Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing - Essay Example This paper intends to examine a favorable portfolio for a 25-year old, planning to invest $100,000 in both mutual funds and stocks. The study seeks to roll portfolio that considers investments with high-risk tolerance. The portfolio will include three stocks, three mutual bonds and 2ETFs. As point of departure investment strategy is fundamental in meeting the anticipated goals. For instance, in this study, the portfolio attributed to high risk is adopted because the young investor is aggressive. This implies that, the more risk born, the more aggressive the portfolio (David, 112). The aspect of aggressiveness of a portfolio versus the extent of risk to be born, explains the aggressive portfolio to be considered in this study. The investor should embrace the aggressive type of portfolio. An aggressive portfolio devotes a bigger portion to equities and relatively less portions to bonds and other fixed income securities. In this study, an aggressive investment portfolio is considered. F or purposes of in- depth understanding, examine the following pie chart indicating, the approximated percentages of investments in each section (Mark, 45). This portfolio intends to invest in equities, treasury fund, bond funds and cash equivalents. The Equities take a large share because of the aggressive nature of the investor and this is attributed to high-risk investments (David, 112). To achieve the designated portfolio, the investor should embark on strategies to ensure the right asset allocation. The capital should be apportioned between the appropriate asset groups. For instance in our case the $100,000 should be apportioned as follows Investment type % Amount ($) Mutual funds 46 46,000 Stock fund 43 43,000 Cash and equivalents 11 11,000 Mutual funds From the definition, aggressive growth is a mutual fund investment goal that aims at high capital gain potential growth stocks. These are stocks of companies, which are anticipated to grow at a rate faster relative to the genera l stock market. In essence, the aggressive investor should bear in mind that this type of portfolio requires growth investment strategy because of the anticipated higher volatility, which is measured by beta. Before investing in an aggressive mutual fund, first ascertain that, the fund is real aggressive growth fund by looking at the stated objective within the mutual fund prospectus or find it from the mutual fund family website (Harry, 45). This study establishes that to pick the intended aggressive mutual fund, check on the market value of beta, which is 1.00, and consequently ascertain that, the beta value of an aggressive mutual fund is slightly above 1.00. Conversely, consider the taxes aspects. The preeminent performing mutual funds, particularly over long periods such as 10 years and more are habitually funds with low tax costs. The aggressive investor needs to look for the most tax-efficient funds (Harry, 45). This is because, previous studies on the correlation between low cost taxes, low turnover ratio and low expenditure ratio indicate highly positive. This implies that this portfolio investment is probable of creating immense gains over the period of 35 years. The young investor is advised to invest 46% of his capital in the following categories of mutual funds. As a smart investor, he considers an aggressive fund, which invests in mid-cap stocks or small-cap stocks. The reasoning behind this is that, the likelihood of already having a large-cap stock fund in the investment portfolio is high, consequently no need for more. The Fidelity Capital Appreciation (FDCAX) is the best aggressive growth mutual fund strategy to be considered in this investment portfo

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Example for Free

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Nathan the Wise is a call for reexamination among those who consider themselves as having the monopoly on truth while the rest of the world are supposedly living their lives based on false creeds. The misunderstanding among peoples or nations is rooted in this perception. Gotthold Lessing’s play sought to highlight the innate prejudices of his characters’ religious affiliations and subsequently provided a pithy reminder in the form of an irony. â€Å"Ah! Indeed you do not know how closer I shall cling to you henceforth. We must, we will be friends. Despise my nation. We did not choose a nation for ourselves. Are we our nations? What’s a nation then? Were Jews and Christians such, e’er they were men? And have I found in thee one more, to whom It is enough to be a man? (Lessing)† This was Nathan’s response to The Templar on the latter’s perception of Jews. The irony is on the second to the last sentence which implores humanity to be humane or kind to others regardless of what one believed in. Lessing is contrasting people living their lives based on religions and men who are humane kind to their fellowmen. The irony is in our supposition that our beliefs save us, guide our conduct, and teach us to be human. Yet the same precepts tend to make us biased and often cruel to those outside our fold. Indeed everyone is certain that his belief is the truth among many â€Å"lies†. Sometimes it’s this self-righteousness that makes us unjust. A paradox as pointed out by Lessing. It is ironic that a play written more than two centuries still holds true today. IRONY IN TARTUFFE Moliere parodied religiosity through his play, Tartuffe. Moliere created a very witty play of witless characters-with the exception of the servant girl, Dorine and Cleante. The irreverence of the play could explain away its banning during its time. Hypocrisy is personified by Tartuffe as credulity is personified by Orgon. There are gems of literary passages in the play that demonstrate irony. One particular instance was the interjection of Dorine to Orgon who was convincing his surprised mother about Tartuffe’s masquerade. This passage in Act V, Scene V is worth considering: â€Å"You are quite wrong, you have no right to blame him; This action only proves his good intentions. Love for his neighbour makes his virtue perfect; And knowing money is a root of evil, In Christian charity, hed take away Whatever things may hinder your salvation. † Orgon and his family are about to be evicted from their own home by the unscrupulous Tartuffe when this particular dialogue was uttered. He was already at a loss of how Tartuffe could have done this to him. The irrepressible Dorine could not resist jabbing him verbally. To be deprived of one’s property is to be given the chance to be eternally saved since the thing that causes sin is taken away from you. The person robbing you then is in fact doing you a favor and the robbery itself is a result of good intentions. This may be a tongue-in-cheek line but the irony is apparent in the situation where the quest for religiosity has led almost to Orgon’s total material depravity. IRONY IN THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES â€Å"If any other motives than honour and virtue were necessary to induce you to persist in that character you have hitherto worthily sustained; I would tell you, that a reverse of conduct will disturb my happiness in a better world. But should (which Heaven forbid! ) this heavy misfortune be inevitable, I shall welcome death with joy, since it prevents my being witness to your disgrace (Lafayette). † These last words in the deathbed of Madame de Chartres were part of a warning to her daughter of the pitfalls of falling in love while married. Rather than prevent the Princess of Cleves falling in love, it further arouses in her the need to experience what is romantic and for her which obviously she has not found from the Prince of Cleves. Aside from this irony of a warning prodding one to fall into the pit of forbidden love, Madame de Chartres or Madame Lafayette treated us with verbal irony in the last two sentences. She indicated that if the Princess will stray from the marriage path, she will be unhappy. Still she added she might be happy in death since it will prevent her from witnessing that which would bring disgrace to her daughter. This strong admonition is quite consistent with how society looks upon extramarital dalliances. The Princess was only guilty of mental infidelity. Ironically, it was not only her who suffered but her mother, who died of a broken heart, perhaps from a daughter who ignored her; husband, who died of jealousy; the Duc Nemours who suffered emotionally; and finally the Princess herself who entered a convent. The deathbed warning is ironically not helping the Princess. It destroyed everybody. Bibliography Lessing, G. E. (n. d. ). Nathan the Wise. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from PDF Books: www. pdfbooks. co. za Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. The Project Gutenberg EBook Tartuffe. Project Gutenberg, October 26, 2008 (Posting Date). Lafayette, M. The Princess of Cleves. London: J. WILKIE, No. 71, St. PAUL’S.

