Concepts of Competencies to the Jobs Essay

1.How relevant are the concepts of competencies to the jobs in a chicken-processing plant? 1.How relevant are the concepts of competencies to the jobs in a chicken-processing plant? hirsagar had been with Horizon for over twenty years. Starting off as a substitute mill-hand in the paint shop at one of the company’s manufacturing facilities, he had been made permanent on the job five years later. He had no formal education. He felt this was a handicap, but he made up for it with a willingness to learn and a certain enthusiasm on the job. He was soon marked by the works manager as someone to watch out for. Simultaneously, Kshirsagar also came to the attention of the president of the Horizon Employees’ Union who drafted him into union activities. Even while he got promoted twice during the period to become the head colour mixer last year, Kshirsagar had gradually moved up the union hierarchy and had been thrice elected secretary of the union. Labour-management relations at Horizon were not always cordial. This was largely because the company had not been recording a consistently good performance. There were frequent cuts in production every year because of go-slows and strikes by workmen—most of them related to wage hikes and bonus payments. With a view to ensuring a better understanding on the part of labour, the problems of company management, the Horizon board, led by chairman and managing director Aninash Chaturvedi, began to toy with idea of taking on a workman on the board. What started off as a hesitant move snowballed, after a series of brainstorming sessions with executives and meetings with the union leaders, into a situation in which Kshirsagar found himself catapulted to the Horizon board as work-man-director. It was an untested ground for the company. But the novelty of it all excited both the management and the labour force. The board members—all functional heads went out of their way to make Kshirsagar comfortable and the latter also responded quite well. He got used to the ambience of the boardroom and the sense of power it conveyed. Significantly, he was soon at home with the perspectives of top management and began to see each issue from both sides. It was smooth going until the union presented a week before the monthly board meeting, its charter of demands, one of which was a 30 per cent across-the board hike in wages.

Deloitte & Touche

Definition of Problem: The problem faced by Deloitte & Touche is how to best manage the merger with Andersen in order to move beyond being two merged organizations into a unified, market-leading organization. Deloitte must minimize the negative effects the change will have on the productivity of the organization and they must have a focus on minimizing the effects on current clients. It is important for Deloitte to create one corporate culture and focus on creating a cohesive team out of a currently divided workforce if they want the new company to be successful. Deloitte must make the Andersen employees feel welcomed and valued by the company while ensuring that their current employees don't feel swept aside. Causes: Some causes of Deloitte's problems include: †¢ Employee fear of change – People naturally have a fear of change. Deloitte's people will naturally feel threatened by the influx of new, unfamiliar people to the organization, particularly as they are coming from an organization that was heralded as being the best in the industry. It is important for Deloitte to properly manage these fears. Difficulty of maintaining corporate culture – Any company that increases their workforce through a merger with a rival firm feels a threat to their corporate culture. It is important for firms to determine before a merger whether the corporate cultures fit together. Two firms cannot merge and adopt one culture, the resulting culture must be a blend of the two cultures. †¢ Inadequacies in communication – The merger w as completed very quickly (in less than 2 months) and as a result the merger was communicated very quickly to employees. HR is responsible for communicating current policies to new and old employees. There has been very little upward communication until the Pulse Surveys and Deloitte employees are feeling like they are being lost in the shuffle. †¢ Lack of team building – The four phases of team building are forming, norming, storming, performing. All teams will go through this cycle in one way or another. Deloitte must recognize this and help the team through the forming, norming and storming phases in a way that will have the least negative impact on the company, so the team can get to the performing stage quickly. The consequences of failing to do this are that clients from Andersen will change to another firm and clients from Deloitte may feel neglected and will leave the firm for that reason. †¢ Fears of past business practices – Andersen was involved in the Enron scandal and as a result, individuals from the US branch were criminally indicted. The Andersen brand was destroyed and Deloitte management have a fear that the fallout may affect Deloitte since the Andersen professionals are now members of the Deloitte organization. It is important for the new Deloitte to clearly distance themselves from the Enron scandal and the fallout from that scandal. Strategic Issues 1. Hasty Integration – Deloitte people feel, through the pulse survey, that management is in a haste to integrate and is forgetting about their own people 2. Tension – Deloitte Touche is not sure how to manage tensions that might arise between the two cultures while integrating. 3. No defined direction – There is no defined direction that the integration management is attempting to incorporate the two very different cultures. Developed Alternatives Gathering feedback on a more personal level – Instead of using the pulse survey to gather feedback, Deloitte could possibly do something on a more personal level. The employees need to have a clear sense of where they fall in the big picture and where they are heading. This allows them to feel they are apart of the great change and consequently will devote themselves wholeheartedly. Examples can include asking lower level managers to have brief meetings with a group of employees voicing concerns and questions. Lower level managers can take notes and submit them to the integration team. Once the team has determined that creating happy employees is important on a personal level thus helping them to overcome the fear of change, and they have formulated the vision for the merging they can develop specific systems that will support, empower and inspire the employees and ensure they are willing to support the change to the best of their ability Mentorship – Mentoring is a valuable option for positively influencing the employees’ commitment because it sends a message that Deloitte & Touche is interested in career growth and development of their employees; these employees can make valuable contributions and facilitate a smooth integration. Assigning a mentor to counsel/tutor employees about the need for change, the change process, ways of adapting or adjusting to the change will help them get a better understanding of the reasons for the integration and allow them to have a more vested interest in the success of the organization. Forcing employees to quickly accept the new emerging culture immediately definitely won’t deter the tensions. This transition must take place at a slow process so employees do not feel pushed and overwhelmed into accepting the new practices and rules. It will be difficult to transform their fears and attitude in favor of the intended change until the underlying motives are understood. Seminars and Workshops – These seminars and workshops  will be for both management and employees; management first, to accumulate the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities for leading the change process. These  skills and techniques will be used to guide employees to quickly adapt to the change. This will allow  the entire organization  to adjust faster and become more flexible. Instead of using an integration team, a certain set of managers can be the head of definite departments, groups, locations, and divisions. These managers must act more like coaches and will express the benefits and rewards of merging the two companies. Consequently, a review will then be conducted to get feedback on how the whole integration process is going. Assuming there is a positive feedback, management will slowly incorporate both cultures into one, while not rushing the process or ignoring what employees concerns are. Evaluate Alternative The alternative that would be the best fit Deloitte & Touche is to have a mentor to solve the current situation. Mentor is better than other two alternatives simply because mentoring is kind of a personal enhancement strategy through which employees facilitates the development of another by sharing known resources, expertise, culture, values and skills. By paring up with Andersen employees, mentor can develop employees while helping them make a greater contribution to the new organization, and help them to become more productive in his or her current position. Deloitte & Touche not only can increase employee’s morale, but also can increase organizational productivity and build up employee’s skill and knowledge while attaining goals for career development. Mentoring is about the qualitative and subjective of employees’ job which dealing with frustration, handing conflict, and behaving with humility. Mentoring can involve an exchange of knowledge and information that can be evaluative nature to assess the assimilation of the new employee in his or her new role. It can help the new employee quickly come up to speed and shorter the learning curve as a contributor within the organization. It is important to make sure employees do not feel to be pushed and forced. Employee’s understanding of motives is the fundamental requirement to have a successful organizational merger. Implementation Phase one Deloitte has to develop a mentorship team and mentorship program for new and old Deloitte employees. A mentorship team will need time to conduct research and develop new practices. This team should be formed and trained and be ready to mentor within six months. Phase two Deliotte must allocate the necessary resources to the mentorship team and program. These resources include not only financial but personnel as well. This will be done right away. Phase three Within the first year Deloitte has to develop a new corporate culture that integrates the best practices and policies from both Anderson and Deliotte. The Mentorship team has to have a concrete culture to implement in order to be successful. Phase four Deloitte must implement a proper evaluation plan to determine if the mentorship program is working. The team can take surveys and other types of qualitative measures to determine how well the mentorship is working. The evaluation can begin after the first year and continue until the end of the program.

Separation of Classes on Gender Basis Research Paper

Separation of Classes on Gender Basis - Research Paper Example This essay "Separation of Classes on Gender Basis" aims to analyze the pros and cons of the separate classes for boys and girls. Supporters of the movement argue that the learning ability of boys and girls are different. The recent research has clearly indicated natural differences in how male and female understand and learn their lessons at class and society at large. It is very necessary to impart education to the pupil based on the gender, as their understanding ability differs with respect to their sex. When the necessity of single sex education is debated it includes the issues of socio-economic, political, civil rights and legal concerns which are very important in terms of practical perspective. Leonardo Sax (2005) states in his book that the behavior of girls and boys when they are together reflects the larger society to which they belong. His opinions that the girls are most expressive in a single sex school than in a co-ed school. Because of less or no pressure they tend to react instantly and actively in a single sex school. In a coed school the boys came forward with an attitude to put up and spoke on any given topic with ease, while the girls were forced to talk a very few words. He even noticed a considerable change in the courage of the single sex school and co-ed students. The teacher enthusiastically praised, corrected, helped, and criticized the boldly spoken boys who could speak voraciously on any topic given and with the girls who were soft spoken with less courage he nodded his head and would hardly help them overcome their mistakes. But the girls in the single sex school could easily dare to speak on any given topic without pressure, where the teacher could correct the students and also inculcate new teaching techniques based on the gender for better understanding. This in turn would help the students to enhance their learning capabilities. The doctrine of Single Sex Public Education (SSPE) is a good example of the above. SSPE informs teachers in male classrooms to move constantly in the classroom with a pitch of loud voice, even to the point of shouting. But the teachers in the female classes are asked to be still and use a soothing tone to talk to the pupil. This was introduced as the young males thrive on competition and confrontation, while the young females expect care and co-operation in a learning environment. This was the ideology of SSPE (Datnow and Lea, 2002). Few researches have pointed that the single sex schools can foster each gender to excel in

An in-depth analysis of a Honduras Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

An in-depth analysis of a Honduras - Essay Example Honduras has a great historical figure. He is Florencio Xatruch who had led the country’s armed forces and fought successfully against an attempted invasion by North American filibuster William Walker in 1857. A Honduran can be proudly called by the nickname of Catrocha or Catrocho which is inspiringly derived from the last name of Florencio. Every Honduran takes pride in being called with this nickname. Another noteworthy person hailing from Honduras to be mentioned is Salvador Moncada , one of the world famous scientists who has 12 highly cited papers to this credit. His research on heart related drugs includes the development of Viagra. Moncada works at the University College of London and funds an NGO in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. By virtue of the nature’s gift, Honduras is siuated conveniently in a land zone of biodiversity hot spot which is also known as the Mesoamerican region. This region extends from Southern Mexico to Panama and is famous for i ts diversity of species. Like other countries in the region, Honduras too has diverse biological resources and its indigenous cultures as well. As per the biological estimates, Honduras contains approximately 6000-8000 species of vascular plants and the number of reptiles and amphians species recorded so far is around 245.Birds can be between 650-700 species and mammal species are close to 110. Honduras is an embodiment of scenic beauty and natural attractions. 80% of the country’s terrain consists of mountains.

The Mind-Body Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Mind-Body Problem - Essay Example The mind-body problem has been discussed, examined, and has perplexed philosophers for most of our recorded history. Obviously there should be no expectation of â€Å"solving† the problem through this discussion, but won’t stop me from trying. I intend to discuss the mind-body problem and its interpretation from one perspective, arguing against dualism but not for monism. The concept of body-mind dualism has some attractive qualities. The differing characteristics of the brain as a material and the mind as an experience are undeniable, and the disconnection is ideal if one wishes to escape the obvious mortality of the physical body. Monism can also be viewed in a positive light, as it gives the physical world meaning and adequately accounts for many of the mind-brain correlations that have been identified in neurobiology. The main problem with the existence of both dualism and monism lies within their inability to account for scientific findings. Any theory that attempts to explain the physical world should be relatively compatible with the findings of physics, psychology, and biology (physical world, the mind, and the body, respectively). Findings from neurobiological research have not added support for the existence of an engram (a neurological correlate of a cognitive process) (Sheena 221) and thus does not support either the dualistic approach or the monistic perspective as there has yet to be a meeting point or unity observed that can substantiate either theory. Similarly, physics research into fundamental particles has revealed ambiguity, as subatomic particles appear to exist in relational states (Wolfenstein and Silva 480) rather than as definite objects (the same or different) that can be account for by either philosophical theory of body and mind. To conclude, I have presented two examples from science that disagree

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research Paper Example Consequently, the innocent young girl encounters an enormous wolf in the woods in the process of delivering food to her grandmother. Thus, the young girl innocently informs the wolf of her destination. The wolf then goes ahead and swallows the girl’s grandmother. Unsatisfied, the evil wolf decides to wait for the young girl in the pretense of her grandmother. However, upon arrival the young girl notices some strange behaviors concerning her grandmother. First, her voice was extremely deep. In addition, her eyes and hands were also immensely enormous. Moreover, her mouth was also enormous. However, before the little girl could unravel the happenings the wolf pounced on her and swallowed her (Zipes 4). With his tummy full, the wolf fell into a deep sleep. However, in his deep sleep a stranger comes to the rescue of the duo. He cuts the wolf’s belly open with a saw to the delight of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother who emerge from the wolf’s belly unscathe d. Therefore, in order to teach the evil wolf a lesson the trio fills its belly with stones. Eventually, when the wolf wakes up he decides to run away, however, the stones weigh him down. Consequently, he collapses and dies. Therefore, it is clear that the tale attempts to outline the dangers of the enormous forest. In comparison with forest, the village offers a safe home as opposed to the former. Therefore, the tale was aimed at checking little children from engaging in dangerous practices since they could end up being harmed. COMPARISON WITH OTHER TALES Other tales such as Peter and the Wolf or The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids also employ a similar thematic footing. In both cases, the tales paint a thematic scenario in which an individual emerges unscathed from the belly of an evil wolf. As such, this thematic setting has been embraced by other numerous tales (Meidell 175). This overwhelming semblance to other fairy tales can be attributed to the origin of the tale reason being that the tale embraces a medieval bias that was popular in the ancient times. This similarity can also be associated with the moral lessons learnt from the tale. HISTORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD TALE Little Red Riding Hood has its origin rooted in various versions of the story in Europe. Consequently, its original versions date back to the 17th century (Iona and Peter 93). However, the tale was also told in both Italy and France in the fourteenth century. Consequently, this version was referred to as The False Grandmother. Therefore, this implies that the title of the tale varied from one region to another. As such, the original versions significantly differ from the present day versions (Tatar 17). For instance, the antagonist of the story needs not necessarily be a wolf. This implies that in other versions of the tale the antagonist is presented as a different character. For instance, an ogre is employed as an antagonist instead of a wolf. Other manuscripts also depict the antago nist in the form of a dragon. Nevertheless, the antagonist is depicted as a wolf in most cases. Since the tale is mainly meant for young audiences, the depiction of the antagonist as a wolf enables the audiences to easily associate and relate with the tale while appreciating its message. Consequently, depiction of the antagonist as an ogre may be effective for African audiences. However, in all these versions, the antagonist is depicted as an enormous and dangerous being. Moreover, the antagonist is

International Relations of Global Environmental Change Essay

International Relations of Global Environmental Change - Essay Example It is important to understand however the problems of implementing stern policies. The consequences of these policies on environment will be highly negative and this may decrease international trade drastically. Developing world is lacking the technology to produce environmental friendly products (Matsumura, A. 2010). They are taking initiatives but it will take a lot of time for any major change. In such situation where developing world in lacking resources, the strict policies for environmental protection can cause damage to their economy and to the world as well. Reducing global trade can lead the world into a financial crunch. This is why World Trade Organization cannot take up strict policies regarding global trade. International trade needs to be encouraged in order to maintain the economic prosperity in the world. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan have an export oriented economy. If the global trade is reduced then their economy will suffer badly. Also the world cannot just ban products from the developing world because they are producing high quality cheap products. The same products cannot be produced with similar costs in the developed world.This means that the world economy will also suffer if developing countries are forced to abide by the environmental protection law. People all over the world will have to pay high costs for products and economies of developing countries will suffer as a result of strict restrictions on global trade. This is the reason why global trade cannot be curtailed over environmental concerns. ... Reducing global trade can lead the world into a financial crunch. This is why World Trade Organization cannot take up strict policies regarding global trade. International trade needs to be encouraged in order to maintain the economic prosperity in the world. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan have an export oriented economy. If the global trade is reduced then their economy will suffer badly. Also the world cannot just ban products from the developing world because they are producing high quality cheap products. The same products cannot be produced with similar costs in the developed world. This means that the world economy will also suffer if developing countries are forced to abide by the environmental protection law. People all over the world will have to pay high costs for products and economies of developing countries will suffer as a result of strict restrictions on global trade. This is the reason why global trade cannot be curtailed over environmental concerns. Also devel oping countries are not in favor of environmental protection laws. They argue that the developed world was allowed to use the methods of production and this contributed to their growth and dominance today. Now when the developing world is following in their footsteps then they are being rebuked and stopped. Environmental laws are seen by many as methods by which developed world is trying to hinder the economic growth of developing world. This is another reason why tensions exist between environmental protection and global trade. Developing world sees this as an opportunity to expand its economy while any strict environmental policies will do

Historical Development of Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Historical Development of Britain - Essay Example Raymond Williams, quoted in Society and Economy in Modern Britain, used to say that "culture is one of the most difficult words in the English language, partly because it has a history of shifting meanings, and partly because the word is now used to cover important concepts, in several distinct disciplines." (Brown, 430) According to the same source, two types of cultures are identifiable - the high or minority taste culture represented by certain kinds of music, literature, language and art (this type of culture is associated with the elite) and the popular or mass culture. Talking about the history of English popular culture, Richard Brown asserts the fact that it was neither traditional nor the culture of peasant societies. (Brown, 433) It depended on the region where it was developed and on religious influences. And the main feature was that the English popular culture was noticeably different from that of Europe. It was "more commercial, more individualistic, less corporate and more secular." (434) The 18th century brought about a gradual change in point of culture, a change that was manifest in two directions, affecting both popular and high culture. And it was under the religious influence that this happened. ... In Scotland, this was an age where culture developed in all its fields: literature, architecture, philosophy and science. The universities became more innovative in point of curriculum and teaching and all these contributed to the revival. "The identity of the English nation during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries fits neatly into neither of the main categories of classification identified by political scientists, being neither indisputably ethnic nor exclusively civic-territorial." (Kidd, 75) The English nation was characterized by a rich ethnic diversity. Although the central identity was Anglo-Saxonism, Celtic, Gothic and even Norman identity gathered in composing Britain's national identity. The eighteenth century Britain doesn't appear, yet, as having the sense of a multicultural nation. It's what Collin Kidd proves in his book by presenting the attitude of the radical Saxonist John Hare, who supported the idea of ethnic purity. The diversity in point of ethnicity became even the source of questions connected to the history of the English Constitution. During the eighteenth century the Saxon identity became more prominent as the ethnic core. It was also considered that English principles of liberty were of Anglo-Saxon provenance. Historians and researchers have studied this problem but opinions remained divided. The Anglo-Saxon is also usually one of the terms of the antitheses "Celt-Saxon". In Kidd's opinion "the opposition of the pragmatic, freedom loving Teuton and the mystical, sentimental, but improvident Celt" was connected to a conception of the Celt that "took shape gradually, beginning with the Ossianic vogue of the late

