Australia Essays - Climate Of Australia, Rain, Free Essays

Australia Essays - Climate Of Australia, Rain, Free Essays Australia Australia is an island continent and is located southeast of Asia . Australia is the smallest continent in the world . Australia is made up of six states . The climate in Australia varies greatly : a hot season , wet season with rains falling mainly in February and March. During which north western has warm and dry season. Australians mineral

Prevent School Violence essays

Prevent School Violence essays At 11:21 a.m. Mountain Time on April 20, 1999, the Jefferson County Communications Center of the Sheriff's Office received a total of five calls from local residents living near Columbine High School, located within Jefferson County, Colorado. It is at this time, as reported by eye witnesses and the press, that at least two armed people entered the southeast Columbine High School parking lot. They reportedly threw a few devices that exploded in the parking lot, and shot at the school. A mass exodus of at least 1,500 students fled the school when the shooting began, while others hid in classrooms within the school for hours. The assailants stalked the halls early on in the shooting, blasting away innocent people. In upwards of thirty students were terrorized by the shooters in the large library of the school, with nearly a dozen killed in cold blood. "I heard maybe 50, 60 shots in the library and they chucked four to five pipe bombs in the room," said student Evan Todd. Fourteen stu dents, including the shooters themselves, and one teacher, died during the attack; a total of 15 deaths. About 23 students and faculty were seriously injured.(Luzadder, Dan; Vaughan, Kevin) Could this have been avioded? When your child is sitting in a class room, do you worry about your him or her? No probably not, there in the care of an qualified educated person. They should be safe from outside danger, but inside is another matter. It happens quite a bit in our classrooms, even with the teachers present. Children harassing children, teasing each other, hurting each other. Yet, the teachers seem no to notice it going on in there school. I see these specials on the news about High Schoolers beating up each other in there school cafeteria , and I wonder, where were the teachers. Did they all just magically disappear? Why with all the security we spend money on, we still have these cases of school violence getting out hand. Though most of the school viole...

Biblical Theme of Justice, Love, Fidelity, Mercy Term Paper

Biblical Theme of Justice, Love, Fidelity, Mercy - Term Paper Example The Old Testament narrates events that occurred during the time of Abraham, Moses, and the lives of Israelites. The common bible has 66 books written by various authors, at a different period influenced by the Holy Spirit. It is reputable that the bible is the most sold manuscript in the historical world compared to other literary books. Justice, fidelity, love and mercy are core themes found in the bible and are discussed aptly. Old Testament God is just and desires man to practice integrity according to his guidance and instructions. He wants justice to be practiced in interpersonal relations among the populace. Justice refers to policies and set of laws that bind the society mutually in the Old Testament. The laws in testament are aimed at bringing harmony and love among people. Justice is viewed as liberation when the Israelites were liberated from the repression of slavery in Egypt (Groody, 33) Justice is depicted when God made a covenant with the Israelites after rescuing them from oppression and taking them to Promised Land. "’(The Egyptians) made the people of Israel serve with rigour and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigour’ (Exodus 1: 13-14).† (The Irish Commission for Justice, & Peace, 4)... The term ‘Yahweh the liberator’ is common in Old Testament since he is responsible in assisting the demoralized, and defenseless in society. They were overworked for a period in anticipating that God would come to their rescue and deliver them from subjugation. According to the Old Testament, a person cannot be just when relating to the covenant made amid man and God (Groody, 33). The covenant required Israelites to be just by assisting the oppressed and deprived. Justice significantly emphasizes on quality of human relation rather than the social power and person’s rights. The relationship existing amid individuals should be guided by covenant’s qualities such as steadfast, love, mercy and faithfulness. Amusingly, Israelites perceived a ‘just’ person as an individual who is well off and lives a comfortable life. The continuity in the development of the theme is seen in the story of Job, whose life experience teaches people that justice is appr eciating good things in life and the ability to be aware that everything in existence is a gift from God. Prophet Zephaniah and Jeremiah esteemed the poor in the society since they were perceived as the chosen instrument in God’s implementation of justice. The act of justice by the Israelites is the basis of Israel’s faith. God is referred to as the ‘God of Covenant’ since he rejects worship that prohibits the significance and practice of justice. Consequently, for a Christian to be perceived as redeemer of the subjugated, he/she has to observe the duties critically (Groody, 32). New Testament Justice should prevail in society, and individuals should learn to be understanding and caring to be perceived justly. A ‘just’ person lives in accordance to the covenant way of life

Critically discuss the following statement with reference to the Best Essay

Critically discuss the following statement with reference to the Best Practice and Best Fit approaches to strategic Human Re - Essay Example What makes some organisations prosper while others fail? Is applying the ‘best practices’ more successful than applying the ‘best fit’ approach to strategic HRM. These are questions that need to be addressed for a firm to develop the right strategy to drive it to success. According to Boxall and Purcell (2000, p. 193), ‘there are various principles and processes of good labour management but the methods firm adopt to reach their performance goals are affected by societal, sectoral, and organisational factors.’ This is a statement that needs to be explored further bearing in mind the importance attached to SHRM by firms as a means of achieving effectiveness and thus will be the subject of this research. To explore this issue further, the paper will first define the concepts used since various definitions affect the results of any research. Concepts such as strategy, strategic management, HR strategy and business strategy need to be understood for better evaluation of the different approaches involved. It will then discuss the ‘best fit’ and ‘best practice’ approaches to strategic human resource management (SHRM), their strengths as well as weaknesses. Though both approaches have been known to work for organisations, it should be argued that the ‘best practice’ approach is the most suitable in achieving organisational success. Besides the two approaches, the resource-based view of the firm is also worthy noting since it can solve the problems of ‘best fit’ and ‘best practice’ approaches. Definitions The strategic human resource management is derived from two concepts: strategy and HRM. Strategy is defined by Armstrong (2006, p. 113 cited in Johnstone and Scholes, 1993) as ‘the direction and scope of an organisation over longer time which matches its resources to its changing environment and in particular, to its markets, customers and clients to meet shar eholder expectations.’ The strategy is developed by managers to give the firm purpose and direction and as such, for strategy to be developed the firm has to have specific goals it wants to pursue and indicated in its vision and mission statement. It is essential in informing the stakeholders where the company is heading so that all their behaviours can be directed in the same direction. There are various levels of strategy: corporate, business and HR strategy. The corporate strategy is designed to direct the whole organisation whether local or global. It is developed at the top level of the corporation. Business strategy on the other hand, it designed for specific business units to achieve competitive advantage (Armstrong, 2006). HR strategies are aimed at ensuring the employees perform according to expected standards for organisational success, and these will be the concern for this paper. It is a pattern of strategic choices in labour management (Boxall and Purcell, 2000, p. 184). Human resource management is defined by Boxall and Purcell (2000, p. 184) as ‘anything and everything associated with management of employment relations in the firm’. They acknowledge the use of various management styles in contemporary workplaces depending on organisation context and the leadership in place. HRM concept has evolved over time from traditional personnel management to the now popular international SHRM and thus has been the object of debate in social sciences and academics. Theorists have come up with various methods of

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay Fitzgerald condemns his readers to the knowledge that the American dream is not the key to eudemonia but rather the stair way which once started upon leads inescapably to destruction. When we refuse to accept reality, we lose it completely. The notion of the American dream is a primary concern in the novel. Coincidentally Fitzgerald shows it to be just that. A dream. The frequent, yet subtle references to theatre, fantasy and ideals throughout the novel reinforce this. Like any ideal, it is flawed through human conception and action. It is Nick who describes Gatsbys transformation from young Gatz to Jay Gatsby, likening it to Platonic conception. It is in this sense that Gatsby has ultimately doomed himself. Platos beings were perfect, ideals of human aspirations, formed by the infallible sculptor, in contrast, the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out with the help of a singularly appropriate education by a man who embodied the savage violence of the frontier brothel. Regardless of the fact that this ideal Gatsby is fundamentally flawed, Gatsbys inability to truly become the ideal also hinders him. He is neither one thing nor the other, instead he dances along the precipice, unable to bear being young Gatz but also unable to transform completely into Jay Gatsby, this is evident both through his conspicuous absence from his own elaborate parties, he was not there; and in the flaws of his props, eg. the absolutely real books which adorn the library but have never been read. Every thing about the created character of Jay Gatsby is extravagant, as though young Gatz feels the need to over compensate lest someone see through his charade. Like the books, the parties, the clothes and the elaborate formality of speech Daisy is yet another prop, similar to the medal from Montenegro, to add to the collection of the convincing artefacts which confirm Jay Gatsbys life. Nick describes how the fact that men had previously loved Daisy increased her value in the eyes of Gatz. This reinforces her position as an object but more importantly she was a convincing object, an appropriate object for glorious future of Jay Gatsby.  Daisy was an object to strive towards, as utterly unattainable as the American dream but something which never-the-less lingers on the peripheral of Gatsbys consciousness yet will remain insubstantial because of Gatsbys lack of substance. It is in the final stages of the novel where battle between idealist fantasy and reality is finally ended for Gatsby. His invisible cloak of illusion slips from his shoulders, the contour of Jay Gatsby is shattered, broken up like glass against Toms hard Malice but with it is also broken the remaining fragments of Gatz, for he was both and neither, living in constant illusion which was decimated by the harsh light of reality. Without the barrier of that last hope, the commitment to the following of a grail, Gatsby was gone. The fact that he was shot by Wilson is irrelevant for in truth he was already dead the moment that shimmering green light faded. Instead of attaining happiness in the pursuit of the dream Gatsby is destroyed by it. Like his elaborate library, with absence of one book, or one hope, the entire thing was liable to collapse.

Judith Lorbers The Social Construction of Gender Essay -- Socializati

Judith Lorber is able to convey many of her ideals about our contemporary conceptions of gender in her essay, ?The Social Construction of Gender.? Not only does she clearly express her opinions on the roles of physiological differences of the male and female bodies, but she also elaborates on the roles of the mass media and professional sports among other things. It rapidly becomes clear that there are many legitimate arguments that support this movement for near or complete equality in genders and the roles that they perform. Clearly, society has been created around two separate classes or genders: men and women. Lorber argues that much of what we consider to be gender has no place in the natural order of the things. She is able to begin her argument by citing that gender has often been a literal creation of man in many cases such as those of hermaphrodites. Should a baby be born with characteristics that do not fully represent the male or the female gender, a doctor will judge the baby based on the size and shape of its gentiles, and then transform him/her into one or the other. Though there are more advanced techniques employed in this process today, this does illustrate the arbitrary meanings of gender. Lorber holds many of the same views as the average feminist and more. She agrees with the view that genders are nothing more than a ?cultural overlay? and is oppressive to females. Though she does not dispute the fact that there are many differences in physical, intellectual, and emotional characteristics between men and women, Lorber claims that these differences are socially meaningless until social practices transform them into social facts.? (Lorber, Page 40) These include most activities from professio... ...ation of people by their behavioral patterns and their physical or mental aptitudes and shortcomings rather than gender alone. Though this hardly seems like a feasible solution with the state of contemporary society, it appears to solve some of the most deep-rooted problems of gender inequality. Larry Gross is able to offer some insight into resistance of this culture by suggesting the support and growth of media that both produced by and aimed at specific genders and sexual minorities. Though such changes are already beginning to take place in the media today, it will surely by quite some time before these goals are realized in magnitude sought after by Gross. Though both of these authors present possible advancements for their ideals, they are truly up against powerful opposition and are not likely to see their desired changes any time in the near future.

Conceptualizing a New Product or Service Division of an Existing Business Essay

The success of an organization depends on the strategic plan. In the plan, it will define the mission, vision, ad value statements. The strategic plan is designed to assist the organization with its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT analysis will help develop a strong strategic plan and map out the direction to follow to achieve an organizational vision and goal. The purpose of this paper is to cover the mission, vision and core value of De Von’s Printing. Define the guiding principles and strategic direction. Then introduce and identify the customer’s needs and how it achieves competitive advantage. Mission De Von’s is classified as a full service printing provider for standard and custom invitation, web design, and web support. The company’s clientele are individuals and organizations of any size or nature. The services offered to the clientele ranges from standard to custom. De Von’s center its dedication and customer appreciation around the skills of displaying the most outstanding customer service to each customer that the company serve. The company’s mission statement is to provide the customer with the highest quality product and service in a timely manner, and provide each customer with a competitive price. We will be honest, give professional advice and provide friendly customer service. Our goal will be to meet and exceed full expectation. The mission statement is a written declaration of an organization’s core purpose and focus that normally remains unchanged over time. Properly crafted mission statements (1) serve as filters to separate what is important from what is not, (2) clearly state which markets will be served and how, and (3) communicate a sense of  intended direction to the entire organization (â€Å"Mission Statement†, 2014). Vision De Von’s vision statement is to be a leader in the Printing industry. The way the company will display and honor the statement is to use innovative work practice with a self-improvement of the culture, to evaluate the new technology that will add value, and being socially responsible. We commit to our principles, product and service, ad clientele. The vision statement is an aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action (â€Å"Vision Statement†, 2014). Core Value The company’s core values are to discipline and respect the commitment that was developed, ownership to the goals, and take accountability and responsibility for our actions, uphold the trust, sensitivity, and professional conduct, and have a quality orientation and purpose of excellence. The core values are a company’s ethical and moral compass and decision making foundation. They are the ideals and ethics that management holds dear. They drive decision making in that they are constantly referred to in the decision making process. That is, when in a tough spot, the answer needs, first and foremost, to be consistent with the company values. They are generally for both internal and external consumption. They tell those in the company how things are done and those outside the company why they want to be associated with this company. Corporate values are best when they are few in number but high in meaning and lived daily (â€Å"Mission, Vision, and Value†, 2013). Guiding Principles The company’s core value is developed around the certainty that the standard and custom printing is a way to produce quality invitations for the clients. This makes it easier for those that do not wont cheap printing and looking for a professional look. De Von’s Printing guiding business principles are committed to follow is: a. Listen and communicate b. Leadership c. Courtesy and respectful d. Exceed customer expectation e. Excellence f. Share knowledge g. Simple process h. Team work i. Participate and contribute to activities The company has beliefs that the custom printing will target a huge segment of clients, who are in need of quality printing. The management team wants to serve a competitive price depending on the design. Organization’s Strategic Direction De Von’s objectives for the future are to achieve the goals in the strategic plan to expand on the growth for the company. Once the achievement has been accomplished, the management team would review the profit made and look at other opportunities in the printing industry such as screen printing. De Von’s future goal is to add to the partnership network with the competitors such as Paramount Printing. The executive and management team has discussed the advancement plan of the objectives. The objectives would include connect with web designers and screen printing organizations, communicate, and advertise the new service. Produce a partnership with local competitors by advertising workshops or seminars, and use a recruitment method to reach out to master printers. Use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to advertise and promote the product and service. The strategic plan solely depends on the mission, vision, and core values. The mission statement identifies the company and who it supports; the clientele, employees, and investors. The mission statement recognizes the proficiency within the industry. The clients realize that De Von’s Printing is committed with customer satisfaction, focus, and outstanding abilities. The vision statement summaries how the company wants to succeed by providing outstanding products and service to the clients. De Von’s vision is to become one of the popular printing companies in the area and through the United States. This shows that the company is committed to accomplishing and achieving excellence to the clients, staff and investors. It also shows that the ownership has motivation to be the best it can be and be loyal to  the goals for the company to expand. The core values of De Von’s Printing are correspondingly as impertative as the mission and vision statement of the organization’s strategic plan. Lastly, the value of integrity shows that cl ients and employees can trust the company to do what is right for not only clients, employees, and shareholders, but for the community and society as well. The Customer Needs and Achieved Competitive Advantages De Von’s top priority is to be able to meet the customer’s needs. The company has developed a strong communication method. This method has allowed the management team to utilize his or her listening skills. Once the communication and listening plan was put in place, they were able to understand what the clients were looking for in a product and services. There are three steps the team would need to follow in order to bring satisfaction to the clients. The steps would be Listen, Process, and Deliver. The team took the steps and developed a plan. The first step is Listen. Team A took the information from the clients and was able to understand what he or she was trying to achieve. Team B had the Process step. They reviewed the multiple solutions that were available and then were able to decide the best one for each individual or organization. In the Process step, the team used the advanced solution instead of the cheaper one. The last step is the deliver. This step Team C set a method for the clients to follow through, and establish a way for the client to meet the request of the customers by providing on time service, and a committed competitive price. De Von’s focus is to remain in an advance stage of bring competitive with the competitors. The management team and executive leaders have put in place ways to stay competitive in the Printing Industry. An incentive and training program was put in place to provide positive resources for the employees. Conclusion De Von’s Printing has a strong method of maintaining a positive strategic plan. The mission, vision, and values were properly evaluated and developed with a smooth path of organization. The mission statement identifies the company and who it supports; the clientele, employees, and investors. The vision statement gives a view of where the company has set out for the future and in what direction they plan to be. The core values are a guide  that helps the company to meet the goals that are set. De Von’s management team has realized that their biggest competitive advantage will be the clientele and the employees. . Reference â€Å"Mission Statement†, (2014). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/mission-statement.html#ixzz35ZMkiGFn â€Å"Vision Statement†, (2014). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/vision-statement.html#ixzz35aW3DgZb â€Å"Mission, Vision, and Value statement†, (2013). Retrieved from http://www.bellevuechamber.org/links/pdf/mission_vision_and_values_template.pdf

A Compare and Contrast of the New Product Development Model Essay

New product developments are one of the main sources of competitive advantage for companies today. Companies need new product to keep up with its’ competitors. New product development can be considered as activities that aim to bring new products to market. The objective of NPD is to minimize the risk of failure. As NPD absorbs both financial and human resources from a company, it is therefore necessary to develop and implement a methodology for assisting in the introduction of new products. NPD models can help to identify problems at an early stage and assist in directing the NPD effort in the right direction. It can be used as a roadmap and provides an indication of magnitude of the project required in order to develop and launch a new product. It also helps to reduce risk and uncertainty at every stage by giving guidance regarding what information is required. An example of well known model is Booz, Allen, and Hamilton Model (1982). It has been argued that pass-the-parcel approach to NPD might extend the overall development time. However in more recent models, focus has been given to parallel-processing. The next section mentions about three model of NPD. Cooper’s stage-gate model A stage-gate model (Cooper, 1988) is improved from BAH model. The stage-gate model attempts to overcome pass-the-parcel issues which do not suitable for communicating the horizontal dimension of the NPD process. The stage-gate model uses parallel-processing to acknowledge the iterations between and within stages. The idea of parallel processing advises that major functions should be involved from the early stages of the NPD process to its conclusion. This allows problems to be detected and solved much earlier than in the classic models. The idea of dividing the new product development process into distinct phases or stages is the same as BAH model, but in the stage gate model the phases are more clearly separated from each other with management decision gates. In addition to the discovery gate, the model consists of five action stage: scoping, build business case, development, testing and validation, and launch. Stages are cross functional and each activity is undertaken in parallel to enhance speed to market. To manage risk, the parallel activities in a certain stage must be designed to gather vital information – technical, market, financial, operations – in order to drive down the technical and business risk. Each successive stage is also more costly than previous stage. The idea is to allow an increase in spending on the development of projects as the uncertainty goes down. Preceding each stage is a decision point or gate which serves as a go/kill and prioritization decision point. The advantages of the stage-gate are following: Well organized innovation can be a source of competitive advantage. -Accelerated product development. Necessary because of shortening product life cycles. -Increased success chance of new products. Prevents poor projects early and helps to redirect them -Integrated market orientation. Multiple convergent model The multiple convergent model (Baker and Hart, 1994) follows parallel processing – like the stage-gate model – which allows iterations among participants within stages. However, there are two problems with parallel processing. First, it ignores the important inputs to NPD that are provided by customers and suppliers. Second, if functions are to work in parallel then when do the processes take decisions and move on to the next stage? The multiple convergent model overcomes the issue by using convergent point, where is defined as â€Å"to move or cause to move towards the same point† or to â€Å"tend towards as common conclusion or result†. The model takes account of the functionally distinct tasks which must be carried out simultaneously at specific points throughout the NPD process and that the results must converge. And, due to iterations in the processes, this convergence is likely to happen several times. As the process moves from one step to another, the information gathered becomes more precise and reliable and the decisions are made with greater certainty. This model is therefore advantageous over the stage-gate in that the framework can easily accommodate third parties, provides mechanisms for real integration throughout the process among different functions set in the convergent points and fit into the most appropriate NPD structures for the company. Network model The multiple convergent model fails to highlight the importance of â€Å"inter-organizational collaboration† in a firm’s network. Networks in NPD could and should be considered at two different levels: external and internal level. And it should be realized that the functioning of the internal networks directly influences the efficiency and efficacy of the external network. According to the network model (Trott, 1998), the development and management of knowledge is one of the most important traits of the new product development. It represents the process of accumulation of knowledge crossing continuously over different internal functions, through which both internal and external knowledge is integrated in the process. Four different internal functions are related to new product development: marketing and sales, finance, engineering and manufacturing, and research and development. Different external inputs such as competitors, suppliers, partners, customers, university departments and so on are also presented. Conclusion NPD is a process of transforming business opportunity into tangible products. In order to reduce risks of failure associated with developing a new product, many models have been developed to assist in NPD activities. These models have evolved from the simple linear models to the more complex network models. And, in order for developers of new products to be successful, they must take into consideration the critical success factors in NPD.

Starting from Scratch Professor Ramos Blog

Starting from Scratch Do you remember when you started walking? At the age of 15 I couldn’t walk. I was diagnosed with Guillain–Barre’ Syndrome. The scientific definition is an acute form of polyneuritis, often preceded by a respiratory infection, causing weakness and often paralysis of the limbs. A condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves. In my terms I couldn’t walk. It all started one night, I was on the phone walking in the hallway enjoying my teen life just laughing, then BOOM!!!! I’m on the floor somehow, I fell. I tried to get myself up, but it didn’t work. Tried pulling on my rails to help myself stand up, that didn’t work either. All I could do now was yell, â€Å"Mom! Mom! I need your help!† You can tell she thought I was playing, then when she understood it wasn’t a joke she pulled me up and we immediately went to the Emergency Room. Being at the hospital with no clue of what was happening with my body was extremely nerve racking. The doctor initially said I would die, no hesitation no empathy. His exact words, â€Å"She’s not going to make it.† I instantly started crying, tears were running down my face like a river stream. What was left for me? To die in a hospital bed? Every thought, emotion, and feeling passed through my head as I laid in the hospital bed looking at my mom hopelessly. She tried being strong for me holding my hand telling me, â€Å"You’re going to make it through, we got God on our side and he is your doctor who will heal you.† She ended up going into the hallways, to make numerous of calls to the family to tell them my horrible condition, to ask for prayer and visitors to try and lift my spirits. Being in the hospital with no luck of life pretty much sucks. I was sent through several different test to figure out what was truly wrong with me. I went through x-ray, cat scan, MRI, and even nerve conduction velocity test (NCV). An MRI is a magnetic resonance imaging its like a cat scan, but much more in detail. Its like you’re on a cot bed and your sent through a big donut hole inch by inch to scan your whole body. If you’re claustrophobic good luck. If you move, guess what they got to start all over. They tried to give me ear plugs for the MRI, but that doesn’t make the sound go away it just intensifies it. THUMP, THUMP, DOOM, DOOM, DOOM, beepbeepbeepbeep. The best thing for me to do was try and sing in my head any gospel song I could to outdo the loud banging and tight space. The NCV was definitely the worst test. It’s like you’re being electrocuted to try to detect abnormal nerves. Like on the movies when they have a hostage and try to shock them and turn up the power to see how much they can sustain, well that is exactly what I felt. I went through so many test and different doctors to try and tell me my possibilities. To then find out it could all be cured. I can be able to possibly be normal again. They finally told me I was diagnosed with Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome and like you I was stumped. What is it, why me and how in the world was I the lucky one to catch it? But to be able to regain my life back was like hitting the lottery to me. I was put on an IV treatment for 5 days and was transported to a hospital that had a better Neurology program to better assist me. I refused to let that sickness take over my body, I was determined. I had to show those doctors that even though I’m 15 I’m full of fight and I want to go home to better myself. I used to walk around the hospital for as long as I could. I couldn’t do it on my own I had to use a walker and my mom would have a sheet wrapped around my stomach right above my waist to keep my balance and make sure if I was to collapse she was my support to pull me up. When it was finally time to go home, lucky me it was Christmas Eve and that was my Christmas present. They tried to put me in a wheelchair, but I refused to be handicap and not at least push myself enough to want to better myself. I had to go to occupational and physical therapy to be able to regain my strength and get my muscles back working. I went to occupational and physical therapy 2-3 times a week for a month and a half. I had to use a walker, hold walls and rails anything to help me walk. My life was like a movie, at therapy I had to hold on to the bars to try to walk. On the treadmill I had to have support on me and around me while only walking 5mph. Seems slow? Nope that was my average walk, maybe a little too fast. I had to get my gripping back to normal, so I had to hold small things and rub them around until I felt all sensation from it. Sounds strange to the average teen, but this was my life and unfortunately, I had to deal with it. One day at home I got tired of sleeping in my brother’s room and I wanted my bed and my peace, so I got up. I got up went to the stairs and said determined, â€Å"I want my bed back!† I grabbed the rail and took my time and slowing making my way up step by step. Almost halfway through my brother saw me and helped me the rest of the way, but I told him â€Å"I got it bro, but just stay behind me if I fall† we laughed, and I kept pushing myself to finish those 16 steps. I finally made it to my room and I knew if I could do that alone, I could walk without support soon enough. My therapy finally ended, and I still wasn’t fully walking without support. I didn’t trust in myself enough to let go of my support. The choice was mine go back to school after Spring break or stay home schooled for the rest of the year. Of course, I wanted my old life back, friends, being normal again. So yes, going back to school was the only option. I started going up and down the stairs more, slowly but surely, I wasn’t going to need the rails anymore and not even the walker either. I left the walker in my room, and just started holding the walls, that way I can stand straight up and use my full strength. Within that month I was walking without any support, I wasn’t running but I was making progress. I couldn’t have been more proud of myself. Regardless of your situation or circumstance never give up. Many people may have it worse than you, but they don’t show it. Take it one day at a time and be grateful for those you do have and what you’re capable of. I had an amazing team behind me from my Neurologist to my physical therapist to my family and friends, everybody played a great part in helping me recover. My doctor told me it was a 5% chance of it coming back, but I should be fine. I was on A LOT of vitamins and medicine to build my immune system back to its healthy state. It has now been ten years since I was diagnosed, and I am just fine, my legs they work perfectly! All I can say is without faith and a great support system I probably wouldn’t have been so determined to break through because it can take years for someone to recover from that. I’m just glad I made it.

English Essay Science Essays - Literature, Canadian Literature

English Essay Science Essays - Literature, Canadian Literature Scientific Progress and its Costs Scientific progress is undoubtedly positive, it is the driving force behind human kinds expansion. It created many of the things that have allowed humans to become the most powerful animal on earth. However as scientific progress, eventually other things need to be eased back to allow for progression to continue. In the novel Oryx and Crake By Margaret Atwood, a society is depicted where scientific progress has almost taken over every other aspect of society. The main character Jimmy is born and raised in the luxurious compounds. Where corporations create the most advanced products for consumers in the compounds and the pleeblands. Jimmy grows up seeing the complications scientific progress can create. From his poor relationship with his family to the virus he helps his childhood friend spread, it is clear that Jimmy has seen the best and worst that scientific progress has to offer. Ultimately, When scientific progress is given reign over all other aspects of society, the impact o n human culture, relationships, life, and even the earth itself are tremendous. In a society where science shrouds society's focus, humanities lose its importance. In Oryx and Crake, the corporations consistently push for progression of science and discourage people to pursue other fields of work. This can be seen from how Jimmy has to be tutored by crake so he can get passable grades. Crake shows Jimmy shows how to solve math and science problems, "but Jimmy [does] not see, and it did not all come clear." (Atwood 174) To Crake math and science problems are easy to understand, but Jimmy struggles with them and is not able to see what Crake sees. Instead of the school system allowing Jimmy to take humanities courses, where he excels, he has to take science subjects, and search for alternative methods to learn subjects. This is reflective of the society that he lives in, the corporations don't want people practicing humanities, and instead want them to focus on science, causing humanities to fade away from society. Furthermore, Jimmy and Crake grew up playing games like Blood and Roses, "a trading game [] the blood side [plays] with human atrocities for the counters [] massacres, genocides [] the roses side [plays] with human achievements, artworks, scientific breakthroughs." (78) This game reflects the society's lack of care for human history, positive and negative. The focus is purely put towards progression, and humanities, specifical history, are forgotten and only relevant in computer games. This causes people to not learn from humanity's past mistakes, and try to not repeat these mistakes. Lastly, when Jimmy graduates, he goes to Martha-Graham, a school that was, "falling apart [] surrounded [] by the tackiest kind of pleeblands." (185) meanwhile Crakes school Watson-Crick, " was a palace, at the entrance way was a bronzed statue of the institution ' s mascot [] the extensive grounds inside the security walls [was] beautifully laid out" (199) The two different states of the schools show where society's focus is. Jimmy ch ooses to pursue humanities, and because of this gets something much lesser than Crake, who goes to school for science. This shows how because of the focus put on scientific progression, humanities and people practicing it lose importance and relevance in society. In conclusion, because of the compounds pushing the limits of scientific progression, humanities are almost forgotten. People's re la tionships are ruined when society puts stress on advancing scientific progress. In the novel, many people struggle to form relationships, and when relationships are formed, they hav e often torn apart because of the society push for scientific progression. When Jimmy is growing up his father is a big scientist at OrganInc Farms, wh e re he is working on the pigoon project. When Jimmy ' s father makes a joke that upsets Jimmy, his mother says, " " Leave Daddy alone" [says] his mother "Daddy is thinking. That's what they pay him for. He do esn' t have time for you right now." (20) It is clear that because of Jimmy ' s father ' s job, and its heavy work demands, that not only Jimmy ' s relationship suffers, but so does his parent ' s marriage.

'The analytical study of communication and media is central to Essay

'The analytical study of communication and media is central to understanding the ways we live now'. Discuss - Essay Example Hence, the essence is communication and its expression is through different media including language. The scope of variety in media is reflected in the statement, â€Å"In asking what computers can do, we are drawn into asking what people do with them, and in the end into addressing the fundamental question of what it means to be human† (Winograd and Flores 1986, p.7). Here, the medium referred to is computers. Keeping in view this diversity in media forms and the different ways of communication that is made through them, this essay is an attempt to understand, how and why communication and media is central to understanding the ways we live now. Now we have two types of media; one is the media that helps communication among two individuals, or within a small group which is called local media and the second is mass media or global media (Machin and Leeuwen, 2007, p.7-10). While media like a low range microphone or a telephone are considered as included in the first category, me dia like, newspapers, magazines, film, radio etc. are considered as mass media because they can at a time reach out to ‘n’ number of people (Machin and Leeuwen, 2007, p.7-10). ... example, Hall (19 June 1992, p.8) has drawn attention to the creation of new ‘cultures of hybridity†, brought about by the interaction of local media with the global (mass) media. Here, the reference is to a new kind of culture that is emerging out of the interactions with local and global media. It has to be remembered that before mass media emerged, â€Å"public life was linked to a common locale; an event became public when a plurality of people physically congregated to hear and see the communication of a message, whether a band of traveling minstrels or an execution in the town square† (Craig, 2004, p.6). In this way, media created a new kind of public life and also helped us to understand it as well. In the context of a medium like television, when viewed in a house hold, it has been observed that, â€Å"the spatial separation of producer from consumer, combined with the temporal simultaneity and continuity of transmission and reception, have given rise to a n ‘aesthetic’ and a communicative style† (Moores, 2000, p.13). It is through this complex prism of space and time, that we now view life. Another interesting aspect has been that the media has made it possible for us to see ourselves very closely and from new different angles. This is why we say that now our life is â€Å"mediated† (Craig, 2004, p.4). Especially, media and the communication through them have been viewed as â€Å"the sites where the meanings of public life are generated, debated and evaluated† (Craig, 2004, p.4). Media and communication have been crucial in developing our outlook of a global society, in expanding our vision of the world, bringing news from all around the world to us within no time, media and communication have made us aware what we are, by helping our knowledge to

Business to Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business to Business - Assignment Example The paper tells that trade or business has always been one of the vital factors that have regulated the growth and development of any civilization. It has not only helped in the advancement of civilization but also been instrumental in the process of globalization. However, with the passage of time, the process of globalization and modernization has brought significant changes in the social, cultural and economic aspects of human race. The most significant change can be observed in the field of technology which has dramatically altered and influenced the business activities. The process of globalization and modernization has made the global business environment very attractive with business organizations being able to access overseas markets with least constraints compared to earlier times. However, on the other hand, due to globalization, the global business environment has become much more competitive with the introduction of free trade policies. . In this regard, Hope and Maeleng have identified free trade policy as a â€Å"competition-enhancing device†. In order to cope with this increase in competition, business organizations are constantly trying to bring in a number of improvements in their business activities and hence, they clearly identify the importance of business activities and associated stakeholders. Business related transactions can happen between any two individuals, or government and non-government organization. In this age of technological advancements, business organizations are trying to maintain transactions in electronic medium. The use of internet backed technologies like e-commerce has revolutionized all types of business transactions, be it business to business or business to customer transactions3. Relevant Literature In the post-modern business scenario, business models have been transformed with the changing nature of the business environment. In order to survive in the market, business organizations are constantly trying to incorporate technological advancement in their business process. E-commerce and e-business are two most vital technological advancements in this field. There are a number of reasons that has initialized such technological advancements. Barbara Parker has identifies major factors that brought such technological changes in the business process. Some of them are like increased process of innovation through research and developments; necessity of developed working process and lifestyles; demand for better interconnectivity in global market etc4. Due to these initiatives, the business organizations are currently enjoying better leverage for growth and development. The nature of the business model in an organization depends on the nature of commercial activities that they are engaged in. A business to business transaction is one in which a business organization interacts with another business organization. Example, in the case of manufacturers of automobile parts, they will be dealing wit h other automobile manufacturers who directly supply finished products to the market for sales... However, the company that buys automobile parts from another company and delivers the final product to the customer, is engaged in both commercial transactions, business to business and business to consumers. The primary focus of this paper is on the business to business commercial transaction and hence, the analysis and discussion aim to cater the same. Many post-modern organizations are incorporating latest technologies to enhance the value of their business by offering better customer services. In the process of business to business transactions, technologies like e-business and e-commerce influence the value chain of the company as the traditional value chain transforms to a new upgraded one. Value chain of a business includes its primary and supporting activities. The incorporation of e-business technologies in