Role of Silicosis in Silica-associated Lung Cancer

Role of Silicosis in Silica-associated Lung Cancer Background Crystalline silica is a mineral compound composed of silicon and oxygen atoms that are arranged in a repeating pattern. Common polymorphs of crystalline silica include quartz, cristobalite and tridymite, with quartz as the most common form. Human exposure to crystalline silica is most often from occupational tasks that involve disturbance, use or manufacture of quartz-containing materials, including stonecutting, mining, quarrying and ceramics.[i],[ii] In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded there was sufficient evidence for carcinogenicity in humans with occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the quartz or cristobalite form.[iii] The 1997 IARC Monograph noted the greater part of epidemiologic studies reported the presence of silicosis (referring to the chronic or also known as classic type), a fibrotic disease of the lung that is associated with high exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust, increases excess lung cancer risk among workers exposed to silica. However, it remains unclear whether lung cancer development among these workers is due to the presence of silicosis or due to exposure to significant silica levels with silicosis being a confounder rather than a prerequisite. A recent literature review of relevant epidemiological studies confirmed that there remains uncertainty about excess lung cancer risk exclusively among silicotic workers due to the shortcomings of the design of existing epidemiological studies, including the inaccurate measurement of silica exposure, inadequate characterization of the exposure-response relationship between crystalline silica and lung cancer, inadequate control for potential confounders such as known lung cancer risk factors and the presence of other carcinogenic agents in the workplace, and the absence of comparing the lung cancer risk between silicotics and non-silicotic (do not have silicosis) workers as controls. The proposed research study attempts to clari fy the role of silicosis in silica-associated lung cancer development by addressing some of the identified study design challenges. Significance Determining if silicosis is a prerequisite for lung cancer development has important public health implications for setting occupational standard for silica exposure, implementing workplace medical surveillance programs and determining causation in medico-legal cases. For example, if it is determined that lung cancer risk increases among workers exposed to silica only in the presence of silicosis, then efforts should be focused on reducing high silica exposure to a level that reduces the risk of developing silicosis. However, if it is determined that silicosis is not a prerequisite, then lung cancer development can occur at silica exposures lower than those likely to cause silicosis, which makes prevention of exposure to high silica levels not adequate for worker protection. Specific Aims To better understand the role of silicosis in the pathway leading to lung cancer from occupational exposure to silica, the specific aims of the study are: To examine the association between occupational exposure to crystalline silica and lung cancer risk in the presence and absence of silicosis and To measure the exposure-response relationship between crystalline silica and lung cancer risk with risk estimates adjusted by silicosis Procedures/Methods Study Design and Population A nested case-control study design will be utilized to analyze the association between occupational exposure to crystalline silica and lung cancer risk among silicotic and non-silicotic workers from an original cohort mortality study. The original study was conducted among workers from the Vermont granite industry.[iv] They were identified from a group insurance program enrollment between January 1st, 1947 and December 31st, 1998, Vermont Department of Health Division of Industrial Hygiene (DIH) records, pension records, data from a study of workers employed from 1979 to 1987 and data from a study of retired workers.iv The data from the multiple sources were linked to avoid duplications. As a result, the cohort consisted of 7052 Vermont granite industry workers. The mortality follow-up of the cohort identified 359 observed lung cancer deaths. iv Age at death, smoking history and silica dust exposure, medical history of obstructive lung disease and demographics will be compared betwee n the cases and controls. Workers that did not have sufficient smoking information, work histories and available chest radiographs were excluded. The exposure of interest will be the cumulative exposure to silica dust. The study population is unique in that the Vermont granite industry has a long history of silica exposure, medical surveillance and a general exclusion of occupational exposures associated with lung cancer. Case Ascertainment Lung cancer cases will be ascertained from the original Vermont granite industry cohort study. The vital status and cause of data was ascertained from the US National Death Index (NDI), US Social Security Administration vital status records and the Vermont State Records Office. The cause of death was coded to the 9th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Control Ascertainment Controls will also be ascertained from the original cohort study. The controls are defined as workers who did not die from lung cancer. Lung cancer cases will be matched to 2 controls by age. Silicosis Ascertainment The presence of silicosis among the cases and controls would be obtained from compensation and medical surveillance records. Silica Exposure Measurement Cumulative exposure to respirable crystalline silica was measured using a job exposure matrix that utilized industrial hygiene measurements. The cumulative exposures are categorized in quartiles. Sample Size Justification According to the sample size calculator (http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm), it is estimated that this study would need approximately 360 subjects are required in the study to obtain the confidence level of 95% with an interval of 5%, if we are selecting subjects from the 7052 Vermont granite industry workers cohort. We will strive to obtain 90 cases and 180 controls, based on the availability of sufficient smoking information, work histories and chest radiographs. Statistical Analysis Statistical analysis will be performed to calculate odds ratios to examine the association between lung cancer and total and each quartile of cumulative silica exposure in the presence and absence of silicosis. Odds ratios will be adjusted for smoking, obstructive lung disease and age as they are potential confounders. Odds ratios will be calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Study Strengths Strengths of the proposed study include: comparing the association of silica exposure and lung cancer in both silicotic and non-silicotic workers measuring the exposure-response relationship between silica and lung cancer risk, taking into account the presence and absence silicosis controlling for potential confounders of smoking and obstructive lung disease excluding potential confounders of other occupational exposures associated with lung cancer by studying the granite industry cohort conducting a nested case-control study is less expensive than a full cohort study since a comparably significant number of lung cancer cases have emerged Study Limitations Potential biases and study limitations are: Selection bias is a concern as silicotic workers are identified from compensation and medical surveillance records Silicotic workers may be diagnosed by different criteria, but resulting in non-differential misclassification Differential misclassification may result from categorizing the silica exposure in quartiles Silica exposure assessment may not be accurate if the job exposure matrix is methodologically sound Only studied one type of industry associated with silica exposure Non-diseased persons from whom the controls are selected may not be fully representative of the original cohort due to loss to follow-up or death References [i] International Labour Organization (ILO)/SafeWork Bookshelf (2006). ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety: Volume 1, Part I. Body: Chapter 10 Silicosis. Available at http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?dnd=170000102nh=0. [ii] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2002). OSHA Fact Sheet: Crystalline Silica Exposure Health Hazard Information [Electronic Version]. Available at http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/crystalline-factsheet.pdf [iii] WHO/IARC (1997). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Silica, Some Silicates, Coal Dust and para-Aramid Fibrils [Electronic Version]. Volume 68; available at http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol68/mono68.pdf. [iv] Vacek PM, Verma DK, Graham WG, Callas PW, Gibbs GW (2010). Mortality in Vermont granite workers and its association with silica exposure. Occup Environ Med, 68(5), 312-318.

The Meansure of a Man (A Closer Look at Five Great Men) :: essays research papers

How does one determine the measure of a man? His accomplishments? His ancestry? His financial worth? Or do we look deep into the heart and soul of that man and determine the weight of his values, his dreams and what he has stood for in the grand scheme of things?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We will appraise the lives of six important figures in the shaping of our country. With this evaluation, we risk becoming critic and judge, but in an attempt to go beyond those things both tangible and measurable, perhaps we will be forgiven.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Jefferson called him, â€Å"†¦a wise, a good and a great man.† Patrick Henry, when asked who he thought was the greatest man in Congress, replied, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is the greatest man on that floor.† Despite his height and noble bearing, Washington was a quiet man who pondered long before decisions. Even with little schooling, he was an avid student of math and science. At a very early age, he was aware and respectful of decorum and manners. At 13, he copied the one hundred and ten â€Å"Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversations,† and lived by them. His mathematical and science skills coupled with attributes of respect, responsibility and strength secured him a position as a surveyor in Virginia at only sixteen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These same qualities, planted as deeply into his soul as the trees on his father’s farm, are what gave him the courage and perseverance to plunge headlong into a life filled with some of the greatest achievements in American history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At 20 years old, Washington was plodding through one thousand miles of snow, swimming ice-clogged rivers and dodging the bullets of angry Native Americans only to carry a warning message to an unwelcoming French commander in the Ohio River Valley. He was shot once, and walked one hundred miles when his horse got too weak to go on. But he finished the task laid before him. In this first mission, courage and perseverance were metals he earned to wear on his heart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two years later he commanded the British army in the French and Indian War. As Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia forces, he captured twenty-one French and killed ten, loosing only one man in the process. In this, he added two metals, strength and wisdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military battles dominated Washington’s years, and the battles both won and lost created the warp and weft of the fabric of his life.

