My First Jump – A short Story

The wind was painful against my face, the skin being pulled back from my face, skull emobossed against it. My instructors (Jake and Ryan) were falling with me, to keep me â€Å"safe.† Jake tapped my shoulder, the signal that I should pull my chute. I grabbed the rip cord, and pulled it with all the force I could†¦this was a mistake. I had been instructed before to just give it a gentle tug†¦the cord snapped off. My parachute had failed. This is when the panic kicked in. All the training I had received, gone. My mind drew a complete blank. I was looking around desperately at Jake and Ryan, while the earth was hurtling towards us rapidly. Ryan tilted himself forward, causing his whole body to move forwards in the air, moving towards me. He pulled a cord on my parachute, so as to activate the emergency chute, something which had not been explained to me, as they didn’t see the point, it usually works†¦The emergency chute failed. Nothing appeared. This was when my heart was in my throat, no parachute, freefalling, I was dead. At that moment in time, I couldn’t understand why Ryan then decided to grasp on to me, coiling his body around mine, like a koala gripping a tree, until he pulled his cord, deploying his parachute, causing us to fall much slower, all of this happened in an instant. We were, however, still at a dangerous height, the only thing that was keeping me from falling to my death was the grip of Ryan, and the strain could be felt, and the grunts of pain, as he put everything he could in to holding me up. The land site was no longer a priority, it was more landing in general. We were getting closer and closer to the ground, but I could feel myself slipping†¦I managed to rotate while in mid air, and hold on to Ryan, allowing him to let go of me, and all of the pressure was now on me. At around 10 foot, I lost grip of ryan, and fell to the concrete ground below. This broke my ankle, and sprained my knee, but at this point I was just glad to be alive†¦ This experience was really a massive reality check for me, it’s made me realize that not everything goes to plan all the time, no matter how much it needs to. It has also made me really appreciate life, and every moment of it. As they say, â€Å"five minutes of life, is life.† Another experience, which is totally different from this one, but had the same impact on me as a person, is this†¦ My vision was blurred†¦nurses shouting†¦something about an â€Å"antidote.† I couldn’t remember anything that had happened. Panic struck me. I had no idea what was going on, and was too weak to express this, but it was obviously serious. What was a â€Å"Chinese Bird Spider†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦? I was on holiday in China, that much I knew†¦My eyes were getting heavier†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ he’s coming around†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The sun was shining, dazzling, in my eyes, it was difficult to see, I could however, ask what had happened. I had been bitted by a â€Å"Chinese Bird Spider.† One of the most venemous and dangerous spiders on earth. If my mum hadn’t recognised it instantly, and taken me to the hopsital. I would have died. No doubt. The pain in my neck was definitely present, but dull and numb, it must have only just been in time. This event has also made me really appreciate life, and how amazing it is. I now realise that I took everything I had for granted. Fear, I feel, is the ultimate form, of humanising someone, making them realise what life is truly about, and how to live it.

Science Periodic Table Essay

The Periodic Table The periodic table has been updated all throughout history. Elements have been around us since the beginning of time. Elements, such as gold and silver, are examples of these elements that have been known for centuries. The periodic table allows us to see the elements in their families so we can understand what properties they have. It also allows us to see the atomic number, atomic mass, and the symbol of the element. The periodic table is a source of knowledge that is still being updated as of this day.That is why the periodic table is such a valuable resource. In ancient times, the elements gold and silver were discovered. Another element that was known at this time was copper. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle said that all elements were made out of these four â€Å"roots. † The philosopher, Plato, renamed the â€Å"four roots† earth, fire, water, and air. Although they introduced the concept of elements, they did nothing to advance the nature of t he matter, which matter is made of. The age of enlightenment was a big adventure for the science world.Hennig Brand was the first person recorded to have discovered a new element. He was a German merchant who went bankrupt, while trying to discover the Philosopher’s Stone. The Philosopher’s stone was a mythical object that was supposed to turn inexpensive base metals into gold. He experimented with distilling human urine until he finally obtained a white substance which he named phosphorous in 1649. Brand did not go to the public with his discovery until another scientist named Robert Boyle rediscovered it and took it to the public.In 1661, Boyle defined an element has a substance that cannot be broken down by chemical means. Antoine Lavoisier developed the first chemistry textbook. This included the elements oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorous, mercury, zinc, and sulfur. Lavoisier's descriptions of the elements only classified elements as metals or non-metals. Joh ann Dobereiner began to classify the elements in triads. These elements that belong to these triads had properties that were similar to each other. A few of these triads are as follows: 1.Chlorine, bromine, and iodine 2. Calcium, strontium, and barium 3. Sulfur, selenium, and tellurium 4. Lithium, sodium, and potassium. With all these triads, the atomic mass of the second element was almost exactly the average of the atomic weights of the first and third elements. By 1869, 69 elements had been discovered. Alexandre Chancourtois was the first to notice the periodicity of the elements. Similar elements seemed to occur at regular intervals when they were arranged by their atomic mass. He created an early version of the periodic table.He called it the telluric helix. When the elements were arranged on a cylinder by order of the increasing atomic mass, Chancourtois could tell that the elements with similar properties lined up vertically. He published this work in 1862, but there was litt le to go on. In 1865, John Newlands classified 56 elements that had been discovered previously into eleven groups based on similar physical properties. Newlands said that many pairs of similar elements existed differed by some multiple of eight in atomic number.Dimitri Mendeleev created the periodic table that we use today. He arranged the elements by their atomic mass and noticed that they lined up with the elements that had similar properties with each other. He also noticed that when they were arranged in this way, the valences lined up as well. When he published his table in 1869, it had many advantages. This table is more widely used in today’s time. The discovery of the periodic table is also the discoveries of the elements.As the elements were discovered, they were added to the periodic table. Since the beginning of time, more elements have been discovered. The most recent was ununpentium. It was discovered in 2011. As anyone can see the periodic table is continuing to grow and develop. It is a child of the elements. As each element is named, the periodic table grows. The periodic table will always be an ongoing process and the updating of it will never end. That is because new elements are discovered every day!

There Are Four Elements to a Valid Contract

There are four elements to a valid contract. 1. At least two separate parties entering into an agreement: The agreement can be between two people, or one person and a company or between two companies. 2. The parties are qualified to agree to the terms and conditions in the contract: The parties must be of legal age and have an understanding of what the contract is and details it outlines. 3. Both parties are receiving consideration or value from the agreement: This is most commonly money in exchange for a good or service, but there are other methods of consideration, especially in the business arena. . The contract is created for legal activities: Contract are not binding or considered legally valid when they propose illegal activities or violate existing laws in anyway. (What are the four elements of a contract, 2010). The Objective theory of contracts is a principle in U. S. law that the existence of a contract is determined by the legal significance of the external acts of a party to purported agreement, rather than by the actual intent of the parties. (Objective theory of contract, 2010).This theory applies in this case because in this case it was stated they could win a Harrier-Jet if they collected the Pepsi points, but in actuality it was never their intent to give one away. The Court held there wasn’t a valid agreement here, because one party (Pepsi-co) made an agreement, but never signed a contract with the other party (John D. R. Leonard). As expensive as that jet was, a commercial ad couldn’t have actually offered the consumers the jet. (Unilateral Contract, 2010). Some advertisements are considered offers because if they advertise something and you have to pay for it that is money exchanged for a good or service.This case differs, because Leonard fulfilled his end by coming up with the points, but didn’t actually receive his reward upon the completed act.References Objective theory of contract; Retrieved from, http://www. encycl opedia. com/doc/1G2-3437703138. html Unilateral contract; Retrieved from, http://www. legal-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/Unilateral+contract What are the Four Elements of a Valid Contract? 123; Retrieved from, http://www. life123. com/career-money/business-law/contracts/what-are-the-four-elments -of-a-valid-contract. shtml

Management failures in entrepreneurship Term Paper

Management failures in entrepreneurship - Term Paper Example In order to fix a failure, people should first identify what the problem is. This paper will extensively discuss and analyze in-depth about two or three of the most common failures in entrepreneurship ventures. The failures to be analyzed and discussed here relate to financing and management execution. These form part of the major indicators of the failure of most entrepreneurial ventures. An aspiring entrepreneur can avoid these so as to succeed in an entrepreneurial career, if one is intending to set out in entrepreneurship, or if one has already started a form of business of their own (Greene 20). Wrong or Misplaced Motivation of the Entrepreneur To succeed, for someone setting out in entrepreneurship, they should be profit or success motivated or oriented. Although one cannot be told his objective, it is recommended that an entrepreneur think about it, as well as all the possible incentives, many times – and thoroughly. In fact, they should go beyond monetary values. In mo st cases, for a great majority of successful entrepreneurs, it usually comes as a surprise that most of them really like their businesses, which is the main reason behind their success. This also contributes to their monetary success, thus they receive monetary gains in doing what they love. The main argument or principle here is that if anything is set out for misplaced reasons, then it is more than likely to be terminated for the same reasons. For example, if one only considers monetary incentives while setting out on an entrepreneurial venture, and if the only intention is to generate massive money, then one’s mentality will be put to a great test if zero profit is generated after approximately five years of operation. As an entrepreneur, one may want to donate cash or build a house for the needy, charity or early retirement. Whatever one may decide to do, it should be a motivation for one to keep going regardless of the tough situations he may encounter as an entrepreneur (Greene 25). Weak Management structures Numerous reports on failures in entrepreneurship view weak management structures as a major reason for lack of success by some entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are more than likely to fail in their business unless they make out their areas of weaknesses and look for any form of professional assistance. A successful entrepreneur comes up with a conducive work environment which encourages innovation and productivity. As an entrepreneur, one has to be good in recruiting proficient people and teaching/training them on the specifics of your business (Greene 31). Professionalism and experience are very critical in ensuring that an entrepreneurial venture succeeds. For one to succeed, he/she must recruit experienced staff/employees, who will bring in more innovative ideas to the business, hence facilitating its success to greater heights or levels in future. The modern business environment has become very competitive; hence for one to overcome the extre me market competition, he/she has to be very innovative and diverse. In the management scheme, one must be able to readily avail of marketing services. Most new enterprises just lack marketing budgets that are large. However, this is not a reason for failure to market, since if one is not doing it well, someone else more proficient in management will do it better (Greene 37). Strategic or planned marketing is very essential to the success of any business and therefore, entrepreneurs should give special attention to marketing their products, so as to make people

Dell Computer Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Dell Computer Corporation - Case Study Example The year 1986 was a memorable year for Michael Dell and his corporation when Dell entered the European market. By the year 1989, Dell acquired sales of $50 millions. The last four quarters earned revenue around $57.9 millions2. Dell always aims to deliver the innovative technology and services. This company sells the maximum number of systems than any other computer company. The main principle of Dell is selling computers directly to the customer. In this way, this company can understand the needs of their customers in a much better way. This direct business model3 eliminates the middlemen and hence reducing the cost and time. The strategies of Dell enable it to offer the best possible systems and services at the most reasonable prices. Dell always launches the latest relevant technology much earlier than its competitors. Dell always has everything to satisfy its customer's needs at the most reasonable price. The direct linking with the customer is the key to success of Dell. The processing time is much better than any other competitors with the use of information system. ... The direct linking with the customer is the key to success of Dell. The processing time is much better than any other competitors with the use of information system. The customers are getting the advantages of one-step shopping system for all products and services. They can directly contact the company with a phone-call or internet and this company is always ready with an instant response. It is clear that Dell will continue to put its efforts in order to drive the inventory down by increasing its velocity up to the most possible rate. 1.2 Expansion Dell formed its largest workforce in the year 1998 by recruiting 16,000 employees in central Texas. 4500 employees were hired for its European unit in Ireland. By that time, Dell was ready with its 5 plants, Malaysia, Ireland and three in Texas. Its sixth plant was in China and seventh in Brazil. At present, dell has around 78,700 employees4 in all units. Chapter 2 Strategies 2.1 Build-to-Order strategy The key strategy of Dell was build-to-order. Customer were free to order their PC's directly to the manufacturing floor of the company where various process like assembling and testing were done before shipping the order to the customer. The time taken by the company to deliver the product was just 4-7 days. Due to this strategy, Dell managed to eliminate the resellers and other middlemen and linked directly to the customer. This profit was returned to the customer in the form of lower costs. Linking directly to the customer

Examine the consequences of the establishment of a system of universal Research Paper

Examine the consequences of the establishment of a system of universal health care - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, there are difficulties ahead. There are two ways to implement a program of universal healthcare. The first is to have the government pay for all necessary healthcare expenses as is done in Canada. This is sometimes called the single payer method. Healthcare is centrally rationed and is available to all by dint of citizenship or residency. This is a good method of delivering the service—even if it is very expensive—but it is hard to implement in a highly developed economy such as the United States'. The second method is to force insurance companies to insure everyone. Normally, insurers don't like people who have preexisting conditions which make them risky. The government can create laws that force them to offer insurance anyway. Usually, the insurers will receive a subsidy to help them out. Before Obamacare passed, many liberals sought a pure public option. But is a public option such a great step forward? With the cost of healthcare rapidly accelerating, it may be too taxing for many countries to implement. Even in Canada, there is an increasing movement towards private clinics (Kraus).

Employee Data Collection Training and Six Sigma Quality Process Terms Essay

Employee Data Collection Training and Six Sigma Quality Process Terms and Concepts Table - Essay Example Are horizontal and parallel lines used in a control chart for the determination of variations that are of significance by indicating lower and upper limits It is the comparison of an output based on an in-control process against the specification limits through usage of capability indices. Measures ability of a firm to produce products that can meet client’s tolerance. It is the acceptable difference between what a firm can produce in terms of value and what the consumer can tolerate. If the product’s value lies outside this range consumers can reject it. Refers to a product designed by a firm handed to a consumer to give his opinion based on his desired specifications. It can also be the client giving a producer a product to produce a similar one. It is a method used to measure and control quality during the process of manufacturing through the use of quality data. Quality data that is within the upper and lower control limits is considered to be of quality. It is a vi sual sequence representation of activities involved in production. Also referred to as process map It is a set of statistical techniques used for quality enhancement, through identification and removing causes of defects

Encountaring DAMIEN HIRST Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Encountaring DAMIEN HIRST - Essay Example This group of artists has been very controversial around the world, but especially in England where they came to prominence in the early 1990s. Almost all of them attended Goldsmiths College in London and were bought in the early stages of their career by the rich collector Charles Saatchi. Tracey Emin is a good example. Her most famous installation piece is called The Bed and takes the form of a double bed around which are many personal objects from her life. Another pair of London conceptual artists are the Chapman brothers, Jake and Dinos, who focus a lot of attention on torture and suffering in their work, going so far as to cast life size sculptures based on images from Goya’s Disasters of War. These artists all have in common the desire to shock and sensationalize and tackle subjects that are rarely considered to be art. The critic Matthew Collings had this to say about these London-based conceptual artists: Nobody can quite sum up what they stand for. The advance public ity of Brilliant! presents them as cheeky cockneys and punk rockers oppressed by the Thatcher junta, dodging IRA bombs, living in squats, and making rough and ready art that screams with rage and isn't intended for pristine white gallery space, but for rough and ready warehouse spaces in London's cockney East End. But no conceptual artist has been as controversial as the London artist Damien Hirst, who was born in 1965. In the beginning, while still a student at Goldsmiths, he helped to organize and exhibit art by other London YBAs.

Reproductive Rights ( healthcare ethics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reproductive Rights ( healthcare ethics) - Essay Example though in the Moschetta case, the biological as well as gestational mother is one and the same, the custody of the child is denied her for that was not the intent with which she entered pregnancy. Having looked at the precedents, it is important to note that in the domain of reproductive rights, broad generalizations cannot be made. The rulings will have to be made on a case by case basis considering the legal and ethical complexities that such cases present. Course A: If John and Jane conclude that it is unfair to abandon the baby and decide to act as agreed in the contract, then Gina will play no subsequent role in all decisions related to the child. Common sense would dictate that the issue of gender reclassification should be postponed till puberty, which would allow the child to better cope with the impending confusion and distress. Course B: But, if John and Jane are no longer in the picture after the fourth month of gestation and Gina decides not to abort as per her religious instructions, then obviously, she will be the sole custodian and hence has all parental rights. But there is another important factor to be taken into account – the mode of settlement. If both parties (John & Jane on the one hand and Gina on the other) amicably agree to dissolve the contract, then Course B will play itself out. Even if the disagreement escalates into a lawsuit, Course B is the only likely outcome. In the latter scenario, Gina will in all likelihood have her medical expenses covered during the gestation period. The fact that the pregnancy is in the fourth month (second trimester) makes abortion an unreasonable option. An abortion at this stage is painful for both mother and fetus. Irrespective of whether life begins at birth or at conception, the mere fact that the life of the mother will be jeopardized in a second trimester abortion is a strong ethical reason to not abort. As to the question of whether age should be a factor in Assisted Reproductive

Logistic assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Logistic assignment - Essay Example In future, the group plans to get into the process of higher levels of difficulties. According to the plan, with prior approval of umpire, the company plans to move into level two and then level three. The strategy has both strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of the strategy undertaken by the company at present, is that the company is involved in producing the standardised model. It means the methodologies involved are relatively simpler. So, the production is higher. Also, the cost of holding is comparatively lesser and there are no such wastage of resources for reworks, machine down times and scrap. The cost of labour is much lower in the present level of difficulty. Also, it is found that the semi fixed costs are also lower in the first level of difficulty. As the products are standardised, the demand of the products are also higher by almost double. Apart from the strengths, there are also many weaknesses related with the present strategy. As the present strategy caters to the standard model of products, the market is getting to be extinct sooner or later. Therefore, the company have to diversify into advanced models. Also, in the present strategy, the production capacity is lower. As there were both positives as well as negatives for the present strategy, the manufacturing group is moving towards the developed strategy which includes modern concepts like that of forecasting, scheduling and capacity. Forecasting – Though often thought to be alike and confused, forecasting is much different from goal. Forecasting is the way to predict the happenings in the future. Forecasting is part of the decision making mechanism of the company. The major implementation of the function of forecasting is that in the inventory control, requirements of manpower and the selection of capacity and the location of facility (Loerch, n.d.). It is good for the manufacturing group that it has incorporated forecasting with in the future

The man who wasnt there Essay Example for Free

The man who wasnt there Essay Explain genre theory and, using Chapter 8 of the text as a reference, thoroughly describe the conventions and attributes of your selected genre. Genre theory is used in the study of films in order to facilitate the categorization of films. Genres are dependent on various factors such as story line, who the director is, and what are the audience expectations. A better understanding is knowing the type of movie it is so if someone was to say let’s watch a western movie you’re going to expect gun fights, horses, and Indians and cowboys involved with the film. The clip I selected was â€Å"The Man Who Wasn’t There† an actor that is popular in today’s society that is staring in this film is Billy Bob Thornton. There are multiple genres that are in this movie and they are drama/crime, romance, and comedy. The short clip shows actor Billy Bob Thornton entering a room and the lighting is dark on him but it was light on the man he was speaking to in the room, this setting resembles the drama that is going to be involved in the scene with the actors. When actor Billy Bob Thornton sits down in the chair the lighting is even darker as he ask a question, by the lighting getting darker it presents to the audience that the question he is going to ask is a dark question or something that is not legal. Also the man that Billy Bob Thornton is talking to puts on his fake hair to make himself presentable, which came off to me as someone being sneaky and corrupted but the light shining on him tries to hide his dirty intentions. In my references I have a clip from the movie â€Å"Before the Devil Knows Your Dead†Ã‚  this movie has crime and drama as well these elements are a few that are in the film â€Å"The Man Who Wasn’t There†. Even though both films have different story lines, they are both filled with drama the film â€Å"The Man Who Wasn’t There† describes barber that blackmails his wifes boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong. This is definitely drama and a bit of romance involved in which is part of the genre. The film â€Å"Before the Devil THE MAN WHO 3. Knows Your Dead† talks about two brothers organizing the robbery of their parents jewelry store, and the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brothers wife hurtling towards a shattering climax. This film also contains drama and crime but what separates the two is the other film has comedy and romance involved with it. The description from the second film has nothing to do with comedy or romance, so you can say it has similarities on some aspects of the film from a drama point of view. Also another example to understand genres is films point out key parts of the film to promote to specific audience for the film or whatever has be successful for the sub genres as well, example you can’t go wrong with a romance film but not everybody likes pure romance films and you can’t go wrong with comedy but nobody likes pure comedy and I believe there is nothing wrong with pure action. An example of a film that can be promoted to a everybody who has qualities that they like to see in  films would be the film â€Å"Warm Bodies† (http://youtu. be/gGRHrr6IYdg) this film has these qualities that can promote to an audience that makes it appealing to watch. In this clip it shows that this film has action, romance, comedy and drama. This increases the chances of the film becoming successful. THE MAN WHO 4 References Goodykoontz, B. , Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellationâ„ ¢ course digital materials (CDM) title.

Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay Great Expectations, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Romeo and Juliet are all very diverse pieces of literature. Each piece of literature is unique to one another, but they all share common characteristics and themes. All of the works include a key character that gains understanding of himself resulting from events in his life that caused confusions or prejudice. Pip, the main character of Great Expectations, learns a great amount resulting from confusion in his life. His confusion is caused by his love for Estella, a beautiful and proper girl of the upper-class. Pip becomes intrigued by Estella the moment Ms. Havisham, Estellas guardian, has him over to visit. Ms. Havisham encourages and strengthens Pips feeling for Estella by always reminding him of Estellas beauty and intelligence. As Pip grows older, his love for Estella never fades. Pip becomes confused when Estella makes him think that he may have a chance with her when in reality she doesnt love him at all. Estella is incapable of loving because Ms. Havisham taught her to hide her affection and love and to never open up to a man. Once Pip realizes that he will never marry Estella he learns never to set his mind on one thing and that he must keep an open mind. Jem, the main character of To Kill a Mocking Bird, learns a lot from the prejudice he must experience in his life resulting from a trial his dad is involved in. Jems dad is defending a black man who was accused of raping a young girl in town. This is especially hard for Jem because he is growing up in a very racist southern town and time. Even though the majority of the people in the town know the black man is innocent, his color causes them to discriminate against him and accuse him as being guilty. The things Jem must experience as a result of the trial, such as getting beat up by a grown man, teach him many things about his life. He learns to give every person a chance no matter what their race, gender, or any other classifying features are. Most importantly, Jem learns to never cower down from what he believes in and to never give up. Juliet, the main character of the play Romeo and Juliet, also learns a lot from the confusion in her life. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately Romeo and Juliet must express their love in secret  because their families are arch enemies. Juliet becomes confused a number of times throughout the play because she is put in the position of choosing between her lover and her family. For example, when Romeo kills Juliets cousin, she doesnt know who to side with. Juliet decides to go against her family and quickly forgive Romeo. She figures love is the most important thing. Juliet learns that to be happy you must follow your heart. Even though the play ends in tragedy, the only thing that would make Juliet happy was to be with Romeo, even if it was in the afterlife. As one can see Pip, Jem, and Juliet all learned important lessons from their experiences. The confusion in Pip and Juliets lives and the prejudice in Jems cause them all to come to conclusions about themselves and their lives. Overall, the lessons each character learned helped them to become a better person who was more aware of himself.

Leadership Organisational Performance And Emotional Intelligence Management Essay

