Energy Resource Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Energy Resource Plan - Essay Example energy production systems pollute the environment through emission of green house gases in to the atmosphere, which adversely affects humans and animals through climate change and health related issues (Carlson 2005). The renewable energy includes the energy sources that can be that can be used over and over again. It includes energy sources such as solar, geothermal, wave and wind energy, amongst other self-sustaining alternative energy sources. However, in order for renewable energy to be sufficient, large amounts of sources need to be harnessed, since they produce a relatively little energy. In other words the ratio of the energy produced to the energy source harnessed is relatively small compared to the non- renewable energy, whereby a small amount of the energy source produces substantial amount of energy. However, once used, these sources are irreplaceable (Schaeffer 2007). These include coal and petroleum products amongst others. They are a major cause of environmental degradation through emission of green house gases in to the atmosphere, and water pollution through oil spills as well as land degradation through mining of coal. The first and most important thing that each person ought to do in order to conserve the environment is to minimize the use of non-renewable energy. This will help in reducing the rate of environmental degradation through energy production from non-renewable sources. This can be accomplished through the use of solar energy for lighting, wind energy, and natural gas among other renewable energy sources. Electrical appliances, especially the air conditioners, refrigerators and lighting should remain switched off whenever they are not needed. People should also use energy efficient equipment such as less fuel consuming vehicles or the use of bicycles instead of vehicles that consume high energy as well as emitting green house gases to the environment. People should also insulate their living rooms more in order to minimize heating

Operations Management Essay Example for Free

Operations Management Essay 1. Discuss how just-in-time manufacturing might affect a Job Shop (Consider both positive and negative impacts on both internal and external operations). Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing may affect a Job Shop both positively and negatively. The most important affect is that it improves the performance of job shop production. JIT also eliminates waste and/or decreases work in progress (WIP) in that same sense. JIT allows for products that are produced to fulfill an immediate demand for them. JIT emphasizes on quality. Quality is very important in JIT manufacturing because it decreases or eliminates costs and increases profits by producing high quality products the first time around. JIT allows for quality products to be transformed from raw materials into finished goods as expediently and efficiently as possible without delay. Some of the negative affects are unskilled or untrained workers. They may not make quality products because they are not trained properly or often. It may affect external operations by promoting competitive bidding between vendors to provide needed inventory. Sometimes this can cause friction between long-standing vendors and the company when they’re out bid by another vendor. It can tarnish the business relationship. 2. You operate a dairy farm, raising cows for the production of raw milk products. Briefly identify the levels of vertical integration that you would anticipate being possible for such an operation (include both backward and forward integration in your response). Operating a dairy farm, raising cows, would be a very challenging business to conduct. The competition for market share is outrageous. One level of vertical integration that I would anticipate is to possibly setup my own distribution center. I would face some challenges because I’d have to hire workers with this type of expertise, along with the knowledge of farming. Though I’d have to invest more capital and purchase or allot warehousing space for the added inventory, in the long run it would be much more economically beneficial to my farming business. I would become my own distributor, thus passing these savings to my customers, while gaining market share. Another level of vertical integration would be that I’d purchase more land to have grass to feed my cows, instead of purchasing feed from a feed company. That type of integration is called forward integration. 3. Discuss the concept of the â€Å"Process Spectrum†. Use examples where appropriate. The Process Spectrum is made up of five major types of manufacturing processes that a company may use to get to an end product, or a finished good or service. The continuous flow process is characterized by the flow of material. During this process, the material hardly ever stops, but moves constantly from one process to another. Using the continuous flow process, the time to transform raw material into a finished project can be easily estimated. The Job Shop process is the most flexible of the processes. Unlike the continuous flow process, the Job Shop process it group’s similar equipment together. This most often allows for products to flow from one machine to a different type of machine and back to a previous type of machine, if needed, unlike the continuous flow process. This process fulfills an outside customer’s order by an agreed-upon date and whatever quantity ordered. The batch flow process is most similar to the job shop process, in that the equipment is grouped by function rather than product. Unlike the job shop process, it produces products in an established lot size that move into an inventory from which further production or final customer orders are filled. The Line Flow process mostly resembles a moving assembly line, such as in the auto industry. In contrast to the continuous flow, the line flow is more flexible, less automated, and more labor/worker driven. The hybrid process is where the first part of the flow of materials resembles the batch flow process, while the latter part resembles a line or continuous flow process. In a hybrid process, on process separates the inventory by parts or semi-finished inventory, to be passed to the other process for assembly or finishing. 4. Compare and contrast the â€Å"Worker Paced Line Flow Process† and the â€Å"Machine Paced Line Flow Process† as relates to capital use, process speed, pacing, and materials requirements. In comparing and contrasting the â€Å"Worker Paced Line Flow† and â€Å"Machine Paced Line Flow† processes in reference to capital use, it is fairly cheap to manufacture and or service the customer base in the worker paced line flow than the machine paced line flow. Though the equipment is specially designed to produce the quality products of the company, the difference in capital use is greater in the machine paced line flow because the operations are most likely larger in size than the worker paced line flow process. In a worker paced line flow, the process of making raw material into a finished product is increasingly fast, such as in a fast food restaurant. The customers expect to be served in a decent time frame and expect their food to be fresh, hot, and in good or great quality. The product flow depends on the immediate demand. The greater the customer base, the greater the need to produce products and in a faster pace. However, it is still dependent upon the pace of the workers and their pace is monitored and adjusted by management as deemed fit for customer demand. In a machine flow process, the process of speed is fast. This is based upon the speed of the machine producing the product. However, machines can be set to achieve a set goal by management. In reference to materials requirements, in a worker paced line the amount of material or inventory needed or required is closely estimated by the amount of sales. In a machine paced line flow process, the amount is not known for certain until a production plan is established. 5. Briefly discuss the concept of the â€Å"cost of quality†. Consider both positive and negative costs associated with a typical quality program in a manufacturing facility. My understanding of the term â€Å"Quality is Free† is to make the product to specifications the first time, as to avoid the costs associated with correcting all of the defects. Poor quality could lead to poor customer relations, which is bad because most businesses are advertised through â€Å"word of mouth†. To scrap means to start over from the beginning. That’s not good because you’ve made the product twice at twice the cost. Costs can be mitigated when the products are inspected and tested to detect defects at different stages of WIP, before rolling out to the market. This is a good process to have in place. Ensuring workers are properly trained and cross-trained is a good preventative measure to have in place. The more processes a worker can perform, the more productive the company can be.

Trust And Confidence In The Police Service Criminology Essay

Trust And Confidence In The Police Service Criminology Essay This essay seeks to critically assess the extent to which police stop and search powers may impact on trust and confidence in the police service with particular reference to the notion of over policing, this essay will look to consider the remit of police powers in particular. On this basis, this essay looks to provide for a discussion of the problems that have been recognised in this regard and as to how they may be better resolved through the policies that the government have looked to develop. In addition, this essay seeks to focus upon the recognition of stop and search powers. In seeking to critically assess the extent to which police stop and search powers may impact on trust and confidence in the police service with particular reference to the notion of over policing, this essay will look to consider the remit of police powers in particular. With this in mind, it is first necessary to look to present the rights of the police to stop and search and the rights of those that the police choose to stop and search. On this basis, it is then important to seek to consider the problems that a lack of effective regulation has brought about for example, with regards to discrimination. Therefore, it is also necessary to provide an understanding of what efforts have been made to assist in restoring confidence in the police service in more recent times by looking to establish sanctions for their misdemeanours to look to limit over policing by providing the public with a more effective system of redress. Finally, this essay will look to conclude with a summary of the key points derived from this discussion with a view to critically assessing the extent to which police stop and search powers may impact on trust and confidence in the police service with particular reference to the notion of over policing. To begin with it is to be appreciated police stop and search powers centre on permitting police officers in England and Wales to search members of the general public within our society for contraband (i.e. drugs, weapons, stole property, evidence relating to acts of terrorism or that relates to any other crime). However, the exercise of such rights by the police in carrying out their activities were not without their problems so that the Police Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 was enacted with a view to rectifying problems that had been recognised with regards to the powers previously granted to the police that allowed the police to stop, search, and subsequently arrest someone suspected of a crime without the need for a warrant (although it is also to be appreciated that stop search is also permitted under the Criminal Justice Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994 at section 60, the Terrorism Act (TA) 2000 at section 44 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 at section 23(2)). Therefore, the u se of the law in practice led to accusations of over policing and an unfair application of its enforcement against the black community leading to many infamous riots around the country with majority black populations like that of Brixton during the early part of the 1980s leading to the drafting and ultimate implementation of the PACE 1984. To this end Code A of the PACE 1984 provides for the exercising of police stop and search powers and, allied to the use of reasonable force (Police Reform Act 2002 at Schedule 4, paragraph 15), the Code recognises that if a police officer uses stop and search powers then they must inform the person that they have stopped for searching of (a) the law that is the basis of them stopping and searching that individual; (b) their police number and station; (c) what they are looking for; (d) the reason for the stop (unless it is a terrorist stop under section 44 of the TA 2000 and under the powers granted by section 60 of the CJPOA 1994); (e) the individuals right to be given a record of the search; and (f) the fact that the individual is considered to be detained for the duration of the stop. The rights of those being searched are, therefore, established as part of sections 2 and 3 of the PACE 1984 and are binding on all forms of stop and search not only those authorised under section 1 o f the PACE 1984. To this effect it is not necessary for an individual in a stop and search to give a police officer their name and address in a stop and search. Declining to provide this information is not a valid reason for arrest. In addition, police officers must use their stop and search powers fairly and responsibly without discrimination and if English is not a subjects first language reasonable steps must be taken to provide information in their first language. Moreover, police officers also need to make sure search time is kept to a minimum and takes place near where the stopping occurs except where it protects their privacy. However, despite the problems that have arisen in this regard, the limits of New Labours penal imagination were first made clear in the development of their policy of zero tolerance policing that refers to an American invention regarding the intensive community policing strategies introduced there in the mid-1990s. The recognition of this strategy is founded upon the development of a principle for clamping down on the occurrence of street offences and incivilities in the belief that more serious offences will then be later curtailed (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). As a result, in Britain it has been recognised that this has also all too commonly translated into intensive policing and operations (a) against under-age smoking and drinking; (b) dealing with acts of obstruction by street traders; (c) against public urination; (d) to prevent graffiti writing, and (e) for the arrest or moving on of aggressive beggars, prostitutes, pickpockets, fare dodgers, abusive drunks and litter louts amongst others (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). Moreover, this strategy for the development of police policy has been recognised as being founded upon the non-conservative proposition that if climates of disorder are allowed to develop, more serious crime will then serve to follow in the circumstances (Wilson Kelling, 1982). In addition both the government and the opposition along with the most prominent senior police officers have argued this kind of approach is a success in view of the fact that it serves to reduce the rates of robbery and murder domestically. However, that is not to say that the approach to policing has not been subject to some significant criticism. This is because some significant questions have arisen with regards to the precise reasons for declining crime rates and the efficacy of a zero tolerance strategy (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). Such a view is founded on the fact that some senior police officers have come to argue that a zero-tolerance approach to tackling low-level disorder and incivilities is narrow, aggressive, and uncompromising and, . . . , targets people rather than addresses the underlying problems (NACRO, 1997, at p.18). At the same time, however, it is to be appreciated that a zero tolerance approach to policing does nothing to address issues that are related to the racialisation of law and order that has all too often produced high rates of stop-and-search and arrests, prosecutions, and the use of custody for Afro-Caribbean youth. To emphasise the problems this has caused, at the turn of the last decade it was found black people are six times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white people (Home Office, 1999). As a result, it has been argued the increasing use of stop-and-search by the police, whilst the proportion of stops actually leading to arrests for crimes has declined, has indicated the importance of the role of police surveillance of both the excluded and the threatening figures suggest that stop and search is anything but a useful method of apprehending criminal offenders (Lea, 2000). However, that is not to say that it may not have other purposes in practice because of the fact that This function . . . is again becoming prominent with the growth of social exclusion and a substantial underclass of people with high rates of poverty, homelessness, school expulsions, etc (Lea, 2000). Therefore, such an over policing has had serious implications, especially against a background of o ngoing revelations about police misconduct and abuses of power so the credibility of the police has been seriously undermined by many revelations of miscarriages of justice, as well as cases involving other forms of police misconduct and corruption that need to be remedied (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). By way of illustration, in 1998 the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police acknowledged there may be up to 250 corrupt officers serving in his force and this figure is unlikely to have changed all that much despite the best efforts of government policy makers (see, for example, the more recent case of two Nottinghamshire police officers convicted after pleading guilty to charges of corruption BBC News, 2006) that would seem to suggest an unknown number of criminal investigations may be seriously compromised (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). As a result, in an effort to combat the problem, a special squad of anti-corruption investigators (including accountants and private surveillance experts) were commissioned with a view to targeting officers believed to be implicated in offences including (i) the planning and carrying out of armed robberies; (ii) large-scale drug dealing; (iii) threats of violence against the public; and (iv) contract killings. However, despite such efforts, gove rnment policy makers failure to provide effective legal mechanisms for dealing with allegations of police abuse, coupled with the large number of successful claims against the police for civil damages or substantial out-of-court settlements have attracted the attention of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (ECPT, 2000). This is because the ECPT Report was extremely critical of the existing system of dealing with police misconduct that has often resulted in police officers not being brought to justice even when victims have been awarded damages. In addition, even in those cases where there is prima facie evidence of the nature and gravity of police abuses, it is rare for criminal and/or disciplinary proceedings to be brought and even rarer for police officers to be convicted of a criminal offence as a result (Carrabine, Lee South, 2000). Moreover, in an effort to actively deal with the problems that have arisen in this area, the PRA 2002 established the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) that introduced a fully independent system for the investigation of serious complaints (Savage, 2007). This is largely because, previously, dealing with complaints against the police had been dominated by the periodic and incremental enhancement of the independent or external element in relation to oversight (Smith, 2004). Therefore, the IPCCs establishment as a mean of redress for the public could be considered to be a logical extension of a process that has been under way for some considerable time (Smith, 2004) and could be considered the next logical stage in the process of enhancing accountability. Thee IPCCs creation arose from out of the Macpherson Report into the failings of the police regarding the murder of Stephen Lawrence that recommended the establishment of an independent body for the investigation of serio us complaints against the police particularly amongst ethnic minorities (Macpherson, 1999). In addition, the PRA 2002 also established within the Home Office the Police Standards Unit (PSU) as a further form of regulation of police activities that was to later to fall within the scope of the National Police Improvement Agency (Hale, Uglow Heaton, 2005). With this in mind, the PSU sought to regulate the performance of individual police forces and operational command units (Home Office, 2005). Therefore, the PSU has the authority to intervene in the management of poor performing or failing police units and identify best practice in strategic and operational policing and disseminate such best practice across forces (Savage, 2007. Referred to somewhat revealingly as Knowledge Management, this role of identifying and spreading best practice as a form of doctrinal dissemination contains an assumption the centre knows best when it comes to models and approaches to policing (Home Office, 2005, at p.9). To conclude, it is clear that police stop and search powers have impacted significantly upon trust and confidence in the police service in view of the notion of over policing. This is because the problems with police stop and search powers are illustrative of the fact that the police have often over used their powers in looking to regulate the activities of those living within domestic society. Amongst other problems such activities have led to instances of discrimination and accusations of corruption against the police to the detriment of public confidence and trust. Therefore, with a view to resolving such problems the government has looked to adopt significant practical policy changes with a view to then providing redress for the public against apparent acts of over policing. As has already been discussed as part of this essay, the government has sought to deal with the problems in this regard by developing independent bodies with a view to regulating the activities of the police and holding them accountable for their actions.

Addressing Crime in America in John J. DiIulios Article, Let em Rot E

Addressing Crime in America in John J. DiIulio's Article, Let 'em Rot John J. DiIulio, Jr. writes his article, "Let 'em Rot," in response to the State of the Union Address by President Clinton in January of 1994. In this article he focuses on the continually increasing crime problem in America. DiIulio feels that a change is needed in the way this country handles the punishment and rehabilitation of criminals. He makes a claim of policy that criminals should serve their entire prison sentences. DiIulio asserts, "a prison sentence of X years should mean a prison sentence of X years (truth in sentencing)" (563). He directs his article towards people who are concerned with the crime problem in America, specifically victims of crime and the families of criminals. He also primarily targets people who read the Wall Street Journal and support truth-in-sentencing. Throughout the article, DiIulio's support is primarily based on motivational appeal. He quickly draws interest into the article through the shocking choice of words for his title. He then goes on to provoke readers with the...

Current Issues Between the Native Americans

The four groups that I have chosen for identifying their linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions and statues of Hispanics groups living in the United States are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and South Americans. To start with they all speak Spanish yet they do have different dialects depending on where they are located. I have had experience with the Cubans personally and the Mexican American personally everything else I have learned from our research. The Mexican American population is the largest minority group in America. There are many Mexican Americans that do not speak Spanish at all and only speak English, but these are the ones that were usually born in the United States. There are also some that are bilingual and then there are some that do not know English until they start school. The Mexican Americans are also active in the civil rights movements, from workers rights to voting rights. Their social status is poor due to lack of education and they are strongly tied to their families. Families are very large and extended family is just as important as immediate family members. Most are Catholics and their religion is very important to them, but there are some that are protestant. Mexican Americans tend to take low paying jobs and this means that they work in mining, agriculture, transportation and ranching. Puerto Rico’s Linguistic background is strongly defined by Spanish and English. Most Puerto Ricans speak both languages fluently and use it in everyday life for work and play. Puerto Rico’s political division is the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), which supports the commonwealth rank for the island; has been the leading political party since 1940. Their has been a large decline in the popularity of the PPD over the years but it is still remains the island’s main political party. Their families are very close just like all of the other Hispanic groups. Family life and the amount of time they spend with their family is very important to the Puerto Rican society as well as other Hispanic groups. They usually live close to family members and attend church together, which is a very important part of their culture. They are generally Roman Catholics and their culture has a heavy influence on African and Spanish beliefs and traditions. When it comes to Cubans who are generally located in Florida or that region and they migrated here to be freed from Fidel Castro. Like the other Hispanic groups the Cubans have very large families and are very close to all members including extended family members. Cuban Americans are generally affiliated with politically with Jewish Americans and are known for their powerful conservative ethics.

Racism and the law

Racism and the law Free Online Research Papers In the 1900 a prominent English scholar Gilbert Murray said: â€Å"There is in the world a hierarchy of races†¦[some] will direct and rule the others, and the lower work of the world will tend in the long run to be done by the lower breeds of men. This we of the ruling colour will no doubt accept as obvious.† (Walker; 1997) It was very true at the time; everywhere you looked you could see that white people were in charge. Canada has faced many obstacles in the 19th century. It has been fighting a never-ending war against Racism in Canada. It has modified or created many laws to help try to combat the discrimination that exists within our country. Canada has modified its immigration act to make it less discriminatory. It has created the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to bring equality to everyone and it has, created human rights acts to protect people of different races. Before we talk about the laws that Canada has put into motion to help combat racism we must first define what racism is. The term Racism is hard to define. Racism is more then just an attitude; it is a policy or practice of persecution or domination by one group over another. Due to this explanation the word racism is not found in statutes or court decisions to the same extent as the word discrimination. Discrimination in the ordinary sense of the word means to treat a person or group differently because of prejudice. However in the legal sense this definition had been expanded to include human rights. Today the word discrimination can include concepts such as adverse effect, or unintentional discrimination, and harassment. Both discrimination and racism come from prejudice. In short prejudice means to pre-judge. In other words to have negative attitudes towards a person based on stereotypical thinking about the group which the person belongs to. This stereotypical thinkin! g comes from believing that all people in one group have the same characteristics. There are no laws which prohibit racism because you cannot control a persons state of mind only his actions. (Cohen; 1987) In Canada the road to racism is compared by John Boyko to ladder the first rung being stereotypes. These stereotypes are brought to existence by popular culture such as newspapers, magazines, cartoons, and movies. The next rung is prejudice, which is the belief that stereotypes are true. These beliefs are portrayed in phrases such as, â€Å"They are all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"Those people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  prejudice only looks at groups not individuals. The next rung is discrimination which is an action based on prejudice. For example an employer not hiring someone because they believe the stereotypes about the group that that person belong to. The next rung that Boyko talks about is sanctioned discrimination. This is where the discrimination becomes entrenched in our laws and practices. After that the next step is systematic racism, which is seen in laws that promote segregation. This step leads to the next step, a need to purify the nation through exclusion or expulsion. And final ly that last step, which i! s genocide, the deliberate extermination of a race. (Boyko; 1998) In this essay I would like to talk about the 5th step in the ladder, sanctioned discrimination. Canada, which prides itself on being a multicultural nation, has a history of sanctioned discrimination. It is only in the lat 2 or 3 decades that Canada has really tried to change it legislations to help combat discrimination. The first thing I would like to talk about is Immigration in Canada. In our country one out of every six people are born outside of Canada. Canada sees immigration as positive, something that helps us prosper economically and helps us to be more tolerant of other people. This view has not always been true. There was a time in Canadian history when Canada did not embrace the immigrant. In fact Canada’s immigration laws use to be full of racist tendencies. (Jakubowski in Comack, 1999) In 1945, Canada director of Immigration, A.L. Jolliffe, wrote: â€Å"The claim is sometimes made that Canada’s immigration laws reflect class and race discrimination: they do, and necessarily so. Some form of discrimination cannot be avoided if immigration is to be effectively controlled in order to prevent the creation in Canada of expanding non-assailable racial groups.†(Cohen: 1987) Discriminatory immigration laws may appear in many different forms. For example immigration laws may expressly apply only to a particular group. This happened in the case of the Chinese immigration Act. In the last half of the 1800’s Chinese were admitted in large numbers to help work on the railroad. The government encouraged Chinese immigration at this point to do the work that few others would do. Once the railroad was finished however and the need for Chinese workers diminished the government passed the Chinese immigration act (1885). This act put a head tax of $50 a head on all Chinese wishing to enter the country. The opposition to Chinese immigration grew within the country and by 1903 the head tax was $500 a person. In 1923 a new act was put in place the forbid the entry of all Chinese with certain narrow exceptions, Chinese within Canada could not sponsor relatives born in China. This act had a great impact on Chinese immigration between 1923 and 1947 only 44 Chinese immigrants came to Canada legally. (Cohen: 1987) Another example of racist tendencies in immigration came with the Jews and Wartime Immigration policy. During the Second World War thousands of Jews sought refugee from Nazi persecution. Although the government did not actually pass a law not permitting Jews into the country they did execute policies designed to obstruct Jewish immigration. Many of these polices were executed on an informal basis. This memo from the department of External Affairs and Immigration in 1938 reveals such a policy. We do not want too many Jews, but in the present circumstances we do not want to say so. We do not want to legitimize the Aryan mythology by introducing any formal distinction for immigration purposes between Jews and non-Jews. The practical distinction, however, has to be made and should be drawn with discretion and sympathy by the competent authorities, without the need to lay down formal minute of policy. (Boyko 1998) These are just two of the examples of past discrimination against certain group there are many others including The Japanese War measures Act, and The East Indian and the Continuous passage rule. So what has Canada done to improve on these racist immigration laws? Until recently nothing, there were no legal protections against racially exclusionary laws and practices. It was not until 1967 when Canada passed a new universal immigration act. That is people who apply to become Canadian Citizens are no longer judged by the colour of their skin, their religion or their ethnicity. In other words the immigration system, which had once used race-related factors to determine entrants is now seemingly â€Å"colour-blind†. (Cohen: 1987) Now the system determines its applicant on a system of points. Applicants gain points through amount of education, occupation, age, personal suitability, ect. This system is said to be universal because every person is evaluated with the same criteria. With the implementation of this new universal system Canada’s immigration act has become much less discriminatory. (Boyko: 1998) The next major advancement that Canada has made to combat discrimination in Canada came with the Creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter of Rights And Freedoms is one part of the Canadian Constitution, which is made up as a serious of laws rather then on document. The Charter offers a number of different crucial protections to minorities. There are three sections to the charter that should be examined when we look at racial discrimination; these are section 2, 15 and 27. Section 2 of the Charter of rights and freedoms provides that everyone has certain fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion. According to this act every individual has the right to â€Å"entertain such religious beliefs as the person chooses, the right to declare religious beliefs openly and without fear of hindrance or reprisal, and the right to manifest religious belief by worship and practice or by teaching, and dissemination† It also guaranties the absence of coercion and restraint. The next section 15 may be the most useful to minority groups. This section among other things states that every individual is equal under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. This section has been very influential in the advancement of such groups as the Indians. The Indian Act governs most of Indian lives, this act has been a means for the government to control Indian matters since 1876. In the past the Act has placed constraints on the rights of and lifestyles of the Indian people. For years the Indians could not leave the reserves, even temporarily without a pass. Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms helped to remove many of the discriminatory acts that were in the Indian Act. The last Section that I want to discuss is section 27. It states that the charter will be interpreted in a manner â€Å"Consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians† One example of how this section is influential in helping minority groups was in the â€Å"Keegstra Incident† James Keegstra was a teacher who taught his students many anti-Semitic theories. He was charged with promoting hatred contrary to criminal code. He challenged the criminal code on the basis that is violated his freedom of expression guaranteed in the Charter of rights and freedoms. The court refereed to section 27 when they rejected Keegstra’s argument, noting that promotion of hatred contradicts the principles, which recognize the dignity and worth of minorities. (Schneiderman: 1997) There are other sections of the Charter that are useful in protecting minority groups such as Section 3 that gives everyone the right to vote in an election and to be qualified for member of parliament. Chinese and Japanese Canadian were denied the right to vote until the 1940s, and native persons were not allowed to vote until1960. Section 6 gives every Canadian citizen the right to leave remain, and enter Canada. This offers protection against such act as the War measures Act that was invoked in WWII when Canada attempted to deport Japanese Canadians. (Cohen: 1987) The last thing I would like to talk about in Canada’s war against discrimination is the Human Rights Acts. The human rights acts are the most significant legal protection in the field of race relations. The prohibit discrimination in such fields as accommodation, facilities, services, contracts, and employment. The first Human Right Act in Canada was the Racial Discrimination Act of 1944. This act prohibited the publication, display or broadcast of anything indicting an intention to discriminate on the bases of race or creed. This act was ment to get rid of such sign like â€Å"No Jews or Dogs Allowed† which were in shop windows. The Fair employment and accommodation acts came next. In the 1950s these acts set the basic structure for human rights. These acts were ineffective because there was no real enforcement it was up to the individual to pursue discriminatory acts by themselves. The real revolution came in 1962 with the Ontario Human rights Code. This code prohibited discrimination on the bases of race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry, or place of origin. Today all the Canadian provinces and the Territories have anti-discrimination laws. (Knopff: 1989) There are some people who say that Canada has not come as far as they think. In the case of immigration even though people are being evaluated all on the same basis there are some people who come from countries where they can not obtain the necessary requirements to come to Canada should these people be excluded because their country does not offer education, or they can not find a job. The immigration act does however provide away for these people to get around the points system by applying to become an immigrant using refugee standing. Another argument is that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not absolute. A person must appeal to the courts when they feel their rights have been violated it is then up to the court to decided whether or not a persons rights have been violated and whether they should be compensated. Therefore in the end it may come down to one judge’s interpretation of the charter. However at least now minority groups do have the resources available to ! fight back. In the end it is clear that Canada is winning the war it is fighting within its country. Although we are not raising arms and we are not killing people we are beginning to advance. Through the creation of the Charter of rights and Freedoms, the establishment of human right legislation and the changes we have made in the immigration act Canada can honestly say it is trying to create a county were multiculturalism is word you can use to describe the population. A place where a person can live, as an individual without discrimination. It is just to bad we need laws to ensure this. Bibliography Backhouse Constance, Colour- Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950, Toronto, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 1999 Boyko John, Last Steps to Freedom: The evolution of Canadian Racism, Manitoba, Watson Dwyer Publishing ltd., 1998 Cohen Tannis, Race Relation and the Law, 1987 Comack Elizabeth and others Locating Law, Halifax, Fernwood Publishing, 1999 Driedger Leo and Shiva Halli, Race and Racism Canada’s Challenge, Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000 Knopff Rainer, Human Rights Social Technology, Ottawa, Carlton University Press, 1990 Schnederman David and Kate Sutherland, Charting the Consequences: The Impact of the Charter of rights on Canadian law and Politics, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1997. Walker James, â€Å"Race,† Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada, Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1997 Research Papers on Racism and the lawWhere Wild and West MeetComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoQuebec and Canada19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHip-Hop is ArtCapital PunishmentPETSTEL analysis of IndiaEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

Problem Analysis essays

Problem Analysis essays Our learning has decided to tackle an issue/problem at Tobey Mains place of employment, Talk America. Talk America is a local and long distance phone company that manages 98% of their net adds in-house on a yearly basis. The way the company grows its customer base in other words, is primarily supported by their outbound telemarketing and inbound telemarketing and Online sales efforts. The problem that we will be discussing is the impact employee turnover has on its business model and financial forecast provided to Wall-Street. On a monthly basis Talk America continually focuses on ways to stimulate employee commitment and retention, however, the nature of the telemarketing business is stressful. Dealing with rejection day in and day out can take its toll on any employee. The limited control an employee has on phone sales is easily recognized. The triggering effect that drive us to really dig into this problem comes from the lack of performance in the call centers over the past 2 months, which has triggered an even larger % of employee attrition. On a monthly basis the company can range anywhere from 35-60% attrition and over the past 2 months it has been on the higher side of that range. A key driver for the lack of performance and turnover revolves around the mix of states the company is currently marketing, which can change drastically month over month. If employees dial into a highly competitive state and performance is at its highest level than turnover goes to the lower side of the 25%-60% range. Critical thinking by all members of the organizations management team is crucial, and we are confident that our presentation will uncover some critical paths to success in conquering this problem. Thinking outside of the box for various ways to improve moral, appreciation and employee commitment is what our paper and presentation will focus on. The problem with employee attrition is something t...

Wk 5 dq Essay Example

Wk 5 dq Essay Example Wk 5 dq Essay Wk 5 dq Essay Discussion A Q 1: What is impressionism in music? Who is most associated with this style? The impressionism is a style in music that involves elements like static harmony where main focus is on instrumental timbres that develops a shimmering interaction of colors. It includes melodies lacking organized motion. Maurice Ravel is a composer considered as the most associated with this style. Q 2: What is atonal music? What are the characteristics of atonal music? Which composers are most associated with this style? Atonal music is a style where there is an absence of functional harmony as a main structural element. The composers most associated with this style are listed as below:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alban Berg (Austria)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Anton Webern (Austria)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Arnold Schoenberg (America)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Charles Koechlin (France)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Donald Martino (America)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gottfried von Einem (Austria) Q 3: What are some of the scales used by the composers after 1900? After 1900, composers tend to use certain scales like alternative scale forms, whole-tone scale, folk scales, non-western scales, and synthetic scales. These were some of the major scales used by the composers after 1900. Discussion B Q 4: What are some of the musical influences of Stravinsky? Stravinsky showed his influence on composers not only in his life but also after his death like Stravinskys usage of motivic development involved additive motivic development.   Stravinsky was widely known for his typical use of rhythm, particularly in The Rite of Spring. Stravinskys initial neo-classical performances were the ballet Pulcinella(1920). He created stripped-down Octet for winds in 1923. Stravinsky also stripped fold themes to their major and significant musical outlines. Q 5: What are the differences between music of the 20th Century and previous periods? Lovers of earlier classical music say that classical music has art whereas 20th century music just has an art. At the same time, we see many 20th century music contains high level of artistry and innovation whereas many classical works are entertaining. It is also argued that classical works have high musical complexity. Particularly, earlier classical music normally has more modulation (changing of keys), minimal outright repeating, and a broader usage of musical phrases. Moreover, it is mostly in classical music that lengthy music (0.5-3 hrs) is created hierarchically from shorter parts known as movements. 20th century music and earlier classical music are also mainly distinguished by their musical tools and instruments. Mostly, the musical instruments used in earlier music are non-electrical and were introduced before 1850. Their codification took place between the 1700 and 1800. Such instruments were played in orchestra; this also includes some of solo musical instruments like piano, harpsichord, and organ. On the other hand in modern 20th century music electrical musical instruments are used, like guitar that is very popular and prominent in modern music. Q 6: Who are two composers of the early 20th Century? What were some of their contributions to music? a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Louis Armstrong He learned how to use the cornet/trumpet and led a band and emerged as a singer. His major contributions are in jazz music, particularly his specific innovative style. He is an inventor of the sound of swing and successfully proven that jazz was not just for ensembles, but it was also for solo artists. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Cage He opened up an era of indeterminacy, in which the composer authorizes the performer to interpret his work. Cage made certain experiments with musical instrument, like by connecting things to a piano to a pianos strings to check how it creates music. It was named as the prepared piano. Cage also researched on electronic music and acknowledged the chance music, which says that each act of man is music.

Ratio Analysis Memorandum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ratio Analysis Memorandum - Essay Example The solvency ratio looks at the organizations ability to pay long term debt and interest on debts (Bull, 2008). By looking at the debt to asset ratio it can be seen that the organization’s reliance on debt financing is increasing as this ratio has increased from 0.39 in 2008 to 0.79 in 2009. From the analysis the organization is generally still performing well, however, there is need to improve on the profitability of the organization which is decreasing from as seen in the analysis. This can be done by decreasing the expenses of the organization. The current and the quick ration also needs to be improved as they have both decreased in 2009 as compared to 2008 which is mainly contributed by the increase in the current portion of long term debt as per the Balance sheet. The organization needs to pay off these current liabilities in the shortest time possible for the improvement in the ratios to happen. The organization also needs to also reduce the solvency ratio by reducing its liabilities so as to ensure that the reliance on debt financing does not increase.

Organizational change part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational change part 2 - Essay Example The change strategy should also consider future growth and development of the organization. A change strategy for organizations includes various elements that have to be carefully analyzed before the change process is implemented. These elements include situational awareness, the structures supporting the change, and strategy analysis (Weiner et al, 2009). Situational awareness involves understanding the implications of change on the organizations, knowing who will be affected by the impending change and gathering as much resources and knowledge about the change to be implemented. Supporting structures for organizational change include the team facilitating the change process and the sponsors of the change process. Strategy analysis involves identification of the risks involved in the change process, any resistance to the change and tactics for implementing the strategy. A good organizational change strategy must focus on all these three elements (Weiner et al, 2009). Internal change s in an organization encounter resistance from certain employees or senior managers who may not be so open to change. This may destabilize the whole change process if not managed properly. The team charged with the responsibility of managing the change need to stay vigilant throughout the whole process for any signs of disapproval for the change and address them as soon as they are discovered (Weiner et al, 2009). The change implementation team ought to be very responsive and responsible throughout the change process. This will enable them to intercede and deal with any threat to the change process before it paralyzes the whole process. In order to deal with resistance effectively, a change strategy needs to address several issues such as commitment, responsibility, advocacy, acknowledgement, flexibility and must have a clear outline. A clear outline in the change strategy addresses change policies and guidelines and the structure of the impending change. These have to be communicat ed to every employee in advance before the change is implemented (Weiner et al, 2009). Everyone affected by the change has to be committed to the process and they should be given time to speak out their opinions about the intended change so as to foster advocacy for the change. Every ones role in the change process also needs to be clarified in the change strategy so as to ensure every individual in the change team is responsible for their actions. Every successful step of the change process needs to be appreciated and acknowledged just to let everybody know that the organization is moving in the right direction with the change. The organization’s leaders need to use a more flexible approach in the change process so as to ensure any unforeseen contingencies are dealt with appropriately during the process. Methods that will be used to monitor implementation of the proposed change The change initiative to be implemented involves about of organizational restructuring hence need to be approached with care. This will require a new organizational structure, improvement and changes in the organizational culture and behavior. The process of hiring new nurses wiling the new nurses will require significant contribution from every staff member in the organization. The top management will be required to approve and implement the change while the other

A Marketing Plan for the Budgens Research Proposal

A Marketing Plan for the Budgens - Research Proposal Example We will have to take special care to find out which of the environmental factors –social, political, cultural, economic, legal, technological-are the most important for the Budgens at the present time and which ones could be the most important in the next twelve to eighteen months. We should also concentrate on external agents such as competitors, suppliers, customers, trade unions, governments, shareholders, a local community which is affecting the company most.Here our client organization, the Budgens is planning for a period of 12 to 18 months in a market environment where the competition is severe from the big four supermarket retailers comprising of Tesco, Asda (Wal-Mart), Sainsbury’s, and Morrison’s. The sales forecast has to be done by taking to consideration of such competitor behavior and the market environment.The total environment can be segmented into three classes as 1.Mega environment 2.Micro environment. 3. Relevant environment. Out of these three groups as far as the now discussed market planning for the Budgens is concerned microenvironment is the most important one because the planning is for a relatively shorter period of 12 to 18 months. Therefore our important environmental factors of concern are suppliers, competitors, consumers, governments, local community, and shareholders.The main environmental advantages of the Budgens are their suppliers, who are quality assurance approved. Their independently functioning local retailers are in partnership with them. They care most for the quality of the food. They care for their consumers and the local community. As the Budgens is strictly abiding by rules, regulations and the government policies, there is no clash with the government. Now the only point of concern as far as the environmental factors are concerned is, from the competitors. Such issues we should address through the SWOT analysis and the resource analysis; and the findings may be taken seriously while proceeding t hrough the process of market segmentation, targeting, positioning Etc. Finally, the formation of the marketing mix and promotion policies are to be decided to base the above discussed environmental factors. The main factor needs to be focused on is the severe competition from the equally strong rivals. Advertising and other sales promotion policies such as offering discounts, special offers Etc. are recommended for the Budgens, based on the environmental analysis.   Thus a proper analysis of the environment, especially the analysis of the external environment will enable the company to locate its strengths and opportunities.

Week 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Week 1 - Assignment Example According to ‘Appendix F: Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations’, the prosecution of a liability by a corporate entity should follow a well laid down procedure, which entails investigating the corporate failure, determining whether a charge is warranted, and negotiating for the corporate entity and the affected parties to reach an agreement, or alternatively enter a plea (Hasl-Kelchner, 2006). In this respect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is applying this procedure to determine the culpability of Ford Company for the steering wheel problems, with a view to establish whether the company deserves to be charged for the failure. According to ‘Appendix F: Corporate Disclosure of relevant Facts’, it is the duty of a corporation to disclose the relevant facts in relation to a product released, so that the consumers can be fully aware of the nature of the product they are purchasing (Hasl-Kelchner, 2006). In this respect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether the Ford Motor Company was aware of the steering wheel problems with its cars, but failed to recall them back in good time (Jensen, 2014). If the company is found to be culpable for the non-disclosure of facts regarding this product, then it will be charged for a criminal offense. Jensen, C. (2014, October 6). Government Investigates 938,000 Ford Sedans for Steering Problem. The New York Times. Available at:

Change of Organizational Culture Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change of Organizational Culture Case - Essay Example The first step taken by the team in cultural change was the introduction of cultural change toolbox. These were all standard tools including detailed forms for organizational quarterly performance evaluations. There were many other tools including resource planning, talent reviews, learning forums, conference calls and HR processes.The introduction of matrices, processes, programs and structures which were part of Home Depot cultural change were the main elements which added as a fuel in the company’s cultural change. These matrices quantified data on both sides of the equations i.e. the customer side and the employee side. On the customer side it was quantified in the form of feedback and customer perception about the stores and likewise on the employee side an HR process was introduced.Donovan introduced a new performance management system lessening more than 150 employee forms to just three one page electronic documents. The new performance management was quantitative in na ture rather than qualitative as it was before. It enabled the HR department and the managers to identify people with right skill set for the right job.Other matrices like revenue, margins, inventory, cash flow relationship matrices and matrices for collaboration and decision making for managers were also presented which purposely simplified processes like merchandising, operations and the whole supply chain process.In the Processes part the two-hour Monday morning conference call by executives with individual reports.

Work life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Work life - Research Paper Example On the other hand, an organization is capable of attracting and retaining new employees due to this attractive policy. According to Harris (2007, p.33), many organizations are interested in retaining productive employees; therefore, they offer various programs that allow them balance between their work life and their families. In addition, such organizations feel that work life initiatives foster employees’ commitment thus enhancing productivity. However, the challenge with the work life programs such as flextime is ensuring that employees use their freedom responsibly. Therefore, supervision and training programs are necessary in ensuring flextime is well managed. Harris (2007, p.34) insists on the importance of work-life initiatives both on the employees and on company, however, he opposes on strict supervision that companies apply on the employees under such programs. He emphasizes on applying listening skills while dealing with employees, and giving them control over their flextime; this strategy improves the employees’ accountability. Nevertheless, for work-life initiatives to be effective, they should work for both the employers and the employees. Harris adds that flexibility amounts to accountability, especially in modern organizations, while flextime programs enhance loyalty in employees, as well as job satisfaction. IBM is one such company that has introduced the flextime program; the company attests to the effectiveness of flextime as one of the reasons why it manages to retain its employees (Harris, 2007, p.36). Flextime is most valued by working women, since they are the homemakers and engage in numerous domestic responsibilities; therefore, retaining such women can be difficult unless favorable programs such as flextime are available. Some types of flextime programs may include telecommuting, which allows employees to work from some hours at home using a

Week 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Week 1 - Assignment Example According to ‘Appendix F: Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations’, the prosecution of a liability by a corporate entity should follow a well laid down procedure, which entails investigating the corporate failure, determining whether a charge is warranted, and negotiating for the corporate entity and the affected parties to reach an agreement, or alternatively enter a plea (Hasl-Kelchner, 2006). In this respect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is applying this procedure to determine the culpability of Ford Company for the steering wheel problems, with a view to establish whether the company deserves to be charged for the failure. According to ‘Appendix F: Corporate Disclosure of relevant Facts’, it is the duty of a corporation to disclose the relevant facts in relation to a product released, so that the consumers can be fully aware of the nature of the product they are purchasing (Hasl-Kelchner, 2006). In this respect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether the Ford Motor Company was aware of the steering wheel problems with its cars, but failed to recall them back in good time (Jensen, 2014). If the company is found to be culpable for the non-disclosure of facts regarding this product, then it will be charged for a criminal offense. Jensen, C. (2014, October 6). Government Investigates 938,000 Ford Sedans for Steering Problem. The New York Times. Available at:

Work life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Work life - Research Paper Example On the other hand, an organization is capable of attracting and retaining new employees due to this attractive policy. According to Harris (2007, p.33), many organizations are interested in retaining productive employees; therefore, they offer various programs that allow them balance between their work life and their families. In addition, such organizations feel that work life initiatives foster employees’ commitment thus enhancing productivity. However, the challenge with the work life programs such as flextime is ensuring that employees use their freedom responsibly. Therefore, supervision and training programs are necessary in ensuring flextime is well managed. Harris (2007, p.34) insists on the importance of work-life initiatives both on the employees and on company, however, he opposes on strict supervision that companies apply on the employees under such programs. He emphasizes on applying listening skills while dealing with employees, and giving them control over their flextime; this strategy improves the employees’ accountability. Nevertheless, for work-life initiatives to be effective, they should work for both the employers and the employees. Harris adds that flexibility amounts to accountability, especially in modern organizations, while flextime programs enhance loyalty in employees, as well as job satisfaction. IBM is one such company that has introduced the flextime program; the company attests to the effectiveness of flextime as one of the reasons why it manages to retain its employees (Harris, 2007, p.36). Flextime is most valued by working women, since they are the homemakers and engage in numerous domestic responsibilities; therefore, retaining such women can be difficult unless favorable programs such as flextime are available. Some types of flextime programs may include telecommuting, which allows employees to work from some hours at home using a

The Importance of Reading Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Reading Essay People are living in a world where new technological advances have replaced the desire to read. Reading, in my opinion, has become less important to many adults and children. Some children and teenagers prefer to watch a movie or playing video games instead of reading a book. Some adults prefer to watch television than to read a good novel. Reading, in some people’s agenda, is not as important as it used to be like in the early 1900’s. To some people watching a movie or basketball game on television is more important than reading a book. It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary. It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. It is recommended that parents to inculcate the importance of reading to their children in the early years. Reading is said to significantly help in developing vocabulary, and reading aloud helps to build a strong emotional bond between parents and children. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better. Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. I personally love to read, I could say it’s my hobby but its more than that I could stay up all night just to finish a book I’m reading, and once I open a book I cant close it. I really don’t care what the book is about or of what genre it is if it’s interesting I wont stop reading until I finish it. I think of reading as a way to escape from everything, travelling to another time or place even to another world. Once you get into the story you’ll never want to get out. Some people even imagine they are one of the characters from the story, I’m not one of them but I do imagine as if I’m there just watching everything, I imagine every single detail, the characters features, the setting, even the most minimum detail as a necklace one of the characters is using, you actually feel every emotion the characters feel and you can actually fall in love with them. Everyone deep inside is a reader; they just haven’t found the right book.

Key Elements Of Webers Idea Of Sociology Sociology Essay

Key Elements Of Webers Idea Of Sociology Sociology Essay In my essay I argue that the key element of Weberian sociology is perception of the society as a complex system of individual actions, forming up the certain blocks of social life. Understanding of the attached meaning to these actions makes possible understanding of complex social phenomena, what ends up in the understanding of the whole process of historical development of the Western civilization. From the point of view of Max Weber historical process is understandable and its main tendency of development is constant movement from irrationality to further rationality. Understanding the society and its parts was a key element of Webers sociology that is why he needed to create an effective reference frame, in order to place different social and historical phenomena in corresponding locations on the big scale of social development of humanity. Max Weber looked at the society as at a very complex system of social interconnections, which are very difficult to be clearly understood. That is why it was very important for him to break down difficult social phenomena to single social actions and their subjective meanings. Development of the theory of Ideal Type gave an opportunity for Weber to categorize social phenomena, what favored to better understanding of social processes. In my essay I would like to analyze the key elements of Webers idea of sociology. I have divided this essay into three parts. Each of the parts analyzes different dimensions of Webers key elements of sociology. The first part covers the fundamental for Webers social research ideas, such as social action, ideal type, value-freedom conception, the notion of rationality. The second part of the essay is analyzing the most important ideas of Weber on the influence of religion (particularly Protestantism) on the development of the society. The third part of the essay covers the ideas of Weber in the political sphere legitimating of power, social stratification, phenomenon of bureaucracy. Part I. General Ideas of Max Weber. Max Weber perceived the world and society as a very complex and unpredictable system. This extremely broad and difficult system of social interactions could be brought down to single social action of an actor such social action represented for Weber a basic unit of social life. From the point of view of Weber, the main goal of sociology as a science is understanding of this basic social action, and what is more important understanding of subjective meaning or intention the actor attaches to his action. The dimension of understanding is crucial in Webers sociology he even calls this science understandable sociology. According to Ray (1999) Weber was mentioning that social sciences are very different from natural sciences as the object of social sciences can not be understand from simple observation, because of complex subjective meaning of social actions. In order to understand complex social structures and the whole picture of society Weber developed an idea of so called Ideal Type which represented different social units, categories and types of behavior united by common features. These Ideal Types were a certain categorization and generalization of social structures according to Weber, they did not exist in society in such a clear and pure form, but presence of such an instrument helps to categorize the phenomena of social life. The next important idea of Weber on sociology is a concept of value-freedom, which practically means that the social scientist should not make any interference into social processes in order to make them change their development. Ray (1999) mentioned that Weber was an advocate of an idea of separation of vocation of scientist and politician Weber believed that the scientist should conduct his researches being moved away from his partisanship and affiliations. The concept of value-freedom meant warning the actors of the consequences of their actions, but not influencing them to change their behavior the scientist should observe and study social processes, and his interference into them can harm the interests of the science. It is important to notice that Weber conducted his researches in very difficult for Europe times, and very often he showed his strong political position and sometimes to persuade others in its truthfulness it is very difficult for any social scientists to be ful ly away from influencing the other people. The key tendency of social development in Webers sociology is constant development of human society from irrationality to rationality. The whole history for Weber is a process of continuous movement towards rationality, which is showed up in intention attached to basic social action. The human society is very irregular on its way to rationalism the biggest progress was achieved by the Western civilization, which became a locomotive of rationality spreading in the world. The highest stage of social development for Weber is a shift within the types of rationality from value-rationality (taking decisions on the basis of established beliefs and values not considering the consequences) to purposive rationality, when a social action is performed by an actor on the basis of his knowledge and with consideration of the consequences of this action. From the point of view of Weber, such an evolution to purposive rationality made possible further development of Western civilization establishm ent of well-functioning capitalist system and appearance of modern states and science. Part II. Religion and Society. One of the most central questions in the sociology of Weber is the questions of origins of modern Capitalist system and the question of the fate of the West (Ray, 1999). According to Ingram (1987) Weber conducted a deep research to answer the question why was it Judeo-Christian civilization, that gave birth to modern Capitalism and modern society. He compared different kinds of societies organized around major World religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity) and tried to find the reasons for such successful development of capitalism in the West. Collins (1986) mentions that Weber could see the elements and features of capitalism and trade in all historical times and all geographical regions, but it was the West in the Middle Ages and after which gave birth to unique system of social and economic relations, unknown and impossible for any other society in the World. Webers sociology shows that modern type of Western capitalist society is a unique product of long-term evolution of Western society which could be born only in case of direct match of the long number of indicators and social tendencies. In his researches, Weber tried to name these most important factors that made possible the birth of modern capitalistic society in the West. The message of Webers Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism is often understood in such way, that it Protestantism was the only important element for the establishment of capitalism. Such understanding is far from Webers reality, as after Collins (1986) Weber perceived Protestantism as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ only the last intensification of chain of factors leading to capitalism. In other words, Protestantism is a very crucial factor for the establishment of capitalist system in Europe, but there were a number of other very important historical steps that made capitalism possible. According to Collins (1986) Weber conducted a deep research on Medieval Europe, and came to conclusion, that there were two major chains of historical conditions that enabled the development of capitalism in Europe political sphere and social networks. All these spheres were deeply influenced by religion, but were not limited to it. There were a large number of factors not connected with religion that influenced the establishment of capitalistic system Weber was talking about certain trichotomy of economic, political and cultural factors, influencing the Western society (Collins, 1986). The role of religion in general and Christianity in particular, from the Webers point of view had two dimensions. On the one hand, it is institutional role of organized religions Collins (1986) mentions that Weber paid big attention to analyzing of the Church as separate and very influential economic and bureaucratic structure, which in the Middle Ages was the only well-organized social organization in Europe. On the other hand, Weber was concentrated on the key ideas and world-view patterns of major World religions, and the interactions between those ideas with the economy. The most significant thesis of Weber is the statement that the appearance and spreading of Protestant ethics has been one of the most important factors for the establishment of capitalist system in the West. In general the role of any religion was positive for Weber as it moved people to rationalism (in this case value-rationalism). For Weber the character of Protestantism is fundamentally different from other religions that kept believers in frames of value-rationalism. Protestantism was the religion that moved people beyond the borders of value-rationalism towards purposive rationalism. Ingram (1987) says that the most important normative factor shaping consciousness of the West was Protestant work ethics. Indeed, Weber studied carefully the messages of Protestant religious doctrine, and he came to the conclusion, that it was this Protestant doctrine that became the final condition for establishment of modern capitalist system. According to Weber, the Protestant doctrine considered a man as the most important act of creation of God, what made the world to be submitted to mankind. Ray (1999) says that unlike other world religions, that were either escaping from the world or resigned themselves to their fate, Protestant doctrine aimed its followers at the world mastery. Weber stressed the role of Calvinism, and especially its doctrine of predestination. This doctrine made a significant switch of religious zeal towards secular life. That time the believer could prove himself and other people that he was selected by God to be saved in order to prove it would be enough for such a believer to achieve professional and financial success in his life. In other words, before Protestantism people were dividing secular and sacred. Ray (1999) formulated this idea in the next way: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦once sacred goals become secular. Protestants start to treat their professional activities with religious zealotry once their everyday work became a real worshipping of their Creator and an evidence of their predetermined selectiveness to salvation. Weber also stressed the Protestant conception of calling or vocation where every believer had his personal assignment in his life, prepared for him by God. It means that for such a believer diligent realization of his everyday work was a religious duty. Additionally, Protestant religious doctrine included conceptions of asceticism and strict self-discipline of a believer. The combination of all the above mentioned conceptions of behavior gave birth to a new type of human who changed the entire world ideal capitalist. According to Weber, this ideal capitalist fanatically followed the doctrines of Protestantism, realizing them in his personal and professional life. This person works very hard, achieving high level of mastery in his profession, acquires high social position and what is most important, saves large amount of resources and keeps reinvesting it. Such Protestants were seeking profits, but they did not spend their money, but became investors (Ray, 1999). It was a turning point in the final establishment of capitalist system. Schluchter (1996) says that we can mention Benjamin Franklin as an example of spiritual father of Modern Capitalism, with his message of hard work, saving and reinvesting these requirements have a reli gious value for ideal Protestant-Capitalist. Part III. Politics and Society. According to Schluchter (1996), the work Politics as Vocation helps to understand the position of Max Weber on major questions of political sphere. For Weber politics is one of the most dynamic parts of social life and political processes is a very important area for social research. Weber lived in a very difficult time for the German state, and the challenges standing before Germany found their reflection in the ideas of Weber. Collins (1986) mentions that the question of legitimacy played the central role for Max Weber. Weber pointed out three types of legitimacy of power traditional (based on the faith in legality of the model because it has always existed), rational (conscious subordination to recognized and established laws and regulations) and charismatic (belief in extra-ordinary possibilities of the leader). As the society was constantly going through evolution towards rationality, the political sphere also introducing more and more rationality. By Weber, this evolution of political sphere ended in appearance of rational bureaucracy and new type of state state where the bureaucrats do not owe the state mechanisms of influence, but are hired by citizens to perform their will. Bureaucracy for Weber is a controversial phenomenon and can be a danger for the development of the state, as bureaucrats do not effectively hold responsibility and monopolize political decisions in the society (Siedman, 1998). State represents for Weber an institution that has monopolized the legal usage of power. After Weber, responsibility should be the main requirement for a politician only people with strong vocation to politics should participate in the rule of state. Weberian politician is a person thinking about long-term goals of the society, and strictly following the interests of the state, ignoring sometimes the needs of the citizens, in order to reach larger goals. Schluchter (1996) cites Weber where he says that political communication is always filled with the spirit of war this citation shows that Weber had very realistic view on political competition. Ray (1999) touched a question of relationship between charismatic leadership and bureaucracy two struggling between each other forces. According to Weber during the process of political competition charisma is never stable when it gets the power and start owe resources it gradually turns into bureaucracy or patrimonialism (Collins, 1986). In contrast to Marx, Weber determined multiple axes of social stratification social class, status, and party affiliation of a person. These three parameters Weber called social chances of a person. According to Collins (1986) status of a person was crucial for Weber it strongly determined the social mobility, market opportunities, and other influential factors. Social class is rather economic membership of a person; status is determined by social prestige and honor, and the party affiliation is an indicator of closeness of a person to the ruling in the country political force. The views of Weber on political sphere were largely influenced by the history and situation of the German state. Weber was a strong supporter of the idea of strong middle class, and he believed that the future of Germany strongly depends on the situation of middle class (Siedman, 1998). The ideas and views of Weber have been important not only for sociology, but also for political forces in Germany during his life and after death. Conclusion. The ideas of Max Weber have influenced the sociology in a very strong way. Summing up the key elements of Webers idea of sociology, I should mention the following: 1). In Webers sociology history and social development have a deep sense, and this sense can be understood. The society is developing in a certain direction overcoming certain stages of its social advance. It is very important to find out the real sense of social development and to keep in mind that all the human history has specific mission and goals in itself. 2). Understanding of social action and social phenomena become the main goal for Webers sociology and such understanding is possible. A sociologist should move himself away for judgments of the social processes, but he should precisely observe and try to understand irrational meanings attached to individual social actions in order to understand more complex social phenomena. 3). There is a criterion that determines the progress of society on its way of historical and social development and this criterion after Weber is constant movement towards Rationality. First this movement is represented by the shift from irrationality to rationality, and the second part of this movement is shift between value-rationality to purposive-rationality. Such a purposive rationality in individual social action would give to a sociologist an opportunity to understand clearly the meaning attached to such social action, as it will not be subjective any more. 4). Ideas influence economy in a very strong way it is one of the most important key elements of sociology of Weber. After the study of major world religions, he came to the conclusion, that it was the Protestantism, which made possible final establishment of capitalist system in the West. It is religion that shapes the most fundamental world-view of the people, and in different parts of the world ideas, through religions, produced different types of the societies and economic and social relations. 5). By Weber the political sphere and the society represent a very complex and interconnected system, with multiple axes of social stratification and different patterns of power legitimization. Political sphere is a subject of social development and under certain historical conditions (as it happened in the West) it can move towards larger rationality, producing a new type of state and switching to rational type of power legitimization.

A Students’ Involvement Encourages Good Grades :: Research Statistics Essays

A Students’ Involvement Encourages Good Grades The Purpose of this Report The purpose of this report is to illustrate that teens that are involved in extra-curricular activities generally get higher grades than those who are not involved in activities. Some of the research for this report was acquired through the Internet and some of it was obtained through surveys of 120 high school students, grades ten through twelve (see Appendix A). All of the sources that talked about this subject suggested that there is a strong positive correlation between extra-curricular activities and good grades. Although some students are different, this has proven true in the general classroom as well as in a high school talented and gifted class, a high school English class, and a high school art class. The main reason that this correlation exists is because of organization skills, parents’ involvement, and the need these students have to excel. Results in the General Classroom It used to be believed by experts that one should study and not play. This is no longer the case, according to Mr. R. Griffin in his article Helping Athletes Excel in Sports and School (23). He suggests that it is important to encourage both academic and extra-curricular performance. In most instances, involvement in extra-curricular activities leads to better grades. According to the University of Michigan, teens that are involved in activities during high school are more likely than teens that didn’t participate in any organized activities to have higher grades as high school seniors and to still be in college six years later (Swanbrow 1). These results were produced at the University of Michigan by tracking 1,259 sophomores for six years. These results also proved to be true in the three individual classrooms that were surveyed. The classes that were surveyed were students in art, talented and gifted, and English at Southeast Polk high school. The results are shown in the f ollowing three paragraphs. High School Talented and Gifted Class A group of students, grades ten through twelve, in the Talented and Gifted program were surveyed to see if the positive correlation between involvement and grades held true. According to this particular survey, it was shown that ninety-six percent of students were involved in extra-curricular activities. These activities ranged from basketball, wrestling, football, swimming and track to National Honors Society, Bible study, speech, drama, and student council. Out of the ninety-six percent of people involved in activities, the average grade point was 3.

Butterfly Effect in Bone :: essays research papers

Directed and written by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, the movie â€Å"Butterfly Effect† is about a young man (Kutcher) who blacks out harmfull memories of significant events of his life. As he grows up he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life. This movie teaches a simple lesson about life: one little thing in the past can change the whole outcome of life later. The book Bonesetter’s Daughter, by Amy Tan, also has something to do with past, as it is narrated by two people, mother and daughter, who talk about themselves, constantly referring back to the memories of their childhood. They regret the mistakes they have made as a little girl. If only they didn’t make the mistake in the past, they would have a totally different fate then.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ruth’s life is much affected by her childhood memories with her mother LuLing. Whenever Ruth doesn’t obey her, LuLing threatens by saying, â€Å"Maybe I die soon!† (54), and â€Å"LuLing’s threats to die were like earthquakes† (54). Ruth’s childhood earthquakes caused Ruth to â€Å"think about death every day† (121). If one’s mother threatens to kill herself, nothing would be worse than that for a child. Ruth had to go through all those in her sensitive years, and as a result death became an overwhelming figure in her life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ruth also remembers how LuLing would embarrass her by seeming too Chinese at a time when she was so anxious to consider herself American. Tan skillfully portrays the growing pains of Ruth humiliated by her mother’s inability to accept the Western culture: â€Å"Her mother couldn't even say Ruth's name right. It used to mortify Ruth when she shouted for her up and down the block. ‘Lootie! Lootie!’ Why had her mother chosen a name with sounds she couldn't pronounce?† (49).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both LuLing and Ruth are unable to connect with their mothers, who have hidden their past. The secrecy has deprived mother and daughter from the shared fate and emotions that are necessary for understanding each other. Art tells her, â€Å"In all these years we've been together... I don’t think I know an important part of you. You keep secrets inside you. You hide. It’s as though I’ve never seen you naked† (360). Though she has nothing to hide, Ruth has unknowingly adopted this attitude of secrecy and remains distant from those she loves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a girl, Ruth could only express herself freely in a diary, which her mother repeatedly found and read.

Use of space, levels and proxemics for blood brothers

For example. When Mrs. Lyons (Vivienne Carlyle) didn't want Mrs. Johnston (Marti Webb) near the baby. Carlyle was positioned stage right in relation with Mari Webb who was staged left. Carlyle moved back away from Webb to show that she didn't want her near the child and in doing that, she clutched the child close to her. Carlyle effectively used the idea that she didn't want Webb. Webb Carlyle Audience Another example is when Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Simon Wilmot) become friends and Mrs. J ( Webb) finds out! Mickey is send inside and I noticed that Webb used very close proxemics when talking to Simon. This showed the Love of a mother to her son that she had given away and hadn't seen for a long time although Simon is not aware at this point! I also felt the use of levels was used effectively by the Narrator (Keith Burns) as he linked the actors with the characters. For Example, when he was at the top of the background, looking down at the actors, it seemed as if he was in control. Especially because he was the one who tells what happens in the story. And I though use of spacing was also good as they used the background which blocked the depth of behind the sheets and the actual size of the stage. For Example. When the Scene was taking place at Mrs. Lyons house, they brought background forward which made the stage look very smaller. Another example is when they Split the stage in to two scenes. It was cross cut from one area to the other. As shown in the diagram.

Ethical and Environmental Requirements Essay

Since all the nations understand the effects of the fossil fuel there need to take a practical step towards solving this problem. This is a very expensive undertaking because many nations had already invested in fossil fuel extraction. In order to preserve the natural environment, all the countries are supposed to come to an agreement and reduce the dependence on oil as a form of energy because it causes more destruction to the environment and also leads to depletion of resource because it cannot be recycled or replaced at the rate at which it is being utilized (Littell 2005). This calls fro the investment in the energy sources that are considered ethical, environmental friendly and also addressing the social issues. The use of biomass has been suggested as the most effective alternative to the use of fossil fuel. The renewable energy sources are not a substitute to the fossils energies per se because they may cause other adverse effects like ion the case of palm oil in Netherlands; this was discovered to be more dangerous than the fossil fuels because of the scientific evidence, which showed that it caused more destruction to the environment (Littell 2005). The use of bio fuel also revealed that the methane gas which would be released was just as harmful as carbon dioxide from fossil fuel. On the other hand, the use of bio fuel from the food stuff would not be economical because, it would utilize most of the land which could otherwise be used for agriculture while at the same time the whole grain harvest for instance in the united states, converting it to manufacture oil would only yield up to 16% of the total fuel needs, in the Latin America, the growing of sugar cane as supported by the US lead to destruction of forests making it obvious that the large scale investment in to the bio fuel would create competition for land (food crops, forest and bio fuel plantation) and the result would be food shortage and increased prices of the important necessity (Jackson 2006). Most countries are likely to become depended on foreign energy. Many of the developing nations will not be able to afford the technology involved in the production of the bio fuel or other alternatives that are considered ethical and environmental friendly. This is because the technology is relatively new and maybe very costly (Newton 2003). The developed countries may have the capital to invest but lack the land and these calls for cooperation between governments though some may be seen as exploitation. For instance the sugar cane plantation in Argentina meant to produce ethanol, the project was backed by the United States who wanted to use it for production of bio fuel hence clearing large pieces of land and reducing land for food crop production. The volumes produced by the project were meant for Argentina’s domestic use and led to increased prices of sugar and practically led to cultivation of one crop (sugarcane) seen by the thousands of hectares covered by sugar cane fields. This could be a serious tragedy of crop letdown waiting to take place. The result of the investment in the bio fuel could be worse if the bio fuel campaign to substitute petroleum oil with bio fuel is enacted (Jackson 2006). Most countries consider energy conservation as a fundamental part of government projects that the world uses to decrease their carbon release track record. The major problem of investing in bio fuel that has not been fully addressed is that, lack of skills and innovative technology in the field could create a culture of mono-cropping, and as a consequence, retail prices of common commodities would greatly increase. The U. S target of using the Latin America for the growth of bio fuel quota in order to maintain their uneconomical way of living was seen as a different type of the United States of America’s imperialism of the area. Most of the developing countries are bound to be adversely affected by the changes. The conventional traditions and cultures in most countries have been seen to emphasize so much on food crop cultivation. People have so much respect for their food crops that the long lasting campaign by the developed countries has been unable to suppress their love for food crop cultivation compared to cash crops for fuel (Newton 2003). Though the investment in bio fuel is an attractive venture, it is very expensive for the developing nations because it calls for investment into new technology from scratch. It has been predicted that implementing the bio fuel plan may leave a common person 30% poorer and therefore unable to deal with the problem in the current economic situation (Mintzer 1992). These conclusions are based on the argument that new technology is expensive plus the fact that more farm land would be required for cash crop farming to produce raw material for bio fuel like the sugar cane, oil plants and bio gas animal ranches. It estimated that involvement in bio fuel production would cost over $ 553 Trillion. The decision to take the necessary steps towards solving the inevitable climate crisis of global warming was very critical. The issues of global warming on the other hand presented a challenging opportunity for research, technology innovation and entrepreneur investment (Newton et al 2005). Global warming has presents an equilibrium situation. People do not take into account all the facts around the subject and hence consider the problem on wrong postulations. In order to save the world, the cost should not be an issue because the benefits are very obvious. However the threat to food security is the major concern because food is a necessity. The use of electricity in homes as an alternative to carbon gas fuels is very efficient and most ethical and environmental friendly energy source as there are no emissions into the atmosphere and also there is little environmental destruction (Campbell & Reece 2005). Conclusion The use of alternative energy which is ethical and environmental friendly became a concern because of global warming effects and depletion of sources. The accompanying price increase also pushes for the need of alternatives with high efficiency especially in the automotive industry. The ethical and environmental friendly has created more room for technology industry to develop hybrid vehicles and other machinery to use bio fuel and electric automotive to use electricity. Other power sources include flywheels, fuel cells and ultra-capacitors. Biomass and hydrogen being low carbon emitters are not workable alternatives to fossil fuel. Nuclear power and carbon capture and storage also present low carbon alternative though not the best solution. References Al Gore. (2006). An inconvenient truth. Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What we Can Do about it. Rodale Berger J. J (1998). Charging Ahead.The Business of Renewable Energy and what it Means for America. University of California Press Campbell N. A & Reece J. B (2005) Biology. Pearson. Benjamin Cummings Jackson R. M (2006). Annual Editions: Global Issues. Global Issues 06/07. McGraw-Hill Higher Education Littell M. (2005). Science. Integrated Course 2. McDougal Littell Mintzer I. M (1992). Confronting Climate Change. Risks, Implications and Responses. Stockholm Environment Institute. Cambridge University Press Newton L. H (2003). Ethics and Sustainability. Sustainable Development and the Moral Life. Prentice Hall Newton L. H Dillingham C. K & Choly (2005). Watersheds 4. Ten Cases in Environmental Ethics. Thomson Wadsworth

A View of Sexism Evident in Nike’s Athletic Promotion

A View of Sexism Evident in Nike’s Athletic Promotion What’s One More Thing for Men to Rule: Finding Women’s place in Athletics This text is questioning why men are looked as being the superior athletes in comparison to women in sports, and more specifically in long distance running. It also questions why we as society feel the need to compare them. The Men Vs. Women challenge advertisement campaign put on by Nike plus acts as the representative example for this text in order to see how society still values male athletes more than female athletes. The author consulted Robert Degner’s work, which explains how men have experienced a longer predisposition to being competitive. The author also joined a conversation with Christine Wegner about her research regarding statistics of female marathon runners. It was found that the number has plateaued and it speculated that this is caused by social norms restricting women from spending extra time on training that they are using right now to raise children. One more thing for men to rule, is the caption on the advertisement of the Men vs. Women challenge put on by Nike Plus (Gould). This particular ad is obviously supporting the men in the challenge. One more thing for men to rule. Is it supposed to intimidate women? Or empower men? Did Nike even think about the fact that the ad might come off as offensive? What exactly are they trying to accomplish? But mainly, why are we making it a competition between men and women? With all this being said, if society knows that there are limitations that have held women back from being as physically capable as men and, if male and female bodies are created differently, why does society continue to value male athletes as more capable and superior to female athletes? My initial hypothesis is that because men have been participating in sports for a much longer period of time than women have, we tend to value them more than female athletes. The Nike Plus ad, which I will be analyzing as my representative example, was part of a campaign originally to get more women to join Nike plus, an app that connects to your iPod or phone to track your mileage and pace. I chose to use this advertisement as my representative example because Nike is a pretty well known company and they are still ignoring gender equality just for one of their campaigns. The employees at Nike decided that the best way to get women to join the app was to start a battle of the sexes. On the ad in favor of the men’s side there is a guy running wearing Nike running clothes. He looks very focused. There are big white words in front of him saying â€Å"one more thing for men to rule.† and then under that in smaller letters are words saying â€Å"join the men vs. women challenge at nikeplus.com.† He looks like he knows what he is doing, like he is an experienced runner (correct form, proper running clothes, defined muscles, etc.). There was an ad similar to the men’s ad supporting the women. There is an experienced, focused female runner with words in front of her saying, â€Å"Ladies First. Men second.† It seems ironic that they chose to say ladies first because at no point in history have women dominated sports. Men have a vastly different athletic background than women do. The Olympics have been around for thousands of years, running events have been included in all of them. Except, only for men. Women weren’t able to participate until 1900 and didn’t start competing in running events until the 1928 Olympics (The History of Women’s Running). A handful of women were able to compete in the 800m run in 1928, however a lot of them collapsed at the end of the race so it was banned until 1960. This seems really unfair because even though they were allowed to finally run they hadn’t gone through proper training, or education on how to race an 800m. After that event there became a rule that women could not race more than 1.5 miles because they physiologically incapable of running more than that. The marathon was not incorporated into the games for women until 1984 after a group of women fought long and hard to prove that they should have the rights to race more than 1.5 miles (The History of Women’s Running). Women have not had nearly enough time to adapt their bodies for maximum potential because our history did not include lots of physical activity. Why were men participating in sports when women weren’t? Men on the other hand have had plenty of time to adapt their bodies for physical activity. Robert Deaner and some of his colleagues published an article exploring the evidence that men have had an evolutionary history of physical competition, they hypothesized that because men were involved in more physical activity, â€Å"Men have experienced a longer predisposition to be competitive, which has driven them to be more interested in sports†¦Societies have documented female participation in sports but men were always shown to be more involved.† (Deaner) While they did document women participating in sports they weren’t nearly as competitive or involved in them as men were. Could this biological response have been influenced by the social norms of that time? Where these social norms influencing females drive for competition as well? How has women’s biology played a role into their athletic participation? Why was it acceptable for men to play sports while women stayed inside and cared for children? Women are still evolving their bodies to be capable of maximum athletic performance. Russell Pate and Jennifer O’Neill published a paper about the advances women have made in the sport of marathon running. They looked into the trend of the best marathon times for women over the span of 30 years to see how they have changed. It was discovered that women improved their marathon times by 15.6% over thirty years, while the best male marathon times have remained fairly constant for recent decades. They also looked at the physiological differences between male and female runners. â€Å"The male runners had statistically significant higher values of height, weight, sum of 6-site skinfolds, V ?O2max and V ?E compared with the female runners.† (Pate). These biological differences have been adapted over many centuries so that men could run to catch food or fight off enemies. It’s okay to compare males and females. However, we need to draw the line when comparison turns int o a hierarchical comparison and a placement of women and men on a scale based on factors that shouldn’t be compared. This is why I found the Nike ad destructive to the work that many people have put their entire lives into for gender equality. Does being a child bearer mean that women’s bodies aren’t as physically capable of athletic performance because their bodies are able to bear children? It seems like we’ve made a lot of progress with feminism but we still have a lot of work to do. Social norms of women and mothers being the primary caregivers for children have had an impact on the number of women participating in sports. Christine Wegner did a study about the number of women running full marathons and discovered that â€Å"While the percentage of female runners at every distance up to and including the half marathon has increased continually over the past 10 years, the percentage of women participating in full marathons has plateaued since 2006, with women still representing the minority in this distance at 43%.† (Wegner) Women are now the majority of half marathon runners at 61%. They suggested that women have found their spot in running and have become most comfortable running half marathons. They continue and say, â€Å"The environmental filter that once precluded women from distance running has appeared to shift, moving the exclusionary barriers, and now seems to apply only to the longest race distances of 26.2 miles and beyond.† (Wegner) The article mentioned that it is not difficult for women to start running initially, that we have jumped that hurdle but it does become difficult for women to up the amount of time they spend training for races longer than the half marathon (Wegner). They speculate this is because it takes more time out of each day to train for a full marathon that most women using to take care of their children. So have we really jumped over social norms? Society used to see women as exclusively caregivers and nothing else. Their job was to stay at home, care for the kids, and clean the house. Now, it’s socially acceptable for women to run and race but they still have to devote their main priorities to caring for children, given that they are mothers, but running is something they can do if they have spare time. Men have less of a hard time fitting running into their schedules because of they aren’t expected to see to their children as much as women are. Another issue with society’s hierarchy or gender is the pay scale for women compared to men. This article titled, â€Å"Heres why its fair that female athletes make less than men† by Shane Ferro discussed why its fair that women get paid less. It’s because not as many people come to watch female athletics. This specific article looked into soccer players but this is common among most sports. The writers used â€Å"fair† in the sense that what their sport makes is relatively equal to what each athletes makes. They went on to point out that what we really need to be focusing on is why, why are people less inclined to go see women compete, and put less time and money into female sporting events? â€Å"The real question is not why female athletes are paid less. People should be asking why fans and sponsors are less interested in supporting womens sports — and this is what they should be outraged about.†(Ferro) Once again it all goes back to socia l norms that male sports are dominate, which somehow makes them more interesting. Why? Could this difference in pay scale discourage women from running? Could it also empower them to fight for their rights to have equal pay? If we know that our historical differences have led to different biological capabilities than why are we still initiating competitions between men and women? Who is this healthy for? Could this be potentially harmful to men as well? Men too feel pressure from the hierarchy that we have created as well. Except, they don’t worry about whether they will be able to compete in a sport, rather they worry If they will be able to keep up with the expectations that society has set for them as ‘fit males’. When men see that women can beat them in a race they feel intimidated and embarrassed that a girl could beat them. This hierarchy has led to many male athletes afraid because they are supposed to be better, according to society. If they aren’t though, they can feel pressure from other males as well as media to be better, stronger and faster. Athletes will go to extreme measures to prove to society that they are the top dog. One common way they do this is by abusing performance-enhancing drugs. A document released by The American College of Sports Medicine stated that, â€Å"Lifetime prevalence rates for steroid use among male adolescents generally range between 4 and 12 percent and between .5 and 2 percent for female adolescents.†(Yesalis) This is showing that males have a higher chance of using steroids, this article also mentioned that drug use can start pretty early in life, signaling that it could be due to social pressures. If kids are using steroids so early in life it could be hard for them to stop later in life and also change their mindset that they don’t need to use steroids to be great athletes. How do we move forward? I think we have done a lot to get women in sports to where we are today, but yet we still see sexist acts and comments being made on a large scale. Eric Anderson did a study on the cultural forces that are affecting male athlete’s attitude towards sexism. He says in his research, â€Å"Competitive male team sport athletes might maintain socio-negative attitudes toward women even in a time when institutional sexism has been shown to be decreasing.† (Anderson 258). He used data from heterosexual men who played football in high school, a much masculinized sport, and then went on to join collegiate cheerleading in college. He found that the guys largely changed their views regarding women’s athletics. They respected women’s leadership abilities and valued their friendship. While this is all well and good, it astonishes me that men have to actually see women participating in sports close up and interact with them for us to gain their res pect. It shouldn’t have to be like this, but if it helps men take women more seriously in the athletic world then we need to continue in that direction. Maybe this means that we just need to combine more sports and allow men to see that we are just as willing to put in the work as they are. Is this the right way right that we should be going about trying to demolish gender norms? I don’t think there is a â€Å"right† way to do it, however, we need to continue to talk about gender norms and help break them down. There really is no need for comparison, we should be able to respect each other’s differences whether it be due to biological differences or others, but at the same time be able to support one another. Athletics is about bettering yourself and improving your health, ultimately.