American Exceptionalism

The term American Exceptionalism has many definitions to many different people. In general it refers to the idea that the United States of America holds the special title of worldwide peace keeper and bringer of justice and democracy as they are the land of the free. American Conservatives; such as the Tea Party, also pair the phrase up with the idea of superiority; whereas liberals would much more prefer Americans to see their country as ‘ordinary’ and so dislike the term. To them ordinary means things like American does not always assume its place as the world’s super power but simple acts as an international negotiator in times of need. The terminology was coined in 1831 by Alexis de Tocqueville as to explain a positive outward effect of America’s democracy. In 1929 the phrase was used adversely by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, when opposing the idea of the growth of capitalism in the states. In theory, American Exceptionalism works because of four key principles: divine right, resources, just beliefs and diversity. Many believe that the United States was chosen by God to lead the world and so they have the divine power to act in such a way over other countries. Although, others feel that the sheer wealth and resources the country has- such as the most powerful armed forces in the world gives them this power. Some consider the strong ideas and principles that the country was founded on as to the reason they have a greater say; whereas others argue that it is the mix of heritage and cultures, which makes America a kind of highbred of the best of the world, allowing for it to have this exceptional place in the world today. An odd and contradicting feature of the concept is that as an America knows best; they may over power their own legal system, other countries and conduct various types of secret activities if to protect the democratic system and state interests. America knows best: we must invade Iraq to free the people there from the dictatorship they live in, and then as a secondary thought because, they may have weapons of mass destruction (and oil that could be a lot of use to us). The idea that hacking people’s internet history and phone calls is just and fine, because the government can act beyond its means, as in the end they are protecting people from themselves- since they know best! The idea of Exceptionalism has allowed America to involve itself in many conflicts since the Mexican- American War of1846; where the Americans refused to accept that Mexico did not want to be a part of the United States and felt it was their mission to spread ‘freedom’ to the people of Mexico, right through to the Iraq war. During the Cold War the power of American Exceptionalism was used to display the American way of life as the right way and to try and crush the rising power of Communism. Ronald Reagan famously said that America had a duty to be â€Å"shining city on the hill† that the rest of the world would look up to. There are many positives and yet, many negatives of American Exceptionalism, and it is the principles of the term itself have brought about its demise. The waters have been muddied and so there are now many variations of the meaning of the words, which depend on the people using them. There is a spectrum of opinion: to some America is the almighty bringer of justice, and may do this by any means as long as they reach their end target of a freer and fair world. By contrast, others feel that Exceptionalism is simply used as a cover for the falling giant to do whatever it wants; from the invasions of lesser off countries, to spying on the day to day lives of millions of Americans. The use of Exceptionalism in foreign policy is often questioned; is it just a front the country can hide behind when actually working for personal gains rather than the good of the people? The expression is often used today in questioning America’s place as a super power. At a press conference in 2009 Obama was asked about his belief in American Exceptionalism he said: â€Å"I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British Exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek Exceptionalism†. In 2013 Mitt Romney used this comment to attack Obama, stating that he did not believe in the power of the United States as a power, yet them comment had little power as the term has been lost somewhat. The majority of the countries have democracy, or have made a greater step towards it over the last century, leaving America with a much lesser role as the bringer of social equality. American Exceptionalism has shaped the world we live today, without it both America and Britain would not be looked to as a role model of strong democratic systems and equality. The idea has brought the same concepts to many other countries and helped to advance areas such as industry and the role of women. However, in recent years the power of American Exceptionalism has faded and the flaws have become more visible. The positive effects of American Exceptionalism are now much gentler, and the goal is more to help countries create justice, rather than impose America’s view. American Exceptionalism The term American Exceptionalism has many definitions to many different people. In general it refers to the idea that the United States of America holds the special title of worldwide peace keeper and bringer of justice and democracy as they are the land of the free. American Conservatives; such as the Tea Party, also pair the phrase up with the idea of superiority; whereas liberals would much more prefer Americans to see their country as ‘ordinary’ and so dislike the term. To them ordinary means things like American does not always assume its place as the world’s super power but simple acts as an international negotiator in times of need. The terminology was coined in 1831 by Alexis de Tocqueville as to explain a positive outward effect of America’s democracy. In 1929 the phrase was used adversely by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, when opposing the idea of the growth of capitalism in the states. In theory, American Exceptionalism works because of four key principles: divine right, resources, just beliefs and diversity. Many believe that the United States was chosen by God to lead the world and so they have the divine power to act in such a way over other countries. Although, others feel that the sheer wealth and resources the country has- such as the most powerful armed forces in the world gives them this power. Some consider the strong ideas and principles that the country was founded on as to the reason they have a greater say; whereas others argue that it is the mix of heritage and cultures, which makes America a kind of highbred of the best of the world, allowing for it to have this exceptional place in the world today. An odd and contradicting feature of the concept is that as an America knows best; they may over power their own legal system, other countries and conduct various types of secret activities if to protect the democratic system and state interests. America knows best: we must invade Iraq to free the people there from the dictatorship they live in, and then as a secondary thought because, they may have weapons of mass destruction (and oil that could be a lot of use to us). The idea that hacking people’s internet history and phone calls is just and fine, because the government can act beyond its means, as in the end they are protecting people from themselves- since they know best! The idea of Exceptionalism has allowed America to involve itself in many conflicts since the Mexican- American War of1846; where the Americans refused to accept that Mexico did not want to be a part of the United States and felt it was their mission to spread ‘freedom’ to the people of Mexico, right through to the Iraq war. During the Cold War the power of American Exceptionalism was used to display the American way of life as the right way and to try and crush the rising power of Communism. Ronald Reagan famously said that America had a duty to be â€Å"shining city on the hill† that the rest of the world would look up to. There are many positives and yet, many negatives of American Exceptionalism, and it is the principles of the term itself have brought about its demise. The waters have been muddied and so there are now many variations of the meaning of the words, which depend on the people using them. There is a spectrum of opinion: to some America is the almighty bringer of justice, and may do this by any means as long as they reach their end target of a freer and fair world. By contrast, others feel that Exceptionalism is simply used as a cover for the falling giant to do whatever it wants; from the invasions of lesser off countries, to spying on the day to day lives of millions of Americans. The use of Exceptionalism in foreign policy is often questioned; is it just a front the country can hide behind when actually working for personal gains rather than the good of the people? The expression is often used today in questioning America’s place as a super power. At a press conference in 2009 Obama was asked about his belief in American Exceptionalism he said: â€Å"I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British Exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek Exceptionalism†. In 2013 Mitt Romney used this comment to attack Obama, stating that he did not believe in the power of the United States as a power, yet them comment had little power as the term has been lost somewhat. The majority of the countries have democracy, or have made a greater step towards it over the last century, leaving America with a much lesser role as the bringer of social equality. American Exceptionalism has shaped the world we live today, without it both America and Britain would not be looked to as a role model of strong democratic systems and equality. The idea has brought the same concepts to many other countries and helped to advance areas such as industry and the role of women. However, in recent years the power of American Exceptionalism has faded and the flaws have become more visible. The positive effects of American Exceptionalism are now much gentler, and the goal is more to help countries create justice, rather than impose America’s view.

Democratic Overload Explained Essay

Federalism and the separation of powers mean that there are numerous elections at different levels of government and for different offices as well as primaries and direct democracy. Americans vote ‘for the president to the local dog catcher’ in 80,000 units of government, leading to ‘permanent’ campaigns and ‘bed-sheet ballots’, leading to a sense of ‘democratic overload’ due to more than 100,000 elections taking place annually which may lead to voter fatigue, higher alienation levels and abstention through too many participation opportunity’s. In the USA, candidates for office are not chosen by the parties, but by voters in primaries and caucuses. This is the nomination process which take place every 4 years for the presidential election and every 2 years for the mid term congressional elections. The huge number of elections for a wide range of posts from the president down to local civic officials and the resulting sense of permanent campaigning causes voters to switch off leading to high abstention due to voter apathy and boredom. Although more people do participate in the nominating process than 40 years ago, the turnout in the presidential primaries vary from one election cycle to another. In a year when an incumbent president is running for re-election and therefore only one party has a genuine nomination contest, turnout in the primaries is only around 17%. It was 17.5% in 1996 when president Clinton was running for re-election, and 17.2% in 2004, when George w. bush was running for re-election. Even when no incumbent president was running in 2000, turnout was still only 19%. However, in 2008, with no incumbent president and a highlight competitive race in the Democratic Party between a women and an African American, turnout soared to just over 30%. Democratic overload leads to voter fatigue, high alienation levels and abstention, as the process is far too long. In 1960, senator John Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency just 66 days before the first primary. In readiness for the 2004 campaign, senator John Kerry announced his candidacy 423 days before the first primary. Barack Obama in 2008 also announced his candidacy 332 days before the first primary. Democratic overload is one reason for the law turnouts of us elections. Apart from the federal and state elections, there are also the primary and caucus elections and increasingly voters are invited to vote on initiatives, propositions at local level and possibly in recall elections. For example, The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. This could be contrasted with other democracies, such as the UK, where the opportunities to vote are far more restricted.

Thermodynamics and Fluids II Laboratory tests and report Lab

Thermodynamics and Fluids II Laboratory tests and - Lab Report Example The potential to kinetic energy conversion takes place in the stagnation point; the point situated at the Pitot’s tube entrance, as see in the schematic diagram below, Figure 2 below. A pressure higher or greater than the free-stream pressure, that is dynamic, results from the conversion kinematic to potential. This "static" pressure is obtained by comparing it to the dynamic pressure of flow with the differential manometer (CÃŒ §engel and Cimbala, 2014). The conversion of the resulting differential pressure measurements into respective fluid velocity heavily depends on the specified fluid’s flow regime a Pitot tube is measuring (Spurk and Aksel, 2008). In case of an incompressible flow, below is the Bernoulli equation describing the relationship between the pressure and velocity along the streamline: The simple pitot tube is comprised of an opening at the tip where pressure can be compared with the atmospheric pressure, or the pressure at pipe through that the flow passes (Boyes, 2010). The Pitot tube is when taking the local velocity measurements at the given point of the flow. The speed of airflow is determined when there is change in pressure between the two holes found in the Pitot tube; known via head (Kundu, Cohen and Dowling, 2012). Therfoe the speed of airflow is calculated using Bernoulli’s equation: The purpose of this laboratory was to analyze jet pumps using knowledge of fluid mechanics learned in the course. Assumptions of steady flow and no friction were applied and these theoretical results will be compared to the experimental results obtained by measuring the flow at the end of the jet pump. The SI units were used during the analysis for easy conversion among different variable. Head was directly proportional to actual pressure, high heads translated into high velocities; the fast jet had a large head drop. The pitot tubes are greatly affected by the Reynolds number when operating at low fluid velocities. Pitot tube’s accuracy

PDP (Professional Development Plan) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

