Academic Honesty Essay

We can identify some forms of academic dishonesty as, copied exams, this implies to turn and see another student’s test, receiving or giving verbal and / or nonverbal, change the tests, hiding notes, or modification of quizzes. It can also occur in tasks, jobs and projects. It is possible to pass the task among students, falsify data, lack of contribution to a team, and hire someone to make their work. Other types can be present even with bribes or threats against the teacher. Through the plagiarism, the student gives the impression that you cannot learn or that do not want to learn. Also, you may not have a good relationship between student and teacher. â€Å"The love of learning is the most effective strategy to combat academic dishonesty. † Below are some reasons for plagiarism: – Reduced interest in learning – Plagiarism is easy to do – Many students are more interested in the grade than in the learning process – They are busy working or doing other things – Non appreciation of the knowledge Why is Academic Dishonesty Happening? Society has communicated the concept that students need to acquire a degree for future employment, financial security, and personal reasons (Choi, 2009; Cohen ; Brawer, 2003; McCabe, Butterfield, ; Trevino, 2006). And students often believe they will receive higher salaries from future employers if they have exceptional grades throughout their college careers (Norton, Tilley, Newstead, ; Franklyn-Stokes, 2001). This is a reality that plenty of students are living. Plenty of them are lucky enough like me, to get the job they’ve always wanted before they earn a degree. â€Å"Indeed, plagiarism and cheating are reflections of the need to get good grades at all cost; and, they continue to be serious problems in academia† (Danielsen, Simon, ; Pavlick, 2006; Fontana, 2009; Lipka, 2009; McCabe, 2009; McCabe et al. , 2006; Rosamond, 2002; Wilkerson, 2009). This is causing that some –early professionals- just try their best to rush their way into a degree without paying any attention to their assignments. In the beginning it was like that for me because honestly, I felt I was not learning anything. My reality was that I learned â€Å"everything† in the field. But soon enough I realized that college is not necessarily the place to learn specific topics, is the place where you were how to manage your knowledge and put it in the best use. At the end of the day academic dishonesty is a behavior that makes students gain an unfair advantage and it need to be avoid. â€Å"The risk of plagiarism in academic settings can be reduced by not setting the same essay every year. Burnard (2002) reflected on the possibility of plagiarism extending beyond coursework essays to dissertations. He felt that written examinations may reduce the problem (Burnard 2002). Doing our job correctly will guaranty that we learn in the process and also that we will get the grade we worked for. In my case, I am writing this paper because due to wrong quotation, it was understood that used someone else information as mine. In order to avoid this in the future, students have to make sure to follow the guidelines when it comes to proper citation. It very important to have credit to whom deserves it, and that’s why double checking and practicing the properly citation its key in order to have a clean paper. Now, we have to be clear that any material that is consider as common knowledge does not have to be cited. Also, field-specific common knowledge does not need citation unless it contains facts from a specific source. As I mentioned, my case was because of wrong citing, but at the end of the day the consequences are the same as of a student stealing information an using it for an assignment. Professors take this very seriously because it is not fair to the students who spend hours working. â€Å"‘This is superior work,’ wrote a professor on a student’s paper. ‘ It was excellent when Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote it, just as it is today. Saint Thomas gets an A. You get an F†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (Alschuler and Blimling 1995, p. 123). We must understand that dishonesty in the classroom is a serious issue, it is not just a cheating situation, it is considered for some professionals as a crime that deserves a penalty. Plagiarism can be done very easily, and it can even happen when proper citation has been done. Another way to avoid plagiarism, could be by paraphrasing and adding the name of the author; for example: â€Å"According to Carlos Santana, guitars became famous in†¦ † it is a way of giving credit and making your sentences flow in a better way. I will conclude this paper by saying that we all know what plagiarism is, by this I mean that every single student know what is good and bad and academic dishonest will end when we start being honest with ourselves, our instructors and why not, also our classmates. It is true that at time it can be difficult to complete certain assignments, but there is nothing that can’t be fixed with communication. Sending an email to out instructor or asking for help will make the learning experience better and will guide us away from plagiarizing a document. Reference: – Choi, Cohen, and Brawer. International Journal of Business and Social Science. 3rd ed. Vol. 3. N. p. : n. p. , 2012. Print – Burnard P. All your own work? Essays and the internet. Nurse Education Today. 22, 3, 187-188. (2002) – Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass. Merriam-Webster, Inc. ; 2003:946.

A Personal Nature – The poet Robert Frost

The poet Robert Frost has been described as â€Å"the gentle New England poet†. This is because of his eloquent and subtle use of New England nature scenes as a metaphor for the human condition. In his poems Robert Frost manipulates nature, humanizing and exaggerating it with the purpose of creating a fictional world for his characters. This use of nature as the active driving force for the poems is vital to Robert Frost's subtle implication of deeper meanings in his poems. Frank Lentricchia noted that in â€Å"Birches† nature â€Å"performs the potter's art† and molds ice onto the speaker's figurative birch tree which becomes â€Å"bracken by the load† (line 14). Such a vivid description of the natural process of winter storms leaving behind loads of ice to weigh down trees speaks volumes to the weight the speaker must feel on his life. The poem goes on to allow the speaker to re-live his fantasy and become a â€Å"swinger of the birches† (line 58). In this metaphor, swinging in the birches -nature- is compared to leaving your cares behind and being happy again, in this way according to Frank Lentricchia, Frost â€Å"grants (the speaker's) wish. † These acts of nature give an â€Å"original and distinctive vision to the poem† says John C. Kemp. This is obvious in Frank Lentricchia's allusion to Mother Nature in his analysis of the speaker's descent from heaven in which â€Å"the blessed pull of the earth is felt again† (Kemp). Because Mother Nature is nature herself the speaker feels that nature has a warm pull on man, further emphasizing and humanizing Frost's consistent use of nature. Robert Frost goes even further than creating a metaphor of nature to human condition. The brilliance of the poet brings nature to a humanized level so he can manipulate nature itself to fit his motivation. The purpose of this is to rid the poem of contaminating â€Å"matter-of-fact† (line 22) verbiage. According to Frank Lentricchia the emotive power of the poem rises uncontaminated from the â€Å"morass of philosophical problems† that harm the poem if the poet decides to turn to knowledge of facts to influence a point (Lentricchia). This theme of a humanized nature is evident in â€Å"Design† in which nature's design â€Å"steere[s] the white moth thither in the night,† (line 12) giving nature an active, driving role in the poem's message of the design of nature. Frank Lentricchia also notes that this â€Å"humanized nature† indicates a â€Å"human will riding roughshod over a pliable external world,† giving Robert Frost's characters a sense of separation from the â€Å"external† world and a feeling of security in nature. In â€Å"Birches† nature stands humanized as the poet allows the speaker to transcend the scientific universe and, at the same time, the poet allows the fictive world to be penetrated by imagination (Lentricchia). This secure world in which Robert Frost's characters live in is not a realistic nature but rather an â€Å"unsanctioned vision of the world† (Lentricchia). An immediate example of this is Frost's â€Å"Design† in which the abnormal â€Å"dimpled and white† (line 1) spider sits atop the mutant â€Å"white heal-all† (line 2). These two extremely rare albino obscurities are likely to never meet each other in the real world; however Robert Frost has idyllically introduced them as companions in nature's supreme design. The pleasant swinging of a boy in a birch tree in â€Å"Birches† is also obviously fabricated because of the perfect, linear oscillations of the boy's swing. This lie is very effective, however because the smooth, downward swing of the speaker back to earth's â€Å"love† (line 51) is a redemptive personality inhabited by Robert Frost's Nature, giving man and Nature an intimate connection. The ice on the trees in â€Å"Birches† is also very idyllic. Because of the weight of the ice, the branches may never â€Å"right themselves,† (line 16) however the beauty of the ice makes one believe that the â€Å"inner dome of heaven† had fallen. Although nature in the form of ice represents life's burdens, it redeems its relationship with man through its manifestation of a birch tree in which it grants the speaker his wish by launching him into heaven and back again. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes man's relationship with nature so deeply that he felt man was â€Å"no better acquainted with his limbs† than he is â€Å"with the air, the mountains, the tides, the moon, and the sun† (Montiero). Richard Gray comments that in â€Å"Design,† Robert Frost's imaginary Nature â€Å"whisper[s] secret, sympathetic messages to us. † Because of this perfect relationship established between nature and the characters, caused by the humanization of nature and the exaggerated fantasy world, Frost effectively portrays all of the character's emotions. Robert Frost's â€Å"resource as a poet† is effective enough to use nature not for â€Å"shock's and changes† to keep the reader interested, but rather as a useful tool to deliver the best message (Lentricchia). Because of Frost's great manipulative talents he is able to do what most poets can't. For instance, Frank Lentricchia believes that in â€Å"Birches† Frost's use of the â€Å"pathless woods† would appear â€Å"trite† if any other poets were using it, but for Frost it only adds to the overall feeling of the poem. In â€Å"Birches,† nature manifests itself in three beings- the ice on the tree, the fanciful birch which lifts men up into the heavens, and the â€Å"pathless woods† (line 43) which represents life's considerations. As a result, the poem's passionate concluding lines, its closing pronouncements on life, death, and human aspiration, do not give the reader a sense of finality. Instead, â€Å"they are presented as doctrines that we must accept or reject on the basis of our belief in the speaker as a wise countryman whose familiarity with birch trees, ice storms, and pathless woods gives him authority as a philosopher† (Kemp) . Therefore, the â€Å"the natural order – tree, ice crystal, pathless wood† functions as proof of the wisdom of Robert Frost (Kemp). The manipulation of nature in Robert Frost's poetry turns it into a character rather than a withdrawn force; this character shares human emotion and fantasy and creates a very inviting fiction for the poem's characters to live in. Not only does this characterization emphasize Frost's emotions, but it gives meaning to them. Robert Frost's intention with poetry was to express his feelings in an uplifting way, not to pour out his personal struggles in a form of self-pity, and through such an exact setting of a personal nature, he accomplished just that.

