Critical Analysis of the Poem Patriotism by Sir Walter Scott Essay

Critical Analysis of the Poem Patriotism by Sir Walter Scott - Essay Example For example, the first point where allusions come into play is the idea of death but not physical death since that only comes at the end of the poem for the unpatriotic person. Scott alludes that a man without pride in his own country has a dead soul and not only is it a dead soul it is dead in the extreme. That person’s physical death will result in him/her ‘doubly dying’ since the physical as well as the spiritual aspects of the person would die in such a scenario. The rhyme scheme of the poem figures largely in couplets which go together very well even though the third line seems to be slightly out of rhyme since it is a quote which the man in question has not said. However, the continuation of the poem establishes a scheme which goes as AA B CC D EE FF GG HH and so on. This also establishes the iambic pentameter measure of the poem that makes it easy to read while the words themselves hold pointed meaning for the readers of the work. The imagery in the poem sh ines through with the idea of such a man being given titles, a proud name and wealth but no real soul since these worldly goods will end for that man once he has died. However, since he had no patriotism in his soul, his death remains unnoticed because he was concentrated only on his own self and never for the country to which he belonged. This is indeed an image of despair which is only highlighted by the next section that shows that his death, much like his life remained without use to his country or even to those who were around him. In conclusion, it becomes easy to say that Scott himself comes across as being immensely patriotic and the poem in question certainly shows what he thinks about those who are unpatriotic. While patriotism may be a dangerous emotion for some, individuals such as Sir Walter Scott would make it the first criteria for having a soul or for being a good person. I found the poem to be quite uplifting in the beginning but the

Policy Analysis and Political Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Policy Analysis and Political Strategy - Essay Example In part two, the paper will look at potential supporters and opposition of the proposed strategy. Also, it considers the potential resources to be used in implementing the strategies. Part One This part provides analysis to the environment policies using the eightfold path. The eightfold path is a six step problem solving strategy namely; problem definition, assembling evidence, alternatives, criteria, outcomes and trade offs (Vladimir, 65). Problem definition involves identifying the main problem. In this scenario the main problem is how the individuals’ harm to the environment leads to its overall degradation. The problem definition has three subdivisions which include; market failure, externalities, use of deficit and surplus. Market failures are caused by technical properties of a good or a service which are crucial in identifying the cause of the problem. Market failure is marked by hardships in collecting the payment from all beneficiaries of the policy like in the case of a policy on reduced emissions. The second market failure feature is the difficulty in collecting payment from all potential beneficiaries of a good, for example, when the consumers of fresh air are also those who pollute it. The third market failure is the hardship to identify the real qualities of a good, for example, it is hard to know the carbon content emitted by a certain company (Tickner, 101) In addition, to the market failure there are other failures, which help, in defining the problem, these include; government policies, discrimination and low living standards. These failures lead to environmental degradation, for example, low living standards may lead to destruction of forests as individuals look for a source of income from the trees as fuel or as building materials as well as their use of the trees as cheaper fuel options. The government’s failure leads to environmental degradation failing to impose strict laws to protect the environment as well as penalties in the case of environmental degradation. It occurs when the government fails to pass and implement workable policies to protect the environment. Assembling evidence is the second step in the eightfold strategy. It involves gathering all the required information to help in solving problems and formulating policy strategies. In the environment scenario, the information on all major pollutants is required. The major pollutant to the environment is the Ozone. This is a gas found near the ground (troposphere) it is formed when nitrogen oxide and other organic matters mix in the air, nitrogen oxide originates from burning gasoline, fossil fuels and coal. The Ozone near the ground causes a lot of harm in terms of health as it causes disease such as asthma attacks, flu, sore throats or even sudden death. The second major pollutant is the Carbon monoxide; this comes from burning of fossil fuels and can not be seen or smelled it is exhumed by vehicles. It reduces the oxygen in the body; also, it causes dizziness and tiredness and when inhaled in high concentrations is fatal and can cause death. The third pollutant is Nitrogen dioxide; this is reddish-brown gas that results from vehicle emissions and burning of fossil fuels. It results mostly from cars and plants and is also formed when nitrogen reacts with oxygen at extremely high temperatures. It causes coughs to those exposed to it while its

The South Australian Renewable Energy Policy

The South Australian Renewable Energy Policy Power Plays Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the South Australian renewable policy following recent repeated events causing state-wide blackouts and chaos, however, according to other media sources, the opposition has also been stating that the renewable policy is not to blame. Kai Johnston reports. The news implements a variety of persuasive techniques such as attacking, providing evidence or silencing point of views. All of this is deliberately used to reinforce an idea to influence their audiences attitudes, values and beliefs of the turmoil of the South Australian renewable energy policy. This policy has been viewed by numerous news reports as a crisis that has crippled the entire states future, with some reports blaming the Labors renewable policy and other reports blaming mother nature.The causes of this crisis have sparked intense political debates and clashes between the federal Liberal and Labor parties, and even from multiple mass media sources. The South Australian renewable energy policy was an initiative imposed by the SA state Labor government in mid-2009, which sought to increase the renewable energy target to 33% by 2020. This initiative was supported through federal and state funding to achieve these targets. Since 2009, the state government has provided funding for development of renewable energy processes and farms, allowing this target to be achieved within 5 years of operation in 2013. In 2014 a new goal of 50% renewable generation state-wide was set to be achieved by 2025 and so this push commenced with an estimated $10 billion to fund the program. However, the rapid drive towards renewables has recently resulted in multiple blackouts over the past few months. This has sparked a massive blame game from both sides of Parliament with Liberals marketing that the introduction of wind and solar has made the power grid very vulnerable. While Labor argues that transmission lines were broken in the severe storms that roc ked the state at that time. Green dreamers are weaving baskets in the dark is an article authored by Janet Albrechtsen for The Australian. This article is heavily opinionative and contradicts every aspect of the Energy Policy with a spicy, heavy tone that slates the Labor party who was responsible for this policy. Albrechtsen describes the South Australian energy policy as the biggest policy hoax in the modern era. Theres one thing worse than a bunch of deluded commentators who treat green energy as a religion And thats the South Australian Labor government. The authors approach to this issue and utilization of persuasive techniques in this text are quite obvious, in fact her entire article is full of emotive and attacking language directed at the Labor party. Albrechtsens article also includes an array of evidence through explained statistical inquiries that help support this attack against Weatherills policy. His policy has promised a transformation of the economy, more jobs and an increased drive in investment. However, according to the authors evidence, these promises have not been fulfilled since renewables were introduced, but instead, they have led the state to accumulating the reputation for the lowest; employment, economy, business investment and growth throughout the entire nation. South Australias electricity prices have also doubled as a result of the policy as indicated in the article, the author also mentions how the difference between feeling good and doing good is now irrefutable. It doesnt feel good to be unemployed or out of business It doesnt feel good to have the power switched off in summer heat or winter cold It doesnt feel good to be subjected to the Lefts utopian dreams that hurt the poor the most The author uses the repetitious statements it doesnt feel good to effectively reinforce that renewables are crippling the state, and by invoking sympathy from the readers, this technique has potentially established a foundation that has persuaded the readers to agree with her perspective. Opposing this attack on renewables is a Sydney Morning Herald article by Mark Kenny, with the headline PM Malcolm Turnbull and ministers were told wind not to blame for SA blackout, which also uses multiple persuasive techniques to convey the writers opinion in a more subtle attack. The author, has constructed the article with a sense of expertise and superiority over Mr Turnbull, arguing that wind is not to blame while using quotes to support his idea. There has been unprecedented damage to network, with 20+ steel transmission towers down in the north of the state due to wind damage Energy Market Operators Devastating storms Kenny utilizes emotive language and evidence through quotes from the energy market operators to imply that the cause of the blackouts was from some freak storm that damaged transmission lines. A hysterical Mr Turnbull had been caught playing politics with a very deep crisis enveloping our energy system.-Mark Butler Climate change and energy minister This quote has been deliberately used to manipulate the audiences thinking to see that Mr Turnbull is capitalizing on the power crisis by lying to the nation to secure his votes. Butler implies that Turnbull is over-reacting and has been caught laying the blame on to Labors renewable policy when in actual fact, normal coal fired power generation would have also failed if subjected to these storms. Kenny manipulates his readers to view these blackouts as a result of catastrophic, once in a lifetime weather occurrences, hence contradicting Mr Turnbulls political blame game. The article Labor cant keep the lights on, which was written by Rosie Lewis for The Australian. This takes a more frustrated and aggressive approach to the renewable argument than the previous article. This text attacks Labors renewable policy throughout by repeatedly stating that they have failed planning for and generating enough backup electricity to keep the grid above water. Turbull is quoted as saying Theyve failed to do the work to ensure South Australians can keep the lights and air conditioners on. Extraordinary complacency and reckless negligence. Persuasive techniques such as the quotes from Mr Turnbull, include attacks on the policy and the use of emotive language to influence the audience. It also reinforces the idea that the South Australian Labor has not only failed, but crippled the state with a lack of planning. The graphs illustrated above shows the energy generation in comparison to the demand at certain times of the day. The implementation of these graphs allows viewers to clearly observe the significant issues associated with wind generation against the power demands, these graphs have been used to reinforce and add more credibility and persuasiveness to the argument that renewable energy is not a reliable source. SA power: How the State Government plans to fix energy crisis is an article authored by Daniel Wills for the SA paper, The Advertiser. This text acts as a response to the political blame game, as it sheds the blame off from the Labors back, that has been conveyed by Mr Turnbull, and attempts to redirect this blame towards the Energy Market Operators. The market operator has insufficient intel about how it operates. That is unacceptable. Tom Koutsantonis, energy minister. Here the energy minister is using attacking language against the energy operators. We have to step up and take control of our own future, and we are determined to do that. -Mr Weatherill (S.A Labor premier)   Ã‚   Wills has utilized these quotes to establish a point of view that something needs to be done to prevent further blackouts and to imply that the energy operators have left South Australia in the dark. These quotes use the techniques of inclusive language, urgency and appeals to hope to establish a call to arms for the audience to feel compelled to stand with Mr Weatherill. In this report Wills has been able to persuade his audience to believe that it was the market operators who did not ensure the reliability of power at the times when the state needed it the most. With the battle of politics waging and news treatments jumping in on the action, it is impossible to understand the simple questions we all have on our minds. What really did cause this crisis and who are we to stand alongside? KAI JOHNSTON Bibliography Wills, D. (2017). How the State Govt plans to fix SAs energy crisis. [online] Adelaidenow.com.au. Available at: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-power-how-the-state-government-plans-to-fix-energy-crisis/news-story/b6d6bceb9d9c0203f0bc9bd9637e32f6 [Accessed 19 Feb. 2017]. Lewis, R. (2017). Labor cant keep the lights on. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/sa-power-outages-hiccups-says-labor/news-story/c6ca2aaca59d5e1b77106b099d4e5e87 [Accessed 22 Feb. 2017]. Kenny, M. (2017). PM and ministers were told wind not to blame for SA blackout. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-and-ministers-were-told-wind-not-to-blame-for-sa-blackout-20170212-guaxf0.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2017]. Renewablessa.sa.gov.au. (2017). About Us RenewablesSA. [online] Available at: http://renewablessa.sa.gov.au [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]. Albrechtsen, J. (2017). Green dreamers are weaving baskets in the dark. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/janet-albrechtsen/green-dreamers-are-weaving-baskets-in-the-dark/news-story/4a17b417b568d6f1ab28ebdf63139a08 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017].

