Slumming It Essay Essay Example

Slumming It Essay Essay Through the documentary McCollum consistently expresses his pollens on Diehard and aims to solve the enigma that this slum is claimed to have a strong sense of community, high employment rate, little crime and a model for sustainable living. Kevin Mucosas opinions in the opening scenes of the film reinforce the audiences attitudes of poverty stricken, disease rife slums. He says When I think of a slum, the thing I think of is misery. And for people to say they are intensely happy, I don buy that. These relatable personal opinions and camera shots of McCollum experiencing the extremes of the slum give him a persona of a genuinely interested and honest investigator. This positions the audience to respect him and adds an air of credibility which encourages the audience to accept the information as reliable and encourages them to accept the views being promoted by Kevin McCollum. Juxtaposition is shown through the editing of camera shots which displays the negative and positive aspects o f Diehard. Camera shots of littered lands, crowded and fragile makeshift housing and children playing in sewage, gives us a powerful image that further strengthens the attitudes and ideologies the western world has with poverty stricken societies. This persuades the audience to feel empathy and arrow towards this poor and euthanized community. However through the construction of taking a positive approach and emphasizing the qualities of the slum, the audiences attitude is altered. Silencing Is used as information such as the high death rates in slums, depression and struggle that many people In the slum experience regularly is not included. Not knowing this Information, positions the audience to perceive the slum as a more positive place, as the positive features are focused on stronger. Conversations are had with the people who live In Dorval, we gain Information of personal experiences wealth the slum. Convincing statistics are given through the narration of McCollum, such as the high 85% employment rate of Dorval. We will write a custom essay sample on Slumming It Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Slumming It Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Slumming It Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Also through the visual shots of the communities utilizing space extremely well, the connections and Interaction between all the people In the slum and the long camera shots which emphasize the smiles, laughter and happiness had In the communal TTY, persuades us to change our Attlee we previously Ana AT ten slum. Film puts forward the view that underneath the unsanitary conditions, there are values overlooked that the western world can learn such as teamwork, social interaction, space management and the keys Tao happy life. The construction processes used in Slumming It were effective in conveying and persuading the audience of first world countries. Its purpose of exposing the audience to the knowledge of the true happiness and intelligent tools that can be learnt from poverty stricken societies was achieved. The documentary altered the audiences attitude and ideologies that people living in slums are not depressed, unmotivated and uneducated people as the film persuaded us that they are very content in the way in which they live focusing their values in happiness and life qualities. I chose this documentary as the ways in which other cultures live interests me. The knowledge of a identity other then my own and to learn the way in the way which they live and express their language to connect to the communities in which they live in, has altered my attitudes and ideologies not only towards the people living in slums like Diehard, but the western society and how much we lack qualities such as sustainable living and the happiness shared with social interaction in our own communities.

buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay

buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay The abbreviations CPO stand for Chief Purchasing Officer. TOC, on the other hand, stands for total ownership cost. It is the total of all costs that have a connection to the production, procurement use and disposal of a given asset. It covers expenses such as inventory and transportation costs too. Note that ownership cost goes beyond the purchasing price. (Weele, 2010) In addition to the purchasing cost, TOC comprises of; transportation cost, customs or duties, warehousing, inventory holding costs, impacts of quality yield rate, servicing cost, projected repair cost and purchasing administrative cost. The CPOs who have a lot of experience find that models developed using suppliers inputs are the most effective in controlling the future costs. (Demir, 2002) If I were in the on the office of the chief purchase officer of a company such as Nissan company, I would use TOC strategy to reduce the expenses of my company, there by increasing savings. TOC has a number of advantages to the organizations that employ it in their planning. A company like Honda Company developed a TOC model. Honda learnt that castings constituted thirty two percent of their total spending. Electrical components constituted fifteen percent, while non-production commodities and services constituted twenty percent. This analysis accounted for seventy-five percent of their total spending. (Weele, 2010) After a deeper search in the 75% expenditure, Honda learnt that the key expense drivers include supplier inventory. Supplier transportation is yet another expense driver. This one comprises of the total expense that the supplier of row materials incurs in the process of transporting them to Honda Company. We also have supplier rejections as well as scrap. These expense drivers comprise of the materials that are faulty; therefore, they ca not be used i the manufacturing process. Scrap, on the other hand, is the waste materials. The last expense driver that Honda identified was supplier material handling driver. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is important to note that all these costs have a relation to errors in the company, and processes that support the production flow. It is because of the TOC driver research that Honda realized where to focus on the supplier development in supply chain techniques. According to Honda, TOC models help to identify and minimize cost drivers. Therefore, it is essential for a CPO to have a TOC model in place to enable him to detect such errors and production flow weaknesses for correction. TOC model enhances accurate forecast thus reducing inventory-holding costs. Suppliers learn TOC techniques that help them to control their vendors. It also brings about cost-based targets that facilitate mutual gain sharing. We learn all these benefits of having a TOC model from the Honda Company. (Weele, 2010) We also learn from Hiromichi, which uses Toyota quality assurance techniques that TOC helps to minimize purchasing target prices and internal costs of a firm. The company guides supplier process improvement and target price initiatives. It supports commodity councils to find the best suppliers available. It performs price-versus-quality trade-offs using industry TOC models. It also conducts a search for innovative sources within the global supply base. More over, it recommends potential gain sharing with high-performing suppliers looking inward to reduce internal costs. (Demir, 2002) The staff of Hiromichi promotes internal manufacturing cost and waste reduction. It preserves knowledge and skills in critical core processes, as well. The company staff guides initiatives to reduce administrative costs of purchasing. It trains others in industry and financial analysis, ass well as negotiation and mediation techniques. The aim of all this is to lower the total cost of purchases. (Weele, 2010) In order to control the cost of purchasing, Hiromichi learnt from Toyota that it should focus critical decisions on the long term, even at short-term financial risk. It was also necessary to promote leaders who understand processes well enough to teach others. In addition, it should not produce or ship inferior goods; fix the problems instead. It learnt that it should Use process flow analysis to reveal problems. Equally, it should develop exceptional generalists to serve on well-supported teams. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is crucial to visit the work site to understand an emerging problem. One should also respect suppliers and employees and help them improve perhaps by offering in-job training. There ought to be consensus among the stakeholders to assess and decide, then implement rapidly. Lastly, they learnt that well-tested technology must fit their strategy, not the reverse. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is vital to produce to demand. This means that the company should not strive for over production. It was necessary to Level out workload and identify the limits of constraints. Standardization of tasks to enable consistency was as well found to be of significant essence. They had to practice continuous improvement of processes through relentless reflection. Wastes in time, touches, movement, costs, and rework had to be eradicated as they contribute highly to increased costs. (Weele, 2010) From these two companies, we see that for a company to be leading in competitive markets, it has to establish highly efficient management systems. These systems enable the company to have an accurate forecast thus avoiding wasteful expenditures. We can achieve this through the development of TOC models only. (Demir, 2002) Buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay

Service Sector Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Service Sector Marketing - Assignment Example This definition can be linked to the activities of Leith Agency. A similar definition was offered by Collins and Payne (1991) when the researchers stated that "services are any primary or complementary activity that does not directly. Produce a physical product - that is, the non-goods part of the transaction between customer and provider". This paper therefore, addresses four important questions within the service marketing literature focusing on the case Leith Agency. The traditional marketing mix originated from the marketing of goods for consumer markets and consists of the well known 4P's: Price, Promotion, Place, and Product. The marketing mix approach has been criticized for being incomplete, because it does not bear in mind customer-needs and it industrial marketing (Bitner, 1995, Gronroos, 1990; Gummesson, 1997). Judd (1997) proposes the fifth element as People and takes thereby the human resource factor into account. Booms and Bitner (1981) on their part created 7P's by adding Participants, Physical Evidence, and Process to the original 4P's. The first P-The product refers to as the service and satisfaction offered by Leith Agency to their customers. Here these are the various forms of advertisement refered to as creative output they offer. The second P-The price of the service is the compensation they received in the form of a fee or 15% commission while the place is the office location were exchange takes place. At Leith Agency, the Edinburgh and London offices are the place. The fourth element refers to as Promotion. At Leith Agency, they use both above the line and below the line strategies. Corporate brand building through sponsors. Here the marketing budget are kept at a minimum In the marketing mix literature, the last three elements were added to take care of the service dimension of the product service mix continuum. No wonder, many commentators have refered to the additional three Ps as the Service Ps. This position was supported by Payne & Clark (1995) who proposed one minor modification which leads to their expanded marketing mix for services. Figure 1The 7P's Model Source: Payne and Clark, 1995 Delivering services is characterized by processes. This is actually due to the in-separation of production and consumption of services. Processes are the functional attributes of services which refers to how services are delivered. On the other hand, the service product is the technical quality, and refers to what is delivered. At Leith Agency, this will be the different advertisement options they offer their client, while the processes will be the different media through which the adverts get to the customers. That is the tasks, customers interaction, etc. The consideration of processes in the service marketing mix is justified and crucial to Leith Agency because it includes procedures, tasks, activities and operations which are of importance for the interaction between the service provider (Leith Agency)