PDP (Professional Development Plan) - Essay Example 57). It is through such management skills that will not only help in the current situation, but also in others to come. Taking managing conflict and stress as my goal, I have been able to master management skills that help me overcome several situations around my life. I am married and currently pregnant with my child. I am studying abroad and my husband is currently at my home country. I have had to deal with some situations of conflict management and stress. In order to deal with my situation, my goal is to come up with a way on how I can manage conflict and stress. As a student, I occasionally encounter conflict from home in the sense that I have to balance between family and studies. There are my studies that demand my time, and there is also my husband whom I have to give time. Conflict sometimes usually arise when my husband calls just when I am getting ready for a presentation or a continuous assessment test. The two are equally indispensable to me and I cannot afford to ignor e one at the expense of the other. At the same time I have to maintain my pre-natal checks with my doctor at the clinic. For a while I was stressed when I could not find a solution. So what I did was to engage in critical thinking to analyse possible ways out. It was then that something clicked onto my mind. I resolved that rather than wait for my husband to call me, which he could do any time, I resolved I would call him whenever I was out jogging or in the clinic waiting to be attended to. These are activities that I do quite often so it guaranteed that I would be calling him that often. Besides, I also knew it would help us connect with our baby because I could inform him of our progress. This way, I was sure I would eliminate the apparent conflict and put to end things that stress me up. During my free time, I also resolved I would be reading some books that brighten my moods. Using that approach, I am certain that I will manage the issues that were previously a bother to me. Le arning Skills: Improve My Presentation skills In order to improve my presentation skills, I will have to focus on my communication skills. It is through effective communication that I will be able to put across my ideas and impact on my audience as I planned (McKay et al., 2009, p. 39). To begin with, I will be keen to focus on the clarity of the message. Many ideas end up being misunderstood and consequently not eliciting the expected behaviour just because they did not come out as envisioned. As such, I will focus on clarity of voice, word choice and concise explanation in all my presentations. Besides, I will also improve my presentation skills through appropriate facial expression so that my audience is also kept active and interested in the presentation. It has been observed that appropriate facial expressions help to amplify the message being conveyed especially when a vital point has to be made (Steele, 2009, p. 214). In addition, I would also improve my presentation skills b y accompanying my presentation with pictographs where applicable. For instance, where I need to emphasize on deviation from a previous market trend, I will use comparative graphs that indicate the old and the new trends. This way, my audience will be able to easily grasp my ideas and keep up with me. Besides, visuals also help other who may have missed the some bits of information orally. Something else that I will also do to improve my presentation skills is to practice my presentation before hand. Instead of waiting to

The Vernon john Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Vernon john Story - Essay Example At one instant, after her father was finished administering a service, Baby Dee entreated the reverend if there was a way they could ride a bus to get to leisure but Vernon replied in disagreement on discovering the imposed segregation, of the blacks from the whites, in Montgomery buses. On the initial phase of dealing with the situation of her father, Baby Dee was finding how essential it was to communicate well and build on a deeper level of bonding with her father. She started feeling anxious towards their condition, recognizing how profoundly involved Rev. Johns was to the congregation and his stance regarding civil rights and equality especially for his kind. As she told her father about an awful dream where she witnessed his dead body lying filled with blood, Baby Dee likewise mentioned her fear of death. This makes a picture of a character whose weakness emerged out of being helpless, inexperienced in such setting that enabled Vernon’s disposition to amply contrast his daughter’s view and preference of a conventional working head of the family.

Measurement, appreciation, and knowledge are key terms in James's The Essay

Measurement, appreciation, and knowledge are key terms in James's The Beast in the Jungle. How do these w - Essay Example Even when May, on her deathbed told him had the beast had already struck him, he could not make out what the beast was. He had failed to appreciate the importance of May in his life and did not reciprocate her affection. It was only after her death that he gained knowledge of his fate that he was the only man in the world to whom nothing had ever happened. He realized that he had been wasting his life and the doom that had befallen him was actually the loneliness which he had earned because of his futile anticipations of the unknown beast. Marcher failed to measure the vastness of life and never appreciated its significance. He had wasted his life as he always waited for some extraordinary thing to happen to him while not yearning for any. Had he appreciated the value of his life, he would have been a happy man without having regret as his final abode (James). Works Cited James, Henry. The Beast in the Jungle. CreateSpace, 2011.Print.

Research 2 Artists Lena Kurvska and Marcus Krackowizer in Relation to Paper

2 Artists Lena Kurvska and Marcus Krackowizer in Relation to the Notion of Chance - Research Paper Example This paper evaluates the representational artistic expressions through the still life painting of Lena Kurovska and abstract paintings of Marcus Krackowizer. 1. Lena Kurovska Lena Kurovska is a painting artist from Ukraine and was born in 1969. She attended Kiev State Art School between 1980 and 1987 where she studies classical drawing and composition. A decade later, she graduated from the National Academy of Art and Architecture. Lena’s paintings exhibit nationally and internationally. Lena Kurovska was influenced by the works of impressionist while in National Academy of Art and Architecture. She concentrates on still-lives and landscapes, which are painted wherever she travels. Since she is a traveler, she deals with external objects like other expressionists. These objects include scenes of relaxation, objects of daily lives and so on (Moffett 142). This quality is visible and evident from her still life painting called still life with bread of 2005 and the Christmas stil l life of 2006. Both are oil paintings, which feature ordinary objects in our daily life. Lena does her still-live paintings on location, and she uses oils, pastel, and acrylics. Her paintings are done in impressionists style with all her canvases being light, lyrical colorful, and warm. Like other expressionists, Lena’s paintings have very short strokes of paint, which are thinly applied in a way that the strokes are visible (Mayer 312.). Her paintings also have rough texture on the surface and have visible patches of paint in various locations. This impressionist style is evident in the painting still life with bread where a more general image effect is created in the subject without the true-to-life accuracy. Like any other expressionist, Lena’s goal of her works is to catch the eye of her art viewers through use of bright colors, and bring their viewers close to their subject through their composition. In these two paintings, Lena uses bright colors and mixes them to create shadows and dark patches by applying different shades of complimentary colors. Her impressionist style is evident in her use of colored shadows and her saturation is colors, which creates vividness that detailed paintings could not achieve (Rosenblum 220). Since she hopes to bring her viewers closer to her subject, in each of the above four paintings, she does not rely on the notion of symmetry and for example the first two display a high horizontal line that creates a plunging perspective and the subject of the painting is not centered. Before the emergence of impressionists, painters placed their composition in such a way that the main subject guided the viewer’s attention (Rewald 323). Impressionists go against this notion and relax the boundary between the subject and the background, and the impressionist’s painting resembles a snapshot and a portion of a big reality, which is as if captured by chance (Rosenblum 228.). For example, Lena’s painting, for example the still life with bread is just a portion of a prepared table. Viewing this painting gives the viewer a feeling that something is left out in the snap, and that the view is as if was captured by chance. 2. Marcus Krackowizer Marcus Krackowizer is a British artist who lives in the UK. This artist started painting full time less than a decade ago. The artist broke his neck although, he says, did not affect his ideas he develops in his works. I addition to his original paintings, he has published his full and

International Business Strategy in HR of the Chinese MNCs Dissertation

International Business Strategy in HR of the Chinese MNCs - Dissertation Example As the discussion stresses the MNCs have started dominating the world market and how they manage their personnel on an international scale is considered critical to the success of globalizing strategies. When firms operate across boundaries the organizational culture is secondary to the national culture.From this paper it is clear that most studies in international business focus on the success and failures of MNCs from developed countries in developing and emerging economies. However, in recent times MNCs from emerging economies such as India and China have also been making entry into developed as well as developing nations. The theories of internationalization are based on the MNCs from developed countries. These may not applicable to MNCs from emerging economies as they lack the expertise in best practices. They particularly face issues in HR management due to lack knowledge of cultural integration. This is because the MNCs from emerging markets come from a national, cultural and institutional background that differs from the developed country MNCs. This gives rise to the importance of understanding the cultural context and its contribution in the success and failure of the emerging MNCs.  Since the Chinese MNCs have been venturing overseas with the support of the government, it has been considered essential to evaluate how national cultures can make an impact on the HRM practices. Bunchapattanasakda and Wong (2011) contend that nations with comparative advantage would tend to transfer their home practices to their overseas subsidiaries but those with low comparative advantages may be forced to adopt the overseas practices. Several MNCs in Europe and the US were taken over by Chinese companies such as China Mobile and TCL but they failed to operate the takeovers successfully (Cao & Forrest, 2011). The main reason cited has been the lack of experience to handle the organization due to language and cultural barriers. The Chinese MNCs could not win the suppor t of the stakeholders due to limited global visibility. Networking and guanxi, typical of Chinese culture, did not appear to work in western business environments. Fan, Nyland and Zhu (2009) suggest evaluating the factors that drive the Chinese MNCs to integrate their operations globally. One of the main causes of failures that have emerged is the lack of knowledge in managing human resources by the Chinese managers. Xhang (2003)

New Service Ideas ( based upon changing Consumers and Markets) Article

New Service Ideas ( based upon changing Consumers and Markets) - Article Example Try to find articles that have a focus on consumers or consumer groups and how they are changing. DON’T pick articles on new products or services- pick a broader consumer or environmental trend- make sure it is a major, not a minor trend- and that it is in the U.S. (we are not focusing on other countries for this assignment- it may be a Global trend- that’s OK, but must be ‘trending’ in the US too.) 2) Then answer the question "HOW are these trends important to marketers of services?" How will they Impact some services? (1/2 page). Focus on SERVICES, not products- and how this trend will impact Services in General- what unique elements of services will be impacted by this trend (like restaurants, or bars, or airlines, or hotels†¦etc) 3) Finally, take a stab at developing TWO NEW (2) Services or Service Extensions (Wal-Mart having child-care; Target decorating college dorm rooms) that would capitalize and be successful because of this trend. Cool examples in past of new services: â€Å"Elder Universities† (for seniors); Airlines for adults only (no babies/ children); Nightclubs for older women (cougars); Cruise Lines for Disabled People; Spa for Asian Americans; Evangelical Christian Dating or Cruise Line, Vacations where you can take your dog†¦.etc. (1/2 to 2/3 page for EACH service idea). Turn in a copy of the two articles with your 2-2.5 page write-up (hint- good magazines/journals to look in are American Demographics, Advertising Age, Business Week/Forbes/ Fortune, and Wall Street Journal. One of the major social trends that is developing in America is assimilation of immigrants and young generation adapting to cultures from different cultures. For instance, more kids of young generation are exploring new avenues of socializing and even dating. More than ever, groups of different nationalities and religions are intermixing, which is

