Skills Approach best describes my leadership style Research Paper

Skills Approach best describes my leadership style - Research Paper Example These approaches can be seen as supporting each other because they offer dissimilar opinions on leadership from the perspective of skills. In the approach suggested by Katz in the 1955 Harvard Business Review, in the article titled â€Å"Skills of an Effective Administrator†, he acknowledges three diverse abilities that a leader ought to have. They include human skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills. Katz stated that these skills are rather dissimilar from traits of leaders. Skills are what leaders can achieve, while traits are who leaders are (Northouse, 2009). A technical skill is understanding about and capability and aptitude in a precise work or activity. For instance, to use definite computer software packages (like MS Excel) is a superior technical skill. A human skill is one that allows one to collaborate with people. It is dissimilar from technical skills, which have to do with things. These skills help us to cope with people and to correspond and work within teams. A conceptual skill refers to abilities to work with initiatives and concepts. These skills facilitate our understanding and put leaders in a position to better choose the actions and measures that have to be adopted in a specific field of work. Based on his deductions, Katz affirmed that the level of significance of each assortment of skills (conceptual, human and technical) was openly correlated with the degree that the individual has in the firm. The aim of this paper is to describe my leadership style using the skills approach. My leadership style is best described b y the skills approach, which illuminates my basis as a leader along with my inclinations to the function of leadership. The skills approach further underscores the inherent skills and abilities that denote my leadership style. The skills approach best describes me as a leader in the sense that it underscores my abilities and skills to perform the function of leadership and

Jobless Essay Example for Free

Jobless Essay Millions of workers have lost their jobs due to downsizing. At the same time, many organizations are complaining that they cannot find qualified people to fill vacancies. How do you explain this apparent contradiction? A recent news came out dated June 6, 2013 by Reuters that Philippines jobless rate stood at 7. 5% in April, the highest in three (3) years according to the National Statistics Office (NSO). Philippines is said to be the Southeast Asian country with the highest rate of unemployment even the fastest growing economy a jobless growth indeed. Downsizing strategy is common nowadays in business sectors and firms. This is to improve the financial performance of the firms by reducing the cost they invested in human resources, increase productivity to whom that is left and increase the speed of decision-making by reducing the layers of management and becoming closer to the customers. A lot of workers were affected due to downsizing. Moreover, not to affect the overall performance of the business, workers that is left must be the best ones. These are the people that are capable in doing the job, not only to fill the vacancies but have contributed well enough to the business, functioned well or even exceeded the job expectations from them. Working experience and educational background helps this people to be more competitive compared to others. This, I termed as the qualified people. They are the effective ones. Business sectors are keeping them. These people are their aces. They are the organizations apple of the eyes. That is why they are hard to find. Few are considered qualified people. Millions of people maybe looking for jobs but are not qualified. It is because these people, considering the poverty growth in the population, they work practically for money. Self-improvement may only be a secondary reason which includes behavior towards work, leadership skills, quality work and the like. On the other hand, qualified people prioritize self-improvement, and, in turn, money comes naturally.

Picture Smart:Spatial Reasoning and Its Role in Cognition :: Psychology Essays

Picture Smart:Spatial Reasoning and Its Role in Cognition There are many theories about the nature of intelligence. The formal definition of intelligence is "the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge." One aspect or kind of intelligence, according Dr. Howard Gardner, founder of the multiple intelligence theory, is spatial intelligence(1). Spatial intelligence is one amongst eight kinds of intelligence. The most common description of spatial intelligence is the ability to be able to recreate one's visual experience and reasoning about shape, measurement, depiction and navigation. Spatial intelligence might be one of less familiar kind of intelligence, however it has wide implications in many academic and professional disciplines. It is extremely important in disciplines such as mathematics and computer science. Spatial Intelligence also accounts for the thinking process of engineers, architects, designers, sculptors and inventors. This paper is an over all comprehension of spatial reasoning and why it is important in learning and problem solving, it is an investigation into what spatial reasoning is and its role in learning and cognition. This paper will also address the neurobiology of spatial reasoning and discuss the specific areas and organization of the brain that accounts for spatial intelligence. There are many theories and models attempting to define spatial reasoning. The first model is called the MV/PD model. According to this model, spatial representation consist of two parts. The first is a metric diagram, which includes quantitative information and provides a substrate, which can support perceptual-like processing. The second part of the model is termed place vocabulary, which makes explicit qualitative distinction in shape and space relevant to the current task (2). Therefore, spatial reasoning is not just visualization of objects and space but also the ability to take qualitative information and then transformation them to spatial representations so that it can be better understood. Spatial reasoning is useful in physics, math and computer science and can be applied to different industries. Engineers use graphs to express complex relationships, such as temperature-entropy or pressure volume plots, Often these graphs are sketches, intended to convey qualitative information about the shapes of curves and relative magnitudes rather than precise numerical values(2). Therefore, spatial reasoning is an essential part of the thinking process of scientist and engineers because they need to understand and interpret qualitative information in graphs and models in order to gain critical understanding of the problems at hand. What exactly is the process through which humans use spatial reasoning to solve problems?

Eating Disorder Research Paper Essay

Media and society are often looked at as a source of daily entertainment, gossip and news. Every day, people are constantly exposed to thousands of images of glamour, beauty, celebrities, and much more. The media is so compelling that it has the power to change what people believe in. The images that are shown repeatedly make a way into teenagers mind and they want to be a part of what the media shows. Teens feel the need to change their body to look a certain way and be like someone else. But a fact unknown to teenagers is that even celebrities’ body are not perfect. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. People with anorexia have a huge fear of gaining weight and a change in their body shape and size (â€Å"Eating Disorders†). Anorexia has been characterized as a â€Å"rich white girl† disorder because most anorectics are white and about three-quarters of them come from households at the middle income level or above (Davidson and Fundukian). Bulimia on the other hand is when a person eats large amount of food over a short period of time then later performs activities to try to burn the calories off. Binging is the most common symptom of bulimia and it is often done when trying to get rid of the food eaten. Bulimia is thought to affect around 1% to 5% of teenage American girls and up to 3% will be bulimic at some point in their life (Arnold and Walsh 30). Studies show that â€Å"media exposure has a direct impact on disorder symptoms and indirect effects through gender role endorsement, ideal-body stereotype internalization and body satisfaction. † The covers of magazines display pictures of both men and women whose images are offered as near perfection in society. â€Å"Research has shown that even brief exposure to ads showing highly attractive models results in decreased satisfaction with one’s own appearance† (McMurray). Teenagers should know that celebrities are not magically beautiful and thin, they are made to look that way. â€Å"Today’s culture is unique in that the media is a far more powerful presence than ever before† (Derenne and Bersin). The media has been named as a causative factor for body dissatisfaction, which promotes unrealistic standards of female beauty and show images that create and reinforce cultural definitions of attractiveness. (Qtd. in Wexler). The media opens the door of eating disorders to teenagers and brainwashes them into thinking that being thin is important and necessary. The media needs to be very careful in the messages that they give to teenagers regarding body image. Dr. Bond says how â€Å"the media should be more responsible in not publishing pictures of very thin models and celebrities because young people wish to emulate them. Eating disorders are not going away, if anything they are becoming more common (Thinspiration? ). Advertisements everywhere continually expose the notion that losing weight will make people happier. Advertisements that show thin celebrities reach out to individuals telling them what they can be or become if they were thin. By looking at these advertisements, women start to feel insecure about the way they look. The NEDA reports that â€Å"women’s magazines contained 10. 5 times more advertisements and articles promoting diet and weight loss then were found in men’s magazines. It also reports that a study of 4,294 network television commercials revealed that one out of every 3. 8 commercials conveyed some sort of attractiveness message of what is or is not attractive† (Qtd. In Wexler). Many women frequently compare their bodies to those around them and the body images on advertisements lowers their self-esteem. The advertisements of celebrities affects the stereotypical idea of an ideal body which leads to eating disorders (Stice et al 5). Online, there are websites that promote anorexia. Teens with anorexia can then put up pictures of their skinny bodies for other anorectics to see and feel encouraged by. They feature pictures of celebrities such Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham that promote 400-500 calories a day diet. In a year alone more than 500,000 people visited the sites and a 2011 EU survey found more than one in five six-to 11-year olds had been exposed to one or more sites with these â€Å"harmful content† (Thinspiration? . Teens who are anorexic feel that having an eating disorder is not a bad thing. They look upon each other for support, telling each other secrets of losing weight. The quote â€Å"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels† by Kate Moss is popular among these pro-anorexia websites (Wardrop). TV shows also send the message to be thin to whoever watches them. Disney Channel, which attracts millions of viewers, especially the young, made fun of eating disorder and actually promoted the idea of being thin. In the show Shake It Up, someone stated â€Å"I could just eat you guys up, you know, if I ate† (â€Å"Party It Up†). In another Disney show, So Random, a conversation goes on where one character tells another â€Å"Angus only eats one full meal a day† to which Angus replies â€Å"My agent’s always on me about looking my best (â€Å"Colbie Caillat†). Disney thinks about eating disorders as a joke which is not dangerous. For many kids, the people on Disney are their role models, and if kids see their role models not eating, they are going to think that it is okay to not eat. Also if Disney encourages the idea of not eating that kids will do the same thing. Demi Lovato who battled an eating disorder attacked Disney about these risky messages that they send to kids. Experts say that Lovato opened the Pandora’s Box about the dangerous effects television shows can have on the negative body image of young women (â€Å"Disney Pop Star†). Even in other TV shows, the overweight characters are most likely portrayed as lazy and the one with no friends, while thin characters are successful and popular. This also sends a message that in order to be successful in life a person has to be thin. Teenagers feel pressured into looking the way society wants them to look like. Everywhere they go, they see posters of celebrities enhanced to look â€Å"perfect. Society thinks that if someone does not look a certain way then it is not acceptable and that they should change how their body looks. From a young age, women are given the message that in order to be happy, they must be thin. Thousands of teenage girl starve themselves to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the â€Å"ideal† figure (Thompson). Society has become obsessive and prejudiced when it comes to body image. Society and media work together to get that one message across to teens today; to be thin. New diets come out every month and media spends money trying to advertise them and get celebrity endorsements. In stores, the front pages of magazines show that one celebrity that everyone looks up too. How they talk about that one diet that â€Å"changed their life† and made them â€Å"happy† again. Teens think that if these celebrities can be skinny, then why can’t they? Teens spend their times looking at websites and magazines that tell them how to be skinny. By constantly portraying â€Å"perfect† bodies in the media, it promotes unhealthy eating that can sometimes lead to death (â€Å"Disney Pop Star†). Even today, dolls like Barbie send that message to young girl to be thin. The Barbie doll is a stereotype of a woman with no flaws and a perfect body who gets to be whatever she wants. Girls who play with Barbie feel the need to look and act like her. The traditional Barbie is known for her 40-18-32 measurements (Young) which would be unproportional on human bodies (Grey). If Barbie were real, she would be 5’9†³ tall and weigh 110 pounds, about 35 pounds below the minimum healthy weight for a woman of that size (McMurray). Barbie helps to perpetuate an ideal of materialism, beauty, and being thin is happiness and since a young age, the desire to be thin is recognized by girls everywhere. But eating disorders doesn’t just affect women, it affects men also. In a study by Harvard researchers, 25% of 3,000 adults had anorexia or bulimia and 40% of binge eaters were men (Boodman). Just like women, men also feel pressured into looking a certain way. In school, boys are told to be healthy if they want to keep playing a sport. But that habit can become something more dangerous. â€Å"Studies show that gay males particularly place a higher calculation on thinness than heterosexual males, with a level of concern for thinness almost equal to that of the typical heterosexual female† (Anderson, Cohn, and Holbrook 41). Because of this many men might be afraid about coming out to the world about their eating disorder. Some people think of an eating disorder as more of a woman thing and â€Å"psychological tests for eating disorders are biased towards diagnosing women† (Anderson, Cohn, and Holbrook 41). Eating disorders are also common in the entertainment business. Celebrities and models are also under pressure to look their best. The average model weighs 23% less than the average woman and fit the category of being anorexic (Thompson). Models go through plastic surgery and photos are air-brushed before going to print. The body type and images are unobtainable to the average individual and the constant force of these images on society makes teens believe that they should be. Many celebrities and models who feel that an eating disorder is something more dangerous than what everyone else seems have come out and talked about that issues. Even celebrities who once had an eating disorder spend time educating others and telling them that it is okay to get help. In 1992 after the news about Princess Diana being bulimic was released, there was a significant increase in the number of bulimia diagnoses. This effect then came known as the â€Å"Diana Effect† (Celebrities Who Battled Eating Disorders). Just like how Lucy Grealy states in her memoir Autobiography of a Face, â€Å"Beauty, as defined by society at large, seemed to be only about who was best at looking like everyone else† (187) it looks like that concept has not changed since that time. In today’s society everything is about being thin and trying to look like a model or a celebrity. Teenagers try to do everything to make themselves how society wants it but in the end they just destroy themselves. Society and media think of an eating disorder as a joke but it is a disease; a disease that has the power to take the lives of both women and men. For anybody out there who thinks that an eating disorder is not a big deal then they are wrong. People, especially the media, should know that the message they send out to teens is wrong; everything is not just about being thin. Simply by the media bringing out the concept that being beautiful and thin is necessary for a successful life is wrong. Having to look like a model to be accepted in society is wrong. All these messages have a huge negative effect on teenagers and they think down of themselves just because they do not think they are â€Å"right† for society. The fake advertisements that are shown is just another step for teens to developing a dangerous and deadly addiction that is called an eating disorder. â€Å"I think we look at society and we look at every ad that out there and everything that tells us how we’re supposed to look, and how we’re supposed to live, and how we’re supposed to be instead of saying ‘Is that how really I feel? ’, ‘Is that really what I want to do? ’, and ‘Is that really how I want to live? ’† (Ellen DeGeneres).

Reading a Book vs Listening to an Audio Book Essay

Now days, most people simply do not have the time to sit down and read a book. More and more are beginning to use a source of recorded audio books to listen to on the go. It really depends on whom one asks whether or not audio books are considered to be the most efficient way to obtain a books content. Various pros and cons come along with either option. Whether or not taking the time to read a book is greater than only listening along is a frequently asked question everywhere. There is a great comparison between the two, both differing in each person’s eyes’. The real question left being is using an audio book just as good as reading it? It is agreeable that it mostly depends on what sort of book you are trying to acquire as to how well the information is absorbed through audio books. Hearing the actual words in your head by reading to oneself tends to be a much better strategy when trying to get into a book instead of only listening. Another disadvantage of using audio books could be that one does not get to interpret the story for them self, the narrator already does the interpreting. Using your imagination is considered to be the best part about consuming a book, which is merely taken away when listening to an audio book. When it comes to actually reading a book, many find it very difficult to take on another task, but seem to finish the book at a shorter amount of time than those listening to an actor recorded on an audio book. Where as, when listening to an audio book, it is quite easy to multitask and your eyes wont ever get tired. Some may argue that it takes away from the reading experience when using audio books, others, that it is still reading either way. It is much more convenient to use an audio book though, being that you can take a music player basically anywhere. Lastly, audio books are usually way higher in price than paperback or hardback books. Some audio books can be presented as podcasts for free so it could possibly be cheaper to go that route. The prices of hardcopy books depend on the popularity of the work and or the publishing date. Our technology now provides a bit reasonable but pricey device called a â€Å"kindle† for those who constantly enjoy reading, that allows the option of one to read and hear the book at the same time, putting an end to all problems that could be if only chosen one. In closing, both hardcopy books and audio books both have their advantages and disadvantages. There is a possible way to solve the wonders of both by spending the extra money on a portable e-book device. In consideration of choosing one way of deception, reading a book provides a more vivid and imaginable story in our minds compared to audio books being seemingly less interesting, but more accessible.

9 Ways of Translating ‘Very’ to Spanish

9 Ways of Translating ‘Very’ to Spanish Very is one of most overused words in English. In fact, there are editors and teachers who routinely eliminate each very they come across because the word that has become so routine that it can often be left out without much change in meaning. Similarly, the Spanish equivalent, muy, is easy to overuse, especially for beginning Spanish students who dont know many alternatives. Next time youre thinking of using muy in something youre writing, consider the following alternatives. Note that with most, if not all, examples, the Spanish word could be translated ​to English in multiple ways. Using the Suffix -à ­simo for ‘Very’ The suffix -à ­simo is probably the most common alternative to muy. Sometimes a type of superlative, -à ­simo and its plural or feminine forms are added to the end of an adjective that ends in a consonant. So the modified form of azul (blue) is azulà ­simo (very blue). If the adjective ends in a vowel, which accounts for most adjectives, the vowel is dropped first. So the modified form of feo (ugly) is feà ­simo (very ugly), and caro (expensive) becomes carà ­simo (very expensive). In a few cases, a spelling change is needed for pronunciation reasons. For example, if the final consonant is a z, the z changes to c. So the modified form of feliz (happy) is felicà ­simo (very happy). Some examples: Est alegrà ­sima en saber que sus padres tienen salud. (She is very happy to know that her parents are healthy.)Pocas horas antes tenà ­amos  un debilà ­simo frente frà ­o. (A few hours earlier we had a very weak cold front.)Mi madre tiene tristà ­simos recuerdos de la ciudad. (My mother had very sad memories of the city.)Me parece patetiquà ­simo que me mientas todo el tiempo. (It seems very pathetic to me that you are lying to me all the time. Note the spelling change from the unmodified adjective patà ©tetico.)Era una casa de cinco dormitorios, con piscina azulà ­sima en medio de un cà ©sped verdà ­simo. (It was a home with five bedrooms and a very blue swimming pool in the middle of a very green lawn.) The suffix -à ­simo can also be used with some adverbs:  ¡Esperemos llegar prontà ­simo! (I hope we arrive very soon!)Tengo que comer rapidà ­simo porque para ir a mi clase. (I have to eat very quickly in order to go to my class.)He formateado el ordenador y funciona lentà ­simo. (I formatted my computer and it is running very slowly.) Prefixes Meaning ‘Very’ The prefixes archi-, super-, and requete- are used sometimes, most often in informal speech. El senador es archiconservativo. (The senator is very conservative. Note that this prefix doesnt necessarily have the negative connotation that arch- does in English. One common archi- word is archipopular for someone or something extremely popular.)Mi novio es superguapo. (My boyfriend is very good-looking. Super is also often used by itself, rather than as a prefix, in much the same way as super can be.)Este pastel es requetebueno. (This cake is very good.) Using Bien to Mean ‘Very’ Usually translated as the adverb well, bien is sometimes used as a mild form of very, usually with a positive connotation. Sometimes the closest English equivalent is pretty as in hes pretty happy, est bien feliz. Other examples: La mejor hora es bien temprano en la maà ±ana. (The best time is fairly early in the morning.)Eso es bien tonto. (Thats quite silly.)Quisiera un tà © bien caliente. (Id like a nice warm tea.) Using the Adverbs Sumamente and Extremadamente Sumamente is stronger than very and can be translated as extremely or highly. Fue sumamente exitosa la campaà ±a de desobediencia civil. (The civil-disobedience campaign was extremely successful.)Sus nià ±as son sumamente inteligentes. (Her daughters are highly intelligent.) A synonym for sumamente is extremadamente: El hotel tiene un baà ±o extremadamente pequeà ±o. (The hotel has an extremely small bathroom.)Me siento extremadamente feliz que encontrà © la parada de bus. (Im extremely happy that I found the bus stop.) Tan Tan is an adverb most often used in phrases such as tan rica como yo (as rich as I am), but it can also stand alone without the como, when it usually is translated as so. Tus abuelos son tan carià ±osos. (Your grandparents are so caring.)El carro es tan hermoso. (The car is so beautiful.) Tan is used this way most often in exclamatory sentences:  ¡Quà © dà ­a tan terrible! (What an awful, terrible day!) ¡Quà © estudiante tan inteligente! (That student is so intelligent!) Key Takeaways The Spanish adverb muy is the most common way of saying very.The suffix -à ­simo can often be used to increase the intensity of adverbs and adjectives.Prefixes used to mean very include archi-, super-, and requete-.

VB.NET Solution and Project Files sln and vbproj

VB.NET Solution and Project Files 'sln' and 'vbproj' The whole topic of projects, solutions, and the files and tools that control them is something that is seldom explained. Throwing Food One of the big advantages of the way Microsoft has designed solutions and projects is that a project or solution is self-contained. A solution directory and its contents can be moved, copied, or deleted in Windows Explorer. A whole team of programmers can share one solution (.sln) file; a whole set of projects can be part of the same solution, and the settings and options in that .sln file can apply to all of the projects in it. Only one solution can be open at one time in Visual Studio, but a lot of projects can be in that solution. The projects can even be in different languages. You can get a better understanding of just what a solution is by creating a few and looking at the result. A Blank solution results in a single folder with just two files: the solution container and the solution user options. If you use the default name, youll see: Add Privacy The main reason you can create a blank solution is to allow project files to be created independently and included in the solution. In large, complex systems, in addition to being part of several solutions, projects can even be nested in hierarchies. The solution container file, interestingly, is one of the few text configuration files that isnt in XML. A blank solution contains these statements: It might as well be XML... its organized just like XML but without the XML syntax. Since this is just a text file, its possible to edit it in a text editor like Notepad. For example, you can change HideSolutionNode FALSE to TRUE and solution wont be shown in Solution Explorer anymore. (The name in Visual Studio changes to Project Explorer too.) Its fine to experiment with things like this as long as youre working on a strictly experimental project. You should never change configuration files manually for a real system unless you know exactly what youre doing, but its fairly common in advanced environments to update the .sln file directly rather than through Visual Studio. The .suo file is hidden and its a binary file so it cant be edited like the .sln file. You will normally only change this file using the menu options in Visual Studio. Moving up in complexity, check out a Windows Forms Application. Even though this might be the most elementary application, there are a lot more files. In addition to a .sln file, the Windows Forms Application template also automatically creates a .vbproj file. Although the .sln and .vbproj files often useful, you might notice that theyre not shown in the Visual Studio Solution Explorer window, even with the Show All Files button clicked. If you need to work with these files directly, you have to do it outside of Visual Studio. Not all applications need a .vbproj file. For example, if you select New Web Site in Visual Studio, no .vbproj file will be created. Open the top level folder in Windows for the Windows Forms Application and youll see the four files that Visual Studio doesnt show. ssuming the default name again, they are: The .sln and the .vbproj files can be useful for debugging difficult problems. Theres no harm in looking at them and these files tell you what is really going on in your code. As we have seen, you can also edit .sln and .vbproj files directly although its usually a bad idea unless there is no other way to do what you need. But sometimes, there is no other way. For example, if your computer is running in 64-bit mode, there isnt a way to target a 32-bit CPU in VB.NET Express, for example, to be compatible with the 32-bit Access Jet database engine. (Visual Studio provides a way in the other versions), but you can add the following: To the elementspropertygroup.. .:l in the .vbproj files to get the job done. Both the .sln and .vbproj file types are normally associated with Visual Studio in Windows. That means that if you double-click either of them, Visual Studio opens. If you double-click a solution, the projects in the .sln file are opened. If you double-click a .vbproj file and there is no .sln file (this happens if you add a new project to an existing solution) then one is created for that project.

Bulgars, Bulgaria and Bulgarians

Bulgars, Bulgaria and Bulgarians The Bulgars were an early people of eastern Europe. The word bulgar derives from an Old Turkic term denoting a mixed background, so some historians think they may have been a Turkic group from central Asia, made up of members of several tribes. Along with the Slavs and the Thracians, the Bulgars were one of the three primary ethnic ancestors of present-day Bulgarians.   The Early Bulgars The Bulgars were noted warriors, and they developed a reputation as fearsome horsemen. It has been theorized that, beginning in about 370,  they moved west of the Volga River along with the Huns. In the mid-400s, the Huns  were led by Attila, and the Bulgars apparently joined him in his westward invasions. After Attilas death, the Huns settled in the territory north and east of the Sea of Azov, and once again the Bulgars went with them.   A few decades later, the Byzantines hired the Bulgars to fight against the Ostrogoths. This contact with the ancient, affluent empire gave the warriors a taste for wealth and prosperity, so in the 6th century they began to attack the nearby provinces of the empire along the Danube in hopes of taking some of that wealth. But in the 560s, the Bulgars themselves came under attack by the Avars. After one tribe of Bulgars was destroyed, the rest of them survived by submitting to yet another tribe from Asia, who departed after about 20 years. In the early 7th century, a ruler known as Kurt (or Kubrat) unified the Bulgars and built a powerful nation that the Byzantines referred to as Great Bulgaria. Upon his death in 642, Kurts five sons split the Bulgar people into five hordes. One remained on the coast of the Sea of Azov and was assimilated into the empire of the Khazars. A second migrated to central Europe, where it merged with the Avars. And a third disappeared in Italy, where they fought for the Lombards. The last two Bulgar hordes would have better fortune in preserving their Bulgar identities. The Volga Bulgars The group led by Kurt’s son Kotrag migrated far to the north and eventually settled around the point where the Volga and the Kama rivers met. There they split into three groups, each group probably joining with peoples who had already established their homes there or with other newcomers. For the next six centuries or so, the Volga Bulgars flourished as a confederation of semi-nomadic peoples. Although they founded no actual political state, they did establish two cities: Bulgar and Suvar. These places benefited as key shipping points in the fur trade between the Russians and Ugrians in the north and the civilizations of the south, which included Turkistan, the Muslim caliphate at Baghdad, and the Eastern Roman Empire. In 922, the Volga Bulgars converted to Islam, and in 1237 they were overtaken by the Golden Horde of the Mongols. The city of Bulgar continue to thrive, but the Volga Bulgars themselves were eventually assimilated into neighboring cultures. The First Bulgarian Empire The fifth heir to Kurts Bulgar nation, his son Asparukh, led his followers west across the Dniester River and then south across the Danube. It was on the plain between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains that they established a nation that would evolve into what is now known as the First Bulgarian Empire. This is the political entity from which the modern state of Bulgaria would derive its name. Initially under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Bulgars were able to found their own empire in 681, when they were officially recognized by the Byzantines. When in 705 Asparukh’s successor, Tervel, helped restore Justinian II to the Byzantine imperial throne, he was rewarded with the title caesar. A decade later Tervel successfully led a Bulgarian army to assist Emperor Leo III in defending Constantinople against invading Arabs. At about this time, the Bulgars saw an influx of Slavs and Vlachs into their society. After their victory at Constantinople, the Bulgars continued their conquests, expanding their territory under the khans Krum (r. 803–814) and Pressian (r. 836–852) into Serbia and Macedonia. Most of this new territory was heavily influenced by the Byzantine brand of Christianity. Thus, it was no surprise when in 870, under the reign of Boris I, the Bulgars converted to Orthodox Christianity. The liturgy of their church was in Old Bulgarian, which combined Bulgar linguistic elements with Slavic ones. This has been credited with helping to create a bond between the two ethnic groups; and its true that by the early 11th century, the two groups had fused into a Slavic-speaking people who were, basically, identical to the Bulgarians of today. It was during the reign of Simeon I, the son of Boris I, that the First Bulgarian Empire achieved its zenith as a Balkan nation. Although Simeon evidently lost the lands north of the Danube to invaders from the east, he expanded Bulgarian power over Serbia, southern Macedonia and southern Albania through a series of conflicts with the Byzantine Empire. Simeon, who took for himself the title Tsar of All the Bulgarians, also promoted learning and managed to create a cultural center at his capital of Preslav (present-day Veliki Preslav). Unfortunately, after Simeons death in 937, internal divisions weakened the First Bulgarian Empire. Invasions by Magyars, Pechenegs and Rus, and reignited conflict with the Byzantines, put an end to the sovereignty of the state, and in 1018 it became incorporated into the Eastern Roman Empire. The Second Bulgarian Empire In the 12th century, stress from external conflicts reduced the Byzantine Empires hold on Bulgaria, and in 1185 a revolt took place, led by the brothers Asen and Peter. Their success allowed them to establish a new empire, once again led by Tsars, and for the next century the house of Asen reigned from the Danube to the Aegean and from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. In 1202 Tsar Kaloian (or Kaloyan) negotiated a peace with the Byzantines that gave Bulgaria complete independence from the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1204, Kaloian recognized the authority of the pope and thus stabilized the western border of Bulgaria. The second empire saw increased trade, peace, and prosperity. A new golden age of Bulgaria flourished around the cultural center of Turnovo (present-day Veliko Turnovo). The earliest Bulgarian coinage dates to this period, and it was around this time that the head of the Bulgarian church attained the title of patriarch. But politically, the new empire wasnt particularly strong. As its internal cohesiveness eroded, external forces began to take advantage of its weakness. The Magyars resumed their advances, the Byzantines took back portions of Bulgarian land, and in 1241, Tatars began raids that continued for 60 years. Battles for the throne among various noble factions lasted from 1257 to 1277, at which point peasants revolted due to the heavy taxes their warring overlords had imposed on them. As a result of this uprising, a swineherd by the name of Ivaylo took the throne; he wasnt ousted until the Byzantines lent a hand.   Only a few years later, the Asen dynasty died out, and the Terter and Shishman dynasties that followed saw little success in maintaining any real authority. In 1330, the Bulgarian Empire reached its lowest point when Serbs slew Tsar Mikhail Shishman at the Battle of Velbuzhd (present-day Kyustendil). The Serbian Empire took control of Bulgarias Macedonian holdings, and the once-formidable Bulgarian empire began its last decline. It was on the verge of breaking apart into lesser territories when the Ottoman Turks invaded. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Turks, who had been mercenaries for the Byzantine Empire in the 1340s, began attacking the Balkans for themselves in the 1350s. A series of invasions prompted the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman to declare himself a vassal of Sultan Murad I in 1371; yet still the invasions continued. Sofia was captured in 1382, Shumen was taken in 1388, and by 1396 there was nothing left of Bulgarian authority.   For the next 500 years, Bulgaria would be ruled by the Ottoman Empire in what is generally viewed as a dark time of suffering and oppression. The Bulgarian Church as well as the empires political rule was destroyed. The nobility either were killed, fled the country, or accepted Islam and were assimilated into Turkish society. The peasantry now had Turkish lords. Every now and then, male children were taken from their families, converted to Islam and raised to serve as Janissaries. While the Ottoman Empire was at its height of power, the Bulgarians under its yoke could live in relative peace and security, if not freedom or self-determination. But when the empire began to decline, its central authority could not control local officials, who were sometimes corrupt and at times even downright vicious.   Throughout this half a millennium, Bulgarians held stubbornly to their Orthodox Christian beliefs, and their Slavic language and their unique liturgy kept them from becoming absorbed into the Greek Orthodox Church. The Bulgarian peoples thus retained their identity, and when the Ottoman Empire began to crumble in the late 19th century, the Bulgarians were able to establish an autonomous territory.   Bulgaria was declared an independent kingdom, or tsardom, in 1908. Sources and Suggested Reading The compare prices links  below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the books page at one of the online merchants. The visit merchant links will take you to an online bookstore, where you can find more information about the book to help you get it from your local library. This is provided as a convenience to you; neither Melissa Snell nor About is responsible for any purchases you make through these links. A Concise History of Bulgaria(Cambridge Concise Histories)by R. J. CramptonCompare prices The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century: The Records of a Bygone Culture(East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450)by K. PetkovVisit merchant State and Church: Studies in Medieval Bulgaria and Byzantiumedited by Vassil Gjuzelev and Kiril PetkovVisit merchant The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans(East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450)edited by Florin Curta and Roman KovalevVisit merchant Armies of the Volga Bulgars Khanate of Kazan: 9th-16th Centuries(Men-at-Arms)by Viacheslav Shpakovsky and David NicolleCompare prices The text of this document is copyright  ©2014-2016 Melissa Snell. You may download or print this document for personal or school use, as long as the URL below is included. Permission is   not  granted to reproduce this document on another website. For publication permission,  please   contact  Melissa Snell. The URL for this document is:http://historymedren.about.com/od/europe/fl/Bulgars-Bulgaria-and-Bulgarians.htm

Formation of Creative Personality Traits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Formation of Creative Personality Traits - Essay Example The factors which stimulate facilitate or hinder its development (Magno,2008, p.2.)The two main perspectives, upon which all the theories of formation of creative personality are based: mental and social. Secondly, as the name indicates, human is the centre and focus of this theory. Personality (chapter 10) writes that, "Ultimate value is placed on dignity of person." The main theories discussed in this chapter, regarding the formation of creative personality are: psychoanalysis, mental illness, psychotism, addiction and humanistic theories. I believe psychotism, addiction and mental illness theories are very narrow and constricted. Psychoanalytical viewpoint focuses more "importance to art in the expression of the unconscious mind" (Magno, 2008, p.4) and "view a person as fairly passive, as a reactor to his or her life circumstances rather than an active agent" (Dacey & Lennon,1998, p.137.) The major contrast of the theories is differing themes of self, health, development and consciousness gives much smaller role to the unconscious drives. I consider individual as an active agent, who has all the control over his life and decisions and he deliberately, consciously and cognitively engages himself to be creative to meet the daily errands. So, I decide that Humanistic approach to the formation of creative personality convinces me more than other theories. ... Carl Jung gave birth to this link of mental health and creativity. Magno (2008) also touched this point and quoted Rollo May and Diamond, who believed that "creativity had an important role in healing and establishing genuine meaning in life." (p. 6.) The idea has evolved immensely and now creativity is linked with the healthy status of mind and "emotional well being" of a person. (Simonton, 2000, p.151.) Simonton (2008) also argued that the "psychological weakness can sometimes be converted into a form of optimal functioning" (p. 153.) In humanistic psychology, "to create is associated with human nature" wrote Magno (2008, p.3) and I utterly agree to this viewpoint. Dacey & Lennon (1998) explained this view point at its best by writing that," people are able to make active choices as they construct their lives" and they have the control and right to choose. (p.137) Creativity is essential to living and that is why each of us, at some point, is creative. Magno (2008) wrote, "All events of life can involve creativity." (p.13.) To stimulate creativity, we need to full fill its demands. Maslow's needs of hierarchy, puts "self-actualization and aesthetic needs" as the basis of creativity. (p.137.) I believe, while agreeing with humanistic approach that creativity is an on going process and develops through out the life span. The humanists see this development of creativity as occurring throughout life (Dacey & Lennon, 1998, p.147.) On the contrary, Psychoanalytical school of thought believed that the initial years of life are critical, "at the end of which creative ability becomes fixed" (Dacey & Lennon, 1998, p.151.) This view opposes the psychoanalytic view and

Service Learning English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Service Learning English - Essay Example Without ethics, society’s ill-tendency will not be tempered by restraint. Such, there is a need to teach ethics among students while their minds are still formative and is still in the preparation stage of life. When students become adults and professionals, it will become extremely difficult if not impossible to teach ethics. Teaching ethics among students will not only make them better in practicing their prospective careers in the future but will also prevent similar scandals which have badly damaged our economy. To ensure that ethics will be taught properly, it has to be incorporated in our curriculum. This value has to be reflected and practiced in the school level because this is the institution where our values as individuals and citizens are being formed. The best method to teach it is through service learning. â€Å"Service-learning is an instructional method that integrates theoretical learning with real life experimentation and community service† (Farazmand e t al., 2010). Teaching ethics is better learned when it becomes experiential. Unlike any theoretical concepts taught in a classroom setting, ethics is based in real world where its efficacy is measured not in understanding but more of practicing it. The most important element of service learning is that it is based on a â€Å"real world† where it will later be used (Judge, 2006). Service learning is not just a teaching methodology. It also meant practicing the sense of belongingness by actually serving the community that he or she is or part of. Only through it can a student can feel that he or she belongs to something bigger than him or herself. Only through this he or she will realize that by giving a part of himself or herself, he or she can make a difference. This idea of service learning is not about servile subservience. Doing service learning is not subjecting oneself to anybody’s whim or caprice but rather a voluntary initiative to make a difference; to be a pa rt of something bigger than oneself. It is a learning process that by practice, a student will realize that giving a part of himself or herself to the community produces a personal satisfaction that cannot be taught in a classroom. Service-learning is an instructional method that integrates theoretical learning with real life experimentation and community service (Farazmand et al., 2010). It has to be felt to be learned. Lectures and books can only do so much. â€Å"Texts, equations or graphs on the chalkboard and assigning students readings from a standard textbooks† (Mungaray et al., 2007) is not effective. This method only underlines a reality of a teaching method that promotes an environment where the students passively listen to the teacher without any direct involvement in the process or any feedback from or exchange with the professor or other students. This passiveness is reflected in the lack of experience to look for and use data, analyze real world situations with the support of the theories and instruments learned in class and discuss issues beyond the textbook (Mungaray et al., 2007). To really learn it, the lesson has to be experienced. .After all, knowledge can only be perfected by experience and there is no better way of learning ethics than by experiencing it. Service learning does not have to be forced to the students. When it is imposed to the students, it will be seen more as a chore that they can no

Contempory Issues in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contempory Issues in Business - Essay Example Virgin Trains is known for its reliable, fast, and quality trains not only in the past but today as well. Moreover, it is now considered to be one of the most trustworthy and experienced train companies operating in Britain (Virgin Trains. 2005). Technology Used by Virgin Trains Virgin Trains is a perfect example of a business organization which has made use of technology in the most efficient manner. It has employed quite a few types of technologies to improve its areas of functions. Tilting technology employed by Virgins Trains has resulted in tremendous amount of boost in speed, thereby considerably reducing the journey times between different places on West Coast Main Line. Virgin Group is making the use of tilting technology in all of its upcoming models. Virgin Group has signed a contract with ALSTOM Transport, a French multinational company, to manufacture tilting trains for the West Coast Main Line. Virgin Trains also uses another interesting and highly interactive technology of Wi-Fi that allows passengers to swiftly access wireless internet on their laptops or electronic handheld devices while travelling on the train. In addition to that, Virgin Trains has opted for GOSS iCM (Intelligent Content Management) as its Web Content Management System. The installation of this intranet system has facilitated the utilization of Web 2.0 Applications which provides information related to weather, signals, train departures and arrivals. Virgin Trains has also been successful in developing a hi-tech system on its trains and stations such as Birmingham New Street. This system comprises of boards which display the departure and arrival times, and get automatically updated through the tracks on a live basis, thus exhibiting the effectiveness of Real Time Technology (GOSS, 2012). Impact of Technology on Virgin Trains When Virgin Trains executed its first project of implementing tilting technology in Advanced Passenger Train, the news promulgated around the world and t he company’s status enhanced with the word of mouth marketing done by the passengers. This technology also helped Virgin Trains in enhancing its relationships with Fiat Ferroviaria and ALSTON, the two gigantic corporations that had formed a mutual enterprise to supply tilting services to the models of Virgin Trains. They completed their first project of Virgin Trains which was quite a huge success for the company and at the same time proved a strong opponent against other high-speed trains in the country (Lagandijk et al. 2005). Use of wireless internet over the board has also enabled Virgin Trains to mark out their separate identity and has also proved to be a way of gaining greater market share by targeting business travellers who find this service very useful (BTN, 2011). The decision to setup Web Content management System (WCMS), which functions as an interactive Intranet has instilled the company with the components of social networking. In this manner, the improvements made in the online availability of information have certainly yielded positive results for the company. The transfer of data to the online system has resulted in more efficient use of time and resources for the organization with reduction in paper consumption and red tapes as well. There were several technical issues particularly related to communication associated with the traditional legacy notes system of Virgin Trains. However, the installation

Review Questions Week 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review Questions Week 9 - Essay Example Leaders, such as Martin Luther King incorporated their command of oration and language through stylistic devices such as rhetoric and analogy to reach out to the masses. A charismatic leader has a vision that they work towards and are well equipped in communication techniques with which to share said vision with their followers. They have confidence, a strong conviction in their beliefs, and draw trust from their followers. They actively participate in their movements and are not afraid to take on risks. They strive towards creating formidable bonds with their followers and empower them towards bettering themselves. They use their strengths and admirable elements to sell their ideas to their audiences. Most notably, they are not ashamed or guilty of their beliefs and their ventures. Overtime, leaders have had characteristics that made their style of leadership charismatic. Martin Luther King can best be described as Trustworthy. Mahatma Gandhi through his wisdom brought about empowerment to his followers. Adolf Hitler, in an almost similar way, used his excellent communication skills to sell his beliefs. Nelson Mandela’s vision led to the developed establishment that South Africa is. David Koresh, in spite of his destructive doings, experienced no form of remorse or guilt whatsoever. J.F. Kennedy and Richard Branson are good illustrations of risk orientation and self promotion respectively. The theory of charisma can bear both negativity and positivity and hence its reference as a â€Å"double edged sword.† Leaders that bear positivity are those that empower others and are referred to as socialized charismatic leaders. Their counterparts are self centered and referred to as personalized charismatic leaders. The charismatic leadership theory falls short in its argument that charismatic leaders are identified from situations of crisis as opposed to the outstanding nature of

Is Hamlet insane or merely pretending insanity Why Essay

Is Hamlet insane or merely pretending insanity Why - Essay Example The ambience is eerie and unnerving. The appearance of the ghost makes it even more mysterious and intense. In such a context it is difficult to maintain composure and remain sane and more so for a prince. A question about Hamlet’s insanity may be put in the mind of the audience due to the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet’s speaking to it. But it is offset by the earlier appearance of the same ghost in Elsinore, after the stroke of twelve, in front of Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus and vanishing by the sound of the morning cock. Thus Hamlet is not uniquely mad to have witnessed the visitations of the ghost of his father. However as the play progresses, we come to know clearly that Hamlet is not mad. He has planned to feign madness in order to convince his enemy that he is unaware of the truth about his father’s foul murder by his uncle. In the beginning Hamlet is distressed and says: â€Å"O God! O God! How weary, stale and unprofitable seem to me all the use s of the worlds.† He seems to be undergoing tremendous depression. In Elizabethan age, hallucinations were often associated with acute depression. Thus, in the beginning, it might seem that out protagonist is going through a period of deep depression of un-proportionate amount and this justifies the visions of the ghost. This type of thought was prevalent in the Elizabethan era. The unexpected death of his father and the almost instant re-marriage of his mother to his uncle were causes good enough to cause mental and emotional instability and unhinge his mind. Instead we see that despite his deep grief, he immediately transforms into his own, normal, commanding self when the players enter: â€Å"You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am glad to see thee well.† Hamlet in fact can be viewed to possess an extremely logical and cunning mind. He himself is not sure about the truthfulness of the ghost’s pronouncements. To ensure that it is not a trap laid by an evil spirit, he plans to write a play about the truth that he believes about his father’s death and plans to play it in front of the King and the Queen. He also warns his close friend Horatio and asks him not to be alarmed at his â€Å"antic disposition†. He sets the trap and during the play he sets his eyes on his uncle to follow his reactions as the play unfolds. He hurriedly leaves. Hamlet is convinced and starts planning his next steps. Hamlet plays the role of his contrived madness very convincingly. Ophelia thinks that he has been â€Å"loosed out of hell. To speak of horrors he comes before me.† Polonius is also convinced that Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia: â€Å"He knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger; he is far gone, far gone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hamlet is so clever that he even convinces his mother Queen Gertrude: â€Å"Alas how is’t with you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The queen’s suspicion is even more aggravated when Hamlet again experienc es his father’s visitations in front of his mother. He also speaks to it and this convinces the queen that his son is â€Å"mad as the sea and wind†. In fact Hamlet’s manifestations of madness changes according to the persons he is which. He feigns madness in front of Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But in front of Horatio, Bernardo, Francisco and the Actors in the play, he acts normally. However Polonius says that: â€Å"actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness. Polonius

Teams and teamwork receive more and more attention in the study of Essay

Teams and teamwork receive more and more attention in the study of Organizational Behavior. Why is that so What are the characteristics of a high performing - Essay Example ior studies and applies knowledge about how individuals and groups act in organizations, taking a system approach: people-organization relationships are interpreted in terms of the person, group, organization, and the whole social system, with the purpose of improving the relationships through achieving human, organizational and social objectives simultaneously (Clark 2005). Buckley, Beu, Novicevic, and Sigerstad (2001) in their article devoted to the management of generation next, as they call it, note, that the modern workplace is characterized by such factors as growth of technology, service orientation, work flexibility, and empowered teams. Teams, consisting of individuals with various specializations and competencies, have become an important and integral element of organizations. Teams are used for complex tasks, integrating diverse groups into the work force. Whereas organizations develop a leader approach to staffing, teams move toward self-management, and the number of management positions available for promotion decreases. These changes in organization have put new tasks in front of managers and common workers. The manager of today has to have cross-functional competencies corresponding to all the roles fulfilled by the teams he guides. He should know how to gather and lead such cross-functional and global teams in order to make them work eff ectively. New entrants to work should be ready to continuously develop strong team skills and learn how to be an effective team member, develop the network of professional relationships matching all the roles one needs for teamwork, learn the politics of tolerance and be able to employ â€Å"a soft communication and hard negotiation style†, to keep one’s domain feeling virtually unemployed and in demand. These are some of the advices the authors give, revealing to us the important notions of the modern organization and workplace. This article is not the only one. Teams and teamwork in the conditions of global

Is Hamlet insane or merely pretending insanity Why Essay

Is Hamlet insane or merely pretending insanity Why - Essay Example The ambience is eerie and unnerving. The appearance of the ghost makes it even more mysterious and intense. In such a context it is difficult to maintain composure and remain sane and more so for a prince. A question about Hamlet’s insanity may be put in the mind of the audience due to the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet’s speaking to it. But it is offset by the earlier appearance of the same ghost in Elsinore, after the stroke of twelve, in front of Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus and vanishing by the sound of the morning cock. Thus Hamlet is not uniquely mad to have witnessed the visitations of the ghost of his father. However as the play progresses, we come to know clearly that Hamlet is not mad. He has planned to feign madness in order to convince his enemy that he is unaware of the truth about his father’s foul murder by his uncle. In the beginning Hamlet is distressed and says: â€Å"O God! O God! How weary, stale and unprofitable seem to me all the use s of the worlds.† He seems to be undergoing tremendous depression. In Elizabethan age, hallucinations were often associated with acute depression. Thus, in the beginning, it might seem that out protagonist is going through a period of deep depression of un-proportionate amount and this justifies the visions of the ghost. This type of thought was prevalent in the Elizabethan era. The unexpected death of his father and the almost instant re-marriage of his mother to his uncle were causes good enough to cause mental and emotional instability and unhinge his mind. Instead we see that despite his deep grief, he immediately transforms into his own, normal, commanding self when the players enter: â€Å"You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am glad to see thee well.† Hamlet in fact can be viewed to possess an extremely logical and cunning mind. He himself is not sure about the truthfulness of the ghost’s pronouncements. To ensure that it is not a trap laid by an evil spirit, he plans to write a play about the truth that he believes about his father’s death and plans to play it in front of the King and the Queen. He also warns his close friend Horatio and asks him not to be alarmed at his â€Å"antic disposition†. He sets the trap and during the play he sets his eyes on his uncle to follow his reactions as the play unfolds. He hurriedly leaves. Hamlet is convinced and starts planning his next steps. Hamlet plays the role of his contrived madness very convincingly. Ophelia thinks that he has been â€Å"loosed out of hell. To speak of horrors he comes before me.† Polonius is also convinced that Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia: â€Å"He knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger; he is far gone, far gone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hamlet is so clever that he even convinces his mother Queen Gertrude: â€Å"Alas how is’t with you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The queen’s suspicion is even more aggravated when Hamlet again experienc es his father’s visitations in front of his mother. He also speaks to it and this convinces the queen that his son is â€Å"mad as the sea and wind†. In fact Hamlet’s manifestations of madness changes according to the persons he is which. He feigns madness in front of Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But in front of Horatio, Bernardo, Francisco and the Actors in the play, he acts normally. However Polonius says that: â€Å"actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness. Polonius

Drug abuse program Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Drug abuse program - Assignment Example In the past two decades, many measures have been taken by the government in order to improve the delivery of health care services particularly with reference to the drug abuse treatment and psychological health improvement in the Los Angeles County. People addicted to substance abuse that also suffer from mental problems are said to have dual diagnosis. Measures have been taken to increase the access of dually diagnosed people to medical care and coordinate the required services for such individuals. To make the system more efficient, it was imperative that the current status of the delivery of service was thoroughly researched. In order to achieve that, a study was conducted in which the administrators and the treatment staff of the programs based on substance abuse and mental health, who served the dually diagnosed patients were involved. A total of 15 administrators and 99 staff members considered the accessibility of the dually diagnosed patients to health care services and the c oordination of health care services much lower in comparison to 10 mental health administrators and 136 staff members, who gave a higher rating on each of the two factors (Grella, Gil-Rivas, and Cooper, 2004). In order to improve the coordination in the delivery of mental health services in substance abuse treatment and mental health improvement programs, the divergence in the concepts of the administrators needs to be lessened first because efficient working of the system requires them to work in close collaboration with one another.

Case Study Analysis Ppaer Essay Example for Free

Case Study Analysis Ppaer Essay Introduction A number of problems were made during the recent hiring process. This case Study is an attempt to identify and recommend ways to improve this process. From the information that has been obtained, I believe that a lack of employee experience and a lack of prior planning and follow up resulted in a failure to accomplish all the task necessary to hire the new employees in a timely fashion. ?Background Carol Robins, a new campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. , in early April he was able to hire 15 new trainees who were destined to work for Monica Carrolls,  the operations supervisor. From the interviews that were conducted, it appears that Carl was unable to accomplish all of the tasks necessary so that the new hires could begin work. These tasks included documentation, drug testing, material preparation for the orientation, and facility scheduling. Monica Carrolls did contact Carl on May 15 concerning his process with the hiring process. Other employees had failed to keep the paper copy of the master orientation manual current so that it can be quickly copied. Another factor appears the rapid expansion of the company. Alternatives With more than one problem a major focus on a number of different Solutions, such as, Prior planning by Carl could have eliminated some of the issues; however, Carls in experience would probably still have resulted in there being some problems. The company has failed to provide relatively inexperienced employees, like Carl, with comprehensive procedures and job practices. Under the topic of supervision, Monica Carrolls could have made contact more often with Carl. But her job, as operations manager, does not include his supervision. Another solution to the supervision problem could be to increase the staff in the human resources department. However, on examination this does not appear to be the most efficient solution due to the increased costs. Another solution would be to maintain the master New Employee Orientation manual in electronic format. Having the manual in electronic form allows for easy updating of the policy and procedures, and prevents inadvertent loss or damage to that document. This method is cost effective and easily implemented. ?Proposed Solutions. A New Employee Checklist will be created with all pre-employed tasks listed on it. ?The Employee Orientation manual will be maintained in an electronic format. ?Some of the pre-employment tasks will become the responsibility of the potential employees to accomplish. Potential employees will report when the tasks have been completed. A member of the human resource staff will confirm that the task has been completed correctly. ?Employees like, Carl Robins, will be required to submit weekly reports detailing the current status of all potential employees. ?Recommendations New employees are the only way the work of this organization gets accomplished. Everyone efforts to sustain the continued growth and profits of this company cannot be ignored. With the continued growth of the company the proposed solutions that the employee will make on that day may need to be modified as the company becomes larger. I would recommend that a periodic review of the hiring process; looking for ways to improve it. And also a review should be done on an annual basis.

Does Austerity Work?

Does Austerity Work? Critically evaluate claims that austerity is the most effective strategy to counter a recession. Austerity is one of the most controversial economic policies, not only because there is an ongoing debate between academics and policy makers about its effectiveness and consequences, but also because it effects the life of millions and have caused many political and social turmoil when implemented. The advocate of this policy argues that it is the most effective and even more; it is the solution regardless of the structure of the economy and the cause of the economic downturn or recession. I will argue that this is not true, and that there are other policy designs that proved effective and delivered good results with less social cost in term of unemployment, social disturbances and welfare reduction. Austerity measures were recommended by policy makers in advanced economies as well as international organizations such as the IMF and the Word Bank. They were prescribed as a remedy in many economics situations and contexts in the developing countries, for example: Latin America sovereign debt crisis and the Asian crisis, furthermore in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007 and the great rescission that followed austerity policies were implemented or advocated in developed economies like UK, USA and part of the debt troubled EU countries referred to as PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) (Blyth, 2013). But it is important to first define what is meant by austerity and what is the underlying economic theory behind it. Usually when economists or policy makers refer to austerity they generally mean the reduction in the structural deficit in the government budget regardless of its effect on the business cycle, and it is also refers to the policy of reducing the size of the public sector in general (Room, 2015). This can be done through lowering the government expenditure (like social and welfare benefits, spending on infrastructure and healthcare, lowering wages, etc.). The underlying economic reasoning behind austerity policy is that high level of public debt is a burden on the future generations because any debt should be paid in the future from budget surpluses raised form tax payers. It also cause higher level of interest rate (due to higher demand by government) which in turn discourage private investment. Accordingly austerity policy by reducing the government expenditure will re duce the public debt, consequently increase confidence in the economy, reduce interest rates and consequently stimulate private investment spending and the economy. A common theme in austerity policy is the believe that government intervention itself through fiscal policy is the source of economic imbalances and it associate crisis with bad public finance management and reckless spending behavior (Wren-Lewis, 2016). The advocate of austerity say that the national economy cannot grow out of debt. Some scholars argue that if the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) is reach 90% for advanced economies, or 60% for emerging economies, the debt will slow down economic growth (Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). In this situation, the economy can easily experience financial crises because the investor confidence will fall, and this will make foreign direct investment become less (Konzelmann, 2014; Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). Another connected idea is that high level of debt means that the government needs to take capital resources from the community to pay for it, and this will also slow the growth of the economy. The national economies with high debt therefore likely to raise interest rates to encourage demand for government bonds, and this will make it more expensive for the public to borrow money. The result of this expense is low consumption and growth, so the economy will steadily decline (Boccia , 2013). The high interest rates also make the currency become more valuable, which means that exports slow down because they become more expensive for international market, and this will also slow down the economy (Patillo et al., 2002). The advocate of austerity therefore argue that high levels of debt will cause the economy to slow down, and say that cutting debt, which austerity does, is the best way to help countries with high debt to achieve growth (Blyth, 2013). There are ample of evidence contradicting the argument that the austerity is always a solution to recession. An analysis of the performance and consequences of such policies suggest that austerity policy in practice led in many instances to worsening the recession and budget deficit mainly due to its blind application and its tendency to ignore the different economic structure for each country, in fact it worsen the symptoms that it designed to cure (Haltom and Lubik, 2013). Lets look at the experience of Spain with austerity. Before the 2007 financial crisis Spain had enjoyed robust economy with long period of growth led by the real estate sector, the budget was actually in surplus at around 2.5% of the GDP. When the crisis of 2007 hit Spain economic vulnerabilities; mainly uncompetitive private sector and the over reliance on real estate sector and excessive borrowing by the private sector. The crisis resulted in lower demand and hence lower tax collection and budget deficit. Furth ermore deterioration in bank assets quality and solvency problem surfaced (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In 2010 Spain like many other troubled EU countries implemented the austerity formula i.e. cut spending. This solution was based on misinterpretation of the crisis cause in Spain (and southern Europe in general) that the crisis is caused by the mismanaged public finances, so not surprisingly was the result, instead of the expansionary austerity Spain got stuck of a vicious circle of lower demand (driven by lower government spending), lower tax collection (revenues), higher unemployment and further deterioration of the financial sector health (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In fact this was the situation of all the EU countries that implemented austerities, as we can show from the economic performance of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) since 2008. For all these countries, austerity made their debt increase, not decline, and economic activity slowed down (Blyth, 2013). In Greece, the ration of debt to GDP grew from 106% to 170% from 2007 to 2012, even though there w as much austerity cuts. The same case happened on Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. The economist Paul Krugman pointed out that the idea of austerity collapsed under the empirical results of the policy of austerity, and he refers to the academic and research body that supported austerity did not stand scrutiny and turned out to be based on dubious statistical methods and sometimes outright mistakes (Krugman, 2015). In similar way, Simon Wren-Lewis (2016) observed that the austerity in Europe was unnecessary outcome of the fiscal contraction. In other words, the European countries could have successfully run a gradual fiscal consolidation accompanied with expansionary monetary policy by the ECB to offset the contractionary effect of the fiscal policy. However in case of Europe in 2010 the interest rates was already at zero and there was no room for expansionary monetary policy (a situation also referred to as liquidity trap), so postponing fiscal consolidation would not just delay austerity but avoid it all together (Wren-Lewis, 2016). It is therefore very clear that austerity cannot be a solution for recessions, but the question is then what can be the cure. If we go back in the recent history of the economic theory and policy we can establish that there have been examples of an alternative economic policy to austerity that has successfully dealt with recessions and restored the economic activity to the growth path. This policy was the Keynesian economic that prevailed for a period of 30 years from the world war II till late 1970s. Keynes model of how the economy works are based on the idea that when there is economic downturn and since business expectation in the recession are low because of the uncertainty only the government has can restore confidence to the economy and the policy recommendation is to increase government spending (expansionary fiscal policy) to boost he general level of economic activity, increase demand and compensate for the lower private demand (Burton, 2016). This is the very opposite of th e idea of austerity, and many economists now argue the same thing. Paul Krugman (2012) is a famous example of this argument. Krugman rejects the idea of austerity, and argues that to help the economy come out of the recession it is necessary for the government to increase debt. The foundation of this argument is the nature of debt. Krugman (2012) says that the economist must consider public debt and private debt as two separate things, rather than just the same. His reason for this idea is that, first, private debt needs to be recompensed, but this is not the issue with government debt. For the governments, it is just necessary to make sure that there is enough tax to cover debts. Another difference is that in private debt the money is owed to someone else, but government debt is money that the government owes to itself and to the country, such as pensions and other requirements (Krugman 2012). If these differences are considered, it becomes clear that in a situation of high personal debt, a good solution is for the government to take on higher debt to help boost the economic activity (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012). Krugman and Eggertsson (2012) argue that fiscal expenditure must be used to maintain employment, productivity and earnings at the time that private debt is decreased, because this will keep the tax earnings up and permit the government to decrease its own debt when the recession is over. Beside, increased financial expansion will work better in a situation where interest rates are lower, because there will be lower crowding out of private business (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012: 1490). In such situations, financial stimulus will therefore boost economic activity and give good growth to GDP, while decreases in public spending will have the opposite effect, slowing growth and bringing GDP down (Holland and Portes, 2012). In this essay, I have shown the foundation of the idea of austerity and explained why the economists who believe it say that it is the solution for the situation of a recession. The advocate of austerity argues that high public debt makes it more expensive to obtain a loan, and this causes the economy to slow. Furthermore, it also causes currency inflation, which causes exports to become more expensive and slows economic activity. FDI also slows down, and all these factors together mean that the economy cannot achieve any development. The solution of austerity is therefore to cut public spending to bring down the public debt. However, the empirical evidence of the effects of austerity measures show that it is not a useful policy to achieve these ends. In countries such as Greece, Spain and others where austerity has been used, austerity has caused the opposite of these results: ratio of debt to GDP gets higher and higher, unemployment rises, economic growth slows, and the recession b ecomes worse. The reason for this fail of austerity to solve the problem is because the advocate of austerity does not differentiate between public debt and private debt, as Krugman (2012) argues. In the recession, if the government takes on more debt through implementing fiscal stimulus, it can stimulate economic activity by allowing people to spend and take loans. This will increase the circulation of capital, which will have many positive effects in bringing about growth. Then, when the private debt level is high and the economy is more active, the government can reduce its financial stimulus to bring down its debt. In both theoretically and empirically, it is clear that austerity cannot solve the problems that cause recession, and it therefore necessary to consider the alternatives. References Dauderstà ¤dt, M. ed., 2013. Alternatives to Austerity: Progressive Growth Strategies for Europe. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Krugman, P., 2015. The austerity delusion. The Guardian, 29. Room, G., 2015. Alternatives to Austerity. Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath. (IPR Spotlight) Haltom, R.C. and Lubik, T.A., 2013. Is Fiscal Austerity Good for the Economy?. Richmond Fed Economic Brief, (Sept), pp.1-5. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_dialogue/@actrav/documents/publication/wcms_158927.pdf Wren-Lewis, S., 2016. A general theory of austerity. BSG Working Paper Series, University of Oxford. Blyth, M., 2013. Austerity: The history of a dangerous idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dellepiane Avellaneda, Sebastian and Hardiman, Niamh (2012) The New Politics of Austerity : Fiscal Responses to Crisis in Ireland and Spain. Working paper. UCD Geary Institute, Dublin. Burton, M., 2016. Is Austerity Necessary?. In The Politics of Austerity (pp. 189-204). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Reinhart, Carmen and Kenneth Rogoff. 2010. Growth in a time of debt. The American Economic Review100(2): 573-578. Konzelmann, Suzanne J. 2014. The Political Economics of Austerity. Cambridge Journal of Economics38(4): 701-741. Boccia, Romina. 2013. How the United States High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans. Backgrounder 2768: 1-8. Pattillo, C.A., Poirson, H. and Ricci, L.A., 2002. External debt and growth (No. 2002-2069). International Monetary Fund. Krugman, Paul. 2012. Nobody Understands Debt. The New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Accessed 28 October 2014. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html?_r=1 Krugman, Paul and Gauti Eggertsson. 2012, Debt, Deleveraging, and the Liquidity Trap: a Fisher-Minsky-Koo approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127(3): 1469-1518. Holland, Dawn and Jonathan Portes. 2012. Self-Defeating Austerity? National Institute Economic Review 222(222): 4-10.

Interview Essay - Jacey Hart -- Interview Essays

Interview Essay - Jacey Hart J.C. Hart is a native Californian, and was born June 10, 1927, in Inglewood. She has been married to her husband, Jim for fifty-two years. Together they have raised one son and two daughters, who also reside in Southern California. J.C. feels that her family and marriage have provided the foundation for happiness in her life. When she married Jim in 1948, she found great happiness just in spending time with him. Over the years her definition of happiness has changed. J.C.'s children were of foremost importance in her life and added to her happiness. Certain years spent working also contributed to her happiness. She said, "The emphasis has changed, but not the foundation." Sometimes J.C. knew she was happy because she felt euphoric, but mainly her feelings of happiness come from being content. She said that she feels more satisfied than happy now when accomplishing something. "I'm not likely to reach out, because negative emotions were not always welcomed." But she feels that her husband, Jim has played a significant role in helping her cope with unhappiness. Because of his sensitivity towards her, J.C. hasn't experienced any "serious sorrows." She doesn't like to spend time feeling low. Physical activities and a sense of accomplishment help lighten her mood. She enjoys participating in Saddleback College's exercise classes that are held in Leisure World. Companionship, singing in her church, and watching sunrises, sunsets and the moon are important activities for J.C.'s sense of happiness. There are a couple of things make J.C. unhappy. One is when she gets discouraged when her time is spent unproductively. She is a fan of PBS, and enjoys spending some of her time watching their many fasc... ... faith and more on intellectual challenges, and social/political awareness. J.C. believes that parents today seem to put more emphasis on enjoying their children, rather than on being a "successful parent." She says that enjoying your children, and parenting them with love, respect and a positive attitude is a great way to achieve happiness. To achieve happiness, J.C. suggests that a person should be willing to keep learning, act on positive impulses, not put things off, and take good care of their health. Summarizing this advice with her philosophy on life, she emphasized the importance of striking a balance between your family, your social life, the contributions you make to society, and the accomplishment of your desired goals. After meeting J.C. Hart, I feel that her last name should be HEART. She has an aura of love, warmth, and wisdom that touched Me. Interview Essay - Jacey Hart -- Interview Essays Interview Essay - Jacey Hart J.C. Hart is a native Californian, and was born June 10, 1927, in Inglewood. She has been married to her husband, Jim for fifty-two years. Together they have raised one son and two daughters, who also reside in Southern California. J.C. feels that her family and marriage have provided the foundation for happiness in her life. When she married Jim in 1948, she found great happiness just in spending time with him. Over the years her definition of happiness has changed. J.C.'s children were of foremost importance in her life and added to her happiness. Certain years spent working also contributed to her happiness. She said, "The emphasis has changed, but not the foundation." Sometimes J.C. knew she was happy because she felt euphoric, but mainly her feelings of happiness come from being content. She said that she feels more satisfied than happy now when accomplishing something. "I'm not likely to reach out, because negative emotions were not always welcomed." But she feels that her husband, Jim has played a significant role in helping her cope with unhappiness. Because of his sensitivity towards her, J.C. hasn't experienced any "serious sorrows." She doesn't like to spend time feeling low. Physical activities and a sense of accomplishment help lighten her mood. She enjoys participating in Saddleback College's exercise classes that are held in Leisure World. Companionship, singing in her church, and watching sunrises, sunsets and the moon are important activities for J.C.'s sense of happiness. There are a couple of things make J.C. unhappy. One is when she gets discouraged when her time is spent unproductively. She is a fan of PBS, and enjoys spending some of her time watching their many fasc... ... faith and more on intellectual challenges, and social/political awareness. J.C. believes that parents today seem to put more emphasis on enjoying their children, rather than on being a "successful parent." She says that enjoying your children, and parenting them with love, respect and a positive attitude is a great way to achieve happiness. To achieve happiness, J.C. suggests that a person should be willing to keep learning, act on positive impulses, not put things off, and take good care of their health. Summarizing this advice with her philosophy on life, she emphasized the importance of striking a balance between your family, your social life, the contributions you make to society, and the accomplishment of your desired goals. After meeting J.C. Hart, I feel that her last name should be HEART. She has an aura of love, warmth, and wisdom that touched Me.

Reflective Essay on Communication

I am a health care assistant (HCA) on an elderly care surgical ward and we nurse many different patients who have had elective surgery and corrective surgery after a trauma. I have a lot of contact with patients who suffer with dementia, ongoing confusion due to urinary tract infections and can often display challenging and aggressive behavior.I have found on a daily basis that patients become can frustrated when they cannot communicate what they want, and I was sure that with my strong accent I would come across as harsh. This left me feeling worried and sometimes inadequate because it is in my job and personal nature to want to help those in my care. As part of my Personal Assessment Document (PAD) my mentor and I decided that I would I would push myself to speak with patients more and see how they reacted to me. I would read the patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s purple à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“This is meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  folder to try and engage them on a more personal level.With this reflective ac count I will be discussing an experience that I had on my ward and how through reflection I have managed to gain more confidence in my ability to talk to my patients and convey my compassion in the way I communicate with the patients in my care.I will use the reflective framework devised by Atkin and Murphy (1994) to construct this account. It is the right model of reflection for me to look back and learn from my experiences.Personally, being a good student and health carer does not just come with reflection in the mind but also reflective practice which, according to the nursing standard à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“enables a student to develop their skills, increase their knowledge and deal with emotionally challenging situationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (RCN 2012). Reflection is something that should be engaged with on an everyday basis and from very early on in your health care career. It enables you to carry on caring about the patients you treat and how to improve yourself personally and professiona lly.I enjoy both the personal rewards and the challenges that go hand in hand with working with patients with dementia. I find that on the drive home I tend re-evaluate everything in my life and be grateful for the now. A patient whom will go by the pseudonym of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Pollyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  to maintain her confidentiality (The NMC Code of professional Conduct, 2004) was admitted to the ward with a fracture to the neck of her femur.I was advised that the patient was very confused, and would spit at staff and be both physically and verbally aggressive when approached but would constantly cry out that she needed help. She was in the early to middle stages of Alzheimerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s disease and had come from a care home for those suffering with dementia. Alzheimerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s disease is characterised à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“by the loss of short term memory, deterioration in both behaviour and intellectual performance and slowness of thoughtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Dictionary of Nurs ing 1998).In handover that morning I found that I would be working with her that day, and as she was post operative I would need to wash her and try to mobilise her to sit out in her chair so that the physiotherapists could help her to walk again and get her on the pathway to being discharged back to her care home. I found that I was nervous in approaching this patient as I did not want to upset her or get hurt. Personally I would always wake patients like Polly who require the attention of more than one member of staff last as it is better to leave the patient to sleep so that they are well rested. That, and from handover I had learned that Polly had experienced a rather active night.Before waking Polly I had read her personal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“This is meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  purple file to find out if she had any preferred names, and how she liked to be spoken too. This is me was devised by the Alzheimerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s society and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“is intended to provide professionals w ith information about the person with dementia as an individual. This will enhance the care and support given while the person is in an unfamiliar environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“(Alzheimerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"s society 2011). With this information I could help maintain a similar routine for Polly and I would not confuse her by overloading her with too many questions and instructions.I woke Polly up gently, and sat myself down in the chair by her bed so that I was not standing over her. I spent almost thirty minutes with Polly getting her up and ready, the patient did not get upset or frustrated with me, and  she was able to do most of the washing and dressing herself with help from me. Once this was completed I handed over to physiotherapists that they too should take this approach with Polly.I spent twelve days in total with Polly. In this time she was aggressive with me, and she would spit at me when I approached her. Yet, once I used her preferred name and tailored my approach to what sh e needed from me, I found that Polly was a pleasant and wonderful lady, who could be the complete opposite to the patient that was first handed over to me that first morning.Morris and Morris state that the symptoms of dementia are experienced by each person in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“their own unique wayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (2010) and this is reinforced by the publication of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“this is meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  leaflet. It enables staff to really look at each individual patient and assess what their needs are. In reflection, if I had not read this leaflet and just gone ahead and woke Polly up as I do each patient, the events of the day could have taken a very different path. I found that by talking to Polly as requested in her leaflet that she reacted in a calmer manner and did not get as anxious or frustrated as quickly as my colleagues had prepared me to think.Reflecting over my first day with Polly, I do not remember struggling to say my words more clearly than what I normally would have done. Polly was not deaf, nor was she a child and I kept it in my mind that this patient was still a scared lady who had broken a big part of her body and was in a large amount of pain. Furthermore, she might not be able to communicate this fact as clearly as someone without dementia.Hobson states that, the HCA will need to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“learn to adapt how they attempt to understand what the person is saying to themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and that this can only be achieved by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“entering the same world as the person with dementiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (2012, P337). At times Polly would pretend to cry like a child and repeat the words à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Oh Mummy, mum, mum. Oh Mummyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  but not be able to give an answer when questioned what was wrong and how could we help her. Taking this into consideration, Polly might not be actually asking for her Mum but actually trying to communicate a much deeper need.My understanding of how patients with dementia communicate lead me to point to Pollyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hip and ask her if she felt pain there when she moved, to which she replied yes she did. In reflection I found this was a much better approach rather than just asking if Polly wanted any pain relief. Elkins has stated that asking the patient with dementia a direct question is almost a waste of time, as the patient does not have the information to give you. Instead it is more beneficial for the patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sense of self worth to ask them a question with an optional answer of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“yesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“noà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . It could also be said that a statement rather than a question is better because it leaves the patient feeling more in control (2011).From this experience, I suggested to the nurses that when doing their drug round that they should lower themselves down to Pollyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s eye level and ask her if her hip hurt her, rather than standing at the end of her bed or beside her asking if she wanted any pain relief. This suggestion meant that Polly had more regular pain relief, and as a team we knew when she was in pain.Furthermore, this information could be added to her file and become part of Pollyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s future care pathway. Elkins raised the very same argument that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“once an effective communication bridge had been achieved, the individual is much more like to remain calm and anxiety freeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This would show that dialogue between patient and healthcare professional had been greatly improved and would continue to do so in the future (2011).In reflection, I have found that I was so focused on the need to be understood through my use of English that at times I under-estimated the importance of non-verbal communication. Now, having taken a step back I see that I am almost in the same boat as the patient suffering with dementia, we are both just à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“an individual attempting to communicateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Hobson, 2012) a nd as a HCA the method of employing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“feelings and emotionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  should become more à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“significant than the spoken wordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Hobson, 2012).Although my confidence in speaking to patients is always growing, I am more appreciative of how much more effective my body language, and the tone of my voice can be when communicating with a patient with dementia. Yes, looking after these patients can be a challenge but getting past the dementia and working in ways that compliment the patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mindset will be of more  benefit to the patient. By spending some time reading each patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s information leaflet I am able to help maintain a patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s well being and create a more anxiety free environment for our patients.

Musical Impact Essay

In society today, music is shown to have an impact on ways of life. People within the society are raised with it in some way. Music is always present in society. It is natural then, to wonder about the origin of music. Music is a special type of sound and noises mixed in together. People create the meanings of these sounds and noises to create their own opinions and emotions of expressing themselves. Many people believed that music is created in the mind for this same reason. That we have the sounds and noises that are heard are within our own human being and along that, it can come once we are born with it. Although, this may not be true, due to the differences in today’s society, there are many aspects that can have a control of the musical taste of a person. One’s musical interests are not based on biology, rather the individual’s environment: community, culture, religion, and geography. First of all a community can effect an individual interest in music. The definition of a community is having the same beliefs, resources, needs and risks. When people tend to share and have the same interest they tend to also have the same interest in music. The term â€Å"community music† finds no more resonating tone than within minority groups working toward social acceptance and assimilation (Hayes 6). As shown in the International Journal we can see people tend to stick together in order to have the same identity and be accepted in the group. Also sharing the same risks and resources will help them have communication within each other, making it be easier on them to be able to relate. An example of this would be people in community, such as in Honduras, they have a lot of different beliefs. For example, in the burials, the community gathers around in order to their last goodbye to the deceased. Then they called upon a band, which in their thoughts mean that they celebrate the life of the deceased. They each sing and walk with the burial service and take them around. This event mentioned, to some may be disrespectful, but to Hondurans is a way to communicate with the dead. It shows that they respect him or her and show him or her that they are celebrating the life they had. Having communication in music brings to a community a better aspect to people and it is also very important for them. Yes, they can be sounds and noises to some, but many do not think that way. Like the people in Honduras, their beliefs are very important and they demonstrate them through music. Therefore, a community could determine a person’s interest in music because a community makes an individual do the same thing as other people. Another example would be, if a person listens to rock and they see that other people listen to it too, than they will would go ahead and hear it to. Secondly, culture is also another factor that influences music preferences on individuals. The culture of someone can affect the way of music choices. The two factors that generate culture will be academic knowledge and manners taught to each person (Yudkin 27). Each culture then possesses on its own musical language. This musical language reflects its own traditions, concerns, and activities; and in order to begin to understand the music of another culture, we need to understand something of the nature of its culture systems and the role the music plays in them (Yadkin 5). This is because many of the cultures have different academics and manners taught to them. An example is the culture would be of the Mandinka of Gambia in Senegal, they have a special musician leader, known as a jali. This leader is very important to the tribe due to that fact that he knows all the prayers and all the history of the tribe (Miller 44). As shown in this example each culture has its own special person and holds music as a special part of the community. The important part here is that a person needs to grow up somewhere. That place holds a significant knowledge making them a part of that culture group. With growing with them they hold a place within the culture. Music brings them all together making them communicate with each other easily and bring them normalcy. When this takes place the individual takes the musical knowledge and incorporates it into their system and beliefs. The beliefs that they incorporated can be seen in their academic areas. The literature, dance, and theater cannot go anywhere and do their expected ideas across without music. Music has to be in these areas in order to function well and be able to get the individuals culture across to the people. For example, dance cannot function without music. It gives the person the beats and the melody in order to create the feeling they want to get across to their audience (Miller 57). Dance also has different meanings in culture. A New Yorker can have a different rhythm than a person from China. This difference can be seen with the music they choose for their arts and their dance. It’s really difficult to be able to be prejudice to others cultures, because every culture is different. Music has that effect on society because it teaches the cultures and meanings of one’s society. The mixture of music to other society is also shown. Many of these arts can be seen throughout the world and from them people learn the differences in music. Music such as Jazz, Blues, and Gospels were produced when Europeans and Africans came together during the late nineteenth and twentieth century’s (Miller 61). Here we can see two cultures mixed in together and this is shown through their mix of their own music. Music can bring together worlds and is all due to its simplicity such as using their melodies and sounds. Music creates a new world for many people. The third factor that can affect the music choices of the individuals is the fact of one’s religion. Many religions do not allowed their followers to hear music from the outside world such hip-hop and rock. As said by Kong, â€Å"its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media the moral barricades are manned by bishops (Kong 104)†. An example of this is Christians and Catholics which have very different opinions regarding music. Christians is the larger group that includes Catholics. Christian women followers are not allowed to wear pants or the followers are not able to hear any type of music because in their regard they are preventing is a sin from them. While Catholic Church allowed their followers to wear their clothing with respect to God and be able to choose the type of music they listen to. As seen the music plays a big role due to the fact that Catholic churches make prayers into songs and sing them with their hearts, believing that God can be able to hear them (Miller kj187). While Christians cannot be able to do the same pray and sing to God due to the banned of music within their own. To many this is not unusual seeing the difference of worship. But once looked inside and see the music playing its role is different because it makes people think about what God thinks and which one he would prefer. If it is just music and prayers, then there is no music at all in its gatherings of worship. This is important because music can be seen playing a role in religions and making individuals having a different taste to the one with a Catholic follower. The religion of a person a can limit the person the knowledge of the evolution of the music outside their group. This can make it hard on them to relate to the others outside the society. The last and important factor that can make a difference in ones interest in music is the geography. Many people as seen can have different views and belief but geography make them have a different taste in music. We hear the melody, but we feel the beat. People in all cultures move their bodies to the rhythms of music, whether drumming, dancing, or rocking an infant (Silver and Trainer 2). This is important because a person in Los Angeles California will not have the same beats and rhythm as a person in London, Great Britain. Each part of the world is bound to have some type of music but the music differentiated in each part of the world. As mentioned in the seven themes of music geography â€Å"specific involvement with location of musical activities, such as the compositions and travels of their composers, rather than broader world distributions of regional delineations mentioned in Theme Two† (Nash and Carney 66). This means that even with culture and communities, music was first put into the field of geography due to the travels of the musicians and the spread of their ideas and tunes. This is important because it not only gives a way for questions to arise such the one that geography is the main factor as to the interest of music in humans. Due to the composers traveling, they spread around the ideas meaning that culture is affected and the belief is shaken with these ideas. The population of the countries is also a big factor because due to the fact that people are mixed together. People with different geography regions tend to have a different viewpoint of the world and music can be included in that. In conclusion this can be said, that these types of points can create music interest such one’s environment: community, culture, religion, and geography. This can be reasonable because people cannot be born with music interests. They are shaped by ones environment. People can have the same music interests if they shared the same belief and the same religion where they live. Music is very common in and around the world. Music is therefore a symbol to society because it represents the life and beliefs of people. Music can have a great impact on the life of people and this is important because this makes society. Music is evidently an important part of the lives of human beings. Music is reflected to our society we are in. The four aspects which are one’s community, culture, religion, and geography can determine each person’s interests in music rather than biological. Other factors can also relate to one’s musical preference, but the four aspects are the ones that are most common. Music is bound to be heard everywhere and without music the world would have hard times understanding things. Music is important to our world because it brings us together and also puts life and excitement. Music will always motivate people and will always be part of our lives. Without music, our society wouldn’t be the same including our feelings and impressions about it. Therefore, music brings happiness to our friends, and families, and all the people around the world.