The basic definition of management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The basic definition of management - Essay Example Typified hierarchical organizational structures of the past, with strong control mechanisms, have slowly given way to modern, flat, loosely connected organizational structures with emphasis on core competencies, and outsourcing of non-core functions. The basic definition of management as a process of planning, organizing, staffing, leading and control (Koontz & Weihrich, 1990) are still relevant and various approaches have been formulated and presented in management literature. In this paper the aspect of leading and its connection with planning and staffing would be explored. Leading is the ability to positively influence people and systems to have a meaningful impact and achieve results. "Leaders venture out. Leaders are pioneers - people who are willing to step out in the unknown (Kouzes & Posner, 2006). Leading is about search for opportunities, to innovate, grow and improve. Leading, perhaps is the most crucial aspect of management, and predominantly, deals with the interpersonal behavior and relationship management. In a globalized economy, the expanse leadership extends beyond an organization, encompassing cultural diversity across the borders. Unwittingly, the leadership attribute is also latently embedded with ethical considerations. So what does a leader do In effect a leader inspires, influences, persuades, encourages, motivates, attracts, and unifies team members to accomplish the organizational mission. Leadership is innately linked with effectiveness. Leadership provides strategic direction to the enterprise to achieve its missions. Through the strategic directions emanate the function of planning. What to do in the long term, medium term, annual, and quarterly periods What skills should the team develop in course of the planned periods, and how are they to be realized Planning, and building core competencies, go together. Talent acquisition and nurturing is a critical staffing function, which in turn, is driven through right global leadership. Leadership in Planning Leadership drives strategic planning. Those in leadership must ensure buy-in from members of the team with regard to the organizational values, mission, and goals. The twin responsibility of leadership therefore, is to manage perceptions of the team members, and drive the planning process itself. Genuine communication and empathy are the key skills of leadership that enable achieving these objectives. Strategic plans play the role of signposts that guide behavior and decision making in organizations. The plans translate into departmental and individual objectives. The role of leadership is to ensure continuous alignment of individual goals with organizational missions. The departmental and individual goals can further be amplified using acceptable performance measures, and monitor them periodically. So in a way, plans connect with the management functions of coordination and control. Leadership in a sense provides the vital link between planning and doing. Effective leadership channelizes the organizational efforts towards meeting short and long term objectives of the enterprise. Leadership in Staffing Leadership in staffing is about creating a shared vision, involving the right people, for the right job, at the right time. Leadership can play a silent but effective role of changing the organizational culture through world class professionalism, and conducive

The Arkansas State Lottery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Arkansas State Lottery - Essay Example Based on a US 2003 Report, Arkansas ranked only 43rd in academic achievement among the 48 contiguous states in U.S. The National Education Association in 2002, meanwhile, rated Arkansan teachers' salaries at 41st place, pegged at no more than $36,962 per year. Additionally, the American Legislature Council bemoans that spending per pupil in the state is $5,764, roughly 25 percent lower than the national average of $7,557 per student (Muck). Local supporters of the lottery, hence, claim that returns drawn from the lottery would, by way of improving cash flows, facilities, technologies, and the overall serviceability of the institution, uplift the lagging educational system in the Arkansan state. Lottery money can also plug income and funding gaps critical to the overall maintenance and expansion of institutional development programs3. One such lottery supporter, Sandy Garrett, Oklahoma's state superintendent of public education, recounted that the expansion of the local scholarship program in Georgia was augured by its vigorous state lottery, and captured more fluently by its HOPE Program4. These scholarships had enabled several average or "B" students in high school land into top state-universities sans any significant financial burden (Muck). On a more On a more practical light, Rep. Shirley Walters-Greenwood of Arkansas explained that in-situ lotteries can generate savings. She mentioned that scores of people from Arkansas travel interstate to play lottery in presumably more palatable and less notorious gaming venues such as billiards halls, bingo sprees and casinos. Likewise, crossing states impose additional costs for gas and travel, and compel Arkansan

Structures of Bacterial Tyrosinases

Structures of Bacterial Tyrosinases Tyrosinases oxidise phenolic hydroxyl groups of small molecules or large polymeric substrates such as proteins. Tyrosinases catalyse first the ortho-hydroxylation of the phenolic substrate and second its subsequent oxidation to quinone (Figure 1) with the concomitant reduction of oxygen to water. The reaction is chromogenic as the quinones produced can undergo further non-enzymatic polymerisation to form black eu-melanins and, when reacting with thiol groups, brownish pheo-melanins [14]. This process can be inhibited by antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, for example to prevent the browning reaction in food preparations [15]. Tyrosinase activity is generally measured by either determining the consumption of oxygen during the reaction or spectrophotometrically by following the increase of absorbance at 475 nm due to dopachrome formation. The cross-linking activity of tyrosinase on proteins is usually analysed by SDS PAGE, size-exclusion chromatography, UV spectroscopy or mass spectrom etry [16]. The active site of tyrosinases interacts with both the phenolic substrates and the co-substrate oxygen and it alternates among three different oxidation states. When in the oxy state, tyrosinase binds oxygen and is able to catalyse the hydroxylation of monophenols to diphenols, thus changing into the met form. The met form of tyrosinase is responsible for the oxidation of diphenols to quinones and the reaction turns the enzyme into the deoxy form that, upon binding molecular oxygen, returns to the oxy form. The met form is the resting state of the enzyme and it has been calculated that up to 85% of the enzyme is in this state when in solution [17, 18]. The inability of most of the enzymes in an enzyme population to act on monophenols explains why a significant lag phase is detected in the activity when monophenols are the substrate of the reaction. Bacterial tyrosinases have been divided in five types according to the organisation of domains and the possible requirement of a caddie protein for enzyme activity [12]. The necessity of a secondary helper protein (caddie protein) for secretion, correct folding, assembly of the copper atoms and activity of the enzyme is common to tyrosinases of type I, e.g. the enzyme from S. castaneoglobisporus and S. antibioticus [19, 20]. Type II tyrosinases are small, monomeric enzymes containing only the catalytic domain, which do not require additional helper proteins and are possibly secreted. An example is the tyrosinase from B. megaterium [6]. Type III tyrosinases are represented by the enzyme from Verrucomicrobium spinosum. Like the fungal tyrosinases it carries a C-terminal domain whose removal led to about 100-fold higher activity [21]. This supports the theory that the role of the C-terminal extension in plant and fungal tyrosinases is to keep the enzyme in an inactive form inside the ce ll [22-24]. Among the smallest bacterial tyrosinases reported (Type IV) are the ones produced by Streptomyces nigrifaciens (18 kDa) and Bacillus thuringiensis (14 kDa) [25, 26]. However, it is debated whether these proteins are true tyrosinases [12]. Type V tyrosinases include enzymes that do not carry the sequence features of tyrosinases but show features typical of laccase and have only marginal activity on tyrosine. For example, a membrane-bound tyrosinase active on the typical laccase substrate ABTS (NCBI ID: AAF75831.2) has been isolated from Marinomonas mediterranea. A tyrosinase with a classical substrate specificity that is activated by SDS (NCBI ID: AAV49996.1) has also been reported from the same organism [27]. Similar to catechol oxidases and the oxygen carrying haemocyanins, tyrosinases are type-3 copper proteins, containing two copper atoms in the active site. The absorbance spectrum of oxy-tyrosinases has a characteristic maximum in the UV region (330-345 nm). As reported for the structurally similar catechol oxidases, a fluorescence intensity maximum at 330 nm upon excitation at 280 nm is also detected [28, 29]. Copper is essential for the catalytic activity of tyrosinases. The crystal structure of these enzymes has demonstrated the presence of two copper ions in the catalytic core (Table 1). In all tyrosinases of different origins and in the haemocyanins each of the copper ions is coordinated by three histidine residues that are found in a characteristic pattern in the primary structure (Figure 2). In the tyrosinase from Streptomyces glaucescens, for example, the key role of histidines at position 37, 53, 62, 189, 193 and 215 in the coordination of copper, and thus in catalytic activi ty, was confirmed by the decrease of activity upon their substitution with other amino acids [30, 31]. Various additional residues have been identified to have a function in fungal and bacterial tyrosinases, either being essential for or modulating tyrosinase activity. Sequence analysis and various mutagenesis studies have been performed in order to identify the residues necessary for the activity of the enzyme. In tyrosinase sequences from plants and fungi, the N-terminal signal peptide, when present, is followed by a conserved arginine residue that marks the beginning of the central catalytic domain and that forms a pi-cation interaction with a conserved C-terminal Y/FXY tyrosine motif, where X is any amino acid [32]. These residues are conserved also in bacterial tyrosinases (Supplementary file 1). Substitution of the N-terminal conserved arginine (R40) has been reported to abolish the production of tyrosinase from V. spinosum [21]. Two single-amino acid substitutions have been reported to improve the catalytic activity of the tyrosinase from Rhizobium etli CFN42. The independent r eplacement of proline at position 334 and of aspartic acid at position 535 (Supplementary file 1) with a smaller residue such as serine (P334S) or glycine (D535G), respectively, led to a significant enhancement of the catalytic activity and melanin formation [33-35]. In the tyrosinase from B. megaterium, a single substitution of arginine by histidine within the copper B binding region (R209H) has been sufficient for a 1.7-fold improvement of the activity towards tyrosine (monophenolase) and for a 1.5-fold reduction of activity on L-DOPA (diphenolase), whereby the overall protein stability was not affected [36]. The crystal structure of the tyrosinase from B. megaterium showed that this arginine is positioned at the entrance of the active site in a flexible position and plays a role in the docking of the substrate [6]. However, the conservative substitution of the corresponding residue asparagine 190 to glutamine (N190Q) in S. glaucescens tyrosinase abolished the catalytic activity, indicating that this residue was possibly involved in hydrogen bonding at the active site [30]. Moreover, the conservative substitution of the residue aspartic acid 209 (D209E) has been reported to stabilise the oxy-form of the same enzyme [37]. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the role of the oxygen binding motif PYWDW [38] with regards to the affinity for oxygen in tyrosinase. The affinity for the co-substrate oxygen has been evaluated for the tyrosinase from Streptomyces antibioticus that carries the PYWDW motif. It was found that this enzyme had a three-fold lower dissociation constant (kD) for oxygen than the A. bisporus tyrosinase [39, 40] that carries a PFWDW motif, i.e. 16.5 ÃŽ ¼M compared to 46.6 ÃŽ ¼M. The analysis of the characterised bacterial tyrosinases evidenced the presence of functionally active variants of this motif (Supplementary file 1 and 2), e.g. PYWNY in the tyrosinase from M. mediterranea, PFWDW in tyrosinase from R. etli, PYWEW in the tyrosinase from B. megaterium, PYWRF and PYWNW in the tyrosinases from Ralstonia solanacearum. Mutational studies have also addressed the interaction of tyrosinases from streptomycetes and their caddie protein. In S. antibioticus, the two histidine residues at positions 102 and 117 of the caddie protein MelC1 have been found to be crucial for the biosynthesis of active tyrosinase [41]. The available crystal structures of bacterial tyrosinases and their mutant forms have been obtained from Gram-positive S. castaneoglobisporus and B. megaterium (Table 1). While the B. megaterium tyrosinase formed crystals containing only the enzyme, the S. castaneoglobisporus tyrosinase required the presence of a second protein, referred to as caddie protein, to stabilise its structure [4]. Moreover, the structure of the Streptomyces tyrosinase has been solved in different states of oxidation. Aiming at understanding the interaction between tyrosinase and caddie protein, tyrosinase has been crystallised in the presence of mutant forms of the caddie protein (Table 1). Likewise, the fungal tyrosinase from A. bisporus was crystallised as a tetramer in a complex with a second protein, a lectin-like protein [7]. Both intracellular and secreted bacterial tyrosinases have been isolated and characterised. For example, the tyrosinases from Streptomyces nigrifaciens, Bacillus thuringiensis, M. mediterranea, R. solanacearum and Thermomicrobium roseum were isolated from cell biomass and the ones from S. antibioticus, S. glaucescens, S. castaneoglobisporus, Streptomyces albus, B. megaterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Aeromonas media, R. etli and V. spinosum were either isolated from the culture medium or predicted to be secreted [19, 21, 25, 26,42-51]. The twin-arginine signal peptide is often found in cofactor-binding oxidoreductases that undergo complete folding in the cytoplasm prior to secretion to the periplasmic or extracellular space. Twin-arginine type signal peptides [52] could be identified in the N-terminal region of tyrosinases from R. solanacearum (34-amino acid long) and V. spinosum (33-amino acid long). A more detailed analysis of the sequence retrieved for the tyrosinase from R. etli a nd the alignment with the other sequences of tyrosinases (Supplementary File 1) suggests the possibility of incorrect open reading frame prediction. The true N-terminal methionine may be M112 (underlined in Supplementary file 1) as it aligns with the initial residue of the tyrosinase from R. solanacearum (number 15 in Supplementary file 1) and is followed by a predicted twin-arginine signal peptide of 31 amino acids [51]. Thus, we suggest that these proteins purified from the cell biomass but carrying a signal peptide for secretion are localised in the periplasm. Tyrosinases, also from bacteria, and their caddie proteins generally lack conserved cysteine residues (for comments see [11, 12]). The paucity of cysteine residues, and thus disulphide bonds, allowed, however, the isolation of tyrosinases with significant thermal stability, e.g. the enzyme from B. megaterium had an optimum temperature of 50Â °C [48]. A single cysteine residue is conserved in proximity of the second histidine residue of the copper A binding motif in the characterised tyrosinases from M. mediterranea, R. solanacearum, S. meliloti, R. etli and V. spinosum (Supplementary file 1). A cysteine residue at this position has been found to be covalently bound to a histidine residue two positions forward in, for example, the fungal tyrosinase from Neurospora crassa [53], the plant catechol oxidase from I. batata [8] and haemocyanins from the snail Helix pomatia [54]. The function of this unusual cysteine-histidine bond is not established, but it could confer structural rigidity to the copper-binding region and affect the redox potential [8]. Replacement of this cysteine residue (C84) with serine abolished the production of the tyrosinase from V. spinosum [21]. Type-3 copper proteins carrying six conserved cysteines (forming three in silico predicted disulphide bonds) and characterised by significant thermal stability have been reported in fungi [26]. No mutagenesis study has addressed a possible improvement of the thermal stability of bacterial tyrosinases by introducing disulphide bonds. However, in silico analysis revealed the possible presence of one disulphide bond in the tyrosinases from R. solanacearum and S. meliloti and two in the enzymes from M. mediterranea and R. etli (Dianna software, http://clavius.bc.edu/~clotelab/DiANNA). The tyrosinase from S. castaneoglobisporus and the one from B. megaterium share approximately 30% sequence similarity with a catechol oxidase from Aspergillus oryzae that showed a melting temperature above 70Â °C and a ha lf-life of 20 hours when incubated at 50Â °C [29]. It should be noted that the tyrosinase from A. media exhibits different sequence features when compared to the other enzymes. The sequence alignment with bacterial tyrosinases shows that none of the typical signature motifs (copper A and B regions, oxygen binding motif and tyrosine motif) are present (see Supplementary file 1). Moreover, this enzyme has a predicted 23-amino acid long signal peptide [50] and shows strong sequence similarity to bacterial periplasmic proteins that are responsible for the uptake of peptides and involved in nutrition and sensing of the environment [55].

House of the Spirits Essay -- essays papers

House of the Spirits In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marà ­as, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life. The most brutal display of Trueba’s power are the many rapes he performs in Las Tres Marà ­as: â€Å"†¦not a girl passed from puberty to adulthood that he did not subject to the woods, the riverbank, or the wrought-iron bed†¦he began to chase after those from the neighboring haciendas, take them in the wink of an eye, anywhere he could find a place in the fields.† Trueba rationalizes away his guilt, absolves his sins by â€Å"harden[ing] his soul and silenc[ing] his conscience with the excuse of progress† . His actions, however, come back to haunt him later in the novel, when the product of one of his rapes, his illegitimate grandson, Esteban Garcia, becomes a leader in the military regime and captures his beloved Alba, who is tortured and raped by Garcia's men. Trueba also desires control over his wife, daughter, and granddaughter. He wants â€Å"control over that undefined and luminous material that lay with her [Clara] and that escaped him†. In addition, when Clara stated, â€Å"You can’t keep the world from changing, Esteban. If it’s not Pedro Tercero Garcà ­a, someone else will bring new ideas to Tres Marà ­as,† Trueba ... ...aracteristic he had had since childhood, when he used to throw himself on the floor foaming at the mouth, so furious that he could scarcely breath, and kicking like one possessed by the devil†. Trueba is successful politically and financially, but he suffers emotionally. As Trueba's wealth and power grow, his relationships with his family members and tenants crumble. His failure to achieve a balance between his priorities and the needs of other people causes many disturbances in the social interactions throughout his life. Trueba attempts to solve many problems through the use of his uncontrollable fits of rage, and this is his ultimate downfall. Trueba is unable to comprehend the effects of his actions and he refuses to realize his emotional decline, resulting in his long and miserable life until he dies in the arms of his granddaughter, Alba, at an old age.

Forty Studies That Changed Psychology Essay

Something important in psychology is to differentiate between what is considered normal and abnormal. Psychologists need to do this to decide what to diagnose as a mental illness, and the treatment for this mental illness. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, it is not always easy to discern between what is normal behavior, sometimes called effective psychological functioning, and abnormal behavior, which could possibly be the result of a psychological disorder. To help determine between, psychologists use a few decisive factors. This includes the context in which someone observes the behavior. In relation to context, it means that the situation matters because in one situation a behavior may be normal, but not necessarily in all situations. Another factor is the persistence of the behavior or how often, over time, the behavior continues or occurs. How far, from the accepted social norm, the behavior deviates is also an important factor. Whether or not someone is aware of his or her own psychological difficulties is subjective distress. This subjective distress is often a great help to mental health professionals in making a psychological diagnosis. When a person finds it impossible to be satisfied with life due to psychological problems, this is considered a psychological handicap. Effect on functioning could be considered the bottom line in psychological diagnosis: the extent to which the behaviors in question interfere with a person’s ability to live the life that he or she desires and that society will accept. These â€Å"symptoms† and characteristics of mental illness all involve judgments on the part of psychologists, psychiatrists, and others. So these mental health professionals still need to answer to important questions. Are mental health professionals truly able to distinguish between the mentally ill and the mentally healthy? In addition, what are the consequences of mistakes? These are the questions addressed by David Rosenhan in his study. Rosenhan questioned whether the characteristics that lead to psychological diagnoses reside in the patients themselves or in the in which the people diagnosing find the patients. He reasoned that if the training mental health professionals have received for diagnosing mental illness are adequate, then those professionals should be able to distinguish correctly. Rosenhan proposed that one way to test mental health professionals’ ability to correctly categorize would be to admit normal people to psychiatric facilities to see if they would be categorized as healthy. If these â€Å"pseudo patients† behaved in the hospital as they would on the outside, and if they were not discovered to be healthy/normal, this would be evidence that diagnoses of the mentally ill are tied more to the situation than to the patient. Rosenhan recruited eight subjects to serve as pseudo patients. The subjects’ mission was to try to be admitted to twelve different psychological hospitals. All of the pseudo patients followed the same instructions. They called the hospital and made an appointment. Upon arrival at the hospital, they complained of hearing voices that said specific things. Other than this one thing, all subjects acted completely normal and gave very truthful information to the interviewer other than personal information. All the subjects were admitted to the various hospitals, and all but one was admitted with a diagnosis of â€Å"schizophrenia. Once inside the hospital, the pseudo patients simply behaved normally. The subjects had no idea of when they would be allowed to leave the hospital. It was up to them to gain their release by convincing the hospital staff that they were healthy enough to be discharged. All of the subjects took notes of their experiences. At first, they tried to conceal this activity, but soon it was clear to all that this secrecy was unnecessary, since this was seen as just another symptom of their illness. They all wanted to be released as soon as possible, so they behaved as model patients, cooperating with the staff and accepting all medications (which were not swallowed, but flushed down the toilet). The key finding in this study was that not one of the pseudo patients was detected by anyone on the hospital staff. When they were released, their mental health status was recorded in their files as â€Å"schizophrenia in remission. † There were other interesting findings and observations. While the hospital’s staff of doctors, nurses, and attendants failed to detect the subjects, the other patients could not be so easily fooled. Contacts between the patients and the staff were minimal and often bizarre. One of the tests made by the pseudo patients in the study was to approach various staff members and attempt to make verbal contact by asking common, normal questions. Rosenhan’s study demonstrated that normal people cannot be distinguished from the mentally ill in a hospital setting. According to Rosenhan, this is because of the overwhelming influence of the psychiatric hospital setting on the staff’s judgment of the individual’s behavior. Once patients are admitted to such a facility, there is a strong tendency for them to be viewed in ways that remove all individuality. The attitude created is that if they are there, then they must be crazy. More important is what Rosenhan refers to as the stickiness of the label. That is, when a patient is labeled as schizophrenic, it becomes his or her central characteristic or personality trait. From the moment, the label is given and the staff knows it, they perceive all of the patient’s behavior as stemming from that label. The hospital staff tended to ignore the situational pressures on patients and saw only the behavior relevant to the pathological traits assigned to the patients. Remember that all the subjects gave honest accounts of their pasts and families. The results pointed out two crucial factors. First, it appeared that the sane could not be distinguished from the insane in mental hospital settings. Second, Rosenhan demonstrated the danger of diagnostic labels. Once a person is labeled as, having a certain psychological condition that label overcomes all of his or her other characteristics. The worst part of this sort of treatment is that it can become self-confirming. That is, if a person is treated in a certain way consistently over time, he or she may begin to behave that way. Out of Rosenhan’s work grew greater care in diagnostic procedures and increased awareness of the dangers of applying labels to patients.

Christopher Columbus Evaluation Essay

Who was the navigator, colonizer, and explorer extraordinaire that fearlessly journeyed the seas and â€Å"discovered† the great â€Å"New World†? It was Christopher Columbus, of course! However, in reality, Columbus didn’t actually discover the Americas. Rather, he traveled to an already-inhabited land with not-so-civilized inhabitants, and expropriated both the land, and the indigenous people. By doing this, he brought settlers from Europe, who helped take over the land, causing plenty of suffering and havoc, but also completing the map and transforming life for people around the world. Some believe he was a hero, and some believe he was a monster. However, one man’s gain is another’s loss in most cases. Columbus brought change, both good and bad, through his actions, which defined his character and personality. Columbus’s journey to the Americas sowed seeds of change and revolution for people all over the world. More people came to the â€Å"New World† to settle, and natives were brought to Europe, and more exotic tastes were introduced to both hemispheres; cattle, sugar, and pigs to the West, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and cocoa to the East. New animals, especially the horse, changed everyday life for Native Americans, and written language spread the continent, replacing either a complicated system of hieroglyphics or nothing at all. Soon, people from all over the globe began arriving in great numbers, and the continent became a successful beacon of hope for many. Of course, with the up rise of some came the downfall of others. The indigenous people of the New World could not resist the conquistadors’ most devastating weapon: disease. Millions were wiped out by smallpox alone, and many were so ill that they could not resist the European conquest. The natives were not the only ones who suffered. Back in Europe, people started suffering from syphilis with the return of the conquistadors. Tobacco, its pleasures, and its deadly secrets were even more gifts to the Old World from the New. As the local population began to shrink, a new type of foreigner began to arrive in large numbers, the Africans. As agriculture-based economy began to spread in the Americas, so did slavery, and suffering for the Africans. Thus, the seeds of racial antagonism were sowed and still affect our society today. Christopher Columbus’s character and personality have long been debatable. Depending on how you evaluate his actions, he could either be a hero or a villain to you. Young students today are present with the image of a â€Å"largerthanlife† national hero. In some ways, he is. Without him, the American citizens of today might not even be here. However, it was inevitable that an outsider would stumble across this land and introduce their people to it, and the native people to a more civilized lifestyle. At the same time, the way that Columbus went about doing that was definitely inhumane. According to a journal entry from Columbus himself, dated back to 1492, he gained their trust and friendship just so that he could convert them and turn them into slaves. Not only that, but he took over a land that was already inhabited by people, tormented the people so much that there are not even 200 of the native population left today, and claimed that he was the first to sight the land. All this shows that he was very deceiving, unscrupulous, selfish, and definitely lacking chaste. In conclusion, Columbus’s conquest to the New World brought forth change, both for the better, and for worse, while his selfish personality showed through the whole time. Whether you see him as a hero or a villain, the collision of the New and Old worlds was inevitable, and his contributions brought forth a connection and world that we should all be very thankful for.

Sassy, Funny, Girly Quotes for Women With Attitude

Sassy, Funny, Girly Quotes for Women With Attitude As Cyndi Lauper sang, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. When a bunch of girls get together for a girls night out, you can imagine how raucous they can get. These girly quotes focus on appreciating the good things in life - with a big dash of fun. Enjoy being a sassy girl and entertaining your friends with these quotes from activists, entertainers, writers, and poets. Katharine Hepburn If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. Beyonce I embrace mistakes, they make you who you are. Dolly Parton   Im not offended by all the  dumb blonde  jokes because I know Im not dumb...and I also know that Im not blonde. Kesha Just because Im sassy and have a mouth on me doesnt mean Im coming from a negative place. Coco Chanel A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous. The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. Alyssa  Edwards Dont get bitter, just get better. Kayci Diane I love the person Ive become because I fought to become her. Drew Barrymore Lets get down and dirty. Lets be a real girl. Tallulah Bankhead Its the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time. Gloria Steinem The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off. A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. Proverb The whisper of a pretty girl can be heard further than the roar of a lion. Katy Perry Too many girls rush into relationships because of the fear of being single, then start making compromises, and losing their identity. Dont do that. Marilyn Monroe A woman knows by intuition, or instinct, what is best for herself. Jeanine Pirro Youre a beautiful girl, and you can do anything you want in life. Erma Bombeck If you cant make it better, you can laugh at it. Albert Einstein Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. Elizabeth Taylor Big girls need big diamonds. Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together. Colette What a wonderful life Ive had. I only wish Id realized it sooner. Taylor Swift If you have something about yourself thats different, youre lucky. Its not a curse. Maya Angelou I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Lifes a bitch. Youve got to go out and kick ass. Mae West Too many girls follow the line of least resistance, but a good line is hard to resist. Im single because I was born that way. Maryon Pearson Behind every great man, there is a surprised woman. RuPaul If you cant love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else? Eleanor Roosevelt No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Assignment on Management of Negotiations and Employee Relations Essay

Assignment on Management of Negotiations and Employee Relations - Essay Example Most of the furniture being sold by this company comes from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The company is one of the leading suppliers of exotic furniture in the country but it is currently experiencing some problems in terms of supplies. The selection process is almost through and I have been included in the company’s short list of applicants. During the second round of interviews, the human resource manager opened the topic of salary. The company made an offer which, although it is acceptable, it is not really what I have expected. I feel that with my qualifications, I deserve a better pay from the company. Since to my knowledge the company is interested in me and that the company has no rigid â€Å"first offer is the last offer policy†, I embarked into the negotiation process with the end goal of getting better salary and work conditions. When the human resource manager informs me of the company’s offer, I will ask for a little time to consider their offer then I will write a counter offer letter. My negotiation plan will be based on the mix model of negotiation which is creating and claiming value. To implement this negotiation model, I will need to know all the policies of the company regarding the hiring of new employees, the salary ranges and the benefits that they have to offer as well as the present financial status of the company. There is really no point of trying to negotiate something that the company cannot afford thus it is very important to learn more about the company’s financial status when negotiating for salaries. Counter offers are better set in writing so that the other party will know for certain what the stand of the other is. In my counter offer letter, I will express my great interest in working for the firm and how I could be a good asset to the company. I will let the human resource manager know that

Health Assessment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Health Assessment - Coursework Example oncepts of health promotion, I will take this opportunity to inform the patient that it is important for the close observation of the eye injury, whether minor or major as it has the capability of causing blindness (du Toit et al., 2013). The first step in the assessment will require me taking a precise history from the patient concerning the eye. As a nurse, I would take this opportunity to educate the patient on the variety of methods of ensuring minimal damage to the eye in the case of an injury and the immediate actions to take in the case of an injury. Other aspects of the assessment of the eye would include the valuation of the general physical, behavioral, and emotional state of the patient (Dunt et al., 2014). A measure of the visual acuity of the patient is also important in determining the clarity of the eye. I would explain all these procedures o the patient and also their importance for the purpose of allowing the patient to have more keenness in his health and status of the eye. Explaining to the patient the condition of his ear and how the ear is supposed to operate is one of the ways in which I would incorporate health promotion concepts when performing an assessment of the ear. This information would help the patient have the ability to recognize further problems with the ear in the near future. The purpose is to provide the patient with the ability of taking care of his own ear and prevent it from harm. In the shift assessment, I would ensure I disclose to the patient my purpose of the activity and also its importance for the purpose of enabling the patient understand the plan of care that would be admissible to him in order to cure his ear (Jarvis, 2015). While assessing the functioning of each ear, it is important to let the patient know of the purpose of this operation. The patient can later perform these tests while at home in order to keep track of the progress of the health of the ear. This includes explaining such assessment procedures