How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy Essay Example for Free

How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy Essay A guide to structuring a vacation policy that sets the tone for your benefits package and keeps employees happy and motivated not to mention gives your company a competitive edge. Deciding what sort of vacation policy you want your company to have is an important step for any business owner in creating a comprehensive employee benefits package. Whether you want to create a system of rewards, or you are just trying to create a set of guidelines for time off, there are several ways that establishing a vacation policy can help contribute to your business functioning smoothly. The following guide will highlight the various options available for creating or improving a vacation policy. How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Consider Legal Requirements Although vacation time seems like a standard occurrence in the American workforce, employers actually have no legal obligation to offer their employees any vacation time at all. However, the majority of business owners understand the health benefits of offering their employees vacation time, and they aim to set policies that fit their businesss operations. While time off for vacation is not federally enforced, employers are legally obligated to provide certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a labor law which was passed in 1993. Employees that would qualify for this type of leave include persons that are caring for a sick family member, persons who must leave due to a serious health condition that prevents them from working, or persons that have to care for a new child, by birth, adoption or foster care. Dig Deeper: Regulation: Your Own FMLA Policy How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: What Are Your Priorities? According to Steve Kane, a human resources expert based out of Hillsborough, California, with more than 25 years of experience working with enterprise companies and start-up businesses, vacation time is simply one form of paid time off (PTO), and before you choose your vacation guidelines, you must begin with deciding what you want to accomplish. You have to put your [benefits] strategy into perspective, he says. Are you setting a vacation policy to create a rewards structure, to minimize costs, [or] to be competitive? Those are all worthy things, but they may lead to different conclusions. Traditional vacation policies, Kane says, have stemmed from policies established by labor union contracts, which will grant employees a certain amount of time off depending upon the length of time they have worked for the company. And, in addition to the yearly allotment of vacation time a company decides to grant employees, many businesses offer additional time off for personal days, sick days, and national or religious holidays, like New Years Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. An employer has the option of giving employees two weeks off for the first year, three weeks off after five years, and four weeks off for 10 or 15 years, Kane says. But, those are just some common schedules; some employees say two weeks for everyone. Accrued time off – additional sick days, PTO or vacation time that employees accumulate based on the length of time they have worked at a company – is also more prevalent now than it used to be. Rollover vacation days – unused vacation time from one calendar year that gets added onto next years allotment – may count as part of accrued time off, but it depends on the employer, Kane says: Some employers say you have to use your rollover days by March 30, or some date in the next year. Or, they will say you can accrue unused vacation time only up to so many hours, or for so many hours. One more factor to take into consideration when creating a vacation policy is to determine whether you feel that your business has key employees. If that is the case, you may want to construct separate policies to keep those employees satisfied for the good of the enterprise, Kane says. For instance, since many businesses have sales people who consistently bring money in, you may consider offering a vacation policy with a higher incentive to that group of people who are driving your business. However, if singling out groups of people within the company leaves other employees unsatisfied, you may be better off sticking to a universal policy. Dig Deeper: Benefits: Time Off You Can Bank On How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Enforcing a Vacation Policy While time off from work is often viewed as an earned employee benefit, a whopping 66 percent of employees were found to have neglected to use all of their vacation time in 2009, according to a study released by Philadelphia-based career management consulting firm Right Management. So, what does an employer do when an employee neglects to take their days off? Kane says that many companies have a use it or lose it policy, which means that if an employee fails to use the vacation time they are entitled to in a given year, it becomes forfeited. Theoretically, doctors will tell you its good to take time off to regenerate, but that only way you can actually make [employees] take a vacation is just to tell them not to come into work, he says. Most vacation systems try to make that a part of the policy, but its enforced by the payroll department, rather than individual supervisors. An employer must also decide whether they want to include part-time employees in a vacation policy, or limit that option to full-time workers only. For some stores, their bread and butter are part-time employees, Kane says. I think its a general rule that employers whose workforce is part-time often [tell employees they] wont accrue vacation for working 20 hours a week or less. If an employee decides to abuse his or her vacation policy, however, the consequences can be dire, and may even result in termination. Typically, a companys human resources or payroll department will keep track of employee sick days and vacation days, and it will be up to them to report abuse to their manager or employer. Dig Deeper: Are Your Employees Scared to Take a Vacation? How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Get Employee Input Vacation time is one aspect of the benefits package that will be difficult to alter once it has been established, so its best to ask your employees what they hope to gain from the policy before its set in stone. A big mistake that employers make in creating a policy, Kane says, is setting guidelines based on what they heard worked for another company, rather than focusing on the needs of their own business and employees. One thing to remember is that if you decide to ask your employees what they want, you have to provide them with the proper education about potential plans so they can make a well-informed decision. If you are putting a new plan to a vote, Kane recommends asking how many people want option A, how many want option B, and how many dont care either way: If you provide the middle option of, Im indifferent, then you can potentially increase the percentage of employees who are happy with the result. Dig Deeper: Giving Employees a Say How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Scrapping Your Policy Altogether If you are contemplating the terms of a workplace vacation policy, a critical step is to determine whether or not it benefits your business to have one at all. Some workplaces have decided to scrap their policies altogether, and allow employees to take off as much time as they want. The theory behind this option is that it de-bureaucratizes the workplace, and, rather than making employees feel like they will be compensated for productivity, they will maintain increased productivity by not having to stress out about proving their self-worth within the company. This concept of workplace democracy, and doing away with employer-sanctioned occupational limitations, has become one of the most important movements in the business world, says Brian Carney, London-based member of the editorial board of theWall Street Journal, editorial page director of the Wall Street Journal Europe, and co-author of the business book, Freedom, Inc.: Free Your Employees and Let Them Lead Your Business to Higher Productivity, Profits, and Growth. One of the things that we discovered [in doing research for this book] is that to really liberate employees, you have to get them out of the mindset of trading material goods in one form or another for performance, he says. According to Carney, a lot of employers are hesitant to consider getting rid of a vacation policy because employees see it as something they are entitled to and something they take comfort in – a dynamic which can be destructive to a company. You have to break that dynamic of, give me something, and Ill give you something, says Carney. You dont establish a vacation policy to encourage people to bankroll [time off], you establish a vacation policy to let people see that its healthy to take time off work.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Introducing Business Models

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Introducing Business Models A: Public Private Partnership is known worldwide as an important source of spurring clannish assets in stock building and improving public service delivery. As we move on with this business, it gets important to investigate objectives for PPP in visit to understand the risks and responsibilities the government would hit to adopt in visit to make PPPs growth. As we explore PPP we see two types of common reasons which are used to explain why a government pursues PPPs. The prototypal ordered of reasons are what we would adjudge as beneficial, reasons that are consistent with the outcome that PPPs actually achieve. The second ordered of reasons are what we adjudge Deceptive reasons-that is, reasons that are not really consistent with the outcomes that that PPPs can deliver. BENEFICIAL REASONS FOROF PURSUING PPP Risk transfer: Government getting rid of asset-based risks that is, risk directly associated with building or operating assets Whole-of-life costing: Through whole of life costing the government can achieve optimization between capital costs and operating and maintenance costs, a realistic projection of amount outlay of ownership, and a artefact of comparing competing designs on a like-with-like basis Innovation: Providing wider incentives for original solutions to assist delivery Asset utilization: Developing opportunities to generate income from utilization of the asset by third parties, which may reduce the outlay that the polity would otherwise have to pay as a sole user with the outcomes that that PPPs can deliver. DECEPTIVE RESONS FOR PURSUING PPP The main deceptive reason why some governments pursue PPPs is to access finance that would otherwise not be available. Accessing finance would not be doable ultimate by introducing a PPP. If an infrastructure source is not assured that, between user fees and government subsidies, it module be able to recover its costs, the government would unable to raise the top needed fund to build the project. The government module will not able to attract clannish finance simply by deciding to do PPP, cost recovery would need to be resolute before capital can be raised A government is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government. In its broadest sense, govern means the power to administrate, whether over an area of land, a set group of people, or an association. A government is the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit. It is the system or form by which a community or other political unit is governed. Far more important to me is, that I should be loyal to what I regard as the law of my political life, which is this: a belief that that country is best governed, which is least governed George Hoadly Most people who have live in the Pakistan think of state provision when they think of public services. Consequently, when they think of public services being removed from state provision they think of privatization probably with the involvement of multi-national capital. However, for those who lived in from the period of the Industrial Revolution until the Second World war, and for million of people across the world who have lived since the war and up to the present day, the provision of services is not exclusively a matter for the state; it is a matter for the public. For people not living within our narrow cultural constraints, delivery of services is provided through co-operatives and mutuals. The democratic nature of co-operative structures gives people direct power over service delivery. The state, whether central or local, acts as a guarantor of peoples rights to services. The state must always be prepared to act as an enabler but should only be a provider in the last resort. Given our knowledge of this better way, we must continue to engage, not from any sense of ideological superiority, but because we know that this better way is more economically efficient and will provide better service delivery which meets people needs better than current provision. Let the people think they govern and they will be governed. William Penn It is worth acknowledging that there is some co-operative provision in Pakistan, for example there are a number of housing co-ops. It is equally worth acknowledging that there is a wider third sector which contains various social enterprises, charities and housing associations. Some of these are in a grant funded arrangement with the state while others take a more trading approach to procurement. Co-operative solutions, particularly when they are worker-led, require the support of trade unions. It is important to get the message across that co-operation is not privatization. Since trade unions are there to protect their members, perhaps co-operation should be promoted as a structure which can help protect their members. There is a need to make co-operative working the preferred option for workers in the service sector. Local Government Local government has played a leading role in Pakistans communities for many years and continues to have a key role to play. Support for co-operative values is not new to local government. Regional councils in particular funded and supported co-operative development. Pakistans local authorities have an important role to play in supporting co-operative businesses working in partnership with co-operative and mutual enterprises. A wise government knows how to enforce with temper, or to conciliate with dignity, but a weak one is odious in the former, and contemptible in the latter. George Greenville Local Authorities need to be partners in developing mutual solutions with communities. Pakistans local authorities should work in partnership with co-operative enterprises to improve social services, develop anti-poverty strategies and to provide environmental justice for communities. Procurement polices designed to achieve social aims and maximize the benefits for local communities will always assist successful co-operative enterprises. We should challenge the fear culture and encourage best practice. Procurement legislation needs to be looked at and all local services should be considered for co-op options. Moving to a co-operative model of service delivery would require a complete review of departmental structures within the local authorities existing political framework. We need to put in place now the support mechanism to underpin co-operative service development. There is widespread acknowledgement that the way local authorities deliver public services is changing. Privatization is happening but co-operative solutions can put people in ownership and control and enhance democracy. We should be pro-active in looking for services which are due to be externalized and have a co-operative model ready to promote. Public services should be delivered according to need and any profit should be paid back into the community. We need to develop across local government, through education, a knowledge base of councillors and policy makers across all parties together with officers with expertise ready to champion the co-op model. Planning Planning is an issue that cuts across policy areas. We should see this as an opportunity to develop a co-operative approach to some of the greatest challenges in 21st century Pakistan. Planning, above all else, is about co-ordination of provision and co-operative models, particularly secondary co-operative models, provide an ideal solution in this context. There are clear opportunities to develop co-op models to meet the needs of society to co-ordinate its approach to service delivery. For example, an industrial and provident society model could be used to create separate legal entities which would be responsible for linking up the shared responsibilities of the Health Service and local government and be democratically accountable to the communities they serve. This means extending co-operation beyond co-operation with a small c to creating structures which are fully accountable. It is important that co-operators take an active involvement in local planning and use it to engage with community groups. As a Movement which is heavily involved in retail and property, we are well placed to provide socially responsible solutions to the problem of town centre development in Pakistan. The co-operative model would provide an ideal structure for town centre partnerships. Not just co-operation with a small c between those involved in supporting town centre development but actual business models which could be used to develop town centers in a way that communities would want. We should seek to establish a consensus that co-operation is the default position. When planning new developments it is important to include play areas, community shops and centers where appropriate. Co-ops should seek to take advantage of community benefit clauses. The community benefit aspect should be seen as a way to develop new co-op businesses. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair George Burns Health As co-operators, we view healthcare much in the same way we see every issue that confronts people, their families and communities we believe that power should lie with the people. Communities have to take responsibility for health provision and we believe co-operative and mutual models of healthcare provide them with the best opportunity to do this. The highly emotive campaigns which have arisen from proposals to re-design the delivery of acute and specialist services underlines the importance placed on the NHS by communities and the sensitivity with which politicians need to deal with the issue of health. The co-operative model could be applied to hospitals. With the aging population, social care was highlighted is the type of service where the caring, sharing Co-op model should be an obvious option. We believe that co-operative models would produce greater integration and would suggest that the evidence of co-operative healthcare provision overseas supports this contention. A key challenge for the provision of health services is to connect them with people the users, employees, patients and the wider community. It is essential to engender a type of ownership that enables stakeholders to feel that these services are run on their behalf and not for someone elses vested interests. We must address the issue of elections to Health Boards which would create an element of community involvement and accountability in health delivery. Consideration should be given to the increasingly challenging subject of care provision in Pakistan. This is an area which requires partnership between the NHS and local government. It is also an area which may have significant potential for co-operative development and is an area being prioritised by Co-operative Development Pakistan. We require action on pharmacy delivery and occupational health looking at co-operative rather than private solutions. One method of overcoming the difficult informational requirements of the allocation models described above is by enacting a requirement that anyone wanting to purchase cigarettes must first purchase a cigarette card. The card, which could be based on the same magnetic strip (or computer chip) technology used for credit cards and ATM cards, would be issued to any legal-aged smoker who wanted to buy cigarettes and would have to be presented by the smoker each time she purchased cigarettes. A reaction of many readers may well be that our proposal gives too much information to government agencies, therefore creating a Big Brother problem. We sympathize with that concern, but we believe the problem is not as significant as it may appear initially. First, it is not clear that the sort of information that the cigarette card system would generate is any different from the sort of information that the American public routinely provides to government and private agencies. In other words, it ma y be too late to worry about the sort of privacy concern that this proposal raises. Jon D. Hanson and Kyle D. Logue quotes Education Public services are more concerned about the delivery of education as a service rather than curricular issues. However, it is worth saying that the issues of educational structures and curriculum are connected. The Co-operative Movement has an excellent record in education. When, in the past, co-operatives have delivered education, delivery and content have supported each other. We hope that development regarding co-operative schools will lead to a return to this link. The work being done at present in Pakistan is to be highly commended and we hope this will achieve its objective of bringing co-operative ideas to every school in Pakistan. However, there is a long way to go. Co-operation offers solutions to many of the challenges of public service provision but co-operative solutions have been ignored because civil servants and politicians have no background knowledge in co-operation. Schooling system, almost without exception, completely ignores co-ops business models. Most teachers are still unaware of co-ops and therefore the ignorance perpetuates itself. We recognize that education sits quite firmly within local government and that most people in Pakistan would wish it to remain so. However, we would argue that in the longer term it is not just the curriculum which should become co-operative but also the structures. We need to continue to discuss how we can further develop co-operative education in schools and to develop the ownership of the curriculum so that it is owned and managed by the communities it serves. We should collate and build on best practice already in schools, such as the the work of unions, bringing new savings models into schools. It is essential to promote the co-operative model at school level and equally important to engage with the curricular drivers in Pakistan such as Learning and Teaching Pakistan. For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power.When the revolutionary theory of government began to prevail, and Church and State found that they were educating for opposite ends and in a contradictory spirit, it became necessary to remove children entirely from the influence of religion. Lord Acton Its time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everybodys role is spelled out in advance and there are few incentives for incentives for innovation and productivity. Its no surprise that our school system doesnt improve: It more resembles the communist economy than our own market economy. Albert Shanker PPP approaches should not be seen as a magic bullet and may be best suited to specific circumstances. As in all cases of public procurement, corruption remains a risk that must be carefully managed. As PPP projects are relatively new, lack of familiarity with the procedures may open up new corruption risks. On the other hand, greater emphasis on the delivery and measurement of outcomes in PPP procurement may introduce greater levels of transparency and accountability. The main advantages and disadvantages of PPP are summarized below: ADVANTAGES Makes use of private sector skills, modern technology, and efficiency Forces the public sector to focus on outputs and benefits (rather than inputs) from the start Brings in private capital and makes projects affordable Risks are shared by the different parties Budgetary certainty The public sector only pays when services are delivered Capital at risk is an effective incentive to make private companies perform. DISADVANTAGES PPP implies a loss of management control by the public sector and therefore may be politically unacceptable Ability, skills, and sufficient capacity of the public sector to adopt the PPP approach and create a good incentive and regulatory environment Lack of private sector expertise Does not achieve absolute risk transfer Procurement can be lengthy and costly Long-term relatively inflexible structures PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVRY PROCESS

