The Bengal Region

The Bengal Region Bengal is a region in the northeastern Indian Subcontinent, defined by the river delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers. This rich agricultural land has long supported one of the densest human populations on Earth, despite the danger from floods and cyclones. Today, Bengal is divided between the nation of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal, India. In the larger context of Asian history, Bengal played a key role in ancient trade routes as well as during the Mongol invasion, British-Russian conflicts, and the spread of Islam to Eastern Asia. Even the distinct language, called Bengali or Bangla - which is an eastern Indo-European language and a linguistic cousin of Sanskrit - spread throughout much of the Middle East, with about 205 million native speakers. Early History The derivation of the word Bengal or  Bangla  is unclear, but it appears to be quite ancient. The most convincing theory is that it comes from the name of the Bang  tribe, Dravidic-speakers who settled the river delta sometime around 1000 B.C. As part of the Magadha region, the early Bengal population shared a passion for arts, sciences, and literature and are credited with the invention of chess as well as the theory that the Earth orbits the Sun. During this time, the main religious influence came from Hinduism and ultimately shaped early politics through the fall of the Magadha era, around 322 B.C. Until the Islamic conquest of 1204 - which placed Bengal under control of the Delhi Sultanate - Hindu remained the regions main religion and through trade with Arab Muslims introduced Islam far earlier to their culture, this new Islamic controlled to the spread of Sufism in Bengal, a practice of mystic Islam which still dominates the regions culture to this day. Independence and Colonialism By 1352, though, the city-states in the region managed to unify again as one nation, Bengal, under its ruler Ilyas Shah. Alongside the Mughal  Empire, the newly founded Bengal Empire served as the subcontinents strongest economic, cultural and trade powers - its sea ports meccas of commerce and exchanges of traditions, art, and literature. In the 16th century, European traders began to arrive at Bengals port cities, bringing with them western religion and customs as well as new goods and services. However, by 1800 the British East India Company controlled the most military power in the region and Bengal fell back to colonial control. Around 1757 to 1765, the central government and military leadership in the region fell to BEIC control. Constant rebellion and political unrest shaped the course of the next 200 years, but Bengal remained - for the most part - under foreign rule until India gained independence in 1947, taking with it West Bengal - which was formed along religious lines and left Bangladesh its own country as well. Current Culture and Economy The modern-day geographic region of Bengal - which encompasses West Bengal in India and Bangladesh -   is primarily an agricultural region, producing such staples as rice, legumes, and high-quality tea. It also exports jute. In Bangladesh, manufacturing is becoming increasingly important to the economy, particularly the garment industry, as are remittances sent home by overseas workers. The Bengali people are divided by religion. Around 70 percent are Muslim due to Islam first being introduced in the 12th century by  Sufi  mystics, who took control of much of the region, at least in terms of shaping government policy and national religion; the remaining 30 percent of the population is mostly  Hindu.

Average GRE Scores for Top Public Universities

Average GRE Scores for Top Public Universities Many graduate schools have taken the average GRE scores for incoming graduate students off of their websites. Theyre not publishing the rankings in many cases. However, some graduate schools are willing to post average ranges  of scores for incoming grad students, although most of those scores are arranged by intended major rather than by the schools statistics. If youre interested in seeing the most up-to-date GRE scores by intended major, then take a peek at the link provided. Otherwise, read on for the average GRE scores as listed for top public universities for a select few of their majors - Engineering and Education - as published in US News and World Report.   GRE Scores Information If you are confused perusing these scores because you expected to see numbers in the 700s, then Im betting youre probably still thinking about the old GRE score system which ended in 2011. Currently, average GRE scores can run anywhere between 130 - 170 in 1-point increments. The old system assessed students with a scale from 200 - 800 in 10-point increments. If you took the GRE using the old system and want to see what your approximate GRE score would be on the new scale, then check out these two concordance tables. Please note, however, that GRE scores are only valid for five years, so July 2016 was the last time students with GRE scores in the prior format were able to use them.   GRE Verbal Concordance TableGRE Quantitative Concordance Table University of California -  Berkeley: Engineering:   Quantitative: 165 Education Verbal: 149Quantitative: 155 University of California - LA: Engineering:   Quantitative: 162 Education Verbal: 155Quantitative: 146 University of Virginia: Engineering:   Quantitative: 160 Education Verbal: 160Quantitative: 164 University of Michigan – Ann Arbor: Engineering:   Quantitative:   161 Education Verbal: NAQuantitative: NA   University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill: Engineering:   Quantitative: 160 Education Verbal: 158Quantitative: 148 College of William and Mary: Education Verbal: 156Quantitative: 149 University of California – San Diego: Engineering:   Quantitative: NA Education Verbal: NAQuantitative: NA   University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign: Engineering:   Quantitative: 170 Education Verbal: 156Quantitative: 160 University of Wisconsin – Madison: Engineering:   Quantitative: 168 Education Verbal: 158Quantitative: 149 University of Washington: Engineering:   Quantitative: 170 Education Verbal: 156Quantitative: 147 Pennsylvania State: Engineering:   Quantitative: 170 Education Verbal: 154Quantitative: 145 University of Florida: Engineering:   Quantitative: 169 Education Verbal: 155Quantitative: 155 University of Texas – Austin: Engineering:   Quantitative: 170 Education Verbal: 158Quantitative: 152 Georgia Institute of Technology: Engineering:   Quantitative: 164 Ohio State University: Engineering:   Quantitative: 169 Education Verbal: 156Quantitative: 151 Texas AM: Engineering:   Quantitative: 163 Education Verbal: NAQuantitative: NA So Are My Scores Going to Get Me In? There are a number of factors that go into your admittance into one of these top public universities. And although your GRE scores  are  important, they are not the only things considered by admissions counselors, as I am sure you already know. Make sure your application essay is top-notch and that you have secured stellar recommendations from those professors who know you best in undergrad. And if you havent worked on that GPA already, then now is the time to ensure youre getting the best grades you possibly can in case your GRE score isnt exactly what you wanted it to be.

Graduate Reflection Paper 4(a) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Graduate Reflection Paper 4(a) - Essay Example There are many factors that create a leader with strong communication skills. Covey (1989) states that being a good listener brings many benefits for the leader. It helps the leader build relationships and it is a very important part of appraisal and training. Covey also suggests that communication has four components: speaking, writing, reading and listening. Caputo et al. (2003) suggests that leaders must create a system of effective communication with their employees and leadership must have effective communication in order to have complete leadership. Covey (1990) created seven principles regarding communication: "Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win/win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize and sharpen the saw" (p. 41). Covey talks about these habits as human endowments that enhance a leaders communication skills by placing them in a frame of mind that creates their ability to move their employees forward (Covey, 1990). This means that they also need to have a voice in communication. Leaders must be active listeners, create a space for employees to speak their minds respectfully and help their employees to recognize their own voice (Covey, 2004). Each leader must be influential which means they also need to understand how to persuade their employees. This does not the must coerce their employees but rather understand how to move them towards what is expected or needed. Carnegie (1964) suggests that the one way to get someone to do something is to make them want to do it. A strong leaders does this by helping their employees improve, not by criticizing them. Also, leaders must show employees that they are appreciated. These ideas will help employees stay motivated to communicate well with their manager. This also means that the manager must seek to find a

New Right and 1970's - 1990's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

New Right and 1970's - 1990's - Essay Example Social issues came to the forefront of voters' minds. The New Right tackled these social and economic issues (Nelson 9). This paper will discuss the social, economic and political issues which contributed to the rise of the New Right in the 1970's and 1980's. It will also discuss the effects it had on the Americans. Economic, social and political factors, which led to, the rise of the New Rights There exists more than one explanation for the rise of the New Rights. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that people could specifically point out the factors that led to the development of the New Rights (Vaguer 16). This is with a regards to the Conservatism era, which could be viewed as a continuation of an already set American tradition. The Conservatism era joins religious, moral and political principles into one thematic philosophy. One of the major factors for the development of the Conformist Right is as a counteract response to the liberalism of the counteract-society. The counteract-socie ty of the 1960s brought about the dismissal of family morals, spiritual ethics and the extensive distrust in the government set up. One could predict that a hostile response would arise (Vaguer 23). The feminist movements, and in particular the fundamental parts of the feminist association, have indeed had a leading role in the growth of the post-war conservative group. They formed the counterattack group that opposed sexual liberalism (Vaguer 23). They were responsible of changing the responsibilities of women in the workplace and family to a much better state. This was when the general ideas of the feminist group promulgated. Another leading factor is that during the recession of 1970, unemployment and inflation concurrently increased. Budget deficits were starting to rise at alarming rates. Some countries were still at a progressive stage in the early ’70’s (Lowndes 12). The citizens held up social programs and voted down efforts to reduce taxes. By the end of the ` 70’s, a developed tax revolution had been under way, led by the overpowering passage in 1978 of Proposal 13 in California. It eased assets taxes, and increased Congressional support for the Kemp-Roth tax statement, which looked to ease federal income taxes by 30%. Supply-side money matters developed in the 1970s in reply to Keynesian economic strategy and the failure of demand management. This was to calm down Western economies in the stagflation of the 1970s. It drew on a variety of non-Keynesian economic deliberations, mainly the Neo-Classical School and Chicago School (Lowndes 17). The scholar pedigree of supply-side money matters have also been linked to early thinkers who date back to earlier years, such as David Hume and Jonathan Swift. A significant political icon who influenced the adoption of the New Rights was Ronald Regan. In Tehran, the Islamic army freed some captives at the time Ronald Reagan were sworn in to power (Nelson 34). With his triumph in 1980, a new Am erican conservative association took command. Republicans took command of the Senate as of 1980, and conservative ideology dominated Reagan's foreign and economic rule. His policies were of the supply side economics and stern antagonism to Soviet Communism that described the Administration's idea. Reagan's thoughts were adopted by the conservative Heritage Institution, which developed radically in its sway, in the Reagan reign (Nelson 35).

Working in groups at the work place Essay Example for Free

Working in groups at the work place Essay Organisations all around the world provide remarkable but extraordinary workplaces for millions of people. The majority of workplaces require employees to interact towards other fellow employees and the public. Working together with other employees generates a group. There are many ways to define a group, A group may be defined as a collection of individuals who are interdependent in some way (Johnson and Johnson, p15; 2003). According to this definition, working at the same organisation is the event, which affects them all, and it initiates the individuals to work together. The natures of groups produce a relationship between each individual, which expands from the interaction with one another. Not everyone will get along or have the same opinions, but this teaches everyone to appreciate the fact that all individuals are different and to identify the various cultures. In the workplace when the group gets along, it should improve the effectiveness of the relationships between the people identified. This will help the group to have a high morale and will improve the companys reputation. Lenards, is a well-known poultry shop, which serves a variety of fresh chicken. It is a multi-award winning company, considered to be one of Australias leading fresh food retailers and a pioneer in the kitchen ready market(Dias, 2002). I am currently working at Lenards located at Middle Park, and have been employed there for approximately six months. During these six months, I have particularly become close to two fellow employees, Donika and Nick. I have also formed a good relationship with my manager Ray. The objectives of this report will identify in individuals such as personality and attitudes, behaviors individuals demonstrate that leads a person to believe that they have those personalities and attitudes, the level of morale existing between people in the workplace and the indicators of morale that are present and any cultural and social differences that has an influence on the relationships of these people. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Ray (Supervisor) Ray is of great importance to the team at Lenards as he is in charge of the businesss daily operations. Therefore his personality and attitudes reflect strongly upon the business. Managers need to be aware of their own attitudes, assumptions and beliefs, as well as being sensitive to their subordinates perceptions, needs and motivations. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11). Rays duties reflect upon his personality, which makes his duties easier to perform. One important personality for managing is planning. Planning is where the decisions are made and are the essence of a managers job (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.174). The decision making process is a set of eight steps including identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decisions effectiveness. Ray tries to be aware of the stores problems by making sure the employees are serving the customers the right way, and checking that all the procedures are carried out properly. When he identifies a problem within the team, he will usually inform the group about the problem so that no one else makes the same mistakes. Organising is another major behavior for managing. This helps the business to be more organised with team responsibilities and also individual responsibilities. At the beginning of the day Ray sets out what he wants to be done, how it will be best to do it and when it should be done by. The challenge for managers is to design an organisational structure that allows employees to effectively and efficiently do their work while accomplishing organisational goals and objectives. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.274) Leading, is concerned with the subject of behavior and the actions of people at work. It is important for managers to be good leaders so that they have good control over the employees and the business. These areas look towards attitudes, personality, perception, learning and motivation it also includes norms, roles, team building and conflict (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.384). Ray is an understanding person, who tries not to judge. For example, if we are late for work and have a good reason for it he will understand and wont go further into the situation by being nosey. He also gets along well with every customer and does not treat any customer differently no matter of their looks, or culture, etc. Job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude towards their job. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 389). Rays high involvement as the manager of Lenards has made him extremely motivated and displays positive attitudes. Organisational commitment is an individuals orientation towards to the organization in terms of loyalty identification and involvement. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 59). Ray participates in the workplace daily and he shows a considerably high commitment to the workplace. He understands the different cultures of all employees and does not treat anyone different. All managers are required to perform duties that involve people (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11) Ray does his job very well by performing the duties that involve people at a great level, he interacts well with all the customers by starting conversation and offering bonus cards and cooking guides, he always tries his best to make every customer smile. Morale is basically the need for a manager or supervisor to give their employees direction, guidance, support, encouragement, praise and recognition for work. It is understood that Rays morale is the highest out of all the workers in the business. He shows a cheerful attitude towards employees and is always willing to perform certain tasks for the daily operations. Nick (High Employee) As one of the main employees that make up the staff of Lenards, Nick contributes greatly in the food preparations and daily operations. His personality seems to be much more conversant compared to the rest of the employees. Nick is more tranquil, meaning that he is calm, easy-going and open-minded at the same time. He is always cooperative towards the group and the customers. Human or interpersonal skills represent the ability to work well with and understand others, to build cooperative effort within a team, to motivate and to avoid conflict. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11). Nick has developed many skills over the many years that he has been employed at Lenards for. This makes him more conversant meaning that he is much more experienced compared to the rest of the group. Nick is someone that the group members rely on if Ray is not around. The team is very reliant upon Nick because of his great knowledge towards the business and the skills that impact upon the business. A person, who is tranquil, is easy going and calm towards many situations. It is important for group members to portray tranquility so that they can keep there cool at times of frustration. Nick is an outgoing person but at the same time he stays calm and on task. Cooperation is important within a group and a businesss customers. Instead of an individual completing there own duties on there own, the group can work together as a team to complete all the tasks in an organised way. This means that each individual can get help from others where needed. The primary goal is to get along sufficiently well to achieve the goals and do the tasks. (Birchall Colwill, 1996, p70). Nick cooperates well with every team member by helping everyone complete tasks, and by identifying and informing us of something we are doing wrong. He also cooperates well with the customers by coming to a conclusion with a customer who has a problem. Nick, being a thinking and also a feeling person, tends to be logical but always considers others feelings, having both feeling and thinking dimensions giving strength. He is always organised and also understanding. Nick shows that he is a well-organised employee. He always asks questions like are you busy or do you need any help at all with that? He is careful with his words (as to not offend or dishearten other co-workers) and always likes to help other people if they are in need. Organisational commitment is how much a person contributes in doing task and the loyalty towards the business. Nick, having work there for over 5 years, shows that he is loyal towards the business and always contributes as much as he can, thus is highly committed. It is understood that Nick is very spirited within the business as he has considerably high morale. Morale is the mental or emotional condition of a person or group, as indicated by the level of enthusiasm, confidence, cheerfulness, or the like. Nick shows morale through his confidences and cheerfulness at work, where he loves to interact with others. He always shows that he wants to work and is very confident in doing daily tasks. Donika (Employee) Donika shows great deal of personality and is possibly the most complex employee at Lenards. She is an extremely outgoing person she loves interacting with others but is not always aware of people and/or things around her, this becomes one of her weaknesses, feeling. Other than this she is perceiving, but has equal strengths. A feeling person is a person who is more aware of people, problems and situations around them than being logical and objective. This means that the person places more value in people and their life. Donika does not show a lot care for much more than just the job she does, but she likes to know about other employees weekends, problems and loves interacting. At times she can be a bit judging towards people, for example, she may comment about customers after they have left, such as saying something like, That person had stinky breath. Perceiving is where an individual always thinks twice before acting or always want to know more about the task given or problem before making solutions for the problems or task. Perceivers like to take in new ideas and perspectives with others but tend to have a weakness in planning and organizing within the workplace. For example, Donika is a less organised employee by not putting her full effort into a task. For example, when it comes to the end of the day and we have just had a rush of customers leaving all our duties out the back unfinished, she will do a lazy job by not washing thing properly so that she is not late to leave work. Having equal strengths with intuition and sensing means that the person can see possibilities, likes new ideas, enjoys solving problems, can work in complicated situations, likes to establish facts and has minor errors. Having balanced strengths in this dimension could give a person great personality to work with. An example of this can been seen in the workplace at Lenards where Donika likes to invent and discuss new ideas and would like to question others opinions on whether or not the new ideas would be successful if implemented. One day Donika noticed that where the knifes are placed could become a hazard. The knifes are placed on a magnetized holder, Donika suggested that we purchase or create something which would be more safe which the knifes would not fall out of. When she came up with this idea, she informed the management after suggesting it to the rest of the employees. It is understood that Donika has a high morale towards the business organisation as a whole. Morale as said before is a state of individual psychological well being based upon a sense of confidence, usefulness and purpose. The confidence she shows is considerably high. She also likes to motivate and encourage others to work faster and effectively. Donika holds a cheerful attitude towards the job. Deema (Employee) During the six months which I have been employed at Lenards for, I have formed good relationships with the employees and the manager. Human or interpersonal skills represent the ability to work well with and understand others, to build cooperative effort within a team, to motivate and to avoid conflict. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11) This makes my job enjoyable and bearable to anticipate. I differ from the group at Lenards in many ways, but I can relate to the employees in many ways. My culture becomes some of the many differences that I have with the group. My family background is stable and has brought me up to be understanding, friendly, cheerful and easy to talk to. On the other side of my personality I can be impatient, unmotivated and unorganized at times. By understanding peoples situations, it helps them to feel comfortable to interact with one another. When there was a new employee, I understood his situation as I had been in the same place before, so I tried me best to help him and make him feel comfortable in his new work place. When others interact with me, I try to put my self in the same situation so that I can understand what they are talking about. By being understanding upon peoples situation is one of the aspects of friendliness. By being friendly towards the group I feel that I enjoy work much more by interacting with one another. By being friendly towards the customers I have realized that they become happy with the service and tend to come back. From being impatient, certain situations become irritating to handle. For example, when customers are picky with what they want, while there are many other customers waiting behind them. While being at work I have to try my hardest to be patient with customers, and try to ignore the irritation I get. Many of times I can become unorganized by coming late to work but other than that I tend to work hard and motivate myself by interacting with the employees and customers. Morale is the spirit of a persons mind where the person can be affected by confidence, cheerfulness and willingness as stated above. I always work with a cheerful attitude, but may sometimes have the will to conduct certain tasks; rather I may need to be instructed to do so. I do not have full confidence in all assigned task so I can sometimes be unsure of what to do in certain operations. The morale I have mainly comes from my enjoyment of interacting with the group and customers. CULTURAL AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES Culture and society can single everyone out from each other. Culture, can be defined as A deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concept of universe and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people the course of generation through individuality and group striving. (Samovar Porter) The cultural differences within Lenards are of great importance to how people act and explain things. People are raised with different cultures and these changes the way we act, explain and differentiate between different cultures. Culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of people. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 559) As we go through the workers it is understood that the manager and employees have certain cultural differences within the business. All the employees at Lenards have different backgrounds, I am from Iraq, Ray is Australian, Nick is from New Zealand and Donika is Italian. This proves that a group can work together regardless of each others backgrounds. Having a different social status between workers could really contribute in the way workers act within the organisation. Ray, being the manager of the business organisation uses his status to influence others in the workplace. He acts controlling at times to express that he is dominant but does care for employees opinions. As for Nick, he always respects all employees and customers. He listens well to what everyone has to say, when consulting the manager he always asks relevant questions and discusses any problems in a very formal way. Donika appears to talk naturally to anyone with any social differences within the business; she cares less of what status you are as she thinks that all people are equal in the workplace. Deema, being the least experienced in the organisation tends to respect all people and talks formally and respectfully towards every worker within the business. After going through and analyzing the social differences between the workers, it demonstrates that there is a considerably high difference between them. They all show different attitudes to different social statuses within the workplace. The group at Lenards is all different from one another. We all have our own beliefs, cultural and social differences, but it does not stop us from interacting with each other. There are times when we all agree on things and times when we dont. For example, Ray and Nick always leave the radio on Triple M, and myself and Donika always ask to change it to B105. It never causes a fight because we all understand that we like different types of music and we all share the radio stations. CONCLUSION All organisations require for employees to work in a group. For this to be effective, the members in the group should all get along, understanding each others differences which may relate to culture or society. Just because people work together in the same work group does not mean the share common interests (Birchall Colwill, 1996, p4). All individuals may share many qualities with other people, but they still have their differences, the majority of these come from cultural and social beliefs. It is important for groups to accept each others beliefs so they can interact with each other. Good morale associates with group performances and makes the workplace a happy place. For employees to have good morale, they need to enjoy their job, and when employees enjoy their job they then demonstrate a great attitude towards customers, to influence the return of everyone who is served. I believe that the group at Lenards has a high morale. This is due to the fact that we all get along well; pressure is not put on to anyone, and no one ever seems to complain about working. The customer response is good and we have many regular customers, who very rarely complain. I think that a great influence for the groups high morale is from Ray. Most reasons why employees have low moral is if they dont like their employer. Ray is easy going and does not boss us around, and all of us get along well with him. Human relations is a process by which management brings workers into contact with the organization in such a way that the objectives of both groups are achieved. (Hodgetts, 1987, p6) Overall, it is vital for group associations to accept each others differences so they can interact together with good team work to produce a good morale to the society. BIBLIOGRAPHY * Richard M. Hodgetts, 1987, Modern Human Relations at Work third edition, Florida International University, New York. * Luft, J. (1970, 2nd Ed.) Group processes; an introduction to group dynamics. Palo Alto, CA: National Press Books * Georgia Birchall Jenni Colwill, 1996, Working Relationships, Alice Graphics, Melbourne. * David W. Johnson Frank P. Johnson, 2002, Joining Together Group theory and group skills, Pearson Education, Inc. USA * Stephen P. Robbins, Rolf Bergman, Ian Stagg, Mary Coulter, 2003, Management third edition, Pearson Education, NSW * L. Dias http://www.lenards.com.au/ 2002

Smokers Beware :: Smoking Health Tobacco Essays

Smokers Beware Paul Benko puts on his shirt and tie and begins the 15-minute walk to work. He is going to a job that has become a little bit more enjoyable since May 5, 2003. Benko, a non-smoker, has been happier at work as the manager of Our House East, a small bar on the Northeastern Campus in Boston, given that this bar no longer can allow smoking inside. â€Å"It used to get really smoky inside and was hard to breathe sometimes because it was so busy and everyone was smoking,† Benko said. â€Å"I would have to dry-clean my work clothes every week because all my nice shirts reeked of smoke.† The lack of a specified smoking section also caused this small campus bar to become extremely filled with smoke. â€Å"People used to walk around smoking, talking, and drinking,† Benko said. â€Å"It was gross and people used to burn each other all the time.† According to an Environmental Protection Agency study, nearly 3,000 people die each year from second-hand smoke. Much exposure to second-hand smoke is caused by having a spouse or co-workers who smoke or working in a place where anyone can smoke. The ban was instated to protect those non-smoker lungs and the lungs of children. â€Å"It was decided that people should not have to decide between their health and their jobs,† said Gifford Miller, New York City Council Speaker, when he announced New York City was going smoke free. A study done by the World Health Organization showed workplace exposure to second-hand smoke gave a 17 percent increased chance in developing lung cancer. While this number was not considered statistically significant it is still an unnecessary increase. Each year Massachusetts spends $4.8 million on tobacco prevention, control, and awareness programs, according to the American Lung Association. Besides the smoking ban, the biggest fight against smoking has been the tax rate. Massachusetts state law requires a tax of $1.51 per pack of cigarettes; one of the highest in the United States. Massachusetts is not the first place to fight for smoke-free air. Norway was first place in the world to ban smoking in all public places and Britain is in the process of creating a similar law. In the U.S., California and Delaware already have statewide bans of smoking in all indoor workplaces. Maine bans smoking in restaurants and many other states such as Montana, Arizona, and West Virginia are seeing individual cities and towns go smoke-free.

Feminism and Language Essay

Among different disciplines of the society, feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism, collectively becomes the Feminist Theory. This theory had a long walk of time, starting from this movement till 90s; at its third extent of its evolution. The time of post war and the baby boomers, the 60s and 70s were in the extent of the second wave. From this stage it reaches the first wave of 19th and early 20th century from the very point of time, when this became collectively the movements of this evolution that includes women’s rights, gender difference and theories and philosophies, which were the three social factors; of politics, society and economic equality of men and women in return gave birth to a concept called Feminism (Maggie 278). One of the factors, society has a concern with feminism amongst many, about the Language. This movement has influenced the usage of language at large. Linguistics brunt their midnight oil, to work on the description of the language usage that reduces the assumption of the biological sex of human connection. The thrush for the neutral gender was clearly manifested on its agendas of gender-inclusive language, which involve both the sexes or the genders and of gender-neutral language that proposes, gender hardly have any role in the language, for which it becomes neutral regarding in language usage. It is further argued to be non sexist language or politically correct language. Through these analyses the paper is shaping its findings of the relation between Feminism and Language. The philosophy of language have had its hurdle to establish the point of existence, but the criticism that displayed the male bias in the language like English, another criticisms is that the philosophy is ill equipped for the use of the feminists paved a way to a wider arena where its been suggested not to lay off the philosophy from the language. A cognitive feminist concept stretches the idea to limits where the traditional philosophy can help understanding the issues important to feminists. In Feminism, there have been numerous reasons to prove it ill suited for meeting the feminist needs, but the only factor that remained the lowest common denominator is the presence of maximum Individual in the philosophy. Criticism regarding polarity of individualism has been done in length and breadth, but interestingly, detection of those criticisms are always variable for different areas of philosophy being under the spot light and the different concerns of the particular critic, and the due to lack of single judgement the issue remains pseudo (Hintikka & Hintikka 139; Hornsby 87 and Nye 323). It has long been for the philosophy, since the beginning to be tagged with the usage of men bias of English language. Thinking can be free flowing when the language muses with mother tongue. Because, apart from English, there are different families of languages, which have much complex linguistics and can be used more flexibly in the context of both men centric and feminist uses. Such is the status of mother tongue, which frees itself from the men bias of English language. Needless to say, this can include many more languages in the common criticisms of the point of existence of philosophy of language. This also frees the critics from the psychological debate of the women and men. Moreover, individualism dose not have any scope to appreciate the concept of Social, where the central issue; feminism itself is the brainchild of social or society. Thus, the approach empowers the presence of language in feminism to the social causes of politics and power relation. Feminism is concern with the study of people and the domination function on others. Here the feelings and ideas are conveyed through a media. In this act of communicating language plays the most important role of media. Thus, it communicates, manipulates and controls to make it vital to understand the work of power. It is still a longing desire for many feminists to have a philosophy of language that will comprehend the social communication, but as a matter of fact, as of now; the presence of Individualism has it to be employed (Hornsby 97). In a Feminist mind set, the interchagability of the sexes are more important concept than decent English. As per the dogma of the convention, it has been engraved on the generations of student to think ‘he’ in connection of male only. Precisely, this is wrong. But the same had been practiced as the concept at its maximum limit. In the same school of thought a feminist would never go for ‘he’ if it can be presented as he or she, and would never chooses the author, where the author or the authoress can be put on use. And here the turning-point of the matter, which establishes the other side of the feminists on language, where they hate such kinds of vocabularies like, actress and waitress. Rather insist here for the masculine use for women and men. Of course it appears to be exclusively masculine in cases like these for those who are just learning the language (Gelernter 2008). Unlike the second wave, where the gender usage had been in use as person specific, the third wave is moving the approach in a more social level. Previously it was about the usage of the gender to address the person, but here it is about the perception of the language usage and that influences a larger group or category of the mass. It deals with the different way that men and women speak. Like, men being direct and forceful, women being hesitant, polite and apologetic. It analyses the complex negotiation among the genders regarding gender specific context like public speaking or intimate conversation and by routine, what women and men should do that is the co-operativeness and competitiveness. This makes the language of the two genders clear leaving no room to assume that all women are powerless, all males are powerful, or that gender always makes a difference. This is how; this feminist linguistics has focused on the social forces too. Nevertheless, it is suggested that the linguistics feminism of language perception to be kept at bay. It is so, because the sexism becomes difficult to analyse or challenge as they are more locally oriented and content specific. As a result the second wave feminism needs to be merged with the third wave in order to address both the local and global issues (Mills 2008). Language is not all about what we speak, it is about the writing too. By the verge of the second wave, the western society already produced some specific writing skills, which are inclined to feminism. It was a separate category of the scholarly interest. All the underrepresented women work in the history had to gain specific positions in the categories of history or writings. Various presses started taking effort to make the printings of the numerous works, as it was discover quite lately that the women were constantly writing (Blain 1231). This has been further ignited with the growing interest since 1970 in women writing as ‘powerful’. Since then many publishing houses responded in the women works like the long length of Novels and written Biographies. With this scrutiny, one editor reacted that most of the women work have been neglected from citing in most of the books available. Though now the picture is almost stable in this respect. Thus writing as another medium of communication has proved to be equally important when the expressions in the context are about women and men. This media is more typical as this is a kind of media where the data can be stored for future references. Thus, it is more permanent by character. Lastly, the philosophy remains important as that is the tool of the communication, which generates the thoughts to express in a language where the form may vary from what we speak and what we right, though it can be mirrored as the fountain head of the total concept takes birth in the womb of thought. So, after a handsome amount of conversations it has become quite clear that the Feminism as per the feminist theory is concerned, it is a social issue and includes many thing and aspects of society and the human life as a whole, but intends for the female race. It is not about being superior or inferior, good or bad, right or wrong. It is about being rational and be equal with both the genders. It is movement of social structure, where the politics, economic status of the social lot and the power makes the conglomeritic platform to deliver and establish the orders of the gender equality. And to support this entire process, Language has eventually become a part of Feminism; strong enough to control the chemistry of thought process. Bibliography Blain, Virginia. ; Clements, Patricia. ; Grundy, Isobel. (1990). The feminist companion to literature in English: women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Cambridge Companion to Feminism in Philosophy. Fricker, M. and Hornsby, J. , (eds. ) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2000. Gelernter, David. â€Å"Feminism and the English Language. † American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 4 Nov. 2008 . Humm, Maggie. The dictionary of feminist theory. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1990. Hintikka, M. B. and Hintikka, J. â€Å"How Can Language Be Sexist? † in Discovering Reality. Harding, S. and Hintikka, M. B. (eds. ) Dordrecht: D. Reidel: 1983. Hornsby, J. â€Å"Feminism in Philosophy of Language: Communicative Speech Acts†. in The Mills, Sara. â€Å"Third Wave Feminist Linguistics and the Analysis of Sexism. † School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University 4 Nov. 2008 . Nye, A. â€Å"The Voice of the Serpent: French Feminism and Philosophy of Language†. in Women, Knowledge and Reality: Explorations in Feminist Philosophy. Garry, A. and Pearsall, M. (eds. ), NY and London: Routledge: 1996.

Psychology Revision Notes Essay

Participants were divided into four groups which were acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar. Participants were presented with the list a total of 4 times and each time was interrupted to try to prevent rehearsing. They were then presented with a 20-minute interval task and afterwards were asked to recall their list. Semantically dissimilar words were recalled the most telling us that encoding in LTM is semantic. Summary of study on capacity of STM and LTM  Summary of study on duration of STM  Peterson & Peterson-  Showed PPs a list of nonsense trigrams and asked them to count back from 400 in 3 second intervals for a duration ranging from 3 to 18 seconds. Found that duration of STM was 18-30 seconds maximum.  Summary of study on duration of LTM  Bahrick-  400 participants aged between 17 and 74 were tested using different methods including free-recall tests, photo-recognition test, name recognition tests and photo-name matching test. PPs performed less well on free recall tests (30% after 48 years) but were much better in the photo-name test (90% after 60 years). Models of memory  Description of the multi-store model of memory, plus evaluation inc. research  Atkinson & Shiffrin-  Multi-Store Model which consists of three parts – sensory, short term and long term stores. Rehearsal is required in order for information to move across stores and retrieval is needed to access the information. If information is not rehearsed it will decay.  Description of the working memory model, plus evaluation inc. research Baddeley & Hitch-  Working Memory Model which consists of three parts – central executive, phonological loop (store and articulatory control system) and the central executive. Memory in the real world  Knowledge of what Eye Witness Testimony (EWT) is-  The evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime. The accuracy of eyewitness recall may be affected during initial encoding, subsequent storage and eventual retrieval.  Loftus & Palmer’s (1974) study on EWT-  Reconstruction of an Automobile Disaster. 9 student PPs per 5 conditions (bumped, contacted, hit, smashed and collided). All watched a video then asked to estimate speed. Smashed the highest (40.8mph) and contacted the lowest (31.8mph). PPs in second part of experiment then asked a leading question about broken glass. 16/50 of the smashed condition PPs said yes in comparison to 7/50 in the hit condition. Knowledge of the factors which affect the accuracy of EWT  anxiety-  Christianson and Hubinette (1993)  Anxiety and EWT – real incidents involving high levels of stress lead to more accurate, detailed and long lasting memories.  Deffenbucher (2004)  Carried out a meta-analysis of 18 studies, looking at the effects if heightened anxiety on accuracy of EWR. It was clear that there was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negatively impacted on the accuracy of EWM. Age-  Parker and Carranza (1989)  Compared the ability of primary school children and college students to correctly identify a target individual following a slide sequence of a mock crime. In the photo identification task, child witnesses has higher rate of choosing ‘somebody’ than adults witnesses, although they were also more likely to make errors of identification than college students.  Weapon focus effect-  Loftus(1987)  In violent crimes, arousal may focus attention on central details e.g. a weapon. Loftus et al identified weapons focus effect. 2 conditions, one involving weapon the other not. Condition 1 (less violent) people was 49% accurate in identifying man. Condition 2 (more violent) people were 33% accurate. Suggests weapon may have distracted them.

Benito Mussolinis Rise and Fall to Power Essays - Italian Fascism

Benito Mussolinis Rise and Fall to Power Essays - Italian Fascism Benito Mussolinis Rise and Fall to Power History Benito Mussolinis Rise and Fall to Power Benito Mussolini had a large impact on World War II. He wasnt always a powerful dictator though. At first he was a school teacher and a socialist journalist. He later married Rachele Guide and had 5 children. He was the editor of the Avanti, which was a socialist party newspaper in Milan. Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento on March of 1919. This was a nationalistic, anti liberal, and anti socialist movement. This movement attracted mainly the lower middle class.1 Fascism was spreading across Europe. Mussolini was winning sympathy from King Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini then threatened to march on Rome. This persuaded King Victor Emmanuel III to invite Mussolini to join a coalition, which strongly helped him gain more power. Benito Mussolini brought Austria on Germany's side by a formal alliance. In 1937, he accepted a German alliance. The name of this alliance was the Anti Comntern Pact. On April 13, 1937 Benito Mussolini annexed Albania. He then told the British ambassador that not even the bribe of France and North Africa would keep him neutral.2 The British ambassador was appalled and dismayed. On May 28, 1937, Mussolini strongly gave thought to declaring war. He then attacked the Riviera across the Maritime. On September 13, 1937 he opened an offensive into British-garrisoned Egypt from Libya.3 On October 4, 1937, while the offensive still seemed to promise success, Benito Mussolini met Adolf Hitler at the Brenner Pass, on their joint frontier. The two of them discussed how the war in the Mediterranean, Britains principal foothold outside its island base, might be turned to her decisive disadvantage. Hitler suggested to Mussolini that Spain might be coaxed on the axis side, thus giving Germany free use of the British Rock of Gibraltar, by offering Franco part of French North Africa, and that France might be persuaded to accept that concession by compensation with parts of British West Africa.4 Mussolini seemed enthusiastic and very understandable why this was the case, since this scheme included the gaining of Tunis, Corsica, and Nice (annexed by Napoleon III in 1860) from France. Hitler then hurried home to his house in Berlin to arrange visits to Franco and Petan. Back in the capital Hitler created a letter to Stalin inviting Molotov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, to visit early, when Germany and the U.S.S.R. might then agree among themselves how to profit from Britain not having a defense. A week later, on October 20, he left in his command train, Amerika, to meet Petan and Franco. The meeting with Franco took place on October 23 at Hendaye on the Franco-Spanish frontier.5 It had become quite famous in the history of World War Two for Hitlers furious parting shot that he would rather have three or four teeth extracted from than go through that again. Franco, who was greatly supported by his Prime Minister, Serrano Suner, stonewalled throughout the hours towards negotiation with Franco. When his train left at two in the morning, Hitler had not advanced an inch towards co-belligerency with Franco. Petan met Hitler on October 24, and proved to be equally unresponsive. Petan convinced Hitler that they had a meeting of minds. Petan had only agreed to a promise to consult his government, Hitler decided to make a bigger deal out of it and believed that they were united in a productive hostility to Britain. Hitler now had the outlines, despite Francos struggle, of a larger coalition war to present to Molotov at his next visit. When Hitler was waiting for the Soviet Foreign minister to come, he was distracted by the weird behavior of Mussolini, who then chose to mount an attack from Albania (occupied by the Italian army in April 1939) into Greece.6 Mussolini said that he was motivated by the fear that the British would establish positions in Greece if he did not. He had good strategic reasons for wishing to deny them naval and air bases any closer to his own along the Adriatic that those who already possessed in Egypt and Malta. He attacked Greece in October, 1937.7 Mussolini's participation in the Battle of France aroused the derision of neutrals and enemies. He was determined to win in Greece his share of the laurels which had fallen in a not proportionate number to the Wehrmacht. The failure of Mussolini's invasion of Greece greatly upset Hitler as he waited Molotovs arrival. This not only messed up his scheme to change the Balkans into a satellite zone by peaceful diplomacy; it was also

Pros and Cons of Debt Consolidation Loans

Pros and Cons of Debt Consolidation Loans What Is Debt Consolidation? Debt consolidation is primarily designed for unsecured debt (i.e. debt that is not secured by assets).  When you consolidate your debt, you take out a loan to pay off several other debts. This allows you to consolidate the money you owe into one payment.   Pros of Debt Consolidation There are many reasons why people consider debt consolidation. However, it is important to understand that there is no easy out when it comes to debt. Some of the bigger advantages of debt consolidation include: A debt consolidation loan could be attractive if you have multiple payments. Maybe you ran up your credit cards while you were in business school, or you have a number of high interest installment loans (student loans, car loan, etc.) A debt consolidation loan will allow you to roll all of these payments into one single payment. If you have an easier time making your payments, you might be able to avoid late fees, extra charges, and the bad credit that will inevitably result when you cant afford to pay regular bills.It may be possible to get a lower interest rate on a debt consolidation loan - or at least a rate that is lower than the current rates you are paying on your debt. Cons of Debt Consolidation For some people, debt consolidation may not be the answer. In fact, it could do further harm to your financial situation. You must consider all of the cons of debt consolidation before making any decisions. Some of the most common drawbacks include: Debt consolidation doesnt reduce debt, so a debt consolidation loan might not actually do anything to help your financial situation.  It can be really hard to find fair interest rates on debt consolidation loans. If the rate on your new loan isnt any better than the rate you pay on your current debt, consolidating your loans or credit card debt wouldnt make much sense.Debt consolidation can make debts more expensive and make it take longer to pay them off. Remember, when you consolidate debt, you still end up owing the same amount of money. The main difference is usually the length of the term. A longer term could just mean that you end up paying more money through interest in the long run. Use this debt consolidation calculator from Bankrate to crunch the numbers.If you work with a debt consolidation company, you dont take out a loan - you give them money each month and they pay your creditors. Debt consolidation companies are in the business of making money - and some of them are scammers - so you need to be careful about who you hire to help you with your debt problem. Should You Consolidate Debt? Debt consolidation isnt the best solution for everyone. It simply depends on your current financial situation. If you are trying to decide whether or not debt consolidation can help you save money, you should contact a financial professional who can help you crunch the numbers. You may also want to consider credit counseling from a nonprofit organization like the  National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

The ability of individuals to enforce their rights under EU law before Essay

The ability of individuals to enforce their rights under EU law before national courts - Essay Example In a number of cases, the Court has awarded interim reliefs, which are an outstanding concept for the conceptualising the difficulties that individuals witness when initiating legal proceedings before national and European courts when trying to prey for safeguarding the rights offered by the Community . European Union law is having an equal force with any EU’s Member State law. It offers commitments and rights on the officials of the each of the EU Member State as well as the businesses and the individuals. For implementation of the EU law in national law, the authorities will be held responsible in each and every Member State and such officials should warranty ordinary citizen’s privileges under these laws. EC can be approached by any individuals to make complaint against a Member State for any practice or any measure concerning to a Member State which such individual think not attuned with a principle or provision of EU law . This research essay will discuss in detail with the support of decided legal cases and academic opinion about the ability of Individuals to enforce their rights under EU law before national courts. â€Å"Direct, Vertical and Horizontal Effect â€Å" The canon of direct effect facilitates an individual to cite a European legal provision either before the European court or national court. However, direct effect is applicable only to some European regulations and is subject to many stipulations. Direct effect facilitates individuals immediately to refer EU regulations before state courts, despite the fact whether national law test exist or not. Hence, the direct impact guarantees the effectiveness and application of EU laws in the Member States. However, there are many conditions imposed so as to make a European law to be applicable instantly. Further, the direct effect may only relevant as to relations between a person and the Member State or be extended to relations between individuals. The direct effect has been preserved by the ECJ in the landmark case Van Gend en Loos3 in 1963. In this verdict, ECJ held that individuals do have rights and also impose some obligations on EU Member States as regards to individuals’ rights . Hence, individual may derive benefits from these privileges and can directly employ European legislations before European and national courts. Nonetheless, there is no obligation on the part of the Member States to adopt the concerned EU Act into its internal legal setup. It is to be noted that there are two features to direct effect namely a horizontal feature and a vertical feature. Horizontal direct effect connotes affairs between individuals which involve that a person can employ a European law as regards to another person. Vertical direct impact connotes the relationship between the State and the individuals. The ECJ has acknowledged either a partial direct impact which is restricted to the vertical direct impact or a full direct impact which has a horizontal direct impact as well as a vertical direct effect4. In Van Duyn5 case, it was observed by the European Court that while the EU regulations may have their direct effects, the EU directives may not have