Critically evaluate piaget’s theory of cognitive development Essay

Piaget has been described as the father of cognitive psychology (Shaffer, 1988) and his stage theory as the foundation of developmental cognitive psychology (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002). It is not possible to describe Piaget’s empirical findings and theory in only 1,500 words. Instead, I will briefly review the theory’s scope, comprehensiveness, parsimony, applicability, heuristic value and methodological underpinning. I will then evaluate in more detail the theory’s utility in describing and explaining cognitive development. Historically, Piaget’s ontological approach was ground-breaking with its focus on the qualitative nature of cognition and its constructivist perspective. The theory itself is wide-scoped (universal), comprehensive (covering a broad spectrum of cognitive achievement) and elegantly coherent (from neonate to adult). It remains profoundly influential on cognitive psychology and continues to be widely applied in childcare and educational settings. Piaget’s theory is parsimonious in its commonality of approach to a broad range of complex phenomena with key interlinking concepts. Inevitably, such an ambitious theory has generated a wealth of research, some supporting, some supplementing, some extending and some disputing aspects of Piaget’s theory. Some of the weaker aspects of Piaget’s theory appear to arise from his ‘clinical method’ of using observational behavioural data to infer conclusions about children’s underlying cognitive competences. Longitudinal data, ideally suited to monitoring progression, was only recorded for his own three children. Certain of his techniques were insufficiently sensitive to identify the underlying causes of performance variations, especially with very young infants, where more recent habituation techniques have shown that Piaget considerably underestimated their understanding and ability (Bower, 1982, Baillargeon & DeVos, 1991). This may have led him to overlook other relevant explanations for varying levels of performance, eg limitations on memory capacity (Bryant & Trabasso, 1971, Kail, 1984, Diamond, 1985), motor-co-ordination (Mandler, 1990), availability of memory strategies (Siegler, 1991) and verbal understanding (Sternberg, 1985). However, Piaget’s clinical method, his flexible and ecologically valid approach did reveal original insights into children’s thinking, which a more standardised, ‘scientific’ approach may have overlooked entirely. Piaget’s theoretical framework describes the structure of cognitive development as a fixed sequence of four discontinuous and qualitatively different ‘periods’ (for ease of understanding, referred to as stages) of all children’s intelligence across domains, tasks and contexts. Invariance is a core feature of Piaget’s conceptual structure, in contrast with contemporary perspectives, which question rigid conceptual structures, eg post-modernism and chaos theory. Piaget emphasised the invariance of progression through stages, so that a child never regresses to thinking methods from an earlier stage of cognitive development. This is empirically unconvincing, eg, as an adult, I have easily switched from formal-operational to concrete-operational thinking when presented with flat-pack furniture and an incomprehensible set of instructions. Research (Beilin, 1971, Case, 1992) has also contradicted the assumption that within a given stage of development, children demonstrate only stage-appropriate levels of performance, eg 4-year-olds make the same mistakes as 1-year-olds on some hidden-object problems by looking at locations where they have found the object previously (Siegler, 1998). Structural, qualitative discontinuity between stages – a key feature in the theory’s description of cognitive development – is also questionable. Although much research has shown that children can do things at ages earlier than Piaget considered possible (Baillargeon, 1987, Mandler, 1998, Diamond, 1991), Piaget focussed on the sequence of progression from one stage to another rather than the respective ages of cognitive achievement. However, because cognitive achievements have often been shown to emerge earlier (and occasionally later if at all, eg certain formal operations) than Piaget’s stages indicate, exactly when these stages begin and end cannot be clearly established. This blurring of boundaries between stages, suggests a spiralling structure of gradual, continuous cognitive development rather  than a stepped structure of discontinuous stages. Piaget’s focus on competence as opposed to performance contributes to the difficulty of determining when one stage becomes qualitatively different from another. What we may be capable of doing optimally (competence) may often differ from what we do actually much of the time (performance) (Davidson & Sternberg, 1985). Even if we accept Piaget’s stages as distinguishing when competences are fully developed and functional not necessarily when they first appear (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002), there is still insufficient evidence that qualitative leaps in cognitive competence can be distinguished between one stage and another. Indeed, Piaget (1970) adjusted his position on the discontinuity of stages, acknowledging that transition from concrete-operational to formal-operational reasoning occurs gradually over a span of several years. Siegler (1998) suggests that catastrophe theory (a mathematical theory which examines sudden changes) explains both the continuous and discontinuous appearance of cognitive development. The forces that lead to the collapse of a bridge may build up over a period of years, however the bridge’s visible collapse appears as a sudden event. Analogously, a child may suddenly solve a problem that she could not solve the day before, but her progress may be due to experience and improved understanding acquired over preceding months. Thus cognitive development may be viewed both as a continuous process of small, imperceptible amendments or as a discontinuous shift from one state to another – depending on when and how closely viewpoints are taken. Bloom (2002) provides a similar argument in refutation of ‘spurts’ in word learning. Piaget initially argued that his stages are universal, ie that they apply to everyone irrespective of their individual experience. Recent research suggests that cultural practices are related to children’s proficiency on tasks (Rogoff, 1990). Piaget (1972) always acknowledged the impact of social and cultural contextual factors on cognitive development but came to revise his claim that his stages are universal, eg by recognising that achieving formal operations is dependent on exposure to the specific type of thinking  found in science classes and on individual motivation to undertake certain types of task. Piaget’s revised stance on universality and the discontinuity of stages also calls into question the theory’s implicit structural premise of cognitive development being domain-general. Piaget refers to stages as holistic structures, with coherent modes of thinking that apply across a broad range of tasks, ie are domain-general. However children do not appear to develop consistently and evenly across all cognitive tasks or even within specific types of cognitive functioning, eg conservation. Piaget explains unevenness of progression, eg, within the domain of conservation, mass is conserved much sooner than volume, by ‘horizontal decalage’, which occurs when problems that appear quite similar in the requirements of underlying knowledge actually differ in the complexity of schemata required. An alternative explanation for perceived unevenness in cognitive development is domain-specificity, ie that specific types of cognitive processing develop separately and a t differing rates from others. One example of domain-specificity for language vs number acquisition occurs in deaf infant’s symbolic-representational ability allowing them to learn American Sign Language as early as 6-7 months, while children’s symbolic-representational ability for number appears months later (Mandler, 1990, Meier & Newport, 1990). Subsequent research (Chomsky, 1986, Fodor, 1983, Chi, 1992 cited in Pine, 1999) has suggested domain-specificity for language, mathematics and logico-spatial reasoning involved in chess! Horizontal decalage is described, at best, as a peripheral element and, at worst, as undermining the theory’s holistic stage structure and domain-generality. To summarise the descriptive utility of Piaget’s theory, it certainly describes the general sequencing of children’s broad intellectual development, although stage-like discontinuity may be a reflection of perspective only. However, the theory appears less accurate in its description of cognitive development as universal, functionally invariant and domain-general. More recent research (Fischer, 1980, Flavell, 1985) suggests that cognitive development occurs gradually and sequentially within particular intellectual domains. Turning to the theory’s explanation of cognitive development, Piaget’s theory explains cognitive development as the result of physical maturation and two basic biological, invariant functions: organisation and adaptation (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002). Organisation is seen as the tendency to organise physical and psychological processes into purposeful, efficient systems. Adaptation occurs via equilibration, namely the seesaw-like balancing of (1) assimilation, ie how children transform incoming information to fit their existing modes of thinking (‘schemata’) and (2) accommodation, ie how children adapt their schemata in response to new experiences. Equilibration integrates physical maturation, experience with the environment and social influences (Miller, 2002). Whilst Piaget’s focus on the active constructivist mechanism of individual/environmental interaction has been highly influential, it does not provide a sufficient explanation of cognitive development. There is little explanation of the physical maturational aspects that are key to cognitive development, such as that provided by subsequent researchers on age-related neural processing improvements (Diamond,1991). More importantly, the processes of adaptation and organisation do not explain how a child’s logical ability is derived from interaction with the environment, eg there is no explanation of how sensorimotor activity is transformed into mental images which are in turn transformed into words. Crucially, Piaget’s theory does not provide any explanation of the mechanism of cognitive transition from one qualitative stage to another. Piaget’s explanation of cognitive development thus appears impoverished. It has been supplemented by social theory, which explicates the role of social interaction in the child’s development (Vygotsky, 1934/1978) and is supported by research into the innate social characteristics of young infants (Meltzoff & Moore, 1994 amongst others cited in Smith, Cowie & Blades, 1998). Information-processing theorists (Case, 1985,) have also explained the contribution of specific areas of cognitive development, such as memory and attention. Other theorists (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992) have  incorporated a combination of approaches into a more holistic explanation of cognitive development. In conclusion, Piaget’s theory appears only broadly accurate in its description of cognitive development. Its explanation of cognitive development is inadequate; only acknowledging but not fully examining the role of social, emotional and contextual factors, underestimating the existence of innate cognitive abilities (Flavell, Miller & Miller, 1993), and ignoring the complex role of language in cognitive development. Nonetheless, Siegler (1998) describes Piaget’s work as ‘a testimony to how much one person can do’. The theory’s heuristic power is undeniable: recent studies of cognitive development have focussed on previously unsuspected cognitive strengths in children and on a broader range of children’s thinking than that investigated by Piaget (Kohlberg, 1984). The theory’s longevity is certainly warranted for its originality and inspiration to others. According to Piaget â€Å"the principal goal of education is to create adults who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done – who are creative, inventive, discoverers† (Piaget, 1977 cited in Shaffer, 1998). By this standard, Piaget and his theory of cognitive development must be judged a success for current cognitive psychology. References Baillargeon, R. (1987). Object permanence in 31/2- and 41/2-month old infants. Developmental Psychology, 23, 655-664 Baillargeon, R. & DeVos, J. (1991). Object permanence in young infants: Further evidence. Child Development, 62, 1227-1246 Beilin, H. (1971). Developmental stages and developmental processes. In D.R. Green, M.P. Ford & G.B. Flamer (Eds.) Measurement and Piaget. (pp 172-196) New York:McGraw-Hill Bloom, P. (2002). How children learn the meaning of words. New York: Oxford University Press Bower, T.G.R. (1982 ). Development in Infancy 2nd Ed. San Francisco: WH Freeman Bryant, P.E. & Trabasso, T. (1971). Transitive inferences and memory in young children. Nature, 232, 456-458 Case, R. (1985). Intellectual Development: Birth to adulthood. Orlando, Fl: Academic Press. Case, R. (1992). The mind’s staircase: Exploring the conceptual underpinnings of children’s thought and knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Chi, M.T.H. (1992). Conceptual change within and across ontological categories: Examples from learning and discovery in science. In R.Giere (Ed.) Cognitive Models of Science: Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science. Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of language: Its nature, origins and use. New York: Praeger Cole, M. & Cole, S.R. (2001). The Development of Children (4th Ed.). New York : Worth Publishers Davidson, J.E. & Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Competence and performance in intellectual development. In E. Neimark, R deLisi & J.H. Newman (Eds.), Moderators of competence (pp 43-76) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Diamond, A. (1985). Development of the ability to use recall to guide action, as indicated by infants; performance on AB. Child Development, 56, 868-883 Diamond, A. (1991). Frontal lobe involvement in cognitive changes during the first year of life. In K.R. Gibson & A.C. Petersen (Eds.) Brain maturation and cognitive development: comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. New York:Aldine de Gruyter Fischer, K.W. (1980). A theory of cognitive development: the control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological Review, 87, 477-531 Flavell, J.H. (1985). Cognitive Development (2nd Ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Flavell, J.H., Miller, P.H. & Miller, S.A. (1993). Cognitive Development (3rd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Kail, R. (1984). The development of memory in children (2nd Ed.). New York:Freeman Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1992). Beyond Modulatiry: A developmental perspective on cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Precis accessed at http://bbsonline.org/Preprints/OldArchive/bbs.karmsmith.html Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development: The nature and validity of moral stages (Vol 2). New York: Harper & Row Lutz, D.J & Sternberg, R.J. (2002). Cognitive Development. In M.H. Bornstein & M.E. Lamb (Eds.) Developmental Psychology: An advanced textbook (4th Ed.). Mahuah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mandler, J.M. (1990). Recall of events by preverbal children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 608, 485-516 Mandler, J.M. (1998). Representation . In D. Kuhn & R.S. Siegler (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (5th Ed.): Vol 2: Cognition, perception and language. New York: Wiley Meier, R.P. & Newport, E.L. (1990). Out of the hands of babes: on a possible sign advantage in language acquisition. Language, 66, 1-23 Meltzoff, A.N. & Moore, M.K. (1994). Imitation, memory and the representation of persons. Infant Behaviour and development, 17, 83-99 Miller, P.H. (2002). Theories of Developmental Psychology (4th Ed.). New York:Worth Publishers Piaget, J. (1972). Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood. Human Development, 15, 1-12 Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget’s theory. In P.H. Mussen (Ed.) Carmichaels’ manual of child psychology (Vol 1). New York:Wiley Piaget, J. (1977). The role of action in the development of thinking. In W.F. Overton & J.M. Gallagher (Eds.) Knowledge and development (Vol 1). New York:Plenum Pine, K. (1999). Theories of Cognitive Development. In D. Meuer & S.W. Millar (Eds.) Exploring Developmental Psychology: From infancy to adolescence. London:Arnold Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking. New York:Oxford University Press Shaffer, D.R. (1988). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Siegler, R.S. (1991). Childrens’ thinking (2nd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Siegler, R.S, (1998). Children’s thinking (3rd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Smith, P.K., Cowie, H. & Blades, M. (1998). Understanding children’s development. Blackwell: Oxford Sternberg, R.J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press Vygotsky, L.S. (1934/1978). Thinking and speech. In T.N. Minick (Ed.) The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vol 1). Problems of general psychology. New York:Plenum Press

New Technology and How It Has Impacted Front Office Operations Essay

According to Bunduhn (2010), the hotel industry, in a worldwide scale, should meet the needs of their clients by adopting technology. In this fast paced world we currently live in. Technology is convenient, fast, and more economically wise to integrate into a system whose formula for success and their criteria for evaluation of good service is the comfort and convenience that the clients experienced bringing in more people, and ultimately more profit; a big plus to other important aspects of the hotel industry. Adopting technology is a big decision, especially when you are about to integrate it into a system that has been proven and tested from the humble beginning of the hotel industry to its current state infact, in spite of the time consuming, manual work that includes paper and pen, it has proven its worth all throughout its existence, some may even consider it safe, but there are ways to inject technology which provides convenience and comfort for the customers, while providing safety. This kind of decision is made by the front office because they are the ones who sort these things out. Front office functions may include room reservations of the guests, telephone ser-vices, and accounting, to name a few and we will be going into them one by one later in this pa-per as well as the benefits that each part can get out of technology. According to Sribd.com, hotels have what they call a guest cycle which includes the fol-lowing: (1) Pre-arrival Stage; (2) Arrival Stage; (3) Occupancy Stage and; (4) Departure stage. All of these stages can benefit from the integration of technology into the system of the hotel front office. During the first stage of the guests cycle, which is the stage where they go through all the possible hotels they are going to, selling a first impression and information, referrals, and various testaments are key to attracting potential clients to your service. One helpful tool in attracting potential guests into considering to stay at a hotel are the social networking sites. Social networking sites pop up today like weeds and it has many users all around the world. It is wise to utilize this kind of software into the system as part of the ad-vertising and sales department. This will be especially helpful in spreading information like wild-fire, and in social networking sites like Facebook, where everyone has access, it can be done, so it is vital to first create a page. Moreover, it also makes the manager’s job easier because if the information provided in the page is complete, or at least nearly complete, then there will be fewer questions asked by the guests upon inquiring for special requests; no more basic information needed. In addition, these types of social networking sites leave space for its users to leave com-ments that can be used to make testaments and comments about the place, and if provided good services, positive feedback will flood the page leaving a good impression on the people viewing your page. Good feedback resulting to more clients; more clients mean more income for your company. When the user has already decided, an application in the internet can immediately help in their reservation- convenience for both the customer and the management of the hotel. The sys-tem that handles these kinds of services such as plane seat and hotel room reservations is called the Global Distribution System or also known by its acronym the GDS. With the help of the GDS, the client can get easy access to reservation sheets allowing them to personally type in the information required in order to get a reservation. Customers can also call in to the front desk for any inquiries that are not clearly stipulated in their social networking site page, or on their web-site, and also for questions whether they can accommodate your special preferences and requests. After all is said and done, the client can already submit their reservation sheet, and then an elec-tronically generated email print of the confirmation letter will be shown on the monitor and can be printed by the guests, for reference purposes. Other means of reserving a room in a hotel that uses the advancement of technology is with the use of telephones or cell phones. With its aid, the customer is not required to visit the hotel, which may be miles away from them and be made at the comforts of their own homes. Basically these varied means in making reservations aim at making it easier for the client to get a room for a vacation, a business trip, making sure they have somewhere to stay in ad-vance. A good way to plan ahead and these advancements makes it easier, both for the client and the hotel’s manager and staff. During the stage when the client is already staying at the hotel, communication is vital in this stage between the staff, the manager, and the guests. Innovations in the communication sys-tem such as the use of the intercom system which is much like the Private Branch Exchange also known with its acronym of PBX, makes it easier for the client to contact front desk for any re-quest that he sees as necessary for him and also from one department to another, no need of marching your way to different areas of the hotel. Using one line for multiple telephones, you only need to dial a phone number that only requires three-digits or four which is assigned to eve-ry department of the hotel. The use of the desktop is very common in the current generation of hotel services. In con-trast to the previous hotels, they used manual handwriting, and that also entails a lot of papers that could possible eat up your work space. With the use of the computer hardware system, which includes, the keyboard, the monitor, the mouse, and certain pre-installed application into the computer, paperwork and writing may not necessary. These kinds of hardware also help in the strict monitoring of the charges of the guests. With pen and paper there is a higher chance of error, for the human mind can sometimes forget and might also be missed out when computing, so with the use of the automatic calculation pro-gram installed by a programmer into the system, the charges can be enumerated and totaled easi-ly, which Is apart of the whole reservation software. Simple small equipment had been very useful in the hotel front office system such as cal-culators, may not be in use in the current system of the hotel industry, but in the past, they were certainly helpful. Lastly, accounting has never been easier with the use of computers and specialized soft-ware provided by companies such as Microsoft and Intact. These accounting software allows management to monitor cash ledgers, the different accounts that goes in and out of the hotel, and payroll, to name a few. It will help with the monitoring of the many accounts of each guests in your hotel, not leaving out anything that they spent during their stay, because no matter what they say about convenience of their guests is their priority, income is still important. In many ways but one, the hotel industry should be thankful to technology because even though managers aide in the growth of the industry, it is the technology that makes their the in-dustry develop. References: Books and Printed Document: Brewer, P. et al. (2008). Current and Future Use in the Hospitality Industry. Bunduhn, R. (2010). Hotel Industry Urged to get Technology Up to Speed. The National Gretzel, U. et al. (2010). Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010. SpringerWienNewYork. Ferdinand Berger & Sohne Gesellschaft m.b.H., 3580 Horn, Austria Internet: Retrieved from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38875395/Guest-Cycle. Retrieved: October 17, 2012 Retrieved from: http://www.tourism.bilkent.edu.tr/~jamel/RDM/Guest%20Cycle.doc. Retrieved: October 17, 2012

Lessons I Learned from a Suicidal Arsonist

Lessons I Learned from a Suicidal Arsonist On Friday, September 26, I set out to travel from New York City back home to Madison. I dutifully arose at 4:00 a.m. to meet a car service, arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Boarding went smoothly and we left the gate. I looked forward to a 10:36 a.m. landing in my hometown after 3 days at a conference in Denver and a week with my family and friends. I had wonderful plans for Friday evening and Saturday. Then the announcement came: There has been a fire in the Chicago air traffic control tower. All flights in and out of Chicago have been delayed. The guy across the aisle from me began cursing and waving his fists around. I resolved to take the news better than he was taking it. After calling United twice and spending an hour on hold, I managed to get rebooked through Atlanta. But when I landed in Atlanta there were three voice mail messages advising me that my flight to Madison had been cancelled, and one informing me that I had been rebooked on a flight the next day through Washington D.C. I would, if all went as re-planned, arrive in Madison at 9:12 p.m. Saturday night. The punch line is, I made it home. But there’s more. Throughout this adventure, I learned or was reminded of some valuable life lessons. Here are some of them: One person can truly make a difference. That guy Brian Howard who set a fire in the Chicago air traffic control tower was one single man who managed to paralyze air travel across the country for two days. I’m guessing he also affected security measures at air traffic control towers throughout the world. Yet so many of us sit around thinking we can’t make a difference. What are the extreme positive acts you could take to change something you want to change? Surrender to what’s so. When faced with the prospect of spending the night in Atlanta, I was not thrilled. But since all flights to Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and pretty much all areas surrounding were cancelled, I decided the best plan was to surrender. I got on a line for customer service, hoping there might be a hotel voucher for me if Atlanta was my only overnight option. An hour later I was at the counter, having had some lovely conversations with other stranded travelers, and discovered that there were no more hotel vouchers remaining, and that my flight to D.C. was that very night. Suddenly I had a new reality before me, and I accepted that one too. It’s amazing how much my stress level went down when I dealt with what was so instead of wishing it were another way! It’s good to have friends everywhere. Through a combination of college connections and my dance community, as well as other life adventures, I have built a network of friends and family in almost every major U.S. city (and some overseas cities as well). Drop me in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Tucson or Tel Aviv, and I will have a friendly place to lay my head. When I discovered I would be in Washington, D.C. for a night, I started calling friends, one of whom, my college buddy Sara, was happy to put me up for the night. I had not seen her in about 10 years, so it was a great treat to spend unexpected time with her. Not only that, but she had kale in her fridge, a blender, and a free pass to her gym which we used to attend a class together Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we swam together in an outdoor pool, well after any such pool in Madison would ever be open. I also saw a high school football game that was highlighted on Fox 5 Friday night! I was well taken care of. And I got on a deep l evel that I have led my life well to be able to call on so many people to help. Of course I would do the same for all of them. Talk to strangers. In the customer support line and on various airplanes Friday and Saturday, I met some other waylaid travelers. It was good to connect with humanity. They put my situation in perspective, and helped me out by watching my bag while I went to plug in my phone, whose battery was on its last legs. One woman guided me where I needed to go in D.C. to get to the suburban Metro stop where I met my college friend Sara. I noticed I felt fairly upbeat given the monkey wrench that had been thrown into my life, and on one of my plane rides I identified why: I was talking to strangers! In an article I read on the plane in Success (which is quickly becoming my favorite magazine), I discovered that a social science study by researcher and professor at Harvard Business School, Michael Norton, Ph.D., showed that â€Å"talking with strangers can be at least as important to our daily happiness as talking to our close friends and family.† Norton confirmed this to be true regardless of personality type. I know it is true for me! I always feel more energized when I connect with the people around me than when I retreat into my shell. On Saturday night my flight departed from D.C. on time and landed in Madison 30 minutes early. My housesitter Mariah picked me up and drove me home, where I arrived fairly exhausted yet grateful. I slept well that night, knowing that I am well-loved, resourceful, connected, and able to handle the challenges that one suicidal arsonist  threw in my direction. 🙂 This is a good reminder to travel a couple of days early for any important event. You never know what might happen! Log in to Reply