America Doesnt Need Gun Control at Gun Shows Essay -- Constituton Bil

America Doesn't Need Gun Control at Gun Shows Gun control has been a highly debated issue for several years. In the past this debate has led to the passage of gun control legislation, the most prominent bill being the Brady Bill. However, the national legislation concerning gun control only applies to licensed gun dealers. This has left a huge gun control loophole at the national level, because unlicensed dealers and private collectors are not required to conduct background checks on potential customers before selling them a weapon. Recently, this loophole has become the center of the gun control debate. Those who support gun control at gun shows (generally liberals) are saying that it is necessary to restrict the sale of firearms at gun shows because convicted felons and known terrorists are currently able to obtain weapons from gun shows. The other side of the debate (generally conservatives) contends that the enforcement of gun control at gun shows is a wasted effort and will only cause mounds of unnecessary pap erwork. The National Rifle Association published â€Å"Anti-gun groups†¦Ã¢â‚¬  by Jim Pate on their website. This article quite obviously presents a strongly conservative view as would be expected from the NRA on issue of tougher gun control laws. Since it is published on the National Rifle Association’s website, Pate is able to use an aggressive approach to the issue, which is effective because his audience agrees with his views against stricter gun control. Pate also incorporates strong pathos into this article through his word choice, which he uses to arouse negative emotions in the reader toward advocates of gun control. He weaves a great deal of logos into his writing as well by citing many facts and m... ...ng citizens serves more than a corrupt political agenda. By extension, it lends support to those who hate America’s freedom and seek to destroy our way of life† (par.23). Although this metaphor is really nothing more than an example of name calling, Pate uses it to associate the emotions Americans have toward terrorists with the gun control campaign which will win more support for Pate and his views against gun control at gun shows. Works Cited Pate, Jim. â€Å"Anti-gun groups, led by Americans for Gun Safety, have teamed up behind U.S. Sen. John McCain to exploit terrorism in order to advance their gun control agenda. Their first target of opportunity is the traditional American gun show.† The National Rifle Association. 15 Feb 2002. http://www.nra.org/frame.cfm?title=NRA%20Institute%20for%20Legislative%20Action&url=http://www.nraila.org/ (21 March 2002) America Doesn't Need Gun Control at Gun Shows Essay -- Constituton Bil America Doesn't Need Gun Control at Gun Shows Gun control has been a highly debated issue for several years. In the past this debate has led to the passage of gun control legislation, the most prominent bill being the Brady Bill. However, the national legislation concerning gun control only applies to licensed gun dealers. This has left a huge gun control loophole at the national level, because unlicensed dealers and private collectors are not required to conduct background checks on potential customers before selling them a weapon. Recently, this loophole has become the center of the gun control debate. Those who support gun control at gun shows (generally liberals) are saying that it is necessary to restrict the sale of firearms at gun shows because convicted felons and known terrorists are currently able to obtain weapons from gun shows. The other side of the debate (generally conservatives) contends that the enforcement of gun control at gun shows is a wasted effort and will only cause mounds of unnecessary pap erwork. The National Rifle Association published â€Å"Anti-gun groups†¦Ã¢â‚¬  by Jim Pate on their website. This article quite obviously presents a strongly conservative view as would be expected from the NRA on issue of tougher gun control laws. Since it is published on the National Rifle Association’s website, Pate is able to use an aggressive approach to the issue, which is effective because his audience agrees with his views against stricter gun control. Pate also incorporates strong pathos into this article through his word choice, which he uses to arouse negative emotions in the reader toward advocates of gun control. He weaves a great deal of logos into his writing as well by citing many facts and m... ...ng citizens serves more than a corrupt political agenda. By extension, it lends support to those who hate America’s freedom and seek to destroy our way of life† (par.23). Although this metaphor is really nothing more than an example of name calling, Pate uses it to associate the emotions Americans have toward terrorists with the gun control campaign which will win more support for Pate and his views against gun control at gun shows. Works Cited Pate, Jim. â€Å"Anti-gun groups, led by Americans for Gun Safety, have teamed up behind U.S. Sen. John McCain to exploit terrorism in order to advance their gun control agenda. Their first target of opportunity is the traditional American gun show.† The National Rifle Association. 15 Feb 2002. http://www.nra.org/frame.cfm?title=NRA%20Institute%20for%20Legislative%20Action&url=http://www.nraila.org/ (21 March 2002)

Heroes :: essays research papers

Heroes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hero. When we think of a hero, what automatically comes to mind? To some it may be someone legendary. Others might think of a hero as someone of great strength or ability. Perchance an illustrious soldier or warrior. Perhaps someone admired for their achievements and great qualities. To me, it once meant someone that showed great courage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two characters that remind me of heroes are Bernie, from the movie Hero, and Arthur, from the story â€Å"Arthur Becomes King†. These two characters have many similarities. One similarity is that in both stories, the hero is the last one who would be thought of as a hero. The reason being that Arthur is a meager squire. In Bernie’s case, well, as his ex-wife said, â€Å"It was against his religion to be nice†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another similarity is that both were not liked by all. Arthur was not liked by Sir Kay. Bernie was not liked because of his cynical way of being. Also, both were not believed when they first told their stories. It took Arthur three or four times to prove that he indeed was the one who pulled out the sword from the stone. Bernie did not even get the chance to tell some one what he had done.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is also the similarity in that both, Arthur and Bernie, did not realize that they were special or in some way heroes. Arthur thought he was merely getting a sword for Kay. Bernie was so preoccupied with his illegal selling of stolen credit cards and finding a way to buy time for him not to go to jail. Also, both of their actions cause good to happen to the people around them. With these examples we can see that Arthur and Bernie were a lot a like.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Bernie and Arthur had many similarities, they also had many differences. A considerably significant difference is that Bernie’s and Arthur’s personalities were as diverse as heavy metal and classical music. Arthur was humble and forgiving. Bernie, on the other hand, was a cynical man who had nobody's interest but himself in mind. There is also the difference in the plot. In†Arthur Becomes King†, Arthur is a young boy who makes everything peaceful in his kingdom. Bernie causes John Bubber to want to commit suicide, although he does save fifty-four lives, including a little boy who receives mass media attention.

