Saturday, August 31, 2019

Payne v. Tennessee Essay

Facts: After spending a morning and afternoon drinking beer and injecting cocaine, Pervis Tyrone Payne entered the apartment of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her two children, Lacie, age two and Nicholas, age three at approximately 3:00 p.m. on June 27th, 1987. Payne made sexual advances toward Charisse Christopher. She resisted, which lead Payne to kill both Charisse and Lacie. Nicholas was found with several severe stab wounds that completely penetrated him front to back, but he managed to survive. Payne was apprehended later that day hiding in the attic of a former girlfriend’s house. Payne was convicted by a jury of two counts of murder. At sentencing, Payne presented the testimony of his mother, father, Bobbie Thomas and a clinical psychologist. These testimonies’ showed Payne was of good character, he attended church and he was of low intelligence and mentally handicapped. The State presented the testimony of Ms. Christopher’s mother, who spoke of the negative impact of the murders on Nicholas. Furthermore, the prosecutor presented argument regarding Nicholas’ experience. The jury sentenced the Payne to death on each count of murder. History: Pervis Tyrone Payne was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the jury sentenced Payne to death on each count of murder. Issue: Does the Eighth Amendment prohibit a capital sentencing jury from considering â€Å"victim impact† evidence relating to the personal characteristics of the victim and the emotional impact of the crimes on the victim’s family? Finding: No. Victim impact evidence shall not be considered according to the United States Supreme Court. This rule was because victim impact evidence presents factors about which the defendant may have been unaware of and therefore, the evidence has nothing to do with the â€Å"blameworthiness† of a particular defendant. So basically, no evidence outside the case and not relating directly to the circumstances of the crime was admitted. In the present case, however, the Supreme Court expressed the view that â€Å"a State may properly conclude that for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendant’s moral culpability and blameworthiness, it should have before it at the sentencing phase evidence of the specific harm caused by the defendant.† So, a State may permit the admission of victim  impact evidence, as the Eighth Amendment presents no per se bar. The Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed the conviction and sentence. The court rejected Payne’s contention that the admission of the grandmother’s testimony and the State’s closing argument constituted prejudicial violations of his rights under the Eighth Amendment as applied in Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989). Rational: The court stated â€Å"Stare decisis is not an inexorable command; rather, ‘it is a principle of policy and not a mechanical formula of adherence to the latest decision.’† So basically, not all laws are set completely in stone and it can change over time from case to case. The court states that neither the law nor the facts supporting the prior cases have changed, merely the personnel of the Supreme Court have changed. My Notes: A few things I noticed was I unclear how Payne could argue that introducing such evidence as the grandmother testimony encourages jurors to decide for the death penalty based on emotions rather than reason. But, having his parents testify that he was of good character as plays on emotion, rather than reason. To me, only after introducing victim impact evidence can the juries meaningfully determine the proper punishment. After all the whole reason for this is to protect the victim right?

Body Image in Brazil and Usa

Body Image in Brazil and USA Four thousand years ago the last of the mammoths were roaming the earth before extinction, anesthesia was still 3800 years away from being discovered, and tools were still being made out of stone. What else was happening that long ago? Humans were performing the first known cases of reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries, documenting back to skin grafts in ancient India. Between the first documented procedures and the early 1800's not a lot progressed aside from the basic tools being used. In 1827, Dr.John Peter Mettaue performed the first cleft palate operation using tools of his own design kicking off the modern plastic surgery advancements. Using the advancements in reconstructive surgeries became increasingly popular during World War I as it was used to save many soldiers' lives throughout the world. In the late 1940’s, following the second World War, the focus of plastic surgery began to shift from medical procedures to save lives in the milita ry to a more public and socialized practice. A boom in the 1960's spread rapidly after the introduction of silicone implants by Dr. Thomas Cronin.Sports Illustrated Magazine issued its first swim suit edition in 1964 featuring a five page spread of bikini clad perfect model bodies that the public was pressured to imitate. Despite the American involvement in Vietnam during the late 60's the trend continued to increase into the 70's when plastic surgery hit an all-time high due to the public discovery of its uses on all parts of the body. Over the decades, countries throughout the world including Brazil and The United States have adopted plastic surgery as an active part of their cultures despite monetary and health costs all because of media and social pressures.The United States and Brazil rank first and second in the world of most plastic surgery procedures, respectively. According to Dr. Daniela Dorneles de Andrade, a psychological research associate at the University of Vienna, t he United States alone underwent 30. 1 million cosmetic surgeries in the year 2009, enough cosmetic surgeries for one in every ten Americans to have undergone some sort of altering procedure. The United States is the only country to top the next leading country, Brazil, which reported 13. 7 million procedures.Based on its population, that amounts to one in every fifteen Brazilians volunteering for of these surgeries in the same year (Dorneles 75). The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports the average cost of plastic surgery procedures being at five thousand dollars in the United States incurring a total revenue topping one hundred and fifty billion dollars a year from voluntary surgeries alone. The figure dwarfs Brazil's reported income from the same procedures however, topping just over fifty million dollars (ASPS).Professor Alexander Edmonds, of Macquarie University, reports that the lack of funds reported by Brazil is due to a philosophy that â€Å"the poor have a right t o be beautiful† (Edmonds, â€Å"Poor† 363). The thought that everyone has a right to undergo plastic surgery, even if they cannot afford it, has been adopted by many Brazilian surgeons. Brazilian surgeons have started clinics that are being funded by federal and municipal budgets to provide procedures to everyone regardless of economic ability (Edmonds, â€Å"Poor† 365). Such acts are not only costing people in American and Brazilian cultures money but also costing them their health.Both psychological and physical health are being put into jeopardy by the procedures themselves and also by the desire to have them done (Edmonds, â€Å"Learning† 470). Health care related spending has nearly tripled in the past three centuries, seventy-eight percent of which linked to complications of cosmetic surgery. Whether it is leaking silicone implants or infections, the surgeries that people are seeking out to make themselves more perfect on the outside are in fact lead ing to more problems than with what they started with (Dorneles 77).Why are people of the world putting themselves through these extensive procedures? University of Amsterdam professor, Alexander Edmonds, says it amounts to nothing more than acceptance and expectance. The pressure to appear as perfect as possible on the outside is largely placed upon the women in both Brazilian and American culture. Such pressure is put upon women, young women most heavily, by media and social groups alike. Social groups are driven by what they see in magazine or on television ads. Media thrives on what social groups are deeming appropriate amongst themselves.The vicious cycle of perfection that American teens and young adults face every day is the same pressure that is seen in Brazil. More and more young people are turning to evasive procedures to correct themselves every day. In 2010 the second most popular gift given to high school graduates in America, trailing closely behind a new car, was that of breast augmentations (Kreimer). These gifts are giving by family members or people who care about the young person's life and they feel that their child will thrive better in life if they help them achieve a better body.This thinking is passed on from generation to the next and is rapidly increasing. One teen who received such a gift was quoted saying, â€Å"My mother, grandmother, two aunts, and stepmother have implants, so if my mom is willing to pay for it, why not? † (qtd in Kriemer). The pressure to appear a certain way is becoming even more important to people of the world with no consideration for the health and financial implications. It is becoming accepted by cultures around the globe as a normal practice.If the past is any indication for the future this issue will become an uncontrollable epidemic. Something needs to be done about how media portrays people but are the thoughts of societies and morals of cultures being influenced by the media or is the media bei ng conformed by the cultures and societies serves? Works Cited ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons). The Plastic Surgery Foundation, 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Dorneles de Andrade, Daniela. â€Å"On Norms and Bodies: Findings from Field Research on Cosmetic Surgery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reproductive Health Matters 18. 35 (2010) : 74-83. Print. Edmonds, Alexander. â€Å"Learning to Love Yourself: Esthetics, Health, and Therapeutics in Brazilian Plastic Surgery. † Routledge Journals 74. 4 (2009) : 465-489. Print. Edmonds, Alexander. â€Å"’The Poor Have the Right To Be Beautiful’: Cosmetic Surgery in Neoliberal Brazil. † Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13. 1 (2007) : 363-381. Print. Kreimer, Susan. â€Å"Teens Getting Breast Implants for Graduation. † Womensenews. Women’s eNews Inc. , 6 June. 2004. Web. 26 Oct 2012.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Criminal Law Essay

1. What kind of strike does the law not allow to form the basis of self-defense claims? d. Preemptive Correct Question 2 The castle exception is an exception to what doctrine? a. the retreat doctrine Question 3 Which of the following cases involves the â€Å"New York Subway Vigilante?† c. People v. Goetz (1986) Correct Question 4 Most defenses are perfect defenses; if they’re successful, defendants are c. acquitted. Question 5 The retreat requirement is weakest or nonexistent when persons are attacked b. in their own homes. Correct Question 6 The defense of consent recognizes the societal value of a. individual autonomy. Correct Question 7 A defense in which the defendant admits the act but claims that, under the circumstances, they aren’t legally responsible is called b. excuse. Correct Question 8 A defense in which the defendant accepts responsibility for the act but claims what they did was right is called a. justification. Correct Question 9 Circumstances that convince fact finders that defendants don’t deserve the maximum penalty for the crime they’re convicted of are called c. mitigating circumstances. Correct Question 10 Which of the following never justifies the use of force against another person? a. retaliation Question 11 At the heart of the choice-of-evils defense is the necessity to prevent a. imminent danger. Correct Question 12 A person who was the initial aggressor can gain a lawful right to self-defense if they do which of the following from the incident they started? b. completely withdraw Correct Question 13 A person can use deadly force against an attacker whom the victim reasonably believes is going to cause them an injury less than death. The attacker is said to be threatening b. serious bodily injury. Correct Question 14 What is the heart of self-defense? a. necessity Correct Question 15 The general rule is that self-defense is available only against what type of attacks? b. Legal Question 16 Which of the following is a key requirement of the necessity defense? a. that no reasonable legal option exists for averting the harm Correct Question 17 The law of self-defense is undergoing b. major transformation. Correct Question 18 In some jurisdictions, a person must retreat before using defensive deadly force if a. he can with complete safety to himself and others. Correct Question 19 Defensive force may be used only if the threat or danger is  d. imminent. Correct Question 20 Evidence that doesn’t amount to a perfect defense might amount to an imperfect defense; that is, defendants are d. guilty of lesser offenses.

