Natural gas industry n Mexico and South America - Outlook Case Study

Natural gas industry n Mexico and South America - Outlook - Case Study Example Energy Information Administration 1-57). This reserve of natural gas was valued at 688 trillion cubic feet. Mexico and South America are the major exporters of natural gas and mainly the United States imported natural gas from these regions. However, the United States has now developed its own reserve of natural gas and crude oil and thus, domestic production has become a substitute of its imports. Almost 80% of the total natural gas that is produced in the region of Mexico and South America is generally circulated to the neighboring nations in terms of exports and imports through pipelines (U.S. Energy Information Administration 1-57). The rest is traded domestically in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). With the increase in Shale gas in these regions, it is expected that exports of natural gas would increase. There are also propositions to expand the Panama Canal and this would help to distribute LNG efficiently. The easy availability of resources concerning hydrocarbons and the feasibility to use advanced technology has enable the increase in natural gas production. Investment by companies in natural gas has also increased. Countries which are more open to foreign investments and have less restrictions and regulation related to foreign taxes and business operations, invite and encourage more companies for investment (U.S. Energy Information Administration 1-57). Brazil in South America has an investment friendly environment for the foreign companies and Mexico is on the process of adopting energy policies that would encourage foreign investment. Massive investment in these regions has been made by China (Economides and Wood 1-13). The above figure shows the natural gas reserves and resources of the various regions of America. The area of interest in this study aims to throw light on the trends and pattern in Mexico and South America. Countries like Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador helps to

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation Essay - 1

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation - Essay Example To ensure the employees are motivated and committed to achieving organizational goals and consequently success or effectiveness, performance management is crucial. Most people use the terms performance management and performance appraisal interchangeably but performance appraisal is just part of performance management aimed at ensuring that employees perform their jobs up to the expected standards. Since performance management involves ensuring the right employee behavior, employees’ participation in the process is key to effectiveness. Failure to involve employees in making decisions in issues that affect them may lead to negative results as illustrated in the Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company (JMI). These include poor job attitudes, reduced motivation, and reduced effort on the job (Mathis and Jackson 354). Employee participation is considered crucial in â€Å"determining whether specific performance management methods, procedures and requirements will be accepted and that they work effectively to support performance improvement† (OPM.gov). Employee dissatisfaction is as a result of not engaging employees in the process. Employees have different personalities and thus different opinions and perceptions. As such, seeking their opinion in issues that affect them ensures acceptability and commitment (Roberts 89). Consider JMI which a performance management in place but employees were dissatisfied with the way goal-directed behavior was being encouraged. If the organization had involved the employees in deciding on the goals to be accomplished and the expected performance standards, the employees would have been comfortable with the process since they are already aware of what is expected of them. Besides, Roberts asserts that if the employees are involved in setting standards and performance measures, they cannot perceive the process to be unfair (93). As such employee participation in the process leads to increased reliability, fairness and validi ty. He also asserts that since employees’ gain ownership of the process, they are committed to ensuring its success (89). Employee participation in designing the rating form makes it acceptable to the ratees hence minimizing conflicts between management and employees. After engaging employees in the performance management process, JMI was able to get commitment and support from employees and improved performance. This was through improvements to the system, that is, their views were incorporated during the redesigning process thus creating a system acceptable to all and which linked performance management to other human resource activities. This case is thus a good example of how employee participation enhances greater support for the system. The experience of JMI is also a lesson to other organizations on how performance management systems can be improved. One of the ways to improve the system is through continuous feedback. Some organizations hold review meetings annually t hus do not give employees frequent feedback. This is detrimental to the organization since an employee is unable to understand whether he or she is accomplishing what he/she set out to accomplish or make amendments and move in the right direction. As a result, the performance may not improve. For Roberts, job satisfaction and performance can be enhanced by use of a â€Å"specific, timely and behavioral feedback by a credible source† (93). Frequent feedback also allows redefining of goals and

Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Social Networking Essay The twenty first century is known to be the world of the ‘Internet’; it is the most efficient way to get connected to our friends, relatives and colleagues. Sites such as Facebook have become very common among our youth today and have influenced our modern lives in many aspects. Being enrolled at a school with over 1000 students you begin to notice the reliance that a majority of the students have on Social Networking. As a student myself I have always had an interest in the way people act and the effect that these sites have on both the social and psychological side of us; this led me to the question ‘How often does cyberbulying occur?’ Technology allows all of us immediate access to information, which can greatly benefit our lives1. However, it has also provided some people with the means to exploit the innocent, commit crimes, and inflict injury on others. This technology has allowed some teens to take bullying that thrives in school hallways into cyberspace1. Bullying refers to any kind of aggressive behaviour, which is normally intentional and entails an imbalance of strength or power1. Cyberbulying is also referred to as a social online cruelty which can be described as an intentional aggressive act which is carried out by an individual or a group of individuals against a victim, done repeatedly over a long period of time and sent through electronic contacts1. Research indicates that there are a variety of reasons as to why people bully2, * Cultural causes fascinated with winning, power and violence.2 * Institutional causes the place in which bullying takes place, whether the home, school or workplace is not of high standards for the way people treat each other bullying is more likely to occur.2 * Social issues the fact that one gets more social recognition for negative behaviours than positive one can also contribute to reasons as to why people bully.2 * Family issues families that are not warm and loving and in which feelings are not shared are more likely to have children who bully, either with in the family home or in other locations in which children meet others.2 In relation to why people bully, a survey was conducted from December 2006 till January 2007 by the members of Kids Help Phone which had over 2500 respondents3. This stated that more than 70% of respondents to the survey reported that they have been a victim of cyberbulying, while 44% said they have been the bully themselves. At least 38% reported having experienced cyberbulying within the last three months3. This was a major key finding as it is clearly evident that there are a large number of cyberbulying incidents that occur, considering that there were only 2500 respondents and 70% reported being a victim is a huge thing, not to mention that most cyberbulying incidents are not reported and go un-noticed. Having investigated this further studies show that almost most cyberbulying cases go unreported because a large number of youth and their parents think that cyberbulying is not a big deal4. However, it has been proven that a victim of this type of bullying can lead to serious disorders for the future, including suicide4. This indicates that when one becomes a victim of cyberbulying, they are a victim for life. Though the bullying itself may go away, the fear, the hurt and the memories scar the victim forever. In a survey that was conducted at Mount Gambier High School similar results were found5; 54.5% of students said that they had been a victim of cyberbulying, while 23% said they have bullied someone online. 81.8% say that whilst on these sites they have witnessed cruel behaviour, 33.3% say that they ignore this behaviour when and if it occurs5. This was an important finding as it is apparent that when and if cyberbulying occurs, teenagers who are a witness tend not to do anything about it. This relates to my previous findings because if people did something about the cruel behaviour they witness online, than the victim of bullying statistic (70%)3 wouldn’t be as high as it is. It just goes to show that teenagers have a power that they don’t quite realise nor understand. Cyberbulying is a major concern of young people. In 2010, it was ranked the third highest issue of concern for 11 to 14 year olds6. Over a quarter of this age group indicates it was a major concern, compared with 20% of 15 to 19 year olds and 16% of 20 to 24 year olds6. In an interview with a parent of two teenagers7 (Anonymous), it was evident that technology creates certain challenges for adults who are trying to keep up with the relationship problems among adolescents. It is clear that to an adolescent the primary influence are his/her peers and what they think; while physical assaults or bullying is bad, verbal or the relational aggression can be equally as bad for certain kids. Many adults don’t trust teens these days because they assume that they are engaging in bad behaviours. They believe that it is the teenager’s responsibility to demonstrate to the adults in their lives that they are using technology safely, responsibly, appropriately and for them to sort of take some ownership over that. It’s very important to have a discussion between parents and teens so the adults know that the vast majority of teens are doing the right thing online. On average 11% of teens talk to their parents about incidents of cyberbulying.8 Another interview took place9 with a student at Mount Gambier High school who clearly stated that she believes Social Networking sites such as Facebook are encouraging teenagers to bully, it is giving them more of an opportunity, as on the internet you can practically be whoever you want to be and there is less risk of getting caught. It is common for teenagers to use Social Networking sites such as Facebook to their advantage, having that availability to all those sites give teenagers more freedom with very little boundaries; therefore making it an unsafe place to be. The student said that whilst on these sites you don’t think about the risk factors, it’s more of a spur of the moment thing. She also stated that a majority of the time it’s more for entertainment or a joke without actually realising what effect it could have on a person.9 With this information at hand it is clearly evident that Social Networking sites are definitely encouraging teenagers to bully. Social networking sites encourage people to be more public about their personal lives, intimate details of our lives can be posted so easily and users are prone to bypass the filters they might normally employ when talking about their private lives. Whats more, the things they post remain available indefinitely. Facebook in particular, by far the most popular social networking medium is encouraging the ‘anonymous’ by making it easy and accessible to under 18’s. A Senior Research Associate from the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide conducted a survey at Mount Gambier High School in 2012 as part of the South Australian Media Use Survey (SAMUS)10. The study employed the best available psychological measures of mental health-related issues; the survey helped the understanding on how youth use media and it’s interaction with mental health. A total of 523 students took part in the study and within that study it showed that 35% of males use the internet to escape from problems compared to 31% of females; male and females do not differ greatly in terms of their preoccupation and difficulty in regulating the use of the internet.10 The vast majority of students at Mount Gambier High School report having at least one close friend with symptoms of a mental health issue in which was connected to Social Networking.10 The known prevalence of depression among adolescents (12-18 years) is about one in five (20%)10. Taking this figure into account, the symptoms profiles across gender were close to the expected norm, although females tended to report more depressive symptoms than boys.10 In conclusion, with the expansion of the internet and social networking technologies cyber-bullying is becoming more common and more severe. The research presented clearly shows that cyberbulying is on an uprise with a majority of teenagers reporting that they have been a victim of cyberbully while the other small portion admitting that they see it happen yet don’t do anything about it. Within my study it was shown that the average school student has at least one friend with symptoms of a mental health issue which is connected to social networking. This research paper is to inform society about what has been going on lately. Cyberbulying is technology powered and will only get worse as technology becomes more widespread; hopefully this paper will help to inform today’s youth and parents. If you see any kind of bullying happening in front of you, stop it if possible, and then report it.

