Latin American History

Ernesto â€Å"Che† Guevara’s work is entitled Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War. He elaborates on how Cuba was revolutionized and what happened during those days. It was published in Australia in 2006 and runs to 314 pages. Guevara is conscious of his place in history and writes for posterity, to preserve a history of the armed struggle against the tyranny of the dictator Batista. The revolutionary icon Ernesto Guevara states that the Cuban Revolution has had a very important role in bringing consciousness and liberty to the Latin America region.   Because of the Cuban revolution the country has become one of the most influential nations in the world. Cuba has achieved its goal of the gradual eradication of illiteracy and unemployment is solved. Social security is also guaranteed and for the young there is the assurance of education. Aside from all the hindrances and challenges that Cuba had experienced before, the country still manages to stand up and fight for their rights and liberties through social revolution.  Socialism is said to be improved and will be accredited for the duration of the Cuban Revolution. Even through the darkest days and the blockades that were done to Cuba, the people did not stop their revolution. Guerilla warfare played an important role in the Cuban Revolution according to Guevara’s writings. Guevara’s guerrillas were able to overcome superior firepower and succeed over superior forces by living off the land and utilizing hit and run tactics. They knew where they would attack next and the government forces did not. They were trusted by the people and therefore were better organized politically by listening to the people. Guerilla warfare was a rebellious movement which was formed to overcome economic, political and cultural adversities. It promotes changes which aim to eradicate corruption in the government, to stop tyranny, repression and remove the power of aristocratic elites. Guevera relates that in liberated territories the need for health care, industry and education is basic and paramount. Before the Cuban revolution there was exploitation and cultural repression which made clear the division and inequality of wealth within the nation. In this environment the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. From my own perspective it seems that people of Cuba became radical about what was happening in their society, and that made rebellion or insurgency a viable option. According to Guevara’s writings, violence should only be an option if there is an illegitimacy of the government and the people of that nation believe that there is really injustice and inequality in their society.   Local radical tribunals were formed to lead what they call people's justice, to try   to solve public arguments in Cuba. Cuba became the center of international liberalism because of this, but the truth is it was really different. Ernesto Guevara was an influence in building a new political and social government in Cuba. He constantly utilized the teachings of Marxist Leninism leadership in his revolution, but he never confirmed this no did he deny it. Che was very willing to negotiate with the communists in Sierra, and he was likewise intolerant of Fidel Castro’s aggression and distrust of them. But still, Guevara’s attitude toward Castro made him realize that revolution must be done in Cuba and he must apply Marxism. An analysis of Marxism shows that classes are the central players in the process of history, yet for Guevara these classes are lacking and are replaced by the revolutionaries. Guevara used Marxist themes in his writings, and he used the philosophy of Karl Marx in his own theories of economics. In this vein it is also necessary to say that Guevara embraced not only communism but a particular branch of it, called Stalinism. He applauded the Soviet invasion of Hungary that crushed the workers’ uprising there in 1956 and rejected   Khruschev’s denunciation of Stalin’s crimes. Politically he seemed to be a Guevarist. I would say that Guevara played the biggest role in the Cuban revolution in political consolidation and the formulation of economic strategies. Unlike what Castro had believed, being a pragmatist, Guevara used his power in the leadership towards the creation of a powerful and independent state. Guevara did not favor nor did he totally support Fidel Castro’s pragmatic leadership, and he immersed himself in his writing, deciding the best method to refute Castro.   He read a work entitled Eastern European Handbook On Planning during this period. Guevara found that the key to Cuba’s survival is industrialization and economic growth. In his speeches on the economy between 1959 and 1965, his persistent themes were the importance of planning and development. According to Che, there is a need for industrialization and diversification and a need for consequently winning workers over to the idea that they must delay their anticipation of immediate material enhancement in their lives. In addition, Guevara’s analysis of the economy was influenced by Soviet thinking. The state is given authority over the revolutionary army; the guiding tenet of economics is the market, and the perception is that of a beleaguered   state defending its survival in opposition to the looting marketers. But according to Guevara, he knew the dangers of isolation. He then pursued a version of internationalism that takes into consider the problems unique to Cuba when it comes to its dependency. Therefore, internationalism is just a part of the problems that Cuba experiences during the revolution. Knowing that Cuba exists in a global milieu and by the stability of internal forces, then what political, social and economical alterations can make it stable, Guevara asks. For Ernesto Guevara, the response is, of course the Cuban Revolution.  He does not consider the production and exportation of revolution elsewhere. According to him, the only thing that Cuba can export is their political and economical state. Guevara is a most compelling and convincing revolutionary leader. Aside from his health problems, he disregards the material, and his undying dedication evokes the near worshipful devotion of others. At this period, he becomes at ease with Fidel Castro.. Being recommended as the Director of the National Bank made him the center of economic policies. Then Guevara formed the National Institute of Agrarian Reform which he designed for economic transformation. It can be said that agrarian reform becomes the basis of change and the peasants become the first liberating army. Starting with a more competent agriculture, and the eradication of joblessness, Cuba is now ready to become an industrialized country. Guevara also predicts that in five years, his country will be adequate in the production of textiles. It will be able to develop mines for nickel, iron and manganese production. Further, Cuba will have its first car plant up and running. Because of Cuba's economic organization, its reliance on sugar exportation, its need for spare parts, machinery and industrial plants, and also due to the drain of professionals and technicians, it is possible that Che's projections are very idealistic. Politically speaking, Cuba will not work or function independently for long, and formation of socialism in a hostile capitalist hemisphere was unattainable and utopian thinking. Che made his predictions and published them in an article during March of 1962   as he introduced the socialist theory. Simplistically, the impossibility of finding spare parts, the lack of technologies and the shortness of immediate resources needed to raise productivity could only be realized by an intensified management of labor.  Guevara realizes the absurdity of animosity among the leadership and comes to understand what can be lost in the face of fraternal rivalry, and what is to be gained by a cold realistic approach Guevara’s writings are expository and sensitive as to how the revolution in Cuba came about. He also explicitly reveals the scenario of the various occurances during in those days.   Cuba is obviously a nation built on revolution that has made a major impact on the world. The Cuban Revolution might well be considered the greatest contribution to the world of liberalism and revolution. Many transformations and drastic changes have occurred in Cuba. Ernesto Guevara is certainly an icon of revolution. He sets a standard for true revolution through his life, his analyzations and his writings. His writings on the intricate workings of the Cuban revolution is a great contribution to Latin America history for it is stated in his writings what he believes and how he has transformed and liberated Cuba. I enjoyed reading the book. I find it to be full of facts and insights that Guevara conceptualizes. References Guevara, E. Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War (Authorized Edition)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Melbourne: Ocean Press, 2006.   