How Wind Turbines Assist in Generating Alternative Energy :: Wind Power Energy

How Wind Turbines Assist in Generating Alternative Energy Abstract I have researched how turbines assist in generating alternative energy. I found my research primarily from the Internet from sources such as the U.S. Department of energy. I then noted what a wind turbine does to help generate energy, and why it is used as an alternative energy. I also found disadvantages to using fossil fuels, and why it is important to use alternative energy like wind. I then researched how the wind turbine worked and what each specific component of the turbine did. Before researching, I hypothesized that wind turbines did very little to help the Earth's crisis of burning fossil fuels, but after researching, I discovered that many farmers and ranchers are using wind turbines to help conserve energy, and they are doing so at a very low cost. Using wind turbines can benefit everyone, and since it is a clean renewable energy, it will not pollute the Earth's atmosphere. Introduction A turbine is a machine, containing a rotor that has blades. The turbines are powered by momentum, and the kinetic energy is converted to mechanical energy. A turbine works by using wind to make energy, which is opposite of a fan. There are two basic groups of turbines, the horizontal-axis variety, and the vertical-axis design. There are also many sizes of turbines ranging from 100 kilowatts to several megawatts. A turbine is constructed of many parts, including an anemometer, two or three blades, a brake, a controller, a gear box, a generator, a high-speed shaft, a low-speed shaft, a nacelle, a pitch, a rotor, a tower, a wind vane, a yaw drive and a yaw motor. Wind Turbines 3 Figure 1 (U.S. Department of Energy, 2006) Figure 1 shows the components of the wind turbine. Each has a different function to aid the conversion of kinetic energy into mechanical energy. According to U.S. Department of Energy, the anemometer measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller. The blades are lifted by wind and from that start to rotate. The brake is a disc brake, which is used to stop the rotor in emergencies. The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour; turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 miles per hour because they might be damaged by the high winds. The gearbox is where gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increases the rotational speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most generators to