The Difference Between Men And Women

The Difference Between Men And Women Understanding The Difference Between Men And Women For centuries, the differences between men and women were socially defined and distorted through a lens of sexism in which men assumed superiority over women and maintained it through domination. As the goal of equality between men and women now grows closer we are also losing our awareness of important differences. In some circles of society, politically correct thinking is obliterating important discussion as well as our awareness of the similarities and differences between men and women. The vision of equality between the sexes has narrowed the possibilities for discovery of what truly exists within a man and within a woman. The world is less interesting when everything is same. It is my position that men and women are equal but different. When I say equal, I mean that men and women have a right to equal opportunity and protection under the law. The fact that people in this country are assured these rights does not negate my observation that men and women are at least as different psychologically as they are physically. None of us would argue the fact that men and women are physically different. The physical differences are rather obvious and most of these can be seen and easily measured. Weight, shape, size and anatomy are not political opinions but rather tangible and easily measured. The physical differences between men and women provide functional advantages and have survival value. Men usually have greater upper body strength, build muscle easily, have thicker skin, bruise less easily and have a lower threshold of awareness of injuries to their extremities. Men are essentially built for physical confrontation and the use of force. Their joints are well suited for throwing objects. A man’s skull is almost always thicker and stronger than a women’s. The stereotype that men are more thick-headed than women is not far fetched. A man’s thick headedness, and other anatomical differences have been associated with a uniquely male attraction to high speed activities and reckless beh avior that usually involve collisions with other males or automobiles. Men invented the game chicken, not women. Men, and a number of other male species of animal seem to charge and crash into each other a great deal in their spare time. Women on the other hand have four times as many brain cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of their brain. This latter finding provides physical evidence that supports the observation that men rely easily and more heavily on their left brain to solve one problem one step at a time. Women have more efficient access to both sides of their brain and therefore greater use of their right brain. Women can focus on more than one problem at one time and frequently prefer to solve problems through multiple activities at a time. Nearly every parent has observed how young girls find the conversations of young boys boring. Young boys express confusion and would rather play sports than participate actively in a conversation between 5 girls who are discussing as many as three subjects at once! The psychological differences between man and women are less obvious. They can be difficult to describe. Yet these differences can profoundly influence how we form and maintain relationships that can range from work and friendships to marriage and parenting. Recognizing, understanding, discussing as well as acting skillfully in light of the differences between men and women can be difficult. Our failure to recognize and appreciate these differences can become a life long source of disappointment, frustration, tension and eventually our downfall in a relationship. Not only can these differences destroy a promising relationship, but most people will grudgingly accept or learn to live with the consequences. Eventually they find some compromise or way to cope. Few people ever work past these difficulties. People tend to accept what they don’t understand when they feel powerless to change it. Relationships between men and women are not impossible or necessarily difficult. Problems simply arise when we expect or assume the opposite sex should think, feel or act the way we do. It’s not that men and women live in completely different realities. Rather, our lack of knowledge and mutual experience gives rise to our difficulties. Despite great strides in this country toward equality, modern society hasn’t made relationships between men and women any easier. Today’s society has taught us and has imposed on us the expectation that men and women should live together continuously, in communion, and in harmony. These expectations are not only unrealistic but ultimately they leave people feeling unloved, inadequate, cynical, apathetic or ashamed. The challenge facing men and women is to become aware of their identities, to accept their differences, and to live their lives fully and as skillfully as possible. To do this we must first understand in what ways we are different. We must avoid trying to change others to suit our needs. The following illustrates some important differences between men and women. These differences are not absolute. They describe how men and women are in most situations most of the time. Problems Men and women approach problems with similar goals but with different considerations. While men and women can solve problems equally well, their approach and their process are often quit different. For most women, sharing and discussing a problem presents an opportunity to explore, deepen or strengthen the relationship with the person they are talking with. Woman are usually more concerned about how problems are solved than merely solving the problem itself. For women, solving a problem can profoundly impact whether they feel closer and less alone or whether they feel distant and less connected. The process of solving a problem can strengthen or weaken a relationship. Most men are less concerned and do not feel the same as women when solving a problem. Men approach problems in a very different manner than women. For most men, solving a problem presents an opportunity to demonstrate their competence, their strength of resolve, and their commitment to a relationship. How the problem is solved is not nearly as important as solving it effectively and in the best possible manner. Men have a tendency to dominate and to assume authority in a problem solving process. They set aside their feelings provided the dominance hierarchy was agreed upon in advance and respected. They are often distracted and do not attend well to the quality of the relationship while solving problems. Some of the more important differences can be illustrated by observing groups of young teenage boys and groups of young teenage girls when they attempt to find their way out of a maze. A group of boys generally establish a hierarchy or chain of command with a leader who emerges on his own or through demonstrations of ability and power. Boys explore the maze using scouts while remaining in distant proximity to each other. Groups of girls tend to explore the maze together as a group without establishing a clear or dominant leader. Relationships tends to be co-equal. Girls tend to elicit discussion a nd employ collective intelligence to the task of discovering a way out. Girls tend to work their way through the maze as a group. Boys tend to search and explore using structured links and a chain of command. Thinking While men and women can reach similar conclusions and make similar decisions, the process they use can be quit different and in some cases can lead to entirely different outcomes. In general, men and women consider and process information differently. Women tend to be intuitive global thinkers. They consider multiple sources of information within a process that can be described as simultaneous, global in perspective and will view elements in the task in terms of their interconnectedness. Women come to understand and consider problems all at once. They take a broad or collective perspective, and they view elements in a task as interconnected and interdependent. Women are prone to become overwhelmed with complexities that exist, or may exist, and may have difficulty separating their personal experience from problems. Men tend to focus on one problem at a time or a limited number of problems at a time. They have an enhanced ability to separate themselves from problems and minimize the c omplexity that may exist. Men come to understand and consider problems one piece at a time. They take a linear or sequential perspective, and view elements in a task as less interconnected and more independent. Men are prone to minimize and fail to appreciate subtleties that can be crucial to successful solutions. A male may work through a problem repeatedly, talking about the same thing over and over, rather than trying to address the the problem all at once. While there are differences in the ways that men and women think, it must be emphasized that they can and do solve problems in a similar manner. There are no absolutes, only tendencies. Memory Women have an enhanced ability to recall memories that have strong emotional components. They can also recall events or experiences that have similar emotions in common. Women are very adept at recalling information, events or experiences in which there is a common emotional theme. Men tend to recall events using strategies that rely on reconstructing the experience in terms of elements, tasks or activities that took place. Profound experiences that are associated with competition or physical activities are more easily recalled. There appears to be a structural and chemical basis for observed memory differences. For instance, the hippocampus, the area in the brain primarily responsible for memory, reacts differently to testosterone in men and it reacts differently to changing levels of estrogen and progesterone in women. Women tend to remember or be reminded of different emotional memories and content to some extent as part of their menstrual cycle. Sensitivity There is evidence to suggest that a great deal of the sensitivity that exists within men and women has a physiological basis. It has been observed that is many cases, women have an enhanced physical alarm response to danger or threat. Their autonomic and sympathetic systems have a lower threshold of arousal and greater reactivity than men. In both men and women, higher levels of testosterone directly affect the aggressive response and behavior centers of the brain. Increasing estrogen and progesterone in men has a feminizing effect. Sexually aggressive males become less focused on sexual aggressive behavior and content when they are given female hormones. On the other hand, changing estrogen and progesterone levels in women during menstrual cycles can produce a flood of memories as well as strong emotions. Increasing or high levels of testosterone can produce an emotional insensitivity, empathic block and increased indifference to the distress others. At the heart of sensitivity is o ur capacity to form, appreciate and maintain relationships that are rewarding. Even here there are important differences. For men, what demonstrates a solid relationship is quite different from that of most women. Men feel closer and validated through shared activities. Such activities include sports, competition, outdoor activities or sexual activities that are decidedly active and physical. While both men and women can appreciate and engage in these activities they often have preferential differences. Women, on the other hand, feel closer and validated through communication, dialogue and intimate sharing of experience, emotional content and personal perspectives. Many men tend to find such sharing and involvement uncomfortable, if not, overwhelming. The Task Of Relationship Facing Men and Women The task that faces men and women is to learn to accept their differences, avoid taking their differences as personal attempts to frustrate each