Leadership Organisational Performance And Emotional Intelligence Management Essay Introduction to the Problem The difficulty in studying concepts such as leadership, organisational performance, emotional intelligence and the interrelations between the three constructs, is that these terms are hard to define, describe, and to measure systematically. The disagreement among theorists concerning the definitions of these variables has led to further controversy about research design and instrumentation and to exacerbate this situation, there appears to be few gains being made to improve our understanding of these important concepts. Leadership is a difficult concept to fully appreciate and understand. Burns (1978) comments that Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth (p. 19). This statement appears to be just as true and accurate today as it was when Burns made it. Since Burns made this powerful statement, the interest in understanding leadership and its consequences has intensified. While the term leadership has existed for centuries and has been most commo nly associated with the military, the emergence of manager, as a leader, is a relatively new phenomenon. Because of the perceived and actual influence of managers and their importance to globalisation, prosperity, and economic growth, interest in this new leader has been and continues to be intense. There are hundreds of studies that tend to popularise and evaluate managers to a level that seems unattainable by most. Yet for all of the books, articles, and studies available on leadership and the managers, who lead, there is very little known about the attitudes, behaviours and characteristics that engender effective manager performance. Even sparser is the information that tries to tie the leadership style of the managers with their emotional intelligence on the performance of the organisation. When the substantial body of leadership literature is reviewed there appears to be two clear distinctions made by the scholars. One body of work focuses on the internal dispositions or characteristics of the leaders while the second is concerned with the behaviours and activities of the same leaders. However, the connection between these two distinct views is not always clear or easy to understand. The current study was undertaken in an effort to address some of the gaps in empirical research and to apply the results of transformational leadership in one of public listed automotive manufacturing companies, EPMB in Malaysia where there is a dearth of such information available for manufacturing industry. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to examine the relationship between a managers score on transformational leadership with the performance of the organisation; (2) to explore the relationship between the constructs of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence; and (3) to find out if there is any positive relationship exists between organisational performance and transformational leadership with emotional intelligence presence. The current investigation extends prior empirical work in at least three ways. First, the study integrates trait and behavioural approaches to leadership effectiveness in a field that is relatively new one for the study of transformational leadership. Second, the total population consisted of practicing managers. Presently, there are very few empirical studies that examine the relationship among managers, transformational leadership behaviours, their emotional intelligence capabilities and organisational performance. Third, both objective (financial performance measures) and subjective evaluations (direct report responses) of leader effectiveness and emotional intelligence capabilities were utilised. This study adds value to the current leadership literature and plays a small role in bringing an old idea into the le adership light in Malaysia manufacturing industry. One frequently discussed theory is that of transformational leadership, first introduced by Burns in 1978. Transformational leaders change their organisations culture by inspiring a sense of mission and purpose about the importance of the groups work and stimulating new ways of thinking and problem solving (Bass Avolio, 1993). Transformational leaders inspire individuals within an organisation to work harder and to strive for the highest levels of performance (Bass, 1985). While Bass, Burns and Avolio support the applicability of transformational leadership to all forms of organisation, which includes the largest public companies, other investigators find transformational leadership is not universally applicable to organisations (Inkson, Kerr and Moss, 1993). To exacerbate the situation, there is no evidence to say emotional intelligence is the moderating factor to transformational leadership towards improving organisational performance. Background of the Study An understanding of the interplay between transformational leadership and organisational performance is an important factor for developing effective organisations. Finding ways to optimise the performance of people and hence, the organisation has been, and continues to be, a major concern for organisational leaders. Thus exploration on emotional intelligence capabilities of leaders is essential too. In todays service-based, knowledge economy, many companies are beginning to shift away from traditional models of management, originally developed for production oriented firms, and now require a broader range of leadership skills and styles that are adaptive to diversity and to dramatic, often discontinuous changes in the work environment. As globalisation becomes more pronounced especially in automotive industry, the changes may become even more dramatic as firms struggle to meet competition that only a few decades ago did not even exist. Some of the promising paradigms of leadership are including people in them and tend to describe people, which include managers, as the organisations most important assets. A summary of some of these is as follows: concern for people (Blake Mouton, 1964), the value of people (Sashkin, 1984), human concern (Kilman Saxton, 1991), individualized consideration (Bass, 1985), and people orientation (Cooke Lafferty, 1994). The importance of motivating people to complete tasks at a high level so that the organisation performs well is a key role of manager especially in Malaysia manufacturing industry and was one of the main reasons for this study. Transformational leaders motivate followers both to work for transcendental goals and to increase commitment and in doing so, perform beyond the expectations those followers have for themselves. Statement of the Problem The problem in this study was to determine the degree of relationship that exists between transformational leadership, emotional intelligence and organisational performance as measured by return of capital employed (ROCE) in one of local public listed automotive manufacturing company in Malaysia. The lack of current knowledge on this subject and between these variables hinders our ability to place a value on transformational leadership and emotional intelligence capabilities and their importance in organisational performance. By knowing such knowledge, it would help EPMB managers to employ effective transformational leadership effectively in the organisation, rather than transactional leadership which is primarily task-focused. Research indicated that transactional leadership was limited in terms of effectiveness (Vishalli Kumar, 2004). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this quantitative descriptive correlational study was to determine the relationship of transformational leadership to organisational performance in one of the local public listed automotive manufacturing companies in Malaysia, EPMB. The study utilised the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire developed by Bass and Avolio in 1995 (MLQ-5X) and Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) widely used by Boyatzis et al., 1999 in emotional intelligence research, to measure the level of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence capabilities respectively in each subsidiary companies of EPMB, i.e. PEPS-JV, EPP, FUNDWIN and EPMD. The overall strategy was to quantify the level of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence capabilities using scores on the MLQ and ECI respectively, and then correlate these with the organisations performance measured objectively by the organisations ROCE during the same period under these leaders. The focus of correlational research is to describe the relationships among variables rather than determine a cause-and-effect relationship. Correlational studies are useful to describe how one observable fact is related to another in situations where there is no control over some of the research variables (Lappe, 2000). In the current study, the variables of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership were believed to influence the organisational performance. Research Questions The following research questions were addressed in this study for EPMB company. Q1: Is there a significant relationship between transformational leadership and organisational performance? Q2: Is there a significant relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence? Q3: Is there a significant relationship between transformational leadership with emotional intelligence and organisational performance? This study answered these questions through the analysis of data gathered utilising the MLQ-5X (Bass Avolio, 1995) and ECI (Boyatzis et al., 1999; Wolff, 2006). These questions were converted to hypotheses as below since this was a quantitative study and it is advisable that quantitative studies have either research questions or hypotheses, but not both (Creswell, 2003). The following are statements of null and alternative hypotheses that correspond to the research questions: H10: There is no statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership and organisational performance. H1A: There is a statistically significant, positive relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence H20: There is no statistically relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence. H2A: There is a statistically significant, positive relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence. H30: There is no statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership with emotional intelligence and organisational performance. H3A: There is a statistically significant, positive relationship between transformational leadership with emotional intelligence and organisational performance. Significance of the Study This research project yielded new information regarding the importance of transformational leadership style to the automotive manufacturing companies in Malaysia. For the organisations performing well, this information presented the opportunity to understand the importance of leader and follower development to continue performing well, and for those not performing to a similar level, the data is cause for reflection and an opportunity for improving development policies or changing leadership styles. Since the data gathered in this study does indicate a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and the performance of the organisation with and without emotional intelligence presence, further research should be undertaken to build on this finding and hopefully to improve on the understanding and meaning of the relationships. Of equally important significance due to the dearth of information available on the relationships between the three constructs in Malaysia, the results of this study will be made available to all companies that participated. This study is a small start in the right direction for companies that need leaders to continue to attract the right people for sustainable performance. Bass and Avolio (1992) have concluded that transformational leadership is important and that leadership training of managers at all levels should become an integral component of organisational education. A final component of this study is its potential impact on the selection and hiring of managers. Managers typically have an enormous impact on their organisations, constituents, and communities. Therefore, the compounded costs of making a mistake in the selection, hiring, or promotion of managers can be financially and operationally staggering. If transformational leadership is the correct and upcoming style for a utomotive manufacturing companies in Malaysia, then the selection teams could begin to narrow the focus and save time, money, and maybe companies by selecting the most effective leaders to lead their companies. In addition, since there are relationships between the variables, additional predictors of manager success can now be developed and shared with other organisations in Malaysia, thereby aiding in industry development and expansion and possibly enhancing Malaysias competitive position. Definition and Terms For the purposes of this research study, there are several terms that are necessary to address and they are as follows. Correlation. A correlation exists when the measurements of one variable either increases or decreases as the other variable increases or decreases (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Correlational study. Correlational research study designs involve either the identification of characteristics in an observed phenomenon or exploring possible correlations regarding two or more variables (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Descriptive research design. A means for providing a systemic manner by which facts and/or characteristics of an existing occurrence, or occurrences, are described (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Emotional intelligence. The ability to recognise ones own feelings and the feelings of others for the purpose of motivating ourselves and for effectively managing the emotions in ourselves and in others (Wolff, 2006). Organisational performance. In this study, it was defined as return on capital employed (ROCE) over 2005-2009. Quantitative research approach. A method by which researchers use post positivist acclamations in creating facts and predetermined inquiries such as experiments, surveys, and data collection tools to measure statistical data (Creswell, 2003). Transformational leadership. This is the basis for the study and the researchers primary interest. It could mean different things to different readers unless properly defined. For Bass and Avolio (1993), transformational leadership contains the interrelated components of charisma or idealised influence (attributed or behavioural), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration. Transformational leadership behaviours are influential in motivating follower change and transforming followers to be more aware of task outcomes, activating their highest order needs, and extending beyond their own self-interest for the benefit of the organisation. Assumptions The first assumption in this study was that transformational leadership is an effective leadership style based on previous studies even though none have been related to the automotive manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Most previous studies were related to the military, non-profits institutions, or educational institutions. A second assumption was that there are similarities between the subsidiary companies of EPMB being researched even though they operate in different ways due to their products, customers and locations. It is possible that organisational performance is impacted by business climate to a similar degree as that by transformational leadership. A third and final assumption was that the managers/leaders (self reports) more truthfully answer the MLQ-5X and ECI even though this may not be the case in all completed surveys. This has been reported in other studies regarding leadership and emotional intelligence, and may have affected data and perceived relationships between the variables studied. The researcher was cognizant of these findings and tried to ensure that steps were taken to minimize such influences. Limitations Bias within a study can be minimized by not exposing the purpose or desired outcome to participants. The population for the current study was limited to 20 managers within EPMB who participated by taking the MLQ-5X (Bass Avolio, 1995) and ECI (Boyatzis et al., 1999; Wolff, 2006). Although the participants were informed of the study, no specifics were given as to the purpose or desired outcome. The population for the current study was limited because of availability, EPMB permission, and the amount of time available to conduct the study. The study was limited to managers who identify themselves as having worked a company in one of the subsidiary companies during the fiscal year of 2005. The population studied was quantitatively small, but it was an accurate representation of all managerial skill levels. This was because the sample population accounted 42.6% of all managers in EPMB. In addition, the sample group exemplified the various mix and types of operations throughout the organisation. The validity of the study was limited to the reliability of the structured testing instrument along with the participants perception of their leadership behaviours. A relatively new, self-reporting instrument (see Appendix A) was used to measure the levels of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence within managers using MLQ-5X and ECI respectively. The instrument for the current research study was considered cross-sectional since data were collected during one particular timeframe and not over a period of years (Creswell, 2003; Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Cross-sectional and self-reporting instruments are necessary for the assessment of self and others, but they have limitations. Nevertheless, Emmerling and Goleman (2003) stated that the limitations of such tests produced an insignificant amount of discrepancy. Most of the self-reporting instruments are primarily concerned with the connection between detailed behaviors and explicit personas. Self-reporting instruments are better indicators of organisational performance than self-assessment tools (Emmerling Goleman, 2003). Detailed Dissertation Framework and Study Variables Figure 1.1 is a more detailed representation of the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and emotional intelligence and their impact can have on the performance of the organisation as a whole. The underlying premise is that transformational leadership does influence individuals who in turn impact the organisation with emotional intelligence as a moderating factor. The question that this study tried to answer was: What are the relationships and how do the relationships impact ROCE in the organisation over time? The elements in Figure 1.1 marked with the asterisks are those that were identified in the literature as being the most prevalent especially in studies that cited the work of Bass (1985), and Bass and Avolio (1990, 1995). The overall flow of the diagram suggests that the leader impacts the follower, and as the leaders behaviors impact more and more followers and as the range of impact increases, the organisations performance is improved. As the organisation imp roves with respect to many of the measures highlighted in Figure 1.1, it affects the ROCE of the firm and that is what this study tried to determine. Transformational Leadership Employee Effects/ Behaviours Organisational Effects/ Contributing Factors Attributed charisma Idealised influence Inspirational motivation Individualised consideration Managing change Increased productivity Achieving goals Coordinating teamwork Job satisfaction Increased self-confidence Increased performance (at all levels)*** Increased follower motivation*** Willingness to put forth extra effort*** Increased optimism Increase in learning activities Increase in innovative thinking Performance of ROCE Lower overall costs Increased sales Proactive change management Better communication Higher corporate goals Better quality products Increased customer service Increased educational opportunities More RD activities Emotional Intelligence Organisational Performance (measured by ROCE) Self-awareness Self-management Self-awareness Social awareness Social skills Figure 1.1: Detailed framework with study variables and contributing factors Table 1.1 identifies the major research questions in the study that were translated into hypotheses since the study is a quantitative one. It identifies the independent and dependent variables, as well as the statistical tests chosen to appropriately analyse the potential relationship between the dependent, independent and moderating variables. As outlined below, there were three research questions that were translated into three hypotheses (Hypothesis 1, Hypothesis 2 and Hypothesis 3), the independent variable (transformational leadership score), the dependent variable (ROCE), the moderating variable (level of emotional intelligence) and the applicable statistical tests. Figure 1.1: Research Questions, Hypotheses, Variables, and Statistical Tests Question Hypotheses Independent /Moderator Variable Independent/ Dependent Variable Statistical Test What is the relationship between TL and ROCE performance? H1: There is no statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership and organisational performance TL score on MLQ measured by questionnaires (Independent variable) ROCE performance (Dependent variable) Homogeneity of Variance test, ANOVA analysis, Pearsons correlation coefficient, What is the relationship between TL and EI? H2: There is no statistically relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence EI score on ECI measured by questionnaires (Section B) (Moderator variable) TL score on MLQ-5X measured by questionnaires (Section A) (Independent variable) Homogeneity of Variance test, ANOVA analysis, Pearsons correlation coefficient Figure 1.1: (Continued) Question Hypotheses Independent /Moderator Variable Independent/ Dependent Variable Statistical Test What is the relationship between TL, EI and ROCE performance? H3: There is no statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership with emotional intelligence and organisational performance TL score on MLQ-5X measured by questionnaires (Section A) (Independent variable) EI score on ECI measured by questionnaires (Section B) (Moderator variable) ROCE performance (Dependent variable) Partial correlation, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis Organisation of the Remainder of the Study The remainder of the study is devoted to the discussion of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence and their relationships to organisational performance based on several earlier studies. Chapter 2 is the literature review for the key variable in the study. Chapter 3 describes the methodology for the research study. Chapter 4 discusses the results of the questionnaire survey (MLQ-5X and ECI) in addition to the objective performance measure (ROCE) of the companies based on press releases, annual reports, and analysts reports. Chapter 5 is a discussion of the results including: limitations of the measures and procedures, conclusions, and implications for future research.