Ethical Leadership Essay

Overview about Leadership Ethics Leaders must understand the subject of ethics – what it is and why is it important. Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the intent, means and consequences of moral behavior. It is the study of moral judgments and right and wrong conduct. Some human judgments are factual (the earth is round); others are aesthetic (she is beautiful); and still others are moral (people should be honest and should not kill). Define Ethical Leadership Behavior Ethical Leadership is leadership that is involved in leading in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of other. â€Å"As leaders are by nature in a position of social power, ethical leadership focuses on how leaders use their social power in the decisions they make, actions they engage in. And ways they influence others’ decisions. Leaders who are ethical, demonstrate a level of integrity that is important for stimulating a sense of leader trustworthiness, which is important for followers to accept the vision of the leader. These are critical and direct components to leading ethically. The character and integrity of the leader provide the basis for personal characteristics that direct a leader’s ethical beliefs, values, and decisions. Individual values and beliefs impact the ethical decisions of leaders. Five Ethical Leadership Behavior 1. Be Honest and Trustworthy and Have Integrity in Dealing with Others. Trustworthiness contributes to leadership effectiveness. A perception that high-ranking business leaders were untrustworthy contributed to the spectacular decline in stock prices during the 2000-2002 period. An ethical leader is honest (tells the truth), and trustworthy (constituents accept his or her word). In other words, he or she has integrity. According to Thomas E. Becker, this quality goes beyond honesty and conscientiousness. Integrity refers to loyalty to rational principles; it means practicing what one preaches regardless of emotional or social pressure. 2. Pay Attention to All Stakeholders. An ethical and moral leader strives to treat fairly all interested parties by  his or her decisions. To do otherwise creates winners and losers after many decisions are made. The widely held belief that a CEO’s primary responsibility is to maximize shareholder wealth conflicts with the principle of paying attention to all stakeholders. A team of management scholars observes: â€Å"We used to organize corporations as both economic and social institution–as organizations that were designed to serve a balanced set of stakeholders, not just the narrow interests of the shareholder†. A leader interested in maximizing shareholder wealth might attempt to cut costs and increase profits in such ways: laying-off valuable employees to reduce payroll costs, overstating profits to impress investors, overcharging customers, siphoning money from the employee pension fund and reducing health benefits for retiree. Although the aforementioned may be standard practice, they all violate the rights of stakeholders. 3. Build Community. A corollary of taking into account the needs of all stakeholders is that the leader helps people achieve a common goal. Peter G. Northouse explains that leaders need to take into account their own and followers’ purposes and search for goals that are compatible to all. When many people work toward the same constructive goal, they build a community. 4. Respect the Individual. Respecting individuals is a principle of ethical and moral leadership that incorporates other aspects of morality. If you tell the truth, you respect others well enough to be honest. If you keep promises, you also show respect. And if you treat others fairly, you show respect. Showing respect for the individual also means that you recognize that everybody has some inner worth and should be treated with courtesy and kindness. An office supervisor demonstrated respect for the individual infront of his department when he asked a custodian who entered the office: â€Å"What can we do in this department yo make your job easier?† 5. Accomplish Silent Victories. The ethical and moral leader works silently, and somewhat behind the scenes, to accomplish moral victories regularly. Instead of being perceived as hero  or heroine, the moral leader quietly works on moral agenda. Quite often he or she will work out a compromise to ensure that a decision in process will have an ethical outcome. Typical Ethical Dilemma for Supervisors Maintaining professional ethics in the supervisory process can pose unique challenges. The same ethical violations that can occur in a therapeutic relationship can be paralleled in a supervisory relationship. From performance evaluations to dual relationships, the supervisory relationship can be fraught with chances for uncomfortable, inappropriate, and potentially litigious situations. †¢ â€Å"My supervisor uses me as a confidante and openly discusses another worker’s shortcomings with me, yet she never approaches the worker about it.† †¢ â€Å"My supervisor degrades me and makes personal comments about me—usually negative—and sometimes in front of other staff.† †¢ â€Å"My coworker reads all day long and doesn’t spend much time working with clients. My supervisor is unwilling to address it and said to me, ‘Mind your own business. He gets his work done. That’s all that’s important.’ It drives me crazy that I end up picking up his slack with clients.† †¢ â€Å"My supervisor passes work on to me even though I am overwhelmed with my own work. She dumps administrative duties on me that she should be performing. If I do them, it’s credit in the bank for me to get favors from her. I don’t like the game, but it does have benefits.† †¢ â€Å"I used to be best friends with a person I now supervise. Do we have to give up our friendship? I don’t see why, as long as it is after work hours.† †¢ â€Å"I’m a supervisor of a domestic violence agency with a shelter program. A new employee reported she is being abused by her live-in boyfriend. She feels she is in danger and would like to enter the shelter and receive counseling with us. What do I do?† Define Leadership attempts and the influence of ethical and unethical behavior on leadership attempts In any thesaurus or dictionary, you will find that successful and effective are oftentimes used as synonyms for each other. On a fundamental level, they are very similar terms. However, when you break these terms down within the context of leadership, they can mean two very different things. So different, in fact, that the researcher Bass  created an illustration (Figure 1) that demonstrates the difference. Leadership Attempts is an effort by any individual to have some effect on the behavior of another individual. This leadership attempts can be measured successful or unsuccessful, depending upon production of the desired action or response. A good example of this is getting employees to complete tasks on time. Referring to the figure below, Person A (leader) attempts to influence Person B (constituent/employee) toward a desired outcome; Person A will be considered successful or unsuccessful along the continuum, depending upon the desired response of Person B. To be considered an effective leader, one must take leadership to another level, past just being successful. If Person B does what Person A asks only because of positional power, influence, or guilt, then the leader (Person A) has been successful in this scenario, but not effective. If Person B does the task because he/she finds it personally rewarding, then Person A has been both successful (at getting the desired result) and effective (in affecting the attitude/motivation of Person B). The bottom line is that success has to do with how the individual or group behaves; effectiveness describes the internal state of the individual or group and is attitudinal in nature. An effective leader will usually generate personal power through follower acceptance and will use more general supervision. Both of these are great ways to empower group and community members. If doing what is right produces something bad, or if doing what is wrong produces something good, the force of moral obligation may seem balanced by the reality of the good end. We can have the satisfaction of being right, regardless of the damage done; or we can aim for what seems to be the best outcome, regardless of what wrongs must be committed. This pattern of dilemma is illustrated in the chart. DEFINITION OF ETHICAL DILEMMA ETHICS/ETHICAL It is an internal feeling or sense of obligation to do the right thing. It refers to judgement about what is right and wrong. It has to do with the behavior specifically one’s moral behavior with respect to society. DILEMMA It seems a negative term. A situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, any difficult or perplexing situation or problem. ETHICAL DILEMMAS It is a situation in which two or more deeply held values come into conflict It is a problematic situation whose possible solutions all offer imperfect and unsatisfactory answer. It occurs when key factors within a situation lead to different decisions and each of the decisions is equally valid. Is often Evoke powerful emotions and strong personal opinion. An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. The topics of ethics, integrity, compromise and corruption have to become as important as other critical areas of law enforcement training if significant changes can occur. This is also called an ethical paradox since in moral philosophy, paradox often plays a central role in ethics debates. Ethical dilemmas are often cited in an attempt to refute an ethical system or moral code, as well as the worldview that encompasses or grows from it. Leaders have a tough time these days convincing us that they are honest. A US survey in 2011, for example, found that nearly half (48 percent) of those questioned rated the honesty and ethics standards. That is, few have developed their values into a moral compass pointing the way to comprehensive trading policies, robust structures and systems, and many other elements contributing to running an ethical business. In trying to shift their cultures towards a more ethical approach, many leaders will conclude that they need to develop their own skills in handling ethics. For example, some may neglect to ensure that nuts and bolts of what makes an ethics programme effective. This is seldom due to negligence, but to lack of awareness of what it takes to make a sustained cultural change in the right direction. Consequently, many leaders will benefit from having their own ethics and values tune-up. This includes opportunities to examine their own ethical decision-making skills and the ethical environment of the company. Not sure if what you feel is an ethical  dilemma? Here are the signs that may help you determine if you are experiencing an ethical problem. Discomfort – if something about a situation makes you uneasy, it is time to start finding out what is causing the feeling and why. Guilt – rather than deny the feeling, explore and respond to it. Stress – Putting off making a difficult choice, losing sleep and feeling pressured can be all signs of an ethical problem Anger – If you are feeling angry at being pressured, it could be a sign of an ethical problem. Embarrassment – If you would feel awkward about telling your boss, co-workers, friends or family about what you are doing, or thinking of doing, it’s a good chance that the issue is an et hical one. Fear – if you’re afraid of being caught, found out or exposed for what you are doing or thinking of doing, it’s almost certainly an ethical matter. Training can help managers clarify their ethical framework and practice self-discipline when making decisions in difficult circumstances. According to the London-based Institute of Business ethics, which surveys UK companies every three years on the use of their codes of ethics, six out of ten UK companies provided training in business ethics for all their staff in 2010. However, this is a 10 per cent drop on 2007. ‘Although we are living in a time of austerity, cutting back on ethics training is a short-sighted thing for companies to do’, comments Simon Webley, Research Director of IBE and author of the survey. â€Å"Is this ethical?† An ethical dilemma at work arises when there’s conflict between two possible desirable or undesirable actions. It is typically where the â€Å"rules† are unclear and with unacceptable trade-offs. For example, an employee may know something’s wrong – â€Å"it smells bad†, as one approach puts it. Yet the employee may be torn between loyalty to colleagues and commitment to the company. The eventual choice will depend on developing a uniquely personal view of the world, drawing on existing formal guidance but more significantly, also referring to individually held beliefs and desires. This is why rehearsals – the chance to practise with realistic examples of cases – is so essential for acquiring the necessary learning. Recognizing an ethical issue can be difficult, even when right in front of you. In fact, people predict that they will behave more ethically that they actually do. When evaluating past unethical behaviour, they usually believe that they  will behaved more ethically than they actually did. So there is a general tendency for people to fail to realize that they are making choices which affect others, with possible adverse consequences, and which should therefore be considered from a moral point of view. It is simply not a viable business strategy to claim that there is no such thing as ethics in business – this is a sure way of avoiding any personal responsibility for what is happening. If your only frame of reference for making choices is to â€Å"make a profit†, â€Å"maximize shareholder value†, â€Å"win this sale† or â€Å"meet the legal minimum requirements†, you will almost certainly miss the ethical dimension. Given the complex socio-cultural milieu in which leaders operate, it is not surprising that they would find themselves, from time-to-time, faced with ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are decisions â€Å"that require a choice among competing sets of principles, often in complex and value laden contexts† (Ehrich, Cranston, & Kimber, 2005, p. 137). These competing choices have been described as pulling leaders in different directions, and have been found to cause leaders great stress and anxiety. Difficulties are said to arise when leaders are faces with choices that are considered â€Å"right.† For example, Kidder (1995) states that many ethical dilemmas facing professionals do not concern right versus wrong options but right versus right. In other words, the choices could all be seen as right. Alternatively, when all of the options are deemed â€Å"wrong†, it would also potentially cause angst for leaders. How leaders interpret, respond to, and resolve ethical d ilemmas is likely to depend on a variety of factors and forces both internal and external to the leader. Two classification of Ethical DILEMMA RIGHT VERSUS RIGHT DILEMMA Ethical issues emerge when two core values come into conflict with each other. When one important value raises powerful moral arguments for one course of action, while another value raises equally powerful arguments for an opposite course, we must make a choice since we can’t do both. RIGHT VERSUS WRONG DILEMMA Ethical issues emerge when a core moral value has been violated or ignored. When honesty is an important value to a person, and another person is found to be acting dishonestly, it is generally acknowledged that the action was unethical. Question to ask help determine appropriate steps to take in an ethical dilemma Ethics transcends everything we do. Think about it, most, if not all, decisions made by today’s leaders may have an ethical component. Consequently, a leader may choose to be amoral, which means he does not consider the ethical consequences of the component of his decision. An amoral leader functions as though ethics does not exist. A leader may also choose to be immoral and ignore the ethical ramifications of his actions. This leader consciously chooses to engage in the behaviour with complete knowledge that his behaviour is wrong. Finally, a leader may choose to be moral and consider the ethical impact of his decision. Of course, the latter is the desired course of action. Ideally, all decisions should be made taking into consideration the ethical ramifications of one’s actions. Whether a leader is deciding to lay off an employee, or promote an employee, the ethicality of the leader’s action must be considered. Here are seven questions asked as strategies for r esolving ethical dilemmas. Is it legal? When considering the ethicality of an action, the first thing the leader must do is consider whether the action is legal. As previously stated, one of the paramount concerns of a leader must be the long-term survival of the organization. Corporations are legal entities that can be sued and charged with crimes. When a leader engages in behaviour that is illegal, it opens up the organization for civil liability and, possible, criminal prosecution. Such actions can result in large fines and negative publicity, which may result in declining sales and market share and may ultimately lead to bankruptcy of the organization as what occurred with Enron. Determining whether an action is legal or not is pretty simple. There are people trained to provide assistance in this area. They are called lawyers. In the US, all crimes are codified, so there is no excuse for a leader unknowingly engaging in criminal behaviour. If there is an area of doing, that so called gray  area, you should err on the side of caution and not run the risk of violating the law, regardless of the benefits. Although ethical behaviour is not required, legal behaviour is so never straddle the line. Always follow the law, it is your duty to your organization. Does it harm others? Although complying with the law is required, being ethical is not, it is a desired outcome. Therefore, when faced with an ethical dilemma and based on the ethical principles, one of the first factors that must be taken into consideration is whether the decision will cause harm to others. By incorporating this fundamental principle of ethics, showing concern for the interest of others, you may avoid making an unethical decision. However, it is important to make something perfectly clear, the ethical course of action does not necessarily mean that you will never cause harm. Sometimes, the ethical course of action may result in others being harmed. For example, eminent domain results in harming the minority for grater societal good. The focus here is to minimize hard to others. The leader should always strive to seek the course of action that minimizes harm, while producing an ethical result. A decision to right size will inevitably harm the person being laid off. However, giving that person sufficient notice, providing them with severance of possible, and providing alternative-job training are all things that can mitigate the harm. The simple fact of showing concern for the interest of others may result in a decision being modified because upon analysis, the leader may discover that the perceived benefit does not outweigh the harm that will ensue. Does it pass the CNN test? I (author of the book) had a former boss tell me that, â€Å"visibility is good, but exposure will kill you.† He was encouraging me to take the jobs that will bring visibility to my strengths and avoid jobs that will expose my weaknesses. There is also an old saying that transparency is the best disinfectant. Well, the same applies when it comes to our actions. When resolving an ethical dilemma, a leader should consider how he would feel if his actions were publicized to the entire world on CNN. Would you be comfortable with your decision if it was the main topic of discussion on Anderson 360 and you knew you were being subjected to public disclosure and critique? I think (author of the book) if the former CEO and CFO of Enron  had considered that their actions were going to be subjected to public disclosure, they probably would have chosen a different course of action. If the former CEO had known that it would have been publicly disclosed that he was dumping shares of Enron stock while encouraging others to buy, he probably would not have made that unethical decision. Get a second opinion In the field of healthcare, it is a common practice to seek second and sometimes third opinions. Although your primary physician may be a board-certified expert in his chosen field, seeking a second opinion is a form if validation. It also may provide other options that may not have been on the table. The same applies to resolving ethical dilemmas. A leader would be well served to seek the advice of a trusted advisor, who he feels will give him an unbiased, objective opinion. That person may be an expert in the field, who can point out factors you may not have considered, or it may be someone whom you believe to have a good moral compass. Let me (author of the book) caution you here that getting a second opinion does not mean that you abdicate your responsibility because ultimately, as the leader, the buck stops with you. It is your decision, and you must bear the responsibility. However, the second opinion may reveal some factors that you may have not considered. In addition, if the person has a good moral compass, their confirmation can be reassuring that you are going down the right road. Does it pass the Ambien test? Ambien is a prescription sleep aid used for the treatment of insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. Now I’m sure (author of the book) you never though insomnia to be an ethical condition; however, if your decision agonizes you and causes you to stay awake at night, you have probably not made the right decision. By the same token, if you can lie down and go to sleep after making your decision without the need for Ambien, you may have made the proper decision. Assuming that you are not a psycho or a sociopath, you should be troubled when you make a decision that is blatantly unethical. The physicians and scientists participating in the Tuskegee study should have been troubled that once penicillin was available, they refused to treat the subjects of the study. They should have had difficulty sleeping at night.  They should have need Ambien to fall asleep! Now, assuming that they made the right decision, there should be no agonizing over it, and the need for Ambien for that decision should not exist—test passed! Does it pass the Socrates test? Socrates us the ancient Greek philosopher who is given credit for setting the agenda for the tradition of critical thinking. I (author of the book) can recall my first year of law school and being exposed to the Socratic method of teaching, which is specifically designed to enhance critical-thinking skills. When faced with an ethical dilemma, a leader must ensure that the resolution is not reached based solely on gut feelings or the subjective desire to do the right thing. Yes, good intentions are important. Doing the right thing is important, but the process of getting to the right result must be based on the reason and objectivity. Does it make God smile? At the end of the day, the final question the leader should consider is, does the chosen course of action make God or the higher power of your choosing, smile? I (author of the book) use God loosely here, and I’m not advocating any particular religion of faith. For those who may be atheist or agnostic, you may substitute God for your mother or any other figure you revere. I (author of the book) must point out that I’m speaking of an unconditionally living God, who is concerned with only good, not the God depicted in the Old Testament of the Bible, or the God who condones torturing souls in eternal damnation. The point here is simply to look to a source beyond you that you feel reflects the characteristics of good and of being one’s best self. In legal parlance, we (author of the book) use the term the prudent or reasonable person standard. This is the person who goes through life exercising proper judgment and engaging in the right course of action under the circumstances. It is an objective standard that can be used as a benchmark for how one should act under certain situations. So if God would look at your decision and smile at your actions, you’ve probably done the right thing! STEPS in an ETHICAL DILEMMA & ETHICAL SOLUTIONS Step1. WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS List the full range of alternative courses of action available to you. Step2. ANALYZE THE CONSEQUENCES Assume you have a variety of options. Consider the range of both positive and negative consequences connected with each one. (Who will be helped by what you do? Who will be hurt? What kinds of benefits and harms are we talking about?) After looking at all of your options, which of your options produces the best combination of benefits maximization and harm minimization? STEP3. ANALYZE THE ACTIONS Concentrate instead strictly on the actions. How do they measure moral principles like honesty, fairness, equality, respecting the dignity of others, respecting peoples’ right, and recognizing vulnerability of individuals weaker or less fortunate than others. Do anything of the actions that you’re considering â€Å"cross the line†, in terms of anything from simple decency to an important ethical principle. What you’re looking for is the option whose actions are least problematic. STEP4. MAKE YOUR DECISION AND ACT WITH COMMITMENT Take both parts of your analysis into account and make a decision. This strategy should give you at least some basic steps you should follow. STEP5. EVALUATE THE SYSTEM Think about the circumstances which led to dilemma with the intention of identifying and removing the conditions that allowed it to arise. Ethical Solutions A model for examining and understanding ethical dilemmas We now turn our attention to a conceptual model of ethical dilemmas we have been using for some time derived initially from the literature, but refined through various iterations from empirical research with leaders across three organizational contexts : schools, universities and the public sector. As  can be seen from the figure above, the model considers of five core components. The first component is the critical incident that generates the ethical dilemma for the decision maker. Critical incidents are â€Å"issues or situations in [leaders’] work that produce ethical reflection and moral emotions†. The leaders who have participated in our (author of the book) research have identified a variety of critical incidents, including: Dealing with staff under performance or behaviour such as different interpretations of institutional policies; Observing student actions such as breaking school rules or plagiarizing sources; Being given a directive from a supervisor that conflicts with their personal values and professional ethics or with their notions of wider accountability; Confronting institutional changes that conflicts with the ethos of the organization, such as the managerial imperative to make money versus maintaining standards of academic excellence; and Uncovering the misuse of public money. A variety of factors (or forces) can highlight the critical incident and influence the choices a desision maker sees open to him or her (second component of the model). These factors are: The public interest or public good—what a community decides is in the best interest of its members as a whole as â€Å"expressed through the ballot box, interest groups and ongoing debate and discussion†. It entails ensuring that public officials are accountable to the community for making and administering policies. Any organization that receives public money (money collected through the taxation system) is accountable to the community for the use of that money. Thus, public officials must act in the public interest or for the public good. The political framework—the political ideology, system, and structure of a jurisdiction socializes people and enhances or constrains the decisions and actions they take. The community or society—the multiple and competing stake holders (individuals and groups) that impact on and react to leaders’ decisions. Professional ethics—the ethical standards and valued held by members of a particular profession that guide their actions and that the community expects of a member of that profession Legal institutions are requires to comply with legislation and judicial rulings. Economic and financial contexts could develop from the impact of the dominant economic paradigm, on the policies and actions of an organization such the impact of  preference of r neoliberal economic thinking leads to policies that result in the privatization of public sector goods and services. International or global social, political, cultural, and economic trends impact on institutions. The institutional context and factors beyond the immediate workplace—the operational milieu within which leaders work, which includes policies, procedures, and society.

