Ending Prejudice Is Closing the Intelligence Gap the Answer

In today’s world, prejudice is just as profound as it was in years past if not more so. It can be found in nearly all aspects of life and sometimes is not even known to exist. One thing that has changed regarding prejudice is its appearance. Before the Civil War and through the 1960s, prejudice could be most commonly defined as a physical degrading of African-Americans. They were looked down upon and treated poorly, often being physically harmed as slaves and forced to use separate restrooms, drinking fountains, and sit in different locations on a city bus during the civil rights movement. Today, prejudice is ironic in the fact that it knows no specific race and affects everyone. According to Myers (2011), intelligence varies†¦show more content†¦Prior to their experiments, there were several explanations for this phenomenon, including that black students were actually less intelligent than others. However, Steele and Aronson did not believe this was the cause of the lower grades, and that it may actually be caused by the notion that black students were supposed to achieve lower grades than other students. The experiment that Steele and Aronson came up with consisted of a difficult, frustrating test administered to over 100 college students. They told some students with similar SAT scores that the test was not designed to measure cognitive skills while other groups of students were told the test was designed to measure intellectual aptitude. The group of students whose test was not for measuring cognitive skills scored similarly, regardless of race. Contrarily, black students who took the test measuring abilities scored significantly less than b lack students whose test was not for measuring cognitive skills, while the scores of white students were similar between both tests. In addition, the same effect on scores was present when students were asked to identify their race prior to taking the test. After conducting this experiment, Steele and Aronson were able to conclude that standardized tests are not exactly standardized. The way tests are worded or presenting information in any way that implies stereotype threat automatically puts some students atShow MoreRelatedPropaganda During The Revolutionary War3756 Words   |  16 Pagesdeliberate act, which is very important to understand when analyzing the different types of propaganda. According to Marjorie Van de Water: For successful propaganda never appeals to the mind. It rouses the emotions. It takes advantage of all the prejudices, the hates and loves that are already in man s heart. And it directs these forces against the individuals, the nations, the parties, or the policies which the propagandist is undertaking to destroy. 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French Government An Oligarchy Rather Than a Polyarchy Essay

The modern French government is a unique political entity like no other in history. In my research paper I aim to show that while Frances system of government appears democratic it is in actuality not. I plan to demonstrate it is more of an oligarchy than a polyarchy, polyarchy being fundamentally necessary for democracy. Drawing on research from conflict theorists I plan to show that France is not truly democratic. I plan to first draw a parallel between research on France as a pluralist state and Robert Dahls New Haven study by showing that France like New Haven appears to be a pluralist democracy. I then plan to show just as G. William Domhoff did with Dahls original study, that the same inequality in power exists in France as in New†¦show more content†¦Most of the democratic initiatives in France are spear headed by issue groups and pressure groups that are political in nature and not the type of organizations neo Tocquevillian Robert Putnam claims help create a strong democratic foundation. Putnams civil society of associations and fraternal organizations in the US focus on increasing social capital which leads to greater civic participation. These issue groups and pressure groups in France on the other hand are highly political, focused on well defined goals that are mutually beneficial to the interest of their members and often fade way after accomplishing their goals (Bell 2002:121-123). Putnams US examples while they did often championing political causes for their members, were also focused on creating a sense of familial cohesion amongst the members. That is not to say however that both forms of civic engagement dont create pluralist democracy through balance of power stemming from multiple power sources. In other words these pressure groups create the multiple power center necessary for polyarchy. Furthermore since a 1962 constitutional amendment, France has had a direct open democratic elections of leaders (Elgie and Griggs 2000:120). Th is allows for indirect influence from the apolitical stratum. It would seem to most observers France would fit into Robert Dahls definition of a pluralist democracy. You have multiple power centers competing and open elections for the

Building HR managers Free Essays

Being one of the HR managers assigned to building a global-based team for the international sales division, the cultures of different members who can possibly be part of the team need to be researched. In a team composed of members with different nationalities, each one’s cultural background needs to be taken into consideration so all their actions, gestures and attitude towards work will be better understood. The differences in cultural background matter when the employees are evaluated for their performance. We will write a custom essay sample on Building HR managers or any similar topic only for you Order Now The approach to coaching and mentoring the members will also be different from each other. Among the four regions, the two countries I chose to make a brief research on are Brazil from the Latin American region and China from Asia. Coming from separate geographical regions, these two countries have major differences when it comes to their way of living, classes in the society, and even their business culture. CHINA China is one of the largest countries in the world. It has also become the second largest economic entity in the world (â€Å"Doing Business in China,† 2004) after 20 years of hard work and continuous efforts of its entire population. Chinese people are known to be hardworking and are really good in their own respective fields. If Chinese individuals would be part of the international sales team, their culture should be studied and understood so we can know how to properly deal with Chinese people and allow for a better working relationship with other team members. Some of the things that should be remembered are as follows: †¢ Guanxi, synonymous to relationship, is important to Chinese people especially when working or doing business with them. It simply means Chinese value friendship at work or business. It is important for them to be friends with their co-workers and peers. †¢ Chinese people value saving more than others. Most of them put almost 40% of their income in savings. But despite this, they can also be generous when it comes to inviting peers and business partners to dinners. When it comes to the role of women in Chinese society, China is not different from most of its neighboring countries. Chinese women are known to have very low status in the society. In the early days, women only stay in homes to take care of the family and not allowed to join the work force. But as time passes, more and more Chinese women have become well-educated and are now able to get the jobs that they want. Still, they still keep the responsibility of maintaining their homes and taking care of the kids and husband. Chinese women are also commonly the ones taking control of the finances of their family. BRAZIL Brazil is one of the most successful countries in Latin America when it comes to economy. Brazilians are known to always get things done easily or otherwise. Their key to this ability is â€Å"jeito. † According to â€Å"Doing Business in Brazil† (2004), â€Å"jeito can help conquer seemingly insurmountable tasks, rally the team, or get you out of messes. [†¦] It can also help your company gets its foot in the door for submitting a proposal for a project when a deadline has already passed. † This trait is worth knowing when considering Brazilians to be part of the international sales team. They have the ability to think out-of-the-box. They can be very creative in their own ways which can lead to the success of a business. They are known to think better and are more comfortable when working in groups. Brazil doesn’t have much difference with China when it comes to the roles women play in their society. Brazilians, just like other Latinos, have a high respect to the family. Women are known to only stay at home and be responsible for the well-being of the children and their own husbands. But recently, women are breaking into the work force and contributing to the family, as well, in terms of financial matters. Brazilian women can now take jobs that are usually only done by men. More of them are also known to pursue advanced degrees to improve their skills and capabilities. References Doing Business in Brazil. (2004). In globalEDGE Online Course Modules. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://globaledge. msu. edu/academy/courses. asp Doing Business in China. (2004). In globalEDGE Online Course Modules. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://globaledge. msu. edu/academy/courses. asp How to cite Building HR managers, Papers

The struggle for personal identity Essay Example For Students

The struggle for personal identity Essay The struggle for personal identity Essay The topic I have chosen for my research essay is that of Personal Identity. We have come across this topic in many stories that we have done in the course. Different authors have handled this theme in a different way and by taking a look at this we will be able to see what personal identity means to people. The relationship between self and society is essentially confrontational and the battleground on which this struggle is fought by identity. Put simply, identity is the perception of self by others, challenged by the social world (Fontana Kotarba, 1984, pp. In The Wifes Story, the author Bharati Mukherjee looks at the theme of Personal Identity in respect to the Indian Culture. The main character in the story, Panna, leaves her family in order to get a Ph.D. This is seen when she says Ive made it. Im making something of my life. Ive left home, my husband, to get a Ph.D. in special Ed (Meyer, 1997, pp. 424) She is exposed to the Western world and is struggling between her Indian identity and the one of the Western World. She is trying really hard to position herself in this world. She wants to accept the American culture, but at the same time she does not want to lose her Indian ways of thinking. She does not want to follow the traditional customs where the wife stays at home and is either abused by the husband or by her in-laws. Pannas search for identity can also be seen when her husband comes to visit her from India. He does not like when she dresses up in western clothes and talks to other men. Panna does not approve of her husbands thinking, but she still wants to make him happy. With him she wants to pretend that nothing has changed. She knows that things have changed, but she wants to do everything to make him believe otherwise. Therefore she is struggling in the entire story. The next author whose work we are going to look at is James Joyce of Eveline. In this story the author has treated the theme of personal identity in respect to the love for families. In the following story, the main character, Eveline, comes from a family where the father is really dominant. Her mother has died and on the deathbed, Eveline promised her that she would take care of the family. In her mind, she thinks that the only reason she is staying with such her dominant father is because of the promise she made to her mother. She does not want to abandon her family. At the same time she is struggling to form a self identity. She gets a chance to go away from her family and form an identity of her own. She is confused about what to do. In the end she opts for her family knowing that they love her too and that is where she can be best identified. Kaluger (1984, pp. 261) says that during the identification phase, children generally respond to people whom they love or who possess some trait or power that they admire. Children gain a sense of security by identifying with an older person whom they love, in whom they have complete confidence and trust. Martin luther king jr. EssayBy looking at the above stories, it is seen that the main characters are in the process of searching for their personal identity. They all are in search of themselves and are very confused and struggling. They want to achieve there goals, no matter what comes in their way. By looking at the different stories it can be seen that for one to gain the true identity, he or she not only has to face the society but themselves too. If they can accept who they really are and overcome their fears rather than pretending to be someone else or running away from their fears, they can find their personal identity. ReferencesFontana, Andrea, Kortarba, Joseph A. (1984) The Existential Self In Society. London: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 11. Kaluger, George, Kaluger Meriem F. (1984) Human Development The Span of Life. Columbus: Merrill Publishing Company, pp. 261. Meyer, Bruce. (1997). The Stories- Contemporary Short Fiction Written in English. Scaroborough: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc, 301-305, 421-443.

