Monday, September 30, 2019

Employee Motivation †A Short Case Study Essay

Rohit Narang joined Apex Computers (Apex) in November after a successful stint at Zen Computers (Zen), where he had worked as an assistant programmer. Rohit felt that Apex offered better career prospects, as it was growing much faster than Zen, which was a relatively small company. Although Rohit had enjoyed working there, he realized that to grow further in his field, he would have to join a bigger company, and preferable one that handled international projects. He was sure he would excel in his position at Apex, just as he had done in his old job at Zen. Rohit joined as a Senior Programmer at Apex, with a handsome pay hike. Apex had international operations and there was more than a slim chance that he would be sent to USA or the UK on a project. Knowing that this would give him a lot of exposure, besides looking good on his resume, Rohit was quite excited about his new job. Rohit joined Aparna Mehta’s five-member team at Apex. He had met Aparna during the orientation sessions, and was looking forward to working under her. His team members seemed warm and friendly, and comfortable with their work. He introduced himself to the team members and got to know more about each of them. Wanting to know more about his boss, he casually asked Dipti, one of the team members, about Aparna. Dipti said, â€Å"Aparna does not interfere with our work. In fact, you could even say that she tries to ignore us as much as she can.† Rohit was surprised by the comment but decided that Aparna was probably leaving them alone to do their work without any guidance, in order to allow them to realize their full potential. At Zen, Rohit had worked under Suresh Reddy and had looked up to him as a guide and mentor – always guiding, but never interfering. Suresh had let Rohit make his own mistakes and learn from them. He had always encouraged individual ideas, and let the team dicover the flaws, if any, through discussion and experience. He rarely held an individual member of his team responsible if the team as a whole failed to deliver – for him the responsibility for any failure was collective. Rohit remembered telling his colleagues at Zen that the ideal boss would be someone who did not interfere with his/her subordinate’s work. Rohit wanted to believe that Aparna too was the non-interfering type. It that was the case, surely her non-interference would only help him t grow. In his first week at work, Rohit found the atmosphere at the office a bit dull. However, he was quite excited. His team had been assigned a new project and was facing a few glitches with the new software. He had thought about the problem till late in the night and had come up with several possible solutions. He could not wait to discuss them with his team and Aparna. He smiled to himself when he thought of how Aparna would react when he told her that he had come up with several possible solutions to the problem. He was sure she would be happy with his having put in so much effort into the project, right from day one. He was daydreaming about all the praise that he was going to get when Aparna walked into the office. Rohit waited for her to go into her cabin, and after five minutes, called her up, asking to see her. She asked him to come in after tem minutes. When he went in, she looked at him blankly and asked, â€Å"Yes?† Not sure whether she had recognized him, Rohit introduced himself. She said, â€Å"Ok, but why did you want to meet me?† Rohit started to tell her about the problems they were having with the software. But before he could even finish, she told him that she was busy with other things, and that she would send an email with the solution to all the members of the team by the end of the day, and that they could then implement it immediately. Rohit was somewhat taken aback. However, ever the optimist, he thought that she had perhaps already discussed the matter with the team. Rohit came out of Aparna’s cabin and went straight to where his team members sat. he thought it would still be nice to bounce ideas off them and also to see what solutions others might come up with. He told them of all the solutions he  had in mind. He waited for the others to come up with their suggestions but not one of them spoke up. He was surprised, and asked them point-blank why they were so disinterested.  Sanjay, one of the team members, said, â€Å"What is the point in our discussing these things? Aparna is not going to have time to listen to us on discuss anything. She will just give us the solution she thinks is best, and we will just do what she tells us to do; why waste everyone’s time?† Rohit felt his heart sink. Was this the way things worked over here? However, he refused to lose heart and thought that maybe, he could change things a little.  But as the days went by, Rohit realized that Aparna was the complete opposite of his old boss. While she was efficient at what she did and extremely intelligent, she had neither the time nor the inclination to groom her subordinates. Her solutions to problem were always correct, but she was not willing to discuss or debate the merits of any other ideas that her team might have. She did not hold the team down to their deadlines not did she ever interfere. In fact, she rarely said anything at all! If work did not get finished on time, she would just blame her team, and totally disassociate herself from them. Time and again, Rohit found himself thinking of Sureshm his old boss, and of how he had been such a positive influence. Aparan, on the other hand, even without actively doing anything, had managed to significantly lower his motivation levels. Rohit gradually began to lose interest in his work – it had become too mechanical for his taste. He didn’t really need to think; his boss had all the answers.  He was learning nothing new, and he felt his career was going nowhere. As he became more and more discouraged, his performance suffered. From being someone with immense promise and potential Rohit was now in danger of becoming just another mediocre techie. Questions for Discussion 1.  What, according to you, were the reasons for Rohit’s  disillusionment? Answer the question using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. 2.  What should Rohit do to resolve his situation? What can a team leader do to ensure high levels of motivation among his/her team members?

Sunday, September 29, 2019

A clockwork orange: Futuristic fantasy Essay

A Clockwork Orange is a book with a moral. More than that, it is a warning: a caution to the 1960s society of which Burgess was a part. His predictions of the world to come are bloody and his depictions of militant regimes and totalitarian states are fantastic and profound. But they are not so far from the truth as one would think†¦ Burgess formed his picture of Alex’s world in the world he saw around him in the 1960s. This is most notable in the language that is used. It is absolutely full of Russian words: â€Å"horrorshow†, â€Å"krovvy†, â€Å"ptitsa†, and â€Å"tolchock†. This is of course a reference to the Soviet regime, which ruled over the USSR with an iron fist. At the time the Cold War was in full force, animosity was high and Soviet communism posed a real threat to the western democracies. But it is possible that Burgess was depicting the future world as well as his own. He is suggesting that if his own society were to carry on the way it was in his time, then it could possibly end up being as strict and oppressive as the Soviet regime. It is even a possibility that Burgess believed that the western countries, including his own country, the UK, would fall under the rule of communism and become Soviet states themselves. If this is true, then it suggests to me an admiration for the Soviet regime, not a dislike: he considered that the Soviets were so strong and organised, that western occupation was an actual possibility. But if this happened, Burgess believed it would be the end of the world as he knew it. Throughout the novel he makes subtle references to certain things he believed would not last under state control: art and literature. Alex himself says that â€Å"newspapers [were] not being read much†. Later he describes the â€Å"Public Biblio†, or library, â€Å"which not many lewdies used those days†. The boys wear masks later in the first chapter, and these are also significant. â€Å"Peebee† Shelley is seen as a novelty now; an age-old poet from years ago, long dead and long forgotten. Even Elvis Presley is included with Shelley and Henry VIII, suggesting that he too is simply a remnant of an old society. This had even more significance in the time Burgess wrote the novel, since Elvis was alive and famous and very much a part of modern popular culture. To Alex he is a name that means nothing. Even the remnant buildings of Oldtown are strange to him. They are from a time when people had a choice. The fall of literature and art is synonymous with the abolition of freedom. Literature, art and architecture are forms of expression – and in Alex’s world they do not exist, only in fleeting references and novelty masks. There is the boys’ appearance: the so-called â€Å"heighth of fashion† for their day. In many respects it is similar to fashion of the 1960s. The outrageous styles, indicated by the â€Å"old jelly mould†¦ fitting on the crotch under the tights†, funnily shaped into flowers, spiders and a â€Å"clown’s litso†. And there are also the very bright colours – â€Å"purple and green and orange wigs on their gullivers†. Rather unusually the boys also wear make-up. There are two possible explanations for this. The first is the most obvious: the boys want to be different. They are hitting out against organised state-control. The second reason is much more subtle: at the time Burgess wrote the novel, a sexual revolution was taking place; in particular, women were more free to take on the traditionally masculine practices, such as pursuing a career. Clearly, the boys are doing the same thing: adopting a traditionally female practice. It could be that Burgess is making a social statement: he predicts that in the future, the boundaries determining which gender takes on which role will be less definite. Yet it is still only a suggestion; Burgess’s old-style attitude towards the sexes is fairly clear in the book, since every major character is male. It is a strange combination of past and â€Å"future†. But although the boys want to stand out and not conform, they are ironically conforming within their own group. The weird clothes and make-up are components of their uniform, which exist mainly to control people in a militant fashion. They are fighting fire with fire. And if the make-up is an equality statement, then it is ironic also. The boys do not want to be equal to everyone else – they like to be different. And they do not want equal rights – they believe that they have, or should have, more rights, and can therefore defy the law through acts of violence. The message that Burgess is putting across here is ambiguous. Either he could be saying that too much state control will eventually force a violent revolution, and therefore the government should relax, which is probably the most common belief. Or his warning could be the opposite: he is saying that if the government give in and grant extra rights to everybody, then in the future there will be someone, somewhere, who has, or wants, more rights. I prefer to believe the latter theory. Burgess was not for violent revolution of any kind. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening prediction of the world to come if it continues to grant people so much power, and not a warning of how the world will be if state control continued. Eventually all of this freedom would necessitate state control, as it exists in Alex’s time. Burgess was for a certain degree of control – the use of Russian words in his novel, as explained above, is evidence for this. Although few people would agree with me, that is what I believe. Burgess’s novel was indeed written as a warning to those in his time. But despite the frightening depiction of state control, I do not think Burgess was so opposed to it as some people claim. I would only say that the totalitarian regime of Alex’s time is an example of an extreme form of state control that is certainly wrong, but only because of its severity. Burgess’s warning was not aimed at the government; it was aimed at those who dreamt of revolution. Only one thing is certain: the connotations are clear, and A Clockwork Orange is definitely not just a fantasy novel.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Halifax & Bank of Scotland Essay

The UK has one of the most diverse and dynamic banking sectors in the world. Banking is now a highly competitive industry. Financial consumers are now more sophisticated as they are now more aware of available banking options. The assets of the UK banking system were i 3,441bn (August 2001), which were dominated by a dozen or so retail banks, with national networks, mostly serving domestic, personal and corporate customers. Currently, the big four banks – HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, dominate retail and business banking, jointly accounting for 68% of all UK current accounts. Both Halifax, founded in 1853, and 306-year-old Bank of Scotland are seen as business icons in their regions. Halifax is based in England, while the Bank of Scotland has very few branches south of the border. A merger between these firms would increase the geographic scope for potential customers. Halifax started as a building society and is now more widely known as a big mortgage lender. In the wider community, the Halifax Bank has a very active community-banking sector catering for charity and non-profit organizations including housing associations, credit unions and community development operations. In comparison, the Bank of Scotland’s strength lies in the corporate market. It would seem very likely that both firms would like to achieve higher profitability and growth opportunity through cross-selling products to each other’s customers. For example, the products developed by Halifax could be marketed effectively to Bank of Scotland’s customers and vice versa. Because both banks operate complementary activities, it is possible the combining of both firms will result in synergies, which may also result in increased efficiency. There may also be opportunities to achieve savings through cutting some unnecessary costs. For example, the amount of staff needed for the combined firm is likely to be reduced. By merging together, the size of the combined firm will certainly increase, thus leveraging the combined spend to negotiate better deals. The market position of the combined firm will be strengthened. Its market share within the industry will increase, maybe even enough to compete with the big-four banks, thus increasing the competition within the banking industry. In reality, there are wide ranges of techniques that can help analyse a firm’s performance – some firms may base their performance on sales, whereas others through the quality of products. Economists usually analyse a firm’s performance based on the amount of profit it is making. For a thorough analysis, this paper will be looking at the firm’s: market value, profitability, stability, value for shareholders, efficiency, and capital adequacy. It must be noted that firms within the banking sector are subject to many economic uncertainties, which can influence how well a firm is doing from year to year. In this case, these uncertainties include: interest rates, employment rates, as well as the condition of the equity markets. For example, the base rate in January 2000 was 5.75%, however, at January 2002, the base rate was at 4. 00%5. To analyse the performance of the banks before and after the merger, the firms’ financial accounts will be examined and ratios will also be calculated. 6 The main performance indicators that will be analysed include: Profit before tax; Total assets; Dividends and Earnings per share. In addition, the return on equity, cost:income ratio and the firm’s capital strength will be examined. These ratios will give a clear assessment of the firm’s performance compared with that of other firms. Before the merger, in 2000, Halifax and Bank of Scotland had market values of $22,105million and $11,762million respectively. Post-merger, in 2002, HBOS then had a market value in excess of $31billion7. This immediately signifies the success of the merger, as the combined company is worth now worth a lot more in the market. Figure 1 – Profit before tax From an economic point of view, it is important that a firm makes a profit otherwise there would be no point of the existence of the firm. The Profit & Loss account of a firm shows the results of trading over the previous 12 months. It shows the net effect of income less expenses. The reason that profit before tax is analysed rather than profit after tax is due to the fact that interest rates and inflation changes could affect the amount of tax that is paid each year. In 2000, Halifax made i 1,715million profit (before tax), compared with Bank of Scotland, which made i 911million. It would be expected that when both companies have merged together, the pre-tax profit should increase. Figure 1 shows that in 2002, HBOS made a pre-tax profit of i 2,909million, which is more than the separate firms’ pre-tax profit added together. This shows that HBOS are actually performing better than the previously separate firms.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The housing bubble and Indy Mac bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The housing bubble and Indy Mac bank - Essay Example Moreover, many borrowers could not pay the loan back, as the bank did not check the authenticity of the borrower before disbursing the loans. So the bad loans accumulated with the bank. The bank had no such provision to sell the property and pool money because the purchasing power of the buyers in the market had reduced considerably and no one was willing to buy property. This was the situations which like the other bank Indy Mac Bank also faced, which led to its failure. Finally it was acquired by FDIC and Indy Mac became Indy Mac federal Bank. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 INTRODUCTION 4 ANATOMY OF THE FAILURE 6 The Subprime Mortgage crisis 6 Subprime Spill and Indy Mac Bank 7 Initial Signs of Warning 7 THE AFTER EFFECTS OF FAILURE 8 CONCLUSION 9 Work Cited 11 Date: November 19, 2012 To: **************** From: **************** RE: Analysis of the failure of Indy Mac bank with respect to housing bubble of 2008. According to CNN Money, July 13 2008, the fall of the Indy Mac B ank, the most important mortgage lender, was the most expensive collapse in the history. This proved again that crisis still existed. The Indy Mac Bank was acquired by the Federal Regulators. It was said that about 95 percent of the bank deposits were insured. This means about $1billion were not covered under the FDIC cover or guarantee. This could have affected about 10,000 customers of the bank and they could have lost half of their deposits. However, the failure of the IndyMac would charge the Insurance Funds around $4-$8 billion. This was regarded as one of most costly failures ever (Clifford, and Isidore â€Å"The Fall of IndyMac†). INTRODUCTION Bank failures are not new phenomenon. There was just two years from 1934 to 2007, when none of the banks collapsed or failed. During the 1990s when the world economy was going through extreme loan and savings crisis, at an interval of 1.38 days 1 bank failed. However during 2007 crisis this rate slowed down to 2 banks. Around thi rty-two bank collapsed during this time as stated by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). However, in July 2008, Indy Mac Bank, which was the third largest bank in USA, failed. Though during 2007, the bank showed signs of survival by focusing on a growth based business model, and maintaining capitalization level high to face the storm. Indy Mac grew swiftly during the boom of real estate and housing. The customers or buyers were asked for few or no evidences of their earnings and allowed loans to buy property such as houses. Since the house prices were increasing, so when a buyer could not pay back his/ her loan, the bank took possession of the home and found investors for it to pool money. However, when this housing bubble burst, the price of the real estate began to fall and the losses for the bank begin increasing. The loans that were taken became bad and bank had to suffer losses because there were not enough buyers in the market to buy those properties and pool money f or the bank. Indy Mac lost about $184.2 million in its first quarter of 2008 and it was expecting higher loses in their second quarter. The bank also lost about $614 million in 2007 by focusing on Alt-A sector of mortgage. However, finally the bank authorities accepted that it could no longer

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Mockingbirds and Flies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mockingbirds and Flies - Essay Example The Lord of the Flies name comes from the sow's head and the countless flies buzzing about it, which soon move from the sow's head to swarm around the head of Simon as the Lord of the Flies tells him, "I'm a part of you" (Golding 164). In fact, it is a part of all the boys, who are losing their links with civilization and are all turning savage and evil together and forgetting about civilization. Lee's regional novel deals with universal themes of tolerance, courage, compassion, and justice. In it, the songs of innocents - nave and pure as mockingbirds - are forever silenced by the bitter knowledge of corrupt human nature. The title of To Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the mockingbird represents innocence.Like hunters who kill mockingbirds for sport, people kill innocence, or other people who are innocent, without thinking about what they are doing. Atticus stands firm in his defense of innocence and urges his

Sociology Human Services Review 1200words or less - Materials Provided Essay

Sociology Human Services Review 1200words or less - Materials Provided - Essay Example In the business of caring, the first phase – caring about - involves the recognition that there is a need to render care for somebody. Someone who is suffering from AIDS, for example, may be too debilitated in the latter stage of the disease to be able to do things on his own. At this stage, that person will need another to do things that he would have normally done personally like shopping for his basic needs, prepare his food, and do his laundry. The first stage of caring involves the recognition and understanding that the AIDS victim is helpless and needs caring – a stage called caring about that person. The next stage called taking care of involves deciding and assuming the responsibility of taking care of a particular person in need of caring. In the illustration of the AIDS victim, the second stage would involve deciding to take on the responsibility of taking care of the needs of the victim like doing his grocery and shopping, preparing his food and helping him g et on with the his daily basic chores. The third stage or care-giving involves the actual care being given to the person identified as needing care. Thus, the person or group who has decided to assume the responsibility of helping the AIDS victim at this stage now actually and physically renders the necessary help. And the final stage which is care-receiving, involves the recognition and the acceptance of the object of the care of the care being rendered to him (Tronto 1993 pp196-107). Normally, the different caring phases come one after the other and interconnect smoothly. However, there may be instances and cases when these phases conflict with each other. In the care of the aged for example, there are issues which complicate care for the aged although it is understood and accepted that these sector of society really need care. Some of these issues include the participation of the labor force and the maintenance of

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Post-colonial literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Post-colonial literature - Essay Example He grew up in Leeds, England, and read English at Queen's College, Oxford. He is the author of six novels, several books of non-fiction and has written for film, theatre, radio and television. Much of his writing - both fiction and non-fiction - has focused on the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade and its consequences for the African Diaspora. John Maxwell Coetzee, 1940, South African novelist, b. John Michael Coetzee. Educated at the Univ. of Cape Town (M.A. 1963) and the Univ. of Texas (Ph.D. 1969), he taught in the United States and returned home (1983) to become a professor of English literature at Cape Town. He immigrated to Australia in 2002. Several of Coetzee's novels are noted for their eloquent protest against political and social conditions in South Africa, particularly the suffering caused by imperialism, apartheid, and postapartheid violence. His books are also known for their technical virtuosity. Crossing the river has to do with black people fighting for their freedom. It has to do with slavery and the differences between black and white. That is what the book is about of course only the writer creates different situations in each separate story, which makes it more interesting to read, but it also shows the different aspects of 'crossing the river'. In the introduction to the story the so-called 'father' tells the reader about how he sold his three children: Nash, Martha and Travis. (A desperate foolishness. The crops failed. I sold my children.). This statement of the writer has a confusing meaning. Question would arise who is taking Why does someone do such a thing To others it is not acceptable but the explanation of the person delivering this statement can be understood as we go along with this literature. The first story is titled 'The Pagan Coast'. The story is about Nash. Nash Williams is a very loyal slave. His master is Edward Williams and he is a very generous master. Edward Williams, too, is guilt-ridden. At age 29, he inherits his father's estate, including 300 slaves. Concerned to still his conscience, Williams educates them and trains the best and brightest to become missionaries. He also displays an "excess of affection" for his young male slaves, especially to Nash Williams who calls Edward "Father," signing let ters from Liberia, "Your son." (J. Griffin). He made it possible for all his slaves to get an education. There are some slaves who are complaining of for the unfair treatment to them by Williams. This is the reason that most slaves wanted to break free and 'cross the river' is that they were treated so terribly. With Nash it was different. He was treated very well,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Individual Experience of Working at a Prestigious Bank Essay

Individual Experience of Working at a Prestigious Bank - Essay Example I had a partial English education and could converse in English without difficulty. Although she had a thick African accent and a way of speaking, which is, at best called â€Å"cart before the horse,† the unabashed African made herself clearly understood. Other two Asians, coming from different parts of Asia, found it an uphill task to hold an ordinary conversation. But I could see that they were learning fast. People took some time to understand our accented and rather hurried way of speaking and this was, at times, a huge embarrassment. In frustration sometimes, we blamed it on the racism prevalent in the UK, although we knew that we were being unfair. African had an aggressive ‘back home’ accent and was unexpectedly comfortable with it. We had initial problems to understand the original British English, and had always been nervous if someone spoke to us directly. Slowly we started understanding the British way of speaking and that problem was partially left be hind. It is fantastic that we know a common language, even though at varying degrees of fluency. â€Å"For many theorists within mainstream linguistics, the term discourse signifies a turning away from sentences as exemplars of usage in the abstract, that is examples of the way that language is structured as a system, to a concern with language in use.† Brown and Yule (1983, taken from Mills, 1997, p. 9). Discourse across race and regions has many colors and shades. Our discourse that has remained formal even to this day with the British also shows the delicate nature of our relationship. It took only a few days for the rest of us to be informal. With formal conversation, very often one hits a brick wall. â€Å"What I have said is not ‘what I think’ but often what I wonder whether it couldn’t be thought,† said Foucault (1979d. 58) (Taken from Mills, 1997, p. 14). Language and discourse are crucial in cross-cultural  interactions and mostly becomes the sole reason of hindrance in furthering a friendship.  

Monday, September 23, 2019

Developing a Medical and Fitness Standard Essay

Developing a Medical and Fitness Standard - Essay Example As the paper stresses the medical and fitness standards within every department is essential. Its necessity is to monitor and promote safety when working. The job for the firefighters is a physical one and there is need to keep the employs fit. Ways of keeping the employees fit is through physical exercises. Just imagine how it would be if an athlete went to a running competition without trainings and exercises? It would be a mess because the athlete will not be physically fit and will tire quickly and may not finish the race. If the athlete wants to win a race, then rigorous exercises must be incorporated. According to the report findings when responding to a fire, sometimes the fire fighters may be involved in a physical injury. Therefore, after every firefighting response, they should be cross-examined by a medical practitioner to ensure that they are well. Where they have been hurt, medication should begin immediately. The regular check will even motivate the employees to perform well when working because they have peace of mind and their health is being taken care of by the management. When developing the medical and fitness standards, there should be injury programs to check on the overall health of the employees and their wellbeing. Eating habits and diet should be monitored. Health can be determined by the types of foods the officers take. Also, it predicts the physical fitness of an individual. The officers should be flexible and it should be youthful.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Qur`an Essay Example for Free

The Qur`an Essay This website contains selections from the Quran, particularly those sections fundamental to Islam. These sections deal with Allah (God), the worship of Allah, mans purpose in relation to Allah, and the purpose of the revelation to Muhammad.   In addition, this website provides scripture about the Quran, belief and disbelief, the relationship between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and the Islamic view of an afterlife. Given the history of wars between these three faiths, it is interesting to note just how much their scriptures teach similar precepts. Islam views Mohammed (approximately 570 A.D. until 632 A.D.) as the final revelation from God or Allay to people of this world until the world comes to an end. Like Judaism that had been in existence for at least 1500 years and Christianity that had been in existence for more than 500 years, Islam is a monotheistic religion based on a book, the Quran. Each of these religions come from the tradition of Abraham and his descendents. Given the world today and the current animosity between those nations considered Christian and those considered Muslim, there are a surprising number of similarities between the two religions. In addition, given the strong anti-Semitic feeling among the more radical groups of Islam, it is hard to believe that they both come from similar traditions. In the discussion of Muhammads purpose, we read. Thus have we sent amongst you an apostle of yourselves, to recite to you our signs, to purify you and teach you the Book and wisdom, and to teach you what you did not know; remember me (God), then, and I will remember you; thank me, and do not disbelieve. This is remarkably similar to much of the teachings and actions of Jesus who worked against the Pharisees to purify Judaism in Jerusalem in the first century A.D. In the section called God it is interesting to read and note how much of the description is like the book of the Old Testament. Your God is one God; there is no God but He, the merciful, the compassionate of the Quran compares to the ten commandment statement of thy God is a jealous god, Thou shalt have no other god before Me. In the Quran Allah seems more mature. It is claimed that he is the one god, but that he is merciful and compassionate. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God seems less mature, more given to anger and more demanding of those who worship him/her. There is a more alive and celebratory quality to the writings of the Quran. Instead of saying something like God created the heavens and the earth as in the Old Testament, just a simple declarative statement, the Quran provides a different slant, He created the heavens and the earth. May God be exalted above all that which they join with Him! This passion and emotion expressed in the Islamic tradition is greatly different than what is experienced in many Christian Churches today. This is reflected in the behavior of Muslims, who are passionate and open in newscasts today, as opposed to the restrained, remote, detached worshipping that many Christians and Jews do. The Quran and the Bible offer many similar teachings. Sadly, Moslems, Christians and Jews seem determined to emphasis the differences instead of embracing the similarities. Works Cited Hooker, Richard. Islam the Qu-ran. 02 Dec. 2006 http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ ISLAM/QURANSEL.HTM

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Critical Analysis of the Criminal Justice System

Critical Analysis of the Criminal Justice System The purpose of this paper is to discuss the two types of ethics, absolute and relative. Noble cause corruption, challenges faced by administrators, managers and supervisors, unaccepted behaviors in policing, standards of conduct in the courts and ethical situations in corrections. In summary, I will discuss how each of these ethical considerations affects the management of organizational policy and implementation of justice programs. Types of Ethics Character and ethical conduct, for criminal justice personnel, means that they would never betray their oath of office, their public trust, or their badge (Peak, 2010, p.335). Police officers, judges and lawyers have a moral obligation to be honorable and trustworthy. The publics expectations of these personnel ought to not be compromised; they are held at a higher level of morality and should uphold this disposition regardless of the situation. Ethics involves doing what is right or correct and is generally used to refer to how people should behave in a professional capacity (Peak, 2010, p.337) There are two types of ethics police deal with on a daily basis, how they react to these ethical dilemmas determine the level of integrity and or morality of the officer. Absolute ethics is two-sided, good or bad, black or white (Peak, 2010, p.338). For example, if someone stops at a stop sign, this is the right thing to do. Not stopping at the stop sign is the wrong thing to do. A relative ethic is relative depending on the persons perception of the situation such as a person running a red light, was the light yellow as the car approached the light as it turned red or was the light red before the car proceeded. These examples are quite simple to everyday citizens but a police officer making a decision on a relative issue, it is the difference between issuing a citation or not. Communities make exceptions when it comes to relative et hics. Officers may be allowed perform illegal traffic stings to prevent speeders in residential areas or hassle juveniles hanging on street corners late at night to prevent drug trafficking. The prevention of crime and protection of the community justify these unethical behaviors. Noble cause corruption Noble cause corruptions leads to ineffective policing by breaking the rules either intentionally or unintentionally to cover a mistake or a purposeful act against a citizen. This act of carelessness is a detriment to a person who is unaware of how the situation will affect them in the long run, such as an accusation of speeding which could lead to a hefty citation or suspension of a drivers license or the illegal search of a vehicle that produces something incriminating eventually leading to a conviction and jail time for the accused. The mentality that the bad outweighs the good in an effort to make an arrest contributes to a corrupt justice system. During the OJ Simpson trial, Detective Mark Fuhrman discovered bloody gloves and other DNA evidence that could have easily implicated Mr. Simpson in the murders of his ex-wife and friend. Mark Fuhrman, the prosecutors key witness, committed perjury when he testified under oath that he had never used the N word, but the defense revealed a taped interview of Fuhrman bragging about the abuse of gang members and using the N word, casting doubt about his credibility. Although there was substantial evidence in the case, OJ Simpson was later found not guilty (Curtis, 2008, p.22). Challenges faced by Administrators, Managers, and Supervisors Administrators, middle managers and supervisors are faced with the dilemma of ensuring that their officers are not violating the exact laws they are governed to oversee. Some officers deal with day to day issues which supervisors are unaware of or directly involved in. This means if a law is violated, and not reported, the officer gets away with it. If the supervisor is aware the officer has committed a violation, the action should not be pushed under the rug, he or she should not be given a slap on the wrist or worse case scenario; not address the indiscretion at all. Supervisors have various leadership styles and address situations in different ways; their attitude dictates the dynamics of the departments professionalism and behavior (Schafer Martinelli, 2008)p. 306. It could become organizationally accepted and give the impression to other officers that it is okay to break the rules without the fear of consequences and quite possibly lead to corruption within the department, as i n the case of the infamous Rampart division of the LAPD. The Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang program was initiated under the direction of LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates in the late 1970s, the program had encountered some success in the Rampart Division. The success turned to failure when between the years 1998-2000, it was discovered that extreme police misconduct was committed among Ramparts CRASH squad with Officer Rafael Perez at the helm of the investigation making it one of the most widespread cases of documented police misconduct in United States history. Fellow officers were aware of the incident but failed to report any of indiscretions for the fear of retaliation and possibly death. The convicted offenses included unprovoked shootings, unprovoked beatings, planting of evidence, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and covering up evidence of these activities (Cannon, 2000, pp.5-9). Ethics in Policing Accepted and Deviant Lying Slippery slope is the acceptance of unethical or illegal behavior on behalf of the officer. A term that can best be described as riding the fence. Police officers are aware of the ethical responsibilities that come with wearing the uniform and badge. Accepted lying involves the by any means necessary motto, do whatever it takes to get an arrest or conviction. Deviant lying include illegal acts such as planting evidence, withholding evidence, illegal search and seizures and lying under oath. Deception is a behavior committed by officers without forethought. Police interrogations lead to deviant lying by deceiving a suspect with fake evidence or proof of witnesses to a crime they may have not committed. In order to receive a confession, detectives may interrogate a suspect for numerous hours, withholding food or water, and any other form of intimidation (Peak, 2010, pp.340-341). Gratuities A behavior that could lead to corruption is acceptance of gratuities. Some police departmental polices do not allow officers to receive gifts. There is a gray area when it comes to accepting gifts that can range from discounts, free or half priced meals to free donuts because these gifts seem to be insignificant. The model of circumstantial corruptibility proposed by Withrow and Dailey basically states that givers and receivers determine the level of corruptibility, if a gift or free meal is given voluntarily there is no violation of acceptance (Peak, 2010, p.342), however if the freebie is an expectation of the receiver as a form of payment from the proprietors for their safety or protection (Ruiz Bono, 2004, p.49), this action is a violation. Others believe accepting discounts, free meals or other gratuities are not a violation of a particular departments policy but it allows the officer to build confidence and trust within the community. Inevitably the acceptance of insignificant gifts leads to the slippery slope of engaging in bigger issues such as bribery and extortion (Coleman, 2004, p.33). Greed and Temptation Greed and Temptation evolve from the slippery slope brought on by the acceptance of gratuities. A police officer may start with offenses of greed such as recovering small items from the property department that were never claimed or items left behind by suspects fleeing police during foot chases. In my opinion, temptation and greed is not a behavior that transpires from the lack of money, poor working conditions, or intentional deceptiveness but the justification stems from the opinion that seizure of the items are perks that come with wearing the uniform and the absence of the individuals morals and lack of integrity. Once the line has been crossed, the officer may find it hard to revert back from. In some cases, the officer does not recognize succumbing to temptation because it has become second nature. Training, Supervision and Values Prior to a prospective candidates acceptance into the police academy, extensive background checks and assessment tests are used to evaluate their character, judgment and critical thinking skills. After completion of the academy, new recruits are trained by more experienced officers who play the role as mentors. Supervisors are unable to be involved in every aspect of the mentoring process, the hope is that the supervisor is an active participant within his department or division and is aware of the best person to assign with a new recruit. Unfortunately there are more officers than supervisors, hence the need for other officers to function in the capacity of a training and mentor (Peak, 2010, p.345). If the mentoring officer has a corrupt mentality exposing the unethical and negative side of police work, the recruit may have a misconception of the attitudes and expectations of being a police officer with integrity. The corruption could possibly work as an advantage, allowing the new recruit to realize the route not to take and to maintain the core values instilled from the training academy. Ethics in the Courts The Judge The Code of Judicial Conducts purpose is to prevent the judge from being an active participant in actions that will allow him to act in an unprofessional manner questioning his ability to perform his duties and responsibilities without prejudice (Gray, 2005, p.35). Judges are held at a higher standard than any other official within the court system, therefore their loyalty and integrity are expectations from the general public (Peak, 2010, p.347). Unfortunately as in the case of police officers, some judges believe they are above the law, expecting preferential treatment because of their position. The thought of being investigated or convicted of any misconduct would be preposterous in their eyes (Peak, 2010, p.347). Once a judge gets comfortable with the thought of escaping the law, the thought process could easily carry into the courtroom. A federal judge in Texas appointed by President Bush in 1990 was convicted of sexual misconduct of two female court employees and sentenced to 3 years in prison (Casselman, 2009, p.A.4). In 2006, one hundred and thirty five judges were disciplined in a public forum for ethical misconduct; some cases were severe enough to have the judge removed from office. Not all states allow public discipline to preserve the innocent until proven guilty stature on behalf of the judge, if he is proven innocent of the allegation he could face ridicule (Tembeckjian, 2007, p.419). Public confidence in the court system is important, if the public has no confidence in the system, they will not respect it and decide to carry out their own punishment as judge and jury. Lawyers for the Defense Defense lawyers are not held to such a high degree as judges but they must have morals and principles to be able to represent a defendant fairly. A defendant has the right to counsel and should have the confidence in knowing their counsel will treat them in a way in which they themselves would want to be treated, by sacrificing their own personal time, and tapping into resources that would be beneficial in the case against their client. Three attorneys from the state of Kentucky were working as foreclosure attorneys and represented clients referred by a particular foreclosure company, in exchange for their services the law firm grossed more than a quarter of a million dollars. The act of the business being referred by the foreclosure company versus the lawyers seeking the clients on their own was in violation of the Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility (Seidenberg, 2009, p.26). As recently as 2000, defense attorneys in the state of Florida have been the target of Federal Governme nt investigations. The investigations stemmed from the unsuccessful prosecution against drug cartels and kingpins. Several attorneys were charged with victim intimidation and money laundering resulting in convictions and jail time for their involvement in the acquittals of high profile and infamous clients (Carter, 2000, p.18). Prosecutors The prosecutor must be able to prove the defendant is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt but prosecutors have a tendency to be a bit pretentious and break the law for the sake of justice regardless the cost. Unfortunately innocent people are placed in a position of pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit as a result of misconduct. Misconduct by prosecutors is commonplace within the courtrooms, an effective tactic that works in their favor. It consists of destroying, altering or withholding evidence, intimidating defense witnesses to testify in exchange for lesser sentences, coaching witnesses for the prosecution to give statements that help their case against the defendant. Ultimately the defendant does not receive a fair trial and is wrongly convicted. Criminal convictions in recent years have been overturned because of misconduct by prosecutors in regards to scientific and exculpatory evidence. A prosecutor has the moral obligation to maintain a level of competence in the cou rtroom. If he has evidence the defendant did not commit the crime he is being convicted of, the prosecutor should bring for the information (Joy McMunigal, 2008, p.44). Unfortunately the appellate courts allow this type of behavior to continue which gives the prosecutor the freedom to do whatever he feels he can get away with in the courtroom (Peak, 2010, p.348). Other Court Employees Confidential employees have the responsibility to maintain ethical standards as well as attorneys and judges. Their positions within the court system allow them access to court records and they are often privy to information that can lead them to commit misconduct. Court clerks have sometimes been accused of simple offenses as fixing tickets and other favors for friends and relatives to severe cases of accepting bribes. Several other cases involving the unethical actions of employees include a building operations manager in Hennepin County, Minnesota charged with stealing over $16,000 from the state by claiming she worked more than 500 hours, a county jail nurse in the same state was charged with stealing drugs prescribed for inmates (Olson Duchshere, 2009). Ethics in Corrections The role of a Correctional Officer (CO) is to maintain discipline and order within the prison and involves direct contact with inmates on a daily basis. The stress level for a CO includes hostile actions towards the officer, danger, taunts, long working hours and menial pay in an unfulfilled environment (Peak, 2010, p.349). As in a police environment, the supervisor sets the tone for the standards of behavior among the officers and the climate of the correctional facility is predicated on the security level. Inmates housed in a maximum security facility are most likely to challenge an officer without any regard to the repercussions of their actions because they are possibly serving a life sentence; he feels he has nothing to lose. In 1990, data collected by the Department of Justice showed 185 assaults on federal correctional officers, 10,731 correctional facility officers were assaulted by inmates and by 1995, 14 staff members were killed as a result of assaults (Bierman, 2006, p.68 ). Correctional Officers are at a greater risk of injury because of weapons manufactured from everyday items within the prisons. COs have to take great precautions to protect themselves, these precautions include the use of force in an effect to gain control of a deviant inmate. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) established a code of ethics to reduce incidents of the use of force when using restraints or a stun gun to subdue an unruly inmate. The Use of Force and the Application of Restraints on Inmates statement gives specific guidelines as to how and when it should be implemented. Proper written documentation is required for legal purposes and each encounter is recorded to ensure this method was warranted. However, the use of force should be exercised as a last resort once other measures of control are proved to be unsuccessful (Falk, 1995, p.110). The harsh working conditions in prisons can cause correctional officers to inflict physical abuse on inmates violating the Eight Amendment-banning the use of cruel and unusual punishment. The abuse occurs in state and prisons as well as jails. The largest jail in the U.S., Cook County in Illinois, has been on a 25 year investigation from repeated reports of excessive abuse. Excessive abuse is not the only act committed by correctional officers. The issues of overcrowding with the lack of correctional officers allow officers to form a relationship of strong bonds vowing to protect each other, not berate an officer in the presence of inmates, and to trust the officers word over that of an inmate. That bond can be easily broken by officers who report indiscretions by referring to them as snitches. The expectation is that anything that goes on in the prison stays in the prison. Using inmates as a form of entertainment is one of the most degrading experiences for the inmate; provoking fig hts among rival gangs, allowing sexual, verbal, and physical abuse are several complaints reported by other officers. The Rikers Island prison in New York was under investigation for alleged extortion rings within its young adult division. This discovery was based on an inquiry into the death of a juvenile within the facility (Buettner, 2009, p. A.17). Some correctional officers resort to unethical behavior of turning a blind eye as in the case of the highest ranking official at a Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania prison. The officer was found guilty of allowing an inmate to run a drug-trafficking operation by using a cell phone from the confinements of his cell, all of the transactions for the operation took place during the officers night shift. After serving a 60 day suspension for his involvement, the officer was fired (Anonymous, 2009, pp.1-2). Summary Organizational policy is based on a standard of operating procedures determined by a collaboration of ideas, suggestions and processes to improve or implement the outcome of an organizations goals. Organizational structures were implemented within the criminal justice system to increase functionality. Based on this ideology, in order for the components to achieve their goals of becoming and remaining successful in organizational policy as well as implementing justice programs, each entity needs to recognize its pitfalls. Each component needs to establish mission statements and introduce education and training programs at all levels. Allow feedback and ongoing discussions when procedures have proven to be ineffective. The foundation was laid at the inception of the criminal justice system. Over the years, we have made revisions to keep up with our ever-changing society. Laws and prison sentences differ from state to state based on the need for harsher penalties in the prevention of cr ime. The Code of Judicial Conduct was established to introduce judges to judicial ethics within the courtroom and prevent them from being removed from office because of indiscretions. The Amendments were established to ensure citizens rights were not violated. The common denominator is ethics. Policies are unable to be administered if rules and regulations are violated by police, the court systems and corrections.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Fascism Essay -- essays research papers

What is Fascism? Fascism is a 20th century form of nationalistic, militaristic, totalitarian dictatorship that seeks to create a feasible society through strict regimentation of national and individual lives. Total subordination to the service of the state and unquestioning loyalty to its leader would adjust conflicting interests. It is a modern political ideology that looks to regenerate the social, economic, and cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging of ethnic identity. Fascism rejects liberal ideas of freedom and individual rights, it often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures and other elements of democracy. Despite fascism’s idealistic goals, attempts to build fascist societies have led to wars and persecutions that have caused millions of deaths (notably WWII and the Holocaust). As a result, fascism is strongly associated with right-wing fanaticism, racism, totalitarianism and violence. Fascist movements oppose such doctrines as liberalism, individualism, materialism, communism and conservatism. In general, fascists stand against all scientific, economic, religious, academic, cultural and leisure activities that do not serve their vision of a national political life. Fascism emphasised nationalism, but its appeal was international. Fascist political parties and movements capitalised on the intense patriotism that emerged as a response to widespread social and political uncertainty after World War I (1914-1918) and the Russian Revolution of 1917. It flourished between the so called fascist era of 1919 and 1945 in many countries mainly Italy, Germany, Spain and Japan. Even such liberal democracies as France and England had important fascist movements. Scholars disagree over how to define the basic elements of fascism, some even insist it was limited to Italy under Mussolini. When the term is capitalised as Fascism, it refers to the Italian movement. Beginning in the 1970’s, some scholars began to develop a broad definition of fascism and by the 1990’s many had embraced the new approach. This new approach emphasises the way in which fascist movements attempt revolutionary change and their central focus on popularising myths of ethnic or national renewal. Seen from this prospective, all forms of fascism have three common features: anticonservatism, a myth of national or ethnic renewal and ... ...vation less acutely than others.† All political parties except the fascists, were banned and trade unions were almost made illegal. Instead workers and employers were made to join â€Å"Corporations†, which were meant to sort out the differences between them. Newspapers and books were censored and all education was controlled. 1922 was renamed Year One and all school books were rewritten. Boys were expected to become good soldiers and all students were encouraged to join organisations which taught them how to be better fascists. Mussolini began a series of schemes to improve the Italian economy, he called these the â€Å"Battles.† He tried to make Italy self sufficient in food, farmers were encouraged to grow more wheat ( the Battle for Grain). Families were encouraged to have more children, the Battle for Births and land for agriculture was reclaimed, the Battle for Land. Women were discouraged from working horse riding and wearing trousers Instead they were encouraged to stay at home and have as many children as possible. In 1940 Mussolini reviewed a parade of 180 married couples who had produced 1544, the mothers were given gold medals for their service to the nation.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Central Themes in The Graduate Essay -- Papers Film Movie Essays

Central Themes in The Graduate The themes of loneliness, isolation and entrapment are central to the narrative of the 1967 film The Graduate. Throughout the film, many devices are used in order to communicate this to the audience. This list of devices includes the use of water and glass for example, which is seen in many scenes and emphasizes the isolation and entrapment of the not particularly remarkable but worthy kid who drowns amongst many objects and things throughout this film. The first scene we are going to look at is the party at the beginning of the film; I find this a perfect example to look at Ben’s reactions and his need or desire to be alone all the time, he doesn’t like to be around that many people for too much time, or in fact no time at all. There’s a part at the beginning of this scene when we see Ben sitting alone with the lights off, but we don’t realize they’re off until his father comes in and switches them on, interrupting the silence and making Ben uncomfortable since he obviously wants to be alone. Then there are a few shots where we can get a glimpse of the fish tank, but more importantly, we see the scooba diver inside it. When you come to think of it, the scooba diver is always there, in the middle of the depth of the water inside the fishtank, having water and glass putting him into total isolation, trapped but always exhibited, looked at, he is subject to people’s examination. This whole thing may signify Ben’s both loneliness and entrapment apart from isolation that we already mentioned. Close-ups on Ben’s face and his gestures suggest drastically that he wants to be left alone, but his parents insist... ...normous glass which separates the bottom part of the church from the upper floor, where the choir usually is. How often is this seen in a church? Practically never. It’s also very ironic how Ben uses the Christian cross to keep the distance between him and Elaine and the rest of the people, and also how he uses it to lock them inside the church to buy them time to run away. Now it’s all the people who are locked behind glass, which doesn’t change much since Ben (and also Elaine now) is still as isolated as before. All throughout the film we see constant use of conventional codes which reflect many different things which most times have a subconscious effect on the audience. All these devices added up together have a very strong effect, clearly emphasizing all throughout the piece loneliness, isolation and entrapment.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Unprincipled Family :: essays research papers

The Unprincipled Family Fredrick Per8 Interrelated arts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The dangerous relationship of Claudius, the king, and Hamlet, the king’s nephew and stepson, contain two elements that are pervasive enough to categorize it as such. Treachery and paranoia are those traits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Treachery is one of the basic unprinciples of the relationship, as is shown in the scene of the fencing match and the planning that goes around it. In a scene that relates to the planning of the match itself, the king and Laertes, a man whose family is dead because of Hamlet, have plotted the death of Hamlet through various things. All of which are to happen to Hamlet in the course of the match: King.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦And wager on your heads. He, being remiss, Most generous, and free from all contriving, Will not peruse the foils, so that with ease, Or with a little shuffling, you may choose A sword unbated, and, in a pass of practice, Requite him for your father. Laertes.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I will do’t And for that purpose I’ll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood, no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death That is but scratched withal. I’ll tough my point With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, It may be death.†(IV, vii, 134-148) So in fact, within this quote there are two foul plans, the use of an ‘unbated ’ foil, which is more than technically cheating in a fencing match, but then, adding insult, the use of a poison tipped foil. With the use of ‘contagion’ and the ‘unbated’ foil, Claudius and Laertes are making sure that they win. This is still not enough for them, however they move on to another backup scheme to win: a poisoned chalice: King.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦When in your motion you are hot and dry- As make your bouts more violent to that end- And that he calls for a drink, I’ll have prepared him A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, Our purpose may hold there. -†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (IV, vii, 157-162)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Claudius introduces a poisoned chalice, which, as the third option, or in better terms, the third method is used to kill Hamlet. After being stabbed by Hamlet, Laertes, in his final breaths pronounces the treachery of the king: Laertes.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, Unbated and envenomed. The foul practice Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie, Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poisoned I can do no more. The King, the King’s to blame.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Genetically Modified Food Essay

Genetically modified (GM) foods are ethically unacceptable. GM foods are food product derived in whole or part from a genetically modified organism by human intention. It is a special set of technologies that concerns the alteration, deletion, or addition of the genetic makeup of living organisms such as animals, plants, or bacteria. This is an important issue because GM foods have been dubbed as the â€Å"Food of the Future† and although studies have shown that genetically modified foods may bring about many benefits to mankind, we must also look into the ethical issues involved in producing such food before we even consider accepting it as the way of the future. First, we must understand that the word â€Å"ethical† is defined as having to do with ethics or morality; or of conforming to moral standards. There will be 3 parts to this essay. Firstly, I will be presenting and defending 2 arguments that support my stand. Following that, I’ll take into consideration some common objections against my thesis. Lastly, I will summarize the main points in this essay before drawing to a conclusion. The essay’s argument takes the form of Modus Ponens: If GM is X, GM is unethical GM is X > GM is unethical My main argument is that it is unethical to tamper with nature by mixing genes among the different species. By doing so, it may actually lead to a violation of natural organisms’ intrinsic values. There is a very delicate balance that links this world together and this is the balance that makes things work. GM foods might actually give rise to more complications such as the disturbance of nature’s food pyramid. For example, the pesticide produced in the crop may unintentionally harm other creatures while producing a benefit to others. The introduction of pest-resistant genes into crops could lead to the death of the pests and other animals causing an imbalance in the food chain that could possibly lead to the extinction of some species especially if they are only localized in one particular area. In Britain, a native farm bird, the Skylark, was indirectly affected by the introduction of GM sugar beets that were designed to resist herbicides. The result in planting this crop was that weeds were reduced substantially. However, since the birds rely on the seeds of this weed in autumn and winter, researchers expect that up to 80% of the Skylark population would have to find other means of finding food. Another issue brought up is that GM crops may also pose a health risk to native animals that eat the plants and may be poisoned by the built-in pesticides. Although others might also argue that the cutting down of trees to construct buildings might also be a way of tampering with nature, GM food not just tampers with physical nature but with the foundation of nature – genes. Every organism, no matter how small, is made up of genes. These genes control the physical development and behavior of the organism and are passed down from parent to offspring. The word â€Å"genes† (comes from the Greek word â€Å"genos† meaning â€Å"origin†) actually defines nature’s origin and the production of GM food would mean to change the origin of nature. Furthermore, religious communities – Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims Ââ€" also share such concerns regarding GM products. According to Bishop Jeff Davies from the SA Council of Churches, â€Å"With genetic engineering, we are tampering with the structures of life that have taken millions of years to evolve and we have the arrogance to think that we can improve on them in 10 years†¦ to transfer a gene from one species into another.† Different religious communities have different believes and one of them would be their food such as kosher and halal food. But with the introduction of animal genes into plants how will they define a tomato with a fish gene? This will also be a major concern to vegetarians. All in all, I believe that people should be happy with what nature has to give and not â€Å"play God† and try to control nature. It is unethical to sacrifice other creatures and meddle with the delicate balance of nature. Furthermore, there will be potential chain reactions that may be unstoppable. One other argument is how GM products can affect our health especially in the long run. The unpredictable changes in our food could lead to negative reactions that are not detected by research techniques until much later. A quick acceptance of GE foods without proper testing could show corporate profitability to be very influential but that would be too dangerous because there has been no adequate safety testing to ensure that using other organism’s genes is going to have the same useful effects if inserted into a totally unrelated species. Furthermore, testing has only been done on a small scale currently and it’s hard to predict what will happen when it’s used on a wider ecology. In 1989, dozens of Americans died and several thousands were afflicted and impaired by a genetically altered version of the food supplement L-tryptophan. Studies have been done to show how viruses can mix with genes of other viruses to give rise to more deadly viruses. To mass market the use of GM food when it has not been properly tested for safety issues would mean that businesses are gaining at the expense of consumer’s health and is therefore ethically unacceptable. On the other hand, some organizations insist that GM technology is the solution to solving the problem of world hunger. However, I feel that it is simply a ploy of corporations and countries that are using the plight of the developing world as a marketing strategy to gain acceptance of GE foods. GM technology is not an economical method that can be easily implemented by most countries. In fact, genetic engineering techniques are currently being applied to crops important to the industrialized world and not on crops which the world’s hungry depend on. GM foods could actually reduce developed countries’ reliance on crops from developing countries, resulting in loss of trade and severe economic damage for them and intensifying their problem of poverty. This would mean that there’s a conflict of interest. Furthermore, an important factor that Friends of the Earth has pointed out is that â€Å"many people in the world are suffering from malnutrition and hunger because they cannot afford to buy food, not because it is unavailable.† Therefore, even with GM food, people would still not be able to afford it or have it distributed appropriately. Most of the causes of hunger are found in global politics, rather than issues of agriculture and technology. As a result, a variety of groups and people are questioning the motives behind GM foods as the political causes of hunger appear to be ignored. An article from Food First observed that â€Å"most innovations in agricultural biotechnology have been profit-driven rather than need-driven† and it questions whether GE technology can really ensure food security, protect the environment and reduce poverty in the developing world or is it produced simply because it’s patentable and thus, profitable to businesses. In some cases, as reported by The Institute for Science, pesticide usage is actually increasing, and GE crop actually yield less than conventional crops. In this essay, I have come up with several valid reasons why Genetically Modified Foods are ethically unacceptable. GM foods tamper with the origin of nature which is the genes and there is inadequate safety testing to prove that GM food is safe for human consumption. Therefore, businesses are mass marketing GM food at the expense of consumer’s health and proclaiming that GM Food is the solution to world hunger when it might not be true. Although there might be potential and benefits in GE technology, there are still many unknown areas that might prove to be more harmful then beneficial. Furthermore, there are still too many important ethical issues that have been ignored and that reason by itself makes it ethically unacceptable.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Smoking Speech

Hi, the topic that I have chosen for my speech is â€Å"that smoking causes death† well that’s a pretty boring topic right . I’m going to be talking about the main effects, how many people die each year things like that. So do you want to die before reaching the age of 30? 1. Smoking has a massive effect on health; smoking causes around 5000 deaths in New Zealand each year. 1. 3 billion people smoke around the world. Smoking causes 1 in 4 cancer deaths in New Zealand including cancers in the lung, mouth and throat which is where the smokes goes.When you breathe smoke, the smoke goes into your lungs and stars putting black tar into your lungs. This means it is harder to breath and your heart has to pump harder to get the oxygen around your body. That is bad for your heart. 2. Smoking is so dangerous why don't people stop? Stopping is more difficult than starting. Nicotine is addictive this means that the nicotine in the cigarettes makes you want more and more and you can't stop you keep wanting cigarettes. So you keep on buying more smokes and waste a lot of money.Even people who don't smoke may be killed by other people's smoking. Around 350 New Zealanders are killed each year because of second hand smoking. 3. Everyday in Britain about 450 children start smoking, 1 in 4 who turn into regular smokers by the age of 15. Would you want your child to become addicted to smoking? Cigarettes smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals and 69 are known to cause cancer. Why is smoking so harmful? 1. Nicotine: is a highly addictive drug, which stimulates the nervous system. 2.Tar: is a Sticky substance contains many toxic chemicals and causes cancer. The number of smoke related deaths is also equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing everyday of the year! That is about 330 people each day, 120 thousand people every year. In 1994 over 1154 million cigarettes were smoked by 11 to 15 year olds. 30% of all cancer deaths are because of smoking. In conclusion I think tha t smoking does cause death and I hope you agreed with me. So be wise and don’t chose to walk the smokers path, thank you for listening and hoped you enjoyed my speech.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

How Are Syariah Laws Being Currently Applied in Malaysia Essay

Islam had been established in Malaya by the 14th century. Malacca, one of the Malay States in Malaya, emerged as a Muslim Kingdom under Sultan Iskandar Syah and his successors. By the early 15th century, it had become a power of great importance in South East Asia. This brought an end to the political control and cultural influence of the Hindu and Buddhist powers over the Malay Peninsula. This brought an end to the political control and cultural influence of the Hindu and Buddhist powers over the Malay Peninsula. Malay society and its laws were influences by thought and ideas from various Muslim countries. This because Islam itself came to this region from different countries, namely the Arab countries, India and even China. The law used in Malacca was Muslim law together with Malay customary law. Malay customary law may also referred as to as Adat Melayu. In 1511, Malacca was conquered by the Portuguese. However, it’s difficult to provide a satisfactory account of the legal development during that period. Although Malay customary law was preserved under Portuguese rule and later by the Dutch, during their conquest of Malacca in 1641, it was ultimately replaced by English law during the British colonization of Malaya beginning from 1786. Evidences and traces of Islamic legal thought and institutions are present in Malay law. Terminology and ideas from the Islamic legal system found their way into the numerous treatises on traditional Malay law. They are found in the Melaka Digest (Undang-undang Melaka or Risalah Hukum Kanun of 1523) and the Pahang Digest of 1596 with a later supplement, and in the Kedah Digest dated 1606 containing port rules. Further evidence is found in the 18th century, 99 Laws of Perak and in the Johor Digest of 1789. Finally the orthodox Muslim works of the Shafiee School of Islamic Law, such as the treatises on the law of marriage, divorce and legitimacy of children were translated in Malay. The Majalah al-Ahkam al- Adliyyah (The Mejelle), a set of Muslim civil laws of the Ottoman Empire, was also translated into Malay and recognized as the law to be followed by the Johor courts in 1914. Islamic law, being an imported law, evolved through a period of 6 centuries of development. Its impact on the country’s legal system was far reaching, even until the early part of the present century. This is well illustrated in the case of Laton v Ramah, where the Court of Appeal held that Islamic law in Peninsular Malaya was not foreign law but local law, the law of the land which every court must take judicial notice. But during the post British colonial period, Islamic law has been reduced in importance and its significance has further declined after the independence. The ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution, Legislature Lists (List II- State List) states: ‘The Islamic Law is under state authority. Each state enacts its own enactment with jurisdiction over it. Every state has its own Council of Islamic Religion and Malay Custom and the Kadis Courts. These courts have limited jurisdiction on persons professing the Islamic religion, and only included in this list, but shall not have jurisdiction in respect of offences except insofar as centred by Federal Law’. The Muslim Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction ) Act 1965 [No. 23 of 1965] provides that the jurisdiction of the Shariah Courts : ‘ Shall not be exercised in respect of any offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding 6 month or with any fine exceeding one thousand dollars or with both’. It’s been a questioned among the people about the application of Hudud law in Malaysia since there are different types of religious and beliefs the nations uphold. Many people agreed with the implementation whereas some disagreed with the issue. Basically, Hudud is the most severe and strict Islamic law for resorting to punish those offenders through physical means. The provisions of the Hudud law cause Malays feared the law and they are not ready for the implementation of Hudud laws as there are lack of understanding on the need of a proper model on the Islamic criminal law. According to Professor Dr. Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid of IIUM, he said ‘If we do not politicize it, we Malays are definitely ready to implement hudud in Malaysia, but if we were look at Hudud as a political issue, then it becomes a problem’, He also stated that criminal laws should be imposed on all citizens because Islam does not discriminate on whether you are a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Besides, PAS had decided that it will seek constitutional amendment in the Parliament to apply the Hudud law once the Pakatan take over the federal administration. According to our Former President, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, had stated his dissatisfaction on the implementation of Hudud laws in Malaysia which will create an injustice judiciary system. For an instance, a Muslim who committed an offence will be punished according to Hudud law, which is a severe punishment whereas the non-Muslims who committed the same offence will be punished according to civil law which is much lineal. He also commented that there is nothing mentions in the Quran about the severe punishments and he urged Muslims to follow the primary sources of Islam, Quran instead of the Sunnah or Hadith which are basically those interpretations of the Quran. Furthermore, Nibong Tebal MP, Tan Tee Beng said Kita president, Zaid Ibrahim confessed that non-Muslims can be punished under the Hudud criminal code enactments. He added that Shari’ah laws that being practiced in Malaysia are based on civil and family legislation, which governs individual Muslim matters. The issue is controversy as Hudud law can be applied if the Federal Constitution amended which requires majority votes from the members of Parliament. Based on UMNO Minister, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom view, he stated that Hudud Law will never give any impact on Non-Muslims. The government is alert that there are distinctions of views and thoughts on this issue among Islamic scholars and jurists and a research need to be done before the Hudud law implemented in Malaysia, so that the penal code is fair to all, complies with Allah’s conditions and is in accord with the Malaysia legal system. He also added that if Hudud law is to be applied in Malaysia, the Syari’ah Court would only have jurisdiction over those who practice Islam in accord with the Federal Constitution, the Supreme law of the Federation. Though the issue on the application of Hudud law in Malaysia is indecisive stage, the application of Shari’ah law does not lose its position. The Islamic law that is in force in Malaysia totally is not genuine Islamic law but may have been influenced by written laws judicial decisions and customary law. For an instance, the written laws, especially, those enacted before independence, may reject Islamic law. Thus in Ainan v Syed Abu Bakar, it was held that the legitimacy of a child should be determined by the Evidence Enactment (F. M. S. ) and not accordance with Islamic law.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

ABC Inc. Case Study Analysis Essay

Executive Summary ABC Inc. hired 15 new employees with the intention of starting the orientation on June 15. Carl has only six months experience and has made several critical errors. This may have been created due to lack of qualifications, training, or overstating of qualification on Carl’s resume. Due to this, certain tasks were not addressed in a timely manner. Four problems are readily apparent; employee applications are incomplete or missing documentation, lack of training manuals, no drug screenings have been administered, and the training room intended for the orientation is book for the entire month of June. See more: Homeless satire essay Introduction Carl Robins, a newly hired campus recruiter for ABC, Inc, hired 15 new employees within his first six months on the job. These newly hired employees will be working for Monica Carrolls, the Operations Supervisor. The new employees require an orientation on company policy, manuals to learn such policies, physicals, and drug screening. Carl is behind on preparation for the orientation and has not completed the required processing for the new employees. Some of the new hires do not have completed applications or their transcripts on file, and none of them had the required drug screening. The orientation manuals were also missing pages and Carl could only locate a total of three. Carl also discovered the training room he was going to use for the orientation is booked for the entire month of June for software training. Now he needs to find somewhere else to hold the training sessions. Once all these tasks are completed, Carl needs to reassure his colleagues that future orientation for new hires will run smoother. He can do this by being more proactive, planning, analyzing his errors, and improving on the  identified weak areas. (University of Phoenix, 2006) Background Carl had sufficient time to complete all tasks required to prepare for the orientation, but exhibited poor planning, execution, and follow-through of his duties, which would appear he is either not qualified or trained properly to do his job effectively. The goal is to have new hires trained in time to start work in July. Carl is new at the job himself, and this is his first recruitment effort. This, however, is no excuse for not being prepared for the task at hand, especially knowing the importance for the company and making a good impression on the new hires. The main concern is that there are many problems and not much time to complete them. Carl will need to evaluate, prioritize, and find solutions to each issue quickly. Carl has many obstacles to overcome, but the July deadline is still a reachable goal. Key Problems Carl’s performance, leading to his failure, began when he did not think ahead in his process for new hires and the requirements of himself and the new employees for the company. Before Carl started recruiting these individuals he did not have a plan in place for after he met his goal of recruiting 15 new people for the company. His only focus and concern was getting the new hires in the door, and the rest was an afterthought. Some of the things he should have thought about were â€Å"What happens next after the recruits are hired?† Problem 1 – He did not take in consideration all of the elements involved with the hiring and training of the new hires; like making sure all documents were up-to-date prior to hiring. A company should not hire new employees without all required documents. If a company requires a complete application and transcripts upon the interview process, and this is not provided, the applicant should not be considered for hire or given the chance to complete prior to entering the hiring process. Proposed Solution – Ensure all documentation is complete prior to hiring. This will ensure all records are up-to-date before entering the training process. Therefore, leaving time to focus on scheduling the drug screening and reserving the training room. Problem 2 – Incomplete and not enough manuals required for training the new hires. Carl did not check the inventory of manuals needed for training prior to the hiring process. Proposed Solution – Once a hiring  goal is set Carl should have checked all manuals. If there were not enough needed and incomplete manuals, more should have been ordered/made prior to or once the interviews commenced. It is better to be prepared for the unexpected than not prepared for the expected. Problem 3 – Scheduling the required physical and drug screening. If any of the 15 new hires fail their screening then the company will not have the amount needed for July, thus requiring Carl to continue his hiring efforts putting him behind schedule even more. Proposed Solution – Each new hire should have been scheduled for their individual physical and drug screening immediately. Notify the new hire of their appointment time. Once the results come back, review, and if approved, notify the individual and add to their record. If not approved, notify the individual and continue the interview efforts to find qualified individuals. If this is done properly the chances of not meeting the July deadline would be minimal. Problem 4 – Not reserving training room for new hires orientation. He was not proactive in ensuring the training room was reserved. As it turned out, the room he intended on using was already booked for the rest of the month. Proposed Solution – Knowing the deadline for new hires to enter orientation, Carl should have immediately scheduled the training room. If the training room was already booked a possible alternative would be another conference room at the facility or renting a nearby hotel conference room. To avoid this issue in the future Carl should schedule the training room once the commence date is communicated to him or he needs to request this info from his supervisor immediately. Alternatives Numerous solutions exist in correcting the challenges in the time available. The case study states the Carl is required to have all new hires working by July with a hire date of June 15. Carl must contact Monica Carrols, the operations supervisor, to get a solid deadline for the new hires. Seeing that Carl completed the hiring of 15 new employees in early April, he had ample amount of time. He had anytime in July, up to and including the last day, to have the new hires ready for work. Carl will also need to contact all new hires, inform them of their incomplete application, missing transcripts, and drug screening appointments. Alternatively, Carl could contact the HR department for application review and follow-up actions. Ensuring each applicant understands the deadlines with a built in backup due  date for unexpected problems. Carl should also make HR aware of the deadlines prior to them contacting the new hires. The three training manuals on hand were incomplete and he was also short by 12. Carl needs to make arrangements with either an in-house reproduction center or outsource this task with an extra manual for Carl as an instructors copy. Carl appears to be deficient in his working knowledge pertaining to the company policies, procedures, and formal norms, which means he must become intimately familiar with the material in the orientation manual prior to training. Further, Carl needs to coordinate for training space. This challenge is effortlessly completed by checking for available conference rooms within his company or renting convention or conference room space close to the corporate location. Additionally, corporate management need to design a system for checking and reserving training/conference rooms, web based, or paper based with a point of contact to coordinate scheduling. An additional option could be to create a permanent schedule for new employee orientation training, thus ensuring proper resources are allocated appropriately. Moreover, root cause analysis from company standpoint will need investigation and corrective measures enacted; whether the problems stem from management, employee screening of qualif ications, training, and revision of policies as well as any combination of the previous mentioned problems. Recommendations Execute proposed solution with an additional task for corporate managers and supervisors to meet and determine root-cause analysis using the company Process Improvement Program and implement proposed improvements. References University of Phoenix. (2012) Week Two supplement, Case Study for Student Analysis. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from University of Phoenix, Week Two, COMM215 Essential of College Writing. University of Phoenix. (2012) Week Two supplement, Sample Short Report Case Study Format. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from University of Phoenix, Week Two, COMM215 Essential of College Writing.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Leaders in the making of Americas Revolution and Goverment Essay

Leaders in the making of Americas Revolution and Goverment - Essay Example One of the main causes that initiated the revolutionary war was the geographic distance that separated the colonies from Great Britain (Countryman 5). Many colonists migrated from Great Britain to gain independence and to seek their own personal freedoms that the King George III clearly neglected (Countryman 10). The desire to colonize the new world generally meant more liberation and strong urgency of independence. Another root cause the American Revolutionary War was the colonial legislatures that were enacted by the King (Countryman 13). The enactment of these laws meant that that the colonies continued to be pass laws and pay taxes to atone the sins of the Great Britain. Tom Paine’s in his literary work the â€Å"common sense† described King George as a â€Å"royal brute.† King George III can be considered an â€Å"unfit leader† in many aspects. First and foremost is the fact that he used the colonist’s tax money to fund his poor decisions as a King but also to pay for his son’s misfortunes. In essence, he utilized the tax money to fund another of his son’s illegal marriage (Brooks 45). Furthermore, he continued to useless acts such as the sugar and stamp act to fund his useless ventures. George III is often accused of consistently trying to keep Great Britain at war with America, despite the opinion of his cabinet. According to his perspective, the King wanted to "keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse"(â€Å"Boston Tea Party Facts†). King George III clearly had a safety net to protect himself when he was in trouble. In order to fund his financial burdens, the King would impose illogical taxes to the colonists. The colonists saw this as an oppression towards their liberty as their hard work was subjected to pointless tariffs (Brooks 26). Clearly, King George III was no t as noble as he seemed. He refuted to abolish slavery in the colonies and imposed his personal will at every given point (Brooks 22). The King dissolved many of the legislations that the colonies demanded. Undoubtedly, he would not allow new legislations to be enacted, which created an unsecure atmosphere with an unstable government that the colonists could not afford to possess. Lastly, the root cause of American Revolutionary was due to the salutary neglect that the colonists had to face. Salutary Neglect was an accumulation of different policies that the Great Britain implemented during the eighteenth century, which comprised of a relaxed and indifferent enforcement of the Navigation Acts in the colonies (Murray 15). Although the British had a strict policy in mercantilism, the British Prime Minister had no problem enforcing salutary neglect (Murray 15). From the King’s perspective, salutary neglect deemed necessary in order to mitigate the risk of a revolution and mainta ining his power in the throne (Murray 20). In addition, enforcing salutary neglect would no doubt diminish any chance of stimulating the economy of the colonies. As an effect of flaring tensions between the colonies and the new tariffs that were levied by the highness himself, many American leaders began to adopt Liberal and Republican ideals (Murray 55). John Locke, the famous historian, was a key figure who influenced the American leaders to adopt to the â€Å"

Thursday, September 12, 2019

See attachment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

See attachment - Coursework Example If a species dies faster than it reproduces, there will be a great decrease in population size. The fourth factor that affects population size is the availability of food and an appropriate habitat. Food provides the species with energy and ability to reproduce. In the video, there are some factors mentioned above that affect population size. Firstly, the birth rate of the nutria is quite high compared to other species. This is because the female can give birth to three litters in a year and each litter contains roughly six young ones. Another factor that affects population size is immigration. This evident in the fur farms in Canada and United States of America, where populations of nutria have drastically increased. Another factor is the availability of food and the appropriate environment. This allows for the growth of the species. It is my prediction that there will be a decrease and eventual depletion of the nutria population after the land is depleted of the nutrias’ food resource. This is because the nutria will migrate in search of food in other fertile regions. Secondly, the remaining nutria will eventually die of starvation due to a lack of nourishment. Thirdly, the nutria will become pests resorting to scavenging and stealing food from

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Infection control enabling and assessing teaching Essay

Infection control enabling and assessing teaching - Essay Example Therefore, educational knowledge or nursing knowledge is integrated practical knowledge (Stake, R., 1977, p. 121-124). Life-long Learning: Life-long education is not a new concept, but the rapidly changing social conditions of the contemporary society has provided a wider impetus for a wider acceptance of this idea, and the adult educators have been a major force in drawing attention to the practice of life-long learning. To assess learning, the educator utilizes a wide range of methods for evaluating pupil performance and attainment. These include formal testing and examinations, practical and oral assessments, and classroom based assessment. Theoretically, there are three types of assessments. Formative assessment takes place during the course of the teaching and is used essentially to feed back into the teaching or learning process. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the term or a course and is used to provide information about how much the students have learned and how well as course has worked. Ipsative assessment is the third and the most important category in which the pupil evalu ates his/her performance against his/her previous performance (Wilkinson, W. J. and George, N. J., 1982, p. 222-235). This indicates that the process of assessment is undergoing a shift in the paradigm from psychometrics to a broader model of educational assessment and from the culture of testing and examination to the culture of assessment. There is a wider range of assessments that are in use now. These include teacher assessment, standard tasks, coursework, records of achievement, practical and oral assessments mentioned earlier, written examinations, and standardized tests. There are criterion-referenced, formative, and performance-based assessments as well as norm-referenced testing. The consequent high-profile status of assessment is mainly due to the fact that assessment is required to achieve a wide range of purposes (Carr, W., and Kemmis, S., 1986, p. 86-94). The assessment process is mainly designed to support teaching and learning; it would provide information about pupil s, teachers, and schools. In this way, assessment would drive curriculum and teaching and act as a selection and certification device and as an accountability procedure (Briton, D., 1996, p 101-102). Adult learning theory has been strongly influenced by humanistic psychology, although there is no single theory that represents the humanistic approach. All such theories share a common view that this approach involves the study of a man as a human being, with his thoughts, feelings, and experiences (Brookfield, S., 1985, p. 23-28). This is in direct contrast to the stimulus-response theories, which study man from the point of view of overt behaviour, disregarding his inner feelings and experiences. Humanistic theories differ from cognitive theory in that the latter is concerned with the thinking aspects of a man's behaviour with little emphasis on the affective components. Humanistic theory is closely related to the philosophical approach called phenomenology, which asserts that reality lies in a person's perception of an event and not in the event itself. This also underpins three other concepts,

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Common Essay 2.1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Common 2.1 - Essay Example The concert hall appeared inspiring to me containing pictures of great musicians hanging on its walls and having an attractive color scheme. In addition, the stage was wide and well lighted. The hall was full of people waiting for the musician to play. The curtain was shining brightly and swaying lightly in the wind. I was about to play â€Å"Chopin Variation† by Rossini. Suddenly, the curtain rose and I was struck by light. I played the piece vividly and people were able to connect to the song. The applause was like reaching up to the top of the mountain, almost overwhelming, but so worth it and their applause was another way of responding to my thought of music. My passion for music had taken me to new heights and I was grateful to my soul. I have been always rejuvenated by music and it has been a stress buster for me and a friend in all times of need. Music has given me an opportunity to work with many talented people. And now, I feel enlightened that my talent is giving in spiration to so many people. Music is so much dissolved in me that I have spent every day practicing. I work hard on music, but never feel weary of it. When I hear any Debussy pieces, I forget all my worries and troubles and they bring serenity to me. I remembered the days in school, when I used to play music and all my peers and teachers praised me. My passion for my music has encouraged me to learn more of it and seek innovation in it. I am so happy for understanding what it means to be a musician and the diligence and prestige of this career. That day at Woo Bong Art Hall, I loved to see that because the people in the hall were in utter joy. This feeling cannot be compared with anything. It was indeed out of this world. A kind of current passed from my head to toe. As I finished my performance, people started to applaud and I was extremely happy that people loved my piece. Some people climbed over to the stage to embrace me and shower their blessings. I