asians essays

asians essays At its inception, the United States was built on principles of freedom, justice, and liberty. A reaction to tyranny and oppression, its creation sought to bring change to centuries of inequity under the British monarchy. But no change is sudden; the growth and evolution of the United States has taken centuries and is still in a state of continual development. In the past year, however, this country has taken an additional step toward progress through the presidential appointment of two Asian Americans, Norman Mineta and Elaine L. Chao, to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Labor, respectively. The acceptance of Asian Americans in the government's high offices has influenced public opinion in many way; most of all, it acknowledges the power of Asian Americans in the community and help break existing stereotypes regarding the social roles of those with Asian heritage. For over a century, Asian influence has been overlooked in history books. As a result of the appointment, America is coming to terms with the fact that Asians are a crucial part of American government and have always been a rich part of American history. According to the PBS special Ancestors in the Americas, Chinese immigrants have been "invisible" in the American story, even though "their presence was pervasive and economically pivotal." It points out the simple fact that the Transcontinental Railroad was built largely with the work of Chinese laborers, yet none are to be found in celebratory pictures of its completion or in the pictures of workers found in archives. High positions in government, however, such as working on the presidential cabinet, cannot be ignored or overlooked. They don't have to attempt to make history; they are already making history with every proposition, with every day. Moreover, the appointment of Asian Americans to such high positions means that they can directly influence public policy,...

Hey Neighbour, Stop piggybacking on my Wireless by M. Marriott Essay

Hey Neighbour, Stop piggybacking on my Wireless by M. Marriott - Essay Example The dangers of having an unsecured Wi-Fi are tackled in this article. A man who did not set up protection for his wireless was accused of downloading and using something illegal. Child pornography was the case for this man and he was put to court due to his negligence to protect his connection. Although some people purposely leave an open connection, it is unsafe to assume that no harm will be done by other people who use open connections. Other people leave it open believing that it is an act of kindness to provide internet convenience for other people. Others are victims of indirect distribution of illegal things such as underage pornography. It is a common case that unsecured internet routers have brought legal trouble for subscribers and so the court have indeed created procedures that counter or prevent those kinds of things. However, not all can be prevented. Due to people’s negligence of their own responsibility, trouble still finds them. The only way that it can be prevented is to have cautioned that you always protect your connection. As we know that, we should act on our own and put a stop to bad things that might happen. As a community, we should educate others about this to help community protection and avoid trouble. More and more people are becoming victims of fake networks or hotspots because of the need for internet these days. People who are unaware that they are connecting to fraudulent connections are taken advantage on hackers by phishing for their private information that they input to such fake hotspots.

Response to Be Virus Free Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Response to Be Virus Free - Article Example Can we cure a viral disease? Of course, through proper medication, which involves mainly vaccination, it is possible to cure some of the diseases. However, the fact remains that whether humans could be ‘totally virus free’? At this stage, I would like to draw your attention to an advertisement that appeared in your journal, titled, â€Å"Be Virus Free†. The afore said advertisement advertise on an alternative healing method which require no drugs, is effective, permanent and seems to guaranteed to be an ‘once only treatment for complete protection from viruses’. It also lay claim to have received a ‘1999 Australian achiever award’ and is ‘highly commended’. In my point of view, this advertisement is not based on any scientific reasoning or on any concrete research finding which can ensure a complete virus-free status. An in-depth study on the behavior of infectious viruses and the resulting diseases implies that such a ‘virus free’ status is yet to be achieved. Before proceeding further, it may be advisable to explicate the characteristics of major viruses and the mechanism of viral attacks to clarify why a totally virus-free status is still hard to achieve. A virus is a portion of DNA or RNA, wrapped in a protein. It can replicate only when it is inside the cells of a living organism and thus, they are a virulent agent with highly infective nature to ensure their survival. Basically, a virus causes cell lyses where the cells of the host organism break open which cause subsequent cell death. These viruses use the important metabolic system of the host cells for their replication and reprogramme the host cell to produce new viruses, and for this, use the proteins of the host cell. The mechanism of viruses in producing a disease in a human (or any organism) is mainly based on the viral species (Table 1) and it is interesting to note that some

Humanism and the Arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Humanism and the Arts - Essay Example Discussion All academic circles today acknowledge humanities as a separate academic discipline or field of study. However, humanists of the late fifteenth century are responsible for the development of the same. As mentioned earlier in the paper, that they named it as studia humanitatis that included grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and ethics or moral philosophy. Quite understandably, the idea of having such as an outline of subjects was twofold. Firstly, the goal was to make the students with exceptional, graceful, and elegant orators and writers (Gay, 2001). Secondly, the idea was to make sure that people realize the importance of moral values, their collective responsibility towards the society and acknowledge their power of reasoning so that they can outclass their supernatural religious dogma, contribute for the betterment of their societies and can persuade others to do the same (Kelley, 1991). In addition, it is very interesting to compare scholasticism, the idea that pervaded in much of the pre-Renaissance European society, with humanism, which to a considerable extent, became successful in replacing it. Actually, humanism was a response to the inefficiencies, loopholes, and failures of scholasticism. Firstly, scholasticism failed to give the taste of practical experience to its followers and relied heavily on abstract thoughts. As mentioned earlier, humanists proposed that physical and moral development is also important with intellectual development (Grassi, 1988).

PhD in Human Resources Management Thesis Proposal

PhD in Human Resources Management - Thesis Proposal Example Performance management’s capability to motivate and encourage organizational employees towards not only looking to accomplish higher goals for themselves but also the organization will be recognized in this proposed study. Performance management has become a part of organizational strategic and also an integrated approach. Performance management’s capability of delivering sustained success for an organization has been recognized. It has been observed that performance management helps people working in an organization to get motivated. It also helps to increase the teamwork and togetherness in an organization. It helps to improve an individual’s contribution and efforts towards working for achieving common organizational goals (ICFAI, 2005). Performance management provides a context for measuring performance. Performance can provide a guide for an organization to judge their present working condition and the need existing in the organization for improving the performance. Performance management can also provide necessary impetus in an organization to look to organize training and developmental programs if the organizational performance is not up to the required level. Performance management can help to shape an individual’s job design according to the capabilities of an individual. Performance management also helps to shape an organization’s culture and their functionality. It also provides a framework for rewarding employees with incentives and bonuses according to their performance. Moreover, performance management works as a strategic management tool for an organization for providing very important and crucial inputs which also helps in overall organizational development. Performance management helps to align organizational and individual plans, objectives and goals (Lebas, 1995). Performance management in an organization helps to establish a culture in which employees feel motivated and

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29

Sociology - Essay Example t perspective, this development is good because robots make the production process more efficient thereby making goods more readily available and cheaper because they can now be produced in scale with lesser cost. From the conflict theorist however, this is not at all good because it will displace the jobs of humans by machines which are cheaper and easier to maintain. This can be gleaned in the comparison in the Philips assembly line in Drachten where robots dominated the factory requiring only few personnel while the same company also has a plant in China manned by thousands of employees doing the same thing. By this comparison, it showed the stark conflict of how robots in inimical to worker’s interest because it replaces them. This was highlighted by an article’s comment wherein it is said that humans are like animals which gives him headache to maintain stressing that human beings are also prone to conflict. For the symbolic interactionist however, there is a way that the two entity can exist in mutually beneficial interaction. It starts with a premise that human beings will not lose its place in our manufacturing plants and warehouses only that their interaction with work will be evolve such as their transfer to jobs that requires problem solving and creativity which robots cannot do such as those jobs in design. Markoff, J. â€Å"Skilled Work without the Worker†. August 18, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/new-wave-of-adept-robots-is-changing-global-industry.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3. Retrieved on February 01,

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron Essay

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron - Essay Example Thus, the author provides reliable information about the various aspects of the city and the descriptions are highly factual and realistic. There are important descriptions of many towns, castles, and villages and the readers are given factual descriptions about the people, the kings, and the currency in the city. â€Å"At the end of three days, you reach the noble and magnificent city of Quinsai, a name that signifies ‘the celestial city’, and which it merits from its pre eminence to all others in the world, in grandeur and beauty, as-well as from its abundant delights, which might lead inhabitants to imagine himself in paradise. In all seasons there is, in the markets, a great variety of herbs and fruits, especially pears of an extraordinary size†¦ Each of the 10 markets squares is surrounded by high dwelling houses, in the lower part which are shops, where every kind of manufacture is carried on, and ever pre-eminence trade is sold, such as spices drugs trinkets and pearls...† (Thubron, 209) Therefore, the book provides great details about the various aspects of the city and the readers are able to gather some essential factual data regarding the cities of ancient China. Two other articles which deal with the great cities of ancient China are â€Å"The Attractions of the Capital† and â€Å"Recollections of Northern Song Capital†. A reflective analysis of these resources in comparison to each other provides an enlightening understanding of the great cities of ancient China.  

PhD in Human Resources Management Thesis Proposal

PhD in Human Resources Management - Thesis Proposal Example Performance management’s capability to motivate and encourage organizational employees towards not only looking to accomplish higher goals for themselves but also the organization will be recognized in this proposed study. Performance management has become a part of organizational strategic and also an integrated approach. Performance management’s capability of delivering sustained success for an organization has been recognized. It has been observed that performance management helps people working in an organization to get motivated. It also helps to increase the teamwork and togetherness in an organization. It helps to improve an individual’s contribution and efforts towards working for achieving common organizational goals (ICFAI, 2005). Performance management provides a context for measuring performance. Performance can provide a guide for an organization to judge their present working condition and the need existing in the organization for improving the performance. Performance management can also provide necessary impetus in an organization to look to organize training and developmental programs if the organizational performance is not up to the required level. Performance management can help to shape an individual’s job design according to the capabilities of an individual. Performance management also helps to shape an organization’s culture and their functionality. It also provides a framework for rewarding employees with incentives and bonuses according to their performance. Moreover, performance management works as a strategic management tool for an organization for providing very important and crucial inputs which also helps in overall organizational development. Performance management helps to align organizational and individual plans, objectives and goals (Lebas, 1995). Performance management in an organization helps to establish a culture in which employees feel motivated and

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron Essay

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron - Essay Example Thus, the author provides reliable information about the various aspects of the city and the descriptions are highly factual and realistic. There are important descriptions of many towns, castles, and villages and the readers are given factual descriptions about the people, the kings, and the currency in the city. â€Å"At the end of three days, you reach the noble and magnificent city of Quinsai, a name that signifies ‘the celestial city’, and which it merits from its pre eminence to all others in the world, in grandeur and beauty, as-well as from its abundant delights, which might lead inhabitants to imagine himself in paradise. In all seasons there is, in the markets, a great variety of herbs and fruits, especially pears of an extraordinary size†¦ Each of the 10 markets squares is surrounded by high dwelling houses, in the lower part which are shops, where every kind of manufacture is carried on, and ever pre-eminence trade is sold, such as spices drugs trinkets and pearls...† (Thubron, 209) Therefore, the book provides great details about the various aspects of the city and the readers are able to gather some essential factual data regarding the cities of ancient China. Two other articles which deal with the great cities of ancient China are â€Å"The Attractions of the Capital† and â€Å"Recollections of Northern Song Capital†. A reflective analysis of these resources in comparison to each other provides an enlightening understanding of the great cities of ancient China.  

Affordable Care Act Essay Example for Free

Affordable Care Act Essay Abstract The Affordable Care Act Health coverage was developed to provide and guarantee coverage for sickness, injury and preventable health measures. Many people suffer from illness’ that go untreated because they have no health insurance or cannot afford it. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows everyone to have health insurance. In this case study I will explain how the affordable Care Act in North Carolina has improved. The impact of the Affordable Care act on the population that it affected The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most comprehensive reform of the United States. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also called Obama Care transforms the non-group insurance market in the United States, mandates that all residents will have health insurance, significantly expands public insurance and subsidizes private insurance coverage, raises revenues from a variety of new taxes, and reduces and reorganizes spending under the nation’s largest health insurance plan, Medicare. Many people are opposed to Obama Care, simply because their high Republican beliefs won’t allow them to participate in any program put in place by a Democrat. Participating in a Healthcare program shouldn’t be chosen by whichever political party you believe in, it should be determined by carefully thought out plans and weighing the pros and cons of whichever coverage best suits you and your family’s needs. The Affordable Care Act  does not affect people or families currently covered with adequate health insurance. Those who already have Heath Care in place are protected by the â€Å"Grandfather Policy†. However, it does affect lower income Americans without health care making below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). They may qualify for Medicaid under Medicaid expansion, if they meet all of the policies requirements. This puts health care within reach of many people denied health care in the past. The President of the United States put laws in place that all people participate in the Affordable Care Act and get health care insurance or be penalized and pay monthly fines. This legislation ensures that all people be treated equally†¦ the rich, poor or anywhere in between, you must have health insurance. To some this program seems very beneficial, but we as Americans do not like the government controlling our Medicare choices. These newly enacted Affordable Care Acts were set in place to help all Americans receive health care and medical treatment. This act wasn’t put in place to provide care to people living in the United States illegally; undocumented immigrants and people who have been in the United States for less than five years do not qualify. The uninsured people, who gain insurance coverage in 2014, will obtain their coverage through the state’s Medicaid program. Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act requires that states expand Medicaid coverage to most uninsured adults with modified adjusted gross income no greater than 138% of the federal poverty limit. Children in families with incomes no greater than 200% FPL will continue to be eligible for Medicaid or North Carolina Health Choice (North Carolina’s Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Other people will gain coverage through private insurance offered through the Health Benefit Exchange (HBE). (Milstead, 2013, p. 199) . The impact of the economics of providing care to patients from the organizations view In the case study, the impact of the affordable care act on North Carolina uninsured population in 2011 showed childless, non-disabled, nonelderly adults could not qualify for Medicaid. Being poor, unemployed or homeless did not qualify a person for Medicaid. People, who are uninsured, are more likely to delay care and less likely to receive  preventive services, primary care, or chronic care management. As of 2014, The Affordable care Act adults will be able to qualify for Medicaid if their income is no greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. That income level was set at $30,429 for a family of four in 2010. However, some states do allow a family of four to have higher incomes and still qualify. The case study also showed that providing Medicaid to all people across the chart insured total coverage to all people and the FPL (Federal Poverty Level) had risen to a level where all peo ple were nearly identical to one another. Suggesting that if health care is provided equally throughout the nation there will be a lull in infectious diseases and untreated illnesses because everyone would seek treatment since they have coverage. Some of the economic growth and plans involve tax credits to individuals and families participating in Affordable Care Act, helping to keep participation affordable to all. Doing so helps to promote membership to all, thus keeping costs at a minimum and entices more families to participate. Another planned impact would be the cap placed on insurance company’s expenditures, careful monitoring of costs to provide service will eliminate overcharging by insurance companies and its affiliates. The government understands that it will take a number of years before the Affordable Care Act will show how much of a positive impact this program has on its participants. However, the government promises that keeping health care costs affordable will eventually lower rates and spending across the board. It says that with health care more available to all, more people get better and employees will come in to work reducing sick days and create better productivity, and financial gain for everyone. The Affordable Care Act also keeps families from financial ruin now when a family member becomes sick or unable to work they can still have health coverage through policies of their own or coverage provided through a participating family member. Before when a family member got sick they had to worry about being cut off of coverage if they lost their jobs. Families also had the added worry of escalating medical expenses while they were suffering through their sicknesses. Many feared losing their homes to pay for medical expenses. How the patients will be affected in relationship to the cost of treatment, quality of treatment, and access to treatment The Residents of North Carolina’s will have access to quality, affordable health care under the updated health insurance reform. The Affordable Care Act of 2014 will have a positive effect on patient safety and outcomes. It will provide many resources to allow patients easier access to insurance for health care costs and preventive care such as cancer screenings and vaccines. It will give incentives to health care facilities to improve the care being given. It is also mandated for all healthcare facilities to use electronic health record systems to keep track of all patient information to minimize errors. Doing this will also ensure that all patients receive the same care and treatment at all facility’s and that hospitals can share new developments or procedures. Reducing costs and prolonged hospital stays and long drawn out treatments, patients in need of specialized treatments can be sent to facilities better equipped to treat them with records of their treatments already in the system. (R. Kocher, J. Emanuel, M. Deparle, 2014, pp. 536-540) The Affordable Care Act provides medical coverage for families and children and is required to continue to make such coverage available for an adult child who is not married until the child reaches age 26. However, the Affordable Care Act is not obligated to make coverage available for a child of a child receiving dependent coverage. These people are considered parents themselves, and are expected to work and provide health care for their dependent children themselves. The ethical implications of this act for both the organization and the patients Since the beginning of 2010 adults, can qualify for Medicaid if their income is not greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Gaining strength over the last couple of years as of 2014 everyone is qualified to get Affordable Health Care as long as they meet the plans restrictions and verifications. As everyone in North Carolina gains health coverage, the state and county governments could potentially reduce some of the expense to safety net providers currently used to help pay for services to the uninsured. Under this new mandated health reform, hospitals and medical  providers will be assured funding and payment since this program is to be funded by the federal government. Thus providing a system where medical facilities can focus on patient care, and not worry about the un or under insured not being able to pay for the care they receive. When organizations across the entire United States are given enough funding to cover the expense of new equipment and supplies, it allows more opportunities for hiring more educated staff members, and lets health providers focus on patient care. The state of North Carolina may eventually experience a decrease in unnecessary use of the emergency department and reduced hospitalizations as more people gain coverage and access to preventive and primary care services. Once health care is made more readily available and affordable to more people and families, the risk of fraud and abuse of services would be greatly reduced. These worries and concerns will all but be eliminated because health care would now be available to all Americans. Even Americans who were once refused treatment due to pre-existing health problems can now be seen by a physician. The Affordable Care Act prohibits pre-existing condition exclusions, refusals of treatment and all other discriminations based on health status by group health plans. Reference Milstead, J. A. (2013). Health policy and politics: A nurses guide (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Kocher, R., Emanuel, E. J., DeParle, N. M. (2010). The Affordable Care Act and the Future of Clinical Medicine: The Opportunities and Challenges. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 153(8), 536-W.190 Kovner, A. R., Knickerman, J. R. (2011). Health care delivery in the United States. (10th ed.). New York, NY: Springer. 2014, 01). Impact of Affordable Care Act on North Carolina Uninsured Population. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 01, 2014, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Impact-Of-Affordable-Care-Act-On-46392180.html (P.L. 111-152 Summary of patient protection and affordable care act (P.L. 111-148, H.R. 3590), with amendments of the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010, H.R. 4872). (2010). Tax Management Tax Practice Series Bulletin, 22(7), 12-31. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/193794262?accountid=14872

Coâ€occurring Disorders and Their Impact on Addiction

Co–occurring Disorders and Their Impact on Addiction Deborah A. Young Introduction Comorbidity, is a part of the addiction that is widely overlooked by counselors and those that treat the addicted persons. Meaning that it is more than likely not treated, mainly in part due to the lack of properly trained professionals that can recognize as Capuzzi Stauffer put it, for a client to present with a single addiction, without a coexisting addiction or addictions, or coexisting psychiatric disorders would be the exception rather than the rule. Keywords: Comorbidity, Addiction, Treatment, Substance Abuse Most persons that have been diagnosed with critical mental illness issues are also substance abusers. Alcohol and drugs exacerbate the levels of the mental illness, mainly because a person uses any mind altering substance has a sensitivity to the substance of choice, most with mental illness use different substances to self medicate and/or deal with different situations and symptoms. This is not what one would want to do because it is a temporary fix at best, and it leaves the client looking for and wanting the same effects that brought them to the point of abusing the substance in the first place. Co – Occurring Disorders Persons with co – occurring disorder main interference with treatment is their feelings, meaning the types of behaviors that lead up to their addictions. In Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) series No. 43 it states These symptoms may indicate either underlying co-occurring disorders that would be present regardless of substance use (i.e. Independent or primary disorders). Identifiable co- occurring disorders may be identified at the time of admission to an OTP and it is possible or the disorders to present themselves during MAT (medication assisted treatment). The MAT providers must be able to tell the difference between those with co-occurring disorders and be able to know the type and be exact with their diagnosis if not addressed in the right manner, this could cause problems and hinder the client recovery and could as well cause major setbacks in the recovery of the client. The need for a precise assessment of the disorder and a timely intervention with the right thera pies in place, both psychiatric and therapy for substance abuse, will help the professional as well as the client to give and have a more effective treatment plan. Symptoms Psychology Today says, Substance abuse is, a maladaptive pattern of substance use manifested by recurrent and significant adverse consequences related to the repeated use of substances. Individuals who abuse substances may experience such harmful consequences of substance use as repeated failure to fulfill roles for which they are responsible, legal difficulties, or social and interpersonal problems. It is important to note that the chronic use of an illicit drug still constitutes a significant issue for treatment even when it does not meet the criteria for substance abuse. (Saxon Calsyn, 1995). Symptomatic relapse, hospitalizations, financial problems, social isolation, family problems, homelessness, suicide, violence, and some not always talked about schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. There are many more that can and will complicate the treatment of a co-occurring disorder, if misdiagnosed and the professionals are not aware or are un- learned in dealing with those that are not just addicted but suffering from co-occurring disorders. It is important that the professional that is going to treat this type of addict, must be familiar with the signs and symptoms of one with co – occurring disorders, treatment is much more challenging than that of the addict that does not suffer from this type of disorder. The Ritual Stage of Addiction. The ritual stage of addiction is perhaps the most dangerous part of addiction, to the health of the addict causes physical harm as well as having a great impact on their psychological well being. After all addictions are a behavior so to try to stop an addiction one faces many challenges. The ritual stage is where the user uses a process to obtain, use and react to their drug of choice. This is the point where the addict becomes fully consumed in his/her addiction and the things that are related to their abuse. Obtaining, using, and responding which turns into a habitual cycle, which becomes repetitious this is the way that the addict achieves their psychological satisfaction. Clear understanding of the ritual and the reasons why to end the rituals, and that is best done when the addict is no longer psychologically dependant on the substance and all dependence to the drug and its effects are no longer present the person can then move ahead in their quest for sobriety. Addiction is addiction, it doesnt matter what it is, sex, gambling, eating, all of these have the same common premise and that is to make the body or mind feel better, to mask whatever pain exist, or to better (so they think), deal with the problems they are facing. Which does not the source of addiction important, but the mind set of the person that is important and the reasoning behind using. Impact of Addiction in Society. Most, in fact, all that are addicted have a negative impact on society as a whole, from higher crime rates, to the families that are broken and lost. There is a high toll on those that the addict comes into contact with. The family suffers because they have to learn to live with the addict they have to basically change their lifestyles to accommodate the addict as well as the family unit suffers financially, the love is gone and the selfish ways take over and leave his family struggling to deal with the aftermath of the addicted persons behavior. The public as a whole feels the wrath of the addict through the penal system this not only causes the community pain because of the actions of the addict, some steal and violate homes to achieve what they need in order to obtain the high that they are looking for, in turn they are punished with jail, most are indigent and therefore, in order for them to be in the system the state and taxpayers must pay for their care and their time that they must stay incarcerated, and most do not receive any types of treatment which means they come back out without the proper resources and go right back to what they were doing that got them there in the first place.The work place would also have negative impact, addiction in the workplace is more common place than realiazed, nurses and doctors for instance, this is a recipie for danger and disaster, they impact the medical field negatively because after all you go to them for help. According to NBC News.com Doctors and Nurses go for years under he radar and are treating patients as they are under the influence of the very drugs they prescribe to the patients that need them (Magrath, 2010). It’s a dangerous and scary thought that the person you trust to treat you may just be addicted to drugs and or alcohol. References Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction in Opioid Treatment Programs. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2005. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 43.) Chapter 12. Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64163/M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, McGrath, T. (Writer) (2010). Addicted Docs Put Patients in Peril [Television series episode]. In Mens Health. New York, NY: NBC. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com Saxon, A., Calsyn, D. (1995). Effects of psychiatric care for dual diagnosis patients treated in a drug dependence clinic. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. , 21(03), 303-313. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/

Fate :: essays research papers

FATE (Explain the line, “Fate will unwind as it must.';)in Beowulf   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The line, “Fate will unwind as it must,'; (284) not only shows that the people believed they had no control of their destiny, but it is also relevant that Paganism was a significant part of their every day life. There are many illustrations throughout the poem Beowulf, that portray the importance of fate to the people. Often, the word fate was used as a way of showing the outcome of what has already come about.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fate was a way of saying that the people’s destiny was already chosen, that they had no control, but everything would turn out as it should. For example, “But fate, that night, intended Grendel to gnaw the broken bones of his last human supper,'; (309-310). This is a way of foreshadowing the fate, or destiny, or Grendel’s life. During the Last Battle, Beowulf replies “I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins,'; (637-639). He acted as though everything that he has gone through so far in his life, was in the hands of fate, and would continue to be until his time was over. Whatever came out of this battle, was meant to be and there was nothing that was going to change it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fate is related to the Pagan religion. Paganism was the religion that was most often used during the time of Beowulf. It is referred to every time fate is mentioned, because they didn’t believe in one God and thought that fate had control over them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fate was also used as saying the outcome of something that had already come about. For example, on line 46, Hrothgar mourns over the fate of his companions, “Hrothgar, their lord, sat joyless in Herot, a mighty prince mourning the fate of his lost friends and companions.'; Here it is used as a way of saying their lives had already ended.

The Tragedy of Leila in Bone Essays -- Bone Essays

The Tragedy of Leila in Bone      Ã‚  Ã‚   How much responsibility should any child have over their family? In "Bone," by Fae Myenne Ng, a character named Leila is born the daughter of a loving mother, Mah, and a run-out-on-the-family father whom cursed Leila with a last name Fu. As Leila said herself, "Fu in our dialect sounds like the word for bitter" (18). She became the oldest with two other sisters, Ona and Nina, whom both came from Mah's second husband, Leon. Leon loves his biological daughters like a true father should; meanwhile, Leon also loves Leila, his daughter only by marriage to Mah. Leon expresses how much he loves his daughters by saying "Five sons don't make one good daughter" (3), causing a scene in front of people who think that he is unlucky for not being blessed with a single son.    At a very young age Leila was forced to be the sister-in-charge and make decisions that a young girl twice her age would not normally be expected to produce. Mah began working as a seamstress before the girls would wake up, and continue working until after they would fall asle...

