How occupational stress affects mental health Essay

Stress is a normal condition that affects many people. However too much stress leads to both mental and physical health. When a person has, too much stress there is a high probability that a person will stop functioning normally. Severe stress also can also lead to breakdown. This can be observed through the behavior that a person exposes. This means that a person changes the set of patterns of behaviors. Their performance in day to day duties are also affected and become worse as days pass. A person tends to lose interest and the ability of functioning as a normal person. These are obvious signs of nervous breakdown. Severe stress cause mental disorders in people. This happens especially if the stress becomes severe. It is good for one to deal with stress because of the effects it has on the mental health. This is because some of the factors that lead to stress are complicated for the mind to handle. Stress compels one part of the body against another part of the mind. This leads to pulling and pushing against the positive forces. This then leads to compression of emotions and thoughts. This makes a person to have feelings of loss of control of life. If a person dwells on the negative feelings this makes the person to have high possibilities of being subject to mental illness. The mental health is affected as stress leads to change of the equilibrium in the brain, which applies pressure to the mind. Lack of reinstatement of the equilibrium leads to chemical imbalances and diseases. In case the mind has some faulty areas, this makes a person have difficulty in coping with stress. This leads to more negative thinking including suicidal thoughts (The British Psychological Society, 1993). There are several symptoms of stress and anxiety caused at work. Stress at work is caused by work pressure, relationships, at6 work or issues related to finances. The nature of work has changed over the last century and is still undergoing change drastically. With these drastic change, stress is inevitable as workers try to cope with the changes. Stress by the workers is dangerous as it affects not only their health but also the health of the organization. The symptoms of work stress vary from person to person depending on the situation or how ling a person is subjected to the stress and the stress intensity. Some of the typical symptoms of work stress include lack of concent6tartion in one responsibility, frequent absenteeism without valid excuses, some workers turn to substance abuse and one show some signs of frustrations and extreme anger, which is usually directed to fellow workers (Tetrick, 1987). Workers who are at high risk of getting stress and anxiety are the ones who are experiencing job insecurity as a result of the metamorphic changes that may be occurring in the work place. Reorganizations, downsizing and takeovers are some of the changes that occur in organizations that lead employees to have stress and become anxious, as sometimes they do not understand where future in the organization lies. High demand for performance also leads to stress and anxiety for instance increased workload, long hours of working and intense pressure to perform at peak levels but without increase of the pay. Workers who are faced with these kinds of p-pressures have possibility of getting anxious and stressed. People who their believes conflict and those who are unable to cope with workplace culture also have high possibilities of getting stress and anxiety (Tetrick, 1987). Example of workplace cultures that may lead to stress include adapting to dress code, communication pattern, hierarchy and the behavioral patterns. If a person experiences stress and anxiety as a result of the above and does not seek help the stress and anxiety may be worse leading to mental and physical problem. There are various ways in which individual can deal with stress. It is necessary for one to be able to change with time so that to prevent stress. Being able to change with time makes a person feel more secure. Foe example, in work places it is important for an individual to be continually prepared for any change that might arise so that to survive and avoid stress. It is also good for one to find emotional and moral support from friends and family members. It is good to find time to remotivate and reenergize whenever one feels down. This prevents the stress from escalating to more severe problem. Individuals who turn to substance abuse, as a way of relieving stress should also avoid this because substance abuse acts as way of increasing the stress. It important to develop positive attitude towards every situation in life including stressful situations. This is done to prevent situations such as fear anger and negative thinking, which leads to stress. This can be done by employing personal growth techniques such as exercises, breathing and meditation. Work place stress can also be reduced by celebration of accomplishment of other people’s accomplishment. In case of stress that is chronic, it is advisable to seek assistance from a health profession (Koeske, Kirk & Koeske, 1993). This knowledge regarding stress and anxiety and the ways to handle them is important as it help me understand that in some cases they may not be inevitable in the workplace. By understanding this, it is important to understand the way to prevent them from occurring and way I can do to stop them from affecting my performance. The knowledge is also helpful as it make me understand ways I can help my colleagues whom I find with the problem in the future.

Culture of American Indians Essay

In Against the Grain, environmental journalist Richard Manning (2004) argues that notions of class and property are a direct result of the emergence of agricultural civilizations beginning 10,000 years ago. This is because of the social necessities demanded by distribution and storage of surplus. Conversely, he points out the contrastingly egalitarian nature of the hunter-gatherer lifestyles and the deeper social ties which result from cooperative food acquisition. Consider for example, the Plains Indians of North America prior to the arrival of European settlers, who would utilize their knowledge of buffalo movement patterns to haze and herd them, towards a cliff. By diverting the stampede of a large number of animals to their sudden vertical death, they would obtain a caloric pay-off through minimal effort, but â€Å"required social organization and sharing, both of the labor and of the proceeds.† (Manning, 2004; South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit, 2008) Yet despite this element of uncertainty in hunting and gathering, Richard Steckel notes that towards the end of the 19th century, the Plains Indians were among the tallest people in the world and argues despite the numerous technological and agricultural advances they did not have, they were surprisingly well-nourished compared to whites, indicating that agriculture should not be taken for granted as the sign of social advancement it is purported be, Manning notes that, in the absence of storage means and preservation technologies, it was impossible for the Plains Indians to hoard bison meat. Therefore wealth accumulation was impossible. As such, â€Å"communal feasting became the payoff for social organization,† argues Manning Agriculture on the hand, created social stratification in the form of governance, hierarchy and other institutions necessary for the management of food surplus. Although there is certain room for question to be made about the true egalitarianism of the hunter gatherer cultures of the Plains Indians, they certainly lacked some of the rigidly defined political structures which characterized those belonging to the cultures of Europeans at the point of first contact. Comanche leadership was rather informal, usually identifiable by consensus rather than by any formal nomination to the position and the longevity of a war chiefs authority lasted only as long as they were at war. (Bial, 2000) The Blackfoot people maintained a flexible social structure, a band, which was in constant flux. As such, social relationships were not determined solely by kinship but by residence. In modern times, the case for the difference between hunter-gatherer Native Americans such as the Plains Indians of pre-modern times and the agricultural Native Americans can be observed in the difference between the Inuit peoples, who live a predominantly hunter-gatherer lifestyle out in the Arctic regions (Snow, 1996) and the peoples of the Cherokee and Lakota. The Inuit are noted for their strong sense of community and flexible division of labor among gender lines. The Cherokee and the Lakota, however, have now long been agricultural societies characterized by their class and gender divisions, as well as their contentious disposition towards identity and blood quantum laws. REFERENCES Bial, R. (2000) Lifeways: The Comanche. New York: Benchmark Books. Manning, R. (2004) Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization. New York: North Point Press. â€Å"Buffalo and the Plains Indians.† (2008, April 4) South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit. Retrieved July 3, 2008 from: http://www.sdhistory.org/mus/ed/Buffalo%20Kit%20Activiteis/Teacher%20Resource.pdf Snow, D. R.. (1996) â€Å"The first Americans and the differentiation of hunter-gatherer cultures.† North America. Eds. Bruce G. Trigger and Wilcomb E. Washburn. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Bureaucracy in Public Administration

THE TENETS OF BEURAUCRATIC APPROACH IN THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION INTRODUCTION A bureaucracy is a way of administratively organizing large numbers of people who need to work together. Organizations in the public and private sector, including universities and governments, rely on bureaucracies to function. The term bureaucracy literally means â€Å"rule by desks or offices,† a definition that highlights the often impersonal character of bureaucracies.Even though bureaucracies sometimes seem inefficient or wasteful, setting up a bureaucracy helps ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways by defining everyone’s roles within a hierarchy. Bureaucracy is an organization that is structured with regulations set in place to control activity. The bureaucratic stricture is usually implemented in large organizations and governments. It is represented by an assembly of knowledge, power, and Hierarchy.The Knowledge of the organization consists of the te chnical expertise and the understandings necessary to carry out specialized tasks, along with the capacity to gain more information as needed. The power is the central political resource, enables the organization to change in spite of what others may think. Hierarchy is the arrangement of people holding authority over others with the ability to command behavior and punish lack of compliance. Bureaucracies are meant to be orderly, fair, and highly efficient. Which means having a clear-cut division of labor is necessary.The principles of Bureaucracy hierarchy and of levels of authority mean a firmly ordered system of super and subordination, in which a super supervises their subordination. Such a system offers those governed the possibility of appealing the decision of super to higher authority, in a regulated manner. Within any bureaucratic authority there are principals of organization orthodox. According to the Weberian model, created by German sociologist Max Weber, a bureaucracy always displays the following characteristics:- Hierarchy: A bureaucracy is set up with clear chains of command so that veryone has a boss. At the top of the organization is a chief who oversees the entire bureaucracy. Power flows downward. Specialization: Bureaucrats specialize in one area of the issue their agency covers. This allows efficiency because the specialist does what he or she knows best, and then passes the matter along to another specialist. Division of labor: Each task is broken down into smaller tasks, and different people work on different parts of the task. Standard operating procedure (SOP): Also called formalized rules, SOP informs workers about how to handle tasks and situations.Everybody always follows the same procedures to increase efficiency and predictability so that the organization will produce similar results in similar circumstances. SOP can sometimes make bureaucracy move slowly because new procedures must be developed as circumstances change. In the p ast, organizations were commonly structured as bureaucracies. A bureaucracy is a form of organization based on logic, order, and the legitimate use of formal authority. Bureaucracies are meant to be orderly, fair, and highly efficient.Their features include a clear-cut division of labor, strict hierarchy of authority, formal rules and procedures, and promotion based on competency. Management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures, the Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with nonelected officials. Public administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work.As a â€Å"field of inquiry with a diverse scope† its â€Å"fundamental goal†¦ is to advance management and policies so that government can function. † Some of the various definitions which have been offered for the term are: â€Å"the management of public programs†; the â€Å"translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day† and â€Å"the study of government decision making, the analysis of the policies themselves, the various inputs that have produced them, and the inputs necessary to produce alternative policies. Public administration is â€Å"centrally concerned with the organization of government policies and programmes as well as the behavior of officials (usually non-elected) formally responsible for their conduct† Many unelected public servants can be considered to be public administrators, including heads of city, county, regional, state and federal departments such as municipal budget directors, human resources (H. R. ) administrators, city managers, census managers, state [mental health] directors, and cabinet secretaries.Public administrators are public servants working in public departments and agencies, at all levels of go vernment. In contrast to private enterprises, government-owned corporation or municipality owned enterprises are not always or even usually managed on the basis of the profit motive. A deficit in this latter case does not spell the end of the enterprise or even the beginning of reforms, because it is generally assumed that the reason the enterprise exists is to ‘render useful services to the public' (i. e. mploy a large part of the local population as its workforce or charge an artificially low price for its products or services), not become a slave of the profit motive. What is notable about the very idea of bureaucracy is its severe rational modernism. Political modernity and bureaucracy are largely symbiotic; the rise of the state paralleled the rise of the bureaucracy. One of the philosophers of the modern economizing state and the modern bureaucratic idea is Adam Smith (1723–1790), whose defense of the division of labor promoted the bureaucratization of the early W estphalia state.Indeed, Smith's ideas are elemental to Weber's core tenets of bureaucracy: the rigid division of responsibilities and tasks and the economization of organizational forms. Whereas Smith advocated the division of labor in order to promote efficient economic growth, Weber suggests the division of labor for the efficient production of goods or services. Inevitably, bureaucracy was conceived as, and has become, an economizing tool for the rationalization of complex and ambiguous environments. The rationality of bureaucracy is a central idea within Weber's ideal type.In fact, Weber himself suggests that bureaucracy be a rational-legal form designed to promote the rationalization of organizational tasks and goals. The rationalizing tendency of bureaucracy, while being one of the elements most open to contemporary criticism, was also its most attractive quality for the architects of Enlightenment-guided governance, who sought alternatives to earlier forms of despotic and ari stocratic dominance. The adoption of the bureaucratic form by theorists of liberal government has its roots in the legal protection of natural (rational) rights for all.In fact, embedded in the rationalization structure of bureaucracy is the elimination of particularism the diminishment of universal individual rights for the sake of traditional forms of class or ethnic domination. Those responsible for the French Revolution pined, within their writings, for the rational nonexceptionalism of the bureaucratic form. Indeed, as Maxim lien de Robespierre (1758–1794) and later Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) identified, the ancient regime was epitomized by the irrational occupation of power by a centralized bureaucracy of the ruling class.The bureaucratic organization of rational-legal authority involves the following necessary criteria: the specification of jurisdictional areas, the hierarchical organization of roles, a clear and intentionally established system of decisi on-making rules, the restriction of bureau property to use by the bureau, the compensation by salary (not spoils) of appointed officials, and the professionalization of the bureaucratic role into a tenured lifelong career.The idea of bureaucracy suggests that rules, norms, merit, regulations, and stability are paramount to the operation of government. The rule-bound nature of bureaucracy has been widely critiqued in modern political and sociological analyses; however, the number of alternative forms of organization that have received as much consideration is limited.

