Miller said the Crucible Essay

Miller emphasizes this by using short sentences with many pauses. The silence creates pathos for the characters from the audience. There is also a lot of questioning which reflects conflict and how the characters are helpless like a small child. This emotional togetherness of the Proctors contrasts greatly with their conflict with each other on pages 41-45: â€Å"A sense of their separation arises† p42. When the Proctors were together being able to live physically and sexually together they were separate but now they are about to be ripped apart they are emotionally together. Elizabeth speaks the last words of the play about John. This shows how their conflict has finally been resolved. This contrasts with the dramatic devices used in the next part of the scene after they begin to speak about John’s confession and when Hathorne comes in. This next part uses pauses and questioning as well to convey an interrogative atmosphere. It is no longer a personal scene- this part shows the community side to the play. There is a sharp conflict between the individual and the community in this scene but it is concentrated more on in the rest of the play. Another main theme in â€Å"The Crucible† is that of the conflict between innocence and experience/guilt. On page 110 Elizabeth says out in the open that â€Å"it were a cold house I kept. † This tells the audience that Elizabeth was frigid in her relationship with John. This has been hinted at throughout Elizabeth and John’s conversations and especially in Act 2 p42 â€Å"it’s winter in this house yet† as John says. Even though this is used by Elizabeth to show that she is guilty it tells the audience she is in fact innocent. To all appearances, and how most of the other characters perceive Elizabeth and Abigail, Elizabeth is the guilty one and Abigail is the innocent. They see Abigail as a child and a virgin who is pure sexually, morally and religiously whereas the audience, John, Elizabeth and Hale know better. The majority of characters see Elizabeth as the older, more sexually and sinfully experienced. Salem society’s religious outlook fogs their judgement and they assume that the woman who they perceive as sexually innocent is also legally innocent. As we see they are wrong in both respects: John has committed adultery with Abigail who is the experienced and guilty one. William Blake This play is about the individual vs. the community. It shows the world what can happen if an individual speaks up for his/herself and acts on his/her personal beliefs. If one is not on the side of the community one is estranged from the community and rejected. In extreme circumstances, such as in this play, one can be put to death. Hale says (p116) that † it is pride, it is vanity† to create conflict with the community when you know you will be punished for doing so. Personally I think, I believe Arthur Miller thinks and the character of John Proctor thinks, that Hale is wrong. He suggests that it is wrong when he says it is vanity. Miller tries to show that John is a mostly upright character and died for a good cause. Miller believes this conflict between the individual and the community is right when the community is repressive and punishing. The word â€Å"sibilance† in the stage directions (p106) at the beginning of this scene means hissing and actually makes a hissing sound when articulated properly. The sibilance at the beginning of this scene shows the conflict between Elizabeth’s inner emotions and the emotions of the other characters in the scene. This sound breaks the silence when John comes in. I think it sets the scene for the last part of the play because Elizabeth Proctor is very docile and defeated at this last part of the play and John’s feet on the ground sounds like an animal hissing in fright. I think that at this point Elizabeth is â€Å"hissing† inside and this is the expression of her inside emotions. It is later confirmed that she is very scared for John’s life and her own and terrified about the whole situation as she is later â€Å"in terror, weeping. † This is caused because of the Proctors’ earlier conflict being resolved. This sibilance could alternatively be interpreted as John’s defiance against the court officials and jailers because as we see when Parris feebly offers, â€Å"a cup of cider, Mr Proctor,† he has nothing but contempt for them. The themes in this scene relate to the play as a whole. The theme of truth and lies and its resultant effect upon justice and injustice runs throughout the play. It begins on a simple level in Act One then as the play develops the situation gets more serious. The yellow bird the â€Å"afflicted† girls â€Å"see† could symbolise lying because the colour yellow is often linked with this conflict. This conflict continues all through the play and is resolved at the end when John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse hang because they are on the side of truth. In a way one could say that justice is defeated and destroyed at the end of the play because of all the characters those who stand up for truth and real justice, not Salem â€Å"justice†, are hanged. In my opinion justice â€Å"wins† this conflict because Proctor doesn’t give in to lying at the very end. Although, he may be in part considering his and his family’s reputation, his behaviour can also be likened to that of a saint after all; it is reminiscent of the early Christian martyrs. The truth/lies and justice/injustice conflicts are intrinsically related not just in the play but also universally. Falsity like Abigail’s can invoke great injustices as we see in the play but falsity like Hale’s â€Å"let him give his lie† intended actions could bring us back to justice. In the same way truth like John’s saying he will not â€Å"sign myself to lies† can lead to injustice since he is hanged at the end but in this play a great number of characters would have to see the complete truth to lead the to justice. Since all the characters have some belief in God the supreme judge they all believe in truth and justice to a certain extent and that that will be give at the end. As Elizabeth says: â€Å"There be no higher judge under heaven†. No one except God can judge Proctor and the other people to be hanged. This essay has discussed conflict between and within various different themes, people and ideas. The Chambers Science and Technology Dictionary says that a crucible is, â€Å"a refractory vessel or pot in which metals are melted. † The introduction to the Heinemann version of The Crucible 1992 (Maureen Blakesley) says, â€Å"John Proctor is tested in a life threatening ordeal and his death at the end rather than betrayal of his conscience shows that he too has come through the fire to be purified. † I would go as far as to say that the crucible (refractory vessel) is the ordeal and events therefore the play itself: The Crucible and the whole idea of conflict can be taken from just the play title. When John finally has his transgressions and personal disbeliefs refracted he is executed. This is also symbolic to show he becomes pure suggesting he has reached paradise after being removed from the crucible. Imogen Hagarty 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Experience of Life

Have you ever thought how much someone can grow and learn through the experiences? There are many factors in how people can change their personality; their way of thinking and every day grow more as a person. Life is too complex to understand, it is better to live and enjoy each day to the fullest that it is where you learns more. In my opinion, I believe in what my mother says, â€Å"Everyone must go through their own experiences and learn from their own mistakes†. I personally have changed a lot as a person in the past two years by different life experience like my graduation in college, starting a new job and moving to another country.My first impact when I understood that my life was changing and I had to go through new roads was my graduation day. I was with my toga and cap in a huge classroom with more than a hundred students, all seated waiting for our bachelor’s degree. Upon hearing my name and having to climb onto the stage to receive my degree was the moment w hen I realized that I was no longer a child and I became a woman with a degree from preschool teacher. The shock of knowing that my life was going to start to be different and I will start a new life as an adult and with a real job frame my life.The jump from being a student to becoming a professional is awesome, I am very proud of my achievements but on the other hand, I went into a panic at not knowing what was coming next. I think that in that moment was a huge change in my life that made me mature tremendously. After I understand that my life had changed, I started my adventure of living the life that I always dreamed, to be a teacher. The time of being a head teacher had arrived. During my two years of working I was a head teacher of Nursery.The experience I had during those two years was amazing; it's incredible how children transmit you peace, happiness and that innocence that captures the heart of everyone. However, some of my biggest challenges during my years of work were dealing with parents. For example, in my first year of teaching one of my students father ordered an appointment with the director and me to see if I met his expectations as a teacher of his daughter. At first, I will not deny, I felt insulted because how could a parent knowing that â€Å"El Jefferson† is one of the best schools in Caracas and he wanted to see if her daughter's teacher was professional†. That experience made me grow and understand each situation and fear that parents maybe can feel having to leave their children in a school when they have only 3 years old. At the end of the meeting the father apologized to me and congratulated me of my professionalism and the way that I took the meeting. I felt proud of myself and I gave him what he needs confidence and security. Each experience has made me grow in different ways and I really appreciate. Likewise, after having completed my two years of work experience in which I enjoy to the fullest.I started to go th rough some of the biggest changes in my life, moving to a new country. One of my life goals is to do a master of Special Education, so I decided to do this master in New York City. From the moment I stepped on the United States I realized that my life was changing 360 degrees. I was leaving my family, my friends, my life in Venezuela and I was faced with something new and different: different language, different culture, new friends, new place to live, etc. I can say this has been one of the strongest changes in my life that made e grow without anesthesia in too little time. Today I live alone, I cook, I do my laundry and I managed all my expenses. This is the first time that I am living alone and having my independence. I can totally say this is a unique and incredible experience. This opportunity that my parents are offering me has helped me to understand how difficult could be the life and if you dream for something you have to fight for it. For example, when I was at school or in college my mother was always reminding me to study or whatever, does not mean that I did not, but it is a typical habit of mothers.Now that I am here studying to start a master in NYC, all the responsibility of homework, studies, etc. it is totally on me. For anyone, this kind of life experience makes us grow up enormously and I appreciate every day in life than my parents could give me, because that is being changed me more and more as a person. In conclusion, it is difficult to write on paper all those experiences, which I have gone through and have changed me as a person. Each day that passes everyone live things that mark us forever, sometimes they are more noticeable than others. As my grandmother â€Å"People never stop learning no matter how old they are†.

Primary education Essay

Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through autodidacticism. [1] Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. Systems of schooling involve institutionalized teaching and learning in relation to a curriculum, which itself is established according to a predetermined purpose of the schools in the system. Schools systems were also based on people’s religion giving them different curricula. [edit] Curriculum Main articles: Curriculum, Curriculum theory, and List of academic disciplines School children in Durban, South Africa. In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses and their content offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults. A curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on a more general syllabus which merely specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a particular grade or standard. An academic discipline is a branch of knowledge which is formally taught, either at the university–or via some other such method. Each discipline usually has several sub-disciplines or branches, and distinguishing lines are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. Examples of broad areas of academic disciplines include the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences, humanities and applied sciences. [5] Educational institutions may incorporate fine arts as part of K-12 grade curriculums or within majors at colleges and universities as electives. The various types of fine arts are music, dance, and theater. [6] [edit] Preschools Main article: Preschool education The term preschool refers to a school for children who are not old enough to attend kindergarten. It is a nursery school. Preschool education is important because it can give a child the edge in a competitive world and education climate. [citation needed] While children who do not receive the fundamentals during their preschool years will be taught the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors and designs when they begin their formal education they will be behind the children who already possess that knowledge. The true purpose behind kindergarten is â€Å"to provide a child-centered, preschool curriculum for three to seven year old children that aimed at unfolding the child’s physical, intellectual, and moral nature with balanced emphasis on each of them. †[7] [edit] Primary schools Main article: Primary education Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842. Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first 5–7 years of formal, structured education. In general, primary education consists of six or eight years of schooling starting at the age of five or six, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries. Globally, around 89% of primary-age children are enrolled in primary education, and this proportion is rising. [8] Under the Education For All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have separate middle schools, with the transition to the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary education, are mostly referred to as primary schools. Primary schools in these countries are often subdivided into infant schools and junior school. In India, compulsory education spans over twelve years, out of which children receive elementary education for 8 years. Elementary schooling consists of five years of primary schooling and 3 years of upper primary schooling. Various states in the republic of India provide 12 years of compulsory school education based on national curriculum framework designed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training. Students working with a teacher at Albany Senior High School, New Zealand Students in a classroom at Samdach Euv High School, Cambodia In most contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education comprises the formal education that occurs during adolescence. It is characterized by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors, to the optional, selective tertiary, â€Å"post-secondary†, or â€Å"higher† education (e. g. university, vocational school) for adults. Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them, but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the United States, Canada and Australia primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1–13 is used. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education or to train directly in a profession. The emergence of secondary education in the United States did not happen until 1910, caused by the rise in big businesses and technological advances in factories (for instance, the emergence of electrification), that required skilled workers. In order to meet this new job demand, high schools were created, with a curriculum focused on practical job skills that would better  prepare students for white collar or skilled blue collar work. This proved to be beneficial for both employers and employees, for the improvement in human capital caused employees to become more efficient, which lowered costs for the employer, and skilled employees received a higher wage than employees with just primary educational attainment. In Europe, grammar schools or academies date from as early as the 16th century, in the form of public schools, fee-paying schools, or charitable educational foundations, which themselves have an even longer history.

Othello vs Iago

It is a known fact that the actions someone makes throughout his/her life fashions the kind of person he/she is, however this is not always the case. Ultimately it was Othello who was in control of his own behaviour though he was highly influenced. Despite the fact that Iago had finished the deed of killing Roderigo, he was more in control of the others thoughts than actions. Together, Iago and Othello were fundamentally in charge of their lives though powerless to their thoughts and actions.Nonetheless only one can be the most responsible for the tragic events that occur in this play. Insecurities have a powerful effect on the human mind, and thats just what happened to Othello, he succumbed to his insecurities. Being a different race and a general could be said to be rare in the time period that this play took place which may have led to why Othello was reacting so irrationally. He allowed his mind to play tricks on him by latching on to anyone who had shown kindness to him during a stressful event which led to his fatal flaw: Pride.Though he loved Desdemona with all his heart, his pride seemed to be a bit more important. He would not listen to his wife because of the newfound tainted picture of her which meant to him to eliminate the one thing that would ruin his image of himself. In the end actions spoke louder than words and he gave in to the murderous ways that ago had planted in his head. With a great minds comes great responsibilities, responsibilities Iago seemed to ignore by allowing his jealousy to take over.Honest Iago truly was honest however, he was also extremely clever. He knew how to twist the thoughts of the people around him turning them into his little puppets in order to keep his hands clean. A highly effective instigator which led to the deaths of all the characters who died by manipulating the people around him. when all is said and done, it was Iago who really Influenced the actions preformed by Othello.

DRUG TRAFFICKING IN THECARRIBEAN JAMAICA AND TRINIDAD Thesis

DRUG TRAFFICKING IN THECARRIBEAN JAMAICA AND TRINIDAD - Thesis Example The cultural values and the social economic problems have also acted as catalysts towards the crime. To deal with the problem, it is essential that these nations adopt a comprehensive policy to eliminate the problem for once and for all. Introduction A drug is defined to as any substance that alters the normal functioning of the body if absorbed by an individual (Forsyth et al, 1993; Lavelle et al, 1991).). There are many types of drugs, and therefore its definition can be varied depending on the context. It may be viewed from the pharmaceutical context or the recreational point of view. One may also look at it from the contexts of legal versus the illegal drugs. Despite the different contexts, drugs will always cause harm when overly used. From here, the word drug abuse is coined. The major concern is usually on the illegal drugs, which include heroine, marijuana, and cocaine among others The normal functioning of the mind and body is always altered, causing great concerns in the me dical contexts (Johnston et al, 2008). Surveys indicate that many people, across the genders and ages are addicted to drugs. They are sometimes unable to have full control of their lives, sometimes necessitating the immediate friends and family to assist them in every aspect of their lives. The measures to curb these behaviors are faced with setbacks due to the lucrative business that continues to grow in many parts of the world. The drugs are always made available to anybody who wills to use them. Therefore, many lives are destroyed due to this easy access and lack of policy to deal with the problem. Psychological problems may well be blamed for the rampant drug usage and abuse (Purvis and McInnis, 2009). However, their very presence is also to blame. Without their availability, people have no choice but deal with their problems in many other ways. The global world looks at the problem as criminal, and a problem that needs to be dealt with urgently. Many lives have already been los t, and we can no longer watch as the young people lose their future. The old have become unproductive and a burden to the family in every home due to the use of drugs. The solution lies with the people who would expose such crimes and bring sanity to the world. The problem is no longer confined to specific region, but it affects the whole world in general. It is therefore a global problem. There are regions that are well known for drug trafficking; majorly acting as the supply base for the rest of the world. The best thing is that the regions are well known by the general public. Drug trafficking became rampant in 1970’s, affecting many parts of the world. Among the worst affected areas were West Indian islands, the Caribbean basin and the South American states. In particular, the Caribbean basin region became the supply base for the drugs, meeting demands of the majority in many parts of the world. The business gained popularity, with the majority earning good money from the business. This may explain why many people were attracted to the business, with the consideration of the poverty that faced these regions. The socio economic problems pushed more people into the drug supply deals din the Caribbean, and a strong alliance was formed between the states that were involved in the transactions. Surveys indicate that twenty percent of drugs that are demanded in the US are supplied through the Caribbean region (Purvis and McInn

Global studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global studies - Essay Example The situation in Central America including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador has gotten worse in the past year as more than 45, 000 minors crossed over to the US. These minors were running away from poverty, drug gangs and violence in their home countries. The increase in number of immigrants has resulted to a humanitarian crisis and the president of the US has requested his Congress to set aside $3.7 billion that is aimed at helping these refugees. The UN should take responsibility for these refugees and provide them with housing, processing and other basic needs (Fanon 42). The US government can also chip in since it has shown interest to do so through the proposal that was made by the president. To start with, the UN through the UN Refugee agency that is abbreviate as UNHCR is responsible for providing medical care, food, water , shelter, security and protection to individuals that have been forced to flee from their home countries following violence, poverty and persecution. In instances where it is possible, the UNHCR helps refugees find their way back home with dignity and if they are willing. Where such action is impossible, the organization may resettle the individuals in a third country or undertake local integration (Baker and Tony 197). Since its formation in the 1950s, the UNHCR has been playing an imperative role in resettling refugees and giving them a fresh start in life as well. This explains the main reason why the UN should take full responsibility of the refugees. According to the UNHCR’s mandate, the body is in charge of taking care of refugees. The minors qualify as refugees since they flee their homes following poverty and violence. Governments are required to ensure basic human rights of their denizens and once they have attained the refugee status, this security ceases to exist (DECLARATION, OF.). Since the UN is responsible for the well-being and

Theory Aspects of Website Development Assignment

Theory Aspects of Website Development - Assignment Example It is a large scale search engine that employs heavy use of hypertext structure. Its design allows it to crawl and index the web efficiently thence producing satisfying search results. Google search is based on the PigeonRank which is a technology based on collection of flocks of pigeons in dense clusters and in that, it is able to process search queries faster other traditional search engines. Yahoo search is another conventional search engine that has gone through several evolutionary stages to where it is to date. Owned by Yahoo Inc, it indexes the common HTML page formats as well as several other page file-formats. It uses a web-based crawler search engine having customized capabilities of all search engine companies it has acquired to become a powerful search engine tool. Interactivity of web pages: Web pages are documents that can be accessed through web browsers. The information in a web page can take several formats that include HTML, XHTML, DHTML (Dynamic HTML), XML, etc, and these may provide linked navigation to other web pages using hypertext links. The retrieval of web pages may be done either locally or remotely where web servers process user requests using a TCP/IP protocol. When web pages are created, they include both static content and some other which may be within the web server’s file system or dynamically constructed by the server side software. A web site administrator can make a web site interactive using various methods. The use of hypertext links has been the conventional way of achieving this task but there have also emerged other powerful methods that take inclusion of XML and DHTM (Dynamic HTML). XML is highly interactive and it promotes internal web pages linkages rather than internal links.

A Fascinating Organism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Fascinating Organism - Case Study Example This can range from maintaining a basic pH in the bloodstream to temperature. The main part of the brain responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the hypothalamus, which sits under the thalamus and above the pituitary gland. This strategic location allows it to communicate with the thalamus, which processes sensory information, in order to mediate the hormonal response of the pituitary gland. The feeling of cold is registered through special receptors located in the skin. When a certain threshold is reached based on temperature, sensory information is routed through a variety of different pathways. Some of these pathways lead to the spinal cord, which necessitates the fast reflex, whereas some reach the somatosensory cortex and the thalamus where it is processed. The act of maintaining internal body temperature in the cold causes certain physiological responses. Blood vessels become constricted through movement of tissues surrounding in order to keep the blood concentrated around t hose organs imperative to survival. In addition, brown fat plays an important part in insulating the body and providing warmth. The outer extremities of the body such as fingers, toes, genitalia, etc. are the most susceptible to frostbite because they lack sufficient blood flow to these areas that would normally be kept warm through the flow of blood. When making a diagnosis in the case of an osteopathic injury, there are many different types of medical and physical tests that a doctor will run in order to find the location of the injury. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. Surgeons use this scan in order to look at the anatomy of the body. In the case of osteopathic injuries, it will show tears in ligaments, muscles, and any other abnormalities/damage that might have occurred in the area. Aging is simply put as the degradation of biological processes. As humans age, the ability to regenerate and heal becomes harder.

