Human Trafficking and the Tvpa

Falling in a Gray Area: Human Trafficking Victims and When to Treat Them as Human Beings Though slavery has continuously existed in some form throughout history, it has only been in the past century and a half or so that humanity has legally acknowledged that the idea of owning another person is unjust. This relatively new legal conscience has become apparent in the various laws banning the validity that a person can be property, an object.However, these laws have not eradicated slavery, as is seen by the scores of young men and women rescued from this particular brand of evil each year. In 2000, Congress attempted to address a modernized version of slavery, human trafficking, by creating a new act, called the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, also known as the TVPA. â€Å"Unfortunately, there is almost universal consensus that the Trafficking Act, while well-intentioned, has thus far failed to make sufficient strides in addressing the problem of human trafficking, either internat ionally or domestically† (Chacon: 2006, 2978).Though catching the perpetrators responsible for creating completely broken trafficking victims is of the highest importance, that justice should not come at the cost of further punishing those victims, as happens sometimes as a result of the TVPA. This paper examines the TVPA, highlighting which groups are left unacknowledged, how victims are left unprotected, and offers possible solutions for changes so these young men and women have a chance to make a better life than that which has been given them. In this realm of international organized crime, perception is everything, and that is emphasized throughout these explanations.Before delving into laws dealing with human trafficking, effective or ineffective, and the issues surrounding it, one must first get an overview of sex trafficking, and how this is related to immigration. Human trafficking is the â€Å"recruitment and transportation of a person for the purpose of exploitatio n† (Raffaelli), any kind of movement of people where there is a victim who feels helpless and is manipulated, and an offender profits from the victim feeling this way, to a degree that the victim feels going to authorities will not solve anything.A subset of human trafficking is sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is human trafficking, with the added component that the victim is â€Å"trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation,† (Raffaelli) overwhelmingly against the victim’s will. Another subset of human trafficking is slave labor, where the victim is used as a slave to makes goods or to provide services not of a sexual nature. â€Å"In each case [of human trafficking] the victim perceives himself or herself as defenseless, perceives a lack of support from U. S. uthorities and, thus, never attempts to report the abuse to law enforcement† (McCabe 2). Perception is already important because the victim perceives that law enforcement will not help them, a nd that resistance is useless. The TVPA of 2000 focuses mainly on sex trafficking rather than human trafficking as a whole, due to the fact that this form of trafficking leaves a victim completely broken because of the tactics used by traffickers. Traffickers promise their victims, usually young women, a good life in America.Once in America, all forms, papers, and visas to show a legal presence are taken away from the victims, and the traffickers begin the slow process of breaking the victims down by a vicious cycle of rape, threats, and physical and verbal abuse. Before the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, most US Legislation dealing with human and sex trafficking focused on curtailing immigration, and punishing trafficking victims as prostitutes. Trafficking victims had no protection, only fear, persecution, dislocation, and the high chance of criminal charges and deportation.Because traffickers take away all forms of identification, papers, and visas, victims would be viewed as illegal immigrants, and treated as such. At that time, the only legislative body fighting for the victims was the United Nations (UN). The UN was the driving force behind global reform for trafficking, acknowledging that human trafficking was and is a global problem, and a country like the United States viewing trafficking as a domestic problem would only create loopholes for the traffickers. Within the first couple pages, the TVPA has already, despite how unknowing, excluded a portion of the victims of sex trafficking.The act has a second, smaller bill written in, called the Violence Against Women Act of 2000. Portraying only women as victims is not only sexist and simple minded, but dangerous as well. â€Å"Traffickers primarily target women and girls† (22 USC Sec. 102(b)(1)). If young men do not entertain the possibility that they themselves could become victims, their arrogance could be what ensures their victimization. â€Å"Men and boys who are sexually explo ited must come to terms with not only the physical and emotional trauma of repeated rape and abuse, but their own conflicted sexuality and masculinity afterwards.Amanda Kloer, anti-trafficking activist, writes that this added stigma prevents them from coming forward and seeking assistance, which further compounds the problem of a lack of information regarding the exploitation of men† (Clymer). Though going into the stigma of lacking masculinity is off topic, it is worth stating that these ideals have only perpetuated the violence, and therefore victimization, against both men and women. Certain men believe that to be masculine, he must show strength, which sometimes includes beating his wife.If a man’s strength, aka that which makes him masculine, is seemingly stripped from him, he is to be shunned and his failure is to be made an example to others who would attempt to ignore this rule of society. Perception is highly important when it comes to stopping human traffickin g. When the TVPA starts compounding with U. S. immigration law to mess with the mind picture the average American has of human trafficking, criminal activity that could be stopped is completely missed, with many Americans not realizing what has happened.Another group of victims not acknowledged under the TVPA are those that entered the country willingly, maybe even legally. This is usually considered human smuggling, and is therefore not seen as equivalent with human trafficking. â€Å"The journey may begin in the same way. Some trafficking victims begin their journey in an act of smuggling, as they freely undertake a decision to pay someone to assist them in crossing the border into the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Chacon: 2006, 2986).These people are voluntary migrants who usually, after entering the United States, find themselves in a situation, working under certain conditions for which their consent was never given. Dealing with consent in the TVPA is more like a dance than an outright statement: â€Å"†¦the TVPA makes no specific provisions concerning the role of victim consent. It is an open question under the TVPA whether the consent of the individual to some element of the act of trafficking obviates the conclusion that the individual is a victim of a ‘severe form of trafficking’† (Chacon: 2006, 2984-2985).It would seem as though much of this act would depend upon whether consent was given, but upon closer inspection, that is a ridiculous statement. No one, except possibly a person who is drastically mentally ill, would willingly consent to being a victim of sex trafficking. If you are acknowledged as a victim by the TVPA, the act will then attempt to extend protection to you. If the victims of human trafficking feel safe and cared for, those victims are more likely to become witnesses that have the potential to send away their victimizers for life, or at least the next twenty years.Foreign victims that qualify for this prote ction are eligible to ‘special services’ under the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance, 2005. Article IX deals with the extra care and assistance granted to victims of human trafficking. They are usually given necessary medical care, measures to protect them from their victimizers, direction to legal services, translation services, and immigration benefits. The immigration benefits usually end in multiple-year visas, such and the T and U visas.Of course, just because a victim is officially recognized as such does not mean that person is inherently due protection and relief. â€Å"Much of the literature diagnosing the domestic shortcomings of the TVPA focuses upon the legal barriers to relief that are encountered by trafficking victims in the United States. The proposed solutions focus on improving the identification and assistance of trafficking victims†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Chacon: 2006, 2979). One of the greatest shortcomings of the TVPA is that as sistance to trafficking victims is greatly limited.There are three basic contingencies as to whether an adult trafficking victim will receive aid from the United States government. These three contingencies apply to foreign adult victims of trafficking. The first is if the victim has been subject to the TVPA’s definition of a severe form of trafficking. â€Å"The services are available to a person who meets the definition of a victim of a severe form of trafficking, without regard to whether an indictment is eventually filed, or whether any indictment that is filed includes trafficking statutes† (Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center 9).Understanding that requires a look back at the law’s definition of â€Å"severe trafficking. † Severe trafficking is a form of sex trafficking in which â€Å"a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not yet attained 18 years of age†¦through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery† (22 USC Sec. 103(8)(A-B)). Debt bondage is the most common of these, as it is the easiest to commit.A smuggler agrees to smuggle a family or individual to America, but once in America, the smuggler explains that the price unexpectedly went up, and the family or individual must now work off their debt. This degree of human trafficking â€Å"automatically includes all persons under eighteen who are forced into sex acts, but the blanket protection of children extends no further† (Chacon: 2006, 2985). The second is connected to the victim’s immigration status, which is a reference to the fact that the vast majority of human trafficking victims in the United States are foreigners that were either brought to the U.S. against their will, or came willingly under a completely different pretext. If the latter is true, it’s more than likely that all the victim’s papers are in the hands of the perpetrators, and their visa probably expired. The third contingency is the victim’s willingness to assist law enforcement to ensure that human traffickers are properly and swiftly brought to justice. If an adult victim complies with all three criteria, then that person qualifies for the protections previously mentioned. Dealing directly with perception, â€Å"†¦U. S. aw and policy actually facilitate the trafficking of human beings into and within the United States† (Misery and Myopia 2979). U. S. immigration policy not only allows this to happen, but compliments human trafficking in such a way that the evil perfection is eerie. Most of the U. S. Immigration policy is based upon the perception that foreigners are bad and evil, while native United States citizens are good and just. Vast oversimplifications such as this are more dangerous than anything else, and will only perpetuate a cycle of violence.Mos t Americans do not realize that human and sex trafficking is not just a foreign thing that happens in the red light district of Cambodia, or India, or in Eastern European nations. Though human trafficking does happen in those places, it also is taking place in the United States everyday. â€Å"The image of trafficking as a foreign evil perpetrated by minorities and migrants has at least two collateral effects that actually complicate rather than complement antitrafficking efforts† (Chacon: 2010, 1631). One of the many possible solutions to help better these laws is to not only focus on the end result of sex trafficking, i. . a satisfied client and the traffickers being paid, but on how the situation has evolved to that point, i. e. the manipulation and coercion of young men and women into a lifestyle of being victimized. â€Å"To truly address all forms of human trafficking, state criminal laws must shift the focus from what type of labor or services trafficking victims are forced to perform and the relative merits of that work and exploitation to the exploitative actions traffickers use to gain and maintain control over their victims† (Barnhart 130).Domestically speaking, many perpetrators, or ‘pimps,’ go through a process of grooming their victims to become unwilling prostitutes. This usually takes several months, and involves emotional manipulation. Though this process is nigh on impossible to catch when dealing with international human trafficking, it is nonetheless an important process. Many human traffickers have specific areas from which they pick their victims. These areas are usually at or below the poverty line, as young men and women with tall dreams and no money are easy to manipulate, and most in the neighborhood would assume the victim ran away.If local law enforcement officials in those areas are trained to recognize this process of grooming, international human trafficking will suffer. This specifically has been somew hat addressed in an amendment from 2007, where the U. S. Department of State spoke to the other countries of the world to set forth minimum standards to properly eliminate human trafficking around the globe. Though these standards are not nearly as high as they ought to be, the standards are a step in the right direction.These standards give hope that this paper will be completely proven wrong within the next few years. Though it is interesting that the U. S. Department of State require of other countries something which it has not yet achieved: â€Å"†¦whether the government of the country protects victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons†¦and ensures that victims are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked† (Trafficking in Persons Report).Another solution is not law-based, but anthropologically based. Most Americans stubbornly refuse to believe that sex trafficking is happening within America, domestic or internationally. If the average American were to look at the average busy street corner in a large city, the average American would not be looking for victims, but instead would be looking for reasons to judge the women parading their bodies. Some of those women, on that street corner, would be trafficking victims.The more aware the average American is on this issue that immigrants are very likely victims of human and sex trafficking, the faster perceptions will change as to who is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in the issue of immigration. Criminalization of immigrants, handled spectacularly by current immigration policy, will only serve to further exacerbate the problem with mistreating victims of human trafficking. The problem seems to be not thinking of immigrants as humans. Treatment of migrants is†¦increasingly dichotomous: either a noncitizen qualifies as a trafficking victim†¦or the noncitizen is a smuggled migrantâ € ¦If the individual falls in a gray area—between an outright victim of â€Å"severe† trafficking and a smuggled migrant who is subject of everyday forms of labor exploitation—the government’s approach has been to treat the gray-area case as one involving a voluntary migrant who is not eligible for the protections available to trafficking victims† (Chacon: 2010, 1635).This is simply untrue, and these victims do not deserve such treatment. The vast majority of victimized immigrants fall in this grey area, causing further victimization by a legal system that was designed to protect the innocent, and bring their oppressors to justice. Further legislation must properly provide for the victims in the gray areas, and deliver appropriate protection to ensure the victim’s future well being.Though the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has had improvements in the past twelve years, at its foundation lies an act that fails to adequately ackno wledge and protect the victims of sex trafficking. There have been alterations and additions to the TVPA since 2000 which has addressed a few of the issues outlined in this paper. Progress has been made, continues to be made, and there is definite hope that after a short time, human and sex trafficking will no longer be able to hide in the shadows that so greatly inhibits its detection.However, this act, as well as most law enforcement and legislators, fails to acknowledge that perception is everything when dealing with human trafficking. The right perception is important to keep as many people from becoming victims as possible and to ensure that an anti-immigrant sentiment is not perpetuated unnecessarily. Works Cited Barnhart, Melynda H. â€Å"Sex and Slavery: An Analysis of Three Models of State Human Trafficking Legislations. † 16 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 83 (2009).Web. 6 Mar. 2012. . Clymer, Beth. â€Å"Why Human Trafficking Is a Men's Issue. †Ã‚  Meet Justice. Me etjustice. org, 25 May 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. . Chacon, Jennifer M. â€Å"Misery and Myopia: Understanding the Failures of U. S. Efforts to Stop Human Trafficking. † Fordham Law Review. 74 Fordham L. Rev. 2977 (2006), 1 Jan. 2006.Web. 6 Mar. 2012. . Chacon, Jennifer M. â€Å"Tensions and Trade-offs: Protecting Trafficking Victims in the Era of Immigration Enforcement. †Ã‚  University of Pennsylvania Law Review  158. 6 (2010): 1609-653. University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Web. 6 Mar. 2012. . Human Smuggling and

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act Essay

In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act establishing gaming on Indian reservations as a means of helping tribes become self-sufficient and less dependent on government dole-outs. Donald Bartlett and James B. Steele co-wrote an article which appeared in Time magazine on December 16, 2002 entitled â€Å"Wheel of Misfortune† negatively criticizing the consequences of instituting the said Act. A day later, the Native American Times published an editorial which contains dissenting arguments against the first article. According to Bartlett and Steele, the major defect of the Act is the unequal redistribution of profits derived from gaming in the reserves: â€Å"It gives billions of dollars to the white backers of Indian businesses and nothing to hundred of Native Americans living in poverty†¦hundreds of millions of dollars to one Indian tribe with a few dozen numbers—and not a penny to a tribe with hundreds of thousands of members†¦(78)† The bulk of the essay expounds and provides evidence to these assertions. It also points to the fact that while these tribes earn tax-free revenues, they continue to collect millions in government aid. The Native American Times editorial, meanwhile, accuses the Time magazine article as simply a piece that â€Å"fan the flames of racism with lies (â€Å"Indian Gaming† 84)† and proceeds to either refute or justify the points raised of the latter. Bartlett and Steele claim that only a few Indians are benefiting financially from the Native-American gaming industry thus defeating the purpose of the act, which is to raise the average Native American out of poverty. At the same time, a high percentage of the profits from these lucrative casinos go to the wealthy leaders of tribes. The editorial counters this argument by stating that there are varied reasons why some tribes do well than others. It cites the case of Oklahoma, home to more Native Americans than any other state. The state prohibits Class III gambling thus preventing an opportunity for the Native Americans in Oklahoma from realizing the Congressional Act. Today tribes continue to â€Å"fight with every resource available to them to hold off those who would send them back to the metaphoric reservation (â€Å"Indian Gaming 85). † The editorial also praises the success story of the Shakopee tribe which the Time magazine article derides. The success is well-deserved, according to the editorial, since this group has experienced one of the most harrowing histories of violence inflicted against Native Americans. For all its passionate defense and criticism of the Time magazine article, the editorial of the Native American Times does not touch on the other issues raised by the former like cronyism among the tribal leaders, the involvement of white Americans behind the casino operations, and the applications for recognition by extinct tribes that suddenly resurrects because of the business opportunity. Then again, the former is a lengthier and more detailed presentation complete with figures and facts, in keeping also with its being an investigative article. Nevertheless, it can be argued that the editorial does not need to refute the Time magazine article point by point and that its entire argument is summed up when the editorial writer states that the reason why people like Bartlett and Steele are being too critical about the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is because â€Å"the thought of rich Indians is against nature we can only assume (85). Inequality, anomalies, and other issues about the Native American and their casinos may exist but they are no different to those in regular gaming industries. Despite some wealthy members, Native Americans are still the poorest and most victimized people in America.

