American Progress

John Gast’s painting, â€Å"American Progress†, illustrates many depictions of the early movement and development of the United States. This particular painting defines uniqueness and character throughout. Looking at it geographically the angel portrayed in the middle is floating westward as though she is exemplifying the Westward Expansion. She has the â€Å"Star of Empire† imprinted on her forehead, which better portrays the idea of her trying to move westward. This painting is a great description of our country’s economical progress and expansion. Gast artistically explains the present day United States as nice cities along rivers with big buildings and churches along the right edge of this painting. This scene is also shown as being happy and awakening because of the bright sun rays being shown down upon it. The city is supposed to represent a growing city along the mighty Mississippi River. You are able to see the evolution of transportation through boats and railroads. The three main intercontinental railways are shown departing from this city, and the beautiful angel in the middle is carrying the telegraph cable which eventually linked the nation together. She is also carrying with her some type school book, which to me represents intellectual ideas being spread throughout the country. In the background behind her lies many rolling hills and plush green grass. There is not many trees in this portrait, but the snow capped mountains on the left and the great plains on the right depict a great deal of land diversity from coast to coast. There are also many cattle, Indians, wild horses, bears, and other wild game trying to flee her approach towards the west and eventually into the storms and waves of the Pacific coast. Although she seems very divine in appearance some may take her intentions as revolting. Her central idea seems as though she is trying to spread the economical progress throughout the entire United States. Emotionally this is a very strong painting because of its detail and significance. When I first looked at this painting it made me think of Manifest Destiny. The angel in the middle attempting to emigrate westward defines the meaning of manifest destiny. Many thought it was God’s belief that the United States would expand from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. I also felt another tie to my previous assumption when I noticed the star on her forehead. I felt it had great importance so I began to acknowledge her surroundings and I realized it was the â€Å"Star of Empire†, which signifies westward movement as well. The star is a bright golden color, almost identical to rays of light being exposed upon new land. She is wearing a long, swaying white robe which is also significant because the color white signifies freedom. Her bright golden, blonde hair also signifies the presence of God to me. Her presence in this painting is not just for beauty but for great importance. I have always felt strongly about the spread of equality throughout our nation, and to me it seems as though she is trying to spread the superior life-style across the United States. The book in her arm represents that she is trying to spread intelligence and the teaching of literacy. It was very rare in the past for many people to be able to both read and write, and with the spread of civilization trying to take place it is very important that she also spread the gift of teaching. I also believe that she is trying to spread the connection of communication throughout the country by carrying the telegraph cord in her other hand. This became a very important facet of our country, because many of the connections and deals made over time would not have been made possible without communication. When I looked more towards the left side of the painting I noticed it was very dark and gloomy. Coincidently that happened to be the way everyone was fleeing, which in my mind represents everyone trying to escape freedom and return to normalcy among themselves. These men, women, and animals look as though they are afraid of the angel hovering over them, but ideally they are trying to escape normal civilization. This painting portrays many different themes and central ideas depending on which way it is observed. I feel from my point of view that I was able to interpret that the theme is based on moving forward in society. As seen on the right side of this portrait, the eastern United States progressed sooner than the west, and many frontiersmen are afraid of this new lifestyle. It seems as though the angel is trying to help everyone move forward and develop a new way of living and become more acquainted with this innovative way of living. No one copes very well with change, and like-wise neither did the Indians, farmers, and all of the other wild animals. These individuals had to manage survival with whatever nature skills they had. The mountainous region on the left side of the painting is covered with dark, rainy clouds and white snow caps. This symbolizes harsh climates and bad conditions for any type of living. Some of the animals may not be used to the western climates and may not be able to adapt quickly enough before facing the edge of extinction. The angel present in the center of the painting is able to help spread this central idea of moving on by her presence and what she brings with her. The coloration of her long, curly hair exemplifies traits from Jesus Christ. Her intentions are as His would be, and that is to create happiness and equality throughout. The gleaming star on her forehead also ties into the main theme through the concept of Manifest Destiny. I believe the star has the most significance of any object in the painting when referring to the main theme. The principle of the star represents the same significance as the main theme; people are trying to move forward in society. This entire painting depicts the importance of this exploration to the western United States. Everything is explained in perfect artistic form from the bright, sunshiny city on the right to the dark, gloomy coast on the left. The depiction of the angel in the middle is obviously the most important characteristic of this painting, but she also brings a lot of debate for whether or not she is subsiding good or bad influence on our country. There are many details and translations that can be looked at from many different angles depending on the person’s train of thought. I have explained in every detail the way I feel about this painting and the way I sensed each direction of the artist’s feelings. John Gast has a great connotation of each perception in his painting, and uses many features to depict different portions of his famous artwork. Many great Americans can agree with the central concept of this painting and will be able to grasp the implications behind each item portrayed in the painting. I personally feel that this painting is well thought out and had great meaning behind each aspect.

Plato: Knowledge Essay

We all continue to learn new things in life day in by day out; incessantly increasing our knowledge is essential to sustain man’s life path on this earth. Knowledge can be sought in different ways but to truly seek knowledge, one has to read, understand through experience and believe what the word of God says about faith. Acquiring knowledge through our five senses and faith, both give us insight on competing ways of getting at the truth. A person who reads, write and believes in the word of God will become rich with knowledge but the latter will not. Moreover, in order to achieve knowledge, one has to be taught it or teach him or herself (because humans are not born with the ability of knowing; they must acquire it) through observation and reasoning through faith. Different views exhibit on how knowledge is achieved. One may say through common sense and observation, while another may say through teachers and peers. According to the philosopher Plato in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, â€Å"Certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blindness. The power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being. † In making this comment, this Greek philosopher argues that, everyone has the capacity to learn because knowledge is present in the soul thus we all can acquire knowledge and wisdom by recollecting and putting together what in fact the soul already knows. Plato is right that humans have the aptitude to gain knowledge, but he seems on more dubious ground when he claims that knowledge is already present in one’s soul. I find this to be unconvincing because humans seek education to learn something which they didn’t already know. For example an adolescent may ponder upon why the hairs on his arms and legs grow very short while the opposite occurs on his or her head. But through an education in biology in his or her later years, he or she will come to find out that each hair follicle on one’s body part will grow different depending on where it is located on the body part. The young adolescent never had this knowledge about hair follicles till he was taught it. So therefore, knowledge doesn’t already exist in the soul. One has to gain it in order to have it but we all have the ability to achieve it if we put in effort. In regards to observation, reasoning through faith must also be looked into to fully attain the knowledge that is essential to lead the best life and attain happiness. Observations only gives us half of the knowledge we need to acquire, faith gives us the rest. In Scully’s view from the X-Files, â€Å"As much as I have my faith, Father, I am a scientist, trained to weigh evidence. But science only teaches us how†¦ not why. † In other words, Scully is saying that, knowledge without faith leads us only half way†¦ we have to come full circle in order to completely gain absolute knowledge. I agree that this statement is true because without faith, one’s knowledge is worthless. For example, before Copernicus, most scientists believed that the earth was the center of the universe, thus the sun revolved around the earth. But through faith and reasoning, Copernicus came to conclude that it was rather the earth that revolved around the sun, making the universe we live in heliocentric; and his jurisdiction is held to be true till this day. The two concepts go hand in hand; one cannot achieve absolute knowledge without faith and reasoning/observation. In order to achieve knowledge through faith, we must walk through the ways of our spiritual leader. In The Francis Trilogy of Thomas of Celano, Thomas of Celano writes, â€Å"Ah! Inclined and strengthened by the Holy Spirit the blessed servant of the Most High, seeing that the appointed time was at hand, followed that blessed impulse of his soul. Thus, as he trampled upon worldly things, he made his way to the greatest good. † In other words, Thomas of Celano is saying that, St. Francis detached himself from matters of the world by following Christ, who fortified him with the Holy Cross and the Holy Spirit enabling him to transform his worldly ways to resemble the will of God, thus St. Francis gained his faith through the knowledge of the word of God. In order for St. Francis to have faith, he had to have knowledge of God, which he acquired through his experience; asking God for enlightenment and through the visions he had that directed his will to God’s. Reason and faith leads to wisdom and knowledge, without it, the knowledge that one acquires is corrupt and useless. Others may disagree saying that one can still have knowledge without faith, but knowledge without faith leads you nowhere because you still haven’t really gained full understanding of the subject matter.