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

No topic - Essay Example Although in reality this short piece of writing encompasses and deals with some major aspects of the life of human beings such success, failures and fears. The writer begins the story with a tone of zeal for life when she talks about the long winter days where people plan their routines on hourly basis. â€Å"It never got very dark. Your life parted and opened in sunlight† (Dillard, p. 94). It implies that the writer’s life as well as the lives of her fellow human beings was a busy one where everyone was a participant in the marathon of success. However some were highly successful like Rahm who had the power to entrance and enchant people with his agility and experience while others were on a lesser level like other pilots who knew the same acrobatics but could not perform all of them at once. Since the very beginning of the story Dillard provides the readers with the comparison between the lives of successful and the lesser successful people in life which also inspires an individual to work harder and better to prosper. As it is also apparent from the antics of the blue swallow as well, â€Å"the swallow climbed high ov er the runway, held its wings oddly, tipped them†¦ the inspired swallow† (Dillard, p. 97). Dillard also explores the psychological impact of fear that leads to failure and the insecurities an individual might harbor regardless of his success and prosperity in life. â€Å"Sitting invisible at the controls of a distant plane, he became an agent and the instrument of art†¦ robed in the plane he was featureless as a priest† (Dillard, p. 110). These lines highlight that success does not make an individual perfect or invincible every person has his fair share of fears, insecurities and troubles however the intelligent ones just cover their weaknesses better than the lesser intelligent ones. Furthermore regardless of the dexterity and expertise that one might have it does not guarantee that they are

The Competitiveness of the US Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Competitiveness of the US Economy - Essay Example For the past 15 years, the nation has maintained its position as the most competitive economy in the world amidst the challenges in the rapidly evolving global environment. During 2007, the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook together with the World Economic Forum cited that US is "arguably the country with the most productive and innovative potential in the world" (Reuters 2007). Amidst this regard for US competitiveness, this paper argues that the economy should watch out and safeguard this status in the face of recession it is undergoing. A country's competitiveness is indicated not just by economic strength but through the creation of a market environment which promotes healthy and unbiased competition among industry players. In order to be competitive, leaders should pursue policies which treat players equally. In an extreme case, competitiveness is indicated by a market where there is no government intervention (McConnell & Brue 2002). However, in the world today this system is not feasible and thus, competition is promoted through little or balanced intervention from the state. This paper believes that US economy is by far the most competitive economy in world noting the government's quest in promoting efficiency and fair play.

Health, Safety and Security in the Salon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Health, Safety and Security in the Salon - Essay Example The staff can pose health risks to clients when they use wet hands in washing the hair and when working with wet hair. The clients and the staffs normally suffer from dermatitis, increased skin sensitivity and severely dry skin. The use of wet hands in delivering the services to customers occurs when there is no usage of non latex gloves by the staff. In addition, the staff may not have necessary training to dry their hands thoroughly and to reduce the moisture when handling wet hair. Further, the staffs are not provided with non perfumed hand cream to ensure that their hands are dry (Green, 2004). Hair dressing products and chemicals also pose safety and health risks to clients and to the staff. Lightening bleach products may cause eye or skin irritation to the staff and clients. This is due to the purchasing of dusty bleaches and their usage in the salon. Dusty bleaches affect the health of clients and the staff because they lead to breathing allergies and irritation. Other chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide used as a developer or neutralizer may also cause eye or skin irritation if not used well by the staff. This is due to the inability to use the recommended concentrations. Hydrogen peroxide may also be stored closer to light, heat and other products. Further, oxidative colorants also cause eye and skin irritation to the workers in the salon as well as the clients. Wrong usage of oxidative colorants is due to the inability of the staff to check the customer history of allergy so as to prevent damage to the scalp.

Homer argues thaat human victory over desire is possible because Essay

Homer argues thaat human victory over desire is possible because - Essay Example (Barnouw, 1) Unlike other Gods, Homer chooses to remain mortal and in such a life he has to face number of challenges and situations where he has to choose between his desire and his duty. His biggest challenge was the resistance of temptation. The first temptation he and his men had to face was while encountering sweet lotus plant. â€Å"They fell in, soon enough, with Lotos Eaters, who showed no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet Lotos to our friends...† (IX. 98-100) They thought if they ate the plant it was not a bad idea, but to resist the plant was a much wiser option. â€Å"†¦but those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotos, never cared to report, nor return: they longed to stay forever, browsing on that native bloom, forgetful of their homeland† (IX. 101-104). Homer not only resisted this tempting plant but also forced his soldiers to get back into the ship, when he said, â€Å" I forced them, eyes full of tears, into our hollow ships, dragged them underneath the rowing benches, and tied them up†. (IX. 105-107) Yet another temptation they had to face was Seirenes. She would try to lure men with her beauty and music, â€Å"Square in your ship’s path are Seirenes, crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by...† (XII. 101-104) If men are not able to show their resistance towards Seirenes, they could fell into her clutches and no body could save them from death. â€Å"Woe to the innocent who hears that sound! He will not see his lady nor his children in joy, crowding about him, home from sea; the Seirenes will sing his mind away on their sweet meadow lolling†¦(XII. 50-54)† Sirens also tried to tempt Odysseus when she said that, â€Å"Come this way, honored Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans, and stay your ship, so that you can listen here to our singing; for no one else has ever sailed past this place in his black ship until he has listened to the honey-sweet voice that issues from our lips; then goes on well pleased knowing more than ever he did; for we

Securities Act of 1934 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Securities Act of 1934 - Essay Example SEC offers a one-time registration of all the securities that wish to trade on the national stock exchange. The registration incorporates companies with 2000 shareholders or 500 unaccredited investors. Moreover, the company’s assets should amount to $10 million. Through regulating voting information calls for full exposure as an objective of the proxy solicitation. Here, representing the interests of shareholders and earlier filling is priority. The proxy statement should be detailed with the soliciting information. The 1934 Act antifraud provision entails regulating the propriety of sales within the marketplace. The specific sections of the antifraud act are Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. Here, it is stated that withholding of information interferes with the free market, and it is committing fraud through violating Section 10(b). Lastly, SEC objective calls for periodic filing under the 1934 Act. Companies have to file a quarter and annual financial reports known as 10-Q and 1 0-K respectively.

Critique of practice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Critique of practice - Case Study Example Aside from taking the responsibility of looking after her health, she has to deal with the problem of looking for a place to stay where she can effectively keep herself clean and avoid possible relapses. Her background shows that she was close to her father, who died of AIDS at the age of 68. Her mother neglected and abused her. She has sisters who all live in Tallahassee. Generally looking at the environment she grew up in, it is clear that there was not enough moral and emotional support from her family. The lack of guidance from her parents and the kind of relationship she had with them may have led her to resort to drugs and alcohol. She began drinking at the age of 12 and smoking Crack at the age of 28. Although she does not like the environment, the client feels safe living with her boyfriend. However, this uneasiness with her surrounding creates possibilities and risks of her relapsing again. Although she luckily receives help from her friends and from their church, it seems that the client needs more help than what is already given her. She claims she believes in and follows the 12-step program and attends Alcohol Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. The client's major concerns include preventing relapses, dealing with her alcohol and drug dependency and staying in a decent house. Of these, her primary complaint is how to avoid further relapses from happening. This complaint was conveyed through a discussion, which was a slow transition from general information to more specific details. It started out with the client's narration of her present life circumstance, and it narrowed down to the things that bother her the most. The agency involved is St Luke's Recovery Treatment Center which offers several health-related services such as assessment and referrals, psychiatric services, and health care. The agency also conducts recreational activities, relapse prevention workshops, crisis intervention, and spiritual counseling and observances, and other religious services in collaboration with some organizations like Catholic Charities. The program most applicable and helpful to the client is the one offered for alcohol- and drug-dependent individuals. This program includes providing residence for the client, day treatment, outpatient, prevention and aftercare (St. Luke's Addiction Recovery Center, n.d.). The interventions include mental counseling, spiritual healing, health screening and monitoring, and crisis interventions. Since the agency focuses and aims at empowering individuals to cope with their problems and provides programs that assist clients in jumpstarting better lifestyles and personal growth, it helps a lot in dealing with the client. Except for minor problems with the schedule (insufficient time allotted for discussions), there were no other hindrances in working with the agency since they have a similar goal of making the client's situation better. After several sessions of speaking with the client and her concerns, several plans

