Multi-faceted character Essay

In Shakespeare’s â€Å"The Tempest†, Prospero has been represented variously as a good, caring man or as a manipulating, devious â€Å"puppeteer†. Compare and contrast how he has been represented and make your conclusion as to what kind of character Prospero actually is. A-Prospero, the protagonist of Shakespeare’s â€Å"Tempest†, has been variously presented as a kind, wise man as well as an uncaring, power hungry tyrant. A very real and multifaceted character with plenty of grey shades, Prospero has been seen as some as a manifestation of the play writer himself. I believe that, although Prospero has his faults, all his seemingly callous actions are directed towards a happy ending for every one. The best side of his personality is reserved for his daughter, Miranda. Though he is, at times, domineering towards her – (â€Å"Hence! Hang not on my garments! â€Å") – he loves her deeply. He tells her that he done ‘nothing but in care of her’, and all his actions are for her benefit ad to secure her future. He calls her a ‘cherubin’ and uses various terms of endearment for her – ‘wench’ – which bring out his love for her. However, Prospero also ‘meddles’ a lot with his daughter’s emotions. She is led to fall in love with Ferdinand, and Prospero’s comments, â€Å"It goes on, I see† shows that the relationship is all part of his master plan. He spies on her clandestine meeting with Ferdinand, and he is, often, a puppet master and she is his puppet, docile and obedient. This underlines the control he has over her, and his lust for power, but he is redeemed by the fact that he is doing it all for her good, after all, ‘the end justifies the means’. His test for Ferdinand is because Elizabethan romantic convention holds that a man’s love must be proved to be true through feats of tests. Towards his estranged brother, Antonio, and his companions, Prospero is less kind. He subjects them to mental torture by conjuring a violent tempest, leading them to believe they are ship wrecked. He is portrayed as a master puppeteer manipulating his puppets as he watches the company blunder about the island. But however sinister his attitude was, the fact remained that Prospero instructed Ariel to keep them ‘unharmed’. His frequent praise of Gonzalo, ‘honest old lord’ shows the audience that he does not really intend any malice. He did not want to use physical violence, even though it could be justified by the cruel actions of Antonio. Even though Antonio is a thoroughly ‘bad’ character, Prospero’s lack of violence redeems him to the audience. At the end of the play, Prospero forgives all his misdeed that had taken place and it is this forgiveness that labels him as a kind wise man. The only time Prospero shows a truly ugly side to his character is when he deals with Caliban. He hurls epithets such as ‘tortoise’ and ‘earth’ to him and inflicts him with ‘cramps’ and ‘side stitches’. Caliban terror on seeing Stephano shows the fear instilled in him by Prospero’s spirits. Prospero’s actions towards Caliban are also, however, justified. Caliban’s attempted rape of Miranda and his repulsive desire to ‘people the island with Calibans’ rightly earns a harsh punishment from Prospero. The only unjustified act of Prospero is that he seems to put too much stock by Caliban’s birth and appearance. He calls him a ‘freckled whelp’, ‘hag born’. But even here, the prevailing Elizabethan belief was that anyone so misshapen was evil and deserved to be treated as such. Towards his other servant, the ‘airy’ and ‘light’ Ariel, Prospero is much kinder. He frequently calls her a ‘brave spirit’ and ‘my tricksy Ariel’, using possessive pronouns to signal acceptance and pride. The only time he is angry with Ariel is when the spirit demand its freedom, just when Prospero’s master plan is about to unfold. He is understandably angry: she is the key to a plan he has waited twelve years to operate and it is an opportunity not be given again. Prospero is a man who is multi-faceted and perhaps that is why he is so human. Though he has shades of grey, he is essentially a good man, who has been usurped of his dukedom. Shakespeare realised that Prospero was dealing with great evil, and could not afford to be too good and therefore nai ve. He had to be written as a firm, stern man who knew what he wanted and how to achieve it. Prospero may have manipulated his daughter, but only to restore her future and her status. He is callous to Ariel, but promises to set it free. He leads the company all over the island, but reunites them in the end. ‘All’s well that ends well’ and Prospero delivers, restoring his dukedom, marrying the lovers and ensuring happy endings.

Henry Ford’s Evolution of Automobiles

â€Å"It is doubtful if any mechanical invention in the history of the world has influenced in the same length of time the lives of so many people in an important way as the motor car. † So writes an American historian, thinking of the automobile alone. But it does not stand-alone. It was the automobile factory that introduced mass production, a process that has changed the lineaments of our economic and social life more profoundly than any other single element in the recent history of civilization. Nearly everyone has heard of this process, yet few have any detailed or exact knowledge of its inception and development. Enter Henry Ford. The true answers of what inspired this Michigan farmer to develop a production process that was so simple, effective and efficient it changed the entire course of history. In this report, we will present a brief history of the era in which Henry Ford lived, the background from which he came, and important management trends he followed. It is hard to summarize the era in which Henry Ford lived. Chiefly because he changed the entire tone of the era in which he lived, making his career a transitional period. We will begin with the world before Ford. In the mid-latter part of the eighteen hundreds (c. 860-c. 1895), the United States was still tending its wounds from the aftermath of the civil war. It was a time of rebuilding, reorganizing and a time to accept change. The country†s figureheads were also changing. When the most respected of men were generals, soldiers, presidents, and war painted warriors, combat bravery was a greatly revered trait. However when the dust and smoke of war cleared, the public†s attention naturally shifted back to home life. The transition occurred when the position of bravery in the public eye changed from a warrior†s bravery, to an entrepreneur†s type of bravery. An undeniable part of home life and living is what tools are used to make a home or farm function. This is where the gaze shifted toward men like Edison for inventing the light bulb and standardizing the use of electricity. Well over one hundred years later, what home is complete without electricity? And (back to our focus) what home is complete without an automobile? Naturally many inventors influenced this time in history. Take for example three boys who grew up on several of the farms in Worcester County, Massachusetts. At thirteen, Tom Blanchard invents an apple-parer; at eighteen he works in a tack factory, and is soon inventing a tack-counting machine, then a tack-making machine. Before long he is one of the masters of the Springfield Arsenal. Elias Howe liked to tinker with the grain mill on his father†s farm, an occupation fitting his rural life. At sixteen he became an apprentice in a Lowell factory for making textile machinery – his sewing machine lay just ahead. Eli Whitney combines farm chores and forge work; restlessly ambitious, he saves money to attend Yale – with what result we all know. The farm is a sound teacher of ingenuity and elementary mechanical skills. Before long however its lessons are ended, and the youth whose imagination is fired by railroads, steamboats, cotton mills, machine shops, and gun factories looks to a larger sphere. † 2 Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in the Detroit, Michigan area. He was the oldest of six children born to William and Mary Litogot O†Hern Ford, and the grandson of Irish immigrants who had arrived in America in 1847. The entire family worked on the family farm and Ford was raised with intentions of taking over the family farm when he grew up. He had an intelligent, inquisitive nature and was energized by the huge growth of industry occurring in the Detroit area. † 3He was also an avid experimenter. At age nine, in one of his first experiments, he theorized the power of steam. To prove the nature of this phenomenon, he plugged the spout of one of his mother†s delicate teapots, and set it to a boil. And to the great joy of the young, giggly theorist (and dismay of his mother), the explosion sent pieces of glass and boiling water crashing around the kitchen! Miraculously the young observer was left untouched! This result is eerily reminiscent of the effect Ford would have on the industrial revolution in times to come. As he grew up his father allowed him to â€Å"tinker† with many of the tools on the farm. Ford†s mother called him a â€Å"born mechanic† and provided him with darning needles and corset stays to make into tools for his watch repair work. Probably the most dramatic event in Henry Ford†s life happened in 1876 at age thirteen. While riding with his father in a wagon, they saw a steam engine travelling along the road under its own power. Ford jumped off the wagon and excitedly began to question the driver about this remarkable engine. Used for stationary purposes such as sawing wood, the engine had been mounted on wheels to propel itself. The engineer explained all about the machine and even let Ford fire the engine and run it. â€Å"Ford later said, ‘That showed me that I was by instinct an engineer. â€Å"†4 The seed was planted that there could be a self-propelled vehicle and that thought would haunt his imagination for years. Although he yearned to go to Detroit and work in the machine shops, Ford stayed on the farm helping his family until he was seventeen. Then, with his father†s blessing, he moved to Detroit and started working at the Michigan Car Company for $1. 0 a day. He was fired shortly thereafter after angering the older employees by making repairs in a ? hour instead of the usual five hours. By 1882 Ford had left Detroit and used the family farm as his address as he traveled around from job to job. In 1885, at a party, he met Clara Jane Bryant. They married April 11, 1888 and their only child, Edsel, named after his boyhood friend Edsel Ruddiman, was born November 6, 1893. Ford had never given up his dream of a â€Å"horseless carriage. † Whenever he had a spare moment he read about gas engines and experimented in his own workshop. By 1891 he and Clara had moved back to Detroit and Ford began working for Detroit Edison Illuminating Company. Ford†s Quadricycle (his first automobile) was ready for a try-out in 1896. It frightened the horses and caused many a protest, but it ran. It was through working at the Detroit Edison Illuminating Company that Ford met Thomas Edison. â€Å"At a convention Ford was introduced to Edison as ‘The young fellow who†s made a gas car. â€Å"†5 After discussing his ideas with the great inventor, Ford was glad to hear that Edison thought his ideas had merit. Edison told him, ‘Young man, you have it, a self-contained unit carrying its own fuel. Keep at it! â€Å"†6 The meeting with Thomas Edison gave Henry Ford fresh inspiration and his spirit was renewed by the famous inventor†s words of encouragement. By 1899 Ford had produced an operable car that was written up in the Detroit Journals. Ford was described as a â€Å"mechanical engineer. † Eventually his work developing automobiles conflicted with his position at the Detroit Edison Illuminating Company. Even though the company was well pleased with his work and offered him the General Superintendent position, they asked him to make a choice. Could he give up his â€Å"hobby† of automobile building and devote himself to the company? Ford made the decision. He wanted to make automobiles. After some false starts, on June 16, 1903, with ten investors plus Ford†s patents, knowledge and engine, Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company. After years of hard, pioneering work, Ford Motor Company produced its ninth and most successful-thus-far automobile, the world famous Model T. It was first marketed in October 1908 and the company dominated sales for the next eighteen years. Because of his development of the assembly line used to mass-produce automobiles, Ford sold more than one half of the cars in the industry in 1918-1919 and 1921-1925. The Model T, or Tin Lizzie, was a hard working, sturdy, commonplace car. Ford†s dream had come true. â€Å"I will build a motor car for the great multitude†¦ constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise†¦ so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God†s great open spaces. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison had become the best of friends. They admired and respected each other. In 1916 Henry Ford purchased Mangoes, the home next door to his friend Edison†s Seminole Lodge, so that he and Clara could vacation there while the Edisons were down. The two families enjoyed their time away from it all in the tropical serenity of Fort Myers, Florida. Camping expeditions into the Everglades, with Harvey Firestone and his family, plus naturalist John Burroughs, became a special treat. Henry Ford died April 7, 1947. Editorial tributes were favorable to Henry Ford. He was praised as a patriot, philanthropist, philosopher, reformer, economist, and teacher and depicted as a symbol of individualism and productive genius. â€Å"8 During his career, particularly in the early 1900†³s, Ford methods of management were seen as being very innovative. â€Å"He was a student of the modern management methods that were emerging at the time. For example, he was familiar with the work of Frederick Taylor, the driving force behind the new principles of scientific management and the use of time and motion studies to increase job efficiency. † 9Frederick Taylor truly used a scientific approach to management. He took each element of management and production and examined it under great scrutiny. He also observed how each portion of the entire production process worked together as a team. His purpose was to refine each element and bring them together under the least amount of functional friction. â€Å"For example, Taylor took aside the worker element and discovered that most of them were soldiering. Soldiering is deliberately working at less than full capacity. â€Å"10 Upon resolving this problem, the worker element now has less functional friction will perform better for the team. More relevant to Ford†s case was Taylor†s time-and-motion study. This study sharply examined how a worker performed a task. It followed each motion that the worker went through to accomplish a task and then tried to simplify each task by removing steps and/or refining them so that the job could be done faster and with less effort. This proved to be the most revealing of Frederick†s studies as it allowed work to be done at a much faster rate and in some cases quadrupled production! Ford strongly believed in Taylor†s scientific approach and custom fit his production team to perform at the greatest capacity. Having taken influence from Taylor†s time-and-motion study, Ford devised his true masterpiece, the assembly line. This, being the most vital part of production for any mass-produced product, could more than quadruple output with far less labor, and much less skill required for each job. Ford immediately recognized the potential for output of his new company, and upon the earnings its first profits, the company began to expand. This expansion of the Ford Motor Company, accredited to Ford†s innovative management approach, would set a trend that swept the world for many years to come. Being the first company to adopt the method of mass production gave Ford Motor Company such a powerful head start that it dominated the automobile industry for the next twenty years. As far as Henry Ford†s role in his company he was both a figurehead and a liaison. Following his massive success in the auto-industry, Henry Ford began to take part in politics. He also began to donate money to charitable organizations and became a familiar face at important dedication ceremonies around the country. His 1918 run for senate and his dedication ceremonies, i. . (1929 Edison Institute of Technology) identify him as a figurehead for the Ford Motor Company. However, Ford always kept an eye and an ear on other rising companies and other changing trends in industry. This greatly aided him in staying on top of the automobile industry for so long. This would make Ford also a liaison in his company. Ford however did not deal with his workforce directly. â€Å"He hired Harry Bennett as head of the infamous Ford Service Department to maintain control over his rapidly expanding following of workers. 11 Ford†s indirect management of his workers would therefore disqualify him from the leader role in his company, making him a figurehead/liaison type manager. Henry Ford†s life falls into a very small category of lives known as revolutionaries. He was not simply and inevitable product of his time. He was original and revolutionary. He defied precedent and never once allowed the impossibilities of the past to limit the possibilities of the future. And above all he was a true patriot to the growth of the human race.

