Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 59

Summary - Essay Example in a competitive edge by developing a treatment drug for Alzheimer’s disease, of which 18 million people suffer around the world, Pfizer decided in 2008 to give Medivation a large amount of $225 million and $500 million more if it was able to successfully produce Dimebon. The feasibility of the drug as well as the extravagance of the deal were widely criticized, though past evidence from Russia suggested that the development of such a drug was possible. However, when the drug was tested by introducing it to moderate Alzheimer’s patients in phase 3 trials, it failed to achieve the expected goals. Consequently, with the termination of the partnership contract, the dreams of the two companies to gain a substantial edge in the Pharmaceutical industry collapsed too. Since Medivation used to rely heavily on its partnership with Pfizer to generate returns, the extinction of the agreement has resulted in more serious financial losses for Medivation in contrast to Pfizer. This is certainly not a good signal for Medivation as well as Pfizer. The stoppage of the development of Dimebon has caused financial setbacks to both the companies. During the first three quarters of 2011, Medivation’s shares have dropped drastically by 3.3%. At the same time, Pfizer’s stock rose only slightly by 0.4%. The plans of the two companies to become future leaders in the market have crashed along with their product. Consequently, the financial outcomes are bound to remain low for at least sometime in the future. As far as the competitors of the two companies are concerned, they have been presented with a very good opportunity to gain an edge in the market. The competitors are already aware of the significance which Alzheimer’s drug holds and the amount of sales it could trigger. Moreover, information about the failure of Medivation and Pfizer in phase 3 trial will result in competitors being further careful in developing the product and avoiding the mistakes which were committed by

Gilded Age Essay Example for Free

Gilded Age Essay The era following the civil war, the gilded age, modernized the nation with new technological advances. Women’s social status improved with the up and coming government policies and intolerance of Native Americans became more prominent due to westward expansion. Segregation laws oppress African Americans and violate their rights as American citizens. Women gained suffrage in the gilded age which significantly improved their social status. Previously, women were viewed as inferior to men and incapable of having the same responsibilities. The cause of women’s suffrage was carried by middle class women and was launched in 1848 at Seneca Falls. Many women believed a major cause of poverty for immigration and working-class families was the excessive drinking by male factory workers. Women successfully advocated for total abstinence from alcohol. Many women had leisure time as a housewife, so they got more involved in politics and social issues. Middle class women did most of the shopping for their families so they became the prominent consumers. Women likely had a part time job but they were vulnerable to low-paid and insecure work without benefits. They were also discriminated against when being hired because they were more likely to take leave for childcare or maternity leave. The mobilization of the American economy sprouted from the rise of technology in the gilded age through the development of railroads, homesteads, and farming techniques. This expansion on the Great Plains increased intolerance towards the Native Americans, which soon resulted in removal of most Indian tribes. At first, they attempted a truce through the treaty of Fort Laramie, where the government and representatives of the tribes discussed the terms of westbound settlers. The tribes would receive annuity in return for their cooperation. However, the government failed to compensate the tribes properly and violated the treaty. Trains were pulled by horses prior to the invention of steam locomotives, so the railroads running west became known as â€Å"The Iron Horse† by Native Americans. Many oppressive acts such as the Homestead Act and the Dawes Severalty Act displayed intolerance of the Native Americans. The Battle of the Little Bighorn/ Custer’s Last Stand was a result of Indian intolerance. Another social group that was deeply impacted by the gilded age was the African Americans, who were affected by Jim Crow laws. The old south was unwilling to accept the new technology and there was an emerging grey area between states laws and rights versus the federal government. The southern sharecropping system was economically backing the Jim Crow laws. State black codes restricted the freedom of African Americans, and compelled them to work for lower wages. The purpose of these oppressive laws were to preserve the system of white supremacy. Civil rights acts were introduced with hopes of equality for African Americans but they were ruled unconstitutional. Segregation laws enforced a â€Å"separate but equal† status for African Americans. In conclusion, the gilded age transformed the country and impacted many social groups of American society. Women gained the right to vote and more social status while the Native Americans were oppressed harsher than ever. Jim crow laws restricted African Americans by segregating the country. The technological advances during the gilded age provided a more modern society and influenced changing government policies. These advances also allowed for a boosted economy.

The Subject of Relationships in Robert Frosts Poem The Mending Wall :: Mending Wall Essays

The Subject of Relationships in Robert Frost's Poem The Mending Wall Robert Frost's poem "The Mending Wall" may not seem to be a poem with a lot of meaning but if readers take time to listen to what the author has to say they will discover that it is talking about the basic relationships between people. The author is focusing on an inanimate object that separated two individuals even though it is nothing more than a little stone wall in the middle of a field. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast The above selection of the poem shows how impersonal the wall is. There is no humanity associated with this object, nor is there any emotion attached to it. Even thought the object has no emotion itself, there is emotion directed toward it as we see in line 1 of the poem. There is something out in the world that doesn't like this wall. Not only does this relate the author's feelings about how it keeps objects separated, This feeling of animosity has gone so far that something has gone as far as to destroy sections of the wall. I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs, The gaps I mean, The author goes even further in his description of the emotions directed at the wall, and explains that other dislike the wall as well. Although they dislike it because it is helping to hide the quarry they are after. The hunters express this dislike of the wall but physically destroying the wall, they tear it down even though it is not their wall. This goes a long way at letting the reader understand that this poem is also about relationships between people. Often times others will attack a person to get something they want with little to no regard for the person that is being attacked. But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

Cookies as Spyware Essay

This paper addresses Cookies as Spyware. The option chosen was to analyze the issues associated with cookies being used as spyware. Are cookies pieces of malicious, benign, or innocent software? The next paragraphs of this paper will discuss the various uses of cookies. And, then, the paper will conclude with my opinion about cookies based upon my research findings. Since web browsing uses a stateless connection, cookies are used to maintain the state of a browsing session. Cookies are small data files that are produced by a web server that are stored on your computer. Cookies allow a personalized web browsing experience because of the identifying information that they store within them (such as login information, passwords, web pages visited, and/or items placed in a shopping cart). There are different types of cookies that are created for specific purposes. They include session, persistent, first-party, and third-party cookies. Session cookies are used to store information related to a particular visit during one session. Persistent cookies are used to store information permanently on your hard drive about your interactions and/or preferences with a certain web site. First-party cookies are used by the specific site that created them while their website is being visited, whereas third-party cookies are not created by the website that is being visited. Third-party cookies are created by another website besides the website being visited such as a banner advertisement on the web page that is being visited. (â€Å"Encyclopedia,†) While most cookies appear to be used solely for the purpose of enhancing the user’s web browsing experience, cookies can be used for other purposes including adware or spyware if they contain active code. Adware is used to automatically download or display advertisements on a person’s computer. Spyware is technology used to gather information about a person or organization without their consent or knowledge and relay that information back to advertisers or other interested parties. (â€Å"Information security magazine,† 2008) Technology has evolved to the point where cookies can or have been abused, so they are associated with some security risks. The risks associated with cookies are hijacking (session hijacking), inaccurate identification (due to multiple user accounts or different browsers being used on a single PC), poisoning or stealing (cookie manipulation), and lack of expiration or artificially long expiration periods (allowing cookies to remain when they are no longer needed can allow the cookies to be stolen or attacked). (â€Å"Are all cookies,† 2010) All of these security risks can be used to gain access to or steal personal information from a user or their computer. In conclusion, from the research articles reviewed, it is my opinion that cookies are both beneficial and potentially harmful if used improperly. Cookies can be used safely to enjoy their beneficial purposes for web browsing by following some simple rules. Routinely find and delete unnecessary cookies by navigating to the path on your hard drive where your cookies are stored (C:Documents and Settings[username]Cookies). There really isn’t much danger in deleting these files since new cookies are automatically downloaded the next time you visit the site anyway. Also, check to make sure that your browser settings are only allowing first-party cookies (restrict third-party cookies). Another important thing is to install antivirus software (such as Symantec Endpoint Protection, Sophos, McAfee, or any other reputable vendor) and keep your antivirus software updated properly. Perform regular scans on your hard drive and all attached peripherals to prevent infections. Keep operating system patches updated to prevent anyone from hacking your system because of a known vulnerability. Web browsing would be much less personalized if we completely denied ourselves the privileges associated with cookies.