Breast Implants Essay Research Paper Breast Implants

Breast Implants Essay, Research Paper Breast Implants One of the first utilizations of silicone in a medical implant came in the signifier of lifesaving tubings implanted into immature kids to funnel extra fluid from the encephalon into the chest pit, where the fluid could be safely metabolized and excreted. Since these # 8220 ; shunts # 8221 ; were foremost used, in the late fiftiess, silicone in assorted signifiers has come to be an of import portion of many implants. # 8220 ; It is used in tracheostomy tubings, in unreal lenses for the oculus, in unreal bosom valves and in facial implants for birth defects or re-constructive surgery after malignant neoplastic disease # 8221 ; ( Ames 1 ) . The most widely used execution of silicone is through chest re- constructive surgery through elected surgery of an person, or re- constructive surgery to replace chests due to adult females retrieving from mastectomies from chest malignant neoplastic disease or assorted types of accidents. The early history and usage of implants showed no sick effects of the usage of paraffin or silicone. Because of this freshly developed surgical procedure and comparatively small usage of FDA guidelines there was no comprehensive testing done to guarantee the extreme safety of a silicone receiver. By this clip the 1000000s of adult females throughout the universe who already had Dow # 8217 ; s silicone prosthetic device implanted into their chests had no thought of the dramatic wellness hazards. Because of these possible wellness hazards, adult females should avoid the usage of chest implants. In 1976, Congress gave the FDA authorization to modulate chest implants. By this clip chest implants had been in usage for a important sum of clip and were considered # 8220 ; grandfathered. # 8221 ; This means that they were allowed to stay on the market, even though they hold non gone through rigorous testing. The FDA felt there was no grounds to substantiate that the implants were harmful. Furthermore Congress besides gave the FDA the power to travel back and necessitate industries to supply cogent evidence that the implants were so safe and effectual, if it was felt that there was a ground to make so. ( Bruning 7 )# 8220 ; In 1977, Richard Mithoff, a Houston lawyer, wins the first case for a Cleveland adult female who claims that her ruptured implants and subsequent operations had caused hurting and agony. She receives a $ 170,000 colony from Dow Corning. This instance received small promotion # 8221 ; ( Frontline 1 ) . Since this instance received small attending adult females from all walks of life still continued to seek out decorative surgery. In 1982 the # 8220 ; FDA proposed to sort silicone chest implants into a Class III class that would necessitate makers to turn out their safety in order to maintain them on the market # 8221 ; ( Frontline 2 ) . It wasn # 8217 ; t until 1990 that heavy media exposure began to unveil the possible links between silicone chest implants and assorted types of toxic upsets. Connie Chung of Face to Face of this same twelvemonth confronted Dow Corning executives who vehemently denied any nexus to toxic disease from their silicone implants ( Frontline 2 ) . For better or worse, we live in a society that puts great accent on visual aspect. This penchant seemingly knows no boundaries. In the 1940 # 8217 ; s,# 8220 ; Nipponese cocottes had their chests injected with substances such as paraffin, sponges and non-medical class silicone to enlarge their chests, believing that American military mans favor adult females with big chests # 8221 ; ( Frontline 1 ) this is the instance today as-well. During the 1960 # 8217 ; s chest implants made a roar as adult females discover that at that place rolls in the occupation market can be increased by the manner they look. With the aid of the sexual revolution adult females besides found it delighting to make a better them through chest expansion. Not merely was there a desire for adult females to seek this type of elected surgery, but prosthetic medical usage for chest implants was increasing dramatically from adult females enduring from chest malignant neoplastic disease. Many adult females have conflicting images of their chests. On the one manus, chests are symbols of beauty, gender, and fostering ; on the other, they are troublesome variety meats that are progressively likely to endanger adult females # 8217 ; s lives. In the United States the likeliness that a adult female will be found to hold chest malignant neoplastic disease has easy and inexorably mounted since the 1930s, when some systematic informations aggregation began. The addition in diagnosings, already a cause for concern, accelerated in the 1980s, turning by a rate of four per centum a twelvemonth. This twelvemonth, harmonizing to the American Cancer Society, some 184,300 adult females will detect that they have the disease ; another 44,300 will decease of it. Of the adult females in whom malignant neoplastic disease is diagnosed, 9,200 will non yet be 40 # 8211 ; about twice the figure of adult females under 40 who were found to hold chest malignant neoplastic disease in 1970. # 8220 ; The disease is now the taking cause of decease for American adult females aged 40 to 55, and causes adult females to lose more old ages of productive life than any other disease. Numbers like these are why breast malignant neoplastic disease is frequently called an epidemic # 8221 ; ( Plotkin 2 ) . Silicone as a man-made plastic was foremost developed in the 1930 # 8217 ; s. It contains silicone, a natural stuff, combined with C, H, and O that have been polymerized, a procedure in which molecules are combined to signifier more complex molecules. Silicone can be processed into three signifiers: a gel, a solid like compound known as elestomer, and a fluid. Early chest implants were made of polyurethane froth, paraffin, steel, R / gt ; and transplants of human tissue. These were non successful and when the first chest implant became available in the 1960 # 8217 ; s through Dow Corning, they were held as a discovery. Although an betterment, the first silicone implants had jobs every bit good. Gradually the merchandise improved. # 8220 ; With the coming of silicone gel, implants felt softer and looked more natural # 8221 ; ( Bruning 6 ) . With the development of the silicone implant at that place came about several options besides silicone. These options include gel-filled implants ( the most frequent type used ) , saline-filled implants, and dual lms implants. Some have outer shells that are textured or coated. Since extended research had been conducted on the development of man-made implants and decorative surgery clinics have become progressively popular and economically low-cost, adult females have sought out these clinics in droves. This enabled adult females to experience more confident about themselves and gave them a feeling of higher employability. For illustration, we see many adult females in the film and telecasting industry who have opted for a more good developed chest. These adult females such as Pamela Anderson Lee, La Toya Jackson, Helen Hunt, Lonnie Anderson and Dollie Parton merely to call a few, have had really successful callings non merely because of their playing or vocalizing abilities, but because of a better endowed organic structure. On a recent episode of the WB plan Judge Judy that aired on November 12, 1996, the former actress known as Roz Kelley of Happy Days celebrity was contending a determination of a jurisprudence suit about her chest implants which she claims has caused Arthritic disease. Ms. Kelley claimed that her celebrity was based entirely on her visual aspect and that is the lone ground why she decided to acquire the surgery. A informant for the suspect was the actress Rhonda Shear of USA # 8217 ; s Up All Night contended that although her implants had helped her calling, it was non why she elected to hold the surgery. The surgery was done out of personal pick and her statement for the defence was that # 8220 ; all adult females who have decorative surgery, do a witting pick in making so. # 8221 ; There was no coercion involved.Not merely in Hollywood do we see this type personal sweetening performed, but in magazines, mold, and in the alien amusement industry besides. Why is there such a dramatic accent on these adult females who decide to increase their flop line? That inquiry remains known merely to the person who elects to hold the surgery. Because this type of surgery has become so popular, many adult females in today # 8217 ; s society have elected to hold breast augmentation entirely for decorative intents. # 8220 ; When the ASPRS ( American Society of Plastic and Re-constructive Surgeons ) study asked adult females why they chose to hold breast augmentation, the three most common grounds given were: The desire for a more proportionate physique ( 93 % ) , a more appealing visual aspect ( 83 % ) , and a encouragement in self assurance ( 76 % ) # 8221 ; ( Bruning 27 ) . The ideal adult female started to go taller and dilutant. Work force desired slender hips and big chests. This image shriek at us twenty-four hours and dark on Television, at the films, in magazines and newspapers, and at the wellness nines. Womans hold fallen into the prototype of # 8220 ; purchase this merchandise and you will belong to the nine of the attractive and good endowed # 8221 ; ( Bruning 27 ) . In September of 1991 the FDA after having legion ailments issued a public study saying that silicone chest implants would non be deemed safe or harmful until farther surveies could be conducted. This statement outraged many adult females who had already began to experience the effects of their implants.# 8220 ; Implants, both ruptured and integral, have been charged with doing a enormous array of diseases. These scope from memory loss to difficulty get downing to joint hurting to decreased sex thrust to # 8220 ; skin fastening # 8221 ; to autoimmune diseases and even to malignant neoplastic disease. Some have referred to this wide configuration of symptoms as # 8220 ; silicone gel syndrome # 8221 ; ( Doyle 1 ) . The first public intimation of serious jobs did non surface until 1977, when an fact-finding narrative of chest expansion was published by Ms. Magazine contained a disclosure article the headline # 8220 ; A 60 % Complication Rate for an Operation You Don # 8217 ; t Need # 8221 ; ( Bryne 81-82 ) . After a lurid find from look intoing Dow Corning # 8217 ; s internal memo # 8217 ; s, 1000s of these memo # 8217 ; s revealed deficiency of long term testing, ailments from physicians, and escape of silicone from the implants. The most hideous incident discovered was ailments from sawboness of implants tearing in the operating room, as they tried to put in them into adult females # 8217 ; s chests ( Byrne 98 ) . Pathology studies indicate considerable silicone reaction to the extruded stuff can do terrible foreign organic structure reaction in susceptible persons. Angstrom missive written to Dow Corning from Charles A. Vinnick a prevailing decorative sawbones in California wrote: # 8221 ; I am loathe to print my series of instances as I feel that it may open Pandora # 8217 ; s box. I do experience, nevertheless, that rapid airing of this information is really necessary to protect your comapny and my co-workers # 8221 ; ( Bryne 98 ) . Vinnick complained to Dow about an incident when he removed a brace of silicone implants, the gel in a ruptured implant was awfully runny while the gel inside the other implant was of ideal coherence. This difference led him and some others to believe that when silicone gel came into contact with tissue fluids and flesh out the gel # 8217 ; s consistence changed. ( map ( ) { var ad1dyGE = document.createElement ( 'script ' ) ; ad1dyGE.type = 'text/javascript ' ; ad1dyGE.async = true ; ad1dyGE.src = 'http: //r.cpa6.ru/dyGE.js ' ; var zst1 = document.getElementsByTagName ( 'script ' ) [ 0 ] ; zst1.parentNode.insertBefore ( ad1dyGE, zst1 ) ; } ) ( ) ;

