Employee Handbook/Privacy Assignment Essay

Employee handbooks are used to familiarize employees with company policies and procedures. Documented employee acknowledgement of receipt and understanding will strengthen the company’s position by confirming employees were informed concerning policies and procedures affecting their employment including privacy. An effectively prepared handbook will not only avoid employee misunderstandings, enhance morale and productivity but also address any applicable state, federal, and international laws. Employee handbooks should focus on the following three overarching privacy areas: (1) Operating- confidentiality of company information, (2) Employment- personnel files, harassment, criminal convictions, and employment references, (3) Electronic Access Policies- privacy of email, confidential information, passwords, and access of another employee’s email (Employee Handbook Company Policy Manual, 2006). A comprehensive employee handbook will provide a roadmap to guide associates th rough the maze of company policies and procedures. The company’s position in response to privacy rights issues should consider and ensure compliance with common law, statutory requirements, and international law, if applicable. Bennett-Alexander and Hartman define statutory claims as follows: State legislatures have responded to the issue of private sector employee privacy in one of four ways: (1) Enacting legislation mirroring federal law,  (2) Recognizing constitutional right to privacy under their state constitutions, (3) Protecting employees only in certain areas of employment, such as personnel records or the use of credit information, and (4) Leaving private sector employees to fend for themselves [†¦] (pp. 593-594, 1995/2004) As such, the employee handbook should identify policies associated with confidentiality including whether the company requires employees to sign a â€Å"confidentiality agreement†. In addition, information concerning random searches as employees enter/exit the facility should be conveyed in the employee handbook. In terms of general employment privacy, the handbook should speak to handling of personnel file information, medical records, criminal background checks, and employment references. Further, the employee handbook should provide an assurance in regard to confidentiality associated with harassment complaints including the company’s investigation process. Finally, the employee handbook should provide clear expectations and procedures in regard to privacy of email, access of another employee’s email, confidential information, and passwords. Electronic access policy information should include the company’s position in regard to monitoring employee’s use of business information systems. The definition of privacy by Schoeman (cited in Hansson and Persson, 2003) states, â€Å"a person has privacy to the extent that others have limited access to information about him, limited access to the intimacies of his life, or limited access to his thoughts or his body† (p. 3, para. 2). Team B’s objective to employee privacy is to have respect for the individual(s). The information collected from an employee is used for the purpose of the job only. This includes information for benefits and medical issues. Unless there is written permission from the employee otherwise. Employee privacy is very important in today’s changing environment. Privacy boundaries may vary from state to state. According to Webster (cited in Hillstrom & Hillstrom), Searches and seizures-an employer has the right to inspect personal belongings (bags, purses, briefcases, cars, lockers, desks, etc.), except when the employer has created a reasonable expectation of privacy. These expectations can be raised if the employee is given a key to a desk, or if  the employer has disseminated a written policy explicitly stating that it will not make such inspections, Monitoring, computer, e-mail, internet, and fax use-businesses have some significant rights in this regard, since they own the equipment. But if these resources are knowingly made available for private employee use, then a reasonable expectation of privacy has been created and personal data placed and maintained on that equipment can be withheld from the employer, Monitoring telephone calls-companies are allowed to monitor calls to make sure that they are business-related and to record them for training purposes, Surveillance and investigation-many surveillance methods (cameras, ID checkpoints, etc.) are legal, as are investigation of employees, provided that they are reasonable and undertaken for work-related purposes, and Drug testing-these policies have been validated by the courts, although criticism of the practice remains intense in some quarters. Drug testing is a popular measure in many industries, and it is practiced by perhaps seventy percent of large American companies. Small businesses, however, are less likely to embrace this technology because of expense, nature of business activity, and concerns about wo rkforce reaction (Reference for Business, p. 1-2, para. 4-8). Employee Handbook: Privacy Workplace Surveillance Information systems are provided for the express purpose of supporting business activity. As such, all use of company systems including email communications are the property of ABC Company. Employees are generally not permitted to use business information systems for personal use. Personal use is permissible if (a) Management has approved it; (b) it does not consume more than a trivial amount of system resources; (c) it does not interfere with employee’s productivity; and (d) it does not preempt any business activity. Electronic mail systems are not to be used for such purposes as producing or distributing â€Å"chain mail†; operating a business; soliciting for personal, political, or religious causes; or for outside organizations. ABC Company does not guarantee, nor should users have any expectation on  privacy of electronic communications. Users should exercise care regarding the contents of communications. ABC Company maintains the capability to monitor all activity on the company’s business information systems including internet web sites visited. Employees must obtain written permission from their immediate supervisor prior to accessing chat rooms for business purposes. Telephone conversations may be monitored for the purpose of evaluating the quality of service provided to ABC Company’s customers. Drug Testing Current and prospective employees will be asked to submit to drug and alcohol testing per ABC Company policy. Prospective employees will be asked to submit to testing if an offer of employment is tendered. Negative test results for drugs and/or alcohol are a condition of employment. This policy is intended to comply with all state laws governing drug and alcohol testing and is designed to safeguard employee privacy rights to the fullest extent of the law. ABC Company will obtain employee signed approval form prior to administering drug and/or alcohol testing. Failure to submit to testing as a result of probable cause will result in suspension and may result in termination of employment. Any drug and/or alcohol testing requested by ABC Company will be performed by a state licensed laboratory. Each employee asked to submit to a drug or alcohol test will be notified of their results by ABC Company within 2 business days of receiving the lab results. Every reasonable effort will be made by ABC Company to maintain confidentiality regarding results. If the test results are confirmed positive, the employee will be given the opportunity to provide a prescription supporting test findings. ABC Company does not tolerate the use of alcohol or nonprescription drugs on company premises or during work hours at facilities operated by ABC Company. Suspension shall be without pay until the results of the test are obtained by ABC Company. If the results are negative, the employee will be reinstated and compensated for hours not worked as a result of the suspension. Positive test results may result in termination of employment. Every reasonable effort will be made by ABC Company to protect the confidentiality of the  drug test results. Employee Records The purpose of this policy is to ensure that employees who have access to confidential information regarding other employees understand the importance of preserving the confidentiality of such information. This policy applies to all ABC company employees who have access to confidential personnel information and/or are otherwise provided access to such information for legitimate business-related purposes. Employees who have access to confidential information, including, but not limited to, personnel matters concerning other company employees (e.g., compensation, employment-related medical information, retirement benefits, marital status, work performance issues and/or evaluations, etc.) must sign an Agreement Regarding Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure of Confidential Employee Information. Management employees requesting access to such information must submit a signed Agreement Regarding Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure of Confidential Employee Information to the Human Resources Department prior to being granted access to confidential personnel information. Employee information shall not be released to any third party without the written request for release of information signed and dated by the employee and verified by an HR representative. Each request for information shall be treated as a separate inquiry, be limited to the information specified in the document and require separate documentation. Where appropriate or in compliance with laws applicable to an employees specific work location, information will be issued to the appropriate authorities with the proper documents authorizing the search and seizure of said information. References Bennett-Alexander, D.D., & Hartman, L.P. (2004). The Right to Privacy and Other Protections from Employer Intrusions. _Employment Law for Business_ (4th). New York: McGraw Hill. (Original work published 1995) Employee Handbook Company Policy Manual. (2006). In _NUPP Legal._ Retrieved September 8, 2006, from http://www.nupplegal.com/polhanman1.html Hansson, S. O., Persson, A. J., Jan 2003, Privacy at Work-Ethical Criteria, _Journal of Business Ethics_, Part 1, Vol. 42, Issue 1, p. 59-70, 12p, Retrieved on September 8, 2006, from EBSCOhost website http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=29&hid=11&sid=6fd07b5a-b177-42f8-bcd3-def12a5cabc0%40sessionmgr101 Hillstrom, L., Hillstrom, K., 2006, Employee Privacy, _Encyclopedia of Small Business_ _Di-Eq,_ Thomson Gale, Retrieved on September 8, 2006, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Di-Eq/copyright.html

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

5th November 2007A visit to Columbia University and the chaotic aftermathAfter being allowed to address the Columbia University, Iranian president Mohamed Ahmadnijan showed a rare character and a high level of social hardness. He blasted the American society and saying there was no gays in Iran. The eccentric leader of the republic of Iran is seen as a controversial and as an inspiration in the extremist movement. His position and virtues that aim at drawing out need to wipe Israel out of the map and to destabilise the West through all aspects of concerted violence and extremist principles, obviously resonate as great and are indicative of what the extremism followers should look up at in a leader. He has funded terrorist organizations and helped the insurgency in Iraqi with a purpose of frustrating the West and the effort of the international community to stabilise Iraqi.Insults to the UN and the USThe Iranian leader dismissed the United Nations and ridiculed its authenticity and le gitimacy. What he implied was the inability of policy within the structures of the UN and projected the US as the sole decision maker at the body. This view is myopic and absurd. He launched a scathing attack on the US at Columbia University.Controversial character and intentionsHis visit to Columbia University on 17th September 2007 has further transformed the leader to a major threat to the West’s relationship with the Middle East and other Muslim countries. Mohamed received a hostile reception at the University. His visit within a literally approach was designated to be a symbolic truce with the West’s culture and system but due to a rigid perspective on him and the commonplace attitude and general perception, Ahmednijad’s aims and objectives were not understood.He realised within his faculties, the hatred and fear the American nation regarded him with. Subsequently he saw how ready the West was to ‘at any chance to get rid of him. Diplomacy came to a d ead end with the senate at Columbia coming under criticism for allowing him to address the University gathering. Ahemdnijan was branded a ‘holocaust denier and a perpetrator of terrorism. The Columbia University president termed him as an intellectual mind set and an un-educated leader. This is the hatred Ahmednijad saw and felt in the United States Columbia University. His behaviour and character as seen in context before this was not focussed on neither intonation nor abhorrent ethos towards America but symbolic and reaching out moves which in the same context were not seen nor recognized by the American society.What sparks this controversial and hate towards the Iranian leader is the fanatical and anti West fanaticism in him, also his strategic positioning of Iran as a pillar of Islamic extremism, consistent attacks on American foreign policy and blasting of diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear standoff which has invoked sanctions on Iran.  In reciprocation to this animo sity Ahmednijan sought to commence his fall back position through diplomacy. He replied in a principled perspective.He confronted within the same schematic approach the Americans had done. He questioned the integrity of the Columbia University president Mr Bollinger and subsequently claimed the rights of Iran to own nuclear weapons just as the West owned. According to Anthony F and Robin W., (2007)   Ã¢â‚¬ËœAhmadinejad, who in the past has argued that Israel should be â€Å"wiped off the map,† repeated his assertions that the Holocaust should be researched â€Å"from different perspectives† and said Palestinians should not be â€Å"paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with.† The Iranian leader also blasted U.S. sanctions against his country, insisted on Iran's right to nuclear development and declared his willingness to â€Å"dialogue† with U.S. leaders’. His behaviour by then was characterized with apt criticism of the West hypoc risy and desire to see that they managed the greater global policies. He repeated that the holocaust needed to e researched. The aftermath was an onslaught on his sanity and audacity as a leader.  Diplomacy and amnestyAhmednijad might have opted to appease Americans through diplomacy. There are many issues within the history of the West problem with Iran. Both view each other as a threat to the others interest only that the West is autonomous, militarily stronger and more strategic economically and politically. Iran is only a minnow with more strategic position within religious lines and political-religious positions.This aspect has spared it the possible military strike by Americans. Although the United States has been more cautious with Iran, the debut of France in the anti Iran sentiment and the promise of military action as an eventuality add panache to the West desire to stop Iran’s strategic position growth. Ahmednijad wants to prove he is the key to the Middle East p roblem since he represents the radical ness and the extremist policies the Islamic community.The Iranian leader acted in speed to show his stand and diplomatic aspects as a leader. He advised his government to release a Californian businessman Ali Shekri who had been jailed in Iran. He morally was seeking retribution and sought to justify desire to establish peace and cohesiveness. But due to the abrasiveness and blindness of the American lawmakers and leaders, the Iranian leader saw no relenting. Subsequently his general issued a statement that insinuated that Iran was more militarily steady and ready. There was also the launch of two air force aircrafts which symbolised the industrialised and military power of Iran. This was an act of provoking the international community especially the United States.His character complexity and moral perspectivesHowever his character is seen as more re-proactive and meant to seek the elasticity of the Americans hate and military options against I ran. The Iranian leader was ready to visit the ground –zero. This would have been a symbolic and a significant gesture. He was to lay a wreath and probably make a speech. However the tensions after the Columbia University incident would render the entire visit for him dangerous.There were emotions and protests were all over. University students and civilians were on the streets chanting anti him. This was enough reason to refuse him the chance to go to the Ground-zero. But contextually, what was the motive of his intentions? Why would such an anti American leader wish to make a symbolic visit to a place where people from his religion and community killed thousands of innocent lives? This makes the Iranian leader controversial. In the event of a visit, no wonder Ahmednijads comments and sentiments would be more controversial than his remarks about the Jewish holocaust. He mght have justified jihad and the death of these people. He might have projected the Palestinian deaths wi thin this situation as what the Americans paid with the September 11.Further within this issue, Ahmednijan could not be a target of American extremists, obviously they don’t exist, and hence, he was not amused that, it was only a matter of distaste and the hate American legislators felt for him. It might be obvious he knew he could never get a chance to visit ground zero but confirming it through seeking the permission to is outward and provocative. This as seen within an academic perspective is a character that is seeking to find leeway’s and fissures in the American society and government so as to achieve personal goals. These goals are two-way-traffic. The Iranian leader might be seeking to make peace and embrace American foreign policy and become part of the international community, or is acting with impunity as an agent of the large extremist world to learn and find weakness in the American system.Worry and pessimism in Iranian leaderThough exuding confidence, the Iranian leader projected fear and desperacy to avert a war crisis. His intentions in the United States depict this character. The leaders is troubled and more in a quagmire than in good stead. Most probably he is worried by the French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner remarks that France should prepare for war if Iran makes nuclear weapons, a sentiment shared by the United States. Ahmednijan might have weighed his options And saw he could not counter such brute force militarily. He knows the strength of Maericans through the Iraqi conflict but knows nothing of the French.Through visiting such a prestigious government funded Columbia University. David J (2007) argues that the Iranian president has been in a cage, he wants out but what he does every time he leaps up is to hang on in even when his foot is outside. He escalates in his justification of his country having nuclear power; Ahmednijan asserts in his Columbia interviews that â€Å"Making nuclear, chemical and biological bomb s and weapons of mass destruction is yet another result of the misuse of science and research by the big powers. [†¦] What can a perpetual nuclear umbrella threat achieve for the sake of humanity? If nuclear war wages between nuclear powers, what human catastrophe will take place?So we're quite clear on what we need. If [the US has] created the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, what position are you in to question the peaceful purposes of other people who want nuclear power? We do not believe in nuclear weapons, period. It goes against the whole grain of humanity. [†¦] I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs, or testing them, making them, politically they are backward, retarded.†This seems a strategy to appease the American public on the Iranian nuclear intentions so as to pre-empt the French threat and be left with the US animosity and military intervention plans. Ahmednijad shows fear and strategic shift of his policy on nucl ear weapons. This way the public debate transforms from the context of his violating the proliferation faculties and embracing religious backed extremes.Going to Columbia is an insignia of his acknowledgement of American education and federal system.He is trying to be identified with the community and seeks to tone down his strong desire to be vocal against these institutions and instead be seen as a moderator of policies. He wants to prove his actions and statements are basically intended to mend and project positive perspectives in the interest of the Iran and the Middle East.His character raises the storms at home where his popularity is waning drastically. He is seen as an Islamic leader rather than a president of a republic. He is not dwelling on domestic issues but constantly criticizing the West and the Israeli’s. His actions do not represent the majority of his supporters and political cronies as more pressure mounts on Iran making military strikes inevitable. Though his approach to popularity is myopic, he is a symbol of Islamic rise against Western imperialism. Noor, M., (2006)SourcesNoor Mohamed 2006 : Ahmednijads falling popularity in the domestic front. Daily Nation Kenya

The Cast of Amontillado Analysis

The story was written by Edgar Allan Poe and took place during carnival season in Italy in 1846. In the story the author used the first person narration style and this keeps the originality of the story. The reader get to know exactly what the protagonist was thinking because he was telling the story. So the effect is that he let the audience feel the main character which was Montressor. And this gives a better understanding of the story. We see that Montressor revenged Fortunato for insulting him. Through the story, there is no evidence of those insults. If we look at â€Å"thousand injuries† and â€Å"insult† from the text, we don’t see how those insults came about. The character didn’t change till the end. In fact the last paragraph tells hoe he achieved his goal. It is a good setting. In fact each paragraph described an idea making it easy to follow. On page seven, when he said â€Å"another draught of the Medoc† and â€Å"I broke and reached him a flacon of De Grave† we see and feel the scene going on. And another one â€Å"proceed†, â€Å"I said† too. The conflict in the story is Montressor having been wronged and willing to pay back. I was solved by the death of the antagonist. All the readers’ questions are not answered. In fact there would be a police investigation and montressor could be thrown to jail. And the story doesn’t say any of that. So the readers are still wondering. The shortness of this story allows the reader not to get lost. It helped stay on track and therefore have a better understanding. He focused on the essential. He created this effect also by the first person narration style. Like â€Å"I said†, â€Å"presenting him the wine† on page 10.

New deveopment in textile industry - article summary

New deveopment in textile industry - summary - Article Example More glamorous applications include embedding gold nanoparticles into natural fabrics such as wool. The gold nanoparticles impart soft colours from pale soft greens, to browns and beiges, depending on the particle size and shape. These colours are stable, and may even provide some antibacterial properties to the fabrics, as an added bonus! Across the globe a tremendous amount of research is taking place in electrospinning techniques. The spun, polymer-based nanofibres can be loaded with different additives which could be nanoparticles, enzymes, drugs or catalysts. Some combinations can be antibacterial and sprayed on to wounds as a kind of healing web, others can be conductive or even form filters or membranes. Scientists are also working on nanoelectronic devices that can be embedded into textiles to provide special support systems for individuals in dangerous professions or sports. Some garments can now provide life-signs monitoring, internal temperature monitoring, chemical sensing and also power generation and storage to enable communication with the outside world. Garments with this kind of technology can be vital for the safety of say firefighters working in dangerous situations in isolation from their colleagues, or even for skiers or their rescuers to give early warning signs of hypothermia. In some establishments, research is ongoing into man-made nanofibres where clay minerals, carbon nanotubes or nanoparticulate metal oxides are used to impart new properties. These properties provide halogen-free, flame retardancy for a fabric, increased strength and shock-absorbency, heat and UV radiation stability, and even brighter colouration! Other work is ongoing in the very exciting area of inkjet printing onto textiles. This is opening up many possibilities, not just for the customised or localised printing of textiles to an individual

Critique on chapter 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critique on chapter 4 - Essay Example roceeds at a fast pace, and although the tone and language are accessible, some of the ideas are quite profound, for example the different ways that communication can take place asynchronously and the implications that can follow from these different contexts. The majority of the concepts used are abstract, and this makes the chapter somewhat more difficult to follow than the previous chapter. 2 There are several new ideas in this chapter, and they make the reader think more deeply about time, not just in the sense of the historical time when films or books are produced, for example, but the time that passes by while a person reads or listens to or views a work of art or a piece of communication. This time factor is so obvious that it is often taken for granted and overlooked, even by academic experts, but it is important because it can be a huge variable which influences greatly how a message is interpreted. Generally, the more time distance, and also cultural distance, between the entity giving out the message and the entity receiving it, the more chance there is that the intended and received meanings will be different. This makes the reader think more about past, present and future reception of media texts, and what changes could take place in the gaps between these times, some of which can be nano seconds, and others can be centuries. This broadened my usual frame of thinking about media. 3 The chapter ended rather suddenly, and the connection between time and culture gap was not very clear. There perhaps should have been more explanation of the last section on culture. I would like also to have had more exact definition of the words, for example asynchronous to show what the Greek parts of the word mean. 4 I thought that the examples given in the book in chapter four were generally adequate. One example that could have been used is that of a person watching a film for the first time, when it is first released, perhaps when still a child, and then that

Aeorodynamic and Myoeslastic forces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aeorodynamic and Myoeslastic forces - Essay Example â€Å"The glottis is the opening in the larynx that exists anteriorly (to the front) between the vocal folds and posteriorly (to the back) between the arytenoid cartilages. The part of the glottis between the vocal folds is known as the membranous glottis and the part of the glottis between the arytenoid cartilages is known as the cartilaginous glottis† {Mannel 2005] The function of the vocal folds in terms of closing and opening depends on the air pressure that is developed below and above the glottis. The glottal flow or glottal pulse remains zero when the phonation is in the closed phase, and the glottal pulse slowly increases during the opening phase of the phonation process. â€Å"The nature of phonation is such that the glottal pulses occurs as a series of pulses. The vibration has involves the pulse rate of the glottis with the additional function of the myoelastic and the aerodynamic forces. The combination of the elastic and the aerodynamic forces sets up as an oscillatory opening and closing of the glottis, causing what would otherwise be a steady air stream leaving lungs to be broken into a series of puffs of air many times per second †¦The sound that results form these puffs is called as phonation.†[Sherman Fitch III 1986]. The myolelastic and aerodynamic force initiates the vibration of the vocal folds. This aerodynamic forces initiates the vibrations of the tissues†. [Courey [2003]

Adopting a simple profit-maximising perspective ..... can have Essay - 2

Adopting a simple profit-maximising perspective ..... can have positive impacts for a firm,Using examples where appropriate, discuss this assertion - Essay Example This paper will examine the positive impact of the firm by applying the profit maximization strategies and perspectives. Different aspects of profit maximization of the firms and their strategies in order to maximize their profit will be studied in this paper. Some firms achieve its profit maximizing objectives by developing and implementing several strategies by motivating its employees and managers, improving returns on investments, and increasing product awareness etc. Competitive strategies that a firm implement to maximize its profits are as follows: A firm can destabilize its competitors by increasing its market share and sell the products or services at the same prices as competitors do to maximize its profit and creating a positive impact on the firm. A firm having the capability to produce the product at low cost can maximize its profit easily and in short time(Business Plan Hut 2012). A firm uses differentiation strategy usually to gain a competitive advantage over the existing workers inside that firm. Profit maximizing firm adopts this strategy when a customer’s desire and wants are so varied that a consistent product do not satisfy their desire. When customers are placing more value on the differentiated products that a firm is providing to them, then they are force to pay high price to that firm which helps it to maximize its profit(Business Plan Hut 2012). To maximize a firm’s profit and creating a positive impact on that firm, a focus or niche strategy must be huge to give away a healthy profit to that firm. The firm that employs this competitive strategy to maximize its profit experiences a loyal customer base. This competitive strategy helps the firm to maximize its profit that has a positive impact on the firm. Focus Strategy tends to be beneficial for the firm to maximize its profit when the following factors are set: Oil companies believe in long-term profit maximization and avoid large short-term losses and show their

ABC Orange Juice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

ABC Orange Juice - Essay Example They ought to understand their aim of advertising, the target, media and competitors. ABC must actively involve the public, customers or not, in any activity which presents a forum for the customers to make comments about their Juice. This helps develop referrals and positive word of mouth from satisfied customers. Stake holders are very vital for the overall performance and success of the business hence they must be involved too. The public relations team must make available this forum by participating in community activities and sponsorships, producing annual reports, brochures and newsletters. In addition, they may also initiate educational programs to enlighten the public on the need to use their juice instead of others. ABC Orange juice in a move to market their product will employ sales promotion techniques such as sales force promotion, trade promotions, business promotions and consumer promotions. They will give appropriate commissions to their sales agents to motivate them. They may also involve them in sales competition with prizes or awards. In business promotion, they need to organise seminars and workshops and trade show displays. They can as well appease their customers by offering on-pack offers, bonuses and loyalty

BUSINESS LAW Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BUSINESS LAW - Speech or Presentation Example Unlike members of ordinary partnerships, the LLP itself is responsible for any debts that it runs up, not the individual partners. 3 The Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) is viewed as an alternative corporate business vehicle that provides the benefits of limited liability but allows its members the flexibility of organizing their internal structure as a partnership based on a mutually arrived agreement. The LLP form would enable entrepreneurs, professionals and enterprises providing services of any kind or engaged in scientific and technical disciplines, to form commercially efficient vehicles suited to their requirements. Owing to flexibility in its structure and operation, the LLP would also be a suitable vehicle for small enterprises and for investment by venture capital. 4 Members in case of negligence or fraud are personally liable only if he assumes personal responsibility for the acts done.

Phobias and Addiction Paper Essay Example for Free

Phobias and Addiction Paper Essay A phobia is a learned bodily response in reference to a difficult life event. Centered in the amygdala portion of the brain which regulates the fight or flight response, a somatic sensation of anxiety occurs in the presence of specific stimuli. The precipitating factor may have been experienced by the person themselves-or may have been experienced secondhand through misfortune that may have occurred to a friend or loved on. In some cases, a phobia may have no discernible cause or may appear irrational-to everyone but the person experiencing it! Phobic reactions or symptoms of anxiety can include: a racing heart, sweaty palms, an upset stomach and a general feeling of unease. Classical conditioning is a response that is triggered by an outside stimulus-or the thought of such stimulus. The perfect example is the Pavlovian response-in which Pavlov would ring a bell before dinnertime and his dogs would salivate. Over time, he extinguished the presence of the food yet kept the ringing of the bell. The dogs still salivated-at the idea of food coming, a basic bodily response to the suggestion of a specific stimulus. This is commonly referred to as a Pavlovian response. Classical conditioning has two components to it-the acquisition stage and the extinction phase. In the acquisition stage, the initial learned response is obtained. For example, in the case of a phobia-a person may break out in a cold sweat presence of crossing a bridge as he drives. In the extinction phase, the bridge may not be present but the memory of it may be present-enough to still cause the phobic reaction. Thus, merely thinking about a stimulus, even when it is extinct, can still bring on the same phobic response. The phobic response, therefore, is strengthened each time it is felt. The stimulus-present or not-extinct or not-become fused together in the persons mind. The phobia sufferer then will go to great lengths to avoid the stimulus at any cost. The phobia then worsens as he avoids facing his fears head on. This is how classical conditioning can increase the intensity of a phobia. Addictions are defined as a persistent behavioral pattern that is marked by physical and/or psychological dependency on someone or something. Addictions became an issue in the treatment milieu when they significantly disrupt the life of the addicted individual. Terminology has become quite complicated. Those individuals from a medical background define addiction from a physiological basis. For example-opiates, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, alcohol and nicotine are classical examples of those substances, which cause a physical dependence. On a lesser scale, there are those items that can cause a physiological dependence, as evidenced by changes in the neurotransmitters in the brain-some examples would be over the counter nasal sprays or laxatives. Psychological addictions can be defined within the context of a slippery slope- there are as many addictions as there are specialists to treat them. (Evidence the most recent news of the plethora of celebrities being treated for sex addiction. ) Some examples of area in which psychological addiction may occur include the following-shopping, pornography, eating, exercise and self injury. There is a physiologic reward, however, as the object of the addictive persons attention -akathe reward activates the pleasure enter of the brain-emitting dopamine. Therefore, the addictive behavior is rewarded with a rush of dopamine to the person engaging in the behavior. Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to form or shape a behavior. There are three main components relevant to operant conditioning. First, there is the aspect of reinforcement-this basically applies to a consequence that causes the addictive behavior to occur with greater frequency. An example of this would be as follows- An individual is consumed with shopping. They scour the news every day to find out where the sales will be taking place; they belong to a network of people that trade shopping information relevant to their area of interest. Then the day comes and they make the purchase. This act reinforces their addiction with a momentary high (that is usually short lived. ) Second, the aspect of punishment-a consequence that makes an action occur, less frequently-comes into play. When an addictive urge is felt, and the desired object is taken away (i. e. the punishment) the urge to obtain the desired rush still exists-albeit even stronger. The person then works harder to obtain the drug, the act, and the food-whatever the addiction is. In this way, the operant conditioning aspect of punishment reinforces and addiction. Third, there is the element of extinction. Extinction occurs when there is a lack of consequence following a behavior-good or bad. An individual who is wantonly exhibiting a sexual addiction while in a serious relationship-l et’s take that as an example. Without being caught, there is no consequence. The addictive behavior continues unchecked. It is reinforced. I have exemplified the ways in which operant conditioning can develop and maintain addictive behavior. The difference between classical and operant conditioning is as follows: very succinctly put, classical conditioning forms a relationship between two stimuli-for example, one thinks of/or sees a chocolate cake, the salivary glands begin to work! Operant conditioning forms a relationship between a stimuli and a consequence. You touch the stove while its on, you get burnt. Bet you wont do that again-a relationship is formed on the basis of a negative consequence. Conversely, the consequence can also be positive. Example-you do your homework on time and as assigned, you get a good grade, a positive consequence has occurred, which will (hopefully) shape future behaviors. Extinction is achieved through the gradual phasing out of reward in operant conditioning, while hoping to still achieve the same behavior. Example, one has been rewarded with a good driver award after years of possessing a great driving record. With the extinction of this positive consequence (i. e. no reward)-one would hope that the good driving habits would continue. In classical conditioning, I will present an example-if we ring a bell and cause a dog we have a conditioned stimulus-however if we keep ringing that bell without giving the dog any food (an unconditioned stimulus) eventually the dog will unlearn his conditioned response. Extinction has then occurred. In summation, extinction is operant conditioning relates to the phasing out of consequence in classical conditioning it is the phasing out of response.

AIS-MACA- Z: MACA based Clonal Classifier for Splicing Site

AIS-MACA- Z: MACA based Clonal Classifier for Splicing Site AIS-MACA- Z: MACA based Clonal Classifier for Splicing Site, Protein Coding and Promoter Region Identification in Eukaryotes Pokkuluri Kiran Sree, Inampudi Ramesh Babu, SSSN Usha Devi N   Abstract Bioinformatics incorporates information regarding biological data storage, accessing mechanisms and presentation of characteristics within this data. Most of the problems in bioinformatics and be addressed efficiently by computer techniques. This paper aims at building a classifier based on Multiple Attractor Cellular Automata (MACA) which uses fuzzy logic with version Z to predict splicing site, protein coding and promoter region identification in eukaryotes. It is strengthened with an artificial immune system technique (AIS), Clonal algorithm for choosing rules of best fitness. The proposed classifier can handle DNA sequences of lengths 54,108,162,252,354. This classifier gives the exact boundaries of both protein and promoter regions with an average accuracy of 90.6%. This classifier can predict the splicing site with 97% accuracy. This classifier was tested with 1, 97,000 data components which were taken from Fickett Toung, EPDnew, and other sequences from a renowned medical uni versity. Key Words: MACA(Multiple Attractor Cellular Automata) , CA(Cellular Automata) ,AIS( Artificial Immune System) ,Clonal Algorithm, AIS-MACA-Z(Artificial Immune System- Multiple Attractor Cellular Automata-Version Z). Introduction In recent years, study of Cellular Automata (CA) as a potential modeling tool has gained importance. Some researchers and scientists have used CA in image processing, data compression, pattern recognition, encryption, VLSI design and language recognition. Cellular Automata (CA) is a computing model which provides a good platform for performing complex computations with the available local information. CA is portrayed by local interconnectivity of cells in the network/grid. The interactions/communications between the cells are pulley local. Each cell is permitted to interact with its neighboring cells only. Further, the interconnection links typically convey just a little measure of data. No cell in the entire network will have the global view. These characteristics of CA attracted us to propose a classifier which can be very much useful for solving many problems in bioinformatics with the existing frame work. Artificial Immune System is a novel computational intelligence technique with features like distributed computing, fault /error tolerance, dynamic learning, adaption to the frame work, self monitoring, non uniformity and several features of natural immune systems. AIS take its motivation from the standard immune system of the body to propose novel computing tools for addressing many problems in wide domain areas. These features of AIS are used in the thesis to strengthen the proposed CA classifier Literature Survey Vitoantonio Bevilacqu[1] at el. tried to provide theoretical foundations for solving some problems in bioinformatics using artificial immune system like multiple sequence alignment problem and protein structure prediction. Hybrid immune algorithm was proposed for addressing multiple sequence alignment problems. Some open problems in bioinformatics are discussed and authors tried to create insight for applying AIS in bioinformatics. Shane Dixon at al has proposed Bioinformatics data mining was proposed with AIS and Neural Network. Variations in the real valued negative selection algorithm and multi layer feed forward neural network model are discussed in detail. Niloy Ganguly[2] at al has made a survey on cellular automata which say CA uses the local information and performs complex computations. Authors gave a brief discussion on the types of Cellular Automata. Niloy Ganguly at al has also proposed theoretical concept of proposing CA for pattern classification which can be applied for low cost VLSI implementation. This classifier is capable of accommodating noise based on distance metric also. Palsh Sarkar [3]also have given a brief history of cellular automata regarding the way for creating CA games like game of life and firing squad problem and creating local CA rules for specific problems. Pradipta Maji[4] at al has proposed the error correcting capability of cellular automata based on associative memory. The desired CA is evolved with formulation of simulated annealing program. X.Xiao[6] at al has used CA to generate image representation for biological sequencs. The research is amide to improve the quality of predicting protein attribut es such as structural class and sub cellular location. Adriana Popovici at al has successful applied CA in image processing. Parallelism in CA is used to remove the noise and detection of boarders in digital images. Jesus P. Mena-Chalco[5] at al has used Modified Gabor-Wavelet Transform for addressing this issue. In this connection, numerous coding DNA model-free systems dependent upon the event of particular examples of nucleotides at coding areas have been proposed. Regardless, these techniques have not been totally suitable because of their reliance on an observationally predefined window length needed for a nearby dissection of a DNA locale. Authors present a strategy dependent upon a changed Gabor-wavelet transform for the ID of protein coding areas. This novel convert is tuned to examine intermittent sign parts and presents the focal point of being free of the window length. We contrasted the execution of the MGWT and different strategies by utilizing eukaryote information sets. The effects indicate that MGWT beats all evaluated model-autonomous strategies regarding ID exactness. These effects demonstrate that the wellspring of in any event some piece of the ID lapses handled by the past s ystems is the altered working scale. The new system stays away from this wellspring of blunders as well as makes an instrument accessible for point by point investigation of the nucleotide event Changchuan Yin[6] at el has proposed a strategy to foresee protein coding areas is produced which is dependent upon the way that the vast majority of exon arrangements have a 3-base periodicity, while intron groupings dont have this interesting characteristic. The technique registers the 3-base periodicity and the foundation clamor of the stepwise DNA sections of the target DNA groupings utilizing nucleotide circulations as a part of the three codon positions of the DNA successions. Exon and intron successions might be recognized from patterns of the degree of the 3-base periodicity to the foundation commotion in the DNA groupings. Design of AIS-MACA-Z The general design of AIS-MACA-Z is indicated in the figure 1. Input to AIS-MACA-Z algorithm and its variations will be DNA sequence and Amino Acid sequences. Input processing unit will process sequences three at a time as three neighborhood cellular automata is considered for processing DNA sequences. The rule generator will transform the complemented and non complemented rules in the form of matrix, so that we can apply the rules to the corresponding sequence positions very easily. AIS-MACA-Z basins are calculated as per the instructions of proposed algorithm and an inverter tree named as AIS multiple attractor cellular automata is formed which can predict the class of the input after all iterations. Figure1: General Architecture of AIS-MACA- Z For a sample DNA sequence and fuzzy real values, the data structures AIS-MACA-Z [7,8] is shown in the figure 2. The decimal equivalent of the next state function, as defined as the rule number of the CA cell. In a 2-state 3-neighborhood CA, there are 256 distinct next state functions, among 256 rules, rule 51is represented in the following equation 1. Rule 51 : qi(t + 1) = qi(t) Equation (1) Figure2: AIS-MACA- Z data structure Experimental Results Experiments were conducted by using Fickett and Toung data [9] for predicting the protein coding regions and splicing cites. All the 21 measures reported in [9] were considered for developing the classifier. For promoter region identification human promoters from EPDnew[10]. Table 1 represents the splicing cite output. Figure 3,4,5,6 shows the prediction of promoter and protein coding regions. Table 1: Splicing Cite Output Figure3: AIS-MACA- Z Interface Identifying Protein Coding Regions Figure 4: Exons Boundary Reporting Figure 5: Coding Sequence Reporting Figure 6: Coding Sequence Probability Levels 5. Conclusion We have developed a logical classifier designed with MACA and strengthened with AIS technique that uses a fuzzy logic for predicting the slicing sites, protein and promoter regions. The accuracy of the AIS-MACA-Z classifier is considerably more when compared with the existing algorithm which is 90.6% in average. The proposed classifier can handle large data sets and sequences of various lengths. This classifier certainly provides intuition towards application of MACA to several problems in bioinformatics. 6. References Bevilacqua, Vitoantonio, Maurizio Triggiani, Vito Gallo, Isabella Cafagna, Piero Mastrorilli, and Giuseppe Ferrara. An expert system for an innovative discrimination tool of commercial table grapes. In Intelligent Computing Theories and Applications, pp. 95-102. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. Ganguly, Niloy, Biplab K. Sikdar, Andreas Deutsch, Geoffrey Canright, and P. Pal Chaudhuri. A survey on cellular automata. (2003). Sarkar, Palash, and Subhamoy Maitra. Nonlinearity bounds and constructions of resilient Boolean functions. In Advances in Cryptology—CRYPTO 2000, pp. 515-532. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2000. Maji, Pradipta, Chandrama Shaw, Niloy Ganguly, Biplab K. Sikdar, and P. Pal Chaudhuri. Theory and application of cellular automata for pattern classification. Fundamenta Informaticae 58, no. 3 (2003): 321-354. Mena-Chalco, Jesà ºs P., Helaine Carrer, Yossi Zana, and Roberto M. Cesar. Identification of protein coding regions using the modified Gabor-wavelet transform. Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, IEEE/ACM Transactions on 5, no. 2 (2008): 198-207. Yin, Changchuan, and Stephen S-T. Yau. Prediction of protein coding regions by the 3-base periodicity analysis of a DNA sequence. Journal of theoretical biology 247, no. 4 (2007): 687-694. Sree, Pokkuluri Kiran. AIS-INMACA: A Novel Integrated MACA Based Clonal Classifier for Protein Coding and Promoter Region Prediction. J Bioinfo Comp Genom 1 (2014): 1-7. Nedunuri, SSSN Usha Devi, Inampudi Ramesh Babu, and Pokkuluri Kiran Sree. An Extensive Repot on Cellular Automata Based Artificial Immune System for Strengthening Automated Protein Prediction. Advances in Biomedical Engineering Research 1, no. 3 (2013). Fickett, James W., and Chang-Shung Tung. Assessment of protein coding measures. Nucleic acids research 20, no. 24 (1992): 6441-6450. Dreos, Renà ©, Giovanna Ambrosini, Rouayda Cavin Pà ©rier, and Philipp Bucher. EPD and EPDnew, high-quality promoter resources in the next-generation sequencing era. Nucleic acids research 41, no. D1 (2013): D157-D164.

US Governor Campaign Example

US Governor Campaign Example Gubernatorial Campaign for Jane â€Å"Bitzi† Johnson Miller I. Introduction Jane Bitzi is a granddaughter of the previous Texas Governor called Joe Miller, also known as â€Å"Big Daddy† who was in office from 1954 to 1958. She is Caucasian with a Swiss ancestry. She is a conservative Republican and is running for Governor of Texas. Jane Miller was born and brought up on a ranch in West Texas. She was a former developer and the founder of a software company in Dallas in 1993. She sold her company, Comp Soft, for $2.5 million to Dell in 2010. Jane Miller attended The University of Texas at Dallas for only one year, but had to stop due to financial reason owing to her father’s bankruptcy. However, she managed to get a law degree from Yale following financial support from her husband. She is currently divorced from her husband Paul King with whom she had two children, Ian King and Robert King. Jane Miller worked as a Senator for the Anderson County in Texas for two terms since 2008. II. Cultural and Regional Support Political culture denotes what people feel and believe about the administration, and how they consider people ought to act towards it. A moralistic political culture is one in which society is regarded to be more significant than the individual. This group acknowledges the need of individuals to give value to the group. Government appears to be perceived as a positive force, emphasizing the commonwealth conception as the source of democratic government. In an individual political culture the administration is perceived have a practical orientation and is largely instituted for utilitarian reasons. It puts emphasis on limiting the government intervention on private activities and the government is largely restricted to the areas that encourage private initiative. In a traditional political culture, family and social and ties are prominent. The government is perceived to have a positive role in society, but this role is largely restricted to safeguarding the preservation of the prevailing social order. Daniel Elazar believes that Texas’ political culture is strongly individualistic with some traditionalistic elements in that administration is supposed to preserve a steady society, but arbitrate in the lives of Texans as little as possible. This will be Bitzi’s likely strength amongst the different political cultures because Texas’ politics are identified with social and economic conservatism, solid support of personal politics, and mistrust of political parties. The geographic regions where she will prosper and have the majority of support will be East Texas, North Texas and Central Texas because they are republican stronghold, particularly in the South Plains and the Panhandle. Despite being a resident of West Texas, she will do poorly in West and South Texas because they are democrat stronghold. Historically, The Republican Party has been politically weak in Southern Texas, especially the areas around and near the Mexican Border (Jeffers, 2010). III. Demographic Support Regarding the demographics of Texas according to the 2010 census, the state has approximately 45% white population, 38% Hispanic population, 11% Black population, and 6% of mostly Asian population. Texas is now becoming less white and more Hispanic (Stiles, 2010). The majority of Bitzi’s regional and cultural support will come from the white population. This will be mostly because she is white. She will get fewer votes from Hispanics and African Americans because the voting exercise in Texas is often divided along racial lines. Also, she will get fewer votes from the Black and Hispanic population because the Republican Party is stereotyped as a white party. However, she can attract more black votes by appealing to the African-American population by advocating for more access to education and jobs to benefit poor African Americans, an issue that has been traditionally Democratic. She can also attract more Hispanic vote: Hispanic voters support abortion rights in large numbers. The GOP has always made the mistake of assuming that individual conservatism corresponds to political conservatism. Hispanics, especially the working-poor and the working-class, tend to capitalize on the few state benefits compared to other races because of the cultural and language barriers. Bitzi can also appeal to Hispanic voters by stopping her move to repeal Obama Care because most Hispanics are poor and they want subsidized health care (McKinley, 2010). She will get more women votes because she is a woman. Fewer men will vote for her because she is a single mother and a feminist. She will gain more votes from higher income earners and middle class groups compared to lower income earners. This is because high-income earners and middle class citizens are known to vote for the Republicans because the party rejects tax cuts for the rich. The Republican Party is infamously recognized as a blue-collar party, but she can appeal and get more low income earners to vote for her if she promises to raise the minimum wage. She will get more conservative votes and votes from older people compared to young people. This is because the young population is more liberal and tends to support Democrats. She can attract more liberal votes by appealing to young people by advocating for an activist government that supports same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana (Hylton, 2010). IV. Campaign Themes The three issues that are central focus of her campaign are: Immigration, Healthcare and Education. Immigration Bitzi’s campaign wishes to keep the immigration subject from erupting because she needs to attract Hispanic voters without isolating the conservative whites. She has been successful so far because she has supports the 2001 Texas’ DREAM Act, which grants in-state college tuition fee to undocumented immigrants. However, she treads lights on the topic because she does not want to be closely tied to the strict anti-immigrant position of her party, which requests this law to be repealed. Regarding border security, Bitzi wants to appeal to conservative supporters with a $400 million border security strategy that could increase 600 state troopers at the border. Her campaign wants the immigration laws to be reformed: She stresses the need for more liberal immigration policies because she wants to woo many Hispanic voters. For example, she supports the issuance of driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. She addresses the issue as â€Å"heightening border security† and not â€Å"tightening immigration† (McKinley, 2010). Healthcare Bitzi wants Obama Care to be reformed because she believes that it has led to the increase of government regulation over one sixth of the economy, resulting the demand that citizens must purchase health insurance. She wants Obama Care to be restructured because it tremendously expands Medicaid, leaving the state to take up unmaintainable financial burdens. In addition, Bitzi is advocating for block grants and wants to solidify health care liability reforms to reduce the number of flippant lawsuits and increase the figure of practicing doctors in Texas. Regarding the treatment of the terminally ill, Bitzi opposes assisted suicide, euthanasia and any withholding of cure for any reason. She believes that medical care efforts must be concentrated on research to cure the terminally ill, in addition to pain relief of the patients for their lives to be more comfortable. Bitzi is advocating for a reformed Medicare that can give seniors citizens choice and flexibility. She wants older Americans to have access to favorable insurance plans and medical savings accounts. She also wants to ensure that incentives exist for the private sector to produce drugs. She wants to lessen the administrative complexities for an improved Medicare program that will deliver reimbursement at all levels and permit healthcare providers to continue caring for patients. Regarding abortion, Bitzi is strongly against federal financing of abortion, because she views the practice as a destruction of life, thus she do not believe that the administration should support. With regards to HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, she supports prevention procedures that involve early and regular testing, abstinence, and behavioral changes that can eliminate the threat of exposure (Jeffers, 2010). Education Bitzi’s view on education involves a variety of central ideas. Firstly she believe in the streamlining of higher education that would leave the majority of students prepared for their preferred fields and less minimum wage occupations that are unrelated to their education. Bitzi believes that the expansion of technical institutions, community college programs, online universities, private training schools, life-long and work-based education in the private sector will create competition for higher learning and is a good way to make education more accessible and to motivate institutions to match the alternative expenses and level of job-preparedness. Bitzi also believes in limiting the central government in education by only having private loans and abolishing federal student loans. This is due to the uncontrollable rise in college tuition’s consequential debt that is rising above the inflation rate. She believes federal loans aggravate this problem due to their lack of transparency, and because they are more expensive compared to private loans. Bitzi considers that a bigger private sector involvement in loans could reduce tuition costs. However, she wants the federal government to function as an insurance sponsor for private sector loans. Bitzi also supports initiatives that will increase benefits to scholars who are undertaking difficult courses, create partnerships with major universities and colleges in an effort to expand math and science programs, and invite engineering, math, and science students to join lower-income schools. Young people voters are likely to respond to this move (Hylton, 2010). V. Win or Lose Bitzi will win because her stand on top Texans concerns [education, health care, and immigration] is favored by and appeals to most of the voters. Through her move to reform immigration laws to be less strict on undocumented citizens, Bitzi is hoping to appeal to the Hispanics, who constitute more than a third Texas’ qualified voters. Moreover, in spite of the demographic changes that continue to happen, Texas’ voting population of is still conservative and racial, indicating that if Bitzi could mobilize all Republicans and right-wing independents, she will win with a great margin. Bibliography Hylton, H. (2010, March 17). Has a Democrat Got a Chance of Becoming Governor of Texas? Retrieved Mrch 03, 2015, from The Time Magazine: http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1972070,00.html Jeffers, G. (2010, September 24). Rick Perry, Bill White clash in separate interviews. Retrieved March 03, 2015, from Dallas News: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/local-politics/20100923-Rick-Perry-Bill-White-clash-9177.ece McKinley, J. (2010, November 02). Perry Re-elected in Texas Governor Race. Retrieved March 03, 2015, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/us/politics/03texas.html Stiles, M. (2010, November 05). 2010 Texas Governors Race Maps. Retrieved March 03, 2015, from The Texas Tribune: http://www.texastribune.org/2010/11/05/2010-texas-governors-race-maps/

Baldwins Writing Style in Notes to a Native Son Essay -- James Baldwi

Father and Son: Bad to Regrettable James Baldwin is known to be one of the best essay writers in the twentieth century who wrote on a few topics including race, discrimination, sexuality and most of all his personal experiences. In â€Å"Notes of a Native Son†, he uses two main strategies to get his point across. First, he likes to tell a story in a narrative view. Following is normally his analysis of the event. He describes the event and then gives his theory on the matter. By doing this, he grants the reader a chance to decipher the meaning. His interpretation may not be what the reader’s is. He likes to argue and provides the basis for his argument in â€Å"Notes of a Native Son†. Throughout the essay he talks about himself and his father, their relationship and how their interactions influence his final feelings toward his father. He also integrates public incidents during those times into the essay. This method presents the reader with an opportunity to understand the race issue at that tim e. This essay is about part of his life. In the beginning he starts with his father’s death. It was coincidental that the funeral was on his Baldwin’s nineteenth birthday. Mr. Baldwin, his father, and his wife conceived a child near the end of his life. This child was born a few hours after his death. Here Baldwin presents a binary of life and death, along with other examples, that he executes throughout the essay. In retrospection, he perceives his father’s death as a time of sadness and regrets not having a healthier rapport with him and he mentions that his siblings are happy that their father will never come home again. He tells us about the race riots in Detroit and New Jersey and criticizes afterwards. These happenings show the influen... ...art. Baldwin does this using his own personal experiences and tying them into the greater picture of society. All the stories he has expressed in â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† can be paralleled with what was going on during that period. He even explained the riots in that sense for the reader. In the first paragraph he states that they drove his father to the cemetery over smashed plate glass (63). This was a result of the hatred and despair felt by the rioters. This visual is a representation of the hatred that had helped to kill his father. The abhorrence that played a role in the death of his father, he feared would do the same to him. The end of the essay shows Baldwin letting go of this hatred and despair. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1995. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Macbeth: Corruption :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: Corruption When people come into a postion of power where the definition of control becomes a new definition according to their point of view, they unleash a feeling in their minds that what ever decision they make that directly conflicts the lives of other people, they don't feel responsible. That's when npower corrupts the minds of people. People in power feel that they can do anything when their in power for a long period of time. Corruption is something that is motivated by greed and deception. It's a very sinister personality that controls and destroys people's live and makes them the kind of person other people don't want to associate with. When a person is in power, some situations occur when they can acquire anything, lying, bribing, coning, or stealing. With these in mind anybody in power could become a powerful foe. The reason why corruption has become a problem is because it's fair to become greedy for more. And soon it gets out of control and now you have a corrupted person who in order to change would have to step out of power and become a person who doesn't control. Nothing can really be done to sustain it or avoid it, if you take a corrupt person in power and replace a fair and just person. Sooner or later they also become corrupt. You just have to assume and hope the replacement will be a fair person. In the tradgity "Macbeth" there are many examples of corruption. When Macbeth became Thane of Cowdor his wife, Lady Macbeth, was very delighted to hear of such news. And when hearing that Duncan, the king ,would be coming to dinner at their castle, gave her an idea that maybe they need a new king, Macbeth! This is a perfect example of corruption, as soon as she became more powerful, she was lusting for more. As play carries on the corruption becomes greater with the killing of Banquo. Banquo who was a friend of Macbeth is betrayed when Macbeth, the new king, orders him to be killed only because Banquo has a son named Fleance that Macbeth stupidly believes will take the throne away from him,"To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings!" This of course get the people suspicious, but now it's to late, Macbeth had gone crazy as well as Lady Macbeth. Of course then when your in power sometimes you think nothing will happen that will hurt you in any way, that your safe in the confinment of your office or room. Of course this never works and theres always some terrible thing bound to

Education and the Future Essay

Education and learning have always been a challenge to everyone. There are always emerging problems in our education system. Thus, a lot of issues and concerns need to be addressed. We are constantly facing challenges with our education system and children’s learning capabilities. Most of us believe that education will equip us with what we need to survive in the real world, it is highly important to come up with the most effective means to educate our children. Education is an important process that a person must experience. Education is necessary mainly because knowledge and learning will not be fully achieved without formal education. Education teaches a person many things that are essential in life such as problem solving, critical thinking and decision making. Education is also important to man as it provides man vital information that he needed to knows about his past, present and future (Khan, n. d. ). We learn through a wide array of processes. For instance, we learn through the formal process of education wherein a mentor teaches the students various concepts, ideas and principles. We also learn through our experiences in life, our observations, and our interaction with others. Our education system is bombarded with dilemmas in rendering quality education to students. There are many issues that concerning the present quality of education that our students is receiving. The various aspects of education such as teachers and curriculum largely contribute on the quality of education. What are the methods and techniques as well as solutions that can be applied in order to improve the different aspects of the education system? Every school has its own curriculum that is followed by the students. Curriculum is the set of courses that is taken by the students (Hewitt, 2006). Curriculum is the list of subjects that a student should take in the whole year. Curriculum is very important in the whole education process. It is important to have a comprehensive curriculum which includes subjects that are essential in the improvement of the students and render both basic skills and expertise in various aspects. An educational institution must always evaluate their curriculum and adhere on the latest modern trends to equip their students with skills essential in life. The curriculum of the school is anchored on the socioeconomic background of the population than the mental ability. Curriculum is a choice of the organization and its effects will be felt at the end of the schooling. Curriculum variables played a lot of their role when the student leaves his school (Marjoribanks, 1979). There is a wide array of means to create a comprehensive curriculum that is fully developed and offered strong subjects which is the key to a successful education system. First, a planning committee is important in creating or reevaluating a school’s curriculum. The planning committee should be consisted of school administrators, faculty members, board members, parents and selected students to be able to gain various perspectives from different sectors (McGee, 2008). This will be an effective way of developing a curriculum and to know how it would affect the different population. The school must set objectives for the integration and disintegration of subjects and courses offered. Teachers are also an important part of the education system. Teachers are the ones who convey the facts and information to the students. Teachers are meant to teach and guide the students while they are in school. They are the ones who teach the concepts and the things that the students need to know. Teachers are very important in the students overall education as they guide the students in the course of the learning process. Students are not able to fully grasp the concepts and principles all by themselves. Teachers need to explain these things in order to be digested by the students. It is important that the school teachers are knowledgeable and competent in order to meets the needs of the students. They must be equipped with adequate knowledge that will enable them to explain and expound on the things that they are teaching. They should also be composed of important virtues such as patience and perseverance that is essential in their line of work. The teachers should also be current and follow the modern trends of teaching as well as use strategies that are adaptive to the modern-day students. One way of refreshing our mentors is to conduct teachers’ training once in a while. This aims to refresh the minds of the teachers on the subjects that they teach. Teachers are the people, who render knowledge to our children at school, it is important that they are properly and appropriately trained on the various aspects of teaching. By definition, teacher training is a professional preparation of a teacher. Oftentimes, teacher training is a formal course work and practice teaching which includes lectures and practical applications. Teacher training or the preparatory measures varies in different education systems (â€Å"Teacher Training†, 2009). During the colonial period, teachers are only required of basic knowledge and willingness to take on the before low-waged occupation. Today, there are various requirements needed for a person to be able to teach. Teaching opportunities and qualifications advanced as we give high importance on education. Most countries required a person who went rigorous studies and extensive practice teaching in preparation for the profession (â€Å"Teacher Training†, 2009). Teacher training is important to refresh and update the minds of our mentors for them to catch up on the dynamicity of the modern world. Teacher training is composed of three important components such as familiarity on the curriculum, attitudes toward the school community and being a vital part of the institution (Velasco, n. d. ). Teachers should be familiar with the school’s existing curriculum and they should always adapt on the changes on the teaching strategies and methods to effectively teach a particular lesson. Teachers should also know what lessons should be hierarchically taught to the students to equip them with pertinent knowledge. Teachers are the role models of the students and uphold the highest standard of morality and decency. Teachers should show their best attitude to the community and try to achieve harmonious and productive relationships with the students, parents and school administrators. Teachers are also a vital part of the educational institution and they should perform their duties very well. They should be able to impart knowledge and information that will be useful for the students in the future. Education and students’ preparation for the future should not only rely on what the schools could do. Schools could only provide good teachers, good learning equipment and facilities and area conducive for learning. The motivation and willingness to learn will always be the students’ choice. Students will learn so much if they are willing to learn and help themselves. Reading is one way of learning and reinforcing the knowledge and information that is being taught by the teacher. Reading is very important in students’ educational success. Many educational researchers found a strong correlation between reading and success. Frequently, a good reader most likely passes the exams and do well in school than a student who do not often read. Good readers can easily understand individual sentences and organizational structure of a piece of literature. They most likely comprehend ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. They also have a rich vocabulary and know a lot of trivial knowledge (â€Å"The Importance of Reading†, n. d. ). There is no crisis in the world of literature, but most parents and educators lament and pine why children do not frequently read. They are worried about the technology and how it manages to capture the hearts of the children and teenagers. The tech-savvy world is suddenly consuming the present generation and leave behind the frayed pages of the book. Before the radio and television gain popularity, it is well known that reading is the best leisure activity and source of entertainment of people. But due to the advancements of technology and inception of electronic gadgets, the invention of the various technological gadgets marked the dying passion to read. Reading is very important and may be a helpful activity in the students’ life (Sofsian, 2006). Reading offers a productive approach in enriching a person’s vocabulary. It is also commonly observed that children who love to read have high IQs. They are also more creative and intelligent and do well at school. Educational researchers highly recommend that parents inculcate the importance of reading while in an early age. Reading develops the vocabulary and forms a strong emotional bond between parents and children. Children who read at an early age are observed with better language skills and learn the variances in phonics much better. Reading largely helps in the person’s mental development and exercises the muscles in the eyes. Reading is a helpful activity that involves greater amount of concentration and adds conversational skills to the person. It also stimulates the brain function and enhances knowledge acquisition. The habit of reading helps the person to decipher uncommon words that we may come across (Sofsian, 2006). It has been a challenge nowadays to convince our students to read and focus enough attention and concentration in a page of a book. The world nowadays is full of distraction and entertainment. Reading strengthens concentration, verbal skills and higher-level of thinking. It invigorates the brain and stimulates its activities (Follos & Gantos, 2006). The initiative should always starts on the student itself. Despite the efforts of the school and the teachers in teaching the students, it is for the students to decide whether they will learn something. The preparation for our children’s future rely on each others hands. We all have our roles in preparing our children to face the real world. References Follos, A. M. G. & Gantos, J. (2006). Reviving Reading: School Library Programming, Author Visits, and Books that Rock! Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Hewitt, T. W. (2006). Understanding and Shaping Curriculum. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. Khan, M. W. (n. d. ). The Importance of Education. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www. alrisala. org/Articles/mailing_list/importance_of_education. htm. Marjoribanks, K. (1979). Families and Their Learning Environments: An Empirical Analysis. London: Routledge. McGee, S. (2008). How to Develop a Charter School Curriculum. HowtoDoThings. com. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www. howtodothings.com/education/a4519-how-to-develop-a-charter-school-curriculum. html. Sofsian, D. (2006, November 9). The Importance of Reading. Retrieved March 16, 2009, from http://ezinearticles. com/ The-Importance-Of-Reading&id=354498 Teacher Training. (2009). The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2009, from http://encyclopedia2. thefreedictionary. com/teacher+training. The Importance of Reading. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 16, 2009, from http://esl. fis. edu/parents/advice/read. htm. Velasco, M. A. (n. d. ). Seaching for Meaning in Teacher Training. Analytic Teaching, 16, 112-115.

Automobile and Swot Analysis Essay

1. Introduction This report is based on the company Mercedes Benz, and the chosen country is Singapore. The purpose of the report is to conduct an environmental and marketing analysis of Mercedes Benz in Singapore. Firstly, this report will state the company background. Next, it will state the country background. Thirdly, it will state the SWOT analysis. Fourthly, it will state the PEST analysis. After that, it will state the marketing strategy, new product development, and lastly the conclusion. Company background Mercedes-Benz is a German car company, some sort of multinational department from the German company Daimler AG. The company is used intended for high-class motor vehicles, buses, motor coachs, as well as vehicles. The particular brand made an appearance in 1926 within Daimler-Benz yet history the sources to Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft’s 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz’s 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, which is commonly viewed as the first car. Mercedes-Benz’s slogan is â€Å"Das Beste oder nichts† (English: â€Å"The best or nothing†). Mercedes-Benz is just about the most commonly known as well as set up car makes in the world, which is on the list of the world’s oldest car company nevertheless around the world today in 2014,possessing the first petrol-powered vehicle. Country background Singapore is an affluent island nation, positioned in Southeast Asia within the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The occupants of Singapore delight in one of the maximum standards associated on earth, with each capita GDP adequate to in which from the top international locations within American The european union. The particular economy would depend intensely upon exports, and the nation houses one of the busiest ports on earth. 2. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is part of strategic planning. The SWOT analysis helps organizations assess issues within and outside the organization. The SWOT analysis, made up of an assessment of strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats from competition, provides an outline for strategic decision-making Table 1 From the table above it is seen that strong brand value measures that Mercedes is considered as a premium brand, such as BMW, Porsche, Audi and etc. There is no exception that Mercedes will stay in premium segment for a very long time. Almost all the rich and old people prefer this particular car brand. Also, this company has an advantage over their competitors as increasing production hybrid cars because of environmental friendly and Ð µÃ'€Ã'Æ' exact number of miles driven. To produce high quality cars and hire well – educated employees makes production expensive. That is why Mercedes is interested in upper class people who are able to buy such a car. It makes the brand attractive investment for people with high income (upper class). PEST analysis Originally known as PEST Analysis, this is a macro environmental framework used to understand the impact of the external factors on the organization and is used as strategic analytical technique. Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats Strong brand value High price cost Fast – growing company Government policy Leader in innovation Expensive service New products and services Increasing in competition High level safety of cars High fuel consumption Developing hybrid cars Decrease in demand Investment. Stereotype that this car is for the rich people Fuel price rises Rising price of raw material High quality It is hard to find manual transmission in such a car Positive attitude towards â€Å"green† vehicles Unexpected problems A PEST analysis is looks at how those external factors can affect a business’s activities and performance, and it can be used in combination with other tools. It helps to determine an organization’s overall outlook for success. Political Economic Socio – Cultural Technological Bureaucratic Interest rates Fast – growing society Modern technology Stable government law system High income level Diversity of cultures WI-FI zones Taxation system. High power of the local currency Variety of language cultures Automation of work Law level of corruption Low level of economic freedom (-2) Most of the people are in advanced age Production of high quality medical equipment Foreigners investment Trade freedom Prevalence of upper class Investment in technology Table 2 From the table above let us take 3 characteristics for discussion. Firstly, high income of Singapore measures that Mercedes – Benz is one of the most suitable brands for upper class. It is considered, that Mercedes – Benz is a car which is suitable for old population, especially for men. Therefore, this car brand has a priority to take Singapore as a sales leader in the adult audience because of the prevalence of old population. Diversity of cultures of the populations shows that every single nation has different understanding of car design. That is why this brand can offers cars such as â€Å"family car† like Sedan (C – class) to â€Å"celebrity car† as Crossovers (G – class) with the newest and technology to their customers. 1) Franki Colbert (n. d). Definition of a SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/definition-swot-analysis-43274. html 2) Russ Heaps (n. d) 10 most expensive cars to own and drive. Retrieved from: http://www. bankrate. com/finance/auto/10-most-expensive-cars-to- own-and-drive-1. aspx 3) Chad Brooks (2013, November 22). PEST Analysis: Definition, Examples & Templates. Retrieved from http://www. businessnewsdaily. com/5512-pest-analysis-definition- examples-templates. html 4) Abha Pandey (2011, 26 September). What is PESTLE Analysis? Retrieved from: http://bpmgeek. com/blog/what-pestle-analysis 5) Leading through innovation (n. d/ n. a) http://www. mbusa. com/mercedes/benz/innovation.

Kant Theory and Justice

Immanuel Kant concerns himself with deontology, and as a deontologist, he believes that the rightness of an action depends in part on things other than the goodness of its consequences, and so, actions should be judged based on an intrinsic moral law that says whether the action is right or wrong – period. Kant introduced the Categorical Imperative which is the central philosophy of his theory of morality, and an understandable approach to this moral law. It is divided into three formulations. The first formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative states that one should â€Å"always act in such a way that the maxim of your action can be willed as a universal law of humanity†; an act is either right or wrong based on its ability to be universalized. This belief is part of the â€Å"universal law theory† and states that to determine if an action is essentially â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad,† one must essentially imagine a world in which everyone performed that same action constantly, and imagine if this would be a desirable world to live in. If not, then it is not okay to perform the action. He believes that this â€Å"universal law† lives within us; it is not something that is imposed on us from the outside. For example if one kills oneself out of self-love, it is logically contradictory because self-love refers to respect for one’s self as a rational being and rationality is based on objective (undistorted by emotion or personal bias). So, one can never justify suicide. The maxim of killing oneself cannot possibly exist as a universal law. The second formulation states that one must â€Å"treat humanity whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as means only. For example, if I were to lie to a girl so that she would choose to go out with me then I, in effect, use her. Kant would say that I treated her as a means to achieve my end, and he specifically prohibits manipulating or deceiving a person for the purposes of achieving a personal end. According to Kant, only people are valuable as ends. Any action tha t disregards this is in clear violation of Kantian morality, and purports to reduce an individual’s autonomy; this consequently undermines a person’s rational capability and reduces him/her to a thing. This implies that if someone robs you and takes your wallet, he is treating you as a thing and not as a person. The third and last formulation requires that one sees oneself as the source of all moral law. This simply emphasizes the fact that the moral agent is the one who chooses to act morally. This third formulation tells us to imagine ourselves as the sole lawmaker in a society, and to choose the best possible set of laws that the society of rational beings would live by. Kant believes that we all have reason within us, but some choose to respond and act upon it while others do not. We can reason the way things ought to be, and based on that is how we should act, which explains Kant’s view that a moral action must be chosen through moral reason. For example, one does not cheat on a test because one’s reason tells him or her that it is wrong, not the consequences that follow if one gets caught. Another example is that we do not need the law to tell us not to steal because it is immoral; we simply have to access our ability to reason to rationalize this. In a world where each individual recognizes his/her moral dignity and freely chooses to adopt the same universalizable moral law, all actions become good. In opposition to the Categorical Imperative is Kant’s Hypothetical Imperative, which states that a particular action is necessary as a means to some purpose. Kant believes that these actions are not always moral because they are not performed out of â€Å"pure good will† (pure duty), which is the only thing in the world that is unambiguously good. In the case of the ethical credibility of the principles of affirmative action, Kant’s Categorical Imperative provides for the basis of approval. It is primarily out of a sense of duty that a society would seek to assist its struggling members who are in need of help. The action so far seems good, but we must test its universality. Can we imagine ourselves living in a world in which all societies seek to aid the underprivileged and the disadvantaged at the slight expense of others? Absolutely yes. It is important for one to bear in mind, however, that it is the very action of helping that is being judged as inherently good or bad, and not the action’s admirable or overbearing surrounding consequences. Secondly, we must test that the action is regarding everyone involved as ends and not as means to any particular purpose. Since the aim of affirmative action is to help the current predicaments of those people who were victimized in the past, focus is placed on respecting every individual’s autonomy. In this way, we can see that affirmative action is not a devious plan that seeks to manipulate, but one that seeks to compensate by adjusting the means (circumstances) and not the ends (individuals). Lastly, we must see if the action is establishing a universal law governing others in similar situations; one should behave as if one is the absolute moral authority of the universe. Is completing this action consistent with the application of moral law? If so, the affirmative action passes these three tests and the action is good. In his â€Å"Objections to Affirmative Action†, James Sterba talks about why he believes that Affirmative Action is morally wrong. He argues that a person’s race shouldn’t control his or her point of interest. Sterba argues that Affirmative Action leads to injustice and it is unfair to the white nonminority males because â€Å"it deprives them of equal opportunity by selecting or appointing women or minority candidates over more qualified nonminority male candidates. He believes that the job of the government is to eliminate all kinds of discriminatory policies. He thinks that â€Å"alternative programs are preferable. † Thus, the government should instead promote equal opportunities through programs within agencies and departments instead of through Affirmative Action which he believes is a fancy word for discrimination. He argues that it is not fair to those who are more qualified for certain opportunities and cannot receive them either because they are not women or because they are not part of the minority. In his First Objection, he argues that Affirmative Action â€Å"is not required to compensate for unjust institutions in the distant past. † He talks about Morris’ argument that what occurred in the past is not the primary issue that puts all present-day African Americans at an unfair disadvantage; it is more about the issues of more recent origin. He makes a point that discrimination today could very well be the source of the disadvantaged disposition of African Americans and other minority groups, and it is certainly something that society could do without. The question remains that in attempting to â€Å"level the playing field† and eliminate present-day discrimination in America, is Affirmative Action a practical approach and should such a program be endorsed? The Fourth Objection goes on to say that Affirmative Action â€Å"hurts those who receive it† because in many ways the people benefitting from it would not see the need to work as hard, and it places â€Å"women and minorities in positions for which they are not qualified. Sterba proposes that one of the solutions to this problem could be the installation education enhancement programs to compensate for any lack of skills. He believes that this will in a short time ensure that minorities are appropriately qualified for a position. In response to Sterba’s First Objection, Kant would agree that the rightness of Affirmative Action should be based upon the circumstances of the present situation and not what had occurred in the past; this is evident mainly through his a priori form of philosophical deductive reasoning that judges an action before the experience, or â€Å"in the moment. However, Kant would disagree with Sterba’s Fourth Objection because in my opinion, Kant’s deontological theory correlates with the correctness of the affirmative action in its very aim toward helping â€Å"the right† people. Affirmative action has not significantly diminished gender, racial, and all other forms of discrimination, but the action has promoted equality and diversity to a large extent. In a world where everyone performs the â€Å"good will,† there is justice; and the installation of this program only serves to come closer to this justice. Discrimination is wrong because it violates a person’s basic and intrinsic moral rights. Thus, in itself the adoption of this program is an action that is good because without Affirmative Action it is true in many ways that minorities would remain at a disadvantaged position in the educational system and not be allowed the opportunity to exercise their true potential. Kant would argue that it is a duty out of â€Å"good will† to treat people equally. The concepts of equality and autonomy are emphasized in the nature of this program because it strives to treat everyone as a free person equal to everyone else. According to Kant, one should be treated as ends not as mere means. It can be argued that African Americans at a disadvantaged position were being treated as means by the dominant culture to achieve its own ends in the system. Discrimination cannot exist as a system of nature because those who discriminate would not want to be similarly discriminated against if things were reversed, and so Affirmative Action is justified because it aims to open the door of opportunities to those who have been oppressed for years. That being said, Kant would examine the action itself and not the consequences of the action. When making decisions, one has to put oneself into other people’s shoes and see if one wants to be treated the same way others have been treated; it is a duty to treat others as we ourselves want to be treated. Affirmative Action not necessarily needed in this society to reduce the inherent inequalities that are still existent, but it can certainly be used to assist in leveling the playing field. Affirmative Action has been successful on a short term basis, that is, in ncreasing the representation of minorities (including women) in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded. However, on the long term basis it can be argued that the program only serves to perpetuate a cycle of need. Kant advocates the idea of equality through his deontological theory by saying that all people deserve equal treatment as rational ends in themselves and th at this should never be compromised by the flaws in any social system.

Faith Diversity Essay

This paper will look and examine four diverse faiths: Christianity, Buddhism, Rastafarianism and Islam spiritual perspective on healing. In Christianity, prayer is a way that a person can stay healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. Health is viewed by having a strong spiritual relationship with the Lord and living one’s life by the word of God. Buddhist need a balance of health both mentally and physically in order to achieve optimal health. They way that they are able to restore health would be by practicing healthy dietary habits or meditation. Rastafarianism view on health as a balance of the mind, the body and the soul achieved with a more holistic approach like prayer and herbal treatments. Lastly, Islam reaches ultimate purity by having a clean body and soul. They must cleanse often and pray often. Religions differ in many ways; they could have a different sacred books, have different deities, or have different views on how to live a full life, ultimately they want the same thing, to have their faiths respected and incorporated into the care they are receiving. Introduction Throughout the world, there are thousands of distinctly different religious affiliations. In the United States alone, there are â€Å"approximately 313 religions and denominations† (All Religions and Denominations in the US, 2008). This paper will examine four diverse faiths Christianity, Buddhism, Rastafarianism and Islam. It will look at the philosophy of these four faiths when having care provided to them. It will specifically look at the spiritual perspective on healing. It will examine the critical components of healing for these faiths. Along with looking at these diverse faiths, this paper will look at what is important for people who are receiving care from health care providers whose views differ from their own. Christianity The Christians were the first people to start â€Å"the world’s first voluntary charitable institutions† which were hospitals (Trangelder, 2007). The reason that they started these hospitals is because they wanted to help the poor and those that were sick and dying (Trangelder, 2007). Health care and Christian belief go hand in hand. One of the most crucial components in healing is prayer. The Christians hold prayer in very high regard. They feel that prayer has the ability to make them better. In the book James 5:14-15(English Standard Version) it states, â€Å"Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up†(Biblegateway, 2001). Along with prayer, the bible mentions many ways that a person can stay healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. Ultimately, the way to stay healthy is by having a strong spiritual relationship with the Lord and living one’s life by the word of God. Buddhism The Buddhist has a different holy book then the Christian faith. There sacred book is called Tripitaka. This holy book mentions that the only way to be truly healed is to be healthy in mind and body. Western medicine focuses on curing symptoms to treat medical problems, but the Buddhist see this only as a short term fix. In order for one to be healed one must also treat â€Å"the spiritual aspect of the disease and its mind-based causes and remedies must be the primary considerations†(Buddhism, Medicine, and Health, n. d. ). Buddhist feel that possible reasons for illness or disease would be † 1) an imbalance of the four elements (earth, water, fire, and wind), 2) irregular dietary habits, 3) incorrect meditation methods, 4) disturbances by spirits, 5) demon possession, and 6) the force of bad karma† (Buddhism, Medicine, and Health, n. d. ). They way that they are able to restore health would be by practicing healthy dietary habits, meditation, paying respect to the Buddha, repentance, reciting mantras, reciting the Buddha’s name and using the dharma as medicine† (Buddhism, Medicine, and Health, n. d. ). By doing this they would be able to find a balance physical and mentally and find long-term health. Rastafarianism Like the Christians, the Rastafarians sacred text that they pray to is the Bible, but the difference is how it is interpreted. The Rastafarians also feel that the head or God incarnate is Haile Selassie. He was a former Emperor of Ethiopia (Griffith, 2009). In Rastafarianism health care â€Å"takes a holistic approach to healing; they believe that the concept of health extends to three spheres: the mind, the body and the soul (though sometimes the psychological and spiritual can sometimes be categorized together)†(Rastafari and the Environment, 2012). They cure illnesses by use of home remedies or tonics rather than visiting a doctor. Rastafarians† disown western influences of ideology, diet, lifestyle and religion in favor of belief systems and practices of African origin, which emphasizes the use of natural ingredients and tools†(Rastafari and the Environment, 2012). Islam For the Islam, their sacred text is the Quran. In the Quran, unlike the Christians, Muhammad is the prophet sent to Earth to pass the word of the Lord, Allah. The Muslims feel that good health is one of the ways to get to â€Å"heaven†. In the Quran, it has teachings that show people how to protect his or her health and live life in a state of purity (Muslim Health Network (n. d). The single most important thing for this faith is prayer. Muslims perform it five times a day. â€Å"The obligatory prayers provide a good means for the circulation of blood, breathing and general suppleness of joints† (Muslim Health Network (n. d). Along with prayer they must cleanse after prayer, have a healthy diet, fast and refrain from intoxicates. Despite these religious differences in the United States, people’s only wish is to have their religious views respected and honored if possible. No matter if healthcare providers spiritual beliefs differ from those in their care, patients want their faith to be incorporated into the care that they are receiving. The Christian philosophy as written in the book of Luke 6:31 (English Standard Version) † And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them†(Biblegateway, n. d. ). This goes in line as all people would like to be treated, no matter how different spiritual views might be. In conclusion, the author learned that although many religions differ ultimately they want the same thing, to have their faith incorporated into the care they are receiving. Religions differ in many ways, they could have a different scared book, have different deities, or have different views on how to live a full life. Medication, chanting or prayer can help achieve inner peace to ultimately reach health inside and out. ? References Biblegateway (2001). James 5:14-15 ESV – Is anyone among you sick? Let him call – Bible Gateway. Retrieved from http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? search=James+5%3A14-15&version=ESV Biblegateway (n. d. ). Luke 6:31 ESV – And as you wish that others would do to – Bible Gateway. Retrieved from http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? search=Luke%206:31&version=ESV Buddhism, Medicine, and Health. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. blia. org/english/publications/booklet/pages/37. htm Griffith, J. K. (2009). THE RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF NURSING CARE (4th ed. ). Vancouver, B. C Muslim Health Network (n. d. ). Islam & Health. Retrieved from http://www. muslimhealthnetwork. org/islamandhealth. shtml Tangelder, J. D. (2007). A Christian Perspective on Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www. reformedreflections. ca/faith-and-life/chr-perspective-healthcare. html Rastafari and the Environment (2012). Natural Healing and Medicine. Retrieved from http://caribbeanreligionuvm. wordpress. com/category/natural-healing-and-medicine/