Analysis Of Kwok And Tadesse s Regulatory Pressure Effect

Kwok and Tadesse suggest the regulatory pressure effect, demonstration effect, and the professionalization effect. Corruption exists in local governments in less developed countries across the globe, a circumstance that is extremely difficult to prevent. Since it is normal business practice for local businesses to engage in corrupt activity, it is difficult for them to refrain from doing so, since it is common practice. Most MNCs are unwilling to accept bribes in order for host countries to attain an advantage. For the sake of making things easier, let us focus on MNCs from the United States. Host institutions looking for business partners in the United States are presented a dilemma. Either they continue to divulge in corrupt practices in their local government, or they strive for internal legitimacy since these MNCs are likely to have adopted norms and practices that outlaw the use of corruption and bribery from their affiliates. This can be attributed to the observance of acts suc h as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. The act outlaws US firms from coercing a host country’s government to enter into a business advantage through the use of materialistic items, such as money. Violating this act can be costly for individuals and firms alike. To add in 1997, 33 countries had signed the Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. There is an agenda to combatting corrupt practices in global business. Regulatory

Analysis Of The Niger Delta And Its Past Struggles With...

Case Summary What has occurred in the Niger Delta is linked to its past struggles with military rule transitioning to democratic rule, which often ends in a military regime taking control nonetheless. From the start of its independence, Nigeria has slowly grown in its dependence on oil as it’s main economic revenue stream. Before the discovery of oil, the state had yam and cassava crops, palm oil, rubber, and lumbers that provided economic revenue, though modest (Jike, V.T. 2004). However once oil was found in 1956 and Independence in 1960, Nigeria has not only relinquished vast tracts of land to International Oil Companies (IOC) such as Royal Dutch Shell (later named Shell Petroleum Development Company), ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, and ENI, but it has left the companies to conduct their extraction methods as they see fit (Imobighe, T. A. (n.d.); Kadafa, A.A. 2012). In 2006, the Oil Spill Intelligence Report stated, â€Å"Shell Nigeria is accused of using double standardsâ₠¬ , referring to the outdated equipment and unethical methods Shell practices. The Niger Delta has experienced 50 years of oil spills since the beginning of oil production due to oil pipelines that are no longer in use leaking up to $10 million worth of oil a day as reported by Shell. Shell has thus been accused of using outdated and old equipment in the Delta they know they wouldn’t dare use in the other countries they operate in. A New York Times article from September in 2013 wrote the eye-catching headline,Show MoreRelatedThe Niger Delta Struggles: Its Implications for Resource Control.17990 Words   |  72 PagesTOPIC: THE NIGER DELTA STRUGGLES: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RESOURCE CONTROL. A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY The Niger Delta region, Nigeria s oil belt has been the site of a generalized ethnic and regional struggle for self-determination since 1998, the location of often-violent confrontations between local ethnic communities and agents of the Nigerian state and oil companies involved in the extraction and exploitation of oil in the area. What began as community agitationRead MoreSocio-Economic and Demographic Features of Kidnapping in Nigeria: an Analytical Study5842 Words   |  24 Pagesbetween 2005 and 2011. The focus of the study was to determine socio-economic and demographic features of kidnapping in Nigeria. Content analysis was adopted for the study as well as use of frequency tables for analysis of data. Anomie theory of crime based on Robert K. Merton’s analysis of Durkheim’s theory provided our theoretical frame work in this analysis. The study argued that a plethora of factors have been implicated as the causes of kidnapping in Nigeria. This paper recommends th at someRead MoreSocio-Economic and Political Dimensions of Conflict4145 Words   |  17 Pagesinstruments and institutions on the conception and escalation of conflicts. However, to achieve an efficient, lucid and effective analysis, the major variables in the topic of discussion (i.e. conflict, socio-economic and political dimensions of conflicts) are briefly conceptualized below. 1.2 CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS 1. CONFLICT: Simply put, conflict is the struggle for agency or power in society, which occurs when two or more actors oppose each other in social interaction, reciprocally exertingRead MoreRural Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria10400 Words   |  42 Pagesun-implement able because of selfish interest on the part of government officials. So also is local power structure and lack inbuilt programme monitoring mechanism. All this accounted for rural poverty. RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION: Past   governments   have   engaged   in   the   past   time   of   glorifying   poverty   alleviation   on   the   pages   of   newspapers   and   news   conferences   but   have   failed   to   deliver.   The  earliest  poverty  alleviation  programmes  were  the  1972  Gen.   Yakubu   Gowons   National   Accelerated  Read MoreThe Stable Nation of Nigeria Essay3456 Words   |  14 PagesThe Stable Nation of Nigeria As most governments do struggle when changing over into a new form of government, with hope to better its people, Nigeria is no exception. After 16 years of military dictatorship, three republics, many riots and protests, and about seven coups and/or overthrows, the new Federal Republic of Nigeria adopted a new constitution in 1999, and held honest, fair civilian elections (for the first time in almost two decades) to hopefully ease all of the religious, culturalRead MoreArgumentative Essay on Women Are Better Leaders Than Men4639 Words   |  19 Pagesduring the years immediately after independence and into the oil boom years. However, in the 1980s the economy was in a recession. The on-going economic reform programme is an attempt to put the economy on a recovery path with minimal inflation. The analysis that follows tries to discuss the developments in the economy for different periods.  POLITICAL PARTY FOR NIGERIA ECONOMY. | In a multi-party democracy, political parties are the vehicles for acquiring power, and for governance and development. ForRead MoreImplication of Oil and Gas Investment in Ghana15418 Words   |  62 Pages3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Broad Aim: The broad aim of the study is to: To assess the implications and importance of oil and gas investment in Ghana. The specific objectives to be achieved are to: †¢ Undertake a comprehensive review and analysis of the oil and gas situation in Ghana. †¢ Analyze Ghana’s most recent oil and gas performance and highlight the specific challenges and constraints. †¢ To ensure transparency in oil and gas exploitation and resource wealth management in GhanaRead MoreConceptual and Theoretical Understanding of Corruption in Nigeria5316 Words   |  22 Pagesscholars were enshrined. The paper allies with the view of scholars that poverty and the deterioration of our values and norms are some of the remote causes of corruption in Nigeria. In the cause of synthesizing views and concepts of scholars, content analysis was also utilised. In order to improve the system, the paper made some salient recommendation; (a) a national socio-cultural re-orientation, introduction of a workable economic policies and programmes of action gear toward alleviating poverty and;Read MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesE SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and CultureRead MorePrimary Sector of Economy17717 Words   |  71 PagesEuropes share of 23.3% at that time, to as low as 3.8% in 1952. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, the brightest jewel in the British Crown was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income. — Manmohan Singh[31] Company rule in India brought a major change in the taxation and agricultural policies, which tended to promote commercialisation of agriculture with a focus on trade, resulting in decreased production of food crops, mass impoverishment and destitution of farmers

Racial Patterns in Dating and Marrige Free Essays

Hope A. Shelby Shelby 1 Soc 290 Professor Doyle 5 November 2012 Racial patterns in Dating and Marriage Just four decades ago On June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated a then United states Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to be the first African American named to U. S. We will write a custom essay sample on Racial Patterns in Dating and Marrige or any similar topic only for you Order Now Supreme Court. Although, a mere months earlier Thurgood suffered an indignity that today seems not just outrageous but almost incomprehensible. He and his wife had found their dream house in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D. C. but could not lawfully live together in that state: he was black and she was East Asian. Fortunately for the Marshall’s, in January 1967 the Supreme Court struck down the anti-interracial-marriage laws in Virginia and 18 other states. And by the end of 1967 these laws were just leftover scraps from an extinct era. While this topic sits extremely close to home because, I myself, have married outside of my race. Together for 10 years, and married for a year we have seen leaps and bounds in just the last decade of what has progressed with racial patterns in dating and marriage. Although times have drastically changed in the past 4 decades from when Thurgood was dealing with his personal struggle, we still see a lot of work a head of use separating all racial and cultural stereotypes that surround dating and marriage. We can currently see that Interracial marriages in the U. S. Is still quite rare. Shelby 2 For example, data from the 5% sample of the 2000 Census reveal that among married African Americans, 94% are married to other African Americans (â€Å"Census Bureau 2000†). Members of other races I found are also unlikely to marry outside of their own group. How to cite Racial Patterns in Dating and Marrige, Papers

Self-Reflection Statement

Question: Discuss about theSelf-Reflection Statement. Answer: Introduction The experience of working in a team is different from that of working in isolation. I learnt this when I engaged in working in a specific group to create and market a product of our organization. I learnt a lot about coordinating activities and assigning task to members according to their level of expertise. I found that working in group was much easier than working in isolation if one know the approach to deal with the team. It minimizes the effort required in the task for each individual and also leads to a fun-filled work environment. Each team is guided by a leader who directs the task and clearly states the purpose of being in a team to all members. We also begin in the same way and during the first interactive meeting the team and our leader, we interacted with each other and our team leaders stated to us the task that we needed to perform. Our company comes up with new products very often and we were assigned the task of preparing an innovative way to promote the product in the market. Hence, I realized that we all had to contribute in the task and suggest innovative ways to promote the product in the market. In our next meeting, we all had to suggest innovative ways to present the product and come to a consensus of one effective marketing method The issues came in the next meeting when we realized that the team was new and there was lack of coordination between members leading to chaotic situation. However, we were lucky to have an experienced leader who had the expertise to deal with such issues in the team. He was not at all impulsive and he supported everyone impartially. He helped in creating a positive ambience at the work place and encouraged team members to help each other. He asserted many times that our goal is the same and we should analyze the impact of any activity on the team and reputation of the organization. Hence, he had the skills to extract the best out of the team as he was able to identify the weakness and strength of each team members. Therefore, the nature of the leaders along with the shared vision and collaborative nature of team members helped us to achieve the task very soon and our Company was also overwhelmed by our innovative marketing strategy which impressed them a lot. This experience helped me realize the importance of team and I got to about ways to manage a team. Team work helped in getting better output from employees and also building good working relationship with team members. Team work is better from the organization perspective too as members in the team are always ready to manage work in the absence of other team members and hence the productivity of organization is never compromised in team work (Torrente et al., 2012). Effective team management skills like motivating employee, encouraging conflicts and many other skills ensure the success of the team (Bak et al., 2013). Reference Bak, C. A., Vogt, L. H., George, W. R., Greentree, I. R. (2013). Management by team.Logistics Information Management Torrente, P., Salanova, M., Llorens, S., Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Teams make it work: How team work engagement mediates between social resources and performance in teams.Psicothema,24(1), 106-112.