Economic philosophies Essay

This paper will focus on the contributions of John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman to economic philosophies. Keynes is considered by many as the most famous and influential economist. Though having that veneration, a number of economists had been in opposition to the Keynesian school of thought. Among the forefront oppositions to the Keynesian economic philosophy is Milton Friedman, along with his accounts on monetarism. In his â€Å"General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money,† Keynes laid out the foundations of his framework, which nearly all macroeconomists make use of today. This framework finds its basis on spending and demand, the factors that determine the components of spending, the liquidity-preference theory of short-run interest rates, and the necessity of the government to make strategic but powerful interferences in the economy in order to keep it on balance and avoid the extremes of depression, as well as manic excess (Delong, 2006). Keynes’ theory was said to be incomplete as it only deals with interest employment and money. There was no mention on the theory about prices. Friedman introduced the principles of prices and inflation to Keynes’ framework, based on the idea that there exists a natural rate of unemployment. Friedman also made mention of the limitations of government policies have with regard to the stability of the economy, taking into consideration the trend of its long-run growth. Friedman considered these as limits beyond which an intervention from the government would trigger an inflation of uncontrollable and destructive nature (Delong, 2006). The events that took place during the Great Depression made Keynes and his orthodox followers to underestimate the influence and role monetary policies have in making a viable solution (Delong, 2006). Keynesians are inclined to prefer fiscal policy to monetary policies as a tool to influence production and employment. They believed that money has no direct influence. Moreover, they question the power of monetary policies to influence employment and production (McCain, 2007). The Great Depression was indeed considered to be a unique event in history, which called for explanation in terms of events rather than in pursuit for a new line of economic theory. One of the events that took place during the Great Depression was the failure of the money and banking system. Thus, the Great depression illustrates the influence of changing monetary conditions (McCain, 2007). Keynes and Friedman both agreed on the necessity of a superb macroeconomic management. The private economy, when on its own, might be subjected to unbearable instability and that there is a necessity for a powerful, strategic, but limited intervention coming from the government in order to maintain stability within the economy (Delong, 2006). Though having these ideas in agreement, Friedman had been a staunch opposition to some of Keynes’ economic principles. According to Keynes, the key to maintaining economic stability is to keep government spending and private investments on stable grounds. Friedman, on the other hand, opined that the key to economic stability is keeping money supply, i. e. the amount of purchasing power, which are readily available to be spent by businesses and households stable (Delong, 2006).

Is America a Christian country Should it be Term Paper

Is America a Christian country Should it be - Term Paper Example Christianity has various forms and branches with accompanying different practice sand beliefs. The three major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism. There are numerous subcategories of these branches still. Most followers of Christianity were mainly found in the West until late 20th century but now it has spread rapidly to all the continents. The one God believed by Christians exist as The Father, The son and The Holy Spirit giving emphasis on the faith of Christ. The sacred book of Christians is the bible including Hebrew scripture (Old Testament) and the New Testament. The common practices to Christians are gathering at churches for worship, study fellowship and even interacting with rest of the world and other Christians through evangelism and social work. In the case America, Christianity was introduced to United States by the colonizing Europeans around 16th and 17th century. Immigrants from other places further increased the numbers. Christianity is the most popular religion and the denominations here can be divided into Mainline Protestantism, Evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholic. A research conducted in 2004 on religions in United States, it showed 26.3% Evangelical, 22% Roman Catholics and 16% Mainline Protestantism. Most surveys done in America have constantly shown that over 73% of Americans identified themselves as Christians (Boyd, 2007). Many people especially some politicians and religious activists have argued that America was meant to be Christian nation by those who founded it. Having a large portion of the population being Christians does not simply qualify the country to be a Christian nation. To be a Christian nation it has to be official, Christian beliefs at least, have to be enshrined in the constitution and institutions like judiciary, education departments, and commissions should be shaped by Christian

Public Goods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Goods - Essay Example Public good in general takes the form that it can be consumed by every individual in a functioning society. Economics further defines the good to be non-rivalrous and non-excludable but impure public goods are characterized by partiality of the non-rivalrous and non-excludable properties as opposed to pure public goods that marry the fullness of the entire two properties. An externality associated with impure public goods arises when the general utility of a certain good or production probability of an agent is linked on the non-monetary or non-pecuniary actions of another agent. It is a cost or benefit not catered for by the prices of related goods and the parties involved in the production or consumption of the good. This translates into positive externality and negative externality that captures the benefit aspect and negative aspect respectively (Arriagada & Perring 806). Thus the types of externalities associated with impure public goods are positive externalities and negative externalities. Positive externalities has beneficial value in terms of the merit good meaning the overall effect of the public good results to a chain of positive outcomes especially in a market and the economy at large. A good example is that of inventions when made available to the public other will benefit by borrowing a leaf from the knowledge spillover of the invention information although law protects inventors in such a case by issuing of patent to enable the inventor earns royalties from the shared information. Another example would be an organization tasked with the mandate to prevent and control a highly infectious disease would have played a big role in society to prevent the greater part of the population from getting sick as a result of the infectious strain. Positive externality seems to be employing a control factor to management of public goods that are social in nature and affects the society or

Are video games or online role-playing games ever likely to become a Essay

Are video games or online role-playing games ever likely to become a mainstream pastime for people of all ages and social levels Explain the reasons for your answer - Essay Example Mostly arcade games encompass video games and these games were the source of inspiration that later led to the formation of online games. People adopted this emerging trend fast since video games have been an addictive source of pastime from the beginning. Technology keeps modifying things and later video game arcades also began to lose their captivating charm when they were superseded by home video game consoles and computers. The idea of gaming through computers across internet was favored specifically and this gaming trend is spreading quickly throughout the world affecting not only youth but people from all age groups and social backgrounds equally. The fame and attraction of video games and online role-playing games is sky-rocketing currently. This is understood from the above discussion that people have been playing video games for many years to entertain themselves. Video games have come a long way with features and storylines constantly being modified to match the public’s changing tastes. Now thousands of free online video games can be surfed and downloaded from the internet in no time. New innovative ideas related to video gaming keep cropping up, one of which is online role-playing games. This allows online gaming between people themselves from different areas of the world. A broader term for such games is massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). Another genre of popular online video games among people is party video games which is quite a patent source of entertainment. It seems like video games have been growing alongside internet keeping people from all age groups equally engaged. This is a reality that video games interestingly allow people a chance of forgetting their day-to-day tensions f or a while, replacing them by little joys that are absolutely necessary to keep going on with life. I, on my part, have been forming opinion regarding the vigorously spreading charm of video games for years. I myself

Newfoundlanders Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Newfoundlanders - Assignment Example It involves six to twelve actors, playing the roles such as King George, the Turkish Knight, or the Doctor. This practice survives among the Newfoundlanders due to several factors; among them the, geographical, historical and traditional nature of the people, unlike other cultures. Consequently, it this practice is passed from one generation to the next, since time immemorial. This is despite its perceived death in the 1960s. This practice also thrives because of Newfoundland’s proximity to the sea. Indeed, the practice is said to have source in England and Ireland. Consequently, the practice was inherited due to interactions with visitors from abroad who came through the sea. Following the adaptive nature of the Newfoundlanders to this foreign culture, this practise has stimulated trust and bolstered their relationship. Indeed, the success of this practice heavily depends on preexistence of trust and relationships that prevent the practise from degenerating into violence that can injure the participants. The practice, however, is considered non-religious and consequently should not be practiced during Christmas or any other Sunday during the period. Moreover, participants place themselves at risk in the hands of other participants during the course of the plays especially those involving mock fight between ‘good’ and

Discuss the rationale and impact of the decision on company law Assignment

Discuss the rationale and impact of the decision on company law - Assignment Example The conflict between the personal opinion of judges and the legal provisions of the law has been in existence for years, and this conflict has resulted in the determination of cases in a manner that does not reflect the legal provisions. However, under the case Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22, the supremacy of the law as the principle that guides courts in determining cases was cemented. This is because; in both the High Court and the courts of appeal, the judges held that the merit of the case Broderip v. Salomon [1985] 2 simply warranted the consideration of Salomon Ltd as an ‘alias’, thus allowing for the treatment of Salomon Ltd and Mr. Aron Salomon as one and the same thing (Rickett, 1998:16). Therefore, the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that Mr. Aron Salomon was responsible for paying the debts incurred by Salomon Ltd. However, the House of Lords unanimously overturned the ruling, by holding that the opinions and personal perspectives of the judges were subordinate to the provisions of the law, and the provisions of the law under Companies Act (1862) had provided that a company could be incorporated for as long as it had seven members, regardless of whether the members contributed to the company in any substantial way or whether they were just mere individuals enlisted as part of the company ownership (Sealy, 2010:36). Thus, the relevance of the case Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22 in company law is that it cemented the position of law as the principle reference for which the courts should base their judgments, while placing the opinion and fair judgment of the juries subordinate to the principle of the law. This is considering the fact that judge Vaughan Williams J. of the High Court had applied his opinion in ruling the case Broderip v. Salomon [1985] 2, whereby he opined that as opposed to the application of the legal provisions of Companies Act 1862 in the case, it was a bit more

ESSAY QUESTIONS TO BE COMPLETED ON FRI Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

QUESTIONS TO BE COMPLETED ON FRI - Essay Example The fact that dropout prevention is being considered seriously is a good thing; however, the question arises as to which of these dropout prevention strategies and programs are really successful. Furthermore, schools should become more educated in dropout prevention in order for them to more effectively choose and apply the program and strategy that are appropriate in their situation. Hence, a review of the current and most popular dropout prevention strategies and programs is needed in order to ascertain what these different programs do, how they work, the concept behind them, and how successful have they been in their agenda of reducing high school dropout rates. The research design that will be used to complete this review is the quantitative research methodology as the research problem in itself is quantitative in nature. Statistics will play an important role in this study as the review will include relevant studies that have been made that shows the success rates of various dropout prevention strategies and programs. Only these statistical references will be used as this research will act as a review and compilation of available journal articles. These statistical data will be presented accordingly and analyzed using a point system of tallying. Data Collection. This research will be based solely on secondhand research. Statistical data composed of percentages of success rates will be compiled in order to ascertain which dropout prevention strategy and program works best at a given situation—high school students and dropouts differ in characteristics and so, various dropout prevention programs will have varying effects on the student population. This research will be based on these reliable references as undertaking an experiment that will have the desired effect will involve a lot of time and money. Data Analysis. Once the statistical data has been gathered, categories will be created based

Bank of America Part III Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Bank of America Part III - Essay Example This research aims to evaluate and present two major objectives of Bank of America Corporation. There are first, to rebalance as well as realign the organization so as to provide their clients with the most exclusive and finest financial services, and second, to reinforce their balance sheet as well as capital situation to generate the appropriate conditions for continuing shareholder value augmentation. The vision of BAC is to develop into the best financial services organization in the world. The management of BAC believes that the accomplishment of this vision can be assessed by their clients, their human resources and their shareholders. BAC’s management considers that they would succeed in attaining the vision of the organization when they would be able to preserve the faith and confidence of their clients, customers, staffs, shareholders as well as policymakers. The core principals of Bank of America Corporation are to bring value for their shareholders in addition to th eir customers and clients, retain faith and confidence in their team, hold on to the power of their human resources, endorse opportunities and act sensibly. BAC caters the financial needs of three main groups of customers, viz. individual consumers, companies and institutional investors. The management of BAC recognizes that their decisions and measures can impact the lives of many individuals and hence they consider themselves liable for regimented risk management and for operating in the appropriate way. With the dynamically changing economic and market conditions, the management of BAC is attempting to bring about a change in their organizational culture. They had moved from acquiring franchise to the efficient operation and management of the franchise. BAC was earlier positioned as a commercial bank focused on the US; however they had repositioned

Racism in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

Racism in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and other black anti-racist leaders fought against discrimination. They fought a battle that has gone on longer than many people have been around, back in the 1800s. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, twain wants us to see how this battle rages on today, affecting many peoples everyday lives. The book itself is very racist toward African Americans in which the word nigger is used. Many people use this word today, but back when Huck was around using vulgar discriminating words was a regular thing. So the question is how is racism still shown today in the 20th century and the relationship in how Twain describes it in his book? First racial thing in the book is when Toms talking to Huck about breaking Jim out of jail. Tom says, Give a nigger a inch and he ell (88). When he says this he is saying that if you give a black person freedom, its giving them way too much. But Huck isnt fond of using such a poignant word to Jim. Racism plays a big part when the King and the Duke show up on the raft with them. When they stay with the girls in the house, the sophomoric type of Duke says I should ‘a reckoned the differences in the rank would sejested that a corn-shuck bed wont fit for me to sleep on . Your Gracell take the shuck bed yourself (126). This shows his destitute for taking Jim seriously as a person and not just some dumb slave. The use of racist and vulgar words was constantly heard from the white adults as well as the children in the novel. …was Jim a runaway nigger?(126). Out of all the pieces of literature this book is known by many people worldwide, not only does things in this book still happen today, we can all relate this book. The lack of care the whites had for blacks, thus, the whites have lost nearly all of their respect. This was Mark Twains indirect way of showing the whites inequality to the blacks. In todays age, the ideas of racism have definitely changed. Slavery is no more, and even the use of such language as nigger, is considered vulgar. But, as children such as Huck and Tom grew up considering slavery the normal, children today grow up learning the exact opposite.

Boise Art Museum Essay Example for Free

Boise Art Museum Essay Boise Art Museum is located in a serene environment with beautifully manicured lawns adorned with various artifacts. I had the privilege of visiting this renowned museum on 18th August 2003. During this time an exhibition showing the ceramic artistic works of Wanxin Zhang was ongoing. The ceramic works featured Chinese figures molded to the height of an average person and each piece having its own uniqueness. Each of the figures represented different emotions and personalities. Some of the figures even had clothing that depicted a combination of tradition and modernity. One astonishing aspect about the figures is how the artist managed such art with such huge ceramics. This depicted mastery of the art. Although all the figures were brown in color and more or less of the same size, it was very easy to discern differences in terms of the emotions and personalities displayed by the clothing, posture and facial expressions. This outlined how diversity can be achieved in art just by varying aspects such as posture and facial expression. The technique was superb as the artist managed utilize contour to bring out contrast in different parts of the body and to create outline for the clothing. The finishing was also smooth and rough surfaces were meant to bring certain aspects of the figure such as clothing. The figures are also amazing due to the extent that they manage to combine tradition and modernity. Looking at the figures one also notices the sense of humor of the artist. Some figures were adorned with glasses and some had neck ties. This gave the figures a funny and a ridiculous look. Generally the artist outlined how possible though ridiculous it would be to combine tradition and modernity in a single piece of work. This is actually a very rare observation considering that the figures still manage to look artistic and portray a rich Chinese culture. Reference: Boise Art Museum. (2010, August 18). Wanxin Zhang: A Ten Year Survey. Retrieved August 18, 2010, from Boise Art Museum: http://boiseartmuseum. org/exhibit/current. php

Gene chlR in Streptomyces Venezuelae

Gene chlR in Streptomyces Venezuelae PCR amplification and overexpression of the positive regulatory gene chlR in Streptomyces venezuelae J. L. CLAYTON BROWN Introduction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique used in the amplification of DNA which utilises thermal stable polymerase, Thermus aquaticus (Taq) and primers which aid in the annealing of the chosen DNA strand, producing numerous replications through a cycle of appropriate temperature changes (Lorenz, 2012).   Developed in 1983 by Dr. Kary Banks Mullis, PCRs ability to quantitate transcription levels of specific genes has revolutionised research and the understanding of gene function (Bustin, 2000) in its many applications, including the ability to: detect DNA polymorphs and point mutations (Orita et al., 1989), amplify specific genes for the construction of overexpression vectors (Liang et al., 2015), and recognising bacterial (Hill, 1996) and viral (Holodniy, 1994) pathogens. Advances within PCR have only broadened the spectrum of its implementations, with new techniques such as Quantative PCR, and Inverse PCR yielding new insights into once misunderstood areas of molecular b iology (Jain and Varadarajan, 2013). ChlR is a cluster-associated transcriptional activator consisting of 987 base pairs within the putative CHL biosynthetic operon, predicated to encode the only positive regulator responsible for the initiation of production of chloramphenicol (CHL) (Fernà ¡ndez-Martà ­nez, et al., 2014); with the usance of PCRs cloning capacity, it is predicted that the introduction of a plasmid capable of overexpression of the chlR gene will result in amplified activity of the CHL biosynthetic gene cluster. Method DNA amplification by means of PCR often requires a high fidelity taq polymerase within the PCR mixture to minimise mutations (McInerney et al., 2014). The chlR DNA fragment was inserted into the vector pIJ10257 [1] prior to PCR. The final reaction mixture consisted of the following: 10ÃŽ ¼l 5X Colorless GoTaq ® Reaction Buffer, 2ÃŽ ¼l PCR Nucleotide Mix (10mM each dNTP), 5ÃŽ ¼l Apra_BamHI_F primer, 5ÃŽ ¼l Apra_BamHI_R primer, 2ÃŽ ¼l purified chlR chromosomal DNA, 5ÃŽ ¼l Dimethyl sulfoxide (D MSO), 20ÃŽ ¼l Nuclease-Free water, and 1ÃŽ ¼l GoTaq ® G2 DNA Polymerase, equating to a total reaction volume of 50ÃŽ ¼l within a sterile, nuclease-free PCR tube, labelled as group 2. The appropriate annealing temperature was set accordingly with the melting temperature (Tm) of the hybridising portion of the primer. The extension temperature was calculated upon the approximation of 1 minute per every 1kb of required amplified DNA. The resulting thermal cycle was applied as such: an initial cycle at 95 °C for 5 min (denaturation), 95 °C for 30 secs (secondary denaturation), 56 °C for 30 secs (annealing), 72 °C for 90 secs (extension), repeated for 30 cycles from secondary denaturation. The final extension temperature was 72 °C for a period of 5 mins (holding temperature 10 °C). Gel electrophoresis (GE) was preformed using a 0.8% polysaccharide agarose gel within a Tris/Borate/EDTA (TBE) buffer and inserted into the 2nd column. Results Gels were removed from the gel box and inspected underneath a UV light. No band of DNA was visible within column 2; the molecular weight ladder and chromosomal DNA within columns 3, 13, and 16 from other accompanying PCR (run simultaneously under the same conditions previously described) were observable. When compared to the molecular ladder, successful DNA fragments indicated a base pair (bp) length of approximately 1000bp, in correlation with the 987bp of the chlR regulatory sequence, an indication that the inserted DNA is present. Fig.1   0.08% agarose gel exhibiting the DNA ladder and S. veneuzlae chromosomal DNA within column 3, 13, and 16. Column 3 shows an excessive quanity of DNA, an indication overproportionate amount of template DNA were added during procedure. The absence of DNA within column 2 (indiciated in red) evinces the failed PCR described in this paper. Discussion   Ã‚   The absence of DNA within column 2 demonstrated the failure to obtain a PCR product. As each component was correctly incorporated, other aspects must be adjusted to result in an adequate amount of DNA cloning. There are several alterations implementable to increase the likelihood of success within the reaction, firstly being the redesign of appropriate primers as the most crucial component for successful amplification of the reaction (Dieffenbach et al., 1993); analysis based software for enhancing the specificity of the primers without compromising their sensitivity can be implemented, with programs such as Primer3 and QuantPrime offering the possibilities of designing internal oligonucleotides alongside primer pairs, and the optimisation of these primer pair designs enabling specificity evaluation, respectively (Noguera et al., 2014). If the primers present correctly, changes to the temperature cycle should next be ensured. A decrease in the annealing temperature has previously shown to reduce the risk of unspecific binding and preferential amplification (Sipos et al., 2007). A final modification to the protocol is to adjust the number of PCR cycles, as this change can influence aspects of the reaction; a low PCR cycle number may provide accurate estimation of bacterial richness and a decrease of PCR errors (Ahn et al., 2012), whilst an increase in cycles can improve fluorescent intensity of some dyes (SYBR ® Green I) (Ramakers et al., 2003). Electroporation is a common method of transformation concerning plasmids, involving a brief high-voltage pulse which renders the membrane pores to transiently open and allow the subsequent uptake of DNA into the host cell (Pigac and Schrempf, 1995); an associated example is an electrotransformed Escherichia coli bacteriumwith a cloned, overexpressed chlR gene. In order to clarify correct insertion and amplification of the correct sequence, the DNA must be sequenced. The most common method of DNA sequencing for cloned PCR products is the Sanger sequence, which technique lies in the use of chain-terminating nucleotides (Sanger, et al., 1977). Once clarified, the replicative vector can then be transferred to S. venezuelae via coagulation from the E. coli, transferrable due to the origin of transfer (oriT) within the vector (Mazodier et al., 1989). It Is expected that an overexpression of the chlR gene would result in elevated levels of the encoded transcription factor protein, initiating increased transcription of the CHL biosynthetic cluster and producing a higher chloramphenicol yield; this would be observable through analysation via High Performance Liquid Chromatography, a sensitive method appropriate for gene expression analysis (Sivakumaran, et al., 2003).Recent research [2] has strongly indicated that the constitutive expression of chlR effects the overall expression of the speculated, proceeding genes within the cluster, confirming chlRs role as a transcriptional activator (Fernà ¡ndez-Martà ­nez et al., 2014).

Japans Economic Development :: essays research papers fc

JAPAN'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT In the following paper I will be examining the process of economic development in Japan. I begin with their history in the Meiji period and how that effected their great success in the postwar development. Then I will go through the different economic stages of economic development in postwar Japan. I will examine the high periods and low period in Japan economics, and the factors behind these shifts in development. Last I will give a conclusion and where I believe Japan economy will be in the future. To understand Japan economic boom after the war you must also look at there history. Without the creation of the industrial economy during the Meiji Japan this economic growth after postwar could have not happened. To look even closer lets examine the period before called the Tokugawa period, from 1630's until the 1860's. Smith explains that "during this period Japanese economy experienced unparalleled growth and structural change" (Smith, Page 4). The system was set up on rules and obligations on all sections of society. These systems of control helped rapid urbanization. Education is also a factor in the economic development in Tokugawa period. Tokugawa Japan abapted Confucianism belief system from there neighbors China. This became important because "one of the distinctive traits of Confucianism was reverence for education and learning" (Smith, Page 5). This spread of education was dramatic. Not Macdonnell, 2 Only did the knowledge seep the upper class (such as the samurai and merchants) but in order to expand business it filtrates down to the peasants and artisans also. During this period up to forty percent of boys and ten percent of girls were educated by the 1850's. These are great numbers compared to other societies. The Tokugawa period in turn developed an economy familiar to bureaucratic direction and directed by the well-educated people stated Dennis Smith. In 1869 the Tokugawa shogunta was bought down and Meiji restoration began. Japan was under great change. Meiji Japan began to industrialize. This was due to the western countries that have already industrialized. It was through private investment and enterprise that Japan began this process. The backbone of industrialization was the zaibatsu. Zaibatsu were industrial and financial conglomerates. They were given government support including benefits from government subsidies and sell-off of government factories. The first of these zaibatsu were Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Yasuda. Growth of industrialization began slowly. In the beginning they still depended largely on United States and Europe for most specialized and worldly machinery and manufactured goods.

My Personal Philosophy of Education :: Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Philosophy Teachers have been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember. Different individuals have shown me so much in a variety of capacities: some worked in a classroom, some coached me outside of it, and some individuals have simply been a model for how to live a rich life. I consider them all teachers. My decision to become a teacher is founded in the idea that it is one of the most direct ways to influence young people. I believe that students do look upon teachers as role models, sometimes even as they pledge dislike for teachers to their classmates. I have already been working with youth of various ages for several years in the capacity as a tennis coach. I thoroughly enjoy participating in the development of each student’s quest to improve. One of the shining moments of the job is when a student has successfully attained a skill that has been difficult for them. Instantly they understand that effort and intellect have combined to bring them success, a model they can follow far beyond the court. That experience is something that I intend to bring to a classroom and a school system in general, combining the personal growth of a student with the ability to improve one’s grasp of subject matter. For a student to achieve genuine personal growth is not always a simple process, nor is it for any individual, including myself. It is one that I expect will be more difficult when I am not dealing with a student alone or in a small group but with a class of twenty or more students. It is important to both challenge the actively involved student and to draw in the shy or disinterested one. Especially as an English teacher, I feel that it is important to make myself relatable to students early in the year. That being said, it is also important to establish a certain bar of expectation right away. This is a delicate balance as students who look at a teacher (particularly a young one) too personally are likely to attempt to take advantage of the bond. Meanwhile, students are given very little incentive to work hard when the teacher comes across as uncaring or highly authoritarian.

The English Patient Essay -- Film Movie Movies English Patient

Count Lazlo Almasy, the English Patient, is a man in an Imperial time and world. The people in this world live by Imperial rules and perpetuate Imperial stereotypes. The film takes place in World War II era Africa, and as the film portrays it, in the mysterious and exotic Sahara desert and in Cairo, Egypt. Count Almasy’s character lives in the desert among imperial explorers and in the desert environment full of natives who bring to life classic stereotypes full of ignorance and white prevalence and power. Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, authors of Unthinking Eurocentrism, believe that the Imperial attitudes that the British government and the Western imperial society initiated, continue today and are alive in the cinema. The film, â€Å"The English Patient† is a key example of Imperial influence on cinema with the exception of one character: Count Almasy. On the surface, Almasy seems to be just like those around him, but when one looks deeper, his characteristics show tha t he is in fact an anti-imperial. Almasy’s character invites the viewer to identify with his seeming quest for adventure and then reveals qualities that then revise the colonial stereotypes that he seemed to personify previously. In the chapter â€Å"Imperial Imaginary† by Shohat and Stam, the authors discuss the idea that the perfect imperial subject is the adolescent male because of his vulnerability and hunger for adventure (101). The nature of imperialism is one of power and control. To teach a man to be an imperial one must teach him to love adventure. According to the authors, the empire by its very nature is the man’s plaything and that â€Å"boys [can] play in the space of an empire† (101). It gives them the freedom and creativity to explore and through cinema... ...at, unpredictable weather, and the general exoticism of the Sahara, Almasy is the odd light in the dark of the â€Å"Imperial Imaginary†. According to Stam and Shohat’s definition of the imperial, Almasy fits into their image only on the surface. He believes in many things that are antithetical to that of the imperial,largely his feelings about borders, names, and maps. When one delves deeper into his personality and beliefs, it can be seen that he is in fact the anti-imperial amidst a plethora of imperial stereotypes. Works Cited Ondaatje, Michael. The English Patient. New York: Random House, Inc., 1992. Shohat, Ella, and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and theMedia. New York: Routledge, 1994. †The English Patient†. Dir. Anthony Minghella. Perf. Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Defoe, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Miramax, 1996.

Ethical dilemmas Essay

Any field of study has its dilemmas and nursing is no exception. The dilemmas in question tend to take a higher dimension and involve the nurse educators as well. Their dilemmas range from ethical or legal to moral. Some of these dilemmas involve trying to meet the needs of the community around you. Trying to address environmental issues is another dilemma. Dealing with challenges form your students is also another dilemma, and many more (Foot, 2002,). A close tool at the whole topic shows that the educator in question may be faced with the dilemma of not having enough content for his students. This may make him feel threatened and frustrated, because he may end up teaching the wrong thing to the students who may end up endangering the lives of the patients, they will be handling, after college (Foot, 2002). If contents is not enough the educator may feel threatened by producing half-baked students. This should be well considered and ensure it does not happen. However it is normally common especially when the educator is still fresh with his work (Foot, 2002). The educator in question may also be faced with the dilemma of early preparations. This normally happens when he does not know how to prepare or when to prepare. In the process students end up not getting enough information form their educator (Scott, 1998). On the side of the communities needs is another problem, especially if the educator does not know them. Since the educator is someone with his or her professional then it is very obvious and possible not to understand the needs of the community better. This normally leads to a lot of misunderstanding and frustrations (Cohen, 2003). The dilemmas in question also tend to be challenges, especially form students. This is true, especially when the students come for advice. The nurse educator will normally not know what to tell his students when he himself has no enough knowledge of their needs. It is a serious issue as some students ignore the departments of guiding and counselling and prefer to seek the advice of their educators. Unless the higher authorities know better how to address this issue there will always be a problem (Cohen, 1998). Other challenges that face the most nurse educators are class preparations, how to keep in touch with the current affairs, cases of students lying or cheating in exams, dealing with death cases, and also wanting to be a role model (Rodin, Collins, 1991). As for class preparations, this is true when the nurse educator tries to prepare enough or adequately for the classes. It is more serious if the educator is involved with students who normally ask very hard questions. This can always make the educator feel inadequate, and that does not know how to prepare for classes better, it normally becomes another problem (Denhardt, 1988). Keeping in touch with the current affairs is important and enjoyable when the nurse educator tries to keep in touch with the current affairs; there is always the problem of maintaining himself in his profession. This is a very big dilemma; unless the higher authorities address it properly then it is still a major problem for the nurse educator (Cohen, 2003). Another problem is that of trying to be a role model to his students. This is also a big dilemma since it involves knowing at first hand how to go about it. The educator should be provided with enough information about it. This is to say they should be taught early enough in colleges or universities (Scott, 1998). The higher authorities must change their attitude from the non- supportive one to a more positive and responsive one. The ethical dilemma faced by the nurse educators are worrying especially this one of catching a student cheating in the examination. This should always be handled very sensitively. Unless the higher authorities understand the educator’s needs then misunderstandings will always come in even in such a case (Denhardt, 1988). The governments should think hard on how to address these dilemmas. They are serious ones, and should not be allowed to happen in any way. Once they are properly handled this will promote and give morale to the educators in question and also improve the stands of living of people (Rodin, Collins, 1991).

Cross Cultural Ethical Perspectives

Cross-Culture Ethical Perspectives Amanda Bravo, Mary Malone, Doneice Johnson, Jose Robledo, Kanosha Mitchell, Josephine Johnson ETH/316 September 24, 2012 Bette Bellefeuille Cross-Culture Ethical Perspectives Globalization is common in most large organizations as they thrive to maximize revenue and expand customer base by establishing operations in different countries and within different cultures. Consequently, these organizations have to consider cultural perspectives of the country in which that plan to operate.McDonald’s, established in 1954 by Ray Kroc in conjunction with the McDonalds brothers and with over 30,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries, is one of the world’s biggest fast food restaurant chains employing 1. 7 million people† (McDonalds, 2010-2012). This organization is no different and has to face issues resulting from globalization such as dietary preferences or needs from culture to culture or country to country as well as religion as it r elates to its advertising and such..A good example of the aforementioned was faced in India where currently McDonald’s operates 123 restaurants (India Marks, 2011-2012). A large percentage of that population is Hindu or Muslim and Hindus do not eat beef and Muslims do not eat pork. With both types of meat being a large part of their menu, McDonald’s had to reconsider the menu and decided to adapt it by introducing 100% vegetarian burgers and more than half of their menu being vegetarian (India Marks, 2011-2012). This has helped McDonald’s be successful in that country.McDonald’s does takes cross-culture issue serious and in one particular incident maybe too serious. In 2010 McDonald’s had launched a new line of promotional soft toys in Singapore which entailed a 12-character Doraemon set depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar. Because McDonald’s did not want to offend Muslims, they decided not to include the pig character in th e line of toys and replaced it with a cupid to represent the Valentine’s Day. As a result, many Chinese customers were upset as they were keen on collecting all 12 characters.A flurry of irate emails and demands by collectors and customers followed which made the fast food restaurant reverse its decision and apologized for their insensitivity as it was never their intention to disrespect any religion or culture. Experts say it showed a lack of cross-culture understanding. Daniel Goh, a sociologist, said that McDonald’s did not consult Muslim opinions before making the decision then assumed Muslim sensibilities which amounted to a form of self-censorship. Dr.Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, said, â€Å"Pigs and dogs are not non-halal, except when they are consumed† (Loh, 2010). In any case, clearly McDonald’s takes special cultural considerations and precaution when promoting products into other countries. As per the aforementioned, some of the issues that Mc Donald’s faces as a result from globalization may be different in perspective and in nature. In some countries the fast food chain has to accommodate its menu to the dietary needs or customs as done in India.Had the organization not done so, perhaps the chain would have been unsuccessful. In other countries however, it has to thrive to avoid any cultural insensitivity as was the case in Singapore with the promotional soft toys as it attempted to avoid insulting the Muslim community and unfortunately ended up being less catering to the Chinese community. McDonalds is a common household name in many countries, but has backlash from many cultures as mentioned with those among Chinese and Muslim communities.To cater to international customer McDonald’s has added item to their menu such as the McArbia, the McPepper, and the Mushroom Pinwheel in Chinese and Middle Eastern countries (Old McDonalds has some Smarts in China, 2006). However McDonalds’ has been viewed has having an influence on these countries by taking away from the cuisine and traditional foods that these cultures and accustomed to eating. â€Å"Critics claim that the rapid spread of McDonald’s and its fast-food rivals undermine indigenous cuisines and helps creates a homogenous, global culture† (Watson, 2006).This is viewed by those who value the culture and history of the Korean, Chinese, Middle Eastern culture as taking away from the culture. McDonald’s global operations not only is a threat to international cuisine but also factor into many of the religious beliefs with various types of items that are served on their menu such as beef whereas in many countries are holy among Hindus. Working from within the company, management realized that certain guidelines must be met within different cultural communities.The changing of the menu represented respect for the people that it hoped to become customers. A company must recognize standard cultural changes that i nfluence the local operational area. However, understanding the local culture does not guarantee success of the operation. Just because the company is knowledgeable of the local culture and what to expect, does not reflect what can actually occur. Assuming that certain cultures would be offended by a toy to be given out, shows lack of tact on McDonald’s behalf.However, as organizations such as McDonald’s attempt to increase market share by entering different countries and different cultures, proper research should always be done before automatically assuming anything about those cultures in order to be able to address issues that result from globalization. References India Marks. (2011-2012). What you can and can't get at McDonald's in India. Retrieved from http://www. indiamarks. com/what-you-can-cant-get-mcdonalds-india/ Loh, Larry. (2010). McDonald’s frantic backpedaling: The pig toy fiasco. ttp://www. cnngo. com/singapore/none/mcdonalds-pig-toy-fiasco-371923 McDonald's. (2010-2012). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www. mcdonalds. ca/ca/en/contact_us/faq. html â€Å"Old MacDonald’s has some smarts in China† Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times News Group. 2006. Retrieved September 23, 2012 from HighBeam Research: http:/www. highbeam. com/doc/1P2-2791332. html Watson, J. L. (2006) China’s Big Mac attack. In J. Johnson (Ed. ), Global Issues, Local Arguments. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

Aims and Objectives for Teaching and Learning Essay

The successful teacher is the armed teacher. Lessons’ plans and repertoire of activities are our arms. In order to achieve genuine communication in the classroom, every lesson should be wisely planned and perfectly provided having balanced variety of activities. The teacher of ESOL must manage the class involving all the students all the time to make them active learners. First of all, the teacher is to create a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom according to TESOL general principles. They are: 1. â€Å"Look after your students. 2. Be a caring person. 3. Raise students’ self-esteem. 4. Give deserved praise. 5. Be yourself.† Every lesson should start with friendly chatting with students in a natural way to give them the opportunity to act in real life and to show them the teacher interest. E.g. Ask them about last weekend at the week beginning. It is absolutely important to pronounce the students names correctly. When having difficulties, we may involve the students in learning their names asking them to explain the name meaning and to correct our pronunciation. Paying attention to every student is a clue to a genuine communication. So, we are to look at all the students in the class. The caring teacher moves around the class as a ‘prowling lion’ to make the students feel encouraged, and changes their focus at the moment the subject of learning is changing. E.g. When talking about nature, move to the window and ask some student to describe the sky, another student to talk about the trees behind the window, and so on. We must care about the seating model of the classroom. Facing with standard rows we need to rearrange the furniture to circle or semi-circle/horseshoe to create the most comfortable communication. If rearranging is impossible the teacher may ask the students to walk around the class to find partners for pair/group work. Also, we can make groups asking one pair to turn round to another pair when seating in rows. We may see the separate tables for groups in some schools. This model is also appropriate as allows the teacher to move around the class prompting and explaining something to the table groups. The furniture arrangement may be dynamic, changing every lesson according to the activities. As to a groupwork, it is one of the best techniques of involving the students into communication. The preferred number of students for the group is five to have the opportunity to of major view because of an odd number. The group of five students is big enough to participate in communicative activities (e.g. role-plays, information/opinion gaps and collaborative work), and small enough for effective interaction. However, we may divide the students into smaller or bigger groups, pairs, and teams according to the activities. When organizing a pairwork/groupwork we should take into account some aspects: †¢ friendship. People in the group are to be pleasant to each other. We can make it clear asking the students to write the confidential lists of their preferences and dislikes; †¢ nationality. Teaching multi-lingual classes we shouldn’t put into groups the students of the same nationality to avoid the using of the mother tongue. †¢ streaming. Weak and strong students are to be mixed in pairs and groups to make cooperative work to be effective and helpful. †¢ gender and status. According to some contexts, we can’t put men and women into one group. Also, teaching business English, we should know the status of our students to be sure in the appropriateness of putting people together. We must always remember about L.T.T.T. as we want to achieve genuine communication. The more students speak, the more they learn how to do it. So, we should decrease our talking to increase the talking of our students. E.g. Explaining the grammar involve the students asking them for their examples of the point. Using the white/black board we must write clearly. It’s possible to print something if keeping a board in order is difficult. The white/black board is quite appropriate instrument for various activities as table filling, games, errors’ correction, etc. Encouragement is the cornerstone of communication in class. ‘No!† may discourage everyone. That’s why we should use the more kind intonation as ‘No, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Frequent use of ‘good’ is also appropriate, as in ‘Good, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Giving a puzzled expression to encourage a student to reformulate the sentence is good practice to keep high level of motivation to communicate. Grammar terminology needs to be minimized as it possible. Bur the teacher must know the grammar to keep the credibility. Encouraging students to learn English outside the classroom develops their receptive and productive skills. As for extensive listening, we can find various authentic materials on the Internet. E.g. news reports, radio podcasts, TEFL listening materials, TV shows, songs, etc. To develop the extensive reading we can build up a library of suitable books in our SAC. We can create the website to involve students in writing their blogs for informal communication. And we can go outside the classroom for speaking in an informal environment. Agency gives students the opportunity to make some decisions about the learning process and keeps them encouraged. Learning journals brings much sense helping the students to communicate freely and creating the dialogue between teacher and student. Questions are very popular in a communicative approach. But we should remember some rules: †¢ don’t address the question to keep the attention; †¢ use ‘wait time’ to encourage; †¢ don’t ask students in fixed order, be unpredictable; †¢ ask everyone equally. Two types of questions, i.e. closed and open-ended, help to activate students’ mind in various ways. The open question is appropriate for the lesson starting to focus the students’ attention on the topic. To manage the students successfully we must differentiate their work according to the abilities by task, by support, or my homework. We must be armed at all points to manage interruptions. For example, to have extra copies of textbooks, pencils, and rubbers in the case they may be forgotten; don’t wait for coming-late people; give an extra explanation for lost-on-point students; deal with personal problems outside class time. To help students to process information we should use a VAK presentation that allows different types of learners to accept the point using their best way, i.e visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Creating the successful classroom let us avoid the problem behavior of the students. Engaged and successful students with raised self-esteem have no t ime and purpose to behave badly.

“What Thanksgiving means to me.

In my country, Korea, having same holiday Thanksgiving called by Chu-Seok. Thanksgiving is upon us. I have to say, fall is one of my most favorite times of the year – first Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, all right in a row. The decorations, the music, the food, the holiday spirit – I like it. Coming from a large family – and having a large extended family – only heightened the holiday cheer growing up, and I used to help create that cheer for my own family. So I think I’d take a moment to talk about what Thanksgiving means to me.There is always the traditional Korean food, of course. But it’s not just the act of eating Thanksgiving dinner. The hours of preparation and the delicious smells that fill the house that entire week are just as important, as are the leftovers that last for days. In my family, the cooking of Christmas cookies has always begun the day after Thanksgiving – if not before. The preparation, eating , and preserving of food becomes both a family tradition and a ritual of community and togetherness.There is also family. For me, Thanksgiving has almost always involved time spent with extended family, whether they come to me or I go to them. And for me, extended family has always meant time spent playing board games such as Yut-Game, Gostop-Game. or just sitting around reminiscing. There are also the family projects that we’ll all tackle together, whether it’s simply fixing that drawer that never ran straight or building an entire new porch. Thanksgiving has always meant all of that.In addition to centering around the ritual of food, the embrace of family, and the richness of history, Thanksgiving has always served for me as a time of contemplation and gratitude. It’s good to take stock from time to time, not to ignore problems or challenges but rather to remember and think about the good. Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind of life that we focus more on what we don’t have than on what we do have. Thanksgiving helps me slow down and refresh my focus.

Argumentative Essay On Abortion Thesis Example For Students

Argumentative Essay On Abortion Thesis Abortion has always been (and I reckon it will continue to be for quite some time) a very controversial issue not only due to the difficult comparison of rights (does the mothers rights outweigh the childs or vice-versa?) but also because of the many different instances in which the issue of abortion might come up. For instance, one couple who simply wants to plan their family, and be ready for it, is obviously different and less shocking a case as a raped fifteen-year old. Regarding abortion, pro-life and pro-choice are the two sides trying to impose their own points of view, but while one is extremely strict and makes a completely solid statement without taking each case in particular (pro-life), the other (pro-choice) acknowledges the implications of abortion and while not encouraging it in any way, it implies a certain flexibility depending on each case. I, personally, am a pro-choice person, but not taking it to the extreme. I believe a woman should have the right to choose when to have a baby but I agree with creating limitations to this right. The reasons are simple and numerous, health being the most important one, for if abortion would be deemed illegal and immoral, not only would women turn to unsanitary secretive abortions (or even desperate self-induced ones) but the psychological pain and scars would also be considerably more unbearable (I say more because they are already quite unbearable and extremely stressful). Another reason is a biological one it is the woman who carries the baby for nine months, and until the baby is out in the open, being a separate person, until the moment of birth, the baby is simply a part of the womans body. I choose to view childbirth as the moment when the child becomes the human, because it is the most valid turning point in its life -when it starts to live on its own. I consider the pro-choice point of view as being the most rational. However, I also agree that the time period of six months after conception is more than enough for the making of a decision. I support fully the six-month time condition, again mainly because of the health issues involved (abortion after six months is a risk to the mother). I also acknowledge the gruesome methods abortion implies, but I dont consider them a reason strong enough to ban abortion. I would wish there could be some sort of application process involved with abortion, but given the fact each and every case is different and also that such laws would have to be extremely detailed and confusing in order to relate to all cases on an individual plane. So I support abortion for all women as long as it is done within the first six months. And I state this because I dont believe the child is a person by the end of the six months, nor a human life. Until that point, it is a life, but it is a combination of cells insi de a body as well. Its size of only several inches adds to my inability of considering it human strictly because it lacks all the functions a human life form has, from consciousness to breathing and from feelings to personality. My point of view has a personal history behind it and even though I am not in the position of claiming a strict perspective of the subject, I realize I may be subjective. My mother described to me how she had to go through around three abortions because of my fathers drinking problems. Most of the fetuses had vital physical problems such as a deformed (contorted) body or a missing organ. My mother chose to abort them and it was a physically as well as psychologically painful process. The worse thing is that she blamed herself for it, while all the time it was my fathers irresponsible drinking that caused the malformations. I dont even want to imagine what would have happened had she been forced to carry those fetuses to term, and I am also extremely glad she didnt (I wouldnt be around if she had). READ: St. Alphonsus Rodriguez EssayAll in all, I dont consider pro-life a valid, modern, twenty-first century attitude because it

Intercultural studies Finding Nouf Research Paper

Intercultural studies Finding Nouf - Research Paper Example The basis for major events in the story is when Nouf, a sixteen-year-old girl goes missing thereby triggering her family to organize a search. The family seeks for a lead from Nayir Sharqi, regarded as a desert guide, to help the search party. After 10 days of search, anonymous desert pilgrims discover her body just when Nayir was to give up. The test carried by coroner’s office indicates that the cause of death was drowning. The family’s dissatisfaction by the coroner’s investigation triggers Nayir to sacrifice on a journey of finding out what transpired at the time of death. The journey to determining the cause of death makes Nayir to seek for help from Katya Hijazi, who is one of the workers at the coroner’s office. Katya Hijazi is courageous enough to carry her own investigation even though her partnership with Nayir was at stake because of the cultural beliefs. Nayir has to antagonize the cultural limitation and his desire for a partnership with a fem ale character. The writer presents a society which enshrines discrimination by its cultural patterns. Intuitively, the presented society is deeply rooted in their Muslim culture which serves as the influence of the themes presented in the novel. The writer presents the culture as having different forms of patterns which serves in modeling the relationship between the people. Generally, one of the major cultural patterns presented is the need to shun any partnership between men and women. This is evident when Nayir goes to work in partnership with Katya to realize the cause of death (Ferraris, 23).

Reading response 11 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading response 11 - Assignment Example Every individual differs in ability to perform easy and difficult tasks which means it is the variation of WM that differentiates one person from the other. Numbers can be remembered by storing in phonological short-term memory (PSTM), and since such storage can rapidly decay therefore rehearsal process is adopted which is hindered by similar sounding items or long length of words. Short-term memory is enhanced through repetition of words known and the maximum ability to do so in correct order is known as digit span which again depends on articulation rate. In order to assess the capacity of PSTM, one needs to repeat nonsense words, and if long length of such words can be remembered it means PSTM’s capacity is strong. In digit span and nonword repetition, one has to remember not only the items but also the correct sequence. The composition of WM is important for language learning provided the learning process is explicit which means it is intentionally controlled. In another chapter, DeKeyser explores the age effects in second language (L2) learning. It is a common phenomenon that children brought up in a foreign country grow up to speak the native language in their true essence while the parents retain accent of their own language. Researchers have suggested that starting to learn L2 at early age is more convenient since brain plasticity decreases in later age. Although adults can easily learn L2 but still this theory is not opposed for three reasons. One is that adults already have the experience of leaning a language which means they are aware of the basics of learning. Secondly, adults have more cognitive power and so can easily learn specific facets of L2. Finally in spite of learning L2, adults fail to reach the native standard of pronunciation. There are other factors attached to the critical period hypothesis. Studies have shown that children invariably attain native standard L2 which however

Islamic finance PowerPoint Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islamic finance - PowerPoint Presentation Example Instead Islam asks for an equitable distribution of wealth so that all members of society can prosper together. Concentration of wealth in a few hands is not desirable. Islam strikes a balance between conventional socialism and capitalism. One allows only for private ownership, while the other negates it outright. It is the Islamic way that has sought a path between the two extremes for the betterment of man. Unlike conventional systems, Islam recognizes only 3 factors of production which include capital, land and labor. The returns generated from the combination of these three are distributed accordingly. Capital gains return in the form of profits, land in the form of rent and labor in the form of wages. Islamic Contracts Islamic contracts govern the business conventions on how trade transactions must be entered into. First of all, the trade must be permissible in the light of Shariah. It cannot contain any element of Riba’, Gharar, Mysur, Haram etc. Secondly, there are many conditions which must be fulfilled in order for a contract to be rendered valid. They include: A condition which is not against the contract is a valid condition A condition which seems to be against the contract, but is normal market practice, is no void unless proved in the light of Shariah. A condition which seems to be against the contract and not market practice but favors any one participant is void. A condition which is against the contract, not market practice, and doesn’t favor anyone is a void condition. Sales in Islamic Finance The concept of sales in Islam is the exchange of a thing of value with another thing of value. However, it is very strict on the core principles of sales. In the contract, there must be offer and acceptance for the contract to be executed. Furthermore, the individuals must be sane and of proper age to enter into agreements such as this one. The commodity/asset under consideration must exist. It must also have some intrinsic value to as to c ater to the sale. Furthermore, it should be capable of showing ownership. For example, no one can point to the moon and claim that they own it. It exists, and must have some value. But since it cannot be owned, it cannot be transacted. Furthermore, the asset must be deliverable to the buyer, the quantity and quality must be aforementioned. The price of the trade must be addressed at the start so as to avoid any misunderstandings between the parties. Lastly, either physical or constructive possession of the asset must be taken in order to render the sale complete. Modes of Islamic Finance The modes of Islamic Finance, while seemingly like their conventional counterparts, are free from all the Haram (unlawful) ways which have been prohibited in Islam. Following are the types of Islamic Financing: 1. Musharakah In a Musharakah agreement, two parties come together to form an alliance for commercial enterprise and share the profits according to a set ratio. This is decided at the time of entering into the alliance. However, if a loss occurs then the parties distribute that according to the rate of participation of initial investment from each individual. There are two explicit types of Musharakah. In the first type, the partnership arises out of a joint ownership of an asset. For example, two brothers inherit their father’s sugarcane factory. Hence they become partners through the joint ownership which exists. The second kind is via contracts. In this case, the two individuals enter into an

Early Modern Poetry, Comparative Analysis Essay

Early Modern Poetry, Comparative Analysis - Essay Example Hers was an arranged marriage that may well have been the reason behind her ideas of love which can be seen in the poems that she has penned. Katherine Philips works were more or less centered on the Society of Friendship where she befriended women who appear a number of times in her works (Carpenter, 2003). According to her writings there seems to be a suggestion by Philips that the love that was between the women was a form of love that was free from corruption and was as pure a form of love that could be attainted. There have been numerous poems that have been written by Katherine Philips about her relationships with women earned a lot of distaste however modern feminists have praised her for the manner in which she has portrayed women. Mary Wroth was born to the first Earl of Leicester, Sir Robert Sidney in 1587. Wroth had a number of writers in her family who may have had an impact on her writing (Louisiana State University Press). Mary was married off to Sir Robert Wroth in 160 4 who was considered to be a favorite in the eyes of King James I. The marriage did not get off the ground and Robert Wroth was known to be a man of immoral standing but he was also a wealthy man. His standing in the king’s court brought some benefits to his wife who was invited to the court more often. Mary Worth wrote the romantic prose The Countess of Montgomeries Urania. The particular poem that will be looked at will be â€Å"Love peruse me, seeke, and finde† (Poetry Foundation). Wroth wrote Urania to relate the story of two lovers, Pamphilia and Amphilanthus. However, some e of the poems were a narrative of the dealings in court and this caused quite a commotion (Millman & Wright, 2005). Mary was also a mistress to her first cousin with whom she had two illegitimate children making her the centre of a lot of criticism (Maggs). Both the poems, Against love and Love peruse me, seeke, and finde are love poems. Katherine Philips wrote her poems in the 1600’s w hile Mary Wroth wrote her pieces in the late 1500’s. The gap between the time when the two women wrote their works is not too much and the lives that both led have affected the manner of writing. Against love by Katherine Philips refers to the romance and love and criticizes the emotion (Reocities). Love here is referred to as Cupid and loves use of cheating toys. Katherine points out that love gives grief’s and paints a picture of joy and pleasure. This poem shows the criticism of love and those who fall into love; there is a critique of those women who allow for a man to take control of their lives through the idea of love and thus put the chains around their own legs (Barash, 1996). There is a constant use of rhymes at the end of each line. The ending word of each line is made to rhyme with the last word of the next line and thus creating a sense of a constant rhythm. The imagery that is portrayed by the poem does not seem to be intense though the thoughts are certa inly provoking. Katherine’s prose uses quite a critical tone and the imagery makes one portray two lovers where the man is both the weaker and the stronger individual in the relationship. A man is one who seems to be a loner and does not seem to share an emotional connection with any particular women. The use of figurative language is quite extensive; the start of the poem is with a metaphor for love with Cupid. The hopes and feelings that follow the idea of love are considered by the writer to be cheating toys. The

Working at McDonald's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Working at McDonald's - Essay Example The apparent reasons that were disclosed by the author included affecting academic performance in a negative manner; apparently imparting skills that are not sufficiently applicable in future endeavors; and reportedly skew the values that are supposed to focus on adherence to ethical, moral and legal standards. Evidently, Etzioni indicated that the nature of the jobs provided in these kinds of establishments is highly uneducational. For one, the tasks and responsibilities were routinary, highly automated, structured, and leaves little grounds for instilling the teen-agers skills to develop creativity and innovativeness in the work setting. Another set of reasons contended by Etzioni that contributes to McDonald’s being bad for one’s kids are that these jobs provide few opportunities for career promotions or for the development of marketable skills, and more importantly, take greater amounts of time that compromise academic attendance and performance. Likewise, without a mple adult supervision, no governance and strategic guidance is provided to teenagers working in McDonald’s; and the apparent remuneration enables these teenagers to gain access to temporary fads and short-term pleasures that do not focus on the development of long-range planning on being financially mature and responsible citizens. Part 2: Critical Response Etzioni’s points of discussion and arguments were effective in terms of the ability of the author in relaying the message in a clear and concise manner. For instance, the subject or thesis statement was revealed at the first line where it was indicated that â€Å"McDonald’s is bad for your kids†¦ (particularly) to the jobs teen-agers undertake† (Etzioni 283). Then, succeeding statements provided the needed support for this main point. To support this main argument, for instance, Etzioni provided the following reasons to justify that McDonald’s is bad for kids in terms of providing employme nt at this particular fast food chain: (1) these jobs were asserted to â€Å"undermine school attendance and involvement, impart few skills that would be useful in later life, and simultaneously skew the values of teen-agers† (Etzioni par. 3); (2) these jobs are highly uneducational; (3) the hours and working days were reported to be too long; (4) supervisory techniques impart wrong lessons in terms of compliance that was described as blind obedience, as well as shared alienation with the boss (Etzioni par. 14), and inappropriate and insufficient (where teens were reported to supervise peer teens); (5) inconsistency in administrative or supervisory governance (too tight or too loose); and (6) pay apparently spent on â€Å"flimsy punk clothes, trinkets, and whatever else is the latest fast-moving teen craze† (Etzioni par. 18). Another reason why one strongly believes that Etzioni presented effective arguments to support his main point is that the author used and cited p revious studies to validate statements that were presented. There were two studies noted and cited as needed: the 1984 study apparently made by Ivan Charper and Bryan Shore Frazer which supposedly relied on responses made by teen-agers from the questionnaires that were designed; and the 1980 study conducted by A.V. Harrell and P.W. Wirtz that aimed to determine the unemployment rate of those who were previously employed at fast food chains as compared to those who stayed in school. In addition, some statistics and figures were cited to support other arguments. The assertion that teen-agers render long days and hours working at fast-food chains cited the Charper and Frazer study which disclosed that more than 30 hours per week were rendered by a third of the employees or approximately 33%; 20%

Community Engagement Assignment Earth care Packaging Essay

Community Engagement Assignment Earth care Packaging - Essay Example If unchecked, the pollution might ultimately lead to a corruption of the water-supply and sewer systems around the town. The lake cleaning activity was a joint activity of the Michigan county council and the UNEP. The two organizers not only organized the event but also provided the materials to be used during the cleaning. In line with the course emphasis on ethics and social responsibility as relating to environmental issues, the cleaning was a wakeup call to the obvious harm that industrialization had on the environment. The theme of the exercise was one that called on safe industrialization practices, targeted mainly on the big multi-million dollars so engrossed with their business prospects that they pay little heed to the cry to spare the environmental. The address on the ethical decisions and procedures in the disposal of their waste materials should take more into account the impact it has on the general society. As such, the role of social of ensuring the environment is clean or healthy should not be delegated only to the town council or other green world movements but should be adopted as an obligation of every individual. This is the meaning of social responsibility. When applied to the industry, the right term will be corporate social responsibility. The amount of personal satisfaction that I derived from engaging in this activity was really fulfilling. I was able, to not only engage my time in a worthy cause but was also able to gain a wealth of knowledge about how simple acts such as littering the pathways might ultimately lead to such bigger environmental problems as global warming, more often than not resulting in untold misery not only to plants and animals, but also to the human beings. By participating in this activity, I learnt of the immense role and power of an individual in ensuring the preservation of the environment. I learnt that social responsibility starts with an

Business math project Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business math project - Speech or Presentation Example d function implies that if the competitors come together into a merger, the resultant monopolist product may not have more brands than the merged firm may, because more brand competition is internal. Nevertheless, it is not likely that just a single brand will be developed after the competitors’ merger. Producing more brands with a wide range of prices and properties is one technique for breaking up the market demand into sets of different clients with a variety of price elasticity, which also serves to stimulate the overall market demand. The monopolist product function is made up of the quantity or the number of brands in the market, the average cost per unit of the brands produced and the price or the value of the product brands. The questions will thus be solved by inputting the prices in the Mathematica codes and then applying the demand function below: to generate the 2 dimensional plotting of the first question. In the second question, the data input in Mathematica code s will be the quantity of products. In Question 3, the data input will be the same as in question 1 but will have a fixed price of 1 in calculating the demand elasticity. Question 4 will be treated in the same way as question 2 but will have a fixed quantity of 1 to calculating the marginal cost. Question 5 will calculate the profit function as the difference between the price and the marginal cost of the products. The sixth question will produce the 3D plots of the profit function, with two input variables, the prices and the product quantities. From this, it will be possible to locate the maximum profit to answer question 9, and select the quantity and the price that produces it, to answer question 7 and 8 respectively. The study was successful in testing all the numerical questions presented. From the results generated, it was clearly evident that the price and the demand were inversely proportional. As the price increased, the demand for the products was seen to be reducing. At the same

Drug Trafficking in the United States Essay Example for Free

Drug Trafficking in the United States Essay Drug trafficking has become an even bigger problem than ever before in the world today. Now days, more people are buying, selling and using drugs. To people who do it, it is just a fast and easy way to get money, not knowing all the risks. Some drug dealers are even aware of the risk that comes with the action and they still do it anyways. There are many risks when dealing drugs and the risks are all different depending on what kind of drug it is and how addictive it is. Drugs are not only spreading fast through the streets, but today drugs and dealers have found their way into high school systems. The most common drug in high school is marijuana, more commonly known as pot or weed, and hashish or hash. Although this drug is said to be harmless or not addicting, it can still be dangerous in many ways. This is the reason drug trafficking in the USA must be stopped. Illegal drug trafficking from Mexico into the United States is and has been killing our society for many years. For decades, the border of the United States with Mexico has been used to smuggle illegal drugs into the country with the intention to sell it for illegal usage. Many of the drugs come from Mexico or other South American countries where drugs are easily grown. Once the drugs are grown and packed, they are then smuggled across the borders of Mexico and the United States. When the illegal drugs reach the United States, they are then distributed to many drug dealers around the country. These substances are then sold in our neighborhoods, our cities and states to those corrupted enough to purchase them. Sometimes the people that buy these large quantities of drugs have drug addictions, but a lot of the time it’s people that are addicted to money that sell to the addicts for a price of good profit. Customs Agents and x-ray devices that are at the borders are the only factors that need to be bypassed in order to successfully smuggle drugs into the United States. A lot of the times, illegal substances are stopped and confiscated at our borders. However, the effort to prevent the smuggling of drugs has not reached a one hundred percent success rate. Organized crime groups from Mexico have been smuggling marijuana into the United States since the early 1970s. Which may be surprising to some, being that president Richard Nixon declared a â€Å"war on drugs† in 1971. These groups maintain a wide range of associates, often related through family or regional ties to associates living in the United States. In my opinion this makes drug trafficking seem even more dangerous than it already is. It’s scary enough that people are sneaking drugs into our country, but knowing that they live here and not knowing where or who is even scarier. According to Mark Kleiman, â€Å"Most of the illicit drugs consumed in the United States come through or from Mexico, and virtually all the revenue of Mexican drug-trafficking organizations comes from sales to the United States†. What this says to me is that the United States has got to be at the top of the charts for the largest illegal drug trafficking market. This also means that not only are other countries at fault for bringing illegal drugs into our country, but the drug dealers and drug users that live in our country are making the United States seem at fault as well for keeping the system going. If you ask me, the president of Mexico should worry about the amount of legal drugs leaving his country and declare somewhat of a â€Å"war on drugs† like president Richard Nixon did in 1971. Although the war on drugs still continues, it at least makes it known that there is a solution in progress and sooner or later it will be in effect. â€Å"Mexico is the highway of the drug trade, not the destination-or so goes the conventional wisdom†, says Malcolm Beith. (Newsweek. New York: August 17, 2009 Vol. 154, Iss. 7) The United States has been fighting a losing war against drugs for decades. Budgets have increased dramatically over the last two decades and drug-related incarcerations consistently reach new records yet drug problems worsen: adolescent drug abuse is increasing, overdose deaths are at record levels, heroin and cocaine are cheaper, more pure and more available than ever before, and health problems related to drugs, especially the spread of HIV/AIDS are peaking. Meanwhile an expensive and ineffective policy is failing to work at a rate of speed that is sufficient enough. Drug problems can be reduced at less cost if we change course and start thinking and using strategies that actually work. At a time like this when the federal budget is limited programs need to be re-evaluated. Funding needs to go to programs that work. We need new ideas to save lives; we cant afford to continue to be wrong. Police have done their jobs with record arrests, drug seizures and record incarceration of drug offenders yet drug problems continue to worsen. Something different must happen soon before this growing problem becomes too out of hand. According to the National Coalition for Effective Drug Policies, there are a number of different things that may have to happen to ensure a change. These are, shift resources into programs that work, make treatment available on request like any other health service, prevent drug abuse by investing in American youth and providing them with accurate information, focus law enforcement resources on the most dangerous and violent criminals, international drug control efforts should be demilitarized and focus on economic development, restore justice to the US justice system, respect states rights and allow new approaches to be tried, and make prevention of HIV and other blood borne diseases a top priority. This may seem like a lot on paper but in exchange for a better society it is no question that whatever needs to happen must happen quick. The war on drugs has now been going on for over forty years and our government still continues to fight hard to end it. As long as our government stays strong and continues to pursue this problem, I believe that it will one day happen. And possibly even more important than that, as long as we citizens of the United States stay strong and say no to drugs or drug activity, we will continue to grow as a country and make for a better place to grow and raise our children.

Merger between EnviroTech an InterClean Essay Example for Free

Merger between EnviroTech an InterClean Essay First of all, I would like to take the time to say â€Å"thank you† to each one of you for your outstanding efforts, it has been very enjoyable to work alongside with each of you in contributing to the success of InterClean. You are all well aware of the strategic movement as announced by David Spencer is very near on the horizon. As this merger between InterClean and EnviroTech begins to unfurl I foresee that each of you will have a key role to play in making the transition as smooth as possible. As managers it is our duty to show our fellow co-workers and new team members why we have been successful. It is important to welcome the employees joining us from EnviroTech. The incoming employees from EnviroTech bring vast experience and proven track record that will help to move us in the direction we want to go. Combining two companies together is no easy task and this new endeavor will be challenging. Each individual will need to present his or herself in a positive manner. The main objective is to be positive about the changes that will take place. Also everyone shall commit to learning the new concept of â€Å"full-service solutions packages† (University of Phoenix, Week One Supplement, 2010). I urge each of you to be open to share your ideas as well as receive ideas from all of your team members, old and new. Keep in mind that this new concept will not be immediately rock-solid it will take, several tries an adjusting to create the best package to suit each of our clients. I am sure that some of you are not feeling comfortable with the upcoming transition and that is understandable. However, I again urge you to see the potential this acquisition can bring. The growth potential globally is enormous and you can each have a part to make it happen. Each of you will have an impact on your workers, and how each of you decide to carry yourself can either promote or bring down morale. I  inspire each of you to press forward and lead your teams. You are all more than capable to produce results, so mentor your teams to produce even better results. I would also like to go over a few other important matters. These involve human resource issues because of the diverse work force we will gain by this merger. Obviously each of you will have several if not numerous new members joining your teams. It is very important and I cannot stress it enough just how important it is that you treat every employee the same. You cannot favor or give preference to the current InterClean employees over the incoming EnviroTech employees. Please exercise good judgment when addressing each newly acquired employee. Also when making selections for your teams an initially assigning tasks I suggest you seek input from myself, Carol our internal consultant, and the HR department. If you have any concerns please bring it to my attention immediately as well as to Carol and human resources. Be certain that the issue or concern is cleared up before moving forward. It is in the best interest of the company and for each of you to create an atmosphere that is warm, thriving yet peaceful, non-hostile, and safe. We all need t o value diversity and as Cascio put it â€Å"to manage diversity, there is no room for inflexibility and intolerance-displace them with adaptability and acceptance† (Cascio 2006, p. 125). Furthermore we will all be attending a full-day seminar on reengineering at Leeward Community College, please mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 1. I will send out a reminder along with the pertinent seminar information. If you are unable to make it on Wednesday, you will need to attend the Tuesday session, so let me know as soon as possible so I can make the change for you. I know you are all thinking, â€Å"What is reengineering?† â€Å"Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, and speed† (Cascio 2006, p. 18). I also strongly recommend that each of you sign up for the management training sessions that HR is setting up. Immediately share and talk with your workers about attending the new product and sales training sessions. Go ahead and schedule your teams with HR to ensure everyone can be properly accommodated as quickly as possible. You should also encourage participation in the ongoing HR seminars that cover topics such as developing skill in conflict resolution and effective communication. As always you are free to come and discuss any issue or  concern that you may have with me. I am more than willing to sit down with each of you and listen to what you have to say. So please do not hesitate I am here for each of you and want to continue working alongside with each you and your teams. I am hopeful that going forward we will all embrace the upcoming changes and challenges facing us. Together we can achieve the desired results to move InterClean closer to our strategic direction of global expansion. References Cascio, W. F. (2006). Managing Human Resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits. Retrieved from the University of Phoenix eBook Collection database University of Phoenix (2010) Week One Supplement: InterClean-EnviroTech Merger Scenario Retrieved from University of Phoenix HRM/531-Course Website