The new graduate

The new graduate nurses (NGN) are faced with various issues and challenges especially in their first year of nursing practice. The period of transition from a student to a graduate nurse is a demanding period that is filled with new experiences and there are several concerns and factors that can affect the transition process. The research into the issues has recommended some strategies that can be utilised to ease the transition process from being a student to a professional practicing nurse.Exhaustion, reality shock and time management are some of the actors and issues that the new graduate might encounter during their first year in their career. There are several recommended programs, which have been developed to address the issues that influence the transition period such as mentoring, support networks and time management planners. This essay will discuss in detail the range of issues, as well as the strategies and resources to facilitate the adjustment to the new role of a new re gistered nurse. Romyn et al. 2009) states some factors that influence the transition period from a student to a graduate nurse and how quickly newly graduate nurses are able to emonstrate mastery of their new role including personal qualities of the individual registered nurse such as age, previous work experience, maturity and aspirations. It was found that students who have worked as nursing assistants seemed to do better in their role as they had early hands-on experience. Other factors include the quality of educational preparation received during their pre-registration nursing program and the period of clinical experiences.Also, the duration and quality of transition programs for new graduates which is provided by institutions of employment, the ttitudes and behavior of the more experienced nurses in employing institutions as well as the demands been placed on the registered nurse in clinical situations (Chang & Daly, 2012). Fink, Krugman, Casey and Goode (2008) found that the transition of graduate nurses from a student into a professional practice setting is a concern, which is long- standing and widely recognised as a period of stress, reality shock and role adjustment.This is often due to the fact the students are been observed by a nurse when performing clinical tasks. Once the student graduates, they experience reality shock, when they try to adjust to their new role. Reality shock is a term used to describe a gap between what the students are taught to expect, and what is actually experienced during their early stages of work and often the shock occurs when the new graduate nurses discover it difficult to integrate the knowledge obtained in the university into their daily protessional practice.Moreover they discover there is a theory- practice gap as the theory they have been taught in lectures differs to the theory required in a clinical setting (Vieira da Silva et al. , 2010). Duchscher (2008) states that the discrepancies between what graduates understand s nursing from the real world of delivery of health care service compared to their education leaves the new nursing graduates with a sense of groundlessness.The nursing environment moves the new graduates away from the nursing practice adopted in their educational process towards a more productive, efficient and achievement-oriented context that places importance on institutionally imposed social goals which leads to role ambiguity and internal conflict. Duclos-Miller (2011) identified that role stress, role overload and role ambiguity all contribute to transition issues. Role stress is the incongruence between perceived xpectations, role and achievements, which occurs due to the status change from a student to graduate nurse.Furthermore, difficulty experienced from the challenges of the new role, such as lack of consistent and clear information about the behavior expected from them, lack of clearly specified responsibilities, lack of confidence, as well as coping with th e beginning level of competence as a registered nurse (Duclos- Miller, 2011). Role ambiguity is the lack of information needed for role definition and behavior that is expected in their new role, which includes the psychological, social aspects of role performance.Whereas, role overload includes learning of new roles, difficulty with time management and prioritising task. Also other stressors include the feeling of not being competent, encountering new procedures and situations, fear of making mistakes due to increased workload and working with experienced staff nurses that are unwilling to assist (Duclos-Miller, 2011). West, Ahern, Byrnes and Kwanten (2007) indicate that the new graduate nurses may have not worked full-time in the past; given that graduate nurses begin their career with a full-time Job can lead to exhaustion.It was discovered that shift work leads to esynchronisation of physiologically determined circadian rhythms which has a major psychobiology effect and it is co mmonly perceived the effects of shift work contribute to graduate nurses attrition rate. The NGNs often have a high level of stress due to disturbed sleeping patterns, as they find to adaption to shift work or rotating work hours difficult. Eventually, it leads to feelings of lack of Job satisfaction, exhaustion and spending of less time with their friends and family, which can eventually could lead to burnout (West et al. 2007). Dyess and Sherman (2009) found that new graduate nurses expressed concerns bout their ability to delegate and supervise other nurses or unlicensed assistive personnel as they felt unprepared to deal with any type of conflict, they tend to avoid any type of situation rather than confront the situation, as they felt unequipped to explore to conflict professionally. Another issue encountered by the NGN is the ability to communicate witn physicians and other members ot the multidisciplinary team ot which interactions with physicians were a source of anxiety and stress.Moreover, the lack of professional confidence that new graduate may feel can be heightened, when nother professional expresses disgust or uses a gruff tone. This is a safety issue because a sense of insecurity can contribute to the NGN avoiding contact with the physician, unless a patient experiences an extreme physiological decline (Dyess & Sherman, 2009). Morrow (2009) states that most graduate nurses experience horizontal violence in their first year of practice, they felt undervalued and neglected by other nurses and experienced rude and humiliating verbal statements and unjust criticism.The most common form of horizontal violence was in form of psychological harassment, which ncludes intimidation, exclusion, and innuendos. The cumulative impact may lead to absenteeism and frustration that may lead to the consideration of leaving the nursing profession (Morrow, 2009). In order for the factors and issues that surround the transition from a student to a graduate nurse to b e addressed, certain strategies needs to be implemented that can ease the transition period.An Important strategy that can be implemented to assist the graduate nurses to assimilate into a professional working environment is a graduate program. It will aid to build the confidence of the new graduate nurse hrough the provision of support and mentorship during their period of adjustment, and assist the new nurse to assimilate into the hospital environment, think critically and problem solve which will allow the graduates to deal with obstacles encountered in patient care and prepare them for a lifelong learning and also help them in the integration of theory to practice (Davey & Vittrup, 2009).The creation of formal preceptor and mentorship is an effective strategy to facilitate a successful transition. A preceptor is an assigned role in which a capable employee assists with the development and orientation of the new graduate; they are usually esponsible for evaluation and supervising the work of the preceptee. However, a mentor actively supports the graduate nurse with personal and career development, personal support, counseling and acceptance. Also, they help the novice nurse to raise their confidence and recognise their limitations.In addition, mentors help novice nurses in setting realistic goals by recommending appropriate courses of action (Ellis & Hartley, 2012). NGN require resources and information that are designed to facilitate their adjustment in a clinical area, which will enable them to gain skills and knowledge to perform satisfactorily in their Job. Resources such as an orientation program involves the induction of a NGN to the organisational mission and vision statement, as well as an introduction to the procedures and policies related to nursing activities such as medication administration.An appropriate orientation and induction program will ensure that a NGN can safely plan and conduct patient care. In addition, with an appropriate orientati on program the NGN is aware of the overall culture of the hospital, which can make the NGN to teel accepted and part ot a team in a clinical environment, which can promote overall positive outcomes with workplace atisfaction of the NGN (Burgess & D' Hondt, 2007).Effective strategies that enhance the time management skills which is one of the above mentioned issue for new graduates are to arrive to work much earlier, avoiding distractors such as focusing on issues of co-workers, assess patients to note if any extra supplies will be needed to carry out clinical procedures, keeping shift record on track and to chart during the shift and not at the end of the shift and prioritise task to be performed (Booth, 2011).However, to prioritise task the novice nurse needs to learn how to delegate. First, to enhance the skill the nurse should consider how others have delegated to them, consider their body language when delegating by maintaining eye contact, being pleasant and leave any room for suggestions, but ensure they are not intimidated by writing a list of task and posting it at the nurses station, it leaves little room for a misunderstanding (Cherry ; Jacob, 2008).

Burial Practices of the Ancient Egyptian and Greco Essays

Burial Practices of the Ancient Egyptian and Greco Essays Burial Practices of the Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman Cultures Mythology Burial Practices of the Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman Cultures Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman practices of preparing the dead for the next cradle of humanity are very intriguing. These two cultures differ in a multitude of ways yet similarities can be noted in the domain of funerary services. In the realm of Egyptian afterlife, The Book of the Dead can provide one with vital information concerning ritual entombment practices and myths of the afterlife. The additional handouts I received from Timothy Stoker also proved to be useful in trying uncover vital information regarding the transition into another life. Regarding the burial practices of Greece and Rome, parts of Homer's Odyssey are useful in the analysis of proper interment methods. One particular method used by the Egyptians was an intricate process known as mummification. It was undoubtedly a very involved process spanning seventy days in some cases. First, all the internal organs were removed with one exception, the heart. If the body was not already West of the Nile it was transported across it, but not before the drying process was initiated. Natron (a special salt) was extracted from the banks of the Nile and was placed under the corpse, on the sides, on top, and bags of the substance were placed inside the body cavity to facilitate the process of dehydration. After thirty-five days the ancient embalmers would anoint the body with oil and wrap it in fine linen. If the deceased was wealthy enough a priest donning a mask of Anubis would preside over the ceremonies to ensure proper passage into the next realm. One of the practices overseen by the priest was the placing of a special funerary amulet over the heart. This was done in behest to secure a successful union with Osiris and their kas. The amulet made sure the heart did not speak out against the individual at the scale of the goddess of justice and divine order, Maat. The priest also made use of a "peculiar ritual instrument, a sort of chisel, with which he literally opened the mouth of the deceased." This was done to ensure that the deceased was able to speak during their journeys in Duat. Another practice used by the Egyptians to aid the departed soul involved mass human sacrifice. Many times if a prominent person passed away the family and servants would willfully ingest poison to continue their servitude in the next world. The family members and religious figureheads of the community did just about everything in their power to aid the deceased in the transition to a new life. The community made sure the chamber was furnished with "everything necessary for the comfort and well-being of the occupants." It was believed that the individual would be able of accessing these items in the next world. Some of the most important things that the deceased would need to have at his side were certain spells and incantations. A conglomeration of reading material ensured a successful passage; The Pyramid Texts, The Book of the Dead, and the Coffin Texts all aided the lost soul in their journey through Duat into the Fields of the Blessed. "Besides all these spells, charms, and magical tomb texts, the ancient practice of depositing in the tomb small wooden figures of servants was employed." These "Ushabi statuettes" as they are called, were essentially slaves of the deceased. If the deceased was called to work in the Elysian fields he would call upon one of the statues to take his place and perform the task for him. It was not unheard of for an individual to have a figure for every day of the year to ensure an afterlife devoid of physical exertion. Just about every thing the embalmers and burial practitioners did during the process was done for particular reasons. Many of the funerary practices of the ancient Greco-Romans were also done with a specific purpose in mind. Unlike the Egyptian's the Greco-Roman cultures did not employ elaborate tombs but focused on the use of a simple pit in the ground. Right after death, not too dissimilar from the practices of the Egyptians, it was necessary for the persons to carefully wash and prepare the corpse for his journey. It was vital for all persons to receive a proper burial and if they did not they were dammed to hover in a quasi-world, somewhat of a "limbo" between life and death. One Greco-Roman myth that illustrates this point is The Odyssey by Homer. There is a

The Human Body in the Art World Essay Example

The Human Body in the Art World Essay Example The Human Body in the Art World Paper The Human Body in the Art World Paper There is no debate that today’s civilization is obsessed with the human body. Plastic surgery exists to perfect the flaws people find with their bodies. Make-up exists to disguise imperfections and beautify. Exercise has become less about health and more and more about improving physical appearance. So it is safe to say that nowadays society focuses on beauty and obtaining the ideal, perfect silhouette, but people have focused on the body to the point of obsession almost since the beginning of time. This is known today because the human body has been a major theme in artwork for hundreds upon thousands of centuries. Throughout time, different cultures have portrayed the human body in a myriad of fashions through the use of art. Certain body parts may be emphasized or concealed, some artworks show bodies in a more idealistic or surrealistic manner, as opposed to a realistic manner, and vice versa. Although there are countless works of art that focus on the human body, there are five in particular that show how various cultures of varying time periods, portray the human body: the Venus of Willendorf, the Woman from Syros, Menkaure and Khamerernebty, the Snake Goddess, and Weary Herakles. The first work of art that focuses on the human body is from the Paleolithic Age, dates from 28,000 to 25,000 BCE, and is known as the Venus of Willendorf. It was given this name after its discovery in Willendorf, Austria. Made of limestone and at a mere four and a half inches high, the Venus of Willendorf was thought to have been a talisman. A talisman is a small figure believed to have magic powers and to transfer its magic to those who possess it. Although small in stature, this work of art showcases exaggerated body parts of a nude woman. The breasts and stomach with arms perched atop are round and pronounced, and the pubic area is clearly defined. The ball-like shapes of the body are due in part to the sculptor’s response to the natural shape of the limestone that was chosen for carving, but mainly because these anatomical exaggerations suggest that the Venus of Willendorf served as a fertility image. This is suggested of the tiny figurine because the body parts that are exaggerated are typical Paleolithic representations f women, whose child-bearing capabilities ensured the survival of the species. It is rather obvious that, due to its disproportionate shape, the sculptor of the Venus of Willendorf was not concerned with realism or naturalism. This female figurine is an idealization in the eyes of people from the Old Stone Age; they saw the ideal woman as a fertile woman and the anatomical exaggerations represent the features a fertile woman should have. The lack of facial features and the simple representa tion of hair show that the face was not an important part of the body. It also emphasizes and reinforces the fact that people from the Paleolithic Era were concerned with the fertility of a woman and saw beauty in signs of fertility, not in their faces or hairstyles. Such a stress of particular features shows that the human body is a main theme in the Venus of Willendorf. This theme is not only apparent in the tiny Willendorf figure, however. A second work of art that represents the human figure is the Woman from Syros. Its name originates from its discovery sometime between 2,500 and 2,300 BCE in Syros, Greece, now modern day Crete. Though larger in size than the Venus of Willendorf, the Woman from Syros stands only at one foot, six inches and is made of marble. It is assumed that it was meant to lay flat on a surface because it is only half an inch thick. It is also a figure of a nude woman, but the Woman from Syros is in no way round in shape like the Venus of Willendorf. The sculptor of the Woman from Syros rendered the body schematically in a series of triangles. Its body tapers from top to bottom; from an exceptionally board shoulder line to tiny feet. The breasts and pubic are clearly defined, the former with protruding triangles and the latter being etched in. There are no facial features save for the nose, created by making another geometric shaped protrusion. The Woman from Syros’ arms are folded across its abdomen. Its stomach is slightly swollen, suggesting pregnancy. This is a sign that this figure was also a fertility image. Like the Venus of Willendorf, the Woman from Syros’ focus is strictly on the body, specifically the human body. The parts of the body that define a female, such as the breasts and pubic area are clearly emphasized on the figurine, though not in a realistic or natural manner. The highly geometric pattern of the Woman from Syros shows the simplicity and cleanness of Cycladic art, but more importantly show how the theme of the human body remained prevalent in artwork as time progressed. The next work of art, Menkaure and Khamerernebty, are shares the theme of the human body. Made of greywacke and dating between 2,490 and 2,472 BCE, Menkaure and Khamerernebty is larger than either of the two former works of art, standing at four feet, six and a half inches tall. From Gizeh, Egypt, during the Fourth Dynasty, this double portrait of Menkaure and his wife displays the conventional postures used for statues designated as substitute homes for the Egyptian ka, known as uscheptes. The figures are still connected to the stone they were made from, classifying this artwork as a high-relief sculpture. Menkaure’s pose is rigidly frontal with the arms hanging straight down and close to his well-built body. His hands are clenched into fist with the thumbs facing forward. His left leg is slightly ahead of the right, but there is no shift in the angle of the hips to correspond to the uneven distribution of weight. This is ironic because the position of his legs is a pose that humans naturally gave, but the disregard of weight shift in the sculpture is highly unnatural. Menkaure’s wife, assumed to Khamerernebty, stands in a similar position to her husband. Her right arm encircles his waist while her left hand rests on his right arm above the elbow. This frozen stereotypical gesture indicates their marital status. Both of the figures have stoic, frozen faces that are looking straight ahead. The artist’s intent was not to accurately portray living figures, but to illustrate the timeless nature of the stone statue. These figures are far from an accurate depiction of Menkaure and his wife. They were created to fit the idealization of the human body according to Egyptian standards. The human body is a major theme in Menkaure and Khamerernebty because the figures focus on the ideal bodies desired by the Egyptians. It also shows that as time progressed, the importance of fertility decreased while the importance of portraying the ideal body type increased all the while keeping the human body the main focus. The Snake Goddess is a Minoan work of art whose theme is also the human body. It was created around 1,600 BCE in Knossos, Greece, now modern day Crete. Made of faience, as low-fired opaque glasslike silicate, the figure is one foot, one and a half inches high. It has been argued that the Snake Goddess represents a priestess, but it is more likely that it is a bare-breasted goddess. She holds a snake in each hand and has a feline on her head, both signifying her power over the animal kingdom. The frontality of the figure is reminiscent of Egyptian and Near Eastern statuary. However, the costume, with its open bodice and flounced skirt, is characteristic of Minoan culture. The prominently exposed breasts suggest that the Snake Goddess stands in a long line of prehistoric fertility images usually considered divinity. During this time period, the Minoans were a maternal society. Women’s breasts were exposed because they were a symbol of beauty and power. The statue’s waist is so small because Minoan women’s waists were small. This was because when they were young Minoan females, they had a metal ring soldered around their waists to make sure that they stayed small and grew to have an hourglass figure; this was the ideal body shape for Minoan women. If the statuette does indeed represent a goddess, then it is an example of how humans fashion their gods in their own image. The human body is a major theme in the Snake Goddess because it is a representation of the Minoan ideal of the female body. Although Minoan women were essentially forced into having the body shape that the Snake Goddess has, the statuette is still not a realistic representation of the human body because it is show how Minoan women should look. The final work of art that focuses on the human body is not of a woman, but rather a man and is known as Weary Herakles. The original Weary Herakles was created by the sculptor Lysippos of Sikyon around 320 BCE and was made of bronze. Unfortunately, the original copy of the sculpture was lost, but a Roman copy was made. This copy is made of marble and stands at a colossal ten feet, five inches high. The sculpture is a portrayal of Herakles after he obtained the golden apple of the Hesperides. He is sculpted with exaggerated muscular development and is shown leaning on his club for support. His face shows signs of pain and weariness. This is ironic because the mythological strongman looks so muscular and powerful with his large size and his defined and toned body that it is surprising that such a man could be tired and weak. This artwork is different from the four others in that save for its size, it is very realistic looking; so much to the point where the viewer can almost see Herakles breathing heavily. Weary Herakles also looks realistic because he is not stiff like the other works of art; he is standing in a natural, human position and is made even more human by the fact that his body language and facial expression radiates signs of fatigue. Although the sculpture is very realistic, his figure is still sculpted to match the Greek’s idea of what the ideal body type is like. Weary Herakles is an eloquent testimony to the Late Classical sculptor’s interest in humanizing the great gods and heroes of the Greeks. This entire sculpture is a focus on the human form from its facial expressions and arm gestures to its anatomical accuracy and contrapposto position. The human body has been a focus, nay an obsession of homosapiens since the dawn of time. From Prehistoric times up to today, the human form has been a major theme of countless amounts of artwork. Whether portrayed in a realistic or unnatural manner, different cultures have explored the human body in a vast amount of ways through the use of art. It is only certain that as societies become more and more infatuated with the human form, it will remain a prevalent theme and dominate the world of art.