Evolution of Nursing Curriculum Essay

Institute of Protestant Deaconesses – Florence Nightingale trained to be a nurse. Two years later she was appointed resident lady superintendent of a hospital for invalid women in Harley Street, London. * 1860 – By the help of wealthy friends, Nightingale used the money to fund the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St. Thomas Hospital. * Ursuline Sisters of Quebec first attempt to train nurses in America who taught the Indian women to care for their sick. * Dr. Valentine Seaman introduced the first regular school for nurses. * The educational endeavour of Florence Nightingale and the Civil War had focused attention in the necessity for the nurses and importance of an educational system. * 1869 – Nursing education was placed under the control of medical profession. They proposed a school for training nurses in every large hospital. * In both England and America, the need for trained nurses was so great that schools of nursing relatively grew. * Adelaide Nutting – had been a catalytic agent in the separation of schools of nursing from hospital control. * Dr. Washburn and Burlingham – advocated raising the whole standard of nursing profession in the requirements of admission and stressed the cultural values. * 1894 – Nursing leaders stressed the importance of planning the entire educational program for the student rather than for the convenience of hospital services. * 1895 – Miss Mary Agnes Snively of Toronto presented a paper that emphasized the need for uniformity of education for nursing through a uniform matriculation examination for admission, a uniform length of program nursing through a uniform length of program of nursing education. * Miss Nutting presented an electrifying report at the 1896 convention which revealed that work hours per day could total 15hrs with 105hrs weekly; one lecture per week is given. * Miss Lucy Walker, who was a Superintendent of Nurses, gave a progress report on the acceptance of lengthening the program with shortening of the workday. * The first preliminary courses varied from a few classes to a planned program of six months. It included biological and social sciences and practical work in a mannequin called Mrs. Chase. * 1908 – The board had outlined specific requirements for schools of nursing. They were required to prove two years of study in medical nursing, surgical nursing (including gynecology), obstetrical nursing, pediatrics, nutrition and cookery, drugs and solution, dietetics, instruction in contagious nursing, ethics, emergencies, mental nursing, personal hygiene, and provide clinical experience in a hospital setting. * Schools that wished to continue this practice were required to extend their course of training to three years. Training schools had to be connected to a hospital or Sanitarium having no fewer than 25 beds, with the number of beds two to four times greater than the number of students. * 1909 – Plan for a university school of nursing was presented. * A change in title from pupil nurse to student of nursing. * Central Schools – had been successful in Europe; students received class instruction at one place at a university * 1915 – Only 10 schools had fulltime instructors. Superintendent of nurses did the most teaching and doctors taught anatomy. * 1923 – Yale University of Nursing and Western Reserve University of Nursing were established. * Public health was incorporated into the curriculum. * The degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing was given to graduates from 1926 – 1936, the degree of Masters in Nursing was awarded until it closed in 1958. * 1925 – A committee sponsored by American Nurses’ Association undertook a five-year study of nursing and nurse training. * 1949 – The state board pool for nurses provided examination for practical nurses. * The first examination for Registered Nurses was given in 1904, with a battery of test questions designed to be a ‘severe’ test of practical and theoretical knowledge. * The Board minutes that the test involved the ‘care of febrile cases, of patients before and after operation, of the mother and new-born baby in normal and abnormal obstetrical cases, of treatment of emergencies, and knowledge of drugs with regard to toxicological symptoms, and treatment after poisonous doses. Male nurses will be examined on genitor-urinary work as a substitute for obstetrical cases’. * Today, the State Board for Nursing has 23 members, consisting of 17 RNs, two LPNs, and four public members. The Board functions as an advisory group to the Board of Regents. Its stated mission is ‘to protect the public by fostering high standards of professional licensure, practice and discipline.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Biculturism and Marginalization Essay