An Analysis of Gullivers Travels :: Gullivers Travels Essays

An Analysis of Gulliver's Travels    When I first started reading the book I thought its only purpose was to talk about the political system in England. But after some pages I found that there could be a deeper message concealed, between the lines somewhere. The book is divided into four minor novels. The first is about the Lilliputian's the second about Gulliver visits the giants, the third about the flying island and last about Gullivers travels to the land of Houyhnhmland.    In the first book Gulliver gets shipwrecked and ends up on the island Lilliput were some inhabitans of the island finds him and ties him to the ground. The king hears of the news and sends the army to stop the giant from escaping. Gulliver is then taken to the king's castle were he is searched fore weapons or other dangerous items. The Lilliputians are divided into two tribes. One is holding Gulliver and the other lives on the second island which is separated from the first by a canal (resembles of England and France) . Gulliver is at the littlenders and the enemy is the bigenders which live on the island   of Blefuscu. Gulliver helps the Littlenders to defeat the bigenders. In this book Swift emphasises the stupidity in the war between England and France and also every war which starts over a stupid reason, he also points out the meaningless in courtlife were they do nothing but waste the states money.    At he lilliputians he builds a raft which he uses to sail back to England. But instead he finds himself shipwrecked and washed upon the shores of Brumbidang or the giants land. there   he was found by a farmer whom handed him over into his daughters care. The farmer uses Gulliver for finical reasons and shows him up as a side-showfreak at all the inns in the land. In the giants land there are no classdeffirences this is something that probably Swift wanted to introduce to the British system.    In this book Swift also attacks the British political and justice system with no mercy, He also emphasises the meaningless of having an standing army in peace.    In the third book Gulliver gets picked up by men of the flying island of Laputa.    There everyone is striving to improve their environment in any way possible

Irish Prison System Essay

In 2012, the average cost of imprisonment per prisoner in Ireland was â‚ ¬65, 404. The current prison population is 4, 306. That’s an estimated 282, 000,000 of the tax payers money spent on prisons in Ireland per annum. Introduction This Irish prison system consists of 15 different institutions. This is made up of eleven traditional ‘closed’ prisons, two ‘open’ prisons, a training prison and a prison for young offenders. All of our prisons are termed medium-low security, apart from Portlaoise prison; a male only prison and our countries only high security prison. The purpose of a prison is to retain those legally committed of a crime as punishment or whilst they await trial. ‘The mission of the Irish prison service (as stated in their 2010 Annual Report) is to provide safe, secure and humane custody for people who are sent to prison. The Service is committed to managing custodial sentences in a way which encourages and supports prisoners in their endeavouring to live law abiding and purposeful lives as valued members of society.’ This essay will examine the capital which is currently spent on the Irish prison system and assess if the Irish prison system merits the money which it expends. Is â‚ ¬65,404 a reasonable amount to spend on the legal punishment of one individual, and are the systems in place effective in providing our prisoners with rehabilitation and social regeneration? Utilising these findings the discussion will attempt to offer alternative systems of punishment to imprisonment. Poor Conditions The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out an examination of Irish prison conditions in January- February 2010. The report described ‘degrading’ behaviour and ‘un-hygienic’ conditions. An examination of Portlaoise prison’s E-block discovered inadequate and unacceptable sanitary facilities. The cells were small (6m ²) and some of them were dilapidated with broken windows and dirty walls. None of the cells had in-cell sanitation and, at night, if a prisoner had to defecate he was likely thereafter to wrap up the faeces in a parcel and sometimes throw it out of the window. A typical day for a prisoner is made up of 16  ½ hours of ‘lock up’, those under severe confinement can endure 18 hours or more of being restricted to their cell. In extreme cases some prisoners may not even get to spend one hour a day outside of their cell. The CPT concluded that: ‘†¦ 23-hour lock-up should only be considered as a temporary respite, whereas in the Irish prison system it has developed into a general measure.’ The Prisoner’s Life Whilst research presents the inhumane conditions that exist in some of our prisons we also hear reports of recreationally facilities that some law abiding working class citizens do not even have access too. In 2009 journalist with the Evening Herald, Cormac Looney states that a sum of almost â‚ ¬200,000 was spent on sports equipment for prisoners in Ireland. He notes that Mountjoy Prison received â‚ ¬36,388 worth or sports, gym and recreational equipment, while inmates of the high-security Portlaoise prison which include former gang lord John Giligan received â‚ ¬28, 214 in sports equipment. Fiach Kelly of the Irish Independent informed us in 2010 that members of the Irish prison service had signed an additional â‚ ¬200,000 contract to upgrade our prisons for the subsequent three years. Kelly quotes Fine Gael’s then spokesman on public spending, Brian Hayes. â€Å"I fully accept the prisoners need proper gym facilities,† he said. â€Å"The question is why are they being kitted out again at this cost. I find it quite extraordinary the IPS (Irish Prisoners Service) signed off on this lavish expenditure item.† The IPS justified these expenses, claiming the equipment was of good value for the agreed price. An IPS spokesperson maintained that the provision of a gym would in the long run help prisoners to take control of other areas of their lives. Surely our prison systems main priority should be acting in accordance to their mission statement as stated in their three year strategic plan (2012-2015), adhering to the guidelines set for protecting basic human rights and meeting the prescribed health and safety standards. Our Mission: Providing safe and secure custody, dignity of care and rehabilitation to prisoners for safer communities. Our Vision: A safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity. A Case Study – Inside the Joy Little do Irishmen know the wretchedness of imprisonment. (John K. Casey, Fenian prisoner, Mountjoy Prison) Much ‘no-holds-barred’ writings exist on the inside stories of Mountjoy prison. They reveal what life is really like as an inmate; from desperation and depression, to bullying, beatings and the drugs network. The 2010 report by the CPT describes the ill-treatment of prisoners by staff members. An inmate of Mountjoy prison claims he was physically assaulted by a number of prison officers; A prisoner at Mountjoy Prison alleged that on 15 October 2009 he was physically assaulted in his cell by several prison officers, in the course of which he claimed he was thrown on the floor and repeatedly stamped and hit on the chest, arms and head. He also alleged that he was punched in the ribs while being escorted down the stairs to the basement of B Block 9. The photographic evidence of the injuries contained in the medical record is consistent with repeated injury to the chest wall; extensive bruising of the outer aspect of the left arm is not consistent with simply having been restrained. Former Governor of Mountjoy John Lonergan provides an insight into the prison. Even Lonergan maintains it was still a kip when he retired in June 2010. Paul Howards ‘tell-all’ account of a prisoner’s life in Mountjoy unveil stark revelations of the desperate conditions Irelands’ criminals endure. Prisoners are limited to one shower a week and one change of underwear per week. We learn of the littlest things that bring joy to the inmates such as a radio-show by Father Michael Cleary and the effects that using a privilege like the use of the library have on prisoners. Problems with Irish Prisons The Irish Prison System leaves a lot to be desired, outlined below are two of the major problems the system faces. * Overcrowding An over-reliance of the Irish criminal system on imprisonment as a form of punishment is just one explanation but forward in an attempt to explain the vast number (4,306) of criminals sentenced to imprisonment. The number of individuals sent to prison for not paying fines has increased by 10.5%, resulting in an estimated 18 non-fine payers occupying prison cells on any one day. Findings of the CPT report over-crowding in all the major prisons. The report questions the progress of Mountjoy’s Thornton Hall complex which the Irish authorities had originally optimistically stated would be complete and ready for occupancy in 2010, this date has now been pushed back to 2015. Besides building new cells and providing additional sleeping arrangements our only option is to reduce the number of individuals admitted to our prisons. Tackling the crime rate is another problem so for now we should look at providing petty criminals with punishment other than imprisonment. The Irish Prison Services Annual Reports for 2002 and 2003, noting the expense of keeping an individual in prison stress that ‘imprisonment must remain the sanction of last resort.’ * Staffing Issues In 2010 the Irish Examiner amongst other national publications alleged that Northern Ireland’s prisons had more staff than inmates. Particular reference was made to Maghaberry prison, a high security prison in Co. Antrim. Statistics presented showed that Northern Ireland’s 1,500 prisoner population was staffed by approximately 2,300 persons. A well-staffed prison is not sufficient if it can’t recognise its’ inmates basic human rights and provide facilities which satisfy these. â‚ ¬282,000,000 Worth of Expenses If overcrowding is common, and basic sanitary facilities are not being provided then why is the Irish Prison System expending an overwhelming amount of capital? While the figures are high expenditure has actually de-creased in recent years, this is not due to a fall in the number of prisoners but more to do with the issue of overcrowding which reduces the cost of bed space. Again we need to look at those responsible for the management of staffing and finance. It seems the Irish Prison System, like much of the State’s governing bodies need a lesson in financial management. What is the Alternative? There is no question that prisons are an integral part of any functioning society, but in order to provide basic facilities for criminals who require such punishment we need to look at the crimes that may not require punishment of that extent. We need to look at alternative means of punishment for the likes of non-fine payers and similar offenders. The Evening Herald tells us that just less than 200 individuals were punished with prison sentences for not paying court fines linked to TV licenses in 2011. The article shows that 25 people a day are now being sent to prison for failing to pay court fines. There were 1, 680 women sent to prison in 2011 and 1, 300 of those were due to their failure to pay court ordered fines. An obvious alternative punishment for non-fine payers and similar offenders is community service, no real threat to society as a whole and humiliation and inconvenience would be effective punishment for such crimes. Community service could be in their local area so as to increase the humiliation therefore deter individuals from re-offending and encourage others to pay such charges. Another suggestion is the introduction of manual labour into the prison system. The Irish Prison System outlined the need for exercise for prisoners, instead of spending capital on the provision of state-of-the-art fitness and training equipment serious offenders could be forced to participate in tasks such as the cleaning, up-keep and refurbishing of prisons. While a prisoner’s intrinsic rights and health must always be foremost in decision making a reduction in some more lavish recreational facilities may reduce the number of re-offenders when they have extremely negative experiences in prison. The number of prisoners committed to prison more than once in 2010 stood at 3,421. In More Streetwise: Stories from Irish Prisons editor and part-time prison teacher Neville Thompson suggests the provision of a back-up system for prisoners when they are released. He describes a touring theatre company which he hopes to set up; â€Å"What a Waste Productions.† The company would engage in writing, music, acting, set design and production. This idea could reduce the number of re-offenders. With too much time to think and very little space in which to do it prisoner’s very often resort to writing or poetry, involvement in something positive which helps them discuss and come to terms with their experiences in prison may discourage prisoners from returning to crime. Thompson envisages the production company eventually becoming self-supporting but justifies initial government financial input in these terms; It now costs â‚ ¬85,000 to keep a prisoner inside. God knows how many prisoners rob before they are caught again. However, we are looking to get â‚ ¬20,000 per prisoner for the projects we have in hand. At first instance, taking the projects we have in place it would cost us â‚ ¬200,000 to keep our project afloat for a year as opposed to â‚ ¬850,000 to keep them incarcerated. Conclusion While the idea that prisons’ are a complete waste of money is generally as result of ignorance the large amount of capital that the Irish Prison System expends is not justified when we look at the failure of Irish prisons to deliver basic facilities to inmates. We need to sentence those who need to be dealt with in such a way and look at an alternative means of punishment for those who don’t require such punishment. Much media coverage tells us of the lavish lifestyles which inmates such as Sean Quinn lead. This glamourises prison life and needs to be tackled in order to promote a less-appealing system and make the Irish prison system what it should be; a threat to discourage individuals from committing crimes. The suggestion that tackling media portrayal of life in prison would greatly reduce the number of offenders is highly idealistic but coupled with an effective program for criminals coming out of prison may at least reduce the number of re-offenders. References Books: * Carey, T. 2000. Mountjoy: The Story of a Prison. Cork: The Collins Press. * Howard, P.1996. The Joy. Dublin: The O’Brien Press. * Lonergan, J. 2010. The Governor. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. * O’Donnell, I. and O’Sullivan. E. 2001. Crime Control in Ireland: The politics of Intolerance. Cork: Cork University Press. * O’Mahony, P. 2000. Prison Policy in Ireland: Criminal Justice versus Social Justice. Cork: Cork University Press. * Thompson, N. 2007. More Streetwise: Stories from Irish Prisons. Mullingar: Killynon House Books Ltd. Government Publications: * Irish Prison Service 2012. Three Year Strategic Plan [Online] Available from: http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/17473/1/ips_three_year_strategic_plan.pdf [Last Accessed 09 May 2013] * The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 2010. Report to the Government of Ireland on the visit to Ireland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [Online]. Available from: http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/irl/2011-03-inf-eng.pdf [Accessed 09 May 2013]. * The Irish Prison Service 2010. Irish Prison Service Annual Report [Online] Available from:http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Irish_Prison_Service_2010_Annual_Report.pdf/Files/Irish_Prison_Service_2010_Annual_Report.pdf [Accessed 09 May 2013] Newspaper Articles: * Kelly, F. 2010. Prisons to spend â‚ ¬200,000 on ‘lavish’ equipment for gyms. The Irish Independent: Ireland [Online], 13 October. Available from: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/prisons-to-spend-200000-on-lavish-equipment-for-gyms-26689415.html [Accessed 09 May 2013]. * Lavery, M. 2013. 121 women are sent to jail for failing to pay TV licence fines. The Evening Herald: Ireland [Online], 15 December. Available from: http://www.herald.ie/news/121-women-are-sent-to-jail-for-failing-to-pay-tv-licence-fines-28963049.html [Accessed 09 May 2013]. * Looney, C. 2009. â‚ ¬200k for prison gyms as garda budget slashed. The Evening Herald: Ireland [Online], 05 March. Available from: http://www.herald.ie/news/200k-for-prison-gyms-as-garda-budget-slashed-27903752.html [Accessed 09 May 2013]. * O’Keefe, C. 2013. Prison bosses urge to kick football spend to touch. The Irish Examiner Ireland [Online], 10 January. Available from: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/pri son-bosses-urged-to-kick-football-spend-to-touch-219146.html [Accessed 09 May 2013]. * The Irish Examiner, 2010. North’s prisons ineffective ‘despite having more staff than prisoners’. 14 December. Available from: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/norths-prisons-ineffective-despite-having-more-staff-than-prisoners-485592.html [Accessed 09 May 2013]. Websites: * The Irish Penal Reform Trust 2013. Facts and figures [Online]. Available from: http://www.iprt.ie/ [Last Accessed 09 May 2013]. * The Irish Prison Service 2013. Prisons [Online] Available from: http://www.irishprisons.ie/index.php/joomlaorg [Last Accessed 09 May 2013]. Other: * Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice 2012. The Irish Prison System Vision, Values, Reality. Dublin: Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. * Matthews-Lynch, C. 2010. Are prisons a waste of money? [Online] BA, Dublin City University. Available: http://carlymatthews.me/writings/college/2nd-year/cm261-crime-the-media/ [Last Accessed 09 May 2013].

Senior Scholars to Freshmen Flunks: the Five Paragraph Essay Unraveled

Cover Page Through writing this paper, I wish to actively inform the public about the universal argument towards the five paragraph essay and formulaic writing in general. To help share this information, I wanted to present the opinions of several accredited sources, and insert them into a conversational format so that the reader can easily navigate and understand their arguments. Apart from informing the public about the current debate, I wanted to introduce a solution to the problem of students using the five paragraph essay in their college English classes.By introducing higher level writing earlier in the education system, students will have a head start once they start taking courses at their university. I believe that this paper will be effective because it appropriately lays out accredited opinions about the positives and negatives of formulaic writing, while at the same time proving the point that it will not be accepted in a college atmosphere. Furthermore, it presents a sol ution to this situation by seeking to implement higher level writing methods while students are still taking high school courses.This paper introduces the argument, supports it from both sides, frames itself, and then offers a possible solution. I personally think that the synthesis of my essay is well written. I feel that I did a good job finding sources that agree or disagree with each other and then implementing those arguments into a conversation. Apart from those strengths, I fear that my niche may seem weak due to the strength of my synthesis. I feel that I may have overshadowed the personal part of the essay with the information I learned from my sources.As a result of this project, I have learned that writing is just another medium through which to inform people about a given topic. I have come to realize that writing is very simple: you do it to inform the reader about something. The complex part occurs when you try to decipher how you will complete that task. In terms of à ¢â‚¬Å"developing theory of writing,† this realization is probably the main point I learned because in all honesty that is a very big concept that I took away from this project. I am excited to see how this theory will change based on the works to come.Campbell Bailey Michael Johnson English 1510 18 February 2013 Senior Scholars to Freshman Flunks: The Five Paragraph Essay Unraveled Almost every high school English classroom in America has been taught the same thing: the five paragraph essay, or â€Å"formulaic writing,† is the proper way to write a paper. Most students would agree with this statement; they think that they five paragraph essay is a simple and efficient way to draft an essay. Additionally, students often start college with the incorrect assumption that this writing style is adequate and acceptable by their instructors.As long as they write an introduction, three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion, they will receive their coveted grade of an A+. But w hat is the science behind this formulaic writing? Why does it seem to work so well for high school students, but not college students? The five paragraph essay (or FPE) should not be disregarded or seen as a necessity; it should be viewed as an instrument to improve the writing of novice students. But all writing mechanisms have a proper time and place for implementation.As a result, prior to entering college all students must learn that the five-paragraph essay will not always suffice in a university environment. If they continue with formulaic writing style, they run the risk that their assignments won’t come close to receiving the grade that they desire. This represents a shortcoming in the schooling of today’s novice writers, and this limitation cannot be filled by any brilliant instructor. The solution lies at the feet of none other but the institution of education.The American schooling system must start preparing students during their high school years for the c ollege level writing that they will need to become proficient, while also making them aware of both the positive and negative aspects of formulaic writing. The five paragraph essay has been taught in schools for years because it achieves fantastic results. Students can grasp its construction easily, resulting in good grades and positive reputations for school districts. According to Dictionary. com, formulaic is defined as â€Å"made according to a formula; composed of formulas† (dictionary. com).Not surprisingly, that is exactly what the FPE is: it’s a specific formula that, if followed, helps students create and write their papers. Almost every formula for the FPE is the same, and one will rarely find a different structure then the one taught in almost every school system across America. The construction of the FPE is quite simple, which is why it can be taught to students at an academically young age. The first paragraph is the introduction, with the thesis statemen t ending the paragraph. The next three paragraphs all support the thesis, and each one usually contains a source that helps build the writer’s argument.The last paragraph is named the conclusion, and summarizes the main points of the paper. This structure has been used by countless students over the years, and it has yielded consistent and positive results. Not only is it easy for a teacher to grade, but it also allows students a quick and efficient way to write their essays on various state-sanctioned tests. But a problem arises once these students arrive at the college level. It is here where the great debate between scholars begins about whether or not the FPE is a proper and justifiable method for teaching writing skills.In the current and ongoing argument over the FPE, it seems that a great deal of controversy is about format. Both high school teachers and college professors seem to have differing opinions on the topic. Jan Haluska, who currently chairs the English Depar tment at Southern Adventist University, believes that the versatility of the FPE creates more beneficial thought and ideas then does writing without a formula. Novice writers are more capable of furthering themselves intellectually if they follow a set of guidelines, rather than not following anything at all (30).But Rick VanDeWeghe of the University of Colorado, and Richard Argys of North Glenn High School disagree, stating that â€Å"The FPE formula may assist students with proper formatting of papers, but it appears to fall short of helping them offer a cogent discussion of their thoughts† (99). The FPE helps students in the short run with the format of their papers, but it oppresses the persuasive aspect of their words. It seems that while the FPE essay offers students organization and simplicity, it also holds back their natural intellectual ability to persuade and inform.The argument over the structure of the FPE is even more hotly debated. VanDeWeghe and Argys positive ly support the FPE format, saying that it offers writers a solid groundwork unto which to build their essay. They agree that all writers have a hard time creating work, and it is a great advantage to have a clear view of what a proper dissertation looks like (98). In a metaphorical sense, following guidelines to the five paragraph essay is much like riding a bike with training wheels. Without training wheels, the rider would lose their balance and crash, much like a writer ith no direction or foundation. But other writers believe the thesis statement that accompanies the teaching of the FPE overshadows any foundational aspects. Author Mark Graham believes in this notion, and expresses his belief by writing â€Å"And so you can't begin with a thesis, because you don't have one, and may never have one. An essay doesn't begin with a statement, but with a question† (Graham). Many college level educators heartily agree with this statement, and this concept has been used to sway ma ny to veto the use of the FPE.Essays were not initially created to persuade, but to inform and discover. While there is evidence that the FPE suppresses this notion, the fact that the formulaic essay creates a positive working environment for writers cannot be overlooked. It seems that today’s educators play the lottery with whether or not to support formulaic writing; the only way to know if they have hit the jackpot is to pour over the crisp final drafts of their students. When freshman students begin their college careers and flip open their English writing syllabus, they often find themselves anxious and fearful.Thoughts of constantly writing papers and hours of essay formatting leave them anxious with knots in their stomachs so tight that they can hardly breathe. But the stomach knots of some students who have mastered the five paragraph essay are usually a little looser than others according to Kerri Smith, a freshman composition professor at Fairleigh Dickinson Univers ity. Smith exalts students who possess skill with the five paragraph essay. She welcomes them to her class, eagerly overjoyed that she will finally have some students intellectually capable enough to withstand the rigors of college writing (16).So it seems that professors may genuinely believe that formulaic writing lends students a hand in kick-starting their writing careers. They arrive to college armed with valuable information about the structure, organization, and overall atmosphere of a successful essay. But Smith shows us in the above comment exactly what so many educators are arguing for. She references that formulaic writing prepares students for the â€Å"rigors of college writing. † In this one single sentence Smith deals the ultimate blow to the argument for the use of the FPE in college environments.Although it may bring better writers to universities around the country, students will arrive at their freshman English course and discover that they have the skills for an A paper, but they lack the correct form. The formulaic writing that they once knew and loved is rendered completely obsolete by the harsh standards of college writing. Imagine you have been trained from birth to swim with fins attached to your feet. By the time you are 19 years old, you have perfected your stroke and you can gracefully glide through the water. But suddenly, you are told that fins are no longer allowed to be worn while you swim.You confidently take them off and plunge into the water, kicking with your feet like you are so accustomed to doing. You quickly realize that you are hardly moving at all, and that you don’t even possess the strength to tread water in your bare feet. Exhausted, you cling to the side of the pool and come to the conclusion that if you ever want to swim again, you will have to completely re-think and re-learn the skills you have been taught your whole life. The fins represent the formulaic structure of writing that the average stude nt is familiar with.The bare feet symbolize the liberal construction of a college level essay. As one can clearly tell, a college student trying to excel in courses with only knowledge of formulaic writing will struggle much like a swimmer who only knows how to swim with fins. It seems that the â€Å"big final paper† around the country for high school seniors is to write a research paper. This paper is often feared by many students, even though they typically have to argue for one side of a specific topic. These seniors will often investigate a specific topic, and write a glorified summary of the views of a few accredited sources.While this essay is obviously not five paragraphs, students will almost surely mold their writing in a formulaic fashion. They will have a one sentence thesis at the end of their introduction, cite one source per paragraph, give their explanation of that source, and then end with an expected conclusion. The students receive an A grade, and they feel happy and ready to enter college with their expert writing skills, when in reality, they do not have the slightest understanding of what is expected in college writing classes.The concepts that students learn in their freshman English course need to be taught earlier in the curriculum in order to prevent this mistake from happening. Senior year, students are primed and ready to learn essential skills that will help them thrive in a university environment. Concepts that are incorporated into college essays should be introduced at this time. For example, many high school students do not understand that an essay should shed light on two, three, or even four opinions of a specific argument.They also do not know that a complete essay should contain an original argument, or a niche, which is a new opinion or angle on the topic that the writer brings to the conversation. Lastly, high school students don’t understand what a real conclusion is, and this weakness quickly becomes appare nt in their early college career. Writer Paul Graham has never understood the method for writing a conclusion that he was taught in high school, saying that it seemed like he was â€Å"just supposed to restate what we said in the first paragraph, but in different enough words that no one could tell† (Graham).This is a common misconception about the conclusion of an essay, and it is something that develops in middle school and continues on until students graduate from grade school. If high school educators could mold their second semester curriculum around teaching their students the three basic concepts above, freshman writers in their English courses would be better prepared and, but they will also be less anxious which will in turn allow them to write more successful, journal-worthy essays. There has yet to be a study conducted which researches the success of college students in regards to the five paragraph essay.A researcher could study the success of freshman students in their English writing course, and interpret that data based on the intensity of their prior knowledge of the five paragraph essay. Furthermore, a study has yet to be done about the success of freshman college students that had prior knowledge of college-level writing concepts, as discussed above. Such studies would shed much light on the effectiveness of the five paragraph essay. These results may even be the final nudge educators need to rethink and adjust their high school curriculums.In conclusion, academia may never know or agree if the five paragraph essay has a universally positive or negative effect on student writing. There are too many variables that factor into the situation, such as the intentions of the writer, the difficulty of the class they are in, etc. Writers will have to make a personal decision on how they prefer to write their cherished essay. Will they play it safe and stick to a simplistic format of five paragraphs, or will they take the plunge into a risky si xth paragraph and dare to offer multiple sides of the argument?Oddly enough, in the end, this hotly debated decision lies in the hand of the one who holds the pen. Works Cited â€Å"formulaic. † Collins English Dictionary – Complete ; Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 17 Feb. 2013. ;Dictionary. com http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/formulaic;. Graham, Paul. â€Å"The Age of the Essay. † paulgraham. com/essay. html. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Feb 2013. Haluska, Jan. â€Å"The Formula Essay Reconsidered. † Education Digest 78. 4 (2012): 25. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 013. Mary Kendrick, et al. â€Å"EJ† Extra: The Five-Paragraph Essay And The Deficit Model Of Education. † English Journal 98. 2 (2008): 16-21. ERIC. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. Smith, Kerri. â€Å"Speaking My Mind: In Defense Of The Five-Paragraph Essay. † The English Journal 4 (2006): 16. JSTOR Arts & Sciences IV. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. VanDeWeghe, Rick, and Ri chard Argys. â€Å"Research Matters: One More Thing: Can We Teach Process Writing And Formulaic Response?. † The English Journal 3 (2008): 97. JSTOR Arts & Sciences IV. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Abstract Globalization Essay

Abstract Globalization is a term now circulating frequently in both popular media as well as formal academic disciplines. It has many meanings, some of which are contestable, others simply descriptive. This work attempts to explore some implications of globalization for the field of curriculum studies. This paper is an attempt to explore some of the symbols of nationality that are embedded in, or associated with, our curriculum, and to suggest that these may present some problems in terms of values and of equality. The work will explore the hegemonic relationship exerted by culture through the curriculum, relating this particularly to the ways in which a curriculum might be assessed. The particular curricular examination suggests that African-American life and history are reflected in various conceptions of the curriculum. Therefore the study will also consider how functional approach to teaching social skills to African American students is infused throughout the curriculum. Curriculum Development Introduction A vague presumption has come to pervade the public’s understanding of education, namely that its content should somehow be apolitical and value-free. If values are not explicitly addressed in the classroom then what is taught are simple â€Å"facts† – unadulterated and value-neutral. Values, however, are not a separate category of the mind, but arise, part and parcel, out of our total understanding of reality, our worldview. It is this realization that three of our contributors bring to bear, each in a different way, on the problems of the contemporary curriculum. James B. Macdonald (1971) asserts: The process of curriculum development †¦ includes selection from the total culture and the creation of a pattern of encounter that will maximize the authenticity of the material and the probability of its being internalized by learners. As a system of ideas and beliefs, it includes aspects of the cognitive world isolated by disciplines and/or subjects in terms of facts, information, generalization, principles, laws, and the like. It also includes awareness of and facility in the use of expressive symbols such as art, music and language. Further, it includes systems of value orientation for action in the form of such things as modes of inquiry, seeking new knowledge, respecting the integrity and worth of individuals, being concerned for other peoples, using democratic procedures , and so forth (pp. 97-98). Macdonald takes issue with the attempt of all scholars to mimic science as the only reliable path to â€Å"truth. † For him, restructuring the curriculum does not mean trying to integrate the disciplines as they now exist, but rather, seeking an altogether new worldview -what he calls a new â€Å"anthropology. † His point is that we need to consider values, meaning, and purpose in the curriculum in order to create a more adaptive and accurate vision of the world. A balance must be maintained between local culture and global culture. Thanks to that balance, groups win be able to develop or reinforce local cultures, and at the same time will be able to communicate with the main global culture in a mutually reinforcing relationship. We must of course agree as to what language to use to communicate throughout the global network. The problem is not very different from what we do for instance in air traffic control. At a certain moment we must accept that in order to communicate we must have a common global language. This does not negate local languages and cultures – on the contrary. The fact that one speaks English does not prevent him/her from communicating in his/her native Italian, nor does it reduce his/her pride in Italian culture. By speaking English, he/she is able to communicate that culture to other cultures, and vice versa. The â€Å"Global Education† mentioned in the abstract might be understood as the universal education of humankind – a worthy goal. But we first have to ask: what will we teach? There are too many facts to be taught, yet they are insufficient. We need instead to exercise our intelligence to grasp and teach what is best – namely the promotion of our well-being. The cultural/historical dimension, whereby students are stimulated to broaden their perspective on life, is already being addressed in some programs of curriculum reform. At my home institution, Temple University, for example, a two semester course entitled â€Å"The Intellectual Heritage† is required for all undergraduate students. This course introduces seminal texts and ideas from Western, African, and Asian traditional intellectual histories and cultures. Through classic works such as the Tao Te Ching, the Koran, and the Analects, the heritage of all humankind, students are able to enlarge their intellectual and historical vision, while becoming sensitized to the values of their own, often unexplored, roots. This suggests that curriculum must include voices, visions, and perspectives of people of color and other marginalized groups. Literature Review Henderson noted in her paper that conventional economic theory is based more on the values of economic theorists and their wealthy sponsors than on actual observation of real economies (Davis 1988). Not only economics, but everything that is taught bears the stamp of someone’s values – whether those of a legislator, a teacher, a textbook writer, or a group of academic theorists. Value-neutrality is one of the most pervasive misconceptions of modern education. The curriculum is not unbiased, and students are not left to form their own opinions. Whatever is taught bears the imprint of the values implicit in society, and if by chance those values are part of the cause of a society’s problems, then it becomes necessary to address them openly and critically in the educational curriculum. This, of course, is the real meaning of â€Å"academic freedom,† something that the American public has yet to accept. The problem of what set of values, what sort of vision of humankind, we could put in place of – or at least use to modify – our present faulty vision is taken up by Charles Weihsun Fu in a brilliant analysis of the distinctions between two of the world’s dominant worldviews: the Eastasian and the modern Western. Fu skillfully juxtaposes the Confucian and Judeo-Christian understandings, pointing out the social and political consequences of each, and especially their inherent weaknesses. More specifically, he contrasts their respective bases in personal morality and social responsibility on the one hand and in law and contractual relationships on the other. Fu concludes with a proposal for interweaving these two approaches which, if introduced into the Western curriculum, could serve simultaneously to correct our destructive tendencies toward alienation while softening our pretensions of moral superiority. His arguments seem to us to feed well into those of Johan Galtung, who discusses the path to global peace under the next theme. The process by which change is to be accomplished likewise is addressed by Frances Moore Lappe, as she critiques our political value system. Too often, Lappe argues, the curriculum teaches only superficial explanations for society’s problems, relying upon the unexamined assumptions of single disciplines, which are often graced with the label of common sense. She calls for the introduction of dialogue into the curriculum to force us to delve deeper into the underlying causes of problems, thus revealing their true complexity. Such dialogue ultimately demands the critical self-evaluation of values and a sense of political engagement that she believes are essential for an active, informed, truly democratic citizenry. If they are to achieve a productive dialogue rather than a polarizing debate, both Western traditionalists and the multiculturalists must face some facts. The growing number of people of color in our society and schools constitutes a demographic imperative educators must hear and respond to. The 1999 Census indicated that one of every four Americans is a person of color. By the turn of the century, one of every three will be of color. Nearly half of the nation’s students will be of color by 2020 (Council for Exceptional Children 2002). Although the school and university curriculums remain Western-oriented, this growing number of people of color will increasingly demand to share power in curriculum decision making and in shaping a curriculum canon that reflects their experiences, histories, struggles, and victories. People of color, women, and other marginalized groups are demanding that their voices, visions, and perspectives be included in the curriculum. They ask that the debt Western civilization owes to Africa, Asia, and indigenous America be acknowledged (Grossman 1998). The advocates of the Afro centric curriculum, in sometimes passionate language that reflects a dream long deferred, are merely asking that the cultures of Africa and African-American people be legitimized in the curriculum and that the African contributions to European civilization be acknowledged. People of color and women are also demanding that the facts about their victimization be told, for truth’s sake, but also because they need to better understand their conditions so that they and others can work to reform society. The significance of culture in curriculum implementation is supported by Michaels’ (1981) study of differences in narrative styles used by African American children and their European-American teacher. In Michaels’ study, a European-American teacher did not make explicit the literate narrative style employed in school learning and, thus, African-American children did not acquire a prerequisite skill for reading acquisition. Narrative styles are culturally acquired. The narrative style employed in school is based on the European-American culture and does not need to be made explicit to most members of that culture. Schools and the curriculum are often portrayed as culturally neutral and, because the practice of schooling has become traditional, it is difficult to identify the specific aspects of culture that are present. A more specific example of teachers’ response to students’ cultural or ethnic background is found in a research study reported by Perry Gilmore (1985) in which African-American children’s access to advanced literacy is denied on the basis of their level of acculturation rather than acquisition of prerequisite skills. Creators of the standard curriculum as members, of the society, function in multiple settings (e. g. , systems) and, as a result, are socialized by many agents. Attitudes about what children should be taught and how they should be taught are shaped. Likewise, attitudes about social issues such as race and ethnicity are also influenced heavily by multiple systems-giving messages, sometimes conflicting messages, about the importance of these factors. Branch (1993) suggested that the ethnicity and race of the teachers/educators and learners figure prominently in the learning equation. He posits that the attribution of characteristics to learners influences how they perform in the classroom, perhaps as much as their abilities. Frequently, teachers view African-American children’s academic performance as a function of their race and ethnicity and the children themselves may develop limiting self-perceptions as a consequence of their interactions within the ecosystem. For example, Fordham and Ogbu (1986) reported that some African-American high school students perceive academic excellence as an instance of â€Å"acting White. † Background It was not easy, even in the heyday of nineteenth-century nationalism, to define what was meant by national identity. Nations were often based on some notion of unity, or of consanguinity, or of some shared culture, or appearance, or language. None of these seems to be either a necessary or a sufficient condition, however. The United States manages without consanguinity, for example—though it currently seems to see language as a defining issue, as can be seen in the moral panic about the possibility of non-English speakers forming a majority. The pedagogic will seek to produce structures and curricula that are designed to maintain national identity, particularly at moments when national authority might seem to be in question. Bernstein (1971) expressed part of this when he wrote that â€Å"how a society selects, classifies, distributes, transmits and evaluates the educational knowledge that it considers to be public reflects both the distribution of power and the principles of social control†. If existing power structures and distribution are to be maintained, knowledge, and the particular kinds of knowledge that constitute cultural capital, must be selected and transmitted to particular groups. Such cultural capital must be identified, protected and valued over other cultural phenomena. Authorities need to assert their identity and control, and, in the context of the arguments presented in this paper, they need national and cultural symbols to do this, and they need control over the way in which they are transmitted. Some of the unhappy facts of our condition are being disseminated through the media, but in spite of this we still suffer from serious misunderstandings about the nature of global problems. While we have all been told that there are environmental, economic, and political crises – the greenhouse effect, species extinction, the hole in the ozone layer, the Third World debt, the instability of political institutions – and have been informed that there are some causative agents such as carbon dioxide emissions, deforestation, poverty, and a dearth of the appropriate sustainable development, we clearly do not comprehend. We misunderstand precisely because an insistence on the facts alone constitutes that little bit of knowledge that is a dangerous thing. Western traditionalists and multiculturalists must realize that they are entering into debate from different power positions. Western traditionalists hold the balance of power, financial resources, and the top positions in the mass media, in schools, colleges and universities, government, and in the publishing industry (Duckworth 1996). Genuine discussion between the traditionalists and the multiculturalists can take place only when power is placed on the table, negotiated, and shared. However, multiculturalists must acknowledge that they do not want to eliminate Aristotle and Shakespeare, or Western civilization, from the school curriculum. To reject the West would be to reject important aspects of their own cultural heritages, experiences, and identities. The most important scholarly and literary works written by African-Americans, such as works by W. E. B. DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, and Zora Neale Hurston, are expressions of Western cultural experiences. African-American culture resulted from a blending of African cultural characteristics with those of African peoples in the United States (Wald 1996). Rather than excluding Western civilization from the curriculum, multiculturalists want a more truthful, complex, and diverse version of the West taught in the schools. They want the curriculum to describe the ways in which African, Asian, and indigenous American cultures have influenced and interacted with Western civilization (Combleth 1988). They also want schools to discuss not only the diversity and democratic ideals of Western civilization, but also its failures, tensions, dilemmas, and the struggles by various groups in Western societies to realize their dreams against great odds. The inclusion of African-American literature (a) clearly reveals the conflicts and contradictions of class, race, and gender bias in a democratic society, (b) puts students in touch with their own bias and that of their peers, and (c) helps students learn to challenge bias in themselves, their peers, and the larger society, and in the literature they read. The teacher’s personal commitment allows to overcome aspects of the school culture and resistance and racial conflict among students to reach a point of shared understanding and experience for students. The racial conflict clearly raises the issue of personal and group identity, however. Method Curriculum development is designed to reflect the course of study in schools. It is intended to present information to students in an organized manner through various instructional methods and strategies. Teachers must be cognizant of creative and innovative ways to individualize and maximize learning for pupils by providing practical learning activities. Designing curriculum involves two major methodologies (Grossman 1998). The first methodology is experimental instruction. Experimental instruction is designed to intrinsically motivate student interests inside and outside of the classroom. The second approach, systematic instruction, involves teacher/student interaction. The major purpose of systematic instruction is to develop a skill or concept and design materials and activities that enable students to achieve the selected objectives. Curriculum development in most school districts is concerned with developing academics in order to equip pupils to master the complex tasks presented by our society. This approach is valid for most pupils. However, due to poor social and interpersonal skills development of many minority and young African-American students, social skill development may be necessary before academic skills can be mastered. It is generally agreed by most professionals in the field of education that schools should be involved in teaching social and interpersonal skills. For example, social skills education and interpersonal skills development are ideal ways to teach responsibility for self and others and for exploring the meaning of human interaction and relationships. A social skills curriculum can also help students understand: (1) how to develop self-esteem along with their emotions and how their emotions affects others; (2) how to develop positive social relationships; (3) respect for others; (4) respect for rules and regulations; (5) ways to develop moral and character; (6) ways to examine one’s values; (7) ways to make responsible choices; (8) their potential and worth as human beings; (9) How to develop a sense of responsibility toward others and ways of behaving appropriately in public places; (10) the role and duty of responsible citizens; and (11) how to develop effective communication skills. Curriculum strategies outlined in this text are designed to address the social skills and others as they relate specifically to African American students. Experimental, direct, and systematic curriculum methodologies were employed. The phenomenon of educating African-American students has been studied and investigated extensively, resulting in numerous educators advocating that these â€Å"special† students demonstrate inappropriate social skills/ behaviors inside as well as outside the classroom. Developing the appropriate social skills for successful interaction with peers and significant adults (teachers, parents) can be considered one of the most important accomplishments of childhood and early adolescence should be addressed as soon as possible. This is particularly true in the area of establishing and maintaining relations with peers and authority figures. Not only can social skills deficits have a negative impact on future interpersonal functioning, it may also affect current functioning, reducing the quality and quantity of the learning experiences to which students are exposed in their educational settings. Social skills have been defined as goal-oriented, rule-governed, situation-specific learned behaviors that vary according to social context. Social skills involving both observable and nonobservable cognitive and affective elements that help elicit positive or neutral responses and avoid negative responses from others. As such, social behavior constitutes an intricate interfactional process. As a result, the behavior of school-age children influences and is influenced by that of their partners (e. g. , teachers, mentors, tutors, and peers) within the interaction. Society expects that when children reach various developmental stages, they will demonstrate greater foresight and more controlled behaviors. Society also expects that children will be capable, not only of meeting increased demands within learning tasks, but also more complex, subtle social situations. Failure to meet these expectations may increase their sense of social alienation and helplessness. The curriculum presented here is designed to enable African American students to become socially contributing members of society by meeting expected standards. Strategies have been developed to assist educators in providing these students appropriate social skills training to enable them to operate successfully in the schools and society. Intervention techniques have been selected based upon research techniques to assist young Black students in controlling aggression, assuming responsibility, and becoming productive members of the group. The author highly endorses that proactive approach be employed when teaching social skills to African-American students. Since proactive instruction provides children with social intervention before negative behaviors occur, this approach is preferable to reactive teaching. Whereas proactive instruction teaches social skills before social rejection is experienced, reactive instruction waits for the individual to fail and then applies intervention strategies. Many African-American students have problems developing appropriate social skills due to the problems outlined throughout the text. Proactive instruction will prevent many of the negative consequences of inappropriate social skills, as well as improve the self-image of young African-American males. Recommended strategies for proactive instruction may assist the boys in: 1. dealing positively with accusations 2. accepting the feelings of others in a nonthreatening manner 3. respecting the feelings of others 4. avoiding fights and conflicts 5. dealing effectively with teasing 6. giving praise or compliments to others 7. accepting compliments from others 8. apologizing for inappropriate behavior 9. expressing anger in a positive way 10. showing affection and appreciation toward others 11. practicing self-control These instructional activities may be expanded or modified as needed. As indicated, African-American students must be taught appropriate social skills if they are going to be contributing members of society. The social skills outlined here should be infused throughout the curriculum and integrated as needed by the teacher. These strategies are seen as immediate, useful sources for teaching pro-social skills to African-American students. Additionally, the curriculum is based upon in-depth research and years of teaching and observing the social skills development of African-American students. Results The initial step in developing a social skills curriculum is to identify those general social behaviors that are critical to successful social functioning. These general social behaviors are then rewritten as general objectives, which provide the framework for constructing other components of the curriculum. The second stage is to sequence specific objectives as they relate to the general objectives. All specific objectives are designed to achieve the general objectives. Specific objectives are stated in behavioral and measurable terms. The third step is to identify activities and resources that can achieve the stated objectives. Activities should be functional and reflect real life experiences that African-American students are exposed to. As much as possible, parents should be involved in reinforcing the social skills taught. Parents may be used as resource individuals and may offer suggestions relative to material and activities. The fourth step is to include cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity into the curriculum. This approach affords young African-American males the opportunity to appreciate and understand their own self-worth and sense of importance and belonging as well as identify Blacks and other minorities who have made significant contributions in several fields. An additional benefit is that the young Black males can identify and associate with appropriate role models. A curriculum that does not highlight the contributions of Blacks and minorities gives an inaccurate and distorted view of the many significant contributions made by them. Multicultural activities and strategies enrich the curriculum by showing differences in cultural styles, patterns, and interests of diverse groups. Conclusions and Recommendations A social skills curriculum should be based upon those social skills needed to function successfully in one’s society. Much of the research reviewed indicates that a significant number of y African American students have not mastered the social skills needed to function successfully in our society. A functional approach involves exposing the learner to real-life situations, concepts, and activities such as self-identity, acquiring self-concept, achieving socially acceptable behavior, bonding, respecting the rights of others, maintaining good interpersonal skills, achieving independence, employing problem-solving skills, taking turns, and communicating appropriately with others. It is language – the exquisite use of symbols – that makes us truly human, and I would like to see a core curriculum in which students study the origins of language – not just parts of speech (Frisby 1993). I would also like to see students consider how symbol systems vary from one culture to another, how language can be shared, and perhaps all students should become familiar with a language other than their own, so they can step outside their own language skin to understand better the nature of communication. And surely a course of study on the centrality of language would include mathematics, which is a universal symbol system. All human beings respond to the aesthetic. This condition is found in all cultures on the planet, and students, in the new core curriculum, should study the universal language we call art. When Picasso confronts the unspeakable agonies of war, the dismembered child, the scream of a bereft mother, the shattered home, and puts them on a huge canvas called â€Å"Guernica,† he makes a universal statement about destruction that can be felt in the heart of every human being (Spears-Bunton 1990). 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