Are Management Information Systems needed in youth work Literature review

Are Management Information Systems needed in youth work - Literature review Example I feel the change required for the implementation of a new system is one of the biggest challenges I will face as a manager and that the youth service must research seriously from the beginning. There will be a significant amount of change over the coming years therefore I am very interested to explore whether MIS systems will actually help youth work upon implementation of the new system after managing the huge changes required by the system. How is this relevant to my professional practice? Change is thrust upon youth workers on a regular basis and my dissertation topic, in my opinion, is very relevant to my professional practice as it will test my ability or inability as a manager of managing change. I plan to devise a strategy for innovation and change regarding the way information is collected, evaluated and presented within the youth service covering a two year period based upon my research findings and not on the approach of –a system has been bought we must change ever ything in order to use it immediately. LITERATURE Three course books of Master of Computer Science, Information Technology, were referred most. Internet was also searched for appropriate materials and following result was found. An advance search for â€Å"Research methods† produced about 84,800,000 references, search for â€Å"Management Theories† produced about 36,200,000 references, â€Å"Leadership Styles† produced about 15,400,000 references, â€Å"Change Management† produced about 288,000,000 references, â€Å"Management Information System† produced about 283,000,000 references, and â€Å"Organizational Development† produced about 26,500,000 references. A look up was made in each of the above search one by one and the best from the top was selected. A total number of eleven publications were chosen for reading and collecting further information. FINDINGS I have identified six themes in this section for effective implementation of Manag ement Information System: understanding concepts and deliverables; assessing values and functionalities; methodologies for successful deployment; managing resources; and benefiting from intensive usage; leading staff and managing change. Understanding Concepts and Deliverables A set of components combined together to bring out or produce a desired whole is known as a system. There are many types of systems (Pidwirny 2006). Most systems share many common characteristics but there are three most important components which when integrated together forms a system: Inputs; Process; and Outputs. A system receives inputs; process them with some functionalities; and produces outputs. Information is a processed data, the one which a human mind can easily understand. If a set of numbers are given in a row and column grid as shown in figure 1, it is not possible to understand what this data means and to whom it belongs until the data is processed. If the same data is processed and produced as shown in figure 2, it becomes now possible for every one to understand what this data means and to whom it belongs. This processed data is called Information. â€Å"Data represents facts of any kind. In the process of recording important particulars of any event, it is the discretion of the management, what should be recorded and how it should be presented. When this data is processed or reformatted, it becomes Information. Information is a subset of data which adds to the knowledge.† (Mujaheed 2009) The original source from which information comes or its

'A Council of Europe convention on trafficking of women Essay

'A Council of Europe convention on trafficking of women - Essay Example generally and unanimously agreed by researchers, international institutions – including the International Organization for Migration (IOM, 2010), various agencies of the United Nations (UNESCAP, 2010), as well as human rights groups which are established to confront the issue and prevent its rise and spread, that human trafficking and especially trafficking of women and children is expanding at a rapid pace, and is considered to be an exceptionally lucrative business, and needless to add, a gross violation of human and women’s rights. Human trafficking is regarded as one of the most lucrative activities in the realm of organized crime, world-wide, and ranks among the top three crimes in the world, including trafficking in arms and drug trade. Furthermore, despite being recognized as one of the top three crimes across the globe, and having a wide nexus of traffickers dealing in smuggling of humans across borders, the perpetrators of such a ghastly crime often get away with lesser punishments as compared to those involved in drug dealing and arms trafficking (Ethridge, Handleman, 2009). The issues of human trafficking and concerns related to it have been raised ever since the beginning of the twentieth century. The ignominious trade attracted world attention since the framing of the first international counter-trafficking treaty signed in 1904 (Weissbrodt, Vega, 2007, Pp. 41) and the movement to prevent such blatant disregard toward human life, gained momentum since 1990s. However, the innumerable efforts to curb this trade have been rendered futile, as is evident from the range of studies and available literature which point to the fact that the phenomenon is actually on the rise. The studies also reveal that the major cause behind such a trade is the growing disparity between the rich and the poor as well as the widening economic gap between nations (Chandra, Herrman, et al., 2009; Thachuk, 2007; Siegel, Nelen, 2008). Women, and children, invariably fall

Other than the September 11, 2001 attacks, and later than 2000, Term Paper

Other than the September 11, 2001 attacks, and later than 2000, identify and describe one event that has influenced (changed, modified, added, subtracted) homel - Term Paper Example Hurricane Katrina turned out to be the worst thing that could happen to our homeland and the pieces were left for Department of Homeland Security to pick up. Katrina was a category 4 hurricane and FEMA, part of the Department for Homeland Security, reacted to it according to a prepared plan. But nothing could have prepared Americans for the destruction brought on by the hurricane. No one had anticipated the ruin and damage (Borja 2008). Before the development of one Department of Homeland Security, these activities were carried out by more than 40 federal agencies. Although there had always been talk of bringing all of them under one banner; the need for one entity was truly felt after the 9/11 attacks. A March 2001 bill proposed that FEMA, Border Patrol, Customs along with several other offices be merged into one agency that will be responsible for all security related services for homeland. The Office of Homeland Security was announced 11 days after the 9/11 attacks. Its main purpose was to safeguard the country against any threats of terrorism is the future (Borja 2008). This report will discuss how the hurricane forever changed homeland security and led to the introduction of a whole new set of previously ignored challenges. Hurricane Katrina was unprecedented due to its sheer force and size. It was a huge challenge and the most destructive event in American history. It challenged our disaster response capabilities to the extreme and brought out the deficiencies in our nation’s preparedness and response facilities (Townsend 2006). According to a presidential address in 2002, the Department of Homeland Security had four goals that became the responsibility of four of its divisions accordingly. The Border Security Division is responsible for guarding the borders and preventing terrorists from entering the country. The Emergency preparedness and Response Centre has to work in tandem

The effect of a New Technology on Society, Education, Entertainment, Research Paper

The effect of a New Technology on Society, Education, Entertainment, Financial Interests - Research Paper Example To gain a thorough understanding of the effect that technology has we will look at the impact it has had on the social, educational, entertainment as well as financial spheres. As far as technology goes the impact that it has had on the society has been in phenomenal. Every aspect of life has been altered due to the impression made by technology. It not only affects people regardless of their ages worldwide but it also goes to reflect the novelty that the human mind is capable of. How the society is affected by the introduction of rapid technological innovations can be categorized by looking at the most altering technologies. The first of these is the internet technology. Gone are the times when people struggle to gain information and date in order to make critical decisions. The introduction of the internet fills that information gap providing consumers with a wealth of information to make smart and informed decisions. It provides a platform for students as well as teachers for cons ultation or referrals. The Internet provides a place for businesses as well as individuals to find the information that they need and the exchange of information a simplified process. Not only can through proper usage companies build themselves it can enable consumers to easily search for specific services tailor made for them (McGinn, 2001). Despite the ease of information and flexibility that is the result of the technological progress of the World Wide Web there are other negative implications that it has contributed to as far as the society is concerned. True that consumer can make better decisions resulting in an influx of products that are of higher quality and value. Also it has lead to the world moving towards a society where individuals everywhere are integrated and a lot more connected however there are harmful implications of this technology as well. The first of these is the availability of harmful and unhealthy material reliable online that is easy to access for everyon e regardless of age. There are then also individuals who publish harmful material on the internet and due to weak controls to censor children and adults alike have easy access. Internet crime, in terms of hacking, blackmailing and manipulation online is another negative implication due to the introduction of this technology. Cyber crime is now a threatening advent of the society on which is possible only due to the introduction of internet technology. The introduction of nano technology is also deep rooted as far as the restructuring of the society is concerned. It has impacted not only the area of human health, by the use of nanotechnology to treat diseases like cancer but also the way it can be used to dismantle cancer tumors. The health sector has made numerous advancements which have led to the treatment of diseases effectively and enhancing human health leading to higher life expectancy. In addition to the impact on the health sector, the electronics industry is also affected d ue to nanotechnology. This can be seen in the way the use of the nano, variable devices and applications can be built. A significant incorporation of this concept is used for combat as well as espionage for considerable improvements in military strength and defense. Energy technology is another category which has impacted the society and our way of living today. This can be seen by the introduction of solar, wind and hydrogen technology of the battery. These

John Steinbeck Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

John Steinbeck - Essay Example The institutions that yielded from World War Two were regarded as denials of human dignity and sustenance in The Grapes of Wrath which was John’s most controversial work in his writing career (John, 2011). The novel condemns the generation for all wrong reasons and its inability to uphold and guarantee human sustenance and dignity. This description of the 1930s and 1940s generation although strict has shifted the paradigm to the current generation. The current generation is by far significantly different from the one described by John in 1930s. The current generation does not entertain and permit slavery and other form of dehumanizing practices like what happened then. A departure from the past generation, the current one is offering economic, socio-cultural and political freedoms to countries and regions unlike the only capitalism that was preferred then with all its inadequacies. Currently, countries may choose any form of socio-economic system from capitalism like United States to communism like China (John, 2011). However a common characteristic with the two generation is how they handle natural disasters. The preparedness is not adequate considering how the John’s generation handled the Great Depression is not any different from what the current generation handled the Great Recession in 2007/2008. The difference is perception and perspectives of how the current generation approaches issues and natural disasters due to advancement of technology unlike the past. Point worth noting is the responsiveness of natural disasters and economic recessions, the current generation has improved mostly due to sophisticated way of information transfer. Respect for human rights has greatly improved with the current generation compared to that of our parents and grandparents. In conclusion the current generation differs significantly virtually in all

ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment Example Power can be divided into five categories. The types of power may therefore include reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, expert power and referent power. The proportions of the powers can differ in managers depending on aspects such as experience, age, expertise, skills among others. Therefore, although Bill Thompson might possess all the types of the powers, their proportion greatly differs. For instance, Yukl points out that even though the base salaries of the employees are set by the company, Bill can play a major role in influencing the â€Å"size of an employee’s annual merit rise† (521). Bill therefore possesses high amount of reward power, since he can influence the performance of employees by increasing their annual merit rise. In addition, Bill also possesses legitimate power. Bill has the ability to decide on whether to suspend or fire the employees who are performing poorly in the organization. However, he needs the approval of the regional manager to do so. This therefore implies that Bill does not possess full legitimate power since the decision to suspend and fire employees is also dependent on another person. Comparatively, Bill also has high levels of expert power. The decisions concerning the store arrangement and price assortment are determined by the headquarters office (Yukl 521), however, Bill can exercise his expertise to influence or affect the store performance to a limited extend. This implies that Bill’s expertise power is limited to his area of work. Managers could employ the use of many different tactics to influence their employees. How a manager relates with the employees could be an important factor on the success or failure of an organization. Managers can use strategies such as constructive feedback, behavior molding, and reviewing performance, among others to influence the performance of employees. Bill

The Renovation of English Vocabulary from Old English to Modern Research Paper

The Renovation of English Vocabulary from Old English to Modern English - Research Paper Example In the transformation of English language from Old English to Modern English, crucial changes have taken place in vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation which is illustrated by an analysis of these elements in ‘Canterbury Tales’ compared with Modern English equivalents. In the Text 81 from the ‘Canterbury Tales’ one finds several examples of the origins of the vocabulary and a comparison of the original Old English vocabulary and their Modern English equivalents proves how the vocabulary developed overages. The Friar’s Prologue in ‘Canterbury Tales’, for example, opens with the lines: â€Å"This worthy lymytour, this noble free, / He made always a manner louring chiere / Upon the somonour, but for honesty / No vileyns word as yet to him speak he.† (Freeborn) This can be read in the Modern English as follows: â€Å"This worthy limiter, this noble friar, / He turned always a lowering face, and dire, / Upon the summoner, but for cou rtesy / No rude and insolent word as yet spoke he.† (Freeborn) The changes or the developments in each of these items can be easily recognised by the readers and this progress in the vocabulary of the language reflects the general nature of English language which has developed over several periods. In conclusion, the history of English language establishes that the language progressed from Old English to Middle English to Early Modern English and the vocabulary is a major area of language in which variations are more readily noticeable over long stretches of time.

The Strategic Role of HR in a State Government Essay Example for Free

The Strategic Role of HR in a State Government Essay In a growing number of organizations human resources are now viewed as a source of competitive advantage (Human Links, 2007). For human resource to be competitive, it entails competencies that are â€Å"obtained through highly developed employee skills, distinctive organizational cultures, management processes and systems† (Human Links, 2007). The presence of these distinctive competencies marks most of the high-performance organizations. But the need for such organizations is not limited only to the private sector. Government organizations, particularly state and local governments, â€Å"are becoming increasingly accountable for results and the cost-effective use of taxpayer money spent on programs and services† (TechRepublic, 2007). Government organizations are like businesses; businesses that may not be run for profit but rather are organized to meet a social goal in an effective and efficient manner (Mathys, 2006). Such said, â€Å"Government organizations must be responsive, use their resources well, and provide good value to the user and account ­ability to the taxpayer† (Mathys, 2006).   It is in this context that strategic human resource management has become just as important in the public sector. Strategic human resource management has been defined as ‘linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation and flexibility’ (Human Links, 2007). The whole process of strategic human resource management includes the measurement of the impact of actions and decisions.   Pressures on governments around the world have contributed to the rising adoption of â€Å"performance management and measurement† – a focus on program and service outputs and outcomes, and on â€Å"managing for results† (TechRepublic, 2007). One method that has had significant demonstrated success to improve process efficiency, timeliness, and customer satisfaction in business is the balanced scorecard (Mathys, 2006). The Balanced Scorecard is a â€Å"performance measurement that seeks to combine strategic planning with performance measurement† (Rogers, 2007). Robert Kaplan and David Norton published works on the Balanced Scorecard in 1991 and considered four areas in assessing the effectiveness of an organization in meeting its vision and strategy. These four areas or â€Å"perspectives† include: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, and Learning and Growth. According to Mathys, Kaplan and Norton’s model explains that visions and strategies are translated into objectives, measures, targets, and initiatives that answer the questions in each of the four categories: Financial, the main question is: â€Å"To succeed financially, how should we appear to our shareholders?† Customer, the focus is: â€Å"To achieve our vision, how should we appear to our customers?† Internal business process focuses on the question: â€Å"To satisfy our shareholders and customers, what business processes must we excel at?† Learning and growth category focuses on answering the question: â€Å"To achieve our vision, how will we sustain our ability to change and improve?† Essentially, this framework â€Å"balances the value of strategic inputs (leading indicators) with financial outputs (lagging indicators) to enable an organization to improve the way it plans, measures and communicates success† (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). It is now being applied by hundreds of successful organizations, in the public and private sectors, to align people, strategy and performance (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). In 1999, the State of Illinois embarked on a strategic planning initiative (SPI) to initiate change using the balanced scorecard (BSC).   The initial goals were performance management and public accountability, which required viewing the Illinois public as a customer whose opinion of government performance was of paramount importance (Lang, 2007). The State of Illinois translated its goals and strategy into different measures of success Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, Human Resources Systems Development (learning and growth). In this context, the Human Resources (HR) Department has a critical role in facilitating the whole process of instituting a comprehensive public governance system using this measurement system. People management is an important function of the HR Department and can play an important role in an organizations financial performance as well as the service it offers its customers (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). People management includes managing recruitment selection, turnover issues, employee benefits, and acting as an information resource in HR issues for the organization (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). First, it is important that the HR department views the state government as well as its constituency as its customer. The HR Department ensures that loyalty among employees towards the organization is intact and also that the final constituents or the general population of the state government therefore are benefited. Second, the HR department looks into the other departments within the state government and assesses their goals and strategies as well in contributing to the achievement of the primary goal of the state government. This can be viewed particularly on learning and growth concerns such as how the various capabilities of various employees can be built up and enhanced so they can very well respond to the goals of the organizations, among others. This entails for example employing a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) tool so that employee capabilities may be surveyed, consolidated and aptly tapped. Knowledge of employee skills, abilities and aptitude could save the organization from investing on capability building trainings that do not address the real needs of employees. Third, in terms of internal business process, the role of the HR Department is to â€Å"indicate how much each employee contributes to the organization such as revenue generated minus the cost of salary, benefits and training† (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). This basically looks into the productivity of the individual employee as well as the consolidated output of such individual productivity levels with which the HR Department also has that function to design a merit and rewards system to increase again such productivity. This is vital to keep the bureaucracy lean. Fourthly, in financial terms, the HR Department shall be able to perform a rationalized system of recruitment because it sees fit which employees to hire based on the scope of work and job specifications. Aside from recruitment, HR also could do regular employee performance evaluations so as to determine which employee has actually continually met the specifications of the job. Again, this saves the state government from unnecessary hiring of staff and checking of redundancy, among others, since the staffing needs of the organization has been streamlined. With the HR Department using these four perspectives, it helps the government administration to keep â€Å"track the value of activities (e.g. human resource development) which previously had not been audited effectively and had not been regarded as contributors to the bottom line (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). As in many private corporations, HR Departments of state governments shall have to use hard data in measuring performance. This can be done by linking â€Å"employee competencies with behavioral objectives to align job specifications, recruitment, promotion, appraisal, and reward systems† (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). A number of HR measures or benchmarks can be employed to check on performance and these include: â€Å"Applications per vacancy, Internal promotions, Hours training, Peer group reviewing, Cross-functional projects, Knowledge sharing, Employee turnover, Cost per hire, Employee satisfaction,† among others (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). The HR Department can also assist the various departments of the state government in targeting and developing milestones that keep its focus on the goals.   The goals of the state government must be cascaded to every department with the help of the HR Department. In the end, some of the following questions may serve to measure the four perspectives: Customer/Constituency. What services have been delivered to the constituents in order to secure their welfare and how do these relate to people’s expectations towards the state government? Learning and Growth. Have the skills and competencies of officers and staff have been upgraded and in what manner? Internal Business Processes. What desirable levels of effectiveness and efficiency have been achieved in serving the constituents? Financial Resources. What revenue generating options have been tapped and which government services have already been provided at a reasonable price? In all these, the role of HR should be to facilitate rather than dictate the targets and outcomes. Keeping the measurements simple allows it to be more understandable and adaptable. If it is not seen to be fully integrated with the business imperatives of the Chief Executive it will not be given the attention it deserves by operational managers (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). List of References Chaturvedi, Siddharth. October 2007. Strategic Human Resource Management. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.humanlinks.com/manres/articles/shrm/htm. Lang, Sandra S.   January 2007. The CPA Journal. â€Å"Balanced Scorecard and Government Entities Moving Forward at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/604/essentials/p48.htm. Mathys, Nicholas. February 2006. Managing for Performance Results Series 2006. â€Å"Using the Balanced Scorecard: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Postal Service and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.† Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/MathysReport.pdf Rogers, Martha. June 2007. â€Å"Balanced Score Card Usage in Local Government Audit Shops.† Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.governmentauditors.org/content/view/311/123/. Strategic Management Partners. January 2007. Briefing Papers: Using the HR Balanced Scorecard. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.consult-smp.com/archives/2005/02/using_the_hr_ba_html. TechRepublic. October 2007. Whitepapers: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Improve State and Local Government Performance. Retrieved October 2007 from http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/webcast.aspx. Yahoo! Answers. October 2007. What is Balanced Score Card in HR?. Retrieved   October 2007 from http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070927202545AAwkQix.

Creating a GUI for ThermaKin2D

Creating a GUI for ThermaKin2D Tamfor Dulin Graphical user interface are used in OSX, Windows PC, and even on phones and tablets. It is found on almost every technological device used by people from computer programmers to toddlers. GUIs (Graphical User Interface) have been helpful over the years as well as it is going to be for the end product of this project. In general, GUIs simplify the use of an application so that it is user-friendly. Another subject that plays an important role is combustion, which is an exothermic chemical reaction, combustion is required to understand the purpose of this GUI. If it is hot enough the combustion can cause a flame. In this reaction there is a cycle in which the fuel is melted and afterwards burned to fuel the fire. This can be calculated to acquire an ideal set of numbers that represent the flame but no one would understand such data and this is where the GUI comes into place. In this project, a GUI will be created for a solver that can calculate the flame spread, the data calculated wil l be manipulated and visualized by the GUI, and this will be able to help understand the results of the solver into a visual depiction. GUI (Graphical User Interface) is defined as, in computer science terms based on Harding, â€Å"a visual operating display that the monitor presents on the monitor to the computer operator† (Jansen, The Graphical User Interface.). GUIs act as mediator between the program and the user. GUIs are useful in technological devices in that they make understanding apps easy. GUIs are advantageous and increase usability as well as productivity rate. It is a type of computer human interface on a computer that includes clickable inputs, a combination of icons, taskbars and other images so that a computer will be able to display these interfaces. This is more commonly known as a Window, Icons, Menus, and a Pointer (WIMP)(Hinckley, Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation). WIMP are now found in the majority of graphical interface. GUIs also are composed of a windowing system, an imaging model, and an application program interface (API). The WIMP is created by the windowing system. The imaging models determines the font and the image and partially produces the WIMP. Lastly, the API is the medium which the user tell the program on how the windows will appear (Jansen, The Graphical User Interface.). GUIs have simplified the complicated Command Line Interface (CLI) which has a steep learning curve. It also, â€Å"attempt to solve this blank screen problem.† (Jansen, The Graphical User Interface.) This blank screen is caused by command lines and DOS (Disk Operating System) prompts which are interfaces in which the user types commands to execute certain tasks and are limited with only prompts. CLI and DOS prompts tend to have blank screen and the user is expected to know what to do to proceed with the process. Unlike command lines and DOS prompts, the GUI guides the user to know what to do next, with prompts and indications. Unfortunately, GUIs are not as flexible and as powerful to control an application. GUIs have been used for more than 30 years. It all started out with the multiple researchers at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), they created the first application with a GUI (Jansen, The Graphical User Interface.). The researchers were dedicated to creating the GUI before they started with application itself. This application was name Xerox Star, unfortunately it was too slow and commercially unsuccessful. After the Xerox Star came Apple Lisa made by Steve Jobs and some hired researchers who previously created the Xerox Star. The Apple Lisa was still unsuccessful and this is when the Apple Macintosh finally was created (Jansen, The Graphical User Interface.). As it is still known and used today, the Apple macintosh’s GUI was successful. After the success of Apple Macintosh many other common and modern GUI started to sprout. From the old International Business Machine (IBM) to X-Windowing System which developed to be now windows 7 or 8. Other than those GUIs, there was Linux (Operating system), UNIX (Uniplexed Information and Computer Science) and other Linux-based and UNIX-based operating system which come into place like android and iOS, respectively. Knowledge of a flame spread is vital. Combustion is a chemical reaction that releases heat or energy with a fuel and an oxidant, in most cases oxygen is the oxidant. Through this reaction, a fire is formed which in turn makes a flame, the visible part of combustion. Flames have complex, hard to predict movement because of the particular substance that is being burned. To predict the flame spread, is one of the most complicated fire problems. Flame depends on the substance being burned and all its attributes which differ through each substance. The size, density, mass, shape, porosity, and if there are impurities cause the flame to react differently. This flame cannot not be easily predicted because if there was to be an experimental prediction, it would not have been accurate since the substance could have been slightly impure or any miscalculations. To have accurate measures it would have to be simulated in an ideal situation. Since flame spread is random and cause by unknown situations or situation caused by human error, it will easily be identified through simulations which would require chemical and physical properties to calculate how the flame would spread. To easily predict flame spread through simulations, ThermaKin2D will be used. It was created by the University of Maryland and Federal Aviation Administration. This solver is able to solve the rate of fuel production, heat transfer rate, fuel burn rate, and flame spread rate in a given amount of time by using the physical and chemical properties of the thermochemical decomposing solid (Stoliarov, Levention, and Lyon, 1). The reason why this program was created was to be able to predict and understand flame growth through models (1). The understanding of the calculation and chemical activity is crucial for predictions. Previously, there was a program called ThermaKin that would calculate the rate at which a pyrolyzing solid will burn, the fuel released during the process, changing mass, and energy conservation (1). The only problem with the ThermaKin was that it was mainly 1-Dimensional which means that it did not greatly represent a surface flame and it was limited since it could not simulate a flame spread. Using the data yielded from ThermaKin2D, one is able to make a 2D simulation of the data. ThermaKin2D is similar to ThermaKin but in a 2D perspective and an adaptable representation of a surface flame (1). This 2D visualization enhances the comprehension of the data being shown and it is a highly accurate depictions of a flame. It is greatly flexible and can handle up to chemical activity of up to 30 first and second order reactions (Levention, â€Å"Two-dimensional Model of Burning for Pyrolyzable Solids†). Each component is classified by density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, gas transfer coefficient, emissivity, and absorption coefficient ((Stoliarov, Levention, and Lyon, 1). It has been used in simulation of combusting non-charring and charring polymers in a cone calorimetry-type scenario. (1) The main features that separates ThermaKin2D from other solvers are â€Å"a gas solid interaction formulation that enables gas driven sample simulations.† Also is it a â€Å"Monte Carlo based radiative heat transfer sub model† and â€Å"a versatile kinetics solver that can handle chemical mechanism consisting of up to 30 first and second order reactions.† Its boundary condition is broad and it is able to handle most situations provided that you have the chemical and physical property. ( Leventon, Two-dimensional Model of Burning for Pyrolyzable Solids) Additionally, the purpose of ThermaKin was to have a model of thermochemical decomposition and combustion of complex polymers (Stoliarov, Levention, and Lyon, 1). Just as ThermaKin was for industrial, educational, facility, and personal uses, once a GUI has been created for ThermaKin2D, it will be used for the same purpose and more and be accessible to more people. Such example of the uses would be to create a model for combustion, as well as a pyrolysis model in 2D. Another example would be visualizing 2D simulation of a substance burning with the reactions and outcomes. With all these possibilities one may be able to test different substances with mixtures. This enables one to identify which substance is more flammable or is less conductive. Another example could be determining the rate at which fuel is produced which can be used in making candles. ThermaKin2D can be used in multiple ways but, without the GUI, many people would not be able to use it and reducing the rate at which ones house is burning would not have been easily accomplished. ThermaKin2D will need a graphical user interface because without it, it will be used by a small population or be complex to use in that you would have to remember each and every command. But the purpose of ThermaKin2D was for it to be used by anyone who need to study the flame on a substance. Also the GUI will be needed to convert the numerical data into graphs and simulations. In this case it will give the previously measured data to the solver and the solver will yield data needed to simulate and visualize. ThermaKin2D will require a GUI because currently it is in a command line interface which is arcane. It has a blank screen and a prompt which only few will be able to understand and indications will be required to know what to do when the program starts. The program will need a graphical interface for inputting the information so that the user will know when and where to place the information they need to give. Without the GUI, inputting and receiving data will be confusing, with a lot of numerical data and no images to easily identify what is going on in the calculations. Unfortunately the failure or success of the product is dependent on the GUI. Having a good GUI is important so that the user will not be frustrated. Also, it is not easy to tell if the GUI is easy and efficient. Overall ThermaKin2D is based on ThermaKin in which it will calculate the rate of fuel production of a thermally decomposing solid. In this project as previously mentioned, A GUI will be created for ThermaKin2D created by University of Maryland since it is now available in a command line interface and it is arcane, only the creators are the one to understand. In creating this GUI, it will help explain the useful purpose of GUI which make the application less complicated and not have someone take an aspirin after using an application. A good GUI design eliminates the complexity of the communication with the computer system and the user to work directly on the problem at hand. Without this GUI only a few people will be able to use this ThermaKin2D and will not help the society as a whole. Works Cited Hinckley, Ken. Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation Microsoft Research. Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation Microsoft Research. N.p., 1996. Web. 04 Oct. 2014. Hopp, T.; Schwarzenberg, G.F.; Zapf, M.; Ruiter, N.V., A MATLAB GUI for the Analysis and Exploration of Signal and Image Data of an Ultrasound Computer Tomograph,Advances in Computer-Human Interaction, 2008 First International Conference on, vol., no., pp.53,58, 10-15 Feb. 2008 Jansen, Bernard J. The Graphical User Interface. ACM SIGCHI Bulletin 30.2 (1998): 22-26. Print. Leventon I. T.; Stoliarov S. I.; Evolution of Flame to Surface Heat Flux during Upward Flame Spread on Poly(methyl methacrylate); Proceedings of the Combustion Institute; vol. 34, pp. 2523-2530 (2013). Levy, Jr. Steven. Graphical User Interface (GUI) (computing).Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014. Li, Jing, Junhui Gong, and Stanislav I. Stoliarov. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. Gasification Experiments for Pyrolysis Model Parameterization and Validation 74 (2014): 738-44. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. Elsevier, 30 July 2014. Web. 3 Sept. 2014. Miranda, Gutierrez M. THE IMPORTANCE OF GRAPHIC USERS INTERFACE, ANALYSIS OF GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE DESIGN IN THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION IATED Digital Library.THE IMPORTANCE OF GRAPHIC USERS INTERFACE, ANALYSIS OF GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE DESIGN IN THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION IATED Digital Library. N.p., 4 July 2011. Web. 4 Sept. 2014. Ogras, Hidayet, and Mustafa Tà ¼rk. Utilizing Simulink and MATLAB Graphical User Interface in Modelling and Simulation of Chaos-Based Digital Modulation Techniques.International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education50.1 (2013): 19-33.ProQuest.Web. 15 Sep. 2014. Quintiere, James, Margaret Harkleroad, and Yuji Hasemi. Wall flames and implications for upward flame spread. Combustion Science and Technology48.3-4 (1986): 191-222. Quintiere, J. Q., and C. H. Lee. Ignitor and Thickness Effects on Upward Flame Spread. Fire technology 03 1998: 18-38.ProQuest. Web. 24 Sep. 2014 . Smith, Scott T.MATLAB: advanced GUI development. Dog Ear Publishing, 2006. Stoliarov, Stanislav I., Isaac T. Levention, and Richard E. Lyon. TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF BURNING FOR PYROLYZABLE SOLIDS. Tech. no. DOT/FAA/TC-TN12/59. U.S. Department of Transportation, Mar. 2013. Web. 25 July 2014. Tuck, Michael. The Real History of the GUI. SitePoint. Michael Tuck, 13 Aug. 2001. Web. 3 Sept. 2014. Wilder, Ron. Understanding the Basics of the Command Line Interface. MacAuthority 06 2004: 6-9. ProQuest. Web. 1 Oct. 2014 .

The Effects of Western Imperialism on China and Japan Essay -- Cause E

The Effects of Western Imperialism on China and Japan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China and Japan had very different experiences with Western Imperialism . Their reactions to western interference would lay a foundation for their destiny in a world that was rapidly progressing forward , leaving the traditional world behind .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China viewed themselves as totally self sufficient , superior , and the only truly civilized land in a barbarous world. They were inward looking and were encouraged by the conservative Confucianistic beliefs of their emperors to cling to the ancient and traditional ways of the past . They slid rapidly behind in industrial development , refusing to acknowledge the need for shipbuilding or naval development , and saw no importance in European trade .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then in the 1800's , Europe thrust its way into the heart of the Middle Kingdom, shattering and destroying its isolation forever. China would then be involved in four wars during the nineteenth century ; Britain's opium war (1839- 1842), a second war (1856-1860) fought by British and French , the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895) , and a final western invasion involving British , French , German , Japanese and U.S troops (1899-1900). Chinese Emperors were compelled to sign unequal treaties and were forced to open a number of ports , as well as agree to other territorial concessions . China was also forced to open its seacoasts and its rivers to Western intruders . The Europeans also exploited China's land... The Effects of Western Imperialism on China and Japan Essay -- Cause E The Effects of Western Imperialism on China and Japan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China and Japan had very different experiences with Western Imperialism . Their reactions to western interference would lay a foundation for their destiny in a world that was rapidly progressing forward , leaving the traditional world behind .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China viewed themselves as totally self sufficient , superior , and the only truly civilized land in a barbarous world. They were inward looking and were encouraged by the conservative Confucianistic beliefs of their emperors to cling to the ancient and traditional ways of the past . They slid rapidly behind in industrial development , refusing to acknowledge the need for shipbuilding or naval development , and saw no importance in European trade .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then in the 1800's , Europe thrust its way into the heart of the Middle Kingdom, shattering and destroying its isolation forever. China would then be involved in four wars during the nineteenth century ; Britain's opium war (1839- 1842), a second war (1856-1860) fought by British and French , the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895) , and a final western invasion involving British , French , German , Japanese and U.S troops (1899-1900). Chinese Emperors were compelled to sign unequal treaties and were forced to open a number of ports , as well as agree to other territorial concessions . China was also forced to open its seacoasts and its rivers to Western intruders . The Europeans also exploited China's land...

relationships and the media :: essays research papers fc

Reflecting on the past three months, I find that the most interesting topic was those with some sort of relation to romantic relationships. I find these interesting because I am in a romantic relationship and it seems that a lot of previously unknown knowledge has been bestowed upon me about these relationships. Romantic relationships involve various aspects such as commitment, intimacy and passion according Julia Wood, the author of Interpersonal Communication. It is agreeable that a relationship is based on these ideals, but one must inquire, is that all a relationship is based upon? In her definition, Wood seems to leave out two important aspect of a relationship, trust and investment. One thing that Wood states in her writings is that commitment is a pivotal part of a relationship. Commitment is not a feeling, correcting many misconceptions of this thought. Commitment is a decision. It is the choice to remain within the relationship and it links two partners to a future. When two people decide to commit, conflict is not seen as a time to end the relationship but as a resource to make the relationship stronger by working through their conflicts. Commitment involves the choice to speak and listen effectively to one’s partner. When two people commit, they take responsibility for continuing to invest in and care for their bond (Wood 267-268). With commitment comes challenge. Various items can affect two people’s choice to commit and their future within that commitment. One of these challenges includes distance. With distance two people are not able to share the small events of their day with their partner. Distance disables two people share their ordinary comings and goings that helps relationship stay woven together. Another challenge is unrealistic expectations for time together. Partners who are distant tend to expect each moment that they spend together to be perfect. They believe that conflict should be avoided and that they should be joyfully focused on their partner not realizing that conflict no matter what type of relationship is inevitable. Another challenge with this type of relationship is unequal effort that the two partners invest to make and maintain their connection. One of the main reasons distant relationships do not work is because one person feels as if they are doing all of the work to keep the relationship solid and ongoing. (Wood, 407) I call these challenges because they can be overcome.

Myths and Realities Essay -- Philosophy Learning Essays

Myths and Realities At least since the 1990 publication of Senge's The Fifth Discipline, the concept of the learning organization (LO) has been promoted as a way to restructure organizations to meet the challenges of the coming century. What are learning organizations-in theory and in practice? Are they a real solution or the latest in a series of reform fads? The myths and realities are explored in this publication. Getting a Grip on the Learning Organization Of course, there is not yet a consensus on the definition of a learning organization. Any type of organization can be a learning organization-businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits, community groups. Some authors agree that LOs start with the assumptions that learning is valuable, continuous, and most effective when shared and that every experience is an opportunity to learn. LOs have the following characteristics (Calvert et al. 1994; Watkins and Marsick 1993): They provide continuous learning opportunities. They use learning to reach their goals. They link individual performance with organizational performance. They foster inquiry and dialogue, making it safe for people to share openly and take risks. They embrace creative tension as a source of energy and renewal. They are continuously aware of and interact with their environment. Senge's "five disciplines" are the keys to achieving this type of organization: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking. According to Senge, the fifth, systems thinking, is the most important and underlies the rest. Of course, in a sense "organizations" do not learn, the people in them do, and individual learning may go on all the time. What is different a... ...(ERIC No. EJ 483 293) Smith, G. J., and Stodden, R. A. "Restructuring Vocational Special Needs Education through Interdisciplinary Team Effort." Journal for Vocational Special Needs Education16, no. 3 (Spring 1994): 16-23. (ERIC No. EJ 482 768) Solomon, C. M. "HR Facilitates the Learning Organization Concept." Personnel Journal 73, no. 11 (November 1994): 56-66. Watkins, K. E., and Marsick, V. J. Sculpting the Learning Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. West, P. "The Learning Organization: Losing the Luggage in Transit?" Journal of European Industrial Training18, no. 11 (1994): 30-38. (ERIC No. EJ 497 198) West, W. "Learning Organizations: A Critical Review." In Proceedings of the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference,edited by L. Martin. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1994. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 378 359)

Hollow of the Three Hills Essay

Themes of the Hollow of the three Hills: -main character as a beautiful woman with a shameful and abominable past. -trying to run from it will only make the problem follow. -character as someone who is a plighted subject who had such a secret that she had to be where â€Å"no mortal could observe them. -She wanted this witch to help her see and hear what was happening with her loved ones; but she only had one hour to do so and after this one hour she would die Hawthorne did not come out and said this but in saying things like â€Å"there is but a short hour that we may tarry here. and I will do your bidding though I did . She had run from everything that was important to her because the most important, was dying. Hawthorne was not too clear in stating what exactly the problem was but it seemed that her daughter had fallen ill. – Throughout the story Hawthorne masks this fact well and uses foreshadowing nicely. In one part where the main character is looking in on her parents by means of the witches powers and Hawthorne describes her parents as speaking †¦of a daughter, a wanderer they -Not only she had left him with pain and suffering for their child but she had also left him with pain and aversion towards her. She tried to run away from her daughter’s sickness and encroaching death, but by doing so only brought guilt and remorse upon herself. She must have known that her husband would have strong feelings of antipathy towards her and still willingly looked in on his life to see how he was. – The part in the story when she looked back towards her husband was the part of the story that stuck out the most as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s style of writing. This was a good example of his ‘Puritan Guilt Ethic’. She felt such remorse for leaving that the only good thing to do was to check up on him and see if he was all right. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the ‘Puritan Guilt Ethic’ in most of his short stories and novels and this is one example of him using it. – The daughter died of her illness as Hawthorne foreshadowed throughout the short story by writing such things as â€Å"into the tone of a death bell and â€Å"like lamplight on the wall of a sepulchre. The main character left her daughter to die and that is just what happened. Looking back in retrospect the main character probably would have stayed with her daughter. -As a mother watching her daughter’s funeral brigade must have broken her heart but watching it through a witches spell must have shattered it. –  Hawthorne’s main character chose to run like a coward and in the end paid the worst consequence of all. She gave up her life to witness the pain and suffering she had cause to others. With her daughter dead by disease, her husband infuriated with hatred and pain, and her parents filled with disgust and humiliation she had no one that cared about her at all because she couldn’t handle the emotional stress. How much emotional stress does it seem she caused to others in the end though? She tried to escape her duties as a wife and mother but they just followed her to the very end

