First Amendment to the United States constitution Essay

Do videogames really need to be censored by the United States’ Government? Over the past several years there has been a controversial court case under discussion to censor videogames. This case is trying to get the United States’ Government to prohibit the selling of all videogames that may include graphic violence, virtual sex, violent and gory scenes, partial or full nudity, portrayal of criminal behavior or other provocative and objectionable material (Mears, Para 1). There are numerous arguments why videogames should or should not be censored. Videogames should not be censored because parents should show responsibility in raising their children, it is unconstitutional, videogame companies take enough steps to already censor their products already, and censorship would impact the videogame industry tremendously. During the past years there has been the first ever videogame court case called Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, trying to pass a law against selling or renting violent games to minors (Scholssman, Para 1). This case has been going on for several years and has recently escalated all the way to the Supreme Court. The morning of November 2, 2010, the United States Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments for this case. During the oral arguments; both sides gave their reasons of why they thought the bill should be approved or thrown out. During the oral arguments of the Californian Representative; Justice Scalia brought up the point that even Grimm’s Fairy Tales, a series of German household and children fairy tales, are violent and could these be excluded by the law. This brought up instant argument weather or not could this be broadened to just video games or all sources of entertainment that could be considered violent that minors have access to (Attack of the Show, 2010). This case goes all the way back six years to 2004, with the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: Hot Coffee scandal where players could download a mod that allowed characters to have sex with each other. This case could result in videogames being classified in the same way as extreme pornographic material. Another game that is used to support the court case it Postal 2. This game is a horrible example to represent the videogaming industry, because of the fact this it is arguably the most violent and intense videogame. Postal 2 is a first person shooter released in 2003, which brought up an enormous amount of controversy. Mears says, â€Å"Postal 2 features the adventures of the ‘Postal Dude,’†¦must confront everyday tasks. But how he handles these errands—with the power to behead girls, shoot police and urinate on victims† (Para 1). Due to the amount of graphic violence in the gameplay Postal 2 has been banned in several countries. The Californian State Senator Leeland Yee targeted the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) for not putting an adult only rating on the game. Yee’s comment on the scandal brought back up the controversial topic of censoring certain videogames. Yee introduced a bill that will criminalize the sale of â€Å"ultraviolent† videogames to minors. This bill will result in videogame retailers to keep adult title games separate from other games on the market. The bill would fine retailers as much as one-thousand dollars per-sale for any game they sold to minors. In 2004 Yee’s bill was signed by Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger into law and prohibiting selling games containing adult content to any minor. This law was fought in court and ruled unconstitutional (Ishimoto, Attack of the Show). Banning the rights to a consumer to purchase and play specific types of videogames violates the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution. This court case is still ongoing and the Supreme Court can go either way with their final decision. Adam Sessler from Attack of the Show says that the opposing argument of this bill is that this is a very broad law. In the California State Government’s own words, â€Å"ultraviolent entertainment† is what a huge piece a content that is has brought up controversy, but in this bill they are very vague of what that constitutes. They have listed â€Å"killing, maiming, torturing of human beings†, but does not specify if a game like Call of Duty or a more violent game like Postal 2 is the problem. To counteract this Yee, says that this bill is not directed towards all violent videogames, but only the â€Å"interactive ultraviolent† types of games. This brought up the point that all games are interactive in some way. As of now Yee does not think his bill will pass in the way it is written because it is not specific enough (Attack of the Show, 2010). After the oral arguments, almost all of the justices thought this bill was too vague and can be broadly applied. They said that it would put too much of a restriction on game publishers and writers with their First Amendment Rights. One of the biggest arguments against this case is that it is none of the government’s business what children can and cannot watch. From the CATO Institute Adam Thiere says, â€Å"In a free society parents should decide what their children see, hear, or play; Uncle Sam should not serve as a surrogate parent† (Para 7). Thiere is saying that parents can and should be able to decide what their children do. Thiere believes that the government already regulates enough in society and that parent should be able to choose what their children can do in their own personal time. Under the Representative Democracy form of government parents should be allowed to set their own limitations on their own children. If the government regulated how parents raised their own children, it would mirror a communist dictatorship. All children should be raised differently under their parent’s standards. Thiere says, â€Å"All ‘one-size-fits-all’ forms of content regulation are unlikely to recognize that different parents have different definitions of what constitutes acceptable for their children. The eye of the beholder makes a difference and in a free society it is the eyes (and ears) of parents that should decide what is in the best interests of their children† (Para 7). Parents should be able to mold and bring their child up the way they want. This law would put limitations on what parents can and cannot do with their very own children. Videogames are what children do for fun as a hobby. Videogame censorship is a topic serious enough to require a written law for parents to monitor their children. Even if the bill is passed, parents that do not mind their kids playing these games will just purchase the games for their children anyways. The government does not need to have laws to censor what minors buy and play since videogame producers look out for what happens to the children that play their games. Joe Sapp from the International Game Developers Association says that, â€Å"The IGDA stands behind informing parents about their media decisions and allowing them, rather than governmental bodies, to decide for their children† (Para 6). The Entertainment Software Rating Board helps parents monitor what their children play. One of the last steps that’s taken before a game is released is, â€Å"Game publishers submit responses to a detailed written ESRB questionnaire (often supplementing such responses with lyric sheets scripts, etc. ), specifying exactly what pertinent content will be in the game. Along with the written submission materials, publishers must provide a DVD which captures all pertinent content† (Para 1). Both the game producers and the ESRB take these steps to inform the public of the content of their games. After the questionnaire has been submitted, staff members from the ESRB play a version of the game and the game material and DVD are reviewed by at least three professional game raters. The ESRB says that â€Å"game raters must be adults and typically have experience with children, whether through prior work experience, education or by being parents or caregivers themselves† (Para 2). This qualification for being a game rater is so that they generally know what children at different age groups can experience under the common standards in society. After reviewing the DVD, the raters recommend a potential rating. Raters can look at similar games’ previous ratings. The raters all deliberate until they all reach an agreement. After the agreement an official rating certificate is presented to game producer to be accepted or appealed. The Appeal Board is a group of publishers, retailer, and other professionals. Once the game is completely finished it is sent to the ESRB to be reviewed again and to make sure it is given the proper rating (ESRB, Para 3). The possible ratings are: Early Childhood, Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adults Only, and? Rating Pending. The ESRB is responsible for the enforcement of the ratings. I disagree with videogames being censored because they are unconstitutional. Adam Sessler says, â€Å"As a gamer you have the right to buy and play violent videogames. They are covered by the First Amendment just like R-Rated movies, controversial books, or obscene music† (Attack of the Show). The First Amendment prohibits any law that restricts the establishment of religion, interfere the freedom of press, speech, petition, or assembly. By this law buyers can and should be able to purchase and play videogames as they please. The First Amendment not only protects spoken speech but symbolic speech as well. The only kind of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment is speech that harms another person’s reputation, obscene speech, and speech that violates criminal laws. In the Washington Post, Justice Scalia said, â€Å"I am concerned with the First Amendment which says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, and it was always understood that freedom of speech did not include obscenity. It has never been understood that the freedom of speech did not include portrayals of violence† (2010, Para 13, 14). In this situation a videogame is considered speech that is protected by the First Amendment. The rating system, partnerships with retailers and warnings do a good enough job censoring videogames. All of the steps that the ESRB take to rate the games and give ratings should be all that is needed in censoring videogames. Just about every game retailer has a partnership with the ESRB. This partnership controls and regulates which games are sold to specific age groups. All of these partners have a policy of being 18 or older to purchase games that are rated Mature or higher. After purchasing a game that contains adult content, there are warning labels informing the gamer before the game play begins. There are several myths and theories that state violent videogames are linked with aggressive and violent youth. These theories are what brought this whole case up. This science in the case has already been up for debate. Many doctors have said there is not enough sufficient data to prove a direct correlation between aggressive videogames and making kids aggressive. Adam Thierer says that, â€Å"While the videogame industry was exploding between 1994 and 2000, juvenile violent crime arrest dropped by 44% and you adult arrests dropped by 24% according to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention†¦Further a major study on youth violence by the U. S. Surgeon General’s office in 2001 also confirmed that youth violence has declined significantly nationwide and noted that academic research had not shown any significant correlation between videogames and youth violence† (Para 4). This does not mean that there is no connection between violent children and teenagers with violent videogames because; violent people are attracted to violent things. This just means that violent videogames do not make people violent. If this bill is passed then it will tremendously affect the videogame industry. The International Game Developers Association has criticized California’s bill. Trent Nouveau quoted the IGDA by saying, â€Å"Limiting forms of expression in video games limits the expression of game creators, which violates their constitutional rights to free speech in the United States abroad as specified by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the United Nations† (2010, Para 2). The IGDA is arguing that singling out videogame from other forms of media is unconstitutional and puts unnecessary limitations on one of the largest industries in our economy (2010, Nouveau). The Video Game Votes Network say â€Å"government regulation based on games’ content will stifle creativity, and will have a chilling effect on game publishers who may feel the need to dilute content due to the threat of government action and fines† (2010, Para 2). These regulations will put vast limitations on videogame producers that producers of other forms of media don’t face. This case is still going on and under dispute in the Supreme Court. The fact that Entertainment Merchants Association has won all of the cases in the lower courts gives them a huge advantage in the Supreme Court ruling. They are expecting to hear a ruling in late February or early March of 2011, but in June at the latest because that is when this term of the Supreme Court ends. When a ruling is made there will be no warnings and once the ruling is dropped everyone will have to go from there.

The Disability and the Media

In the disability and the media by Charles A. Riley II who is a professor of journalism at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York. Who is the co-founder of We (Media) We (Media) is the first multimedia company devoted to people with disabilities. He is also the former editor-in-chief of WE (media) magazine, a national bimonthly magazine which he has written two dozen cover stories. Riley was the director of communications for the International Center for Corporate Accountability, a Baruch-based labor, and environmental monitoring NGO. Riley was also a member of the board of the Asian American Research Institute and advisor to the Asian American Higher Education Council. And he has won major awards for his coverage of disability from Easter Seals, the National Recovery Alliance United, Cerebral Palsy and other organizations and acted as an advisor on both small business and accessibility issues to corporations. These include IBM, AT&T and Microsoft, the White House and the office of the mayor in New York City. As stated on page 529, â€Å"All branches of the media considered here, from print to television, radio, and move (including advertisement) to multimedia and the Internet, are guilty of the same distillation of stories of their own, usually fiscal, ends.† The audience is addressed in a way. They are addressed by saying that, they are the ones that take people with disabilities and they also change how they are being and the benefits they receive than other people. This article also addresses the general public, which is the people who believe in the media and take what the media says as everything and final. Riley tried to get peoples attention across what the media has been doing and not telling the truth but lie. â€Å"This is patronizing, trivializing, and marginalizing ur-narrative of distance ability in the media today.† This is talking about how the media uses people with disabilities and transforms and changes the person or subject they are using, possibly making them out to be the complete and total opposite of who they truly are. He uses Aimee Mullins experience to talk about her fifteen minutes of fame for her running with amputated legs but did not talk about her being a Pentagon intern and appearing on the dean's list as an academic genius and diplomacy at Georgetown. Riley talks about how the achievement of Aimee's are always told over and over by authors and journalist who are well-meaning but sometimes never give out enough information to find out who she really is. He says that most articles talk about her success and glorify her achievements with her disability into something way bigger than it truly is. It states, â€Å"However, today's storytellers, including those in the disability media, are more likely to make people with disabilities into ‘heroes of assimilation.† He is talking about how the media takes a simple person with disabilities and makes them out to be a hero for overcoming and fighting the battle they face, but rarely tell much about the person outside of the disability. â€Å"Every time Aimee Mullins sees her name in the papers she braces herself for some predictable version of the same headline followed by the same old story.† (Page 529) Riley talks about how the media always introduce her on headlines that seem to address her the same way every single time and never really talks about who she is. People do not like it sometimes what the media do and intend to forget what it could do to them or even forget who they are. I believe his main idea is not to just listen to the media, but to learn more about the person outside of the media as much as you can, because sometimes, everything you see and hear is not the truth.

Controlling the Cyber-conduct of Young People Essay

Controlling the Cyber-conduct of Young People - Essay Example t monitoring and controlling the cyber-conduct of young people regularly is an irrational proposition, this work claims that regular monitoring is an essential element of real-life society and that both online and offline activities of young people require regular observation and control due to various social, psychological, and biological factors. To begin with, the opposition claims that it is necessary to keep observers away from the activities of children. To illustrate, Bristow opines that â€Å"Allowing children their freedom means keeping the regulators out of what is, after all, Their Space† (par. 8). This claim highlights the fact that monitoring the activities of children online will negatively affect their freedom, and hence, development. In addition, there is the argument that restricting children’s internet access has a negative effect, as it will adversely affect their decision-making abilities. For example, Paton claims that â€Å"Restricting pupils’ access to websites may actually impair their judgment, making them more vulnerable to pedophiles on-line† (par. 1). This argument supports the view that internet observation and controlling will deter children’s ability to judge and act independently. Moreover, Bristow points out that â€Å"Just as the stranger at the swimming poo l is highly unlikely to abduct our children, mobile phones are not about to lure them into the great unknown† (par. 3). Here, the claim is that internet does not pose any more threat than real life does. In total, the opposition seems adamant on the argument that observation and control of children’s activities on the net is an irrational proposition. Firstly, young people’s brain is not fully developed to facilitate rational and cognitive thinking every time, and hence, are more vulnerable to err when there is freedom. For instance, American Psychological Association points out, â€Å"Neuropsychological research demonstrates that the adolescent brain has not reached adult

Litterature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Litterature review - Essay Example The study focused mainly on NHS acute hospitals, in the study the authors use semi structured interviews and focus groups as their research instruments. The study is very qualitative, the findings from the study show that education to nurses provides an increase in palliative care, that is through offering training and education to nurses, there is a rise in the levels of palliative care foe the patients in need. It shows that the education enables the non-palliative nurses administer the right dosages to the patients in need of the care Grant, Wiencek, Viran, Uman, Munevar, Malloy, and Ferrrell (2013) examine the whole concept of the acute and critical care nurses on the aging population in the last stages of life. They aim at showing that the critical and the acute care nurses do not have enough education for the proper care of this population and the benefits of having the education as well. The ELNEC modules make use of 388 participants, from 2007 to 2010 for this study. The participants had to revise the policies and made changes in their workplaces so that there is provision of better care for the dying critical care patients. The participants offered training to more than 2900 classes. The ELNEC program aimed at improving the education to nurses regarding acute and critical care. Through this education, there was an increase in the nurse’s knowledge and skills on how to take good care of the patients in need of the palliative care. Saunders and Clark, (2005) describe the importance of palliative care to at the end of life. He views the problem linked to lack of training of the nurses and suggests the importance of carrying out research on the issue. Comparing with previous researches conducting, he put more emphasis to the importance of palliative care to nursing care. The researcher defines the problem

Brown vs. Board of Education and Freedom Summer Research Paper

Brown vs. Board of Education and Freedom Summer - Research Paper Example With â€Å"Jim Crow† laws there were established separate facilities for African American people, which were inevitably of a lower quality, standard of cleanliness, and poorly equipped in comparison to the facilities that â€Å"Whites† used. These standards were also maintained in the education system, with many African American families prevented from sending their children to public schools that were for â€Å"Whites† only, and the facilities that did exist for African Americans were inevitably of a lower standard and lacking qualified teachers, access to books and learning materials, failing to provide even the most basic facilities for the students. Because the system of education was operated on a public or government organized basis and funded by tax dollars, the existence of this segregated society was a clear statement that racism was institutionalized by authority in the United States, and that these policies also furthered the discrimination, impoverish ment, and deprivation of human rights for African Americans in the country. ... Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other organizers who worked together to end racism in America. Brown vs. Board of Education The Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954) Supreme Court decision represented a major attack on the â€Å"Jim Crow† system in the South and across America. In â€Å"Mississippi: A History† (2005), Westley F. Busbee, Jr. describes the uproar this decision caused in the racist â€Å"White† community, and how local politicians attempted to disband the public schools and reorganize them as private institutions while preserving the apartheid style of segregation. (Busbee, 2005) This response, and the violence unleashed in racist groups like the KKK to oppose anyone who challenged the segregation policies, would show the emotion and ignorance involved in the views of the racist South, as well as how difficult it would be to depose these views through civil rights activity. Ultimately, President Eisenhower authorized the us e of Federal troops to oversee the desegregation of public schools in the South with a symbolic show of force in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. (Busbee, 2005) The violent backlash by â€Å"White† racists against anyone who attempted to organize African American people to vote, to protest, or to demonstrate for civil rights set the stage for the great upheaval of the next decade in the region, that would see Stokely Carmichel, Bob Moses, Medgar Evars, and other leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the NAACP working in these areas to organize, educate, and promote reform in communities. (Payne, 1997) Nevertheless, it is clear that historically these civil rights efforts were emboldened and given increased legitimacy in the U.S. and internationally through

How technology can affect the movie buessines in the future Essay - 1

How technology can affect the movie buessines in the future - Essay Example The movie industry has always supported and promoted new technological advancements even back in 1920’s when sound was first incorporated in a movie. (1) Digital revolution will be the landmark development made in the history of home entertainment. One of the best technological improvements made in the movie business is digital technology. The biggest transition in the movie industry is the evolution of digital technology. Digital technology is considered to be the revolution in every field of the film industry. One of the most important advantages of digital revolution is allowing people to download movies at any time through the internet broadband. Digital cinema provides clarity, high quality experience and greater flexibility in programming the details. Digital film making required the theaters to also adopt digital technology which would enhance the quality of film, provide the best visuals while being cost effective. (2) Audio programming, post production and exhibition continue to be digital and there is rapid progression towards digital technology in the movie industry. Visual effects, editing are also predominantly handled by digital technology. One can expect the actual film making process to become completely digitalized in the coming years .Moviemakers would be able to create movies and sell and distribute them on the internet. (2) Many movie directors and producers fear that the new technology can be a threat as people will easily download movies even before they are released rather than going to theaters.The movie and audio industry has already been negatively affected in the last few years. Since more people are listening to MP3’s and other digital formats, the use of CD’s are seldom and cassettes no longer used. The impact is more for the audio industry as music is downloaded free from many websites. With the introduction of Blu Ray technology, people can download movies and can watch them in excellent sound

Financial Management case study 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Management case study 1 - Essay Example The inflation component preserves the purchasing power of money (Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, 2005). Based on economic reports, a 2.5% inflation rate over the next 5 years would sufficiently account for inflation. The second component of the interest rate is the credit risk. The interest rate offered to customers with poor credit worthiness is higher to compensate for the higher risk of lending to them (Weston, Besley, & Brigham, 1996). Based on the credit rate range established by the credit department, the best customer would be assigned a 1% credit rate. The last component of the interest rate is the profit component. This component is the profit from financing activities of XYZ. Since Shanghai Winters is one of the best customers, this component is not applicable to it. Notice that this interest rate is higher than the 8.0% going rate on a $70,000 five-year note receivable. The higher rate is to compensate for the credit risk of extending credit to such a customer. Also built inside the 8.0% is the profit component, which has not been charged to the best customers.

Cigna Corporation Internal and External Factors Evaluation Matrix Assignment

Cigna Corporation Internal and External Factors Evaluation Matrix - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Cigna Corporation (Cigna) has services organized under five main divisions, health care, disability, and life, international (CIGNA International) and Runoff Reinsurance. Having wide operations in the United States and beyond means, the company is a greater challenge to handle external factors than a local business. Similarly, the wider operations mean the company has a wide management structure and numerous employees. This also means the company has numerous internal factors that affect its operations in one way or the other. Similarly, the wider operations mean the company has a wide management structure and numerous employees. This also means the company has numerous internal factors that affect its operations in one way or the other. As is the case with every other business, Cigna Corporation (which will be referred as Cigna in this text) has a great interest in factors happening beyond it. These factors largely determine their chanc es of survival and most importantly inform the organization’s strategy. This is because external factors cannot be avoided or controlled. An organization can only adapt operations to maximize opportunities and adjust to any threats. In the case of Cigna, the following six factors have the greatest impact on their operations. The factors are considered from the wider grouping of political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. The most prominent political factor affecting Cigna at the moment is government regulations and policies. Since the election of President Obama, there has been continuous debate and eventual passage of the â€Å"Obama Care†. This is a health scheme which has sought to guarantee healthcare to all Americans. This is of great interest to health insurers who have been required to reconsider certain policy regulations. The most notable is a directive to have them ensure patients who have preexistent health conditions. From a business perspective, this government policy is likely to affect the profitability of Cigna as they will be required to make payments for conditions they would have avoided. Cigna is affected by almost every economic factor.

Free writing journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Free writing journal - Essay Example It made her strong enough to care for herself and her children through the years. But it also made her weak since it blinded her from the way she treated her children. She never got past her heartbreak and she was stuck in the denial stage. Until the end, her very death, she was still in denial of her past and her present state. Porter’s wrote The Jilting of Granny Weatherall the same way as a degenerating mind of an old woman. At first, everything was coherent enough that you can tell who was speaking and what the characters were doing. As the story nears its end, same as how Granny neared her end, the narration became a jumble. It was like a mess. You cannot easily distinguish who was saying what. This was the same as Granny’s mind. It was like a clutter of thoughts. She was thinking about something but she cannot say it any longer. Her children were hearing mumbles but she was hearing herself clearly. It was effective in a way that Porter emphasized how the thoughts of a dying person can be multi-linear. It has many lines crisscrossing together. It was actually a sad story. It made me think of how my death would be. It seems heartbreaking that death is that lonely. That in death there is isolation. The story was an eye-opener. If we live our lives in denial, there is a possibility that we may die in denial of our own death. This would make the dying person and the people around her hold on to her, as the denial is strong to even accept the death that is happening with their own

The Main strengths and weaknesses of this play Essay Example for Free

The Main strengths and weaknesses of this play Essay In the first scene at the beginning of the play the Birling family Arthur, Sybil, Shelia and Eric along with Gerald Croft were sitting around the dinner table celebrating Sheila and Geralds engagement. So the atmosphere would have been exciting and relaxed, its one of the happiest nights of my life. I thought that it was a very good way of introducing the characteristics of the characters, for example Eric was very quiet, Mrs Birling was very bossy. Be careful with it. I expected that someone in the family would commit a serious crime and the inspector would come and investigate the crime, I thought this because of the title and the fact that everything seemed to smooth. In the play an inspector calls at the beginning where Mr Birling is giving his speech, J. B Priestly uses Dramatic Irony, this shows how confident Mr Birling is, Mr Birling says to war I say fiddlesticks this shows the dramatic irony makes Mr Birling look silly because the audience knows that everything that Mr Birling said was completely wrong. This was the prefect time for the inspector to enter to show that Mr Birling was totally wrong. I liked the chain of events used in killing Eva Smith. Mr Birling was just thinking about his business when he sacked Eva smith from his company She wanted 25 shillings a week instead of 22 and six pence you made her pay a heavy price for that and now shell make you pay a heavier price still. Shelia also helped in her suicide, she got Eva smith sacked form her last job because she was having a bad day and Max McKenzie-cook 25 November 2000 An Inspector calls by J. B Priestly Caught Eva smith smiles because the dress didnt suit Sheila and she complained and got her fired. Gerald had an affair with Eva Smith but it was all over and done with last summer Eric got her pregnant and abandoned her along with the baby. I thought it was interesting because the werent directly responsible for her death but they played their part.

How Important Is Language Variation Towards Language English Language Essay

How Important Is Language Variation Towards Language English Language Essay Since English is used globally as the international communication tool, the number of English users increased rapidly, Kachru (1992 cited in Andrews, A Tsui 2007) says. Even in the next few decades will witness an unprecedented rapid growth in the number of English users of English worldwide range from a rather conservative 700 to 800 millions to a more liberal estimate of two billion. Moreover, this fact evokes the number of English users from many different countries which draw impact to the various language styles, accents, dialects which is familiar with term of language variation . Furthermore, recently the majority of English users and English teachers are not native speakers of English, and they do not use the same linguistic forms (Henry, P 2009). Additionally she explains that understanding language variation is fundamental to understand the use of and teaching English in global context. Moreover, nowadays language variation becomes a main issue among linguists and sociolinguists because it has relationship with social communities. The use of the language is various according to social groups because they do not use the language in similar way, as the way language that is used to greet and compliment is distinctively expressed in a particular cultural group (Holmes, 2008 pp.3) This paper will deal with the question of How important does language variation toward language teaching? This issue will contribute some ideas for English teachers, especially for EFL contexts to generate awareness of English teachers to language variation in international communication. The consideration of this awareness will draw some ideas for teachers to design teaching materials appropriate with recent phenomena of the use and the users of language which are very various. Furthermore, the teaching aids are considered play important role to assist more understanding to the language variation itself. Besides, teachers will prepare the learners to be good English users with highly understanding to how to use language appropriately towards the diversity of language use and users to avoid miscommunication and maintain the politeness, and to support good career and study in the future. DISCUSSION Language can identify the person cultural background because the language and culture can not be in isolation (Sapir, E, 1920s cited in Hinkel, 1999). That is why, when someone speaks another language (English), the way he/she speaks will be influenced by the way he/she thinks in his first language. As claimed by Holmes (2008, pp.153) that the way you speak is usually a good indicator of your social background with many speech features that can be used as clues. Moreover, culture is the domain of humanity that includes all social aspects such as activities, group systems and human behaviours (Hinkel, 1999 pp.1). Therefore, sociolinguists investigate what the connections between language and society are. Specifically, Holmes (2008,) asked three main questions in sociolinguistics that focuses on the reasons why do people in different social context speak differently, the concerns to the language in social functions, and it is used in conveying social meaning (pp.1). It is obvious that the different background of the language users will give impact to the variety of language. Furthermore, in term of the use of language, Holmes (2008) states that people use a language to signal their membership of particular group and to construct different aspects of their social identity; social status, gender, age, ethnicity and the kind of social networks people belong to turn out to be important dimension of identity in many communities. For example, in term of gender, women tend to reinforce their own subordinate status; they were colluding in reinforce their own subordination by the way they spoke in the interaction which is considered more polite than men (Lakoff, R cited in Holmes, 2008, p. 284). Additionally, she illustrates the example of the use tags questions. Although the use of tags questions is slightly different in number of men and women to use it, females purpose to use tags questions to make her sentences softer and to sound more polite. Besides, the way between females and males in giving complement is different. Men tend to use short expression such a s you look nice, in comparison females will use longer expression than males such as oh dear, look at you, you look so gorgeous, In term of age, in Indonesia, younger people will address to older people or to people who have higher position by addressing them with some term of words such as bapak (sir), and ibu (madam). It is different with western culture where younger people merely address the older people by their name. This issue reflect to the way they communicate when they are not in their contexts which draw some confusion which is the correct way to address older people in western country. Indonesian students in the beginning will feel uncomfortable to address their lecture by name; they will feel they are rude and on contrary for westerners, who come to Indonesia, they will bring their culture or their way to address older people by name then Indonesian will think they are rude. That is why, by having good understanding towards language variation, it will help language user s to have good communication from different countries. What is more, according to Chaer Agustina (1995 cited in Prasastie 2006), the term of language variation is based on two opinions existing: the first is language variation is language happens as the result of the variation in society and variation in language function. Further they explains that if the users of a language are homogeneous group in term of ethnic, social status or fields of job, the variation will not exist which means that the language itself become uniform. Additionally, the second opinion they mention that language variation already exist in order to fullfill its function as a mean of interaction in doing various community activities. The ways of teachers speak will be different to the ways of people who work in fish market. Teachers will speak better than fish seller because the image or their work place background determine to the ways they speak. Based on Holmes (2008) in general language variation is divided into regional variation which covers international varieties, intra-national or intra-continental variation, cross-continental variation, social variation which covers social accent, and social dialects which covers standard English, caste dialects, social class dialects (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical patterns). In order to make the idea of language variation clearer and why it is considered significant for language teaching, the writer provides one example of social dialects because the research of social dialects in many different countries has revealed a consistent relationship between social class and language pattern (Holmes 2008, p. 141). Moreover, she explains that in caste dialects case where the categorisation of people is based on the commonality of social and economy which generally reflects the use of social dialects (pp. 141). Holmes (2008) takes Indonesia as the sample where social divisions are clear cut. In addition, she writes about an Indonesian student who was trying to explain to her English friends about the complication of social dialects in Java and the ways in which Javanese speakers signal their social background. This student describes how almost every different word fit together in patterns or levels use which depend on who we are talking to. Further, Holmes (2008) presents some samples of words use in Java such as Padjenengan as you in English to point someone from higher class social status, and kowe as you to refer to someone for low class social status. Another sample which is similar to Java social dialects, in Aceh the use of different vocabulary also indicates the different social background of the speakers. The word ulon tuan (I) in English is considered from high social class and educated person compare to use the word ke which is considered rude and impolite and the speaker are ass umed from low social class and uneducated person. Despite of that, the variation of language does not only cover both the users and the use but also the contexts and the adressees of the language that affect the code variety (Holmes 2008, pp. 235). Consequently, some people are more aware of some factors like how they communicate to people who they often and will meet and what are the contexts of the communication whether it is formal or informal situation in order to maintain politeness or to show to what particular social class the speakers belong. Moreover, Fukada Asato (2004, pp. 1994-1995) emphasises the intention of how polite the speakers are in certain situations by using the verbal strategies. Additionally, Holmes (2008, pp.270) said that The rules for polite behaviour differs from one speech community to another and it is culturally determined which different speech communities emphasize different functions and express particular functions differently. For instance, the strategy of apology or request is different between China or Japan or Indonesia. In context of China, the Chinese speakers are not likely to use negative politeness in form of indirect request if face threatening act is not significant or the relationship between speaker and hearer are close. Lee, C.F.K (2004) stated the result of report through her paper about it. She said that : since politeness is basic and essential in communication in many cultures, people are inclined to use redressive actions, for instance, the negative politeness strategy of being indirect, to avoid the face-threatening act or minimising the feeling of imposed on (Lee, C.F.K 2004 p.58). However, Brown and Levinson argue (1987 cited in Lee, C.F.K 2004, pp.58) that the use of redressive actions are different from one culture to another cultures because the consideration of relationship and social distance. For instance, in Japanese culture teachers are highly respected, hence while students or Japanese speakers are talking to teachers, they use of referent and addressee honorific forms to give rise to politeness that they acknowledge their addressee and this acknowledgement due to teachers place (Haugh, M. 2005, pp.63). Beside politeness issue that teachers must aware in their teaching due to the language variation is to teach students how to interact with other speakers appropriately to avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding that usually occurred in intercultural communication. Leigh, J (2004) states that we should not be surprised therefore, to see that the interaction of diverse parochial behaviours across cultural borders often leads to unintended misunderstanding even conflict. Furthermore, he explains that this misunderstanding may appear as the received meaning of the various exotic behaviours messages which are found offensive, even they were not meant to be so. In another words, the miscommunication can be happened because of the different interpretation of the words or expressions or question used to convey the meaning according to different speakers. For example, the question of did u have a good weekend? This question gets different responds from different speakers like Australian sp eakers will respond the question with short respond such as oh it was great, while French speakers will give long respond by telling the whole story about their weekend that includes who were the participants, what happened, where did they spend the weekend and many other information. This case obviously shows that some typical conversational routines in French and Australian English, and the miscommunication that may arise between two speakers from different cultural backgrounds (Beal, C 1992, pp.23). Moreover, based on the sample above, Beal (1992) explains the indication that even the trivial daily phrase may accelerate various understanding related to the expected responses. In addition, Leigh, J (2004) states It is no wonder, therefore, that language is a function of physical and social environment, and that there is great idiosyncratic in each of the numerous language around the world. In language teaching, teachers may not merely emphasise learners to acquire linguistics features or the how to use the language in communication without considering the important of culture from not only the language but also from the cultural background of the various English users all over the globe where English is as lingua franca for international communication. Moreover, Hinkel (1999) illustrates how teachers view of ourselves, our students, and relationship among cultures are represented not only through explicit instruction regarding cultural differences in rhetorical and aesthetic values for texts, but also implicitly in the course content, assignments, and class discussions which engage with the students. Furthermore, Hymes and Gumperz (1960s 1970s) made explicit connection between culture and language and treated interaction and speaking as culturally defined practices, which means the emphasizes the need of studying to the social context that will influence the interacti on of the language users. Therefore, based on the teachers awareness of language variation to the diversity of language use and users from different cultural background, teachers should notice to what they must do in their teaching in order to arise the students awareness to the issue above to maintain politeness, to avoid the misunderstanding or miscommunication, and to improve their academic of language in order to get better opportunity of study or occupation in future. Research has proven that students who have language variation awareness, a positive attitude towards learning of variation, and a clear understanding of the role of variation and identity, culture and communication (Allen, B. H 1973). Due to the facts, therefore the design of curriculum, teaching materials, aids, and techniques might be useful in preparing learners to encounter with English speaking community with the wide range of diversity. The development of teaching materials according to Hinkel (1999, p. 132) are from a variety of perpectives. It means that the development of teaching materials depend on what are the aims of teaching itself. Because in this paper the concentration is the language variation, teachers must think wisely what are the best material can be used to introduce the variation of language and to improve their ability to use the language in the diversity of language users. For example the use of movie as the materials and aids of teaching, in which students can analyse how the language used differently from different users. Moreover, movies (or other authentic media) will bring learners attention to the forms and sociolinguistic variables (Rose, K. 1999). Other possibility of teaching mat erial is using leaflets or tourism brochure, advertisement, magazine, newspaper, radio broadcasting, TV news from different countries. And, perhaps teachers can provide preintermediate EFL text book that aims at international target cultures such as text book written by Priesack Tomscha in 1993 titled One World, Secondary English that was commented by Cortazzi, M, Jin, L (1999, pp. 209) that this book is accompanied by cassettes featuring not only a range of native-speakers accents but also some from non-native speakers from around the world . Hence, students with the assistance of teacher can learn, analyse and compare how people from different countries use the language by also looking at the similarities and differences. Apart from that, there are some advantages for learners in purpose of learning and understanding more about the language variation which can make students understand of how to use the language in different situations; formal and informal, and know how to use the correct expression or to answer the question properly due to whom they are speaking. Moreover, by learning and understanding the language variation, students will build up their confidence to use the language due to different contexts and language users appropriately and comfortably. It also can avoid miscommunication because to have a good communication can not solely depend on lexis and syntax. Therefore, the learners at least have to master intersectional competence that is clearly explained by Celce-Murcia, et.al. (1995 cited by Hall 1995, in Hinkel 1999 pp.137). They elaborated four points of this competence. This competence involves such context-specific knowledge as (1) the goals of the interactive practice, the roles of the participants, and the topics and themes considered pertinent; (2) the optional linguistic action patterns along which the practice may unfold, their conventional meanings, and the expected participation structures; (3) the amount of flexibility one has in rearranging or changing the expected uses of practices linguistic resources when exercising these options and the likely consequences engendered by the various uses; and (4) the skill to mindfully and efficiently recognize situations where the patterns apply and to use them when participating in new experiences to help make sense of the unknown (pp.137). What is more, teachers may not ignore the importance of learning standard language for their students because according to Andrews. S, Tsui, M.B.A (2001, pp.1-3), recently the setting of standard as benchmark for accountability and quality is the main requirements for English education. Moreover, they explain that the increase of requirement of Standard English has increased, especially in economic sector. What is more, Holmes (2001) also mentions that the number of Standard forms in everyones speech increases in formal contexts like in schools or law courts, while vernacular forms increases in relaxed casual contexts such as play ground and the home. However the Standard English users are limited. Therefore, the linguist and the educationalist suggested that the curriculum should cover language awareness to enable the mastery of language standard variety in order to achieve the equality of educational opportunity (Hawkin, 1999 cited in Andrews, S, Tsui, M.B.A 2001, pp. 1-12). Furt hermore, Holmes (2001, p. 349) states the similar issue that Standard English has an enormous legacy of overt prestige and for well over a century it has been promoted as the only acceptable variety for use in all official domains, including education compare to vernacular dialects. The issue of Standard language the writer assumes is not as a hot issue in Indonesia, what is familiar for both teachers and students towards teaching English merely formal and informal English. Even many Indonesian have no idea about what dialects they use whether British or American, because the dictionary which is used mostly mixed between British and American dialects. The dictionary author is Hassan Sadeli. Although many other dictionaries such as Oxford or Cambridge are also available, however, many Indonesian use Hassan Sadeli dictionary because it is probably easier to use and understand. In addition, it also presents the vocabulary in two different ways; English translated into Indonesian and Indonesian translated into English. That is why when Indonesian students want to continue to study abroad, and they have some difficulties in joining IELTS or TOEFL tests due to the Standard language used in those tests that Indonesian students are not really familiar with. Additionally, attitude to language is one consideration that language planners must take into account when they select a suitable language development as an official or national language (Holmes, 2001, p. 343). Because if the language planners do not decide what language is formally used for certain contexts, official, education, and so on, hence it will draw some disadvantages for the language users who use vernacular dialects in their daily life without being told to also learn and master the Standard English which will offer more opportunities for future career or future study especially study abroad. So, it is not surprisingly, if it has also been found that attitudes to the way people speak affect employers decision about whom to hire (Holmes, 2008, p. 354). CONCLUSION Language teaching always brings some ideas to culture, it is not only culture of the language learn or taught (English) but as well as the culture of the users of language and the ways the users use the language which is widely range in diversity. That is why, the discussion of language variation which covers some aspects which includes language users social status background that shows how they use the language differently. The language variation is considered important in language teaching because its contribution of cultural values regards to the different ways of using the language functions or other aspects of language like vocabulary, pronunciation and so far so forth. So that students know how to adjust themselves while interacting in intercultural communication in order to maintain politeness and avoid miscommunication. The writer wish that in the future the language planner would decide which dialects as the standard language, whether it is British or American dialect, so teachers or educationalists would design the curriculum or books or teaching materials which can cover the differences of language (culture, users, and the use). Moreover, if the standard language has already decided both teachers and learners would perform better to achieve their aims in teaching and learning the language. In another words, it will give clearer goals of learning the language. Some teachers who are from non-English countries face some difficulties in teaching cultural and pragmatic paradigm of face-to-face interactions because students would find problem to have direct contact with members of different communities around them (Hinkel, 1999, p. 134). What is more, the other problematic remained is the lack of teachers awareness to language variation, it is assumed because the limitation of resources and research of language variation which is considered not popular in Indonesia.

