able to paint images that captured the attention of millions. The first picture on page 22 is â€Å"A Family Tree†. It ends with a man, a woman, and a child. Because this is a family tree, we can infer that this is a husband, a wife, and their child. The second picture, â€Å"Freedom from Want†, shows a family gathering on a dinner table. That event could be what is known as Thanksgiving Dinner. The third picture, â€Å"Freedom from Fear†, shows a mom and a dad tucking there kids into bed. Now just by looking at these paintings, evidence of what they represent is pretty straight forward. This is the idealistic view of what families should look like about 50 years ago, known as the golden age for children to grow up. A little closer look, though, would reveal a different view upon these pictures. It is said that these paintings are a bit naive. The family tree starts off as what look like pirates. This is no way to represent an ideal family. In this tree, marriages from different classes of people collide to then form the perfect couple. And what about the second picture; everyone is sitting at the table with a smile on. Let’s get real people; every family has its conflicts. The last picture shows the parents putting their kids to bed and giving them comfort. Now take a look at the heading of the newspaper that the father is holding. â€Å"Bombings† and â€Å"Horror† are words that appear. Ironically, a glance at the facial expressions of the parents shows them to be very calm. I don’t know about you but I’d be pretty shaken if those were the headlines of my daily paper. The â€Å"Family Tree† painting compares with the photo of Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone. This is because the â€Å"Family Tree†, though from the same family, represents different types of people. Next to the tombstone, you also find different types of people, ranging from black to white. Each image has a different symbol, but both images represent â€Å"family. † The family tree is hereditary family, while the tombstone is national family working together as one to accomplish and make up what is now The United States of America.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Lord of the Flies – Piggy

The conch, glasses, and brains are all symbols in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In this novel, a group of school kids crash into a deserted island and fight wilderness, fear, and themselves to survive. Piggy, being one of the most vital characters in their survival, is often disrespected and overlooked. This is persistent throughout the novel, and can be attributed to his weight and nerdy appearance. Generally, Piggy means well, and tries to help the boy’s survival on the island. Piggy, an extremely complex and intelligent character, contributes to the boy’s survival by using logic and brains. Piggy, along with being the brains of the island, is also a very complex and misunderstood boy. â€Å"Piggy is a much more complex character, than the simplistic interpretations so regularly adduced will allow†. (Reilly. online). This states that Piggy was an extremely complicated character, and is often overlooked by not only characters in the book, such as Jack and Ralph, but also by readers. He is also described as a brainiac by Golding himself, â€Å"Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains†. (Golding 71). This emphasizes to the reader that Piggy’s brain is being discounted due to his stature, and this causes readers to discount his intelligence, however, it brings the reader’s attention to them being naive. This last quote also reinforces the concept that his body is causing his smarts to be overlooked â€Å"Piggy lacks the looks but has the know-how. The trouble is that he knows but cannot do and is relegated†. (Reilly. Online). Lorenz 2 Broken down, this shows that Piggy is a resource that the boys need to utilize, but fail to, and instead they treat him like a set-back, only because he is weak. He has a lot more to offer than just physical labor, and should be honed for using his brain to problem solve, or be inventive. It is quite obvious he was often bullied for his weight at school, due to the fact that kids called him Piggy there too. Piggy also has strong feelings for is Aunt, and often uses her advice to his advantage when speaking to Ralph about a variety of issues. This is shown many times throughout Golding’s writing, and brings the voice of an adult onto the island. Piggy contributes to the group on various occasions. The first is when he discovers the shell. It is Piggy who is first excited by the shell, but only as a curio†. (Kinead-Weekes, Mark. Gregor, Ian. 39). Piggy is the first to find the shell, and even states that it would be a great idea to use as a way of allowing everyone in the groups voice to be heard. This method with the shell is used throughout the entire novel, up until the falling action. Piggy is also the voice of reason during th e debate about the beast. He argues on the side of logic, and is not swayed by the littlun’s opinions. â€Å"So let’s hear from that littlun who talked about a beast and perhaps we can show him how silly he is† (Golding 78). This is the best