The Louisiana Of The United States - 1650 Words

In this country’s amazing history there have been very many important expeditions, encounterments, exchanges, and discoveries. Within this journey we see two very brave men that meet countless obstacles, converse between cultures, and explore some of the most beautiful land ever made. This land that was explored was called the Louisiana territory. The Louisiana Purchase was purchased in 1803 by Thomas Jefferson the president at that time. The Louisiana purchase was a land purchase between the United States and France, in which the U.S. gained around 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million dollars. This was the greatest land deal in history. The Louisiana territory was sold to the U.S by the†¦show more content†¦No one knew what the land held, many thought there were volcanoes, mountains of salt, or even the extinct wooly mammoth. Even before holding national office Thomas Jefferson tried to organize several expeditions in the Louisiana territory. Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was a boyhood neighbor of Thomas Jefferson. In 1794, Lewis joined the military and was commanded by Lieutenant William Clark. Lewis and Clark became good friends. In 1801 Jefferson, Lewis was asked by President Thomas Jefferson to act as his private secretary and he sent him the following letter, Your knowledge of the Western country, of the army, and of its interests and relations has rendered it desirable for public as well as private purposes that you should be engaged in that office. †¦. Lewis accepted the position. Soon after the President posed another offer to Meriwether Lewis- to lead an expedition into the land west of the Mississippi River. He asked him to gather information about plants, animals, and especially the people of the region- the indians. Lewis was very excited about the idea and agreed immediately. Lewis selected his old friend William Clark for his co-commander. Lewis’s invitation broke military protocol by proposing a dual command, but Lewis insisted that for the next two and a

Richard Neustadt Free Essays

Richard Neustadt: Presidential Power and the Modern Presidency Writing in 1960, Richard Neustadt is an important political theorist focusing on the US Presidency. Neustadt’s work was a reaction to the â€Å"old institutionalism† represented by writers like Edwin Corwin. Neustadt takes a behaviorist approach to understanding presidential power, and argues that the real functional power of the US president arises from his â€Å"power to persuade†. We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Neustadt or any similar topic only for you Order Now Neustadt acknowledges that the formal power of the US president is spelled out in the US Constitution but he argues that these formal powers do not adequately describe the real functional power of the president. For Neustadt the key to presidential power is the president’s ability to persuade other important actors to carry out what he wants done. Neustadt views the presidency as at the apex of a pyramid of governing power that provides the president with unique leverage and vantage points to bargain with and persuade others on implementing governing policy and direction. These other actors include cabinet officers and senior government bureaucrats, the congress, military leaders, leaders of state governments, party leaders, business leaders and even foreign leaders. Neustadt does not see the US government as one of â€Å"separated power† under the Constitution. Instead he claims that the Constitution actually â€Å"created a government of separated institutions sharing powers. â€Å" These separated institutions include the congress, federalism itself, the bill of rights and perhaps even the press as a fourth branch of government. Neustadt sees the formal powers of the president and congress as very intertwined such that neither can accomplish very much without the acquiescence of the other; and, that what one branch demands the other can resist. Neustadt notes, for example that Eisenhower claimed that the presidency was part of the legislative process, since he had the authority to veto or sign bills, etc. But Neustadt notes that when a president tries to command rather than persuade, such as when Truman nationalized the steel mills or fired MacArthur, or when Eisenhower sent the troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation court orders, that there can be blowback that can neutralize presidential fiat and, ultimately, render presidential action inconclusive or effective. Neustadt sees relationships of mutual dependence between the various stakeholders and that the president depends upon the persons whom he would persuade. He notes a particular success story of persuasion when Truman worked with Republican senator Vandenberg to create the Marshall plan to rebuild Europe after WWII. That effort depended on mutual understanding, trust and a commitment to shared endeavor without which Vandenberg may have decided to wait for a Republican president to create a major new direction in US foreign policy. Neustadt sums up by arguing that for a president to have effective influence he must: (1) use the bargaining advantage that he has by virtue of his office to persuade other men that what he wants them to do is what their own responsibilities require of them (persuade them that his goals should be their own goals), 2) maintain a professional reputation in the minds of other men such that they respect his authority and ability, and (3) maintain his popular prestige such that those he bargains with believes that the public will view them favorably if they do what the president wants. In short, the president’s â€Å"power is the product of his vantage points in government, together with his reputation in the Washington community and his prestige outside. † Neustadt goes on to argue a presidents has to make proper choices and decisions, so as to preserve his reputation and prestige, or he will squander his ability to lead by losing his ability to persuade. How to cite Richard Neustadt, Papers

OSPF Transport Instance Extensions

Question: Discuss about the OSPF Transport Instance Extensions. Answer: Introduction: The communication protocols are the basic set of rules which are applicable when there are two or more than two components in the network of the communication system (Kerenidis et al., 2015). The components or the entities transfer the data through several physical devices. The protocol or the set of rules are defined in such a manner that the, syntaxes and the semantics could be defined by them easily. The error recovery functions are also performed by these protocols. The protocols can be imposed by either the software or the hardware or can be done by collaborating both the hardware and the software. The protocols are necessary at all the levels of a telecommunication network. There are set of rules that are defined for the hardware. In addition to this the networking model also has several levels. A protocol is defined separately for the different levels in the networking models. These protocols are to be recognized and followed by the entities that are available at both ends of the connections. The analyzer is basically a program in associated with a collection of the hardware that are passing or logging the traffic activities at all the points of a digital network (Escobar et al., 2014). For analyzing the protocols an experimental model is to be used. The method can be used for gathering the evidences regarding the transitional states. The system is concerned in general with the utilization of the calculation methods for the functions. The network probe is one the analyzer tools that can be used for monitoring the real time traffic within the network. This is used for identifying the causes of the lag that the network is facing. The hub is the tool that can be used to connect with the server that is in-line with the hub. This can done as the data packets that are arriving in a single point can be distributed over to the other parts of the network (Naoui et al., 2014). This would increase the traffic of the network and it would be observed by all the nodes in the network. In a network that is comprising of the only the hub and the switches are absent in the network, the data or the traffic that would be transferred over the network would be visible to all the components of that network. In this situation the analyzer can be plugged in at any point within the network and the network attributes could be easily available. In the scenario that is provided is of a pharmaceutical firm. The firm is comprising of 11 workstations and a hub having 24 ports. To tap into the network a switch can be used at any point. This possible as because the devices are connected to the port with their MAC addresses. The data would b e transferred to only those devices. The machines would be connected to the switches with the help of their MAC addresses. The benefits of using a Switch are (Vilar, Marti Magne, 2015): A connection of a hub can be split and provided to various other sources in the network with the help of a switch. In addition to this the switches are capable of monitoring the network. In a real life scenario a switch is very essential for using in a network. The difference between the distance routing vector and the link state vector are (Ibrahim et al., 2014): Firstly the link state router is faster in converging while, the distance routing vector is slower than the link state vector in comparison. The robustness of the distance routing vector is more than the link state vector. The link state vector has huge infrastructural requirements, whereas the distance routing vector as requirements that are very small in comparison with the link state vector. The distance routing vector uses Bellman-Ford algorithm and the link state vector uses the shortest path first algorithm. The link state vector supports the class less as well as the class full subnets but only the class full subnets are supported by the distance routing vector. The link state vector can perform several functions such as creating the topology table, routing table and the neighbor table. But, the distance routing vector can only perform the task of creating the routing table. The memory requirements of the distance routing vector is less in comparison to the link state vector. It is easier to configure the distance vector. But the configuration of the link state vector is much more complex. The examples of some distance routing vector are IGRP and RIP. The examples of link state routing are IS-IS, OSPF. The total number of host addresses that are possible technically are 2046, but the required number of addresses are, 1024 per building. Hence, there remains a scope for more addresses per building. Therefore, it would not be a problem even if the number of addresses per building is increase from 1024. The QoS is the quality of the service in a TCP/IP network (Xu et al., 2015). It is the set of rules that is sued for setting the priority of the different operation that are to be performed in the network. It also performs the task of assigning the different type of tasks for the different components of the network. It also performs the task of providing the different order of priority to the different data packets. It also sets the priority of the different MAC addresses. In addition to this this the QoS also monitors the performances of the system. There are various kind of header files that are present in the data packets (Joshi et al., 2013). The header files provide various types of information for the network in order to obtain the information about the data packets. Some of the header files are IP Precedence, TOS, ECN and Diffserv. The IP Precedence provide the network status such as: The TOS is the type of services and defines the type of service of the data packets. The ECN is the Explicit Network Congestion. It provides the congestion notifications about the traffic in the network. The Diffserv is the differentiated services of the computer networks. It differentiates among the different task in the computer network. The main differences among the header files are the number of bits and their functionality. The IP Precedence consists of 3 bits, the TOS consists of 8 bits, the ECN is 1 bit only and the the Diffserv varies from 2-7 bits. In addition to this the IP precedence is used for the different status of the network, the TOS is used for the type of service, The ECN provides the network traffic report and the Diffserv provides the differentiated services information. References Das, N., Modi, H., Islam, S. (2014, September). Investigation on architectures for power system communications between substations using IEC 61850. InPower Engineering Conference (AUPEC), 2014 Australasian Universities(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Escobar, S., Meadows, C., Meseguer, J., Santiago, S. (2014). State space reduction in the Maude-NRL protocol analyzer.Information and Computation,238, 157-186. Ibrahim, D. M., Fahmy, M. M., ElTobely, T. E., Sallam, E. A. (2014). Enhancing the vector-based forwarding routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks: a clustering approach. InThe Tenth International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Communications (ICWMC). Joshi, J., Gupta, S., Gupta, P., Singh, N., Kumari, M. (2013). Multi Protocol Label Switching with Quality of Service in High Speed Computer Network.International Journal Of Engineering And Innovative Technology (IJESIT),2(2). Kerenidis, I., Laplante, S., Lerays, V., Roland, J., Xiao, D. (2015). Lower bounds on information complexity via zero-communication protocols and applications.SIAM Journal on Computing,44(5), 1550-1572. Naoui, A., Hadj, S. B., Naoui, A., Afilal, L. E., Abdelkrim, M. N. (2014). Performance Evaluation of Diagnosis System According to Various Structures of Networked Control System.International Journal on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic Control engineering-IJ-STA,8(1). Roy, A., Lindem, A., Mirtorabi, S. (2014). OSPF Transport Instance Extensions. Verdiere, A., Igarashi, Y., Lys, T., Lavenu, C., Yi, J., Herberg, U., ... Dean, J. (2016). The Lightweight On-demand Ad hoc Distance-vector Routing Protocol-Next Generation (LOADng). Vilar, R., Mart, J., Magne, F. (2015, September). Point to Multipoint Wireless Backhaul Systems for cost-effective small cell deployment. InMicrowave Conference (EuMC), 2015 European(pp. 1092-1095). IEEE. Xu, L., Yu, X., Feng, Y., Han, F., Hu, J., Tari, Z. (2015, March). A fast terminal sliding mode observer for TCP/IP network anomaly traffic detection. InIndustrial Technology (ICIT), 2015 IEEE International Conference on(pp. 28-33). IEEE.

The Poetry Of E. E. Cummings Essays - Guggenheim Fellows, La

The Poetry of E. E. Cummings E. E. Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements - namely, ideograms. Cummings' most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may be sounds or characters on the page that cannot be verbalized or cannot convey the same message if pronounced and not read. Four of Cummings' poems - l(a, mortals), !blac, and swi( - illustrate the ideogram form quite well. Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these poems in order to convey messages visually as well as verbally. Although one may think of l(a as a poem of sadness and loneliness, Cummings probably did not intend that. This poem is about individuality - oneness (Kid 200-1). The theme of oneness can be derived from the numerous inezces and forms of the number '1' throughout the poem. First, 'l(a' contains both the number 1 and the singular indefinite article, 'a'; the second line contains the French singular definite article, 'le'; 'll' on the fifth line represents two ones; 'one' on the 7th line spells the number out; the 8th line, 'l', isolates the number; and 'iness', the last line, can mean "the state of being I" - that is, individuality - or "oneness", deriving the "one" from the lowercase roman numeral 'i' (200). Cummings could have simplified this poem drastically ("a leaf falls:/loneliness"), and still conveyed the same verbal message, but he has altered the normal syntax in order that each line should show a 'one' and highlight the theme of oneness. In fact, the whole poem is shaped like a '1' (200). The shape of the poem can also be seen as the path of a falling leaf; the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters like a falling leaf gliding, back and forth, down to the ground. The beginning 'l(a' changes to 'le', and 'af' flips to 'fa'. 'll' indicates a quick drop of the leaf, which has slowed by a longer line, 'one'. Finally, the leaf falls into the pile of fallen leaves on the ground, represented by 'iness'. Cummings has written this poem so perfectly that every part of it conveys the message of oneness and individuality (200). In mortals), Cummings vitalizes a trapeze act on paper. Oddly enough, this poem, too, stresses the idea of individualism, or 'eachness', as it is stated on line four. Lines 2 and 4, 'climbi' and 'begi', both end leaving the letter 'i' exposed. This is a sign that Cummings is trying to emphasize the concept of self-importance (Tri 36). This poem is an amusing one, as it shows the effects of a trapeze act within the arrangement of the words. On line 10, the space in the word 'open ing' indicates the act beginning, and the empty, static moment before it has fully begun. 'of speeds of' and '&meet&', lines 8 and 12 respectively, show a sort of back-and-forth motion, much like that of the motion of a trapeze swinging. Lines 12 through 15 show the final jump off the trapeze, and 'a/n/d' on lines 17 through 19, represent the deserted trapeze, after the acrobats have dismounted. Finally, '(im' on the last line should bring the reader's eyes back to the top of the poem, where he finds 'mortals)'. Placing '(im' at the end of the poem shows that the performers attain a special type of immortality for risking their lives to create a show of beauty, they attain a special type of immortality (36-7). The circularity of the poem causes a feeling of wholeness or completeness, and may represent the Circle of Life, eternal motion (Fri 26). Cummings first tightly written ideogram was !blac, a very interesting poem. It starts with '!', which seems to be saying that something deserving that exclamation point occurred anterior to the poem, and the poem is trying objectively to describe certain feelings resulting from '!'. "black against white" is an example of such a description in the poem; the clashing colors create a feeling in sync with '!'. Also, why "(whi)" suggests amusement and wonder, another feeling

The Leader’s Choice to Serve Life Essays

The Leader’s Choice to Serve Life Essays The Leader’s Choice to Serve Life Essay The Leader’s Choice to Serve Life Essay The shared values of humanity proclaim the choice to serve life as the most desirable goal for a human being to have.   No wonder, some of the greatest leaders in the history of humanity, such as the Buddha, the Christ, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. continue to inspire people to choose to serve life.Any leader who makes this choice is expected to serve the wider interests of living beings.   Such a leader may help to eradicate illiteracy and poverty across the globe; find ways to cure AIDS and cancer; or simply save the planet from the effects of global warming.   This leader would not be motivated by his self interests alone, such as the maintenance of his high status in society, or the hoarding of wealth.   Rather, he would inspire his followers to help him serve the life on our planet.   It does not matter whether his efforts are far-reaching and all-encompassing or not.   It is his intention alone that matters, seeing that his followers are expected to continue his work in any case.While the leader inspires people to join him voluntarily in serving a cause, management requires subordinates rather than followers.   Besides, a leader is one who inspires his followers to work with him on changing something that is believed to be undesirable.   A manager, on the contrary, directs or controls his subordinates to follow values and principles that are already established.   Thus, the leader is always known for his vision, while the manager is simply recognized for his authority.   In terms of the choice to serve life, the leader is expected to come up with new ideas for change that would benefit society.   On the other hand, a manager working for an NGO may direct his subordinates to serve the goals of the organization, the leader of which has chosen to serve life.

Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) Helps Children With Language Deficits

Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) Helps Children With Language Deficits Verbal Behavior Analysis, or VBA, is a language intervention strategy based on the work of B.F. Skinner. An American psychologist, social philosopher, and inventor, Skinner was a leading figure in the branch of psychology known as Behaviorism. This school of psychology derives from â€Å"the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained and changed,† according to Psychology Today. With this in mind, Verbal Behavior Analysis can be a powerful approach to addressing the language deficits of children on the autism spectrum. Autism is a developmental disorder that makes it difficult for children and adults who have the condition to communicate and interact with others. But Skinner posited that language is learned behavior mediated by others. He introduced the terms Mand, Tact, and Intraverbal to describe three different kinds of verbal behaviors. Defining the Terms Manding is either demanding or commanding others for desired objects or activities. Tacting is identifying and naming objects, and intraverbals are utterances (language) mediated by other language, often called pragmatics by speech and language pathologists. What Occurs During VBA Treatment? In VBA treatment, a therapist sits with an individual child and presents preferred items. The child will receive the preferred item when he or she imitates the therapist and mands or requests the item. The therapist will ask a child for a number of responses, often in quick succession, known as massed trials or discrete trial training. The therapist will build on success by having the child select from more than one preferred item, by demanding clearer or more audible approximations of the word in order receive the preferred item (called shaping) and mixing it up with other preferred activities. This first step is done once a child has exhibited success in manding, especially manding in phrases, the therapist will move ahead with tacting. When a child succeeds in learning and naming familiar objects, the therapist will build on that with intraverbals,  naming relationships. For example, the therapist will ask, Jeremy, where is the hat? The child will then respond, The hat is under the chair. The therapist will help the child generalize these verbal skills to a variety of settings, such as school, in public and at home with parents or caregivers. How VBA Differs From ABA The MyAutismClinic website states that ABA and VBA, though related, are not the same. What’s the difference between the two? â€Å"ABA is the science that uses principles of behavior like reinforcement, extinction, punishment, stimulus control, motivation to teach new behaviors, modify and/or terminate maladaptive behaviors,† the MyAutismClinic site states. â€Å"Verbal Behavior or VB  is simply the application of these scientific principles to language.† The site states  that some people believe that ABA is more efficient than VBA, but this is a misconception. â€Å"A well-trained professional should make use of the principles of ABA in all areas of the child’s development including language,† according to MyAutismClinic. VBA is simply a comprehensive ABA approach to language.

Healing Literature and Society Views Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Healing Literature and Society Views - Essay Example Here too prejudices and hatred held sway. The literature that tried to answer and guide people during the century, had to be either Utopian or dystopian, showing them the ideal ways of living and ideal solutions. or, hold a mirror to their mistakes by showing a world where everything is wrong. (The dystopia Novel). The solution should be somewhere in between and include all perspectives and points of view.NATURE WRITING movement started by Henry David Thoreau pointed to ways of living fundamentally divergent from the ones laid down by dominant dictates and attitudes of society. (David L.Barnhill).Other authors have followed in the footsteps giving their poetic solutions in their Fictions and Essays. Iron John , is a Work of the Vietnam war trying earnestly to heal the wounds and bring together the alienated members of the society. The book talks about the industrial civilization which cut asunder the father and son who once worked shoulder to shoulder , teaching and learning , bonded by that common experience. The father figure is no longer a reality in the war- ravaged America. He is at best a frustrated, battered man who returns from the pressures and stress of the workplace, too irritable to empathize, and at worst, a drunk, and more often, a deserter of the family. The youth are angry with the older men for pushing them into a war, butchering them without mercy while they themselves are safe .Old men fend for themselves and have not time to spend in understanding the grievance of the younger generation. Men just grow up angry at the loss of their childhood, disappointed with the barrenness of their manhood and tired of having to play roles imposed on them by society;they become...But that is wrong; for, he must have the instinctive answer to the challenge of violence. Men must not be playing roles according to societal demands. The boys, in order to achieve this instinctive wisdom, must be early on removed from their mothers and even fathers, to learn in a commune as in all ancient cultures and civilizations.( BLY) Bly's conviction is that Man must mature and discover his maleness , by not losing touch with the earth ,and the historic and anthropologic roots of Masculinity. This world demands that Man must be successful. He obeys and achieves it, but at a cost. His vitality is lost. Instead, Bly asks them to turn to the inner consciousness "from where all poetry and mythology springs."(BLY) It is his prescription to cure the crippled inner life. Bly touched a cord in all the American minds that had also been smarting under the pain. But he also invited the criticism that he was propagating a male chauvinist society. For, he seemed to address only the White and did not seem to take the Homosexuals into his reckoning. Starhawk who wrote during the same period, and against the same Vietnam war backdrop, had an utopian solution to offer. She creates an oasis of verdant ,fruitful , and happy people of multi generation and multi culture living in harmony with nature and in amity among themselves.

Soil Consolidation during Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Soil Consolidation during Construction - Essay Example Generally, any undrained loading or unloading will produce excess pore pressures in the loading area. Hence, construction of any type of infrastructure generates pressure on the soil on which the construction takes place. The excess pore pressures may be positive or negative, depending on the long term steady state pore pressures. In time, these excess pore pressures give rise to hydraulic gradients which cause seepage flow which then results to changes in the volume of the soil. Hence, the changes in soil volume are based upon the changes of effective stress as the excess pore pressures disperse. The gradual reduction in volume of a fully saturated soil of low permeability which is caused when stress is what consolidation refers to. More specifically, consolidation is the union of seepage caused by hydraulic gradients with compression due to the flow of the leakages and changes of effective stress placed against the soil. Consolidation leads to drainage of some of the pore water, which triggers the continuity of soil consolidation until the excess pore water pressure caused by the stress against the soil has completely dispersed. Through the test of time, consolidation leads to settlement of foundations or constructions due to the gradual softening of soil in excavations. Therefore, consolidation settlement is basically the vertical dislocation of the construction as a result of the volume change of soil during the consolidation. Hence, if a building is built over a layer of saturated clay, consolidation settlement will cause a stratum overlying a clay layer. Likewise, if an excavation is made in a saturated clay, crowding, the reverse of settlement, can be observed in the bottom of the excavation. This, on the other hand, is due to swelling of the clay resulting to a gradual increase in volume of the soil. The most basic case of consolidation is that of one-dimensional on which the strain generated against the soil is zero-lateral. One-dimensional consolidation occurs when all seepage flow and the effective stress placed against the soil is vertical. Hence, there should be no radial seepage or strain. If effective lateral stress is placed against the soil, the settlement will occur faster. This is because of the deformation of the soil under undrained conditions, in addition to consolidation settlement. Immediate settlement can be estimated using the results from elastic theory, which will be able to determine the elastic properties of the soil. Furthermore, before a structure is completely conceptualised, the magnitude and the rate of consolidation settlement should first be predicted using effective tools. One of the popular processes used in predicting the progress of consolidation is by setting up piezometers in order to document the change in pore water pressure with time. The scale of consolidation settlement can be determined by recording the levels of appropriate reference points on a construction and in the surface on which it will be built. In such measurement, levelling of the reference points should be accurate, working from a point of reference which is not subject to any type of settlement. During this process, every output should be documented, as this will determine the competence of theoretical methods to be used. The attributes of a soil during one-dimensional consolidation can be measured through oedometer test. This test, developed

Case Brief Essay Example for Free

Case Brief Essay Mr. David R. Bullock filed an appeal from his convictions for attempted statutory rape, and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. David R. Bullock put himself in numerous conversations via email and chat rooms with a Newton County Deputy Sheriff who was conducting a sting operation against pedophiles. The Deputy took on a persona of a thirteen year old female by the name of â€Å"Ashley Anne†. Many of the conversations that took place between Mr. Bullock and â€Å"Ashley† were of a sexual nature. During conversations between Mr. Bullock and â€Å"Ashley†, he discussed how he would like to engage in certain acts (sexual) with her and her friends (girls of younger age) and how he would like to video those acts. He informed â€Å"Ashley† that the conversations about meeting with her and her friends should not be discussed because it was not legal for them to meet. Eventually a meeting was scheduled for a time and a place to meet and specific instructions were given to â€Å"Ashley† on how the meeting should take place. â€Å"Ashley† was told that upon her arrival to the specified location, she should meet Mr. Bullock in a specific area of that location. History On October 18, 2002, Mr. Bullock and the decoy â€Å"Ashley† were present at the specified location, along with computer and video equipment in his vehicle, which ultimately leads to the arrest of Mr. Bullock. At the time of the arrest, Mr. Bullock did not deny having conversations with â€Å"Ashley† but explained that if she would arrive, he just wanted her to be counseled by the authorities on the dangers of meeting strangers on the internet. Mr. Bullock argues that his case is a case of entrapment and that he took no â€Å"substantial steps† towards committing the crimes he has been charged with. Issue: The sufficiency of the evidence is challenged and Appellant claims an entrapment defense for the reason that he was not predisposed to engage in the charged offenses, we shall set forth in greater detail a series of sordid internet and telephone communications between Appellant and the purported 3 victim than we usually would. Holding First, Appellant does not admit that he committed the crimes for which he was convicted and, second, there is no evidence that Appellant was not predisposed, ready and willing to commit these crimes.   Appellant did not meet his burden of injecting into the case a proper case for entrapment. Rational Appellant tendered four jury instructions alleging the affirmative defense of entrapment.   Appellant cites to the evidence that Ashley induced Appellant to take the â€Å"substantial step† of committing the crimes of statutory rape and sexual exploitation of a minor when he was not otherwise so inclined.   Appellant contends that he was only willing to express his fantasies, which was not a crime he was charged or convicted of, and he was not willing to act upon his fantasies without the inducement by Ashley.   He notes that Ashley initiated the majority of contacts with Appellant; specifically, he claims Ashley initiated seventeen of the nineteen instant messages and four of the eight e-mails between her and Appellant.   Appellant indicated the portions of the conversations where Ashley first proposed that Appellant come to Diamond and persisted in trying to set a firm date; he claims he was reluctant to act on his desires.   Appellants cla im that he would not have committed the charged offenses but for the enticement by Ashley is not supported by the evidence.

Analysis of Tone in Chapter 25 of The Human Comedy Essay -- Human Come

Analysis of Tone in Chapter 25 of The Human Comedy Chapter 25, "Mr. Ara," begins with the gathering of neighborhood boys in front of Ara's market. August Gottlieb, Ulysses, Lionel, and other youths of Ithaca have just taken part in the theft of an apricot from Old Henderson's tree. Standing in front of the store, the boys revere the apricot as an item of sacrament. August, the boy who physically plucks it, is held in high regard for his bravery and efficiency. Although the apricot is hard and green and far from ripe, it has a deeper meaning to the young boys of the small town. The fruit is an item obtained in spite of the possible danger of getting caught by Henderson; it is considered an extremely well earned keepsake. The boys value it more than any other item at that moment. To them, it symbolizes courage and brave will for risking their reputations in order to obtain this savored item. The apricot is admired with respect and gratification. As August holds it in the palm of his hand, he is described as a religious leader, since he is one who committed the Biblical sin of stealing and has come away clean. A respected ruler is established due to the single, brave action of a young boy. Later, Mr. Ara comes out of his shop and asks the boys to leave. After they are gone, his toddler son walks over and asks for an apple. Ara sympathizes with the young boy and he seems to share a silent sadness with him, a negative nostalgic feeling of a cold and oppressive past. As the boy takes a bite of the apple, he decides that he does not want it. A little annoyed, Ara consumes the rest of the apple so as not to waste it. However, he finds the apple unappealing and does not finish it himself. Overall, Ara is somewhat perturbed by the... ...escribable sadness that lurks in the air around them. The way the young child will not be satisfied sends his father into a frustrated resentment of modern society. People take too much for granted in a place of hope, privileges, and freedom while war drags on in another country, ten thousand miles away. The appreciation of youthful innocence is thus juxtaposed with selfishness and an inability to be satisfied, which seems to create a double tone that creates a contrast about the reality of humanity. Sometimes we can never be content with what we have until something is lost or sacrificed. In youth and innocence, satisfaction and the appreciation of the world around us seem to come more easily, perhaps because life has not yet been tainted by greed. It may be part of human nature that, as one grows, his desires become more complex and thus more difficult to satiate.

Internal Control and Home Improvement Essay

Lowe’s Home Improvement is a chain of retail home improvement based in the United States. It was founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lowe’s Home Improvement has expanded internationally into Mexico, Canada, and joint venture with Woolworths Limited in Australia. Lowe’s Home Improvement ranked 54 in Fortune 500 for 2012, decreasing four spots in 2011 (â€Å"Cnn money,† 2012). Lowe’s Home Improvement is the second largest retail home improvement chain, behind The Home Depot. There are 1,724 Lowe’s stores throughout United States, Canada, Mexico operating with more than 234,000 employees (â€Å"Lowe’s home improvement, 2012†). Stakeholders are individuals, groups, or organizations that have a stake in the business. Stakeholders are categorize into two types: internal or external. Internal stakeholders can be owners, managers, and employees. External stakeholders can be suppliers, lenders, and customers (Worthington, 2009). Human Resource (Safety) There are many safety rules in Lowe’s Home Improvement. â€Å"We strive to sustain a safety culture that integrates safety into all parts of our business. Safety is a core value of our company. We hold our leadership teams accountable for creating and maintaining a safe environment to work and shop. Safety practices are incorporated into each job task, and we believe training is critical to ensuring safety awareness and knowledge are maintained at the highest level† (â€Å"Focusing on safety,† 2012, p. 1). When I was the Department Manager of Product Service, I was in charge of 70 percent of all resets in the store including display changes, merchandising refresh, and general product rotation. As an internal stakeholder (manager), I knew all the rules. However, some of these rules prevented me from accomplishing my job. Sometimes resets require me to get inside the bay to maneuver the products, beams, or shelves. This is strictly against Lowe’s policy, which states I should get an order picker (machine to hold me up). I understand the need for the rules, but sometimes they cannot be followed exactly (prior thoughts as a Department Manager). If I were to get hurt while doing, Lowe’s is liable for my injuries or death. Even though it clearly states it in our policy not to do these actions, it could not be proven that I was properly trained or ever informed about it. This is why it is important for all incidents to be reported. As an Assistant Store Manager, I must constantl y coach and train my associates and document (validate). I must ensure every decision my employees makes is what is best for the business. Employee incidents are known as workers’ comp claims that directly affect profitable. When the store reports the incident to our claims department, we are automatically deducted profits to pay for the expense. This can range from $10,000 to whatever. . Just recently, we had to pay for knee surgery for our outside sales representatives. Unfortunately, these claims can take many years to close, because the individual can continue to get treatment even after surgery. Typically, workers comp will attempt to pay the individual out before paying for surgery. If the individual accepts the buyout, they will lose their job. An external stakeholder is the customers that come in the building. Lowe’s is just as liable for any injuries or damages caused to a customer as an employee is. Every morning an Assistant Store Manager must walk the Daily Safety Review (DSR) to verify the store is clean, clear, and safe. We must verify that all top stock, product, safety procedures, locks, and safety chains are up and operational. Recently, someone did not properly place a stack of trashcans in top stock. The trashcans were not standing on the tops and fell around 11:30am, luckily no customers or employees were hit with ten trashcans as they fell. Customer incidents are known as general liability claims that directly affect profitable. When the store reports the incident to our claims department, we are automatically deducted profits to pay for the expense. This can range from $2500 to $25,000. Anything over $25,000 is distributed among the rest of the district. To make up $2500 in pure profit is to sell roughly $6,000 when you calculate employee salary, utilities, and facility cost. Marketing (Deceptive Advertising) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees any deceptive claims of products or services. Recently, the FTC won a $40 million settlement against Sketchers’ toning shoes and apparel. Sketchers falsely represented clinic studies claiming their Shape-Ups, Toners, Tone-Ups, and Resistance Runners would help people lose weight, and tone and strengthen their butts, legs, and abdominal muscles. The most deceptive ad was used during Super Bowl featuring Kim Kardashian firing her personal training for a pair of Shape-Ups. Sketchers truly believed they would win the multiple lawsuits in different states, but choose to settle out for the ease of the company and individuals (Bachman, 2012). Deceptive advertisement can negatively affect internal and external stakeholders. Customer service is the most important aspect of any business. Deceptive advertising can create a negative experience for customers, which directly affect employees. A bad customer service experience can dramatically cost any business thousands of dollars. The internet is the playground for anyone. This can create a bad reputation when individuals post on their Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. If a business loses its customers base, it cannot support its employees. Recently, at my Lowe’s Store we had the state department conducting an internal audit on pricing. The last time this audit was done was in 2004. The audit required scanning 50 products and verifying the correct price is labeled. If the price was incorrect, this would be considered false advertisement or deceptive advertisement and Lowe’s would be fine thousands of dollars. Fortunately, we passed the audit with no issues. Accounting (Unethical Practices) Accounting fraud will continue to happen if there is opportunity. There must be provisions that prevent opportunity. Olympus Corporation covered up $1.7 billion in accounting fraud. The three executives inflated company’s net worth for five years. Three executives pleaded guilty to covering up and firing the chief executive who originally found the discrepancy. This is one of the largest corporate scandals in Japan. The United States put in place corporate governance reform after the Enron scandal. These unethical behaviors can result in lawsuits from shareholders. After the Enron scandal, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) pushed a law through that changed regulation of financial practices and governance of corporations. Internal stakeholders have large investments into their company. First, it is their livelihood. Second, they could own company stock. Lastly, if the corporation goes under what value does that company add to the individuals resume? Employees of large corporation rarely see their importance in the big picture of things. The employees build companies. No matter how low your position is you can directly affect the business positively or negatively. As managers it is my job to ensure that my employees are align with the company’s vision and mission. External stakeholders can also be affected by unethical accounting practices. The most obvious example would be if the customer were also a stakeholder in shares. This can directly affect the value of the stock. Another example would be customers affected in small towns. For example, if in their small town there is no other hardware store but Lowe’s Home Improvement. What would happen if that Lowe’s store closed, where would citizens of the town go to get their supplies? How much farther would they have to travel? This creates a huge inconvenience and provides opportunity for other small convenience/gas stores charge more for product. Conclusion Awareness is the number one preventer in safety issues. Companies must develop incentives for employees to remain and operate safely. At Lowe’s if, a store goes 60 days accident free, there is a cook out that is hosted by the store. One time at my store, we went 265 days accident free, we held the highest accident free days in the division. Companies must develop and promote these incentives for employees to remain safe. This includes knowing when to get help and when to do it yourself. The saying â€Å"work smarter not harder† must be in every employees forefront. Deceptive advertising is typically dealt with at corporate levels in retail. However, these corporations typically do not deal with the problem. The store level associates deal with the deception. At Lowe’s, we are told to take care of the customer. Depending on the situation, as managers we may be able to substitute items to appease the customer. I believe there should be a separate department that evaluates all marketing and advertisements. This may save the company millions of dollars from lawsuits of deceptive advertisements. Companies that violate these ethics share common elements. Three common elements enable individuals to violate ethical or criminal misconduct in a corporation. 1. The availability of an opportunity 2. The existence of some form of pressure leading to an incentive 3. The capacity to rationalize. These three elements are arranged in a pyramid. Opportunity is the top of the pyramid. Opportunity is at the top because without opportunity nothing would exist. To reduce or eliminate opportunity, companies must implement effective internal controls. These can include policies and procedures, audits, and departments who oversee (checks and balances). The best example of these internal procedures is a bank securing its money in a safe. These are designed to keep unwanted people out. Pressure is located at the bottom left corner. Pressure can come from managers using intimidation, family expectations (standard of living), personal vices, and poor decision-making. For example, a manager may use intimidation and say, â€Å"You will be fired if you do not achieve your sales numbers†. This type of pressure can cause certain employees to go too far. The last element is rationalization located at the bottom right corner. The individuals we are talking about do not think they are evil; rather they justify their own misconduct. Some rationalization would be everyone does it, I deserve this, I am only borrowing the money, and the company can afford it. Unfortunately, there will be individuals who cross the ethical line. It takes the personal integrity of an individual to resist the opportunity. The best indicator of these individuals is there past performances (â€Å"Fundamental managerial accounting†, 2006). To fix these issues requires appropriate checks and balances. Corporations must ensure they have policies and procedures to prevent such opportunities from existing. In addition, these policies must be validated consistently and frequently. References Bachman, K. (2012, May 16). Sketchers settle deceptive ad case with FTC for $40m. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/skechers-ad-case-ftc-40m-140577 CNN money. (2012, May 21). Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2686.html Edmonds, T., Tsay, B., & Olds, P. (2006). Fundamental managerial accounting concepts. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073526797/student_view0/ebook/chapter1/chbody1/ethical_consideration s.html Focusing on safety. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.lowes.com/cd_Focusing on Safety_323526845_ Lowe’s Home Improvement. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/social/our-vision-and-values.html Slodkowski, A. (2012, September 25). Japanese camera and medical equipment maker Olympus Corporation and three of its former executives pleaded guilty on Tuesday over charges related to a $1.7 billion accounting cover-up in one of Japan’s biggest corporate scan dals. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/25/us-olympus-trial-idUSBRE88O01920120925 Worthington, I. (2009, February 09). Improvement and innovation. Retrieved from http://www.improvementandinnovation.com/features/article/stakeholders-and-how-they-affect-your-business/

Hunted – Creative Writing

It was a cold, wet, December night and Macauley Taylor was casually strolling down the long, dark, winding lane, on this way back from a tiring football practice. He could feel his legs aching as he walked, having been crudely taken out towards the end. He just wanted to get home. Suddenly, three men appeared out of nowhere, at the end of the road. Macauley recognised these three men. â€Å"This is bad,† he thought to himself as he tentatively stepped nearer to them. Relief. He had successfully waded his way past the little huddle the men had made, with all his bones intact. All of a sudden, there was a shout of, â€Å"Get him!† and Macauley had three huge figures gunning him down. He could smell their foul putrid breath behind him. He could taste the hate in the words billowing from their mouths. He was running as fast as his tender feet would carry him. A warehouse gradually came into view through the dank darkness. He ran towards it, making quick, unexpected changes in the direction he was going, hoping to shake one of his pursuers off. He did this successfully and, before long, had found an empty storage compartment and hid in there, hoping none of them had seen him. He heard the three of them walking around, shouting his name, telling him that if he came out now, it wouldn't be half as bad for him as it would be if they had to find him. He was praying they wouldn't find him, as he quite liked his legs how they were. With all the bones NOT BROKEN. He could tell they were moving further away from him, as their voices were getting more and more distant. He was wondering about maybe making an escape sooner, and risk getting caught, or later. He knew his mother would be getting extremely worried about him as he normally got home around an hour ago. He made his mind up. Get home. He moved soundlessly to the door of the compartment and moved his head around the door. Luckily, no one was close and he was able to slide out and find his way back onto the country road. He'd made it. Safety. Thanking his lucky stars, Macauley made his way up the road. *BANG* A gunshot hit the night sky like the crack of a whip. Macauley sank down his knees, not in pain, in pure shock. He could feel blood pouring down his back as if someone had poured a glass of water down the back of his top. His whole life flashed before his eyes like one of those old drive-in movies. He thought of the things he regretted; things that were said, things that weren't†¦ He wished his mum were there, just so he could tell her how much he loved her. Just once. He never showed her how much he meant to her. Swiftly, a bright, tunnel of light emerged in front of him. Standing at the entrance of the tunnel, was his Dad. The Dad: who had died a year before. The Dad: who Macauley had spent every night of the following six months crying for, begging him to come back, to not leave him. The Dad: who was Macauley's hero in every walk of life was now here. Standing right in front of him. He said to him, â€Å"Don't be scared, son, it's all all right now†. He cautiously tiptoed towards him, then ran, then sprinted in the direction of his idol. He reached the end of the tunnel, and with it, came the end of his life on Earth.

A History of Linux essays

A History of Linux essays A young college student named Linus Torvalds started Linux in 1991. He started this as a hobby based on Minix, a small version of Unix. His goal was to expand on the abilities of Minix and allow for a system that exceeded its capabilities. In 1991 he released version 0.2, the first version of the Linux kernel. He continued work on his project steadily until the release of version 1.0 in 1994. As of January 2001 Linux had reached version 2.4 and it continues to be updated every day. A contest was held to create the Linux logo. It was decided by Linus Torvalds that the mascot would be a penguin. This was decided because it is his favorite animal. During the contest many people entered their versions of what it should look like. Linus went through each of these and did not see anything that represented the operating system well. He felt that the penguin should look very content, not angry or ferocious, or even overly happy, just content. He also felt that it should look like it is slightly overweight so that it looks as if it had just gorged itself on herring. The penguin was to be sitting because he felt that had it just gorged itself the penguin wouldnt want to be standing, it would want to sit down and relax. After many letters from Linus to numerous people the logo was designed to his specifications. The beanbag of joy we now know as TUX was created and sat representing Linux in his own unique way. ...

MDR or Manifestation Determination Review

MDR or Manifestation Determination Review The MDR or Manifestation Determination Review is a meeting which must take place within ten days of a behavior infraction that would cause a student to be removed from their current placement in a public school for more than 10 days. This is a cumulative number: in other words, during a single school year when a child is suspended or removed from school, before an eleventh (11th) day, the school district is required to notify the parents. That includes a suspension of more than 10 days. After a student with disabilities approaches 7 or 8 days of suspension, it is common for schools to attempt to aggressively address the problem to avoid the Manifestation Determination. If a parent disagrees with the result of that meeting, they are well within their rights to take the school district to due process. If the hearing officer agrees with the parents, the district may be required to provide compensatory education. What Will Happen After an MDR Takes Place? An MDR is held to determine if the behavior is a manifestation of the students disability. If it is determined that it is,  in fact, part of his/her disability, then the IEP team must determine if appropriate interventions have been in place. That should include having an FBA (Functional Behavioral Analysis) and a BIP (Behavior Intervention or Improvement Plan) are in place and followed as written. If the behavior relating to the students disability has been addressed appropriately with an FBA and BIP, and the program has been followed with fidelity, the students placement may be changed (with the approval of parents.) Students diagnosed with autism, emotional disturbances, or oppositional  defiant disorder may exhibit behaviors that are related to their diagnosis. The school would need to provide evidence that the school has addressed his/her aggressive, inappropriate or offensive behavior, that from a general education student would earn a suspension or even expulsion. Once again, if there is strong evidence that the behavior has been addressed, then a change of placement to a more restrictive placement might be appropriate. Students with other disabilities may also exhibit aggression, offensive or inappropriate behavior. If the behavior is related to their disability (perhaps a cognitive inability to understand their behavior) they may also qualify for an FBA and BIP.   If it is unrelated to their diagnosis, the district (also known as the Local Education Authority or LEA can exercise the regular disciplinary procedure. Then other legal contingencies apply, such as whether there is a progressive discipline policy in place, whether the school has followed the policy and whether the discipline is reasonably appropriate for the infraction.   Also Known As Manifestation Determination Meeting Example When Jonathon was suspended for stabbing another student with scissors, an MDR or Manifestation Determination Review was scheduled within the ten days to determine whether Jonathon should stay a Pine Middle School or placed in the districts special school for behavior.

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 4

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Motivation of employees is another aspect of HR which the HR manager needs to ensure in order to keep them happy and working. There are various ways of motivation. The organisation can reward their performing employees or give them a promotion. Or even a simple gesture of communication is very helpful in making them motivated towards their job. The employees need to feel that the organisation values and respects them. This in turn will make the employees motivated and dedicated towards their company. ANSWER 3 Training and development forms an important aspect for an employee. When an employee joins the organisation, he is she needs to undergo an initial round of training in order to understand the job role and responsibilities. Thereafter during their work life they have to undergo several training modules to further improvise on their job skills. When an employee realises that their organisation is spending a lot for them in order to develop their skills at workplace, it gives them a sense of importance in the company. They feel that the organisation considers them important and need their support in order to grow. The moment this feeling arises within an employee, he or she will automatically try to give more to the organisation. This feeling of belongingness cannot just come by all of a sudden. The realisation has to be made by the company to their employees. Normally catering to employees problems or ensuring his or her well being can really motivate the employees but this is just a small apart. On a bigger scenario, training and development of the employee is a major factor in boosting their morale. In order to understand the question at hand, we must create a corporate scenario where a training... It is a very important part of human resource as it is concerned with bringing in manpower into the company. It also helps in the growth and development of the organisation. One of the important aspect is training and development. Once a person joins an organisation, he or she needs to undergo an initial training period which helps him or her to understand the job role and the responsibilities. Generally when an employee joins, he or she under goes an induction period where in he or she is made acquainted with the work environment, the organisation culture, etc. the next phase is the training period. the training can be on the job or off the job. The main idea behind collective bargaining is to settle a dispute between an employee and the management in the best possible way without any kind of biasness. Collective bargaining and unionization have two main benefits. The moment this feeling arises within an employee, he or she will automatically try to give more to the organisation. This feeling of belongingness cannot just come by all of a sudden. The realisation has to be made by the company to their employees. Normally catering to employees problems or ensuring his or her well being can really motivate the employees but this is just a small apart. On a bigger scenario, training and development of the employee is a major factor in boosting their morale. Collective bargaining and unionization has been used in many cases across the world. The management and the labourer’s representatives sit and discuss their issues and try to come to common agreement where both of them are happy and satisfied.

The UK and European Package Holiday Markets Essay

The UK and European Package Holiday Markets - Essay Example The UK and European Package Holiday Markets According to a 2004 Survey conducted by MORI, although the Internet’s search Engines was used for gathering data about Travels and holidays, comparatively fewer people actually used Internet facilities for booking their holiday trips online. what needs to be emphasized is that e-commerce serves only to offer connectivity between the service-provider and the customer. The use of the Internet, by itself, does not guarantee package holiday bookings or ticket sales. Only by creating and sustaining a strong online branding can the travel agencies hope to compete sauccessfully in this market Effective marketing strategies along with knowledge base ,combined with the use of effective use of technology would be a winning cocktail.for success. Personalized websites hoisted by the various travel agents and tour operators would ensure steady business prospects and future growth of this industry. As a result of the fact that the travel and tourism industry has been the single largest beneficiary of products and services sold over the Internet, more and more companies plan to expand their Internet sales strategic goals and objectives by harnessing the use of internet for online booking of Hotel reservations, Conducted tours, Visa formalities and other matters connected with international tourism to cater to the online travel market and reap the advantages of online connectivity.† The Percentage of Travel Research done online before a purchase is now over 74%†.

Parenting Styles and Developmental Outcomes Research Paper

Parenting Styles and Developmental Outcomes - Research Paper Example This style manifests in the form of substantial parental control coupled with high level of child supervision. Children raised within an authoritarian environment should be obedient and respectful towards parental authority. This means that children are left with limited freedom (Barton & Michael, 2012). Behavioral conduct and general activities of children under this style should incline closely to rules and guidelines stipulated by parents. Usually, violation of those rules attracts punishment. In this regard, authoritarian style has low responsiveness but high demand on children. Authoritative Style Authoritative parenting operates with pre-established rules and guidelines. This means that parents practicing this style have high demands on behavioral patterns of their children. However, the high demand is offset by high level of responsiveness. Unlike authoritarian with low responsiveness, authoritative parents foster a democratic environment where children can question guidelines set by their parents. Parents adopting this style have a high propensity of forgiveness as opposed to punishment (Barton & Michael, 2012). Therefore, authoritative style has high responsiveness and high demand on children. Permissive Style Permissive parents set minimal rules for their children. This style has few demands on children, and tends to be more relaxed compared to the previous two styles.

Examining Cross Cultural Motivation in Employees

Examining Cross Cultural Motivation in Employees Motivation of employees is the essence for high performance in companies, which in turn ensures the competitively of a company, in todays world where global competition is fierce especially with Chinas growth. The poor performance of the European American countries on the other hand, makes it more difficult for them to compete with China. These are probably the consequences of extremely powerful labor unions that ensure employment protection of employees. Employment protection legislation, which is the set of rules on how to fire or hire an employee (Zientara, 2006), has often been the focus of studies explaining that its effect is high unemployment. However, no studies have been done on the effects of employment protection legislation on the attitudes and behavior of employees. On the other hand, Lebanon representing the Middle East is rarely concerned with employment protection and labor unions have very minimal influence in companies. So the purpose of my paper is to determine whether employees in a country where employment protection legislation are more motivated than a country with lenient regulations on employment protection. In order to achieve this study, I have conducted some in-depth interviews and prepared a questionnaire for companies of Lebanon Italy. In the end, the results of my study show that in fact employees that are highly protected by employment protection legislation are less motivated than employees where employment protection legislation is more lenient. Employees are the most important asset a company has, therefore motivating them is the best way to ensure high performance of a company and in turn increase the companies competitivity. Yet, Western Europe is facing a period of crisis where productivity is low and competitivity is decreasing. This is why, it is essential to ensure that all employees are motivated, which will ensure an increase in productivity. Indeed, between 1980 and 1995, Europe had an average labor productivity growth of 2.33% and in 1995 to 2001, it fell 1.37% (Evans, 2004). This causes delocalization of many companies to cheaper and more flexible countries or major labor cuts increasing the already heavy unemployment rate which is at 7.8% in Europe, against 4.6% in the US and 4.2 in Japan, according to the European statistical agency. This crisis also affects on employee motivation at work, where work loads increase to avoid employing new workers and therefore, avoiding all the complications of regulations. The actual situation in Europe is the consequence of powerful unions and very strict employment protection legislation. On the other hand, in the Middle East, the labors have very low employment protection legislation and labor unions have very miniature influence. While the Middle East differs from Western Europe regarding labors conditions; it also faces problems regarding employees behavior. Performance isnt at its highest rate either and often companies face the problem of employees working a minimum throughout the day. Both regions need to find a way to motivate employees in order to increase productivity. Yet, since companies in Europe accept and adapt to the employment legislation protection, the best way of ensuring productivity and therefore competitivity is by motivating employees to perform at the optimum level. A Cross-cultural study is necessary in order to understand better the causes and effects of low motivation. Therefore, I chose a region that could be considered quite different from the Western Europe (Italy): The Middle East. Indeed, as depicted by Hofstedes 5 cultural dimensions, the 2 regions have different values. However, few studies have been done on the rate of motivation and workers condition in the Middle East. One study entitled Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance in a Lebanese Banking Staff (Abou Zaki Crosssman, 2003), analyzed job satisfaction of employees in a Lebanese bank, but it didnt include an analysis of employee motivation. However, studying whether or not employees in the Middle East are motivated and how to increase their motivation is crucial in order to understand how to increase performance. According to Nicoleth (2000), Italy, which is the Western European country I will be studying, has been rated as the third strictest country in terms of employment protection legislation. Like other countries in Western Europe, Italys problem today is that it is losing its competitivity because laws of employment are too strict and wages are high. Since companies in Europe cannot change laws and cannot decrease wages, their only way of ensuring competitivity is by increasing productivity to a maximum. However, because employees in Western Europe are extensively protected, they perform just enough to guarantee that employer has no legal reason to lay them off. Therefore, productivity isnt at a level high enough to ensure competitivity. The only solution to encourage employees to be more productive would be to motivate them at work. On the other hand, Lebanon is the center for the Middle East with an opening to the Mediterranean. Being a modern country with both local and international companies, it is interesting to study this country. Furthermore, even though there are a few employment protection regulations, protection is applied and respected to a minimum level in Lebanon. Within this context, it is normal that employees, especially part timers, arent motivated to perform at their best, knowing that they could be fired at any moment. The actual motivation level of employees in both countries will be studied by using the Herzbergs Hygiene Theory. This theory will help me first of all to determine if employees at work are satisfied or dissatisfied, from these results I will determine if employees need intrinsic or rather extrinsic motivation. I am expecting to find that Italians arent dissatisfied but are not satisfied either. Therefore, they have a neutral attitude toward their jobs, whereas Lebanese employees experience dissatisfaction. According to these expectations, it is probable that Italian, lack intrinsic motivation whereas Lebanese lack both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The logic behind these conclusions will be discussed furthermore in my paper. H1: Italians need to be intrinsically motivated. H2: Lebanese need to be extrinsically motivated. The Job Design Theory will help me determine how jobs in each of the 2 countries should be designed in order to motivate employees. In order to do so, I will rank some characteristics that should be present in a job, according to the most motivating to the least motivating. The ranking will be based on the different intensity of motivation felt towards the different job characteristics. The final part of my paper will include recommendations on the best way a job should be designed in Lebanon and Italy, in order to ensure motivation. It is important to add that I am considering only these 2 theories because they respond best to the needs of my paper. Indeed, Maslows theory is not valid in theory and the ERG theory, is more valid than Maslows hierarchy, yet it also focuses on the needs of the employees only. The Goal Setting theory includes the motivational aspect of needs, yet is doesnt focus on the characteristics of the job. Herzbergs theory and the Job Design Theory best respond to the needs of this paper because both of these theories focus on characteristics within the job itself that can lead to motivation of employees. Jumping to the definition of employment protection legislation, according to Zientara (2006), it is the set of rules on how to hire and/or fire rising from both the labor legislation and the collective bargaining agreements. Its aim is to ensure a secure job for employees. Zientara explains that as employment protection legislation is stricter, firing an employee becomes more costly and therefore it damages the labor market performance. Therefore, the Italian legislation is very detailed in the 3 components of the employment protection legislation as the employer has limited power in withdrawing from the contract. Contrary to the Italian legislation, the Lebanese legislation is very vague and minimal as there are written laws concerning the protection of regular employees against dismissal and against collective dismissal. Yet there are no regulations concerning temporary employment, which already reduces the strictness of employment protection legislation. The only condition for an employer to dismiss an employee in Lebanon, is to give a compensation which is determined according to the nature of the work, the employees age, tenure, family and health conditions. When comparing the conditions imposed to employers for individual and collective dismissal and for conditions of temporary workers, it is clear that Italy is much stricter than Lebanon. It is important to add that: in Italy, appeal to the court is likely to see the judiciary take such a favorable view of the employees social or family problems that dismissal is commonly judge to be practically impossible. (Emerson, 1988, p.787). Whereas, in Lebanon, court costs a lot and labor unions power and effectiveness are so low that chances for an employee to win a case are little. The fact that strict employment protection legislation is still extensively applied in Italy, means that it does present several benefits. Society benefits because it avoids the payment of unemployment benefits (Zientara, 2006). In addition, it encourages employees loyalty and dedication toward the organization (Akerloff, 1984). Not to forget, it encourages companies to invest on training and upgrading the productivity of labors and furthermore, accepts technological changes and internal job mobility (Piore, 1989). On the other hand, strict employment protection legislation also presents some downfalls, which could explain the ongoing debate about it. First of all, strict employment protection legislation causes high unemployment rate since it discourages employers to easily dismiss employees and leaving the door open to prospective employees (Zientara, 2006). Furthermore, Italy cannot adapt to the changes of economic conditions (Emerson, 1988) which today present flexibility of employees and competitivity in the spotlight. Additionally, the low probability of being dismissed may have an adverse effect on employees whose effort and cooperation with others in the company will reduce (Emerson, 1988). No matter what the reasons of absenteeism are, the problems are that it causes reduction of productivity and that firing is too difficult because of strict employment protection legislation. This is why; the only solution to reduce effects of employment protection legislation on organizations product ivity is by increasing motivation. The economic climates of the past decades have cause d an increase in de-motivation at work. Indeed, downsizing and the rationalization of policies causes de-motivation (Gee Burke, 2001). All in all, change, uncertainty, lack of control and high work load are all causes for the increase in stress and therefore, the decrease in motivation. Yet motivation is the key for employees to exert 100% effort, which means performing as well as possible all the time (Gee Burke, 2001), this explains how motivation is related to performance. According to Robbins (2004), motivation is defined as a psychological process which consists of the persons intensity in terms of how hard he/she tries, the quality and intensity of the effort which is directed to the benefit of the organization and the persistence of the person in question. Motivation can be of two kinds: it can be extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is a tangible reward for a given performance (Adonis, 2007). Although it is very p owerful at first, extrinsic motivation quickly becomes an expectation and loses its effects. Indeed it motivates in the short run but doesnt consider the internal needs of the employee (Adonis, 2007). On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is triggered from inside the person by considering the needs of recognition and self-fulfillment of each individual through a sense of achievement, responsibilities, job satisfaction, involvement and empowerment (Adonis, 2007). In fact, intrinsic motivation is long term and aims at improving the morale of employees which in turn will increase the productivity by lowering absenteeism and increasing retention (Adonis, 2007). The Hygiene-Motivator Theory shows the factors that lead to dissatisfaction in a job and satisfaction. Factors that cause dissatisfaction which are called hygiene factors are extrinsic; these include working conditions, pay, policiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Robbins, 2004) On the other hand, factors that are leading to job satisfaction are recognition, responsibilities, task achievement and other factors that are intrinsic. These factors are long term motivators (Gee Burke, 2001)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Removing dissatisfying factors will not create a satisfactory job, but rather a neutral feeling towards the job. Indeed, factors that create satisfaction at work are different and separate from those causing dissatisfaction (Robbins, 2004). This is why, to cancel dissatisfaction at work, organizations must ensure hygiene factors that follow employees needs. To develop satisfaction at work, organizations must design jobs that include intrinsic motivators. The JDT, which I will now explain, provide compa nies towards the design of jobs, including the motivator factors stated in the motivation- hygiene theory. The Job Design Theory, developed by Oldham Hackman, shows 5 core dimensions that either increase or decrease motivation (Robbins, 2004) and they are the following: Skill Variety, Task Variety, Task Significance, Autonomy, and Feedback. According to JDT, motivation of employees through the 5 dimensions can be summarized as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ internal rewards are obtained by individuals when they learn (knowledge of results) that they personally (experience responsibilities) have performed well on a task that they care about (experience meaningfulness). (Robbins, 2004, p.184) As the presence of these 3 psychological states increase so does motivation, performance and satisfaction. First, to motivate employee through autonomy, the organization must ensure a flexible job in terms of schedule, work sharing, and telecommunicating and it can be promoted through ideas and challenges (Garg Rastogi, 2005). In addition, to motivate employees, the HR department has the role of making the employees feel as the most valued asset of the organization (Garg Rabstogi, 2005, p.579). Further adding, to ensure motivation, employees must be recruited according to their knowledge, skills and abilities (Garg Rastogi, 2005). After conducting in-depth interviews, and surveys in both the Lebanese Italian market, it is time to show the results of my research. According to the results from the survey, Italian employees have a different feeling concerning intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation. The Italian rated intrinsic factors of motivation at an average of 4.97 over 7, this means that Italians dont feel dissatisfied. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation was graded as 3.94 over 7, which means that Italians are not satisfied at work. These numbers support hypothesis which states that Italian employees arent dissatisfied at work but are not satisfied either. The results extracted from the Lebanese sample shows a slight difference between extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction. Extrinsic satisfaction for the Lebanese Is rated as 5.39 which show that Lebanese are not dissatisfied. Furthermore, intrinsic factors were graded at 5.21, which also show that Lebanese are satisfied at work. In other words, e mployees are not dissatisfied and even satisfied at work. These results contradict hypothesis 2, which expected Lebanese employees to be not satisfied and even dissatisfied at work. In fact, it can be seen clearly, that Lebanese feel much less dissatisfaction than Italians. Yet the major difference stands in the intrinsic level of motivation as there is gap between Lebanese who seem satisfied and Italians who are not. In terms of Turn-Over, Italians do not consider leaving their jobs, since the average turnover was 3.34 over 7 while Lebanese were graded as 3.52à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ so the intention of leaving their place at work is at the same level for both Italians and Lebanese, there are no flagrant differences. The feelings towards the different motivational characteristics of a job were all considered as interesting and motivating. Yet, small differences in averages enable us to determine preferences. As the table shows, the overall results are similar in Lebanon and Italy, yet two main ranking of characteristics vary. The first differences are in the first most motivating factors. Italians consider Task Significance as being the most motivating and then followed by the Task Identity. On the other hand, the Lebanese have a reversed feeling where Task Identity comes first before Task Significance. The second difference is in Task and Skill Variety. The results of the first part of the questionnaire enable me to lead to several conclusions which help me understand how employees in Lebanon and in Italy feel about their jobs. Furthermore, the results from the second part of the questionnaire can be a guide for designing jobs that will increase motivation. Yet, the results were affected by limitation during the research. The results extracted from the questionnaire seem to lead to the conclusion that in general, Lebanese workers are more satisfied than Italian workers with their jobs. Indeed, whether when analyzing the extrinsic or the intrinsic factors, Lebanese gave a higher average of motivation. Although Italians are not dissatisfied at work, they still remain at the verge of the neutrality since they rated extrinsic factors of motivation at 4.97 against Lebanese who gave a 5.39 average, which leads to a confident extrinsic satisfaction. Under the same tone, results show that Italians arent dissatisfied at work in terms of extrinsic motivation but yet again, it is a very minimal average of 3.97 which is very close to neutrality. Therefore, overall it can be concluded that Italians lack intrinsic motivation, which support H1. This further illustrates the fact that regardless of how strict employment protection legislation in a country, it doesnt ensure motivation of employees. On the other hand, L ebanese do not support H2 because the results show that they are satisfied both intrinsically and extrinsically. This could mean that on the contrary maybe employees are more motivated when employment protection legislation is more lenient. Results show that Italians and Lebanese dont consider quitting their jobs. In fact, the results are very close for both countries. Besides, they are both very close to the neutral point which demonstrates that the intention of remaining in the same company isnt a 100% there. Besides a very important contradiction is that Italians arent satisfied with their jobs but still they dont consider quitting their job more than Lebanese who are satisfied do. The results obtained from the second part of the questionnaire, although in general very similar between both countries, show a nuance of cultural differences in needs between Italians and Lebanese. Actually, it seems that Lebanese hold more importance to task identity which comes first before task significance. This means, that Lebanese would feel more motivated if they could put a name to their work. On the other hand, Task significance comes before task identity for the Italians, therefore, Italians are more motivated by the impact their job has on others whether inside or outside the companies. This is why, it can conclude that Lebanese are more self-centered regarding their jobs, whereas Italians are more centered towards others. Another difference can be observed concerning task and skill variety. In fact, results show that Italians would be more motivated by developing different skills than undertaking different tasks within their jobs. This means that Italians are more attracted to learning new techniques and methods of work and using them. On the other hand, Lebanese seem to care, more about using different tasks at work than about using different skills. This illustrates that Lebanese are more motivated by doing a number of different activities in order to complete their job. The rest of the characteristics are all ranked at the same level of importance for both countries. It is interesting to see that Italians and Lebanese consider knowledge characteristics as the least motivating. Therefore, they arent very concerned about learning and development. A very interesting point in relation to the Motivation Potential Score is that to motivate employees in Italy, the equation must be high in Task Significanc e more importantly in order to complete meaningfulness of the job. Task identity can also be added in order to enhance this psychological state. Autonomy and feedback must also be considered since they come in 3rd and 4th and they must complete the equation to ensure the motivation of employees. The Motivation Potential score equation for the Lebanese employees should be high in Task identity for meaningfulness of the job. Still under meaningfulness, task significance can be added but not as a priority. Of course, autonomy and feedback must be high in order to ensure motivation. The conclusions obtained enable us to understand the different needs of each country in order to motivate employees. According to the results, Italians seem to lack satisfaction at work. Therefore, managers in Italy should concentrate on intrinsic factors of motivation. In other words, employees must feel a sense of achievement, responsibility and furthermore, employees must feel recognition when they achieve something. Responsibilities can be developed through delegation and even more empowerment of employees who are given the possibility of participating in decision making concerning the company. Empowerment is more than delegation, it is the opportunity to take responsibility for a particular task and see it through its completion. (Hopkins, 1995, p.2) Achievements can be developed within the enterprise by listening to innovative ideas of employees and providing the means to put the idea to life when they have a potential of benefiting the enterprise. Another way of encouraging achievement is by supporting employees in completing their work. In order to complete the motivating aspect of achievem ents and responsibilities, recognition must be addressed. Indeed, recognition is a motivating factor that can be presented in the form of a simple thank you or more formally an award in front of the entire company with reasons for such a gesture (Hopkins, 1995). Managers in Italy can also use the results of this paper in order to design jobs that will increase motivation and performance of employees. Focusing on the conclusion obtained from the Motivation Potential Score equation of Italians, it can be understood that jobs in Italy should be high in Task Significance as a priority, high in autonomy and feedback. Therefore, a motivating job in Italy should include characteristics that show the significance of the job for others. Adding to this, employees should participate in important actions or events of the organization in order to feel that they count. This can be done through the participation in decision making, proposition of new ideas and state problems in the company. Anything, which shows how important the employees input, is for the company is a good way of grading high in Task Significance. Yet, Task Significance also includes impact employees have on the world outside the company. This can be done through the image of the organiz ation within the society such as social responsibilities and good reputation. In other words, employees must realize that their quality of work and performance helps in enhancing the reputation of the company. A program in the name of the company could also be developed where employees can participate in helping the society such as a cleaning the beach day. Another important motivational characteristic that could be present within a job is autonomy which can be developed by increasing freedom of employees in three aspects of the job: Work Scheduling through flexible schedules and flexible times of break, choice of part time jobs or shared jobs and even telecommunicating jobs when possible. Work Methodology, through the choice on how best to complete the job. Indeed, employees are those who perform that same job everyday, so they become specialized and very knowledgeable about it and this is why they are well placed to know the best way of conducting the task. Decision Making, concerning their part of the job. This can be through suggestion boxes or regular meetings where employees can share their concern or problems regarding their jobs and propose a plausible solution. The 3rd characteristic that should be included in the design of a job that will increase motivation is Feedback. Feedback can very simply be assured within a job. Programs such as annual or monthly evaluation of employee performance are a good way of developing feedback in a company. Yet, just listing a number or a grade to an employee isnt enough. In addition, managers should explain why weak evaluations results were obtained and give advices on how to perform better. Since the results show that Lebanese are satisfied at work, the only recommendation that can be given is in the Job Design. As mentioned before, autonomy and feedback are important characteristics that should be present in jobs in Lebanon and to respect the Motivation Potential Score equation which therefore increases motivation. Here, Task Identity plays a very important role for motivating the Lebanese. To include Task Identity in their jobs, The Lebanese managers must ensure that employees can complete an entire piece of work with which they can identify with. An example of task identity is a factory of radios where each employee can put his name on the back of the piece they produced. Task Identity is enhanced when employees feel responsible and are given responsibility for their work. It also increases the pride employees have for the work they perform. Of course, motivation can further be enhanced by including task significance characteristics which is graded as second in motiv ating Lebanese employees. Due to the limitations that this research can provide (lack of large number of responses in Lebanon, cultural tendency, anonymity, lack of commitment of companies), it would be interesting to re-proceed with this research with a larger sample in Lebanon, which is crucial for the specificity of the results. This same research, comparing to other countries would also be very interesting. Finally, this research focusing on the service sector is another interesting scope.

All Quiet on the Western Front :: essays research papers fc

Compare ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in terms of the:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Boys’ attitude to war  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reasons for enlistment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Experiences on the front How do these change their attitude to war? What does this tell you about the similarities and differences the Australian’s and German’s experiences? Analysis of Major Characters Paul Bà ¤umer As the novel’s narrator and protagonist, Paul is the central figure in All Quiet on the Western Front and serves as the mouthpiece for Remarque’s meditations about war. Throughout the novel, Paul’s inner personality is contrasted with the way the war forces him to act and feel. His memories of the time before the war show that he was once a very different man from the despairing soldier who now narrates the novel. Paul is a compassionate and sensitive young man; before the war, he loved his family and wrote poetry. Because of the horror of the war and the anxiety it induces, Paul, like other soldiers, learns to disconnect his mind from his feelings, keeping his emotions at bay in order to preserve his sanity and survive. As a result, the compassionate young man becomes unable to mourn his dead comrades, unable to feel at home among his family, unable to express his feelings about the war or even talk about his experiences, unable to remember the past fully, and unable to conceive of a future without war. He also becomes a â€Å"human animal,† capable of relying on animal instinct to kill and survive in battle. But because Paul is extremely sensitive, he is somewhat less able than many of the other soldiers to detach himself completely from his feelings, and there are several moments in the book (Kemmerich’s death, Kat’s death, the time that he spends with his ill mother) when he feels himself pulled down by emotion. These surging feelings indicate the extent to which war has programmed Paul to cut himself off from feeling, as when he says, with devastating understatement, â€Å"Parting from my friend Albert Kropp was very hard. But a man gets used to that sort of thing in the ar my.† Paul’s experience is intended to represent the experience of a whole generation of men, the so-called lost generation—men who went straight from childhood to fighting in World War I, often as adolescents. Paul frequently considers the past and the future from the perspective of his entire generation, noting that, when the war ends, he and his friends will not know what to do, as they have learned to be adults only while fighting the war.

Compare and Contrast Mesopotamia and Egypt

The Egyptians much like the Mesopotamians are similar in that they obtain monarchies stratified social systems. However Egypt had a unified nation while Mesopotamia utilized city states and socially Kings were viewed different in the societies. Although Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar governing styles and social classes never the less, they differed in political organization and the roles women. Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar in the way that they both were monarchies. The monarchs in Egypt were called pharaohs; they were believed to be an earthly manifestation of the gods.Mesopotamia had kings that ruled city states which refer to a self-governing urban center and agricultural territories. Egypt and Mesopotamia are also parallel because they both have a stratified class system. In both civilizations the Kings make up the highest status in the system, the secondary levels are made up of the nobles and priests, the next standard is made up of artisans, and lastly the peasants and slaves make up the two lowest positions. Egypt and Mesopotamia also have various differences. The first difference was the role of women in the civilizations.In Egypt women were able to divorce her husband, was able to inherit from her parents, and we able to own land. In Mesopotamia women were used as instruments for preserving and enhancing family wealth, women had little social standing and freedom. In both civilizations women were important because they were needed for their fertility. Another difference was how the two civilizations is how they were unified as a whole. Egypt was undivided, they were a bureaucracy, Egypt was ruled as a whole nation under the pharaoh. Mesopotamia on the other hand were a city state, Mesopotamia had many kings that ruled a kingdom in the area of Mesopotamia.Lastly, there was a Law code in Mesopotamia which was a long set of examples that illustrated the principles to be used in a case. Egypt did not have a law code. The Egyptians and Mesopotamian have many similarities and differences. The similarities consist of both have similar political organization and both had stratified class systems. The differences are composed of role of women and unity of the civilization. Although Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar commanding roles, they differed in the governing aspects of the civilizations.

Policies Related to Environmental Concerns Essay

While, indeed, there are several legal statutes that are heralded by both the international, national, and local levels of the public communities, especially the government, there remains much contention with regard to the true cost of ratifying it and adhering to its implementation. This is a dilemma that occurs to be of special truth to the developing countries who are not given the luxury of financial and technological resources to address the issues associated with the environment. Definitely, there are a lot of issues and related costs that are borne with every legal statute passed for the purpose of protecting the environment. From the implantation of it come the associated resources in terms of manpower and other needs. Over time, it has been the case that the cost of the environmental degradation that occurred, and is still occurring, becomes harder to quantify in financial terms. The costs are usually measured and derived from air and water quality as examples (Ahmed & Sanchez-Triana, 2008). However, it should be noted that it is not the financial quantification of this particular endeavor that matters but the present impact and the long-term goals that should be foreseen. First, it is seen that the adverse effects brought about by the inability of the environment to keep with the needs of the human population is already being felt by people. There are different groups that can be identified in terms of the socio-economic classes to which they belong and the degree to which they are disadvantaged because of certain characteristics. The benefits that could be derived from the simple laws that protect their basic needs such as the access to clean water vary from one group to another. Another consideration for this is that the impacts have led to a domino-effect where it has indirectly affected the entire society and should the provision of safety nets through legal policies are definitely an urgent need to solve several interlocking problems that have come in lieu of the environmental degradation. Second, the long-term effects brought about by the legal statutes would definitely help not only the generations in immediate succession of the present but would also last until a few more decades, if not centuries (Gillespie, 1997). Every little act of kindness done to the environment in the present contributes to its well-being and existence in the future. This is among the elements that link the past to the present and the present to the future. References Ahmed, K. & Sanchez-Triana, E. (2008). Strategic environmental assessment for policies: An instrument for good governance. Washington, DC: The World Bank. Gillespie, A. (1997). International environmental law, policy, and ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.