Action Plan for Homeland Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Action Plan for Homeland Security - Essay Example For a leader who is determined and courageous, his/her prevention strategies on attacks and disasters entail the strengthening of information sharing and collaboration capabilities. This will entail a robust investigative capacity to address all terror-linked issues and enhancing public awareness on reporting terror-related matters. There is need to establish the permanent commission that comprises of fire chiefs, police chiefs, mayors, local public health officials, and local emergency managers by the Department of Homeland Security to restructure the local-federal partnership with an aim of strengthening domestic security and safety. Create a safe and resilient cyber setting and promoting cyber-security innovation and knowledge (Shoemaker, & Conklin, 2011). There is a probability that a weapon of mass destruction will be utilized in a terrorist attack anywhere in the world by the end of 2016 (Graham, 2013). To ensure the safety of American people, the water systems will be protected from natural disasters and terrorist attacks through web-based monitoring of the distribution system water quality and regular water quality sampling combined with the analysis in the distribution system. Reducing vulnerability to terrorist attacks as well as other related disasters by strengthening capabilities that offer protection to public transport systems, ports, high-traffic borders, and other high priority critical infrastructure. The efforts to prevent terrorism will be centered on a layered risk-based approach to the security of the cargo and passenger systems of transportation, borders, and ports of entry. In the event of an electromagnetic pulse, money needs to be provided to the Department of Homeland Security by the federal government in order to offer protection to the electrical grid system. Office of Homeland Security to be given budgetary control over all federal programs associated with the nation’s domestic protection. Besides that, for those leaders who  are visionary and forward-looking, the Office of Homeland Security needs to be structured in a way that it works directly with mayors in support of their leadership responsibilities.

Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Essay Example for Free

Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Essay The selection of essays contained in The Best American Essays which highlight painful truths and confront undesirable social realities do not only paint a clear picture of the imperfect world we live in, but also serve as catalysts for change that we may be sorely in need of. The relevant knowledge conveyed by the essayists provide more than catharsis or a cleansing or anxiety-relieving purging effect. They have huge potential to elicit concrete ethical responses, notably new attitudes and mindsets that will eventually shape future action. The latter depends greatly, though, on how closely the readers identify with the painful truths or social realities contained in the literary pieces. Nonetheless, the superbly written essays merit close scrutiny or perusal, which should be enough, ideally, to jolt people to action. Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Can be Catalysts for Change Where does learning end and action begin? Can knowledge spur action? Mulling over the hard facts, undesirable societal realities or painful truths expressed in beautiful fluid prose by literary talents in insightful essays contained in The Best American Essays edited by David Foster Wallace, one question comes to mind: are the masterfully written pieces capable of spurring people to action? Offhand, the answer points to a resounding yes. Literary masterpieces, particularly the essays under study, have an immense potential to serve as catalysts for change. Any standstill or hindrance, however, for works of literature to elevate humankind in terms of heightened awareness and positive behavioral changes, may depend a great on the values and predispositions that the current crop of readers may have. It is a known fact that we, as humans, cannot escape pain as we go about our day-to-day lives. Just about everyone can identify with pain, but the natural tendency of the average person is to crawl into his comfort zone and not to ponder on negative or painful realities, much less do something about what they may have read. The painful truths, usually in the form of trying individual circumstances or clear societal harms, expressed by the most gifted writer in the most riveting prose may not always warrant the desired ethical response. The sad reality is, complacent people who glean useful insights from reading about painful truths expressed in clear and incisive essays may not budge, even if the ideas may stick around in the recesses of their minds for some time. Each person will also be relying on his own perception of truth, and this perception will most likely guide his future action. On the other hand, there are also those individuals who are inclined to strive to make life generally better, both for themselves and society-at-large. This latter breed of people brings to mind ancient Confucian teaching on doing the right thing at the right time. By following the dictum of choosing to do what is right and moral over ones self-centered interests, people who adopt a new way of thinking or do something about a vexing social truth expressed, for instance, in an essay like â€Å"What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You? By Peter Singer (Wallace, 2007, p. 266), make the writer’s efforts worthwhile. The sense of enlightenment, followed by change in one’s mode of thinking created by a well-written essay makes every ounce of investigative effort poured into it well worth it. There are also certain essays in the collection that highlight idiosyncrasies, or peculiar habits and traits, such as the piece about people with stage fright, or another dealing with the apex of sex childhood, or even the youth-oriented essay about a cellular phone ring tone that drifts into a discourse about adults’ tendencies as they age. They not only amuse and inform but also lead readers to adopt new ways of thinking and behaving. There are other clear-cut examples of works included in the collection that forcefully makes the case for a controversial issue that may spur action, notably â€Å"Loaded† by Garret Keizer, who explosively says, â€Å"I hope that I shall never have to confront anyone with my gun, but owning a gun has forced me to confront myself† (Wallace, 2007, p. 137) and â€Å"Rules of Engagement† by Elaine Scarry, who opined that â€Å"every act that carries us into neo-absolutist territory burs our vision†¦ and puts us at ever-accelerating risk of carrying out moral harms (such as the use of nuclear weapons) from which we may not soon recover† (Scarry, 2006, para. 12). There are likewise lighter topics explored in essays in the collection, such as â€Å"What the Dog Saw† by Malcolm Gladwell that focuses on how an egocentric person may not be emulated, while prescribing better ways of dealing with those around us. The various other essays, whether they serve as an earnest appeal for action or as subtle vehicles for behavioral change, providing stern warnings of things to come, derive much of their strength on the fact that what is presented is a shared experience, most of them culled from real-life circumstances and developments, forming painful realities that people must contend with. They may reflect hard truths about society’s past intermingling with the present, or they may point to the future, but the single thread running through the selected essays in The Best American Essays that the writers may want to put across is that their readers can do something about the painful truths or hard-to-bear facts presented therein. In essence, the essays under study embody a form of literature that â€Å"represents much more than a pristine chronicle of a particular time and place†¦As a flexible medium, literature (like the essays) allows the author to manipulate modalities of past and future, real and unreal to alter patterns of perception†¦ Analysis of these models can shed light on the events which actually took place, and on the scope of possibility for alternative outcomes (Werbach, 1991, Introduction section, para. 1). Thus, when people learn painful truths about themselves or society-at-large, how they act depends, to a large extent, on where their beliefs and principles are anchored, not to mention the resources at their disposal, which still does not negate the fact that great works of literature can be catalysts for change. References Wallace, D. (Ed. ). (2007). The best American essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Werbach, K. D. (1991). Literary models for alternative social development in Russia. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from http://werbach. com/stuff/thesis. html Scarry, E. (2006). Rules of engagement. Boston Review. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from http://bostonreview. net/BR31. 6/scarry. php

Computers :: essays research papers

Computers The Computer that you know these days is a small thing that sits on a desk in your room that is composed of a monitor, keyboard, mouse and a small box. But computers have changed so much that if you seen old computer you would never recognize it. The first computer was built in the early 17 hundreds. You probably heard that the first computer was made in the 1950’s but computers have been around for hundreds of years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All a computer is is something that calculates number. So these computers of the 1700’s were made from gears that worked together to make a answer. â€Å"In the nineteenth century, Englishman Charles Babbage designed a steam powered machine that could calculate square roots, cube roots and other exponential functions.† (1) The first computer was an abacus. â€Å"The Chinese abacus consists of a wooden frame divided into an upper and lower section.† (2) These are all computer that have been around 100’s of years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Latter in the 20th century the government started to work on a top-secret project. That was the birth of type of computer. Similar to your computer but still very vary different. You would probably still would have never have guest what it is. The computer had no screen and it was the size of a office building. This computer was programmed differently too instead of typing in to a computer they had to make cards with holes in it that stood for different thing for it to do. They first had to make a program for typing so that they could have a keyboard connected to it. But still that was not good enough they need a program so that they could use the keyboard program on the system. This is called a operating system. The operating system is a lot like windows, it’s what keeps your computer interactive with you. But at that time they didn’t have a operating system and had to create one. One of the first operating systems open to the public was DOS.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The computer for years had been improved to smaller and smaller parts to run it faster and faster. Soon the computer was the size of a house. By then everyone knew about a computer. It was not until 1985 that the computer industry was able to take off and become one of the most important necessities in this world.

William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” & It’s Socio-Economic Levels

Johany Hernandez Professor Gray ENC 1102 October 12, 2011 Life’s Own Food Chain William Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† depicts socio-economic levels of the post Civil War rural South. Social class and economic worth is a major theme throughout the story. It displays a hierarchy of different financial level that is used to portray different socio-economic standpoints among groups. At the very bottom of the social structure are Sarty and his family. On the following level, there is the de Spain’s Negro servant. Afterwards, is Mr. Harris. At the top of the ladder are Major de Spain and his wife, Lula de Spain. All of these characters represent the differences among the socio-economic groups, and how they intertwine with each other in the community. At the bottom of the rank are Sarty and his family. They are farmers who work on others’ plantations because they cannot afford to have their own. They are definitely an uneducated group of individuals. This can be seen when Sarty is speaking: ‘He won’t git no ten bushels neither. He won’t git one. ’ Another good example would be their clothing. Sarty’s sisters are â€Å"†¦in a flutter of cheap ribbons. The family’s clothes consist of â€Å"an incredible expanse of pale clothes and a flutter of tawdry ribbons. † Moreover, Abner Snopes is depicted as someone who does not desire change, even for the betterment of his family. The father walks â€Å"stiffly from where a Confederate provost’s man’s musket ball had taken him in the heel on a stolen horse thirty years ago. â₠¬  He also seems to wear the same black coat constantly. Above Sarty in the hierarchy structure is the de Spain’s servant. The Negro is being described as â€Å"†¦an old man with neat grizzled hair, in a linen jacket. His living in the de Spain’s mansion shows that he is of higher status than the Snopes family. He lives very comfortably in the manor. The fact that he is wearing a linen jacket illustrates that he is exceptionally well taken care of. Though still a servant, he is presumably higher in the hierarchy of the social ladder. The servant is still very well underneath the hierarchy because he is uneducated. He speaks similarly to the Snopes. An instance is: ‘Wipe yo foots, white man, fo you come in here. Major ain’t home nohow. ’ The next character, who is placed above the servant, is Mr. Harris. Though not much is said about who he is, the story portrays him as a landowner. The Snopes’ worked on his farm for a short-term period, which eventually ended in his barn burning. With the bit of information on Mr. Harris, it can be said that he is almost certainly above middle-class. Mr. Harris says ‘The next time I put the hog in my pen. When he came to get it I gave him enough wire to patch up his pen. ’ Examples are that he owns a farm, and a cornfield. Also, that he is able to employ Mr. Snopes and his family as tenant farmers to work on his land. At the top of the hierarchy is a very rich man, Major de Spain and his wife, Lula de Spain. It is very apparent that they are more than wealthy by the description of the home’s surroundings. â€Å"†¦the grove of oak trees and cedars and the other flowering trees and shrubs where the house would be, though not the house yet. They walked beside a fence massed with honeysuckle and Cherokee roses and came to a gate swinging open to between two brick pillars†¦ he saw the house†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Also, the home itself was grand and white. Sarty thinks ‘Hit’s big as a courthouse. ’ Inside the house, even Sarty is flabbergasted by how beautiful it is. The narrator describes it as â€Å"†¦deluged as though by a warm wave by a suave turn of carpeted stair and a pendant glitter of chandeliers and a mute gleam of gold frames†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A very important example of social reign is that Mr. and Mrs. De Spain speak grammatically correct. This alone shows more class as opposed to Sarty and the servant. Throughout the story, the socio-economic classes clash against one another because of social troubles, or economic harms. Sarty and his family, who portrays the lowest of the low show how their family live day by day without reassurance of the future. The servant–clean cut and more well-mannered than the Snopes’, serves the de Spains’, and ultimately somewhat bathes a bit in their riches. Mr. Harris, a minor character, yet the obvious next personality in the hierarchy, is a stable, above middle-class man who though does not own a mansion, is very well off. This now leaves Mr. and Mrs. De Spain, the ones who are not only rich, but exceed the social class norms among the other characters. They are at the top of the food chain—rich, intelligent and very powerful. The lives of these characters help understand the inner-workings of society and its inhabitants.

Motivational Methods Paper Essay

Every manager in an organization must develop the necessary skill of motivation, and apply it to their staff in order to work more efficiently. This ability is a key role for each department and it is of utmost importance that it be applied in a manner that is both beneficial to the organization and staff as well. Each staff member has a role to play in accomplishing goals and it is the duty of the managers to facilitate and motivate their staff. This paper will address three motivational methods to motivate staff for upcoming changes for the organization. Motivation can be defined as: â€Å"Forces within individuals that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort they expend at work.† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). Individuals who possess a strong work ethic and integrity will put 110 percent into their job, those who do not will do just enough to slide by and stay under the radar. Managers must motivate and inspire staff to continue to give that 110 percent while receiving acknowledgment and respect. In other words; â€Å"Motivation is getting people to do what you want them to do because THEY WANT to do it. The challenge is to give them a reason to want to do it because doing it will satisfy a need they have. You have to tune in to their needs, motives and reasons, not yours.† (Saleem, 2007). Upon learning that upper management is going to implement changes within the organization a manager is tasked with identifying what makes their staff motivated, what makes them perform at peak levels? What does the staff need? â€Å"Needs are unfulfilled physiological or psychological desires of an individual†. (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). Each individual will have different needs; however it is possible to identify what the team needs by simply asking them. One may think that by developing a list of needs and instructing each member to put them in order of priority it is possible to get an accurate picture of where  to start with the team and how to introduce the up-coming changes in a manner that will motivate the team to accept these in a positive and professional manner. Howev er, â€Å"A study, published in 1999 by Kenneth Kovach of George Mason University, compared associates’ ranking of what they wanted from their jobs with what their bosses thought was important to the associates. The results of the study were somewhat surprising. At the top of the associates’ list was interesting work, followed by appreciation of work, a feeling of being â€Å"in on things†, job security, and good wages. Employers thought good wages, job security, promotion/growth, good working conditions, and interesting work were most important to their staff.† (Bessel, 2012). The key here is to listen to the responses from the staff when asked what is important to them, and then we can identify their motivation. One motivation theory is the Two-Factor Theory, developed by Frederick Herzberg, (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007), which identified that what really made the 4,000 respondents he questioned, enjoy their jobs were factors which related to the job itself, he labeled this satisfier factors. These are items such as feeling pride and a sense of achievement, recognition, and room for advancement. As it turned out, things relating to the setting of the job were what they enjoyed least about the job, he labeled this hygie ne factors. These are items such as work environment and conditions, interpersonal relations, policies, quality of supervision, and salary. These negative factors can be remedied with improving policies to enable staff to feel more satisfied in their environment, such as adding soothing environmental sounds, music, or providing chair message for example can help create a less chaotic work environment and positive hygiene factors. However, in using this method it is also important to be conscious that the two-factor theory is a complementary theory, improving the hygiene is also along with improving the satisfier factors as well. Common sense means that one follows with the other, recognition must also come along with environmental motivation. A second motivation theory is Acquired Needs Theory, from David McClelland, which is based on the needs of individuals. He identified three needs; first, the need for achievement as a desire to go above and beyond the norm of what is expected. Then second is the need for power, which could include control over others, or to be able to provide influence and responsibility over them. The third is the need for affiliation which  is a desire to have friendly and warm friendships with others. (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). These are all needs that people acquire over time of life experiences and a savvy manager will create a work place that is responsive to these needs. The manager must allow these staff members to takes risks and challenges and encourage their ability to work with little supervision. Delegating higher responsibilities to these individuals creates security for the team and enables the manager to respond to other concerns that normally they may not be able to give the proper attention to. The third method of motivation is motivating through job design. Utilizing the two previous methods of motivation based on the needs of staff, a manager can then create jobs by assigning the required tasks to those individuals who are appropriate to accomplish job performance and job satisfaction for themselves as well as the organization. To make the future changes the organization is anticipating it is essential that the managers utilize their skills to â€Å"tailor job design† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007), to fit the strengths of staff with their own specific qualities and needs, this includes four specific areas, one, job simplification: identifying work processes and tasks for staff to work in clearly defined and specialized tasks. Managers can utilize lesser skilled staff to perform duties of lesser complexity, allowing others with higher skill levels to focus on areas of greater need. Job rotation allows the manager to create flexibility and understanding of other areas, creating a better relationship and moral between departments. Job enlargement integrates or combines tasks previously done by separate workers, this is an option that a manager should do with caution because it could have an opposite reaction to the motivation they are trying to create. The final alternative in job design is job enrichment which is essentially delegating some of the responsibilities of the manager to another individual creating a broader scope to their current position and allowing the manager to take on other responsibilities they may have had a hard time giving the appropriate time to. By focusing on these three types of motivational methods I intend to accomplish introducing the staff and motivating them into the future of the organization while taking into consideration their needs and skill levels to better serve them and the organization. Through personal experience, being motivated to provide superior service and customer satisfaction in the health care  industry, individuals who are appreciated, recognized, and offered more responsibility will work hard to meet deadlines and provide excellent patient care. This is a win-win situation for any health care organization and management team. References: Bessel, I. (2012). Understanding Motivation: An Effective Tool for Managers. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr017 Kovach, Kenneth. (1999). Employee motivation: Addressing a crucial factor in your organization’s performance. Human Resource Development. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Lombardi, D.M., & Schermerhorn, J.R. (2007). Health care management: Tools and techniques for managing in a health care environment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Saleem, H. (2007). Motivating your staff. Retrieved from http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/motivating-your-staff/

tradition vs modern essays

tradition vs modern essays The terms 'traditional ¡ and 'modern ¡ are so often used in conversation, and also in reference to Society, that it is a good exercise to consider what these terms do mean in a comparative light. Berman in All that is solid melts in air puts forward an interesting set of ideas in the comment that people who live in traditional ways, or in modern ones, can almost be said to occupy different states of mind. For instance, a full 500 years have passed since some peoples first met up with the influences of the more modern Western world. (1988, pp. 15-16) However, in many cases, the adjustment has still not been made, and the conflict of what is traditional and what is modern continues to occur with different impacts upon the individual, as well as the society in which he or she lives which is apt to reflect an ongoing conflict. For example, it could be said that what is lived in a remote western Chinese village differs very much from the experience that is given to human beings by life in New York City. It would be easy to state that the former was very 'backward ¡ or just very different from what is imparted by New York City, but obviously, this contrast cannot be made too neatly. The modern has arrived in mainland China, little by little, over centuries. On the other hand, what is modern or 'foreign ¡ has not been absorbed completely, and varies greatly from place to place in China. Furthermore, the systems under which modern influence did begin to arrive happened to be different from those which produced modernity in the West. In the traditional society of mainland China, western influence came only in a trickle for some time, only to coastal or other directly affected areas during the centuries of attempted European colonization of China, and afterwards, only according to what a Communist re gime has permitted to take root in the country. The dichotomy of convention also does not give much time to just what was introduc...

Internal Business Factors at Nike, Inc.