example Golding gives of Piggy’s logic throughout the novel. Amongst the mass panic that is brewing on the island, Piggy still has a clear mind and will not believe in simple hear-say, or rumor, he believes in fact, and until he sees that beast, it will not exist to him. He also seems a little cold, being the smallest bit rude to the littlun who is afraid. Piggy tries to take lead numerous times, and is not taken seriously. However, when Piggy helps out Ralph, and doesn’t take the lead in speaking or assigning jobs to other survivors, he is taken seriously, and does a great job at what he is doing to help out. Lorenz 3 â€Å"[Piggy’s] common sense is evident from the start as when he organizes the meeting and tries to make a list of everyone present†. (Reilly. Online). Patrick Reilly’s view on Piggy is spot on. His common sense is immediately shown during the scene of the first meeting, and makes the reader think he would be critical to the survival and rescue of the group. In addition to Piggy’s brain helping the boys survive, other aspects of Piggy were used, such as his glasses. Without Piggy’s horrible eye sight, and him needing to wear glasses, the boys would never have been able to start a fire, a fire that ultimately led to their rescue. This is very ironic considering Piggy was killed before he would ever see rescue†¦ a rescue that without him would never have happened. Golding did this to reinforce the importance of Piggy in the novel. It showed that no matter how useless he may have seemed, he still was the one that helped the most, in the long run. He was the most important boy to be on that island. He, in reality, saved Jack, an abusive boy who harassed him ever since they crashed, and Roger, the boy who threw stones, and the boy who murdered the innocent Piggy. Though Piggy reaches his greatest stature at the moment of his death, it is also the moment of his greatest blindness, rendered for us at a level far deeper than his lost spectacles†. (Kinead-Weekes. Mark. 43). Piggy was completely blindsided from Rogers’s boulder. This moment in the novel makes readers realize the tragedy of Piggy’s death. The shattering of the glasses represents his knowledge and insight turning to dust, all in front of the very people he saves, from the cage that is the island. The conch was also with him at the moment of his death. This is significant because it symbolizes the shattering of all that Piggy believed in. He truly believed the conch would save him from anything on the island, and in the end it simply did not work. Lorenz 4 Perhaps Piggy’s greatest example of insight, however, was his speech on the monsters that Jack and Roger have become. ‘â€Å"What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? ’Piggy rages as the assembly lurches toward darkness, and his questions are not restricted to the wicked Childs-play of beastly boys on a tropic island†. (Reilly 7). Piggy shows that he realizes what is happening to the island, and that he sees the conflicts that are occurring between Jack, Roger, and Ralph. Piggy almost predicts that the savagery will get worse. This is a very good example of Golding’s foreshadowing throughout the novel. This character was, for me, the best part of the entire literary work of The Lord of the Flies. Piggy was an extremely complex and intelligent character, he contributed to the boys survival on many accounts, and was the adult that all of the boys wished they had in the end. Piggy was complex in his mind, and his actions, as well as intelligent when it came to problem solving, and advising Ralph.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Deviants and Crime

The person who deviates distinctly from the norm is called a deviant. A deviant may also be defined as the person whose attitudes and behaviors go against the set societal norms or standards. Deviance is not age specific but it starts in the early ages of human development and if it goes unmarked, it ends up reaching a point of no return making an adult whose personality can be described by one word; a deviant. The act of deviance is learnt either by association with other deviants or by trying to give excuses to justify the acts of deviance leading to habit. Deviance and crime is one and the same thing.This is because, when one goes against the set of norms in this case the formal rules called law, this is crime. Deviants defy both the formal and informal (Social) standards and norms. For example, a deviant may go against the social norms and commit an act of nose picking in public or against the law and break into private premises with an intention of stealing. Based on this, devia nce is a subject of concern to both the socialists and the criminologists. These two professionals engage in a serious study of how norms are formed, changes that the norms undergo over time and the enforcement of norms.The sociology of deviance can be summarized in three main theories i. e. symbolic interactionism theory, Structural functionalism theory, and conflict theory. These theories try to explain the causes of deviance. Stealing is one example of deviance that is a serious crime in the US today. People do not wake up one day and become thieves. Theft is a habit that is learnt at childhood and continues into adulthood. This paper seeks to define and develop a sociological theory that explains deviance from the symbolic interactionism theory perspective (Rodney, 2007:pp 48)Symbolic Interactionism Theories All the theories under this class are of the view that deviant behavior is learnt. As a result of the learning, the deviant behaviors eventually become part of an individual ’s personality or character. The theories under this class include Sutherland's differential association theory, Gresham Sykes and David Matza's neutralization theory and Tannenbaum and Howard Becker’s labeling theory. Sutherland's differential association theory proposes that the criminal and deviant behaviors are not inherent in individuals but they are only learnt.It amplifies the common belief that all human are created good. Every individual is inherently good but society makes them bad. The learning of criminal or deviant behaviors is the same as the learning of other behaviors such as saying â€Å"thank you† when one gives a compliment or gives a favor. The learning process comes as a result of interaction between people or groups of people through the use of symbolic communication. The symbolic communication may also include ideas and attitudes that are transferred from one individual or group to another.If the symbols used in the communication are favor able and desirable than the converse, then an individual or group embraces deviance communicated by the symbols, ideas or attitudes and will tend to be oriented to of deviant behaviors more than any other behavior (Lanier, 2004 pp. 162-163). Taking theft as an example of a deviant criminal behavior, we realize that if an individual associates with an individual or group who steal or hold the idea of stealing more favorable than unfavorable, and the association is intimate, then motives ideas, attitudes , techniques etc that are favorable to stealing are learnt.Once this learning occurs and incase there is a need, then one will tend to steal and in this way we say that this criminal and deviant act of theft has resulted from symbolic interaction. The Neutralization theory, just like the name suggests, sets out to explain the ways that the deviants eventually kill their guilt conscience through rationalization. Some of the rationalizations used include the denial of responsibility of the deviant action aimed at making the criminal feel better.Denial of responsibility is simply an argument that the offender had no option and that any other person put under the same circumstances would have acted the same way the offender did. Continued denial of responsibility eventually kills the guilt conscience making the criminal cold and to have a propensity of committing the crime again. For example, if a criminal steals and accepts responsibility, then there is some guilt that comes with the acceptance and this guilt has a reform component. Failure of accepting responsibility rules out possibility of reform and thus high probability of committing the crime again in future.Other defense mechanisms or rationalizations used include the denial of damage and denial of victim. Denial of damage or injury refers to the reasoning that the criminal act did not hurt anybody and thus the offender is not morally wrong. This reasoning is based on the elementary conviction that if an act ion doesn’t cause any harm to others, then it is morally right. On the other hand, denial of the victim is an argument that the victim deserved the deviant act due to his /her perceived lack of morals by the offender. Denunciation of his denouncers is yet another rationalization used by deviants or criminals to protect their actions.It is an argument that those who denounce their actions have the potential of committing same or similar acts or they also commit similar acts and as such they are hypocrites. Denunciation of denouncers makes the offender feel better about his actions and it too blocks reform thus opening up a possibility of future criminal acts. Finally, appeal to higher loyalties involves positive reinforcement of the criminal act by what he beliefs in. The criminal argues that some values surpass the law or traditions and thus the criminal construes the values to be more important than the law.For example, if one steals because he is starving, he has done nothi ng because he believes in saving life. To him, life is more important than the law. Generally, under this theory, criminals rationalize criminal acts by neutralization (Lanier, 2004 pp. 168- 9). The labeling theory is a popular one which has been used not only in sociology but also in psychology. The psychological labeling theory, in a layman’s language states that if you continually call a child names, say a thief, the child will end up becoming one. Frank Tannenbaum and Howard S.Becker proposed the labeling theory in the sociological context. They said that the act of society creating rules whose violation amounts to defiance causes deviance in itself. If society says that the people who take other people’s property without permission are thieves and thieves are not good