Global Wine Wars Essay

1. How did the French become the dominant competitors in the increasingly global wine industry for centuries? What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop to support their exports? Where were they vulnerable? French wine makers also face challenges that are not internal to the industry. For instance, France lost market share in the United States due to informal boycotts in the wake of the Iraq war. The rise of the euro against other currencies, such as the 30% increase relative to the dollar in the last few years, has put French wines at a comparative cost disadvantage. But consensus among experts is that the primary threat to the French export market is internal to the industry: the inability of the appellation system to appeal to what is becoming a global way of understanding wines (Business Report, 2004). France is the largest overall producer of wine, at 5. 3 billion liters of wine in 2001, 20% of world production. France has traditionally set the standard for quality wine as well as defining these standards. French viticulture laws mandates four levels of quality as 1) Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) 2) vins delimite qualite superieure (VDQS) 3) vins du pays and 4) vins du table. French wine makers also face challenges that are not internal to the industry. For instance, France lost market share in the United States due to informal boycotts in the wake of the Iraq war. The rise of the euro against other currencies, such as the 30% increase relative to the dollar in the last few years, has put French wines at a comparative cost disadvantage. But consensus among experts is that the primary threat to the French export market is internal to the industry: the inability of the appellation system to appeal to what is becoming a global way of understanding wines (Business Report, 2004). Although France has been slow to adapt to changing production and consumption trends it was an early player in international partnering and acquisition. The first joint venture was Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s venture with Robert Mondavi to create Opus One in 1979. Gallic presence in the Napa sparkling wine industry is strong as Domaine Caneros, Domain Chandon, Mumm Cuvee Napa, Pieper-Sonoma, and Roederer Estate are all owned by French champagne houses. Pernod Ricard owns wineries in Australia, Argentina, Chile and Spain (Economist, 1999). Most (90%) production is concentrated in California. Started primarily by French and Italian immigrants in the late 1800’s, California’s winemaking tradition is only a few generations old and was interrupted by Prohibition. A global reputation for fine wine is even more recent, when two Napa Valley wines won gold medals at a 1976 blind-tasting competition in Paris, a victory unexpected by the rest of the world, including many Americans (Lukcas, 2000). The US adapted the French appellation system with over 130 approved American Vineyard Appellations ranging in size from the multi-state Ohio River Valley to the smallest, Cole Ranch, a 150 acre property in Mendocino County (Wine Institute, 2003). One of the most acclaimed appellations is Napa Valley. Most American winemakers also label by varietal if a wine contains at least 75% of that varietal by volume. 2. What changes in the global industry structure and competitive dynamics led France and other traditional producers to lose market share to challengers from Australia, United States, and other New World countries in the late twentieth century? International competition on the wine market is characterized by a considerable disparity of strategies used by the different producers and wine-producing regions around the world. New World Challenges Old With the emergence of New World players in the global wine industry many of the Old World players have been losing market share. At first France, Italy, Spain, and Germany simply laughed at the wine-making techniques of the new players -U. S, South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. However, it quickly became apparent that the newcomers pose a serious threat to the traditional winemakers. The French were especially hurt when they began to lose their global market share as well as the coveted U. K. market to the Australians. Allows analysis of the way in which newcomers can change the rules of competitive engagement in a global industry. How incumbents can respond, especially when constrained by regulation, tradition, embedded values, and a different set of capabilities than those demanded by the emerging market by changing consumer tastes and market structures. The case contrasts the tradition-bound Old World wine industry with the market-oriented New World producers, the battle for the US market, the most desirable export target in 2009 due to its large, fast-growing, high priced market segments. REINVENTING THE MARKETING MODEL: New World producers revolutionized the packaging and marketing aspects of wine making. Americans and Australians greatly impacted wine packaging by replacing the Old World standard liter bottle with a half-gallon flagon in the U. S. and the innovative â€Å"wine-in-a-box† package in Australia. Australians have been praised for this idea because boxed wine not only saves on shipping costs but it has made storage easier for consumers. Australians have also begun to use screw on caps rather than the traditional corks on premium wines; this is to prevent spoiling due to deficient corks. On the marketing side, New World producers began to differentiate their products to attract customers unaccustomed to wine. Ripple, an American wine was said to be unsophisticated wine and was marketed toward customers unaccustomed to wine. It was wildly successful and led to an increase in branding and marketing alike. These were not the only major changes driven by New World companies, another was distribution. Previously the tasks of grape growing, wine making, distribution, and marketing were handled by different entities, many of which lacked the scale and knowledge to function proficiently. â€Å"In contrast, the large wine companies from the New World typically controlled the full value chain, extracting margins at every level and retaining bargaining power with increasingly concentrated retailers. † Since these producers held responsibility at every level, the quality of the final product was immaculate. Wine Traditionalists felt the New World’s established grape-growing and wine-making ways were embarrassing. Arguing that in their drive for efficiency, consistency, and their desires to cater to less sophisticated palates, New World producers had lost the character that came with more vintage wines made in the traditional fashion. Annoying Old World producers even further was the fact that new wineries would name their wines Burgundy, Champagne,†¦ 3. What advice would you offer today to the French Minister of Agriculture? To the head of the French wine industry association? To the owner of a mid-size, well regarded Bordeaux vineyard producing wines in the premium and super premium categories? Evaluation of different strategies †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Premium & Standard wine market Creation of an accessible French brand The Global wine company (acquisitions and mergers) â€Å"Appellation d’origine controlee† and competitive disadvantage Protectionism versus being marketing oriented.

Symbolism Used in Poker Flat Essays

Symbolism Used in Poker Flat Essays Symbolism Used in Poker Flat Paper Symbolism Used in Poker Flat Paper Human societies all across the world follow a set of beliefs which influence their attitude and thinking. There are certain values which are honored and followed by the members of these human societies. Among these values, the value of virtue and purity is considered to be most important for the welfare of the society. The significance attached to virtuous behavior and purity in human society is depicted in the short story â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat† by Bret Harte. The story follows the journey of four outcasts who are exiled from their community named Poker Flat. Although these four outcasts are expelled from their community for failing to follow the values of virtue and purity, they display their virtuous qualities in the course of their journey when they seek to protect a young couple of lovers. Through the element of symbolism, the author brings forth the mistaken notion of virtue held by the people in the community of Poke Flat. Symbolism People regard that virtuous behavior is the most important factor which influences the welfare of a human society. If the members in a particular society are virtuous, then the peace and harmony in the society is maintained. But if some of the members of the society indulge in immoral behavior, then the peace of the society can be threatened. It is this thinking that induces the people of the town in the story â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat†, to banish four individuals, who are thought to be indulging in immoral activities, from Poker Flat. These four individuals are John Oakhurst, The Duchess, Mother Shipton and Uncle Billy. John Oakhurst was a gambler whereas Uncle Bill was a drunkard, who was also doubted of being a robber. Mother Shipton owned a brothel while The Duchess worked as a saloon girl. The people of the town desired to deport immoral persons living amongst them hoping that the town will flourish after the departure of such people. â€Å"A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons. † (Harte 23). These four people were judged by the society as immoral persons so the people of the town ordered them to leave the town. After being exiled from their town, the four people embark on a journey to reach another camp which was less respectable compared to the Poker Flat. In course of their journey, they decide to halt at a place to take rest, where they are joined by Tom Simson and Piney Woods, young lovers who have eloped from their homes. Owing to a snowstorm and stealing of mules by Uncle Billy, all of them are forced to stay in a cabin discovered by Simson. It is during their stay in the cabin, that the virtuous qualities of the four outcasts are revealed. Although the outcasts behaved in a manner which was unacceptable to their society, they strove hard to protect the lives of the young lovers. Being at the mercy of nature, the outcasts struggled to keep them alive with the aid of the rations available in the cabin. Mother Shipton sacrifices her life to save Piney by leaving her rations for Piney. â€Å"It contained Mother Shiptons rations for the last week, untouched. â€Å"Give em to the child,† she said, pointing to the sleeping Piney. † (Harte 30). By giving her life for the sake of saving Piney, Mother Shipton reveals her virtuous quality. The same virtuous quality of the outcasts is presented in the story when Piney and The Duchess hold each other and sleep peacefully. The snow covers them and the author describes this happening in a manner which represents the purity of The Duchess and Piney. â€Å"Feathery drifts of snow, shaken from the long pine boughs, flew like white-winged birds, and settled about them as they slept. † (Harte 31). The white-winged birds are symbolic of virtue and purity. In their death, Piney and The Duchess looked so peaceful that it was hard to point out who was the sinner and who was innocent. â€Å"And when pitying fingers brushed the snow from their wan faces, you could scarcely have told from the equal peace that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned. † (Harte 32). The snow washed away all the sins of the outcasts. Through the symbolism in the story, the author brings forth the virtues of the outcasts who were exiled from their community for improper behavior. The snowstorm aids in revealing the virtues of the outcasts and the snow expunges the distinction between the sinner and the innocent. The snow in the story is symbolic of the purity of the outcasts. Conclusion The story â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat† by Bret Harte depicts the journey of the four outcasts who are considered to be improper individuals by the people of the town. But their virtuous qualities are revealed when in course of their journey, they make every effort to save the lives of young lovers. Being held back in their journey by the snowstorm, the outcasts and the lovers stay in a cabin surviving on the rations available there. One of the outcasts, Mother Shipton sacrifices her life to save Piney from death. Her sacrifice brings forth her virtue which was overlooked by the people of the town. Similarly, the virtue of The Duchess is exposed when in death she looks similar to the Piney who was pure and innocent. The snow in the story is a symbol which represents the purity and virtue of the outcasts. Harte, Bret. Selected Stories of Bret Harte. BiblioBazaar LLC. 2006.

New Worlds For All essays

New Worlds For All essays New Worlds for All, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America. By Colin G. Calloway. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1997. Colin G. Calloway effectively states to his readers that the Indians of the North America were not just pushed aside by the Europeans who had begun exploring and immigrating in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Europeans had influenced them, but they also influenced the Europeans. The Indians and the Europeans each shaped the so-called New World into what it is today known as America. Neither one of them could have predicted that they would have created such a powerful country. This short book explores the new worlds that Indians and Europeans created together in early America and considers how conquest changed conquered people and conquerors alike. Throughout this short book, Calloway retells the stories and the culture they both made to create early America (178, xiii-xiv). Calloway states how Europeans did not come to America to create America or to mold themselves into something other than Indians. They came over here to make a New World like the home they had left and make it better. Neither the Europeans nor the Indians were looking for change, nor did they want to abandon their heritage and become like a person that is so different from their own. The two cultures were forced to interact because they shared the same land. Neither side would get anywhere if they were constantly fighting with each other all the time; therefore they had to find means of getting along. Out of necessity the adapted to their changing environment by exchanging ideas and establishing relationships that allowed them to interact. Later on down the road the colonists would see the unavoidable changes that had taken place within themselves and use them to proclaim their sense of independence from Great Britain and announce themselves as Americans (4, 6, 196-197). ...

Navigating controversial topics in the workplace

Navigating controversial topics in the workplace Generally speaking, most people know that conversations that dip into politics, religion, or intimate relationships are best to avoid in professional settings. Yet in the current political climate, taboo topics are becoming harder and harder to avoid, causing people to share more opinions and exercise a lot less restraint and privacy in the workplace.Regardless of who brings hot button issues into the conversation, it’s always best to be prepared to deal with them without putting your foot in your mouth or offending someone.  Here are some tips on how to keep it classy (and keep yourself out of trouble) when controversy arises at work.Always follow the rules.Your company almost certainly has some policies in place regarding religious or political expression. You might not be allowed to hang up a campaign button or bumper sticker in your cubicle, for instance, or decorate your desk with anything a coworker might deem offensive. Take a quick glance at the employee handbook now and then to make sure you’re coloring between the lines.Listen, smile, and keep quiet.Its easier said than done, but if the conversation around you turns heated, its often best to just sit back and take in the opinions of everyone around you. If you do more listening than talking on average, then you have fewer opportunities to say something you’ll regret or that will get you in trouble.Unless youre in a situation where a legitimate wrong or injustice is taking place, if you find yourself wanting to say something- and asking yourself Is this okay to say?- chances are you should probably hold that thought and keep it to yourself.Document wrongdoings.If you have a coworker (or boss!) who’s spewing offensive commentary or bullying you or someone else- or, worse, engaging in hate speech- then you’re going to want to build a case before you do anything or tattle. Have something tangible you can present to HR if that becomes your best option. Frame your concer ns in terms of safeguarding the health of the company and culture.If youre upset, say something.Rather than making assumptions or leaping to conclusions about a person’s character, sometimes it’s better to just be up-front and frank with a coworker who has offended you. This doesn’t mean leveling accusations. It means approaching that person respectfully with an olive branch and a chance to talk things through. Dont accuse- explain. Tell him or her why youre upset. Having the confidence to do this in the first place is a tricky skill to master, but this can be quite effective in neutralizing an otherwise fraught situation.Own your mistakes.If you’re the one making people uncomfortable- even unintentionally- own up to it, take responsibility, apologize, and change your behavior. Otherwise your job might end up on the line. Remember, you’re not the only one in the office whose opinions and feelings matter.The bottom lineIf a conversation arises and y ou have passionate feelings, by all means, speak up. But if you do, keep your tone and language as professional as possible. Try to diffuse rather than accuse. Ask questions rather than asserting strong statements. Keep an open mind and your emotions at an even keel- its possible to be both passionate and polite.

Influence of Greece Debt Crisis on Overall Balance of Payments in The Essay

Influence of Greece Debt Crisis on Overall Balance of Payments in The EU - Essay Example This paper describes the influence that Greece debt crisis had on European monetary policy. The overall monetary policy of the EU has been modified. The Greece crisis had affected the demand of money in the region. The issue of balance of payment usually involved the goods and workers movement across all member states this come with the abolishing of tariffs between member countries. They included transport of goods between countries; people working along the countries had the flexibility of working along the countries without any limitations. For the case of Greece the European Union found a sense of imbalance and there was need of invention. As requested the EU suggested measures and action. The measures were taken to ensure a balance of payment. It engaged in a semiannual strategy. This was to close the deficit to 3 per cent since there was an assumption that the deficit of GDP in 2010 was 4.2 per cent. There was need to revise the figure given by the Greece authorities the figures had changed and need revise them, in a bid to ensure balance. As much as there it was a collective role of the region in controlling the foreign exchange, it advice the Greece government to ensure that it sells its reserved to ensure a balance in the foreign exchange holdings. This in term ensured the balance of payment of the region’s currency this was to ensure an equal equivalent capital inflow. The balance of payment is not only a one state affair but it involves the entire continent and the world as a whole. ... 45). For the case of Greece the European Union found a sense of imbalance and there was need of invention. The EU through the European commission contemplated on measures to undertake. As request the EU suggested measures and action. The measures were taken to ensure a balance of payment. It engaged in a semiannual strategy. This was to close the deficit to 3 per cent since there was an assumption that the deficit of GDP in 2010 was 4.2 per cent. There was need to revise the figure given by the Greece authorities the figures had changed and need revise them, in a bid to ensure balance (Jonung, Martin and Jonas, 2008, p. 34). As much as there it was a collective role of the region in controlling the foreign exchange, it advice the Greece government to ensure that it sells its reserved to ensure a balance in the foreign exchange holdings. This in term ensured the balance of payment of the region’s currency this was to ensure an equal equivalent capital inflow. Thus a surplus in the economy was been experienced in that there was to be an increase in the imports and hence forcing the Bop in an equilibrium. Risks where on the rise in Greece and the rate was described as dramatic, government bonds and the increasing awareness and securities. There was need to safe guard the effects of financial effect in the entire euro zone. There was doubt that Greece will pay all its debt including the accrued debts without affecting its economy or there was also a doubt whether they were in opposition to pay the debts at all. The debate continued till the beginning of May in 2010 when the matter was not only a debate but the reality. There was need of intervention and on May second it requested for

Employment Law in Ireland Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employment Law in Ireland - Case Study Example What this means to Pisces is that Pisces is obligated to ensure Antonias safety, health and welfare. It also means that it has the obligation to conduct work activities in such a way that ensures her safety and to provide arrangements for her welfare and safety. In other words, if Antonias doctor states that the chemicals that she is exposed to on the job is hazardous to her health or the health of her baby, Pisces must make arrangements to ensure her welfare and safety. This does not necessarily mean that Antonia is automatically entitled to a desk job; there could be other arrangements that can be made, and it would be up to Pisces to discover what these are. If Pisces can find a way for Antonia to safely work in her current job, then this what they may be able to do, assuming that there might not be a desk job for Antonia. But, if there is a desk job for her, and she is qualified for it, then this would be best, for this would be safest and there would be no question that Pisces h as made accommodations and arrangements the ensure her safety. What they cannot do is summarily dismiss her. Lets assume that Pisces does not have a desk job for Antonia and there is no accommodation that can be made for her otherwise. Antonia is protected to some extent by the Sex Discrimination Order 1976, which states that an employer cannot treat an employee less favorably if she becomes pregnant than she would be treated if not pregnant (Sex Discrimination Order 1976). Antonia can arguably use this Order in her favor if Pisces decides to fire her, for, on its face, Pisces cannot fire her simply because she is pregnant (Hitch v. Smyth). Moreover, she might be covered by the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008, which states that employers must take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability access to employment (Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 (1.7)). Although Antonia is not

Roe versus Vade Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roe versus Vade Case Study - Essay Example Critics of the judgment have commonly made their arguments based on individual ethical beliefs which are immaterial when examining the language of the Constitution. The point of view that is opposed to the Roe decision can be promptly invalidated by the legal definition when evaluating the specific wordage contained within the Constitution in addition to understanding past precedent of constitutional decisions reached by the Supreme Court. However, there are legitimate questions regarding the Constitutional matters of the Roe decision that warrant answering. The word â€Å"abortion† is not contained within the Constitution but merely because the word itself is not present, the Constitution remains the source of legal precedence for this matter. The justices’ interpretation of the Constitution is the central focus of this subject. Since the Supreme Court is more conservative today in terms of general ideology than in 1973, many think that soon its interpretation of the i ssue will nearer resemble former Justice William Rehnquist’s dissenting opinion concerning Roe v. Wade. â€Å"The Court must be wrong to find any basis for this right in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the Amendment† (Pavone 2005). Understanding that courts do undeniably have the power to intercede in decisions involving personal rights citing Constitutional precedence, could laws precluding abortions still be justified despite of what many consider an egregious encroachment on the civil rights of women? After all, constitutional rights are not absolute. Why shouldn’t the federal government be concerned with protecting the rights of persons yet to be born? The Fourteenth Amendment definitively answers this question. The Amendment begins by referring to â€Å"All persons born ... in the United States† (â€Å"Fourteenth Amendment†, 2011), signifying that the protections guaranteed by the Constitution refer to those persons who have already been ‘born.’ When many people criticize the Roe judgment, they base their opposition entirely on moral grounds but lawyers, scholars, and particularly judges who denounce the high court’s decision should do so based only on constitutional grounds. If they wish to voice their moral concerns they should draw a clear distinction between the legal and moral objections. The legal argument in opposition to the decision should address both the Fourteenth and the Ninth Amendment which states, â€Å"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people† (â€Å"Bill of Rights†, 2011). Persons opposing legalized abortions have stated that the ninth, and all other amendments, does not expressly refer to an abortion proced ure consequently the Constitution does not apply when attempting to establish the legitimacy of abortion rights. This point of view, however, very apparently contradicts the statement of the Ninth Amendment which undoubtedly promotes the recognition of abortion rights and all other personal rights in addition to what is specifically contained in the Constitutio

Photograhs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Photograhs - Assignment Example This paper is a formal and iconographic analysis of Arbus photographs as compared with the works of Annie Leibovitz. Arbus is basically revered for bringing out a unique quality known as rough empathy in her photographs. Her works embody commonly gendered attributes of mystery and neurosis, which generally distort the primary intent of the photographs. As Annie Leibovitz concentrated in cool, common images of ordinary people and objects, various works in Arbus’ name reveal her penchant for the images of the sidelined, the surreal, and the impaired. Unlike Leibovitz works, Arbus’s works are ethically weakened by the vulnerability and flawed nature of the subjects. Artistically, most of her works seem to be pathetic, miserable and repulsive, rather than attractive as work of art should be. What strikes every audience who views Arbus’s works is the convincing feeling of the natural environment, and how uninterrupted her subjects existed in it. In light of her natural touch evidenced in the photos, reducing the artist to the â€Å"photographer of freaks† clearly reveals an industry where people are unwilling to come to terms with the otherness of the images (Sontag 1). When Arbus took photographs of people lacking clearly discernible flaws, she often found the off attribute, the odd edging, and the unusual lighting that projected her art as pervaded by flaws. Loser at a diaper derby, N. J. (1967), for example, is one of her iconic works showing a toddler close-up, crying bitterly. The baby’s fat fists are clenched as a sign of mourning, with the silhouette image of his mother showing her ignorance of the toddler. The photograph reveals a case of existential solitude that troubles the massive number of cute, happy baby photos by many artists such as Leibovitz. Leibovitz’s Leonardo Dicaprio with a Swan (1997) reveals a flawless work of photography. The most attractive attribute of this photo is the

