Alka-Seltzer Experiment Ideas Essay

1.) Put Alka-Seltzer in different liquids and observe the reactions. 2.) Put Alka-Seltzer in different sealed containers (film canisters, sandwich bags, etc. and observe the reactions. 3.) Explore activity using Pop Rocks candy. 4.) Put Alka-Seltzer tablets into four different liquids (milk, orange juice, Coke, water) observe the reactions. 5.) Place Alka-Seltzer on a plate and pour a steady stream of water on it to see if it reacts any differently than dropping it into a cup of water. 6.) Does the temperature of the water make a difference in the amount of time it takes the tablet to dissolve? 7.) Will different liquids affect the time it takes to dissolve? 8.) Take three cups of water filled to the same height. Drop  ½ tablet in one cup, one tablet in another cup, and 2 tablets in the third cup. How long will it take each to completely dissolve? 9.) Compare/contrast what the reactions will be then Alka-Seltzer is dropped in a glass of milk, another carbonated drink, as well as water. 10.) Place a plant in a sealed environment. Somehow extract all air and place an Alka-Seltzer and water into the sealed environment. The CO2 released can be observed to see if it will enhance plant growth. 11.) Place Alka-Seltzer in a small bottle of water. Fit a balloon to the top of the bottle. The balloon will fill with â€Å"air.† 12.) Have children create their own rocket from construction paper. Affix  rocket to a film canister. Place Alka-Seltzer in the film canister with water. Have children put the lid on the film canister, set it down, and observe â€Å"lift-off.† 13.) Place an Alka-Seltzer tablet inside of a water bottle and immediately seal the bottle so that there is no air flow going into or out of the bottle. What will happen? 14.) Compare/contrast the time it takes to dissolve in water and soda pop. 15.) * Balloon * grind up Alka-Seltzer * put in balloon * add water, tie off * watch balloon expand Explore – Why does it expand? What will happen over time to expand the balloon? Explain – Gas if formed and causes balloon to expand. Balloon will shrink over time due to gas expanding.

Behaviour Research and Therapy Essay

Abstract Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for Social Phobia is effective in both group and individual formats. However, the impact of group processes on treatment efï ¬ cacy remains relatively unexplored. In this study we examined group cohesion ratings made by individuals at the midpoint and endpoint of CBT groups for social phobia. Symptom measures were also completed at the beginning and end of treatment. We found that cohesion ratings signiï ¬ cantly increased over the course of the group and were associated with improvement over time in social anxiety symptoms, as well as improvement on measures of general anxiety, depression, and functional impairment. In conclusion, ï ¬ ndings are consistent with the idea that changes in group cohesion are related to social anxiety symptom reduction and, therefore, speak to the importance of nonspeciï ¬ c therapeutic factors in treatment outcome. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Social phobia; Social anxiety disorder; Group c ohesion; Cognitive-behavior therapy Introduction Social phobia is characterized by an excessive fear of social or performance situations, during which a person may be scrutinized, judged, embarrassed, or humiliated by others. Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for social phobia have primarily come from a cognitive-behavioral orientation and include various combinations of four main components: (1) exposure-based strategies, (2) cognitive therapy, (3) social skills training, and (4) applied relaxation (for reviews, see   administered in either individual and group formats (e.g., Heimberg, Salzman, Holt, & Blendell, 1993; Turner, Beidel, Cooley, Woody, & Messer, 1994). However, the mechanisms of change, and effective ingredients of these treatments remain relatively understudied. Researchers have compared group and individual treatments for this condition, although evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of each approach has been inconsistent (see Scholing & Emmelkamp, 1993; Stangier, Heidenreich, Peitz, Laut erbach, & Clark, 2003; Wlazlo, Schroeder-Hartwig, Hand, Kaiser, & Munchau, 1990 for direct comparisons of individual and group cognitive-behavioral treatment for social  ¨ phobia). However, for some patients, group treatment may offer a number of advantages over individual treatment. For example, group treatment provides an opportunity to marshal group processes (e.g., encouragement, support, and modeling from other group members) that may aid in teaching cognitive strategies and facilitating exposure exercises. Further, there may be nonspeciï ¬ c effects that arise as a result of the relationships that form amongst group members that may contribute to therapeutic outcome. We decided to investigate how these group processes, particularly group cohesion, may be related to treatment outcome in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) groups for social phobia. Within the group therapy literature, one putative mechanism of change is that of group cohesion (Yalom, 1995). However, the construct of group cohesion has deï ¬ ed ready operational deï ¬ nition, especially with more technique-driven interventions like CBT. For example, a broad deï ¬ nition proposed to explain group cohesion is ‘‘the resultant of all forces acting on all the members to remain in t he group’’ (Cartwright & Zander, 1962, p. 74) or, in simpler terms, how attractive a group is for the members who are in it (Frank, 1957). Yalom (1995) conceptualizes group cohesion as the ‘‘we-ness’’ that is felt amongst the group members. Groups with higher levels of cohesion are presumed to have a higher rate of attendance, participation, and mutual support, and to be likely to defend group standards much more. Further, Yalom (1995) believes that group cohesion is necessary for other group therapeutic factors to operate. Researchers studying this construct have also included concepts such as a sense of bonding, a sense of working towards mutual goals, mutual acceptance, support, identiï ¬ cation, and afï ¬ liation with the group (e.g., Marziali, Munroe-Blum, & McCleary, 1997). Clearly then, cohesion is purported to be a critical ingredient for change and therefore would be expected to predict symptomatic outcomes. Some researchers investigating the relationship between group cohesion and treatment outcome have found positive results. Although some of these studies have investigated other nonspeciï ¬ c therapeutic factors as well (i.e., the therapeutic alliance), the present discussion will focus on ï ¬ ndings related to group cohesion processes. Studies have found that group cohesion is related to pre-treatment levels of symptomatic distress, improved self-esteem and reduced symptomatoloty (e.g., Budman et al., 1989). A recent study by Tschuschke and Dies (1994) found that the level of group cohesion in the second half of a long-term psychoanalytic treatment for inpatients was signiï ¬ cantly correlated with treatment outcome and patients who made therapeutic gains reported a high level of group cohesion that began shortly after the ï ¬ rst few sessions. In contrast, unsuccessful patients did not experience a high level of group cohesion at any time. Overall, these studies suggest that group cohesion may play a role in facilitating therapeutic change, though negative ï ¬ ndings also exist (e.g., Gillasp y, Wright, Campbell, Stokes, & Adinoff, 2002; Lorentzen, Sexton, & Hà ¸glend, 2004; Marziali et al., 1997). In the CBT literature, researchers are increasingly paying attention to nonspeciï ¬ c therapeutic factors contributing to treatment outcome (e.g., Ilardi & Craighead, 1994; Kaufman, Rhode, Seeley, Clarke, & Stice, 2005). One of the ï ¬ rst studies in this area was conducted by Hand, Lamontagne, and Marks (1974) in treatment groups for individuals presenting with agoraphobia. They found that members of the group in which cohesion was speciï ¬ cally fostered demonstrated greater improvement up to 6 months after treatment as compared to members of a less cohesive group who demonstrated a greater likelihood of relapse (see also Teasdale, Walsh, Lancashire, & Matthews, 1977, for a replication of these effects, albeit with weaker results). Other ï ¬ ndings from the CBT treatment literature include greater group cohesion ratings predicting lower physical and psychological abuse at follow-up in abusive men (Taft, Murphy, King, Musser, & DeDeyn, 2003), higher levels of group cohesion being signiï ¬ cantly related to decreased post-treatment systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as improved post-treatment quality of life in cardiac patients (Andel, Erdman, Karsdorp, Appels, & Trijsburg, 2003). In addition, group cohesion ratings have been found to be associated with improvements on depressive symptoms at treatment midpoint, after controlling for initial depression level (Bieling, Perras, & Siotis, 2003). Overall, these studies indicate that group cohesion may play some role in facilitating change or enhancing long-term beneï ¬ ts in CBT-based treatments. Although it is not yet clear what factors are relevant for fostering group cohesion, certain disorders may present more challenges than others. For example, given that social phobia involves an intense fear of scrutiny from other people, these individuals may present with barriers to forming a collaborative alliance, such as poor social skills, extreme sensitivity to evaluations, or social avoidance (Woody & Adessky, 2002). Only one study thus far has examined the development of group cohesion and its relationship to outcome during a group CBT treatment of social phobia. Woody and Adessky (2002) treated individuals for social phobia in a group format using Heimberg’s (1991) protocol for group CBT for social phobia and had clients rate group cohesion using the Group Attitude Scale (GAS; Evans & Jarvis, 1986). The GAS measures the clients’ degree of attraction to the group. Measurements were conducted at three points during treatment (sessions 2, 5, and 9) and indicated that group cohesion remained static over time. They also found that the level of group cohesion clients reported was in no way related to outcome. It was suggested that the constructs and measurement of group process in cognitive-behavioral approaches might need to be further reï ¬ ned in order to more fully understand the degree to which group format and group process variables may add an important element to therapeutic outcome. It is important to note that the measure of group cohesion used by Woody and Adessky (2002) deï ¬ nes the construct unidimensionally. The GAS was designed to measure only attraction to group, deï ¬ ned as ‘‘an individual’s desire to identify with and be an accepted member of the group’’ (Evans & Jarvis, 1986, p. 204). Examples of items include: ‘ ‘I want to remain a member of this group,’’ ‘‘I feel involved in what is happening in my group,’’ and ‘‘In spite of individual differences, a feeling of unity exists in my group.’’ However, as discussed by Burlingame, Fuhriman, and Johnson (2002), elements of group cohesion may include both intrapersonal elements (e.g., group member’s sense of belonging and acceptance) as well as intragroup elements (e.g., attractiveness and compatibility felt among the group members). Therefore, by solely focusing on attraction to the group it is possible that the GAS fails to operationalize aspects of cohesion that are important for making therapeutic gains. The present study, therefore, examined the role of cohesion in group CBT for social phobia, using a measure that includes items that ostensibly assess a number of different constructs thought to be related to group cohesion. The Group Cohesion Scale-Revised (GCS-R), developed by Treadwell, Laverture, Kumar, and Veeraraghavan (2001), taps into several different aspects of group cohesion including: interaction and communication (including domination and subordination), member retention, decision-making, vulnerability among group members and consistency between group and individual goals. This self-report questionnaire has been shown to be both reliable and valid for detecting changes in group cohesiveness during the process of group development (Treadwell et al., 2001). Clients with a principal diagnosis of Social Phobia were treated and, based on the preceding literature, we explored: (1) group cohesion development during the course of the group and (2) the relationship of group cohesion to treatment outcome, broadly deï ¬ ned to include not only social phobia symptoms, but the overall experience of negative affect (e.g., general anxiety and depression) and functional impairment. We hypothesized that group cohesion would increase from the midpoint of treatment to the endpoint of treatment and that group cohesion ratings would be signiï ¬ cantly related to positive treatment outcome (i.e., symptom reduction). Method Participants There were a total of 34 outpatient individuals in this study. The average age of participants was 36 years (range 19–64 years; 19 female, 15 male). All individuals reported symptoms meeting criteria for a principal diagnosis (i.e., the diagnosis causing the most distress or impairment) of Social Phobia, as determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—4th edition (SCID-IV; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 2001). One individual also had symptoms meeting criteria for a co-principal primary diagnosis of Dyssomnia Not Otherwise Speciï ¬ ed. For 32 of the participants, the social phobia was generalized (i.e., occurring in most social situations), whereas for the other two participants, it was nongeneralized, occurring in several, but not most social situations. Of the 34 participants, 57% reported symptoms meeting criteria for one or more additional mood disorder (Major Depressive Disorder, 47%; Bipolar Disorder, 6%; Dysthymic Disorder, 3%), 62% had one or more additional anxiety disorder (Speciï ¬ c Phobia, 47%; Generalized Anxiety Disorder, 26%; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, 21%; Panic Disorder, 12%; Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia, 9%), and 27% had one or more additional other diagnoses (Hypochondriasis, 6%; Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Speciï ¬ ed, 6%; Cannabis Dependence, 6%; Paraphilia Not Otherwise Speciï ¬ ed, 3%; Intermittent Explosive Disorder, 3%; Impulse Control Disorder Not Otherwise Speciï ¬ ed, 3%). The values for the anxiety disorders sum to greater than 100% as several participants had multiple anxiety disorders. Measures Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, 21-item version (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). This short form of the original 42-item DASS is a 21-item self-report measure designed to assess depression, anxiety and stress that an individual has experienced over the past week. Each scale consists of seven items and respondents indicate how much each statement applied to them over the past week on a four-point Likert scale. The Depression scale (DASS-21-D) measures dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia, and inertia. The Anxiety scale (DASS-21-A) measures autonomic arousal, skeletal musculature effects, situational anxiety, and the subjective experience of anxiety affect. The Stress scale (DASS-21-S) measures difï ¬ culty relaxing, nervous arousal, and a tendency to become easily upset/ agitated, irritable/over-reactive, and impatient. Strong internal consistency with a clinical sample has been demonstrated with the DASS-21 (a’s ranging from .87 to .94), and the factor structure is well supported (Antony, Bieling, Cox, Enns, & Swinson, 1998). Construct validity of the three scales has also been demonstrated (see Brown, Chorpita, Korotitsch, & Barlow, 1997). In the current sample, reliability was acceptable at pre-treatment for the Depression (a  ¼ :91), Anxiety (a  ¼ :87), and Stress (a  ¼ :87) scales. Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS; Devins, 1994). The IIRS is a 13-item questionnaire that measures the extent to which a disease, its treatment, or both interfere with activities in 13 important domains considered essential to a positive quality of life. These domains include health, diet, work, active recreation (e.g., sports), passive recreation (e.g., reading), ï ¬ nances, relationship with partner, sexual and family relations, other social relations, self-expression/self-improvement, religious expression, and community and civic involvement. For each item, an individual rates the intrusiveness on a scale for 1–7 with higher scores indicating more intrusiveness. The IIRS has been shown to have good psychometric properties in both medically ill populations (Devins et al., 2001) and anxiety disorders groups (Antony, Roth, Swinson, Huta, & Devins; 1998; Bieling, Rowa, Antony, Summerfeldt, & Swinson, 2001). In the current sample, reliability was acceptable at pre-treatment (a  ¼ :87). Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; Connor et al., 2000). The SPIN is a 17-item questionnaire designed to assess symptoms of social phobia. Each item measures the severity of a particular symptom during the past week, using a ï ¬ ve-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). It consists of three subscales: fear, avoidance, and physiological arousal. The SPIN has been shown to have good empirical support (Antony, Coons, McCabe, Ashbaugh, & Swinson, 2006; Connor et al., 2000) and enables the assessment of a wide range of social anxiety symptoms, making it an ideal measure for generalized social phobia. The total score measure of the SPIN has recently been shown to have excellent internal consistency for the total score for individuals meeting criteria for Social Phobia (with a  ¼ :92) and a combined sample of individuals meeting criteria for Social Phobia (Generalized Type), Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (with a  ¼ :95) (Antony et al., 2006; Connor et al., 2000). It has also been shown to have good test–retest reliability (r  ¼ :86, po:001), convergent and discriminant validity as well as being able to distinguish well between those with Social Phobia as opposed to Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The SPIN has also been shown to be sensitive to changes in the severity of social phobia following cognitive-behavior treatment (Antony et al., 2006). In the current sample, pre-treatment reliability was acceptable (a  ¼ :93). Group Cohesion Scale-Revised (GCS-R; Treadwell et al., 2001). The GCS-R is a 25-item questionnaire designed to assess group cohesion in terms of interaction and communication among group members (including domination and subordination), member retention, decision-making, vulnerability among group members, and consistency between group and individual goals. Each item is rated on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Examples of items include: ‘‘Group members usually feel free to share information,’’ ‘‘There are usually feelings of unity and togetherness among the group members,’’ and ‘‘Many members engage in ‘back-biting’ in this group.’’ This scale was recently revised (Treadwell et al., 2001) in order to modify one item, discard another item, and change the wording of the anchor points. In a validation study, internal consistency (as measured by Cronbach’s alpha) ranged from .48 to .89 on pre-test assessment and .77–.90 on post-test assessment (Treadwell et al., 2001). In the current sample, reliability was acceptable at both treatment midpoint (a  ¼ :84) and at treatment endpoint (a  ¼ :79), and the reliability of the change score was .56 (Williams & Zimmerman, 1996). Procedure All individuals completed a 10-session CBT treatment group for social phobia.1 Treatment administered was based on protocols described by Heimberg and Becker (2002) and Antony and Swinson (2000). The key components of therapy included: psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, in-session and between-session exposure exercises, as well as social skills training. Groups were run by two therapists and consisted of ï ¬ ve–eight patients per group. A total of 11 groups were included in the study. It should be noted that initially 76 individuals were enrolled in these 11 groups. However, of these 76 individuals, there were only 67 individuals from whom any measures were received at all (i.e., nine individuals did not return any data). In order to conduct the analyses that will be described below, it was possible to include only 34 of these 67 individuals. This was due to a need to have received both mid- and post-GCS measures as well as pretreatment outcome data. Therefore, the working sample that will be discussed in this study encompasses 34 individuals who completed the treatment as well as these various measures2. Participants completed the GCS questionnaire at the midtreatment session of each group (i.e., session 5) as well as during the last session of each group. Questionnaires assessing symptom severity (i.e., the DASS-21, IIRS a nd SPIN) were completed prior to the beginning of group treatment as well as during the last session of each group. Data analysis Multilevel regression analyses (i.e., generalized mixed modeling) using the software program HLM 6 (Raudenbush, Bryk, Cheong, & Congdon, 2004) were conducted. We used this approach because it allowed us to assess and control for nonindependence of data that might arise from being nested into treatment groups (Hedeker, Gibbons, & Flay, 1994; Herzog et al., 2002). Another advantage of HLM was that it can accommodate unequal group sizes and employs maximum likelihood estimation instead of least squares. Before examining change over time in the outcome variables and GCS, intraclass correlations (ICCs) were estimated to examine the interdependence of data due to nesting (see Herzog et al., 2002). The intraclass correlation depicts how much variance in the outcome variable is due to within-subjects, between-subjects, and between-groups variance. Results For each analysis, items were included from each scale for each individual, unless 20% or more of data were missing. Missing values for a particular scale item were replaced by calculating the mean value for that scale item and using this mean value in place of the missing value. Outcome measures A series of three-level regression models were evaluated to examine change over time in the outcome variables. Level 1 consisted of repeated measures (i.e., two assessment occasions) that were nested within 1 Two groups completed 12-session CBT treatment groups and one group completed a 9-session treatment group. The use of a multilevel regression approach (i.e., HLM) allowed us to examine whether or not number of sessions per group affected any of the relationships reported. Results indicated that number of sessions did not moderate any of the results reported in the paper. 2 These treatment groups were not conducted as part of a formal treatment outcome study, which accounts for the number of patients who failed to return their post-treatment questionnaires. Therefore, the individuals who completed both pre-treatment and post-treatment measures provide a naturalistic and ecologically valid cross section of moderate to severe social phobia patients typically seen in an acute outpatient clinic, presenting with anxiety disorders and related problems.

Autonomous work group an essential ingredient for effective organising? Essay

Following the needs of many businesses to adopt alternative forms of work design this paper tries to explain and make some sense about the effectiveness of autonomous work groups in organising. It will be argue the thesis that such groups have been, are and will be effective in some definite organisational setting. The assumptions underpinning this idea will be explored along the dialectic forming three sections. To understand this concept it seems important introduce notions of individual, group and explain why they are so central from an organisational point of view. Thus, the first part of this paper will present some psychological effects resulting through their interaction of these actors Moreover, being the idea of autonomous work group part of a complex system, it will be restrictive analyse its characteristics without locate it among others concepts produced by sociotechnical researchers. Thus, a broader analysis of sociotechnical system (STS) will be part of the second section. Difference between what STS aimed to achieve, what they really achieved, and/or what they are achieving today is still discussed. This lack of unanimous consensus lets the debate open to several interpretations, and offer the opportunity to explore and address few issues related to the self-managing groups. Hence, the last side of this paper will address a discuss about the role of management, the subordination of human criteria to the dictates of efficiency, the application to both linear and non-linear systems, and a movement toward a self-leading team type. The magnitude of such topic and the number of interesting studies surrounding this area offer to the author a dilemma regarding what should be treated and what should not. Obviously, having this script humanistic approach major evidence is given to people in organisation, and respectively team members, and management. Moreover, analysing the way in which the system adapted itself during the second half of the last century, it will be argued that organisations designed or redesigned in respect of human criteria in certain industries and environments, can reach a competitive advantage respect those that will not do it. In short, STS is an effective tool by which it is possible match both individual and organisational needs. Pursuing the paper this line of argument, issues related to politics, unions, and power, and other effects of identifications, ideology and control are not dealt in this paper neither because not relevant, nor because of secondary importance, rather, due to the limitation of the length. Individuals, Groups and Organisation To some extent groups always existed, even in USA -where in time of cold war ambitions were led to unbridled individualism, organisation used to split task into subtask, assigned it to various subunits, than these subunits divided subtask into sub-subunits and so on. Even if an organisation is formally organised according individual performance, the division of labour break down the organisation into groups. What does group means, and what needs a group fulfil for both organisation and individual? ‘A psychological group is any number of people who interact with one other, are psychologically aware of one other, and perceive themselves as group’ (Schein 1994), and are seen as group by the others from outside (Hackman 1987, in Brown 2003). If in everyday life, groups can be formed through a spontaneous or random meeting -such as four friends meets for chance in library, in organisational setting they have diverse origin. Basically, it is possible recognise two types of groups in organisation, those which are deliberately created by managers in order to fulfil the tasks required from the organisational mission, an those fulfilling psychological needs of individual beyond the minimum ones of doing their jobs; respectively formal and informal groups (Schein 1994). According to its duration the former can be of two types: permanent -such as the group of lecturer or/and professors forming the BOR depth at Lancaster University; or temporary -such as a matrix group of lecturers or/and professors committed in a project for a definite time or mission. Nevertheless, organisation takes an informal structure within which individuals interacting with others generates a group that fulfil their social needs. But contrary to the everyday life the interaction depend on defined physical location, being in fact their activity within the organisation limited by their tasks and mission to perform -such as the possibility to interact with people both meeting and working in the same office, depth, building and so on. Bearing in mind that groups can simultaneously fulfil diverse organisational functions and needs of their members, it useful here to distinguish these kinds of functions in ‘organisational and individual’ (Schein 1994). According to this partition, it is possible group organisational functions as those features coinciding with the mission of the organisation -i.e. working on a complex or interdependent task, generating new ideas or creative solutions, liaison or coordinating functions, facilitate the implementation of complex decision, or be a vehicle of socialisation or training. On the other hand, among needs group members can bring with them and groups can fulfil there are needs such as those of affiliation, sense of identification and maintain self esteem, establish and tests social reality, moreover, it reduce insecurity and anxiety. Appear now clear why groups are so important, from an organisational point of view it speed, facilitate, and improve the task-related functions. On the other hand, spending two third of our life within the workplace, meeting our psychological needs inn a group, and spending two third of our adult life in a work setting of various kinds, groups become a integral part of such work settings (Schein 1994:152). Thus, an enormous potential can be offered mixing up informal and formal functions, to comprehend it means to imagine how they can serve at the same both organisational and individual. Reed supported this thesis stating understand organisations means grasp the diverse political forces acting in it, nevertheless, decisions are not taken during a board of director, rather main actors discuss and reach agreement during a dinner on a golf course (2002). In other words, linking together individual’s needs and organisational functions to fulfil, by means of formal and informal organisation could be achieved, through effectiveness and the right balance with the social needs of employees, an organisational competitive advantage. The Socio Technical System (STS) Understand the dynamic process made up of individual’s needs interacting in organisational setting it is not as easy as at a first sight. After two decades in which the human relation (HR) approach allocate ‘attention to the employees, not work condition per se, that has the dominant impact on productivity (Peters & Waterman, cited in Moldaschl & Weber 1998:350), the sociotechnical group took another direction. Researches, associated with the work done by the Tavistock Institute in London, instead of concentrating on the enterprise as social system -where technology was not considered and workers were treated better whilst their job remained the same (Trist, in Moldaschl & Weber 1998), attempted to overcome both Tayloristic and HR approach of work design. Whereas the HR movement achieved the so-called ‘Hawthorne public relation effect’ -enforcing psychotechnics to deal with employees’ psychological ‘wealth’, STS underlined the importance of a real design of tasks (Emery 1978). The idea of STS implies that any productive organisation or part thereof is a combination of technology and social system in mutual interaction to each other. Each determines each other and the nature of work determines the type of organisation that develops among workers, whilst the sociopsychological characteristics of the worker determine the manner in which a given job will be performed (Schein 1994). This idea led to the development of an open system theory in which organisations imports and converts various things from its environment -such as people, money equipment, raw material, and so on, and exports products, services and waste materials which result from the conversion’s process (Schein 1994). Importing people the organisation have to deal with individual’s needs, values, norms, and expectations, as a consequence, to be effective the organisation have to take in account both the nature of job and those of people. Through the Norwegian â€Å"Industrial Democracy Programmes† sponsored by the government, the employer association, and unions, STS achieved a value-free research far from the political justification for self-governance and from the economic justification of self-regulation (Susman in Moldaschl & Weber 1998:350). It led their researchers to claim a third realization through the so called principle of industrial democracy -whilst for others concentrating their efforts on the micro level of participation, and neglecting representative forms of industrial democracy they realized just direct workplace democracy (Blackler 1982 in Moldaschl & Weber 1998). Another important concept is based on the joint optimisation through which it is possible developing design solutions that consider human criteria and efficiency criteria equally (Brown 2003). Thus, it â€Å"enables a best match in this way†¦such as Emery’s ‘nine-step model’ that aims to reduce â€Å"key variances† in, and between work systems, and to control them by â€Å"self-regulation† of the workers’ (Moldaschl & Weber 1998:360). This self-regulation, interdependence and self-governance, draw attention to decisions that ca be delegated to work groups that, in function of these, are defined as autonomous work group. In some industries has been discovered that higher levels of productivity and quality can be achieved giving clusters of tasks to a work group (Findlay et al, 2000; Barker 1999; Knights and McCabe 2000; Muller 1992; Sewell 1998); such ‘autonomous work groups are then made responsible for producing entire product such a radio, an engine’ (Schein 1994). The idea was to group several workers -organised in multifunctional structure with flexible job rotation, in a spatially and organisationally limited production unit, share a common task that is divided into interdependent sub task, and assume share responsibility over the long term. Among its criteria can be notice boundary maintenance (Moldaschl & Weber 1998:360). What sociotechnology group tried to achieve through the implement of autonomous work group is a way of simultaneously satisfying psychological and task needs (Buchanan 2000:29). In other words, a whole group is provided the opportunity to design and manage a total integrated task, thus permitting workers to fulfil their social and self actualising needs within the context of the work situation’ (Herbst 1962 in Schein 1994:195). Nevertheless being the role of management present to some extents, it is more correct to speak about semi autonomous work groups. Among the variety of semi-autonomous work group, it is useful to adopt the three forms identified by Brown (2003). The composite fully multi skilled -as in the Tavistock Institute Coal Mining studies where miners learnt and performed diverse task; the matrix form -as in Fiorelli’s idea of quality circle where a group of people, having different specialised functions, overlapped competences (1998); and the network where individuals are far but frequently in contact to each other through information technologies such as teleconferencing to exchange knowledge – from which the ongoing ‘knowledge management team’ (Bell, Blackler and Crump in Fulop & Linstead 1999:228). This tri-partition can be associated with changes in the second half of twentieth century in western society where ‘technological and organisational improvement led radical changes in economical sector’ (Ackroyd and Lawernson 1995, Piore & Sabel 1984, Zuboff 1998). Especially during the last three decades of the twenties century, after a climate of tension, a new international distension opened up new opportunities for businesses and ventures, new markets were found available to be explored and offered new competitive advantages to companies, (Hutton 2002). The re-design of the organisational structure bring in fact some effects within the socio-economical system where it is embedded. International markets got crowded; pressure and competition increased forcing companies to redesign their organisation. To face this turbulent environment Trist et al propose: ‘an alternative design based on the redundancies of functions: for individual they create role rather mere jobs; for the organisation they bring into being a variety-increasing system rather than the traditional control by variety reduction†¦(through) continuing development of appropriate new values concerned with improving the quality of working life by keeping the technological determinants of worker behaviour to a minimum in order to satisfy social and psychological needs by the involvement of all. Autonomous working groups, collaboration instead competitions, and reduction of hierarchical emphasis, are some of the requirements for operating effectively in modern turbulence (in Pugh & Hickson 1996:182 -emphasis added) As stated by Trist within this theoretical pattern, autonomous work group is an essential ingredient for the effective organising. Discussion and conclusion The role of management seems to be an essential component to the achievement of the best match within the system for both Blackler and Brown (1978), and Fox (1995), whilst strangely, STS approach does not seems to explicitly address neither the problem of management, nor those of managerial control. Differently, Knights & McCabe (2000) exploring what team working means for employees’ lives within an automobile manufacture company, affirm that employees as well as managers are capable of exercise power interpreting and reinterpreting management strategies. Stressing the accent on autonomy, managerial role need to be redefined to support and favourite tasks of group members. Accordingly, to meet autonomous work group needs a manager should be a good diagnostician, trying to be flexible enough to understand and to vary their own behaviour in relation to the needs of their subordinates (Schein 1994). Nevertheless, it is useful remember that individuals’ needs are not just meet through groups, they have another set of necessity that are fulfilled outside the group, alone, as well as with a friend. What I am addressing here is what Costea and Crump called the standardisation of individual -or better how to make an individual as unique as its mate (2003). In other words to be effective in self managing groups members have to maintain their equilibrium that permits them to keep and evolve its personality: members are not asked to follows rules, rather to make decisions. For this reason Often, the practical one does not confirm what in academic setting appear feasible from a conceptual level. Even for the best social scientist it is quite hard, if not impossible, individuate a priori the huge amount of forces arising from the combination of interests and pressure groups in which his theory will become part. In practical conditions, sociotechnical projects sometimes failed because they subordinate human criteria to the dictates of efficiency or because they become victim of a political conflicts (Blackler, 1982; Kelly, 1978; Sydow, 1985; Pasmore, 1995 in Moldaschl & Weber 1998), making it often impossible to translate joint optimisation of human goals and efficiency into reality. ‘Although mainly consisting of psychologist of work and organisation, the â€Å"classical† Tavistock representatives of the STS approach does not regard its primary goal to be the far reaching consideration of human criteria in the design process of a work system. Rather they st rive for an optimal compromise between technical, economic, and human work design objectives’ (Moldaschl & Weber 1998:362). Changing our analysis from a classical to more contemporaneous perspective, a diverse slant come from the observation that self managing groups are still effective, but they loose their grip on organisation when have to deal with the no-routine office work of management and professional -being these set of practices developed for linear work systems (Fox 1995). Diverse from Pugh and Hickson (1986), Fox notes that not always the use of autonomous work group seems to be appropriate, in fact ‘the creation of recticular organisation (characterised by a fluid distribution of information and authority that changes are required) may be appropriate†¦in some non linear work systems (1995:103). STS’ concepts have contributed to improve design and redesign of many work systems, however most of the successful experiences occurred in well-defined linear systems-characterised by a sequential process of input-output, rather in unclear defined non-linear system -where the absence of the in-out property makes it difficult to separate different conversion flows into well-bounded entities (Pava, 1986). Nevertheless, a major revolution is not required to broaden the applicability of STS principles: Modifying the practices employed in STS design to include non-linear work systems is consistent with the essential precepts of STS design: open system analysis, a best match of social and technical subsystems, redundant functions over redundant parts, systemic interrelationships between design factors, self-design, and critical specification (Pava 211). In this capacity to adapt itself in both changing organisational requirements and environment, I think should be recognised the bigger strength of STS. Becoming this adaptability without distort any principle, the approach seems to be relevant especially nowadays, seeking organisations new means of empowerment to boost the productivity in increasingly turbulent environment. A final consideration is due to the work Manz who argue, the future of self-managing groups seems be oriented to lead workers to lead themselves (1992). During this movement toward a self-leading team type of work design, the latter identify some contingency factors relevant to this transition such as: nature of workers; work context; new manufacturing techniques; environment; and organisational system. However, this model seems more likely applicable in such culture where both high trust to workers and decentralisation of power is given -i.e. UK as opposite to Japan and Germany. In fact, ‘Movement toward self-leading team work likely to require significant involvement of the work force in determining the direction of the organisation as well as carrying out that direction, and the opportunity for the work teams to influence that direction, especially as it relates to their specific work performance’ (Manz 1992). Within this framework, it possible imagine shift from traditional & participative leadership to a self management role of leader, in doing it, the new role will be to lead members’ group to lead themselves (Manz & Sims 1987). Being both the power shifting from managers to team members, and the latter able to distinguish true managerial aptitudes from artificial (Knights & McCabe 2000), a certain amount of resistance from the former could be assumed. It leads to pay attention on the way in which managers implement these set of practices. In conclusion, due to its adaptability to technological innovations, and its flexibility in linear and non linear systems autonomous work group could seems even more actual today than during the second half of the second century. Its democratic principles and the democratic way in which tasks are thought and accomplished, seems to make this system the most appropriate within those political environment in which principles of democracy are used. This thesis seems reinforced from the growth of lean systems and consequently from practices as Just in Time, Business Process Re-engineering, or Total Quality Management in those organisational setting where work design diverse from human centred. On the base of both the literature proposed, and the assumption resting on this paper, an important feature seems emerge. For those organisations pursuing human relations and democratic policies, autonomous work group permits both individual and organisations to pursue their own interests. Not just offering the opportunity to decrease alienation filling their social needs to the former, and to reduce practice such as of absenteeism, sabotage, and achieve that commitment and loyalty, to the latter. Rather it seems the best compromise between capitalism and working class since the first industrial revolution to nowadays. An effective tool capable to improves and re-defines the boundaries of the psychological contract and consecutively boosts productivity and reduces costs. To create effective self-managing groups become central the role of top management in planning and develop a long-term program made of continuous investment in work design research, and in staff and management programs (Pearson 1992). It will allow a deep understanding about the dynamics of members’ needs, a constant design, a re-negation of the task requirements, and to avoid both mismanagement, and the establishment of repetitive alienating tasks. Finally, to figure out this sophisticated topic, a broader research should analyse the interrelation and influences of related issue such as: identifications; role of control; ideology of team, politico-economic and socio-cultural peculiarity of the society; in which the organisation will decide to implement self management group working. Within this system, autonomous work group seems to be not a problem to be solved, rather a solution to deal today with the confluence of tensions resulting from yesterday’s decisions.

Course Reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Course Reflection - Assignment Example and when held up in different circumstances .The third chapter is important, had helped me in understanding the most important aspect of the study which is coding procedure and this will help me in being a better coding professional. The fourth chapter is about the medical fee charged on to the insurance clients and this section had mathematical calculation too. This is an important phase of the study which allowed me to understand and analyze the patient’s medical fee calculation .This section also allowed me to understand the benefits avail to the clients while they are claiming medical charges from the insurance company. There are different exercise regarding claims and reimbursement in this section which allow me to grasp more easily the mathematical activities. The fifth chapter is all about the refunds and appeals of clients. Here I understood about the record keeping technique and the way in which the refund and appeals had to be handled when I am in profession. Last but not least, I studied about the billing procedure which is the final step of the

Critically evaluate the current methods of high-throughput expression Essay

Critically evaluate the current methods of high-throughput expression profiling in normal and disease states - Essay Example These studies have provided information that was challenging to find, making it easy to detect diseases very early and applying the necessary intervention and treatment procedures on time reducing rates of morbidity and mortality. The first step n the quest to understand the cell function would be understanding gene expression of the various cells of the body. In that case, it would be easier to determine when cells are not expressed as expected. Scientists and researchers point out that gene expression anomalies mostly involve the Messenger RNA (mRNA). DNA Microarrays are used to measure the expression of cells within a predefined mRNA. Different cells are expected to be expressed in a certain way in the mRNA. Changes in expression include over-expression or under-expression. For example, scientists have confirmed that breast cancer cells express more mRNA for the membrane receptor (Suter, Babiss and Wheeldon, 2004). DNA methylation which is important in the normal DNA function and gene expression can be used to detect the changes in the DNA leading to abnormal expression and disease. Hyper-methylation and hypo-methylation have been associated with significant changes in some cells. Cells of the breast canter are usually hyper-methylated leading to neuroblastoma risks and response to the tamoxifen (Widschwendter et al., 2004; Martens et al., 2005). Hyper methylation has also been associated with Leukemia, Ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer (Baylin, 2005). The varying magnitudes of methylation in the cells are associated with different stages of cancer development, and DNA methylation technique can be used to determine the exact stage (Costello et al, 2000). Use of DNA and genes is made very easy by the availability of data of all genomes in the human body. Researchers can access this information anytime from the human genome project databases. Use of gene expression is a three step process that involves class comparison, class prediction and analyzing the va rious genes sets profiles. All this information is presented on pre-processed images which are normalized to make sense (Tarca et al, 2006). DNA microarrays are limiting in that they can only be used for know cells. This limitation necessitated the introduction of RNA sequencing in which unknown genes expression can be studied (Cloonan et al, 2008). Single cell sequencing in which the different types of healthy and cancerous cells can be sequenced individually has improved the effectiveness of DNA micro array studies. All the cells that are studies are amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to achieve better and accurate results (Wang and Bodovitz, 2010). Micro arrays can be used to analyze thousands of cells from different patients at once making it time efficient unlike the previous methods of analysis. The technique provides information on DNA, RNA and the proteins simultaneously. Throughput profiling can also be done at the product level of gene expression; proteins in this case are studied for any anomalies. Mass Spectrometry is used to determine the differences between normal cells and diseased cells for example cancer cells (Aebersold and Mann, 2003). This procedure has proved very important in detecting prostate cancer in early stages, which has been a major challenge. In this case, the fluids, peptides and serum from the prostate are examined using the SELDI mass spectrometer which uses affinity capture. Some cells are

Applying for Scholarship to attend Trinity Valley college Essay

Applying for to attend Trinity Valley college - Scholarship Essay Example I am, therefore, striving to either complete a two year course in Computer Science or an associate degree (â€Å"Blaine" Clamon II 2012). My studies have been characterized by good grades in the examinations as I have maintained an impressive GPA of 3.25 in addition to perfect school attendance. I have also taken high school lessons in Key Boarding as well as Audio/Video Production. Besides, I also had lessons on Business Law and in all the lessons computers were integral part of the learning process. Therefore, I enjoy working with computers. I am also a community volunteer worker as I usually attend St. Jude’s Catholic Church every Sunday morning and consequently assist the first grade Sunday school teacher with Sunday school duties. The scholarship will help me pursue my dream career at TVCC upon which I anticipate to get a job where I would apply my knowledge and skills obtained. TVCC comes to the fore based on the fact that it is close to my residence and the study plan of the specialty I intend to take suits my career objectives. It is with this noble intention that I have made the decision of approaching your organization with my humble request for scholarship (â€Å"Blaine" Clamon II

The transportation Industry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The transportation Industry - Assignment Example The 2011 RynAir financial statements are illustrated in Appendices A-D. The report will also include a discusssion of the accounting cycle. The accounitng cycle is a systematic system used by accountants to keep track of economic activities in order to prepare the financial staments of the company. The flow chart below shows the steps of the accounting cycle. RynAir Corporation must pay close attention to its accounting cycle. It all starts with the receipts and source document that are used to analyze the journal transactions. The firm could implement a new system that digitalizes all receipts. This system would improve the accountability of the system since it would create a backup of all receipts. Accountants instead of sorting through a bunch of small paper receipts they can get a digital image of each receipt in front of their computer monitor. The accountants would be able to work faster because inefficiencies in the journal recording process would be reduced. The income statement is a statement that reflects the profitability of a company during an accounting period. In 2011 RynAir had total revenues of â‚ ¬3629.5 million. In comparison with fiscal year 2010 the company increased its revenues by 21.46%. The net margin of RynAir in 2011 was 10.32%. The firm achieved earnings per share of â‚ ¬25.21. The operating expenses of the company were â‚ ¬3141 million, which was higher than the 2010 total of â‚ ¬2586 million. A cost factor that increased a lot in 2010 was the fuel and cost expenses. Traditional fuel and oil expenses are the biggest cost factor in the airline industry. In 2011 the company spends â‚ ¬1,227 million in fuel and cost which is an increase of 37.26%. Since the company increased its revenues at a higher rate than its expenses the overall profitability of the company was better. The balance sheet of the company is often referred to as the statement of

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 44

Marketing - Essay Example A retail client of mine wanted to increase the number of shoppers buying the higher value products in their range, and believed a key issue was its packaging. So, the team made several prototype packs and, over course of a couple of days, tried them in a store. They then simply observed how customers interacted with the different versions, and picked a winner that has subsequently driven double-digit sales growth in that category. Different customers have different tastes, thus, a close monitoring of the customers’ buying and/or consumption trends is vital especially where the commodity comes in different versions or tastes so as to determine which version of the commodity is popular among buyers (Business Intelligence, 2005). This helps establish the stature of the product in the market as a result of increased sales once the customer favorite commodity is identified. Even if you are focused on internal clients, direct experience of your offering can bring home to you what its like to be your customer. Only when youve been standing in a retail stores queue with a screaming baby, or perhaps have tried to use your call centre to ask for support, do you get a realistic view of your customers experience. A good business person should some times be able to step into their customer’s shoes as it helps them have a vivid understanding and have value for their customers. In addition, this enables one to help create products and services that are fair to everyone at any given moment so as to keep attracting more customers. Even  Steve Jobs, who eschews most customer research, set up a prototype store when developing  Apples  retail concept. The insights gained from this helped the team develop innovative in-store services such as The Genius Bar. According to Business Intelligence (2005), the current market is growing rapidly which is in line with prototyping; this will help collect sufficient information rapidly about your

The effect of music on ones social life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The effect of music on ones social life - Essay Example The effect of music on one’s social life A study is set on the different types of behaviors that the listener attaches each the genres of music studied. Of importance to look into is the scope with which the genre of music chosen has influence on the behavior change and influence of the listener of the music. There are a considerable number of music genres. Among the several genres are rock, and roll, Hip Hop, soul, and rhythm and blues. Each of the aforementioned genres has different origins. They evoke different and diverse influences on the listener’s behavior. Listeners of every kind of music mentioned attach different levels of enthusiasms towards listening to their genre of preference. In finding out the influence of the genres on their listeners’ behavior, one needs to embark on a study of personality traits of the listener. Every genre would influence every personality trait in a special and unique manner. Of importance in the study is to find out the importance that listeners of music attach to the ge nre of preference in question. Rock and Roll dates its origin to a long time back in history. This notably was in the 1940s and 1950s. The genre found its invention from African Americans. This genre of music most probably roots its foundation from the United States. The genre often attaches its caliber to the elites. It is more popular among the high-class individuals than to the lower class individuals. The elite class tends to listen to the genre more than the other classes of people. Many concerts and entertainment scenes featuring rock and roll music receive a high turnout of the elite class than others classes in lifestyle. The word â€Å"rock† that the founders of this genre used to refer to it was a disguised manner of quoting the word sex. Hip Hop is a major known genre of music among the youth. Its acknowledgement and spread is significant among the black Americans. The genre of music roots from the, black American, people. Its sole purpose was to address the plight of blacks in America. It is associated considerably with the low-income class and the poor. Its origin dates back to the period of history during the 1970s. Many of the artists of Hip Hop are characters who at one moment in time had experiences with the effects of black supremacy. They might as well be descendants of former victims of the historical atrocities the black underwent. Among the several themes, this genre of music that address mistreat experienced by the blacks. The victims underwent the inhumane experiences during the slavery period. This genre of music tends to inform the authorities of the various problems faced by the black Americans. Sharp criticism of betrayal and neglect by the power holders is among the diverse expressions of the message from this genre of music. Soul music dates back to deep early ages in history. This is notably the time between the 1950s and 1960s. The origin of this genre of music is from the U.S. This genre of music explores a more seductiv e way of presentation than rock and roll music. It is common among individuals who feel the touch of romance with the songs. It plays on a cool and sentimental tone. The overriding theme in a remarkable numbers of soul music is romance and feelings of love that the characters attach to each other. The main associates with this genre of music are the elite class. Soul music is mainly played in instances of paying and merrymaking. It helps show romance and togetherness of parties involved.

The main aim of education should be vocational Term Paper

The main aim of education should be vocational - Term Paper Example In the developing countries, we find that during the 1990s, there were policies that reflected the changing priorities and the shift from pre-vocational courses to the empowerment of general education, as advocated by World Bank in 1991 (Mclean and Kamau, 1999). It was contended that the developed nations that had strong resources, and well organised and well funded secondary schools, were more suitable for imparting vocational education to its students. However, this theory does not hold true anymore and it is now perceived that vocational education is important for all students, worldwide. It is quite legitimate to frame an economic goal from the context of general education, and one can hardly ignore the necessity of preparing students for their future workplaces, so it is of little wonderment when we learn that â€Å"the vast majority [of students] believed that schools should help them to do as well as possible in their exams and teach them things that would be useful when they entered jobs† (National Commission on Education, 1993, 151). Even today the main aim of education is related to the study of certain subjects that can be gradually developed to prepare the students for pursuing higher studies like doing research work (Lauglo, and Maclean, 2005). In the modern context, the term ‘education’ conveys the same meaning as â€Å""philosophy" and "psychology" do, for a discipline or field of studies, once calls "pedagogy," often set up as a department or school within a college or university, and thought of as subject matter to be taught and developed by further research. One of our tendencies is to make everything just another subject in the educational curriculum† (Frankena, 1973). Vocational education in this regards refers to the addition of subjects that are more practical based or job focussed, with visits to industries and with appropriate vocational trainings, to

Drug and Alcohol Essay Example for Free

Drug and Alcohol Essay When students are I their senior year of high school, many look forward to graduation. They know that in a few months, they will be off to college and away from their parents. This means that they have all the freedom in the world and can do whatever they want when they want to do it. They meet friends while in college, and have fun. They begin to explore new things. Many finds a mate for the first time, party for the first time, or even drink for the first time. Alcohol drinking is a common activity across any campus, even though they are prohibited. Teens find any way to access alcohol. I will be exploring the negative effects of drinking alcohol on college students. Alcohol interferes with so much on students including preventing them from getting their education. I will research too see how can this problem be decreased. I know that it is impossible to stop underage college students from drinking, but there are ways to bring down the amount that do drink. I will tell on which occasions these teens do drink alcohol on campus. To my knowledge, I know that underge drinking is a widespread problem, and I know that I can find much information on the topic. Bibliography Negative consequences. (2011). Unpublished manuscript, Department of Health, Eastern Washington University, Retrieved from http://access.ewu.edu/Health-and-Wellness/Health-Education/Substance-Use-and-Abuse/Negative-Consequences.xml U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2002). What parents need to know about college drinking Department of Transportation. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2002). What peer educators and residential advisors need to know about college drinking (NIH Publication No. 02-5017)Department of Transportation.

Dan Marino and Joe Montana Essay Example for Free

Dan Marino and Joe Montana Essay There I was, a three-year-old little girl watching a football game on TV with my grandfather. The game on TV was the 1985 super bowl, and the teams playing are the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins. My grandfather was a big 49ers fan and Joe Montana was the big time star quarterback at the time. My grandfather asked me, â€Å"Well little girl, what team do you want to win? † The response he got was not expected, â€Å"The Dolphins, Papa! † His response was, â€Å"why? † I said, â€Å"They have pretty colors and dolphins on their helmets. My love for the Dolphins grew from that day more than anyone in my family could have expected. As the years passed my love for the game and Dan Marino grew deep. Growing up in the era of big time quarterbacks with Joe Montana considered the king with four super bowl rings, being a Marino fan was hard. At the time Marino entered the league in 1983, Montana had already played for four years, and Marino was a rookie in this game. Marino entered the super bowl in 1985, his second year in the NFL to take on Montana who had already won a super bowl. Marino had a lack of rings and a loss in the super bowl to Montana. Even though Marino lost this super bowl, the battle of who the better quarterback was began because Marino’s talent could not be ignored. Dan Marino was the better quarterback on and off the field than Joe Montana, despite the fact that Montana won more super bowls. Sure, Joe Montana had the super bowl rings but, Dan Marino held the record for touchdown passes, completions and yards. Marino is classified to me as the better quarter back because he held more records in his career than Montana did as an individual. Marino held 49 team records with the Miami Dolphins, and broke 24 NFL records (2). Marino also won the NFL MVP once before retiring in 1999 (2). To Marino’s credit he held this title and had never won a super bowl. Montana did win the NFL MVP three times and also won four super bowls in his career, but he only broke a handful of records as an individual (1). While researching Montana, the only supporting information given is pertaining to his career in super bowl wins. Out of all four of his super bowl wins he was crowned MVP three times which is a huge accomplishment. Montana also held 14 team records with the 49ers, which he left in 1992 to play for the Chiefs, but only held 2 NFL records (1). Now, if Marino had a chance at 4 super bowls instead of one, in my opinion he would have broken more records than Montana ever did in the super bowls he played in. A major question asked by NFL experts is, if Marino had played for a better team would he have won a super bowl? Montana had a record breaking and fellow hall of famer Jerry Rice on his team as his wide receiver, and a superior defense. Montana was a part of a great team and organization. Montana also was a great clutch winner and could win a game in the last two minutes of a game. It took the coach of the 49ers at the time to put faith in to his capabilities for him to shine. The Dolphins’ organization failed to supply Marino with the teammates he needed to win the big game. Marino had a great wide receiver, Mark Clayton, at his side to help assist him with achieving his records, and Don Shula as a coach. The Dolphins’ organization lacked a strong defense and this was ultimately the weakness on why they could not clinch the big wins in the playoffs. In the midst of Marino’s career, the Dolphins’ organization changed coaches, and the Dolphins as a team struggled toward the end of his career. If Marino had played with the 49ers, there is no doubt he would have gone to the super bowl multiple times and achieved his individual greatness as well. Marino’s greatness not only reflected on the field but also off-the-field as well. Off-the-field, Marino and Montana always have been family men first but Marino and his family are very supportive of charity. Marino is married to his wife, Claire, and they have six children. Three of these children, all boys, are biological and the other three children are adopted girls (2). Montana is married to his wife, Jennifer, and they have four children three girls and one boy (1). Montana’s son currently is playing college football as a quarter back (1). Since retiring in 1994, Montana and his family live in northern California wine country and are raising horses (1). Marino, on the other hand since retiring is working as a sports analysis for the show â€Å"Inside NFL. † Marino and his wife also created The Dan Marino Foundation prior to retirement, after their son Michael was diagnosed with autism (2). Even after Dan retired, they are still actively involved with their charity. The charity has donated more than 22 million to research (2). Both men are great role models for people to look up to, but Marino, in my eye’s, has the edge. Dan Marino and Joe Montana were both great athletes and accomplished a great amount of goals as athletes. There were records broken, trophies won and titles given, but as an individual quarterback, Marino is the best. Marino broke more records and even without winning the big game, took his team into the playoffs 10 times in his career (2). Montana as a team player went to the playoffs 16 times and won the super bowl four times (1). This in people’s eyes classifies him as the best quarter back in history. Montana did lead his team into victory four times but this makes him a great team player and a great leader. When it comes to being better than Marino at the quarterback position he is not. When concerning life after football it depends on how you view it but Marino is more successful as well. Marino is still involved with the sport and leads a charity in his own name. While Montana leads a life of solitude with his family out of the spot light which is a respectable life. Like I have stated before, both men are great role models and were both among the greats in football but Marino is still the better quarter back, both on and off the field.

Gino and Mogilner’s (2014) Hypothesis | Critical Review

Gino and Mogilner’s (2014) Hypothesis | Critical Review Critical Review of Focus Paper: Assessing the credibility of Gino and Mogilner’s (2014) hypothesis and applications Joanna Huang Abstract The focus paper by Gino and Mogilner hypothesises that the reason for previously witnessed relationships between time, money and morality is due to the mediator, self-reflection. Gino and Mogilner (2014) operationalise the construct of morality to measure the subsequent cheating in participants through controlled laboratory experiments. The methodology employed in the paper uses validated and reliable techniques to maintain internal validity (Wicklund and Duval, 1971). In addition, the paper controls and removes possible confounds that may impact the consistency of the results to improve internal reliability. However, the applicability of Gino and Mogilner’s (2014) findings are limited by the controlled laboratory conditions which reduce external validity. Greater applications of this study can be found in alternate research directions regarding the relationship between time, money and morality. Main body The nature of morality and its determinant is a long debated and theorised topic; many experimental investigations in morality attempt to produce supporting evidence for hypothesised relationships between morality and related factors. The focus paper by Gino and Mogilner endeavours to provide empirical evidence that supports the underlying mechanism between time, money and morality is self-reflection. Gino and Mogilner (2014) draw their conceptualisation of morality from the theoretical framework provided by previous studies which have shown a conclusive relationship between time, money and morality. Their methodology operationally defines morality and maintains a standardised procedure to maximise the reliability and validity of their experimental results. Whilst Gino and Mogilner (2014) are able to reliably demonstrate that self-reflection is the underlying mechanism connecting money, time and morality, the immediate applications of the research finding is limited by their approach . The multifaceted definition of morality provides difficulties in measuring the construct within laboratory environments. However, by simplifying moral behaviour to cheating, the seemingly abstract construct has been operationalised by many for experimental research and produced consistent findings, such as Gino and Pierce (2009). In addition, by eliminating the monetary reward (in Study two) and providing anonymity, potential bias from the motivation of money and social desirability of participants to appear competent has been removed. When compared to previous studies by Diener and Wallbom (1976) where anonymity was not provided in the experiment, the recorded cheating could have resulted from two viable motivations; moral ambiguity and possible demonstration of competence (Vallacher and Solodky, 1979). Gino and Mogilner (2014) have shown superiority in operationalising and controlling their experiment to produce empirical evidence that supports their hypothesis. The study follows a standardised procedure to ensure greater generalisability and reliability. Study three uses the mirror technique, a reliable method to encourage self-reflection (Wicklund and Duval, 1971), and improving internal validity by the use of a reliable and consistent technique in the methodology. The mirror technique further validates the robustness of the effect by showing internal consistency between the effects of priming money and time to a validated method. In comparison to the use of environmental stimulus (real cash) by Gino and Pierce (2009), the subtlety of priming money and time constructs benefits external validity by increasing generalisability (Mogilner and Aaker, 2009). Priming the constructs allows greater generalisation to the real world situation by broadening the stimulation of time and money to include mental as well as environmental stimuli. It should be mentioned that the focus paper does have flaws, notably in the use self-reporting scales in Study 4 to measure self-reflection. Self-reporting is limited by the assumption that individuals are insightful and truthful about their own attitudes and behaviours. Additionally, self-reporting may be skewed by the individual desire to appear moral (Nargin and Pogarsky, 2003). Thus, many studies have included social desirability tests to identify to remove possible contenders of lying, such as Nargin and Pogarsky (2003) and Gino and Pierce (2009). Despite lacking such a social desirability test, the questionnaire used to measure self-reflection is similar to the one used by Gino and Pierce (2009), which has proven reliability. Furthermore, Gino and Mogilner (2014) do include a mediation analyses using bootstrap analysis to verify that self-flection was the underlying mechanism between money, time and morality; presenting convincing empirical evidence of the relationship between the constructs. In conceptualising morality as cheating, the study may risk over-simplifying and limiting the construct as cheating may only represent a form of moral judgment rather than morality as a whole (Abend, 2012). Indeed, the experiment essentially limits the concept of morality to the individual moral judgment in response to the given conditions of the study, such as anonymous cheating opportunities. Furthermore, these confined laboratory conditions inhibit the external validity of the study due to the variability of cheating opportunities and occurrence in real life (Gino and Pierce, 2009). However, Gino and Mogilner are not alone in their approach; studies with a similar method include those by Gino and Pierce (2009), and Shu, Gino and Bazerman (2009). These studies adapt their conceptualisation from Jones’ (1991) definition of immorality as behaviour that violates the moral and legal regulations of the wider community; supporting Gino and Mogilner’s operational definition of morality as a standardised method. Whilst using more subtle primes can increase generalisability, as aforementioned, the limitations of applicability are inevitable in laboratory and experimental research. Experimental research is challenged by the difficulty to maintain external validity within the controlled laboratory conditions. Whilst encouraging moral conduct in society is a worthy pursuit, direct application of Gino and Mogilner’s (2014) findings may be difficult and limited by situational and environmental influences of morality. A study by Reed, Aquino and Levy (2007) develops the construct of morality in an alternate approach, suggesting instead that individual concept of morality directly influences attitudes towards money and time. This reverse approach is advantageous in having immediate applications, specifically in marketing; non-profit organisations can manipulate the community for more time or money donations based on the prominence of the respective constructs in their advertisement (Reed et al., 2007). Despite forgoing the mediator role of self-reflection, the research does not contradict Gino and Mogilner. Hence, given that the thought of time can increase ad herence to moral conduct (Gino and Mogilber, 2014), the focus paper may find applications in an indirect way, such as time prominent marketing strategies. The work of Gino and Mogilner (2014) may be limited in the short run for immediate benefits to society; however it will inarguably be a great asset when considering the growing prevalence of immorality. Gino and Mogilner (2014) present reliable empirical evidence to determine that self-reflection is the mediator between time, money and morality. The focus paper appropriately operationalises morality to construct a reliable and valid research that increases the credibility of the results. In demonstrating sound empirical results, Gino and Mogilner have proposed a plausible method to reduce immoral behaviours in society. However, the immediate applications of this method are restricted by difficulties in generalising the experimental research to the external, real world environment, and may have to wait until further research is conducted regarding ethical and effective applications. References Abend, G. (2012). What the Science of Morality Doesnt Say About Morality. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 43(2), 157-200. Diener, E., Wallbom, M. (1976). Effects of Self-Awareness on Antinormative Behaviour. Journal of Research in Personality, 10(1), 107-111. Gino, F., Mogilner, C. (2014). Time, money, and morality. Psychological Science, 25(2), 414-421. Gino, F., Pierce, L. (2009). The abundance effect: Unethical behaviour in the presence of wealth. Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 142-155. Jones, T.M. (1991). Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model, The Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366-395. Mogilner, C., Aaker, J. (2009). The Time vs. Money Effect. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(2),277-291. Nagin, D.S., Pogarsky, G. (2003). An Experimental Investigation of Deterrence: Cheating, Self-Serving Bias, and Impulsivity. Criminology, 41(2), 167-194. Reed, A., Aquino, K., Levy, E. (2007). Moral Identity and Judgements of Charitable Behaviours. Journal of Marketing 71(1), 178-193. Shu, L.L., Gino, F., Bazerman, M.H. (2011). Dishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: When Cheating Leads to Moral Disengagement and Motivated. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(3), 330-349. Vallacher, R.R., Solodky, M. (1979). Objective Self-Awareness, Standards of Evaluation and Moral Behaviour. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15(3), 254-262. Wicklund, R.A., Duval, S. (1971). Opinion change and performance facilitation as a result of objective self-awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,7(3), 319-342. 1 Nella Larsen Novel: Passing Nella Larsen Novel: Passing Nella Larsens novel Passing was written in 1929 and reflected the reality she experienced herself as for the questions of racial identity and hard integration of African Americans into the civilized society. On the whole, Passing is, in contrast to the title, the story of complete failure of two girls who tried to divide themselves from their race and be normal citizens adopted by the society. One of them, Irene Westover Redfield, was a common representative of the middle class who suffered from fears and discomfort being among people and who wanted only to be tranquil because security was the most important and desired thing in life (Larsen 235). Everywhere in the street she felt disturbance and threat of impermanence, instability and lack of confidence. All those symptoms, as Neil Sullivan (26) investigates, testify to Irenes inevitability of disintegrating subjectivity meaning that not only circumstances themselves were obstacles on her way to integration and passing, but from the very beginning, by her nature and through entire life she was never ready to become an adequate part of the community. For Irene, the reality was disgusting and she was disgusting to herself, she was awkward in that reality. Her friend, Clare Kendry Bellew, doesnt look like a Nig (as her own husband calls her playfully), but she has African routes and thus all her story is a story of inner conflict, of bifurcation and lack of perfectness, of wholeness. She struggled since her early childhood, as was born in misery and privation, and furthermore lost her father (alcoholic janitor) and had to live with her two white aunts, Grace and Edna, not a jot better than Cinderellas stepmother and sisters. From her early years she had to work hard, and the aunts even tried to persuade her that physical labor was nothing but useful for her. And at the same time she had to tolerate not only physical exploitation, but also moral tension because loving relatives never missed a trick to remind her where she was from and what she was like. But nevertheless she didnt make complaints against her life: I was, it was true, expected to earn my keep by doing all the housework, and most of the washing. But do you realize, Rene, t hat if it hadnt been for them, I shouldnt have had a home in the world? (Larsen 158). Clare is described as truly light (as her name is translated) person trying to enjoy life and to take everything from it, but again, from the very beginning, she is doomed as she has no integrity in herself and cant find stability neither at home nor outside. Her husband, a white financier John Bellew, leads on the processing started by her aunts: he repeats again and again that he hated Negroes and that no Negroes can live in his house: When we were first married, she was as white as as well as white as a lily. But I declare shes gettin darker and darker. I tell her if she dont look out, shell wake up one of these days and find shes turned into a nigger, he jokes (171). If Clare could simply forget her origin and live a normal life of a white person, she may have found serenity and her place under the sun. But the hostile attitude and moods of the nearest, let alone rest of the society leaves n o chance for her. She is punched by words, and she is constantly being lynched morally. Hence her end is determined from the very beginning. Her passing is determined as, to certain extent, the author uses the word not only in the meaning of merging of African Americans with the white community in the United States, but obviously in its colloquial meaning standing for death. The two girls fates are tightly bound and one is used to tint another one. They are different, but they have much in common, and their lives turn to interweave in strange, dramatic matter. The two persons conflicting each within herself cant help conflicting with other, and passions burning between them have ambiguous nature. The uneasy circumstances have made them suspicious and emotionally very sensitive, therefore by interaction they not only help each other to survive, but do help each other to fade. The matter is, assimilation is always a problem, even when all the circumstances are favorable and the accepting party is really adopting. A lot of things must be changed in your conscience, in your style of life, in your attitude to things of everyday life and, broader, you view of the world. The question, what is more, is why you should forget your true identity, why you have to play your origin false and adjust to others. It is always difficult to put up with such injustice, and no matter how hard you try, you will always stay the second sort. Sometimes such subordination is hidden well, and with time you may forget about all those difficulties. But when day after day you are reminded that you are mud blood (nigger, nig, creature, boy,), how much strength do you need to cope with it? Especially it turns out to be unbearable for Clare who is already not belonging to the Black community and neither is she one of the Whites. Then, negative reputation is regularly supported by media, they are accused of all the most awful crimes, and this prejudice based only on the color of their skin is being spread from family to family, from generation to generation. The cycle with no way out. Or, to be more precise, with the only way out chosen by Clare the entrance to freedom through the window. In the meantime her need for recognition was much higher than Irenes. Clare experiences deliberate courting of attention (203); her husband has taken her out of poverty and provided her with almost everything for happy bourgeois living. So she spends days dressing this and that and trying to adopt white values, but cant find peace and through the whole novel seeks for the answer from everyone: what am I to you? What am I of you? It is interesting to underline that the two girls benefit from each other: While Clare claims Irene as her link to blackness, Irene mediates her desire for whiteness through Clare (Sullivan 31). When associated with Clare, Irene finally was aware what was wrong in her life and she feels sorry that Clare was not born a Negro (Larsen 225). The conflict is sharpened in the scene with letters from Clare torn by Irene: The destruction completed, she gathered them up, rose, and moved to the trains end. Standing there, she dropped them over railing and watched them scatter, on tracks, on cinders, on forlorn grass, in rills of dirty water (178). While we are all dependent on what others think of us, it is not easy to stay cheerful when you are oppressed on the ground of your minority identity. In this way total rejection brings Clare to the tragic final: Clare vanishes, and Irene faints in pursuit of her. Panama: An Introduction Panama: An Introduction Panama La Republica de Panama, or just simply Panama, is a country slightly smaller than South Carolina located south of Costa Rica and north of Columbia. Panama is most famous for the Panama Canal, which allows passage from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Panama has a chain of mountains along the west of the country, has moderate hills in the interior, and has flat land along the east coast. There are vast forests in Panamas tropical weather. Panamas tropical temperature makes it possible for Panama to grow its biggest exports: coffee, sugar, shrimp, bananas, etc. However, Panama cannot grow or manufacture certain items, such as capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, and chemicals. Some of Panamas major trading partners include the U.S., Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Antilles, Japan, Mexico, and Colombia. Panama has one of the most important trading ports in the world. Its geographical location makes it one of the busiest ports in the world. Panama is most famous for the internationally known Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was first thought up in 1513 by Charles V, who at the time was the king of Spain. Although Charles V never followed through, the Spaniards built paved roads to transport goods. In 1880, French companies directed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal, started construction on the Panama Canal. After seven years, the project was abandoned. In 1903, when Panama was declared independent, a treaty was signed which authorized the United States to begin construction of the canal in 1904. The canal was completed and started operation on August 15, 1914, when the US cargo ship, Ancon, made a historic first passage. However, before the canal was built, Panama struggled for its independence from Columbia. In 1821, Central America revolted against Spain, which is when Panama joined Columbia. For the next eighty-two years, Panama unsuccessfully tried to break away from Columbia. Between 1850 and 1900, Panama had 40 administrations, 50 riots, 5 attempted secessions, and 13 US interventions. Panama eventually gained its independence in 1903, with US giving its support. The Panamanian flag was a symbol of the newly freed country once it gained its independence from Columbia. It was designed be Mr. Amador Guerrero and it was made by his wife, Ms. Maria Ossa de Amador. The flag was baptized on December 20, 1903 by Reverend Fray Bernardino. It is celebrated on November 1. Today, the Panamanian government is an example of a constitutional democracy. It contains executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The executive branch consists of a president and two vice-presidents. The presidential position is held by Martin Torrijos Espino and the two vice-presidential positions are held by Samuel Lewis Navarro and Ruben Arosemena Valdes. The Legislative Branch has a unicameral National Assembly which contains seventy eight seats. The judicial branch is a Supreme Court of Justice, which contains nine judges who serve ten year terms, five superior courts, and three courts of appeal. When the Spanish controlled Panama, they brought with them Spanish cultures and traditions, creating a new culture. The natives of Panama, the Kuna, are a close community. They are close with their families and live a simple way of life. In the Kunas culture, ties are passed from the mothers side of the family, meaning that after the marriage, the husband must move into the wifes familys house and work for her family. In all countries, sports are a major part of the culture. Panama is no exception. The main sport in Panama today is baseball. Some of the Major League Baseball most prominent baseball players have come out of Panama. The most famous of them include Rod Carew, who played for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels, Omar Moreno, who played for the Pittsburg Pirates, Ben Oglivie, who played for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and the Milwaukee Brewers, Mariano Rivera, who currently plays for the Yankees, and Manny Sanguillen, who played mainly with the Pittsburg Pirates and briefly with the Oakland Athletics. Some of todays Panamanian baseball players include Manuel Corpas, who plays for the Colorado Rockies, Carlos Lee, who plays for the Houston Astros, Mariano Rivera, who plays for the New York Yankees, Carlos Ruiz, who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Olmedo Saenz, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. As well as sports, food is a major part of a countrys culture. Some of Panamas most popular dishes include carimanola, empanadas, tortillas, tamales, tajadas, and patacones. Carimanola is a roll made from ground and boiled yucca and filled with chopped meat and boiled eggs. The roll is then fried before it is served. Empanadas are similar to a Cornish pastry that can be filled with meat, chicken, or cheese. Tortillas are a common meal in all of Latin America. In Panama, tortillas are made from ground maize and fried like a pancake. Tamales are a local delicacy made from boiled ground corn with spices, chicken, or pork inside. It is then wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled before serving. Tajadas are a dish that that are more commonly known as platano maduros. It is made from a ripe plantain cut i slices, length ways and baked with cinnamon. Lastly, patacones, also known as tostones, is made from green fried plantain, which is cut crossways in pieces, with salt, pressed and fried. Today, Panama remains most famous for the Panama Canal. However, it has also received attention from people due o the fact that one of their former leaders is imprisoned in Miami, Florida as a result of drug trafficking charges. Manuel Noriega used to be one of the United States top allies in Latin America. However, their relationship deteriorated when it was discovered that Noriega was a major player in drug trafficking in the Panamanian region. The US also accused him of violating human rights and rigging elections in 1989. Soon after their was a stand-off between US forces stationed at the Panama canal zone and Noriegas soldiers. Later, President Bush Sr. launched an invasion of Panama because a US marine was killed in Panama City. Noriega surrendered to US forces in 1990 and was flown to the US as a prisoner of war. He was found guilty of multiple charges and was sentenced to forty years in prison which was later reduced to thirty years in 1999. After serving seventeen years in p rison, he was scheduled for release on September 9 of this year. However, he is now wanted by the French for using profits from drug trafficking to buy land and remains imprisoned. In conclusion, Panama has a culture and history decorated by the people, food, and infrastructures that it has become famous for. Most people know Panama for the Panama Canal, but Panama is more than the Canal. People who will go down in American culture have come out of Panama. These people, such as Mariano Rivera and Rod Carew, have imprinted themselves into Americas favorite past-time (baseball). Panama has bred a culture that has made a name for itself in todays society and will forever be known for it uniqueness and cultural and historical offerings.

The Inaccessible Inner Life of Wakefield Essay -- Wakefield Stories Es

The Inaccessible Inner Life of â€Å"Wakefield† â€Å"All these—all the meanness and agony without end I sitting looking out upon, See, hear, and am silent.† –Walt Whitman We are presented with a piece of gossip of a man named Wakefield who leaves his wife for twenty years to live in a house the next street over. If this story were workshopped in a present-day fiction writing class, it would be argued that this story has interesting elements but is not, as a whole, an interesting story-- that the story lies within Wakefield’s motivation for leaving or within the reaction of Wakefield’s wife upon the return of her presumed-dead husband, or that the point of view ought to be reconsidered in order to tell the full story. Much of contemporary fiction attempts to tell the story that satisfies the collective urge to know another human being entirely, to finally understand another person’s story. The story of â€Å"Wakefield,† however, admits in the Puritan vein that the story we all want to know is actually unknowable, and can only be imagined. Through examining the whims of others in fiction, the meaning that can be extracted, however universal it may seem coming from the voice of the narrator, is in the end a projection out of our own selves. â€Å"Wakefield† is not about the narrator, the curious plotline, or even about Wakefield himself. â€Å"Wakefield† is about the telling of these things. The first sentence presents the entire plot of â€Å"Wakefield,† obtained from â€Å"some old magazine or newspaper,† stating from the beginning that the story that follows is not only based on heresy but is, in fact, entirely heresy itself. Why would a reader continue reading when the ending is spoiled in the first line and the story is admittedl... ...ng in our lives, and we prove it by finding meaning in his. With his grand conclusion, the narrator warns us that if you step outside the norms of a system, you may become the Outcast of the Universe. But what is it that really makes Wakefield the Outcast of the Universe? Perhaps every man is the Outcast of the Universe when the community attempts to interpret his whims. Why write a story that cannot be told? Why read a story that cannot be told? To feel as though one can tell a story, that one can read a story and be one with a narrator, to feel united, and yet to know, on some level, that we all are Outcasts of the Universe. It is both terrifying and comforting to realize that the community, united and whole, in which we pretend to reside, is in fact a faà §ade for the community of outcasts that struggle to find meaning in one another in order to survive.

Incongruities Within The Philosophy Of Socrates :: essays research papers

Incongruities Within the Philosophy of Socrates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There appears to be an unnatural and unfounded fascination with the alleged â€Å"works† of Socrates. Perhaps that it is simply that the absolutist ideals of philosophers such as Plato and Socrates do not appeal to the post-modern, politically correct, wishy washy, materialistic reader. It is more likely, however, that the problems posed by the philosophy itself and its surrounding circumstances outweigh the insight and philosophical ingenuity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world of forms is a creation in the mind of Socrates that contains within it multiple ironies. Socrates claims to be closer to the real and Truth than any other man in the history of the world. Socrates claims that he has achieved this level of higher understanding through a lifetime in passionate pursuit of his personal ideal†¦Truth. Yet this Greek philosoph is the sole propounder of the viewpoint, which holds that there is one true example of all objects (a singular definition and model of a table or a chair).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The craftsman and idea smith of new theories cannot claim them as fact, for in similar situations, great thinkers have claimed that the world is flat, that the planets, the sun and all the heavens revolve around the Earth, and that Asia and the East Indies lie only 1100 miles west of the European continent. All of these conceptions of reality were later proved to be false, and, indeed, now seem ridiculous to the modern scholar. Anyone who is even slightly educated knows that this planet (and, in fact, all known planets) is spherical; the Earth and the rest of the planets in this solar system revolve around the sun, which is, incidentally, a relatively minor star; and there is an entire continent between Europe and Columbus’s Asian objective, the continent, in fact, on which we live. The theories proposed by Socrates are similar. It is difficult for the modern reader to believe that there is one quintessential automobile or television set.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just as there is no singular true representation of an object, these articles do not even necessarily have a solitary purpose. The world’s most perfect stick, the one that exists in the world of forms, also makes a dandy measuring device. According to Socrates, there is only one illustration of each object and one and only one definition of the article’s purpose. However, it cannot be denied that a stick can also be used to measure, and a flashlight could also be used as a weapon.

Alexander The Great: Shaping A World Essay -- essays research papers

Alexander The Great was born in Macedonia in the year 356 B.C., several hundred years before Christ and even before the rise of Rome. Despite this fact he is still a topic of discussion and study more than two millennium later for a plethora of reasons. His insight and ability on the field of battle has made him a shining example of how to conduct the art of war. He has been studied for centuries by both military journals and colleges. He has also kept the scholars of this world as busy as well. His choices to build cities and centers for learning and the preservation of knowledge such as the library at Alexandria have been able to provide work for generations of archaeologists and other scholars. His image over the years has been one that is almost impossible to describe. He has been cast as tyrant, alcoholic, and Christ figure. It is impossible to explore the later facets of Alexander’s life without at least glimpsing the years of his childhood and early adulthood. Born to Phillip II of Macedonia and Olympias, Alexander was heir to the throne of Macedonia. Probably the most important influence in his young life was the tutoring he received from Aristotle and Leonidas starting around the age of thirteen. By Aristotle Alexander was imbued with an incredible background in science, literature, and rhetoric all of which would serve him well in the future. Though they did not always have like minds on subjects of policy it is clear that Alexander always kept his teachers musings in mind. Unfortunately his final reward for his teacher was the execution of Aristotle’s nephew Callisthenes many years later. Leonidas, was hired by Philip II to train and discipline Alexander’s body. He sent Alexander on frequent all night marches and rationed his food. Alexander’s schooling with his two teac hers continued until he was 16 years old. Alexander’s father Phillip, growing quite tired of his wife Olympias’ antics, chose to marry another woman. The woman he chose was Cleopatra, the niece of one of his commanders Attalus. During the wedding feast Attalus is said to have remarked that perhaps now Phillip would produce a legitimate heir to the throne. The strong spirited Alexander leapt to his feet demanding to know the meaning of this insult. Phillip, Alexander’s own father, stood with his sword drawn, prepared to defend his new father-in-law’s honor and immediately tripped t... ... Encarta ’98 Encyclopedia, 1997. Adams, Lindsay W. and Borza, Eugene N. Phillip II, Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Heritage. Washington D.C., 1982 Badian, E.. Studies In Greek And Roman History. Oxford, 1964 Bosworth, A.B.. A HistoricalCommentary on Arrians History of Alexander, Volume I. Oxford, 1980 Bosworth, A.B.. A Cut Too Many? Occams Razor and Alexander’s Footguard. The Ancient History Bulletin, 11.2-3 (1997), pp.47-56. Brunt, P.A.. Arrian History of Alexander and Indica I. Boston, 1976 Carlsen, J. (ed). Alexander the Great: reality and myth. Rome, 1993. Dodge, T.A.. Alexander a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from the earliest times to the battle of Ispus, 301 BC. New York, 1996. Milns, R.D.. Alexander the Great. New York, 1969. Popovic, J.J.. Alexander the Great, online: available at: http://1stmuse.com Sbarounis, C.N.. Did Alexander the Great Die of Acute Pancreatitis? Journal Of Clinical Gastroenterology, 24(4), 1997, pp. 294-296. Snyder, John William. Alexander the Great. New York, 1966 Tarn, W.W.. Alexander the Great. Boston, 1968. Thomas, K.R.. A Psychoanalytic Study of Alexander the Great. Psychoanalytical Review, 82(6), 1995, pp. 859-901.