Racism in Canada Essays - Barred Spiral Galaxies, Local Group

GALAXIES Nearly all the matter in the universe is concentrated in galaxies. A galaxy is a gigantic mass of stars held together by gravity. The largest contain millions of stars. The smallest have just a few million, but even small galaxies are so big that light takes thousands of years to cross them. Despite having so much matter, galaxies are mostly empty space, with vast distances between each star. Our sun and all the stars we can see with the naked eye belong to just one galaxy - the Milky Way. Beyond this lie billions of galaxies stretching as far into space as astronomers can see. Elliptical Galaxies Most galaxies are egg-shaped (elliptical). There galaxies are made up of masses of old, red stars that all formed around the same time. Elliptical galaxies have no gas for making new stars. The elliptical galaxy M87 (left) is the largest galaxy known. It contains 3 million million stars - 15 times as many as our Milky Way. Hidden in its centre is a massive black hole. Spiral Galaxies The most spectacular galaxies are spiral. These spin around like giant whirlpools, spreading their stars into graceful trailing arms. The oldest stars are located in a dense central hub. The spiral arms contain young stars, pink nebulas, and dark lanes of gas and dust. Spiral galaxies are disk-shaped, so they appear flat if we see them from the side. Our Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. Irregular Galaxies Galaxies with no recognizable shape are called irregular. They are usually small, with lots of young stars and bright gas clouds where new stars are forming. A typical example is the Large Magellanic Cloud (right). At 160,000 light years away, it is one of the closest galaxies and is visible to the naked eye as a pale smudge. It has only 10 billion stars - our Milky Way has 20 times more. The large Magellanic Cloud is trapped by the Milky Way's gravity and orbits it every 6,000 million years. Eventually, the Milky Way's gravity will tear it apart and the two galaxies will merge. Cosmic Collision Most galaxies are incredibly far apart, but some get close enough to collide. This picture shows two spiral galaxies crashing into each other. Their cores are orange. Individual stars do not collide, but dust clouds do, triggering a firestorm of star birth. The clusters of newborn stars in this picture look blue. The dark areas are dust clouds.

Sociology and Development Essay Example

Sociology and Development Essay Example Sociology and Development Essay Example Sociology and Development Essay Example According to the second edition of Sociology in Modules by Richard Schaefer, socialization can be defined as a life process in which people learn appropriate behaviors, attitudes, and values. Focusing on nature and nurture, the subject tries to explore what shapes human personality. Sociology conducts extensive research that focuses on the effects of environment on self-identity. Our personal qualities define our impressions and how we view ourselves. These qualities are, however, a result of our social interactions with others. Acquiring social qualities is influenced by a set of certain factors otherwise known as agents of socialization. From a tender age, these factors have an influence on our growth and development. The family plays a key role in an individual’s life. Growing in an environment where social expression is hindered affects how an individual relates with others. The self-esteem of such people is lowered, and they are therefore afraid of explaining their mind especially when relating with strangers. On the other hand, the esteem of an individual can be boosted from a tender age. Another major factor that influences socialization is culture. Being brought up in differing societies influences how we relate with others. In cultures where women are seen as subordinates and not equals to men, the society raises a generation of men filled with chauvinism and a strong ego. Women therefore feel intimidated and therefore fail to exploit their full potential. Being the foundation of our growth, the family plays a key role in the development of our language and instills the cultural value in us. As a norm, these values have been passed from one generation to the next. They ensure that the culture of a community does not become extinct. Race and gender cannot be left out as they are important as agents of development. They play a major role as social organization elements of culture. The impact of gender roles differs from one society to the other. There are communities with gender distinction concerning jobs, for example, women cannot undertake the responsibilities since their role is predefined and vice versa. The issue of race furthermore makes certain communities view their fellows as inferior. As a result, the humiliated communities resort to retaliation opposing the idea. Traditionally, the values instilled by teachers help in socializing children into different conventional gender roles. The result is that children were able to interact with peers and the community at large. Therefore, learning institutions play a major role in self-actualization and valuing others. Today, the ways of socialization have changed. With the introduction of mass media and technology, people interact and multitask as a norm. The i nternet is used as the major platform of interaction. At the workplace and social events such as weddings, burials and religious occasions, people have a chance of exploring and meeting new friends. This has lead to the development of the modern culture. In this culture, innovation, invention, and discovery are worldwide distributed. Elements of culture such as customs and traditions are therefore seen as things of the past. Transfer of art and literature has been made effective due to the ease of information exchange. The various elements of culture such as forms of government and economic systems can be attributed to the agents of socialization. From the analysis above, it can be clearly seen that the development of one’s personality is influenced by various factors. However, the nurture from one’s family can be attributed as the major contributor to an individual’s personality. This is because the values and norms instilled at this tender age define the character of an individual before they face the society. The work of the society therefore becomes rectification. live CHAT

Women's health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women's health - Essay Example In the study undertaken my Moss et al. the main focus is one of the types of STD which is herpes simplex. The empirical data had been gathered on the aim to determine the possible predictors of the herpes simplex virus type 2. The population in focused is composed of the young women that are at risk of being pregnant. The said risk can be considered as the main reason for the differences in the gender on the basis of the fact that the said disease has a possibility of being transferred to the baby (Moss et al. 113). The data had been gathered through secondary reproductive health records of women included in the age 15 to 24 years from 2 selected clinics in San Francisco. The baseline information is primarily gathered along with the sexual history through an interview. The preliminary HSV-2 testing then follows which is undertaken through fingerstick blood test. Both the pregnant women and the women that are at risk of pregnancy are included and monitored. In cases of pregnancy, the development of the HSV-2 had been observed while in the women that are at risk of pregnancy are divided at the end by those who became pregnant and those who had been able to be protected by contraception such as condom (Moss et al. 113). The results showed that the HSV-2 seroincidence and the unintended pregnancy are of relatively high risk. For that matter, the said study had been considered as one of the important evidence of the need for contraception and STD prevention (Moss et al. 113). Basically, herpes simplex is one of the types of STD that is commonly occurring but can be ignored by the public due to the fact that HIV/AIDS are considered more dangerous. It is important to note that the fact that it can risk both the mother and the baby during pregnancy can be considered as an important reason to give enough attention in the prevention and elimination of such cases.

The Increasing Involvement of the Clergy in Politics Essay

The Increasing Involvement of the Clergy in Politics - Essay Example In the American context, American Muslims seem to just take care of themselves and mind their own businesses. Bill uses facts and opinion polls to back his arguments. For instance, when he says that 11% of those polled agreed that they had been influenced to vote along political divides, this only depicts the selfishness, majorly on the part of the clergy (Agnew 56). One might want to ask: why do they involve themselves in politics in the first place? Truly the American Muslims have replaced the Koran with their own interpretations, which in my view, is a paradox indeed. McKibben reveals the dangerous misinterpretations of the Koran by most American Muslims. When I read Bill’s article, what first came to my mind was the infiltration of the â€Å"expensive mega-churches†, plus their founders. When one visits some of the churches, they may be shocked by the elegance and the exurban styles of the churches. The churches are built using millions, or billions of dollars. The founders seem to use the church as an avenue to enrich themselves, promising worshippers that the â€Å"the hands that give are the hand that receives†. The American worshippers have understood this and would give an arm and a leg to receive the â€Å"blessings†. Instead of helping the poor members of the church just as Mohammed commanded, the founders and top clergy live lavish lifestyles, adorning expensive suits and other wears. In some cases, they are reportedly involved in scandals such as those pertaining to sex and politics.

Deforestation as an Environmental Problem Assignment

Deforestation as an Environmental Problem - Assignment Example The aim of the discourse, therefore, is to provide a short report on the subject of deforestation by: (1) providing a brief summary the problem; (2) by outlining its causes; and finally, (3) analyzing some possible solutions to the problem. Brief Summary of the Problem Deforestation is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as referring â€Å"to change of land cover with depletion of tree crown cover to less than 10 percent. Changes within the forest class (e.g. from closed to open forest) which negatively affect the stand or site and, in particular, lower the production capacity, are termed forest degradation† (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2000, p. 1). Deforestation is regarded as an environmental problem for the reasons that cutting of trees or depletion of forests and woodlands leave insufficient numbers of trees which have been proven to store vast amounts of carbon needed to prevent continued global warming. Also, due to clearing activities in forest s and agricultural areas, the burning of trees emit substantial carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is deemed contributory to the green house effect (Oracle Think Quest n.d.). Likewise, trees also have natural abilities to aborb water, if vast amounts of trees are uprooted and cut, the deforested region is therefore prone to floods or extreme dryness, causing further destruction of lives (human, animals and plants). Concurrently, trees and forests have been revealed to function as ways for conserving biological diversity where various flora and fauna have survived in their natural habitat. Deforestation through natural (storms, blizzard, eathquakes) and human induced activities disrupt and contribute to the loss of biodiveristy which eventually leads to extinction of endanged species. Cause of Deforestation As revealed, the causes of deforestation are varied; ranging from finding other alternative uses for the land for planting, grazing animals, being used as residential areas d ue to population expansion, being allocated as roads, subdivisions, and even for logging (Oracle Think Quest, n.d.). As deduced, deforestation is caused by human activities to satisfy diverse human needs. According to the FAO Key Findings Report on Global Forest Assessment in 2010, â€Å"deforestation – mainly the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land – shows signs of decreasing in several countries but continues at a high rate in others. Around 13 million hectares of forest were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes each year in the last decade compared to 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s† (FAO, 2010, p. 3). Possible Solutions At the onset, one could analyze that the solution to this dilemma is straightforward: to replant trees and to stop cutting those that are still currently surviving. However, to implement this, those identified to be authorized to maintain, monitor and restrict cutting and focus on preservation and c onservation must design strategies and plans for management and governance through policies and regulations. As disclosed by FAO (2010), â€Å"80% of the world’s forests are publicly owned, but ownership and management of forests by communities, individuals and private companies is on the rise†