Graffiti Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Graffiti - Essay Example Many consider graffiti as an art while others classify it as vandalism or degradation of environment. Graffiti is a broad term and encompasses all inscriptions or drawings produced hastily by using spray cans on a wall or other surface. Graffiti is also defined as a composition of pictures or words sprayed on a wall. The word graffiti is derived from an Italian word â€Å"groffitia† meaning â€Å"scribbling† or â€Å"inscriptions made on wax tablets using a stylus†. Graffiti has been used since prehistoric times to preserve or record signifying an individual’s existence by scribbling or scratching on an enduring medium. A study of history of graffiti reveals that from Neolithic period onwards, it was a common practice for nomads to leave marks in the form of scratches or inscriptions on rocks, signifying survival and success. During the Age of Enlightenment, graffiti was used by French prisoners to express their thoughts on the imminent rebellion. Moreover , during the golden age of French literature, many famous French authors mentioned graffiti in their work. Brassai, a French photographer, produced a famous photograph essay on graffiti in 1933. Graffiti was used as a weapon by the Nazis during the Second World War. Throughout the War, Nazis scribbled hate filled words and phrases against the enemies of the Third Reich on the walls of urban buildings. Graffiti was extensively used by students and labors throughout Europe during the unrest of 1960s and 1970s. (PEREIRA, S. 2005). Graffiti is of many types. Some of the important ones are as follows: i. Gang graffiti: The graffiti used by gangs to mark their territories and to convey threats to their opponents or trespassers. ii. Tagger graffiti: This type of graffiti is composed of either high volume simple hits or highly complicated art which is inscribed on streets. iii. Conventional graffiti: Conventional graffiti is almost always associated with â€Å"youthful experience† an d is mostly isolated. In addition, conventional graffiti is often spontaneous and therefore it is not associated with other crimes and disorders. iv. Ideological graffiti: Ideological graffiti is also known as hate or political graffiti and serves as a means of conveying political, racial, religious or ethnic messages. Factors associated with Graffiti: Many individuals associate the presence of graffiti with government’s failure to ensure safety of citizens and punish lawbreakers. Excruciating amounts of money are utilized by the government to remove graffiti each year. In the United States of America, approximately $12 billion are spent each year to clear graffiti. The problem of graffiti is not an isolated one and is therefore associated with other environmental crimes and disorders. (HAGAN, F. E. 2008). In most cases the following disorders are often associated with graffiti: i. Public disorders: As stated earlier, Graffiti is not an isolated problem, it is rather a proble m associated with various other crimes and disorders. One such disorder is public disorder which includes loitering, littering and urination in public areas. ii. Shoplifting: Shoplifting of materials used in graffiti is a common crime in areas where graffiti is widespread. iii. Gang violence: Gangs commonly use gang graffiti to convey threats of violence in order to mark their territories and threaten citizens. iv. Property destruction: Graffiti is often related to the destruction of property such as broken windows and slashed train and bus seats. (HAGAN, F. E. 2008). Envirocrime and Graffiti: Envirocrime is a broad term and encompasses a wide variety of disorders such as littering, fly posting, fly tipping and graffiti. Envirocrimes affects the whole community and renders the attractiveness of local environment. The effects of envirocrimes on a community are devastating and such crimes not only reduce the quality of life but also lower tourist attraction. Graffiti is applied and st reets are littered by a small number of individuals but such activities affect all the

Photograhs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Photograhs - Assignment Example This paper is a formal and iconographic analysis of Arbus photographs as compared with the works of Annie Leibovitz. Arbus is basically revered for bringing out a unique quality known as rough empathy in her photographs. Her works embody commonly gendered attributes of mystery and neurosis, which generally distort the primary intent of the photographs. As Annie Leibovitz concentrated in cool, common images of ordinary people and objects, various works in Arbus’ name reveal her penchant for the images of the sidelined, the surreal, and the impaired. Unlike Leibovitz works, Arbus’s works are ethically weakened by the vulnerability and flawed nature of the subjects. Artistically, most of her works seem to be pathetic, miserable and repulsive, rather than attractive as work of art should be. What strikes every audience who views Arbus’s works is the convincing feeling of the natural environment, and how uninterrupted her subjects existed in it. In light of her natural touch evidenced in the photos, reducing the artist to the â€Å"photographer of freaks† clearly reveals an industry where people are unwilling to come to terms with the otherness of the images (Sontag 1). When Arbus took photographs of people lacking clearly discernible flaws, she often found the off attribute, the odd edging, and the unusual lighting that projected her art as pervaded by flaws. Loser at a diaper derby, N. J. (1967), for example, is one of her iconic works showing a toddler close-up, crying bitterly. The baby’s fat fists are clenched as a sign of mourning, with the silhouette image of his mother showing her ignorance of the toddler. The photograph reveals a case of existential solitude that troubles the massive number of cute, happy baby photos by many artists such as Leibovitz. Leibovitz’s Leonardo Dicaprio with a Swan (1997) reveals a flawless work of photography. The most attractive attribute of this photo is the

Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Statistics - Essay Example In this case, we will get the stats of one of my favorite players Anthony Carmelo from New York Knicks. He scores 25.7 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. This is supported by career season high or the highest score he got in these respective areas. He got a career high of 30.7, rebound high of 10.3 and an assist of 5.2 (NBA, 2013). These numbers are what is called in statistics â€Å"averaging† or adding up all the scores and other relevant statistics and divide them by their quantity. For fans like us, it gives us a snapshot of the player’s performance from field goals, rebounds, assists. This can even further be broken down to other sub-area such as field goals, three point shots and free throws to give us detailed information on how a player performed. The statistic used in this game is founded in good math but it is not intimidating and easy to understand that makes us appreciate the game

Identify the historical and cultural factors Essay Example for Free

Identify the historical and cultural factors Essay Identify the historical and cultural factors that contribute to the development of the learning perspective. To what extent is the learning perspective relevant today?  The study of how humans learn is a dominant component of the learning perspective. The study of behaviour in this perspective and is also commonly known as the Behaviouristic Approach, as they believe that behaviour is the only valid data in psychology. Behaviourism developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia in relation to many factors. Traditional Behaviourists believed that all organisms learn in the same way, and could be explained by the processes of classical and operant conditioning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour and/or knowledge that occurs as a result of practice and/or experience in the environment. Psychologists working within this perspective have investigated he ways in which behaviour changes, usually using laboratory experiments, and often-using non-human animals. The Learning perspective developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia with American Theorists John Watson, Albert Bandura and Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.  The way in which behaviour can be observed is seen as being objectively or unbiased, and this is the opposite to the theory of introspection. The unreliability of the way in which subjective data is obtained in introspection is one of the main criticisms that lead to the rise of behaviourism. In introspection the data collected in said to be subjective and therefore biased in the sense that it comes from ones own mind. Give me a dozen healthy infantsand my own specified world to bring them up in and Ill guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select doctor, lawyerand yes, even beggarman and thief.1  John Watson 1913  Watson wrote an article titled Psychology as the behaviourist views it. This article, which set out all main assumptions and principles, sparked the rise of the behaviourist movement in 1913. Albert Bandura was the major motivator behind the social learning theory, which included cognitive factors that were not incorporated by behaviourists, as they thought behaviour was almost entirely determined by the environment. Bandura suggests that much behaviour, including aggression, is learnt from the environment through reinforcement and the process of modelling. Bandura integrated cognitive influences and called his modified theory the social learning theory. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, whilst conducting experiments on the digestive systems on dogs stumbled across the developed principles of classical conditioning. All these factors contributed to the advancement of the learning perspective, as we know it today. Key concepts of the perspective are classical and operant conditioning, social, latent and insight learning. All concepts are built from the historical and cultural factors that gave rise to the learning perspective. Findings after conduction of experiments show a remarkable relevance to todays society and knowledge. Whether it is classical conditioning and relating findings to aversion therapy or operant conditionings relation to animal training or modifying behaviour through reinforcement and punishment. Therefore it is important to research experimenters who performed relevant experiments to relate their results to today. Classical condition is learning through association, which was accidentally found by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was conducting experiments in relation to dogs digestive systems when he stumbled on, what is known as, classical conditioning. Pavlov noticed that dogs did not only salivate when food was placed in front of them, but they also salivated before the food was given to them, and was triggered by other factors such as upon hearing or seeing Pavlov, or the sound of footsteps. Pavlov then discovered that the anticipation of receiving the food made the dogs salivate. Pavlov then modified his experiment to test whether using a stimulus such as meat powder, which caused salivation, could be varied and a conditioned stimulus such as the ringing of a bell could also bring about the unconditioned response of salivation originally caused by being presented with the sight of the meat powder. Pavlov used a soundproof room, to minimise and limit extraneous variables so he could be sure that it was i.e. only the ringing of a bell that was affecting the salivation after the conditioned stimulus. John Watson performed another example of classical conditioning when he experimented on Little Albert in 1920. Behaviourists learning theorists such as Watson suggested that phobias were conditioned emotional responses. Certain stimuli, such as sudden loud noises, naturally cause fear reactions, and stimuli that become associated with them will acquire the same emotional responses. Little Albert was presented with a white laboratory rat to which he showed no fear response. Watson then associated the loud noise simultaneously with the presentation of the rat, Little Albert then associated fear with the rat, and was then able to generalise these response to other fluffy white objects. The study with Little Albert has serious ethical problems. Firstly that he participated in the experiment involuntary and without the consent of his mother. Also Watson reported that they hesitated about proceeding with the experiment but comforted themselves that Albert would encounter such traumatic associations when he left the sheltered environment of the nursery anyway. This is not a very good ethical defence, especially since they believed such associations might persist indefinitely and did not leave sufficient time to remove the fear afterwards, despite knowing that Albert was due to leave. Classical conditioning can be related to today with the development of therapies using classical conditioning techniques to extinguishing fear. The first technique of therapy is the systematic desensitation, which aims to extinguish the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually, step by step. This therapy was developed mainly by Wolpe, who stated that in order for the fear to be removed gradually, a hierarchy of fear must be formed and ranked by the subject from least fearful to most fearful. The subject is then given training in deep muscle relaxation techniques so it can then be used at each stage of the hierarchy starting from the least fearful to the most and only progressing when the subject feels sufficiently relaxed. This method of treatment has a very high success rate with specific phobias, i.e. of particular animals. It is considered to work particularly well because the response of fear and relaxation is said to be impossible for them to exist at the same time. The second techniques of therapy are implosion and the flooding techniques, when both methods produce extinction of a phobias fear by the continual and dramatic presentation of the phobic or situation. Wolpe in 1960 forced a girl with a fear of cars into the back seat of a car and drove her around for 4 hours straight until her hysterical fear completely disappeared. Marks et al (1981) say that this kind of therapy works because eventually some stimulus exhaustion takes place, as you cannot scream forever and then the conditioned fear response extinguishes. The technique most similar to classical conditioning is called Aversion Therapy, and is most relevant to todays treatment of alcoholism, smoking or overeating. The technique aims to remove undesirable responses to certain stimuli by associating them with aversive stimuli, in the hope that the undesirable responses will be avoided in the future. Aversion therapy has been used to treat alcoholism, for example the person is given alcohol with a nausea-inducing drug unsuspectingly, and should then feel sick. The person associates drinking with their intestinal distress and results found that two out of three people did not have any alcohol a year later. Although it has a high success rate, ethical considerations of deliberating causing discomfort to another person through deception must be taken into account. The limitation of this type of therapy is its difficulty to generalise to other situations from where the learning took place.