There are a number of problems associated with the rise of English as Essay

There are a number of problems associated with the rise of English as a world language - Essay Example Different factors work together in attaining such a privileged position. Research personals have pointed out various reasons that help to attain the position. In this regard David Crystal has the opinion that the military power is crucial. He rightly comments: â€Å"a language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people- especially their military power† (Burns & Coffin 2001, p. 30). The international economy plays a vital role in determining the future of the English language. Due to globalization the patterns of trade is undergoing drastic changes and new working practices emerge powerfully. For example screen based labour is getting wider acceptance nowadays and it affects the use of the English language in composite ways. At present one can observe a perceptible increase in the number of persons learning and using the English language but a close examination will prove that the long term growth of English is comparatively lesser than its former status. The 20th century witnessed many scientific, economic, and cultural developments and in fact it boosted the relevance of English as well. But it cannot be expected that it will last long as there is a trend of wider mixed language use in the recent years. Mainly four sectors can be identified where English may loose its dominance. Say for the audio- visual market, computer based communication, the associated pro cesses in economic globalization and foreign language training in developing countries where the regional trade may use other language of economic importance. For hundreds of years the English language has been dominated over the mono lingual speakers but now it is expected to have a bilingual future. Language professionals have the opinion that an increasing proportion of the world’s population will be fluent speakers of more than one language in the coming years. It really will affect the dominance of English over the world population. Social value shifts also affect the language of English in a negative way. The actions of governments, institutions and individuals have helped the promotion of English in the recent years. But it was guided by the logic of economic rationalism. Now there is a great change in the public opinion that quality of life is as important as the income. These type values shifts will question the ethical issues associated with the dominance of a world language like English and cause a reassessment of its impact on other cultures (Graddol 1997). The advantages of a world language like English are several. For example in business it can be very important as a medium as the business personals working together may vary of their nationalities. There a common language has got such a great relevance and it decides the effects of their dealings. But at the same time it has got certain demerits or disadvantages as well. First of all the existence of a global language will make an elite monolingual linguistic class and they will have a dismissive and complacent attitude towards other languages. Moreover the accessibility of a common language will make the people lazy of learning other languages. They will be reluctant to utilize such an opportunity though they get a chance. Some times the global language can cause the disappearance for a minority language and it may belittle the necessity of such languages. Above all the practice of a sin gle language can be a threat to social harmony and mutual understanding. This has got historical evidence. The American civil war, the Spanish civil war, Vietnam War former Yugoslavia and contemporary Northern Ireland are

The Siete Partidas in regards to the Jewish people in Iberia Term Paper - 1

The Siete Partidas in regards to the Jewish people in Iberia - Term Paper Example They also introduced Islam and new ideologies. The end result was constant conflict and stratification. The Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) had to tighten their political and military system so as to ensure an intensive and effective regime that would gain control of the earlier occupants, with minimum opposition, attacks and revolts. Having gained dominion over the peninsula, the al-Andalus sought to introduce the political and administrative systems and structures that they were conversant with those that were already established in the East. For instance, they destroyed the monarchy that characterized the Visigothic system and substituted it with emirate system3. Under this system, the al-Andalus was to form an administrative unit, with an Arab military ruler from amongst the Muslims in Muslim Spain. Technically, this administrative unit would be said to be a sub unit under Damascus at first, as the ruler pledged loyalty to the Umayyad caliph (the overall ruler) in Damascus. However, a few years later, this emirate gained its independence when `Abbasids took over leadership, killed members of the Ummayad family and defied the traditional requirement of pledging loyalty to the Caliph in Damascus. However, some Muslims, in theory continued to recognize the caliphate of Baghdad. The emirate was divided into provi nces, each headed with its functionaries. Under Emirate system, the overall political head that would be in charge of the entire Muslim Spain was called the amir. The final administrative authority was also vested in the amir. As administrative and political head, Amir made all the political; and administrative decisions that pertained to the provinces. He was also in charge of appointing all the functionaries. He also decided on issues pertaining to taxation, like the quantity of tax to be levied at particular place and

Have North Americans Stopped Caring Essay Example for Free

Have North Americans Stopped Caring Essay In Chapter 7 of Interest-Group Participation in American Democracy, an online source, an interest group is defined as an â€Å"organization or association of people with common interests that engages in politics on behalf of its members† (190). Since people cannot directly participate in governance, they associate themselves with groups that aim to change the political landscape. According to the same source, the rights of individuals to form such groups are protected by the Constitution (213). In spite of this, there seems to be a decline in participation of these groups. This paper aims to explain why. One of the factors that caused the said decline may be attributed to the dominance of the elite in political campaigns. In the past, citizens who share a common goal volunteered their time and energy to these endeavors. Today, campaigns require mammoth financial backing up to fund campaign activities opening doors for big corporations and the wealthy to make hefty contributions. The bottom line in the political industry is this: financial capital the wherewithal for mass marketing has steadily replaced social capital that is, grassroots citizen networks as the coin of the realm. † (Putnam, 39 40) An increase in cynicism is another cause for the decline in participation. According to Morris P. Firiona, people feel that only the â€Å"extreme voices† are heard leaving the â€Å"moderate middle† a couple of steps behind (395-425). Firiona also asserts that the transparency in the workings of the government showed people how messy policy making can get (Firiona, 395-425). However, it is important to note that the disillusionment is not completely depleting participation. Interest-Group Participation in American Democracy argues that the advancements in technology allow individuals to get involved without needing to go out to the streets to proclaim what they believe is right (204). With just a few clicks on the internet, current events unfold before the readers eyes. Discussion and blog sites are avenues which people take to express their thoughts and sentiments. These non-traditional means of participation are more convenient and less energy-consuming. These are popular especially among the youth who, according to Warren E. Miller and J. Merrill Shanks, have grown apathetic compared to previous generations (69). The dominance of certain groups such as the elite and the extremists, the increase in distrust in the government, and the waning of youth involvement are only some of the reasons why there is a decline in participation. This does not mean that citizens have stopped caring. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, non-traditional means of contribution is gaining momentum in this modern age.

