Making Moral Decisions

There are many things we must consider before we make any type of decision. First off, we must think about how our actions are going to affect us and those around us. We must follow the golden rule, â€Å"do unto others as you would have them do to you†. We should also be sure that we have fully good intentions, but we must remember that good intentions do not justify evil means. In addition, we must think about performing the action around our loved ones and try to decide if they would approve or disapprove. If you were to follow the golden rule, â€Å"do unto others as you would have them do to you†, decision-making would be simple. In reality, however, we all know that making a decision is actually quite difficult. Often, we do not think of the other person in the situation, we only think of ourselves and how it will affect us. If we followed this rule with all of our decision-making, the outcome would be less likely to hurt anyone or anything. Another important point to consider before making a decision is that we must remember to always have good intentions. We must also remember that good intentions do not justify evil means. This means that even if we do something we good intentions and the outcome is evil, the action is still evil. If we have truly good intentions during our decision-making, the outcome will be good and moral. If we have any bad intentions at all, then the outcome will reflect these bad intentions and the situation will turn out evil. A smart thing to ask ourselves before making a decision is, â€Å"Would I be proud to do this in front of my mom? † If our answer is no, then the decision we have made probably is not a good one. If we know that our mother wouldn’t approve of what we are doing or what we are about to do, then why would we do it at all? If we think of this question during a time when we are making a decision, we are more likely to make a good choice. If we use all of these techniques in our decision making, we will be able to make better choices. We will hurt others less, and furthermore hurt ourselves less. We will also be able to stay on track and stay moral. We will always keep our good intentions in mind and push out the bad ones. Lastly, we will be able to make better choices in our lives and lead ourselves down a better road.

Nirma University CSR Activity Essay

Nirma is one of the few names – which is instantly recognized as a true Indian brand, which took on mighty multinationals and rewrote the marketing rules to win the heart of princess, i.e. the consumer. Nirma, the proverbial ‘Rags to Riches’ saga of Dr. Karsanbhai Patel, is a classic example of the success of Indian entrepreneurship in the face of stiff competition. Starting as a one-man operation in 1969, today, it has about 14, 000 employee-base and annual turnover is above Rs. 25, 00 crores. India is a one of the largest consumer economy, with burgeoning middle class pie. In such a widespread, diverse marketplace, Nirma aptly concentrated all its efforts towards creating and building a strong consumer preference towards its ‘value-for-money’ products. Now, the year 2004 sees Nirma’s annual sales touch 800,000 tones, making it one of the largest volume sales with a single brand name in the world. Looking at the FMCG synergies, Nirma stepped into toilet soaps relatively late in 1990 but this did not deter it to achieve a volume of 100,000 per annum. This makes Nirma the largest detergent and the second largest toilet soap brand in India with market share of 38% and 20% respectively. It has been persistent effort of Nirma to make consumer products available to masses at an affordable price. Hence, it takes utmost care to provide finest products at the most affordable prices. To leverage this effort, Nirma has gone for massive backward integration along with expansion and modernization of the manufacturing facilities. The focal objective behind modernisation plan is of up gradation with resource-savvy technology to optimise capabilities. Nirma’s six production facilities, located at different places, are well equipped with state-of-art technologies. To ensure regular supply of major raw materials, Nirma had opted for backward integration strategies. These strategic moves allowed Nirma to manage effective and efficient supply-chain. Nirma has always been practiced ‘value-for-money’ plank. Nirma plans to extend the same philosophy in categories as commodity food products, personal care products and packaged food. Distinct market vision and robust infrastructure allowed Nirma to have cost leadership. Apart from this, lean distribution network, umbrella branding and low profile media promotions allowed it to offer quality products, at affordable prices. The man behind the success of Nirma phenomenon – Dr. Karsanbhai Patel is a recipient of various awards and accolades. He has been bestowed with various awards like†¦ COMPANY VISION Nirma is a customer-focused company committed to consistently offer better quality products and services that maximise value to the customer. This customer-centric philosophy has been well emphasised at Nirma through: Continuously exploring & developing new products & processes. Laying emphasis on cost effectiveness. Maintaining effective Quality Management System. Complying with safety, environment and social obligations. Imparting training to all involved on a continuous basis. Teamwork and active participation all around. Demonstrating belongingness and exemplary behaviour towards organisation, its goals and objectives. Nirma is a phenomenon and synonymous with Value for Money. The brand transcends the specific dynamic of any particular product category, which is best captured in its above mission statement – a statement of sustained innovation, an unceasing effort to deliver better value to consumers, through better product quality. OBJECTIVE To know what is Corporate Social Responsibility To know wearies CSR by NIRMA To know effect of CSR by NIRMA on society. CSR ACTIVITY BY NIRMA Nirma’s vision visualizes itself as a vibrant, pro-active and widely admired, ethical corporate citizen. Nirma believes that exemplary achievements on the business points are not enough in the making of a good corporate citizen. In fulfillment of this role as a responsible part of the society and environment in which one operates, Nirma has undertaken a host of activities in the educational and social development areas. Realizing the significant role of education – especially technical and managerial in socio-economic development of the nation, Nirma played a vital role by establishing the Nirma Education & Research Foundation (NERF) in 1994. Recently, this Foundation has been awarded University status. This status gives way to shape up and expand into a body providing education in other courses like medicine, nursing, biotechnology, etc. along with the existing courses under a single roof of Nirma University. Today, this state-of-the art academic infrastructure runs various institution bodies such as Institute of Technology, Institute of Management, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Institute of Diploma Engineering. These all institutions are located in a disciplined, serene and pleasant environment. The campus blends beautifully with the green landscaping, aesthetic elegance of arches and the vibrant pursuit of knowledge by the young aspirants. The environment gives full scope for gr oup activities, which are plenty, as also to individual pursuits for development on preferred tracks. Education Institute of Management Institute of Technology Institute of Diploma Studies Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Nirma Labs Another contribution of Nirma with an objective to nurture, promote and facilitate potential entrepreneurs in their pursuit of knowledge based large-scale wealth generation for stakeholders and society. The prospects will undergo the program of grooming and incubation at Nirma Labs, and will then be supported to build the incubated ventures with appropriate support. Nirma has already contributed Rs. 350 million for the development of these institutes, an amount, which is likely to rise further to Rs. 500 million. The infrastructure facilities created here are of international standards and they have already become models for similar institutes. Plans are underway to start Post Graduate & Research Courses in Management and Technology, as well as an IAS training center and a programme in Masters of Computer Applications. Nirma Memorial Trust and Nirma Foundation Nirma Memorial Trust looks after deprived women in Gujarat. It builds Ashrams and guesthouses for pilgrims and the elderly. The Nirma Foundation, set up in 1979, contributes towards the running of schools, colleges, temples and social institutions, within the state and outside. Chanasma Ruppur Gram Vikas Trust In Mehsana of which Mr. K. K. Patel is the founder trustee and President provides education, maintenance of public health and related facilities in rural areas. The trust has started several institutions in Ruppur, including the Arts & Commerce College, and an ITI training institute and a ladies hostel REFERENCES http://www.nirma.co.in/images/comimg/corp_presentation.swf http://www.nirma.co.in/social_responsibilities.htm http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/definition.php http://www.nirma.co.in/images/comimg/corp_presentation.swf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility.asp http://mhcinternational.com/articles/definition-of-csr

Company Law - See attachment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company Law - See attachment - Essay Example 1 Liquidation can voluntary or even compulsory. It is said to be voluntary when it is initiated by the will of the company through a resolution of the equity holders. It is said to be compulsorily carried out when the order of the court becomes the cause of the winding up of the company. 2 In a nut shell, there are two basic kinds of Liquidation procedures whose nature is explained in detail below: Voultary Winding Up In this kind of liquidation the company goes on to willingly wind up the affairs of the company and distribute the assets of the company after paying off the liabilities of the company. ... nding up Creditors’ voluntary winding up is usually due to the company becoming insolvent and unable to pay off its liabilities in due course and the company is perused by the creditors in order to prevent further debts accruing and to receive the due liabilities through the realization of the assets of the company in a process of liquidation. 3 Compulsory Winding up This kind of winding up takes place when the company is ordered to be wound up by an order of the court. There are numerous potential ways of this procedure to institute however the most general one is through the petition filed by the creditors on the argument that the company is unable to pay off its liabilities in due course and since it has not been deemed likely to arrive at a voluntary agreement on liquidation, the compulsory winding up via the court is instituted. The nature of the compulsory winding up is such that the company comes under the process of liquidation under an order from the court on grounds of inability to pay the debts or where the company has certain going concern issues which cannot be resolved through a successful surgery of the company’s affairs or the provision of cash inflows or bailouts where the company may be able to restore the balance of its affair on the positive side.4 However, a request to obtain a leave to prosecute a company which is being compulsorily wound up may be made to the Court who gave the order of winding up of the company. Consequences of Winding up When a company goes into liquidation, mainly due to the compulsory winding up process there is usually a cause of inability to pay its debts whereby the company has to face certain consequences during and after the liquidation and the victims of those consequences are mainly shareholders, employees and even

Outsourcing Information Technology Department Term Paper

Outsourcing Information Technology Department - Term Paper Example One concern that companies face today when deciding to outsource their entire IT departments is the amount of security needed to protect their product, their financial records, and their customers. Ken Wheatley, vice president of corporate security, Sony Electronics states, â€Å"People are so focused on saving money and shifting operations that they don't think about the safeguards that need to be put in place† (May 2005). Not all companies’ need the same type of security levels, which is a decision made based on the nature of the business. Wheatley also goes on to say, â€Å"U.S. based companies routinely underestimate the extra elements of risk introduced into the offshoring equation by issues such as poor infrastructure, political instability and legal systems that don't line up with Western practices.† Wheatley continues to say that American companies are so set on saving money that they do not realize other countries do not have the same mindset and safegua rds as we do†. While reviewing the aspects of outsourcing portions of the information technology (IT) department, task force managers measured the cost risk benefits of keeping its better run IT operations in-house. The IT department was divided into five sections, application development and maintenance, operations, database and systems administration, voice and data networking infrastructure, and technical training. A study was performed against each of these organizations regarding how they measured against industry leading outsource consulting companies. A baseline of criteria was established for measurement purposes that included the number of full-time salaried employees and annual salaries, number of years experience, employee educational achievements and certifications, and efficiency of the departmental workflow process. In addition, the business management teams consulted with several IT consulting companies to gather as much information as possible for the considere d outsource IT organizations.

Medical Ethics and Informed Consent Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medical Ethics and Informed Consent - Assignment Example Researchers argued that the experimentation was to help develop an immunization for hepatitis B. The ethical challenges at hand are that yes, it is evident that research needed to be done on hepatitis at that time. However, children with mental retardation already have problems enough in their lives. This is like saying that their life has no value. In some cases, the parents did not consent. Depending on the level of mental retardation, a child can thrive but to deliberately expose them to hepatitis could greatly diminish their already lowered quality of life and the children have no say in it. They are the ones to go through the pain and struggle but instead were treated as though they were already discarded bodies. For the parents that may have consented to this experiment, they were subjecting their children to something that the effects were unknown. During a type of experiment like this, it is questionable as to what informed consent even is because what are the minimum standar ds for subjecting a person’s life to something that could be fatal for the sake of the medical industry? It could almost be envisioned as child abuse. Neither the researchers nor the publishing journals were responsible in making their decision to infect these children. It could be argued whether or not the publication of these editorials was ethical as well. The information about the research was disclosed that the children were at a particular school and that is an issue of confidentiality. Additionally, it was an experiment conducted on human beings. No one was to know the outcome. To publish the editorials was almost an intent to show that there was controversy in the medical field and to create a media inspired uproar. Abigail Alliance vs. FDA Majority Opinion Abigail was a terminally ill patient with cancer whom had undergone chemotherapy and radiation. She also had possible access to experimental drugs that her oncologist was suggesting. Though she could have possibly had positive effects and saved her life, the drug was only available for clinical trials. By the time that she was allowed to be entered into the clinical trial program, she was too ill to make the trip to see if the drugs would work on her and she died a couple of weeks later. The Abigail Alliance was created to help expand the availability for drugs that are only available for clinical trials to also be available to patients that are terminally ill. These drugs not only could have been helpful for Abigail but for many other patients just like her that were minimally competent and would have had the ability to make the decision for themselves had the FDA not stood in their way of obtaining these drugs. The FDA, though it makes regulations about drugs in the United States, has to conduct research on these pharmaceuticals to test to ensure that they are safe. For someone that is terminally ill, it could be a method of helping to create a better quality of life or even improve their l ongevity. These patients were not given the right to access treatment but the FDA looks at it from the perspective of being a liability if their organization allows just anyone to take these drugs

Technology and HRM Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technology and HRM - Research Paper Example Completion of this paper is made successful due to immense contribution made by Mr. Smith Zaid who is the HR manager at SEHA. SEHA Hospital is located in Abu Dhabi. Never before in SEHA hospital’s history has any manager or leader tried to implement the tool of HIT to improve the performance of HRM like Mr. Zaid has. It was the interview conducted with Mr. Zaid which helped to clarify how HIT can be used to solve many challenges encountered by HRM department in the healthcare facilities. He first mentioned several issues which were plaguing the reputation of his organization in the past. Then, he went on to explain how he used innovation technology-based solutions to address each of those issues. Following discussion aims to establish how technology and HRM are inextricably linked to each other in the light of knowledge shared by Mr. Zaid, the HR manager at SEHA hospital. Patient care delivery operations form an important part of those services in the healthcare field. Mr. Smith was having a lot of trouble in this particular area prior to depending on technology. As he became interested in new horizons introduced by technology, he came across the idea of HIT. He thought that it would be best to use technology to answer the puzzling questions and improve the quality of patient care delivery operations. Another problem encountered by SEHA was that medical information which used to be delivered to patients often lacked propriety and credibility. The patient records held by HRM often used to be breached which generated the problem of patient trust and privacy. HIT helps to ensure that all medical information is absolutely trustworthy and clear. This requires many imaginative innovations in information-sharing technology, but it also ensures security to patients and takes care of their concerns in an optimally effective manner. Securing patients’ records is a

LOG503 Managing Logistics Operations (MOD 2) SLP Essay

LOG503 Managing Logistics Operations (MOD 2) SLP - Essay Example The logistical system of Wal-mart must work flawlessly so as to be able to manage such a big store. Wal-mart has a distribution system that distributes nearly 85 percent of the total wares sold in its own stores (Atchmeyer, 2002). Wal-mart’s major aim is to sell its goods at the lowest price possible (Atchmeyer, 2002; Mohan, 2003). To achieve this, Wal-Mart obtains goods directly from the manufacturers and sells them directly to its retail customers bypassing all intermediaries (Mohan, 2003). Thus Wal-mart has its own distribution centers strategically located at different locations all over the US. The strategy employed here is that one distribution store can serve 150-200 stores (Atchmeyer, 2002). This has made sure that the stores no matter how far they are are within one day’s driving distance (Atchmeyer, 2002). The distribution centres operate 24 hours a day because the conveyer belts are laser-guided (Atchmeyer, 2002). An advanced opportunistic cross-docking procedure is in use; as the goods are picked directly from the manufacturer’s premises and directly taken to the retail consumers. This ensures that the systems are very efficient as well as they do not need to store the material (Atchmeyer, 2002). It is basically from the stores directly to the shelves. The company owns a fleet of over 12,000 trailers 3,000 trucks (Mohan, 2003). In contrast to its competitors who subcontract the trucking services (Magretta, 2002). Additionally, the company is quite meticulous in hiring its drivers. For a driver to qualify to work for Wal-Mart, they got to have a track record of over 300,000 accident free miles without any major traffic violations (Mohan, 2003). Wal-Mart has developed a number of methods to individually deal with each of its stores inventory (Magretta, 2002). The solutions are tailor made for each individual store in order to cover the logistical challenges posed. These measures

Two Questions 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two Questions 3 - Essay Example Because of his inability to exert proper cost control, Lopez was relieved of his responsibilities in 2008, and Gabriella Garcia became head of Consumer Products Research. Garcia vowed to improve the performance of CPR and scaled back CPR’s development activities to obtain favorable financial performance reports. In terms of profit, Garcia did a better job than Lopez as a result of scaling back the project development. When profits are low and management is looking to cut costs, spending significant amounts of money on research and development is not the appropriate tactic. R&D is expensive and, as the timeline of two years from project initiation to implementation under Lopez demonstrates, there is no return on investment reflected in the financial statements until well after the products are brought to market. During times of low profit margins, development has to be scaled along with cost initiatives to keep management and investors satisfied. Even though Lopez developed good ideas, his efforts at cost control failed because there was no actual cost cutting and no immediate impact on revenues. While it could be argued that, given enough time, Lopez’s management would have yielded greater profits at lower costs. Management’s focus on profitability, however, precluded the comp any’s ability to focus on R&D to the extent that Lopez intended. Garcia, however, reduced—but did not eliminate—development while simultaneously focusing on cutting the costs related to current market offerings. This had an immediate impact on the company’s profitability and management was no-doubt pleased with the results. The issue here was time. It does take time to develop innovative products and bring them to market. This effort, however, cannot be the sole focus unless the company is currently in a strong financial position and can absorb the R&D costs until the new products are in place. Simply stated, the company could not afford

Acuna Manual Binder Essay Example for Free

Acuna Manual Binder Essay Occupied American is a text book, and consequently is a survey of the history of the Chicana/o people in in the United States, which includes mostly people of Mexican origin in the United States. However, I often use the problematic term Latino when referring to the family of Latin Americans in the United States. Statistics are so co-mingled by academicians that it is often difficult to separate the disparate groups. With this said, Latin Americans share a history of colonialism – being occupied by Spain and various other European nations after 1492 when the occupation of the Americas began. Mexico has had the longest contact with the Euro-American nation called the United States, sharing a near 2000 mile border with the U. S. The occupation of Mexico began in 1519 a hundred years before the British landed on Plymouth Rock (1620). This survey history begins in Pre-Columbian times with the history of the Native Americans with whose history Mexicans are stamped genetically and culturally. After 500 years of occupation, ninety percent of Mexicans carry Indian DNA – contrast this to Euro-Americans, of whom fewer than one percent have Indian blood The World Fact Book, Mexico, https://www.cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx. html. The Mexican cuisine also pays homage to the Indian past as do many place names. The textbook uses timelines to make sense of what happened and why it happened. I tell my students that to be effective they have to learn how to organize. One of the problems with many of us is that our parents never taught us to organize; the first step should have been to learn how to organize our highboy – clothes are not randomly thrown into a drawer. The timeline is our highboy, it will help us make sense out of time and put together a story. This is why I tell students to learn how to use story boards to fill in the timeline. You can pull up a number of good sites for story boards (e. g. , http://www. storyboardthat. com/). It is the same technique that is used in writing a movie script. The storyboard lets you know where you were and where you are going. Chapters in books serve the same function. Footnotes verify the veracity of the story as well as build the story. Your critical thinking skills help you interpret it. This mini book includes eleven modules to complement the chapters in the book. It is a guide that can easily be converted into an online class. Whereas the book chapters provide a macro story, the modules provide added materials. I have included internet articles with visuals as well as YouTube presentations and events. These are designed to further support those of you who are taking the class online. It also provides support to instructors and reduces the need for expensive readers. Word of caution: the sites often change link addresses so if one goes down, email us and we will correct it. The entire purpose of this manual is for you to better understand history. As mentioned, each module corresponds to a chapter or chapters in Occupied America. They are divided into Assigned Readings in Chapter(s), an Introduction, Internet articles, You Tube Lectures, and suggested discussion questions. The appendices have recommended websites, suggested programs in the American Experience/PBS, Music of the 1960s, and a list of four year institutions that have Bachelor of Arts programs in Chicana/o Studies. I also include a tour of a Chicana/o Research Site. I begin this endeavor with a short tour of the Arizona State University Chicana/o Collection. I plan to add other sites on a monthly basis. We must remember that history is a study of documents – that is what footnotes are all about. My Facebook account is under https://www. facebook. com/rudy. acuna. 9406 Mini Course Module I IDENTITY Required: Text: Rodolfo F. Acuna, Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (New York: Pearson, 2014). Reader: Rodolfo F. Acuna, ed. , Guadalupe Compean ed. , Voices of the U. S. Latino Experience [Three Volumes] (Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO Books, 2008). Do not buy the book (too expensive); access the E-Book through your university library. I. Definitions Identity: a) Rodolfo F. Acuna, â€Å"The Word Chicana/o†. Words have meanings, meanings that are supposed to be linked to reality. In creating a historical narrative, the meanings should be clear and best describe the reality of the times. Meanings can be obscured for political purposes; we often call this doublespeak: we say one thing and mean another. The Chicana/o Public Scholar argues that the word Chicana/o best describes the area of studies called Chicana/o Studies, and it expresses the idealism that we as a community should be striving for. The Mexican American generation proactively fought for our civil rights, demanding equality under the law as Americans. The Chicano Movement demanded equality as human beings and asserted the right to call themselves what they pleased. It was under the Chicano watch that entitlements were dramatically broadened and larger numbers of peo ple of Mexican origin entered colleges and universities. They demanded their rights and did not see education as a privilege. Just calling yourself a Chicano or any other word is not enough. You can call yourself a Christian but that does not necessarily make you a good person. â€Å"Words have meanings, meanings are supposed to be linked to reality. † The word Chicano in Spanish is gender neutral. But, many Chicana/o scholars felt that words should be transformative. Sexism was a problem that was tearing the movement apart. Chicano Studies became Chicana/o Studies to denote the equality of the sexes and underscore that gender discrimination damages our humanity as much as racism does. The redefinition of the word led to an examination of homophobia. Thus, the meaning of the word Chicana/o expanded reality. The 1970s and 1980s saw large numbers of Mexican and Latin American immigrants. We failed to link the meaning of the word Chicana/o to the reality of the immigrant population that now rivaled the second generation in numbers. The Mexican American and Chicano Generations had widened the entitlements of all immigrants. However, many of these immigrants held on to old definitions, such as equating the word Chicano to chicanery or low class. Many continued to link their struggle for equality to their home countries rather than linking it to their new reality. At the same time, the arrival of millions of Mexicans and Latin Americans dramatically expanded the â€Å"Latino market. † Government agencies and commercial enterprises looked upon the Mexican American and Latino as commodities and linked these new definitions to illusions. To broaden the discourse, we are including articles by the martyred Ruben Salazar, Frank del Olmo, and Cheech Marin. Ruben Salazar, â€Å"Who Is a Chicano? And What Is It the Chicanos Want? ,† Los Angeles Times, Feb 6, 1970; pg. B7 http://forchicanachicanostudies. wikispaces. com/file/view/Ruben%20Salazar. pdf/61339512/ Ruben%20Salazar. pdf Frank del Olmo, â€Å"Latinos by Any Other Name Are Latinos,† Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1981; ) pg. D11 http://forchicanachicanostudies. wikispaces. com/file/view/Frank%20del%20Olmo. pdf/61343630/ Frank%20del%20Olmo. pdf Cheech Marin, â€Å"What is a Chicano: Who the hell knows? † May 3, 2012 http://cheechmarin. com/2012/05/03/what-is-a-chicano/ Cheech: To me, you have to declare yourself a Chicano in order to be a Chicano. That makes a Chicano a Mexican-American with a defiant political attitude that centers on his or her right to self-definition. I’m a Chicano because I say I am. But no Chicano will agree with me because one of the characteristics of being Chicano is you don’t agree with anybody, or anything. And certainly not another Chicano. We are the only tribe that has all chiefs and no Indians. But don’t ever insult a Chicano about being a Chicano because then all the other Chicanos will be on you with a vengeance. They will even fight each to be first in line to support you. It’s not a category that appears on any U. S. Census survey. You can check White, AfricanAmerican, Native-American, Asian, Pacific Islander and even Hispanic (which Chicanos hate). But there is no little box you can check that says Chicano. However, you can get a Ph. D. in Chicano Studies from Harvard and a multitude of other universities. You can cash retirement checks from those same prestigious universities after having taught Chicano Studies for 20 years, but there still no official recognition from the government. No wonder Chicanos are confused. So where did the word Chicano come from? Again, no two Chicanos can agree, so here is my definition what I think. In true Chicano fashion, this should be the official version. The word â€Å"Chicano† was originally a derisive term from Mexicans to other Mexicans living in the United States. The concept was that those Mexicans living in the U. S. were no longer truly Mexicanos because they had given up their country by living in Houston, Los Angeles, â€Å"Guada La Habra,† or some other city. They were now something else and something less. Little satellite Mexicans living in a foreign country. They were something small. They were chicos. They were now Chicanos. If you lived near the U. S. -Mexican border, the term was more or less an insult, but always some kind of insult. In the early days, the connotation of calling someone a Chicano was that they were poor, illiterate, destitute people living in tin shacks along the border. As soon as they could get a car loan and could move farther away from the border, the term became less of an insult over the years. But the resentment still lingered. Some ask â€Å"Why can’t you people just all be Hispanic? † Same reason that all white people can’t just be called English. Just because you speak English or Spanish does not mean that you are one group. Hispanic is a census term that some dildo in a government office made up to include all Spanish-speaking brown people. It is especially annoying to Chicanos because it is a catch-all term that includes the Spanish conqueror. By definition, it favors European cultural invasion, not indigenous roots. It also includes all Latino groups, which brings us together because Hispanic annoys all Latino groups. Why? Because they’re Latino and it’s part of their nature. (Aren’t you glad you asked? ) So what is a â€Å"Latino? † (It’s like opening Pandora’s box, huh? ) â€Å"Latino† is refers to all Spanishspeaking people in the â€Å"New World† – South Americans, Central Americans, Mexicans, and Brazilians (even though they speak Portuguese). All those groups and their descendants living in the United States want to be called Latinos to recognize their Indian roots. Mexicans call it having the â€Å"Nopal† in their face, that prickly pear cactus with big flat leaves that Mexicans eat, revere, and think they look like. When you go to Mexico and walk down the street in Mexico City, it’s like walking through a Nopal cactus garden. Nopal is everywhere. For Latinos who don’t want to be so â€Å"Nopalese,† there’s always â€Å"Mexican-American. † Or the dreaded â€Å"Hispanic† that should only be used when faced with complete befuddlement from the person asking what you are. Because I am the only official version of what being Chicano is, I say Mexican-American is the politically correct middle ground between Hispanic and Chicano. Like in the song I wrote to be sung by a Chicano trying to be P. C. â€Å"Mexican-Americans; don’t like to just get into gang fights; they like flowers and music; and white girls named Debbie too. † All those names made it confusing for me growing up. I lived in an all-black neighborhood, followed by an all-white one, and other kids in the always called me Mexican in both neighborhoods. It never bothered me until one day I thought to myself â€Å"Hey, wait a minute, I’m not Mexican. † I’ve never even been to Mexico and I don’t speak Spanish. Sure, I eat Mexican food at family gatherings where all of the adults speak Spanish, but I eat Cheerios and pizza and hamburgers more. No, I’m definitely not a â€Å"Mexican. † Maybe I was â€Å"Mexican-ish,† just like some people were â€Å"Jew-ish. † These thoughts all ran through my mind when I chased down an alley by five young AfricanAmerican kids. â€Å"Yo, Messican! † they called out in their patois. I stopped in my tracks and spun around. â€Å"I’m not a Mexican! † I shouted defiantly. They stopped too, then stared at me. The leader spoke, â€Å"Fool! What you talking ‘bout? You Mexican as a taco. Look at you. † â€Å"No,†, I said. â€Å"To be a Mexican, you have to be from Mexico. You’re African-American. Are you from Africa? † â€Å"N–. You crazy. I’m from South-Central, just like you. † â€Å"That’s exactly what I’m talking about! † I said. â€Å"Did anybody knock on your door and ask you did you want to be African-American? † â€Å"Hell no! The social workers don’t even knock on our door, they too scared,† he said, cracking everyone up. â€Å"Then why you letting people call you whatever they want? What do you want to be called? † I asked. He looked at the others, thought about it for a few seconds and then said proudly, â€Å"I’m a Blood. † â€Å"Ooo-kay,† I said making it up as I went along. â€Å"Then you’re a Blood-American. † That seemed to go over well. They all nodded. â€Å"Yeah, we Blood-American. † â€Å"Well, then go out and be the best Blood-Americans that you can be. Peace, brothers, I got to blow. † I walked away and so did they. Self-identification saved the day. Yet, I still was dissatisfied with what I wanted to call myself. When I got home, there was a party going on. A bunch of relatives had come over for dinner and everybody was sitting around gabbing and drinking beer. My Uncle Rudy was in the middle of a story: â€Å"So, I took the car into the dealer and he said, ‘Yeah, the repairs gonna run you about $250. ’ Two-fifty? Estas loco? Hell, just give me a pair of pliers and some tin foil. I’ll fix it – I’m a Chicano mechanic. Two-fifty, mis nalgas. † And that was the defining epiphany. A Chicano was someone who could do anything. A Chicano was someone who wasn’t going to get ripped off. He was Uncle Rudy. He was industrious, inventive, and he wants another beer. So I got my Uncle Rudy another beer because, on that day, he showed me that I was a Chicano. Hispanic my ass, I’ve been a Chicano ever since. Cheech Marin, Originally published in the Huffington Post. This is the first article in a three-part series on â€Å"What is a Chicano† by actor, director, and art advocate Cheech Marin. II. The Study of Chicana/o Rodolfo F. Acuna, â€Å"Chicana/o Studies: What are they? ,† October 2010 It has been forty years since the first Chicano Studies programs were initiated on campuses throughout the United States. This accomplishment is a tribute to the tenacity of less than a couple of hundred students who were concerned about the failure of the schools to educate Mexican American students, pointing to the horrendous dropout rate in the public schools. Since then few scholars of any race have examined this historic phenomenon, treating CHS just like any other product of the sixties, forgetting how and why they came about. In many cases it has become the preoccupation of many Chicana/o faculty members to prove their legitimacy. It is not uncommon for them to claim this legitimacy by arguing that Chicana/o studies is a content field distinguishing CHS programs from service departments and pedagogical fields such as education. Every wave of scholars for the past forty years has ignored important epistemological questions. Because of this, we have to suffer through a rash of conferences rehashing movement events without dealing with the genesis of individual programs or the nature of CHS. Instead of probing how and why CHS came about, we theorize what it is and avoid an epistemological understanding. Few scholars have attempted to answer why the development of CHS has been so uneven. They have not dealt with basic questions such as the historical differences within southwest states themselves. For instance, Texas and California are often as different as the disparate Central American nationalities. Population and modes of production in these states differ; even within the states, there are the distinctions (e. g. , northern and southern California, El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio). Under the sway of the elitism of the academy, many CHS scholars claim that CHS is a content field. They claim that they are just as rigorous as the other disciplines. It is common in academe for the hard sciences to occupy the top of the pyramid, followed by the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts with education occupying the lowest step—research rules, not teaching. In academe, rarely are teaching methods discussed. Methods more often refer to research methods. Within this logic quantitative techniques trump qualitative evidence. Similarly, research institutions trump teaching colleges with the state rewarding researchers more generously. The teaching load at research and teaching institutions is distinguished by the actual time devoted to teaching. Professors at research institutions teach lighter loads, get more sabbatical time, and get more grants to fund research. This pecking order has influenced the development of the disparate programs. For instance, it has only been until recently that the Chicana/o studies department at California State University at Northridge has been able to attract Chicanas or Chicanos with doctorates from tier one institutions. I have spoken to Chicanas/os who professed their commitment to the revolution who said they had not gotten a PhD to work the same hours as a high school teacher. This attitude was common to Chicanas/os across the board, regardless of gender or whether they were Marxists, feminists, or nationalists, and it profoundly affected the development of what is today called Chicana/o studies. In considering outcome, it would have been important to define and debate teaching methods. My first proposition is that there is a difference between Chicana/o studies programs that are defined by a curriculum rather than an individual course in the traditional disciplines. For instance, Chicana/o history is not Chicana/o studies, it is a field within the discipline of history where common historical methods are used to research, study, and teach that corpus of knowledge of Mexican American people. In the same vein, Chicana/o literature does not study, research, or teach CHS but it is a field within the discipline of literature. My second proposition is that Chicana/o studies are not defined by content, but rather they are bound together by a pedagogy that defines their purpose. It is the foundation used to motivate and teach Latina/o students. The content is an important motivational tool to inspire students to learn and to correct the negative self-images that have come about through the process of colonialism. This is not unique to Mexican Americans. The national question raged in Europe during the latter part of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Hence, content fields studying CHS should have developed within the context of a pedagogy, which should have given it a sense of purpose. Other than perhaps at California State Northridge, the focus has been on the development of content fields. Little integration has taken place. There has been an artificial pursuit of finding a common research methodology which is almost impossible. It is not enough to say that a multidiscipline approach is part of its course of study. A more natural linking is pedagogy. In struggling toward an identity for Chicana/o studies, I have tried to convey this particular vision to colleagues. However, they often ignore me and I am certain that they write it off as cada loco con su tema (every madman to his own opinion). I did not find much of an audience until I came into contact with La Raza Studies program at the Tucson Unified School District. Today Chicana/o studies is under attack by conservatives and neo-Nazis who say that it is unpatriotic because it teaches about Mexicans and emphasizes teaching methodology using the principles of Paulo Freire, John Dewey, and Edwin Fenton— rejecting the model that students should be warehoused. This flies in the face of the goal of educating students. The Tucson outcome has been more than encouraging. Currently, Latino and African American males have the lowest third grade reading test scores in the nation. The Latino high school dropout rate nationwide hovers around 56 percent, higher if the dropout from middle school to high school is included. Only about 24 percent of graduating Latinos go on to college, mostly to community colleges. Tucson’s Unified School Districts Ethnic Studies and Mexican American Studies programs has reversed these trends. The dropout rate in this program is 2. 5 percent. Students in the program significantly outperform their peers on the states standardized AIMS tests and 66 percent of these students go on to college. This semester the program is offering 43 sections and serves 1500 students in six TUSD high schools, with similar programs at the middle and elementary school levels. â€Å"The classes are designed to be culturally relevant – to help the students see themselves in the curriculum and make them see why education is important for them. If they see themselves in the educational literature, they find more reasons to read and write, to research and draw conclusions. † Central to La Raza Studies is the use of critical theory which essentially means that they use the Socratic Method, a powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking. It focuses on giving students questions, not answers. It has been used in the better law schools to prepare American law students for Socratic questioning. Apparently, critical thinking threatens many white Americans who do not want Mexicans questioning their version of the truth. In the late 1960s, California Superintendent of Schools Max Rafferty called a reform movement advocating a similar inquiry method of teaching social science subversive because it taught students to question. Logically, Americans should be elated that Mexicans are learning and are motivated to go to college. So why are they trying to eliminate it? The truth be told, they don’t want Mexicans to succeed. They want them to live up to the stereotype and to be subservient. They don’t want competition for higher paying jobs; they don’t want to endanger their poorly paid reserve labor pool. People in La Raza Studies are serious about their pedagogy. This past July they held the 12th Annual Institute for Transformative Education in partnership with the University Of Arizona School Of Education. The institutes feature educators from across the United States. http://www. tusd. k12. az. us/contents/depart/mexicanam/index. asp . The presenters and the participants are multiracial, (e.g. , scholars such as Pedro A. Noguera, Executive Director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education New York University, and Angela Valenzuela, University of Texas Austin). Their focus is to improve teaching effectiveness. For the past forty years, every reform measure that involves better teaching has been shot down by the American electorate—bilingual education, affirmative action, racial integration, smaller class sizes, etc. Even though programs such as La Raza Studies prove that programs work when they are properly thought out and supported, a pretext is almost always found to eliminate them. Americans want to continue the same old blame game. In the 1920s they blamed Mexican culture and sought to Americanize Mexican American youth. In the sixties they blamed the parents, the Mexican family. Today they are blaming the teachers. The bottom line is that the United States has effectively saved trillions of dollars in capital by draining professionals trained from other countries; at the same time, it outsources well-paying technical jobs and production to poor countries. The United States does not need an educated workforce. It goes back to â€Å"why educate Mexicans, who’s going to pick our crops? † Rather than educating Latinos, the solution is to not educate them, but to build more prisons. Keep them south of the border, and if we need them, rent them, like we do U-hauls. III. They speak†¦. What is a Chicano? http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=v8npwn61ZXk I Am Joaquin part one of two: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=U6M6qOG2O-o Read the following articles on identity Finding Identity Within the Chicano Movement http://voices. yahoo. com/finding-identity-within-chicano-movement-6695464. html Chicano Identity in Literature http://www. enotes. com/chicano-identity-literature-93-salem/chicano-identity-literature Dr. David Sanchez [Moderator], â€Å"The Word Latino excludes the Native American,† Mexican American University (December 9, 2005) http://www. mexicanamericanuniversity. com/forum/view. php? site=mexicanamericanunive rsitycombn=mexicanamericanuniversitycom_mauforum2key=1126577705 What does the author say about identity? Do you agree, why or why not? IV. Where Latinos Live A map of America’s Hispanic population, county by county. By Nick McClellan|Posted Monday, July 9, 2012, at 6:36 AM ET http://www. slate. com/articles/news_and_politics/map_of_the_week/2012/07/map_of_america_s _hispanic_population_county_by_county. html Seth Motel and Eileen Patten, â€Å"Characteristics of the 60 Largest Metropolitan Areas by Hispanic Population,† Pew Hispanic Center, September 19, 2012 http://www. pewhispanic. org/2012/09/19/characteristics-of-the-60-largest-metropolitan-areas-byhispanic-population/ Jeffrey Passel and D’Vera Cohn, â€Å"Unauthorized Immigrants: 11. 1 Million in 2011,† Pew Hispanic Center, December 6, 2012, http://www. pewhispanic. org/2012/12/06/unauthorized-immigrants-11-1-million-in- 2011/ Jeffrey Passel and D’Vera Cohn, â€Å"How Many Hispanics? Comparing Census Counts and Census Estimates,† Pew Hispanic Center, March 15, 2011 http://www. pewhispanic. org/2011/03/15/how-many-hispanics-comparing-census-counts-andcensus-estimates/ Jeffrey Passel, D’Vera Cohn and Mark Hugo Lopez, â€Å"Hispanics Account for More than Half of Nations Growth in Past Decade:Census 2010: 50 Million Latinos,† Pew Hispanic Center,† March 24, 2011 http://www. pewhispanic. org/2011/03/24/hispanics-account-for-more-than-half-of-nationsgrowth-in-past-decade/ Seth Motel and Eileen Patten, â€Å"The 10 Largest Hispanic Origin Groups: Characteristics, Rankings, Top Counties,† Pew Hispanic Center, July 12, 2012 http://www. pewhispanic. org/2012/06/27/the-10-largest-hispanic-origin-groups-characteristicsrankings-top-counties/ Seth Motel and Eileen Patten, â€Å"Statistical Profile, Hispanics of Mexican Origin in the United States, 2010,† Pew Hispanic Center,† June 27, 2012 http://www. pewhispanic. org/2012/06/27/hispanics-of-mexican-origin-in-the-united-states-2010/ V. Art and the Chicana/o How do the arts express identity? See: Art and Ethnic Politics, http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=ejymct6ipMQfeature=related Exploration with Painter Malaquias Montoya, http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=3zRxSnDVKVgNR=1 http://www. youtube. com /watch? v=NGuD8wD2Bl8feature=relmfu Latino art Latino artist videos and articles at Latinopia. com http://latinopia. com/category/latino-art/ JUDY BACA – IN HER OWN WORDS http://latinopia. com/latino-art/judy-baca/ HARRY GAMBOA, JR. – IN HIS OWN WORDS http://latinopia. com/category/latino-history/latinopia-event/VI. Epistemology Students always ask why scholars differ in their interpretations of history. The answer is that they often arrive at different conclusions from how they derived their knowledge. For example, the debate over creation: A person basing his or her knowledge on faith may reach a different conclusion than one basing it on science. A recent article in the Smithsonian Magazine demonstrates this. In Simon Baatz, â€Å"Leopold and Loebs Criminal Minds,† Smithsonian magazine, August 2008, http://www. smithsonianmag. com/history-archaeology/criminalminds. html the author retells the story of the famous Leopold and Loeb trial where two teenage friends killed a 10 year old boy because they wanted to commit the perfect crime. The following from the Baatz article cited above; the whole article can be obtained by clicking on to the Smithsonian link above. How do you think this piece pertains to the class? The question of who was to blame for the Mexican Texas and Mexican American Wars involves different interpretations. A majority of Americans and a host of American historians blame Mexico. Because I have taken the opposite view some historians have attacked me. But what it comes down to is Faith versus the documents. See http://www. tamu. edu/ccbn/dewitt/dewitt. htm for a host of primary documents dealing with both. The question in the Smithsonian article would be how and why did the psychiatrist differ? The answer sheds light on the Mexican American War. Mini Course Module II Mexico Pre-1821 Required: Text: Rodolfo F. Acuna, Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (New York: Pearson, 2014), Chapters 1 and 2. Reader: Rodolfo F. Acuna, ed. , Guadalupe Compean ed. , Voices of the U. S. Latino Experience [Three Volumes] (Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO Books, 2008). Do not buy the book (too expensive); access the E-Book through your university library. I. The hybridization of Mexico â€Å"The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved its independence early in the 19th century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON. National elections, including the presidential election, are scheduled for 1 July 2012. Since 2007, Mexicos powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides. † CIA Factbook Modern Day Mexico †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% Languages: Spanish only 92. 7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5. 7%, indigenous only 0. 8%, unspecified 0. 8%. Note: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2005). Religions: Roman Catholic 76. 5%, Protestant 5. 2% (Pentecostal 1. 4%, other 3. 8%), Jehovahs Witnesses 1. 1%, other 0. 3%, unspecified 13. 8%, none 3. 1% (2000 census) Population: 114,975,406 (July 2012 est. ) country comparison to the world: 11 Source: CIA Factbook https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/mx. html The United States In contrast the United States is †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Ethnic groups: white 79. 96%, black 12. 85%, Asian 4. 43%, Amerindian and Alaska native 0. 97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0. 18%, two or more races 1. 61% (July 2007 estimate) note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean persons of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin including those of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic, Spanish, and Central or South American origin living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc. ); about 15. 1% of the total US population is Hispanic Languages: English 82. 1%, Spanish 10. 7%, other Indo-European 3. 8%, Asian and Pacific island 2. 7%, other 0. 7% (2000 census) Note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii Religions: Protestant 51. 3%, Roman Catholic 23. 9%, Mormon 1. 7%, other Christian 1. 6%, Jewish 1. 7%, Buddhist 0. 7%, Muslim 0. 6%, other or unspecified 2. 5%, unaffiliated 12. 1%, none 4% (2007 est. ) Population: 313,847,465 (July 2012 est. ) country comparison to the world. 3 Source: CIA The World Fact Book, https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us. html Why do they say Mexico is a hybrid nation and not the United States? II. Mesoamerica.

Top 5 Environmental Issues Essay Example for Free

Top 5 Environmental Issues Essay 1. Population Explosion Whether we like to admit it or not, our very own rapidly multiplying presence on this planet is the biggest environmental problem there is, and it’s getting bigger by the minute. We voraciously consume resources, pollute the air and water, tear down natural habitats, introduce species into areas where they don’t belong and destroy ecosystems to the point of causing millions of species to become endangered and, all too often, go extinct. It took nearly all of human history – from the first days of man on earth until the early 1800’s – to reach a global population of 1 billion. In just 200 years, we’ve managed to reach 6.5 billion. That means the population has grown more since 1950 than in the previous four million years. We’re adding roughly 74 million people to the planet every year, a scary figure that will probably continue to increase. All of those mouths will need to be fed. All of those bodies will need clean water and a place to sleep. All of the new communities created to house those people will continue to encroach upon the natural world. 2. CO2 Levels in the Atmosphere Greenhouse gas emissions caused by our modern way of life – vehicles, power plants, factories, giant livestock farms – will bring devastating climate change within decades if they stay at today’s levels. Average temperatures could increase by as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century if emissions continue to rise, a figure that would easily make the world virtually uninhabitable for humans. A global temperature rise of just 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit would cause a catastrophic domino effect, bringing weather extremes that would result in food and water shortages and destructive floods. The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change represents â€Å"the final nail in the coffin† of climate change denial, representing the most authoritative picture to date that global warming is caused by human activity. According to the panel, we must make a swift and significant switch to clean, efficient and renewable energy technolog ies in order to prevent the worst-case scenario. 3. Polar Sea Ice Loss Polar sea ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. It’s perhaps the most dramatic, startling visual evidence of global warming, and it’s got scientists rushing to figure out just how big of an effect the melting is going to have on the rest of the world. British researchers said that the thickness of sea ice in the Arctic decreased dramatically last winter for the first time since records began in the early 1990s. The research showed a significant loss in thickness on the northern ice cap after the record loss of ice during the summer of 2007. Scientific American warns that â€Å"human fingerprints have been detected† on both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Antarctica had previously appeared to be the only continent on the planet where humanity’s impact on climate change hadn’t been observed. The collapse of the Larsen B and Wilkins ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula shows just how fast th e region is warming. 4. Destruction of the Rain Forest ‘Saving the rain forest’ has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for decades, yet here we are facing huge losses in the Amazon all the same. You might have thought that, with all the attention the rain forest has gotten, it wouldn’t need so much saving anymore – but unfortunately, global warming and deforestation mean that half of the Amazon rain forest will likely be destroyed or severely damaged by 2030. The World Wildlife Fund concluded this summer that agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching will cause major damage to 55 percent of the Amazon rain forest in the next 22 years. Another 4 percent will see damage due to reduced rainfall, courtesy of global warming. These factors will destroy up to 80 percent of the rain forest’s wildlife. Losing 60 percent of the rain forest would accelerate global warming and affect rainfall in places as far away as India. Massive destruction to the rain forest would have a domino effect on the rest of the world. The WWF says that the ‘point of no return’, from which recovery will be impossible, is only 15 to 25 years away. 5. Mammal Extinction One in four mammals is threatened with extinction. That’s 25%, a huge number that will totally change the ecology of every corner of the earth. We could see thousands of species die out in our lifetime, and the rate of habitat loss and hunting in crucial areas like Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Central and South America is growing so rapidly, these animals barely have a chance. If you think the extinction of an animal like the beautiful Iberian Lynx is no big deal, and wouldn’t have that much of an effect on the planet, think again. Not only would we be losing – mostly due to our own disregard for our surroundings – so much of the awe-inspiring diversity of nature, mass extinctions like this would cause a serious imbalance in the world’s food chain. When a predator disappears, the prey will multiply. When prey dies out, the predator will see its ranks decrease as well. Many people fail to realize just how interconnected all species on this plan et really are.

Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Analysis

Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Analysis Critical commentary on the picture- Henri Cartier-Bresson: Michel Gabriel, Rue Mouffetard, 1952 The photo that I am going to analyse is taken by the famous French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, in 1952. He was famous for his candid photography, which was later developed as another kind of art ‘Street photography. His contribution towards photography art finally helped him own the name of ‘the father of modern photojournalism. The photo mainly captures a boy, Michel Gabriel, who is holding two magnums with his arms, and his face is actually exuding a kind of happiness and confidence which could supposedly be seen on a mature mans face. There are also two little girls captured in the photo, but their presence is a bit blurred since the boy holding the wine bottles is the main character. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the boy was portrayed as a ‘man who was proud to be a drinker. In fact, the relationship between the boy, Michel Gabriel, and the photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, was very subtle because actually the boy and the photographer did not know each other; the photographer just shot the boy in a candid way. Therefore, it can be said that the relationship between them is very subtle, which is the photographer vs. the model, or the man with a camera vs. a boy with wine bottles. In this photo, the theory, Affective fallacy, suggested by W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley can be applied. Affective fallacy is supposedly defined as a confusion between the poem and its results, but later this theory is also generally used to apply to viewing photographs, meaning that readers interpret the photographs through his/her personal emotion or affectionateness. The boy is holding two wine bottles with satisfied facial expression; readers like me may view this photo on the basis of intuition that the boy is happy because he could drink alcohol like an adult. However, this interpretation may be wrong since we do not know the intention of the photographer. To be more objective, the boy may just run across something which was intriguing on the street, and the photographer just captured the moment. Another interpretation would be the boy is just carrying two wine bottles filled with water (or empty) around for fun, which can be inferred from the background of the photo. First, the apartment and street implies that the place where the boy walks is a working class distract. Therefore, wine is possibly not affordable for a child like him; he may just play what popular within the working class area at that time. Second, the ambience of black and white of the photo, the clothing style of the boy, the impressed girls behind him, and the date can also help convince the readers that the boy is playing at the moment. However, if readers refer to the statement of Cartier-Bresson, the interpretations will be different. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said ‘photography is a way of shouting, freeing oneself, not of proving and asserting ones originality, so photography is a mean of telling the story or truth in which it captures the conversation, facial expression, gestures and presents them in a visual way which can be for later reflections. The meanings that are being shouted or freed by the photographer would be the concern about the boy drinking alcohol, about the drinking habits of his parents, and even about the way that the boy lives under the influence of his parents. The statement of Cartier-Bresson is thus in line with the viewpoint of Benjamin stressing that ‘photograph can release meaning that was not perceived at the time. There is no doubt that photography can capture an object; it can also capture time in which the moment will last forever. Therefore, the viewpoint from Kracauer is true because he stress that ‘photography captures time- memory outlast time, meaning that the image together with the meaning would become memory which can be recalled. Taking this photo as an example, it does document the time when people were living in Rue Mouffetard, and also the aura of surrounding area. Therefore, it is a good documentation recording the community life during that period. Yet, reading an image sometimes goes problematic as the photographer (creator) does not always provide a lucid explanation or his/her interpretation for the photos; therefore, different interpretation can be resulted. Using this photo as an example again, whatever the photographer, the boy, his parents, or even the girls behind the boy, they may have their own interpretations towards this photo. That is why sometimes reading images goes problematic. But I have to say that this ‘problematic reading can, to a certain extent, stimulate the imagination of readers, from the surface to the underneath of photos. With no doubt, the prevalence of ‘street photographs or ‘candid photographs can be attributable to Cartier-Bressons contributions. However, nowadays, this kind of art seems to be abused because you can see a lot of candid photographs through different social networking websites, blogs, etc. However, it has somehow become a flood because most of the photos taken, especially in my hometown Hong Kong, have no meanings; the photographers themselves even do not know what meanings they want to express or deliver to the readers, thus, it is a bit sad because what the readera can access may be just the superficial meanings. The reader, as well, should also view a photograph in a deeper way in which he or she can access to different dimensions of the photographs. Nowadays, people are inclined to glimpse photographs instead of reading them. He or she may only get the very superficial meanings of the photographs. That is why sometimes we need to view a photograph with theories. For me, the photographic theories do help me to view a photograph in a deeper and more complex way. I am impressed by what Cartier-Bresson said ‘taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression; it is true because once you press the shutter of your camera, the relationship between the object and you has been set up. However, you cannot deeply understand the object by just glimpsing it. A good photographer captures time; a good reader captures the meanings behind. Benjamins theory on photograph said ‘photograph can confirm ideological thinking, I absolutely agree to the statement as I think a photograph itself can establish discourse and semantics in its own world; that is why a photo can decode the culture, values whatever of an object or of a particular place. Therefore, I think that reading a photograph is quite similar to reading a text in which readers need to undergo the process of decoding. In a text, readers have to decode the words into image while in a photograph, they have to decipher the hidden meanings (images) into words. It can be said that readers can fully understand the photographs unless they immerse themselves in the hidden dimensions of the photographs. If a reader only views the photo through a glimpse, what he/she can get is superficial. Reference: http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Cartier_Bresson_Henri.html

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Essay -- Organization

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Businesses today often promote change to create a better more productive work environment. These changes occasionally produce unwanted results which were not expected or planned for. By monitoring organizational behavior unwanted or negative results can be minimized so change can be effective within an organization. Organizational behavior, organizational culture, diversity, communication, business ethics, and change management are all factors within an organization. Managers should clearly define these terms to create a more efficient and effective work environment. â€Å"Your Company† ensures growth and success by establishing strict guidelines and procedures which include these factors of organizational behavior. Organizational behavior is the study of individuals and groups in organizations (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008, p. 5). By monitoring organizational behavior on a constant basis the managers in an organization can implement changes as needed to improve the performance of the organization and the individual employees. At â€Å"Your Company†, understanding the organizational behavior helps managers implement new technologies and ideas. This is done by observing the changes which must be made in order to achieve a more productive and successful organization. One of the most observable aspects of the OB is the attitude of the employees at â€Å"Your Company†. From the moment a person walks in the door they can feel the sense of pride and motivation that each employee has to do the best they can. This enables the employees to work efficiently as a team and be as productive as possible. Organizational culture is a shared set of beliefs and values within an organization ... ...ans are able to work efficiently and effectively by paying attention to detail and following the guidelines and procedures standardized by management. Good communication facilitates a pleasant environment to work in as well as employee appreciation incentives such as the technician bonus program and quarterly picnics to thank the employees for their hard work. By maintaining strict interviewing and hiring practices managers are able to enlist the skills of talented individuals who work well as a team or individually. This ensures employee independence as well as facilitates team building and a sense of pride in the work they perform. References Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G., & Osborn, R.N. (2008). Organizational Behavior (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. â€Å"Your Company† (2008). Retrieved November 8, 2008, from: http://www.†Your Company†inc.com Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Essay -- Organization Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Businesses today often promote change to create a better more productive work environment. These changes occasionally produce unwanted results which were not expected or planned for. By monitoring organizational behavior unwanted or negative results can be minimized so change can be effective within an organization. Organizational behavior, organizational culture, diversity, communication, business ethics, and change management are all factors within an organization. Managers should clearly define these terms to create a more efficient and effective work environment. â€Å"Your Company† ensures growth and success by establishing strict guidelines and procedures which include these factors of organizational behavior. Organizational behavior is the study of individuals and groups in organizations (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008, p. 5). By monitoring organizational behavior on a constant basis the managers in an organization can implement changes as needed to improve the performance of the organization and the individual employees. At â€Å"Your Company†, understanding the organizational behavior helps managers implement new technologies and ideas. This is done by observing the changes which must be made in order to achieve a more productive and successful organization. One of the most observable aspects of the OB is the attitude of the employees at â€Å"Your Company†. From the moment a person walks in the door they can feel the sense of pride and motivation that each employee has to do the best they can. This enables the employees to work efficiently as a team and be as productive as possible. Organizational culture is a shared set of beliefs and values within an organization ... ...ans are able to work efficiently and effectively by paying attention to detail and following the guidelines and procedures standardized by management. Good communication facilitates a pleasant environment to work in as well as employee appreciation incentives such as the technician bonus program and quarterly picnics to thank the employees for their hard work. By maintaining strict interviewing and hiring practices managers are able to enlist the skills of talented individuals who work well as a team or individually. This ensures employee independence as well as facilitates team building and a sense of pride in the work they perform. References Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G., & Osborn, R.N. (2008). Organizational Behavior (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. â€Å"Your Company† (2008). Retrieved November 8, 2008, from: http://www.†Your Company†inc.com

The Atomic Bomb :: essays research papers

The Atomic Bomb The year was 1945. The war in the Pacific had reached it's climax with the attack on Pearl Harbor, or so the world thought! In 1943 a new era was just being discovered when Albert Einstein had uncovered a new way of destroying things. One so powerful it could wipe out entire cities in seconds. When Albert told the president of the U.S.A. he had no idea of what the army was going to do with that knowlege, the knowlege of Atomic Theory! When the president of the United States of America heard of this new theory he decided to embark on a project that would change mankind forever. He decided to name this project the Manhatten Project. This project was headed by six of the worlds best scientists: Neils Bohr, Joseph Carter, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feyman, and Robert Oppenheimer, each with their own ideas of what it would take to construct such a weapon. From left to right: Neils Borh, Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feyman, Enrico Fermi The object of the project was to produce a practical military weapon in the form of a bomb in which the energy would be released by a fast neutron chain reaction in one or more of the materials known to show nuclear fission. That goal was to be completed in 1945 after the U.S.A. spent over 6.7 Billion Dollars on the test bomb named the "Trinity". I t was dropped on Alagormado in Texas on July 16th 1945. When Albert Einstein heard about the "Trinity" he called the president directly and asked for a halt on all atomic bomb projects for he did not want to hurt anyone with his discovery. But when spies reported the Germans working on such a project the Manhatten project was continued. The long nights there after were hell for the president while deciding to launch the soon to be completed "Little Boy" bomb. Finally, the american troops were told to load "Little Boy" in the specifically designed plane Enola Gay. With Paul Tibbets and his crew of 12 strapped in the plane named after Paul's mother, the American president gave the order to fly to Hiroshima. They chose Hiroshima baecause it was a major industrial Japanese port which held many Japanese seacraft. It was July 16 1945 at about 8:14 when Paul Tibbets got the order to open the hatch and arm the bomb. After released it took a little less than 1 minute for it to detonate. Over 40,000 innocent lives were taken with the blast and over 100,000 were taken in the next ten years from exposure to extreme radiation.

Customer Lifetime Value Essay

Marketing Engineering for Excel is a Microsoft Excel add-in. The software runs from within Microsoft Excel and only with data contained in an Excel spreadsheet. After installing the software, simply open Microsoft Excel. A new menu appears, called â€Å"MEï€ ´XL.† This tutorial refers to the â€Å"MEï€ ´XL/Customer Lifetime Value† submenu. Overview Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) represents a metric of a customer’s value to the organization over the entire span of that customer’s relationship with a firm. Short-term sales influence CLV, but so do overall customer satisfaction, the churn rate in the segment, and the costs to acquire a new customer and retain an existing customer. The CLV approach helps firms answer such questions as: How much is my customer base â€Å"worth†? Taking into account observed churn rates, how many of the currently active customers will still be active in a few years? How much is a customer worth, depending on the segment to which he or she belongs? If acquiring a new customer costs $150, after how many periods can we recoup this investment? Customer lifetime value analysis considers your database at a segment level, using the answers you provide to the following questions: How many segments do you have in your database, and how many customers per segment? For a given period, how much is a customer worth, on average, in each segment (margins and costs)? What is the likelihood that a customer in segment A will switch to segment B during the next period? Getting Started A CLV analysis allows you to use your own data directly or a template preformatted by the MEXL software. The next section explains how to create an easy-to-use template to enter your own data. If you want to run a CLV analysis immediately, open the example file â€Å"OfficeStar Data (CLV).xls† and jump to â€Å"Step 3: Running analysis† (p. 4). By default, the example files install in â€Å"My Documents/My Marketing Engineering/.† Step 1 Creating a template Using the interactive assistant In Excel, if you click on MEï€ ´XL ï  § CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE ï  § CREATE TEMPLATE, a dialog box appears. This box represents the first step in creating a template to run the CLV analysis software. The first dialog box prompts you to use an interactive assistant. Unless you are already familiar with the methodology, you should select â€Å"yes.† Listing segments The first step of the template generation process requires you to label and list the segments that you want taken into account. Enter the names of segments to which a customer can belong. Press ENTER or click the â€Å"Add to list† button to add it to the â€Å"List of Segments.† Note that a segment of â€Å"lost customers† always appears in your list. This segment has the following properties: There is no activity by these customers (margins and costs equal 0). It entails an absorbing relationship state. As soon as a customer reaches this segment, he or she stays there forever. In other words, there is 100% chance the customer stays in that segment in the next period, and all other transition probabilities will be equal to 0%. After entering all your segments (at least one), click the OK button to proceed to the next step of the template creation process. Clicking on the OK button generates a template. Not using the interactive assistant You may skip this intermediary step and create a blank template. When you are prompted to use the interactive assistant, just click â€Å"no.† The following dialog box appears: When you click OK, you generate a new blank spreadsheet. You must enter the segment labels manually in the spreadsheet. In this example, if you update the names of the segments in cells B6, B7, and B8, the names of the segments automatically update in the other cells of the spreadsheet. Entering your data In this tutorial, we use the example file â€Å"OfficeStar Data (CLV).xls,† which in the default conditions appear in â€Å"My Documents/My Marketing Engineering/.† To view a proper data format, open that spreadsheet in Excel. A snapshot is reproduced below. A typical CLV analysis spreadsheet contains: Number of customers per segment. As of today, how many customers does the company have in each segment? Gross margins, or the average margins that the company expects from a customer over each period (e.g., year, quarter), on the basis of the segment to which this customer belongs during that period. In the OfficeStar example, a customer who belongs to the â€Å"Warm Customer† segment should generate $15 of gross margins on average during the next period (e.g., first quarter). Marketing costs, or how much money the company plans to spend per customer during the next period, according to the segment to which this customer belongs at the beginning of the period. Typically, active customers are followed more closely, receive more attention (e.g., direct marketing solicitations, sales representatives visits), and cost more to the firm. Transition matrix, which summarizes the likelihood a customer will switch segments during each period. This matrix should be read horizontally, and each line sums to 100% (because all customers appear in some segment). In the OfficeStar example, an active customer has a 75% likelihood of remaining in the same segment and a 25% chance of switching to the warm customer segment. A customer’s behavior during the previous period determines into which segment that customer is classified, and his or her segment membership then determines the marketing dollars the company should allocate to that customer in the next period. In the OfficeStar example, a customer who belongs to the â€Å"Active Customer† segment generates $90 of gross margins per period (e.g., quarter). Step 3 Running analyses After entering your data in the Excel spreadsheet using the appropriate format, click on MEï€ ´XL ï  § CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE ï  § RUN ANALYSIS. The dialog box that appears indicates the next steps required to perform a CLV analysis of your data. CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE – V130522 5/10 Number of periods: Specify the number of periods for which you want a detailed CLV analysis. Note that this choice does NOT affect the CLV computations, because the value of a customer always gets estimated over an infinite time horizon (though as time passes and discount rates apply, future revenues have less relative impact). The number of periods affects only the level of output. Discount factor: Indicate the discount rate to apply for the value of a dollar spent or received in the future as compared to the current period. A discount rate of 15% means that $100 profit in the next period is only â€Å"worth† $85 in today’s dollars. A greater discount factor reduces the impact of future revenues on CLV computations and thus focuses on shortterm  profits. You should increase the discount rate for turbulent or rapidly evolving markets, in which conditions change rapidly and future revenues therefore are highly uncertain. Setting: Select either Transactional or Contractual depending on the nature of the product or service you are modelling. Contractual models imply the existence of a contract between the transacting parties (e.g., a mobile phone contract between the provider and consumer). Contractual relationships imply continuous transactions and a known end to the contract. Transactional models imply discrete transactions with no implied end to the relationship. For use with our CLV model, the impact of this setting will affect the first period of the analysis. A Contractual setting implies no loss/gain in first month (since the customer is under contract) while the Transactional setting will reflect loss/gain in the first month. The discount factor gets applied after each period, regardless of how you define a period. If you define a period as a quarter, a discount factor of 15% translates into an effective yearly discount rate of almost 48% (15% discount rate applied four times per year). Remember to take this multiplicative effect into account when selecting an appropriate discount factor. After selecting these options, you must select the cells containing the data. First, the software asks for ranges of the current segment sizes and profits and costs for each segment, including a row dedicated to permanently lost  customers. If you use a template generated by Marketing Engineering for Excel, it has already pre-selected the cell ranges. Second, the software asks for a square range that shows the likelihood that a customer in each segment (row) will switch to each segment (column) in the following period. The newly generated spreadsheet contains the results of your CLV analysis. Step 4 Interpreting the results Customer lifetime value The last column of the CLV table outputs the expected CLV of a customer who currently belongs to a given segment, determined by summing the stream of all future gross margins, minus all future marketing costs, and taking into account both the discount factor and the likelihood of customers switching from one segment to another. These figures also appear in the â€Å"Lifetime Value† chart, shown below. A customer with a negative CLV actually means a loss of money for your firm. Number of customers per segment The next table (and chart) shows how many customers will be in each segment at each period of time in the future. The time horizon displayed on the chart matches the number of periods you specified in the â€Å"Run Analysis† options. Note that the â€Å"Lost Customers† segment is not displayed. In most applications, all customers eventually become lost customers, and over sufficient time, all other segments become empty. Customer base’s lifetime value The third table in the â€Å"CLV Analysis† sheet, labeled the Customer Base’s Lifetime Value, summarizes the future stream of revenues and marketing costs over a specified number of future periods (whether cumulative or not) at the global level. Some key elements of this table plot in the third (and last) chart of the spreadsheet. In particular, the Discounted Net Margins (cumulated) provide an answer to the question: â€Å"Over the next x periods, how much is my customer base worth?† Retention rates The final tables depict the likelihood that a customer will belong to any segment in any period of time in the future, depending on the segment to which he or she currently belongs. There are as many tables as there are segments in the analysis. In most applications, all customers eventually join the â€Å"Lost Customers† segment. The probability of belonging to that segment thus slowly reaches 1 (100%), and the probabilities of belonging to any other segment trend toward 0 over time.

A Piece of String

Tim Gadwell Ms. Bryant April 12, 2010 Period 1-B Pg. 953 Essay In the story â€Å"A Piece of String† the story focuses on an old man named Maitre Houchecome. The story goes through a certain timeline of cause and effect which in the end results in his demise. Then on top of that he was said to have a bad experience with lying in the past. The events in the story had coincidentally occurred in sequential order rather than occurring at random times. The causes in the story produced more effects than one. IT all starts when Market Day occurs and as a result farmers and gardeners were all taking their possessions they were ready to sell to get money. Maitre Houchecome was walking towards the public square when he stopped and saw a piece of string lying on the ground. The story says Houchecome was economically like a true Norman. So as he bends over to pick up the string his back is hurting due to his reumatism and then he notices his arch nemesis Maitre Maladain, the Harness-Maker. Because Houchecome and Maladain were not on good terms with each other Houchecome felt that he needed to watch what he was doing at all times so he didn’t look stupid in front of Maladain. This choice Houchecome made showed that he was a very pride filled person and worried what people thought about him especially Maladain. Houchecome then picks up the string but then tries to conceal it so that Maladain does not se what he grabbed. He thought that Maladain would surely judge him for picking up a useless thing like that. As the day went by people were finishing up there sales and all of them went into a restaurant to eat due to the all the sales they went through. Then when they finish an announcer walks up and says that Someone lost their pocketbook (wallet) that morning along the road of Benzeville, containing 500 francs. Then the police had come and specifically asked for Maitre Houchecome and they escorted him the Mayor’s office where he learns that he was suspected of stealing the wallet. This is where cause and effect ties in, because Houchecome was acting weird and didn’t want Maladain to see what he was picking up Maladain suspected that he took the wallet and went and told the Mayor. Also because Houchecome had lied in the past it made it very hard to believe that he was innocent. Also because he was suspected he turned out his pockets and grew very angry with them. Again because of his past it made the townspeople believe that he took the wallet. This made him plead his innocence but his words were empty in the ears of the townspeople. Then the wallet gets found and still no one believes him because they think that he had a partner that had the wallet and then turned it back in to prove his innocence. The townspeople found this situation very humorous from the jump and kept teasing him and poking fun at him. This troubled Houchecome very much and he thought night and day of how to make people believe that he was innocent. He was said to have gone home ashamed indignant and was choking with anger and confusion. The situation consumed his heart and made him wear himself out for no particular reason and then he wasted away. Even in the end he was very troubled and pleaded his innocence while he was dying.

Federal Agency Security Practices (FASP) Essay

Network Perimeter Security Policy – Computer Security Resource †¦ csrc.nist.gov/†¦/network_security/ipdmms-perimeter-security.d†¦File Format: Microsoft Word – Quick View The Department Interim Network Perimeter Security Standard (INPSS) specifies the †¦ NIST Special Publication 800-18, Guide for Developing Security Plans for †¦ The firewall will be configured using Industry â€Å"best practices† including but not †¦ [PDF] NIST SP 800-97, Establishing Wireless Robust Security Networks: A †¦ csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-97/SP800-97.pdfFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat by S Frankel – Cited by 25 – Related articles  entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the †¦.. WLAN Security Best Practices †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8-1 †¦ Learn from NIST: Best practices in security program management searchsecurity.techtarget.com/†¦/Learn-from-NIST-Best-practi†¦ This tip gives best practices for implementing such mandates and others. †¦ challenges behind operational integration of security and network management. NIST Updates Computer Security Guides – Government – Security – www.informationweek.com/†¦/security/nist†¦security†¦/24000†¦Jul 30, 2012 – Guidelines focus on wireless security and protecting mobile devices †¦ how federal agencies and businesses can deal with network attacks and malware. †¦ revised to reflect the latest in security best practices: NIST’s Guide to †¦ The Best Guides for Information Security Management www.crypt.gen.nz/papers/infosec_guides.htmlA list of the best guides available online for Information Security Managment. †¦ NIST SP800-48 Wireless Network Security (802.11, Bluetooth, and Handheld †¦ Why do systems administrators need to use guides, practices, and checklists? US-CERT: Control Systems – Standards and References www.us-cert.gov/control_systems/csstandards.htmlCyber Security Policy Planning and Preparation; Establishing Network †¦ NIST SP 800-53 Rev 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal †¦. Rakaczky, E. â€Å"Intrusion Insights Best Practices for Control System Security,† July 2005. Catalog of †¦ Cyber security standards – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_security_standards1 History; 2 ISO 27002; 3 Standard of good practice; 4 NERC; 5 NIST; 6 ISO 15408 †¦ provide network security administration while still supporting best practice †¦ ICT Security Standards Roadmap – Part 5 www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/ict/part05.htmlJun 6, 2011 – The following work on best practices has so far been identified for inclusion in this section †¦ European Network and Information Security Agency †¦ 800-12 An Introduction to Computer Security: The NIST Handbook  · 800-100 †¦

Abnormal Psychology Study Guide

Chapter 16 — Personality Disorders Slides, handouts, and answers keys created by Karen Clay Rhines, Ph. D. , Seton Hall University Handout 2: What is Psychological Abnormality? What is personality? Personality is a unique and long-term pattern of inner experience and outward behavior Personality tends to be consistent and is often described in terms of â€Å"traits† These traits may be inherited, learned, or both Personality is also flexible, allowing us to adapt to new environments For those with personality disorders, however, that flexibility is usually missing Handout 3: Personality DisordersWhat is a personality disorder? A very rigid pattern of inner experience and outward behavior This pattern is seen in most interactions, differs from the experiences and behaviors usually expected, and continues for years Handout 4: Classifying Personality Disorders A personality disorder is diagnosed only when it causes impairments in social or occupational functioning, or when it causes personal distress Personality disorders typically become recognizable in adolescence or early adulthood . Generally, the affected person does not regard his or her behavior as undesirable or problematicIt has been estimated that 9 to 13% of all adults may have a personality disorder Handout 5: Classifying Personality Disorders Classifying these disorders is difficult because little is known about their origins or development They are diagnosed on Axis II of the DSM-IV Handout 6: Classifying Personality Disorders Those diagnosed with personality disorders are often also diagnosed with an Axis I disorder This relationship is called â€Å"comorbidity† Axis II disorders my predispose people to develop an Axis I disorder, or Axis I disorders may set the stage for Axis II disorders, or some biological condition may set the stage for both!Whatever the reason, research indicates that the presence of a personality disorder complicates and reduces a person’s chances f or a successful recovery Handout 8: Classifying Personality Disorders The various personality disorders overlap each other so much that it can be difficult to distinguish one from another The frequent lack of agreement between clinicians and diagnosticians has raised concerns about the validity and reliability of these categories Handout 10: â€Å"Odd† Personality Disorders People with these disorders display behaviors similar to, but not as extensive as, schizophreniaBehaviors include extreme suspiciousness, social withdrawal, and peculiar ways of thinking and perceiving things Such behaviors leave the person isolated Some clinicians believe that these disorders are actually related to schizophrenia, and thus call them â€Å"schizophrenia spectrum disorders† Handout 11: â€Å"Odd† Personality Disorders Clinicians have learned much about the symptoms of odd personality disorders but little about effective treatment for these disorders In fact, people with these disorders rarely seek treatment Handout 14: How Do Theorists Explain Paranoid Personality Disorder?The proposed explanations of this disorder, like those of most other personality disorders, have received little systematic research Psychodynamic theorists trace the pattern back to early interactions with demanding parents Cognitive theorists suggest that maladaptive assumptions such as â€Å"People are evil and will attack you if given the chance† are to blame Biological theorists propose genetic causes and have looked at twin studies to support this model Handout 15: Treatments for Paranoid Personality Disorder People with paranoid personality disorder do not typically see themselves as needing helpFew come to treatment willingly Those who are in treatment often distrust and rebel against their therapists As a result, therapy for this disorder, as for most of the other personality disorders, has limited effect and moves slowly Handout 16: Treatments for Paranoid Personality Disorder Object relations therapists try to see past the patient’s anger and work on the underlying wish for a satisfying relationship Behavioral and cognitive therapists try to help clients control anxiety and improve interpersonal skills Cognitive therapists also try to restructure client’s maladaptive assumptions and interpretationsDrug therapy is generally ineffective Handout 17: Schizoid Personality Disorder This disorder is characterized by persistent avoidance of social relationships and limited emotional expression Withdrawn and reclusive, people with this disorder are not interested in relationships with others People with schizoid personality disorder focus mainly on themselves and are often seen as flat and cold The disorder is estimated to affect less than 1% of the population It is slightly more likely to occur in men than in women Handout 22: Schizotypal Personality DisorderThis disorder is characterized by odd (even bizarre) ways of thinking and perceivi ng, and behavioral eccentricities These symptoms may include ideas of reference and/or bodily illusions People with the disorder often have great difficulty keeping their attention focused; conversation is typically digressive and vague Handout 23: Schizotypal Personality Disorder Socially withdrawn, people with this disorder seek isolation and have few friends This disorder is the most severe of the three in this cluster It has been estimated that 2 to 4% of all people (slightly more males than females) may have the disorderHandout 24: How Do Theorists Explain Schizotypal Personality Disorder? Because the symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder so often resemble those of schizophrenia, researchers have hypothesized that similar factors are at work in both disorders Schizotypal symptoms are often linked to poor family communication and to psychological disorders in parents Researchers have also begun to link schizotypal personality disorder to some of the same biological factor s found in schizophrenia The disorder also has been linked to mood disorders Handout 27: â€Å"Dramatic† Personality DisordersThe behaviors of people with these disorders are so dramatic, emotional, or erratic that it is almost impossible for them to have relationships that are truly giving and satisfying These personality disorders are more commonly diagnosed than the others Only antisocial and borderline personality disorders have received much study The causes of the disorders are not well understood Handout 28: Antisocial Personality Disorder Sometimes described as â€Å"psychopaths† or â€Å"sociopaths,† people with antisocial personality disorder persistently disregard and violate others’ rightsAside from substance-related disorders, this is the disorder most linked to adult criminal behavior The DSM-IV requires that a person be at least 18 years of age to receive this diagnosis Most people with an antisocial personality disorder displayed some patt erns of misbehavior before they were 15 years old Handout 30: Antisocial Personality Disorder Surveys indicate that up to 3. 5% of people in the U. S. meet the criteria for this disorder Caucasians are somewhat more likely to be diagnosed than are African AmericansThe disorder is four times more common in men than women Because people with this disorder are often arrested, researchers frequently look for people with antisocial patterns in prison populations Studies also indicate higher rates of alcoholism and other substance-related disorders among this group Handout 33: How Do Theorists Explain Antisocial Personality Disorder? The cognitive view says that people with the disorder hold attitudes that trivialize the importance of other people’s needs A number of studies suggest that biological factors may play a roleFindings suggest that people with antisocial personality disorder have lower levels of trait anxiety and arousal, leading them to be more likely than others to tak e risks and seek thrills Handout 34: Treatments for Antisocial Personality Disorder About 25% of all people with antisocial personality disorder receive treatment for it, yet no treatment appears to be effective A major problem is the individual’s lack of conscience or desire to change Most have been mandated to treatment Some cognitive therapists try to guide clients to think about moral issues and the needs of other peopleHospitals have attempted to create therapeutic communities Generally, most of today’s treatment approaches have little to no impact on the disorder Handout 35: Borderline Personality Disorder People with this disorder display great instability, including major shifts in mood, an unstable self-image, and impulsivity Interpersonal relationships also are unstable People with borderline personality disorder are prone to bouts of anger, which sometimes result in physical aggression and violence Just as often, however, they direct their impulsive anger in ward and harm themselvesHandout 37: Borderline Personality Disorder Almost 2% of the general population are thought to suffer from this disorder Close to 75% of those diagnosed are women The course of the disorder varies In the most common pattern, the instability and risk of suicide reach a peak during young adulthood and then gradually lessen with advancing age Handout 39: How Do Theorists Explain Borderline Personality Disorder? Some features of the disorder also have been linked to biological abnormalities Sufferers who are particularly impulsive apparently have lower brain serotonin activityClose relatives of those with borderline personality disorder are five times more likely than the general population to have the disorder Some sociocultural theorists suggest that cases of borderline personality disorder are particularly likely to emerge in cultures that change rapidly Handout 40: Treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder It appears that psychotherapy can eventually lea d to some degree of improvement for people with this disorder It is not easy, though, for a therapist to strike a balance between empathizing with a patient’s dependency and anger and challenging his or her way of thinkingFurthermore, termination of therapy is often incredibly difficult Handout 42: Treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder Antidepressant, antibipolar, antianxiety, and antipsychotic drugs have helped some individuals to calm their emotional and aggressive storms Given the high risk of suicide attempts by these patients, their use of drugs on an outpatient basis is controversial Some patients have benefited from a combination of drug therapy and psychotherapy Handout 43: Histrionic Personality DisorderPeople with histrionic personality disorder are extremely emotional and continually seek to be the center of attention They often engage in attention-getting behaviors Approval and praise are the lifeblood of these individuals People with histrionic personali ty disorder are often described as vain, self-centered, and demanding Some make suicide attempts, often to manipulate others Handout 44: Histrionic Personality Disorder This disorder was once believed to be more common in women than in men However, research has revealed gender bias in past diagnosesThe latest statistics suggest that around 2% percent of adults have this personality disorder, with males and females equally affected Handout 46: How Do Theorists Explain Histrionic Personality Disorder? Cognitive theorists look at the lack of substance and the extreme suggestibility seen in people with the disorder Some propose that people with histrionic personality disorder hold a general assumption that they are helpless to care for themselves Sociocultural theorists believe the disorder is caused in part by society’s norms and expectationsThe vain, dramatic, and selfish behavior may be an exaggeration of femininity as defined by our culture Handout 47: Treatments for Histrion ic Personality Disorder Unlike people with most other personality disorders, those with histrionic personality disorder often seek treatment on their own Working with them can be difficult because of their demands, tantrums, seductiveness, and attempts to please the therapist Handout 49: Narcissistic Personality Disorder People with narcissistic personality disorder are generally grandiose, need much admiration, and feel no empathy for othersConvinced of their own great success, power, or beauty, they expect constant attention and admiration from those around them People with this disorder exaggerate their achievements and talents, and often appear arrogant Handout 50: Narcissistic Personality Disorder People with this disorder are seldom interested in the feelings of others Many take advantage of others to achieve their own ends Probably less than 1% of adults display narcissistic personality disorder Up to 75% of these are men This type of behavior is common among teenagers and do not usually lead to adult narcissismHandout 51: How Do Theorists Explain Narcissistic Personality Disorder? Psychodynamic theorists more than others have theorized about this disorder, focusing on cold, rejecting parents Object-relations theorists interpret the grandiose self-presentation as a way for these people to convince themselves that they are self-sufficient and without need of warm relationships In support of this theory, research has found increased risk for developing the disorder among abused children and those from divorced families Handout 52: How Do Theorists Explain Narcissistic Personality Disorder?Behavioral and cognitive theorists propose that narcissistic personality disorder may develop when people are treated too positively rather than too negatively in early life Those with the disorder have been taught to â€Å"overvalue their self-worth† In support of this explanation, first-born and only children score higher on measures of narcissism Finally, many sociocultural theorists see a link between narcissistic personality disorder and â€Å"eras of narcissism† in society Handout 53: Treatments for Narcissistic Personality Disorder This disorder is one of the most difficult personality patterns to treatClients who consult therapists usually do so because of a related disorder, most commonly depression Once in treatment, the individuals may try to manipulate the therapist into supporting their sense of superiority None of the major treatment approaches has had much success Handout 55: â€Å"Anxious† Personality Disorders People with these disorders typically display anxious and fearful behavior Although many of the symptoms are similar to those of anxiety and depressive disorders, researchers have found no links between this cluster and those Axis I diagnoses As with most of the personality disorders, research is limitedBut treatments for this cluster appear to be modestly to moderately helpful Handout 56: Avoidant Person ality Disorder People with avoidant personality disorder are very uncomfortable and restrained in social situations, overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, and extremely sensitive to negative evaluation They believe themselves unappealing or inferior and often have few close friends Handout 57: Avoidant Personality Disorder The disorder is similar to social phobia, and many people with one disorder experience the other Similarities between the two disorders include a few of humiliation and low self-confidenceA key difference is that people with social phobia mainly fear social circumstances, while people with avoidant personality disorder tend to fear close social relationships Between 1 and 2% of adults have avoidant personality disorder Handout 60: How Do Theorists Explain Avoidant Personality Disorder? Cognitive theorists believe that harsh criticism and rejection in early childhood may lead people to assume that others will always judge them harshly In several studies, individua ls reported memories that supported both the psychodynamic and cognitive theoriesHandout 61: Treatments for Avoidant Personality Disorder People with avoidant personality disorder come to therapy seeking acceptance and affection Keeping them in therapy can be challenging because they often begin to avoid sessions A key task of the therapist is to build trust Beyond building trust, therapists tend to treat the disorder as they treat social phobia and anxiety These treatments have had modest success Group and drug therapy may also be useful Handout 62: Dependent Personality Disorder People with dependent personality disorder have a pervasive, excessive need to be taken care ofAs a result, they are clinging and obedient, fearing separation from their loved ones They rely on others so much that they cannot make the smallest decision for themselves The central feature of the disorder is a difficulty with separation Handout 65: How Do Theorists Explain Dependent Personality Disorder? Beha viorists propose that parents of those with dependent personality disorder unintentionally rewarded their children’s clinging and â€Å"loyal† behavior while punishing acts of independence Alternatively, some parents’ own dependent behaviors may have served as models for their childrenHandout 68: Treatments for Dependent Personality Disorder Treatment can be at least modestly helpful Psychodynamic therapy focuses on many of the same issues as therapy for people with depression Cognitive therapists try to help clients challenge and change their assumptions of incompetence and helplessness Antidepressant drug therapy has been helpful for those whose disorder is accompanied by depression Group therapy can be helpful because it provides clients an opportunity to receive support from a number of peers and because group members may serve as models for one anotherHandout 70: Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Between 2 and 5% of the population has this disorder, with white, educated, married, and employed individuals receiving the diagnosis most often Men are twice as likely as women to display the disorder Many clinicians believe that obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (the anxiety disorder) are closely related While the disorders share similar symptoms, researchers have not found a specific link between them Handout 72: How Do Theorists Explain Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder?Freudian theorists suggest that people with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are anal regressive Because of overly harsh toilet training, people become angry and remain fixated at this stage of psychosexual development To keep their anger under control, they resist both their anger and their instincts to have bowel movements As a result, they become extremely orderly and restrained Handout 77: What Problems Are Posed by the DSM Categories? Some of the diagnostic criteria cannot be observed directly The diag noses often rely heavily on the impressions of the individual clinicianSimilarly, clinicians differ widely in their judgments about when a normal personality style crosses the line and deserves to be called a disorder Handout 79: What Problems Are Posed by the DSM Categories? Because of these problems, diagnosticians keep changing the criteria used to assess the personality disorders Further, some theorists believe that the personality disorders actually differ more in degree than in type of dysfunction Some theorists have proposed that the disorders be organized by how severe certain key traits are rather than by the presence or absence of specific traits