The Need for Variance Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Need for Variance Analysis - Term Paper Example Baker and Baker (2014) define variance as "The difference between standard and actual prices and quantities" (p. 201), and variance analysis as "Analysis of these differences" (p. 201). Variance analysis underscores or brings attention to deviations from what was initially intended. It is only after deviations have been identified that adequate and effective decisions can be made by the individuals in management positions (Baker and Baker, 2014). According to Berger (2011), lack of conducting a variance analysis may prompt leaders to overlook areas causing these deviations and hence fail to make relevant decisions. For variance analysis to be performed, a prior formulation of standards ought to be conducted, for instance, budgetary targets (Baker and Baker, 2014). This shows that variance analysis drives managers and other leaders to set targets or standards in advance. Decision making goes hand-in-hand with accountability in that individuals overseeing areas proved by the variance a nalysis to be causing the variations are answerable. Therefore, departmental heads are forced to make effective decisions and implement relevant strategies that forces them to operate within the budget (Berger, 2011). In the case study, new procedures for discharging patients have been implemented. A variance analysis conducted after six months showed that costs were running 25 percent higher than was expected. After conducting the variance and proving that there is actually a deviation from the budget by 25 percent, the next step would be to identify the causes of the deviation (Berger, 2011). There are many areas that may cause the deviation, for instance, extended working hours that increase the cost of labor. After identifying the cause of the deviation, then my next step would be to evaluate action plans under implementation to determine their effectiveness and investigate how they can be improved (Berger, 2011). If the action plans

Muhannad - Arabia, in 600CE Essay Example for Free

Muhannad Arabia, in 600CE Essay In Arabia, in 600CE, two large tribes called the Quaraish and the Hanifs inhabited a sacred city known as Makkah. The most important tribe in Makkah at this time were the Quaraish. The Quaraish consisted of merchants who had control over the Kabah (an ancient temple) and Makkahs water supply. This tribe organised protection for the merchants who travelled through Makkah. The Quaraish made profit out of the traders who passed through Makkah and the provisions given to pilgrims who came there to see and worship the idols. The Hanifs were the other major tribe who inhabited Makkah. They consisted of moral tribesmen who despised the Quaraishs selfishness and greed for money. This group of people were very holy and believed that there must only be one God. They believed that this one Supreme Power created everyone and everything and the worship of idols was an insult to him. They detested peoples devotion to icons of different Gods such as Al-Lat (the life-force). The Hanifs were sacred people who prayed regularly and often sought solitude to worship God. They believed that this one God had sent prophets such as Moses to Earth to try and purify peoples hearts and bring them closer to God. MUHAMMADS EARLY LIFE Muhammad was grandson of Abd-al-Muttalib. Abd-al-Muttalib was a member of the Hanif, and a man famous for his devotion to God and for his visions. His son, Abdullah, married a woman called Aminah, who was soon pregnant with his child when Abdullah suddenly died. The child that was born was named Muhammad. When Muhammad was born he was given to a Bedouin woman called Halimah as all Quaraish children at that time were. This was done so that children would be brought up away from the disease and impurities in the air in the city. At the age of six Muhammad was returned to Aminah who proceeded to die later that year. Luckily Muhammads devoted grandfather, Abd-al-Muttalib, took him in and cared for him until he died two years after that. Now Muhammad was passed onto his uncle, Abu Talib, who was a wealthy merchant. Living under the care of his uncle, Muhammad became a loyal and hard-working shepherd. LEGENDS Many legends have been created about Muhammad and his life. These legends were created to make Muhammad look greater and more powerful than he was. During his lifetime, Muhammad disapproved of all these myths about him and denied all of them. One of the legends about Muhammad was that he had his heart removed from his body by two angels. They then weighed his heart against other men but even with the whole communitys hearts weighed against his, his still weighed the most. Muhammad insisted that he did not and could not perform miracles; he was just a devoted follower of God. MUHAMMADS PERSONALITY Muhammad grew up to be a thoughtful young man who was kind and decisive. He continuously impressed the merchants that he worked with including Khadijah, a wealthy widow who employed Muhammad to supervise her caravan trade. When Muhammad was just 25 years old, Khadijah asked him to marry her; he accepted. Despite Khadijah being 15 years older than Muhammad, she became the love of his life until her death 25 years later. During her lifetime, Khadijah stood by Muhammad all the way and supported him in every possible means. When she died she left Muhammad with four daughters, Zainab, Ruqaiyyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. Muhammads two sons, Qasim and Abdullah, unfortunately both died in infancy. Zaid ibn Haritha, the slave boy of the household, was devoted to Muhammad. When Zaids father found him after years of searching, he offered to buy him back. Muhammad left the choice of what to do up to Zaid himself, and he decided to stay with Muhammad. Muhammad was so touched by Zaid ibn Harithas decision to stay with him that Muhammad immediately released him and adopted him as his own son. Ali, son of Muhammads uncle, Abu Talib, was another child in the household. Muhammad chose to look after Ali when Abu Talib fell under hard times. THE NIGHT OF POWER In the year 610CE, Muhammad was once again meditating during Ramadan when an event happened which changed his life forever. Muhammad was 40 years old at the time and was praying alone in a cave on Mount Hira when he suddenly heard a voice calling his name and commanding him to proclaim or recite. Unfortunately Muhammad was illiterate and could not read the scroll of silk which he saw ahead of him. Suddenly the angel Jibril appeared to him. This was the same angel who had appeared to prophet Ibrahim and to Mary and Jesus in times past. Now Jibril was near to Muhammad and he ordered him to read the writing on the scroll. Muhammad told the angel that he could not read the writing for he was unlettered, but the angel ordered him again and again to read the scroll and Muhammad began to feel the tension building up within him. Suddenly he felt something seize him, it gripped him so tightly that he could not breathe and he thought he would die. But suddenly Muhammad knew in his heart what the words said, and he whispered them hoarsely: Proclaim! In the name of your Lord and Sustainer who created Man from a clot of congealed blood, speak these words aloud! Your lord is the Most Generous One He who has taught the Pen, Who reveals directly Things beyond human knowledge. Muhammad had been chosen as a messenger of God because he was a devout man who worshipped the Lord. After Muhammad received this message he had to wait 2 years until he received another. This was Gods way of testing Muhammad and seeing whether he would be tempted to tell everyone about what he had seen. When Muhammad reached home after his shocking revelation, he told his wife, Khadijah, about what had happened. She went to her wise 100-year-old cousin, Waraqa ibn Nufal, for advice and after he was quite sure that Muhammads story was truthful, Khadijah became the first person to believe the message Muhammad revealed. The second person to believe Muhammads story was Ali, the next was Zaid and the next person to believe him was his close friend Abu Bakr. Two years later, Muhammad was still fearful and anxious about what the message might mean, when the angel Jibril appeared to him again. The angel said to him: O you wrapped arise and warn! Glorify God! Make your garments pure! Give up all uncleanness. Give, without expecting any return. For the sake of your Lord, endure with patience! Now that Muhammads time of waiting was over, he could go out and tell everyone about the messages he was receiving. THE REVELATIONS Most of the messages that Muhammad received from God after the Night of Power came to him in visions. They all shared the following similarities: Muhammad knew when they were about to happen. Each revelation was attended by dramatic phenomena, such as shaking or trances. Each one made the prophet feel close to death and that he was leaving his body and he might not re-enter it. At the end of each revelation Muhammad would appear as usual again and he would repeat what he had been taught. Sometimes Muhammad would lose consciousness during his visions. Sometimes he would receive the message instantly and sometimes Jibril appeared to Muhammad in the form of a man to transmit messages (not in visions). ABU TALIB AND KHADIJAH When Muhammad was 50 years old his uncle Abu Talib died. Abu Talib had looked after Muhammad all his life and had stuck by him even when many hated him. Muhammad had always been very close to his uncle who had protected him when he was vulnerable and his death made him depressed and very unhappy. At the end of this saddening year his beloved wife Khadijah also died at the age of 64. Although Muhammad was deeply upset by their deaths, he accepted that everyone dies eventually and he tried to carry on preaching in Gods name. THE NIGHT JOURNEY It was probably during this traumatic experience that Muhammad had an experience which changed his life forever. The Night Journey (or Laylat-ul-Miraj) was not recorded very accurately in the Quran and it is therefore hard to know exactly what happened in this event. When the prophet was asleep in his home in Makkah he was awoken by the angel Jibril. Muhammad then went with Jibril to Jerusalem riding on some kind of a Pegasus called Lightning. From Jerusalem, Jibril took Muhammad through the seven heavens and was shown paradise and hell. On his way through the heavens, Muhammad met and spoke to other prophets such as Isa and Musa. With Musa, Muhammad decided and set the number of times a day a Muslim should pray to God. It was finally fixed at 5 times a day although Muhammad originally thought 50 times was a sufficient amount. Eventually the prophet Muhammad travelled on with Jibril to the highest heaven of all: the throne of God. When he arrived here, neither Muhammad nor the angel could approach any closer and he experienced a sensation which he never again felt or could describe properly. All he could see was pure light and he was aware only of great peace as time stilled and thoughts and feelings disappeared. The experience soon ended though and Muhammad had to once again travel to Earth. To Muhammads astonishment, when he got home, he found that everything had remained exactly as he had left it. The place he had previously lain was still warm and the cup he had knocked over was still emptying. This experience brought great confidence and strength to Muhammad and it encouraged him to carry on with the knowledge that God was always with him. Muslims believe that this night was one of great importance, as it showed them what the ascension to Heaven would be like. It showed them that the soul abandons the weak and dishonest nature of the human body and you travel to a place where only pure bliss is possible. MUHAMMADS DEATH In 632CE, Muhammad fell ill with a fever and violent headaches. He was only 63 but he became weak and tired. He asked his wives if he could be moved into his youngest wife, Aishahs room. Even though he was feeble he still attempted to reach the praying place outside every day until his death. When he could not lead the prayers anymore, his good friend Abu Bakr took his place. On his last day on Earth, Muhammad, after leading the dawn prayer, lay in Aishahs arm and said, Lord grant me pardon. I have chosen the most exalted company, in paradise; then he died. Muhammad was buried where he died, in Aishahs room, and his tomb is still there even today. ISLAM The religion known as Islam was begun by Muhammad and it is still continued today. Since that day when Muhammad went on The Night Journey, Muslims have kept the number of times to pray each day at 5 times. All Muslims believe that God is responsible for every part of human life and he knows and sees all. Every Muslim tries to lead a peaceful life and pass the test set for all souls on Earth.

Capitalizing Human Resources In Company Management Essay

Capitalizing Human Resources In Company Management Essay Since the intellectual capital has gradually transformed into one of the most important assets valued by the companies, the system of the applicable accounting practices that refers to human resource capitalization is subject to thorough research (Guthrie, 2001). In 2003 Ken Lewis, HR Director of Co-operative Financial Services made the following statement: We believe that measuring and reporting on the contribution of our people to the business provides a tremendous opportunity to share and enshrine best practice, improving the competitiveness and performance of UK business in both national and global markets (cited in Accounting for People, 2003, p.21). The research paper outlines and analyzes the pros and cons of capitalizing human resources (HR) through human resource accounting in companys financial statements. The importance of HR capitalization The rapid development of corporate sector (in particular service-oriented companies) in the well-developed economies of the world within the conditions of the knowledge economy of the 21st century has necessitated the reconsideration of the applicable accounting practices, policies and procedures. In particular, human capital and its intellectual potential are considered as the core assets of the service companies. Many companies owe their successes, profitability and competitive advantages namely to the quality of their HR performance (Brooking, 1996). Thus, to a large extent, the successfulness of most of the service companies in almost every industry directly depends on the quality of staff they hire, retain and develop. Much of the corporate investment therefore is directed to the staff training and empowerment to ensure the high level of both individual and team performance within a company (Robbins, 2001). Many studies have so far shown that particularly service companies that capitalize their human assets are better valued in terms of return on investment thereon. In particular, the expenditures of quoted service companies on their human resources (including staff selection, recruitment, education, training, welfare, subsistence allowance and pension fund contributions etc) are better accounted for providing they are capitalized. Thus, most of the studies recommend the companies to capitalize their human resources and report all their human resource expenditures which improve the productivity and quality of companys performance (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997). Proper HR management and HR capitalization in particular are important within the gradual transformation towards the knowledge-based economy which requires the transparency of inner corporate procedures and processes that relate to the accounting of companys assets. Since the knowledge-based economies are mainly dominated by the service-oriented companies, their major assets are knowledge, skills, expertise and talented and dedicated workers capable to improve companys performance. Since HR investment enhance service companies competitive advantage, the expenditures on HR account for more than 50% of their revenues (Guthrie, 2001). The accounting of the human capital should therefore be recognized and applied in the financial reports. In accordance with the traditionally applied accounting procedures, all expenditures related to the advancement of HR intellectual development are considered as an expense (Newman, 1999). Such approach erroneously regards HR contributions as unimportant beyond the current period assuming that individual knowledge and skills cannot benefit a company in the future (Steffy and Maurer, 1988). Human Resource Accounting (HRA) as a relevant approach to HE capitalization Over the recent years the corporate sector has evidenced the introduction and development of the innovative concept referred to as Human Resource Accounting (HRA). This is largely because companies pay particular attention to their HR and perceive this intangible asset as the core factor that directly impacts their performance, profit-making and competitiveness. HRA has forever transformed the traditional approaches of the financial accounting to the value of human resources. The HR capitalization is therefore made by means of HRA which values and report HR as revenue expenditure charged to the direct costs that are incurred as a capital expenditure. Primarily, HRA identifies and reports the capital invested by companies in their HR that are currently not accounted by the traditional accounting practices. Therefore, non-traditional Human Resource Accounting (HRA) approach has been widely applied within the corporate environment to emphasize on the recognition of human resources and t he capitalization of this asset. By and large, HRA stands for the process of attributing monetary (tangible) value to human resources and its recognition as an asset in the corporate financial statements. The application of HRA in the modern corporate practice is mainly driven by the shift of HR management towards the empowerment of employees knowledge and skills. In fact, many companies value their human resources more compared to the other assets they possess since they deem that competent and dedicated individual and team performance is the key to companys success and profitability (Guthrie, 2001). Taking this into account, Kodwani and Tiwari (2007) state that contrary to traditional accounting practice, HRA is the relevant framework that objectively identifies, capitalizes, and reports the expenditure spent on HR. HRA advantages As one of the newest accounting techniques, HRA extends the traditionally applied accounting principles that match the revenues and costs to quantify the value of HR and help corporate management achieve the required equilibrium with regard to HR practices. In particular, HRA benefits corporate management, employees and financial analysts by: (1) Utilizing and planning HR as an asset; (2) Distributing available resources required for HR transfer, training, retrenchment, and promotion; (3) Evaluating the costs incurred for the training sessions for HR and the potential benefits they will bring a company; (4) Enabling low return on investment, including thee improper utilization of HR; (5) Preventing high levels of absenteeism and turnover at the workplace; (6) Assisting investors concerned about making long-term investments in companys business; (7) Comprehending and assessing the inner working environment and the potential of corporate management; (8) Improving HR individual and team performance and the bargaining power of HR; (9) Creating proper background for the effective and relevant management decisions about hiring, maintain and developing HR that would help a company reach its strategic goals; (10) Making each single employee understand their individual role and contribution in the advancement of expenditure incurred by a company; (11) Monitoring the process of HR management; (12) Aiding corporate management and the decision-making processes to further advance companys financial practices; and (12) Analyzing the appreciating human capital in a company (Roslender, 2004). HRA disadvantages On the other hand, many companies oppose HR capitalization. This is mainly due to the fact that HRA is the system that combines accounting techniques and methods that are aimed to assist personnel management while valuating knowledge, skills and potential of HR as well as their motivation to serve the corporate goals in a dedicated manner. From the financial perspective, this indicates that many companies perceive their employees as liability rather than HR. Indeed, there are various limitations which deter corporate management from introduce HRA in many companies. The apparent disadvantages of HR capitalization through HRA are as follows: (1) Absence of clear guidelines and procedures that regulate the allocation of costs required to capitalize HR in a company; (2) Impossibility of adequate HR valuation due to the uncertainty of HR existence within a company (this drawback is explained by high levels of turnover in many companies which makes it impossible to define long-term HR strategies for the future periods of a companys operation); (3) Currently applicable HR capitalization systems are featured by numerous drawbacks; (4) HR are not physical assets and therefore cannot be utilized, owned or retained; therefore corporate management in many companies fails to treat HR as definite asset (for instance, tax legislation does not recognize HR as assets); (5) Lack of empirical evidence of HRA effectiveness as a management tool applied to facilitate HR management; (6) Trade unions fear that HR capitalization will make employees demand additional compensation and rewards in line with HRA valuations; and finally (7) HR capitalization is not a subject to the universally accepted approach, and this fact alone makes its empirical implementation rather complicated. The abovementioned drawbacks prove that the current practice of accounting cannot place value on knowledge, skills and employee capabilities as they are regarded as intangible assets (Robbins, 2001). Conclusion The research has evidenced that the overwhelming majority of competitive service-oriented companies regard HR as their major asset. The nature of HR investment assumes that the core features of human capital require companies to capitalize them. Such a necessity is explained due the impact of the investment on the individual performance of the employees which can potentially benefit a companys overall success during the future accounting periods (Guthrie, 2001). Overall, service companies are better valued providing that their HR values are recognized through the capitalization of the relevant investments (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997). The spotted drawbacks of HRA, however, evidence that currently there are many procedural complications related to the HR capitalization which make many companies reject this accounting approach. Nonetheless, the findings of the recent empirical studies suggest that the quoted service companies should acquire HR capitalization methods and report their HR expenditures which improve the productivity and quality of their performance. Therefore, HR capitalization is indispensable and important component of corporate competitiveness as it benefits companies market capitalization and share prices (Adams and Roberts, 1993).

Carl Sagans The Demon-Haunted World as Social Commentary Essay

Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World as Social Commentary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Carl Sagan sums up his view of the basic flaw of man in one phrase: "history reveals that we humans have a sad tendency to make the same mistakes again and again" (Sagan 424). Humans today have an understanding of the world around them that is vastly superior to that of their ancestors. In spite of this, a growing number of people perpetually fail to scrutinize to the degree necessary for the evolution of the self. According to Sagan, failure to think scientifically seems to be the reason why most people get caught up in investing all their faith in as-yet-unproved phenomena such as UFOs and even religion. By investigating globally relevant topics like these, Sagan attempts to ward off the demons of ignorance (Nickell 110). One of the strongest cases made by Sagan is the examination of professed UFO "abductees." According to the author, the biggest problem in cases of UFO abductions is the fact that proof is neither sought nor accepted by the subject. The faintest glimmer of the possibility of having been abducted almost always snowballs into the firmest belief that one indeed has been abducted. Even the strongest "evidence" often can be explained as something much more rational than it seems to the "abductee." For example, scarring attributed to alien experiments could quite possibly be due to any manner of unconscious self-mutilating acts. Sagan contends that even claims of seeing extraterrestrials can be attributed to the brain's possible retention, and subsequent projection, of dreams. People have occasionally recalled events of contact with alien life while under hypnosis. But Sagan contends that hypnosis is shoddy enough that it's recognized in courts... ...nd the Sun and takes a year to do it (324). These facts aren't mentioned in the hopes of instigating despair concerning the apparent lack of fundamental knowledge across America. Rather, Sagan's purpose is to emphasize the need for a scientifically literate public (324). In summary, Sagan relates that the mistake that man continuously makes is being led down stray courses. He believes that "[w]hat [many people] wish to be true, they believe is true" (325). A dangerous number of people fail to doubt and question both themselves and their surroundings. The acceptance of miscellaneous ideas without the demand of proof can only threaten to retard the progress of the human race. Work Cited Nickell, Joe. Looking for a Miracle. New York: Prometheus Books, 1998. Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. New York: Random, 1996.

Representational Systems :: Communication Engineering Papers

Representational Systems This paper seeks to define a representational system in such a manner as to be capable of implementation in a connectionist, or neural, network. A representational system is defined and demonstrated to possess the ability to produce outputs which achieve global minima. The paper concludes by showing that, while a feed-forward neural network is incapable of representation, representation may be implemented in a recurrent, or internal feedback, connectionist network. Introduction Representational systems are commonly in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) domain of symbolic logic. Expert Systems are programmed into computer systems by recording the step-by-step logical methodology of experts to minimize the costs or maximize the utility of their decisions. Logical statements, or beliefs, be they fuzzy or hard, are established as "rules". Another branch of AI, Connectionism, attempts to build systems, often in artificial neural networks (ANNs), that implement the methodologies of the illogical, inexplicable, or intuitive capabilities of distributed systems such as pattern recognition systems. Here, it is not some logical mapping of input to output, but rather a holistic host of inputs which indicate micro-features which may or may not synergistically produce a desired output. While connectionist systems are recognized as being capable of distributed, non-representational processing, they may also possess the capability to additionally perform the rule-based logic of representational systems. As will be shown, not all connectionist networks possess the appropriate architecture for this task. Thus, a neural network, depending upon its architecture, may possess the

Midsummer by Manuel Arguilla

————————————————- TANCIOCO, MICAELA A. 12/13/11READING LOG #1LIT02 Midsummer by Manuel E. Arguilla The story is about Manong whom had encountered a girl in the mid-day of summer. At first he didn’t saw the girl. When he saw her, he got curious and started following her everywhere she go. Every detail on what the girl is doing was noted in the story. By the way she got the jar placed in her head and etc. He then portrayed what the young lady look like. He left the bull and his cart in the road as he followed the young lady.As the young lady does her thing, the boy continues his journey and lunch came. He then rest and waited in a path where he know the young lady will pass. After some time he waited until the lady was there and offered the lady the lunch he have. The lady didn’t answer and smiled at him at first. But then the young lady told him that she finish ed her lunch already that’s why she’s getting some water in the middle of the day. They became acquaintances and started chatting about stuffs.The girl shared that all they have as food is salt and rice that made Manong shocked. The young lady offered Manong to go to their house but Manong insisted. The young lady still wants Manong to go to their house so Manong decided to go because he got no house to sleep for the night. Manong did realize that he wants to know the true person in that young lady he met this afternoon and with that his last words was â€Å"He felt that he could follow the lender, lithe figure ahead of him to the ends of the world. I think Manong felt love that instant she met the young lady. With him only looking for a distance made his heart grow fonder. It made an urge to know more about the young lady. With the young lady offering their home to this stranger made a good implication to Manong that he had an idea that this young lady had a good hea rt. He then realize after the end of the day that he fell in love with the stranger he had met awhile ago. That he can go where ever as long as he is with this girl.

Psychology and Stress

One of things that we all experience is stress. Stress does not judge, it affects the rich, the poor, whites, blacks, male or female, children and adults. Some people may have higher stress levels depending on their livestyles. Stress is the â€Å"wear and tear† our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feeling. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action that may result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective.As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach rashes, insomnia, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke or depression. â€Å"Depression is among the leading causes of disability worldwide† World Health Organization. Depression is also the leading cause of suicides, â€Å"The second leading cause o f death among college students is suicide† Hardy. Many times, however, stress can become chronic and may last for a week or more.This chronic condition often results from humans’ ability to project their thoughts into the future, such as when a person keeps a recurrent and stressful thought in his or her mind. Stress may be considered as any physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and that may be a factor in disease causation. Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress can include trauma, infections, toxins, illnesses, and injuries of any sort. Emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied.While many people associate the term â€Å"stress† with psychological stress, scientists and physicians use this term to denote any force that impairs the stability and balance of bodily functions. Stress is the combination of psychological and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threate n or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful providing people with the extra energy or alertness’ they need. Stress could give the runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example.Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress. A convenient way to think about stress is in the terms of stressors and stress responses. Stressors are events that lead to stress, such as having to make decisions, getting married and natural disasters. Stress responses are psychological, psychological and behavioral reactions to stressors.Anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties and muscle tension are all example of stress responses. The connection between stressors and stress responses however, is not as straight forward as it may see m. Mediating processes, for instance, stand in between stressors and stress responses. Whether stressors lead to stress responses depends on mediating processes like how people appraise potential stressors and how well people are able to cope with the negative impact of stressors. Furthermore, a number of moderation factors, such as personality traits and health habits, influence the links between stressors and stress responses. These mediating processes and moderating factors help determine whether people experience stress-related problems like burnout, mental disorders, and physical illness and are the focus of many stress management techniques that emphasize cognitive-behavioral approaches, relaxation, exercise, diet and nutrition and medication. † (Smither 1994) Sources of stress stressors, the sources of stress, include three types of events, referred to as daily hassles, major life events and catastrophes. Additionally specific types of stressors occurs within certain do mains in life such as family, work and school.Stressors are daily hassels or annoyances that occurs practically every day, such as having to make decisions, arguing with friends and family, trying to meet deadlines at school or work, and stepping on a piece of bubble gum that someone carelessly spitted out. Although a wide variety of daily hassles can be sources of stress, they often involve conflicts between behaviors people may or may not want to do. Kompier (1994) stated if someone is experiencing an approach-approach conflict, that person has to choose between two attractive alternatives, such as going on vacation or buying a new computer.Kompier (1994) stated if someone is experiencing an avoidance-avoidance conflict, that person has to choose between two unattractive alternatives, such as having a pet put to sleep or spending the money on an expensive surgical procedure for it. In general, major life events do not appear to be significant sources of stress. Accordingly, major life events generally do not tend to be related to the health problems that accompany stress. Under some circumstances, however, major life events can be sources of stress. Whether major life events involve positive or negative feelings, for instance is relevant.Major life events that are positive tend to have either trivially stressful or actually beneficial effects, but major life events that are negative can be stressful and are associated with medical problems. Examples of major life events are getting married, getting divorced and being fired from a job. Although they do not happen very often, when catastrophes do occur, they can be tremendous sources of stress. â€Å"Stress Responses although the presence of stressors does not mean that stress responses will necessarily follow, when they do, stress responses are the way in which people react to stressors.They are the experience of being stressed. Stress responses can be divide into three categories: psychological responses, a nd behavioral responses. † (Manson, 2000) Psychological responses are when people react to stressors, a wide variety of cognitive and emotional responses can occur. According to Fleishman (1997), â€Å"Examples of cognitive responses are as follows: Concentration problems Indecision Forgetfulness Sensitivity to criticism Self-critical thoughts Rigid attitudes. Physiological responses follow what is called the general adaption syndrome. Behavioral Responses People act differently when they are reacting to stressors.Sometimes the behaviors are somewhat subtle, such as the following responses: strained facial expressions a shaky voice, tremors, or spasms, jumpiness, accident proneness, difficulty sleeping, over eating or loss of appetite. † The connection between stressors and stress responses stressors prompt stress responses, right? Well it depends. A number of conscious and unconscious things occur in our inner world that determines whether a stressor in the external wo rld will trigger our stress response. Robbins noted that: â€Å"These inner world happenings are referred to as mediating processes and moderating factors.Alternatively, believe that a stressor is controllable, even if it really is not, tends to make it less stressful. When people are exposed to loud noises, for example they tend to see it as less stressful when they are able to stop it, even if they do not bother to stop it. how much more stressful a stressor becomes from feeling a lack of control over it depends, however on the extent to which the cause of the stressor is seen as stable or unstable, global or specific, and internal or external. † â€Å"Stable and unstable causes represent causes that are enduring and temporary, respectively.Global and specific causes represent causes that are the relevant to many events and relevant to a single occasion, respectively. Internal and external causes represent causes that are the result of personal characteristics and behavior s or the result of environmental forces, respectively. † (Manson, 2000) Stress is a part of normal life. It is impossible to completely eliminate stress, and it would not be advisable to do so. Instead, we can learn to manage stress so that we have control over our stress and its effects on our physical and mental health. Stress comes in all forms and affects persons of all ages and all walks of life. No external standards can be applied to predict stress levels in individuals – one need not to have traditionally stressful job to experience work place stress, just as a parent of one child may experience more parental stress than a parent of several children. † (Robbins). The degree of stress in our lives is highly dependent upon individual factors as you’ve read such as our physical health, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, the amount of support we receive from other and the number of changes or traumatic events that we have recently occurred in our lives.Works Cited â€Å"Facts on Stress. † Washington Post. The Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2007. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. . Hardy, Marcelina. â€Å"Statistics on College Student Stress. † LoveToKnow. N. p. , n. d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. . Kompier, M. (1994). Stress at work: Does it concern you? Shankill, Ireland: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living & Working Conditions. Robbins, S. (1996).Organizational behavior: concepts. Controversies, applications. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. Smither, R. D. (1994). The psychology of work and human performance. New York: Harper & Row. Fleishman, E. A. (1997). Stress and performance effectiveness. Hillsdale, N. J. :L. Erlbaum Associates. Manson, L. (200). Facts about stress [on-line]. Available: http://stress. about. com/cs/copingskills/a/stress101a. htm http://www. statisticbrain. com/stress-statistics/ http://stress. lovetoknow. com/Statistics_on_College_Student_Stress

Representations of Either Male or Female Characters Essay

In the films I studied, (A clockwork Orange, From Russia with love, Carry on camping and a Hard days night) women are represented in similar ways but in very different circumstances. Firstly in A Clockwork Orange, women are seen as an objectified sexual obsession to the male gang. In almost every seen of the film women are presented in one way shape or form for example in the bar with the erotic, female shaped tables or the posters of women on the walls in Alex’s room. On the topic Kubrick has previously said â€Å"In the film, women are the ultimate harbingers of sexual desire, and it is only them who can suppress it. This power leaves the male ‘Droogs’ inwardly feeling threatened, which in part leads to cowardly rape.† I feel this quote explains the representation of females in the film perfectly as Alex, a man who feels he has great power over the rest of society, is surrounded by women and is always met with his sexual desire for them; Although the idea of sex in A Clockwork Orange is not an expression of love or intimacy, but rather an exhibition of power and violence. In this case Alex feels that to remain ‘powerful’ over everyone else he needs to use women as a object to satisfy his growing needs for power. In From Russia with Love, women are again seen as a object and are infamously named ‘the Bond Girls’ showing how in the larger scale there roles are minor compared to the ‘amazing’ Mr Bond. The opening title to the film shows barely clothed belly dancers dancing and parading there bodies to the Bond theme tune, showing how there bodies are more important then the woman herself. Throughout the film it is apparent that women are only good for a number of tasks: giving massages to the male characters, belly dancing and for casual sex and even then its when the man wants and not the woman. Despite this, in the film the female lead Tatiana played by Daniela Bianchi, shows woman’s slowly growing power and independence, for example Tatiana smoking representing the freedom that she perhaps now felt, although she is sitting down and Bond is standing over her, clearly in a position of more power. It is felt that the woman in the film are constantly being overlooked by men for example Tatiana killing the villain, which in normal circumstances would make her the ‘hero’ in the film, but this is undermined by the way Bond immediately takes the gun off her, as though it does not belong with her or she is not safe with it. In the film A Hard Days Night whenever the The Beatles perform, the members of the band are all distinguished as four individual, male characters. This massively contrasts with the role of women in the film, as there have been no main female characters; women are either portrayed as screaming, uncontrollable girls or again as sex objects. The idea behind this shows that women have no individuality in the film and are really only there to worship, flirt or to sexually satisfy the boys in the band. Finally the idea of women being perceived as objects is again mirrored in the final film Carry On camping, where the women are seen as objects for the men to flirt with and pursue in a sexual manner. Although Carry on camping differs from the previous films as there are several female characters which are seen to have hierarchy over certain male characters. For example the character Harriet Potter had the power in the relationship and often bossed her husband around in a comical manner. Overall in all the films it is obvious that women are often being represented as objects to satisfy mens needs and don’t serve a real purpose in any of the films and if they do it is only in a comical manner to retrieve laughter from the audience.

Lady Macbeth is a fiend or a tragic figure Essay

The definition of a fiend is ‘an evil spirit’ or ‘a very wicked or cruel person’. This word conjures up many images in my mind, very much like the definition of what a fiend is. Notions of a person with no conscience or mercy enter my mind. What enters your mind when this word is implemented could change your views entirely. The first time we meet Lady Macbeth is when she is reading aloud a letter received from Macbeth. As soon as she has finished reading the letter, her thoughts immediately turn to the murder of Duncan. There is no hesitation, she has decided that she will do everything she can to make sure Macbeth becomes king. â€Å"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promis’d†. Lady Macbeth knows her husband has the ambition needed to commit treason, but is concerned he hasn’t got the evil in him to correspond with this aspiration. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s minds immediately consider the possibility of taking the king’s life when they are informed of the witches prophecies. Macbeth says â€Å"my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical†, which is implying that in his head, are visions of murder, but he does not yet know whether this will be carried out. Lady Macbeth, in contrast, believes whole-heartedly that this unlawful killing will take place. Lady Macbeth is power hungry, and she shows no deliberation over what might go amiss, or the consequences of her actions. Lady Macbeth’s considerations may well be all because she cares about Macbeth, and wants to provide him with what he lacks, ‘the illness’ that should accompany such ambition, so that he can fulfil his true potential. Lady Macbeth, immediately as she hears of Duncan’s arrival, calls on the supernatural force’s to remove all that makes her a woman, so she can perform the slaughter of the king. At this point I perceive Lady Macbeth as calling on the spirits to help her resort to evil, because she does not possess it naturally. However, some people’s views may differ to mine, and they could take the opinion that Lady Macbeth must not be a loving person to invite the spirits in, and question what kind of a woman would want her femininity eradicated, so that she could, in fact, become evil. She believes she can contend with the intrusion of unearthly spirits into her mind and soul, and the suppression of her femininity. The use of her language in this scene is dark and disturbing, ‘unsex me here’ and ‘take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers.’ At this point Shakespeare wants to make connections with hell, ‘dunnest smoke of hell’, this is all very mysterious and threatening. It is very hard to feel sympathy for her here, even though she isn’t involving herself for her own gain, and what happens to her later is all as a consequence of her devotion to Macbeth, and the fact that she did everything she could to make him exercise his full potential. The fact that she wants him to fulfil his potential is revealed throughout the play, for example, when she asks him if he is ‘afeard to be’ what in fact he would like to be. Tragic figures usually have a flaw in their character. I think Lady Macbeth’s flaw is that she didn’t have the evil in her in the first place, therefore she had to call on the spirits. Calling on the spirits was a significant error of judgement, and the outcome of this was the ending of Lady Macbeth’s life. When Lady Macbeth first greets Macbeth, she greets him with the titles the witches prophecies presented him with. This could be Shakespeare’s way of demonstrating that Lady Macbeth is in the same league as the supernatural forces that predicted the campaign for supremacy that follows. There are also other relations that Shakespeare makes between Lady Macbeth and the supernatural, these happen throughout the play, but are more subtle. He is always using the language of Lady Macbeth and distributing dark language throughout it. For example, ‘devil’, ‘hell’, ‘murdering’ and ‘blood’. Once Macbeth has informed his ‘dearest love’ of Duncan’s arrival, she swiftly launches into her plan of action, â€Å"O never shall sun that morrow see!† Lady Macbeth seizes the moment and takes control of the situation. She advises Macbeth to â€Å"bear welcome† in his eye, and â€Å"look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under ‘t.† This is something which Lady Macbeth frequently has to do, and later seems to come easily, for instance, when she speaks to Duncan. It doesn’t seem to come as easily to Macbeth, he finds it hard to stop his emotions displaying themselves through his actions and speech. Even though plotting to murder the king is very much a shared project, Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind the murder. Although, Lady Macbeth does not envisage there being any other murders. Here, I am unsure as to whether she wants to kill the king for Macbeth’s advantage, therefore being a selfless person and wanting to bring the best out of Macbeth. If not, did she do it all for her own benefit, so that she could have more control? Because, of course, she already has control over Macbeth, hence her reasons for being power hungry, once you have control, greediness sets in, and you yearn for more. She instructs Macbeth to â€Å"leave all the rest† to her, which again shows that she is dominant. The reason Lady Macbeth would be power hungry is because she has no power of her own, the only route to gaining authority for her is through her husband, Macbeth. Women in Shakespeare’s time didn’t have any individual power, they weren’t thought of as equals, and most didn’t learn how to read and write. Women had absolutely no rights. Therefore it makes sense for Lady Macbeth to want Macbeth to become king, as then she can gain supremacy too. She can make it seem to her husband, that she’s making an effort to help him develop his aspiration so that he can be better. When in fact, she is also driving him on for her own benefit. The â€Å"innocent flower† image is certainly portrayed in the way Lady Macbeth speaks to Duncan. They are very courteous towards each other, which is ironic, because of the horrendousness of what ensues. Lady Macbeth is at this point, a fiend in every way. She is planning to commit the grisly murder of the monarch of her country; yet, in greeting him she is well-mannered and gracious. If Duncan was addressing me as a â€Å"fair and noble hostess† and I was plotting his demise, this would make me feel a considerable amount of guilt. The fact that we see none of this influences me towards assuming the title â€Å"fiend† is one which is appropriate in this scene. Macbeth makes a decision, that going ahead with â€Å"th’ assassination† of the king would be a regretful deed. There are many reasons for his choice, he is afraid of going to hell and also Duncan is a wonderful king, people would miss him. Macbeth would like to be king, and wouldn’t mind murdering if there were no further consequences. Macbeth is not one to be easily deceived; he knows murder would entail many other things, for example, lies, deceit. He is not prepared to carry out his scheme. He admits he has no ‘spur’, and directly afterwards, enters Lady Macbeth, she is the spur that he is lacking, which is why Macbeth changes his mind, he now possesses the spur that he needed. Lady Macbeth makes him think he actually wants to be a murderer. She accuses him of not being a man, instead a â€Å"coward†, which to an individual which at one time was referred to as â€Å"brave†, â€Å"valiant† and â€Å"hardy†, could be deeply insulting. Macbeth could have dismissed what she said, if he had enough courage and control over himself. The fact he does not do this, shows Lady Macbeth as being in absolute control of him, and also an enormously influential part of Macbeth’s thinking, or it could show that Macbeth did want to go through with the murder after all, as he barely required much persuasion. She points out that Macbeth has already promised to undertake the elimination of Duncan, and that when he did this, neither time or place was appropriate, but he was going to find a way. Now though, time and place is appropriate, but he is afraid, therefore no longer a man. Lady Macbeth uses the brutal image of their lost baby to persuade Macbeth. This is an immensely important part of the play to me, as it may give a method to Lady Macbeth’s madness. Is the reason she has her sights set on murder to get justice for her dead child? Is she so consumed with burning rage, she believes another death will soothe her suffering? This makes me pity her greatly, she’s suffered so severely! However, my sympathy weakens as soon as she uses the image of the baby they were so obviously so passionate about as a tactic to manipulate Macbeth into performing a horrifying murder, of the worst kind. She knows this will weaken Macbeth’s resolve and paints a very graphic, violent picture of what she would have gone through with, if she had promised to do so. † I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.† Lady Macbeth interrupts Macbeth a lot and is dismissive towards his opinions. This demonstrates how Lady Macbeth is a fiend, she does not want to listen to his points of view or arguments, she is determined the murder will go ahead. She divulges her very detailed and well thought out plan to Macbeth. A detailed plot is more likely to have impact, as it gives the impression nothing can go wrong. Lady Macbeth disregards the consequences, shows no mercy for her king and is in relentless pursuit of power and authority. When Lady Macbeth talks about what has made her become bold, this also proves the point that she has not got the full evil in herself, as the alcohol she’s consumed has stimulated her further to commit the crime. When Lady Macbeth couldn’t kill Duncan we see a glimpse of humanity, she did it because she genuinely felt she couldn’t bring herself to murder someone who so closely resembled her father. If this was the case, it proves that Lady Macbeth isn’t as cold and hard-hearted as she is primarily portrayed. We know this is her mind, as she speaks alone. Macbeth regrets the murder immediately; he is distraught that he could not say ‘amen’. ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’. He cannot go back and face what he’s done; he’s so racked with guilt. Lady Macbeth on the other hand has to be strong, Macbeth has brought the murder weapons back, Lady Macbeth has to return them, and does it with no mercy for the king, she has not thought of the consequences yet, but this will come later. Lady Macbeth tries to downplay the murder that has so recently been committed, ‘consider it not so deeply. I think inside she is considering it, and this point is proved by her actions later on in the play, where she recounts the murder, replaying the conversations between her and her husband. ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ is crucial, and again shows that Lady Macbeth thinks her mind can be freed from what they’ve just done by washing their hands. She reiterates this so many times in her actions later on in the play, which shows that even though she was acting as though it wasn’t relevant, and didn’t affect her, in actual fact, the truth is that it did have an emotional impact. ‘These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so it will make us mad’, which is extremely ironic in view of the insanity that later follows. Lady Macbeth is the iron fist and icon of authority for Macbeth, but as he ceases to confide in Lady Macbeth, she loses control more and more. The first time we see evidence of this is when she has to be carried out, after Macbeth has murdered the guards; this is the first time we sense they are growing apart. There are many reasons she could have fainted, she could be shocked, as Macbeth has acted without her. Originally, Lady Macbeth had to use all of her influential powers, including brutal analogies of their deceased baby to persuade Macbeth to commit murder. Now however, he commits murder without even discussing it with Lady Macbeth, and it was worryingly easy for him. She thought that the murder of Duncan would be the end of killing, and she was not prepared for another instance of death, and she thought they were in it together. This is where we begin to commiserate with Lady Macbeth. A tragic character does acquire sympathy from the audience, a fiendish villain does not. Therefore Shakespeare’s intending the audience to perceive her as a tragedy. ‘Noughts had, all’s spent, where our desire is got without content: tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy’. Lady Macbeth is feeling remorseful, they have not gained anything, but lost everything, they are living in an insecure pleasure. She is doubting that what they’ve done was the right thing to do, but reveals none of this to her husband. Instead she asks him why he is keeping things from her, ‘why do you keep alone’, and why he is contemplating thoughts which she says should have died with Duncan. This is the beginning of the separation of the two characters, who were previously so united in their marriage. Macbeth doesn’t tell his wife that he plans to kill Banquo, even though she asks ‘what’s to be done?’ ‘Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck’, gives an insight into the way that Macbeth thinks of his wife, he believes her to be untarnished, and is stil l considering her feelings. The defining scene in the separation of Macbeth and his ‘fiend-like queen’ is the banquet scene. Lady Macbeth is behaving as the gracious, well mannered hostess, giving a respectable speech to her fellow nobles. This again portrays the ‘innocent flower’ image, but I am not sure that her ‘serpent’ exists now at all. I say this because she has no intentions of killing anyone, therefore she has the right to be polite and play the role of the humble host. However, she is keeping up the pretence that Macbeth is acting normally, and that his ‘fit is momentary’. She encourages her guests to ignore Macbeth, but I imagine that she is finding it hard enough to do for herself. She again insults him, ‘quite unmann’d in folly?’ She is trying to control him in the way she did before the murder, but it’s not having the same effect. This time it is different because she can’t understand what her husband is seeing, as she isn’t going through it with him. She nonetheless covers for him when his ‘fit’ returns. This demonstrates that Lady Macbeth is devoted to her husband incessantly. It doesn’t matter for her whether he returns this devotion or not. Macbeth is the reason she stays strong, therefore when he begins to desert her, she doesn’t have a reason anymore, so this could be a cause for her ‘infected mind’ later on in the play. She is beginning to lose understanding of Macbeth, and tells him he lacks ‘the season of all natures, sleep.’ This is a very significant line, as it is again ironic because the next time we see Lady Macbeth, she’s the one that is having trouble sleeping. This is not the first time Shakespeare has made Lady Macbeth foresee the future, without realising. I think he may be continuing to do this so that it is connecting Lady Macbeth with the supernatural. Lady Macbeth has invited the supernatural in, so this could also be Shakespeare’s way of emp hasizing this fact. When Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk, this is a true insight into her mind. We are finally seeing her true colours, and the gradual disintegration of her mind, mentality and soul is brought to a head. Her command is that she has light by her all the time, realistically, is this the demand of a fiend? Lady Macbeth finally realises the consequences of her behaviour, and is racked with guilt. I think this scene is all about revealing the true character of Lady Macbeth, and exposing the vulnerability of this individual, who at one time showed such strength, or did she? In Polanski’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is shown naked, which reveals her defencelessness perfectly. She’s looking for a way to free herself of the guilt she’s been carrying for so long. Somehow though, I think she knows this can never be achieved, ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’ Some people could argue that Lady Macbeth is looking for redemption, which I whole-heartedly believe, however, they would probably also make the point that her misconduct has been too much to expect salvation. I don’t think that she’s asking for too much to be able to try and redeem herself though, a truly evil person surely wouldn’t want to escape guilt, as there would be none. The thought of evil, which Lady Macbeth once sought after and accepted, is now haunting her in her troublesome sleep. It proves she expected murder to end after they had killed Duncan, ‘the Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?’ She shows remorse, and tries to cleanse her hands of the corrupted stains of murder, but she knows that ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.’ Some could maintain that Lady Macbeth deserves to be destroyed by evil, as she encouraged the spirits to enter her. Lady Macbeth’s conscience appears in private, whereas Macbeth’s emerges at a public banquet. This expresses the roles of men and women in Shakespeare’s day. Lady Macbeth returns to the times when her and Macbeth were closest, planning the murder together, and recounts conversations had. She is desperately trying to cling on to the person who she is so devoted to, but who has now abandoned her in his relentless pursuit for dominance. This factor points to her being a tragic figure, as we see her becoming increasingly isolated, and feel a heightening sense of pity for her. This scene marks the realisation of Lady Macbeth’s unavoidable descent to madness. I think death is welcomed by Lady Macbeth, as she knows she can never escape this swirl of grief and incessant guilt. In conclusion, Lady Macbeth’s character gradually degenerates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, a shifting involvement with supernatural powers and gradual separation from her former life. Lady Macbeth invited evil into her life, which resulted in her being overpowered by the ‘spirits.’ There are two arguments as to whether Lady Macbeth is a fiend or a tragic figure. In my opinion, Lady Macbeth can sometimes appear as a fiend, but the overall view I have of her is as of a tragic figure, who in the end is so guilt-ridden that she takes her own life. She dominated the murder of Duncan, regarded her husband as someone she could manipulate, then when he isolated her, lost all sense of being and ended her life. She was selfish in the way that she wanted the murder to go ahead so that she could gain power, and calls on evil to support her, as she doesn’t contain it within herself. Some people might then argue that if she invited them in, she certainly deserves the dissolution of her mentality. I don’t think Lady Macbeth was aware of what the evil spirits would do to her. However, even if she was aware, would she still have called on them? I think not, but some could claim that she is so heartless she would have. Lady Macbeth never worries about the consequences until afterwards. Then it is too late for her to stop what she started. Lady Macbeth maintains human emotion throughout the whole play, for example, where she cannot kill the king because of his resemblance to her father. She is selfless in the way that everything she did, taking the daggers back, hatching the plan etc, was for Macbeth. She was totally devoted to him, even though he deserts her, when she needs him most. It is no coincidence that as soon as we sense the Macbeth’s growing apart, Lady Macbeth’s madness sets in. All in all, I don’t think Lady Macbeth deserves what she gets. Macbeth committed further crimes, yet he only showed initial guilt, but once he is past that, he becomes an unstoppable brute. She is a loyal, devoted character who is so isolated that she sees no way out. There is so much pressure, the murders of Banquo and Lady Macduff’s family return to haunt her conscience, even though she played no part in them. She is even feeling guilt for her husband’s murders, surely not a fiend-like quality? All of the pressure mounts up and she sees no means of regaining her life, and therefore decides to end her existence. She didn’t do it because she was weak, she did it because she was guilty and repentant.

Mama Might Be Better Off Dead Essay

â€Å"Mama Might Be Better off Dead: the Failure of Health Care in Urban America† by Laurie Kaye Abraham, follows a families struggles over the course of three years in a poor Chicago neighborhood. Abraham points out specifically how the health care system in the United States has failed the different members of the poverty stricken Banes family. The main character, Jackie has the responsibility of taking care of her sick and elderly grandmother. Jackie also cares for her three young children with little help from her husband, Robert who also suffers from various illnesses. While, there are some government programs set up to help families like the Banes’, the health care system is certainly lacking. Cora Jackson is an African American woman in her late sixties when the book begins. She suffers from many chronic conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes. Cora had a leg amputated because of complications from her diabetes. Diabetics often have poor circulation in their extremities which hinders wounds from healing properly. Besides being bed-ridden and wheel chair bound, Mrs. Jackson suffers from bed sores and incontinence. She also sufferers from severe depression over losing her leg which is common among many with physical disabilities. Despite, her poor health Cora Jackson remains the matriarch of the family. Mrs. Jackson raised Jackie as a young girl and before becoming ill, had a remarkable relationship with her great-granddaughter Latrice. As time goes on, Mrs. Jackson becomes more ill and Latrice begins to pull away from her great-grandmother. This seems understandable because it must be very difficult for children to understand and deal with the terminally ill. Jackie however, remains warm and caring toward her grandmother. She expresses her frustrations, but few of them are aimed at her grandmother. Most of them are aimed at the doctors and particular government agencies set up to treat and help her grandmother. Obtaining health care services is not an easy task for Cora Jackson. Jackie, the primary caregiver for Mrs. Jackson, experiences struggles on a day to day basis. For example, Mrs. Jackson suffers from incontinence which makes her a candidate for adult diapers. However, Medicare sees adult diapers as more of a convenience item and do not see them as medically necessary.  Medicare also covers a large portion of health visits and treatments but they fail to understand the transportation needs of disadvantaged patients. As a result, Mrs. Jackson is forced to miss many scheduled appointments. She misses out on many treatments that are recommended by her doctors. Consequently, Cora is forced to have her remaining leg removed because of an infection which could have been caught sooner. Jackie resorts to calling an ambulance to transport her grandmother to the hospital. This results in in some problems because the ambulance takes her to the closest hospital which is does not have all of he r medical records. I am puzzled by many of these rules and policies. First off, I do not understand how adult diapers are not deemed medically necessary. Diapers are seemed necessary for infants. Why aren’t they necessary for adults who suffer from incontinence? Also, adult diapers help prevent bed sores which many elderly, bed-ridden patients suffer from. This can prevent future hospitalizations and procedures caused by infection. I also have a problem with Medicaid’s spend down policy. Every month, Mrs. Jackson is required to spend a certain amount on medical needs in order to become eligible for Medicaid. By the time, she meets the requirement, she has to do it all over again. Also, there are some services that the Banes are not aware they are entitled to. For example, Medicare covers home health aides for those sick enough to require visits from a home nurse. Jackie turns down this service because she is mistaken and believes it will cost her 110 dollars a month. No one ever tells her this service is free. There are many changes in the health care delivery system that would have improved the experiences of Mrs. Jackson. First of all, keeping track of a monthly spend down of an elderly, disabled patient is ridiculous. In Mrs. Jackson’s case, she needed Medicaid to cover her transportation needs. Its close to impossible to schedule appointments and procedures if you are not sure how you are going to get there. Other patients use Medicaid for numerous reasons. A better option for Medicaid would be to take an average of a few months expenses and use that to determine eligibility for longer than a month at a time. It is common for patients to spend the same amount on medication each month. They also try to visit doctors on a regular basis. Knowing they are covered by Medicaid for longer than a month, would be a huge relief. The patients could keep their appointments without worrying about transportation costs. Also, medicine could be taken as directed instead of trying to make it last longer in fear of losing coverage the next month. Another area which needs addressing is in the area of medically necessary items. Who determines if adult diapers is necessary or a convenience? For an elderly person who does not want to walk to the wash room after going to the bathroom, I can see how diapers would be convenient. But what about the person with no legs and not adequate enough help to lift them out of bed? I would definitely say adult diapers is medically necessary for this person. As a social worker in health care, I would definitely try to be of assistance to Mrs. Jackson. First of all, I would encourage Jackie to take advantage of the services set up to help her and her family. Then I would make sure she was aware of all they were entitled to. It is very common for poor people not to understand government policies, particularly Medicare and Medicaid. I feel there should be more services to explain and help people understand certain policies. Regular visits from a home health aide could have helped both Jackie and Mrs. Jackson immensely. I would talk to her about the stress of taking care of three children, a sick husband and an elderly, disabled grandmother. Paying attention to Jackie’s needs, as she is the primary caregiver, may give her a more clear mind to make decisions for her grandmother. I would also discuss with Jackie all of her options. Jackie could have put her grandmother into a nursing home but neglected to do so until the very end of her illness. I would weigh out the advantages and disadvantages of Mrs. Jackson living in a home. Jackie was scared that by putting her grandmother into a home, she would feel unloved and neglected. I would explain to Jackie, that the care she would receive would be twenty-four hours a day. This would mean, no more missed doctors appointments, no more missed medication and all of her medical records would be in one place. I feel their would be an increase in her quality of life. Jackie states â€Å"Mama, might be better off Dead†. Why not try putting mama in a nursing home first? In conclusion, â€Å"Mama Might Be Better off Dead: the Failure of Health Care in Urban America† really shows many areas of human suffering. In a country based on freedom and equality for all, the area of health care could not be further from equal in America. Every day we see talks of health care reform in the news. Political candidates form plans in their campaigns. However, this book puts a real face on the failure of health care in America. I hope more people become aware of how badly change is needed and they choose to become actively involved in the reform of the system.