Use of Nature in Poetry

Poets use many ways when they want to communicate something using poems. Poems are used as a means of passing ideas, information and expression of feelings. This has made the poets to use the natural things and images that people can relate with so that they can make these poems understandable. The most common forms of writing that are used by the poets are the figurative language for example imagery and metaphors. In addition, the poets use the natural landscape in their attempt to explore the philosophical questions.Therefore, this essay will explore the forms that have been used by the poets in writing poems using the natural landscape. The essay will be based on poems such as ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost, ‘Ode to the West Wind’ by Shelley and ‘Swan and Shadow’ by John Hollanders. The poets use different styles and techniques in writing poems. They employ varying styles of writing poems that include the styles of lit erature such as symbolism. This has necessitated the use of the natural landscape to pass the ideas for which the poem was intended.When the natural landscape is used in poetry, it necessitates a creation of the mind through imagination. The reader of the poem will be in a position of deriving the meaning of the poem from what he reads. This has been demonstrated by J. Hollander in his poem the ‘Swan and Shadow’. Hollander starts his poem with a description of the Dusk above the water hang the loud flies. This will give the reader a figurative image of what the poet meant because it relates to what is found in nature. The natural physical landscape is also used by the poets because it can be easily related with and therefore it is used as a simile.The similes are literary techniques used when we want to relate something with another item with similar attributes. Therefore, it will be easier to understand the poems when the poets apply techniques that are familiar with t he reader. This presents the reason behind the poets using the natural landscape because the reader must have related with the nature. Shelley in his poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’ has used similes in his poem. He states that, â€Å"the leaves dead are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing. † He also states that, â€Å"the winged seeds where they lie cold and low each like a corpse within its grave. As observed from these examples, the poets will use these techniques to assist in easier interpretation of the poem. The poets also use metaphors when writing poems. Metaphors refer to the use of certain words to mean otherwise in the context of the poem. However, metaphors are sometimes hidden in the poem such that they require the reader to figure out their existence in the poem. This will be easy when the poet employs the physical environment that is well understood by the reader. In addition, metaphors will strengthen the ideas that the poet wants to pass acr oss.Metaphors will therefore make it easier for the readers to interpret and understand the meaning that the poet intended to communicate. Shelley has used a metaphor in his poem where he states ‘†¦Pestilence-stricken multitudes’. He states this to indicate to the reader that he is not just addressing a pile of leaves. Therefore, this helps to understand the deeper meaning of the poem. He also states about the ‘wintry bed’, which is meant to show his mood in the poem. Poets also use the landscape in writing poems because of the inspiration that they get from such places.This could be based on some memory or the history of the place and therefore it inspires the writer of the poem. This could help the poet to pass some information that can be easily related with such a situation. Robert Frost in his poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, writes about his experience in the wood in a snowy evening. He states that though the wood would p rotect him from the snow, he had to get home to sleep because it was getting late. The poet was indicating the obligations that he was supposed to perform though he could protect himself from the snow.The poet has also employed personification where he refers to the horse and states that his horse would find it queer when he stood by the woods where there was no farmhouse nearby. By stating the above, he gave the horse some human attributes. The poet has used nature to indicate that though he would have stayed in the woods to see as they are covered with snow, he had to fulfill his promises through carrying out his duties. The poets also use personification by referring to the natural landscape in showing some human attributes.Personification refers to the use of human attributes on non-humans such as animals. Such attributes includes beauty, ugliness and gentleness or ferocity. These attributes are reflected through the use of figurative language that represents the people. These i nclude the metaphors and the similes. Therefore, the natural landscape will be used in comparing these attributes with those of the human beings. This is related with what the people understand that is found in the environment. The writer of the poems will use descriptive words that are given to the natural landscape that has been personified.This will help in showing the human attributes indirectly when the deeper meaning of the poem is derived. The three poems help to mirror poetic concerns over the transitory nature of life. In the poem ‘Stopping by the woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost, the woods are described as dark and deep. He also states that it was the â€Å"†¦darkest evening of the year†. This gives a picture of a place where there was no one living. Frost has also stated that the woods were located in a place where there was no farmhouse because though he knew the owner, he lived in the village.The poet is trying to show existence of some isolation. This is evident that the poems are not written in a direct manner but they present the reader with an opportunity to figure out what was the meaning of the poem. The poets have used poems to communicate some message about how people live in the society. The poems always have the literal meaning and the deeper meaning that requires a deeper understanding of what the poet tried to communicate. In addition, we observe that the speaker of the poem implies that he could be in the wrong for trespassing in someone’s land.He shows that he is out of order and therefore he is supposed to go to sleep in his place because it is already dark in the evening. The writer tried to show the obligations that people have in life and therefore they are supposed to be time conscious while doing their activities. Also, the poem could have a deeper meaning that implies a transition from one life to another. This occurs where the speaker states in the last line that he has miles to go bef ore he sleeps. The sleep could mean death in this context. This poem shows how the poets employ the poetic techniques and styles to bring forth ideas about life to the reader.The poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’ by Shelley also indicates the poetic techniques that are employed by the poets. The poem brings out the element of transition because he reveals his thoughts like the winged seeds are trapped. When the poet refers to the ‘West Wind’, he implies a driving force for transition in the human. Shelley has also implied the winter as not just the last phase of vegetation but also as a transition in the individual life, that includes civilization and religion. Therefore, the poet was symbolic when he referred to the West Wind.The West Wind is implied as carrying the dead thoughts in the individuals. Shelley was more concerned with the transitions that happen in people’s lives in his poem. Shelley uses the words â€Å"winged seeds†, which he likens with a feeling of being trapped. By reference to the seeds, it shows that even when death occurs, there will be new life that will grow out of the ‘grave’. The poet has also written about images of religion that help creates new life. It is evident from the poem that poems are just a shadow of what is happening in the society.This is because they will indicate the changes that occur in the lives of individuals. John Hollander’s poem ‘Swam and Shadow’ has various visual images that are used to increase the understanding of the reader of the poem. He uses figurative language such as describing the water as â€Å"breaking up no being gathered†. This makes the poem beautiful in that the reader is left to imagine about the startle of the wings when a swan wants to fly. The poem has created a transition of moods where sometimes it is sad and on other occasions, the mood of the poem is lovely.The poet implies the disappearance of the swan, which woul d imply their death when they fly. This therefore presents the sad tone of the poem. We also see that the poet has applied a technique where the whole poem is not punctuated. We just guess the starting of a sentence if there is a capital letter. This makes it hard to differentiate the thoughts of the poet. This style makes the poem unique and therefore it is interesting because of the prose form. This poem also illustrates transition because it describes the flies that are found in the dusk hanging above the water.However, the writer describes that; ‘their shadow will disappear and fade’. The disappearance of the swan represents death, which marks a transition from one form of life to another. This has been described when the poem comes to end where the poet states that ‘†¦yes by then a swan will have gone yes out of mind†¦. ’ In conclusion, we observe that most poets will always use the natural environment when they want to communicate something. They will use the natural landscape and other creatures that are found in the environment. This is meant to assist the reader in the easier understanding of the poems.

Eddie and Beatrice Essay

During the dance between Catherine and Rodolpho, Marco has a short conversation with Eddie and Beatrice. Eddie becomes jealous when Marco brags how well Rodolpho can cook.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We eat very well on the boat – especially when Rodolpho comes along; everybody gets fat†.  Eddie outbursts with jealousy towards Rodolpho saying he â€Å"can’t cook, he can’t sing and he can’t make dresses†.  Beatrice and Marco realised that whilst he was saying all of this that Eddie was twisting a newspaper into a tight roll. Eddie then goes on taking pity on himself.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If I could cook, if I could sing, if I could make dresses†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  As Eddie goes on he gets more and more frustrated and agitated, eventually the newspaper snapped in half. Eddie mentions boxing to Marco. Marco felt uneasy due to the fact he knew Eddie was frustrated. Eddie soon gets to his point across he wants to teach Rodolpho boxing. knowing full well that what he had in mind. Beatrice asked  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What’s he got to learn that for?†Ã‚  As she tries to come up with a reason not to teach him boxing.  Eddie begins to teach Rodolpho how to lead with his left hand and to block. After all this Eddie temps Rodolpho to hit him. â€Å"Come on kid, put sump’m behind it†Ã‚  Rodolpho swings aggressively at Eddie’s jaw and grazes it. This heats up the tension even more. The audience expects a fight as Eddie should react to the blow. Eddie however does react but pretends that it is an accident but you can see that this is not the case. The effect of Eddie’s punch on Rodolpho was so fierce that the other characters was totally disgusted by it an knew that it was necessary. Catherine runs to Rodolpho’s aid and Marco rises and Beatrice tells Eddie,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"That’s enough.†Ã‚  The audience might have expected this part of the scene to result in a big fight due to the unnecessary force Eddie used. They were stunned to see Rodolpho smirk and say,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I was only surprised.† Marco then challenges Eddie. This was a test of strength in which Eddie does not win.  Marco displays his strength to all of the characters. Marco show off his strength and also warn off Eddie using a glare of warning which quickly reverts to a smile of triumph.  This makes the audience feel sorry for Eddie because Marco was now the superior strength in the Carbone household. The audience were left in the dark as the scene ends with Marco holding a chair above Eddie’s head. Arthur Miller has created the dramatic scene ending.  The instant difference between the end of Act I and the end of Act II is that at the end of Act I Marco proves his stength.

“a Study of Bpo Industry with Reference to Employee Essay

The industry is very diverse, with several sub-segments, each displaying its own unique characteristics. The BPO players need to be excellent in every facet of operations as the market is highly competitive at every level and re-defining itself every day. It is basically a people-centric industry. The scenario however, is not as rosy as it looks, for this sector with enormous potential. Like any other industry during its growth phase, this industry is also going through its share of turbulence. There was the issue about people quitting the BPO jobs and the question arrived in my mind were: â€Å"Why do BPO executives job-hop so frequently? Is it just because of money or are there other reasons? and created an interest in my mind to find out the answers not only for the above questions but also for finding out the retention strategies that can be adopted by BPO’s. For the purpose of this project, the research work is limited to only 10 BPO’s in Mumbai and their 200 employees. It was very difficult to study the industry as a whole as the size of the industry is very large and it is very difficult to extract information about the attrition rates and reasons for he same and also the strategies adapted by different companies to retain its staff in limited time period given for completion of the project.

Web Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Web Communications - Essay Example The major objective to this paper is to examine and evaluate the how communication, and interaction of people is changed through the advancement of the web platform. The paper focuses on YouTube web 2.0 platform. The paper shows how the communication has changed ever since the advancement of the platform. The essay begins with giving a brief background information on YouTube. Secondly, the paper will discuss the relationship between YouTube and other web 2.0 platform. And finally, the paper will look to analyze and evaluate the how YouTube has influenced as well as caused a change to the collaboration and the communication. In the year 2005, three IT entrepreneurs came up with the YouTube1. Google Company purchased the company later in the year 2006. The company has been under the organization of Google team. The function of YouTube is simple since it only involves uploading as well as downloading the videos through YouTube. The users connect through the use of YouTube where the videos are shared through uploads and downloads. However, many videos in YouTube are not only uploaded by individuals but also large organizations and corporations use the site to pass information such as advertisements and market their products. Research shows that four billion videos are streamed form YouTube on a daily basis. In 2010, a new designed of interacting with other web 2.0 platforms was launched to ease the interaction of the YouTube with other technologies. The connection between YouTube and other platforms is quite clear in that videos are shared form YouTube to the other social networks. For instance, videos are shared form you through the use of twitter, blogs and Facebook among others. YouTube if plugged directly into the browsers making it easy to users as they try to search and find the link of YouTube in their browsers.

A Visit of Charity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Visit of Charity - Research Paper Example She presents herself as a campfire girl whose main aim of the trip was to earn three points (Welty 216). In her trip, she carries along a potted plant which she takes to the nursing home. During her visit, she was quite surprised by the behavior of the old women that she met. The short visit to the home was quite a challenge to her that she even felt like fleeing from this bizarre location. This was mainly because of the behavior of the two women that she met in the nursing home. In the narrative, the writer, Eudora Welty presents concerns of selfishness and heartlessness among other behaviors in an ironic tone. This paper will discuss the short narrative, A Visit of Charity. This narration is largely centered on Marian; a 14-year old girl, who once visited an elderly nursing home. The setting of the narration is presented as a beaten block, and it revealed the winter sun like a block of ice (Welty 216). It is redecorated by spiky dark hedge plants. These scenarios imply the lack of warmth and affection from a society towards the isolated elderly citizens in the nursing home. Marian is the central character of the story. The aim of her visit was to earn a minimum of three points in her score. After speaking with the nurse at the main desk, she was taken to a room where she met two elderly women. She was shocked by their behaviors. This included the sheep bleating noise that was made often by one of elderly women in that room. These strange happenings scared the girl, almost making her flee the area. She had carried flowers in a pot which the nurse referred to as multiflora cineraria (Welty 216). Soon afterwards, the flowers were taken away from Marian by one of the old women in the room. The two women in the room started pointing out their thoughts about the potted plant after snatching it from Marian. She then sits back and listens to the two old women argue senselessly. One of the women claimed that the flowers belonging to Marian were

Type 1 diabetes, Hypertension Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Type 1 diabetes, Hypertension - Essay Example The monitoring of the patient’s blood glucose levels is an important nursing intervention at this point. In order to ensure speedy and efficient monitoring, the finger sticks can be used. Such monitoring must be performed on an hourly basis and after three consecutive hours of normal blood glucose levels, the monitoring may be shifted to every 2 hours (Peno-Green, n.d). However, when the levels once again fall to abnormal digits, the monitoring must be returned to once every hour (Peno-Green, n.d). In instances when the blood glucose levels exceed normal numbers anytime during the monitoring, insulin must be administered to the patient. Monitoring of blood glucose levels is important because it can assist the health practitioners in detecting sudden and asymptomatic decrease in blood sugar; it can also help guide the practitioners in the implementation of interventions and plan of care for the patient (Harrison, 2001). Since the patient’s blood glucose levels were restored to normal levels after simple carbohydrate intake, there is no need to administer dextrose infusions of glucose. Such intervention would have been necessary if the patient had severe hypoglycaemia and did not respond to oral glucose intake (Goldstein, 2009). Nevertheless, if (during the monitoring) the blood glucose levels would drop and would not respond to current medications, dextrose infusions of glucose can still be carried out. In the process of monitoring, the nurse must also be watchful for signs of sweating, irritability, tachycardia, confusion, dizziness, pallor, and stupor (Williams & Wilkins, 2005). Such signs can signal a hypoglycaemic crisis which may need further consult or referral to the medical practitioner. Since it is important to try to maintain the patient’s blood sugar levels – and to avoid another hypoglycaemic state, I need to constantly monitor the patient for signs of hypoglycaemia. These signs include pale moist skin, drowsiness, and the

Details of the European Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Details of the European Crisis - Essay Example The critical issues that shaped the crisis include; competitive weakness, weak and actual growth and large debt-to-GDP ratios. Other important issues are liquidation of banks and sovereigns, considerable liability stocks both in private, government and non-private sectors (Arestis & Sawyer, 2012). The crisis was complicated making it difficult for European nations to refinance or repay the debts of their governments without the intervention of a third party such as IMF or ECB. In addition, the banks within the Euro zone were undercapitalized and, as a result, were influenced by debt problems and liquidity. Due to the crisis, the rate of economic growth was slow in the entire region. Similarly, the economic growth was unequally distributed across the member states (Lynn, 2011). The governments of the nations that were ruthlessly affected coordinated with "the troika". The troika is a committee formed by three international organizations namely, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund. Virtually, in 1992 the EU signed the Maastricht Treaty. The agreement regulated their debt levels and the limit deficit spending. Nonetheless, at the onset of the year 2000, some of the member states defied the criteria of the treaty. These countries instead decided to analyze government revenues to minimize their deficit or debts. Therefore, evading the desired practice and not being able to follow the international standards (Arestis & Sawyer, 2012). This gave the sovereigns a chance to mask their deficit and debt levels by embracing a combination of approaches such as off-balance-sheet transactions, inconsistent accounting and the use of complex credit derivatives, as well as currency structures. The low-interest rates resulted to excessive government spending and borrowing primarily in member states like Greece during the decade lead. Since

Information and knowledge management for managers Term Paper

Information and knowledge management for managers - Term Paper Example Goals and Objectives The organization aims to provide high quality solutions at the most cost effective prices for its clients, so that it establishes a distinct image in the market. Type and Range of Products Initially, Web Windows specialized in print advertising and radio advertising, but now, it has diversified into online advertising also. Web Windows specializes in display as well as social media. Knowledge Management Vision The clients have the option to choose for advertising in specific sectors such as radio, social media or display or decide for a combination of marketing mix to reach their advertising goals. At present, there are several clients who opt for an advertising mix that spans across various mediums and there are some other clients who are keen on focusing on one particular avenue. Each of the client accounts are assigned to an account management team who work very closely with the clients are deliver what they require. This team consists of various experts in di fferent avenues such as print advertising expert and online advertising experts. The team also has industry analysts who played a key role in providing market and industry inputs to the team. Apart from advertising experts, each account management team also has Client relationship managers who deal directly with the clients and serve as point of contacts. Therefore, it is clear that the organization operates at multiple levels because numerous roles and experts have to come together to meet a common goal. The knowledge is highly tacit in nature because of the dynamic set up of the advertising industry. With attrition as well as internal transfers, effective knowledge transfer, including transfer of tacit knowledge becomes really important. [THIS PARA... Across industry, the level of competition has become very high during the past decade. This has increased the importance of effective knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. As organizations have moved ahead to bring about a system that is effective, they have unearthed some processes that are barriers from being knowledge management effective (McDermott and O'Dell, 2001). These factors are mostly unique to particular organizations, but some of the most common factors are inadequacy of organizational structures, cultures that do not encourage information sharing, denominational segregation, lack of proper framework and so on (Riege, 2005). Additionally, it is also important to consider whether employees are motivated enough to share the information or not (Groff and Jones, 2003).   There are different schools of thought that center around knowledge transfer. The techno-centric school of thought primarily focuses on how knowledge related to technology is transferred where as the o rganizational school of thought focuses more on how an entire organization can adapt to knowledge transfer (Hislop, 2003). Ecological school of thought has a high focus on understanding how people interact, and how knowledge transfer is in fact a complex adaptive system (Jashapara, 2003).The concept of knowledge transfer or information management itself is not very new in many organizations. In most instances, this information transfer happens only in cases of explicit knowledge. For example, an employee passing.

Physician Credentialing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Physician Credentialing - Assignment Example Information submitted by any applicant should be thoroughly examined and cross-checked to ascertain honesty and experience of such an applicant. The education background should be verified by checking all certificates presented. It should be ensured that the resume is consistent with the age of the applicant since some applicants could try to fake their resumes hoping not to be noted. This is important as it helps to ensure that applicants will have gone through formal education and qualified in whatever fields they applied. This information will be got through certificates and also through contacting the education institutions stated on the resumes.  History of the practice of applicants is also important. This is the period that an applicant has been in practice. The medical field is not one whereby applicants work on probability but based on being sure of what they are doing. Hence, every hospital that an applicant claims to have practiced should be contacted and letters or reco mmendation reviewed. Conduct history is one other thing that thing that will not be overlooked (Matzka, 2007). An applicant needs to come with a certificate of good conduct showing that he/she has maintained integrity throughout the period of practice. Any penalty that an applicant has suffered in the course of practice is reviewed and the reason behind ascertained.  At Rural Outreach Community Hospital, any applicant is taken through a thorough scrutiny that ensures that they meet all the laid down procedures of approval. As the one in charge, I would ensure that there is a procedural interview process through which all applicants are taken through. There would be a practical exam where a hand on experience is checked by a qualified professional.  After this, the applicants who qualify are not hired on permanent basis but are first hired as interns. During this internship period, their performance is

Project Managment for Boeing 787 Dreamliner Essay - 1

Project Managment for Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Essay Example The project has however faced several challenges. It all started with weight issues with the plane said to have been overweight to the tune of 2,300kgs over and above the specified weight. This was however not all; there were 7 delays in the project process among them being an in flight fire on the Rolls Royce engine during testing. That not enough, just in the month of January 2012, Boeing reported shimming problems on some 787 fuselages.2 The poor performance towards the achievement of this projects’ objectives brought with it additional costs running in billions of dollars with penalty fees to the airlines forming a major part of these extra costs. A project is considered successful when it meets and exceeds customer expectations with regards to cost, time and performance.3 For ultimate project success, there is always need for trade-offs between the constraints of time, cost and scope/ performance. This may sometimes necessitate compromise of scope to achieve the constraints of time and cost. There are cases when it is of significance to expedite particular project activities which will require additional labor, leading to extra project costs. A priority matrix is therefore a tool that helps in the identification of which criterion to be constrained, those to be enhanced and which to be accepted.4 We will seek to analyze this matrix in the 787 project and find its justification. The above table shows the appropriate matrix for the three decisive factors in the 787 project. Time must be restricted because any additional delays in the production of this plane for whatever reasons come with huge penalties. All component activities must therefore be expedited to ensure the project is delivered within the set time frame. Given the nature of this project, performance can only be enhanced and no compromise can be made whatsoever on the scope of each component activity. The first delivery

Aristotelian ethics Essay Example for Free

Aristotelian ethics Essay Aristotelian ethics is focused on the search for happiness through virtue. Happiness functions as the chief and final end of man while virtue is a mediated state in between the irrational tendencies of man. The Aristotelian ethical system is primarily focused on the notion of virtue and value of the golden mean which focuses on practicality as a method of achieving happiness in opposition to self-realization. According to Aristotle, ethical knowledge is not precise compared to the study of mathematics or the sciences, but a practical discipline; that in order to be good or virtuous is not to quantify it as a study but to actually experience becoming good or virtuous. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s work breaks away from the reason-centered philosophies of his predecessors namely Plato and Aristotle concerning the reason-based pursuit of the highest form of good through an empirical and a goal-centered approach. The attainment of the ‘good’ is the foundation of Aristotelian ethical principles; ethics during the context of classical Greek philosophy is primarily concerned on living the ‘good’ life through the moderation of actions. This notion of good however is different from the hedonistic perspectives concerning the happiness. Hedonism centers its beliefs on pleasure as the purpose or final end of man while Aristotle’s ethics are primarily directed to the practice and experience of life through virtue and mediation. He argues that the rational and irrational tendencies of the soul such as aspirations, desires, wants, and needs, have an ultimate end. Happiness is the final end of such tendencies; however, the process in which happiness may be achieved may go against the dictates of the soul because of subjectivity. Contrary to Platos self-existing good, happiness is practical rather than an ideal; it can be attained in the sense that an individual must experience it. The highest form of good must be desirable in itself and not to function to some other self-serving purpose. For Aristotle, happiness is found in the everyday experiences of life and work that is unique to rationalistic human soul. The individual’s purpose is to act upon what is inherently human, that is, to attain happiness through experience. The fulfillment of such end leads to the state of eudaimonia, literally meaning happiness. Eudaimonia is a state of state of mind rather than an interpretative or emotive understanding of happiness per se. In order to achieve such, Aristotle first defines the distinct parts of the human soul, the notion of virtue and its function as part of experience. Happiness is subjective to the individual since there are many forms and concepts wherein happiness can be interpreted; pleasure leads to a state of temporal and physical happiness but does not eternally reside on the individual. The multitude of perspectives concerning the attainment of a universal idea of happiness is a dilemma; since experience provides a subjective interpretation of a phenomenon, there may be no existing ‘universal’ idea. As narrated in the Ethics: â€Å"And so the man who has been educated in a subject is a good judge of that subject, and the man who has received an all-round education is a good judge in general. Hence a young man is not a proper hearer of lectures on political science; for he is inexperienced in the actions that occur in life† (Aristotle 3). For Aristotle, experience and practicality are the foundations of ethical belief. In contrast with his predecessor’s mode of ethical discipline, Aristotle argues that ethics cannot be derived from an abstract notion such as Plato’s Theory of Forms where the self-existing good remains self-evident and unchangeable. This reason-based or rationalistic approach is refuted with Aristotle’s empirical standpoint. Experience, according to Aristotle, is a unique human condition and its uniqueness provides the basis for the formation of a practical ethical system of belief. In order to understand the concept of virtue, Aristotle first divides the parts of the human soul into two parts, the rational and irrational soul which is further subdivided into three categories, namely: the vegetative, appetitive, and calculative value. The irrational ‘part’ of the human person is related to the animalistic soul or instinct (nutritive value), while the rational soul is the distinguishing factor against pure instinctive tendencies. Thus, rational nature of the soul is the definition of the human persona humans has the ability to reason (calculative/appetitive) and impose control on irrational tendencies. The normative control over irrational desires is also a part of Aristotle’s biological differentiation between man and animal. Animals rely on instinct or desire which is irrational, to maintain their survival. The control of the irrational nature (appetitive) leads to the formation of moral virtue while the perfection of the pure rationalistic soul which provides intellect and reason (calculative) is known as an intellectual virtue. Thus, moral virtue falls under the middle ground between the intellect, which regulates it, and the passions, which virtue attempts to control. Virtue is defined as â€Å"a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i. e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it† (Aristotle 35). Virtue, in accordance with experience, is based from practical knowledge. Contradicting the notion of the self-existing good, practical knowledge replaces the notion of self-existing truths. The Platonic notion of understanding these truths is through self-recognition of ignorance as an obstacle of intellectual illumination. In contrast, the practicality of experience acts as the foundation of virtue that is learned through the uniqueness of human experience. Experience is then essential in acquiring these virtues rather than acknowledge the presence of such through the affirmation of doubt. Plato’s theory as exemplified in the Allegory of the Cave calls for the self-affirmation of ‘I know nothing’ in order to determine the absolute or ideal knowledge that exists in the realm of the forms. Aristotle deviates from this rationalistic approach as he emphasizes on practicality in determining truths. Further, Aristotle explains: â€Å"since things that are found in the soul are of three kinds – passions, faculties, states of character, virtue must be one of these† (Aristotle 43) The soul as expressed in its dualistic rational and irrational parts, contain passions, faculties, and other states of character. The passions consist of the emotional either accompanied by pleasure or pain (e. g. joy, sorrow). The faculties of the soul is the capability of these emotions (e. g. being happy, joyful, etc. ), while the states of character is the middle ground in-between the emotional opposites (e. g. consumed or weakened by anger). Virtue is then a mediation of the passions which acts upon the faculties of the soul and leads to the essence on the states of character. One of the important notions in Aristotelian ethics is the notion of the Golden Mean. The golden mean separates human action (e. g. passions) into virtue and vice. The mean, in context with experience, provides the avenue of practicing virtue in the process of attaining happiness. Virtues are either at mean or in opposition (virtue and vice). Vices are further categorized either in its extreme or deficient sense while moral virtue functions as the regulating principle situates action in moderation. For example, the virtue of modesty is the mean between the vice of deficiency (shamelessness) and extreme (bashfulness). The virtue of courage is the middle ground between rashness and cowardice. The concept of the golden mean is dictated by the functions of rationality wherein behavior is formed through experience. It however cannot be quantified through a mathematical or logical proposition; meaning to eat 100 times in excess means it cannot be justified by starving oneself in 50. This ethical system is solely dependent on the conception of rationality on the part of the individual in relation to the uniqueness of experience. The value of virtue is the understanding of mediation in action rather than performing in excess or deficiency. To understand the middle ground of opposite actions leads to intellectual calmness or realization; that to be in excess and deficient leads either through temporary happiness (pleasure) or the lack of it (pain). In addition, the task of finding the middle ground in vices is a difficult task. According to Aristotle: Hence also it is no easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task to find the middle, e. g. to find the middle of a circle is not for everyone but for him who knows; so, too, any one can get angry – that is easy – or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor it is easy. (Aristotle 49) To easily determine the middle ground of vices cannot be applied for the totality of every individual since the irrational soul still acts upon its instinctive nature. In relation to the Platonic challenged posed by the Theory of Forms, the attainment of the good is solely dependent on the individual to countermand the irrational passions in order to redirect the soul and purpose in attaining its final end. Plato’s challenge is focused on the breakaway from ignorance to understand the ‘ideal’ world in which the world of illusions is based from. Aristotle on the other hand, focuses on the importance of experience and practical knowledge; to know happiness means we have to experience happiness. Aristotle’s happiness is attained through the practice of virtue and the regulation of the golden mean. However, Aristotle argues: â€Å"So much, then, is plain that the intermediate state is in all things to be praised, but that we must incline sometimes towards the excess, sometimes towards the deficiency, for so shall we most easily hit the mean and what is right† (Aristotle 50). In order to understand the mean, Aristotle again notes the importance of experience. The individual must therefore experience the extreme opposites of the passions (vice) in order to determine the golden mean. For example, one cannot know the virtue of courage if one does not become a coward (deficient) or be rash (excess) in actions. It is only after experience teaches the individual the value of virtue and virtue in turn, leads to the attainment of eudaimonia in which happiness is eternal. Reference Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics (M. Ostwald, Trans. ) New York: Collier Macmillan. 1962