Essay --

Is Free Health Care Really Free? Is the health care the government providing really free or not? Free Government Health Care - sometimes Universal health care usually refers to a health care system which provides free healthcare and financial protection to all its citizens. Free or Universal healthcare is against the 1st and 9th amendment. Its against the 1st amendment because people see it as a violation of the right of assembly. Its against the 9th amendment because there are more rights for the americans than the ones that are in the constitution. Free/Universal healthcare has been a more wanted thing for the less fortunate because it covers everything a normal person needs so they do not have to worry about losing their health care and not being able to go to the hospital. I am towards it because there are people in the world that cannot afford health care so if they can get on a computer or use a payphone and sign up. Because if someone were to get a disease and does not have health care it could spread and t hey just might die. Most other people are against this because their ...

Advertising Alcoholic Beverages to Children Essay example -- Advertise

Advertising Alcoholic Beverages to Children Alcohol manufacturers use a variety of unscrupulous techniques to advertise alcoholic beverages to children. Perhaps the worst example is Anheuser-Busch Co., the world's largest brewer, which uses child-enticing cartoon images of frogs, dogs, penguins and lizards in ads for Budweiser beer. These Budweiser cartoon characters are hugely popular with children, just like Joe Camel ads. A KidCom Marketing study once found these Budweiser cartoon character ads were American children's favorite ads. This is no accident. Anheuser-Busch is conducting an advertising campaign to get children to start drinking beer. These Budweiser ads are unconscionable. So are Phillip Morris's Miller Lite "twist to open" commercials, which are among children's top 10 favorite ads, according to another study by KidCom. Hard liquor ads on television are equally unconscionable. In June, 1996, Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons Co. broke a 48 year old voluntary ban on advertising hard liquor on television. Five months later, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) re-wrote its Code of Good Practice to allow its member distillers to advertise on radio and television. Even if these TV ads are aired only after 9 or 10 PM, they will still reach millions of American children. Alcohol advertising may increase alcohol consumption, including drinking by minors. Based on this effect, various municipalities around the country have attempted to ban alcohol advertising. These attempts have met with mixed results in the courts. This section will attempt to explain how a municipality can legally ban alcohol advertising. Commercial Speech The only constitutional impediment to banning alcohol advertising is First Amendment freedom of speech. Alcohol producers and their advertising companies will usually bring suit against a municipality which bans alcohol advertisements, arguing that the ban is an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of speech. Advertising, however, is only "commercial speech," which is protected by the First Amendment 1. but not to the extent that political speech is protected. Therefore, a municipality can regulate advertising much more than it can regulate "pure" First Amendment speech. Types of Alcohol Advertising Alcohol is advertised on billboards and other signs, in print, and on radio and television. It is al... ...ard the substance of alcohol as neutral --- neither inherently good nor inherently bad. What matters is how it is used, and we must convey by word and example that the abuse of alcohol is never humorous, acceptable, or excusable. Do alcohol ads portray the products being enjoyed in the most appealing settings and by the most attractive people? Of course they often do --- no less than do ads for cars, instant coffee and anti-fungal sprays. That normalcy of alcohol ads helps demystify the product --- which is a good place to begin encouraging realistic, moderate, and responsible attitudes about it. Responsible attitudes toward alcohol are based on the understanding that such beverages are yet another part of life over which individuals have control, like exercise, personal hygiene, or diet. If alcohol beverages are to be used moderately by those who choose to consume them, then it's important that these beverages not be stigmatized, compared to illegal drugs, and associated with abuse. They aren't dangerous poisons to be hidden from sight and become a subject of mystery and perhaps fascinating appeal. But that would be the message sent if alcohol commercials were banned from TV.

Cheetah :: essays research papers

Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I chose to do my television project on the cheetah which I saw on the Discovery Channel. Although I knew some interesting characteristics on the cheetah, I did happen to discover some facts I did not know. Those of which are written in the rest of the paper along with some facts I thought were pretty cool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cheetah is an endangered species and has been for quit some time. This is mainly due to poachers who hunt and kill this animal for it’s illustrious fur of different colors. It’s coat is very coarse and a goldish color including some round black spots for camouflage. It has â€Å"tear strips† running from it’s eyes to it’s nose. The next part was surprising to me in that the cheetah is only 44-53 inches long. On the TV they always seem bigger somehow. And the tail is about 26-33 inches long! Their average weight is 86-143 pounds, surprisingly light for such a powerful animal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s low weight, it seems, is what allows it have it’s high top speed of sixty miles per hour. It is regarded as one the fastest hunters in the world and of course, the fastest land animal in existence. I also found that it’s habitat is in the grassy plains of Africa. This is definitely a great place for it to hide based on it’s coat color. It is because of this combination of tall grass and camouflage coat which allows the cheetah to stalk and catch it’s prey. These usually consist of gazelles, wild boar, or pretty much any animal it can handle. However, the regular range for it’s food is about 88 pounds. The cheetah then drags the meat to it’s â€Å"home†, away from prying animals, and feasts on it immediately.

Belonging Relate Text Essay

If you didn’t repeat year11 you have to do the same thing as I’m doing right now, which is a letter about the area of study – belonging. Probably you are enjoying year11 while I am suffering year12; I have tons of assignments due next few weeks. I’m writing this letter to you because I know you would ask me for all the year12 assessments at the end of the year also this will help you with the topic, identity which is part of belonging. First I will give you an idea of what belonging is. Belonging is a sense of comfort and contentment when an individual gains an understanding of themselves in relation to others. However when individual is excluded from a group or community is call alienation and rejection. It is important for one to belong; it can prevent alienation and isolation which can lead to severe emotional and psychological problem. From texts a responder may experience and understand the possibilities presented by a sense of belonging to or exclusion from the text and the world it represents. From different points of view the perception might be different. For example some of the students belong outside of school because of their classmates may be isolating or bully them. Whereas the teacher thinks they should belong to school, community and study for the HSC. I have chosen three different types of related texts for this Assessment task [Area of Study – Belonging] : the advertisement â€Å"how easy is it to forget† produced by BERNAS depicts a typical Chinese family and how the individuals belong within the family. The film â€Å"Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein† directed by Kenneth Branagh examines rejection and alienation of Victor’s creature from society due its shocking appearance; similarly the picture book â€Å"Refugees† by David Miller uses ducks to represent the experience of refugees who have been alienated from a place. In the advertisement â€Å"How easy is it to forget†, Bernas shows how one’s perception of their family can be modified over time by the shared experiences and barriers which they have fought to overcome as a group, enriching and strengthening the connection between members such as the father and son. The advertisement is about the son disobeying his Chinese tradition and ending up in a flight with his father resulting in him leaving home. Although he became paraplegic due to an accident at work; but his father helped and taught him how to walk when he was helpless and he returned to his family with a stronger bond than before. The advertisement is to gain support for less fortunate families and people. An individual’s sense of belonging is influenced by their choices and actions. At the beginning scene the son is leaving his family with his mother crying behind him trying to persuade him not to leave. Belonging to a group is a choice we make and the son clearly makes a decision to leave the family, which shows the barrier he creates between his family. In the flash back illustrate the event that lead to what happened at the opening scene. The son displays no interest in the family traditions and conveys no respect towards the father as shown by the father’s disapproving facial expression. During the dinner the son eats first rather than his father, in Chinese culture that elders eat first is to show respect. Another example is when the son changes the channel that his father was watching, the disconnection between the father and the son has been represented through the use of facial expressions and attitudes displayed by father and son. This is achieved by the camera alternating with a close up from the son and the father’s disapproving facial expression. This disconnection creates a barrier between them caused by the son’s decision and actions. The breakdown of their relationship has been symbolized by the shattering of the bowl of rice. In Chinese culture a meal is where a family connects and deepens the mutual understanding with each other, strengthening the bond within the family. â€Å"You might as well not come home!† shows how the son’s choices have pushed these bonds and created conflicts within this family, furthermore it creates greater barriers for them to overcome. However overcoming these barriers to belonging can enrich one’s sense of belonging because they gain an understanding of themselves in their family. The need to belong to a group or a community shapes our behavior, attitudes and actions. After the son left his family he suffered a devastating accident at work which leaves him unable to use both legs. In hospital he isolates himself and rejects all offers of help from his family. Although the son had broken the bonds between them, his father stood outside of his room crying because he assumed responsibility for his son suffering. His father chooses to help his son recover physically and moreover importantly mentally. It shows in the next scene with the father carrying his son on this back, trying to move his legs and teach him how to walk again! A flash back was used to contrast when the son was young and his father was teaching him how to walk which shows no matter how bad the family’s bond may be broken, it can be mended. In the final scene it shows the son can walk again at dinner time; a flash back was used to show his father helping him to walk at morning and night. This shows the bond between him and his family has been recovered or are even stronger. The recurring motif at the meal is used throughout the advertisement to encapsulate the bonds and relationship between the son and his family no matter how much the bond between family members have been shattered, it will always repair depending on the family members’ attitudes, decisions and actions. The first text was interesting, isn’t it? The second text is the film â€Å"Mary’s Shelly Frankenstein† directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on an adaptation of Mary’s novel â€Å"Frankenstein† written in 1815 and published in London in 1818. It is based on a science friction story about Victor Frankenstein created a creature with no identity; due to his shocking appearance which creates barriers to belong. The creature turned evil by rejection of society and he started to take revenge on his father Victor Frankenstein’s family. In this film several aspects of belonging have been conveyed, a sense of not belonging can emerge from the disconnections made with people, places or the world. The creature Victor Frankenstein created him and does not know how to walk, eat, talk, etc; Victor tries to help the creature in the first place because he thought he had successfully finished the experiment of creating a new life. When Victor saw the creature appearance is different to human, he was scared, surprised and realized with horror that he had done something wrong against human nature. This is demonstrated by a close up to show his facial expression and the dramatic music. The disconnection has been conveyed by Victor trying to escape from the lab leaving the creature behind and taking no responsibly for what he had created. This is an important scene because it leads to the creature being rejected and isolated from human societies. This disconnection influenced him to find his new identity and where to belong. To truly belong to can take a lifetime and can often never be achieved, but to become isolated or alienated is often easy. The next scene started with the creature covering his head to hide his appearance from people, the director used high angle shot to show the people are buying and selling in the street while the creature is trying to steal food from the shop. This shows the creature wanted to belong to the human society and desired the human’s acceptance. However his hideous appearance was revealed when he got caught stealing, and rejected him and chased him away. The director used low angle shot when the people gather around the creature, which shows the creature was way more powerful physically than humans. Medium shot was also used to show the human’s emotion when a human attacked the creature and in his rage he threw the human to the wall. This horrified the people and became the catalyst of human rejection from the creature. The creature has being rejected and alienated from society which creates more barriers for him. An individual not accepted by society can result in a change of the individual’s actions and decisions which can be devastating for all concerned. This is what happened to victor’s creature. One’s identity is the key to belonging anywhere. The creature continued to find his identity, he learnt who and how he was created and then deserted, and moreover he started to take revenge on Victor because he didn’t belong to the world. In the ice cave scene the creature had a conversation with Victor, which shows the creature had intelligence and emotions. The director use of a low angle shot shows the power of the creature and his superiority. The creature struggles to find his identity which is conveyed by the dialogue â€Å"Who am I?† During the conversation, the music changed to dramatic music emphasizing that barriers to belonging can change a good person to evil; it is shown by â€Å"Two people are dead now, because of us.† The close up between the creature and Victor to show their emotion which conveys how serious the problem of belonging is and the importance of having an identity. At the end of the film; when Victor dies the creature burnt himself next to Victor’s dead body. He knew that he had no future, â€Å"Who are you?† the captain asked, â€Å"He never gave me a name†, the creature replied. Without belonging life is meaningless, although the creature’s searching to belong and to be accepted by society. The barriers causing his isolation and alienation are too great to overcome, ending a dying with his father Victor. This conveys a sense of belonging comes from a sense of identity. The third text is a picture book Refugees by David Miller. The text illustrates the adventure of pair of wild ducks whose habitat has been destroyed when their swamp is dug up and they have to find a safe place to live. The difficult and dangerous journey they undertake seems futile. As they try they were unable to settle in various different environments. These locations included the ocean, busy river port and a swap/hunting ground. They are close to exhaustion when the intervention of an unknown person changes their fate. This text explores the idea that the process of migration can be a discriminatory experience, alienating, confusing and leading to the search for acceptance and sense of belonging. This text is an example of an allegory, a story on two levels. The ducks represent human immigrants and the problems they face. The process of migration is disorientating when the homes of two ducks are destroyed by machinery and they must migrate to find a new home. This is shown in â€Å"Now the swamp and island were gone forever. The ducks would have to find another place to live.† A lack of belonging felt by an individual can be caused by difficulties such as environment, government etc. This leads an individual to embark on a journey in search for a sense of belonging or acceptance from new environment. The environment is harsh, difficult and dangerous during the migrations. This is depicted by the visual techniques used by the illustrator where the swamp at the beginning is blue and green colours representing safety and calmness. On the other hand next few pages show the colour is black and from the text â€Å"find food and a safe place to sleep† shows the dangerous and frustration during migrating. Risks and challenges have been faced by the ducks during their search for acceptance, â€Å"At last, very tired, they came to the sea. But the waves were frightening, the water was salty, and they couldn’t find any food† (what is the effect). Rejection and alienation also experienced by the ducks are depicted by the picture of two ducks forced to swim into the waves with the seagulls giving them aggressive looks. It shows the difficulty of acceptance from others. The illustrator used a boat to demonstrate the trip of their journey and with a wall beside it which symbolized obstructs during migrating. Although the connection or relation between both of these ducks is strong, they belong to each other no matter where they are illustrated through â€Å"Two tired little ducks slept on a small, bobbing boat.† The desire to belong is shown by the two ducks when they try to find a place that accepts them is shown by using repetition of the word â€Å"flew†. The alienation and rejection is not only shown by other animals, these two ducks also experience alienation from humans shown by the use of visual techniques employed by the illustrator, it shows how the two ducks are powerless in the emptiness of the sky with humans shooting at them and the text â€Å"Hidden hunters fired cruel guns.† At the end humans reach out hands to help them to find a place where they can belong and the two ducks find a new place with this help and adapt to a new home which they have finding and longing for. It is convey through the text â€Å"At last they were set free on a lake where tall reeds rustled, frogs croaked, clouds of insects buzzed and swallows flitted restlessly over the clear water.† Similar colour as the first page where their old home was has been used to convey belonging to a place can make you safe and comfort. All these techniques used to demonstrate the process of immigration and convey the search for acceptance and sense of belonging. In conclusion belonging is a sense of comfort and contentment when an individual gains an understanding of in relation to family, groups and community. However sense of not belonging is an exclusion and rejection from groups or society. Without belonging life is meaningless thus people continue to search a place to belong even they were alienated. An immigrant like me and you had experienced exclusion and rejection because of our lack of communication skill and different cultural in a new country. But at the end we found a place where we belong to and the acceptance by other people as a new immigrant. These problems were faced in â€Å"Refugees† which is an extended metaphor of the two ducks that had experienced after leaving home and being a new immigrant. There are the three texts I have chosen, I hope you get an idea of what I did there and hope you can improve your shifty reading skill. You can send me your copy if you pass year 11 this year.

Consumption Of Beverages By Children Health And Social Care Essay

The ingestion of drinks by kids has changed in the types and measures ( Marshall et.al, 2003 ) , in such a manner that milk and H2O consumptions have decreased and fruit juices and carbonated soft drinks have increased ( Heller et.al, 1999, cited by Sohn et.al 2006 ) . This alteration is of the involvement of the public wellness concern because it is may be associated to both general wellness diseases e.g. fleshiness and diabetes ( Marshall, 2003 ) , and unwritten wellness diseases e.g. dental cavities and dental eroding ( Tahmassebi e.t.al, 2006 ) . Sugar ingestion has besides increased in developing states ( Ismail et al. , 1997 ) ; this is besides applied to carbonated soft drinks ingestion in the Sultanate as late reported ( WHO, 2005 ) . However, the effects of these forms of ingestion of soft drinks on dental cavities have non good studied ( Sohn et al, 2006 ) . Furthermore, it is described that the deductions of soft drinks on dental cavities is weak or non existing ( Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) . Main account for this is that fluoride exposure has weakened this relationship ( Karjalainen, 2007 ) . Consequently, some writers concluded that soft drinks are non serious menace to dental cavities, and the schemes to cut down dental cavities should be based on good unwritten hygiene and the usage of fluoridated toothpastes ( Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) . Although dental cavities is worsening in developed states, the state of affairs is non the same in developing states ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . Sultanate of Oman is a underdeveloped state, and the three national studies of the prevalence of dental cavities in schoolchildren in Oman are in consistent with this construct ( Alismaily et al. 1996 ; Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997, Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . And the prevalence is expected to increase in this state ( MOH, 2010 ) . The school preventative unwritten wellness programme didn & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢t discourse the issue of high ingestion of carbonated soft drinks to increase the consciousness among the wellness attention workers in the school particularly the dental squad and the pupils. This is besides applied to the dietetic guidelines in Oman, although they recognised the issue of carbonated soft drinks but there are no guidelines to understate the effects of these drinks other than urging cut downing the ingestion of sugary drinks. Against this background to develop unwritten wellness publicity programmes to cut down dental cavities prevalence in this group of the population and related to soft drinks ingestion should be based on grounds based relationship between dental cavities and the ingestion of soft drinks.soft drinks and public wellnessThe addition in the ingestion of soft drinks raises the concern of public wellness as it may be related to both general wellness e.g. fleshiness, and unwritten wellness e.g. dental cavities and dental eroding.1.1.1soft drinks and fleshinessThe rate of fleshiness is associated with overconsumption of soft drinks ( Marshall et al, 2003 ) . This is because of the addition in energy consumption which is related to soft drink ingestion ( Guthrie and Morton, 2001cited by Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Obesity is a chief public wellness involvement as it is linked to chronic disease e.g. cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type2, which are historically associated to old age but now a re being seen often in kids and stripling ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) .1.1.2. Soft drinks and dental erodingDental eroding is the loss of the difficult tissue of the tooth without engagement of bacteriums ( Barbour et al. , 2008 ) . The demineralization of enamel occurs when the PH falls below the critical value 5.5, thereby a drink or a nutrient of PH lower than 5.5 may do eroding ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . There is grounds of prevalence increasing of dental eroding in industerlised states, and this is related to increase in tendency of acidic drinks ingestion ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) .1.1.3 Soft drinks and dental cavitiesDental cavities is the loss of tooth tissue mediated by bacteriums. It is a multifatorial disease, where the bacterium in unwritten pit ( streptococcus Mutans ) ferments the saccharides ( sucrose and fructose ) this produces acid which lowers unwritten PH below 5.5 and demineralises the tooth construction ( Marshall et al. , 2002 ) . Soft drinks are rendered cariogenic because they contain high sum of saccharose and fruit sugar, there are 10 spoons of these sugars in one 12 ounce can of sugary sodium carbonate ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Another factor is its acidogenicity, most of these merchandises have PH below the threshold degree of 5.5, their PH in the scope of 2.5-3.5 ( Milosevic, 1997 cited by Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) , and this may do dental cavities and dental eroding ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Although sugar is an aetiologic factor of dental cavities but the extent of its consequence is besides determined by other factors these are ; frequence and sum of consumption, exposure to fluoride either locally e.g. toothpaste, or consistently by H2O fluoridization, and besides the degree of bacteriums ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . In a systematic reappraisal by Burt and Pai to measure the association between sugar ingestion and cavities risk they found that two surveies out of 36 have strong relation between these two factors whereas the remainder either moderate or no association ( Burt and Pai, 2001 ) . And sing the association between soft drinks ingestion and dental cavities there is incompatibility in the consequences and the relation is less recognized ( Marshall, 2003 ) . This led some writers to urge that the scheme of dental cavities bar should be based on bettering unwritten hygiene than sugar limitation ( Gibson and Williams, 1999 ; Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) .The tendency of Soft drink ingestion in developed states and in OmanIn USA there is an addition in the ingestion of soft drinks in schools in the last 30 old ages and there is a diminution in dairy ingestion ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . A scope of 56 % -85 % of schoolchildren consume 1 soft drink daily at least ( commission on School Health, 20 04 ) . In Oman the tendency of Soft drink ingestion is besides increasing. International Marketing Economic Service ( IMES ) reported that the ingestion of soft drinks in Oman has increased between 2001 and 2005, in 2005 the market was around US $ 87 million, and the most popular carbonated soft drink was Mountain Dew ( IMES Consulting, 2006 ) . Among school age kids, it was identified by Global School Survey ( GSHS ) in 2004 that 33.4 % of the Omani pupils drink carbonated soft drinks which are specifically Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew two or more times per a twenty-four hours in the last 30 yearss. Actually this was one of the most alarming behaviours found in this questionnaire, and it recommended the execution of national scheme to better the school community & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s wellness ( WHO, 2005 ) .20012002200320042005Entire ingestion 341.5 340.1 360.6 385.2 424.6 Volume growing 9.0 % -0.4 % 6.0 % 6.8 % 10.2 % Table1. Trend of soft drink ingestion in Oman. Source ( IMES, 2006 ) .The belongingss of carbonated soft drinks in OmanIn a survey done by me in 2000 as an undergraduate pupil in the signifier of Summer Project the belongingss of common drinks in two metropoliss from two states ; Cork metropolis in Republic of Ireland and Jalaan metropolis in Sultanate of Oman related to dental wellness are analysed, and these are the PH and fluoride content ( DOHC, non mentioned ) . The PH and the fluoride content of the common carbonated soft drinks in jalaan metropolis from Oman are summarised in table2.Carbonated soft drinksFluoride ( ppm )pHEverves Club Soda 0.38 4.97 Royal Strawberry 0.49 3.36 Fairy 0.01 2.85 Kaliber 0.37 4.20 Miranda Apple 0.22 2.98 RC Cola 0.32 2.61 7 up 0.20 3.10 Fanta Orange 0.01 3.29 Miranda Orange 0.44 2.90 Coca Cola 0.01 2.77 Mountain Dew 0.27 2.55 Table.2. PH and fluoride degree of carbonated soft drinks in Jalaan metropolis ( beginning DOHC ) We can see these samples are representative of the hall state as there are merely three local manufacturers and one importer of carbonates in Oman and each manufacturer is for different trade names e.g. Cola and Pepsi trade names ( IMES confer withing, 2006 ) . The mean PH for the carbonated soft drinks was 3.23 which is below the critical value 5.5 as we mentioned earlier which render these drinks as potentially cariogenic and erosive. The mean fluoride degree was 0.25 ppm ; this is below the populace fluoridated H2O in Oman which is 0.5ppm ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . Unfortunately there is no information sing the ingestion of bottled H2O in schoolchildren, and if the form that carbonated soft drinks is replacing the usage of bottled H2O so the exposure to fluoride is less than the optimum preventative degree and this will increase the prevalence of dental cavities.The tendency of dental cavitiesAlthough there is an addition in the ingestion of soft drinks in developed states the pr evalence of dental cavities is worsening in the last 30 old ages in these states, and it is increasing in developing states ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . This is attributed to the exposure of fluoride ( Karjalainen, 2007 ) .The tendency of dental cavities in OmanThere were three national studies conducted in Oman to find the prevalence of dental cavities in three group school kids. The prevalence was 84.5 % in 6 old ages old kids ( Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997 ) , and it was 58 % in 12 old ages kids ( Alismaily e.t.al, 1996 ) . When the same cohort was examined three old ages subsequently the prevalence increased to 69 % ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . The Mean DMFT has risen from 1.5 to 3.2, and those who were cavities free fallen from 42 % to 27 % ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) .Actually these figures are alarming if we put in our head that about 35.3 % of the Omani population are under 15 old ages of age ( MOH, 2008 ) so the prevalence of dental cavities is high in the tierce of the popula tion. These studies besides expect the prevalence is on the rise ( MOH, 2010 ) . And since the 2nd study there was a call for the development of preventative unwritten wellness plan ( Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997 ) . Although the tendency of the prevalence of dental cavities can be recognized in these three studies, the determiners of dental cavities in these age groups e.g. the dietetic wonts of sugar consumption are non determined yet there is an addition of ingestion of carbonated soft drinks. These factors are of import to develop a preventative scheme for dental cavities.The consequence of dental cavities on quality of lifeOne of the most common chronic diseases in kids is dental cavities and it can impact school attending ( Marshall et al, 2003 ) . In all over the universe, kids with dental cavities might acquire apprehensiveness from others because of their visual aspect, anxiousness and hurting, malnutrition because eating diet with low fruit, and early loss of the tooth ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . For these grounds it is of import to cut down the prevalence of dental diseases in Oman as it is besides a preventable disease.The current dietetic guidelines in Oman sing dental cavities and soft drinksThe hazard factors presented in the dietetic guidelines which are associated with dental cavities are the sum and frequence of free sugar consumption and undernutrition, and those which are associated with cut downing dental cavities are fluoride exposure, difficult cheese and masticating gum ( MOH, non mentioned ) . Actually these factors are taken from WHO study of Diet, Nutrition and Prevention of Chronic diseases on 2003 ( WHO,2003 ) , nevertheless carbonated soft drinks are non specifically associated with dental cavities in the guideline nor even the best ways to cut down its effects have been discussed ( MOH, non mentioned ) . Furthermore the Manual Guidelines for Preventive School Oral Health Programme which was developed in 2005 in Oman didn & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢t discourse the issue of soft drinks and its impact on dental wellness, and this including besides the unwritten wellness instruction programme in schools ( MOH, 2005 ) .The purposeReview the association between the ingestion of carbonated soft drinks and dental cavities experience among schoolchildren. Develop unwritten wellness recommendations related to soft drinks ingestion for kids ( in schools ) in Sultanate of Oman.The aimsConduct a literature reappraisal to measure the relationship between ingestion of carbonated soft drinks and dental cavities experience among schoolchildren. And finding the factors that minimise or cut down the cariogenic consequence of carbonated soft drinks. Review the grounds base on the bing wellness publicity recommendations for carbonated soft drink ingestion among schoolchildren. Make recommendations for the ingestion of soft drinks by schoolchildren in Oman.

Arab-Israeli War of 1973 Essay

The Arab-Israeli War was an armed conflict initiated by the Arab nations of Egypt and Syria against Israel on October 6, 1973 in an effort to reclaim territories that Israel had controlled since the Six Day War of 1967. The date holds special significance to the Jewish calendar, being Yom Kippur, hence this war is also known as the Yom Kippur War. Though Israel was caught by surprise and experienced severe losses during the war, assistance from the United States military led to a cease-fire less than three weeks later. In the aftermath, Israel retained its territories and its aftermath had far ranging effects on the geopolitics of the Middle East. First, the victory of Israel had an uplifting effect on its population. Its military had been seen to have grown largely complacent following the Six Day War. However, despite initial defeats, they managed a successful turnaround of the Yom Kippur War’s outcome. As such, despite the surprise advantage of Egypt and Syria they had regained the upper hand in less than two weeks, though at a high cost in casualties. In effect, Israel woke up to the reality that their military supremacy in the region was not absolute. (Rabinovich 498) Second, by granting support to Israel, the United States invited the ire of oil-producing Arab states. This manifested itself in the actions of Saudi Arabia, which not only reduced its oil production but declared an embargo against the United States. Saudi Arabia was later joined by other oil-producing Arab states and together they extended their embargo against other import dependent nations in Western Europe as well as Japan. The result was the 1973 energy crisis that sent oil prices spiraling past $60 per barrel and close to $100 per barrel in 1979. (Smith 329) Third, on the geopolitical front, enemy states of Israel concluded in the aftermath that they could not defeat it by force, and thus turned towards diplomatic tactics in antagonizing it. The effect was that many African and Third World nations, under pressure from the Arab states, broke their diplomatic ties to Israel. Works Cited No author. â€Å"The 1973 Yom Kippur War. † Anti-Defamation League, 1999. Retrieved September 24, 2008 from: http://www. adl. org/ISRAEL/record/yomkippur. asp Smith, Charles. Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. New York, NY: Bedford, 2006. Rabinovich, Abraham. The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle eAst. New York, NY: Shocken Books, 2005. Rabinovich, Abraham [2005]. The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East. New York, NY: Schocken Books. ISBN 0 8052 4176 0. Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, New York: Bedford, 2006, p. 329.

First aid impotance

Here are eight reasons you should take Child CPR and First Aid: 1 . There are differences between Infant CPR and Child CPR, including: hand placement; the technique for compressions; how deep to push; the technique to give a breath. 2. Practice matters! We know from science that the retention of CPR skills is at best 6 months without review, and a change in skills complicates the issue. The American Heart Association recommends everyone should take a CPR class every two years; but f you only took Infant CPR, you haven't yet learned what to do on a child older than one. . Your toddler is mobile. This developmental fact changes a lot! Injuries are now more common. And since a toddler is still gaining a sense of balance and his head is still heavy, the majority of falls in a toddler impact the head and face. Would you know what to do? 4. First Aid is used on a weekly, if not daily, basis for most toddlers! Think of everything your toddler gets into these days. Theyre more ndependent, ex ploring their world, and testing limits.We'll discuss how to make their environment safer. Prevention is key. 5. Choking is more common. Young children, ages 1-5 are at a higher risk for choking since they are now eating new foods, and are also more likely to try to run while eating or not properly chew their food. The choke-saving skills are different for children than infants, so again that hands-on practice is important! 6. A chance to share experiences. In almost everyChild CPR and First Aid class, there are a few people who have already been to the ER with their toddler or called their pediatrician with concerns over an injury. Learn from other parents! 7. This class is for ALL caregivers. Anyone who cares for your toddler needs to have this knowledge. Nannies, grandparents, parents. 8. You'll have the skills to save a life. I saved my daughter's life. As an American Heart Association instructor, as the Program Manager for CPR and Safety at Isis, and most importantly as a paren t, I want you to have these skills, too.

A View of Sexism Evident in Nike’s Athletic Promotion

A View of Sexism Evident in Nike’s Athletic Promotion What’s One More Thing for Men to Rule: Finding Women’s place in Athletics This text is questioning why men are looked as being the superior athletes in comparison to women in sports, and more specifically in long distance running. It also questions why we as society feel the need to compare them. The Men Vs. Women challenge advertisement campaign put on by Nike plus acts as the representative example for this text in order to see how society still values male athletes more than female athletes. The author consulted Robert Degner’s work, which explains how men have experienced a longer predisposition to being competitive. The author also joined a conversation with Christine Wegner about her research regarding statistics of female marathon runners. It was found that the number has plateaued and it speculated that this is caused by social norms restricting women from spending extra time on training that they are using right now to raise children. One more thing for men to rule, is the caption on the advertisement of the Men vs. Women challenge put on by Nike Plus (Gould). This particular ad is obviously supporting the men in the challenge. One more thing for men to rule. Is it supposed to intimidate women? Or empower men? Did Nike even think about the fact that the ad might come off as offensive? What exactly are they trying to accomplish? But mainly, why are we making it a competition between men and women? With all this being said, if society knows that there are limitations that have held women back from being as physically capable as men and, if male and female bodies are created differently, why does society continue to value male athletes as more capable and superior to female athletes? My initial hypothesis is that because men have been participating in sports for a much longer period of time than women have, we tend to value them more than female athletes. The Nike Plus ad, which I will be analyzing as my representative example, was part of a campaign originally to get more women to join Nike plus, an app that connects to your iPod or phone to track your mileage and pace. I chose to use this advertisement as my representative example because Nike is a pretty well known company and they are still ignoring gender equality just for one of their campaigns. The employees at Nike decided that the best way to get women to join the app was to start a battle of the sexes. On the ad in favor of the men’s side there is a guy running wearing Nike running clothes. He looks very focused. There are big white words in front of him saying â€Å"one more thing for men to rule.† and then under that in smaller letters are words saying â€Å"join the men vs. women challenge at nikeplus.com.† He looks like he knows what he is doing, like he is an experienced runner (correct form, proper running clothes, defined muscles, etc.). There was an ad similar to the men’s ad supporting the women. There is an experienced, focused female runner with words in front of her saying, â€Å"Ladies First. Men second.† It seems ironic that they chose to say ladies first because at no point in history have women dominated sports. Men have a vastly different athletic background than women do. The Olympics have been around for thousands of years, running events have been included in all of them. Except, only for men. Women weren’t able to participate until 1900 and didn’t start competing in running events until the 1928 Olympics (The History of Women’s Running). A handful of women were able to compete in the 800m run in 1928, however a lot of them collapsed at the end of the race so it was banned until 1960. This seems really unfair because even though they were allowed to finally run they hadn’t gone through proper training, or education on how to race an 800m. After that event there became a rule that women could not race more than 1.5 miles because they physiologically incapable of running more than that. The marathon was not incorporated into the games for women until 1984 after a group of women fought long and hard to prove that they should have the rights to race more than 1.5 miles (The History of Women’s Running). Women have not had nearly enough time to adapt their bodies for maximum potential because our history did not include lots of physical activity. Why were men participating in sports when women weren’t? Men on the other hand have had plenty of time to adapt their bodies for physical activity. Robert Deaner and some of his colleagues published an article exploring the evidence that men have had an evolutionary history of physical competition, they hypothesized that because men were involved in more physical activity, â€Å"Men have experienced a longer predisposition to be competitive, which has driven them to be more interested in sports†¦Societies have documented female participation in sports but men were always shown to be more involved.† (Deaner) While they did document women participating in sports they weren’t nearly as competitive or involved in them as men were. Could this biological response have been influenced by the social norms of that time? Where these social norms influencing females drive for competition as well? How has women’s biology played a role into their athletic participation? Why was it acceptable for men to play sports while women stayed inside and cared for children? Women are still evolving their bodies to be capable of maximum athletic performance. Russell Pate and Jennifer O’Neill published a paper about the advances women have made in the sport of marathon running. They looked into the trend of the best marathon times for women over the span of 30 years to see how they have changed. It was discovered that women improved their marathon times by 15.6% over thirty years, while the best male marathon times have remained fairly constant for recent decades. They also looked at the physiological differences between male and female runners. â€Å"The male runners had statistically significant higher values of height, weight, sum of 6-site skinfolds, V ?O2max and V ?E compared with the female runners.† (Pate). These biological differences have been adapted over many centuries so that men could run to catch food or fight off enemies. It’s okay to compare males and females. However, we need to draw the line when comparison turns int o a hierarchical comparison and a placement of women and men on a scale based on factors that shouldn’t be compared. This is why I found the Nike ad destructive to the work that many people have put their entire lives into for gender equality. Does being a child bearer mean that women’s bodies aren’t as physically capable of athletic performance because their bodies are able to bear children? It seems like we’ve made a lot of progress with feminism but we still have a lot of work to do. Social norms of women and mothers being the primary caregivers for children have had an impact on the number of women participating in sports. Christine Wegner did a study about the number of women running full marathons and discovered that â€Å"While the percentage of female runners at every distance up to and including the half marathon has increased continually over the past 10 years, the percentage of women participating in full marathons has plateaued since 2006, with women still representing the minority in this distance at 43%.† (Wegner) Women are now the majority of half marathon runners at 61%. They suggested that women have found their spot in running and have become most comfortable running half marathons. They continue and say, â€Å"The environmental filter that once precluded women from distance running has appeared to shift, moving the exclusionary barriers, and now seems to apply only to the longest race distances of 26.2 miles and beyond.† (Wegner) The article mentioned that it is not difficult for women to start running initially, that we have jumped that hurdle but it does become difficult for women to up the amount of time they spend training for races longer than the half marathon (Wegner). They speculate this is because it takes more time out of each day to train for a full marathon that most women using to take care of their children. So have we really jumped over social norms? Society used to see women as exclusively caregivers and nothing else. Their job was to stay at home, care for the kids, and clean the house. Now, it’s socially acceptable for women to run and race but they still have to devote their main priorities to caring for children, given that they are mothers, but running is something they can do if they have spare time. Men have less of a hard time fitting running into their schedules because of they aren’t expected to see to their children as much as women are. Another issue with society’s hierarchy or gender is the pay scale for women compared to men. This article titled, â€Å"Heres why its fair that female athletes make less than men† by Shane Ferro discussed why its fair that women get paid less. It’s because not as many people come to watch female athletics. This specific article looked into soccer players but this is common among most sports. The writers used â€Å"fair† in the sense that what their sport makes is relatively equal to what each athletes makes. They went on to point out that what we really need to be focusing on is why, why are people less inclined to go see women compete, and put less time and money into female sporting events? â€Å"The real question is not why female athletes are paid less. People should be asking why fans and sponsors are less interested in supporting womens sports — and this is what they should be outraged about.†(Ferro) Once again it all goes back to socia l norms that male sports are dominate, which somehow makes them more interesting. Why? Could this difference in pay scale discourage women from running? Could it also empower them to fight for their rights to have equal pay? If we know that our historical differences have led to different biological capabilities than why are we still initiating competitions between men and women? Who is this healthy for? Could this be potentially harmful to men as well? Men too feel pressure from the hierarchy that we have created as well. Except, they don’t worry about whether they will be able to compete in a sport, rather they worry If they will be able to keep up with the expectations that society has set for them as ‘fit males’. When men see that women can beat them in a race they feel intimidated and embarrassed that a girl could beat them. This hierarchy has led to many male athletes afraid because they are supposed to be better, according to society. If they aren’t though, they can feel pressure from other males as well as media to be better, stronger and faster. Athletes will go to extreme measures to prove to society that they are the top dog. One common way they do this is by abusing performance-enhancing drugs. A document released by The American College of Sports Medicine stated that, â€Å"Lifetime prevalence rates for steroid use among male adolescents generally range between 4 and 12 percent and between .5 and 2 percent for female adolescents.†(Yesalis) This is showing that males have a higher chance of using steroids, this article also mentioned that drug use can start pretty early in life, signaling that it could be due to social pressures. If kids are using steroids so early in life it could be hard for them to stop later in life and also change their mindset that they don’t need to use steroids to be great athletes. How do we move forward? I think we have done a lot to get women in sports to where we are today, but yet we still see sexist acts and comments being made on a large scale. Eric Anderson did a study on the cultural forces that are affecting male athlete’s attitude towards sexism. He says in his research, â€Å"Competitive male team sport athletes might maintain socio-negative attitudes toward women even in a time when institutional sexism has been shown to be decreasing.† (Anderson 258). He used data from heterosexual men who played football in high school, a much masculinized sport, and then went on to join collegiate cheerleading in college. He found that the guys largely changed their views regarding women’s athletics. They respected women’s leadership abilities and valued their friendship. While this is all well and good, it astonishes me that men have to actually see women participating in sports close up and interact with them for us to gain their res pect. It shouldn’t have to be like this, but if it helps men take women more seriously in the athletic world then we need to continue in that direction. Maybe this means that we just need to combine more sports and allow men to see that we are just as willing to put in the work as they are. Is this the right way right that we should be going about trying to demolish gender norms? I don’t think there is a â€Å"right† way to do it, however, we need to continue to talk about gender norms and help break them down. There really is no need for comparison, we should be able to respect each other’s differences whether it be due to biological differences or others, but at the same time be able to support one another. Athletics is about bettering yourself and improving your health, ultimately.