Brain Evolution in the Human Species

Brain Evolution in the Human Species Introduction Hominid evolution is marked by a very significant increase in relative brain size. Because relative brain size has been linked to energetic requirements, it is possible to look at the pattern of encephalization as a factor in the evolution of human foraging and dieting (Foley et al., 1991). Major expansion of the brain is associated with the Homo species rather than the Hominidae as a whole, where the energetic costs are likely to have forced prolongation of growth rates and secondary altriciality (Foley et al., 1991). Paleontological evidence indicates that rapid brain evolution occurred with the emergence of Homo erectus 1.8 million years ago and was associated with important changes in diet, body size, and foraging behavior (Leonard et al., 2007). Energy Requirements Extensive energy is required for brain growth and functioning. Parker (1990) analyzes intelligence and encephalization from the perspective of life history strategy theory, which is based on the premise that evolutionary selection determines the timing of major life cycle events-especially those related to reproduction-as the solution to energy optimization problems. Foley and Lee (1991) analyze the evolutionary pattern of encephalization with respect to foraging and dieting strategies. In considering the development of human foraging strategies, increased returns for foraging effort and food processing may be an important prerequisite for encephalization, and in turn a large brain is necessary to organize human foraging behavior. Dietary quality is also correlated with brain size. Foley and Lee (1991) first consider brain size vs. primate feeding strategies, and note that folivorous diets (leaves) are correlated with smaller brains, while fruit and animal foods (insects, meat) are correlated with larger brains. Overall, the genetic costs of brain maintenance for modern humans are about three times that of a chimpanzee. The first dietary shift is seen beginning within the genus Hom o, which began to include meat in the diet. It may be argued that meat-eating represents an expansion of resource breadth beyond that found in non-human primates (Foley and Lee, 1991). Therefore, Homo and its encephalization may have been the product of the selection of capable of exploiting energy- and protein-rich resources as the habitat expanded. While the evolutionary causes of the enlarging human brain themselves are thought to have been due to factors that go beyond diet alone (increasing social organization being prime among the proposed factors usually cited), a diet of sufficient quality would nevertheless have been an important prerequisite. That is, diet would have been an important hurdle, or limiting factor, to overcome in providing the necessary physiological basis for brain enlargement to occur within the context of whatever those other primary selective pressures might have been. Leonard and Robinson (1994: add page numbers for direct quote) conclude: These results imply that changes in diet quality during hominid evolution were linked with the evolution of brain size. The shift to a more calorically dense diet was probably needed in order to substantially increase the amount of metabolic energy being used by the hominid brain. Thus, while nutritional factors alone are not sufficient to explain the evolution of our large brains, it seems clear that certain dietary changes were necessary for substantial brain evolution to take place.

Book - The Police in America 8 edition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Book - The Police in America 8 edition - Essay Example Consequently, college-educated law enforcers exhibit less abuse of their authority. On the contrary, they support compliance to the set rules and regulations of police practice. Police abuse authority of authority can take varied forms ranging from brutality, verbal attacks or legal abuse. Legal abuse refers to violation of constitutional rights of citizens, for instance, conducting a search without a warrant (illegal search). Empirical studies offer varied kinds of explanations related to education, which include psychological, sociological and organizational factors (McCoy, 2009). Empirical research depicts police officers to be flexible, adaptive, open-minded, receptive and empathetic. College-educated officers depicted higher intelligence, greater motivation and greater self-esteem. Moreover, they portrayed greater academic excellence, efficiency in police training academy, improved assessments and appraisal ratings. Well-educated officers score high grades in promotional examinations and were accorded more promotions. In terms of behavior on duty, these officers had lower confrontational and absenteeism rates (Steverson, 2008). Moreover, they took less sick-time off, depicted few disciplinary cases, and showed less constant complaints. In terms of service to citizens, college-educated officers recorded fewer cases of police brutality and excessive use of force (Walker, 34). In addition, insignificant portions of the population pressed charges for harassment. In all their duties, college-educated officers received few dismissals, if any. Contrary to less-educated officers who received more disparagement from youths, college educated officers cope well with the youthful generation. Perhaps citizens accord fewer complaints to college-educated officers. Actually, locals are more expressive of pride in services offered by these officers. During operations, college-educated officers

Summary 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Summary 1 - Essay Example In the US, different laws deal with hazardous waste handling by organizations, fines and taxes on environmental interference, business regulation as well as municipal laws and common law. Types of common law include laws regarding nuisance, trespass, strict liability as well as dangerous s substances among others, they are all meant for human safety and in order to understand them one needs to have knowledge on how they were created. Federal environmental laws regulate all local as well as state environmental laws. Judicial precedent on air and water pollution exists. At some places, laws are created for specific criteria such environmental law enforcement; specific permits use, and crime concerning regulation of the environment. Creation of laws is the senate work while regulation is done by agencies like Environmental protection agency. For better understanding of environmental needs, states as well as municipal governments create more environmental laws. Judicial precedents also change the law of environment. The court also interprets environmental law. Historical cases are a source of understanding the need for changes as well additions on laws regarding the

Understanding Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding Plagiarism - Essay Example The kind of information that must be acknowledged and documented in written assignments include the name of the person who wrote the piece, the exact date of the publication from where the matter has been taken, the publication or the article that is being used with the exact title, page numbers, volume details and so on. All the pertinent information would then facilitate the academic writing checker to gauge the authenticity of the written piece. However those pieces written by the writer himself and are referred to as his personal thoughts usually do not require any citation or source at all. These written documents are usually the personal reflections of the people who are actually penning down what they think about a particular subject. Any viewpoint which is the writer’s very own must not be cited because this is exclusive to him and is considered his own work. If one is borrowing the same words of someone else, then it is a must that the citations are provided so that the work is not regarded as plagiarized. This is important as it gives the actual writer the much needed attention that he deserves with respect to his work. It also allots significance to the fact that the academic writer has made use of others’ works and properly credited them for their respective work areas (Cryer 2000). Outside sources must also be used when work is paraphrased because the main content is of the original author that made use of the text within his written piece in essence. This is an important barometer for measuring the depth of genuineness within work and hence gives a good indicator as to whether someone has taken information from someone else or written it by his own self. Paraphrasing is a good thing but it must be done in such a way that it brings the viewpoint of the academic writer within the written piece as well. He must not change the w ords alone rather provide his own inputs so that the written piece is elaborate