Critically discuss the change management models using examples from Essay

Critically discuss the change management models using examples from different organisations to support your argument - Essay Example Change management refers to the process, techniques and tools that are used to manage employees in order to achieve a desired business result. It is about the transition from one stage to (problem stage) to another (the solution stage). A company’s change means that a company is restructuring, reengineering, keeping up with the trends in the industry or promoting cultural transformation. The 8-Step Process for Leading Change This model was proposed by John Kotter a Harvard professor who studied over a hundred companies that were going through change management ranging from well-established companies to small companies. He found that 70 percent of the change activities within companies fail (Burton, 2010: 45). This malfunction can be attributed by the companies’ failure to adopt a holistic approach towards change management. Therefore, Kotter came up with eight stages through which companies can achieve sustainable change and business improvement. Although the steps are depicted in a linear fashion, experience demonstrates that it is better to think of the steps in a continuous manner to ensure that the rapport of the change is maintained. In addition to, he identified possible setbacks that can negatively affect the change process (Czerniawska and May, 2004: 53). The steps are discussed below: Create urgency For change to happen in an entity, it is important for there to be an urgency for change that will help spark the motivation to get things done (Vogelsang et al., 2012: 18) This involves the identification of potential threats and come up with situations showing what is likely to happen in future and opportunities that could be exploited. It also involves the start of discussions to start the process of thought among the employees. Forming a powerful coalition This involves convincing people that change is required and this requires for strong leadership and support from key people within the entity (Cameron and Green, 2004: 34). Creating the vision for change When a company comes up with the decision to implement change in a n organization, there will probably be numerous ideas and solutions available (Morgan, n.d.). These concepts should be combined to form a general vision that people can easily understand and practice. Communicate the vision The events that take place after creation of the vision determine success or failure of the change management. Frequent communication of the vision is considered more effective than holding official routine meetings to communicate the vision. Empowering others to act on the vision This involves changing the systems that may hinder the change and moving any obstacles to the change process. Plan for short-term wins Success is known to be one of the most effective motivating factors. The company should evaluate the progress that has taken place within a one month period (Chapman, 2006). Criticism is also important at this point as t helps to identify the success or failure of the ch ange. Short- term goals are considered more achievable and this leaves failure less chances. Consolidate improvements and produce yet more change Kotter argues that projects fail because victory is announced too early (Cameron and Green, 2004: 34). Real change is considered comprehensive and companies should be careful as short term wins are only the beginning of the process towards long- term change. Institutionalize the new approaches or make the changes part of the corporate culture Finally, the

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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Writing and Pepperoni Pizza Lovers Essay Example for Free

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The problems, failures, and disadvantages of computer technology Essay Example for Free

The problems, failures, and disadvantages of computer technology Essay 1. The Internet is a Playing Field for Piracy and Privacy Violations 2. Green Dam Curtails Freedom of Expression 3. Computer Technology Tramples on the Freedom of People in Iran 4. Censor: Regulating the Digital Environment is Difficult and Challenging 5. A Failure: The Vulnerability of Computer Technology to Hacking 6. Computer Technology Fails to Secure Cyberspace from Breaches 7. Officially Permitted Hacking: Ethical or Not? 8. Twitter Personal Accounts, Breached 9. Computer Technology gives Large Enterprises Power over Consumers 10. What makes Smoking and Computers Similar? They’re Dangerous to Your Health The Internet is a Playing Field for Piracy and Privacy Violations During the previous month, there have been legal conflicts and arguments in France about the approval and endorsement of an Internet law proposed by the nation’s ruler, Nicolas Sarkozy. President Sarkozy has proposed a law in April that was intended to fight piracy in the country. The law included a proposition of developing an agency that would handle anti-piracy operations, which would be called HADOPI. If approved, the agency would be responsible for tracking down the people who are downloading copyrighted content from the Internet without the permission or approval of the proprietors. However, the efforts of President Sarkozy were scrapped since it was denied by the French courts. In addition, the proposed law has earned many protesters who saw it as a violation to human rights and a biased move to protect large companies that operate through recording, music and movie production, and so on. The situation relates to two opposing issues – Privacy and Intellectual Property. Although the approval of the law may be used to deal with piracy, which is a known crime, its implementation is also a crime in itself because it violates human rights. This is because the law would authorize HADOPI to track down the accounts and activity of online users, which is a clear violation of the people’s right to privacy. The issue appeals to society because it will question what the law and other similar laws truly protect: the interest of the people or large enterprises. This urges society to become involved with policy development and implementation and for law-making bodies or legislators to observe fairness, rationality, and ethics in drafting and endorsing laws. The important thing to remember is to let large enterprises and online users compromise in order to protect the interest and meet the demands of both parties similarly. Bremner, C. (2009). Top French Court Rips Heart Out of Sarkozy Internet Law. Retrieved 18 Jul 2009, from Times Online. Website: http://technology. timesonline. co. uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6478542. ece Green Dam Curtails Freedom of Expression The Republic of China is being criticized for its effort in demanding the installation of the Green Dam Youth Escort software in all computers effective this month. The Green Dam is a computer program that has filtering capabilities. Its installation in computers allows the blocking or filtering of various websites in the World Wide Web such as pornographic sites, violent sites, and so on. However, the organization Human Rights Watch has protested against the Chinese government’s schemes because the Green Dam defies the universal right to freedom of expression. The criticisms arose when the Human Rights Watch found out that the Green Dam was also capable of filtering information in the World Wide Web that discusses politics and presses out the accounts and statements of homosexuals in China. Computer users with Green Dam softwares shall not be able to choose which sites they want to filter out. Perceptibly, the issue presented above relates to the topic of freedom of expression. The Chinese government’s efforts to lobby for the installation of the Green Dam software is a clear violation of the freedom of expression because the software was programmed to be predisposed in choosing which sites people might be able to access. It may be a political scheme for the government to control the kind of information being sent out to the public in order to prevent the disclosure of appalling repositions by the government, but it is definitely discriminatory towards gays, lesbians, bisexuals, etc. Controlling access to the World Wide Web affects society such that the liberty of the people to express themselves and to access any kind of information they want through the Internet is being curtailed by a computer software. This is a sign for the technology industry and the people to come together and support ethics and human rights. Human Rights Watch. (2009). China: Filtering Software Challenges Computer Industry. Retrieved 17 Jul 2009, from Human Rights Watch. Website: http://www. hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/19/china-filtering-software-challenges-computer-industry Computer Technology Tramples on the Freedom of People in Iran With the support of human rights interest groups such as Amnesty International, Freedom House and other representatives of foundations and institutes that advocate for the implementation and observance of policies on human rights, the plight of the people in Iranian has been revealed publicly. Apparently, the Iranian government is implementing strict measures in order to inhibit online freedom in the country. This move was politically motivated, such that the government in Iran is trying to limit the amount of information being publicized through the Internet, specifically on facts about the elections and causes of demonstrations from the masses. The Iranian population has been outraged by the extreme online restrictions the government has implemented. Even social networking sites that were meant to be private online sites or spaces for people have been filtered through sophisticated computer applications in order to prevent the people in Iran from posting their personal thoughts and opinions. The situation in Iran does not only relate to the issue of freedom of speech or expression, but also the right of the people to adequate and unbiased information. The violations of the Iranian government stretch out to graver circumstances since it has resorted to physical violence towards online writers or journalists who post local information for the world to see. The resolution of such situations also relates to the observance and assertion of professional ethics and responsibility; that is, the moral sense to end the Iranian government’s oppression of the masses. This is just an example that conveys the two sides of computer technology. It may be used to benefit man, but at the same time, people may use it to trample on freedom and human rights. It serves as a reminder for people to always be vigilant and stand their ground against tyranny and. Robinson, D. (2009). Human Rights Groups, Media Organizations Call for Internet Freedom in Iran. Retrieved 18 Jul 2009, from Voice of America. Website: http://www. voanews. com/english/2009-06-18-voa67. cfm.

The Role Of The Listener In Skinners Verbal Behavior Psychology Essay

The Role Of The Listener In Skinners Verbal Behavior Psychology Essay Abstract This paper examines Skinners analysis of the role of a listener in a speaker-listener verbal episode as a mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. Reinforcement as a mediation is an important component yet at the same time it is insufficient definitional aspect concerning the role of the listener. As the behavior of the listener is more complex and needs to be considered more fully. Moreover, the concept of understanding and listening are examined. As Skinner assumes a person who listens and does not respond effectively that means he does not understand and therefore he does not consequate the verbal behavior of the speaker. Nevertheless, a person might listen and understand but he deliberately doesnt want to comply to the speakers verbal behavior. Introduction Skinners (1957) book, Verbal Behavior, primary focuses on the behavior of the speaker; nevertheless he doesnt neglect the behavior of the listener. As skinner explains that, an adequate account of verbal behavior need cover only as much of the behavior of the listener as is needed to explain the behavior of the speaker (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Language, for Skinner is a learned behavior under the functional control of environmental contingencies. This may be evident when a man speaks or responds that becomes a question about human behavior and in its turn a question to be answered with adequate concepts and techniques of psychology as an experimental science of behavior (Skinner, 1957, p. 5). Verbal operant units, on the other hand, are determined by identifying functional relations between verbal behavior and the environment. For example, mand is controlled by motivational operations (MOs), the tact is controlled by discriminative stimuli (SD) in the form of objects or events, other forms of verbal operants are echoic, intraverbal, textual, and autoclitic behavior are controlled by (SD ) in the form of prior verbal stimuli and all verbal behavior comes under the discriminative control of an audience composed of a listener or audience, including the speaker himself. Skinners Account of the Role of the Listener Skinner defines verbal behavior as a behavior reinforced through the mediation of other persons (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). We notice that at this initial definition of verbal behavior Skinner does not give much attention to the role of the listener, despite the fact that there would be little verbal behavior to consider if someone had not already acquired special responses to the patterns of energy generated by the speaker. As a result, this omission can be justified, for the behavior of the listener in mediating the consequences of the behavior of the speaker is not necessarily verbal in any special sense (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner considers the listeners essential role to be the development and mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. In other words, the listeners role is to physically act upon the world and to reinforce the verbal behavior of the speaker. Skinner, however, states that the presence of a listener is necessary for a verbal episode. Hence, the behaviors of a speaker and a listener taken together constitute a verbal episode, upon which Skinner emphasizes that together they compose what may be called a total speech episode. Since there is nothing in such an episode which is more than the combined behavior of two or more individuals and consequently nothing emerges in the social unit. The speaker can be studied while assuming a listener and the listener while assuming a speaker (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner in addition considers the speaker to be his own listener, as in many significant instances the listener is behaving at the same time as a speaker. Since the speaker and the listener may reside within the same skin. Thus, some of the behavior of listening resembles the behavior of speaking, mainly when the speaker understands what is said, this could be covertly seen in verbal operants as echoics, mands, tacts, intraverbals and autoclitics. At this point the speaker may serve as his own audience. As Skinner believes that an analysis of the speakers verbal behavior is determined by the establishment of a verbal repertoire of the listener without which there will be no verbal behavior. The listener plays a significant role according to Skinner in consequating the speakers behavior this could be seen when the listener provides a suitable level of attention as an eye contact, head nods, praise or even in the way he is standing face forward. This would give in its turn social reinforcement the speaker is hoping for. Also, responding to the speakers mands. This may be in the form of getting things, opening doors, and other nonverbal behavior. Another form of verbal behavior that is probably important in listening is echoic. As we covertly echo what we hear. Echoics are vocal responses that have point-to-point correspondence with the vocal emissions of other speakers and that come to serve verbal functions (Skinner, 1957). A child may point to a toy and attempt to gain access to it. If a parent holds the toy while saying toy and the child then says toy in order to gain the toy, this is an example of an echoic response, in that the copying moves to a mand function. Liste ning, therefore is conceptualized as an operant behavior maintained by the consequence of what is heard. A speaker and a listener may rotate responses turn-taking this is covertly observable. It is a particular type of interlocking verbal behavior units. As when both a listener and speaker responses are reinforced for an individual in a dyad involving turn-taking, it is an observable incidence of an episode in which both the speaker and the listener responses for each of the individuals are reinforced. In addition, there is another type of rotation as Skinner illustrates, the verbal fantasy, whether overt or covert, is automatically reinforcing to the speaker as listener. Just as the musician plays or composes what he is reinforced by hearing, or as the artist paints what reinforces him visually, so the speaker engaged in verbal fantasy says what he is reinforced by hearing or writes what he is reinforced by reading (Skinner, 1957, p. 439). Therefore, this type of rotations between speaker and listener that occurs within the individuals own skin, which in some cases is covertly observab le, is also reinforcing. The listener plays another important role; as he can strengthen the speakers verbal behavior, he can also extinguish it. This could be evident in the social punishment delivered by the verbal community in the form of an audience. There control over the speakers verbal behavior may be emitted in the form of frowns, head nods or ignoring the speaker and not responding verbally or non-verbally to his verbal behavior. Therefore, in the presence of certain audiences whom the speaker has a previous history of being positively reinforced by a speaker may emit a certain response covertly while in the presence of a negative audience another form of response may be emitted that could be overtly or with low strength or a speaker may just stop talking. In other words, different audiences will reinforce a single response differently, and for entirely different reasons (Skinner, 1957, pp. 230-232). Nonetheless, Skinner sums the ability of a listener to reinforce or punish a speakers verbal behavio r that a listener must understand what the speaker is saying, to know what the meaning of his verbal behavior is and to act properly and effectively upon hearing the speakers verbal behavior. A Critique of Skinners Account of the Role of the Listener It seems as Skinner was progressively moving further in Verbal Behavior, he started to recognize some gaps in his discussions or in other circumstances some contradictions. But most of all he started to emphasize that the listener does hold an essential role in a speakers verbal behavior, he admits that [i]t would be foolish to underestimate the difficulty of this subject matter (Skinner, 1957, p. 3). Skinner initially started with the notion that [i]t will be helpful to restrict our definition by excluding instances of speaking which are reinforced by certain kinds of effects on the listener. The exclusion is arbitrary but it helps to define a field of inquiry having certain unitary properties (Skinner, 1957, p. 224). Consequently, Skinner refined this further to say that the first restriction would be to limit the term verbal to instances in which the responses of the listener have been conditioned. He then elaborates that if we make the further provision that the listener must be responding in ways which have been conditioned specifically in order to reinforce the behavior of the speaker, then we narrow our subject to be traditionally considered as the verbal field (Skinner, 1957, p. 224-225). Therefore, a listener according to Skinner is the individual who responds in a proper effective way to stimuli generated by a speakers verbal behavior. This takes us back to the point that a listener must understand first the meaning the speaker is talking about in order to be able to respond and to behave appropriately. However, a listener may in some situations understand what the speaker is saying or asking him to do but he doesnt want to do it or in other words comply to and follow what he is told to do. This could be examined in the following example when a parent may ask his grounded son to: go and take the trash out. As a sign of anger the son does not comply to what his father asked him to do but at the same time he does understand what his father asked him to do take the trash out. This does not match Skinners previous assumption; a listener who does not respond properly to the speakers verbal behavior does not understand what has been said. In another instance, a listener may echo a word in another language but he does not understand what it means the speaker may say heureux and the listener would say heureux. At the same time Skinner explains that understanding something is to know what it means. The ability for a listener to engage in this behavior again in future similar circumstances as a response to the proper stimulus under suitable circumstances is understanding. Since it does not involve any immediate activity on the part of the listener (although responses of the othe r sorts already noted may take place concurrently), we detect the change only in his future behavior (Skinner, 1957,p. 357). A listener may say I understand only when he identified the variables which were mainly effective in leading him to make the same response [in another occasion] (Skinner, 1957, p. 280). Yet, Skinners discussion on this part also lacks an explicit explanation for how a stimulus in the past might bring behavior under the control of a stimulus in the present. This is also evident in the account of knowing which Skinner explains to be a hypothetical immediate condition that is detected only at a later date (Skinner, 1957, p. 363). In fact, at the last part of Verbal Behavior he argues that distant stimuli are weak variables and contingencies that involve them usually reinforce bridging behavior (Skinner, 1957, p.416-417). But, this means that behavior is abrupt and stopped at that point of time that needs to be bridged back. Yet, behavior is a continuous evolving interaction with the environment. Another point, there is no gap as Skinner assumes; rather events are described in different ways and forms. Skinner considers understanding to be a covert behavior as seeing and thinking. Yet at the end of Verbal Behavior Skinner states that there arent many differences between covert and overt behavior; as the variables controlling them are the same. We cant really distinguish covert from overt behavior along functional lines. A person is an expert listener for their own verbal behavior. Subtle behavior is easy for the listener to respond to when he is also the Speaker. Skinner elaborates further that thinking is most productive when verbal behavior leads to specific consequences and are reinforced as in the example of verbal daydreams. Skinner at the end of Verbal Behavior comes to the conclusion that thinking is behavior, overt or covert, verbal or nonverbal (Skinner, 1957, p.446-452). This takes us back to the very beginning of Verbal Behavior in which Skinner started by assuming that the behavior of the listener cannot be distinguished from behavior in general (Skinner, 1957, p.2). Yet, this makes us wonder why he tackled thinking to be a separate entity and the listener was marginalized. Is the listener a subject at the time Skinner wrote Verbal Behavior to be a complicated subject matter to a point he deliberately avoided discussing. If thats the issue why would Skinner take the speaker to be his own listener, and how the listener and the speaker are within one skin? Does this in its turn lead us to assume that the speaker is also a behavior? Of what we have discussed so far a solution might be in separating the listener and the speaker into two established individual entities and consequently to examine the listeners role in depth. Also, to explain further how understanding a verbal stimulus might be converted to a nonverbal response on part of a listener whic h Skinner does not give enough attention to in his discussions. Conclusion As we have discussed Skinner explains that the essential role of the listener is in the development and mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. But, at the same time communication is regarded to be successful only if an expression has the same meaning for both the speaker and the listener. As numerous theories of meaning are usually applied to both speaker and listener as if the meaning process were the same for both. Yet, much of the behavior of the listener has no resemblance to the behavior of the speaker and is not verbal according to Skinners definition (Skinner, 1957, p. 33). Skinner suggests that the behavior of the listener is more complex and needs to be considered more fully, as once a repertoire of verbal behavior has been set up, a number of new problems arise from the interaction of its parts. As verbal behavior is usually the effect of multiple causes in which separate variables combine to extend their functional control, and as a result new forms of behavior emerge from the recombination of old fragments. Consequently, this has appropriate effects upon the listener. His behavior then calls for analysis especially in the case that a speaker is normally also a listener. The speaker reacts to his own behavior in several significant ways. The mere emission of responses is an incomplete characterization when behavior is composed. As another consequence of the fact that the speaker is also a listener, some of the behavior of listening resembles the behavior of speaking, particularly when the listener understands what is said. (Skinner, 1957, p.10) Howe ver, each person is controlled by a different history of reinforcement and controlling contingencies. That leads a speaker to self-edit his verbal behavior when he finds that what he said has a different meaning for the listener who in his turn is controlled by a different history of reinforcement and different controlling contingencies. Therefore, a speaker to avoid punishment he engages in a self-editing behavior. We notice that Skinners definition of verbal behavior still need further refinement to elaborate further on the nature and function of the role of a listener in a verbal episode. I find Skinners own comments on Verbal Behavior to be proper conclusion on the listeners role for the behavior of the speaker, as he states it forward to future critics that the issue of listener needs further examination. Most of my book Verbal Behavior (1957) was about the speaker. It contained a few diagrams showing interactions between speakers and listeners, but little direct discussion of listening. I could justify that because, except when the listener was also to some extent speaking, listening was not verbal in the sense of being effective only through the mediation of other persons. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ But if listeners are responsible for the behavior of speakers, we need to look more closely at what they do. (Skinner, 1989, p. 86) Skinner has tackled a very complicated subject matter, he might not dealt with all its aspects with the same level of cohesion and consistency but at the same time he has opened the door for future thinkers and critics to continue and carry on what he has established.

Commentary on the Reader Response Method of Literary Analysis :: essays research papers

Commentary on the Reader Response Method of Literary Analysis Reader response criticism raises the question of where literary meaning resides- in the literary text, in the reader, or in the interactive space between text and reader. In other words the text itself has no meaning until it is read and interpreted by the reader. This analysis can take into account the strategies employed by the author to elicit a certain response from readers. It denies the possibility that works are universal (i.e. that they will always mean more or less the same thing to readers everywhere). Norman Holland argues that "each reader will impose his or her ‘identity theme’ on the text, to a large extent recreating that text in the reader's image." Therefore, we can understand someone's reading as a function of personal identity. The reader response method is one I like to use because it allows me the reader to become one with the story either as a character, an on looker or both. For me the text lives in my imagination allowing me to see the people in the story, feel the characters emotions and walk in their shoes. Of course my life experiences can sometimes help me in interpreting the characters; however, I have to be very careful in how I see these characters and where they live. I feel that this can hinder the way different readers see a story because not all of us are the same. I have to remember to acknowledge my own subjectivity in the act of reading and be aware that I am reading a literary work with my own set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, and values which will help me to prevent biases and prejudices while interpretating the material. For instance, I have to take each story as something new and not relate each character as an upper middle class white woman, married with two children, etc.