Black Market Drugs Essay

Barbiturate and amphetamine addiction continues to give cause for national concern. Each year hundreds of thousands of pills manage to slip into the black market and are sold illegally, often to young people. Some observers, including the head of a congressional crime committee that spent two years probing the problem of illegal drug trafficking,’ believe that the drug manufacturers cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use. Do drug manufacturers have any moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not put to such use? In this paper I am going to discuss the six different ethical theories, including utilitarianism, kantian ethics, natural law theory, virtue theory, care ethics, and symphonology. The first theory that will be discussed is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions. The basic principle of utilitarianism is The Principle of Utility or The Greatest Happiness Principle, Itht states that we ought to do that which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. In regard to the illegitimate use of prescription drugs, drug manufactures do have a moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not put to such use. Utilitarianism provides an objective way to resolve conflicts of self-interest and encourages a realistic and result oriented approach to moral decision making. Using the utilitarian theory, the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people, is a challenge. If you were simply listening to the general public which is filled with hundreds of thousands of users they would say that the drug manufacnturers have no right getting involved because they know that if drug manufacturer’s did get involved that would make it more difficult for the users to obtain these drugs. If you take a poll of drug users family members, close friends, and anyone who may have had a prescription drug problem they would say that the drug manufactures need to get involved to make it more difficult for the users, especially minors, to get their hands on these drugs. The greatest amount of good would come about only if the people who truly needed these drugs for the purpose in which they were designed used them and the drugs were not being sold on the black market. Drug manufacturer’s should get involved at some level to regulate this situation but they should be held responsible for what happens when they land on the shelves of the stores. At that point, it is the stores responsibility. The manufacturers and store owners both have a moral responsibility. Second is Kantian ethics. Kant believed that moral rules can, in principle, be known as a result of reason alone and are not based on observation. Kant held that only when we act from duty does our action have moral worth. Good will is the only thing that is good in itself. His categorical imperative states that an action is morally right if and only if we can will that the maxim (or principle) represented by our action be a universal law. There are three alternative formulations of the categorical imperative, the first two are the primary formulations. The first is that an act is right only if the actor would be willing to be so treated if the positions of the parties were reversed. The second is that one must always act so as to treat other people as ends, never merely as means. The third is the importance of motivation and of acting on principle, it is not enough to just do the right thing; an action has moral worth only if its done from a sense of duty that is, from a desire to do the right thing for its own sake. Kant’s ethics gives us firm standards that do not depend on results, it injects a humanistic element into moral decision making and stresses the importance of acting on principle and from a sense of duty. With regard to the fact that a congressional crime committee thinks that drug manufacturer’s cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use would be ridiculous. According to Kant, moral rules can be known as a result of reason alone and are not based on observation. The facts show that there is an ever growing problem with black market drugs and the drug manufactures need to do something to help stop this growing epidemic. Even though the drug manufacturer’s may not agree with what is happening with their drugs, all they see are dollars signs and the more people who abuse their drug equals more money for them. Kant would want them to act on the principle that their drug is harmful to people taking advantage of the high they can get from it. The drug manufacturer’s need to be held somewhat responsible for what is going on right in front of their eyes. Third is natural law theory. The essence of natural law theory is that we should further the inherent ends of human nature and not frustrate human fulfillment. There are 3 tenets in natural law theory. These tenets provide the meaning and the basis of the theory. ) moral law is accessible to human reason; 2) moral law is based on human nature; 3) moral law is universally applicable. In other words, natural moral law is knowable by human reason, applies to all human beings, and is grounded in human nature. Natural law theory is very appealing since it has objective moral values and it equates good with human flourishing. According to the natural law theory you should never interfere with human flourishing. Drug manufactures recognize tha t when used improperly their drugs can be very harmful, so they put warning labels on the bottles. Why then do they know that their drugs are being used illegitimately and do nothing about it? According to natural law theory you should not frustrate human fulfillment but in this situation you need to get in between the people who are addicts and not allow them to add to their addictive ways. If nothing is done by the drug manufactures there will be no human flourishing which is the main principle of the natural law theory. If people keep abusing these prescription drugs and the drug manufacturers don’t do anything these people will eventually die of an overdose or other drug related causes. Natural law theory has objective moral values and with this situation, the moral values should definitely come into play with the drug manufacturer’s and they need to take moral responsibility for what is happening. Fourth is virtue theory. Virtue theory describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior, rather than rules, consequentialism, or social context, which derives rightness or wrongness from the outcome of the act itself rather than character. The virtue theory derives the golden mean which is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. Virtue ethics is all about the human character. The drug manufacturing companies need to realize that what is happening is unethical and is reflecting upon them. People are looking at them to make the corrections and to step in and change something so that this issue doesn’t progress into something bigger than it already is. Virtue ethics is about the human character, even though these companies aren’t human per say, they affect the lives of many humans and a lot of people are being harmed by what is going on behind the walls of drug manufacturers. The drug manufacturing companies should be held morally responsible for the illegitimate use of these drugs. I don’t believe that there is directly anything they can do to stop the illegitimate use of the drugs but they can step in and do something to make the drugs less readily available to purchase and consume how they were originally intended to be consumed. Fifth is care ethics, which provides a balance for the one-sided traditional ethics of the impersonal and the universal, for it promotes the connectedness of humans. With care ethics the primary moral obligation is to prevent harm and help people. It is concerned with relatedness. The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory often considered a type of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics emphasizes the importance of human relationships and emotion based virtues. With care ethics drug manufacturer’s definitely have a moral responsibility to ensue that their products are not put to illegitimate use. Care ethics is all about preventing harm and helping people, which is exactly what the drug manufacturer’s need to do. They need to step in and put their foot down. These actions cannot continue to happen, it is causing so much harm and it not helping anyone. These drugs were intended to be used in one way and the fact that they are being used in a completely different way is morally wrong in itself, but the fact that the manufacturer’s know that this is happening and nothing is being done is another issue. If they were to step in hopefully that would slow down and eventually stop this growing epidemic. They need to focus on the prevention of harm to people who abuse their product. Sixth is symphonology, which is based on the supposition that an agreement exists between all rational beings. These agreements are contingent upon the bioethical standards of fidelity, beneficence, objectivity, self-assertiveness, freedom and autonomy. Symphonology is based off of the bioethical standards which are, fidelity is adherence to the terms of the agreement. It means faithfulness or commitment or promise to uphold the agreement. Objectivity is a person’s capacity to be aware of things as they are and to be able to act on this awareness. Beneficence means to do good at least do no harm. Freedom means to act independently. It is a person’s capacity to take independent action based on his own evaluation of the situation. Self-Assertion or privacy is a person’s power to control his own time and effort, it is self-ownership. Autonomy is the essential character structure of an individual person. The drug manufacturing companies need to abide by the bioethical standards in order to take moral responsibility for the drug epidemic that is occurring in our nation today. Will they do that? Probably not. Symphonology states that an agreement exists between all rational beings, if the drug manufacturing companies don’t take moral responsibility for the drug problem going on there will never be an agreement between the people who know what is going on and want to do something about it and the addicts themselves. The theories that I believe best answer the dilemma are Kantian ethics and also care ethics. Kant’s ethics gives us firm standards that do not depend on results; it injects a humanistic element into moral decision making and stresses the importance of acting on principle and from a sense of duty. With regards the drug manufacturer’s being held morally responsible for the every growing illegitimate usage of the drugs using Kant’s ethics they would need to think more humanistic and make the morally right decision which would be to step in and take action with the drug problem. Even though they can’t completely stop the illegal usage of their drugs the manufacturer’s can set regulations so that only certain people can get their hands on the drugs. The second theory that best answers the dilemma is care ethics. Care ethics is all about preventing harm and helping people. That is exactly what the manufacturing companies need to be doing. There are so many different approaches that they could take to slow down and stop this problem. They could use different ingredients so that they don’t have the harmful affects on people or the addictive qualities. The congressional crime committee that said that the drug manufacturer’s cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use, is absurd. They should absolutely be held responsible. If these companies used care ethics they would be running a morally sound and ever growing drug manufacturing company, instead of being scrutinized because their drugs are being sold illegally on the black market and are very addictive. Even though these companies aren’t actual humans and they don’t have feelings or morals like a human will, they are run by people and it is up to those people to make the right decisions. With care ethics these people can guide their company in the right direction and abide by the care ethics standard which is to prevent harm and help people. I believe with care ethics and with Kantian ethics the companies should be held morally responsible and they will over achieve every obstacle put in their way and run a morally successful company.

Baptist Church Visit

Baptist visit I decided to go to Baptist church in Miami. I chose Coral Park Baptist Church because most of the Baptist churches I call in Miami provide Spanish language services, but the Coral Park Baptist Church also offers English services. I went to the service at 11 o'clock Sunday. The whole church is very big. In major temples there are regular Spanish services, and there are other complete buildings, separate classrooms, English services and other Sunday school type courses. Acceptable choices are Methodist Church and Baptist Church. Methodist Church made me indifferent. The Battle church bat is funny but the second Baptist church I visited was very warm and the people were friendly. Their beliefs are too modest to my taste, but they are accepted by my Republican husband. I like this service and people. I participated. I immediately received a revelation that I am no longer in Kansas. But I like these people again. So when I heard the ridiculous belief that I thought it was ab surd, I just smiled and told myself. I want the feelings of the community. Baptist visit I decided to go to Baptist church in Miami. I chose Coral Park Baptist Church because most of the Baptist churches I call in Miami provide Spanish language services, but the Coral Park Baptist Church also offers English services. I went to the service at 11 o'clock Sunday. The whole church is very big. In major temples there are regular Spanish services, and there are other complete buildings, separate classrooms, English services and other Sunday school type courses. There seem to be countless churches around Waco. Waco has more than 100 Baptist churches alone. Even if someone tries to visit two Baptist churches every week, there will still be a Baptist church to visit. There is no doubt that Waco is a religious city. David Koresh is said to be a child under the name of God. Some people in former David chapters said they did not say that he had sexually assaulted children. Kiri Jewell, one of W aco's children, said she tried to have sex with her when she was ten years old, David Koresh. Others say that David Koresh is clearly talking about sex with young girls.