Design Specification for the Structural Health Monitoring System of Essay

Design Specification for the Structural Health Monitoring System of London Water Supply System - Essay Example The wireless sensor networks are responsible for collecting application data like hydraulic pressure transients, leak detection and monitoring of water quality parameters and levels in combined sewer outflows (CSO). Water supply and sewer networks are detected for leaks, water quality and contamination resulting from sewer overflows. 2. Introduction Most water distribution systems face the challenge of significant water loss through leakage that is translated to economic loss. Reduction in leakage through well strategized actions in water network management translates into economic benefits. Leakage of fresh water can cause severe damage while that of waste water lead to contamination of soil and environment. The clean up process may be very expensive. Catastrophic failures result to environment degradation, loss of human life and production of large masses of demolished waste. Building codes and design methods are used to produce structures safe for public utility. At times, structu res are exposed to harsh conditions through loads and the surrounding not planned for during the design process. These harsh conditions normally produce long-term structural deterioration. Structures, therefore, need continuous assessment through various techniques. The common techniques used are; Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). ... This technique is used to monitor fresh water mains and sewerage pipes. In the technique, the following are observed: a. Failure mechanisms b. Parameters to be measured c. Range, accuracy, resolution and sampling regime for preferred parameters and processes. 3. Case study- London Water Supply System The largest water project responsible for supply of water in London is the Thames Water Ring Main (TWRM). Five different treatment works supply drinking water to more than six million clients. Gravitational force forces the water to eleven pumping stations installed with shafts. The pumping stations are located at southern, central and north-western areas of the metropolis. Delivery is done directly to water supply zones or to service reservoirs. Objectives of water project were determined by many factors. The factors are; Satisfaction of average and peak demands for water in London to cushion leakage through control action plan effects Maintainan quality and acceptable service to client s in regard to pressure Control hazards related to water supply operations to the environment and social life. Maintain and improve water supply infrastructure in London Control cost at short and long term levels in relation to manpower and energy spent in pumping (Bensted, 1994 p.1-4). 4. Failure Mechanisms Damage refers to changes that occur to material or geometric properties of a structure and completely affects its performance. All engineering material used in construction of any system posses inherent initial flaws. Flaws generated from the environment and operational loading develop continuously and lead to component level failure. System level failure results with time due to continuous loading. The duration and time scales

Talent Leadership Model Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Talent Leadership Model - Assignment Example Such as selection, training and development, succession as well as performance management. Talent management generally mandates human resource professionals as well as their clients to comprehend the way talent is defined, i.e. who should be regarded as ‘the talented’ and what should be the backgrounds of talented employees in an organization. In the context of talent management, talent leadership can be identified as the method of selecting and administering the performance of a particular team who assist in fulfilling the vision of an organization. It is quite significant for an organization to attract and retain the best talent in order to create the leadership pipeline. Organizations are further required to develop an efficient working climate so that they can generate higher productivity as well as requisite learning environment. Considering the talent management principles, the paper intends to propose a talent leadership model that can be successfully deployed by an organization for developing the performance. The objective of the paper is to describe various steps of talent leadership model and define how it can be beneficial for an organization to manage talents. In order to grow and thrive in the current business environment, there is requirement for talent leadership, robust communication as well as effective performance management in an organization. The direction in which an organization grows is basically dependent upon the effectiveness of the leaders to manage the talented employees.

Personal Philosophy in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal Philosophy in Education - Essay Example Justification of my personal philosophy will be provided with references to four theorists – Maria Montessori, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paulo Freire, and John Dewey. It will also be demonstrated that my personal philosophy is in contrast to Plato and Confucius. Aim of Education The aim of education is a broad encompassing subject that extends beyond the simple confines of the classroom. My personal philosophy on education is that students must gain critical thinking skills and a development of a personal philosophy that can guide them throughout their lives. This theory runs counter to perspectives on education as a process where the teacher imbues students with content material that they can then implement as career preparation, as it’s believed that this approach to educational instruction doesn’t fully prepare the student for the variety of challenges and shifting life circumstances they will encounter. This theory of education is also counter to perspectives on existence as posed by theorists and philosophers such as Plato. Plato argued that the reality consisted of a number of pre-set forms that the teacher must instruct the student to discover (Honderich 2005). Contrary to this perspective, my philosophy of education views knowledge in more abstract and shifting terms that cannot simply be ‘discovered’ but must be continually re-imagined through strong critical thinking skills. A major educational theorist that influenced this perspective on education is Mari Montessori. While today Montessori’s methods have most prominently been adopted in private education, her ideas have had a tremendous impact on educational theory, influencing both private and public teachers (Mondale 2002). The reforms that Montessori implemented considered the fundamental nature of education. While it had previously been believed that there were outward and rigid standards of educational curriculum, Montessori believed the process to be more o f a subjective task. In Montessori’s understanding the teacher asks less as a sage pushing the students through a set curriculum and more as an individual responsible for cultivating the student’s intellectual and academic interests (Mondale 2002). The underlining belief was that in allowing the students to pursue their own interests they would develop the critical thinking skills necessary for a proper education (Mondale 2002). These theories would be collected into what would be deemed the Montessori method of education and have varying degrees of influence on educational institutes in forthcoming years. Ultimately, Montessori’s theories influence my perspective through demonstrating the seminal importance of allowing students the chance to develop their own intellectual interests. Another prominent educational reformer that has influenced my educational philosophy is Paulo Freire. Freire was a prominent 20th century educational reformer that lived the majorit y of his life in Brazil. Freire’s understanding of education as embodied in his writings would come to be recognized as Critical Pedagogy. Critical Pedagogy is a form of instruction that is influenced by both anti-colonial and Marxist theory that considers the nature of education as necessarily influenced by a political perspective (Gutek). Freire argued that in considering the nature of education as possessing this political dimension, educators should work to implement instruction as a means of empowering

Sustainable Coffee Market Essay Example for Free

Sustainable Coffee Market Essay 1.1 Company overview Our company CoffeeTime will be established in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This is due to the fact that the highest proportion of coffee consumption within Europe is in the Scandinavian countries, followed by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg; it would therefore be efficient to establish the company in Rotterdam. This allows for a relatively central base with strong ties to other European countries to import/export and transport the coffee. As a company we would like to do business as sustainably and fairly as possible. Due to fair trade, we would like to help our suppliers by giving them the opportunity to produce at reasonable costs and also help ourselves by selling the coffee at reasonable prices. Fair trade also includes an educating sytem for our employees and people related to the company, such as coffeefarmers and even consumers. This system is used to prove that honest and good quality products do not need to be expensive. With this in mind there it can create a positive effect in our products which will be of benefit to everyone. The coffee will be produced and exported from Brazil to the Netherlands. Brazil was chosen due to the fact it is one of the best places in the world where coffeebeans are produced in relatively environmentally friendly circumstances. Indonesia, India, Kenia, Liberia and Mexico were further alternatives for CoffeeTime. However Brazil was chosen as it is single-handedly responsible for about a third of all the coffee in the world, as it is worlds largest coffee producer. Furthermore, there is already a Fairtrade policy applied in that area of South America by many companies, which is still ongoing and can be of benefit for the objectives of our own company. Another reason why it is attractive to do business in Brazil, is because of the logistics. Brazil has the largest port of all South America, named Port of Santos. From there on the coffee can be shipped easily to the biggest port in Europe, situated in Rotterdam where CoffeeTime have decided to establish the company. This can be seen as an advantage for both countries due to having innovation hubs. CoffeeTime wants to produce and sell the most popular coffee known on the target market; The Arabica and Robusta. However, each one of those beans can be used to provide different flavours of coffee, depending on the several techniques that are used for making coffee. 1.2 Mission and vision 1.2.1 Mission Throughout all of our business activities we want to ensure honest dealing with customers and suppliers while offering impartial advice to become the best sustainable Coffee chain. We want to use our market position of CoffeeTime to benefit our customers by offering a world class coffee experience at an affordable price. 1.2.2 Vision Treating eachother fairly can help maintaining a good relationship. CoffeeTime believes in creating an alternative way of helping the world right now and always in the future, by doing fair business from farmer to consumer. 1.3 Corporate Objectives The objectives which we stand for are related to our mission and vision as well as to benefit all stakeholders, by providing a sustainable coffee market, now and in the future; †¢ Become a leading coffee brand in order to change the market and influence Non- Fair trade coffee multinationals to go produce fairly. †¢ Focussing on improving the environmental, social and economic conditions, as well as protecting and improving the natural environment and insuring the labour rights and health of local communities. †¢ Branding CoffeeTime as a sustainable organic, Fair trade coffee brand on the market. 1.4 Keys to Success CoffeeTime has to realise that succes can only be achieved by being the best in what you do. After all, coffee is a resource intensive industry. It takes an incredible amount of energy to produce, transport, roast, deliver and brew coffee. Committed to preventing an ecological footprint, CoffeeTime will continuously strive to find new ways to restrict the impact on the environment, from production to consumption. Therefore it is of upmost importance for CoffeeTime to invest in the following: †¢ Provide an education for the farmers to help them at produce the coffee in a more optimised way. †¢ To have and keep a fair price for the coffee for everyone. †¢ To keep providing the best quality coffee. †¢ Make sure that every aspect of the product is produced in an eco-friendly way. For example, the packaging should be recycled so it can be reused wherever possible. †¢ To have good transportation by sea with providing the least harm to the enivronment due to fuel of the ship etc. †¢ Chapter 2 Product and services 2.1 Product and service description CoffeeTime will import from Brazil the finest selection of Arabica beans. In simple terms this means; Arabica is cultivated in the shade and Robusta is not. The culture of the Robusta beans are a dispensation in the culture of the traditional coffee in which coffee is cultivated under the cover of the native rain forest trees. In the 70s, a system of new farm was promoted but the result was that we’ve seen shaved forests and coffee trees planted in dense rows. These short-term farms of monoculture produced more coffee, but it had a number consequences for the environment, with soil depletion, accelerated erosion and pollution of streams. From here out CoffeeTime will produce a number of different flavours, such as extra strong, strong, regular, decaf etc. Producers are forced not to overuse pesticides or insecticides. In fact, 70% of Fair Trade products come from organic agriculture. This approach to sustainable development is supported by the explicit prohibition of the use of GMOs in products. Part of the price paid by the final customer represents a premium (between 5 and 10% of the price paid by the consumer). The latter is used collectively for social projects of various natures that benefit not only small farmers but also their families and the environment. The cooperative may decide to invest in a training program on organic farming, build a school or hospital, to restore a drive or set up a transport service. 2.2 Competitive Comparison The four major roasters Kraft, Nestlà ©, Procter Gamble and Sara Lee have little reflected this decline but profit margins remain high: Nestlà © makes a margin estimated at 26% of the instant coffee. The benefits of Sara Lee’s coffee are estimated at almost 17%, which represents a very high figure compared to other brands of food and drinks. 2.3 Sales Literature If people are sensitive to the approach and initiative, they will adhere to it quite naturally. The Sales aim is to target the niche market and to propose to our clients a wider offer which also corresponds to both modes of consumption in different social classes. Additionally, by selling our products we will not only provide a flavoursome product, but also inform customers about the product itself and how it is made. In Brazil, the production of coffee will not harm the environment ,(organic, wild harvest, farming) and it is important for our customers to know this . This method will therefore allow the customers of CoffeeTime to be involved in the process and feel valued as a consequence. The import of coffee from Brazil will be done in the most direct way possible to avoid costly middlemen, allowing to better pay artisans and producers. 2.4 Sourcing and fulfilment Part of the price paid by the final customer represents a premium (between 5 and 10% of the price paid by the consumer). The latter is used collectively for social projects of various natures that benefit not only small farmers but also their families and the environment. The cooperative may decide to invest in a training program on organic farming, build a school or hospital, to restore a drive or set up a transport service. 2.5 Technology The technology used by the company will include the use of partially automated selecting machines which will allow for increased production capacity with a lower machine-to-operator. Additional storage capabilities will decrease shipping charges and will reduce the need for permanent shipping employees. High-technology information system upgrades will improve all aspects of business, especially inventory control, tracking of shipments, and communication with clients in import and export countries. 2.6 Future Products and Services In the future CoffeeTime will develop and produce a number of different types and flavours of coffee. In addition to Arabica and Robusta, we will also import from Liberia the Liberica coffee. The Coffee Liberica tree grows up to 9 metres in height, producing larger cherries than those found on Coffea Arabica trees. This coffee was brought to Indonesia to replace the Arabica trees killed by the coffee rust disease at the end of the 19th century. It can still be found in parts of Central and East Java today.The Liberica coffee will also be produced in different strengths and varieties of coffee. Chapter 3 Market Analysis Summary 3.1 Market research According to the Daily Dutch News, the Netherlands is one of the countries with the highest coffee consumption in the world. The Dutch are also world leader in sustainable coffee drinking. About half of the consumed coffee is sustainable. On the average the Dutch drink almost 150 litres of coffee per year and about three cups a day. The branded coffee shop market in the Netherlands saw a growth of 27 per cent in outlet numbers in October 2011. The market forecasts a growth of 13 per cent per annum until 2014. We see a huge advantage in the Dutch coffee market. There is a huge demand for our sustainable coffee and CoffeeTime would like to satisfy this need. However, there are a number of competitors in the market such as the Dutch market leader Douwe Egberts.[1] 2 3.2 Market targets As a company who sells coffee, the main target audience of CoffeeTime are coffee consumers and consumers of warm drinks. Considering that coffee is not suitable for children, our target group consists from young adults (age 18) to the elderly (everyone above 18). There are many under aged Dutch citizens who also drink coffee, but as coffee is actually meant for adults it will be also treated and promoted by our company as such. Coffee is a product which is drunk by all genders and classes and in all work fields. In fact, the majority of our target group drinks coffee during work. Most consumers still buy their coffee in supermarkets, therefore is it important that our coffee is available in supermarkets such as; Albert Hein, Plus, C1000 and Bas van der Heiden. 3 3.3 Environmental/ industry analysis When sustainable coffee was introduced, the average consumer had a vague notion that the quality of sustainable products was acceptable. When companies started to offer it the Dutch consumers went along with the choice of the companies, rewarding them by remaining faithful to their brand. In recent years, the sustainable coffee market share in the Netherlands has risen rapidly. Nearly half of the consumed coffee in the Netherlands is produced in a sustainable way. According to the report Zuivere Koffie (Pure Coffee) from Oxfam Novib, 45% of all coffee which is consumed by the Dutch people is sustainably produced. 40% of all coffee in the Netherlands is UTZ CERTIFIED.[2] Sustainability is important in the Dutch coffee market. Many players of the sector, roasters, supermarkets, but also NGOs and the Dutch government have been long working together on raising consumer awareness and increasing the share of sustainably produced coffee. The Royal Netherlands Coffee and Tea Association (KNVKT) decided to give a collective boost to move towards sustainability. They are doing this by consolidating their commitment in a Declaration of Intent. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Agriculture, several semi-governmental platforms, certifiers, sustainability initiatives and NGOs including UTZ CERTIFIED do support this. It is expected that three quarters of the Dutch coffee supply will be sustainable by 2015. [3]

Organisations

Organisations Today organizations especially large ones are very complicated, because they are in a continuously changing business and economic environment. Moreover consumers demand is high, constantly changes and all that force organisations to be in an intensive competition and to increase the standards of performance. Companies have established Human resource departments or senior managers to perform human resource management functions and use practices in order to try to improve and sustain a better organisational performance. Every company has to know their employees, their capabilities to actually get best of them because it is believed to be the most valuable capital and main source of competitive advantage. In 2001, Calkin claimed, that more than 30 studies in the US and UK leave no room for doubt; how organizations mange and develop people has a powerful-perhaps the most powerful-effect on overall performance, including the bottom line. The main ones have been done in the past starts in 1990s by Arthur in 1992, 1994; MacDuffie in 1995; Martell and Carroll in 1995b; Huselid in 1995; Delaney and Huselid in 1996; Wood in 1996; Guest in 2001 which claim to prove statistically the bond between both HRM practises and organizational performance because of increased productivity. The results of their studies are that the HRM activities such as decentralisation of authority will result in lower degree of turnover (Arthur, 1994) or Bundles of internally consistent HRM practices are associated with higher productivity and quality ( McDuffie, 1995) are to support the hypothesis that there is a link between HRM and the HRM outcomes on performance. Also looking through studies established in the UK call centres, US firms, Australia and New Zealand manufactures, Norway, those cases do identify a relevance in favour that there is a relationship between human resource management and organisational performance. However there is a strong criticism about them, especially how the resea rch was performed, evaluation methods used and the data interpreted. Before linking HRM and performance it is important to understand what it is. First of all human resource management in many textbooks is simply explained as getting things done through the people. A more objective definition would be proposed by Storey (1998) where he states that HRM is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. Additionally it useful to mention that is the strategic perspective of HR, which actually presents the importance of human resource practices for organisational performance Companies try to achieve significant superior performance by using HRM and different practices. The US academic Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998) identified seven main HR practices in the successful organisations. According Pfeffer human resource practices for performance improvement are: employment security, selective hiring, self-managed work teams, high pay contingent on company performance, extensive training, reduction of status differences, sharing information. Later European researchers Den Hartog and Verbug (2004) complemented Pfeffers job by distinguishing eight key practices which help to understand the association between HR and organizational performance. They are: employment skills, autonomy, pay-for-performance, profit-sharing, performance appraisal, team performance, information-sharing, job evaluation. Thus there is different ways to recognise how HR policies and practices actually contribute, because only certain ones might always result in high performance. This approach is called universalistic approach. The contingency approach proposes that that variety of practices needed to make a difference also taking into account environment and business strategy. Another view is that we have to realise that every organisation has its own culture, unique employees and because of that the set of HR practices and polices which will be the best will also be unique to that company. This approach is call as resource-based view (D.Torrington, L.Hall, S.Taylor, 2008 p.256). Every organisation has different outcomes and according Brattson and Gold this organisational performance can be measured from two sides (2007 4thed:527). The first measure is operating performance what includes reduced unit costs, improved product/service quality, labour productivity, innovation of products and processes all those are employee related indicators. Another measure of a performance is by financial performance such as profit, market share, and return on investment. Because companies can quite easily copy one anothers technology, but not human resource capabilities if an organisation has well working HR practices that is a big advantage to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. (Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood, 2005) For instance not a long time ago Stephen Wood, David Holman and Christopher Stride (2006) did a research on HRM and performance in UK call centres. They have use data from a sample of 145 UK call centres and the research has found direct relationships between human resource practices and performance. However the represented response rate was only 20per cent. It is very low response rate, but it allowed for the authors to make conclusions from what was detected that firstly, that performance appraisal was negatively associated with unauthorised absence. Secondly, systematic selection tests, longer initial training and higher levels of internal recruitment were positively associated with achieving target times and suggestion making. Also there was significant links between relationship-building and both work discretion and teamworking, task discretion is associated with both training and improvement teams as well as internal recruitment seems to improve performance and innovation, cust omers satisfaction.(p:117-120) This example identifies relevance that practices and their implementation are vital ingredient in linking employees especially management to overall organisational performance. In addition there is a reason given to believe in a linkage because of Peters H. van der Meer and Kristens Ringdals research which was conducted in Norway (2003) findings were positive after organisation introduced job rotation which appeared to reduce labour costs per unit produced by having lower wage cost. Also the productivity increased more than in the organisations without job rotations. However the critique here would be that like in other similar works that there is n obvious limitation in data collection, because results could be affected by selectivity and response of respondents, also there is not enough of the evidence to prove. Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry state that it is very important to identify the best HRM practices, those whose adoption generally leads to valued firm-level outcomes (2005:p122) Authors have extinguished that as extensive recruitment, selection, and training policies; formal information sharing, attitude assessment, job design, grievance procedures, and labour management participation programs; performance appraisals, promotion, and incentive compensation systems that recognise and reward employees practices. Than the research was given which was held in the US 3,452 firms participating. There were thirteen High performance practices to analyse the independent contribution of each practice to firm performance. The results showed that before the research there was a strong support for the hypotheses predicting that High performance work Practices will affect firm performance and important employment outcomes, the results justified it and that also significant effects o f High performance practices found are also financially meaningful as Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry state.(2005: p140) Although all those studies propose that there is a synergy among increasing productivity and HRM especially strategic HRM, what is the overall combination of HR philosophy, processes, policies, programmes and practices creating the human performance desired and it is doing so at a reasonable cost (Gordan 2001). However not all of the studies finds only positive results. For instance it was thought because of the previous studies that one of the main HR practices are training and team working, from the example of NHS. Thus the research does identify a link; it can not be taken for granted that HR really helps to reduce mortality rates. Yes training helps to develop skills, and company expects them to be transferred into work floor, but does it happen straight after employees have been trained. Moreover according the D. Challis, D.Salmon and B.Lawson research done in the Australia and New Zeland 1024 manufacturing sites indicates that organizational and human resource practices are sig nificant additional variance in both employee and manufacturing performance. The results have showed that both training and teams are important in weak manufacturing environments, but are not significant in strong manufacturing environments. Moreover although training helps develop worker skills, it may not be enough to guarantee that skills employee got will actually be transferred to the factory floor.'(2005 vol. 43(1) p.103) So it is very difficult to prove and there are some disadvantages of the processed studies and the results. First of all because of the evaluation of a study is very subjective. There are different available methods used in evaluating results. People have their own interpretation, opinions, such as about the turnover, in one case it can be assumed to be a good thing because constantly changing employees bring new ideas into the organisation. And on the other hand if employees today do not have job satisfaction, do not have their career developing, do not get higher wages or better working conditions they leave. Some peoples answers depend upon the way questioned employees feel that day, or because after the notice of research taking place makes them feel suspicious maybe and work harder. Also it depends on the bundles of practices used in the research and put together. Sometimes it can be forgotten that practices used or implemented can bring benefits after long term. The author Phillips (1991) in his book states that external factors can influence and change the performance, government regulation, labour market conditions, and union strength. For instance the economic recession determines workers to work hard and not to l ose jobs in the case of reduction of staff. A very relevant critique was found in an article called The romance of human resource management and business performance, and the case for big science written by Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood(2005), they argue that the studies done before have created wrong expectations of the effect of HRM practices on performance. Their critique upon the studies done, what they call as a romance is containing errors; Wall and Wood identify that the reliability is often tolerant although the sizes of effects are typically small in prior research. Also in some cases measures of performance chosen might not be appropriate; they have to look at the environment of a business. Authors judge the studies because they are not done properly, and say that in the future it should be used better research methods and design, and also should be large-size long-term research when you can look what it was like before and what is after implementation and use of HRM. O therwise it is like a failure of to see the certified link between HRM and performance. In the conclusion nowadays business world is changing very rapidly and both people and organisations which vary in size, aims, functions, construction, the nature of their product or service are complicated and because of that to be the best in the industry firms have to have a well established human resource management according main studies. Organizations have to have their HRM working at a strategic level because then practices are focused on a short or better on a long term results when the improved performance could have an added-value and benefits. However the discussion about the link between the HRM and performance is under investigation for about more than 20 years and nobody is sure about it. Yes it is known that HRM management is working and do have the impact on employees and might make organisation successful but which particular practice or bundle to use universally is not known, because one thing combines with another, one organisation is different than another. Howeve r to apply studies and believe in all the results of practices or practice make a different would be violent interpretation. Because in studies done to prove the link of HRM and organizational performance there are limitations and it is very important to understand bias as well as that how the research been conducted and interpreted. References: Arthur, J. B. (1994) Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 670-87 Bratton and Gold (2007) Human resource management: Theory and Practice 4th ed.; Palgrave Macmillan, New York D. Challis, D.Salmon and B.Lawson (2005) Impact of technological, organizational and human resource investments on employee and manufacturing performance: Australian and New Zealand evidence International Journal of Production Research, 43(1): 81-107 Derek Torrington., Laura Hall, Stephen Taylor (2008) Human Resource Management; 7th ed. London, Pearson education, p.256 Godard, J., (2001) High Performance and the Transformation of Work: The Implications of Alternative Work Practices for the Experience and Outcomes of Work Industrial and Labor Relations Review 54 (4): 776-805 Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry (2005) Strategic Human resource Management: Theory and Practice; 2nd ed. Sage publications, London Lahteenmaki, S., J. Storey and S. Vanhala (1998) HRM and Company Performance: the Use of Measurement and the Influence of Economic Cycles, Human Resource Management Journal, 8(2): 51-65. MacDuffie , J.P. (1995) Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol.48: 197-221 Michael Armstrong and Duncan Brown (2009) Strategic Reward Implementing more effective reward management; Kogan Page, London and Philadelphia Pfeffer, J. (1998) The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting people first. Boston: Harward Business School Press. Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood (2005) The romance of human resource management and business performance, and the case for big science Vol.58(4): 429-462 West A., Carol Borrill, Jeremy Dawson, Judy Scully, Matthew Carter, Stephen Anelay, Malcolm Patterson and Justin Waring (2002) The link between the management if employees and patient mortality in acute hospitals Int. J. of Human Resource Management 13(8): 1299-1310 West, M. et al. (2002) The Link between the Management of Employees and Patient Mortality in Acute Hospitals, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(8): 1299-1310. Wood S. (2006) Human resource management and performance in the UK call centres British Journal of Industrial Relations 44(1):99-124

Infinite Virtue :: William Shakespeare Antony Cleopatra Essays

Infinite Virtue IV.viii of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is a short scene, less than 40 lines, and an entirely unexpected one. The preceding scenes of Act IV, such as Hercules' departure and Enobarbus' desertion, heavily foreshadow Antony's defeat. When Antony wins his battle against Caesar and returns to Cleopatra in IV.viii, the joy of their reunion contrasts with the despair of Act IV. Antony's victory is a strike against fate and a tribute, albeit short-lived, to the power of Egypt. The association of royalty and divinity was a common tradition not limited to the Elizabethans' world picture. In this scene, Antony portrays Cleopatra as a goddess, revealing her connection not only to the macrocosm but also to the more specific functions of the love goddess Isis. Cleopatra is a "great fairy" (IV.viii.12), able to "bless" (IV.viii.13) soldiers with her speech. As the "day o'th'world" (IV.viii.13) who will "ride" (IV.viii.16) in Antony's heart, she more particularly resembles a sun deity, pictured by the Egyptians as riding in a barge and by the Romans as in a chariot. Cleopatra's association with the day continues up until her death; Charmian recognizes that "the bright day is done/and we are for the dark" (V.ii.192-3) and Cleopatra sees that her "lamp is spent" (IV.xv.89). In Act V, the connection is morbid, but here it is vibrant and positive. Yet in both death and life, the close relationship of Cleopatra and Egypt to fire and the higher elements is omnipresent; Antony swears "by the fire/that quickens Nilus' slime" (I.iii.69-70); Cleopatra before her death is "fire and air" (V.2.288); "your serpent of Egypt is bred...by the operation of your sun" (II.vii.26-7) That fire should so often be linked to life is unsurprising, given the common connection between heat and sex, just as the heart where Cleopatra will ride has long been a "bellows" (I.i.9). Also present is an idea of "vital heat", as when Cleopatra invites Iras to "take the last warmth" (V.ii.290) of her lips before her suicide. Whether fortunate or not, Cleopatra is a spirit of vitality. Even Antony gets a taste of residual divinity, perhaps from Cleopatra's having dressed him; he is "infinite virtue" (IV.viii.17) and "lord of lords" (IV.viii.16), echoing the prophecy that "the Lamb shall overcome [the ten kings], for he is Lord of lords and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14). In fighting for Egypt Antony momentarily wrests conquering fate from Octavius, whose statement that "the time of universal peace is near.

Utility and Universality versus Utility and the General Good :: Economics Philosophy Essays

Utility and Universality versus Utility and the General Good ABSTRACT: The concepts of Utility and Universality form an answer to the utilitarian topology of Utility and the General Good. Starting from the realization that utility cannot be determined materially, but only formally, the very premise of utilitarian philosophy has to be abandoned. The greatest good is not the good of the greatest number, but the universal good. The concepts Utility and Universality form an answer to the utilitarian topology of Utility and the General Good. Starting from the realisation that utility cannot be determined materially, but only formally, the very premise of utilitarian philosophy has to be abandoned. The greatest good is not the good of the greatest number, the greatest good is the universal good. I will develop this thesis in the following contribution. 1. The good of the greatest number versus the universality of lack of contradiction Since ancient times the concept of utility has been the catalyst between philosophy and economics. The question of the relationship between theory and practice has a special relevance to the issue. What is the effect of theoretical understanding on the material level? Which interrelationships does philosophy desire: should there be a renunciation of material wealth, or is it as Aristotle states, that without wealth there is no contentment? What then is (economic) good? The answer often given today is to ensure that basic needs are met. For the Greek economic philosophers among whom, Socrates, Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle, provision of goods to meet basic hunger and thirst, was not the task the social thinkers were faced with. Instincts power the drive to meet the basic needs. Economics as a science has another purpose. Before a material answer can be arrived at, there has to be a rational determination of it's use. Only then can we speak of a free and self-determined action, and only then can we speak of a scientific purpose. Instead of simply fulfilling material needs, which is the purpose of all living beings, the basic purpose of economic science is to create a system by which material goods are properly divided/distributed and used. It is not a quantitative, but a qualitative goal. Science (Wissenschaft) is independent of the number of people by whom and on whom it is practised. The philosophers of antiquity compa red the good economist with the good doctor: like the doctor, the economist is only in part acting to benefit or enrich himself.

The Metamorphosis :: essays research papers

The Metamorphosis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aside from all of the physical changes that Gregor encountered, his personality also took some major turns. Before this unfortunate transformation occurred, Gregor did not have the best relations with his family. Even though he was pretty much generating all of their income, he didn't have much of a closeness with them, except for his sister. 'With his sister alone he remained intimate'; (796). Gregor did in fact care for his sister so much that he wanted to sent her to study at the Conservatorium, even though it would cost him greatly. But despite these good intentions, Gregor's mother and father frowned upon such ideas. Gregor also was not aware of his family's true financial status, which is iron since he was the one providing for them. His parents seemed to be keeping something from him. Gregor's separation from his family also had to do with his work. Since he had to travel a lot of the time, he just wasn't around that often to spend time with his parents and sister.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even after Gregor's metamorphosis, many of his attributes remained similar. He still cared most about his work; that was pretty much all he thought about even when he first turned into a bug. 'The next train went at seven o'clock; to catch that he would need to hurry like mad and his samples weren't even packed up, and he himself wasn't feeling particularly fresh and active';(786). He had made up his mind that he would have to catch the train - completely ignoring the fact that he was no longer a human. One other thing he maintained was his relationship with his sister which still stayed the strongest of his family. However, the main difference he encountered was the way his family started to treat him after the metamorphosis. Rather than him avoiding his family, through business or even by spending his time in solitude, his family started to avoid him. They could not even bear the site of him because of his hideous appearance.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Four

Eddard The visitors poured through the castle gates in a river of gold and silver and polished steel, three hundred strong, a pride of bannermen and knights, of sworn swords and freeriders. Over their heads a dozen golden banners whipped back and forth in the northern wind, emblazoned with the crowned stag of Baratheon. Ned knew many of the riders. There came Ser Jaime Lannister with hair as bright as beaten gold, and there Sandor Clegane with his terrible burned face. The tall boy beside him could only be the crown prince, and that stunted little man behind them was surely the Imp, Tyrion Lannister. Yet the huge man at the head of the column, flanked by two knights in the snow-white cloaks of the Kingsguard, seemed almost a stranger to Ned . . . until he vaulted off the back of his warhorse with a familiar roar, and crushed him in a bone-crunching hug. â€Å"Ned! Ah, but it is good to see that frozen face of yours.† The king looked him over top to bottom, and laughed. â€Å"You have not changed at all.† Would that Ned had been able to say the same. Fifteen years past, when they had ridden forth to win a throne, the Lord of Storm's End had been clean-shaven, clear-eyed, and muscled like a maiden's fantasy. Six and a half feet tall, he towered over lesser men, and when he donned his armor and the great antlered helmet of his House, he became a veritable giant. He'd had a giant's strength too, his weapon of choice a spiked iron warhammer that Ned could scarcely lift. In those days, the smell of leather and blood had clung to him like perfume. Now it was perfume that clung to him like perfume, and he had a girth to match his height. Ned had last seen the king nine years before during Balon Greyjoy's rebellion, when the stag and the direwolf had joined to end the pretensions of the self-proclaimed King of the IronIslands. Since the night they had stood side by side in Greyjoy's fallen stronghold, where Robert had accepted the rebel lord's surrender and Ned had taken his son Theon as hostage and ward, the king had gained at least eight stone. A beard as coarse and black as iron wire covered his jaw to hide his double chin and the sag of the royal jowls, but nothing could hide his stomach or the dark circles under his eyes. Yet Robert was Ned's king now, and not just a friend, so he said only, â€Å"Your Grace. Winterfell is yours.† By then the others were dismounting as well, and grooms were coming forward for their mounts. Robert's queen, Cersei Lannister, entered on foot with her younger children. The wheelhouse in which they had ridden, a huge double-decked carriage of oiled oak and gilded metal pulled by forty heavy draft horses, was too wide to pass through the castle gate. Ned knelt in the snow to kiss the queen's ring, while Robert embraced Catelyn like a long-lost sister. Then the children had been brought forward, introduced, and approved of by both sides. No sooner had those formalities of greeting been completed than the king had said to his host, â€Å"Take me down to your crypt, Eddard. I would pay my respects.† Ned loved him for that, for remembering her still after all these years. He called for a lantern. No other words were needed. The queen had begun to protest. They had been riding since dawn, everyone was tired and cold, surely they should refresh themselves first. The dead would wait. She had said no more than that; Robert had looked at her, and her twin brother Jaime had taken her quietly by the arm, and she had said no more. They went down to the crypt together, Ned and this king he scarcely recognized. The winding stone steps were narrow. Ned went first with the lantern. â€Å"I was starting to think we would never reach Winterfell,† Robert complained as they descended. â€Å"In the south, the way they talk about my Seven Kingdoms, a man forgets that your part is as big as the other six combined.† â€Å"I trust you enjoyed the journey, Your Grace?† Robert snorted. â€Å"Bogs and forests and fields, and scarcely a decent inn north of the Neck. I've never seen such a vast emptiness. Where are all your people?† â€Å"Likely they were too shy to come out,† Ned jested. He could feel the chill coming up the stairs, a cold breath from deep within the earth. â€Å"Kings are a rare sight in the north.† Robert snorted. â€Å"More likely they were hiding under the snow. Snow, Ned!† The king put one hand on the wall to steady himself as they descended. â€Å"Late summer snows are common enough,† Ned said. â€Å"I hope they did not trouble you. They are usually mild.† â€Å"The Others take your mild snows,† Robert swore. â€Å"What will this place be like in winter? I shudder to think.† â€Å"The winters are hard,† Ned admitted. â€Å"But the Starks will endure. We always have.† â€Å"You need to come south,† Robert told him. â€Å"You need a taste of summer before it flees. In Highgarden there are fields of golden roses that stretch away as far as the eye can see. The fruits are so ripe they explode in your mouth—melons, peaches, fireplums, you've never tasted such sweetness. You'll see, I brought you some. Even at Storm's End, with that good wind off the bay, the days are so hot you can barely move. And you ought to see the towns, Ned! Flowers everywhere, the markets bursting with food, the summerwines so cheap and so good that you can get drunk just breathing the air. Everyone is fat and drunk and rich.† He laughed and slapped his own ample stomach a thump. â€Å"And the girls, Ned!† he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. â€Å"I swear, women lose all modesty in the heat. They swim naked in the river, right beneath the castle. Even in the streets, it's too damn hot for wool or fur, so they go around in these short gowns, silk if th ey have the silver and cotton if not, but it's all the same when they start sweating and the cloth sticks to their skin, they might as well be naked.† The king laughed happily. Robert Baratheon had always been a man of huge appetites, a man who knew how to take his pleasures. That was not a charge anyone could lay at the door of Eddard Stark. Yet Ned could not help but notice that those pleasures were taking a toll on the king. Robert was breathing heavily by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, his face red in the lantern light as they stepped out into the darkness of the crypt. â€Å"Your Grace,† Ned said respectfully. He swept the lantern in a wide semicircle. Shadows moved and lurched. Flickering light touched the stones underfoot and brushed against a long procession of granite pillars that marched ahead, two by two, into the dark. Between the pillars, the dead sat on their stone thrones against the walls, backs against the sepulchres that contained their mortal remains. â€Å"She is down at the end, with Father and Brandon.† He led the way between the pillars and Robert followed wordlessly, shivering in the subterranean chill. It was always cold down here. Their footsteps rang off the stones and echoed in the vault overhead as they walked among the dead of House Stark. The Lords of Winterfell watched them pass. Their likenesses were carved into the stones that sealed the tombs. In long rows they sat, blind eyes staring out into eternal darkness, while great stone direwolves curled round their feet. The shifting shadows made the stone figures seem to stir as the living passed by. By ancient custom an iron longsword had been laid across the lap of each who had been Lord of Winterfell, to keep the vengeful spirits in their crypts. The oldest had long ago rusted away to nothing, leaving only a few red stains where the metal had rested on stone. Ned wondered if that meant those ghosts were free to roam the castle now. He hoped not. The first Lords of Winterfell had been men hard as the land they ruled. In the centuries before the Dragonlords came over the sea, they had sworn allegiance to no man, styling themselves the Kings in the North. Ned stopped at last and lifted the oil lantern. The crypt continued on into darkness ahead of them, but beyond this point the tombs were empty and unsealed; black holes waiting for their dead, waiting for him and his children. Ned did not like to think on that. â€Å"Here,† he told his king. Robert nodded silently, knelt, and bowed his head. There were three tombs, side by side. Lord Rickard Stark, Ned's father, had a long, stern face. The stonemason had known him well. He sat with quiet dignity, stone fingers holding tight to the sword across his lap, but in life all swords had failed him. In two smaller sepulchres on either side were his children. Brandon had been twenty when he died, strangled by order of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen only a few short days before he was to wed Catelyn Tully of Riverrun. His father had been forced to watch him die. He was the true heir, the eldest, born to rule. Lyanna had only been sixteen, a child-woman of surpassing loveliness. Ned had loved her with all his heart. Robert had loved her even more. She was to have been his bride. â€Å"She was more beautiful than that,† the king said after a silence. His eyes lingered on Lyanna's face, as if he could will her back to life. Finally he rose, made awkward by his weight. â€Å"Ah, damn it, Ned, did you have to bury her in a place like this?† His voice was hoarse with remembered grief. â€Å"She deserved more than darkness . . . â€Å" â€Å"She was a Stark of Winterfell,† Ned said quietly. â€Å"This is her place.† â€Å"She should be on a hill somewhere, under a fruit tree, with the sun and clouds above her and the rain to wash her clean.† â€Å"I was with her when she died,† Ned reminded the king. â€Å"She wanted to come home, to rest beside Brandon and Father.† He could hear her still at times. Promise me, she had cried, in a room that smelled of blood and roses. Promise me, Ned. The fever had taken her strength and her voice had been faint as a whisper, but when he gave her his word, the fear had gone out of his sister's eyes. Ned remembered the way she had smiled then, how tightly her fingers had clutched his as she gave up her hold on life, the rose petals spilling from her palm, dead and black. After that he remembered nothing. They had found him still holding her body, silent with grief. The little crannogman, Howland Reed, had taken her hand from his. Ned could recall none of it. â€Å"I bring her flowers when I can,† he said. â€Å"Lyanna was . . . fond of flowers.† The king touched her cheek, his fingers brushing across the rough stone as gently as if it were living flesh. â€Å"I vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her.† â€Å"You did,† Ned reminded him. â€Å"Only once,† Robert said bitterly. They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the sunlight. The waters of the Trident ran red around the hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer stove in the dragon and the chest beneath it. When Ned had finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream, while men of both armies scrabbled in the swirling waters for rubies knocked free of his armor. â€Å"In my dreams, I kill him every night,† Robert admitted. â€Å"A thousand deaths will still be less than he deserves.† There was nothing Ned could say to that. After a quiet, he said, â€Å"We should return, Your Grace. Your wife will be waiting.† â€Å"The Others take my wife,† Robert muttered sourly, but he started back the way they had come, his footsteps falling heavily. â€Å"And if I hear ‘Your Grace' once more, I'll have your head on a spike. We are more to each other than that.† â€Å"I had not forgotten,† Ned replied quietly. When the king did not answer, he said, â€Å"Tell me about Jon.† Robert shook his head. â€Å"I have never seen a man sicken so quickly. We gave a tourney on my son's name day. If you had seen Jon then, you would have sworn he would live forever. A fortnight later he was dead. The sickness was like a fire in his gut. It burned right through him.† He paused beside a pillar, before the tomb of a long-dead Stark. â€Å"I loved that old man.† â€Å"We both did.† Ned paused a moment. â€Å"Catelyn fears for her sister. How does Lysa bear her grief?† Robert's mouth gave a bitter twist. â€Å"Not well, in truth,† he admitted. â€Å"I think losing Jon has driven the woman mad, Ned. She has taken the boy back to the Eyrie. Against my wishes. I had hoped to foster him with Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock. Jon had no brothers, no other sons. Was I supposed to leave him to be raised by women?† Ned would sooner entrust a child to a pit viper than to Lord Tywin, but he left his doubts unspoken. Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word. â€Å"The wife has lost the husband,† he said carefully. â€Å"Perhaps the mother feared to lose the son. The boy is very young.† â€Å"Six, and sickly, and Lord of the Eyrie, gods have mercy,† the king swore. â€Å"Lord Tywin had never taken a ward before. Lysa ought to have been honored. The Lannisters are a great and noble House. She refused to even hear of it. Then she left in the dead of night, without so much as a by-your-leave. Cersei was furious.† He sighed deeply. â€Å"The boy is my namesake, did you know that? Robert Arryn. I am sworn to protect him. How can I do that if his mother steals him away?† â€Å"I will take him as ward, if you wish,† Ned said. â€Å"Lysa should consent to that. She and Catelyn were close as girls, and she would be welcome here as well.† â€Å"A generous offer, my friend,† the king said, â€Å"but too late. Lord Tywin has already given his consent. Fostering the boy elsewhere would be a grievous affront to him.† â€Å"I have more concern for my nephew's welfare than I do for Lannister pride,† Ned declared. â€Å"That is because you do not sleep with a Lannister.† Robert laughed, the sound rattling among the tombs and bouncing from the vaulted ceiling. His smile was a flash of white teeth in the thicket of the huge black beard. â€Å"Ah, Ned,† he said, â€Å"you are still too serious.† He put a massive arm around Ned's shoulders. â€Å"I had planned to wait a few days to speak to you, but I see now there's no need for it. Come, walk with me.† They started back down between the pillars. Blind stone eyes seemed to follow them as they passed. The king kept his arm around Ned's shoulder. â€Å"You must have wondered why I finally came north to Winterfell, after so long.† Ned had his suspicions, but he did not give them voice. â€Å"For the joy of my company, surely,† he said lightly. â€Å"And there is the Wall. You need to see it, Your Grace, to walk along its battlements and talk to those who man it. The Night's Watch is a shadow of what it once was. Benjen says—† â€Å"No doubt I will hear what your brother says soon enough,† Robert said. â€Å"The Wall has stood for what, eight thousand years? It can keep a few days more. I have more pressing concerns. These are difficult times. I need good men about me. Men like Jon Arryn. He served as Lord of the Eyrie, as Warden of the East, as the Hand of the King. He will not be easy to replace.† â€Å"His son . . . † Ned began. â€Å"His son will succeed to the Eyrie and all its incomes,† Robert said brusquely. â€Å"No more.† That took Ned by surprise. He stopped, startled, and turned to look at his king. The words came unbidden. â€Å"The Arryns have always been Wardens of the East. The title goes with the domain.† â€Å"Perhaps when he comes of age, the honor can be restored to him,† Robert said. â€Å"I have this year to think of, and next. A six-year-old boy is no war leader, Ned.† â€Å"In peace, the title is only an honor. Let the boy keep it. For his father's sake if not his own. Surely you owe Jon that much for his service.† The king was not pleased. He took his arm from around Ned's shoulders. â€Å"Jon's service was the duty he owed his liege lord. I am not ungrateful, Ned. You of all men ought to know that. But the son is not the father. A mere boy cannot hold the east.† Then his tone softened. â€Å"Enough of this. There is a more important office to discuss, and I would not argue with you.† Robert grasped Ned by the elbow. â€Å"I have need of you, Ned.† â€Å"I am yours to command, Your Grace. Always.† They were words he had to say, and so he said them, apprehensive about what might come next. Robert scarcely seemed to hear him. â€Å"Those years we spent in the Eyrie . . . gods, those were good years. I want you at my side again, Ned. I want you down in King's Landing, not up here at the end of the world where you are no damned use to anybody.† Robert looked off into the darkness, for a moment as melancholy as a Stark. â€Å"I swear to you, sitting a throne is a thousand times harder than winning one. Laws are a tedious business and counting coppers is worse. And the people . . . there is no end of them. I sit on that damnable iron chair and listen to them complain until my mind is numb and my ass is raw. They all want something, money or land or justice. The lies they tell . . . and my lords and ladies are no better. I am surrounded by flatterers and fools. It can drive a man to madness, Ned. Half of them don't dare tell me the truth, and the other half can't find it. There are nights I wish we had lost at the Trident. Ah, no, not truly, but . . . â€Å"I understand,† Ned said softly. Robert looked at him. â€Å"I think you do. If so, you are the only one, my old friend.† He smiled. â€Å"Lord Eddard Stark, I would name you the Hand of the King.† Ned dropped to one knee. The offer did not surprise him; what other reason could Robert have had for coming so far? The Hand of the King was the second-most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms. He spoke with the king's voice, commanded the king's armies, drafted the king's laws. At times he even sat upon the Iron Throne to dispense king's justice, when the king was absent, or sick, or otherwise indisposed. Robert was offering him a responsibility as large as the realm itself. It was the last thing in the world he wanted. â€Å"Your Grace,† he said. â€Å"I am not worthy of the honor.† Robert groaned with good-humored impatience. â€Å"If I wanted to honor you, I'd let you retire. I am planning to make you run the kingdom and fight the wars while I eat and drink and wench myself into an early grave.† He slapped his gut and grinned. â€Å"You know the saying, about the king and his Hand?† Ned knew the saying. â€Å"What the king dreams,† he said, â€Å"the Hand builds.† â€Å"I bedded a fishmaid once who told me the lowborn have a choicer way to put it. The king eats, they say, and the Hand takes the shit.† He threw back his head and roared his laughter. The echoes rang through the darkness, and all around them the dead of Winterfell seemed to watch with cold and disapproving eyes. Finally the laughter dwindled and stopped. Ned was still on one knee, his eyes upraised. â€Å"Damn it, Ned,† the king complained. â€Å"You might at least humor me with a smile.† â€Å"They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a man's laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death,† Ned said evenly. â€Å"Perhaps that is why the Starks have so little humor.† â€Å"Come south with me, and I'll teach you how to laugh again,† the king promised. â€Å"You helped me win this damnable throne, now help me hold it. We were meant to rule together. If Lyanna had lived, we should have been brothers, bound by blood as well as affection. Well, it is not too late. I have a son. You have a daughter. My Joff and your Sansa shall join our houses, as Lyanna and I might once have done.† This offer did surprise him. â€Å"Sansa is only eleven.† Robert waved an impatient hand. â€Å"Old enough for betrothal. The marriage can wait a few years.† The king smiled. â€Å"Now stand up and say yes, curse you.† â€Å"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Your Grace,† Ned answered. He hesitated. â€Å"These honors are all so unexpected. May I have some time to consider? I need to tell my wife . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes, yes, of course, tell Catelyn, sleep on it if you must.† The king reached down, clasped Ned by the hand, and pulled him roughly to his feet. â€Å"Just don't keep me waiting too long. I am not the most patient of men.† For a moment Eddard Stark was filled with a terrible sense of foreboding. This was his place, here in the north. He looked at the stone figures all around them, breathed deep in the chill silence of the crypt. He could feel the eyes of the dead. They were all listening, he knew. And winter was coming.

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My first academic goal is for me to get better grades in my classes. For me to feel like I have accomplished that I would first need to get at least a B in each class. I also feel like this goal is essential to becoming the great student I know I can be. To achieve higher grades I think that all I need is to work a little harder and study while being organized. My second academic goal is for me to try and not procrastinate with my work. I want to do all my work at least 4 days in advance to give myself time to go over everything and not be stressed out.Me wanting to get all my work done is important to not procrastinate but I feel like I could probably be a little lax with the time limit I have given myself. For me to not procrastinate I should take advantage of all the extra time I have throughout the day to get any work done. My only career goal is for me to finish medical transcription school. Mat school is fairly easy since it's self-paced but I also want to be able to work from home soon to be able to help support my family.While me finishing isn't essential to my life, it is very important to me. This goal will be achieved once I figure out how to balance CUT and MAT school. I'm not really one to need family or friend support to get anything done. While it would be nice to have, it could also get kind of annoying with my family becoming too preoccupied with constantly asking about my work. I would prefer to Just stay on top of myself and get things done.

News Updates on “Tree man” Essay

On January 19, Shurmer (2010), a writer for the Comment News website wrote an article updating the site readers on the ongoing struggles of Richard Pennicuik, better known as â€Å"Tree man. † Since early December of the previous year, Tree man had been living in a gum tree near his house in Hume Road, in the City of Gosnells, as a form of protest and to save the tree from the city council plans to clear the street of any and all mature trees that may cause harm by dropping large limbs. As of the writing of the article, he had been in the tree for 43 days and was experiencing physical difficulties on top of his legal issues as there was a severe heatwave and the high temperatures were causing him discomfort. Entitled â€Å"‘Tree man’ loses hope,† the article chronicled Tree man’s fading optimism caused by heat-induced headaches; the council fining him $5000, as it deemed the platforms that served as his makeshift treehouse were illegal, and forcing him to remove these structures; and the abandonment of an adjacent gum tree by a rotating team who had occupied it for the same cause. A couple of months later on March 13th, a Staff Writer (2010) for Perthnow a local subsidiary of The Sunday Times, wrote a relatively more recent update piece on the Tree man. Asking â€Å"Tree man Richard Pennicuik for mayor? † the report comes on the heels of a stand-off the previous day wherein he still refused to come down from the tree even after policemen and tree-cutting machinery had arrived. Apparently, despite the previous report on his morale and health problems, he had stayed on the tree for another 53 days. The title of the article comes from a comment Tree man had made, saying he had intentions of running for city mayor as the current council he was battling was â€Å"laughable and unworkable. † An analytical comparison of these two Tree man news article updates will be discussed. The first, most noticeable, difference between the two news articles is their marked difference in length, with the first article much longer than the second. Although quantity does not necessarily denote substance, it can be observed that the Comment News article contains relatively more actual facts about the situation than the PerthNow article. In addition, on a related note, it can also be noticed that the former article has more content related to the actual subject, as denoted by the article title, than the latter. As an example to support both of these observations, although Comment News does not include a quote wherein Tree man explicitly stated that he was â€Å"losing hope,† it does mention why this would be the case by including a quote where he said he â€Å"didn’t cope well† with the heatwave headaches and how the $5000 fine would â€Å"ruin his family. † The PerthNow article, on the other hand, only justifies the title mentioning Tree man’s mayoral aspirations with the quote: â€Å"The current regime is laughable and unworkable and I want to get in there, if I have enough supporters, to run the council the way it should be run. † The rest of the article, however, does not mention the issue again and only contains a brief summary of the previous day’s stand-off and another quote from Tree man where he reasserts his stance. The Comment News article does seem to slightly force the â€Å"losing hope† theme though, by briefly mentioning that the street was desolate due to the abandonment of the adjacent gum tree, although Tree man is not mentioned as having an opinion on this. However, this observation still contributes to the discussion of the main subject. Coherence to a specific topic is somewhat of a requirement for any formal article, especially one that is professionally written. The briefness and lack of coherence in the case of the latter article can, however, can be attributed to the writer expecting the reades to already know the details as the situation was already months-long, and there was a climactic update the day before. Both articles do, however, paint Tree man as both a dedicated activist from his acts of defiance, and also a novelty character as the tones of his quotes in the first article are slightly rattled and dramatic and in the second, noticeably vague.He was also described as remaining â€Å"defiantly aloft† despite legal and physical danger, and his lawyer’s protests. References hurmer, J. (2010, January 19). ‘Tree man’ loses hope. Comment News. Retrieved from http://southern. inmycommunity. com. au/news-and-views/local-news/Tree-man-loses-hope/7546357/ Staff Writer. (2010, March 13) Tree man Richard Pennicuik for mayor? PerthNow. com. The Sunday Times. Retrieved from http://www. perthnow. com. au/news/tree-man-richard-pennicuik-for-mayor/story-e6frg12c-1225840398316

Personal Career Development Plan Essay

My nursing career started as a dream, a dream I needed to fulfill as my destiny. A childhood dream never diminishes no matter the time that may pass. My story isn’t one of great inspiration but means a great deal to me. I received an Associate degree in nursing May, 2004. That was a goal that I worked for while caring for a family with three small children. It wasn’t easy but something worth having is worth working for. The dream continues. Continuing my education is the next step in obtaining that lifelong passion. Short- term goals help you make big changes. In order to visualize your long-term goals leading to eventual success, you must first tackle the multitude of immediate realistic tasks right before you. Lao-Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said, â€Å"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step†. My short- term goal is to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in nursing by May, 2015. I have broken down that short-term goal into a smaller target to hit to obtain my initial short-term goal. The smaller target is to work towards my BSN one term at a time. When one thinks of doing something for simply eight weeks, it seems more realistic. Long-term goals are the â€Å"big picture† of what you want to do with your life in the distant future. They are usually at least several years away. Setting long-term goals are important for a successful career. My long-term goal is to be a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner by late 2018. My selected mentor is Jerry Martin RN, BSN. He is a co-worker that has inspired me to return to school and that any dream is obtainable. Jerry has a degree in biology and was working as a ward clerk in our ER when I met him. He has a degree in biology and worked in finance before working at the hospital. Jerry states† I was unhappy with my career in finance and I realized I had drifted a long way from my education and my core belief. During a conference a guest speaker said â€Å"true happiness is found when you find the one thing you would do in life even if you did not get paid for it†. That was my â€Å"aha† moment.† G.M. Martin (personal communication, September 3,2013) Jerry entered nursing school in 2006 and graduated with a BSN in 2011. He is currently working toward a MSN and striving to be a FNP. He is a great nurse and it is a privilege to have him as a co-worker and my mentor. After obtaining a BSN through Jacksonville University, I will enroll in an online nurse practitioner program. Once I receive my degree and am licensed as a NP, I will search for a job working with inpatient pediatric patients. A nurse practitioner is an advanced practice nurse that has received additional training and education of that beyond a RN. They help with all aspects of patient care. They can work in inpatient and outpatient care. A NP educates patients about preventative care and their prescribed treatments. They can also preform independently or as part of a team. Physicals, ordering tests, and serving as a patient’s primary healthcare provider are some duties of a NP. Some nurse practitioners are also able to prescribe medications. A nurse practitioner must first obtain a BSN followed by a MSN. After completing the educational program, a candidate must be licensed in the state they wish to practice. Each state has its own licensing and certification criteria. An entry level, competency-based exam for nurse practitioners must be taken. The job outlook for nurse practitioners is considered excellent. The average full-time salary is $90,770. The salary may be different according to different practice sites, duties and patient population. The NP may work a mo re traditional schedule or may work weekends, holidays or be on-call. There are some pros and cons of being a nurse practitioner. I will share my lists of pros and cons. Pros of being a NP are that the job outlook is promising, you have autonomy in practice, it is challenging, and the job is ever changing. The most satisfying aspect for me, is that you have the ability to take full care of your patients and work with them on prevention and treatment plans. Now, the cons of being a NP is that the job can be stressful, there are legal risks (malpractice suits), years of specialized education, and the possibility of being on-call. Being a nurse practitioner means that added responsibility is accompanied by added accountability which in turn is increased liability. In my opinion, the satisfaction you get from the job outweighs the negative attributes. You may think that being a nurse practitioner you are at the top of your career ladder. There are some ways a NP can have some professional advancement. Being promoted to director, taking a management position, or managing your own practice are examples of NP growth. It takes a tremendous amount of studying and dedication to earn a MSN degree. Setting specified time aside for studying and school work is important. Procrastination can be a damaging habit. I have arranged a study plan to help me be successful in this program. I plan on setting aside 3 hours every evening on my days that I don’t work for school activities. On the nights that I am scheduled to work I will work as I can on my school work during down times. With this study plan, I feel that it will give enough devoted time to my family and social life. Time management is key in organizing and prioritizing family, work, school and personal time. Time management planning puts some control back into your hands. I create a daily â€Å"to do list† that helps me identify the tasks I need to do. Prioritizing what I need to get done compared to what I want to get done is most important. Breaking down the week’s activities into daily duties makes me feel less overwhelmed then having to view a full week’s worth of activities. Delegating activities to family can help free up some time. Setting realistic time management goals can prevent setting myself up for failure. The stress of going back to school while tackling family and work responsibilities can be very overwhelming. I find that exercise is a stress reducer I utilize. Exercise also gives me private time to work out problems in my head. Keeping my mind and body healthy will help control stress. It is important to have good sleep habits. With my work schedule, I find it difficult to get adequate sleep. A new goal is to work on getting the pro per sleep needed to refuel my brain and body. Organizational skills, time management and a good support system are essential stress reducers in my life. Encouraging words and advice from family and friends means so much in times of need. Being a nurse is my dream, a dream I am fulfilling. This career I did not choose, it is my destiny. Education is the means that allows us to move forward in life. I won’t let fear stand in way of my education to achieve my dream. â€Å"When you find your path, you must ignore fear I won’t let fear stand in way of my education to achieve my dream. â€Å"When you find your path, you must ignore fear. You need to have the courage to risk mistakes. But once you are on that road†¦run, run, run, and don’t stop til you’ve reached its end.†(J.N. Harris, 2010) Reference Page (J.N. Harris, 2010) Retrieved from htp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/path