Releasing Protected Health Information Essay

When it comes to the handling of patient’s records and them being released, it is not an easy process. It is very important for each patient that opts to have their information released for whatever reason sign a release form stating that they authorize their information being released. There are times in which a patient’s records can be released without having their authorization. In this case, the records can be requested from government agencies, legal agencies or a representative, and a research that may subpoena a medical profession for this information. Every person that becomes a patient in a healthcare facility is protected by something called HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law passed by Congress that amended â€Å"the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insuran ce and health care delivery, to promote the use of medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administration of health insurance, and for other purposes,† according to Essential of Healthcare Management (2011). HIPAA is a set of rules that address the use of privacy and confidentiality of an individual’s health records. Any facility that practices with the care of a patient is subject to the privacy rule of HIPAA. The covered entities would be considered privacy and disclosure of information as protected health information. The covered entity is required to obtain an individual’s authorization prior to disclosing any health information. Every patient when seen by a healthcare professional is made aware of their rights to how they want their medical information to be used. The reason for this is to keep patients information private and protected.  What it does allow is some information to be able to be transferred with the patient from physician to physician so that they the physician can know something about the patient to help them in the best way that they can. There are different circumstances by which agencies or covered entities have the right or legal obligation to access or obtain Patient’s Healthcare Information (PHI). PHI is under the HIPAA that gives the privacy regulation the privacy that should remain between the patient and doctor. Under some circumstances the gove rnment has the right or legal obligation to a patient’s medical records. Any health care data for analysis in support of policy, planning, regulatory or management functions, it is permitted to disclose information to other government agencies for health data systems (according to http://www.ncdhhs.gov/healthit/exchange/NCLaws_alignment.pdf). Any non-covered government entities may only maintain a limited amount of data sets of information. This is so that the identifiers (name, address and Social Security numbers) can be removed before the government agency receives them. When files are usually authorized to the law officials, it may be because the person can be a victim of domestic violence to a government authority, abuse, and neglect. In a case like the patient is informed that their information has been released unless the health facility believes that a serious harm will occur or the person may portray to themselves. Researchers may need to use files without being authorized to do so if they need to find a treatment for the person. Trying to receive the approval from a patient can be time consuming by which can getting a glimpse at the files and starting the job is much easier. I believe that no matter what kind of storage that is placed on medical records, it is secured and should be assessable when needed. Law official/ researchers are able to subpoena records due to research or something. I believe that they should be authorized to obtain records without a patient’s authority depending on the case. I believe that having records subpoena should go by a base-to-base case. I believe that privacy safeguards are adequate to support the law agencies, researchers, and government agencies of having them be able to obtain information about a patient even without their consent. I believe that in the long run, it makes it easier for some of these agencies to be able to do their job without any interruptions and debater. Before starting this class, I did not know as much as I do now. I believe that the HIPAA law  is something that protects patients from their PHI being exposed to the wrong people. It is something that is great that is in place! References Green, M. A., & Bowie, M. J. (2011). Essentials of Health Information Management (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning. Legal Requirements for Consent to Disclose Patient Information. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ncdhhs.gov/healthit/exchange/NCLaws_alignment.pdf U.S. Department Health & Human Services. (2013). Retrieved from http://ww

Charles Mingus Use of Bass Guitar

Charles Mingus, a man who had made many contributions to the jazz world, which had included the introduction of the stand-up-bass as a lead instrument where it normally was used to keep time. He is known for composing the second largest amount of pieces just second to Duke Ellington2. He had mainly focused on collective organization when writing is charts that were similar to old school New Orleans street jazz bands, and his peers had once called him an organizational genius for this.Mingus’s pieces are known to be very temperamental meaning the music would go from very loud at times, to soft soothing sections, which got him the nickname â€Å"the angry man of jazz†. Mingus was born on April 22nd, 1922 and raised in Watts, California to a very religious family1. He had started out his musical career by learning to play the piano from his mother, which led him to playing at his local church1 as his musical wisdom began to expand. For most of his childhood he was only alo ud to listen to worship music, seeing how at the time since jazz was viewed as music of the devil due to its association with booze, and drugs.But at times he would sneak away from his studies in religious music and listen to his idol the world renowned Duke Ellington. He made his transition from the piano to the standup bass when he moved to New York and studied with H. Rheinhagen and the principal bassist Lloyd Reese from the New York Philharmonic School1. Mingus’s music was a mixture of Avant-Garde with an incorporation of Gospel, which left him room for breakthroughs in his music. During the 1940s, when Mingus had made the most progress in his work he had wrote such works that were covered by Lionel Hampton, specifically the album Mingus Fingers.In that album Mingus had used the bass as a lead instrument. People during this time period found it strange that a bass took lead, since it was standard for the bass to keep time, but Mingus revolutionized it with his ability to improvise within his solos, which he learned from Ornette Coleman. An excellent example of this would be his soloing in the song â€Å"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat†. Lester Young had inspired Mingus to record this song since their sounds were so different from each other’s. Despite his success he still minimal reviews from his record company and was not making nough money to support himself. Towards the beginning of the early 50s Mingus had migrated east to New York City to pursue a career to help make him some money to live on. He became a postal worker delivering mail in 1949 and through this job he met what would be his long time drummer Max Roach. Mingus had scored his first concert since his move from L. A. In 1952 Roach scored a gig at Massey Hall in Toronto where many of the greats would be playing such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Roach himself.This jumpstarted Mingus’s career again and segued him into bebop. Although Mingus viewed bebop as a very straight forward beat (from a bassists perspective) and didn’t like the thought of playing such a simple beat when asked to solo like most bassists of the time which was described as a â€Å"boom boom boom†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 4 feel to it, this is where he developed the usage of playing with three fingers instead of the customary two3 which became part of his signature sound.Mingus’s masterwork, which is called â€Å"Epitaph†, would take two hours to perform with the 4000 measures that it covered over the course of time. This work of art was discovered while his music was being processed into CD’s at the time3. Even the New York Times had marked it as the most memorable of jazz pieces of all time5. His chart was also known as the best composition since the times of Duke Ellington making him again even more like his idol3.When the music had finally come to and end on January 5, 1979 when Mingus passed away he had left this world with many new sounds for us to appreciate and to learn from. His sound had changed as he aged and so did his style to adapt to the times. He had revolutionized an instrument at one point only thought to keep time and he added the idea of playing with more than two fingers paving the way for many new bass players to learn from. Mingus was in fact an extraordinary musician and had ever-changed jazz for the better.