How michael porter five model affects Costco Wholesale Corporation Essay

According to Michael Porter, an industry is affected by certain forces, which enable them to attain different levels of profitability. These five forces help managers analyze the industry to gain a better understanding and develop a more effective business strategy. In the discount retailing industry, it is important to consider the following when considering entry: Threat of New Entrants: Four major competitors, WalMart, Kmart, Target and Costco Wholesale dominate the discount retail industry. The threat of new entrants is low, as this small number of large firms has spent decades establishing their position in the market. While online retailers, such as Amazon.com, and smaller department stores do create a semi-competitive environment, there is no major threat as the entry barriers are high (there is major risk and expensive start-up costs) and small start-ups are discouraged from trying to penetrate the market. The lack of patents and government regulation allow the existence of small department stores in the industry, but their expansion is limited. Rivalry Within the Industry: In the discount retail industry, there is fierce competition among the major brands, as products sold are usually relatively price elastic; most of the shoppers are looking for the â€Å"best value for price† and the goods are not significantly differentiated from one another. This leads to efficient management and competitive costs. While dollar stores and other small retailers have established a niche market, they do not pose a significant threat to the market leaders. Supplier Power: The existence of a large number of suppliers and limited shelf space has lead to low supplier power; retailers like Kmart are free to switch to alternate, cheaper brands. Threat of Substitutes: In terms of brand identity, the main players attempt to differentiate themselves from each other by emphasizing on their strengths; while WalMart is known as the price leader, Target

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

5th November 2007A visit to Columbia University and the chaotic aftermathAfter being allowed to address the Columbia University, Iranian president Mohamed Ahmadnijan showed a rare character and a high level of social hardness. He blasted the American society and saying there was no gays in Iran. The eccentric leader of the republic of Iran is seen as a controversial and as an inspiration in the extremist movement. His position and virtues that aim at drawing out need to wipe Israel out of the map and to destabilise the West through all aspects of concerted violence and extremist principles, obviously resonate as great and are indicative of what the extremism followers should look up at in a leader. He has funded terrorist organizations and helped the insurgency in Iraqi with a purpose of frustrating the West and the effort of the international community to stabilise Iraqi.Insults to the UN and the USThe Iranian leader dismissed the United Nations and ridiculed its authenticity and le gitimacy. What he implied was the inability of policy within the structures of the UN and projected the US as the sole decision maker at the body. This view is myopic and absurd. He launched a scathing attack on the US at Columbia University.Controversial character and intentionsHis visit to Columbia University on 17th September 2007 has further transformed the leader to a major threat to the West’s relationship with the Middle East and other Muslim countries. Mohamed received a hostile reception at the University. His visit within a literally approach was designated to be a symbolic truce with the West’s culture and system but due to a rigid perspective on him and the commonplace attitude and general perception, Ahmednijad’s aims and objectives were not understood.He realised within his faculties, the hatred and fear the American nation regarded him with. Subsequently he saw how ready the West was to ‘at any chance to get rid of him. Diplomacy came to a d ead end with the senate at Columbia coming under criticism for allowing him to address the University gathering. Ahemdnijan was branded a ‘holocaust denier and a perpetrator of terrorism. The Columbia University president termed him as an intellectual mind set and an un-educated leader. This is the hatred Ahmednijad saw and felt in the United States Columbia University. His behaviour and character as seen in context before this was not focussed on neither intonation nor abhorrent ethos towards America but symbolic and reaching out moves which in the same context were not seen nor recognized by the American society.What sparks this controversial and hate towards the Iranian leader is the fanatical and anti West fanaticism in him, also his strategic positioning of Iran as a pillar of Islamic extremism, consistent attacks on American foreign policy and blasting of diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear standoff which has invoked sanctions on Iran.  In reciprocation to this animo sity Ahmednijan sought to commence his fall back position through diplomacy. He replied in a principled perspective.He confronted within the same schematic approach the Americans had done. He questioned the integrity of the Columbia University president Mr Bollinger and subsequently claimed the rights of Iran to own nuclear weapons just as the West owned. According to Anthony F and Robin W., (2007)   Ã¢â‚¬ËœAhmadinejad, who in the past has argued that Israel should be â€Å"wiped off the map,† repeated his assertions that the Holocaust should be researched â€Å"from different perspectives† and said Palestinians should not be â€Å"paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with.† The Iranian leader also blasted U.S. sanctions against his country, insisted on Iran's right to nuclear development and declared his willingness to â€Å"dialogue† with U.S. leaders’. His behaviour by then was characterized with apt criticism of the West hypoc risy and desire to see that they managed the greater global policies. He repeated that the holocaust needed to e researched. The aftermath was an onslaught on his sanity and audacity as a leader.  Diplomacy and amnestyAhmednijad might have opted to appease Americans through diplomacy. There are many issues within the history of the West problem with Iran. Both view each other as a threat to the others interest only that the West is autonomous, militarily stronger and more strategic economically and politically. Iran is only a minnow with more strategic position within religious lines and political-religious positions.This aspect has spared it the possible military strike by Americans. Although the United States has been more cautious with Iran, the debut of France in the anti Iran sentiment and the promise of military action as an eventuality add panache to the West desire to stop Iran’s strategic position growth. Ahmednijad wants to prove he is the key to the Middle East p roblem since he represents the radical ness and the extremist policies the Islamic community.The Iranian leader acted in speed to show his stand and diplomatic aspects as a leader. He advised his government to release a Californian businessman Ali Shekri who had been jailed in Iran. He morally was seeking retribution and sought to justify desire to establish peace and cohesiveness. But due to the abrasiveness and blindness of the American lawmakers and leaders, the Iranian leader saw no relenting. Subsequently his general issued a statement that insinuated that Iran was more militarily steady and ready. There was also the launch of two air force aircrafts which symbolised the industrialised and military power of Iran. This was an act of provoking the international community especially the United States.His character complexity and moral perspectivesHowever his character is seen as more re-proactive and meant to seek the elasticity of the Americans hate and military options against I ran. The Iranian leader was ready to visit the ground –zero. This would have been a symbolic and a significant gesture. He was to lay a wreath and probably make a speech. However the tensions after the Columbia University incident would render the entire visit for him dangerous.There were emotions and protests were all over. University students and civilians were on the streets chanting anti him. This was enough reason to refuse him the chance to go to the Ground-zero. But contextually, what was the motive of his intentions? Why would such an anti American leader wish to make a symbolic visit to a place where people from his religion and community killed thousands of innocent lives? This makes the Iranian leader controversial. In the event of a visit, no wonder Ahmednijads comments and sentiments would be more controversial than his remarks about the Jewish holocaust. He mght have justified jihad and the death of these people. He might have projected the Palestinian deaths wi thin this situation as what the Americans paid with the September 11.Further within this issue, Ahmednijan could not be a target of American extremists, obviously they don’t exist, and hence, he was not amused that, it was only a matter of distaste and the hate American legislators felt for him. It might be obvious he knew he could never get a chance to visit ground zero but confirming it through seeking the permission to is outward and provocative. This as seen within an academic perspective is a character that is seeking to find leeway’s and fissures in the American society and government so as to achieve personal goals. These goals are two-way-traffic. The Iranian leader might be seeking to make peace and embrace American foreign policy and become part of the international community, or is acting with impunity as an agent of the large extremist world to learn and find weakness in the American system.Worry and pessimism in Iranian leaderThough exuding confidence, the Iranian leader projected fear and desperacy to avert a war crisis. His intentions in the United States depict this character. The leaders is troubled and more in a quagmire than in good stead. Most probably he is worried by the French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner remarks that France should prepare for war if Iran makes nuclear weapons, a sentiment shared by the United States. Ahmednijan might have weighed his options And saw he could not counter such brute force militarily. He knows the strength of Maericans through the Iraqi conflict but knows nothing of the French.Through visiting such a prestigious government funded Columbia University. David J (2007) argues that the Iranian president has been in a cage, he wants out but what he does every time he leaps up is to hang on in even when his foot is outside. He escalates in his justification of his country having nuclear power; Ahmednijan asserts in his Columbia interviews that â€Å"Making nuclear, chemical and biological bomb s and weapons of mass destruction is yet another result of the misuse of science and research by the big powers. [†¦] What can a perpetual nuclear umbrella threat achieve for the sake of humanity? If nuclear war wages between nuclear powers, what human catastrophe will take place?So we're quite clear on what we need. If [the US has] created the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, what position are you in to question the peaceful purposes of other people who want nuclear power? We do not believe in nuclear weapons, period. It goes against the whole grain of humanity. [†¦] I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs, or testing them, making them, politically they are backward, retarded.†This seems a strategy to appease the American public on the Iranian nuclear intentions so as to pre-empt the French threat and be left with the US animosity and military intervention plans. Ahmednijad shows fear and strategic shift of his policy on nucl ear weapons. This way the public debate transforms from the context of his violating the proliferation faculties and embracing religious backed extremes.Going to Columbia is an insignia of his acknowledgement of American education and federal system.He is trying to be identified with the community and seeks to tone down his strong desire to be vocal against these institutions and instead be seen as a moderator of policies. He wants to prove his actions and statements are basically intended to mend and project positive perspectives in the interest of the Iran and the Middle East.His character raises the storms at home where his popularity is waning drastically. He is seen as an Islamic leader rather than a president of a republic. He is not dwelling on domestic issues but constantly criticizing the West and the Israeli’s. His actions do not represent the majority of his supporters and political cronies as more pressure mounts on Iran making military strikes inevitable. Though his approach to popularity is myopic, he is a symbol of Islamic rise against Western imperialism. Noor, M., (2006)SourcesNoor Mohamed 2006 : Ahmednijads falling popularity in the domestic front. Daily Nation Kenya