Archetype vs. Prototype

Archetype vs. Prototype Archetype vs. Prototype Archetype vs. Prototype By Mark Nichol What’s your type? Archetype and prototype are both suitable matches for referring to an exemplar and then there’s stereotype but among their senses are both similar and dissimilar meanings. Before we go into details, let’s look at the root word: Type (from the Latin term typus, â€Å"image,† ultimately derived from the Greek word typos, â€Å"impression†) is defined as â€Å"a model,† â€Å"a distinctive sign,† â€Å"a set of distinguishable qualities.† Idiomatic usage for the word includes â€Å"type A personality† (indicating a high-strung person, based on popular perception of a discredited psychological theory), â€Å"casting against type† (referring to when performers are selected for roles they don’t superficially seem suited for), and â€Å"not my type† (dismissal of another person because of personal incompatibility). In two senses, archetype and prototype are direct synonyms: They both mean â€Å"original pattern or model,† or â€Å"perfect example.† However, archetype (Latin, archetypum; Greek, arkhetypon), which literally means â€Å"first model,† also refers to C. J. Jung’s concept of an idea or image from the collective subconscious; it has a more intellectual connotation. The prefix arch- denotes the most accomplished or high ranking of a type (archrival, archvillain), as does the suffix -arch (patriarch, hierarch); -archy is the basis for terms describing a system of government (monarchy) or an organizational scheme (hierarchy). Interestingly, because the prefix was so often employed, as in the examples above, to describe a nefarious person, arch acquired an adjectival sense of â€Å"mischievous, impudent.† (The arch in, well, arch, referring to a structural member, has a different etymology and is akin to arc.) Prototype has the same literal meaning, but its primary sense is more utilitarian, referring to a standard configuration, the initial model of a constructed object, or an earlier version of an organism or a device. The proto- prefix is relatively obscure, occurring mostly in scientific terminology (protoplasm, â€Å"beginning molding,† and protozoa, â€Å"beginning animal,† are examples of its use most familiar to laypeople); the root word, as an integral part of a larger term rather than as a suffix, appears in protocol (from a Greek term meaning â€Å"first sheet,† referring to a code or convention dictating proper procedure). Stereotype means â€Å"something that matches a fixed or universal pattern,† but unlike the other terms, it usually has a negative connotation: It refers to an idea, carelessly formed based on ignorance or bigotry, that one class of people generally understands to be, well, typical of another class. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should Know10 Techniques for More Precise WritingEmpathic or Empathetic?

Free Essays on My Accident

March 24, 1994 is a day that I will never forget. I had stopped at the 82nd Street Cafà © about 3:30 in the afternoon, here in Lubbock, to have a late lunch. I left the cafà © about 4:00, to head home. Leaving the parking lot was difficult due to all the traffic that was on 82nd street. Finally, I was able to pull out into 82nd and work my way into the turning lane in order to turn left. I had almost my entire car into the turning lane when suddenly my car had spun around and I was facing the cafà © that I had just left. Not knowing at first what had happened, I finally realized that I had been in an accident. A tall, slender, young man appeared, and said, â€Å"I have called the ambulance and they are on the way.† I realized that this was the young man that had just waited on me in the cafà ©. A woman came from a barber shop across the street came to see if I was okay. The women was middle aged and had light brown hair, she was very motherly and soft spoken. She asked, â€Å"Are you alright?† I was not sure if I was alright but I said to her, â€Å"My head hurts a little.† She told me that she would go and get a cool wet towel, and for me not to move. The lady returned, she had brought me a wet towel and also a phone. She asked, â€Å"Do you need me to call someone for you to let them know what had happened?† I replied, â€Å"Would you please call my dad and let him know to meet me at UMC hospital.† As she was calling my dad the ambulance finally arrived. It seemed to have taken them a long time to get through the traffic. As one of the EMTs approached me, he noticed that I was holding a towel to my head. When he reached my car he asked if I hurt anywhere else besides my head. I told him not that I know of. I also explained to him that I was eleven weeks pregnant. The EMT was very polite and understanding, and I was placed on a gurney and wheeled to the ambulance. I noticed that they had placed another woman in the ambulance before me... Free Essays on My Accident Free Essays on My Accident March 24, 1994 is a day that I will never forget. I had stopped at the 82nd Street Cafà © about 3:30 in the afternoon, here in Lubbock, to have a late lunch. I left the cafà © about 4:00, to head home. Leaving the parking lot was difficult due to all the traffic that was on 82nd street. Finally, I was able to pull out into 82nd and work my way into the turning lane in order to turn left. I had almost my entire car into the turning lane when suddenly my car had spun around and I was facing the cafà © that I had just left. Not knowing at first what had happened, I finally realized that I had been in an accident. A tall, slender, young man appeared, and said, â€Å"I have called the ambulance and they are on the way.† I realized that this was the young man that had just waited on me in the cafà ©. A woman came from a barber shop across the street came to see if I was okay. The women was middle aged and had light brown hair, she was very motherly and soft spoken. She asked, â€Å"Are you alright?† I was not sure if I was alright but I said to her, â€Å"My head hurts a little.† She told me that she would go and get a cool wet towel, and for me not to move. The lady returned, she had brought me a wet towel and also a phone. She asked, â€Å"Do you need me to call someone for you to let them know what had happened?† I replied, â€Å"Would you please call my dad and let him know to meet me at UMC hospital.† As she was calling my dad the ambulance finally arrived. It seemed to have taken them a long time to get through the traffic. As one of the EMTs approached me, he noticed that I was holding a towel to my head. When he reached my car he asked if I hurt anywhere else besides my head. I told him not that I know of. I also explained to him that I was eleven weeks pregnant. The EMT was very polite and understanding, and I was placed on a gurney and wheeled to the ambulance. I noticed that they had placed another woman in the ambulance before me...

Analysis of Strategic Leadership Qualities Needed In Modern Dissertation

Analysis of Strategic Leadership Qualities Needed In Modern Organisations - Dissertation Example So at times, the leader would have a coaching style while at other times there would be a commanding style. Kelly (2000) argues that while leaders are free to adopt styles as per the situation, however, the leader would have one dominant style that would force all interactions. Some even though a leader would shift between visionary styles or pace setting style, the leader would ultimately be following the dominant style. The gap in the literature is that the desired qualities in a leader are not apparent. The subject of strategic leadership in organisations has been discussed in a number of publications (Boal, 2000), (Crossan, 2008), (Daily, 2002). Strategic leadership is about the quality of leadership in providing a direction for a planned and strategic direction for the growth of a firm. The focus is on adopting a growth plan that has a fully reasoned and logically structured growth plan. A strategic leader would be planning the organisation activities. The leadership is predicti ve and this means that the actions taken by the organisation are planned to meet the stimulus from the market forces. The actions are not reactive in the sense that the organisation would not be pulled in all directions by the market forces. A strategic leader would play many roles, that of a friend, mentor, guide, disciple, critic, detractor and well-wisher. Crossan (2008) speaks of five features that strategic leader should demonstrate. It is assumed that a leader who manages these five qualities will have the ability to achieve the business objectives. The five lessons are creating organisation wealth, bringing in a culture of innovation, leveraging the present to focus on the future; leading teams with a vision and inspiration and relying more on personal charisma and... This essay stresses that Strategic leadership is about the quality of leadership in providing a direction for a planned and strategic direction for the growth of a firm. The focus is on adopting a growth plan that has a fully reasoned and logically structured growth plan. A strategic leader would be planning the organisation activities. The leadership is predictive and this means that the actions taken by the organisation are planned to meet the stimulus from the market forces. The actions are not reactive in the sense that the organisation would not be pulled in all directions by the market forces. A strategic leader would play many roles, that of a friend, mentor, guide, disciple, critic, detractor and well-wisher. This paper makes a conclusion that a combination of literature review and primary research will be used. For the primary research, a survey instrument will be designed and administered to top managers of medium and large organisations in UK. These leaders would be approached through the college department and the cooperation of the managers will be requested. Contact will be made by calling up personally and through emails. The replies will be assessed and the results analysed. The difficulties anticipated are that these managers would not be willing or have the time to cooperate. The author of this paper will persist in his efforts to elicit responses. Secondary research will be performed by reviewing peer reviewed Journals and books on strategic leadership.

Psychological Contracts Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Psychological Contracts Paper - Essay Example Psychological contract is a term used to refer to the mutual relationship existing between organization and its employee in terms of reciprocal obligations and promises implied in the employment relationship. It is good to understand that these contracts fall under the category of promissory contracts. On the other hand, this mutual understanding is mainly subjective to person’s perceptual and cognitive limits. This contract comes into effect the moment when the physical i.e. employment offer contract is signed. It is worth noting that obligations under psychological contract unlike the physical contract are not signed rather they are implied. These obligations are merely promises and expectations. Thus, in general terms this contract refers to the mutual perceptions, beliefs and imprecise or informal responsibilities between an employee and an employer. Psychological contracts due to them being subject to emotional and social factors they are usually changeable in nature unli ke the physical employment contracts (Makin, Cooper & Cox1996 pp 3-6). Types of Psychological Contracts There are usually three types of psychological contracts. ... Finally, we have the the â€Å"hybrid† or balanced form of psychological contract which entails aspects of the two mentioned above contracts i.e. relational characteristics such as long-term mutual committments and also the transactional attributes such as the renegotiations and job roles and functions. Nature of Psychological Contracts These contracts are assumed dynamic, informal, voluntary and subjective in nature. They change in line with the changes occurring in relationship and expectations of both the employer and employee. There is usually no tangible agreement or contract; however, the following are deemed the obligations and components of this contract; The employees are anticipated to offer hard work, loyalty and commitment, or sacrifice while in employment. The organization is required to provide high pay, advancement, training and development, and job security Features of psychological Contracts a) It is a voluntary choice: A psychological contract is entered into voluntarily by the employee, afterwhich he will be motivated/obligated to fulfill his commitments to the employers organisation. b) There usually is a belief in mutual agreement: These psychological contract are based largely on the employee perceptions and understanding of the terms and conditions. Consequently, the employee offers his/her services relying on the pressumpton that the contract was mutually agreed upon in total disregard of the reality. c) Psychological contracts are Incomplete. These contracts evolve and change over the relation and period of employment unlike the physical contracts which are usually complete at the beggining of employment. d) Multiple

Biomedical Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Biomedical Ethics - Essay Example Each person has different perspectives on what their life should be. Each person has their own sense of moral responsibility. However, most of society generally does not condone the taking of another’s life. In conclusion, I will discuss the reasons why society should also consider the effects of Euthanasia or PAS on both the patient and those requested to help out before making a response to such requests. In laymen’s terms, Euthanasia is mercy killing; that is, a person, usually a physician, lets or causes a patient to die as a sign of mercy. Euthanasia can be passive, if no act was done since death is inevitable, or active, if an act was done to cause death. It can also be voluntary or involuntary, depending on the patient’s cognitive & decision-making skills. Physician Assisted Suicide, on the other hand, is different since the patient does the act, not the physician. The latter just supplies the patient with what he needs for the deed. In all cases, there are always 2 major roles – the one who is killed & the one who does the killing. Pro-life advocates look down on euthanasia, saying it is morally wrong for a physician to kill or let people die if saving them can be done. Supporters of Euthanasia say that it would be morally wrong not to do it since it is just right to grant a person his death if he so wishes. How can we tell if an ailing person’s life needs to end? Does it suffice when the patient says he doesn’t consider his life worth living; that for him death is a better alternative to living? A key component of the debate on euthanasia is the patient’s ability for self-determination. As Callahan (2002) puts it, â€Å"the self-determination in that case can only be effected by the moral and physical assistance of another. Euthanasia is thus no longer a matter only of self-determination†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There is something morally wrong in allowing one person to decide another’s fate. It also seems immoral for a person to be that