Using the Spanish Preposition De

Using the Spanish Preposition De De is one of the most common prepositions in Spanish. Although it usually is translated as of and sometimes as from, its use is far more versatile than the translation might suggest. In fact, in certain contexts, de can be translated not only as of or from, but as with, by, or in, among other words, or not translated at all. One reason de is used more often than its equivalents in English is because the rules of English grammar let us use all sorts of nouns and phrases as adjectives. In that way, Spanish isnt quite so flexible. While in English we may say, a nine-year-old girl, in Spanish that becomes una muchacha de nueve aà ±os or, literally, a girl of nine years. Similarly, in English, we may say something like a silver ring, using what is normally a noun, silver, as an adjective. But in Spanish we have to say un anillo de plata, or a ring of silver. De also is used in Spanish to indicate possession. We may talk about Johns shoe in English, but in Spanish its el zapato de Juan, or the shoe of John. Following are some of the most common uses of de: Using De for Possession Possession or belonging, either physical or figurative, as indicated by s in English is almost always translated using de followed by the possessor in Spanish: el carro de Matilda (Matildas car)la clase del Sr. Gà ³mez (Mr. Gomezs class)las esperanzas del pueblo (the peoples hopes) ¿De quià ©n es este lpiz? (Whose pencil is this?) Using De for Causation Following an adjective, de can be used to indicate a cause. Estoy feliz de nuestra amistad. (I am happy with our friendship. The word following de indicates t he reason for happiness.)Est cansada de jugar. (She is tired of playing.) Using De To Indicate Origin Often translated as from, de can be used to indicate the origin of a person or thing. She same construction is used to state that a person is a member of a group. Soy de Arkansas. (Im from Arkansas.)Mi madre es de la India. (My mother is from India.)Es la chica ms inteligente de la clase. (She is the most intelligent girl in the class.) Using De With Characteristics When an object or person has characteristics (including contents or what something is made of) that are stated as a noun or infinitive, de is often used to show the relationship. It generally is not possible in Spanish, as it is in English, to use nouns as adjectives. corazà ³n de oro (heart of gold.)el tranvà ­a de Boston (the Boston streetcar)una casa de huà ©spedes (a guesthouse)una cancià ³n de tres minutos (a three-minute song)una casa de $100,000 (a $100,000 house)una taza de leche (a cup of milk)la mesa de escribir (the writing table)una casa de ladrillo (a brick house)jugo de manzana (apple juice)una mquina de escribir, (a typewriter, literally a writing machine) Using De in Comparisons In some comparisons, de is used where we would use than in English. Tengo menos de cien libros. (I have fewer than 100 books.)Gasta ms dinero de lo que gana. (He spends more money than he earns.) Idioms Using De De is used in many common idiomatic phrases, many of which function as adverbs. de antemano (previously)de cuando en cuando (from time to time)de memoria (by memory)de moda (in style)de nuevo (again)de pronto (immediately)de prisa (hurriedly)de repente, (suddenly)de todas formas (in any case)de veras (truly)de vez en cuando (from time to time) Verbal Expressions Requiring De Many verbs are followed by de and often an infinitive to form expressions. There is no logic to which verbs are followed by de. The verbs need either to be memorized or learned as you come across them. Acabo de salir. (I have just left)Nunca cesa de comer. He never stops eating.Tratarà © de estudiar. (I will try to study.)Me alegro de ganar. (I am happy to win.)Se olvidà ³ de estudiar. (He forgot to study.)Romeo se enamorà ³ de Julieta. (Romeo fell in love with Juliet.) You will also occasionally see other uses of de, although those above are the most common. There are also many expressions and verb combinations using de that were not listed above. Keep in mind also that when de is followed by the article el, meaning the, they form the contraction del. Thus los rboles del bosque is the equivalent of saying los rboles de el bosque (the trees of the forest). But no contraction is used for de à ©l, which means his.

Critical Literature Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical - Literature review Example But one thing which certainly can be implemented is innovation in governance, the way of operating of its public sector organizations. This review critically examines cases of innovation in governance style and differentiates them from private sector product and process innovation. Critical Review Lot has been written on private sector innovations of products and processes but not much on public sector innovation. Governance innovations in public sector require and deserve greater attention as they go beyond the organizational boundaries to involve other public/private sector organizations, leads to a network based decision making leading to a more efficient implementations and tap new pools of resources among existing resources (Moore and Hartley, 2008). The focus of their paper is on how public sector innovation is different from private innovation in two distinct ways of the latter being very narrow and specific and two the changes are far more concentrated than general as compare d to public sector. They focus on how public sector innovation is much more macro than private sector involving a change in thinking patters of management, change in complex social systems and its restructuring, financial changes, process changes and end result is a changed social delivery. Since these are changes in the existing way of operating and managing, they are tangentially different than inventions (Bessant 2003). Moore and Hartley (2008, p. 4) quotes Lynn (1997) that: ‘Innovation must not simply be another name for change, or for improvement, or even for doing something new lest almost anything qualify as innovation. Innovation is properly defined as an original, disruptive, and fundamental transformation of an organization’s core tasks’. Today many public sector organizations are leading their way in redefining the reason for their existence. There is enough criticism which is found in literature which states that only process level innovation in publi c sector will not lead to any significant change in society and it is unlikely for one best practice to exist for all public sector organizations (Habday, 2005). Savory (2009, p. 150) writes about building knowledge translation capability into public sector innovation process and its special application to National Health Service (NHS) of the UK. this organization thrives on innovation in public health sector in all respects of technology, service and service delivery. This is possible due to two different modes of innovation which is practice based and research based. Both are effective in their own respect, but needs a lot of support from the structure of the organization, policy making and financial resource allocation for the process of real innovation take place. Power lobbies in health care sector and interests of various stake holders also effect the innovation process in NHS, which means that any worthy change to occur at ground level, a network wide change has to occur whic h reemphasizes the importance of Innovation in Governance. NHS modernization agency was proposed in 2000 for promoting change management the way it’s done in private sector. unlike private sector, change management was divided in two parts, innovation of services and innovation of technology. Though this paper emphasize that similar capacity management can be applied at in similar way for

Venture capital( Researching Contemporary Management Issues),business Essay

Venture capital( Researching Contemporary Management Issues),business - Essay Example The learning shows that near exists immense heterogeneity in finance specialism. Finance size, proxy for VCs' threat hatred, and proxies for the risk connected with the excess returns of the fund all have unenthusiastic effects on specialization. It mainly constitutes two events differentiating VCs’ focused aptitude from their universal talent. I locate that it is VCs’ particular talent that actually matters in shaping interest. There is also verification demonstrating a constructive connection connecting specialty and fund presentation. Additionally, particular ability and common ability are both absolutely interrelated to concert. The many of the researches do not advance inspect how particular VC finances are. Certainly, little study in business has tried to calculate the specialty patterns of VC funds by means of real asset data or to expand a prescribed replica elucidating the occupation choice of scheme capitalists. In this learning, it is demonstrated that a huge number of US project resources are not specific. There survive immense heterogeneity in finance area. Some are barely paying awareness, some are more comprehensive, and others are well expanding over dissimilar industries, phase, or geographic regions. Additionally, significant the area preferences of business enterprise capitalist can assist entrepreneurs aim the accurate finance while looking for VC funding. Introduction: â€Å"Venture capital is a huge amount of money provided by the investors to a company in exchange of equities or shares† (Venture Capital, 2011). Venture Capital is a form of "risk capital". Venture capital raises their funds from several sources. Most UK venture capital firms raise their funds for investment from external sources, mainly institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies. The major factors that are considered by a venture capitalist before investment are: 1. Quality of management team 2. Size of the company’s market 3. Proprietary, uniqueness or brand strength of the company’s product 4. Return on investment and companies’ potential for growth. Aims of the study: The main aim of this research is to examine the scope, working and limitations of ‘venture capital’. Objectives: The main objectives of the study are: 1. To assess the fund allotment of venture capital 2. To evaluate the viability of the long term relationship 3. To examine the degree of risk involved in investment 4. To evaluate the possibility of active participation of venture capital in management 5. To evaluate the problems faced by the venture capitalist Methodology: The purpose of research methodology is to describe the method of conduction of the study. Redman and Mory define research as a â€Å"systematized effort to gain new knowledge† (Research Methodology: an Introduction, 2011). The primary and secondary research helps in its way to analyse the working and success of venture capital . â€Å"Secondary research occurs when a project requires a summary or collection of existing data† (Secondary Research, n.d). â€Å"Primary research involves getting original data directly about the product and the market. Primary research data is data that did not exist before† (Market research - primary research, 2010). To analyze the working and to assess the limitations of venture capital, a strict analysis of primary and secondary data are necessary. The methods like surveys, questionnaires and interviews are the part of primary research. â€Å"

Article 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article 4 - Essay Example Apart from the stated reasons above, the pupils might also exhibit challenging behavior because of other reasons like disabilities (autism, for example), limited communication from the adult to the pupil, limited cognitive and emotional skills, giving too much directions (and the child could not follow), differently carried routines and expectations, or they may want to continue what they are doing and refuse to do the next objective. Now these challenging behavior occur because of the program staff structure, schedule and implementation of transitions – the transitions may be too long and the children spend a lot of time waiting for nothing do, or just because the instructions about the things to do aren’t clear. That is why programs should be designed with minimal transitions as much as possible. Schedules with children that engage in planned activities, spend little time waiting and making transitions decrease the likelihood of exhibiting challenging behavior. To minimize transitions in a class, teachers should plan well and modify certain parts of the schedule so that the children would not be idle and be engaged in interesting activities. The trick in keeping challenging behavior minimal is to let the children know the expectations in a transition; this may require modeling by role-playing or by pictures/visual cues. For example, in hand washing, the teacher may use a pupil as a model for other pupils and use a step by step diagram to guide the children in washing their hands. These transitions also help foster social skills and emotional development as there is constant communication between students and the teacher (interactivity). However, there are some children who still continue to have challenging behavior. This may call for individualized transition strategies. When teachers find out and evaluated these transitions, they can now revise strategies to help children deal with transitions easily. This will lead to fun, successful and

Why we should learn English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why we should learn English - Essay Example There are over four hundred million native English speakers worldwide and over five hundred million, opt for English as a foreign or second language. Although the percentage of people using English the world over is just about 15% of the world’s population, the importance of learning English stems from the fact that it has become the most useful lingua franca for people around the world. English is the main language of international business and diplomacy. It is considered the language of communication in international conferences, scientific and medical conclaves and the official language at world bodies like the United Nations. In today’s world of electronic communication and Information Technology, the use of English has assumed even greater importance. Most data processing is done in English as are satellite transmissions and telex messages. News and information available at the click of a mouse or on television is mostly in English, and Face book and Twitter are ot her examples of how exchange of ideas especially among today’s youth, is carried out in this universal language. Education is another field where the English language is very important. Top universities in the world use English as the medium of instruction. International students therefore need to learn the language in order to gain admissions to such world class learning centers.

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by levi h. dowling Essay

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by levi h. dowling - Essay Example Jesus’ teachings were a product of a long education process which was not simply handed down from heaven. I learned of Mary and Elizabeth’s study of the laws and other religious doctrines in the first few chapters of the Aquarian Gospel which is inspiring. It states of Mary, (the woman who have been prophesied to be the mother of Jesus) studying not just the sacred books of Jewish law, but of Buddhism, Persian religion, the Great Tao and its philosophy. Moreover, it narrates Mary’? participation in Jesus early education, which was not mentioned at all in the widely accepted bible. It showed Jesus as an ordinary man who has to find his way to attain oneness with God. What are your initial intuitive thoughts about the reading? At first, I find the book very intriguing and questions its authenticity, especially it was explained in the foreword that the book was taken from Akashic Records which â€Å"denotes a collection of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physic al plane of existence† (Dowling), therefore it does not have material basis unlike the books in the Bible which has been transcribed from Dead Sea scrolls dugged up from archaeological research. But as I go through reading, it no longer matter whether its content did materially exist, but I was impressed to learn that Jesus subjected his own idea and beliefs in dialogue with different sages and priests of different faith and religious tradition, in different parts of the world. Has it influenced your thinking? Yes. I realized people like us; need not busy ourselves looking for the true church. For in the end, our oneness with God will not come from our adherence with a certain denomination or religious tradition. True church will emanate from each one of us, as a consequence of our sincere love and respect for each of God’s creation. This is the very same unending process that Jesus undertakes, while he was here on Earth. Jesus is the LIGHT. Did the reading contradict y our previous ways of thinking, upbringing, cultural background etc. How? In some ways it contradicted to my age long beliefs and knowledge on Christianity but at the same time it enriches my faith. I grew up with a dominantly prevailing patriarchal view that God is male. Jesus reference to the Holy Breath as feminine is an antithesis to it. Moreover, it impresses that Christ death on the cross is not equivalent to the redemption of humanity from sin which we simply need to believe in it to attain salvation as I was made to believe in. Each of us has to work for our redemption and that Jesus Christ is the LIGHT that showed us the way towards oneness with God. Jesus human side than divine which is more precisely presented in this book, gives me a deeper sense of hope for ordinary carnal and mortal man and woman like me ,that it is indeed possible to model our life accordingly to Jesus. Did you feel it was worthwhile reading? Very much, it’s a very enlightening and inspiring boo k. Aquarian Gospel is revolutionary in our time of great divide, where majority of people in the world are wallowing in poverty and a few elites are enjoying the earth’s resources. It is worthy to be reminded that Jesus communed among the sudras, the lowest among the Hindu caste, the outcast and preached the liberation to the sick, blind and the poor and criticized the hypocrisy of high priests, teachers of law, Brahms, Pharisees and scribes. Jesus taking

UltraSound - Current Disruptive Innovation and Theories Essay

UltraSound - Current Disruptive Innovation and Theories - Essay Example However, disruptive technologies generally refer to mechanisms and equipment by which simpler and cheaper products are created. Disruptive technologies assist in the creation of new markets and product value networks, in the process interfering with the established or existing markets and value networks. That is, with the emergence of a disruptive technology, a given market or value of a product is changed in a manner the market does not expect (Scott et al., 2008). For instance, a disruptive technology could create a new class of customers through processes that lower product prices. Disruptive technology thus opposes sustaining technologies, which do not create new value networks or markets. Although most disruptive technologies may be cited to relate to computers and the associated products, such as desktop publishing, microcomputers, gps, smartphones, and the social media, other industries such as education and health care are also awash with disruptive technologies, which have c reated new markets, value networks, and customer classes. Ultrasound as Disruptive Technology The market disrupted by the ultrasound technology is the radiography, in which the X-ray imaging technology has been disrupted. One of the features of the disruptive technology that ultrasound has is its creation of a new market, interfering with the market advantages enjoyed by X-ray companies, which never participated in ultrasound until much later, after they acquired some major ultrasound equipment manufacturing firms (Tribikram, 2004). According to Professor Clayton Christensen of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, the emergence of ultrasound in clinical applications is a good example of disruptive technologies that address certain inefficiencies in modern health care standards. For instance, comparatively, ultrasound is simpler, less expensive, and more convenient than other modern imaging systems. Therefore, according to Christensen, healthcare should be more dis ruptive, flexible, and simpler to meet the divergent needs of patients. Similar to the case of other disruptive technologies, ultrasound entered the healthcare market and immediately won a big chunk of customers who had hitherto used other technologies. Although other technologies such as CT, MRI and PET imaging earlier introduced had displaced the X-ray, ultrasound is obviously more disruptive than the CT, MRI, and PET (Christensen, 1997). Moreover, ultrasound allows mere caregivers and technologists to take imaging to patients rather than the more expensive specialists. Interestingly, those behind the ultrasound invention and manufacture are small companies such as the Ultrasonix, which are rather new to the industry, and not the long-established healthcare multinationals. In fact, Ultrasonix designs, develops, and manufactures different diagnostic ultrasound systems that make ultrasound technology easier to apply in several areas of patient care (Christensen, 1997). With their la rge monitors and image quality, these ultrasound systems are quite ideal for guiding interventional procedures. According to Adner and Snow (2010), disruptive technologies such as the ultrasound are met with skepticism from some stakeholders who, instead of embracing a new technology, would rather continue with, or