External/Internal Business Factors at Nike, Inc. Free Online Research Papers Nike’s planning and organizing began in 1962 when Phil Knight, an accounting student and middle distance runner at the University of Oregon, had an idea to bring low-priced, high-tech athletic shoes from Japan to dislodge German domination of the U. S. athletic footwear industry (Nike, 2007, p. 5). In 1972, Knight, along with Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon’s track and field coach, formed a partnership and introduced Nike, a new brand of athletic footwear named for the Greek winged goddess of victory. Leading its employees and controlling or monitoring the company’s worldwide operations, along with on-going planning and organizing as new goals are established, has made Nike, Inc. one of the largest sports and fitness company in the world. Globalization When Nike first started selling in the foreign market in 1972, the company had to assess the economic trends of domestic and international markets during the planning stage. This would include the impact of the global market, technological advancements, and e-business which is rapidly growing. The planning and organizing process also has to be specific to the region where a new factory was to be built. For example, resources may be more available in the Nike Americas Region than in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Region; government regulations may be stricter in the Asia Pacific Region. To be successful in the leading or motivating process, Nike would have to assess a country’s culture and economic status. For example, in Indonesia, the take-home pay averages $65 a month which does not seem like much to the U. S. worker, but this pay scale is almost double Indonesia’s minimum wage of $34 a month. These wages also come with other benefits that include overtime and holiday bonuses, social security, free health care, free schooling, free clothing, at least one free meal a day, and sometimes free housing (Jenson, 2000, 1). In these countries where most of the population lives below the poverty line, Nike jobs are quite desirable. As with any global company, Nike’s success depends on the controlling or monitoring of the progress of its manufacturing and sales of athletic footwear and athletic gear. Technology When one thinks of technology, computers or electronic games may come to mind. For Nike, technology refers to product technology; new innovations in footwear, apparel, and equipment. As fitness evolves, Nike’s products are planned to give consumers a competitive edge and help athletes perform better. Each part of the manufacturing process is designed to accomplishing the goal of providing the world’s best athletic gear. When Nike Air was introduced, it made a revolutionary impact on the sports world for its versatility. Beyond its basic function of impact protection, it can be shaped and tuned to meet the specific demands of contemporary athletes (Nike, 2007, 6). As Nike monitored athletes’ needs, changes were implemented to make their footwear even better. For example, in 2001, Nike Shox was introduced, made with unique columns of engineered foam. This new product technology began a new revolution in footwear cushioning. Innovation Although Nike is one of the largest sports and fitness companies in the world, Nike still has to challenge its competitors with new product ideas. In the planning process, Nike must continue to evaluate consumer demands. Recently, Nike decided to collaborate with Apple and bring sports and music together. According to Nike’s CEO, Mark Parker, The Nike + iPod Sport Kit is a wireless system that connects to the iPod nano to give people a personal running and workout experience (Apple, 2007, p. 1). Nike is planning to make many of their footwear and apparel styles iPod ready. Some of the designs now include jackets, tops, shorts and armbands designed specifically to carry iPods seamlessly. Nike’s CEO and Apple’s CEO will continue to work together to maximize the Nike and iPod experience. This partnership will help Nike to remain as the leading sports company. Diversity Nike’s strategy focuses on diversity in the workplace (Nike, 2007, p. 1). In 2003, Nike created the Office of Global Diversity. Surveys are one way top-level managers communicate and receive feedback from Nike’s employees. The organization wants to know how satisfied the employees are and the effectiveness of management. Work teams and workshops are established to address employee recommendations (Nike, 2007, p. 2). The workshops emphasize employee interaction. Management is constantly monitoring the engagement of stakeholders and employees. Ideally, the company should build a data collection system to asses the issues and impacts in the workplace. Nike has a continued desire for improving performance and reaching new goals. Ethics Companies that specialize in business ethics training and corporate social responsibility instill workplace ethics among staff by creating a business ethics policy (Fieser, 2006). In 1996, the ethical issue of child labor came to the surface regarding the hiring of young employees by Nike’s Asian and Latin subcontractors whose ages ranged from very young to teenagers. The teen workers would have not been so controversial; however, there were no regulations or work permits issued. For the last decade, Nike’s managers have had to plan and organize a world-wide public relations campaign to redeem their name and reputation related to this ethical controversy. Without proper management leading and planning in the Nike Corporation, the company would have suffered from the child labor issue. Nike has made a true bounce-back from the negative media attention, and continues to be successful due to their strong business ethic philosophy. External and internal factors have an enormous impact on the productivity and success of a company. The process of assessing the external and internal factors that face an organization is a major part of the planning function of management. These factors also impact how a company is organized and how resources are used to accomplish the preferred goals and objectives established during the planning process. References Apple (2007). Nike and Apple Team Up to Launch Nike+iPod. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from apple.com/pr/library/2006/may/23nike.html Jenson, H. (2000, July 2). Globalization ala Nike. Retrieved January 29, 2007, from internationalreportingproject.org/stories/indonesia/indonesia_globalization.htm Fieser, J. (2006). The internet encyclopedia of philosophy ethics. Retrieved January 30, 2007, from iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm Nike (2007). After 30 year, Nike continues to lead innovation in footwear, apparel and equipment. Retrieved January 26, 2007, from nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=6 Nike (2007). When Nike breathed its first breath, it inhaled the spirit of two men, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=5 Research Papers on External/Internal Business Factors at Nike, Inc.Marketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductDefinition of Export QuotasPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanThe Project Managment Office SystemHip-Hop is ArtNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

10 Misspelled Words That Get Me Down

10 Misspelled Words That Get Me Down 10 Misspelled Words That Get Me Down 10 Misspelled Words That Get Me Down By Maeve Maddox NOTE: Any spell-check program ought to catch most of these for you. However, the wisest course is to master them yourself. For fun, I did a search for the incorrect version of nine of the ten. I didn’t bother with Number 7 because both its and it’s are valid spellings. The number of hits for the misspellings is shown in parentheses. Some refer to intentional misspellings on English sites like this one, but not all. 1. argument (arguement 730,000) The verb is argue, but the noun is argument. 2. calendar (calender 29,600,000)   The register on which you schedule your appointments is spelled calendar. Yes, there is a specialized term spelled calender that refers to paper production, but I doubt that it accounts for millions of uses. 3. cemetery (cemetary185,000,000) There are three e’s in cemetery. Nary an a in sight. 4. definite (definate 539,000) Think, finite, infinite, infinity. Look at all those i’s. No a’s anywhere in definite. 5. finally (finaly 1,450,000) The adjective is final. The adverb is finally. Double that l in finally. 6. forty (fourty 783,000)   One less than five is spelled four. One more than thirty-nine is spelled forty. 7. its (possessive adjective) The problem with this habitual misspelling is that both its and it’s are English spellings. It’s is a contraction of the words â€Å"It is.† Its is a possessive adjective, like his. The best advice is to spell out â€Å"it is† when that is your meaning. You cannot rely on grammar/spell checkers to catch this one. Indeed, Word often advises me to write â€Å"it’s† when the context calls for its. 8. separate (seperate 31,700,000)   Take the word by syllables: sep-a-rate. Yes, we pronounce it [sep-uh-ret], but we spell it sep-a-rate. Look for â€Å"a rat† in sep.a.rat.e. 9. tragedy (tradgedy 212,000) The g in tragedy is soft. The e makes the g soft. No extra d, please. 10. truly (truely 62,600,000)   The adjective is true. The adverb is truly. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Common Mistakes category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherConnotations of 35 Words for Funny People40 Synonyms for Praise

Memorandums Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Memorandums - Essay Example Krahnke et al. (2003) suggest that the US workforce is quite complex not only linguistically but also culturally. Authors further state that in 2002, the California legislature enacted a bill that forbids the regulation of language in the workplaces unless business or safety requirements dictate it. Park (1994) argues quoting Barnaby Zall, a law expert that the Supreme Court has never called a language-related rule as national origin discrimination. Gibson K. (2006) emphasizes that there is no need to restrict the language use. As businesses accept the people in workplace with different ethnicity, race and religion; similarly, they should embrace other languages as well. 5. Though there have been diverse views on the subject but I still stick to the only-English rule at work places. The main reason is that it is necessary for cohesive and smooth functioning of the job at work places. In the US, most of the people have working knowledge of English while it cannot be said for any other language including Spanish. 6. The questions/troubling points for the Yes/No side are: a. What to do if non-English speaking people feel like discriminated if they are not allowed to speak in their language? b. What to do if English-speaking people feel they are being made mockery of as they cannot understand other language? References Krahnke, K., Hoffman, L., Krahnke, K. (2003). Managing Language Use in the Workplace. The Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2003 – Vol. 4(1) Page 148. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http://www.ibam.com/pubs/jbam/articles/vol4/article4_9.htm Park, R. (1994). Language in the Workplace. The Social Contract Press. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc0404/article_368.shtml Gibson K. (2006). English Only Court Cases Involving the U.S. Workplace: The Myths of Language Use and the Homogenization of Bilingual Workers’ Identities. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http://www.hawaii. edu/sls/sls/wp content/uploads/2011/06/Gibson.pdf MEMORANDUM TO: Professor FROM: DATE: September 27, 2012 RE: Is Downsizing a Sound Strategic Initiative? PART A 1. My initial gut reaction that emerges after reading the issue is that downsizing is a sound strategic initiative. 2. ‘Yes side’ appears more persuasive to me. 3. The reaction to this has come to me after experiencing economic sluggishness post 2008 that has spread not only in the US but also Europe and other parts of the world. PART B 4. Cameron (1994) argues that downsizing is done for survival of the organization before it is too late to rectify the situation. The author also argues that objectives towards downsizing should be in line with the long term objectives of the organization. Hornstein (2009) argues that the results of downsizing are not in line with the expectations. Downsizing brings a negative effect on employee morale, leads to knowledge loss and disrupts skills gathered in past years. Author ci tes growing body of research to indicate that downsizing does not even help to reduce costs. Margolis and Molinsky (2009) argue that downsizing is a necessary evil and must be exercised with caution. They give stress on being compassionate and direct; however, it should be performed with respect and dignity. 5. Economic conditions in general and in a specific situation may force organization to resort to downsizing tactics for the survival. I still feel that it is an important strategic initiat

No Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

No - Essay Example sis shall in addition provide a discussion on the suggestions of what are to be done in order to improve the profit performance of the industry in the future. The following analyses are the probable reasons for the reduction of the industry’s profit according to the London’s time and tide (2011) newspaper explanation. According to the Excellence Clothing Company journal of 2014, there is a general decrease in base of revenue for the company. The revenue of the industry declined from  £255063 to  £215623 from the years 2013 to 2014. Since profit is a direct related function of revenue, that is profit = revenue – cost (cost of sales). Such a reduction in revenue consequently leads to loss realization or profit decline. There can be quite a number of factors that may lead to such a reduction in revenues. The policies of London have been proved to be ignorant on the clothing industries. The policies have not allowed for any incentive offer to be given to the industry. There are also varieties of stringent restrictive actions imposed by the London policies that have subjected the industry to many operation ceilings (Clutterbuck, & Crainer, 2012). This means that the company cannot operate beyond a certain set level of production even if it has the capacity of doing so. Most of the policies especially those by the London government have imposed huge amount of taxation on the industry in the year 2014. The industry is being taxed hugely in cases where the clothing raw materials to be used are imported. The custom duty to be paid in such cases of raw materials importation have been cutting deep in to the amount of cost expenses that are to be paid by the industry. The company is as well expected to be paying excise duties monthly and submitting their returns for excise duty charges. The above mentioned costs of taxation are of a negative impact to the industries revenues. Since such costs have to be paid by the industry through making withdrawals and deductions

Challenges in Capacity and Decision Making Case Study

Challenges in Capacity and Decision Making - Case Study Example As the report declares the Mr. Jones scenario presents one of the many complexities that are experienced in the healthcare practice. Numerous stakeholders are confined into a common ground where objectives are straight and result-oriented. Mr. Jones is facing health complications that the relevant parties must try and resolve in a bid to improve the patient’s health status and welfare. In the Mr. Jones scenario, a number of legal issues emerge. To start with, Mr. Jones is entitled to quality health care just like any other patient. The law provides for indiscriminate care of patients in whatever state. Patient rights are at stake in the scenario.This discussion stresses that choice and consent to care is another critical legal issue observed in the scenario. Although Mr. Jones is entitled to care by law, the caregivers and physicians cannot force him to any medical practice if he does not consent and choose to be treated. A complementing legal aspect herein is the role of guar dian or surrogate decision maker. If Mr. Jones is entitled to one, then the surrogate decision maker can make a choice on behalf of Mr. Jones. However, the legal process that provides this practice must be observed. Another legal issue pertains to the role of doctors and nurses attending to Mr. Jones. They must adhere to the code of ethics and conduct in caring for Mr. Jones. They should work to their level best to ensure that Mr. Jones receives the attention he needs, subject to ensuring that Mr. Jones capacity to make a decision is accounted for.  

EPL Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

EPL - Dissertation Example The proposed research study intends to examine the issue focusing specifically upon the English Premier League as it has been found from the analysis of the premier hiring records that the conception of internationalization of players is deeply embedded in the British soccer league and for many years, the foreign players are frequently hired in the teams and as the time passes, the ratio of international players is increasing in the EPL players. The proposed research study aims to investigate the evolution of the practice of hiring foreign players in the team and describes the conceptions and theories associated with this trend. The research study aims to illustrate the implication of the described literature and theories in to the English premier league’s traditions of inviting foreign players in the team and their performances after becoming part of EPL.  It is also revealed that the foreign players are commonly hired in the team against high fees because they are expected to gear up the performance level of the team carrying it towards the victory stand. Thus, the economic aspect of the management decision to hire foreign players is also an important point of focus for this research study that would be covered by discussing the amount spent by the English soccer team on the foreign players.  The practice of internationalization of football players has become very common in most of the western countries and alon g with England, some other countries like Spain, Germany and France also use to hire the services of the players from other countries.  

Short answer questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short answer questions - Assignment Example As more red blood cells pass through the tissue, warmth (calor) sets in. Increase in vascular permeability results in fluid to shifting into the connective tissue that causes edema. Vasodilation and thickening of blood encourages leucocytes to stick to blood vessels. Margi nation occurs and leucocytes crawl between the endothelial cells and enter the inflamed tissues. Phagocytosis occurs, microbes are engulfed and destroyed by white blood cells and lastly tissue repair begins (Lydyard & Whelan, 2011).An example when a malaria protozoan enters the body through mosquito bite, the body’s immune becomes active, there is increase in white blood cell circulation. An individual presents with pain and fever. Edema might set in later phase. Inflammation can be classified according to exudate, period, site, and etiology. Based on exudate, inflammations result in fluid accumulation in the tissues. These inflammations can be suppurative inflammation where pus forms resulting into a skin abscess, serous where thin watery exudate forms. An example is blister. In etiology, inflammation can be either aseptic or septic. Aseptic are chemical substance radiations while septic are living organisms that result into inflammation. Based on location, inflammation occurs in different regions of the body depending on the causative agent, for example, tuberculosis causes inflammation of the lungs. Duration depends on the type of hypersensitivity (Lydyard & Whelan, 2011). Type I like insect bites take shorter period to manifest than Type IV where graft transplanting takes 3 days to manifest. The immune system provides three lines of defenses. The first line of defense is made up of nonspecific barriers. This includes chemical and physical barriers that prevent foreign agents from penetrating the outer layer of the body. These barriers are the skin, the mucous membrane, hair, tears, sweat saliva, gastric secretions, and cerumen. The second line of defense consists of leucocytes.

Emerging Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emerging Marketing - Essay Example The emerging markets' countries are rapidly growing economically and are characterized by fast growth in infrastructure, manufacturing industries, general industries and have matured politically and socially. These factors have been the key movers of the economy. However, these countries are also facing certain challenges. Some of these challenges pose great risks and may discourage investors and laborers if they are not well addressed. Emerging countries have been trying their best to address these challenges in different ways. No wonder there is a great influx of people of all walks of life to Mexico every year (Li, n.d). This paper will analyze Mexico as an emerging market, opportunities and challenges faced. Global Overview Mexico is the 14th largest country by total land area and the 11th most populous country in the world today. It is made up of 31 states and one federal district with Mexico City as the capital, housing most important administrative and legislative offices. The city is among the largest in the world with a population of ore than 20 million people. Mexico has an interesting history. It had many ancient civilizations, including Maya, Aztec, Olmec, Zapotec, African, Toltec, Inca, French and Spanish. The country is accredited for having the first printing press in North America and for introducing chilies, chocolate and corn to the world. Mexico got independence from Spain in 1810, and the constitution was introduced in February 1917. The Mexican government is made up of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary (World Fact Book, 2013). Social Factors Mexico has a population of about one hundred and twelve million people. About fifty-one percent of the population is women, and the remaining forty-nine percent are men. The wealthy represent just about ten percent of the Mexican population yet they control more than 90 percent of the economy. Majority of Mexicans are poor and the economic changes that are witnessed there currently have b een changing this. The very poorest population in Mexico account for just about 1 percent of the economy while the rich 10% absorb more than forty percent of the economy. Poverty levels have been decreasing, and the middle class group has been increasing exponentially. Mexico has one of the fastest growing middle class populations in the world today (Johnson, 2012). Economic Factors Mexico has been changing rapidly in the last three decades, thanks to the policies and reforms introduced by the government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This played an important role in changing the economy of Mexico at that time, and that pace has been gaining momentum year after year. There are several statistics that can be used to show these changes. Take, for example, the trade with United States, the major trading partner of Mexico. The value of goods traded between the two countries was about 130 billion dollars in 1997. The value increased to a staggering 450 billion dollars in the year 201 1. That is close to four times the 1997 value (Villarreal, 2012). Mexico has many resources, which have been attracting investors from across the world. Other emerging markets countries are becoming expensive to live in and to set up industries. A study by Damien Cave, A renowned New York Times writer indicates that Mexico is attracting many immigrants every

Short answer questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short answer questions - Assignment Example As more red blood cells pass through the tissue, warmth (calor) sets in. Increase in vascular permeability results in fluid to shifting into the connective tissue that causes edema. Vasodilation and thickening of blood encourages leucocytes to stick to blood vessels. Margi nation occurs and leucocytes crawl between the endothelial cells and enter the inflamed tissues. Phagocytosis occurs, microbes are engulfed and destroyed by white blood cells and lastly tissue repair begins (Lydyard & Whelan, 2011).An example when a malaria protozoan enters the body through mosquito bite, the body’s immune becomes active, there is increase in white blood cell circulation. An individual presents with pain and fever. Edema might set in later phase. Inflammation can be classified according to exudate, period, site, and etiology. Based on exudate, inflammations result in fluid accumulation in the tissues. These inflammations can be suppurative inflammation where pus forms resulting into a skin abscess, serous where thin watery exudate forms. An example is blister. In etiology, inflammation can be either aseptic or septic. Aseptic are chemical substance radiations while septic are living organisms that result into inflammation. Based on location, inflammation occurs in different regions of the body depending on the causative agent, for example, tuberculosis causes inflammation of the lungs. Duration depends on the type of hypersensitivity (Lydyard & Whelan, 2011). Type I like insect bites take shorter period to manifest than Type IV where graft transplanting takes 3 days to manifest. The immune system provides three lines of defenses. The first line of defense is made up of nonspecific barriers. This includes chemical and physical barriers that prevent foreign agents from penetrating the outer layer of the body. These barriers are the skin, the mucous membrane, hair, tears, sweat saliva, gastric secretions, and cerumen. The second line of defense consists of leucocytes.

Given Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Given Below - Essay Example n American groups, ostracized by institutional racism and cyclical poverty, employed this force in an effort to restructure government and attain more than just â€Å"equal rights†, but also equal opportunity. The endeavor culminated with the establishment of affirmative action, an effort to supersede the lack of equitable opportunity. White ethnicity resurged, in part defensively, as a response. White ethnics applied their cultural identification and political will toward the protection of their jobs and neighborhoods, which they felt were endangered by black demands. They perceived demands of blacks as a threat to their own opportunities and stridently opposed the anti-individual, group recognition of affirmative action. The authors’ argument is reasonable and persuasively delivered. The authors’ propose that black and ethnic cultural resurgence allowed a galvanization of political strength which served the strategic function of supporting and defending issues key to each group. Though inherently similar, these groups sought different political and socioeconomic goals, ultimately resulting in conflict (i.e. the riots of the late 1960s). The political efforts of these two groups, affirmative action and resistance toward de-individualization, strongly supports the authors’ argument that cultural identification was utilized as a stratagem for political and social strength and provides a cogent explanation for the resurgence of ethnic

Concepts of Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Concepts of Social Responsibility Essay Business organizations today are socially and ethically responsible for doing the right thing, exercising good judgment in their business activities with employees, stakeholders, customers and the community. Business organizations emphasis should not only be on profits, but also on how business decisions impact society. Company Q is a small grocery store chain located in a major metropolitan area. This company will be evaluated on its attitude towards social responsibility. Also, recommendations will be given in three areas indicating how the company could improve its position regarding social responsibility. First of all, Company Q’s decision to close stores in high crime areas will have an adverse effect on the communities where they conduct business, leading to disruption and hardship in the lives of many. This definitely demonstrates an irresponsible attitude toward social responsibility. In terms of social responsibility, Company Q could help enrich the lives of families in need by supporting local community centers. Community centers play an important role in addressing the comprehensive needs of individuals and families by providing a wide range of resources that are most needed. Moreover, a responsible business could initiate programs to help disadvantaged youths and adults in the community, build employable works skills and connect them to career opportunities. Without question, the more job opportunities and employability of the citizens in that community the lower the crime rate would be. Finally, if Company Q is to be socially responsible, it must not only be committed to making a profit, but also to the economic development of the community where it does business (Ravindran, N. 2008). Secondarily, Company Q’s reluctance to offer health conscience customers a wide range of organic and healthy foods because the products are considered high margin items, is socially irresponsible and bad for business. A growing number of consumers favor organic foods, claiming that it tastes better and is healthier. Why organic? Organic foods grown naturally in well-balanced soils, ripened by the sun are healthier and tastier than products with synthetic chemicals and growth hormones. Moreover, the growing number of conscience consumers was highlighted in a recent Bursen-Marsteller report; â€Å"people will more likely choose a product that supports a social cause when choosing between otherwise similar products† (Penn, Schoen Berland, 2010). These average consumers daily decisions are slowly but surely being influenced by social concern and responsibility. Finally, the critical issue for Company Q is the social responsibility to its customers, who looks to business to provide them with satisfying, safe products and respect their rights as customer. Lastly, Company Q decides to throw away food products, instead of donating it to the local food bank. Sadly, this behavior demonstrates a concern for profits before people attitude, which is socially irresponsible. Businesses can no longer ignore social issues because a business is a part of our society. For Company Q to become more socially responsible its sole objective must not only be to make a profit. But include concerns and responsibilities to the general welfare of the communities and societies in which they operate. Moreover, businesses should simply want to make their communities better places for everyone to live and work. The most common way that businesses exercise their community responsibility is through donations to local and national charitable organizations. Doing simple things like contributing to local food banks, may not be enough to change the world for everyone, but does alleviate some of social ills that abound in local communities.

Boewulf :: Boewulf Essays

Boewulf The section entitled "Further Celebration at Heorot" opens after Boewulf has slain Grendel's mother. This becomes acceptable adult behavior when you realize that Grendel and his mother are both monsters from the same evil metal. Beowulf has returned to King Hrothgar's beautiful Heorot Hall to celebrate his victory over evil Grendel. Beowulf's boasts illuminate his heroic deeds. His crowing declares the mead hall now safe for all the thanes to drink in once again. Hrothgar, the honorable king of the Danes, is grateful for the monster's slaughter that Beowulf has done but is also reflective. Drawing on the experiences of a long life, he confides in Beowulf that he should not be quite so full of himself. He states: "Keep yourself against that wickedness, beloved Beowulf, best of men, and choose better-eternal gains. Have no care for pride, great warrior. Now for a time there is glory in your might: yet soon it shall be that sickness or sword will diminish your strength, or fire's fangs, or flood's surge, or sword's swing, or spear's flight, or appalling age; brightness of eyes will fail and glow dark; then it shall be that death will overcome you, warrior." Hrothgar is a wise and noble king. He is much older than Beowulf and sees much of his former self in the young warrior. Having lived and learned many lessons from the thousands of experiences that Beowulf has yet to face, with great affection for Hygelac's thane, Hrothgar tries to use his wisdom to help and Beowulf on the difficult road ahead. To illustrate his point, Hrothgar recounts the story of Heremod, a miserably notorious king, who stayed from the codes and procedures of that warrior caste. The evil one's main failure was a lack of respect for his people. As Hrothgar explains, "He grew great, not for their joy, but for their slaughter." Not only did Heremod fail to share a portion of the wealth and power that God has given him with his loyal retainers. he performed the most heinous of crimes, the killing of his own clansman. In the end, this king, having failed to live a just life, had few friends and died unhappy. Then his people, without longing for their departed king, advanced someone else to the office. Beowulf does not have any fear that Hrothgar's vision is in his future. He is confident of his amazing courage. His states, "Sometimes fate can save the undoomed man if his courage is good.

President FDR’s New Deal Essay -- The New Deal Franklin Delano Rooseve

The 1930’s were one of the most difficult times in American history. It was the time of the Great Depression. Millions of Americans suffered hardships as the economy was in a free fall. Many Americans were unemployed and lost almost everything they had owned. In 1932, America realized it was time for a change, and elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a landslide vote. Roosevelt promised to help end the depression and with his New Deal. The New Deal was Roosevelt’s plan to end the Great Depression. Through increased government spending, FDR enacted numerous public works programs in an effort to simulate the economy. The New Deal’s â€Å"alphabet soup† (this was the nickname for the numerous programs FDR enacted) was FDR’s plan to people out of the depression. The New Deal affected different industries and groups of Americans in unique ways and helped save the nation. One of the groups hardest hit by the Great Depression were the farmers. Due to overproduction and under consumption after World War I and during the 1920’s, the prices of crops fell dramatically. Because of the low prices, Farmers’ incomes fell. The farmer was in a crisis as the Great Depression hit. The farmers were crucial to the American economy and FDR and the New Deal intended to help them. In the first one hundred days of the New Deal, Roosevelt attempted to help the farmers by establishing the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA was intended to help restore purchasing power of farmers. It restored the price takeoff that helped farmers make all that money during the war. Its’ main plan was to reduce the size of crops by paying farmers to plow their crops under. This, in theory, would shoot the price of the crops. There were a few problems with the AAA though. It seemed as cruel because the government was destroying crops that could be used to feed all the starving people. The AAA also didn’t do much to help tenant farmers and sharecroppers. This was because the money that the government was paying the owners of the farm to plow the fields under was never shared with the tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Even though the farmer owners were told to give some of the money to the people who worked their land they never did. The New Deal also set up other agencies to help farmers. FDR set up the Farm Resettlement Administration, the Rural Electrification Administ... ...al aid for the elderly, but it was not meant to be the main source of retirement. It also provided unemployment insurance, aid for persons who were blind or crippled, and aid to dependent children. Roosevelt would pay for this act with a tax on corporations and rich people. This act gave the people comfort because they now believed that the government would help them financially when they needed it. It also gave unions more initiative to strike because the government has security for them. FDR’s New Deal gave American hope during a time when there was little optimism. It gave Americans jobs; it put food on the table, and started to restored confidence in the economy. FDR’s New Deal might not have ended the Great Depression, but it left a legacy. A legacy that you can see in the unions, in the numerous public works projects, in the big government we have today, in the acts like Social Security, and most importantly in the people whose lives it changed forever. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1) Encarta ® Concise Encyclopedia Article. (http://encarta.msn.com) 2) Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com) 3) Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal (http://www.geocities.com)

Meaning of life essay Essay

?â€Å"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life† (Camus). If you spend your whole life searching for one thing you will waste your life and it will only take a few moments for time to pass you by. The meaning of life is nonexistent and imponderable. ?â€Å"The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation† (Jackson). The meaning of life is simply the way you view it. Like religion everyone has different philosophies and opinions and only those who give life a meaning have the true understanding of the meaning of life. My Opinion on the Meaning of Life I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning, because there truly is no meaning otherwise. I believe everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal, never complex. I believe the meaning of life should be simple and potentially whatever we want it to be. I do what I do because I want to. It’s that simple for me; I do it because it means something to me. â€Å"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can† (Kaye). I believe this quote is saying that you should give life your all and do whatever it takes to make your life the way you want it. This is saying someone should do what you believe the philosophy of your life is. Many people go about their lives searching for the meaning of life and how it applies to them but in reality they will waste their lives away looking for something that does not exist. â€Å"There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person† (Nin). â€Å"Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer† (Campbell). This is saying how we bring the meaning to life and our thoughts and ideas on what we believe life is and should be. I do not believe in the idea of there being one specific meaning but millions for each and every soul around the earth. Various populations will all agree to disagree about their views but in retrospect you realize that everyone is right. Everyone gives their own meaning to the idea. Purposes and meanings will change, but the overall meaning to life, that there is no true meaning, will always stay the same. I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. Works Cited ?†Albert Camus Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. . ?†Anais Nin Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. ?†Danny Kaye Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. . ?†Michael Jackson Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. .

Immediate environment Essay

The human condition presents us with unavoidable difficulties which, in turn, require us to make personal choices. The capacity to make a choice and its corresponding responsibilities render reflective thinking as constitutive of what it means to be a human being and what it means to be a Self. It is in this conscious activity of making a choice that the will makes itself manifest. In a sense, a choice is an expression of one’s will, of one’s subjectivity. For Kierkegaard (1999), this subjectivity constitutes the uniqueness of the individual’s existence. Kierkegaard provides us with an idea of how to approach the problem of existence, that is, by focusing our attention to the concrete individual who makes personal choices and acts out on these choices. He breaks away from the ancient Greeks’ extreme emphasis on rationality and objectivity and its general problems. This is evident in his critical appraisal of the Greek tragedy. He claims, â€Å"The reason is of course to be found in the fact that in the ancient world subjectivity was not fully conscious and reflective† (Kierkegaard, 1992, p. 142). He goes on to add, â€Å"Even though the individual moved freely, he still depended on substantial categories, on state, family, and destiny† (Kierkegaard, 1992, p. 142). This is another way of stating that even if the self can experience the state of freedom and in fact actualize this freedom by portraying its capacity to perform autonomous acts, the self continues to be affected by the factors in its immediate environment. Kierkegaard’s elaboration sheds light on the importance of authentic choice in terms of generating our conception of selfhood. In the case of the tragic hero, the fatalistic mindset of the ancient Greeks can bring serious doubts on the question regarding the authenticity of the tragic hero’s choices. Given that the individual cannot really divorce himself away from substantial categories, how can we establish that it is the individual who defines himself and not the other way around? Choice is an integral aspect of Kierkegaard’s gradual development of the Self. It is important to note that the development of the Self is gradual as it goes through certain stages where the quality of one’s existence is improved via an act of choice. This is to say that the individual and his conception of the Self ascend from one stage to another. Such ascension indicates that the individual is in the process of actualization. For Kierkegaard (1992), the aesthetic stage is a stage where one’s sense of the Self is governed by the sensual, impulses and emotions. This stage presents the individual with an illusion of freedom. In essence though, the aesthetic stage, although seemingly attractive, is in reality, destructive. He claims, â€Å"We said that every aesthetic life-view was despair; this was because it was built upon what may or may not be† (Kierkegaard, 1992, p. 525). These are the reasons as to why the aesthetic stage cannot lead to a progressive actualization of the individual. Apparently, it is also the attractiveness and the emptiness of the kind of life in the aesthetic stage which leads the individual to transcend sensual existence and ascend to the ethical stage. From reading Kierkegaard, it seems to me that the substantial differentiation between the aesthetic and the ethical person/stage rests on the is-ought distinction. Kierkegaard claims, â€Å"The aesthetic factor in a person is that by which he is immediately what he is; the ethical factor is that by which he becomes what he becomes† (1992, p. 492). The ethical person is, therefore, a person who subscribes to the demands of reason; and the ethical life is a life devoted to the pursuit of moral goodness. It is, however, important to note that Kierkegaard’s phrase â€Å"by which he becomes what he becomes† implies both commitment and choice on the part of the individual. The difference between Descartes and Kierkegaard is, at this point, very obvious. Descartes focuses on the grand problems of universal import, such as existence in its universal sense. Kierkegaard (1992), on the other hand, focuses on the concrete individual and his concrete existence. In the end, it can be said that the conception of the Self is a product of the concrete choices of the individual as they present themselves in the course of the individual’s existence. The actualization of one’s Self requires something more than choice, that is, action. Aside from action, something more is required, that is, committing oneself to the choice that he makes and his actions as a product of one’s rational deliberation. Reference Kierkegaard, S. (1992). Either/or: a fragment of life. London: Penguin.

River Restoration – Soft Engineering The River Cole, Oxford

The River Cole forms part of the border between the counties, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. It is a tributary of the River Thames and joins it near Lechlade. Many mills have altered the river by straightening and polluting it. Much of its upper course has been built over due to urbanisation and so the exact location of the source is unknown. It also ?ows through National Trust land. The River Cole had become very polluted and needed restoration. Restoration is returning a river to its natural state after arti?cial alteration.The river needed  restoration in order to change the water course, improve the water quality and manage the bank-side vegetation. In 1994, River Restoration Project was set up in order to show how contemporary restoration techniques could help damaged ecosystems thrive. The project was run by the RRP (River Restoration Project), the Environment Agency, English Nature, the National Trust, the Countryside Commission and the EU. Using the EU LIFE money, three demonst ration projects were set up, helping to restore over a 2km stretch of the River.The project was completed in 1996. In order to bring the river bed back in line with the ?oodplain, the river bed below Coleshill Bridge was raised. More gravel rif?es (fast ?owing midstream ridges) were introduced, as well as some small weirs (small barriers allowing pools to form behind them). Due to the redevelopment of the river bed, it ran at a higher level than a large stretch of the river. A new meandering channel was cut allowing the water to travel at the same height. Parts of the old river were kept and acts as backwaters.During high this provides shelter for ?sh, birds and insects, adding to the growing biodiversity of the river. The meanders also cause more regular ?ooding of the neighboring ?elds, creating water meadows and increasing agricultural productivity. The ancient course of the River Cole has been able to be recreated. This is due to the ?oodwaters, caused by meandering, restoring t he ?ood meadows along the western side of the Cole Mill. The Cole Mill is hoped to be put back into occasional operation by the RRP.However, the water levels in the stream ?owing near the mill must be raised in order for this to be possible. They plan to develop the River Leat (the feeder stream – the tributary that empties in to the River Cole) into a long lake. The plan for wet pasture and reed beds along the sides of the river will accompany this development. These will contribute in cleansing the streams that have been polluted by silt, fertiliser and treated sewage. The restoration has many bene?ts. It has allowed riverside organisms and wetland wildlife to thrive in the river and on the ?oodplain, playing a huge part in nature conservation.Fisheries now have an greater numbers of ?sh of different species. Due to installation of vegetation, there has been an increased interception of pollutants. Sediment has also been naturally settling on the ?oodplain and river bed. Th e restoration also acts as a ?ood defence. Due to the enlarged ?oodplain and the backwaters created by the old river, additional ?ood storage has been created. The restoration has also helped the attraction of recreational activities near the river. The natural landscape created by the restored river has received strong public support.Therefore, the River Restoration Project has been a success for the River Cole. This is thanks to the clear environmental bene?ts. Although the changes had to be paid for, there are economic bene?ts to the restoration. The surrounding landscape is now seen as a much more pleasant environment and so people are more likely to pay for recreational activities to do with the river. The social bene?ts are also clear. The cleaner waters of the river are both aesthetically and morally pleasing to general society. This leads to happier locals as their river is being taken care of.

Bea System and CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Bea System and CSR - Essay Example Management now gained more strategic importance with the development of business functions like planning, organizing, coordinating and also other functions pertaining to division and management of the organisational workload among people working in different groups. Moreover the concept also gained impetus owing to its linkage to managerial activities pertaining to decision making regarding the optimum allocation and economical use of scarce organisational resources. A more current understanding of the managerial concept implies the achieving of core organisational objectives through the activities of other people. In this definition it is clearly reflected that the manager in an organisation is not required to conduct business activities by oneself. Rather such a person can manage business activities through supervising the acts of other people working under him. The above discussion henceforth holds management as a special skill or art which is practiced by the managers to fulfil o rganisational objectives through the acts of others (Peel, 1994, p.1-4; Liebler and McConnell, 2004, p.51-53). Having discussed the emergence and development of the management concept the focus is now rendered on one of the approaches to the management science known as the model for Competing Values Framework. It is found by different management experts like Quinn that the different approaches to management that had emerged with the development of scientific management had some common traits which helped the concepts to merge with each other. This merging of the concepts gave birth to a composite model known as the Competing Values Framework which is considered the appropriate model for future managerial uses. This model is considered best for future managerial applications owing to the prevalence of different types of mindsets which is closely integrated to help business managers to compete effectively with the competing and dynamic current business environment. Competing Values Fr amework model is represented in the form of a grid formed by two axes vertical and horizontal. The horizontal axis judges the effectiveness of the managerial approaches from both the internal and external respects of the organizational environment. Again the vertical axis represents different managerial traits which denote a situation of supreme flexibility at the top which trickles down to a point of absolute certainty reflecting total control. This model earns due effectiveness for reflecting the development of managerial decision making across a number of stages and thereby shows the impacts of such in the external and internal organisational environment (Pellissier, 2001, p.142-143; Smart, 2010, p.389). Thus this model depicted in Appendix A truly reflects the strategic fit in regards to both organisational values and managerial effectiveness and traits making it one of the best models for future managerial uses. Application The Organisation The organisation that would be analyz ed in this context is BEA. This organisation is held to be the world’s largest company in the field of generation of application software for other companies. BEA gained its current stand in a matter of about eight

Personal Growth Influences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Growth Influences - Essay Example This lifestyle, with it’s exposure to a variety of cultures and ethnicities, has been the learning experience of my lifetime and has made me very much aware of the universality and basic oneness of mankind, despite differences of race, language and religion. It has made me a true ‘citizen of the world.’ The extracurricular activity I have most enjoyed has been running track in High School. This has inculcated in me the passion to go all out to reach my goal, taught me that preparation is the key to success and has given me endurance and the hunger to win. It has also taught me to work as a member of a team towards a common objective and made me appreciate the camaraderie of a commonly motivated group and also the importance of physical fitness in life. The strongest influence of my life has been my parents. My Mother, who is a registered nurse at a retirement home, has influenced me to be sensitive to the needs of the economically and socially disadvantaged and also the aged and the ill. At her suggestion, I have been involved in a community project in which I have visited hospices for the aged over the weekends and spent some time with the inmates, reading to them (mainly the newspapers and the Bible) and helping them with their letters and other correspondence. I have come away from this experience with the certainty that society owes the aged a gift of security and inclusion. I have a deep admiration and respect for my Father, who is an International trader for a major American bank. He treats me not only as his son, but also as his confidante and friend. I am often privy to the information inputs which guide his management techniques and his responses to the various financial complexities involved in his profession. From his experiences, I have understood that the quality of life and the personal happiness of people all over the world is dependent on their financial security, particularly in the later years.

IT2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT2 - Assignment Example IT therefore ensures that the best available resources are brought to the disposal of business managers, with clear and simple directions to deal with any challenge facing business operations. With continued interaction on online platforms, business process outsourcing further facilitates access to information and resources at near-infinite advantage. Internet facilitation for business operations is best encompassed perhaps when dealing with setting up virtual management of tasks, for instance in coordinating teamwork remote. Alternatively, online business process outsourcing enables employers to reach an astronomical level of possibilities by accessing a huge pool of contractors from every corner of the world. Coordination of such business tasks using Internet makes Internet such a necessity in the emerging business based on unlimited virtual resources. In launching competitive advantage in the market, Internet provides options that eliminate challenges in management, marketing, outsourcing, research and development as well as innovation. Flexibility in use of information available online to turn unique opportunities into possible exploitable ventures makes Internet a rare business asset on which growth and sustainability can be realized. Innovation-hungry consumers following business developments use Internet to drive markets i nto customized entities where wastage and unnecessary costs can be eliminated significantly. The use if lock-in strategy could not be better realized under information technology, where companies rely on higher-end technologies to produce. In the realization of the benefits of locking-in suppliers and customers, continued research and development outcomes giving unique products can now be carried out. From such technology intensive operations, emphasis on technology licensing that makes it difficult for would-be competitors to apply similar technology provides an important beginning point for lock-in strategy (Kemerer, 1998, p179). In

Triangle Fire Reflection Occupational Health and Safety as a Community Movie Review

Triangle Fire Reflection Occupational Health and Safety as a Community Health Issue - Movie Review Example The conditions at work were still worse such as absence of safety precautions, few ventilation mechanisms; lack of fire drills, and poor fire exits i.e. locked doors. The triangle fire broke out probably as a result of a mishandled lit cigarette or tossed match which led to an outbreak of fire on the building’s eight floor. Huge flames of fire lit up and spread quickly throughout the building. The factory’s poor conditions of the floor greatly influenced the start of the fire. The top management team were immediately notified of the accident and quickly escaped. However, the situation was unknown till late for workers on the ninth floor who continued their work until they saw fumes of smoke. This caused panic; some run to the stairwell only to be blocked by intensifying flames. Some few were able to use the elevator and others crowded the little fire escape which unfortunately crumbled due to the excessive weight crushing almost 100ft to the ground. Unfortunately the remaining exit was a locked door whose key was carried by a foreman who did nothing to help the situation. Some of the workers resulted in jumping through the windows of the now fully fire encroached building. The fire outbreak led to the loss of the lives of 146 workers. The fire department also is to blame for the loss of life. The response to the fire outbreak was slow and ineffective. Proper strategies were not in place to save lives since some people resulted in jumping through the windows. The department failed initially to ascertain that the factory had adhered to safety standards. The triangle fire served as an important benchmark for future laws regarding fire safety standards. It influenced immensely on the formulation of safety laws across the states regarding safety in the workplace. The tradition negligence of the employees’ safety in the workplace by the

PI Darren Aronofsky 1998 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PI Darren Aronofsky 1998 - Essay Example This paper will discuss question number one of the instructions stated that is a central theme that suggests looking at the ‘face of God’ can only be done by verbalizing a string of numbers. A central theme in the film which discusses the face of God is the theme of Kabbalah. Kabbalah refers to an esoteric discipline, method or school of thought (Huntley 1). Sean Gullette, in Pi, acts as Maximillian Cohen. He is a paranoid mathematician looking for a number to unchain the patterns set up in nature. Max uses his homemade PC named "Euclid" to investigate these arithmetical patterns. The 216-letter phrase of God sought by the actors of the film refers to as the Explicit Name or the Shem ha-Meforash (Huntley 1). The name comes from the book Exodus 14:19-21. Each of these three bible verses is composed of 72 letters in traditional Hebrew. According to the film, if a person writes these verses in boustrophedon form, then the person gets 72 columns of 3 letter names of God (Huntley 1). Boustrophedon form means that one verse is above the other, the first from right to left. Then the second verse is from left to right and the third is from right to left. The nature of the Divine, according to Pi, prompted kabbalists to foresee two aspects of God. The first aspect is that God is totally unknowable, transcendent, limitless and simple. The second aspect is that God’s manifestation revealed his persona of which He creates and aids mankind (Huntley 1). The film speaks of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof, which means that God that literary has no limits. Of the unfriendly Ein Sof, nothing can be understood. The second feature of Divine emanations, nevertheless, are available to human awareness, vigorously interacting throughout physical and spiritual existence, reveal God immanently, and are tied up in the life of humans (Huntley 1).  

The Meaning of Home (Tim Obrien, Joyce Carol Oates, Doris Lessing) Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Home (Tim Obrien, Joyce Carol Oates, Doris Lessing) Essay By showing what home means for their characters, authors can render certain themes of the novel, demonstrate several different meanings of the word home, or, underscore significant aspects of the personality of the figure in question. In Doris Lessings novel The Fifth Child, the characters Harriet and Davids home represents their dream about the perfect family and the perfect life and by illustrating this to the reader Lessing reveals how they are committing hubris . Also, in the novel The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien, the character Norman Bowker returns home in order to gain understanding of his own feelings, and therefore home is more seen as a place for support and acceptation. Furthermore, in Joyce Carol Oates short story Stray Children, Charles Benedicts study and the nature of it reflects the characters personal qualities. Firstly, home can be seen as a dream of the future. In The Fifth Child, Harriet and David dream about the perfect family and life. They buy a house that is too big for them, wishing to fill it with smiling and happy children. On the other hand, they are experiencing economical hardships and are forced to borrow money from Davids father in order to cope with the situation they have put themselves in. Still, even though they have to have access to extra money in order to endure, they continue the get more and more children. It is mentioned how they believe that David would a higher salary some time soon and everything will work out. They, in a way, buy the house for what they wish it will represent in the future. Lessing conveys this by showing how Harriet and David take the money they receive for granted and promise their families that it will pay off in the long run. This concept of taking something for granted because they think that they are worth it can be seen as an act of hubris. Thus, by showing what home signify for Harriet and David Lessing underlines the theme of hubris. Secondly, home can also represent the characters essential needs. In The Things They Carried, Norman Bowker returns home from the warfront and the thing he requires the most from society and his family is understanding. He desperately needs to talk, but there is no one there who wants to listen to him. It revealed how he circles the lake in his home town and honks his horn to a few boys while he passed them, but how neither of them even looked up. This can be seen as a metaphor for how Bowker was trying to tell society about his experiences and emotions and how society did not even care to hear him out. The scene ends with him continuing to drive around the lake more than ten times and imagining how a conversation between his father and him about his wartime experiences would turn out. By not getting what he needed and therefore resorting to taking his own life, Bowker embodies the damage war can do to a soldier long after the war is over. OBrien shows how the idea of home represents our deepest and fundamental needs and that when those are not fulfilled we suffer. Thirdly, the characters idea of the perfect home can also reflect upon certain traits of this person. In Stray Children, Charles Benedict lives a successful, immaculate and steady life. These aspects of his life also characterise his study. It is rendered how Benedict always liked his study because it was always the same and unharmed. By mentioning the fact why he likes his room, Oates can highlight some important aspects of his personality. In sum, by showing what home means, authors can convey what the character dreams of and want, needs and can not live without, and, draw attention to certain personal qualities off the character. Rendering what home means can be significant in many different ways. In the first example, Lessing conveys the theme of hubris by showing Harriet and Davids dream and then contrasting it to their reality; they take the money they receive for granted since they think that they are worth it and therefore should have the money. Also, in the second case, OBrien renders how home may not always literally mean home as in the place where you live, but it can also stand for our basic needs. Moreover, in the third instance, Oates uses the meaning of home in order to stress certain features of the character in question. However, the meaning of home is not restricted to being just one thing. OBrien can also show how Bowker is a character who needs constant support and is too weak to handle the hardships himself by rendering how Bowker desperately needed comfort when he returned home. As in the case with Charles Benedict and his study, home can also be used to show how he thinks, how he wants the city to look like in his role as a city planner. Oates can therefore also deliver social criticism through illustrating the meaning of home; how Benedict wants everything to look perfect and therefore he plans the city without taking the living conditions of certain people into consideration. In addition, the first example with Harriet and David and their view of home can also help the reader characterise them as determined people with set goals in the future and perhaps somewhat inconsiderate of their future troubles that they may face by ignoring the problems they are already experiencing. Hence, home does not only mean one thing but the reader can often draw several significant pieces of information out from it.

Kansas Gun City Experiment | Research Analysis

Kansas Gun City Experiment | Research Analysis INTRODUCTION This paper provides a critical assessment of a level 3 impact evaluation that was assigned in 2012. The study chosen was the â€Å"Kansas City Gun Experiment† which was undertaken by Sherman and Rogan (1995). This paper analyses how well the selected study addressed the issues of reliability of measurement, internal validity of causal inferences, external validity of conclusions to the full population the study sampled and the clarity of the policy implications of applying the results in policing. This essay is divided into six areas. Firstly, a summary of the Kansas City Gun Experiment was presented. This summary gives a brief account of the history of the experiment as well as describes the criminological theories to which the experiment was based, the methodological processes of the experiment and a brief description of the findings of the experiment. Following the summary the essay verges onto the main assessment of the study. Firstly the reliability of measurement of the study is critiqued by examining its test-retest reliability and its internal consistency. Secondly the internal validity of causal inferences was assessed to determine whether the causal relationships between the two variables were properly demonstrated. The external validity of conclusions to the full population the study sampled was then assessed followed by the clarity of the policy implications of applying the results in policing. SUMMARY The Kansas City Gun Experiment, carried out for 29 weeks, from July 7th 1992 to Jnuaray 27th, 1993, was a police patrol project that was aimed at reducing gun violence, drive-by shootings and homicides in the U.S.A. It was based on the premise that seizure of guns and gun crime are inversely proportional. This hypothesis was based on the theories of deterrence and incapacitation. The Kansas City Police Department ( KCPD) implemented greater proactive police patrols in hotspots where gun crimes were prevalent. The study of these patrols were studied by Sherman and Rogan 1995) employing the use of quasi-experimental design. Two areas were chosen for the experiment. Beat 144, the target area, was chosen due to elevated incidences of violent crimes including homicides and drive-by shootings. Beat 242 was chosen as the comparison area or control group due to similar numbers in drive-by shootings. The control group which was used to increase the reliability of results was left untreated meaning that no special efforts or extra patrols were carried out. In contrast beat 144 was treated several different strategies for increasing gun seizures. Some of the techniques used included stop and search and safety frisks. Officers working overtime, from 7pm to 1 am, 7 days a week, were rotated in pairs to provide patrols focused solely on the detection and seizure of guns. These officers did not respond to any other calls that were not gun related. Some of the data collected to be analyzed included number of guns seized, number of crimes committed, number of gun related calls and arrest records before initiation of the experiment, during and after completion, for both experimental and control groups. The differences between the experimental and control group were then compared using a difference of means test (t-test). Gun crimes in the 52 weeks before and after the patrols in both the experimental and control group were compared using autoregressive moving averages (ARIMA) MODELS. There was indeed a 65% increase in gun seizure and a decrease in gun crime by 49% in the target area. In the control group, gun seizures and gun crimes remained relatively unchanged. Also, there was no significant displacement of gun crimes to areas surrounding the target area. These results were also similar for homicides and drive-by shootings. Citizen surveys also revealed that most of the general public were less fearful of crime as compared to those in control groups. RELIABILITY OF MEASUREMENT The results of this study suggest that there may be clear implications for other cities wishing to reduce their gun crime. But how valid are these conclusions? How reliable are they? All measurements may contain some element of error. In order for the measurements recorded during the Kansas City Gun experiment to be sound, they must be free of bias and distortion. Reliability and validity therefore are important in this regard. Reliability can be seen as the extent to which a measurement method is consistent. Reliability of a measure can be described as when a measure yields consistent scores or observations on a given phenomenon on different occasions ( Bachman and Schutt 2007, p.87). It refers firstly to the extent to which a method of measurement produces the same results for the same case under the same conditions referred to as test-retest reliability and secondly the extent to which responses to the individual items in a multiple-item measure are consistent with each other known as internal consistency. A measure that is not reliable cannot be valid. Can it be said that the measurements used in the Kansas City Gun experiment were reliable and valid? This can be assessed by firstly by looking at its’ test-retest reliability and then secondly, its’ internal consistency. Test-retest reliability As funding ran out the study was never repeated under the same conditions in beat 144, thus strictly speaking there was never an opportunity to test whether the same or similar results would have been obtained over an equivalent period some time later. Internal consistency The measures used in this study included separate bookkeeping and an onsite University of Maryland evaluator who accompanied the officers on 300 hours of hot spots patrol and coded every shift activity narrative for patrol time and enforcement in and out of the area. Property room data on guns seized, computerized crime reports, calls for service data, and arrest records were analyzed for both areas under the study. Sherman and Rogan (1995) then analyzed the data using four different models. The primary analyses assumed that the gun crime counts were independently sampled from the beats examined before and after the intervention. This model treated the before–during difference in the mean weekly rates of gun crime as an estimate of the magnitude of the effect of the hot spots patrols, and assessed the statistical significance of the differences with the standard two-tailed t–tests (Sherman and Roagn (1995)). A second model assumed that the weekly gun crime data points were not independent but were correlated serially, and thus required a Box–Jenkins ARIM (autoregressive integrated moving average) test of the effect of an abrupt intervention in a time series. A third model examined rate events (homicide and drive-by shootings) aggregated in 6-month totals on the assumption that those counts were independent, using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. A fourth model also assumed independence of observations, and compared the target with the control beat in a before–during chi-square-test. The t–tests compared weekly gun crimes for all 29 weeks of the phase 1 patrol program (July, 7, 1992, through Jan. 25, 1993) with the 29 weeks preceding phase 1, using difference-of-means tests. The ARIM models extended the weekly counts to a full 52 weeks before and after the beginning of phase 1. The ANOVA model added another year before phase 1 (all of 1991) as well as 1993, the year after phase 1 (Sherman and Rogan (1995)). It is submitted that Sherman and Rogan (1995) use of the four different models described above attempted to ensure that an acceptable level of triangulation and as such, internal consistency was achieved given the fact that the program design itself did not lend itself to the researcher having data and an opportunity such that responses to the individual items in a multiple-item measure could be checked for consistency. Reliability may be seen as a prerequisite for validity. Therefore the fact that there was never any opportunity to repeat the study, there was never any opportunity to examine whether the same or similar results would have been obtained in beat 144 over an equivalent period some time using the same policing tactics. In other words can it be safely said that the use of the same measures as mentioned above, i.e., the onsite University of Maryland evaluator who accompanied the officers on 300 hours of hot spots patrol together with Property room data on guns seized, computerized crime reports, calls for service data, and arrest records would have yielded similar results? The simple answer is no as it was never done. It is to be noted that the evaluator accompanied the officers on 300 hours of hot spots patrol out of 2,256 (assuming that the 300 referred to patrol car-hours). Is this number statistically sufficient to reduce the occurrence of random errors which occur as a result of over-estimation and under-estimation of recordings? It is accordingly submitted that the level of reliability of measurement is limited to the instance of this study as there is no way of testing its stability short of repeating it. THE INTERNAL VALIDITY OF CAUSAL INFERENCES Validity is often defined as the extent to which an instrument measures what it purports to measure. Validity requires that an instrument is reliable, but an instrument can be reliable without being valid (Kimberlin and Winterstein (2008)). Validity refers to the accuracy of a measurement or what conclusions we can draw from the results of such measurement. Therefore, apart from the issue of reliability discussed above, it must also be determined whether the measures used in the Kansas City Gun Experiment measured what they were suppose to measure and whether the causal inferences drawn possess internal validity. Internal validity means that the study measured what it set out to whilst external validity is the ability to make generalizations from the study (Grimes and Schulz (2002)). With respect to internal validity, selection bias, information bias, and confounding are present to some degree in all observational research. According to Grimes, David, A. and Schulz, Kenneth, F. (2002), selection bias stems from an absence of comparability between groups being studied. Information bias results from incorrect determination of exposure, outcome, or both. The effect of information bias depends on its type. If information is gathered differently for one group than for another, this results in biasness. By contrast, non-differential misclassification tends to obscure real differences. They viewed Confounding as a mixing or blurring of effects: a researcher attempts to relate an exposure to an outcome but actually measures the effect of a third factor (the confounding variable). Confounding can be controlled in several ways: restriction, matching, stratification, and more sophisticated multivariate techniques. If a reader cannot explain away study results on the basis of selection, information, or confounding bias, then chance might be another explanation. Chance should be examined last, however, since these biases can account for highly significant, though bogus results. Differentiation between spurious, indirect, and causal associations can be difficult. Criteria such as temporal sequence, strength and consistency of an association and evidence of a dose-response effect lend support to a causal link. It is submitted that the onsite University of Maryland evaluator who accompanied the officers on 300 hours of hot spots patrol and coded every shift activity narrative for patrol time and enforcement in and out of the area would have been able to give a rough measure of the number of guns seized, whilst the Property room data on guns seized, computerized crime reports, calls for service data, and arrest records would have after analysis indicated whether gun crimes increased or decreased. It could be inferred therefore that as the number of guns seized increased, the level of gun related crimes decreased and that this inference possessed internal validity. THE EXTERNAL VALIDITY OF CONCLUSIONS TO THE FULL POPULATION THE STUDY SAMPLED According to Grimes, David, A. and Schulz, Kenneth, F. (2002), external validity is the ability to make generalizations from the study. With regard to the Kansas City Gun Experiment, the question which must now be asked is whether the program is likely to be effective in other settings and with other areas, cities or populations. Steckler, Allan McLeroy, Kenneth R. (2007) quoting Campbell D.T. Stanley J.C. (1966) argues that internal validity is as important as external validity. We have thus gone a bit further so not only is it important to know whether the program is effective, but also whether it is likely to be effective in other settings and with other areas, cities or populations. This would accordingly lead to the translation of research to practice. It must be submitted that as with internal validity, the fact that there was never any opportunity to repeat the study, there was never any opportunity to examine whether the same or similar results would have been obtained in beat 144 over an equivalent period some time using the same policing tactics and or in any other beat for that matter. It cannot therefore be validly concluded that the Kansas City Gun Experiment would be as effective in any other beat area. THE CLARITY OF POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF APPLYING THE RESULTS IN POLICING The policy implications of applying the results of the Kansas City Gun Experiment are arguably fairly clear. The most important conclusion is that police can increase the number of guns seized in high gun crime areas at relatively modest cost. Directed patrol around gun crime hot spots is about three times more cost-effective than normal uniformed police activity citywide, on average, in getting guns off the street[1]. Policing bodies around the United States can conclude that although the raw numbers of guns seized in a particular beat may not be impressively large, the impact of even small increases in guns seized in decreasing the percentage of gun crimes can be substantial. If a city wants to adopt this policy in a high gun crime area, this experiment proves that it can be successfully implemented[2]. It is also clear from the Kansas City gun experiment that a focus on gun detection, with freedom from answering calls for service, can make regular beat officers working on overtime very productive. REFERENCES Bachman, R. and Schutt, R, K, (2007). The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice. 3rd Edition , Sage Publications Inc. Sherman and Rogan (1995), â€Å"The Kansas City Gun Experiment†, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Sherman and Rogan (1995), â€Å"The Kansas City Gun Experiment†, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Sherman and Rogan (1995), â€Å"The Kansas City Gun Experiment†, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Kimberlin, Carole L., and Winterstein, Almut, G. (2008),â€Å"Validity and Reliability of Measurement Instruments used in Research† Research fundamentals, Am J Health-Syst Pharm—Vol 65 Dec 1, 2008 Grimes, David, A. and Schulz, Kenneth, F. (2002), â€Å"Bias and causal associations in observational research† Grimes, David, A. and Schulz, Kenneth, F. (2002), â€Å"Bias and causal associations in observational research† Campbell D.T. Stanley J.C. (1966), Experimental and Quasi Experimental Designs, Chicago, Ill: Rand McNally; 1966. 8. Steckler, Allan McLeroy, Kenneth R. (2007), The Importance of External Validity, Am J Public Health. 2008 January; 98(1): 9–10. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.126847 9. Sherman, Lawrence W., and R.A. Berk, (1984), â€Å"The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Domestic Assault,† American Sociological Review, (49)(1984):261–272. [1] Sherman, Lawrence W., and R.A. Berk, (1984), â€Å"The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Domestic Assault,† American Sociological Review, (49)(1984):261–272. [2]