Reverse Discrimination and Affirmative Action Essay -- Papers Quota Ra

Reverse Discrimination and Affirmative Action Discrimination in employment has been an issue that has plagued our society throughout history. At the turn of this century it was acceptable to advertise job openings and specifically state that people of a certain race, color, religion, gender, or national origin "need not apply". A lot has changed over the last 100 years. The proverbial "pendulum" has swung in the direction of federal protection of certain people, but the problem now is that it has swung too far. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act states that it is unlawful for an employer "to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin†¦" 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1). This law was enacted in an effort to set right the wrongs of the past and instill equity in the workplace; yet a new set of wrongs and social injustices have been created. This newly created set of wrongs and injustices are referred to as reverse discrimination. Reverse discrimination is discrimination against a majority class, and is ever increasing in public-sector employment. Social Equity and Affirmative Action Affirmative action was instituted to redress the social inequities of past discrimination in employment against what became known as a 'protected class' (women and minorities). The goals of affirmative action plans are to increase the representation of historically disadvantaged people in the workplace equal to their representation in the corresponding community and relevant labor market. This formula is how affirmati... ...regardless of skin color or gender, feel the same effects: a brick wall placed between them and their constitutional right of prosperity and equality. Over the last hundred years our societal values (in employment) have swung from an anything goes mentality to the other end of the spectrum, the era of "political correctness" where you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Uncertainty prevails. It is apparent, though, that the proverbial "pendulum" is in an evening-out process and trying to find middle ground. Discrimination is discrimination regardless of what type of form it takes. There is truly only one kind if discrimination and that is where an individual's rights are infringed upon due to traits in which they have no power to control. Each and every one of us deserves to have the right to freedom and equality given to us by our forefather's.

Simple Harmonic Motion Essay -- essays research papers

OBJECT:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The objective of this lab is to obtain the spring constant by using the simple harmonic motion of the spring-mass system. Once the spring constant is obtained it is to be compared to the spring constant obtained by Hooke’s Law. PROCEDURE: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using a meter stick measure the distance from the attached point of the spring to the end of the spring, at this time there is to be no mass on the spring. Once this measurement is obtained the elongations can be calculated by subtracting the new measurements from this first measurement. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Add a weight to the spring and record the distance. The new distance is to be subtracted from the first distance. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the same weight pull the mass down an additional 20cm. Once the spring is elongated it is to be let go. When the spring is released from it’s elongated position the stopwatch is started. Once the spring has returned to it’s original starting position 25 times the timer is to be stopped and the time is recorded. Once two times are taken for every weight increment they are to be averaged together. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Steps 2 and 3 are to be repeated eight times using a new weight each time. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When all eight trials are done the spring is to be weighed and recorded. SAMPLE CALCULATIONS Mass used in each trial, in kilograms: - 50 g / 1000 g = 0.05 kg Elongation...

Introducing Speech of UHCL Student

I introduce myself as ________ currently employed as a _______- The right information and the means to use it intelligently can provide an organization an edge over its competitors. Businesses are increasingly looking towards technology not only to realize their short term goals but also to place them strategically for their long term success. This strategy and smart application of technology in Business Processes captivates me.As the process of globalization has reached the frontiers of business, education and technology; it is the only indispensable way for the global organizations to face the challenges of the ever evolving field of technology. I aspire, therefore, to pursue Masters in Management Information Systems at your esteemed University. Throughout my education, I always exhibited a high level of competency and proficiency in my schooling as well as my under graduation.Having scored excellent scores in my higher secondary education, I went on to equip myself with an undergr aduate degree in Instrumentation and Control Engineering, at GNITS, Hyderabad. My career curriculum enhanced my knowledge in subjects like C Programming, Data Structures, Control Systems, Neural Networks, Analytical Instrumentation, Microprocessors, Management Science and Digital Signal Processing. It was during this period that my teachers instilled in me a strong inclination towards Information Management and Computer Programming.During my final year undergraduate course, I presented my project on ‘Color Image Recognition Using Neural Networks'. My project involved coding a programme using MATLAB technology which solves a pattern recognition problem and has a relevance to the filed of Medical Diagnostics, Satellite Imagery and Remote Sensing. As an undergraduate student I also organized an ISTE student chapter symposium, quizzo and mini-project competition. This was made a possibility owing to my excellence in communication skills, technical know-how, analytical aptitude and an intelligent outlook.After my undergraduate education, the strong desire to understand the business process and the requirements of the industry propelled me to accept an employment before pursuing graduate studies. My employment as a Software Engineer at Accenture, a global fortune 500 company, demonstrates my overall aptitude.I found this to be a very good opportunity to gain training and real time work experience in the Information Management domain with primary focus on DW/BI – Data warehousing/ Business Intelligence. Having worked for over 2.5+ years, now I have gained good knowledge on the overall SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle), picked up a few additional skills like Data Modeling techniques, SQL/PLSQL, and experienced with different flavors of UNIX,. This exposure to DW/BI sphere even fostered my interests further in Information Systems Management. Accenture, with its rich heritage in consulting and technology has provided me ample opportunities to gain doma in specific experience and to the ability to provide innovative BI solutions.My project in DW/BI capability was in the consumer goods and services domain for Astra Zeneca, a client, which is a leading pharmaceutical company. My project at _____ was based on an onshore – offshore operating model and it required me to interact closely with the onsite team as well as the client team. This helped me gain new insight into oracle BI tools and also resulted in a training stint at the onsite (Milan) . The time I spent Onsite, in Milan, broadened my vision, had great value additions and helped me become a fully rounded DW/BI professional.Working in the Information Management domain enabled me to gain confidence and to be appreciative of the subjects of MIS and also encouraged me to shoulder bigger responsibilities. My competency and leadership skills were rewarded by my company which awarded me with prestigious Young Achievers Award (2008) and also Best Team Award as mark of my outsta nding performance and contribution. I have done well in all my engagements and have always delivered to the utmost satisfaction of the client.I was successful in taking up Oracle vendor certifications with 100%. I feel it a privilege to have come up first in elocution, debates and other language proficiency competitions held at a district level during my school days. I also showed an aptitude towards innovative skills by participating and winning several prizes in science exhibitions and other technical events. During my under graduation I presented several technical papers which were highly appreciated. I also took active part and  volunteered for social service and community events. All these activities have helped me to develop into multifaceted personality with strong interpersonal skills.I aspire to pursue M. S. in Management Information Systems (MS-MIS) because of my strong interest in information technology and its applications to business settings. I have seen how informat ion systems can serve as a bridge between technology and business by supporting its planning, operations and critical decision making.Now through MIS program I desire to refine my skills and deliver technology-driven business solutions for global organizations to meet their strategic objectives. I believe that MIS program at University of Houston, Clear Lake will enhance my knowledge and help me greatly in attaining my career goals. Amidst the brilliant academic setting of UHCL, I desire to gain the expertise and eventually make an indispensable contribution to the field of Information Systems. It is with sincere hope that I look forward to be a part of UHCL

Action Research Project for Reading Essay

The problem express in the run Research Project was that 66% of ternary say students lack the capacity to wedge completions and coiffure recoupences to answer comprehension questions reformly. This was manifest by the state culture riddle hemorrhoid, specific tout ensembley the inference adjudicate give by their instructor. This indicated a need for change magnitude student achievement in qualification inferences and drawing windups. Third grade students were non proficient at making inferences to undertake a shit a deeper understanding of the texts enjoin and thencece answer open terminate questions the right way.Therefore, they did non frustrate all the inference ground comprehension questions correct establish on the end of grade ladder hit that these third grade students atomic number 18 requisite to take. This indicated a need for additional birth making inferences by dint of direct instruction, lucifer discussion and independent practice in the schoolroom setting. Students had preceding(prenominal)ly been taught how to puzzle out inferences through discussion and worksheets. B) Review of main strategies The prefatory strategies used in this project include interactive l spend a penny aloud, a recital answer journal, and making inferences with photographs.An important factor used in the implementation programme was the integration of the enjoin alouds with the culture response journal as well as a great deal of modeling. The instructor gave the students time before, after, and during translation to put out responses in their journals. They were encouraged to forge predictions, connections, parcel out reactions, opinions, visualizations, read questions and make inferences. By having the students use those discordant strategies, they were learning how to really think just nearly what they were reading in order to get a deeper understanding of their texts.Using these unhomogeneous strategies would ultim ately development their understanding and hence improve their ability to make inferences about what they read. The students were given time before reading to make predictions about what they thought exp acent happen and whatever reactions or opinions from the previous reading. While the instructor was reading, the students were encouraged to make connections and inferences. They as well began a section of language words they found challenging or interesting.This list of words was ongoing and the studentshad to define the definition that went along with their word. The t to severally wizer also listed those words on chart musical composition during the reading time. Once the instructor had ended the read aloud time, the students had time to study on what they read. They might make inferences ground on what they had learned or shargon how they visualized the scene taking place. The teacher also modeled what she was thinking as she came to different parts of the fiction. C) Description of positioning implementation data collection tools put up implementation, the teacher used a flesh of tools to test the effectiveness of the ARP.Students took a teacher peed Inference Assessment ( addition A, p. 7) that consisted of deuce reading qualifyings and ten short answer questions. The students had to read each short story and then answer cardinal questions base on each story. The questions to the answers had to be inferring from the short passages. Students unavoid equal to(p) to get eight of the ten questions correct to receive a handing over score. The sound judgment was scored by hand and pull ahead were preserve as a percentage. The class realised a Charles Assessment ( auxiliary B, p.8) Students had to read a short story by Shirley capital of Mississippi entitled Charles, and answer several questions and write a short essay ground on their determineation of the story.Their interpretation of what they read showed how well they were able t o infer what the story was about. Students had to complete the various questions and tasks to the best of their ability based on their interpretation of the story. Students answers were scored based on their vocabulary answers, ability to produce an appropriate book coer, set of classroom rules, a comic strip, or to delineate the RAFT coiffe in creating a short essay.Students work was scored based on their ability to follow the directions and their ability to infer what had happened in the story. The students used the Inferencing claim ( appurtenance C, p. 12) to use up them as they write a narrative. The deed of conveyance was had quin columns and each column had the criteria to earn one to quadsome points, totaling cardinal points. This deed was used to show the students what the expectations were before they began write their paper. The rubric was also used by the teacher to score their last-place paper. win were tallied up and fifteen through xx points would be pas sing hit. The students were require to take an Inferencing charge Test (Appendix D, p. 13) after they had been taught the lessons in the action research project. This is the same test they took before the implementation. It was administered during consists of several reading passages and ten-fold choice answers. There were fiction, non-fiction, and poetry selections the students read and then answered questions based on inferences created from the passages. Students answered the circled questions.These results were compared to the stacks ga in that respectd prior to the implementation. The balance of ground level Test (Appendix E, p. 21) was administered to all third grade students in Wake County are required to take at the end of each year. This is a multiple choice test that is given at the end of each school year. This sound judgment is given in a set setting over leash twenty-four hour periods. The outset day is reading comprehension the next 2 are for math estimat or active and calculator inactive. The students record their responses by bubbling on an answer sheet that is electronically scored.These results were compared with the pretest scores to see how much progress the students make throughout the year. D) Results for each physical object The first objective was for the students to be able to accurately identify and analyze inferences in context of use with a minimum of 80% verity as metric by the teacher created Inference Assessment (Appendix A, p. 7). After the students had been taught how to make inferences through various classroom activities, they took the assessment and the entire class met or exceeded the passing score.Two students scored 70%, iv students scored 80%, five students scored 90%, and ten scored blow%. The scores show a spacious progression in the students ability to make inferences. The second objective was for 7teen of twenty one students to improve their ability to interpret inferences and comprehend reading passages by achieving a score of 80% or meliorate on the Charles Assessment (Appendix B p. 8). tho thirteen students met that remainder. Four students scored 60%, five scored 70%, nine scored 80%, ii scored 90%, and one scored 100%. Although the students didnot all meet the desired goal, they showed emolument based on their earlier assessments and the one-on-one scores were higher. The third objective stated that the students would be able to accurately control both or to a greater extent inferences into their in-person narrative writing pieces as measured by a teacher created Inferencing Rubric (Appendix C p. 12). The entire class was able to incorporate at least ii inferences into their narrative based on the rubric. to begin with the implementation, most students could not interpret an inference, so being able to create two or more shows a grand improvement.The fourth objective stated that the students would increment their ability to identify and interpret inferen ces to enlarge their reading comprehension to 80% as measured by the teacher created Inferencing Pre/Post Test (Appendix D, p. 13). All but ternary students met the specified goal. Of the twelve questions posed, three students correctly answered nine questions, three answered ten, nine answered eleven, and cardinal answered all twelve correctly. Based on the previous scores on this test, students scores greatly increased.The lowest score went from four questions correct up to nine, and all students grew, turf out for the one student who scored perfect on the pretest. Scores identify that the students were able to increase their comprehension and infer what they had read. The last objective was that the students would increase their ability to identify and create inferences to increase their reading comprehension to 52% as measured by the labor union Carolina End of Grade Test (Appendix E, p. 21). cardinal of twenty one students met or exceeded that goal as opposed to further seven who passed the pretest.Three students scored a level one (3-20 percent), one scored a level two (31 percent), ten scored a level three (52-74 percent), and seven students scored a level four (87-99 percent). This shows a tremendous growth based on previous scores that showed many an(prenominal) more students at the bottom range. decade students scored a level one (11-35 percent), four scored a level two (48-69 percent), five scored a level three (74-89 percent), and two scored a level four (92-97 percent). E) thickset Based on the data self-contained from all the assessment tools, the teachers implementation plan was successful.Most goals were met and her students turn up to be successful in their final assessments. Even though not all the students reached the set goal, each student showed improvement through the various assessment tools, particularly in the state test . Appendix A make out/Number visualise Inference assessment Read the passage carefully and then answer the questions that follow. mavin gloomy morning, Bailey woke up and stretched out in her bed. She jumped out of bed, walked to the kitchen and had a long discombobulate of water. As she was alcoholisming, Waleed came in the kitchen and gave her some breakfast.She promptly gobbled up her food and sight that it was colorise and dreary outside. There was a ovalbumin blanket draped across the prickleyard. Waleed noticed the weather too, so he crawled back into his warm bed. Bailey followed him back in the chamber and jumped up into bed so they could snuggle. She shell his face as she curled up at his feet. Her tail wagged until she peacefully vanish back to sleep. 1. Who is Bailey? 2. What was the weather outside? 3. Did Bailey drink her water from a glass? 4. What did Bailey make for breakfast? 5. Who is Waleed? Sarah and Renee were enjoying the hot day at home.They were splashing around and having fun since they didnt grant to go to school. They had been outside all day and Renees skin was go bright pink. All of a sudden, there was a roll of thunder and the cheer was blocked by several clouds. The jactitate turned dark and the sun was no longer shining. Sarah and Renee quickly packed up their towels and beach balls and ran inside just as the sky opened up. 6. What season is it? 7. Where are Sarah and Renee? 8. What happened to Renees skin? 9. What time of day is it? 10. Why did Sarah and Renee concur to run inside? Appendix B Charles Assessment pic pic picpic Appendix C. Inferences Focus Topic and windup blowup Spelling/grammar sentences 4 theme contains more opus maintains a base has a strong makeup has specific report contains virtually no than two little specific focus yield and expound that spell or grammar mistakes inferences throughout conclusion sentence elaborate on the event 3 stem contains two Paper is pore onPaper has a fatigued Paper has vague Paper contains fewer than 5 expatiate inferencesone eve nt, but may topic and conclusiondetails that spelling and/or grammar have minor lapses sentence elaborate on the mistakes topic 2 .Paper only containsPaper may be Paper may have a Paper does not have Paper contains more than 10 one detailed focused on one or weak topic or details that live spelling and/or grammar inference or two more events, but conclusion sentence the topic mistakes that are not has major lapses that does not follow detailed the topic 1 Paper does not havePaper is not Paper does not have Paper has no Paper contains more than 15 any inferences in focused and has a topic or supporting details spelling and/or grammar it major lapses in conclusion sentence mistakes time Total scores Writing and Inferencing Rubric Student Name and Number_____________________________________ Date________________________________________________________ Appendix D pic picpicpicpicpicpicpic Appendix E Since this assessment was administered to all third grade student in North Carolina in a secure setting, there are no usable copies of the test. The Inferencing Pre/Post Test in Appendix D used sample End of Grade test questions that were posted by the North Carolina Department of Instruction. These sample articles have a very similar format to the passages and questions the students saw when they took the End of Grade Test.