Merchant of Venice Spot Analysis Essay

Although the play’s title leads readers to believe its contents to surround Antonio, rather the play surrounds a hated and despised Shylock the Jew. However, as Shakespeare so often does, several scenes are placed almost haphazardly within the conflict and turmoil building amongst the main characters. Often readers question the scenes appropriateness and necessity to the play’s progression, and struggle to create connections to the play’s main conflict and following resolution. The casket scenes regarding the betrothal of the beautiful Portia in The Merchant of Venice play the role of the sources of confusion. Although the game of caskets seemingly represents Shakespeare’s dynamics on love and marriage, the game is really a lesson in human morality, judgment, and tribulations. The lesson learned through Portia’s three suitors is invaluable to the play as well as human life. Shakespeare’s ability to recognize and understand the true nature of man is seen throughout the works of his career, and The Merchant of Venice is in essence a depiction of men judging one another superficially. The three caskets present three versions of common human rationales. As each suitor presents himself for the game, the audience is led through his thought process and ultimate decision. The first suitor, Morocco, refuses the casket of lead and claims â€Å"[a] gold mind stoops not to shows of dross. / I’ll then [neither] give nor hazard [anything] for lead† (2. 7. 20-21). Morocco will not risk anything for the mere hopes of gaining only as valuable as lead. Morocco, so far, is immensely materialistic. He next contemplates the silver casket. Morocco weighs his â€Å"value with an even hand† and decides his worth â€Å"by thy estimation / [†¦] dost deserve enough† (2. 7. 5, 26-27). Morocco’s own self-affirmation does not allow him to stoop to choose silver. Instead, he moves to the golden casket thus furthering his obvious greedy and materialistic nature. â€Å"Is’t like that lead contains her? ‘Twere damnation / [to] think so base a thought. It [is] too gross / [to] rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave† (2. 7. 49-51). Obviously unbeknownst to Morocco, lead is the metal of choice in burial, and the irony only better proves this suitor unfit. Likewise Morocco did not view silver as more precious than gold, and refuses to settle for anything second best. His vanity and greed leave him â€Å" ‘[c]old indeed, and labor lost’† as he unwisely chooses the golden casket, and a lesson in humility and Christian grace is spent (2. 7. 74). The lessons continue with the second suitor, Aragon. He quickly passes the leaden casket and moves to dismiss any affinity toward the golden casket. â€Å"I will not choose what many men desire, / Because I will not jump with common spirits / And rand me with the barbarous multitudes† (2. 9. 30-32). Wisely, Aragon knows not to simply trust the facts beheld by the eyes. He deciphers the riddle as addressing a throng of fools blinded by beauty and oblivious of anything else. However, Aragon has just all but ignored the lead casket, yet he knows â€Å"[Portia] shall look fairer [if he] give or hazard† (2. 9. 21). Aragon knows a risk begets a better reward, but he does not choose this uncertainty. However, he ascertains his own desert without doubt. The silver casket should â€Å"[let] none presume / to wear an undeserved dignity† and Aragon believes men should only receive what is deserved (2. 9. 38-39). He questions the validity of an idealistic world of rightful desert. He wonders â€Å"who shall go about / [to cheat] fortune, and be honourable / [without] the stamp of merit† (2. 9. 36-37). Aragon’s idealism does not consider the true nature of mankind. His rationality is absurdly naive, and this foolishness is all he keeps upon his departure. Bassanio, the final and probably least sincere suitor, also considers each casket before his decision. Bassanio is well aware how sinful and deceitful mankind behaves. He knows â€Å"the outward shows [appearances] be least themselves† (3. . 73). Now the reader knows outward beauties will not fool Bassanio. â€Å"How many cowards whose hearts are all as false / [as] stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins / [the] beards of Hercules and fwoning mars, / [who], inward searched, have lives white as milk† (3. 2. 83-86) Bassanio asks himself in debate. The readers know Bassanio has spent his fortunes living an extravagant life. Assumedly, Bassanio encountered a vast variety of people in his travels and adventures, and through these experiences, he has discovered the triviality of appearances. Bassanio knows beauty is often an elaborate mask â€Å"[the] seeming truth [in] cunning times puts on / [to] entrap the wisest† (3. 2. 100-101). Bassanio eliminate his doubt and chooses the lead casket, thus ending the game and winning Portia’s hand. Bassanio’s knowledge of men and their sinfully corrupt hearts leads him to wisely solve the riddle and win the desired prize. However, Bassanio is not meant to serve as the moral winner in this game. Instead, Bassanio provides support toward Aragon’s foolishness. Bassanio is the man who undeservedly gains power and advancement. Shakespeare places these scenes within a play full of the corrupt, yet he is able to humanize and evoke sympathy for these men. Shakespeare utilizes these scenes to relay to the audience that human nature is not black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. The bad can feel the good and be intrinsically good; likewise the good often know the bad and choose the evil in the face of personal gain.

Garrett Morgan

Seems like the flowers blossom and the skies full of joy, Garrett, oh young Garrett, are you also full of joy? Born in downtown, hated by rotten white neighbors, Who in his young mind would color in corps? He walked in the path of color, Did not taste a new kind of flavor, Wrapped in a slim black coat, Seems like living in a moat. You are like an ant, traveling in many ways, Guided not by the contours of the great minds, But the sting of a many a scorpions’ tongues, Such a scorpion is a man, lying in another man’s arms.He speaks of books, but could not fathom such, He tells of nails and numbers, but hunger enters, How long will his pain matters, So long as the heart beats and beaten. Now comes a group of his mates, Black birds flying in white rotten sky, How long shall they remain in their smile shy? The fruits of mouth are very sharp. Now Garrett is turned into a dove, Putting white color in his black skin hove, He remarks, â€Å"I will be in their hove. † But f rustrated as he is, failed and shoved. Crying and heaving heart feelings, He trembles in distaste hangings,Came a man of fancy bringing, Offers him a bead of woven linen. Alas, I came to save you from the bondages of your own misery! The tunnels are empty and danger woven, I bring light to thee, I act on the premise of my wrath, I tremble on the problems of others’ hat, I smile on the mask’s facade, The gas saves and saving. The roads are jammed and blurry, But I bring order and merry. At last, I’m in the annals of history. This poem is generally about a poor black boy (Garrett Morgan- child of former slaves) who wanted to become a member of the white society.Born into a poor family, he strove hard to be accepted by the society. Because of poverty, he stopped studying. All he could do now was imitate the fashion of the white society. The first step was to become â€Å"white† in the sense of changing the color of her skin. He failed miserably, noting that even if his skin changes, his identity will remain black, his ancestry will remain black. However, his status in society did not prevent him from making accomplishments. He invented the traffic lights and military gas mask: one of the symbols of modern society.

Business Decision Making

The methodology for this report will focus upon both primary and secondary research methods which will be used to obtain the opinions of the asked passer. Needled et-al (2003) states that primary research mainly consists of data collected by an organization, or individual, for their own purposes and are generally collated first hand from ‘the horses mouth'. Needled (2003) offers the opinion that the main methods of collating primary research are through conducting face to face Interviews, telephone interview, questionnaires and through direct observations.Primary data can be either qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative research data tend to be more explanatory whereas quantitative is generally more descriptive. The main part of the research for this project will consist of one primary method, survey. The survey questioned passers within Princess to determine what they think about the Princess. This method has been chosen as it is easy method to collate considerable data and it is a relatively cheap method of collating the data.To ensure response rates were high, the passers were asked face to face. I have chosen to opt against a paper based System as Needled et-al (2003) offers the argument that response rates to costal systems are often as low as 30% and I feel this method may introduce bias to the overall conclusion. There the alternative option of personally distributing and collecting the surveys for which Sweeten (2002) claims can increase the response rate to almost 70%.However given the short timescales for the project I only intend to sample the views of 20 people. Questionnaires are quite popular when collecting data, but are difficult to design and often need many drafts before having a final questionnaire. These drafts are called pilot questionnaires. Again because of the given short time call I was only able design one pilot. It emerged that the questionnaire was too long. The final questionnaire was then amended by the KISS theory'- keep i t short and simple.Random sampling was used as non random sampling is impracticable and often very costly in terms of time. After collecting the primary data, the data was then exported into Microsoft Excel to provide a more professional presentation for this document in providing professional graphs and findings. Secondary research All methods of data collection supply quantitative data (numbers, statistics) or qualitative data (usually words or text).Secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose as the investigator. Main methods that is used to for the collection Of secondary data: Data supplied by a marketing organization Annual company reports Government statistics / surveys Academic surveys Company data (payroll details, minutes of meetings, accounts of sales of goods or services) Whilst theory is a crucial factor in academic learning and organizational success leading academics offer different views on it effectiveness.Saunders et-al (2003) explains that secondary research, especially academic journals, re the most important source for any research because they are evaluated by academic peers prior to publication therefore generally of good quality. Gharry (1995) offers the opinion that secondary research is has there are major advantages of secondary research mainly through savings in time, money and resources as academic literature from various sources is widely available and easily obtainable.However Needled et-al (2003) warns that the information may not always be of good quality, may not represent the whole picture and the research could be out of date. These opinions were considered whilst conducting the literature review. After having contacted the Princess press department the result was that due to the fact that the Princess is a new development, secondary data was not available. Rest Its The layout of the questionnaire was divided in three parts – introductory questions, main questions and final questions.Topic: What do you think of the Princess development? Number of questioned people: 20 Introductory questions The introductory questions are of assistance to find out general information about the questioned person. 1. Gender 2. Age group 3. Employment status 4. Marital status Main questions Main questions are in place in order to gather information about the topic of the question naira. 5. Purpose of the visit 6. Preferred time to visit 7. Does it meet expectations? 8. What were the expectations? 9. Affect on Setter's other high street retailers and restaurants 10.Overall affect of the Princess Shopping Centre to Exeter Final questions The final questions help to calm down and relax from the main part. It can also seen as fun part. 11. Favorite new shop 12. Favorite new restaurant/cafe The Upper Crust Memo To: Quality Control Manager From: Tugboat Vic Sicken c: Date: January 31, 2015 Re: Result of samples 65 loaves of bread with a weight range of 780-830 g Average w eight (mean) of loaves 804. 74 g The middle loaf (median) weighs 804. 9 g The most common (mode) loaf weight is 804. 9 g The Standard deviation of each loaf is 9. G The weight of the lower quartile is (IQ) is 798. 48 g Q = Median = 804. 9 g The weight of the upper quartile is (Q) is 811. 1 g The intrauterine range is 12. 62 g Box + Whisker plot Due to wastage we lost 805 loaves Task 5 Correlation The correlation is one of the most common and most useful statistics. A correlation is a single number that describes the degree of relationship between two variables. If points in scatter diagram cluster close to the line then there is a strong correlation in place and if points are more widely scattered the correlation is weak.Positive correlation If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other then this is known as a positive correlation. An example would be height and weight. Taller people tend to be heavier. Negative correlation If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other then this is known as a negative correlation. An example would be height above sea level and temperature. As you climb the mountain (increase n height) it gets colder (decrease in temperature).No correlation A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables. The picture below shows a guide to the strength of correlation Strengths of correlations 1 . Correlation enables the researcher to examine naturally occurring variables that perhaps unethical or impractical to test experimentally. For instance, it would be unethical to carry out an experiment on whether smoking causes lung cancer. 2. Correlation enables the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between variables. This Can then be displayed in a replica form.Limitations of correlations 1 . Correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong relationship between two variables we cann ot assume that one causes the other. For example suppose we found a positive correlation between watching violence on T. V. And violent behavior in teenage years. It could be that the cause of both these is a third (irrelevant) variable – say for example, growing up in a violent home – and that both the watching of T. V. And the violent behavior are the outcome of this. . Correlation does not allow us to go beyond the data that is given. For example suppose it was found that there was a relationship between time spent on homework (112 hour to 3 hours) and number of G. C. S. E. Passes (1 to 6). It would not be correct to conclude from this that spending 6 hours on homework would be likely to generate 12 G. C. S. E. Passes 5 A + B. Rest It: The older the car gets (increase) the less is it worth (decrease). The scatter diagram above shows that the correlation is stronger after the first two years.There is no straight line relationship. The points on the graph with couple of exceptions form a curve which suggests it is not a linear relationship. The explanation of partial in the correlation result means that it is not 100% correlated because of other factors that influenced it. Coefficient of determination: 65. 61 % of the behavior of y is determined by x + 34. 39 % by other factors. The aim of regression analysis is to find out the values of parameters for a function that cause the function to best fit a set of data observations that it's provided.In linear regression, the function is a linear (straight-line) equation. The equation and the table above show that the value of the car decreases by a constant amount each year after its purchase. The following linear function loud predict its value Value = price + departed*age Value, the dependent variable, is the value of the car, age is the age of the car. The regression analysis will determine the best values of the two parameters, price, the estimated value when age is O (I. E. , when the car was new ), departed, the depreciation that takes place each year.The value of departed will be negative because the car loses value as age increases. However as we can see in the table after 12 years the equation gives a negative value. This would be not possible in reality. A car cannot be worth E-340. 06. The problem with the equitation is that it is not realistic. The equation is only correct in terms Of figures. E. The equation does not include the factors that can influence the price of a used car. It only considers the age of the car. However there can be several other factors that can influence the price of a used car.Mileage Color- In other words, some colors, like â€Å"ROI Yellow Pearl†, appeal only to a small segment of the population and brings down the car's worth in many eyes Fuel type Engine size Transmission Number of doors Private or trade seller – Trade seller are always more expensive as trader adds profit on the actual value of the car. Previous owner †“ For example if a elderly person was the previous owner it is very likely that the car was only used for short distances (shopping, doctor consultations) On the other hand if the car was used at a driving school then it is very likely that the car was not treated well from the learners. F. Business decision makers need to find out very often the casual relationship between two variables. For instance, the relationship between interest rates and consumer expenditure. Furthermore a financial analyst may use regression and correlation to help understand the relationship of a financial ratio to a set of other variables in business. Correlations can be helpful in business. Once a correlation is identified, organizations can determine if the correlation indicates causation. With this information, the company can develop methods to influence the correlation to the organization's benefit.Task AAA. Total float The longest the start of an activity can be delayed from its earliest start tim e (EST) without delaying the project. Free float The longest an activity can be delayed from its EST without delaying the EST of any immediately following activities. By looking at the table, those tasks without a total float' (I . E. Zero) are considered ‘critical' and coincidentally are mound on the critical path. It is therefore important that these tasks are not delayed in order to complete the project on time as planned.Recognizing and integrating float is very important. For example, those tasks that do carry float may have resources (labor, capital, equipment, etc) that could be used elsewhere to complete other tasks quicker. Also, for those tasks that do carry float, any delays can be accepted. As the resource diagram below shows, 6 assistants are required for the job. Furthermore the whole procedure will take 25 days. After rescheduling the activities only 4 assistants are required. Apart from this the whole procedure will take 21 days. 70.Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a planning and project management tool. It can help make sure a project is completed as quickly as possible, and resources used as efficiently as possible. The business is able to give the customer exact information such as finish date, required assistants. Furthermore, most projects come across with delays or something unexpected, so managers need to use tool such as CPA to monitor the project and take quick action to resolve any problems. This enables the business to avoid any delays and the consequential customer complaints. Business Decision Making Leadership in today's organizations is a tough business. Organizational leaders face a number of significant challenges as their jobs, and the world around them, become increasingly complex (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001). Trends such as organizational â€Å"delayering, † rapid technological advances, the proliferation of teambased organizations, and increased employee empowerment require that leaders adapt their techniques and styles of leadership to meet these new challenges.In the face of all these changes, researchers and management education specialists are working to find methods to develop more effective leaders. Old techniques of development are criticized and questioned, and new techniques are created—often before they are adequately tested and thoroughly understood. New techniques can become instant â€Å"fads. † In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in leadership.The bulk of research efforts has gone into trying to understand leadershipâ €”how it operates— and into identifying the characteristics of effective leaders. Although interpersonal relationships have always held importance within the organizational literature (Blau, 1964), a focus on relational perspectives is recently experiencing renewed interest in organizational behavior and leadership research (Day, 2000). According to Hunt and Dodge (2001), relational perspectives are at the forefront of emerging leadership thrusts.A relational focus is one that â€Å"moves beyond unidirectional or even reciprocal leader–follower relationships to one that recognizes leadership wherever it occurs, is not restricted to a single or even small set of formal or informal leaders, and in its strongest form, functions as a dynamic system embedding leadership, environmental, and organizational aspects† (Hunt & Dodge, 2001, p. 448). An area of research that speaks directly to leadership development, as defined by Day (2000), is Leader–Member Exch ange (LMX) theory.Researchers working with this leadership model have been investigating the value of developing effective work relationships between managers and subordinates for the past 30. During this time, LMX has shown the value of high-quality relationships and the problems associated with lower quality relationships. The purpose of this work is to discuss LMX theory, research, and practice on leadership development. The paper begins by briefly reviewing the value of relationships from a social capital perspective and then defines leadership relative to relationships.Leadership is engaging in behaviors that create change, and creating change requires influence. To be leaders, therefore, individuals need to have and effectively use influence. Influence is the power to affect others: the ability to produce outcomes due to some personal characteristic that gets others to follow. By definition, influence is inherently interpersonal. Influence takes place within the context of int erpersonal relationships. According to relational leadership theories, influence comes from relationships.Relational perspectives in leadership view leadership as generated through mutual influence that results from the development of trust, respect, and obligation among dyad members. LMX theory describes this influence as being created through stages of relationship building. Individuals begin at a â€Å"stranger† stage, get to know one another through testing processes, and as a result of the testing process, either progress to an advanced stage of leadership development (e. g., partnership) or remain at lower levels of relationship development (e. g. , acquaintance or stranger). Those who attain more advanced stages of relationship building—and thus develop more effective relationships with interdependent others (e. g. , managers and other higher-ups, subordinates, peers, clients, external constituents)—are able to more effectively perform their roles. More e ffective, or high-quality, leader– member exchanges are described as leadership rather than as supervisory relationships.High-quality relationships are considered mature partnerships based on respect, trust, and mutual obligation for one another (Graen& Uhl-Bien, 1995). These relationships go beyond the formal contract and generate personal power (i. e. , influence given by the other), rather than position power or authority. They are also characterized by willing followership, meaning employees are driven by intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic motivation. As a result, dyad partners (i. e., individuals engaged in an exchange) act because they want to, not because they have to. Research on LMX shows that more effectively developed relationships have significant and positive associations with performance, organizational commitment, employee citizenship behavior (i. e. , extra-role behavior), job satisfaction, delegation and participation in decision making, and enhanced career de velopment opportunities. These relationships are negatively related to turnover, job problems, and role conflict and ambiguity.The benefits of high-quality relationships come from relational resources they create. Such resources include durable obligations (e. g. , arising from feelings of gratitude, respect, and friendship), network contacts and connections (including privileged access to information and opportunities, social status, and reputation of influential others), and the ability to have open information exchanges with those around them (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Relationships that do not develop so well are considered lower quality.These relationships are not as beneficial for the individuals involved or for the organization as a whole. Lower quality relationships are described as contractually defined, formal exchanges based on limited trust and in-role interactions (Uhl-Bien et al. , 2000). These types of relationships generate management rather than leadership. They ar e characterized by lack of mutual respect, formal downward communications, little mutual understanding, limited support and commitment for one another, and no mutual obligation (i. e. , a â€Å"stranger† relationship).Findings have shown that lower quality relationships are negatively related to satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors, and commitment, and are positively related to turnover. Thus, based on relational leadership theory, effective relationships may generate mutual influence and understanding that allow leaders to more effectively perform their roles. In contrast to hierarchical and leader-dominated perspectives on relational differentiation, the goal and responsibility of leadership should be to work to develop effective relationships more broadly with interdependent others, rather than with only a group of â€Å"trusted assistants†.Drawing from the foundations established by Day (2000), leadership development needs to be considered (a) beyond hierarchical notions of manager–subordinate relationships, (b) as the responsibility of both members of the dyad (rather than leader-controlled), and (c) with allowance for more variability in what is considered a high-quality, or effective, relationship.A high-quality exchange is characterized by positive leadership processes that are indicative of a social exchange, such as increased subordinate job latitude and influence in decision making, more open and honest subordinate communication with the supervisor, and greater trust and loyalty among dyad members (Cogliser & Schriesheim, 2000). Low-quality LMX relationships are more economic or transactional in nature, and dyadic behaviors rarely progress beyond what is specified in the employment contract.With regard to leadership development, those subordinates interested in leadership development receive it as part of the relationship contract. Those that are not interested in becoming leaders do not receive leadership developm ent as part of their psychological contract and receive a different allocation of on-the-job training. Effective organizations have units that are tied together, through â€Å"linking-pin† positions, where members in these organizations become more aware of problems at lower levels in the system and coordinate activities efficiently through accurate flows of information, influence, and resources among the units involved.The persons occupying these linking-pin positions are integrated members in two or more groups and play the role of both supervisor and subordinate. Graen and his colleagues explored the effectiveness of the LMX relationship between incumbents of linking-pin positions and their supervisors and the behavior, attitudes, and treatment of lower level members (Graen, Cashman, Ginsburgh, & Schiemann, 1977). They found that the quality of LMX of the linking-pin incumbent was related to the quality of working life of the followers who reported to the linking pin.When subordinates develop high-quality exchanges with their bosses, they receive greater influence, latitude, support, and attention from their bosses, and they experience a more desirable situation overall. These researchers continued by pointing out that the quality of members in a higher dyad (hierarchically) contributed to the quality of life of members in hierarchically lower dyads. The LMX model clearly has utility for its application to leadership development.Empirical studies have supported the relationship of high-quality exchanges with positive organizational outcomes, and the broader leadership literature supports the cascading or waterfall effect of the supervisor's leadership behavior impacting the subordinates. There is a clear need for methods that more effectively socialize junior managers for executive positions. Dyad-level coaching may be one of the most effective means for transmitting organizational culture, thereby promoting the organization's core values.Dyad manage ment development has not been utilized to the full extent possible to leverage the potential of the pool of executive talent. The LMX literature says that LMX differentiation, in which leaders have higher quality relationships with some subordinates and lower quality relationships with others, occurs because leaders do not have time (or the need) to generate highquality relationships with everyone. Therefore, they develop a group of trusted assistants to help them perform the work of the unit.These trusted assistants would supposedly be the best or most reliable employees in the unit. Twenty years after the inception of the theory, Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995) argued that the creation of â€Å"in-groups† and â€Å"out-groups† within work units is not beneficial, and that instead leaders should strive to develop high-quality relationships with all subordinates. They do this by â€Å"making the offer† of high-quality relationships to all and then through testing proc esses, different quality relationships result (Uhl-Bien et al., 2000). This perspective allows for the fact that all relationships may not (and likely will not) reach high quality, but at least the dyad members both take part in how the relationship develops (rather than the leader determining who will be the trusted assistants) and have the opportunity to create a high-quality relationship. This perspective also recognizes that a focus on differentiation rather than on high-quality relationships offered to all creates tremendous opportunity for lost potential in organizations.When individuals are not fully committed (or are dissatisfied), they will withdraw discretionary behaviors that benefit others or the organization (e. g. , helping, altruism, civic behaviors). These discretionary behaviors are beneficial to the organization, and as a result, much attention has been given in the literature to determining when and how individuals engage in these behaviors. Instead of LMX differe ntiation, therefore, goal should be for individuals to strive to have influence with one another (and with higher-ups).With the support of a relationship, individuals are freer to open up and provide one another with more accurate and complete information (Avolio, 1999) so they can provide the â€Å"real† information (the â€Å"real† story). This goes both ways: with a good relationship comes reduced filtering (holding back) of information, both up and down the hierarchy. It allows individuals to share with one another the hard truth. Too many leaders do not have good information, and too many hold back in being truthful with their subordinates.If to extend this beyond managers to leaders more broadly, then organizational members need to be comfortable with providing information to one another, and this comes with having effective work relationships. Remembering that effective leaders are defined as those who use influence to create change, individuals' abilities to be effective leaders are directly related to their ability to have influence in the organization. Since effective work relationships can extend individuals' influence networks, those who have more effective relationships with others will likely have more opportunity to gain and use influence.Therefore, leadership effectiveness is likely enhanced by the ability to build effective work relationships with a broader range of interdependent others. In a study of communications within Leader-Member Exchanges, Schiemann ( 1977) found that those members with relatively higher quality LMXs communicated more frequently with their managers about administrative and technical matters than did members with relatively lower quality LMXs. These results were cross-validated on a holdout sample of managers.Apparently, there is much more communication in higher quality LMXs than in the lower quality LMXs. Thus, effective communications are an important aspect of the development of high-quality LMXs. Fla uto’s (1999) study is in response to the global question, â€Å"How are communication and leadership linked? † This study drew subjects from a variety of organizations in Ohio, eastern Indiana, northern Kentucky, and western West Virginia. Twenty to fifty subjects were drawn from each of nine organizations.Organizations participating in the study were two financial service organizations, a retail sales organization, a military unit, a subsurface coal mining organization, a suburban police department, a rural bank branch, a local post office, and a food service organization. Transactional and transformational leadership were measured using subscales of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). A six-item, three-factor subscale was created for the transformational leadership dimension and a four-item, two-factor subscale was created for the transactional leadership dimension.Subjects responded to each of the behavioral anchored items by selecting one of five respon ses that applied to their leader. The leader-member exchange dimension was measured by a subscale consisting of the six items of the LMX-6 scale. The LMX-6 scale contains items that measure the three factors of leader-member exchange. Responses are on a five-point Likert-type scale. The relationship is the highest among all of the variables in the study. This finding supports the conclusions of Day (2000) that communication attributes can distinguish between levels of leader-member exchange quality.The finding also fits into the theoretical framework of the leader-member approach to leadership that requires successful communication exchange in order to form the â€Å"in-group† relationship that characterizes high quality leader-member exchange. The communicative competence of the leader, and its affect on communication effectiveness as evidenced by member perception of leader-member agreement, appears to be a necessary precondition for a high quality leader-member exchange re lationship. At the lower levels of communication competence, high quality leader-member relationships do not exist.The leader displays charisma by communicating enthusiasm and providing a model, shows individual consideration by direct interaction and providing tailored assistance, and stimulates intellect by communicating ideas. Day (2000) defines transformational leaders as leaders who use rhetorical skills to establish a common vision. Not surprisingly, members report a high relationship between transformational leadership and communication competence. In the least squares hierarchical multiple regression analyses, transformational leadership is the best single predictor of communication competence.Transformational leadership is of high quality when the leader exhibits high communication competency. Dyads with high communication competence and low transformational leadership and dyads with low communication competence and high transformational leadership do not exist. Leadership, however it is theoretically or operationally defined, is a social process and involves a relationship between individuals. This social process and this relationship are enacted through communication. These sessions were conducted with all participants in the treatment group.Before and after results, in terms of performance, were compared for this group and for other groups from the department, which were not exposed to the LMX treatment. Productivity increases measured in terms of the quantity of cases handled showed a significant advantage in favor of the group that was trained in LMX. Furthermore, this gain was primarily a function of effects that occurred in a high–growth need group of subjects. This latter index was included in the study because a job enrichment treatment based on job characteristics theory was introduced, along with the LMX treatment.Any job enrichment effects per se, however, were negated by certain policy changes that were introduced by the organizati on unknown to the experimenters; thus job characteristics theory was not, in fact, tested. A subsequent publication, based on data from the same context, was aimed at determining whether low or high initial LMX subjects were most responsive to the treatment effects. The results clearly indicated that the low LMX subjects responded most positively to the treatment in terms of both the quality of their leader–member exchanges and the quantity of their productivity.Another report on this project substantiates the moderator effects of growth need strength, but makes no mention of the finding that low– quality leader–member exchange translates into greater productivity with the appropriate training. This latter result is most consistent with theory in that it means that dyadic partnership building applied across the board should result in both low– and high–quality dyads initially moving with training to high–quality relationships. However, if gr owth need strength is a moderator of the training effect, one would anticipate that it would also moderate the initial dyadic choices as well.In such an event low–quality dyads would not contain many high– managed strength people and thus would offer little potential for upward movement. This seeming contradiction is neither explained nor even confronted. Growth need strength is not a component of the theory as stated in comprehensive forms. Research on LMXs illustrates the importance of leader-follower relationships. The point here is simply that 30 years of research on LMXs has conclusively demonstrated the effect of exchange quality on a number of important organizational outcomes.Specifically, in a meta-analysis of this area of leadership research, Gerstner and Day (1997) found that the quality of the LMX was significantly related to job performance, satisfaction with supervision, overall satisfaction, commitment, role conflict (negative relation), role clarity, me mber competence, and turnover intentions (negative relation). After reviewing the extensive LMX literature, Gerstner and Day's conclusion was â€Å"we view the relationship with one's supervisor as a lense through which the entire work experience is viewed† (p. 840).However, although LMX offers evidence to support the value of relational approaches to leadership, many questions still remain about key issues related to leadership development. In particular, a question that needs to be addressed in LMX research is: what leads to development of higher and lower quality work relationships (e. g. , antecedents to LMX)? Although past research has investigated antecedents to LMX, a clear picture of what these are and how they operate still has not emerged. References Avolio, B. J. (1999). Full leadership development: Building the vital forces in organizations.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Blau, P. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. Cogliser, C. C. , & Schriesheim , C. A. (2000). ‘Explori ngworkun itcontex tand leader-membe rexchange: A multi-level perspective. ’ Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21 (5). Day, D. V. (2000). ‘Leadership development: A review in context. ’ Leadership Quarterly, 11. Flauto, Frank J. (1999). ‘Walking the Talk: The Relationship between Leadership and Communication Competence’. Journal of Leadership Studies. Graen, G. B. , & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995).‘Relationship–based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multidomain perspective. ’ The Leadership Quarterly, 6. Hunt, J. G. , & Dodge, G. E. (2001). ‘Leadership d? eja vu all over again. ’ Leadership Quarterly, 11 (4). Nahapiet, J. , & Ghoshal, S. (1998). ‘Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. ’ Academy of Management Review, 23 (2). Zaccaro, S. J. , & Klimoski, R. J. (2001). The nature of organizational leadership: Understanding the performance imperatives confronting today's leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Research Proposal - Essay Example To quit smoking is almost synonymous with ensuring a greener earth to our society, a healthy life for the future generations and a much more peaceful and trouble-free life for the smokers. It has often been found that people smoke out of frustration or a number of other concocted reasons. But the truth is that the addiction increases our vulnerability to all those factors – it exposes us to health as well as mental illness. In fact, it is not only the active smokers who are susceptible to the harms, but the passive smokers too, especially the children who have relatively a much lower immunity power. Smoking seems to be worth quitting from a political aspect as well. Most domestic governments have levy heavy duties on tobacco products. People, who find smoking irresistible, often ignore these facts, when the truth is that they could actually save a lumpsum amount of their money through getting rid of the habit – on the other hand, tobacco tax is considered to be one of the most important sources of government revenues. Dr. Damien De Walque in 2004 found that education had a great impact among the educated youth of the American society about their smoking behaviours. He statistically tested the hypothesis about the effect that education had on the smoking habits of people, on the basis of sample data collected since 1950 and found that the effect to be statistically significant (De Walque, 2004).1 Layte and Whelan in 2006 found that the people belonging to the lower strata of the society, viz., the blue-collar class in North America, were found to be more prone to smoking habits than those belonging to the professional or managerial class. One of the reasons cited behind this behaviour was the impact of education.2 Keeler and Hu in 1998 also found out that formal education had a statistically significant impact on the awareness of the people

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - Essay Example Womens roles were limited to that of a homemaker, where she took care of her children and husband without any complains what so ever. Education during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was not a state organized or centrally controlled affair. It was run mainly by the churches in the locality or by charitable organizations where children of the middle and upper classes were not sent for education. At this time class distinction was at its peak, great stress being laid on family wealth and powerful connections. Children of the affluent class were imparted education at the privacy of their homes and women were mostly taught lessons that would help them to run their future homes, like practical lessons related to cookery, sewing, singing, dancing and religious classes. Teaching Greek and Latin were a privilege kept mainly for the boys and the very few grammar schools that did exist did not admit girls. Well known educational institutions like the Eton, Oxford and Cambridge were special facilities reserved for the boys only. Higher education was seen as a completely masculine domain were women dared not to enter. Young men who wanted to further themselves in the social milieu opted for the church, law or the army. Women saw the scope of social advancement and wealth acquisition only through marriages and their social upbringing were aimed at this. With not much of a career and no political rights as such, higher education for women was not even considered an option during those times. The patriarchal nature is aptly shown in the starting lines of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, as Jane Austen tells us in a satirical tone â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife† (Austen, p.1). In this famous novel Austen paints a wonderful picture of the social fabric of the late eighteenth century England.

Marginalized Masculinity in the Snatch Movie Review

Marginalized Masculinity in the Snatch - Movie Review Example The film comprises two plots, which interweave throughout the movie. For instance, there are scenes of boxing matches that interweave with scenes of retrieving the diamond. Apart from characters who have varied tastes and traits, the audience is also introduced to many communities with different cultures; something that further causes more confusion when watching this film. The characters in the Snatch movie uniquely anticipate their survival mechanisms in London. Within these criminal activities, they undisclosed their home of origin. They broadly exercise the picture of a fat gateway driver, a rather vicious dog and a man-eating pig in their illegal boxing activity. In this film, the accent is purely penetrable English for both British and non-British audience. Perhaps, the adoption of pure English and the friendly nature of the marginalized characters in London would be a move towards acceptability by the London communities. In the spirit of this movie’s fair play, Guy adds a wanderer dialect in this moving picture. Living in London is not a bed of roses for these characters who are always trying to falsify everything they do in order to fit in the communities around them. A better life is seemingly fourth coming through the pretense of dialect. Whether you are an American, Jewish or Pikies, speaking in one gypsy dialect was the order of the d ay. This is done in the Snatch movie to reduce the level of curiosity by both the white and Anglo-Saxon Protestants on marginalized groups.

Ratio Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ratio Analysis - Research Paper Example It is interesting to see that the organization increased its profit margin from only 1.9% in 2012 to 6% in 2013 and 8.9% in 2014. As per the Morning Star (n.d.) financial reports, the company’s debt to equity ratio was nearly stable over the 2012-14 period posting 0.57%, 0.60%, and 0.59% respectively in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Comparing to the years just before the global financial crisis, Toyota is yet to achieve a stronger leverage and equity position. The company had a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 40.46% in 2012, and this high P/E ratio indicates that investors were expecting higher earnings growth in the future because the economy had begun overcoming the recessionary pressures. Toyota’s P/E ratio declined to 15.30% in 2013 and to a further 10.30% in 2014 as the global economy regained its growth momentum, and hence investor did not expect a significant future growth in earnings. Similarly, the company’s inventory turnover ratios for the fiscal years 2012, 201 3, and 2014 were 11.20%, 11.17%, and 11.52% respectively. These ratios are low as compared to that in 2011(12.19%) and a low inventory turnover ratio indicates poor inventory management or low sales. The firm’s current ratio was almost stable over the last three years (1.05%, 1.07%, and 1.07%) (Morning Star). Referring to Allen (2011), since these ratios are greater than 1, it is clear that Toyota is â€Å"able to meet its current obligations, with a surplus of working capital† (p.202). While evaluating Toyota’s time interest earned over the 2012-14 period, it is identified that the organization is placed in a better position to meet its debt obligations effectively. Toyota recovered fast from the severe impacts of the global financial crisis 2008-09 and the organization gained notable increases in revenues in the last two fiscal years. To illustrate, Toyota’s revenue fell to  ¥18,583,653 million in 2012 due to global economic turmoil, and some major product recalls due to quality issues.

Ethical Issue currently facing the Army Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Ethical Issue currently facing the Army - Essay Example With the attack being at the center stage of making references, this paper unearth on how the American response to the attack related with the ethics as stipulated in the military. The paper then discusses factors that necessitated the emergence of the issue, its impacts in the military and the perceived enemies and civilians. Thus, recommendations after a scrutiny of the above concerns are made in attempt to enable the military amicable strike a suitable balance regarding the ethical conduct and response. Following the chronology given above, this paper tends to account for every stage as considered below. With reference to the abstract, appreciation that in military, the junior officers take orders without questioning is construable. In this case, we will be considering the act of killing in military. Given the level of orders execution in the military, chances are that they can partake in mass killing without justification on the perceived enemies and observes nothing sinister. This is because they are not given the chance to evaluate what is ethical and, which is not. Considering the religious teachings from Christianity, Hindu, and the Buddhist, there is unequivocal respect to the sanctity of life and that none should deprive the other such right. Killing in this context is prohibited and not tolerated-it is immoral and unethical. This consideration has sparked animated debate within the military since the ethical aspect of killing has gained tremendous momentum and it is now being given keen inclusion in the military training. Currently, the military training has been restructured to include stringent observation and adherence to the cardinal principle of respecting life whether it is coming from the direction of the enemy or the civilian. Since the period of World War I and II, Period of the cold war where America and Russia

Doing business with integrity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Doing business with integrity - Essay Example Ultimately, he let his children work and manage the business which destroyed the relationships of the siblings because of the pride they have to maintain and because of greed. In the aforementioned movie, one can see the opportunity in the drug and gun business. However, since it is illegal, there are so many dangers involved in it. There are the risks of imprisonment, rivalry which could lead to fights or worse, deaths. Although there is indeed much money in the business, the risks are so high that it could be considered a lose-lose proposition. From the example seen through the godfather’s family, it is true that they became rich and powerful however, the children lived miserable lives. There have been fights in the family and because of fear of betrayal the dominant brother killed his other brothers and brother-in-law. What could be interesting in the real world though is that even in legal businesses, there will always be greed and betrayal. Perhaps the most important thin g that could be learned in the movie is doing business which he established and prospered. Ultimately, he let his children work and manage the business which destroyed the relationships of the siblings because of the pride they have to maintain and because of greed. In the aforementioned movie, one can see the opportunity in the drug and gun business. However, since it is illegal, there are so many dangers involved in it. There are the risks of imprisonment, rivalry which could lead to fights or worse, deaths. Although there is indeed much money in the business, the risks are so high that it could be considered a lose-lose proposition.

The Truth about Rap Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Truth about Rap Music - Essay Example The Home Affairs Committee of Great Britain’s Parliament debated whether or not rap music had a positive influence on Britain’s youth. Ultimately, the Home Affairs Committee agreed that rap music like any other type of music could incite criminal behavior. However, the Committee acknowledged that given rap music’s appeal to the youth, has been used productively. For instance pastors have been using some of the more exciting genre of rap to inspire Britain’s youth and to influence positive behavior. Great Britain’s Youth Offending Teams are also using rap music that could have a positive and encouraging impact on troubled youth (Great Britain Parliament 2007, p. 127). Positive rap does not draw the kind of media attention that gangsta or materialistic rap draws and this accounts for general perceptions that rap music is corrosive and inciting. Rap artists such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Common, Wyclef and Talib Kweli use rap lyrics tha t promote education, responsibility and pride in ethnicity. In this regard, positive rap contributes to the individual listener’s own personal value and to the good of that listener’s own humanity (Elligan 2004, p. 43).

Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics - Assignment Example Answers to Questions 1. What would you do if you were the acting CO of the submarine? What level of Kohlberg’s moral reasoning is this decision based on? As indicated in Lesson 8, Kohlberg’s theory â€Å"assumes the primacy of cognition and defines a moral act as one that follows a process of moral reasoning and judgement based of principles† (1). Kohlberg’s six stages are enumerated as: Level 1: Preconventional Morality where Stage 1 is indicated as Obedience and Punishment Orientation, Stage 2 is Individualism and Exchange; Level 2: Conventional Morality made up of Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships and Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order; finally, Level 3: Postconventional Morality composed of Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights and Stage 6: Universal Principles (Crain). Upon evaluation of each levels and corresponding stages, one can deduce that the decision to close the hatch in this particular scenario falls under Level 3: Postcon ventional Morality where both rules of law are considered and the possibilities of considering the universality of ethical principles. To answer the question, what would you do if you were the acting CO of the submarine?, it is not simply a matter of stating that one would order the hatch to be closed immediately without taking into consideration a number of factors. For one, the only other information noted from the case facts is that there would be three people who would die within a minute of closing the hatch. However, the number of people that would be saved was not indicated. A quick research on the average number of on a submarine revealed that the crew of a Canadian naval ship â€Å"must be not more than 165 personnel† (National Defense and Canadian Forces 16). Assuming that this is the average number of personnel on a navy warship, by closing the hatch, the CO would apparently be saving 162 people. Using Kohlberg’s moral reasoning, under Level 3, a review of t he laws governing naval warfare ships indicate that as part of damage control â€Å"the moral is HOLD WHAT YOU HAVE; DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO PREVENT PROGRESSIVE FLOODING AND BURNING† (Sea Cadets. org 14). Further, the mission of the Canadian Maritine Ships (CMS) is â€Å"is to maintain maritime and assigned air forces on each coast able to respond to maritime incidents, contribute to the surveillance of Canadian approaches, and assist in the tracking of ships of interest, such as ships involved in illegal activity or posing a possible threat to national interests or security† (National Defense and Canadian Forces 6). . Therefore, all personnel are aware that there are risks involved in manning naval warships and the priority is always to ensure that the ships is ultimately saved and preserved at the top of the agenda. The CO’s responsibility is abide by the mission that â€Å"Canada’s navy – versatile, multipurpose and combat-capable – di ligently protects our interests by safeguarding our maritime approaches, exercising sovereignty over our waters, protecting our offshore natural resources and contributing to global security† (Canadian Navy par. 1). In this regard, as CO, I will order to close the hatch at the earliest possible time to prevent progressive flooding. Presuming the consequential risks of the three men within the

Using Facebook to Cultivate Political Awareness Among Singapore Youth Essay Example for Free

Using Facebook to Cultivate Political Awareness Among Singapore Youth Essay Political awareness refers to the recognition and acquisition of either theoretical or practical political knowledge for our discussion. As the main purpose to cultivate political awareness is to help young voters make informed decisions during various elections, only information related to ‘civics’, that is â€Å"the study of the government with the attention of the roles of citizens† (Hebe, 1967), is considered political knowledge in this paper. We believe that political awareness should be raised for youths of age 13 21; thirteen is the age when most teenagers start acquiring maturity of judgement (Smith amp; Handler, 2007) and 21 is when they acquire the legal right to vote. Young voters should then possess sufficient political awareness to make wiser decisions when casting their votes. Social media is widely recognized as a form of online media that makes communication more interactive. Social media allows users to create and share contents for purposes like social networking through the use of Internet-based applications. Online social-networking refers to the use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter which provides social-networking services (SNS) for users to communicate, share information and maintain online social relations. A recent Singapore study (Russel, 2011) reveals that Facebook, a representative example of SNS, is the third most popular online source for election news and updates after Yahoo and Channel News Asia. There are 2,589,600 users on Facebook, making up half of Singapore’s total population. 1. 2. Current Situation The low political awareness among the youth in Singapore has been a long-existing problem. â€Å"I don’t know and I don’t care†, a typical Singaporean response implies the causes of the problem. One of the reasons that the youth do not gain enough political knowledge is because of the lack of engaging and interactive platforms for information sharing. As a result, few youths are interested, in addition to their poor knowledge in politics. It is important to tackle their disinterest and cultivate political awareness by disseminating related information on engaging and interactive platforms. According to a recent survey by Straits Times, 36. 3% of Singaporeans prefer Internet as their source of local political news. 33% of Singaporean Facebook users are the youths aged 13 – 24 (â€Å"Facebook Statistics Singapore†, 2011), as shown in figure 1. Therein hints the great potential of Facebook at disseminating information to the youth. In the following section, we will further evaluate the level of success of our recommendations using Facebook as a tool of information dissemination. Aged 13-24: 33% Aged 25-44:49% Others:18% Figure 1 User Age Distribution on Facebook in Singapore 1. 2. 1 Case Study: Use of Twitter in South Korea The South Korean political culture had been centered on Confucianism and subjected to bureaucratic-authoritarian rules, resulting in the struggle to cultivate a participant political culture. In fact, studies (Hong, 1998) revealed that majority of South Koreans (52. 7%) are unwilling to engage in politics. Despite the reluctance to be involved in politics, parliamentary elections held on June 2010 had held the highest voter-turnout since 1995 (54. %). A great percentage of this increase is attributed to the increase in young voters, aged 20 – 40, who are largely influenced through SNS. Twitter had played a relatively major role in bringing the Korean’s attentions to voting. A group of politically-aware youths had urged the Korean community to vote, mostly via Twitter. The result: more people saw the reminders and did as urged. The factors to success in garnering votes (especially among youths) are as goes: i. The increasing number of people with smartphones increases the convenience of using Twitter to share information on the go, via these mobile devices ii. Koreans followed the trend of using Twitter to connect with politics started by Barack Obama, President of the United States 1. 2. 2 Comparing Twitter in South Korea and Facebook in Singapore The choice of featuring South Korea in the case study is reasoned by the similarities between South Korea and Singapore, and Twitter and Facebook. A high level of similarities would hence ensure greater chance of success in our recommendations. Political culture reflects the mindsets of the youth regarding political issues, hence is a pivotal determinant in the success of promoting political awareness among the youth. South Korea tends to a subject political culture, while that in Singapore tends to a mid subject-parochial one. The features of both cultures basically demonstrates some inactivity and lack of initiative towards political issues, hence are largely similar. The ubiquity of Twitter and Facebook respectively in South Korea and Singapore is another deterministic factor. Twitter is widely used among South Koreans, resulting in an efficient spread of message to raise voter-turnout. Facebook is, likewise, widely used among the Singaporean youth, which could lead to a similar level of efficiency in spreading political awareness. The features of Twitter and Facebook would also affect how users receive political information, likewise influencing the level of efficiency of spreading political awareness among the Singaporean youth.

What Makes A Person Famous At Work Psychology Essay

What Makes A Person Famous At Work Psychology Essay What makes a person famous at work? Fame or popularity at work is much desired. To understand the phenomena, it is important to understand about fame. A research concluded that a person who is well known and liked is considered as popular (Scott, 2007). In other words a popular person is one who is likeable and socially visible. Babel (2001) further established the factors like social visibility and likable are most important for popularity. An individual who is sought after and liked is considered popular. What constitutes as popularity? According to Kerlinger Lee (2000) three forces which make up popularity. Attraction, that includes the force which brings together the individuals. Repulsion diverts and drives apart individuals. Indifference, that causes uncertainty in the mind on an individual. So these three factors can make or break an employees image at work. Popularity is often considered an individual matter; however this is not entirely true. Popularity is also a group orie nted phenomena (Rubin, Bukowski, and Parker, 2006). This means that it is an individuals quality to be popular, but he or she has to be in some sort of group to be popular or to gain fame. So understanding popularity can be measured individually and also in group. According to one research, popularity has two dimensions i.e. acceptance or rejection (Bukowski, Hoza, and Michel Boivin 1993). Another research concludes that Popularitys label is given to a specific employee by his co workers based on their perception which they develop after working with that particular worker for some time period. Popularity and fame are difficult phenomenon to understand and comprehend. It is difficult to judge about an individuals fame and popularity. There are no set rules present to measure these two states. Productivity and Popularity A research concludes that some employees are more popular than others, so often they are treated in a different way than others (Scott, 2007). This research has examined popularity in context of organizational behavior. The next question is what makes a person popular or famous at work. The popularity of person is depends on their ability to perform on the job (Zelst, 2001). This research requested the co workers to nominate a person to work with. This researcher found that people who have better working skills are popular among the workforce. The results of the research showed that people who are satisfied with their job are found to be more popular and co workers are willing to work with them. This research was conducted on construction workers. The key conclusion of this research is that popularity at work can be achieved if an employee has good working skills and is satisfied at the job. Popularity can lead to celebrity status. Research shows that popularity and fame is something most people enjoy and crave for (Hogan, 2003). This research states about the lure of fame develops from childhood and sustains through Adulthood. Another research found similar results. It concluded that employees with greater productivity are generally more popular among co workers (Porter, and Ghiselli 2000). This research asked the respondents to choose five co worker, with whom they would have had liked to work in a group. All the groups were given some task. The result of this research showed that the groups having popular members showed more productivity. Hence, it can be concluded that popular members are those who are good and quick at what they do. Working speed is also an important aspect as far as co workers are concerned. Nobody wants to work for long hours. Long working hours cause fatigue and stress to all the people involved (Park, Kim, Chung, and Hisanaga, 2001). To avoid working long hour, employees swiftness of work is imperative. Hence, working speed of a person is important for their fellow workers. Popularity also depends on factor which can be personal or situational (Fleeson, 2004). Flessons research states that people tend to judge others based on behavior of a person during specific events. They create a perception according to the behavior of a person. It shows that behavioral aspects play a key role in making a person popular and gaining celebrity status. Lodahl and Porter (2001) conducted a research on airline workers. The research was based on the popularity of the team leaders. 55 groups were included in this research. The results showed that the groups which had popular leaders produced better results. These findings can be looked at in two ways. It can be said that the leaders are popular as they are good at what they do. Besides on the flip side it can be stated that popular leaders are able to motivate and make their sub ordinates perform better. According to one research, popularity is dependent on various factors. The research aimed to find out what makes a child popular at school. Early Family environment plays a role in developing a childs behavior. That behavior plays a role in the popularity of the child at school (Conti, Galeotti, Mueller, and Pudney, 2009). Another research intended to find out the reasons of people communicating with each other in office. It said that people who communicate in turn influence the behavi or of each other (Anderson and Martin 1995). Popularity at work and Job satisfaction Office popularity plays a role in job satisfaction. Zelst (2001) found that employees, who feel that they are high on interpersonal popularity, are able to perform better on job. This research also gave reasons of the claim. A person who is popular is likely to feel greater job satisfaction. Besides he or she considers the working environment to be worker friendly. Another positive and important factor for a popular employee is that the relationship with co workers is extremely pleasant. This includes the relationship with upper management. In essence it means that the communication channels with top management are open for that employee. The last finding of this research was that a popular employee feels that the company thinks for welfare of employees. So, clearly a popular employee benefits the company as he or she is more likely to stay loyal. A research states that an employee with a positive outlook is more likely to be popular among his co worker than an employee who has a neg ative outlook towards life. A positive employee is more likely to mingle around with his fellow staff and gain fame. Adverse effect of Popularity However, being popular has some drawbacks as well. One research finds show that people who are popular are more likely to face bullying at work. The reason stated is that as everybody likes them, so some people find a reason to hate or be jealous of them. This makes popular people vulnerable to bullying (Tariq, and Ali, 2011). This research shows that Fame and popularity can be a double edged sword sometimes. Appearance and Popularity A research concluded that good looks are a major advantage for people. People tend to make a positive impression and perception for co workers who are well maintained (Langlois, Kalakanis, Rubenstein, Larson, Hallam, and Smoot, 2000). The research concluded that such people are more likely to get positive response from their co workers. Being physically attractive would include dressing well. This was a general research. Other researches have questioned the relationship between popularity at work place and being attractive. Some early researches had shown that once a person is well aware of the mental abilities of somebody, physical attractiveness become secondary (Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani, and Longo, 2001). However, later researches such as Hosoda, Romero, and Coats, (2003) have proved that the phenomena of physical attraction hold its affect irrespective of the abilities of a person. Celebrities have to do a lot of stuff to be able to maintain their image, especially in their dres sing. So to become an office celebrity, an employee should focus on dressing as well. Another research proved that perception is influenced by wearing good cloths. A research was conducted which measured the 10 qualities. This research was conducted on teachers. The test scaled the teachers on awareness, professionalism, integrity, dependability, intellect, trustworthiness, efficiency and hard work. These teachers were graded then by their principal on the above mentioned attributes. The results showed that those teachers who did professional dressing at work got the most positive results. The principal considered them as dependable, reliable and with high self esteem (Kenner, Underwood, McClune, and Stephen, 2001). This shows that dressing plays a significant role in developing a positive perception among co workers and top level management. So to become a celebrity at work, dressing sense is imperative. This point is important as the new generation doesnt consider professional clothing as important. The new generation has been brought up wearing t-shirts, and jeans (Dickerson, 2003). So, their reluctance is understandable. However many professionals still consider it unacceptable. A research concludes that many companies are worried about this trend in their employees. Often managers feel upset about their employees dressing and take it as a lack of respect towards the job (Oleck 2001). So, to gain popularity and acceptance of the top level management it is important to dress carefully. Some researchers have pointed to that fact causal dressing in offices has been slowly promoted by some market players (Lilly, 2003). However, on the flip side the perception among the decision makers hasnt changed much, as many researches show that top level management still believes in the value of formal dressing. Humor is another important aspect. People who use humor are more likeable and hence they gain popularity among the staff. Such people are able to get positive attention towards them (Scott, 2007). Another research found similar results. It found that supervisors who have a good sense of humor are preferred. The supervisors who use humor to deflate awkward situation are thought of as more worker friendly (Cooper, 2002). In another research, the same researcher explained more deeply about humor at work. Cooper explains that the humor should be non hurtful and the receiver should not feel hurt by the remark. Humor can have an adverse effect on staff, if it is not well placed (Cooper, 2002). So, the celebrity status can take a dent if an employee is making jokes at the expense of others. Everything has to be used in proper manner. Humor can only be done when the person is feeling happy about his job. In this positive attitude plays a role Some researchers believe that popularity is linked to their personal nature of a human being. An extravert is more likely to gain popularity. This is because they enjoy the attention. Rewards of being popular are not in their minds. They are just being themselves (Ashton, Lee, and Paunonen, 2002). People who tend to be helpful and not argue much have a greater chance to be popular at work. Such people are considered as understanding, warm and kind. Obviously with such perception they are highly likely to be more popular than others (Scott, 2007). As stated in the research co worker support is considered a factor which helps an employee in gaining popularity. Co worker support is considered as a critical and urgent help one can give to his fellow worker at the hour of need. Often that can make a big difference in image building, hence increasing the popularity. This is a factor which cannot be neglected. Another research state, that people who are high on self esteem are generally mor e popular at work place. Self esteem typically includes how one judges himself (Daniels Leaper, 2006). So one has to work on his or her, own self esteem to become a celebrity at work. Popularity and fame has a lot to do with confidence in other words. Ethical behaviour and popularity Ethics also play a role in popularity of a person. A persons reputation as being a fair individual can be considered as a big positive point (Jones Skarlicki, 2005). Providing equal and justified treatment to all subordinates is also considered ethical. Scholars consider that there are 4 dimensions to justice. All of these factors are related to employee popularity (Colquitt, 2001). So, if an employee is favorable to few or unethical, it is highly unlikely that employee would get fame in the office. Another interesting aspect is learning about measuring popularity. Some scholars explain that that popularity can be measured by a rating system (Bukowski, Hoza, Boivin, 1993). This research also puts friendship and popularity in different spectrums. Hence, friendship and popularity cannot be measured by the same template.

The atrocities of blood diamonds

The atrocities of blood diamonds The Atrocities of Blood Diamonds The name â€Å"diamond† comes from the Greek word, â€Å"adamas†, meaning unconquerable. Suitably diamonds are the hardest natural substance known to man, it is made up of milky-white pure carbon crystals. Diamonds have always been a sign of wealth and prosperity. It is also a traditional expression of love. However, it is financing and profiting vicious political militias. People all around the world own these diamonds, and have never heard of Sierra Leone. Blood diamonds, also called â€Å"conflict diamonds,† are diamonds that are illegally mined and traded by rebel groups to fund militias that are against governments. To fully understand the eminence of these gems, and ultimately realize their role in violence, its important to know where they come from. Blood diamonds are mainly associated with the African countries of Angola, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. These precious stones have been around for a century or so, but it wasnt until it financed both civil wars in Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s, that international attention was drawn to the horrors of these diamonds. Ever since then diamond-connected violence in Africa has been systemic and massive. (Gale) Due to human right abuses, child labor, fueled violence, and environmental destruction of blood diamonds, the government should fully enforce the prevention of trading conflict diamonds within the diamond industry.   After the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975, Angolas civil war raged for nearly thirty years. (GALE) The opposing divisions made an agreement to cease-fire, and held a multiparty election. Well-known rebel leader Jonas Savimbi ran for presidency, but was defeated. Believing that the election was unfair, he took his rebel group, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and took control of two-thirds of Angola, including majority of its diamond mines. With the diamonds, he funded the guerrilla warfare. UNITAs diamonds were smuggled out of Angola through the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Campell 4) Sierra Leone is a small nation on the West African coast with a population of over four million people. It used to be a leading country with strong academic and artistic achievement, and entrepreneurial abilities. However, with a great decline, it is now the worst place to live in the world, and it continues to get worse. The country is terrorized by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who is motivated by two factors: 1. Government failure to attend to the needs of the citizens; and 2. Conflicting ideas about who should control the states mineral resources. (Banant) Initially RUF claimed to fight a corrupt administration, however the rebels quickly realized that the most effective route to power lay in Sierra Leones diamond mines. Foday Sankoh, a former corporal of the Sierra Leone army, leads the RUF. He was imprisoned for seven years for being part of the coup attempt against Siaka Stevens. (Meredith 107) By 1994 the RUF had control of massive parts of Sierra Leone and its mines. They smuggled the diamonds into their neighbor, Liberia. From there is sold into the world market. In 2007, Zimbabwe emerged as a hotspot for large-scale diamond smuggling. The countrys diamonds surfaced in South Africa, where it was reported as legitimate diamonds and was exported around the world. However the Zimbabwe government vigorously denied these charges. In the past two years with further evidence of corruption, the violence in the nations diamond fields continues to spur international concern. Human Rights Watch conducted studies that show that police officers in Zimbabwes fields to end the illicit diamond smuggling were actually responsible for the killing of artisan miners and locals. In October 2008, under the control of President Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe military killed over 200 people to take over the Marange diamond fields. Today De Beers a London based company, controls over two-thirds of the worlds diamonds. This company became involved with the diamonds from Africa right after their discovery. Rhodes, the creator of De Beers envisioned controlling the whole diamond market. He was able to complete his monopolistic goals by 1880. With the formation of the London Diamond Syndicated, Rhodes was able to match supply with demand. It provided him important information about the diamond market allowing him to create an artificially controlled supply of diamonds. In return, the merchants were guaranteed certain amount of diamond supply from Rhodes mines. (Johnson) The rebels have committed nefarious crimes against humanity. The RUF uses a brutal tactic as a tool to terrorize the civilian population into submission and break-apart families and communities. People are abducted, men are captured to work in the mines, boys are recruited into gangs, and women and girls act as domestic sex slave to the fighters. The war from 1991-1999 has claimed over 75,000 lives, caused   500,000 Sierra Leoneans to become refugees. (Johnson)   Nearly 80% of the Sierra Leones population of 5 million people have been displaced. ( Campbell) According to research done by â€Å"Physicians for Human Rights†, nearly every village in Sierra Leone under the rule of RUF has been profoundly impacted by the tumult. Rape of women and girls was widespread and vicious during the conflict in the 1990s, and is reportedly continuing to this day. Out of twenty women interviewed, twelve were raped. The rebels had beaten them to cause disorientation and to break their resistance. (Bell) Those lucky enough to escape from the rebels or who was release from some reason, suffer from various consequences. Sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AID are rampant in this commonality. Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and alienation from their communities, scar the lives of these victims. A high percentage of the survivors are pregnant or are single mothers of â€Å"rebel babies†, a constant reminder of their horrible suffering. (Johnson) They face bleak futures without the medical attentions and humanitarian assistance that they need. Mutilation of men, women and children is a fun game for the rebels. Teams are dedicated to capture and mutate citizens. Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1996 pleaded for his countrymen to â€Å"join hands† for peace. As a response the RUF dismembered their victims by cutting of their hands and dumped the parts on the steps of the presidential palace. (Campbell XV) Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res (MSF) was created there, a camp for amputees and war wounded. (Meredith 116) Sankoh forcibly recruited combatants from the children who were abducted during village raids. They went through indoctrination with dugs and training to kill. In many cases they were forced to kill their own families. Girls were forced to become soldiers wives (Meredith 563) Child soldiers was a key part of the Sierra Leone conflict. Half of the RUF were 8-14 years old. (114) The Rarry Boys were thousands of unemployed youths who roamed the town of Freetown. They had a horrible lifestyle full of gambling, drugs, theft, and anger. (117) Martin Meredith a historian on the topic of blood diamonds said this famous quote, â€Å"Joining a militia group is both meal ticket and substitute education. The pay may be derisory, but weapon training pays quicker dividends than school ever did. Soon the AK47 brings food, money, a warm math, and instant adult respect.† Young men join these combat groups to substitute for their lost family and friends. Child combatants are often considered id eal recruits by armed groups because they are relatively easy to manipulate, unlikely to question the groups motives, and arouse little suspicion, according to the advocacy group Refugees International. Children because by the very nature of their immaturity are often induced to commite some of the wars greatest atrocities. (Atwood NP) Majority of the diamonds are harvested using the exploit of children and communities as labor force. The workers are subject to brutality and degrading working conditions, and quite often death. The few that mine voluntarily get a very small income, the unlivable wage is way below the extreme poverty line. Small-scale miners are estimated to produce 20-25% of the minerals worldwide. This type of mining is usually illegal considering that is under extreme dangerous and unhealthy conditions. There is no safety equipment or proper tools allowed for the workers. The miners are deprived of basic needs and there is a lack of sanitation. The mortality rate of child and young adult has vastly increased. Children are considered as cheap labor and can do dangerous tasks that adults cant do. They are often sent into small mines that are too small for adults. They are given dangerous and physically challenging jobs. Everyday they risk their lives to landslides as weak ropes only protect them. A recent study in Angola found that 46% of miners are under the age of 16 because of war and poverty. These children suffer many consequence, and work until they are replaced, often by children younger than themselves. In March 2003, UN reported that child labor in the diamond mines needed great support. (Roberts NP) With the end of civil war in Angola, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe, the nations should have continued to greater economic development. Years of peace had almost doubled the diamond production in Angola while the annual diamond financial contributions to government tripled. The communities near the mining sites in Angola struggles to survive with little government spending. A report from Partnership Africa Canada in 2007 reported that there was no public schools, water supply systems, or health clinics. Road were ruined and agriculture did not exist. In Congo, half of their foreign exchange earning are from the export of diamonds, however from the 700,00 people that mine, the majority of them are unregistered. President Siaka Stevens turned the diamond industry into his personal preserve in the 1970s. He had a whole system with Lebanese dealers and local traders. In 1994 the RUF overran bauxite and titanium mines, cutting the government from its last reliable source of income. Sankoh had control of a large part of the diamond fields. (Meredith 565) The RUF has profited about $25-125 million per year by delivering the stones into the worlds diamond market. (Campbell XXII) The mines in Africa produced about $300 million per year. But because the diamond fields were in the hand of private entrepreneurs who smuggle it out of the country, the government makes only a small income. Diamond mining has wreaked environmental havoc throughout African countries and around the world. There is a lack of control and regulations of the mining system that the environment is neglected. The landscape has completely altered because the pits dug have not been refilled once mining in that area is over. Topsoil is not preserved which is needed to re-deposite on reclaimed land so that vegetation can be planted. (The Environmental Literacy Council) The diamond mining also relates to energy uses, which emissions contribute to global climate change. With the ninety years of environmental damage in Angola, large tracts of land have been devastated. The local water is poisoned and indigenous populations are forced to relocate. Abandon mining pits are full of water that is mosquito infested. The pits are left opened and unmanaged to runoff into rivers and streams. The UN Security Council has established the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) consisting of 17,500 peacekeeping troops, notably without any U.S troop involvement. When RUF leader Sankoh was arrested, he was replaced with Issa Sesay. The RUF made efforts of demoblization in May 2001 by releasing hundreds of abducted children. However RUF broke apart and on November 2002 cease-fire was signed. UNAMSIL was deployed and in January 2002, the war was declared over. (Meredith 114)   The UN Security Council on July 2000, voted to impose a ban on diamonds from Sierra Leone, the same as that of Angola the previous year. And in 2001, diamond exports from Liberia was imposed sanction from the Council. Finally after public outcry, the Kimberley Process was created in 2003 to address the problem of the blood diamonds funding violent civil wars. The Kimberley Process is an international certification system that has established standards for countries to pledge the yield of importation and exportation of these diamonds. It included representatives of seventy-one of the worlds dominant diamond producing countries. (Roberts NP) This system tracks the route of a diamond, from the mine all the way to the retail shop; attempting to avoid the trade these tainted diamonds. With this new precaution, the quantity of blood diamonds in the market lowered to 1% in 2007. However despite the Kimberley Process, conflict areas such as Cà ´te dIvoire continue to use diamonds to fund vi olence. The Kimberley Process hasnt been successful in overseeing human rights abuses. Currently it still ignores cutting and polishing centers as an entranceway for blood diamonds to enter the general circulation of diamonds into the market. (NP) According to Global Witness a humans rights group, inadequate government regulations over factories enable illicit diamonds to slide into legitimate channels of trade. Global Witness, who had lobbied for the establishment of the Kimberley Process, admitted that the system was not sufficed.   Many others also question the effectiveness of these protocols. According to Amnesty International, â€Å"government controls in the United States and in other countries are not strong enough or enforced effectively to stop rebel groups from exploiting diamonds to fuel conflict.† (Nyathi NP) In June 2009, Namibia hosted a conference of officials of the diamond producing countries to review the Kimberly Process. In mid 2009, the Kimberley Process ordered a review mission Zimbabwe. This investigation affirmed that Zimbabwe was executing non-compliance with the Kimberley Process standards. (Dugger NP) It was recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended from the scheme to prevent Zimbabwe from legally exporting blood diamonds. Despite the fact, Zimbabwe has not been suspended from the faction and its diamonds still continue to sneak into the worlds supply of diamonds. In August 2009, the Kimberly Process conducted a mission to Angola, the latest one being in 2005. (NP) Investigators discovered many accounts of rape and brutality against miners from nearby countries.   Human right groups uncovered that many violations especially to many immigrants. (NP) These conditions demonstrate that the Kimberly Process is inadequate and isnt doing its job to prevent the abuses in the international diamond trade, as well as cooperation from the governments to stamp out diamond-related violence. In 1998 sanctions were put in place to ban the trade of Angolan diamonds. However it has since been lifted and small scale miners continue to work inhuman circumstances under the control of private security firms who are hired by large diamond trading companies. Rafael Marques, an Angolan journalist documented the cases of torture, sexual abuses, and assassinations on just one mining site in Lundas. Amnesty International reports extreme rights violations by soldiers and police in the diamond mines. The United States is currently working on the legislation for the Clean Diamond Act to eliminate the conflict diamonds from its markets. This act bans any diamonds that come from an unknown origin. However the main reason why there is still a problem is because of the structure of the diamond industry. De Beers still control majority of the market and they dont have incentive to regard this issue of these stones, because blood diamonds are such a small portion of the worldwide diamond sales. As illustrated above with the atrocities that have occurred in Sierra Leone and other African countries, it is obvious that action still needs to be immediately taken to once and for all eliminate the stones causing all these deaths and destructions.   Chairman of the Sierra Leone Panel of Experts, Martin Chungong Ayafor said, â€Å"Diamonds are forever† it is often said. But lives are not. We must spare people the ordeal of war, mutilations, and death for the sake of conflict diamonds.à ¢â‚¬  Dramatic solutions need to be made now in order to stop this worldly trend. Ways to fully stop blood diamonds in its tract is to have a well-structured certificate of origin regime to ensure that only legitimate diamonds are being traded. There needs to be additional controls by Member States and the industry to guarantee that the regime is enforced. Including with the standardization of the certificated would be monitoring of the regime and legislations against those who fail to adopt. There needs to be a combined effort from the government, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, arms manufacturers, diamond traders, and diamond customers. They need to demand a strict enforcement of sanctions, and to encourage real lasting peace. By no longer purchasing these gems, it would be cutting off sources of funding for the rebel groups and eventually ending the cycle and promoting lasting harmony.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Essay -- Medical Health Medicine Essays

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is an insidiously developing, adult-onset, progressive anterior horn cell degeneration with associated degeneration of descending motor pathways. Despite increasing clinical and research interest, its cause remains obscure. Although many theories as to its cause have been proposed, no intervention has yet been shown to modify biologically determined motor system degeneration. There is no clear cut neuropathological diagnosis for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Instead, clinicians must rely on both the topographic distribution of the neuronal loss and the finding of some characteristic cytological changes. The precise pattern of these changes, however, varies to some extent, depending on whether the disease is of the classical sporadic type, one of the less common familial types, or the Chamorro form in Guam (1). The primary feature of ALS is anterior horn neuronal cell degeneration and loss. The pathologic features of this process include shrinkage and pyknosis of the large spinal motor neurons (with consequent prominence of lipofuscin), the presence of ghost cells, neuronophagia, and gliosis (2). There is a massive loss of Betz cells and other pyramidal cells from the precentral cortex. Along with the loss of cortical cells, the corticospinal tracts are preferentially depleted of large myelinated fibers (3). Corticospinal tract involvement is most readily observed in the anterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord, particularly caudally. Degeneration of the spinocerebellar tracts may be seen. The posterior columns are affected (but not always) as well (4). Cell loss can be difficult to judge in the brainstem nuclei. Associated findings such as i... ...lerosis. Neurology, 1987; 37:529-532. 4. Williams, D. B., Windebank, A. J. Motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Mayo Clin. Proc., 1991; 66(1): 54-92. 5. Swash, M., Schwartz. Staging motor neurone disease: single fiber EMG studies of asymmetry, progression and compensatory reinnervation. In Research Progress in Motor Neurone Disease, 1984; 123-140. 6. Hirano, A., et. al. Fine structural observations of neurofilamentous changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 1984; 43:461-470. 7. Kurland, L. T., Mulder, D. W. Epidemiologic investigations of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurology, 1989; 5:182-196. 8. Barron, K. D., Rodichok, L. D. Cancer and disorders of motor neurons. Adv. Neurol., 1982; 36:267-272. 9. Kurtzke, J. F. Risk factors in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Adv. Neurol., 1991; 56:245-70.

Primitivism - A Tribal Religion :: Religion

Primitivism - A Tribal Religion "We regard them as the sons and daughters of the earth and sky, brothers and sisters of animals and plants, who live by nature’s ways and do not upset the delicate balances of their ecological zones; gentle hunting folk who are still in touch with the magic and myth that we ourselves so badly need" (Smith, 381). This quote from Huston Smith summarizes the Primitivism essence of its nature. Primitivism is an ancient religion, sometimes referred to as a tribal religion because groupings of its people were small in numbers. This religion continues today in parts of Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Siberia, and Indians of North and South America. Primitivism is an oral religion, very few things were written down. Most of the writing was in the form of drawings and art. Being an exclusively oral society, the orality protected the memory of its practitioners making it possible to remember countless tales and stories to pass on to the next generation. The orality also enabled the capacity to sense the sacred through nonverbal channels. Tribal religions are deep-rooted in place as opposed to space. Space is abstract, but place is concrete. For example, a square foot in Florida is the same as a square foot in China; however Florida and China are two very different places. The idea being: you are the rock, you are the tree, you are the river, you are the grass, etc†¦ The analogy in â€Å"The World’s Religions† of the first Onondagan to enter college is a wonderful example. Oren Lyons returned to his reservation on his first break from college and went fishing with his uncle. His uncle started to question him, â€Å"Who are you?† Oren answered in many ways, â€Å"I am your nephew†, â€Å"I am an Onondagen†, â€Å"I am a human† and no answer satisfied his uncle. His uncle replied to him, â€Å"Do you see that bluff over there? Oren you are that bluff. And that giant pine on the other shore? Oren, you are that pine. And this water that supports our boat? You are this water. † (Smith, 371). Another essential part of Primitivism is the presence of eternal time. Tribal people look toward the future as opposed to the past. Primal time is one that is hard for most people to comprehend, because it is not linear, but is temporal, an eternal now. Its focus is more of a casual sequence rather than a chronological one.

Lemurs of Madagascar

Lemurs of Madagascar Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Lemurs of Madagascar 1. Madagascar biome is a tropical rain forest. The main characteristic of a tropical rain forest biome is the presence of Warm temperatures throughout the year. In a tropical rain forest biome, there are three layers. These layers include the top trees, followed by the canopy layer characterized by dens leaves hence low light penetration and the third layer are the ground layer. The ground layer lacks any vegetation owing to the low amount of sunlight reaching it due to the dense canopy layer. 2. Changes happening in Madagascar pose challenges to lemurs in the island.The main changes that affect the lemurs include the effects of agricultural activities on the environment. Forestland conversion for agricultural use including the creation of pastureland, cropland, and degradation of the soil due to fire and clearing by humans is the agricultural changes on Madagascar. Soil erosion caused by slash-and-burn farming also forms the other changes in Madagascar that brings forth challenges to lemurs. As a conclusion, high deforestation rate and increased human population and erosion form the main changes that challenge the existence of lemurs in Madagascar. 3.The lemurs that are adapting well with the changes in Madagascar are the ones with the ability to live in an altered habitat. (This is a habitat with secondary characteristics owing to human activities in the island). These include the ring-tailed lemur lemma catta and sifakas, but between the two, the ring-tailed lemma catta is adapting better to changes in the ecosystem. The fossil lemurs’ disappearance in the island was due to inability to adapt well to the changes. The other types of lemurs that have disappeared due to change in the habitat include Palaeopropithecus, Daubentonia robusta, Archaeiindris fontoynonti and Megaladapis edwardsi. . A generalist behavioral type is required of the lemurs in Madagascar to be able to cope with the change s in the island for their adaptation and survival. The species favored in this criterion are sifakas and lemur catta, which are adapting well to the changes. Other behavioral characteristics required include being terrestrial for them to adapt well with the changes as depicted by the lemur catta. Physical characteristics that improve adaptation to the changes include ability to take advantage of changes by feeding on crops, tourist handouts, insects, flowers, and fruits. . Lemurs might not develop to adapt to changes in Madagascar because they lived on trees and the deforestation affects their form of livelihood. The reduction in the soil’s ability to support the vegetation that forms the main food for the lemurs is another reason owing to the high rates of soil erosion and degradation. Similarly, human actions in the highland affect their ability to adapt with the changes hence another reason for the inability to adapt to changes in the habitat. 6. The water cycle is the biochemical cycle that may be altered by activities in Madagascar.An alteration on the water cycle takes the following pattern owing to the activities in mainly deforestation and soil erosion and degradation. Cutting of rain forests results in low moisture transpiration to the atmosphere. The result is a reduction in the cloud cover, diminished precipitation, and lead to drought in the area. The replacement of the forests requires water hence an impossible occurrence when there is drought in the area. Reference â€Å"Lemurs in Madagascar: Surviving on an Island of Change. † Films Media Group, 2006. Films On Demand.