Essay --

Introduction Social media is a very prominent and growing online trend that is being utilized for professional career profiles (LinkedIn), as a personal site to â€Å"pin† favorite links (Pinterest), and to watch streams of home videos of funny dogs (YouTube). Because of this hot craze, organizations are implementing these tools into their marketing strategy to assimilate and engage with their constituents. The main reason why social media is an effective tool for nonprofit marketing is because of its mobility and virtual way of creating a community of supporters. Additionally, nonprofits often face financial restrictions or lack of funding and require creative mechanisms to fulfill their mission. Consequently, social media has greatly impacted the development of spreading awareness by providing an online â€Å"word-of-mouth† channel that for the most part is free. While there are numerous outlets online (websites, blogs, forums), the purpose of this paper will explore an article by Chao Guo and Gregory Saxton, Tweeting Social Change: How Social Media Are Changing Nonprofit Advocacy. The goal is to examine specifically how Twitter is utilized for the initiatives and mission of advocacy-based nonprofits (2013). Additionally, this paper will cover related nonprofit marketing course content, how social media is useful and how it will impact the future for nonprofit marketing. Article Research Summary & Analysis Guo & Saxton’s (2013) main focus addressed â€Å"how nonprofit organizations are using social media to engage in advocacy work.† About 93% of the 188 investigated organizations adopted some kind of social media platform (Guo & Saxton, 2013). Following, 87% use Facebook, 80% mobilize through Twitter, 42% of users leverage on YouTube, and last... ...followers, maintaining up-to-date information, incorporating continuous dialogue, and managing to get others to share the message. Guo & Saxton addressed a number of communication messages that nonprofits use specifically through Twitter to target and attract different audiences; from â€Å"information†, â€Å"community-building† and â€Å"action† based messages, each of these contributed towards the marketing strategy (2013). Throughout the article, the authors identified that Twitter was used mainly as an information distributor and a space prominently filled with messages to educate others about the nonprofit. Nonetheless, regardless of which social media platform an organization chooses to use, Twitter or not, social media has the potential to educate many, recruit new members, get others to take action and ultimately advance the organization mission, with just a simple click.

The Harmful Effects Of Body Piercing Essay -- Body Piercing

A great number of teenagers and young adults have a body piercing. These can range anywhere from your belly button to your tongue. There are many effects it can have on you socially, or physically. This essay will describe the social aspects of body piercing, this includes first impressions, types of friends, and job prospects. First impressions are important to many people. To some individuals body piercing may seem frightening or intimidating. The person with the piercing may be treated differently in a store. They might be watched more carefully to prevent shoplifting just because of this piercing. Some sales clerks might do this because they got the impression the customer was dangerous or suspicious. These presumptions come along with other physical traits such as race or dress. Soci...

A Convenient Reality Essay -- Environmental Management Science

"Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, 'What were our parents thinking? Why didn't they wake up when they had a chance?'" (An Inconvenient Truth). Throughout the last fifteen years, this type of thought has led to a revolution within the United States. This revolution is not against the government, but against pollution and wastefulness. This upheaval of the green movement and decreasing non-renewable resources is producing a generation focus on expansion, recycling, and most importantly, energy production. Advertisements endorsing "going green" fill television, radio, and magazines showing products that will eventually make energy production start in the home. These advancements are numerous and are beginning to be reported at an astonishing rate. Even the military has begun to take measures, such as searching for alternative fuel sources, in an effort to reduce its ‘carbon-footprint’. From the 18th to the middle of the 19th century is commo nly referred to as The Industrial Revolution; the 20th to the 21st century will be potentially known as The Green Revolution. Advances in production methods will be one of the next big steps that industry takes. Although these methods will decrease emissions and lead to an entirely foreign type of society potentially unforeseen problems may arise. The global population is growing at an unprecedented rate and by the year 2050 the global population is expected to exceed twenty billion people, an almost 150 percent increase from today (â€Å"Global Population Projections†). Although a green technology will develop a less wasteful society, the jumps in population growth could diminish or completely reverse these gains. These conclusions are evident even today; â€Å"Al... ...ow. The ozone hole and the accumulation of greenhouse gasses will not be solved today but rather further down the road once we discover techniques to battle these problems. One-hundred years from now may look completely different from the aforementioned vision; however, it will undoubtedly reflect the green movement and decisions that are made over the next twenty years. Works Cited An Inconvenient Truth. Prod. Lawence bender, Scott Burns and Laurie David. Direc. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore. DVD. Paramount Classics. 2006 Annex, Robert. â€Å"Stimulating Innovations in Green Technology.† American Behavioral Scientist. 44.2 (200): 188-212. Print. â€Å"Global Population Projections.† Web. 4 Oct 2010. Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: the Molecular Nature of Matter and Change. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

Amandla Essay

These struggles are depicted through music. Upon further research, I discovered Amandla is a Nguni word meaning power. Amandla was produced by Sherry Simpson Dean and Lee Hirsch. The film is shown in chronological order, and also augmented with archival footage from historical events. Blacks in South Africa were denied many basic human rights while the world ignored. In 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalist arose, and during the 1950’s, apartheid policies were being implemented. Black South Africans were taken from their homes and forced to live in townships, where they had to carry passbooks, were meaninglessly tortured and killed, and also could be arrested for no reason at all. Although their freedom was inhibited, they expressed their pain through song. Currently, despite the lingering problems within South Africa, blacks and whites live amongst each other. The movie pays great homage to the songs of protest that halted Apartheid. Amandla begins with Prime Minister Verwoerd declaring racial segregation in 1948. It is said to be â€Å"a policy of good-neighborliness. † Vuyisile Mini, a composer who’s creation of protest songs eventually led to his hanging, is also being exhumed from his grave. Scenes from the Sharpeville Massacre, the Soweto uprising, and Nelson Mandela’s joyous election to the office of President in 1994 are all depicted in great detail. Mini is given a proper burial at the end of the film. The film explains how the songs touched people different from speeches or demonstrations. Different stages of the struggle for equality brought upon different songs. For example, Mini’s song â€Å"Beware Vorwoerd† and Vilakazi’s â€Å"Meadowlands. † These songs, and many others, showed how diligent the South African people were about their cause, and also was a symbol of the energy they had in completing their mission. Although music is a major aspect of the film, the interviews with those who had first-hand experience to the events. Many (like Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba) were sent to prison or exiled. They spoke in great detail of how homesick they were and how hurtful it was not to be able to return to South Africa. White police officers and executioners are even interviewed. The climax of the film is Nelson Mandela’s release from prison with thousands of people happily singing and cheering his return from prison. He is eventually elected to president of South Africa. Although South Africa has much work ahead of it, it has progressed. People are battle against crime, corruption, poverty and AIDS. Amandla is a great affirmation to the past and gives inspiring hope towards the future of South Africa. It captured moments in history, while still explaining the present problems that exist, including the process of rapprochement. This film also does a good job of explaining that music has, and always will, play an important role in the complicated history of South Africa.

Descent Into Savagery: Lord of The Flies

Descent into Savagery Lord of The Flies 11/15/2013 By: Em Boone. Grade 10 English The novel â€Å"Lord of The Flies† seems completely Innocent at first, but as you read on, you can tell that the isolated island is getting to them. The boys become violent and thirsty for human fear. They are questioned â€Å"Is the beast only within us? † I will describe their descent into savagery with a variety of extracts from the novel, trying to prove that the ‘best' is within us all. In the beginning the boys are very civilized and decide that since they are British hey must do things properly.Ralph was the one to blow the conch, so they all agree to vote him chief. â€Å"Let's vote – him with the shell. † (P. 21 . ) Jack the other candidate for chief looks shocked that for once In his life, he wasn't chosen first. Ralph noticing this announces that Jack is In charge of the choir and lets him chose their Island Job. Jack makes them hunters. Ralph In my opinion w as a good choice, he proves this later on by thinking thoroughly and keeping a sane civil mind. Ralphs first decision as chief Is for Jack, Simon and himself to do the ‘grown-up' hing and explore the Island.They want to make sure It Is an Island, and see If they're in fact the only human Inhabitants. When finished exploring, they are proven right. â€Å"There aren't any grown-ups. We shall have to look after ourselves. † (P. 31 . ) Ralph then creates his first rule: having ‘hands-up' Ilke at school during assemblies, then that person would be given the conch In order to speak. The hunter's fist opportunity to kill a pig Is during the exploring of the Island. Jack raises his knife Into the alr and freezes. He doesn't stab the pig because â€Å"of the normity of the knife descending and cutting Into llvlng flesh; because of the unbearable blood. (P. 29. ) In the beginning death was scary. This shows Jack not being able to bare the blood, which aggravates him more, because he wants to look superior and heuristic towards the others. The first moment the savage wlthln Is brought out Is when the child with the birthmark talks. â€Å"He says he saw a ‘beastie' the snake-thing and will It come back tonight? † (P. 34) the children are afraid of the night and the shadows. Their Imaglnatlve mlnas not only create a Tear Tor tnemselves, out Tor all 0T tnem; even hough the ‘bigguns' won't admit it, or believe that the fear is of themselves.Their next move is making a signal fire, which goes chaotic – they all become overly excited and end up burning down part of the forest along with burning the boy with the birthmark to death. When the fire burns out Jack realizes the mistake theyVe made and says â€Å"We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English. † (P. 40) The boys become more tribal when Ralph and Jack buttheads about how Jack and his hunters haven't putting as much contribution as the others in building shelters. The madness came into his eyes again. ‘l thought I might kill. Ralph points out that he didn't and asks for his help and Jack Just declares â€Å"We want meat-! â€Å"(P. 47) This leads to a row between the two. In the end Ralph says â€Å"All I'm saying is we've worked dash hard. That's all. † (P. 47) Jack is beginning his inhumanity behavior and wants nothing to but hunt. This is when the real fun' begins; Jack brings out the real beast in himself by painting his face to hide from his self-consciousness and shame, he becomes an alter ego who lives off the fear of other living things. He wants power within the knife he possesses.His first act of being â€Å"an awesome stranger† (P. 58) is creating the war dance to slaughter a pig: â€Å"Kill the pig, cut her throat, spill her blood. † (P. 62) ironically, earlier he wanted rules he said â€Å"We're not savages. We're English. † (P. 40) Painting your face, and crea ting a killing dance is savage in my opinion. When a ship passes and everyone's home of rescue is crushed when they learn of Jack not caring that he let the fire out – I realized he didn't miss home like the others. This creates more tension between Ralph and Jack. fou said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out!

Google the Best Company Essay

The competition is steep for any company seeking to become one of the Best, and certainly for any company that shows up in the #1 slot. Yet Google chose a great role model to help them create the special culture that has supported their success. While definitely creating and following their own path, leaders at Google also turned to Genentech (#1 on the Best Companies list in 2006) as a source of ideas and wisdom to guide their growth as a company. And they have grown well, with confidence that their unique culture and approach to work life have contributed to the overall suc- cess of the organization. In their Culture Audit (a key component of the Best Com- panies evaluation process) they state, â€Å"There is no hard data that can ever prove that a free lunch and a multicultural, campus-like environment con- tribute to the organization’s success and profit. What can be proven is that Google is growing at an immense pace – retention of employees is high, attrition is low and revenues are strong ($6. 1B in 2005). People are eager to work at Google and applications to our job openings are exceedingly high (approximately 1,300 resumes a day). † Google’s employees confirm what is reported in the Culture Audit, with 95% of the employees who responded to the employee survey part of the Best Companies evaluation process saying, â€Å"Taking everything into account I’d say this is a great place to work. That’s an extraordinary sentiment for a fast paced, stressful yet exhilarating work environment. Even people who leave Google to try something different do so reluctantly (SF Chronicle, 1/7/07). Google’s leaders have figured out the formula that works for them by treating people with respect, supporting their creative endeavors, and working hard to adhere to their motto of â€Å"Don’t be evil†. It’s not magic, or rocket science or paternalism or entitlement. In some ways it is plain common sense. As they explain in their Culture Audit: â€Å"Our employees, who call themselves Googlers, are everything. Google is organized around the ability to attract and leverage the talent of exceptional technolo- gists and business people. We have been lucky to recruit many creative, principled and hard working stars. We hope to recruit many more in the future. As we have from the start, we will reward and treat them well. â€Å"

A good manager and a good leader Essay

What is more important, a good manager or a good leader? Discuss There are a lot of issues that are linked with managing oneself when trying to build work based relationship and engage positively in the organizational decision making procedure. The business sector in today’s society is cumulatively rapid, and with this prompt increase comes the need for more people to manage and lead the growing establishments, but this growing need also raises some potential questions: Can anyone become a leader or a manager? Is there a difference between the two? Can people be trained to become leaders or a managers? Just like many other questions that might be asked in business; these questions have no one, definite answer. I will begin first by acknowledging the definitions of the two root words; the word manage according to the â€Å"oxford online dictionary† means â€Å"Be in charge of (business, organization or undertaking, and having the position of supervising staff at work. W hile the word lead simply means to go or guide. Similarly as the two words have different meanings or definitions, they also have different purposes. To help individuals increase their capabilities in business, an internationally recognized motivational speaker by the name of â€Å"Marc Sanborn† has developed certain theories that, â€Å"much like in science or art, prove some things to be more true than others by providing supporting facts to prove the legitimacy of certain ways of thinking†. Most of his theories authenticate the fact that in general, â€Å"good managers tend to be good leaders, but good leaders are not always good managers†. It is stated by (Rodenberg, 2007, p. 14), Any company that cannot imagine the future will not be around to enjoy it. Therefore, before any manager or leader can affect changes in their business they have to do what â€Å"Marc Sanborn† describes as visioning; they must mentally look into what they want to see as the potential outcome of any given situation. Managers are concerned with the problem at hand; they focus on what has to be done. Leaders on the other hand, notice what has to be done, but spend their time figuring out how to get it done. To be an effective leader it is important to focus on the determined details of a situation, look for opportunities and how to achieve them. Visioning cannot be taught but can be developed (Maser, 1998, p. 10). It is important for both manager and leader to start from the end an d works backwards, or thinks to themselves â€Å"what will this team accomplish because of me? â€Å"Leadership is all about taking an organization to a place it would  not have otherwise gone without you, in a value-adding, quantifiable way. When you vision, you think your way into a situation and it is the approach in visioning that separates managers from leaders. Visioning however is not the only method that separates managers from leaders. (Buckingham, 2008, p. 3). The different strategies used by managers and leaders in terms of their use of human resources can also differentiate the major factors that influence each position. Managers are required to monitor, supervise, and get tasks done in a certain amount of time. Managers have to be efficient, and thus time is the most important human resource for them. By improving their efficiency, managers can improve their managerial success. Leaders, on the other hand, must strategically use not only their time, but energy as well. Therefore, leaders should use their energy efficiently because there is only a certain amount of tasks that can be done in one day. By using these resources strategically, leaders can also efficiently use the time and energy of others. According to (Stephen R. Covey, 1995, p. 27) â€Å"Managers try to put more time into life, while leaders try to put more life into their time†. Leaders must carefully plan out strategies they will use to accomplish given tasks because strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite; it is the starting point. Understanding that managers and leaders have different strategic approaches in developing their human resources shows that it is the approach that separates one from the other. It is evident that by visioning the appropriate outcome and by using our human resources purposefully we can reach our goals efficiently. However, what good are the two if you are not focused on the right thing? The concept of focus is what â€Å"Stephen R. Covey† portrays as one of the most powerful factors in succeeding. To help us understand just how powerful the concept of focus can be, just like the â€Å"bird feeder story†, in which the squirrels were the victors in their attempt to eat from a feeder intended for the birds. The man that made the birdfeeder was unable to repel the squirrels from reaching the feeder simply because the squirrels were much more focused on achieving their goal than he was. (Perkins, 2012, p. 123) Similarly, if managers and leaders focus intentionally on any problem, their outcome will always abound over their competitors simply because more effort was put into the task at hand. As Marc Sanborn stated, â€Å"In the corporate world it is not intelligence which is the deciding factor in who succeeds, it is how focused  one is that makes all the difference. As mentioned by (Perry MCINTOSH, 2010, p. 45), time is the most valuable resource for managers because they must be efficient and be able to make a wisely use of it. Therefore, it can be said that the managers are focused on time. The prime focus in a managerial position is the speed at which tasks are completed. Leaders conversely are and should be more focused on being effective, that is their intentions are on doing the right thing. Marc also stressed out an example of two people who were trying to reach a destination. They were going at great speed and making good time, but they were going the wrong way. It is evident by now that there is indeed a great difference between managers and leaders and it is ultimately the approach taken upon certain methods that is the determinant of your leadership role. (Schermerhorn, 2011, p. 259) Explains that managerial power is positional power being the manager, â€Å"This power includes remunerations, force, and acceptability†. It is power over people whereas leadership is supportive power, and it is power with people. Whether you vision the destination, or the transportation there, whether you try to be efficient or effective, and whether you focus on the speed or the path all come into play as your leadership quality level. These qualities can be improved and developed if they are all focused on the right things. That is why good managers tend to be good leaders, because they can focus on getting tasks done proficiently and also do it right at the same time. (Swansburg, 1996, p. 435) Managers are good disciplinarians; they are able to manage certain objectives while being efficient. Many people tend to think that management and leadership are related. Good managers are not always good leaders. Managers usually can implement their management responsibilities succe ssfully but not show that they are great leaders as well. According to (Sims, 2002, p. 390), â€Å"an organization’s obligations for management and leadership will change as the elements affecting the organization change. Because leaders are important change agents, they play important roles when the external environment is changing fast as is the case with the new economy; and an organization has diminutive need for a strong change agent if little is changing around it†. To be able to lead proficiently will allow a successful person or leader to stand out from the average ones. A manager transacts with the everyday errands of the organization such as planning, organizing, and controlling but when you are a great leader you are able to  make effective changes inside the workplace. As stated by (Al Maktoum, 2006, p. 214), leading comprises of setting a pattern, direction and also generating a visual of the goals that must be met. Management involves establishing the structure of the company, hiring good people who are competent enough to complete the work at the right time, and also supervising events and activities. Leadership keeps employees inspired to overcome obstacles and focus on buildin g the organization towards its potential future. The typical manager tends to focus on the daily activities and short-term profits. They usually do things as they come along. This is fine if your goal is just to manage, but if you are looking advance and reach long-term goals then you must focus on being a leader to your assistants (Roger B. Winston, 2013, p. 45), to be a great leader and manager you cannot have one without the other. Managers must implement their tasks or else the organization can become ineffective and unorganized. Leadership on the other hand involves special processes that are distinguishable from basic management processes. Therefore, if one manager can master both roles effectively this can result in success. However good leaders are more supportive and creative and might sometimes lack the disciplinary quality of getting the right thing done as efficiently as possible. For the most part, there is a very fine line between good managers and good leaders, but good leaders just aren’t and do not want to be, managers. Bibliography Al Maktoum, H. S. (2006). My Vision: CHALLENGES IN THE RACE OF EXCELLENCE. Motivate Publishing, 2006. Buckingham, m. (2008). The one thing you need to know: About Great Managing,,,,, Great Leading and Sustained Individual Success. Maser, C. (1998). Vision and leadership in sustainable development: Volume 6 of sustainable community development . CRC PRESS, 1998. Perkins, D. (2012). Delightful stories from the heart of maine. WestBow Press. Perry MCINTOSH, a. R. (2010). Becoming a Manager. AMACOM Div American Mgnmt Assn, 2010. Rodenberg, J. H. (2007). Competitive Intelligence and senior Management: â€Å"The best solution to where to place the office of competitive intelligence is on a par with functions that report directlt to the board†. Roger B. Winston, D. G. (2013). The professional student Affairs administrator: Educator, Leader and manager. Routledge publisher, 2013. Schermerhorn, J. R. (2011). Exploring Management. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Sims, R. R. (2002). Managing organizational behebior. Greenwood publishing Group. Stephen R. Covey, A. R. (1995). First Things First,,,, â€Å"Fireside Book†. Simon and Schuster, 1995. Swansburg, R. C. (1996). Management and Leadership for Nurse Managers. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 1996.

Conflict Resolution at General Hospital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conflict Resolution at General Hospital - Essay Example In the case of General Hospital, the conflict was intergroup, pitting the CEO Mr. Mike Hammer and Marge Harding, the chief operating office on one hand and, the director of medicine Doctor Williams and the company’s physicians on the other (WordPress.com, 2011). There are various sub-categories of intergroup conflicts including those among teams, divisions, departments, employees, and management. In the conflict at General Hospital, while physicians were more interested in the correct and timely readings of the EKG and proper diagnosis of patients, the CEO and the operating officer were more concerned with cutting costs. This paper thus explores the conflict at General Hospital, touching on the management style employed to resolve the stalemate. In addition, the possible use of teams and negotiation skills to resolve the conflict are also discussed. The Conflict at General Hospital Some years back, renovation activities at the General Hospital led to a drop in the number of pa tients admitted at the Hospital. Consequently, bed occupancy went down by about 65% (WordPress.com, 2011). The other effect of the renovation exercise at the General Hospital besides the dropped occupancy was a rise in the number of Medicaid and Medicare patients. In other words, the number of patients under private health insurance covers dropped, implying that General Hospital could not make profits from attending to patients with private health insurance covers (WordPress.com, 2011). Realizing the hospital was on the verge of failing to obtain its objectives and remain profitable, the CEO, Mr. Mike Hammer decided to implement certain changes, which he thought would stabilize the hospital. The first option to Hammer was to cut costs and increase the Company’s revenues. In addition, Hammer intended to initiate changes that would ensure the hospital retained its current services and even expanded into new areas. To implement these strategies, Hammer hired one Marge Harding, e mpowering her to make crucial decisions such as the firing of the hospital’s employees, more so those serving under the at-will employment status (WordPress.com, 2011). The first opinion of Harding’s was that the electrocardiogram (EKG) readings could be done electronically. Therefore, according to Harding, a physician was not needed to read the EKG. In fact, she suggested that at least $100,000 could be saved by computerizing the reading of the EKG. After the installation of the new equipment for EKG proposed by Harding and the training of EKG technicians, the physician, a Doctor James Boyer, was informed that his services were no longer needed at the General Hospital (WordPress.com, 2011). Harding’s plans soon started to flop as EKG’s arrived late, cases of misdiagnoses increased, and the staff became irritated as they looked incompetent, making them feel that Dr. Boyer was rather important and was needed at the facility. Nonetheless, Harding completely ignored these complaints from the General Hospital’s staff. Therefore, the main conflict at the General Hospital pitted cost control and management against physician agreement. To realize any positive results from his cost reduction strategies and policies, Mr. Hammer had to win over the physicians making up his staff. This was just another of the instances and incidence in which

CLA labor of hero Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CLA labor of hero - Essay Example With regard to their births, Herakles, therefore, was superior in strength to Theseus as he hailed from a union between man and god (Powell, 2012). Herakles labors resulted as a punishment for his murdering of his wife – princess Megara and all their children albeit with madness bestowed upon him by Hera. Theseus labors, on the other hand, were because of his quest to claim his birthright by taking the sword and sandals back to King Aegeus (Powell, 2012). Both Herakles and Theseus were faced with labors, which they overcame despite everyone expecting them to fail. Herakles endured twelve labors while Theseus was faced with six labors. Herakles transcended his labors purely due to sheer strength while Theseus succeeded primarily due to his wit. Besides, Herakles was at most times supported by deities – Hermes and Athena - whenever he needed them while Theseus never had the support of deities. The hero-myth dichotomy refers to the hero’s movement from the normal world, into the supernatural facet where challenges are encountered and transcended, and finally the hero comes back to help men. The hero-myth has key markers such as one divine parent – for example Zeus in the case of Herakles. Another key characteristic of the hero-myth is that the birth of the hero may be unusual – such as in the case of Herakles where his birth was delayed by the intervention of Hera. Another key marker of the hero-myth is the great strength that the hero possesses – for instance – Perseus who kills the monster Medusa. Almost all of the Greek mythical heroes were male. This orientation depicted the state of affairs at the time in Greece where males were assumedly warriors while the females were expected to handle house chores and bring up children. One of the key roles of the male heroes was to deliver society from the enclaves of suffering, as well as suffering. In addition, the male heroes’

Merits And Demerits Of Documents And Drawings Assignment

Merits And Demerits Of Documents And Drawings - Assignment Example On the other hand, drawings is defined as an illustration that is drawn using the hand and may be published in a book, magazine, or newspaper; this can be any form presentation of object(s) on a surface by use of lines (Calloway 12). In this paper, am going to discuss the merits and demits of documents and drawings according to the history regarding Indians and the history of American west. To start with, the documents and drawings were accessible and reliable to the non specialist and the students; documents and drawings were drawn from a variety of tribes. They provided a reliable way to pass out information from one person or country to another inform of teachings because provided a reach history sources. In the Indians and west America history, books were used as a way of communication; books and other print media provided people with an effective way to pass data. However, there was a printed magazine. These magazines provided people with information of current affairs about occ urrences in their respective countries. In this way, the printed documents and the drawings were reliable and accessible to people especially students and non-specialist. This means that the demands for students and non specialist were met (Calloway 56). In the Indian and west American history, documents and drawings were accountable; with the invention of writing and drawing in the respective countries.... However, the drawings and the documents does provide more detailed information; documents and drawings provided a more precised and meaningful information. In this book, much of information about the Indian culture and the lost west is given, the Indians just like the lost west used drawings and documents. They found that documents and drawings provided more information compared to verbal information. Most of their journals or writings were done in drawings and documents in form of books and other print media. These documents and the drawings could easily give clear instruction which could easily be followed by another students or non specialist. In the history of the Indians and the lost west, books and translated materials were used to communicate and express people’s ideas. In this case, we find that information passed by writings or prints produced more meaningful and precised information. The different tribes like Mandans, Lakotas and Pawnees in the respective countries c ould easily communicate via the documents (Calloway 80). However, in the history of the Indians and the lost west, documents and the drawings were considered to be the cheapest form of communication which could be easily translated. In many occasion in the history of the Indians and the lost west, were translated to many other languages, documents and drawings met the demands of the other tribes. The documents for example, books could be written in another language. They could not be easily be understood by another tribe in the respective empires in Indians and lost west. Thus, there was appointed personnel who were depended by the rest to translate. The person could easily translate the written document or documents in a way that could enable other people to understand (Calloway 120). In

Commandos by Pyros Studios. Website Planning Report Essay

Commandos by Pyros Studios. Website Planning Report - Essay Example This gaming website generally follows the same pattern as that of other gaming website of its kind, such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. However, the website will be distinguishable from its competitors through its logo, color palette, story line and characters that would be used as elements to improve brand positioning of the website and also the game. The primary target market for this website is the age group falling between 16 and 25 and comprises of mostly the male population. Commandos is strategy game based on the background of the World War II that mostly appeals to the young males. Demographic The Demographics that we would be discussing for this website is based on the primary target market, even though there are a large number of gamers that would be accessing the website who do not fall within the following mentioned demographics. Age The age group of gamers for this website is mostly teenagers and also gamers in the early twenties. People belonging to this age group generally are inspired by the use of flash in the website and observe the aesthetics of the website closely. Income Level and Employment Status The target market for this website is mostly unemployed teens that may be working odd jobs at minimum wages. The target market has the time to play games since they are not employed full-time and have spare time at hand. Thus, these gamers are affected by the price of the game and may not wish to invest heavily in the game. Sex Since Commandos is a strategy based war game, it appeals to the male target market that fulfills their ambition of fighting in the war through such games. Also the game has been aesthetically designed to appeal to the male population through the suitable use of

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it Essay

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it - Essay Example Critical thinking also requires approaching a problem rationally. This implies analyzing all that is known about a particular problem and making a judgment based on the evidence received after analysis rather than relying on non-factual opinions or emotions. In addition, critical thinking requires recognizing and avoiding unfairness in order to have a fresh and goal-oriented approach to a problem. Finally, critical thinking requires an individual to view the external environment as a whole and not focusing on the self. This requires empathy in which one puts himself or herself in another’s situation (Arp and Watson 2). Personally, I have encountered a number of situations in life that called for critical thinking. Firstly, critical thinking was demanded when I was choosing the right college to attend. In this case, I found myself in a dilemma on which college to attend since I had a number of options to choose from. However, since colleges differ in terms of quality and other aspects, I had to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of each before settling on one. In this case, I used my critical thinking ability to analyze all the aspects I was looking for in each of the schools such as quality of education, distance from my place of residence, the tuition fees, scholarships available, my programs of interest, extra-curricular activities and ethical standards. It is after evaluating all these aspects that I arrived at a college that best suits what I was looking for.

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or Annotated Bibliography

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or not - Annotated Bibliography Example The system of mechanization is in fact changing the tectonic sects of education particularly in college and also bringing various changes in thinking and interpretation of issues, which is completely different than the previous times. Clare, S. (2013) University Libraries are Shaping the Future of Learning and Research, The Guardian,retrieved on January 23, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/aug/06/university-libraries-learning-shapes-design In this piece of writing, Clare has hinted at the moribund state of libraries in various universities. According to Diane Job, the Director of Library Services, a library is one of the most important places of growth and progress as far as an educational institution is concerned. As a matter of fact, it is a place of discussion and exchange of culture and religion and a hub in which some of the most significant ideas come up for the first time that goes on to become history later. Thus, it can be said that a college is not only a place for attaining higher education, but an institution that shapes the future life of an individual to a great extent. However, such ideals are on the verge of death and the feeling of being together in an educational institution has become nonexistent. Nevertheless, the hope for better never dies and the old tradition certainly prepare the students for a better life. The authors Clawson and Page certify that higher education is important for individual achievements and also to ensure economic development of a nation. However higher education in USA is undergoing a period of crisis while public funding is falling freely, tuition fees have increased drastically and hence colleges and universities are less inaccessible. The book anlayzes the crisis in higher education and describes the manner in which a strong neo-liberal

Wine tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Wine tourism - Essay Example Gastronomic supply is therefore increasingly shaped by tourist demand, highlighting the considerable potential wine and gastronomic products have in national and international tourist markets. Taking the region as the basic context of all tourist products, this paper analyses wine and gastronomic components of the product in detail, trying to underline the added value of aggregating or network logic in the development of typical agro-alimentary products and tourism.In many European countries, the situation of wine tourism appears to be complex and variegated, but also dynamic and rich in social, cultural and economic implications (Mitchell, 2000, 115-35). In order to realize its potential, it is essential that all actors involved implement a common entrepreneurial logic integrating wine tourism into the global tourist offer. In theory, this would allow them to take advantage of the strong synergies that can be achieved and to transform local land planning into a crucial instrument fo r sustainable development policy. Wine tourism is now emerging as one of the most promising segments of the tourism sector. Nevertheless, organizational and managerial capabilities lag behind in many places. It is highly likely that networks are needed to build an efficient and competitive network, to market high quality products and to safeguard the region's positive image. It is also an assumption in this paper that it is important to identify and encourage agricultural development through specialized and typical regional products, which can be protected and promoted through legislation, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. This will provide the basis for a solid and durable success both in tourism and agriculture, engendering revenue and employment benefits, especially in less developed areas. Rural Tourism and Wine Tourism: New Trends in the Tourist Market Alternative forms of tourism, which place emphasis on greater contact and understanding between tourists and the environment, emerged relatively recently. The various forms of environmental tourism can be grouped under the generic term of 'rural tourism', mainly practised away from traditional tourism destinations such as seaside and mountain resorts and art cities. Rural areas provide the backdrop for various forms of tourist behaviour, including sports, horse-riding, hunting, tasting wine and gastronomic products and learning about cooking, bird watching, photography, etc. (Goldsmith, 2001, 77-80). Rural tourism has long been considered a second-choice product, reserved for people with limited resources, who chose the countryside because they could not afford more attractive destinations. The re-discovery of tradition essentially based on typical products and rural lifestyles has only recently brought about a new rural tourism which is quite often able to offer high-standard services in terms of prices and quality. The new specific demand for environmental interaction in authentic settings (Spawton, 2005, 19-21) is deeply entrenched in the rural environment: tourists are interested in nature and tradition. 'Real' rural tourism only started to develop in the 1980s. From this point of view, local culture and the natural features of a rural environment become the real highlights. In the specific case of wine tourism, wine and other typical products of the local cuisine become real tourist attractions and a motivation to visit the countryside. Such motivations can be either exclusive - gastronomic