Hierarchy of Gender Roles in the Traditional Jewish Religion Essay

Hierarchy of Gender Roles in the Traditional Jewish Religion - Essay Example I found that atmosphere to be more family-oriented and comfortable for the crowd that gathered. There were several differences that caused me to have a negative reaction. First, in the traditional Jewish religion, there is a strong and obvious hierarchy of gender roles in which the men and women engage. While some might dismiss that as chauvinism, others think differently and truly appreciate the importance of the different gender portrayals. Regardless of personal preference, Judaism has a particular set of laws that have not changed; nor will they change any time soon. One of these laws indicates clearly that women are forbidden from holding the holy Torah book, and are not allowed to lead the ritual ceremony. Without getting into the theological explanations of why these laws are important, I would simply like to point out an idea which I believe all religions have in common; follow the laws as they are given to you. While individuals can interpret these laws differently within certain parameters, the main idea should stay the same. That is why a Jewish woman should not walk around holding the Torah book or, prior to that, go to the arch where the book is placed and open it. Yet, they do this at Temple Sinai. Another negative exp... So, once I entered the temple, I turned off my cellular phone and got into the mood of that special holiness that a synagogue provides whenever I attend a service there. I found it particularly ironic that, during the service, the Rabbi who lectured us about the importance of keeping the Shabbat, as it was written specifically in the Torah, was violating the Shabbat by using a microphone to deliver his speech! According to the Jewish faith, he was committing a great sin, and he made other Jews join in that sin as well. To makes things worse, and even bizarre, there was a man next to him that played the keyboard (again, on Shabbat and inside a synagogue!) which made me feel that I was taking apart in a mass, in a church on a Sunday morning. Further, I wore my "yamaka" (a small hat that Jewish men put on their heads when they pray), and put on my "tall" (a special cloth that Jewish men put on top of their clothes at the time of prayer) as is the requirement for men who attend the service. Some of the male participants that morning did not respect even this simple requirement of covering their heads during the reading of the Torah.  Ã‚  

Deontological ethics and teleological (utilitarian) ethics Essay

Deontological ethics and teleological (utilitarian) ethics - Essay Example An act undertaken with negative intentions is therefore, under deontology, immoral irrespective of its beneficial consequences. The two theories therefore differ in the principles that while utilitarianism is based on consequences of actions, deontology is based on responsibility and motives into actions (Mann and Roberts, 2012; Ahronheim, Moreno and Zuckerman, 2005). Both deontology and teleology have inherent problems. Teleology undermines justice as it can promote an unlawful practice as long as the practice results in more benefits than harm. It is also difficult to quantify consequences of actions. Deontology is however rigid and may lead to harmful actions. Similarly, deontology’s observance of rules may lead to confusion especially â€Å"when values or assumptions conflict† (Mann and Roberts, 2012, p. 16). Teleological ethics that requires attention to consequences is therefore a problem because it may induce conflict with legal provisions since a beneficial consequence may be achieved through illegal means. This means that the theory undermines justice. Social dynamism also means that long term consequences of present actions on future actions cannot be predicted, a matter that further undermines utilitarianism (Mann and Roberts, 2012, p.

Response to the age of reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response to the age of reform - Essay Example The reform brought a revolution in the ever expanding American community which was going to lead the world in the next centuries. Here, we will discuss how the age of Reform contributed to the United States’ sense of morality and what are the effects of the ideas and viewpoints of the early reformers on the American nation, today. Henry David Thoreau is considered to be the first reformer of this era with his substantial struggle to revolutionize the American society, buried deep into piles of illiteracy due to their conservative thinking. Men and women led by such great reformers strived to develop a community where laws of liberty and equality were equally applicable to everyone. The religious influence, war against alcohol, education for some and many other such strategies were developed to reshape the American society to enable it to live up to the noble goals stated in declaration of Independence and the Constitution. With the growth in America’s population, the community was facing a threat. According to Alan Brinkley, â€Å"most people were excited by the possibilities these changes produced. But they were also painfully aware of the dislocations that accompanied them.† (Brinkley). The rapid increase in American population, compelled American thinkers to try new ideas. One of such ideas was the formation of utopian society. An utopian society is a perfect society. â€Å"George Ripley endeavored to create one of the first utopian societies in West Roxberry, Massachusetts. The community was called Brook Farm, and was established in 1841.† (â€Å"Utopian Society†) Although the society soon dispersed, yet we see its remaining strains present in the modern American society. It has been tried; to build today’s American society on the basis of natural laws, one of which is the liberation of one’s spirit. It was an important idea developed by the philosophers o f that time to reveal

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Final - Essay Example The employees cannot go to the court or contact the legal authorities in case of being fired or released prematurely or without any previous notices dispatched. The first is the public policy exception. This is subject to a given employer and industry that is working in a given state and the overall ruling and standing of the state in that regard. The injury incurred during the working hours and various other conditions that are unforeseen and have little doing with regard to the employees work make up for the exception in the entire process. The second exception is that of employee’s case of being targeted based on the racial discrimination. In case of the client’s believe that anything of similar form may have taken place, the employer can be subjected to questioning and the employee may well go to the court or the legal entity and win the case against their employers. The labor unions provide for support and protection against this case and often the employees enrolled under the protection of various labor unions in a given state can enjoy this entitlement and protection in case of conflict between the two parties. As the Director of HR Golden Hospital I would have the concerns regarding the overall irregularities that are in practices and due to which one of the employees was terminated. I would be worried making sure these practices are stopped at once and professional practices are taken into account. Also the employees stance of questioning the overall cause of termination would be another point that would concern me. The H.R department should be notified about her termination and the reason for her termination should be mentioned. The concerned departments and individuals should also be told of the shortcomings that were faced in the form of her performance and the overall negligence that came forth in the event of the overall scenario. The situation would be handled in the

BIG DATA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BIG DATA - Essay Example IBM on the other hand has invested 24 billion dollars in data analytics and through a company called Watson has employed about 15000 analytical practitioners to handle data collection and analysis. This data is used to analyze the market and improve their business. Another example on the use of data analytics in business is the BMW motor company whereby a survey conducted showed that people who were getting into cars were always having their windows broken in winter as a result of ice accumulation. In order to improve the customer confidence in their product, the company took it upon itself to wash the parked cars and give them back to the customers whenever they wanted to leave. In this way, the customer confidence in BMW improved. Facebook uses data analytics to conduct surveys and improve their business and the quality of service they offer to their customers. Recently, Facebook conducted a survey asking the question of which gender between males and females spends more time shari ng photographs on Facebook and the data collected showed that women spend more time sharing photographs than men. About 350 million photographs were shared daily on Facebook. For one to become a data scientist he must have data handling skills such as programming, databases creation and analysis, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis and above all he must be creative. If we analyze the trend on the use of big data by big companies, it is evident that companies are hesitant in investing in big data. About 55-60% of the investments in big data fail. This can be attributed to the fact that the companies start on technology first rather than understanding of the understanding of the fundamentals of the business. Today, there is a very high demand for data in business performance and market analysis and hence the need for companies to invest in big data. However, a major setback in handling big data is the shortage of data scientists to work in this field.

Five Years from the Brink (movie) Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Five Years from the Brink ( ) - Movie Review Example However, the immediate cause that triggers the crisis was the fall of Lehman Brothers. Their collapse caused much fear to the global financial markets. This was in 2008 of which their fall prompted banks to stop lending to each other. The impact was the rising interbank borrowing risk premium to 5% which was previously at 0%. Despite the effort to inject liquidity to the financial markets by the authorities, the financial markets were already suffering the consequences (McKibbin and Stoeckel 1). Conversely, article by Positive Money claims that financial and economic crisis are attributed to the large sum of money created by banks through loans. The banks doubled the money and debt in the economy in a period of 7 years. The larger sum of money created by the banks was used to increase the cost of property in the economy, house prices increase significantly. A huge amount of money loaned to the property owners by the banks increased the cost of houses and personal debt. Additionally, the property owners had to pay interest on loans provided by the banks. However, the increasing debts and low income led to the failure of loan repayment. Some individuals could not afford to pay back the loans and so the banks become bankrupt. Immediately after the crisis, financial institutions reduced their lending rates to household and the businesses. The reduction of lending rates by the banks to businesses caused a drop in prices. This prompted the property owners who had previously borro wed a large sum of money to sell their property. Those who had borrowed a large amount of money thought that they could easily repay their loan because of favorable prices of their property. The sale of the assets by the property owners led to fall of house prices and so the bubble burst. Hank stated that the improved value of the derivatives, hidden banking structure, and the off- balance sheet financing encouraged exceptional business transactions and therefore contributed and

Analyzing Black History Sites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analyzing Black History Sites - Essay Example The complex was established in year 1989 under the guidance of the Wajumbe Cultural Institution, Inc., and the San Francisco African American Historical Society. The new non-profit organization was named â€Å"The Center for African and African American Art and Culture† (lately the name was simplified). A financing of the organization comes in many different ways. There are two constant funders: The Department of Children, Youth and Family, and The San Francisco Arts Commission. Also there is a donation option for sponsors and people, who just want to support the center or volunteer in its projects. The site is located on 762 Fulton Street (which is the center of the city of San Francisco, CA), and takes up pretty much space (34,000 sq. ft). Such a big territory was received for the center in order to satisfy the Blacks community needs1, which means that the amount of black people in San Francisco is big enough to form quite strong and influential community that wants to devel op its culture and extend it widely. The destiny of Blacks in San Francisco is quite hard; through their history in this city there were many troubles and obstacles appeared in their way to free implementation of their native culture. First African Americans settled in San Francisco in the middle of 19th century as slaves of white owners of their, since early 20th century they began to develop small communities to preserve their culture and stay together to support each other, many black residents came to the city looking for a better life and searching for resources. According to Jan Batiste Adkins’s research, the population of African Americans in San Francisco started to increase in the first part of the 20th century, after the II World War a big amount of Blacks moved to California to work in a big industry. This pretty much expanded the community of

Module 7 DQ 1 and 2 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module 7 DQ 1 and 2 - Article Example The medical staff feels that the technical aspects of EHR and following laws take away from their time treating patients. The HIT manager therefore takes that burden away from them and by doing his or her job; the clinical people can be free to concentrate on their main concern, the patient. Goetz et al (2013) published a survey in The American Journal of Managed Care in which she states under HIT, communication is the main benefit and that the physician’s records are more organized. As business people also, the medical personnel feel that the greatest challenge is the increased cost of the equipment and people required for implementation. The Journal of AHIMA (2013) has published a list of those items absolutely essential for good strategy planning. For one thing, the article states that IT should be involved in all facets of the brainstorming. Another is that the involvement and representation from all levels in the facility (all stakeholders) is likewise necessary for the plans to succeed. In the ongoing controversy between top down and bottom up philosophy in deploying a healthcare IT system, IBM has put together a white paper concerning the advantages and disadvantages of both (2005). Although almost eight years is an eternity in information technology, the points brought out are still very much relevant. The bottom up approach offers more clinical saturation early on. As initial costs are lower, benefits are realized much sooner, material and otherwise. As well, password security is managed better. Yet the main disadvantage is that later changes to the system are not necessarily very easily accomplished. Therefore, it can be said that top down is a mirror image of the bottom up method. Although initial costs are much greater, its main advantage is that the entire facility is not disrupted during the implementation process. Because of the higher costs, it will take a longer period to realize a payback. In addition, custom

Hopis Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hopis Anthropology - Essay Example Consequently, the view on the Hopi people’s origin is also a major question that is to be sought. The subject is relevant especially in the contemporary society since an academic study of past events and the origin of humanity are critical in enhancing cohesiveness. Hopi people should understand their past dealings and origin to pragmatically define their future. Anthropology enables individuals to establish the meaning of the archeological sites and cultural practices thus enables them to nurture the practices (Kuwanwisiwma, 161). The key perspectives of the subject appertains to enhancing understanding of the Hopi people on their origin, the significance of the archeological artifacts, ancestral sites and cultural practices. This is to; avoid erosion of their social and cultural heritage that contributes in enhancing mutual coexistence. However, critics oppose the understanding and advancement of past dealings asserting that the practices are part of the old order that does not hold relevance in this century. As noted, Hopi immigrants originated from Sipaapani (place of emergence) and travelled buried and lived in Hopistutskwa-Hopiland with their ancestors. The cultural landscape of the region is identified by landforms that hold great association with deities. The landscape also holds historical events, rivers, springs, shrines and the Itakuku as termed by the Hopi people that mean â€Å"our footprints† (Ferguson & Roger, 99). It is imperative to note that the cultural sites and events were crucial in executing traditional rituals including ceremonies. The footprints that include the pottery, stone tools, the ruins of former settlements and diverse artifacts are significant monuments that present undisputed proof of ancestral migration.

Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj - Essay Example Although al-Hajjaj is commonly considered a villain notorious for his relentless brutality, the portrait we obtain from the primary texts is not that simple and transparent, instead, the texts create a complicated image of the province governor illustrated in various situations. Thereby, ambiguities in portrayal can be explained by certain bias in attitude of the texts’ authors towards the governor. Many scholars assert that the commander was an extremely brutal and cruel governor, who caused numerous deaths and imprisonments in the course of his life. This assumption finds its confirmation in the texts, where we see that the commander is believed to be liable for a â€Å"hundred and twenty thousand† executions (Schroeder, p. 229). Many other situations described in the text provide evidence of al-Hajjaj’s bad temper and brutality: after defeating Ibn Zubayr in Mecca, al-Hajjaj is told to have killed and gibbeted him in the street. In a similar way, while coming to Kufa, he immediately executed the old man, who sprang on the corpse of Othman. Furthermore, we see numerous mentions of Hajjaj’s nasty character in the narratives, for instance, that of Ubayd son of Abu Mukhariq, who calls the commander â€Å"a fearsome master† (Schroeder, p.220). However, despite nasty character and brutality, which became his most famous feature, the commander seems to p ossess reason and a pinch of mercy in his nature, as it can be traced in the sources. For instance, as Hajjaj is in need of wise advise concerning the inheritance, he eventually rules according to the fairest of options: he is told to have given â€Å"each heir an equal third† of the inheritance. This fragment was told by al-Sha’bi, whose figure is rather controversial in terms of his relation to the Umayyads. Sha’bi probably supported the rebellion in Kufa, then fled to Khurasan and later returned to the Umayyad court willing to serve in the administration. Here,

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

Copyright and Plagiarism - Essay Example This happens when a person publish a material pretending to own the idea which truly belongs to another. To address this type of issue, a copyright law is passed to protect the published or unpublished works. Copyright is a legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works (Byer, n.d., par.3). It is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States. As we grow older, technology grows faster. Internet technology is now very advanced and is being used by almost everyone in this world. From children to grandparents, everybody is hooked with what internet can offer. We read, paint, post, communicate and write in the internet. Thus, as Montecino (1999, p.1) quoted in his article the internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since its inception. According to Ovittore (2005, par.1), we bloggers are responsible for what we write. We are not less than any news writer that we knew. Thus we must be responsible to avoid any form or act of libel or slander which is prohibited by laws. His article encourages bloggers like us to go through the same copy editing like publishers and be responsible to our actions. Monitoring copyright violation in the internet is impossible. Nobody can monitor every case thus copyright issues cannot be addressed (Marky, 2009, par.5).

Quality management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Quality management - Assignment Example The team proposed the company to create two collaborative teams, which were quality control and quality assurance teams, to work for ensuring the quality of the products. â€Å"Quality control is concerned with examining the product or service — the end result† (Madison, 2014). The main aim of a quality control team is to examine and verify the products to ensure that the products meet the quality standards set by the company. On the other hand, â€Å"Quality assurance verifies that any customer offering, regardless whether it is new or evolved, is produced and offered with the best possible materials, in the most comprehensive way and with the highest standards† (Kietzman 1). The quality assurance team examines the product manufacturing process to ensure excellence in each stage of the process by identifying the defects and taking necessary steps to remove those defects. The quality management team used the fish bone diagram to sort out the issues that the company might have been facing. Given below is the step by step use of fish bone diagram which helped the team get into the causes for the problems concerning the company. The managers made the team aware about the issues related to the company. The problems identified and communicated to the team were steady growth, less customer preference, decreased customer satisfaction, decreased graph of sales, and less profits. The team summed all problems under the category of ‘poor company performance’. The quality management team went through the process of identifying the causes and came out with three main reasons which included less focus on quality by employees, less awareness in employees regarding the use of quality management system, and lack of any proper quality management system in the company. The team provided the company with a solution that was supposed to

Effects of Verbal Communication Essay Example for Free

Effects of Verbal Communication Essay Verbal Communication Communication of all types can be found everywhere. It does not necessarily have to be spoken or oral, it can be found in verbal and nonverbal forms. This is especially true in the areas of the criminal justice system. Communications can be found in equipment, reports, phones, in roll call, or everyday operations. For police officers and other members of the criminal justice system, communication in some form or type can always be certain. It may be in the form of verbal communication, such as roll call, talking with the public, talking to peers, inmates, administration, or supervisors. It is said that nearly 70 percent of one’s time is spent communicating (2009). Officers or those appointed by the department, talk to the media on a daily basis. Whether it is the television, the newspaper reporters, or the radio, it is on a daily basis. For law enforcement officials there is the need to communicate with the press from time to time. This could be to talk about public affairs, providing information about a situation that the police are involved in, or to make announcements. It is common in most areas that law enforcement appoints a spokesperson for the department. This person chosen represents the community and the department, along with all officers. This person must have the intelligence and the ability to speak clearly and in a concise manner, and have the ability to understand questions if asked. He or she should have some clear understanding of what the media only needs to hear. One way to assure this is to him or her draft a statement, before making the announcement to the press. When drafting the announcement and when reading the announcement, the person should avoid using what is called police jargon or codes. Using such language can be confusing to the general public and may cause confusion with the press. When talking to the press he or she should be able to avoid being distracted and should keep eye contact with those who he or she are talking to. Nonverbal communication between the press and officers can also have a confusing effect at time. â€Å"Sometimes nonverbal messages may contradict verbal; often they may express true feelings more accurately than the spoken or written language (Murphy Hildebrandt). For nonverbal communication, the situations that he or she may want to be careful with can include the stance. There should be no slouching or leaning on the podium. This gives an appearance of the press seeing that he or she either does not want to be there or it could show disinterest. The spokesperson choose vocabulary carefully also. He or she may want to use a friendly tone also, and avoid using emotions during the press release. This must remember that the press usually ahs cameras somewhere that records everything that is said verbally and nonverbally, which may cause some confusion. The courtroom is another place that communication is done daily. Within this setting the law enforcement officer or other personnel, may be called to testify for the prosecutor. Communication in the courtroom setting for police, prosecutors, defense, the suspect, judge and jury, all play a crucial part. The officer when called to testify, should have the ability to understand the questions clearly, is able to listen effectively, and be able to explain the facts written in his or her report. The affidavit is based on the facts that have been written in the officers’ incident report. There may be situations or times when an officer feels uncomfortable, while sitting or standing in a group of other people. Or he or she may fill uncomfortable when having to be in front of the others in the courtroom. The officer should never let emotions or nonverbal cues cloud his or her testimony. During cross-examine; the reputation of the officer could be misinterpreted. Before testimony officers should try to talk to the prosecutor to learn what to expect. He or she may want to practice the testimony also. Being able to communicate verbally and use less nonverbal cues like emotions, could make the difference in the testimony. When testifying the officer should be able to answer in a clear and audible voice with recalling or stating just the facts. He or she may also want to remember to present themselves as a professional and to look and act as one. Not only is his or her reputation at stake, but the department also. For law enforcement personnel who work inside the correctional facility, communication techniques can be a critical part of the job. Officers must be able to talk to their peers, and inmates. The ability to be an active listener, understand, read and write clearly and to follow verbal and nonverbal orders are very important. There may be issues at time among inmates that may cause a barrier of communication. Some of these barriers could include the disruptive inmate, a language barrier, such as a foreign language or a deaf person. There may be the inmate that may cause tension between the officers and others. There are many factors to consider on how to communicate within the correctional setting. There is the use of daily reports that must be filled out by officers. There has to be a clear understanding by the officers and other employees of operating procedures. Incident reports that are fact based must be filled out by officers involved. As with police the correctional officer must also confront inmates and vice versa. The officer should at all times be careful of the nonverbal clues used. This would include his or her emotions at the time, the way he or she stands, or the tone of voice. Most correctional officers are trained on the use of verbal and nonverbal methods of communications before being assigned to the facility (2010). For the peer to peer communication the officer must be able to understand the assignment given, whether it is verbal or nonverbal communications. Assignments are usually given at the beginning of the shift, and it is the responsibility of the officer and peer to have a clear understanding of what it is. If the officer does not understand it is his or her responsibility to ask questions. Another form of peer to peer is among the officers themselves. Communication is a key role inside of the correctional facility when working with the inmates. He or she should be able to understand clearly the instructions that pertain to an inmate or surroundings. He or she must be able to read nonverbal cues from other officers and to be able to read nonverbal cues from the inmates. Within the Juvenile facility, there is a great need for communication of nonverbal and verbal. Like any other facility the officers must be able to understand the importance of filing out the report, whether it be an incident, daily, or new arrival. Each officer must have the intelligence and ability to be able to communicate with a juvenile in custody. Like inmates in the adult correctional setting, juveniles may also become belligerent at times and want to cause problems. The officer must be able to talk with the juvenile as well as be able to listen. Officers must also be able to read the nonverbal cues that are given by the inmates. These could include actions such as throwing of things, language, the stance, eye contact, vocal sounds, and emotions such as anger, sadness and more. Juveniles have a language that seems to be something that they have learned. Most people call it street slang and signs. Most officers are provided continuing training on problems involving juveniles, as well as training to understand the signs and slang used by them. For Officers and other employees of the juvenile facility there is the need to understand clearly the written reports, the operational procedures, releasing of information to outside agencies and families and the ability to talk clearly to peers. Officers and other employees may be called on to answer questions over the phone, concerning a juvenile. They may have to work on computers, and other equipment, or spend hours doing paperwork. This is all an important part of communicating within the facility. When an officer’s peer assigns the officer to a certain department in the facility the officer must have a clear understanding of what is expected of him or her at the time. The one way for the officer to make certain of the assignment, is to ask the needed questions if any should arise. The officer must be able to take orders on a continuous basis and be able to understand the details. When working with other officers there has to be a clear line of communication between the officers. Nonverbal cues, as with any other law enforcement facility should be easily read. The officer must have the ability to do so, in case something should happen. These nonverbal cues could be eye contact, a facial expression, or a nudge, or a physical gesture such as the wave of a hand. As with any other situation officers that work in a juvenile facility must show professionalism and act accordingly. The officer must be careful when using nonverbal communication. These include keeping the emotions from getting away from him or her, keeping the tone of his or her voice from becoming too loud, watching the stance and posture when talking to other employees, inmates, and peers. Communication can be seen in many different forms. These can include fact based reports by law enforcement officers, correctional officers, reports to the press or other media, juvenile facilities and courtrooms. There may be barriers for the officers at times, such as language, ineffective listening, a misunderstanding, or miscommunication. Whatever the reason, for one to communicate properly there must be the ability to understand, listen actively, ask questions when needed, and to speak clearly when asked to. For law enforcement and others in the criminal justice system the need to recognize nonverbal communication is essential. An officer must be able to identify cues given by a suspect, or by an inmate in custody. The law enforcement official should always act and speak in a professional matter when facing the public or fellow workers and supervisors or administrators. He or she must remember that they represent not only themselves but the departments and states they reside in. Effective communication is the key to an effective organization such as the criminal justice system.

Sensory Perceptions Essay Example for Free

Sensory Perceptions Essay â€Å"The brain, a complex structure, allows a human being to perceive and react to their environment, contemplate the big questions, and experience a myriad of emotions. The brain controls the body and maintains the delicate internal balance needed to sustain life† (Smith, 2010). If fortunate enough, we humans all have five senses: vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. All of these senses that we have, work together to give us a conscientious picture of the world and where we belong in it. The statement, â€Å"There is nothing in the mind unless it is first in the senses† (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54), means, that our brain would be empty without our senses. Our senses consolidate to make us understand who we are, where we are, and what is happening around us. Because our brain feeds and processes information about our five senses, we put meaning to our sensory experiences, thus, we are able to respond and behave accordingly. We rely on accurate observations. Our senses prove its accuracy on a daily basis and â€Å"act as our lenses, amplifiers, particle detectors, and pressure and heat gauges† (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54). Our vision allows us to be aware so we can stop at red lights, wait for cars to pass, and know when it is safe to walk across the street. Hearing is another powerful sense that we use to listen to words, is crucial in communication, and is interactive with our thinking. When we hear a very loud noise close to us, we become startled and our senses might kick in and tell us to be aware of our surroundings. The touch sensory is circulated throughout our body. When we feel heat on a pan on the stove, our senses alert us to the danger of being burnt, and we proceed with caution before receiving further injury. Smelling uses the noise that sends sensations to the brain. When we smell smoke, we instinctively know there is a fire or something is burning. Then our sense sends a message to our brain that we need to take care of the problem or leave if it is too dangerous. â€Å"Our senses feed our brain much as food feeds our body; without their input, our brain would be almost empty†Ã‚  (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54). I believe that our senses, in most cases, are accurate. There are elements in life such as being sick or sleep deprived, that may distort the accuracy of our sensory perceptions temporarily, but in most cases they are accurate and the information they provide us with is essential in establishing our thinking. There are also other cases where what we think we see is not really what it is, â€Å"habits, interests, and biases, focuses and thus limits our perceptions† (Kirby Goodpaster, 2007, pg. 56). I believe that our sensory information in most regards is accurate, without any sort of accuracy we would not depend on them as much as we do in our thinking and decision making. When it comes to the accuracy of sensory data, there are various things that can cause an affect. Clearly, the brain needs food. Just like the rest of your body, it requires energy, protein, and vitamins for the brain to function correctly. Without a proper diet, our brain will have an effect on the sensory data. Drugs and alcohol also play a huge part in contributing to sensory accuracy. Certain types of drugs such as nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and ecstasy can affect the brain as well. â€Å"All of these drugs interact with the brain at the synapse, increasing or decreasing the brain’s natural chemical activity. Even though their pharmaceutic effects are different, they all have in common the ability to disrupt our cognitive abilities; and in some cases the deficits seems to last after the drug is discontinued, leaving open the possibility of permanent cognitive damage† (Kirby Goodpasters, pg. 72). Last but not least, sleep is inevitable. We need sleep to think. Perhaps that is why we spend one-third of our lives sleeping. â€Å"Sleep, like diet and exercise, is important for our minds and bodies to function normally. In fact, sleep appears to be required for survival. Rats deprived of sleep die within two to three weeks, a time frame similar to death due to starvation† (â€Å"Why Sleep Is,† 2008). Sleep is a natural part of everybodys life, but many people try to get by with a little amount of sleep. Sleep is something our bodies need to do, it is not an option. â€Å"Sleep debt can negatively affect mood, motivation, memory, decision making, concentration, problem solving, and logical thinking† (Coren, 1996; Kirby Goodpasters, pg. 73). The nature-nurture controversy is defined as, â€Å"A traditional and long-standing disagreement over whether heredity or environment is more important in the development of  living things, especially human beings.† The relative contribution of nature (genetic and biological inheritance) and nurture (environmental factors) in developmental processes have been, and to this day, continues to be a debate. Both nature and nurture influence behavior. Some things are obviously nature. Eye color, for example, is genetic, and cannot be influenced by environment, although people could use colored contacts to change their eye color. On the other hand, language is a matter of nurture, ultimately by where someone is born and raised. We may not see the world as it is, but that is where accuracy of sensory information is concluded. Three reasons to believe in the accuracy of sensory information are the ability to use our senses to provide data so that our brain can identify the truth, using our senses to help connect the brain and emotions together, and lastly, senses give the mind the potential to determine what reality is. References Smith, A. (2010, April 11). Functions of the Parts of the Brain. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/104669-functions-parts-brain/ Kirby, G., Goodpaster, J. Thinking. (Fourth ed.). Why Sleep Is Important. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Parents_Why_Sleep/

Religion The Sacred And Rituals Theology Religion Essay

Religion The Sacred And Rituals Theology Religion Essay This paper will discuss the challenges of both the Islamic and Catholic religion in terms of defining the rituals, how members practice their religion and the overall terms of their devotion. Comparing is not an easy task as Islam and Catholicism are complete ends of the spectrum. For both religions claiming to be peace loving people, who share some of the same religious texts, and have many common beliefs they often cannot get along. Neither religion will tolerate or begin to accept the other religions if strictly and literally practiced by either Islam or Catholicism. Religion is a personal choice and as much as it is a choice, it should be respected by other religions as well. It does not matter what your beliefs are, if you are truly devoted to your faith, you will understand the need for religious tolerance. Religious tolerance is something that is borne out of a complete devotion to your faith. You will honor and accept your religion as something personal; however, in the same regard, you will accept the teachings, practices and traditions of other religions as well In some ways, Islam and Catholicism parallel each other. Although the rituals, prayers and history are different, they basically mirror each other in the basic aspects. The word Islam means submission or surrender in Arabic. To be submissive, means to be submissive to the will of Allah. Catholics hold a Trinitarianism belief that God is three persons in one, the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. Muslims, or followers of Islam, maintain that Allah is one God and has no equal and no partner. (Dolphin, undated). Islamic doctrine is based on four separate principles or sources: the Quran, ijtihad (individual thought), the Sunnah (traditions) and ijma or community consensus. The Quran is to the Muslims, the Word of God, as the Bible is to Catholics. Unlike the Bible, the Quran was believed to be delivered from Allah, to the Angel Gabriel. The Quran is divided in to 144 surahs or chapters. Each of the early readings revealed in Mecca, are ethical and spiritual. The early readings also include the Day of Judgment. The surahs in later chapters, teach social, political and moral teaching for the communities. (Dolphin, undated). Muslims are uncertain as to whether they will go to heaven or not. However, like the Catholic religion, there are certain steps that must be taken to ensure eternal life. The 5 Pillars of the Islam faith are: Confession of Faith (Shahada), Salat (prayer), Sawm (fasting during the month of Ramadan), Zakat (contributing tithings) and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims recite the Shahada or, Confession of Faith: La ilaha illaLlah; wa Muhammadun rasuluLlah. There is no God but Allah; and Muhammad is Allahs prophet. The Quran has six main teachings and like the Catholic faith, each must be adhered to in order to receive a final reward. The first teaching is that you must believe in Allah. To believe in Allah is to believe in the teachings of the Quran and no other. The word of Allah comes directly from the Quran and there is no room for interpretation by man. Muslims believe the message delivered to the Angel Gabriel is unadulterated and therefore implicit. The second teaching is belief in the Angels who are the messengers of Allah. Although Muslims do not submit to Allah, they submit to the teachings of Allah. Allah is not to be questioned. To question Allah or his existence is to deny the existence of his will. The third teaching is belief in the Books, you must believe in the Messengers, you must believe in the Day of Judgment. Although there is judgment at the time of death, the final judgment comes at the end of time. The final belief is that Muslims have to believe implicitly in fate. The Quran teaches that God has determined both good and evil. By acknowledging the teachings of the Quran, one acknowledges there is no other religion. To consider worship in another religion is to blaspheme Allah. The Quran does not recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Muslims do not acknowledge Jesus death or Resurrection. Fundamental Islam teaches that Jesus was nothing more than a mere prophet and denies the existence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a Trinity. Allah and his will are the final word. In essence, Allah is the Master (abd) and Muslims are his slaves (abd). To submit totally to the Master is to have complete faith in Allah. (Robinson, 2012) The Catholic faith can be just as confusing and just as intricate as the Islamic faith. The Catholic Church is full of rituals and traditions that are questioned by many. The Catholic Church recognizes that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died on the Cross for our sins. To many, the existence of a virgin birth is inconceivable. Catholics recognize God as Our Father. However, that does not mean that God and the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus. The Catholic religion teaches that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. The conception of Jesus was Immaculate and therefore, The Virgin Mary is recognized as our Mother. (The Holy See, 2012). Mary is not worshiped on the same level as Our Father. Mary is revered as the Mother of Jesus and although Catholics do not specifically pray to Mary, they ask for her intercession through Jesus Christ, her Son. The Hail Mary is the prayer most often associated with reverence for the Virgin Mother. The word Hail is used not as a title to acknowledge Mary as being on the same level with Jesus or the Father. It is merely used as a greeting. The word, Hail was used in biblical times much as we usethe greeting, Hello today. Catholics also recite the Rosary, which is another form of ritualistic prayer. The Rosary is not mentioned in the Bible, it is not a mandatory teaching or tradition. It is a man-made prayer which when said properly, allows Catholics to reflect and meditate on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. From the Annunciation by Marys cousin Elizabeth that she was going to be the Mother of the Most Holy One to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Rosary is used as a teaching tool. The Catholic Church was founded over 2000 years ago on the Pentecost. This was the day the Holy Spirit appeared to the Apostles. As Muslims recite the Shahada, Catholics recite the Apostles Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. The Apostles Creed once again, is a historical account of the life of Jesus. It is the basic belief that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, became man and ultimately died for our sins. One interesting concept that differs between the Catholic, and Islamic faith is tolerance for killing. It specifically states in the Ten Commandments, Thou shalt not kill. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai and are the framework of a Christian life. The Ten Commandments are basic rules for every Christian and/or Catholic to pattern their lives after. There is no room for interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Although the Commandments are depicted in a particular order, there does not seem to be a Commandment which, when broken, is more severe than the others. Islam has tolerance for killing non-combatants. The Quran calls for the elimination of all and any non-Muslim invaders. If the result is death of the invader(s), the Quran considers it to be collateral damage. In order to keep the Muslim faith pure, it is considered perfectly acceptable to extinguish the lives of any person who does not accept the Quran and the Muslim way of life as their own. The teaching of some radical Imams additionally allows for the killing of Israelis who could as adults join the Israeli army, once again based on the belief that the Quran allows for the elimination of anyone who may interfere with the teachings of Islam. Teachings from the Quran that incite the radical Muslims result in the acceptance of suicide bombings, suicide missions such as the September 11th attacks on the United States and every other form of terrorism that radical Muslims have engaged in over the years. In the Catholic religion, there is zero tolerance for the murder of anyone opposed to the teachings and beliefs of the Church. At this juncture, the Catholic religion deems abortion as murder and will excommunicate any woman who, for whatever reason, opts to terminate a pregnancy. There is no exception for a pregnancy that is a result of rape, incest or any other act that results in the fertilization of the egg by the sperm. In the Catholic view, human life begins at conception. In this sense, it could be viewed as a radical opposition to the choice of a woman to choose whether or not to carry a fetus to term even in the mother is incapable of performing her duties as a nurturer. One example of this type of pregnancy would be for a severely mentally disabled woman to become impregnated. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, it does not matter that the quality of life for the child may be severely diminished. It is not a concern if the life of the mother is endangered either. Like the T en Commandments, there is no room for interpretation. Human life begins at conception. For Muslims and Catholics to coexist, there has to be some form of religious tolerance. Although the basic teachings are similar, when the beliefs and traditions are altered from their original state, that leaves room for views that become tainted by man to conform to his personal, political and self-righteous beliefs.

Fair Trade Coffee Starbucks Marketing Essay

Fair Trade Coffee Starbucks Marketing Essay Fair trade is a structured social movement that applies marketing approach whose goals and objectives is to help producers and farmers in developing countries get better trading deals for their produce and thus produce sustainably. The social movement campaigns for better pay, higher prices, better social and environment standards to the farmers in developing countries (Valkila Nygren, 2010, p. 321; Weber, 2007, p. 112). The main target is mainly on exports that are delivered to developed countries from developing countries where minerals, farm produce are targeted. Farm produce such as; cotton, fresh fruit, cocoa, coffee, chocolate, sugar, wine, honey, bananas, tea, and flowers where producers benefit from free trade movements (Davis, 2008, p. 22). Fair trade ensures responsible coffee production and trading in terms of product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility, and environmental leadership. Fair Trade Certified coffee has ensured that small scale farmers remain empowered while they are organized in cooperatives to invest in and develop their farms and society, look after the environment and equip themselves with business proficiency that will help them compete in a global setting (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 324; Davis, 2008, p. 23). Thesis Statement In view of the fact that Starbucks were seen as exploitative due to their unfair handling of small scale producers of coffee in third world countries e.g. Ethiopia; this paper tackles fair trade movement and mainly focuses on fair trade coffee practices with respect to Starbucks Company. Fair trade Governance systems related to global production and trade have come under intense criticism from broad coalition of social movements which have been branded as distorted and lack justice (McDonald, 2007, p. 794; Fridell, 2009, p. 87). The social movements have tried to mobilize societies to end exploitation by firms that buy the products from farmers and campaigned for poverty eradication procedures and social justice. The coffee industry has been most hit where farmer and workers in the farms continue to survive and work in terribly poor conditions and adverse poverty levels. The social movements through Fair Trade Systems have enabled the stakeholders especially the companies that trade in coffee to be accountable to the society that produces the coffee. As cited in FINE 2001 by Weber, 2007 p.109 Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers- especially in the South. This means that any company willing to trade globally must act responsibly and ensure sustainable development in the developing countries and see to it that the lives and conditions of living of the marginalized in the trading society are improved. An example of coffee injustice is the Nicaraguan case where coffee is a major export accounting of 30% of the total export in income; on the other hand poverty levels among the workers and farmers remain very high (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 324; Weber, 2007, p. 110). The farmers are faced with low, undeserved, unstable prices coupled with inadequate infrastructure, rampant insecurity, poor housing, and sanitation, poor health services access, poor social structure, and poor educational provisions (Weber, 2007, p. 110; McDonald, 2007, p. 793; Reed, 2002, p.226). Even those workers on large scale farms complain mainly on harassment and poor pay from their employers. In the developed countries where the coffee is traded the persons enjoy huge profits from the coffee that has been bought at low prices in developing countries. Minimizing this disparity is the role of Fair Trade systems. They tend to instill discipline and justice in the global coffee market especially for small scale farmers that are in democratic cooperatives. The bargain for fair price for the producer and better living conditions and other social benefits are pushed for by the free trade organizations. Free Trade coffee is certified by the Fair-trade Labeling Organizations international (FLO). Weber, 2007, p. 112 in his article Fair Trade Coffee Enthusiasts Should Confront Reality indicates that free trade organizations linked to coffee have fairly achieved improved living standards for farmers but the system remain unsuccessful in delinking promotional material and the real situation on the ground, excessive supply and marginalization of the producers and groups that are economically disadvantaged. Starbucks and CAFÉ The success of Starbucks which is a global coffeehouse chain with its headquarters in Seattle Washington can be linked to the trade of coffee from developing countries. With over 12440 stores in 37 countries and 145,000 baristas (employees) the company boasts of $7.8 billion net revenue and a yearly profit of $564 million in 2006 (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 325). It has remained at sustainable growth and can boast of serving 40 million customers globally. Since its inception in 1971 it has expanded year in year out with many joints being set up to serve high quality coffee (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Fridell, 2009, p. 86; Starbucks, 2004 para.3). Its success can be traced with the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement in 1989 where prices started declining and Starbucks maximized on the low prices with its growth at 5% annually since 1991 (Anonymous, 2003, p.22; Davis, 2008, p. 23; Fridell, 2009, p. 87).Despite this tremendous growth of the company workers in the company and farmers in the producing countries continued their outcry of poor prices and poor living conditions (McDonald, 2007, p. 794; Fridell, 2009, p. 88). The middlemen have also participated in fleecing the farmers who buy the coffee at reduced prices and resell at higher prices. Starbucks on its part never did anything at the time. Public outcry from the farmers in producing countries and workers was not enough to reverse the situation at the time. The establishment of the Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE) standards also seemed to be unfavorable to farmers in that only an approximate 30% met the Starbucks standards of the CAFÉ guidelines (Starbucks, 2004 para.4; Reed, 2002, p.224). This meant that the benefits trickled down to other sources other than those producing the coffee. In addition the standards were vague to implement and just acted as a blinding of the farmers. The CAFÉ has sets of product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility, and environmental leadership for farmers to qualify. For the product quality they must meet the green preparation and cup quality (Starbucks, 2004 para.6; Fridell, 2009, p. 89). For economic accountability they must demonstrate financial transparency, equity of financial rewards, and be financially viable. Social responsibility is graded in wages and benefits, freedom of association, working hours, child labor discrimination and forced labor avoidance, access to housing, education, health services, and work safe practices. The environmental guidelines include; protecting water and soil resources, biodiversity conservation, managing the environment and monitoring, waste management, effective energy use, and water conservation (Starbucks, 2004 para.7; McDonald, 2007, p. 795). Other companies such as; Nestle, Procter Gamble, Kraft, and Sarah Lee also contributed to the misery of farmers by buying coffee way below the production costs (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Reed, 2002, p.221). Farmers remained exploited without fair trade that will ensure the fair treatment from the companies dealing with coffee and other farm produce. Fair trade has given hopes to farmers and producers and societies in the producing regions of mutual benefits for their efforts to produce any cash crop (Reed, 2002, p.224; Fridell, 2009, p. 85). Starbucks and the CSR strategy According to Fridell, 2009 p. 87 in the article The Co-Operative and the Corporation: Competing Visions of the Future of Fair Trade major coffee companies have over the past few years started dealing in fair trade coffee that is integrated with their programs of Cooperate Social Responsibilities (CSR). The standards given by the FLO to the south have also not been applied in the north and regulations such as (a guaranteed price and social premiums, advanced partial payments, licensing fees and long-term commitments have been at times evaded in the north. Fair trade is mission driven while CSR is money driven; this explains the need for fair trade since it will help achieve society needs while still aiming at better trading terms. While CSR represents a shareholders move toward ethical business fair trade yearns for a stakeholders approach that benefits all stakeholders. CSR are seen as personal driven objectives that pursue business goals which is referred to as self regulatory while free trade aims at a integrated approach that is highly domineering to improve the well being of the stakeholders. During the start of the millennium only 1-2% of Starbucks coffee was from free trade, the company adjusted to a passive way of supporting free trade then but has currently changed. Starbucks has become successful in the coffee industry buying 1% of the worlds green beans and approximate 10% specialty green market coffee beans. Its acceptance to free trade was necessitated by immense pressure by the US/ Guatemalan Labor Education Project (US/LEAP) for the companies to put into operation a code of conduct for the Southern coffee producers (Fridell, 2009, p. 81; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 326). The company was still passive to accent to the agreement but after a sequence of protest globally they agreed. This commitment would not be compared to its huge sales that it was enjoying at this time and thus selling FLO certified products would ensure the benefits went back to peasant farmers. But Starbucks was reluctant to such moves and as Fridell, 2009, p. 82 quotes When it comes to support for fair trade, Starbucks commitment is limited to the minimum needed to keep public criticism at bay. Starbucks management saw more importance in concentrating on its CSR rather than engaging in free trade; but the CSR was mainly done to improve its brand image as an alternative of benefiting society (McDonald, 2007, p. 797; Davis, 2008, p. 27). They have developed an atmosphere of a trendy cafà © where customers can hang around and read thus portraying a local community. This atmosphere has necessitated concentration to interior design, customer service, and public relations that make the customers feel at home at the expense of producers, workers and farmers (Fridell, 2009, p. 82; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 327). The most awful bit is that this image has been widely accepted world over. Further it has invested in CSR that tend to neutralize negative publicity from neo-liberal reforms. The CSR build in on the self regulatory approaches that are effective in sustaining the brand image prominence in the market and building of the shareholders and stakeholders trust. The company aims to employ cheap labor such as prisoners who require low wages and fewer benefits and are dispensable at any time with minimal consequences while they hide in CSR (Fridell, 2009, p. 84; McDonald, 2007, p. 797). Comparing the wages of the Starbucks employees, services workers are paid very minimal wages while the management is among the highly paid in North America. Starbucks has the lowest employee turnover rate in the fast food industry which is a strategy embedded in the CSR and the brand image (Fridell, 2009, p. 85). Despite better benefits such as; basic medical, dental, and vision coverage, short-term counseling and basic mental health and dependency treatment than other service industries Starbuck employees are remunerated with low wages thus many opt out in less than one year. Other benefits the employees enjoy include a free pound of coffee per week free beverages while working, and financial assistance that is based on payroll deductions for emergencies which are all gimmicks of boosting a corporate image that ensure profitability at the expense of the workers. The 2000 case between Canadian Auto Workers, Local 3000 (CAW 3000) and Starbucks bring into the spotlight the commitment of the company to its employees since CAW 3000 tried to negotiated for a third phase of increased wages for workers while Starbucks still maintains it is an anti-union employer; the commitment to fair trade proves otherwise in view of the above fact (Davis, 2008, p. 25). Starbucks in 2002 imported 1.8 million pounds shade grown coffee that was certified by Conservation International (CI); 1.7 million pounds certified coffee and 1.1 million pounds of fair trade coffee this was a very small proportion i.e. 1 to 2% of fair trade (Fridell, 2009, p. 87; Davis, 2008, p. 24). Working with CI is a major cover up to fair trade since CI is mainly involved in conservation of trees in areas where they are extinct but they have no clear social role. Also CI cannot be ethically cleared since it works with other major environment destroyers globally such as; McDonalds, Chiquita, Mobil Foundation and Exxon; therefore it can be not be trusted as a corporate identity of fair trade (Davis, 2008, p. 27). It is clear that Starbucks have relied on the CSR for a successful implementation of its profits strategies. This method may however be risky for the sustained growth of the business (Fridell, 2009, p. 91; Davis, 2008, p. 28). Disadvantages and advantages Despite fair trade call there are issues that revolve around it that must be ironed out. Firstly include identifying the culprits of the process. Fair trade organizations may be blaming organizations who only work on profits as exploiting the society but the companies may be profiting through legal means. They may then blame corporations of breaking free trade agreements while they have used stretched resources to survive (Topik, 2010, p. 146; Fridell, 2009, p. 89). The participation of successful firms in transforming society may work but major issues such as a large gap divide may shift the advantage to the producer, therefore the producers expect more from firms which is unfair. Also a major concern on what signifies a living wage is a problem as firms make sales to improve the living income of the producers; in this case fair trade cannot guarantee anything to farmers (Weber, 2007, p. 109; Davis, 2008, p. 27). Fair trade is pegged on cooperatives of producers and thus the individual producer may be left out; the cooperatives mediate the prices and thus the producers only get what is quoted by the contracts. The prices quoted must meet or surpass fair trade limits with a deduction of the expenses incurred by the organization. The organization eliminates intermediaries and thus costs of sorting, processing and exporting may surpass the expected prices before payments to farmers. These costs may be so high to make fair trade markets be unreasonable (Weber, 2007, p. 111; Fridell, 2009, p. 88). Hired laborers are also believed to receive minimal wages somehow, since the fair trade agreements dont apply to those hired. The fair trade has also adequacies of trying to control the markets by establishing minimum prices; this however doesnt work since most fair trade certified produces trade only a fraction of their produce. This translates that farmers are never induced to grow more coffee in a bid to earn more from the dominant prices. This creates an imbalance between supply and demand and as Weber, 2007, p. 112 reports it has go on for more than 10 years. This was so grave that in 2002 FLO had to temporarily close out new members. Excess certified coffee in the market does not lead to dumping but rather increases barriers to entry and consequently increased producer competition for the limited contracts. And this can lead to exclusion of marginalized farmers that are purportedly supported by fair trade (Weber, 2007, p. 112; Davis, 2008, p. 26). With increased quality standards in the market FLO resulted to charging more to producer organizations this increases expenses and creates barriers to the market; this locks out young organizations that have no funds. Also they need extra funds to pay for inspections and other expenses thus the fair trade objective is not achieved since marginalized farmers are locked out (Weber, 2007, p. 113; Davis, 2008, p. 27). The main aims and objectives of fair trade are to bring change to the lives of the producers and workers that suffer in the farms, but the bad implementation has made the farmers be left out of the benefits (Fridell, 2009, p. 89). With good implementation fair trade can be expressed in its benefits to the society where there will be no exploitation of the farmers. There will be better living conditions, improved well being, and better working conditions for the workers (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 326; Weber, 2007, p. 114). The benefits that come with fair trade are yet to bear fruit especially when markets are not regulated properly and farmers become marginalized. Conclusion Starbucks being the leading coffee server in the world has a mandate to transform the lives of peasant farmers who live from hand to mouth by sharing the huge profits they make annually. They can contribute to the welfare of the producers and workers through providing better prices, adequate infrastructure, security, better housing and sanitation, better health services access and better educational provisions in the producing areas to ensure sustained growth. In conclusion Fair trade certified coffee has brought about reforms to the society in certain areas but in other areas it still remains an elusive dream due to the management of the organizations that govern coffee. Standards of transparency and accountability should be established at all levels so that the coffee produced by farmers can contribute to their social well being rather than making huge profits in developing countries leaving the producers fleeced.

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption 5.0 Introduction The results of our analysis demonstrate that increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption or quit smoking among lower income smokers and heavily addicted smokers, thus it upheld the hypotheses four and five. However, the tax factor does not prove to be significantly related on younger smokers, female smokers and less educated smokers. Chapter 5 includes a summary description of descriptive and inferential analyses and discussion of major findings that validate our research objective and hypotheses. Next section provides the implications of our study toward the society. Following section will discuss several limitations that are apparent during the progress of the study, as well as to provide some recommendations for future research. Then, an overall conclusion of our entire study is presented at the end of this chapter. 5.1 Summary of Statistical Analysis The demographic profiles of respondents are analyzed when the data are collected. Smokers are categorized by different races, gender, smoking degree, education and age and the data is presented in pie charts. Besides, the central tendencies statistic of the variables is also calculated in the analysis. Cross tabulation tables are presented to show responses of each subgroup. Statistical method used in the inferential analysis is multinomial logistic regression. This statistical method presented the predictability relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the form of odd ratio [i.e. Exp(B)]. When the significant level is less than 0.05, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. In this research, alternative hypothesis for age, gender, and education level are rejected as these factor do not affect the likelihood of the responses towards cigarette tax. The alternative hypothesis for smoking degree and income level are accepted as the significant level is less than 0.05. Therefore, smoking degree and income level are more likely to predict a certain type of responses from the smokers. Multivariate analysis is also performed by inputting all independent variables as covariate factors in the SPSS program. Multivariate analysis is to ensure the relationship is not significantly affected by other independent variables. 5.2 Discussion of Major Finding Table 5.1: Summary of the Inferential Analysiss Results Hypothesis Result H1: Younger smokers are more likely to quit smoking than older smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H2: Male smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarette tax increase than female smokers. Rejected H3: Highly educated smokers are more likely to quit smoking than less educated smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H4: Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than higher income smokers given cigarette tax increase. Accepted H5: Heavy smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Accepted Source: Developed for the research According to rational addiction theory in terms of the variable age, rational young smokers should be more likely to quit smoking given that their longer life remaining compared to older smokers and their comparatively lower income. Younger smokers who might develop lung cancer right now would lose much more (time) compared to an 80 years old smoker with lung cancer. Our empirical research does not confirmed this because we had shown that younger smokers are not more likely to quit/cut smoking than adult smokers. Past studies by Lewit and Coate (1982) and Sylvain (2007) also contradicted the result we had. The possible reason leading to this result might include the small number of young smokers in our sample. The alternative explanation is that since we perform our data collection in urban areas, young smokers tend to be more affluent, therefore they are not affected by increase in tax. Interestingly, Decicca, Kenkel and Mathios (2008) stated that since most smoking initiation start s during youth, therefore, the existing young smokers who quit/cut smoking due to taxes could be higher. The study also finds that gender is not a factor in determining the decision to cut/quit smoking given cigarette tax increase. However, rational addiction theory predicts female is more likely to cut down cigarette consumption due to traditionally being poorer than male. This contradiction happened because, we suspect, the income gap between the genders is fast closing. Therefore, any tax increase will not significantly create any reduced consumption of cigarettes among the women. Our finding is in line with the mixed results of previous literature. Chaloupka (1990) discovered that men are more likely to quit/cut smoking while Stehr (2007) found that women are more likely to quit/cut smoking. We find that education has little impact on the decision of smokers in response to cigarette tax increase. According to rational addiction theory, smokers with less education incur much cost than highly educated smokers for smoking because they have generally lower income. Our findings did not support rational addiction theory. Previous research by Madden (2007) partly supported our finding, he found that highly educated smokers are less responsive to cigarette tax. However, Tansels (1993) findings in Turkey (a middle income country) partly supported our conclusion. He found a positive and significant relationship between education and cigarette tax elasticity meaning that the higher the education, the higher the sensitivity towards cigarette tax a smoker will be. The reason behind is that highly educated smokers also tend to cut down smoking when taxed are raised, not because of the money issue, but because they are fearful of the health consequences. They have utilized the tax incr ease as the opportunity to go cold turkey. Therefore, when both higher education and lower education smokers choose to smoke less, none is more likely than the other. Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than richer smokers because the cost of continuing the habit of smoking is higher. Each RM increase in cigarette price will affect their quality of life, even creating shortages of money for childrens education, food and other daily expenses compounded to the future. This result conforms to previous research done by Biener et al. (1998) which says that poor smokers are 3 times as likely to either switch to cheaper brands of cigarettes or reduce consumption. Townsend et al. (1994) findings also brings forth similar conclusion. As expected, heavy smokers are more likely to give no response towards cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Adjacent complementarity explains that within a certain time frame, the more a smoker smokes now, the more he would like to smoke in the future. Unless the pain of higher cigarette price is more than the pain of giving up the smoking addiction, smokers will tend to continue to smoke in the future. Previous research done by Lee (2008) does not conform to our findings. Lee et al. (2004) whose result shows that heavy smokers increase smoking consumption when tax is increased supported our result. Overall, the article that Biener et al. (1998) produced matches our results almost entirely. Other studies that contradict our result normally utilized national cigarette sales data. Therefore, their studies are not entirely comparable to our individualistic survey-based study. 5.3 Implications of the Study Whether cigarette tax effectively achieves the governments goal in reducing cigarette consumption is a significant issue that needs to be carefully considered from time to time in order to better determine the direction of future policies. Hence, identifying the effect of tax increases on cigarette consumption is an essential part for regulating proper governmental policies on the tobacco use. Generally, the progressive increase in cigarette tax rates may provide a powerful contribution toward the governments taxation policy which would boost the governments income tax revenue, as well as to improve economic efficiency of the country. In our study, we found that highly addicted and high income smokers do not respond to cigarette tax well. They still purchase same quantity of cigarettes. Therefore, government should devise a method of targeting cigarette taxes towards these groups of smokers to maximize tax revenue. According to Tsai et al. (2003), portions of extra revenue which was derived from the cigarette tax would be earmarked to the governments effort for implementing tobacco control program against the tobacco use such as anti-smoking media-campaigns. Still, other portion of the cigarette tax revenues would dedicate into funding healthcare for under-insured population, lung cancer research and other health related activities. Apart from that, our study also contributes to public health by identifying that education does not play a significant role in reducing consumption of cigarette due to taxes. This implies that our education system is not emphasizing the danger and health hazard of smoking. This, however, agrees with the rational addiction theory because highly educated people are likely to be wealthy. Therefore, they do not suffer as much because of tax increase. In contrast, wealthy people also suffer more because of health problems because they have much to enjoy in life (holidays, entertainment, longer life etc.) compared to low income smokers. Therefore, in devising a public health policy, our study implies that we should educate people on the danger of smoking while at the same time increasing cigarette tax so that in the end, the rich and the poor both smoke less. During the process of conceptual foundation, our research has contributed extensive amount of empirical evidence that have reviewed the relationships between various demographic and smoking degree factors and the response to cigarette tax increase. Through our study, we can better understand the effects of taxation on cigarette consumption which will result in different consumption patterns. For instance, smokers may cut cost either by reducing the number of cigarette they smoke or change to a cheaper brand, choose to quit smoking, or maintain their original level of consumption. According to the fundamental law of economics which specified that as the price of a product rises, the quantity demanded for that product would fall. However, we found that there is an exception to this most basic law of economics because of the nature of rational addiction. Since we viewed the cigarettes smoking as an addictive behaviour, therefore it could be expected that increasing cigarette tax would h ave smaller effect than normal product in reducing peoples consumption of cigarettes. Alternatively, increasing cigarette taxes too high and the government would risk creating a black market or the emergent of smuggled cigarette. 5.4 Limitations of the Study Limitation of this survey-based research is that smokers may not always do what they say they would do in the questionnaire. They may choose to answer quit smoking, cut cost in the questionnaire but may act to smoke next week, next month or some other dates. On the other hand, they may answer no response to cigarette tax but choose to quit smoking the next day. However, they are not necessarily been telling lies. It is just that future behavior is hard to predict even for smokers themselves especially those who are highly addicted to cigarettes. Warner (1978) had showed that self-reported consumption in questionnaire significantly underestimate the actual sales data taken at the national level. Apart from that, the small numbers of samples of young smokers age 11 and below may not be sufficient to produce any strong evidence for that age group. The reason for such low numbers is that it is illegal for them to smoke in Malaysia. Besides, retailers are not permitted to sell cigarettes to minors age 18 and below. Besides, comparably smaller numbers of female smokers compared to male smokers may have distorted the results. Female smokers are historically and nationally lower than male smokers. Therefore, each female smokers responses to cigarettes tax have larger impact per person to the end result as compared to individual male smoker. Wasserman, Manning, Newhouse and Winkler (1991) had observed that using individual level data may incorporate ecological bias into the study. There may be other variables affecting the tobacco use that are not incorporated into the determinant. Example might include, family size, social statuses of smokers and profession (e.g. doctors may possibly smoke less). Another example would be the existence of societal culture that disapproves the habit of smoking. The respondent going through the survey questionnaire cannot choose to answer the questionnaire in any other way than was included in the choices of answers. The smoker only can fill in their answer according to the objective answers set by the researcher beforehand and all the answer categories are based on nominal or ordinal. If the questionnaire is asking about question such as how would you response to a RM1 increase in cigarette price and the respondent wish to answer that he would quit for 1 month and only continue smoking if his income has increase accordingly, it is not possible. These will result in inaccurate result as the researcher has already set the chooseable answers, namely to quit smoking, cutting cost and choose not to respond. Another limitation of the research is that it does not consider smuggled cigarettes and cigarettes sold in tax free zone. Tsai et al. (2003) and Lee and Chen (2006) had proved in their studies that smokers tend to purchased smuggled cigarettes to avoid the high cost of legal cigarettes in Taiwan. Respondent who purchase tax-exempted cigarettes from these two sources may not be hurt by the tax and therefore our result will be biased towards No Response. Moreover, although we know that the main effect of rising price of cigarette due to tax would reduce smokers cigarette consumption but we do not know whether it is cigarette tax that has actually play an important role on the demand of cigarette. Perhaps the reason for reducing cigarette consumption may be due to some issues other than taxation policy such as concern over the health consequences of cigarette smoking since they know that smoking will lead to lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc. Another issue that could influence on the demand of cigarette may be the tobacco control policy, for example advertising restrictions or ban on smoking in public places, as well as anti-smoking media campaigns could induce smokers to quit/cut smoking as well. Besides that, law policy also plays a major effect on cigarette consumption which limit smoking in public place and restrictions on youth under 18 years old to purchase the tobacco products. Since there are a lot of other issues than t axation in affecting their smoking behaviour, therefore it is recommended that future research in those issues need to be conducted to verify its actual effects. The final limitation of our study is that we seek our respondent mainly in the Klang Valley area. Therefore, it may not truly represent the whole population in Malaysia. We know that Klang Valley populations are urban dwellers and the result may deviate a little if we include smokers from rural areas. Urban dwellers normally had higher education level and higher income level compared to non-urban dwellers. However, since majority of the smokers live in the city and most of the tax revenue collected comes from them, it is acceptable to neglect smokers from rural areas. All limitations are acknowledged but they do not detract from the significance of finding but merely provides platforms for future research. 5.5 Recommendations for Future Research As we use cross-sectional method in our research, we highly recommend future research on this topic conducted in the longitudinal method. Future researchers can conduct the research on the change of cigarette tax in Malaysia in the time period of few years or longer. It is similar to the way conducted by Hamilton, Levinton, Pierre, Grimard (1997) and Hanewinkel and Isensee (2007) in their studies. Based on our knowledge and finding, Malaysia has not conducted the research on this topic by this method. By conducting the study in longitudinal method, the result will be more accurate and reliable because this method can overcome the limitation of cross-sectional method as discussed in the first paragraph of limitation. Actually, there are even little research on the topic cigarette taxes itself in Malaysia. More research on this topic is highly recommended because the consumption behavior of Malaysian smokers may be different from overseas smokers. Many researches on the cigarette consumption were focused either on the effect of cigarette tax/price to the cigarette consumption such as Lee (2008) or the effect of anti-smoking campaign/health information on the cigarette consumption such as Warner (1977) and Lee and Chen (2008). Future researchers should find ways to integrate and study both the effect of cigarette tax and anti-smoking campaigns together on the cigarette consumption. This is because cigarette tax and health information do affect the cigarette consumption at the same time. The only difference between them is whether price or health information plays in a bigger role on the change of cigarette consumption. By studying the effect of cigarette tax and health information together on the cigarette consumption, the result can be more reliable and usable for government to implement its tobacco policy effectively and efficiently. Besides that, researchers can examine the fairness principle on the tobacco policy in Malaysia. Many researchers such Gospodinov and Ian Irvine (2009)) and Warner et al. (1995) had discussed the issues of fairness principle in the tobacco policy in their studies. One of the arguments is the tax imposed is unfair to lower income group. Lower income group often will consume lower priced or smuggled cigarettes when cigarette tax is increased as proved by Evans and Farrelly (1998), Farrelly, Nimsch, Hyland and Cummings (2004), and Tsai et al. (2003). Often, lower priced or smuggled cigarettes contain higher tar and nicotine substance. The consumers health will be more affected by smoking these types of cigarettes. Moreover, future research can focus on whether tax should be imposed based on the quantity of nicotine and tar instead of quantity of cigarette in Malaysia. The impacts of implementing tax based on quantity of nicotine and tar need to be researched and determined. Youth is the most valuable assets for the country. Future research can focus on the access of youth to cigarette or exposure to smoking environment/ habits in Malaysia. This type of research can provide important data and information to our country and the world since the younger generation of smokers has increased many folds throughout the world during the past century. More effective tobacco control program to the youth can be implemented based on the data and information. In addition, future research can focus on what is the optimal tax rate for cigarette in Malaysia and its impacts. 5.6 Conclusion Smoking has been a prevalent epidemic in the modern world. It remains one of the top killers of human on the 21st century. Fortunately, excise taxes on cigarettes continue to be our last line of defense against smoking and many countries including Malaysia has been increasing taxes on cigarettes for many years. In the beginning of our research, we had set out to answer the questions. We want to know given the socio-economic factors and addictions degree, whether it will affect the likely responses of fellow smokers following a significant increase in cigarettes tax. The principles of rational addiction theory predict that lower income, younger, low education, female and lightly addicted smokers are more likely to respond towards cutting down on smoking consumption and quitting altogether given a tax increase. Conducting a self-administered questionnaire survey in Klang survey with samples of 300 smokers, we have found out the following results. Gender, education and age do not affect the likely responses of fellow smokers. The reasons might be caused by relatively small samples, closing gaps of income between genders and tendency of highly educated smokers to cut down smoking due to health reasons. However, research found that low income smokers are more likely to cut cost. Highly addicted smokers are more likely to maintain same level of consumption. Both income and addiction factors is accurately predicted by the theory and previous research. Our research has wide implications. They include helping government devise better taxation policy, public health policy and smoking awareness campaigns. Besides, we have also contributed significant empirical data towards rational addiction theory. Limitations of this research includes incongruence between smokers actions and smokers intended action and ecological bias. Small samples for certain age group and the availability of smuggled cigarettes are among the limitations. Therefore, we highly recommend that future longitudinal research on cigarette taxation be conducted in Malaysia. Besides, research on the differential effect of taxation vs. anti-smoking campaign, fairness of cigarette taxation and access of youth towards cigarette can be conducted to supplement this research area. Overall, our research has been a success. Although the hardship we have encountered during the data collection process and data analysis process is painful, it is worth it and has paid off to the team. We hope that the result that we had produced is truly helpful to other researchers as well as to the society as a whole.