Discrimination Based On Gender Discrimination - 973 Words

Discrimination, especially discrimination based on gender, should be looked at through Deontology. This is because discrimination based on gender affects the rights of many, requires duties of other to not discriminate and have respect for others, and can have large consequences. It is important we look at rights, duties, and consequences rather than only evaluate gender discrimination based on its consequences in order to be able to create a way to virtuously handle gender. While gender discrimination can affect men it focuses more strongly on women. Many women today are viewed through stereotypes and stigmatisms of what they should do or how they should act. They are seen by society as weak, inferior, and incapable when compared to men. For instance, it is the stereotype that women should get married at a certain age and stay at home cleaning, cooking, and raising kids rather than be out in the work force. However, women have a right to dream and work towards success just like a man can. They have the right to work, chose to have or not have children, and even have the right to choose not to clean their homes. Just as men have the right to stay at home and cook, raise kids, and clean if they so choose. These decisions do not make men and women less or more of a man or women. Rather they are natural rights that society often looks down on. The consequences of this discrimination is the emotional damage to women and idea that they are not good for anythi ng else, but makingShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination Based On Gender And Gender Discrimination1574 Words   |  7 PagesINTRODUCTION: Gender discrimination, also known as sexism, refers to prejudice or discrimination based on sex and/ or gender, as well as conditions or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender (Women and Gender Discrimination). Sexism is a social injustice that is not applied only to women but, to men as well. Certain personalities and characteristics are expected from both genders starting as children. Little girls are expected to play with dolls, while little boys areRead MoreDiscrimination Based On Race And Gender Essay1625 Words   |  7 PagesIn the mid-1900’s, in the American South, discrimination based on both race and gender was blatantly recognized as socially appropriate, and the attitudes of majority factions with such norms in mind were reflected in numerous instances of public policy. One of such instances was a public policy which enabled a Woolsworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, to forbid people of color from sitting at the store’s lunch counter. In response to the oppressive nature of this policy, four black students ignoredRead MoreGender Based Pay And Promotion Discrimination1104 Words   |  5 PagesAlvarez and Moser explore the claims of gender-based pay and promotion discrimination that is fast emerging as the latest challenge for employers seeking to reduce litigation risks. These claims are from recent jury verdicts, pending legislation in Congress, and headline-grabbing court decisions. These court decisions and legislative initiatives raise the specter of a flood of class claims against employers for pay and promotion discrimination. I will use this source for ground for my argument. ItRead MoreGender Based Discrimination And Social Norms1233 Words   |  5 PagesGender-based discrimination and social norms are the most common causes of violence against women. Theoretically, these societal norms that have been in grated to us since childhood lead us to believe that the male gender has the right to do whatever they want while at the same time restrict the female gender from doing the same or condemn or punish them if they fail to obey such stigmas. So far, efforts have only focused on responses and services for survivors; given the devastating effect violenceRead MoreDiscrimination And Judgement Based On Their Gender, Class, And Race937 Words   |  4 Pageswomen still have to face discrimination and judgement based on their gender, class, and race. This population clearly reflects the gaps and limitations of primary health care services today. Adelson (2005) reflects on this circumstance as a absence of control of a comprehensive health care program where there is acceptable conduct of resources that can diminish the bureaucratic unbalance. Maternal care, is defined as the care provided to women at different stages of maternity: prenatal, pregnancyRead MoreDiscrimination Based On Age, Race, Gender, And Sexual Preferences1344 Words   |  6 Pagesencountering strong opposition in Congress. I have been wanting to become a part of this change so I am going to be the one to create a group of grassroots activists. I want to make the difference over this ongoing controversial issue of discrimination based on age, race, gender, and sexual preferences. The current status of the issue concludes mostly with Africans, Hispanics, Muslims, and the LGBT community. As individuals, we have the basic human rights that â€Å"All men are created equal, that they are endowedRead MoreThe Discrimination And Unequal Treatment Of Individuals Based Solely On Their Gender1729 Words   |  7 PagesA very prominent social justice issue, gender inequality, is the discrimination and unequal treatment of individuals based solely on their gender. I t is a major problem all over the world, but it’s effects are especially seen in developing countries with strong, lasting cultural traditions and social regulations that don’t give females the opportunity to be equal members of society. Gender inequality can be expressed in many ways, but one form is child marriage. Child marriage happens because ofRead MoreThe Prevention Of Violence And Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity1713 Words   |  7 PagesIssue: The prevention of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity Student Officer: Sarah Lim Position: Chair of the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee ________________________________________ Introduction: Gender identity and sexual orientation is one of the more stigmatized and marginalized aspects of self-expression for any human in our society today. A state or country with a more liberal take on the expression of gender identity and sexual orientation tendsRead MoreDiscrimination Towards Minority Groups Based On Race, Gender, And Sexual Orientation1313 Words   |  6 PagesDiscrimination towards minority groups based on race, gender, and sexual orientation has existed in our society for decades. Till this day these stereotypes and prejudice towards an individual’s race, sexuality, ethnicity, and background still exist. There are particular barriers such as activities and interactions with people occurring daily, as well as plenty of disadvantages for those from different cultural backgrounds other than white. The term racism comes to mind when an individual draws negativeRead MorePublic School System Of Discrimination Based On Their Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Preferenc e, Or Age1741 Words   |  7 Pagesa teacher was denied a promotion and accused the public school system of discrimination based on their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, or age. Then, find an example for two different criteria, one for each case. Last, state three reasons that her / his accusation could be legally supported after you identify the supporting case. Research two cases in which a teacher was denied a promotion based on discrimination The first case is EEOC v. Thomasville City Schools, Civil Action No. 1:10-CV-00686

The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act - 1281 Words

America as a whole is facing a major crisis. This ordeal would be due to a healthcare crisis. This is a very big issue that we the people are faced with. It seems small on a large scale, but economically it is massive. Many established or up and coming countries have the privilege of universal health care coverage. The greatest county to ever govern this world, a view by many nations, cannot seem to execute a plan that will set this action in motion. With rising health care coverage, not even the attempt by the Obama administration with use of â€Å"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act†, could seem to execute concisely. Through this topic together we are going to explore rising health care cost, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as the failure of to produce universal health care coverage. In the United States the rates of medical costs are skyrocketing. Even, though this is a wide span issue across many nations. Health care costs are the highest within the U.S. This issue is based upon life expectancy and infant mortality which help to produce the average rates across the board in our country. We as Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, but we are still below the average of other major industrial countries. the performance of the United States health care system as compared to 191 other countries was ranked 37th. This is according to the World Health Organization’s 2000 report on theShow MoreRelatedThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act1057 Words   |  5 PagesMaureen Omondi Patrick Gilbert Govt 2305 5 February 2015 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Patient Protection and Affordable care Act also known as Affordable Care Act, Obama Care and ACA is an act signed into law by the current president of the United States, Barack Obama in March 23, 2010. Beginning in 2014, any failure to purchase minimum coverage will result in a person being fined. Also included in the Act are individual mandate requirements, expanding public programs, healthRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Essay1418 Words   |  6 PagesUnderserved Communities: PPACA Tashia Lee Health/Public Policy (HLTH225-1604A-01) Abstract The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to expand insurance coverage for all of those that are uninsured. Also the Act was put into place to reduce the cost of health care. The morbidity and mortality rates in the United States have decreased since the Act was in place in 2010. The Act is also helping the goals of Healthy People 2020 that was implemented, but there is still more improvementsRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act1272 Words   |  6 PagesThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act In this paper I plan to discuss an increasingly difficult topic of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I will go over the basics of the act including who founded it, when, what it states as well as what its purpose is. I will also discuss the nine titles of the Affordable Care Act. I will then go over how four of the nine titles have affected how nurses provide care. I will finalize my paper by reflecting upon what I have learned from theRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act858 Words   |  4 PagesComprehensive Health Reform: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care act Ken Davis February 13, 2016 PADM 550 –BO2- LUO Dr. Tory Weaver Defining the Problem The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA)is a highly complex and multifaceted policy in addition to being political controversial. Changes made to the law by subsequent legislation, focuses on provisions to expand coverage, control health care costs, and improve health care delivery system. Some changes requireRead MorePatient Protection And Affordable Care Act1104 Words   |  5 PagesPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) What the Act Offers The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers many healthcare benefits to a diverse group of American citizens. However, there are a few downsides as well. The major portions of the act deal with four primary issues: 1. Increasing the health care coverage of patients with pre-existing conditions 2. Expanding access to health care insurance to over 30 million uninsured AmericansRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act1710 Words   |  7 PagesThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a highly controversial act of the United States government commonly referred to as ObamaCare. Designed to â€Å"ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care,† (Patient Protection) this bill has received a large amount of opposition for a variety of reasons, but it is also widely supported, therefore garnering it attention from interest groups. Many interest groups, including religious organizations, attempt to change laws andRead MorePatient Protection And Affordable Care Act1259 Words   |  6 Pages Maxcine Bakhshizad Mr. Todd Mod â€Å"H† Patient Protection Affordable Care Act Everest University What Is Affordable and What Isn’t? The healthcare industry in America has definitely changed over the last few decades. Our federal government has tried to mold and shape our country into a place where healthcare can be affordable for all families, not just the wealthy and those below the poverty line. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was created to bring about changes andRead MorePatient Protection with the Affordable Care Act1516 Words   |  6 PagesThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ObamaCare is a federal statute of the United States signed by President Barack Obama on March 23rd, 2010. As the name suggests, the new health care law is made up of the Affordable Health care for America Act and the Patient Protection Act. It also includes amendment to other laws like Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The main purpose of this complex legislation is to provide Americans with affordableRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act16 36 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Julie Pham and Serena Ellison University of Mississippi  Introduction The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) frequently known as â€Å"The Affordable Care Act† (ACA) or â€Å"Obamacare,† is the United States decree authorized into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 (Group, 2014). The principle of the Affordable Care Act was to strengthen the quality and affordability of health insurance and decrease the uninsured tariffs by magnifying public and private insuranceRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act756 Words   |  4 PagesProblem Statement It has been almost six years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted. Before the ObamaCare Act many people living in the United States didn’t have health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act include a long list of health-related provisions. Additionally, it supposed to extend coverage health insurance to many uninsured Americans (Obamacare, Web). Not all new government programs are perfect and the PPACA is no exception. Even

America Moves to the City Post-Civil War Free Essays

In the decades post-Civil War, America moved to the city. The increase in population almost doubled especially with the rush of new immigrants. We will write a custom essay sample on America Moves to the City Post-Civil War or any similar topic only for you Order Now The drift towards the city didn’t only affect America, it affected the Western world. With new industrial jobs, immigrants and Americans had opportunities for jobs, having the United States flourish. I. The new look of cities; the urban frontier. A.1870 to 1900, the American population doubled, and the population in the cities tripled. B.Cities grew up and out, with such famed architects as Louis Sullivan working on and perfecting skyscrapers (first appearing in Chicago in 1885). 1. The city grew from a small compact one that people could walk through to get around to a huge metropolis that required commuting by electric trolleys. 2. Electricity, indoor plumbing, and telephones made city life more alluring. C.Department stores like Macy’s (in New York) and Marshall†¨Field’s (in Chicago) provided urban working-class jobs and also†¨attracted urban middle-class shoppers. 1. Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie told of woman’s escapades in the city, made cities dazzling and attractive. 2. The move to city produced lots of trash, because while farmers always reused everything or fed â€Å"trash† to animals, city dwellers, with their mail-order houses like Sears and Montgomery Ward, which made things cheap and easy to buy, could simply throw away the things that they didn’t like anymore. D.Criminals flourished, and impure water, uncollected garbage, unwashed bodies, and droppings made cities smelly and unsanitary. 1. Worst of all were the slums, which were crammed with people. 2. So-called â€Å"dumbbell tenements† (which gave a bit of fresh air down their airshaft) were the worst since they were dark, cramped, and had little sanitation or ventilation. E.To escape, the wealthy of the city-dwellers fled to suburbs. II. Immigration happens all over the nation. A.Until the 1880s, most of the immigrants had come from the British Isles and western Europe (Germany and Scandinavia) and were quite literate and accustomed to some type of representative government. This†¨was called the â€Å"Old Immigration.† But by the 1880s and 1890s, this shifted to the Baltic and Slavic people of southeastern Europe, who were basically the opposite, â€Å"New Immigration.† 1. Southeastern Europeans accounted for 19% of immigrants to the U.S. in 1880, early 1900s, were over 60%! III. Southern Europeans make their way to America. A.Many Europeans came to America because there was no room in Europe, nor was there much employment, since industrialization had eliminated many jobs. 1. America often praised to Europeans, people boasted of eating everyday/having freedom, much opportunity. 2. Profit-seeking Americans also perhaps exaggerated the benefits of America to Europeans, so that they could get cheap labor and more money. B.Many immigrants to America stayed for a short period of time and then returned to Europe, and even those that remained (including persecuted Jews) tried very hard to retain their own culture and customs. 1. However, the children of the immigrants sometimes rejected this Old World culture and plunged completely into American life. IV. Americans react to the new immigrants in their country. A.Federal government did little to help immigrants assimilate into American society, so immigrants were often controlled by powerful â€Å"bosses† (such as New York’s Boss Tweed) who provided jobs and shelter in return for political support at the polls. B.People like Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden began preaching the â€Å"Social Gospel,† insisting that churches tackle the burning social issues of the day. C.Among the people who were deeply dedicated to uplifting the urban masses was Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in 1889 to teach children and adults the skills and knowledge that they would need to survive and succeed in America. 1. She eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, but her pacifism was looked down upon by groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, who revoked her membership. 2. Other such settlement houses like Hull House included Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement in New York, which opened its doors in 1893. 3. Settlement houses became centers for women’s activism and reform, as females such as Florence Kelley fought for protection of women workers and against child labor. 4. New cities gave women opportunities to earn money and support themselves better (mostly single women, since being both a working mother and wife was frowned upon). V. Narrowing the Welcome Mat A.The â€Å"nativism† and anti-foreignism of the 1840s and 1850s came back in the 1880s, as the Germans and western Europeans looked down upon the new Slavs and Baltics, fearing that a mixing of blood would ruin the fairer Anglo-Saxon races and create inferior offspring. 1. The â€Å"native† Americans blamed immigrants for the degradation of the urban government. These new bigots had forgotten how they had been scorned when they had arrived in America a few decades before. 2. Trade unionists hated them for their willingness to work for super-low wages and for bringing in dangerous doctrines like socialism and communism into the U.S. B.Anti-foreign organizations like the American Protective Association (APA) arose to go against new immigrants, and labor leaders were quick to try to stop new immigration, immigrants were frequently used as strikebreakers. C.Finally, in 1882, Congress passed the first restrictive law against immigration, which banned paupers, criminals, and convicts from coming here. D.1885, another law was passed banning the importation of foreign workers under usually substandard contracts. E.Literacy tests for immigrants were proposed, but were resisted until they were finally passed in 1917, but the 1882 immigration law also barred the Chinese from coming (the Chinese Exclusion Act). F.Anti-immigrant climate, the Statue of Liberty arrived from France—a gift from the French to America in 1886. VI. Churches Confront the Urban Challenge A.Since churches had mostly failed to take any stands and rally†¨against the urban poverty, plight, and suffering, many people began to†¨question the ambition of the churches, and began to worry that Satan†¨was winning the battle of good and evil. 1. The emphasis on material gains worried many. B.A new generation of urban revivalists stepped in, including people like Dwight Lyman Moody, a man who proclaimed the gospel of kindness and forgiveness and adapted the old-time religion to the facts of city life. 1.Moody Bible Institute was founded in Chicago in 1889 and continued working well after his 1899 death. C.Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths were also gaining many followers with the new immigration. 1. Cardinal Gibbons was popular with Roman Catholics and Protestants, as he preached American unity. 2. 1890, Americans chose from 150 religions, including the Salvation Army, tried to help the poor. D.The Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science), founded by†¨Mary Baker Eddy, preached a perversion of Christianity that she claimed†¨healed sickness. 5.YMCA’s and YWCA’s also sprouted. VII. Darwin Disrupts the Churches A.1859, Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species, which set forth the new doctrine of evolution and attracted the ire and fury of fundamentalists. 1. â€Å"Modernists† took a step from the fundamentalists and refused to believe that the Bible was completely accurate and factual. They contended that the Bible was merely a collection of moral stories or guidelines, but not sacred scripture inspired by God. B.Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll was one who denounced creationism, as†¨he had been widely persuaded by the theory of evolution. Others blended†¨creationism and evolution to invent their own interpretations. VIII. The Lust for Learning A.New trend began in the creation of more public schools and the provision of free textbooks funded by taxpayers. 1. By 1900, there were 6,000 high schools in America; kindergartens also multiplied. B.Catholic schools also grew in popularity and in number. C.To partially help adults who couldn’t go to school, the Chautauqua movement, a successor to the lyceums, was launched in 1874. It included public lectures to many people by famous writers and extensive at-home studies. D.Americans began to develop a faith in formal education as a solution to poverty. IX. Booker T. Washington and Education for Black People A.South, war-torn and poor, lagged far behind in education, especially for Blacks, so Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave came to help. He started by heading a black normal (teacher) and industrial school in Tuskegee, Alabama, and teaching the students useful skills and trades. 1. Avoided Issue of social equality; he believed in Blacks helping themselves first before gaining more rights. B.One of Washington’s students was George Washington Carver, who later discovered hundreds of new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. C.However, W.E.B. Du Bois, the first Black to get a Ph.D. from Harvard University, demanded complete equality for Blacks and action now. He also founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910. 1.DuBois’s differences with Washington reflected contrasting life experiences of southern and northern Blacks. X. The Hallowed Halls of Ivy A.Colleges/universities sprouted after the Civil War, and colleges for women, such as Vassar, were gaining ground. 1. Also, colleges for both genders grew, especially in the Midwest, and Black colleges also were established, such as Howard University in Washington D.C., Atlanta University, and Hampton Institute in Virginia. B.Morrill Act of 1862 had provided a generous grant of the public lands to the states for support of education and was extended by the Hatch Act of 1887, which provided federal funds for the establishment of agricultural experiment stations in connection with the land-grant colleges. C.Private donations also went toward the establishment of colleges, including Cornell, Leland Stanford Junior, and the University of Chicago, which was funded by John D. Rockefeller. D.Johns Hopkins University maintained the nation’s first high-grade graduate school. XI. The March of the Mind A.Elective system of college was gaining popularity, took off after Dr. Charles W. Eliot became president of Harvard. B.Medical schools and science were prospering after the Civil War. 1. Discoveries by Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister (antiseptics) improved medical science and health. 2. The brilliant but sickly William James helped establish the discipline of behavioral psychology, with his books Principles of Psychology (1890), The Will to Believe (1897), and Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). a. His greatest work was Pragmatism (1907), which preached what he believed in: pragmatism (everything has a useful purpose). XII. The Appeal of the Press A.Libraries such as the Library of Congress also opened across America, bringing literature into people’s homes. B.With the invention of the Linotype in 1885, the press more than kept pace with demand, but competition sparked a new brand of journalism called â€Å"yellow journalism,† in which newspapers reported on wild and fantastic stories that often were false or quite exaggerated: sex, scandal, and other human-interest stories. C.2 Journalists emerged: Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) William Randolph Hearst (San Francisco Examiner) Strengthening of the Associated Press, which had been established in the 1840s, helped to offset some of the questionable journalism. XIII. Apostles of Reform A.Magazines like Harper’s, the Atlantic Monthly, and Scribner’s Monthly partially satisfied the public appetite for†¨good reading, but perhaps the most influential of all was the New York Nation, launched in 1865 by Edwin L. Godkin, a merciless critic. These were all liberal, reform-minded publications. B.Another enduring journalist-author was Henry George, who wrote Progress and Poverty, which undertook to solve the association of poverty with progress. 1. It was he who came up with the idea of the graduated income tax—the more you make, the greater percent you pay in taxes. C.Edward Bellamy published Looking Backward in 1888, in which he criticized the social injustices of the day and pictured a utopian government that had nationalized big business serving the public good. XIV. Postwar Writing A.After the war, Americans devoured â€Å"dime-novels† which†¨depicted the wild West and other romantic and adventurous settings. 1. The king of dime novelists was Harland F. Halsey, who made 650 of these novels. 2. General Lewis Wallace wrote Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which combated the ideas and beliefs of Darwinism and reaffirmed the traditional Christian faith. B.Horatio Alger was more popular, since his rags-to-riches books told that virtue, honesty, and industry were rewarded by success, wealth, and honor. His most notable book was titled Ragged Dick. C.Walt Whitman was one of the old writers who still remained active, publishing revisions of Leaves of Grass. D.Emily Dickinson was a famed hermit of a poet whose poems were published after her death. E.Other lesser poets included Sidney Lanier, who was oppressed by poverty and ill health. XVI. The New Morality A.Victoria Woodhull proclaimed free love, and together with her sister, Tennessee Claflin, wrote Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, which shocked readers with exposà ©s of affairs, etc. B.Anthony Comstock waged a lifelong war on the â€Å"immoral.† C.The â€Å"new morality† reflected sexual freedom in the increase of birth control, divorces, and frank discussion of sexual topics. XVII. Families and Women in the City A.Urban life was stressful on families, who were often separated, and everyone had to work, even children. 1. While on farms, more children meant more people to harvest and help, in the cities, more children meant more mouths to feed and a greater chance of poverty. B.1898, Charlotte Perkins Gilman published Women and Economics, a classic of feminist literature, in which she called for women to abandon their dependent status and contribute to the larger life of the community through productive involvement in the economy. 1. She also advocated day-care centers and centralized nurseries and kitchens. C.Feminists also rallied toward suffrage, forming the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890, an organization led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who’d organized the first women’s rights convention in 1848 at Seneca Falls, NY) and Susan B. Anthony. D.By 1900, a new generation of women activists were present, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, who stressed the desirability of giving women the vote if they were to continue to discharge their traditional duties as homemakers in the increasingly public world of the city. 1. The Wyoming Territory was the first to offer women unrestricted suffrage in 1869. 2. The General Federation of Women’s Clubs also encouraged women’s suffrage. E.Ida B. Wells rallied toward better treatment for Blacks as well and formed the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. XVIII. Prohibition of Alcohol and Social Progress A.Concern over the popularity (and dangers) of alcohol was also present, marked by the formation of the National Prohibition Party in 1869. 1. Other organizations like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union also rallied against alcohol, calling for a national prohibition of the beverage. a. Leaders included Frances E. Willard and Carrie A. Nation who literally wielded a hatchet and hacked up bars. 2. The Anti-Saloon League was also formed in 1893. B.American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed in 1866 to discourage the mistreatment of livestock, and the American Red Cross, formed by Clara Barton, a Civil War nurse, was formed in 1881. How to cite America Moves to the City Post-Civil War, Papers

La Fiesta Brava Essay Example For Students

La Fiesta Brava Essay by1La Fiesta BravaBullfighting is a tradition, art and athletic sport combined in one. Bullfighting originated in the classical world. The first bullfights supposedly took place in Knossos, Greece, a contest of some sort is depicted in a wall painting unearthed dating from about 2000 BC. It shows male and female acrobats confronting a bull, grabbing its horns as it charges, and vaulting over its back. (Encarta) Bullfights stayed popular after the Greek era had declined, in Rome. The spectacle of bullfighting during this time period was scarcely an art form but pure sport. It was not until the Moors of North Africa conquered the Visigoths of Europe in 711 AD that bullfighting started to evolve into an art. The Moors would ride skilled horses on feast days on which they killed the bulls. During this time period, when the Moors were redefining bullfighting, there were those bullfighters that rode horses and killed the bulls but there were also those men who stood on the ground with cape s. The men that wielded the capes aided the horsemen in how the bull was positioned during the fight. These men began to draw most of the attention from the crowd due to their expertise and craftsmanship with their capes; these men eventually became the matadors of2today. With this development, a corrida de toros (the running of the bulls) began to take the shape in which it is seen today as modern bullfighting. In 1726 Francisco Romero of Ronda, Spain fit the last piece into the bullfighting puzzle when he introduced the estoque (the sword) and the:The muleta a Spanish cloak, and you can even see it being worn at times, if rain falls, by fighters off duty It is nowadays made of two thicknesses of heavy silk, the outside being blotting-paper pink and the inside generally yellow. It is very strong. (Machnad 58)The modern sport of bullfighting is strictly an art form, having evolved from its origin in ancient Greece and firmly taken its roots mostly in Spanish speaking countries. Bulls used for bullfighting are a special breed of animal and their lives and breeding reflect that fact:This Spanish fighting bull is a long way removed from the Hereford or the Jersey, or even the Texas longhorn. You can let cattle run loose on the open range for generations until they are complete ?outlaws, but they will never turn into what the3Spanish call toros bravos or fighting bulls. The reason is that the race is different. (Machnad 5)There are two races of cattle native to Spain, one domestic and the other wild. The domestic animals came over by land from Asia and were already domesticated by the Celts. The other race came by sea from Northern Africa and was being thoroughbred in ancient Egypt at that time. These latter animals were only barely domesticated and began to roam the Spanish mountainsides wild. This fighting bull is called Bos Taurus Africanus. This bull is a descendant of Bos Primigenius or the Primordial Bull. Some of these Primordial Bulls survived in herds in the German forests and were hunted by men such as Julius Caesar who said, In size they are a little less than elephants; in species, colour and shape, they are bulls. (Machnad 5) Most bulls that enter the ring with the bullfighter are at least four years old, one year older than those bulls in the slaughterhouse. In the eyes of the spectator, the last twenty minutes of the bulls life are what matters. The fighting bull lives the life of peace in nature until it is time for the fight, having the best pastures and rations of food than that of its cousins, the domesticated cow. Calves are born in the winter and suckled by the mother until just after the second summer of the calfs life. At this point the calf is separated from the mother and branded shortly thereafter. When the calves reach a certain age they are put through a rigorous bravery test. This test, called a tienta, consists of most4everything in an actual bullfight minus the banderillos and the kill. Experts determine whi ch calves will become fighting bulls by grading the animals attitude, style, speed, smoothness, nervousness or calmness, nobility and mode of going for the cloth lures, (Machnad 41) After the bull has matured he is put into a traveling box and taken to his final destination. The unboxing of the bulls is a very tense moment for all involved because the bulls may be ill tempered and be feverish with swollen feet. After this, the bulls rest and are prepared for the fight. Hamlet Essay ConflictAll of this is the art of bullfighting. Bullfighting has evolved from a raw adrenaline sport ancient Greece to a worldwide art form in modern times. There are many techniques and many traditions. The clothing and the weapons along with the respect for the animals and the courage and grace of the bullfighters. Everything has evolved, even Bos Taurus Africanus. 8Works CitedAll about Spain. Corrida de Torros. 17 April 2000. *http://www.red2000.com/spain/toros/*Bullfighting. Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Redmond: Microsoft, 1996. Conrad, Barnaby. How to Fight a Bull. New york: Doubleday, 1968. Conrad, Stanley. Bullfighting Reference Material. 17 April 2000. *http://www.mundo-taurino.org/backgrnd.html*Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York: Scribner, 1960. Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1954. Machnad, Angus. Fighting Bulls. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1959. Michener, James A. My Lost Mexico: The Making of a Novel. Austin: State House Press, 1992. Bibliography8Works CitedAll about Spain. Corrida de Torros. 17 April 2000. Bullfighting. Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Redmond: Microsoft, 1996. Conrad, Barnaby. How to Fight a Bull. New york: Doubleday, 1968. Conrad, Stanley. Bullfighting Reference Material. 17 April 2000. Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York: Scribner, 1960. Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1954. Machnad, Angus. Fighting Bulls. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1959. Michener, James A. My Lost Mexico: The Making of a Novel. Austin: State House Press, 1992.

An Analytical Essay Explaining Why Arthur Miller Wrote The Crucible Es

An Analytical Essay Explaining Why Arthur Miller Wrote The Crucible Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Millers masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950s and 1960s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the Red Scare. Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Millers time that it deals with. Throughout The Crucible, Miller is concerned with conscience and guilt. Through the character Abigail Williams, he shows how people are willing to abandon their firmly-established values in order to conform with the majority and protect themselves. Those who refuse to part with their conscience, such as the character of John Proctor, are chastised for it. For this reason, the Salem witch trials raise a question of the administration of justice. During this time in the late 1600s, people were peroccupied by a fear of the devil, due to their severe Puritan belief system. Nineteen innocent people are hanged on the signature of Deputy Governor Danforth, who has the authority to try, convict, and execute anyone he deems appropriate. However, we as readers sense little to no real malice in Danworth. Rather, ignorance and fear plague him. The mass hysteria brought about by the witchcraft scare in The Crucible leads to the upheaval in peoples differentiation between right and wrong, fogging their sense of true justice. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in the early 1950s, the United States was experiencing a modern witch hunt of its own. Senator Joseph McCarthy, provoked by the Cold War, became fearfully convinced that Communists, or Reds, were polluting American government. He intended to hunt them out, force them to confess, and make them name their associates, almost as the Salem judges had done. In fact, the character of Danforth is based on McCarthy himself. There is a great parallel between the witch trials and the Red Scare. Both created a frenzy among the public, involved people going against each other to prove their innocence, and sought to hunt out those who rebelled against the dominant values of the time. Arthur Millers own involvement in the McCarthy witch hunt is very significant in the writing of The Crucible. He himself appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956, accused of being a Communist. He admitted to having attended a Communist meeting years earlier to learn about their views. He was asked to name the others at the meeting but refused, stating, I am trying to and I will protect my sense of myself. Millers reaction to his cross-examination is similar to that of John Proctor, who represents Millers belief that righteousness is maintained if ones moral sense is kept. In Millers case, he was convicted of contempt, but the conviction was later appealed and reversed. It is evident that he wrote about McCarthyism indirectly to protect himself at the time. The witch hunt in Salem in 1692 and McCarthyism and the Red Scare in the United States in the 1950s are remarkably similar situations. The issues dealt with by Miller in documenting one of these clearly describes almost exactly the issues of the other. Miller masterfully uses the unfamiliar setting of the Salem witch hunt to comment on his own time. It is obvious in all the events represented through the writing of The Crucible that there is a common loss of judgement due to unjustified hysteria. The fact that we see this pattern repeat itself throughout history by reading this play points out that Miller recognizes this as a major concern of society. Though Arthur Miller creates parallels between controversies that occurred in very different times, it is the great universal significance of The Crucible that makes it successful. Millers concern with the shedding of guilt, the loss of morality, lack of genuine justice and the way he deals with these as a theme in the play have a stronger relevance that is striking. He also uses this theme to create a remarkable drama, but more importantly, they are issues that are applicable and crucial to him. Accordingly, The Crucible is far more than a story of the past. Rather, it is an allegory of our

Answer Questions Example

Answer Questions Example Answer Questions – Coursework Example Anthropology Observational Analysis: Option Chimpanzees just like all sets of living organisms embrace specific behaviors that help them adapt to their environments. One outstanding behavior that I have observed is their copulatory success, which is normally high and results into a substantial number of progeny. Primate behavioral ecologists have overtime reaffirmed the opinion that too many offspring routinely harm other primates within the group, for they are normally forced to search for better living conditions because of limited resources. The ecologists attribute the copulatory success of chimpanzees to the fact that they can easily access their mates given the large social groups within which they reside. Option 2 In the past, chimpanzees used to walk on four legs, while current research has pointed towards the fact that a considerable percentage of chimpanzees have begun embracing bipedalism (University of California). Researchers have attributed the need to walk on two legs to natural selection and the need to adapt, as quadrupeds burn numerous calories, hence their cells wear out and die faster while bipedalism provides chimpanzees with the platform to use their calories prudently. Point Make-up optionsQuestion 1: Primatology The submissive and dominant behavior portrayed by apes in the movie Rise of the Planet of Apes is undeniably accurate, as corroborated by research carried out by Yerkes Primate Center researchers and published by the National Academy of Sciences. The investigators argued that apes reside in complex and tightly woven societies, and use gestures to convey countless messages including for compromise and obedience. Consequently, they reaffirmed that the only way through which apes would manage to exist such amicably was by being submissive.Question 5: Biological Anthropologyi. The perpetrator in the case cannot be identified using the standard DNA tests essentially because the key suspects are identical twins, who developed from a so litary fertilized egg, hence have nearly undistinguishable genomes. ii. For the prosecutors to tell the identical twins apart, they will have to carry out the ultra-deep, which is a next generation sequencing procedure that takes closer look at the genetic base pairs. This procedure is likely to work, as it depends on mutations that take place unsystematically in the course of development and it is exceptionally improbable that both twins will go through mutations at a single location. Works-CitedUniversity of California- Davis. Why Humans Walk on Two Legs. Science Daily. Science Daily 2007, July 20. Accessible at: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720111226.htm.

Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Strategic Management - Assignment Example n and put into adherence through proper and strategically managing of both resources available to the company, that which that the company already possess and taking advantage of it marketing strategy to achieve its goals and those of its shareholders. This paper focuses on strategic management of an organization, its aim and concepts, principles, key factors affecting it such as external, internal and industrial environments. It also describes strategic formulation. Strategic management is the art of making decisions for an organization or company, taking into consideration the competitive market in which the organization finds itself and other factors affecting it in regards to achieving the organizations goals and objectives with the best interest in creating a profitable environment for both the company and its shareholders (Dess, 2005). Strategic management is all about analyses, making choices and seeing that those choices are implemented. Strategies are meant to give the organization or company a focus, direction in which to channel its efforts as per the environment it finds itself in and define major characteristics of the company’s goals. After this analysis, the management group needs to make appropriate decisions, on how to find their place in the market by making great and applicable marketing strategies as to help them gain and a substantial amount of clients, while attracting more for their goods and services in this market regardless of the external competition they face making sure that their ideas of marketing or goods production are not able to be copied by other competitive partners in the market. This means that the company ought to try do everything differently from their competitors in terms of decision making especially due to the constant market competition that they face as this will help them sustain themselves in the market for long as their ideas cannot be copied (Irene M. Duhaime, 2012). After a choice of decisions has been made,

Case Study Computers R Us Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case Study Computers R Us - Assignment Example In regard to the initiatives set up by the company to boost satisfaction levels of the customers, loyalty rewards came out as the best initiative so far with an average satisfaction level of 5.6452 out of 10 it was followed by the response time at 4.3714, both level of advice and communication level stood at below 4 out of 10. There was however no any association between age groups and the overall satisfaction level. The study could have been limited by the fact that the questionnaires were emailed and there was no direct contact between the researcher and the respondents to verify their answers. Computers R Us, a computer manufacturer and retailer recently launched a service and repair division, CompleteCare, for its portable/laptop/notebook computers. This division promised to provide a rapid response to customer’s technical enquiries and warranty repairs. As a result of this, Computers R Us has been receiving multiple complaints about CompleteCare at the Computers R Us call centre. To address these issues, a study was proposed and the research overseen by the management of Computers R Us. It was found that customer satisfaction was a contributing factor to the issues experienced in the CompleteCare division. Consequently, the management of Computer R Us developed several possible initiatives to improve customer satisfaction to a minimum level of 6 out of 10 To collect this data, a simple random sample of 500 customers was selected from a sampling frame. A sampling frame includes the actual list of individuals included in the population (Nesbary, 2000). Of the 500 customers that were sent surveys, 420 responded. The response rate was computed as follows; Structured questionnaire constructed in English language was used to collect data with a total of eight items six of which touched on customer satisfaction. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: Five ethical concerns as outlined by Crowhurst and Dobson (1993) were

Problem solution report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Problem solution report - Essay Example the risk reward ratio is very high and the results are guided by the factors such as ideas, innovative experiments, freedom of thinking, rate of success, pressure for delivery, unexpected breakdowns in the processes, chances of failures, opportunities to learn new techniques, etc. Therefore, identification of the problem, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (here it is the team), providing facilities to achieve the objectives, maintaining communications at all levels, lateral as well as vertical, etc. are very important in this regard. When the above fundamental factors are put in place, motivation, decision making within the frame work, accountability of the members of the team and above all motivation to the team members would yield excellent results considering the potentials of the employees with sound and balanced background in the field. The Australian company Morning Drops Company (MDC) faces similar problems faced by the multinational companies, such as IBM, Xerox, etc., the converging points of different cultures. If we could concentrate on the relevant points without going deeper into the cultural differences, a common platform for the people belonging to various cultures would emerge. It is in this direction the problem should be approached for efficient resolution. According to Hofstede model, there are ‘five dimensions to national cultures: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, Masculinity and Long Term Orientation†¦ The new factors revealed common problems with which IBM employees in all these societies had to cope, but for which their upbringing in their country presented its own profile of solutions. These problems were: (4) The balance between ego values (like the need for money and careers) and social values (like cooperation and a good living environment). The former were more frequently chosen by men, the latter by women, but there were also country differences.’ (Hofstede, G, 2009). Having

Definition of management

Definition of management Executive summary The constitution of the people in an organization which includes planning, organizing, leading, motivating and controlling at all levels of the management. An introduction to a variety of tools, idea and system that are used to analyze and understand the inside and outside of business environment of a firm. Management In the simple term refers to making things done by others. History The word manage come from the Italian word maneggiare which means (to handle -especially a horse), which in turn derives from the Latin word manus (hand). Later on the French word mesnagement (later menagement) influenced the development in meaning of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries. (www.answers.com) (www.encyclopedia.com) FINDINGS:- Definition of management:- â€Å"The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work† By ‘Agha Hasan Abedi Management is defining both science and art but thats not so important, what important is? Management is a method that is used to achieve organizational objective; that is, a method that is used to attain what a firm wants to achieve. A business can be in any field or entity or any group in which people come together to perform their respective task. Managers are the person to whom this task is given. And thus the managers achieve these goals through the key function like (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) directing, and (4) controlling. Some of them also include leading as a managing role, but leading is a part of directing. Planning: Planning could include setting of organizational aims and goals. This are usually done by the higher management of the organization and as the part of business objective, then the manager build up the same strategies for attaining the goals of the organization. Organizing: Organizing refers to the technique in which the organization distributes it resources, assigns their respective duties, and goes about achieving its goals. It is shown by an organizational chart; with the three main levels starting with top level (ceo) followed by the middle level (managers and executive) and at last the lower level (workers and labor). Directing: Directing is the process which would everyone relate to supervision. It is supervising, or leading workers to achieve the objective of the business. In many organizations, directing involves making coursework, supporting workers to carry out the coursework, interpreting organizational guidelines, and notifying workers to how well they are acting towards the respective goal. To successfully carry out this task, managers must have leadership ability in order to get workers to execute the work effectively. Controlling:- controlling is a function which involves the valuation of activities that the manager should carry out. It is a procedure of shaping the organization goals and objectives to be met. The process also includes correcting the business conditions for which the purpose and objectives are not meeting. There are many more other activities which are a part of controlling process. Managers must know and set some standards of appraisal for workers. PESTEL Analysis Political factor:- Political issues include government guidelines and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the firm must function. Some examples of political factor include: tax policy employment laws trade constraint and tariffs political permanence Economical factor:- Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firm ´s cost of capital. The Economic condition is influenced by the political and government guiding principle, being a major influence affecting government assessments. The following are examples of factors in the macro economy: Economic growth Interest rates Exchange rates Inflation rates Social factor:- The Social factors comprises of the demographic and cultural phase of the external macro environment. These factors affect customer wants and the size of potential markets. Some social factors include: health consciousness population growth rate age distribution career attitudes emphasis on safety Technological factor:- Technological factors are those factors that can lower barriers to enter markets, reduce minimum efficient productivity levels, and influence the outsourcing decisions. Some technological factors include: RD process automation activity technology incentives rate of technological transform Legal factor:- These are allied to the legal obligation in which company operates. In latest days in UK there have been many considerable legal changes that have affected firms behavior. The introduction of age discrimination and disability legislation, the increase in the minimum wage and greater supplies for firms to recycle are illustration of relatively recent laws that affect an organization. Legal changes can affect a firms costs for example:- Future legislation European/international legislation Regulatory bodies and processes Employment law Consumer protection Environmentalfactor: Environmental factors include the weather conditions and climatic changes that take place. Changes in temperature can blow on many industries including farming, tourism and insurance. There is a major climate change taking place because of global warming and with greater environmental alertness this factor is becoming a major issue for firms to reflect on. Examples:- Ecological Environmental issues Environmental regulations Stakeholder/ investor values Organization structure and its design Organizational design is the process by which managers select and manage various elements and working of organizational structure and culture so that an organization can achieve its objective. Organizational structure is the formal system of work and reporting relationships that controls, co-ordinates, lead and motivates employees so that they work together to achieve an organizations goal. As a manager one should create an organizational structure and culture such that: Which Encourages employees to work hard and encourage them towards their work attitudes. Allows the employee and all the middle n lower level groups to cooperate and work together effectively. Structure and culture affect: Behavior Motivation Performance Teamwork and cooperation Intergroup and Interdepartmental relationships. Hongkong and shanghai banking corporation limited. The HSBC Group has an international history which is unique. Many of its most important companies opened for big business over a century ago and they have a history which is rich in diversity and success. The HSBC Group is named after its founding member and the founder of it was Sir Thomas Sutherland, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and a public limited company, which was established in year 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and Europe. It was started as it headquarters in hongkong and than until 1992 hongkong served as a world headquarter when it was forced to move to London as a condition of completing the acquisition of midland bank. As a public limited company hsbc is listed on different stock exchanges of the world like London, hongkong, Paris, India, Bermuda constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the Hang Seng Index. (www.HSBC.co.uk/history) INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN USE AT HSBC FOR THE TRADING PORTAL HSBC was a founder member of the ‘FXall software, the leading multi-bank FX trading portal. With increasing competition in electronic FX trading, HSBC wanted to be the first bank to introduce the new QuickFill functionality software. QuickFill enables customers to execute trades based on streaming Prices i.e. using configurable deal sizes for different currency pairs as opposed to a request for quote (RFQ) system where a deal is executed against the best available quote in the market. QuickFill allows customers to see a price and simply â€Å"hit† it. The system provides a 24/7 operation base with rates being managed globally from a range of HSBC financial centres. This software enhances functionality to enable streaming prices, rapid implementation within an infinite timeframe, and transfer of required details over multiple levels and minimized the risk by strict project planning. Structural and contextual dimensions of HSBC Structural dimensions: Centralization:- This means the extent to which functions are dispersed in the company, either in the terms of integration with other functions and geographically. Since HSBC is a worldwide banking corporation all functions are dispersed into different departments under different heads. In such conditions centralization is not possible and so the entire organization functions are de-centralized so as to make the functioning easier and smoother. Formalization:- This concept is regarding to the extent of policies and procedures in any organization. HSBC being a highly accredited name all over the world, it is very important for the management to upkeep its name and standard in the world wide market place and so for this reason it is essential that formalization levels in the company be very high. This company deals with high profile clients and so every employee must be aware of all the rules and regulations of the company so as to avoid reduction of reputation in the eyes of the customers. Hierarchy:- This concept is regarding the extent and configuration of levels in the structure of the organization. Hierarchy of a bank at the stature of HSBC is very complicated as it involves both a flat as well as tall structure hierarchy and level of management. Basically, the bank tries to follow a flat structure and has decentralized all its departments so as to increase efficiency and productivity of the organization. Specialization:- Specialization refers to the extent at which activities are refined in the organization. Like any other multi-national corporation even HSBC has a high amount of specialized employees working under different departments from different fields and educational backgrounds. The company advocates a policy of well defined tasks and roles for each employee so as to avoid overlapping job portfolios. Training:- Training is the extent at which activities to equip organizational members with knowledge and skills are carried out, about their roles. Before an employee can be sent onto the floor to handle customers each employee has to undergo various trainings so as to be fully equipped with complete knowledge over all the queries that a customer might have. This training is highly professionalized so that no errors are made on the side of the employee who would result in the loss of a potential or existing customer. As this is in the banking sector low professional training standards are not advised and harmful for the company. Contextual Dimensions: Culture:- The values and the beliefs shared by all employees in the organization should be maintained in decorum. Culture is often explained by examining the norms and behaviors of employees in the workplace. HSBC has a multilingual culture where persons from all over the world come together and work in a single workplace as a team. So, its said that ‘HSBC- THE WORLDS LOCAL BANK. Environment:- Environment refers to the nature of external influences and activities in the political, social, technical, and economic areas of business. A stable environment is very essential for any business to survive and function smoothly in a way as per norms written down in the memorandum of association. Being a world wide bank it is very difficult to say that HSBC has a stable environment as it might have a stable environment in one of its branches but that is not the same with each and every one of its franchised branches. Goals:- The unique overall priority and preferred end-states of the organization is known as its goal. The goal of the bank is â€Å"To be the Bonding Company that guarantees continuance in the market to satisfy appropriately and professionally the bonding needs of our obligors and the assurance of timely fulfillment of our bond to our beneficiaries† (www.hsbc.co.uk). Size:- The number of people and resources in the organization and their span of control in the organization. HSBC is a highly resourceful bank and has the most number of employees in comparison to any other bank. Basically, we can say that HSBC is a large multinational corporation with around 8500 offices over 119 countries which consist of more than 1 million employees and workers. Technology:- The unique activity needed to reach organizational goals, including nature of activities, specialization, type of equipment/facilities needed, etc. HSBC provides their customers with both products as well as services. The main technologies includes computer softwares and banking instruments which have made modern life un-livable without. SWOT ANALYSIS â€Å"Situation analysis in which internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and external opportunities and threats faced by it are closely examined to chart a strategy.† (www.businessdictionary.com) STRENGHTS:- Competitive market and brand name. High standard regulatory environment Flexible work permit system and good quality staff offering personal client service WEAKNESSES:- Tough competitors Retail and staff affluent customer proposition Lack of legitimate access to all markets Rigid laws that prohibit development OPPORTUNITIES:- Brand expansion Unified trade body to lead finance sector program change Active and aggressive targeting of private and corporate clients Co-ordinate business relationships thus investing in the ecosystem THREATS:- Changing scenario which makes investors hard to invest. Outsourcing to cheaper jurisdictions Downsizing and reduction in banking operations Regulations in foreign trade capital markets Impact on the service sector ecosystem Conclusion Service sector management is an important factor for any business organization and with the rapid growth of these sector people are keener to develop the habit of providing services with all the necessary means available to them. Due to high competition in the service market people are scared to invest in banking sector, hsbc have always arrived up with various schemes to hold the interest of its customers. As mentioned: High competition in the banking sector, hsbc has to increase the confidence in the mind of their customer about the reliability and security of their investment compared to other banking service provider. Best service compared to the other providers. Hsbc should be more concentrative in after sales service, There is opportunity but no security; it should emphasis more on service than any other thing. Hsbc should give some more sound strategies to trap more customers giving more comparison with other investment center. Due to uncertainty of market hsbcs security investment are subject to market risk and there is no guarantee that the objective be will achieved. The growth of retail financial services sector has been a key to the development on the market front. Both the public and the private bank will not only keen to tap the domestic but also to hold the international market of financial services. Now foreign banks will be more likely to gain foothold in prospective global market. Therefore the future will belong to them who develop good and strong service strategies, internal controls cost effective services and instruments and innovating new evolution in the SERVICE SECTOR market.

The Death Penalty and Race Essay -- Capital Punishment Essays

The Death Penalty and Race To look closely at many of the mechanisms in American society is to observe the contradiction between constitutional equality and equality in practice. Several of these contradictions exist in the realm of racial equality. For example, Black s often get dealt an unfair hand in the criminal justice system. In The Real War on Crime, Steven Donziger explains, There are so many more African-Americans than whites in our prisons that the difference cannot be explained by higher crime among African- Americans - racial discrimination is also at work, and it penalizes African- Americans at almost every juncture in the criminal justice system.1 This paper focuses in on one of those "junctures" - the death penalty. The racial disparities that Donziger finds in the prisons can also be found in death row. To be exact, African-Americans are 12% of the US population, but they make up 40% of the death row population.2 I, like Donziger, believe something more is at work; and in the tradition of Ture and Hamilton, I believe that this something works in covert ways. It would almost be better if we could place the blame on blatant racial discrimination. But the death penalty does not serve the explicit purpose of oppressing Blacks. Racism persists, but it has taken on more implicit, more subtle, and arguably more harmful forms. The death penalty is a timely lens through which to observe the covert racism that operates in institutional settings. This topic can be overwhelming, and this paper is in no way comprehensive. Rather, it is an opportunity to string together some soci ological and legal concepts with personal analysis in the d esire to demonstrate that the death penalty and the institutions surrounding... ...ziger, 100. 13 Chambliss, 250. 14 Chambliss, 248. 15 Donziger, 127. 16 Donziger, 109. 17 Donziger, 110. 18 Campaign to End the Death Penalty (pamphlet). 19 Leon Higgenbotham, Shades of Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1996) xxv-xxvi. 20 Donziger, 109. 21 David C. Baldus, et al, "Comparative Review of Death Sentences: An Empirical Study of the Georgia Experience," The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 74 (1983): 663-664. 22 Baldus, 664. 23 Donziger, 109. 24 U.S. General Accounting Office, "Death Penalty Sentencing: Research Indicates Patterns of Racial Disparities," The Death Penalty in America, 271. 25 Hugo Adams Bedau, The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) 250. 26 Donziger, 113. 27 Ellsworth, 90. 28 Ellsworth, 92. 29 Chambliss, 243. 30 Ellsworth, 92.

Daughters of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a country where survival is a fight. Poverty, diseases, poor health care, and starvation is an everyday struggle in daily life. If you are an Afghan woman these issues are compounded by the fact that women are seen as being objects. Women are not worth as much as a man. Women in Afghanistan are seen as inferior. Women can be put to death for the slightest insinuation of an insult to a man. These are just a few of the issues that the women and girls of Afghanistan face every day. The sad fact of the matter is that a lot of the hate and violence comes from male family members. Honor killings are allowed in Afghanistan. A woman does not even have to do anything wrong to be killed. If there is any inclination that the woman has embarrassed her family, she can be killed. Women in Afghanistan are very rarely given medical treatment. There are so many obstacles that Afghan women face that the majority of women here in the United States cannot even imagine. I know I cannot imagine being set aside just because I could not bear a son or children. I do not want to even try to think of the violence that these women face if they show any sign of disrespect. Afghan women are seen as mindless broodmares. Not all men see them this way but the majority of the male population does. Many men say that their religion teaches that women are not as smart as men and those women should be meek and obey what their husbands and fathers tell them to do. In 2004 a Canadian journalist traveled to Afghanistan to learn about Afghan women’s rights. The trip ended up being the base for her movie, Daughters of Afghanistan. In the movie journalist Sally Armstrong talks too many women. She listens to their stories of their bravery and courage. In September of 1996, the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The Taliban forced women into their homes. The Taliban would not even allow women to have health care or schooling. An Afghan woman could not even think of asking about birth control. Women’s’ rights activists in Afghanistan look forward to the day that women can walk around outside without consequences. There are some places like in Kabul where this can be done. However, in the rural areas many of the old ways still have hold and women are not allowed to be out of their houses. In the rural areas animals are still seen to be worth more than a woman or girl. In Daughter of Afghanistan, one of the most important women in Afghanistan today are Dr. Sima Samar. Dr. Samar was born on February 4, 1957. After the fall of the Taliban, the Afghan government promised that life would get better for women and girls. Dr. Samar agreed to an arranged marriage so that she could go to college. In 1982, she received her degree from Kabul University. Shortly after Dr. Samar had started practicing, she she had to leave to save her life. She fled back to her home village. She practiced medicine there until 1984. In 1984 her husband and son were arrested. After the arrest Dr. Samar and her family fled to Pakistan. From 1984 until 2002 she lived as a refugee. In 2002 she decided to return to Afghanistan. Dr. Samar has built clinics and shelter for women and children in Afghanistan. She has also opened a school for women. Beside the schools and shelters Dr. Samar has also built clinics so that women and girls can receive medical treatment. After the fall of the Taliban, the government made a lot of empty promises. Dr Samir was made Deputy Prime Minister and Minster of Women’s Affairs in the first government after the fall of the Taliban. Unfortunately, the Islamic fundamentalists came out. They made sure that she was seen as an enemy to the state, not someone that was trying to help . Because she was brave enough to question practices that had been taking place for many generations soon after the fundamentalists spoke up she started receiving death threats. Doctor Samar is just one of the million women and girls that suffer in Afghanistan each day. Another woman who has face issues is Hamida. Hamida is the principal of one of Dr. Samars high schools. Hamida also faces death threats for being brave enough to teach women how to do tasks like using a computer and how to drive, so that they can get jobs and support themselves. Women are treated like pawns in a game. A good example of this is a woman named Camellah. She is not allowed to say no to her husband when he wants sex. She is pregnant and doesn’t always feel like having sex. This baby will be her ninth baby. Camillah is afraid that she will not survive this childbirth. She is not allowed to even think of using birth control. Birth control in most of the culture is unthinkable. Dr. Samar is one of the women that is trying to change that view. Another girl in the movie is Lima. Lima is not even sure how old she is. She thinks that she is 13. She acts like a mother to her younger siblings. If it is hard for an older woman with children to survive, imagine how old it is for a child to try to raise other children under this type of repression. A fourth woman in the movie is Soghra. She is a widow and pregnant with her seventh child. She was brave enough to walk for nine nights to avoid the Taliban so that she could find shelter in Dr. Samar’s refuge. Her husband did turn out to be alive but they are very poor. Even though the Taliban has fallen, the Islamic fundamentalists have resurfaced in a bad way. If a woman walks on the street even wearing her burqah, she is insulted and given hateful, angry, looks. Some things have changed but a lot has not changed for women. Yes, now some women do go to school and receive medical care, for the majority of women and girls, unfortunately this is not the case. Women and girls are still forced to marry, they still have to obey their husbands, they cannot make their own decisions. They are still seen as less than human in their culture. Yes the Taliban has fallen and thanks to brave women like Dr. Samar some women and girls are getting an education. Unfortunately there are not enough shelters or safe places where women and girls may go in order to be safe. Safe from their own family. That is one of the most horrible things that I think goes on. Women cannot even feel safe with their husbands, fathers, uncles, or sometimes even brothers. The human rights disasters that took place under the Taliban were front page news. Now since the fall of the Taliban, the western world seems to have forgotten about these women and children of Afghanistan. They are the forgotten daughters of Afghanistan. Change may be slow to come to Afghanistan but as long as people like Dr. Samar and other women stand up, there is always hope. When a person has hope there always seems to be a way to make a better tomorrow. Change may be too late for some women but for Afghan daughters and granddaughters, they may be able to have a better life than what their mothers and grandmothers did.

Mindfulness and the SAT

Mindfulness and the SAT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In this article, we'll discuss how to use mindfulness to crush the SAT (and everything else that stresses you out!). On Test Day â€Å"Our mind is constantly evaluating our experiences, comparing them with other experiences or holding them up against expectations and standards that we create, often out of fear.† -Jonathan Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are When you walk into the gym/classroom/cafeteria on test day, it’s likely that you’ll be feeling anxious and scared. Even though you might have prepped for the SAT with all kinds of courses, you may be nervous. All kinds of important, but unpredictable, life situations produce these feelings. But here’s the thing: anxiety and fear actually impede (get in the way of) your ability to perform your best on the SAT. In fact, they impede almost everything we try to get done in a day. To boost our performance, the best thing we can do (besides personalized SAT prep) is try to minimize our anxiety, but most people have no idea how to do this. There is a simple solution: mindfulness. What’s mindfulness? â€Å"You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.† -Jonathan Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are Mindfulness, according to the Oxford New American Dictionary, is: 1: the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something; 2: a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. So, it’s possible to be mindful in any given moment, not thinking about anything but the present time and place. But the practice of mindfulness is cultivating the ability to be mindful more frequently and more easily, and is the secret to the inner peace of Buddhist monks, among others. However, while monks meditate for hours every day to cultivate their mindfulness, it is possible for high school students (and, in fact, anyone) to use the power of mindfulness. Given any amount of time, but especially if you start well ahead of test day, you can harness the power of your own inner strength using mindfulness to get your best possible score. // What can mindfulness do for me? Life is stressful, especially for teenagers. There’s school, sports, extracurriculars, social life, family time, andon top of it alltest prep. Mindfulness is a scientifically proven, thoroughly researched way to reduce stress and provide a calm state of mind that can help you get through any situation, especially one as potentially anxiety-producing as the SAT. Read on for details of what exactly this means. Practice: how and when? Meditation, or mindfulness practice, is nothing but sitting, standing, laying or even walking while focusing only on the present momentwhat you see, hear, and feel right now. There are a million websites and books that discuss when, where and how to do it. But the great thing about mindfulness practice is that, while 30 minutes or an hour of daily practice can do wonders, even 5 minutes of intentional mindfulness every day (or even every few days, or every week) can seriously improve your ability to stay calm, focus, and perform better. If you follow our recommendation to do 100 hours of focused online SAT prep (it’s not as bad as it sounds!), you’ll end up with 250-500 minutes, or 4-8 hours, of mindfulness practice. That’s more than enough to boost your emotional and psychological readiness for the SAT, as well as the crazy stuff college is going to throw at you. We recommend that, before you start your SAT prep session, sit (on the floor, ideally) or lay down and focus on nothing but the present moment. Many people find that it helps to focus on the breath moving in and out of their body. Try to do it for 5 minutes, even if it is difficult or frustrating. By associating your mindfulness practice with your SAT practice, you’re training yourself to be mindful on test day. Discipline concentration â€Å"Discipline provides a constancy which is independent of what kind of a day you had yesterday and what kind of a day you anticipate today.† -Jonathan Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are In addition to its other benefits, regular meditation improves discipline and concentration, which are key for any academic pursuit. You don’t have to do anything to gain this benefit: just do nothing for 5 minutes before every session of SAT prep you do, the more often the better. Try it out Right now, just sit cross-legged on the floor, close your eyes, and focus your attention on your breathing. Count the breaths, if that helps. When other thoughts pop up, acknowledge them and let them go, bringing your attention back to your breath. Try it for 5 minutes, and see if you don’t feel calmer and more centered afterward. If you found this helpful or interesting, please take a moment to sign up for our email list at right: we’ll never sell your email address, and we crank out great posts on SAT-related topics every week. Also, check out our Free SAT Guide:

voices in the city essays

voices in the city essays Voices in the city(Anita Desai) Voices in the city is a pessimistic novel like Cry the peacock.The protagonists of this novel are detached , self-centered and remain aloof from others just as Maya in Cry the peacock, who alienates herself from the rest.What they always wanted was shadows,silence and stillness and that was what they were left with. Nirode the main character is an editor of a newspaper. The novel begins with the scene at the station when nirode comes to see his brother off. When the train departs he starts introspecting , compares his capabilities and achievements with Aruns. He broods over the way he has grown up with his shortcomings and laidback attitude.Wonders the way he has whiled away his time since childhood and has been a looser always.This thought (realization) makes him envy Arun who has always been the winner. In this novel the life of Calcutta has been portrayed . The characters of this novel especially Nirode and his sister Monisha feel themselves detached from this city.They find it difficult to cope up with its busy life where people are so ambitious and rapacious.Their mother who lives in Kalimpong is also like any of the calcuttians and that is the reason they dont approve of certain things about her.Nirode never replies to her letters never feels the need of her embrace and shelter because he thinks she is having an affair with Major Chaddha. He finds her lusty at this age and fels that she is no more concerned about her childrens feelings and emotions.Even the company his friends dosent excite him and he becomes a loner. Thinking that after reaching lofty heights there is no other way than to descend to the bottom , Nirode feels why not to take a shortcut and remain at the bottom since this is the ultimate destination.Because he has never achieved anything in his life , he starts living revelling in the f...

Einstein's Ideas on Science and Religion Term Paper

Einstein's Ideas on Science and Religion - Term Paper Example The story begins thus, "I tell myself I am not looking for God. I am looking for an elision that is nevertheless a contour." (175) He travels to the desert, a solely deserted place devote of significant life to find the only sole God that all people and religions have believed in, to this the author says, "I have come to the Holy Land because the God of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims-a common God revealed Himself in the desert." (176) this is indeed a logical reasoning that the author believes that there is some religion truth in this place. Quite contrastingly, this land that is supposed to be holy is marred by blood and no human life. Einstein critically presents his arguments and points out the limitations of the human intellectual ability as individuals entangled in ‘religion fear’ (1) to secure favor in solving the human miseries. In Einstein’s Personal god, religion beliefs and science are presented as antagonists, but he further suggests that serious sci entific workers are also the most profoundly the most religious people. The most outstanding feature of Einstein’s characteristics is his language about religion and science. The desire to experience the cosmos as a single whole sprouts from human’s perspective of the world as some kind of prison to him. This thought already brings forth the idea of cosmic religion which emanates from mans fear of uncertainty. To limit dogma and lots of theology, Einstein does not rule out the prospects of a future cosmic religion. He foresees a religion that goes beyond personal God. This religion majorly based on sense of emanating from the encounter of all spiritual and natural things that when combined form an ideal and meaningful unity. From his perspective, science brings to life religion and those who accept it internalize it. Einstein argues that humans are usually driven by some sort of internal needs as they seek religious interpretation. The main force for human would be in most instances for a ‘feeling and longing’. (1) It is the fear of these that tend to provoke human emotions throughout religious life. This religion concept where one fears sickness, death or hunger is what Einstein describes as a ‘religion fear’ by constantly using the word ‘religion fear’ the author implies that human beings do not go to church to seek spiritual guidance but rather they attend church from the fears that emanate deep within. The author generally groups these religion fears into hunger, pain or comfort. Moreover, Einstein describes a second type of religion belief that emanates from social impulses. He attempts to justify that ‘the desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form social conception of God.’ (3) God who the human race believes to provide, protect and even offer rewards and punishments; this ‘personal god’ as the author describes is able to even provide ‘life and offer com fort during difficult times of sadness and ‘unsatisfied longing’ and ‘he who is also able to preserve the soul of the dead.’ (3) A common religious orientation with the above types of religion is what Einstein describes as ‘anthropomorphic character of their conception of God’ (4) exhibited by low level individuals. It is therefore based on these two low level of human understanding and belief about religion that Einstein expunges a new religion dimension which he also admits is ‘rarely found in pure form’ (4) this is what he calls ‘Cosmic religion’ (4) which is characterized by human desires and personal quest to ‘reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought.’ By using the word â€Å"Anthropomorphic cha

Cost of Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Cost of Capital - Essay Example ls as far calculating the actual cost of capital of Pfizer, but it does point out that Pfizer has more equity than debt because the firms prefers to keep its interest payments low in order to maintain good liquidity and cash flows. Pfizer operates in industry that has very high risk. Every year hundreds of new medicines project fail for a variety of reasons. Sometimes these medicines do not work as the company expected or even when they work the new drug often is not able to comply with the strict protocols to achieve FDA approval. Whenever a medicine is not able to reach market the total costs that the pharmaceutical company incurred in becomes a sunk cost. A sunk cost can be defined as a cost that cannot be changed by any present or future decision (Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel, 2002). Sunk cost are a major financial challenge for companies such as Pfizer. Minimizing projects that do not provide a positive stream of cash flows is imperative for the success of a company in the pharmaceut ical industry. Pfizer faces other financial challenges that are unique to its industry. For instance the company has to invest billions of dollars each year in research and development costs. The average out of pocket cost to develop a new drug is $1.4 billion (Mullin, 2014). Another financial challenge Pfizer faces is that it also takes a long time for a new drug to reach market. While a new drug is being developed the company does not obtain any inflows of cash from that project. Despite the challenges associated with developing a new drug when a company succeeds in creating a new product the law protects firms such as Pfizer. Patent protection allows Pfizer the ability to create a monopoly market on the new drug. Patent protection in the pharmaceutical industry can last eight to ten years. During that time Pfizer would face no competition for its new drug. Another challenge that Pfizer faces is a shortage of talent in many technical fields. In order to recruit new talent the firm

The Harvard Community Health Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Harvard Community Health Plan - Essay Example In order to deliver high-quality healthcare services to the patients, Harvard Vanguard is focused on establishing a partnering relationship with its patients and community members (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012c). As part of delivering complete healthcare services to the patients, Harvard Vanguard’s physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and the rest of the medical teams are required to work closely with other specialties such as internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics among others (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012d). This is also the main reason why healthcare professionals at Harvard Vanguard are continuously collaborating with other Atrius health affiliates (i.e. Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical Group, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Reliant Medical Group, South Shore Medical Center, and Southboro Medical Group) (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012e). As part of the Harvard Vanguard ‘s human resource people plan, this report will explore the effectiveness of its organization's commitment to equality and diversity, individual and organizational learning, compensation, pay-for-performance and incentives, employee benefits, and employee rights. After the conclusion, some recommendations will be provided to ensure that the HR manager of Harvard Vanguard will be able to continuously support and implement necessary changes that aim to improve its current HR practices. Equality and Diversity ‘Equality’ means that work-related discrimination should be removed in order to guarantee that each worker within a business organization is given equal work-related opportunities whereas ‘diversity’ is all about the need to value the differences between two or more different people (Skills for Business, 2012). Basically, the human resource of Harvard Vanguard is committed to promoting workforce diversity and Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 7). Without any forms of work discrimination (i.e. race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and handicap or disability veteran status), each and everyone who is currently employed at Harvard Vanguard will be given the equal opportunity for employment (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 7). Individual and Organizational Learning Healthcare management is subject to change because of the presence of external socioeconomic factors that could directly affect the way healthcare services are being managed. According to Aspin and Chapman (2001, pp. 39 – 40), some of the reasons why HR managers should provide opportunities for individual lifelong learning includes the need to continuously improve one’s own knowledge and skills for â€Å"economic progress and development†, for â€Å"personal development and fulfilment†, and for â€Å"social inclusiveness and democratic understanding and activity†. Basically, in dividual lifelong learning is a new perspective wherein the modern society is being strongly influenced. In response to the continuous improvements on science and information and communication technology, a lot of educational institutions around the world started promoting the importance of individual lifelong learning (Demirel, 2009).  

Fictitious Business Description Essay Example for Free

Fictitious Business Description Essay The main purpose of this study is to discuss the importance of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) in Castle’s Family Restaurant. We are therefore going to discuss on the HR problems in Castle’s Family Restaurant and how the implementation of HRIS will enable the company to reduce costs together with ensuring efficiency in HR operations (Randall S. Susan E. 2007). Business assessment Castle’s Family Restaurant in Northern California is the business to be assisted. It is large in size since it runs several branches in different locations and also has over 300 employees and this makes it to be a company. Depending on the size of the business, I have in my description assumed that Castle’s Family Restaurant is a since it has many employees and many branches. This assumption is based on the background of restaurant work environment and industry. Based on the basic theory of business complexity and getting work done restaurants should employ many workers to ensure that work is done efficiently like in the case of Castle’s Family Restaurant. Identified problems In the review of the HR of Castle’s Family Restaurant, I have noted the following: I have discovered that business does not have a human resource manager rather the operations manager served as HR manager. The company has not implemented HRIS which is important in monitoring the employee’s performance (Randall S. Susan E. 2007). It is therefore evident that the HR is experiencing problems since the HR manager is unqualified and had so many duties to handle which is quite tiresome for him. Some of the functions of a HR include manpower planning, recruitment and training of employees, hiring employees and monitoring employees to ensure high performance. In my analysis I will focus much on monitoring of employees performance which will help me design a business plan. The main reason for focusing on this HR function is because the company seems to have failed in its implementation of HRIS which could be useful in reducing the HR managers travel time and travelling costs and that is why the HR manager has to travel to the branches to monitors employees performance. According to the resource-based theory of Human Resources, strategic management of the company resources leads to its success (Randall S. Susan E. 2007). Increase in the costs incurred by the company is wastage of company resources since a better method can be implemented to reduce these costs and improve company’s performance. HRIS needs assessment According to Michael J. Mohan T. (2008), HRIS is an online solution used by Human Resources to enter data, track data and manage accounting and payroll functions of the company. The main purpose of implementing HRIS in a company is to reduce the manual workload in HR administrative activities through tracking existing workers. Implementation of this software will create a more efficient process from the HR in the sense that it will help the HR manager to manage information about the employees, analyze employee information, manage resumes and new applications and also complete payroll integration with other financial accounting software in the company (Michael J. Mohan T. 2008). Automating all HR functions saves a lot of time and resources and hence increasing efficiency in HR operations as suggested by the resource-based theory of Human Resources. By implementing HRIS in Castle’s Family Restaurant, the HR manager will not have to travel to all company branches to monitor and answer employees questions rather he will perform his duties in his office. All questions that need to be answered will be answered through this software. Application or implementation of HRIS in Castle’s Family Restaurant will therefore enable the HR manager to complete all of his tasks in a cost-effective manner. Conclusion As a HR consultant, I would advise Castle’s Family Restaurant to implement HRIS as this software will solve much of the HR problems and hence leading to reduced costs and improved HR efficiency. Implementation of HRIS will make the company to effectively use it resources for better operations.

The Effects Of Task Based Listening English Language Essay

The Effects Of Task Based Listening English Language Essay In the Malaysian educational context, the main purpose of English language instruction is to prepare learners for effective and efficient communication in English in their social and professional situations (Chitravelu et al, 1995, p.4). In many organizations, English is the main language of communication and one needs to be competent in English in order to succeed and advance in the respective organization. The importance of English language as a global language has always been a major motivating feature in the learning and use of the language in Malaysia especially as a medium to gain information in science and technology, commerce and trade as well as for entertainment and media. In April 2000, there was an issue highlighted in the mass media about the reasons behind the inability of some 39,000 graduates in the country to get a job. Tan Sri Musa Mohamad the Minister of Education at that time as quoted in the New Straits Times stated that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ employers did not just lo ok at ones qualification but also factors like personality, potential, English proficiency and experience. This implies that job seekers should try to achieve certain level of mastery of English to help them secure appropriate jobs particularly in private sector. Besides, job interviews for professional vacancies in critical fields like Law, Accountancy and Engineering are generally understood to be conducted in English (Hanapiah, 2004) In many contexts where English is regarded as a foreign as opposed to a second language, there are many problems in developing real communicative competence in learners including the ability to listen and comprehend properly. Brown and Yule (1983) believe that many language learners regard speaking skills as the criteria for knowing a language. They defined fluency as the ability to communicate with others much more than the ability to read, write and comprehend oral language. However, learning to talk in the foreign language is often considered to be one of the difficult aspects of language learning for the teacher to help students with. Unlike written language, it is also not easy to provide good models of spoken language for the foreign learners. According to Bygate (1987), one of the basic problems in foreign-language teaching is to prepare learners to be able to use the language. How the preparation is done and how successful it will be, are very much depending on how the teachers understand the aim of teaching the language (p.3). The main features of speaking which can be traced to the processing conditions of communication involve the time factor in which the words are being spoken as they are being decided and understood. The fact that the language is being spoken as it is being decided affects the speakers ability to plan and organize the message, and to control the language. Thus, mistakes often occur in the message and in the choice of words during a conversation (ibid. p12). 1.3 Objective The objective of the study is to investigate the effects of task-based listening activities on the speaking performance of FELDAs EFL learners. The difference in students speaking performance before and after undergoing the Task -Based Listening activities would be one of the main concerns in this study. A comparison will be drawn between the TBL and non TBL classes to see whether there is any difference in students speaking performance. Besides, students confidence to speak is another area of interest to be investigated in this study. It is hoped that the study will be able to identify any significant difference in students level of confidence to converse in English after undergoing the Task- based listening activities as compared to those who have not been exposed to the activities. Another objective of the study is to investigate FELDAs EFL learners attitude towards the implementation of the task-based listening activities. Expressions of either positive or negative feelings towards the task-based listening activities will reflect impressions of the effectiveness of the activities in enhancing students speaking skill. 1.2 Problem Statement Speaking is considered one of the most difficult language skills to acquire among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. In rural setting schools, particularly in the FELDA (Federal Land Development Authority) scheme, there is a lack of exposure and communicative use of the English language. Most students regard English as serving very limited function once they leave the classroom and as such they hardly see the need to use it in their daily life. As in the classroom setting most EFL learners rather remain silent or resort to rote learning when they are required to respond to a speaking task. As such, it is a demanding task for language teachers to provide sufficient inputs for students to be competent speakers of English (Bygate, 1987). Students usually feel insecure about their level of English and face problems communicating as well as expressing themselves in the target language. As a result, they rather remain silent as they are in fear of making mistakes and do not show active participation in speaking lessons. Ian G. Malcolm (1987) refers to the guarded and taciturn behavior of students who refuse to speak as the shyness syndrome and that this problem has been reported of Polynesians in New Zealand, various American Indian groups, Hispanics in the United States, Black Americans and Southeast Asians. Malcolm quoting Tan (1976) and Salleh (1981) says that many pupils in Southeast Asian classrooms are bilinguals whose use of the classroom language is hesitant. Yap (1979) also quoted as saying that the frequent complaint mainly in secondary schools is that learners do not respond or take too long to respond, or speak too softly (cited in Gaudart ,2003, p.2) Emphasis should thus be given to address this problem as speaking is an important element in mastering English language. Therefore, it is important to explore new methods of teaching in order to enhance students speaking performance and confidence to use the language. 1.4 Research Questions The study attempts to answer the questions that follow: 1) What is the speaking performance of FELDA learners after undergoing task-based learning activities? 2) Do task-based listening activities enhance EFL students confidence to speak in English? 3) What are the attitudes of the FELDA EFL learners towards task-based listening activities in enhancing their speaking performance? 1.5 Significance of study The findings may provide language teachers with specific language teaching procedures to enhance ESL learners ability and confidence to communicate orally in English. Besides, in a wider scope, the study can also be used as the yardstick in designing supplementary materials to assist teachers in teaching speaking skill more effectively in the Malaysian classrooms. 1.6 Definitions of terms The following terms are significant in this study: 1.6.1 Task-based Listening Activities Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) or Task-based Instruction (TBI) makes the performance of meaningful tasks central to the learning process. The Task-based listening activities which will be used are based on authentic materials used in teaching second language. Nunan (1999) defines authentic materials as spoken or written language data that has been produced in the course of genuine communication, and not specifically written for purposes of language teaching. The materials are based on the real world context outside classroom in situations in which they really occur. Gebhard (1996) suggested some examples of the authentic materials that may serve as source for lesson planning including for listening and speaking class. The authentic listening- viewing materials include TV commercials, quiz shows, cartoons, news clips, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, professionally audio-taped short stories and novels, radio advertisements, songs, documentaries and sales pitches. In this study, the task based listening activities will include the use of audio CDs on selected stories and songs. Throughout the implementation of the activities students are required to respond to certain tasks related to the selected materials following the framework for task-based learning proposed by Jane Willis (1996) which comprise of pre-task, task cycle and language focus. Among the tasks suggested include listing(e.g. brainstorm/ fact finding), ordering or sorting (e.g. sequencing/ ranking), comparing (e.g. matching/ finding similarities or differences), problem solving (e.g . analysing real situation/ decision making), sharing experience (e.g. narrating/opinions) and creative tasks which includes all the tasks mentioned. 1.6.2 Speaking Performance Speaking in a second language involves the development of a particular type of communication skills. Because of its circumstances of production, oral language tends to differ from written language in its typical grammar, lexical and discourse patterns (Tareq Mitib, 2009). A person can be considered to be able to perform well in speaking skill when he is able to speak a language using the components correctly for example by making the right sounds, choosing the right words and getting the constructions grammatically correct. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary tasks will focus on the need for practice in language accuracy. At the same time, one also needs to get a clear message across and this involves choosing appropriate content or ideas to suit a situation, e.g. deciding what is polite or what might appear rude, how to interrupt or how to participate in a conversation. (http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant/pdf/Unit4.pdf ) 1.6.3 School Based Oral Assessment Previously the English SPM examination had an oral examination component which was graded based on the candidates comprehension of a dialogue text and the ability to respond to a pictorial stimuli. However, the test was considered to be inadequate since students proficiency in English language continued to drop to the point where prospective employers in private and government sectors complained about the inability of graduates to converse in even the most rudimentary situations (Vinodini Murugesan, 2003). In 2002, the School-Based Oral Assessment (SBOA) was implemented for the first time on Form Four students who will be sitting for SPM in 2003 to replace the old oral assessment and this time it is considered to be in line with the communicative language teaching approach adopted in Malaysian schools. The School-Based Oral Assessment (SBOA) consists of 4 Models. The models are Model 1:Individual, Model 2:Student-Prompter, Model 3:Pair work and Model 4: Group work. Students are to be assessed twice in Form Four (using Model 1 and 2) and once in Form Five (using either Model 3 or Model 4). Marks are given based on students ability to converse on a topic effectively with appropriate responses, speak fluently using correct and acceptable pronunciation, speak coherently, speak the language using a wide range of appropriate vocabulary within context and speak using correct grammar. In some cases, students can actually request to repeat the test if deemed necessary especially when they are n ot satisfied with their mark. The total mark for each assessment is 30. When the students are in Form 5, the best mark among the three assessments will be taken and submitted together with other School Based Assessment Marks for SPM examination to the Malaysian Examination Board (Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia). 1.6.4 Confidence Confidence can be defined as a belief in one own ability to do things and be successful (Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, 7th ed., 2005, p.318). It is ones perceptions of ones own abilities to achieve a stated outcome. ARCS Model of Motivational Design developed by John M. Keller of Florida State University identified Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction as the four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process. According to Keller, confidence helps students to understand their likelihood for success. If they feel they cannot meet the objectives or that the cost (time or effort) is too high, their motivation will decrease. Besides, confidence also provides objectives and prerequisites that help students to estimate the probability of success by presenting performance requirements and evaluation criteria. It allows for small steps of growth during the learning process, provide feedback and support internal attributions for success. Not only lear ners should feel some degree of control over their learning and assessment, they too should believe that their success is a direct result of the amount of effort they have put forth (Keller, 1983 and 1987 cited in http://www.learning-theories.com/kellers-arcs-model-of-motivational-design.html.). Confidence in speaking involves ability to speak the target language fluently using the right rules and appropriate choice of words. In speech situation, thinking, listening and speaking go on almost simultaneously and people expect feedback on or response to what they have said almost as soon as they stop speaking (Chitravelu et.al, 1995). Anxiety of making mistakes is one of the major obstacles that learners have to overcome in learning speaking because most of the time learners are reluctant to be judged by listeners. Of all the four language skills, speaking skill is probably the one most affected by personality features. Students who are confident and have experienced success are likely to be more motivated and more willing to try harder. Therefore, teachers have an important role in building up students confidence to speak by being sensitive, sympathetic and encouraging as well as selecting material that is motivating and within the ability of the students (ibid). 1.6.5 Attitudes Attitudes refer to a persons way of thinking or feeling about somebody or something; the way that he or she behaves towards somebody or something actually shows how the person thinks or feels (Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, 7th ed., 2005, p.85). The measurement of language attitudes provides information that is useful in teaching and language planning (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1997 cited in Tareq Mitib, 2009). In this study the EFL learners attitudes towards the Task-based listening activities will be measured through the use of a questionnaire which will be developed from the findings from focus group discussions. The questions will comprise of an adaptation of Gardners (1985) Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and Rossett (1982) Needs Analysis questionnaire. 1.7 Limitation/ Delimitation Since this study will be carried out within a relatively short period of time on students with average to good proficiency of English, it would thus be interesting to see if using task-based listening activities on a lower English-proficiency group of EFL students with varying time spent would have a different effect on the results. Thus, this study might not be able to represent the whole FELDA scheme students speaking performance because only two groups of students from a school will be selected. Further studies need to be conducted in order to seek similarities or differences on this issue. Chapter 2: Review of Literature 2.1 Relationship between listening and speaking Speech involves communication between people and the rules that apply to all forms of interpersonal behaviour also apply to speaking behaviour (Chitravelu et.al, 1995, p.59). Graham-Marr (2004) mentioned many reasons for focusing in listening and speaking in EFL classroom and one of them is the fact that speaking skills have been found to be a fundamental skill necessary to succeed in life. The ability to speak in the target language has always been associated with the success of learning the language. Before a person can speak the language he learnt, he should first be able to listen and understand the language. Listening should be the first and foremost skill to be acquired in learning a new language because understanding spoken words is prerequisite to speaking, reading and writing; and that comprehension should precede reproduction. Listening skill transfers to other skills and promoting listening skills before focusing on oral skills can result in increased second language acqui sition. (Cheung, 2010). The relationship of listening and speaking skills was further elaborated by Goss (1982) who claimed that listening is a process of taking what you hear and organizing it into verbal units to which you can apply meaning. Applied to speech processing, listening requires that you structure the sounds that you hear and organize them into words, phrases, sentences, or other linguistic units. Bowen, Madsen and Hilferty (1985) (ibid) defined listening as attending to and interpreting oral language. The student should be able to hear oral speech in English, segment the stream of sounds, group them into lexical and syntactic units (words, phrases, sentences), and understand the message they convey (p. 73). Gary (1975) cited in Ghazali, (2003) said that giving pre-eminence to listening comprehension particularly in the early stages of second language teaching and learning contributes advantages of four different types, namely cognitive, efficiency, utility and effective. As such, Doff (1988) added that speaking skills cannot be developed unless listening skill is also developed. In order to have successful conversation, students must understand what is said to them because later on the ability to understand spoken English may be very important for studying, listening to the radio or understanding foreign visitors. To develop this ability, students need plenty of practice in listening to English spoken at normal speed (p.163). A listening lesson gives students the opportunity to listen to native speakers conversations if the related materials are well-chosen, and, listening to the target language a lot can help the students improve in their pronunciation (Gethin and Gunnemark, 1996). Bruton (1997:14-15) argues that students need to listen to prepare themselves for their future listening. They need to listen in order to know how to produce. The better students understand what they hear, the better they will take part in spoken interactions. Although students usually face difficulties to understand the language produced by the native speakers in the listening activities, teachers have to be creative to tackle the problem by exposing students to more of the materials. At the beginning of the listening activities, teachers help may still be needed to explain to the students what is required from them. However, the dependency on teachers can slowly be eliminated later on when the students are working on the act ivities or in their groups. In order to measure the effectiveness of any speaking lesson, students need to be tested. The two main aspects of direct procedures for testing speaking according to Nation and Newton (2009) are the way in which the person who is being tested is encouraged to speak and the way in which the speaker performance is assessed. The first procedure can include interviewing, describing something for someone to draw and discussing while the latter can include rating scale, communicative result and assigning marks for the parts of an outcome (p.171). 2.2 Task-based Instruction in Language Classroom In task-based language teaching (TBLT), syllabus content and instructional processes are selected with reference to the communicative tasks which learners will (either actually or potentially) need to engage in outside the classroom and also with reference to theoretical and empirical insights into those social and psycholinguistic processes which facilitate language acquisition. Among the features identified by Nunan (1991) for this approach is the emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language, the introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation, the provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language, but also on the learning process itself, an enhancement of the learners own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning and an attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom. According to Brown (2001), Task- based Language Teaching (TBLT) puts tasks at the centre of the methodological focus. The learning process is viewed as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals they serve. The main characteristics of TBLT according to Ellis (2003) include the natural or naturalistic use of language, learners-centred activities rather than teacher-centred, focus on form and tasks serve as the means for achieving natural use of language. Ellis also claimed that the traditional approach of Present, Practice and Produce (PPP) are inadequate. Some critics also supported this and viewed PPP as clearly being teacher-centred and therefore sits uneasily in a more humanistic and learner-centred framework (Harmer, 1988, p.66). Task can be defined in various ways. Nunan (1999) in Bahrami (2010) for example, defined a task as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning, and in which the intention is to convey meaning rather than to manipulate form. The task should also have a sense of completeness, able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right with a beginning, middle and an end. (p. 25). Long (1985a) as cited in Nunan (1991) suggests that a task is nothing more or less than the things people do in everyday life like for examples buying shoes, making reservations, finding destinations, and writing cheques. Breen (1987) similarly suggests that a task is any structured language learning endeavour which has a particular objective, appropriate content, a specified working procedure, and a range of outcomes for those who undertake the task. Task is therefore assumed to refer to a range of work plans which have the overall purpose of facilitating language learning-from the simple and brief exercise type, to more complex and lengthy activities such as group problem- solving or simulations and decision making (p. 23). Prabhu (1987) stands as the first significant person in the development of Task-based instructions in language classrooms. He defines a task as an activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process (cited in Tareq Mitib ,2009). Nunan (1989) further defines a task as a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form (p.10). He suggests that in all definitions of tasks, one can see communicative language use where the learner focuses on meaning instead of linguistic structure. Many people have studied the implementation of Task-based instruction in language classrooms and have advised using tasks in language classrooms because students motivation rises through assigned tasks. On looking at the positive results that the use of tasks may bring about in the EFL classroom, it can be said that using a variety of tasks in class gives positive results (Ruso, 2007). Bahrami (2010) examined the influence of four specific types of task-based activities of matching, form-filling, labelling and selecting on the listening ability of 90 senior EFL learners of Sadra English Institute of Darood .The data for the quasi-experimental study included two task-based tests of listening comprehension and a test of language proficiency. The result shows that there was a significant relationship between the three tasks of matching, labelling and form filling on the other hand and listening comprehension on the other. However, there was no relationship observed for the task of selec ting and listening comprehension. In conclusion, not only the listening-comprehension skill of the EFL students tended to improve through exposure to task-based input; it is also proven to be suitable for students of various levels. Similarly, Tareq Mitib (2009) who also adopted a quasi experimental design to study the effects of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) on developing speaking skills among the Palestinian Secondary EFL students from two schools in Israel concluded that the method succeeded in improving the students speaking skills and develop students attitude towards English language. It was found that girls speaking skill improved more than the boys when classroom practice was organized and authentic as in the case of TBLT. Boys on the other hand, did better in the conventional teaching situations. Tareq therefore claimed that task-based language teaching can be the solution for the lack of exposure to authentic English as it enabled students to practise using the language through different activities in real world tasks and in a stress free atmosphere. This finding conforms to Underwood, (1998); Gethin and Gunnemark, (1996) and Kenworthys, (1987) claims, that, exposing students to native speakers o f English Language through listening gives them the opportunities to acquire the correct model of English pronunciation which will eventually leads to intelligibility (cited in Ghazali, 2003). Awang and Md. Supie (2011) stated that, one of the main issues in second language learning is ESL learners who are less proficient in the language opt to avoid speaking in English language classes. Some learners might find speaking English in front of the class as very intimidating. In a way it implies that regardless of how many English classes students have attended, if they do not practise the language, they will not be able to improve their communication skills as well as their self-confidence. Both researchers proposed that task-based speaking activities would enable students to communicate easily as the activities are usually conducted in pair work or group work. As such, a study was conducted in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia(UTM) on 30 second year students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering enrolled for the Advanced English for Academic Communication course in semester 2, 2007/2008. A set of questionnaire was designed and distributed to find out the students perspectiv es on task-based speaking activities in fostering their communication in English. This study also seeks to find out which types of Task-Based Speaking Activities (TBSA) that highly promotes learners communication in English. The types of task-based speaking activities used in the study were problem-solving, information-gap, and sharing personal experience or feelings. Results show that all the 30 participants agreed that task-based speaking activities improved their communication in English because the activities offered opportunities to practise the language. It was also found that students with low level of proficiency in English also participated in the TBSA during English classes and they were not intimidated by their low level of proficiency. As for the activities, problem-solving is found to be the most preferred type of TBSA that encouraged participation and use of English language. Other study related to the use of TBL includes an exploration of the implementation of TBLT in three primary classrooms in Hong Kong by Carless (2001). The subjects of the case study were three female English teachers who implemented task-based innovation over a seven months period in their primary one and primary two classrooms with children aged six to seven. Results reveal that there was a certain amount of interplay between different issues studied like for example, the more positive the teachers attitude towards TBLT, the more likely she was to take time doing the preparation of the supplementary materials for her class or to allocate time for carrying out activities (cited in Tareq Mitib, 2009). Despites many positive feedbacks of using TBL on EFL and ESL students, there are also evidences of sceptical perceptions on its implementation. One of them is in a case study conducted by In-Jae Jeon and Jung-won Hahn on EFL teachers perceptions on the practice of TBLT in Korean secondary School Classroom in 2005. Data were collected through questionnaires from 228 teachers at 38 different middle and high schools in Korea. The overall findings of the survey show that even though majority of the respondents have a higher level of understanding about TBLT concepts, teachers still retain some fear of adopting TBLT because of perceived disciplinary problems related to classroom practice. Other reason for teachers fear to adopt TBLT is related to their lack of confidence. Hence, much consideration should be given to overcome the potential obstacles such as on the part of the teachers before TBLT can really be successfully implemented. 2.3 Theoretical Framework of TBL Task-based learning (TBL) seems to gain currency since the publication of Jane Willis Framework for Task-Based Learning in 1996. N. Prabhu originally popularizes TBL in early 80s and since then has influenced subsequent models of Task Based Teaching such as Willis (1996) who developed a framework for task-based learning. Prabhu (1987) used a task-based approach with secondary school classes in Bangalore, India in his Communicational Teaching Project beginning 1979. Reports on the Bangalore project indicated that a syllabus organized around problem solving tasks and feedback can effectively accomplish and in many ways improve on what a traditional linguistic syllabus provides (cited in Tareq Mitib, 2009, pp. 53). In Framework for Task-Based Learning (1996), Willis proposed a three stages process of carrying out TBL. The stages include: pre-task (introduction to topic and task), task cycle (planning and reporting) and language focus (analysis and practice).The framework can be illustra ted as below: FRAMEWORK OF TBL (Jane Willis, 1996) Pre task Introduction to topic and task instruction (Exposure) Task cycle Use expose to tasks (6 tasks Types), planning (prepare to report outcomes), reporting, post task (optional) Focus on forms Language Focus Analysis: learners focus on form, Ask about language features Practice: teacher conduct activities TASK (Introduction to topic/ task) TASK CYCLE ( Task /Planning /Report) LANGUAGE FOCUS (Analysis Practice) In the Pre-Task stage, the learners and teachers explore the topic and the teacher may highlight useful words and phrases while helping students to understand the task instructions. The purpose of pre-task is to prepare students to perform the task in ways that will promote acquisition. As for the Task Cycle stage, the students perform the task in pairs or small groups while the teacher monitors or facilitate the lesson from a distance. During this stage students will also plan on how to report or present to the class what they have done and how they do it. At the same time teacher should encourage students to communicate in the target language while helping students to prepare w