(SOCIAL WORK) Social Circumstances Report - Case Study Essay

(SOCIAL WORK) Social Circumstances Report - Case Study - Essay Example She likes to spend time with her grandmother and learn Gujarati from her. Till this age she has not dated or selected her lover. She comes from a conservative family background. In their family culture they respect Muslim traditions and follow their customs. Ruksana suffers from certain disabilities like learning disability and physical weakness. Many people in the world faced this problem in their childhood. â€Å"Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brains ability to receive process, analyze, or store information.† (Learning disabilities 2009). Her speech is impaired and she struggles due to phonological disorder. These two problem forces her to take help from others in her personal chores. She travels short distance by electric wheelchair. She completed her schooling from a residential specialist school. Students of such schools are different from normal students. They cannot learn like normal students. They are physically weak and have learning disability. According to a report about safeguarding disabled children in residential special schools â€Å"protection from abuse of disabled children living in residential settings has received much less attention than the protection of children looked after by local authorities.† (Paul, Cawson & Paton 2006). People need patience to communicate with her. It indicates that one reason for her impaired speech may be lack of attention from her parents or other close relatives. Had they given more attention to her in her childhood, this problem could have been solved to an extent. Her speech and language therapist Mr. Jean helps her for this. He adopts computerized assistive voice technology and she is interested in this computer based study. Usually such people seek help from learning and speech therapists when they face problem in learning and reading (About academic language therapy 2004). Here Ruksana did not get help at the initial stage. When she got such a

Preventing Fraud, Waste, and abuse Simulation Essay

Preventing Fraud, Waste, and abuse Simulation - Essay Example The outcome of a simulation is difficult to determine especially in terms of benefits and the cost since most of the ocassio0ns that call for its applications are very challenging and may involve a long-term use. A range of motivating forces and execution machinery can be expected to push simulation forward, together with professional societies, legal responsibility insurers, medical care payers, and in due course the general public. The prospects of simulation in healthcare fully rely on the dedication and resourcefulness of the healthcare simulation community to see that enhanced patient well-being by means of this instrument becomes a reality. With the increased federal and state government expenditure on health care each year, the concerns of fraud and abuse also increase. A lot of money has been lost to fraud and abuse allegations with CMS estimating about 15 to 25 US dollars per year in Medicaid fraud and close to 1.1 US dollars were recovered in 2005 in false health care claims. It is with this in mind that all pharmacies have been called upon to safeguard any possible abuse, fraud, and waste. It is the obligation of any company to protect itself against fraud, abuse, and waste and try to eliminate it completely. Several companies have put in place some policies and procedures that are used to fight fraud, abuse, and waste. It’s the obligation of every employee of an organization to put a stop to fraud, abuse, and waste, failure to do so may result in the following; For individual involvement in either of the scandals, the repercussions include disciplinary actions that may even call for job termination. It is, therefore, necessary that everybody in the company is conversant with the knowledge of fraud which include how to identify fraud and abuse, prevention, and reporting of abuse and fraud.

Ecosystem services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ecosystem services - Essay Example It is difficult when it comes to valuation and maintenance biodiversity conservation. There are several reasons given as to the reason for the biodiversity conservation support, biodiversity elements are resources of great value to human beings so the choice of its conversation is ethical (Wilson, 1992). Human beings should play a crucial role in conserving and should respect the ecological system since they are part of it. Biodiversity can be classified as ethical, intrinsic and aesthetic ways. Biodiversity is intertwined to ecosystem in that they both coexist, biodiversity exits due to ecosystem services. Ecosystems systems have significantly progressed in the recent decades. This is through communication tools in the 1970’s that explained the nature’s dependence on nature, it has incorporated economic dimensions and it provides assistance in the decision making due to implementing conservation policies which are effective for the sustainable development and human support wellbeing. UNEP’s Millennium Assessment of the Ecosystem (MA) which was in 2005 marked a critical milestone in the development of concepts of the services of the ecosystem according to scientists. In conclusion, damaging the natural environment has seriously threatened its ability to provision of vital services and goods. We must manage our environment to conserve the ecosystem services around

The Evolution of Cloud Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Evolution of Cloud - Assignment Example Cloud computing allows a user to access his data or even run computer software from a remote data center via the internet. However, the data being accessed or the software being run needs to be present or stored in a cloud, rather than on a personal computer hard drive or a company’s server. This form of computer architecture has allowed many small and medium companies to grow. This has been done by enabling employees to access important corporate data while on the move. This has come as an alternative to costly network infrastructure, which demanded huge capital outlay from small and medium enterprises. It is interesting to know that this technological innovation has emerged from the existing technology landscape. A demonstration of this technological innovation is the Hotmail account which uses technology delivered by cloud computing. It provides users with data that is not stored on a personal computer. Experts believe this form of computing to unleash the next great paradigm shift of personal computing. This paradigm shift will transform the traditional model of computing and open up new opportunities for businesses, consumers, the environment and economic growth. There are numerous benefits of cloud computing, for instance, those countries which are spending exceedingly on information and communications technology; they can use this technology to reduce approximately 20-50 percent of their current cost. By means of this form of computing, users can access their data or run software from virtually anywhere. However, they do need an internet connection to make this possible. Cloud computing enables users to run their own applications while using their internet service provider’s servers, operating systems, and storage facility. Experts believe that cloud computing has the potential to create up to 240,000 jobs in the short term.

Essay 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

3 - Essay Example â€Å"Liberalism also holds that international politics can be a non-zero-sum game, that it is possible to have win-win situations in which gains of one or more countries do not have to come at the expense of others† (Rourke & Boyer 20). For example, the establishment of the United Nations was meant for all countries to cooperate for mutual gain with each other. Liberalism believes humans have a mutual bond that they can draw on to identify with and forge ties with people around the world. Realism sees that international politics is moved by an ever competitive agenda of self-interest among nations. Realists believe that the decisive dynamic among countries is a struggle for power in an effort by each to preserve or, preferably, improve its military security and economic welfare in competition with other countries (Rourke & Boyer 16). Realism views human beings as naturally divided by a form of national allegiance to their nation or to another focus of national identity such as cultural heritage or religious beliefs. A good example is Chancellor Otto von Bismarcks’s unification of Germany during the 19th century. Bismarck unified the once shattered German nations not for the sake of the spirit of unity, but to form a single and powerful imperial nation as a great power in Western

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 15

Report - Essay Example This project management plan is to provide information for the implementation of an information management system project, within the confines of a health care institution. The project management approach consists of a project management team with the client’s project manager and the IT specialist’s project manager. The plan clearly outlines the project structure and governance. The plan lists the stakeholders the risks identified. The project is to take 207 days. This project plan presents a breakdown of the functions that will be included in the implementation of an information management system within the healthcare sector, with a specific focus on Curtin Hospital. The project aims at devising an information management system in a hospital in order to augment the conveyance of services through making patient information readily available. With the increased adopted of information technology within different sectors, the implementation of the information management system marks the beginning of the fundamental changes which the hospital shall implement in seeking to improve service delivery. The intended audience for the information management system project in Curtis hospital is the various project stakeholders who include senior management of the hospital, project sponsors and the project management team Information technology has become essential in the improvement of service delivery within many industries. The implementation of information management systems within the healthcare sector presents healthcare institutions with an opportunity to utilize technological methods to enhance service delivery. The hospital utilizes manual records for the majority of the hospital records. There is need to create a digital database for this information which will begin with the conversion of the paper based records into digital formats. The system will enhance the process of retrieving

Law for Accounting coursework question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Law for Accounting coursework question - Essay Example Moreover, Serena’s offer had indicated that only bids over ?20,000 would be accepted. The first issue is whether there was an offer and acceptance. Serena made the offer, however, Eric, by stating that he would buy the Galileo at ?19,500 instead of the ?20,000 that Serena was asking for, effectively made a counteroffer.1 The reason for this is the â€Å"mirror image rule.† This rule states that an unequivocal acceptance must mirror the offer exactly – any deviation made by the offeree to the offeror would therefore be considered to be a counteroffer. At this point, therefore, it was up to Serena to accept Eric’s offer, as Eric did not offer an unequivocal, mirror image acceptance of Serena’s terms. However, one can state that Serena was not really making a valid offer with her advertisement, as she indicated that she would consider all offers higher than ?20,000. She did not state that the highest bid would be the winner, so to speak, but, rather, o nly indicated that she would consider any and all bids above the threshold number. The courts would state that this was not really an offer at all, but an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is an invitation for bids. This is similar to the case of Spencer v. Harding (1870) LR 5 CP 561. This case involved the following offer: â€Å"28, King Street, Cheapside, May 17th, 1869. ... Milk Street, up to Thursday, the 20th instant, on which day, at 12 o'clock at noon precisely, the tenders will be received and opened at our offices. Should you tender and not attend the sale, please address to us sealed and inclosed, 'Tender for Eilbeck's stock.' Stock-books may be had at our offices on Tuesday morning. Honey, Humphreys, & Co.†2 The court held that this was not a valid offer, but, rather, an invitation for bids. The wording in the offer in Spencer is similar to the wording in the case at bar, therefore, there probably was not a valid offer made by Serena for the Galileo. That said, when Eric made his statement on the answering machine, this would be an offer. As indicated above, when Eric made his statement on the answering machine, the ball was effectively in Serena’s court, and she could either accept Eric’s offer or not. The question is whether Serena did accept the offer. She finally called Eric in January, after having made the original offe r in December, and Eric had made the counteroffer in that same month. Both parties knew that Eric wanted the dress for his girlfriend’s birthday. Serena might have known when Eric’s girlfriend’s birthday was, as Eric is her brother. Regardless, when Eric’s girlfriend’s birthday came and went, the doctrine of frustration of purpose might apply here. Frustration of purpose is â€Å"Where, after a contract is made, a party's principal purpose is substantially frustrated without his fault by the occurrence of an event the non-occurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made, his remaining duties to render performance are discharged, unless the language or circumstances [of the contract] indicate the contrary.†3 The leading case in English law is that of Krell v Henry [1903]

Classroom Assessment in Fifth Grade Science Essay Example for Free

Classroom Assessment in Fifth Grade Science Essay A study was conducted to explore the hypothesis that performance assessments foster a more positive motivational orientation for students than supplied-response assessments which tend to truncate students’ learning strategies (Parkes Stefanou, 2003). This was in response to general dissatisfaction arising from large-scale, high-stakes multiple choice testing, particularly among the older students who experienced higher levels of anxiety and mistrust with respect to standardized tests.   It partook of a cost-benefit analysis of the consequences of this particular type of assessment procedure to determine whether the positive outweighed the negative. Traditional paper and pencil tests (PP), a laboratory task format of assessment (lab), and a performance assessment (PA) were imposed on three different fifth grade science classes, particularly involving Goal Orientations to supply quantitative data.   Qualitative output was also obtained through taped interviews of the three classes.   Quantitatively, goal orientation seemed to be influenced by the type of assessment used. When paired with the qualitative data, students seemed to perform well in PP testing because they equated a good grade with competence and ability, and they believed that performing well in PP testing reflected this competency (Parkes Stefanou, 2003).   However, if receiving grades was removed from the equation, students became more receptive to PA testing and were motivated to take risks and explore actually doing science rather than just knowing science (Parkes Stefanou, 2003). One of the limitations of the study was that qualitative information was necessary to complete the picture presented by the quantitative data.   Although the study was by no means definitive as to whether or not assessment types contributed to student motivation, it clearly showed that when paired with the stakes or consequences attributed to the assessment results, it affects the students’ goal orientations. Reference List Parkes, J. and Stefanou, C. (2003). Effects of classroom assessment on student motivation on fifth-grade science. The Journal of Educational Research, 96 (3), 152-162.