An Introduction Of Hrm And Shrm Business Essay

An Introduction Of Hrm And Shrm Business Essay A lack of clear direction prevails in global HR research which is expressed by scholars and practitioners across a wide front as a concern for the profession, including the resultant role personnel ought to play in organizations objective achievement (Goshal 2005; Hendry 2003; Holbeche 2006; Morris, Snell Lepak 2005; Meisinger 2005). Various researchers have pointed out during the last few years (Browning Edgar 2004; Becker, Huselid Ulrich 2001; Birchfield 2002; Brewster , Dowling , Grobler, Holland Warnich 2000; Mayrhofer Brewster 2005; Nel 2007; Ruona Gibson, 2004; Storey, 2001) that a revised approach to Human Resources Management (HRM) is evolving. This includes the strategic role and functions of the HR profession as business partners in organizations and the way they ought to direct personnel to optimize their contributions to the organization. Transformational leadership expressed in terms of the high-level capabilities and management skills are also assuming a significant place in the future of the HR profession in organizations as well as the ability to add value. Human Resource Management is an approach to the management of employees, it involves the process of employing people, developing their skills/capacity and utilizing their services. The traditional aspects of HRM methods are more towards the selection of recruitment process and imparting training. This HRM process does not have any specific riles for different areas like recruitment, training and utilizing the services. SHRM is defined by Little (2003) as the process of achieving the best possible alignment of personnel behavior with the organizations strategy and hence align with the profit and loss in the short and long term. The personnel behavior-strategy relationship is dynamic because it changes as the environment changes and as the precise goal and performance requirements of the strategy emerge. As the term itself denotes, Strategic HRM deals with strategic aspects of HRM. Unlike HRM, Strategic HRM mainly focuses on the programs with long-term objectives. Though HRM and Strategic HRM focus on increasing employee productivity, Strategic HRM uses many strategic methods. Unlike HRM, Strategic HRM uses a more sophisticated method for improving the overall employee motivation and production as well as it focuses on the sage of more systematic tools to achieve focus on partnerships with internal and external customers through the development of long term goals. Little (Little 2003) has argued that the organization is independent of personnel it then follows that the central questions are: First, since the organization is separate from personnel, then what are the factors intrinsic to the organization that can be identified as most influencing the behavior of personnel? Second, once the intrinsic organization factors have been identified, how do they link to influencing behavior? Third, once identified, how can the factors intrinsic to the organization that most influence behavior then be better managed to improve human performance and so improve alignment of personnel behavior with the goals and aim of the organization? Fourth, what are the intrinsic psychological factors personnel bring to the organization that will impact managements effort at improving the alignment of behavior with organization goals and aims? Introduction of how the role of HR in the 21st century is becoming increasingly vital. HR Departments are increasingly expected to operate as a business within a business rather than as a disconnected and isolated set of HR Practices. As such, like many business, the HR Department must have a vision of strategy that defines the way they are headed, a set of goals (objectives, outcomes and deliverables) that focus the priorities for the work and investment essential to carry out this vision and an organizational structure for the HR to accomplish these goals. The new focus for the HR department is to create value (Ulrich and Brockbank,2005) for the key holders. The goals and outcomes of the HR Department has been well documented, the value of HR contribution has traditionally been measured by the quantity of cost of activities (eg: How many people hired over period of time, training given to the employee or the financial cost of delivering employee benefits) Instead of focusing on the relatively easy to measure activities of staffing, training and other functional operations, HR departments are better assessed by the outcomes created that support the companies objectives. These outcomes generally may be defined as the capabilities an organization requires for its strategy to succeed on a sustained basis (Ulrich Smallwoord,2004) The diversification of the HR Departments role towards adapting to the 21st century can seen through the requirements of the organizations for competitive superiority and speed to market, collaboration, cultural exchange, efficiency, service, innovation, accountability or even leadership branding. These and other capabilities represent the organization for what it is known for and the identity of these practices can be enhanced by the HR practice is aligned to the desired focus of the company. With a HR vision of value and outcomes of capabilities, a HR Department can now focus its attention to how it can and should be organized to deliver the vision to reach the desired outcomes (Chirstensen,2005) The diversification from traditional HR practices is a major requirement for companies to adapt to the changes and be focused on the mimicking of the business organization on which it operates and from there it should focus on adopting a concept to reflect the vision and direction of the company in order to stay in line with the charter of the company itself. Introduction of the organization Duty Free Shop (DFS) in Malaysia are licensed under Section 65D, Customs Act 1967. DFS typically operates at international airports, seaports, downtown and at borders. DFS is set up for the purpose of promoting the tourism industry in Malaysia, especially to foreign tourists. Foreign tourists as well as eligible local tourists are able to purchase goods free of duty and GST at any DFS The QM Group of Companies offers a broad assortment of premier liquor, wines and spirits including prominent global brands. Its extensive variety of goods is gladly presented at its diverse duty-free outlets at Bukit Kayu Hitam, Padang Besar as well as in Langkawi. The QM Group of Companies also offers numerous other premier duty free products such as stylish apparels, perfumes, cosmetics, cigarettes, tobacco, confectionery, souvenirs etc as well as locally finished handicraft. The Qm Group of Companies has also diversified into private bonded warehousing operations with the inauguration of its first private bonded warehouse facility at Prai, Penang offering abundant storage, distribution and logistics services as well as other value adding activities. The QM Group of Companies, led by its main corporation QM Sdn Bhd is a fast growing stable of dynamic companies with its core focus involved in the duty-free business dealing in wholesale and retail. QM Sdn Bhd is today an recognized industry leader and key player in the country`s duty-free industry. The QM Group of Companies has been able to build its achievement upon its decades of industry knowledge, proven reliability and stringent vow to giving only the best quality products and services to both visiting tourists and business travelers to discover a truly new dimension in duty-free shopping. Evaluate how the HR practitioner should proceed in ensuring that alignment between business and HR strategies is effective. The HR professional has more challenging roles to perform under SHRM the emergent business partner model. Unlike the traditional HRM, which is transactional in nature and is concerned with administrative activities, SHRM is a value-added core responsibility that aligns the HR system, policies and practices with business strategy to gain sustained competitive advantage for the firm. In performing the new challenging roles, the HR professional must think outside the traditional organizational box of HRM and develop a more systematic and radically different approach to manage the human element to effectively support the firms business strategy formulation and implementation. For successful implementation of the business partner role, the HR manager needs to understand the companys business direction and its competitive position in the market place. Apart from this, to become a successful strategic partner, the HR manager must have competencies that have to do with the business issues i nvolved in strategy and strategy development, and ability to contribute to organizational design and change management (Lawler, III and Mohrman, 2003). The HR function, according to Rowden (1999) must change from a staff function that delivers prepackaged HR services to a service that helps managers create customized strategic plans to influence the effectiveness of company performance. The HR manager can play an important role in the formulation of strategy and providing the human resource required to support various strategies and strategic initiatives in the organization. He provides the leadership role in developing the human capital and the necessary capabilities to enact the st rategy and drive the implementation and change management processes to success (Lawler III Mohrman, 2003). Good human capital management is a prerequisite for successful execution of business strategies. According to Ulrich (1998), the modern HR professional must perform four complementary roles. The first role, administrative excellence, is important because it is an immediate way of contributing to the overall efficiency of the organization. As administration expert, he must rethink how work is done throughout the organization. The second role HR professionals must realize is that of employee champion. The HR manager must play the crucial role of employee advocate. He should be the employees voice in management discussion, offer employee opportunities for personal and professional growth; and provide resources that employees need to meet the demands put on them. The new role might also involve suggesting, that employees be given more control over their own work schedules. This is the issue of employee empowerment. Two additional roles the modern HR professional must realize are those of strategic partner and change agent. Being a strategic partner calls for an ongoing evaluation of the alignment between current HR practices and the business objectives of the firm, and a continuing effort to design policies and practices that maximize this alignment. HR practitioner should be held responsible for defining an organizational architecture that is, identifying the organizations way of doing business. Such framework as looking at the organizational components strategy, structure, rewards, processes, people, style and shared values may be adopted. This new knowledge will allow HR to add value to the executive team with confidence. Being a change agent the HR manager must play a key role in implementing and managing organization change, assessing potential, sources of resistance to change, and collaborating with line managers to overcome these barriers. The HR professionals role as a change agent is to replace resistance with resolve, planning with results and fear of change with excitemen t about its possibilities. These last two roles strategic partner and change agent are of particular interest to us because they represent the emerging strategic dimension of HR function SHRM. In addition to the above roles the HR practitioner needs to be a model and take on the specific role of integrating people strategies with business strategies in a way that advances the bottom line. Metzler (1998) adds that: the HR manager must play an active and guiding role in enabling the organization to choose its human resources well, invest in these people, support that growth and respect their needs, while fostering innovations needed to achieve the strategic business objectives. The HR professional operating under the SHRM system must chart roles that include early and active involvement in key strategic business choices. He must become the partner of decision makers in the organization, and sharing accountability for organizing and performing work. He must carry out effective monitoring to see that everyone in the organization, and at every organizational hierarchy, stay focused on share strategic priorities. He must challenge old ways and constantly promote innovation to enhance corporate performance and the firms competitiveness. Critically analyze how Human Resource Management achieves competitive advantage and what factors limit Human Resource Managements ability to act. Use the current organizational practices as reference. Johnson (2000) details, best practices or high performance work practices are described as HR methods and systems that have universal, additive, and positive effects on organizational performance. These practices maximize their influence on Companys performance through increased customer satisfaction, productivity, innovation and development of favorable reputation, HR planning, Recruitment Selection, Training and development, compensation, Performance management and employee relations are some such practices Why are employees in some companies happy to stick with the company while others look for a change? The reason is that some companies know how to take good care of their employees and provide a working environment that helps them retain their identity, while proving themselves and growing along with the company. HR practices encourage the growth of the organization as employees after all play a major role in the well-being of a company they deal with enhancing competencies, commitment and culture building Pfeffer (1998) proposed HR practices which according to the literature, can be expected to influence the firms performance. In his seminal work, Pfeffer (1998) proposed the following seven HRM practices:- (1) Employment Security (2) Selective Hiring, (3) Self-managed teams and Decentralization of Decision making (4) Comparatively high compensation contingent on Organizational performance, (5) Extensive Training, (6) Reduced status distinctions and barriers, including dress, language, office arrangements, and wage differences across levels, and (7) Extensive sharing of financial and performance information throughout the organization. A number of contemporary and good HR practices have resulted in effectively managing human resources, managing attrition problems and keeping them happy. Some of the best HR practices that are worth mentioning that have helped organizations in the creation of a highly satisfied and motivated work force may be identified as:- Selective Hiring- practice can ensure that the right people, with the desirable characteristics and knowledge, are in the right place.. Training and Development- may be related to firm performance in many ways. Firstly, training programmes increase the firm specificity of employee skills, which, it turn, increases employee productivity and reduces job dissatisfaction that results in decrease in employee turnover Job Security- creates a climate of confidence among employees which cultivates their commitment on the companys workforce. This develops a feeling of confidence and employees commit themselves to expend extra effort for the companys benefit. Flexi-time- Flexi-time is a practice, wherein an organisation gives its employees the opportunity of a flexible working hours arrangement. Performance-linked Incentives and Bonus- Every good performance is appreciated in the form of a pat on the back, bonuses or giving some other compensation for a job well done. The incentives can be implemented at the individual as well as the team level and it has been seen that this works wonders in getting the best out of the employees and boosts their morale. Performance Evaluation- A good evaluation and a fair evaluation system links the employees performance to the business goals and the priorities of an organization. Highlight Performers- High performers get better results, faster and closer to the targets. Organizations create profiles oftheir top performers and makethem visible through their intranet, display boards etc. Open House Discussions Rewarding Ideas- Employees are the biggest source of ideas. Successful organizations nurture ideas and they understand that employees who are actually working and know the business can provide the best ideas. Through this system, talented employees are identified and developed. DLF and Infosys have implemented the I4 Teams ( Ingenious, Idea, Incubation Implementation). Rewards and Recognition- recognition of talentis highly important, the primary goal of rewards and recognition is to improve performance of employees. Non-monetary recognition can be very motivating, helping to build feelings of confidence and satisfaction. Another importantgoal is increased employee retention and encourages others to give their best. Coaching and Mentoring Organisations use coaching and mentoring to train managers to address specific skill deficits, enhance performance and grow into expanded leadership roles. Cross-Functional Training- Organisations foster and harness talent by imparting in-house cross functional training to make their professionals multi-skilled and multitalented. Many organizations encourage their employees to be multi-skilled and add value to other functional aspects as well. Employees Assistance Programmes-These programmers are offered by many organizations in the corporate sector for the employees benefit. Every employee is challenged by personal problems and concerns. The EAPs are intendedto help employees deal with their personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance. Clearly Defined and Measurable KRAs- KRA is an acronym for `Key Results Area. Knowledge Sharing -Knowledge sharing sessions are periodically organized by the organizations to widen knowledge base of their employees and improve their effectiveness. Work Environment- A safe an]d happy workplace makes the employees feel good about being there. Each one is given importance and provided the security that gives them the motivation and incentive to stay. Providing equal employment opportunities for all, value of trained human resource, providing flexibility to employees especially to women at various life stages, sabbatical from corporate life, and extended maternity leave promoting practice of entrepreneurship by employees within the organization. Human Resource Management has taken a leading role in encouraging CSR activities at all levels. Companies like Wipro inculcate CSR values amongst its workforce right at the beginning during the induction process. The focus and attention of HRpractices today are on creating HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and consensus .Creating conditions in which people are willing to work with zeal, initiative and enthusiasm; make people feel like winners. Fair treatment of people and prompting redressal of grievances would pave the way for healthy work-place relations, prepare workers to accept technological changes by clarifying doubts External factors affecting Human Resource Planning Human resource planning can be defined as the process of identifying the number of people required by an organization in terms of quantity and quality. All human resource management activities start with human resource planning. So we can say that human resource planning is the principle/primary activity of human resource management. 1. Employment :- HRP is affected by the employment situation in the country i.e. in countries where there is greater unemployment; there may be more pressure on the company, from government to appoint more people. Similarly some company may force shortage of skilled labour and they may have to appoint people from other countries. 2. Technical changes in the society :- Technology changes at a very fast speed and new people having the required knowledge are required for the company. In some cases, company may retain existing employees and teach them the new technology and in some cases, the company have to remove existing people and appoint new. 3. Organizational changes :- Changes take place within the organization from time to time i.e. the company diversify into new products or close down business in some areas etc. in such cases the HRP process i.e. appointing or removing people will change according to situation. 4. Demographic changes :- Demographic changes refer to things referring to age, population, composition of work force etc. A number of people retire every year. A new batch of graduates with specialization turns out every year. This can change the appointment or the removal in the company. 5. Shortage of skill due to labour turnover :- Industries having high labour turnover rate, the HRP will change constantly i.e. many new appointments will take place. This also affects the way HRP is implemented. 6. Multicultural workforce :- Workers from different countries travel to other countries in search of job. When a company plans its HRP it needs to take into account this factor also. 7. Pressure groups:- Company has to keep in mind certain pleasure. Groups like human rights activist, woman activist, media etc. as they are very capable for creating problems for the company, when issues concerning these groups arise, appointment or retrenchment becomes difficult. Elaborate on what HR strategies can be implemented in this organization, to meet or exceed employees psychological contract in SOME (two or more) differing HR areas like HR planning, Reward Management, Performance Appraisals, Career Development, Recruitment, Training and Development and Industrial Relations. Psychological Contract A psychological contract represents the mutual beliefs, perceptions, and informal obligations between an employer and an employee. It sets the dynamics for the relationship and defines the detailed practicality of the work to be done. It is distinguishable from the formal written contract of employment which, for the most part, only identifies mutual duties and responsibilities in a generalized form Selective Hiring -The respondents were also asked to rank these practices in order of importance given to them by the organizations to each of them. 85% of the respondent agreed that Selective hiring was given most importance by their employers. Selectivity in recruitment is an important practice and is undertaken by almost every organization. This perhaps is the first step in achieving edge over others. Organisation follow the approach of selecting the right person with the right attitude and personality make up to provide the right kind of abilities and capabilities to take the organization toward higher growth. This is an aspect of talent retention as it implies matching a persons inherent skills, traits and personality to the jobs. Moreover when employees go through a rigorous selection process, they feel that their knowledge, experience, abilities and capabilities have got them the jobs in the organization. They feel valuable and high responsibility for performance is created , and the message i s that person matters. They are selected as they possess the desire to succeed and have the capacity for growth, learning and develop skills and capabilities beneficial to the organization. Reward Management 99% of the respondents agreed that good performance should be highlighted as it is motivating and leads to better performance.People are motivated by recognition and fair treatment. Higher the motivation higher will be the performance. When this performance is clubbed with adequate rewards employees are further motivated to perform. Such practices induce other employees to traverse on the same route of performance and reward, taking their firm on a path of growth and gaining competitive advantage. This dictates that people are responsible for enhanced levels of performance and profitability. However rewarding performance should be fair and equitable based on and linked to the performance of an employee Training Development 60% rated training and development as next important activity followed by knowledge sharing and job security in the order. However all the respondent agreed that training was extremely essential for their growth and development. 92% respondent that training should be need based and specific to the employees need and requirements. Worker autonomy, self managed teams, and even a high salaries are practices that equip and provide employees to make changes and improvements in products and processes . However, training will produce good resultsonly if the trained workers are permitted to employ their skills. If employees are to be given more information about operations, they need skills in employing that information to diagnose problems and suggest improvements. Training is an attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employees attitude or increasing their capabilities. Training provides the opportunity to raise the profile development activities in the organization. Training increases the commitment levels of employees and reduces the perceived growth inequality. Development reduces the turnover rate of employees provides advancement opportunities and also reduces absenteeism conclusion list of references

Abuse of the Innocent :: essays papers

Abuse of the Innocent Is it right to force a mouse to live it's live in a laboratory cage to test anti-cancer drug? How would you like to be squeezed in a cage with many other animals, not being able to touch the grass, run around and play,smell the flowers, or go for a walk in the warmth of the sunshine? Animal cruelty is wrong because we are hurting the Innocent. Animals experience and feel pain, fear , anxiety, stress, depression, boredom, joy and happiness. Animals are very intelligent, some ever learn our own language. Most people experience their first bond with an animal. Not only do they bring a companion and a friend into our lives, but also unconditional love and comfort. Pet shops and puppy mills mass produce, kennels are overcrowded and dirty, with very little nutrition. Cats/dogs are held in metal cages and lead miserable lives breeding continuously. Animals suffer and are neglected, some are sold to research laboratories. A large number of animals are raised for slaughter each year. A cow "has a natural life span of twenty- five to thirty years, but only survives for an average of five".1 An estimated "seventeen million raccoons, beavers, bobcats, lynx, coyotes, muskrats, nutria, and other animals are trapped each year in the United States for fur".2 They suffer from unbearable pain for several hours before their lives are ended by the trapper's club. Is the price of live worth the price of fur? Psalm 104, 27-30. All creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year: you provide the food they eat, with generous hands you satisfy their hunger. You turn your face away, they suffer. You stop their breath, they die and revert to dust. You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world. Disections have been practiced in biology classes for many years. Critics accuse some teachers of killing and argue that disection teaches nothing but cruelty. Nothing is learned by cutting up an animal that cannot be learned from photographs or drawings. Children do not learn about the human body by killing and disecting a person, they learn from diagrams and textbooks. Vivisection means "cutting alive". It is a worldwide practice involving millions of animals. Scientists say that vivisections may not necessarily be painful. Every living being with a brain, spinal column, and central nervous system feels pain. Animals were not created for entertainment. What do zoos really teach children? Abuse of the Innocent :: essays papers Abuse of the Innocent Is it right to force a mouse to live it's live in a laboratory cage to test anti-cancer drug? How would you like to be squeezed in a cage with many other animals, not being able to touch the grass, run around and play,smell the flowers, or go for a walk in the warmth of the sunshine? Animal cruelty is wrong because we are hurting the Innocent. Animals experience and feel pain, fear , anxiety, stress, depression, boredom, joy and happiness. Animals are very intelligent, some ever learn our own language. Most people experience their first bond with an animal. Not only do they bring a companion and a friend into our lives, but also unconditional love and comfort. Pet shops and puppy mills mass produce, kennels are overcrowded and dirty, with very little nutrition. Cats/dogs are held in metal cages and lead miserable lives breeding continuously. Animals suffer and are neglected, some are sold to research laboratories. A large number of animals are raised for slaughter each year. A cow "has a natural life span of twenty- five to thirty years, but only survives for an average of five".1 An estimated "seventeen million raccoons, beavers, bobcats, lynx, coyotes, muskrats, nutria, and other animals are trapped each year in the United States for fur".2 They suffer from unbearable pain for several hours before their lives are ended by the trapper's club. Is the price of live worth the price of fur? Psalm 104, 27-30. All creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year: you provide the food they eat, with generous hands you satisfy their hunger. You turn your face away, they suffer. You stop their breath, they die and revert to dust. You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world. Disections have been practiced in biology classes for many years. Critics accuse some teachers of killing and argue that disection teaches nothing but cruelty. Nothing is learned by cutting up an animal that cannot be learned from photographs or drawings. Children do not learn about the human body by killing and disecting a person, they learn from diagrams and textbooks. Vivisection means "cutting alive". It is a worldwide practice involving millions of animals. Scientists say that vivisections may not necessarily be painful. Every living being with a brain, spinal column, and central nervous system feels pain. Animals were not created for entertainment. What do zoos really teach children?

Macbeth and Macduff Essay

You have some excellent points, but I think you’re missing an essential part of the question here – compare and contrast. So far you’ve spoken about Macbeth in great detail and neglected the other two. The key here is balance. Say Macbeth is like so†¦. where as Banquo is like so†¦ and Macduff like so†¦ (this is contrasting) When comparing you are going to have to look at how each reacts in certain situations compared to Macbeth. For instance, Banquo reacts to the prophesies of the â€Å"weird sisters† with suspicion, mistrust and a certain level of foreboding whereas Macbeth reacts with elated disbelief, hangs on every word and sees it as the beginning of great things. And from his reaction the things said by the sisters were ambitions that were within him already whereas Banquo had no real ambitions to become father to a line of kings before that. That’s why he says â€Å"Speak to me who neither begs nor fears your favors nor your hate† – or something like that. And use quotes. A good essay always has good quotes woven into it. But don’t go wild with them. Just place one or two here and there to support a point. Also, personally I have never viewed Macduff and Banquo as heroes. They lack the heroic potency of a Shakespearean hero. Shakespearean heroes are dense characters and these two are pretty straightforward. With Shakespeare there’s always more to a hero than meets the eye. So I would say, it is clear beyond doubt that Macbeth is the hero of the play. But the key is – he’s a tragic hero, one who ends up a fallen hero. And aren’t such heroes always the best? Banquo and Macduff would have been boring heroes, clean, cut and straight as they are. They would have been so predictable. Whereas with Macbeth you could never know what he was going to do. In the beginning we are introduced to this good, noble guy who’s fatal flaw is ambition and we hope he won’t go through with Duncan’s murder but he does; we pity him, hope for his redemption even and are shocked by the things that he begins to do after the murder as he grows bolder and bolder.

Processed Foods and Its Link to the Increasing Obesity Epidemic

Processed Foods and its Link to the Increasing Obesity Epidemic Savannah Eisert English 214-54 Melanie Wise 15 April 2013 Eisert 1 Processed Foods and its Link to the Increasing Obesity Epidemic Lunchables, Twinkies, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, or even a trip to McDonald’s after school are just few of the memorable foods as a child that always seemed so exciting and delicious. As a child, I wondered why these scrumptious foods were always just a treat, but never an every day meal on my diet that I could enjoy. But what I did not know was the dirty truth behind these foods: what they are really made out of.Behind food corporation doors lies the truth about processed foods, what they are really made out of, and why these corporations keep producing these foods. Through the years, scientists have found different ways to transform this corn so it becomes more useful and cheaper to produce. As the corporations became more and more money hungry, the less they cared about t he health of Americans and more about how much processed foods they could sell. Ultimately, this leads to the most increasing health issue America has been facing over the years, and to this day: obesity.According to HBO’s â€Å"The Weight of the Nation: Confronting America’s Obesity Epidemic,† over one-third of American adults (roughly about 36%) are obese, and about 12. 5 million children and adolescents (ages 2-19), or 17%, are obese. Over the years, as processed food production increased, so did obesity because of money hungry food corporations increasing this productivity and government doing nothing to help stop the unhealthy lifestyles processed food has created. Background Information on Processed Food Before figuring out why processed foods are a main factor to obesity, one must know what processed foods are and why they are bad.So what exactly are processed foods made out of? Michael Pollan goes into deep research about what these processed foods are m ade out of within his nonfiction book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. According to Michael Pollan, an average American consumes about one ton of corn per year, but not before being heavily processed by a processing plant, and then reassembled as soft drinks, breakfast cereals, or snacks (85). As Eisert 2 science progressively grew, so did the certain ingredients within processed foods. For example, high-fructose corn syrup is used in a majority of foods because it tastes exactly as sweet as sucrose.Pollan’s research states that high-fructose corn syrup today â€Å"is the most valuable food product refined from corn, accounting for 530 million bushels every year† (89). Because high-fructose corn syrup is easy to use and cheap to get, most food corporations use it to create the perfect masterpiece. For example, Pollan talks about how that the third age of processed foods â€Å"push[es] aside butter to make shelf space for margarine, replace fruit juice with juice drinks and then entirely juice-free drinks like Tang, cheese with Cheez Whiz, and whipped cream with Cool Whip† (91).With the help of high-fructose corn syrup, food alternatives can easily be made for the same satisfaction. Because of these processed foods, obesity begins to increase. But how exactly does processed food cause obesity? Michael Pollan investigates the truth behind food science and it’s ways to get people to eat more. Pollan states, â€Å"The power of food science lies in its ability to break foods down into their nutrient parts and then reassemble them in specific ways that, in effect, push our evolutionary buttons, fooling the omnivore’s inherited food selection system† (107).Since an average adult can eat only about fifteen hundred pounds of food a year, food corporations are trying to find ways to â€Å"get people to spend more money for the same three-quarters of tof a ton of food, or entice them to actually eat more than that† (Pollan 95). So if a person eats more than normal, his or her weight will increase as they are intaking more of these processed foods that entices people to eat more. But what specifically triggers a person’s body to eat more than they naturally should?Food systems in a person can â€Å"cheat by exaggerating their energy density, tricking a sensory apparatus that evolved to deal with markedly less dense whole foods† (Pollan 107). So by increasing this energy density in processed foods, obesity problems seen within America continue to rise. Eisert 3 The Increase in Processed Food and Obesity Over the Years The beginning of processed food did not recently happen, but has been around since the mid-1800’s. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he explains the journey of how corn developed to what it is today. In 1866, â€Å"corn syrup . . . ecame the first cheap domestic substitute for cane sugar† (Pollan 88). Then as corn refining started to be perfe cted, high-fructose corn syrup became quite popular. Pollan states that high-fructose corn syrup â€Å"is the most valuable food product refined from corn, accounting for 530 million bushels every year† (89). Once these different food processes were discovered, processed foods began making their way into the country. At first, the point of having processed food was to free â€Å"people from nature’s cycles of abundance and scarcity,† so to have food preserved longer (Pollan 91).But as time went on, the goal changed from â€Å"liberating food from nature† (Pollan 91) to â€Å"improve[ing] on nature† (Pollan 91). Since processed foods began to be so easy to make with the help of high-fructose corn syrup, the cost to make it was relatively cheap compared to the natural farmers. Pollans statistics show that â€Å"a dollar spent on a whole food such as eggs, $0. 40 finds its way back to the farmer . . . by comparison, George Naylor will see only $0. 04 of every dollar spent on corn sweeteners† (95). So ultimately, the increase in processed foods have to do with its easy and cheap ingredients.Based on Michael Pollan’s studies, he found out that many of the reasons why obesity has increased so much is due to the increased use of high-fructose corn syrup in the foods people eat. Pollan begins by saying that â€Å"corn accounts for most of the surplus calories we’re growing and most of the surplus calories we’re eating† (103). With today’s advanced technology, the country has gone from being able to process corn into two different things, to now creating over hundreds of things with the help of a processor and corn.Pollan’s statistics show that â€Å"since 1985, an American’s annual consumption of high-fructose corn syrup has gone from Eisert 4 forty-five pounds to sixty-six pounds† (104). On top of the high-fructose corn syrup people intake, the other sugars also must be accounted for. Therefore, this excessive amount of sugars in processed food is the main cause to the increase of obesity in America. Who is to Blame? Behind all the corn, the processing, and the food that results, is the man in charge: food corporations. Because of food corporations greed for money, processed foods have escalated out of control, causing a serious health epidemic: obesity.Michael Pollan, also author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, wrote an article for the New York Times called â€Å"Unhappy Meals. † Pollan makes a very convincing point at the beginning of the article that gives a serious blame to the people who created and have been continuing the making of processed foods: These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why?Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat (1). His claim is very much true because these food corporations try to trick the customers into thinking food products are okay to eat, when in reality, they are terrible for a person’s health in the long run. Food corporations have come to a point where they are more interested in how well their company is doing rather than the country’s health. So ultimately, the rise in obesity is because of these food productions little interest to care about the health of the country.In Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he proves that food corporations are only interested in the money rather than the well-being of the country. He says that a â€Å"cheaper agricultural commodities [are] driving food companies to figure out new and ever more elaborate ways to add value and so induce us to buy more† (Pollan 96). So if these companies are driven by the Eisert 5 cheap f ood productions, they will make sure sales to the people of the country increase, therefore increasing the obesity epidemic. Why blame these food corporations for the obesity epidemic?Aren’t they just trying to help the economy by selling the food they produce? Yes, this is very true, but that does not mean these corporations have the right to sell the country unhealthy, life threatening foods. According to Michael Pollan’s research in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, American’s high-fructose corn syrup intake has gone up from forty-five pounds to sixty-six pounds (104). Basically, Pollan states that Americans are â€Å"eating and drinking all that high-fructose corn syrup on top of the sugars we were already consuming† (104).Just because big corporations, like Coca-Cola and Pepsi figured out high-fructose corn syrup was a few cents cheaper than sugar, they completely switched from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup because â€Å"consumers didn’t see m to notice the substitution† (104). Pollan’s research shows that soda is most of the sixty-six pounds of high-fructose corn syrup that American consume, and by using the ingredient that causes obesity into one of the most popular drink is just cruel because food corporations target that area of consumption.So it is quite obvious the corporations do not care about the rise in obesity because they keep using high-fructose corn syrup in most of the foods consumed by Americans. In another study, George A Bray from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition makes interesting connections in his article â€Å"Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play a Role in the Epidemic of Obesity† between the rise in obesity and the rising intake of high-fructose corn syrup in America.His studies show that â€Å"the consumption of HFCS increased > 1000% between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the changes in intake of any other food or food group† (Bray 537). With the rise in consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, the increase of obesity in America connects with these statistics. Bray also concludes that Eisert 6 â€Å"collective data suggest[s] that overconsumption of beverages sweetened with HFCS, [or high-fructose corn syrup,] and containing > 50% free fructose and the increased intake of total fructose may play a role in the epidemic of obesity† (542).Bray’s statistics support Pollan’s beverage assumptions because it goes to show that food corporations are willing to increase high-fructose corn syrup even if the epidemic of obesity increases with its increase in production. Resolution As more people become aware of the obesity epidemic in America, they wish to change their lifestyles in order to be healthy again. Even though these people know what is going on, they still do not change their lifestyles. But they have good reasons, according to Michael Pollan’s reasonings in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan explains how the food corporations have â€Å"push[ed] our evolutionary buttons, fooling the omnivore’s inherited food selection system â€Å" (107). Even though humans are not meant to eat these foods, the sensory apparatus in within humans have evolved to always crave these processed foods. It has even gotten to a point where â€Å"people with limited money to spend on food would spend it on the cheapest calories they can find† (Pollan 108). These are perfect examples to why the processed food lifestyle continues, and why the epidemic of obesity continues to increase. So the real question is how does America resolve the epidemic of obesity?Yes, food corporations are to blame, but they will keep producing processed foods to help their economic success. So as a country, alternatives and powerful influences must be introduced in order to decrease obesity. Michael Pollan’s article â€Å"Unhappy Meals† in The New York Times, has lots of certain advi ce to steer away from the tricks of processed foods and have America move into a healthier lifestyle. He suggests that processed foods imply they are based around important nutrients to help support human health, when in reality it gives the opposite effects to the body.Eisert 7 Pollan does in fact state that the healthy lifestyle is â€Å"harder to do in practice, given the food environment we now inhabit and the loss of sharp cultural tools to guide us through it† (11), but he gives readers simple ways to start a healthy lifestyle. Some of the most simple advice includes â€Å"eat[ing] according to the rules of a traditional food culture† (Pollan 12). By eating natural foods that are locally grown and produced, one will know how it is being made and by whom, so there are no mysteries or health questions within these foods.Lastly, â€Å"avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that c ontain high-fructose corn syrup† (Pollan 11). Just by following these two simple steps, a person can make their health that much better by doing the little things to help themselves. Yes, there are other alternatives, but they become confusing and technical. If a person is simply aware of what is being put into their body, then a healthy lifestyle can be achieved. Even though people are personally trying to become healthier, what about the people that are not?They need influential and powerful support in order to avoid the obesity epidemic. The government would be the perfect influence to helping change the obesity epidemic. But in Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the government does little to help even though they are aware of the issue: While the surgeon general is raising alarms over the epidemic of obesity, the president is signing farm bills designed to keep the river of cheap corn flowing, guaranteeing that the cheapest calories in the superma rket will continue to be the unhealthiest (108).So if the government won’t even help, who will? That is where the people come in. Becoming aware of the problem and knowing what a person is putting into their bodies will be the only way to end the increase in the production of processed food, and to furthermore decrease obesity. In conclusion, as processed food production increased, so did obesity because of money hungry food corporations increasing this productivity and government doing nothing to Eisert 8 help stop the unhealthy lifestyles processed food has created.Through the statistics found in the research it shows how the increases simultaneously occurred at the same time, therefore processed food is a major factor to an increase in obesity. Work Cited Bray , George A, Samara Joy Nielsen, and Barry M Popkin. â€Å"Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. † 2004 American Society for Clinical Nutrition. 79. 4 (2003): 537-543. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.. Ebbeling, Cara, Dorota B Pawlak, and David S Ludwig. â€Å"Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure. † Lancet. 360. 331 (2002): 473–482. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. . Pollan, Michael. Omnivore's Dilemma. New York City: A Penguin Book, 2006. Print. Pollan, Michael. â€Å"Unhappy Meal. † New York Times. 28 01 2007: 1-12. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. . Research Paper Feedback In reading your research paper, I have considered the following features of the document. Any areas that need work are highlighted oIntroduction – grabs the readers’ attention; introduces the topic; contains a clear, strong thesis oContent – covers the topic fully; supports assertions with information from reliable sources; includes a reference page Organization – is logically organized; ideas are grouped and sequenced to aide the readers’ understanding oParagraph Development— ¶s contain specific examples/evidence (in the form of quotes and paraphrases) and explanations oTopic Sentences—introduce the subject of each paragraph; create idea bridges that link  ¶s to each other and/or thesis oTransitions—logical connections between ideas are clear & smooth oSentence Fluency—sentences are fluent and varied in construction and length (not choppy); quotes are smoothly incorporated oMLA Format—sources are cited; both inline citations and reference page citations conform to MLA style Proofreading—free of usage, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Here are the grades and what they mean: oAn â€Å"A† paper excels in all the areas listed above. The paper covers the topic fully and answers the readers’ questions. The paper uses evidence from multiple, credible sources to back up claims. Sources are cited according to MLA style guidelines. The writing is clearly organized, excellently developed, fluent, and nearly error free. oA â€Å"B† paper does a good job in all the areas above. The paper offers a thoughtful, complete response to the prompt. It is clearly organized and well developed.The sentences are consistently readable and fluent with few usage errors. Areas that need work are highlighted above. oA â€Å"C† paper is a competent response to the prompt, but may have weaknesses in one or more of the areas listed above. The weaknesses interfere with the successful communication of the writer’s ideas. Areas that need work are highlighted above. oA paper earns an â€Å"NP† if it does not answer the prompt and/or is seriously weak in one or more of the areas listed above. The paper’s weaknesses make it very difficult to read and/or understand. Areas that need work are highlighted above. Comments and Grade: