Good and Evil and Generosity Essay

Generosity is seeing others more important than you. It is giving everything you have without expecting something in return. No matter they hurt you or abandon you, you still keep on loving them the same as before. You don’t get offended by what they do. You don’t look at their imperfections. Thus, generosity is related to unconditional love. The same as the father in the parable. For him, both sons are everything. In them he wants to pour out his very life. It is clear that the father symbolizes God. The God whose goodness, love, forgiveness, care, joy, and compassion have no limits. The God who welcomes us when we go back or gives us what we’ve asked. As the famous verse goes, â€Å"ask and you will receive; seek and you will find’ knock and the door will be open. † God is so good. He loves us so much that he gave us His only son; but it breaks our hearts that many are abusing His love. God created us in his own image and likeness. Thus, we need to become like Him. We must be as generous as the father is generous. Just as the father pour out his life to his children, so we must give ourselves to our brother and sisters. This giving of self is a discipline because it is something that does not come spontaneously. As the saying goes, â€Å"if you love, be ready to be hurt. † Using the perspective of a generous person, we say that it is wrong. Loving is giving; giving everything. If you truly love a person, you should not be affected by little things. You shouldn’t be jealous. It’s the nature of love. Every time we take a step in the direction of generosity, we are moving from fear to love. But these steps are hard. Why love if you’ll be hurt? Why waste your time and effort to someone who doesn’t care or doesn’t appreciate you? Why should we share our life with someone who has shown no respect for it? To sum up everything, generosity creates the family it believes in. Generosity is freely sharing what you have with others. It is being willing to offer money, help or time when it is needed. To be generous means giving something that is valuable to you without expectation of reward or return. Many traditions measure generosity not by the size of the gift, but by what it cost the giver. Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because we all instinctively want to keep good things for ourselves. Even so, we can structure our lives in ways that make generosity more spontaneous and fun. When we intentionally â€Å"live below our means† and avoid over commitment, we cultivate a sense of bounty or surplus that makes us want to share. When we give, we reap the pleasure of knowing we have made someone else’s life a little happier. Generosity brings balance in the life of the individuals as a result of which they are bound to achieve unimaginable success in their lives. We should understand the fact that though it is a bit difficult to be generous in all the situations in life but at the end generosity bears the fruits of peace, success and happiness in the lives of individuals.

Learning and Memory Essay

If one were to explain what it is to learn something new, they would certainly mention memory somewhere in their explanation. As well as if someone was to explain memory, they certainly would have learning mentioned in their explanation. This is because learning and memory go hand in hand. When one learns, they store what they learned in their memory whether it is short term or long term. It would go without saying that memory and learning has to do with the brain, hence the importance of keeping one’s brain functioning properly by insuring proper stimulation and continuously learning new things. Now, the ability to learn and to memorize what is learned stems from different areas of the brain. The brain is a part of an individual’s neuroanatomy. Neuroanatomy refers to the structure of the nervous system. The nervous system is made up of different parts. Those parts are broken up by having the main one being the nervous system, and then it is divided by the central nervous system brain and spinal cord on one end. The other ends are much more complex and, consist of the peripheral nervous system which then branches off to other ones. These each control different parts of the nervous system and give the ability for people to sleep, eat or learn. The part of our nervous system that pertains to learning is the brain. The part in the brain that helps with learning is called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is in the limbic system. It is the part of the brain where the learning that people do in day to day life takes place. Learning is a neurobiological that is important to humans and being able to be conscious. The communication that happens between singular neuroanatomical structures and their abilities to repeat neurophysiologic activities is combined as a network of neural activity. These things occur in the cortex and create different types of learning for people. The movement that is ongoing changes in the synaptic area of the nerves. These active activities make the synaptic connectors stronger with the result of the continuous activity and then this creates memories that help an individual learn and remember what they have learned. It has been taught that learning is not singled out to one certain area of the brain itself. The cerebral cortex is where all the learning is. When a person is learning to read, walk, or talk it occurs here. One of the many different neural processes involved in learning is the synaptic inputs that occur in the brain. When a synaptic input in a certain neuron is combined with two different synapse then; it creates a long term depression or a long term printed memory, this is something that occurs and has been known to create learning involved with motor skills. Learning is mainly either a process that one learns through the brain with the use of classical conditioning and also instrumental conditioning. Our brains respond to the many different things that are in a human’s surroundings. In the process of a human’s learning new things is by the development of a neuron and its effectiveness to make new synaptic connections or reinforcing the strengths of the neurons that are already in place. The relationship between learning and memory has been a subject of much debate among psychologists, teachers, and society in general for many years now. It is what we learn and how we learn it that is responsible for how we live in the world and how we deal with the world around us. Learning has been a fundamental part of our survival ever since Cro-Magnon man. He/she had to learn how to make spears, sharp points, even mastering the bow and arrow was important to the survival and the spread of the human species. Why, though, if humanity has so much â€Å"experience† in learning, then why do we forget things? The brain is the organ that is responsible for what we call the mind. It is the basis for thinking, feeling, wanting, perceiving, learning and memory, curiosity, and behavior. Memory is a fundamental mental process, and without memory we are capable of nothing but simple reflexes and stereotyped behaviors (Okano, 2000). Both the brain and memory are responsible for our learning. The brain assists us in figuring out a solution to the problem and to solve it. Our memory is responsible for storing that information within our brains in case we ever need it for a later date, or if we ever need to apply it to another problem which is similar. During this learning process, our brain is communicating with that section of our mind that is responsible for memorizing methods, actions, and procedures for finding a solution to a given problem. Since our memory is only a mental process and not a â€Å"supercomputer† like the brain, it stands to reason that our memories need to recall different types of information using dissimilar methods. We define memory as a behavioral change caused by an experience, and define learning as a process for acquiring memory. According to these definitions, there are different kinds of memory. Some memories, such as those concerning events and facts, are available to our consciousness; this type of memory is called â€Å"declarative memory. † However, another type of memory, called â€Å"procedural memory,† is not available to consciousness. This is the memory that is needed, for example, to use a previously learned skill (Okano, 2000). When someone is learning something, they assume that they are acquiring the knowledge to write a paper or to build a chair. Actually, all a person is really doing is creating memories for them to recall the information. While we are in the process of creating these memories, our brains are at work in determining the best ways to store them in our memories. This might be learning a piece of music by only playing the 3rd or 4th notes, or by building a chair by starting with top first instead of the bottom. Each person’s brain is different from another person so each method of memorization would be different. This theory has been proven using animals that work together. For instance, one taxonomic group of birds, the oscines or true songbirds, all learn to sing by imitation. To produce biologically functional songs, they need to hear examples of species songs during development, which they commit to memory. They subsequently perfect their song performance by ear and are capable of using both memorized material as well as songs of birds they can hear to produce an acceptable species song (Okano, 2000). Birds, and other animals, have shown that they use memory in order to learn a skill or to work together to achieve a common goal or result. The ability to apply the right knowledge effectively is an important skill and the cornerstone of our success, because we live in the Knowledge Age. People who have not used a computer in 10 years to find an article on the Internet definitely understand strength of knowledge and learning. Learning develops interesting people. Knowledge enables us to have different perspectives, fascinating conversation and a deeper understanding. It makes us well rounded better people; it allows us to make better, informed decisions; and assists us in becoming more successful in our lives and careers. Technology has made our lives become fast paced; the advancement of technology has boosted the pace of our lives, and requires us to learn something new each day just to stay current in the workplace. The day’s on-the-job training is something we can no longer rely on; companies can no longer be the basis to provide the necessary education. We must seek out more education just to keep up. It’s advantageous for everyone to make time for learning, seek out their own opportunities, use available resources wisely, and find new resources. Our children are a good example of how fast technology has increased the need for learning. They our learning how to use technology much earlier than we ever did, it seems like they are born with the ability to operate a computer. Brain stimulation can help with Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, Major depression, and Tourette syndrome. Stimulating the brain helps to relieve symptoms of these conditions when medications are not working or have major side effects. The stimulation can help people with Parkinson’s disease to manage their symptoms of tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. Brain stimulation has produced impressive results with some patients with chronic pain, some patients are virtually pain free after treatment and even released from the hospital. Brain stimulation has been found to significantly decrease depression and increase in function. Although highly experimental, brain stimulation has had success. Patients experience reduction in tics and the disappearance of obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Lifelong learning and brain stimulation helps to manage and relive a symptom which increases life longevity and quality of life for the patients. Patients who continue to learn and stimulate their minds increase life longevity and quality of life because they are able to eliminate medications which can have very harmful side effects. These medications can actually shorten life and decrease quality of life because of the side effects. Taking medication out of the treatment of any kind will always increase life longevity and quality life. Most of all any time a patient is able to manage and relive symptoms, their life longevity and quality of life will have a great increase. As must as society tells us our physical up keep is so important for our health and life longevity, it would seem keep care of our brain is just as important as well. The brain is a muscle, and it is a part of our nervous system. It controls our breathing, eating, learning, memory, and so much more. Keeping care of our brains allows an individual to learn, remember things, and increase their life longevity as well. It would not seem that is keeping up on learning and remembering what we have learned will make us live longer, however this is how this muscle is exercised! It can also help control and care for one’s mental defects as well. It would seem, no matter what someone is wanting to believe, learning is never finished! REFERENCES Fernandez, A. (2011). Brain Health Business Grows With Research and Demand. Retrieved from http://www. sharpbrains. com/blog/2008/05/20/brain-health-business-grows-with-research-and-demand/ Lopez-Hernandez E. and Solis, H. (2012). Proceedings of the National Academy of Applied Sciences. Retrieved from http://www. pnas. org/content/97/23/12403. full Okano, H. (2000). Learning and memory. Retrieved from http://www. pnas. org/content/97/23/12403. full Pinel, J. P. J. (2009). Biopsychology (7th ed. ). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Marketing principles for organizations

1. Marketing PhilosophyThe adoption of marketing is nearly as old as humanity itself.   Whenever there is a consumer demanding a product or service and a supplier willing to supply such good, marketing is adopted.   The marketing philosophy essentially entails the strategic organizational aim of determining needs and wants of selected markets and providing goods and services that satisfy such wants in a more efficient and effective way than competitors.   In the last decade several organizations started following such principle in order to endure in the market.For instance, McDonald’s Corporation applies a strong marketing orientation.   They are constantly keen on what the customer wants and change their products and services accordingly.   For example, McDonald’s adopted the philosophy of ‘QSC & V’ to attract and retain clients.   It stands for quality, service, cleanliness and value.   They guarantee that clients enter a spotless clean rest aurant and are served by friendly personnel.   Indeed employees are carefully thought the art of servicing clients in all regions across the world.Recently the aforementioned marketing concept has evolved to consider also the need of society.   The societal marketing philosophy, as it is commonly known, comprises that apart from determining the needs and wants of clientele in target markets and delivering goods and services that better than competitors, these goods and services are also provided in a way that sustain the society’s well-being.This is a challenging principle as one can note.   However, some meticulous organizations are already following it.   For example, when the tampered cyanide-laced capsules of Tylenol were marketed by Johnson & Johnson and ended up killing a number of persons, the company immediately collected back all the defective goods, even though the corporation supposed that the pills had been altered only in a few retail shops.   Although the collection expenses amounted to $240 million, the company managed to keep customers’ confidence and loyalty on the products offered, leading such good to remain a leading pain reliever in its market.1.1   Need for market researchAs one can note, to successfully adopt an effective marketing orientation, it is important that managers are fully aware of the customers needs and wants.   To further compound the issue, today’s markets are extremely dynamic and susceptible to change.   For example, car manufacturers are extremely keen on customer tastes in order to produce vehicles in line with such wants.   Therefore management is required to be constantly on the alert of what the client is demanding.   The effectiveness of marketing intelligence systems to obtain such information is weak. The need thus arose of obtaining information directly from the market through marketing research.The marketing research process consists of the following four steps: · Defi ning the problem and research objectives – market management and researchers define thoroughly the problem at hand and the research objectives that can aid in solving such issue. · Developing the research plan – the information needed is determined at this stage.   Researchers will then seek the secondary data already available and how the primary data can be obtained.  Ã‚   Primary market data can be achieved through a variety of marketing research mediums available, such as experimental research, observational research and more. · Implementing the research plan – once the methods of collecting information are set, the collection of such information commences in this stage together with the processing and analyzing of such information gathered. · Interpreting and Reporting the findings – the last but not least step is the interpretation of the date collected and presented jointly with valid conclusions.Marketing research is a very expensive bus iness operation, which sometimes may amount to millions of dollars.   However, the information derived is very valuable to the organization and can aid management in good decisions to be a market leader.   A typical example that comes to mind is the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) venture in the Japanese market.Such market seems impenetrable by many American and European organizations.   The non-tariff barriers, the iron grip of the keiretsu kigyi (banking groups), and the committed Japanese workforce make it very complex for an outside firm to infiltrate their market.   KFC, yet, was capable to enter this market and is actually performing better than the United States Market.   As a matter of fact, in the 90s the 1,470 Asian outlets sales averaged 60% more than the United States average.Through vigilant marketing research the KFC management, comprehended that in large Asian cities there is an increasing absorption of young middle-class workforce with growing income who are e ager to pay further for American-style restaurants.   This exposed the viability of the project to KFC managers.   Market research also brought to KFC attention that the number of Asian women in the labour force is increasing considerably, who has a smaller amount of time for food preparation at home and consequently the need for fast-food restaurants in Asia is increasing.   With this information KFC management instantaneously recognised the strategic window of opportunity that is available and took appropriate action to operate fruitfully in that market.1.2   Marketing Mix ElementsThe marketing mix concept originated from Neil. H. Borden who suggests the utilization of the four main controllable variables of management to reach the marketing orientation approach.   The marketing mix elements are the following: · Product – there are three levels of products, which the organization should classify their products in, because customer attitude and response would be different under each category.   These are augmented, actual and core products.   In marketing, the product quality and features are not the only elements that form a good product.   Today’s fierce competition demands that managers also focus on the product design apart from the ones previously mentioned.   Nike, for example, employs 60 designers and issue 500 different footwear designs each year.   Attention should also be directed towards branding, product packaging and labeling.  Ã‚   These are important features to attain market leadership.Every product or service marketed passes through a life, commonly known as product life cycle.   These are product development stage, introduction, growth, maturity and decline.   The other marketing mix elements described below should be in line with the stage the product is in to ensure a proper market orientation. ·   Price – the price decision is also an important one.   Management can choose from three main categories, being cost based pricing methods, market pricing methods and competition based pricing methods.   The selection of the optimal price depends on internal and external variables.   Internal factors affecting pricing decisions are:   marketing objectives, marketing-mix strategies, costs and organizational considerations.   The external factors are:   market features and demand, competitors’ costs, prices and offers and other external factors like economic conditions. · Distribution – the distribution channels utilized should be effective in order to ensure that the product is delivered more effectively than competitors.   There are different number of distribution channels used, like direct-marketing channel in which no intermediary levels are adopted, vertical marketing system and horizontal marketing system.   Under the latter two intermediaries are used. · Promotion – the promotion mix is a very expensive but effective marketin g mix element.   It can for instance sustain a product brand.   Promotion is also important to inform clients about the product or services offered especially at the introductory stage of a product/service.   The mass-promotion tools available are advertising, sales promotion and public relations.   These should be designed and implemented carefully to maximize their effectiveness.   Likewise it is important that personal selling maintain the messages adopted in the promotion mix through the sales force behavior with clients.1.3   Final Thought – Benefits of MarketingEven though marketing seems elaborate it is very fruitful for a firm.   By understanding the customer we can reach the clients and sell our goods.   Client retention and market leadership can also be attained with the aid of marketing.   Failure to apply marketing to understand the client can be detrimental.   .   For instance, Disney made the fatal mistake of not separating European custome rs with American ones in the Euro Disney project.They originally designed a park similar to the American one, incorrectly neglecting the cultural differences that exist.   For example, they adopted a policy of serving no alcohol in the park.   This was extremely unpleasant to such culture because in France wine is habitual for lunch and dinner.   Thus the organization suffered $921 million losses in the first financial year, and had to rapidly change some aspects of the park in order to survive in the European market.References:Hartley R. (2000).   Management Mistakes & Successes.   Sixth Edition.   New York:   John Wiley & Sons Inc.Hume S (1990).   Advertising Age.   McDonald’s Fred Turner:   making all the right moves.Kotler P.; Armstrong G.; Saunders J.; Wong V. (1999).   Principles of Marketing.   Second Edition.   London:   Prentice Hall.

Statement of purpose for international university teaching position Personal

Of purpose for international university teaching position School of Health Sciences - Personal Statement Example Despite the fact that I have obtained a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) I have considerable experience in nursing to meaningfully relate to the intricacies of a Master's in Public health (MPH). Especially my clinical experience in Haiti and Belize in 2010 and 2007 respectively would serve as the main criterion for decision making by the selecting panel at the William VS Tubman University. Also I have co-authored the literature review of a journal article along with Dr. William King MD for UCLA. Further, I hold a current IRB certification for research with human subjects. My landmark contributions to the administrative and professional programs of the hospital include the preparation of the Joint Commission Readiness Survey that scored almost 95% with commendation and watching over the ongoing quality assurance program which is in conformance with TJC standards for patient and staff safety. My teaching skills are essentially enhanced by orientation programs, procedural collaboration and compliance rules for Medicare and Medicaid (Bohmer, 2009). Further my professional administrative and career centric capabilities have been demonstrated in such varied fields as research methodology, epidemiology, pathology, disease management, program level coordination, multidisciplinary approaches, setting quality standards and establishing

In the light of the global financial crisis, discuss how the Essay - 1

In the light of the global financial crisis, discuss how the remuneration of chief executives of banks should be determined - Essay Example There are also macroeconomic factors for the occurrence of the crisis that include practices in accounting and lack of transparency among others. It has also been observed that major risks or weaknesses related to financial crisis lay in the fact that financial crisis occurred due to certain pre-crisis situations which arrived in relation the supervision and regulation of various activities. A few of the micro prudential regulations were poorly structured that contributed in systematic risks. Most of the banks became solvent due to the Basel capital rules (World Bank, 2012). Moreover, the global financial crisis has enabled to underline a critical agency problem which occurred due to excessive rise in the chief executives remunerations especially during the period of 2004 to 2007 in countries such as Australia and the United States (Ariff & et. al., 2012). With this consideration, the paper intends to discuss how the remuneration of chief executives of banks should be determined in o rder to ensue that the ill-effects of the crisis can be mitigated. Discussion The global financial crisis had brought about a greater concern regarding the usage and structure of remuneration which was based on the incentive systems. The executives of the banks were observed to be yielding their benefits on the short-term visions which became apparent upon the value and stability of the organization in the long term basis. It has been observed that banks with large and small amount of compensations had undertaken risks which resulted in significant losses during the crisis situation. It has further been observed that there were various variations relating to the structure of remunerations paid to the chief executives in banks in different countries. According to a study, in around six investment banks in the US the remuneration subscribed to the executives was nearly 2% of the total compensation on an annual basis, which was much lower from the remuneration provided to executives in the European countries which was ranging from 20 to 35%. Consequently, most of the European countries were in support and adapted the framework of corporate governance relating to the concern of remuneration aspect. The concept of surpassing payment of executives has also been paid greater attention to. . In this regard, it can be observed that the issues relating to financial crisis are specified to the corporate governance relating to the separation of position of Chairman along with the CEO, as the requirements of both the personnel are quite similar in issues relating to remuneration (The World Bank Group, 2011). With regard to the remuneration of the chief executives of banks, the remuneration committee should ensure by taking the responsibility that the organizations are selecting comprehensible policies of remuneration with respect to every employee in the organization. In response to the financial crisis which occurred in 2008, it can be observed that the payment of bonuses to the executives during and after the period of global financial crisis played a pivotal role in the remuneration aspect. The executives were paid their remunerations according to their performances in most of the banks. The rescheduling or rearrangement of incentives can be paid to the employees for showing greater sustainable performances.

China, India and Japan all face significant challenges with regard to Essay

China, India and Japan all face significant challenges with regard to their technological capabilities. What are these challenges and how likely are they to be overcome over the following two decades - Essay Example As such, both China and India need to invest more on R&D to compete at the same level with the developed countries in the next two decades. Conversely, while Japan’s technological capabilities are more advanced compared to China and India, Japan faces a challenge because of its protectionist policies. These policies impact negatively on Japan’s cooperation with other countries in terms of sharing knowledge. In addition, the country is faced with an aging population and thus; there is need for the country to access human capital abroad. This means that, Japan has to open up to the outside world by embracing trade liberalisation (Norma & Danny 2002, p.36). This paper examines the significant challenges faced by China, India and Japan with regard to their technological capabilities. As an emerging economy, the technological capability of China requires a focus on innovations. However, it is emerging that both the state and private sector is not aggressive in terms of improving innovations. A lack of a focus on basic research is an impediment to China’s technological capabilities. Most business enterprises in China do not engage in basic research, and this leads to imitation of foreign products. The country further has a weak system for managing rights related to intellectual property. This creates a situation where piracy is rampant in china, and impacts negatively on the country’s technological capabilities (Andrew 2005, p.16). On another note, since SMEs plays a critical role in advancing innovations, China faces a challenge in the sense that, their SMEs lack adequate funds and human resources to carry out large scale innovations. While China boasts of cheap labour, this is detrimental to its technology in the sense that, this leads to the production of poor quality products that is sold cheaply in the global market. As a result of the rising costs of production

General motors transnational strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

General motors transnational strategy - Essay Example General motors’ is a multinational organization with and have factories manufacturing vehicles and vehicle accessories in at least 37 countries and has 10 established brands (Pelfrey 2006: 129). The company was the leading automotive seller for 77 years which is the longest time that any automotive company has dominated the automotive industry (Holstein 2010). However, the company was seriously affected by the 2008 economic crisis which led to it closing three of her brands. Since 2008, the company has been observed to continue declining in terms of revenue earned.The data needed for this research will be collected by analyzing different papers that have been written regarding the strategies written by general motors and also scrutinizing its financial performance from the company annual reports. There are many studies that have been conducted to analyze GM performance.Expected resultsThis has resulted in creation of competition among different brands thus the company ends up sabotaging its own products (Husted & Allen 2011: 49). The structure is also vertically organized which inhibits communication between the top managers and the employees. This has resulted in a lot of labor union problem which has affected the company productivity (Crumm 2010: 267). GM has also failed to cater for the needs of the customer by developing alternative fuel vehicles in this age of energy crisis. Nevertheless, the company has been successful in entering emerging markets such as China and this has improved its global presence.

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study - Essay Example A higher level to the previous or a higher level as compared to the competitor indicates that the business is prospering. year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 unit car sales expected 80 120 150 180 190 The profitability of the company: the organization has an anticipated annual change of 1.02. This shows that the organization is on the positive trend in profit making. The profits can only increase if the company focuses more in cost reduction than in production. Breakeven levels Unit break-even for the year 2012 Average Annual Fixed Cost/ (Average Per Unit Sales Price - Average Per Unit Variable Cost) Fixed costs= (direct labor +supervision + office staff+ managerial) 550,033 =33+130,000+120,000 + 300,000 Variable costs = production overheads + production person-hours + sales overheads + other office overheads 100,900 = 50,000 + 900 + 18,000 + 32,000 Therefore: average annual fixed costs = 550,033/ 12= 45836.08 Average per unit sales = 75000/80= 937.5 Average per unit variable cost = total variable cost / number of units/12 =100900/80/12= 105.10 Break even = 45836.08/ (937.50-105.10) = 55 units Sales break even for the year 2012 Annual Fixed Cost/1 - (Average Per Unit Variable Cost ? Average Per Unit Sales Price) =550033/ 1- (105.10/937.5) =550033/1-0.1121 =550033/0.8879 =619476.29 ? Sensitivity of the figures to the key estimates The estimated figures show a positive increase in both the expenses and incomes. For example on the sales estimates there is a gradual increase in the number of units to be sold annually. This is not reflected in the other expenses. For example it is assumed that the variable costs are not changing with the increase in sales. Other factors not considered include market trends, additional investments, depreciation of the cars. Too the interests on the borrowed capital are assumed that they will remain unchanged for the due period. There should be a provision for such changes as the global economy is fluctuating. Also there are provisions for bad debts. Everything is assumed to a clear cut transaction. Recommendations The company therein is sales oriented. It projects a sharp increase in sales without putting into focus the other internal and external factors. The company therefore change this trend and focus on both production and cost reduction. References Cooperative extension, (n.d), Agr-business management, viewed April 21, 2012,

Involvement of the U.S Military in Border Protection and the Drug Essay

Involvement of the U.S Military in Border Protection and the Drug Policy Since 1960s - Essay Example Involvement of the U S Military in Border Protection and the Drug Policy Since 1960s Introduction The United States’ borders are extensively guarded following effective legislations that target safeguarding Americans. The U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) present the federal enforcement agency in the department of homeland security that regulates foreign trade, trade customs, immigration, import duty collections, and external regulations enforcement (Guerette & Clarke, 2005). The agency has a good number of officers, over 4600 well-trained officers who guard the borders of the U.S to ensure border security. However, the United States military strongly claim involvement in the border security and international security maintenance in the country. With the changes in the drug policy in the United States, the body stands at the pole position to ensure that illegal drugs do not get into the country easily. Enforcement of the immigration rules solely falls in the docket of th e United States military. The immigration rules in the United States contribute much on the security of the people. Since 1900s, the U.S government has adopted strict regulations on immigration that has led to incorporation of the state’s military to stiffen security at the border. Ceasar (2008) argues that tougher rules led to growth of the illegal market especially drugs and narcotics trade. The border patrol thus was adopted to boost security at the border and prevent further turmoil. Later in the 1920s, the United States feared that the countries ravaged with war threatened their position thus adopting tighter immigration rules. For example, the adopted legislations ensured that foreigners could not get into the country without being cleared at the border. Particularly, current policies on immigration state that people should not enter the United States unless they get clearance at the border. Consequently, the United States military assumes the role of ensuring that no p erson gets into the country illegally, and curtailing black market at the borders by conducting constant patrols. The United States military takes part in border protection to prevent entry of illegal drugs in the country. The war against illegal drugs dates back to the 1920s when the congress passed the drugs act that blocked importation of drugs from outside the country. Many people perceived this as a move to protect the people, but there existed certainty as to who could oversee the same. The American government tightened drug policy in 1960s thus the military came into force to ensure that the prohibited drugs do not enter the country. However, the black market expanded because the people found no other way to get to the illegal drugs. In this sense, it is apparent that activities of the military officers at the borders related directly with the prevalence of the black market. Rising concerns on the health of the United States plant and animal resources heightened level of invo lvement of the United States military in border protection in the country (Ceasar, 2008). Many people in the country raised concerns that their plants and animals got infections from foreign countries, which threatened human health. Any concerns about the health of plants and animals meant that the level of involvement for the military increased to enhance a safer environment. In this respect, the U S military embanked on undertaking passenger operations, targeting and analysis, and

Capital Punishment and Complainants Essay Example for Free

Capital Punishment and Complainants Essay This paper will comment on the significant decision of the Honble Supreme Court in Vikas Deshpande v Bar Council of India,1 dismissing the appeal by an advocate who was banned from practicing and fined by the Bar Council of India for gross professional misconduct. The comment will take a look at the facts that constituted the misconduct and the possible reasons behind the Supreme Courts decision. Case Comment Facts in Brief In this case, an appeal was filed by Vikas Deshpande, advocate, hereinafter referred to as the appellant, under Section 38 of the Advocates Act, 1961 for short the Act against the final order passed by the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India. By the impugned order the Bar Council of India permanently debarred the appellant from practising as an advocate for the commission of a grave professional misconduct and also imposed the cost of Rs. 25,000. Ramrao Chandoba Jadhav, Vidyadhar Ramrao Jadhav, and Chandrakant Ramdeo Jadhav (all deceased), hereinafter referred to as the complainants, were prosecuted for committing murder of six persons on 16th December, 1990. As they were extremely poor, they asked the Court to appoint a lawyer to represent them free of cost as amicus curiae. Sessions Court after trial found the complainants guilty of the offence charged with and awarded them death penalty by an order dated 30th August, 1991. On the same date the appellant contacted the complainants in Yervada Central Prison where they were lodged. Appellant took the copies of the judgment from the complainants and obtained their thumb impression and signatures on the Vakalatnama to prefer an appeal in the High Court of Bombay at Aurangabad Bench. Appellant told the complainants that he would not be charging any fee as he was doing this to make a name for himself. On 10th October, 1991 appellant visited the Yervada Central Prison again and obtained their signatures on some stamp papers. The deed was not read over to the complainants nor were the contents made known to them. Complainants signed and put their thumb impression on the documents in good faith. In January, 1992 the High Court dismissed the appeal of the complainants and confirmed the death sentence and subsequently complainants were hanged to death. On 16th February, 1992, appellant met the complainants in Yervada Central Prison again and told them that he had sold their land on the basis of power of attorney executed in his favour by them authorising him to sell the land. That he had appropriated the money received by him towards his fees. Further the appellant asked the complainants to authorise him to prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court which they declined. Thereafter the complainants filed a complaint with the Chairman, State Bar Council to the effect that the appellant who was practising as an advocate at Nanded, Maharashtra committed an act which amounted to professional misconduct within the meaning of Section 35 of the Advocates Act and for the said act disciplinary action be taken. They had requested for the appointment of an advocate as amicus curiae to defend them to leave their property for the surviving members of the family in case the complainants were sentenced to death. They stated that they had never authorised the appellant to sell their land. That the appellant had played fraud on them and sold the property on the basis of the alleged power of attorney obtained by him through misrepresentation. Appreciating the seriousness of the complaint made by the complainants, State Bar Council took suo motu cognizance and issued notice to the appellant who filed his reply. He described himself to be an expert criminal lawyer as he had conducted many sessions trials and appeals. It was pleaded by him that he had also engaged some other lawyers as well and he was trying his best to pay the fees of the said advocates by selling the land of the complainants. It was further stated that on the request of the complainants on 30th August, 1991 he accepted the vakalatnama on behalf of the complainants on an oral agreement that the complainants would pay Rs. 50,000 to the appellant for conducting the confirmation case and the appeal before the High Court, for which they authorised him to dispose of their land to recover and appropriate the money received. That out of 16 acres of land owned by the complainants the appellant had sold only 6 acres and 30 gunthas of land to meet the expenses. Another fact which needs to be mentioned is that the government valuation of the land was 1,35,000 but the appellant had settled the final consideration at Rs. 75,000 out of which Rs. 30,000 was paid at the time of the agreement to sell and the remaining amount was to be paid before 1st March, 1992. Later on a sum of Rs. 17,000 was paid to the appellant. The remaining amount of Rs. 28,000 could not be obtained by the appellant as the power of attorney executed in his favour was cancelled by the complainants. The complaint was taken cognizance of and the matter was referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council. Vidhyadhar, complainant no. 2, was examined on oath. He, in his deposition, reiterated the what had been stated by him in his complaint. He specifically stated that he and his two other associated had not executed any power of attorney in favour of the appellant authorising him to sell their land and appropriate the sale consideration towards his fees. That their signatures had been obtained on blank papers. That the power of attorney had been obtained by misrepresenting the facts in order to defraud them. This witness was cross-examined but nothing of substance could be brought out from his cross-examination. As the State Bar Council could not complete the proceedings within a period of one year, the complaint was transferred to the Bar Council of India under section 36B of the Act. The matter was entrusted for further action to the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India. In spite of repeated notices sent to the appellant which were duly served on him (four times) the appellant did not put in appearance. The proceedings were continued ex-parte. The Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India found the appellant guilty of soliciting brief from the complainants and obtaining their signatures and thumb impressions on certain documents on the basis of which power of attorney was executed in his favour authorising him to sell the land of the complainants. It was found that the appellant had failed to prove that the complainants had executed the power of attorney in his favour to sell the land. It was also held that the appellant had failed to prove that his fees at the relevant time to conduct the criminal appeal was settled at Rs. 50,000. That he has failed to prove that he was entitled to and justified in recovering the fees by selling the land belonging to the complainants. The Disciplinary Committee found the appellant guilty of gross professional misconduct as defined under Section 35 of the Advocates Act and directed the State Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa to remove the name of the appellant from the roll of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa under section 35(3d) of the Act. Cost of Rs. 25,000 were imposed and made payable to the heirs of the complainants because by that time the complainants had already been put to death in execution of the sentence imposed on them. A lien was created on the property of the appellant for the recovery of costs. Decision of the Honble Supreme Court The judgement of the division bench of the Apex Court, consisting of justices VN Khare and A Bhan, was to dismiss the appeal without costs The judges saw no merit in the appeal for the following reasons: 1. There was no substance in the submission made by the appellant that he could not be proceeded ex-parte. It was evident to the judges from the perusal of the record that there were four acknowledgements on the record which showed that the appellant had been duly served four times and in spite of the notices having been served on the appellant he did not choose to appear before the Disciplinary Committee at any point of time. The Disciplinary Committee had no other option but to hear the matter. 2. The Secretary of the State Bar Council, who was appointed as a prosecutor, also did not lead any evidence because in the meantime all the three complainants were hanged in execution of the sentence imposed on them. The only evidence which remained and which had come on the record is the statement of Vidhyadhar, complainant. Vidhyadhars testimony fully established the charge of professional misconduct against the appellant. 3. The Court agreed with the findings recorded in the impugned order. The appellant failed to lead any evidence to displace the testimony of Vidhyadhar to the effect that the appellant had solicited a brief for himself from them and they had not executed any power of attorney in his favour for the purpose of the sale of their land. He had obtained signatures and thumb impressions of the complainants on some documents. Without informing complainants a power of attorney was got executed in favour of the appellant to sell of the land. 4. The power of attorney was obtained by the appellant on misrepresentation. In pursuance of the alleged power of attorney in his favour the appellant sold the land of the complainants fraudulently. 5. It was also established that fees of the appellant had not been settled at Rs. 50,000. He was neither entitled nor justified in selling the land of the complainants on the basis of the alleged power of attorney for the recovery of his fees. Had the intention of the complainants been to sell the land then they would not have requested for appointment of an amicus curiae to defend them before the Sessions Court. Thus, in the Honble Apex Courts opinion, the appellant took advantage of the situation that the complainants facing death sentence and obtained the power of attorney on misrepresentation in his favour and sold the property of the complainants. Further, the appellant fraudulently appropriated the sale proceeds for his gain. He has committed a grave professional misconduct. SUMMARISE WHAT HAVE TO SAY Professional Misconduct Blacks Law dictionary defines misconduct as transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, an unlawful behaviour, improper or wrong behaviour etcetera. 2 Justice Darling defined professional misconduct in the following words, If it is shown that an advocate in the pursuit of his profession has done something with regard to it which would be reasonably regarded as disgraceful or dishonourable The Advocates Act, 1981, also does not lay down the definition of misconduct. In a 2004 case, the Apex Court further clarified that it would be difficult to lay down exhaustively what would constitute misconduct and indiscipline. 3 However, that decision had not been passed at the time of deciding of the present case, and the judges had to rely on their discretion as best they could. In order to do so, they relied on their common sense. An advocate ought not to act in an unlawful manner with respect to his or her client. Especially in criminal matters, the life and death of the accused might depend on the skill and will of the advocate. If the advocate decides to deliberately fight the case in a languid fashion, he can easily ensure that his clients die. In the present case, the advocate stood to gain much from the death of his clients, as they would be unable to deny the fact that they had agreed to let him sell their property and appropriate the proceeds as his fee. Their legal heirs would be unable to oppose this fact and he would easily get the money they were entitled to. Under such suspicious circumstances, the advocates selling of the clients property without their consent or knowledge certainly amounts to professional misconduct. DISCUSS PREVIOUS LEGAL ETHICS CASES DISCUSS EVIDENCE POSSIBLE REASONS FOR COURTS DECISION QUOTE FINAL PARA IN INDIRECT FORM Conclusion The Court was right in not reversing the decision of the Bar Council of India in the appeal. The relationship between an advocate and his client is of trust and therefore sacred. Such acts of professional misconduct and the frequency with which such acts are coming to light distresses as well have to be curbed. Preservation of the mutual trust between the advocate and the client is a must otherwise the prevalent judicial system in the country would collapse and fail. Such acts do not only affect the lawyers found guilty of such acts but erode the confidence of the general public in the prevalent judicial system. It is more so, because today recruitment to the Bench is from the Bar starting from the subordinate judiciary to the higher judiciary. You cannot find honest and hard working judges unless you find honest and hard working lawyers in their chambers. To quote the judges themselves, Time has come when the Society in general, respective Bar Council of the States and the Judges should take note of the warning bells and take remedial steps and nip the evil or the curse, if we may say so, in the bud. 4 Thus, this case was a fitting reminder of the long reach of the law, from which even advocates are not exempt, regardless of what they might believe to the contrary.

Effect of Cultural Exposure on Ethnic Identities in Adoption

Effect of Cultural Exposure on Ethnic Identities in Adoption How has cultural exposure shaped the ethnic identities of Asian children who have been adopted into American families? Emma Schroeter This essay assesses the effects of cultural exposure on the ethnic identities’ of Asian transracially adopted children. It examines how cultural exposure shapes the ethnic identities of Asian children who have been adopted into American families. To do so, the variety of cultural exposure methods and the factors that typically influence a child’s self-identity are first discussed. This includes the â€Å"nature versus nature concept† and Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. The way ethnic identity is measured is then identified. Next, a relevant study by David C. Lee and Stephen M. Quintana’s which was published in 2005 is analyzed in relation to the investigation. The results are discussed and conclusions are drawn. In conclusion, there are significant positive effects of cultural exposure on Asian transracially adopted children. Introduction: International adoption is becoming increasingly popular within families in the United States. Since 1971, over 330,000 children have been adopted from other countries and the annual rate for international adoption has tripled.[1] The amount of internationally adopted children went from 7,093 children in 1990 to 22,884 children in 2004.[2] The increase in international adoption can be attributed to war, poverty, the lack of social welfare in these countries, as well as: greater infertility rates in the United States, recognized difficulties associated with domestic adoption, desire to adopt babies rather than older children, or a repugnance toward foster care adoption.[3] Today, children (the majority infants and young children) are adopted annually from over one hundred countries, with approximately 90% of children adopted from only twenty countries.[4] However, most are from China, Russia, South Korea, and Guatemala.[5] Transracial adoption in the United States has a controversial history.[6] The perception of ethnic identity within these children has been an immense concern for the general wellbeing of the child. Currently, Asian children adopted into American families cover about 15% of all adopted children and continues to increase annually.[7] Whether or not we want to accept it, our childhoods play a prodigious role in not only shaping who we become as adults but also our identity. Some people actually consider transracial adoption cultural genocide.[8] When transracially adopted into an American family, a child is at risk for being robbed of their own identity and culture. Although many families who adopt children do make an effort to expose their child to as much of their original culture as possible, what the child interprets may not necessarily be the expected. Therefore, the question remains: How has cultural exposure shaped the ethnic identities of Asian children who have been adopted int o American families? Although, many of the studies referenced refer to Korean children, the researchers have made the conclusion that the same effects apply to all Asian adoptees. Investigation: Cultural exposure can have a variety of meanings. In the case of a child being transracially adopted, cultural exposure is the introduction to aspects and collective manifestations of their home country. For Asian children, these items may include: attending Asian/culture-specific cultural group activities/festivals, visiting home country, attending culture-specific (fully Korean, Japanese, etc.) school, can speak some of native language, can write some of native language, or eats culture-specific food frequently (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). These items are drawn from a variation of the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale and the Children’s Acculturation Scale.[9] All of the preceding factors would result in exposure to the child’s home country in one way or another, to a certain extent. Depending on the adoptive family, the child may or may not be able to experience these types of things. It is important to define cultural exposure to understand the ba sis of this investigation and argument. The aspects listed previously are examples necessary in understanding what cultural exposure deals with. In David C. Lee and Stephen M. Quintana’s study published in 2005, these items were constructed into questions and used in interviews with Korean children. This study will be referenced frequently, due to its relativity to the subject being discussed. An important focus of this investigation is on transracially adopted children’s ideological, behavioral, and social commitment to their country of origin.[10] Transracially children who are adopted and being raised by parents with a different racial status tend to experience a different racial socialization than those who are raised by their biological parents or adopted within their race. According to research, more than 65% of transracially adopted children fail to identify with their racial status.[11] This was evident in Andujo’s 1988 study comparing Mexican within race adopted children and Mexican transracially adopted children. This study found that none of the thirty transracially adopted children identified with the race â€Å"Mexican American†, while twenty-two out of thirty within race adopted children did. Although this study investigates Mexican children, it is relevant because of the conclusions drawn. Andujo concluded that these results can be gener alized to apply to all transracially adopted children due to the similarities in their situations. It has also been replicated using Asian, African as well as other South American countries, producing close, if not the same results. In DeBerry, Scarr, and Weinberg’s (1996) longitudinal study, it was found that transracially adopted children had difficulty developing biracial competence and identified more with White than Asian groups. Not only was this result a concern, but the statistic stating that over 20% of transracially adopted children indicated that they wished they had a different racial status as well.[12] It is concerning that children are not happy with their ethnicity and culture. This â€Å"wish† that these children possessed could be a predetermining factor for other issues that the child will later stumble upon (depression, etc.). This statement could be caused by a variety of reasons, such as deprivation to culture exposure. On the contrary, research h as also found that most transracially adopted children show adjustment levels (self-esteem, well-being, etc.) equivalent or higher than those of within race adopted children.[13] As seen in Feigelman and Silverman’s (1983) and Andujo’s (1988) studies, this pattern in adjustment levels applies when comparing within race adopted white children and within race adopted transracial children (for example, a Korean couple living in the U.S. adopting a Korean child). The error in the adjustment levels pattern occurred in certain circumstances where differences in the adoptions took place, such as: age of adoption and placement in foster care.[14] When these circumstances were controlled, the high adjustment levels pattern was evident and the similarities between adjustment levels in both transracial and within race adopted children disappeared.[15] Ultimately, this suggests both the positive and negative sides of transracially adopted children’s perception of their iden tity. Recently, researchers have been focusing on the ways in which these children develop positive or negative understandings and perceptions about their ethnic, cultural, and racial identity. As of right now, the biggest reason for this revolves around the adoptive parents attitudes towards adopted children’s attitudes and children’s racial identity.[16] Research is showing that transracially adopted children begin to recognize their racial differences as early as ages four or five.[17] As transracially adopted children get older, they develop a more non-literal understanding of their identity.[18] At the same time, they can start to feel a loss of their home culture and family history and begin to understand the effects of racism and discrimination.[19] This development will be specifically discussed later in the investigation. These new feelings and emotions in a child, however, can relate to the famous â€Å"nature versus nurture† debate. This argument focuses on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development.[20] For example, when a person is very knowledgeable, gets good grades, and is ultimately successful, did they do so because they are genetically predisposed or is it the result of a fortified environment? Similarly, If a man/father abuses his family/wife/kids, is it because of something he was born with violent tendencies or is it something he learned from personal experience and by observing his own parents behavior? A few characteristics that seem to be biologically determined (nature) include eye color, hair color, skin color, some genetic diseases, etc. Other attributes like height, life expectancy, and even left/right handedness have a strong biological component, but they are also influenced by the environment you are exposed to and the lifestyle you experience (nurture). Families who have adopted children are typically used in experiments researching â€Å"nature versus nurture † because it is so easily seen in these situations. How a person behaves can be tied to influence such as parenting styles and learned experiences (cultural exposure). For example, a child might learn through observation and reinforcement to say â€Å"please† and â€Å"thank you.† Another child might learn to behave violently by observing older children engage in aggressive behavior on the playground. This act of imitation is also known as Albert Bandura’s â€Å"social learning theory†. In his famous â€Å"Bobo doll experiment†, Bandura showed that children learn and copy behaviors they have watched other people complete. Children participating in Bandura’s study observed an adult acting aggressively toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later allowed to play and interact with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the aggressive and violent actions they had previously been exposed to and observed. These studies are significant to t his investigation because it shows the impact of parents on the behaviors and actions of children, ultimately leading to the child’s identity. The effect of cultural exposure on adopted children can be considered the â€Å"nurture† aspect because it involves the environment the child is exposed to and how they are brought up. When it comes to Bandura’s study, the importance lies in the fact that adopted children imitate their parents, just the same as biological children used in the study.[21] If the adoptive parents were to show an interest in the culture of the child (while the child is at a young age) and practice â€Å"the ways† of the culture, if you will, the child would likely follow or imitate with their interest of the subject. As seen in the results of the Lee and Quintana (2005) study discussed later, cultural exposure is important to the perception of ethnic identity within the child. If a parent can play such a significant role in what a chil d believes and understands (Bobo doll experiment), it becomes important and relevant to this investigation as well. Within even some of the smaller communities in Rochester, New York parents of Korean adopted children children take them to an annual Korean festival to learn about their home culture. Although the kids are still very young, the parents believe they should expose their child to as much of their own culture as they can, before the child can make their own decision to continue to follow the culture or stick to the American culture.[22] This is an example of how the actions of the parents regarding cultural exposure, influence the child’s positive or negative understandings and perceptions about their ethnic, cultural, and racial identity. This â€Å"ethnic identity† is not always easy to measure, especially within children. Children have been shown to progress through physical, literal, social, and group perspectives on their cultural and racial experiences.[23] The Perspective-Taking Ability (PTA) scale (see Appendix I) is a way to measure and show the extent to which children understand their ethnic identity in different stages. The PTA’s results tends to vary over age as well. The PTA scale ranges from level zero to level three. As expected, young children’s (preschool aged) understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity are based on superficial physical appearance. This is considered the physical perspective and contains something like, â€Å"Korean people have black hair, brown eyes while Americans (Caucasian) have tan hair and different colored eyes.† Furthermore, older children (elementary aged) begin to understand non-physical features, including literal aspects such as, heritage and culture characteristics (food, ancestors, language, etc.). This is considered the literal perspective meaning, â€Å"To be Korean means your parents were Korean. But just because you’re Korean on the outside, it does not mean you are not American on the inside.† In early adolescence, youth begin to base their racial status on a social perspective, including racism and social discrimination. This stage is labelled the social perspective, when youth begin to realize, â€Å"I guess I’m different (from Caucasians) because they treat me differently.† In later adolescence, racial and cultural group consciousness is the key factor in identifying racial status (ethnic identity). The last stage is called the collective group consciousness perspective, stating, â€Å"I believe (what makes me Korean) is the way you feel about it†¦ it’s more what you know about your culture and how much you believe it.† The age groups associated with each level ar e a generalization of any typical child’s understanding. This scale has been used in research relating to ordinary young children’s perception of race before, but is more significant in evaluating a transracially adopted child’s idea of identity. This significance can be attributed to the contrasting lifestyles and environments experienced by transracially adopted children. This also suggests that the results of transracially adopted children tend to differ from ordinary children due to the possible early exposure of their culture at young ages. This exposure could lead them to knowledge beyond their years relating to this topic. The purpose of Lee and Quintana’s (2005) study was to not only look into the benefits of culture exposure but also investigate whether or not the same race developmental models would work for adopted children as well. The interest laid in the fact of whether or not transracially adopted children developed and attained the same PTA levels as non-adopted children. Previously, a small qualitative study by Friedlander et al. (2000) reveals that transracially adopted children’s ethnic and racial cognition development is parallel to those of non-adopted children. This was further investigated with this study. With varying hypotheses (see Appendix II), a method was created to test these questions. Fifty Korean-born transracially adopted children participated, twenty-seven girls and twenty-three boys. They were attending a Korean culture camp and the average age was twelve years old. Fifty-six percent of the children had some limited knowledge of verbal and written Korean, sixt y percent had been back to Korea, and sixty-four percent had previously participated in culture-specific activities outside of the camp. Almost seventy-five percent reported being teased because of their racial status (see Appendix III). The children were selected using opportunity sampling and all had parental consent. The children were interviewed using the PTA scale which had been altered to be Korean specific. Culture exposure questions were asked orally while cultural knowledge was investigated by asking the children to imagine two towns.[24] They were given questions regarding the likelihood of people from each town participating in each event. Some questions were culture specific, others were not. Self-esteem was also measured using Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale. This was administered to ensure that discriminant validity that cultural variables were not significantly related to self-esteem.[25] The results can be found in Appendix IV. The results suggest that cultural exposure had a significant role for transracially adopted children’s development of PTA. Cultural exposure could be used to predict the child’s PTA after certain factors like age and cultural knowledge were controlled. These findings can be compared with research of either Portes and Rumbaut (1996) or Zhou (1997). This previous research found that children’s adaption based on a blending of culture of origin or family culture and dominant culture was complex.[26] For some, there were benefits to increased socialization which appeared to pose challenges to their adjustment. In recent situations, acculturation to the dominant culture may be experienced as threatening to ethnic/racial minority adolescents’ identity.[27] The interaction between cultural exposure and chronological age in predicting levels of PTA also had a small significance. This indicated that cultural exposure is much more important for younger transracially adopted children (less than ten years old).[28] This suggests that types of cultural exposure may need to be accustomed to age. The kinds of exposure indexed were focused on experiences with Korean culture (like food and language) just as how the cultural knowledge assessed was focused more on objective features of culture (like cultural traditions). It now seems that these kinds of exposure may be more important to young children at a level one PTA. On the other hand, older children at level two need to focus on more racial components, such as, racial prejudice. In further research, it would be important to investigate the kinds of experiences that promote transracially adopted children’s development prior to and throughout adolescence. The study findings could also help to alter the adoption policy. Currently, most adoption agencies do not have standard protocols for pre and post-adoption services focused on cultural socialization. Adoptive parents have to initiate their own support services to address these issues.[29] Consequently, agencies may want to tailor services to address these aspects of cultural socialization and exposure when working with adoptive families. Parents thinking about adopting might be encouraged to think past racial awareness and self-examination of their cultural belief systems but instead what it means to engage in culturally competent parenting. Likewise, adoptive parents whose children are currently struggling with ethnic and racial issues may benefit from learning additional ways to engage in cultural exposure. These collective efforts, in turn, we hope will promote the development of a healthy and positive ethnic identity and will contribute to the well-being and mental health of inte rnationally adopted children.[30] Conclusion: There seem to be important benefits to transracially adopted children from exposure to their country of origin for their development. Research shows the emphasis and importance of cultural exposure, particularly for young children. High levels of cultural exposure may help to minimize differences between transracially adopted children’s developmental understanding of culture and race and non-adopted children. Direct exposure appears more beneficial than knowledge or awareness of differences. 1 [1] U.S. Department of State, 2005 [2] U.S. Department of State, 2005 [3] Lee, 2003 [4] Grotevant, 2008 [5] Grotevant, 2008 [6] Simon and Alstein, 2002 [7] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [8] National Association of Black Social Workers, 1972 [9] Suinn, Khoo, and Ahauna, 1995; Franco, 1983 [10] Taylor and Thorton, 1996 [11] Andujo, 1988; Feigelman and Silverman, 1984; Kim, 1995 [12] Benson, Sharma, and Roehlkepartain, 1994 [13] Alexander and Curtis, 1996 [14] Simon and Alstein, 2000 [15] Wickes and Slate, 1997 [16] Carstens and Julia, 2000; Friedlander et al., 2000; Vonk, 2001; and Yoon, 1997 [17] Brodzinsky, Singer, Braff, 1984; Huh Reid, 2000 [18] Lee and Quintana, 2005 [19] Meier, 1999; Powell Affi, 2005 [20] Grenke, 2012 [21] Bandura, 1965 [22] Arber, 2013 [23] Lee and Quintana, 2005 [24] Bernal, Knight, Ocampo, Garza, and Cota, 1990 [25] Lee and Quintana, 2005 [26] Zhou, 1997 [27] Ogbu, 1994 [28] Lee and Quintana, 2005 [29] Steinberg and Hall, 2000 [30] Gunnar and Lee, 2006

Typical Challenge Faced By Room Division Staff

Typical Challenge Faced By Room Division Staff There is a saying , Customer is God which means customers needs should be fulfilled by the goods or service provider so that the customer can become your loyal customer. As to the hotel industry, it is also very true that hotel staff should try the best to satisfy all demands and requests from the guests so as to keep the guests come back often and introduce their friends and relatives to step in the hotel. However, not all customers are easy going and sometimes customers may bring up difficult requests which are not able to be met by the hotel, thus it will pose a great challenge for the hotel staff to handle. In this way, the relevant hotel department, here referred as the front office under the room division will often be responsible for processing such requests and complaints. The way how the customers requests and complaints are handled is very important for the hotels development regarding its reputability and sustainability in this field. Therefore, the aim of this report is to highly focus on the reasons of such difficult requests and complaints and the solutions which will properly get the issues handled without offending the customers and making them satisfy with the services of the hotel. It also addresses the significance for the hotel to be able to handle the complaints and requests in a proper way. In the final part, the report has drawn a proper conclusion for such challenge discussed and analysed. Table of contents Introduction 4 Discussion about the reasons and forms of the difficult requests and complaints brought up by customers 4 The ways how the Front Office staff should face and handle such challenge 6 Significance for the hotel to handle the challenge in a proper way 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction With the development of various businesses and tourisms, different types of hospitality industries such as business hotels, holiday inn hotels, have been rapidly developed and expanded in the cities all around the world. Since the massive expansion in this hospitality sector, the competition between hotels with the same level is becoming more and more intensified. Therefore, to improve the service trying to satisfy every customer whenever stepping into the hotel to the best is becoming vital in the hotel management (Kandampully, Mok Sparks, 2001). However, no matter how well the hotel staff made the preparation and how much efforts they made for trying to meet the customers needs, there are still many challenges in terms of handling the actual incidents in the real situation. With the consideration of addressing the challenges which might be encountered by the hotel staff, this report picks one typical challenge that the hotel room division department will occasionally face to analy se. The challenge is identified in the report is how the difficult customers requests and complaints are processed by the relevant staff. Usually the requests and complaints are handled by the front office staff under the room division department of the hotel. Such difficult requests and complaints from customers are very common for the hospitality industry. In the report, it is to write about such typical challenge to be handled by the front office staff in a business hotel. Discussion about the reasons and forms of the difficult requests and complaints brought up by customers In hospitality industry, it is very hard for the hotel not to have any incidents occur since the hospitality sector is dealing with different types of people. Take a Business Hotel as an example, one large Business Hotel will receive thousands of customers each year. All of the customers are with different characteristics or from different countries with obviously different cultures. Even the best and most reputable hotel may not be able to make every customer satisfy with its service. Usually, it is more occasional for the Front Office under the Room Division Department to contact the customers directly. And more often requests or complaints from customers will be delivered to the Front Office and the staff is responsible for handling such incidents. The reasons why sometimes customers will propose some hard requests or even sometimes they directly make complaints about the hotel is not difficult to understand. From the perspective of customer, he/she spends money on the food and services in the hotel, therefore, customer may think he/she should deserve more convenient and better service. And the more money he/she spends in the hotel, the much higher expectation with respect to the services he/she will have for the hotel. This is the psychological reaction of human being. During the hotel service process, if the customers feel the actual experience of the service is not up to the expectation they set in their mind, it will cause customers dissatisfaction (Bardi, 2010). Although most of them will not reveal this mood and leave the hotel without a word, some of the customers will complain to the Front Office. Also since different customers are greatly different in their living background, behaving methods, characteristics, they wil l reflect a different needs for the hotel services. Meanwhile, as the evaluation of hotel services by each customer is subjective, evaluation of the same services may vary from person to person. Thus not all the customers needs can be fulfilled and nothing is perfect, the diversity of the lodging customers absolutely ensure that there will be difficult requests and complaints (Hsu Powers, 2001). During the hotel service, a hotel may confront many forms of difficult customers requests and complaints. There are difficult requests such as late room service, asking for some facilities which are not equipped in the hotel etc. Typical complaints are like unclean room, unreasonable phone price, poor facilities, bad-quality food, language misunderstanding, unhelpful staff and so on (Ahmed, 2005). The ways how the Front Office staff should face and handle such challenge When encountering the difficult customer requests and complaints, Front Office staff may feel great stress for handling such incidents especially when dealing with some hard customers. It is a great challenge for the employees to handle the requests and complaints properly without offending the customers and to ensure Hotels interests at the same time. To handle these incidents in a proper way, the staff should firstly have a right attitude about the challenge. To deal with such unprepared incidents is one positions responsibilities. Requirements and complaints made by customers should be regarded as gifts to hotel. Customers requests and complaints not only reflect the needs of customers are not fulfilled by hotel, but also provide an opportunity for the hotel to evaluate its service quality and management quality in various aspects (Barlow Moller, 1996). It actually provides a good chance to improve hotel in many ways, which will eventually enables the hotel with an outstanding pe rformance and to be very competitive in the lodging industry. For Front Office staff, it is a knowledge to well handle the difficult customers requests and complaints. Normally the staff can resolve the incidents with reference to the following guidances according to different complex situation. When customers ask for some hard requests which may not be achieved within the hotels limit, customers may feel frustrated and disappointed. Usually customers will not deliberately make some unreasonable requests, therefore, when the staff face such requests, they should firstly try to satisfy their customers if the requests are not ridiculous. If hotel can not meet the customers requests, the staff should make apologies to customers in a polite way. The staff should keep the requests down on the notebook and assure the customers that the hotel will improve its service or add the requests in the service range (Malhotra, 1997). Actually the requests are also the advice for the hotel. It can make the hotel perfect its services. For instance, now there are more and more women business travellers, women have more requirements than men in terms of lodging and food and so on. Women customers may ask hotel to prepare better hairdryer and healthy meals. In other situations, hotel may have so me disabled persons who will demand more special requests from the hotel. Normally if customers difficult requests can not be provided by the hotel and the staff refuse them in a very polite way, most of the customers will not be annoyed. However, if the customers requests are refused by the staff without any explanation, customer will make complaints because they feel his self-esteem is devalued. When dealing with the complaints, the staff should be very careful because if the complaints are not handled properly, the hotel will lose not only one customer. When customer complains, the hotel should handle the complaints immediately and take the complaints seriously. Hotel staff should carefully listen to the customer with complaints with a wholehearted attitude and deal with the complaints after being agreed by customer. After investigation, if it is found fault with the hotel, apology and proper compensation shall be made in order to get forgiveness from the customers and make them satisfy with the hotel again. The staff shall keep in mind avoiding conflicts with customers. For the serious incident, the staff shall comfort the customers firstly then report to the manager and handle it according to the complaints procedure. Every complaint should be integrated in a file and analysed so that it can become a material for training as typical cases (Heung Lam, 2003). After the com plaints are resolved, hotel staff should appreciate the customers for pointing out the improper ways of the hotel, which makes the hotel improve itself. Then the customers will feel good impression about the hotel again and will come back for next time. Significance for the hotel to handle the challenge in a proper way To properly deal with the difficult requests and complaints is crucial for hotels success and development. There are plenty of hotels established in the city, why the customers would come back if they feel they are not treated in a good manner. For hotel, to offer a good service is one thing, to resolve requests and complaints in a good manner is another key factor for its reputation. Resolving the problems effectively has a strong impact on the customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers will possibly satisfy with the hotel based on the recovery efforts made by the hotel (Liao, 2007). There are numbers of hotels becoming good players in the lodging industry because they know how to deliver their services to customers and how to ensure guest satisfaction about their services or even how to handle the guest complaints successfully and gain back the customers trust about their hotels. Therefore, these hotels survive in the competitive accommodation area. Especially at present, technology develops fast and Internet is used by most people around the world. If one hotel failed to handle the guests requests or complaints, the offended customer may spread bad words via Internet, which will greatly destroy the hotels fame and potential customers may choose the other competitor by viewing these comments (Piccoli, Spalding Ives, 2001). Besides this, once the customer feel negative opinion about the hotel, he/she will deliver this message to his/her friends and relatives. For example, when we check the hotel information via Internet, we will occasionally see some messages or comments made by other people. These bad words will definitely make us feel not good about the hotel, although some of them may not be true. While on the other hand, if the hotel can try to fulfill the requests of the customers, hotel will gain considerable profits and will definitely build a good reputation in the hospitality industry. Take London Hilton in Park Lane as an example. Since now there are more and more women business travellers who have specific needs and requirements different from those of male guests. These women guests highlight good health diet and fitness facilities and they require more appropriate facilities in their rooms, such as padded hangers, good lighting and full-length mirror. Therefore, London Hilton refurbished the 30 rooms on its 22nd floor to become an all-women zone and offers a private section for them and enhance the security. The rooms are facilitated according to women taste including fashion magazines, powerful hairdryers and others (Carysforth, 2003). As a result, the London Hilton Hotel is popular by most of the women travellers. Proper handling customers complaints and make the c omplaining customer feel he/she is respected also helps the hotel to build its reputation and win back customers loyalty. Conclusion In conclusion, the hospitality industry most often deal with people. In order to survive in todays intensively competitive business environment, it is very essential for hotels to ensure to achieve customers satisfaction. As peoples increasing sense of protecting his consumer rights, many complaints occur in the hotel service. Also because hotels provide products and services which may be perceived in different ways by different people, different people will have varied levels of opinion in responding to the same or similar service and product consumption. Complaints sometimes do good to the hotel if the hotel is able to solve the problem in an effective way. If not, complaints will contribute a very bad influence to the hotel. However, for the Hotel Room Division sector, it is very challenging for them the properly deal with the matter. The persons for undertaking such position should be experienced and well-trained in this area. The capability of handling the complaints and difficu lt situation is not only about personal traits but also about tacts and strategies. The hotel staff should be familiar with the relevant strategies or procedures when handling the difficult and complex issues. It is also the hotels fortune to have such excellent staff being capable of solving complaints.

The Government And Environmental Policy Essays -- essays research pape

The Government and Environmental Policy The purpose of the United States' public policy law is to implement restrictions in an effort to solve problems, which can be seen with the Clean Water Act. Public policy has also been employed to reform the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Although the United States government is noble in it's efforts to preserve the environment through these acts, the internal structure of public policy often retards these acts' effectiveness. This paper will explore the many ways in which factors such as horizontal implementation, divided government, and other forms of public policy affect the environmental legislation involved with the aforementioned acts. The main factors involved with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 involve horizontal implementation structure and divided government. Before one can discuss how these policies affect environmental legislation, a brief description of each must first be lucidly explained. When our government was founded, a system of checks and balances was implemented between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to ensure that no one part of government gets too much power. Although this limits the power of any one person in government, it often slows down the ability of government because a consensus can be difficult with so many people working together. Another problem is that there are many subgovernments affecting the legislation as well, such as interest groups like the Sierra Club, Administrative Agents like the Environmental Protection Agency, and Congressional Committees. Because these groups add to the total number of people working on the legislation, the original noble ideology of making policy for the good of the nation is voided. Also because there are so many differences of opinion, few drastic changes are made, instead small incremental changes are made which take up lots of time and retard the effectiveness and enforcement of the legislation. In addition to this chaotic turmoil, four steps must be implemented in order to pass a bill. These are initiation & definition, formulation & enactment (legitimation), implementation, and evaluation. The most relevant one of these steps is horizontal implementation when one considers the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act. This policy is the process that puts a law into effect after it has been legitimized. Congres... ...ne." (Adler, pg. 1) The Act's goals as set forth by Congress was to eliminate toxic discharge into significant bodies of water by 1985, improve water quality for marine and freshwater life by 1983, and for all "toxic pollutants in toxic amounts" into water. Of course that act has had mediocre success, and only through continued cooperation of the government's branches will further progress be made. In conclusion, it has been shown how different branches of government, different administrations, and different policies all worked together to retard the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act of the early 1970's. Although these processes do act in a system of governmental checks and balances as the founders of this country wished, the effectiveness of the acts take many years of careful compromising to become significant. REFERENCES 1. Adler, Robert W., et. al. The Clean Water Act 20 Years Later Island Press Washington, D.C. 1993 2. Horton, Tom "The Endangered Species Act: Too tough, too weak, too late." (1992) Audubon Vol. 94 pgs. 68-74

How to make a Clay village :: essays research papers

How To Make A Clay Village Clay is a great way to pass the time on rainy days, or on any days! It unleashes your creative side, and it's very fun! You can entertain yourself for hours, and it's inexpensive! Who knows, maybe one day you may get so talented at it, you'll have your own business, and maybe, craft show! Here's what you need: Bake able Clay (about 5 different colors) Tiny Beads (For the eyes) Toothpick Oven Wood plank Optional: Legos Popsicle Sticks Soften your clay by warming it in your hands, rolling it out with a roller and folding it over and over for 8 to 10 times then roll a ball in the middle of your hands. That will be the head. Make sure it is really soft, or it won't bake correctly. Make it about the size of a dollar coin. I suggest using Sculpy III clay. NOT THE GLOW IN THE DARK KIND! Make another ball, this time a bit smaller than the first, and make it a different color. Mold it into a triangle, and lay that aside. Try making patterns like stripes, with another color and mold it together. This part will be your shirt/pants. Do not attach it to the head yet. Take a bit of the same colored clay you used for the head, and soften it, and roll it out into a small snake. Take the toothpick, and cut it in half. Roll the first half into a small ball and lay it aside. Do this to the other half and lay it aside. Try and not make fingers. Now, carefully stick the head on the body, then add the hands (little balls we rolled out earlier) on the sides, and take out the color of clay you want to be the hair. (If any) If it is a boy, you can make a ball, flatten it with a roller, then place it on the clay figures head. And any details like spikes and curls with the toothpick. If it is a girl, you can flatten a ball, then add a snake of hair for the ponytail. Be creative. Do a Mohawk if you want! Now for the eyes. Take two beads, then stick them on the figures face. Maybe you can add eyelids if you want a sleepy expression for your figure. Add any details on the face and body you want. If you have a lot of clay, keep on repeating the steps.

Sexual Harrasment

Sexual Harassment Topic: Human Resource Management/Sexual Harassment Characters: Paula, Management trainee in the Production Department of a medium-sized company Steve, Vice President of Production and Paula’s Manager Richard, Paula’s coworker and a Manager in Production Paula, a recent college graduate, is a newly hired manager in the Production Department of a medium-sized US Company. The first woman selected for this production training position, Paula takes her work very seriously. She has been with the organization for three months.For the first two months, she performed her duties very well, but during the last month, Steve, her boss, has noticed a change in Paula. She seems more tense and uneasy and is to not concentrating on her work as conscientiously as she previously did During the last month, Paula has been continually harassed by Richard, a coworker. At first she tried ignoring his jokes and sexual banter. However, his persistence has caused Paula have very uncomfortable feelings while she is at work and at home as well.Paula looked into the employee’s handbook concerning sexual harassment policies and found none. She really did not know what to do. Finally, after noticing her continually declining work, Steve asked her what was bothering her. She told him the problem and showed him information concerning the EEOC laws dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace she had found in a human resources textbook from college. She also said that she was considering taking action against Richard if his actions continued.Steve told her he was totally unaware of the problem but agreed something should be done. He asked her to investigate what the organization needed to do to stop this from occurring now and also to anyone else in the future. He also thanked Paula for her patience and honesty and also promised her that something would be done. What Are the Ethical Issues? 1. What is sexual harassment, and why is it prohibited? 2. What obligations does a company have to deal with sexual harassment issues?Does an organization have an obligation to establish written policies on sexual harassment? 3. What obligations does a manager have to deal with accusations or established incidents of sexual harassment among his subordinates? How should such incidents be handled? 4. What should be done with individuals who are accused of sexual harassment? What would be appropriate penalties for individuals found to have been involved in sexual harassment of others? 5. What obligation does a company and its managers have towards the victims of sexual harassment?What Actions Should Be Taken? 1. What actions should Paula take? 2. Should Steve address this current problem before he asks Paula to draft a harassment policy for the organization? 3. Is Paula the best choice to develop this document? 4. Should Richard be fired? Punished? 5. What are the choices Steve can take, and which would you choose? Why? 6. What ethical theories mak e the most sense (utilitarian, rights, justice) concerning this case? 7. What actions should Steve take? Sexual Harrasment Sexual harassment is a two word phrase which hopes to never be brought up in a fire department, legally or just in conversation. It is a despicable practice that is widely acceptable around the nation in fire departments and in business. However, it is not tolerated on the legal front, nor should it ever be condoned in a professional environment. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender is absolutely intolerable and is a plague on today’s fire service. Claims on sexual harassment arise all the time and are never short of horrendous and demeaning acts, as well as crude remarks against the plaintiff.Many legal issues arise when it comes to sexual harassment as so many aspects play into a claim of sexual harassment. The term ‘sexual harassment’ is defined as – â€Å"Unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to or rejection of this conduct affects an individualà ¢â‚¬â„¢s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment† By J. Curtis Varone, Legal Considerations for Fire and emergency services, 2nd edition, page 421.Accordingly sexual harassment claims tend to include almost all the above elements as well as many more elements, be they physical or verbal. It is also broken down into two main categories. The two categories of sexual harassment are ‘quid pro quo’ (this for that) and ‘hostile work environment’. Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment – â€Å"Occurs when the employee’s employment opportunities or benefits are granted or denied because of an individual’s submission to sexual advances or requests for sexual favors. † Varone, 421.Such examples of this kind of sexual harassment would include a female firefighter being denied a promotion unless she submitted to a perverse act entirely u nrelated to the typical means of promotion. Often times, such harassment only occurs whereby the supervisor is the harasser, making the employer strictly liable for the claim. Hostile Work Environment sexual harassment â€Å"Occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or has the effect of creating an intimidating or offensive work environment†Varone, 422. Such related examples do not even need to relate to employment opportunities or anything related under ‘quid pro quo’ harassment. It is possible for hostile work environment harassment to occur when either the employer or supervisor should have known about the event occurring, or that the said supervisor should have done something about it. Possible examples include sexually oriented comments, display of sexually oriented material in the workplace, sexually oriented demeaning names or obscene remarks or jokes to the harassed individual.Often more time s than not, hostile work environment harassment is more common than quid pro quo. Statistics on sexual harassment are surprisingly low compared to other types of harassment or discrimination. Sexual harassment is under-represented due to fear of punishment or disciplinary action. The EEOC puts out statistics every year on the matter. The year of 2011 was the lowest amount of claims year in the past decade; however, the damages done are no less degrading. The below table is based upon EEOC statistics. EEOC Sexual Harassment Claims: 2011 Statistics |Total Claims filed | 11,364| % of Charges Filed by Males | 16. 3%| | Claims Resolutions by Type: | Number | Percent | Settlements | 1,367| 10. 9% | Withdrawals w/Benefits | 1,150| 9. 1% | Administrative Closures | 2,635 | 21. 0%| No Reasonable Cause | 6,658| 53. 0%| Reasonable Cause | 761| 6. 1%| Successful Conciliations | 288| 2. 3%| Unsuccessful Conciliations | 473| 3. 8%| Merit Resolutions | 3,278 | 26. 1%| Total Settlement Dollars | $5 2,300,000| Compared to previous years, 2011 has been substantially lower in amount of claims of sexual harassment.Also seen is the financial burden that sexual harassment carries. It is by no means unreasonable for the amount and extent of damages that occur for the affected individuals. Real examples of sexual harassment in the media are ever prevalent today. One such recent example comes from Phoenix, Arizona. The female plaintiff alleges that she endured years of demeaning names and remarks as well as having been passed up for promotion where it was due. She issued a $70,000 lawsuit against the City of Phoenix. A case very similar to this is the Julia M.O’Rourke v City of Providence case from the early 90’s, which I think will be similar to the final outcome of the City of Phoenix case. Julia M. O’Rourke was one of the first female firefighters in the history of the Providence fire department. She started with 6 other women in the process of the fire departme nts academy in January of 1992. After which, O’Rourke was hired under the city’s new affirmative action policy. It wasn’t until this point that the Chief of the department made a sexual harassment policy. The policy stated was to keep sexual related content, be it media, or remarks out of the department.It also stated that the supervisor of each station was responsible to enforce the policy. Also added was a course on sensitivity training as well as a sexual harassment course. Prior to even being fully employed, Julia experienced many instances of sexual harassment during the academy. Almost every instance can be tied to hostile work environment sexual harassment. On numerous occasions, one specific academy member, Ferro, was found to be discussing overly sexual opinions, displaying pornographic content to other members as well as making remarks specifically to O’Rourke.In one specific event, Ferro pointed to O’Rourke’s breasts and claimed t hat she was â€Å"stacked†, in the company of many other students at a water training exercise. Ferro continued to be a general problem for O’Rourke during the course of the academy. Even after making through the academy and being hired on at engine 5, B shift, the harassment did not stop, in fact, it got worse. Instead of just from a co-worker, harassment was now coming from the company officer on her shift. A specific event occurred where the company officer threw pieces of paper with O’Rourkes number out of the engine while going past a bar in the own. Despite being asked to stop by O’Rourke, the company officer continued and laughed. Also at one point, she was warned that there was the possibility of there being a closed circuit camera in her bunk room. She felt completely invaded and violated in a place that should feel at the very least safe. Volatile treatment like this continued to occur for the next 2 years. Finally in September of 1994, Oâ€℠¢Rourke sought out the City’s EEO officer. This finally got the ball rolling to straighten out and shed justice on the issue.Final verdicts won for O’Rourke throughout the year of 1997 on numerous cases on the basis of hostile work environment sexual harassment. O’Rourke was victorious in receiving her dues on the basis of sexual harassment. I feel that the Phoenix Arizona case will play out similarly, but only time will tell as there is not much information so far on the exact events or court trials. Ultimately, sexual harassment will continue to plague the fire service until people become more tolerable of others differences.Sexual harassment is immensely degrading for the affected individual and is nothing short of driving a person to inadequacy. It should never be tolerated in the workplace or professional environment and certainly has no place in the fire service. The main virtue is that a person can do the job. That is the only merit that holds true, but d iscrimination on the basis of gender or sexual preference simply isn’t a proper means of deciding whether or not an individual should be able to perform in this job.It is my hope that there will continue to be a downward trend in sexual harassment claims and actual occurrences as the practice of such is horrendous. Works Cited – Varone, J. C. (2006). Legal considerations for fire and emergency services. Delmar Pub. Resendez, M. E. (Writer) (2012). In ABC 15. Phoenix, AZ: ABC. Retrieved from http://www. abc15. com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/70k-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-prompts-big-changes-at-the-Phoenix-Fire-Department Eeoc. Retrieved from http://www. eeoc. gov/ Sexual Harrasment Sexual Harassment Topic: Human Resource Management/Sexual Harassment Characters: Paula, Management trainee in the Production Department of a medium-sized company Steve, Vice President of Production and Paula’s Manager Richard, Paula’s coworker and a Manager in Production Paula, a recent college graduate, is a newly hired manager in the Production Department of a medium-sized US Company. The first woman selected for this production training position, Paula takes her work very seriously. She has been with the organization for three months.For the first two months, she performed her duties very well, but during the last month, Steve, her boss, has noticed a change in Paula. She seems more tense and uneasy and is to not concentrating on her work as conscientiously as she previously did During the last month, Paula has been continually harassed by Richard, a coworker. At first she tried ignoring his jokes and sexual banter. However, his persistence has caused Paula have very uncomfortable feelings while she is at work and at home as well.Paula looked into the employee’s handbook concerning sexual harassment policies and found none. She really did not know what to do. Finally, after noticing her continually declining work, Steve asked her what was bothering her. She told him the problem and showed him information concerning the EEOC laws dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace she had found in a human resources textbook from college. She also said that she was considering taking action against Richard if his actions continued.Steve told her he was totally unaware of the problem but agreed something should be done. He asked her to investigate what the organization needed to do to stop this from occurring now and also to anyone else in the future. He also thanked Paula for her patience and honesty and also promised her that something would be done. What Are the Ethical Issues? 1. What is sexual harassment, and why is it prohibited? 2. What obligations does a company have to deal with sexual harassment issues?Does an organization have an obligation to establish written policies on sexual harassment? 3. What obligations does a manager have to deal with accusations or established incidents of sexual harassment among his subordinates? How should such incidents be handled? 4. What should be done with individuals who are accused of sexual harassment? What would be appropriate penalties for individuals found to have been involved in sexual harassment of others? 5. What obligation does a company and its managers have towards the victims of sexual harassment?What Actions Should Be Taken? 1. What actions should Paula take? 2. Should Steve address this current problem before he asks Paula to draft a harassment policy for the organization? 3. Is Paula the best choice to develop this document? 4. Should Richard be fired? Punished? 5. What are the choices Steve can take, and which would you choose? Why? 6. What ethical theories mak e the most sense (utilitarian, rights, justice) concerning this case? 7. What actions should Steve take?