John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men Coursework Essay Example for Free

John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Coursework Essay Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck set in California near Soledad in the 1930s on two men called George and Lennie who travel together from ranch to ranch trying to make their life like the American Dream what Lennie shares with George. During this time there was a depression in America, which meant unemployment and Racism was high so men had to go to different ranches. Racism and bad employment at this time in the United States was called The Great Depression. After The Great Depression, World War 2 had started and John Steinbeck decided to write the book Of Mice and Men what was influenced also by a poet called Robert Burns who was Scottish and also had released a book in the past. Later Of Mice And Men was published in 1937. The American Dream in the U.S.A is thought to be for any American to go through hard work and courage to achieve the goal of their life leading them to success. Lennie and Georges Dream was to own a farm house with lots of chickens and rabbits. The American Depression what had been the harshest depression ever what was from 1929 leading to 1939. This Depression started in North America what went on to Europe and other areas of the world. Although it was started in the united states because of the fast economic growth, it lead the whole world to a disaster. This was originally started because of over production in agriculture what lead to rising debt with farmers. The ranch where Lennie and George end up working for was near Soledad, which is south east of Salinas, Weed was nearby. Soledad what meant lonely was an ideal setting to the story for people who could translate Soledad into English. All of the ranchers with them are lonely with no family and never have anything to look forward to just their daily routines and also just thinking of The American Dream. After the ranchers do their routines the only kind of entertainment what they do is play cards. The ranchers belong to no one what everyone knows Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world . . . They got no family. This also adds to the fact that the ranchers are missing out from a lot in their lifes as they have no family or friends to share their fun with and they have no life only sadness. Ranchers dont seem happy as they never have any fun entertaining things to look forward to like normal people so they just carry on with their lives in loneliness and misery. George Milton who is a small and intelligent man with sharp feutures. He is Lennies carer as he always has to take care of him and be beside him through everything as he is, his only friend. After Georges aunty died he had to look after Lennie as he was the only one he could talk to, but got fed up as Lennie talked like a child. Even though George leads Lennie out of problems what he gets him self into accidentally he loves him a lot but doesnt like to show it. Lennie Small is large and has a shapeless face. He drags his feet when he walks, and lets his arms hang. He has a childs brain as he doesnt really remember anything and looks up to Lennie as he leads him in the right way and always helps him in bad situations. Lennie in the story gets compared to an animal more than a human as he is a really big man who is mentally retarded Dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. George and Lennie relation differs from the other ranchers as they travel together where ever they go and are not lonely as the other ranchers as they have got each other. Crooks is an old black man, he is called this because he has a crooked back he is the stable worker, with a personality just like Candys. Crooks doesnt like company like candy and also wants to live for George and Lennies dream. He has a small place where he lives by himself because of his color as he can not stay in the bunk-house. Lennie gets along with crooks more than anyone else as their resemblances are the same. Crooks is one individual who spends most of his time reading and is a fairly clever person, he lives in a small space, with no one with him. He is segregated because of his color. Crooks said, long as you wont get out and leave me alone. He is not allowed in the bunk-house to play cards as the other ranchers say he stinks, but he tells Lennie You all stink to me Candy is an old man with one arm who works as a swamper. Candy had an old dog but agreed to kill it as the entire ranch workers were complaining that it smelt we cant sleep with him stinkin around in here. Candy is very attached to his dog which he had since it was a pup, and was the only thing he could really talk to. When he hears about George and Lennies dream of getting their own place, he asks them to take him with them and offers them his savings to help. He offers his money to them as he doesnt have any other family to share his savings with. Candy becomes very happy, as he thinks he will not be lonely again, but these dreams are broken in the end. Curley the bosses son who was a welt weight boxer. He is short and wanted to prove that he wasnt a laboring man. He acts as he is superior to anyone else in the ranch. He goes around like he is the boss but no one dares to go up to him as he is a strong boxer. Curley is quite a violent man and in the story he ends up getting in to a fight because he thought that Lennie was laughing at him No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. Curleys wife who is always left lonely and no-one respects her, Curley never pays attention to her She is forced to flirt with other ranchers to get attention however, she does not get it as everyone knows Curley will be furious if he finds out and any one who will try it with Curleys wife will get into very big trouble with the boss. She is one of the loneliest people in the story as everyone neglects her and never pays attention to her so she is forgotten out from everyone else. Even though she dresses up like a tart she doesnt achieve anything wit the other ranchers. Even when she tells Curley I never get to talk to nobody, I get awful lonely she still gets neglected. The people who are most lonely in the story are Candy, Crook and Curleys wife. Candy is lonely because, he has no family or friends. His only friend was his dog who he could talk to. Ive had his since he was a pup. This shows that the main people who are lonely are really different from normal people as they never have anything to look out for. George and Lennies relation is very strong unique friendship as none of the other ranchers travel with anyone else or share experiences traveling together or either copeing with life together. They are good friends because they share the same dream of owning a farm. George wanted to be his own boss. Lennie wanted, to pet animals all day long and they both believed that it will come true and even when George has doubts he encourages Lennie. They both know how important they are to each other and Lennie likes it when George tells him that I got you and you got me. They both look out for each other as they depend on one and other, they havent got no one else like friend or family Ranchers are loneliest guys in the world they got no family. In the end George has to kill Lennie to save him from being killed by the other ranchers what would have been twice as bad seeing a close friend die. The American Dream was something what George and Lennie truly believed in. Without the dream no one would have nothing to look forward to but George and Lennie were well in way of thinking about their future. This was their main objective through out the story of owning a big farm together even crooks and candy got involved in with the dream John Steinbeck wanted each characters individual self to have some thing to look forward to in their up and coming life. To the end of the story Lennie goes to the place where George told him to go if he got into any trouble near by the river. Then Lennie began to think and imagined a rabbit who told him that George would get rid of him because, he is sick of him. And when George comes to the place where he had told Lennie to wait Lennie asks that if he would leave him and George replies back no. Then Lennie decides to leave but George says no and reminds him of the Dream they had planned of them two owning a farm with Furry rabbits and lots of land. But then George tells Lennie to look across the river and Shoots him with the gun to the back of his head. Slim guesses what had happened and reassures George that it had to be done in the end for the best. This was very important for George to do as he can live a life where he doesnt have to look out for some-one else rather than him self. But also George will become really lonely without Lennie besides him and also their Dream of being together in a big farm had been destroyed. But now George can settle down and think about how he is going to go on with the rest of his life and what job to do without him keeping to move. The thing that has died with Lennie is everything that George and Lennie had. George had done everything for Lennie and could take no more. He had protected him so much an always encouraged him to the max. George killed Lennie as a good friend to save him from harsh misery. The theme of loneliness in this book is important If the characters in the book werent lonely then they wouldnt have done the things that they did and so there wouldnt have been the same. Curleys wife and Lennie die because of loneliness which causes George to be even more lonely. If Curleys wife hadnt been lonely she wouldnt have started the conversation with Lennie which caused her death.

Aspergers syndrome: definition, assessment, therapeutic intervention

Aspergers syndrome: definition, assessment, therapeutic intervention Introduction This essay focuses on Aspergers syndrome. This special educational need was chosen because I have a personal interest in this condition. The essay looks in detail at how Aspergers syndrome is defined and how Aspergers syndrome is assessed and diagnosed. The essay then moves on to discuss the various therapeutic interventions for Aspergers syndrome and what teaching approaches are appropriate for children presenting with this condition. The different theoretical perspectives from which Aspergers syndrome can be understood are then discussed, namely the medical model, the social model and Bronfenbrenners ecological model. What is Aspergers syndrome? According to Klin et al. (1995), Asergers syndrome is a severe developmental disorder characterized by major difficulties in social interaction and restricted and unusual patterns of interest and behaviour. There are many similarities with autism and there is still discussion as to whether Aspergers syndrome and autism are actually different conditions (Klin et al., 1995). As Klin et al. (1995) highlight, however, the APA made Aspergers syndrome officially a separate diagnosis following the results of a field trial, which revealed that Aspergers syndrome does have different diagnostic criteria to autism. Other definitions of Aspergers syndrome differ from these definitions, with the American Psychiatric Association, via their Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, defining a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome as, requiring four of five listed criteria be present, including at least two indicatros of a qualitative disability in social interaction (e.g., serious impairments in peer relationships, social reciprocity, nonverbal behaviours, empathy) and at least one in the category of restricted behaviours or rituals (e.g., rigid adherence to rules or routines, preoccupation with a narrow interest, parts or objects, repetitive motor movements) (Safran, 2002). Medicine.Net defines Aspergers syndrome as an autistic disorder most notable for the often great discrepancy between the intellectual and social abilities of those who have it (Medicine.Net, 2010). The Autism Society of America defines Aspergers syndrome as, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦high functioning autism with no speech delay (Aut ism Society of America, 2010). It is clear, therefore, that there are a variety of definitions of Aspergers syndrome, with this confusion arising as a result of the difficulty in diagnosing Aspergers syndrome, as will be discussed later in the essay. In terms of the clinical features of Aspergers syndrome, a paucity of empathy is usually noted, as is naÃÆ' ¯ve, inappropriate and one-sided social interactions with pedantic and monotonic speech (Klin et al., 1995). In addition, poor non-verbal communication and intense absorption in specific topics and clumsy and/or ill-coordinated movements all help to identify children with Aspergers syndrome (Klin et al., 1995). It is noted that the onset of the condition occurs later than the onset of autism with children living with Aspergers syndrome having a normal range of intelligence (Klin et al., 1995). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV) provides the following, more detailed, diagnostic criteria, qualitative impairment in social interactionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(and)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities manifested by either encompassing preoccupation, apparently inflexible adherence, stereotyped and repetitive mannerisms or persistent preoccupation with parts of objects with these guidelines recommending that Aspergers syndrome be diagnosed where all other conditions have been excluded (Klin et al., 1995). It is noted that children living with Aspergers syndrome have no delay in their acquisition or use of language and that the disturbances the syndrome cause can cause major clinical impairments, such as socially, occupationally or in other areas of functioning (Klin et al., 1995). Assessment of Aspergers syndrome Assessment of Aspergers syndrome, particularly in children, is difficult as there is a paucity of diagnostic instruments and no standardization amongst the diagnostic tools that do exist (Howlin, 2000a). The problems of differentiating Aspergers syndrome from autism, particularly in the ICD-10 and DSM-IV systems, is also a complicating factor in the assessment of Aspergers syndrome: as Howlin (2000a) argues, attempting to develop diagnostic tools in the absence of any clear definition of Aspergers syndrome is attempting to put the horse before the cart (Howlin, 2000a). As Klin et al. (1995) argue, the lack of awareness of professionals of the condition can also make diagnosis difficult, with a comprehensive assessment of children suspected of having Aspergers syndrome needing to include the patients medical history, a psychological assessment, communication and psychiatric assessments, parental conferences and further consultation, if necessary. The initial stage of any assessment is to take a careful medical history, including all information relating to the childs development, from pregnancy to the present; next, a psychological assessment would be undertaken which would aim at establishing the childs level of emotional functioning, their strengths and weaknesses and their preferred style of learning (Klin et al., 1995). Next, communication and psychiatric examinations would be taken, which would collect both quantitative and qualitative information about the childs willingness and ability to communicate and their psychiatric status. One complication with diagnosing Aspergers syndrome is that many of the clinical manifestations of this condition are similar to those manifested by autistic children (Bishop, 1989). As argued by Wing (1988), because the diagnosis of autism is so difficult, as autism appears to present as a continuum of symptoms, with no clear boundaries, this has further complicated the diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome. As Wing (1988) discusses, the only clear diagnostic tool for diagnosing some form of autistic disorder is the presence of social impairment; the degree of social impairment, coupled with other symptoms, can then lead to the diagnosis of other forms of developmental disorder, such as Aspergers syndrome or semantic-pragmatic disorder (Bishop, 1989). Placing children along the autistic continuum, with autism being divided along two main axes of interests and social relationships and meaningful verbal communication, can thus help to diagnose the three different conditions (Semantic-pragma tic disorder, Aspergers syndrome or autism), with children diagnosed with autism being classed as more abnormal along these axes and children diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome being classed as abnormal along the interests and social relationships axis and normal along the meaningful verbal communication axis (Bishop, 1989). Yet, this does not stop researchers attempting to produce an assessment tool for the clinical diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome. Scott et al. (2002), for example, report the development of the CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test), which they designed to be able to screen children for Aspergers syndrome. The test is suitable for 4-11 year old children and was tested on 37 children with typical development and similar numbers of children with suspected Aspergers syndrome, with the finding that the tool detected significant differences between the sample means of normal children and those children living with Aspergers syndrome (Scott et al., 2002). It was concluded, therefore, that the CAST is a useful tool for the clinical diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome or to identify those children at risk of Aspergers syndrome and related conditions. As has been argued, however, the validity of this test is questionable, given the lack of a clear definition for Aspergers syndrome. Therapeutic interventions As highlighted in Klin et al. (1995), the treatment of Aspergers syndrome is, essentially, to provide support to the child in the event of any distress. There have been suggestions that behavioural coaching and supportive psychotherapy, can have some degree of positive effect on children with this condition although this has yet to be tested rigorously (Klin et al., 1995). As Weiss (2005) argues, however, no therapeutic interventions have been shown to be completely successful in treating the negative manifestations of Aspergers syndrome. Jacobsen (2004), however, makes a case for the use of individual psychotherapy and case management for children with Aspergers syndrome, as the therapeutic relationship can become an important source of support and routine for these children. As the mind of an individual with Aspergers syndrome is different to the mind of someone who does not live with this condition, it is important to consider theories of mind in the evaluation of the therapeutic needs of children living with this condition. Various tests, such as false belief tests, for example, have suggested that children with autism have an impaired theory of mind, with Baron-Cohen (2001) relating how theory of mind refers to the ability to reflect on ones own and others minds with children living with conditions along the autism spectrum having difficulty in understanding other peoples minds. As Baron-Cohen (2001) argues, much of the basic research in this field, on functional brain neuroimaging, for example, may have clinical applications in the areas ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦early intervention or early diagnosis. As Gevers et al. (2006) report, a social cognition programme based around this lack of a theory of mind had some success in dealing with children with pervasive development disorders including Aspergers syndrome, with this treatment intervention significantly raising consciousness of the feelings of others in those children who were assigned to this arm of the trial. This article gives hope to those parents of children with Aspergers syndrome, and to those adults living with Aspergers syndrome, that some therapeutic intervention may result from Baron-Cohens work and allow them to live a full life, free of the problems that Aspergers syndrome brings to them. Theoretical perspectives on Aspergers syndrome This section will discuss three main theoretical perspectives that are used/can be used to define Aspergers syndrome, namely the social model, the medical model and Bronfenbrenners ecological model. As Bricout et al. (2004) argues, children who live with disabilities, and also their families and social workers, face complex social and institutional environments in their quest for developmental, educational and daily living supports. Models of disabilities can provide conceptual frameworks with which to understand their disability and can inform the decision-making processes of parents and social workers (Bricout et al., 2004). The medical model, for example, focuses on individual deficits whereas the social model focuses on disabling social environments (Bricout et al., 2004). These models will all affect how the disabled child is understood and treated, as such models dictate how society views people with disabilities. The social model of disability, for example, views the disabled individual in terms of their differences, with disability meaning that the individual is restricted somehow with the term disability being a social construct that exists as a result of peoples reactions to the disabled and the shared meanings that surround this category of individuals within society (British Council of Disabled People, 1981). Society as a whole decides whether the impairments held by an individual leads them to be labeled disabled, with a label of disabled meaning certain discrimination via the imposition of barriers which will limit the abilities of these individuals to participate in society. For individuals with Aspergers syndrome, which challenges their ability to concentrate and to interact normally with other children, the social model of disability labels them as disabled in terms of their ability to be educated, meaning that they will usually be placed in a special educational needs situation. Th is is intended to ensure that their special needs can be catered for, yet placing children in special educational needs contexts can often doom children to a life of poor educational achievement, as it is known that disabled children placed in special educational needs contexts do less well academically than disabled children placed within the setting of a normal school (Reiser and Mason, 1990; Howlin, 2000b). Molloy and Vasil (2002) discuss whether Aspergers syndrome is a disorder or a neurological difference that has been socially constructed as a disorder, discussing how Aspergers syndrome is currently defined, in medical terms, as a developmental disorder. Yet, as Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, the diagnostic criteria for Aspergers syndrome have been socially constructed, with Aspergers syndrome being readily accepted as a diagnosis for the problems that the children diagnosed with this condition face, as a way of being able to deal with these children under the umbrella of special educational needs. As such, it is educators, argue Molloy and Vasil (2002) that are mainly responsible for this social construction of Aspergers syndrome, with schools viewing this condition as a social disability and, this, being able to categorize the children with the condition and to give credence to their treatment of these children as needing to rehabilitated or normalized, something that is not, neces sarily, in the childs best interests. As such, Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, a shift really needs to be made towards an examination of the social implications of a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome. Viewing children under the medical model, which labels children living with Aspergers syndrome as deficient in something is also unhelpful, Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, as the child comes to be viewed only with that label and therefore suffers a loss of individuality and consequent lowered expectations. The medical model of disability does not, like the social model, implicate society in the understanding of a persons disability, but rather views the disability as a function of the medical deficits that individual has, meaning that, under this viewpoint, the individual, and their deficit, is the problem, and not society. Under the medical model, society only comes to view individuals as disabled as a result of the impairment/deficit that they have, with individuals with Aspergers syndrome being viewed as unable to communicate emotionally and/or socially and, as a function of this, being labeled as disabled. As society, and policies aimed at mainstreaming disabled people and providing them the opportunity to enter normally into society, has moved more towards a social model of disability, the opportunity has arisen for children with Aspergers syndrome to be mainstreamed and dealt with, in mainstream schools, as children with special educational needs. As Howlin (2000b) argues, in con tra to Molloy and Vasil (2002), this is the correct approach for the more able children with Aspergers syndrome as high-functioning individuals with Aspergers syndrome can, if supported, achieve excellent outcomes in education and in their lives. Bronfenbrenners ecological model can also be used to understand Aspergers syndrome, as this model approaches child development from a joint sociological and development psychology perspective, with the thesis that individuals and their environments are mutually shaping, that is that they both have an effect on each other and, through this, change each other (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). As Bronfenbrenner (1979) states, child development takes place through processesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the complex interaction between an active child and the persons, objects and symbol in its immediate environment, such that this model implies that a disability such as Aspergers syndrome is a result of a lack of environmental support, and that, as such, the negative manifestations of the disability can be smoothed by placing the child in a more appropriate environment. It is clear, then, that Aspergers sydrome can be understood, and represented, from a variety of theoretical perspectives, all of which affect the expectations placed on individuals living with Aspergers sydrome. As Howlin (2000b) argues, however, with the correct support, high-functioning individuals with Aspergers sydrome can go on to achieve great things in their lives. This finding by Howlin (2000b) ties in with the ecological model of Bronfenbrenner (1979), which suggests that the disabilities caused by living with Aspergers syndrome are superable, if only the child is placed in the correct environment. This point will be returned to in the discussion of teaching approaches. As Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, defining Aspergers syndrome in terms of any one model is extremely problematic. It is clear that children living with Aspergers syndrome require more attention than normal children because they crave more attention and have difficulties respecting social norms, meaning that, in a school setting, their behaviour would be picked up upon and corrected, attracting more attention from teachers. Yet, whether this is a disability as understood by the medical model (i.e., an impairment or deficit) is a moot point, especially as children with Aspergers syndrome usually excel in other areas meaning that they do have the capacity to fit in to mainstream schooling and society, despite the fact, as Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, labeling children as living with Aspergers syndrome automatically means that they will be labeled, also, as special needs children. As Molloy and Vasil (2002) argue, with adequate support, children living with Aspergers syndrome can excel in the areas that interest them and so, instead of these children being the failures for not fitting in to educational expectations, it is the education system that is failing these children. This becomes especially clear when it is recognized that some cases of Aspergers syndrome are only diagnosed when children enter the school system and are labeled problematic with referrals to psychologists then offering a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome. As Molloy and Vail (2002) argue, the situational nature of disability is important in understanding the practical implications of a child living with symptoms that can be labeled as Aspergers syndrome. If, for example, a child living with Aspergers syndrome is obsessed with mechanics and finds a specialized tutor to teach them mechanic, this child would excel in this field, above and beyond any child in a mainstream school. There are, thus, arguments on both sides regarding how and where children with Aspergers syndrome should be educated. Children with Aspergers syndrome are individuals, with different individual needs and it is not helpful or ethical for these children to be grouped in to one terminology special educational needs as this does not provide enough individual support to these individuals in order to allow these individuals to excel (Howlin, 2000b). That these children have problems understanding, and mastering, social interactions should not, argue Molloy and Vasil ( 2002), be a reason for these children to be marginalized and for this marginalization to be justified on the grounds of either the medical or social models of disability. This is especially problematic given the fact that children living with Aspergers syndrome can have their social interactions facilitated by certain interventions. Teaching approaches There are, therefore, many practical implications for these differing theoretical perspectives on Aspergers sydrome, in terms of diagnosis, assessment and intervention. How and when children living with Aspergers syndrome are assessed to have this condition affects their education: as has been discussed, the situational nature of the diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome can affect, for example, how and where they are schooled. This, as shown by Howlin (2000b) can affect their life chances and outcomes, given that, in the right circumstances, with the right levels of support, individuals with Aspergers syndrome can achieve great things in their lives, often above and beyond normal individuals. The Who what how where when of diagnosis and schooling, beyond this diagnosis, thus has a major impact on the life chances, and outcomes, of children living with Aspergers syndrome. Each of these different theoretical perspectives provides different insights in to the most appropriate teaching approaches and teaching strategies for individuals with Aspergers syndrome. A whole range of options are available for education for children living with Aspergers syndrome, from whole class to differentiated teaching. A Safran (2002) argues, it is feasible that children living with Aspergers syndrome can be taught in mainstream schools, and indeed many are, as these children usually have an extremely high IQ, with this gift needing only to be directed, and chanelled, adequately whilst controlling for the other more negative aspects of the manifestations of their condition. Yet, under the different theoretical perspectives, different educational models would be recommended for children living with Aspergers syndrome. The medical model would, for example, seem to suggest that these children are somehow deficient, and would see their weaknesses and not their holistic perspec tive, failing to recognize their giftedness in other areas. The social model would, as has been seen, in the discussion of the work of Molloy and Vasil (2002), suggest that the diagnostic criteria for Aspergers syndrome have been socially constructed, with Aspergers syndrome being readily accepted as a diagnosis, as a way of being able to deal with these children under the umbrella of special educational needs. This, whilst not having the disadvantages that the perspective of the medical model presents, is itself problematic because, as has been seen, children living with Aspergers syndrome can often, aside from their behavioural problems, be extremely gifted academically. Gallagher and Gallagher (2002) argue that there is a case to be made that children living with Aspergers syndrome should be treated as gifted children, in terms of their education, given that many children living with Aspergers syndrome have extraordinary capacities in certain areas. As Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological model suggests, if a child with Aspergers syndrome is placed in the right environment, they will flourish. It is clear, therefore, that this model differs in its applicability to, and approach towards, Aspergers syndrome, as something that can overcome, not as something that causes a permanent, insuperable, deficit in the child. As Jindal-Snape et al. (2005) argue, children with autistic spectrum conditions can be taught effectively, especially if Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological model is implemented, with functional links being found between all parts of the childs ecosystem, i.e., the childs home environment, their school and the other agencies that help them deal with their condition. It has to be noted, however, that their inability to interact socially and their low tolerance for routine, however, makes it difficult, in practical terms, to see how children living with Aspergers syndrome could be educated alongside gifted children. Although, as Safran (2002) argues, if all school personnel are made aware of the childs condition and its manifestations, then it would be possible for certain children living with Aspergers syndrome to enter mainstream school with one-to-one help, from a classroom assistant, for example, who would be there to help them with their behavioural difficulties. Interventions as simple as arranging the seating in the classroom to ensure that the child with Aspergers syndrome is not sitting next to children who will aggravate them has been shown to be effective in managing the manifestations of the condition, allowing these children to be schooled in a mainstream setting (Safran, 2002). It is my personal opinion, from my personal perspective, that certain children living with Aspergers syndrome are well suited to a mainstream classroom setting, although this is said with caution, as these children can take a lot of the teachers time, if they are not assisted, leaving little time for the other members of the class. As to whether mainstreaming special educational needs children is fair to the mainstream children is the topic of a whole other essay, but it is my experience that, indeed, as Safran (2002), Howlin (2000b) and Gallagher and Gallagher (2002) argue, certain children with Aspergers syndrome are academically excellent and, as such, should be given a chance at achieving great outcomes in their lives. As Safran (2002) states, people with Aspergers syndrome are often creative, highly intelligent, mathematically or scientifically astuteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(and)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦have the potential for momentous contributions to out society. As such, it should be the place of mainstream education to find a place for these children; indeed, as Safran (2002) reports, children with Aspergers syndrome can often see great improvements in their condition as a result of interacting with other children in mainstream school. This is certainly my experience, as I have had students with Aspergers syndrome in my classroom whose confidence has soared as a result of making friendships and being involved in events and activities that captured their interest. Many of their parents expressed their thanks that their children had been engaged in such a manner whilst at school. I have also known many parents of children with Aspergers syndrome who have not had such positive experiences of sending their children to mainstream and/or schools catering for children with special educational needs, and who decided not to send their children through the traditional school system and who decided to home school their children. There are many hundreds of cases like this in the UK, supported by the Asperger Home Education organization, and other local organizations, which act as a source of support for parents who are home-schooling children with Aspergers syndrome (Asperger Home Education, 2010). The vast majority of experiences of people I know who have home schooled their children with this condition have had hugely positive experiences, with their children growing up to lead full lives, most usually specializing in the area that captured their interest as a child. One friend, in particular, has gone on from being obsessed with LEGO as a small child to become a str uctural engineer, employed in one of the UKs largest construction companies, something that was made possible by the dedication of his mother who didnt give up on him, believed in him and gave him the tools and skills he needed to be able to make a success of his adult life. However a child with Aspergers syndrome is taught, it should be borne in mind, as recommended by The National Autistic Society (2010) that children with this condition are likely to have problems with group work, with a lack of comprehension, with a lack of empathy and with their motivation levels. It is also likely that, at some point, children living with this condition might suffer from distress as a result of a perceived lack of information. The good teacher should, thus, be aware that these problems may arise and should attempt to handle the classroom situation, and the student within that situation, so that the opportunities for these problems to arise are limited. If they arise, the teacher should also have strategies in place for dealing with the behavioural manifestations of these problems in the child. There are, therefore, various teaching approaches that can be adopted in order to minimize the distress caused to the child with Aspergers syndrome and minimize, as a result, the disruption to the classroom that is caused when a child with this condition becomes confused and distressed. The social model would suggest that if this condition is accommodated by an appropriate teaching approach, then the child should be able to be schooled normally, accommodating, as far as possible, their disability. Conclusion This essay has looked in detail at Aspergers syndrome, from its definition to its differences in comparison to autism. Several models have been discussed, with which to understand the disability caused by Aspergers syndrome, with these models being applied to teaching approaches and a discussion presented of possible teaching approaches for children living with Aspergers syndrome in light of these different models. My personal experiences of teaching and/or knowing some children with this condition were also related, showing, on the whole, that children with this condition are usually academically gifted and that the problems their disability presents can be overcome by, as Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological model suggests, fitting the childs environment to their condition. Home schooling is an ideal way of ensuring this and giving the Aspergers child the best chance of making a success of their lives. It should be noted, however, that not all parents can afford, or have the ability t o, home school and, as such, other teaching approaches were discussed, including mainstreaming and institutes providing special needs education. In conclusion, Aspergers syndrome is a complex condition, dealt with in many ways, depending on the perspective from which the condition is viewed.

Why Great Men Do Not Become President Essay examples -- Elections Poli

Why Great Men Do Not Become President Over the course of history America has been electing the most popular not necessarily the best-qualified men as president. The office has become a strategic component vital to each political party. Parties sacrifice a great leader for the man that will win the most votes. History is a record of how we have always had had this practice. The office is full of corruption because money and influence run the presidency. The political leaders lie to the people that he is intended to serve. There are many overwhelming reasons that the best man is not always chosen for the job. They all inevitably stem down to the simple fact that a political party in order for its survival must have their candidate elected. In this struggle for dominance, qualities crucial to making a â€Å"great† leader are sacrificed in order to get votes. Location, religion occupation, and track record are all taken into consideration when choosing a candidate. Although these factors have no effect on how a leader will perform in office they are crucial factors in determining a candidate. Presidential candidates can best be described to a form of selective breeding. Similar to how farmers choose the best seeds to plant their crops each season to grow the most food, political parties choose the best candidates in the same respect. In order to survive and have their philosophy be heard in the American system of government, political parties must win elections. To ensure the best chances of winning an election they select the best â€Å"seeds.† Ultimately though sacrifices need to made to ensure a successful election. This is due to the simple fact that a bad president is better then no president in the eyes of ea... ...ar as the last election to be disproved. George W. Bush was a poster child for Republican America. He is not a great man in any sense of the word. Bush is not a genius or scholar. He did work to build himself up but was simply born into the Bush royalty. Just like royalty fittingly enough he was appointed president by having the right connections, image and of course, money. America needs a change from the current standard. We have had men in office who have lied cheated and stole from the very people that they are there to serve. Respect for the office is lost because of their actions. It is clear that corruption runs deep and is not a new addition to the White House. The discerning fact is that this may never change as long it takes money and image to win an election. American elections will always be more an election of popularity then of principle.

The White Male Fantasy of Total Recall :: Total Recall Essays

The White Male Fantasy of Total Recall      Ã‚   After saving the planet from a ruthless dictator and barely avoiding death on the hills of Mars, Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) puts a final spin on Total Recall with his final lines: "I just had a terrible thought. What if this is all a dream?" This last statement by Quaid leaves the audience pondering the question of reality, wondering what truly was 'real.' By the end of the film, one could easily argue a whole realm of possibilities: The events were all real; they were all a dream; they were the Recall implant fantasy played out; or they were the Recall fantasy gone haywire. In addition, the film seems to reject imperialism and the domination of white males, also rather postmodern in ideology. What is most ironic about this apparent postmodernism of resistance that we see at the surface of the film is undermined by high modernist ideology that recalls metanarratives of a patriarchal past. Thus we actually get the high modernist ideology that the film appears to reject. F or every progressive step that Total Recall takes forward, then, it takes two steps back, and by the end of the film we see not a progressive victory, but rather a white male fantasy of the return of the patriarchal world in which the white man is on top.    According to Andreas Huyssen, "The postmodern harbored the promise of a 'post-white,' 'post-male,' 'post-humanist,' and 'post-Puritan' world" (194). While I am not purporting to predict the future, one would assume that if postmodern ideology continued on, then the future would continue the gender and racial role deconstruction that began in the mid to late 1960's. But Total Recall does not keep this promise, as there is nothing post-white, post-male, post-humanist or post-Puritan about it, and racial and gender codes, rather than being deconstructed, are actually reconstructed. In fact, Total Recall's world, produced in 1990, written in 1975, and representing 2084, looks much more like George Orwell's 1949 depiction of the world 1984 than any futuristic postmodern world. When Orwell created his future, it was based on projections of the present, and so whites and males still ruled the earth, and communist-like governments ruled the earth. In Total Recall, though, we do not see a pro jected future based on trends of our present, but rather one that reconstructs the past cultural dominant of white patriarchy, and seems to want to project from the early 1900's.

Technology in Education Essay -- Technological Classroom Computers Ess

Technology in Education In our lives today we expect technology to make a difference, and particularly in furthering our education. We see technologies effects as beneficial. We look for it to change, and improve, what has come before it. Technology is the set of means without which certain kinds of constructive activity would be almost impossible. It supports our efforts to appeal to different learning styles which give us a way to interact with each other and extend the learning experiences. It is a good way to extend the essential skills and knowledge of students. By integrating technology into our educational programs it provides students with additional tools to enhance their learning. Technology allows us to demonstrate teaching strategies and also provide teachers with skills to succeed in the classroom. It changes the structure and the manor in which we learn. Such technologies used in education from the past, present and beyond are the typewriter, computer games, internet, and communication. The relationship between technology and education can be characterized as a process of change and innovation. In the beginning societies depended on oral communication then the written language was developed. Making an alphabet made learning to read and write much easier then in the past. As technologies of written language became prevalent and more people became literate social structures formed. The next big step towards a better education was the industrial revolution. The technology that occurred during the revolution created a need for workers in the newly created factories shifting learning to prepare kids to work in such factories. Technologies such as the typewriter and printing press made it easier to make documents i... ...k/elearning/story/0,10577,1336801,00.html 6. Hinchliffe, Lisa ( 2002) Helping Early Childhood Teacher Education Learn about the Internet ( 2004) www.libraryinstuction.com/early childhood.html-19k 7. New Horizons for Learning (2002, September) http://www.newhorizons.org 8. Christopher Latham Sholes (2005, March) Typewriter http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story097.htm Books 9. Kerr, Stephen T and Rehage, Kenneth(eds.) (1996) Technology and the future of schooling. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press 10. Isenberg, Joan P. (2003) Major trends and issues in early childhood education: Challenges, controversies, and insights. New York: Teachers College Press 11. Monroe, Barbra Jean (2004) Crossing the digital divide race, writing, and technology in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

Introduction To Marketing Mr B

Club Cards The creation of the Tests club card was a advantageous idea, but the club card can provide incorrect information about the customer who handles the art and give Tests Mobile the wrong image Of the customer, in terms Of knowing what that customer likes and want when they're shopping at Tests Mobile. This can occur if the club card is handled by someone else who is not the owner(e. G. The owners son), resulting in the actual owner receiving offers and information about things they did not actually purchase.For example lets say the son of the owner of the card it is bought a video game then the actual owner may a lot receive emails/letters about that game or things that are in relation to that game. Tests believe that everything bought on the card is researched by its owner, which is not the case sometimes, resulting in invalid information being produced on the club card. Questionnaires Questionnaires can be helpful for a company when the questions are produced correctly and given to the right people.Questionnaire have a low response rate in general, therefore Tests Mobile shouldn't have a high expectancy rate of receiving questionnaires back when they send them out to their customers. When questionnaires are posted people tend to just chuck them in the bin because they can't be bothered filling them in a posting it jack to Tests Mobile, even though they got a Freeport envelope alongside the questionnaire. Due to the lack of response back with questionnaires you wouldn't be able to generalizes e. If Tests Mobile sent out 3000 questionnaires out and only received 300 back then they would be unable to generalizes. This would make it difficult for Tests Mobile to figure out what merchandise to sell. People may give out false answers on questionnaires because they may just tick any answer or they may be intimidated by the question etc. This would result in Tests Mobile stocking product people do to actually want. When Tests Mobile conduct questionnaires, th e questions asked are usually closed questions, this is so that it is easier to generalizes and analyses the customer answers.Tests Mobile may also choose to put in leading questions as it gives the person the impression that their opinion is valued. Interviews Having interviews conducted it valuable to Tests Mobile but what is said and what is asked can have limitations. Tests Mobile could invite some of their customers in for an interview and the interviewee could feel intimidated by he interviewer, this Is called the observer effect; resulting in the interviewee hesitating and giving the interviewer the answer they think they want to hear.In addition to this people may feel the need to lie so that they don't look inferior to the interviewer, and in fact sound more superior. People may be unwilling to tell the truth because they may feel vulnerable this may because they feel they're being judged on their ethnicity, age, appearance or gender. This likely to become apparent when per sonal questions are being asked during an interview. For example 21 year old may feel uncomfortable in talking to some who is 65, as they may feel they're inferior or superior to them.Depending on the type of person interviewed, they may tend to give short answers in order to get the interview over and done with, which could limit the amount of research being collected. Short answers would also make it harder to analyses because there would be enough information. On the other hand the interviewee may be garrulous and feel comfortable with the interviewer and begin to start a conversation which is off-topic; having an effect on the data collected.Having a talkative interviewee could mean that it will be harder to analyses information due to the amount of content they've given. If the interviewer answers the questions in the wrong way it could result in incorrect answers, meaning that time and money has been wasted on conducting an interview. Secondary Research Many limitations are in volved when using secondary research such as, the date the research was conducted, as it may be out of date when you want to use the research and many companies who provide that data will tend not to eddo market research as it's already been done.A limitation that may also occur is that you don't know the exact set of questions that were being asked, as the exact questions aren't displayed when you buy the secondary data nor are the exact answers. Only the concluding results and the amount of people involved in the market research are given to the buyer. The cost of secondary data can be extremely expensive depending on how recent the research is and the company who's selling it.

Leadership and Organization Behavior Essay

in that comply argon many business giving medications that ar started on various occasions, plainly b bely a few turn taboo to be prosperous shapings. The conquest or failure of an formation can broadly be associated with loss leadinghip. leading trade name a very big impact in the governing body. The importance of attr exploitship is recognized when the governing is going by dint of some moments analogous crisis or serious changes, wagering on how the deal will be guideled. We can non just assume that leading in the makeup is shown at the top management, yet until now to the lower levels in the geological formation. in spite of the importance of leading, there has been no placement on the definition of lead in the organization. However, leaders can be specify as a means employ to coarse people in the organization, with disclose applying force, to spurt towards the attainment of the organizational goals, by move them. Non coercive method implies the leaders should make the people to follow them on a voluntary basis (Glasser, 2008). A leader influences a particular group to wager towards achieving particular goals.leaders does non depend on a dress sanction or the title, but rather they utter out their tasks by applying leadership attributes such(prenominal) as values, believes, hit the hayledge, character, ethic and skills. The position of a director, supervisor, leader etc choke them the authority to fulfil certain goals and tasks in the organization, the power of manager lead or supervisor to contact organization goals does not make them leaders but simply they make themselves bosses. leadershiphip makes the following want to make higher(prenominal) goals. Selfless services and honorable characters to the organization form the basis of good leadership. prise leaders concentrate on what they dwell (such as jobs tasks and tender-hearted nature), what they atomic number 18 (such as character and believes) and w hat they do (such as prompt implementing and providing directions. ). The qualities of a leader influence the partners to follow him.Followers want to be sentryd by the people whom they respect and have clear sense of directions. leading moldiness(prenominal) be ethical in indian lodge to gain respect from their pursuit. aw atomic number 18ness of directions among the leaders is achieved by conveying a strong vision of future (Glasser, 2008). Employee enjoyment in an organization can be predicted by the level of confidence and confide in the top leadership and sound communion.Effective converse helps to win organization confidence and trust which occurs done devising the employees to be occur awargon and find out the boilers suit strategies of the organization, assisting the employees understand their roles which can contribute to the attainment of organizational goals and objectives and the information manduction surrounded by the employees and the leaders on ho w the organization is performing and how their departments atomic number 18 doing relative to the strategic goals of the organization. and so a leader must be able to evanesce the vision of the organization and must be trustworthy.Good leaders need to concentrate the three attributes of leadership i. e. what they atomic number 18, what they bonk and what they do. These attributes can be achieved by following the leadership principles. According to principles of leadership a leader is divinatory to get it on himself and seek room for self cash advance. A leader can know himself if he understands the principles of leadership. Seeking room for self improvement means that the leaders have to unceasingly tone up their attributes. This can be achieved through interaction with opposites, reflection, self study and formal classes.Secondly the leaders must be technic altogethery proficient. Leaders atomic number 18 involve to have a solid familiarity with their coadjutors tasks and know their job (Nelson & Quick, 2007). Leaders must seek and take responsibilities of their action. They must such ways in which to guide their organization to achieve new heights. When things in the organization goes wrong leaders are not supposed to blame their followers or their fellow leaders but rather they should analyze the situation and come up with corrective response and be prepared to move into the next challenge.Leaders should make timely and sound decisions by use of good strategies of decision reservation solving hassles and planning excessivelyls. Good leaders should set good role models by lay voices to others. They must see what they are expected to do not completely hearing the changes they want to see. Leaders should know their people and care for their well being. They should know the human nature and take the obligation for caring for their followers. Leaders are supposed to establish good communication with their followers.communicating is a key r esponsibility in making sure that tasks are accomplished, administer and understood. Team build and wordment of team spirit assist the leaders in employing their sections, organization, department etc to their fullest capabilities. Leaders should have an true(p) understanding of leadership attributes. They must also understand that determination of whether a leader is successful or not lies on the followers and not upon themselves. Followers are in all probability to get inspired if they leave out confidence or trust in their leaders.Leaders are supposed to win over and set good example to their followers in order to become successful and be followed. Leaders lead through a two way communication between them and their followers sometimes communication between these two parties is non verbal. An example is when a leader sets a good example to the follower. The leader in this case does not necessarily get asking the follower on what to do about what himself is not willing to do. The way and how the leaders communicate with their followers improve or accidental injury the relationship between them.Leaders are supposed to understand their followers in order to apply their leadership skills variant followers would require different leadership styles. This means that a new employee whitethorn require more guidance and supervising than an experienced one. Also non impeld workers would require more motivation than motivated workers. thence the leader must understand the human nature through establishing the followers emotions, motivation and needs. Leaders requiring to develop strategies on the possible cause of action for different situations (Nelson & Quick, 2007).The success of any leadership is determined in the degree in which the leaders are able to motivate the others. Motivation among the employees leads to work satisfaction. An organization may incur big losses if it looses its employees and and so the key function of the leaders and the manag ers should be motivating the right people to dwell and join the organization. Motivation directly affects the out put of an organization and this concerns both the select and the quantity.The leaders and managers accordingly need to understand how to motivate the followers according to the roles they pass (Miner, 2005). The survival of an organization is determined by the motivation of the employees. On the other hand wages focuses on the maintenance of motivation. The prefatorial assumption in motivation are that the positive behavior among the followers that resulted to reward will be repeated and therefore negative behavior that resulted to negative consequences are less likely to be repeated. sealed behavior can be step up and strengthened through reinforcement. Rewards and punishment are applied depending on whether certain behaviors occurred or did not occur. The role of the leaders is to strengthen the positive behavior through reinforcement (Miner, 2005). The employe es and the leaders working in an organization have different characteristics. Leaders must learn how to manage the employee in their organization. The leadership skills that are acquired in schools are not sufficient to lead and manage the employees. and so training is important in order to pick up that individual objectives are align with organization objectives. To achieve this skills and experience are imparted to individuals. Goal setting on the other hand helps in defining the organization, give the direction to be followed and avoid chaos. place of organizational goals can help the leaders to motivate the employees by communicating what the organization have planned to achieve and through providing basis for recognition, success and achievements (Nelson & Quick, 2007).Goal setting helps in effectiveness of recruiting the followers. Team edifice results to many potential benefits which include consensus building brain storming, looking at the problem from different perspect ive, trial and error, expert knowledge etc. employees are more encourage to bring their work at the conference table and therefore they are likely to work harder. Leaders must ensure that there is an attitude of respect and gross profit for the ideas of the team member in the organization culture.The employees feel free in sharing their ideas with the team members when they help each other to succeed. Effective leadership helps in the success of the organizations. If there is no good leadership the organization may move too slow, become stagnant or even loose their direction. Timely decision making ensures that the running of organization is going on well. Leaders must ensure that decision making are correct, complete and involves all the stakeholders for the success of the organization (Nelson & Quick, 2007).