Assessment of Military Influence in the Middle East

Assessment of Military Influence in the Middle East Q5. What best explains the diminished role of the military in the dispensation of power across the Middle East? Jibin Mathew George The military has been fundamental to the existence and sustenance of the modern Middle East since its inception as a largely colonial police force in the early 20th century. And it is the relative omnipresence and longevity of the military in the Middle East that has gradually evolved it to be seen as a symbol of stability in a troubled region. The question put forth however begets the question of the range of power and influence the military enjoyed in the past few decades. It is therefore necessary to assess the military influence in the Middle East, declining or otherwise through the lens of existing literature that seeks to explain civil-military relations. Consider Samuel Huntingtons hypothesis in The Soldier and the State; Here, Huntington argues that a measure of objective control within the state, one where the military structure recognizes the political and foreign paramountcy of the civilian government and where the civilian government recognizes the militarys professional competence and autonomy is one which is more likely to have a subservient military to a dominant civilian state, and is therefore the most effective measure against the prevalence of coups. On the other hand, Janowitz in his book The Professional Soldier argues that separation of powers as Huntington proposes would instead invite coups, and is better prepared against coups by a constant, mutual interaction between the military and civilian government, facilitating the civilian oversight of the States military arm. Both Huntingtons and Janowitzs arguments for civilian control over the military are essentially arguments for what some scholars say was coup-proofing against anarchy and errant branches of the military. Here, coup-proofing suggested steps such as tokens of special loyalties, compartmentalization, rotation and the institution of the commissar system and a dedicated internal intelligence service to keep a check on the militarys political power and influence within the state. However, it has also been argued that coup-proofing has inadvertently led to the ascendance of domestic state with a highly politicized, and yet very ineffectual military capability. In other words, the dissociation of trust between the civilian structure and the military by way of coup-proofing has evolved the military into one devoid of military capability. Such evidence was evident as far back as the onset of the 1st Gulf War when highly modernized Arab forces were beaten on the field by the well-organized Iraqi Army. It must be noted however that Huntingtons and Janowitzs case for explaining civil-military relations was largely borne out of western construct and experience and were largely myopic, with respect to the fact that they incorrectly viewed a coup as the sole and final exercise of military power. Huntington and Janowitz did not calculate and hypothesize that officers in barracks may be as influential and powerful as officers in the government, that officers may rather be kingmakers than kings. It is in light of such coup-less exercision of power by the military that the question of its declining influence in the Middle East be addressed, especially considering that military coups have often been considered to be a measure of military influence in a state. Therefore, considering the fact that the number of coups have steadily fallen in the Middle East since the 1970s (With countries like Syria having a turbulent and frequent history of coups not having had one since 1970), it is understandable to conclude that the militarys influence in steadily waning. However, that may not be a perfect assumption. Here, it is important to consider the case of three Middle Eastern States; Turkey, Israel and Egypt. Israel for one, may be argued is a warfare state, a nation-state born out of conflict, with a society where the preparation of conflict permeates all levels of economy, society and culture. And it is this very nature of society that has contributed to the relative permanence of the military in Israeli politics. Israel is a true democracy but, it is one where the significance of the military has allowed it significant precedence in Israeli society. The military is largely overseen by the civilian structure but, their relationship is one of co-dependence and partnership rather than one of paramountcy as Huntington argued. This relationship is owing to a lot of factors not limited to the openness of entry from the military to the political field (Moshe Dayan, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon), the very active lobby of ex-military officers within the business and industrial rank and the relative autonomy the IDF enjoys in terms of recruitment, education, training and technological procurement. A lso, the existing civilian-military structure in Israel is a perfect illustration of Janowitzs civilianized military in action, albeit one where the military still enjoys immense influence, that may go as far as political autonomy (In the occupied areas of West Bank and Gaza) as well as a lack of fear from long-term repercussions (Kahan Commission report). On the other hand, the evidence in Turkey is of a military which has been increasingly confident of its duty to preserve the Kemalist Turkish state. It has been a powerful and cohesive institution that has often absorbed tutelary powers by way of coups in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1977 against democratically elected governments which it didnt believe was preserving the Turkish state. And contrary to popular convention, the army in Turkey preferred to remain kingmakers rather than kings, which is why coups were usually followed by exit guarantees for military officers and a larger role for the military in Turkish domestic and foreign politics (National Security Council after the 1961 constitution following the 60 coup). Presently however, under the more assertive Erdogan, relations have been strained and the military, especially since the 2016 coup attempt has been increasingly devoid of any significant power and influence. It is that rare state in the Middle East where a democratically el ected leader is leading the State away from a partial democracy to a more authoritarian regime. Egypt on the other hand, is a case of a Praetorian state where the lines of distinction are often blurred. It is a state where the military not only did and still does wield a lot of influence and power, but is in charge of a military industrial complex that permeates the all socio-economic levels of the society.   In Egypt, the pattern of increasing arms production and procurement by the military and the expansion of military enterprises into the civilian economy, so much so that 40% of the production capacity is owned by the military, is reflective of the significance of the military in Egypt. Much is the same in Jordan, where its armed forces have entered into joint venture partnerships with 26 foreign defense contractors. However, the cases of Israel, Egypt and Turkey are anomalies in the larger Middle East. In nation-states like Saudi Arabia, power remains solely with the dynastical-clerical network while the military constituted by foreign-trained, apolitical officers and the division of labor allows no real power to the military. Iran remains a theocracy, where power remains removed far from the military, an incidence ensured by the Commissar system which ensures fidelity of the armed forces to the Republic by the Revolutionary Guard. In countries such as Iraq and Yemen, the regular armed forces are splintered into rival factions on primordial and tribal lines. In Syria, similar to Egypt, the institutionalization of the militarys economic interests within the State has ensured the survivability of the regime. There is no single factor responsible for the diminishing role of the military across the Middle East. In fact, it can be argued that the military remains a powerful force in countries such as Egypt and Israel, arguably the most powerful states in the region. However, any power or influence it may have is no longer exercised as it once used to be. Coups have a been a thing of the past for the last few years (Yemen and Egypt being rare exceptions), largely because coups have been increasingly realized to not be the only way to exercise military influence. The same can also be attributed to the fact that regimes such as Syria have grown to perfect ways to coup-proof their regimes by way of not only military division of labor and compartmentalization, but by the utilization of a well-oiled intelligences services like the Mukhabarat, making it even more difficult for civilian regimes to be disposed of. There are other factors to consider as well, such as the fact that coup-proofing measu res have diluted military cohesion, an incidence which makes it almost impossible for a small, disillusioned detachment of the military to wage a coup without the support of the rest of the larger diversified, and highly specialized military such as the Air Forces. To conclude yes, it can be argued that when compared to recent history, the military is enjoying a rather diminished role in Middle East politics. However, this is owing to a multitude of factors, with no single factor solely responsible for the same. That said, the cases of Israel and Egypt do signify that the military does have a significant role to play, if not directly, but by way of a broader, more pervasive degree of influence that has permeated certain Middle Eastern societies.

Wilsons 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles :: World War I History

Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles When the peace processes were to start after the finishing of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the German's by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territor ies and national self-determination. Many of his points were carried out in the Treaty of Versailles, although not all of them were successful or followed completely. Wilson's fourth point in his plan was the reduction of national armaments. He stated that there should be "adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments [would] be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety." In the Treaty of Versailles, it was stated that the German army was to be limited to 100,000 and that Germany was not allowed to draft its citizens or to have an air force. Also, Germany was no longer allowed to operate submarines because of the unrestricted submarine warfare that they had displayed during the war, and their naval ships were limited in size and in the amount that they were permitted to own. Furthermore, the Rhineland was to be permanently disarmed and occupied by the Allies for fifteen years to ensure that there would be no attacks against France that might start another war. In addition to this, it was stated that Germany would never be allowed to unite with Austria because they would form an incredibly strong fighting force. This resulted in much complaining by the Germans on the account that they believed they were being left without a military force significant enough to protect themselves. Also, the treaty did not require any of the other countries to perform even the slightest demilitarization.

Concert Review

Despite slavery legally ending in 1 865, African Americans still didn't have the same rights as white Americans. â€Å"Jazz was music that both black and white people could enjoy. By the 1 sass, jazz was growing in popularity and included influences from Europe as well as Africa† (Washington post). The Jazz Band featured a series of special guests such as Johnny Gonzales (Saxophone), Dennis Dotson (Trumpet), and Bobby Guess (Bass Trombone). High's Blues is a tune that was composed by Jeff Jarvis.The primary instrumentalists were Jeff Lam with he Vibes, Kali Pinions with the Alto Sax, Ray Hills with the Piano, Ashley Flowers with the Trumpet, and Jimmy Banks with the Guitar. This piece's dynamic or volume was fortissimo and/or very loud. The melody seemed to have been fairly conjunct with metered rhythm. The texture was apparently homophobic with a thick texture. Cantaloupe Island is a tune that was composed by Hancock. The primary instrumentalists were Each Outlander with the Trumpet and Tory Zimmerman with the Fullerton. The Fullerton is defined as a brass musical instrument like a cornet but with a mellower tone.The use of the Fullerton in this piece demonstrated the wide dynamic range the ensemble had. The dynamics or volume was fortissimo and/or very loud. Candy Dancer is a tune that was composed by Jeff Jarvis. The primary instrumentalists were Marcel Primes with the Bass, Michael Williams with the Piano, Kali Pinions with the Alto Sax, Ashley Flowers with the Trumpet, and Jimmy Banks with the Guitar. Horn of Pungent is a tune that was composed by Goodwin. The primary instrumentalist was Ashley Mowers with the Trumpet. This was one of the first solo performances that the band completed.The trumpet, being a brass musical instrument with a flared bell and a bright, penetrating tone, influenced the dynamic or volume of the piece to be fortissimo or very loud. The rhythm was also metered and the Timbre or quality of sound was very clear. Another piece t hat essentially managed to do the same thing was Top Dog. Top Dog is a tune that was composed by Yeastiness. The primary instrumentalist was Each Outlander with the Trumpet. Both solos demonstrated both virtuosity and expression, along with some humorous moments. Solo's serve to highlight performers' ability to playOff each other, while allowing his or her individual strength to shine through. Aaron's Blues is a tune that was composed by Chip McNeill. The primary instrumentalists were Michael Williams with the Piano, Eel Baker, with the Alto Sax, Bobby Guess with the Bass Trombone, and Denny Willie with the Trumpet. This piece contained a strong melody with a Forte or loud dynamic. Magellan is a tune that was composed by Strongmen. The primary instrumentalists were Michael Williams with the Piano, Dennis Dotson with the Trumpet, and Bob Peel with the Tenor Sax.This piece seemed to be a bit distinct or â€Å"jumping all over the place† because of the unusual instruments that w ere combined. For the most part, this piece's dynamic was fortissimo or very loud while the timbre or quality of sound was clear. Jeannine is a tune that was arranged by Taylor. The primary instrumentalists were Dennis Dotson with the Trumpet and Johnny Goggles with the Sax. This piece reminded me of â€Å"Hot Jazz† that was played in Jazz Houses by imitators of New Orleans. There's Only So Much Oil in the Ground is a tune that was arranged by Tomato.The primary instrumentalists were Johnny Goggles with the Sax and Michael Williams with the Top Organ sounds. This piece seemed to be fortissimo or very loud. It seemed to be Polyphonic by containing multiple melodic lines of equal importance. Finally, Rock This Town is a tune that was arranged by Dave Wolfe. The primary instrumentalists Were Dennis Dotson with the Trumpet and Johnny Goggles with the Sax. This piece was fortissimo or very loud. This piece also reminded me of the â€Å"swing† era where music was performed i n order to encourage dance. They called this era the â€Å"binge band RA†.

Free Essays on iMac

For years, Macs and PCs have been competing for home users. Apple has recently released the new iMac, and the notebook version of the iMac – the iBook. Even though several years ago, Macs were better than PCs, now, PCs are better than Macs for home users in terms of performance and expansion options. To some consumers, performance is often the most important factor in buying a computer. Performance doesn’t necessarily mean how well the computer performs potentially, but only on specific tasks. Both iBook and iMac are designed for home users, most of whom neither care about number of floating-point operations per second, nor know what it means. Very few home users will pay $500 for Photoshop 5.0 to edit photos on their PC. The more likely uses for home computers are: word processing, browsing the Internet, and 3-D gaming. Since the most popular word processor is developed by Microsoft and allegedly optimized for Windows, it would be unfair to compare the Mac version of M S Word with the Windows version. However, comparing the performance in 3-D games and the Internet is fair. Even though PC Magazine specializes in PCs, it reviewed the iBook as soon as it came out. The article focused on performance of the iBook and compared it to a similar IBM-compatible notebook. Since there are no new IBM-compatible notebooks that match iBook’s specifications, PC Magazine decided to use the notebook they believed to be closest to iBook – the IBM ThinkPad iSeries 1480. They have very few similarities: the both notebooks are available in different colors, and neither notebook has the fastest processor from its platform. Apple claims that its notebooks are â€Å"up to twice as fast as comparable Microsoft Windows-based portables† (qtd. in Hill 53). This statement is very vague – it doesn’t say how they compared the portables, and what Apple meant by â€Å"comparable†. Since similar statements have been made about iMac, speed will be discussed in ... Free Essays on iMac Free Essays on iMac For years, Macs and PCs have been competing for home users. Apple has recently released the new iMac, and the notebook version of the iMac – the iBook. Even though several years ago, Macs were better than PCs, now, PCs are better than Macs for home users in terms of performance and expansion options. To some consumers, performance is often the most important factor in buying a computer. Performance doesn’t necessarily mean how well the computer performs potentially, but only on specific tasks. Both iBook and iMac are designed for home users, most of whom neither care about number of floating-point operations per second, nor know what it means. Very few home users will pay $500 for Photoshop 5.0 to edit photos on their PC. The more likely uses for home computers are: word processing, browsing the Internet, and 3-D gaming. Since the most popular word processor is developed by Microsoft and allegedly optimized for Windows, it would be unfair to compare the Mac version of M S Word with the Windows version. However, comparing the performance in 3-D games and the Internet is fair. Even though PC Magazine specializes in PCs, it reviewed the iBook as soon as it came out. The article focused on performance of the iBook and compared it to a similar IBM-compatible notebook. Since there are no new IBM-compatible notebooks that match iBook’s specifications, PC Magazine decided to use the notebook they believed to be closest to iBook – the IBM ThinkPad iSeries 1480. They have very few similarities: the both notebooks are available in different colors, and neither notebook has the fastest processor from its platform. Apple claims that its notebooks are â€Å"up to twice as fast as comparable Microsoft Windows-based portables† (qtd. in Hill 53). This statement is very vague – it doesn’t say how they compared the portables, and what Apple meant by â€Å"comparable†. Since similar statements have been made about iMac, speed will be discussed in ...

How to Write a Compelling Character Arc in Just 3 Steps

How to Write a Compelling Character Arc in Just 3 Steps How to Write a Compelling Character Arc A character arc maps the evolution of a personality through a story. It's a term that writers use to describe their protagonist's journey from a place of comfort to rapid change and back again: hence, an arc.While main characters might face big challenges (Hungarian Horntails and evil Dark Lords), character arcs have to do with internal, personal change. Characters will find their strengths and weaknesses tested over the course of the story - so that by the time they arrive at the story's end, they are a changed person. These changes might not be monumental, but they will have made a significant impact on the character, either positively or negatively.In this post, we'll look at how a writer can plot a compelling, believable arc - starting with a classic story of good triumphing over evil. Whether your protagonist has a happy or unfortunate ending, here's how to arc their internal development How to write a character arc with a  positive changeWhen the protagonist overcomes external obstacles and internal flaws in order to become a better person, we can describe this as a positive arc. It’s often used in story structures such as the Hero’s Journey.At its core, this arc is made up of three points:The Goal: Every character needs to have a goal. It might be to fall in love. Or it might be to make as much money as possible. Either way, their journey will be hindered by...The Lie: A deeply-rooted misconception they have about themselves or the world that keeps them from reaching their true potential. In order to reach their goal, they’ll need to acknowledge and overcome the Lie, by facing†¦The Truth: While the character may have their own plans, the positive change arc has its own goal:   self-improvement. This is achieved when they learn to reject The Lie and embrace The Truth.To see this arc in action, let’s map it onto a few classic prot agonists.Example The HobbitIn Breaking Bad, Walter goes off the deep end (image: Sony Pictures Television)Walter White is in a happy marriage and lives an honest life working as a science teacher and as a father to his teenage son - but then he receives news of his advanced lung cancer. To begin, he’s concerned with the sudden confrontation with his own mortality. Until the inciting incident introduces...The Goal: Sell enough meth with ex-student-turned-drug-dealer Jesse Pinkman so that he can pay for cancer treatment and to secure the future of his family.The Lie: Arrogance. Walter believes he has the power to avoid the hand of the law, avoid corruption, and avoid bringing danger upon his family while entering the drug trade.The Truth: Walter believes he’s on a noble journey to provide for his family. In reality, he’s rebelling against his mortality - and playing with fire usually results in burns.This arc is different from the others we’ve examined be cause Walter starts his arc already aware of the Truth: cooking meth is risky business and is not the solution to his problems. But faced with impending death, the boundaries of his morals have been suddenly pushed, leaving him vulnerable to the Lie: the belief that he is immune corruption. His arc sees Walter continuously rejecting the red flags and embracing the Lie, until any distinction is lost and he’s so far gone he has no choice but to embrace the Lie completely. In the end, it consumes him and he loses everything, turning into a full-fledged anti-hero.Character Arc Map: They know the Truth about the world → They pursue a goal believing they can hold onto Truth → They succumb to the Lie and reject the Truth → They embrace (or are defeated by the Lie) and lose. How to plot a compelling and believable character arc - with examples These three steps, while being universal elements of all arcs, can take countless forms depending on the specificities of your character. Sometimes, the arc doesn’t involve substantial internal change, and is more about the change they effect on the world around them - something often called a â€Å"flat arc.†When planning the arc of your central personalities, always look for the lie they believe, the truth they may or may not believe, and the goal that drives them. We recommend downloading this free character profile template to help. If you find that you're still struggling, try using these character development exercises. Ultimately, breaking arcs down this way should help you emphasize cause and effect and keep your characters anchored in ways that will make it so much easier for your readers to empathize with.

Central school district vs. Rowley 458 US 176 (1982) Essay

Central school district vs. Rowley 458 US 176 (1982) - Essay Example These helped to increase the amount of training and funding individuals that were responsible for education could receive; specifically with regard to learning and understanding how to educate children with mental retardation and issues pertaining to blindness/disabilities with sight. Further, the State School’s Act of 1965 provided additional grant funding from the federal government as a means of accomplishing the tasks that have thus far been denoted with respect to the provisions made available for those with distinct disabilities within the educational system. As one can adequately note, the purpose of all of this legislation was to provide a more fair and equitable distribution of education; one did not favor or preference one specific of individuals. As this served as the fundamental backbone of what came to be known as FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education), it had a profound impact with regard to the way in which educators came to understand their role and allocated funding based upon the unique disabilities that were exhibited within their student body. The context of education at the time was one that of course placed a higher emphasis upon the average student and most often ignored the needs and requirements of those that had what were referred to as special needs. As a means of seeking to make this reality a distant memory, Congress and stakeholders within the educational system sought to effect a more reasonable and ethical approach whereby students with disabilities would have their educational needs determined and provided for in a similar degree as compared to those that were considered as average. The core challenge to FAPE came as a Supreme Court case that challenged that Free Appropriate Public Education was not being provided to a deaf girl within a particular school district; as the district had denied her parents request for a deaf translator. Seeing this as an egregious denial of FAPE, the suit

Create a Short story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Create a Short story - Essay Example Sure, he had enough things to feel proud, but they failed to meet Jacks great life expectations. Tony, his neighbor and secret enemy, was an epitome of success. Tony was everything Jack wanted to be. He was tall, well-dressed, successful, self-confident and humorous person who had all doors open for him. They worked at the same organization where Jack had the opportunity to observe how Tony climbed his career ladder. Jack remained an ordinary clerk when Tony was promoted again and again. Tony was loved, celebrated and appreciated when Jack was forgotten. Daily routine swallowed Jack and his thoughts. There were papers to be sighed and reports to be made up. There were piles of paper on his desk and a dozen of unread emails. Jacks depression was getting worse and worse with every thought which popped up in Jacks head. The invisible fight between Tony and Jack was over and Jack had to grasp his knockout. The day was over and Jack had to go home. When the doors of the elevator closed, he found himself standing in front of Tony with no other people around. The tension was increasing with every second. Jack could hardly control his despair and anger; he wanted to stop this humiliation of being so close to the person whom he hated most in his life. â€Å"You have everything I want to have in my life. When I look at your loving and beautiful wife and marvelous two kids, I understand that my life is completely empty. You might be the happiest person in the world. Sorry if I bother you.† The doors opened and Tony rushed to his car leaving puzzled Jack behind his back. He did not look at Jack and left the office building quickly. The situation was totally absurd, and Jack struggled to understand what had just happened. His role model and his greatest enemy turned into a secret admirer of Jacks humble family

Religion as a Psychology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion as a Psychology - Research Paper Example Bible clearly describes the changing human behaviour through the stages of life. Therefore, it is well said by psychiatrist Jerome Frank, â€Å"psychotherapy is not primarily an applied science. In some ways, it more resembles a religion† (Bergin, 1980). Qur’an and Bible are the instructional books explaining the way of living in this world. Whenever someone leaves the instructions, the psychological force compelling the individual to get back on the track captures him. This practice of coming back to instructions is done through meditation, which controls the human psychology. Religions provide psychological guidance about behaviour, human rights and moral values. A reward of deeds in the shape of heavens and hell psychologically minimizes the human indulgence in sinful life (Fontana, 2003). Religion obligations act like a therapy in changing the human behaviour. Psychological changes that Islam and Christianity bring in human life are discussed in under mentioned para graphs: Psychotherapist Thomas in his book â€Å"The myth of psychotherapy† says that religion is the basic ingredient of psychotherapy. He also says that psychotherapy revolves around religion and rhetoric (Bergin, 1980). Human relations with each other are known as psychotherapy matters but in real, these are the matters of Christianity. This shows that Christianity and psychology are interrelated. Cure of souls was the common practice in early church that remained part of church activities until 20th century. Bible was used to identify the troubles in human mind followed by spiritual treatment of troubled mind. Prayers are the main source of fixing all sorts of problems. Care of soul therapy used in church, very effectively treated all the nonorganic mental, emotional and personal problems of living. This beauty of religion really helped to do away with all the psychological pressure and helped people to live a normal life. (Fontana, 2003) Cure of souls was replaced with t he modern word psychotherapy due to advancement in the field of medical sciences. Again, Christianity has played role in real psychological treatment of â€Å"sinful† minds. Psychological practitioners replaced the word â€Å"sinful† with word â€Å"sick† and replaced spiritual ministers in treating the people through religion than medical. Aim of religious treatment is to establish link between man and God. Confession and repentance is the right treatment for a soul in Christianity. Bible is the holy book that guides individuals in living an abundant life. Bible helps human being to exercise greater psychological control by having faith in God despite all the problems. Moreover, time comes when one is driven by internal force to tackle all the situations in the life that is the time when individual has received the life of God in his own body (Bergin, 1980). Islam means, â€Å"surrender to the will of Allah†, the all powerful who decides fate of human be ings. People with good deeds will go to paradise and with bad deeds will be punished in hell. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet of Allah and his followers are called Muslims. Islam is also one of the religions that treat human mind and soul through spiritual powers. Islam gives a clear path of leading a successful life. Qur’an is the holy book of Muslims having solutions for all the mental, health, psychological and health problems. Islamic scholars have done great research on the teachings of the holy book and have believed the fairness of all the guidelines. Islam lays great emphasis r on life following the death. Where good deeds will be rewarded paradise and bad deeds will see hell. This

This report will be focusing Essay Example for Free

This report will be focusing Essay This report will be focusing on the different functional areas of a business, i. e. Administration, Finance and Human Resources Task 1 Functional Areas are the different areas of a firm. Each functional area has a different objective to the next. Sales will be the main turnover part of the business whereas Human Resources (HR) will be the hiring and firing of personnel. Marketing are in touch with the consumer and Finance take care of the money. The different areas include (but are not limited to): Human Resources, Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Administration (also known as Admin) And Customer Services. Task 2 This table shows which Department or Functional Area has the most importance and what they do Department Explanation Activities Importance Human Resources This functional area has the responsibility of using and developing the organisations personnel in the most productive way. Hiring and Firing, taking interviews. Making sure the employees are happy and, in some cases dealing with pay negotiations and dealing with strike situations Very Important as without HR there wouldnt really be any employees. Without happy employees, there could be strikes etc. Administration IT Services Administration provide the backup needed to run every other department, i. e. the day-to-day jobs Dealing with post, photocopying, dealing with visitors, telephone switchboard, IT Services Probably the most important as no other function can work without it, especially without IT support Finance Managing the money coming in and out, paying taxes and raising money for the business Handling money, paying the VAT man, handling taxes Very important the CEO would get indicted for not paying VAT and Tax Marketing Sales. Finding out what products customers need and advertising the products to them Advertising and selling the product to the customers Very important as without selling your goods you wont have any income Customer Services Looking after customers requirements and dealing with their complaints Contacting customers and being contacted about returns, advice, complaints and enquires Probably the least important as once youve sold your product you dont really need any further contact with the consumer Task 3 Charlton Athletic FC Human Resources. One specialist personnel officer who is responsible for all aspects of training, recruitment, interviews and development. Managers of all departments also have a responsibility for some aspects of various personnel issues. Payroll section responsible for paying all departments Finance Each department has its own budget and must meet all costs from this. Departments may request emergency funds if the budget is overspent Administration Each senior manager has his/her own Personal Assistant. Everyone does their own administration. The admin dept. also has the I. T. department within Marketing 3 Departments who deal with the marketing and sales aspect of the firm Marketing Department This department deals with sponsorship and selling stadium boxes to the public for matches Communications Dept. This department designs and updates the website, also they design, write and print brochures and matchday programmes Public Relations (PR) The PR dept. deals with player appearances to the press, they deal with all press enquiries and arranging player interviews on T. V. and Magazines Charlton also have a Schools Visit Programme in which they visit schools in Kent and South-East London to further the Charlton reach. Customer Services Charltons Customer Services department doesnt actually exist. Complaints are dealt individually with by the manager of each department. Chartlon apparently take complaints very seriously. Big complaints may be dealt with by the Chief Executive of Charlton himself. Any complaints not dealt with by the club may be handed to an independent inspector from the IFC (Independent Football Commission). Bromley Library Human Resources 42 people in total work in the Library which is down from last year The different roles include Group manager, Assistant Director of Education who is the chief librarian and Senior Customer Service Manager. You could argue that the Director of Education, Ken Davis is the head of the library There is a central HR section within the Education and Libraries dept. The HR dept. is mostly training and hiring new All Bromley Libraries put together get an average of about 2-3000 visitors a day so health and safety is important. There is an HS Executive who visits all the libraries and investigates certain problems Finance It is a legal requirement that Libraries cannot charge for books but libraries can charge money for videos, DVDs and CDs. Their funding includes New Opportunities grants (A Lottery Fund) and Government Grants. Administration This includes an IT repairman with a team of technicians who goes out to branches to sort out any IT problems Task 4 Internal Communication: Communication between the different functional areas and different people within the same functional area of the same company. External Communication: Communication to someone outside of the company, for example Banks, Suppliers, Customers, Shareholders, Stakeholders etc. Task 5 Type Of Comm. Explanation Advantage Disadvantage Verbal Conversation A real-life conversation between 2 or more people, face-to-face. Feels more personal, no technology that can fail and interrupt your conversation Someone can overhear your private conversation Telephone Conversation A conversation between 2 people on the telephone Can be private as it is only you and the other person that can hear Can get cut off, can be expensive Telephone Conferencing. A telephone conversation between more than 2 people Talk to you work colleagues when you are all in another country If one person gets cut off the conversation cannot continue without him/her. Expensive Meetings A formal meeting between important people in the firm. Usually no more than 10-15 people Meetings can be a useful place to share ideas You might not want to be in the same room as someone Video Conferencing The same as telephone conference but with a live video image of the person(s) you are speaking to. Video conversations can be made with a 3G (3Gigabit) phone or over the internet using MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger or Skype 2 Seeing your colleagues can be more personal and can feel like a meeting If one person wants to leave the entire conversation stops. Can be expensive Letters A formal external communication method between to groups Letters are always clear and to the point Slow to arrive and get lost on the post. Post is 29p Email is free Memos An internal form of letter, usually less formal Will always reach the person as it goes through internal mail Takes a long time to reply Email An electronic mail that can arrive in another part of the world in less than 3 seconds. Can be used for anything and does not have to be formal Can reach the other side of the world in around three seconds. Can be replied to instantly. Can be sent to more than one person instantly Sometimes too informal and can be lost on servers Fax A written document that is scanned and sent across phone lines A letter that can reach the other side of the world in seconds Can get lost on the phone lines. Document may not scan well. Black and white only Notices A kind of memo pinned to a notice board to inform the passers-by Notices can inform anyone about what is going on and it cannot be private May not reach the person(s) you want it to Skype and other VoIP applications It allows you to make free calls to other Skype users and very cheap calls to Landlines and Mobiles. Now, with Skype 2 you can add video to your conversation A cheaper alternative to making phone calls. The call is sent over your broadband connection so is quick and clear. No national or international charges You have to pay (albeit very little) for calls to landlines and mobiles   Aaron L. Lovegrove Page 1 09/05/2007 Page 1 of 7 Business Studies Unit 1 Functional Area.

Personal And Professional Skills Identification Personal Development Essay

Personal And Professional Skills Identification Personal Development Essay In order for any manager or leader to achieve the goals set for themselves as well as the goals set for the organization, possessing appropriate skills are most important aspect. Before we can understand the important of either managerial skills or leadership skills (both personal as well as professional skills), we need to understand as to what differentiates these two professional positions from each other. Understanding the meaning of a leader- Leader is a person who not only helps the organization reach its goals but also helps to develop people at the same time. A leader is said to be a person who does the right things at the right time. Leadership is all about effectiveness. Leadership is all about innovation, inspiration and motivation. Understanding the meaning of a Manager- A manager is an entity in organization who helps to direct the actions of the employees or the members to achieve the organizational goals. A Manager is all about doing the things right and its all about efficiency. Manager is all about managing the resources of the organization. Understanding the common and unique differences between a leader and a manager will help us to understand the skills that are required in the organization: A manager believes in administration whereas a leader goes for innovation. Manager is all about organizing and scheduling but leadership is all about motivating the people in the organisation. A manager at the end of the day has employees working under him or her but for a leader, they have people who wants to becomes like them in future. A manager always ensures that the short term goals are achieved first but a leader wants to ensure that the short term goals are acheived in such a way that they help is achieving the long term goals. A manager works to ensure the stability in the business but a leader looks out for changes that can bring about the stability in the business. Personal and Professional Skills- Now as we know the difference between a manager and leader, we need to understand some of the personal and the professional skills that are important in an organization. Personal skills includes effective communication, being accountable and dependable, adaptable and appropriate work place behavior etc. Professional skills includes effective communication, time management, conducting and being part of meetings, managing stress at workplace, preparing appropriate presentations, management of performance and observation of performance, motivations and stabilization at work place. In order to understand the Manager role in a professional environment we will focus on four major skills that every potential Manager is expected to possess in an organization and these skills are: Time Management skills- Time is a very important aspect for any business. Effective management of time is essential for success of any organization or even a project. A manager can effectively manage time if they concentrate on the important aspects of the business or the organization first and then keep the other factors secondary. Effective management of time not only helps us understand what many say Time is money as well as stress reduction can be due to effective time management. (Marc Mancini, 2007) There are many options available for managers to effectively manage there time, they need to understand the priority of the work that has been assigned to them and ensure that they are working efficiently to deliver the required work on time rather then wasting the time on some work which is currently not important. A manager can also manage time if the work has been organized and distributed properly. If we take an example, Toyota works on the principle of JIT (Just in Time) and they are a very successful company known for there quality and on time work. If a person can learn to effectively manage their time, they are on their way to achieve their goals. But before a person can learn to manage time, they need to be aware of the factors that can affect the time management. These factors will include Unorganized work format, inappropriate judgment for delivery of the work, Not giving the complete attention to the current work and delaying it by working on something else at the same time. Conducting meetings- Conducting meetings or being part of the meetings are one of daily roles of a manager. Meeting is the forum through which gathered members or the people not only discuss and understand any situation but also try and develop ideas to decide on any issue. It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that he or she carries and arranges meeting in such a way that the end result leads out to an effective meeting (be the purpose of the meeting was informal talk or formal data communication). Depending on the reason or the purpose of the meeting, there can be many advantages that can be derived out of the meetings. When ever there is any formal or informal meeting, the Manager always has an edge over the members of the meeting. An effective manager utilizes meetings for not only relaying information to the co-workers but also to brain storm to generate ideas pertaining to there departments. We need to always remember that in a meeting it is not necessary that all the members will come with the same opinion. An effective manager uses the meeting as a forum to not only strengthen his team on the whole but also to give individual attention to the members of the team. On the whole meetings always help to develop good work place environment through good working relations. An effective manager is expected to have conducted an effective meeting if they have first and foremost achieved the main objective and idea behind conducting the meeting. In order to achieve this the manager needs to ensure that the members of the meeting are not only aware about the entire schedule of the meeting but also have information on the content of the meeting. An effective manager not only conveys all the information accurately but also ensures that the opinions of the members of the meeting is gathered at the end. Preparing presentation- Preparing and giving presentation is another important skill that is required for any manager. Presentation skills are just not important for managers, it is an essential aspects in every field of work in todays world. Presentation is a skills through a manager not only relays important information to the co-workers but also effectively utilizes various tools like Optics and graphics to get into the details of the information. In any company, presentations are used for meetings, discussing financial issues and even in senior board meetings. On the whole apart from the members of the presentation meeting the effectiveness of the presentation also is very critical. How can a manager not only prepare but also deliver an effective presentation? There are some of the methods that can be implemented and utilised to get to the required results of the presentations. These points are as follows: Every manager needs to ensure that they understand the importance of the presentation that they will be delivering and should be well prepared for it from before. If we check on www.nwlink.com, an effective presentation should have a good content. By this it means that it should only contain the information that is relevant. Every presentation should have a good format or structure- It should have a good start, middle and the end of the presentation. Every presentations should ensure that it understands that viewpoint and connects to the people involved in the presentation. Time is one of the most important aspect in presentations, the presenter needs to ensure that the time is utilized effectively in the presentation. Stress management skills- Skills that help and aid in managing the stress effectively are known as stress management skills. In simple terms stress can be defined as the response that is generated by our body depending on positive or negative conditions of outside or inside pressure. If we ignore the conditions and reasons for the stress, it can lead to lack of concentration and and difficult to work. Depending on the causes of the stress, they can be classified into different categories Stress caused due to survival factor- People have heard that the survival of the fittest, and this can lead to serious stress among the people. This can be applied in personal or even professional place. Stress caused due to internal or personal factors- This stress factors can be caused due to any personal reasons, financial problems, family problem anything. Stress caused due to environmental factors- Some people cannot take certain changes in environment like loud noise, pollution and get stressed out easily. Stress caused due to work place- People working in an organization get over worked and over tired and get stressed out. Managing the stress at all these situations is extremely important. Task 2. Practical Methods of development of above mentioned four skills In this section we will cover some of the practical methods that can be utilized to develop the above discussed four important skills required for a successful Managership. Methods for the development of Time Management Skills- Through the below mentioned methods we will learn to develop our time management skills and learn how to effectively and efficiently utilise the time. Preparing a list that contains the informations of the works in hand and needs attention can definitely help in managing the time. Always keep idea about the time that needs to be spent on the completion of each task available. Distribution of work also is another practical methods that can not only reduce stress but also save time for other task as well. By ensuring that no additional work is undertaken unless the assigned work has been completed. Always try and work in a team. Ensure that the work is not postponed to another time and date. Always be ready to say No other other including your Boss in case you already have enough work at your hand. Methods for the developing the meeting Skills In order to develop the meeting skills, manager needs to ensure that they understand the objectives and the purpose of the meeting. Every action that is taken should always lead to the achievement of the goal of the meeting. Ensure that the important information and data is discussed well within the time. Ensure that the meeting content was valuable for every member of the meeting. Always be well prepared and organized (time, agenda etc) for the meeting. Ensure that the feedback is taken from the members regarding the meeting. Methods for the development of presentation Skills Just like meetings skills, ensure that the presenter is well organizedd and prepared for the meeting. Ensure latest technologies are utilized to enhance the presentation (visual aids). Always keep everyone involved in the presentation and keep eye contact with everyone while giving presentation. Always ensure that you have practiced the presentation well in advance to avoid any anxiety. Methods for the development of stress Management Skills In order to develop the stress management skills, first learn to understand the reason which is leading to stressful situation. Either you can avoid the things which are causing stress or try and adjust yourself to that situation which will reduce stress. Another method is either to change the cause of stress or accept the cause of stress. Always try and re-frame the issues leading to stress and try and distribute work which will reduce the workload stress. Reward yourself when accomplishing any task, this can reduce the stress a lot. Avoid negative methods to manage stress, adapt healthy way for stress management. Outcome 2. Evaluation of Personal Skills through Audit Task 3. Personal Skill auditing Every person has there own way and approach of learning things in life, these approaches can be considered as the individual learning style. A manager is expected to understand there method and style of learning things and turning the negatives into positives. Individual specific learning style helps them to make and alter there weaknesses into their strength through every action that they take. After long understanding and thinking, I can say that I have a Learning style which is combination of being Theorist as well as Linguistic. Depending on my learning style, I have performed the below audit to highlight my strength and weaknesses. Skills Strength Weakness Organized P Communication P Time Management P Management of Stress P Delegation P Meetings and Presentations P Efficient and Self confident P Learning methodology P Interpersonal communication P Technological skills P Coaching and mentoring P Learn from experience P Logical thinking skills P We we take a look, we can clearly see that there are quite a few noticeable weakness in my learning style. These weakness can lead to non effective performance of the manager. The weakness are always a hindrance in a work place towards success. If we take a look at the people and the businesses which are currently blooming, they have got success as they have studied from there past experiences and changed their weakness into their strength. Performance in a business world is the key to success and survival. Now after understanding and performing the self audit for the skills, there weakness which can affect the development of the four skills mentioned earlier are: Communication- Communicating in an effective way is crucial for manager. This weakness can affect all the four skills like Time management, Stress management, Meeting and presentations skills. Communication is the backbone for the proper development of the skills. A manager needs to communicate clearly about the work in hand and the time it will consume to reduce the stress later on. Communicating effectively is the main factor to turn the meeting and presentation important and meaningful. Delegation- This is one weakness which can have an impact on Time management as well as Stress management development. A manager needs to learn to delegate work to reduce the self burden and lack of time. Logical thinking skills- A manager needs to ensure that they think effectively for all possible reactions and reasons before taking any action. Taking action without thinking can create stress at work and management of stress can be serious issue which will involve lot of time. Outcome 3. Personal Development plan Task 4. Personal development plan Before we can develop a personal development plan, we need to understand the importance of development plan. What are the significant weakness in self? I have performed the self skill audit to understand as to where I stand in terms of the skills I possess and the skills that needs to be developed and worked upon. Why need personal Development plan? If I want to become a successful manager, I need to ensure that there are not significant weakness in my professional and personal skills that can have a huge impact on my learning. No body can be perfect but at least we can try to be close to being perfect. What I am targeting to achieve through the development plan? I am targeting not only to maintain my current strength of skills but also convert my weakness into my strength to ensure that there is very less scope of weakness in future. I need to ensure that my learning style helps in this process. The personal development plan should be aligned with SMART objectives and the self SWOT analysis. Objectives of SMART will ensure that I have developed a plan which is not only realistic but also time based, which I will be measuring and checking on time. I need to ensure that all the development plan is aligned to minimize my weakness. My personal SWOT analysis: Strength Organized Time Management Management of Stress Meetings and Presentations Efficient and self confident Learning methodology Interpersonal communication Technological skills Coaching and mentoring Learning from experience Weaknesses Communication Delegation Logical Thinking skills Opportunities Being part of most of the meetings and presentation at work shops All the facilities available in the college to aid in development Online tutorial for learning Learn through lectures at college Start workshop to help others in developing some skills Threats Missing out important lectures Lack of time for different activities Unable to be part of more work shops Less number of students to enroll for the workshop for skills development Depending on the Personal SWOT analysis, I have prepared a personal development plan as follows (this plan has been developed for a period of 4 months and post this Ill be performing another audit to verify the status of my skills): Skills that Needs development Action to be taken to overcome the weakness and the required resources Time line set for development Communication Try and communicate to as many people possible. Send out reports and data to work on my written communication. Take regular meetings and presentations. 4 Months Delegation Delegate work to reduce the time consumption and the over load stress. Try and work independently but ensure to not over work and encourage others through work delegation. 2 Months Logical Thinking skills Try and think and analyze every situation to come up with possible solutions. Can talk to people about their opinion on a particular situation. 3 Months Task 5. Monitoring and Feedback In order to ensure that the development plan is progressing on a success path, regular monitoring and feedback is essential. The development plan for tackling the weakness covers communication, delegation and logical thinking skills. During the course of the development plan, I feel that I am not only try to communicate to a lot of people but also trying to encourage my co-workers through assigning tasks to them. This is not only helping them to develop their skills but also reducing the stress from me but also Im saving a lot of time for other works. Due to the development plan, I have able to think logically and come up with ideas for the development of the department as well as the co-workers. This has helped me to enhance my communication skills in meetings as well as while giving presentations. Apart from the work place, have been visiting and talking to lot people outside to understand there feeling and style of learning things. Task 6. Conclusion and Learning Advanced Professional Development- This course might seem boring but when we get into the details we will understand that this subject is a critical part of being successful and achieving our aim.It is important to learn from experience but if we dont have any information on the basics of skills required for being Manager, it is totally worthless. This assignment has helped me understand the importance of being the manager and the skills that can lead to the success of being manager. Through this assignment I have understood the importance of my learning method and how I have been using it from long time for many assignment without giving it much thought. Every work involved going through lot of theoretical data (through various sources). But at the end of the day, I have learned immensely through this assignment, the knowledge gathered through this assignment will not only help in being a good manager but also can applied in any field that I would be working in future. At the end I would like to thank all who have helped me in understanding the importance of this assignment and the importance of being a leader and mentor for others.

Patras and the Adriatic Sea :: Geography Greece History Papers

Patras and the Adriatic Sea Problems with format PATRAS ?Patras is a port city located in the Northern Achaia, standing as the gateway to the West for all of Greece. As the third largest Greek city, Patras plays an important role as the center of administrative and commercial activity for Western Greece. Standing in Northwest Peloponnese, Patras has become the link between the European Union and the East because of its prime geographic location. The climate is mild year round, but retains the same four seasons experienced in the United States. The city is over 3000 years old and has always had a unique culture because of its connection with Italy and the Ionian Islands. The footprint of the city was developed in very organized quadrants by Kapodistrias in 1829, and is separated into upper and lower portions. The upper is the original city, and extends down from a castle built during the 6th century. The castle was built upon the ruins of the acropolis on an extension from mount Panachaico. The inside of the castle has been converted into a park, providing the best view of the city on a clear day. ?The old city consists of Patras? wealthy and important homeowners and is less spontaneously scattered upon the hillside. Despite having a 3000-year history many of the old structures have been ruined, although the upper section is today well decorated with neoclassic homes. The entire city was burned and destroyed by the Turks during the 19th century war of Independence. The more organized lower section drops down to the coast and includes the cathedral and the port. The cathedral is very colorful and is named after the city?s patron, St. Andrew, rising high into the air and resting on the remnants of an old Christian Basilica. It sits next to an older church that stands on the remnants of a burnt down Byzantine church (dept. of computer engineering and informatics). The square of George I is the center of the low city and is one of many squares and parks in the area. Another largely famous park is Psila Alonia, ?the balcony? of Patras, a smaller square of palm tress encompassing a sundial. History: ?The name of the region, Achaia, comes from the Achaias that forced out the Ionians living in the region during the Mycenaean period. One of the Achaian leader?s sons was named Patreas, the eventual chief of the Achaians and the root of the city?

Conformity Case Essay

INTRODUCTION: Ever since the first experiment on conformity was conducted by Jenness in 1932, psychologists have tried to measure conformity under various situations. Historically, conformity has been measured in numerous ways, though the most widely used methods have been behavioural observations and self reports (Scher and Thompson, 2007). While Asch’s Experiment (1951) remains the most popular work on conformity, Zimbardo (1971) and Milgrams’ (1974) work are noteworthy. AIM AND HYPOTHESIS: We wanted to find out whether undergraduate students conform to social norms or not? Also, what are the likely reasons for their behaviour? For this, we created our own experiment. However, let us define conformity and other key variables first. Kalat (2008) defines conformity as changing one’s behaviour to match other people’s behaviour or expectations. It is the dependant variable (DV) in our experiment and we gave it an operational definition. We measured DV by the subject’s correct gender identification and subsequent action of walking through the door assigned for their respective gender. This is further elaborated under the Research Method section. The independent variable (IV) in our experiment was self-monitoring attitude. We chose IV as our group believed that it is primarily high self-monitoring people are more conscious about their social image and are thus more likely to conform in general than low-self monitoring people and vice versa. The operational definition for self monitoring attitude was the score on Self-Monitoring (SM) Scale created by Mark Synder in the early 1970’s. Frayer believes that the personality test measures how much an individual would change his behaviour to suit situational cues. It has 25 questions in total and has been attached in APPENDIX 1 for your reference. The results were interpreted as high, intermediate or low score depending on how many questions the subject got corr ect using the answer key provided by lckes and Barnes (1977) attached in APPENDIX 2 for your reference. Our goal was to examine therelationship between self-monitoring attitude (IV) and   conformity (DV). We expected a positive co-relation due to our group belief mentioned above. Besides, Scher and Thompson’s (2007) experiment, which was our inspiration, had found a significant positive correlation relationship between self-monitoring and behavioural conformity. Our target population was the undergraduate students at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). However, our sample consisted of only forty HKU students composing of twenty female and twenty male students. RESEARCH METHOD: Let us elaborate on how we went about conducting our experiment. Firstly, we chose to conduct the experiment at Chi Wah composite building since many undergraduate students go there to study. Secondly, we replicated Sarah Lisbene experiment on gender conformity. Lisbene had pasted gender signs on an entrance of a building to observe whether people would conform to the gender symbols on the doors. We duplicated her gender conformity situation at the main entrance on the first floor of Chi Wah as it has precisely two doors. We stuck gender symbols on each door at the eye level right besides the door handles ‒ a male only sign on right door and a female only sign on the left door. Then, we shut both the doors at the entrance. Anyone who wanted to enter the building from this entrance was bound to read the gender sign before opening the door and thus would have to make a decision to conform, observable by his/her action of walking through the appropriate gender-marked door. Thirdly, we used simple systematic sampling method to choose our subjects. Every 10th person was invited to participate in our experiment by filling in a two paged survey. The survey was actually the SM Scale mentioned in AIM AND HYPOTHESIS section. We calculated their scores on the SM Scale by their marked responses to measure the IV and its relationship with DV. Lastly, we tried to observe participants in their natural setting. To remain unnoticeable, we dressed up in casuals and stood far away from the entrance, trying to avoid giving any additional situational cues to the participants. We wanted to prevent any bias adversely affecting our study and carefully observed the behaviour of the subjects reading the signs, recording their decision of walking through either door and then approached them, requesting to fill in the survey. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS: Though the response and the reactions from the subjects varied, a common trend in our experiment emerged. The participant would read the sign on the door when he/she approached to open the door and get confused. Then, he/she would take a step back and try to locate the other gender sign on the other door and finding one would relieve him/her and change their emotion. Then they would make a decision to walk through either door. The mean score on the SM scale was 12.1, an â€Å"Intermediate Sco re† as it falls in the band width of 9-14. It suggests that HKU undergraduates self-monitor themselves to a moderate degree on average and would be conscious of their social image. Our hypothesis would suggest that undergraduates are likely to conform to their respective gender roles. The statistics obtained from our sample were consistent with our expectations in general. In fact, 28 out of the 40 or 70% participants conformed to their respective gender role. We found a modest positive co-relation of .4049 between SM Scale and conformity. It suggests that self-monitoring attitude may lead to gender conformity. We observed two major group differences based on the data collected. The first group was divided on basis of gender while the second on their score on SM Scale. Firstly, the SM Score mean for females was slightly higher (12.2) than for men (12). The standard deviation for females (3.578) was lower compared to men (4.193) and the range for females was 4-21 and 3-18 for men. The data and statistics obtained are indicative of females conforming marginally more than males. Out of the 28 subjects that did conform, 16 or 57.1% were females and only 12 or 42.9% were males. Secondly, a score of 15-22 is high and 0-8 is low on the SM scale. Out of the 7 subjects who scored low on SM scale, only 3 or 42.9% conformed. Out of the 23 subjects who scored intermediate on SM scale, only 16 or 69.6% conformed and out of the 10 subjects who scored high on SM Scale, 9 or 90% conformed. This suggest that people who score high on the SM Scale are more likely to conform than people who score lower on the SM Scale. A third group difference, which is based on our observation of arrival of participant in a party or not can be suggested. In a group of two females and three males, a male pointed out the discrepancy at the entrance which surprised the whole group. They talked among themselves and even had a laugh, pointing at the symbols. Nonetheless, the group split up and members walked through respective doors and then rejoined once inside the building. This may suggests that people are more likely to conform if they arrive in a party consisting of both the genders. CONCLUSION From our data and observations in the experiment, we can make a few conclusions. Firstly, though HKU undergraduates are likely to conform to gender roles, females are more likely to do so. Secondly, there is a modest correlation between self-monitoring attitude and conformity, though we could not establish a direct causal relationship between the two variables. Thirdly, it seems that people who are scored higher on the SM Scale are more likely to conform to gender roles than those who scored lower on the SM Scale. Lastly, subjects are more likely to conform to gender roles when they arrive in a party consisting of both the genders. CRITICAL EVALUATION: Booker (2012) says that behavioural conformity is linked with youth happiness. Conforming behaviour enables us to create a strong social world and experience belongingness to a group, thereby facilitating social identification and security, leading to equilibrium of contentment. This suggests the importance of conforming in order to ac hieve happiness. Secondly, conforming behaviour is actually a â€Å"self-defining act† and people conform to keep their â€Å"state of peace† (Santee and Jackson, 1982). This too may explain why people conform in general. Furthermore, there is a difference in the view of conformity between both the genders ‒ men regard non-conforming behaviour as â€Å"self-image enhancing† while women regard conformity as â€Å"positive† and â€Å"self defining†. This helps explain why women are more likely than men to conform. Another plausible explanation for gender differences in conformity is given by Maslach, Santee and Wade (1987), who believe conformity is based on personality traits of men and women. Men are supposed to be â€Å"assertive† and â€Å"independent† while women are supposed to be â€Å"sensitive†. Recently, researchers from University of London (2011) have even found a mild genetic influence explaining gender conforming traits (31%) in women. According to Fraser, most people would like to maintain a positive public image and are perceptive to what people think about them. This may explain why high self-monitors who actively apply impression managem ent are more likely to conform than low self-monitors. The fear of distorting their public image or even dampening their social popularity would be a powerful incentive for high self monitors to conform. Lastly, individuals composing a group face a stronger effect of normative social influence than a collection of individuals who do not form a group (Deutsch and Gerard, 1954). This may explain why the conformity increases when subjects arrive in a party consisting of both genders. I would now like to talk about potential flaws in our experiment and some methods to improve our model. Firstly, conformity is not completely dependent on a single variable and we should have used a multi-variable regression model to estimate it instead. In our experiment, one of the omitted variables is lack of social pressure or incentive to conform. The subjects may not have sufficient incentive to walk through their gender assigned door as there was no reward or penalty in terms of social acceptance or rejection. Also, as many as 9 subjects reported that they did not notice any gender symbol and walked in using random door. None of them was suffering from any eyesight problem like colour blindness. Furthermore, Livingstone brings to light a potential confounding variable ‒ civility. Civility primarily depends on disposition of the subject, which in turn depends on parenting, school education and cultural background. We could have included all these variables in our model. Another potential flaw in experiment is not having a control group. Maybe the female lavatory near the left door favoured the female participants to walk through the left door, increasing their conforming number. Either a control group or interchanging the symbols on the doors after the first 20 subjects had filled in the survey would have removed this bias. To improve our model, we could have used better operational definitions too. The SM Scale is controversial and walking through a door marked by a sign may not be a relevant gender issue. Secondly, we could have used a larger budget and more time to improve our model. For instance, it took us four days to get permission to conduct the experiment at Chi Wah. If we had more time, we would have conducted the experiment in the Main Library and Medical Campus to get a representative sample. Increasing our sample size would have enabled us to detect micro trends and be more accurate. We could have offered subjects who refused to fill in the survey monetary compensation. Our study may have been subject to experimenter bias in spite our full effort to minimise the bias as we were expecting a positive correlation. Blinding was too expensive an option for us. PERSONAL REFLECTION: Though this experiment answered some questions, it has left me wondering about many more. If given the opportunity, I would like to conduct a few follow up experiments to seek some answers. Firstly, I would like to find out if there is any link between stress levels and gender conformity. This relationship arises from my observation that some subjects in our experiment who walked through the wrong door and also refused to fill in the survey seemed to be impatient and rude. Though there may be some other reasons behind their gender non-conformity behaviour and mood like being short on time, we cannot say for sure and will have to find out for ourselves. Also, I would like to find out if there is any threshold level for conformity? For instance, participants may refuse to conform by walking through a door in our experiment but they would probably conform while using a lavatory. If non-conformers conform if they know they would be severely rebuked for their actions, what precisely is that threshold level? The experiment also cleared my misconceptions of conducting experiments. I thought that it would be very easy to design and conduct an experiment. However, given our goal, there were so many ways of going about it that was very hard to select the best method given our resources and time constraint. Carrying out the experiment has its own fair share of struggles. I would also like to mention my experience with experimenter bias. While drafting the experiment, I was very confident that I could not be susceptible to experimenter bias. However, when we started the experiment, it was very hard not to hand out the survey to our friends and acquaintances who happened to come in through the doors but were not the 10th subject as per our systematic sampling rule. Finally, after having finished the experiment, I think it was painstakingly work involving a lot of planning and careful evaluation. Nonetheless, I had fun conducting the experiment. REFERENCES 1. Scher, N., & Thompson, T. (2007). Self-Monitoring and Conformity: A Comparison of Self-Report and Behavioral Measures. UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research X (2007) Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.uwlax.edu/urc/jur-online/PDF/2007/scher&thompson.pdf 2. Kalat, James W. (2008). Introduction to Psychology, Ninth (International) Edition. Wadsworth: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 3. Fraser, M. â€Å"Mhaire†. Self Monitoring Notes and Resources. Retrieved December 2, 2012, from De Anza College Website: http://faculty.deanza.edu/frasermary/stories/storyReader$157 4. Montclair SocioBlog. Livingston, J. (2009). Civility or Mindless Compliance? Retrieved December 2, 2012, from http://montclairsoci.blogspot.hk/2009/07/civility-or-mindless-compliance.html 5. Booker, Karene. (2012). Youths’ well-being linked to how well they conform to gender norms Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/news/youths-well-being-linked-how-well-they-conform-gender-norms 6. Santee, R.T., & Jackson, S.E. (1882). Identity Implications of Conformity: Sex Differences in Normative and Attributional Judgements. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45(2), 121-125. Retrieved from December 7, 2012, http://faculty.rhodes.edu/wetzel/223webproj/conformity%20and%20gender/ 7. Maslach, C., Santee, R. T., & Wade, C. (1987). Individuation, Gender Role, and Dissent: Personality Mediators of Situational Forces. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(6), 1088-1093. Retrieved December 7, 2012,from http://faculty.rhodes.edu/wetzel/223webproj/conformity%20and%20gender/ 8. Science Daily. Jul 9, 2011. Sexual Orientation and Gender Conforming Traits in Women Are Genetic, Study Finds Retrieved December 9, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110707173319.htm 9. Morton, Deutsch and Gerard, B. Harold. (1954). A Study of Normative and Informational Social Influences upon Individual Judgement. Research Center for Human Relations, New York University Retrieved December 10, 2012, from http://web.comhem.se/u68426711/8/deutsch55.pdf