Saturday, August 31, 2019

Coffee and Starbucks Executives Essay

Starbucks developed continuously and rapidly after Howard Schultz bought it. It was entered in â€Å"Fortune 500 companies† in March 2003. Because of the saturation of the market, Starbucks can not only relied on the American market, but also had to venture abroad and paid close attention to the growth of subsidiaries. During the expansion, Starbucks stuck to its basic principles and innovated constantly to cater to the taste of the native. Although Starbucks was operated successfully, it also experienced losses in many countries and faced many challenges and risk. It is essential for MNCs to choose the right mode of entry in any markets and make structural changes to motivate strategic changes, even mature MNCs, which can transfer some risk. Starbucks decided to use three strategies to enter into the international markets-licensing, wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. Every strategy has its advantages and disadvantages, so managers of Starbucks need to consider carefully before entering other countries. Starbucks makes the different ways to enter in the markets according to the different situations of countries. For instance, Canada is close to America so the cultures and the habit of drinking coffee are close too. Starbucks chooses wholly owned subsidiary type to enter Canadian market. Some Asian countries such as Japan and Hong Kong, China, Starbucks selects joint ventures to get in these countries because their taste of coffee is different from American’s. Moreover, the strategic adjustment of Starbucks was to cover over an area in new stores. That can not only assist to disperse consumers and reduce their waiting time, but also decrease the costs and increase revenues. It also innovated some new products and cooperated with local companies. Culture, government, environment and the condition of Starbucks, all these can affect the choice of strategy. In short, before choosing strategy, managers of Starbucks ought to analyze the SWOT of Starbucks, the key environmental factors and how will this strategy influence the development of the company. Starbucks went international because it wanted to seek new international markets and opportunities of growth. Starbucks did many good management and analysis of risk before entering into different markets. It further researched the prospect of the products in other countries’ markets. Then it tried to sell in the local fashionable shops and was operated by expert managers from Seattle. Starbucks persisted in keeping their No Smoking principle and broad floor area, which attracted many Japanese women. That is a successful alliance that through using its own resources and cooperating with Sazaby, it understood the Japanese habits of drinking coffee drinks and introduced new products. Starbucks realized that young people in Asian countries were interested in the western way of life so it seized that mentality and attracted them successfully. Starbucks adjusted constantly to adapt the cultures of the host countries. For example, it offered meat buns and curry puffs to Asian countries because Asians like eating some food when drinking coffee. It is popular that the best coffee around the world is in Europe. However, Starbucks executives thought that coffees in Europe now is not as great as in the late 1990s so stores were opened quickly and bravely in Europe. The romantic atmosphere, No Smoking environment and self-help service mode of operation were the main reasons that attracted the young. Also, Starbucks provided an independent region for Middle East ladies because of its distinct culture. From the above examples, it seems that Starbucks considered completely. It did internal analysis to use its key success factors to help the company make full use of the opportunities abroad. It also analyzed the culture and environmental risk of the local markets. Starbucks faced many challenges and risk in the international operation. Firstly, the unstable political environment of the Middle East is one of the problems for Starbucks. The close relationship between America and Israel made Arab students boycott American services and goods. This is the political risk to Starbucks. Secondly, Starbucks faced crisis from non-governmental organizations. They asked Starbucks to afford the authentication of coffee beans to insure the production of coffee beans was proceeded under a certain social and financial condition. This is the environmental risk. Thirdly, Starbucks has country risk that the economic recession in some countries made the sales and revenues dropped sharply. Fourthly, Starbucks faced drastic industrial competition, high costs of developing business and resistance from customers who objected to globalization, especially in Europe. This is the strategic risk. Fifthly, complex joint ventures and application license agreement, lack of well-trained employees and appropriate store address, all of these made Starbucks hard to gain more profit and control the costs of international operation. This is the operational risk. Starbucks try to reduce the risk in many methods. First and foremost, Starbucks decided to offer new products to control the costs of international operation. Then, it announced to slow down the pace of expansion and close the defective stores. Also, Starbucks should reconsider the entry strategy and keep a watchful eye on price. The most important is to be careful to the international environment because there are many factors can affect the Starbucks’ decision-making. Starbucks recombined its structure and changed its strategy with its internationalization.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Human Sexuality Essay

Teresita went to a fraternity party because she’d heard that this fraternity â€Å"really knew how to have fun† and she really needed fun after a disastrous academic week. She knew that some women had been taken advantage of at previous parties, but she put that out of her mind, as she downed one drink after another. Just when things were getting dull, the coolest guy on campus took her by the hand, led her upstairs and talked her into having sex. The next day, Teresita noticed that her vagina was bruised and bleeding. She barely recalled having sex, but knew who was responsible for her condition, and filed rape charges against him with the campus administrator. Phillip was alone on the beach. Midnight was his favourite time of day, there were no other people around and he could really enjoy the sound of the waves and smell of the ocean breeze. He was almost asleep when he felt two women sit down next to him. One of them held down his arms while sitting on his chest. The other woman pulled down his bathing suit and began fellatio. In spite of his struggling and his anger, he got an erection. Both women took turns sitting on his erection, and left him when they were done. Phillip was confused — he couldn’t tell if he had been raped or not. He knows he didn’t want to have sex with these women he didn’t know, but can’t understand why he couldn’t fight them off (they were both smaller than him) and why he had an erection. Monica is seventeen and has been having sex with guys since she was fifteen. Gary is twenty-one and heard that Monica was â€Å"hot stuff† in bed. They go out and have consensual sex. Next day, Gary’s friend tells him he raped Monica. Is Gary’s friend correct?

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Biochemical: Escherichia Coli & Salmonella Typhimurium

The first step in the identification process is generally obtaining isolation. A usual isolation technique for isolation is the streak plate. With this method a small droplet of culture is spread over the surface of the medium in a pattern that gradually thins the sample out and separates the cells spatially over the sections of the plate. Streaking is used to isolate single cells in order to separate different types of bacteria in a mixed sample. The plates used are sterile and provide nutrients to sustain growth. Gram's Stain is a widely used method of staining bacteria as an aid to identification. It is used to determine the identity of a sample. Gram staining is used to differentiate bacterial species into two large groups Gram-positive and Gram-negative based on the chemical and physical properties of their cell walls. Gram's stain differentiates between two major cell wall types. Bacterial species with walls containing small amounts of peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide, are Gram-negative and bacteria with walls containing relatively large amounts of peptidoglycan and no lipopolysaccharide are Gram-positive. The Gram stain also allows for cell size, shape, and arrangement to be determined. Biochemical testing also helps to identify organisms. One type of biochemical test is fermentation tests. Fermentation is the formation of gas, acid, and other products by the action of bacteria on pyruvic acid. PR Glucose, PR Lactose, and PR Sucrose fermentation detection can be seen as broth color change and the presence or absence of a bubble. Making use of a mannitol salt agar growth can help determine and/or isolate gram positive cocci, interpretations are made by growth and color results. Citrate and Malonate tests are based on differentiating organisms based on ability to grow when an essential nutrient is available in a limited number of forms. The results are interpreted based on color change and growth, with any change resulting as positive which means citrate is utilized. Malonate is utilized and positive if the liquid changes to dark blue. Hydrolytic enzymes that are used in reactions that use water to split complex molecules, these enzymes are detected by the Urease and Bile Esculin tests, which produce identifiable color changes in the medium. A positive Bile Esculin test esults when the medium is darkened,a nd negative when there is no color change. A positive Urease test occurs when the medium is pink and means a strong urease production and orange/yellow is negative with no production of urease. The catalase test detects an organism’s ability to produce catalase, an enzyme that that detoxifies hydrogen peroxide. When catalase is present the reaction is positive and bubbles are formed, absence of catalase is negative and with no bubbles. SIM is a combination media, which includes core tests to differentiate members of a specific bacteria and can be used to replace a sequence of individual tests. SIM tests for sulfur reduction and indole production. Sulfur is reduced when the media is black(+) and sulfur is not reduced when the medium is not black(-). Indole is formed from Tryptophan when there is red in the alchol layer of Kovac’s agent and not formed when the reagent’s color is unchanged. Making use of biochemical test, Gram’s staining, and streak plate isolation are tools that can be utilized in order to determine the identity of bacteria. Using changes in media to confirm an organism. Each organism has its own characteristics that makes it differ from others, thus the identity can be found.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research Proposal - Essay Example While a minimum amount of mobility of faculty is healthy, high rates of turnover exist and entrances are not favourable. The departure of any faculty member disrupts the teaching and research program and leaves the students without any familiar advice. High turnover usually leads to soaring administrative cost requirement for recruitment, selection of faculty, training and development of the new faculties. In addition, the remaining faculty shoulder the increased workloads without any increase in pay. The turnover rates can affect the prospective employees of the universities and leave a negative impact. High turnover is often associated with poor productivity, lesser job satisfaction and also stress among the members. The disruption and cost of faculty turnover has also lead to other undesirable outcomes which tend to be less noticeable than dispirited and overworked remaining faculty. In a survey conducted by Virginia University, it was analysed that the computer science department had the highest rate of turnover and the female’s undergraduates represented the highest rate of turnover. The unwanted outcome which gets associated with turnover often get exacerbated when faculty for replacement are hard to find (Cohoon, Shwalb & Chen, 2003, p. 1). According to a study conducted in Texas it was analysed that the faculty turnover rate averaged to about 6% for public universities and is said to have remained unchanged from the fiscal year 1999. The faculty turnover is lower at better and larger established universities. It was found that universities with 500 tenured had overall turnover rate of about 5% and it was 7% for other institutions (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2001). Faculty turnover has different meanings at different ranks. For example, at the level of assistant professors, turnover reflects voluntary movements with respect to other institutions and involuntary mobility and at this stage it reflects voluntary mobility. At the profe ssor level, it reflects voluntary mobility and also retirement decisions. Studies have suggested that, in addition to other factors, the faculty member’s salary is one of the major influences leading to faculty turnover but no study has yet addressed the extent to which the salaries or compensation tends to affect the faculty turnover rate (Ehrenberg, Kasper & Rees, 1990, p. 3). As per research, it was found that the reason for faculty members to stay or leave depends on the age of the professors. The relation between the age of the faculty and rate of turnover tends to follow a U-shaped curve as researchers have found that younger members have a high rate of departure, which declines during mid-career and rises again during retirement period (Ingersoll, 2001). As per the findings from other universities, most of the universities have researched and found the reason behind the high rate of turnover mainly through primary research based on questionnaires. The respondents will be the senior professors, associate professors and also the assistant professors. The same technique was used by Texas Higher Education to arrive at the conclusion as to why the turnover rate was high (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2001). Similarly, the Patriot University in Boston would follow the same technique to determine the problem statement of high turnover rate at the University. Research

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Envisioning America & What Caused the Pueblo Revolt Essay - 1

Envisioning America & What Caused the Pueblo Revolt - Essay Example At first we thought the white man’s god protected us, so we freely worshiped. Then the rains stopped coming. The other tribes began attacking us for our sparse food and water. As a people, the Pueblos, realized we had angered our Gods. The Gods were punishing us with a drought. We turned from the white man ways to go back to the true ways of our fathers. The white men were mad. They arrested many man, including Popà ©. Some of the Pueblos were killed. The rest of the men, including Popà © were whipped. The story of his shame circulated amongst the tribes. Popà © vowed revenge. Along with Popà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s stories, my people had become angry at the white man’s ways. My family was no exception. The white men’s holy men had made several Pueblo children and women work in their holy places and homes. My mother would take me to the holy place as a child. She would clean the church and cook for the holy man. As a young child I would carry water for the white man’s holy man. Some days it would take all day to fill the water needs of the white man. I did not understand why I struggled so hard to carry water and then the holy man would waste it. Even more strange was the holy man’s wastefulness of water during droughts. The man would dip his fingers into water and place it on babies heads. I never understood how water could help a baby’s thirst if placed on the baby’s head. My mother would have to go home and tend to her crops and other chores after working for the holy man. This made my mother very tired. Other Pueblos felt the same way. We began to hate the Spaniards, instead of just being suspicious. After the runner left, my father and the tribal elders met to discuss the message. I hid in the shadows to listen. My father spoke saying â€Å"Popà © will attack on the day the last knot is untied.† I was excited. Maybe my

Are Women Culturally Different than Men Assignment

Are Women Culturally Different than Men - Assignment Example Other than the role-theory, the society reinforces sex role to enforce cultural differences between men and women within a society with these differences ensuring that one gender was provided with more opportunities for success than the other gender. In fact, the society has identified the way that the behavior, thought-process, and feeling of either gender were different with the society identifying various situations in which each gender fitted in, which consequently promoted the cultural differences between men and women in the same society. Buchwald, Fletcher, and Roth (1995) noted that a rape culture is a culture in which there is evidence of a complex set of beliefs in which men are perpetually encouraged to be sexually, aggressive towards their female counterparts since the society appears to be supportive of the actions by males. Primarily, the social construct that men and women are different is the cause of the behavior in men. In the same society, whereby there is a rape culture, there is support for violence against women with the males appearing to be the dominant gender and their actions being aggressive to the female gender (qtd. in Garton 17). In the contemporary society, it is evident that activities that are obvious from various channels are an apparent promotion of violence against women. In this case, there is evidence to suggest that men are more superior to their female counterparts with their superiority making them more aggressive towards women, which leads to the culture of rape. Primarily, a rape culture is attributable to non-biological social constructs of power and inequality. In this case, the society construes men as more powerful than their female counterparts.  

Monday, August 26, 2019

Sexual Harassment in the Work Place Research Paper - 2

Sexual Harassment in the Work Place - Research Paper Example This paper highlights that the actions carried out include patting, touching the other person in sensitive areas like buttocks or breast area. The behaviors can also include the use of unwelcomed bodily contacts to the other party. Verbal behaviors can also be termed to be sexual harassment to some extent. The use of comments to the other person on their clothing, body or looks cold easily make the uncomfortable and this might not go down well with them. The use of offensive jokes especially if they are sexually oriented can also be included in this category of behaviors.From this study it is clear that non-verbal behaviors  can easily be confused with those of physical behaviors, non-verbal behaviors do not necessarily have to involve physical action. This category involves behaviors such as repeatedly glancing and staring at a person in a manner that makes him or her feel uncomfortable or even the use of obscene gestures towards other people. It might also involve the display of sexually suggestive photos and pictures that can humiliate or embarrass the other person. There are several ways that can be used I the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. Some prevention techniques might involve the use of legal actions in the court of law while others might involve the use of disciplinary measures that have been set by the organization. The following are some of the ways that can be used in the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Application of Information Technology in Health Care Essay

Application of Information Technology in Health Care - Essay Example It is good to embrace technology, but the question of ethics reminds us to evaluate fully its repercussions to general welfare of humankind. New technologies are beneficial if used in the right way. However, sometimes they can be a source of human suffering. Gabrielle Olivera (2005) points out that, the use of Radio Frequency Identification dates back in1940s. VeriChip was used for security purposes and tracking of livestock. Gabrielle Olivera continues to elaborate on the modern uses of chips such as, tagging of medical bottles, packaged foods, rental cars, and drivers licenses. Implantation of chips into human body has sparked debates among human rights activist and other organizations (Tavani, 2009). This is controversy, which remains unresolved to date. This paper seeks to compare the pros and cons regarding the use of chip technology in Medical Record System. The paper attempts to raise legal and ethical awareness of the technology in question. It will use evidence-based argumen ts to compare the pros and cons of Electronic Health System in order to declare my stand on this matter. It will finally provide recommendations and conclusion based on the weight of the cons and pros. Implantation of chips to human is not new in the field of medicine. Installation of pacemakers prolongs the lives of patients. Goran Hermeren, the chairperson on European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, carried out a research on implantation technology in 2005. In his report, to the European Commission, he highlights that the usage of implantable chips dates back to 1960s. He lists some examples such as cardiovascular pacemakers used in heart failure patients and cochlear implants, which aid in signal transmission to the ear. It is evident from this report that chips have restored human capabilities. However, it is necessary to compare the benefits of electronic implants on one hand and the risks on the other hand. These are pros and cons. Some of the pros of Electron ic Health Records include its usage during an emergency. Glaser and Salzberg (2011), reveals that the electronic health records play an important role during this time. This is because the patients do not have their health records with them and therefore Electronic implants acts as a source of reference. In addition, they are unconscious and there fore cannot give their personal details. In such cases, Electronic Health Records provide patients’ health information. They give useful information such as the patients’ health history there fore save lives. During disasters and natural calamities, they are sources of useful information. It is clear that Electronic Health Records inform of implants achieve highest degree of accuracy. Patients may forget to provide some important facts of their health history. For example, they may have some allergies to certain medicines and failure to give this information brings disaster to their health. On the other hand, opponents of the electronic health records cite their unresolved issues concerning respect for fundamental rights to oppose its adoption in the health sector. To begin with, these chips lack insurance covers. Hammaker (2010) depicts that manufactures of chips do not assume responsibility in case of any danger that may arise from their usage. Some these implants are quite expensive and it is unfair to compel patients to have them in their bodies. The technology violates human dignity. Insertion of implants is violation of human dignity. Security issues are also matters of great concern. Tavani (2009) notes that patients are not ready lose their identity to a third party. Moreover, Health Record implants can cause electrical hazards, which can result into death of patients. This

Saturday, August 24, 2019

REFLECTION PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

REFLECTION PAPER - Essay Example The White supremacists used violence against striking slaves and imposed laws that required the states to arrest all escaping slaves. At the end of slavery, the White supremacists felt threatened and Jim Crow laws that provided for ‘separate but equal’ doctrine were passed in order to maintain White dominance in the society (Brown and Webb 47). The Jim Crow laws enforced segregation that required the separation of Whites and Blacks in public places and prohibited intermarriages. The draconian and unjust laws applied to the public transport system, education system and restaurants thus creating wrong perceptions that blacks were inferior to Whites (Brown and Webb 34). The white women were considered to models of modesty, self-control and self-respect. On the other hand, the black women were stereotyped as seductive, lewd and tempting and their misconceived insatiable desire for sex made them ideal for prostitution. In this case, such stereotypes later led to sexual harassments in other places such as workplace. The scantily dressed black women were stereotyped as lustful and lacking civility. The Blacks were not regarded as citizens and thus were not entitled to protection or respect while the Whites enjoyed higher standards of living due to access to economic opportunities (Brown and Webb 78). The blacks had no freedom of speech, faith, though and right to enter in to contracts and thus were perceived as inferior to the other races in the society. For instance, the Naturalization Act of 1790 only allowed the ‘free white persons’ to become citizens and excluded the racialized minorities (Brown and Webb 37). Accordingly, American women were forbidden to marry aliens since they would automatically lose their citizenship in the early decades of 20th century. The blacks had not civil rights or right to own any property and were barred from obtaining redress against any action of their white masters. Although the Negro Suffrage and Social Equality of 1868

Friday, August 23, 2019

Final Project Reflective Paper - Team Beta Assignment

Final Project Reflective Paper - Team Beta - Assignment Example Consequently, it is a suitable platform for human resource managers to evaluate their progress and effect adjustment in their human resource management strategies. Management Introduction While implementing projects in new environments, any organization will require to strategize on how to manage its resources including the human labour in an effort to penetrate the market and compete with the external and internal market forces. The human labour is a crucial element of any business, and its management and effective utilization has a direct impact on the organization’s success. The productivity of human labour in all the phases of project implementation lies on the shoulders of the organizational managers. The role of human resource manager in an organization is to recruit, train, monitor, evaluate and motivate the employees during the project implementation process. The performance of an organization will depend on its ability to exercise effective organization behavior and s kills while managing teamwork among the role players within the system. To do this, a company will require to conduct a SWOT analysis as a strategy of re-evaluating its effectiveness in gathering its strengths, neutralizing its threats and weaknesses and grasping its opportunities presented in the environment. Effective team management and organizational behavior are the basic elements that the human resource management must possess in order to survive in the diverse market. Just like any other organization, Team Beta has faced the challenge of managing the team players during the implementation of its performance based scenario planning project. To maintain teamwork within the four members who have a variant cultural background is a credit worth effort that requires effective management skills that can stand the tests of a harsh project environment. The purpose of this article is engage in a critical reflective practice that Brookfield (1998) terms as an effective procedure to chec k the success of any team leader at each stage of a project. Organizational Behaviors and Skills Required in a Successful 21st-Century Organizational transformation is an element of business that an organization cannot ignore in the 21st century. With the proliferation of technology the barriers of business boundaries have become a thing of the past and the world has condensed into a small village. This is a century that has been dominated by trade globalization and extension of business boundaries to feature international business markets (Kreitman, 1997). These changes have had a great impact on trade and organizations are under the pressure to readjust their organizational behavior to suit diversified business environments that are characterized with unpredictable market forces. In team management, it is important to adopt a behavior that suits the modern approach of team management. One challenge that arises team management is the understanding of the available labour force, its management and motivation of the role players. Global diversity management advocates that team leaders provide opportunities for each employee to grow and develop within the organizations that they work in. It requires that the organization takes

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Trends in Music Supervision for film industry Essay Example for Free

Trends in Music Supervision for film industry Essay Music can be defined as a rare combination of sounds that are able to project specific rhythms and melodies, which have the power to convey a message that words cannot express (Fleser, 2000). Music has the unique power to bring out the true emotions of people and touch their souls. Being such a powerful aspect of human nature and life, people involved in the profession of music have always tried to present it in the best possible manner that will be soothing to every soul who listens to it, as the saying goes that â€Å"Music is food for the soul. † Music is now one of the largest industries of the world which embraces with itself millions of individuals who work in this field. The growing success of the music industry has made people think that making a reputation in this industry just a piece of cake, but indeed making music is the toughest job for an individual. Music has always had the power to influence its listeners, that is why music is now widely used in almost every cultural and performing arts activities. The global film industry also happens to be one of these branches of the performing arts which have made great use of music not only for its promotion but also as a medium in which music can always be utilized to convey the story to the audience in a much more effective manner. Film as a medium is a great platform for conveying different stories and messages to its audiences and when it is incorporated with music than the goal to convey the message becomes much easier. Film music is now considered to be a necessity without which the success of any film can be put into doubts. Body Film music was probably introduced as a means to cover the sounds of projectors which presented the films in the late 1800s and early 1900’s (Passman, 2006). But the question that rises over here is that what allowed the film music to survive? The simple answer is that film music made it easier to convey the message in a much realistic form. Therefore the true introduction of music in the films came from the reason of covering clanking sounds of projectors. Before the addition of color into motion picture music was also a definite part of black and white movies. Even you take a look at movies not just from the West but also from the East than you will notice that music had great influence in movies on both sides of the globe. Introduction of music in films was indeed considered as an innovation, one which later had progressed into vast fields of soundtracks and background scores. In the late 1900’s the cinema industry was going through a crisis as he number of theatres had increased tremendously but the producers found themselves to be short of films. At first music was introduced in the films through a live orchestra or piano that played along the projection of the film but later on in the 1900s theatre goers were introduced to a new technique which included a much more classified form of music through which competent musicians performed along with the orchestra. The regular trend of music accompanying the films was introduced much later and before that the owners of different theaters tried to make the sound of the cinema somewhat close to live theaters. At that time all film projections were accompanied by human voice that is to say that dialogues were spoken live and music was also included as a live orchestra. To omit this non-satisfactory and at times irritating mechanism of sound from the films a lot of experimentations were carried out by converting the sound on disc and synchronizing it. A lot of experiments were carried out in this regard so that a better sound can be achieved. After a lot of failures the experiment proved to be a successful one through Camera phone. The camera phone was a device which merged the sound and pictures at an inexpensive cost which made it easy to be distributed amongst the theater owners. It would right to say that the camera phone was the breakthrough in the field of merging music and sound with motion picture. The camera phone paved way for a lot of other devices which resulted because of various experiments based on the camera phone itself. These experimentations included the phonoscope, picture phone, etc. But all these experimentations were mainly focused on producing a synchronized form of the human sound that before was spoken live in the theater so as such these innovations were not a major breakthrough but they definitely provided the room for improvement and further experimentation. Later a campaign was introduced by producers through which the synchronized disc system was considered outdated and producers encouraged the theater owners to actually include the titles within the film only which sort of decreased the work assigned to the narrator. This step can be witnessed as a gradual change for omitting live narrations completely from the film. Music became an important part of the films when the audience had started demanding music in between inter-titles or other parts of the movie. This led the theater owners to play separate discs which contained music at the time of the presentation of the titles. At that time Vita-phone was also introduced which was an advanced form for the synchronized disc systems but it proved a little more successful because it lead to an innovating idea to project sound within the theater. In the late 1926 the vita-phone was used in a meaning full manner by placing one speaker behind the other, one in the narrative podium and another where the orchestra played. The films produced with Vita-phone at that time led many renowned production companies including Warner’s to give a further thought to disc synchronization and the importance that it holds for the progress of the theater sound and music industry. They even found the vita-phone appropriate to serve as speakers for public addresses. The Vita-phone was a source for the main entry of music into films. Its first use included a major portion of incorporating music in films. Vita-phone also proved to be a source for amplifying whatever sound is passed through it. But like every invention its use also had to come to an end with other inventions. Music in films was deeply felt by the audiences for the first time in a movie called the e Jazz Singer which was introduced in October 1927. The reason for this reaction of the audience was simply the fact that a new kind of sound was presented in front of them, one which was completely different especially from the projected sounds and one which provided them with a refreshing change of sound. In many scenes of some movies the producers tried to develop a relationship between the actors who perform and the amplification system. By 1929 a lot of changes had been improvised in the style of filmmaking especially in the sound and music department. These changes were brought forth by revising a lot of configurations of the loudspeaker. The 1926 music in films found the orchestra to be the only and the main source through which the audience were entertained with some kind of music within the film. But after this a gradual diversion of the film music towards the screen was witnessed. This means that the speakers were placed exactly behind the screen so that it appeared to be completely well coordinated with the scenes it was to play along with. This idea was used by Hollywood a lot in its beginning days. If looked at closely than it might seem to be a completely illogical idea but this technique was brought into practice so that the real source of sound can be hidden and brought along with the attributes of whatever is being played on the screen. The technique of placing the speakers behind the image on the screen was also appreciated as a move to create identification between the sound or music and the picture. But this proved to be a difficult task for technicians. The technicians had to more mobile compared to as before placing the speaker carefully so that perfect correspondence between the sound and picture would be visible to the audience. The year 1933 brought with it the major breakthrough in the American Industry in terms of sound system. The Bell Labs had experimented with the sound stereo and in 1940 a major electronic company demonstrated a four-track-stereo system. This stereo system was adopted by cinema owners in the early 1950’s. The stereo was expected to fulfill the tasks of both the technicians as well as what a sound system should fulfill. That is to say it completely leveled the needs of accuracy and of providing well coordinated sound to the audience. But the surround sound also held its disadvantage. The surround sound system could be used to reinforce only specific visual effects. And it was difficult to coordinate the picture with 3 directional speakers. For this sole reason the major production companies of Hollywood including WarnerBros, Columbia Pictures and even M-G-M. \ If we look at the last forty years than we can witness a lot of progress in terms of stereo system in the movie department. This has only enhanced the performance and importance of music in Movies. But today’s position in movie sounds could never had been reached if Dolby had not introduced its optical stereo in the late 1970’s, which had an outstanding and improved nature in terms of noise reduction. The Dolby speakers were pretty popular. Most production companies tried to use these speakers especially after the success of the super hit fiction Star Wars. Conclusion For the past 40 years we have witnessed a lot of innovations in terms of sounds and music in the film m industry. At first different orchestras were brought into sing for the films but over the gradual period of time we have observed that the pop and rock culture of different individual music industries has paved a way for itself into this field. We now see artists from different music genres and industries singing for movies and their soundtracks. The quality of music has improved and is still improving. This is due to the digital age that we have entered in. But in today’s competitive world the movies demand a lot from the soundtracks. What we can expect in future is a global competition between different industries and what would really set everyone apart is not only their creativity but also their ability to market and promote themselves. No doubt music has contributed immensely in this field and will continue to do so if music composers keep on coming up with heart felt and innovative tunes for each generation especially the generation next. References Book Fleser, J. (2000). The Chord Wheel. UK. JSK Passman, D. S. (2006). All You Need To Know About Music Business. USA.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Roman and Byzantine Essay Example for Free

Roman and Byzantine Essay Between 200 B.C.E. and 1100 C.E. some aspects of cultural and political life changed between the Roman and Byzantine Empire while, other aspects continued. The aspects that continued politically are strong centralized political system, with an emperor overseeing. The aspects that changed politically are the way provinces of the empire were ruled. The aspects that continued culturally are the wealth, trade dependence, and pride. The aspects that changed are the religion, language, and military defense. Political aspects continued between the Roman and Byzantine Empire. The aspects that continued are the bureaucratic government and centralized political system with the emperor ruling everything. The Romans started this slightly during the reign of Julius Caesar, Caesar became a dictator and started this type of government in 47 B.C.E. after he was assassinated by his enemies. Julius’s grand-nephew Octavian Caesar rose up, defeated Julius’s enemies, and took over as the first emperor of Rome, renaming himself Augustus Caesar in 27 B.C.E. Augustus continued the type of government his uncle started where he as the emperor oversees all social, political, economic, religious, and military. The Byzantines took this cue from their predecessor and continued it by having such great emperors such as Justinian (527-656 C.E.) or Constantine (306-337 C.E.) who oversaw the whole Byzantine Empire and made decisions that allowed the empire to prosper. Another political aspect the Romans’ started was the standard of law which was continued by the Byzantines. Although the Byzantine Empire continued these political aspects of the Roman Empire, they changed some aspects.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Social Construction of Victims | Victiminology Theories

Social Construction of Victims | Victiminology Theories â€Å"Some victims are more deserving of the label ‘victim’ than others. Critically analyse this statement in light of your knowledge of theories in this area.† The word ‘victim’ can be associated with a person who has experienced some form of misfortune or suffering, however, when the word ‘victim’ is thought of in a policing perspective it is typically â€Å"used to refer to the complainant of a crime† (Wakefield, 2008:315). This essay aims to critically analyse the statement; ‘some victims are more deserving of the label ‘victim’ than others’, using different theories in relation to this. The essay will firstly; analyse two theories in relation to victimisation, secondly; it explore Nils Christie’s approach to the ‘ideal victim’ and lastly; the media’s role in representing the ‘ideal victim’ will be portrayed through the comparison of news coverage on the Madeline McCann case and the Shannon Matthews case. Historically criminology and criminal justice have been solely focused on the understanding of criminal offending, however, since the 1960’s â€Å"a variety of paradigm shifts, scientific advances, and social and political forces †¦ provided a foundation from which theories of victimisation emerged†, also known as the study of Victimology (Wilcox, 2010:978). This shift occurred when scholars decided to investigate ‘crime’ as more than just the behaviour and conduct of a criminal, instead it was viewed as a ‘system’ which involved a victim, time and place as well as the offender (Wilcox, 2010:978). It was in the 1960’s when a more socio-political movement anticipated for greater attention to be brought to victims of crime and their rights in the criminal justice system. With both scientific and socio-political movements it created an ideal opportunity for the development of different theoretical outlooks on victimisation. Collectivel y, these perspectives focused on many casual influences from lifestyles to broad-based social inequality (Wilcox, 2010:978). A major theory which emphasis’s these different influences is the radical theory of Victomology. The theory of radical Victimology, which emerged in the 1960’s and 1970’s, can be linked to the work of Benjamin Mendelsohn (Friday, 2000:62) and can be thought to be an offspring of Radical Criminology and Sociology. Mendelsohn’s argument for a vicitimology which looks at human rights and allows and investigation into the role of the state in determining who is a ‘legitimate’ victim and how the criminal justice system is concerned in the making of criminals and victims, is what is thought to be the origins for radical Victimology. As a consequence of this argument, â€Å"radical victimology acknowledges, in particular, those victims who have been rendered invisible† (Marsh, 2004:110). These victims, according to Quinny (1972), are best described as â€Å"victims of police force, the victims of war, the victims of the correctional system, the victims of state violence, and the victims of oppression of any sort† (Marsh, 2004:110). Accord ing to Marsh, it can be said that the idea of a ‘conventional’ radical victimology is what has been an aid for representing the problems faced by the poor and powerless which is a result of a limited structural foundation of victimisation (2004:110). Similarly to radical victimology, there are critical theorists who also address the idea of whether people â€Å"are aware of their social reality† and if it is safe to think that â€Å"the state is neutral in its response to crime and victimisation† (Marsh, 2004:111). The similarity of radical victimology and critical victimology is that they both attempt to theorise about the social issues within victimology. One version of this theory of victimology can be demonstrated through the importance of labelling, and as Meirs (1990) suggests that people may â€Å"claim the label, but the key questions for a critical victimology are, who has the power to apply the label and what considerations are significant in that determination† (Davies, 2004:38). In this version, Meirs uses the hypothetical outlook of â€Å"symbolic interactionism† (Davies, 2004:38) to enlighten his practice of the word ‘critical’. In general, critical victimology looks at the problems contained in the relationship between the state and its citizens; â€Å"it does not see the state as neutral rather the states mechanisms contribute to those victims we see and those we don’t see† (Marsh, 2004:112). Therefore it is not neutral, instead self-moti vated and self-interested and according to critical victimology this would raise problems when it comes to gender, race and class and how these are expressed in policy terms. Therefore, it can be said that critical victimology is a theoretical perspective which inspects the wider social context of modern societies which focuses on â€Å"the ways in which capitalism and patriarchy influence the ways in which victims are perceived and responded to† (Marsh, 2004:112). Both these theories explore the different reasons why some people may become a victim to certain crimes. In an ideal world any person who falls victim to a crime should be seen and treated as equal victims, whether they have been hurt psychologically, physically, financially or socially, but there has been the ever standing debate of what makes an ‘ideal’ victim and Nils Christie was the first criminologist to explore this idea. In 1986, criminologist Nils Christie created the concept of the ‘ideal victim’. According to Christie, the ideal victim encompasses at least six main characteristics; the victim is weak, they were involved in a respectable activity at the time of incident, the victim was in a place at the time of the incident where they could not be blamed for being, the victim did not know their perpetrator, the offender is seen as ‘big and bad’ or can be described with very negative connotations and lastly the victim has enough impact to claim the status of a victim (Lindgren, 2011:21-22). Christie uses the situation of an elderly lady being mugged by a male drug abuser while on route to see her sick sibling as the perfect example of who an ideal victim is, but the ideal victim also has an opposite according to Christie. His example of this would entail something along the lines of a young male who is drunk and in a dingy pub and is robbed by those he is associating with, Christie believes in this situation there is the prospect to claim moral accountability: â€Å"he should not have gone to such a bar, he should not have gotten drunk, he should not have associated with those types etc† (Lindgren, 2011:22). Regardless of evidence of any physical, psychological or economical harms, if an individual is not classified as a ‘victim’ then that individual risks little or no protection evidently because they are not comprised of the ‘standard’ vision of a victim of crime. Therefore raising the argument for; is there people more deserving of the label ‘victim’ than others, and what is the decision of being more deserving influenced by? The phenomenon of the ‘ideal victim’ arises questions like why some people – normally those from a socially deprived background or from ethnic minorities – appear to be less deserving of the label victim even although they clearly satisfy each category of Christie’s theory. It can be argued that the media are at large to blame for depriving so many individuals of the label ‘victim’ because not all victims of crime receive equal attention in the news or media. It has been said that â€Å"there exists a ‘hierarchy of victimization’, both reflected and reinforced in media and official discourses† (Greer, 2007:22). On one side there are individuals who have obtained the status of being an ‘ideal victim’ and will attract huge levels of media attention, creating a shared global-scale grieving, and generating possible changes in criminal justice policies and practices (Greer, 2004; Valier, 2004, Cited by: Greer, 2007:22). On the other side of the hierarchy there are the individuals who fail to obtain a victim status or are seen as an ‘undeserving victim’ which would result in that individual receiving â€Å"little, if any, media attention, and pass virtually unnoticed in the wider social world† (Greer, 2007:22). Comparisons of the news and media coverage from the disappearances of Madeline McCann and Shannon Matthews can help to illustrate the media’s role in representing the ‘ideal victim’. In May 2007 three year old Madeline McCann was reported missing while on a family holiday in Portugal. Her parents left her and her two siblings in their apartment while they went for dinner and when they returned Madeline was missing from her bed, and unfortunately it is still unknown what happened to her today. Madeline’s disappearance sparked international attention from the media and was described by the Daily Telegraph as â€Å"the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history† (Telegraph.co.uk). Then nine months after Madeline’s disappearance in February 2008 nine year old Shannon Matthews was reported missing by her mother. Shannon was found safe on the 14th of March and her mother was later charged â€Å"with child neglect and perverting the court of justice over her daughter’s disappearance† (BBC.co.uk) as she had set the whole thing up in order to receive money. Even although the Matthews case was a set-up there was still 24 days of Shannon being ‘missing’ and the news coverage and interest on her story was majorly lesser than that of Madeline McCann’s. According to an Independent news article after nine days there were 465 UK press stories released on Madeline McCann in comparison with only 242 on Shannon Matthews (Independent.co.uk). Also their Wikipedia profiles were both very different, Madeline McCann’s profile reached 2,182 words after only nine days yet Shannon Matthews profile only managed to reach 151 words after the same amount of time (Independent.co.uk). According to the same Independent news article the rewards offered for the two girls were significantly different; the reward for Madeline McCann reached a massive  £2.6 million whereas the reward for Shannon Matthews was only  £25,000 (Independent.co.uk). Therefore the differences in the number of press stories, Wikipedia profiles and reward figures, sparks the question of how do we understand the mediaâ€℠¢s discrimination between the two stories? The answer to this question lies within the origins of legitimate and ‘deserving victims’. Madeline McCann was a classic version of an ‘ideal victim’. She was a young, pretty, and photogenic girl from a stable, middle-class family with two Doctors as parents who lived in a detached house in Leicestershire (Independent.co.uk). On the other hand, Shannon Matthews came from a working class family living in a council house in Dewsbury Moor. Her father hadn’t seen her for years while she lived with her mother, step-father and six other siblings – of which were from her mother’s relationships with five different partners (Independent.co.uk). While the public’s hearts where captured by the story of Madeline McCann, Shannon Matthews did not attract the same type of attention. Public donations for Shannon Matthews only managed to reach thousands at most (Independent.co.uk) yet public donations for Madeline McCann excelled to  £1.1 millio n and some of these donations were made by A-list celebrities such as; David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, John Terry, J K Rowling and more (Independent.co.uk). Madeline McCann personified the concept of an ‘ideal victim’ whereas it was Shannon’s background which denied her the ‘deserving’ victim label. The acknowledgement of â€Å"ideal or legitimate victim status and related levels of media interest are clearly influenced by demographic characteristics (Greer, 2007:23). The media’s role in representing the cases of these two missing girls show that ‘class’ can be a major factor in portraying who becomes deserving of the label ‘victim’. Not only the factor of ‘class’ but other demographic characteristics such as age, sexuality, race and gender can sometimes determine the media’s interest in a somewhat direct style. Still, the idea remains that the majority of criminal victimisation both emphasises and imitates social inequalities and divisions, and whilst doing this â€Å"feeds into the wider structures of power, dominance and subjugation from which they derive† (Greer, 2007:42). It can be said that in the media representation of ‘victims’ of a missing persons case, or crimes similar to this, that these inequalities remain to have the greatest impact. This impact is shown through the portrayal of such victims who appear to show prospects of newsworthiness. However, the impact ca n equally be detected from the consideration of those who do not show horizons of newsworthiness. To conclude, this essay has explored the question of whether certain victims are more ‘deserving’ of the label than others, and used different theories and concepts to analyse this. Firstly the essay looked at two theories of victimology; radical and critical, and showed how different types of people may be more victimised than others – largely through social structures of the power of the state. From these theories the question arose of what an ‘ideal’ victim may constitute and this concept was explored through criminologist Nils Christie, which in his perspective the ideal victim would be a vulnerable person (youth or elderly) carrying out an innocent task (going to visit a family member or friend) and being robbed or attacked by a person out of their control (strong and perhaps a drug/alcohol abuser). Then from this concept came the issue of; is there are certain people more deserving of the label victim, and what is this decision based upon? This essay used the idea that the media plays a large role in portraying who the ideal victim is and who is not. This portrayal was used through the news coverage and stories of the disappearance of two young girls, Madeline McCann in 2007 and Shannon Matthews eight months later in 2008. Madeline McCann was a young pretty girl from a middle class background, whereas Shannon Matthews was from a working class background living in a council house with brothers and sisters who had different fathers. The news coverage of Madeline McCann was much greater than Shannon Matthews, to the point where everyone around the world knew who Madeline McCann was on a first name basis, whereas Shannon Matthews struggled to even be known by the whole of the U.K. Therefore the media portrayed Madeline McCann to be a more deserving victim than Shannon Matthews based upon their looks, backgrounds and ‘newsworthiness’ and evidence of this can be shown through the differences in; public donations, re wards, Wikipedia profiles and how many news articles where printed about each girl after nine days of each of their disappearances. Bibliography BBC. 2010.Shannon Matthews Timeline. [ONLINE] Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7733586.stm. [Accessed 09 March 15]. Pamela Davies 2004.  Victimisation: Theory, Research and Policy. Edition. Palgrave Macmillan Paul C. Friday, 2000.  Victimology at the Transition From the 20th to the 21st Century. Montreal, Canada: World Society of Victimology. Chris Greer, 2007. News Media, Victims and Crime. Chapter 2, Pages 20-49 Michael J Hindelang, 2009. Toward a theory of personal criminal victimology.Victims and Victimisation, Pages 26-40. Independent. 2008. Missing: The contrasting searches for Shannon and Madeleine. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/missing-the-contrasting-searches-for-shannon-and-madeleine-790207.html. [Accessed 06 March 15] Magnus Lindgren, Vesna NikoliĆ¡-RistanoviĆ¡, 2011.  Crime Victims International and Serbian Perspective. 1st ed. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Mission to Serbia, Law Enforcement Department Ian Marsh, 2004.  Criminal Justice: An Introduction to Philosophies, Theories and Practice. 1 Edition. Routledge. The Telegraph. 2008.  Master of media circus for Madeleine McCann. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1902515/Master-of-media-circus-for-Madeleine-McCann.html. [Accessed 01 March 15]. Alison Wakefield, Jenny Fleming, 2008.  The SAGE Dictionary of Policing. Edition. SAGE Publications Ltd Pamela Wilcox, 2010. Victimisation, theories of. Encyclopaedia of victimology and crime prevention. Pages 978-986. Sage Publications. Brian Williams, 2009.  Victims and Victimisation: A Reader (Readings in Criminology and Criminal Justice). 1 Edition. Open University Press. 2015.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~skenney/courses/4099/VCLASS1.2.pdf. [Accessed 13 March 2015] Kidneys: Function and Structure Kidneys: Function and Structure The kidneys are essential for regulating the volume and composition of bodily fluids. This page outlines key regulatory systems involving the kidneys for controlling volume, sodium and potassium concentrations, and the pH of bodily fluids. A most critical concept for you to understand is how water and sodium regulation are integrated to defend the body against all possible disturbances in the volume and osmolarity of bodily fluids. Simple examples of such disturbances include dehydration, blood loss, salt ingestion, and plain water ingestion. How water balance is regulated by ADH Water balance is achieved in the body by ensuring that the amount of water consumed in food and drink (and generated by metabolism) equals the amount of water excreted. The consumption side is regulated by behavioural mechanisms, including thirst and salt cravings. While almost a litre of water per day is lost through the skin, lungs, and feces, the kidneys are the major site of regulated excretion of water. One way the kidneys can directly control the volume of bodily fluids is by the amount of water excreted in the urine. Either the kidneys can conserve water by producing urine that is concentrated relative to plasma, or they can rid the body of excess water by producing urine that is dilute relative to plasma. Direct control of water excretion in the kidneys is exercised by vasopressin, or anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), a peptide hormone secreted by the hypothalamus. ADH causes the insertion of water channels into the membranes of cells lining the collecting ducts, allowing water reabsorption to occur. Without ADH, little water is reabsorbed in the collecting ducts and dilute urine is excreted. How the kidney uses a counter current mechanism Because the human body does not maintain a constant water volume, the kidneys have to compensate for the lack of or excess of water consumed. The kidneys use a transport system called the counter-current mechanism to accomplish this (Hoppensteadt et al, 186). The name is based on the fact that concentration first increases in the direction of flow, then decreases as flow continues through the ascending parallel loop. The mechanism relies on the adjacent, parallel loops of Henle and vasa recta. In the ascending loop, Na+ or any solute is actively pumped out of the tubule. Because water is impermeable in the ascending loop, the volume at the bottom of the loop is the same as that entering the distal tubule. At the bottom of the loop, the tubular and interstitial concentrations are equal. In the descending loop, the concentrations inside and outside the tubule are increasing with the current, with the maximum concentration being reached at the bottom of the loop. The increased concentration is the result of the passive diffusion of Na+ into the tubule and water out of the tubule. When the filtrate reaches the distal tubule, a net loss of Na+ and water has occurred through the loops of Henle. How the PH is controlled by the kidney The secretion of further substances not required by the body may take place in the distal convoluted tubule, e.g. hydrogen and hydro carbonate ions. This is very important in the control of plasma Ph, which must be maintained at 7.4. If the pH plasma falls, hydrogen ions are excreted by the kidney; if the plasma pH raises hydrogen carbonate ions secreted. Active Transport Active transport is the energy-demanding transfer of a substance across a cell membrane against its concentration gradient, i.e., from lower concentration to higher concentration. Special proteins within the cell membrane act as specific protein carriers. The energy for active transport comes from ATP generated by respiration (in mitochondria). Major examples of Active Transport such as: Re-absorption of glucose, Amino acids Salts by the proximal convoluted tubule of the nephron in the kidney. A mechanism of active transport which move potassium ions into and sodium ions out of a cell along with protein (or enzyme) channel. It is found in all human cells, but is especially important in nerve and muscle cells. The sodium-potassium pump uses active transport, with energy supplied by ATP (adenosine triphosphate) molecules, to move 3 sodium ions to the outside of the cell for each 2 potassium ions that it moves in. One third of the bodys energy expenditure is used in this process. Buffer system The kidneys and the lungs work together to help maintain a blood pH of 7.4 by affecting the components of the buffers in the blood. Therefore, to understand how these organs help control the pH of the blood, we must first discuss how buffers work in solution. Acid-base buffers confer resistance to a change in the pH of a solution when hydrogen ions (protons) or hydroxide ions are added or removed. An acid-base buffer typically consists of a weak acid, and its base (salt). Buffers work because the concentrations of the weak acid and its salt are large compared to the amount of protons or hydroxide ions added or removed. When protons are added to the solution from an external source, some of the base component of the buffer is converted to the weak-acid component (therefore, using up most of the protons added); when hydroxide ions are added to the solution (or, equivalently, protons are removed from the solution; protons are dissociated from some of the weak-acid molecules of the buffer, converting them to the base of the buffer (and therefore replenishing most of the protons removed). However, the change in acid and base concentrations is small relative to the amounts of these species present in solution. Hence, the ratio of acid to base changes only slightly. Thus, the effect on the pH of the solution is small, within certain limitations on the amount of H+ or OH- added or removed. Other buffers perform a more minor role than the carbonic-acid-bicarbonate buffer in regulating the pH of the blood. The phosphate buffer consists of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) in equilibrium with dihydrogen phosphate ion (H2PO4-) and H+. The pK for the phosphate buffer is 6.8, which allows this buffer to function within its optimal buffering range at physiological pH. The phosphate buffer only plays a minor role in the blood, however, because H3PO4 and H2PO4- are found in very low concentration in the blood. Haemoglobin also acts as a pH buffer in the blood. Protein can reversibly bind either H+ (to the protein) or O2, but that when one of these substances is bound, the other is released (as explained by the Bohr effect). During exercise, haemoglobin helps to control the pH of the blood by binding some of the excess protons that are generated in the muscles. At the same time, molecular oxygen is released for use by the muscles. The symptoms of kidney failure: There are two types of kidney failure; one of them is acute renal failure and the other type is: Chronic renal failure. Acute renal failure. Blood loss, causing a drop in blood pressure. Vomiting and diarrhea, causing dehydration. Crush injuries. If large amounts of muscle are damaged there is a release of toxic protein substances that are harmful to the kidneys. Sudden blockage of urine drainage. Chronic renal failure The damage to the kidneys is usually silent and not noticed at an early stage. It may be discovered incidentally from blood or urine tests done for other reasons. High blood pressure very commonly occurs with it. Symptoms are uncommon unless kidney failure is far advanced, when any of the following may be present: The symptoms of Chronic renal failure Tiredness Itching Loss of appetite Nausea and vomiting Breathlessness Fluid retention, shown as ankle swelling Weakness. The importance to the body to maintain acid base levels All the cells that make up the human body are slightly alkaline and the alkalinity must be maintained in order to function and remain healthy. However, their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function. As each alkaline cell performs its task of respiration, it secrets metabolic wastes and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature. Although these wastes are used for energy and function, they must not be allowed to build up. An example of this would be the lactic acid which is created through exercise. The body will go to great lengths to neutralise and detoxify these acids before they act as poisons in and around the cell, ultimately changing the environment of the cell. The human body is very intelligent; as the human body become more acidic the body starts to set up defence mechanisms to keep the damaging acid from entering our organs. Its known as that the acid gets stored in the fat cells. However, if the acid does come to contact with an organ the acid has a chance to eat holes in the tissue which may cause the cell to mutate (change in a chromosome or a gene). The oxygen level drops in this acidic environment and calcium begins to be depleted. So as a defense mechanism, our body may actually make fat to protect us from our overly-acidic self. Those fat cells and cellulite deposits may actually be packing up the acid and trying to keep it a safe distance from our organs to safe them from damage. The effect of exercise on body fluid requirements Optimal pH of the blood is 7.2, the body will do everything it can to maintain that pH. This is necessary to run the entire bodys biochemical pathways for detoxification, building, and general maintenance. The body has several control mechanisms to keep it at this pH and they include getting rid of excess acid or base by-products through the lungs, saliva and urine. When the body is sick in any way this pH is disrupted. Most times your body is trying to keep up with the extra acid produced. Acids are produced from lack of oxygen, eating an imbalance of protein and carbohydrates and other acid producing foods, and by cell breakdown and production of metabolic waste. During exercise, the muscles use up oxygen as they convert chemical energy in glucose to mechanical energy. This O2 comes from hemoglobin in the blood. CO2 and H+ are produced during the breakdown of glucose, and are removed from the muscle via the blood. The production and removal of CO2 and H+, together with the use and transport of O2, cause chemical changes in the blood. These chemical changes, unless offset by other physiological functions, cause the pH of the blood to drop. If the pH of the body gets too low (below7.4) this result in a condition known as acidosis. This can be very serious, because many of the chemical reactions that occur in the body, especially those involving proteins, are pH-dependent. Ideally, the pH of the blood should be maintained at 7.4. If the pH drops below 6.8 or rises above 7.8, death may occur. Fortunately, we have buffers in the blood to protect against large changes in pH. Production of CO2 is a result of normal body metabolism. Exercise will increase the production of CO2 through increased respiration in the lungs. When oxygen (O2) is inhaled and CO2 is exhaled, the blood transports these gases to the lungs and body tissues. The bodys metabolism produces acids that are buffered and then excreted by the lungs and kidneys to maintain body fluids at a neutral pH. Disruptions in CO2 levels and HCO3 -create acid-base imbalances. When acid-base imbalances occur, the disturbances can be broadly divided into either acidosis (excess acid) or alkalosis (excess base/alkali). Urine becomes increasingly acidic as the amount of excess acid retained by the body increases. Alkaline urine, usually containing bicarbonate-carbonic acid buffer, is normally excreted when there is an excess of base or alkali in the body. Secretion of acid or alkaline urine by the kidneys is one of the most important mechanisms the body uses to maintain a constant body pH. As we exercise the urine pH becomes more acidic because the condition which known as acidosis have occurred and this results from a build-up of carbon dioxide in the blood, as well as starvation and dehydration. As we exercise the temperature increases, and the amount of O2 released from the haemoglobin. Heat is a bi product of the metabolic reactions of all cells and the heat released by contracting muscle fibers tends to raise body temperature. Metabolically active cells require more O2 and liberate more acids and heat. If we have an increase in temperature, it causes the rate of respiration to increase too. Because O2 tends to be released from the haemoglobin compared to when the weather is cold. This explains why during fever, a person will breathe faster than normal person. In contrast, during hypothermia (lowered body temperature) cellular metabolism slows and the need for O2 is reduced, and more O2 remains bound to haemoglobin. Body Adjustment to improve fitness levels Exercises help our body to adjust and improve its capacity for physical activities. In order to increase our overall fitness level we have to concentrate on three different areas: Cardiovascular training Strength training Flexibility training Cardiovascular training Cardiovascular training is aerobic exercise that involves the large muscles like legs and helps make the heart and lungs stronger. Cardiovascular exercise has lots of health benefits like lowering the blood pressure, and also it can burn lots of calories. This type of exercise leads to improvements in the hearts ability to pump blood through the body to the working muscles and improves overall cardiovascular health. It is also linked to a number of health improvements including a decreased risk of many diseases, decreases in total cholesterol, blood pressure and levels of body fat. Strength training In order to improve our strength, a change is needed to be made, otherwise if we simply lift the same weights, the same way, then we will stay the same our training is maintenance based. If we want to improve our strength training, then we will need to apply a number of different variations into our workout routines to avoid letting the body become adapted to the current strength training workouts. A muscle will only strengthen when forced to operate beyond its customary intensity (overload). Overload can be progressed by increasing the: (1) Resistance e.g. adding more weight. (2) Number of repetitions with a particular weight. (3) Number of sets of the exercise. (4) Intensity, i.e. reducing the recovery periods Flexibility training Flexibility is a joints ability to move through a full range of motion. Flexibility training, also called flexibility stretching that helps balance muscle groups that might be overused during exercise or physical activity. There are many benefits to flexibility training. Some of the benefits are: Improved Physical Performance. Decreased Risk of Injury. Increased Blood and Nutrients to Tissues. Stretching increases tissue temperature, which increases circulation and nutrient transport. Increased circulation and nutrient transport allows greater elasticity of surrounding tissues and increases performance. Maintaining Fluid Balances Fluid balance defines the state where a bodys required amount of water is present and proportioned normally among the various compartments; this state is inseparable from electrolyte balance. Under normal conditions water loss equals water gain and a bodys water volume remains constant. Avenues for water loss include the kidneys, skin, lungs, feces, and menstruation. Water is sourced mostly from dietary intake; this is called preformed water. Water is not produced by the body to maintain homeostasis; metabolic water production is simply a by-product of cellular respiration. The body regulates water intake via the thirst reflex which stimulates us to drink. When water loss is greater than water gain the body reaches a state of dehydration, and dehydration stimulates the thirst reflex in three ways: The level of saliva drops resulting in a dry mucosa in the mouth and pharynx; There is an increase in blood osmotic pressure which stimulates osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus; There is a drop in blood volume, which leads to the renin/angiotensin pathway stimulating the thirst centre in the hypothalamus. When the blood looses excessive fluid dehydration occurs and the blood becomes more viscous (reduce ability to flow). This results in insufficient blood supply to the working muscles. After exercise, a drop in body fluid results in an increase in blood tonicity and a decrease in blood volume which in turn causes the release of renin in the kidneys and stimulation of osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus.Therefore after exercise, the exerciser must focus on the following areas: Effect of drinks Cardiovascular and thermoregulatory responses to fluid ingestion Carbohydrates feeding and exercise performance Sports drinks must be formulated to taste best when people are hot and sweaty so that they can drink as much as they possibly can. The sports drinks are absorbed faster than plain water during exercise and rest. During exercise fluid consumption is vital for two primary purposes safe guarding health and optimizing performance Therefore, we need to consume more carbohydrate which helps maintaining blood glucose and increases carbohydrate oxidation, assure skeletal muscle and CNS sufficient supply of energy. Sources Used http://www.enotes.com/nursing-encyclopedia/acid-base-balance http://www.shodor.org/Master/biomed/physio/dialysis/kidfunc.htm http://www.8candlesonline.com/purify/what_is/alkalinity.html http://mcb.berkeley.edu/courses/mcb135e/kidneyfluid.html http://www.ann.com.au/MedSci/fluid.htm Books Essential AS Biology by( Glenn and Susan Toole) AS Biology by (Pete Kennedy and Frank Sochacki)

Twisted :: essays research papers

Twisted Audience: General Audience / Instructor Purpose: Literary work To explain how a tornado can affect a family. Thesis Sentence: Although an event may be traumatic it is not necessarily life changing. Outline: I. Describe the setting A. Where / When B. What was heard 1. What did the tornado sound like 2. How did parents direct us C. What was seen 1. How did the storm look 2. What did the tornado look like II. What was on the farm A. House B. Storm Cellar C. Animals D. Trees E. Newly plowed and planted fields III. Where did we go A. Root cellar B. Neighbor III. What did the tornado do A. To the farm B. To the family I guess everyone experiences at least one terrifying event in his or her lifetime. How we assimilate the event shapes our attitudes, or maybe vice-versa. It can become the catalyst that lead, to phobias; sometimes it even earns itself a fancy title with â€Å"syndrome† attached to the end of it. I just call it a memory, but one I shared with eight other people. In a north central Indiana cornfield, not far from Indianapolis, my father returned to his chores in the field after a brief rain shower had passed. The edge of an enormous thunderstorm, laced with brilliant lightning, had passed overhead and it seemed as if the worst of the storm was over. Life was not easy on the fertile soil of Wabash County, Indiana, on May 25, 1966. For my family, life was about to become even harder. A muffled roar in the distance grew louder and sharper. As dad began to move toward the house, he realized that the low, indistinct form in the distance was not rain or a patch of fog. It was a rotating transparent funnel, beneath a dark mass of cloud. It extended from under the southwest corner of the thunderstorm. An occasional snake-like form would briefly appear within the cloud, and then suddenly vanish. It was coming directly toward our farm. The next time he looked, three or four contorted and transparent columns would briefly circle the center of what looked like a patch of swirling mist. The cloud looked nothing like the thin funnels and ropes that we had seen in the distance every few years. Dad now ran at full speed for the house, trying with each breath to shout "Twister!" Within the next few seconds, nine people would make life or death decisions about self-preservation, about prized possessions, and about family members. The rotating cloud had changed from transparent mist to a solid brown mass, at the edge of the newly

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Half Brothers By Elizabeth Gaskell and My Oedipus Complex By Frank

The Half Brothers By Elizabeth Gaskell and My Oedipus Complex By Frank O'Connor These two stories are very different upon first glance. For example one is about a pair of half brothers set in Victorian times and the other is about a small child named Larry who thinks he's a lot wiser then he is. However, if you look deeper you can start to find similarities between the two. They have similar themes, and links can be made between them. A big difference between them is the titles. For example 'The Half Brothers' is a very self evident title but 'My Oedipus Complex' is a little more obscure. 'My Oedipus Complex' is ironic because although Larry does have a strong attachment to his mother it is an exaggeration to call it an Oedipus Complex. The title is almost as if the narrator is mocking himself. 'The Half Brothers' is indeed about two half brothers. Another difference between the titles is that they make they reader react in different ways. For example 'My Oedipus Complex' is an intriguing title whereas 'The Half Brothers' is simple and obvious. The reader would be more drawn towards 'My Oedipus Complex' because the word 'Oedipus' is unknown and the word 'complex' makes the story seem interesting and almost mysterious. The title of "The Half Brothers" wouldn't catch the reader's eye because it is boring and the words are all familiar. When looking at the general themes of the two stories it becomes clear that they are very similar. For example both have the theme of jealousy. In 'The Half Brothers' it is William Preston's jealousy of Gregory and in 'My Oedipus Complex' it is Larry and his father's jealousy of each other first and then of Sonny. In both stories it is jealousy of a mother's love, ... ...the ending of 'The Half Brothers' makes the reader think, because of it's regretful conclusion whereas the ending of 'My Oedipus Complex' doesn't give the reader a lot to ponder on as it is a simple happy ending. This makes the stories suitable for different types of reader. If they want a light-hearted book 'My Oedipus Complex' is more suitable but if they want a book that teaches them a lesson then they should choose 'The Half Brothers'. Overall I preferred 'My Oedipus Complex' to 'The Half Brothers'. This is because it is set more recently and the language is easier to understand, I found it easier to relate to. Also it was humorous. 'The Half Brothers' also had good points such as it made me think and gave me a greater understanding of Victorian language. 'The Half Brothers' is a more educational story whereas 'My Oedipus Complex' is light reading.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Welty’s A Worn Path: The Strength of Love :: A Worn Path essays

Strength of Love in A Worn Path   In the story A Worn Path, Eudora Welty shows an old woman living in a time period where racial prejudice is rampant and out of control.   Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose only motivation for living is to nurture her grandson back to health.   The strength of love may make people do or say unusual and implausible things.   The central idea of this story is that love can empower someone to over come many life-threatening obstacles.   The idea is shown when an old woman conquers all odds against her to show her everlasting love for her grandson.   Throughout the story Phoenix Jackson has to overcome many types of obstacles that hinder her in her devotion to help her grandson.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the main hindrances that stand in her way is the physical aspect of her age as well as the journey.   Phoenix Jackson is very weak and feeble because of her old age so that makes her long journey very strenuous.   Another physical obstacle is that she has to weave and duck under a barbwire fence.   Her feeble body cannot handle such tasks at her age.   The third hindrance she must defeat is that she must cross over a log that lay across a creek.   This requires concentration, skill, and patients.   Even people whom are twice as young as Phoenix have trouble doing such things.   Not many other emotional force other then love is strong enough to give power to an old woman who is living only for one reason.   She realizes that if she were to die then the fate of her grandson would be damned.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also mental obstacles that obstruct Phoenix’s journey.   She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue.   As she is walking her mind plays tricks on her, such as the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure that she is frightened of.   Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods.   She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of her.   The love that one person gives to another is never truly appreciated until the recipient realizes what that person has actually done.   The grandson may be too ill or even too young to realize what his grandmother is doing for his safety.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Leadership Task

Analysis of my own leadership skills is a difficult task, and requires me to address my own leadership attitudes and behavior as well as my strength's and weakness's. As I have learned in my readings about the different types of leadership styles I would say that my style of leadership is more off Participative approach. In my work I run a small department of five and to accomplish tasks I must work side by side with my staff. We all are active participants, but outcomes and production is ultimately my responsibility.I like to think that my team is an accumulative effort and by encouraging each person to come up with ideas and to share their opinions is our recipe for success. I have created a group atmosphere that has been productive and consistent over the last 2 years. More importantly in my absence my team functions just an efficiently as if I were present. Much like how I run my office is how I run my family. We too are a group of five and as the kids have gotten older they too have become an active participant in goal achievements. I see a lot of similar traits of how I run my office to how I run my home.It is a collaborative effort. One of my strength s a leader would be my communication skill. I always try to take the time to listen. I feel that hearing what my employee's say is crucial in leading them. Our workspace is setup in a circle where we all work together. I could have one of the large offices one floor up, but instead of taking an office away from them I'm right in the trenches with them. I want them to know that I am always available for them. It is not always easy but by eliminating distractions and focusing my attention on my employees needs, demonstrates to them that I am listening.Another strength that I practice is Leading by Example†. I am the first person in the office every morning, and the last person to leave every night. I want them to know that I am present and available to them whenever they need me. I do not take 2-hour lu nches, play computer games, or sleep at my desk. When a new project comes along I am the first person to take an assignment and my assignments are ALWAYS completed on time. I practice what I expect from them, and always try to lead by example. For a complete self-analysis of my leadership skill I must also address my weakness.For one several people have old me that I am too nice. Part because of my personality and part because I think people are happier working for a manager that they get along with. But because of this trait I may sometimes come off as a pushover and people can be tempted to try to take advantage of our relationship. It is sometimes difficult to find the balance between being a friend and being a boss. I can be tough when necessary and I am working on setting better boundaries with my employees. Another weakness I have is taking on too much myself and not delegating. Some tasks I feel no-one can do as well as I can.For example we have this one large report on a sha red drive that needs to be updated on a regular basis, my team provides me all the numbers, and I enter all the numbers. I think to myself that I must be the most handsomely paid data entry person in the world. This is only one example of my lack of delegating skills. This weakness can sometimes create a bottleneck of work for me whereas I should be spending my time on more pressing matters. Additional it demonstrates lack of confidence and fails to develop my team into future leaders. I have been in a position tenure were a disaster. I had a high turnover rate and a low production rate.I would say that early in my position I used an autocratic approach that Just did not work for me. These types of leaders keep close supervision of employees and have a purely professional relationship with their staff. They make decisions on their own without input from others. They dictate the who, how and when of work assignments. When I think about Autocratic leadership I equate that too micro- m anager. When it was me, I spent more time watching them then working on my own assignments. Not very productive and it was too stressful for me. Another type of leadership style is the delegated.As previously stated this would be very difficult for me to be. This leader assigns work and leave's an employee to their own talents and resources to complete tasks. The employee can come and go as they wish as long as assignments or tasks are completed and turned in on time. Because outcomes are my responsibility I need to be involved in tasks, I need to know that things are on schedule and getting done. By being an active participant helps me to reduce my stress and be more in control. By having a better understand of different types of dervish styles helps me to be a more productive leader in a couple different ways.By taking away qualities from other styles of leadership help me to become a better- rounded leader. First it reminds me how I use to feel earlier in my position. I was stres sed out, tense, abrupt, and totally ineffective. I realize that the autocratic style of leadership definitely has its place and may be effective for others; however it is not the approach that works for me. I am much happier by having a relationship with my employee. I feel it is important to connect personally with those that you spend 40 lust hours every week with. I like to work with people and not have people work for me.Different leadership styles can cause conflicts in the workplace. For example a problem that can arise in the work place could be a personality conflict. An example of this is when new management comes on board and different personalities and leadership styles are introduced. Change is never easy; establish if it is thrust upon you. Another conflict that can occur is often due to emotion and perceptions about somebody else's intentions. This can occur for example when a leader showing favoritism for one employee over another. One of the worst things you can do t o lose the respect of your subordinates by not being fair.Respect is paramount to achieve success. There are a couple of ways to overcome personality conflicts in the workplace. For one is to take the time to get to know your employees. By getting to know them, you are letting them get to know you. It is a win, win situation. Another way to avoid conflict especially if you are a new manager coming into a situation is by being clear about the direction and changes you have planned. Honesty and immunization are key to conflict resolution. An always remember the best way to prevent personality conflict in the workplace, is to not take things personally.It is Just business, not personal. Fairness is of the utmost importance when dealing with teams. Favoritism has no place at work and if a manager demonstrates that they will not have the trust of their employees. Trust is a major issue, and to build trust you must be impeccable with your word. By again communicating clearly goals and obj ectives and being consistent with your follow through is a good start to build trust. But if it needs to be said, I'll say it, don't show any favoritism! It will be detrimental to the success of a team and all should be treated equally.Although we are all different, there are potential advantages that may be created between different leadership styles. An effective manager will recognize when to use which leadership style in order to produce results. An autocratic leader makes it own decisions without any input from others and this could be beneficial when a new direction or a drastic change is necessary. When timing is crucial and decisions need to be made this leadership style has its advantages. A delegating approach to leadership is the polar opposite and will assign task, provide necessary resources, and guidance, but backs off and let the team work at their own pace.This style would be advantageous if you work with a group that is highly effective, experienced, and motivated. Then there is the participative approach to leadership that is somewhere in the middle of autocratic and delegating styles. This leader is very hands on and works with the team by building morale and most effective if demodulating is an issue. By empowering them to be part of the decision making recesses the employee feels important and can motivate them to go above and beyond what is expected of them.To increase productivity you can capitalize on the different styles of leadership based on the individual situations. If you are in a position where decisions have to be made quickly, use the autocratic style of leadership. This style of leadership can also be a benefit if your work is particularly stressful. This can allow a person to concentrate on doing their Job and not worry about making decision. Utilizing a delegating approach allows a leader to capitalize n individual employee's strength and talents to increase productivity.This style allows for flexibility and better collabora tion. In a participative style of leadership this encourages employees to share or participate in the decision making process. Which gives the employee a vested interest in their work and can benefit productivity. Rather than sticking to one type of leadership approach evaluate the circumstances and adjust your style. The best leaders can adjust their thinking to how it is most beneficial at different times, remembering that productivity depends on effective leadership.

Friday, August 16, 2019

India and women Essay

INDIA and WOMEN Women empowerment is a moot subject. At earlier times, women got unprejudiced status with men. But the post-Vedic time was a difficult period when many were treated as slaves, a commodity earned by the man, a mode of produce kids. From the early twentieth century (national movement) their statuses have been slowly and gradually undergone changes. In this regard, we may mention the name of the English people. After then, independence of India, the constitutional makers and national leaders strongly emphasized on equal social position of women with men. Today, we have seen the women occupying the respectable positions in all walks of the sphere. Yet, they are not absolutely free from discrimination and harassment of the society. A few number of women have been able to establish their potentialities. Therefore, each and every one should be careful to promote the status of women. Women constitute approximately 50% of the world’s population, but India has shown disproportionate sex ratio whereby female’s population has been comparatively less than that of males. As far as their social status is concerned, they are not treated as equal to men in all the places. In the Western societies, the women have got equal right and status with men in all walks of life. But gender disabilities and discriminations are found in India even today. The paradoxical situation is such that, she is sometimes portrayed as a Goddess and at other times merely as slave. It is now that the women in India enjoy a solitary status of equality with the men as per constitutional and legal provision. But the Indian women have come a long way to achieve the present positions. First, gender inequality in India can be traced back to the historic days of the sacred Sanskrit poem, Mahabharata, when Draupadi was put on the dice by her husband as a commodity. History is a witness that women were made to dance both in private and public places to please the men. Secondly, in Indian society, a female was always dependent on male members of the family until a few years ago. Thirdly, a female was not allowed to speak in a loud voice in the presence of elder members of her in-laws or move around without covering her head and in some cases, the face in the presence of other elder or male members of the family. In the family, every faults had gone to her and responsible. Fourth, as a widow her dependence on the male members of the family increased but that was better than performing ‘sati’ where the widow  was burned alive during the cremation of her dead husband. In many social activities, she was not permitted to meet with other members of the family. A woman whether a widow or not had very little share in political, social and economic life of the society and had to vote for the party the family supports, even if she had her views against it. The early twenty century was rise of the National Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi who was in favor of removing all the chains tied to a woman. At the same time, Raja Ram Mohan Rai, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and various other social reformers laid stress on women’s education, prevention of child marriage, withdrawals of evil practice of sati, removal of polygamy etc. The National Movement and various reform moveme nts paved the way for their liberations from the social evils and religious taboos. After independence of India, the constitution makers and the national leaders recognized the equal social position of women with men. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 has determined the age for marriage, provided for monogamy and guardianship of the mother and permitted the dissolution of marriage under specific circumstances. Under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, an unmarried women, widow or divorce of sound mind can also take child in adoption. Similarly, the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 says that any person who gives, takes, or abets the giving or taking of dowry shall be punished with imprisonment, or fine or with both. The Constitution of India guarantees equality of sexes and in fact grants special favors to women. These can be found in three articles of the constitution. Article 14 says that the government shall not deny to any person equality before law or equal protection of the law. Article 15 declares that government shall not discriminate against any citizen on the ground of sex. Article 15 (3) makes a special provision enabling the state to make affirmative discriminations in favor of women . Article 42 directs the state to make provision for ensuring just and human conditions of work and maternity relief. Above all, the constitution regards a fundamental duty on every citizen through Articles 15 (A), (E) to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women. The concept of empowerment flows from the power. It is vesting where it does not exist or exist inadequately. Empowerment of women would mean equipping women to be economically independent, self-reliant, have positive esteem to enable them to face any difficult situation and they should be able to participate in development  activities. The empowered women should be able to participate in the process of decision making. The government of India has ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights to women. These are CEDAW (1993), the Mexico Plan of Action (1975), the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (!985), the Beijing Declaration as well as the platform for Action (1995) and other such instruments. The year of 2001 was observed as the year of women’s empowerment. During the year, a landmark document has been adopted, ‘ the National Policy for the empowerment of women.’ For the beneficiaries of the women, the government has been adopted different schemes and programs i.e. the National Credit Fund for Women (1993) , Food and Nutrition Board (FNB), Information and Mass Education (IMF) etc. But is all this actually working is what everyone wants to know. Are women actually empowered ? Or is all this only in papers and even in the 21st century women fear leaving their houses alone? Do they fear wearing clothes they want to wear ? Well I feel that the answer to this is a big YES. In the 21st century, where India is an emerging super power the women are not confident that they will return home safely. But why is it so? Some say that because ‘boys are boys’ and they can do whatever they want to or maybe because the kind of clothes a woman wears instigates men to look at her with those greedy eyes and lay their dirty hands on her? Well NO ! Did that women in a burqa who was raped while going back home in her own car provoke anybody? Or the 5 year old girl who was studying in school provoke her teacher? But boys will be boys who make mistakes. For once forget about the boys, they will defend themselves but when the head of the Mahila Vibhaag (women’s association) says that the mistake lies in the girls, don’t you believe it? I don’t. I think it is time for every girl to take a stand for herself and for every other girl in this world because it is not just India where women are not treated equally, a study conducted in the US in 2012 says that about 14% of women who were fired from their jobs was because the boss wanted something more than a normal boss and employ relationship. Also a study conducted in London in 1998 says that about 33% of divorces happen because the man is not willing to let the wife go out for a job or to pick up the kids because she might just have an affair. It’s also time for every parent stop telling their daughters to wear longer dresses and tell their sons to respect girls  because nobody should be judged by the way they dress. It is said that if a man is educated he will earn bread for the entire family but if a woman is educated then she will make sure that the entire family is educated. To sum up, women empowerment cannot be possible unless women come with and help to self-empower themselves. There is a need to formulate reducing feminized poverty, promoting education of women, and prevention and elimination of violence against women.