Extent to Which Social Stratification Is Usefull and Inevitable in Society Essay

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. With these familiar words of the Declaration of Independence, the founders of America established social equality as a guiding principle. Yet for almost a century after the document was signed, slavery was common in much of the United States, and legal infringement of the rights of women and black Americans continued for almost two centuries. Today,the â€Å"Inalienable right† to â€Å"life,liberty,and pursuit of happiness† is still not equally awarded. For generations now there has been the American Dream of unlimited opportunities for all. The reality, however, has been closer to the underlying principle of the barnyard society in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’: â€Å"All animals are equal,but some animals are more equal than others. † Therefore the essence of this paper is to critically discuss the extent to which social stratification is useful and inevitable in society. It will start off by providing definitions of technical terms. In order to arrive at a clear understanding of the subject under discussion,the concept of social stratification shall also be explained. In addition,the main systems involved in social stratification will be highlighted. Afterwards,the main subject matter will be discussed and in line with this,examples and theories that apply shall be given in support. Finally,a conclusion will be given. According to Harris and Scott (1997),social status is the position or positions occupied by individuals or groups of individuals in relationship to other groups or individuals in society. Each person occupies a great number of statuses and at the same time are continually changing. For example,one person may occupy the status of a husband,father,skilled worker and so on. However,the bottom line is that status can either be ascribed or achieved. Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups from one status in society to another . Since there are several dimensions to social standing or status,people are able to change position by gaining or losing wealth,prestige and power. Upward mobility refers to movement up the social ladder,or a gain in status;downward movement refers to a movement down the social ladder,or a loss of status. Upward and downward mobility,collectively is what is called vertical mobility,an example of this type of mobility is an individual being promoted from a secretarial position to a management position,hence moves from the lower class to the middle class. Another is the horizontal mobility,this refers to movement within a social class. This happens when an individual moves from one job to another job of same social ranking,for example,an accountant moves from one firm to another. Individuals can also have a higher social status than their parents,this is referred to as intergenerational mobility (Coser 1983). Social stratification is a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. The word stratification is derived from the word ‘stratum’ which is a geographical word meaning a layer of rocks of which each layer lies between similar layers of different texture. Sociologists use the term to describe a hierarchical ordering of people or groups as though were arranged in horizontal layers,one above the other. It means that people exist in layers of prestige,power and wealth. It is a structural ranking of people that perpetuate unequal economic rewards and power in society. Social inequality is an inevitable result of social stratification in that certain groups of people stand higher in society,control scarce resources,yield power and receive special treatment. Therefore,a stratified society comprises of members who are either rich, poor, powerful, powerless, high or low (Kerbo and Harold 1991). Social stratification is universal except that it varies from society to society. This means that the hierarchical arrangement takes place in all societies in the world but the criteria used differs from society to society. This is so because every society has its own norms and values hence different culture. For instance,most African societies value marriage or family life while European or American societies encourage working towards the obtaining of wealth. The differences in values and culture differentiates a society from another. Subsequently,in some societies,age and sex are used as systems of social stratification. Nevertheless,the most commonly used include the caste,the class,the colourbar and the estate systems of social stratification. (Ibid). The caste system is also called the closed system of social stratification. In this system,social stratification is based on ascription. It is closed on the sense that birth alone determines one’s social destiny with no opportunity for social mobility based on individual effort. People in this system are ranked in a rigid hierarchy and It is more concerned with religious roles and rituals and is practiced in Hinduism and Indian societies. There are five groups of people in this system namely:the Brahmin,comprising of priests;the Kshatrya, comprising of landlords;the Vaisya,made up of farmers;the Saundra,who are the peasants and the least group being that of the Harijans or the untouchables. In addition,this system is characterized by endogamy. Meaning that marriage outside one’s group is not allowed (Maines and David ,1993). The class system is called the open system. This system is so open that people who gain schooling and skills may experience social mobility. This system was looked at and recognized by Karl Marx and Marx Weber in their Conflict theories. In this system,social mobility drives class distribution. Everyone is believed to be entitled to equal rights and social position,therefore it is based on achievement rather than ascription. In both the cast and class systems people remain unequal but the class system rests on talent,opportunity and effort unlike the caste system which is by birth. In the class system, careers are an issue of individual choice and not moral duty. Consequently,individual freedom is allowed in the selection of marriage partners. (Ibid). The colourbar is another system of social stratification,this system is based on skin colour or race. People in this system are arranged hierarchically on the basis of their skin colour. An example of a colourbar society is South Africa before its independence. There were four main categories of people in South Africa,they were hierarchically categorized as follows;at the top were the Whites,the Colourds,Asians and at the bottom,the Blacks. In addition,colourbar societies are characterized by high levels of segregation,slavery and racism (Goode ,1994). The last system of social stratification is the Estate system. This was a system created by law. Henceforth,laws provided clear distinctions between people. This system acknowledged only three categories of people in society. These were; the Nobles or landlords who owned land and means of production,the Clergy who were men of God and the Commons who worked on the farms of the Nobles in exchange for wages. (Ibid). Ordinarily,social stratification is inevitable in society because it is a characteristic of each and every society and not simply a mere reflection of individual differences. In all societies,people rarely control destinies but rather people’s lives are shaped by the prevailing system of social stratification. For example, children born in wealthy families enjoy better health, food, shelter, clothing, education and succeed in life and live well into old age than those born into poverty. Therefore, social stratification being part of society and not a reflection of personal talents and effort,is inevitable (Shapiro and Thomas, 1998). From the functional perspective,social inequality is both inevitable and necessary for allocating individuals to important social roles. The most persuasive argument for the functional theory of stratification was made nearly forty years ago by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore. They contended that people are motivated to perform demanding or difficult roles through the unequal distribution of rewards. If surgeons did not have such high occupational prestige and incomes,Davis and Moore argued,not enough people would put up with the long years of training,life-and-death responsibilities or personal sacrifices that the surgeon’s role requires. On the other hand,Plumbers fulfill a social role that demands less effort and training,make less money and enjoy less prestige. Social inequality according to Davis and Moore is thus an unconsciously evolved device by which societies insure that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons. Hence every society,no matter how simple or complex must posses a certain amount of institutionalized inequality (Coser ,1983). Further,the unequal distribution of power,prestige and wealth in society motivates individuals to aspire for significant jobs and to work hard and longer,leading to productivity in society. Because the significant jobs are limited,meritocracy is promoted in society. Meritocracy is simply the leadership by people based on quality abilities to do so,the term is derived from the word ‘merit’ which in this case is the quality of being particularly good at something and worth a social reward in terms of wealth ,power or,and prestige. Meritocracy implies excellence in the execution of services. The pursuit for meritocracy promotes equality in terms of opportunities and at the same time encourages inequality in rewards. For example,the zambian Ministry of Education only allows teachers with degrees to teach in high schools. As a result,teachers are compelled to advance their academic qualifications in order to be given a chance to work in such schools and for them to enjoy higher salaries. Because of this,pupils benefit quality education from highly qualified teachers. Societies that use meritocracy hold out rewards to develop the talents and encourage the efforts of everyone. In other words,a pure class system would be a meritocracy,rewarding everyone based on ability and efforts. Such societies would have extensive social mobility and varying social categories as individuals move up or down on the social ladder depending on their performance, (Ibid). Social stratification is necessary because it promotes a culture of corporation between people of the the same category. People tend to want to work together with those in the same position as them. For example,those who are underprivileged tend to work together in coming up with community initiatives for the betterment of their conditions (De Beer ,2000). While the functionalist perspective succeeds in explaining the importance of social stratification,several flaws are pointed out. Melvin (1953),argues that functional importance does not explain the high rewards certain people enjoy. Income and rewards seem to have little to do with functional contribution to society by the individual. For example,Hollywood actors earn millions more of dollars compared to Doctors and military personnel. Another critic is that it is impossible to say which social positions are more important than others. Which society would function better,the critics ask,one with no surgeons or one with no plumbers? Furthermore,it is quite possible that some unrewarded positions such as garbage collectors and ousewives contribute more to society than some highly rewarded positions like professional athletes and movie stars (Coser ,1983). Another critic is that,although societies reward individual achievements,it also allows families to transfer wealth and power from generation to generation. For example,the royal family in Swaziland ensures that its line of leadership is maintained by appointing only members of the royal family as supreme rulers of the nation. (Ibid) While functional theorists ar gue that inequality benefits the society as a whole,conflict theorists point out that it benefits some people more than others. According to this perspective, stratification exists because certain groups are able to exploit and dominate others through force or through traditional inherited privileges. Modern Marxists see classes as conflicting groups;rulers against ruled, haves against have nots. The conflict ideas depend heavily on the ideas of Marx and Weber. The dual contributed greatly to the study of social stratification. The scholars however had different views on social class and inequality. Karl Marx saw class as related to the means of production. Primarily,Marx viewed the structure of society in relation to major classes and the struggle between classes as the engine of change . According to Becker and Howard (1973:278),Marx defined class in terms of ownership of property, â€Å" ownership vests on a person with the power to exclude others from the property and use it for personal purposes. † In relation to property,there are two classes in society that Marx identified; the Bourgeoisie who own and control the means of production and the Proletariat who own labour and sell it to the bourgeoisie for a wage. According to Marx class is thus determined by property and not by income or status. Further,Marx saw the development of class conflict as confined to individual factories. Therefore,the maturing of capitalism,the growing disparity between life conditions of bourgeoisie and the proletariate as well as homogenization within each class, struggles become generalized across factories. Increasingly,class conflicts manifest at societal level. Hence, class consciousness is increased, common interests and policies are organized and the use of struggle for political power occurs. Classes become political forces. The distribution of political power is determined by power over production. Capital confers political power which the bourgeoisie use to legitimize and protect their acquired property and consequent social positions. The State business is that of the bourgeoisie. In other words, the state rule, power and its distribution are all in favor of the ruling class (Garfinkel and Harold,1967). Meanwhile, Marx Weber agreed with Karl Marx but added that social stratification is more complex and based on three factors that are inter-linked. These factors are;class which is a person’s economic position in society, based on birth and individual achievement. Weber differs from Marx in that he does not see this as the supreme factor in stratification. Weber noted how managers of corporations or industries control firms they do not own; Marx would have placed such a person in the proletariat. The other factor is status, this is a person’s prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society. Weber noted that political power was not rooted in capital value solely, but also in one’s individual status. Poets or saints, for example, can possess immense influence on society with often little economic worth. And lastly is the factor of power, which is a person’s ability to get their way despite the resistance of others. For example, individuals in state jobs, such as an employee of the Office of the President (O. P) or a Member of Parliament (M. P) may hold little property or status but they still hold immense power. Unlike Marx,Weber claimed there to be in fact four main classes: the upper class, the white collar workers, the petite bourgeoisie and the manual working class. Weber’s theory more-closely resembles modern western class structures. The conflict theory also takes a one-sided approach to stratification. One of its major shortcomings is that it fails to recognize that unequal rewards are based partially on differences in talent, skill and desire. Not everyone is suited for every social position in the social structure. Consequently,society must have some way to argue the proper individuals into positions that are vital to the smooth operation of society. In conclusion, this paper has critically discussed the extent to which social stratification is useful and inevitable in society. As is alluded by the functionalist theory and the Davis Moore thesis,it plays a vital part in the operation of society and as such has beneficial consequences as discussed. And as alluded by the conflict theory that it is not entirely beneficial to the society as a whole but provides advantages to some people at the expense of others,hence brings about exploitation and increase in inequality. Therefore,it can clearly be concluded that firstly social stratification is inevitable as it exists in every society and secondly that it is to some extent useful as well as not to another because it has its advantages and disadvantages.

Personal Values And Ethics Of An Italian Essay

Values are defined as â€Å"the deepest beliefs and we sentiments we subscribe to†. Every person has values that they put into practice in their lives whether they realize this or not in other words we all apply values in our day-to-day lives both consciously and unconsciously. An individuals’ set of personal values guides him or her on how to live his or her life. Once these values have been implemented, they enable the implementer to achieve great things in life that they would otherwise not have been able to accomplish. Once an individual has implemented his or her personal values in his or her life, these values then energizes the individual and enables him or her to tackle issues that were previously seen as impossible in other words personal values allow an individual achieve what they dream of. Once a person has identified the values that are important to them they go further and develop strategies to be used in implementation of these values. Upon implementation, these values are said to be able to work wonders in a person’s life in that the person now has a direction in life that guides them in making decisions that are in line with their overall aim. When one identifies a mission philosophy or belief that is meaningful to them in their lives, then that becomes their value. There many categories of values whereby they are ranked as either commonplace or those that is special and psychological. An individual day-to-day life including relations with others and how they approach their work is determined by their personal values. These values are the ones that determine the success of an individual in whether action they dedicate themselves to. Once they are applied it becomes very easy for the person to excel in the workplace and personal life. They are said to have the ability to multiply the impact of an action and in turn the consequences of the act. Italians are very religious people and the biggest percentages of them are Catholics. They follow the tenets of the Catholic Church very strictly. They are very emphatic on the importance of the family and especially the mothers. They come together as families as often as possible and even conduct their businesses as a family. The men are always seen as the bread winners in the house and the women are to take care of the family in all ways. Being brought up in such a setting has shaped my values in to confirming with a lot of the traditional that I found when I was born and grew up in. In 1884, the Italian Republic made an agreement with the Vatican regarding religious education in schools. There was then a provision made that ensured that there would be religious teachings offered in all schools that are below the university level (http://www. beginningwithi. com). Since Italy is a catholic state, it therefore means that these teachings are mostly catholic in nature. This therefore ensures that all Italians who are born and bred in Italy have an option of getting religious teachings in school. It was however noted that not everyone is a catholic or even a Christian. This then led to need to make these teachings optional to those who wanted to learn. Those whose parents did not want them to learn had an option of refusing to allow their children not to learn. Since my family was and still is a very strict catholic follower, I never had the option to even refuse to attend these lessons. In fact this was seen as an added advantage since I would be able to learn more about Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary alongside the various teachings found in the bible. This would in the long run make me a better Christian and it actually did. Having grown up in a catholic family and also an extended one made my personal values to develop in a way that enables me cope with then. My personal values include success commitment fairness faith family feeling hard work and tolerance. The church I have grown up in has taught me to have faith in what I do and in god and hop that all will end well. This has sustained me all through my life especially at times when I feel emotional and psychologically unstable. At these moments I prefer to go to church and say prayers to calm me down. It has also taught me to be committed and this is what has enabled me to hold one position for 15 years in the same store. In Italian culture, one tends to live with the extended family and this is expected of all people. It is customary for the grandparents to care for their grandchildren which they d thus one has to cope with having a house full of relatives and this makes one tolerant. This has gone a long way in enabling me work with other employees without losing my temper. In under standing their weaknesses I am able to correct them without causing the formation of negative altitude towards me and weakness I am able to correct them without causing the formation of negative altitudes towards the job and me. When correcting their mistakes, I do so just as I would if it were my family member and this makes them feel appreciated and thus workers are motivated. I am currently studying for my B. S in criminal justice. The desire to study this course was prompted by my belief in fairness. I have a very strong conviction that everybody of what his or her previous life has been like. As a Christian I believe that any person can change given the chance. It is also true that there are quite a number of people who are wrongfully accused and convicted and it is necessary to correct such wrongs. By learning the different theories propounded in the course study. I can be able to use them in my workplace and in my day-to-day life to blame where it his not due I avoid unnecessary confrontations with other people. In my 15 years of working at the Vons Grocery store, I have met a number of personalities made a positive impact in my life. Michelle Valverda and Shielha Mosley. These people have taught me how to deal with other employees in order to maximize their output. They have taught me the value of success. It has been clarified in my mind what success really means and not just in monetary terms but also in emotional, psychological and physical well-being. These two people have reminded me the importance of leading a round life without neglecting any part of my life since all are important and are required in measuring the success of an individual. When I joined college to study for the criminal justice course, I met other people who added to my list of personal values. One of them is Ian Barrimond who is a fellow student. He has strengthened my value of tolerance because he is becoming more enjoyable when I do not keep getting angry with people for minor mistakes. Furthermore Ian is really committed to his studies and thus has introduced a new value to my life that is commitments. Apart from attending college he has a very demanding job that does not leave him with much time for himself yet he still manages to find time to dedicate his studies. My teacher is also a major influence to my list of values since he is always insisting on the necessary of hard work. Steven Fraitas insists that only by hard work can one be able to achieve what they want from life. The other major influences in my life are my parents who have always insisted on the family unity. They have never allowed my siblings and I to be on bad terms with each other for long and they have always ensured that any problem that crops up among us is quickly resolved before it goes too far. Also they have used the many family gatherings that we hold to invite all of us including the members of the extended family to make sure that we all remain close. None of us feels like a stranger or outsider because we have never been allowed to have time to drift apart to a point of becoming strangers to each other emotionally. This has made me become even more committed to my own family in the hope that it will be as unified as the family that I grew up in. I work hard so as to provide for my family and make sure that they live as comfortably as I can make them. This is encompassed in the value of family feeling. In Italian culture, one tends to live with their parents long after they have reached the age of maturity (Giannotti E. & Rocchi R. 2004). It has been argued by some people that this makes them vulnerable to emotional and mental instability. I beg to differ with this conclusion because instead of destabilizing me this has made me a stronger person in aspects in life. There is an assumption that we should all be married at a certain age but by waiting until the right moment allows one to be able to choose the right partner in life. This is important because in the catholic church one is not allowed to divorce and thus it is necessary to choose someone who one will be able to stay with for the rest of their lives. I am among those people who lived with their parents long after the time that is set as standard for people to move out of their parent’s house. I can testify to the benefits that I reaped from this. Since almost all my brothers and sisters were also living with my parents, we were able to develop our relationship into our adulthood. Not only have we remained close with my brothers and sisters but also with my parents. Since I did not start my family until I was old enough to appreciate what I needed in a spouse, I am then able to treat my spouse the way it has always been in the Italian culture. I was also able to learn a lot from my parents on how to live in peace and harmony in the same house with your spouse.

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How Families Deal with a Loved One Who Has Alzheimer's Research Paper - 1

How Families Deal with a Loved One Who Has Alzheimer's - Research Paper Example Mild cognitive impairment is viewed as a form of forgetfulness attributed to aging. While this disorder is a symptom of the AD it is not a must for people who suffer from mild cognitive impairment, to contract AD. The well-known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease is old age, mostly when people hit the age of sixty years. It is not considered normal for aging people to suffer from the disease. It is also easier for one to have the disease if a close relative such as your sister or mother had suffered from the disease. One can also contract the disease if you happen to have certain genes that are linked to the disease. Other susceptible factors include suffering from blood pressure; however, this is yet to be proved. The disease is classified into two types which include the late and early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Late AD disease affects people who are at the age of 60 and above (â€Å"Coping with Alzheimers Disease†). The early onset of Alzheimer's disease is k nown to affect people before they attain the age of sixty. This type of disease has a fast rate of getting worse. The role of genes in this type of disease has already been established that is why it is prevalent among family members.The common symptoms of the disease are associated with the functioning of the brain. One of the symptoms of this disease includes the individual’s inability to communicate properly. The patient will forget how to read or write or even talk. They also are emotional, increasingly aggressive and paranoia. This is as a result of increased memory loss. When the disease has progressed Alzheimer's patients require assistance in almost all tasks which includes bathing and dressing. They will often forget their relatives’ names and forget occurrences that take place. Their judgments and thinking capacity reduces to a substantial level and will not realize they are in danger when something arises (â€Å"Alzheimers Disease & Dementia Alzheimers Asso ciation†).

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Ethics - Essay Example As per his analogy, there exists three social classes; the noble, slaves and priestly class. Guided by their subjective inclinations, the noble class defines morality by rendering what they perceive as being favorable to be good and vise versa (Nietzsche, 2010 p. 167). Conversely, those in the slave class remain oppressed by the distinctions made by the noble class; whereby, they live a resigned life serving the nobles with any attempt to progress thwarted. However, Nietzsche recognized that not everyone outside of the noble class remain passive to oppression by the noble class. They belong to the priestly class characterized by their hatred for those in the noble class, and unwillingness to accept a lower position in the social hierarchy (Nietzsche, 2010 p. 171). As a result, they developed a feeling of ressentiment conjured up by a â€Å"slave revolt† mentality. Nietzsche defined ressentiment as a reactive feeling to a continuous perceived sense of oppression; whereby, pent up frustrations predispose individuals to creating an â€Å"imaginary place† where they can direct these feelings. Discussed below is the origin of this psychological orientation, ressentiment’s role in shaping attitudes held by people today, whether individual’s values stem from this attitude and avenues for transformation to become better (Nietzsche, 2010 p 172). Nietzsche referred to ressentiment as a psychic mechanism. Psychic mechanisms are products of the ego, which result from the ego’s need to protect itself from a situation it perceives as a threat; for example, situations that impact the mood and affect of an individual negatively. Psychologist Sigmund Freud later referred to these psychic mechanisms as defense mechanisms and added more; for example, denial, regression, sublimation and displacement among others. According to him, defense mechanisms acted as coping mechanisms for individuals. Moreover, they functioned to prevent a state of incong ruence within an individual. Nietzsche’s ressentiment feeling is no different from Freud’s defense mechanisms because they all function to protect the individual and ensure minimal interference with their internal state of balance. Normalcy in a person’s psychological, physiological, cognitive, spiritual and social realms can only be achieved in the presence of internal balance. In this case, ressentiment functions to preserve balance by providing an outlet for pent up frustrations (Nietzsche, 2010 p. 173). In spite of the good brought about by psychic mechanisms, they also prove unfavorable in the sense that they function to distort reality by cocooning an individual; therefore, preventing them from dealing with unfavorable situations. Ressentiment as a reactive feeling provided an outlet for pent up frustrations; however, it failed to equip the slaves and priests with the strength they needed to overcome the nobles. In fact, the dynamics in the social hierarch y remained unaltered with the nobles living in their blissful state whereas their subordinates living in their pitiful state. People living in today’s society have not undergone a huge transformation in their mindset. In fact, many find themselves taking the easier way out, cowering from confronting issues. This is because stratifications in different aspects of the society are still in present. Arising from these stratifications in the society is a privileged class equipped with resources and the power to define morality in its entirety. The underprivileged, subordinate class

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Your pick of this week's news - Assignment Example Donor nations particularly face challenges while dealing with the receptive but discriminating nations on the grounds of sexual orientation. The main idea of the article is that with the growth in the acceptance of gay rights globally, donor nations and organizations are facing more challenges in establishing the limits to which they can extend help to the nations that impose ban on homosexuality. The author has given enough factual material to support the ideas e.g. latest estimates of the UN, and quotations of important figures. The author appears to have obtained information through review of literature and latest news. The reportage is true and balanced because it is based on facts. The author has identified the dilemma donor nations are caught in as they feel pressurized to stop aid to the discriminating nations to take their stand for gay rights on one hand, and to continue aid for the health and social wellbeing of these nations on the cost of gay right

Goal Seek and Solver Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Goal Seek and Solver - Essay Example The miles per hour are constant, and Excel is goal seeking to determine the number of miles traveled. A data table is a collection of cells that display how changing certain value in worksheet formulas affects the result of those applied formulas. Data tables provide a shortcut for calculating multiple versions in one operation, and a way to view and compare the results of all of the different variations together on one's worksheet. Using the bicycle example again, one could create a table that summarizes the number of miles traveled at different speeds and different elapsed minutes traveled. Excel can save a set of values and substitute them automatically in a worksheet to allow one to forecast the outcome of a worksheet model. One can create and save different scenarios on a worksheet, and then switch to any of these scenarios to view different results. For the bicycle example, one could switch between two or more different number of miles traveled using combinations of different speeds and elapsed minutes traveled. Using solver, one can find an optimal value for a formula in a target worksheet cell. Solver works with a group of cells related to a target cell's formula (Paul 2005, p. xix). Solver changes the values of adjustable cells to produce the desired results one specifies in the target cell formula. One can also apply upper, lower, and exact constraints to restrict the values Solver can choose from to adjust the cells. Using the bicycle example again, one could determine the least and greatest possible number of miles traveled at a given speed and distance. Here's a summary of when one would use each of these tools: Use Goal seeker when one wants to find the correct single input value to achieve the desired single output value. Use Solver to find the best solution to problems that revolve around the manipulation of several changing cells, variables, and constraints (Paul 2005, p. xx). The productivity of electricity is causing profit deterioration. Is electricity being wasted Or is it due to a change in manufacturing process Is it possible to cut down the electric consumption without affecting the production If so, what should be the electricity consumption for it not to affect profitability negatively The answers to some of these questions can be determined by using the "Goal Seeker" and the "Solver" features of Excel. Goal Seeker and Solver features are found in the Tools means of Microsoft Excel. Goal Seeker is the opposite of What-if analysis. Using Goal seeker, we begin with the target value in a dependent cell and determine the correspondent value in the independent cell upon which the target cell is dependent. Goal seeker and solver can change independent cell values, but only Solver can change a range of cells and accept constraints, making it a powerful feature. It can also be used to solve complex optimization problem such as linear programming and integer programming problems. Following is a description of finding answers to some of the questions above: What should be the electricity consumption for it not to affect profitability negatively As shown in figure 2, the company is losing $748 because it is currently using 48,000 kWh of electricity. To reduce this loss to zero, go to Tools menu and choose Goal Seeker, and set cell Q15 (profitability of total energy) to zero, by changing

Good sameritan essay Essay Example for Free

Good sameritan essay Essay Should being a Good Samaritan be a law? This is a question that many people do not think about everyday. In my opinion, I believe that there should not be a law on being a Good Samaritan. I believe this because; there should not be a law that causes human beings to put their lives at risk, only to save another’s. This may sound selfish but it is also the truth. Do you think its right for human beings to put their livea at risk to save anothers? The Good Samaritans USA are afraid to Act article states â€Å"They are imposing on us a duty to assist, provided we don’t put ourselves at risk. † (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 4) This means that if we have to be Good Samaritans then there is a chance that we are putting ourselves at risk. There is a chance that we could die. Therefore, there is a chance that there would be many deaths at a cause of this law. If you have a special relationship between the victims, then of course it would only be logical for you to help the person in need. For example, â€Å"certain people have a duty to take care of others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 9) This would be like between a doctor and a patient. Then it would be the doctor’s duty to make sure that the patient is taken care of. Also the article states â€Å"instead of compelling reluctant incompetent people to intervene, we should concentrate in protecting Good Samaritans who act now without force of law.† (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 6) Here we can clearly see that humans can be good people without law forcing them to do so. It would be better for all of the US to feel like they are doing a good deed by being a Good Samaritan rather than a requirement. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a requirement for US citizens to always be a hero and do an act of kindness. This law would put not only one life at risk but the lives of many others at risk.

The New World Essay Example for Free

The New World Essay The New World that Columbus discovered was populated with well over 10 million Indians, which populated North America from the North to present-day Mexico.   The amount of Indian tribes themselves were numerous, and it is still unknown exactly how many Indians and their various tribes populated the areas in which the Europeans arrived. Some groups of Native Americans were considered to be hunter-gatherers, while most were evidenced to practice aquaculture, and most often, agriculture.   However, most often, the Native Americans used a mix of hunting, gathering, and farming.    In addition, the Indian’s culture and the way they organize their lives was very different than that of the Europeans.   For example, almost all of the Indian tribes had some form of a chief.   Some even had states, impressive architecture, and extremely organized cities. As stated above, the most obvious way that the Native American communities were organized was by the crops that they produced.   Maize and squash were perhaps the easiest to grow.   They were also grown throughout America, not just in one small region.   Potatoes, cotton, and tobacco were also grown.   In the plains area, a large group of native peoples would hunt their primary source of food-buffalo. In addition to the Indians that Columbus encountered, the land was completely unspoiled.   The Indians only hunted and used from nature what they absolutely needed, unlike the Europeans.   The biggest difference between the Europeans and the Native Americans was that the Europeans simply used up the nature in whatever way they saw fit, while the Native Americans only used, and respected, what they needed.

Ethical Issues In Information Systems Privacy

Ethical Issues In Information Systems Privacy This essay aims to identify the ethical, social, professional and legal issues relevant to social media. It is a literature review that will present some of the key issues in both privacy and security subject matters. It is divided into several parts and to begin, it will present what social media is as well as mention some of the issues that users have had regarding the use of social media. It will then explain the ethical, social professional and legal issues related to the use social media. The essay will mainly be focusing on social networking and will present a balanced overview of some of the opposing perspectives of the issues presented. To conclude, the essay will reflect critically on these various perspectives, assess some of the key issues that have been presented and propose some appropriate solutions or courses of action from the perspective of an ethical IT professional. Social Media covers many aspects such as, blogs, videos, podcasts, discussion forums and social networking and the key stakeholders of social media include: programmers, developers and anyone who has access to a computer and a network. The particular aspect that will be covered is social networking. Social media may have several advantages such as keeping in touch with friends, families and coworkers enabling open communication which can lead to improved information discovery and distribution. For businesses, it can improve business reputation and can even gain a large target market with minimal use of advertising. An interesting quote from Klepic (2010), a blogger, journalist and social media innovator who uses a reasonable approach to convey how social media impacts our daily lives, states that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, what happens on twitter stays on Google forever. This shows that this social media user or stakeholder has used social media and has been affected by it. Nowadays, websites that no longer exist have articles taken from them and are being used by other websites to show to the public. In the case of social media, privacy is obsolete as users and stakeholders of social networking websites and blogs, no longer have any sort of confidentiality when they post pictures, videos and posts of themselves on the internet in general. Another interesting quote from a social media user called Christian Hollingsworth (2011) stated that Years ago, before Gravatars even existed, I would inflate my blog comments. What Id do is use a few of my different email addresses, and post comme nts on blog posts with pen (fake) names. I thought I was rather tricky. A few months ago I was looking through old blog posts on some old blogs, and found that those comments now had Gravatar images attached. And behold, they were all images of me! Due to my Gravatar account now linking to those email addresses. This social media user or blogger was harmlessly posting comments on other blogs using fake names for privacy reasons and was later found that due to an online social media application, an image of him was posted next to all his previous blog posts. The application or website did not mention that his old posts were going to have images of himself posted right next to his comments and therefor his right to privacy has been violated. Most of the public are using social media such as twitter and Facebook and have no knowledge on where or how their personal information is being shared. Legal Issues This section covers any questions that have any concerns on the protection that laws and regulations provide regarding social media. The rules and legislations that we will be looking at is the United Kingdom Laws (UK Laws) that help protect an individuals privacy and security rights and support ideas and concepts on privacy and security. In the Data Protection Act (1998) under Section 55 it states that it is an offence to knowingly or recklessly obtain, disclose or procure the disclosure of personal information without the consent of the data controller. This means that an individual is not allowed to obtain another persons personal information, which includes information such as name, home address and age, and expose it without the consent of that person. This applies to the use of social media as this principle is at stake. An individual can access another persons private information through blogs, for instance, and obtain his or her name or home address and expose it to others wi thout the consent of that person. The Data Protection Act (1998) states that if organizations were to collect or share an individuals information, they must use it fairly and the person has the right to know whether an organization has collected information about them and to whom they shared it with. This includes any information that has been obtained from social media websites which is stated in The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) which is the UKs independent authority. Facebook, the social networking website, was sued due to sharing personal information of individuals, such as their names, to third-party application makers without their consent or permission in late 2012 (Essers, 2012). The third-party applications, which were running through Facebooks Application Center, accessed chat logs of several users on Facebook and gained their personal information without the consent of the users. The first hearing takes place in the summer of 2013. The Data Protection Act (1998) is threatened as the social networking website gains personal information from their users and shares them to third-party application makers without the users consents. Due to wrongfully sharing personal information, users have sued Facebook. The Computer Misuse Act (1990) under Section 1: Unauthorized Access to Computer Material, Section 2: Unauthorized Access with Intent to Commit or Facilitate Commission of Further Offences, and Section 3: Unauthorized Modifications of Computer Materials, the principles are threatened. These sections of the Computer Misuse Act (1990) all deal with the offence of hacking with or without the intent to commit serious crime such as fraud. In the case of social media, it is an offence to use an individuals username and password to gain unauthorized access to social networking sites and computers to gain, share and change private information. Social networking websites can even be hacked and used to hack into computers to gain private information such as credit card information just by looking at the purchases a person has made in Facebook for instance. Another principle similar to The Computer Misuse Act (1990) is stated in the Federal Decree-Law no. 5 (2012), which was first issued in the United Arab Emirates, under Article 10 regarding hacking. The article states that there is a penalty for whoever willfully and without authorization runs a software on the computer network or an electronic information system or any information technology means, and caused them to stop functioning or being impaired, or resulted in crashing, deletion, omission, destruction of the program, system, website, data or information. This means that there is a consequence for an individual to hack into another persons computer application or systems (ex. Facebook or Forums) and change or delete any information that belongs to that person. This standard is threatened as people can gain access to website applications and alter or delete any system or information located on the network. This must not be done as there is a large penalty for undertaking such im moral conducts. Another principle that could be at stake is the Computer, Designs and Patents Act (1998). This principle or act illustrates the penalties of wrongfully sharing or transferring copyrighted information to other people. It is illegal to share information such as music, which does not belong to an individual, without the consent or permission of the owner. Social media can be easily used to share and transfer data and information, often copyrighted information, such as music, video and even images. Napster, a free music sharing network, had to be shut down due to copyright in 2001. Peer-to-peer programs and applications can be considered part of Social Media as individuals can communicate between each other through their personal computers. Napster was sued due to sharing music freely without the permission of the owners and due to the lawsuit it was shutdown (McGuinn, 2000). Ethical Issues The ethical issues that come to mind when social media is present is that social media can be used to spread distasteful information such as racism, hatred, violence and even sexual material. Organizations can send junk or chain letters that most individuals do not want. This can be related to the Human Rights Act (1998) under Section 8 where it states that everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and correspondence. To put it simply, this means that everyone has the right to privacy. Privacy is an ethical principle that is at stake when it comes to the use of social media as social networking websites can be used to invade the privacy of others. Privacy has several meanings depending on a persons beliefs, culture and even religion and therefore different perspectives plays a huge role. However, most laws and regulations define privacy as the condition or quality of being completely free from being witnessed or seen. It is also the state of being free from information distributed from other people, whether its co-workers, friends or even family. We as individuals value the need of space and privacy and therefore it is an important aspect in our daily lives. Joseph (2007: 109) states that in the information age, the value of privacy has been eroded. We can no longer guarantee our privacy. Our right to privacy is violated when using social media. In the case of the use of social media, the Human Rights Act (1998) is threatened due to the fact that an individuals right to privacy can be vulnerable as people can obtain other peoples information and spread distasteful material about them to other people or organizations. In fact, spreading distasteful information is mainly done through social networking websites. It is an offence to publish news, pictures or comments relating to the secrets of a persons private or family life or to use another persons secret for your own, or someone elses, advantage without the consent of the person to whom the secret relates, (Garrod Smith 2011). An ethical principle very much like The Human Rights Act (1998), in the United Arab Emirates individuals have their right to privacy and there is a penalty for publishing distasteful or personal information on a person to the public. The principle of integrity can also be violated as the security of a person can be threatened. Security can be defined as the state of being completely safe from any sort of danger. As individuals we value the need of security especially when it comes to using the internet as there are many dangers of using social networks or blogs such as hacking. A persons security maybe threatened when using social media due to the fact that his or her personal information such as credit card information may be stolen. Information technology plays a huge role on several types of security which may include: Computer Security, Data Security, Application Security, Information Security and Network Security and all of these can be threatened by Malware/Adware, Viruses, Spam and Information Theft. These threats to security and information technology can be used to secretly access a computer system without the owners informed consent to perform hostile, intrusive or annoying actions. Another ethical issue of social media is false reports and acquisitions. In June of 2009 when the pop star Michael Jackson died there have been unsubstantiated reports stating that the actor Jeff Goldblum had also died and the report spread onto many people and thats when the ethics of social media were tested. According to Dodson (2009) most people thought it was a harmless rumor but in Australia, Channel 9 news spent almost two minutes in its show spreading this information to the public, saying that it was a tragedy. This entire story was a hoax and was first posted via two social media websites; Facebook and Twitter. To put it in the perspective of others, some people would have though this as a joke while others would have taken this seriously and think it was real. This means that no everything online is true. To understand Social Media and the ethical issues that arise on individuals it is important to look at the two ethical theories (Consequentialist and Deontological) and their opposing perspectives on a certain situation, an example being a users activity on YouTube. This persons activity can be viewed by other YouTube users as well as non-YouTube users, including comments posted, videos watched and videos posted. The consequentialist theorist would argue that it is acceptable for other people to see his activities while the deontological theorist would argue that his right to privacy is violated and it is wrong for people to see his activities. It is important to understand whether privacy may or may not be violated depending on the individuals theories or perspectives behind social media. Social Issues Social issues are any behaviors or conditions a person may find undesirable. Social media can have several negative effects on a person including social isolation; some people would rather browse the internet playing video games and chatting online than having an actual social life outside the internet world. According to Goldsmith (2013), witnessing friends vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness. In social networking, most individuals only care about how many likes they have obtained on their photos or posts as opposed to what really matters which is who liked their photos or posts. Another issue according, to Yao (2012), is that stalking becomes easy. In order to search for someone, all a person needs to do is search for their name online. Loneliness is another issue as people comment on their friends pages and not yours. From the point of view of a social network user, people only contact you if they need s ome sort of assistance such as when they only want you to like their posts or images rather than having a normal friendly conversation. A person can feel lonely when they see that their friends have been invited to a large gathering that they had no idea about. From the perspective of a non-social network user, a person can feel that he or she does not exist to certain old people due to the fact that nowadays the main way of communication is through social networking websites such as Facebook or MySpace. Another issue is that some social networking users will talk to other users depending on how many friends they have. The more friends an individual has the more popular they become and therefor social interaction is at an all-time high. Another issue can be the confusion of defining a friend. A study by Weiner (2009) has shown that the traditional notion of friendship is trust, support as well as sharing similar values whereas on a social network a friend is someone whos link an individual has clicked on. In a childs perspective and in some cases adults, they can be very competitive as they talk about how many friends they have whereas most of these alleged social networking friends are not actual people that share some sort of trust or sha re similar values. Of course form the point of the view of managers, researchers as well as participants, these issues are ignored as their jobs are to solely market their products or conduct research and find new information, for example, and dont bother with the social side of their life when using social networking websites. Professional Issues Organizations need to watch what employees publicly comment about their own organizations and employers. An example would be that an employee working at an organization wrote on his profile on a social networking stating that his job was tedious and unexciting. This person can be dismissed from the organization. Another example is that what if an unhappy employee decides to complain about a company and the products they make using social networking. Consumers might think twice before buying any of that companys products. There are also legal penalties if employees view and click on offensive content on social networking websites as employers could be held liable for failing to protect workers from viewing such distasteful material. The penalties, legal costs and damages to the companys reputation can be extensive. In the BCS Code of Conduct (2011) under Article 3 of the Duty to Relevant Authority it states that a person may NOT disclose or authorize to be disclosed, or use for personal gain or to benefit a third party, confidential information except with the permission of your Relevant Authority, or as required by Legislation and may NOT misrepresent or withhold information on the performance of products, systems or services (unless lawfully bound by a duty of confidentiality not to disclose such information), or take advantage of the lack of relevant knowledge or inexperience of others. This is a direct correlation to what employees must not do to misrepresent their organization. This means that employees must not misrepresent their organizations in anyway. Social networking websites can be easily used to do misrepresent an organization to the public as the information is being passed on to other people quickly. This is also stated in the social networking website Facebook under their Facebo ok Terms of Service (2012) under Article 5; Protecting Other Peoples Rights, where it explains that an individual cannot violate a person, including companies, right to privacy and must not misrepresent said person in anyway. In Facebooks Privacy Policy under section 3: Information you share with Third Parties, it states that certain types of communications that you send to other users cannot be removed, such as messages. From the perspective of a manager or owner of an organization, this can be a threat to the company as employees can post distasteful information about the company to certain people and cannot remove or delete that information which can be a problem as that information is always there for the public to see therefore giving the organization a bad reputation. From the perspective and point of view of a professional individual or a manager as well as a social network provider, the use of social networking websites should be encouraged to employees as it is a good way to market the organization and its products as well as communicate with business partners; however the employees should not misrepresent their company to the public when using social networking. Another minor professional issue, that may be taken seriously, is an organizations bandwidth usage. Software updates from social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter may not take up large amounts of bandwidth; however video links that are posted on these sites may create difficulties for information technology administrators in a company as there is a cost to pay, especially in terms of bandwidth-hungry applications, when browsing on the internet. Recommendations Codes and principles are necessary for the practice of social media. If every person did not play fairly and have any respect, honesty or decency, then there would be more laws and principles that would be much stricter than the current laws as social media would be chaotic. For businesses, social media is a dilemma as they need to adopt and change the way they communicate, however they realize that social media can be a threat as employee can misrepresent or express distasteful information about the organizations to the public. Every minute spent on social media websites can expose and cause a threat to the security of an organization. Organizations need to set limits and restrictions with certain monitoring systems, as to not offend an employee, to help reduce the release of any unpleasant information to the public. An optimal solution, yet not recommended (to not indicate a lack of trust from the organizations to the employees), is banning any access to social media websites. For security reasons and as a basic safeguard, organizations must have an anti-virus software setup on each computer. Social media users must ensure that they do not, under any circumstances, publish any personal or private information on social media websites. For their security, they must ensure that they have the latest version of anti-virus software installed on to their computers. Conclusion Though people are aware of their privacy and security threats, sometimes they choose to ignore them. Social media websites heavily encourage individuals to reveal information about them regardless of what the information is about. Sometimes even the brightest of intellectuals give out information that they should not have. Today, almost the full population of the world has a profile account on Facebook or Twitter and they enjoy the idea of communicating with their friends, families and coworkers online. Individuals must not forget that because they have their own profile page they can only gain access to, they must know that whatever information is written on the internet, will most likely stay there forever.

Obese Americans and the Return of Lifestyle Nazis :: Health Nutrition Essays

Obese Americans and the Return of Lifestyle Nazis "We are not doing the same kind of things with obesity that we have done with smoking and alcohol as far as the government isconcerned. It's got to be like smoking, a constant drumbeat." That's former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, appearing on CNN, January 11, 2000, calling for the nation's lifestyle Nazis to attack fat people as they attacked smokers. Lifestyle Nazis aren't settling on just obesity, they're targeting meat consumption. Dr. Neal Barnard, president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says, "It's time we looked at holding the meat producers and fast-food outlets legally responsible. Meat consumption is just as dangerous to public health as tobacco use." Doing their part to ban meat consumption, professors at law schools such as Harvard, Rutgersand Georgetown are teaching "animal law" courses. Animals are seen as plaintiffs. Law professors are gearing up by studying old slavery statutes that authorized legal nonpersons to bring lawsuits. Possibly, before long, we might see chickens, cows, pigs and other critters appearing as plaintiffs in court suing for crimes against animals. Morgan Leyh, a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says, "Eating meat is a rich versus poor issue. The rich get fat on meat, while the poor are starving because all the grain is fed to cattle. It's selfish to eat meat - there is no excuse for eating meat." So far as America's poor, that claim reflects unadulterated stupidity. American obesity is mostly a health problem of poor people. But stupidity and callousness is par for the course for PETA. It was PETA president, Ingrid Newkirk, who said slaughter of millions of chickens is a greater tragedy than the Nazi holocaust. She also said that a boy is no more valuable than a clam. PETA has fellow travelers. Guest Choice (www.guestchoice.com) cites fellow traveler, Paul Shapiro, a member of Compassion Over Killing, as saying, "Animals are the most oppressed group on the face of the planet. Eating meat is unethical - it is not your right to say an animal's life is worth a pleasant taste sensation in your mouth." Suppose we didn't slaughter cows for their meat but, instead, just drank their milk? We wouldn't be off the hook; there are anti-milk Nazis. Robert Cohen, a.k.a. "Notmilk Man", director of the Anti-Dairy Coalition, says that there is "no nutritional value to drinking milk.

How to Achieve the American Dream :: Creative Writing Narrative Papers

How to Achieve the American Dream Right now, most of you reading this are twenty somethings with extremely bright futures ahead of you. Many of you were the stars of your high school, if not area, if not state, if not country. Then you got here and things changed. All of a sudden, everything was challenging. From the first moment you got here you were in competition with all the other freshmen for spots in a fraternity, sorority, independent living group, or dorm. You compared SAT scores, compared achievements, and found that they, like you, were amazingly accomplished. Many were National Merit Scholars, AP Scholars, Governor’s School participants, Math Olympiad winners, Science Fair winners, and Scholarship recipients. MIT is the premier science and engineering school in the country if not the world. Within it’s walls, minds have been coached and trained to excel in such diverse areas as film, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, math, physics, economics, management, chemistry, architecture, and aero-space engineering. In Hollywood we are portrayed as the end all be all. In the movie Independence Day the scientist who discovers the secrets of the aliens is an MIT Ph.D. Also an MIT PhD in Physics is portrayed as a scientist in the movie Armageddon. People travel from all parts of the world to walk through our hallways and to hear MIT professors give lectures and to watch students cross at 77 Massachusetts Avenue. So you start school and soon find that the work that is assigned for the most part is busy work. Going to bed at four or five am start to seem like reasonable bedtime hours. In addition to this, you can actually count how many hours you have slept in the last three days on your hands. Suddenly, you don’t see yourself as being lucky for being so privileged as to be attending MIT. Complaining about how much work you have, how little you slept last night, and how much this place â€Å"sucks† seems to pepper all the conversations that you have during the day. Not only that, but the administration knows what it does to students so they have three-day and four-day weekends to let the students let off a little steam. The administration calls these weekends â€Å"long weekends†, whereas the students call them as â€Å"Suicide Weekends† – They are held so that students don’t become over-stressed and commit suicide.

Psychotherapy Essay -- Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

My preferred theoretical orientation is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The main assumption of CBT is that events and situations in life do not cause emotional problems (e.g., guilt or depression); rather problems are due to irrational beliefs and perceptions about the situations (Corey, 2009). The goals of CBT focus on correcting the client’s automatic and self-defeating thoughts, which should ultimately help them to develop a more adaptive philosophy of life (Corey, 2009). I like that this approach focuses on challenging and changing the client’s cognitive distortions, core beliefs, automatic thoughts, and schemas. Another positive aspect is that this approach focuses on the cognitive triad, which consists of how one views the self, the world, and the future (Corey, 2009). Furthermore, CBT places responsibility on the individual to put insight into action by making changes to their thoughts and behaviors, both in and out of the therapy sessions (Corey, 2009). In order to bring about change, the client needs to understand that the primary source of difficulty lies in how they perceive events based on their belief system (Kellogg & Young, 2008). Overall, CBT is a structured approach that emphasizes EVTs, learning, empowerment, brevity, and focusing on the individual (Kellogg &Young, 2008). CBT is open to using techniques from other approaches that fit the needs of the client, and the empirically validated techniques of CBT, when individualized for the client, work well in other approaches (Corey, 2009). These aspects of CBT make it a useful approach that can be adapted for individuals from different cultural and economic backgrounds (Corey, 2009; Kellogg & Young, 2008). In general, CBT is a structured approach and inclu... ...manual (Craske & Zucker, 2001). It is rare for a client to come into therapy with only one disorder that has the outlined symptoms of the diagnosis that calls for a particular treatment. Therefore, following the manual stringently may not help the client improve, but making slight deviations depending on the client’s characteristics and circumstances may allow the technique to be successfully adapted and useful for the individual. It is also likely that a clinical psychologist will add their own individual preferences to therapy no matter what therapeutic approach or technique they use (Scaturo, 2001). A balance between the use of manualized treatments and clinical judgment to formulate the case conceptualization is needed to be used in order to gather enough information on the client to successfully use any necessary treatment techniques (Craske & Zucker, 2001).

“Complete, trusting surrender to God” Essay

Although the Qur’an, its sacred text, was only revealed to their Prophet Muhammad more than five centuries after the death of Christ, Muslims trace the beginnings of Islam to the time of Abraham. According to them, the series of revelations of the Qur’an which started in 610 CE in a cave in Mount Hira, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, marked only the renaissance of a religion which sank into insignificance when the people of Mecca rejected the monotheism preached by Abraham. The Islamic claim further states that being the original religion, it provided the foundations for the development of Judaism and Christianity. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Since the time of the first revelation in Mount Hira, Islam has rapidly grown to become the second-largest religious denomination in the world, next only to Christianity, claiming a following of almost twenty percent of the world’s population. However, its growth has been temporarily slowed down, particularly in the United States, by the effects of the American war against terrorism which is evidently directed against Muslims. This U. S. -orchestrated anti-terrorism war, coupled with the dearth of knowledge about Islam, has severely alienated the Muslims from the rest of the non-Muslim world. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Yusuf (n. d. ) said that majority of the Muslims are convinced that while the U. S. government has been blaming terrorism on Islam for years, it was the 9/11 incident which dealt the most telling blow on the credibility and reputation of their religion. This was because the international media was able to depict that many Muslims around the world rejoiced after that incident. The truth is, however, that majority of the Muslim world was saddened by that incident and the repercussions it caused. They would like to tell the world that terrorism is not an official policy of Islam and that, in fact, Muslims also consider terrorists as enemies of their religion. He laments the fact that When a crazy Christian does something terrible, everyone in the West knows it is the actions of a mad man because they have some knowledge of the core beliefs and ethics of Christianity. When a mad Muslim does something evil or foolish they assume it is from the religion of Islam, not because they hate us but because they have never been told by a Muslim what the teachings of Islam are all about. Muslims are also complaining about the way non-Muslims always confuse them with Arabs. According to them, while most Arabs are Muslims, less than 20% of Muslims have Arab blood. (Almuslimin. org) Allah is the only authority of this religion. Muhammad was only the messenger and prophet with whom he entrusted the sacred texts called the Qur’an in a series of revelations and who, three years after the first revelation occurred, preached them to the people according to his instruction and his will. However, Muhammad was the role model for all Muslims. His life story and his sayings were saved in the Hadith for every Muslim to learn from and emulate. The central teachings of Islam are oneness of God and of humanity; prophethood and the compass of Islam; human relationship to the divine; belief in the unseen life; and belief in the Last Judgment. (Fisher, 2005. Islam) Islam teaches that there is only one God. This is why the first words spoken to a Muslim infant are the words of the Shahadah – â€Å"la ilaha ill-Allah Muhammad-un Rasulu-llah† (â€Å"There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God†). God may be called by many names, but all the attributes assigned to those different names make up the totality of the One God. They contend that there must be absolute unity among all men of all races because they are all brothers under the one God, and no one race should consider itself the chosen race. Islam teaches that the individual should be one with God, therefore his or her thoughts and deeds should always be inspired by God. This oneness of God and of humanity was very emphatically expressed by Abu Hashim Madami, an Indian Sufi sage, when he said that â€Å"There is only one thing to be gained in life, and that is to remember God with each breath; and there is only one loss in life, and that is the breath drawn without the remembrance of God. † (Fisher. 2005. Islam, p. 373) All the prophets from Abraham to Jesus Christ are honored, but they maintain that Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God with the final message. This means, therefore, that the Qur’an sums up all the messages from God so Islam should include all religions, including Christianity and Judaism which also trace their roots to Abraham. They believe that God created the universe for a purpose and set down laws to govern everything. For this reason, man could live in peace only if he recognizes these laws and abide by them. They accept the existence of the angels, especially Gabriel, whom they credit with bringing the messages of God. They believe that Satan exists just as they believe that there are saints. For them, the Last Judgment means that dead Muslims are allowed some rest before being raised from the grave for the final reckoning, after which the sinners and the unbelievers are sent to hell. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Their basic practices consist of what they call the Five Pillars of Islam, namely: Beliefs and witness; Daily prayers; Zakat; Fasting; and Hajj. Every Muslim, without resorting to the use of force or intimidation, are obliged to spread the words of Islam so that other people may know about it, understand it, and use the knowledge to guide them in choosing their faith. Prayers should be recited five times a day while facing the direction of Mecca. It is believed that requiring every Muslim to face Mecca symbolizes unity among the devotees of Islam around the world, while the daily prayer emphasizes Islam’s teaching that every Muslim should remember God everyday of his or her life. Zakat, the third pillar, means â€Å"spiritual tithing and almsgiving. † Muslims are enjoined to help the poor by donating part of their annual income to charities of their choice. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for example, channels its contribution through the Islamic Relief Organization which aids people around the world regardless of their religion. Every year, the first Qur’anic revelation is celebrated with a month-long fasting called Ramadan. All able Muslims are required to abstain from â€Å"food, drink, sexual intercourse, and smoking† from dawn to dusk. Although fasting during Ramadan is an obligation, fasting, per se, is advised from time to time because it provides an individual with â€Å"a Transparent Soul to Transcend, a Clear Mind to think and a Light Body to move and act. † The last Pillar – the hajj – is a pilgrimage which is expected of every Muslim who is financially and physically capable even only once during their lifetime. Their pilgrimage destination is Mecca, where their holiest sanctuary, the Ka’bah, is located. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Muhammad, whose name was taken from the Arabic word hamada which means â€Å"to praise, to glorify,† was born in Mecca, Western Arabia, in 570 CE to Abd bin Al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. (Kikim Media. n. d. ) His parents were believed to be descendants of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian slave who mothered Abraham’s son, Ishmael. The story goes that Abraham fled to Mecca with Hagar and Ishmael after his wife, Sarah, also gave birth to a baby boy (Isaac) and became extremely jealous of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham later built the Ka’bah, Islam’s holiest sanctuary and now the destination of pilgrims during the hajj, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with the assistance of his son, Ishmael. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) The birth, life, and death of Muhammad impacted the world of Islam differently. His birth in 570 CE also signaled the rebirth of Islam which sank into obscurity for centuries when the people of Mecca rejected Abraham’s monotheistic Qur’an religion. His life as a preacher which began three years after the start of the revelations resulted to a rejuvenated Muslim world. The flight of the Muslims to Medina (or the hijrah) which he orchestrated in order for them to escape persecution from the hands of the Qurayshites of Mecca was what strengthened Islam as soon as they had settled in Medina. This later enabled them to raise a strong army to capture Mecca from the Qurayshites. However, while he re-established Mecca as the holy sanctuary of Islam, Muhammad himself chose to live in Medina. While his birth signaled the rebirth of Islam and his life rejuvenated their religion, his death in 632 CE in Medina caused a split in the Muslim world between what we now call the Shi’a and Sunni Muslims because of the issue of succession. Most of the surviving Muslims believed that although Muhammad was able to tell his followers what to do after his death, he failed to appoint his successor. Thus, the majority decided to settle the issue of succession by election. However, there was a minority group who insisted that it was not true that Muhammad did not name his successor because of a report that some weeks before he died, Muhammad held his son-in-law ‘Ali’s hand and uttered the following words: â€Å"Whoever I protect, ‘Ali is also his protector. O God, be a friend to whoever is his friend and an enemy to whoever is his enemy. † (Fisher. 2005. Islam, p. 380) The issue of succession was ultimately decided according to the wishes of the majority – by election – but the two factions have never reconciled up to this day. The Shi’a Muslims now form the majority faction in Iran, while the Sunnis are the majority in â€Å"Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, northern African countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, and Indonesia. † (page 378) Their place of worship is called a mosque. When I interviewed Bonsan Go, a student from Indonesia, he described a basic mosque as A square building with a small box-type space in front which serves as an extension. It has a dome on the center-top of the main building and a turret or a small ornamented tower or a tower-shaped projection on another building. Inside, you will fine a division (usually a length of fabric) which separates men from the women. There are no tables, chairs, or figurines inside the mosque. I thought, maybe, Mr. Go described a traditional mosque which used to be an Islamic architecture with a dome and one or two minarets. However, the more recent ones especially those constructed in the United States have chosen to go without the dome and the minarets. The more modern mosques have also done away with the curtain-like division which separates the men from the women. I have located one such mosque in Urbana, Illinois. A photo of this mosque is shown below: This is the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center at 106 S. Lincoln, Urbana, Illinois. It is unmistakably an Islamic architecture with the arches found in front, but without the dome and minarets of olden mosques. Their website (http://www. prairienet. org/cimic/) announces that the mosque holds congregational prayers five times during the day, the first session being at 5:45 in the morning and the last at 7:30 in the evening. The center also offers Arabic classes and is open to visitors any day. CIMIC Newsletter is published bimonthly. In my interview with Bonsan Go, I was able to gain some insights on how a lay Muslim understands and practices Islam. About the hajj, Mr. Go describes it as the â€Å"symbol of unity between the Muslim Ummah and the Oneness of Mankind. † According to him, this has to be done at least once in a lifetime and is very important because it is one of the five pillars of Islam. He said that the hajj is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford it financially and physically. It is also important that the money spent for the hajj comes from hard work and not from corruption. He also talked about the Sunnis and Shi’ites. He described the Sunnis as following the teachings of Muhammad, imitating his every actions and words while the Shi’ites believe that Hadhrat Ali was the real successor to Muhammad because he belonged to the family of Muhammad. He further said that the Shi’ites call their leader an imam while the Sunnis call their leader a caliph, just like they do in Indonesia where the great majority of the Muslims are Sunnis. On the question of marriage, he said that a Muslim is not obliged to have several wives. However, once a man decides to do so, he can only marry as much as four times and he is required to treat all of them equally and see to it that all his wives maintain harmonious relationships all around. The Muslims, according Mr. Go, have never worshipped Muhammad. It is Allah that they give praise to. He considers it very disturbing that most people tend to equate the position of Muhammad with the one who created him. He said that to worship Muhammad instead of Allah is considered a great sin in Islam. On jihad, this was what he said: â€Å"Jihad is not a declaration of war against the enemies of Islam but a striving and a struggle in the path of God. Commitment to God involves commitment to sacrifice one’s time, energy and wealth to promote the right cause. It may be necessary at times to give one’s life in order to preserve TRUTH. † Before we parted ways, he told me that he is deeply saddened by the war on terror being waged by the United States and is targeted at Muslims. He said that the U. S. government has categorized all Muslims as terrorists and as such, must not be trusted. He said that the claim that Islam, as a religion, supports the activities of terrorists is definitely not true because even a Muslim like him hates terrorists. In the study of the beliefs and teachings of Islam and Christianity, Fisher (2005) has shown us the similarities between the two religions. They are both monotheistic, they have their own prophets (Jesus and Muhammad), and both religions trace their roots to Abraham. Islam and Christianity teach their followers to treat their fellowmen with fairness and both religions profess anti-violence sentiments. The Muslims are making this especially clear at every opportunity, enough reason for them to feel very badly towards the U. S. -led anti-terror war. The central beliefs of Islam are also very identical to the central beliefs of Christianity: they both believe in the brotherhood of men, in the angels, saints, even in Satan, and in the Last Judgment. If a split occurred between the Shi’a and Sunni Muslims after the death of Muhammad, a great schism likewise rocked the Christian world when the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox Church parted ways in 1054. Sadly, however, Fisher has also shown us that both Islam and Christianity have chosen the options of wars of aggression and occupations during the early days for the purpose of spreading their doctrines and widen their spheres of influence. (Fisher. 2005. Christianity; Islam) However, if Fisher (2005) has shown that Islam and Christianity have many similarities, they also differ in some aspects. The first difference is rather basic. While Islam revolves around Allah as its God and only authority, Christianity, as a faith, is based â€Å"on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. † Muslims disagree with Christians in this regard. They do not believe that Jesus is a son of God. To them, Jesus, like Muhammad, was only a prophet and messenger of God. Another glaring difference between the two religions occurred in connection with the death of Jesus and Muhammad. While Muhammad died peacefully in his bed because of some illness, his death divided the Muslim world into the Shi’a and the Sunni Muslims. Jesus, on the other hand, died a violent death (he was tortured and crucified), but his death strengthened and unified his people. (Fisher. 2005. Christianity; Islam). References Almuslimin. org. (n. d. ). Who Is Muhammad? (Retrieved March 9, 2007 from:http://drupalmalaysia. org/Islam/Muhammad) CIMIC. (n. d. ). Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center. (Retrieved March 5, 2007 from: http://www. prairienet. org/cimic/) Fisher, M. P. (2005). Christianity. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp. 284-361). Prentice-Hall. Fisher, M. P. (2005). Islam. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp, 362-416). Prentice-Hall. Kikim Media. (n. d. ). The Life of Muhammad. (Retrieved March 5, 2007 from: http://www. pbs. org/muhammad/timeline. html. shtml) Yusuf, S. H. (n. d. ). A Time for Introspection. (Retrieved March 9, 2007 from: http://www. masud. co. uk/ISLAM/misc/shhamza_sep11. htm) .

Cyberbullying: Bullying and Possible Solutions Essay

Cyberbullying has amaze sensation of the main business in todays world, which is under the squ be up of social networking. Nowadays, more(prenominal) and more unripe people at the age of xii from to seventeen claim that they hand over been subjected to the attacks of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is an spiel of online bullying, which represents anonymous nasty comments and messages that ignore break a person psychologic everyy or even physically (safetyweb.com, 2012). The purpose of this try is to recognize the problems of cyber bullying and to find every manageable solutions for it. So, first of all, this essay ordain show the problems of the cyber bullying. Secondly, there pull up stakes be some solutions and evaluations of these problems.There are a number of problems connected with cyberbullying, but a mental state of dupe teenagers is one of the most important. correspond to the website pcmag.com, 88% of all users of social networking stated that they saw how soulfulness said unkind things to their peers. It is go on that 26% of girls 12 to 17 treat their peers more than boys (ibid.). So it is clear that unkind comments and messages substantiate a great impact on the psychological states of teemagers.Depressions, tantrums, appetite changes and changes in look are an important sign of cyberbullying (safetyweb.com). Cyberbullying groundwork influence that the teenager stops active in social life, inwards him or her and it may even lead to suicide. Moreover, there is one more specific problem is bad grades. The victims might stop leaving to school, because they are afraid of their peers callable to cyber bullying. This pass on lead to bad grades and the possibility that a child looses his chance for education. So we eject see a series of problems and at present move on to their possible solutions.According to Palfrey (2009) there are few solutions. For instance, it is a rational decision to stick out a psychological help for vict ims by lecture with them and helping to forget about accidents. Furthermore, adults can get the whole story and get a line closely to childs feelings (safetyweb.com). It is clear that there must be a strict punishment for bullies such as special exquisitelys. It is as well as an opportunity to provide an education for them and possibly for their parents. In shell of school,teachers can help victims to increase their grades. in like manner school can provide a safe process of education for victim children. As for social websites, it is possible to annul anonymity by entering a real-name policy (BBC program Panorama).According to possible solutions, we need to understand that all these solutions possess a great number of consequences. For example, psychological help for victims can cost a considerable amount of money, because people will need to provide classes and courses for specialists. It might overly cannot be efficient. If we were talking about bullies, it would be almo st impracticable to recognize who the bullies were due to anonymity. If police finds the bullies it would be illegal to fine children, so their parent will have to pay fines. Nevertheless, it will be also hard, because parents could refuse to pay money or the welfare of the families would not let stipendiary such penalties.To summarize all of the info we can see that there are some possible solutions, such as psychological training for victims and punishment for bullies, but, unfortunately, these solutions are hard or even impossible to implement, because they cost money, take time and in most cases are not efficient.References1. http//www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397419,00.asp (Acesses 12.02.12) D. Poeter 2. http//www.safetyweb.com/ circular (Acesses 12.02.12)3. http//www.law.harvard.edu/news/2009/04/01_cyberbullying.htmlBodyWrapper (Acesses 12.02.12) 4. http//www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01c00y3/(Acesses 12.02.12)

Functional requirement Essay

Prerequisites are categorized in many of ways.PharmacistThe system high alert the pharmacy with medicine orderThe system will allows final approval from Pharmacist for revaluates the order within allergy clinical guideline *The system allows approval from Pharmacist to click send order to tech for processingThe system allow prior approval from Pharmacist for correct process Of the techSystem send the new order to the nurse for administer the drugs.4. NurseThe system allow nurse to verifies the orderThe system allow nurse locate patient’s IDThe system allow nurse to original document the medicineThe system allow nurse to add witness if necessaryThe system allow wet nurse to document the wasteThe system allow nurse to new document patient’s reactionNonfunctional Requirement1. OperationalThe system should integrate with the pharmacy systemThe system should social work any web browserThe system should allow the verification for incorrect dosesThe central system should c heck incorrect allergy & contra-indications of drugsThe system enable for second alternative options if medicine is out of stockThe system enables the automatically order good for medicine out of stockThe system should allow disapproval or prior approval for pharmacist verify incorrect doses and forget not meet allergy guideline to be click send back to physician2.Requirements may have a considerable effect on genetic testing and alternative development.Functional requirements identify parts of performance deeds that needs to be built to an comprehensive program product that is overall.

Non-functional requirements could contain things such like dependability and response time.Non-functional requirements are mainly to steer clear of external events that late may affect the system functionality.Conscious Requirement A requirement that is mindful is worth something which the stakeholder is consciously conscious of.A functional demand has number a own name summary and a rationale.

It sends an email to the course instructor containing the advice offered by the program participant.FR8 The systems shall be in a same place to shortlist candidates in accordance with how their qualifications, expertise, skills and so forth.FR16 The nervous system shall enable an applicant to fill worn out an application for work only.Of course, to be aware that it complies with all NFRs, it has to be analyzed.

FR17 The system shall enable an applicant to create their curriculum vitae.Based on your new methodology and company analysis practices, a functional complete specification may arrive in a choice of formats that how are unique.Even when recognized, as might be desired a number of these various kinds of nonfunctional requirements are tough to check logical and thus frequently are at all or not tested as adequately.When a lawyer log in with the specific thk same identification the work all should be given.