* Ross-Sheriff (2011) commented that international migration patterns have * changed as a consequence of broad social, political, economic, and environmental * trends and explained the causes of the driving forces were including war, * globalization, urbanization, and changing cultural norms regarding social roles and * responsibilities (Ross-Sheriff, 2011). With these complex trends of migration * patterns, Van Hear (2010) viewed migration as a process which was an integral part * of broader social transformations, but which also had its own internal dynamics with * other factors related to the migrating process, shaping social transformation in their * own way. Migration was also linked in complex ways to class, gender, generation, * ethnicity and other social factors, which were embodied in positions in home and host * communities, and in work and domestic relationships, all of which might be * transformed in the course of the migratory process (Van Hear, 2010). To understand this complex process of migration, especially under changing circumstances of one culture to another, it might be useful to build conceptual tools for understanding these transitory processes in migration studies and in social science more widely (Van hear, 2010). They also include mediating agents and transitions that need also to be accounted for, as well as intersections among class, gender, generation, ethnicity and other social ruptures as well as the main driving forces of migration (Van Hear, 2010). Of course there were other important concepts such as relations between time and space, between dynamics or processes and outcomes, and between structure and agency that needed to get attention (Van Hear, 2010). However, it is impossible to discuss all different theoretical concepts involved in different types of migration process in the current limited study. Rather, this study tried to focus on psychological impacts such as ethnic identity and self-esteem on migration through acculturation processes particularly on family- related migration because different patterns of migration produced different communities and resulted in producing different migrant identities including varying levels of psychological distress (Jones, 2008). Further, few empirical studies have focused on migrant adults populations. Most migrants identification related literatures tended to relate more for adolescents or young children because identity formation might be particularly challenging in this cohort, especially when the values and beliefs of their natal culture differed significantly from those of the host society (Sodowsky, Kwan, & Pannu, 1995; as cited in Farver, Narang, & Bhadha, 2002). Therefore, this study focused on ethnic identity and self-identification issues of adult migrants’ themselves within a family structure according to different theoretical models relevant to adaptation of new cultures, because family was the basic instrument in the society (Nesdale, Rooney, & Smith, 1997). In fact, most cultural acquisition theories developed and evolved in 1990s. when international migration became a key issue in international politics at the beginning of 1990s. As Castle (2002) argued that migration, development and international relations were closely connected as migration was a major factor of transformation for both sending and receiving countries for different types of migrants (Castle, 2002). With this perspective, this study generally focused on those migration culture acquisition theories developed in 1990 rather then looking at current perspectives in the most recent literatures, which actually have evolved from these original theories in 1990s (Castle, 2002). As the findings from these research studies has had been mixed or sometimes contradictory, it was important to understand the exact nature of the relationship between migrant ethnic identification and the acculturation process both need to be specified and assessed properly with coherent measurements and theoretical assumptions (Nesdale et al. , 1997). Important theoretical concepts: ethnic identity, acculturation, biculturism, and marginalisation. According to Phinney (1990; as cited in Farver, Narang & Bhadha., 2002), ethnic identity and acculturation were related but separate constructs. Ethnic identity involves an individual’s self-identification as a group member, a sense of belonging to an ethnic group, attitudes toward ethnic group of membership, and degree of ethnic group involvement (Farver et al. , 2002). The term acculturation was defined in anthropology as those phenomena, which resulted when groups of individuals having different cultures came into continuous first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original pattern of either or both groups (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936; as cited in Birman, 1994). Although acculturation was a neutral term in this context (that is, change might take place in either or both groups), in practice, acculturation tended to induce more changes in one of the groups than in the other (Berry, 1990a; as cited in Berry, 1997) Berry (1997) argued that in all plural societies, cultural groups and their individual members, in both dominant and non-dominant situations, must deal with the issue of how to acculturate. According to Berry (1997), four acculturation strategies were introduced: assimilation, separation, marginalization, and integration. When individuals do not wish to maintain their cultural identity and seek daily interaction with other new cultures, the assimilation strategy is defined. In contrast, when individuals place a value on holding on to their original culture, and at the same time wish to avoid interaction with others, then the separation is defined (Berry, 1997). When there is an interest in both maintaining one’s original culture, while in daily interactions with other groups, integration is the option; here, there is some degree of cultural integrity maintained, while at the same time seeking to participate as an integral part of the larger social network (Berry, 1997). Last, when there is little possibility or interest in cultural maintenance (often for reasons of enforced cultural loss), and little interest in having relations with others (often for reasons of exclusion or discrimination) then marginalization is defined (Berry, 1997). However, this acculturation categories model has been criticized methodologically (Rudmin, 2003, 2009; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010) because all four of Berry’s categories were represented in the same way by creating the two by two matrix of acculturation categories between high and low. However, the cut off point between high and low was arbitrary and would differ across samples, making comparisons across studies difficult, resulting in the fact that all four categories existed and were equally valid (Rudmin, 2003; as cited in Schwartz et al., 2010) and suggesting that not all of Berry’s categories might exist in a given sample or population, and that some categories might have multiple subtypes (Schwartz et al. , 2010). In particular, Berry (1997) viewed the term â€Å"biculturism† as referring to acculturation that involved the individual simultaneously in the two cultures that were in contact in integrative ways, which appeared to be a consistent predictor of more positive outcomes than the three alternatives of assimilation, separation, or marginalization. Berry and his colleagues (Sam & Berry, 1995) assessed the acculturation strategies of various immigrant groups in North America and the results showed that bicultural individuals experienced less acculturative stress, anxiety and fewer psychological problems significantly, while marginalized individuals suffered the most psychological distress, including problems with self-identification and cultural alienation, which adversely affected their self-esteem (Farver et al. , 2002). However, Shiraev and Levy (2007) explained acculturative stress as a negative feeling that a marginalized person might experience as a distressing psychological reaction to any unfamiliar cultural environment based on the assumption that person and groups undergoing any social and cultural change should experience a certain amount of psychological distress. Generally, many early definitions of acculturation focused on exposure to two cultures simultaneously as a culture shock, which was a reactive state of specific pathology or deficit, rather than taking advantage of being bicultural (Berry & Annis, 1974; Shiraev et al., 2007). The validity of marginalization as an approach to acculturation by Berry (1997) was also questioned (Del Pilar & Udasco, 2004; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010). Schawartz et al. argued that the likelihood that a person would develop a cultural sense of self without drawing on either the heritage or receiving cultural contexts would be less likely to. The marginalization approach might be true only for the small segment of migrants who rejected both their heritage and receiving cultures (Berry, 2006b). Indeed, studies using empirically based clustering methods have found small or nonexistent marginalization groups and scales that attempted to measure marginalization typically had poor reliability and validity compared with scales for the other categories (Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995; Unger et al. , 2002; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010). As described earlier, the impact of migrant ethnic identity on psychological distress had comparatively diverse points of views if they were either negative or positive reactions, depending on different theoretical frames. For example, Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 2001) and Self-Categorization Theory (Turner, 1987) emphasized more on the importance to individuals of their identification with particular social groups. Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 2001; as cited in Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008) viewed a possible explanation for why ethnic identity might buffer the effects of discrimination. According to this theory,individuals chose from an array of possible social identity groups and, once those groups were chosen, individuals focused on the positive aspects of their in-group, which helped to boost their own esteem, suggesting that ethnic identity was more important to their overall identity (Yip et al. , 2009). In contrast, if ethnicity was a central component of one’s identity, it might actually exacerbate the effects of discrimination, resulting in a greater negative impact on mental health, according to self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987; as cited in Yip et al., 2008), suggesting that people should be more in tune with environmental cues that were relevant to an important aspect of their identity. That is, experiences of racial discrimination might be such a cue relevant to their ethnic identity. Indeed, research suggested that African American adults and adolescents who reported strong racial centrality were also more likely to report experiences of racial discrimination (Neblett, Shelton, & Sellers, 2004; Sellers, Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone, & Zimmerman, 2003; Sellers & Shelton, 2003; as cited in Yip et al., 2008). However, despite this emphasis by social theorists, they tended to forget the larger literature that involved with both ethnicity and the acculturation process (Liebkind, 1993; 1996; as cited in Nesdale, Rooney & Smith, 1997). First of all, these different findings resulted from lack of inclusion of acculturation itself as a variable methodologically when acculturation was considered as a phenomenon in research designs (Sam and Berry, 2006). Without including acculturation as a variable, the explanations for human behavior similarities and differences across populations would remain incomplete (Sam et al. , 2006). Second, a further criticism of the acculturation literatures was that the same two acculturation processes, and the same four-acculturation categories, characterized all migrants equally—regardless of the type of migrant, the countries of origin and settlement, and the ethnic group in question, according to Berry’s (1980) model and other similar approaches (Sam et al., 2006). Finally, the vast majority of studies in the acculturation literature have focused on behavioral acculturation (Schwartz et al. , 2010). That is, most widely used acculturation measures included primarily (or only) items assessing language use and other cultural practices (e. g. , Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995; Stephenson, 2000; Szapocznik, Kurtines, & Fernandez, 1980; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010) due to accepting the fact that cultural practices might provide only a fair proxy for cultural adaptation (Schwartz et al., 2010). Theoretical frameworks for acculturation research Shiraev & Levy (2007) claimed that cross-cultural psychologists usually used three approaches to examine human activities in various cultural settings. They were the sociobiological approach, the sociological approach and eco-cultural approach (Shiraev et al. , 2007). In particular, the eco-cultural approach emphasized both the environment and the individual were seen as open and interchanging systems (Shiraev et al., 2007), introducing John Berry whom originally developed this theory further in contemporary cross-cultural psychology. Shiraev et al. (2007) also pointed out that specialists should to be able to explain how, why, and to what extent people differed from one another, when ecological, biological, cultural, and acculturation factors were identified and taken into consideration (Berry, J. W. , Poortinga, Y. H. , Segall, M. H. , & Dasen. P. R. ,1992; as cited in Shiraev et al. , 2007). In related to the concerns pointed by Shiraev et al. (2007), Berry (1997) argued earlier there were important links between cultural context and individual behavioural development, demonstrating what happened to individuals who developed in one cultural context when attempting to re-establish their lives in another one through his acculturation research framework, by confirming the fact that acculturation was one of the most complex areas of research in cross-cultural psychology because the process involved more than one culture and in two distinct senses (Berry, 1997). According to Berry (1997), the concept of acculturation was employed to refer to the cultural changes resulting from different ethnic groups encountered, while the concepts of psychological acculturation and adaptation were employed to refer to the psychological changes and eventual outcomes that occur as a result of individuals experiencing acculturation. In another words, acculturation phenomena resulted from contact between two or more cultures and research on acculturation had to be comparative in order to understand variations in psychological outcomes that were the result of cultural variations in the two groups in contact (Berry, 1997). In particular, this framework viewed the integration model of acculturation strategies the most desirable among other strategies, considering it the same as the biculturalism model (Berry, 1997). For example, Berry and his colleagues (Berry, 1980; Berry, J. W. , Kim, U. , Power, S. , Young, M, & Bujaki, M. , 1989; Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987; Sam & Berry, 1995 as cited in Farver et al., 2002) Assessed the acculturation strategies of various immigrant groups in North America and the result showed that integration was the most psychologically adaptive attitude, arguing that integrated or bicultural individuals experienced less acculturative stress and anxiety and manifested fewer psychological problems than those who were marginalized, separated, or assimilated, whereas marginalized individuals suffered the most psychological distress, including problems with self-identification and cultural alienation, which also affected their self-esteem (Farver et al., 2002). However, Phinney, Cantu, and Kurtz (1997) found that American identity was associated with self-esteem only for non-Hispanic Whites, but not for other ethnic groups. These mixed results as explained above raised two issues in the acculturation literatures. First of all, cultural practices might offer only a substitute for cultural adpatations, as Portes and Rumbaut (2001 as cited in Schwartz et al., 2010) mentioned that many Asian American young adults in their sample were not proficient in their native languages, even though they still perceived their identification with their parents’ countries of origin and maintained many of their values (Schwarz et al. , 2010). Secondly, most researchers on biculturism did not sufficiently define an accurate operational definition of biculturism so that interpretation of those research results were problematic (Birman, 1994). Indeed, one finding in the United States, was that self-identification as American was markedly higher in non-Hispanic Whites than in ethnic minority groups (e. g. , Devos & Banaji, 2005; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010) and many White Americans did not perceived themselves as members of an ethnic group (Schildkraut, 2007; as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010). In brief, different operational definition problems of acculturation arose from different theoretical models of acculturation regarding to their assumptions (LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993). LaFromboise et al. (1993) assumed acculturation as one of substitutes among the biculturism models. Biculturism as defined in this theory was viewed as the alternation model, which implied an individual in two culture contacts could be competent in both cultures without losing one of the cultures’ competencies in distinct cultural contexts as alternation model, whereas, fusion model meant a blended cultural identity, consisting of a synthesis of aspects of both cultures (LaFromboise et al., 1993). However, Berry’s (1997) integrating approach of biculturism differed from the bicultural model (LaFromboise et al. , 1993; as cited in Birman, 1994) and it emphasized more on the relationship between the two cultural groups based on its implicit assumption that one of two cultures were higher than the other within a single social structure (LaFromboise et al. , 1993). Benet-Martinez and colleagues found that â€Å"blended† bicultural individuals tended to report higher self-esteem and lower psychological distress than a marginal population (Chen et al. , 2008 as cited in Schwartz et al. , 2010) because the consistent availability of both cultural flows within the person’s everyday life increased the ease of activating the correct cultural schema in accordance with their environmental situations (Schwartz et al. , 2010). In contrast, Tadmor, Tetlock, and Peng (2009) argued that the bicultural model considered those marginal individuals in positive ways, when there was little interest in cultural maintenance and little interest in having relations with others, suggesting positive aspects of being a marginal person might be (1) sharing his or her condition with others of the same original culture; (2) engaging in institutional practices that were shared by other marginal people; (3) experiencing no major frustration from social expectations; and (4) still perceiving himself or herself to be a member of a group (LaFromboise et al., 1993). According to Sam and Berry (2006), many studies of how migrants coped with intercultural contacts had discrepancies in the ways in which they were operationalized and measured. As no standardized or widely accepted acculturation measures existed, it was necessary to design a clear and explicit formulation of acculturation instrument in order to assess acculturation adequately (Sam et al. , 2006). Further Sam and Berry (2006) pointed out that most empirical studies widely used a self-report type of questionnaires that had been recognized limitations such as social desirability, emphasizing obtaining divergent validation by source of information other than the respondents’ reports. Therefore, it is vital to understand each theory within its specific assumptions and not to generalize across all situations regardless of their similar findings (LaFromboise et al. , 1993). As this study discovered migrants’ acculturation processes so far within specific theoretical frameworks, literature findings in different research were mixed as to whether individuals could be highly acculturated and at the same time be strongly identified with their ethnic group (Farver, Narang, & Bhadha. , 2002). These confusing problems initially evolved because of the context in which migration arrangements and their acculturation processes were fundamentally transformed and increasingly uncertain due to globalization (Landolt & Da, 2005). Shiraev & Levy (2007) suggested a new approach to cross-cultural psychology in the twenty-first century, which was linked to the concept of globalization. Globalization was defined as a proliferation of cross-border flow and transnational networks due to new technologies of communication and transport that allowed frequent and multi-directional streams of people, ideas and cultural symbols (Castle, 2010). Castle also argued that globalization leads to major changes in the character of international migration. In other words, the context for migrant incorporation has already changed radically and will continue to do so. The rise of multiculturalism itself rather than assimilation or biculturism is one sign of this, but is not the end of the story: new forms of identity and belonging go beyond multiculturalism (Castle, 2010). Even though there is limited empirical evidence for clear statements for globalization, there probably are highly cosmopolitan groups who feel at home everywhere such as global business and professional elites might correspond with this image. But most members of transnational communities fall between these extremes, and probably have contradictory and fluctuating identities (Castle, 2002). Conclusions This study explored that a special case of cultural psychology was the study of how individuals respond to situations where they were in transition between their original culture and another that differed from it in some respects in terms of acculturation, especially within a specific theoretical frame that could apply to the specific situation (Adler & Gielen, 1994). There was no single theory widely accepted by all social scientists to agree with the emergence and perpetuation of international migration patterns in the world under globalization (Van Hear, 2010),suggesting that the contemporary migrating context in which such migrating arrangements were realized fundamentally kept transforming so that it became increasingly uncertain (Landolt and Da, 2005). Although the topic of cultural contact and individual’ change has attracted considerable attention in contemporary cross-cultural psychology, the field has been characterized by a lack of theoretical coherence, definitional problems with key constructs, and single sample studies that limit the external validity of empirical cross-cultural research (Ward and Kenney, 1994). As acculturation is a process which takes place over time, and which results in changes both in the culture and in the individual culture changes, it would be ideal o compare two sets of data are compared over time using the same people. However, in practice, it is impossible in most acculturation research settings (Sam et al. , 2006). Instead, a common alternative to longitudinal research is cross-sectional research in which a time-related variable, such as length of residence or generational status can be used for the generalizability of acculturation theories (Sam et al., 2006). In general, researchers of migrating studies need to be aware that it is the selective nature of the sample that happens across all migrating research. That is, individuals who chose to migrate would be different from those who do not (Sodowsky, G. , Kwan, K. , & Pannu, R. , 1995; as cited in Farver et al. , 1997). Finally, acculturation research generally focused on immigrants assumed to be permanently settled in their new host countries. As a result, the terms â€Å"migrants† or â€Å"international migrants† referred to the same type of migrants collectively. Moreover, many countries were both sending and receiving countries for different types of migrants, or in the process of transition from one type to the other (Castel, 2002). Therefore, where applicable, it is viable to design acculturation research studies classifying different types of migrants. References Adler, L. L. , & Gielen, U. P. (Eds. ). (1994). Cross-cultural topics in psychology. Westport: Praeger Publishers. Berry, J. W. (1980). Social and cultural change. In Triandis, H. C. , & Brislin, R. (Eds. ). Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (pp. 211-279). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Berry, J.W. , Kim, U. , Power, S. , Young, M, & Bujaki, M. (1989). Acculturation attitudes in plural societies. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 38, 185-206 Berry, (1990a). Psychology of acculturation. In Berman, J. (Eds. ). Cross-cultural perspectives: Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 201-234). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaption. Applied Psychology: An international review, 46(1), 5-68. Berry, J. W. , & Annis, R. (1974). A cculturation stress. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 5(4), 382-397. Berry, J. W. , Kim, U., Minde, T. , & Mok, D. (1987). Comparative studies of acculturative stress. International Migration Review, 21, 591-511. Berry, J. W. , Poortinga, Y. H. , Segall, M. H. , & Dasen. P. R. (1992). Cross-cultural Psychology: Research and application. New York: Cambridge university Press. Birman, D. (1994). Acculturation and human diversity in a multicultural society. In Trickett, E. J. , Watts, R. J. , & Birman D, (Eds. ). Perspectives on people in context (pp. 261-284). San Franscisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Castele, S. (2002). Migration and community formation under conditions of globalization. The Center for Migration Studies of New York, 36(4), 1143- 1168. Cuellar, I. , Arnold, B. , & Maldonado, R. (1995). Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II: a revision of the original ARSMA scale. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 17, 275-304. doi: 10. 1177/07399863950173001 DelPilar, J. A. , & Udasco, J. O. (2004). Deculturation: Its lack of validity. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10, 169-176. doi: 10. 1037/1099- 9809. 10. 2. 169 Devos, T. , & Banaji, M. R. (2005). American = White? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 447-466. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 88. 3. 447 Farver, J. A. , Narang, S. K. , & Bhadha, B. R. (2002). East meets west: Ethnic identity, acculturation, and conflict in Asian Indian families. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(3), 338-350. doi: 10. 1037//0893-3200. 16. 3. 338 Jones, A. (2008). A silent but mighty river: the costs of women’s economic migration. Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 33(4), 761-807. Landolt, D. , & Da, W. W. (2005). The Spatially Ruptured Practices of Migrant Families: A Comparison of Immigrants from El Salvador and the People’s Republic of China. Current Sociology, 53, 625-652. doi: 10. 1177/0011392105052719. LaFromboise. , T. , Coleman. , H. , & Gerton (1993). Psychological impact of biculturism: Evidence and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 114(3), 394-412. Liebkind, K. (1993). Self-reported ethnic identity, depression and anxiety among youth Vietnamese refugees and their parents. Journal of Refugee Studies, 6, 25-39. Neblett, E, Shelton, J. N. , & Sellers, R. M. (2004). The role of racial identity in managing daily racial hassles. In Philogene, G. (Eds. ). Race and identity: The legacy of Kenneth Clark. Washington DC: American Psychological Association Press. Nesdale. , D. , Rooney. , R. , & Smith. , L. (1997). Migrant ethnic identity and psychological distress. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28(5), 569-588. doi: 10. 1177/0022022197285004 Phinney, J. S. (1990). When we talk about American ethic groups, what do we mean? American Psychologist, 51, 918-917. Phinney, J. S. , & Ong, A. D. (2007). Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 271-281. doi: 10. 1037/0022-0167. 54. 3. 271 Portes, A. , & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Berkerly: University of California Press. Redfield, R. , Linton, R. , & Herskovits, M. J. (1936) memorandum on the study of acculturation. American Anthropologist, 38, 149-152. Ross-Sheriff, F. (2011). Global migration and gender. Journal of Women and Social Works, 26(3), 233-238a. doi: 10. 1177/0886109911417692 Rudmin, F. W. (2003). Critical history of the acculturation psychology of assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Review of General Psychology, 7, 3-37. doi: 10. 1177/01461670731197 Sam, D. , & Berry, J. W. (1995). Acculturative stress among young immigrants in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 36, 10-24. Sam, D. , & Berry, J. W. (2006). The Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology [Electronic version]. Retrieved from http://www. qut. eblib. com. au. ezp01. library. qut. edu. au/patron. Schildkraut, D. J. (2007). Defining American identity in the 21st century: How much â€Å"there† is there? Journal of Politics, 69, 597-615. doi: 10. 1111/j. 1468-2508. 2007. 00562. x Schwartz, S. J. , Unger, J. B. , Zamboanga, B. L. , & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for the theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237-251. doi: 10. 1037/a0019330 Sellers, R.M. , Caldwell, C. H. , Schmeelk-Cone, K. H. & Zimmerman, M. A. (2003). Racial identity, racial discrimination, perceived stress, and psychological distress among African American young adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(3), 302-317. Seller, R. M. , & Shelton, R. M. (2000). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1079-1092. Shiraev, E. , & Levy, D. (2007). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. Boston: Pearson Education Inc. Sodowsky, G. , Kwan, K. , & Pannu, R., (1995). Ethnic identity of Asians in the United States. In J. Ponterotto (Ed. ), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 110- 130). Newbury Park: Sage. Stephenson, M. (2000). Development and validation of the Stephenson Multigroup Acculturation Scale (SMAS). Psychological Assessment, 12, 77-88. doi: 10. 1037/1040-3590. 12. 1. 77 Szapocznik, J. , Kurtines, W. , & Fernandez, T. (1980). Bicultural involvement and adjustment in Hispanic-American youths. International Journal of Interculture Relations, 4, 353-365. Tadmor, C. T. , Tedlock, P. E. , & Peng, K. (2009). Acculturation strategies and integrative complexity: The congnitive implications of biculturism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 105-139. doi: 10. 1177/0022022108326279 Tajfel, H. , & Turner, J. C. (2001). An Integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In Hogg, M. , & Abrams, D. (Eds. ). The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 94-109). New York: Psychology Press. Turner, J. C. , Hogg, M. A. , Oakes, P. J. , Reicher, S. D. & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford: Balckwell. Unger, J. B. , Gallagher, P. , Shakib, S. , Ritt-Olson, A. , Palmer, P. H. , & Johnson, C. A. (2002). The AHIMSA acculturation scale: A new measure of acculturation for adolescents in a multicultural society. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22, 225-251. doi: 10. 1177/02731602022003001 Van Hear, N. (2010). Theories of migration and social change. Journal of Ethic and Migration Studies, 36(10), 1531-1536. doi: 10. 1080/1369183X. 2010. 489359 Yip, T. , G, C. G. , & Takeuchi, D. T. (2008). Racial discrimination and psychological distress: The impact of ethnic identity and age among immigrant and United States-born Asian adult. Dev Psychol, 44(3), 787-800. doi: 10. 1037/0012-1649. 44. 3. 787.

A beginner guide to playing the Shield of Valoran 

A beginner guide to playing the Shield of Valoran  One of the rarest supports to be found on the Rift is surely one of the oldest supports out there, as well as one of the most beloved. Now, he might not be the best pick in the current meta, but other than being a rare pocket pick he can truly turn the game around and help carry your team to victory if played the right way, against an adequate team composition. For the last two seasons I have only once found myself playing against a Taric in lane so if you worry about mirror match-ups in normal games, you can be sure that the chances are next to none when picking Taric. He was recently completely reworked and as of the latest patch (6.12) he is in a somewhat strange place. He is neither as easy as he once was (although he isn’t hard by any stretch of the imagination), nor is he overpowered/underpowered. He shouldn’t be played in every comp since he has a very particular set of skills. I started playing Taric a couple of seasons ago when I first started being a support main. He had an extremely fun kit and was nearly unkillable. The enemy team never focuses you because by the time late game comes, you have around 400 armor and over 3k health, so you don’t have to worry about bad positioning in team fights, no matter how you position they will rarely attack you, meanwhile you would shred their armor, buff your teammates with your ultimate and, when needed, stun the enemy carry with a point and click stun.He went great with a couple of AD Carries, and while in lane, with the right rune and mastery setup, he was one of the tankiest supports out there. Now it’s a bit of a different story. Let’s take a look at his new kit: Abilities PASSIVE: Bravado His passive is a simple one. After casting an ability, his next two basic attacks deal increased damage and reduce his cooldowns. Q: Starlight’s Touch Taric’s Q ability is still a heal albeit a different one. Now it stores charges, up to three. It takes 15s to get one charge and you heal yourself as well as an ally that your W ability is tethered to. (more on that below) Now this ability is nice since it is a heal and those are always great to have while laning but it’s really weak compared to Nami’s heal. After a couple of these when out of combat you can really feel the difference but in the long run it’s not something that is going to benefit you too greatly. W: Bastion This ability has a passive and an active component. Passively, it increases Taric’s armor as well as the armor of the teammate it’s tethered to. When you activate it, it gives you and your ally a shield for 2.5 seconds for a percent of their maximum health. You will be using this ability only for tethering, changing the tether target and giving the active shield. It’s not a lot, but you should use it strategically. The shield also isn’t something to write home about but it can be a life-saver when needed. E: Dazzle This is your bread and butter. After a 1 second delay, Taric blasts his hammer in a straight direction and if an enemy is to be found at the end of it —they’re getting stunned for up to 1.75s. (the duration scales with level)Now, first of all this ability is a skillshot, so you can miss it easily. The visual indicator also looks a bit longer than the ability actually is, so you should also have that in mind. It takes some time to get used to, especially if you’re used to the old Taric, but nothing too special. Now for the catch. It can stun multiple targets! On top of that, not only does Taric get a beam that can stun but his tethered ally gets one as well. So in theory you have an even bigger chance to land that skillshot, and you can also use it in teamfights. Realistically, when the fight starts you usually can’t see much when all the ability effects start to stack up, (depending on the number of participants and the champions used) so having two stunni ng beams is something really beneficial. R: Cosmic Radiance After a 2.5s delay, a mysterious cosmic energy makes Taric and his tethered ally invulnerable for 2.5s. The amazing thing here is that any other ally that is inside the aura when the ability activates also gets affected, so in theory your whole team can be invulnerable for that duration.Depending on what you’re going for, this is a miraculous ability. It is more than enough to change the direction your fight is going, and you can use it for diving your enemies and any other purpose. It has a longer cooldown, but with your passive and the Frozen Heart (20% cooldown reduction) it goes down a significant amount.As for the order in which you level up your abilities, you can check the very in-depth statistics from the latest patch.Champion.gg Skill Order (Patch 6.12) When to pick Taric? You should pick Taric when against full AD compositions, since he is one of a small group of champions that scale of armor. Against those comps Taric might be the best possible pick if you can play him right and if your team needs a tanky support. In general, Taric counters most engage supports out there. When they initiate, he can counter with an easy to land stun. Of course, it mostly boils down to a skill matchup in the 2v2 lane. He is however insanely countered by poke mage supports like Sona and Soraka, and Morgana. He is tanky, and he does have a heal, but he has problems engaging against supports that keep a distance and constantly poke. If you succeed in outplaying them a couple of time it becomes easier, but it’s also a skill matchup. I’ve won countless times against a Morgana because me and my duo ADC have fantastic synergy because we’ve been playing for years now. Had that been a random solo queue ADC, I believe the outcome would have been completely different. Also, depending on your ELO, Taric can be viable only up to high Gold. Already in Platinum he is a stretch in terms of viability, so keep that in mind. He is one of the easiest champions to learn but also has a good skill ceiling, and pul ling of a game winning ultimate or stunning the whole enemy team is a fantastic feeling. If you’re new to supporting or just want to have some fun — he is a great pick, but don’t underestimate the impact he can have on a game. Laning with Taric While playing Taric in lane your objectives are very clear. Protect your ADC at all costs, while also trying to survive his weak early game. You can’t rely on your heal any longer since even with 3 stacks it heals for an extremely small amount, and your W is fairly straightforward, you use it either to get a shield for you and/or your linked ally or to link to someone else, so that really simplifies the way you play the game with Taric. Act as a human shield, try to stun as many people as possible and use your ultimate to protect as many allies as you can. While in lane, try to survive and wait for a gank from your jungler. When that happens, you have huge kill potential with the way your stun works. With some good coordination it can easily result in a kill or two. Do have in mind that you can also activate Dazzle (E) and flash while it’s channeling to catch the enemy AD or support unprepared. It can be tricky to land that way but it’s nothing impossible and you should have this in mind if it’s needed to secure the kill. Roaming with Taric is another good thing to do when you get the chance. Taric’s ganks on mid almost always result in a burned flash from the enemy midlaner and since no one wants to get stunned, people will often flash preemptively so you usually won’t have to pull any flashy plays in order to get an advantage for your midlaner. As for summoner spells — always take Flash, that is a general rule for Taric, and depending on the enemy team, you can take either Exhaust or Ignite. Exhaust is the best choice if the enemy team has assassins like Zed or Rengar or any similar champion, where a well timed exhaust can change the direction of a teamfight, and ignite gives you higher kill potential while in lane, and should be picked if playing against a champion that has a lot of healing built in their kit like Volibear, Soraka or Dr. Mundo. Now, regarding his item build order, here is what Platinum+ players are building on the current patch. (6.12) It’s a general rule that you don’t build mechanically, you need to adapt not only to the enemy team comp but to the situation you’re in at every moment in the game, from the beginning of the laning phase to late game. You wouldn’t always need Thornmail, but if the enemy team comp is full of AD (and preferably auto-attack heavy) champions it is a good and cheap item to get, especially since Taric scales so well off of armor. If you’re playing against a couple of AP champions, top and mid or perhaps Elise jungle, you should always get Locket of the Iron Solari not just for it’s active but passive magic resist aura for your team. You should always go a bit more in-depth if you can when thinking of item build order. If you’re losing in lane 2v2 and the enemy jungler isn’t present on the lower half of the map, it is OK if you delay your Sightstone, and go for some defensive items like a Cloth Armor and so on since it might be more beneficial in the short term when another 2v2 fight breaks out.Champion.gg build order. (Patch 6.12) Another fantastic thing about Taric’s new kit is the fact that you can rebind your W to another ally at any moment in the game. This is a fantastic strategic advantage not because of the active on the ability (the shield) but because of your ult. If you have a fed Katarina on your team, you should bind her seconds before she jumps into the enemy team to wreak havoc. Since she will be invulnerable for 2.5 seconds, this gives more than enough time for your team to follow up, while at the same time defending her for any kind of damage she might receive while being in the heart of battle. This goes for any kind of carry or assassin champion. Two and a half seconds is incredibly long in-game and can turn the game around in your favour. Of course, if your team is all grouped up then it doesn’t matter that much if your W is on your ADC or some other ally since the ultimate has a large area of effect and every teammate will be affected. Taric should be played aggressively but w ith some planning. You shouldn’t just go in like crazy, but he is extremely durable and tanky so you shouldn’t be scared of going in and being the frontline.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Incident manegment process at Catholic University of America Essay

Incident manegment process at Catholic University of America - Essay Example This could include the use of a service desk which acts as a link between the end users and the technical staff diagnosing the incident. The service desk updates the users on the progress of issue being resolved. Incident Management Cycle Incident life cycle involves discovery and listing, grouping and preliminary intervention, inspection and analysis, solution and revival, incident closure, incident ownership, follow up and evaluation, tracking and communication. To avoid IT business disruptions as a result of system failures, it is important to plan and implement programs to optimize IT service management. This begins with the analysis and alignment of the current and future business requirements and appropriate IT services provided. More serious incidents must be given precedence/priority where there are a number of incidents to be dealt with at the same time, where the user must be consulted and reference made to the Service Level Agreement (SLA). To prioritize, urgency and impac t of the incident to the user and the business must be evaluated (Office of Government Commerce 31). An incident that may not be resolved by first line support staff should be escalated to more expertise or authority. This could be either functional (horizontal) or Hierarchical (vertical) escalation. 1. Listing of Accepted Incidents Any section of the IT infrastructure may cause incidents to happen including computer operations, networking, service desk itself, procedures etc but these are usually reported by users. Detection systems can however be used to trap events taking place with the IT infrastructure. Incident management is related to other processes such as configuration management, problem management, change management, service level management, availability management, and capacity management (Office of Government Commerce 33). 2. Incident Grouping and Preliminary Intervention This involves grouping the incidents in some identified criteria. Services related to the inciden t are identified with due regard to the SLA. A support group is selected if support staff cannot resolve the incident issue; a support group is determined as part of functional escalation and based on incident categorization. An aspect of timelines here is critical involving informing the affected business user about the estimated amount of time expected to resolve the issue, with due updates on progress also provided. Incidents are also matched to determine whether similar ones occurred previously, thus helping on diagnosis and solution turnaround. 3. Solution and Revival Following an incident resolution, a record is made in the system for a Request for Change (RFC) submission to change management where necessary or/and appropriate. The RFC should usually lead to a solution (Office of Government Commerce 35). 4. Closure With a solution in place, the incident is routed back to the service desk by the support group. Service desk then informs the user to check if indeed the incident h as been resolved thereby closing the incident and incident record updated to show final category and priority, affected users and components which have been identified as causes of the incident. If user is not comfortable with the solution, the process can be reinitiated at the appropriate stage. 5. Incident Monitoring and Evaluation Service desk

How has Christ been Understood to be Present in the Eucharist Essay

How has Christ been Understood to be Present in the Eucharist - Essay Example This essay stresses that Christ is not only the author and minister of each sacrament, but equally the exemplar of the grace which each sacrament is designed to realise, by naming explicitly the grace or virtue conveyed in and through each sacrament. In the Eucharist, this particular grace is self-giving. Macquarrie forwards the idea that through these sacraments, â€Å"things† which are considered otherwise ordinary are taken to new spiritual levels, or people’s understanding of them have, by virtue of the persistence of their faith, undergone intense deepening. Hence, bread which is of the earth and which human hands have made become the â€Å"Word of Life† and Wine, normally considered the fruit of the vine and a product of human toil and labor, becomes the â€Å"spiritual drink† and the â€Å"cup of our salvation†. This paper makes a conclusion that there is no doubt that the Eucharist is very important in the Anglican Church. No one by a bishop or presbyter may administer the Eucharist and it mandates that â€Å"pure wheaten bread and wine, being the fermented juice of the grape, are the necessary elements of the Sacrament.† The doctrine of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church with respect to Transubstantiation was one and the same. When the reign of Edward VI ushered in a more Protestant ideology, transubstantiation was refuted and denied. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation, many Anglicans believe, tend to obscure the deeper meaning of the Eucharist.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand Research Paper

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand - Research Paper Example It was evident as he would go hunting for Kangaroos and emus in New Zealand and Australia. This paper discusses the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand as not justifiable as it was not the correct thing to solve the problem that was there by then. Franz Ferdinand had a military background. He entered the Austro-Hungarian Army at a young age like the most males during the Habsburg ruling. He underwent various promotions from lieutenant at the age of fourteen to a major general when he was thirty-one years old. It was evident that he had a great influence in the armed forces even when he was not a key command in the military chancery. In the year 1913, Franz was appointed inspector general of all the armed forces of Austria-Hungary. Franz had moral earnestness and intellectual gifts though he was impatient, suspicious and had a hysterical temperament (Eye Witness to History, 2). One of the Franz project while on the throne was to consolidate the structure of the state and the popularity of the crown. This would be done only by abolishing the dominance of the German Austrians, but he opted to maintain them for military reasons. Before his death, he regarded Hungarian nationalism as a revolutionary threat to the Habsburg dynasty and often became angry when the 9th Hussars Regime officers spoke Hungarian in his presence. He also advocated a strategic approach towards Serbia that if harsh treatment in Serbia continued it would lead top Austria-Hungary conflict with Russia (Hayes, 106). In June 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was to visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. It was the south-east of the Austrian empire and it was evident that the Black Hand Gang in the region wanted to be independent from Austria and set up their state which could run itself. This was due to the expectations from the less radical Serbians that when Franz Ferdinand came to power he would ease the position of Serbs and the slaves in the empire through the

Human Resource Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Resource - Case Study Example They can feel underappreciated and not valued for their efforts although their turnover rate is higher. In such cases there is a high exit rate of minorities as they feel they can avail better chance of growth elsewhere. Discrimination charges are also feared by the organization which can bring bad name to the company and ruin reputation Q2:What were the key elements in BLAHNA’s successful diversity strategy ? Ans2: The finding of workplace diversity committee was the stepping stone which lead to the successful diversity strategy of BLAHNA. Working on these findings the advisory committee formed a multi-pronged approach which built bridges between broader communities outside the organization which proved very vital. Apart from these the learning and training seminar to improve communication and interaction were quite important. The â€Å"consulting pairs† process is also a key to success of diversity strategy as it is really helpful in resolving conflicts within the com pany. Q3:Under what circumstance consulting pair approach is most useful ? Ans3: When there is a conflict between two peers or between a manager and a employee a consulting pair is called for the facilitation of the discussion and conflict/problem resolution.

Incident Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Incident - Essay Example In the case of Ada, she must show that someone's negligence caused her son's death and the injury she suffered to claim damages under tort. With regard to Bob's death, two parties can be found liable - Charles and the organizers of the Senley Regatta. Charles has a duty of care to Bob at sea to exercise due diligence in driving his boat just as drivers on the road have a duty of care to other cars, which he breached when he crossed Bob's lane without giving appropriate signals - an act which any boat driver must be aware of. This is evident in applying the "neighbour test" in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]2 and the three stage test in Caparo Industries v Dickman [1990]3. The event organisers, on the other hand, are also liable because they have a duty of care towards its participants and spectators. This duty of care is analogous to that in Michael Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd. [2001]4, where the differences in the facts of the case are immaterial because it is evident t hat the organisers in both events both failed to put safety measures to ensure the protection of its participants and spectators. ... the claimant must be sufficiently proximate both with its relationship to the victim and with the incident itself, such that it was witnessed by the claimant in person. This view was furthered in McLoughlin v. O'Brian [1983]6, where it is stated that damages can be awarded if the plaintiff "comes upon its immediate aftermath." In this respect, Ada her sufficiently proximate relationship with Bob, was neither present during the incident nor was she able to arrive immediately at the scene and experience its immediate aftermath. To claim damages, she must therefore illustrate that unlike the case of Alcock v. Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1992]7, where there were no "depicted suffering of recognizable individuals", the satellite feed she watched on television allowed her to recognise Bob's boat, not only because she was aware he was participating in the event, but also because she recognised his distinctively coloured boat, allowing her to see the suffering of a recogni sable individual. While this claim can be risky, because it departs from conventional interpretation, she has a good chance to claim damages for nervous shock, provided that she can illustrate the substantial differences of her case. With respect to Freddie, a fireman who suffered nervous shock after rescuing ten of the children in the pleasure cruiser two of whom died in the hospital, he cannot claim damages under tort of negligence for two reasons. First, even though the rescue doctrine in Wagner v International r.r. Co., (NY) [1921]8 , 9 and in Ogwo v Taylor [1987]10 makes Charles liable to the physical injuries that Freddie may suffer as a result of the rescue; Freddie was not rescuing Charles, but one of the students, who were victims of Charles' negligent act. Thus, this makes the

Monday, August 26, 2019

Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses Essay

Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses - Essay Example Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses Analysis of such parameters will help us with an understanding about how the companies have performed over the seven years and whether they were able to add value to the company. One of the companies chosen above has a high total asset usage and the other one has a low total asset usage. The underlying rationale behind choosing this ratio as the primary differentiating parameter between these two companies is because this ratio is very useful in determining the financial performance of the company. It gives us an indication of the pricing strategy that the companies have adopted. Moreover, the firms have been chosen as a case of high and low values of a ratio that appears in the Du Pont system, which will make it easy for us to explore relationships and trade-offs between that and other ratios. The following sections will involve the analysis of key financial ratios that the firms have been able to achieve over the seven years. 2. Midas Retail Limited Midas construction is the larges t company that belongs to the Midas group of companies. The primary line of work that the company is engaged in is to serve the design and construction needs of all its customers from a network of local offices. The company works in close partnership with its local partners who specialise in supply chain, thereby utilizing their local expertise and knowledge. Each of the regional business under the Midas group offers highly personalised services which are designed to suit the needs and requirements of every individual customer and project (Midas, 2013) 3. Rock Fall Company Limited This company specilises in drilling, explosives engineering and blasting, particularly in the marine environment. The company has been able to complete more than 200 contracts in about 35 countries. The line of work that the company is engaged in ranges from the removal of small boulder outcrops to massive port development schemes. The activities are generally related to harbor deepening, clearance of navi gation channels and quay well construction. Another activity that can be include in the company's list of underwater expertise is foreshore trenching (Rock Fall, 2013). 4. Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis is an attempt to reduce accounting information in to more usable understandable figures and look at relationships between the figures. It can be used to ‘help interpret trends in performance year on year and by benchmarking to industry averages or to the performance of individual competitors or against a pre-determined target’ (Collier, 2009, p.104). Firstly, we can compare ratios for two or more accounting periods and look at the change. However, external factors may have influenced activity levels. For example, public awareness of environmental issues may have necessitated a change in manufacturing process leading to increased costs. Secondly, we can compare this to another company in the same industry. However, in some case, businesses may not be truly comparable with regard to size and type. For example, bases on which accounting information is prepared, may be different (inventory valuations and depreciation). Thirdly, we can compare this to an industry average, these can be compiled using data bases such as â€Å"Data Stream†. However, these have to be comparable as reflect as closely as possible the various characteristics of the company (McLane & Atrill, 2009, p.224-225). 4.1 Efficiency Ratios 4.1.1 Asset turnover This ratio measures the amount of sales that a company generates for every dollar’

Exam Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Exam Case Study - Essay Example However, skilled employees may not tolerate it because they are mobile and can effectively secure employment elsewhere. The nature of work that the employees are engaged in is equally important. For instance, routine work calls for a different approach from a new or a creative job. Bureaucratic leadership could work well in routine work but fail in jobs requiring creativity. In addition, the environment under which the organization works under is of paramount importance. Organizational environment could be stable or changing, conservative or adventurous. A good leader should therefore be flexible and change leadership styles depending on the type of employees and the prevailing environment (Collins 2008). The type of leadership exhibited by the Zinn Company is exclusively autocratic. The owner of the company commands high level of authority over his employees and team members. In this regard, he is the sole decision maker and does not tolerate opinions, ideas or criticism from the employees. He runs the organization by inculcating fear and dismissing disobedient employees. Therefore, employees dread making suggestions even if they are in the company’s interests. This has resulted to low motivation, which affects their productivity adversely. In addition, he does not offer incentives or rewards to the employees when they attain targets; those who fail to meet targets are laid off at the whim of the owner. Since the owner is also responsible for hiring new employees, nepotism characterizes these appointments. Friendship and favoritism rather than professionalism results in appointment of inefficient employees, who compromise the quality of the company’s products particula rly in the manufacturing department. Though this style would work if applied to illiterate and unskilled employees, it does not yield good results and can lead to high employee turnover,

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Whole Foods financial recommendation for the next 2 years Essay

Whole Foods financial recommendation for the next 2 years - Essay Example The company still plans to expand into other areas such as Australia, United Kingdom and the United States as well. Besides the expansion, Whole Foods also seems interested in introducing new private label product lines. Thus for such an expansion and introduction of new product line, the company would need some capital/investment. There are two broad ways in which the company can obtain additional capital in order to finance all its plans. Those two sources of finance are: Equity Finance: This is a way through which Whole Foods Market can issue their shares within the market. Each share issues within the market would fetch the company some funds. The company would issue the number of shares that they might consider appropriate for the expansion plans. Equity finance is expensive to achieve because of its attached costs such as Advertisement costs, Brokerage costs and in some instance Underwriting costs. The only attractiveness of Equity finance is that it is less risky than debt finance (the other source of finance) as the shareholders i.e. the owners would not have to be mandatorily paid their invested amount. Debt Finance: Debt Finance can be acquired through Banks, private and other institutional investors. Debt finance is basically a loan commitment that has to be paid as soon as it falls due. Although debt finance is cheaper than equity finance, it carries with itself a burden to repay the liability as soon as it falls due and it is because of this reason that debt finance is considered to be risky. The other issues that are related to debt finance are that the term of the loan would also be of the essence. Longer the period, higher would be the cost of debt i.e. the interest rate that would have to be paid on the loan commitment. Hence it can be argued that it depends upon a company’s culture, philosophy and risk appetite as to how the expansion may be financed. Equity finance would lead to the dilution of shares, which

Exploring Refugees religion continuity and change Essay

Exploring Refugees religion continuity and change - Essay Example She motivated me to participate on local and international events. I consider myself a lucky woman because I had the chance to come to the United States and experience the richness of the culture and knowledge. I was blessed to meet fantastic people who I learned something from each one of them. Through my study in University of Delaware, I have had the honor of taking many inspiring classes taught by intelligent, passionate, and caring professors, and I learned many things through my discussion with my friends and colleagues whom I had classes. During the past three years, my family and friends contributions were very essential on my emotional support. I could not have done any of this without their support, prayers, encouragement, and advices that helped me through stress and confusion. In addition, I am truly thankful for my friend Saied who encouraged me through tough time, and who was always there for me. He made sure to take care of my health problem, and volunteered to drive me for conducting the interviews. I would like to thank all the individuals who agreed to be interviewed. I greatly appreciate their hospitality to invite me to their houses, giving me their time, and speaking freely about their religion, rituals, challenges, and hopes. They gave me the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their lives. It is my hope that this research project help to promote a better image about Muslims, and that American gain better understanding for Muslim families. 24 I follow the same rituals same as back home. For example, I only eat halal food where we buy a whole slaughtered sheep and we keep it in the freezer. Also, I do not shake men’s hands, and people know I am a Muslim and these things are forbidden. (H, 39, 131) 60 The studies of Arab Muslim refugees in the United States are just in the beginning; research is needed on wellbeing of families. Refugees have more challenges than many other immigrants because of what they have experienced

The concept of peak oil has been devised to reflect scarcity Essay

The concept of peak oil has been devised to reflect scarcity associated with oil supplies. But surely the price of oil would be a more efficient indication of its scarcity - Essay Example In contrast to the peak oil concept, global oil production showed a decline from its peak point at 74 mb/d in 2005; however, after a short decline the figures rebounded, and in 2011 there were higher production of oil than 2005 (US energy information and administration, 2011). Peak oil is ascertained by taking into account extraction rates from each oil well, the predicted oil reserves, and total extraction rate of an oil field comprising of associated oil wells (Berdellà ©, 2011). Here the core contentious issue is that the concept of ‘peak oil,’ which had been devised to reflect oil scarcity, is an ambiguous indicator of scarcity. Instead, some economists content that oil prices prove to be a more efficient indication of the scarcity of oil. Various experts contend that oil scarcity is dependent on the rate of consumption, where constraints placed on supply side are based on product demands. James L. Smith in his research papers, using benchmark scenario, high growth scenario and low growth scenario graphs, proved that peak timing is inconsistent as an indicator of oil scarcity (2011, pp. 8-13). Observations revealed that during 2007-08 economic crisis, despite oil supplies not increasing, there was loosening in the oil scarcity factor, owing to low demand. The equation for supply-demand graph can be plotted effectively through the factor of pricing, hence making oil prices a better indicator for its scarcity. Natural oil does not have any uniform or any standardised quality, and tends to vary significantly, which range from medium quality oil, to oil with high API gravity (high quality) from Saudi Arabian fields, to low API gravity (poor quality) heavy oil from fields in South America and Canada. Despite reports of fall in high quality oil levels, as far as supply of heavy oil is concerned, there is no scarcity, and many oil fields in deep-water areas remain unexplored (Stier, 2008). The Saudi Arabian high API oils are relatively easy to extract and oil

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Valhalla Partners Due Diligence Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Valhalla Partners Due Diligence - Case Study Example Deciding to go ahead and invest in Telco Exchange would create a nice future for Valhalla if everything went well. Art Marks is educated and has plenty of real-world experience that will assist with making a fair and important decision. This opportunity, if Art Marks decided to vote yes, would allow Valhalla to test out their new due diligence process and decided whether or not the process was a good idea. The Due diligence process consisted of a twelve step process that followed a certain order. This certain order was important for Valhalla to become the most profitable and aid companies that it may be investing in. The steps began with a one-pager, and then deep diligence would begin. Next would be an investment memo followed by an investment decision. The decision would lead to a present term sheet, negotiating terms, a 100-day plan, and a close. Following the close are an active board stewardship, finance and research assistance, critical moves and an exit. This due diligence pro cess would play a huge role in the decision by Marks. After learning about the company and what it has to offer, Art Marks should vote yes on investing in Telco Exchange. Telco Exchange is already in business with popular companies like IKON and Marriot. If these already established companies were able to seek services from Telco Exchange it was likely that with the right marketing, Telco Exchange can become more popular and become more successful. Becoming more successful would make Telco Exchange a better investment. The Due Diligence process would help ensure that Telco Exchange is where Valhalla wants it to be. An appropriate valuation for Valhalla and Telco Exchange is to work with one another. Working with one another and coming to an agreement that is beneficial to both businesses will create better relations between the two and open up more opportunities in the future. Valhalla partners need to think about how the future of a successful Telco Exchange can benefit Valhalla. L ike any company, Telco Exchange faces risks. Risks can be changeable and benefit investors or they can be unchangeable and make investing seem like a waste of money. The top three risks facing Telco Exchange are easy to move past. One of the main risks is marketing. Marketing is important for companies to get there name out there and move forward. The memo doesn’t really state the marketing that Telco Exchange has in place. A good marketing strategy will help improve Telco Exchange and make Telco look more appealing to investors. The second risk associated with Telco Exchange is the issues it faces with software. The software can never be perfect and will always require upgrading and repairs. What does Telco have in store for upgrading and improving software? Companies are always going to want the best and the easiest.

3D Printing in the world Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

3D Printing in the world - Research Paper Example This technique is a modern technique which differs in many ways from the machine techniques that were traditionally used. The traditional methods relied on the methods involving removal of materials such as cutting. This is why they were known as subtractive processes whereas 3D printing is known as additive process. The 3D printing uses the digital technology and these printers were initially manufactured by China. These printers came in the late 1980’s and ever since then they have been increasingly used all over the world. In the beginning of the 21st century, as the digital technology became more popular and advanced, the growth in the sales of the 3D printers was greatly observed. The sales of these printers increased in various parts of the world where they were used for new and innovative purposes. Gradually, as the sales and the demand grew, the costs of these printers fell immensely since they were first manufactured. Some of the purposes for which these machines were used were in industrial uses, architecture, jewelry, aerospace, engineering, medical, education, information systems and many others (Griffith, 2012). 3D printing is the technology to create materials and objects using a sequential layers technique. The materials which are produced by using the layering process can be anywhere in the product life cycle. However, the subtractive methods of manufacturing objects can be used as traditional methods in manufacturing. 3D printing was invented by Charles W. Hull (Chuck). In the mid 1980’s when it was invented, it used a stereolithography technique. This technique used a UV laser which was shined in the vat of an ultraviolet-sensitive photopolymer, and then it traced the object so that it was created on the surface. The polymer would solidify wherever it was touched by the beam, and that beam would print the particular object layer by layer as per the instructions fed in the CAD/CAM file through which it is working. CAD file is comp uter-aided design and CAM is computer-aided manufacturing. Chuck also founded a company which was called 3D Systems. The company made stereolithography machines which expensive machines of over $100,000 used in commercial techniques. 3D Systems is still operating today and now it sells the 3D printers of advanced technology. There is a variety of printers that are manufactured using different advanced technologies ranging from entry-level kits to the advanced commercial systems. The company also provides on-demand services manufacturing parts for business users. Many businesses and industries use the 3D printers and they need the machines to be up to date and maintained. There are many benefits of 3D printing which is why it is immensely used in the world today. Many designers use the 3D printing techniques to rapidly design the concepts and turn them into 3D models or rapid prototyping. It also allows for the rapid design changes which enables the designers to carry out their work rapidly and smoothly using the up to date technologies. The manufacturers are also allowed to produce the products rapidly on demand rather than on large run, which also increases the management of the sufficient amount of inventory and reduces the warehouse space. 3D printing techniques can help the people living in remote locations to fabricate the objects that would be inaccessible to them otherwise. 3D printing must be a onetime cost because once the designers and businesses have bought the machinery for 3D printing; they can save a lot of material and money which is used in subtractive techniques of manufacturing. The material in this technique is drilled, cut and shaved off; hence raw material can be wasted. 3D printing is

Friday, August 23, 2019

International human resources management 'Hilton Hotel' Essay

International human resources management 'Hilton Hotel' - Essay Example They use a number of mixed models in their management, which include: - 1. Harvard model developed by David Guest (1987,1989,1986b, 1991) this model four policies are defined and are applied in this hotel they include; - a) Strategic integration - Hilton hotel integrates human resource management issues into its various strategic plans that are aimed at more developed and improved services. b) High commitment to pursue agreed goals- the hotel demonstrates very high commitment to its effort of achieving set goals this are shown by both the employees and the management itself. c) High quality of goods and services provided which include management of employees and investment in high quality employees. d) Functional flexibility with capacity to manage various innovations. 2. The matching model of Human Resource Management Fiedler (1964) asserted that the human resource systems and the organization structure should be managed in a way that is congruent with organizational Strategy and that the strategic human resource concepts and tools needed are fundamentally different from the stock in the trade of the traditional personnel administrator. This is exactly what Hilton hotel practice; its managers are committed in weighing human resource issues with the same level of attention as they give to other functions, for example, finance marketing and production. The model is highly achieved in this London branch of the Hilton hotels (Fox, 1973) The hotel integrates business and human resource strategies which yield better results, set business targets are thus achieved and the best human resource strategies applied It has adopted a very coherent approach for provision of mutually supporting and integrated human resource policies and... The employees of Conrad hotel undergo training regularly, their own training manager conducts this in their boardroom and at times they attend various seminars and workshops in the neighboring cities, countriesÐ ± and continents. Besides, they invite expatriates to come and train their employees. To meet the daily recruitment needs at Conrad hotel the personnel and Training manager uses Hcareers a site that offers the excellent tool for attracting the right candidates. The website recruitment ensures speed in recruitment. The manager normally uses the external recruitment sources for supervisory and management positions. The approach in customer skills is applied and candidates from reputable sources are recruited. These give a perfect solution to everyday recruitment needs at the Conrad HotelÃ'Ž The mode of recruiting workers at this hotel is purely through merit where applications are invited from any potential applicant in the nay corner of the globe. A panel of officials goes t hrough the application letters who later shortlist the successful candidates for the interview. Selection is based on the interview results where the best candidate is picked. He goes through massive training until he becomes well equipped in laying out duties. The current staffing trend is not geographically well spread because most of the employees of the senior management level i.e. Accountants, Marketing managers, human resource manager, and personnel manager among others are from a given particular region. (Thomas & Walker, 1993)

Western Civilization Movie Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Western Civilization Movie - Term Paper Example Secondly, because of the first issue, there were not many written works in wide circulation and therefore not many people who were fully educated enough to both enjoy reading as a past-time or to serve as scribes to create more manuscripts. Within the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the story opens at a point where Gawain is a young knight in the service of the legendary King Arthur and thus addresses the historical existence of this figure. However, the narrative story is not considered a reliable source of information because there are few existent facts to support it and there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the Gawain author borrowed from older legends, such as the legend of Cuchulain (Brewer, 1992), to create his story. Despite this, the story still has numerous merits that help us understand more about life in medieval times such as the important elements of being a knight and the latent criticism of the male-ordered ‘civility’ represented by King Arthur and his knights as they turned their backs on nature and the natural element in man. At the beginning of the story, Gawain comes to the realization that he is the only knight capable of accepting the challenge of the Green Knight who has come bursting into Arthur’s court issuing a New Year’s Day challenge. This is because he feels he is the least valuable knight in the court and therefore the one most expendable should he fail to win the challenge. â€Å"I am the weakest, the most wanting in wisdom, I know, and my life, if lost, would be least missed, truly† (I.16.354-355). This reveals the context of defining the true knight in which humility is seen to be prized over bravery regardless if it is true. According to Garbis, the concept of the reluctant hero is an important element of the Arthurian tradition. â€Å"Some kind of shock occurs that makes one aware of the self† (Garbis, 2002). However, it often goes unnoticed that the Green Knight is clearly a supernatural figure that

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Thai Food as a Cultural Product Essay Example for Free

Thai Food as a Cultural Product Essay The use of food as cultural products by tourism industry today affects the culinary heritages in negative senses Do you agree with this statement? Please explain and give example. Cultural products as a part of tourism industry have become an influential strategy in modern international trade. Food is one of the distinctive goods, which have popularly been brought to represent the country and the culture of its residents. However, surprisingly, the use of food as a cultural product by tourism industry today no longer fully displays the intellectual inheritance of the nation; on the contrary, it affects the culinary heritages in negative senses. Having become a cultural product, foreign-cuisine restaurants blossom in every part of the world. For instance, Thai food has become internationally popular because of its sophistication and variety. (Global Investment Center, 2008, p. 245) People can experience Thai cultures without practically going abroad through various choices of Thai food, which are available in their own countries. Nevertheless, often times, the food to which they expose is not a real representative of Thai culinary art since it is reduced in terms of cultural accuracy. There generally are some changes in ingredients due to some difficulties such as rare alien constituents, but, surprisingly, the changes in Thai food are usually not by reason of the lack but intentionally made. Thai cuisines served abroad are frequently modified. This does not occur from a misunderstanding of Thai cultures because several chefs in Thai restaurants overseas are from Thailand. Instead, this happens to be more because of customers; in other words, this is an effect of culture shock. Peter Adler describes culture shock as a five-stage educational and developmental process based on work by Kalvero Oberg and others – which are the honeymoon stage, the disintegrate stage, the reintegrate stage, the autonomy stage, and the interdependence stage respectively. Newly exposed individuals experience the curiosity and excitement of a tourist at first before they feel overwhelmed by the new cultures requirements. After that, they will express outer-directed anger and resentment toward the new culture before they gradually gain a balanced perspective of the two cultures and become fluently comfortable at last. (Pedersen, 1995, p. 3) The first two stages give an explanation to the Thai recipe modification case. Like any other cuisine, one dishful of true Thai food can be exciting and appealing while a repetition of it may not be as superb and may later cause to feel uncomfortable. When it comes to business, a dish per person is not adequate; a restaurant needs a regular customer. As a result, a number of Thai restaurants overseas choose to simplify their own recipes to make their diners feel less awkward with their menus so as to keep their visits. Even though, according to Adler’s theory, the culture-experiences will eventually get along with the real Thai food, the business has a tendency not to take the risk as the stake is too high. The loss of some ingredients due to changes in recipes does not only mean the loss of its taste but also the loss of Thai culinary heritages accumulated since hundreds of years ago, for the ingredients do not only flavor the food but have benefits both in terms of medicine and cookery as well. Even though Thailand was not scientifically advanced back in old times, Thais learned how to utilize herbs as medicament and put them in their food. For example, flowers of a Hummingbird tree in Tamarind paste soup can help balance the body systems, relieve a seasonal fever, and deodorize the soup when adding fish. Tom-Yum is another example. A variety of herbs in the spicy soup, apart from seasoning, can help digestion, prevent bloating, release gas, relieve a fever, and control sexual desire and blood pressure. The removal of some components from Thai food in Thai restaurants overseas without the least concern regarding the culinary heritages is, therefore, the neglect of cultures in a cultural product itself. So far, the existence of Thai food abroad as a cultural product has seemingly been disregarded at the same time as other exotic cuisines on account of several reasons. Diners usually do not truly get the essence of the cuisine or even have a misconception about the culinary art. As long as bean sprouts are still seen in Green curry served in Thai restaurants in the Unites States, using food as a cultural product might not be a good idea. Reference: Longrain: Modern Thai Food. Melbourne: Hardie Grant. Christofi, V. , Thompson, C. L. (2007). You cannot go home again: a phenomenological investigation of returning to the sojourn country after studying abroad. Journal of Counseling and Development, 85(1), 53-64. Global Investment Center. (2008). Thailand Country Study Guide. Washington, DC: International Business. Pedersen, P. (1995). The five stages of culture shock. Westport, CT: Greenwood. Smithies, A. (1952). Modern International Trade Theory and International Policy. In The American Economic Review: Vol. 42, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Sixty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (pp. 168-176). N. P. : American Economic Association. Ward, C. , Bochner, S. , Furnham, A. (2001). The psychology of culture shock. Newyork: Routledge.

David cole interviews dr. franciszek piper ( RESPOND ) Movie Review

David cole interviews dr. franciszek flute player ( RESPOND ) - Movie Review Example The point Cole attempts to make here is that the vas...