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by levi h. dowling Essay

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by levi h. dowling - Essay Example Jesus’ teachings were a product of a long education process which was not simply handed down from heaven. I learned of Mary and Elizabeth’s study of the laws and other religious doctrines in the first few chapters of the Aquarian Gospel which is inspiring. It states of Mary, (the woman who have been prophesied to be the mother of Jesus) studying not just the sacred books of Jewish law, but of Buddhism, Persian religion, the Great Tao and its philosophy. Moreover, it narrates Mary’? participation in Jesus early education, which was not mentioned at all in the widely accepted bible. It showed Jesus as an ordinary man who has to find his way to attain oneness with God. What are your initial intuitive thoughts about the reading? At first, I find the book very intriguing and questions its authenticity, especially it was explained in the foreword that the book was taken from Akashic Records which â€Å"denotes a collection of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physic al plane of existence† (Dowling), therefore it does not have material basis unlike the books in the Bible which has been transcribed from Dead Sea scrolls dugged up from archaeological research. But as I go through reading, it no longer matter whether its content did materially exist, but I was impressed to learn that Jesus subjected his own idea and beliefs in dialogue with different sages and priests of different faith and religious tradition, in different parts of the world. Has it influenced your thinking? Yes. I realized people like us; need not busy ourselves looking for the true church. For in the end, our oneness with God will not come from our adherence with a certain denomination or religious tradition. True church will emanate from each one of us, as a consequence of our sincere love and respect for each of God’s creation. This is the very same unending process that Jesus undertakes, while he was here on Earth. Jesus is the LIGHT. Did the reading contradict y our previous ways of thinking, upbringing, cultural background etc. How? In some ways it contradicted to my age long beliefs and knowledge on Christianity but at the same time it enriches my faith. I grew up with a dominantly prevailing patriarchal view that God is male. Jesus reference to the Holy Breath as feminine is an antithesis to it. Moreover, it impresses that Christ death on the cross is not equivalent to the redemption of humanity from sin which we simply need to believe in it to attain salvation as I was made to believe in. Each of us has to work for our redemption and that Jesus Christ is the LIGHT that showed us the way towards oneness with God. Jesus human side than divine which is more precisely presented in this book, gives me a deeper sense of hope for ordinary carnal and mortal man and woman like me ,that it is indeed possible to model our life accordingly to Jesus. Did you feel it was worthwhile reading? Very much, it’s a very enlightening and inspiring boo k. Aquarian Gospel is revolutionary in our time of great divide, where majority of people in the world are wallowing in poverty and a few elites are enjoying the earth’s resources. It is worthy to be reminded that Jesus communed among the sudras, the lowest among the Hindu caste, the outcast and preached the liberation to the sick, blind and the poor and criticized the hypocrisy of high priests, teachers of law, Brahms, Pharisees and scribes. Jesus taking

Students’ fitness and their academic achievement Essay Example for Free

Students’ fitness and their academic achievement Essay Running Head: Discussion Investigations into the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness have produced mixed results. Weber (1983) correlated fitness, using the Iowa Physical Proficiency Profile (including sit-ups, pull-ups, running), to entrance exam scores and grade point averages for 246 male college students. Fitness level had a significant positive relationship with grade point average (r = . 41), but did not relate to performance scores on entrance exams. Hart and Shay (1994) examined mathematics and verbal SAT scores and the Physical Fitness Index in 60 college women. When the relationships between verbal scores and mathematics scores and fitness index were examined, the r values were . 068 and . 146, respectively, although neither was significant at the . 05 level. A battery of fitness tests (e. g. , flexed arm hang, curl-ups, and step test) were administered to 827 female freshmen and subjects were placed in one of three categories of fitness: high, fair or poor (Arnett, 1988). Arnett (1988) found significant differences in grade point average between the groups, with participants with higher fitness levels having higher GPAs. Using various academic measures and fitness measures on school-aged children, studies have also resulted in inconsistent findings. Clarke and Jarman (1991), examining 217 boys (aged 9, 12 and 15), found that there was a consistent, and for some fitness measures, a significant tendency for the students in the high fitness group to have higher means on both standard achievement tests and grade point average. Current studies have used standardized achievement and fitness tests as measures. A study involving 1,767 students in second, fourth and sixth grades examined the relationship between performance on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Test for Reading, Mathematics and Career Education and performance on a variety of physical fitness tests from the Minnesota Performance Test, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Health Related Physical Fitness Tests, and the Texas Physical Fitness-Motor Ability Test (Harris Jones, 1982). For the boys and girls, multiple regression analysis demonstrated a low, but significant, relationship between reading and mathematics ability and the combination of eight motor performance measures examined, five of which were fitness measures. Winn (1993) studied 302 fourth and fifth grade children and examined the relationship between scores on the California Test of Basic Skills (reading, mathematics) and performance on the AAHPERD Presidents Challenge. Using national norms, total fitness and total academic achievement scores were determined. The overall correlation between the total scores was . 213. When each test item was correlated with scores in each of reading, mathematics and language, the correlations ranged from . 043 to . 462, although none of the correlations were significant at the . 05 level. An examination of 7,961 youngsters from 7 to 15 years of age in Australia was conducted by Dwyer, Sallis, Blizzard, Lazarus and Dean (2001). School ratings of scholastic ability were compared with performance on a variety of fitness measures including sit-ups, push-ups, and a 1.6 kilometer run. Across the age groups, there were significant, but weak, correlations (ranging from. 1 to . 27) between fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular force and power) and academic performance. Most recently, the California Department of Education (2002; 2005) reported the results of two studies that examined the relationship between scores on achievement tests and the Fitnessgram. In the first study, performance on the Stanford Achievement Tests and scores on the Fitnessgram for 884,715 students in grades 5, 7, and 9 were investigated. A composite score, ranging from zero to six, was created for physical fitness, in which a student obtained one point for each of the six test items for which the student was determined to be in the healthy zone. In each of the three grades, higher levels of fitness were related to higher academic achievement. The relationship was stronger for math achievement and fitness, especially at higher fitness levels. This study has yet to be published. As a result, no statistical measures are available. Nevertheless, the results were cited by professional sources, such as the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (no date) and the PE Central web site (no date) as evidence that there is a direct relationship between physical fitness levels and academic achievement. In the latter study (California Department of Education, 2005), performance on the California Standards Tests and the Fitnessgram for 1,036,386 students in grades 5, 7 and 9 were compared. Again in this study, students were awarded a composite score, representing the number of fitness test battery items in which they were in the healthy zone. Results were similar to the 2002 study, with higher fitness scores associated with higher scores in English-language arts and mathematics (p . 05). In this study (California Department of Education, 2005), however, only means were reported; thus, no standard deviations were given for the groups compared, nor were effect size measures made to quantify the practical significance of the differences observed between groups. Conclusion In summary, research examining the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness has produced mixed results. Of these, one study has been published only as a press release in which no statistical analysis was reported and a second study had incomplete statistical information to effectively interpret the results (California Department of Education, 2002; 2005). In the remaining investigations the interpretation of the results focused on whether a statistically significant finding was observed. A number of statistical researchers, however, have emphasized that the correct interpretation of research results requires that not only the statistical significance of the data be considered, but also the practical significance of the findings (Sterne Smith, 2001; Thomas, Salazar Landers, 1991; Vincent, 1999). This is particularly important in studies such as the present one, and the ones discussed above, which typically involve very large sample sizes of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of subjects. Due to the effect of sample size on the calculation of statistical significance, with large sample sizes it is possible to calculate statistical significance on a result that has no practical significance (Vincent, 1999). As evidenced by the history of investigations, the importance of understanding the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance in children and youth is relevant, and increased by recent evidence from studies conducted on animals and elderly humans that increased physical activity results in improved cognitive function (Colcombe et al., 2004; 2004; Rhodes et al. , 2003). References Almond, L. , McGeorge, S. (1998). Physical activity and academic performance. British Journal of Physical Education, 29(2), 8-12. Arnett, C. (1988). Interrelationships between selected physical variables and academic achievement of college women. Research Quarterly, 39, 227-230. Clarke, H. , Jarman, B. O. (1991). Scholastic achievement of boys 9, 12, and 15 years of age as related to various strength and growth measures. Research Quarterly, 32, 155-162. Colcombe, S. J. , Kramer, A. F. , Erickson, K. I. , Scalf, P., McAuley, E. , Cohen, N. J. , et al. (2004). Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 101, 3316-3321 Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research. Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, N J: Merrill Prentice Hall Dustman, R. E. , Emmerson, R. , Shearer, D. (1994). Physical activity, age and cognitive function. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 2, 143-181. Dwyer, T. , Sallis, J. F. , Blizzard, L. , Lazarus, R. , Dean, K. (2001). Relation of academic performance to physical activity and fitness in children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 13,225-237. Fraenkel, J. R. , Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to design and evaluate research in education (5th ed. ). Boston: McGraw Hill. Harris, D. I. , Jones, M. A. (1982). Reading, math and motor performance. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 53(9), 21-22. Hart, M. E. , Shay, C. T. (1994). Relationship between physical fitness and academic success. Research Quarterly, 35, 443-445 Hopkins, W. G. (2001). New view of statistics: Effect magnitudes. Retrieved July 10, 2004 McAuley, E. , Kramer, A. F. , Colcombe, S. J. (2004). Cardiovascular fitness and neurocognitive function in older adults: A brief review. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 18, 214-220 National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2002). 2001 Shape of the nation report. Reston, VA: Author. Nutrition and physical activity. Overweight and obesity.. Retrieved July 15, 2004 Ogden, C. L. , Flegal, K. M. , Carroll, M. D. , Johnson, C. L. (2002). Prevalence and trends in overweight among U. S. children and adolescents, 1999-2000. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 17281732. Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. (1992). Normative data from the 1985 school population fitness survey for use with the presidents challenge youth physical fitness program. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. Plato, The republic,Book III, 412A-B. Translated by Conford, 1945, pp. 101-102 Rhodes, J. S. , van Praag, H. , Jeffrey, S. , Girard, I. , Mitchell, G. S. , Garland, T. Jr. , et al. (2003). Exercise increases hippocampal neurogenesis to high levels but does not improve spatial learning in mice bred for increased voluntary wheel running. Behavioral Neuroscience, 117, 10061016. Sterne, J. A. C. , Smith, G. D. (2001). Sifting the evidence whats wrong with significance tests? British Medical Journal, 322, 226-231. Symons, C. W. , Cinelli, B. , James, T. C. , Groff, P. (1997). Bridging student health risks and academic achievement through comprehensive school health programs. Journal of School Health, 76, 220-227. Thomas, J. R. , Salazar, W. , Landers, D. M. (1991). What is missing in p is less than .05? Effect size. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 62(3), 344-348. Vannier, M. , Poindexter, H. B. (1964). Physical activities for college women. Philadephia: W. B. Saunders. Vincent, W. J. (1999). Statistics in kinesiology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Weber, J. R. (1983). Relationship of physical fitness to success in college and to . rsonality. Research Quarterly, 24, 471-474. Winn, K. L. (1993). A study of the relationship between physical fitness levels and the academic achievement of fourth and fifth grade students. Unpublished masters thesis, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA.