Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Eight

â€Å"You're crazy,† Sibby said as they walked in. Her eyes were pancake-size. â€Å"You said this would suck. This doesn't suck. This is fantastic.† Miranda shuddered. They'd snuck into the Grand Hall of the Santa Barbara Historical Society by an emergency exit that had been propped open so prom attendees could slip out to get stoned, and glancing around, Miranda could see how getting stoned would be super-appealing. The walls of the room had been covered in blue satin with white stars embroidered on it, the four big columns in the middle were draped in red and white ribbons, the tables off to the side were covered in American flag-print cloths with fishbowl centerpieces in which the fish had been somehow dyed red and blue, and around the edges major American landmarks such as Mount Rushmore, the White House, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, and the Old Faithful geyser had been reconstructed-out of sugar cubes. Courtesy of Ariel West's father. Ariel had announced the previous day at assembly that after the prom all the decorations would be donated to â€Å"the poor hungry people of Santa Barbara who need sugar.† Miranda didn't know if it was that, the balloons on rubber cords hanging from the ceiling that bounced lazily up and down as people passed under them, or foreboding, but she had a distinct queasy feeling. Sibby was in heaven. â€Å"Remember-most of the guys here came with dates, so try to be subtle with the Kissing Bandit stuff,† Miranda said. â€Å"Yeah, fine.† â€Å"And if you hear me call to you, you come.† â€Å"Do I look like a dog to you?† Miranda gave her a sharp glance. Sibby said, â€Å"Fine, okay, Funkiller.† â€Å"And if you feel like anything weird is going on at all, you-â€Å" † – let you know. I've got it. Now you go and have some fun yourself. Oh, right, you probably don't know how. Well, when in doubt, ask yourself, ‘What Would Sibby Do? â€Å" â€Å"Can I unsubscribe from that list, please?† Sibby was too busy scanning the room to respond. â€Å"Whoa, who's that hot dinner in the corner over there?† she asked. â€Å"The guy in the glasses?† Miranda looked around for a hot dinner but all she saw was Phil Emory. â€Å"His name is Phillip.† â€Å"Helllllo, Phillip,† Sibby said, plotting a direct course for him. Miranda stashed her skate bag underneath a table and stayed close to the wall, between the White House and Old Faithful, partially to keep Sibby in view and partially to avoid being noticed by any faculty members. She'd changed in the employee bathroom from her work suit into the only other thing she had with her, but although it was red, white, and blue, she didn't think that her Roller Derby uniform was really appropriate prom attire. There were two uniforms in her skate bag, a home uniform-white satin halter top and bottom with blue cape and red, white, and blue stripes on the skirt (if you could call something that was five inches long and required attached panties to be worn under it a skirt)-and an away uniform: the same thing, only in blue. She'd decided white was more formal, but she was pretty sure that wearing it with her black work flats was not helping the look. She'd been standing there for a while, wondering how everyone but her was completely capable of being on a dance floor without debilitating anyone, when she heard a pair of heartbeats she recognized and saw Kenzi and Beth sliding through the crowd toward her. â€Å"You came!† Kenzi said, giving her a big hug. One of the things Miranda loved about Kenzi was that she acted like she was on Ecstasy even when she wasn't, telling people that she loved them, hugging them, never embarrassed about it. â€Å"I'm so glad you're here. It didn't feel right without you. So, are you ready to unshackle yourself from the insecurities of your youth? Ready to own your future?† Kenzi and Beth were dressed to own anything, Miranda thought. Kenzi was wearing a skin-tight blue backless dress and had gotten a black panther with a blue sapphire eye painted on her back. Beth was in a red satin minidress and had a gold snake bracelet with two ruby eyes wrapped around her upper arm (or at least Miranda assumed they were rubies since Beth's parents were two of the biggest movie stars in Bollywood). On them, adulthood looked like a totally cool and exciting party with an excellent DJ that you could only get into if you were on the VIP list. Miranda glanced at her skating uniform. â€Å"I guess I should have known that when the time came to own my future I'd be dressed like a member of the Ice Capades B-squad.† â€Å"No way, you look fantastic,† Beth said, and Miranda would have assumed she was being sarcastic except that Beth was one of those people who was born without sarcasm. â€Å"Truly,† Kenzi confirmed. â€Å"You're deep in H2T territory.† H2T stood for Hot to Trot. â€Å"I see great things for your adulthood.† â€Å"And I see a visit to the eye doctor for you,† Miranda prophesied. In the distance Miranda saw Sibby pull Phillip Emory onto the dance floor. Miranda turned back to Kenzi. â€Å"Do you think I'm a fun person? Am I a Grandma Grim? A funkiller?† â€Å"Grandma Grim? Funkiller?† Kenzi repeated. â€Å"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head at derby practice again?† â€Å"No, I'm serious. Am I fun?† â€Å"Yes,† Kenzi said solemnly. â€Å"Yes,† Beth agreed. â€Å"Except when you get all MLAS,† Kenzi modified. â€Å"And when you have your period. And around your birthday. Oh, there was that one time-â€Å" â€Å"Forget it.† Miranda's eyes drifted to Sibby, who now appeared to be leading a conga line. â€Å"I'm kidding,† Kenzi said, turning Miranda's face from the dance floor to hers. â€Å"Yes, I think you are really fun. I mean, who else would dress up as Magnum P.I. for Halloween?† â€Å"Or think of entertaining the kids on the cancer ward by reenacting Dawson's Creek with Precious Moments figurines?† Beth added. Kenzi nodded. â€Å"That's right. Even children battling cancer think you're fun. And they're not the only ones.† Something about Kenzi's tone when she said the last part made Miranda worried. â€Å"What did you do?† â€Å"She was brilliant,† Beth said. Now Miranda was even more scared. â€Å"Tell me.† â€Å"It was nothing, just some research,† Kenzi said. â€Å"What kind of research?† For the first time Miranda noticed that there was writing up the length of Kenzi's arm. Kenzi said, â€Å"About Will and Ariel. They're totally not going out.† â€Å"You asked him?† â€Å"It's called an interview,† Kenzi said. â€Å"No. Oh no. Tell me you're kidding.† Sometimes having a roommate who wanted to be a journalist was dangerous. â€Å"Relax, he didn't suspect a thing. I made it seem like I was making small talk,† Kenzi said. â€Å"She was great,† Beth confirmed. Miranda started wishing for trapdoors again. â€Å"Anyway, I asked him why he thought Ariel asked him to the prom and he said†-here Kenzi consulted her arm-â€Å"‘To make someone else jealous. So of course I asked who and he went, ‘Anyone. That's what Ariel thrives on, other people's jealousy. Isn't that perceptive? Especially for a guy?† â€Å"He's smart,† Beth put in. â€Å"And nice.† Miranda nodded absently, looking for Sibby on the dance floor. At first she didn't see her but then she spotted her in a dark corner with Phillip. Talking, not kissing. For some reason that made her smile. â€Å"Look, we made her happy!† Kenzi said, and she sounded so genuinely pleased that Miranda didn't want to tell her the truth. â€Å"Thanks for finding all that out,† Miranda said. â€Å"It's-â€Å" â€Å"You haven't even heard the best part,† Kenzi said. â€Å"I asked why he agreed to go to prom with Ariel if they're not a couple and he said†-glancing at her arm-â€Å"‘Because no one made me a better offer. â€Å" Beth reminded her, â€Å"With that cute smile.† â€Å"Right, with cute smile. And he looked directly at me when he said it and he was so clearly talking about you!† â€Å"Clearly.† Miranda loved her friends even if they were delusional. â€Å"Stop gazing at me like I've been one-stop shopping at the Lobotomy Store, Miranda,† Kenzi said. â€Å"I'm completely right. He likes you and he's not taken. Stop thinking and grab him. Go live ITM.† â€Å"ITM?† â€Å"In the Mo,† Beth elaborated. Miranda gaped. â€Å"No. Way.† â€Å"What?† Kenzi asked. â€Å"Nothing.† Miranda shook her head. â€Å"Even if he's single, what makes you think Will wants to go out with me?† Kenzi squinted at her. â€Å"Um, breezing past all the sappy stuff about how you're nice and smart I have to say because I'm your best friend, have you looked in the mirror recently?† â€Å"Ha-ha. Trust me-â€Å" â€Å"Bye!† Beth said, interrupting her and dragging Kenzi away. â€Å"See you later!† â€Å"Don't forget! ITM!† Kenzi added over her shoulder. â€Å"Drink a can of man!† â€Å"Where are you-† Miranda started to say, then heard a heartbeat close behind her and swung around. Nearly banging her shoulder against Will's chest.

Voluntary Euthanasia

St Peter’s Catholic College, Tuggerah Task: Catholic Ethical Teaching Ethan Fortis 1. Name the Issue (I mark) Euthanasia| 2. Outline the ethical issue (5 marks) Euthanasia, also sometimes known as mercy killing, is the act of painlessly allowing death. This is especially used to relieve the pain of an animal or person suffering incurable and/or severely painful disease. There are 4 different types of euthanasia; these include voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary, and passive & active euthanasia.Voluntary euthanasia is conducted with the consent of the patient, non-voluntary occurs when the patient is unable to give or deny consent, and involuntary happens when euthanasia is performed without the patient’s consent. All of the above varieties of euthanasia can be divided into passive & active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia refers to the withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention of hurrying along a terminally ill patient. Active euthanasia occurs when a lethal dose of medication is given to the patient to deliberately take their life. | 3.Provide and briefly explain the main arguments for and against the issue (6marks) There are a number of arguments supporting the use of euthanasia in society. An example of these includes that euthanasia quickly and humanely ends a patient’s life who’s suffering severe and unbearable pain, allowing them to die in dignity. People that are terminally ill don’t deserve to endure the immense pain they go through if they have personally chose to undergo euthanasia. Another argument for euthanasia is the fact that it shortens the grief and suffering the patient’s loved ones go through day after day of the inevitable death dragging on.Loved ones and family of someone who is terminally ill go through a huge amount of psychological issues knowing they aren’t able do to anything about it while a person in their life is slowly and painfully dying. Euthanasia allows these people to rest easy, knowing that their loved one will leave them in a peaceful manor instead of suffering. Also, death is a very private matter and no one else should be allowed to stop you making decisions for yourself, as it is not their life but yours.Euthanasia should be a personal option that should be respected and in cases where the patient is incapable to make the decision for themselves and is suffering greatly, the option should be left to the spouse/close loved one to decide. Although the arguments supporting the act of euthanasia are strong, there are a number of reasons against the issue. An example of this is that allowing euthanasia will lead to less good care for the terminally ill that do not chose it. The Hippocratic Oath is an oath all physicians and other health care professionals swear upon to practise medicine ethically and honestly.Is allowing euthanasia violating this verbal contract? Doctors should do everything they can possibly do to keep patients alive a nd practising euthanasia is going against this. Allowing euthanasia may lead to doctors and nurses becoming less determined to save the lives of the terminally ill, thus disregarding the Hippocratic Oath completely. Also, some people think that implementing euthanasia may send the message across to society that it’s better to be dead than sick/disabled. This suggests that some lives aren’t worth living and this is wrong.Every life is equal, even if the life is of a person who is terminally ill or disabled, mentally or physically. Allowing euthanasia may weaken society’s respect for the value of life. All humans, whether they are disabled, terminally ill, or just different, should be valued no matter what. Human life is sacred and should be lived to the full potential until the natural end of someone’s life. It’s better to be alive than dead, right? | 4. Clearly outline and articulate Catholic Teaching on your issue (making sure you explain the Cath olic Church’s stance on the issue and reasons for its stance).Make sure you use at least one biblical reference and one reference from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (10 marks) The Catholic Church believes that God gave us both death and life; in return for this we should respect these processes. Conflict arises when there are disagreements of the boundaries. In regards to the act of euthanasia, Pope John Paul II stated in 1995 ‘Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, Since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person. ’ The Catholic Church has always been strong in its teaching of euthanasia and how they view it as morally wrong.The Church believes that any law allowing euthanasia to be practiced is an intrinsically unjust law. Emphasis has been put on the absolute and unchanging value of the bible commandment ‘You shall not kill’. The Catholic Church does not accept the notion that people have the right to die and should be able to choose whether to accept death or to live, suffering or not. An excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2277 reads ‘Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded’. A number of biblical verses can relate to the views on euthanasia. One of these includes 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ‘Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body’. It is believed that each human life is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory. This in mind, a person whom is insisting on death is breaking their relationship with God. | 5. Clearly explain why your issue is an ethical issue for our society. (6 marks) Euthanasia is a debatable issue that questions the very core of morality. It can’t be dealt with by a simple answer, as ‘what is ethical’ is viewed in a variety of different views and opinions amongst society and law.More knowledge and resources are available today than there was back in biblical times. People are entitled to their own opinions and beliefs in the world today, so the issue can be discussed and voiced more regularly. Many questions are asked such as ‘is it wrong to kill? ’, ‘is killing the same as letting die? And the most important one, ‘do we have the right to die? ’ It all comes down to personal vi ews. An atheist’s views on whether we have the right to die or not will be different to a Roman Catholic’s views and vice versa.As there will be ethically right answer to any of these questions, the act of euthanasia should ultimately come down to the individual preference. If a atheist patient who is terminally ill with cancer would like euthanasia to be practised, what right does a Catholic doctor have to say no? | 6. Present an accurately constructed bibliography of all resources used (2 marks) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Euthanasia 20/2/13 | http://www. ndtv. com/article/india/what-is-passive-euthanasia-89964 20/2/13| http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/Active+Euthanasia 20/2/13| http://www. rsrevision. om/GCSE/christian_perspectives/life/euthanasia/for. htm 21/2/13| http://euthanasia. procon. org/view. answers. php? questionID=000198 22/2/13| http://www. catholicnewsagency. com/resources/life-and-family/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide/euthanasia-c atechism-of-the-catholic-church/ 15/3/13| http://www. openbible. info/topics/euthanasia 15/3/13| http://www. bbc. co. uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/euthanasia_1. shtml 15/3/13| http://www. bbc. co. uk/ethics/euthanasia/against/against_1. shtml#h3 16/3/13| http://www. rsrevision. com/Alevel/ethics/euthanasia/index. htm 17/3/13| | | | |

American History Since 1865 Annotated Bibliography - 1

American History Since 1865 - Annotated Bibliography Example Site summary: The site is very easy to navigate and the other sites mentioned in it are quite useful and provid more information about the history of women suffrage. The writing is quite academic, because of the use of formal language and the reference to other important information. The information included on the webpage itself, however, is too short. It is more of an introduction to the wider history of women’s suffrage. I believe it should have included already some more information about the key events of the suffrage history. Annotation: This website analyzes how the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic. This corresponds to the material on pages 484-485 of our textbook. It discusses the territorial, military, financial, and judicial elements of the Treaty of Versailles. Scheck provides a detailed but brief analysis of what went wrong and what went right with the Treaty and how it fuelled World War II. He notes that the Treaty is judged as either too harsh or too lenient with Germany, and still, it failed to stop another war from erupting. By virtue of its inability to prevent another World War, the Treaty of Versailles cannot be treated as a genuine peace agreement that all stakeholders accept as fair and respectful of each nation’s autonomy. Site summary: The site is easy to navigate and contains academic material. The author surely wrote with knowledge and experience about the topic, since he is a college professor in history. The analysis of the weaknesses and the strengths of the Treaty provided additional knowledge on the topic that is worth exploring further. This is an important resource for readers who want to know more about why the Treaty of Versailles also contributed to World War II. The main weakness of the website is that it does not cite its sources. There should have been footnotes at least to substantiate the facts and assertions mentioned there. Annotation: This website

Business Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business - Term Paper Example Even though it floundered after the early years of its inception (dating back to 1976), for the past nearly two decades Apple Inc. has consistently led the technology markets in product innovation and brand loyalty. Many credit the vision of one of its earliest developers and current CEO, Steve Jobs, with its repeated successes thanks to such powerhouse creations as the IPod, IPad, and IPhone (to name a few) – a point that is difficult to argue. Even so, recent bouts of illnesses that have caused Jobs to be ‘off the job’ on several occasions have left shareholders edgy about the future of the company and the continued value of their investment in the coming years. In this essay we will briefly review the origins of this organization that began as a brainchild in a garage and follow its history to the present day. Finally we will consider the projected future scenarios of Apple Inc. alongside expert opinions on the likelihood of a company’s success in genera l (and Apple Inc.’s in particular) when its founder and spokesman is no longer a driving factor in its daily and future operations. In the Beginning It would probably not surprise the reader to know that there are dozens of books on the market that offer the definitive history and ‘inside story’ of the Apple Company. Certainly the tale of the creation of the first apple computer has a bohemian aura. According to one author the original designer of the device was not Steve Jobs at all – but Steve Wozniak and a friend of his named Bill Fernandez. Wozniak had dropped out of engineering school and he and Fernandez (who by now had introduced a friend named Steve Jobs) â€Å"built their first computer from parts rejected by local companies for cosmetic flaws† (Linzmayer, 2004). It is true that the first computer they built was in a garage – and the photos of them with their then stylish hair hanging over their foreheads while poring over a part com plete the picture of an era in which people began to believe in the power of their own thinking (versus group thought). This belief is seconded in another recently published tome on the subject of the impact that the Apple company has had on the corporate world. The author teases the reader with this nugget: Two guys named Steve, working in a garage, created a prototype computer designed to be different in a way no one thought possible: It would be easy to use. Those two Steves, one now a billionaire and still at the head of Apple, not only succeeded with that product, but they also broke ground in the business world in ways few thought possible: They proved you could not only have fun at work, but pursuing a capitalist dream could be hip. (OGrady, 2009) It was the beginning of a revolution in this country and the world. Jobs, Wozniak and Fernandez were in and out of each other’s lives over the next few years – supporting each other in technology and money-making ventu res. However, Fernandez was not a part of the Apple Company when it was finally established in 1976. And then there were 2 – Jobs and Wozniak - as a third party sold his shares back to Jobs (for $800) when they incorporated in 1977. Here it becomes difficult to decide what should be put in and what should be left out of the story for sake of time and relevance. The fact is that the

The leadership styles and management practices in two real life Essay

The leadership styles and management practices in two real life organisations - Essay Example The leadership styles and management practices in two real life organisations The National Health Service (NHS) is an organization offering healthcare to all English citizens, regarded as the country’s greatest need. Its stakeholders include health professionals, support workers and organisations. Its funding originates from the tax collected from citizens, with the Parliament acting as its watchdog (NHS Direct Web). The NHS Direct is part of UK’s NHS. It is a new, nurse based health advice service that operates within a 4 hour clock system. Health advice are delivered through phone contacts. Its objective is to provide an equal play ground in health services despite time and space, regardless of the background of the nurse. Health software called Clinical Assessment System (CAS) is used for service delivery (NHS Direct Web). According to Webster (2002), provision of healthcare via interactive television will increase efficiency and conveniences in accessing healthcare (p.430). Gann (2002) emphasizes that most people will prefer using the interactive healthcare software more frequently and urgently before reaching the doctors. This will ease pressure on doctors and other healthcare providers. The key issue in this system is how it makes use of technology. The remote non-face-to-face delivery of healthcare creates a favourable environment to its providers. Background of St. Mungo’s St. Mungo’s is a voluntary organisation supporting the homeless. Its objectives are summarized in four words: preventing, alleviating, assisting and influencing the homeless. The organisation offers several services like preventing homelessness, emergency services such as flood stricken areas, and recovery from homelessness. It relies on voluntary funding from donations and service trust from companies. The success of the organisation is evident from innovations and awards it has received since its inception. In the innovation sector, it has managed to initiate life works programme, St. Mungo’s Palliative Care Service and ReVive. It has been shortlisted in awards like the Lodge, Peer Advice Link and Putting Down Roots among others (St. Mungo’s, 2012). Key observations from visits and discussion of the relevance of these observations A) St. Mungos I visited the organization and held some discussions with the management in trying to find out how things are done, an d my mission was very successful. I particularly visited the Department of Health and Recovery and sought audience with Director Peter Cockersell, who was cooperation. He explained to me that the kind of leadership style in the organization is called a recovery approach, which was adopted in 2007. This meant that it had to shift from its traditional power relationships between staff and service users. Currently, the organisation does not consider recovery as an outcome, a method or structure but as a description and a process of change. Recovery is defined as power within an individual, encompassed in a social process. An individual must show commitment and ability to create and lead a satisfying life. Flexibility and creativity are attributes in recovery. Recovery remains as the source of frame work for St. Mungo’s staff and client. Their roles and identities rely on this framework-recovery (Clarke, 2002, p.20). The organisation realised that the former designation of staff, workers and other work title positions created divisions within the society’

Wal-Marts Marketplace Clout Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wal-Marts Marketplace Clout - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Wal-Mart’s marketplace clout is tremendous. It controls about 30 percent of the household’s staples market. It sells 15 percent of all magazines and 15-20 percent of all CDs, DVDs, and videos. It is expected to soon control over 35 percent of U.S food sales. Wal-Mart has risen to dominate the retail market through the bargain prices it offers to consumers. Due to its cost efficiencies, it has attained and the pressure it places on suppliers make it affordable to give customers products at low prices. As much as Wal-Mart offers low prices, not everyone loves it. It also has charges that criticize the retail behemoth. One, Wal-Mart’s buying power and cost-saving efficiencies force local rivals out of business, in turn disrupting local communities, costing jobs and injuring established business districts. Second, Wal-Mart pays low wages and is staunchly anti-union. Its labor cost is 20 percent lower than that of unioniz ed supermarkets. Moreover, its hard-line on costs has forced many factories to move overseas, resulting in sacrificing American jobs and thus, holds wages down. Government welfare program subsidizes Wal-Mart’s poverty level wages. One congressional report shows that a two hundred employee store costs the government a fortune that is: housing assistance, children healthcare, and tax credits are paid by the government. Lastly, as Wal-Mart grows and its competitors fall by the wayside, consumer’s choice narrows and the retail exert even greater power as a cultural censor. For instance; Wal-Mart won’t carry computer games and music with the mature rating. Therefore, the big music companies supply it with sanitized versions of explicit CDs that they supply to the radio stations, and that are sold elsewhere. The retailer has also removed racy magazines, such as FHM and Maxim, from its racks and it obscures the cover of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook.

Structure in the human resource management Essay

Structure in the human resource management - Essay Example The features of the Human resource management thus include: demonstrating expertise at organizing the management, competence in the administration of personnel, specialization in the management of manpower and competence in industrial management. The human resource management docket is usually headed by a human resource manager. This paper examines human resource management with reference to the roles, the various careers inherent and further examines interviewing as an aspect of employment and recruitment. With the above features, it is evident that a number of people have made assumptions over the aspect of management and development of human resource. This explains why some organisations will have the entire human resource management as a subsidiary of human resource development (Gary, 1996). This perspective further explains that Human resource development is far much broader than the former and encompasses the development of careers, development of the entire organisation and training. There are a number of careers that are common to any form of human resource management. These careers include human resource assistance which is a generalised job field in human resource (Cynthia et al 1995). Other major careers include employment alongside placement and recruitment that are basically upheld through interviews headed by interviewers. Human resource management also calls for the need to have specialists in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) that are also referred to as college recrui ters (Gary, 1996). For training, there is need to have specialists in both training and orientation. For the purpose of remuneration, there is need to have specialists preferably analysts that can handle issues to do with the compensation , payment of salaries which may call for the need to have salary administrators alongside administrators that can handle benefit claims. The roles of Human Resource Management. The roles of the human resource management as depicted in the above careers thus include: making vital decisions on matters concerning the type of staffing to be adopted in the organization. Decisions on this aspect are usually made with regard to hiring people to assume the implicated positions or using contractors that work independently (Gary, 1996). Other functions include the recruitment and training of the best people for a number of positions within the organization. With regard to the former, it is upon the human resource management to ensure that the people recruited are excellent at performing their duties. This implies that the human resource management also deals with the evaluation of the performance of the recruited employees (Raymond, 2000). The human resource management docket is also held with the responsibility of ensuring that the type of manpower hired meets the expected standards with reference to the regulations within the firm (Raymond, 2000). Other responsibilities that are to be upheld by the human resource management include; managing and coordinating the approach to the benefits of employees alongside the compensation and the management of employee's records and man power related polices. Some of these roles will differ with regard to the scale at which an organisation operates where small scale operators may opt to perform these duties by themselves while some large scale

Impact of International Relations on Agricultural Education Dissertation

Impact of International Relations on Agricultural Education - Dissertation Example Successful completion of this research work will come with a lot of significance to a lot of people, especially the politicians as well as the educators. First, data, results and conclusions from this research shall serve as updated literature on the impacts of international relation within the population size targeted for this research work. To a large extent, this research shall help in coming out with new models on the type or kind of challenges of agricultural education as a result of international relations. The new trend of knowledge to be acquired shall indeed lead to a new paradigm shift whereby the knowledge shall be adapted for use and implementation by agricultural educationalists. This is to say that the findings and conclusions from this research work will go a long way to shape the lifestyle, working habit and social structures of teachers, the cultures of a county alongside the learners. This means that the learners and all other people across the agricultural educatio n divide who come across this document will have a renewed commitment towards international relations. In particular, agricultural students will reap a lot of benefits from this research given that it seeks to inform them about how their carriers are shaped by international relation. The agricultural teachers, on the other hand, would not fail to reap these benefits. This study is inclusive in its objective and would explore ways on how developing and encouraging international relations would influence the economy of a country.

Internship Experience for an ESL Teacher Essay Example for Free

Internship Experience for an ESL Teacher Essay As a foreign student with a degree in Informatics and Library and currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Adult and Community Education Program, I have a vision of teaching English as a second language in Saudi Arabia. To this effect, I have been on an internship project at the Communications Media department at the same university between January and March this year. The main purpose for the internship was to give me an exposure to the kind of environment I will find myself working in as an ESL teacher. ESL is a course that is offered to people who wish to learn English as a second language. Thesis Statement For my internship, I was attached at the Communication Department at the University of Pennsylvania where my duties included but were but not limited to coordinating activities between students taking English as a Second Language (ESL) and conversation partners at the American Language Institute. Also in the line of my duty was the task of overseeing how the two groups have been progressing together. The internship was time well spent and it played a very important role in familiarising me with the classroom set up at an ESL teaching centre. I also had the opportunity to learn much about the job and what it entails as well as the kind of challenges that I may encounter in the course of my career. Taking my internship course at University of Pennsylvania was the most convenient choice that I made. The communications Media Department where I was attached is right on the campus and I was therefore able to operate from my residence without any hustles of commuting from one place to another. It was also convenient in that I was able to coordinate between my classes at the Adult Community Program centre and the training on the internship. The convenience made life a little more comfortable for me because of reduced costs of transport. The internship kept me in good relations with the law because being in one place helped me avoid any instances of breaking immigration rules set for foreign students. The convenience of having all my activities centralised on Campus has played well in helping me to develop my social skills. This is because it has been easy to have extra interaction with some of the students when the opportunity allowed and as a teacher, this was very helpful in that I could closely get to know more about the challenges that ESL students face in their social life as foreign students. Since we were all from different social backgrounds, the interaction helped to improve my social relations with others considering the diversity of culture represented in the ESL class. A close bond between teacher and student is very important as it helps students to learn better and also helps the teacher to improve their skills. Knowing students a little bit more beyond the classroom set up is very important for teacher-student relations. Interaction with the volunteers from the American Language Institute helped me learn more about American society. With these two groups, I was able to share my challenges as a foreign student in America and also listen to theirs and suggest possible solutions. This helped learning easier and more interesting for the students. The sole purpose of learning an extra language is to aid the learner in communicating easily through the desired language. Despite the fact that I speak the English language, the experience I got from the internship greatly helped to improve my skills in conversing with others. The interaction I had with the students as well as the volunteers in the ESL learning programme exposed me to those who were learning and others who were there to assist in learning. It was a learning experience for me as I was able to improve on my fluency and using correct grammar when conversing in the English language. By identifying the students’ challenges in learning to converse in English, I was able to polish my own language especially in using of proper tenses, right statements and remarks. The ESL program brings together people from different cultural backgrounds. Students come here with the aim of learning English that will help them to adapt to their new environment and they are helped through this process by communication partners. Through interaction with this group at the ESL program, I got exposed to a diversity of cultures and it was interesting to get to learn about different cultures and practises of the world. It is interesting to note how the world can meet in such a small set up as a classroom. This knowledge is very important for me in my pursuit of a career in ESL teaching as it will help me adopt to any new culture that I may be exposed to. Objectives were set to enable me achieve the goals of the internship. They were supposed to guide me in carrying out activities that internship period. This would enable me acquire knowledge and skills that are required for one to become an effective ESL student’s teacher. The experience would give me an opportunity to give my suggestions and ideas in order to improve students teaching techniques and materials. In this essay, there will be a reflection on the meaning of the internship experience for my intellectual development and career planning. The internship experience was necessary in equipping me with new learning. It would offer me knowledge and skills required in future teaching work with the language students. Suggestions and ideas that can improve teaching techniques and materials for the students would contribute in achieving my new learning objective. Engaging volunteers achieved this in sessions on curriculum and teaching methods, recommending improvements in class handling discussing organizational concerns with volunteers, drafting lesson plans and evaluating them and discussing educational techniques with volunteers. My objective to teach volunteers on how to interact with English was achieved by carrying out the following activities; directing English lessons in the classroom, engaging the volunteers on curriculum and teaching methods, evaluating their performances and recommending necessary changes in class. The assignments that were offered to the students is a sure evidence that this objective was attained. Creating organizational system to allow educators to organize volunteer schedules and paper work effectively was enhanced by meeting and discussing organizational concerns with the volunteers, organizing schedules to avoid confusion, handling volunteer and class paper work and documentation as well as getting program feedback from the student Creating lesson plans for the volunteer teachers was achieved by; drafting lesson plans for teaching, adapting the teachers according to the class needs, discussing the quality of lesson plans and suggesting their changes, incorporating volunteer opinions in final lesson plans and finally implementing the lesson plan. I managed to work with the students and volunteers of presentation materials, decided upon educational techniques and ensured students follow guidelines in presentation. This assisted me in acquiring skills in creating presentation materials. As a teacher, I accommodated a certain number of students when my time allowed, graded and encouraged students and understanding the students’ need. The current challenges and problems in the classroom were discussed with fellow teachers. This in turn, ensured the students were taught as require by the instruction formal program. Additionally, experience at the ESL classes helped me to learn about other methods used in communicating apart from mouth language. These other methods are important in that as a teacher, knowledge of different methods of communication helps one to assess whether you are communicating fully or as desired by the students. Such methods include but are not limited to using parts of the body to express ourselves or gesturing and also the use of facial expressions. It was interesting to learn that a lot of communication can take place through non-verbal methods. At the end of the internship, I had developed a lot of confidence in conversing with students, being able to interact freely and easily with them as well as understanding diverse cultures and the styles they used to converse non-verbally in the different cultures. My internship was even more helpful as a master’s student in the Adult Education and Community programme. There was much more to learn from the experience at the ESL classes than I had earlier imagined. Interacting with students and volunteers from different cultures of the world helped me to grow as a person as well as to acquire intellectual improvement. I got exposed to diversity of cultures at very close range, something I had not encountered before and after such an experience, it becomes easy to be able to teach English anywhere in the world. This is because of the ability that I have gained to assess student issues anywhere. The ESL students mostly constitute of foreigners who wish to learn English so that they can be able to adapt to their new environments. Such students obviously encounter several challenges in the process of their resettlement and my experience with them enlightened me on ways in which I can be able to evaluate and understand their problems and the approach I can take in helping them to settle such problems. The ESL classes also constitute of people of different ages and as a future adult teacher, the internship has offered me great help in best ways of handling adults at different age categories. It is now easy to identify with their emotions and to know how well to help them cope with learning. Through this experience, I have realised that my own problems as a foreign student were not unique and that I have a lot to share in common with other foreigners that I shall encounter in the course of my career. I now have a burden to offer as much help as I can to make learning comfortable for foreigners. It made me feel even luckier that I could speak the language myself and made me realise that it was easier for me to adapt to my environment than those that cannot speak the language. Internship enriched me with methods of teaching that can be highly effective such as creating the right atmosphere for free teacher and student interaction and getting the students to give feedback on the way that they are fairing in their learning process. I learnt the essentiality of making the environment conducive for the students as it makes learning easier for them. Students can only learn successfully if several of these factors are pooled together. The internship was a good ground to put into practice what I had learnt from my course work.. Getting the chance to utilise my knowledge created a feeling of confidence in me as well as helped me to rectify and improve on areas that appeared weak. It is now possible for me to be able to come up with new ideas that can be applied in the ESL teaching program. This internship has surely given me the right exposure for my future career. Teaching at an ESL class is no longer a new encounter for me and I can affirm the fact that it is only through practice that one is able to assess whether you are ripe for a career. The challenges encountered in an ESL program set up are no longer strange to me. The internship has given me good experience in handling adults in a classroom set up and has helped to build confidence in me as an adult teacher. I believe this experience will assist me a great deal in planning and writing my thesis for the course that I am undertaking. Knowledge is only useful if it is put into practice. The internship offered me an opportunity to put into practice a lot of knowledge both academic and otherwise and gave me good direction on best ways of detecting, identifying and getting solutions to any challenges that may cross my path in the course of my career as an ESL teacher. By offering my own suggestions and contributing ideas on how teaching at ESL classes can be improved, my own personal growth in the career is advancing. I now have the confidence to handle adults in a learning environment and to be able to identify with their emotions, weaknesses, likes and dislikes and to handle such factors without interfering with the learning process. The students were taken out to become conversant with various aspects of the country. Supplementation of students’ knowledge on English by informally speaking with them aided their learning on the English language. On the other hand, not all objectives were achieved fully. There were several problems and challenges that made the achievement of these objectives difficult. The problems that were experienced included; volunteer delayed easy interaction with the students, and volunteers could not identify and understand concerns of all students fully. Though it took some time before they interacted easily with the students, they later managed to do it. There were few communication and organization problems that arose but were sorted out with time. It was also a bit difficult to develop lesson plans containing all relevant information for the course at one particular time. This experience assisted me to improve my conversation skills. This was due to the interaction with both the volunteers and the students. During this interaction conversations between me and then assisted me to gain fluency and correct grammar when conversing. The use of correct tenses, remarks and statements in order to pass the necessary language enabled me to identify their needs in their classes. Conclusion Internship has proved to be a very helpful undertaking and I would recommend it to anyone that wishes to develop and pursue a successful career. It offers a good opportunity to learn so much about the pros and cons of a job. From the experience that I have had at the internship, I believe that I have fewer challenges to face in my future career as an ESL teacher in Saudi Arabia. This is because the internship has prepared me on almost every aspect of human interaction is it personal, social or cultural that I need in my career. The exposure to people from different social backgrounds and different cultures will serve to help me adapt to new cultural backgrounds as it gives the right psychological preparation for such an encounter. The ESL class encounter will help me to adapt in a situation where I may find myself learning a new language. The whole experience was worth the time and effort. References Dolores, La Guardia. , Guth P. H. , (2000). American Voices. Culture and Community. Toronto, Mayfield Publishers.

Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Essay Market and environmental analysis of McDonalds Corp – 2003. Market and environmental analysis is an essential part of an organization’s External Analysis. The main objectives of a market analysis are; a)To determine how attractive a market is. b)To understand the dynamics of the market and amend strategies accordingly. Here we apply the dimensions of a Market Analysis to McDonalds corp. 1)Emerging submarkets; McDonalds failed to recognize the changing trend in customer’s preferences to better tasting, fresher food. This trend led to new sub markets emerging for tastier, fresher and fast food perceived as healthier. A few of the smaller/privately owned competitors (Cosi and Quizno’s) were able to operate in niche markets selling gourmet sandwiches and salads. The emergence of smaller restaurants offering easy access to exotic foods such as sushi and burritos created a more specialized niche market. 2)Size and Growth; With the emergence of these sub-markets and niche markets, McDonalds started losing market share. It now had to share its fast-food mass market with these newly created markets. Even though these restaurant chains were small in size, their growth opportunities presented a potential threat to McDonalds. They operated on service that was better than McDonalds at the same time providing better tasting food, which led to an increase in its sales. This sector was in the early stages of growth where as McDonalds was past the maturity stage. 3)Profitability; McDonalds profitability can be gauged by using Porters 5 factor model. a)Intensity of competition among existing customers was relatively high. Direct competitors like Wendy’s and Chik-Fil-A were able to out perform. McDonalds based on service quality by providing quicker service. In comparison McDonalds had a large number of franchises, but will falling service time. b)Threat of new entrants: Other market niches like quizo’s, cosi and small restaurants offering exotic foods also provided a high degree of competition to McDonalds by offering food that appealed to changing customer preferences. The only barrier to entry that McDonalds used was to open a large number of franchises and offer an inexpensive menu; this is however changing as franchisees are leaving McDonalds, lowering the barriers to entry. c)Substitute products would include fast food options available in leading supermarkets, and cafe’s offering exotic foods like sushi. d)Bargaining power of customers. Customers are the main source of income for McDonalds. Customers were not happy with the menu offered at McDonalds and hence took their custom to other restaurants, leading to a drop in sales. e)Bargaining power of suppliers: McDonalds aimed to keep their menu prices low (source more details about suppliers) 4)Cost structure McDonalds strategic focus was on cost and service. In order to raise service quality new kitchens were installed. However, this installation was done for some franchises that did not need it and where the new additions did not help improve business. In order to keep the price of its burgers low, it asked the franchises to sell at a loss. Example: Promoting a $1 burger when the cost to make it was $1. 07. This lack in foresight resulted in rising costs to franchise owners who responded by leaving McDonalds and going over to competitors. This snowballed into falling investor confidence resulting in falling equity. Another cost issue was investing in too many takeovers which it couldn’t handle at the same time as improving service quality and revamping the menu. 5)Distribution Systems McDonalds distribution system was the large and growing number of franchises. However not many of the franchises were posting profits and as per Exhibit 1, more than 500 would have to be closed. One of McDonalds strengths is its distribution system, where in customers come in and have the same experience that they have at any other store. However, this can also be a weakness as providing a consistent experience soon becomes ordinary. 6)Market Trends. The fast food casual market was quickly breaking up into fragments. With the rising immigrant population customers now had a choice of items. McDonalds realize this too late and try to counter this effect by introducing new burgers. However, the testing of the new menu does not gauge strongly enough the changing customer preferences and this poor planning led to its failure. Internally changing trends were also blindsided. Franchisees who were the closest to customers were not included in decision making and were thus disgruntled. Here was the need to change the management style from top-down to bottom-up. This would have solved some of the issues plaguing McDonalds, by providing data on what customers want and what products would have a greater chance of success. 7)Key success Factors McDonalds did have some strengths or key success factors; a)Large number of franchises that led to economies of scale. This however contrasted to the ‘small is beautiful’ concept of the niche markets. b)Complete training for franchisees to begin and run their own McDonalds proved to be a good team building exercise. c)Cost of food was low due to economies of scale and economies of size. Moreover, McDonalds was able to negotiate a reasonable price for high quality food products. McDonalds failed to realize the changing trends in the casual fast food markets, as a result of which, a large part of the market share was taken over by existing brands like Wendy’s and new players like Panera bread co. The company also failed to acknowledge competition from the niche markets serving gourmet and exotic foods. This lack in analysis led to lowering of entry barriers for new entrants, loss of market share to competitors (Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A. ), disgruntled franchisees, and a drop in sales leading to a fall in equity value. Environmental Analysis 1)Political: 2)Economic: 3)Socio-Cultural: There are three cultural forces that influence marketers: a) persistence of cultural values, b) subcultures and c) shifts in secondary cultural values. Of the three, secondary cultural values carry the largest influence on the fast-food market. When the market is interested in convenience, they are more likely to buy fast food; if the markets secondary values shift and become interested in fitness and health, they will be less likely to buy fast food. (Monash university, 2006) The case shows this shift to gourmet and healthier foods. 4)Technological: McDonalds had begun to notice the importance of technology. The organization was looking at new technological solutions like ERP to improve their supply chain (Newman, 2002) 5)Environmental: 6)Legal: References: Monash university, 2006, Briohny’s Report, Language and Learning Online, Retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. monash. edu. au/lls/llonline/writing/business-economics/marketing/3. 3. 2. xml Newman, K, 2002. McDonalds seeks closer electronic relations, iStart. com:Technology in business, www. istart. co. nz, retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. istart. co. nz/index/HM20/PC0/PVC197/EX245/AR22537.

Criminal Courts And Prisons Criminology Essay

Criminal Courts And Prisons Criminology Essay Prisons institutions are essential in society due to the fundamental use of detaining and punishing criminals as well as to rehabilitate them in order to avoid re-offending. Prisons are guided by government officials. During the 1990s, private prisons were introduced in the UK. The main reason for the introduction of private prisons was to reduce overcrowding as well as costs, and to a certain extent improve prison standards. (Harding, 2001). The idea of involving private agencies in prison facilities has been expanded and recognised by the new labour, conservative and the new coalition government. In the 1990s, regardless of the labour government being strongly against the idea of prison privatisation, they were challenged by an increased prison population which led them to allow private sectors to bid for running new prisons; and also present prisons were not to be occupied by public sectors. As a result, major parties reached an agreement in support of private prisons. However, th ere have been constant critiques from academics and the several sections of the media (Teague, 2010). Prison privatisation is interestingly an old concept. This can be seen as during the 1800s; several prison institutions in the US were contracted to private companies who contracted inmates to business as labourers. This idea was shortened due to corruption and the violent opposition by several businesses who claim that there was an unfair competition due to unpaid workers. Nonetheless, modern prisons now work on a totally different framework to earlier prisons; with even promising features. The introduction of private prisons in modern society has perceived new changes in prisons structure. Prisons are now not only driven by the goal of serving punishment and rehabilitate offenders, but also to gain financial wealth from detaining criminals. The intentions of private prisons were merely to correct present faults from private sector prisons, such as overcrowding; in the process of this, private prisons have suffered heavy criticism. The cost of crime is on the increase due to increased crime rates. In early nineties, it was estimated to cost almost seven billion dollars each year in construction cost as well as the upkeep of inmate population. The price of employing prison guards, administrators, teachers and every prison services within its facility is not included in this cost. Allowing private companies to take over the running of these institutions mean that the associated costs may not be generated from tax payers money, which would mean that governments can make better use of the money to address other public areas needing attention. Private prisons come with several benefits that aim to reduce cost as well as other beneficial factors. Cost saving is one of the main benefits associated with prison privatisation. The increased rate of crime accounts for the cost which is used towards prisons. Crime is widely seen a social problem and due to this, investments of up to nine figure sums each year is spent on the development of prisons; in order to manage the increasing rate of prisoners. Furthermore, prisons also incur more cost for aspects like the recruitment of guards and administrators, as well as other necessary expenses such as healthcare, food, clothes and education. The majority of private prison supporters argue that the government spends far more money on public prisons than private prisons, and both sectors equally provide and maintain the essential quality service needed. The main reasons that these supporters gave in regards to the increased cost of public prisons are due to factors such as red tape and the several laws which increases the cost of public prison management. These factors have been eliminated in private sector prisons which has significantly reduced costs. Furthermore, with private sectors managing prisons, some of the costs that are associated with running prisons may be used for other government projects. This will enable better use of government fund to other possible serious areas that may need addressing in terms of development. The issue of competition privatization will ensure an increase of productivity and also reduced waste of resources. Research show that the boarding cost in private sector prisons is half the cost of public prisons (Young, 2003). Several other studies show that private sector prisons save over 20% in construction cost as well as up to 15% in management costs (Sloane, 1996). Although critics strongly argue that cost reductions in private agencies, may however worsen prison conditions (Smith, 2003). Private companies are also perceived to be more flexible and innovative than public sector prisons. In the early 1990s, ministers argue that private sector prisons had proposed new ideas in the running of prisons. It was proposed that private sectors have the imagination to run prisons and look at things from a different point of view as well as to consider new management techniques and create new measures. This view was recognised in the 1998 inspection of Buckley hall with the chief inspector crediting the prisons improvement to the flexibility in which contractors could present innovative ideas that are free from bureaucratic restrictions, and if possible could be removed in other institutions. Supporters argue that contracting cold be a reason for staff innovation and transformation in the longstanding obstruction. The economic theory states that there will be a reduction in the running of prisons if there is more availability in renting and selling of prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison spaces. This plan aims to give back to society as it serves to preserve justice. The economic theory states that the difficulty of financial assistance towards the control of prison services will reduce if there is more availability in selling and renting prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison space. Private prisons adapted this concept by trying to exploit opportunities through the use of prison run factories. The idea of this is to allow prisoners to earn whilst giving back to society via labour. More than half of the money generated through this method is used to cater for prison cells and support victims. This process not only generates money but enabled prisoners to acquire skills which they can use in the integration process back in society. They can use these skills to acquire them a living rather than to follow the path of crime and be recognised by society as ex-offenders, which could narrowly lead them back into this system (Young, 2003). Although the public prison tries to carry out this task, it is not as effective as private prisons. It is essential to note that the privatization process may lead to new approaches to criminal control and punishment other than using prisons to deny criminals of their freedom. For instance, new approaches can involve the detaining of criminals through the use of modern technology on the individuals body such as electronic monitor. However, this approach may cause concern due to the safety of individuals in society. This would raise questions on whether the given technique is effective enough in ensuring crime reduction as well as the punishment of offenders (Smith, 2003). In sum, prison privatisation has a lot of benefits due to internal factors such as cost effectiveness. The proposer of this system may use the benefits of private prisons to ensure that most prisons are privatised in order to improve prisons and ensure that justice is served in any given country. The idea of private prisons is certainly a plausible one, as it carries several advantages that benefit both the country as a whole as well as these institutions; although, in order to fully understand all its positive benefits, more studies need to be conducted in this area. This idea has the possibility of being successful if given attention. This is to ensure that social interests come before the need to maximize profits by the companies that have been given the contract to set up private prisons. It is important to realise that each benefits of private prisons has an equal amount of disapproval and this is the same case as public institutions. This is due to the debates surrounding any issue concerning the welfare of individuals in society. A sensitive issue like this one, will attract some challengers (Young, 2003) On the other hand, there have been several disadvantages and criticisms of privately run prisons. There have been a number of factors and researches to back these claims. This section of this essay will point out and address these issues, using a range of studies as well as discussions that have been conducted in order to allow the reader to understand this area well. Critics claim that profit is one of the main motives behind private sector prisons; therefore this factor contributes to conflict of interest. The idea of prisons is not only to punish and isolate offenders from society, but also to rehabilitate them in order to highly reduce the chances of re-offending. Though it is a good factor that private prisons are cost saving, this would consequently mean that private prisons are not as efficient as public prisons. This is due to gaining profits through prison management, which would mean that essential factors such as prison rehabilitation programmes and medical care are reduce d at the cost of prisoners welfare. As a result of this, it is a possibility that prisoners may experience poor living conditions, as well as the lack of effective rehabilitation programs. Furthermore, a report carried out the National Audit Office (2003) voiced concerns on several areas on services provided by private prisons. Factors such as inexperienced staffs and high staff turnovers were pointed on. Poor payment and poor working conditions are some reasons of high turnovers (Sloane, 1996). Also arguments on this topic pointed out that public prison were far safer than private prisons due to environment. This is based on the fact that prison workers in the private sectors had less experience than those in the public sector. This report further goes on to argue that the terms and conditions of the contract which private prisons were run had not been appropriately developed, which raised concerns about the commercial confidentiality that surround the terms which private prisons were under. Another aspect that is of interest to critics is the issue of bad scoring. Reports have revealed private prisons received bad scores in regards to management and security. This is due to failures in the numbers of deliberate criminal activities in this institution, assault and drug containment. Austin (2010) conducted a survey to investigate the welfare of prisoners in several private sector prisons. His findings revealed the intensity in which prisoners and staffs within this system had to cope with. A major discovery that was made within this process showed that there was an increase in the amount of assault cases within these facilities, than in public prisons. Findings show that the number of cases of assault on prisoners by staff had increased to 49%; whilst assaults by prisoners had increased to over 60%. This is almost doubled the figures in public sector prisons. This factor provides evidence to suggest that privately run prisons are less efficient in regards to performance ( Smith, 2003). The issue of low-balling is an aspect that has received some criticism. This is a tactic that is used on the government by contractors. The idea of this method is by under bidding fellow participants with the goal of winning and once they are announced winners, they then increase the figure. Worst of all, the competitors stands a chance of bankruptcy which leaves the government in a non-correctional position. If this method is introduced in this essential system that ensures that justice is served, then the country will see the provision of poor resources and facilities as well as technical hitches; therefore, this will make the whole purpose of this system loose its motives (Logan, 1990) The system has several benefits as well as disadvantages that may obstruct the process of privatizing prisons in any country. Some of the arguments by researchers may not be strong enough due to lack of evidence. On the other hands, some arguments against the idea of private prisons need to be taken into account due to sake of the welfare of individuals, which should be a major factor of any government (Sloane, 1996). Ethics and principles is a key aspect of societal needs in any given institution and it has been proven that there are certain aspects of private prisons that weaken this value. This is an issue that thoroughly needs to be reflected on. It is also important to question whether the issue of morality should be left in the hands of individuals whose ultimate goals are to search for financial gains and to make maximum profits. To a certain extent, this gives the idea that our society is no longer driven by morals, but greedy individuals who use any given opportunity to make money (Alter, 2010). While taking into consideration all the factors mentioned in this essay, the best technique of any given prison organisation appears to be private institutions. The reason for this is due to the number of benefits such as financial benefits, security aspects, prisoner well-being, and accountabilities which makes it a preferred choice. However, the issue of morality seemed to be totally ignored in this case. Should we, the peers of society shift the responsibility for the ultimate sanction by which we measure normative behaviour, to those whose soul motive is profit? Michael Foucault argued that prison institutions are a model, the point of origin, for the entire model of social control that characterised society through its improvement in morals. Has our society become one of opportunist motivated by greed? Foucault then went on to further state that punishment was paid out in days, months and years and draws up a quantitative equivalence between offence and duration. By pressuring i nmates to work, is the system not making the offender pay back more than what is original crime entailed. Would it be right to presume that private prison approach is a symptom or a reaction by private capitalism to the prospects created by societys temper tantrum approach to the problem of criminality in the context of free market supremacy? In the calculation of what is or should be the best system to guard and control social corruption, not only should we calculate the cost, but also the effect it will take on our morals. Prison privatisation is concept that sparks a lot of interest; prison privatisation holds many positive features that deserve further research. The concept of prison privatisation will certainly flourish- however, much care is required in regulation to assure that society interest is at the fore front and not the cooperation interest, and not developed by hucksters with the soul intention of turning a quick buck causing the sacrifice of quality. It is important to remember that for each positive point, there will be an equal rebuttal to counter it benefits, similar to public prison. There is no thinkable problem with private prisons that is not matched by an identical or closely related problem within government based institutions. It is primarily because they are prisons, not because they are contractual, that private operations face challenges of authority, legitimacy, procedural justice, accountability, liability and so on. A possible thought would be the combination of both syste ms, creating a union with safe-guards, quick response times, and technological changes, safety catering, educating and training inmates, while addressing the issue of morality within the criminal justice system. As to their advantages and disadvantages as standalone units both organisations have good and bad points; both suffer equal criticism and similar failings.

Creating a Philosophy of Life Essay -- essays research papers

In his recent research, Pierre Hadot calls our attention to the original vocation of the philosopher: not as scholar but as sage. Hadot attempts to recapture the early understanding of the study of philosophy as an entry into a mode de vie, a way of life richly satisfying and personally rewarding. The challenge for us today, he claims, is to rediscover the unity between two different visions of philosophy: philosophy as scientific discourse and philosophy as way of spiritual enlightenment. As scientific discourse, philosophy cannot exist as a reality in and for itself. It is only the expression of the experience and reflection of the philosopher. As a way of spiritual enlightenment, philosophy is closely linked to the discourse within which it is expressed. (Qu’est-ce que la philosophie antique? pp. 19-21). For our students today, philosophy is neither scientific nor a way of life. For them, it is either a tiresome activity of word-haggling or a discussion which never settles questions to anyone’s satisfaction. In the contemporary atmosphere of Post-Modernism, such a perspective engenders either cynicism or frustration. Hardly ever does it promote the sort of humility before the truth which can be the first step of the philosophical journey. Even less often does it promote in the student the conviction that they do, indeed, have moral stars by which they can navigate in life. In my ten years of university teaching, I have noticed an increase in student energy and attention ...

Character Personality Types in Pride and Prejudice Essay example -- Li

â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† was written by Jane Austin and published in 1813. Since its publication, Pride and Prejudice has remained a hugely popular book with multiple film adaptations. The success of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† can be attributed to many factors such as its idyllic setting, the strained romance between the two main characters and the witty dialog. However, the relatability of the characters and the abundance of personality types reflected in modern society have made Pride and Prejudice one of the most loved books of all time. We can use the Jung theory on personality types to classify each character. Jung states: â€Å" †¦my first concern must be with the two general types I have termed introverted and extraverted. But, in addition, I shall also try to give a certain characterization of those special types whose particularity is due to the fact that his most differentiated function plays the principal role in an individual's adaptation or orientation to life.† (Jung) Just and introvert and extrovert are opposites of each other, the other types that make up a person personality are also opposite each other. This is best explained on the Meyer-Briggs Foundations website which describes four â€Å"dichotomies.† Introvert and extrovert are the first set of dichotomies, followed by sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, and judging and perceiving. The combination of these characteristics make up one’s personality type. (Myers and Briggs Foundation) By using Jung’s theories we can analyze each character and identify what it is that makes the character relatable. Elizabeth is strong willed and knows what she wants. â€Å"A stile-jumper by conviction as well as instinct, she not only flouts convention, she holds it up for deliberate mock... ...xperienced an abundance of success and will continue to delight readers for years to come because of it relatable characters. Works Cited Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Egerton, 1813. Print. Deresiewicz, William. "Community and Cognition in "Pride and Prejudice"." ELH (1997): 503-535. Web. Ewin, R. E. "Pride, Prejudice and Shyness." Philosophy (1990): 137-154. Jung, C. G. Psycological Types. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976. Web. 11 December 2011. . Morgan, Susan. "Intelligence in "Pride and Prejudice"." Modern Philology (1975): 54-68. Myers and Briggs Foundation. MBTI Basics. 2003. Web. 11 December 2011. . Sherry, James. "Pride and Prejudice: The Limits of Society." Studies in English Literature (1979): 609-622. Web.