International Student Organization

International student organization. East Carolina University is a university with enrollment around 30,000 students; 299 of them is international students from 67 countries. When students choose to attend the university; they begin a new part of life. Many students go to study in other cities, and some students go to other countries. America is a very popular and high-class education that is valued all over the world, and of course a lot of students from other countries want to get a degree here.People in different countries behave differently: religion, ethnicity, geographic location and quality of life plays an important role in the behavior of people. Therefore, students that come to America from other countries have more difficulty than those who were born and raced here. Foreign students need time to adjust to a different culture, a different language, and many other things.A possible way for international student to deal with the complexities of ECU joins the International Stud ent Organization (ISA). The ISA help international students understand American culture and feel more like at home by having festivals, shopping and field trips and a lot of different events. The ISA , one of over 200 student organizations at ECU, is mostly composed of foreign exchange students, or students who were not born in America although. The meetings and club are open to anyone who wants to join.The main reason it was setup was to give international students an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the American culture in part through a campus experience, and also to offer non-international ECU students, with an interest in one cultures, knowledge and experience in working with individuals from other backgrounds. It also allows international and American students to share experience and learn about other cultures at personal point of view.The ISA cooperating with International House provides a special orientation for international students through the â€Å"First f riend program† (FFP) so that new students do not feel lonely. International Ports O’Call stage of PirateFest The International student organization was involved in many activities and events. One of the biggest events in which ISA was involved in was the Pirate festival. PirateFest gives international students a chance to share their culture to help others understand them etter. This â€Å"annual event celebrates eastern North Carolina's rich history steeped with famous pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard and Greenville's own Pirates of ECU† (Mike Davis), and encourages people to wear pirate regalia-hats, swords, and eye patches. The festival is held over two days and is composed of different stages, each of which represents a different event. The event feature food, art and crafts vendors and also musical and stage performers.Historical trolley tours stage is a very useful and interesting part of the festival because it's a great way to move around the fe stival especially for international students who do not know the location of streets in the city. One of the most interesting stages for international students was the â€Å"International Ports O'Call† because includes music, food, and attractions from nations around the world, and it will definitely help international students to feel more like at home and make it hard to forget about their culture.For international students who are coming to study in another country it is hard to find friends. It is not easy to get used to the different behavior of people and be open to new acquaintances. Therefore, and in cooperation with ISA the international house created the program called â€Å"First friend program†(FFP). To be involved in FFP both mentor and mentee must fill out an application, which has questions that help determine the background, interests, preferences and other information needed to help decide the best mentee-mentee match.The FFP is really easy because by filling out an application you know that you'll meet someone who has same interests as you. The FFP helps international students to adjust to life at ECU as quickly and smoothly as possible, and also enhance satisfaction with their academic and social experience. This program is very useful for students because they will not feel lonely and homesick, they are able to meet new friends and also international students can learn the nuances of culture from the inside, as well as be more successful in learning.Besides homework, tests and grades, a student social life is fun, but it is not always easy to find entertainment that are always enjoy. Many international students don't have a car and therefore their possibilities are limited, but the international house â€Å"every Friday makes shopping trips†(William Mallett). Drivers take students where they want to go and take them back to residence after shopping. Also every Thursday students can go to greenway excursions. Playing sp orts and socializing in the fresh air, very useful and at the same time you can see new parts of the city as well as make new friends.Most people believe that studying in a different country is a privilege because they are able to experience other cultures, and learn from them. However, in the United States it is not as good as they thought because International students have much more pressure being in this country, and sometimes they cannot handle it very well. Therefore, in the United States the life of an international student is very unfavorable if people compare it to the life of an American student.International students have to learn a new language to study, they cannot work while studying, and their tuition is much more expensive. When people moves to the United Stated to study they imagine that it will be very helpful, and they believe that learning a new language will not be a problem. However, when they really start studying their major, they find out that it is not easy since people have to really understand and appreciate the language. International students have to really learn English, and they have to know how to write it in order to have success.Also, for them to have success in university they have to participate in class, and analyze an amount of readings, and because they are international students, it is very difficult to achieve since they believe that Americans are going to laugh at them or make jokes of them if they say something incorrectly. For example, some Americans do not realize sometimes how hard is for international students being in a different country, with different people, learning a new language, and experiencing different cultures, so some of them do not really appreciate the effort that international students put on being in the United States.It’s way more pressure for international students. They have to have good grades and work as hard as possible, because if not people back home going to put a lot of shame on them and their parents. Studying in different country it is always competition for international students, but if students choose right University where people care about international students and trying to help it shouldn’t be that hard.International student organization definitely helps students from other countries feel more comfortable and less homesick, so they can you do best in classes to compete with other student on the same level. Work cited. Mike,Davis. â€Å"Arrrgh you ready for Pirate Fest? † East Carolinian, 12 April 2012 . Web. 1 November. Mallet,William â€Å"International Student Organization. † 30 october. 2012 [email  protected] edu Personal page Office of International Affairs www. ecu. edu/intlaffairs/

Reading Reflection Essay

Question 1. What does Heilbroner mean by the ‘economic problem’ and how does ‘tradition’, ‘command’ and ‘the market’ â€Å"solve† it? Why does Heilbroner think ‘economics’ is of no use for studying pre-market economies? (chapter 1). In the first chapter of this book, the author illustrated several concepts. Firstly, ‘economic problem’ was defined as â€Å"extraordinary variety of ways in which human communities have wrestled with† (Heilbroner, p.9). Secondly, ‘tradition’ solved the economic problem by customers. For example, a son will do his fathers’ job and run in the family. Thirdly, the ‘Command’ solved the problem by order form above. â€Å"It requires an enforcement mechanism different from internalized pressure of socialization† (Heilbroner, p.12). Lastly, the market solved the problem by the system itself, the author illustrated that â€Å"it’s just the way people behave. No one runs it† (Heilbroner, p.13). Question 2. Difference between Capital and Wealth. Heilbroner illustrated that capital is not wealth. â€Å"Capital thus differs from wealth in its intrinsically dynamic characters, continually changing its form from commodity into money and then back again in an endless metamorphosis that already makes clear its integral connection with the changeful nature of capitalism itself† (Heilbroner, p.30). Question 3. What are the two realms of capitalism? There are public and private realms. For the public realm, the capital normally holds the upper hand (Heilbroner, p.55). And it cannot perform its accumulative task without the complementary support of the state (Heilbroner, p.55). However, for private sector, government treats it as a business.

'No one written off Evaluation of the government's promise; are Essay

'No one written off Evaluation of the government's promise; are disabled people going to be winners or losers' - Essay Example rkforce, as they will be judged according to their abilities rather than being judged according to the limitations that their disabilities place upon them (Action for Blind People). On the other hand, organizations that represent the disabled are very concerned about these changes, as they feel as though disabled people will be left out in the cold. This is due to the fact that people who are too sick to work will be forced to get a job. What’s more, employers are not ready to handle employees who are disabled or who live with a chronic illness. Some employers want no dealings with the disabled and sickly at all. Therefore, this dissertation will analyze the promises made by the white paper and see whether or not they will be beneficial to the disabled population. Furthermore, the dissertation will establish whether or not the concerns of organizations that represent the disabled are valid. The initial aim of this dissertation is to find out if the white paper will really do what is promised. In order to do this, it is vital to closely analyze every detail of the white paper to see what provisions it is offering to those currently receiving benefits. Then, we must compare the proposals to academic literature to best determine whether or not the proposals will be helpful or hurtful. On the surface, the white paper seems very promising, as there is a strong argument that work is extremely helpful in improving the overall emotional and physical health of an individual. According to an article titled â€Å"Work is Good for Your health,† work is good for maintaining mental and physical health. It has been found that working individuals have a higher self-esteem and suffer less from mental illness. What’s more, working individuals do not require as many visits to their GPs as do those who are not employed. Those who are unemployed are at higher risk for health problems, as well as mental illness. These individuals have a shorter life expectancy than those who are

International trade and investment patterns Essay

International trade and investment patterns - Essay Example What is the significance of a single European Market for EU-based companies? What are international trade and investment theories involved in the economic integration of Europe? Given emerging economies like China and Russia, what is the significance of a single European Market for both the emerging economy and the EU-based companies? What strategies can EU companies adopt to benefit from the rise of the emerging economies? These are among the questions that will be addressed by this report. The primary objective for the report is to illustrate the importance of economic integration both for European business companies and the emerging economies. II. Main Purposes of the European Union and Forms of Economic Integration The official webpage of the European Union emphasised that one of the key goals of the European Union is to â€Å"foster economic cooperation† (Economic Union paragraph 20). However, â€Å"what began as a purely economic union also evolved into an organisation spanning all policy areas, from development aid to environment† and the name change from the European Economic Community (EEC) into the European Union or the EU in 1993 â€Å"reflected this change† (European Union paragraph 3). ... The forms of economic integration or regional integration are a regional trading arrangement, free trade area, a customs union, common market and the economic union (Carbaugh 271-273). A regional trade arrangement is an agreement whereby participating countries agree to reduce international trade tariffs among themselves (Carbaugh 271). In a free trade area, countries maintain lower tariff among them but maintain variable trade policies with other countries (Carbaugh 273). In a customs union, countries impose lower tariffs among member countries and harmonises a common trade policies with non-member countries (Carbaugh 273). A common market integrates the economies of member countries by calling for features similar to a customs union while allowing unhampered factor flows (labour and capital) at the same time (Carbaugh 273). In contrast, an economic union as represented by the European Union, has the features of a common market but, in addition, it calls for the fiscal and monetary integration (Carbaugh 273). Monetary integration in the EU shields Europe from the potentially harmful effects of a flexible exchange rate (Krugman & Obstfeld 617). Other than having a basis in trade theory, economic integration has a sound basis in investment theory. III. Investment Theory and the European Union Economic integration or economic unionism promotes a united Europe but what does it do for business and investments? At least two investment theories support the view that the economic integration of Europe is a step forward. One of the investment theories pertain to the theory of economy of scale (Denisia 57). Economic theory holds that scale influences returns from

Intermediate macro on the effect of inflation on exports and imports Term Paper

Intermediate macro on the effect of inflation on exports and imports - Term Paper Example Inflation makes reserves to be misallocated. The paper explores how influence impacts on trade among nations, especially its effect on exports and imports. Effect of inflation on exports and imports Introduction Inflation refers to the decrease in the value of money as the prices of goods and services gradually increase overtime. Moderate forms of inflation are conceived normal in the majority of economies and desirable in any economy since this is indicative to producers that there is an increasing demand and so stimulates enhanced production, and ultimately economic growth (Evans, 2004). Nevertheless, high inflation, is worrying since the prices of goods and services rise faster that the surge in wages, thus eroding real incomes. Inflation renders exports to fall, as it costs other countries more to purchase similar amount the same goods. This relationship can be outlined mathematically by the equation NI= C+ I+ G- NX whereby NI represents national income (or price level that equat es to inflation), C represents consumption (consumer spending) I represent investment; G represents government spending while NX represents net exports. Inflation influences the current account deficit since then demand for exports plunges as prices rise, and imports become more competitive if imports prices reduce comparatively lower to domestic competitors (Ulke & Ergun, 2011). If the country is exporting and the local currency becomes strong, then the country’s products become more expensive for its buyers. If a country is relying heavily on imports and the local currency becomes weak, then the products that are imported becomes expensive (Evans, 2004). As such, inflation increases will lead to deterioration of balance of payments since domestic inflation stimulates import spending provided that imports emerge comparatively cheaper, and diminish export sales, as exports emerge more expensive abroad (Levi, 2009). The association between inflation and exchange rate appears a s a double-edged sword whereby the rising inflation tends to render a currency to depreciate (owing to the reduced demand for the country’s demand). Mostly, depreciation aids exporters since prices paid by the overseas buyers decrease (Ulke & Ergun, 2011). Nevertheless, depreciation signifies that prices of imports increase, which is inflationary. The net impact of the devaluation in inflation hinges on the comparative price elasticity of imports and exports. Effects of Inflation on Imports and Exports Exchange rates bear a significant effect on a country’s economy. If the exchange rate drops, this alters the comparative prices of imports and exports. Exports are likely to become comparatively cheap in other currencies while imports become expensive. For instance, when the U.S. purchases imports, the imports are incorporated into the retail price index. In the event that the price of import rises, this could be inflationary, especially in cases where a country’s imports feature a lot of raw materials and semi-finished products (Levi, 2009). A gradual rise in prices will impact on a country’s trading performance mainly on the ration between imports and exports. The performance of a country’

Construction Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Construction Marketing - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that some of the similarities between the marketing processes used by construction companies and companies selling consumer goods would be the structured process of strategic marketing followed, the approach to branding, profits and pricing strategies used, segmentation and differentiation of customers and understanding customer needs. Understanding customer needs and experiences would be related to marketing orientation and both the construction companies and consumer goods companies would be focused on providing the best services to the customer. Within the construction marketing framework and the consumer marketing framework, there is a need for delineating company vision, customer segmentation, and focus, benchmarking and identifying distribution channels. The construction and consumer goods companies also go through the process of external audit or market research and market analysis along with competitor analysis as well to understand the marketing processes and dynamics of business. Construction and consumer goods are marketed in accordance with an analysis of processes, profit margins, organizations, product life cycles, as well as strategic plans such as branding and market re-engineering. All these processes of strategic marketing, market orientation, customer focus, benchmarking, distribution and following company vision seem to be the similarities identified between construction marketing and consumer goods marketing. Strict monitoring and control, quality and customer services improvement are also some of the similar marketing objectives. This would bring us to the differences in marketing between the two types of products and the related companies. The construction companies will have to specifically focus on the economic conditions, market orientation, and business cycles as for such companies, business seems to follow a pattern. The staff recruitment and retention strategies, relationship marketing, an d budgeting methods would differ from that of companies selling consumer products. Thus even if the basic approach to marketing does not change between the two types, the elements of marketing seem to differ between construction marketing and consumer goods marketing. This is exemplified by a study in which the influence of marketing policies is seen on corporate performance. Bennett studied 119 businesses in the UK construction industry and suggested that firms that adopted a long-term approach to marketing management tended to attain superior performance. Although short-term approaches are more common. The study showed that the construction industry responds in a certain way to the market conditions. Unlike most consumer goods companies, marketing in this case is long-term whereas for consumer goods, marketing approaches are based on short-term goals and targets. Instead of mission and long-term vision followed by construction companies, consumer goods companies are focused on sho rt-term goals and objectives. Construction marketing is more directly based on the concept of relationship marketing than consumer goods marketing as building trust with long-term customers would be the primary tool for success in any construction endeavor. It has been found that the level of marketing orientation is rather low in the construction industry and in this industry, unlike the consumer goods industry, marketing strategies are developed and followed with only superficial knowledge of the marketing process. The consumer goods industry seems to be more well versed on the dynamics of marketing strategies used than the construction industry.

Environmental Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Environmental Ethics - Essay Example Additionally, Aristotle observes that ethical living calls for application of wisdom that depends upon the situation at hand rather than the mere application of the set laws. He referred to this kind of as practical wisdom or prudence which is different from the theoretical wisdom(Kamtekar, 2004). On the contrary, Friedrich Nietzsche looks at ethics as untenable phenomenon. Nietzsche argues that ethics is deleterious and can just be relevant in the case of the highest types of human beings (Katsafanas, 2011). This is because ethics requires a high degree of consequentialist perfectionism of good. One thing to note however is that Nietzsche is a not a critic of morality in totality. He for example agrees with the notion of a higher morality that informs the living of higher men both of which he attacks and praises. Nietzsche offers an analysis of the existing values in a way that appeals to some morality of some kind. Nietzsche advocates for similarity of all people, free will and transparency(Katsafanas, 2011). However, Nietzsche argues for the harm of the highest men while advancing the interests of the lowest men. Further, Charles Darwin brings about the concept of evolutionary ethics which has two broad perspectives of normative ethics and descriptive ethics. Regarding descriptive ethics, it consists of biological ethical approaches anchored upon the role of evolution in determining human behaviour and psychology. Darwinism ethics is based on the scientific aspects of ethology, socio-biology and psychology with a focus on explaining and understanding preferences of ethics or choices (Lillehammer, 2010). On the other hand, normative ethics of evolution depicts a more independent attempt to singlehandedly use evolution to justify ethics in a society. Descriptive evolutionary ethics delve on the beliefs and moral attitudes. The ethical underpinnings discussed on this ethical

General Motors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

General Motors - Essay Example During the duration of its existence, General Motors has engaged in the production of models that target specifically the baby boomers generation. This constitutes of a younger generation who are aggressive bout simple, stylish models that go with fashion. Latest statistical analysis points out that the company has targeted customers in mid 20 who accounts for almost 50% revenue returns from the sale of vehicles (GM, 2014).Economic analysisGeneral motors’ has played a considerable role to the development of the United States and a global economy. Based on the national financial reports of the United States, the company has contributed a higher percentage of economic development for a longer duration since its launching into operation. Not only to the United States, has General Motors’ also had a huge economic impact in its areas of operations. In essence, the organization has triggered operations of the other industries such as aluminum and textile that supply raw mater ials to the industry. In addition, the company has also created job opportunities both directly and indirectly to a significant number of populations.Political//legalWith influence from both the government and members of the public, the company has constantly implemented different policies to harmonize mutual coexistence of all members of the society with customers invoking dominance on to the progress of the business. With the current trend in modern life, most members of the society associate status of life with the car the person drives.

Models of art and self-management practices Essay

Models of art and self-management practices - Essay Example Modern art deals with money. For centuries artists earned money when they sold their paintings. Nevertheless an image of a ‘poor artist’ can hardly disappear from our consciousness. Artists die and only after their deaths greatness of their talents was acclaimed by public. Currently, researchers claim that â€Å"the irrational exuberance of the contemporary art market is about the breeding of money, not the fertility of art, and that commercially precious works of art have become the organ grinder's monkeys of money† (Kuspit). This apt expression characterizes a shift of the primary objective of art, which is aesthetic pleasure, to a means of enrichment. We live in the epoch of art parody. It is very hard to distil art from a mixture of different stereotypes and concepts around it. In the majority of cases, art issues are mixed with issues from political, economic or technical spheres. Opponents of this point of view may claim that art and money have always been i n interdependence. It is possible to claim that nowadays ‘art has become a dependency of money’ (Kuspit). Huge investments in art in a modern society are directed on art overwhelm. Thus a modern paradigm of art is the following: ‘money is superior to art’ (Kuspit). This can be confirmed by a steady growth of auctions. From the very beginning of history of art, its main function has always been in coding human beliefs, goals and interests. Next to correlation of art and economics, political context of art is also widely discussed. Even museums are compared to â€Å"exhibition ventures like, which contribute to the shaping and promotion of the ideas that govern our social relations† (Haacke). Consequently, artists are considered to be agents, who exert influence on the society. Different political structures, sponsors from political institutions witness the fact that there is an intention to establish relationship between politics and art. If we restor e in our memories socio-critical art of previous years, especially after revolutions, we can clearly see that art was a tool of political manipulation. For example, Vladimir Tatlin, a representative of Russian Realism, developed a project The Monument to the Third International (1920). This project has never been embodied into life, but a spirit of technical progress, a huge power of Russia after revolution was transferred by this artist. Socio-critical art has always been a powerful trigger of society ideological behavior formation. Consequently, this type of art can be saved only at times of great revolutions or turbulent historical events, when politicians involve all possible means in order to create necessary social moods in their countries. Rosler (2010) in her article confirms politicized air of socio-critical and political art: such type of art is a â€Å"robust support for revolutionary ideals or displaying identification with provincial localism, with the peasantry or wit h the urban working classes, especially using fairly ephemeral forms (such as the low-cost prints available in great numbers)† (Rosler 2010). On the one hand, the author criticizes this type of art, but on the other hand we can think about a propagation of art among public (Rosler 2010). Nowadays in spite of a high-speed technological progress and availability of technical means of communication, participants of auctions have an ability to look at masterpieces, but all the rest of the society can be satisfied by

Is Organic Food Good for You Essay Example for Free

Is Organic Food Good for You Essay What is organic food? †¢(1) Organic food is food which has been produced to standards designed to keep the production more natural. Fewer, if any, chemicals are used and most pesticides are banned when they are used they are very carefully controlled. †¢(2)Organic food costs more then non-Organic food. This is not always the case but on average organic farmers generally charge more for their produce because: oMany organic farming practices take a bit longer and produce lower yields oIt is more labor intensive than conventional agriculture oFields have to be taken out of food production while they go through three years of organic conversion or for fertility building. Here you will find out if organic food is good for you or not, there will be the science behind it, advantages, and disadvantages evidence and a conclusion. The science behind it In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand producers have had to resort to using a lethal cocktail of pesticides to control disease and insect attack. Good news for their bank balances perhaps but not good news for your health, this is why you need to be informed of the advantages of organic food. Did you know that if you consumed an average apple you would be eating over 30 pesticides, even after you have washed it? Organic food is known to contain 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. You will have to eat more fruit nowadays to make up the deficiency, but unfortunately that means eating more chemicals, more detrimental affects on your health eating something that should be good for you! Some more startling facts now. Pesticides in food have been linked to many diseases including: ? Cancer ?Obesity ?Alzheimer’s ?some birth defects There are probably others but if you think about it, how can it be okay for you to eat chemicals and not expect some form of reaction in your body. Our bodies are delicwonderful machines. Any form of foreign chemical is bound to cause irritation at the least. (3)Some organic foods, including fruit, vegetables and milk, may be more nutritious than non-organic produce, according to an investigation by British scientists. Early results from a ? 12m study showed that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40% more antioxidants than non-organic varieties, according to Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University, who leads the EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project. Larger differences were found in milk, with organic varieties containing more than 60% more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids, he said. Antioxidant-rich food is often promoted as healthier because in lab tests the compounds neutralize free radicals that are thought to contribute to ageing. (4) Ben Gold acre says the Soil Associations criticism of the recent Food Standards Agency research on nutrients is not about organic food and that the emotive commentary in favor of organic farming bundles together diverse and legitimate concerns about unchecked capitalism in our food supply, In fact, our argument with the FSA research is about whether it gives a fair and accurate picture of organic food. Gold acre. First, he said we were trying to change the argument by saying that the important issue with organic food is not personal health benefits, but rather benefit to the environment. More farmland wildlife, high animal welfare and lower pollution were not mentioned in our own initial response, but were put forward strongly by the government when the FSA launched its report, and we repeated it as the governments view, with which I agree. Second he argued that absence of pesticides, no routine use of antibiotics on farm animals and far fewer additives allowed in organic food all deliver health benefits. Goldacre says that as these cannot be measured by the FSA research, mentioning them is gamesmanship. These are real benefits, confirmed by other research. The organic movement represents a spectrum of practices, attitudes, and philosophies. On the one hand are those organic practitioners who would not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides under any circumstances. These producers hold rigidly to their purist philosophy. At the other end of the spectrum, organic farmers espouse a more flexible approach. While striving to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, these practitioners do not rule them out entirely. Instead, when absolutely necessary, some fertilizers and also herbicides are very selectively and sparingly used as a second line of defense. Nevertheless, these farmers, too, consider themselves to be organic farmers [6]. For raising animals, antibiotics would not be permitted as growth stimulants but would be permitted to counter infections. The rules permit up to 20% of animal feed to be obtained from non-organic sources. This was done because some nutrients (such as trace minerals) are not always available organically. Irradiation, which can reduce or eliminate certain pests, kill disease-causing bacteria, and prolong food shelf-life, would be permitted during processing. Genetic engineering would also be permissible. More Nutritious? Organic foods are certainly not more nutritious The nutrient content of plants is determined primarily by heredity. Mineral content may be affected by the mineral content of the soil, but this has no significance in the overall diet. If essential nutrients are missing from the soil, the plant will not grow. If plants grow, that means the essential nutrients are present. Experiments conducted for many years have found no difference in the nutrient content of organically grown crops and those grown under standard agricultural conditions. Safer? Many organic proponents suggest that their foods are safer because they have lower levels of pesticide residues. However, the pesticide levels in our food supply are not high. In some situations, pesticides even reduce health risks by preventing the growth of harmful organisms, including molds that produce toxic substances . To protect consumers, the FDA sets tolerance levels in foods and conducts frequent market basket studies wherein foods from regions throughout the United States are purchased and analyzed. Its 1997 tests found that about 60% of fruits and vegetables had no detectable pesticides and only about 1. 2% of domestic and 1. 6% of imported foods had violative levels [13]. Its annual Total Diet Study has always found that Americas dietary intakes are well within international and Environmental Protection Agency standards. Most studies conducted since the early 1970s have found that the pesticide levels in foods designated organic were similar to those that were not. In 1997, Consumer Reports purchased about a thousand pounds of tomatoes, peaches, green bell peppers, and apples in five cities and tested them for more than 300 synthetic pesticides. Traces were detected in 77% of conventional foods and 25% of organically labelled foods, but only one sample of each exceeded the federal limit Pesticides can locate on the surface of foods as well as beneath the surface. The amount that washing can remove depends on their location, the amount and temperature of the rinse water, and whether detergent is used. Most people rinse their fruits and vegetables with plain Tastier? Organically grown foods are not inherently tastier than conventionally grown foods. Taste is influenced by freshness, which may depend on how far the products must be shipped from farmer to consumer. What kinds of locally grown fruits and vegetables are available varies from community to community. Whether they are organically or conventionally produced is unlikely to make any difference. In the early 1990s, Israeli researchers made 460 assessments of 9 different fruits and vegetables and no significant difference in quality between organic and conventionally grown samples. The Consumer Reports study found no consistent differences in appearance, flavour, or texture. Better for the Environment? Many buyers of organic foods believe that the extra money they pay will ultimately benefit the environment by encouraging more farmers to use organic methods. But doing this cannot have much effect because organic agriculture is too inefficient to meet the worlds food needs. Moreover, the dividing line between organic and conventional agriculture is not sharp because various practices are not restricted to one or the other. For example, organic farmers tend not to use pesticides, but faced with threatened loss of crops, they may change their mind. If certain patterns of pesticide use cause more harm than good and there is a way to remedy the situation, the people concerned about it can seek regulatory solutions. I dont believe that paying extra for food will benefit anybody but those who sell it. This research shows there are benefits, said Dr Kirsten Brandt of Newcastle University, which led the research. The reason why its such a grey area is because its extremely difficult to measure the health benefit in any food, but we can say that if you eat 400g of fruit and vegetables per day you would get 20 per cent more nutrients in organic food. Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, welcomed the new research. He said: There is clear evidence that a range of organic foods contain more beneficial nutrients and vitamins and less of things known to have a detrimental health effect.

Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management

Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management Project management has become very important topic all over the world. Literature shows that more than 30 companies fail to accomplish its project with success due to misalignment between business strategies and project management. Many companies face this problem of missing link of business strategies and project management. Alignment is necessary for getting competitive advantage and goals of its business. Top management also play important role in alignment of business strategies and Project management. Keywords: Business strategies, project management, alignment, project portfolio management Introduction: Project management has become very important and also serves as core function in many organizations. Projects are any temporary activities that have starting and finish point, it has performance parameters. Projects face triple constrains (1) time (2) budget and (3) performance. It was assumed that for attainment of organizational goals one has to meet triple constraints of time, budget and performance. Project management plays a vital role in achieving organizational goals and considered as backbone of organization. Project management is knowledge that meets the requirements of projects. Project management plays important role in accomplishing strategies, business goals and desired outcomes. Organizations link their projects with business strategies to achieve the goals and objectives. Strategies are activities that guide and direct the use of the resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and sustainable competitive advantage. Mostly these components comprising the strategies of the business like internal analysis, organizational structures, control systems have strong links to project management processes and activities. Project management includes project portfolio management (PPM). PPM is about how organizations controls its projects and align them with business strategies. Many organizations are working on numerous projects and they are conscious to get maximum return of their business. PPM also includes the maximization profit which is main objective of all organization. Basically projects are bases of any organization to build up business strategy and project management relation. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Companies should align their business strategy with the project management action to implement the strategies in the projects. Such alignments are difficult because the objectives of business strategy are sometime not clear and well-communicated with project management. Misalignment may cause an organization to missing goals, communication gap and missing link of business strategy and project management. The lack of alignment of business strategy to the project management leads to the project failure and has adverse effects on organization performance as well. . There is need of systemic approach to align the projects with business strategy. So important in managerial challenges involved that aligning project management and business strategy and encouraging individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. Literature indicates that some factors that helps in creating link between business strategy and project management if there is any gap between the bridge of business strategy and project management that should be filled to achieve high returns and competitive advantages. As literature shows that SPL elements such as spirit, strategy, organization, tools and processes that elements should be align between business strategies and project management and in depth understanding of factors that are missing and relationship of these factors with business strategies and project management. Portfolio management play important role in project management and business strategy linking. Implementation of strategies with formulation, receive less attention than formulation so there should be proper emphasis on the implementation as well as. Therefore, this paper examines the linkage between business strategy, project portfolio management, and business success to finish the gap between strategy formulation and implementation and linking them in a bridge. There is seen a lot of importance of project portfolio management in evaluating, prioritizing and selecting projects in line with business strategy. It is choosing the right projects and important part of strategic management in organizations. So there are a few studies exploring single aspects of the linkage between strategies, project portfolio management. Business strategy describes the way in which a firm decides to compete in the market compared to its competitors and close the gap of these strategies with project management. Project Management: Project management has become an important issue for many corporations worldwide. Many implementations of project management have been successful, while others have been considered as failure. Projects in any organization have clearly became a central activity in many companies and considered as a backbone of organization and its success means a lot for an organization to prevail in the competitive arena. A project can be defined as a planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. Project management is often termed as the science and art of organizing the different project phases which may be launch of new service, a marketing campaign, building a an entire new floor of a building or a wedding. According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006), the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Project management is defined as management that supports the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Six-step approach can be helpful course that avoids the worst storms: Step 1: Identify the project Step 2: Determine the desired outcome Step 3: Describe each of the projects component tasks Step 4: Identify the key players. Step 5: Determine a time lines for each project component. Step 6: Review, revise and reallocate. Successful initiation of projects and its execution mostly depends upon strategy. Many companies are suffering from misaligned projects and a lack of a systematic approach to align project management with the business strategy. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Project strategy should be related to the projects goals and objectives in order to attain the preferred position in its competitive environment. Business Strategy: Strategy is defined by Patton White (2002) as a comprehensive set of actions or activities, which guide and direct the use of the firms resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and enable sustainable competitive advantage. Turning strategy into action to operationalize strategic objectives to achieve competitive advantage includes in the strategic management. Several scholars suggest that the success of project should be considered in the context of the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization (Dietrich Lehtonen, 2005; Kenny, 2006) and that organizations are better able to accomplish their goals when they link their projects to their business strategy. To ensure strategies are translated into actions they should be operational and includes some of the characteristics like structuring an organization to support successful performance and enabling success through the way in which the various resource areas like people, information, Finance, IT, etc. of an organization. Better implementation of strategic plans results in the better performance of sales growth, earnings growth, deposits growth, return on assets, return on equity, return on sales and return on total invested capital than those companies that do not implement their strategic plans. However, in any organization there are different levels of strategies presented by different level of a business which includes Corporate Strategy: It involves high level of strategic decision making and purpose of this strategy is to achieve the expectations of the stakeholders. Business Unit Strategy: The purpose of this strategy is to achieve the competitive advantage for the services and products which are produced and the decisions in this level is concerned with the choice of products, gaining competitive advantage, to meet the needs of the customers and create new opportunities. Operational Strategy: Its concerned with the coordination and improvement of resources which results in the effective and efficient implementation of the business unit level strategy. Implementation of strategies requires actions and completing tasks, and should focus on how to realize these strategies. Implementation must include attention to the following key points: Executing the work requires allocation of resources such as funds, people, and equipment. Organizational resources are limited. Implementation process requires project supportive organizational structure. A project selection and priority system to ensure strong linking between projects and the strategic plan. Managerial challenges involves aligning project management and business strategy which encourages individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. There is no such research regarding the framework for aligning project management and business strategy comprehensively. The literature has highlighted that there are many projects which have been executed without implementing the strategies as it has been formulated by executives in the corporations level without the involvement of the project manager. Aligning Business Strategy and Projects: Aligning the companys projects to maximize their contributions to strategic objectives takes a highly coordinated effort. Integration requires a process for prioritizing projects by their contribution to the strategic plan. The organizations to become more competitive, efficient and profitable they will need a business and project management experts working together to attain the business goals. Both, business and project management experts will work towards aligning projects with business strategy. Alignment of business strategy and project management is a major concern for any organization. Such alignments are challenging because the objectives of business strategy are not always clear or well-communicated or consistent with project management actions. Misalignment may cause an organization to miss goals and objectives. Understanding the alignment may be one of the major challenges to effective project management process. Alignment is not a onetime task but it is achieved through p rogression, which demands dominant leadership, top management support, efficient communication, collaborative work environment, trust, proper prioritization, technological setup and comprehensive knowledge about the operations of the business (Luftman, 2000). In order to achieve desired outputs from the selected projects organization should have the ability to build up competencies and then allocate those competences to the preferred projects. To help make sure the corporate projects are aligned to corporate strategy following can be kept in mind: Is the corporation committed to using project management strategically? In most companies, hundreds of projects are underway at any given time so there must be corporate commitment to the art and science of managing projects Is there a policy of formally preparing project charters? Since projects are the means by which corporate strategies are executed, it is critical that they be guided by the original corporate philosophy, strategy, and intent. Project charters are the instrument for doing this. Is there synergy between the business group and those responsible for project implementation? There needs to be early involvement by project implementation people. While this principle may seem sound, the practice of it presents a challenge. First, business planning people may prefer to plan without the help of perceived outsiders. Then, theres a good likelihood that the right project people might not be sitting about just waiting to brainstorm and analyze the early stages of a business proposal. The value for the organization to aligning projects with business strategy in a research by the Athabasca University was conducted in more than 60 organizations around the world and results showed that there were some benefits the organizations which include: Saved money and resources Increased profitability Retained customers Increased market share Prioritizing a project on the bases of its contribution to strategic achievement does not provide guarantee of project success but consistent allocation of resources is also a major task (Hrebiniak, 2006). A key point to make sure the alignment between project management and strategy included as: to carry out the appropriately chosen projects in an efficient ways organizations should make sure that have ability to do deliver the projects and programs. Top management plays a major role in projects alignment. Role of Management: Management is of central importance for the success of projects. Pinto and Slevin (1998) suggested that all the researchers agree that absence of support from management especially top management and by important stakeholder are most important among all other factors. Hacker and Doolen (2007) role of top management was studied in the perspectives of vision of the project and alignment of the scope with business strategy and project sponsorship and its impact on the triple constraint of the project i.e. cost, performance and cost. Researchers various different views about the extent of knowledge of senior managers should be in relation to project management. Some researchers suggest to the technical expertise and knowledge about the projects necessary for senior managers to develop and implement projects. Others felt that determine the line of control and to make available all relevant resources for project managers are the main functions of the senior management. There are different methods of how senior managers can be involved in the project management process. One of the approaches is not to interfere in which the project manager to all the rights of the planning to the implementation of projects. Responsibilities of project managers and executive managers is that project managers are primarily responsible for projects that are being implemented while the executives of the strategic alignment of business functions and projects with the organizations goals. Top managers should possess same skills and expertise as do the project managers Top management must carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in the allocation of resources. Resource allocation is one of the critical parts of the project management. These resources include financial, human and other resources necessary for the successful completion of the projects. Top management should carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in terms of resource allocation. Resources must be allocated to projects that are aligned with corporate strategies of the organization. More simple criteria for prioritizing compliance can be or should do projects should receive the highest priority, then the strategic projects, and then the other. With the start of the training programs, coaching and mentoring for project managers, top management can help build leadership skills, so that they can manage project activities responsibly and effectively. Problems of Alignment: Often projects fail to support business strategies and business goals it is due to the missing link, so that it should be align. Some processes factors that affect the business strategies and projects linking such as communication, top management support, competency of project manager are some of the major factors are the necessary ones to consider which solves or even creates hurdles in the alignment process. Business directors and top management are responsible for the three processes such as business planning, portfolio management and prioritizing projects while the project managers are responsible for the process of planning and executing the projects. Prioritizing projects Portfolio management Business planning Project Project portfolio management, business planning and support of business manager to the project manager while project manager is responsible to handling the projects. Choosing project from the AMCs projects and aligning that project with the business plans and top managers suggestions. When these processes are aligned the strategic elements like goals, objectives, vision, mission, values and norms feeds the portfolio element, the portfolio element feeds the project management element like strategies, organization processes, culture, and the project management element feeds projects and the teams execution of project. But in many cases, these processes are not aligned; as a result, organizations may fail to tie their projects either to their business strategy or to their portfolio, which may cause them to terminate the project or to continue executing projects that do not contribute to the organizations goals, thus wasting important organizational resources. Project Portfolio Management: The project portfolio is defined as a group of projects that compete for scarce resources and are conducted under the sponsorship or management of a particular organization. The three main well-known objectives of portfolio management are, the following: maximizing the value of the portfolio, linking the portfolio to the strategy and the continuous monitoring/assessment of the portfolio. Project portfolio selection is an important management task activity of the organization, the project team should consider all details carefully to enhance performance of organizational assets and customize them with the strategic objectives of the organization, although there are usually several projects available for selection than can be completed within the physical and financial limitations of fixed, so choices must be made to make up a suitable project. Management problems are related to the following factors, selecting, portfolio strategy and appropriate plans. The following reasons can be related with the difficulties on managing, and on selecting, the proper projects to the portfolio a) no relationship between project selection: projects entirely with the organizations strategic goals are not related to the impact on organization performance b) poor quality portfolios: organizations, generally, applicable to underdeveloped ideas for projects selected is not fair quality. To work on the building, d) scarce resources, lack of attention and executive skills, resources properly balance, often causing pressure to multitask ; f) Information overflow and lacking quality of information: Regardless of the quality and sophistication of the portfolio selection and decision tools, it is fundamental to obtain the proper information to make accurate decisions; g) Decision making based in power: Usually the decision is an exercise of power, whi ch means that there may be situations in organizations where decisions tend not to reflect the organizational future success. The portfolio management team is normally concerned and overwhelmed with issues like the prioritization of projects and the continuous distribution of personnel from the different projects to overcome the urgent crises. Although, most of the time, however, there are no resources available and when they were redistributed it often produced negative effects on unexpected places in the project portfolio. Project Selection There are more than one hundred tools and techniques for project portfolio selection hence it is not difficult for organizations to select suitable tools. It is important to adapt or develop an appropriate framework to evaluate project proposals and select a project portfolio which is aligned with the corporate strategy. Recent literature focuses on approaches rather than tools and techniques. Common principles from these approaches can be described as followings: Firstly, they suggest dividing the project proposals into subsets (Englund Graham, 1999; Sommer 1999; Cooper et al., 2001a; Rădulescu1 Rădulescu 2001; and Crawford etal., 2006). Each project subset can be a group of projects which will share the same strategic buck as discussed by Cooper et al (2001a) or different categories of projects which have similar characteristics (Crawford et al., 2005, 2006). This will help the organization easily compare projects by same criteria or same tools and techniques. T his is similarly applicable to ensure the balance of the project portfolio. Framework by Englund Graham (1999) 4 steps producing interrelated outputs make this approach truly systematic. The 4 steps are described as follows: a. What the organization should do: Upon identified to lead the process, the team members start listing newly proposed and on-going projects. They, then, clarify or develop the expected goals of projects, taking into consideration of organizational strategies (vision, mission, objectives) and current as well as potential capabilities (either developed or acquired). It is advisable to classify projects into categories for the benefit of looking at projects from the view of big picture inclusive of out-of- the- box thinking, completeness, gaps, opportunities and compliance with strategy. Projects classified/organized into the strategic buckets (e.g. extent of product change: new- enhancement; and extent of process change: new incremental) enable the team focus efforts on selecting the best set of projects within the categories, which constitute the right and balance mix. In order to facility decision making process, a set of criteria with weight or score reflecting requirements of orga nizational objectives (e.g. market positioning, available capacity, etc.) should be determined, modified and agreed upon for comparison and choices of projects. b. What the organization can do: the team members critically screen and evaluate projects based on consolidation and analysis of current or historical data, as a result certain new projects will be eliminated and ongoing projects will be adjusted or terminated in respect of strategic priorities; availability of resources and technology challenges, etc. The authors describe the critical few with n screen subject to criteria sets agreed upon in step 1 e.g. screen 1- fit to goals; screen 2 market size, competence etc. c. Analyze and decide on projects: based on the comparison between resources available and resources required, projects are analyzed, prioritized and selected. The team should consider opportunity costs, project benefits before costs, return value when making decisions. With the sets of criteria agreed upon in step 1, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy is recommended. Dedicated resources and contingencies should be committed to ensure the successful implementation of selected projects. Besides, communication loop should be developed and utilized to keep changes updated. d. Implement the plan: staffing and allocating committed resources for implementation selected projects. A database should be created for monitoring, reporting and sharing. The plan is used as a communication tool to help management team and those who are involved quickly respond to change and take corrective actions in terms of identifying new opportunities and leveraging resources. It can be interpreted that completion of the first 3 steps in this process reflects the achievement of the three goals determined in the project portfolio selection by Cooper (2005): step 1 with should representing project portfolio in alignment with strategy; step 2 with can representing portfolio value maximization using most effectively its resource and capability; step 3 analyze and decide representing right balance and mix of projects; and step 4 with implement belonging to the next phase of execution and management in project portfolio management. The 4 steps reveal a loop of continuous stages, which is recognized as systematic approach. Challenges in Project Portfolio Selection Organizations face many problems such as lack of information, unreliable data of cost, time to completion, availabilities of resource, and benefits of projects. Project proposals are randomly arriving, not at one time. This requires the model or process to be flexible so that organizations can select projects without waiting until annual planning meetings. In large organizations with many business units, each business unit has its own list of priority and preferences. Besides, project portfolio selection is not always rational but it is biased by human being factor such as lobbying. People resist when there is absence of strategy or vague strategy or they find difficulties in pursuing the strategies. Changes necessary for the aligning the projects with the strategy might win approval of all the members of the organization, but when it comes to implementation, no one will be ready to take the lead. Ten Reasons why Strategy Implementation Efforts Can Fail: 1. The so-called strategic plan is nothing more than a collection of budgets and vague directions that do not provide clear guidelines for action. 2. The strategy does not correspond to market realities because it has been developed by strategic planners with no grass roots input. 3. The strategy does not enjoy support from and commitment by the majority of employees and middle management because they do not feel consulted in the development of the strategy. 4. Middle management does not think the strategy is the right one, or does not feel it has the requisite skills to implement it, so it sabotages the implementation. 5. Insufficient top management time is spent on communicating about, selling the new strategic direction, and managing the organizational changes involved. 6. No provision is made for developing the new skills and competencies required by the employees successfully to make the transition and operate within the new strategic direction. 7. No provision is made for instituting the appropriate organizational systems for the selection, motivation and reward of people in accordance with the new strategy. 8. No provision is made for creating a close fit or coherence between the business-level strategy and the various functional-level strategies that can operationalize it. 9. There are factions in the organization which disagree with the strategy because if implemented it would reduce their power and influence, so they sabotage it by deliberate actions or inactions. 10. No attempt is made to analyze the culture of the organization and identify Literature review examines four selected models that assist organizations in bridging the gap between organizational strategic objectives and project management: Model #1 Model of strategic project management is comprised of four main aspects of higher-level project management practices: 1. Strategic alignment of project: This practice refers to the extent to which an organization ensures that the projects it pursues are directly tied to the organizational strategy. This is very important in terms to see whether the project going to start is intact with the strategies of the organization for its successful implementation. 2. Project portfolio management. This practice refers to the identification of a project investment categorization scheme to assist the organization with prioritizing projects. Project portfolio management forms one of the building blocks in relating projects to strategy and can be considered as a key driver for aligning projects or programs to organizational objectives. It also helps in prioritizing and in the selection process of a project for its successful alignment. 3. Program management. The Project Management Institute (2004) defines the concept of program management as the centralized coordinated management of groups of projects to achieve the programs strategic objectives and benefits. Program management practices are inherent within the pursuit of strategic project management and are demonstrated as the management of groups of projects and the management of interactions between projects (portfolio coordination). 4. The business results of projects. Since projects are financial investments, organizations should estimate and measure project impacts on organizations from a business results perspective which may include return on investment, sales growth etc. Model #2: Project managers contribute to competitive advantage due to their skills in managing relationships and an organizational willingness to foster these skills and leverage them throughout the organization, and learn from them how to manage people and relationships across organizational functions and boundaries. Greens model of strategic project management is based on the constructs of competitive advantage, strategic capabilities and tacit knowledge management. Model #3: Model suggests that adopting strategic project management to select, manage and support multiple projects gives companies the best chance of moving the organization forward by keeping the company vibrant in the marketplace and returning maximum value for shareholders. Further, it identifies the following key characteristics of strategic project management: 1. Alignment of the following key business processes: strategic planning, strategic goal setting, and enterprise project management 2. Functions as a well-managed portfolio of investments as it: (a) allows for the most effective use of constrained resources; (b) ensures a high return on investment since projects are managed collectively; (c) it maintains alignment between the projects and the organizations short, medium and long term goals 3. A new management process embedded between strategic planning and project execution that manages project investments strategically and combines business planning and management with project management best practices Model #4: The term strategic project management as the management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organization as a whole to have competitive advantage There is a gap between aligning project management competencies to the selection of projects that will give organizations a competitive edge. Specifically, strategy is formulated at the senior management level and for it to be implemented; it should be broken down into discrete projects. Project management becomes a source of competitive advantage when an organization outperforms other companies through the experience and knowledge built up over time through managing projects. Also, project management yields competitive advantage through the actual selection and prioritization of projects that organizations engage in and secondly, through implementation and execution of the projects. Furthermore, project portfolio management is essential and the prioritization of projects should be based

life of US soldier :: essays research papers

The quality of life of the single soldiers in the Army is at an all time high. Never before has there been such an effort to increase the quality of life as we have had in the last few years. From 1998-1999 the army spent nearly $600 million in new barracks construction or renovations to older barracks, building 30,000 1 + 1 spaces for junior enlisted. The command here at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center has also tried to keep the permanent party soldiers in a 1 + 1 style of living even though current events have forced some changes. Today we are finding fewer places that still have 4 per room or a common latrine for the floor. We have kitchens, laundry rooms with easy access, and a decent day room. And while they are not always up to a standard we expect, it’s only because the soldiers that use them fail to keep them clean or take care of the equipment in them. Unfortunately despite all the changes to recent policies and the continuing improvement in the barracks there are still several areas that I would like to see improved. In terms of our living areas the main issue is privacy and morale. The command does not abuse the use of inspections because they are a necessity, but they do not consider the fact that some jobs in the hospital operate on a 24 hour basis. For example while working night shift you may wish to sleep from 1000 till 1600. Since there are shift workers who are home during the day, or people who come home for their lunch break you are forced to deal with loud music or yelling outside, not to mention traffic. But worse then that, if there is a room inspection or furniture check, you also have to deal with people walking into your room, usually around 1100-1400. It’s obvious where the problem is with shift workers. This could be easily fixed by starting earlier such as at 0830-0900 or even just starting at 1000 while going to the night shift personnel’s rooms first. This would eliminate being disturbed during sleep time and still show that the command cares about the welfare and morale of its soldiers. When considering the quality of life of single soldiers, you must also look at programs offered to them. This area we also find to be lacking.

Racism in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest

Racism in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Sometimes things that seem crazy actually make sense. A good example is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden. He appears to be an insane patient at a mental hospital who hallucinates about irrational mechanical people and a thick fog that permeates the hospital ward where he lives. In reality, Bromden's hallucinations provide valuable insight into the dehumanization that Bromden and the other ward patients are subjected to. Ken Kesey, in his writing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest brings out his racism in the novel. The Aides in Kesey's novel, who are also called "black boys," negatively portray blacks as inferior to white people in society. The aides had a poor, rough childhood growing up as seen by their lack of education as seen in the quote "`Why, who you s'pose signed chief Bromden up for this foolishness? Inniuns ain't able to write'" (191). Their aides' hatred of the patients stems from their rough childhood. They are also cast as irresponsible and unable to carry out simple jobs. This is evident in the quote "`I'll take him. He's always untying his sheet and roaming around.'" (147), when Turkle, the night-shift aide, lies to the nurse in charge at night by saying that Bromden untied his sheets, when Turkle Irresponsibly untied Bromden's sheets for him. On the morning of the fishing trip on Nurse Ratched's ward, one of Ratched's aides called Bromden illiterate because he was half-Indian. The General statement made by the aid, which was in the quote "`Why, who you s'pose signed chief Bromden up for this foolishness? Inniuns ain't able to write.'" (191), describes Kesey's racism toward Indians. The quote reflects how Indians in Kesey's novel are portrayed as illiterate. Bromden also represents the Indians as imprisoned at the mercy of white people. In Kesey's novel Indians, such as Bromden's father were forced to hand over their land to white people. The Indians' land was very important to them and being forced to give up land was essentially giving up their freedom. The types of jobs that the hospital workers have also indicate Kesey's racism in his novel.

Huckleberry Finn: A Good Role Model :: essays research papers

Huckleberry Finn: A Good Role Model "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" gives a visual look at the time in which the author Samuel Clemens lived. He explains how he felt about his life through the eyes of a young boy named Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn has many adventures that teach him life lessons we can learn from today. Although there are differing opinions on whether Huck Finn is a good role model for today's young people, I will explain why I think he is. Huck is a good role model for several reasons. First, he believes that slavery is wrong. He believes in treating people equally regardless of color. When Huck sees the widow's runaway slave Jim on Jackson's Island, he has mixed emotions about what he should say and do. He feels badly that the widow is going to sell Jim and separate him from his family. Huck decides against better reasoning to help Jim escape down the Mississippi River to Cairo. Another example of good role modeling is Huck's faithfulness to those he loves and cares for. Huck lies to protect Jim on several occasions. Lying is not the best thing, but to Huckleberry, the truth is not always a black and white issue. He is faithful to his friends and chooses friendship instead. He knows that Jim's family needs him. In today's language, Huckleberry's reaction to Jim's situation would reflect what Spock of Star Trek says, â€Å"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.† An illustration of another positive side of Huck shows us that he has a good and true heart, and the best intentions even though they may not turn out right. For example, the widow tells Huck to pray for the dinner they are having. Huck's interpretation is, â€Å"God thank you for the meal and if you get the chance, please let me catch a big catfish.† The widow tells Huck that he shouldn't pray for material things. Huck disagrees because his Sunday School teacher teaches him to pray to God for what you want, and it will be granted. The widow tells him that the teacher is talking about spiritual things. He still disagrees, and is sent to his room. Even though his intentions are the best, he still comes up short; but he keeps on trying. Finally, Huckleberry Finn thinks life is precious and shouldn't be wasted. This is the most important lesson he can teach today's young people. He and Jim find themselves in a situation as they are floating down the Mississippi River in the fog.

Abortion as an illegal act and an act of murder through the scientific and biblical view of life Essay

Introduction Two handfuls of flour go flying into the empty mixing bowl on the freshly washed counter.   Three eggs crack against the lip of the bowl, the yoke flowing out.   A pinch of salt lands on the freshly cracked eggs as olive oil oozes out of the bottle.   The bowl is placed under the running fossett for a few seconds to complete the mixture.   Strong hands knead the ingredients into a moist dough ball.   After a few hours, the dough is taken out of the refrigerator, ready to be turned into macaroni (pasta).   The dough is put through the hand crank dough roller to be flattened.   Then, it is formed into long strings and laid to dry on the comforter in the spare bedroom.   I have witnessed my grandma carry out this process of making delicious, fresh homemade pasta many of times to prepare for Sunday dinner.   This simple but important ritual has been passed down through my family starting from my great grandma to my sisters and myself. One of the groups I am part of is Italian Americans, or more specifically 4th generation millennial Italian Americans.   While there is a vast amount of research on the ethnic identity of Italian Americans who immigrated to the United States during the early to 1900s, the research regarding the ethnic identity of 4th generation Italian Americans is scarce.   Ethnic identity is different from personal identity because it focuses on the way a member of an ethnic group is influenced by that ethnic group.   For Italian Americans, food plays a significant role in their ethnic identity.   Many Italian Americans that grew up in the early to mid-1900s never went to restaurants to eat, so the only food they knew was Italian food (M. Litwin, personal communication, November 10, 2015).   Today, as a 4th generation Italian American that is fully assimilated to the American society, homemade Italian food is still a significant part of my life.   Lorraine Caputo (2011) describes how he r daughter went to Japan, but when she came back, she asked Caputo to make her some of her favorite Italian dishes (p. 194).   This embodies the Italian Americans after being fully assimilated to the American society.   I love the American culture, but I always come back to my Italian roots. The Italian Americans who immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s lived in communities dominated by Italian Americans.   These communities became very close and were a dominant element in the Italian American culture.   The tight-knit Italian community along with the importance of Italian food played major roles in the ethnic identity of the 1st and 2nd generation Italian Americans that immigrated to the Unites States in the early 1900s.   However, Michael Buonanno (2011) believes that the identity of Italian Americans today is still evolving, but instead of focusing on the â€Å"old times† we should be focusing on the ways in which Italian Americans are creating their ethnic identities today (p. 9).   Andrea Dottolo (2015) and Lorraine Caputo (2011) have written autoethnographies about Italian Americans and how they themselves retain their ethnic identity after being fully assimilated to the American society. However, these authors are significantly older t han I am.   There have not been any autoethnographies about how 4th generation millennials retain their ethnic identity in the American society.   In this autoethnography, I myself am a 4th generation millennial Italian American, and I can shed some light on how we foster our ethnic identities.   I foster my own ethnic identity through my close-knit family that allows me to have a strong foundation.   Additionally, Italian food has given me the opportunity to not only embrace my culture, but also to experience a part of my ancestor’s lives.   Lastly, telling the stories of my ancestors has become a substantial piece of my ethnic identity because it allows my family to keep our history alive. Literature Review    Food Food has always been a significant part of the ethnic identities of Italian Americans.   Andrea Dottolo (2015) analyzes how food represents â€Å"family, morality, culture and home† to Italian American women (p. 373).   Additionally, as Caputo (2011) says, â€Å"Italian Americans are either revered for the sensual art they have made of food or objectified as the Hollywood gangster† (p. 182).   Both Dottolo and Caputo are focused only on how the aspect of food affects women.   However, Italian food has played a significant role in my life as well as the women in my family.   In the past, women have usually done more of the cooking than males.   However, in today’s society, women work in the workplace just as much if not more than men do.   The stereotype that only women do the cooking is dying and would be considered a sexist comment today.   I usually help my mom make dinner and have learned the recipes that have been passed down in our family for generations such as making homemade pizza. Community Italian Americans who emigrated from Italy to the United States in the early 1900s usually in communities like Boston’s North End that were comprised of almost 100% Italians (Smajda & Gerteis 2012 p. 626).   Many of the Italians who came over, like my great grandma, did not speak English and it was hard for them to make friends outside of the community (Litwin).   Because many of the Italians could not relate to anyone outside the community, the community became a very strong in-group.   But, Allport (1954) says that every in group also must have an out-group (p. 40).   The out-group for the Italian Americans was the immigrants who had come before them, primarily the Irish.   My grandma told me that when her parents came over from Italy, the Irish looked down upon the Italians and made them take the dirty, grimy jobs such as working in the coal mines (M. Litwin, personal communication, November 10, 2015).   The well-paying jobs were hard to come by for the Italians in part due to the discrimination they faced mainly by the Irish.   Part of this discrimination may have come from the stereotype that Italian Americans were gangsters.   Cavallero (2004) examines how the American media in the 1900s created the stereotype of the Italian mobster (p. 50-63).   Additionally, Cavallero (2004) says that the 1930s were a time of constant â€Å"denigration† for the Italian Americans (p. 52).   This discrimination further bonded Italian communities together. In Smajda and Gerteis’s (2012 p. 3-9) article â€Å"Ethnic Community and Ethnic Boundaries in a ‘Sauce-Scented Neighborhood’†, the ethnic communities essentially prevented assimilation because the people in the communities were so closely knit socially.   These communities came to be known as â€Å"Little Italies†.   The â€Å"Little Italies† were densely populated and vibrant communities.   However, as time progressed, many of the Italian A mericans began to move to the suburbs and the â€Å"Little Italies† began to shrink.   Buonanno (2011) says that the â€Å"Little Italies† that exist today are nowhere near as lively and upbeat as the ones that existed 50 years ago (p. 9).   Today, few of these communities still exist and the ones that do are much smaller than the ones that existed in the early 1900s.   I live about 30 minutes outside of Baltimore, where there is still a â€Å"Little Italy† today.   Although it is still a lively community with many authentic Italian restaurants and shops, it is nothing like the â€Å"Little Italies† of the past.   The close-knit community that was at the heart of the old â€Å"Little Italies† has disappeared from the â€Å"Little Italy† in Baltimore and many of the residents are not Italian. Effects of Assimilation The diaspora of the Italian Americans has significantly changed the dynamic of what Italian Americans consider their ethnic identity.   Growing up in America in a community that was not dominated by Italians, meant that my only exposure to my Italian heritage came through my family.   The schools I attended and the friends I made were mostly non-Italian.   For this reason, instead of thinking of myself as Italian first, as my ancestors once did, I think of myself as American first and Italian second.   An â€Å"American Italian† you might say.   This is due to the assimilation of the Italian Americans that took place as they moved out of their tightly-knit communities that prevented assimilation.   So the strong sense of community that the Italian Americans felt had slowly disappeared.   This caused Italian Americans to hold onto their ethnic culture in different ways.   As the dynamics of a group change, the group adapts, but still holds onto its roots.   As Allport (1954) says in-groups can evolve and adapt in order to reflect the values of the members of the in-group (p. 37).   In-groups are not static because the beliefs and values of the people in those in-groups are not static.   In the case of 4th generation millennial Italian Americans, we are assimilated to the American society and have never been part of the communities that were once so pivotal to our ancestors.   Instead, we hold onto our ethnic roots through the closeness of family, family traditions, food, and the memories of the â€Å"old days† passed down from our grandparents. Autoethnography Christine Walley (2013) says that autoethnographies take a look into family member’s lives while in the context of a larger conversation and attempt to apply their lives to society as a whole (p.15).   Autoethnographies attempt to fill a gap in the research that has been done on a particular in-group through the use of scholarly research but also personal experience in that in-group.   Gordon Allport (1954) defines an in-group as a group of people who use the term â€Å"we† to signify the same thing (p. 31).   My most prominent in-group is Italian Americans, or more specifically 4th generation Italian Americans.   Many autoethnographies would split this section into multiple sub sections, however, I feel that family, food, tradition, and memories are too intertwined for me to split them up. In my family and many other Italian families, family comes first.   Whether it’s missing a party with my friends to go to family dinner at my grandma’s house or taking an hour out of my busy schedule to sit down and have dinner with my family every night or going to see my cousin’s play, family always comes first.   At least once every month, my immediate family, my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandparents would all gather together at one of our houses (usually my grandma’s) to celebrate basically anything that we could.   Sometimes we would just get together for no reason if we hadn’t seen everyone in a couple weeks.   These celebrations have given me some of my fondest memories of my childhood, but also shaped the person I have become.   Having such a close family has given me a self-confidence that I could not have achieved without my family.   I know that I have a strong foundation and that I can always count on my family.   Thi s has helped me to be confident in myself and take challenges head on.   For example, I would never have been able to achieve a 4.0 in high school all four years without my family supporting me.   However, having a family as close as mine does have some drawbacks.   For example, my social life was significantly affected.   While most of my friends were hanging out on a Friday or Saturday night, I was with my family.   Additionally, your privacy is essentially non-existent when you have such a close family.   Whenever something happened in our family, large or small, it would spread through the family rapidly whether you wanted it to or not.   For example, when I got a new girlfriend, I got calls from all of my relatives within a couple hours of telling just one of my family members.   However, one of the best things from when we do get together was that we always have extremely excessive amounts of food no matter what the occasion.   I remember one time at my grand ma’s house where it was just my immediate family and my grandparents.   My grandma made enough pasta and gravy (that’s what pasta sauce is called in my family) to feed about 20 people.   Many non-Italians have never heard of pasta sauce being called gravy before, but in Italian families, especially in the â€Å"old times†, it is always called gravy.   My grandma grew up in an Italian community in Bayonne, New Jersey.   Both of her parents were first generation Italian Americans who met in the United States (M. Litwin, personal communication, November 10, 2015).   In the community that they lived in, as well as in the majority of Italian American communities, pasta and red sauce or meat sauce was always called macaroni and gravy (M. Litwin, personal communication, November 10, 2015).   This tradition has been passed down in my family for generations and I will pass it down to my children as well.   As you can see, all self-respecting 4th generation Italian Americans such as myself will call the sauce you put on your pasta (or macaroni as my grandma calls it) gravy. Another tradition that my family has is that we host the Christmas party every year.   The preparation for the party starts about a week before Christmas.   The first couple days are spent cleaning up the house and setting everything up for the party.   The rest of the time is spent cooking.   The house smells of freshly made bread, gravy simmering on the stove, the ham cooking in the oven, and much more.   We usually have to make enough food to feed about 100 people because we invite all of my extended family including 2nd cousins and family friends.   On Christmas day, my grandparents are always the first ones to show up.   My sisters and I help them bring in a carful of homemade food ranging from my grandma’s famous brownies, chocolate chip cookies, a couple cakes, biscotti (an Italian cookie), meatballs, my grandfather’s homemade rolls, and a couple bowls of fresh fruit.   Loraine Caputo (2011) describes how cooking became a way for her grandmothers and her to embrace their ethnic heritage.   She says that she spends hours in the kitchen preparing meals and perfecting her dishes (p. 194).   Both of my grandmother’s along with my mom have also chosen to spend so much time cooking because they feel it is part of their ethnic identity.   Caputo’s daughter says it best when she tells her mom that â€Å"We are Italian† when Caputo complains about spending so much time in the kitchen (2011 p. 194).   However, I have learned to cook the traditional Italian meals in addition to just my sisters as it was when my grandma grew up.   Learning to cook my family’s meals has allowed me to share in a substantial part of my ancestor’s lives, something that I would never have without Italian food. As time passes, the house fills up, making it hard to move through the rooms.   The upstairs is filled with laughter, conversation, and of course story-telling.   My grandfather will retell the stories growing up in a row house with little money.   His father fixed shoes for a living in an Italian community much like in the North End.   As Smajda and Gerteis (2012 p. 628) say, â€Å"You used to be able to have your shoes fixed here but that’s not so easy anymore†.   Next, he’ll talk about how he started his own paper route when he was 12 years old to help his parents pay the bills.   These stories remind us of our roots and keep the family history alive.   My grandma will tell us the stories about her parents that just like me, she had heard hundreds of times (M. Litwin, personal communication, November 10, 2015).   I will pass these same stories down to my kids along with my own stories.   Additionally, these stories have taught me that you nev er can tell when you are in the â€Å"good old days† (or the memories that you remember for the rest of your life) until you leave them.   This has had a significant impact on my life because I try to make the most of every day, whether that means getting up early to work out instead of sleeping in or making sure that I do my absolute best on a paper. â€Å"Dinner!!!!† My dad calls down in the basement and all of the kids rush up the stairs to get in line.   The aroma coming from the kitchen is floating throughout the house and everyone gets in line to taste the delicious food that my mom, along with our help, has been preparing for days.   My mom’s chicken parmesan is front and center next to my dad’s delicious mash potatoes.   There’s pasta and meatballs, sausage and onion, pork and sourcrout, ham, mac and cheese, corn, my grandpa’s homemade rolls, lasagna, bread from Chef Palino’s (a small mom and pop Italian restaurant), and much more.   Many people make the mistake of filling up too much on dinner because there’s so much food.   Their mistake always proves costly when they see the dessert table.   We usually have more dessert than we do food for dinner.   There’s my grandma’s brownies, chocolate chip cookies, candy cane cookies, biscotti, three or fo ur cakes, tandy cakes (a thin vanilla cake topped with a layer of peanut butter and a layer of chocolate), thumbprints (a tradition of my grandma’s), fresh fruit, and any other desserts that our guests bring.   Sitting around the table for dinner and dessert embodies my ethnic identity as an Italian American.   All of my family is there laughing, telling stories of the â€Å"old days†, continuing our family traditions, and making new memories that we can add to the wealth of memories that my family already has. Conclusion 4th generation millennial Italian Americans today still embrace their ethnic identities, but the ways in which they do so have evolved.   The ethnic communities that existed in the time of our great grandparents and grandparents are almost non-existent today.   The assimilation that took place after the Italian Americans left the â€Å"Little Italies†, transformed the way that Italian Americans look at their ethnic identities.   There was no longer a strong community to fall back on, but instead a tight family to fall back on.   Today, close family, Italian food, traditions, and the memories of their ancestors allow Italian Americans like myself to embrace their roots, but also to keep adding to the history of Italian Americans.   How will my kids and my kids’ kids embrace their ethnic identity?   I don’t know for sure.   I hope they will continue to love Italian food like I do, raise their families to be as close as mine is today, and continue to t ell the stories of our family.   Most likely, they will evolve my definition of what I believe to be my ethnic identity into their own version.    References Allport, G. W. (1954). Formation of In-Groups. The Nature of Prejudice (pp. 29-47). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Buonanno, M. (2011, fall). Ethnicity, Nostalgia, Affirmation: The Rhetoric of Italian American Identity. Voices, 37(3/4), 3-9. Caputo, L. (2011, July 1). Gender, Food, and Loss. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 12(3), 179-195. Cavallero, J. J. (2004, summer). Gangsters, Fessos, Tricksters, AND Sopranos: The Historical Roots of Italian American Stereotype Anxiety. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 32(2), 50-63. Dottolo, A. L. (2015 August 31). Slicing White Bre(a)d: Racial Identities, Recipes, and Italian-American Women. Women & Therapy, 38(3-4), 356-376. Gerteis, J. & Smaja J. (2012, September). Ethnic Community and Ethnic Boundaries in a â€Å"Sauce-Scented Neighborhood†. Sociological Forum, 27(3), 617-640.   

Cameras on Every Corner

The city of Detroit should not have a camera on every corner. Yes we need to do something to make or city safer. Yes there are many unsolved crimes but the people in Detroit needs privacy. We should not have a camera watching every move we make. No matter where we go once we are outside our homes we will be getting watched. How much privacy do they expect us to give up for safety? If I'm alone in the park, I want to know that I'm actually alone. Video cameras however don't really reduce crime. They do act as somewhat as a deterrent and they certainly help identify the perpetrators, but overall it doesn't really do much. We know this through studies from London, England where nearly every street corner has a video camera. Overall, the crime rate of London has not really dipped at all since these were placed. Having a spy camera on every corner makes some people feel more at ease. The picture may be worth a thousand words, but it doesn't tell the whole story. A spy camera in the school bus may show the bus driver not doing anything during a brawl. It looks bad. What is doesn't show is that the traffic did not offer the driver a chance to pull over and that she was trying to contain the situation as best she could with her words. The picture won’t tell everything. Having these cameras could cause another crime. Someone a night guard, employee, hacker, etc. could sell the surveillance tapes to use them to determine a pattern of behavior to plan another crime. Also our city is in a lot of debt. So why would we spend millions of dollars on all those cameras? That money could be paying off debts. Buying all those cameras would put us in more debts which would cost people there jobs. Without our jobs people won’t be able to get the things they need to live. The people will need some money for our own common good. The city of Detroit should not have cameras on every corner.

Monsanto Balances Environmental & Ethical Factors

Kroger enables compliance auditing using role assignments and role history. They must keep check on efficiency for provisioning of new users, streamlines the process of changing a user's role. Saving time and cost. Kroger roles might Include some of the same roles as a lot of other companies. They also have certain guide lines to follow, and a role is a representation of a set of access right to resources/data that corresponds to duties associated with a business function. Kroger roles are desirable to their organization.Like with any organization, to create an enterprise role based access control Infrastructure, organizations often find that Initial role creation is a major barrier. Even In small and medium sized companies, the numbers of accounts, systems, locations, lines of business, and other attributes to map Into roles is daunting. Lacking a centralized view, many organizations start from the bottom up by dumping access data from multiple systems into databases and manually co rrelating user by user basis. This is how Kroger organization measure efficiency and effectiveness.Kroger know how to treat the knowledge component of business activities as an explicit concern of business reflected in strategy, policy and practice at all levels of the organization. It makes a direct connection between an organization's intellectual assets-both explicit and positive business results. Kroger management often encompasses identifying and mapping intellectual assets within the organization, generating new knowledge for competitive advantage within the organization, making vast amounts of corporate information accessible, sharing of best practices, and technology that enables all of the above including groupware and Intranets.There are several business management strategies such as Change AT management, Best practices, RISK Management, Benchmarking. I newer Is a common thread among these and many other recent business strategies, recognition that information and knowledg e are corporate assets and that business need strategies, policies, and tools to manage those assets. The need to manage seems obvious and concussions of intellectual capital have proliferated, but few businesses have acted on that understanding.Where companies have taken action and a growing number are doing so implementations of knowledge management may range from technology driven methods of accessing, controlling, and delivering information to massive efforts to change corporate culture. Our company doors are always open to different opinions to different paths and methods, and even objectives. Some effects focus on enhancing creativity by creating new value to our customers. The specific ND general forces in the global environment of this organization were brought up in one of our Monthly meetings about the global change.Someone asked, â€Å"Why does a major grocery store chain need a comprehensive policy addressing climate change? † The answer was they don't, one of the nation's oldest and largest grocery firms Kroger Inc. Based in Cincinnati, OH rejected a shareholder proposal which called for the company to develop a comprehensive policy addressing climate change. If you haven't noticed Wall-Mart is starting to sell a lot of â€Å"Green foods†. Problem is that the costs are on the average higher than traditional foods.That is pretty much typical across the entire economy. It is called greenmailing, or environmental entrepreneurs. They slap a green label on it and Jack up the price because in many cases the ones who feel the most environment guilt and think they can make a difference simply by spending money on the right thing. I can assure you that the global environment has not affected Kroger like some think. According to our Job orders we have not missed a beat on our sales.