The Influence Of Media Violence On The Youth Media Essay

The Influence Of Media Violence On The Youth Media Essay Aggression in the media has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent times. It has resurfaced as the pinnacle of countless debates among politicians, parents and educators despite the fact that it is a current trend. The youth are increasingly becoming more hostile. This is in directly mirrored to violence becoming further prominent amid adults. Parents and educators continue to stress that the damage violent media inflicts on children will carry on into adulthood. Various studies have confirmed that violent media moulds the youth into violent adults. The issue is not as simple as just putting a stop to violence. The media distributors should end mass producing and distributing violence to children in the name of entertainment. Unless executives at television, music, and video game companies discontinue this mass production of violence, this appalling tendency of violent children resolves to carry on. Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unambiguous evidence that media violence elevates the possibility of aggressive and violent conduct in both immediate and long-term contexts. The sound effects emerge larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also imperative when compared other violence risk factors effects.Young people have a tendency to be without doubt influenced by media for a diversity of reasons. Children discover what is tolerable or intolerable through what the media portrays as opposed to what parents teach them.    Parents have seized to be the powerful prominent associate in a childs life. Children utilize the media personalities to model acceptable or rather offensive manners. Movies, music and video games display that it is acceptable to massacre or hurt others. Small children in fact, have difficulty differentiating between reality and fantasy. Putting that into consideration, we realise that the mass media fails to consider that a small child cannot figure out the ramifications of being wounded during a violent act; it actually hurts and one may not survive. Children brought into emergency amenities for treatment from these media propelled accidents are inclined to articulate with astonishment that their injuries truly hurt. Dramatic Television and Movies have exposure to violent behavior. On film or television tends to amplify aggressive behavior in the short term. Youths who look at violent scenes afterward demonstrate more aggressive conduct, mind-set, and emotions than those who do not. In the distinctive investigational model, researchers indiscriminately allocate youths to see either a short violent or a short nonviolent film, and then observe how they interact with other people after viewing the film. Both physical and verbal aggression toward others may be assessed. The time period for testing the effects is short-from a few minutes to a few days after seeing the film-and normally there is no effort to test for permanent effects of the single revelation. With older teenagers and university students, physical aggression has often been considered by the enthusiasm of participants to impose an electric shock or a loud aversive noise on a peer. The participants are usually given a frail justification for harming the other person. Studies have shown that the introduction of the television which happened at different times in all communities has taken advantage of this disparity in timing to study TVs effects on aggression within a society. Time-series analysis done using aggregated data on offense and media viewing to examine the effect of the introduction of TV on violence in the United States, Canada, and South Africa (where television came on the scene only recently), comparing crime rates prior to and subsequent to the introduction of television. He concluded that the introduction of television, joint with recurrent depiction of violent acts, increases interpersonal violence in a society. However, this study ought to be viewed with vigilance as there exists additional factors that may have influenced national crime rates simultaneously. Studies have confirmed that witnessing violence in news reporting promotes imitative, or impersonator, manners. There are countless sketchy reports of people imitating illusory violence. Regardless of the regularity of these alleged instances of a pollution of violence, however, there has been comparatively little research examining how news stories of aggressive events affect behavior. Studies prop up the perception of a corrupt effect, with some of the best evidence indicating that stories of a renowned persons suicide enhance the chances that other people will also take their own lives. Studies of music videos and music lyrics have shown that Music videos are also of concern because these videos are sometimes replete with violence. Those without open aggressive content often have rebellious overtones and music videos are extensively watched by adolescents. Violent video games have recently surpassed violent music videos and even violent TV as a matter of concern to parents and pol icymakers. There are several reasons for this. First, children are spending most of their time playing video games. Second, a greater part of these games hold violence. Third, children involved in these games are dynamic participants not observers; they are at better risk of becoming antagonistic themselves. The impact of publicity to violent video games has not been premeditated as expansively as the impact of exposure to TV or movie violence; nevertheless, generally speaking, the outcome reported for video games to date are related to those obtained in the investigations of TV and movie violence (Anderson Bushman, 2001). Studies of Internet participation assert that the fundamental hypothetical ideology pertaining to the effects of exposure to media violence should be relevant to Internet media. Up till now, there are no available studies that address how exposure to Web-based media violence affects aggressive and violent behavior, attitudes, values, and feelings. Nonetheless, because of the image and interactive nature of Web material, we anticipate the effects to be very parallel to those of other visual and interactive media. The Web materials with violence tend to be video games, film clips, and music videos, and there is no reason to believe that delivering these materials into the home via the Internet, rather than through other media, would reduce their effects. Neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists have discovered that the human mind often acts as an associative system in which ideas are to a degree activated (primed) by linked stimuli in the surroundings (Fiske Taylor, 1984). An encounter with some occurrence or stimulus can major, or trigger, correlated concepts and ideas in a persons memory even without the person being aware of this control. For example, exposure to violent scenes may activate a complex set of associations that are related to aggressive ideas or emotions, thereby momentarily escalating the convenience of aggressive opinions, approach, and scripts (including aggressive action tendencies). In other words, aggressive primes or cues make aggressive schemas more easily available for use in processing other incoming information, creating a temporary interpretational filter that biases subsequent perceptions. If these aggressive schemas are primed while certain events-such as ambiguous provocation-occur, the new events are more likely to be interpreted as involving aggression, thereby increasing the likelihood of an aggressive response. Priming effects related to aggression have been empirically established both for cues usually associated wi th violence, such as weapons (Anderson,Benjamin, Bartholow, 1998). For example, the  mere presence of a weapon within a persons visual field can increase aggressive thoughts and aggressive behavior. Priming effects are often seen as solely short-term influences. Except that research by cognitive and social-cognitive scientists has shown that recurring priming and use of a set of concepts or schemas in due course makes them persistently available. In essence, commonly primed aggression-related judgment, emotions, and behavioral scripts become routinely and continually accessible. That is, they become part of the ordinary interior state of the character, thereby escalating the possibility that any societal encounter will be interpreted in an aggression-biased technique, and hence increasing the likelihood of aggressive encounters all through the individuals life (e.g., Anderson Huesmann, 2003). In addition to that, media propagates arousal and excitement in youth. Media violence is exciting (arousing) for most youth. That is, it increases heart rate, the skins conductance of electricity, and other physiological indicators of arousal. There is verification that this arousal can inc rease aggression in two different ways. First, arousal, regardless of the reason for it, can rejuvenate or reinforce everything an individuals principal action propensity happens to be at the time. Thus, if a person is irritated or else instigated to aggress at the time increased arousal occurs, heightened aggression can result. For instance, if a person who is aroused misattributes his or her arousal to a provocation by someone else, the tendency to act uncompromisingly in reaction to that infuriation is amplified. This is because people tend to react more violently to provocations immediately after watching exciting movies than they do at other times. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine reported in 2006 reported that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal, and a consequent decline of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, reticence and concentration. To date, however, there have been no conclusive studies linking video-game violence to aggressive behaviour in youths. Emotional desensitization is another effect of media on the youth. Emotional desensitization refers to a drop in distress-related physiological reactivity to observations or thoughts of violence. When people who watch a lot of media violence no longer respond with as much offensive physiological arousal as they did primarily. Because the unpleasant physiological arousal (or negative emotional reactions) usually related with violence has an inhibitory influence on thinking about violence, condoning violence, or behaving violently, emotional desensitization (that is., the decrease of th e unpleasant arousal) can result in a heightened probability of violent thoughts and behaviors (Huesmann et al., 2003). However not all youth are affected adversely by media. As a matter of fact, media has minimum effects on some youth. It all depends on several factors such as age, gender, characteristics of the aggressive performer, portrayed justification and penalty of the aggression, social environment like influence of culture, childrens access to media in the home, influence of neighborhood, influence of parents, and the persons moral principles. Theories put forward have shown that the media-violence effect is largest in the youngest age group (less than 5 years old). Even concise exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior on TV and in film caused temporary aggressive behaviour in youths. It should be noted that the principal effect was certainly aggression, and not violence. Fascinatingly enough, a study on New York youths found that exposure to media violence commencing at age 8 had a direct correspondence to aggressive performance a decade later in boys, but not in girls. Early studies in the United States and some studies in other countries found stronger relations between media-violence viewing and aggression for boys than for girls. Assertiveness and intelligence of the viewer also affect the extend of media influence. An aggressive youth will turn out to be more aggressive after watching a violent movie; also children of lower intellectual aptitude watch more television and see more television violence. Children and youth spend more time consuming entertainment media than engaging in any other activity besides school and sleeping. There have been recent efforts to reduce the harmful effects of media violence on youth have taken various forms, including attempting to reduce the amount of media violence and its convenience to the youth and children. Encouraging and facilitating parental monitoring of childrens media access, educating parents and children about the potential dangers of media violence and changing youths mode of thinking to reduce the chance that they will impersonate the violence they see. However, it is not clear that reducing exposure to media violence will reduce aggression and violence, it is less clear what sorts of interventions will produce a reduction in exposure. Some suggestions that counter attitudinal and parental-mediation interventions are likely to yield beneficial effects, but media literacy interventions by themselves are fruitless. In that case, meeting the larger societal challenge of providing children and youth with a much healthier media diet may prove to be more complicated and expensive, especially if the scientific, news, public policy, and entertainment communities fail to educate the general public about the real risks of media-violence exposure to children and youth. It should be renowned that real-world influences might diminish or abolish the aggression noted under experimental conditions. It is possible and even likely that study participants might react differently in the laboratory when they realize their aggression will not have any ne gative consequences or retribution. This has been a controversial issue whereby people have presented different views on whether media affects ones level of aggression and violence. Some claim that exposure to media violence causes children and youth to behave more aggressively and affects them as adults years later, while others argue that the scientific evidence simply does not show that watching violence either produces violence in people, or desensitizes them to it. Although media violence is particularly tough to characterize and evaluate, family attitudes and social category are stronger determinants of attitudes toward aggression than is the amount of disclosure to TV, which is all the same a significant but weaker predictor.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Essays Papers

Animal Farm This remarkable book was written by George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, and it is about the lives of farm animals who rebel against humans. The animals live on Manor Farm and are owned by Mr. Jones, who always seems to be drunk. The leader of the animals was an old pig named Old Major who one day had a dream about being free from the oppression of man. One evening, Old Major assembled the animals of Manor Farm and talked to them about how they live hard, short lives in slavery to the humans and that they should rebel and become free. Old Major got the idea from a song which came to him in a dream, Beasts of England, that was sung when he was a young pig. The song talked about the animals being free one day. No one knew when the rebellion that Old Major talked about would happen, especially after Old Major died three days after the meeting. The pigs, who were the smartest of the animals, picked the two most pre-eminent pigs to assume the leadership role that Old Major left. The two pigs names were Snowball and Napoleon. These two pigs got together and organized all of Old Major’s thoughts into a system called Animalism. This was taught at night during secret meetings that were held in the big barn and the animals slowly learned it. Then one midsummer’s eve, the animals rebelled against Mr. Jones and his men because they had not been fed the whole day. This was not a planned attack, but the animals succeeded and kicked Mr. Jones and his men out. The animals were free. The next morning the animals set up rules, The Seven Commandments, and changed the name of the farm from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. Then the animals went out in the field to gather the hay and did it more quickly than Jones and his men ever did. It was also the biggest harvest they had ever seen because there was absolutely no waste. Boxer, a large horse, was a great asset to the animals because he worked as hard as three horses put together and he kept pushing himself harder and harder. The animals heard that Jones might return and try to recapture the farm, so the animals started preparing for an attack.

Psychoanalitic Approach to The Minister’s Black Veil Essays -- Ministe

  Ã‚   "All within hearing immediately turned about, and beheld the semblance of Mr. Hooper, pacing slowly his meditative way towards the meeting-house. With one accord they started, expressing more wonder than if some strange minister were coming to dust the cushions of Mr. Hooper’s pulpit ·" Working in the realm of the Gothic, Nathaniel Hawthorne hits upon psychological points that few of his readers are willing to explore. Of course, one may not be able to relate to an example involving such an "eccentric" display as Mr. Hooper’s. There is a sudden hush throughout the audience, followed by a rush of low whispering. He walks past them, oblivious to the goings-on and proceeds to the front. Something has changed, and everyone is aware. It is painfully obvious that he wanted everyone to know, for the wounds of the change were self-inflicted · Putting the scenario this way helps to give an anonymous and general view to the former example. This method is used to show how realistic, even common, this somewhat absurd event may actually be. In a psychological analysis, this is a necessary element in both de-personalizing a situation and giving it potential for universal application. In Hawthorne’s "The Minister’s Black Veil," many interpretations by way of psychological analysis are possible, and, once exposed, quite apparent. Once revealed, there are many routes for understanding the story in a psychoanalytical context. The main approaches this essay will take involve a "Jungian" analysis, that is, one involving the use of some of the theories and conclusions of German psychoanalyst and pioneer, Carl Gustav Jung, a former student and friend of Sigmund Freud, in interpreting the actions of the characters in the story. Jung’s discord with Fr... ...Jung, whose assertions not only help in the clinical aspect, but in the search for the common message in all of human literary (this includes oral) tradition. Hawthorne’s Gothic shows, whether conscious or not, the underlying conflict that lies within the people of his time as well as the time in which each of his stories take place. It is with this that the key to understanding the self lies within the commonly untapped recesses of the unconscious, an uncomfortable and unnerving concept for everyone, particularly those that have many things to hide. Works Cited Jung, Carl Gustav. Abstracts of the Collected Works of Carl G. Jung. Rockville, Maryland. 1976. Jung, Carl G. The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. Tr. R. F. C. Hull. New York, NY. 1960 Lauter, Paul, et al. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York, NY; Boston, Mass. 1998   

Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Personal Narrative Teaching Education Essays

Philosophy Declining, decaying, and disappearing are just a few of the words that can be used to explain the emphasis put on art programs in schools. Art is not seen as a necessity. Standardized tests are now dictating not only what is taught in school but what is more important to teach. Seldom do you see a question pertaining to art or even art’s history on a standardized test. I think that art is a very important subject. Not only does it act as a creative outlet allowing students to express feelings that may be forbidden to act on, but art is deeply rooted in our history from the cave paintings first found in France to the modern uses in advertisement. Our world would be boring without art right down to our cornflakes because they would no longer have a rooster on the box. The fact that I think that art is important is just one reason why I would like to be a teacher. More importantly, I want to do what I love and teach others how to do it as well. As generic as it may sound, I want to broaden students’ minds by teaching them that art is a serious creative process. I want them to understand that they can use it to speak, especially when they think no one is listening. In fact until recently, I never wanted to be a teacher at all. I wanted to be a doctor. However along the way, I have had so very inspiring teachers who had a great impact on me. I want to do what I love. I want to be around people, and I want to be around art. I am pursuing a degree in Art Education K-12 and plan to get a masters degree in art once I graduate from Concord College. My ultimate goal is to teach at a high school locally. I feel that the rural schools in this area do not challenge their students enough and do not provide them with information on the various opportunities available to them after graduation. I also realize that the local culture can be blind to the value of art. Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Personal Narrative Teaching Education Essays Philosophy Declining, decaying, and disappearing are just a few of the words that can be used to explain the emphasis put on art programs in schools. Art is not seen as a necessity. Standardized tests are now dictating not only what is taught in school but what is more important to teach. Seldom do you see a question pertaining to art or even art’s history on a standardized test. I think that art is a very important subject. Not only does it act as a creative outlet allowing students to express feelings that may be forbidden to act on, but art is deeply rooted in our history from the cave paintings first found in France to the modern uses in advertisement. Our world would be boring without art right down to our cornflakes because they would no longer have a rooster on the box. The fact that I think that art is important is just one reason why I would like to be a teacher. More importantly, I want to do what I love and teach others how to do it as well. As generic as it may sound, I want to broaden students’ minds by teaching them that art is a serious creative process. I want them to understand that they can use it to speak, especially when they think no one is listening. In fact until recently, I never wanted to be a teacher at all. I wanted to be a doctor. However along the way, I have had so very inspiring teachers who had a great impact on me. I want to do what I love. I want to be around people, and I want to be around art. I am pursuing a degree in Art Education K-12 and plan to get a masters degree in art once I graduate from Concord College. My ultimate goal is to teach at a high school locally. I feel that the rural schools in this area do not challenge their students enough and do not provide them with information on the various opportunities available to them after graduation. I also realize that the local culture can be blind to the value of art.

Organizational Behavior Model of Grameenphone

Introduction Organizations are collections of interacting and inter related human and non-human resources working toward a common goal or set of goals within the framework of structured relationships. It is a great opportunity to study about the leading mobile operator company, GrameenPhone and their organizational behavior model which is concerned with all aspects of how the company influences the behavior of individuals and how individuals in turn influence the company. * Origin of the ReportThe BBA program under the department of Business Studies offers a course named â€Å"Organizational Behavior† (MGT 251) which requires every group to submit a report on a general management related topic determined by the course instructor. The report under the headline â€Å"Organizational Behavior Model† has been prepared to serve that purpose. * Objectives of the Study Several objectives to conduct the study are: * To study about organizational behavior. * To study about the Ma nagerial Activities To be informed about the levels of organizational behavior and its importance from the view of organizational point * To learn about each potential outcomes of effective functioning of the organization as well as inspiring employees towards their job. * To build a bridge between the theoretical & practical education of marketing. * Methodology To prepare this report we have used all the managerial data, different official documents as well as papers available of that particular institution which were made for the relevant field(s). Accompanying material: Describe How Own Behaviour Could Promote Effective Interactions With Children and Young PeopleWe have taken help from some employees of GrameenPhone who helped us to enrich this topic. We also talked to our teachers about it and they have also helped to improve and enhance the report. * Limitations We have faced some usual constraints during the course of our preparation for the report. The major limitations are as follows: * Information is not available: The data required for sufficient analysis for preparing the report was not available. We could not get all the data from a single source. * Lack of skills: Our skill is not sufficient, that is why we could not present it more attractivelyThe Company Overview Grameenphone is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 27 million subscribers (as of October 2010) Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Gra meen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 55. 8% shares of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom owns 34. 2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.It signed its license agreement with the Government on 11 November 1996 and began operations on 26 March 1997. Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh. It also established the first 24-hour Call Center to support its subscribers. With the slogan Stay Close, stated goal of Grameenphone is to provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh Managerial Values of the company Garmeenphone always tried to keep promises from its inception till today, which has bought a different dimension to its managerial techniques.Best Network Coverage, well built management, Efficient and Effective Manpower- all these brought the com pany to its destiny. Promises can be made easily; but keeping those promises is much harder than it previously. GP has come across with those promises very successfully with its Outstanding and Specialized Managerial Techniques. Grameenphone is always being respectful to others; especially to the prominent social Personalities those who directly motivating themselves into various social, economic, educative and other positive field with eye-catching role-play.GrameenPhone is the official sponsor of Bangladesh cricket team. Only this example may easily indicate the inspired to raise-up this kind of inspirations. Mission of the company Mission of GrameenPhone is to Leading the industry and exceed customer expectations by providing the best wireless services, making life and business easier. Vision the company GrameenPhone exists to help customers to get the full benefit of communications services in their daily lives. The company wants to make it easy for customers to get what they wa nt, when they want it.They are here to help. Product and Service Offered by the company Mobile telephony Grameenphone was the first operator to introduce the pre-paid mobile phone service in Bangladesh in September 1999. It offers followings pre-paid subscriptions. * Smile pre-paid: Smile is a general package provides widest coverage & clarity of speech keep user connected anytime, anywhere at an affordable rate. * Djuice: Djuice is a popular international brand, exclusively designed for young generation which provide full of fun and entertainment elements. Xplore Post-paid: Xplore is for someone who wants freedom and takes decison independently. With Xplore user can experience flexibility. * Business Solutions: Business Solutions is a complete, quality business communications service from grameenphone designed especially for business community in Bangladesh. It can provide user a customized soluation. Other Services * Internet: Grameenphone provides internet service in its coverage area. As it has EDGE/GPRS enabled network, any subscriber can access to internet through this network.Grameenphone was the first mobile operator in Bangladesh to offer EDGE services to its subscribers. * Bill Pay: A service to enable users to pay their utility bills Electricity/Gas through mobile. * Cell Bazaar: Services to enable users sell or buy products through mobile or internet. * Various other services like Stock Information, Instant Messaging, SMS Based Alerts/Services, Voice-based Services, Downloads, Music, Cricket Updates, Web SMS, and Mobile Backup etc. Organization Behavior Model An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal.Organizational behavior is concerned with all aspects of how organizations influence the behavior of individuals and how individuals in turn influence organizations. Organizational behavior is an inter-disciplinary field that draws freely from a number of the behavioral sciences, including anthropology, psychology, sociology, and many others. The unique mission of organizational behavior is to apply the concepts of behavioral sciences to the pressing problems of management, and, more generally, to administrative theory and practice. Model is an abstraction of reality.A simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon. Basic OB model include three level are individual level, group level and, organizational system level. These three basic levels are analogous to building blocks; each level is constructed on the previous level. For example, group concepts grow out on the foundation laid in the individual section. Each level holds several factors that make a complete organizational behavior model. Individual level’s factors are Biographical characteristic, personality, emotions, values, attitude, ability, perception, motivation, learning which leads to individual decision making.Group level includes group decision making, leadership and trust, group structure, work team, power and p olicies, communication and conflict. Organizational system level holds Organizational structure, organizational culture and human resource policies. Fig: OB Model OB Model from the view point of Grameenphone Organizational System Level * Human resource policies GrameenPhone is the pioneer in the field of human resource management, employee care and competence development in Bangladesh. GrameenPhone is currently employing approximately 5000 people of which 84 % is under 31 years old.The employees are spread out in six office zones throughout the country, with Dhaka being the largest with 3561 employees. Most of the staff has university backgrounds within fields such as management, marketing, economics, finance and engineering. The turnover rate of employee in 2006 was 8%, and a preliminary 4% so far for 2007. The number of resignations peaked in 2005 when new operators penetrated the market and offered higher salaries to GrameenPhone employees, but this was still relatively low. One could argue that low turnover rates are a good indicator of a healthy work environment.Human Resource Development GrameenPhone offers employee guidance on several stages, in addition to a general introduction for new employees. At junior management level, GrameenPhone in collaboration with the British Council offers in house training in basic management skills and workshops. Furthermore management training at junior and middle levels is offered in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management. Finally for senior management GrameenPhone offers a module based program in cooperation with Stockholm School of Economics. This program is custom made for GrameenPhone.Employee Benefits In addition to a relatively high salary, GrameenPhone employees are offered several bene? ts. In an annual survey comparing 10 competitors and similar companies in other industries, GrameenPhone identifies the wage distribution and bases its own wage levels on those in the upper quartile. As a part of the employee policy, GrameenPhone is also providing monthly education grants to children of all employees‘until the age of 21. This grant is a ? xed monthly sum for each child. In compliance with the local legislation GrameenPhone is bu? ding a pension fund for its employees.In addition to the required minimum level, GrameenPhone also invests in provident funds. 10 % of the employee‘s salary is paid on a monthly basis into the fund. All employees are entitled and covered by health and medical insurance. This also applies to family members. Code of Conduct Upon entering the company, all employees must sign a code of conduct. The document presents guidelines for proper conduct and ethical behavior. It is divided into four parts: Firstly, general guidelines describe the rationale behind this document, namely the importance of communicating corporate values and for employees to adopt them.This section includes broad, overarching topics such as human worth, working environmen t health, loyalty and confidentiality and reporting/disclosure among others. The second section refers to the relationship with customers, suppliers, competitors and public authorities. The main message here is that all stakeholders should be treated with respect and that unethical interaction, such as receiving expensive gifts and services are unacceptable. The third section looks at the employee's private interests and actions in relation to the company.Here political activism and other external duties are encouraged up to the level where it will not interfere with their work at GrameenPhone. The last section emphasizes that all misconduct or indeed suspicions of such activity must be reported immediately. It ensures the employee that no reprisals will be undertaken towards them. In other words: whistle-blowing is allowed and promoted. Organizational Culture Organizational culture is a system of shared values, assumptions, beliefs, and norms that unite the members of an organizati on because it reflects, â€Å"What it's like to work here. This becomes apparent through the visible level of the culture, the espoused values that are not observe but rather explained and justified, and through the core beliefs that are widely shared through the organization. Importance of Organizational Culture A. Employee Self-Management – Induce employees to behave in a particular way without close supervision or formal mechanisms, many of which are informal and unspecified. B. Stability – Cultures creates a sense of continuity in the midst of change and intense competitive pressure. C.Socialization – The process of internalizing or taking organizational values as one’s own. The Culture of Grameenphone Ltd. also known as THE GP WAY is â€Å"how GP is doing business† — it’s all about itemizing and reinforcing their vision & values, leadership expectations, codes of conduct and governing principles in GP’s daily life at work and deliver upon the brand promise — Stay Close. The Employee Relations team is responsible for ensuring vibrant Organizational Culture, sustaining GP as the preferred Employer Brand in the country.Human rights Grameenphone supports the internationally proclaimed human rights including UN declaration and conventions on human rights. Employees shall respect the personal dignity, privacy, and rights of each individual interact with during the course of work and shall not in any way cause or contribute to the violation or circumvention of human rights. Working Environment Gramcenphone provide a professional workplace with an inclusive working environment including the international Labor Organization's core conventions.Grameenphone is opposed to discriminatory practices therefore, no direct or indirect negative discrimination have taken place based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, language, religion, legitimate political or other opinions, national o r social origin, property, birth or status. Occupational Health, Safety and Employee security Grameenphone is careful about the field of health, safety and employee security to promote good health and safe working environment in compliance with internationally recognized standards.Employee shares the responsibility for achieving this goal. GP always do their outmost to control hazards and take necessary precautions to prevent accidents and occupational diseases. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining Grameenphone recognizes the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining in mature labor environments. In such environments Grameenphone allow its employees to freely elect representatives among the employees, unless this would represent a breach of national laws and regulations.Such employee representatives shall be allowed to carry out their functions unhindered at the work place. Loyalty, impartiality, conflict of interests and related party transa ctions Grameenphone respects the individual employee’s right to a private life and private interests. But it demands openness and loyalty to the Company and the Company's interest. Conflicts of interest, wherever possible have been avoided. Confidentiality Every employee in the Company has a duty of confidentiality by law and written agreement.The duty of confidentiality also applies after the conclusion of employment or contractual relationship with Grameenphone for as long as the information is considered to be of a sensitive nature or in any other way confidential. Private interest and actions An employee of Grameenphone shall not hold another position or carry out work for others during working hours without prior express written permission from his supervisor. Political activity Grameenphone does not give support to political parties, either in the form of direct financial support or paid working time.Employees who take part in political activities will be granted leave from their work in accordance with the law and any agreements. Organization Structure The following organogram shows the organizational structure of Grameenphone including hierarchy of authority and responsibility. Group Level GP believe in group task that’s why they separate every department and sub department with group. This group is assigned different or similar task to which helps the department rune fast and smoothly. In Grameenphone there are groups from top level to the bottom.This helps the company to take itself in a proper destination Leadership In the organogram of GP, we can see every department has a leader and as well as every team and every department has its own leader. Some top leaders of GP * ? Tore Johnsen(CEO) * ? Mr. Raihan Shamsi (CFO) * ? Mr. Arnfinn Groven(CPO) * ? Mr. Arild Kaale(CMO) * ? Mr. Kazi Monirul Kabir(CCO) * ? Mr. Mahmud Hossain(CCAO) * ? Mr. Tanveer Mohammad(CTO) Communication The AoA of the Company requires the Board to meet at least four times a year or more when duly called for in writing by a Board member.Dates for Board Meetings in the ensuing year are decided in advance and notice of each Board Meeting is served in writing well in advance. The roles of the Board and Chief Executive Officer are separate and delineation of responsibilities is clearly established, set out in writing and agreed by the Board to ensure transparency and better corporate governance. To that end, GP has also adopted â€Å"Governance Guidelines for Chief Executive Officer†. The CEO is the authoritative head for day-to-day management in GP.He acts to reasonably ensure that GP develops and conducts business as per the Articles of Association, decisions made by the Board and shareholder, as well as according to Grameenphone Policies and Procedures, and applicable regulatory legislations. Team work Business is like a game of chess. Every move matters. Time is precious. The location and movement of each piece is a must-know for one to win the game. Today's competitive and fast changing business world demands the same. With Grameenphone’s â€Å"Team Tracker†, employee can locate his/her workforce and direct them towards the achievement of your business goals.Team Tracker is a new value-added solution for the Business Market. This solution will help bring about efficiency to the value chain of organizations having field employees. Managing field operations & directing field employees towards the business success has always been a concern for field managements like National & Regional Sales Managers, Area Managers & Distributors. With the services of Grameenphone’s Team Tracker, organizations can now locate its employees, assign tasks to them digitally & also receive task updates electronically.The system is robust enough to handle data for even a thousand employees. Features of the Service: * Real-time overview of outdoor employee movements on the map * Location based task delegation and proact ive workload allocation * Instant task status update * Business Reports generation on Employee Location & Task status based on organizational hierarchy By using this solution, a company is expected to gain: * Faster Actions * Excellent planning and precise workforce management * Efficient workload assignment to lead to greater employee satisfaction * Cost EfficiencyIndividual Level Motivation The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But that's easier said than done. Motivation practice and theory are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines. In spite of enormous research, basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself.And there lies the problem In Grameenphone as we all know that it’s a government organization so they not give such motivational package which an employee get in private organization . But without motivation package no employee give their maximum to the organization . some motivational package which Grameenphone give there employee free telephone facility, promotion and so on. Dealing with other factors: Employee Training Employee training is the planned effort of an organization to help each employee learn the job related behaviors and skills they will need to do their job properly.It is a set of planned activities that the organization will have their employees complete in order to increase their job knowledge and skills and to have them get accustomed to the attitudes and social atmosphere of the company. It will help the employee to be familiar with the goals of the organization and the job requirements. There are typical steps that go into a training program. These are outlined below. 1) Conduct Needs Assessment: A need is described as a â€Å"gap† between what is currently known and what will be needed now and in the future.These gaps in knowledge could be between what an organization expects to happen and what actually does, how employees are performing on the job and how the organization desires them to perform, and existing skills and desired skill level . In order to conduct an assessment there are some analyses that must be done * An organizational analyses determines the effectiveness of an organization, where training is needed and under what actually does, how individual employees are performing on the job and how the organization desires them to perform, and existing skills and desired skill level .In order to conduct an assessment there are some analyses that must be done. * An organizational analyses determines the effectiveness of an organization ,where training is needed and under what conditions the training will be conducted. * A task analysis is used to provide data about a job or group of jobs, and the knowledge, skills ,attitudes and abilities that are needed to achieve optimum performance. This information can come from job descriptions, task analyses, employee questionnaires and interviews, performance evaluation, and observation of the workplace. Finally, person analysis analyses how well an individual employee is doing their job and determines which specific employees need training and what kind of training. The methods of this kind of analysis include employee questionnaires and interviews, performance evaluation, skill and knowledge testing and the observation of behavior and results. 2) Implement Training Methods: Now that the analysis has been done, the training method needs to be chosen. The two most frequently used training methods include:* Lecture: Lecture involves one-way communication, from instructor to learner -the learner is passive in the process. On-the-job-training: This method involves such methods as apprenticeship and mentoring, where the employee is actively engaged in the type of work they will l ater be doing on their own. * Programmed instruction: This is a form of instruction that is pre-programmed and then delivered methodologically to an individual. This form of instruction is self-paced -the employee determines how fast they will learn and complete the steps and it is often completed more quickly than group training. It can be delivered via a computer and can be costly toprepare. Simulations: This sort of training involves an employee being placed into a simulated situation of what may occur in real on-the-job situations. Techniques include: Case studies where trainees analyze a problem outlined in a report and offer solutions; role playing where simulated roles are acted out; and behavioral modeling where trainees observe proper work behavior and then role play it. Part of the implementation of the training is making sure that the training is actually teaching the employees the skills they will need – this is known as the Transfer of Training.A more technical d efinition is: the extent to which the knowledge, skills or attitudes learned in the training will be used or applied on the job. There are ways to increase the probability of what employees are being trained will really relate to their actual job behavior. To do this, one can maximize the similarity between the training situation and the job situation, provide a variety of examples when teaching skills and reward trained behaviors and ideas on the job. 3) Training Evaluation:Training evaluation is used to evaluate the reactions of the learners, measure the learning that occurred, assess on-the-job behaviors, identify business results that are due to the training and calculate if the investment in training has had any return in the gains of the company. Business results can be measured in â€Å"hard† data and â€Å"soft† data. Hard data are measures of productivity, quality, material costs, absenteeism and turnover and customer satisfaction. Soft data is items such as j ob satisfaction, teamwork, and organizational commitment on the part of the employeesBiographical characteristics, personality and emotions perception ability, and value attituds this things in are depends on person to person. Although gpaminphon follow a selection process to choose an employee with positive Biographical characteristic ,personality and emotions perception ability ,and value attitudes Selection & Recruitment: (From external source) * Management consultant * Advertisement * Management institute * Recommendation * Deputation personnel Selection process * Job analysis * Initial screening * Application bank * Test * Interview * Reference check * Medical final and Recommendation Roster Management: Working time is different for full time employees and part time employees. Very often it has been seen that part time employees do not get enough flexibility in their work schedule. It’s very hard to get leave or bring change in roster. Resource Management need to give mo re focus on part time employee too as they are not less competent in comparison to any full time employee. It will create a more harmonious work environment and it will also improve the motivation level of the employees. * Remove frequent changes in process: Frequent changes in process make the employees confused.It also hampers the business performance. It increases the service delivery time and produces low customer satisfaction. To reduce the hassles for both agent and customers it is quite important to adopt a flexible and user friendly process. * Establish strong coordination among segments: Coordination among systems helps to serve customer in the very exact way it has been designed. Other than that it creates conflict and misunderstanding scenarios among segments. People from different segment have their own point of view. So it needs to be ensured that all of them have common platform to carry their job Responsibility in right manner.Conclusion Maintain organizational behavi ors leads an organization to manage its function smoothly at the same time enable it to attain its goal. Through the transfer of technology, managerial expertise and effective business model Grameenphone have established an advance policy for their organization and their employees. This in turns plays a significant role to make the company as a leading mobile operator company. References * http://en. wikipedia. org * http://www. scribd. com * http://managementhelp. org * http://www. grameenphone. com

Management of Security Essay

Sever security is instrumental in enhancing authentication, authorization, and control of access to the network from a localized point. Therefore, implementation and management of security on windows server 2003 administration is important first because it enables easy and coherent configuring and maintenance of security setting and software installation on computer network systems. The quest for implementing security on windows server 2003 administration is failure by Microsoft to provide a single mechanism for security related settings configuration (Bragg, & Hunt, 2005). The security components are attached to the server externally, a factor which makes remote monitoring and control of connections to the network by the server impossible without them. In addition, management of security in windows server 2003 is important in protecting the privacy and confidence of network users. Internet access has been on the rise in the community, an element that threatens confidentiality of computer information. Such are due to hacking and infecting of personal computers by malicious computer programs. On the other hand, security management in windows server 2003 administration serves the purpose of mitigating unauthorized access into the network. Moreover, this can also function to identify and prevent malicious computer programs from compromises services of the network users. Another important aspect of implementing and managing security in windows server 2003 is that it promotes monitoring and control of the network even when the server is offline. Employing security settings like Baseboard Management Controller hardware for example enables independent communication with remote computer. In return, this effectively enhances the process of remotely identifying errors and initiating response by the network administrator (McCann, Eckert, & Schitka, 2005). Therefore, security implementation and management in windows server 2003 administration serves to reliability and efficiency service provision. References Bragg, R. , & Hunt, C. (2005). Windows Server 2003 Network Administration. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly. McCann, B. , Eckert, J. , & Schitka, J. (2005). Managing a Microsoft Windows server 2003 Network, Enhanced. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Quality Indicators Relevant to Early Childhood Education

There are various significant practices which promote health and safety in early childhood centres to take in to account. This essay focuses on nutrition across the early years, providing a safe environment and identifying and responding to childhood illness and how teachers can encourage and promote these practices to the children. Auckland Regional Public Health Service (2008) states that during early childhood, children form lifelong eating habits, therefore it is important to have a focus on nutrition across the early years in order to foster a healthy eating culture and enable children to develop healthy behaviours in relation to food.A teacher has an important role in helping children develop these behaviours and can promote healthy eating and healthy food choices in a number of ways. Teachers can promote good nutrition by including children in the cooking process or growing fruits and vegetables within the centre environment. These experiences provide ample opportunities for t he discussion of nutrition and what is healthy and unhealthy. The Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2008) asserts that children must be served food at appropriate times and that it is to meet the nutritional needs of each child.It explains that all food provided during the hours a service is open must be recorded. These records must show the type of food provided and be kept for three months after the serving date. Promoting food safety to the children is also an important aspect of nutrition, this includes role modelling the careful storage of food, hygienic preparation and use of tongs when serving food. Providing a safe environment gives children a better place to play and allows them the freedom to explore their environment without the risk of injury.MoE (2008) declares that ample and changeable indoor and outdoor equipment, resources and furniture must be provided for the children and that it also needs to be appropr iate for the varying abilities of the children using it. Teachers are able to promote a safe environment by encouraging children to play safely. This includes sharing, gentle hands, walking feet, sun safety and water safety. The MoE (2008) is aware an area cannot be completely hazard free so requires a â€Å"hazard identification and management system† and uggests that all realistic steps are taken to minimise risks, be this by redirecting the children or limiting their access to areas where hazards may be. Another important way teachers can promote a safe environment is through active supervision and setting up engaging and appropriate activities for the children to be involved with. One of the most significant practices in promoting health, wellbeing and a safe environment is being able to identify and respond to childhood illness. Teachers need to be able to recognise the signs and symptoms of illness and be able to administer the appropriate first aid.The MoE (2008) decla res that children who become poorly while at a service must be kept at a safe distance away from the other children in order to reduce the risk of contamination and the spread of illness. It is the teachers’ responsibility that this happens to protect not only the children but the teachers and whanau too. Healthy Messages (Ministry of Education, 1997) suggests that early childhood centres develop and change policies so that they promote a safe and healthy environment and that these policies are a good way to introduce children to healthy messages.For example, how to avoid the spread of infectious illness through personal hygiene procedures, washing of soiled children procedures and hygienic laundering and cleaning procedures. As discussed above, encouraging healthy eating and good nutrition, providing a safe environment and recognising and responding to childhood illnesses are all important practices to foster. Teachers have an important role in promoting these practices and by effectively performing them, they will be promoting good health and safety in an early childhood setting.Reference List: Auckland Regional Public Health Service. (2008). Food For Under 5's: A practical guide to food and nutrition for early childhood education services. Retrieved 17th August 2012, from http://www. arphs. govt. nz/Portals/0/Health%20Information/HealthyEnvironments/Early%20childhood%20education%20centres/ECEC%20Food%20for%20under%205s/Food%20for%20under%205s%202008/Food%20For%20Under%205's%20ECE%20resource%20Final%20Jun e%202008-1. pdf Ministry of Education. (2008).Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 And Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework. Wellington: New Zealand Government. Retrieved 17th August 2012, from http://www. lead. ece. govt. nz/ServiceTypes/CentreBasedECEServices. aspx Ministry of Health. (1997). Nga kupu oranga: Healthy messages. Wellington: Ministry of Health. Republished on the web:  Ã‚   November 2003. Retrieved 25th August 2012, from http://www. arphs. govt. nz/Portals/0/Health%20Information/HealthyEnvironments/Early%20childhood%20education%20centres/Nga%20Kupu%20Oranga%20HealthyMessages. pdf

Benjamin Franklin Essay

Can a man be as vast as a nation? Did the life-experiences and cultural contributions of a single individual play as pivotal a role in the establishment of American democracy and American culture as any written declaration, constitution, or law? Without a doubt, there are historians who stand at the ready to assert that Benjamin Franklin was just such an individual. Numerous books, scholarly articles, essays, encyclopedias, and even works of fiction have contributed and continue to contribute to the mythic status of Benjamin Franklin in American history. However, there is is good reason to reject any surface-level interpretation of Franklin’s important contributions to the founding of American Democracy, and read with great care the complex and extensive evolution of Franklin’s actions and stated philosophies over the span of a great many years. The resulting image of Franklin when the myth of Franklin and the historical Franklin are compared is one of a challengingly deep and complex thinker, and of a man who acted in keeping with his deepest philosophical, moral, and spiritual beliefs — many of which were quite radical in his day and many of which were astonishingly traditional. The truth of the matter is that â€Å"†Franklin’s extant writings are so rich and voluminous that one can find almost any sort of Franklin one wishes to find,† (Frasca, 2007) but, certainly, in comparing the historical Franklin to the mythic Franklin, important insight into American history and into the psychology of American culture can be gained. Franklin’s career can be said to have begun very early in his life, when he â€Å"left school at 10 years of age to help his father† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007); not long afterward, he â€Å"was apprenticed to his half brother James, a printer and publisher of the New England Courant, to which young Ben secretly contributed. After much disagreement he left his brother’s employment and went (1723) to Philadelphia to work as a printer† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007). Franklin’s early life was later given its first â€Å"boost† toward mythic status with posthumous publication of Franklin’s â€Å"Autobiography† in 1791, not long after Franklin’s death. If the â€Å"Autobiography† helped to foster the mythic status of Franklin in American history, it was but one of the many examples of Franklin’s written contributions to American culture. During his active career, Franklin was immersed not only in science and history, but in philosophy and ethical theory as well. His popular writings contained both humor and moral axioms — notably in his very popular publication, â€Å"Poor Richard’s Almanac,† which was â€Å"In his day the great source of profit to every printer [†¦ ] which was issued yearly, and which was the vade-mecum in every household that could spare the necessary two or three pence annually† (Ford, 1899, p. 400). Franklin’s steady contributions to American popular culture during his lifetime included not only the folk wisdom of Poor Richard, but with much-needed humor for the American continent: In America, however, either because the immigrants had been recruited from the unfortunate and the religiously austere, or because the hardness of the conditions resulted in a sadness which tinctured the lives of the people, there seems to have been a practical extinction of all sense of the humorous. (Ford, 1899, p. 388) Against this background, Franklin — himself often a deep-thinker and a moody person — articulated the first instances of a natively American sense of humor. This fact is very important in evaluating both the mythical and the historical Franklin because the mythic Franklin remains empty of all but a few slight traces of Franklin’s triumphant career and reputation as a humorist. His status as such is very important because, as mentioned, it is Franklin’s cultural contribution to America as well as his political contributions which cements his status as a Founding Father and which has resulted in the extensive influence Franklin has held over American culture from its earliest beginnings. Franklin used humor in a very conscious way to pave the way for his more considered ethical and moral ideas; more importantly he seized the opportunity to define humor in America for generations: â€Å"perhaps his most remarkable attribute is that the future historian of the now famous American humor must begin its history with the first publication of Poor Richard† (Ford, 1899, p. 389) and, by doing so, Franklin placed himself in a key position to define through humor just what it mean to be an American. His capacities as a humorist do not seem to have been affected, but rather emerged naturally out of his personality. Franklin used humor to not only define himself and to partially define American culture, but as a method to settle scores or take shots at traditional beliefs or institutions: â€Å"His irresistible inclination to screw a joke out of everything is illustrated by the scrapes he got himself into with his advertisers. Employed to print an announcement of the sailing of a ship, he added an â€Å"N. B. † of his own, to the effect that among the passengers â€Å"No Sea Hens, nor Black Gowns will be admitted on any terms. † Some of the clergy, properly incensed, withdrew their subscriptions from the â€Å"Gazette. † Yet this did not cure him of the tendency, and he was quickly offending again. (Ford, 1899, p. 394) Humor and literary works provided one means for Franklin to influence the development of early American culture and these aspects are slightly contained in the myth of Benjamin Franklin, with the humorous aspects downplayed. For example, â€Å"Poor Richard’s Almanac† is probably part of the Franklin myth in most people’s minds and they probably also are aware that Franklin offered axioms of wisdom in this Almanac, but many people are probably deeply unaware that Franklin’s gift for humor was not only an important part of his literary output, but an aspect of his personal philosophy and a method by which he engaged other people and also helped to resolved conflicts. Another aspect of the Franklin myth is that he â€Å"invented† electricity by tying a key to a kite-string. Like many myths, this myth has a basis in historical reality: â€Å"His experiment of flying a kite in a thunderstorm, which showed that lightning is an electrical discharge[†¦ ] and his invention of the lightning rod[†¦ ] won him recognition from the leading scientists in England† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007) but it is a slim basis. What the â€Å"lightning and key† myth represents in a compressed form is the long and complex contribution to the natural sciences and to popular inventions which actually was a part of the historical Franklin’s career. In regards to his actual scientific achievements, Franklin is noted by historians to have been a brilliant inventor and adapter of existing technologies: â€Å"He repeated the experiments of other scientists and showed his usual practical bent by inventing such diverse things as the Franklin stove, bifocal eyeglasses, and a glass harmonica† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007); he is regarded as having a very brilliant scientific mind and a keen sense of practical implementation of abstract ideas. These qualities are also present in Franklin’s philosophical and political ideas which will be discussed shortly and together, Franklin’s scientific, philosophical. and political vision actually coincide with the â€Å"popular† aesthetic already shown to have been a part of his literary output. In some ways, Franklin’s cultural contributions mirror a deeply democratic sense of purpose and fulfillment: the creation of common axioms, a common wisdom, along with useful technologies are not separate from Franklin’s political vision. Ironically, the egalitarianism which is inferred in Franklin’s guiding principles is less present on the surface in his specifically political writings. When specifically considering Franklin’s political beliefs and writings, it should be pointed out that Franklin was actually â€Å"very different from the other Founding Fathers. He was older and more committed to the British Empire and certainly more cosmopolitan and urbane than they were† (Morgan, 2005, p. 551) and because Franklin lived abroad for just under twenty years in England and having traveled a lot through Europe, Franklin was in many ways â€Å"the least American of the revolutionaries† (Morgan, 2005, p. 551). This duality in the historical Franklin is, of course, completely absent from the â€Å"lightning and key† mythic Franklin who is regarded as a Founding Father of American democracy. This last idea of the myth of Franklin is true enough, but as this paper has hopefully shown, the historical picture of Franklin is a more ambiguous and much more complex than the myth. This is an understandable condition because part of what myth does with historical events is to simplify them and streamline them so that the symbolic impact can be made more powerful and less diluted by alternate interpretation. It would be difficult if not impossible, for example, to generate a mythic vision of Franklin which included the historical reality that Franklin â€Å"preferred the social and intellectual life of London to that of Philadelphia† (Morgan, 2005, p. 551) or that â€Å"his landlady, Margaret Stevenson, and her precocious daughter, Polly, provided Franklin with more compatible intellectual companionship than did his own wife and daughter† (Morgan, 2005, p. 551) so these very real and very important aspects of Franklin’s actual life and his actual personality are absent from the Franklin myth. Yet these aspects, and others, are extremely important in helping to define and understand what exactly Franklin contributed as a Founding Father of American democracy. That his cultural contributions, whether humorous, literary, or scientific not only fostered his myth but actually altered the course and evolution of American society is demonstrable by way of historical evidence. What, then, were Franklin’s political contributions to the early American nation? Did Franklin evidence as much resourcefulness and thoroughness in his political career as he evidenced in his career as a printer, or humorist, or inventor? One very interesting aspect of Franklin’s life is that he dealt with not only the revolt of the American colonies against a British Empire which he loved, but also with the resulting estrangement from his own (illegitimate) son during the course of the war. Franklin’s actions at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War give a solid glimpse into his sympathies and beliefs at the time: As trouble between the British government and the colonies grew with the approach of the American Revolution, Franklin’s deep love for his native land and his devotion to individual freedom brought (1775) him back to America. There, while his illegitimate son, William Franklin, was becoming a leader of the Loyalists, Benjamin Franklin became one of the greatest statesmen of the American Revolution and of the newborn nation. (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007) As a statesman, Franklin’s contributions can be at least to some degree quantified and cited: he was postmaster general, a delegate to the Continental Congress, an appointee and signatory to the committee which wrote the Declaration of Independence, he was also â€Å"sent to Canada with Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton to persuade the people of Canada to join the patriot cause† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007). The mythic vision of Franklin as a powerful statesman delivering powerful, moving oratory before the Continental Congress, or laboriously poring over draft versions of the Declaration of Independence are confronted by anecdotes of historical fact. An example of this is John Adams, who â€Å"contemptuously described a Franklin â€Å"from day to day sitting in silence, a great part of the time fast asleep in his chair† and sighed that he was likely nevertheless to get credit for everything achieved by the Congress,† (Lopez & Herbert, 1975, p. 203). Again, Franklin’s political reputation was based not so much in his perception among his American colleagues, but in his foreign popularity and fame. His best tactic was not spell-binding oratory or intricate legalese, but in injecting â€Å"a calm pronouncement or a bit of humor† (Lopez & Herbert, 1975, p. 203) into difficult political processes. The question still remains as to what Franklin, personally, believed about the American Revolution — during the time of the revolt and afterward — and whether or not Franklin can be accurately described as a firm believer in democratic principles. The historical facts suggest that Franklin held conflicting views about democracy and royalist rule. On the one hand, he advocated personal liberty, on the other, he seemed reluctant to dismiss with the notion of a royalist government altogether. As he wrote in the â€Å"Autobiography,† his feelings were not at all certain during the time of the approaching revolution: â€Å"In our way thither I projected and drew up a plan for the union of all the colonies under one government, so far as might be necessary for defense, and other important general purposes† (Franklin, 1914, p. 131) but here there is no mention of a constitution or a strong Federal government at all. Franklin’s own visions for â€Å"a single-chamber congress and a weak executive council were rejected† (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007) and, alter, although he objected to aspects of the final Constitution, â€Å"he helped to direct the compromise [and] worked earnestly for its ratification’ (â€Å"Franklin, Benjamin,† 2007). The picture which emerges of Franklin as a politician is one of a man whose core-principles were challenged by the birth of a new government, but who fought resolutely on behalf of the new nation without regard for the degree to which it mirrored, exactly, his always-evolving personal beliefs. In addition to the differences which are evident between Franklin the myth and Franklin the historical figure in regard to his literary, scientific, and political contributions to American history, two other areas of Franklin’s life are absent from the mythological figure of Franklin: his religious and racial convictions. Of course, it is absolutely true that Franklin’s religious convictions and his views on race and ethnicity evolved throughout his lifetime. On the other hand, Franklin’s religious beliefs seemed to occupy a central place in his interpretation of his own life’s purpose and the meaning of his life. Where religion is concerned, Franklin’s most intimate beliefs depict a rather traditional point of view. Because of his personal experiences and personal fortunes, Franklin tended to view the arc of his life in rather conventional religious terms: â€Å"Scattered through his writings are sentences full of gratitude to God for His favor in lifting him up from such a low to such a high estate, in bringing him substantially unscathed through the graver dangers and baser temptations of human life, and in affording him the assurance that the divine goodness, of which he had received such signal proofs in his career, would not cease with his death† (Bruce, 1917, p. 51) — these simple, but enduring, beliefs are easily compatible with many forms of American Christianity. That said, it would be very difficult to trace an influence from Franklin to modern Christianity, nor an influence of Christianity directly on the myth of Franklin. In both fact and in myth, Franklin’s traditional religious ideas are downplayed due, presumably, to their being conspicuously in keeping with the common ideas of Franklin’s time. Interestingly enough, Franklin retained his religious convictions at the close of his very eventful life and the fruition of his religious convictions strengthened him in old age and in death. As one of his biographers wrote: â€Å"WHEN THE DAY CAME, April 17, 1790, he was ready. All his life he had been gingerly taming death, stripping it of its awe and power, clothing it in appealing metaphors of travel and bliss, humoring it, giving it a place in the family circle† (Lopez & Herbert, 1975, p. 308) and because of his receptiveness to deeply held religious convictions which were, nonetheless, not tied to any kind of dogma or strict adherence to religious doctrine, Franklin’s religious philosophies and his actual death are gestures, also, of a democratic sprit and and individualist. The conflict which the religious side of the historical Franklin presents for the mythic vision of Franklin is difficult to articulate. It has to do with the fact that, while Franklin’s individualistic take on Christian principles and religious ideas does, in fact, make a very compatible fit with the American notion of individual liberty, Franklin’s avoidance of traditional dogma and doctrine results in making his individualistic religious beliefs more difficult to define and express to a popular audience. Just as there is no easy mythical expression for Franklin’s humor, as there is for his scientific prowess, there is no ready mythic symbol for his peculiarly individualistic religious beliefs which are rooted in traditional Christianity. Just as Franklin’s religious attitudes fail to find mythic expression, his ambiguous views on race and racial prejudice also are a poor fit for the Franklin myth. The attentive observer of history will take into consideration that at various points in his life, Franklin was demonstrably racist and xenophobic: â€Å"Franklin was clearly unhappy about the great number of Germans who were immigrating to his home town of Philadelphia, even though many supported him by patronizing his printing business† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005) and also, Franklin — prior to the Revolutionary War — â€Å"grumbled about Philadelphia’s bilingual (English and German) street signs and complained that the Pennsylvania parliament needed to use translators† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005). In addition to these historical facts, there is evidence that Franklin was not only racist, but perhaps a bit paranoid about other races and cultures. He wrote on one occasion, â€Å"That the Number of purely white People in the World is proportionably very small†¦. † (Lapham & Saunders, 2005) which in and of itself might be considered merely an observation of fact until it is paired with Franklin’s words, which preceded the statement: â€Å"Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005). These kinds of historical details and indications of Franklin’s character have no place in the Franklin myth. Their impact on the historical influence of Franklin is one which is very complicated and fascinating because the evolution of Franklin’s thoughts and actions in regard to issues of race underwent a profound change throughout his life. Although Franklin seemed to regard one race being in conflict with another in some of his writings, he nevertheless, â€Å"was chosen to be president of one of the first anti-slavery societies in America,† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005) and he went on to help to â€Å"create black schools, assist free blacks to obtain work, promote family-friendly values, and improve the social conditions black children† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005). The most important aspect of Franklin’s views on racism is that his ideas â€Å"evolved over his lifetime, becoming more tolerant and egalitarian as he grew older† (Lapham & Saunders, 2005), however, even such a dramatic and ultimately positivistic aspect of Franklin’s historical biography is left out of the Franklin myth. A letter to Franklin from his sister seems to encapsulate the very kinds of ambiguities and vagaries which the myth of Franklin exists to erase. His sister remarks of the American revolution: â€Å"to Propagate Is stufed into them, & it is Dificult to know whither Either Party are in the Right. for my Part I wish we had Let alone strife before it was medled with & folowed things that make for Peace† (Van Doren, 1950, p. 107) and from this letter and others like it, the modern observer is able to glean at least a partial understanding that ideas and conflicts in Franklin’s time were no more clear, no more â€Å"black and white† than they are in our own. In conclusion, while the myth of Benjamin Franklin, the man who â€Å"discovered† electricity with a key tied to a kite, the man who â€Å"wrote† the Declaration of Independence, a man who is one of the Founding Fathers of America, is a powerful and enduring myth, the historical facts of Franklin’s long and eventful life offer and a more authentic illustration of early-American philosophy, politics, and culture. The conflict between the myth of Franklin and Franklin the historical figure is rooted in the fact that historical truths are often ambiguous, complex and difficult to express succinctly, whereas myth, while sacrificing authenticity often makes a far more expedient impact on popular consciousness. Franklin the historical figure achieved a far greater influence practically over the development of American culture and American politics than the myth is capable of expressing; however, the historical facts of Franklin’s life also sometimes stand in stark opposition to the myth which they, at least in part, began. References Bruce, W. C. (1917). Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed: A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on His Own Writings (Vol. 1). New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Franklin, Benjamin. (2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York: Columbia University Press. Ford, P. L. (1899). The Many-Sided Franklin. New York: The Century Co. Franklin, B. (1914). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Macmillan. Frasca, R. (2007). Benjamin Franklin Unmasked: On the Unity of His Moral, Religious, and Political Thought. The Historian, 69(2), 359+. Lapham, S. S. , & Saunders, A. (2005). Benjamin Franklin’s Evolving Views on Race and Ethnicity. Social Education, 69(1), 13+. Lopez, C. , & Herbert, E. W. (1975). The Private Franklin: The Man and His Family. New York: W. W. Norton. Morgan, D. T. (2005). The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The Historian, 67(3), 551. Van Doren, C. (Ed. ). (1950). The Letters of Benjamin Franklin & Jane Mecom. Princeton, NJ: