Leaders Make a Real Difference in an Organisation’s Performance free essay sample

Within these qualities over history great leaders have developed detailed theories that are constantly being utilized within successful corporations today. Amongst these are Trait theory, Behavioural theories and also the Situational contingency theories that were used to represent successful leadership qualities. Great leaders become highlighted in times of oppression, utilizing their talents to move forward and have solid control of their organisations, in turn developing positive organisational performance. Through past generations leadership had developed to the ultimate success it is today. Through multiple theories, leadership has moved to the point where it now has a factual impact on organisations performance. The contemporary management theories are used in numerous ways of motivating, creating opportunity providing inspiration and resulting in a definite increase in organisational performance. This is evident in today’s society, through a minimal view of coaching sporting teams to the operations of large corporate groups such as Wesfarmers. Creating opportunity, Throughout history, it has been clearly evident that a great leader’s input shall reflect with a great performance output, thus developing opportunities for individuals to accomplish their maximum potential. We will write a custom essay sample on Leaders Make a Real Difference in an Organisation’s Performance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Leaders create opportunity for individuals within their sphere of influence† (urbanfoot. ca, 2009), opportunity being a set of circumstances that makes it potentially possible to achieve anything from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards. This creation of opportunity manifests itself across the globe in large and small organisations. In contemporary society it is shown by leaders within sporting clubs, the success of the best AFL clubs are built on a hierarchy of leaders, club captains, coaches, and trainers. They are all striving to create opportunity for young potential players. Essendon football club’s great success over the past numerous decades have been because of the major influential leadership role James Hird has played within the club. James Hird leading his club by being captain through two premierships and is now today still leading the club by coaching. His career of captain assisted with the creation the opportunity for the club leaders today and now he is continuing his leadership role by coaching the team, it is evident with his club involvement there is a definite outcome of organisational performance. As well as leading through creating opportunity, great leaders strive to inspire others within their environment. Inspiration, Leaders aim to inspire individuals within their vicinity to pursue the outcome of organisational performance. This constant attempt to provide inspiration is strongly shown by our world’s best leaders that are driving the powerhouse of our world’s economy. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Phil Knight, founder of Nike and Richard Branson founder of Virgin Group, these individuals are amongst many others that are part of the world’s most inspirational leaders. These people have founded some of the world’s biggest corporations by their profound ability inspire. Richard Branson went from developing a school newspaper called Student to operating one of the world’s most complex conglomerates know as Virgin Group. Branson’s life motto is to ‘have fun’ this is reason to his positive eccentric personality that reflects to inspire others around him. Lead by example† this phrase is used throughout human life to portray inspiration on others, through creating an inspiration on others leaders are assisting to motivate. Motivation, Motivation is a key part of a great leader’s success in achieving organisational performance. Motivation is referred to as â€Å"the forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work† (Wood, J. et al, 2010). Motivation on individuals is reflected by successful leaders, through multiple different theories. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory identifies high order needs and low order needs† (Wood, J. et al, 2010) this details a pyramid that highlights the work motivational needs of individuals, including psychological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. This research has contributed to the success of leaders in motivating and achieving ultimate organisational performance across large contemporary organisations. In many of today’s organisations leaders commonly motivate employees through the use of offering extrinsic rewards, â€Å"positively valued work outcomes† (Wood, J. t al, 2010), this may range from Christmas bonuses to simply allowing the use of a company car. Through the use of extrinsic rewards individuals are motivated to produc e their maximum performance. It is evident in KPMG, one of the world’s largest consulting firms; the use of leaders providing employees with extrinsic rewards motivates employees to achieve their full potential. KPMG provides employees with an annual bonus fluctuating on the employees yearly work effort. In doing so employees are determined to work to achieve a high constant overall organisational performance. Individuals that utilize the use of their leadership talents; creating opportunity, inspiring and motivating individuals will evidently result in reaching an optimum level of organisational performance productivity. Throughout history within these abilities leaders have developed several theories to manage the way it is put into practice. Through the past centuries leaders have always played a pivotal role in the triumph of groups, from the times of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and even Hitler, their efforts have exemplified how great leaders can make a major difference to organisations. All leaders tend to have different styles when it comes to commanding their subordinates and as time has progressed they have been categorized into different approaches and theories. The first theory to be thought up was known as the trait theory, and as the years moved on different studies and research was conducted to the point where different types of leadership are studied. Trait Theory, The trait theory which identifies different traits between leaders and followers, and assumes that leaders are born not developed. The trait theory takes into account physical and mental attributes of people that appeared to be more successful leaders. This theory took into account things such as height, weight and personality, and rather than study each of those in detail, these characteristics were recognised in effective and ineffective leaders. Therefore people could be able to predict if a person was a worthy or unworthy leader, although due to the studies being conducted as early as 1900 there was never any real recording s of evidence. Also there were never any real set of traits that defined a good leader, in other words there was no benchmark, which made it difficult for people to understand the theory as there were great leaders that had different characteristics. For example Hitler had different traits and characteristics to Nelson Mandela, Hitler was considered hard and persistent whereas Mandela was a visionary. Although it is certain that the trait theory set the trend for years to come. Behavioural Theories, The trait theory laid the foundations for what was later known as the behavioural theories; this included the Michigan and Ohio State studies. The behavioural theories compliments the flaws of the trait theory as it is more action based rather than only taking natural aspects into consideration. The Michigan studies showed that there are two types of leaders, employee-centred supervisors and production-centred supervisors. Employee-centred supervisors are leaders who look out for their workers and try to keep them emotionally happy by showing genuine interest in the wellbeing. Whereas production-centred employees are mostly concerned about getting the work done and meeting figures, rather than looking out for the welfare of their workers. Research has shown that employee-centred managers were found to have more efficient and effective groups than production-centred supervisors. The Ohio State studies which are very similar to the Michigan studies showed that leaders had two main dimensions, consideration and initiating structure, which can be related to employee-centres supervisors and production-centred supervisors respectively. Although the results from this study showed different results as the supervisors who received the best output from their employees showed a high amount of consideration and initiating structure. Situational contingency theories, The next sets of theories to be developed were the situational contingency theories, which came about in the 1960’s. These theories involve leaders that can adapt to the situation they are place in, for example Fiedler’s theory predicts work group effectiveness and how it depends on a match between the leader’s technique and the difficulties of the situation. Fiedler also considered the amount of situational control a leader has, which is how well a leader can determine the result of a groups actions and the course the will take on the way. Of course Fiedler was not the only person to come up with situational theories, there was also; Robert House, Paul Hersey, Kenneth Blanchard, Steve Kerr and Jonathon Jermier, but for the purpose of not repeating similar information they will not be discussed. It is fair to say that over the years leadership theories have changed with the times. The trait theory was effective for organisational performance as it helped identify leaders before they even took on a leading role, and although today that might seem politically incorrect, it’s what was suitable for the times. The behavioural theories in the late 1940’s had a great effect on organisational performance because people started to take into account the actions of their leaders and the different effect that certain actions would obtain. The Situational theories took another step into understanding the effect that good leaders can have on organisational behaviour by interpreting the how leaders manage the situation and whether or not they can mould to new and different challenges. As leadership theories have evolved, only the strong have survived, and the recent global financial crisis has provided great challenges for leaders to portray their successful qualities. Leadership is a quality that has grown in human culture over thousands of years and within the past century economies have taken significant falls highlighting the choices great leaders have made to sustain organisational performance through this time. Two significant downturns in history shook the world economy, the great depression of the 1930’s, Franklin D Roosevelt’s leadership qualities particularly exceled through this period and the global financial crisis saw absurd leadership talents ChemChina. These flairs in leadership talent depicted the difference it can asset on organisational performance. Global Financial Crisis ChemChina In 2007 the world economy fell into the deepest trough in decades, this is known as the global financial crisis, it was considered the worst financial crisis since the great depression in the 1930’s. The global financial crisis saw the collapse of multiple investment banks across the United States of America and developed a ripple effect that was felt by economies across the globe. Great leaders stood out through this period powering their companies without feeling the effect of the economic down turn. One company in particular that continued a sustainable growth in organisational performance is ChemChina. While millions of companies were collapsing and on the verge of insolvency ChemChina’s prime operating income multiplied seven times, total assets increased by 133. 4 billion Yuan and total profits escalated an increased 12 times over, Ren Jianxin the president of ChemChina’s outstanding leadership qualities were the main motive behind the relentless accomplishment. The massive operational increases in production were due to major â€Å"innovations in organisation, institutions and technologies involving changes in their way of thinking, philosophies and producti on technologies and processes†. (Ren Jianxin, 2009) All this required an overall development in their way of leadership, in turn a successful corporate transformation thus organisational performance. 930’s Great Depression Franklin D Roosevelt The great depression which hit the world through the 1930’s affected the world on a scale that had never been seen before. The depression started in America when stock prices started to fall, and on October 29, 1929 the stock market crashed and the effect spread globally. The effect this had on the world was far worse than anyone could have ever imagined causing people to commit suicide, die of starvation and start their lives over in a new world. Out of this came one of the world’s greatest ever leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who dragged America and the rest of the world out of the depression. Roosevelt took over as president in March of 1933 and re instilled hope back into the American people by promising action and in his first address to the people he said one of today most famous quotes, â€Å"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself†. Roosevelt decided that to get the country out of the position they were in he had to adopt policies that were frowned upon, such as creating deficit budgets, which for the times were unheard of. When Roosevelt pulled the American economy back to its feet he was rewarded by being elected for four successive terms. Roosevelt proved how one great leader can have a major effect on a group of people and that it is not impossible to come back from the dead. Financial crisis’s at any time cause a great amount of angst in the around the world, and it takes very special people to lead corporations, governments or even countries out of these fatal situations. ChemChina and Roosevelt were both innovative in their styles and led their respective organisations either to new great heights or just simply out of a great depression. Throughout the times Leaders have always come under scrutiny from their critics, although one does not attain criticism without achieving. Without Leaders providing their qualities to inspire, create opportunity and motivate, organisations would have a lack of soul and would be forever falling in a negative style.

Intelligent Geeks †Why Americans Consider Intellectuals Abnormal English Class Essay

Intelligent Geeks – Why Americans Consider Intellectuals Abnormal English Class Essay Free Online Research Papers Intelligent Geeks Why Americans Consider Intellectuals Abnormal English Class Essay Americans have mixed feelings towards intellectuality. Often you can hear someone talking about their new technology and how great it is, such as the engine in their new car. That same person might talk about someone who is very intelligent as being a nerd or geek upon hearing that they know how to put together a car engine. Americans are ambivalent towards intellectuals because they are usually different from what we consider normal. The first reason intellectuals are not considered normal is that they enjoy learning. They get great pleasure out of information and are often good at retaining it. They like knowing more than others. I consider my cousin Joseph an intellectual. He loves to read something that he has never read before. He graduated both undergraduate and graduate school with a 4.0 grade point average. He has probably been called a nerd many times, yet because he is an engineer we look to him to provide us with new advances in technology. Another reason intellectuals are not considered normal is that they are stereotyped to have few friends. The truth is they may not care about how many friends they have. It may not make a difference to them. They don’t fit in with the common person, because the common person can’t understand them. However, we need them to not be worried about their friends. If the person who invented the car engine had been more interested in making friends and being sociable, we might still be getting around in buggies drawn by horses. Joseph lives alone in California under the roof of a one-bedroom apartment. While I don’t know everything about his personal life, he did not have many friends when he lived here, and he does not talk much about anything other than work when I see him. The last reason intellectuals are not considered normal is that they seem to be unreachable by the common person. Most of the time intellectuals have a much higher than average standard of living. They often have large vocabularies and can talk like they are reading from a book. At family gatherings Ryan has a tendency to talk to another of my relatives about highly involved physics, which no one else in the family can understand. It has become a kind of joke among the rest of us normal people that we can’t understand what they are talking about. Probably we just wish we understood them though. Americans have different views of intellectuals because they are different from what is considered normal. Intellectuals are important to society even though they might be looked upon in an unfavorable manner sometimes. They might like to learn. They might have few friends. They might not enjoy doing the same things we do. They are responsible for many of the inventions and ideas that lead us to new and better places. But they are people too, and they are more like us than we think. Research Papers on "Intelligent Geeks - Why Americans Consider Intellectuals Abnormal " English Class EssayTrailblazing by Eric Anderson19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCapital PunishmentStandardized TestingLifes What IfsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoWhere Wild and West MeetHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen Pregnancy

Alternatives on Making Better Homes

Turbular Skylight Skylight is a solution for buildings that may be exposed to sunlight, with no openings on the sides and back. However, the skylights used at home are slightly different than usual. The skylight is in the center of the building and extends from the front to the back. Under the skylight there is a blank area to separate the left and right of the building mass. As you enter the house, skylights will draw attention sooner especially during the day. Did you know that there are other ways to deic or ice off lanes and sidewalks that you find or create at home? It is more convenient and economical than buying rock salt at a shop. Some are environmentally friendly. Please look at your cabinet this winter and use your own homemade cryoprotectant to slide the ice. You can sprinkle a thin layer of cold salt, not cold salt. The chemical reaction between salt and water generates heat, which lowers the freezing point of water in the snow. Since it may harm grass and plants in the spring, be careful when using large amounts of salt. A safer alternative is Epsom salt, but it is time consuming and more expensive If you can manage it, leaving your car at home will bring a lot of financial and environmental awareness. There are nine ways to move a short distance here - shops, friends, beaches, others etc. (Alternatives to commuting are themselves topics and we will promote it on a different day.) Walking speed is surprisingly fast. If you are walking: You will never be trapped behind a parking city bus, you do not need to worry about stopping your car at stop-and-go traffic. A dorm There are two basic principles to keep in mind when creating alternatives. First of all, the choice you make will never be better than the best choice you have to choose Secondly, you can not choose an alternative that you are not thinking about. When you consider deciding, you want to say that you have created an innovative list of alternatives. Think outside the box and repeat severa l original alternatives to better choices. There are too many bad alternatives in your list that are far better than not having enough substitutes. At the end of the day, it is much easier to make a good decision if you want to make a decision between several good choices.

The Invention of the Perspective In the Renaissance Essay

The Invention of the Perspective In the Renaissance - Essay Example The first 'book' refers to the 'diminution of plane surfaces' (6), the second explains the trial of ' diminution of square bodies' and those having a number of faces positioned at right angles to the planes'(7) and the third one 'the diminution of bodies' (8), that seems more difficult to realize. Analyzing Francesca's different ways of perspective, Kim Veltman notices 'geometrical proportion using diagonals' (9) a 'surveying type using a rod or a plane' (10) and 'a diagonal' (11) to determine the distance. There are also new 'perspective views' considered by Francesco in his book 'The Geometrical Method' ,these were basically used in the context of pavements, ceilings, facades and buildings and. He also used 'The Window Method' that had more elaborate details and was represented in architecture. Duccio di Buoninsegna was an Italian painter (1278-1319) who demonstrated the use of perspective in architectural forms. His style seems to be different in his tendency of giving his figures more volume. His 'perspective 'infuses elements from Byzantine style with more dramatic scenes and specific figures. In his 45 panels representing scenes from the Bible and saints he inspired from primitive Christian style regarding the outlines of figures, gestures, and clothes. In this way he tried to create a more natural visual impression. His art of 3 D perspective created a special spatiality, a type of 'breathing space' (17) around the persons and objects. The artist used a special technique of registering in his paintings intricate details (for example

Personal Development And Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Personal Development And Ethics - Assignment Example The second part will consist of a reflective evaluation that will entail a detailed self assessment and analysis as a team member in the context of personal development. a. The main elements of a business are the various activities related to that business and the products offered. The products of my business will include baked cakes, cookies, biscuits and sandwiches. Business activities/services will include customisation, packaging, delivery and shipping of the products. Marketing will be done through news media and social networking. Knowledge: Managerial and financial knowledge is critical. The management must be headed by a competent team of professionals proficient in knowledge management. Identification of business liabilities and assets is essential for developing a sound financial knowledge of the business itself. Since large amounts of investment are to be made, money should be burrowed from a reputed bank. Key financial information like the annual report, balance sheet, etc. regarding the bank should be analysed by the management to evaluate the institution as a financier. Knowledge of assets and liabilities should be clear. For example, the loans secured will be liabilities while the food processing plant and the office building will be assets. Moreover, technological knowledge is also important. The management must have a sound understanding of the food processing machinery like the biscuit making and dough mixing machines, sugar grinding machines, sandwiching machines, etc. Food products machinery, eq uipped with computerised control systems, coupled with highly flexible, automated equipment lines, will increase the overall efficiency of the business (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1994). Knowledge of the market is also very important. Through surveys and research, the company must identify its potential customers and also sort out the resourceful suppliers. Skills: Management skills like emotional intelligence,

Health Promotion and Education Essay Example for Free

Health Promotion and Education Essay Outline: 1. Health Education a. Definition 2. Five Key Areas in Health Promotion and Education 3. Five Health Promotion Approach a. Medical Approach b. Behavior Change Approaches c. Educational approach d. In Client-Centered Approach e. Societal Change Approach 4. Healthy Lifestyle a. Definition b. How to promote a healthy lifestyle? 5. Advocacy for Health R.A. 9163 Motivation: 1. Are you healthy? Why? 2. How do you define a healthy person? 3. Have you been sent to the doctor or hospitalized? Activity: 1. Diagram of a Healthy Person Ask your students to bring the following material: white cartolina, pencils, coloring pen, scissors and glue Ask your student to draw and image of a healthy person and present it in the class Identify a symbolic picture of your answers to the questions above. Draw a coat of arms using all the symbolic picture of your answers as elements. Lecture: Health Education 1. Health Education a. Definition Health 1. The World Health Organization in 1948 defined health as: a. A state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. b. Within the context of health promotion, health has been considered less as an abstract state and more as a means to an end which can be expressed in functional terms as a resource which permits people to lead an individually, socially and economically productive life. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the object of living. It is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities.1 Health for All 1. It is the attainment by all the people of the world of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life.2 Health promotion 1. Is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.3 2. Health Promotion is the process of enabling people by strengthening their skills and capabilities as well as changing their social, environmental and economic condition.4 Public health 1. It is science and art of promoting health, preventing disease, and prolonging life through the organized efforts of society. a. It is a social and political concept aimed at the improving health, prolonging life and improving the quality of life not just for a single individual but among whole populations through health promotion, disease prevention and other forms of health intervention.5 Health education 1. Health education comprises consciously constructed opportunities for learning how to promote individual and public health. It involves activities designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health.6 2. Five Key Areas in Health Promotion and Education a. In the 21st century the Jakarta Declaration of the World Health Organizations (WHO) identifies five priorities in health promotion and education: Promote social responsibility for health Increase investments for health development Expand partnerships for health promotion Increase community capacity and empower the individual Secure an infrastructure for health promotion 3. Five Health Promotion Approach a. Various models of health promotion and health education are useful analytical tool, which can help clarify goals and values ​​of health promotion. A framework consisting of five approaches to health promotion, and demonstrate the values ​​inherent in their respective approaches.7 Medical Approach 1. the freedom from disease and disability as defined by medical, such as infectious diseases, cancer and heart disease 2. It involves medicine to prevent or alleviate pain, perhaps with persuasive and paternalistic methods. 3. It gives the importance of preventive medical measures, and responsibilities of the medical profession to make sure that patients adhere to recommended procedures. Behavior Change Approaches 1. To change community attitudes and individual behavior, so they took this healthy lifestyle. Educational approach 1. To provide information and ensure knowledge and understanding of the matter of health. Information about health is presented, and 2. People are helped to explore the values ​​and attitudes, and make their own decisions. 3. Assistance in implementing the decisions and adopt new health practices can also be offered by school health education programs. In Client-Centered Approach 1. This approach is to work with clients to help them identify what they want to know and do, and make their own decisions and choices according to their interests and values. 2. Self empowered client is seen as central to this goal. Societal Change Approach 1. to make changes in the physical environment, social and economic development, in order to make it more conducive to a healthy state 4. Healthy Lifestyle a. Definition According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Health not just defined as the absence of disease it is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Interestingly enough Healthy lifestyle then are the steps, actions and strategies one puts in place to achieve optimum and maximum health. It is about making smart and informed decision in maintaining our health8 b. How to promote a healthy lifestyle?9 Balanced Diet – the Motto program initiated by Prof. Poerwo Soedarmo in 1950, the father of Nutrition Indonesia suggest the following: 1. Eat a variety of foods 2. Eat foods to meet energy coverage 3. Eat foods carbohydrate source half of their energy needs 4. Limit your intake of fats and oils up to a quarter of the energy adequacy 5. Use iodized salt 6. Eat food sources of iron 7. Give only to infants only breast milk until the age of four months and add the solids after 8. Always eat breakfast 9. Drink water that is safe and adequate amount 10. Make regular physical activity 11. Avoid alcoholic beverages 12. Eat foods that are safe for health 13. Read labels on packaged foods Pattern break – people are too busy and stressed by their workload, domestic problem and even school requirements and activities and so there is n time to rest. 1. The body desperately needs sleep. If you are only able to gain time for 3-4 hours at night, try to find extra time and complete the rest 2. Rest doesn’t mean sleep, if you can relax your body and your mind until you feel completely relaxed. 3. Do breathing exercises, a few minutes of meditation is very meaningful to all your organs. Exercise – it keeps your body at its peak and fit 1. Fitness is associated with the following: a. Our bodies are strong b. Allows the growth of a healthy soul c. Enhance the immune defense system and us. By itself capable ward off various diseases d. Maintain flexibility, endurance and strength, which in turn will encourage us remain active with high mobility e. Reduce and avoid stress f. Look better, feel better and think better 2. Sports activities maintains our body in a fit condition 3. At least thirty-minutes of continuous walk or jog 4. Gym and Fitness activities is also an option to make your body Free from dangerous addictive substances 1. Be educated and learn the dangers of drugs (narcotics, drugs, and addictive substances) and alcoholic beverages Balancing spirituality 1. To be able to realize a balance spirituality will help you behave or think and feel with more compassion and so there is less negative emotion that will stress your mind and your soul. 2. Efforts that can be done alone could be providing a special time for a break from all the busyness and brings you to the tranquility and relief like when you are attending the mass, prayer or meditation. 5. Advocacy for Health a. Definition An over-all design for health promotion and education which is a combination of individual and social actions designed to gain political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems support for a particular health goal or program.10 b. How can we help in Health Promotion and Education? Create living conditions which are conducive to health and the achievement of healthy lifestyles. The use of the mass media and available multi-media in educating our community of the current and updated health policies of the government Direct political lobbying to policy makers Community Mobilization through, coalitions of interest around defined issues. 6. HIV and AIDS a. Definition of Terms HIV – It stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Unlike a common cold or flu virus that stays in the body only for a few days when a person becomes infected with HIV, the person becomes HIV positive for a lifetime. The HIV virus would gradually infect and kills white blood cells called CD4 lymphocytes (or T cells) which make the body unable to fight off certain kinds of infections and cancers. AIDS It stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is caused by HIV. In simple terms, people treat AIDS as advanced HIV disease. The immunity system of a person with AIDS is weakened by HIV that the person will get sick easily and find it difficult to recover from such simple diseases. b. What are the symptoms of HIV infection or AIDS The first symptoms of HIV infection might resemble symptoms of common cold or flu viruses. Other early symptoms of early infection are also similar to other sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and other infections like hepatitis and tuberculosis. Those who do have symptoms generally experience fever, fatigue, and, often, rash. Yet other HIV infected persons do not exhibit any of the symptoms above, as such, the only way to confirm is to test the presence of HIV antibodies. c. How do I get HIV? If you are exposed to the body fluids of a person containing HIV which includes: 1. Blood (including menstrual blood) 2. Semen and possibly pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum) 3. Vaginal secretion 4. Breast milk Three of the four body fluids that contain HIV are transferable during sexual intercourse, thus unsafe sex and promiscuity is the leading cause of being infected with HIV. Other ways that HIV can be transmitted: 1. Sharing needles when shooting drugs 2. Home tattooing and body piercing 3. Accidental needle sticks 4. Blood transfusions 5. Childbirth 6. Breast-feeding False ideas on the transfer of HIV from an infected person: 1. Saliva, tears, sweat, feces, or urine 2. Hugging 3. Kissing 4. Massage 5. Shaking hands 6. Insect bites 7. Living in the same house with someone who has HIV 8. Sharing showers or toilets with someone with HIV d. How should I prevent being infected with HIV? Keeping a strong moral foundation and spirituality to guide youth and individuals away from engaging in unsafe sex and promiscuity Avoid or do not try to get a tattoo or body pierce Always make sure that syringe used on you for medical purposes are sanitized and new Always make sure that the blood transfused or donated are HIV free e. Is there a cure? Up to this time, there is no cure for HIV. All drugs being tested in advanced pharmaceutical firms around the world had yet to discover a cure to the illness. Drug therapy only prolonged and improve the quality of life of people infected with HIV. f. What are sexually transmitted disease ad its relation to HIV? HIV is one of the sexually transmitted diseases from unsafe, immoral sex and promiscuity. Other sexually transmitted diseases includes:11 1. Chlamydia – Is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, bacteria that can damage a womans reproductive organs like infertility, and can cause foul discharge from the penis of an infected patient. 2. Trichomoniasis (Trich) – it has no symptoms but may cause unusual genital discharge for both men and women. The disease can also increase a person’s risk of acquiring HIV and pregnant women can deliver premature, low birth weight babies. 3. Gonorrhea – the disease damages not just the reproductive organ of the infected person but can affect the anus, eyes, mouth, genitals, or throat. 4. Human papilloma virus (HPV) (Warts) – One silent killer among the list of sexually transmitted diseases for it is asymptomatic, unrecognized, or subclinical and yet a leading cause of cervical cancers among women. 5. Genital herpes – like HIV there is no cure for Herpes and at an early stage it doesn’t exhibit symptoms to an infected person. The swollen genital may not be enough to make sure you are inflicted with herpes, a laboratory test is needed to validate the symptoms. 6. Syphilis – one of the most common and easily diagnose STD is Syphilis and is easy to cure in its early stages. Symptoms include a firm, round, small, and painless sore on the genitals, anus, or mouth, or a rash on the body, especially on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet. 7. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) – Hepatitis could easily be transferred from an infected person to his/her partner thru sexual intercourse. If you have ever had an STD, you need to test yourself for HIV infection, for the unsafe sex might have exposed you to HIV as well. g. Official Statistics of HIV in the Philippines (to be updated) According to the official statistics of University of California, California, U.S.A. as of 2009 there is an increase in the incidence of HIV infection and AIDS victim in the Philippines.12 General HIV/AIDS

The Themes of Slaughterhouse-Five :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

The Themes of Slaughterhouse-Five The moral of "Slaughterhouse-Five" is whatever you want it to be. That is the beauty of the book. However, in his typically dark, sarcastic way, Kurt Vonnegut gives us several possible themes to explore. One of the themes relates to the way in which Mr. Vonnegut presents the human life span. Through his writing, Mr. Vonnegut poses an ancient question: Are we masters of our destiny, or are we simply pawns of fate? The medium through which Mr. Vonnegut presents this riddle is death. Death is the central point to which all action in the book connects. The story is primarily about the death of 135,000 German civilians in the bombing of Dresden. The story is also about Billy Pilgrim, a man who experiences death from every viewpoint, a man who survives many life-altering experiences, and does not change at all. Through death, Mr. Vonnegut examines free will, and refutes it. He shows death as meaningless. The casual treatment of death demonstrates the futility of free will in hum an life. The first mention of death occurs in the third sentence of the book. This same event is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. Technically, the event occurs several times. Edgar Derby, a man that the main character, Billy Pilgrim, and Mr. Vonnegut both know, is caught taking a teapot out of the rubble of Dresden. The three men's captives, the Nazi Germany Army, execute Mr. Derby. This happens after the bombing of Dresden. 135,000 German civilians, who had no real involvement with the war, were massacred all at once. Then one man is executed for taking a teapot. This kind of irony is the principal tool of Mr. Vonnegut. The phrase "So it goes," is perhaps the most famous aspect of "Slaughterhouse-Five." Each time a death occurs, "So it goes" is repeated. The phrased is used indiscriminately, without regards to the importance of or the number involved in the death. When Mr. Vonnegut mentions that Billy's father was killed in a hunting accident, it warrants no more attention than a random Pole that Billy saw hanged while he was in Dresden. The death of the 135,000 Dresden citizens calls for no more consideration than the death of a single hobo with whom Billy shares a train car as they and other prisoners of war ride to a prison camp.

MCI WorldCom Scandal Essay

Introduction MCI WorldCom was one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. Bernie Ebbers founded WorldCom in 1983, after that WorldCom began as a re-seller of long-distance telephone services. WorldCom is located at Mississippi. After Ebbers bought around 50 other small long-distance firms, he set his sight on MCI. Thus MCI WorldCom would have become the second biggest telecom service provider in 1997. MCI WorldCom was formed on September-15-1998. WorldCom merged with the $37 billion MCI Communications Corporations, the company’s operations were organized around three divisions: * MCI WorldCom * U.S. telecommunications * WorldCom International The MCI WorldCom division is the second largest long distance company in the United States (after AT&T). It has fibre optic network of 45,000-mile long, which provides local phone service in more than 100 markets and offers services such as data, Internet, and other communications services. UUNET WorldCom has a highly trusted & reliable backbone network which provides local access to the Internet to a reach of more than 1,000 locations in and around the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. WorldCom International is not only a local but also facilities-based competitor in 15 countries outside the United States, connecting to the company’s overall global network to more than 5,000 buildings in Australia, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico Belgium, Brazil, France, The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Company – Timeline: Corporate founding 1983: Businessmen Murray Waldron and William Rector devise a plan to create a discount long distance provider called LDDS (Long-Distance Discount Service). 1985: Early investor Bernard Ebbers becomes the first chief executive officer of LDDS. 1989: LDDS becomes public through its first acquisition of Advantage Companies Inc. 1992: LDDS merges in an all-stock deal with discount long distance service provider Advanced Telecommunications Corp. MCI acquisition 1993: LDDS acquires long distance providers Resurgens Communications Group Inc and Metromedia Communications Corp. in a three-way stock. This creates cash transaction that becomes the fourth-largest long-distance network in the United States. 1994: LDDS continues its acquisition spree acquiring domestic and international communications network IDB Communications Group Inc. in an all-stock deal. 1995: LDDS acquires voice and data transmission company Williams Telecommunications Group Inc. for $2.5 billion and changes its name to WorldCom Inc. 1996: WorldCom merges with MFS Communications Company Inc. and UUNet Technologies Inc. 1998: WorldCom completes three mergers: with MCI Communications Corp. ($40 billion)—the largest in history at that time—Brooks Fiber Properties Inc. ($1.2 billion) and CompuServe Corp ($1.3 billion). Proposed Sprint merger 1 999: WorldCom and Sprint Corp. agree to merge. 2000: U.S. and European regulators block proposed merger with Sprint; WorldCom and Sprint terminate agreement. Accounting scandals & Bankruptcy 2002: A small team of internal auditors worked together secretly at WorldCom. During the night time, the auditors’ secret investigations revealed a $3.8 billion worth of fraud. WorldCom files for bankruptcy protection, listing some $107 billion in assets and $41 billion in debt, on a consolidated basis as of March 31. It was the largest such filing in U.S. history. 2003: The Company’s total assets had been inflated by about $11 billion. Creditors had lost faith in the organization. 2004: MCI officially emerges from bankruptcy, 21 months after filing the largest Chapter 11 case in history. 2005: Verizon Communications Inc. announces a $6.75 billion deal to buy MCI Inc. Former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers is found guilty of conspiracy, securities fraud and making false filings with regulators. Worldcom Top Management Team during Scandal: CEO – Bernard Ebbers CFO – Scott Sullivan Comptroller – David Myers Director of General Accounting – Buford â€Å"Buddy† Yates Pre-Scam Days At WorldCom LDDS changed its name to WorldCom in 1995. WorldCom was the second largest benchmarked long distance telecom provider in the USA and the biggest internet traffic carrier in the world, with a network stretching over 150,000km, and business presence in more than 65 countries. WorldCom faced explosive growth, at a scorching pace over the 15 years of its existence by acquiring many companies like MFS Communications Inc. and UUNet Technologies Inc. in 1996, MCI Communication Corp, Brooks Fiber Properties Inc., CompuServe Comp in 1998. In 2001, it made the largest merger with Intermedia Communication Inc., an internet and data services provider. With the acquisitions of UUNet and MCi, WorldCom had control over more than 50% of the Internet backbone infrastructure. Every acquisition led to higher stock price which in turn made way to finance another acquisition. The share price of WorldCom was at an all time high of $63.50, on June 18, 1999, with market value of $125 billion. Its value rose to $180 billion during the peak of the telecom boom. As long as the stock market was booming and the dot com bubble was expanding, no one cared to look into the fundamental stability of the company. Auditors also failed to perform thorough due diligence. WorldCom, in the late 1990’s was also an attractive takeover target for Nextel Communications, before the scandal. Scam – How it all happened? WorldCom, the second biggest long-distance telecom company in US and also the biggest carrier of Internet traffic in the world was the new economy company when it was launched. In its operation of 15 years, the company grew at a very rapid pace, majorly due to the ambition of its former chief executive officer (CEO) Bernard J. Ebbers. It majorly expanded by acquiring other smaller companies who had a potential to be their future competitors. The stock market supported them and the company growth was exorbitant and no one cared about the fundamentals of the company as it was giving high return year on year. Below mentioned is the chronological order of occurrence of events and the exposure of fraud. * March 2002 – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) questioned WorldCom about its accounting procedures and about loans it had extended to its officers as it was curious about the rationale behind the offers. * April 2002 – The first sign of weakness came when company announced job cuts, the number was 3,700. Following the even, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch downgraded WorldCom’s credit rating and it was the beginning of the Justice department launching a probe into the scandal. * April 2002 – This month itself J. Ebbers resigned as CEO after the shocking revelation of lending of $339.7 million to Ebbers to cover loans that he took to buy his own shares. * June 25 – The Company revealed that improper accounting of $3.8 billion in expenses had covered up a net loss for 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. The company also announced that it planned to shed more than 20% of its workforce counting to be around 17,000 jobs. * June 26 – The case was filed by SEC against WorldCom alleging them for a securities fraud. It alleged that WorldCom’s top management â€Å"disguised its true operating performance† and â€Å"misled inve stors about its reported earnings†. Method that WorldCom adopted is been classified as an accounting scandal, the company used its balance sheet to boost revenues and profits while hiding expenditures. It did so by * Classifying ordinary day-to-day expenses and long-term expenses associated with the acquisition of capital assets as investments which led to WorldCom having a significant tax advantages. * WorldCom also tried to hide expenses to the amount of nearly $4 billion and instead showed them as profits in their account books. * Another ploy it employed was using WorldCom’s major operating expenses related to its â€Å"line costs†, the fees that it pays to third party telecom network providers for the right to access their networks. WorldCom capitalised these fees, terming them as investments, when, in fact, they were one of the most important day-to-day expenses. Financial experts pointed out that WorldCom’s accounting practices, made it impossible for investors to gauge the performance of the company. They not only overstated profitability they also misled the investors by the opaque nature of its regular operating performance. The shock for the people accentuated with revelation of Arthur Andersen, the disgraced auditing and consulting major as WorldCom’s auditor too. The WorldCom’s own internal audit department was the first one who unearthed the fraud of approximately $3.8 billion in June 2002. The company’s audit committee and board of directors were notified of the fraud and acted swiftly: Sullivan was fired, Myers resigned. By the end of 2003, it was estimated that the company’s total assets had been inflated by around $11 billion (WorldCom, 2005). Post-Scam Days At WorldCom Around 17,000 jobs were cut in order to save $1 billion. The company had yet to pay many of its creditors. Many of the small creditors included former employees, primarily those who were dismissed during June 2002. On August 7, 2002, the exWorldCom 5100 group was formed. It included former WorldCom employees with a common goal of seeking the benefits and full payment of severance pay under the WorldCom Severance Plan. The â€Å"5100† signifies the number of WorldCom employees dismissed in June 2002 before WorldCom filed for bankruptcy. In 2004, the company emerged from bankruptcy, with $5.7 billion in debt and $6 billion in cash. It was renamed MCI. About half of the cash was intended to pay various claims and settlements. Previous bondholders were paid 35.7 cents on the dollar, in bonds and stock in the new MCI company. The previous stockholders’ stock was cancelled, causing huge loss to stockholders. On February 14, 2005, Verizon Communications acquired MCI for $7.6 billion. On March 15, 2005 the CEO , Bernard Ebbers, was found guilty of all charges and convicted of fraud. He was accounted for the $11 billion accounting scandal, conspiracy and filing false documents with regulator. Many other officials were also charged with criminal penalties in relation to the company’s financial misstatements. These included former CFO Scott Sullivan (entered a guilty plea on March 2, 2004 to one count each of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and filing false statements), former comptroller David Myers (pleaded guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and filing false statements on September 27, 2002), former accounting director Buford Yates (pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges on October 7, 2002), and former accounting managers Betty Vinson and Troy Normand (both pleading guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud on October 10, 2002). On July 13, 2005 Bernard Ebbers received a sentence of imprisonment for 25 years. At that time, Ebbers was 63 years old. On September 26, 2006, Ebbers surrendered himself to the Federal Bureau of Prisons prison at Oakdale, Louisiana, the Oakdale Federal Corrections Institution to begin serving his sentence. During March 2005, 16 of WorldCom’s 17 former underwriters reached settlements with the investors. During December 2005, MCI joined Microsoft Corporation by providing Windows Live Messenger customers â€Å"Voice Over Internet Protocol† (VoIP) service to make telephone calls. This was MCI’s last new product—- called â€Å"MCI Web Calling†. This product was renamed â€Å"Verizon Web Calling†, after the merger. Corporate governance Failure In 2002, when world’s second largest telecom giant WorldCom filed for bankruptcy at federal court in Manhattan, United States witnessed one of the largest accounting frauds in history. Former CEO of WorldCom, Mr. Bernie Ebbers was held responsible for orchestrating the USD 11 billion accounting fraud and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on July 13, 2005. WorldCom fiasco is a clear case of corporate governance failure. How could a fraud of such enormity go unnoticed by the Board of Directors at WorldCom? What happened to industry watchdogs? In WorldCom’s case, most of the deviations from proper corporate behaviour resulted from the failure of Board of Directors to recognize and effectively deal with the aftermaths of â€Å"greed culture†. WorldCom’s former CEO Bernie Ebbers’ desire to build and protect his personal wealth was the driving factor behind the fraud. For this reason, he had to show continually growing net worth in order to avoid margin calls on his own WorldCom stock that he had pledged to secure loans [1]. While probing this enormous failure in corporate governance and what could have been done to evade it, we came across an interesting document entitled â€Å"Report of Investigation† dated March 31, 2003. This Report was prepared for, among others, the Federal Bankruptcy Court overseeing WorldCom case [1]. From the report, we have drawn various points to understand the corporate governance failure at WorldCom. Accounting Misstatements WorldCom made major accounting misstatements that hid the increasingly perilous financial condition of the company. The Report described the accounting tomfoolery as follows: â€Å"†¦ As enormous as the fraud was, it was accomplished in a relatively mundane way: more than $9 billion in false or unsupported accounting entries were made in WorldCom’s financial systems in order to achieve desired reported financial results.† Drivers of the fraud The motivating factor behind this fraud was the business strategy (personal) of WorldCom’s CEO, Bernie Ebbers. Here was a man who put his personal gain above organization’s growth. In the 1990s, Ebbers wanted to achieve spectacular growth through a series of acquisitions. But, there was a catch – He did NOT have the necessary resources to fund his acquisition binge. So, he used WorldCom stocks to accomplish his shopping (acquisition) spree. But, the most important thing was, WorldCom stock had to continually increase in value to be of any use to Ebbers personal agenda. He felt the need to prove ever-growing revenue and income. His only option to accomplish this end was financial gimmickry. However, he faced the age-old problem which all conmen face – It is difficult to sustain deception in the long run! Complicating Ebbers’ circumstances was an industry-wide slump in telecommunications. During this time, Wall Street had continuing expectations of double-digit growth for WorldCom. After all, they had accomplished so much in such a relatively short period of time. But, WorldCom needed time to learn managing the new businesses it had acquired. To continue on the path of double digit growth, WorldCom had to consolidate the acquired businesses and turn them into money minting machines. However, Ebbers did not have the backbone to stand up and accept that WorldCom needed time. Instead he went ahead and presented Wall Street what it expected from WorldCom – Ever-growing revenues and income even when in reality none existed. He fudged the company books and met Wall Street’s expectations. Another major reason motivating this fraud was Ebbers’ very obvious aspiration to build and guard his personal financial situation. For this reason, he had to show continually growing net worth in order to avoid margin calls on his own WorldCom stock that he had pledged to secure loans [1]. He did that. While most of the reports blame Ebbers for the entire episode, the Board of Directors are not blameless. WorldCom supported revisionist model of Corporate Governance – though the Board reigns (de jure), the imperial CEO rules (de facto). WorldCom’s corporate governance failure resulted in the following: * Company filed for bankruptcy * CEO was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment * Shareholders saw their shares become useless * Lenders were strained to take losses on their loans * Employees lost jobs Court Ordered Fix The Bankruptcy Court directed the newly constituted Board of Directors and the newly appointed Corporate Monitor to fix this horrible example of corporate failure. The measures suggested.., * A corporate culture of openness, in which ethical conduct is encouraged and expected, as exemplified by the ethics pledge that the Company and the Corporate Monitor have developed and that senior management has signed * A corporate culture in which the counsel of lawyers is sought and valued; * Formalized and well-documented policies and procedures, including a clear and effective channel through which employees can raise concerns or report acts of misconduct References: 1. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/10/MCI-WorldCom-Inc.html#ixzz2IriwULfD 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCI_Inc. 3. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/mci-worldcom-inc-history/ 4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49156-2002Jun26.html 5. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/45542.html 6. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/723527/000093176303001862/dex991.htm 7. http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1915/19150810.htm 8. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2002/aug/09/corporatefraud.worldcom2 9. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/22/us/worldcom-s-collapse-the-overview-worldcom-files-for-bankruptcy-largest-us-case.html 10. http://voices.yahoo.com/worldcom-scandal-look-back-one-biggest-225686.html?cat=3 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/22/us/worldcom-s-collapse-the-overview-worldcom-files-for-bankruptcy-largest-us-case.html 12. http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2005%2F03%2F15%2Fnews%2Fnewsmakers%2Febbers%2F&ei=yOkAUZbcKcbirAeVwIC4BA&usg=AFQjCNHSfWmXHV-ryl3POQ1NU_MMYLmvjA&bvm=bv.41524429,d.bmk 13. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/22/us/worldcom-s-collapse-the-overview-worldcom-files-for-bankruptcy-largest-us-case.html 14. http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2005%2F03%2F15%2Fnews%2Fnewsmakers%2Febbers%2F&ei=yOkAUZbcKcbirAeVwIC4 BA&usg=AFQjCNHSfWmXHV-ryl3POQ1NU_MMYLmvjA&bvm=bv.41524429,d.bmk

Research Paper on the Language Used to Talk About Sex.

Mitigating the Discomforts of Sexuality How do women talk about sex? This is the question that drives the heart of this research. In the proposed ethnographic research, I will investigate the linguistic tools that women use to mitigate the discomfort in talking about sex. The selected field of study is a passion party, in which a group of friends and family members gather at a private residence with the explicit purpose to learn and talk about sex. A passion party consultant is invited to demonstrate sexual products, sell the products to the guests, and stimulate talk.Nevertheless, with the foremost purpose to educate women about sex. Passion parties are often part of a bacholorette party. Therefore, the data that I will later analyzed is derived from a friend’s bacholorette passion party and video recordings posted online. Subsequently, the data will be analyzed with a focus on the linguistic semiotic process that index sexuality and the linguistic construction of humor that serve to alleviate embarrassment of talking about sex among women and overcome linguistic ideologies of female sexuality.First, lets explore the linguistic inequalities that exist in gender which provide the building blocks of the construction of the linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject. â€Å"At the heart of language and social inequality is the idea that some expressions of language are valued more than others in a way that is associated with some people being more valued than others and some ideas expressed by people through language being more valued than others (Philips, 474). † Susan U.Philips argues that social and language inequality is the outcome of the ideologies that value features of language and society over others, in which the people with the dominant feature or trait is valued more than others and thus the ideas of the less valued individuals are suppressed through the suppression of their forms of speech. Furthermore, Philips st ates women are often placed in linguistic ideologies like the idea that women‘s language is perceived powerless compare to the male counterpart which indexes them as the marked gender .I will expand her argument by stating that American Culture has a linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject and suppresses forms of speech in which women communicate about sex. As described by Phillips, women frequently speak freely in the privacy of their own home, but sometimes there is denial of complete access of the public sphere through a silencing process. For instance, as illustrated by Philips in the Tonga culture women are not allowed to participate in political and authoritative decisions and therefore their opinions are silenced. I will further expand Philips argument by applying it to American culture.In which, the ideology of no sex talk limit women to the private spheres to talk about sex and in the public sphere women are not supposed to talk about sex, e xplicitly sexual experience and experimentation. Second, I will investigate further how the linguistic ideology of no-sex talk develops in young adults specifically young women and subsequently into adulthood. According to West, sex education is salient in the development of the youth, but the subjects most ignored because of their taboo content are masturbation, pleasure, wet dreams, and other explicit sexual experiences.She argues that sex education in school is limited to reproduction and abstinence that warns students in particularly females about the risk of having sex and often in the public environment men are encourage to have sex while young women are warned of the consequences. Furthermore, West states that legal rights that give the right to parents to withdraw their children from sex education illustrates how sex education in youth is not universally accepted.West’s argument functions as the backbone to my argument that of the construction of the language ideology in American culture in which women are not supposed to talk about sex, because women are proscribed from having and talking about sex. Finally, humor is used to mitigate the discomfort when women talk about sex. According to Norrick, humor can be used to overcome taboo subjects. Furthermore, he illustrates that irony flaunts Grice’s maxims and â€Å"irony can elicit laughter, disrupt conversations and lead to further joking (Norrick, 233). I argue that women can use techniques that flaunt Grice’s maxims like irony that save face and then triggers humorous language that can be framed with linguistic semiotic features such as intonation and embodied communication. Additionally, I will argue that women utilized this linguistic tool when confronted with sex talk as a form of coping mechanism. In the following data I will illustrate my argument that states that in American Culture the linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject suppresses forms of s peech in which women communicate about sex.For instance, women form private spheres like a passion parties to explicitly explore sexuality and in these spheres women use specific language that mitigate the discomfort of sex talk. For instance, the following data illustrates the usage of indexicality to alleviate discomfort. (1) While bride maid’s mother eats a chocolate covered banana 1 G: Hey(. )Your mother likes to SWALLOW? ((pointing towards the BM)) 2 FB : Mother ((puts her hands over her eyes)) 3 BM: What (. I love^ chocolate covered b-a-nanas ((then takes a big bite out of the banana everyone laughs)) [G: guess, FB: future bride, BM: bride’s mother] During this conversation, the reference to chocolate covered bananas indexes sexuality based on its pragmatic context rather then referring to an actual chocolate covered banana. Although the banana is part of the discourse during the conversation, the banana is used as the mediator to facilitate communication of a se xual reference. Furthermore, the semantic meaning on the utterance is dependent upon the pragmatics of the context.The following examples further exemplifies indexicality as a form of mitigating sex talk. (2) Party consultant rubbing lotion upon the forearm of a guess 4 PC: Its Good to eat (. ) Rub on it and lick it? 5 G : Hmm then its good with eggs and SAUSAGE [G: guess, PC: party consultant] As the party consultant rubs an eatable lotion upon the forearm of the guess, in line 5 the guess responds with a reference to eggs and sausage. Like I mention previously, the semantic meaning of the utterance is dependent on the context.Therefore, the eggs and sausage are do not index actual food, but it indexes a sexual reference. Like Ochs illustrates in â€Å"Indexing Gender†, Indexes have constitutive property in which there is an indirect index and an direct index to social reference that comes from linguistic features. For instance, the direct index of eggs and sausage in line 5 is the actual food and the indirect index would be the sexual reference. This is a very ingenious way in which women play with linguistic tools to facilitate the discourse of sex talk.In addition, it can be seen as a linguistic limitation in which women feel the need to facilitate conversation using indexes rather than directly conveying sexual references. The linguistic construction of humor is a linguistic tool women use to alleviate embarrassment of talking about sex among women and overcome linguistic ideologies of female sexuality. Furthermore, humor is a methodology in which women’s sexual expression is bound by linguistic ideology in the United States that prevents women to sexually express themselves freely.The following data would look at the framework of humor and the way in which is linguistically constructed by flaunting Grice’s maxims. The following data was extracted from an online video taped data. (3) Party consultant rubbing lotion upon the forearm of the guess 6 PC: Its very [moisturizing 7 GM: I got one] in every room? ((sarcasm)) 8 PC: Ohh (. ) Dats So GOOD? ((explosion of laughter)) 9 GM: (2) soo I think it would of helped a lot 10 GM: ? maybe not in my marriage but with a boyfriend or somthn? 11 GD: Grand MAMA? ((explosion of laughter)) 12 GM: I know? ((smiling but slightly irritated)) PC: party consultant, GM: grand mother, GD: grand daughter] The above data reflects my argument that women can use techniques that flaunt Grice’s maxims to save face and then triggers humorous language that can be framed with linguistic semiotic features such as intonation and embodied communication. In line 7, the grand mother cuts off to the party consultant with a sarcastic response. â€Å"I got one in every room†. This exemplifies how Grice’s Maxim of Manner is flaunted by the grandmother because she is purposely disobeying and creating obscurity of expression with sarcasm.This violation of the maxim triggers a humor which in turn triggers further humor. The humorous utterances are framed with intonation that accents humor lines like Grand MAMA and high pitch on the end of senses. Embodied communication accents humor in which silly facial expression and gestures that index sexual references. For instance, In line 11 the grand daughter hears her grandmother speak so explicitly about sex that triggers her to respond with wide eyes that express shock which contradict her smiling face.Although the grand daughter is shock by her grandmother’s comment, she accepts it because it was put in a humorous context. Therefore, humor is a linguistic tool that women specifically can used to linguistically express sexually by mitigating the discomfort that comes with sex talk. How do women talk about sex? This is the proposed question that drives the heart of this research. Attempting to answer the question, I have argued that American Culture has a linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a tab oo subject and suppresses forms of speech in which women communicate about sex and limit women to talk about sex privately.Women find private outlets like passion parties, but the form in which they communicate is limited with method that mitigate discomfort. For instance, indexicallity is used to indirectly index sexual references that facilitates communication. Furthermore, flaunting Grice’s maxims as a linguistic tool to mitigate sex talk, a trigger of humorous responses that open the channels of communication through humor. Works Cited Duranti, Alessandro. â€Å"Language and Social Inequality by Susan U. Philips. A companion to linguistic anthropology . Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. , 2004. 474-495. Print. Norrick, Neal R.. â€Å"Humor in Interaction. † Language and Linguistics Compass 4. 4 (2010): 232-244. Print. West, Jackie. â€Å"(Not) talking about sex: youth, identity and sexuality. † The Sociological Review 47. 3 (1999): 525-547. Print. Ochs, Elinor. â €Å"Indexing Gender. † . † Rethinking Context: language as an interactive phenomenon, ed. by A. Duranti & C. Goodwin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1992)pp. 335-358. Print

Razors Edge Essay Example

Razors Edge Essay Example Razors Edge Essay Razors Edge Essay Essay Topic: Woman On the Edge Of Time Wyett Stoddard British literature Mrs. Rydjeski 28 September 2010 The Razors Edge Paragraph In the novel, The Razors Edge, Larry Darrel and Sophie McDonald are characters that both manifest characteristics of the â€Å"Lost Generation† because the war has alienated many at this point in time. Larry a war, WW1 veteran, had witnessed his best friend die in war and upon return his family and friends saw how traumatized he was. After the war, Larry had postponed his engagement with his fiance, Isabel, and instead wanted to â€Å"loaf† for two years in France. This is the point at which Larry had begun to question his faith in God, why his best friend had to die, and was in search of questions about the universe. In this era many people like Larry had begun to do the same. It seems to be pretty clear that Larry was looking for answers about God, â€Å"but it may be that at the end of it he’ll find what he’s looking for. Hasn’t it occurred to you? It seems to me that in what he said to you he indicated it pretty plainly, God. Maugham 71) † Larry like many people in that decade had tried seeking for answers about why God had let the war happen, â€Å"he’s been seeking for a philosophy or maybe a religion and a rule of life that’ll both satisfy his head and his heart. (Maugham 209)† Another key character in the book that showed a feature of â€Å"The Lost Generation† was Sophie McDonald. Sophie was a very nice woman who enjoyed poetry, wanted to help others, and loved her family who died in a car accident. After that she was devastated and was scarred for the rest of her life,†She nearly Stoddard 2 ent crazy, she shrieked the place down, they had to watch her day and night and once she nearly succeeded in jumping out of the window(Maugham 195)†. A lot of people also were damaged like her but the damage was caused by the war. Sophie was a drunk and a loner and because she chose to go down that path nobody wanted to be around her, â€Å"; if you asked her to dine she’d arrive plastered and she was quite likely to pass out before the evening was over. (Maugham 195)† Like Sophie loads of people were alienated and felt like they didn’t belong. Larry and Sophie represented characteristics of the â€Å"Lost Generation† and how people of that time felt.

People have become overly dependent on technology Essay - 1

People have become overly dependent on technology - Essay Example This was the beginning of the end as far as we know it. The social media networks, email, chat rooms, blogs, microwave ovens, etc., all of these technologically dependent outlets of communication, research, and personal connectivity have change the landscape of human interaction as we know it. We have, as a collective planet, become overly dependent on technology for our existence in our everyday lives. Technology is not something that was created in order to create a slew of technology dependent people. Rather, technology is continuously invented, reinvented, and improved upon by its creators in order to help make our lives easier and allow us to keep in personal contact with the people around us. It was never meant to create a bubble within which one can function without ever crossing paths or personally speaking to another person. That was never the idea behind all of these technological advancements. Rather than creating a beneficial synergy between man and technology, a disconne ct was created between man and fellow man due to the middle man known as technology. Our whole world is totally run by technology. All of our actions are dictated by the existence of a gadget that aids us in doing various activities that we used to be able to do without any help from machines or gadgets, but we managed to complete through the help of other people. From the complicated tasks of laying building foundations for the constructions of a building, all the way to the simple task of taking a hot shower, we have given up even the simplest of human activities to technology in order to do things faster, easier, and better. However, one cannot help but wonder as to what is lost by human beings in this aspect. Surely there is a problem with the over dependence of mankind on technology. Take for example, the case of a medical patient who has come in for a check-up. Say this patient had a CT Scan procedure done. The technologist runs the test without knowing that the machine was de fective. The results come out and show the that patient has a tumor, which was not actually a tumor but a problem with the scanning system of the machine. The attending physician relays the same information to the patient and begins to draw up a treatment plan. Nobody bothers to question whether the technology used in the test made a mistake. That is because technology is supposed to be infallible and therefore always correct. Human dependence on technology in this case just caused harm to another human being. This type of technology dependence is something that actually happens quite often these days in the medical field. According to Susan Marden (187) of the Mark Hatfield Clinical Research Center; Technology dependence has been defined as reliance on a variety of devices, drugs and procedures to alleviate or remedy acute or chronic health problems. Health professionals must ensure that these technologies result in positive outcomes for those who must rely on them, while minimizin g the potential for unintended consequences. These unintended consquences have a way of creeping into our daily lives. Technological dependence has redefined the way we live our lives. We have at least 2 generations of people who have never spent time playing outdoors, whose minds were never creatively enticed by what they saw in the park of the people they spoke to. Instead, we have a generation or so of people who hide behind their computer

Japan & China history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Japan & China history - Essay Example The onset of 1952-1991 period is quite well considered to be the post world war II era in Japan’s economic transformation. A peace treaty had just gone into effect in 1952 that ended the Japanese occupation by the allied powers. This created a window for self awareness of Japan as a country. The end to this occupation was characterised by government need to develop their country and the private sector’s need to invest. The government had the motive of promoting industrialisation. On the other hand the private sector was well equipped to kindle economic growth. Japanese government needed the market and private sector needed the state for favourable business environment. Due to these facts there had to be a partnership between the two in order for both to achieve their desired ends. In short, the Japanese government was supposed to be the channel and business the creator. Many businesses at this time developed quickly into large corporations. Government came out as a principal supporter of private enterprise (Johnson 1986). Towards the late 1950s the private industry cooperation with the government was at its peak. The government’s focus was on doubling steel production. The neo-zaibatsu at the time had the required capital outlay, construction assets etc. The government made sure that it brought the private sector’s interest at par with its economic interests and goals. This was mainly through coordinating the efforts of the private industries for example Kairetsu. There was also the separation of policies regarding importation of technology goods and others. The ministry had the powers to engage in negotiations regarding the condition as well as the price of technology good being imported (Katz 1998). Price negotiations on technology goods ensured that these goods came in cheaply or at manageable prices which consequently saw rapid growth of industries involved. The two decades i.e. the 1950s and the 1960s industrial