Promote And Implement Health And Safety Essay

1.1 Legislation that relates to health and safety in a health/social care setting include the following. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 1.2 The main points of some health and safety policies or procedures such as control of substances hazardous to health COSHH are to make sure that any chemicals that are or could be dangerous to people’s health are used and stored in a correct way that minimises any potential risk to people. Manual handling operations regulations are to ensure that employees/employers are aware of the possible injury’s that can be caused by unsafety lifting procedures and has guidelines for manual handling procedures that greatly reduce the potential of a work related injury occurring due a manual handling operation. 1.3 Self: Any risks that you are aware of are checked and made save. You should also work to maintain a safe working environment. The employer or Manager: They are to make sure that those under their supervision are aware of hazards and possible risks. In addition they should make sure that these staff know how to deal with deal with the risks and hazards, and make sure they know how to ask for guidance for senior staff. These are in addition to the same responsibilities as myself. Others in the work setting: Colleagues have the same duty of care that I do. However ultimate responsibility lays with the Manager/Supervisor. 1.4 Tasks that require special training would include the restraining of a service user. Before undertaking this task a Positive Handling Techniques PHT training should be done. It is used to protect service users and others around them from harm. The administration of controlled medication or any other sort of medication is record on a medication administration sheet MARS, training is needed to follow this procedure to protect service users from medication administration errors. Before starting work in a social care  environment safe guarding training should be under taken, this is done for the protection of service users. 2.1One of the procedures used related to health and safety is a risk assessment. Risk assessments are to be followed for trips out reduce the risk of potential accidents and avoid hazards. They are done during the planning stage of an outhouse activity. The Positive handling techniques used, is an example of an agreed way of working to keep service users and emp loyees safe from physical harm. 2.2I have supported other to understand and follow safe practise when a new employee has started work. I have gone through the correct way to store and use cleaning products. I did this by talking the new employee though the practices used in the house while showing them where the products are stored and then demonstrating how to correctly clean. I have also help other members of staff when performing a practice fire drill by demonstrating the correct procedure to follow when the fire alarm is activated. 2.3I have reported potential health and safety risk by filling out a debriefing form. These are done after an unusual event has happened to make others aware of unusual event and help make action plans in the future to reduce risk if these events happen again. These debriefing forms have been bought up in individual meeting with my senior managers and we talk about the event. In the meeting it will be discussed if and action needs to be take. In cases where it was been agreed that procedures in place aren’t sufficient to deal with the event procedures have been changed then monitored to make sure that they are suitable to deal with the event if it was to happen again. 2.4I have used risk assessments to help plan a day trip for a service user. I made a schedule of the activities the service user wish to take part in, then looked at how they would be able to travel to the destination and what activities would be undertaken and the environment in which they were taking place. I t hen put this information on to a sheet and assessed each action and the potential risks and hazards involved and what could be done to reduce or avoid them. 2.5One way I have reduced the potential of risks and hazards at work was to wait for a service user to leave the house before using a steam cleaner in his room. I have also put up wet floor signs when mopping and will wait for the house to be as quiet as possible before starting to reduce slipping hazards. 2.6I have accessed additional support relating to health and safety before for the key policies files which are  stored in the office. 3.1Accidents could include common one such as slips, trips and falls. Others accidents could be cuts or burns common to kitchen environments. Head or back injuries are other examples of accidents that can happen in a health and social care work place, these can often occur when helping service users in times of distress. Sudden illness may happen at work may include strokes, heart attacks or asthma attacks. 3.2In the event of an accident or sudden illness the first person on the scene should make the area safe if it possible. A first aider should be found and once the situation has be assessed the relevant emergency services should be contacted if needed. Once the situation has been stabilised an accident form should also be completed by the person who has had the accident or be filled out on the behalf if they can’t do so themselves. 4.1When working with a service user it is important to promote good personal hygiene, such as washing hands before preparing food or after using the toilet. It is also important to fill in the infection control file to keep a check on what has been clean or needs to be cleaned. Also only use paper towels once when wiping down surfaces and separate ones for each door handle. Avoid coming in to work when ill to reduce the spread of the illness. Also make sure that anyone who prepare or works with food has had food hygiene training. 4.2I start by wetting my hands, if my hands are particularly soiled I will apply an appropriate specialist hand cleanser directly to the skin before wetting. I then will apply soap to my hands. Then clean my hands in the following stages. Rub hands palm to palm, rub palm over back of hand fingers interlaced on each hand, Palm to palm fingers interlaced, Fingers interlocked into palms, Rotational rubbing of thumb clasped into palm, Rotational rubbing of clasp ed fingers into palm. I then make sure my hands are thoroughly dried with clean paper towels. 4.3I ensure that I don’t pose a risk to others with my own health and hygiene by making sure that I am healthy enough to complete any task I undertaker safely. I also make sure that I wash my hands before preparing food and before and after helping a service user with self-care. I will also make sure I wear the correct clothing when performing these actions. I will covering my hand when coughing and use tissues when I sneezing or wash my hands if a tissue isn’t to hand. I will also stay out of work when ill to avoid spreading any infections. 5.12. Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (MHOR) (as  amended 2002) The main points of The Manual handling Operations Regulations 1992 are as follows to reduce the risk of injury as far as is reasonably practicable, avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable, assess any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided. The primary objective of PUWER 98 is to ensure that work e quipment should not result in health and safety risks, regardless of its age, condition or origin. Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) requires that all equipment used for lifting is fit for purpose, appropriate for the task, suitably marked and, in many cases, subject to statutory periodic ‘thorough examination’. Records must be kept of all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing authority. 5.2There are four main principles to keep in mind when moving and handling. It is important to keep your spine in line, maintaining a natural posture. Adopt a comfortable wide stance to give a stable base. Keep the load close to your vertical centre of gravity. Finally use the large legs and buttock muscles to lift during any manual lifting activity. The acronym TILE is also helpful. This is Task, Individual, Load and Environment. 5.3I move and handle objects safely by following the principles and ensuring the load is not too heavy, that the route is clear, I hold it close to me with a straight back and bent legs. If a load is too heavy for me to move by myself I will seek help and work with another colleague to move the object. 6.1There are a number of substances that are hazardous to health that can be found in a health and social care environment. These can include cleaning products such as bleach or chorine that such be clearly labelled and stored away safely. Other hazardous substances could include human waste. Food that is past its best before date or stored incorrectly could be classed as hazardous. Other could be found as part of the building such as asbestos. 6.2When I store hazardous substances such as bleach and chlorine tablets I make sure I follow COSHH regulations and store the said chemicals in the designated area. I will wear rubber gloves when I handle any hazardous substances, an example would be when using chlorine tablets and placing them in to a mop bucket. An example of when I disposal of hazardous substances at work would be when I take out used wipes and pads. I will place these in a bag using gloves then seal the  bag and take them to a yellow bin and then dispose of the gloves in the bin aswell. 7.1Practices to prevent fires starting include switching off any electrical equipment that is not in use. Any cooking is monitored and not left unattended. To prevent the spread of fire there are fire doors which should remain closed when not being used and never wedged open. 7.2I prevent fire from starting by making sure that when not in use electrical items are tur n off. I will also make sure that there aren’t lots of in extensions socks on a mains plug socket. When cooking I will not leave the area unattended to monitor the food and prevent burning and a possible fire hazard. I will also make sure the hob is clean and the surrounding area is clear of obstructions. Also I will make sure the area not rags above sources of heat and remove and rags if so. Also avoid over filling dryers and clean out lint catcher regularly. 7.3When a fire is discovered the alarm should be raised then everyone should be evacuated from the building and make their way through the nearest fire exit to the designated fire assemble point. The emergency services should be alerted and the on call team notified. A register should be taken to make sure everyone who was in the building at the time is accounted for. 7.4I make sure when moving items around the property that they don’t obstruct evacuation routes. When I find routes are blocked I will remove the obstructions or ask someone else to do so and make sure the route is clear and save to use. I also check that the doors are functioning correctly and can be opened with easy. 8.1When I person I do not know wishes to enter the property I will ask for the names and the propose of their visit. I will then ask to see some form of identity, if I am satisfied I will grant them entry and ask the person to enter their details in to the visitors sign in book. Any person who wishes to access information will again ask them for their names and the reason they wish to have the information. After seeing some identification I will gain them access. If I were to have any doubts on either of the above I would seek help form a senior team member. 8.2To protect my own security and the security of others I would alert people if there are unknown people on the property grounds and ask said person to provide identification. I would also make sure that dangerous items such as knifes and scissors are all accounted for and stored away safely. 8.3When talking about staff or visitors to the premise it is important that they aware of the own whereabouts so that  hazardous can be pointed out and avoid. Also they can also be made aware of the nearest fire exits in case of emergency. For service users it is important that they are made aware of the environment they are in, such as a kitchen or by a road side so staff can help them manage the risks of being in the environment. 9.1Common signs of stress can include symptoms such as headaches, trouble sleeping such as irregular sleeping patterns, muscle pains and a reduced concentration span. 9.2Signs of stress in myself would include trouble sleeping, smoking and trouble being patient with people. 9.3Factors that trigger stress for me are missing deadlines, not taking enough time to relax and being uncertain about my job security. 9.4 There are many strategies for people to manage their stress. Eating and drinking can help, a healthy diet and avoiding drinking too much caffeine or alcohol can help people deal with stress. Another way to help reduce stress is to get 6 to 8 hours sleep each day. Exercise has also been link to reducing stress, breathing exercises can help people who are stress. Each of these has there pro’s and con’s. Some while getting enough sleep can help reduce stress, stress can cause people to have trouble getting to sleep. Eating healthy is a good way to feel good which can help. Exercise can work well but people may not be able to find time to do it. Breathing exercises can be helpful and could be done anywhere and don’t take much time to perform.

Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal

Tyler Wyrick Ms. Russo English 165. 25W 11 May 2010 E1 Why Marijuana should be Illegal In society today, many people are looking for a feeling of freedom. Some go on vacation and spend money while others look to drugs. The sense of high that results from using marijuana acts as an escape from the stresses of everyday life. As a result, a tremendous number of Americans participate in the illicit use of marijuana. Our American society is facing a tremendous drug problem that will increase exponentially by the legalization of this drug.Marijuana should be illegal because it will cause an increase in drug users and drug related crimes, the short term and long term effects of marijuana on the body, and the effect it will have on the country. One of the consequences of legalization would be a tremendous increase in marijuana users. Right now with the use of illicit drugs comes the fear of law enforcement agents and punishment causes individuals to be too scared to try marijuana. However, i f weed become legalized, the fear becomes nonexistent and the number of users skyrockets.Legalized marijuana provides an ease of access to the drug, which in turn, promotes an increase in sales and use. An increase in marijuana use will also result in an increase in drug related crimes. Supporters of the legalization of weed believe that crime and violence would decrease if the drug is legal. Statistics show that forty percent of those arrested for committing a crime tested positive for the use of drugs at the time of their arrest. Making drugs more readily available could potentially propel more individuals into a life of crime and violence.Many marijuana users turn to crime to pay for their habit. They are stimulated by drugs and therefore act violently. Sold legally, marijuana will become easy for users to buy it around the corner, which would increase the already existing problem of crime. It is mentioned by Forbes that every year drug lords make billions of dollars from marijua na business, and those promoting legalization believe it will wipe out their major sources of funds. Drug use is a matter of supply and demand. As long as demand exists, someone is going to supply it either legally or illegally.Supporters of legalization believe that if the government regulates drugs such as marijuana by imposing taxes, then the black market will be eliminated. Not many users can afford to buy high priced drugs such as marijuana. As a result, people will be forced to go to drug gangs who sell marijuana under the market price. In addition, children and teenagers will obviously be banned from purchasing marijuana, just as they are prohibited from buying beer and liquor. Nevertheless, there will be drug pushers who will continue to encourage the youth and try to get them hooked to marijuana.Hence, legalization of marijuana will encourage a growing criminal black market. Marijuana is also very bad for ones overall health. Persistent use will damage lungs and airways and raise the risk of cancer. There is just as much exposure to cancer-causing chemicals from smoking one marijuana joint as smoking five tobacco cigarettes. There is evidence that marijuana may limit the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This drug also causes severe side effects to the brain and body.Smoking marijuana can cause a person to lose their memory. Marijuana also has many short-term psychological and physical effects. These reactions usually last for three to five hours after a person has smoked marijuana. The psychological reaction, known as a high, consists of changes in the user’s feelings and thoughts. Mainly THC causes such changes. Many people usually smoke marijuana in cigarettes or pipes, but it also can be mixed with food and beverages. The concentration of the marijuana can affect how a person reacts to using the drug.The effects of a marijuana high vary from person to person and from one time to another in the same individual. In most cases, the high consists of a dreamy relaxed state in which users seem more aware of their senses and feel that time is moving slowly. Sometimes however, marijuana produces a feeling of panic and dread. The different reactions result partly from the concentration of THC in the marijuana. Other factors such as the setting in which marijuana is used, the user’s expectations, personality, and mood also affect a person’s reaction to the drug.Long-term effects of marijuana are not completely known, but studies have shown that some people who have used marijuana regularly for several months or longer have developed serious long-term problems. Among males, marijuana use can reduce the production of sperm and the male sex hormone testosterone. Among females, marijuana can cause menstrual irregularity and reduced fertility. Extended use of marijuana also has a long-term psychological effect on many people. These individuals lose interest in everything. They become unmotiva ted and detached. Another impact on health is that marijuana is a gateway drug.People that smoke marijuana for the first time feel that bringing themselves to actually try pot is the hardest part. Once an individual’s nerves are now calm about trying marijuana, they will now find that trying harder drugs won’t be as difficult to think about. Once their attitude on drug use is changed people will not hesitate to experiment with new harder drugs just as they did with marijuana. The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found adolescents who smoke pot 85 times more likely to use cocaine than their non–pot smoking peers. 0 percent of young people who use marijuana before they turn 15 later go on to use cocaine. A user of marijuana will eventually want to feel a new or better high causing them to resort to drugs that have much more of a negative effect on the body. Not all drug users will immediately begin using heroin, but once they are taki ng drugs it is very difficult for them to quit. For some, it will begin with simple painkillers and then possibly cocaine. With each step further into the world of drugs the user will find it harder to return. The high becomes an escape from reality.It becomes a release from the pressures of everyday life. With time, the period between highs becomes shortened due to the inability for users to face daily tasks. Soon, they become addicts living for the next high. Why? Because marijuana, a â€Å"harmless, organic drug,† opened the door to more possibilities. Next, legalization is neither a reasonable nor rational policy for this country. One of the biggest concerns about the legalization argument is the mixed message it sends to our young people. The legalization will imply a nonjudgmental attitude about drugs.The public’s attitude must change toward drugs and focus on prevention and treatment of drug abuse while maintaining the laws that make the drugs illegal. By focusi ng time and resources on the dangers of marijuana use, we are setting ourselves up for a better society as a whole. Reducing societal acceptance of weed use would allow Americans to raise a generation that could make a healthy contribution to the country. Then, the thought of job opportunities could be an issue. Think about the hundreds of thousands of others who are daily and heroically involved in the continuous war on drugs.Police officers, who are constantly meeting their quota by busting marijuana related crimes, would now have to sit back and watch the future of America get high on the streets hoping they wont continue on in to the drug world. Marijuana is illegal for many reasons. Most of the people that are pro-legalization will not use it for medical use or are at all interested in this nations economy. The ugly truth is that most want it legal merely because they want to use it. The drug problem America faces now would severely increase if marijuana were legalized.Health b ills would go up due to medical issues involving weed, drug related crimes would increase, and legalizing the drug would change America’s attitude on drugs completely and open the door to drugs far worse than weed. The war on drugs would just be getting started.

A Review Of Personal Loans Commerce Essay

A Review Of Personal Loans Commerce Essay If you already have a personal loan, the chances are that it is costing you more than it should. Even though there are a number of great opportunities to make your money work harder, most people don’t bother changing their loan and stick with a loan rate that doesn’t reflect the best deal. By using our search tool to compare loans, you can compare offers available from loan providers in the UK including both personal loans and homeowner loans. A loan is an amount of money you borrow from your bank or any financial institution, usually over a fixed period of time, which is repaid at regular intervals. Interest is charged and added to the original loan amount, and other charges, such as an Administration Fee, may apply to the loan as well. Generally, there are 2 types of loans secured and unsecured loan. Secured loans are secured against the mortgaged property. Secured loans usually ranges from  £3,000 to  £50,000, although some lenders will consider lending up to  £100,000. The amount borrowed is repaid monthly over a term agreed at the outset, ranging between three and 25 years. Unsecured loans can be taken out without offering the lender any security. Unsecured personal loans are available for a range of different amounts and repayment terms. Larger loans such as those for over  £10,000 can usually be taken over longer terms, for example between seven and 10 years, and the maximum you can borrow is about  £25,000. Payday loans are short-term borrowing solutions aimed at those facing an immediate financial difficulty. If you find yourself short of cash towards the end of the month, you can apply for a same-day payday loan, usually lasting for 31 days and are generally available for amounts between  £100 and  £1,000. The interest rates on payday loans are much higher than those on most other types of borrowing. The most common personal loans are fixed, which means repayments are set at a certain amount over a set period of time. Vari able loans are also available, although this means that your interest rate is dependent on the bank base rate and could fluctuate. When choosing a loan you should pay careful attention to the APR, the Annual Percentage Rate, this is important because it tells you how much you are paying back. Secured loans Secured loans are secured against the mortgaged property. Secured loans usually ranges from  £3,000 to  £50,000, although some lenders will consider lending up to  £100,000. The amount borrowed is repaid monthly over a term agreed at the outset, ranging between three and 25 years. Unsecured loans can be taken out without offering the lender any security. Payday Loans Payday loans are short-term borrowing solutions aimed at those facing an immediate financial difficulty. If you find yourself short of cash towards the end of the month, you can apply for a same-day payday loan, usually lasting for 31 days and are generally available for amounts between  £100 and  £1,000. Th e interest rates on payday loans are much higher than those on most other types of borrowing. Payday loans are intended only as a short term arrangement. As with an overdraft, payday loans should not be seen as a long term solution.

Should the government provide free public education to children of Essay - 3

Should the government provide free public education to children of illegal immigrants - Essay Example Arguments for Educating †¢ Moral justification since the children are underage and did not choose to be illegals †¢ Criminal potential; uneducated immigrants might become criminals in future †¢ The American dream, America should welcome those who are projected for fighting for its ideologies in their countries such as democracy †¢ Economic Social and Educational Value, immigrants can play a role in the developing the country as teachers or business people IV. Conclusion †¢ Educating of immigrants children has both positive and negative impacts †¢ The position of Americans on the issue has softened over time †¢ These children should be given a chance at a better future Four hundred years ago, America welcomed visitors and immigrants from all over the world, with the passage of time, generations of these people and their descendants became the citizens of the United States. However, of late, immigration has become thorny topic and the American borders are no longer open to all due to a myriad of demographic and security issues. For one to become a citizen, there is a long process to be followed, and few people have the patience or the means to follow this up. Despite the legal restrictions, America is still, in the eyes of many people a haven of prosperity and security, and this has resulted to illegal immigrants who cross over the border through either land or sea to try their luck in the states. President Obama through the Dream act gave immigrant’s children who have been brought up in America a chance to pursue their education, which was previously impossible due to legal restrictions (Orchowski, 2010). This has elicited a myriad of reactions from different quarters with some agreeing, but many set against this move. This paper is will discuss the two sides of the argument and attempt to argue out that the children of immigrants should be given a chance at an education in the United States. Americans opposing this ofte n have come up with several arguments to support their position; they include claiming that; allowing the children of these immigrants access to public education in America is self-defeating. This is because it implies that the American government is using taxpayer’s money to fund the US border patrol to keep out illegal immigrants, while at the same time educating their children from the same coffers. They argue that the education of immigrant’s children will drive up the taxes especially in view if the fact that their parents, who have no social security numbers, do not pay taxes, as such it is the taxpayer who will bear the whole burden. In addition, another argument is that the education of illegal immigrants is a slap in the face of those legal migrants who have worked hard and paid the taxes. Besides, immigrants might be an encouragement to come to the country purposefully, so that they can get an education hence, in the end, they will spur more immigrants to com e over escalating the illegal immigrants problems. To mitigate this, the Dream act covers only the children who had been in America before it was enacted, but admittedly, it will be hard to ensure it will not encourage future immigrants to cross over illegally. While one must concede that these arguments are valid largely, they do not tell the whole story; neither do they represent all the variables that arise when an immigrant’s child is educated in the states. At the need of the day, it is essential one considers the advantages of

My Media Uses and Gratification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

My Media Uses and Gratification - Essay Example In other words, people from all walks of life seek to gratify their needs in line with surveillance or information, personal identity, personal relationships or integration and social interaction, and diversion or entertainment (Marris and Thornham 258). All of these are integral parts of my media uses and gratification discussed in the following sections. Presented in this paper is the analysis of how my media use can illustrate the uses and gratifications theory with alternate perspective of magic bullet theory. Watching television Uses and gratifications theory There are many reasons why I need to watch television. I have personal desires that could be addressed if I watch the television. I could be entertained. It can relax me at some certain level and it is a form of recreation activity for me, and including the people around. In other words, television can address my affective needs which include emotions and pleasures. People have varying emotional needs and watching televisio n seems to gratify them. The very example is watching television that may substantially result to emotional release or sexual arousal. People can cry with sentimental soup opera or be sexually aroused with TV programs with depiction of highly erotic scenes. The above illustration shows that watching television is a form of activity that gratifies one’s specific needs as motivated by personal desire. This also shows that people have significant things to do with television based on gratifying their needs. There are different reasons or intentions why watching television is a must for some people. At some point, television could be a source of information like TV news report or weather forecast, current affairs and live events around the world including popular sports. As for me, watching television is also a source of information. I watch television in order to be also updated with the current economic, political and social status of the country and around the world. In other words, television also helps me gratify my cognitive needs. Magic bullet theory These are specific things I need from watching television, but along the way there are also other things that I encountered which are not integral parts of my needs. For example, commercial advertisements give me specific idea about the latest trend in fashion. Although I also have personal integrative needs, I am not expecting to find them out from watching television. Watching commercial advertisements from television increases my ideas on the latest fashion trends, diet techniques and many more. In other words, it is in this aspect that I am being influenced by the television because it was not my desire to find my needs for fashion trend or diet in there. This is the main point of the magic bullet theory, which states that the audience is substantially influenced by the media due to their being passive and communication has powerful effect on attitudes and behaviors (Kelly 352). It is therefore impor tant to point out that apart from my personal needs as what motivate me to watch television; there are other personal needs that could be addressed by it outside of my innermost desire or intention. It is at this point that television has substantially influenced me not because of my desire to find my needs fulfilled by it, but because it has specifically just informed me beyond my desire

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING-Research Methodologies Paper (week 3) Essay

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING-Research Methodologies Paper (week 3) - Essay Example eral, marketing activities are all those associated with identifying the particular wants and needs of a target market of customers, and then going about satisfying those customers better than the competitors. This involves doing market research on customers, analyzing their needs, and then making strategic decisions about product design, pricing, promotion and distribution. As the world becomes a global village organizations are expanding their business from their country to all over the world. Marketing not only provides a strong base to any product but it also creates the image of the organization that the product belongs to. Marketing is not an old concept but the various ways in which it is done have evolved over a time period with the help of extreme research. Marketing is done according to the tastes and preferences of the consumers and the culture to which they belong. To find out the tastes, preferences and other factors that effect consumers buying decision different resear ch methodologies are applied by any organization before launching its product. By doing this an organization can estimate the success rate of its product or how much sales will be generated by the product, this helps them in deciding whether to launch a product or not. Our organization has faced a major boost in sales and profits since the last few years, the reason being our effective marketing strategy. Proving that our current marketing strategy is prefect for the time being. After the success of organization’s product in the domestic market due to an effective marketing strategy. The executive management team has decided that the organization will market its top selling product in the international market as well. Highly professional people have carefully selected the international market that will host the organizations top-selling product. The international market would be of Germany. In order to make an effective marketing strategy, different research methodologies would be

Child Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Child Development - Essay Example This is what will be dissertated in the following. The study of child development truly and utterly encompasses that of all the human aspects of human growth from birth to adolescence, and this includes that of the progressive elaboration of the child's intellectual skills; personality development, involving the complex interaction between psychosocial factors and the stage-by-stage development of the body; and socialization, the process by which children adjust to society and its demands. As well, "Child development information can help parents know when they are expecting too much from a child as well as become aware of lags in development that may benefit from professional help." (Child Development Institution, 2006). The child development process begins at birth, and there is one matter that needs to be begun at the birth and then carried on throughout the child's life; this is the fact that you need to play with your child. While children are going to need their own space and thus have play time alone or with other children, research has shown that playtime with parents is truly also essential. Children actually crave playtime with their parents, and playing with your child is a bond that will last forever. There are many benefits that come from playing with your child as well, and that includes the fact that "It lets the child know he or she is loved and appreciatedas wellIt opens the door for sharing problems and concerns when the need arisesfurthermoreIt is also a great stress reducer for overworked parents." (Child, 2006). There are certain development milestones as well that are incredibly important to recognize, and this too begins right from the birth of the child, and then carries on th rough until adolescence. These developmental milestones include that of several different categories in particular, including: motor, speech, vision and hearing, and social development. We will being with the age of 4-6 weeks, which the child should be able to smile at the mother; 6-8 weeks the child should be able to vocalize at least a little bit; at 3 months, the child should be able to hold their head up for prolonged periods, with no grasp reflex, they should be talking a great deal, be able to follow dangling toys from side to side and be able to turn their head around, and they should be able to squeal with pleasure appropriately and discriminate smile; at 5 months, the child should be able to hold head steady, go for objects and get them, enjoy vocal play, smile at their mirror image; at 6 months, the child should be able to transfer objects from one hand to the other, be able to pull self up to sit and be able to sit erect with supports, be able to pronounce double syllable sounds such as 'mumum' and 'dada', localize sound 45cm lateral to either ear, and they may show 'stranger shyness'; at 9-10 months, the child should be wiggling and crawling, they should be able to sit unsupported, and be able to pick up objects with a pincer grasp, they should be ab

Gay Adoption Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gay Adoption - Research Paper Example Now gay marriage seems to be becoming more acceptable according to a poll done by The Associated Press and the National Constitution Center. â€Å"Fifty-three percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed believe the government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex . . . Forty-four percent were opposed† (CBS News). Gay adoption actually is legal in most states, but that does not stop some states and some adoption agencies making it difficult for same-sex couples to adopt. This is despite the large number—over half a million—children languishing in foster care ready and wanting to be adopted. Those in favor of allowing same-sex couples to adopt cite the high numbers of children in foster care needing forever homes. They also claim that it is discrimination not to allow gay couples who have been deemed suitable parents, and who can provide a loving and stable home, to adopt. The courts agreed with them and laws have recently been establi shed that prohibit discrimination against people based on sexual orientation. Because of these anti-discrimination laws, many states no longer allow adoption agencies to discriminate against a gay couple seeking to adopt a child based on the couple’s sexual orientation, but that argument has taken a 360 degree turn. Adoption agencies that oppose gay adoptions say that they are being discriminated against because of their religious beliefs. Some states refuse to recognize same-sex couples’ adoptions in other states. In the end, what has really occurred is a stubborn right-wing anti-gay faction in this country rejects any belief but their own and will not recognize the rights of same-sex couples to adopt children. They refuse to budge and use every tactic they can to promote their agenda even if it means harming children. Several religious adoption agencies have claimed that since they believe homosexuality is against the teaching of the bible, they should not be require d to place children in the homes of gay couples who wish to adopt them. Todd Flowerday says, â€Å"Historically the Catholic Church has invested a great deal of its charitable efforts in the care of orphaned children, but recently adoption has become a battleground for concerns about religious freedom.  The church is reluctant to place children with parents it deems inadequate—most prominently gay and lesbian couples—and these policies often run afoul of state antidiscrimination laws.  Rather than compromise, some Catholic agencies get out of the adoption business altogether† (Flowerday). That, however, has not affected the number of children being adopted. Many other adoption agencies, perfectly willing to follow the law and to continue to match children needing homes with parents who want them, have stepped in. But, another problem has arisen because of this issue. After a Catholic diocese in Rockford, Illinois dropped its state contract with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Service, three other dioceses sued to be exempt from the law that prohibits Catholic, or any other, adoption service from discriminating against gay and lesbian couples. In fact, these adoption agencies must assist these couples in their search for a child. With the injunction in place for who knows how long, the adoption agencies in those three dioceses can continue to deny same-sex couples their rights to adopt a child. What really bothers some people is that instead of thinking of the children as one would expect the Catholic Chur

Artist report paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Artist report paper - Essay Example His father, Ser Piero da Vinci is a prominent notary of Florence and had a great grange left from their ancestry. However, da Vinci was born to unmarried parents because his mother, Catarina was not from a rich family. After few years later da Vinci was born, Catarina left her own son and married to someone else. This caused da Vinci to not have any connection with any female in his life other than work. Moreover, from the one of famous art piece â€Å"The Mona Lisa† illustrates the idea woman for As a son of notary, da Vinci had been well educated in his childhood from his father, uncle, priest and self-study because he is an illegitimate child. Even so, it did not affect da Vinci’s intelligences still surpassed those people who have been educated in school. He can play a lot of instruments, sing, and study mathematic also nature, due to the large grange he had near his house. Other than the large grange near his house, da Vinci also spends most of his time in outdoor observing nature during his childhood which influenced the future of his art style. Until the age of fourteen, da Vinci’s father sent him to be an apprentice of a great artist, Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence because of talent in art. As an apprentice, he helped Verrocchio to finish one of the angels in â€Å"Baptism of Christ† and the landscape. His ability was amazed Verrocchio because da Vinci understood how to use the color to demonstrate the light and distant. Moreover, he also known the environment will affect the vision such as the rain, cloud and dust. A great person is not only what he is good at, is also what he did to benefit people. Da Vinci is the first artist who combined Science, Mathematics, anatomy, and engineering into an art piece. He demonstrates the divine proportion of a human body that all the living things have follow the specific ratio, divine proportion. He is also the first person to draw a dissected human body and studied the human structure.

The bible from Genesis to Revelations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The bible from Genesis to Revelations - Essay Example God created Eve and Adam who later gave birth to three sons, that is, Cain, Seth, and Abel. After some time Enoch emerges and later Noah and the ark. Next, is the story of the tower built in Babel and after about 1000 years later, Abraham also appears. The story of the people chosen by God begins from Abraham. This is because God had promised Abraham that he will make him a father of a big nation and his descendants will be as many as the stars. Abraham after many years gave birth to Isaac who later gave birth to Esau and Jacob. The name Jacob later changed to Israel and Israel means â€Å"wrestles with God†. Jacob gave birth to twelve sons who later formed tribes in Israel. The tribes were twelve in number just as they were twelve. Jacob’s most famous son was Joseph. Joseph was sold as a slave to Egyptians, and later he rose to a higher rank in Egypt and because of his influence in the Egyptian government, he managed to bring his family to stay in Egypt in order to save them from famine. The story in the book of exodus starts 400 years later. In this book, the family of Israel does not enjoy the prestigious status as it used to when Joseph was alive. Most of them were taken as slaves as when Joseph died (Maartens & Van, 2011). After about 400 years later, God broke His silence with his manifestations seen when he revealed Himself through signs and wonders to the masses. God, in order to make pharaoh leave his people to go back to the Promised Land, did many wonders in Egypt. The wonders inclu ded the plagues that he brought to the Egyptians. When Pharaoh released the Israelites, God gave them directions and told them how to build the tabernacle and this marked the book of exodus. The book of Leviticus begins, but it is full of laws hence nothing much on it can be discussed. Numbers is the next one and a good part of this book is about census. It begins with a census where they count the population of

Literacy Autobiography Essay Example for Free

Literacy Autobiography Essay In my younger days, I thought of the term literacy as being able to physically read a written piece of work. I thought the ability to read was when an individual could actually pick up a book, magazine, or even the daily news, and have the ability to understand the collage or words on the page. Most believe that this simple understanding of what words are on the paper is all there is to know about reading. But what most people do not know, is that there is a much deeper meaning behind the word literacy. Along with being able to actually read a piece of literature, there is also having the ability to  determine what that piece actually means or the overall message behind it. This helpful but yet difficult skill to attain is the ability to analyze. Many individuals tend to leave the process of analysis out of the equation when discussing literacy abilities. Some also over look the fact the knowledge gained through reading can be applicable to life in general. Consequently, these talents are not just acquired overnight. Learning to read and understand written words and languages takes time, as there are many more parts to literacy than one would imagine. Although learning to read can prove to be difficult, even for the smartest of children, everyone has to start somewhere. For me, my journey began when I was in kindergarden. My teacher, Mrs. Kroon, had a clever trick to help teach her students how to read. She believed that learning to read starts off with becoming familiar with the alphabet and learning what sounds and noises each letter can make. With the help of her blow up alphabet heroes, she was able to teach my classmates and I how recognize each letter of the alphabet. She also helped the class relate a sound or set of sounds to each  different letter. At the time, I had no clue what the significance of learning these letters was. But since learning about the letters was taught in an appealing matter, I was able to pick up on it pretty quickly. Every day my fellow students and I were introduced to a new and exciting alpha-hero as Mrs. Kroon called them. We focused the majority of class on learning about the letter, learning how to say it, and of course how to write it. Day in and day out we would learn more and more about these exciting letters and by the time the end of the school year had come, we had seen each letter multiple times. We had also learned how to put these letters together into words. Little did we know this was the start to a long journey in the world of reading. The question I always asked myself is why is this significant to me? What was so important about these letters that I had to spend the majority of my time in school learning about them. Sure, learning about each hero was fun as it appealed to my love for super heroes, but at that young of an age I was not able to comprehend why I was learning about these different symbols. It was not until first  grade when I actually learned to read that I discovered why so much of my time was spent on these symbols. Every day before class started, our entire school participated in a silent reading period for approximately twenty minutes. During the first few sessions, I was puzzled while I was reading and often found it difficult to understand the puzzle of words in the books. As our teacher worked with us more and more on pronouncing and identifying words, I started to catch on to the material. I would look at a book and for some reason I could understand what the book was saying. It was almost as if the words jumped right off of the page. Shortly after, I was able to pick up many different interesting books and successfully read them to myself. It was like I had acquired a super power; I was able to read! I had developed a skill that most children struggle with for years. I was one of the fortunate ones. Everyday after this realization I became more fascinated with this exciting new discovery. I would read for hours on end just because I could. Its safe to say I was one delighted first grader. And that is where I thought the journey ended. I had learned to read, but the significance of all this reading nonsense had me puzzled. Year in and year out our classroom instructors put a strong emphasis on reading and I could not understand why. It seemed as if the only new benefit to reading was an extended vocabulary or reaching higher reading levels. This may have been the goal at the time being, but it was not until my junior year that I built on my childhood reading foundation. Unfortunately by this age I had lost most of my interest in reading. This made one of my literature  classes very difficult, as we were asked to read a variety of written works. As a class, we were also asked to â€Å"analyze† the readings for deeper meanings. At first I had quite a rough time learning to discover these hidden messages, but as I practiced I became familiar with the process. I came to find that these messages were all around me. For example, after analyzing the childhood story The Hare and the Tortoise, it is evident that the message or moral behind the story is for one to take their time when completing a task as â€Å"slow and steady wins the race. † With each passing day, I became increasingly familiar with this new found talent and analyzing written works was no longer a hassle. Not only could I find the overall message in a piece of literature, but I had also acquired the ability to support my argument with evidence from the written work. This concept of analysis seemed to be the icing on the cake in the concept of literacy, but little did I know I still had more to learn. Although I have come far in my literacy journey, it has taken me almost nineteen years to realize that a reading journey is a life long process. The lessons we learn through the process of reading and analyzing can be used in everyday life, even when one is not actually reading. I have learned that many of the things I do daily involve reading or analyzing whether I know it or not. Simple gifts such as having the ability to tell what mood a friend is in, or whether or not an outfit is appropriate for school also relate to the acts of reading and analyzing. Likewise, when a person can tell what type of a mood another person is in because of their body language, that is in fact reading. The individual is  analyzing the others behavior in order to discover the mood of their colleague. The same concept can be applied to making choices. Within each different decision an individual makes they weigh out the positives and the negatives of each option and then choose what to do. Some may call it decision making, but it is also a type of analysis. Each option is carefully analyzed before a decision is made which proves that humans including myself use these types of strategies everyday. Just like analyzing a piece of work, guessing another persons mood or feelings takes practice. The more an individual takes the time to analyze a situation or person, the easier the process becomes. It is very interesting to truly see how many valuable lessons and skills can be acquired through reading. Even though my journey in the world of literacy is not quite over, I have learned a great deal of information about myself through reading. From kindergarden to high school I have been able to overcome each step on the path to reading success which has lead to a great deal of knowledge. Along with learning to read nearly any book that is thrown my way, I have also learned how to find deeper  meanings in literature and in life. Many of concepts in which I choose to believe in such as â€Å"being yourself† and â€Å"never giving up† have been discovered through reading. I know I have much more to learn about the world of literature and reading and I cannot wait to see what lies on the road ahead. I hope that throughout my college days I am able to make many more discoveries about myself and the world around me. I truly believe that these types of discoveries and lessons shape us into who we are. Without successfully learning to read and analyze, I would not be the person who I am today.

Study question the Victorians poetry & prose Essay Example for Free

Study question the Victorians poetry prose Essay 1. What is the function of poetry for Mill? Of poets? What differences do you see between his ideal of poetry and the Romantic ideal? The function of poetry, according to Mill, is to act upon the emotions. It differs from prose or science in a sense that while these address beliefs, poetry is to feelings; that while the other two works by â€Å"convincing or persuading†, poetry works by â€Å"moving† emotions; and while the other two presents a â€Å"proposition to the understanding†, poetry â€Å"offers interesting objects of contemplation to the sensibilities. † Poetry should â€Å"paint the human soul truly. † There is not much difference in Mills function of poetry to Romantic ideals in the sense that both appeal to the emotion of the readers. 2. In the passage from his Autobiography, what does Mill become depressed/love his faith? What â€Å"saves† him? What is Mill’s critique of Utilitarian philosophy? Although Mill is a famous exponent of Utilitarianism, he has some objections or criticisms about it. His father was also an exponent of Utilitarianism and here lies his delemma. He took the oppurtunity to publish his criticisms, alongside with his defense, when an earlier work by Professor Sedgwick was published that assaulted utilitarian ethics, and which had given his father and other utilitarians much indignation. 3. What choice is the Lady of Shalott making when she leaves her tower? The Lady of Shalott decides to leave her isolation when she decided to leave her tower. All her life she lived in isolation, that although reapers hears her song, none had seen her and she couldnt look down fro her tower because of the curse if she did so. One time she exclaimed: â€Å"I am half-sick of the shadows. † Even though she resists looking down from her tower, she finally did when she heard Sir Lancelot sing and the curse is starting to manifest on her. Perhaps, at least at the time of death the Lady of Shalott does not wish to be alone but wish herself to be known to others, that she left the tower, labeled the boat she found â€Å"The Lady of Shalott,† and died crossing the river going to Camelot. 4. Is Ulysses’ decision to leave his home again (a) heroic or (b) escapist? Defend your answer. Ulysses decision to leave his home again is an escape to the life in his kingdom. There is nothing heroic in his new conquest, other than to â€Å"seek a newer world† or to â€Å"touch the Happy Isles. † In the beginning of the poem, Ulysses already suggest that there is little point in staying home and states that he â€Å"cannot rest from travel. † He believes that going back to sea again would yeild â€Å"some work of noble note† suggesting that travelling the seas offers a much simpler and fruitful life than staying home. 5. Explain how the setting and circumstances affect our reading of â€Å"My Last Duchess†? Is the narrator reliable? How do we know? The setting and circumstances in My Last Duchess leads the readers to speculate on the mysteries that encompasses the poem, speculatively from actual historical events. The tilte itself reveals that the speaker in the poem is a Duke whose last wife had died. The mention of â€Å"nine-hundred-years-old name† suggest that the Duke came from a long line of prominent and powerful family, and through the speaker we know that he is presenting to his audience his art collections suggesting that he is a lover of the arts. There is little error from the information if we take the popular belief that the speaker was Duke Alfonso II, who lived in the 16th century, to be true. Alfonso II came from the house of Este, whose earliest known member lived in the 10th century, which makes his name â€Å"six-hundred-years-old† at the time the duke lived, in contrast with the â€Å"nine-hundred-years-old name. † 6. According to Arnold what is the value of education in the humanities as opposed to just being educated in science or â€Å"practical† issues? Just being educated in science or practical issues, according to Arnold, has put the world in a state where nothing is certain. It has brought the â€Å"Sea of Faith† in melancholy as scince has challenged the precepts of religion. He hopes that with the confusion brought about by science, education in the humanities would cure the world of its lack of faith. Education in the humanities would, at least, keep the world its moral standards. 7. What does Arnold’s poem, â€Å"Dover Beach† suggest as an antidote to the loss of faith? Do you think the poem ends pessimistically or optimistically? In Dover Beach, Arnold suggest that faithfulness in love is the antidote to the loss of faith. His appeal: â€Å"Ah, love let us be true† suggests that his only hope on this uncertain world rests on the faithfulness of his love interest, probably his wife, to him. The poem still ends pessimistically since Arnold emphasizes on the confusion the world is currently at the time the poem was written.

Malaysias Unemployment Rates

Malaysias Unemployment Rates Jump to: Causes of Unemployment | Types of Unemployment | Unemployment in Malaysia | Impact of Unemployment | Unemployment and Inflation | Conclusion The main objective of this paper is to investigate the unemployment and growth rates of Malaysia. Unemployment is an important issue for developing economies in a country. Inefficiently of using labor resources will cause to high unemployment rate. The result shows that the economics in Malaysia is better with high employment. In economics, unemployment statistics measure the condition and extent of joblessness within an economy.  Full employment should be a major macroeconomics goal because it maximizes output. For many years, the manufacturing has been the strongest sector in the country until it is now being progressively replaced by the service sector. In this research, we will measure how unemployment affects economics growths in Malaysia and also the reason of high unemployment rate of fresh graduate. Thus further research and relevant factors is required.   Introduction This paper asks the question of how the rate of economic growth affects unemployment. The main considerations that lead us to think that this is an interesting question have to do with the re-allocative aspect of growth. Faster economic growth must come from a faster increase in knowledge. Besides, unemployed graduates have become a serious case in Malaysia that need more concern by the government. In year 2006 involving 132,900 graduates from institutions of higher learning all over Malaysia indicated that 30.7% of graduates remained unemployed six months after graduation, while 5.7% were still awaiting job placement (Tan, 2007). There are more female graduates in this country were unemployed because they lacked the relevant skills required in the labor market despite having excellent academic results. The number was much higher in comparison to male graduates (Nor Hartinin, 2007). In the sixties and seventies Okuns Law was regarded as one of the most reliable macroeconomic relations. Okuns Law can clearly present the relationship between GDP growth and unemployment. Most economists were playing down the relationship between growth and unemployment. Unemployment was explained by structural factors, mainly by inflexible labor markets: too high wages, too high unemployment benefits and labors attitude. Unemployment Unemployment or joblessness occurs when those individuals actively seeking jobs remain unhired within the past four weeks. Unemployment is expressed as a percentage of the total available work force. The level of unemployment varies with economic conditions and other circumstances. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals currently in the labor force. During periods if recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate. In a 2011 news story, Business Week reported, More than 200 million people globally are out of work, a record high, as almost two-thirds of advanced economies and half of developing countries are experiencing a slowdown in employment growth. Causes of unemployment The level of unemployment differs with economic conditions and other market forces. Unemployment occurs when an individual is out of his current job and looking for another job. It also means that they are unemployment during the time period of shifting between two jobs. Normally the job seeker needs few months to hunt for their favourite job. When there is a mismatch of skilled workers in the labor market, the structural change within an economy will influence the unemployment. Some of the causes of unemployment are geographical immobility, occupational immobility and technological change. Nowadays, most of the companies are using information technology to carry out the job. The employees who have no upgrade himself will disqualify from the company. Moreover they need to go for training to increase their knowledge on the working field. Unemployment will occur when trade unions and labor organization bargain for higher wages, which leads to fall in the demand for labor. Currently the fresh graduates are hunting for the job which has high salary, nice environment and easy task. They do not have determination and bear hardships to face the challenges. Unemployment occurs when there is a downturn in an economy, the aggregate demand for goods and services decrease and demand for labor decreases. At the time of recession, unskilled and surplus labors become unemployed. When there is insufficient demand in the economy to maintain full employment, the problem of unemployment will occurs. If demand falls, firms sell less and so reduce production. If there are producing less, this leads to lower demand for workers. Either worker is fired or a firm cuts back on employing new workers. In the worst-case scenarios the fall in demand may be so great a firm goes bankrupt and everyone is made redundant. Reasons for  unemployment in Malaysia Lack of experience Nowadays most of the companies prefer to employ people with experiences rather than those without working experiences. Based on our research, there are several reasons leading to the high unemployment rate. People lacking of experience are mostly fresh graduates from university or college. The syllabus in university should provide more exposure on real-life industrial training, such as industrial attachment and internship program. Different circumferences have to be managed in different solutions, and the problem-solving skills can be accumulated from the real-life experiences. For example, a programmer has to be familiar with a series of computer languages such as C++, PHP, Java and etc. If the applicant did not meet the basic requirements of the company, the company cannot offer the job to this applicant. In University, the knowledge is mostly gained from textbooks, but sometimes the knowledge learnt is hard to be applied on working environments. University may extend the required internship period from 3 months to 6 months or even longer. If the training duration is not long or sufficient enough, students may not be able to apply what they have learnt in school on their works. University students are suggested to apply for companies related to their courses. This may help them improve the learning and practical skills. It is not recommended to join those companies which simply arrange the trainees sitting in front of the computers and do nothing but day dreaming. Firstly, the reason why employers prefer experienced employees is because experienced employees can complete the jobs easily without spending much time on learning their works. Having employees without experiences, companies need to provide additional training and courses for those employees. This will definitely contribute to the cost of the company. Besides, the employee may be not familiar with the industry, thus, it is possible that they cannot complete the job well on time. It is not ensured that they are able to complete their jobs precisely and correctly with their assigned supervisors. They may spend some time on adapting to the new environment and less focus on the jobs. Thirdly, the skills learnt from school are insufficient in real lives. In real life, company job is based on project and it requires the employee to communicate with colleagues. Universities also have to provide more project-based modules for students. This can create more chances for students to discuss with their group members. In addition, it helps improve the soft skill of students. Last but not least, the fact that new graduates demand for high salaries also causes the high unemployment rate. Some of the graduate job-seekers are with high expectation for their first jobs. Even they are aware they lack of working experience, they still try to apply for higher salaries compared with those with one or two years experiences. Furthermore, students who graduated with excellent academic results are no longer secured with good jobs or competitive edges in career advancement. Lack of social and communication skills Most of the graduates with rural background lack of communication skills compared with those from city. The reason may be because most of the residents staying in villages communicate with their elder adults and friends using their own dialects or mother tongues. They seldom speak in English. However, the working environment in Malaysia mostly requires people to communicate efficiently in English and Malay. Therefore, Kampung students may not be competitive in terms of communication skills even though they graduate with excellent academic results. Besides, a number of town students who further study in university seldom use English to communicate with their teachers or friends. For example, the author mostly speak mother language, Mandarin, with her friends. This situation also makes the communication skill in English poor among town students. According to a survey conducted by Ministry of Human Resources, it shows that in Malaysia compared with male graduates, female graduates become unemployed because the female are weaker in communication and social skills. Furthermore, the female have a poor command of language and low levels of self-confidence. The unemployment rate of female graduates is much higher than that of male graduates. The result also indicates that a lot of female graduates are able to achieve excellent academic results but they could not secure their employment without the relevant skills required in the labor market. According to  JobStreet.com which conducted an English Language Assessment (ELA) test whereby it had ranked Singaporeans is first, Filipino is second and Malaysians is third. This has proven that Malaysian English level standard is not up to satisfaction. The survey reveals that 65% of employers have turned down job seekers due to poor communication of English, which is the official business language for 91% in Malaysias companies. Another report shows that, graduates throughout the country were unemployed due to poor communication skill in English. Though the fresh graduates possess excellent qualification and technical backgrounds, but they are unable to speak English efficiently when facing an interview. They definitely should improve their English language standards. For the basic process of an interview, the first point that the interviewer would assess the interviewee is his/her English communication capability. The way in which the interviewee speaks and interacts with the interviewer is a benchmark when the company measures suitable candidates for the job. If the interviewee even could not talk properly, it is impossible for the supervisor to assign a task to this interviewee. Most of the fresh graduates are not good team players. They are somehow arrogant and believe that they are talented and able to complete the tasks. If the fresh graduates did take part in co-curriculum and be the main committee, this will help prove that they are well trained and capable of managing the task. Co-curriculum also can build characters of people. It provides a platform for students to show their personalities. In addition, the social skill, which is also essential for each graduate, is practiced with various co-curriculums as well. Education in Malaysia Choosing the wrong course and the poor result. Bahasa Malaysia is the national and official language in Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia is used as the teaching language for primary school and secondary school. In recent years, Ministry of Education Malaysia has begun focusing on English teaching. However, so far Malaysian education still mainly uses Bahasa Malaysia as teaching media, while in working environment people mostly communicate in English. The fresh graduates who are unable to communicate in English fluently will be very tough when finding a job. Generally, the citizens in government organizations use Bahasa Malaysia as communication language. The citizens have got used to communicating in Bahasa Malaysia. However, there are a lot of Multinational Corporations which set their head offices or Asia pacific offices in Malaysia. They require their Malaysian employees capable of communicating in English efficiently. Could Malaysia provide sufficient manpower armed with English communication skills? This is a big challenge for Malaysia educations system. Besides, high-level education of Malaysia is not competitive compared to overseas education. In Malaysia, the top university is University of Malaysia (UM), but its ranking is the 167th so far, among the worldwide university according to investigation of USNews.com. Compared with our neighbour country Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) ranks at the 28th and Nanyang Techonological University (NTU) is the 58th. This is a great distance between the education systems of the two countries. Therefore, Malaysia government has to put a lot of effort into the education sector to upgrade the ranking and provide talents to international labour markets. The syllabus in local university is not sufficient or up to the satisfaction of working environment. Most of the students gain their knowledge purely from textbooks. They lack of practical skills. Facilities in university have not reached the global standard and still maintained in Kampung standard. Professors and researchers are not graduates from world-class Universities. Equipments in the laboratories are 10-20 years backward. These are all the reasons why more and more students are willing to study in overseas universities although the cost of education is expensive. Moreover, the qualification lines of entering the universities are very low, as the corresponding university standard is low as well. University should set the higher entry qualification to increase the standard of coming students. Besides, the university should increase their level as well by employing professional stuffs to strengthen education levels. A lot of private colleges which are unqualified set by the Ministry of Education intend to promote as a university. The official explanation is this can improve the quantity of undergraduates. However, it seems the government did not include the quality of undergraduates into their consideration. It is suggested that Ministry of education should review the education system in Malaysia by referring to foreign education systems to improve Malaysia education system. With a huge number of students graduating with CGPAs below 3.0, it is unsurprising that these people become unemployable in the Malaysian private sectors. It is recommended that students should take courses based on their capabilities and interests but not based on what is apparently in-demand in the society (e.g., IT courses). If students are not interested in the courses, less effort would be put in the study; hence, the result would not be scored in flying colour. Normally the company hire employees based on their paper results and abilities instead of their capabilities in other fields. Student with lower scores would probably get lower opportunities of interviews. Types of unemployment After the research, we found that there are four type of unemployment. And below is the summary of structural unemployment, frictional unemployment, and cyclical unemployment. Structural unemployment When there are less suitable job provide for the people will cause to structural unemployment because there is a mismatch between the skills needed for the jobs and the skills of the unemployed workers. For example, A employee fired by his car maker company because machine had replace human in making car and the employee does not know how to operate the machine, so the employee only have the skills of make car and he have the difficulty in searching a new job. Structural unemployment may also be affected by cyclical unemployment. If a nations economy is suffers from a recession, that means many of the unemployed workers become discouraged, while their skills become rusty and outdated. This means that they (unemployed workers) may not suitable for the job vacancies that are reserved for them when the economy turns to normal. Some economists see this scenario The implication is that sustained high demand may lower structural unemployment under the speech from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s and 1980s. This theory has been referred to as an example of path dependence. A lot of technological unemployment occurs, because of the replacement of workers had change into machines to produce more effectively, we called as structural unemployment. Thus technological unemployment refer to the way in which production increases by machine but lesser workers to produce the actual same level of output or more output every year. The fact that aggregate demand increase suggests that this problem is instead one of cyclical unemployment. As like we said before Okuns Law, the demand side must grow rapidly to absorb the growing labor force but also the workers made redundant by increased labor productivity. Frictional unemployment Frictional unemployment is the time period between jobs and unemployed workers when a worker is seeking for a better job and or a new environment. Frictional unemployment is always present in an economy no matter which country are u, so the level of unemployment is calculated by the unemployment rate minus the rate of frictional unemployment. This means that any changes in unemployment rate are normally represented in the simple statistics. Frictional unemployment exists because both jobs and workers are multifarious, and a mismatch between the demand and supply. Such a mismatch can be related to skills, payment, work-time, location, attitude, and other factors. New entrants of employee such as graduated students and homemakers that want to return to the career can also include in frictional unemployment. Workers as well as employees accept a certain level of compromise or risk. Time and effort will be invested to find a better match but there is always a risk. This will increase the economy growth since it results in a better allocation of resources. However, if the mismatches are taking too long finding a job or too frequent, the economy will suffers a decreasing, since some work will not get done. Therefore, governments should search for multiple ways to reduce unnecessary frictional unemployment happen too deep through planning nicely which means including providing education, advice, training, and assistance such as having some camp providing the more information about how to seeking job. An increase or decrease in labor market frictions will shift the curve outwards or inwards. The frictions in the labor market sometimes will illustrate graphically with a Beverage curve, a downward-sloping, convex curve that shows a relationship between the unemployment rate and the vacancy rate. Changes in the demand or the supply for labor cause movements along the curve. Cyclical unemployment Cyclical unemployment, also known as deficient-demand unemployment, occurs whenever there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who needs a job (People who seeking for job). Demand for most goods and services decreases will lead to less production and for sure fewer workers are needed when they are less product in the market, wages fall and fail to meet the equilibrium level. Its name is derived from the frequent shifts in the business cycle although unemployment can also be persistent (during the Great Depression of the 1930s). Besides, with cyclical unemployment occurs, the number of unemployed workers will increase and exceeds the number of job seekers, so that even with full employment and all open jobs were filled, they are still some workers will remain unemployed. These two friction cyclical unemployment and frictional unemployment happen because of the cyclical variables. For example, a surprising decline in the money supply may influence the entire rational economic factors and will cause to restrain aggregate demand. Summary Structural unemployment Where their skills becomes outdated.  (Example: Someone who do not use computer get fired because he do not know how to type in information into computer.) Frictional unemployment where people lose their jobs in order to look for better ones or still searching for job. Cyclical unemployment Unemployment occurs when there is a recession of economy in a nation. The thing about unemployment is that the economy has to do with gross domestic product (GDP). We can produce more stuff with full employment. So if there is high unemployment, we should produce more but if we dont, this will lead to a bad economy growth in a nation. Malaysia Unemployment Rate Normally unemployment rate in developed countries is higher than developing countries due to higher competition. For example, in the last three quarters of 2011, United Kingdoms unemployment rate has rose from 7.8% to 7.9% and followed by 8.3% respectively. At the same time, Malaysias unemployment rate has went up from 3% to 3.2% and followed by 3.3%, and was ranked at 170th place out of 198 countries based on their degree of severity (The Human Resource Ministry of Malaysia and CIA World Factbook, 2012). Observation reveals that youth unemployment rate is even greater than the overall unemployment rate for both of the countries suggesting that youngsters are facing more difficulties in finding jobs as compared to adults. In Malaysia, one of the badly affected sector is the nursing field whereby in 2010, more than 54% of the private nursing graduates were unemployed three to four months after graduating, compared to only 21.7% in 2008 (The Star, 2012). It is a worry situation as fresh graduates find themselves difficult to get employed despite having a solid academic qualification. Malaysia Unemployment Rate (From July 2010 until January 2012) The unemployment rate in Malaysia was last reported at 3 percent in April of 2012. Historically, from 1998 until 2012, Malaysia Unemployment Rate averaged 3.3600 Percent reaching an all time high of 4.5000 Percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 2.8000 Percent in March of 2012. The unemployment rate can be defined as the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor force. This page includes a chart with historical data for Malaysia Unemployment Rate. Needs of the Labour Market Quality of education Firstly, the quality of education has become a significant cause in current situation and it getting worst. Seems like every year our country produces more and more excellent students. This is proved where our students get better and better result (straight A) in SPM or PMR. With the increasing number of straight A students in SPM and PMR, it seems like our student is improving a lot. Besides that, it is also easier to find degree holders anywhere. Surely, this is a good sign of the graduates quality. This statement may not bode well with some of the institutions out there but this should be taken as a challenge, not a mockery. (Abdul Razak Ahmad, New Straits times Sunday, March 20 2005) Most of the students will concern only on the major subject instead of minor subject. Besides, government also offer less minor subject to the students. Now the majority of student studying only for certificate, so they do select the easier subject compare to others. Most schools also began to commercialization to benefit, they will reduce the level of subject, resulting in a lot more apparent (look impressive but is worthless) of the University. Economy Secondly, fresh graduate unemployed because of the recession of economy in our nation too. The changing of the economic structure is a probably cause for the increasing number in unemployment. For many years, the manufacturing has been the strongest sector controlling the unemployment rate in the country until it is now being replaced by the services sector step by step. The services sector requires people who do not only know the right technical knowledge, but also those people who know the right soft skills wisdom, communication, interpersonal, maturity and business oriented. Economics growth Economic growth is the increase in the amount of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP. An increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one  period of time to another. Economic growth can be measured in nominal terms, which include inflation, or in real terms, which are adjusted for inflation. As an area of study, economic growth is generally distinguished from development economics. The former is primarily the study of how countries can advance their economies. The latter is the study of the economic aspects of the development process in low-income countries. As economic growth is measured as the annual percent change of gross domestic product (GDP), it has all the advantages and drawbacks of that measure. Advantages of Economic Growth Sustained economic growth is a major objective of government policy not least because of the benefits that flow from a growing economy. Higher Living Standards: For example measured by an increase in real national income per head of population see the evidence shown in the chart below. Employment effects: Growth stimulates higher employment. The British economy has been growing since autumn 1992 and we have seen a large fall in unemployment and a rise in the number of people employed. Fiscal Dividend: Growth has a positive effect on government finances boosting tax revenues and providing the government with extra money to finance spending projects. The Investment Accelerator Effect: Rising demand and output encourages investment in new capital machinery this helps to sustain the growth in the economy by increasing long run aggregate supply. Growth and Business Confidence: Economic growth normally has a positive impact on company profits business confidence good news for the stock market and also for the growth of small and large businesses alike. Disadvantages of economic growth There are some economic costs of a fast-growing economy. The two main concerns are firstly that growth can lead to a pickup in inflation and secondly, that growth can have damaging effects on our environment, with potentially long-lasting consequences for future generations. Inflation risk: If the economy grows too quickly there is the danger of inflation as demand races ahead of aggregate supply. Producer then take advantage of this by raising prices for consumers. Environmental concerns: Growth cannot be separated from its environmental impact. Fast growth of production and consumption can create negative externalities (for example, increased noise and lower air quality arising from air pollution and road congestion, increased consumption of de-merit goods, the rapid growth of household and industrial waste and the pollution that comes from increased output in the energy sector) These externalities reduce social welfare and can lead to market failure. Growth that leads to environmental damage can have a negative effect on peoples quality of life and may also impede a countrys sustainable rate of growth.   Examples include the destruction of rain forests, the over-exploitation of fish stocks and loss of natural habitat created through the construction of new roads, hotels, retail malls and industrial estates. How does unemployment affect your economy? If more people are unemployed, less people pay taxes or less money for spending. Spending money boosts the economy through taxes which is why everything is taxed. The taxed money adds up when everyone shops. If one is unemployed, they live on what is saved or what unemployment departments give them. Therefore, they do not have more money to spent, they only buy necessities. Also by not having the money to buy wants, not only needs, it means some business will have to cut prices in order to try to sell. By cutting prices this leads to less, no, or sometimes negative profits. Enough of this happens and that business might go out of business which leads to MORE unemployment. All of this leads to deflation which could lead to a depression. Deflation does not encourage spending, in fact it does the opposite. Also your dept numerically stay the same but now you earn less so it will be even harder to pay them off. The consequences of unemployment to the Malaysian economy Unemployment can lead to stress emotionally and mentally. When stress occurs, the individual and the loved ones around them suffer. There would be unnecessary pressure and expectations and a case of low morale. Thus leading to misunderstandings.   When misunderstandings occur, one may resort to violence and in turn affect the relationship or lead to an increase in crimes. Unemployment affects the economy by having a reduction in AD (aggregate demand), and economic growth. There would also be a lack of demand as people unemployed are saving. Unemployment influence and effect economic growth Unemployment affects the economy in ways that most people do not visually see. If more people are unemployed, less people pay taxes or have money for spending. Spending money boosts the economy through taxes which is why everything is taxed. The taxed money adds up when everyone shops. If one is unemployed, they live on what is saved or what unemployment departments give them. Therefore, they do not have money to be frivolous, they only buy necessities.  Spending less doenst benefit the economic growth. With the increase in unemployment people will be more inclined to turn to a life of crime thereby decreasing the economic growth. Some of the well-known effects of unemployment on the economy are: Unemployment financial costs The government and the nation suffer. In many countries the government has to pay the unemployed some benefits. The greater the number of the unemployed or the longer they are without work the more money the government has to shell out. Therefore, the nation not only has to deal with the lost income and decreased production but also with additional cost. Spending power: The spending power of an unemployed person and his/her family decreases drastically and they would rather save than spend their money, which in turn affects the economy adversely. Reduced spending power of the employed Increased taxes and the insecurity about their own work may affect the spending power of the working people as well and they too may start to spend less than before thus affecting the economy and also the society in a negative manner.

Utopia Essay -- essays research papers fc

Thomas More’s, Utopia is one of the most politically and socially influential texts to date. His audience, which ranges from academic and social scholars to college students, all can gain a different understanding of the work and it’s meaning. In order to fully comprehend More’s message, one must have an appreciation for the time and culture in which he lived. After grasping historical concepts, one reads Utopia, not as just a volume recounting a fictitious island society, but rather as a critique on a time of corruption and reformation. Throughout the entire text, More’s personal views on the religion, politics, and economy of this turbulent time seep through the carefully plotted thread of this critical work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  More is seen in history through many different lights. It is difficult to historically describe the sixteenth century without mentioning More’s individual involvement as a key religious and political figure of the time. In his early life, he focuses mainly on his desire for priesthood. More lived in a monastery for years and pursued the pious life of the Carthusians only to abandon it for a political career. Many speculate that More’s reasons for leaving had to do with the corruption he witnessed in his time there and desire to engage in matrimony. The corruption and greed forming among the clergy is what triggered the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther. Next, More entered into the political spotlight through parliament and as a Speaker of the House of Commons, where he spent his energy encouraging the idea of freedom of speech. His next duty was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancester, followed by the Lord Chancellor. Both of these came towar ds the end of his political and judicial career when his views began to split from those of Henry VIII. More’s disagreement with the ideas of Henry VIII and the conversion to Lutheranism was eventually the end of him, when he was beheaded for refusing to swear to the Oath of Supremacy and Act of Succession. He believed in the way of the Catholic Church till the end and paid the ultimate sacrifice of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Evidence of More’s religious views is found throughout the text. He cleverly disguises his true opinions by inventing a fictitious traveler by the name of Raphael Hythloday, who the reader believes to be the originator of the radical ideas.... ... More spends a great deal of time in Book 1 on a conversation in which Raphael is expressing sympathy for the poor. More was rumored to also display this tendency in his life. In More’s time, the poor were at their poorest while the rich were getting richer. Food, clothing, etc, became a luxury to the homeless peasants, who often resorted to thievery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, More used an interesting characterization method to write a blatant critique of the societal constructs that he lived in. This was a dangerous task to undertake in a time when heresy and treason were punishable by death. More’s life achievements conflict with some of the views in his work, but that is why he calls it fiction. More lived a life of great determination and devotion. His strict lifestyle and critical analysis of the world that surrounded him served as the perfect exposition for a world that only existed in his mind. To close, a quote from Book I, Hythloday states, â€Å"You must strive to influence policy indirectly, handle the situation tactfully, and thus what you cannot turn to good, you may at least—to the extent of your powers—make less bad†(26). Works Cited

Tracing the Rap/Hip-Hop Dichotomy in Popular and Underground Music Essa

Tracing the Rap/Hip-Hop Dichotomy in Popular and Underground Music Rap music has experienced a radical increase in popularity in the last five years. In the year 2000, rap became the second-best-selling genre in music, capturing 12.9 percent of the year's $14.3 billion in total record sales ("Rap/Hip Hop" Sc 1). Though rap is no stranger to criticism, that criticism has increased in both quantity and vociferousness at about the same rate as the number of rap albums climbing the charts. And the growing evidence that, apparently, in order to achieve commercial success, each rap album must be more negative and offensive than the last does not help to address these criticisms. Unfortunately, the critics miss most of the rarely-seen other side of the genre: Hip-hop, rap music that is true the art form's roots of black empowerment and social progress. But black empowerment and social progress don't sell nearly as many records as the themes of mistreating women, abusing substances, and accumulating vast piles of wealth, so these are the messages that rap/hip-hop has come to embody in popular perception. However, as an introductory piece on a web site called The Hip Hop Headrush clearly states: "Hip-hop is not violence, misogyny, and narcotic substances—if you believe that, then the media and commercial mainstream music buyers have you sadly confused" ("Mindless Music" Sc 1). I will attempt to flush out this rap/hip-hop dichotomy by indulging a brief history of the musical form, examining criticisms and defenses of the branch of the form I'll define as "rap," and investigating a few hip-hop groups that present thoughtful, positive worldviews rather than the sex/drugs/money/violence messages of their rap counterparts.... ... to the Mainstream: The Political Power of Hip-Hop.† Media, Culture, and Society 20.2 (1998): 219. Academic Search Elite. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 26 October 2001. Stern, Jane. â€Å"Rap.† Jane & Michael Stern’s Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. 412-15. Turkish, Tavia Nyong’o. â€Å"Who’s Afraid of Marshall Mathers?† Gay & Lesbian Review 8.3 (2001): 14. Academic Search Elite. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 26 October 2001. Tyler, Robin. â€Å"Eminem: Pied Pier of Hate.† Gay & Lesbian Review 8.3 (2001): 12. Academic Search Elite. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 26 October 2001. Wahl, Greg. â€Å"’I Fought the Law (And I Cold Won!)’: Hip-Hop in the Mainstream.† College Literature 26.1 (1999): 10. Academic Search Elite. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 26 October 2001.

Sin City Essay -- Personal Narrative Las Vegas Gambling Essays

Sin City Two years ago my husband, myself and another couple visited Las Vegas, which is better known as sin city. Las Vegas is the biggest city in Nevada. Neon glittered hotels make up the general landscaping, which is otherwise a flat valley with a mountaintop background. The city is quite compact for tourism purposes, even though according to Frommer’s, Vegas is considered one of the fastest growing cities in America. Gambling is the central focus of Vegas, and casinos are abundant, but if gambling is not your thing there are plenty of other attractions to do and see. Vegas is made up of two distinct areas the â€Å"Strip,† and â€Å"Downtown.† The â€Å"Strip,† is considered the most famous four-mile stretch of highway in the nation. It contains most of the big name hotels and entertainment. Most of our time was spent on the Strip. Downtown is located on Fremont Street and was the first area to develop hotels and casinos. It has an old time Vegas feel to it. The streets are narrow and a balcony over head displays a must see light show. The light show is free so it can be enjoyed if you lose all of your money gambling. Flying into Vegas the first things visible are the giant hotels and casinos. We arrived during the day so unfortunately did not see the majestic effect of the lights. However, this did not downplay the grandness of the hotels. A short bus ride took us to our home for the week, the Imperial Palace. It was very budget friendly, with an ideal location, smack dab in the middle of the strip. The Imperial Palace pales in comparison to its glamorous neighbors. At first glance the casino is very dark and reminiscent of old Vegas, but for the price and location it is a steal. The rooms are clean, and it is one of the few h... ...strip so it is away from the hustle and bustle of everything. The drinks are small, but for only a buck well worth it. Not only did the price of the drinks rank high on our list, I also won sixty dollars there. They had an excellent band playing which was free and if you look closely you may even spot a few prostitutes hanging around. This may sound a little scary, but it really wasn’t. Vegas is a great place to visit if you want to see and do a lot of different things. It is a gamblers haven, yet it also offers many other things to do. It is fairly inexpensive depending where you stay and travel agencies always have different packages available to fit your needs. Whether you are a gambler or a sightseer, have a lot of money or a tight budget, Vegas is the place for you. Remember it is nicknamed â€Å"sin city† for a reason so be prepared to see and do the unexpected.

The Socio-Cultural Effects of Technology on Society

Group research paper: The Socio-Cultural Effects of Technology on Society Technology and society or technology and culture refer to the recurring co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other (technology upon culture, and vice-versa) (Webster’s Dictionary 5060). There are an extraordinary number of examples how science and technology has helped us that can be seen in society today. One great example is the mobile phone. Ever since the invention of the telephone society was in need of a more portable device that they could use to talk to people. This high demand for a new product led to the invention of the mobile phone, which did, and still do, greatly influence society and the way people live their lives. Now many people are accessible to talk to whomever they want no matter where any of the two people are. All these little changes in mobile phones, like Internet access, are further examples of the cycle of co-production. Society's need for being able to call on people and be available everywhere resulted in the research and development of mobile phones. They in turn influenced the way we live our lives. As the populace relies more and more on mobile phones, additional features were requested. This is also true with today’s modern media player. Society also determined the changes that were made to the previous generation media player that the manufactures developed. Take for example, today’s media players. At the beginning, cassettes were being used to store data. However, that method was large and cumbersome so the manufactures developed compact disks, which were smaller and could hold more data. Later, compact disks were again too large and did not hold enough data that forced today’s manufactures to create MP3 players, which are small and holds large amount of data. Today’s society determined the course of events that many manufactures took to improving their products so today’s consumers will purchase their products. Looking back into ancient history, economics can be said to have arrived on the scene when the occasional, spontaneous exchange of goods and services began to occur on a less occasional, less spontaneous basis. It probably did not take long for the maker of arrowheads to realize that he could probably do a lot better by concentrating on the making of arrowheads and barter for his other needs. Clearly, regardless of the goods and services bartered, some amount of technology was involved—if no more than in the making of shell and bead jewelry. Even the shaman's potions and sacred objects can be said to have involved some technology. So, from the very beginnings, technology can be said to have spurred the development of more elaborate economies. In the modern world, superior technologies, resources, geography, and history give rise to robust economies; and in a well-functioning, robust economy, economic excess naturally flows into greater use of technology. Moreover, because technology is such an inseparable part of human society, especially in its economic aspects, funding sources for (new) technological endeavors are virtually illimitable. However, while in the beginning, technological investment involved little more than the time, efforts, and skills of one or a few men, today, such investment may involve the collective labor and skills of many millions. Technology has frequently been driven by the military, with many modern applications being developed for the military before being adapted for civilian use. However, this has always been a two-way flow, with industry often taking the lead in developing and adopting a technology that is only later adopted by the military. Winston (2003) provides an excellent summary of the ethical implications of technological development and deployment. He states there are four major ethical implications: – Challenges traditional ethical norms. Because technology impacts relationships among individuals, it challenges how individuals deal with each other, even in ethical ways. One example of this is challenging the definition of â€Å"human life† as embodied by debates in the areas of abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, etc. , which all involve modern technological developments. – Creates an aggregation of effects. One of the greatest problems with technology is that its detrimental effects are often small, but cumulative. Such is the case with the pollution from the burning of fossil fuels in automobiles. Each individual automobile creates a very small, almost negligible, amount of pollution, however the cumulative effect could possibly contribute to the global warming effect. Other examples include accumulations of chemical pollutants in the human body, urbanization effects on the environment, etc. A Lancaster dropping bundles of 4lb stick incendiaries (left), 30lb incendiaries and a â€Å"cookie† (right) – Changes the distribution of justice. In essence, those with technology tend to have higher access to justice systems. Or, justice is not distributed equally to those with technology versus those without. – Provides great power. Not only does technology amplify the ability, and hence the strength, of humans, it also provides a great strategic advantage to the human(s) who hold the greatest amount of technology. Consider the strategic advantage gained by having greater technological innovations in the military, pharmaceuticals, computers, etc. For example, Bill Gates has considerable influence (even outside of the computer industry) in the course of human affairs due to his successful implementation of computer technology. Lifestyle In many ways, technology simplifies life. * The rise of a leisure class * A more informed society,which can make quicker responses to events and trends * Sets the stage for more complex learning tasks * Increases multi-tasking (although this may not be simplifying) * Global networking * Creates denser social circles * Cheaper prices * Greater specialization in jobs In other ways, technology complicates life. Pollution is a serious problem in a technologically advanced society (from acid rain to Chernobyl and Bhopal) * The increase in transportation technology has brought congestion in some areas * New forms of danger existing as a consequence of new forms of technology, such as the first generation of nuclear reactors * New forms of entertainment, such as video games and internet access could h ave possible social effects on areas such as academic performance * Increased probability of some diseases and disorders, such as obesity * Social separation of singular human interaction. Technology has increased the need to talk to more people faster. * Structural unemployment * Anthropocentric climate change Institutions and groups Technology often enables organizational and bureaucratic group structures that otherwise and heretofore were simply not possible. Examples of this might include: * The rise of very large organizations: e. g. , governments, the military, health and social welfare institutions, supranational corporations. * The commercialization of leisure: sports events, products, etc. McGinn) * The almost instantaneous dispersal of information (especially news) and entertainment around the world. International Technology enables greater knowledge of international issues, values, and cultures. Due mostly to mass transportation and mass media, the world seems to be a much smaller place, due to the following, among others: * Globalization of ideas * Embeddings of values * Population growth and control Environment Technology provides an understanding, and an appreciation for the world around us. The effects of technology on the environment are both obvious and subtle. The more obvious effects include the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources (such as petroleum, coal, ores), and the added pollution of air, water, and land. The more subtle effects include debates over long-term effects (e. g. , global warming, deforestation, natural habitat destruction, coastal wetland loss. ) One of the main problems is the lack of an effective way to remove these pollutants on a large scale expediently. In nature, organisms â€Å"recycle† the wastes of other organisms, for example, plants produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, and oxygen-breathing organisms use oxygen to metabolize food, producing carbon dioxide as a by-product, which plants use in a process to make sugar, with oxygen as a waste in the first place. No such mechanism exists for the removal of technological wastes. Humanity at the moment may be compared to a colony of bacteria in a Petri dish with a constant food supply: with no way to remove the wastes of their metabolism, the bacteria eventually poison themselves. Spook Country† introduces us to the interesting world of information immersion through the eyes of Hollis Henry, a former rock band- Curfew’s musician and the lead character in the novel. She is confident and ambitious. She quit her band because she was not making enough money for living, so she decided to start her career as a journalist. She actually started writing when sh e was little, even before she became a rock band member. It was obvious that she had a passion for writing. Hollis’s job is very complicated, she has to untangle all the mysterious things and find out information for the Node magazine which does not really exist yet. Hollis searches for a strange container throughout the entire novel and when she finally finds it in the end, she discovers that the container is ultimately filled with U. S. Government Money, â€Å"One hundred million dollars. In a set of fake pallets, along the floor. About fourteen inches deep. Little over a ton of U. S. hundreds† (Gibson 337). This makes her become a possible target for a Chinese / Cuban group intent on tagging the money with Cesium. She starts in Los Angeles and ends up in Vancouver. Henry’s assignment is to interview locative art specialist Bobby Chombo, who took his last name from a computer program which, according to the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group, â€Å"provides a set of tools for implementing finite difference methods for the solution of partial differential equations on block-structured adaptively refined rectangular grids. † Bobby is a computer geek with a fascination for the intersection of virtual space and real space. He specializes in geospatial technologies. He got into locative art after a career working navigational systems for the US military, and uses his expertise to place works of art on a VR grid mapped over real cities and towns. In my opinion, Gibson’s story is not only about locative art and how weird our world is becoming: he also has the good graces to give us a spy story, which deals with the ubiquity of information in a different way. Agent Brown and his captive junkie Russian translator, Milgrim, are on the tail of a Cuban-Chinese Spetsnaz-trained ninja believed (rightly) by the US government to be smuggling information to an unknown entity for an unknown purpose. Brown relies on satellite information to track him, another nod to the ubiquity of information, and keeps Milgrim in the dark about his actual affiliation and intent. Milgrim experiences a big shock in his life as he boards a Jet stream to Vancouver. He looses his mind completely which has never happened to him before. Prior to boarding a Jet stream, he was excited to get his hair and makeup done in Washington, DC free by Brown’s attache. Later in the novel, Milgrim crashes car in an attempt to kill Tito but he manages to escape and steals Hollis Henry’s purse which contains five thousand dollares given to her by proxy from a dead band mate, heroin overdose, Jimmy Carlyle. After all these activities are over, Milgrim wakes up in a nice bed with a nice egg breakfast next to him. As a drug addict, he is very calm and focused on what he is doing. He works with Brown very closely, their relationship is more like Brown takes control of everything and gives orders to Milgrim. They work in New York in the beginning. Milgrim is a prisoner of the world of information. In â€Å"Spook Country,† Gibson’s use of these three characters together, lets the story of Tito, Brown and Milgrim, and Hollis build to a conclusion which amounts to a great big middle finger to the war in Iraq. Gibson has illustrated characters looking, literally, for their place in the world, and they have shown that the world we live in today did not turn out to be the futurist paradise we might have wanted, validating our inevitable escape into the digital. No flying cars, no magic pill hamburgers, and no pocket computers, but works of art that we can only see if we are wearing virtual reality goggles, standing on a particular street corner. Information is all around us, rather than a thing into which we insert ourselves. The topics that I researched were the â€Å"Santeria† religion, Ochun, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the term â€Å"Big Brother†. These topics were all related in the novel â€Å"Spook Country† by William Gibson. Technology played a big a part in the plot from robots to cell phones to computers. Information as commodity was also a major influence in this novel with the use of Ipods, newspapers, and surveillance cameras. The characters depended heavenly on all these items as tools of survival. I will discuss the history, the development, and impact among the â€Å"Santeria† religion, Ochun, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the term â€Å"Big Brother†. Santeria (also know as â€Å"La Regla Lucumi†) is a combination of the West African Yoruba religion and Catholicism. The Way of the Saints, Santeria or as the descendants of the Afro-Caribbean tradition in Cuba prefers to call it. Santeria rather overemphasizes the Catholic elements in the religion, which was essentially an African spiritual path, developed by their ancestors (www. african holocaust. net). They attempted to covert Africans but while they accepted the teaching they found it did not provide â€Å"religious fulfillment†. They continued to practice their own rituals which they found was useful and effective, most importantly, filled the spiritual void in their lives. It was brought to Cuba originally by the African slaves who were brought by the Spaniards to that island. Santeria believes in one creator, one All Mighty God – (Olorun Olodumare), who created the other â€Å"semi-gods† or entities called Orishas, to deal with every facet of human life a nature itself. They interceded in on our behalf just as the Catholic saints intercede. Although the African slaves were not allowed to express their religion freely they had to â€Å"disguise† their gods, with those of the slave owners (www. santeriaspells. com) below is a small list (marked with an asterisk) what are called the Seven African Powers: 1. Olodumare (God Almighty) 2. * Ellegua (Sant Anthony of Padua) 3. * Obatala (La Virgen de Las Mercedes) 4. * Yemaya (La Virgen de Regla) 5. * Chango (Santa Barbara) 6. * Oya (Santa Therese de Jesus) 7. * Ochun (Las Caridad del Cobre) 8. * Ogun (San Pedro) In the Santeria religion â€Å"Eleggua† is the keeper of the roads and the world. Eleggua is the gatekeeper that stands in the path of life and celestial grounds. Ellegua is an Orisha (spirit) associated with â€Å"opening the ways†, or crossroads. Often depicted as a child or a small man, he is playful and a trickster god. During the ceremonies worshippers would often have a â€Å"cement head† this is apart of the ritual: A cement head with a metal spike in the top, and cowrie shells for eyes and mouth, as a representation of Ellegua which receives offerings and protects in return (wikipedia. org). The â€Å"Babalu Aye† is the Orisha name for St. Lazarus it means â€Å"Father of the World† he is commonly referred to the Father of the World. His colors are brown, black and purple. His number is 17; his symbols are two dogs and crutches. He is portrayed dressed in burlap. He is offered white wine, popcorn, sesame seed candy and a variety of grains, beans, and seeds. Many Cubans hold a vigil starting the night of December 16th. They get together and light candles and make offerings to Babulu Aye and wait for him to arrive at midnight. Come midnight they ask for San Lazaro to watch over them nd keep them and their families safe and healthy. Today, December 17, is Babalu Aye day in the Afro-Cuban religion (www. babalublog. com). In Cuban Santeria, Oshun (sometimes spelled Ochun’ or Ochun) is the goddess of love, of money and indeed of happiness. She brings all the good things of life (www. angelfire. com). This goddess is adorned with jewelry she speaks to one o f her birds, the parrot. She is the goddess of sweet water, she is found near fresh water, at rivers, ponds, and especially waterfalls. Offerings are sometimes left at the waterfalls for her. Ochun loves to dance and make merry but she does have a serious side. Many offerings are sometimes left for her at the waterfalls. Many ceremonies are located at the river (www. angelfire. com). Her favorite day of the week is Saturday and the number she is associated with is 5 (wkipedia. org). It’s been known that she had to sell her body in order to feed her children and the other Orishas came and took her children away. Oshun went insane from heartache and became depress. She wore the same white dress everyday it turns yellow over time. A gentleman by the name of Aje’-Shaluga, another Orsiha, they fell in love while she was washing her dress. He supplied her with money, and gems that he gathered from the bottom of the river. They became married and she was reunited with her children again. Ochun has played a great role in Cuban history, revealing herself as the Virgin Mary to three copper miners caught in a storm at sea in the seventeenth century and also assisted Cuban soldiers, who sewed portraits of her in their uniforms, during the second war of independence in 1895. Ochun has been called La Virgin Mambisa, in commemoration of her fierceness in fighting for the independence of Cuba; Castro’s Movement the 26th of July used the colors red and black, which are the colors of Eleggua (www. african holocaust. net). This religion welcomes all doctors, lawyers, politicians, thieves and pimps. All those who seek the power to control their own lives and want to lead them in accord with the deepest parts of their beings are candidates for initiation into Santeria. This religion seems to be an open one that accepts all races there is no discrimination within this religion. Santeria is a religion of trance, mystery, possession, blood and sex. If you want to know more, go to the ceremonies, burn the candles and dance to the drums. Skin color or language is no barriers. The ancient gods will recognize their own (www. Moonweb/Santeria/Intor. html). The National Security Agency (NSA) was created in November 1952 provided United States decision makers and leaders for more than 50 years (The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA form 9/11 to the eavesdropping on America. ). The NSA is the largest, most secretive, and most powerful intelligence agency in the world. With a staff of thirty-eight thousand people, it dwarfs the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in budget, manpower, and influence (Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency). Cryptologists laid the foundation of the critical role of all major conflicts: â€Å"In 1956, the General Canine enlisted the help of an outside management firm to examine the agency’s problems. The consultants recommended a complete change. The repercussions, according to a later National Security Agency (NSA) report, lasted more than thirty years. Signals intelligence would be organized according to target-countries; China and Communist Asia; and so on. Each of the section would include specific disciplines, such as cryptanalysis and traffic analysis (42). On November 23, 1956, Ralph Canine walked out of National Security Agency for the last time as Director. A message from Howard Campaigme â€Å"I was surprised to learn later that the people above him didn’t think nearly as much [of him] as we did. Mr. Canine made a tremendous impression† (43). There efforts of the use of radio intercept, radio directional finding, and processing capabilities gave United States and its Allies a unique advantage in World War I. (www. nsa. gov/History. com). The use of the Radio intercept in the National Security Agency was a vital tool often used in tracking the location of planes, missiles and also served as a communication tool for the pilots. â€Å"For Years American intercept operators in Turkey had eavesdropped on Soviet radar installations as they tracked the occasional U-2 over flight. But because the spy planes flew far too high for either Russian MIG’s or their SA-2 surface-to-air missiles, they were out of harm’s way. It was like throwing a rock at a passing jetliner. This time, however, something was different; something was very wrong â€Å"He’s turning left! † the American heard a Soviet pilot shout. A few moments later the intercept operators watched the U-2 suddenly disappear from Russian radar screens near Sverdlovsk (49). The United States spends a lot of money to protect its National Security, in 2007 $572. 4 billion dollars on national defense. In 2004 $456 billion dollars was counted for. The total estimated budget for 2007 was $2. 7 trillion dollars. Most expensive components of National defense were the cost for development and testing new highly sophisticated military equipment such as: aircraft, ships, and submarines. Spending on Nat’l defense spiked during World War II. , reaching nearly 90% of the nations total outlays. (National Security: The Information Series on Current Topics). The National Security Agency is oversea of several federal agencies: – United States Department of Defense (DOD) United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) certain components After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks law makers quickly put together a new law designed to help the US fight the terrorist threat. The new law that was implemented was the Patriot Act which stands for: The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required Intercepting a nd Obstructing Terrorism (Terrorism- Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents. (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001. The act consists of ten titles: Title I. – Enhancing Domestic Security against Terrorism (Terrorism- Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents). Title II. – Enhanced Surveillance Procedures, Title III. – International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-terrorist Financing Act of 2001, Title IV. – Protecting the boarder, Title V. – Removing Obstacles to Investigating Terrorism, Title VI. – Providing for Victims of Terrorism, Public Safety Officers, and Their Families, Title VII. Increased Information Sharing For Critical Infrastructure Protection Title VIII. – Strengthening the Criminal Laws against Terrorism, Title IX. – Improved Intelligence, T itle X. – Miscellaneous. One of the purposes of the act is to facilitate better cooperation and information sharing between government agencies, particularly between the IC and law enforcement agencies (National Security: The Information Series on Current Topics). In 2002 Congress and President George W. Bush created the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States to investigate all the circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks. This investigation resulted in â€Å"For nearly two years the commission reviewed relevant documents and interviewed more than one thousand people as part of its investigation. In 2004 their findings were published in the 9/11 Commission Report (National Security: The Information Series on Current Topics). The term â€Å"Big Brother† came from a fictional character in George Orwell’s novel: Nineteen Eighty-Four. The novel was about a dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state take to its utmost logical consequence. This is where the ruling elite (The Party) wield total power for its own sake over the inhabitants. The term â€Å"Big Brother† is caused to refer to any ruler or government that invades the privacy of its citizens (www. barleby. com). Big Brother physical appearance is of Joseph Stalin or Lord Kitchener. His moustache is also similar to Adolf Hitler. After researching there was a lot of information that I learned about the â€Å"Santeria† religion, Ochun, the National Security Agency and the term â€Å"Big Brother†. I learned the history of the Santeria religion, the Seven African Powers, the gate keeper â€Å"Eleggua†, the Father of the World – â€Å"Babalu Aye†. I read about The National Security Agency development and its functions within the Agency. I also discovered the birth of the term â€Å"Big Brother† affect this term had on the government. After reading the novel â€Å"Spook Country† by William Gibson the topics that I can relate to are the National Security Agency and the term â€Å"Big Brother†. The event that affects me the most is the bombing of the â€Å"Twin Towers† on September 11. From this event security has increased in airports, on planes, trains, subway stations, buses, malls, schools and also inside Federal Government and other buildings. The term â€Å"Big Brother† is watching you are related also to today because of the September 11th terrorist attack, which brings this term to real life: â€Å"Someone is Watching You†. The National Security Agency has made it a top priority to keep the United States a safe and secured country for everyone. Work Cited Applied Numerical Algorithms Group. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California. 2007. 8 Nov. 2008 < http://seesar. lbl. gov/anag/>. Bamford, James. Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency: From the Cold War through the Dawn of a New Century. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Becker, Ernest. The Structure of Evil. An Essay on the Unification of the Science of Man. New York: G. Braziller. 1968. Evans Masters, Kim. National Security: The Information Series on Current Topics. Wylie, Texas: Information Plus, 2007. Langone, John. National Geographic's How Things Work: Everyday Technology Explained. Washington, D. C. : National Geographic Society, 1999. Technology, policy, ethics, and public health: a select bibliography Tavani, H. T. Technology and Society Magazine, IEEE Vol. 19, Issue 3 (2000): 26 – 34.