Nuclear Weapons should be Extirpate Essay

Nuclear weapons are considered serious threats to the human race and have made the world an insecure residence for living organisms. Nuclear weapons are destructive weapons that obtain its force from nuclear fission and nuclear fusion reaction. Both are theses producers are very harmful for the living organism. Nuclear weapons were first conducted in world war2 on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. It killed approximately 70,000 died immediately from the explosion and another 70,000 died from radiation within five years. The killing included the women and children. All nuclear weapons must be abolished around the world for making world secure, and save budget money. The entire world will be more secure if the planet will free of the nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the only type of weapons in existence that have the capacity to annihilate the human species and countless other species. The reactions of the nuclear weapons live alive after many years of it’s used. The best example is Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. The nuclear bomb was used on these cities during the world war2, but Nagasaki and Hiroshima are still suffering with the reaction of nuclear bomb. Japanese cannot grow any crop in Nagasaki and Hiroshima because the fusion reaction of nuclear bomb is still alive. Without abolition, there is always the danger that nuclear weapons will proliferate, that more and more countries will obtain them. The existence of nuclear weapons leaves open possibility that a nuclear exchange might take place. The nuclear weapons are extra ordinary costly, and the costs continue into the indefinite future. Billions of dollars are wasted each year to pay for nuclear weapons. The cost of research, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of the nuclear program is very high. Even it becomes higher, when we include the costs of damage to the land, illness of uranium miners,  cancer deaths from nuclear pollution, and the storage of nuclear wastage. Since early 1940s the U.S. alone has spent $4 trillion on nuclear arms. If current policies are implemented, the U.S. will continue to spend some $25-30 billion on nuclear forces. What is the more important education or nuclear bombs that can kill the human? Today, Congress and Administration are watching government spending, shrinking and eliminating programs and taking measures to reduce the deficit. Despite this, the central feature of national security spending for the past fifty years, nuclear weapons, has been rarely touched. Possession of nuclear weapon does not mean that the country is powerful. Many developed countries such as, Australia, Germany, and Spain do not have nuclear bomb. Some countries have already given up nuclear weapons, showing that it is possible for a nation to be secure without nuclear bomb. Three former Soviet republics, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, became nuclear weapons free states by volunteering transferring their nuclear warheads to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. South Africa actually developed a small nuclear arsenal clandestinely, and then dismantled it. Argentina and Brazil have also eliminated their nuclear weapons programs even though they achieved initial success in these programs. These countries give a massage to the nuclear powers that you can succeed without nuclear bomb. In summary, the above analysis shows that nuclear weapons are weapons of great destruction. Our government wastes over thirty- three billion dollars a year of our tax money. Furthermore, nuclear weapons pose serious health risk to those around them, including the citizen. There has not been a significant impact on world affairs by nuclear weapons since world war2. Having a nuclear bomb does not guarantee the better life of the citizen, and development of the country. For these reasons, the nuclear weapons should be banned in entire world.

Nature-Nurture and the Cloned Human

The three levels in biopsychosocial theory (explained in Myers, 2006) are biological, psychological (e.g., cognitive and emotional influences), and social-cultural (unusual since these influences include those studied by social psychologists, e.g., family, peer, and other group influences).   The influences in the three levels generally interact with each other in accounting for the variability between individuals.   However, if a person wanted to be cloned, the person and the clone should be genetically identical, i.e., a result of the first level.   We do know that identical twins are essentially clones (Myers, 2006). Genetics can fully account for characteristics such as genetic sex, and also can influence or fail to influence other personality characteristics of identical twins.   Influence, however, means that genetics interact with influences from the other two levels.   Until the last paragraph of this paper, the assumption that evidence based on identical twins can be generalized to clones has been accepted. Similar article: The Case of the Boy Who Became a Girl The goal of psychologists studying personality is to account for the variability between individuals.   Behavioral-genetic research, which has been furthering this goal, has been motivated by findings that similarities between identical twins do not vary as a function of whether the twins were reared together or apart, there is considerable between-twin variability, and adopted children do not share characteristics with their adoptive families but do share them with their biological families (reviewed in Harris, 1995).   There have been consistent findings that 40-50% of the between-individual variability in personality characteristics is attributable to genetics, and the percentage of variability accounted for by genetics depends on the characteristic being studied (reviewed in Harris, 1995). Studies of genetics and IQ scores (reviewed in Neisser, et al., 1999) have provided evidence that genetics account for a large percentage of between-individual (but not between-group) variability in scores (whatever these tests actually measure!), though results can be mediated by other influences, e.g., by social expectations (from level three) and cognition (from level two). For example, children who do not care enough about their grades to appreciate the worksheet and memorization approach that passes for teaching at many schools (social expectations) may interpret these tests (cognitive influences) as yet another obstacle invented by the educational system.   Nonetheless, if you score well on an IQ test, there’s a high probability that your clone will too.   There are genetic predispositions for many characteristics, with varying degrees to which non-genetic factors interact with genetic ones, e.g., depression (Behar, 1980), attitudes (Turner, 1993), alcoholism (Hill, 1990), altruism (Ruston, 1989), shyness (Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988). Need for Further Research When people think of cloning, they seem to be asking questions such as, â€Å"if Einstein or Mozart were cloned, would the clone grow up to be a scientific or musical genius?†   First, the clones and persons would differ in some or many of   their experiences both before birth (i.e., in the womb, identical twins differ in their positions, access to nutrition, etc.) and   after.   The clones would be predisposed towards scientific or musical accomplishment.   However, Watson and Rayner (1920/2000) demonstrated that classical conditioning resulted in â€Å"Little Albert† becoming frightened of anything furry after only two trials in which the presentation of a white rat was followed by a loud noise.   So who knows what would happen if Einstein’s or Mozart’s clone tripped over an encyclopedia or violin? However, Einstein and Mozart were at the extremes of scientific and musical genius, where genetics are a greater influence than for Aunt Edna, who teaches science at Dung Hill High School, or for Grandpa Patrick, who entertains his family with heart-warming renditions of â€Å"When Irish Eyes are Smiling.†Ã‚   So there should be a high probability that Einstein’s and Mozart’s clones would make important contributions to science and music.   To my knowledge, there have not been identical-twin studies, where one or both twins received historical recognition for their accomplishments. A second type of question is related to possible differences in reproduction and cloning.     Increasingly sophisticated methods of monitoring brain activity, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging, have resulted in studies that have provided evidence that particular areas of the brain become activated as we develop new abilities and acquire new forms of memories, and that over the course of development, there are permanent changes in a person’s brain (reviewed in Damasio, 2002). Probably the most interesting possible change is related to our understanding that we have an internal world separate from others.   Piaget (1952/1963) studied how such a sense of self developed during childhood, and there’s evidence that different brain areas are activated in response to self-relevant information than in response to other information (reviewed in Zimmer, 2005).     Thus the question arises:   Is it possible for Aunt Edna and her clone to have a shared sense of self? References Behar, D. (1980).   Familial substrates of depression:   A clinical view.   The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 41, 52-56. Damasio, A. R. (2002).   How the brain creates the mind.   Scientific American Special Edition, 12, 4-9. Harris, J. R. (1995).   Where is the child’s environment?   A group socialization theory of development.   Psychological Review, 102, 458-490. Hill, S. Y. (1990).   Personality resemblances in relatives of male alcoholics:   A comparison with families of matched control cases.   Biological Psychology, 27, 1305-1322. Kagan, J., Resnick, J. S., & Sidman, N. (1988).   Biological bases of childhood shyness. Science, 240, 167-171. Myers, D. G. (2006).   Psychology eighth edition in modules.   New York:   Worth. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. et al. (1999). Intelligence:   Knowns and Unknowns.   In R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Readings in cognitive psychology (pp. 486-532).   Orlando, Fl:   Harcourt. Piaget, J. (1952/1963).   The origin of intelligence in children.   New York:   Norton. Rushton, J. P. (1989).   Genetic similarity, human altruism, and group selection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 503-559. Tesser, A. (1993).   The importance of hereditability in psychological research:   The case of attitudes.   Psychological Review, 100, 129-142. Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920/2000).   Conditioned emotional reactions.   American Psychologist, 55, 313-317. Zimmer, C. (2005).   The neurobiology of the self.   Scientific American, 293, 92-101.

Facebook Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Facebook - Research Paper Example ing Facebook scored a grade point lower with their weekly period of study ranging between 1 and 5 hours as compared to 11 to 15 hours by the non-users of Facebook (23). This paper looks at the arguments by these researchers, analysing the implications of networking sites on learning and compares them to counterarguments by various researchers. Indeed, Facebook does not make us dumb but rather imparts important learning skills that prevent dumbness among its users. The evaluation of the effects of social media on learning which determine dumbness in an individual has been cited by Ahn (1436) as a complex undertaking. According to this researcher, the media effects paradigm provides appropriate explanation to the dynamics involved in influencing learning. This postulates that any media or technological form would have causal relationship on some outcome, though it remains elusive to conclude on a direct causal relationship existing between technology and social outcome like learning. But the media effect paradigm has helped researchers conclude that a media tool in itself would not influence learning but rather, the learning behaviours associated with the software used or the educational program (Ractham, Kaewkitipong and Firpo 173). According to Ahn (1437), it is the features of a technology and not a technology in itself that that constrains or propagates the usage of the tool. Furthermore, behavioural practices and cultural norms influence one’s usage of technology. This offers insights in studies seeking to determine the effects of social media. This social informatics perspective implies that the social platform media would not cause outcomes like learning; the cultural and communication behaviours exhibited by its users would. Therefore, it would be important to consider the user populations involved in these social communities, the features of the social media sites and behaviours that could be likely associated with the social outcomes (Rouis, Limayem and

Advantages of e-CRM systems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advantages of e-CRM systems - Coursework Example This involves first seeking the customer’s permission and providing them with an incentive, before targeting them with the organization’s given marketing message. E-CRM systems make it easy for organizations like Our Town Photography to engage in multiple relationships with multiple customers through the use of different opt-in and opt-out tools such as checking a box in an online form. E-CRM systems are essentially designed for this new form of marketing. Permission marketing ensures that the company only concentrates its marketing on customers who are interested. This leads to the second advantage of e-CRM systems: effective targeting. E-CRM systems keep records of those who have visited a web site and expressed an interest in the products or services offered by registering their name and other details. By sending marketing messages to this category of web visitors, Our Town Photography will receive higher response rates from its target customers. With the e-CRM tech nology, the company could further tailor its messages to customer micro-segments. With effective targeting, the overall cost of reaching customers also goes down. Firstly, it is cheaper to use electronic communication methods than physical ones. Secondly, with effective targeting the number of mail-outs is reduced ... These systems also support active information gathering from customers through tools such as online forums and communities, new product prototype evaluations and even customer-led innovations. List the specific data you would to store in your system Name Address Birth dates Purchase History Product or service recommendations made Gifts sent and received Anniversaries Hobbies and interests Gender Marital Status Post-sales service and/or product rating Research at least two e-CRM systems that are available and do a compare contrast between the two systems. List the advantages and disadvantages of each the system and create a side by side comparison matrix. Table 1: SugarCRM versus Microsoft Dynamics CRM Feature SugarCRM Corporate Microsoft Dynamics CRM Deployment On-premise or cloud-based On-premise and cloud-based Trial period 7 days 30 days Cost US$ 45/user/month US$ 44/user/month Databases -Client can opt to use SugarCRM datacenter or Client datacenter or third party datacenter -Off ers 30GB free -Client can use own datacenter or Microsoft Cloud datacenter -Offers 5GB free, client pays for extra storage Employee applications and channels -Unlimited customization options / based on Open Source standards -Proprietary system thus customization limited by vendor -Massive ecosystem of extensions developed by Open Source community found at SugarExchange for over 200 commercial extensions and SugarForge.org for over 800 free extensions -Seamless integration to Microsoft products -Integration with Outlook and Microsoft ERP is especially very appealing to small and medium businesses. -Full sales, marketing and support automation -Full sales, marketing and support automation -Email integration, reporting, team selling, collaboration tools, advanced security, workflow

The health and sanitary conditions within womans prisons (United Essay

The health and sanitary conditions within womans prisons (United Kingdom) not mental health - Essay Example (Toolkit for health care needs assessment in prisons) A committee known as Friends World Committee for Consultation have been taking up the issue of criminal justice and caring about the conditions that prevail in the prison for the last 350 years of their existence in UK. This committee feels that particularly there is need to give importance to women and girls particularly female juveniles under the age group of 18 years, in the prison during their imprisonment period following trial. Also there added concern is also includes their stay in hostels or similar places like the prison or about the general health care conditions of the babies and children of imprisoned women when both the child as well as the mother are inside the prison. (Women in Prison and Children of Imprisoned Mothers Preliminary Research Paper) The reason for the emergence of such committees is to understand and make the issue of the conditions of women and girl prisoners inside the prison, and also to collect information and ideas to resolve the issues and analyze them better. It is generally felt that though both men and women are subjected to imprisonment, there has been little consideration about the care and various needs of the imprisoned women. This way of omitting the care taken on women prisoners could be due to the strength of the women prisoners that is the number of women prisoners are much lesser in number when compared to men. (Women in Prison and Children of Imprisoned Mothers Preliminary Research

Case Study - Evaluating the Purchase of an Asset with Various Capital

- Evaluating the Purchase of an Asset with Various Capital Budgeting Methods - Case Study Example nd 50 miles per gallon respectively, whereas, the cost and miles per gallon of non-hybrid Toyota Yaris 5-Door LE 2014 is $ 17,644 and 32 respectively (U.S. Department of Energy). The total cost of driving the hybrid model for one year = annual gallons of fuel*cost per gallon. Gallons used per year = (12,000/50) = 240 gallons. Therefore, total cost = (240*2.071) = $ 497.04 per year. On the other hand, the total cost of driving the non-hybrid model for one year = annual gallons used*cost per gallon. Gallons used per year = (12,000/32) = 375 gallons. Therefore, the total cost = (375*2.071) = $ 776.625 per year. Consequently, the savings offered by the hybrid model over the non-hybrid model = (776.625 – 497.04) = $ 279.585 per year (Fuel cost calculator). The NPV of the hybrid model. The annual cash inflow = $ 279.585. The rate of return = 10%. The initial investment = $ 19,905. The NPV = $ -18,187. See appendix 1 (Götze, Northcott, and Schuster 68-76). Comparatively, the NPV of the hybrid model (-18,187) is lower than the cost of the gasoline engine model (17,644). However, from a pure financial standpoint, the hybrid model makes sense since it saves up to $ 279.585 on fuel consumption as compared to non-hybrid model (Götze, Northcott, and Schuster 68-76). The payback period is the time taken to recover the amount invested in a project. Based on this case study, the initial investment = cost of a hybrid model – cost of the gasoline engine model) = (19,905 - 17,644) = $ 2,261. The expected annual net cash flow = $ 279.585. Therefore, the payback period = (2,261/279.585) = 8.087 years (Götze, Northcott, and Schuster 68-76). The following are some of the quality concerns related to the hybrid model: first, the car battery loses the charge faster during the cold season, thus increases the number of charging occasions. Second, the hybrid cars weigh less compared to gasoline engine cars. As a result, they easily get involved in accidents, especially during

Persuasive Speech-Problem & Solution Design Essay

Persuasive Speech-Problem & Solution Design - Essay Example Marriage is typically defined as the uniting of two people of the age of majority of their own free will and volition. In this way, regardless of culture contractual unions (often referred to as marriage) are recognized by the law of the state in every nation on the face of the planet. Child marriage is a situation where children are subjected to matrimony before they have achieved the legal marriage age. In the Middle East nearly half of Yemeni girls are married before they reach eighteen years of age. In some instances, marriages occur even before the tender age of 8. The law in Yemen set the minimum age at one that is approved for marriage to be 15 years; however, traditional customs more often than not continuously flout this law. 1. This is due in part to the fact that the law was continually interpreted differently by different individuals, the laws was changed in 1999 to allow marriage only after the point in time in which a girl reached the age of puberty. However, the issue with the change in the law meant that many tribal elders interpreted puberty to be as early as the age of 9. In the actual practice, it can be said that the law in Yemen allows women of any age to be able to wed, but it is forbidden to practice sex with them until they achieve the age where it is now considered suitable to do so. 2. The law was later to be raised from the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years after a girl, Nujood Ali, 10 years of age, in April 2008 was able to be granted divorce successfully after being raped under the set circumstances. Much later in 2008, a council for maternal care and childhood established a proposal for the minimum age to be defined at 18 years and was passed as law in April 2009. However, this law was to be dropped the very next day after maneuvers by parliamentarians opposed to it, and negotiations are still ongoing for the legislation to be

Personal Financial Planning of a Common Citizen Essay

Personal Financial Planning of a Common Citizen - Essay Example As he would not have any regular inflow of money as with age he would retire from the profession he was into, he needs to save and plan for future, which would take care of his old age. Though at the old age citizens are entitled to state-sponsored pensions still having own money would definitely help them with greater mental assurance to fight the diseases and illnesses which invariably comes with age. Also, the proper financial planning from the right age would also assist a person in fulfilling his other dreams and commitments like those of education of family members and purchasing of house, etc. Jeff, aged 55, works at building trade sites for last 39 years. He started to work at the age of 16 and has earned enough to pay off his mortgages. Jeff is married to Amy, a homemaker. The couple has two children. The first child of Jeff and Amy is Kylie (29) who is married (to Jake) and has two children, of three years and eighteen months old. The other child of Jeff and Amy, named Phil is 26 years old and is still single. Jeff earns a decent sum of  £ 24,000 per annum for last five years. The standard of living of the couple is much simpler and only major indulgence of the aged pair is that they smoke around 20 cigarettes per day. Jeff had been trying his luck by purchasing lottery tickets for last ten years or so but without any fruit. But at last luck supported the man and he has owned a considerable amount of  £ 750,000. The cheque has just reached him and he wants to have proper financial planning for future with the sum he has received as the winner of the lottery. Jeff hopes the amount that he has ownership in the lottery would be able to take care of his needs. The objectives of Jeff includes to receive a decent sum of pension during his period of retirement (approximately around  £ 25,000 per annum and that should also be inflation proof) and to make contributions towards the education of the children of their daughter. Also, the couple wanted to make some contribution towards their children.

Marketing Research on Reynolds Pen Essay Example for Free

Marketing Research on Reynolds Pen Essay We are deeply indebted to Ms. Malvika Mago for her constant support guidance and inspiration in completion of the program and preparation of this document. Our sincere thanks for giving me invaluable suggestion. We are also grateful to other employee of reynolds pen for their encouragement and help. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to reynolds for giving us an opportunity to complete our project. last but not the least; we would like to thank our parents and friends for their moral support throughout the project. Pens introduced to India, international quality writing instruments, and marketed them under the brand name Reynolds. It was also he first company to build a brand in a category that behaved more like a commodity till then. Over the last 20 years, G. M. Pens has invested substantially in building a large manufacturing base with facilities in Chennai and Pondicherry. A state of the art RD facility, one of the most sophisticated in the Reynolds family worldwide, has ensured that the latest in writing technology is available to the Indian consumers. G. M. Pens offers the widest range of writing instruments and accessories in the Indian market. A variety of writing instruments including ball pens, gel pens, fountain ens, mechanical pencils, markers, handy boards and childrens colouring pens that cater to consumers from the age group of six to sixty are marketed under the brand name Reynolds. A continuous focus on consistent quality and a constant endeavour to provide quality products at affordable prices have ensured that Reynolds has been the numero uno in the Indian writing instruments market. A substantial investment has also been made in establishing the Reynolds brand name through the mass media, especially through television and press ads, in an effort to convert the category from a commodity to a brand dominated one. The companys products are available in three hundred thousand retail outlets across India covered through a network consisting of 1800 redistribution stockiest and 27 main stockiest. This is facilitated by a sales and marketing team of over 300 professionals. Established in 1927 at la Ferte-Milon in France, Reynolds has over the past eight decades been a leader in writing instruments in Europe and the rest of the world. In 1946, the headquarters and factory were shifted to Valence, in the south of France. The company is headquartered at Valence till date. With 450 employees, Reynolds, France has a daily production of 4 million writing instruments. Of this, exports account for 50% of sales. It has a worldwide market presence in 80 countries around the globe. Reynolds has 12 of its own manufacturing units established in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The year 1999 was a landmark year in the history of Reynolds. Since then it has been a member company of Sanford Corporation, USA. Sanford is a US $ 1. 2 billion company. Sanford is in turn the writing instruments division of the US $ 7 billion Newell Rubbermaid group. Sanford has the broadest range of writing, arking, coloring and drawing products worldwide.The main objective of our project is to know why the sales of Reynolds pen have declined so drastically and what are the reasons behind this . To know reasons behind this we did exploratory research to know- Why the consumers have switched to other company products. What is the defect in product. 0 Assess the current market share of Reynolds pen. 0 Is there any problem in design of pen. 0 Is there any problem in creating awareness about product The factors which are affecting our research design are Qualitative and Quantitative actors. To know this we will conduct Qualitative research first because we want to know why the sales of Reynolds pen has been declining and secondly we will conduct Quantitative research to know what are the reasons behind this. The type of research used for our study was an exploratory research, as the objective of the research was to have in depth understanding what are the reasons why the sales of Reynolds pen has been declining continuously . We have started our research. However we covered a specific list of topics and sub areas. This was done in the form of close ended question, where the timing, exact wording and time allocated to each question area was left at the interviewers. Since the research was qualitative as well as quantitative more emphasis has to be given while collecting data. Discretion open structure ensured that inspected facts or data could peruse easily. Mode of Interviewing: In research we have done face to face interview Sampling:- It consists of primary data and secondary data. Primary data was collected by applying probability. Under Non-probability we will use Convenience Sampling because we have to collect data from college going students . Where as secondary data was obtained by seeing past sales records of Reynolds pen, magazines, newspapers and by various other methods. Sample size:- We have selected sample of 100 college going students . We have kept our sample size small so that we may collect data accurately with precession. If we would have elected large sample size it would have become difficult for us to collect data.

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay Example for Free

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue. Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we hear the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop and rap music. What is hip-hop music? In order to understand the hip-hop phenomena one must first create a foundation of knowledge through learning its history. Hip-hop began from a mixture of spoken word poetry, jazz drumming, and jazz instrumentations. Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres of music out today and has been steadily growing in popularity since its rise in fame from the late 1970s. With the rise of MTV in the early 1980s, early hip-hop music was constantly being shown with TV shows such as ‘Yo! MTV raps’ and since then has been known to be one of music’s most successful art forms and has remained popular to this day. With over forty years of being around, hip-hop has grown and matured and most importantly expanded from its origin of the south Bronx in New York, to worldwide. The genre and sub culture originated in the early 1970s when a Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, first hit the scene in the Bronx. Campbell started DJ-ing his own parties, playing soul, funk as well as RB records on his turntable set. Herc also brought his know how of the sound system and the popular dancehall/block party scene. Graffiti art had also begun to take shape in the subways of Philadelphia in the mid 1960s. A black teenager by the name of Cornbread began tagging the subways in hopes of attracting a girl he had found feelings for; from this form of youth expression came Graffiti. Fab 5 Freddy, one of the original DJs of Hip-hop, began an art from known as scratching and popularized DJing. Hip-hop consists of four elements, ‘B-boying’ or also known as break dancing. ‘Djing’, ‘Emceeing’, and street art or more commonly known as ‘graffiti’. Djing, also known as the first element of hip-hop began when disc jockeys created beats on two turntables. The way DJs created their beats was simple yet revolutionary in an essence. The DJs would first find a portion of a song that emphasized a percussive pattern, and then looped a portion of the song to form a rhythmic pattern. This procedure is now more commonly known as sampling. With the beat or instrumental now developed, the DJ decided the music needed some accompaniment to the music such as singing or poetry. This procedure is known as rapping or Emceeing. From hip-hop spawned the sub-genre ‘Rap’ in the early 1980s. More and more artists became interested in the new form of music out of New York. In 1981, Rap gained a lot of exposure through popular shows such as 20/20 and Saturday night live. The 1990s saw even more change in the hip-hop industry. Early in the decade, artists fought for permission to sell their albums since most authorities deemed them ‘obscene’ due to the explicit content within the music. A lot which expressed sexual references towards women and talked about the use of drugs. Hip-hop music also spoke strongly about politics and poverty, artists such as Tupac and Public Enemy spoke about such issues. In the 1990s the tension that had been gathering between the west coast ‘Gangsta’ and the East coast artists has exploded and resulted in the shooting deaths of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. In the present day Hip-Hop is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of capital and has a great influence on its fans. The roles that Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop artist play in America require responsibility, however, many of the performers and labels take none. By using television and other various sorts of visual media Hip-Hop portrays less than positive stereotypes and all but influences the youth to accept these stereotypes as normal behaviour. The detrimental effect that popular Hip-Hop has doesn’t stop at the visual level. Lyrical content in songs have been dumbed down and filled with violence, sex, and drugs. For example the song â€Å"Hate Being Sober† by Chief Keef condones the use of drugs at all times and gives the impression that it is ok and cool. â€Å"While many Hip-Hop songs contain messages about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, few provide an accurate portrayal of the negative consequences of substance abuse† Negative accusations and harsh criticism has always been an issue for the hip-hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip-hop influences the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Because of this, Hip-hop music has been criticized greatly by the media accusing the music of affecting the youth that sexism and other such forms of oppression are acceptable to society. Although the media has a major impact on how Hip-hop is viewed by the masses, their is some people who view Hip-hop differently. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, The hip-hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. (Is hip-hop culture, 2000) On a survey done to twenty-five people in the 17- 60 yrs of age range, twenty people know someone that is exposed to the Hip-hop culture and twenty-one of them believed that Hip-hop isnt a negative art form. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the results from the survey done. On Figure 2, it shows that most of the people surveyed do believe that Hip-hop music has the most influence on the youth. Rap music generally depicts the lives and souls of many under privileged youths, citing depression and violence during upbringings. The youth of today’s society and in the past, take this music as a way of expression, a way of overruling everything they believe is corrupt and in their own way become corrupt themselves by not caring about the rules. Rap music can be transparently seen as a striking negative influence on today’s youth just by listening to certain songs which praise violence and the use of drugs. Take rapper Wiz Khalifa for instance. This artist is a prime example of being a huge negative influence to today’s society by the extensive amount of marijuana use, portrayed within his lyrics. The artist mentions marijuana in his songs and speaks about it in a positive way, speaking about the stimulating effects it has on him and almost making the drug sound ‘cool’ to the younger generation, making them think that smoking this drug is cool and acceptable as rapper Wiz Khalifa openly smokes it and mentions it. The number of drug references in rap music has raised six fold since the genre revolutionised pop music. Researchers who analysed the lyrics of hundreds of songs say rap has been transformed from one which warned against the dangers of drug abuse to one that routinely glorifies it. And because many of the references are coded, many parents are unaware what their children are listening to.

Clinical and Mycological Profile of Dermatophytosis

Clinical and Mycological Profile of Dermatophytosis A CLINICAL AND MYCOLOGICAL PROFILE OF DERMATOPHYTOSIS IN KLES DR PRABHAKAR KORE HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTRE, BELGAUM† Dolly M.B.B.S. Department of Dermatology, J.N. Medical College, Belgaum, India B. S. Manjunathswamy M.D .Department of Dermatology, J.N. Medical College, Belgaum, India S.G.Karadesai M.D. Department of Microbiology, J.N. Medical College, Belgaum, India ABSTRACT Aim: To study the clinical and mycological profile of dermatophytosis in tertiary care hospital. Background and objectives: Dermatophytosis, a group of taxonomically closely related keratinophilic fungi called dermatophytes varies with geographical area as well as climatic conditions and there is vide variation in the spectrum of dermatophytic isolates. This study was aimed to understand the clinical and mycological profile of dermatophytosis. Methodology: The present one year cross sectional study from January 2013 to December 2013 was done in the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belgaum A total of 125 patients presenting with dermatophyte skin infection were subjected to clinical examination and KOH examination for fungi and culture. Results: The commonest clinical forms noted were Tinea corporis (52%) and Tinea cruris (43.2%). Most of the patients were males (67.2%) (male to female ratio 2:1) and Tinea corporis was the commonest clinical diagnosis (48.81%). The commonest age group was 21 to 30 years (36%) and had Tinea corporis (56%) commonly. 36.8% of the patients had duration of > 35 weeks. The commonest morphological variant was noted as annular (37.6%). The KOH examination was positive in 78.4% cases and culture was positive for fungus in 64.8% of the cases. In patients with positive culture, T. mentagrophyte was the commonest isolate (48.15%). The commonest dermatophyte isolated was Trichophyton (88.64%). Conclusion: There is wide variation in the clinical and mycological profile of dermatophytosis. The detection of emerging organisms may be help in the treatment and adequacy of current pharmacologic regimens. Key words: Dermatophytosis; Mycological profile; Skin infection; Tinea corporis; Tinea cruris; Introduction Dermatophytosis is characterized by the infection of keratinized tissues such as the epidermis, hair and nails. Distribution of dermatophytes varies with geographical area. Further, there is wide variation in the spectrum of dermatophytic isolates. To understand the burden and trend of dermatophytosis, surveillance of the disease plays an important role. Considering the above facts the present study was designed to know the clinical and mycological profile of dermatophytosis so as to elaborate the epidemiological data in the region which will help in understanding the disease pattern and burden which may not only aid in taking adequate measures to prevent the transmission but also help in preventing spread of infection thereby reducing the disease burden. Materials and method This one year cross sectional study of 125 patients presenting with dermatophytes skin infection was conducted in the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belgaum from January 2013 to December 2013. Patient who are on antifungal treatment and cases who did not provide informed consent were excluded from the study. A detailed history was taken regarding duration and progress of lesion in past age, sex, and occupation. A complete dermatological examination for type of the lesion, morphology and distribution was done along with general physical examination. Clinical material was collected for KOH examination and culture using standard mycological techniques. SDA (Sabourauds Dextrose Agar) with cycloheximide and chloramphenicol were used for culture. The media were incubated at 250C and 370C for a minimum period of three weeks. Positive cultures were examined both macroscopically and microscopically for species identification. Results: Based on the clinical examination findings the commonest clinical forms noted were Tinea corporis, Tinea cruris, Tinea pedis, Tinea unguim, Tinea capitis, Tinea faciei, Tinea mannum and Tinea barbae. Multiple clinical forms were present in almost one fifth of the study population and the commonest clinical form was noted as Tinea cruris with Tinea corporis. Most of the patients were males (67.2%) with male to female ratio of 2:1 and 48.81% of the males had clinical type of Tinea corporis. The commonest age group was 21 to 30 years (36%) and had Tinea corporis (56%) commonly. Most of the patients (36.8%) reported duration of > 35 weeks. Maximum cases were noted in the month of August (16%). The commonest morphological variant was noted as annular (37.6%). The KOH examination for fungus was positive in 78.4% of the cases and culture was positive for fungus in 64.8% of the cases. Among the patients with positive culture, T. mentagrophyte was the commonest isolate noted in 48.15% of the patients. The commonest dermatophyte isolated was noted as Trichophyton (88.64%). Discussion: In our study various clinical forms dermatophytic infections were noted. The commonest clinical form was Tinea corporis (52%) followed by Tinea cruris (43.2%), Tinea pedis (9.60%), Tinea unguim (7.2%), Tinea capitis (2.40%), Tinea faciei and Tinea mannum (1.60% each), and Tinea barbae (0.8%). A recent study from Mysore Karnataka by Surendran KAK et al1 also observed Tinea corporis (44.3%) as the most common clinical pattern. In our study multiple sites were involved among 23 cases. Of these, Tinea cruris and Tinea corporis were present in 17 (73.91%) and Tinea corporis and Tinea pedis in three (13.04%) cases. In the present study males were commonly affected that is, almost two third of the patients (67.2%) were males with male to female ratio of 2:1. Tinea corporis was the commonest clinical type of dermatophytosis among males (48.81%) while in females it accounted among 58.54% of the patients. Sen SS et al2 and Jain N et al3 reported 48% and 37% of the male with Tinea corporis while Bindu V et al4 reported 54.6% of males. In this study, maximum patients belonged to age between 21 to 30 years (36%) and the next common age group was 31 to 40 year (19.2%). This was in accordance with a recent study from Mysore by Surendran KAK et al,1 Karnataka where maximum number of cases encountered in the age group of 16-30 years (44%) followed by the age group of 31-45 years (26%). Other studies by Sen SS et al2 from Guwahati in 2006 and Sahai S et al5 from Lucknow in 2011 also reported commonest age group as 21 to 30 years (44% and 32.4% respectively). Among them 45 patients with age between 21 to 30 years, 25 (56%) had Tinea corporis and 8 (18%) had Tinea cruris. Similar findings were noted by Bindu V et al,4 Singh S et al,2 Sen SS et al2 and Jain N et al.3 In this study maximum cases were noted between June to September (37.6%) with peak in the month of August (16%) which is similar to the findings of Kalla G et al57 and Sumana V et al.6 In this study the commonest morphological variant was noted as Annular (37.6%). The present study KOH examination for fungus and culture was positive in 78.4% and 64.8% of the cases respectively. Of the 98 cases with positive KOH examination for fungus, 81 (82.65%) cases had positive culture. A study by Belukar et al.7 showed culture positivity of 71%, which was much higher and close to the present study. In this study, T. mentagrophyte was the commonest isolate noted in 48.15% of the patients followed by T. Rubrum (43.21%). In a study recent study from Mysore by Surendran KAK et al,1 T. rubrum was the chief organism isolated with a percentage of 67.5% while T. mentagrophytes (20%) isolates were found second in frequency. T. mentagrophytes are relatively more prevalent in south India.1 Conclusion: The KOH examination for fungus was positive in 78.4% of the cases and culture was positive for fungus in 64.8% and in patients with positive culture, T. mentagrophyte was the commonest isolate followed by T. rubrum (43.21%). Overall there is wide variation in the clinical and mycological profile of dermatophytosis. Further KOH examination for fungus and culture play an important role in the diagnosis of dermatophytosis. References 1.Surendran K, Bhat RM, Boloor R, Nandakishore B, Sukumar D. A clinical and mycological study of dermatophytic infections. Indian J Dermatol 2014;59:262-7 2.Sen SS, Rasul ES. Dermatophytosis in Assam. Indian J Med Microbiol 2006;24:77-8. 3.Jain N, Sharma M, Saxena VN. Clinico-mycological profile of dermatophytosis in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2008;74(3):274-5. 4.Bindu V, Pavithran K. Clinico-mycological study of dermatophytosis in Calicut. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2002;68(5):259-61. 5.Sahai S, Mishra D. Change in spectrum of dermatophytes isolated from superficial mycoses cases: First report from central India. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2011; 77(3): 335-6. 6.Sumana V, Singaracharya MA. Dermatophytosis in Khammam (Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh, India). Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2004;47(2):287-9. 7.sBelukar DD, Barmi RN, Karthikeyan S, Vadhavkar RS. A Mycological study dermatophytosis in Thane. Bombay Hosp J 2004;46:2.

Scarlet Letter Essay - :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is six in the morning at an Arizona prison. A prisoner named Jonas has been awoken by the prison bell, which sounds more like a horn, and signals that it is time for the prisoners to awake. Jonas quickly gets up, makes his bed and then stands at the door of his cell awaiting a prison guard who will be doing the daily check of his cell. While waiting for the guard, Jonas thinks to himself about what his day will be like, but he soon realizes that it will be the same as the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so on. Jonas then grows quickly depressed, for he realizes, as he always does, that his life is filled with repetition and he is trapped by it. Like Jonas, many characters in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, experience the feeling of being caught in one way or another . Among those characters are Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl Prynne and Hester Prynne. These characters are truly affected by entrapment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From beginning to end, many factors contribute to making Mr. Dimmesdale feel trapped in one way or another. To start, he is trapped in silence and pain. His need to be silent and the pain that he feels because of it, is shown when he says to Hester Prynne, in front of the town,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hester Prynne, ... I charge thee to speak out the name of thy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him , except   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   it tempt him-yea, compel him, as it were-to add hyprocisy to sin?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   mayest work out an open triumph over evil within thee, and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   sorrow without. Take heed how thou deniest to him-who   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself - the bitter,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips! (Hawthorne, 62). The town does not know it yet, but Mr. Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne’s fellow sinner.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement Essay -- CAFTA International

The Central American Free Trade Agreement CAFTA is a proposed international free trade agreement between the United States and numerous countries within Central America. Some of the nations who could potentially participate in this treaty are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. This proposed agreement stems primarily from the fact the United States relies on Central America as a primary export market. In fact, it is believed this area of world is Americas 18th largest export target. Another contributing factor to the proposed agreement comes from what is believed to be an unfair trade policy. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Central American countries had many tariffs slashed under what is known as the Caribbean Basin Initiative. This initiative allowed around 74% of all exports to America to arrive duty free. Meanwhile, U.S. goods entering their region faced of much deeper import duty of roughly 10%. All in all, the U.S. government believes this act will solidify democracy and level the playi ng field for future products produced by the United States. From the very beginning, The United States has gone to great lengths to express the upside to altering this existing policy. The country takes the stand that this will benefit both parties by allowing greater access to the U.S. market. The U.S. has also continually used the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a model for the policies potential success. Current government leaders contend CAFTA will benefit all American consumers buy opening up a broader spectrum of trade. They also believe putting this policy into action will promote a more modern concept of trade in Central America, allowing the region to continue in economic development and democratic governance. Perhaps the biggest benefit occurring from CAFTA would be the eventual promoting of U.S. exports. Opening this trade agreement would broaden the spectrum in which U.S. goods are bought and sold. This of course would widen the market allowing for a stronger American economy as a result of a bigger consumer base. Furthermore, a bigger consumer base overseas creates a direct result of a need for more production here at home. In the simplest of terms, that means more jobs here there for creating a stronger economy. Besides all the numbers and economic figures, America also benefits by spreading the philoso... ...e they say, who should be in the forefront of our decision making. Creating a position on CAFTA is a hard and complicated process. There are so many angles to be viewed that it makes a definitive stance almost impossible. When simply going over the general facts it is very apparent both sides create some excellent points. Hypothetically, the United States argument is correct in the fact creating worldwide trade does open the doors for growth and economic expansion. Trade agreements no doubt break down barriers and provide a more cohesive policy. However, the possible side effects can not be ignored, especially in an area as delicate as Central America. In an economy that thin it is dangerous to say the least to alter their entire system and try to mold it after a huge and stable democracy. Just because it works for us does not necessarily mean it will create benefits for them. Furthermore, to throw this policy upon a country that is uneducated in its principles is down right ignorant, and reeks of a self serving motive. Due to this fact, I believe i t is in Central America’s best interest to reject the CAFTA proposal, and perhaps wait for a more proven and solid trade philosophy.

Building Your Own Legacy: A Retirement Speech

It was 1966 when a young [man/woman] entered this company immature and raw, with an overall purpose of doing nothing but being able to exit it with the accomplishment that only the best employees could have done.This [man/woman] who is now about to exit the door of this company, now proudly declares that the best thing that an employee could have done in [his/her] working career is being able to leave behind a legacy that is unique to [his/her] characteristic and ability, receptive to all obtainable opportunities, passionate to all types of toil or hustle, and commendable to as many colleagues as the situation can.On this day, we commemorate the celebration of this [man/woman]’s retirement in a profession where only the striving is able to reach the end of the road, with a pen in the right hand and a pad on the left, regardless of our company’s opportunities, objectives, and general mission. This [man/woman] was able to contribute a great deal to us.It was the year 1973 when [he/she] was given an integrity award for being able to write a forty-two-paged report on the MA Hub Jetliner Crash in Boston on July of that same year. By 1979, [he/she] was declared as The Most Valuable Employee of the Year for having been driven public contribution that reached $2. 3 million in totality for the Give a Gift on Christmas. It was an award that repeated again in 1983 for our Share a Lot Project that gave the company recognition award from the U.  S. Department of Labor.There were also awards, recognitions and special accolades in the years 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2003, and 2008 for achievements, which told us that this [man/woman] born in [name of city] is one that redefined the true meaning of what a real employee is: one that is built in true service of his department and the company for the betterment of the public and the country.It appears that the self is worthless without the passion to serve other people for a future that is bright, bountiful, and boo ming. Reference Events that touched our ancestors’ lives. (2008). Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www3. gendisasters. com/taxonomy_menu/4/239.

Employee Relations Management

Employee Relations is a process of managing diversity, flexibility and change, which involves maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, and morale. Employee Relations is concerned with preventing and resolving problems involving individuals, which arise out of or affect work situations.Employee Relations cover all areas such as employer & employee relationship, communication, employee participation and involvement, developments in collective bargaining, equal opportunities, grievances handling, disciplinary management, health and safety, industrial relations and employment protection law, organizational change and people, personnel and recruitment and quality of working life etc. Today employers should now be undertaking an in-depth review of their approach to employment relations.Organisations which out-perform their competitors do so because they apply a coherent set of people management and development practices appropria te to their needs. Successful organisations are increasingly those which have a constructive relationship with employees and a management approach which enables them to develop and draw on the full potential of their people. Considerable improvements have been made to the practice of employment relations in recent years. People are working hard and enjoy going to work. They want to learn.However, while the damaging effects of poor relations have been radically reduced, many organisations are failing to secure the positive benefits that are available from improving them. Economic pressures dictate that organisations will change more frequently than in the past. Technology and the demand for customised services are shifting managerial focus towards knowledge management and people as their key differentiators. This will require substantial changes in the understanding and behaviour of the people who work in organisations.Employees will need to extend their skills and use them more effe ctively. But change initiatives often fail to deliver the results expected of them, largely because people issues have been neglected or not fully thought through. The test of employment relationships in the future will be their effect on managing change and eliciting employees’ willing contribution. 2. EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS From the beginning of organized work activity when first one person directed the work of others, the subject of industrial relationsUntil the end of the 1970s, the acceptance of adversarial industrial relations, and therefore the need to resolve conflict, as being the natural order led both management and unions to from develop collective bargaining to a fine art. At the end of the 1970s, the employee relations entered into a new era. Disorderly collective bargaining played its part in bringing down the elected government and marked the start of a new era during which much of the legislation underpinning trade union influence was removed and rep laced by new legislation limiting the scope for damaging industrial action.Instead, a growing coalition of interests aimed at the maintenance of industrial peace and price stability in the context of substantial inward investment resulted in their making social partnership work at the national level. Similarly, in other major countries in Europe, social partnership at national level did not break down in the way in which it did in the UK. There is no doubt that attitudes to work and relationships at work have changed since the year 1970s.The driving force for much change has been economic and the agenda has been framed by managers. Working patterns and practices have become more flexible and managers are using people more effectively. The term ‘Employee Relations’ was conceived as a replacement for the term ‘Industrial Relations’. Industrial relations is generally understood to refer the relationship between employers and employees collectively. The decline of industrial relations can be measured on number of different dimensions.From peak of some 12 million plus union memberships has fallen to around 7 million today. Between 1980 and 2000, the coverage of collective agreements contracted from over three-quarters to under a third of employed workforce. At the same time, the range of issues over which bargaining took place decreased massively. The content of collective bargaining has been reflected in a dramatic reduction in industrial actions since 1980. 3. IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON EMPLOYEE RELATIONSWhile there is widespread agreement that changes in the international economy associated with globalisation have important consequences for employment relations, there are fewer consensuses about their nature and significance. One view is that globalization has created pressures for convergence between different countries in regard to employment relations. Another is that national level institutions play a mediating role in maintaining c ross-national differences, leading to divergence.A third school rejects the convergence/divergence dichotomy and argues that complex interactions between global and national (or local) forces shape employment relations outcomes. 4. CHALLENGES IN 21ST CENTURY Customers have become more demanding. They want increasingly high quality service and they want to know that the latest technology at the lowest price is available. The achievement of business goals and financial returns is increasingly depend on delivery by organizations employees, where the employee relations play major role.The communication is the glue that makes policies real when they are ineffective. Two-way communication in employee relations is highly necessary in today’s situations. Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence. The qualities required include focusing on positive behaviours and outcomes, taking a positive problem solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending s olutions and being able to offer sound advice to senior management on implementations. The ability to manage conflict remains a key issue for many organizations.Mediations as a method or technique of resolving work place issues represents an important shift from the traditional industrial relations framework, with its emphasis on formal discipline and grievance procedures, towards more of a ‘win-win’ approach consisted with the philosophy of human resources management. Commitment and employee engagement are crucial to performance but they are not consistently high enough in HR- priorities. The employee information and consultation are helpful in raising the profile of employee voice and involvement.More effort need to be put into training and supporting employees to achieve their job objectives. As examples, team-working and change management as the basis off establishing and maintaining motivation and commitment, is among one of critical role of employee relations mana gers these days. 5. CONCLUSION Employee relation is maintaining employee – employer relationship that contributing to satisfactory productivity, motivating employees and ensuring healthy employee morale.The most successful organisations are those which have constructive relationships with employees and a management approach which enables them to develop and draw on the full potential of their people. Considerable improvements have been made to the practice of employment relations in recent years. People are working hard and enjoy going to work. They want to learn. However, while the damaging effects of poor relations have been radically reduced, many organisations are failing to secure the positive benefits that are available from improving them.

Kant’s Approach to Ethics and the Issue of Suicide Essay

The Renowned German philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the most influential philosophers of the modern age, whose thought, with its emphasis on the subject, turned the wheels of western philosophy to a new synthesis of idealism and realism in the form of transcendentalism. His ethical theory, developed in his reputed book The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, has to be taken along with the spirit of philosophy that enshrines his three Critiques whenever one attempts a critique on ethical issues like suicide as a gesture of self-love. Body of the Essay (Can suicide be ethical? ) Kant holds the theory of intrinsic morality based on the autonomy of human will. Good is good by itself, and the right is right by itself. It doesn’t depend upon the consequences or effects of the action for a human action to be right or wrong. According to Kantian deontological theory of ethics, committing suicide is wrong and unacceptable from any perspective since it is an action that goes against the categorical imperative he proposed as the norm for ethical decisions. His Categorical Imperative runs thus: â€Å"Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. † (Wolf Robert Paul (ed) Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals: text and critical essays. 1969. p. 44). Each individual subject should decide for himself and act in such a way that he wills that his maxim should be a universal law. (Wolf, p. 21). Let us now take up the issue of suicide. Suicide may be a personally-decided act, on selfish reasons, emotions or recommendations from physical situations (as in the case of euthanasia). In whatever respects it may be, it goes against the Categorical Imperative, and hence, it is inherently or intrinsically wrong to commit it. Kant argues that committing suicide out of self-love is contrary to the categorical imperative because there is â€Å"a contradiction in a system of nature, whose law would be to destroy life by the feeling whose special office is to impel the improvement of life. † (Wolf, p. 45). Rather he thinks that the destruction of life is incompatible with its improvement and that nature always chooses organs adapted to their purpose (p. 13), so that nature couldn’t (or wouldn’t? ) allow self-love to be used in a way contrary to its purpose which is improvement and nurture of life. In accordance with Kant’s intrinsic morality, the categorical imperative also supports a Practical Imperative, that one has to act so that one treats humanity, whether in his own person or in that of another, always as an end in itself and never as a means only. (Wolf, p. 54). One has to respect and support one’s life because of the dignity implied within. By dignity, he means, â€Å"unconditional and incomparable worth† (Wolf, p. 61). Kant supports this theory with his theory of incommensurability, which holds that moral virtue is infinitely better than anything else. From the perspective of human dignity as well, suicide seems to be an unbecoming action for humans. Conclusion For Kant, reason holds the supreme position (as elaborated in Critique of Pure Reason), and ethics as science, is not rooted in religion or metaphysics, but rather on the inherent worth of existence. Hence, suicide is an unacceptable mode of action even from the perspective of self-love. Love nourishes and does rarely destroy. And even when a bit of destruction is involved, it is only to nurture better that it destroys. Suicide is total destruction without nurture and thus contradicts the very nature of self-love. References Gregory, Mary (ed)(1998) Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant. New York: Cambridge University Press Henson, Richards (1979). â€Å"What Kant Might Have Said: Moral Worth and the Over-determination of Dutiful Action†, in Phil. Review, January, 1979, pp. 39-54). Smith, Norman Kemp (trans. ) (1965) Critique of Pure Reason. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Wolf, Robert Paul (ed. ) (1969) Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals: text and critical essays. trans. , by Lewis White Beck. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.

The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Eleven

â€Å"The nameis Salvatore. As in savior,† he said. There was a brief flash of white teeth in the darkness. Elena looked down. The overhang of the roof obscured the balcony, but she could hear shuffling sounds down there. But they were not the sounds of pursuit, and there was no sign that her companion's words had been overheard. A minute later, she heard the french windows close. â€Å"I thought it was Smith,† she said, still looking down into the darkness. Damon laughed. It was a terribly engaging laugh, without the bitter edge of Stefan's. It made her think of the rainbow lights on the crow's feathers. Nevertheless, she was not fooled. Charming as he seemed, Damon was dangerous almost beyond imagination. That graceful, lounging body was ten times stronger than a human's. Those lazy dark eyes were adapted to seeing perfectly at night. The long-fingered hand that had pulled her up to the roof could move with impossible quickness. And, most disturbing of all, his mind was the mind of a killer. A predator. She could feel it just beneath his surface. He wasdifferent from a human. He had lived so long by hunting and killing that he'd forgotten any other way. And he enjoyed it, not fighting his nature as Stefan did, but glorying in it. He had no morals and no conscience, and she was trapped here with him in the middle of the night. She settled back on one heel, ready to jump into action at any minute. She ought to be angry with him now, after what he'd done to her in the dream. She was, but there was no point in expressing it. He knew how furious she must be, and he would only laugh at her if she told him. She watched him quietly, intently, waiting for his next move. But he didn't move. Those hands that could dart as quickly as striking snakes rested motionlessly on his knees. His expression reminded her of the way he'd looked at her once before. The first time they'd met she'd seen the same guarded, reluctant respect in his eyes – except that then there had also been surprise. â€Å"You're not going to scream at me? Or faint?† he said, as if offering her the standard options. Elena was still watching him. He was much stronger than she was, and faster, but if she needed to she thought she could get to the edge of the roof before he reached her. It was a thirty foot drop if she missed the balcony, but she might decide to risk it. It all depended on Damon. â€Å"I don't faint,† she said shortly. â€Å"And why should I scream at you? We were playing a game. I was stupid that night and so I lost. You warned me in the graveyard about the consequences.† His lips parted in a quick breath and he looked away. â€Å"I may just have to make you my Queen of Shadows,† he said, and, speaking almost to himself, he continued: â€Å"I've had many companions, girls as young as you and women who were the beauties of Europe. Butyou're the one I want at my side. Ruling, taking what we want when we want it. Feared and worshipped by all the weaker souls. Would that be so bad?† â€Å"Iam one of the weaker souls,† Elena said. â€Å"And you and I are enemies, Damon. We can never be anything else.† â€Å"Are you sure?† He looked at her, and she could feel the power of his mind as it touched hers, like the brush of those long fingers. But there was no dizziness, no feeling of weakness or succumbing. That afternoon she'd had a long soak, as she always did these days, in a hot bath sprinkled with dried vervain. Damon's eyes flashed with understanding, but he took the setback with good grace. â€Å"What are you doing here?† he said casually. It was strange, but she felt no need to lie to him. â€Å"Caroline took something that belonged to me. A diary. I came to get it back.† A new look flickered in the dark eyes. â€Å"Undoubtedly to protect my worthless brother somehow,† he said, annoyed. â€Å"Stefan isn't involved in this!† â€Å"Oh, isn't he?† She was afraid he understood more than she meant him to. â€Å"Strange, he always seems to be involved when there's trouble. Hecreates problems. Now, if he were out of the picture†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena spoke steadily. â€Å"If you hurt Stefan again I'll make you sorry. I'll find some way to make you wish you hadn't, Damon. I mean it.† â€Å"I see. Well, then, I'll just have to work onyou , won't I?† Elena said nothing. She'd talked herself into a corner, agreeing to play this deadly game of his again. She looked away. â€Å"I'm going to have you in the end, you know,† he said softly. It was the voice he'd used at the party, when he'd said, â€Å"Easy, easy.† There was no mockery or malice now; he was simply stating a fact. â€Å"By hook or by crook, as you people say – that's a nice phrase – you'll be mine before the next snow flies.† Elena tried to conceal the chill she felt, but she knew he saw anyway. â€Å"Abusiness proposition?† â€Å"Exactly. You came here to get a diary. But you haven't got it.† He indicated her empty hands. â€Å"You failed, didn't you?† When Elena made no reply he went on. â€Å"And since you don't want my brother involved , he can't help you. But I can. And I will.† â€Å"You will?† â€Å"Of course. For a price.† Elena stared at him. Blood flamed in her face. When she managed to get words out, they would come only in a whisper. â€Å"What – price?† A smile gleamed out of the darkness. â€Å"A few minutes of your time, Elena. A few drops of your blood. An hour or so spent with me, alone.† â€Å"You†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena couldn't find the right word. Every epithet she knew was too mild. â€Å"I'll have it anyway, eventually,† he said in a reasonable tone. â€Å"If you're honest, you'll admit that to yourself. Last time wasn't the last. Why not accept that?† His voice dropped to a warm, intimate timbre. â€Å"Remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'd rather cut my throat,† she said. â€Å"An intriguing thought. But I can do it so much more enjoyably.† He was laughing at her. Somehow, on top of everything else today, this was too much. â€Å"You're disgusting; you know that,† she said. â€Å"You're sickening.† She was shaking now, and she couldn't breathe. â€Å"I'd die before I'd give in to you. I'd rather – â€Å" She wasn't sure what made her do it. When she was with Damon a sort of instinct took over her. And at that moment, she did feel that she'd rather risk anything than let him win this time. She noticed, with half her mind, that he was sitting back, relaxed, enjoying the turn his game was taking. The other half of her mind was calculating how far the roof overhung the balcony. â€Å"I'd rather do this,† she said, and flung herself sideways. She was right; he was off guard and couldn't move fast enough to stop her. She felt free space below her feet and spinning terror as she realized the balcony was farther back than she'd thought. She was going to miss it. But she hadn't reckoned on Damon. His hand shot out, not quick enough to keep her on the roof, but keeping her from falling any farther. It was as if her weight was nothing to him. Reflexively, Elena grasped the shingled edge of the roof and tried to get a knee up. â€Å"Let go of me,† said Elena through her teeth. Someone was going to come out on that balcony at any second, she was sure of it. â€Å"Let go of me.† â€Å"Here and now?† Looking into those unfathomable black eyes, she realized he was serious. If she said yes he would drop her. â€Å"It would be a fast way to end things, wouldn't it?† she said. Her heart was pounding in fear, but she refused to let him see that. â€Å"But such a waste.† With one motion, he jerked her to safety. To himself. His arms tightened around her, pressing her to the lean hardness of his body, and suddenly Elena could see nothing. She was enveloped. Then she felt those flat muscles gathering themselves like some great cat's, and the two of them launched into space. She was falling. She couldn't help but cling to him as the only solid thing in the rushing world around her. Then he landed, catlike, taking the impact easily. Stefan had done something similar once. But Stefan had not held her this way afterward, bruisingly close, with his lips almost in contact with hers. â€Å"Think about my proposition,† he said. She could not move or look away. And this time she knew that it was no Power that he was using, but simply the wildfire attraction between them. It was useless to deny it; her body responded to his. She could feel his breath on her lips. â€Å"I don't need you for anything,† she told him. She thought he was going to kiss her then, but he didn't. Above them there was the sound of french windows opening and an angry voice on the balcony. â€Å"Hey! What's going on? Is somebody out there?† â€Å"This time I did you a favor,† Damon said, very softly, still holding her. â€Å"Next time I'm going to collect.† She couldn't have turned her head away. If he'd kissed her then, she would have let him. But suddenly the hardness of his arms melted around her and his face seemed to blur. It was as if the darkness was taking him back into itself. Then black wings caught and beat the air and a huge crow was soaring away. Something, a book or shoe, was hurled after it from the balcony. It missed by a yard. â€Å"Damn birds!† said Mr. Forbes's voice from above. â€Å"They must be nesting on the roof.† Shivering, with her arms locked around her, Elena huddled in the darkness below until he went back inside. She found Meredith and Bonnie crouching by the gate. â€Å"What took you so long?† Bonnie whispered. â€Å"We thought you were caught!† â€Å"I almost was. I had to stay until it was safe.† Elena was so used to lying about Damon that she did it now without conscious effort. â€Å"Let's go home,† she whispered. â€Å"There's nothing more we can do.† â€Å"I know.† For a moment Damon's proposition swam in Elena's mind. But she shook her head to clear it. â€Å"I'll think of something,† she said. She hadn't thought of anything by the next day of school. The one encouraging fact was that Caroline didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss in her room – but that wasall Elena could find to be encouraged about. There was an assembly that morning, at which it was announced that the school board had chosen Elena as the student to represent â€Å"The Spirit of Fell's Church.† All through the principal's speech about it, Caroline's smile had blazed forth, triumphant and malicious. Elena tried to ignore it. She did her best to ignore the slights and snubs that came even in the wake of the assembly, but it wasn't easy. It was never easy, and there were days when she thought she would hit someone or just start screaming, but so far she'd managed. That afternoon, waiting for the sixth-period history class to be let out, Elena studied Tyler Smallwood. Since coming back to school, he had not addressed one word to her directly. He'd smiled as nastily as Caroline during the principal's announcement. Now, as he caught sight of Elena standing alone, he jostled Dick Carter with his elbow. â€Å"What's that there?† he said. â€Å"A wallflower?† Stefan, where are you? thought Elena. But she knew the answer to that. Halfway across school, in astronomy class. Dick opened his mouth to say something, but then his expression changed. He was looking beyond Elena, down the hall. Elena turned and saw Vickie. Vickie and Dick had been together before the Homecoming Dance. Elena supposed they still were. But Dick looked uncertain, as if he wasn't sure what to expect from the girl who was moving toward him. There was something odd about Vickie's face, about her walk. She was moving as if her feet didn't touch the floor. Her eyes were dilated and dreamy. â€Å"Hi there,† Dick said tentatively, and he stepped in front of her. Vickie passed him without a glance and went on to Tyler. Elena watched what happened next with growing uneasiness. It should have been funny, but it wasn't. It started with Tyler looking somewhat taken aback. Then Vickie put a hand on his chest. Tyler smiled, but there was a forced look about it. Vickie slid her hand under his jacket. Tyler's smile wavered. Vickie put her other hand on his chest. Tyler looked at Dick. â€Å"Hey, Vickie, lighten up,† said Dick hastily, but he didn't move any closer. Vickie slid her two hands upwards, pushing Tyler's jacket off his shoulders. He tried to shrug it back on without letting go of his books or seeming too concerned. He couldn't. Vickie's fingers crept under his shirt. â€Å"Hey, Vickie, leggo. Don't do that.† But Dick remained at a safe distance. Tyler shot him an enraged glare and tried to shove Vickie away. A noise had begun. At first it seemed to be at a frequency almost too low for human hearing, but it grew louder and louder. A growl, eerily menacing, that sent ice down Elena's spine. Tyler was looking pop-eyed with disbelief, and she soon realized why. The sound was coming from Vickie. Then everything happened at once. Tyler was on the ground with Vickie's teeth snapping inches from his throat. Elena, all quarrels forgotten, was trying to help Dick pull her off. Tyler was howling. The history room door was open and Alaric was shouting. â€Å"Don't hurt her! Be careful! It's epilepsy, we just need to get her lying down!† Vickie's teeth snapped again as he reached a helpful hand into the melee. The slender girl was stronger than all of them together, and they were losing control of her. They weren't going to be able to hold her much longer. It was with intense relief that Elena heard a familiar voice at her shoulder. â€Å"Vickie, calm down. It's all right. Just relax now. With Stefan grasping Vickie's arm and talking to her soothingly, Elena dared to slacken her own grip. And it seemed, at first, that Stefan's strategy was working. Vickie's clawing fingers loosened, and they were able to lift her off Tyler. As Stefan kept speaking to her, she went limp and her eyes shut. â€Å"That's good. You're feeling tired now. It's all right to go to sleep.† But then, abruptly, it stopped working, and whatever Power Stefan had been exercising over her was broken. Vickie's eyes flew open, and they bore no resemblance to the startled fawn's eyes Elena had seen in the cafeteria. They were blazing with red fury. She snarled at Stefan and burst out fighting with fresh strength. It took five or six of them to hold her down while somebody called the police. Elena stayed where she was, talking to Vickie, sometimes yelling at her, until the police got there. None of it did any good. Then she stepped back and saw the crowd of onlookers for the first time. Bonnie was in the front row, staring open-mouthed. So was Caroline. â€Å"Whathappened !† said Bonnie as the officials carried Vickie away. Elena, panting gently, pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. â€Å"She went crazy and tried to undress Tyler.† Bonnie pursed her lips. â€Å"Well, she'd have to be crazy towant to, wouldn't she?† And she threw a smirk over her shoulder directly at Caroline. Elena's knees were rubbery and her hands were shaking. She felt an arm go around her, and she leaned against Stefan gratefully. Then she looked up at him. â€Å"Epilepsy?† she said with disbelieving scorn. â€Å"I think class was just dismissed,† Stefan said. â€Å"Let's go.† They walked toward the boarding house in silence, each lost in thought. Elena frowned, and several times glanced over at Stefan, but it wasn't until they were alone in his room that she spoke. â€Å"Stefan, what is all this? What's happening to Vickie?† â€Å"That's what I've been wondering. There's only one explanation I can think of, and it's that she's still under attack.† â€Å"You mean Damon's still – oh, my God! Oh, Stefan, I should have given her some of the vervain. I should have realized†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It wouldn't have made any difference. Believe me.† She had turned toward the door as if to go after Vickie that minute, but he pulled her gently back. â€Å"Some people are more easily influenced than others, Elena. Vickie's will was never very strong. It belongs to him, now.† Slowly, Elena sat down. â€Å"Then there's nothing anyone can do? But, Stefan, will she become – like you and Damon?† â€Å"It depends.† His tone was bleak. â€Å"It's not just a matter of how much blood she loses. She needshis blood in her veins to make the change complete. Otherwise, she'll just end up like Mr. Tanner. Drained, used up. Dead.† Elena took a long breath. There was something else she wanted to ask him about, something she'd wanted to ask him for a long time. â€Å"Stefan, when you spoke to Vickie back there, I thought it was working. You were using your Powers on her, weren't you?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But then she just went crazy again. What I mean is†¦ Stefan, youare okay, aren't you? Your Powers have come back?† He didn't answer. But that was answer enough for her. â€Å"Stefan, why didn't you tell me? What's wrong?† She went around and knelt by him so that he had to look at her. â€Å"It's taking me a while to recover, that's all. Don't worry about it.† â€Å"Iam worried. Isn't there anything we can do?† â€Å"No,† he said. But his eyes dropped. Comprehension swept through Elena. â€Å"Oh,† she whispered, sitting back. Then she reached for him again, trying to get hold of his hands. â€Å"Stefan, listen to me – â€Å" â€Å"Elena,no. Don't you see? It's dangerous, dangerous for both of us, but especially for you. It could kill â€Å"Only if you lose control,† she said. â€Å"And you won't. Kiss me.† â€Å"No,† said Stefan again. He added, less harshly, â€Å"I'll go out hunting tonight as soon as it's dark.† â€Å"Is that the same?† she said. She knew it wasn't. It was human blood that gave Power. â€Å"Oh, Stefan, please; don't you see I want to? Don'tyou want to?† â€Å"That isn't fair,† he said, his eyes tortured. â€Å"You know it isn't, Elena. You know how much – † He turned away from her again, his hands clenched into fists. â€Å"Then why not? Stefan, I need†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She couldn't finish. She couldn't explain to him what she needed; it was a need for connection to him, for closeness. She needed to remember what it was like with him, to wipe out the memory of dancing in her dream and of Damon's arms locked around her. â€Å"I need us to be together again,† she whispered. Stefan was still turned away, and he shook his head. â€Å"All right,† Elena whispered, but she felt a wash of grief and fear as defeat seeped into her bones. Most of the fear was for Stefan, who was vulnerable without his Powers, vulnerable enough that he might be hurt by the ordinary citizens of Fell's Church. But some of it was for herself.

Achieving Happiness

Nowadays we believe that if we are wealthy and have material possessions we would be happy and content with our lives. Is this really the case, how does money and materialistic items help us achieve happiness? If we look at celebrities, athletes, or individuals who possess large sums of wealth and material possessions we believe they are the happiest individuals; that they have everything and buy anything. However, are they really content with their lives? In Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, she explains that to be happy it must come from inside oneself; you must do the things you love, have fun, freedom, be positive, and most important that inner drive to push you on the right track in becoming happy. Rubin realizing she was in danger of wasting her life gave herself a year to conduct a happiness project; to not only become happier, but also to be more satisfied and content with every life. Every month she completed a different set of resolutions to help her along the way. Nonetheless, Rubin was innately motivated to achieve true happiness and had that inner drive to change old habits and create new ones. Moreover, the methods Rubin used to become happy relates to Daniel H. Pink’s book Drive. Pink helps us understand whether or not happiness comes from outside sources or is it within oneself to make the change. His study on extrinsic forces such as money or material possession implies that these only keeps people happy for a short period of time; on the other hand intrinsic forces such as ones inner drive is a greater force than outside influences. Rubin also used intrinsic motivation to commit to her happiness project and commit to her daily habits. Charles Duhigg defines habit as â€Å" Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit explains how we human beings can change addictive habits or create new and healthy ones. Rubin created and changed habits such as, keeping a low temper, and having more fun. Her overwhelming happiness rubbed off on others and ultimately changed the atmosphere around her house and friends. This emotional contagion relates to Lauren Slater’s text book Opening Skinners Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century where she explains two cientists John Darley and Bibb Latane’s who conducted an experiment to test the reaction of a naive subject; and if that naive subject attempted to aid themselves or others when something disastrous or out of the ordinary occurred. Rubin’s intrinsic motivation based on Drive, her creation of her habit loop and changing of habits explained by Duhigg, and social imitation based on Darley and Latane’s smoke experiment motivated her to change her habits, and become happier and content with her life. Gretchen Rubin was a mother of two young beautiful daughters, seven-year old Eliza and one-year old Eleanor. She was married to a handsome man named Jamie who loved her as much as she did. Rubin lived in New York City and was a full time writer. However, one April morning Rubin was sitting on a bus looking through rain spattered windows when realized she was in danger of wasting her life. She did not feel happy; she had everything: a loving husband, a loving family, two beautiful kids, friends, wealth, but she did not feel happy. Rubin describes â€Å"I wasn’t depressed and I wasn’t having a midlife crisis, but I was suffering from midlife malaise† (2). This midlife malaise was a sense of discontent and feeling of disbelief that she could not do and accomplish anything. As a result of being frustrated and unhappy, Rubin started her own happiness project; every month she set out 4 to 5 resolutions she wished to accomplish by the end of the month for one whole year. These goals led her to intrinsically motivate herself to start a long and dedicated track towards happiness. During the month of January she was dedicated to boost her energy and vitality; she had five resolutions to accomplish during that month: going to sleep earlier, exercising better, organizing her entire house, tackling a nagging task, and acting more energetic. Furthermore, these resolutions had to rely on being intrinsically motivated to complete them. Pink defines intrinsic motivation as â€Å"that enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and pervasive driver† (21). Her 2nd goal during January was to exercise better; however, her father used extrinsic motivation to try to make her exercise. Rubin says â€Å"with extrinsic motivation, people act to win external rewards or avoid external punishments† (22). As a result Rubin never became too fond of exercising on her own; only when someone forced her to she would. However, with this exercising goal, she inertly motivated herself to try to exercise every day; she did this to make herself feel better, boost energy, and look better. Studies show that when someone feels and looks better; they will be much happier with the way they look and feel. At the end of January Rubin was off to a promising start; she had been intrinsically motivated to become happier and rewarded herself with a check mark on her resolution chart, which made it easier for her to be motivated and stick with her happiness project. All the resolutions Rubin followed during every month were mostly habits that had to be developed. During the month of April, one of her resolutions was to sing in the morning. This was where instead of lashing out on her kids or husband as she used to do, she would try to sing their mistakes or complaints and make them laugh. This took extreme discipline for Rubin, because it was a habit of hers to attain a quick temper and lash out on her kids or husband. This is where the habit loop and golden rule of habit change comes into play. Duhigg defines the habit loop as â€Å"a loop which consists of the cue, routine, reward; cute, routine, reward becomes more and more automatic† (19). The cue is the trigger that tells your brain to go into instinctive mode and which habits to use† (19). Secondly, the routine is the action or addiction itself, it can be done mentally, emotionally, or physically (Duhigg 19). Lastly the reward is the pleasure and satisfaction in executing a habit. Rubin’s cue before her habit change was when her husband or kids complained about anything such as, when Rubin was changing Eleanor’s diaper and Eliza was complaining that she had not eaten her breakfast (Rubin 95). Her routine whenever this complaining occurred was lashing out or getting upset and lastly her reward was silence or the job getting done. According to Duhigg, the â€Å"golden rule of habit change is only achievable if you use the same cue; provide the same reward, but modify the routine to successfully change the habit† (62). Her new habit to sing in the morning changed her previous routine of lashing out to sing her child’s or husbands complaint and make them laugh and have silence. The cue was still the complaining and the reward was still silence or getting the job done. Rubin describes â€Å" One morning Eliza whined ‘why do I have to go to class today? I don’t want to go to tae kwon do ,’ I wanted to snap back, ‘ you always say you don’t want to go, but then you have fun,’ or ‘I don’t like to hear all this grumbling. ’ instead, even thou it wasn’t easy, I sang out ‘ I on’t want to go tae kwon do’† (96). This type of mentality in dealing with kids or spouses increases happiness and helps marital and child relations. This habit change allowed Rubin to not only deal with problems in a positive way, but also allowed her to spread happiness in an easy, but effective manner. Moreover, another habit that Rub in changed was during the month of June; she always had a problem with gossiping. However, one of her resolutions for that month was to stop gossiping all together. To obtain long term happiness, you must give up something that brings short term happiness; such as gossiping (Rubin 155). This short term happiness of gossiping is increasingly fun for social functions, but it is not a nice thing to do and whenever you say critical things about other people the spontaneous trait transference occurs. The spontaneous trait transference is a psychological phenomenon where people unintentionally transfer traits to the people who ascribe them (Rubin 156). For instance, if I was to tell Josh that Bill is ignorant; Josh would believe I was also ignorant. As a result Rubin wished to stop. Furthermore, her cue before stopping was an urge or a juicy story, the routine was talking excessively about it and lastly the reward was the happiness and satisfaction she gossiped. Moreover, she stopped her gossiping by replacing the routine with either walking away or defending the person individuals were talking about. Rubin shares an experience â€Å"I was at a meeting when someone mentioned of mutual acquaintances, ‘I heard that their marriage was in trouble. ’ ‘I hadn’t heard that,’ someone replied. So fill us in was the implication of her tone. ‘Oh I don’t think that’s true,’ I said dismissively. Let’s not talk about that was the implication of my tone† (155). Furthermore, two scientists John Darley and Bibb Latane conducted an experiment to test whether or not human beings are driven by social imitation. To test this they brought in three college students; two as actors and one as a naive subject and told them to fill out a questionnaire on college life. A few minutes into the experiment, nonhazardous smoke began to flow out from vents and captivate the room. The two actors continued to fill out the form, but the naive subject was more interested in the heavy smoke pouring out like cream. Slater describes â€Å"The confederates were instructed to keep filling out their forms, to display no fear. They did. The smoke started pouring like cream, coming faster, heavier, smearing the air and blotting out figures, faces. The smoke was an irritant and caused one to cough. Each time, the naive subject looked alarmed, looked at the smoke going from wisp to waft, looked at the calm confederates, and then, clearly confused, went back to filling out the questionnaire†(104). The results were extraordinary; the naive subject imitated the actors in the room, doing nothing about the smoke. Slater described â€Å"we are driven by imitation† (IDK). This experiment shows that we are driven by social imitation; copying other people to please ourselves and feel comfortable rather than feeling out of place. However, can this be related to happiness? Rubin described â€Å"a phenomenon called ‘emotional contagion’ is unconsciously catching emotions from other peoplewhether good moods or bad ones (127). Thus, social imitation and emotional contagion are the same; For example, we all have that friend that has a â€Å"contagious laughter†. Why do you think that is? Well, because of that friend’s continuous laughter, everyone else in the group may start to inexplicably feel the same way, sometimes without even realizing what is causing their reaction. During May, one of Rubin’s resolutions was to take time to be silly. Even though controlling her temper by singing complaints had done wonders, Rubin wanted even more happiness around her home. She wanted to create a happy atmosphere. One day while putting groceries away, Rubin used two clementine’s to make goggle eyes at her two daughters; not only making her laugh, but her whole family as well. Since, Eleanor and Eliza saw her mother laughing at her silly joke, they also joined in. This was exactly how the naive subject reacted when he saw the two confederates ignoring the smoke. Instead of reporting the smoke as an emergency, the naive subject also ignored the smoke. Moreover, social imitation or emotional contagion also played a role during the month of June when one of her resolutions was to make three new friends.