Literacy: Mrs. Fleming Essay

There are few fundamental skills in life that are of greater importance than the ability to read and understand the written word. It can take a person of any background as far as they can dream. This is truly evident in the essay, â€Å"Superman and Me†, by Sherman Alexie which tells of the author’s struggle growing up poor on a Native American reservation in Washington State. From a young age, his literacy became Alexie’s saving grace, thanks to his father who inspired him to begin reading. This inspiration changed the path of his life. I, too, was inspired and encouraged at a young age to be a great reader by my Mother and a special teacher. I am thankful to my Mother for starting me on my path to literacy. I grew up in a house full of books, music and loud women. My Mom was never without a book in her hand, my middle sister loved to sing and write poetry and my oldest sister always had her eight tracks blaring. From the time that I was tiny, I wanted to be just like my Mother. She had beautiful hair, perfect makeup, and lovely flowing dresses. Since I was too young for these things, I latched on to something else that my mother loved; books. Alexie felt much the same way about his Father. Alexie writes, â€Å"My father loved books and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well† (89). My Mother and I spent many hours roaming the library aisles for our next great read. She encouraged me to try new authors and different genres. I discovered Judy Blume and even attempted Charles Dickens and Louisa Mae Alcott. My Mom challenged me each summer to read as many books as I could and she was always ready for me to tell her all about them. Mama and I still recommend books to one another and tell each other all about the characters that we meet in between the pages of our latest book. I was fortunate enough to have many fantastic teachers during my school years. One teacher In particular is my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Fleming. I was a twelve year old girl that felt awkward and self-conscience and Mrs. Fleming always found a way to boost my self-confidence. She made  it a point to compliment me every day on anything from how I read aloud in class or what I was wearing or my hair style. Mrs. Fleming’s interest in me built up my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. We also bonded over our mutual love of books. Mrs. Fleming would take the time to ask about a book I was reading and recommend others that she thought I might like. She found ways to let me know that she loved that I was so excited about reading even if it was just a sweet smile that seemed like it was just for me. Mrs. Fleming made me feel special. As an adult, I have, on occasion, run in to Mrs. Fleming and even after all these years she still remembers me as her little bookworm. I am thankful to have had the support and encouragement throughout my life to keep me reading and learning. It continues today as I show my children how fun and entertaining it can be to read a good book I love to read with my girls and the sound of their voice reading on their own is like music to my ears. As I continue my education I hope that they can see through me that a love of reading can take you anywhere you want to go. So dream big†¦and go read a book!

An epidemic of inhalation anthrax: the first in the twentieth century Essay

Bioterrorism is threatened employ of biologic agents touching group, a person, or larger populace to create illnesses or fear for purposes of threats, interruption of normal activities, gaining an advantage or ideological objectives. The consequential reaction is dependent leading the actual occurrence and the population caught up and can vary from a minimal result to disruption of continuing activities and illness, emotional reaction, or death. The anthrax eruption in the US which happed during the last part of 2001 this had characteristics of a typical outbreak. A terrorist strike by the use of a biological weapon to civilians will entail responses that primarily differ from the counter demanded by a hit that uses explosives as well as nuclear explosives or chemical weapons. The public health and medical reaction to a bioterrorist hit determination also differ considerably from reaction to ordinary disasters. Construction of efficient response programs entail that these distinctions be evidently recognized. The result of a bioterrorist strike on inhabitant would turn out to an epidemic (Brachman H, et al. 1960). A bioterrorist attack on civilian may possibly have several results, ranging from low-grade signs confined to a local region and not instantly recognized as an effect of biological weapons employ, to an extensive epidemic. The â€Å"first responders† would be nurses, public health professionals, and physicians in local health departments. A covert bioterrorist strike could probable come to notice increasingly, as doctors turn out to be conscious of an accumulation of mysterious deaths among healthy citizens. The accuracy and speed with which laboratories and physicians reached right identify and reported their result to public health authorities would openly change the number of deaths, and if the attack use a infectious disease the capacity to embrace the epidemic. The major areas concerned in reacting to a bioterrorist occurrence include planning, detection, diagnosis, investigation, treatment, communications, and training (Brachman ,at el 1998). In the planning stage, attention must be set to close cooperation among the multiple links that have tasks for implementing the procedures. The partners at local levels, and the federal, state must assist in developing the tactics and also in carrying out the tasks. The main purpose must be to carry on the quantization of the occurrence to a minimum. Administrators must offer management proficiency that creates the environment in which at hand can be successful achievement of the objectives (Friedland A, et al. 1993). Additional professions include communication and public relations specialists, laboratories personnel, epidemiologists, surveillance personnel, heath care personnel, environmentalists, behavior scientists, and support personnel. Resources, such as sufficient and responsive laboratory sup plies and facilities; access to computers; and other kinds of transportation, communication, and finances must be obtainable. In response plan of detection public health surveillance which can be either passive or active but must be sensitive and specific. The basic, regular, passive public health inspection system in place throughout is the first stage of detection system. It resolve necessary to develop case description for the reporting of syndrome of concern in the bioterrorist reaction system. The area of bioterrorism reaction is that of diagnosis (Meselson et al. 1994). It is obvious from the recent anthrax bioterrorism occurrence that health care expert must be educated concerning diseases to which they not have been exposed in their education given that rarity or nonexistence of the diseases. Investigations should be started at the local level with fast and ready support from federal and state agencies. There requirements of clarification from the start about who has the accountability for conducting and directing the investigations, as a bioterrorist event will bring into the investigative ground more than simply the public health agency. There requirements of a rapid evaluation of the most favored method of treatment via the most reasonable and up-to-date knowledge to stop death, control the increase of disease, and stop additional cases. Suggestion should be efficient as new information is available. There must be agreement about the items in the stockpile and clear procedures about how necessities can be made for release of the items. Communication is the main feature of the bioterrorism response preparation not only for prevention and control function but to temper the hysteria and fear that results from bioterroristic measures. One cannot eliminate hysteria and fear, but education and communication can help change it and reduce its effect on the people. Public relations personnel are supposed to be given the accountability for release and preparation of this information, designed for a well-informed and single source. The final, aspect of the bioterroristic response is training; all categories of concerned personnel must be skilled concerning their own tasks. This can be achieved through educational programs, Internet material, and written materials (Schaffner and LaForce 1996). Tabletop training, that is, field trials of the reaction plan, can be extremely effective not simply in educating the responders but in recognizing the deficiencies in the procedures. In conclusion, if a bioterrorist attack takes place, the resulting response will employ all levels most of federal agencies, several professional communities and government, mostly public health professionals and health care provider. Bioterrorist attack takes place in an environment of, uncertainty, fear and great tension. Resolution will have to be coordinated and made very fast. Implementation and planning of effective response tactics must take into consideration the complexity of this challenge and the inter-institutional nature, essential multidisciplinary of the crisis. References Brachman PS, Kaufmann AF. Anthrax. In: Evans AS, Brachman PS, eds. (1998).Bacterial infections of humans. New York, NY: Plenum Medical Book Co,:95–107. Brachman PS, Plotkin SA, Bumford FH, et al. (1960). An epidemic of inhalation anthrax: the first in the twentieth century. II. Epidemiology. Am J Hyg 1960;72:6–23. Brachman, PS, Gold H, Plotkin SA, et al. (1962). Field evaluation of a human anthrax vaccine. Am J Public Health;52:632–45. Friedland AM, Welkos SL, Pitt ML, et al. (1993). Postexposure prophylaxis against experimental inhalation anthrax. J Infect Dis;54:28–36. Glassman HN (1958); World incidence of anthrax in man. Public Health Rep;73:22–4. Meselson M, Guillemin J, Highes-Jones M, et al. (1994). The Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak of 1979. Science; 266:1202–8. Schaffner W, LaForce FM. (1996). Training field epidemiologists: Alexander D. Langmuir and the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Am J Epidemiol 144:S16–22. Source document

Forum discussion- reply to Duane on my post Essay

Forum discussion- reply to Duane on my post - Essay Example In my current organization, I think the implementation and development initiatives are effective in that they are properly planned and carefully implemented in order to meet the needs of the employees and the organization as a whole. The human resources management is tasked with identifying the training needs of the employees as well as identifying the gap that exists between their current performance standards and the desired level of performance. The training program is then molded on the basis of this information and is goal oriented. The major strength of the implementation process of the training and development program mentioned above is that it is twofold; it is designed to fulfill the needs and interests of both the employees and the organization. However, the only weakness that can be seen from this program is that it could be subjective at times. The trainers may tend to incorporate their personal views in the training program instead of focusing on the needs of the employe es. In order to improve this, collective decision making should be implemented within the organization. This will help to reflect the needs and interests of all members of the

Current resources and support available to SME's in the UK to support Essay

Current resources and support available to SME's in the UK to support them overcome linguistic and cultural barriers - Essay Example SMEs have currently recognised language skills and cultural awareness as critically important for achieving success in the international trade. Furthermore, it has been reported that language prevents SMEs from developing exporting market. It has been widely proclaimed that absence as well as acquisition of language skills has tremendous commercial and financial impacts. It has been further observed the SMEs in the UK have generally low language skills (House of Lords, 2013; Senik & et. al., 2010; Hornby & et. al., 2002). In this backdrop, the essay intends to present a critical report on the current resources and support available to SMEs in the UK to support them overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. In addition, the essay also intends to outline key recommendations pertaining to language management strategy (LMS) towards a one stop shop solution. It has been argued that exporting is similar to conducting business in domestic trade in terms of challenges faced by the business for gaining substantial profit from the operations. In this regard, success of exporting largely relies on identifying the potential barriers to businesses that are likely to be faced by SMEs. Notably, SMEs dealing with exporting are often faced with certain imperative challenges associated with complexity and fear of unknown related to foreign market. These challenges associated with SMEs dealing with exporting are ascertained to be a combination of various complexities which include language and cultural differences, political turmoil, poorly established legal and regulatory institutions and ordinary infrastructure (Parcelforce Worldwide, 2014). However, among this combination of challenges, it has been ascertained that a lack of language skills and cultural awareness has resulted in considerable amount of loss of business across Europe. SMEs were repo rted to lose their

Western architecture 1100-1650AD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Western architecture 1100-1650AD - Essay Example The aim of building the tower of Pisa is to provide a self-supporting bell tower for the nearby cathedral, Piazza del Duomo, located in Pisa. The objective of the builders of the bell tower is to provide a media for informing worshipers in the Pisa on matters of church schedule. Skillful and renowned architects from the 12th century will design the building. They will use their unique skills to harmonize Romanesque and Gothic styles into the tower. A lot of experts are predicted to play a role in the construction of the building; the move has attracted Galileo a scientist who has stated that he will complete his experiment on gravity using the building2. The Pisa tower is among the four buildings that will compose the cathedral complex at Pisa in Italy known as Campo dei Mira coli which refers to a field of miracles. The first building that will be constructed at Piazza dei Mira coli will be the cathedral locally known as the Duomo di Pisa. The building will rest on a purely white limestone pavement and will be a remarkable display of Romanesque architecture. On the west side of the dome a baptistery will also be constructed. Officially the work campanile will begin in August 1173. There is however, a possibility that the campo Santo and the cemetery will be completed before the campanile is built. TheCampo dei Mira coli will be a splendiferous collection of Romanesque architecture in the whole of Italy. The cathedral with its white and gray lined marbles bristling with arches and columns and an Islamic dome similar to that of a domed baptistery will be surrounded by a pea green lawn. Neighboring one side of the cemetery, the camposanto or piazza will be a graciously elongated cloister. The cloister will enclose the burial ground that was used mostly in the Crusades of Golgotha3. The tower will have eight stories, the bells chamber included. The bottommost story will consist

Environmental Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Environmental Planning - Research Paper Example Environmental planning activities are most pronounced in cities and urban places due to the fact that they are the regions most concentrated with development activities in addition to the large populations that reside in such places. In such a case, poor planning would lead to: environmental damage; social, economic, and cultural exclusion; and strains on the transport system. In the quest for enhancing sustainability is such places, planners should keep in mind that sustainable cities and urban places are an important factor to economic and social development which makes it the main engine of growth. They should also keep in mind that environmental degradation is the greatest obstacle to social equity and economic efficiency. The planners need to carefully study the components of federal or state regulations to understand the complex interactions between environment and development so that sustainability will be enhanced through a proactive management approach that is based on the understanding of these interactions. In this manner, all the future projects will be sustainable in terms of enhancing growth and development, which is supposed to be the main aim of any developmental

Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Cultural Diversity - Essay Example Therefore, these issues need to be resolved at governmental as well as individual level. The United States has had an extensive history of diversity. Diversity has permeated in every aspect of the society of United State and there is no sign of it getting decreased. The new phenomenon which I learnt is the basic reason of cultural diversity, which is Immigration. Migration of people from all over the world has made America the most diversified country ever. People from every community, country and state are living in America. The cultural history of United States tells that the country has never been so much diverse until the last two decades. From the past 20 years, United States has undergone several challenges in managing with diversity. Inability to understand the diversified cultural languages, rituals, beliefs and heritage has become a major obstacle in the way of inclusion. Orientation of diversity includes interaction, experience and individual understanding with diverse culture. In the past few decades, millions of people migrated to America in the search of better life, job and security. Migrations of millions of people including Asians, Hispanics, African-American has caused great diversity in the states of America. According to an urban sociologist, Robert Lang, by 2050, Americans would look back and think that it wouldn’t be a big deal to control the immigration and diversity controversies. A demographer at Brookings Institution, William Frey, says that by looking at the current situation, the population of white people in next twenty years cannot be appreciated. According to his predictions, there are greater chances for America in future to have population comprising of all ethnicities and races. The realm of diversity in United States continues to grow as the time passes on. The reasons due to which practitioners are concerned to the issue of

Chinese literature Unit 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chinese literature Unit 3 - Essay Example u’s â€Å"Praying For Rain,†1 from the Chou period, and the poem â€Å"Sitting and Forgetting,†2 from the Nine Songs, from the latter Chu period, and examine how each portray and think about ritual. The first shows a more straightforward approach to ritual—as in a kind of rain dance which is a means to an end. The second show ritual and its relation to nature as being potentially personally transformative. In â€Å"Praying for Rain† the poet describes the rituals or etiquette that surrounds rainfall, the harvest, and agriculture. Back then there was no agricultural science. Most farmers believed that a good harvest came because the gods were happy. The harvest was hugely important for everyone because the population relied on it for nourishments. It therefore made sense that rituals and prayers that poets and priests believed would help the harvest would be of huge importance and would frequently be refined and added to in order to ensure the best possible harvest. Poetry and ritual at the time were in some sense a matter of life and death. Ku Liang Shu describes the correct time to pray for rain to improve the crops.3 He says that petitioners must wait until the last minute, until it becomes clear that the rain is absolutely necessary, before engaging in the ritual prayer. By praying, man is â€Å"asking for a favour† the poet rights. These things must not be taken ligh tly. The power the gods have over people is one of life and death. There is an additional social aspect to this view of rituals: favours are important things and should be frivolously asked for. Ask only for what you need. We see in this work that rituals are taken very seriously and are mostly a way of communing with the gods, rather than with people (although there can be social implications to these rituals). The â€Å"Sitting and Forgetting,† one of the Nine Song, focuses much more on an abstraction of the ritual and its power to transform the world or the poet’s perspective of the world.

An Effective Counsellor Essay Example for Free

An Effective Counsellor Essay Counsellors should continually assess their own feelings and needs to maintain an appropriate relationship with the client. There are issues that a counsellor should be aware of when doing a self-assessment; The counsellor should be aware of when they feel uncomfortable with a client or a topic being discussed. The counsellor must choose to either be honest with the discomfort of a situation or topic, or they may refer the client to another counsellor. The counsellor should be aware of their own avoidance strategies. The counsellor must be able to recognize when they avoid certain topics, or allow distractions and then find an effective way to facilitate help appropriately. The counsellor should be able to recognize when they are trying to control a situation. It is important that the counsellor engage in responsive listening so that theyre not controlling the communication process. The counsellor must remind themselves continuously that any issue being discussed has many perspectives and that theirs may be different, from that of the clients. It is important not to express whether the clients view is right or wrong. The counsellor must avoid being omnipotent. It is not the counsellors job to make the client better. It is the counsellors job to help facilitate the client in addressing and resolving the issues. It is also important that the counsellor identifies and responds to positive feelings, and that they dont just focus on negative ones. This provides balance for the client and allows them to amplify positive strengths in their lives. Lastly, the counsellor must keep in mind to never ask a question, or discuss a 1 topic that you would not be able to discuss in a similar situation. These issues should always be addressed when a Counsellor is engaging in a self-assessment. By completing a self-assessment I was able to address my values, skills, attributes and my interests. I identified that while I am not a judgemental person, I do hold values that if not addressed prior to a situation could cause myself to become close-minded and that would ultimately put a barrier up in my ability to help the client. I also was able to identify how I can use my skills and attributes to counsel my clients in a positive manner. I have identified that I try to find a positive in all situations but I dont ever be-little the seriousness of the topic at hand. With a self-assessment I am able to recognize when and how to communicate appropriately with a client. The individuals I support will be able to discuss issues with me and feel comfortable knowing that I dont judge or assume things about them. Both my verbal and non-verbal skills will make this evident to the client. As a registered Developmental Service Worker I could be taking on a role as a counsellor where self-assessment is crucial as it is important to be able to identify when or if I am not dealing with a situation or topic appropriately. I will use the skill of self-assessment in any other role whether that be taking on a position as a Personal Support Worker or working in a group home. It is important that I am able to identify my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to helping a client and that I am able to do so in a way that is prudent. It is also important to continually perform a self-assessment as situations change or evolve. A counsellor who understands how they communicate and who has self-awareness is likely to be more effective in helping the client, then those who are not aware of these issues. Counsellors who are able to identify aspects such as if a topic being discussed makes them feel uncomfortable, if the topic goes against their own values or beliefs, if it is causing different emotions in themselves and why that may be, if they are projecting these feelings and whether or not they are really listening to the 2 client. Continual self-awareness is crucial to the development of the counsellor and their ability to help the client.

Choosing the Right Cell Phone Essay Example for Free

Choosing the Right Cell Phone Essay Consumer Reports assert â€Å"cell phones are evolving to allow faster texting, Web surfing, GPS navigation, and social networking while keeping up with their day job—voice calling† (Consumer Reports, n.d.). When walking out the door this morning the average person picked up three things; a wallet or purse, their car keys, and their cell phone. The cell phone, though often taken for granted has become a form of life support to many. Before just rushing out to purchase the latest and greatest here is what consumers should know before purchasing their next cell phone. Take the time to prepare and review before going out to purchase a phone. Many often take the word of a salesman they do not even know to decide what is best for them or let a commercial convince them of what device and service they should choose. Picking the wrong cell phone and plan can cost a large amount of money. Everyone has probably made a purchase, and then gotten their next bill to find they were totally surprised. To begin the search for the perfect cell phone one should start with what type of phone he or she is looking for. Would a non-flip (candy bar style phone) or a traditional flip phone (clam shell) better suite their needs? Flip phones had been the choice for most throughout the years but candy bar phones are making a come back with touch screens such as Droids and iPhones. If the phone will be spending a lot of time in ones purse or pocket, one may want to consider a flip phone to avoid unnecessarily scratching the screen and random dialing. If one is looking for a PDA and fully functional QWERTY keypad then a candy bar phone would be the best choice. One should also decide if he or she prefers a touch screen, a standard keyboard, or a QWERTY keyboard when making the decision on they style of phone that is best for them. After deciding the style of phone next one should consider what technology they need in a phone. Do they need text, Internet, e-mail, GPS navigation, walkie-talkie, apps, international service, or just voice calling? There are so many options and possibilities that can make one feel overwhelmed during this process. This can be avoided by doing the proper research ahead of time. The fast pace of today makes email on the go a necessity for most. If needing e-mail one should not pick a phone that is not Internet ready, and may want to consider a full QWERTY keyboard for faster composing of e-mails. Another feature available is walkie-talkie if this is something that was of interest; he or she would want to make sure that is a feature the phone offers. The majority of phones can call out internationally, but if one needs to use the phone abroad he or she would want to check to make sure the phone is world compatible. If voice calling is all one needs it does not make much sense to buy a phone with all the extra bells and whistles. If apps are needed, one might choose an Android or an iPhone because these phones offer the largest selection of apps available. In figure 1.A, based on the latest and greatest technology out today, here is a list of the top three mobile phones. All three of these phones have full access to the Android Market, and are the same in price with a qualified upgrade or new customer pricing. Now that one has decided on the style of phone and what features are needed he or she will make one of the most important decisions in this process. Before deciding on a specific phone one must choose a network. In the past it was easier to choose a network/provider because only one company generally covered a certain area. Providers now have nation-wide networks, and the major companies Sprint, ATT, T-Mobile and Verizon cover almost all areas; making this decision a challenging one. When choosing the right service one should take advantage of the 30-day trial offers that most providers offer to new customers. With taking advantage of the trial one can use the phone in areas he or she would normally be in to make sure service is sufficient. This gives them the ability to make sure it will work in their home, office and see if there are any dead spots in their area. This will allow them to determine if this service provider will be beneficial for their needs before being held to a two and with some providers a three-year commitment. The 30-day trial also pertains to equipment, so if one is not happy with the phone he or she can take it back and try a different model. Say if they thought they could access Facebook, then during the trial realized the phone they have did not support web; it could be exchanged. Perhaps if camera was a big factor on deciding their phone, but when they take pictures they come out fuzzy and not clear; the 30-day trial gives them the freedom to change their mind. Once all these decisions have been made one must then choose his or her calling plan. When choosing a phone plan there are many factors to consider. How many minutes are very important. Chicago Tribune states â€Å"to figure how much talk time you will need, count the minutes you spend on your current phone in a typical month, then add 25 percent to 50 percent as a buffer to avoid hefty overage fees† (Choosing the right cell, 2007). Cell phone providers offer additional services for a set monthly cost. Without the correct information and consideration of what he or she may be using the phone for one could pay a per use fee for additional features he or she failed to have added. If text messaging is something that maybe used, it is far more cost effective to pay $15 per month; rather than $.20 per single text. With data there is also a pay per use charge of $.03 per kilobyte or a monthly data package ranging from $15 to $30. A data package is something that will be needed if one wants to use email, social networking, picture services, apps, and GPS navigation from the phone. Figure 2.A is a chart of some of the main things people are doing on their mobile phones. If the consumer plans to be using any of these features he or she would want to make sure they have the correct plan and features to avoid high bills.

Corporate Social Responsibility At British Petroleum Commerce Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility At British Petroleum Commerce Essay According to Mohr (1996), corporate responsibility is supported by the concepts of multidimensional definitions and social marketing. In the multidimensional definitions concept, the focus is on the major responsibilities expected from companies. These major responsibilities include economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions (Carroll, 1991). These responsibilities must be performed in order to benefit not only the company operators but also their employees, customers, the community and the general public. Kotler (1991) notes that the social marketing concept of corporate responsibility stresses that companies should operate in a way that maintains or enhances the well-being of its customers as well as its society. Petkus and Woodruff (1992) supported this concept further by stating that CSR is the avoidance of harm and the provision of good services. The definition given by the authors on corporate social responsibility may vary to a certain degree. However, the meanings of these definitions emphasize on one matter, and that is, a socially responsible organization must have priorities other that short-term profitability (Mohr, 1996). A study has been conducted with regards to the significance of corporate social responsibility to profitability (Mohr Webb, 2001). Although, further studies are still necessary in order to analyze the correlation of these factors, the findings of Mohr and Webb showed that social responsibility plays a significant role in consumer appeal. The perceptions of consumers however, tends to vary with regards to this aspect. Nonetheless, this stresses the importance of corporate responsibility not only on benefiting the stakeholders but also in achieving the goals of the companies towards growth and profitability. Primarily, the main goal of this report is to analyse the corporate social responsibility of British petroleum. Herein, the analysis will discuss how the company has been able to adhere to their responsibilities in the society which they operate. In addition, this paper will also discuss the comparison on the CSR approach of BP and The CO-OP. Overview of the Company British Petroleum known today as BP Amoco is a petroleum industry based in London. It is recognized as one of the top four oil and petroleum companies throughout the world. The company started in 1901when William Knox DArcy was given the permission by the Shah of Persia to explore the land for oil and founded one in May 1908. Because of this discovery, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was established so as to expose these findings. The company has grown gradually because of this as World War I is happening; the British Government shows intense interest to the company which became the source of fuel oil of Royal Navy during WWI. In 1917, the war gives permission to the British Government to have full control of the company and named it British Petroleum. The company has continued to become one of the largest oil companies in Europe and because the company wanted to expand its market, BP merged wit the American Oil Company (AMOCO). Today, the company operated in more than 100 states in 6 continents including China. The main goal of this company is to drill and find oil. The major activities of BP Amoco is exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil; refining or decontamination, marketing, supply and transportation and production and marketing or petrochemicals. In addition, the company also engaged itself in solar power. The strategic use technology and strategic management can be considered as a factor for this achievement. The company also acquires Burmah Castrol and Atlantic Richfield Corporation (Arco) and has been able to launch a combined global branding. The company offers products and services which are divided into three categories; on the roads which include fuels and stations, fuel cards, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), lubricants, roadside assistance and route planners, for the home which consists of products like LPG, online store and solar and renewable; and for business which include a ir BP, Bitumen, BP Marine, BP open books, BP shipping, petrochemicals, power, natural gas, lubricants liquified natural gas (LNG) and LPG, fuels, fuel cards and solar and renewable. In order to easily reach their customers, BP also uses the internet through its website. Corporate Social Responsibility of BP A facet of corporate social responsibility is the companys responsibility in the preservation and care of the environment. Oil companies, particularly the British Petroleum have battled issues coming out against them in relation to environmental issues. In fact, some environmental organisations have expressed dismay over the indiscriminate company performance of BP that resulted to harm in the environment. In August 1991, based on its analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxic release inventory data for 1990 (the most recent available), the Washington, D.C.- based public interest group Citizen Action named BP among the top 10 polluters in the United States (BP: A Legacy of Apartheid, Pollution and Exploitation 2006). The findings brought out by environmental agencies and concerned environmentalist groups have caused the firm to take measures regarding the issue. Two years after Lord John Browne took over the BP administration, the firm rolled out a new marketing strategy that involved emphasis on environmental responsibility. In 1997, the British Petroleum supported the Kyoto Protocol, a worldwide agreement that seeks to prevent global warming by reducing greenhouse emissions. Subsequent efforts to minimise their business impact to the natural environment (providing cleaner burning fuels, reducing emissions, ending all facilitation payments (bribes) and political contributions) were also much publicised by the company, not only in observance of their corporate social responsibility, but also as a way of maintaining their stakeholders trust. These attempts on the part of the firm were questioned for their real intention, particularly the question will it lead the world in a sustainable energy revolution, truly moving beyond petroleum, or will it be content to profit from the exploitation of an increasingly taxed planet while draping itself in green? (Assadourian, 2004). Having been able to realize their corporate social responsibilities, the British petroleum has been able to solve the issue and attempt to have an enormous reinvention in 2000. The main goal of this reinvention is to alter the perception the people regarding BP in terms of its business operation and its role in the society. This reinvention is also a part of the adherence of the company to their social responsibilities and which costs $200 million. British petroleum was the first oil industry which started to address the issue of global climate change. It can be said that the corporate social responsibility challenge for the British petroleum has been threefold. The first one is to the challenge of translating the social responsibility commitment into an efficient and consistent approach in the global market. The next is to be able to meld the BP its subsidiaries like Arco and Amoco to social investments and the last is to satisfy and meet the external expectations from the society. These CSR commitment has been strengthened through the changes or reinvention mentioned above which include their advertisement of the Beyond Petroleum. In doing and meeting their organisational goal of being committed to social responsibilities, the company had been able to conduct rigorous planning with more than 130 fully functions Business Units. In this regard, each of the each of the Business Units has largely autonomous business operations with its own identity, history, imperatives and relationships. The Corporate social responsibility strategy of BP has also been able to give importance to three performance measures which include the social, environmental and financial which are known as the triple bottom line. The commitment of the BP with their social responsibility ensures that wherever they operation, their activities should be able to establish economic benefits and opportunities by enhancing the quality of life of individually, specifically those who are directly influenced by the company. The CSR commitment of the British Petroleum focuses on five aspects which include the employee relationships, ethical conducts, health safety and environmental performance, financial aspect and control (British Petroleum, 2008). In order to ensure that they are able to get affiliated with different international and global organisations for Human rights such as the United Nations, US-UK Voluntary Principles and others, for the labour relationships they follow the standards of the ILO Tri partite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and for environmental accountabilities they are linked with the GHG emissions reduction, ISO14000 and Clean Fuels Programs. Just like British Petroleum, other organisations are also able to adhere to the concept of being socially responsible and THE CO-OP is never an exemption. The corporate social responsibility of this company works in various stakeholders such as individual members, employees, customers, corporate members, suppliers, the wider community, and the cooperative members. In doing so, the company has provide community investment of  £7.3m, which is equal to 3.2% pre-tax profit, up from 2.5% in year 2003.

Darwins Theory of Natural Selection :: essays research papers fc

Charles Darwin revolutionized biology when he introduced The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Although Wallace had also came upon this revelation shortly before Origins was published, Darwin had long been in development of this theory. Wallace amicably relinquished the idea to Darwin, allowing him to become the first pioneer of evolution. Darwin was not driven to publish his finding, which he’d been collecting for several years before Wallace struck upon it, because he had â€Å"never come across a single [naturalist] who seemed to doubt to permanence of species† (Ridley, pp. 70). What follows are the key points of Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection taken directly from the two chapters concerning it in his book Origins. In chapter III of Origins Darwin sets up his discussion on Natural Selection by establishing the struggle for existence in nature. By this he means not only an individuals need to fend of enemies and survive its environme nt but also it’s ability to create living, healthy, successful offspring. The first factor concerning this struggle is the ratio of increase in any given species. Darwin explains how this struggle must be occurring otherwise a single species would dominate the entire earth because every single one of it’s offspring would survive. This is due to the fact that every species reproduces exponentially, a rate that would soon produce astonishing numbers if left unchecked. This does not happen however, because nature has a system of checks and balances. Although we may not be able to detect these checks, we can see their effects by the indisputable fact that one species doesn’t completely dominate the planet. These checks consist of enemies eating the young or even adults, the rigors of weather or environment, and countless others. In this way birds, for example, cannot populate beyond their food supply, and the grains they feed on are held in check, because even thoug h they may produce thousands of seeds only a few are able to reach maturity. Darwin goes on to show how all plants and animals compete and relate to each other in this struggle for existence. He does so by relating various personal observations that show the introduction of a different species of plant or animal can have a direct effect on the present survival of the indigenous species and even allow other foreign species to proliferate. This leads to interspecies survival, which Darwin considers the hardest struggle of all, and the one that may have the greatest effect on the evolution of a species through Natural Selection.

Energy Crisis Interrelated to Global Warming. Photovoltaic Cell †A Pos

Energy Crisis Interrelated to Global Warming. Photovoltaic Cell – A Possible Solution Abstract- The world’s energy crisis has worsened in recent years, as oil prices dramatically increased due to the limited amount of available oil. Global warming is considered as a byproduct of energy crisis, because as oil continues to burn in the refining process, CO2 is constantly emitted to the atmosphere at a fast rate and in heavy concentrations, which in turn, worsens the global warming situation. Photovoltaic cell technology converts sunlight into direct current electricity. This source can be a possible solution to solve the energy crisis as well as the global warming issue. Introduction- Energy crisis has remained a top concern in the world today. Fossil fuels, the most widely used energy source in the U.S. and in the world, is rapidly being depleted due to the fast consumption rate. Since we are highly depended on oil for transportation, cooking, and communication in our daily lives, the oil storage is starting to run out and eventually it will be all gone. Petroleum oil is always considered as a cheap energy source; however, the price of oil per barrel and per gallon has gone up significantly worldwide. The price of oil has already passed $60 per barrel, due to the energy crisis and oil shortages (Crude Oil Futures Prices – NYMEX, 2005). The increased oil prices and the limited energy resources will have a great impact to the global economy where stock prices fall, unemployment rates increase, economic recession and inflation can occur. Burning fossil fuels are not only causing the existing energy crisis in the world but are leading to global warming as well. Due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels, the ... .... Website: http://www.cintelliq.com/res_photo.htm Renewable Energy (2005) The Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 23,2005. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy Turner, John A. (1999) A Realizable Renewable Energy Future. Retrieved July 21, 2005, from Energy Viewpoint. Website: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/285/5428/687.pdf 14 The Coming World Energy Crisis. (2005) Retrieved July 21, 2005 from Planet for life. Website: http://planetforlife.com/ William, James L. Alhajji, A. F. PhD. (2003). The Coming Energy Crisis? Retrieved July 21, 2005, from Energy Economics Newsletter. Website: http://www.wtrg.com/EnergyCrisis/ Zittel, Werner. Schindler, JÃ ¶rg (2003) Future world oil supply. Retrieved July 21, 2005, from University Salzburg. Website: http://www.energiekrise.de/e/articles/International-Summer-School-Salzburg- 2002.pdf

Employee Engagement Essay

They are more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave the organization. In the best organizations, employee engagement transcends a human resources initiative — it is the way they do business. Employee engagement is a strategic approach supported by tactics for driving improvement and organizational change. The best performing companies know that developing an employee engagement strategy and linking it to the achievement of corporate goals will help them win in the marketplace. Unleashing the Potential for Growth World-Class Average 33% 67% Engaged 49% Not Engaged Actively Disengaged 26% 7% 18% 9. 57:1 1. 83:1 Ratio of Engaged to Actively Disengaged What’s Your Engagement Ratio? Gallup’s engagement ratio is a macro-level indicator of an organization’s health that allows executives to track the proportion of engaged to actively disengaged employees. The average working population ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is near 2:1. Actively disengaged employees erode an organization’s bottom line, while breaking the spirits of colleagues in the process. Within the U. S. workforce, Gallup estimates this cost to the bottom line to be more than $300 billion in lost productivity alone. In stark contrast, world-class organizations that have built a sustainable model using Gallup’s approach have an engagement ratio of more than 9:1. As organizations move toward this benchmark, they greatly reduce the negative effect of actively disengaged employees while unleashing the organization’s potential for rapid growth. Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Gallup’s Research-Based Approach Gallup’s employee engagement work is based on more than 30 years of in-depth research involving more than 17 million employees. This research has appeared in many business and scientific publications, including the Journal of Applied Psychology and the Harvard Business Review and in our bestselling books First, Break All the Rules and the sequel 12: The Elements of Great Managing. 12 Elements of Engagement Gallup has developed and identified 12 core elements that link powerfully to critical business outcomes. These 12 statements emerged from Gallup’s pioneering research as those that best predict employee and workgroup performance. The 12 Elements of Great Managing I know what is expected of me at work. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person. There is someone at work who encourages my development. At work, my opinions seem to count. The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work. I have a best friend at work. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow. Copyright  © 1993-1998 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.. 2 Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. Adding Elements In addition to the 12 elements, Gallup recommends adding questions that address your company’s unique culture or address business issues facing your organization. Gallup’s expansive item bank includes key indices to help organizations measure their strength in areas such as innovation, change management, customer orientation, leadership, and inclusiveness. Gallup’s latest meta-analysis (an analysis of data from more than 152 organizations) shows dramatic differences between top- and bottom-quartile workgroups on key business outcomes. It is through this meta-analysis that Gallup continues to validate the 12 elements. Beyond the dramatic difference engaged workgroups show in productivity, profitability, safety incidents, and absenteeism versus disengaged workgroups, Gallup has proven that companies with world-class engagement have 3. 9 times the EPS growth rate compared with organizations with lower engagement in their same industry. Linking Employee Engagement to Critical Business Outcomes Employee Engagement and Critical Business Outcomes 30% 20% 10% 0% -10% -20% -30% -40% -50% -60% -70% -37% -49% -49% -60% -25% -27% -41% Turnover High Absenteeism Turnover Orgs. Low Turnover Orgs. Safety Incidents Patient Safety Incidents 18% 12% Quality (Defects) Shrinkage 16% Customer Productivity Profitability Top decile companies have 3. 9 times the Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth rate Difference Between Top and Bottom Quartile Performance Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Systematically Improving Employee Engagement Improving engagement goes beyond simply asking the right questions. Engaging employees requires a year-round focus on changing behaviors, processes, and systems to anticipate and respond to your organization’s needs. From the leadership team to the frontline employees, all levels within an organization must commit to making these changes. A Sustainable Approach Gallup approaches employee engagement with sustainability in mind, and thus, provides managers and leaders with tools to help drive performance on an ongoing basis through a combination of measurement, reporting, learning, action planning, and strategic interventions. Using the latest technology and cutting-edge research, Gallup continually provides clients with innovative solutions that drive change. From state-of-the-art organizational mapping software and online tools to first-class instructional designers and consultants, Gallup’s approach to employee engagement reduces the amount of time needed to move from measurement to improvement. The world’s top-performing organizations recognize the critical role managers play in achieving business objectives. As a global leader in the area of employee ecruitment and selection, Gallup has a proven method for hiring managers and employees with the talent to build engagement. After reviewing nearly 10,000 validated pre-employment questions and the global Q12 database, Gallup uncovered a subset of questions that enables organizations to assess whether a job candidate, if hired, will boost engagement levels. This engagement selecting approach will help hiring managers find candidates who have more potential to drive engagement in the workplace. Selecting for Engagement 4 Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. What the World’s Best Organizations Do Differently Gallup drives organizations to systematically improve employee engagement using proven interventions at the local and enterprise level. Beyond setting the proper strategy, interventions include finding the right performance metrics that drive accountability, creating a comprehensive communication strategy, and designing development opportunities for every employee, manager, and leader. While partnering with many of the world’s best organizations, Gallup has observed that world-class organizations make employee engagement a priority by focusing on the following: Strategy World-class organizations develop a formula for success by looking objectively and rigorously at the business problems they face and by focusing on finding the right employees and keeping them engaged. For these organizations, an employee engagement strategy is not only fundamental to the way they do business, it is critical to their success. Accountabil ity and Performance The top-driven companies focus on outcomes. They define and rigorously measure success at every level in the organization. These measurements ultimately help focus each person, team, department, and business unit on driving performance and results. Communication Within the best performing organizations there is a cultural alignment between the employees and the company, paired with a strategic alignment between activities and company goals. These organizations use their corporate communication touchpoints to reinforce their commitments to employees and customers. Development As the struggle for talent intensifies, organizations face a continual challenge to build and grow their leadership capacity. The world’s top-performing companies have comprehensive leader and manager development programs, but they also go one step further — these programs are performance-driven and incorporate a comprehensive succession plan throughout the organization. They make it a priority to not only identify leadership potential, but also to focus intently on the creation of developmental paths for current and future managers and leaders. †¢ †¢ †¢ Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Proven Return on Investment Increasing employee engagement directly correlates with a positive effect on key business metrics. A partnership with Gallup enables your organization to design, implement, and execute an employee engagement strategy, and at the same time, your organization will have concrete evidence of the effect of this strategy on the bottom line. Gallup’s proof of ROI goes beyond the case study level. By continually validating the effect of increasing employee engagement through meta-analyses and business impact studies, Gallup can observe ROI trends across hundreds of clients. The observed net gain in key business outcomes for business units that grow employee engagement is a direct link to ROI. Typical Net Gain at the Organizational Level 8. 0% 7. 0% 6. 0% 5. 0% 4. 0% 3. 0% 2. 0% 1. 0% 0. 0% Median Growth in Engagement (. 15 GrandMean) m A Tu r Think about the cost to replace an employee, attract a new, loyal customer, or pay workers’ compensation. Using quick and simple math with the net gain values provided, your organization can begin to model the ROI it is capable of attaining. 6 Tu r Pa t Pr od er uc tiv ity Pr o? ta bi lit y Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. h y et af Q ge ow ty eis ka -H fe -L ua lit C ig te rin Sa tS en ve r ve r no no ien bs Sh us to y Performance Optimizationâ„ ¢: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter Taking employee engagement one step further, Gallup’s Performance Optimization approach offers an innovative, research-based approach to one of the toughest challenges businesses face t oday: how to drive success by effectively managing the moments when employees interact with customers. This approach brings employee and customer engagement on to a single management platform. It combines a proven method for assessing the health of the employee-customer encounter with a disciplined process for improving it. Gallup is unique in its ability to design and execute this aligned approach because our expertise and global capability in marketplace consulting practices is as deep as our expertise and global capability in workplace consulting practices. e Impact of Performance Optimization HIGH TM CE11 CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT Boost 70% 240% Boost 1. (Baseline) LOW LOW Boost HIGH 70% Q12 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Our meta-analysis of engagement and financial performance in companies across multiple industries reveals that business units that score above our database median on customer and employee engagement significantly outperform units that rank in the bottom half on both measures. Organizations employing Performance Optimization principles have outperformed their competitors by 26% in gross margin and 85% in sales growth. Their customers buy more, spend more, return more often, and stay longer. Blending strategic analysis with hands-on, practical steps and advice, Performance Optimization changes how leaders view their work, their employees, and their customers. Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Gallup’s Global Reach Gallup’s 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations and from 40 offices around the world. Benchmarking World-Class Organizations Gallup maintains the world’s most comprehensive historical and comparative employee engagement databases. The historical database contains data collected in 67 languages from more than 17 million respondents in 175 countries worldwide. Gallup updates the comparative database annually, which enables clients to benchmark their organization’s employee engagement levels against the most recent data Gallup collects from around the world. Gallup’s most recent database, covering the past three years, includes data collected from more than 6. million employees representing more than 815,000 workgroups in 16 major industries and more than 70 sub-industries in 170 countries worldwide. Gallup understands the importance of timely data and relevant comparisons in the competitive landscape of today’s fast-paced marketplace. As a result, your organization can compare its engagement data with Gallup’s global, world-class, industry-specific, or custom database segments. Change That Drives Outcomes Transformation does not occur instantaneously. It takes a lot of energy and effort to initiate change, and it takes even more energy to build on that momentum. It takes focused attention to drive engagement. A partnership with Gallup will help your organization influence and inspire engagement by building a â€Å"people† strategy that holds people accountable for performance, aligns communication, and builds development opportunities for leaders, managers, and frontline employees, giving your organization a competitive edge. 8 Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright  © 2008, 2010 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 â€Å"Best Buy has already had success in connecting improved employee-engagement scores to store performance: it found that for every 10th of a point it boosted the former, its stores saw a $100,000 increase in operating income.

Dollard & Pavlov Case Study Personality Psy

Jon Britton Personality Psychology Dr Humbert Case Study #10 3-18-2013 Dollard & Pavlov The first and foremost primary drive shown by Jack is in the form of wanting to maintain a stable life. He has worked himself into a suitable position in the restaurant business and he is driven to succeed by not wanting to fail. His biggest fear is to fail and be a ‘loser’ so this is his main primary drive and it is working well for him.The way that he reduces this primary drive is he begins to take classes in college in order to advance further in the restaurant industry. These classes will enable him to get a degree and then he will be able to make more money and gain a more stable position. His primary secondary drive is roughly parallel to his primary in the sense that his fear of not succeeding is driving him to do something outside of his normal operating procedure, that is taking classes in college at an age where he feels that he is too old to do so.Once he starts to partake in the classes he finds that he is doing better than he could have imagined which further compliments the secondary drives at work. There were definitely cues which helped Jack step outside of his normal boundaries, it came in the form of hearing some of the younger people where he works talk about being in school and getting their degrees.This helped to motivate Jack in making his decision to take the classes, probably because it made him feel younger, and gave him a greater sense of accomplishment when he finally did make the decision to take the classes. The four main processes underlying the classical conditioning model according to Pavlov are unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and conditioned response. These four components, can work in unison to produce the precise conditions necessary for a classical conditioning experiment / environment to take place.

Shahzia Sikander

When finding a definition for ‘art’ the only phrase that comes to my mind is the expression of one’s creative skill and imagination. The word imagination brings out this thought of largeness and expressiveness to me and therefore when viewing a large painting, one immediately gets drawn towards it and tries to create a connection with the painting. Shahzia Sikander was an artist who was known for her embrace of miniaturist paintings in the Indo-Persian style.To many, miniature paintings seemed somewhat restrictive because of the space present for the artists to express themselves and are also looked at as a â€Å"faded genre that had more to do with craft and technique than genuine expression†(Bhaha, Homi). But according to me, Sikander’s artwork successfully portrayed her thoughts and helped us gain knowledge about her culture.What attributes to making her paintings so acknowledged is the way her artwork embodies not only her culture but also  "works across diverse cultural references – Hindu, Christian, Classical, mythological and folkloric† (Rachel Kent). When talking about ‘elements of narrative’ in artwork, I feel that one is referring to the way in which the particular artwork is portrayed and the techniques that the artist has used to portray his/her skill and imagination. Viewing all of Sikander’s artwork, the one element that is seen as having and influence on all her works of art is her cultural background.Her adoption of the miniaturist tradition took place while she was studying at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan where this form of art was seen as an â€Å"unconventional choice that conjured associations with imperialism on one hand and, on the other, deeply rooted local traditions of story-telling and popular mythology† (Rachel Kent). One of the reasons that it felt like story telling and popular mythology to me was because when viewing each painting, it felt like one was viewing a page from a book.The paintings looked flat like a page but at the same time contained layers within which gave them depth. One particular artwork of hers that gives me this impression is â€Å"Writing the Written† (2000). In all her works and this one in particular one can see how â€Å"she explored compositional constructs such as repetition, the placement of color across the surface of the work, the use of a flattened, stacked perspective and the relationship between image and border† (Rachel Kent). Repetition is seen a lot in â€Å"Writing the Written†, whether it is the repetition of certain symbols of just design.The most important factor to keep in mind when analyzing Sikander’s artwork is the size of each piece. Each miniature painting is not more than 8 x 51/2 inches, which is just like analyzing a painting that has been printed on an A4 sized paper. Viewing a painting so small can make us see the artist in a completel y different light because as the audience, we are usually not used to being able to glance at a whole painting at one time, and by this I mean that our eyes are usually used to moving around, moving to different corners of the painting since we relate the size of majority of paintings to being large.When viewing â€Å"Writing the Written† for the first time, the first thing that caught my eyes was the repetition of horses in the boarder. Since I am of Hindu religion, the whole painting felt like Sikander was trying to tell her audience a story about the Hindu culture. The horse is linked to the Hindu god Varuna that shows how Sikander is incorporating mythology in her artwork. Also, the focus of this painting seems to be the two figures that are placed somewhat in the center of the painting, which to me represents the Hindu gods Krishna and Radha.Considering that this is a miniature painting, it doesn’t seem ‘small or simple’ in any way because there is so much going on in it. The blurred circle in the center is what got me thinking because in the article â€Å"Intimate Immensity†, Rachel Kent mentioned, â€Å"historically, the circle invited a range of associations. It is at once a complete unit, unbroken at any point so without a beginning or end; a spiritually changed symbol across cultures, associated with the continuity of the life cycle†.But I felt like by using the circle to blur out the faces she was in some way referring to the problems that Muslim women have to face everyday. In an interview by Homi k Bhabha, Sikander mentions that even for her such things as the veil that she uses a lot in her work, remains exotic. She states that the first time that she put one in her work everyone reacted strongly. So when looking at the blurred faces in her painting I felt like she was trying to portray how Muslim women are forced to hide their faces from the rest of the world. Images within images, borders within borders; all form active constituents in Sikander’s art of transformation†(Rachel Kent). This technique of Sikander’s is seen in a lot of her artworks especially in â€Å"Writing the Written† where at ones first glance of the painting it seems like there are three different frames to it and this to me makes the painting look layered and gives it some form of depth. The outer most layer is that of the border with the horses imprinted on it, the second layer consists of the two blurred figures and the third layer is that of the backdrop.The tiny blue circles that start of big on the outer most layer and then gradually become smaller as they move towards the inner most frame better represent this depth that Sikander is trying to portray. According to me it is quite difficult to analyze every aspect of Sikander’s paintings because there always seems to be so much going on. One of the reasons that I feel this way is also because of the way she represents movemen t in her paintings. In â€Å"Writing the Written†, the movement is solely portrayed by the various horses.First, the way she draws them in different directions on the outer most border and then by the single house that is shown jumping on the top left edge of the painting. At first, when I read the title â€Å"Writing the Written† I didn’t necessarily understand why she would give the painting that name but then I started notice the writing on the outer most border which seemed like Arabic to me. In an interview Sikander says, â€Å"The text becomes more like horses or there’s the suggestion of movement, and that aspect is my experience of reading the Koran where I would read it with no particular understanding because I was a child.I could read Arabic, but I couldn’t understand it and the memory of it is this amazing visual memory where the beauty of written words supersedes everything else† (Bhabha, Homi). One can see that Sikander used th e Arabic words for the beauty of the language rather than the meaning behind the words. Through these minor details we can see how Sikander incorporates different cultures her painting rather than being this ‘traditional’ artist that many consider her to be.Seeing that Sikander’s artwork consisted of so many traditional figures and symbols, many considered her artwork as that of a traditional Muslim artist who I trying to portray the different between the East and West to her audience. But seeing how she incorporated cultures such as Islamic, Arabic and Hindu in her painting â€Å"Writing the Written†, it seems like she is trying to â€Å"bring together the difference between the East and the East, the nearest difference, the intimacy of difference that can exist within any culture† (Rachel Kent).It took me a while to understand the complexity of her miniature paintings, but in the end I feel that they are as expressive and creative as any other â⠂¬Ëœlarge’ painting because of the addition of intricate details and the incorporation of various cultures. Bibliography Bhabha, Homi. â€Å"ESSAY: THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY. † SHAHZIA SIKANDER. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. . Rachel Kent, â€Å"Intimate Immensity: Shahzia Sikander’s Multi-Dimensional Art,† Shahzia Sikander, pp. 11-25.

The Exxon Valdez 1989 Oil Spill

This summary will briefly discuss three topics: a) the oil spill, b) the environmental damage and clean up, and c) the insurance coverage settlements. This paper will then focus on the insurance coverage settlements. Afterwards, it will provide an analysis on the effectiveness of the dispute resolution process. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989 was one of the largest manmade environmental disasters (Rodgers et al, 2005, p. 136). It occurred in U. S. waters at Prince William Sound, Alaska in March 1989 (Rodgers et al, 2005, p. 136).The oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, struck a reef and discharged an estimated 10. 8 million gallons of oil according to Exxon estimates but other sources indicate that it is around 30 million gallons (Rodgers et al, 2005, p. 136). The oil belonged to Exxon Corporation while the tanker belonged to Exxon Shipping, its subsidiary (Holman, Fenwick & Willan, 2004, p. 1). The environmental damage caused by the oil spill and the subsequent clean up of the spill and its contaminants became the subject of numerous litigations (Rodgers et al, 2005).Environmental damage claims and settlements ran into several billion U. S. dollars (Rodgers et al, 2005, p. 149-88). Oil spill clean up expenses likewise ran into several billion U. S. dollars (Holman, Fenwick & Willan, 2004, p. 2). In this regard, due to the huge volume of lawsuits, the complexity of the case or cases, the wide coverage of the disaster, and the disaster’s far-reaching implications among other considerations, Exxon Corporation undertook a wide variety of legal strategies. One of those strategies involved alternative dispute resolution through settlements for insurance coverage disputes.The Exxon insurance coverage disputes are complex (Covington & Burling LLP, 2007). One point of consideration is that Exxon’s primary insurers are reinsured with Lloyd’s London (Holman, Fenwick & Willan, 2004, p. 2). This complicates the disputes since Exxon is an American company while its underwriters are international business entities. Hence, the dispute involved significant activities in many locations: Texas, New York, London, Oslo, Alaska and other places (Covington & Burling LLP, 2007).As such, issues on jurisdiction and applicability of laws whether English law or New York law should be applied made litigations costly and long. Covington & Burling LLP represented Exxon from 1991 to 1997 in â€Å"its hotly contested, multi-forum claims for coverage of losses arising out of the grounding of the Valdez† (Covington & Burling LLP, 2007). In early 1997, these disputes ended after Exxon and the Lloyd’s consortium of international underwriters and various Scandinavian companies settled for $780 million (Treaster, 1996; Covington & Burling LLP, 2007).Covington & Burling LLP (2007) best describes the legal complexity of these disputes, to quote: The Exxon claims arose out of the company's Global Corporate Excess package of policies for 1988-89, which was characterized by high limits and high retentions. Exxon claimed coverage under various sections of the package, including the first-party property section's cover for removal of debris, the marine liability section's cover for cargo-owner pollution losses, and the general liability section's cover for pollution clean-up costs.Meanwhile, the Covington & Burling LLP strategy involved: a) â€Å"a non-binding ADR procedure moderated by a London-based barrister before any litigation commenced;† b) â€Å"a Texas lawsuit filed by Exxon that the underwriters unsuccessfully sought three times to remove and that resulted in a jury verdict for Exxon on one of its three claims;† c) â€Å"an arbitration proceeding in New York;† d) â€Å"a federal declaratory judgment action in New York that the underwriters struggled to keep alive despite a dismissal and multiple trips to the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court on jurisdictional issues;† and finally,e) â€Å"two settlements — one for $300 million before the Texas verdict and one for $480 million while the Texas verdict was on appeal and just before the arbitration hearing was to commence† (2007). Many forms of alternative dispute resolutions or ADR can be made. Balmer (n. d. ) notes that several types of ADR can in fact be customized as can be seen from the Exxon insurance settlements. Some of these customized ADRs can range â€Å"from non-assisted discussions through mediation, neutral fact finders, case exposure such as mini-trials, arbitration both binding and non-binding, and limited issue litigation† (Balmer). Exxon already spent some U. S. $ 2. 5 Billion in damage claims as a result of the oil spill (Rodgers et al, 2005).Without ADR, it would have been unable to recover some $780 million from its insurance coverage (Treaster, 1996) while Exxon’s insurance disputes could have been unnecessarily protracted. For this incident, Exxon employed litigation but was always open to the many forms of alternative dispute resolution. For instance, Exxon used mediation through a non-binding ADR procedure moderated by a London-based barrister before any litigation commenced (Covington & Burling LLP, 2007). Technically, mediation involves a neutral third party who helps in hammering out a resolution (Balmer). In another instance, Exxon employed arbitration proceedings. Balmer describes arbitration as â€Å"getting a neutral party or panel to reach a decision on facts, law or both.† Most importantly, Exxon often used settlements.

Animal Farm in England

Animal Farm in England Today animals celebrate an heroic victory against the odds. They were never expected to be able to outsmart and out muscle the men. Earlier reports had indicated that the farm’s previous owner, Mr Jones, had been forced out of the farm one night after he forgot to feed his animals. To regain ownership of the farm Jones and his fellow neighbours have planned to attack the farm. The catalyst was apparently the claim that Jones and his men had heard rumours that the animals from the farm were bleating â€Å"The only good human being is a dead one†. Reports suggest that Jones was expecting to catch the animals off guard but the animals had other ideas. According to the animals all the men were armed with sticks except for Jones, who had a gun. As the men approached, the animals prepared to go into battle. Once the men were close enough to pose a threat, the animals first line of defence was to attack. Although the men easily fended off the geese and the pigeons this was apparently part of the animals plan to lure the men into thinking the animals would be an easy beat. The animals then launched their second attack which included Snowball their leader, the sheep and the goats. Once again the men were too powerful with their weapons and the animals were forced to retreat back into their yard. Whilst the animals retreated the men started celebrating their efforts, but what they didn’t realise, was that the animals still had further plans up their sleeves. As the men forced the animals further into their yard the three horses, the three cows and the rest of the pigs appeared from the cowshed. The men suddenly found themselves cut off. The animals led by Snowball then charged at the men from all angles creating havoc. First Snowball took down Jones and then blind panic reigned as the other men desperately tried to find a way to escape the yard. According to human sources all the men who were forced to accept defeat escaped, apart from a young stable-lad who was stomped on and reportedly accidentally killed by a horse known as Boxer. It iss said that Snowball had been studying an old Julius Caesar novel, which documented Caesar’s previous campaigns. Undoubtedly this was pivotal to the animal’s success. A funeral was held at Animal Farm for the single sheep which Jones had killed with his gun. During the funeral Snowball emphasized the fact that all the animals had to be ready to die for Animal Farm if need be. The battle has unofficially been named ‘The Battle Of The Cowshed’, as this was where the fight was based. Despite attempting to seek comment from Mr Jones, he was not willing to provide his version of events in relation to the battle. This appears to be an evolving story and we will attempt to keep you informed of further information as it comes to light.

CTV Building Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

CTV Building - Assignment Example The report produced by the Royal Commission had also officially identified the key players after the disaster. This report aims to evaluate the faults on the part of the key players and stakeholders leading to technical deficiencies in the design of the building. Gerald Shirtcliff was the CTV building’s site manager and he was later found to have faked his qualifications and therefore was not up to the mark. The head of the consultation firm, ARCL, Alan Reay was said to be â€Å"ultimately responsible† even though his designer and engineer David Harding was inexperienced in working with multi-storey buildings. This is because Reay had supervised Harding and therefore he was responsible for relying too much on the incompetent engineer. According to Reay, he thought that Harding being a registered engineer was eligible for the task. In reality Harding lacked the necessary experience and was also inexperienced to use the software Etabs with which the seismic testing of the building was done. Moreover, the Christchurch City Council was blamed for having issued a building permit despite the presence of structural weaknesses. The weaknesses were further deepened after the 2010 Christchurch earthquake and the Christchurch City Council had a very brisk assessment of the building. ... The boulders start breaking and falling on the streets and a chaos strikes. People start running here and there in confusion in order to protect themselves from the falling debris. The road starts to crush and bend as it the ground shakes (Wilson, 2012). These are the live moment experiences of Alex, a witness of the massive, life threatening earth quake that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand on 22nd February 2011. The earth quake had a magnitude of 6.3 units on the Richter scale and was extremely savage and disastrous. Figure 1. Tragic Aftermath. This picture shows the damaged building. The Press. (March 26, 2013). Tragic aftermath [Photograph]. Retrieved from The Canterbury Television building was huge and employed a large number of people including doctors, dentists, counselors, journalists, TV crews and the list goes on. The earthquake killed 115 people including international students enrolled in a language school that was also located inside the building. Search and rescu e teams from various countries such as United Kingdom and Japan flew to New Zealand in order to recover the dead bodies that had been buried deep inside the remains (Bryant, 2013). The CTV building had collapsed completely and there was little hope that anyone could have survived beneath it. Three critical factors caused its collapse, as described in a report released after the earthquake. Firstly, there was a violent horizontal ground shake that took place. Secondly, the columns were brittle and lastly, the layout of the structural walls was asymmetrical (International Business Times, 2012). Figure 2. A rescue worker walks through the rubble in central

Beckett's prose Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beckett's prose - Term Paper Example Considering the times, it makes sense that much of Samuel Beckett’s works—his plays, poetry, and novels—focus on the theme of madness. This reaches back very early in Beckett’s career, even in his first novel, Murphy, published in 1938. It explains why many consider Beckett an existentialist, although as Ackerley and Gontarski state, Beckett’s views are far removed from Sartre’s existentialism (501). Much of Beckett’s works, especially his plays written after the war, have existential themes, although it is incorrect to pigeonhole him as an existentialist. It seems that as Beckett progressed in his career, he became both more existential and minimalist. Beckett is often mislabeled as an existentialist because of his connection with Theatre of the Absurd as described by Martin Esslin (n.p.), who coined the phrase and used Beckett and Waiting for Godot as his main examples. Plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre have been strongly influenced by existentialism. Esslin saw them as the fulfillment of the existential thinker Albert Camus’ concept of â€Å"the absurd.† By placing Beckett’s plays within the genre and connecting them with Camus, Beckett was subsequently wrongly closely associated with the existentialists. It cannot be denied, however, that Beckett’s works, even his earlier ones like Murphy, have existential themes. Esslin describes these themes as â€Å"the sense of metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition† and the â€Å"sense of the senselessness of life, of the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose† (n.p.). Beckett’s works, including Murphy, can be placed squarely within this tradition of writing. Murphy is Beckett’s second work of prose, and his first novel. Unlike most of his works, which were composed in French, it was written in his

Sonnet analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sonnet analyze - Essay Example Contrary to popular misconception, it is addressed, not to his lady-love, but to a friend, probably William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke 1. Shakespeare commences his sonnet by comparing the youth with summer, with its’ connotations of warmth and light, but then devotes the first two quatrains to listing the shortcomings of summer. Unlike the even-tempered disposition of his friend, summer is subject to excesses. It is a transient season, which flits away all too soon: the metaphor of the short lease (Line 4). The sun, â€Å"the eye of heaven,† (line 5) either blinds one with a surfeit of light, or vanishes behind overcast skies or the darkness of night. Capitulating to the inexorable march of time, nothing can adhere permanently to the ideal of beauty. In the third quatrain, Shakespeare acclaims the unchanging nature of his friends’ virtues, denoted by â€Å"thy eternal summer† (Line 9). His beauty, being of the mind and not of the body, will always remain wi thin his grasp. In the last two lines of the third quatrain and the concluding couplet, the poet asserts the immutability of his love for the youth, whom he has immortalized â€Å"in eternal lines† (Line 12). As long as the written word exists, his love will live on, beyond the reach of death. The sonnet apotheosizes both the poem and the poets’ Muse, concluding with the poignantly beautiful words: â€Å"So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee.† Coming to Sonnet 130, the first contrast to strike us is the difference between the straightforward paean of praise, which is Sonnet 18, and the light-hearted, satirical tone of Sonnet 130. All the three quatrains apparently mock the physical deficiencies of Shakespeare’s mistress: her eyes are less bright than the sun, coral outdoes her lips in redness, snow outshines her dull breast, her hair is far from the ideal of spun gold, she lacks the pink and white complexion of

Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sustainability - Essay Example The condition of the planet as well as its ecosystems is wholly depended upon the present as well as the past human activity. This is determined by the interplay of three factors namely the economic, political and social (Hak & Et.Al, â€Å"Sustainability Indicators: A Scientific Assessment†). There seems to be substantial debate over the term ‘sustainability’. Some defines it as a contested and complex concept, however for others; it can be defined as the capacity of something that can be continued for a long period of time. Issues Important for Urban Land Use Economic Sustainability The point worth noticing is that none of the economic systems can be sustainable until and unless it ‘accommodates’ the ecosystem in which it depends. The current system that is based on the notion of continuous economic expansion on planet seems to be damaged. Therefore, there is requirement of applying human creativity to the goals which is to use the natural resources in a productive and efficient manner in order to meet their needs. This goal can be considered as being completely dissimilar from ‘exploiting natures’ and the Third World people. ... The most important consideration in regards to the ecological sustainability is that it needs to be pursued for the human as well as for the species which are around 10-12 million on the planet (Sutton, â€Å"Ecological Sustainability†). To make the concept simpler, the term ecological sustainability can be interpreted as any activity that takes place on earth has to generally continue forever. Ecological sustainability can only be achieved if the activity does not destroy any resources through which the activity actually takes place. There isn’t requirement of inventing the sustainable environment from scratch since it can be modeled by the human in order to simulate natural eco-system. It can be revealed that there are key principles which need to be adhered to for achieving the ecological sustainability. The most important point to keep in mind is that there is requirement of changing the habit of using the resources as if they are infinite by the society. Moreover, greenhouse gas emission needs to be minimized to a greater extent and also there is requirement for some kind of new and improved economic ways that would be based upon the clean, glass technology (Carrie & Danielle, â€Å"General†). Social Sustainability The term social sustainability has a wider implication upon the lives and health of the people of the society. It tends to deal with the complex issues, for instance health, equity, social inclusion and livability. If the community is to be sustainable and function properly then in that case the basic needs of its resident have to be met. A good sustainable community is the one that has the ability to maintain and build on its own resources. On the other hand, it

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 3 SLP Essay

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 3 SLP - Essay Example Also included are operational variables of BMI and waist circumference as well as physical activity and use of high energy foods (Pietilainany, Kapro, Rasomen, 2001). The variables that were operationalized were BMI, waist circumference, high energy food intake. They set an average BMI over the years of study per age group as well as waist circumference. The last studies of these groups of children were done when they reached the ages of 22-27 years old. Waist circumferences and high energy food intake were also defined along this continuum of study. One of the validity tests that they had to use here was the statistical conclusion validity and the reason for that is because there are many different variables being used. The most important variable to look at here is the use of twin to measure genetic effects on activity and obesity. All of the genetic backgrounds were traced and these twins did meet all of the criteria for a valid study showing that the statistical results were appropriate given the causal nature of the genetic part of the study (Burns & Grove, 2007). Internal validity is about whether this is real world testing and in this case it certainly is as there are definitely real world issues for twins like any other child as far as developing or not developing obesity. Extraneous validity is important also and these children were allowed to live their normal lives with each of the parameters that might affect them tracked and then checked again over the years. In other words it was not set up that one twin would be sedentary while the other was active leading to one that was obese and one that was not. They lived their usual lives and if one was obese, it was determined by the real lifestyle that child led. Mustelin L, Silventoinen K, Pietalainen K. (2009) Physical activity reduces the influence of genetic effects on BMI

Multicultural Field Experience Observation Reflection Report Personal Statement

Multicultural Field Experience Observation Reflection Report - Personal Statement Example The room also had a kitchen area which had equipment like; a vending machine, a refrigerator, a microwave, a sink, a countertop and a cabinet storage. The room had a playful feel to it through the different games on the site which the children engaged in. Utensils used by the children got washed in the sink, left to dry on the countertop and stored away safely in the cabinet. The vending machine was for soda beverages. The room was painted colorfully with an attractive color shade of yellow, blue and red. The colors provided the room with an exciting and welcoming feel which the children could associate with. Diversity The clientele at the YMCA was richly diverse in terms of religion, race and socioeconomic status. Their clientele got made up of black, white, Hispanic and Asian race. The socioeconomic gap was also wide, ranging from subsistent income to wealthy professionals. From my personal relations with some of the clientele, they ranged from dentists, doctors, business owners, t eachers to students. From the supervisor, it became clear to me that they had no clue what religious backgrounds their clientele got comprised of. They did not care or mind what religious affiliation they belonged to. The immense differences in race, religion, and socioeconomic backgrounds proved the sheer diversity present at the YMCA. Age level of students I observed children aged 5-12 years. This age group became mainly made up of elementary school going children comprising of both boys and girls. It provided the base for the majority of my observation group focus. The children were present in the observation room most of the time. Number of students The number of students I observed differed tremendously since I did not conduct the observation at once. I divided the number of hours of observation to two different days which were a Monday and two different Fridays. I conducted both these observation hours in the month of February. I observed the children on a Monday from 4:30 to7 :00pm. On the two Fridays, I observed them from 4:30 to 8:00pm. Time division during my observation hours led to the number of students, their gender, ages, and ethnicity substantially differing. This was so because I did not conduct the observation at one time. The children’s parents dropped off their kids in the room while they went to work out in the YMCA health facility. This proved another obstacle in determining the number of children in the room since the parents arrived at different hours. Population description The number of children I worked with at any time ranged from 5 to 16 children. During the observation, I would work with a minimum of 5 children at the center although the number could rise to 16 children depending on the time. The age group of the children ranged from 5-12 years although most of the children fell between 5 to 9 years. The children were of diverse racial backgrounds from blacks, whites, Hispanic and Asian origin. The children’s gender g ot comprised of both boys and girls. Gender was another example of diversification among the students. The girls outnumbered the boys by approximately 15% through my observation. Simply put, for every 1 boy among children aged between 5-9 years, there were 3 girls. The socioeconomic characteristics of the children ranged and varied significantly. I was able to conclude their socioeconomic backgrounds based on tactically questioning of adults working within the program and through my keen

How Does Paid Employment Affect Person's Identity Essay

How Does Paid Employment Affect Person's Identity - Essay Example The personal identity that a person creates about himself affects many aspects of his life. For instance, the way a person perceives himself affects the kind of goals that they set for themselves in life, the manner of achieving them and their view on what goals and visions are feasible (Newman 2011, 60). The way a person constructs their ‘self’ has direct implications on their motivation, self esteem, emotions and their interactions with other people of the society. This then implies that the way a person views himself affects their job performance in the work place. In order to achieve a company’s objectives, the manager should work through his employees. One way of doing this is by promoting their identity through use of motivational factors. This paper focuses on how paid employment affects a person’s identity (Elliot & Dweck 2004, 46). Identity Construction at the Work Place A study has shown that the extent of commitment that employers show to their e mployees is reflected in the employees’ commitment to the job. If the employees are satisfied with the kind of payment they receive from the company, they have no thought of seeking employment elsewhere. As such they are able to identify themselves with the company objectives and goals and easily assimilate the corporate values. Satisfaction of the employee results in job empowerment which affects their commitment to the organization. With the contemporary globalization in business management, the organization is using job redesigning and downsizing. Developments of the identity can be applied where employees who show intent desire to remain in the company and are committed to attainment of its goals are selected. Managers should therefore carry out adequate research on personal and societal identities as they influence the kind motivation that would work on the workers (Knights & Willmott 2007, 99). Paid employment instills continuance commitment in the worker. This is becau se the workers view leaving the company as an expensive move as they would lose the kind of retirement benefits that they have invested in that company. Persons work in an organization in order to satisfy their own personal needs. These needs arise from their own individual goals and also from the requirements of the societies surrounding them as it shapes their identity. Work is a part of a person‘s life which takes a major portion of his lifetime therefore its effect on identity development cannot be ignore. They spend most of their adult life in the work place. The interactions and the relationships therefore formed in the work place make up a lot of what a person becomes. It is used as a standard for self definition and meaning of life. People describe themselves and the others based on job context. The career that a person engages in is a portrayal of their own personality. People in different fields describe their work using adjectives that show the worth that they attac h to such jobs. You will find an engineer describing his work in a manner that show that they deal with interesting and adventurous activities. Doctors use words that portray the importance of their work in saving lives. All this shows that individuals get into a career with the motive of forming positive identities (Newman 2011, 35). Pathways through Which a Person Creates Positive Identity in the Work Place Research has shown that a person develops positive identity in the work place through four different pathways. The development of these pathways is influenced by a

Final Paper African Americans Essay Example for Free

Final Paper African Americans Essay Through out history there has been a struggle for African Americans to be accepted in our society. An African American endures many more disadvantages than most white people. The media and other sources have made blacks to look the same and has portrayed them in a certain light that may not be fitting to all blacks. There are many misconceptions that people have of blacks. Many people and organizations have had a part in bringing equality and fighting for equal rights for black people. African Americans have been at a huge disadvantage in America from the beginning. Unlike many other minority groups in America, African Americans in many cases were brought here by force and not by there own will. (000000) The first African Americans came to America in the seventeenth century and were immediately forced to work for Whites. After much turmoil and even a civil war Blacks were finally given there freedom with the Emancipation proclamation signed and ratified in 1863. Even after the proclamation some blacks were still enslaved and freed blacks had little to no opportunity. The struggle continued into the next century as blacks finally received the right to vote with the ratification in of the 15th amendment. The 20th century contained a world filled by a segregated America between whites and blacks through jim crow laws that existed that restricted blacks from interacting with whites. With a history like that it is no wonder that African Americans still have disadvantages in our modern day. America today is known as the country of opportunity. Although there are many opportunities out there it seems that there are more opportunities for some groups more than others. Many companies and corporations still use race as a indicator for hiring employees. In one study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research, people with common black names were less likely to be called back for an interview based on there application alone then black people with common white sounding names. Job applicants with white sounding names needed to send out ten applications to get one call back while applications with common black names needed to send out about fifteen to get one reply. (Francis, www. nber. org/digest.com). The research was done withe resumes of the same qualifications. It is easy to see that Black people are constantly bombarded by inequality in the work force. If there were inequalities just based on names of applicants just imagine the inequality when employers actually see the race of the applicants. Black Americans have been stereotyped for years and continue to be today. The media is one great source of portraying African Americans in certain roles. African Americans are portrayed as criminals, drug dealers and sex offenders in many instances. Many Africans are outraged at how they are portrayed in the media. Protest groups such as the Young African Americans Against Media Stereotypes have done what they can to show there stance on stereotypical media portrayal. Majority of the time you see a young African-American male in the media he is singing, rapping, scoring a touchdown, dunking a basketball or committing a crime( http://www. yaaams. com/) Many stereotypes about black people are incredibly false. Many people still think that black people are only good at certain things like music and sports. This is a very false belief and black people have contributed heavily to all different sorts of fields. Many vital inventions that we use on an everyday bases were invented by black people. The dust mop, pencil sharpener, typewriter, and elevator were all invented by black people. (http://www. black-network. com) Our society would not be what it is if it were not for Garret Morgan, the young Black man who invented the traffic light. http://www. infoplease. com/spot/bhmcensus1. html.