Hamlet and Lion King Comparison Essay

Still captivating people today, the story elements and classic plot of Hamlet, written by the influential William Shakespeare, have made it to the film screen in a version that the whole family can enjoy. The Lion King, one of Disney’s most legendary movies, illustrates aspects and characteristics of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and captures it in a magical, enthusiastic style. More than just the unforgettable music and remarkable animations, The Lion King follows the popular plot, conflict, climax, and resolution that William Shakespeare scribbled on paper over 400 years ago. However, all of Disney’s animation movies end with a happy ending, which means that movie writers of The Lion King had to change the story elements of Hamlet to better suit the movie for young audiences. Disney was overall primarily successful in delivering the dark, complex story plot of Hamlet in The Lion King by still preserving the optimism and purity of Disney movies, with only a few minor fl aws. The far-reaching influence Shakespeare’s Hamlet had on the movie The Lion King is evident through character comparisons, family conflict, and moral struggle within the characters. Simba, who undergoes his fair share of hardships and worries, can be directly related to Hamlet. Both characters suffer the loss of their father and they both seek to be alone, running away from their responsibilities in the royal family. To escape the guilt of the death of his father, Simba runs away from all responsibility to forget about his past. Hamlet also runs away from his responsibility, with the thoughts of revenge and suicide overtaking his mind. Both main characters have to reevaluate their morals as well; Hamlet decides whether it is moral or not to seek revenge on this uncle and Simba has to make the imperative decision of whether he should take control of the Pride Lands again. Hamlet’s father can be directly correlated to Mufasa, Simba’s father. Both kings ruled over the ir kingdom in peace and prosperity, with the intent of good ambitions. Both kings also suffered a tragic death, due to the immorality and cruelty in their brothers. Scar and Claudius, characterized as Simba and Hamlet’s uncles, both used evil convictions to force their way onto the throne. Sarabi and Gertrude, the queens and mothers in both of the stories, care about their sons very much. They also have little to no power over their kingdom, leaving the uncles in full charge. When Simba returned to Pride Rock to declare his spot on the throne, he was furious when he saw how Scar was treating his mother, just like how Hamlet was furious about how Claudius didn’t treat his mother as good as his father once did. Nala can be related to the character Ophelia from Hamlet, mainly because Nala is Simba’s love interest, as Ophelia is to Hamlet. Disney did a very good job at preserving the main ideas and character significance of the original piece, without taking out anything important. The Lion King placed a children’s perspective on a very gruesome story of responsibility and revenge. Disney was clever in adapting the story plot to a children’s audience. Most of the differences between the two works are because Disney had to change some of the stories conflicts to teach moral lessons and have more positive influences on the younger audience. Hamlet was written for an audience that is older and mature, and less vulnerable to the dreadful deaths and disturbing dialogues that Hamlet delivers. If a child ever saw the sinister plot and conflicts of Hamlet, they would be easily influenced to make bad decisions. The Lion King has a more encouraging, child-friendly essence to it, with positive songs and cheerful secondary characters that help lead to a happy ending. The Hamlet, however, has a very gloomy and depressing tone to it, with no foreshadowing of hope in the future. The ending of Hamlet ends in the terrible bloodshed of all the main characters, incl uding Hamlet. If this ending were to happen in The Lion King, it would not be suitable for children and it may even put some children into shock. It was a great idea that Disney decided to change the aspects of the story line that may influence child behavior, such as changing the horrible ending to a happy one, making Simba not contemplate suicide like Hamlet, and presenting the famous â€Å"Hakuna Matata† song, meaning â€Å"no worries.† When Simba ran away, he found a worry-free and happy life. This was changed from the original Hamlet plot to help children realize that  problems can get better if they stop overthinking and worrying about them. The Hamlet version of this, if shown to little kids, would make them overthink their problems in life to the point of envisioning suicide or seeking vile revenge, just like Hamlet did. Disney did a perfect job at adjusting the story of Hamlet to the appropriate audience for The Lion King. There were few minor flaws that Disney made in the remaking of Hamlet in The Lion King. In The Lion King, movie producers left out characters like Laertes and Polonius from Hamlet, and they weren’t very clear with the characterizations and placing of Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern from Hamlet in The Lion King. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern could’ve been correlated to Simba’s friends Timon and Pumbaa, except for the fact that Simba’s friends didn’t betray him and spy on him for his uncle. Timon and Pumbaa could also be related to Horatio, but they weren’t Simba’s early childhood friends. The Lion King could’ve improved the movie by having Simba have a childhood friend to provide relief to the audience from the main focus of the story, and also by having Simba have two friends that spy on him for Scar to spice up the plot and conflict a bit more. Having characters similar to Laertes and Polonius in The Lion King would also spice up the plot and conflict more as well, because those additional characters would make it harder for Simba to reach his goal; in the end it would be worth it and show the audience that no matter how hard something is, they can get through it. The only two obstacles that Simba had to go through were the weak hyenas and his uncle, Scar. Adding more antagonists to the story line would make the plot a little more interesting like Hamlet, considering he went through several obstacles to pursue revenge on his uncle. One other mistake that Disney made on The Lion King was that Simba didn’t mourn over the death of his father for a very long time, like Hamlet did. In the Hamlet, the death of his father affected Hamlet’s mind for the whole stretch of the play. Because of this, readers could tell that Hamlet loved and honored his father very much. Simba, however, forgot about this father and duties as king for many years when he ran away. Disney could’ve showed a better sense of companionship and love for family if they made Simba mourn a little longer over the death of his father. To summarize our Hamlet and Lion King Comparison Essay, Disney’s movie, The Lion King, embodied the Shakespearian work of Hamlet in a way that it brought the story of Hamlet back to life, with modern day morals and important life lessons. Even though Hamlet was very evil with its dark schemes and dialogue, it taught the lesson that seeking revenge on someone will get that person nowhere; they must step up and be the better person. Simba stated clearly in the fight against his uncle that he wasn’t gonna kill his uncle because he wasn’t like him. In the end, fate ended up killing his uncle anyway and it wasn’t Simba’s fault, so the story of The Lion King didn’t end in a tragic way. Disney did a wonderful job at modernizing the enduring and classical themes and plot of Hamlet by making The Lion King a family-friendly movie. Throughout the plot, settings, characters and lessons, Disney proved to be very successful in rewriting the tale of Hamlet in the most optimistic and hopeful way possible, with very few flaws.

Naturalism in Stephen Crane’s “A God in Wrath” Essay

The 1880s to the 1940s marks a period in American Literature known as Realism and Naturalism. This was the time when most literary works reflected the ideas of pessimism and determinism, and where events and even God oppose human free will or remain indifferent to human desires. One author and poet of this era was Stephen Crane. Crane published â€Å"A God in Wrath† in 1905 in a collection of poems called The Black Rider and Other Lines. The poem, which is about a god torturing a man, reflects the recurring theme of naturalism with instances of pessimism, determinism, and detachment. Naturalism in â€Å"A God in Wrath† Pessimism. Pessimism, or the seeming inevitability of the occurrence of negative events, fills every line of the â€Å"A God in Wrath. † In the poem, the very fact that a god is punishing the man is perhaps the greatest indication of pessimism considering that no man can ever be greater than a god. Therefore, no man can ever escape a god’s wrath and so a man who is suffering from it will surely suffer till the end. Indeed nothing can be more pessimistic than that. One particular line, â€Å"He cuffed him loudly† (Crane), indicates that the man is bound and has no chance of escape ever. Moreover, one should take note that these cuffs are put by a god and therefore impossible to get rid of. Also, the cuffs are in the form of â€Å"thunderous blows that rang and rolled over the earth† (Crane). This means that these are not just simple shackles that simply require a key to remove but that they are as complicated as they are difficult to detach. Perhaps one more indication of pessimism in the poem is the presence of a crowd of people who are not shown to help the man, or are portrayed as helpless creatures that do nothing but observe and add to the man’s injury by saying â€Å"Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane). The man in â€Å"A God in Wrath† is already in deep suffering when â€Å"All people came running† (Crane). Nevertheless, although he â€Å"screamed and struggled† (Crane), the crowd, instead of helping him, condemns him more by calling him wicked. In real life, one can see people who not only ignore those who ask for their help but even regard them as evil. Such is the picture of the society that Crane may have wanted to show through the element of pessimism in the poem. Determinism. Determinism in â€Å"A God in Wrath† centers around the idea that the man has no choice but to accept the wrath of god and eventually his own fate. The whole poem is a testament to the absence of free will as indicated in the man’s useless struggle to escape. Man’s free will is figuratively strangled when the god â€Å"cuffed him loudly† (Crane) and that although he â€Å"screamed and struggled† (Crane), which means that he wants to assert himself and his free will, no help arrives and there is no escape. Perhaps the man’s last chance of escape is the people who â€Å"came running† (Crane), and maybe he smiles at the fact that all of them seem to come to his aid. Unfortunately, it seems that he is predestined to suffer and perhaps even die of his suffering when he finds out later on that the people who come running actually do nothing but say â€Å"Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane). Crane here shows that no amount of screams and struggles from the man, or every man in general, can change the course of nature, the will of a god, or man’s destiny to suffer. Detachment. The stone-cold objectivity in Stephen Crane’s tone is felt in the poem in his use of such nameless characters as a god, a man, and all people. The absence of a capital â€Å"g† in â€Å"god,† except perhaps in the title, clearly indicates that this god is not necessarily the Christian God but perhaps any form of deity considered to be a symbol of cruel and inhuman dictatorship. It can even be religion itself which is shown here that makes man suffer. One can also see that in the poem, the man is unnamed, which means that it can represent any human being particularly those who seem to be experiencing a hopeless struggle. Lastly, the phrase â€Å"all people† (Crane) may represent everyone else in the world of the man who suffers. Also, the fact that all of them â€Å"came running† (Crane) tells us that they are united in their action, and that when they all together â€Å"cried, Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane), one can see that people in general are wicked and often express their ridicule and cruelty in unison. On the whole, the element of detachment in Crane’s â€Å"A God in Wrath† tells us that the situation portrayed in the poem and its painful events are not exclusive to the characters in it but also to every suffering human being. Conclusion Stephen Crane’s â€Å"A God in Wrath† is a poem that portrays the elements of the era of Literary Realism and Naturalism, which include pessimism, determinism and detachment. Pessimism is reflected by man’s seemingly unending struggle with a god that is impossible to conquer and with people who are brutally indifferent to his suffering. Determinism is present in the lines that show that his fate seems inevitable and that no amount of struggle and will to survive may seem enough to free the man in the poem from his suffering. Finally, a sense of detachment is expressed by the fact that the characters in the poem are unnamed. Hence, this makes the particular literary work a mirror of what actually goes on in the life of every human being who suffers and how much pain he has to bear with the wrath of a cruel god and the inaction of his indifferent fellow humans. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. 2010. â€Å"A God in Wrath. † Stephen Maria Crane. Poemhunter. com. May 24, 2010. Crane, Stephen. â€Å"A God in Wrath. † Withered Arm and Other Stories. Ed. George Bess. New Jersey: Viking Penguin, 1999. Print.

Science in Mechanical Engineering

For someone who has always seen himself as lesser superior than others; for someone whose confidence is always behind the scene; for someone who has never really seen himself any bigger than a green pea; for someone who has acquired numbers of rejection which, apparently, outnumbered number of acceptance from people around him; for someone who used to just exist – just exist – who would have thought it would come to this point? Review I cannot consider my life as an extraordinary this world had ever had. Each person has a story to tell and I must say mine is not really something different.While some people spend their lives with lots of colors around them, some just do not – and as much as I hate to admit, I spent many years of my life belonging to the second group. I go with flow and that has always been the case. It goes this way: I knew I need to attend school and so I did. I have to do well in school or else I will suffer from all the criticisms – the usual criticisms. It is never easy to live in other people’s expectations to the point that it is what they want that drives you. It is your body under their minds. I can now imagine how pathetic that was.All the while, though, I do not think I was as inspired as the rest of the class was. I did not make lots of friends from school. No big deal! But there were times when I also deal with thinking of the reasons for the ‘empty’ life. Those days would usually end with me getting no answer than ‘It must be me†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Although I acknowledge the fact that each of us has our own set of preferences and all the while, I lived in the thought that I just prefer to live my life like this – lonely, detached, alone. It was tiring when you care for no one and more when no one cares for you.This probably exhibits the self-centered approach known to men. My being careless about others exhibits my being self-centered while others being self-centered is signifi ed by how I saw them treating me. I started my career as an advocate of science and technology. Yes, my first degree was Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. I used to get fascinated with breakthroughs science gets to offer – all those inventions and advances in technology. Awesome! Hale great! Breath-taking! Fantastic! All those praises†¦ Nothing can beat the feeling of having invented something out of nothing.Or the feeling of being the one to drastically improve the current state of something for the benefit of people around the globe – it is always satisfying! Or so I was told. But who could tell it was not really a career of choice? I was one of those high school graduates who do not really know what they want to happen in their lives. And so, without any particular basis, it was Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering that I ended up with. Not a bad call anyway. I am aware of the good future this field has to offer. I have known of lots of pe ople who have succeeded in this career and, yes, that is, somehow, something to look forward to.I, at least, had this driving force to continue with my study. Fair enough to push me to strive harder and harder. I just told myself I need it or else I will end up with nothing. Although I appeared to be so passive all the while, in my heart I know I long for something. That something, however, is unknown. I do not know if I am just one those people who experience wanting something they do not exactly know what or looking for something they do not know, for sure, if existent. Can you just imagine how if feels to be in the dark? Be somewhere without any clear direction? They say that every little thing just takes a little of getting used to.Oh, well, probably, as I seemed to have been used to the feeling of being lost. It was sad but true. At this point in my life, I can never consider this as self-centeredness as I cannot even put myself at the center of everything. Myself was put on da rk – not in the center but in the darkness. Despite the lack of light in my life, I never questioned the existence of the Great Someone Up There. I perfectly know he is there. I do not recall how often I scream for His help. Maybe not that often but, of course, I do. I do and in my heart, I know I am not essentially alone all the while.However, there are moments when I tend to question the number and quantity of challenges facing me. There seems to be imbalance in load allocation. How come I am so lost while others follow certain direction? How come I do not know what I want in life while others are so certain of what they want in theirs? How come I do not seem to possess enough reason to be happy and complete. I often envy happy and satisfied people, I must admit – but I do not harm to them. I just envy them, that is it. And more often than not, I wish I were in their shoes. I even envy my own family members who seemed to find satisfaction in this life.Self-centered, I was, that time. In all the insecurities I have inside, there were times when I ask myself if this is something I caused. What is that something I failed to do? What is that something that I can probably change to make a difference? What could be missing? I have heard of success stories about people who started with nothing and ended up having the life they have always dreamed of. Can I not be one of them? My concern is never monetary. I did not wish for the whole world. I just want a piece of it – a piece of it where I can enjoy life to the fullest.I did not ask for extravagant things. What would a loner do with those? I doubt if anybody could really enjoy everything alone. I did not wish for fame. I have lived my life not having the attention of the whole world. I just want some compassion and feeling of belongingness. I did not wish for power as I have never ever seen myself mandating others or controlling the world. It could be that I long for power but that power is the power to appreciate and enjoy life, the power to make people see me as a sensible being worth the company, the power to contribute to the ‘real’ things in this world.In short, I was never a materialistic type. There are things I lack from within and that is something I longed for to fill in. Looking at these things now, it was all, I – I – I. I was so I-centered. Self-centeredness, however, can be seen positively or negatively. Realization should start from oneself. Otherwise, there is no way one can share himself to others. There is no way sharing yourself if you are now whole. In this way, self-centeredness can be seen as a first way in building or trying to build relationships with others.I used to have a, so to speak, very narrow view of things in life. I exist. I have to live. I have to survive. I used to find the question, â€Å"What am I here for? † or â€Å"Why do I exist? † as cliche that should have been buried decades back. Come o n! You are here because you are here and there is just nothing you can do about it! It is not a problem needing solution. It is just a situation that you have to live with. You are left with just two options – either you continue to exist or you end your own existence. Is that something needing some sort of profound thinking?!Life is as plain as that. You just have to go with the flow. I was never a person of confidence. I could not care less of what others might be thinking of me. Why would I? Could they care for me any better than that? I doubt†¦ I am just me. With or without me, the world would still revolve around the sun. With or without me, people from any part of the globe would still have 24 hours in a day. With or without me, things still go precisely the same way as they do when I am here. I am a nobody to ever have the notion I mean something – that I am myself and this person counts.As I started to look back, where did it all start? Where and when did I ever acquire this feeling of inferiority and lack of self-worth? When did I start to â€Å"kill† myself? After some self-scrutiny, these questions led me to this answer – the number of rejections I got from people around me. I was ignored for more than once, not just twice, far more than thrice, and to say it is four times is an understatement. It is never easy to be ignored. It is a feeling I would not want myself to dwell with – not anymore. As some people say, any attention is better than none.And indeed, any attention is better than the countless rejections my past gave me. Life has never been that kind to me. All those moments when I wanted to say something and no one seemed to be interested to even turn a head to look at who is talking; all those moments when my eyes could not speak more of what I feel inside and yet no one seemed to notice; all those moments when the only resort I can think of is to walk and walk and walk until my life ends; all those m oments when all I wanted is to disappear from everybody’s sight; all those moments contributed to the me that I used to be.In which case, the concept of containment applied in me. It was during this time when I tend to control and keep all emotions to myself, given the assumption that no one will listen and no one will care. My life went on and on and on. I learned to care for myself and for myself alone as I do not want to meddle with any other people’s lives. Why would I? Is it not that for so long I am with myself and myself alone? Is it not that for so long, I could not seem to find anyone beside me? Who ever said, â€Å"No man is an island? † I used to be an island and that is something I can attest.Until this very day came – I happened to come across (accidentally or probably it is fate’s planned way) with this certain book entitled, â€Å"Teach Only Love†. I am not a bookworm, definitely. No, unless it is an Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics book. I cannot exactly recall what is in that book that made me read it through. It was not me that is for sure. Nonetheless, the next thing I know is I finished reading that book. This is not normal. This must be something. And, indeed, it was. Why? Because reading that book had been the key to discover the other self I have.Yes, and it surprised me much more than any reader of this essay could ever imagine. What about this â€Å"magical† book? Nothing special at first glance†¦ It is a simple, plain, ordinary book that discusses the importance of our every word and every deed. It emphasizes that what we are today is basically an aftermath of what we said and did yesterday. I then started to look back at my past once more – the past that does not possess any allure to be revisited if not for the purpose of wanting to see myself mourning for the nth time. After reading this book once, I must admit something in me felt a slight change in perspective.But I was in denial. It is just a book – a fantasy created by someone, a perspective shared to others hoping there will be people to buy the ideas. â€Å"Count me out†, I told myself. But this book seemed to have a magical and magnetic property that made me want to read it over again. And so I did. This time, I cannot seem to put myself in denial as I did the first time. And yes, it opened my eyes in more than just one way. How could this certain piece of something, non-living, non-speaking, can speak of the things I have never heard from anyone in my life?How could this piece of bound paper wake me up from the long sleep I have been? How could it be? These are the questions reining my head for days and days. I got tired of seeking for answers. And then came the answer – if that non-living thing happened to show the life out of me, I can do far better than that. If this thing that does not have a mouth spoke to me of million things, how better could someone with mout h do that? If this thing that does not have a hand touched me in a unique, special way that no one has ever done before, what more could my able hands do?If this thing without eyes saw me the way I have always wanted to be seen, how better could these bright eyes of mine see those who are in need of my attention? If this thing without ears heard me like I was never listened to before, what more could these ears of mine do to those people who need people to listen as they confess? If this thing without shoulder happened to offer me a cradle of comfort, what more could this broad shoulder of mine offer those who need some rest? And if this thing without a heart happened to feel me, how can my heart not feel what other people have to express?It is this moment when I finally decided to stop asking why but to start thanking God that for millions of wandering souls we have in this world, I was given the chance to come across this book that opened millions of wonderful and worthwhile possi bilities. And so the confession above justifies the need for me to shift my profession from Mechanical Engineering to Counseling Psychology. These are far apart degrees and, yes, I did not see myself engaging in counseling. No, not even in my wildest dream. But this is not a dream. Yes, I am living in reality and the reality is that this is the vocation of choice.This is where I find myself, my heart. This is where I belong. It is true what the â€Å"magical† book says – that it is from your past where you draw your present. If not for the thousands of rejection, if not for the feeling of inferiority, if not for the lack of self confidence, I do not really think this book would have as much effect on me as it had. What is in counseling that truly entices me? It is not the feeling of recognition. It is not the money behind every consultation. It is not to make a living. It is to live and to let others appreciate how wonderful it is to live. Experience, indeed, is the be st teacher.I know the feeling of being neglected. I experienced lots of it. And this leads me to wanting to help people feel important, feel needed, feel worthy. I know the feeling of losing self worth and so I love to boost people’s confidence in themselves. I love to see people seeing their value as a person and claiming it as theirs. I love to see people loving themselves. But going through all these things, all these aspirations for others required lots of self realization. I had to learn to love myself first. It is true that you cannot share something you do not possess in the first place.How can I share love and confidence when I do not have it myself? I started with loving myself unconditionally, being proud of myself like I have never achieved anything before, and looking myself at the mirror with the courage to say, â€Å"This is me and without me, the world will never be exactly the same again. † When I finally learned to appreciate my own self, that was the time I started to see others in the way they should be seen – no prejudgment, no bias, no unjust feeling. This is where I started to realize the positive side of being self-centered.I took time to stabilize myself and when the time came, accidentally or planned, that I can tell myself I am whole, was the time I can start reaching out to others. Therapeutic relationship with others is where the essence of counseling relies. You have to build that kind of relationship to be able to counsel who are in need of help. When is it therapeutic? When you can ease others’ pain and when you can hear others’ grief without literally saying it. It is when your relationship with people tends to make those people feel relieved of their burden. It is the talent that no book can actually teach.This is the spice of counseling career. The theories behind help, but the counselor’s approach to practice it can never be assured by the theories. Person-centered counseling is when you put the person you are counseling as the central consideration in every word you will say, in every piece of advice you will give, and in every gesture you will show to the patient. The person being counseled would want it done that way. Well, to start with, he seeks counseling to be paid with attention that he wants to get, to get the understanding that no one seems to give him.The counselor should be able to give that. The central purpose is to make the person being counseled feel healed of the burden. As Jennie Rowden once said, â€Å"The best thing about counseling psychology is the face-to-face client work; it’s a real privilege to share in a complex process of change and deeply satisfying on a personal level. But I do so many other interesting things as well as therapy; with the research, supervision and the teaching and training of others, my job is endlessly fascinating and evolving. † And I share this same gratitude towards this vocation.It is more satisfy ing than having solved the most complex mathematical problem and far more complex than having invented a machine that could make the car fly. I am not saying these are fancy things. Let us just say, to each, his own. And this something that I won right now is something I will always be proud of. I claim the right to own it and be proud of it. Looking at my self now, I am far more self-directed than I was at a younger age. It is my responsibility to help others see the light of path and to be able to do that, I know I have to see the light in my own path first.It is a must for counselors to have interest in understanding people’s interaction with others and with the social environment. Understanding people’s perception is also mandatory. These things can be too challenging and too complex and only those are whole-heartedly interested can bear the complexity. Prominent areas needing focus are motivation, thought, attention, sensory, and perception. One of the most import ant things a counselor should never take off the mind is the confidentiality of the story or revelation of his patients.Opening someone’s life to a person who is not even a relative or a friend is never a simple thing. The counselor should keep the trust and confidence of the patient. Sharing one’s life is never easy, especially if what you have to share is something not-so-wonderful. But who ever define what is wonderful and what is not? As I come across this vocation, I realize, appreciation of something starts it all. When you learn to love what you have, you will see you need not have anything else. The chance to touch someone’s life, in a way or so, is one blessing I will not forsake.As I walk down the road, I wish my simple talk can speak of the things the lesser fortunate being would want to hear; my simple touch, I wish, could give them the comfort and shield they need; my simple smile, I pray, could bring them joy and hope that tomorrow is another day. There are people asking me what could have been – if I pursue the Engineering career†¦ As for me, I do not see this as a question needing answer. But then, I answered, â€Å"I do not really know. The only thing I am sure of is that had I not choose this vocation I am currently in, I may not feel this very light spirit in me.It could be that I will deal with problems of people in the world in addition to my own, but that is where the beauty lies. God gave these people challenges to work on, to give people like us opportunity to enlighten and uplift others’ souls. It is never easy but it is always true, always real, always sincere. † Looking myself in the mirror now, I still look the same but I see a completely new individual within. It was a total change – something I love. My past taught me a lot of lessons and although life has never been too kind for me then, the sacrifices that past brought me served as the inspiration in my life today.If not for this sad past, I doubt if I can see my life the way I see it now. Every bitter past, indeed, has sweet beginning if we only welcome the possibilities, if we only keep open arms for all the new changes. Fear is but a natural feeling. But to let oneself be drowned in it is another thing. The line, â€Å"I was left with no choice,† does not apply, I now believe. We are always given choices. The pick is ours. Sometimes we want something yet the apprehension is there and we let the apprehension rule. Realization does not have age limit.There are very young bloods who are very positive with their viewpoint in life. There are people old enough to realize things they should be doing and yet not doing anything. Maturity, indeed, does not come with age. It comes with the exposure in life. It comes with faith. It comes with the mindset brought by home. It comes with everything that happens in our lives if we only see things in right perspective. Each day is a new beginning and in each m orning I wake up, I thank God for the night that passed and pray that for this day, I inspire and counsel a soul.If I will ever change someone’s viewpoint, from dim to positively clear, that is when my day would become worthwhile. That is when I can tell it was never a waste and this day is something I am proud to tell God. In every talk that I do, may it be counseling or casual talk with friends, I know it is not them who learn from me. Talking is always a mutual thing. You learn from one another. No one can tell he knows everything. The same line, when uttered by two different individuals, may mean different. Why? Because it is not solely the words but the feelings and meaning behind the words.That is why talking about the same thing with different people results to a definitely wider perspective. It is not the subject matter, it is the people talking. It is not about the language used, it is the feeling behind every word. It is not length nor it is the brevity of the talk, it is the sincerity behind every statement. It is not important if the words are pronounced correctly or not. What is important is the openness of one another to talk and the willingness to feel and listen. There are, indeed, things no textbook can teach. There are things you can only learn as you get through it.I now know the answer to my questions and the answer is that I had to experience all those to experience what I am experiencing now. That may be the only acceptable answer and I do not really intend to search for more. Life is so simple if we only know how to really live it. Life happens but once. I might have spent many years of it in a not-so-wonderful way but it life does not lead back. It only moves forward. And so I should. No one should really wallow about the misfortunes in life, as there is no such thing. There are instances – some are happy while some are not.But those that are not are not really misfortunes if we are to scrutinize. Those are just Godâ€℠¢s means to prepare us. He does not teach us how to see things. He can only provide us with tests that can help us see things the way He wants us to. Our God is never a spoon-feeding, pampering God. He is a just God who gives comprehensive examinations where we can learn great lessons if we only listen. The world is a very huge venue to learn. This life is a very comprehensive exam to pass. The beauty is when we learn to appreciate the class – when we go to it not because it is mandatory to go to it but because we love to.ConclusionIf anybody would ask me now if I regret giving up my first degree to pursue counseling, I will answer, â€Å"The sad past led me to a wonderful today. Every bit of failure and pain did not really lead me to regretting anything because in each of those, I learned. And in each of those, I grew – not just as a person for myself but as a person for other people. † And now, I no longer find the question, â€Å"What do I live for? † mushy. I can tell, with chin up, I live for others to appreciate their lives. I do not just exist. I live. I continue to learn through others with high hopes and belief that they also learn from me. ?

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anthropology - Essay Example In this essay, we will discuss the culture of Mormons, who share beliefs, values, and practices that are different from those of the United States. Most believers adopt particular political and cultural beliefs because of their religious doctrines. According to Givens (2007, p25), Mormonism is not only a culture but also a religion. Most people are serious with their religious beliefs and faith, which influence the way they live and relate with others. Most believers adopt political and cultural beliefs based on their religious views. For instance, an evangelic who believes that abortion is unethical based his/her beliefs on cultural and political views that flow in the religious convictions. Although not all evangelicals who oppose abortion, those who do base their arguments on religion point of view. As many analyze the culture and religion of Marmon, it is evident that there is war that exists in this cultural group and other groups in the United States. According to Davies (2000, p33), the biggest problem is the different interpretations of life that exists in this cultural group. Often, the culture have backed some local decisions and ignored some discussions discussed in the nation. For instance, while the majority support abortion in cases when the mother’s health is in danger, this culture believes that abortion is illegal at all given chances. The history and culture of the Mormon cannot be understood without an understanding of the Mormon religion. The great migration that occurred in 1846-1847 was one-step in the quest of the religious growth and freedom (Givens 2007, p66). The Mormon religion also known as the Church of Latter Day Saints; was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith. The founder had a strong vision in, which he claimed that he saw an angel who buried gold plates. From the vision, the founder believed that angels are spiritual beings who work hard to protect us from the harm in the society. In this case, the gold plate symbolized a ny material wealth that hinders and individual to live a fulfilling life. Mormon practices and beliefs such as polygamy contributed to an increasing intolerance for some Illinois citizens. The reason many criticize this subculture is that at some point, Joseph Smith announced that he received a revelation from God on allowing polygamy. It took great courage to expose this subject to the public bearing in mind most religions criticize this concept. Most believers were willing to enter into the agreement set by the founder and many did this after much praying and anguish. Unlike other subcultures in the United States, the outside world was hostile to the plural marriage. Regardless of the challenges faced, the church gave its way to preserve the existence of the faith. There have been contentious issues regarding this subject in the 20th century. According to Yorgason (2003, p22), there are over 30, 000 people practicing polygamy in Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and Uta who believe that th ey are preserving Mormon customs and beliefs. In essence, many have adopted that this is the best way of life based on the teachings of the church. For the past years, the Utah government has criticized polygamy and in turn, this has affected Mormon culture. The government believes that polygamy should not be allowed at any given cost as it promotes immorality and adultery. The American government has also taken

An Epidemic of Food Poisoning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An Epidemic of Food Poisoning - Essay Example The etiological agents for this epidemic of food poisoning is bacteria (Emedicine, 2008). Bacterial food poisoning agents such as salmonellae, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus cereus and vibrio cholerae are all possible etiological causes for this instance of food poisoning (Emedicine, 2008). Other agents such as E. coli and shigella are precluded because the symptoms enlisted in the case study do not corroborate with those that are manifest by victims of these latter food poisoning agents (Emedicine, 2008). The E . coli/shigella combine produce symptoms that are hemorrhagic in nature, symptoms that are absent from those listed in the case study. Among all these bacterial agents one viral agent can be included - Norwalk virus. The symptoms manifested by victims of norwalk virus poisoning corroborate exactly with those manifested by the victims of the case study epidemic (Emedicine, 2008). It was definitely food infection as enlisted bacterial or viral agents are harmful only when a substantial number enters the host's, usually humans and primates, body and multiplies and starts secreting toxins that adversely affect the host physiology. In contrast, toxification of food is usually a phenomenon that is caused by toxin producing agents like some varieties of mushrooms (Emedicine, 2008). ... Answer 2: It was definitely food infection as enlisted bacterial or viral agents are harmful only when a substantial number enters the host's, usually humans and primates, body and multiplies and starts secreting toxins that adversely affect the host physiology. In contrast, toxification of food is usually a phenomenon that is caused by toxin producing agents like some varieties of mushrooms (Emedicine, 2008). Toxins in food like large game fish can also be induced by such fish feeding on dinoflagellates like algae (Arnold, 2007). This is a source of ciguatera poisoning (Arnold, 2007). Another common source of food poisoning through toxicity in fish is scromboid poisoning associated with dark meat fish such as tuna, albacore and mackerel (Patrick, 2007). These are precluded in favor of food-borne infection by bacterial or viral agents because of lack of appropriate symptoms and duration of such symptoms. Question 3: How did the food get contaminated and which item was contaminated Answer 3: Careful study of the data attached with the case study reveals some facts. The data is of the symptoms evidenced in each person who attended the dinner at Port Allen, Louisiana, and the particular items of food each consumed there. The data also includes the particular hour and day on which the symptoms started developing and their duration. When the data set was scanned with an elimination method in which each item was scanned against persons who had eaten it and had developed the telltale symptoms - diarrhea, cramps, weakness, nausea, chills, headache, fever and vomiting - there was no clear indication that any one food item was responsible for the infection outbreak. This is quite in corroboration with what the initial laboratory analysis had revealed - that most of

Feminism in the 1900s Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Feminism in the 1900s - Research Paper Example Occurrence of the World Wars had a substantial impact on their revolution since they were influenced to take a stand. This paper will explore ideas from different sources such as â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by Fitzgerald, â€Å"A Raising in the Sun† by Hansberry and â€Å"Jasmine† by Mukherjee, thereby discussing feminism in 1900s. During 1990s, women had managed to make their way into manual labor force in America, and others acquired professional occupations. For instance, Hansberry in â€Å"A Raising in the Sun† explains that Beneatha was socially progressive, whereby she undertook a course in the medical field and this enabled her to provide for her family (Hansberry, 23). On the other hand, women commenced to engage in a struggle aimed at establishing equal pay after the First and Second World Wars. In fact, this was contrary to expectations that they would give up their jobs and resume to their initial role of being domestic caregivers. Furthermore, they engaged into strikes, and they had a conviction that their effort would leave an incessant mark on American society. Women’s freedom to change their lives was attained during the 1900s, whereby they were offered a chance to vote and right to acquire education. In fact, this revolution led to increased changes in the work force, while fashion in America underwent continual upheavals. There were changes in women’s dressing, whereby they used fashion as a way of expressing themselves. For instance, in â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by Fitzgerald, there is a character named Myrtle Wilson, who is highly concerned with appearance and fashion (Fitzgerald, 26). During 1900s, women managed to acquire professions that were reserved for men, though there were those who decided to be employed in keeping boarding houses. In this case, women were able to secure employment in medical field (like Beneatha in â€Å"A Raising in the Sun†), while others became lawyers. In fact, a ll this revolution is attributable to revolution that occurred in nineteenth century. During this period, acceptance towards women increased significantly; this acceptance was based on their suitability in various occupations. Nonetheless, other women decided to continue with their domestic roles, thereby being excluded from attaining factory occupations and other professions such as writing or teaching Women who were married at a young age were denied a chance to pursue a career in the medical field due to lack of accessibility to necessary education. For instance, Beneatha became a professional in the medical field since she was not married; in fact, she was still living with her parents (Hansberry, 20). Prior to 1990s, women were offered a chance to become nurses, while men were offered a chance to become doctors. In addition, before the revolution in 1900s, there was a prohibition, which barred women from joining American Medical Association; in fact, they would not attend some medical colleges such as Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, but in 1910, women could join medical schools (Women's International Centre, 1). According to Women's International Centre, only seventeen and five present of doctors in America were women prior to 1900s (1). In fact, by 1930, there were no substantial improvements in women situation concerning other

Psychology of Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Psychology of Violence - Essay Example Though the article does not state Mr Clementi suffered from bullying, humiliation and invasion of privacy as a sex offense, Mr Ravi delegitimized him by taking all levels of privacy out of his hands. It is considered a sex offense because he broke the solitude Mr Clementi was after, by having the room until midnight, the intimacy of having a sexual relationship with anonymity and the reserve to decide under what terms. These four types of privacy were established by Mr Westin.(DeCew) As the police had already established that Mr Ravi had been bullying Mr Clementi since August, he will be tried for a bias crime. Behavioral Psychology is a theory that all behaviors are gained through conditioning: classical & operant. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Classical conditioning have two elements, the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. Operant Conditioning is the association between the behaviour and the consequence for that behaviour. From this conditioning, the learning theory was developed. Negative behaviour can be eliminated by taking away the benefit. A persons behaviour is learned by the consequences which can be external forces. His conscious is changed by the rewards he receives. Mr Ravi is an insecure young man as a new student; as psychologically needing to break his roommate; and who needs to make a place for himself in the dormitory. His name is Indian, so he has suffered prejudices for half of his life in the US. . He might also be questioning his own sexuality which could be common but not part of his own culture. Did he bully Mr Clementi because of his sexual orientation; or would he have done so to any roommate? The questions is his satisfaction in wanting to torture another individual. In putting the streaming of his encounter on the internet, was he showing his jealousy in Mr Clementis ability to perform on stage. Both acts represent the most

MySQL Information Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MySQL Information Technology - Research Paper Example The database of MySQL enables the users to develop a structure of relational database somewhere in the web-server so as to store information and do the necessary computing. When compared with the Microsoft Access, MySQL facilitates the users by organizing tables for them. Amongst other elements, the PHP serves as the queries. User’s forms play the role of individual web pages that contain fields. A combination of all these features allows the user to develop wonderful projects upon web which are very difficult to create without the use of MySQL. â€Å"The SQL part of â€Å"MySQL† stands for â€Å"Structured Query Language.† SQL is the most common standardized language used to access databases and is defined by the ANSI/ISO SQL Standard† (MySQL, 2011). Since the year 1986, SQL Standard has been evolving. Today, users can choose from numerous versions of SQL. MySQL is absolutely freely downloadable from the Internet and licensed by the GNU General Public Lic ense (GPL). GLP sets the rules for the use of MySQL in various situations. One of the most fundamental elements of MySQL that distinguish it from the conventional databases is its open source nature. Being open source, anybody can make use of and make alterations in the MySQL software. The source code can be altered as per the requirement of individual users. In a vast majority of cases, when a user already has a web-page or is getting one, PHP and MySQL are supported by the host. Servers which they are normally linked with include Linux. A user may check out the Dreamhost if he wants to gain the support of PHP and MySWL while getting his page. Some users have a difficult time dealing with the MySQL database because of their lack of prior interaction with the WYSIWYG interface which is afforded by the Microsoft Access. Therefore, when they have to develop tables, they either use SQL Statements for it or else, make use of some open source tool that can be downloaded from the Internet . Such tools are commonly referred to as the PHPMyAdmin. PHPMyAdmin provides the users with a user friendly interface which makes it easy for them to develop tables and forward their queries by providing the required information. This becomes particularly convenient for a user when he is tired or does not want to indulge in the lethargic SQL Statements. MySQL is significantly different in its properties, characteristics and uses from Microsoft Acess. After the creation of tables, it becomes very easy to use MySQL. MySQL far exceeds Microsoft Access in terms of both reliability and speed. In a relational database, data is kept in individual tables instead of one storeroom. This promotes flexibility and enhances the speed of the process. Microsoft Access is not much more than a system of desktop database. Small organizations can do with up to 20 users of Microsoft Access at one time, but hits as many as 10000 per day require a much more efficient and stronger system that is provided b y MySQL. The tables in MySQL can use real data unlike Microsoft Access. Need a text field that can hold over four billion characters? Not a problem, just use the LongText data type. Want the field to hold that many characters and be case-sensitive? Easy, just use the LongBlob data type. Need to store numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (for those of you who are curious, that would be over 18 Quintillion), then use the BigInt data type. Indeed, 18 quintillion is a big integer. (Blue Moose

EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS - Essay Example This proposition states that the markets price of securities such as shares traded in any stock exchange will vary or fluctuate according to the nature of information available to the members of the public. For instance information on company profitability, mergers, acquisition and business combination, dividend declaration and investment project that a firm intends to undertake are some of the information that influence the market price of securities. In addition to definition delineated above, efficient market hypothesis can also be delineated into three different ways, that is, allocative efficiency, operational and information efficiency. Allocative efficiency A market is considered to allocative efficient if it channels its direct savings towards the most efficient prolific project. In this case, if an enterprise is efficient it will find it easier to raise funds and this results to foster of the economy arising from the efficiency (Ogilvie, 2006). Allocative efficiency is perce ived to be at its optimal if savings cannot be a channelled to an enterprise or project that would result to higher economic prosperity. . In order, to achieve allocative efficiency in the financial market , the market should contain a fewer number of financial intermediaries such that funds are allocated directly from savers to users. Operational Efficiency Operational efficiency can be simply delineated in general as the minimization of transaction cost. This efficiency concept relates to the cost of conducting business, or the cost of capital that is the interest cost charged by the lender on money borrowed to the borrower. If the transaction cost is high this usually translates to high cost of using the financial markets. (Elton 2010). Therefore, transaction should always be at its minimum in order to increase operational efficiency especially where there is fair completion between the various market players. In order to increase operational efficiency then there is need to incr ease the number of market players who can be able to participate in the market continuously (Elton 2010). . Information Efficiency Information efficiency relates to extent that the information available to the members of public regarding the future panorama of a security is reflected in the present price of the said security. If all parties have the same information which is reflected in the present price of the security at their disposal then conducting investigation on securities becomes fair to all parties. This levels the playing ground for all market participants, because all the parties have access to same information which also reflected by the security price. Information efficiency is of great significant to financial managers since it indicates the effect of management decision will quickly and accurately be reflected in security prices (Elton 2010). The concept of Efficient market hypothesis is main based on information processing efficiency. It articulates that stock mark ets are proficient if and only if is reflected in security prices accurately and rapidly(Elton 2010). Efficient Market Hypothesis Levels Efficiency Efficient Market Hypothesis efficiency can be divided into 3 different levels: Weak form level of efficiency Weak for level of efficiency indicate that the historical price of securities can be used to articulate the changes in the security prices. According to this level of efficien

Education, Community and Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Education, Community and Diversity - Essay Example The local authorities to be researched are the Manchester City Council and Kent County Council. In addition, this report will concentrate on the major issues concerning the lives of teenagers and children staying in these two districts. The main identifiable difference between the two counties is their population. Information provided by Manchester confidential, reveals that Manchester City Council had a population of 503,100 as of 2011 (Manchester confidential 2012, p. 1). This was an increase of 19 percent from their previous population of 422,700 recorded after the 2001 census. The figure is different from the population of Kent County Council. The population of people staying in this county as from 2013 is presently approximated to be 1,493,500. The population comprises of every individual who stays in this region regardless of their nationality. In addition, it is the biggest non-metropolitan domestic authority region. However, this figure does not include the Medway Council region (Kent County Council 2011, p. 1). The similarity between Manchester City Council and Kent County Council is that both counties have recorded a high rate of child poverty. Manchester’s city center has been experiencing constant financial challenges such as recession. Consequently, Manchester City County has a high rate of child poverty in cities like Moss Side and Hulme that are located slightly away from city center of Manchester. Based on the research done by Wood (2014 p.1), the most affected areas include Longsight that recorded 46.55 percent and Hulme that recorded 47.47 percent. The statistics on the number of teenage children living in poverty in Moss Side was the highest at 49.43 percent. Similar report was recorded in Kent County Council. In 2013, there was disturbing reports that highlighted the increase in the rate of child poverty in the region. It was recorded that more than 56,000 residents of Kent were

European policy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

European policy - Case Study Example The period was marked by five Arab-Israeli wars, the crucial one being, the six-day war in June 1967 when Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights, the Jordanian West-Bank, and the Egyptian Sinai Desert, including the Gaza Strip. From the time that Britain withdrew from the Middle East in the years after WWII, the presence and influence of the erstwhile European colonial powers in that region has been minimal. But that influence and power have been replaced by the US, with sporadic inroads sought to be made by Russia either on its own initiatives or on invitation one or the other of some Arab states. One explanation why this happened was that the Europeans had developed a mindset after all that had happened in WW II that it was in their interest to accept the United States "as their common leader".2 However, for some years during the period of the Cold War, France sought to follow somewhat of a 'lonely foreign policy. France had warned Israel against going to war against the Arabs in 1967, even though de Gaulle had good personal relations with Israel's Ben-Gurion. What may be termed a French "Arab policy" had taken shape a few years earlier, at the end of the Algerian war in 1962. In the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, public opinion in the West had been sympathetic to and generally "supportive" of Israel. So, France's warning to Israel before the 1967 war and condemnation after it had particularly endeared France to the Arab world. However, de La Gorce states that this 'Arab policy' of France -if it could be called as such was "in fact merely the logical extension of de Gaulle's overall foreign policy and his encouragement of states not wanting to belong to either of the two major blocs."3 Thus France's approach to Arab-Israeli confrontation was far removed from that of the other me mbers of the European community. France was, of course, of the view that unconditional endorsement of Israel's animosity would only prolong the conflict but would also help to further build up the intensity of frustration and consequent violence. But France was not able to influence the policy or to exert any significant impact on other European states from altering their stance vis-'-vis the Arab states. The oil shock of 1973 France's approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict thus was an 'isolated one' in Europe - but only until October 1973. In October 1973 the Arab oil producing states raised oil prices by 500% and imposed an oil embargo, which shocked the western world. The European states were shaken out their smugness in relation to the Arab world and forced to think anew. The European community members met the same month and called for a 'political' settlement of the Arab-Israeli problem, including the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories since 1967 and acknowledging the rights of the Palestinian people. The nine Member States of the European Community issued a statement on November 6, 1973 that referred to UN resolution 242 and mentioned the 'legitimate rights'

Cbs Tells Sodastream to Revise Brand-Bashing Super Bowl Essay Example for Free

Cbs Tells Sodastream to Revise Brand-Bashing Super Bowl Essay Every year, the Super Bowl attracts some of the best and most high-priced advertising in the world. But it also lures a horde of publicity-seekers claiming their commercials have been censored or rejected by the host network. In nearly all cases, the complaining marketers never really had a shot at the Super Bowl, thanks to shoddy production values, truly objectionable content and, more often than not, the inability to pony up more than $3 million for an ad. And its a common occurrence for the network to ask event sponsors to tweak or edit the content for a variety of reasons (which also can yield a PR bonanza if a sponsor cries foul just ask serial offender GoDaddy. com). But SodaStream, a mainstream advertiser that some time ago purchased a spot in the games fourth quarter, said this wasnt a PR gambit. So whats the issue? The content of its planned commercial seemed to have concerned CBS because it was a direct hit at two other Super Bowl sponsors and heavy network TV advertisers: Coke and Pepsi SodaStream, which sells home soda-making machines, has already run afoul of authorities in the U.K. for a Bogusky-crafted spot indicating its product is more environmentally friendly than established sodas; the spot shows branded bottles and cans of soft drinks exploding into thin air. For the Super Bowl, it hoped to up the ante with a spot depicting truck drivers clad in clothing with Coca-Cola and Pepsi marks on them, according to Ilan Nacasch, SodaStreams chief marketing officer. We really tried to comply with the standards set by CBS, he said. At the same time, he added, We were taking it to a new level, and thats the level where they apparently judged to be going too far. Interestingly enough, Pepsi has scored big points with viewers over the years by showing Super Bowl ads with Coke deliverymen abandoning their employer wholesale for a sip of a Pepsi drink. Of course, Pepsi (and, for that matter, Coke) buys multiple ads in the Super Bowl each year, as well as spends millions of dollars on other broadcast-TV advertising. Another Super Bowl sponsor, Anheuser-Busch InBev with Pepsi this year for in-store displays and promotions. A CBS spokeswoman said network executives declined to comment. Bummed, Mr. Bogusky, famous for his work at CPB still in the game with an older spot we tweaked.

The Pressing Problem In The Prison System Criminology Essay

The Pressing Problem In The Prison System Criminology Essay There are three custodial establishments for young people, they are Young offender institutions, Secure training centres and Secure childrens homes. The Standing Committee for Youth Justice (2010) reported that during the period of 1989 to 2009, the child custody population in England and Wales increased by 795%. There is no obvious evidence showing that the youth crime become more serious recently, but more young people was sent to prisons. These large amounts of young prisoners have already brought a big pressure to the prison system, and it has become an alarming issue in England and Wales. The prison lives are much more badly than we imagined. They are neglected from the society, some of you may say they are put in the prison because they commit crime, it is fair enough. Incarceration of offenders may have deterrence effect as they will not further commit crime in the future, but the truth is the reoffending rate still stays high. For this, I always doubt Do we need to incarcerate all under-age offenders? and Do prisons work for all offenders?. Prison may cause more personal and social problems that we never expect. Also, children who sentenced to prisons have their own problems or difficulties before they getting sent to prison, it may include poor family backgrounds or drugs abuse, etc. These make the prison system more difficult to handle these children, and thus causing the problem of resources and management. Many concerning parties are doing different reforms as they want to reduce the number. Prison Reform Trust is one of the charities who promote alternatives to custody. It has launched a new campaign Out of Trouble especially helps those children and young people who are imprisoned in the UK. Also, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 36(d) stated that custody be used as a last resort. However, Prison Reform Trust criticized the juvenile court doesnt follow it strictly. Everyone understands that the statuses of children and adult are different, it is assumed that child should have more chance than adult. Children are important capital to our future society, so the prison system has greater responsibilities to help those youth offenders a better future. Under this perspective, people always argue about the purpose of imprisoning a child should be different from the adult one too. Society always place greater hope on these groups of vulnerable children. No matter the society, professionals or the government, they will put greater emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment, but the problem is how to make a balance between punishment and rehabilitation? The first thing to concern about is resources, thats the money-cost. Many news reports complained that youth custody spent too much but with an unpleasant outcome in return. Every year many millions of pounds are wasted for locking up children for committing both violent and non-violent offences, it is extremely costly but fails to reduce the amount of crime. According to the report Punishing costs: How locking up children is making Britain less safe(2010), Aleksi Knuutila stated that holding a child in prison costs about  £100,000 a year in England and Wales. Prison Trust Reform always argues that some very minor offences will result in custodial sentences, and they state that non-violent crime offenders should not be sentenced to prison as it is a waste of resources. However, the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behavior (2010) showed a disappointing result of reconviction rate, three quarters of all young people leaving custody re-offend within a year which means almost three out of four young offenders reoffend within a year after they release. We have already paid many millions for these youths, but we just did very little to change their behavior and protect the society. Except the money cost, we can see that the present system has limit ability to help these vulnerable child back to the right tracks. At first, people believe harsher punishment can help to deter them from doing further criminal behavior. But the truth is that the lives in prison make youngsters get closer to crime, or even breeding them into professional criminals. This is one of the struggle points for the prison system to manage and allocate those youngsters in the right places. The prison system also needs to try their best to ensure that children in prison still have their proper lives, which include giving them educational support and mentally support. As children are valuable capitals to our future society, although they did something wrong, they still have the chance to learn. Education is important to youngsters at any places, this can help youngsters to build up different kinds of skills and abilities, thus integrate back to normal life easier when they release. Most of the public support that youth institutions should give education and training to the children in prisons, this places great pressure on the prison system yet they have already put a lot of resources in providing children different education and training inside the prisons. Moreover, there is still statistics showed that the prison system is not doing enough for the children. According to the report Training planning for children and young people (2010), it stated that prisons are failing to adequately prepare young people for release. One of the problems is that there is lack of accredited offending behavior programmes for the young prisoners. Even those young prisoners set up some targets for their training plans, they may not find suitable programme to achieve them through the imprisonment period. Also, it is reported that many children release from prisons till have difficulties in their learning. This showed that the prison system doesnt spend well, and they cannot learn what they should learn in the prisons. Special attention should also be put on childs psychological needs. Inside the prison, juvenile will be allocated into different cells. It is not easy to adapt the prison lives, and it may cause them different psychological problems, such as depression. The Standing committee for youth justice report (2010) stated that Boys in custody are 18 times more likely to suicide than children in the community. We can see that it is a serious problem inside the prisons. However, it is not possible for all prison officers to have specific training to handle these problems. If the problem is ignored for a certain period of time, it may cause them suffer from some more serious mental problems. Handling the psychological needs of offenders has become one of the responsibilities of the prison system, but resources are limited for them. Again, it places greater pressure on prisons work. Evidences of reconviction rate have also showed that the present prison system is failing to restore and rehabilitate children in their prison lives. The prison system should ensure the children learn from their mistakes and the moral values through their sentences. It is important for youngsters to understand what is right and wrong, and why they are punished, it can reduce the possibilities of reoffending. However, it may bring some negative effects to the child and society, and even cannot facilitate them in reintegration and rehabilitation. Organizations of protecting children always advocate the use of community sentences, for this, children can learn from community and learn in community. Community support is important to youth offenders, if they build up good relationship with the community, they can be integrate back into the community more easily. However, the prison system does not do much in this area and still has rooms for improvement. As mentioned above, youth prison is required to do differently. Not only punishing them for their wrongdoings, but to fix their brain. It is important to do more about rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration. Children are vulnerable and relatively inexperienced with the world, they are easily affected by the external factors. If child only arrange to do some routine works in prison, it is impossible for us to change their behavior. The system need to develop a different approach for them as it has greater responsibilities to restore and reform them. However, it is not a simple task. Setting up and working with a system which is different from the adult system, it has already made child in custody under 18 the most pressing issue in the prison system. Prison officers have many challenging works like providing children proper educational support in prison, taking care of child psychological needs, working with communities, doing work of rehabilitation, etc. All these work has given the prison system many challenges and making the child in custody under 18 becomes the most pressing issue in the prison system. Words : 1541 References Standing Committee for Youth Justice (2010), Raising the custody threshold. Available from:, The Howard League for Penal Reform Web site: http://www.scyj.org.uk/files/Raising_the_custody_threshold_SummaryAug10_FINAL.pdf [Accessed: November 2, 2010] Youth Justice Board (2010), Youth justice system : Custody figures . Available from:, Youth Justice Board Web site: http://www.yjb.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/643A66F6-0DFC-4621-90C0-8EA27AD9FA99/0/SecureMonthlyReportAugust2010.xls [Accessed: November 2, 2010]. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1990), United Nations Convention on the Rights. Available from:, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Web site: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm [Accessed: November 2, 2010]. Aleksi Knuutila (2010), Punishing costs: How locking up children is making Britain less safe. Available from:, The New Economics Foundation Web site: http://www.outoftrouble.org.uk/sites/default/files/nef_Punishing_Costs_0.pdf [Accessed: November 5, 2010] The Independent Commission On Youth Crime and Antisocial Behavior (2010), Time for a fresh start. Available from:, the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behavior Web site: http://www.youthcrimecommission.org.uk/attachments/076_FreshStart.pdf [Accessed: November 5, 2010]. Inspectorate of Prisons (2010), Training planning for children and young people. Available from:, Youth Justice Board Web site: http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-prisons/docs/Training_Planning_Thematic_rps.pdf [Accessed: November 5, 2010].

Causes of Breast Cancer

Causes of Breast Cancer Breast Cancer About 40,610 women alone will die just this year from breast cancer. Everyone is at risk of breast cancer. Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the breast. It is a big killer of women. The article breast cancer states that, breast cancer, cancer that originates in the breast. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women.(Breast cancer. The) Even though it has a high risk in women anyone can get breast cancer. The article mentioned above says, Although the vast majority of the cases occur in women, some men also get breast cancer.(Breast cancer. The) There has been some lead way in the prevention of breast cancer and less people dying. The article breast cancer says, Even allowing for improvements in detection (i.e., the introduction of routine mammography), there has been a long-term gradual increase in the incidence of breast cancer since the early 1970s, but because of the more effective treatment afforded by such early detection, overall mortality began to decrease by the mid-1990s. (Breast cancer. The) Certain things increase the risk of breast cancer. Howeve r, not everyone with breast cancer has these things, and not everyone who has these things has breast cancer. The article mentioned above says, Epidemiological study has identified certain risk factors that increase the possibility that a woman will get breast cancer, although not all women with breast cancer have these traits, and many women with all of these traits do not develop the disease. (Breast cancer. The) The risk goes up for older people, if it is in your blood, or if you have a history of breast disease. The article breast cancer says, Risk factors include age (the incidence of breast cancer is rare in women under 35-most cases occur in women over 60); a history of breast cancer in a close blood relative; and a history of breast cancer or benign proliferative breast disease. (Breast cancer. The) Other risk factors are hormones, not having children or waiting to have children, and weight. The article mentioned above states, A high cumulative exposure to female sex hormone s (estrogen and progesterone) appears to increase the risk of some breast cancers. Hormonally related risk factors include early menarch (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), having no children or postponing childbirth, and obesity in women over 50. (Breast cancer. The) One way to stop breast cancer early on is to have regular mammograms. The advantage of mammography is that it can find the tumor in its early stages. People whose cancer is found with a mammogram have a higher chance of survival. The article Mammography says, Mammography is X-ray imaging of the breast to detect breast cancer. The advantage of mammography is that it can detect tumors while they are still small and are most easily treated. Studies have shown that women who received early medical treatment after their breast cancers were found through mammograms had a five-year survival rate approaching ninety percent (depending on the stage at which cancer is detected). By comparison, women whose cancers were not found by mammograms had a five-year survival rate of just sixty percent.(Mammography) Lots of women will have this disease at one point in their life, but mammograms can help to diagnose it. The article mentioned above says, The American Cancer Society has estimated that one o ut of every eight women will develop the disease at some point in her lifetime. Mammography is considered an important tool for diagnosing women at risk for developing breast cancer.(Mammography) Breast cancer was not always so widely accepted. The article Mammography says, By the 1960s, mammography was becoming a widely used diagnostic tool. Some critics claimed that the procedure exposed women to dangerous levels of radiation.(Mammography) This made them change the way they did it to satisfy the critics. The article mentioned above says, The amount of radiation needed to produce clear pictures of breast tissue was reduced significantly through the development of more sensitive film.(Mammography) The best way to tell if you have breast cancer is to feel for it. The article Breast Cancer says, The primary method of discovering the symptoms of breast cancer is self-examination. Doctors recommend that women learn how to properly examine their breasts and to do so on a regular basis. The purpose is to look for any changes in the breasts. (Breast Cancer Sick) What the patient should be looking for is a lump. If a lump is found then it should be reported to a doctor immediately. The article mentioned above states, One warning sign of breast cancer may be a lump in the breast or armpit area. The presence of a lump suggests that medical advice should be sought.(Breast Cancer Sick) The fact that a lump is there should not have you worried, because it is not always cancerous. The article Breast cancer says, A lump does not necessarily indicate breast cancer. In many cases, lumps are benign (not cancerous) and can be removed without any lasting harm to the patient.(Breast Cancer Sick) A nother test to see if you have cancer is a biopsy. The take a tissue sample off of the breast, and test it for cancer. The article mentioned above states, One test is a breast biopsy. The tissue removed during a biopsy can be studied under a microscope. The test allows a doctor to determine whether cells in the sample are cancerous or not. (Breast Cancer Sick) IF cancer is found then they can see if has spread to other parts of the body yet. The article Breast cancer says, If cancer is found, tests can also be used to determine if the cancer has metastasized (pronounced muh-TASS-tuh-sized). Metastasis (muh-TASS-tuh-sis) is the process of cancer cells spread to other parts of the body. Testing for metastasis involves removal of lymph nodes from the armpit. The presence of cancer cells in the lymph nodes suggests that the cancer has begun to spread. (Breast Cancer Sick) The easiest treatment is to remove the lump and some of the tissue around it with some lymph nodes. The article ment ioned above says, The simplest treatment is a lumpectomy, a procedure in which the cancerous lump is removed from the breast. The surgeon also removes some tissue around the lump and some of the lymph nodes under the arm. Removing healthy tissue around the lump ensures that all of the cancer has been removed. Removing the lymph nodes allows the doctor to test for metastasis. (Breast Cancer Sick) Diets can have an effect on you and cause breast cancer. The people with the most fat in their diet have lots of deaths from breast cancer. Cory Servaas writes, The highest incidence of deaths from breast cancer is found in the most highly developed countries, those in which peoples diets tend to be high in fats and low in fiber.(Servaas) The death rate from cancer in countries with low fat foods is lower, but as more countries develop a more American diet they are increasing in deaths. Servaas states, Traditionally, in Japan, only 20 percent of the calories in the daily diet comes from fat versus 40 percent of calories from fat in the United States. Note the chart on page 67 that shows the rate of deaths from breast cancer in Japan to be very low. (Men may be interested to know that the death rate from prostate cancer is also very low in Japan.) This chart, however, was compiled in 1976. It is interesting that the incidence of breast cancer in Japan has increased 250 percent since 1 966. During this period many Japanese have shifted to a higher-fat, Western type of diet. Within Japan, the risk of developing breast cancer has been found to be 8.5 times higher among wealthier women who eat meat daily than among poorer women. A similar increase in breast cancer was found in Iceland, where the national diet has shifted from predominantly fish and sheep to more Western fare.(Servaas) This is because the increase in fats has led to more obesity and it is increasingly harder to find the lumps on breast used to detect breast cancer. In conclusion breast cancer is caused by age hereditary traits, hormones, and health. An easy way to find it is with a self-examination or mammogram. The easiest way to deal with it is a lumpectomy. References Breast Cancer. Sick!, UXL, 2007. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSICsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CCV2643900019it=rasid=15ef5ef0bdc2b526562335fb8657988f. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. breast cancer. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopediaà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, Columbia University Press, 2017. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSICsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CA68486643it=rasid=607940fd249c5b4968321bc189f256b1. Accessed 3 Feb. 2017. Mammography. UXL Science, UXL, 2008. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSICsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CCV2646000622it=rasid=da4238e50516f2702052bcad4af954c3. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017. SerVaas, Cory. Prevent breast cancer deaths. Saturday Evening Post, Mar. 1986, p. 68+. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSICsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CA4151308it=rasid=deac5885b258ce7d6954f0f6396e4f6f. Accessed 3 Feb. 2017.

Free Speech on the Internet :: Web Laws Politics Rights Essays

Free Speech on the Internet Freedom of speech has been a big issue on the Internet lately. But I'd like to suggest that, properly viewed, "policy markets" are a much bigger free speech issue than the recent ban on "indecent" internet posts. First, let's start with the puzzle "why free speech?". What is the fundamental difference between a legislature forbidding some people from making "indecent" speech at the request of others who fear being offended by such speech, and a legislature taxing some people to pay for other people's education or recreation? In each case interests are opposed, there are political winners and losers, and a majority may trample on some "rights" of a minority. Why should one case be forbidden and the other allowed? The strongest widely-accepted argument for having courts strike down laws which limit "free speech" is to protect communications intended to influence the political process. You see, even if a large majority preferred to ban indecent speech, or to fund education with taxes, they might never find out that they all preferred this outcome if they were prevented from publicly discussing the issue. Instead, a government might lock in its current advantage and preferences by forbidding any questioning of its current laws. Without free political speech, a minority might much more easily trample on a majority (a worse fate than a majority trampling a minority). Thus political speech deserves extra protection. Note, however, that this argument for political "speech" applies to any action whose main consequence is to communicate information to influence the political process (and whose other consequences are not overly burdensome to others). So not only should it apply to newspapers, TV, the internet, T-shirts, bumper-stickers, and window signs, but it should also apply to political demonstrations and other expensive political "signals". You see, the main information communicated by a political demonstration is not the words chanted or held high on posters, but that fact that these people care enough to spend their time demonstrating for this cause. (Thus it is important to demonstrate in clear public view, and to not look like you're having too much fun.) Expensive signals like demonstrations can communicate what mere words cannot - strength of feeling and opinion. (Sure you can say you really care, but everyone says that.) Unfortunately, many expensive political signals, such as campaign contributions and political advertizing, are widely limited by law. Perhaps such limits can be justified by arguing that these actions can also do much harm, in addition to communicating information to politicians and voters.

Viewers Perceptions of On-Air Cursing Essay -- essays research papers

This study used a 2 x 2 x 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender on viewers' perceptions and enjoyment of a docu-drama. We also examined the individual difference variable of verbal aggressiveness to test for possible interactions. Overall, the warning labels increased enjoyment of the program containing profanity among college students. Bleeping had no effect on either program liking or perceptions of realism; however, bleeping decreased perceptions of the program's offensiveness, and increased viewers' perceptions of profanity frequently estimates. Lastly, verbally aggressive participants perceived the program as more realistic, and the language as less offensive ********** The Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandated that broadcasters in the United States adopt program age and content ratings in order to help viewers make program viewing decisions. Since then, not only have program ratings and warning labels become a more familiar sight on television programs, but the very content that viewers are being warned about (e.g., profanity) appears to be occurring more frequently (Bauder, 2002). Research has examined the effect of age and content ratings and warning labels on children's program liking and perceptions of content, and found that in some circumstances, warnings and ratings have effects opposite those intended by the legislators (see, for example, Cantor & Harrison, 1996). Considerably less research has examined the effect on adults' perceptions of content (however, see Bushman, 1997). Furthermore, a majority of the research examines the effects of ratings and warnings on violent content (e.g., Cantor & Harrison, 1996; Cantor, Harrison, & Nathanso n, 1998; Herman & Leyens, 1977) or educational content (Krcmar & Albada, 2000). Little, if any research has examined the effect of ratings and warnings on attitudes toward, and perceptions of, other potentially objectionable material such as cursing. It may be interesting to ask, therefore, if assigning a warning label affects how adult viewers interpret and recall cursing when it appears in television programs. In addition to the use of program warnings, there are increasing numbers of cable channels available to viewers which may have served to loosen some norms regarding appropriate standards for programming. For example, in a recent airing of A Sea... ...estudy/main.asp Pashler, H.E. (1999). The psychology of attention. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Rohsenow, D. J., & Bachorowski, J. (1984). Effects of alcohol and expectancies on verbal aggression in men and women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 418-432. Triesman, A. (1964). The effect of irrelevant material on the efficiency of selective listening. American Journal of Psychology, 77, 533-546. Underwood, G., & Murray, N. (1971). Shadowing and monitoring for selective attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 23, 284-295. Wurtzel, A., & Surlin, S. (1978). Viewer attitudes toward television advisory warnings. Journal of Broadcasting, 22(1), 19-31 Marina Krcmar (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include effect of violent television on children and the impact of media policy on families. Steve H. Sohn is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut. His research interests include media effects on body image and media effects on consumers' advertising message process. Viewers Perceptions of On-Air Cursing Essay -- essays research papers This study used a 2 x 2 x 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender on viewers' perceptions and enjoyment of a docu-drama. We also examined the individual difference variable of verbal aggressiveness to test for possible interactions. Overall, the warning labels increased enjoyment of the program containing profanity among college students. Bleeping had no effect on either program liking or perceptions of realism; however, bleeping decreased perceptions of the program's offensiveness, and increased viewers' perceptions of profanity frequently estimates. Lastly, verbally aggressive participants perceived the program as more realistic, and the language as less offensive ********** The Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandated that broadcasters in the United States adopt program age and content ratings in order to help viewers make program viewing decisions. Since then, not only have program ratings and warning labels become a more familiar sight on television programs, but the very content that viewers are being warned about (e.g., profanity) appears to be occurring more frequently (Bauder, 2002). Research has examined the effect of age and content ratings and warning labels on children's program liking and perceptions of content, and found that in some circumstances, warnings and ratings have effects opposite those intended by the legislators (see, for example, Cantor & Harrison, 1996). Considerably less research has examined the effect on adults' perceptions of content (however, see Bushman, 1997). Furthermore, a majority of the research examines the effects of ratings and warnings on violent content (e.g., Cantor & Harrison, 1996; Cantor, Harrison, & Nathanso n, 1998; Herman & Leyens, 1977) or educational content (Krcmar & Albada, 2000). Little, if any research has examined the effect of ratings and warnings on attitudes toward, and perceptions of, other potentially objectionable material such as cursing. It may be interesting to ask, therefore, if assigning a warning label affects how adult viewers interpret and recall cursing when it appears in television programs. In addition to the use of program warnings, there are increasing numbers of cable channels available to viewers which may have served to loosen some norms regarding appropriate standards for programming. For example, in a recent airing of A Sea... ...estudy/main.asp Pashler, H.E. (1999). The psychology of attention. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Rohsenow, D. J., & Bachorowski, J. (1984). Effects of alcohol and expectancies on verbal aggression in men and women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 418-432. Triesman, A. (1964). The effect of irrelevant material on the efficiency of selective listening. American Journal of Psychology, 77, 533-546. Underwood, G., & Murray, N. (1971). Shadowing and monitoring for selective attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 23, 284-295. Wurtzel, A., & Surlin, S. (1978). Viewer attitudes toward television advisory warnings. Journal of Broadcasting, 22(1), 19-31 Marina Krcmar (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include effect of violent television on children and the impact of media policy on families. Steve H. Sohn is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut. His research interests include media effects on body image and media effects on consumers' advertising message process.

Wine Industry Essay -- essays research papers fc

America’s winemakers are making superior wines and reaping global acclaim. In a single generation the United States wine industry’s global success is a fascinating story of entrepreneurial vision and savvy marketing. The American industry has new innovations, new competition, and new markets, which make the future look bright for the wine industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In terms of worldwide recognition and success, individual American wineries have made their mark only in the last 50 years. Not until the end of Prohibition in 1933 did the American wine industry take off on a large scale. America has now become the fourth largest producer in the world behind Italy, France, and Spain. The wine market consists of still wine, sparkling wine, and vermouth. Since the 1970’s, per capita consumption in the United States has grown from 1.3 to 2.7 gallons in 2003. Retail wine sales in the U.S. were a record 21.1 billion. In 2002, Americans consumed 595 million gallons of wine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Core wine consumers, about 19.2 million, account for 86% of table wine volume consumed in the U.S. Marginal wine consumers, about 28.9 million, account for 14% of table wine volume consumed in the U.S. Core drinkers are somewhat older than marginal drinkers. 51% are between 40 to 59 years, with a high level of education and a high income of about $79,000. 15% of core wine drinkers have wine daily, 48% drink a few times a week, and 37% weekly. Marginal wine drinkers prefer white wine, about 46%, followed by red, 35%, and blush/rose, 19%. They are somewhat younger than core drinkers, 49% are between 40 and 59 years and have a relative high income of around $63,000. 52% drink wine two to three times a month, 30% drink once a month and 18% drink once every two to three months. Fifty to fifty-nine year olds drink 16.4 bottles per year. Twenty-one to twenty-nine year olds drink 6.6 bottles per year. The United States is arguably the best place to grow grapes in the world. The United States boasts world-famous growing areas that rival France and Italy in quantity produced and in quality of wine, as the technology and weather are extremely similar. Napa and Sonoma Valleys are also key tourist attractions, providing a constant source of customers. The wine market in California represents more than 90% of all the United State’s wine production. People drink wi... ... especially in the pop-premium market, to all wineries in California.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ultimately, the continued success of America’s wine industry will depend on its ability to meet all types of challenges, and continue to produce choice grapes and the finest wines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the short space of a generation, the American wine industry has maintained the tradition of boldness, innovation, creativeness, and success. American wineries that have been successful cannot rest on those successes, however. The industry and its competitive forces continue to change and members of the current industry will survive only if they are able to anticipate and deal with these changes. While there are significant threats to the American wine industry, there is also a large domestic and worldwide market of potential consumers who have yet to enjoy the fine taste of America’s wines. BIBLIOGRAPHY www.researchandmarkets.com libweb.sonoma.edu www.winebusinessmonthly.com www.cosmos-club.org/journals www.sierranevada.edu www.datamonitor.com www.impacteen.org www.findarticales.com/p/articles www.agmrc.org/fruits/info/winebackground.pdf

Expatriate Policy of Schlumberger

Schlumberger is the largest oilfields services company with operation worldwide. It is the leader in the supply of technology, integrated project management and information solutions to customers in the oil and gas industry worldwide. It employs approximately 120000 people. The employees come from around 140 different nationalities working in around 85 countries around the world representing the diversity within the workforce of the company.It provides the widest range of services corresponding to the oil and gas industry ranging from exploration through production. For Schlumberger, it's defined by the terms such as knowledge, technical innovation and team work. These terms have formed the core of the company functionality for over 80 years which has enabled it to provide improved customer service and performance throughout these years. It has around 125 research and engineering facilities worldwide which enables innovation for improved customer delivery of services.Besides, the com pany works keeping its three core values concerning the people, technology and profits which form the basis of their work and future goals which are as follows: a. ) Our people thrive on the challenge to excel in ny environment and their dedication to safety and customer service worldwide is our greatest strength. b. ) Pur commitment to technology and quality is the basis for our competitive advantage. c. ) Our determination to produce future profits is the cornerstone for our future independence of action and strength. Who is an expatriate?An expatriate is a person and citizen of one country working in another country either temporarily or permanently. This term is commonly used to refer to the professionals or skilled workers who are sent abroad (with the same or a different culture) by the companies to work. Need for an expatriate The world scenario has changed at a rapid pace facilitating the movement of goods and services and ideas throughout the world. Not only has the world b ought the idea of the free movement, they have also set up organizations like WTO who make sure that more and more countries accept the idea and follow the same.Globalization and Liberalization is the new trend these days. The entire world has moved on from being an industrial economy to knowledge based economy which is connected through the power of networks. Everyone wants to take advantage of this facilitation and so do the companies. The companies are profit driven and this need to onstantly look for markets and new customers to sell their products and services. As such they need people who are endowed with the qualities required to help set up the business and at time also run it in a foreign country.The expatriates are required to handle critical international assignments on behalf of the company with strategic importance attached to them. They are expected to facilitate control of the corporate, facilitate the pathway for entry into the new markets, develop management compete ncies at the international level and frame a market or gain market share through their expertise in vital global markets. Attributes or predictors Job Factors a. ) Skills related to technology b. ) Level of familiarity with host and headquartered countrys operations c. ) Skills related to management d. Administration related competencies Relational Dimensions a. ) Tolerance level related to ambiguity b. ) Flexibility level related to behaviour. c. ) Non-judgementalism d. ) Empathy towards new culture and low level of ethnocentrism e. ) Well-developed inter personal skills Motivational State a. ) Belief in the mission of the company and the assignment b. ) Mission's alignment with the career path c. ) Personal interest in the assignment overseas . ) Interest in the culture of the country of assignment e. ) Willingness to learn new behaviour and attitude Family Situation a. Willingness of the spouse to move to the host country of assignment b. ) Nature of the spouse – adaptive and supportive c. ) Stability of the marriage or relationship Language Skills a. ) Skill level in the host countrys language b. ) Level of comfort or proficiency in the non-verbal communication Expatriate policy Eligibility In order to be eligible for the Expatriate Relocation Assistance program and other related benefits, the following must be fulfilled: a. ) Should currently be a full-time mployee. b. ) Has been asked to relocated as a result of the company initiated transfer c. Must meet the federal guidelines as laid down for a qualified move Post acceptance of the foreign assignment a. ) Assignment of the Cartus Relocation consultant: The consultant will act as a single point of contact during the entire duration of the relocation. Benefits The company has outlined a number of benefits for the expatriates for the convenient relocation and proper re-imbursement of the expenses too. The benefits outlined must be used within 12 months of the transfer date of the payroll or else he y will stand as lapsed and cannot be used beyond 12 months.The benefits cover every aspect of the move right from preparation to the final settlement of the expatriate in the host country as outlined below under the different headings. a. Payment of benefits: Certain rules have been laid down about the method of payment and reimbursement and tax benefits corresponding to the relocation be the Cartus consultant who will prescribe the required instructions. For the reimbursement all the receipts must be in original. All the relocation benefits must be claimed within the 12 months from the date of transfer. b.House hunting trip: In case the person does not own a house in the new location then the person is entitled to a house hunting trip for six nights/seven days including the spouse. The concerned person will also be entitled to round trip economic fare by air or train by the most direct route with one piece of luggage approved per passenger. Car rental will also be reimbursed from a designated firm. The person including the spouse is also liable for reasonable lodging and meals expenses. The number of lodging days may increase by one in case the person has travelled for more than 650 kilometres using one's own personal vehicle.Apart from these expenses the person is also entitles to such other expenses like highway and bridge polls, parking charges, domestic telephone calls and internet charges. In case there is also a baby then they are also entitled for baby-sitting and child-care services and corresponding charges. The amount fixed for the same is $50 per day per child with a maximum cap of $1 50 per day. c. Home finding assistance: In order to locate a primary residence, proper home finding assistance will be provided.In some of the cases, the person may be charged some home finding fees and the same shall be reimbursed on providing the riginal receipt of the same provided it does not exceed the one month rent of the house leased. The concerned person howe ver is required to get in touch with the consultant in order to review the wordings of the contract. d. Return home trip: In case the person has begun the assignment without the family members accompanying him, he is entitled to two return trips and an additional one in order to assist in the movement of household goods and for the family to accompany the concerned person to the new location.During the trip the person is also entitled to such other expenses like a piece of checked luggage, tolls and parking. The return trips are required to be scheduled three weeks apart and proper bills are required to be produced in order for the reimbursement. e. Lease cancellation: In the event of a lease cancellation and termination of the lease agreement before it expires, it is required to consult the Relocation consultant regarding the same in order to avoid lease-breaking penalties if any. The lease breaking penalty could be avoided if one can find a new or a subtle tenant.Still, the follow ing expenses are reimbursed in case the agreement is broken prior to the completion of the agreement which should not xceed $5000. The reimbursement can include lease-breaking penalty, sublet fees, loss of security deposit due to the termination of the lease but not due to repairs, duplication of rent, payment of lease in case of lease breakage. The reimbursement will not include such payments as pre-payment of the new area rent, payment of the rental security deposits, current damages and resulting costs or the loss of deposit, loss of special deposits and utility fees.However, such reimbursements are subject to condition that the person has not leased the premises of the relatives and has acated the house. Besides, a copy of the lease and an original receipt of the lease breakage fees are required. An original itemized signed letter from the complex or the landlord will also suffice. f. Movement of household goods: In order to be eligible for the reimbursement of the movement of t he household goods, the recognised consultation with the Relocation consultant and prior scheduling should be done at least 30 months prior to the date of movement.The 30 days is to allow proper survey of the goods, the size and cost of the same and also to allow for some time for packaging. Besides one must not make any attempt to do the packaging by him/her else there won't be any reimbursement under the insurance scheme. Also, such things like Jewellery, medical certificates, educational documents, children's immunization records, school records should be hand carried to the destination and should not be allowed to be packed or carried by the packing company.In order to make a claim against a damaged or lost item, a written estimate of the same must be provided before submitting the acclaim for settlement for the same. g. Temporary storage: In the case when one is unable to shift to the home in the new location, emporary storage facility shall be provided for the same for a perio d of 30 days and only those items which are part of the original household goods are eligible for storage and partial shipment is not allowed. h.Final move: During the course of the final move, the concerned will be reimbursed for reasonable travel costs for the person and other eligible family members. Besides original receipts must be kept and presented for the reimbursement of the same. The expenses which form a part of this include one way transportation of economic class air, economy class train fare hose reimbursement may require either boarding passes or non-refundable invoice. There will also be proper mileage reimbursement for personal vehicle with tolls.There also be reimbursement corresponding to lodging, beginning on departure day, ending on arrival day, 2 pieces of checked luggage per approved traveller, meals which does not include alcoholic beverages, beginning on departure day, ending on arrival day. i. Relocation allowance: In addition to the items which have alread y been discussed in the policy, the company also covers other relocation expenses. The concerned person is also entitled to receive a onetime relocation llowance equivalent to two months new base salary with an upper limit of $1 5000 per month.This comes into effect on the first day of the new work assignment or when the person actually moves. This allocation is aimed at providing greater flexibility in managing one's relocation expenses and directing the available resources to specific areas of need. J. Time of for packing and unpacking: The Company provides for two paid working days off for both the locations. Two days for packing and other two days for unpacking of the goods. k. Spousal career assistance: For the employees with their spouse having a career outside Schlumberger, efforts re made to assist the spouse in the Job search.A series of programmes have been initiated for the same as a part of these efforts. These programmes are offered through the service companies who pro vide Job search and opportunity development expertise. Services like resume preparation, assessing career direction, interviewing skills are some of the expertise that these companies excel in and reach out the same to the respective spouse. These might not lead to actual Job but may help immensely in providing valuable direction in the Job search. l. Tax information: In some of the ountries, some relocation expenses are considered as taxable income.As such the same will be reflected in the earnings as reimbursement and shall be intimated about the same. It will be the responsibility of the company to report to the Additionally, state or provincial taxes may vary by location of the residence. m. Termination: In case one resigns from the company for any of the reasons within one year of completing the move, he/she must, either on or before the effective date of resignation, reimburse the company for the amount paid the concerned person or to the third party in any form for benefits i n connection to the move.