Monday, December 30, 2019

Bad Reasons to Enroll in an Online College

If you’re thinking about enrolling in an online college, make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons. A lot of new enrollees sign up, pay their tuition, and are disappointed that their online classes aren’t what they expected. There are definitely some good reasons for wanting to become an online student, such as the ability to balance school and family, the chance to earn a degree while continuing work, and the opportunity to enroll in an out-of-state institution. But, enrolling for the wrong reason can lead to frustration, lost tuition money, and transcripts that make transferring to another school a challenge. Here are some of the worst reasons to enroll in an online college: You Think It Will Be Easier If you think that earning an online degree is going to be a piece of cake, forget about it. Any legitimate, accredited program is held to strict standards regarding the content and rigor of their online courses. Many people actually find online classes more challenging because without a regular in-person class to attend it can be difficult to find the motivation to stay on track and keep up with the work. You Think It Will Be Cheaper Online colleges aren’t necessarily cheaper than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. While they don’t have the overhead of a physical campus, course design can be costly and finding professors that are good at teaching and technologically competent can be a challenge. It’s true that some legitimate online colleges are very affordable. However, others are twice as much as comparable brick-and-mortar schools. When it comes to comparing colleges, judge each institution individually and keep an eye out for hidden student fees. You Think It Will Be Faster If a school offers you a diploma in just a few weeks, you can rest assured that you’re being offered a piece of paper from a diploma mill and not an actual college. Using a diploma mill â€Å"degree† is not only unethical, but it is also illegal in many states. Some legitimate online colleges will help students transfer credits or earn credit based on the exam. However, accredited colleges won’t let you breeze through classes or get credit based on unproven â€Å"life experience.† You Want to Avoid Interacting With People While it’s true that online colleges have less personal interaction, you should realize that most quality colleges now require students to work with their professors and peers to some degree. In order for colleges to receive financial aid, they must offer online classes that include meaningful interaction rather than serve as online versions of mail correspondence courses. That means you can’t expect to just turn in assignments and get a grade. Instead, plan on being active on discussion boards, chat forums, and virtual group work. You Want to Avoid All of the General Education Requirements Some online colleges are marketed towards working professionals that want to avoid taking courses like Civics, Philosophy, and Astronomy. However, in order to keep their accreditation, legitimate online colleges must require at least a minimal amount of general education courses. You may be able to get away without that Astronomy class but plan on taking the basics like English, Math, and History. Telemarketing One of the worst ways decide to attend an online college is to give in to the continual calls of their telemarketing campaigns. Some of the less reputable colleges will call dozens of times to encourage new enrollees to sign up over the phone. Don’t fall for it. Make sure that you do your research and feel confident that the college you choose is right for you. The Online College Promises You Some Sort of Goodies Free GED courses? A new laptop computer? Forget about it. Anything that a college promises you in order to get you to enroll is simply added to the price of your tuition. A school that promises tech toys should probably receive quite a bit of scrutiny before you hand over your tuition check.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Effect Of Mobile And Wireless Communication On The...

Introduction Information and communication has been changing rapidly during the past decades, and such changes will be affecting the society for the next five years. One effect is on individual lifestyles and this includes an increase of mobile usage and social network consumption. The changes also enable the appearance of cloud technology and the utilization of data management called big data. Another effect that is placed in a classroom. The classroom in the 21st century is virtual and allows stakeholders include students and teachers to access courses through online devices. Lin, H., Wang, Y., Li, C. (2016). Mobile learning has become more and more important in the educational context because the rapid advance and the popularity†¦show more content†¦Nowadays, students are able to access online learning through internet technology, available time, and resources. This collaborative system allows student groups interacting of learning, sharing and enabling learning eval uation. In terms of Thailand, the Thai government has the policy to support the use of technology in the education system. It is believed that technology increases students potential. To achieve this, teachers should apply more technology in classes. Therefore, The aim of this study is to improve higher students’ critical thinking skills with the utilization of the changes in the information and communication technology. To achieve this objective, the initial step of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of learning in a borderless classroom. The borderless classroom will be used as an alternative instrument which a lecturer can use to distribute learnings and/or lessons. Research Question 1. Study the borderless classroom: a modern collaborative learning model to enhance higher education students’ critical thinking skills. 2. Study the students’ satisfaction towards borderless classroom: a modern collaborative learning model. Rationale The progress of technology had improved digital technology and wireless network. They resulted in the expansion of mobile phones and portable computers have improved. The student could learned outside the

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Japanese Street Fashion Free Essays

The beginning of the 21st century, it formed street fashion, a fashion style in which the wearer customizes outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends. At present, there are many styles of dress in Japan, created from a mix of both local and foreign labels. Some examples of popular styles are: Laity, Gaur and Decors fashion. We will write a custom essay sample on Japanese Street Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now Laity is a fashion subculture originating in Japan that is based on Victorian-era clothing. It is usually consisted of knee length skirt or dress with a cupcake† shape assisted by petticoats. Laity fashion has evolved into many different sub styles that are present in many parts of the world. The most popular sub categories are: gothic Laity, sweet Laity and the punk Laity. Laity has popularized by the more feminine visual eke or â€Å"visual style† artists. Visual eke is a fashion among Japanese musicians, who are usually male, featuring make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes Guar fashion is a type of Japanese street fashion that was popular in the sass, but shortly died out in the early sass. It is often portrayed as a sign of youth rebellion as it is the opposite of the traditional idea of beauty in Japan. Guar fashion is typically characterized by heavily bleached or dyed hair, highly decorated nails, and dramatic makeup. Popular sub categories include: Kangaroo, Him guar and Anne guar. The Decors style originated in the late ass and rose to great popularity both in and outside Japan. The clothes are usually in black, dark pink r baby pink and neon. A plain shirt and hooded are often worn with short tutu-like skirts. The most important part of the style is to pile on many layers of cute accessories until the clothes worn underneath are barely visible. Leg and arm warmers, knee socks, and many accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, lights, children’s toys, mittens, face masks and sunglasses are worn atop each other in different layers. The style is worn to give the youthful and innocent image. How to cite Japanese Street Fashion, Essays

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Developing Management Capability Entrepreneurship Relationships

Question: Describe about the Developing Management Capability for Entrepreneurship Relationships. Answer: Introduction This report is based on different aspects and roles of managers he / she have to play in the organisation. Developing manager capabilities is the main area that organisation and individual as a manager shall focus on. This report discusses about team and group development in organisation. How team are formed, main aim behind developing so and how manager competencies come into play while team development and effectiveness. This report discuss about different aspect of team and key definition required to be understood. Another discussion point of this report is different diagnostic models that can be used for identifying team development and managing other competencies in a team. At last, personal development has been developed so as to make analysis of what competencies are required to be developed an how identified competencies can be developed. Literature review on Team and Groups One of the most important capabilities that managers of organisation shall possess is of managing people in the business organisation. Among many other features of organisation, team and groups present at work place is one of the core factor of success. Over the last few years teams and groups in the organisation has became most crucial factor in organisational structure. Many theories and models have been developed to manage people in terms of groups and teams in the business organisation. In order to understand these theories or models we need to understand what teams and groups are. Team can be defined as the collection of different individual having different set of skills and abilities (Wilson, 2009). They are formed together for a specific or some specific objectives to be achieved. Team is more of formal collection of individuals having different roles and responsibilities and each one of them is equalled important for achievement of ultimate objective. On the other hand group s in the business organisation can be formal or informal also. There is no specific target behind developing groups or there can be some informal targets behind them. Most peculiar point in group is that; group is also collection of different people having same characteristics and nature and can influence achievement of organisational goals (Whitelaw, 2015). In order to understand different aspects of team and groups exist within organisation and to possess managing capabilities following key terms shall be understood: Human resource Initial stage of groups and teams is individuals that part of human resource of the business organisation. Teams and groups are part of and group management is a process of HRM cluster. Managers are responsible for managing groups and teams within the business organisation and they are required to possess different team building capabilities and skills. Managing groups and team is with the scope of management human resource and managers require complete different skills in managing the same (Robbins, 2003). Teams and groups sometimes act as a symbol of organisation as they and their act represent particular organisation. Team Cognition Team cognition can be defined as the process of developing and self-managing teams or groups within the organisation. Team cognition lead towards developing shared understanding among team or group members by influencing their behaviour. It is very much important for manager who is responsible for managing teams and groups to influence action and behaviour of each member. Manager is required to achieve synergy gain from the pool of different skills and abilities which exist in teams and groups of organisation. Manager developing cognition among teams is required to establish co-ordination among different members and this can be developed through explicit co-ordination or implicit co-ordination (Hllgren, 2010). Other key terms under team cognition is as under: Team building- Manager has to undertake different steps for building effective team. Manager is required to arrange sequence of different activities that bring team members together. Decision making process of team or groups- Most important aspect that manager has to develop in groups or teams are the decision making process with teams or groups. Therefore it required different set skill of manager in developing so. Self Management- Manager has to develop capabilities of self-management among group member so that they are able to identify and respond to threats by their own (Burke et al., 2014). Group Development Most important aspect of group or teams is their development under different circumstances. There are various well known development models that manager of business organisation can implement in order to develop effective group or team within organisation. Therefore another important skill or ability that manager shall possess is of developing groups and teams to achieve defined objectives (Wolfenden, 2015). Following are well know and used team development model that can be used by manager to develop group: Five-Phase group-development model- Forming- It is initial stage of developing team within business organisation under which team or group members are first meet and interact with each other in limited manner. At this period of time, roles and responsibilities, target objectives, team leader, manager, co-ordination performance, etc are decided. At this point manager, will be analysing behaviour of members for selecting effective steam leader. Storming- This phase or stage also known as testing stage in steam development process. At this stage, different members proving themselves as an effective team leader or for securing particular position with the team. Many sub-groups will be formed at this stage, planning and plotting starts at this stage. Manager is required to control members activities or inflame those activities. Norming- Norming is the word which is derived from the word norms, which means rules or standards. Therefore at this stage, loud sounds of individual members of the team will comes to an end and managerial capabilities of manager starts. At this of team development, manager has to develop some rules of interaction, behaviour, rules for communication and rules for interacting with each other. Under this stage of team development, manager is required to develop group cohesiveness among different members of the group (Quinn et al., 2015). Group cohesiveness is the development of united and we feeling among team members. Group cohesiveness develops the feeling of motivation and inspiration to achieve organisational objectives and manager shall possess such capability or skill. Performing- At this stage developed team starts working as a team, within organisational structure. Each member in the group is required to perform its own role and is responsible individually. At this stage of team development, communication process and communication channels are important activity that manager has to develop. Adjourning- This is the conclusion stage in the team development which means, at this stage all objectives of team or group has been achieved and team is no longer required by organisation. At this stage, group ceases to exist and comes to an end. Individual role of each member in the organisations starts from this point (Quinn et al., 2015). Meaning of Team and Team Leader One of the most important aspects of team or group is its team or group leader that leads team to achieve defined objectives. Team leader shall possess required skills and ability that enables him / her to lead effectively. Following are some characteristic of team: Team leader is the path finder and becomes common activity After development of team accountability is of team and not of individual member Own set of rules and objectives that are to be achieved More focus is on problem solving activities rather of performing activity Individual effectiveness is not measured any more but steam performance, team cohesiveness and team achievement is measured (Whetten and Cameron, 2011). Diagnostic Tools In this section of report, different diagnosis tools have been applied so as to identify personal ability and skills to be a competent manager. These tools are made and used to analyse self in terms of capabilities and skills that are required for different management aspects (Yakhlef, 2010). In this report, since team and group development has been under as development of manager capability. In this case, following are some models and theories that shall be used to analyse personal skill and capabilities: Diagnostic Tool 1: Turknett Leadership Character Model Under Turknett Leadership Character Model a diagnostic tool, there are different activities that are undertaken in order to analyse personal capabilities as manager. This model or diagnostic tool is based on leadership character of manager and it assesses different leadership aspects in individual (Goleman et al., 2004). This tool is base on survey of self and feedback that you get. Main elements of this tool are; Custom Organizational Effectiveness Surveys Leadership character 360 Retention index of manager 360 degree feedback Follow-up 360 Team characteristics survey Diagnostic Tool 2: The Big 5 This model is based on personality of individual and these personalities are then compared with roles of the individual in organisation. This model is introduced in 1950 and is treated as personality scale for managers of organisation (Antoncic et al., 2015). Following are five key characteristics of personalities: Openness- Proves strength of mine. Conscientiousness- I as a manager possess moderate level of conscientiousness which means level of care during work. Extraversion / Introversion- This proves to be strength for me as I am socially very active. Agreeableness- This proves weakness for me which means I am lacking at empathy level. Natural reaction- Weakness (Giluk, 2009) Diagnostic Tool 3: Emotional and Social Competency Inventory This tool supports assessment of level of emotional and social competency in developing manager. This model is based on coaching and mentoring manager of organisation in terms of social and emotional intelligence (Bansal and Hingorani, 2013). This tool also serves succession programme for leaders or manger of the organisation. Following are four assessment criteria under this tool: Self-Awareness Social Awareness Self-management Relationship Management Key Strength and weaknesses in managing other capabilities STRENGTH WEAKNESS Main strength is academic achievements and requirements of job are achieved under such academic qualification. Distraction is the main weakness that I need to overcome. There are certain points of time when I get distracted easily from my target. Critical thinking is another skill that I possess and every manager shall posses while solving problem. It is difficult for me to take decisions at last moment or decision making capability under pressure is missing. Flexibility and easy adaptability is the strength that I possess. Working in a team requires such capabilities. Initiating any process or any work capability is lacking in me. That means I am lacking in terms of leadership characteristic. Empathy level is slower side therefore it is difficult for me understand issue at ground level of others. Therefore lacks as a team performer. (Jessie, 2014) Personal Development Plan Based on above diagnostic tools and personal strength and weakness, there are some areas that requires improvement in order to be a successful and competent manager. Following are personal development plan that I need to follow: The purpose of Learning Present abilities Abilities or skills which are required Opportunities for development Criteria for achievement Time Taken Proof of acquired skills Efficient Team Performer Flexibility and adaptive to change that makes team player in an organisation. I need to develop empathy social competency so that I can understand what other team members issues are and problem are i.e. at emotional and social ground. Empathy social competency can be achieved by undertaking different programme. Emotional and Social Competency Inventory is one of the effective programmes that I shall undergo. Development of ability to understand team member and their nature or issue on social and emotional level (Price, 2012). It is 3 months programme. When I became best team player in team and take all team members together at empathic level. When start feeling problem of tem member as of mine. To be a Efficient team leader At present, I have acquired skills and capabilities of effective communication, flexibility, critical thinking and many other skills that a leader shall possess. Ability to take decision under pressure or at the last moment. Therefore skill or capability of decision making is required to be developed. Undergoing, Turknett Leadership Character Model is the opportunity for development. When I am able to take right decisions under pressure. 3 months are required When I start contributing my skill and capabilities in decision making process. (Grainger, 2014) Conclusion It can be concluded that, managers are key personnel of the business organisation that supports organisation at different levels. Skill or competencies of managing others in the organisation is required by manager in them so that direction can be provided to them. It can be concluded that team and group plays important role in achievement of organisational objectives in terms of problem solving approach. Competencies in the manager can be developed by different set of models or tool that tests competencies of manager at different levels. Most effective diagnostic tool is The Big five diagnostic tool that measures personality competencies of managers. Personal development plan shall be developed so that different aspects of manager can be achieved or developed. References Antoncic, B., Bratkovic, K., Singh, T. 2015. The Big Five PersonalityEntrepreneurship Relationship: Evidence from Slovenia. Journal of Small Business Management, 53 (3), 819 - 841. Bansal, I., Hingorani, P. 2013. Mapping Emotional Competencies of Mahatma Gandhi: A Biographical Analysis Approach. Journal of Human Values, 19 (2), 133 - 145. Burke, A.E., Benson, B., Englander, R., Carraccio, C. Hicks, P.J. 2014, "Domain of competence: Practice-based learning and improvement, Academic pediatrics,vol. 14, no. 2 Supply, pp. S38-S54. Giluk, T. L. 2009. Mindfulness, Big Five personality, and affect: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 47 (8), 805 - 811. Goleman D.,Boyatzis, R.E. McKee, A. (2004), Primal leadership: learning to lead with emotional intelligence, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass. Grainger, A. 2014. Your personal development plan. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 8 (1), 6-18. Hllgren, M. (2010) Groupthink in temporary organizations International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 3(1): pp. 94-110 Jessie, E. 2014. Modifying Defining Issues Test (DIT) as a tool for assessing secondary students socialemotional competencies. Asia Pacific Education Review, 15 (2), 247 - 256. Price, B. 2012, "Key principles in assessing students' practice-based learning",Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain): 1987),vol. 26, no. 49, pp. 49. Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, McGrath St. Bright, D. (2015). Becoming a Master Manager: A competing values based approach, 6th ed., Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, N.J Robbins, S.P. (2003), Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River Whetten, D.A. and Cameron, K.S. (2011) Developing Management Skills, 8th ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs. Whitelaw, D. 2015, "Training",Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention,vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 816. Wilson, D.G. (2009), Leading teams to effective decisions: the vital role of framing Development and Learning in Organizations, 23(2): pp 6-8 Wolfenden, F. 2015, "Learning in Landscapes of Practice: Boundaries, Identity and Knowledge ability in Practice-Based Learning",Journal of Interactive Media in Education, vol. 2015, no. 1. Yakhlef, A., Fretagsekonomiska institutional, Stockholms universitet Samhllsvetenskapliga fakulteten 2010, "The three facets of knowledge: A critique of the practice-based learning theory, Research Policy,vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 39-46.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Philosophy Paper on Minority Report free essay sample

Minority Report As In the movie quote you dont chose the things you believe in, they choose you the quote basically says that we dont choose how to act on situations its faith who chooses what and how we act, also the movie states that faith can be changed with the right actions which are dependent on us for example from the movie When John went to kill Leo as his faith was shown In prediction of the future and still he manage to change his faith by the way he reacted towards the situation.From the movie we can take the example that faith can be changed and our actions writes the future. Also for freedom when John goes to meet Dry. Iris Hellman she quotes Its funny how all living organisms are alike when the chip are down, when the pressure Is on, every creature on the face of the Earth Is Interested In one thing and one thing only, Its own survival. We will write a custom essay sample on Philosophy Paper on Minority Report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the long run every man for him self, saying can be used. Cause every man thinks for himself when the pressure is on. And freedom I think we dont get much freedom because from the day we are born, we have our parents telling us what to do and what not to do, like we are not free for our choice that if we want to go to school or not its not our choice it is what our parents wants of course they want their children to be successful in life so that people in the society accept them for what they are.In the movie freewill is shown that the person have his way to choose on how to react to deferent situations like for John it was to prove his innocence he was searching for answers but after he got to know about Leo that he killed his son he acted with angry towards him and it was shown to him about his faith that he is going to commit ruder but in the end he controls himself and does not let anger take over him because of his actions he will have to suffer the consequences and he wanted to prove that he can change his faith and the prediction of the future.The conclusion is that freedom and freewill are sometime not an option for human being, I mean sometimes the human being have there freewill and freedom but not always, there is always someone or the other to them what they have to do and how they have to do. Philosophy Paper on Minority Report By cameraman As in the movie quote you dont chose the things you believe in, they choose you the went to kill Leo as his faith was shown in prediction of the future and still he manage Also for freedom when John goes to meet Dry.Iris Hangman she quotes Its funny how all living organisms are alike when the chip are down, when the pressure is on, every creature on the face of the Earth is interested in one thing and one thing only, Its own Survival.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Categorical Imperative Example Essays

Categorical Imperative Example Essays Categorical Imperative Example Paper Categorical Imperative Example Paper Kant is an 18th century German philosopher who wrote the book Groundwork for metaphysics. The book deals with his theory that morality is a priori synthetic (a priori is a statement that is knowable without reference to any experience and synthetic means having truth or falsity can be tested using experience or the senses) and that moral decisions should be taken with a universal view to one’s duty to mankind as a whole. He laid out his ideas about the categorical imperative in this book. An imperative is a statement of what should be done. The philosopher Hume said that you can’t get a ‘should’ statement out of an ‘if’ statement. This means that experience can only give us hypothetical imperatives (not moral commands to the will – they are ‘if’ statements and do not apply to everyone and you only need obey them if you want to achieve a certain goal, for example, ‘if’ you want to be healthy then you should exercise and eat a balanced diet). A categorical imperative is a ‘should’ statement, but it is not based on experience, and doesn’t rely on a particular outcome. According to Kant, categorical imperatives apply to everyone because they are based on an objective a priori law of reason (an objective law is something that is factually true). The categorical imperative is one principle with three formulations: The Universal Law, treat humans as ends in themselves and act as if you live in a Kingdom of Ends. The natural law is to â€Å"act according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law† and what it says is that everyone should universalise their maxims without contradiction – for an imperative to be categorical or deontological it must consist of principles that can be applied in any situation. This basically means that before you do something you should ask yourself if you would like everyone in the same situation. If not, then you are involved in a contradiction and what you are thinking of doing is wrong because it is against reason. Kant uses the example of a suicidal man as an example: A man feels sick of life and wants to commit suicide. His maxim is that from self-love I want to shorten my life if its continuance threatens more evil than it promises pleasure. He asks himself whether he would universalise this law, his answer is no because it is humans’ duty to stimulate the furtherance of life and to destroy life would contradict itself and therefore is entirely opposed to the supreme principle of duty. The second principle is to treat humans as ends in themselves: â€Å"so act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, never solely as a means but always as an end†. Kant argues that all humans are searching for the summam bonum (a state in which human virtue and happiness are united). Kant believes that we all have an immortal soul and because of this immortal soul, humans deserve special treatment and that we should seek happiness as long as this happiness does not infringe on other humans ability to seek happiness and this means that we should not exploit others or treat them as things to achieve an end, as they are as rational as we are. To treat another person as a means is to deny that person the right to be rational and independent judge of their actions. It is to make oneself in some way superior and different. An example could be having a sexual relationship with someone – if you have only have sex with someone because you want something from them and not because you love them. The final principle is to act as if you live in a Kingdom of Ends; Kant said â€Å"act as a legislating member in the universal Kingdom of Ends†. This means that everyone should act as every other person were an ‘end’ – a free, independent agent. Kant believed that each person is independent and moral judgements should not be based on any empirical consideration about human nature, human flourishing or human destiny. What this means is that every individual has the ability to understand the principles of pure practical reason and follow them. Pure practical reason must be impartial and so its principles must apply equally to everyone. An example of this is if you’re trying to decide if it would be justified to kill someone who was threatening your family – using Kantian principles – you should not kill them. Acting according to the third principle (and taking the first and second into account) murder can obviously not be universalised or humanity would be wiped out, and killing the man threatening your family is treating him as a means (to saving your family) rather than an end: a human seeking summum bonum. In conclusion, there are three different formulations for Kant’s categorical imperative: The Universal Law, treat humans as ends in themselves and act as if you live in a Kingdom of Ends. Together these three formulations seek to allow humans to make moral decisions which do not infringe the happiness of others but also allow us to progress to perfection.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Service organization analysis services marketing plan on a service Essay

Service organization analysis services marketing plan on a service company - Essay Example The bank is one of the largest in the country and has presence in more than 50 countries. The department chosen in this case is the bank's internet banking services. The bank has a well established department for this and gives comprehensive information in its web pages. The characteristics of services marketing with reference to this department is given in the paper. Relevant marketing theories with reference to services marketing is also given. An overview of the internet banking service of the bank is also given. This is followed by the internet banking industry in the country. Major competitors of the bank are also provided. The internet usage and habits of the public are also included. The bank is in a good position regarding this since the usage and penetration of the internet is one of the highest in the world. The bank's biggest challenge would be to convert the users to be more active in internet banking. One important aspect, namely service recovery is also discussed. It se ems that ANZ Bank is keenly aware of this factor and has chalked out well laid out plans for customer service and satisfaction. The organization selected for the service market analysis is ANZ Bank. ANZ bank (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited) is an Australia based major banking and financial institution. It renders services of home loans, car loans and business loans to its customers. Internet banking and phone banking is its peculiar features. Credit cards and savings accounts are also offered by it to the customers. It carried out insurance services also. Main strategy of ANZ Bank is offering a range of products suiting with different needs of customers in a better convenient way. Savings and investment accounts of ANZ carry competitive interest rates. ANZ online saver helps customers to manage their own accounts through online. (ANZ, 2008). ANZ bank is recognized as a major international banking and financial services group in Australia and New Zealand and included in the 50 list of top 50 banks in the world. It started its working in 1830s by opening office in Melbourne. (ANZ: History, 2008). Business Strategies of ANZ Bank: For sustaining in the highly competitive banking industry in Australia, the ANZ Bank has accepted good corporate governance and transparency as the fundamentals of its business. For guiding the business decision making on the right way the bank has insisted on specific codes of conduct ensuring company value. The Board of Directors is mutually responsible for the corporate governance and directing the financial performance. It has company policy of concrete honest and ethical behavior of the organizational members. ANZ is a member of the Code of Banking Practice, which specify standards of good banking practice. (ANZ: Corporate Governance). Characteristics of service marketing: Marketing can be of products, services or both. In the case of services, there are some characteristics that make it different from product marketing. They are referred to as the IHIP characteristics namely intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability. (Lovelock, 2004, p.3). Services are intangible and unlike a product, a person cannot see or touch them. Heterogeneity means that the same service given to different customers will different from each other. The service experience of customers on a particular service will be

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Human rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Human rights - Essay Example With regard to the concept of `permissible roughness of treatment, treatment or punishment can only be adjudged to be in breach of Article 3 ex post facto, essentially because it is only then that all the relevant circumstances can be considered. To reach firm conclusions as to the nature and effect of treatment or punishment before it occurs clearly departs from the principle of assessment after the event. Whilst endorsing that principle in Soering, the Court indicated that a departure from it may be appropriate in certain cases: â€Å"It is not normally for the Convention institutions to pronounce on the existence or otherwise of potential violations of the Convention. However, where an applicant claims that a decision to extradite him would, if implemented, be contrary to Article 3 by reason of its foreseeable consequences in the requesting country, a departure form the principle is necessary, in view of the serious and irreparable nature of the alleged suffering risked, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the safeguard provided by the Article.†2 Such a departure is justified on a number of grounds, besides the risk of serious and irreparable suffering. They include the principle of effective protection, the belief that the Convention is designed to promote and maintain democratic ideals, the fact that Article 3 admits of no exceptions or derogations3 and, more to the point, that Article 3 represents an absolute standard. In Soering, the United Kingdom Government argued that speculative ill-treatment is prohibited under Article 3 only if it is certain and imminent.4 Such a standard can be achieved only where the treatment is required by law and its occurrence is not simply a matter of speculation. Accordingly, since the death penalty and the death-row phenomenon were not necessarily automatic and inevitable,5 the

Monday, November 18, 2019

Independence vs. Commintment (Men and Women) Essay

Independence vs. Commintment (Men and Women) - Essay Example There are a number of researches showing that this is not really the case. In fact, these researches show that there is no difference between the predisposition of men and women to be committed. Most men just like the most ordinary women, desire to be in a healthy, happy relationship. However, the difference is in the fact that men face various societal and legal barriers, and/or penalties that women do not. These barriers are the key reasons why most men tend avoid commitments first (Rudov, 2004). They are still fixing up these barriers so that when they feel ready to commit themselves, possible problems are already eliminated. Rudov (2004) has categorized the evolution of man's readiness to commit in a relationship. The picture below shows the factors men take into consideration prior to entering into a higher level of relationship. In the picture above, it can be seen that the "bachelors" doesn't get involved with women to avoid dealing with different sets of friends, extended families and other community members who are the usual members of the women's circle. Meanwhile, men in the committed/unmarried category experiences all levels of the stack. He is either seeing his woman all of the time from a separate residence or is already living with her. This level of relationship contract is a continuously evolving.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Chinese Room Argument

Chinese Room Argument Searles Chinese Room argumentfails because the room proves nothing Abstract Searle argues that without understanding, computers can never really have mental states. Searles argument that computers can never have understanding depends onhow he portrays the Chinese room. If we pick apart the rooms imitation process, we find that there is a computer-simulation defect and as a result the room would never pass the Turing test. We could of course let the man fix the defect. He would need to remember and change what he does as a result of what he experiences and this, I claim, is precisely what it needs to achieve intentionality. Intentionality, as Searle states, is what distinguishes mental states from physical ones. Given that there is intentionality in the room, it then becomes clear that understanding appears. Searle may counter-claim that the room itself can fix its own defects; but as the room has no semantic understanding and only syntactic translation, we can infer that the room mustve anticipated every question with a predetermined instruction. If a finite room has the capacity to predict every possible question in the universe as well as know the events of the future, then the room is ineffable. If there is understanding, or the room is simply ineffable, then the room proves nothing and Searles argument fails. Essay Searles famous Chinese Room Argument has been the target of great interest and debate in the philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence and cognitive science since its introduction in Searles 1980 article ‘Minds, Brains and Programs. It is no overstatement to assert that the article has been the centre of attention for philosophers and computer scientists for quite some time. Preston and Bishop (2002) is a perfect example of exclusivity into the ongoing debate regarding the Chinese Room, because the significance and importance of the Chinese Room is meant to be obvious. The Chinese Room is supposed to scuttle the thought of strong AI: which implies that computers have mental states. The Chinese Room arises out of the following, now familiar, story: Searle asks us to imagine that a man is seated in a sealed room with 2 doors: one allowing input from one source outside the room (in the form of a slot) and one allowing output to the source outside the room (also in the form of a slot). The input from the outside source are Chinese squiggles that have been printed on card, but to the man in the room they are nothing more than incomprehensible gibberish(since he does not know the first thing about Chinese). The man is told that upon receiving the input squiggles, he must open a heavily-indexed reference book, wherein he must scrupulously track down the squiggle he received and find the matching squiggle of another sort. Once the man finds the matching squiggle, he must record it on an output piece of card and send it back through the output doors slot. Unknowingly the man has just performed some sort of translation that is altogether opaque to his understanding. To the outside source, the Chinese room as a whole, is a sort of system and is being treated as a subject of a Turing test. The interested parties of the outside source are typing in questions in Chinese and receiving answers in Chinese. If the Chinese room is of good quality, then it should be possible to convince the interested parties that the room, or something inside it, is intelligent, thus suggested that the room, or something inside it, could pass the Turing. Searle suggests that this is an error, as the man in the room does not have any conscious states that exhibit and sort of understanding of the questions that he receives. To him it is all just squiggles. It seems, therefore, that the Turing test is not a reliable way of ascertaining true thought, and moreover that any machine exhibiting such a formal architecture, no matter how complex, could never be called intelligent in the way that we mean. Certainly it might simulate intelligence impressively, but Searle suggests th at this is precisely the problem, since it means only that we have an automata that is extremely good at fooling our test. Therefore, the Chinese Room argument appears to contain the following argument: 1. The room occupant knows no Chinese. 2. The room occupant knows English. 3. The room occupant is given sets of written strings of Chinese, {Ci, Cj,†¦, Cn} 4. The room occupant is given formal instructions in English that correlate pairs of sets of Chinese strings, hCi, Cji. 5. The room occupant is given formal instructions in English to output some particular Ci given a particular Cj. 6. The room occupants skill at syntactically manipulating the strings of Chinese is behaviourally indistinguishable from that of a fully competent speaker of Chinese. 7. If 1-6 are jointly possible, then syntax is not sufficient for mental content. 8. 1-6 are jointly possible. 9. Therefore, syntax is not sufficient for mental content. Searles contention is that no matter what may happen, the man in the room will never understand any of the Chinese. Searle takes this to broadly mean that formal architectures, such as our great look-up book, can never produce understanding, because real thought requires semantics—meaning—whereas the book gives us only syntax, or relation. Unfortunately, what the Chinese Room argument really implies about mental states and strong AI has always been a matter of great controversy. Much of the controversy and debate today comes from how Searle is challenged. The two most obvious ways to challenge Searle can be understood to be versions of what is known as the systems reply to the Chinese Room argument. The first is to challenge premise (8) of Searles argument by asserting that (1-6) are inconsistent due to premise (1) being incorrect -concluding that, in some sense, the man in the room actually knows Chinese in some important sense when we carefully consider all the details of Searles argument. The second is to challenge premise (7) of Searles argument by asserting that (1-6) are consistent but that the room understands Chinese even if the occupant does not. Searle intelligently built the Chinese Room so that those who try to pick-apart his argument with a systems response get tangled up in a web of truth in regard to strong AI or more specifically, what is understanding. A systems response simply asserts that the man in the room knows Chinese because the mans formal manipulations, or the operations of the man and the room as a whole, are structurally identical to a native Chinese speakers formal manipulations. Searles counter-argument is that if the man memorized the program, then the program has become part of the man—but for the program, which understands Chinese, the man is still simply providing the hardware on which it runs. One might attempt to apply a subtle version of the system, commonly called a virtual mind reply. Yet virtual mind replies, like system replies, do not prove that strong AI is true either: they provide no evidence that the system (or the virtual mind) understands Chinese, other than the hypothetical premise that it passes the Turing Test. Searles argument remains, for neither the systems or virtual minds succeed at challenging Searles argument. That is because both replies have tried to find understanding in the room. Thats a mistake, its playing into Searles hands, as understanding simply isnt there. Understanding is not missing because computers cant have it. Its missing because the claim that Searles claim that the Chinese room can simulate what computers can do is false. The rooms computer-imitation is so flawed that the claim that the Chinese room can produce the appearance of understanding Chinese is also false. We can easily show that there is a defect in the room when we pick apart the computer-imitation (or the rooms process), with a conversation that might take place: Dominic: Hello there. Before we begin our conversation, Id just like to point out that from here on in Im going to use the word ‘hot to mean good looking. Chinese Room: No problem, I speak slang now and then too. Dominic: I heard your cars cooling system was overheating. Did you think that your cars engine was getting too hot? Chinese Room: No the temperature was fine. Dominic: Talking about cars, did you see the yellow Ferrari parked outside your house yesterday! Dont you think Ferraris are hot cars? Chinese Room: Yes, Ferraris are commonly hot due to their high-performance engine components. The reason the room cant handle this sort of thing is that it cannot write anything that the man in the room can read. According to Searle, it can only write Chinese characters which Searle cannot read. Which is why it cannot remember things like the â€Å"hot† car. If we gave the room the right machinery so that the man in the room has the ability to change the script (similarly compared to a computer changing its own program), then the man would, essentially, be changing the rooms behaviour in response to events. Admittedly, giving the room the right machinery so the man could do this is more complicated than having a giant heavily-indexed book do all the processing, but it would remove the computer-simulation defect. Furthermore, it certainly would make intentionality possible. And it is intentionality that, according to Searle (1980) and Brentano (1874/1973), distinguishes mental states from physical ones. And, if the room had the machinery, or the fundamentals, to produc e intentionality, then the room could be made to understand. According to Searle (1980), intentionality exists in internal states if they are â€Å"directed at or about objects and states of affairs in the world†. This means, to me, that internal states can change appropriately when they are â€Å"directed at† changes. For example, if I always thought that the Chinese room was painted â€Å"green† and I found out that the room was actually painted â€Å"white†, then the Chinese rooms would think that my intentionality is lacking because my â€Å"thoughts of the room† change upon learning of a colour change. Yet, the rooms â€Å"thoughts about me† also lack intentionality because they cannot change when I tell the room that Im temporarily using â€Å"hot† differently. There are other mental states that have intentionality for similar reasons. For example, what gives my belief that â€Å"All elephants are grey† intentionality is that, after I see a few black elephants, my belief can change appropriately, to maybe â€Å"All elephants are grey or black†. Yet not all changes produced by experience are sufficiently complex or flexible enough to count toward intentionality. parent knows. http://degreesofclarity.com/writing/chineseroom/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Free Julius Caesar Essays: The Role of the Mob :: Julius Caesar Essays

The Role of the Mob in Julius Caesar The most important characters of the play Julius Caesar are clearly the citizens of Rome. The citizens have an important effect on both the audience and the characters in the play because of their unlimited desire to passionately express their emotions. Throughout the play these emotions are communicated through various events. The first event is the celebration of the feast of the Lupercal. It was the citizens’ positive reaction to Caesar during his triumphant return after his victory over the sons of Pompey that fueled the fear of caesar’s becoming king. The citizens’ opposition to Pompey’s allies caused great disturbances in the streets because a short while before, Pompey was their hero. Now Caesar, victorious, is the hero of the hour. Their response also influenced the idea that Caesar was becoming too ambitious. Thus, the citizens of Rome had a role in the fate of Julius Caesar. A later example occurs during the funeral oration by Mark Antony. Brutus logically gives his reasons that necessitated Caesar’s death. He informs them that he acted out of love of Rome and his desire to prevent tyrants from controlling her. The citizens embrace his words with cheers and understanding. However, their mood alters when Antony offers his interpretation of the situation. He passionately described the deeds Caesar performed in behalf of the citizens of Rome, which clearly contradict the opinion of the conspirators that Caesar was too ambitious. Antony carefully uses irony in referring to Cassius and Brutus as honorable men; the strategy wins over the citizens and they listen with growing anger to his words. He leads the citizens to the body and begins to show the brutal results of the murder while simultaneously influencing them to believe that the conspirators are murderers and traitors. Ultimately, Antony reads Caesar’s will, which leaves his parks, private estates, and newly planted gardens to the citizens of Rome.

Monday, November 11, 2019

AMUL – A case study on IT in SCM

AMUL – A case study on IT in SCM A live case of Use of IT Amul is a leading food brand in India. It offers a wide range of products like milk, milk powder, butter, ghee, cheese, chocolates, Shrikhand, ice cream and many more. The brand name AMUL is derived from the Sanskrit word â€Å"Amoolya†, meaning priceless. The first products with the Amul brand name were launched in 1955. Since then, they have been in use in millions of homes in all parts of India, and beyond.Today Amul is a symbol of many things: Of high quality products sold at reasonable prices, of availability, of service. Amul has been accredited with ISO 9001 and HACCP Certification by QAS, Australia-the first food company in Asia to receive the HACCP Certification â€Å"Amul† is a well-acknowledged and live example of making a strong use of IT Formed in the year 1946, Amul initiated the dairy co-operative movement in India and formed an apex co-operative organization called the Gujarat Cooperative M ilk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).Today, this movement is being replicated in 70,000 villages in over 200 districts in India, transforming the rural landscape. This co-operative revolution has made India the largest producer of milk in the world today. Amul is also one of the largest and most celebrated food brands in India. GCMMF markets its products through 50 sales offices throughout India; and distribution is done through a network of 4,000 stockists who, in turn, supply 500,000 retail outlets.The complexity of logistics can be visualized in terms of: millions of litres of milk to be collected from millions of village members. Interestingly, milk is a perishable commodity; hence a strong coordination function is required in storing, processing and distributing the milk in required time. The case of Amul's supply chain is noteworthy simply because the movement has not only lead to efficient collection of milk but, more importantly, has used IT to create higher profits for milk pro ducers. Role of Information Technology IT has played a critical role in the development of the Amul brand.The logistics behind the coordination of approximately six million liters of milk per day from numerous village co-operative societies throughout Gujarat, and storing, processing and producing of milk products at various district dairy societies, is carried out with clock-precision. In these, IT plays a critical role. The installation of over 3,000 Automatic Milk Collection System Units (AMCUS) at village societies to capture member information, milk fat content volume collected, and amount payable to each member, has proved invaluable in ensuring fairness and transparency throughout the entire organization.GCMMF is an apex co-operative organization that comprises affiliated member dairies/district milk unions, each having its own manufacturing unit. These member dairies in turn collect milk from members who supply milk twice a day to the respective village co-operative societie s. To meet the challenge of growing business, IT was decided as the thrust area that would streamline the production and collection process and the processing of milk products. This is where the installation of AMCUS made the entire operation look simple.As milk is a highly perishable commodity in the supply chain, the AMCUS initiative is vital for the operations. More importantly, this initiative has increased the trust and transparency for IT in rural areas'. On an average, around thousand farmers come to sell milk at their local cooperative milk collection center. Each farmer is given a plastic card for identification, at the milk collection counter, the farmer drops the card into a box and the identification number is transmitted to a personal computer attached to the machine.The milk is then weighed and the fat content of the milk measured by an electronic fat testing machine. Both these details are recorded in the PC. The computer then calculates the amount 1 AMUL – A c ase study on IT in SCM due to the farmer on the basis of the fat content. The value of the milk is then printed out on a slip and handed over to the farmer, who collects the payment at the adjacent window. With the help of IT the farmers receive their payments within a matter of minutes.Each member preserves the milk in the cold storage, processing it and producing several products, sold under the Amul brand name. As all products have a limited shelf life, the organization's ability to conduct its operations in a smooth way is much more praiseworthy-especially when one considers the scale of the operations. Amul makes about 10 million payment transactions daily. On the logistics side, more than 5,000 trucks move the milk from the villages to 200 dairy processing plants twice a day, according to a carefully planned schedule.Amul took a strategic decision to redesign and re-organize the existing software applications in 1994 to meet the challenges of growing business. Accordingly, Amu l assigned the ERP software development project named as Enterprise wide integrated application system (EIAS) which covers a plethora of operations like market planning, advertising and promotion, distribution network planning, stock control, sales and accounting, budgetary control, quality control management and co-operative service management.Each of Amul's offices is connected by e-mail and all of them send a daily report on sales and inventory to the main system at Anand. Also, sales offices, C&F points and wholesale distributors of GCMMF have been connected through the Internet for timely exchange of information. Amul is also in the process of Web-enabling the entire supply chain so that it can capture key information at the source and use the same for decision-making. This would include the likes of transporters, member manufacturing units, oil packing stations, suppliers, depots and the ntire field force. A web site (http://www. amul. com) has been constructed featuring sport s information, recipes and quizzes (to stimulate buyer interest and to establish national brand recognition) and business-to- consumer order placement. Amul has a customer feedback channel which uses e-mail addresses like [email  protected] com for cheese products and [email  protected] com for butter products. E-competency has been established at the supply and distribution ends of AMUL's business.At the supply end, a computerized database has been established of all suppliers and their cattle. Computerized equipment measures and records qualities and quantities collected. Computers have been set up at member unions and village cooperatives. At the distribution end, stockists have been provided with basic training and computers. AMUL experts assist stockists and retailers to build promotional web pages. AMUL cyber stores have been set up at various locations in India, the USA, Singapore and Dubai.Each visit to the Indian cyber store sites results in considerable purchases. A st rong e-mail database of more than 10,000 customers has also been developed. In addition to the EIAS, Amul has also been using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to plot zone/depot boundary as well as a pointer for zone, depot and distributor locations, which are superimposed by product-wise sales data. Going forward, there are plans to introduce features like Internet banking services and ATMs which will enable milk societies to credit payments directly to the seller's bank account.In line with this vision, officials at Amul are looking at upgrading the plastic cards, which are being currently used only for identification purposes, to smart cards which can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs. Amul has radically altered the complexion of the supply chain-by eliminating the middleman and bringing the producer closer to the consumer-resulting in benefits for both. Amul has also linked distributors to the network and also incorporated Web pages of top retailers in their web site (www. amul. com) as part of B2B initiatives.Distributors can place their orders on the website, amulb2b. com, especially meant for accepting orders from stockists and promoting Amul's products via 2 AMUL – A case study on IT in SCM E-commerce. A big achievement of IT in Amul has been the automation of the complex supply and delivery chain. The automated supply chain seamlessly integrates the manufacturing dairy units for production, planning and raw material procurement. It handles distribution of milk from surplus unions to deficit unions.It is a live example of practicing Just in time supply chain management with six sigma accuracy! Amul's success in leveraging IT to its advantage lies in the simple fact that the organization has a clear IT vision and has made full use of the potential of IT for managing its supply chain. In 2003, GCMMF won the prestigious international CIO 100 award from IDG's CIO Magazine, USA. The 2003 CIO 100 award recognizes organizations around the world th at excel in positive business performance through resourceful IT management and best practices.GCMMF, whose IT initiatives have been driven by the philosophy of being an IT company in food business, has inspired all its employees to sustain the challenges as a â€Å"change agent† by excelling their IT skills in order to transform the people around them towards IT integration on both the ends of supply chain (village dairy farmer to end-consumer), GCMMF has also won the prestigious Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award for the year 2003.GCMMF has bagged this award for adopting noteworthy quality management practices for logistics and procurement. Over the years, it has established an efficient supply chain that penetrates even the remotest corners of the country. In summary, Amul has developed world-class expertise in the physical distribution of short-life produce. Already advanced in physical logistics, Amul has innovatively explored ways to use IT to enhance its supply ch ain. (Source: amul. com, ExpressComputers(16 Sept 2002: article by Srikanth R P), and other sources)GCMMF: An Overview Members No. of Producer Members No. of Village Societies Milk collection (Total – 2002-03) Milk collection (Daily Average 2002-03) Milk Drying Capacity Sales Turnover (2002-2003) 12 district cooperative milk producers' Union. 2. 28 million. 11,132. 1. 86 billion litres. 5. 08 million litres. 510 metric Tons per day. Rs 27457 Million. IT Enablers used by Amul †¢ Uses automated milk collection system units for collection of milk. †¢ Implemented a customized ERP system which is used in conjunction with GIS. Uses data analysis software for forecasting milk production and increasing productivity. †¢ Has connected all zonal, regional and member dairies through VSAT. †¢ One of the first five Indian organizations to have a Web presence. †¢ Geographic information system for sales and distribution planning. †¢ Data Information System Kiosk for data analysis and decision support to help in improving milk collection. †¢ Web enabled customer feedback channels. †¢ Strong initiatives in e-commerce. 3

Friday, November 8, 2019

Drugs And Alcohol Impacts On Child Development Social Work Essay Essays

Drugs And Alcohol Impacts On Child Development Social Work Essay Essays Drugs And Alcohol Impacts On Child Development Social Work Essay Essay Drugs And Alcohol Impacts On Child Development Social Work Essay Essay The impact of parental drug and intoxicant abuse earnestly effects child development. The negative effects of substance maltreatment Begin during the gestation and go on through childhood. Groundbreaking research on this topic was published in the Hidden Harm Report. Estimates show that in the United Kingdom today there are about 1.3 million kids populating with an alcoholic parent. That is one is every 11 kids. Furthermore up to 350,000 kids in the United Kingdom have at least one parent who suffers from a serious drug dependence. Many of these kids are concealing their jobs, populating in fright and without support. The dangers of antenatal intoxicant and drug exposure are widely publicised due to the peculiarly detrimental effects that heavy imbibing and substance maltreatment can do to a kid s cognitive development. When a adult female becomes pregnant, it is really of import for her to take a healthy life. It is indispensable for her ain wellness and the wellness of her unborn babe that she eats plentifulness of nurturing nutrient, gets plentifulness of remainder, and exercises on a regular basis. It is vitally of import that she avoids anything that might harm her or her babe. Therefore, it is particularly of import to give up intoxicant, coffin nails, and drugs. For a pregnant adult female, drug maltreatment is unsafe in two ways. First, drugs may harm her ain wellness and interfere with her ability to back up the gestation. Secondly, some drugs can straight impair antenatal development. Drugs can do an increased opportunity of early bringing or abortion, sudden hemorrhage and the inability to recognize or get by with normal alterations throughout the gestation. When the babe is born backdown symptoms may ensue in a longer hospital stay and the engagement of societal services. Drugs can impact babes in many ways. The most common are ; low birth weight and slower growing and development. However, the affects of drugs on the babe during the gestation can besides do bosom jobs and defects of the face and organic structure. Another fact to see is that ; when a pregnant adult female drinks, so does her babe. Alcohol can do serious jobs for an unborn babe that can impact their full life. The babe can be born with fetal intoxicant syndrome which can do it to be scraggy, turn slower and have birth defects. The babe may hold a smaller encephalon and suffer with a lower I.Q. Alcohol can besides be passed along to a babe through chest milk. A survey published in the March 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical A ; Experimental Research explained how light to chair imbibing during gestation may interfere with acquisition and memory during adolescence. Assistant professor of psychopathology at the University of Pittsburgh s School of Medicine, Jennifer Willford explains that ; We have known for a long clip that imbibing to a great extent during gestation could take to major damages in growing, behavior, and cognitive map in kids. This paper clearly shows that even little sums of intoxicant during gestation can hold a important impact on kid development. The detrimental effects of baccy on an unborn kid can non be underestimated. Smoking during gestation causes the hazard of abortion or premature labour to dramatically increase. The primary danger is delayed fetal growing. Nicotine depresses the appetency at a clip when a adult female should be deriving weight. Smoking reduces the ability of the lungs to absorb O. Therefore the fetus is deprived of sufficient nutriment and O. As a consequence the babe may non turn as fast or every bit much as it should. The NHS acknowledges the hazards of smoking to the unborn babe and has late set up the NHS Pregnancy and Smoking Helpline. It offers advice on how to discontinue and a free DVD to foreground the detrimental effects. On norm, babies born to adult females who smoked during gestation are significantly smaller than those born to adult females who did non smoke. Low birth weight is one of the chief effects of smoking when pregnant. This can do increased opportunity of infant unwellness, d isablement and spontaneous abortion. Smoking in gestation besides greatly increases the hazard of cot decease in babes. Statisticss from the award winning Baby Centre Newsletter suggested that ; This hazard is four times higher if you smoke between 1 and 9 coffin nails a twenty-four hours during gestation, lifting to eight times higher if you smoke 20 coffin nails or more day-to-day. Therefore it is clear that it is particularly of import for a pregnant adult female to give up intoxicant, coffin nails, and drugs. Using intoxicant and other drugs carry major hazards. Alcohol and drugs impair your opinion, doing you more likely to ache yourself or others. Familial alcohol addiction can impact all countries of a kid s life, from school life through to behavioral jobs and compulsive upsets. Some kids go through life without support because they may non see obvious signifiers of maltreatment. However, they do endure from disregard or a chronic deficiency of the small things, which are so important to the well-being of us all. This is a consequence of their parents imbibing and the effects it has on their province of head and organic structure. From minute you take your first sip, intoxicant starts impacting your organic structure and head. After one or two drinks you may get down experiencing more sociable and surpassing. In contrast by imbibing excessively much basic human maps, such as walking and speaking go much harder. Effectss can besides include acting out of character and stating things yo u do non intend. This uncertainness will scare and faze the kids of parents who suffer from intoxicant abuse. Children will fear the manner their parents talk and move when they have been imbibing or utilizing drugs. With small control over what they say parents may verbalise things which they usually would non. This can be hurtful and cruel to kids or even abashing when exterior of the place environment. The uncertainness can do upset in the immature individual s life, which can impact their schooling. Children can be distracted from their lessons as they think of what might be go oning or waiting for them at place. At place many of these kids are left to care for themselves while others are forced to look after their parents and siblings. Consequently, it may go the kid s function and duty to look after the household, cook dinner and acquire their younger brothers or sisters ready for school. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs conducted a study which discovered that many of these kids out of shame or fright, or merely because they are excessively immature, seldom talk out about their experiences and can go stray and excluded. Dr Laurence Gruer, president of the ACMD Prevention Working Group, said: From birth onwards their parents drug jobs can jeopardize their wellness in many ways and do a great trade of emotional and psychological harm that frequently goes unnoticed. Today in Scotland there is a scope of authorities drug schemes and enterprises for assisting these vulnerable kids. Parents with serious drug and intoxicant jobs should non be frightened away by these services. They should experience that they can come frontward and acquire aid without meeting more problem. The purpose of many services is to maintain kids with their parents wherever it is safe to make so by uniting intervention for the parents and support for the kid. The hazard of injury to kids can be reduced by effectual intervention and support for the addicted parents. Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth said the Government had already invested ?1.2 billion to undertake the drug civilization and would be passing ?1.5 billion by 2006. Ainsworth said ; We agree it is indispensable for big drug services, kids s services, so all local suppliers to near the job holistically. Merely by cut downing their Numberss can we cut down the sum of kids that have to endure the effects of turning up in an environment wrecked by drugs. Parental drug and intoxicant abuse has been identified as a serious job in the United Kingdom. The impact of parental drug and intoxicant abuse on a kid s life in unmeasurable. Therefore, it is the authorities s duty to cut down the negative impact on the kid s life and offer as much support as possible. In add-on users frequently experience problem with the jurisprudence, hapless public presentation at work or school and relationship problems. As a consequence, many kids are exposed to ramp, force and maltreatment on a day-to-day footing. This becomes portion of the unpredictable and inconsistent environment in which they live. Police statists show that between 60 % and 80 % of all violent offense is alcohol related. Interestingly, a recent study conducted by Alcohol Concern and Police Review showed that 70 % of constabulary officers viewed alcohol as doing them greater jobs than drug abuse. Research which supports this position reveals that, domestic force is six times more common when parents suffer from alcohol addiction. As a consequence, kids of drug and intoxicant users frequently express feelings of injury, rejection, shame and choler. More worryingly they are forced to populate with the anxiousness that these feelings create, frequently without any support. Lord Victor Adebo wale, main executive of societal attention charity Turning Point, said: It s clip that we started listening to the soundless subsisters of drug abuse. We can non afford to go on to disregard the 350,000 kids in the UK who are harmed by their parents drug jobs. In violent state of affairss such as these the kid frequently feels a sense of guilt. They may see themselves as the chief cause of their parents imbibe or drug maltreatment. The kid may experience invariably dying about the state of affairs at place. They frequently fear the parent will go ill or injured or that the substance maltreatment will do an increased degree of battles and force between the parents. Embarrassment is frequently another common feeling of kids populating with parents who suffer from intoxicant or drug abuse. Parents may give the message that there is a awful secret at place. The kid may experience ashamed by their parents and the life style they live. If the parents experience problem with the jurisprudence for the ways in which they fund their wont the kid may experience lonely. This is due to the kid s inability to hold close relationships. As a consequence of the kid being disappointed by the parent they are frequently unable to swear others. The ashamed kid does non ask for friends place and is afraid to inquire anyone for aid. The alcoholic parent will alter all of a sudden from being fond to angry, irrespective of the kid s behaviour.A AA day-to-day modus operandi, which is really of import for a kid, does non be because bedtimes and mealtimes are invariably altering. This creates uncertainness in the kid s life and can be the cause of misbehavior as the kid acts out for attending. Alcohol and drugs besides have specific wellness hazards: they can damage major variety meats, increase your hazard of malignant neoplastic diseases, and even do decease. This is a changeless concern for kids as they fear for the public assistance of their parents. This can do kids to endure from Psychologist John Bowlby Theory of Attachment. Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by kids with their parents have a enormous impact that continues throughout life. One of the features of The Theory of Attachment is Separation Distress. This is when a kid is separated from the health professional and becomes disquieted and distressed. They fear for the security and safety of their parents when they are non around to supply attention. In add-on kids can endure from Avoidant Attachment. This is when kids will avoid traveling place or seeing their parents. These kids will demo no penchant between a health professional and a complete alien. Research shows that this attachment manner m ight be a consequence of opprobrious or inattentive parents. The effects of parental drug and intoxicant abuse can earnestly impact a kid s life. The impact of populating in such an environment stopping points right through childhood and affects all countries of their life. Whilst injury from parental substance usage is non inevitable, the figure of kids populating with substance misapplying parents has increased in recent old ages. The lone manner to diminish the figure is to take down the figure of people mistreating drugs and intoxicant in society. The widespread form of orgy imbibing and recreational drug usage exposes kids to sub-optimal attention and substance-using function theoretical accounts. Children of alkies are four times more likely than other kids to go alkies in ulterior life. Therefore, the effects of parental drug and intoxicant abuse last throughout the kid s life and into maturity. Preventive attempts have been introduced to deter kids from following in the same footfalls as their parents. Education is provided at school, for all kids and striplings, on the detrimental effects of drugs and intoxicant. Children should be given direct entree to back up services so that they are non confronting the jobs of a helter-skelter and unstable place entirely. The instruction of those who work with kids is besides critical. Teachers and other service suppliers should be trained to descry marks of kids populating with intoxicant or drug addicted parents. This would let excess support to be provided in the instruction of the kid and their emotional well-being. Due to impairment caused by being intoxicated, intoxicant and drug maltreatment often lead to child disregard and an addition in Domestic force. Witnessing domestic force in the place, every bit good as life in the pandemonium and instability caused by poisoning, is emotional maltreatment to a kid. Frequently domestic force will do the kid fright that the state of affairs could intensify into physical force against them. Many physically opprobrious parents i nsist that their actions are merely signifiers of subject or ways to do kids larn to act. However, there is a large difference between giving an boisterous kid a pat on the carpus and writhing the kid s arm until it breaks. Physical maltreatment can include dramatic, combustion, agitating or forcing a kid. Another signifier of kid maltreatment which involves babes is known as jolted babe syndrome. This is when a parent shakes a babe approximately to do the babe halt weeping, doing encephalon harm or in utmost instances even decease. Warning marks for instructor can be unexplained contusions or cuts. Other marks can be more elusive such as fearful and diffident kid who does non desire to travel place. If people outside of the place environment fail to descry and describe these marks, many kids go through life covering with these jobs entirely. However, it is of import for people from outside bureaus to gain that non every kid who lives with a drug or intoxicant dependent parent will endure physical or emotional maltreatment. In many instances the impact will be changeless deficiency of the small things, which are so important to the well-being of us all. The impact of parental drug and intoxicant abuse earnestly effects child development. The negative effects of substance maltreatment Begin during the gestation and go on through childhood. The impact of life in an environment with drug or intoxicant dependent parents can impact a kid s life from birth straight through to adulthood. Groundbreaking research on this topic has been published in many studies. The most recent has been the Hidden Harm Report. Estimates show that in the United Kingdom today there are about 1.3 million kids populating with an alcoholic parent. That is one is every 11 kids. Furthermore the study shows that up to 350,000 kids in the United Kingdom have at least one parent who suffers from a serious drug dependence. Many of these kids are concealing their jobs, populating in fright and without support. This shows that parental drugs and intoxicant abuse is a serious job in the United Kingdom. Parental drug and intoxicant abuse impacts on a kid s growing, instru ction, wellness and development.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Tips For Fighting Addiction In College

Tips For Fighting Addiction In College Mental Health Issues: Addiction in the Campus Partying hard and abusing addictive substances often accompanies the life of a college student. A lot of students start to lead a more conscious way of life after some years of such lifestyle or after graduating from the university. Unfortunately, for some students, it becomes a huge burden that turns into addiction. Addiction is defined as repeated abuse of a certain substance, which is characterized by continuity and obtrusiveness. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:Around 80% of students who study in the college drink alcohol Near 50% of those students are binge drinkers 1,825 students die from injuries related to alcohol Assaults, sexual abuses, and aggressive behavior more frequently come from those whos been drinking Around 25% of those who have developed a regular drinking habit have academic problemsWith alarming stats like these, it becomes evident that addiction is an important issue and needs an urgent solution. Symptoms Of Addiction Students who became dependent on alcohol and drugs usually have the following symptoms:Being paranoid, anxious, stressed, or fearful for no reason Getting into troubles, fights, and conflicts Having impaired coordination and bloodshot eyes Needing to use more and more alcohol or drugs to get the same effects Negative change in the grooming habits and physical appearanceIf you experience some of the symptoms listed above, you may be addicted. If you notice that you are using alcohol or drugs in order to numb your negative emotions, you should contact the health center on your campus and consult a qualified specialist. Addictions need to be taken very seriously. Recognizing The Signs Of Addiction It may be difficult to differentiate when ones use of alcohol has turned from occasional to habitual. Besides, those who cant admit that they have an addiction will use all possible arguments to ensure you that theyre totally in control of their alcohol consumption. To understand if your friend has developed the destructive addiction, ask yourself the following list of questions:Is your friend drinking in order to drown his sorrow or for recreational reasons? Has their drinking or drug use influenced their relationships in a negative way? Have drugs and alcohol become one of the central themes of your friends life? Are there negative changes in their personality connected with drugs and alcohol consumption? Have you noticed some strange, unpleasant smell from their clothing, body, or breath? Do they feel uncomfortable or anxious when they cant get access to drugs or alcohol? Have any of the blood relatives of your friends had alcohol addiction? Have they ever lost the memory of the previous evening?It often happens that addicts dont want to confess that they have an addiction; therefore it is very important to observe their behavior and notice the alarming symptoms. If they receive a proper treatment in the earlier stages, they have a good chance of getting their conscious life back. If you want to warn your friend about the problem he or she has with addiction, find the time when they are sober and tell them that you have noticed some worrying changes about their behavior. Dont be judgmental, let your friend understand that you are concerned about their health, and explain the reason behind your concerns. Offer your help in solving the issues of addiction you can consult an online resource or go to your student health center with your friend. Resources To Help Treat Addiction Consult these resources to find out more about addiction and get help:National Institute for Drug Abuse Narcotics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration Your Student Health CenterAddiction can turn into a serious problem if its not treated timely and correctly. Please, be very attentive to the addictive substances that you are using and never turn their use from recreational to habitual. Better stop using alcohol or drugs to relax. Consider such relaxation techniques as meditation and yoga that have a much more constructive influence on your body and mind.

Monday, November 4, 2019

How significant a problem is youth offending Essay

How significant a problem is youth offending - Essay Example Their stay in the prison must be utilized to fine-tune their personality, so that upon release, they would find it easy to assimilate into the mainstream of society. The negligent society and adults are responsible for majority of the criminal offenses by young people. Early life experiences have much to do with the criminal leanings of the youngsters. Low achievement in school, family history of problem behavior, and lack of social commitment could be some of the reasons for the youth to get into crimes. Youth offenders should not be treated as the regular criminals. Mercifully, there is a separate youth justice system to look after this aspect, through the intervention of Youth Courts. In his book titled â€Å"Criminology† Tim Newburn, deals extensively on this subject in chapter â€Å"Youth Crime and Youth Justice (p714-741). He highlights the role of the administration, the working of the prisons, police and measurement of youth offending and tries to offer appropriate solutions. No two young offenders are alike and they require varied types of counseling on the basis of their backgrounder information, as to what led them to the path of crime. Society and administration have lots of responsibility in treating and looking after the first time offenders. Youth, besides being combustible, have impressionable minds. Every offender is not a criminal, but has the potentiality to become one, if not guided well in time. What is important is to develop an understanding of the causes of crime. What is the possible solution? Newburn writes, â€Å"†¦imposition of an overreaching aim for youth justice, the creation of the Youth Justice Board to oversee practice, and the establishment of multi-agency Youth Offending Teams to deliver justice†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p.549) are important. The ultimate aim of the reforming agencies is to target the offending behaviour and to address the specific factors linked with offender’s

Friday, November 1, 2019

Writing a memoir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing a memoir - Essay Example I once came face to face with my own feelings toward a bully that made me reassess my own ability to feel empathy toward someone who had never done anything but expressed profound hatred toward me and others. This bully's name was Fidel and he had a habit of picking on people. One day a kid fought back and Fidel was on the receiving end of a good old-fashioned whooping. My sympathy went toward Fidel who had been such a perfect model of a bully rather than the little kid who had avenged us all. Why Why on earth did I suddenly feel this compassion toward a person for whom I had never felt anything but contempt I realized that day that the mind is far more than a mystery; it is a comic mystery, forever capable of upending expectations. What I learned from feeling an unexpected depth of emotion toward someone that I normally feared and despised was that placing some kind of expectation upon emotions is senseless. Whenever I hear someone say something like "nobody would ever react in such and such a way" what they are really saying is everybody reacts the same way to every circumstance. My compassion for a brutal bully allows me to laugh at people expressing such remarkably unimaginative beliefs. The experience with Fidel and the intrusio

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

DUI class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DUI class - Essay Example The maximum jail term for this is six months. Felony is where driving while intoxicated leads to injuries one can be given a penalty which may include up to three years of imprisonment. In California it is against the law to drive while intoxicated or having alcohol or any other drugs that compromise thinking and judgment. Section 23152 of the California Vehicle Code (CVC) prohibits any person having 0.08% or more alcohol in the blood system from driving a vehicle. For the District Attorney to successfully convict a suspect he/she is burdened to prove that the person had 0.08% plus BAC and was driving. When arrested for DUI one can demand a hearing with the DMV in ten days after receiving a suspension or order revoking his driving license. If it is found there was no basis then the revocation is set aside and the suspected is notified in writing by DMV. On suspicion of DUI the law requires that the officer immediately forwards duly completed revocation or suspension notice together the driver’s license if confisticated and a sworn file to the Department of Motor vehicles. DMV will review the filed report, the order of suspension or revocation as well as resu lts of the test and if upheld then you may contest by requesting to be heard. The brain of a human is contains three main parts; the forebrain encompasses cerebrum, thalamus and hypothalamus parts. Midbrain has tectum and tegmentum parts while cerebellum, medulla and pons form the hindbrain or brainstem. Cerebellum regulates and coordinates locomotion, balancing and posture. Limbic system which consists of a amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus and thalamus is associated with emotions while brain stem or hindbrain controls vital functions of life including the heartbeat, ventilation, and the pressure of blood in our vessels. The brain is therefore a very vital nervous organ controlling many nerves. The seat belt is an important aspect of car safety; it holds a passenger in position such that this passenger

Monday, October 28, 2019

Comparing Two Dance Movements Essay Example for Free

Comparing Two Dance Movements Essay The two musicals that I will be comparing are Oklahoma and the West Side Story. Their dance movements, by comparing them both, I would say that they are both in different worlds, as West side story is based in the city and Oklahoma in the countryside so there are many differences however there are also many features of both the musicals that are similar. The dance scene in West Side Story is based in a gym with two different gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. These two sides are trying to out dance each other (mambo style), but the main part is when Maria and Tony meet each other. This is an important part of the musical as we now learn that from their first meeting that they are both attracted towards each other and the audience is expectant for more of this love story, however in Oklahoma we do not see Curly or Laurey as the dancing is the main part and the rivalry between the cowboys and the farmers is the main focus. This is the only thing we actually learn from the dance scene as it is the only time in the musical were the rivalry between the two lifestyles are shown in depth. In both of the musicals there is mentor that helps to calm the tough tension and attempt to have coalition between the two sides. The composer changes the music to establish the difference of this character with the other characters. In Oklahoma when the mentor appears the clear ‘umcha’ is not there anymore and not many brass instruments are being used, and there isn’t as many instruments used which could show the composer trying to show the authority of this character, but towards the end of his phrases are burst of brass instruments playing which gives a sarcastic tone, maybe showing how the people thought of advice. In West side story the composer has a different approach to the mentor. He uses a lot of brass instruments to give a silly approach to the activity organized by the mentor. It is like a fanfare which is catchy and is in simple time 4/4. The composer portrays him like this because as he tries to solve the conflict between the two sides, the mentor acts like a kindergarten teacher trying to stop children fighting. In terms of the lyrics or singing, Oklahoma is the musical that has the most singing and underscoring, this is probably because adding lyrics would help to convey the ar guments between cowboy and the farmer,  also the mentor sings as well to try and bring coalition. In west side story there isn’t much underscoring or singing, except the occasional shouting of words when they are dancing, this would be to show the support of their ‘team’ when dancing against their rivals. The musical styles with both of the dance movements are completely different, this is probably due to the different areas that they live in and the composer would use the dance music that would be related to the culture or the style of music where they would have come from. In west side story the dance style is mambo, and mambo is originally from Cuba and came over to America, so the dance doesn’t really go with the culture of the Brazilians or the Americans but however because it became popular in night clubs, resort hotels in the heart of New York and Miami, so by using this style of dance and music the composer wants to convey an ‘night out’, although in Oklahoma, the music is very much to do with their culture and style as it is countr y side music which the composer portrays very well. The main instrumental types he uses is the strings and the brass instruments. The strings are using a technique called the fiddling which is playing a series of notes very quickly and under this is the brass playing the ‘umcha’ part. The music is in simple time of 4/4 and is a catchy tune as nothing complicated is uses, just simple chord progressions which are all characteristics of folk/countryside music. The banjo is also used which is an instrument that you would use for country music as well. In West Side Story Bernstein makes the mambo piece quite busy and lively by including polyrhythms and many brass instruments and percussion instruments, this shows Bernstein trying to relate to the fast beats of the mambo but maybe of the business of the city. The part of the percussion is composed to be played very fast and is very complicated, this also helps to create a ‘lively city’ feeling. Towards the end of when the Sharks have just finished their dance section in preparation for the Jets dance section Bernstein by adding the percussio n that would play music that coincides with the Jets. For example, percussion is used and it plays in major second which is what the composer usually uses for the Jets so as well as showing them visually you can also know musically that it is the Jets, this also happens at the start of the gym scene when there is just the Jets dancing, and there is a music theme from the opening Jet song which was the . To distinguish both of them, the music for the Sharks the string instruments are used more  often and they style is more South American. The rhythm is still fast however there are not a lot of layers and the third beat is emphasized in some cases on the suspension note (falling to the resolution) this helps to create a salsa like feel in comparison with the Jets music with many syncopated rhythms and the instruments that they use are brass and percussion mainly and this gives a harsh type edge, which again might be to promote their modernisms. The difference is also set in Oklahoma between the farmers and cowboys. When it is the farmers section, it is mainly the violins fiddling as the ‘bass’, with the brass playing the main melody of ‘the farmer and the cowboy and also there is the ‘umcha’ again which gives it that country feel, however in comparison the cowboy’s music has a more syncopated rhythm and this time the brass are playing a clear bass. The composer has been almost adventurous in how he composed the music for the cowboys (towards the end, when the two dance separately) as the tune from the song is not played and sound like a separate tune. I would also say that the farmer’s music is more conjunct as the violin’s fiddling isn’t jumping around too much but in the cowboys section the brass melody jumps occasionally. Towards the end of the dance scene in west side story, this is when Maria meets Tony the music changes completely, with no connection to Jets or the Sharks music (however he still does have the augmented fourth just before they sing), and this shows how the composer wants the audience to feel both of their chemistry as though it is in a completely different world and he does this by completely reducing the pace, no more fast rhythms and it is striped of many instruments, leaving just a few percussion and the woodwind. When looking at the two musicals, you can see how both of the the composers use characters to move the story along, and both composers differentiate the opposing sides by altering the music however altogether, in my opinion, these two dance scenes are completely different because each composer has his approach to what he thinks the music should sound like in accordance to the story of the dance and the surroundings which it is based in.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

studying media Essay -- essays research papers

Much of what we know about the world, beyond our immediate experience, comes to us through the media. Media studies gives us the tools to respond thoughtfully and critically to media content, and recognise media productions as deliberate constructions rather than windows on reality. The ‘mediated’ society in which we live, is heavily shaped by the transfer of information. Many of our values, our ideas, and our knowledge of the world come from beyond our individual daily or immediate experience, usually via the media. They play a vital role in democracy, shaping citizens\' understanding of social and political issues and functioning as gatekeepers through which issues, and events must be passed. By studying the media, and understanding the implications of mass communication, we are able to develop an understanding of how things work, how people become informed, and misinformed, and how the myths and ideologies that govern all of our lives are created and sustained. The media are an important part of our lives for many reasons. Primarily, they help to keep us informed about current affairs, both in the world at large and on the home front. The media are a central part of our lives. Think about how much time we spend being ‘exposed’ to their product’s everyday and how many different ways it can be used. Everyday, we use the media for information and perhaps less willingly, we also accept the media as a source of persuasion, most notably through advertising. Another way in which media represents an important part of our lives is through the influence and power they hold in society. Although it is not always clear what influence is held or whether it is good or bad, the media are often blamed for many of the problems in today’s society, most commonly with reference to the portrayal of violence. There are a disturbingly large number of cases in which the perpetrator of a violent crime has cited a relationship to the media, and in some cases has admitted to imitating a character or scene from a film. Though the media are a prevalent part of our lives, we need to recognise that there are other influences that are as strong, or even stronger. Family, education, religion, and peer groups all help to shape our ideas, values, beliefs and behavior. Whilst it is generally accepted that Hollywood films may desensitise children to the consequences of violence, we shou... ...dia and the way it reacts is especially important in society today. Everyday, interpretations of texts are made available to us in the form of mass media such as newspapers and television and it is in our interpretation of these media texts where the basis of public opinion is formed. In summary, the study of media is a crucial tool for regulating what is said and what should not be said. It gives us the power of choice and the power to question. Its main concern is with helping us develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of media, the techniques used, and the impact of these techniques. More specifically, it aims to increase understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. It teaches us to understand the enjoyment people derive from texts and how audiences may be manipulated and deluded by stereotypical material. It helps us to develop important critical insights, and generate questions rather than taking what we are told at face value. Most importantly, it empowers us, its students, with the knowledge required to be active consumers and producers of the media. Words: 1,102.