Reflective Essay on Coping with Stress

Reflective Essay on Coping with Stress Psychology can be defined as the study of behavior as well as mind, embracing all aspects of the entire human experience. In other words, it is an applied science discipline that seeks to understand humans along with groups by ascertaining general principles as well as researching specific cases. On the other hand, psychological adjustment is the process of adapting to, coping with, as well as managing the emerging challenges of the daily life. Adjusting to your life in terms of subjective well-being, Subjective well-being is an individuals perceptions as well as self-adjustments of health and well-being (Webb Wills, 2012). It entails a persons feeling of happiness and life satisfaction. With regard to my life, I can say that I am satisfied with my subjective well-being. However, since I am a veteran, I think that the veterans administration needs to be more attentive when it comes to veterans healthcare for me to be extremely satisfied with this adjustment facet. Context on its part is the historical, social, economic, and cultural factors as well as settings that influence our lives. I am able to adjust to different contexts effectively and for that case; everything I think, say, and do is often colored by where I come from, whom I am with, and what is happening at the moment. Besides, diversity entails different cultures and ethnic settings. On this part, I am culturally competent, and therefore I can adjust well in diverse settings. Balancing Priorities Balancing my priorities, specifically with home, work, school, recreation, and / or family has to be an ongoing plan. I am a student and at the same time, set aside time for working in order to pay my bills. I also need enough time for my family alongside recreation. All this might not be possible, with the limited resources in our disposal. To that effect, I have an effective work-life balance that adequately enables me to follow my daily schedule according to plan. In this case, I ensure that I give attention to my most pressing needs and demands at home, work, school, and even recreation. Of course I give more attention to work and school since these priorities are so fundamental to my prospective economic stability. However, each day I must devote my free time to my family and for recreation activities in order to keep fit. Developing Identity I develop my identity by raising my self-esteem along with establishing a unique self-concept that enables me to stand out in different ethnic platforms.ÂÂ   In review, self-esteem is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude towards the self, whereby; it reflects an individuals subjective emotional evaluation of his/her own worth (Fennell, 2009). I have been able to develop my self-esteem effectively through constant practice. In addition, self-concept is the sense of being distinct and separate from others as well as the persistency of the self. Here, I have fully developed myself concept by having my own unique way of doing things. I always come out with thought provoking ideas that are based on my own analysis and perception of life, something that helps me develop my self-concept. Ethnicity is often rooted in cultural heritage, race, nationality, language, and religion. I often adjust to different ethnic groups by being culturally competent. Coping with Stress Stress is a reaction to a stimulus that distracts an individuals physical or mental equilibrium (Tummers, 2013). I often cope with stress by engaging in relaxing activities, or practicing calming techniques, that help to manage my stress and improve my overall coping. Besides, among my coping strategies include; being proactive, following my interests, and seeking out peer support from others that I am loved and cared for, esteemed and valued (Taylor, 2003). Improving my social skills, asking for help, and always learning from mistakes. When its all said and done, I do believe that I have a more optimistic outlook on life to a point, but not over exaggerated. References Fennell, M. J. V. (2009). Overcoming low self-esteem: A self-help guide using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques. Australia: Accessible Publishing Systems. Tummers, N. (2013). Stress management: A wellness approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Taylor, S(2003). Social psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Webb, D., Wills, H. E. (2012). Subjective well-being and security. Dordrecht: Springer.

Character Analysis of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar

Character Analysis of Blanche Through Text and Symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams was once quoted as saying "Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama...the purest language of plays" (Adler 30). This is clearly evident in A Streetcar Named Desire, one of Williams's many plays. In analyzing the main character of the story, Blanche DuBois, it is crucial to use both the literal text as well as the symbols of the story to get a complete and thorough understanding of her.    Before one can understand Blanche's character, one must understand the reason why she moved to New Orleans and joined her sister, Stella, and brother-in-law, Stanley. By analyzing the symbolism in the first scene, one can understand what prompted Blanche to move. Her appearance in the first scene "suggests a moth" (Williams 96). In literature, a moth represents the soul. So it is possible to see her entire voyage as the journey of her soul (Quirino 63). Later in the same scene she describes her voyage: "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields" (Quirino 63). Taken literally this does not seem to add much to the story. However, if one investigates Blanche's past, one can truly understand what this quotation symbolizes. Blanche left her home to join her sister, because her life was a miserable wreck in her former place of residence. She admits, at one point in the story, that "after the d eath of Allan (her husband) intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with" (Williams 178). She had sexual relations with anyone who would agree to it. This is the first step in her voyage-"Desire". She ... ...n. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Corrigan, Mary Ann. â€Å"Memory, Dream, and Myth in the Plays of Tennessee Williams.† Dialogue in American Drama. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971. Engle, Paul. "A Locomotive Named Reality," The New Republic, CXXXII (Jan. 24, 1955), 26, 27. Falk, Signi. Tennessee Williams. Grosset & Dunlap, Inc. New York, 1961. Jackson, Esther M. The Broken World of Tennessee Williams.   Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin, 1965. Quirino, Leonard. â€Å"The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire.† Modern Critical Interpretations: A Streetcar Named Desire. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1988. Vowles, Richard B. "Tennessee Williams: The World of His Imagery," Tulane Drama Review, III (Dec., 1958), 51-56. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Viking Penguin, 1976.

Why We Form Relationships

Why We Form Relationships Corbin Smith Estrella Mountain Community College There are many reasons as to why we form relationships with a person. Appearance is one of those reasons. Most people claim that a person’s personality is the main reason why we get into a relationship with them and not by the way they look which is really not true. There has to be some type of attraction towards their appearance because the way they look is extremely important in the early stages of a relationship.Even if your appearance isn’t considered beautiful by societal standards, people will find you attractive if you’re just ordinary-looking with an amazing personality that fits the other persons needs. Attractive beauty may open doors to a relationship but it takes way more than just being attractive to keep a relationship going. Forming relationships is the ultimate way to gaining attraction and love towards a certain person that you might want to be with for the rest of your li fe. Forming relationships is a skill that not many people consider to be important but it’s a skill that most people want so they can find their lifelong partner.My understanding of this skill is that we all have used it at some point in our lives to form relationship, whether if it’s just a friendship or more than that. Like I said before, appearance is one of the main things that jumpstart a relationship but it won’t be the only trait that’ll keep a bond going. Similarity, complementary, competence, disclosure, proximity, and rewards are all factors in how relationship is formed. I’ve used this skill plenty of times because I’m a person who loves to make new friends and meet new people every single day.Whenever I get the chance to meet someone new, whether if I’m attracted to them or not, I try not to miss the opportunity. I met a girl in the beginning of this semester who is just the most gorgeous girl I’ve seen at this scho ol so far. I had to take an opportunity to get to know this girl and fortunately, she gave me the light of day and now we both are really good friends. Not only does she look beautiful, we both have many of the same similarities such as music taste, fashion sense, and other amazing things. When I met her, I used her appearance to draw me to her and from then on, it was the similarities and complementarities.By me using this skill, there have also been several consequences. I’ve been shot down by many girls many times because of me being too confident and by trying to get to know them way too fast. Unfortunately this skill doesn’t always work to our advantage but it doesn’t hurt to try it. Like the old saying goes, â€Å"You’ll never know for yourself until you try. † I live by that saying because you can’t live your life in fear of getting rejected by people you’re attracted to. Just take the chance and run with it. The reason why thi s skill doesn’t work all the time is because of the mindset of the person that you’re attracted to.Is that person already in a relationship? Is that person not looking for a relationship even though they are single? Is the person you’re attracted to not attracted to you back? There are many reasons as to why the negative effects might take place. Overall, never skip out on an opportunity to possibly engage in a lifelong friendship or relationship. You’ll never know the outcome until you try. â€Å"For communication to have meaning it must have a life. It must transcend ‘you’ and ‘me’ and become ‘us. ’ In a small way we then grow out of our old selves and become something new. † – Hugh Prather

How to Quit Smoking: Helping Patients Kick the Habit Essay

Quitting smoking Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Smoking is an addictive behavior where an individual forms an uncontainable reliance on cigarettes to the point where quitting smoking becomes a problem. Cigarettes contain nicotine that is usually addictive. Nicotine craving can be very intense to the extent that people may find it hard to quit using just their willpower. Every individual knows how smoking is addictive and harmful, but only a few acknowledge how addictive and risky smoking is. There is a high likelihood that one out of three smokers who do not quit smoking will eventually die because of smoking. The reason many individuals fail to quit smoking is because they are addicted. The rationale of this paper is to outline the miniature changes in my lifestyle that I believe will help me quit smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main reason I decided to quit smoking is the facts associated to smoking and addiction. First, smoking-associated illnesses account for 440,000 deaths every year in America. Second, smoking also accounts for 87 percent of lung cancers and the most causal factors of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Third, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in America. The other fact is that cigarettes contain more than 43 discrete cancer-causing chemicals. Nicotine is highly addictive as cocaine and heroin. The last fact is that the benefits of quitting smoking are realized 20 minutes of the last cigarette smoked. Smoking is not only an obsession, but it is also very costly. I spend around $7 every day. Quitting smoking will not only add healthy benefits, but it will also help me to save.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have learnt a lot about my options for a long time as I plan to quit will make the quitting process effortless. An appropriate game plan according to my needs will help me control my cravings, smash the addiction, and join those who have kicked out the habit of smoking in their lives. I also acknowledge that it is hard to quit smoking since it is a behavior and physical addiction. An individual, who is in the process of quitting smoking, is likely to face cravings and withdrawal symptoms. The act of smoking is deeply-rooted as a daily habit. I also recognize that to be successful in my withdrawal endeavors, I have to consider the routines, habits and the addiction since they are entangled. A personal stop smoking plan is very essential since it help people to keep in track with the process of quitting smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Quitting smoking starts with comprehending that it is an addictive behavior. The second thing is to cultivate inner feeling to quit smoking. I will develop inner motivation by highlighting the reasons that shore up my determination of quitting smoking such as smelling cigar everywhere and the fear of contracting cancer. The other strategy that will help me to quit smoking is being confident and positive that I will successfully quit smoking. I plan to use goal achievement procedures and frequent milestone incentives to stay committed and focused. I will always reward myself after some time. For instance, since I spend $7 every day, in six months I will have saved $294 or more. I will reward myself with this money. I will also choose a specific quitting date which will increase the chance of success. I will also try mixing different brands since research shows that different chemicals and flavors make smoking less enjoyable. Alternating bra nds also assists to de-automate smoking which will help me to successfully quit smoking. I also plan to put lighters, matches, and tobacco products from home away from my reach. Seeking doctor’s prescription is also an alternative strategy that I will consider in my plan of quitting smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Changing my diet is another strategy that will help me to quit drugs. Research findings from US reveal that some foods such as meat makes cigarette more satisfying. Eating vegetables, cheese, and fruits make cigarettes taste appalling which is another small change that I will consider in my quitting plan. I will also change some drinks such as coffee, alcohol, and cola among other fizzy drinks that makes the cigarettes taste better. Instead, I will be taking more juice and water to ensure a successful quitting process. I will also drop smoking friends and also seek quitting support from family members and friends. I will also ensure that my mouth and hands are always busy for an effective stop smoking plan. The benefit of quitting smoking are: the blood pressure and heart rate will drop 20 minutes after quitting, the carbon monoxide intensity in the blood will drop to normal 12 hours after quitting, lung function and circulation improves 3 weeks after quitting, breathing problems and coughing decreases 9 months after quitting, coronary heart disease and risk of lung, bladder, mouth, esophagus and throat cancer decrease in 5-15 years after quitting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The immediate rewards of quitting smoking are: social acceptance, reduced costs, improves health of others, leading an exemplary life as well as improvement in personal life. For example yellow fingers, stained teeth, and bad smells starts to disappear slowly. The other probable challenges that I expect in the quitting process include hunger in the first several weeks, fatigue and insomnia in the first month, lack of concentration, coughing and craving for cigarettes. The outcomes of quitting smoking are the rewards of quitting smoking where I will start to experience the good taste of food, a sense of smell will get back to normal, and bad smell in the house, clothes and mouth fades away. I will also be able to cut down the cost since smoking is very expensive. Quitting smoking will also help me to keep off dangerous chemicals such as cyanide and arsenic in cigarettes. I will always carry my stop smoking plan everywhere so that it can hel p me remember why I wish to achieve my goal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, quitting smoking can pose very hard since it is only 2.5% of smokers successfully quit smoking. The most initial step towards quitting smoking starts when an individual acknowledge that smoking is addictive. Cigarettes contain nicotine which is addictive just like cocaine and heroin. Quitting smoking will not only help me to save, but it will also help me to improve health. Quitting smoking will keep me off from lung cancer, heart diseases and other diseases associated with smoking. Personal stop smoking plan will greatly help me to keep on track and stay determined with the process of quitting. Diminutive changes such as seeking professional help from a doctor, making new non-smoker friends, changing my diet and drinks will be some of the strategies that I will utilize in the process of quitting. There are rewards of quitting smoking. However, there are challenges of quitting smoking especially being an addictive behavior. References Clancy, C. M. (2008). Quitting Smoking: Helping Patients Kick the Habit. Nursing for Women’s Health, 12(4), 282-284. How to Quit. (2014, July 2). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 3, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/index.htm?s_cid=fb_osh3 Reversal of risk after quitting smoking. (2007). Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer ;. What Is A Smoking Addiction?. (n.d.). ehealthMD. Retrieved September 3, 2014, from http://ehealthmd.com/content/what-smoking-addiction#axzz3CAJBQ4gj Source document

What Teachers Need to Know About Being a Club Sponsor

What Teachers Need to Know About Being a Club Sponsor Almost every teacher will be approached at some point and asked to sponsor a club. They might be asked by an administrator, their fellow teachers, or the students themselves. Being a club sponsor is full of many rewards. However, before you jump in feet first you should consider exactly what it is you are getting involved in. Student Club Sponsorship Takes Time While this might seem obvious, it is important that you understand the time commitment involved in sponsoring a student club. First, realize that all clubs are not equal. Each club will require work but some require more work than others. For example, a student club devoted to surfing or chess will probably not take as much time as a service club, especially one with a large number of members. Service clubs such as Key Club or the National Honor Society require numerous service projects that are labor intensive on the part of the sponsor. Any extracurricular club activities will require adult coordination and supervision. In order to gauge how much time you will need to set aside for club sponsorship, talk with teachers who have previously sponsored that particular club. If possible, look at the club by-laws and previous year student events. If you feel that the club is too much to take on due to the time commitment you can either choose to decline the invitation or find a co-sponsor for the club. However, if you do choose a co-sponsor, make sure you pick someone you feel will take on 50% of the time commitment. Dealing With Students Within the Club A student club will typically hold an election in which students are chosen to be the president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary of the club. You should understand that these are the students with whom you will be working the closest. In fact, if the right individuals are chosen for the job, your role will be much simpler. Realize, however, that there might be students involved in the club who do not participate fully. This can lead to problems. For example, if your club has organized an activity and if the one student who is required to bring the drinks does not show, then you will probably be making a quick run to the store and spending your own money to buy the drinks. Money and Dues Sponsoring a student club also means that you will most probably be dealing with dues and monies collected from the students. Before you even begin the process, make sure that you have not only built up a positive relationship with the schools bookkeeper but also that you understand the exact process for collecting money. While there will be a treasurer, as the adult you will be responsible for making sure that the money is treated responsibly. In the end, you will be held responsible if money is missing. School Club Sponsorship Can Be Fun This article was not meant to scare you away from being a club sponsor. Instead, realize that there are many rewards for those willing to put in the time. You will build a stronger relationship with students within the club. You will also learn a lot about the students, more than you can possibly learn while in the classroom setting. Finally, you will have the reward of helping enrich students lives through extracurricular activities.

Managing the employment relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing the employment relationship - Essay Example Under this situation, it is highly likely that the new and experienced staff would find it hard to continue performing their tasks in a professional manner. Till this point of time, both Harvey and Wong have not been able to provide any practical human resource policy. In a closer analysis of the case study, it can be easily deduced that the organization is more interested to expand business and to look for new business opportunities in Europe and Asia as well instead of giving fair time and attention to both internal and external issues. From a business perspective, this expansion policy is commendable step. However, giving insufficient time and the absence of any policy to the internal matters makes it hard for them to achieve their business and performance objectives in a timely and professional manner. As a result, both Harvey and Wong face the problem of grumbles and it further intensifies as no formal mechanism has been put in place to address the concerns of employees. Demotivation among other employees will be increasing. It is a normal practice that employees share their feelings and grievances with colleagues in the workplace. More specifically, the employees do not find it reasonable to hide their grievances instead they find it as a way to forward their concerns to appropriate authority through sharing their employment problems with their colleagues and friends as well. As far as the current situation is concerned, it is highly likely that the employees are not satisfied but highly worried about their employment issues. Moreover, if the grievances of one employee are not addressed on time, it cannot be ruled out that the employees find little motivation to complete their assignments and tasks enthusiastically. Employee productivity and motivation go hand in hand. Employee productivity refers to the output produced by

Entomology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Entomology - Essay Example It is because of this collective effort that they are able to organize and build structures. In cases, altruism has been observed in the biological world. Altruism is where an organism or person puts its own safety in jeopardy in benefit of its kin or social organization (Okasha, 2009).. In the animal kingdom, prairie dogs will often watch and sound an alarm when a predator approaches. This gives away it’s position, but allows all the others to get to safety (McGinley, & Caley, 2007). In terms of insects, bees will fight to defend their comb from predators, which usually results in the death of the bee. Humans display these altruistic traits daily (Okasha, 2009). I believe that there are certain lines that can be drawn for me personally when considering the traits associated with altruism. In terms of my family, I would do anything. The social support and relationships have been in place since birth. One could argue that on some unconscious biological level that I would be fig hting to preserve the integrity of my personal gene pool. As we move up from family to community and then the state, the level of necessary altruism lessens due to the fact that the responsibility becomes less personal and this responsibility of altruism spreads equally among all members, not only being my responsibility. The reason that the line is drawn is that â€Å"blood is thicker than water†. The ties of family are almost impossible to break, therefore the altruistic behavior, which would be displayed would be for familial relationships versus societal relationships. Like what was said before, the aspect of self-sacrifice is a rare event that occurs on a daily basis in human culture. The same can be said for the animal world. Often, the concept of sacrificing oneself for the collective comes as a result of a protection toward the others. The example, being cited above, is bees that protect their kin, food, and future offspring from predators. Predators that attack the c omb threaten not only personal kin, but also the entire society. Knowing that they will die, they still fight off predators to protect everything for the good of the community. In humans, for me in particular, I would consider self-sacrifice to be a last time alternative. I feel like this would apply to situations that would literally be a life and death issue regarding my family. If it meant that I would have to sacrifice my life so that a family member could continue on, I would. In the case of the community, it would have to be such a threat that I would know that the destruction of our community would be imminent. Altruism can serve as a beneficial trait in regards to a society both in the animal world as well as in the insect communities. Depending on the respective behaviors of both communities, each would act in a way that was typical of the community. In the case of the natural world, organisms are more altruistic than humans are; yet they lack all the cognitions and social structures that as humans we have in place. References McGinley, M, & Caley, K. (2007). Altruistic Behaviors. The encyclopedia of earth. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Altruistic_behaviors?topic=58074 Okasha, Samir, (2009) "Biological Altruism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved April 6

The Mercy of Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Mercy of Religion - Essay Example However, despite all this, conflicts still makes the most part of the news today; the media is talking about violence from all corners of the world. It is devastating how Christianity is least influential on the struggles for peace and against violence in the USA. They have let the leaders whose lips are fast to talk about war and how the citizens should protect themselves dominate the arena. Christian religion has its focus and attention on understanding the past events, how they affect our society instead of the earlier and current occurrences in the society (Moore 23). Christian believers should be quite hiding in the past and focus on the current and fulfill its obligation in terminating the global violence. The USA should be first in peace negotiation and ending violence. In every social setting, a woman is equally important like the man because she performs the basic task in the family like ensuring adequate water for use in the family, looking after the sick, tending the gardens and other duties. The woman is the building blocks of any society and I belief without her, we would have a chaotic society where peace is no existence, malnourished children, and men, and many features that are more unexciting, (Rosemary 12). Despite the good things a woman can do, many cultures do not regard her and mostly assume her efforts and duties, for instance, she is considered the poorest in the family for money she gets is utilized for the well being of the society while the man uses his to buy luxuries like a radio. Religion puts the woman a compromising position in that she is required to be submissive to the man, support him and in some religions, he must not be adulterous but a man can. Many NGO have however been establish and are working towards promoting th e rights of the woman in the society and above anything the appreciation she deserves for the roles she plays. Since its inception after the

Hinduism Paper Essay Example for Free

Hinduism Paper Essay With over 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third largest religion today. Only Christianity and Islam have more. The major difference between them though, is that Hinduism did not spread like the other two religions. Out of the 900 million followers that the Hindu religion has, only 20 million are located outside of India. The religion barely spread outside of India, mainly because of how the Hindu religion is followed and how its culture is. Hinduism has a very rich history, and during the seventeenth and eighteenth century the religion went through some big changes that changed India and the countries around them. Hinduism started in around 3000 BC but unlike other religions, which had one certain founder, or someone who generally started the religion, the Hindu religion grew slowly out of beliefs, cultures and practices of ancient Indo-Aryan tribes. In the article â€Å"Enjoying Religions: When Did Hinduism Begin?† Buddha tells us that Hinduism took centuries to actually become a true religion. Hindus believe in reincarnation, that every living thing has a soul, and that after death each soul gets born again into a different body. Karma plays a huge role in Hinduism, where if you live a life of good, you move onto a better form of life, and if you live a life of evil, you move down to a lower form of life. Hindus believe that you keep coming back to life to live on earth over and over again, and over many lifetimes you can escape this cycle and join Brahman. This is pretty far apart from Christianity and Islam, where you only live once and then either go to heaven or hell according to how you lived your life. Another difference between Hinduism and other religions is that they don’t have a central book like the Bible or the Quran. Instead they have sacred texts, and together they make a book called Vedas. The caste system played and continues to play a major role in India. Hinduism is not just a religion, but also a way of life, which affects everyday life of the average Indian. From marriage to friendship and from what you can eat to how you should sleep. In Hindu culture you can only be married to someone who is in the same caste as you are. Hinduism has played a huge role in shaping the history of southern Asia. The Pre-Modern Period of Hinduism, which was around the years 1500-1757, was a time where different cultures were starting to get involved in India and the Hindu religion. Mainly Islam. Professor Gavin Flood tells us in his article, â€Å"The History of Islam† that the Islam forces started in the North, and by the beginning of the seventeenth century Mughal power was brought into effect and in the article â€Å"The Mughal Empire – Akbar† they really give an inside look at the life and reign of Akbar. Akbar, who was one of the greatest leaders of the Mughal Empire and in Indian history, was very tolerant to religion. In fact, he actually married a Hindu princess. Akbar allowed the Hindus to practice freely. However, his great grandson, Aurangzeb, who ruled from 1618 to 1707, restricted Hindu practice and destroyed many Hindu temples. He was the last of the Mughal Emperors. Although under his rule the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, he was also the reason for the empires fall. The British Period, which starts at 1757 and goes all the way to 1947, started with Robert Clive’s victory at the Battle of Plassey, which ended the Mughal Empire and the rise of British supremacy in India. Before the Indian Rebellion in 1857, India was divided into many small and unstable kingdoms, until the entire country fell into British rule. In the beginning of British rule they were very lenient on religious tolerance, and allow the Indians to practice their Hindu religion. Slowly over time, Christian missionaries started going to India trying to convent the Indians. Shortly after, British scholars started going to India and started to try to westernize the local population. Some tried to make the Hindu religion more modern and western, and created Neo-Hinduism, as it says in the article by Brian Smith, â€Å"Hinduism†. Hinduism has come a long way in history. Most people would say the Hinduism is still just as pure as it started, even with foreign invasions like the Mughals with Islam, and the British with Christianity. Although they’ve tried, foreign missionaries could not convert the Hindus to either Islam or Christianity. Until today Hinduism is still mostly practiced in India and very little outside of there. Even though Hinduism is a religion mostly practiced in only one part of the globe, it is still the third largest religion in the world. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history_1.shtml http://religiondilama.blogspot.com/2009/04/when-did-hinduism-begin.html http://library.thinkquest.org/C006203/cgi-bin/stories.cgi?article=akbarsection=history/mughals/emperorsframe=parent http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hinduism.aspx

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee 3. Why and how might shift work impact on the health of employees? What could be done to minimise the health risks of such work? In modern life shift work becomes a necessary part of life. Shift work is an employment schedule that is not in the usual daytime hours and in which two or more groups of workers work at separate times in the 24 hrs. (Finn, 1981).According to HSE(2006) approximately 14% of people in UK doing shift work in different shifts Some institutions like hospitals, ambulance services, police department, transport industry and some industries needs continuous 24 hrs shift work. But this shift work disrupts the circadian rhythm that can lead to reduction in alertness. The diurnal rhythms control pulse rate, the cardio-pulmonary system, composition of blood, blood pressure, secretions of endocrine glands, appetite and wakening and sleep cycle. So shift work interrupts these natural processes for which the human body is normally programmed. So this can cause compromise i n health and safety of the workers. Lack of adequate sleep has produce adverse affects including nervous system related disorders, physical problems which can lead to accidents on job. Fatigue is also the most common reaction in shift workers. Shift work is the main cause of fatigueness in combination with physical, mental and emotional factors that causes exhaustion in workers. Shift work affects the general health and performance of the employees. Because of shift work employees have not follow any routine in their eating habits and they have not regular pattern to sleep and this may produce health problems (Finn, 1981). According to health and safety perspective all the working hours are not same. Night shifts are more difficult and risky. Working overtime also raises the fatigueness in a worker. This can lead to other accidents. Some workers do shift work with their own choice but mostly do because of economic necessity (ACTU Guidelines on shift work extended hours, 2000). Mostly people dont know the extra stress that night shift workers have, is because of work in late night hours. When most people are in their beds, night shift workers are getting ready to work. Night Shifts put negative impact on health of workers because these shifts affect the circadian rhythms of the human body. These circadian rhythms change all over the day and night to regulate different biological functions of body. For example our cardiac rate and the temperature of body changes throughout 24 hrs and this is lowest at 4am and it is on the peak in the mid of afternoon. The circadian rhythms reset after 24 hrs by environme ntal factors like light and darkness. Temperature of body goes up with the day light and goes down at night. Thats why body is active during daytime, whereas in the night it is meant to sleep for recovering and replacing the energy of the body. But working at night disturbs biological clocks thats why sleeping becomes difficult so workers feel fatigue. Work during night shifts imbalance these rhythms in spite of their regular timing. Because of this, workers who can do night shifts come across problems in sleep, fatigueness, gaining weight and problems related to digestive system. Some of these problems also become chronic diseases. According to study done by the Journal of the National Cancer institute (2001) depicts that the females doing night shifts have more risk of breast cancer because of exposure to light during night which interrupts the production of melatonin (Victoria,2010).A study found that the breast cancer risk is 60% more in women doing night shifts. Because the mel atonin hormone mainly produced during sleep. However several studies found rhythmic adjustments to a new work schedule sets in 4 days to 2 days. The continuous change in day, evening and night shifts diminishes the normally programmed body rhythms. According to Sparks and Cooper et al (1977) the field of occupational health psychology, overtime fatigue is an important factor in the health conditions and working hours plan. Because of excessive work in shifts raises in backbone injuries, bacterial infections, three times increase in accidents on job after 16 hrs of work these all have related to fatigue and overtime in shift work (Rosa, 1995) To minimize the health risks of shift work: According to article how lifestyle changes can reduce shift work stress published in Sleep disorders guide (2006-08) suggests that workers have to follow some useful measures to tackle the shift work correctly. Workers should not take more than 2 night shifts regularly in one week. So that their body take rest and the workers are not faces fatigueness. Workers take frequent breaks from work when they feel tired and not able to stand in same posture for a long time. Keep entertaining by talking to your fellow colleagues if worker feel difficult to work during long hours in night shifts, but always follow the safety measures. Workers have to follow proper eating habits .Afternoon shift workers take their meal in the middle of day, not in middle of their shift. Workers are advised not take heavy meals when they go for night shifts and they take light meal throughout night shift and take moderate breakfast. A heavy meal compels the workers to s leep and this may lead to accidents and even discomfort in stomach. After completing the night shift workers have to take proper rest with adequate sleep. They have to avoid heavy exercise before going to bed because metabolism of body will still elevated for many hours and this will produce difficulty in sleep. While sleeping they relaxed their mind and keep their brain free from any disturbance. If they fail to sleep then read a book or listen some music. Workers should follow healthy life style according to their shift work and they should exercise 30-40 minutes daily. With doing regular exercise his mental and physical health remains good and this will reduces the health problems. Workers have to take proper diet to maintain their physical health. Workers drink more water in night shift. They have to socialize with other coworkers to minimize disruption in social life. Workers practices to reduce the stress. They have to schedule daily events by the calendar use. Workers choose the prioritize tasks and always tackle one task at a time (Stones, 1987). 4. Critically review the evidence that multiple roles in work and non-working life lead to negative outcomes for employees and organizations. Work culture changes rapidly in present days. Previously concept of work done is to fulfil basic human needs but now this is not the fact. The basic needs are not enough, but standard of living is also an essential part for doing work. According to Blekesaune (2008) unemployed people are at major risk of breakdown in personal relationships .Males and females who lost their jobs have similar impact. According to Work life Balance Survey(Hurst and Richards 2003) there were more than 1200 employees who took part in internet survey done in the form of questionnaire and each one ,out of the ten participants worked more than 70 hrs every week, whereas he is being signed for 35-40 hrs. 98% of workers took their office work t home. 17% of them skip their lunch break.97% workers found that it is difficult to balance work and life.70% of workers took work as main stressor (Work life balance survey, 2003). Work or nonwork conflict generally noticed when work and non work roles are not compatible with one another and participation in one role made difficult in participating in another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). The Spillover Model (Loscocco and Roschelle, 1991) guided well on present study related to work and non work conflict. In Spillover model, there is a positive relation given between work and non work roles to the limit of satisfaction or not satisfaction in one of the roles moves into other (Bond et al., 1998).Work and non work conflict influences the general health and mental wellbeing of workers and their families. As an example, a recent epidemiological study done in Australia establish that the parents who work regularly for long hours or back home stressed have develop more physical illness and other psychological problems(Earle,2003). According to Duxbury (2003) work and non work conflict impact on the ability of workers to bring up their families which results in lesser levels in family wellbeing and stability. Researchers found that policies which are designed to assist work and non work conflict can change workers behaviour which is good for the organization. Evidences found that the policies which are family friendly results in raises in back to work after the delivery (Squirchuk and Bourke, 1999). When we are talking about the effect of stressors on a person, few researchers analysed to divide the life of a person into separate functional fields. Like divided between the home and work place. Because in each area individual play more than one role. Like in family they have two roles spouse as well as parents and same in their workplace they follow different roles. Researchers found that in each field person suffers from stressors and strain. So if in a demanding job person becomes stressed at work place then its quite possible that he come back home in same state of mind, so this create difficulities in home atmosphere also. There are two major hypotheses proposed to explain the work -home relationship. The spillover hypotheses proposed that there are no hard boundaries between different life areas. The work and nonwork experiences will positively related to one another. So the persons, who changed, stimulate and satisfy work experiences will likewise same non work experiences. Thus stressful moments experienced in work makes person tired at work as well as when he came back home, this makes difficult to interact with the family and social life. Case studies based on early work approve this approach (Young Wilmott, 1973, Piotrokowski, 1978). According to compensatory hypotheses, in between home and work there will be negative relationship. As an example, for boarded and non stimulating work experience, a person compensates this with good experience at home or from other free activities (Wilensky, 1960, Rousseau, 1978). According to the compensatory hypotheses, a person majorly involved in work would be not involved at home or the other way around. Another immaterial approach is segmentation hypotheses which approve that work and non-work areas are essentially nondependent, separated psychologically and perform separate functions (Blood and Wolfe, 1960, Dubin, 1973). This was the primary formulation of work and home relationship but myth of separate worlds of family and work has exposed (Kanter, 1977). This model is now often dishonored. These models just gives idea that up to what extent behaviour in one area lead to same or different behaviour in other, or to which extent satisfaction or stress in one role is associated to similar feeling in other (Staines,1980). According to National Study of changing work force, 19% of fathers who are working and 38% of working mothers feel stress oftenly and very oftenly in the three month period of this study. The data shows that male and female both suffered by contrasting demands of the family and workplace to balance these two. These conflicts noticed in previous two decades, when labour work becomes more in organizations and females are equally take part in working in organizations. The increased ratio of working women splits their role in two areas. In studies of Work and family conflict mental health is always targeted. Mental illness is inability to cope with the surrounding environment and reality. These studies proved that mental health depends upon the variation of experiences in work and family (Forne, 2000). In work and family conflicts there is not any selective gender but mental problems for e.g. mood changes are more in females who are working then males (Kohn, Dohrenwend Mirotznik, 1998). In the midlife, work and family conflict and mental stress are comparatively stable. So if the worker is having mental health problems, this is not good for organization also. Worker not cooperated with co workers and the environment of work is always tensed. This will affect the production of the organization also. There is another major problem which occurs because of work and family conflict that is drinking. When a worker not balance his both roles and because of stress start drinking alcohol and become habitual then this make the situation worse. Because he could not take care of his family properly and even not concentrate on his work. Because of this he cut off from his family as well as from society and even from his co workers. He or she might become a victim of accident at work. Because of drinking problem he lost money and this also affects his financial condition. Marriage life of worker is also affected thats why now a days divorce rates are high, because of imbalance in family and work. When work and life conflict occurs care of children and elderly people becomes difficult. Sometimes person even thought about the suicidal attempt because of this worse situation. 5. Discuss and critically evaluate research that has examined the impact of bullying at work. Introduction Bullying at work is behaviour of annoying, offending or affecting negatively to a person in his work tasks (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf Cooper 2003).According to HSE bullying at work is to ignore someone, circulating rumours, annoying somebody in front of others, giving somebody a task which is not achievable, constantly underestimating somebodys work .It is not a new behaviour but it was not much noticed till the end of twentieth century. Bullying was brought into the public arena by Andrea Adams, a journalist of UK, who wrote a book o bullying, in the year 1992.He also produced radio documentaries in which discussion was there on workplace bullying. In UK and Ireland bullying word is used whereas in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia it is called as mobbing and in US as emotional abuse. According to the study, Destructive conflict and bullying at work (Hoel Cooper, 2000) one in every ten people bullied on work within last 6months and the number increases to one in four in last five years. According to this study women are bullied more as compare to men. Managers or persons on senior post were culprit in 74.7% cases of bullying. The obvious experienced negative behaviour at work was somebody was not giving proper information, which gives negative impact to your performance or impossible targets or deadlines. Bullying was mostly associated with bad mental health and less satisfaction in organization (Hoel Cooper, 2000). Types of Bullying Bullying at work due to direct comments on employees causes harasses, humiliation and put negative impact on performance in work and this creates uncomfortable working atmosphere (Einarsen Rakness, 1997).It is found that usually bullying behaviour has two categories: personal and work related. Personal is an again and again offensive comment regarding you and your personal life. Work related is direct comments on your work task, not giving reasonable deadlines to complete tasks, non manageable load of work. According to Zapf (1999) there were five types of bullying behavior: A. Make the task more difficult. B. Stop communicating with somebody. C.Attack on anyones personal life. D. Humiliate and criticize in front of others. E. Circulate rum ours. Now a days physical bullying or sex abuse related bullying also found with women employees in workplaces. Impacts of bullying on psychological wellbeing Bullying at work put direct impact on persons psychological wellbeing. Psychological impacts are mental stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, less concentration in the given task or work, binge eating, addiction to alcohol or smoking, lack of alertness at work ,due to this sometimes accidents occurs. Psychologists noticed behavioural changes in workers, who face regular bullying at work. Worker becomes irritated, emotional, and aggressive. Some women who faced sexual bullying, later on gone into reverse personality. They become aggressive even on situations which are ignorable. They hate opposite sex either he is in his own blood relation. If a person continuously suffers from bullying he may develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Bjorkqvist et al, 1994, Leyman and Gustafsson ,1996). Impacts of bullying on physical wellbeing The person who faces regular bullying for long time also found physically ill. Because of this his blood pressure becomes high so he is suffering from hypertension and it is one of the indicators for cardiac diseases. Their immunity which helps him to fight with diseases or infections gone done. So he got infections more easily. Because of anxiety his digestive system also disturbs, so problems like diarrhea/constipation, stomachache, acidity occurs. Studies shows that continuous mental stress could also be one of the reasons of skin diseases like irritation, psoriasis etc. sometimes mental stress is the main reason of migraine. Sometimes lot of frustration could change persons mind towards suicidal attempt. Impact on organisations Bullying at work place also put impact on organizations by lowering the productivity of goods. Because workers are not work properly in organizations. Due to continuous bullying some workers often took leaves from work, which also put bad impact on work. Quality of production also gone down due to the bullying, because of this profit of organization also reduces. Studies show that work efficiency of workers also lowers because of bullying at work. At times this bullying at work place led the concern organizations to the court which is also harmful for the reputation of organization. 6. Compare and contrast the effectiveness of primary and secondary/tertiary stress management strategies in improving employee wellbeing. According to Richard Lazarus (1984) the definition of stress is that Stress is a feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize (Lazarus,1984). According to Dr. Mellisa Conrad Stopplers book, Stress, Hormones and Weight gain Stress is simply a fact of nature-forces from the outside world affecting the individual. The person responds to stress accordingly as it affect the person and his environment. Stress occurs because of external and internal factors. External factors are the environment, our home, personal relations, all outer situations, challenges, difficulties and expectations of life. Internal factors which affect your power to deal stress are nutritional status of a person, level of health and fitness, emotional status and how much rest and sleep a person got (Stoppler, 2007). Management of stress For managing the level of stress, organizations tried and do efforts for mental and physical health of the workers (Cooper Cartwright, 1997). The stress prevention done at primary, secondary and tertiary levels (Murphy, 1988). Primary intervention (preventive) Todays world is the world of globalization. In this world there is lot of competition, because of that stress becomes the biggest problem in employees in the organizations. Organizations are also affected due to stress level in employees. So organizations have low productivity and pay major cost for health care. For preventing the stress in organizations, primary interventions are there to reduce the level of stress. The major concentrate of primary intervention management is to search the causes of stress and to remove the causes. Primary intervention is also known as Stress prevention intervention. The main features of primary intervention stress management are, improving communication, re-scheduling or designing the structure of the tasks, give decision making chances to workers, lowers the work load, build cohesive teams, establish genuine policies of employment, sharing the rewards and contrast resolution skills. The primary intervention tries to modify or remove the causes of stress in the organizations so that workers work in good working atmosphere (Cooper et al., 2001). According to Wall, T.D. Clegg, C.W. (1981) study of work design done at confectionary company who faced troubles of demoralization in workers, gap in relations between workers and turnover problems. Organizations given the power of decision making, break for rest and after twenty eight months, they observe there was not any change in skill or not any progress in the task given to them. Secondary intervention (Creative) Secondary intervention is mainly related with the immediate detection and management of experienced stress by raising awareness and modifies skills of stress management of the worker with training programs (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997).In the secondary intervention workers have to manage their stress, not changing or removing the stressors. The Programmes of stress management assist and channelize the workers to know the symptoms of stress in them and other coworkers and try to get out of it. In the secondary intervention development of coping skills, management of anger, counseling and cognitive behaviour therapies are used. In the secondary intervention some class sessions or training programs are also there for increasing awareness and controlling the stressful conditions like training to do muscle relaxing exercises, educational seminars etc. Training to the workers to do their work could lower stress and improve their efficiency or creativity (Bunce and West, 1996). Cognitive behaviour therapy improves the mental wellbeing to well tolerate the harsh experiences without changing and controlling them (Bond and Bunce, 2000). Tertiary intervention (Reactive) Tertiary intervention assists the workers to give treatment, compensate and rehabilitate them who are suffering from illness due to stress. This intervention usually assist workers to come out from stress occurs due to their work. The main aim of these programmes is to treat the worker who is beneficial for the organizations. This intervention includes medical intervention, treatment and ongoing counseling also. So that worker returns to their work normally. These services are provided in house counselors or foreign agencies in the form of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPS). Employee Assistance Programs give twenty four hrs telephone services. Workers are easily access these services (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Meditation help to reduce stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and tensions (Alexander et al.,1993).For lowering their stress level, workers concentrate more on deep breathing and muscle relaxing exercises(Mcguigen,1994). Comparison of stress prevention interventions According to Kempier and Cooper (1999) now a days for stress management the secondary and tertiary interventions are more used as compare to primary ones. It was seen that these three interventions are effective in reverse order. In case of stress at the working place the primary intervention targets on the cause of stress in work place, secondary saw the effect of stress on worker and tertiary helps workers to rehabilitation and provide treatment in case of medical sickness due to stress. Secondary and tertiary level interventions play important role in preventing stress but they are not completely successful in stress management unless the cause of stress is not removed. Another limitation of secondary and tertiary interventions is that they dont address the area to control the stressor which is important. Secondary and primary interventions are not sufficient to maintain the health of workers without removing the cause as in primary intervention (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Conclusion The secondary and tertiary interventions are useful in stress prevention but without the removal of cause they are not much beneficial. These interventions have favourable affect on indivual level and organizational level.

Radio Frequency Identification :: Technology, Electromagnetic Radio Waves

RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION Introduction RFID is a technology which enables detecting and identifying objects using electromagnetic radio waves. This is processed through exchange of information between a reader and a tag being attached to the object that includes the data associated with the object. This can be used to detect and classify vehicles, animals, patients, shipment goods and airline baggage. [1] RFID technology involves two main components, they are transponders which are also known as tags or labels, contain the relevant information about the object and other the interrogators, also known as readers or transceivers, that extract the data from the tags. These tags can be passive or active tags. Passive tags use the energy from the EM radiation of the reader for its processing, where as active tags receive power from an internal battery for its processing and communication with the reader. An integrated electronic circuit is embedded in tags for storage and processing operations and an antenna that transmits and receives the RF signal. [2] Figure : components of RFID Source : http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17328767/Draft-SP800-98 The tags used in RFID are enabled with read-write operations, with a large storage capacity. Data can be modified any number of times. Tag and reader act as two way radio communication in which each antenna carries the modulation and demodulation of RF signals, with operation frequency ranges from low frequency to UHF. As radio waves are used, RFID does not require line of sight for communication and the operating distance between the reader and tag varies according to the frequency range from few centimetres to few meters. [3] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification [2] [3] http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17328767/Draft-SP800-98 History The start of RFID took place in 1915, by the British with a system called IFF, which means Identification Friend or Foe. In 1940, during Second World War, the first installation of IFF transponder was in a German aircraft named FUG. [4] Leon Theremin, in 1945 invented a device which retransmits an incident radio wave and audio information. This passive device which was activated from an external source became the forerunner for RFID technology. [5] The concept of RFID came into existence in 1973 when Mario Cardullo invented a passive transponder which emits information when activated by an interrogating signal and consisted a 16bit memory unit for storage purposes. [6] In 1973, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Steven Depp, Alfred Koelle, and Robert Freyman developed the RFID tag system that uses 12bit tags, operating at 915 MHz. [7] After many years of research RFID tags came out with active tags that eliminated the use of external power source.

Independent learning Essay

STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 115 The Foundation Programme, I think, taught me how to work and be a person who is more reliant on myself. So if I don’t do the work and I don’t get the grades, I know it is on me. Varsity is where you have to be more responsible for all your actions. You have to be aware of whatever you are doing. You just can’t be negli- gent. (Chipo ? MSAFP) At university, you are just given assignments at the beginning of [the] semester and then you have to make sure that you do them well in time. There is no one to manage you and push you to do those assignments. In high school the teachers al-ways ask you about the assignments: â€Å"Did you do it? Why didn’t you do the as- signment well, and on time? † But here if you don’t do the assignment on time, they subtract marks and then you fail. (Lebogang ? MSAFP) Like them, Tony and Jaco also emphasised that a student must take responsibil- ity for their studies. For Tony, rather than parents, â€Å"you decide† and for Jaco, â€Å"everything is just up to you†. I think it is all about you taking responsibility for your own work. You ? nd in high school, if you’re with your parents, your parents are there to put pressure on you. You ? nd your parents saying, â€Å"No more TV. Go and study now. † But now, it’s you yourself. You decide your study times. You decide whether you’re going to do an assignment or not. You balance your social life and your school life. You balance it yourself. It’s not your parents who do that for you now. (Tony ? MSAFP) Basically time management is left to you for everything. You don’t have people telling you that this has to be done. Everything is just up to you. For me, it wasn’t a challenge because I had come from a working background. (Jaco ? MSAFP) Similarly, former DoTS students highlighted that taking responsibility to learn is essential for persisting with university study. Pip and Copernicus also empha- sised the importance of keeping up to date without the guidance of teachers and parents. For Pip, taking responsibility was â€Å"quite hard†, while for Copernicus, taking responsibility was â€Å"one of the biggest things†. I suppose just learning for ourselves and taking that much responsibility for our own learning, that was quite hard. (Pip ? DoTS) Compared to high school, everything’s your responsibility now. You have to make sure you do it. I think that was de? nitely one of the biggest things for me. If I was going to struggle with anything, it was being responsible. (Copernicus ?DoTS) Alicia, Kirsty, Tara and Max considered taking responsibility for their studies to be part of becoming independent. For Alicia, â€Å"you’ve got to keep on top of it† and for Kirsty â€Å"it’s all independent† and â€Å"there’s no one chasing you†. It’s very independent here. You’ve got to keep on top of it. There’s no one to tell you, â€Å"This is where you’ve got to be at. † (Alicia ? DoTS) It’s all up to you I suppose. It’s all independent. If you don’t do the readings, there’s no one chasing you to say you’ve got to do them. If you don’t have an as- signment in, there are not many excuses you can use to get an extension. (Kirsty ? DoTS) CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 116 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 116 Like them, Tara and Max emphasised the importance of taking responsibility for their studies. For Tara, â€Å"it’s up to you†. For Max, university study involves â€Å"less guidance basically† and you â€Å"do it on your own†. Obviously it’s up to you to get the assignment in on time. To write it, you’re not really going to have a lot of help from other people like teachers. It was hard to be responsible for yourself, not having the teachers constantly having tabs on you and things like that, and not guiding you through. That took me a little while but I got used to it eventually. (Tara ? DoTS) First year wasn’t dissimilar to high school. It was with less guidance basically. So there was just the requirement for you to be more independent, to go out and do it on your own. (Max ? DoTS) For school leavers who were used to being reminded by teachers to complete their work, an adjustment to independent learning at university was a stark con- trast, but they emphasised the centrality of independent learning in university study. Rachel, Meg and Caitlyn each re? ected on the dif? culty of working inde- pendently. For Rachel, studying without a teacher supervising her was the hard- est. While for Meg, adjusting to not having anyone to remind her was the most dif? cult thing, Caitlyn observed â€Å"nobody is going to chase you†. Having to work by myself at home I’d say was the hardest, because the teachers weren’t sitting there saying, â€Å"Right, you’ve got 45 minutes to get this piece of work done. Go and do it. † (Rachel ? DoTS) The most dif? cult thing was probably not so much the fact that you are on your own, but the fact that people won’t remind you. You’ve got to make sure that you’ve got that assignment done. That’s all on you. I think the responsibility was pretty heavy because you’re so used to everybody else taking care of you. Now you’re a grown-up, you’re here and you’ve got to do it yourself. (Meg ? DoTS) Here you have to be independent. Nobody is going to chase you if you don’t hand in the assignment. Not that lecturers don’t care, but you’re just another name on the list. Their job is to teach and your job is to learn and if you’re not keeping up your end, I guess it’s just too bad. (Caitlyn ? DoTS) Besides taking responsibility for their own learning, former pathways students also struggled with self-motivation, self-discipline, and self-direction. Sammy, Marie and Tony all learned to direct themselves to study. For Sammy, â€Å"you have to learn to do things†. For Marie, â€Å"you don’t have anyone on your back telling you†. For Tony, not completing work is the student’s â€Å"loss†. Independence matters most. I would also say self-motivation. It taught me to study for myself because of the deadlines and the lecturers were pushing. You have to learn to do things for yourself because no one is going to do them for you. (Sammy ? MSAFP) I think a lot of people struggle with self-discipline, especially if you don’t have anyone on your back telling you, â€Å"Look, it’s 8 o’clock. You have to go to class. † (Marie ? MSAFP) If you don’t do it, it is your loss. (Tony ? MSAFP) INDEPENDENT LEARNING 117 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 117 In contrast, Jaco arrived as a very self-directed student who had no trouble keep- ing up to date. For Jaco, â€Å"if you start something, you ? nish it†. I’m one person to really work to my timetable. I don’t like to be late for anything. If anything needs to be done, it needs to be done the proper way. That’s some- thing I’ve grown up with from my parents. If you start something, you ? nish it, period, within the time frame. (Jaco ? MSAFP). Choosing to be a university student and making a conscious decision to learn are important for becoming a self-directed learner. Caitlyn, Denise and Sorcha pointed out that each student must make the choice to study for themselves. For Caitlyn, a student ? not the person’s mother ? must â€Å"make the decision to do it†. For Denise, a student must â€Å"want to do it†. For Sorcha, a student must become self-regulated and must â€Å"be interested in studying†. Being independent, having to do things for yourself, is hard. The work is chal- lenging, but I expected that. It’s not like when you’re in Year 12 and your mum wants you to ? nish and your school wants you to ? nish. My mum probably could- n’t have told you what I was doing at uni. There is no one to sort of push you along. You have to make the decision to do it yourself. (Caitlyn ? DoTS) Studying at school you’ve got no choice. You’ve got people on your back remind- ing you of what you have to do, when it has to be done, and how to do it, whereas at university you have to be motivated and want to do it. You have to be self-directed. (Denise ? DoTS) You have to be interested in studying, otherwise no amount of motivation or teacher-input can help. You’ve got to be a self-regulated learner. You can’t lean on your friends to take you through an exam. (Sorcha ? DoTS) Deciding to learn is not always an easy process for new students. Having com- menced the DoTS pathway three years after ? nishing high school, Nursing stu- dent Vaughan struggled to become a self-directed learner. A dif? cult thing was probably the self-directedness of uni. I’ve never been self-di- rected. I still struggle with it a little bit [in my third year]. (Vaughan ? DoTS) While Vaughan struggled with self-directedness throughout his degree, during the DoTS pathway, he sought professional advice to ? nd that he had to â€Å"get on with it† himself. I’d gone and seen the counsellors and they alerted me to the reality that no one is going to do it except me, so there are no quick ? xes there. We had a bit of a chat about things and you realise you have to get on with it. (Vaughan ? DoTS) Becoming a self-regulating learner involves taking individual responsibility for learning, for keeping up to date, and for becoming independent. These require- ments for university study appear to be well recognised by former pathways stu- dents even though many struggled, as do most new university students, with the initial transition. CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 118. STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 118 PUTTING IN EFFORT Putting in effort to learn, to understand the materials and to complete the re- quired work are among the most demanding aspects of university study. In South Africa, Accounting lecturers at Stellenbosch University assumed high stu- dent failure rates were due to poor preparation on the part of the students. Their Accounting students agreed, with one third suggesting that their classmates did not put in suf? cient effort and half believing they themselves did not study hard enough. These students also suggested that attending class and putting in effort  were among the most important factors for persisting with university study (Steenkamp, Baard & Frick, 2009: 151? 152). Former MSAFP and DoTS pathways students attested to the importance of putting in effort. Pip, Lisa, Vaughan, Sorcha and Reap explained putting in effort in terms of understanding course materials. For Pip, it was important to â€Å"make an effort to understand†. For Lisa, it was important to â€Å"get the answers† and â€Å"know your stuff†. For Vaughan, it was important for a student to learn the course materials and â€Å"know† they â€Å"did it† by themselves. I always make an effort to understand. I de? nitely don’t do the amount of work outside my contact hours that I should, but I make an effort to understand it. When I do have contact hours, I’ll make an effort to understand it and, if I don’t, then I go out and read up on it. I think it makes a difference if you want to be here and you actually want to understand the work. I think that’s what makes a good uni student. (Pip ? DoTS) I know that I’ve got to get things done. If I don’t get them done, then I’m not going to get the answers. We have quizzes each week and you can’t answer the quizzes if you haven’t studied and you don’t know your stuff. (Lisa ?DoTS) I read my chapter and I don’t collaborate with other people. I just tend to do it by myself because I want to know that I did it by myself, not because someone else has written down all the answers for me. (Vaughan ? DoTS) Like them, Sorcha and Reap emphasised the importance of making an effort to learn. For Sorcha, â€Å"you can become smart† with hard work and effort. For Reap, â€Å"you can’t fake it†. You can be smart and not do the work and not be successful and not achieve your goals, whereas if you have the time, the passion and all that, you can become smart. (Sorcha ? DoTS) You can’t breeze through uni. You’ve got to be able to do the work. You can’t fake it. (Reap ? DoTS) A willingness to put in effort to learn involves having the right attitude toward study which includes commitment and dedication. Barbara and Kendall believed that without the right attitude it is dif? cult for new students to adapt to univer- sity and experience academic success. For Barbara, university â€Å"has to be your number-one priority† and for Kendall, a student should â€Å"work so hard for it†. I think you have to be committed. You have to be committed to go to uni. Just be- cause you’ve got the brain, you got the marks, you got accepted, you might as  INDEPENDENT LEARNING 119 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 119 well go and do it ? it’s not really the right attitude, because you’re a nuisance, mostly to the tutors and lecturers. You have to be committed. You have to be there because you want to be there. I think it has to be your number-one priority to a certain extent. Get your assignments done. Get your uni work done. Then play. (Barbara ? DoTS) I just think you have to be dedicated. You have to know what you want. You have to work for it. It’s not just going to fall in your lap. Once you get it, it’s the best. Like I’m not even ?nished my course yet, but I’ve just got a job as a Division Two nurse and I’m wrapped. You work so hard for it and when you get there, it’s the best. (Kendall ? DoTS) A willingness to put in effort coupled with an attitude of dedication and com- mitment are attributes of an independent learner. Becoming an independent learner involves a new approach to study. Former pathways students contrasted their expectations of university learning with their experiences of becoming independent learners. Anna and Simon re? ected on different ideas about students and study. For Anna, a student should be â€Å"smart†,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"independent† and have a â€Å"love of learning†. For Simon, study at university in- volves thinking, discussing, â€Å"collaborating your thoughts and learning new things† as well as reading, reasoning and writing. [st3:When I was in Year 12 I would say that you have to be smart to come here. But doing DoTS teaches you what you need to be. You have to have a love of learning. You have to be an independent learner. (Anna ? DoTS) I remember in high school that I didn’t know what studying was. Now, for me, studying means doing what I need to do. I think of doing the work that re- quires me to think and learn something outside a lecture. Thinking is part of studying and so is discussing. It’s a process. You’re collaborating your thoughts and learning new things. An assignment is a good example. Because you have to read extra material, you have to have an understanding, you have to do your rea- soning and you have to put your ideas down. (Simon ? DoTS) Like Simon, Tony recognised the differences of degree study. For Tony, study at university involves â€Å"work on your own† and â€Å"research on your own†. In MSAFP I was used to having, let’s say, three tutorials in a week and in those tu- torials I could work through that assignment with my lecturers and ?nd out what I have to do. But you ? nd in undergrad you only have one tutorial in a week and you have to do your work on your own, research on your own and everything. (Tony ? MSAFP) Becoming an independent learner involves students also recognising when they need help. Asking for help is an issue that new university students, and particu- larly pathways students, ? nd challenging. For example, in the UK, low SES stu- dents studying at Shef? eld Hallam University tended not to ask for help but rather accepted their dif? culties with university study as though they were a nor- mal part of life. In in-depth interviews, both mature-aged students and school leavers reported they rarely approached tutors and instead preferred to draw on informal supports and peer networks. One student reported being afraid the CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 120 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 120 tutor would think she was a â€Å"slacker†, while others drew on a â€Å"strong sense of self-reliance† coupled with an â€Å"immense determination to succeed† (Clegg, Bradley & Smith, 2006: 107? 108, 111). Similarly, in a survey of 101 direct entry Business students in Scotland, the majority did not disclose personal issues that  might affect their study (Barron & D’Annunzio-Green, 2009: 20). Although students may be reluctant to consult tutors in person, they are also reluctant to seek help online. In Australia, at a new suburban campus of the Uni- versity of Queensland, students knuckled down to study independently and without assistance. More than 80% of the students rarely, if ever, asked for help, support, or assistance online (Ballantyne, Madden, & Todd, 2009: 306). New stu- dents may not feel comfortable to ask for help when they deal with new lectur- ers and tutors each semester. Both mature-aged students and school leavers at  the University of Wollongong felt that interaction with their lecturers, whether online or face to face, was important in feeling comfortable enough to ask for help (Lefoe, Gunn & Hedberg, 2002: 44). Other students, studying Psychology at Macquarie University, found they only received help from a tutor when they asked directly for assistance (Plum, 1999: 244? 245). While former DoTS students described independence at university as being â€Å"up to you†, they also pointed out that assistance is available when requested. Paige, Therese and Helen each stressed the importance of seeking assistance and asking for help. For Paige, it is important not to be scared to seek advice. For Therese, it is important to â€Å"ask them†. For Helen, it is important to â€Å"take the initiative† and â€Å"go and ask for help†. I think you have to make sure that you’re not scared about going to ask for help, because people are there to help you. (Paige ? DoTS) My brother did say to me once that the lecturers are there to help you. If you have a question, you must ask them. (Therese ? DoTS) I think you have to be more independent. You have to be willing to put in the work and you have to be willing to ask for help. Those who aren’t willing to ask  for help, they fall by the wayside. When you know you might be drowning, you’ve just got to get up and take the initiative. Like in a workplace, no one will come and ask you. You’ve got to go and ask for help yourself. (Helen ? DoTS) Furthermore, Helen outlined the strategies she used in asking for help when, as a pathway student, she was â€Å"afraid† or just â€Å"con? dent enough† to seek advice. I would just go and ask whoever I needed to ask. I’d knock on people’s door ? lecturers, tutors, anyone. If I was a bit afraid of asking, I’d actually ring and ask at the front of? ce, â€Å"Who do I speak to? † and they’d put you through. I was con? dent enough to do that, I think, from working in my gap year. If I hadn’t worked that year, I think I probably wouldn’t have been. (Helen ? DoTS) Putting in effort helps a student adjust to the new style of independent learning at university. Independent learning requires a student to become metacognitive about their learning and study habits, so they are aware of when to seek advice. Taking the initiative to ask for help is an attribute of a student who is taking con- trol of their learning and becoming independent. INDEPENDENT LEARNING 121 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 121 THE RIGHT ATTITUDE. Students cannot become independent learners unless they have the right attitude to study and a willingness to learn. Melinda, Lisa and Vaughan recognised the importance of a willingness to learn in university study and each drew on their vocational motivation to persist with university study. For Melinda, wanting to learn is â€Å"probably number one†. For Lisa, it is important to â€Å"want to learn†. For Vaughan, it is important to have a â€Å"desire to learn† to absorb information. Wanting to be a student and wanting to learn are probably number one. Wanting to actually do it, because you’ll never do it if you don’t want to. You have to want to learn. If you just want to be a nurse, you can be a nurse with just a pass. But to be a good nurse, you have to want to be a student. You have the chance to learn, so you can get High Distinctions, so that you can be a great nurse, not just a nurse. (Melinda ? DoTS) I want to learn. I never used to want to learn, but I do now. I actually want to learn about all the different things and how everything works in Nursing. (Lisa ? DoTS) I think it’s about willingness to learn too. There’s a mountain of information out there. If you’ve got no desire to learn, you’re not going to take any of it in, so  you’ve got to want to be there. (Vaughan ? DoTS) The right attitude helps a student actually complete the work. A student’s atti- tude to learning is important in accepting the responsibility of a university work- load. Whether a student’s most recent learning experiences were at a secondary school, a vocational college, or in the workplace, becoming an independent learner in a university environment necessitates a different attitude (Booth, 1997). Age may also in? uence a student’s attitude. In Australia, mature-aged students have been found to be more committed to study than school leavers. Compared  to school leavers in outer western Brisbane, twice as many studying parents (over the age of 25) never skipped classes and regularly used support services. Moreover, students more than one year out of school were more con? dent and decisive than school leavers and were seven times more likely to complete the weekly readings (22% versus 3%) (Ballantyne, Madden & Todd, 2009: 307? 308). While it may be the case that mature-age students have the right attitude to study, many school leavers in the MSAFP and DoTS pathway also demonstrate the right attitude. Having a willingness to change may best indicate a student’s capacity to ad-just to independent learning as well as to enable academic engagement and epis- temological access. In the UK, a University of Nottingham survey of History stu- dents found two-thirds of students expected to change over the period of their degree, suggesting that adjustment to university is an ongoing process and not just a dif? cult phase at the beginning of the ? rst year. These History students, who preferred discussion and debate over any other method of learning, ex- pected to develop open-mindedness, interpersonal communication skills, and in- dependence (Booth, 1997: 209, 214; see also Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley &  CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 122 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 122 Pearce, 2009). Their positive attitudes to learning enabled them to persist with study. Similarly, former MSAFP and DoTS pathway students highlighted the in? u- ence of a student’s attitude in persisting with university study. Persistence de- pends on motivation and engagement as well as commitment and a sense of re- sponsibility to learn. Sammy, Elaine and Lindy af? rmed a willingness to learn underpins success in university study. You have to want to do something to achieve success in it. (Sammy ?MSAFP) If you put your mind to it and tell yourself you can do it, you can be successful. That’s what I think. (Elaine ? MSAFP) I tell myself, â€Å"This is your future. The future is in your hands. † Nobody can write my exam for me. Nobody can study for me. It’s my future. It’s my life and the way I live it is my choice. I make myself study by looking at everyone else studying. When they’re all studying, I get motivated to study. (Lindy ? MSAFP) Like them, Meg, Paige and Therese each clearly articulated a willingness to learn and recognised that university study is serious business. Meg and Paige high-lighted that the right attitude helps a student achieve success, while Therese stressed that skills development is made possible when a student has the right attitude. When I came here, I was 19 and I was ready to start being a grown-up. What I do now is going to play out my future. Every step I take is towards where I want to be. (Meg ? DoTS) I think I’m a lot more focused now. I know what I have to do and what needs to be done, that I can’t slack off and that I have to meet deadlines. I know that be- cause I’ve chosen to do this, I have to put in the effort. (Paige ? DoTS) You should actually want to be here and to take it seriously. You’re not here just to have fun. With skills, you can develop them over time. You can teach yourself how to study and what’s the best way to study, how to ? nd information that you need and that is relevant, then to be able to differentiate between what’s relevant and what’s not relevant. But that comes with time I think. (Therese ? DoTS) Other former pathways students expressed an awareness of their changing atti- tudes to study. Caitlyn recalled, with some humour, the dependent attitude she overcame during the ? rst semester of the DoTS pathway. I remember actually asking the lecturer if I could have my birthday off, and he said no! (Caitlyn ? DoTS) Chloe and Lisa re? ected on their changing attitudes toward their social lives as they became more serious about study. Chloe gave up excessive partying on weekends, while Lisa changed her â€Å"party life into uni life† I went out every weekend and got drunk. I’ve given that up now, because a hang- over lasts quite a few days with me. It really knocks me down. (Chloe ? DoTS) I just needed to change my party life into uni life. I liked to hang out with my friends more and go out on the weekends. But that’s changed now. (Lisa ? DoTS) INDEPENDENT LEARNING 123 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 123. Vicky, Lisa and Melinda reiterated that a student’s attitude is re? ected in their be- haviour and highlighted that choosing to attend classes re? ected a commitment to study and a sense of responsibility to learn. Turn up to- class. Don’t just say, â€Å"If I miss this lecture, it won’t matter,† because it will. The blackboard site doesn’t give you everything. (Vicky ? DoTS) I know there are compulsory classes, but you have a choice of what you want to learn and what you want to do. (Lisa ? DoTS) If you don’t want to go to lectures, don’t. If you don’t want to go to tutes, don’t. If you don’t want to do the readings, don’t. It’s your education that suffers from it and it’s your grades. I don’t want to say there are not people there to help you, but they’re only there if you ask for help. (Melinda ? DoTS) Former students of both the MSAFP and DoTS pathways point out that success- ful students are self-disciplined. Sammy, Chitalu and Chloe re? ected on how self- discipline helped them not only to keep up to date, but also to enjoy studying. I have a personal laptop and when I ? nd myself playing [games], then I think that tomorrow I have a tutorial and if I have studied enough for that. If I haven’t, I im-mediately switch off, so I start reading my lecture slides and trying to understand the questions that might be discussed in the tutorial. (Sammy ? MSAFP) It’s not really hard work when you are disciplined and you do what you’re sup- posed to do. But when you take it lightly and you just have fun, it really becomes hard work. (Chitalu ? MSAFP) I don’t really need to make myself do it because most essays I enjoy writing and enjoy learning. I guess I’m pretty disciplined. (Chloe ? DoTS) Yet, other former pathways students also pointed out the risks of procrastination and avoidance. Chipo, Tara and Lisa re?ected on wasting time and delaying, or avoiding, study commitments. For Chipo, postponing study is â€Å"time wasted†, while for Tara and for Lisa, it was easy to â€Å"put things off† or put â€Å"everything aside†. If you waste your time, time wasted is time that you can never get back. I had to learn these things as I went along because, you know, you postpone things. You say, â€Å"Oh no, I’ll do it later† and then next thing you discover you’ve got an assign- ment due tomorrow. (Chipo ? MSAFP) I tend to procrastinate a little bit and to put things off. (Tara ? DoTS) At the start, I was too busy stressing out and putting everything aside and not  even thinking about it. In the second half of my ? rst year, I got the hang of what uni is all about and what you’ve got to do to get by. (Lisa ? DoTS) Like them, Daniel, who returned to study from the workforce, tended to pro- crastinate. The solution was to have his life â€Å"timetabled†. I’m a terminal procrastinator. I always have been and stupidly enough I’ve been conditioned to actually continue to do so because I keep getting reasonable results in spite of procrastinating. I timetable a lot. I have my life timetabled so I start the semester saying, â€Å"Alright, I have this on this day and this on that day† and then. CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 124 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 124 around work I schedule one day where I focus on each subject. On that day, whether it is travelling on the train or at home in the afternoon, I do all of the reading and work on assignments and stuff like that. I allocate the time to do the work. (Daniel ? DoTS) One aspect of independent learning that former pathways students found easy was being â€Å"in control† of their own study. In contrast to high school where stu- dents felt pushed, particularly by teachers and through competition with their  peers, at university students directed their own learning. Lindy found being in control â€Å"the easiest thing† about becoming an independent learner. The easiest thing was being in control. I didn’t have a very hard time getting used to being in control. (Lindy ? MSAFP) Like Lindy, Grace, Andrew, Julia and Max appreciated the autonomy of univer- sity study. Arts students Grace and Andrew both preferred studying at university over studying at high school. Grace felt she was â€Å"making up for† bad habits at high school, while Andrew felt as if he were ? nally â€Å"doing something†. In high school I hated studying, so I ? nd it really strange. I ? gure I’m making up for what I didn’t do in high school. (Grace ? DoTS) I did uni pretty well actually. I kind of preferred it to high school. Because, for one, I felt like I was doing something. With high school, it’s kind of like what you have to do. We were there because we had to be. At uni, it was where I wanted to be. (Andrew ? DoTS) Similarly, Julia and Max had no trouble taking control of their learning. Educa- tion student Julia viewed her learning as an opportunity, while Arts student Max found his own progress â€Å"inspiring†. I can’t believe people don’t hand work in because that’s just beyond me. I just  think why would you not even give yourself a chance? When I saw the mark for attendance, I thought I’m going to make sure I attend every class because that’s marks I can count on and I would never not hand anything in because every mark is another step closer. (Julia ? DoTS) It’s all on yourself. You’re responsible for failing. You’re responsible for doing your assignments. You’re responsible for passing. You’re responsible for your grades. There’s no one pushing you along. It’s inspiring to think that you’re con- trolling your own learning. (Max ? DoTS) Having the right attitude to study is important for success. Regarding themselves as serious, responsible and goal-oriented students, some former pathways stu- dents were openly critical of their peers who did not share the same â€Å"right atti- tude† to study. Andrew and Rachel were both critical of students who aim for a minimum pass, regarding them to be â€Å"unmotivated†. I come across a lot of unmotivated students who are like, â€Å"I’m just here to get a pass and get my degree and get out. † (Andrew ? DoTS) I actually ? nd a lot of people are only motivated to get that pass score. They are not that motivated to go the extra mile. (Rachel ? DoTS) INDEPENDENT LEARNING. 125 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 11:57 AM Page 125 Like them, Jenna regarded some of the other students as having the wrong atti- tude for studying. Describing their attitudes as â€Å"very lazy† and â€Å"very blas †, Jenna contrasted her own willingness to learn and to put in effort with their lack of motivation and poor attitudes. There are de? nitely some students who are very lazy in their attitude. They don’t go to classes. They don’t do the reading. They have a very blase attitude and I ? nd that very frustrating because I’m here to learn and I put in the time and effort. (Jenna ? DoTS).