people, this definition amounts to labeling. The labeling represents the negative attitude the society holds against a deviant such as a thief and makes the offenders to internalize the label and try to act out the label by carrying out actions that conform to the label.For example labeling of a thief, makes the deviant such labeled to internalize this label and carries out acts of theft in a bid to conform to the label. This theory lies at the boundary of symbolic-interactionism and conflict theory. The conflict theory orientation of this theory proposes that the society wield power to create norms and label deviants. A good example is the prison system which labels the convicts of theft to a point that these theft convicts also begin to view themselves as thieves (Giddens, 2006 pp. 525-7).In a bid to reinforce the reinforce Edwin Lemert proposed the idea of primary and secondary deviation. He construed primary deviation to be the deviance before the deviant is labeled as such. Secondary deviance on the other hand is the acts of deviance that come after the primary deviance as a reaction to the societal institutions that have power to set norms and to label. Lemert explains fu rther how one moves from primary to secondary deviation and finally to assumption of the role of the label he/she has been given.The transition between these stages starts when an offender commits a deviant act for the first time prompting the society to administer some disciplinary penalties on him. If the disciplinary penalties administered on the primary deviant do not manage to stop the crime, the offender may act the same crime or deviance again thus prompting even harsher punishment from the society. The harsh punishment makes the offender to resent the society or the institution in the society that administers this harsh punishment. The resentment sets pace for more crimes with the institution reining harsher and harsher punishment on the offender.As the number of crimes increases the society, apart from the punishment given to the offender, lavishes stigma too on the offender. This stigma marks the labeling g stage. The stigma sandwiches the offender between a rock and a har d place where he has no option than accept the role prescribed by the label. In a bid to fulfill the role, the offender acts out the role prescribed in the label and this constitutes the secondary deviance. Secondary deviance hardens the criminals courtesy of the labeling act by the societyPrimary and secondary deviance is witnessed in the American legal system when a first time offender receives lesser punishment as compared to a second or multiple time offender of the same crime. For both the offenders, say thieves, the punishment is meant to reform them. The multiple time offenders get a harsher punishment because the society feels that the first- time punishment was not sufficient enough making the offender commit a second crime. The second time offender is more likely to commit the crime the third time that the first time offender is to commit a second crime.The implication of this primary and secondary deviance can be applied in the prison system where the criminals are suppos ed to be viewed as good people except fore the crimes they have committed. They should not be condemned but subjected to rehabilitation. This is necessary because it has been witnessed that the harsher the punishment, the deeper the deviance and the higher the probability of the crime or deviance being repeated again (Hanson, 2005, P75). In conclusion, the reformation of criminals should not be harsh and inhuman.The harsh and often inhuman punishments we witness in our American prisons were put in place to scare the larger good population away from crime. It is evident that this intention has blatantly failed and thus there is need for an alternative strategy. This is necessary because if people are no longer scared of that harsh and inhuman punishment, then they will automatically engage in criminal activities. This is the same as threatening a person who doesn’t fear death with death. This won’t achieve any end at all. However, removal of such harsh and inhuman punis hment may trigger the same response that its existence triggers; resistance.What will happen if people know that the punishment given after a crime is lighter than before? The US government represented by the prison system is at a cross road and there is dire need to try a punishment devoid rehabilitation approach as opposed to the harsh punishment. Just like labeling has the impact of acting out, positive labeling may create desirable reformation in the criminals. The society too needs to be sensitized so as to respect the innate goodness of the criminals such as to avoid stigmatization that has led to the hardening and resistance of the criminals. References Rodney, Stark Sociology; Biological Theories of Deviance (10th edition) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007 Newman, Graeme Crime and Deviance: A Comparative Perspective. Michigan: Sage Publications, 1980 pp127-135 Giddens, Anthony Sociology. Polity Publishers, 2006 pp 525-7 Lanier, Mark Essential Criminology. Westview Press, 2004. pp 168-9 Â