Assessing and Changing Organizational Culture

This report aims at critically analyzing the purpose of NAB, its mission for 2016 and the corporate social responsibilities it carries out. The report further examines the organization culture enshrined in this bank and a further evaluation of the suitability of the organization culture adopted. NAB’s main purpose is to provide banking services to the Australian businesses. It provides banking services in the whole of Australia in different sectors including health, government, agribusiness and community banking. This purpose is aimed at making NAB the best banking institution in Australia and New Zealand. The institution maintains its reputation in the banking sector through the formation of the NAB group of companies. The NAB group of companies are found in Australia New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the USA. Their main functions are geared towards ensuring efficiency in the provision of banking and other financial services. Some of their functions are as follows. First, the NAB group of companies work to connect daily with millions of customers across Asia Australia New Zealand and the USA. They offer credit facilities and financial services to both retailers and whole sellers in these countries. Secondly, NAB group of companies, offer private banking to individuals. Individuals can open personal accounts in its branches and enjoy the financial services, (NAB, 2016). In addition to this, Nab group of companies also provide institutional financials services to both public and private institutions. Third, provide wholesale banking services. This is majorly practiced by NAB situated in the US. They also provide treasury activities and institutional banking services. The NAB group of companies provides consistent financial advice to its customers. They offer financial consultancy services to the customers whenever they visit their offices. NAB’s mission for 2016 is to become the best financial services provider in Australia-US, New Zealand, and Asia. A mission statement should be clear and understandable, (Salem, 2008, p. 25). This mission make a difference by its core values of honesty, teamwork and integrity in providing financial services, (NAB, 2016). It plans to achieve this mission by maintaining a strong balance sheet, improving the customer satisfaction and experience and maintaining good performance in its New Zealand and Australian businesses. NAB has developed profit-oriented goals that have enabled it to win the trust of many customers. These goals have also made NAB to be preferred by many organizations both private and public. Many organizations now create accounts with NAB. Some of the ways used by NAB to achieve these goals are as follows. First, Creation of NAB Flik. NAB Flik is a mobile application that has been developed by this bank to enable its customers to request and send money easily. It makes the whole process of requesting for money and sending money simple, (NAB, 2016). This application can be used to send money to any inhabitant of Australia.   Secondly, sending money to a Facebook friend. People can now send money to Facebook friends. This is social media banking, (Senadheera, 2011).By using the NAB Flik, a customer can send money to another’s Facebook account. Someone does not need to know an account number to send money. This makes it more convenient. Third, Internet banking. In the global ma rket, internet banking is a major trend. NAB has widely ventured in internet banking making it easier to send and receive funds. It is also easier, quicker and cost-effective to operate. NAB consists of NAB group of companies which are located in Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA and New Zealand. The Nab group in austral connects several customers across the wholesale and retail business, (NAB, 2016). They also conduct both private banking and institutional banking services. The Group of companies is geographically spread to tap more customers. They also make it easy to access the branches for any financial assistance needed by customers. According to (Tallon, 2007, p. 225), the general environment refers to a range of external factors that influence the performance of an organization. The organization does not always have direct control over these external factors. Some of these factors include technology, economic conditions, demography political forces and legal factors. The main general environment element attributable to National Australia Bank is technology. Technology is the application of science in the business sector. It mainly involves using scientific equipment’s in executing transactions and customer service, in the financial sector, (Tallon, 2007, p. 227). There has been a rapid advancement in technology in the field of business and banks should make attempts to keep up with this advancement. Some of the issues associated with technology include internet marketing, internet banking, increased cybercrimes, mobile banking and increased awareness. Technological advancements have resulted in increased competition both in the banking sector and the business world as a whole.   NAB has tried to embrace technology through the development of technologically sensitive financial services, (NAB, 2016). Some of these services have been enabled by NAB Flik and internet marketing. NAB Flik has encouraged mobile banking improving the efficiency of customer delivery. Internet banking has also simplified the banking process by making it easy to create accounts and conduct transactions through the internet, (AbuShanab, 2007, p. 95). However, some major technological trends have currently emerged. These trends must be taken into consideration by this bank for it to remain competitive. Some of these trends are as follows. Competition is a major factor associated with technology. A company must, therefore, embrace technology to remain competitive. Going by the improvement in technology the technological giants like Google, Facebook Amazon and Apple could invest into the banking sector and outdo most of the banks since they have a good customer base. Most of the consumers use Google apple and amazon, (Au, 2008, p. 160). This improvement has been executed by Apple which has launched the Apple pay. According to Kracheel, 2014, p. 18)), Apple pay is a mobile payment developed by Apple Company, in its attempt to get into the financial sector. Other companies such as Samsung have also promised to follow suit. Soon Facebook Twitter and Amazon will also get into the financial sector. It is only Barclays bank which has invested into this internet banking service by developing its wallet called Pingit. According to, Bhatti (2015), digital banks are banks whose services are mainly offered through the internet. The emergence of digital banks may challenge most existing banks like NAB since they may have the ability to mobilize more customers to have an account with them.In the UK, the likes of Mondo, Atom Sterling, and Tandem, offer alternative financial services that may exert a lot of pressure on the existing banks. NAB is also not an exception as it has to compete effectively to maintain its profits and expand globally. In 2015, blockchains made tremendous profits through the offering of its bitcoin crypto currencies. This can continue to grow to make it make more profits in subsequent years. This makes it a major competitor of banks. Many banks have also launched investigations on how they can make use of these Block chain applications in their business, (Bornholdt, 2014, p. 1403). NAB is also not an exception to this it needs to venture into these applications to continue operating profitably. Wearable applications are applications installed on wearable items. Some wearable items include digital watches and bangles. Many banks have tested wearable applications on smart watches. Apple Company has also launched the Apple Watch which is a smart watch that can support most banking apps, (Kracheel, 2014, p. 19). These are new digital channels that would make banks evolve more in their operations and increase their profitability. If most banks install these apps, then NAB may have a difficult time keeping up with other banks. NAB should, therefore, take these technological improvements into account and adjust to them accordingly. Going digital is a major step in improving profitability in business. The world has technologically advanced in business, (Martins, 2014, p. 3). Therefore, this bank should stay informed about the current developments in the financial sector. It should also make use of the Bit chain applications such as unit coins to increase its profits. Globalization is a major trend associated with technology. Since most technology giants like Apple are investing in the financial sector, there is a great possibility that they may out-compete most of the banks. NAB should, therefore, expand its services to other continents apart from Australia and Asia. It should also develop operations in Africa and China. Staying informed is a major determinant of success. This can be done through consistent environmental evaluation. Environmental scanning is a systematic evaluation of the environment to obtain a better understanding of the major stakeholders in the environment. Nab should constantly practice environmental analysis to identify major technological changes and adapt to them timely. There are smart watches that support banking apps. One of these watches was developed by Apple Company. The bank should adopt these wearable apps to increase the efficiency of its services. Specific environment entails suppliers, customers, competitors and industry regulations that are specific and unique to an entity, and directly impacts on how the entity conducts its business. These factors always affect the organization directly. An organization should, therefore, formulate proper ways of dealing with these factors. Competition is the major critical factor affecting National Australia Bank. Competitors can be potential or current. Current competitors are individuals and organizations which offer the same products or services like those offered by a specific organization, (Drake, 2006, p. 1448). On the other hand, potential competitors are people or organizations that have the capability of offering the same products or services being offered by a certain organization. An organization should, therefore, be aware of its current and potential competitors to operate efficiently, Drake, 2006, p. 1448). In the banking sector, especially in Australia, competition is a major determinant of profitability. NAB should, therefore, be aware of its key competitors and make proper adjustments to be more competitive. Some impacts competition may have on this bank are discussed below; Banks are developing more complicated competition strategies. Some major on internet banking while others venture in developing more branches and increasing global operations as a major weapon for competition. Most banks are growing global, by expanding their branches worldwide. However, NAB has been slow in executing branch expansions. It has not expanded into some continents like Africa. Shortly, there may be more competition that may make this bank unable to enter into new markets and expand its operations. Expansion of services is a major tool used by most organizations to gain competition. Some organizations such as Apple are now expanding into the financial sector, (Rodriguez, 2015, p. 311). Samsung has also made attempts to enter the financial market to provide financial services. New entries into the market may deprive this bank of some potential customers. Some customers may also migrate from NAB to new financial service providers entering the market. Foreign Banks are entering into Foreign Deposit Markets. NAB has not properly expanded its operations globally. Globalization is a key factor in determining competition. Since many foreign banks are now investing in online deposit services, they may out compete for this bank as this bank has not developed a good background in foreign online deposits market. Competitive Forces may cause Decline in Net Interest Margin. Development of several banks operating in Australia Asia and Europe makes it difficult for this bank to obtain a competitive advantage. Some banks have also lowered their interests on loans and mortgages. This has made some customers migrate from NAB to other banks to enjoy the low-interest rates. In the near feature, NAB may also be forced to decrease its interest margins to maintain its customers. This may lead the bank into financial crisis. Entry of non-banking Companies into Financial Sector. Some non-banking companies such as Apple have now started offering financial services. Apple is a well-established company with a good customer based, (Kim, 2015, p. 527). NAB may, therefore, experience stiff competition from such companies that may lead to a decrease in its profitability. To develop customer preference, a company should use more customer friendly procedures. Customer friendly procedures are processes which maximize customers’ interests, (Moroko, 2008, p. 170). NAB should incorporate procedures that would simplify transactions and make transacting with the bank cheaper as compared to other banks. This may enable it to develop customer loyalty. When customers feel satisfied with the services of a company, they will try to stick to the company. Customer satisfaction is achieved by the company through offering proper services to the customers, practicing integrity and being honest with the customers, (Rauben, 2008, p. 91). NAB can use this strategy to gain a competitive advantage over other banks. NAB should do a continuous environmental evaluation to identify its competitors and make proper adjustments. Environmental scanning enables an organization to understand better the environmental variables influencing its operations, Khan, 2009, p. 346). This activity is, therefore, more appropriate to the bank in its attempt to identify its competitors. The bank should carry out a SWOT analysis. This would enable it identify the threats to its proper operation and act on them. SWOT analysis enables organizations to identify the opportunities in the environment and act on them, (Mangel, 2007, p. 22221). The bank will, therefore, be able to determine its major opportunities and act on them through this analysis. Practice corporate social responsibility Caring for the community is a major determinant of success of an organization. A company that conducts this activity develops trust from the community in the long run, (Dhawliwal, 2011, p. 61). NAB should, therefore, practice corporate social responsibility to develop trust among the community members and obtain more customers. There are two major approaches to ethics and social responsibility. Some companies adopt egoism, whereby they only practice corporate social responsibility if it maximizes the profits of the entity, (Ryan, 2016, p. 25). However, NAB has always adopted utilitarianism approach to ethics and social responsibility. It has always ensured the welfare of its customers and the community as a whole is taken care of. This approach advocates for maximization of moral good of the community. It states that a decision or activity should result in maximum good to the society. (Ping, 2007, p. 14). NAB has always adopted this approach to ethics by carrying out the following corporate social responsibility activities; The company encourages its staff members to conduct volunteer activities. It promotes this by offering its employees with two days volunteer to leave, NAB, 2016). In their volunteer activities, the staff members extend assistance to the poor and elderly in Australia. The bank supports the ovarian research foundation in its work of detecting and control of ovarian cancer. It does this by giving cash donations and resources for conducting anti-cancer campaigns. NAB conducts several activities that aim at improving the lives of the community members in Australia. It provides cash donations to groups and offers financial literacy training to members of the community, (NAB, 2016). This has helped to promote a positive relationship between this bank and the members of the community. The NAB staff are key volunteers in environmental conservation and prevention of pollution. They volunteer to clean the environment and stop any signs of environmental pollution, (NAB, 2016). For example, the staff members are allowed to self-nominate as environment ambassadors and work to make difference in their working environment as a whole. It conducts Charity Partner Programs The most current example of this program is based in Ireland. The program brings together staff members investors and other financiers to contribute towards charity. Some of the charity contributions are aimed at supporting cancer treatment and prevention of child abuse and cruelty. Organization culture refers to the values and beliefs that drive the operations of an organization. These values determine the way the organization operates. (Gregory, 2009, p. 674). The best organization for me to work in should have the following principals. First, openness and honesty. A good organization culture for me to work in should embrace openness and honesty. Issues should be discussed openly to promote confidence in the organization. (Glisson, 2007, p. 740). Honesty is also a vital aspect of an organization culture since it promotes trust in the organization. Secondly, teamwork and collaboration. I would like to work in an organization that embraces teamwork and collaboration. The staff members should help each other in times of problems. This promotes efficiency in executing tasks in the organization. Third, Respect and fairness. I would like to work in an organization where I am respected. My rights and values should be taken into consideration. Human rights should be given priority when designing organization culture. (Ardchvili, 2009, p. 450). The organization should also be able to embrace my personality and treatment with respect. Fourth, Simplicity, speed and efficient fulfillment of promises. This is a major value I would consider before joining an organization. Promised rewards should be given in time, my salaries or wages should not be delayed without proper reasons. This is because compensation is a major determinant of motivation. NAB has a clearly outlined organization culture, based on honesty and openness, fairness, simplicity, speed teamwork and efficient execution of promises. These values are exactly what I would look for before joining any organization. Honesty and inclusive are major requirements of a good culture, (Christensen, 2007). Going by these values, I believe that I can fit in this organization. According to Atiku (2016, p. 26), a proper organization culture is one that encourages inclusive, honesty and teamwork. These characteristics are all embraced by NAB. Nab is, therefore, a good organization, which respects the rights of its employees in the workplace and ensures that each employee is treated unique according to personalities held. National Australia Bank is a bank with a clear purpose and mission. It also conducts socially responsible activities as embraced by its culture of support and respect to the community. NAB is, therefore, a good bank for me to work with since it is aligned with my career objectives and specifications of my organization culture of interest. However, the company is still faced with competition as the critical factor. The NAB profit margins have reduced due to loss of customers to its major competitors. Therefore, this report recommends that the bank should adopt the competition strategies being used by the rival companies. Abushanab, E. & Pearson, J.M., (2007). Internet Banking In Jordan: The Unified Theory of Acceptance & Use of Technology (Utaut) Perspective. Journal of Systems & Information Technology, 9(1), Pp.78-97. Ardichvili, A., Mitchell, J.A. & Jondle, D., (2009). Characteristics of Ethical Business Cultures. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(4), Pp.445-451. Atiku, S.O. & Fields, Z., 2016. The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Culture & Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Banking Sector. Journal of Economics & Behavioral Studies, 8(2), Pp.26-39. Au, Y.A. & Kauffman, R.J., (2008). The Economics of Mobile Payments: Understanding Stakeholder Issues For an Emerging Financial Technology Application. Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, 7(2), Pp.141-164. Bhatti, T., (2015). 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The effect of oil price changes on stock markets of the GCC Essay

The effect of oil price changes on stock markets of the GCC - Essay Example In addition, the effects of the oil price trend to the leading beneficiary of oil in the GCC, Qatar, will be addressed. Over the past year, the price of oil has reduced significantly. Numerically, the price of oil has lost 40% of its value. The minimized price of oil has led to the global decrease of oil and oil products. The trend has been welcomed by the consumer as countries enjoy a record low price of oil. Regardless of the benefits, oil producers have suffered massively due to losses incurred. Specifically, GCC countries have recorded reduced low markets. With the price of oil dwindling further, the stock market of GCC countries face the risk of an economic crisis unless an intervention is developed to minimize the risks (Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen, 2011). Over the years, GCC countries have been best placed to manipulate oil prices thus creating price targets that would suit their economic demands. With the new changes, how much of effect does it have on the GCC countries? The GCC comprises of six countries. They are Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab and Saudi Arabia. The six nations develop their economic background from the export of oil. The nations produce 20% of the world oil (Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen, 2011). This places them as the greatest oil producers globally. In addition, the GCC has 47% of the global oil reserves. This is in addition to that the control 36% of the global oil exports. It is evident that the GCC is massively dependent on oil. In an argument by Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen (2011) the influence of the oil prices has a massive influence on the stock market of the GCC countries. The change in oil prices is directly proportional to the changes in the stock market. Specifically, an increase in the oil prices influences a massive influence on the GCC stock market. This is based on that there is massive investments in the oil industry in the market. Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen (2011) are of the assumption that the

Analyst article Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyst article - Assignment Example Nuclear energy contributes 20% of the energy produced in the US. However, the nuclear industry is struggling following delayed construction of nuclear plants and ballooning costs of setting up new modern plants. Additionally, the industry faces intense competition from cheaper alternative energy sources. However, these sources emit carbon thus environmentally unfriendly (Kelly-Detwiler, 2014). Thus, politicians, energy companies and engineering outfits campaign for revamping of the industry until the country has energy alternatives that would not harm the environment. In this article, Kelly-Detwiler (2014) appreciates the need for cheaper alternative energy sources but at the same time the need to protect the environment. Whereas new cheaper energy generating technologies are emerging, they emit carbon. Thus, while nuclear energy fails to be cost-competitive, its use should be promoted due to associated environmental benefits. This is an interesting article as it appreciates the reality of nuclear energy being overtaken by emergent energy sources as a low-cost energy source. Even so, the need to protect and preserve the environment creates the need to foster the nuclear energy industry until environmental friendly alternatives are fronted. Thus, cost and environment are both important considerations when making energy source

Rite of Passage in the Western Culture Research Paper

Rite of Passage in the Western Culture - Research Paper Example At every important point of a person’s life, a rite of passage helps in the transition from one phase to another. The concept of rite of passage has appealed to many sociologist and anthropologists such as Arnold van Gennep who formed the term rite of passage and gave the different ceremonies practised in different religions and societies, a common word. Gennep further categorized the three phases in three phases, namely separation, transition and incorporation. Gennep through studying the different ceremonies in different religions and societies had been able to find a common ground in all these ceremonies by studying the underlying concept in these rites of passage. Rite of passage in different races, religions and societies differ but they usually celebrate the same events in an individual’s life but in different ways. Similarly, the rite of passage of the west differs from that of the east and the rite of passage of Christianity differs from that of Islam. In this paper, we attempt to analyze the concept behind the rite of passage and the western ways of conducting rites of passage. Rite of passage can be likened to Shakespeare’s ‘Seven ages of man’, where a man changes drastically from one stage of another. From the time an individual is born to the time when he is buried, the rite of passage helps him in a smooth movement from one transition to another. According to Victor Turner, rites of passage can be divided into two broad categories, those that ‘accompany the passage of a person from one social status to another and (those that) mark recognized points in the passage of time, such as new year, new moon, Passover and so forth’ (Klingbeil, 2007). Thus rites of passage are both religious and social. Religious rite of passage includes the rituals that are carried forward from endless times and differ in each religion to a certain extent. One can find similarities between the  religious rites of passage of different religions in the way that they celebrate the same events.  

Coca-Cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Coca-Cola - Essay Example Despite the popularity of the world brand, Coca-Cola has also faced much criticism Coca-Colarent groups, mostly concerning health effects issues, environmental problems and numerous business practices. Thus, in 2014 a brominated vegetable oil was found in Cocal Cola fruit and sports drinks, particularly in Fanta and Powerade. The Mayo clinic researchers reported that excessive use of BVO can impact negatively on the health, causing memory loss and skin and nerve problems. However, the company management stated that the level of BVO used in its drinks did not exceed the limits and was not harmful to the consumers. Along with it, public pressure and online petition to remove the BVO from the company’s drink was growing. Another issue that the company faced with concerned a new program that Coca Cola aimed bring to certain parks in UK as free fitness classes. It was challenged by the health campaigners. The controversy with the new plans to give twenty millions anti- obesity fitn ess drive obtained certain criticism, because the campaigners accused the Coca Cola in the indecent attempt to distract people from the fact that Coca Cola was fuelling UK with obesity problems.The report by Public Health England claimed that soft drinks and fruit juices produced by the Coca Cola provided the biggest amount of sugar for its consumers and some cardiologists stated that the company was trying to distract attention from its part in creating the obesity situation in the country.

Describe the career that you would like to pursue after earing a Essay

Describe the career that you would like to pursue after earing a graduate degree - Essay Example eet the challenge of growing it from a small mom and pop operation to a thriving global competitor or to become a leader of an already established company where I can put my education and experience to the test in turning it around and bring it to success. I feel this sort of career will not only help my country by helping Korea’s efforts in becoming a world power in the marketplace, but I can help my fellow countrymen in finding strong career fields and skilled career positions, all while I challenge my own skills and abilities. Perhaps some day, I can even serve as a role model for future Koreans struggling to find the way to meet their own life challenges. If I am able to reach my goal, I feel I will have fulfilled my duties to myself, my neighbor and my country all at the same time. While I realize that this sort of endeavor will take time, I also realize that I do not yet have the necessary education or experience this will take. Understanding that the ability to meet large goals such as mine come about from the determined completion of smaller steps targeted toward the same end, I have established several shorter term goals for myself, some of which I have already completed. For example, I attended Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea where I majored in International Commerce. I also spent a great deal of time traveling the globe as a means of getting to know various different cultures and their customs. In addition to my education, I’ve also managed to find several business positions in which I have been able to put my education to practical application in furtherance of my primary future objective. I gained a great deal of business experience working for Donald J. Ulrich Associates as an Asian Global Management Analyst. Prior to that position, I held an internship at Hanwha Europe, learning about the European automotive market. Currently, I work for Hyo Seong America Corp., a Korean company that manufactures blower motors. My position within

Leadership Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership Theory - Research Paper Example Through these people, members of the organization have clear direction on how tasks are to be done through the means and methods imposed by the former. Leadership is the most effective solution in every organization elsewhere. But for years, however, people are still puzzled on how a person becomes a leader (Lussier & Achua, 2009) They keep on thinking if such ability is innate in character or if it can evolve through time and experience. Whether there is a formula on how to become an effective leader, or a certain approach to be used by a person in a particular situation or organization, specifically to the one delegated as a Radiology Department Administrator. Radiology is a branch of science which caters to internal anatomy. Through the technology used in this field of medicine, physicians and medical students are able to visualize the internal make up of the body, leading to informed medical decisions. Radiologists are responsible for operating the machines used in radiology like the x-ray. Of course, in every department, there is a need to assign an administrator to oversee if the express and inherent functions of one department are being performed. In this case it is the radiology department administrator (Gunderman, 2006). The radiology department administrator is responsible for the general direction and supervision of the Radiology Department. That person should be a graduate of a medical school and is licensed to practice such field. The said administrator should be able to plan out strategies to preserve the efficient flow of service. Moreover, the administrator has been given the authority to screen prospective applicants of the said department. In this position, leadership skills are one of the most vital considerations. With that, it is important to know what leadership approach an administrator should use in order to efficiently perform his duties (Griffin and Snook, 2006). The paper shall delve into leadership theories in relation with the posit ion of radiology department administrator, and also to know the leadership theories which perfectly corresponds with the position. Leaders: Are They Born or Made? â€Å"He is a natural born leader† is an expression widely used by people who are delved to conclude that the leadership is an in born trait. It is correct to say that leadership is an innate characteristic, but it may also be developed and acquired through time (Northouse, 2009). A natural-born leader, so to speak, may be attributed to one’s in born skills and abilities like his level of intelligence or even his physical features (e.g. height). These qualities, which may be classified as above normal, tend to impress or intimidate people. With this, superiority over the normal person is created (Jago, 1982). From this perspective, five common factors should be considered in order to know whether the person has the innate capability of being a leader. The five common factors are as follows: 1) Surgency, which is characterized by one’s sociability and propensity to be dominant; 2) Agreeableness, which is shown through compassion and capacity to show empathy; 3) Dependability, which deals with the capacity for organization and credibility of a person; 4) Adjustment, which can be shown through stability and acceptance of oneself; and 5) Intellectance which

Working memory Essay Example for Free

Working memory Essay In today’s society, video games are becoming ever more popular and the more popularity video games receive, the more research that will be done on the topic. Many years ago you may have heard of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and of course the â€Å"classic† Super Mario. Today we have better technology and millions of different games out there that can put gamers in tough situations and can lure them to play for hours upon hours. With the gamer population reaching over 90 million in the past decade, their strengths and weaknesses will have a huge impact on society (NBC News). The question is, do video games actually improve cognition and have positive effects on people and how the games can improve learning skills? Loftus, Geoffrey R. , and Elizabeth F. Loftus. Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games. New York, NY: Basic, 1983. Print. Pgs 46-54 This book examines the psychological processes involved in playing video games, discusses behavior problems frequent players can develop, and compares video games to other fads of the past. The chapter that I look at specifically is Chapter 3: Games and The Cognitive System. This chapter goes over the aspects of the mind which requires complex thinking and actions to do certain operations when playing video games. A major theme is the different strategies that can be used for accomplishing the mental goals—like the goal to be good at playing video games. There are sections within the chapter. The sections that I will be evaluating is Attention and Memory. In the first section Attention Geoffrey Loftus explains that attention is the filtering process and people generally filter information very efficiently. Attention is used in everyday life. The author goes in depth on how people use their attention and to play certain games. The ability to manipulate your attention and be able to focus on one object and then (within a millisecond) be able to focus on another object. This is the key to video games and improving your skills. The author’s evidence he used, he applied to scenarios that people encounter all the time. They used the example of when you are talking in a group of people and the person on the left is talking to and you quickly shift your attention to the person on your right. The change in attention didn’t require you to move a muscle, instead it was all done with your mind. Another great example they gave is when you are trying to destroy all the helicopters in the air when you realize they start dropping paratroopers. You then start concentrating more on the paratroopers because they are going to be closer to you. The argument they gave was that your attention process can only take in one set of information at a time. This section Attention will be useful to support my argument because the authors explained that the more you used your selective attention the better and faster you would get at filtering information. Thus, it backs up my claim on how video games improve cognition. The other section I reviewed is Memory. The authors explained that Memory has two parts: Long-term and Short-Term. Short-term is generally identified as consciousness and very small capacity for ideas. Long-term memory contains information like our name and ability to speak a language and so on. The storage space is virtually unlimited. The authors make the claim that not only the memory (that your brain can handle) is important, but the speed at which you can manipulate that stored information is very important. They researched and found out reminiscence plays a big part in video games. This is the ability to play games one day and come back the next day and improve your skills or just be able to understand and play the game without relearning the aspect. The evidence the authors used were great examples. The first I want to point out is Short-term memory is like the amplifier in the stereo system; it’s the heart of the system, and it’s important to learn to use it as efficiently as possible. He gave many other examples that helped the reader understand how the memory is being used and manipulated while playing video games. This section is very useful to support my claim. It provides people with the background information about skills that you use while playing video games. It also proved that when you use your memory the better it gets. Green, C. Shawn, and Daphne Bavelier. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Video Games. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. PDF. Green and Bavelier start off by talking about the effects of video games on reaction time and visual-motor coordination. They then go on to explain the effects of spatial skills, attention, brain changes due to video games, and the uses for video games. The topic of brain changes due to video games is the topic that I will examine the closest. The main argument he makes in the section of his journal is that the brain releases significant amounts of dopamine while playing video games. And dopamine has a part in many important functions in the brain, playing a role in cognition, punishment, motivation, attention, mood, sleep, voluntary movement, learning and working memory. Thus, the more dopamine means that you could be able to learn more efficiently. Green and Bavelier use a lot of research from other academic journals, books and psychological tests performed. The argument was very strong because he used actual tests that have been performed so the evidence is solid and backs up his argument well. The only question I have about his argument is what might be the side effects of too much dopamine or is the brain limited to producing a certain amount of dopamine. Overall, the source helped me understand how video games produce more dopamine and how it effects learning. The authors were confident in what they said. This will help readers understand how people learn and how videos games help your brain. Way, J. (2011). Video games as learning tools: A library perspective. Access, 25(2), 10-16. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/868572874?accountid=14576 This article/entry describes and explains the benefit behind games made for learning and games that aren’t necessarily made for learning but helped students with other aspects of life. Judith Way, a teacher and librarian at a high-school, explained that she used several different video games to help students learn: My Word Coach and Guitar Hero, yes guitar Hero! She concluded that the games and programs she used was very helpful for more dense learning with children and not only learning but better attitudes and relationships with teachers and students. She also noted that the kids were much more interested in school and participating than ever before. Judith makes a very strong argument about video games and learning. The reason it is strong is because she conducted the study herself and could personally see changes in the students. Her evidence she presented was in the form of graphs that were clear and depicted gain in most cases. She also provided examples by children themselves. There was sufficient evidence that supported learning can be improved by video games. The piece of work will be very helpful on giving an outlook on how video games can improve learning and learning skills. This article can also help give an insight on how they can improve video games to get more positive outcomes in learning. Prot, Sara, MA, Katelyn A. McDonald, Craig A. Anderson, PhD, and Douglas A. Gentile, PhD. VVideo Games: Good, Bad, or Other? Pediatric Clinics of North America59. 3 (2012): n. pag. Print. This article provides an overview of research findings on the positive and negative effects of video games, thus providing an empirical answer to the question, are video games good or bad? The article also provides some guidelines to help pediatricians, parents, and other caregivers protect children from negative effects and to maximize positive effects of video games. This article offers the opposite of my argument. It is a very strong argument that will help me understand the other side and give me an understanding that along with positive effects there are negative too. The authors have consolidated a lot of research they did into one paper. The research comes from a lot of trials and studies conducted on kids playing video games. The evidence that she gave was quality research and she presented all her data in nice organized tables. This article helps me recognize the opposite side of my proposal. This source will help me give evidence of the opposite view and statistics so that I can counter argue the ideas. This source narrows the topic of video games to violent videos which isn’t necessarily what I am writing about but it still gives a lot of negative effects that can come from video games in general. This research that I have done will greatly help narrow my topic to a more specific idea and it reassures my views on the topic. Once I narrow my topic even more I can get even more specific details. And more details means a better argument. Even though I have found out that there are positive ways that video games effect people, I have also noticed that research proves there are many negative effects too. This will help me in my argument to provide specific examples where only positive effects can happen.

Emile Durkheim and Max Weber

Emile Durkheim and Max Weber The subject of Sociology emerged in the 18th and 19th century a period known as The Age of Enlightenment. Since then, the study of Sociology has contributed profoundly and vastly to the world of history by fostering the formation, development, and shaping of societies. The fathers of Sociology, like Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, have had a weighty contribution in studying the development of societies and the evolution of social thinking. During 1789, the changes in French Society encouraged Durkheim to give Sociology its academic credibility and influence, as he saw Sociology as a distinctive study. His study was methodological, which he made evident in his study of the suicides. Weber formed a new form of conflict theory using Marxs work as his base. His research discussed the search for adequacy at the level of both subjective understanding and structural causality. In this essay, I will be focusing on the works of Durkheim and Weber, and will be explaining how the studied the evol ution of society focusing on different aspects. In Durkheims work, The Division of Labour (1997), he studied the changes in social cohesion amongst societies that evolved from traditional to modern, mainly focusing on individualism (Durkheim, 1997). He believed that the division of labour and economic dependence was the main force for binding people together in modern societies, unlike in traditional societies, where the shared belief would hold the society together (Durkheim, 1997). He explained this by mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Nonetheless, he did agree that a shared moral basis was an essential factor in social order, because organic solidarity emphasizes more on individual distinction, rather than common identities (Durkheim, 1997). Therefore, he noticed that, in traditional communities, religion was being replaced by individualism and philosophy. Mechanical solidarity exists in pre-industrial, small-scale societies and individuals are alike because they share the same emotions and same sacred values, hence their properties are communally owned, making the community smaller and traditional (Durkheim, 1997). Therefore, they do not differentiate, which limits job specification in the society. Over time, societies get more complex, this led to an increase in the division of labour and cause mechanical solidarity to be less evident. As a result, organic solidarity is created, forming more modern and large-scaled societies (Durkheim, 1997). In these societies, consensus is created, which means that there is differentiation between individuals, so there was a range of activity and tasks that came across, which strengthens the interdependence amongst them (Durkheim, 1997). In spite of individuals being unlike one another, they need to get on together in order for social life to work. This dependence develops a network of solidarity. Therefore, social order does not rest on uniformity but rather on individual pursuing different, but complementary functions, which encourages individualism and individual talent (Durkheim, 1997). The moral force and consensus amongst others hold the society together and ensures that interdependence remains. It should be considered that Durkheims distinction of these societies was not a simplistic and rigid division, because societies dont exhibit one and not the other. As organic solidarity increasing, societies will still need to have common beliefs because all societies have to have some common set of assumption about the world (Durkheim, 1997). Thus, collective consciousness is vital in a society, because without it, there is a collection of mutually antagonistic individuals (Durkheim, 1997). However, collective consciousness varies in extent and force from one society to another. Mechanical solidarity on one hand embraces individual conscience, and on the other hand, organic solidarity individual scope is higher, because people have greater freedom to follow their own preferences (Durkheim, 1997). Although the division of labour was important to Durkheim, it was not at the basis of his social theory. Unlike Marx, he did not see the economic level of social organization as providing the basis for all others, and he was much more concerned with shared beliefs and norms. He thought that class conflict was a temporary obstacle in social development believing that it acted as a mediator to ensure that modernisation occurred smoothly. Unlike Durkheim, who focused on the society and how that forms the actions, Weber discusses how individual action causes the changes in society. Weber argued that bureaucracies were becoming the organizational model of the 19th Century (Ritzer, 2000 and Weber in Lemert, 1999), which is a large hierarchical organization governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks (Newman, 2008). This was seen as a leading example of rationalisation, as decisions were based on efficiency and not on tradition; it was an important social development to modernity. George Ritzer (1993) argues that McDonalds is becoming the model for organizations in the 21st Century; the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world (Ritzer, 1993). Webers rationalisation discussed regularities and patterns of action within civilisations, institutions, organisations, strata, classes, and groups (Ritzer, 2000). His interest lies on the objectified rationality, which is the action that is in accord with some process of external systematization. Weber argues 4 types of rationality practical, theoretical, substantive, and formal to scrutinize the historical fates of rationalization as sociocultural processes (Kalbery, 1980). Practical rationality is every way of life that views and judges worldly activity in relation to the individuals purely pragmatic and egoistic interests (Kalbery, 1980). Individuals that practice this rationality, merely accept realities, and deal with difficulties in the most expedient way. This rationality opposes anything that threatens to transcend everyday routine. Individuals tend to distrust all impractical values, as well as theoretical rationality. Theoretical rationality understands reality through t he abstract concepts, rather than through action (Ritzer, 2000). Unlike practical rationalists, individuals deal with difficulties as a quest to understand the world as a meaningful cosmos. Substantive rationality discusses how individuals accept the various possible values and attempt to make them consistent (Ritzer, 2000). However, this does become an issue in modern societies as it acts as an obstacle to pursue certain values. For example, being grounded to family values may be difficult for an individual to tolerate the economic pressure and dominance from bureaucratic organisations. Lastly, formal rationality characterises bureaucratic, which leads to universally applied rules, laws and regulations that characterize formal rationality in the West particularly in the economic, legal, and scientific institutions, as well as in the bureaucratic form of domination (Ritzer, 2000), such as the contemporary legal and judicial systems. As society was become more rationalised, Weber noticed that in modern societies, formal rationality played a greater role, thus substantive rationality lead to a decline (Ritzer, 2000). This is because; formal rationality emerged consequently during the time when capitalistic organisations were being developed. Due to the increase in formal rationality, the other forms of rationality are crowded out, limiting the possibility of creative social action (Ritzer, 2000). Durkheim believed that individuals actions are not independently chosen by them but in fact is the choices are planned by society. Using religion as an example, we possess certain values, beliefs and practices which have been learnt over time, because of their existence before. As a result, Durkheim believes that we perform our roles in society as a duty, even though they conform to my own sentiments and I feel their reality subjectivelyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I merely inherited them through my education (Appelrouth, S. Laura D.E in 2008). For example, the roles we perform as being a sister, or wife, or even mother is more like a duty, and how society expects us to behave and act towards the other. Therefore, the achievement of social life among people, the existence of social order and social solidarity is established by collective standards of behaviour and values (Durkheim, 1964). However, social solidarity is crucial for the existence of society; the specific type or form social solidari ty which resides within a society is not fixed and changes the changing form of society. The members of the society adopt common values, beliefs and tradition, which is created as products of collective interaction. This means that individuals are constrained to adopt their culture in a certain way, because they belong to that culture (Durkheim, 1964). For example, as a member of the audience, individuals feel obliged to applaud at the right time to conform the feeling of collectively. Therefore, the social group is a social phenomenon, as it constrains individual behaviour, which is known as social facts. It is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or gain, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations (Durkheim, 1964: 13). For example, many people say that society is the reason for their actions, beliefs and knowledge; like society expects one to get married and have children, however not everyone fulfils these expectations, and they still do continue living in society. Nevertheless, the degree of constraint and freedom vary and there is always a degree of choice, but the there is also a degree of constraint, which are social facts. Durkheim (1964) argues that social facts must be regarded as things which can be observed at the level of collectively and not at the level of individual behaviour. He also suggests that one can identify social phenomena by identifying situations of social constraint. Using suicide as an example, we all believe that it is the most individualistic action of all actions (Poilton et al, 1987). However, Durkheim uses his work on Suicide to prove that even in its most solitary and individual of acts, something external to the individual, namely society, has not only been a witness to but also the director of the tragic drama. Webers social action theory explains how individuals in society have the ability to exert control over their own actions, which makes them the active creator of social behaviour, hence opposing Durkheims view about society constructing their action. Hence, according to Weber, society is created by individuals and not the other way around (Weber, 1978 and Whimster, 2000). Individuals in society use their conscious thought to be aware of themselves and others as social beings; they possess their own motives, belief, and reasons, and they control their own actions. Weber discusses 4 types of social action according to the degree of rationality vs. meaningfulness traditional action, affectual action, value-rational action, and instrumental action (Weber, 1978 and Whimster, 2000). Traditional action is an unthinking habitual behaviour. It has low rationality and low meaningfulness (Weber, 1978). For example, the way people eat in different cultures and families vary. Thus, eating with yo ur hands is not considered rude in an Indian family, whereas it would be in a European family. Affectual action is governed by emotions, and thus makes it uncontrollable, similarly to traditional action; it is low on rationality and meaningfulness (Weber, 1978). For example, emotions such as laughing, burping, and anger are controllable, and as a result, the individuals have the ability to exert control. Value-rational action is the characteristic of modern societies and civilisations that have not made the transition to high modernity (Weber, 1978). These actions are high on rationality, but low on meaning, as one is unable to reflect upon the value of actions. For example, in religion, the belief in God is rational as there is blind faith, and people follow certain practices in order to go to heaven. Lastly, instrumental action represents the completion of an individuals ability to reflect upon the ways and purposes of his actions (Weber, 1978). It exists in all societies, but pre dominantly in advanced capitalist societies. For example, in society, in order to earn a PhD degree, one has certain rational acts to achieve that certain rational goal, such as funds and grades. Therefore, Weber argued that the actions of the individuals are not influenced by society, but in fact they have the capability to exert control over their actions, thus they are independent of their own behaviour. In Division of Labour (1997), Durkheim further discusses the reinforcement of suitably modernized societies. He saw that only certain groups would be permitted to regulate economic life by generating the moral standards (Turner, 1993). According to Durkheim, these standards can be established neither by the scientist in his study nor by the statesman; it has to the task of the groups concerned. (Turner, 1993); in other words, it cannot come from outside. However, these groups were non-existent in society (Turner, 1993). Although Durkheim was vague about the groups, he does implicitly argue that the groups would have initially been formed by legislation; once the group is formed, nothing can hinder an appropriate moral life from evolving out of it (Turner, 1993). Nevertheless, Durkheims vague idea about the groups was correct. The governmental regulation of economic life, such as the regulation on the notions of morality and equity, has enormously developed in modern industrialised societies, and the agent is known as the State, not occupational groups (Turner, 1993). As Durkheim failed to realise the ability the State possesses to regulate economic life, he also underestimated the moral power of traditional intermediate groups, which were based upon their religion and ethics (Turner, 1993). He believed that only modern groups could counterbalance the actions of the State. However, Durkheim viewed central State and intermediate groups are the key factors to individual rights (Turner, 1993). Therefore, Durkheim perceives the State as the organ of the society, it is the social brain; the State acts as a regulator. Weber did not see State as the regulator, but in fact, he saw the State as dominator. As we are aware that bureaucracy organisation were being more popular, societies transferred from traditional to modern over a period of time, especially in capitalist societies. Weber saw that there was a new emphasis on materialism and consequently the rise in Protestantism resulted in the formation of The Iron Cage as human society was imprisoned with depersonalisation and increased rationalisation (Weber, 1958). According to Calvinism, known as a rational religious system, people should engage in a disciplined and methodical way of life which would facilitate their path to become richer and work harder (Weber, 1958). This was because they believed that it was the right way to glorify God, as it would be a sign that they are chosen to be saved. Contrary, Catholic doctrine followed the idea that one would obtain salvation by the means of avoiding salvation and adopting an isolated and mainly spiritual life (Weber, 1958). Therefore, the attitude of material wealth to serve God, and wasting time and money being an obstacle for salvation, led to development of the Capitalist system, as it permitted Christians to live luxuriously, thus rational economy was formed in which everything was calculated and designed to maintain the system. However, soon, the reasons for material wealth had been substituted for other reasons, and maintaining the social system was a key priority (Weber, 1958). These meant that people worked and earn more, just so they could spend more. As a results, science replaced religion in order to keep the system working, thus the Capitalist system got out of hand, which linked to secularisation (Weber, 1958). Unconsciously, people were trapped in the system, like a cage, without ways to leave, which subsequently made them slaves of the system, transferring people into money machines (Weber, 1958). According to Weber, peoples ability to control their life was diminishing as they no longer had the option of to be or not to be part of the system; their freedom is limited. Ironically, the bureaucracy aimed to ensure peoples civil liberty, but unfortunately, it resulted in people enslaving them, and indirectly forcing them to support the system. To conclude, it is evident that Weber and Durkheim both focused on different aspects when studying social evolution. Weber focused on the economical aspect, such as capitalism and bureaucracy, and Durkheim on the social, like the workings of society; Weber supported the idea that actions of individuals caused a change in society, but Durkheim disagreed and said that it was the change in society that led to a change in peoples actions. However, they are similar in the way that they both believed that society needed to evolve, and break through the traditional way of life.

Comparing Rosalynde and As You Like It :: comparison compare contrast essays

Thomas Lodge's Rosalynde is an unwieldy piece, the romance is thick, heavy, and conventional. Yet when Shakespeare took it in hand, to rework the tangled web of disguise and romance into As You Like It, he changed much of the emphasis, by both altering and adding characters. Rosalynde is a celebration of love; As You Like It, a philosophical discourse on love.. Shakespeare cuts to the chase, eliminating much of the prologue to Rosalynde. We hear of old Sir Roland de Boys (Lodge's John of Bordeaux) only through Orlando's opening speech, not the extended deathbed collection of aphorisms Lodge provides (though this shade of Polonius perhaps influences old Adam's long-winded style). Likewise, the extended ruminations are cut entirely or, for the forest scenes, condensed into tighter dialogue. Lodge's grand tournament, with the jousting prowess of the anonymous Norman (proto-Charles) happens offstage, and we see only a wrestling match. Lodge's usurper favors Rosader after the tournament, but Shakespeare's Frederick spurns Orlando for his parentage and Oliver plots more quickly against his brother, further excising the plot-perambulations of the source and removing the months of tension and reconciliation that plague Saladin and Rosader. But Shakespeare also takes care to lighten his villains, more in the spirit of a playful comedy than Lodge's sometimes grim pastoral. His Charles is relatively innocent, deceived by Oliver rather than entering willingly into his pay (as the Norman does with Saladin). Oliver, in turn, is not such a relentless foe as Saladin: he has no cronies to assist in binding up Orlando, he does not so mistreat his brother before us as happens in Lodge's pastoral. Even the usurper Duke, Torismond/Frederick, does not exile his own daughter in Shakespeare's play (only remonstrating her with "You are a fool"). And he is not killed in battle at the end of the play, but rather converted to a holy life, in much the same fate that Lodge's Saladin plans for himself in remorse ("[I shall] wend my way to the Holy Land, to end my years in as many virtues, as I have spent my youth in wicked vanities." (p.273)). In contrast, Shakespeare darkens his heroes: they are not all the blithe, pastoral folk Lodge paints. Celia's single "Is it not a foul bird that defiles its own nest?" (p. 245) early in Rosalynde becomes Celia's more extended harangue at the end of IV.

The Supernatural in Macbeth Essays -- Macbeth essays

The Supernatural in Macbeth       More than a few elements of the supernatural can be discovered within the action and dialogue of Shakespeare's plays.   However, the extent and nature of those elements differs to a large degree.   There are traces of it to be found in Henry V, "Pardon, gentles all,/The flat unraised spirit that hath dar'd...to bring forth/So great and object" (Lucy   1).  Ã‚   There are also elements of it apparent in Winter's Tale, "What I did not well I meant well" (Lucy   1).   The supernatural is used most fearsomely in Hamlet, with the ghost of Hamlet's father representing the most frightening apparition in all of the Bard's plays.   However, the supernatural is used to an almost whimsical degree in   A Midsummer's Night Dream and The Tempest.   In both of these plays the supernatural does not assume an evil demeanor, though it does wreak havoc on the lives of those in its midst.   Yet, the supernatural is connected more with a generic nature of chance than one that is pure evil as in Macbeth or pure "foul and most unnatural" as it is in Hamlet (Shakespeare   1078).      In A Midsummer's Night Dream there is a great deal of mirth and whimsy and the supernatural elements are more of a mischievous variety than any kind of sinister entities.   For example, in keeping with the humorous order of the day within the play, Shakespeare gives us elements of the supernatural that add to the mood and theme of the piece.   For instance, we see supernatural forces in characters like Oberon, "a spirit of another sort", lord of the Realm of Dreams who represents the "white light of dawn" (Lucy   8).   Queen Mab and a host of faeries also inhabit this realm of mortals who would be fools.   The overall effect o... ...nopsis.htm   Dec. 20, 1998:   1.    "To Strut And Fret Upon The Stage."   http://www.io.com/~`jlockett/Grist/English/macbethsources.html   Dec. 20, 1998:   1-4.      "William Shakespeare's Macbeth."   http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/NOTES/macbeth.html   Dec. 20, 1998:   1-8.      Bloom, H.   Shakespeare:   The Invention Of The Human.   Riverhead Books, NY:   1998.    Hodara, S.   "A Midsummer Night's Dream."   http://web.syr.edu/~shodara/midsummer.html   Dec. 20, 1998:   1-6.    Lucy, M.   "Shakespeare And The Supernatural."   http://www.mwsc.edu/~eng368/summer97/public/7.24.97-10.55.59.html   Dec. 20, 1998:   1-13.    Noda, M.   "Weird Creatures And Weird Imagination."   http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/6630/macbeth.htm   Dec. 20, 1998:   1-3.      Shakespeare, W.   The Complete Works Of Shakespeare.   Gramercy Book, NY:   1975.  

The Influence of Bob Marleys Absent, White Father :: Bob Marley Essays

â€Å"My fadda was a guy yunno, from England here, yunno? Him was like†¦like you can read it yunno, it’s one o’dem slave stories: white guy get the black woman and breed her. He’s a English guy†¦I t’ink. Cos me see him one time yunno. My mother? My Mother African.† (Bob Marley, 1978) The psychological aftermath of being an abandoned child of a biracial marriage was something that heavily influenced reggae superstar Bob Marley for his entire career. Many of Marley’s most loyal fans and the vast majority of reggae enthusiasts are unaware that he was, indeed, born to a white father, Captain Norval Marely, and a black mother, Cedella Booker. Bob Marley grew up angry with his father who he felt had mistreated him and his mother. Marley was also partially ashamed of his white heritage. This childhood mentality of resentment and embarrassment sculpted Marley’s youth and eventually influenced the ideals and work of his musical genius for his entire career. The sentiment of abandonment and the lack of a father figure forced Bob Marley to look to other means, like the ideals of Rastafarianism, for direction, comfort, and a sense of belonging. The strong allegiance to black culture that resulted from the absence of his white father also partially attribut ed to Marley’s unwaveringly sense of Pan-Africanism. The imperfections and almost total absence of Bob Marley’s Caucasian father, Captain Norval Marley, had a profound psychological influence on the great reggae icon. The effects of racial issues on human nature and thought are highly debated and viewed quite sensitively by many. Often, people even find their feelings and observations difficult to discuss with regard to the subject matter. With this in mind, it needs to be stated that Bob Marley was not a bigot in any way. In reality, Marley was a â€Å"missionary for a form of personal and collective identity he called â€Å"Rasta† a word that both signified a history of racial oppression, and pointed to a definition of community beyond the language of race† (Stephens 149). It should also be stated that Marley was a member of the early movement of Rastas who were rooted in Garvey’s Black Nationalism, and in an ancient tradition of â€Å"Africanized† Christianity known as Ethiopianism (Stephens 149). Early Rastas adopted the ideals of Kenyan anti-colonial rebels, their call to action being: â€Å"Death to the white oppressor† (Stephens 149).

Revenue Allocation Among The Three Tiers Of Government In Nigeria

IntroductionRevenue allocation is one of the Constitutional functions of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Specifically, Part I, Paragraph 32 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states that the Commission is to â€Å"review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities. Provided the any revenue formula which has been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for a period of not less than five years for the commencement of the Act† Nigeria system of government has three levels namely, Federal, State and Local Governments.Each tier has its own constitutional responsibilities. And in a situation where the allocation of tax powers creates a resource imbalance amongst the stakeholders, it necessitates the need for an arrangement to allocate centrally-collected revenue so that revenue and development coul d spread evenly throughout the country. This is manifested in the Nigerian case, where more lucrative taxes are controlled by the Federal Government.Fiscal FederalismFiscal federalism is a system of taxation and public expenditure in which revenue-raising powers and control over expenditure are vested in various levels of government within a nation, ranging from the national government to the smallest unit of local government (Anyafo, 1996). Basically, fiscal federalism emphasizes on how revenues are raised and allocated to different levels of government for development. There is the problem of how to allocate revenue to different tiers of government in relation to the constitutionally assigned functions.The discordance between fiscal capacity of various levels of government and their expenditure responsibilities, the non-correspondence problem, is a striking feature of the Nigerian federal finance. There is also the problem of how revenue should be shared among the states and local councils. According to the resource allocation function of the government, revenue is allocated to federating units of a country for economic development, otherwise called fiscal federalism. Nigeria’s fiscal federalism has emanated from historical, economic, political, geographical, cultural, and social factors. In all of these, fiscal arrangements remain a  controversial issue in allocating distributable pool account (DPA) of the federation since 1946 (Ekpo, 2004).

Mac Vs. PC Essay

â€Å"The biggest ongoing discussion has to be the one that’s dominated the technological world for well over two decades: the Mac vs Pc debate† (Intel.com). Many have debated that Pc is better than Mac while others have debated Mac is better than Pc. Only a few have said that it depends on what it’s used for. If only we had more insight to both sides of Mac and Pc. Many people pick a computer based on what they are used for to and don’t find the computer that’s right for them. Others don’t find out the facts about each computer and just go with the cheapest because it’s cheap, even though they would be getting a cheap computer it can still be the wrong kind of computer for them, plus it wouldn’t work to their advantage. Before reading this you have to dismiss the ideas you had about Mac’s and Pc’s. If you put aside what you think you know about Pc, and Mac you will understand what computer is best for you. â€Å" Mac is a line of personal (PCs) designed, developed, and marketed by Inc. It was initially targeted mainly at the home, education, and creative professional markets. Since the introduction of the Macintosh, the computer has seen significant evolution now making it one of, if not the most powerful general-purpose computers on the market. It now targets the business, science, and law markets as well.† â€Å"Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating named Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUI).[4] Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world’s computer market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984.† The most important part of both computer systems is the cold hard facts between each other. The statistics of Mac and Pc vary depending on the website or article one finds. For example, on Computer Hope, they say that Mac wins at security, operating system, quality, boot time, and drivers while Pc wins at price, software, options for customizing, upgrades, gaming and repair. However some of the main differences are that Pc’s are not all the same, while some Apple Macs can now run windows, and if you’re looking at Windows XP it is not the same as Windows 7, or 8. Some other websites give more examples and reason in explaining with no bias opinion or clear winner and leave it to the user.  With the information of cost, popular applications, development and distribution, compatibility, gaming, supported architectures, user, virus attacks, system software, performance, repairs, programs and apps, privacy, customizability, messaging, and interface. According to Hongkiat.com the computer that is more successful can not be decided but, â€Å"To put it in easier te rms; Microsoft sold it’s operating systems to various computer companies, allowing a broad distribution for its operating systems. As a result, Microsoft is more popular than other operating systems in the market. Meanwhile, Apple has strictly designed their operating system to fit perfectly in their own hardware.† Mac is the new laptop/computer that has changed the minds of many into leaving the ways of the Pc. Is Mac really better than Pc? This debate has been on the minds of many, but the real question is, is the Mac better than Pc? According to the Ultimate Lab test article on Popular Mechanics.com, Mac is the winner of both desktops and laptops. After the test between both the website came to the conclusion that â€Å"In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple’s computers were the winners. Oddly, the big difference didn’t come in our user ratings, where we expected the famously friendly Mac interface to shine. Our respondents liked the look and feel of both operating systems but had a slight preference toward OS X. In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times. We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple’s platform-switching Boot Camp software—and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did.† Techrater.com states that â€Å"Apple has had a head start when it comes to designing slim, sexy and powerful laptops but it is nice to see that Windows-based notebooks are finally catching up. If money (and platform) is no object, the MBP is probably the better choice given that it can be upgraded to an even more powerful beast.† Some people can’t do a lot of research before buying a Mac, there are five reasons why Mac is better than Pc. On KSL.com there are five reasons why Mac is better than Pc. The first reason is that Macs are easier to use, for instance the Mac in a way hides a lot of things that don’t usually need to be seen, so finding apps is easier. Second is that Macs just work, and this goes side by side with Macs are easier to use. Third is that the app store is on the Mac,  almost everyone one in the world is associated with the app store in one way or another, so one does don’t have to search the internet for a program, people can just go to the app store. The fourth reason is iPhone integration, in the world we live in today 43.5 percent of people use iPhones. The fifth reason is image even Microsoft admits that Macs are â€Å"sexy† computers. The bonus reasons for Macs are great battery life, fewer viruses, page is better than word, it keeps people from wasting time playing video games, high quality parts, doesn’t come with â€Å"bloatware,† or pre-installed stuff you’ll never use, and built-in backup software that’s easy to use. For those people who will argue that Pc is better than Mac, it’s time to show them what Pc does better than Mac. Pc is the laptop/computer that people know and love and could never separate from them. Intel informs us about Pc vs. Mac in compatibility, reliability, cost, memory, hard drive, stability, availability and software. However in the end Intel say’s PCs tend to be the winner, while Macs remain the choice for the more elite or anti-Microsoft computer users. Popular mechanics say that Pc is cheap, and the Pc comes with a bundle of free software immediately installed. KSL.com gives us five reasons why Pc is better than Mac. One of the five reasons that Pc is better than Mac is that they are cheaper, whether it’s buying the computer itself, or equipment for the computer. The second reason is that it has Microsoft office it’s a program that everyone knows and loves. Third, is the ability to play more games on the Pc than the Mac. Fourth of all is the flexibility of hardware with the Pc, such as opening up the Pc and adding a SSD, or more RAM. The final reason is that it ’s what you know how to use. Some bonus reasons are uninstalling programs is easier, you have more control of everything, their look is more â€Å"hard core†, and that Macs are dull and colorless. With all this information how does anyone know how to choose the right computer? How do people choose the right computer for themselves? What most people do is choose a computer they’re used to or the most expensive because they think that’s what they need, the latest and greatest technology. What they should do instead is learn about what they want in a computer to figure out which is better for them. According to howstuffworks.com there are ten  differences you should look for in your new laptop or computer. Design, price, technical specifications, choice, availability, operating system, users, software, security, and customer satisfaction. Theses are the differences between Mac and PC one should consider to look for when buying either computer. The debate between Mac and Pc has been going on for so long even Fox News did a story on Mac Vs. Pc. Harry McCracken say’s â€Å"Me, I’m cheerfully agnostic: I recommend both Windows PCs and Macs all the time, and use them both, too. The last computer I purchased was a thin-and-light Asus laptop running Windows 7; the one before that was a 15-inch MacBook Pro. When it comes time to buy a new machine, I’ll consider both options. And if your budget permits, I recommend you do the same.† In order to do this people have to look at several statistics to decide what computer they like for themselves. Cost is the most important statistic to look for. People say that Pc is a lot cheaper than Mac; while the truth is that it depends on the type of computer it is whether it be Mac or Pc. After cost people have to look at the selection of both computers. It is true that Pc has many different varieties that you can customize, while Mac has basically nine variants. Operating systems is one of the most important things to look for in a computer. Security is important but all computers have great security so no one should have to think about it. Last but not least is the service, because if Mac has better service th an Pc, then people should want a mac, but if Pc has better service, you want a PC. According to Harry McCracken â€Å"The best thing of all about the PC-or-Mac decision? Despite what impassioned partisans may contend, it’s not a big, existential question. Whether you buy a Windows system or a Mac, you’ll find that the Web is the Web, that good software (much of it free) is plentiful, and that printers, cameras and nearly all other hardware work fine. Hey, they’re just computers, folks and the only thing that really matters is choosing one to fits your needs, taste and budget. Between each computer there are some common misconceptions. For instance, Macs are more expensive than Pc’s, but the truth is â€Å"First Apple only sells top-of-the-line processors and equipment in their current computers, while you can buy a brand new Pc with pretty wimpy hardware. Second there are many comparison charts (see the website) that show how in order to get equivalent hardware and software to anew Mac you have to pay the same price for a Pc (even if you build it  yourself).†Another misconception is that â€Å"Pc’s don’t work for recording music, but the truth is PCs are used to make music all over the world, especially in home studios. It is true that in professional recording facilities, less than 10% use PCs for recording, but they are using them and they are working.† A third Common misconception is that â€Å"Macs are not as upgradable as Pc’s, but that is a lie because this is true only in the mind of computer nerds, but for the average person Macs and PCs are equally easy to upgrade. The major hardware components that average people upgrade on their computers such as RAM, hard drives, optical drives, and video cards are identical to upgrade on Mac and PCs.† The last common misconception that is mentioned on Safari books online is that â€Å"freeware and shareware is only available on Pc, There is an ever increasing amount of freeware and shareware programs available for Mac, but there are still more programs available for pc†. Information like this can help anyone to pick the right computer. The long debate between Mac and Pc will go on between for many more years because no computer will ever be the same, and each computer will always hate its flaws. However we need to go beyond what we think to find the right computer. It does not matter whether that you like Mac, or Pc, all that matters is the statistics between both computers. If you like Mac and don’t want to change then you don’t have to change, it’s just that you might want to think about what you want in a computer. The Pc is what people are used to and when people are used to something they don’t want to change, and that’s fine but if you want to do something along the lines of photography or design you might want to switch to Mac. The statistics between both can persuade anyone to like either or both Mac or Pc. The sole purpose of this paper is to show you all the facts about both companies, and let you decide. After all, the only person who knows you best is YOU!

How does Mark Haddon use the first person narration in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? Essay

In the words of Christopher Boone ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – time’ is a ‘’murder mystery novel’’. This book takes you on a surprisingly effective journey through the world of 15 year old Christopher suffering from Asperger’s syndrome; a boy who turns to mathematics for comfort, who cannot eat foods if they are touching on his plate, and who judges the potential success of his day by the number of similarly coloured cars that pass him on the way to school. The story of the murder of Mrs Shears’s dog is told from Christopher’s perspective. Author, Mark Haddon’s use of the first person narrative is effective in the way in which it enables us to enter Christopher’s mind, it equally creates problems for the reader†¦ Throughout the novel, it becomes clear for us that Christopher finds it difficult to portray emotion or vice versa to read other people’s emotions. The fact that Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome adds to his inability to relate to how other people feel. As a result of this Christopher sees life in a very logical way and tends to describe things in lots of detail. This lack of understanding is highlighted during the novel. Initially the way Christopher fails to understand Mrs Shears’s anger and horror at the discovery of her dog, and later his lack of understanding for his father’s unhappiness and regret. ‘’There was a policeman and a policewoman. The policewoman had a little hole in her tights on her left ankle and a red scratch in the middle of the hole.’’ This quote shows Christopher’s logic and understanding and how he failed to realise that the policewoman had been hurt. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel. Christopher tells us how he does not ‘’like proper novels.’’ The first person narration is good for the reader because it’s as if you are travelling with Christopher on a journey and you are there with him all the time in the book. As a reader you feel this way because in the book the ‘major’ events unfold to you and Christopher at the same time so as a character Christopher is facing new experiences, whilst you the reader are getting a shock. The reader and Christopher are both kept in the dark for the same amount of time until the truth gets revealed. ‘’Then I stopped reading the letter because I felt sick. Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time.’’ This quote shows the time when Christopher finds out that his mother had not been dead, and in fact alive. His reaction to this is not e xactly ‘vivid’ however as a reader you could imagine in your head that moment and picture his facial expressions. Mark Haddon’s use of the first person narrator makes the story seem more realistic as it lets the reader get an insight into not just Christopher’s but most of the character’s emotions. Even though Christopher himself doesn’t tend to show much emotion you can still paint an image in your head of what he is feeling, this is because of the way he narrates. The small yet detail he gives you along the story is beneficial as it enables you to become close to Christopher and understand him as a character. The details he notices of other people tend to be their body language; this information helps the reader to understand how other characters feel. Christopher finds it hard to read emotions and gets confused when he can’t think properly, as a reader you can relate to his frustration because of the way he responds to people and their actions. ‘’What else did I say Christopher? I thought that this might be a rhetorical question, but I wasn†™t sure. I found it hard to work out what to say because I was starting to get scared and confused.’’ The downside to Mark Haddon’s use of first person narration is that the reader cannot fully experience what other people are feeling. The reader is restricted to mainly Christopher’s feelings and emotions as the book is written from his perspective. The fact that it is written from Christopher’s point of view means that everything we find out has already been processed through Christopher as he is the narrator. The disadvantage of this is that because Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome, it is harder for him to understand things like jokes and metaphors. ‘’ This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them.’’ This could be bad for the reader because Christopher is a very literal person so it is hard for him to add humour into the book and for that reason readers may not enjoy the fact it is written in first person. Christopher tends to focus on other small details which seem relevant to him but as readers you feel as if sometimes it is just completely off topic. Another reason why Mark Haddon’s use of first person narration is not suitable is that, when Christopher narrates he tends to digress alot. When he talks he sticks to the topic however moments later he is narrating about another topic. ‘’Marilyn vos Savant said that you should always change and pick the final door because the chances are 2 in 3 that there will be a car behind the door.’’ This quote was taken from a chapter which started off by Christopher talking about why he liked maths and how his teacher said that Christopher liked maths ‘’because it was safe.’’ The chapter ended with a tree diagram showing outcomes of a game show, where the topic started, and where it ended were in two quite different places! In conclusion, I think that Mark Haddon has successfully written this book in first person although if the book was written in third person we would gather more information from all characters and their feelings, alternatively, as it is written in first person, Mark Haddon tells Christopher’s story with warmth and humour which makes us see Christopher’s problems at the same time that we experience everyone else’s frustrations in dealing with him. By having Christopher as a narrator it allows you to enjoy those situations that may happen in real life. The suspense that builds up throughout the story is great as it keeps you on the edge of your seat as you don’t know what is going to happen next! I personally enjoyed reading this book from Christopher’s point of view as it lets you imagine how people deal with Asperger’s syndrome as well as how they act with the syndrome. The first person narration is effective because I think it made the book seem more realistic because in reality that is probably what would happen, if you were to go onto a train for the first time alone then you would most likely be scared.†Then the train wobbled a lot and I had to hang onto a rail and we went into a tunnel and it was noisy and I closed my eyes and I could feel the blood pumping in the sides of my neck.’’ I think the way in which the author has captured Christopher’s emotion and feelings is unique because as a reader I first thought It was boring to be reading a book from his point of view, however as the story went on I realised that it is quite fascinating to be reading from someone who has Asperger’s syndrome. Overall I thought this book was quite extraordinary and the first person narration was used quite effectively.