Gansz V. Alton Haunted House Essay

The case of Gansz V. Alton Haunted House originated when a girl tripped while running from an individual with a loud motor driven chainsaw at a haunted house in Alton, Illinois on October 29, 2011 (Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, 2013). The girl’s father, Terry Gansz, claims the haunted house tour included a section where patrons were directed through a passage leading to a ramp with an entry to the rear of the haunted bus. American Legion is being blamed for the design of the haunted house making it difficult for patrons to exit the attraction (Madison Record, 2013). Arguing that the plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risks of the haunted house, the defendants claim they are not at fault and should not be liable for any injuries claimed (Madison Record, 2013). Issue: Has negligence been demonstrated? Rule According to Cheeseman (2013), negligence is a â€Å"A doctrine that says a person is liable for harm that is the foreseeable consequence of his or her actions† (p.91). The elements of negligence include: Duty of Care Breach of Duty Harm Legal Causation The case of Gansz versus Alton Haunted House exemplifies the foundation of the fault principle. Terry Gansz the father of a young girl who was injured when she tripped over a ramp at the Haunted House alleges that there was failure to ensure the safety of the patrons who visited the haunted house.  Alton Haunted House had a duty to exercise reasonable care for those who would visit the haunted house. The unforeseen danger of the participants were not averted and the injuries suffered by the young girl is the fault of Alton Haunted House. Alton Haunted House believes the young girls harm was the result of her own negligence. It was not the duty of the young girl to research beforehand the possible dangers of the haunted house. Analysis In our analysis of the case team D recognized that there were flaws in the defendant’s case. The defendants had a responsibility, a duty in fact, to ensure the safety of the patrons. There should be a limit as to how far actors should be allowed to come to patrons. Also nowhere in the case did it state that a sign was posted stating enter at your own risk or anything of that nature. So team D concluded that the defendant must be held liable for their action because there were no clear policies in place for employees with regards to chasing patrons. . Duty of care is listed as â€Å"Duty of care is defined as the â€Å"obligation people owe each other – that is, the duty not to cause any unreasonable harm or risk of harm† (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 91). We believe that is was there duty to ensure safety. Conclusion Learning Team D reviewed the case of Gansz v. Alton Haunted House using the IRAC method. Based on the issue, rule, and analysis conducted, the team’s conclusion is that Alton Haunted House is liable for negligence because they breached their duty of care. This breach resulted in foreseeable injuries to the plaintiff. In this case, patrons did assume a level of risk by entering into the house; however, Alton Haunted House still had a responsibility to ensure their employees were properly trained and supervised prior to interacting with patrons in order to minimize the risk of injury. This case provides an excellent example of the liabilities business owners may encounter. Therefore, in any business managerial setting it is imperative that owners carefully consider how their actions or lack of actions could lead to a lawsuit. References Faces of Lawsuit Abuse. (2013). Girl chased at haunted house sues Alton. Retrieved from http://www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org/2012/10/girl-chased-at-haunted-house-with-chainsaw-sues-alton-american-legion/ Madison Record. (2013). Bellville attorney to represent Alton in haunted house lawsuit. Retrieved from http://madisonrecord.com/issues/366-personal-injury/249477-belleville-attorney-to-represent-alton-in-haunted-house-lawsuit Madison Record. (2013). November trial vacated in girl’s suit against Alton haunted house. Retrieved from http://madisonrecord.com/issues/366-personal-injury/259790-november-trial-vacated-in-girls-suit-against-alton-haunted-house-cmc-set-eve-of-halloween

Essay English

Opinion column in the glamour magazine – Stereotypical jokes on intelligence – For years and years I’ve been subjected to blonde jokes. You hear blonde jokes at elementary schools, you hear them around the water cooler at work and you hear them on morning drive-time radio. Ever heard of this one before? â€Å"Q. How do you get a blonde to laugh at a joke on Saturday? A. Tell it to her on Tuesday. † Are those jokes about blondes or intelligence of a certain ethnical group really considered as funny? Are they politically correct?One could tell a joke about intelligence of almost every ethnical group or attribute of someone, does this mean that these jokes are political correct now, because everyone is affected by it? A random person tells a joke about my intelligence assuming that I am stupid just because I am blonde. I don’t care about the blonde jokes, simply because the ones who tell the joke know exactly that it is not true. If people start to bel ieve and take it personally, it could cause a lot of problems. I am aware that I am not stupid, why would I be successful in my work then?Last week I walk into the office, everything as usual; my coffe and work awaiting on my desk, the employees getting ready to work. I get introduced to a new employee. A young tall man, seems confident, blue eyes, brown hair and dressed in a suite. Let’s say: Good looking. We talk, we laugh, I spill my coffee. He laughs and immediately has a blonde joke ready. Does he never spill his coffee? I could assume he’s a dumbass, just because he has the stereotyp of a good looking arrogant man. Certainly he didn’t mean to offend me, because we both know that blonde jokes are not true. Where is the context between blonde and dullness?The answer I believe is jealousy. Blondes are also seen as men-attracter, no matter if it is true or not. â€Å"Men prefer blonde women†, therefore other hair colored women are in the shadow of the b londes. Smells of jealousy! The men are not getting blamed for prefffering the blondes, but the blondes as stupid as they are â€Å"running after men†. Jealousy? Seriously? Are human beings getting so upset that they have to discrimnate someones intelligence only because of their hair color? Hair color neither has feelings nor can it talk, so what is it about the hair color? It is not only the blondes who are hearing the jokes over and over again.The first impression of an Asian people have is that they are smart. Without even talking to them their prejusdice is that this Asian person is smarter than everyone else. What would you say about the intelligence of an American? Yes, I can forsee you would say that they have no general knowledge. A joke about Americans â€Å"How does an american search for a rabbit ? He imitates the sound of a carrot. â€Å" The joke itself is funny and everyone knows that it is not true, since it is unrealistic. The thought behind the joke though is still considered as true, that Americans are stupid.Here is the point where it could cause troubles, if people actually believe in it. One cannot judge the Americans as stupid, since their culture might have teached them differently. Eduaction is different, but judge the one who is responsible for it and not the ones who are dependet of it. If they are not intelligent, why are we then buying their products? I use my Iphone everyday, I am writing on my MacBook and I love Starbucks. They all are American products. It needs intelligence to succeed, no matter what kind of product. It could be food, clothing or technic.I’m comparing Asians, Europeans and Americans now with their culture. People also say that the geographical knowledge of Americans are the worst, but does everyone in the world besides the Americans know where Estonia is? Would you know off by heart without looking at a map? I believe half of us wouldn’t know. In the American culture, people express oneâ €™s sentiments no matter if it is right or wrong and in case it is wrong they will laugh with it and correct is whereas in Europe it is embarassing. In Switzerland, where I live, it is an embarassement if you said something „veryâ€Å" wrong and people will laugh at you and not with you.In the Asian culture, for example in the Chinese culture there is the one-child policy. Obviously the parents want his only child to be successful and need to push them, therefore their effort overall in the culture is much higher than the ones of Americans. This still does not mean that Asians are smarter, only that some put in more effort and I would consider this as positive rather than negative. Maybe some are just again jealous that they don’t have the endurance to put in enough effort to achieve a goal. All these jokes about intelligence are superficial and therefore spread easily within a community or even outside the community.There is no logic behind these jokes, since one is proud of ones individuality and the whole world discloses individuality, but these jokes show the opposite. I clearly cannot see any correlation between these to human thoughts. I will just live with the blonde jokes and be amused of them rather than being offended, they are still funny. Intelligence cannot be measured through appearance or nationality. It’s obnoxious, unfair and stereotypical to blame intelligence on appearance or on an entire nationality. The lack of intelligence or â€Å"overdose† of intelligence simply doesn’t come from these factors.

Managing Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Diversity - Essay Example personality and even income and marital status all differ from person to person (Ironson, et al., 1989) This paper would like to focus on managing diversity in these organizations, and how the members belonging to such organizations manage to deal with their differences, along with the differences of others. Through this paper, the writer would like to investigate how organizations are structured in such a way that its members are all respected and valued. Furthermore, the writer would also like to study the positive and negative effects of diversity issues, and the controversies that surround it. Â   The concept of managing diversity in an organization basically focuses on strategies that can be taken in order to create a positive work environment for a diverse group of people. Differences between individuals tend to create problems in an organization because it is a given fact that two people cannot possibly be alike in all aspects (Child, 1973) Therefore, this could result in poor production of work and could possibly hinder or slow down progress within an organization. In the workplace, diversity could mean issues regarding discrimination against individuals, which naturally, could lead to problems within the organization, as a result of conflicts that could occur. In the United States, the 1970’s saw a need for a federal enforcement of equal employment opportunity, or EEO and affirmative action, or AA law that was intended to abolish discrimination in the workplace. Affirmative action would refer to policies that provide equal opportunities to individuals regardless of their race, gender and ethnicity. These policies are not limited to the workplace but also extend towards educational institutions and as well as health care programs and facilities. The aim of such programs were to show the Americans the importance of social equality among its people and the others who have chosen to consider America as their home. Furthermore, the programs were aimed to

Two topices you can choice (The finance of public transportation or Essay

Two topices you can choice (The finance of public transportation or The implementation of recycling programs) about ubran studies - Essay Example What the core problem is that a society in which a recycling program is considered ineffective; actually lacks experience, for these programs provide better and better results with proper development with time. What happens with a common household ‘dustbin’ or a ‘garbage-can’, as most people would refer it to, is that after being filled to its brim it starts to spill the waste out, evidently due to the limited space it has for the purpose of storing garbage. But space doesn’t matter nowadays, does it? One can clearly incinerate the garbage and use the dustbin for collecting more garbage and then incinerate that too, but would the ‘effects’ of that burning garbage be healthy for the environment? Of course most people don’t tend to care about it and consider using their resources to better purposes than caring about the environment, but would the ‘cost’ of constantly burning that garbage, the ‘energy’ used in clearing the bin and the transportation of that garbage be so minor to be easily sacrificed? Our planet is the metaphorical ‘dust bin’ and clearly we (humans) have polluted it for long, but it is only now that emphasis is being laid on the preservation of our resources and our environment; reflecting that our environmental condition has reached a critical point. The latest effort to preserve what’s left of our once rich environment and to clean what we have messed up, includes recycling; the reprocessing of materials to save fresh raw materials, energy and save the environment from numerous pollutants. Recycling programs are methods or ways we adopt which consequently help us recycle. To address the issue of their implementation in urban areas we must first consider the importance and the need of recycling programs in urban areas. Developed cities tend to be more artificial with respect to the natural environment and the more different they are the more harm they cause. Take a big metropolitan

Learning Organizations & Effectiveness Research Paper

Learning Organizations & Effectiveness - Research Paper Example However, this does not come easily as there are important aspects that come with learning and which organizations must conform to in order to effectively adapt the learning. In this regard, it is paramount for organizations to clearly define their visions and mission statements which act as guiding principles. With statements clearly stipulated, strategic plan with a clear learning strategy should lay a foundation for effectiveness of organizational learning. Characteristics of an ideal learning organization and their observable behaviors Learning strategy: It is argued that for any organization to thrive, learning is necessary. However, learning has to be strategized in order to achieve desired objectives. Therefore, learning strategy constitutes characteristics of an ideal learning organization. Organizations are expected to endorse both learning innovation as specific goals, and learning strategy (Denton, 2002). One of the strategies is the ability for the organization to learn fa ster than other competing organizations. This is the surest way to maintain competitive advantage. To achieve this, organizations need to put learning at the top of the list of priorities (Buckler, 1996). Once learning strategy has been adopted by an organization, it is apparent that this becomes a habit, which becomes an everyday occurrence. Flexible structure: After setting learning strategies, it is vital for ideal organizations to streamline a structure that would foster learning within the organization. To affect this, organizations need to create teamwork by the formation of small, core workforce (Yang, Watkins, and Marsick, 2004). Actually, a flexible structure should dispose of traditional operations like rigid job descriptions. In fact, it is believed that flexible structure encourages cross-functional cooperation which enables organizations improve the organization’s operations. Organizations that use flexibility structure tend to reduce bureaucracy and restrictive job descriptions. Blame-free culture: It is believed that learning organization should provide an ideal climate, through which learning is prioritized and valued (Denton, 2002). When mistakes are identified, they need to be viewed as a chance to learn and perk up. In fact, it is argued that learning organizations that uphold blame-free characteristic encourage employees to experiment, and in the process, they learn from the experience and become innovative. For organizations that practice blame-free culture, learning becomes automatic. Vision: The concept of a learning organization goes hand in hand with shared vision. A shared vision is needed to overcome authoritative forces that hold up the preservation of the status quo (Denton, 2002). Besides, learning cannot occur without stipulating specific objectives of the learning. Shared vision gives an overview of organization’s commitment to achieving its objectives. An organization with a clear vision would tend to establish ov erarching goals, which forms the basis of encouraging the workforce to speak in one voice. Knowledge creation and transfer: It is apparent that in a learning organization, the concept of creation of new knowledge forms the foundation of development. Knowledge may come from several directions ranging from within the organization and outside the organization (Yang, Watkins, a

The Use of Sustainable Strategies in the Management of the Hotel Assignment

The Use of Sustainable Strategies in the Management of the Hotel - Assignment Example Sustainable practices can be an essential pillar in the hotel. Apart from helping to build the reputation of the hotel in the eyes of the general public, it can be instrumental in helping to reduce the costs of operations, conservation of the environment for a sustainable growth. To achieve this, I would like to highlight that the hotel has the following options to exploit: Energy is a crucial resource that the hotel cannot work without. With the overreliance on traditional sources of energy such as electricity, many hotels have been spending a lot of money on electricity. In fact, according to the hotel’s records, it spends a total of 19% of its revenues on energy. This means that energy has been very costly to acquire. To minimize its usage, the hotel can choose to adopt various measures. First, stop using high voltage bulbs and tubes and replace them with energy saving ones like Star Light Bulbs and LED lighting. There are revolutionary inventions because they have tremendously reduced the rate of energy consumption. For instance, the use of Star Light Energy saving bulbs has led to the reduction of energy consumption in hotels by up to 75%. Nevertheless, better results can still be attained if the hotel resorts to the installation and use of area sensors in the guest rooms and public resting spaces. Just like electricity, water is a very precious commodity in the hotel. Without it, no meals can be prepared, no cleanliness can take place, and no guests can drink or bathe. After all, it is a costly resource that must just be used for every single hotel facility. Because of this, it should be sustainably consumed. However, one way through which this can be accomplished is through the installation and a consistent use of low-flow showerheads and consumption landscaping.  

Organational Theory and Leadership Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organational Theory and Leadership - Term Paper Example An organization is a social group that works for a collective goal. It is usually composed of different kinds of people, who have their own role in the organization. An organization usually has a mission and a vision, and each member works towards the organizations goal. Each member has a purpose, and each members contribution should help the organization move towards its goal. However, each organization needs a leader to guide the members in reaching their specific, as well as collective goal. Thus, in order for an organization to function efficiently, it is essential to have a leader that understands the workings of his organization. There are different theories on how an organization works. One of the most popular theories on organizational studies is the classical organization theory. According to this theory, an organization should have a defined job and a definite measure of authority, responsibility and accountability, in order to assure its efficiency. The organization is likened to a machine, with the members functioning as the different parts of the machine. It is thus not surprising that Frederick Winslow Taylor is one of the proponents of the classical theory. F.W. Taylor is a mechanical engineer by profession, and is regarded as the "father of scientific management". In the classical point of view, an organization should be output-oriented. Just like a machine, each part should work well with the other parts in order to ensure productivity. However, unlike a machine, an organization is composed of people, not nuts and bolts that can be overworked without any complaints. People, unlike parts of a machi ne, have needs, and when these needs are not provided, they would find it difficult to be productive. Thus, critics found this theory somewhat unreasonable and thus, scholars started formulating other theories to explain the dynamics of organizations. If organizations cannot be likened to

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Case Study Example Corporate accountants have always maintained a degree of confidentiality about companies’ finances. Confidentiality principle of accounting requires accountants not to disclose information acquired during their practise to third parties. It clearly stipulates that information acquired from professional or business relationship be kept confidential unless there is legal or professional right or duty to do so. Such information belongs to the company and should not be put into any personal use. Therefore, an accountant must take the necessary measures to mitigate any threats that might occur in the course of practising. However, each engagement and work assignment differs in threats it presents, which means that it is the work of an accountant to identify, evaluate, and deal with the threat to confidentiality. Professional competence and due care is another principle applicable to this scenario. Accounting profession keeps changing to incorporate new skills and information. It is the duty of an accountant to ensure that they keep themselves updated. They must maintain professional knowledge and skill to ensure that the clients receive competent services. Any developments in the profession or in the legal system must be included in the practise. An accountant who acts in due care is one who follows all the technical and professional standards in their practise. Objectivity is another principle applicable to the scenario that requires accountants to act independently. He should not allow undue influence from thirds parties. Corporate accountants should not allow bias in their work and should relinquish their personal interests to accommodate professional judgements. Additionally, a professional accountant must act with the highest level of integrity because of they are entrusted with preparing financial accounts of organisations. Although the principles of loyalty and confidentiality should

Discussion 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discussion 7 - Essay Example eeds in response to minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual and auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign† (1). In other words the real and the virtual worlds have now merged. The term avatar comes from Hindu religious philosophy and means passing across or through, standing for the descent of a deity into the mortal world (2). Second Life is an interactive Web portal that allows you to create an avatar of your self to pass across into a virtual world. The avatar you create of yourself can have the go of yourself and indulge in activities that your real life person does not permit you to enjoy. So fly in the Second Life, if you are scared of heights in the real world. You are not limited by the limitations of your real person in the virtual world of the Second Life. You do not have to stir from your house for crossing over to the virtual. It is just mouse clicks away from the personal computer or lap tap that you possess. Enrol and leave the real world into the virtual world for as long as you want. Interact with other individuals in the virtual world. Join or form groups with same interests. Star your own business organization, buy and sell real estate. The market is ever expanding, with a constant migration of individuals from the real world to the virtual world of Second Life. Let your imagination fly in the virtual world for the virtual world is not constrained by the limitations of the real world. All this has become possible from the convergence of advances in audio and visual technologies, through innovations of technology in the field of information and communication technology (3). Second Life sounds great and is a precursor of potential virtual applications through advances in video, audio, and communication technologies and their convergence, in a similar manner as photography triggering a revolution in the reproduction in visual mediums including art works. This convergence

How to build brand synergy among the integrated marketing Research Paper

How to build brand synergy among the integrated marketing communication elements to deliver an effective and consistent message to consumers - Research Paper Example 6). Protecting and promoting the brand in therefore very important. However, it can be challenging given the relative ease with which it can be copied and the fierce competition in an increasingly technologically sophisticated market place (Johnson and Myatt 2003, 749). Building brand synergy among the integrated marketing communications can be particularly tricky. This is because, today there is a wealth of media technology facilitating communications globally. For marketing managers the problem therefore turns on attempting to ensure brand integrity locally while simultaneously cultivating synergy globally (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2009). This means ensuring that marketing brands must be coordinated among the integrated marketing communication elements in such a way as to deliver an effective and consistent message to consumers. In marketing products the focus must be on ensuring that brands maintain the same quality in terms of substance and packaging. In the service industry, branding is attached to the business rather than the product (Berry 2000, p. 128). As brands have the potential to clutter, confuse and crowd the market, building synergy is entirely important since there is an intense â€Å"proliferation of products, brands and sub-brands† in the market place (Aaker 2004, p. 6). Branding has entered a new phase in the international business environment and permeates local markets as a natural consequence. With the advances in modern technology particularly with respect to telecommunications have changed the way that businesses are required to coordinate brand promotion and protection. Moreover, competition is becoming increasingly fierce (Cravens, Piercy and Prentice 2000, 369). Businesses are therefore taking steps to become what is characterized as â€Å"smart environments† (Raman and Naik 2006, p. 381). It is therefore important to study how the new

Bioethical Principles in Medical Science Essay Example for Free

Bioethical Principles in Medical Science Essay The principlist approach to biomedical ethics is understood on the basis of two central theses. The first thesis is that moral principles are non-absolute and that they do not occur in a determinate order of precedence. This means that every single principle is prima facie. These prima facie principles are; beneficence, respect for autonomy, non-maleficence and justice. The second central thesis, usually called the global applicability thesis, posits that the four prima facie principles derived from common morality make principlism universally applicable. Analysis of ethical questions based on the biomedical principles of ethics is central to moral reasoning while at the same time respects exigencies of circumstance and liberates pluralism (Beauchamp Childress 14; Herissone-Kelly 65). Since this application of ethical principles is sensitive to moral beliefs encountered in everyday lives, it forms the basis of ethics in biomedical practice. It acts as a guide to action even though the four principles do not operate in a determinate order of precedence. In attempting to discern the ethics of physician assisted suicide one central question comes into mind. Is assisted suicide morally justified? In a nutshell, assisted suicide or more specifically, physician assisted suicide, refers to a case where the patient has ended his life either with a lethal dose or any other medically provided instrument after the patient requested for the lethal dosage from the physician who provided the dosage for the specific reason of ending the life. The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is that in the case of euthanasia, it is the physician who administers the lethal dose or withdraws the life support system because the patient in question is unable to administer the same to him/herself. Thus, the difference lies in the difference in who makes the action that precedes death. In assisted suicide, it is the patient who acts last. The choice of taking the lethal dosage or pushing the button that will terminate life solely rests with the patient and they have the capacity to alter their decision before their actions become irreversible. Even though the physician plays a causal role in both; the patient kills him/herself in assisted suicide while in the latter, it is the physician who kills the patient. This difference creates an intrinsic moral difference between the two. This brings into question the principle of respect for autonomy. The moral principle of respect for autonomy refers to a patient’s freedom of liberty or choice interests. However, it should not be confused with an all-for-nothing phenomenon. Gradations of autonomy and its interpretation in different circumstances are variable. A patient’s autonomy can be interfered with when there is excessive control (too much interference with the patient’s decisions) or when there is too little interference (neglect of the patient). Respect for an individuals autonomy is also threatened in cases where an individual’s right contravenes another individual’s freedom of choice and their actions (Brent 40). With respect to assisted suicide, the patient in question having satisfied the qualifications of making an informed consent can request the causal assistance of the physician to carry out actions that directly lead to their death. In such a case, professional codes of ethics bind physicians to respect the patient’s rights to self determination by unobstructing the conditions for the operation of an autonomous action such as: intentionality, understanding, and the complete absence of any controlling influence. In a situation where all these conditions are met and the physician dutifully performs their causal roles, physician assisted suicide is ethically correct. This is so because so long as the patient’s rights are supported it automatically follows that ethical permissibility of assisted suicide is also granted (Weir 89; http://www. deathreference. com/). In cases whether the patient is suffering from a treatable clinical depression or dementia which impair the decision making capacity of the patient, the right to self determination do not apply (http://www. inclusiondaily. com/). The moral principle of Non maleficence hold that a person should not do harm. It specifically holds that one should have the capacity to discern actions that are morally harmful. However, there is controversy as determining the intention behind an action. At the same time, determining whether an intentional or unintentional action refrains from action harms or puts the subject at a risk of harm. The moral principle of beneficence entails the following obligations: to prevent harm, to eliminate harm, and to do good. These three conditions characterize the measures taken by medical practitioners to balance the components of risks, harms and benefits. Beneficence therefore encompasses professional, personal and societal obligations (Brent 41). The principle of beneficence largely builds on the foundational principle of non maleficence. In this case assisted suicide is ethically permissible on the basis of an individuals well being. It can be argued that in such a case, to promoting and protecting the patients well being may be contradictory to the patient’s right to self determination. However, this is not so. Life is often is perceived as being good and its value is a product of our pursuit of goods within life itself. In an assisted suicide scenario, a person who is fully competent to reach a decision decides that life sustaining treatments no longer has any benefit but has become a burden. Most of these patients are often critically ill, dying or in a very debilitated and severely compromised state. If such patients request the means to end their lives, it is in line with non maleficence or beneficence because such an act is value to the patient’s life. Unless if the patient is unable to reach a competent decision and the dictatorial authority transferred to a surrogate, the right of self determination stands and is not in contradiction to the principles of non maleficence and maleficence(Weir 90). Moreover, such a decision is only ethical if it does not infringe on the moral and professional values of the physician. Additionally, assisted suicide is an act of compassion that eliminates further suffering and pain. Refusal to grant the patient their claim or entitlement is akin to putting them to unbearable suffering. Finally, the moral principle of justice simply refers to fairness. It is the act of receiving ones due; entitlement or claim. Distributive justice concerns itself with how fairly benefits can be allocated and distributed. Basically, four considerations guide moral justice. For instance, an equal share, according to a persons need, according to a person’s effort, and lastly, according to societal contribution (Brent 42). Physician assisted suicide is supported by the moral principle of justice in the context of â€Å"treat like cases alike† (http://depts. washington. edu/). When competent but terminally ill patients request lethal dose medications or refuse life sustaining treatments with the sole purpose of hastening death, it is only just that they should be granted their claim. However, these arguments are only suitable when the ethics of assisted suicide is analyzed on a basis of the biomedical ethical principles. Works Cited BBC News. Assisted suicide danger claim. April 20, 2009. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8008736. stm Beauchamp, Tom L, Childress, James F. Principles of biomedical ethics. Oxford University Press, 2001; 1-23 Brent, Nancy J. Nurses and the law: a guide to principles and applications. 2nd Edition. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2000; 40-47 Reynolds, Dave. Assisted Suicides For Mental Illness, Too, Swiss Court Rules. Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Eugenics, Bioethics. Inclusion Daily Express. February 5, 2007. http://www. inclusiondaily. com/archives/07/02/05/020507sweuth. htm Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Bioethics. http://www. deathreference. com/A-Bi/Bioethics. html Harrison-Kelly, Peter. The Principlist approach to bioethics, and its stormy journey overseas. in, â€Å"Scratching the surface of bioethics†, By Matti Hayry, Tuija Takala. Rodopi Press, 2003; 65-72 Physician-Assisted Suicide. Ethics in Medicine. University of Washington School of Medicine. http://depts. washington. edu/bioethx/topics/pas. html Weir, Robert F. Physician-assisted suicide. Indiana University Press, 1997; 86-97

External environment analysis for Toyota PLC

External environment analysis for Toyota PLC Automotive industry is a large scale of business that the market has altered quickly because of technology, economics, etc. This report is concern about Toyota (GB) Plc that is a large multi-national corporation, which main strategic issues are to be a leader of automotive global market and automotive innovation with respecting environment. Firstly, this section will analyze external environment by the PESTE framework. Secondly, it concern about automotive industry which examined by the five forces framework. Thirdly, it reveals estimation of profitability and efficiency for firms. Finally, it will conclude the assessment of company and recommend the strategy plans for future practice. Company and Industry context For Toyota (GB) Plc, the main activities of the company are distribution, selling and servicing vehicles of Toyota and Lexus brands. Most companies in this geographical market are authorized dealers such as Volkswagen, Ford and BMW and some companies are retail that they sell many brands of vehicle such as Lookers Plc and Arnold Clark Automobile Co., Ltd. Furthermore, the activities provide after sell service, maintenance and selling parts to customers. The macro-environment There are many causes that affect the macro environment concern with automotive industry. Analyzing the external environment, the PESTE framework is used as tools to consider major factors, which affect the business and to create key driver of change (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008). This can identify influential effects in each area, which can consider key success factors of company. 1.1 Political This factor is most related government policy such as taxation policy and trade tariff. Because manufactures import some vehicles and parts from other countries, firms need to pay for the tariff for buying. Costs of products will be increase, if government increase import tariff. This is the challenge that company faces fluctuation of cost. 1.2 Economics Economic growth affects spending of people by changing buying power, for example, the economic crisis impact decrease of salary, increase of unemployment that people are difficult to buy products because they have less income. 1.3 Social For social factor, some people select to buy products since they can reveal the social status of consumers and some people are still reputation in brands. Moreover, the trend of family structure has changed and customer needs will be different. For example, people who are in nuclear family need to buy the products that can suitable for their family function. Toyota has not only positioned itself in middle market by using the Toyota brand but also launched Lexus for luxury brand which firm has wide range of product. 1.4 Technology Technology is one of the important factors of environmental impact on organizations, technologies change quickly while companies have invested in research and development to respond needs. Innovative technology can provide more opportunities in particular energy conservation issues such as fuel consumption and alternative energy technology. 1.5 Environment The essential of environmental issues is global warming. Many companies try to produce eco-friendly product for following the issues. People concern more about reducing the environmental impacts that companies need to adapt their product to support consumers such as low emission vehicles. Industry sector By using Porters five forces framework, it can analyze the changing of factors and assess profitability of company in industry (Porter, 1998). Focusing on industry sector, it will concern about potential of firms operating similar activities or providing similar products and influence of both suppliers and buyers to quantify the potential of company. Suppliers Threat of new entry Substitutes Competitors rrar Buyers Figure 1: Porters five forces diagram 2.1 Buyer power In automotive industry, it is low switching cost which customers can select variety of products in the same range of price. Each brand provide good offering for propensity customers. Furthermore, buyers have many ways to compare products information. Thus, buyers have high bargaining power. 2.2 Supplier power This subject is not much influence for the firms because Toyota (GB) plc is subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation Japan. Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd is main supplier to produce vehicles for supporting this company. It can be consider a strong supplier. 2.3 Competitive rivalry The automobile has more diversity of competitors which have strong brands of cars in the same class. Ford and Vauxhall dominate UK car market that each of them gains approximately 13% of market share while Toyota has 4.4% in 2010 (AM, 2010). Moreover, the other brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen are also significant competitors because they offer the same range of price and service maintenance cost. Therefore, companies which 2.4 Threat of substitutes The most influence substitute in this industry is Public transportations such as rail, underground subway and bus. These transportations can facilitate people who need to travel that they are not only convenience but also economical price. Thus, it can decrease demand for buying car. 2.5 Threat of new entry It is difficult for new entry to enter into business in this sector since the investment costs are high. For automotive industry, research and development technologies are crucial for gaining advantages that new entrants cannot develop easily. Moreover, firms which are already in market have large effectively distribution channels. Hence, the threat for new entry is high. Company performance Figure 2: Toyota (GB) Plc (Return on capital employed: ROCE) From figure 2, it show that ROCE ratio had a sharp decrease from 2008 to 2009 because of economic crisis, however, in 2010, it continue increase slightly. It seem to be that company can get more return Conclusion For the external environment, this report shows that company should plan to cope with economic change which can affect buying power. However, using technology in the market, Toyota has own advance technology such as technology of hybrid car that can gain more opportunities because people are more conscious about environmental issues. Concern with industry sector the bargaining power of buyer is high and there are more competitors producing similar products that people have more choice to select products. Firm should provide variety of products especiallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦

The Leadership Of King Fahd Leadership Essay

The Leadership Of King Fahd Leadership Essay There are different types of leadership styles of which there are three main ones. There is the laissez faire where the leader spends little time supervising or paying much attention to what the people he is leading are doing. The second one is the autocratic leadership where the leader dictates when to and allows little or no room for other peoples views. The leader only wants his way done. This has fallen out of popularity in many countries although a few leaders in some countries are still practicing it. The third foam of leadership style is the participative leadership style where it is the middle ground of the laissez and the autocratic types of leadership styles. In this case, the leader allows the people to give their views but is at the same time in control and puts his/her stand where need be. This is the type of leadership most countries have adopted. Other types of leadership might come out as we move on. King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz was the king of Saudi Arabia from the 13th of June the year 1982 to the 1st of August the year 2005 although he stopped performing his full duties in November 1995 after suffering from a stroke. He was born on the 16th of March in the year 1921 and died on the 1st of August 2005. His parents were Amir Abdul Aziz who was the father and Hessa Bint Ahmed Alsudairy as the mother. He was the tent child out of the 45 children born by the 22 wives. King Fahd was also the custodian of the two holy mosques. King Fahd is known for having improved the living standards of the Saudis. He brought a lot of improvement in education especially to the girl child. He was a man who believed in balancing all aspects of life i.e. spiritual, physical, mental, and psychological. He served as a prince and a king to the Saudis (http://www.kingfahdbinabdulaziz.com/). His management theory and concepts King Fahds type of leadership can probably be categorized as the participative leadership. He ensured that Saudi Arabias infrastructure was improved, brought about more industries, made his state to be more modern, brought fairness to the ones who were being treated unfairly, defended the weak and feeble against the ones who were mighty and ruthless and much more. King Fahd was known to be generous for he provided aid and assistance where needed (Northouse, 2009). As a leader, he ensured that he put the interests of the people he led first. Saudis are Muslims and so he fully demonstrated that Islam is a religion that can be practiced all the time and by anybody as long as they wished to join Islam. He would listen to the people and establish what their problems, weaknesses; difficulties, wants and needs were (Winkler, 2009). It was not all easy in his leadership period. Putting up national educational system was a very demanding mission. Most pest people were hardly literate except for the religious scholars. To make this mission complete, he combined the vision he had that all the children would be able to access a good education and the determination he had to make that work although he was not highly experienced at the time. Saudi Arabias revenue grew and so this made it easier for him as there was no limitation of finances. He presented good leadership qualities as some leaders used the increment of finances to enrich their selves or even mismanaged the finances putting the country at a disadvantage later. Though some people, especially those who were nomadic and those who practiced agriculture were reluctant at first, they later came to accept education and thus Saudi Arabia has greatly developed (http://www.ameinfo.com/king_fahd_bin_abdul_aziz_al_saud/). King Fahd is also remembered for his great contribution to health matters. He brought free health services to the Saudis. This service was given to those inside and outside the kingdom. This was quite an achievement and a good show of leadership skills as most countries did not offer this service free. This contributed many losses of lives especially to those who were not able to access this service. Hospitals were expanded and more built in order to cater for the growing number of the Saudis. Apart from expanding and building more hospitals, he ensured that the medical practitioners were adequate in order to facilitate the free medical services. The hospitals and health centers were also equipped which was overseen by the health ministry. Some leaders provided free medical services for citizens in a country but fail to provide enough health facilities like hospitals, health centers, medical practitioners, medical equipment etc. making the free service end not being free as intended. This was a great achievement on King Fahds part. King Fahd provided social services that were made to cater for the imbalances raise the living standards among the Saudis and cater for any other deficiency in the population. He provided social activities that enabled the citizens to rely on themselves. This would ease the load on the government to take care of all its citizens. He made the citizens realize that they could cater for their daily needs by practicing agriculture using irrigation, do art for those who were talented in that area etc. instead of waiting for the government to employ each and every individual. Saudi Arabia, there are 173 benevolent societies. 20 of these societies belong to women of which the king highly supported. The kings government supported these societies by ensuring that they were given subsidies. The societies helped the less fortunate, physically and mentally challenged, the widows etc. the king also introduced a compulsory medical scheme which catered for the medical and retirement of the employees. This scheme was known as the General Organization for Social Insurance. The General Presidency for Youth Welfare has been active in the growth of sport in the kingdom. It was and is still responsible for the building and maintenance of sport arenas, youth hostels, sport medical hospitals, sport clubs, an international stadium etc. he greatly supported the involvement of youth in sports and was even a member of the Olympic movement themselves. This showed his love for the growth of the young people unlike other leaders who only exploited the young people and never gave them their dues. This greatly discouraged and killed the young people morale and talent. These young people either ended up in drugs, theft and burglary or hopeless. Most people see as if the Muslim woman is less regarded or looked down upon but this is not so. The Koran allows the woman to inherit or own property before and after marriage. In 1960, the government introduced a programme for the education of girls and by the mid 1970s; half of the girls in Saudi Arabia were going to school. When King Fahd was on the throne, his government highly encouraged more girls to go to school which enabled them to be competitive with their peer boys. Under his reign, the woman has been encouraged to take careers that were previously dominated by men like medicine, teaching, engineering, piloting, broadcasting, etc. This was a great achievement as most countries were experiencing such challenges. The King also played a major role in the development of Saudis economy. Saudi Arabia is well known for its rich oil reserves. It holds 25% of the oil reserves in the world. The kings government attempted to control the oil market in order to make sure the producer and the consumer of the oil were balanced and there was no one oppressing the other. The improvement of agriculture has greatly improved Saudis economy. The cultivation areas almost doubled during King Fahds reign. The citizens were highly encouraged to do more cultivation although Saudi is quite a dry land. The government offered and still offers interest free loans, financial help to farming projects and other foams of assistance just to help the farmers and make farming much easier. Agriculture played and still plays a great role in the Saudis economy (Bush, 2003). Saudi Arabia does not have a lot of water sources like many countries as it is located in the Middle East which is a dry area. King Fahd ensured that the water supply was kept constant by having water desalination, dams and reservoirs put up, and even recycling of sewage to make pure and clean water. This water was also used for irrigation of which many countries which experienced frequent rainy seasons were unable to do and therefore experienced drought when rain failed to pour as expected in a certain season. His weaknesses King Fahd was not entirely perfect. He had his weaknesses as a leader and as a person. Due to his strict belief in Islam, no single Christian church or Jewish synagogue was allowed on the Saudi soil. The Saudis were expected to follow the Muslim way of life both at home and abroad. This was not fair as it denied the citizens the freedom of worship. The Abdul Aziz kingdom was only restricted to the northern and eastern parts of Arabia (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Fahd.html). Though he was hard-working, he would sometimes suddenly take caravans and go for a luxurious holiday for weeks or even keep important people both locally and abroad waiting for hours because he had stayed up too late the previous night. He did not learn enough English in his lifetime so he had to use an interpreter to communicate in international meetings or where Arabic was not known by everyone. Conclusion King Fahd was a good leader that other leaders should emulate. He greatly contributed to the current Saudi Arabia status. He tried to fulfill most of the promises he made bring Saudi up in competition with the rest of the world. Despite his weaknesses, he was a great leader. He possesses a challenge to other countries that are advantaged in regard to rainfall due to the countrys agricultural development.

Spirituality and Edna St. Vincent Millays Works Essay -- Edna St. Vin

The assimilation of human feeling with nature impacted the writings of Edna St. Vincent Millay throughout the entirety of her career. At an early age, on the coast of Maine, Millay had a quasi-religious experience while nearly drowning, that when written down ten years later became the foundation of one of her most staggering works, â€Å"Renascence.† The way in which Millay confronts and interacts with nature, namely the sky, is unnerving, raw, and beautiful. She transcends time and is enabled to take part in an empathetic experience with the entirety of what she perceives around her. This poem serves as a precursor to later poems that deal with the human and its counterpart in existence, nature. Over the course of her work, Millay was constantly reconfiguring her notion of God, humanity, and nature and how they were interrelated. This examination and understanding of a oneness with things is the theme found throughout her writing. In addition to â€Å"Renascence†, it is found in â€Å"Spring† as well as â€Å"Epitaph for the Race of Man.† The constant it seems is her communion with that around her in the natural world. Her offerings of interpretations and meditations on the earthly goods of nature and humanity showcase a pantheistic view of the world, in which everything equals God. The poem â€Å"Renascence†, which garnered Edna St. Vincent Millay instant fame as a poet and allowed her entry into her life as a writer was written when she was only eighteen, ten years after a near drowning incident off of coastal Maine. The poem deals with the spiritual experience of accepting man’s suffering and offers an extended and meditative view of nature as a presence that pushes and awakens the sense of empathy in man. The beauty of â€Å"Renas... ...even if these connections are made by the shared experience of death. It is in this connection to larger ideas and showing then, the connections to smaller entities therein, that Edna Millay is able to project a pantheistic sensibility, even if this is in the minor chord of foreboding destruction. The humanity that Millay is privy to in the understandings she obtains from the observation of earth, sky, season, and the cycle of existence is the paramount essence of her writing. The poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay is the poetry of evaluation of that which is shared and experienced. In each of her writings above, Millay has reconfigured the notion of nature and humanity, not as separate things existing in the same world, but rather two forces occupying each other’s space long enough that there is an indelible reference to each in the existence of the other.

Hamlet As An Aristotelian Tragedy Essay -- essays research papers

According to the Aristotelian view of tragedy, a tragic hero must fall through his or her own error. This is typically called the "tragic flaw", and can be applied to any characteristic that causes the downfall the hero. Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark can be seen as an Aristotelian tragedy and Hamlet as it's tragic hero. Hamlet's flaw, which in accordance with Aristotle's principles of tragedy causes his demise, is his inability to act. This defect of Hamlet's character is displayed throughout the play. In the opening scenes of the play, the Ghost of old Hamlet reveals the truth about his death to his son, and tells Hamlet to avenge the murder. Hamlet's first response is one that sounds of speedy action, saying "Haste me to know't that I with winds as swift†¦ May sweep to my revenge." (p. 34 lines 29-31) Unfortunately, Hamlet's inability to act on his father's extortion has him reluctant to kill King Claudius by the end of that very scene, when he says, "This time is out of joint, O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right." (p. 41 lines 190-191) As the play goes on, Hamlet still has yet to act on his murderous task. In act II, scene 2, Hamlet decides that, before he can avenge his father's death, he must make sure that the Ghost was telling the truth. This simply gives Hamlet more excuse to procrastinate-he gets to put off killing Claudius until after the "play within a play", Mousetrap, is preformed. Not surprisin...

Blood Brothers by Willy Russell :: Blood Brothers Essays

â€Å"Blood Brothers† by Willy Russell Blood Brothers seems to have been set in the 1970s/80s around Liverpool. There is a lot about striking and major redundancies in it. Also about people moving "out of Liverpool" into the "country" ( Skelmersdale ), in order to provide better housing and better prospects for everyone. The social climate of the working class appears to highlight the differences between working and middle classes. The contrasts between the personalities and characters of Miss Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons are clearly shown throughout the play but these characteristics are mirrored within where each character resides. There is a clear and distinct line between the two social worlds is obvious as Miss Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons are shown to live at opposite ends of the social scale, Mrs. Lyons in a respectable area with everything money can buy, and Miss Johnstone in a rundown semi on a council estate. This becomes even clearer when Mickey says â€Å"up in the park† which seems to suggest that it is above the Johnstone’s status and that it is attractive and open in comparison to the estate. It also seems that neither parent wanted their children mixing with each other and also seemingly, boys from a different social class. Mrs. Lyons states â€Å"You see why I don’t want you mixing with boys like that! You learn filth from them,† after Eddie swears at her. It seems to confirm her stereotypical views about the nature of people who were less well off than her, which obviously includes how she sees Mickey to be. There is also a clear difference in the language and vocabulary that is used by both different sets of people. For example Eddie refers to his mother as â€Å"my mummy† which seems to be a rather mummy’s boy thing to say and a bit soppy and girly and also something a somewhat posh child would say. In comparison Mickey, who lives in a rougher environment, refers to his mother as â€Å"me mam† which is a rather typical thing for someone living as a child in working class Liverpool. He tends to be more colloquial and use more informal and slangy language where as Eddie tends to abbreviate his words and pronounce them all in the proper way. Mickey doesn’t enunciate the ends of his word (for example he says â€Å"Yeh† instead of â€Å"Yes†) whereas Eddie has a much more formal way of pronunciation. Another big part of language which is used by both boys, eventually, is the matter of swearing. When Edward meets Mickey he is very polite and rather innocent but upon being introduced to Mickey he begins to Blood Brothers by Willy Russell :: Blood Brothers Essays â€Å"Blood Brothers† by Willy Russell Blood Brothers seems to have been set in the 1970s/80s around Liverpool. There is a lot about striking and major redundancies in it. Also about people moving "out of Liverpool" into the "country" ( Skelmersdale ), in order to provide better housing and better prospects for everyone. The social climate of the working class appears to highlight the differences between working and middle classes. The contrasts between the personalities and characters of Miss Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons are clearly shown throughout the play but these characteristics are mirrored within where each character resides. There is a clear and distinct line between the two social worlds is obvious as Miss Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons are shown to live at opposite ends of the social scale, Mrs. Lyons in a respectable area with everything money can buy, and Miss Johnstone in a rundown semi on a council estate. This becomes even clearer when Mickey says â€Å"up in the park† which seems to suggest that it is above the Johnstone’s status and that it is attractive and open in comparison to the estate. It also seems that neither parent wanted their children mixing with each other and also seemingly, boys from a different social class. Mrs. Lyons states â€Å"You see why I don’t want you mixing with boys like that! You learn filth from them,† after Eddie swears at her. It seems to confirm her stereotypical views about the nature of people who were less well off than her, which obviously includes how she sees Mickey to be. There is also a clear difference in the language and vocabulary that is used by both different sets of people. For example Eddie refers to his mother as â€Å"my mummy† which seems to be a rather mummy’s boy thing to say and a bit soppy and girly and also something a somewhat posh child would say. In comparison Mickey, who lives in a rougher environment, refers to his mother as â€Å"me mam† which is a rather typical thing for someone living as a child in working class Liverpool. He tends to be more colloquial and use more informal and slangy language where as Eddie tends to abbreviate his words and pronounce them all in the proper way. Mickey doesn’t enunciate the ends of his word (for example he says â€Å"Yeh† instead of â€Å"Yes†) whereas Eddie has a much more formal way of pronunciation. Another big part of language which is used by both boys, eventually, is the matter of swearing. When Edward meets Mickey he is very polite and rather innocent but upon being introduced to Mickey he begins to

System Analysis and Design – Midterm

Town of Eden Bay 1. The town of Eden Bay has many workers that are all determined to succeed, but without having a strategic plan set in place, as well as a clear mission statement the employee’s are becoming frustrated. Some of the workers have mentioned that they work off a budget from year to year without any sight of a long-term plan set in place. This will surely add to their frustration and prevent the town from setting and reaching its desired long-term goals. 2. The Maintenance Department’s SWOT Analysis Possible Strengths: Dedicated Staff Possible Weaknesses: Using Legacy Systems Poor Records/Data HandlingPossible Opportunities: Improving on Current System Future Company GrowthPossible Threats: More Efficient/Organized Competitor 3. Specific Steps to Follow During Preliminary Investigation: a. Analyze Systems Request b. Make Recommendations c. Interview with Management and Staff d. Identify Constraints e. Report to Upper Management with Findings 4. Out of the f our tests of feasibility I would perform an operational feasibility analysis to determine whether the project is worthwhile and profitable to the company. Countrywide Construction 1. The correct duration would be 65 Days. 2. Critical Path:Prep Foundation (10d)> Assemble Building (4d)> Final Inspection (30d)> >Arrange for Sale (3d) 4. PERT/CPM Chart: Chapter 4 Review Questions 3. JAD and RAD are teams both composed of users, managers, and IT staff. They differ from traditional fact-finding methods because the users, managers, and IT staff all work together to gather information and define new system requirements, whereas traditional methods are composed of all IT staff. These teams get a wider range of input due to the diverse nature of the team members. However, this can be costly or not as efficient if too many people are involved. 4.Total Cost of Ownership is the sum of the direct and indirect costs of installing a system. This is important to determine the actual total cost of a system. 5. Closed-ended questions limit the response but yield more specific information. Open-ended questions encourage spontaneous and unstructured responses. Range-of-Response questions are closed-ended questions that ask a person to evaluate something by providing limited answers to specific responses. 7. The Hawthorne Effect is a theory that people are more productive when being observed regardless of whether their working conditions are better or worse.This is significant because people may not work as harder when not being watched. 8. An FDD diagram is a model of business functions and processes. This is used to show how business functions are organized into lower-level processes. To create an FDD you would list the steps and tasks in order. 10. I would give the presentation to users, management, and IT staff. For users I would focus on their daily routines. For management I would focus on TCO. For IT staff I would focus on the technical specs and operations of the system.

How Technology Affects Modern America

The microeconomic picture of the U. S. has changed immensely since 1973, and the trends are proving to be consistently downward for the nation's high school graduates and high school drop-outs. â€Å"Of all the reasons given for the wage squeeze – international competition, technology, deregulation, the decline of unions and defense cuts – technology is probably the most critical. It has favored the educated and the skilled,† says M. B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U. S. News & World Report (7/31/95). Since 1973, wages adjusted for inflation have declined by about a quarter for high school dropouts, by a sixth for high school graduates, and by about 7% for those with some college education. Only the wages of college graduates are up. Of the fastest growing technical jobs, software engineering tops the list. Carnegie Mellon University reports, â€Å"recruitment of it's software engineering students is up this year by over 20%. † All engineering jobs are paying well, proving that highly skilled labor is what employers want! There is clear evidence that the supply of workers in the [unskilled labor] categories already exceeds the demand for their services,† says L. Mishel, Research Director of Welfare Reform Network. In view of these facts, I wonder if these trends are good or bad for society. â€Å"The danger of the information age is that while in the short run it may be cheaper to replace workers with technology, in the long run it is potentially self-destructive because there will not be enough purchasing power to grow the economy,† M. B. Zuckerman. My feeling is that the trend from unskilled labor to highly technical, skilled labor is a good one! But, political action must be taken to ensure that this societal evolution is beneficial to all of us. â€Å"Back in 1970, a high school diploma could still be a ticket to the middle income bracket, a nice car in the driveway and a house in the suburbs. Today all it gets is a clunker parked on the street, and a dingy apartment in a low rent building,† says Time Magazine (Jan 30, 1995 issue). However, in 1970, our government provided our children with a free education, allowing the vast majority of our population to earn a high school diploma. This means that anyone, regardless of family income, could be educated to a level that would allow them a comfortable place in the middle class. Even restrictions upon child labor hours kept children in school, since they are not allowed to work full time while under the age of 18. This government policy was conducive to our economic markets, and allowed our country to prosper from 1950 through 1970. Now, our own prosperity has moved us into a highly technical world, that requires highly skilled labor. The natural answer to this problem, is that the U. S. Government's education policy must keep pace with the demands of the highly technical job market. If a middle class income of 1970 required a high school diploma, and the middle class income of 1990 requires a college diploma, then it should be as easy for the children of the 90's to get a college diploma, as it was for the children of the 70's to get a high school diploma. This brings me to the issue of our country's political process, in a technologically advanced world. Voting & Poisoned Political Process in The U. S. The advance of mass communication is natural in a technologically advanced society. In our country's short history, we have seen the development of the printing press, the radio, the television, and now the Internet; all of these, able to reach millions of people. Equally natural, is the poisoning and corruption of these medias, to benefit a few. From the 1950's until today, television has been the preferred media. Because it captures the minds of most Americans, it is the preferred method of persuasion by political figures, multinational corporate advertising, and the upper 2% of the elite, who have an interest in controlling public opinion. Newspapers and radio experienced this same history, but are now somewhat obsolete in the science of changing public opinion. Though I do not suspect television to become completely obsolete within the next 20 years, I do see the Internet being used by the same political figures, multinational corporations, and upper 2% elite, for the same purposes. At this time, in the Internet's young history, it is largely unregulated, and can be accessed and changed by any person with a computer and a modem; no license required, and no need for millions of dollars of equipment. But, in reviewing our history, we find that newspaper, radio and television were once unregulated too. It is easy to see why government has such an interest in regulating the Internet these days. Though public opinion supports regulating sexual material on the Internet, it is just the first step in total regulation, as experienced by every other popular mass media in our history. This is why it is imperative to educate people about the Internet, and make it be known that any regulation of it is destructive to us, not constructive! I have been a daily user of the Internet for 5 years (and a daily user of BBS communications for 4 years), which makes me a senior among us. I have seen the moves to regulate this type of communication, and have always openly opposed it. My feelings about technology, the Internet, and political process are simple. In light of the history of mass communication, there is nothing we can do to protect any media from the â€Å"sound byte† or any other form of commercial poisoning. But, our country's public opinion doesn't have to fall into a nose-dive of lies and corruption, because of it! The first experience I had in a course on Critical Thinking came when I entered college. As many good things as I have learned in college, I found this course to be most valuable to my basic education. I was angry that I hadn't had access to the power of critical thought over my twelve years of basic education. Simple forms of critical thinking can be taught as early as kindergarten. It isn't hard to teach a young person to understand the patterns of persuasion, and be able to defend themselves against them. Television doesn't have to be a weapon against us, used to sway our opinions to conform to people who care about their own prosperity, not ours. With the power of a critical thinking education, we can stop being motivated by the sound byte and, instead we can laugh at it as a cheap attempt to persuade us. In conclusion, I feel that the advance of technology is a good trend for our society; however, it must be in conjunction with advance in education so that society is able to master and understand technology. I think technology has an important effect on us, the way we act, react, and take actions in society. We can be the masters of technology, and not let it be the masters of us.

Nutritional Value of Menu Items At a Local Fast-Food Restaurant

In my pursuit to investigating the balancing the qualities of healthy choices of fast food restaurants were a challenging venture. During a recent visit to McDonalds, I ordered a healthy menu and then selected a very unhealthy menu. My choices included for the healthy choice a rice shrimp burger, side salad, vanilla reduced fat ice cream cone, and Dasani water.   In my selection of an unhealthy selection I chose a Big Mac, large fries, Mcfurry with Oreo cookies, and a large coca-cola drink. The assessment of my analysis provided an interesting result to the pursuit of a nutritional value meal. In my selection of my healthy selection, I discovered that McDonalds provided an easier approach to being able to select a more nutritional food selection compared to other fast food restaurants (McDonalds, 2008). The healthy selection calorie intake was less than 500 which on a world platform is a great attribute for McDonalds to develop and incorporate an excellent healthy meal. The healthy selection was tasty and fulfilling that was surprising for a fast food restaurant. However, the ingredients were not sacrificed in order to make the healthy food selection with low calories which was a good marketing decision at McDonalds. The unhealthy selection posed a greater challenge due to the higher calorie but the taste was slightly more fulfilling with a huge guilt after taste due to the 1,000 calorie meal. The difference was the feeling of self indulgence to an extreme that was both satisfying and somewhat uncomfortable. However, those feelings did not prevent the challenging temptation to stop eating the unhealthy menu selection. In the future, the fast food restaurants could create a marketing angle that ignites a strong sense of identification and acceptance depending on the social environment. For instance, on the healthy choice a marketing plan that provides an emphasis on a surprising taste of trying something new, rather than the ordinary. The imagery of the marketing ad or commercial should present a creative and alluring concept in order to entice the viewer to indulge in a new experience by making a more nutritional choice. In regards, to the marketing angle for the unhealthy selection the marketing angle can focus showcasing a back drop of self-indulgency that goes along with the sensation eating the item. In doing so, the viewer can relate the two and make a concise choice to select the unhealthy item over the healthy one. The key is the effective translation of marketing the extreme in either selection that relates to the selection – that encourages participating in enjoying the menu item. References McDonalds Inc. (2008) Official International Website. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.com            

A response to The Bell Jar Essay

You would expect anybody to want the story of depression and suicidal thoughts to leave your memory as soon as the last page was over. However, The Bell Jar is more about the spirit of survival when you are trapped inside yourself and frightened because the rest of the world expects something completely different from you – something you cannot give them. Something you don’t want to give them, if it were your choice. This is a highly auto-biographical account by Plath of a young girl finding that when she should be most excited about her life, she instead finds that things aren’t what she expected, and that the culture of the 1950’s doesn’t seem to allow for all that she wants, which begins her descent into depression. The Bell Jar is in the form of a Roman à   clef, with the main protagonist (Esther Greenwood) succumbing to mental illness. Esther begins the book thinking about the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, and thinking about cadavers, which is a motif that recurs later on in the book. Esther thinks being executed â€Å"must be the worst thing in the world† so we can tell already that she isn’t exactly a light-hearted character. Instead, throughout the novel, we discover that she is brutally honest and self deprecating. She wins a fashion writing contest, but she isn’t overly happy about it, viewing the gifts and girls there superficial: â€Å"Girls like that make me sick.† She appreciates that she is meant to be â€Å"the envy of thousands of other college girls† but her future prospects trouble her: she can either marry, or, become a secretary and then marry. Neither satisfies her. â€Å"So I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed†, so women in the fifties are meant to want to marry and start a family, and Esther knows this too well. It isn’t considered right to think otherwise, so these opinions stay inside her head. Perhaps, this is why mental illness festers within her; she bottles up her emotions and they mix with more menacing thoughts. Buddy laughs at her when she refuses his marriage proposal, saying that she’s â€Å"crazy† and she’ll â€Å"change her mind.† She thinks he is a hypocrite, and no longer sees him in admiration because of his double standards. Esther observes the gap between what society says she should experience at her age and what she does experience, and this gap intensifies her madness and makes her more aware of any problems she may have, because she is now able to see everything wrong with her in somebody else’s eyes. Esther feels she must repress her natural gloom, cynicism, and dark humour and falsify opinions. Esther’s aversion to convention and conforming is perhaps why she feels so alone and her darker thoughts take over: â€Å"†¦it’s really you getting smaller and smaller and lonelier and lonelier†. Esther’s descent into depression and suicidal thoughts begins on the ski slopes, when she begins scared but â€Å"aims straight down.† This is only the first of numerous suicide attempts: she wants to experiment hanging, drowning, pill overdoses and cutting her wrists, but there are flaws in all of them. When Esther tries to kill herself, she finds that her body seems determined to live. Esther believes that she could kill herself if she wanted, but she must remove the barrier of her body. The beating heart symbolizes her life, as her heart beats, â€Å"I am I am I am.† This is again enforced because she never assigns a blame to her depression, but rather lets us see what it feels like to be in it and living through an experience like it, as she wrote – â€Å"I am I am I am.† But I think the whole book can be summarized by something that Buddy said to her on the ski slopes: â€Å"’You were doing fine,’ a familiar voice informed my ear, ‘until that man stepped into your path.’†

Utilitarian Conservation or Preservation Movement Essay

Utilitarian Conservation or Preservation Movement - Essay Example Key among such scholars is Rachel Carson who in her book Silent Spring explores the possible ways of safeguarding the future of biodiversity in the country. Key among her fundamental suggestions is utilitarian conservation, which she explains has the potential of saving the country’s biodiversity future as the discussion below portrays. In the book, Carson argues the human activities continue to threaten the future of wild animals. She studies the detrimental effects that pesticides have on birds thereby arguing that the continued use of such powerful biocides threatens the future of birds in the world. Birds are among the most varied animals in the world. Their large number and diversity in species makes documenting them difficult. Despite such, the continued use of pesticides on farms as humans continue to invent new ways of protecting their crops in the fields is among the leading threats globally to the future of numerous species of birds. A fundamental argument she makes in the book is that the pests continue to mutate thereby becoming resistant to the pesticides. This will therefore create a unique scenario where the pesticides kill all the birds while such diseases as malaria continue to persist thereby causing deaths to humans. She therefore suggests other appropriate ways of coexisting between humans and w ild animals in a manner that limits the conflicts arising from such relationships. Wildlife is important aspects of the ecosystem. Wildlife enhances the stability of the ecosystem and the elimination of any species of wildlife will have diverse effects on the environment. Among the factors that enhance the conflict just as stated earlier is overpopulation. This compels humans to rehabilitated areas previously occupied by the wild animals. Among the immediate ramifications of such is the restructuring of the environment, which causes numerous

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

Utilitarianism - Assignment Example For this reason, an abortion is done. The decision may be against the morality of the society but it may be good to the girl. West is of the assumption that the end may justify the means if the perception of the majority is considerate of the truth (Par 8). If the same case may be involving a grown woman, an abortion may not justify the end. This is based on that the decision is made under no circumstances that may justify the actions. In another example, a hospital may ignore calls to carry out euthanasia on a patient. From the public perspective, the hospital should end the life to stop a person from suffering. The hospital is however, hopeful that a cure may be created to cure the illness. If the person is cured, the conduct of the hospital may not be questioned. From this argument, one may be of the assumption that the pleasure and wants of the majority may determine the morality of ones actions. However, if other factors such as truth are disregarded an action may be justified regardless of the morality and the perception of the

The Obedience to Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

The Obedience to Authority - Essay Example In â€Å"The Lottery,† Old Man Warner stresses that the lottery cannot be removed, simply because it has always been done: â€Å"There's always been a lottery† (Jackson). Furthermore, he emphasizes the saying: â€Å"Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon† (Jackson). It does not matter if this ritual results in the suffering of one person since the society focus on its â€Å"positive† outcomes. In "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas,† people believe that in order to maintain the joy and wealth of Omelas, they have to preserve a â€Å"child's abominable misery† (LeGuin). Omelas has made it a law to never let the child out because it will result in the loss of â€Å"prosperity and beauty and delight† of Omelas (LeGuin). Some residents feel the injustice of this law, but the majority follows its law nonetheless. Simply obeying authority is a form of cowardice, which results in evil too. Some people in â€Å"The Lottery† consider scrapping this tradition, but they do so in â€Å"suggestive† tones. Mrs. Adams says: â€Å"Some places have already quit lotteries† (Jackson). No one among the people, nevertheless, boldly calls for the eradication of this bloody and senseless ritual. They all participate, even when they feel uncomfortable about it. For instance, the niceties are all forced, such as when Mr. Summers and Mr. Adams â€Å"grinned at one another humorlessly...† (Jackson). There is also cowardice in how people in Omelas uphold a child's misery. They rationalize the co-existence of their happiness and individuals suffering: â€Å"They all know that it has to be there† (LeGuin). They think this way to free themselves from guilt. Rationalization is a coward way out of his/her conscience. People follow authority, even when it results in violence because violence has become too commonplace that no one questions its morality anymore. Children and adults alike  participate in the violence of the lottery, as part of their â€Å"numbing, commonplace everyday activity† (Breakthrough Writer).  

Final exam paper two part Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Final exam paper two part - Essay Example According to Cicero 3 all human beings are the same. We all have the urge to be together. We cannot live in isolation and that we come together in communities from a desire to be together both for fulfillment of our nature as social beings and for company. As Aristotle has said, â€Å"man is social being†. He argues that nature has endowed humans with reason so that we can understand the natural urge and guide our actions in order for us to live together. For Cicero, not only are all humans one species, but also all communities with â€Å"an innate desires on the part of human beings to form communities.† He agrees with Aristotle that humans are political or social animals. But that nature has given to mankind â€Å"†¦ a compulsion to do good and †¦ a desire to defend the well being of the community†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Marcus 4). What this means is that as human beings we have constructive toward each other and are urged by nature to seek the well being not just o f themselves but of the whole community. The opposite of this is selfishness and for Cicero this is acting against human nature. Cicero even marvels at the power of human reason. â€Å"Reason in fact †¦ the one thing in which we are superior to the beast which enables us to make valid deductions, to argue, refute, debate, solve problems, draw conclusion †¦ that certainly is common to all of us (John 4). It is this common reason that allows each individual to examine nature and come to understand what nature urges him or her to do. This is his basis for universal understanding of the institution, it is better to live with other people. He takes a stand that Law is the highest reason, implanted in nature, which prescribes those things which ought to be done and forbids the contrary (John 10). For Cicero, â€Å"The highest reason inherent in nature which enjoins what out to be done and forbids that opposite† Living by this natural law

Discuss how the treaties might relate to custom, as well as the Assignment

Discuss how the treaties might relate to custom, as well as the alleged existence of hierarchy among the sources of internationa - Assignment Example International law consists of the rules and principles of general application dealing with the conduct of States and of international organizations in their international relations with one another and with private individuals, minority groups and transnational companies. Since there is no international legislation or parliamentary body that had the mandate of coming up with international law, the generally accepted source of the rule of law has been customary international law. It arises from the concept that these laws arise from what is considered as common practice when countries are dealing with each other. Consequently international law can only be established if there is consent by states and is enforced by means of individual or collective action of individual or collective action of other states. ... Practice alone is not adequate as was the case in the ruling of Case of the SS Lotus (1927).Secondly in has to be ‘opinio juris’ that is a belief in it being a legal obligation in the states. As the International Court of Justice put it â€Å"Not only must the acts concerned be a settled practice but they must also be such, or be carried out in such a way as to be evidence of a belief that this practice is rendered obligatory by the existence of a rule requiring it... The states concerned must feel that they are conforming to what amounts to a legal obligation2. Let’s take for example the duty for countries to give protection to ambassadors from other countries while they are on diplomatic missions within that country. This is an ancient custom which has been accepted as normal practice and a legal obligation expected of the host country. In case an ambassador is attacked in a country it would be considered as a violation of a customary international law. 3New st ates are automatically bound by the existing customary international laws. For a state to not to be bound by a rule of international customary law it must object to it during formation or become a persistent objector to it. Failure to register such an objection may lead to the state being assumed to have accepted the customary rule of law. International Convections International treaties are contracts signed between states that are legally binding to all states that are party to the treaty. The reason for which states that sign a treaty are bond to it is because there is a rule of customary international law – pacta sunt servanda- which requires all states to honour and adhere to the treaties they have signed. A state

Project Managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Managment - Assignment Example The company considered setting up its own Information Systems Department to develop (or adapt) software for the robots to match its customers requirements, but decided instead to outsource this task to companies. Now is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial robots in UK. One robot responds by moving through the warehouse picking appropriate shelving and framework timber for this product and delivering it to the assembly room. (Based on their identification code, appropriate software allows the robot to access a list of components required, and to find where in the warehouse they are stored.) Another robot, in the assembly room, puts these parts together (using glue or bolts where appropriate) to make the bookshelf. It moves the completed bookshelf to a nearby holding area ready for loading onto a truck. The computer system (in addition to controlling the robots) should keep track of the stock of each type of shelf and frame component that has been used and so be able to report when stock replenishment is required. Time - The amount of time required to complete the project. ... The computer system (in addition to controlling the robots) should keep track of the stock of each type of shelf and frame component that has been used and so be able to report when stock replenishment is required. Criteria of Success For success of the project at The Shelf Company Proposal document. In broad terms you will oversee a project that will involve: The delivery, installation and testing of two industrial robots. The installation of a minicomputer system to be used as the centralised storage and processing unit for use by the two robots at TSC. The installation of terminal and peripheral devices in the control centre, and cabling to the mini and to the parts of the warehouse where the robots will operate. Develop documentation for the new system, suitable for use by staff at TSC. Organising and overseeing the training of staff on the new system. Assumption Project Management tries to gain control over some variables: Time - The amount of time required to complete the project. Typically broken down for analytical purposes into the time required to complete the components of the project, which is then further broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component. Cost - Calculated from the time variable. Cost to develop an internal project is time multiplied by the cost of the team members involved. When hiring an independent consultant for a project, cost will typically be determined by the consultant or firm's hourly rate multiplied by an estimated time to complete. Quality - The amount of time put into individual tasks determines the overall quality of the project. Some tasks may require a given amount of time to complete adequately, but given more time could be

Strategic Management in the Airline Industry Assignment

Strategic Management in the Airline Industry - Assignment Example In the last couple of decades, the advent of low-cost carriers has reinvented the airline industry. These efficient carriers offer no-frills service to travellers flying point-to-point short haul routes utilising efficient ticket distribution through direct internet offerings and utilise standardised short haul aircraft with quick gate turnaround times to maximise aircraft utilisation. South West Airlines is the pioneer in this segment in the US and EasyJet is the industry leader in this segment in Europe. Other significant players in this segment include Jet Blue in the US and Ryan Air in Europe. The 9/11 tragedy, did cause a slump in the airline industry, but also gave valuable lessons. All the major airlines slowly woke up to the inefficiencies in their models and started drastic cost cutting measures translating into better operational efficiencies and improved margins in order to avoid slide into bankruptcy. The low cost airlines were the only ones that were able to manage the downturn due to their business models. The major overhaul in the restructuring has gone a long way in changing the face of the aviation industry. Deregulation opened up the skies and brought in more players increasing the competition many fold. Consolidation is the name of the game and slowly the industry will consolidate into three or four major players and their improved synergies will end up contributing to a stronger airline. This focus on regional traffic will allow low-cost carriers to focus on their niche markets and improve their market share. The low-cost market is less mature in the Europe than the U.S.A, therefore there is more scope for newer routes to be opened up, and newer destinations charted out for a few years before the restructuring and consolidations occur. From the legacy days of large airline companies monopolising the market place, the airline industry has fast become a price-sensitive industry. In the post September 11 era, the airline offerings are more commodity-like, with players who offer the lowest price and efficient services being the most profitable survivors. Most large full service airlines have been facing the brunt of the decline and are fighting for survival, trying to get out of multi-billion dollar losses and bankruptcies. (Source from website: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3884/is_200509/ai_n15613234) In this changed landscape emerged the no frills airlines segment, which have achieved rapid growth in market share into the short haul European market. EasyJet, brainchild of Stelios Haji Ioannou, the son of a Greek shipping magnate who founded the company, based on the low cost, no-frills model of the US carrier Southwest, started in 1995. EasyJet is based on short haul air transport in a price in-elastic target segment and based on the concept that is that if prices are reduced, more people will fly. EasyJet flies to 33 locations in Europe with a fleet of over 120 aircraft and sells over 95% of its tickets through the Internet. It's the leading player in the low cost market after the acquisition of "GO"(A no frills subsidiary of BA), closely followed on its heels by rival Ryanair which has now acquired "Buzz" (a subsidiary of KLM) and expanding as well. Virgin Express of Virgin airlines and British Midland's BMI baby are all competitors in the "no-frills" sector. (Source: Case stud y EasyJet-The spectacular

Child health issue and its effect on the child and family (Autism) Essay

Child health issue and its effect on the child and family (Autism) - Essay Example The paper â€Å"Child health issue and its effect on the child and family (Autism)† discusses the importance of the relationships of an autistic child and parents. Currently, Autism affects about one in every100 children. In UK, about 100,000 children have been diagnosed with Autism, with close to half a million families directly affected by this condition. Though, the number of children having a Statement of Special Educational Needs remains to be 2.8%, the number of children whose statement point autism as a primary need has gone up by 5% since 2011. Indeed, very recent diagnosis rates have pointed out that close to four times as many boys as the girls have autism. Research has revealed that, divorce rate of parents of children diagnosed with autism is 60% higher than the average. In a UK study of families having autism it was established that one in every three were single parents. Notably, only 11% of the carers who have children diagnosed with autism work full time where about 70% have reported of the lack of appropriate care facilities which causes them to fail to work. As such, the understanding that autism is drastically on the rise being coupled with difficulties arising from the care of an autistic child has fueled the recent calls for a cure to this condition. Since autism was identified in the UK, efforts to cure it have been underway. Indeed, the search for cure has often been brought into the limelight by the media, with the frequent question being that if cancer can be cured then why not autism. More importantly, if a cure for autism is to be found, then it is through creation and maintenance of programs and policies, that acknowledge the challenges of autism, having build it on autistic individuals' abilities, and further make it possible for those in the line of the spectrum to live fully in the community and the larger world (Clements and Zarkowska, 2000). By and large, the children Act Amendments on the proposed 1989 children Act of ar e in place to provide a more shared parenting. Section I 2A points it out that the parent could be involved in a child’s life in a manner that does not risk or expose a child to harm (Department for Education and Skills, 2004). Additionally, that if there is evidence on negative involvement of apparent on the child then the initial provisions will reconsider. Indeed the purpose of the amendments is to reinforce a Childs importance on relationships with the parents even in situation of divorce where the child interests will be considered first (Mitchell, 2012). However, other critics point it out the legislation may only put a child in greater emotional torture when the right ownership is contested in a court of law (Laming, 2009). The school policy statements points it out that, children with special needs may be admitted to specialist schools and further proceed to different levels in the mainstream education or the special schools in the local authority. Notably, schools wi ll implement the policies on the behavioral support as well as bullying education sexual harassment and general safe guarding. As such, school role is inclusive of the provision of academic education as well as educate children on the social practical and communication skills (Merrell, 2007). Last but not least, proper student to staff ratio is to be maintained. Parents and the community have been encouraged to work collaboratively

Holes Essay Example for Free

Holes Essay There are many different challenges that Stanley Yelnats (the main character) from the bestselling novel Holes written by Louis Sachar has to over come. Stanley was first seen in the movie when a tilted shot of shoes hit him in the head and he fell on the ground portraying he was weak and a bit stupid. Stanleys personality was also displayed when his mum was so shocked when the police came around to their house telling them Stanley had stolens, this shows that Stanley had never commited a crime before and wasnt usually a trouble maker. The movie directed by Andrew Davis portrays everything the book does and it shows nearly all the insight into Stanleys life that author describes in the book. There are many challenges but the main one is breaking the curse that Stanleys family has been stuck in for more than 100 years. This challenge shows many significant themes in this book like friendship, determination and fate. The main dispute for Stanley was breaking his family curse. Although he didnt know if it was even real and that he had broken it , it was clear for the audience watching the movie that he had. The curse was put on his family more than 100 years ago when the first Yelnats, Elya Yelnats went to a fortune teller called Madame Zeroni. She made him a deal that he could have one of her small pigs if he carried Madame Zeroni up the mountain when he was done making the pig nice and fat so he could give it to the father of the girl of his dreams. When he noticed that the girl really was stupid like Madame Zeroni warmed him he decided to move from Lativia to America. However he forgot to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain so she put a curse on his family forever. This was portrayed by a dissolve of Madame Zeroni repeating that she will put a curse on his family to Elya leaving Lativia. The low angle of Madame Zeronis face made it obvious that she was not kidding and very serious about the curse. When Stanely carried Hectoria Zeroni (a descendant of Madame Zeroni) up â€Å"Gods Thumb† which was also portrayed with a low angle making it look very commodious, he broke the family curse. This challenge portrayed many key ideas and themes and one of them was friendship. Zero (Hector Zeroni) and Stanley didnt know eachother at all but due to them both being the outcasts of the group they started to get to know eachother and Stanley started to teach Zero how to read and Zero helped dig Stanley holes so he wasnt so tired and could teach him. These lessons however were then stopped by the Warden, who was introduced by a high angle on her boots which already made her look threating as you could compare it to some movies where the thief or cowboys boots got introduced before their face which usually portrayed they were a significant character that usually was there to cause harm. However this didnt stop Zero and Stanleys friendship growing, when Zero ran away form the camp as he had enough of it Stanley had to go and rescue his only close friend he had at the camp. This shows Stanleys friendly love for Zero portrayed by the dissolving of Stanley walking through the dessert and than of the sun showing how hot it was. The soundtrack of mysterious music kept you guessing to see if Stanley would end up finding Zero or not. The orange overalls that all the boys at Camp Greenlake wore made Zero recognizable in the dessert. The audience knew that when the two boys rejoiced both of them were very content due to the soundtrack turning from mysterious to faster more lively music. Another key idea that the challenge portrayed was change. Change for Stanley, his family and Hector Zeroni. There were many unanswered questions that produced tension, secrecy through the entire movie but these questions were all answered when Stanley broke the curse. There was quite a journey to break the curse for Stanley and during this period his character changed dramatically. He used to a gullable, weak , little boy that couldnt stand up for himself. But he turned into a strong, smart young adult that could even save someones life. His weak side was displayed through a high angle of Stanley searching for a camera in the shower, that he got told the Warden of the Camp had installed. This shows how gullable he was and believed everything the other boys in his hut said. As well as giving his findings in a hole to another boy who got a free day off as the Warden though he found it not Stanley. However when he was in the middle of the dessert. He saw â€Å"Gods Thumb† and took iniative. When Hector was to weak he carried him up and saved his life as he found water which the boys definitely needed as they were tired and dehydrated. When Stanley broke the curse it changed many other things mostly for his life and family. His dad finally created a way to make sweaty feet/shoes not smell and Stanley found his treasure that was buried for more than 100 years by Kissing Kate Barlow. This changed his entire lifestyle and he gave half of his treasure to Hector who used that to hire private investigastors and find his mum who he hadent seen for more than 4 years. As you can see the main challenge definitely portrays some key ideas and themes. It displays the friendship betweeen Stanley Yelanats and Hector Zeroni which is definitely one of the most important friendship. Furthermore it explains how Stanley, Hector and both of their families changed. Stanleys personality changed showed everyone how much you can change due to your circumstances and enviroment around you. He teaches everyone a good lesson and I would definitly recommend this to any person my age.