other, and to compromise whenever possible. The idea that one gender can think and feel like the other if they truly loved each is rather absurd. Sure, a man or women could act in consideration of the other’s needs, but this would not necessarily be rewarding and honest. Holding the benefit of another above our own is rewarding. But from time to time, and more often for most of us, it is important to be our self and to be accepted, and not to be the source of distress and disappointment in the lives of people we love. The Role Of Counseling and Therapy Counseling and therapy can help a couple understand and appreciate each other, and even benefit from their differences. Understanding these differences intellectually is not enough. A counselor or therapist can help point out these differences, as they surface, and guide a couple to a greater level of relationship. Understanding that differences are not intentional and that misunderstandings are merely the result of expectations that are not realistic can make a huge difference in a relationship. The differences that can be sensed between a man and women can deepen their relationship. More importantly, when men seek to understand and appreciate that which is feminine, they come to a deeper understanding of their self. And when a women seeks to understand that which is masculine in men, they come to appreciate and understand more about their own masculinity. THE SOCIAL ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN In all societies the obvious biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for forcing them into different social roles which limit and shape their attitudes and behavior. That is to say, no society is content with the natural difference of sex, but each insists on adding to it a cultural difference of gender. The simple physical facts therefore always become associated with complex psychological qualities. It is not enough for a man to be male; he also has to appear masculine. A woman, in addition to being female, must also be feminine. However, once the contrast between men and women has been increased and accentuated in this fashion, it is usually taken as a further manifestation of biological differences which confirm the need for different social roles. Or, to put it another way, sex differences are used to create gender differences which are then explained as sex differences which, in turn, require gender differences, and so on. This may be no more than circular reasoning, but it is socially very effective. For example, in our own patriarchal society males enjoy a socially dominant position. Thus, from an early age, boys are helped to acquire a masculinity that allows them to assume and maintain that position. By the same token, girls are taught to cultivate a submissive femininity. The resulting difference in the male and female character is then described as inborn and used to defend the existing power arrangement. Only those who accept it are normal, and only they can expect to succeed. The male social role is designed to reward masculine men, while the female social role offers its relative advantages only to feminine women. (The aggressive man will run the bigger business; the pretty, agreeable woman will find the richer husband.) In other words, masculinity and femininity are gender qualities which are developed in response to social discrimination. However, once they have been developed, they justify and cement it. The masculine and feminine gender roles mutually reinforce each other and thereby perpetuate the inequality on which they are based. Obviously, this psychological mechanism can operate only as long as the behavior of men and women does not transgress the generally accepted limits. Every society tries therefore to prevent such transgressions by calling the socially defined gender roles natural, eternal, and unchangeable. Any person who refuses to accept them is persecuted as a deviant and punished as an offender not only against society, but against nature itself. An hist orical example of such deviance is the case of Joan of Arc who, as a young girl, not only led the French army to victory over the English, but also wore male clothing. In her later trial she was promptly accused of having thus violated the laws of nature. Over the centuries, many people have, of course, wondered why allegedly natural roles should need such rigorous social enforcement. After all, if they were truly natural, they would come naturally to both men and women. However, it is noteworthy that the advocates of the so-called natural inequality of the sexes resent nothing more than letting nature take its course. Yet, if their arguments were true, there would be no need to deny women equal opportunities, since they would be unable to compete with men. If women were naturally inferior, men would have nothing to fear. Therefore, the fact that many men do fear such competition raises sufficient doubt as to the validity of their claim. The truth is that human desires and capacities have a tendency to go beyond the narrow limits of our traditional gender roles. Indeed, it takes a constant combined effort by all social authorities to keep this tendency under control. Such social control appears not only externally, in the form of parental guidance, peer-group pressure, and law enforcement, but also internally in the form of concepts and values which determine the self-image of every individual, and it is in the individual mind where the confusion of sex and gender can create the most serious problems. For instance, men and women who feel that they do not fit the masculine and feminine stereotypes, or who resent them as too restrictive, may also develop ambiguous feelings about their biological sex. They may begin to wish for different bodies which would allow them to play a role more to their liking. Or, to take another example, since men have been told that women are socially and sexually passive, they are usually gravely disturbed by encountering a woman who is socially aggressive and who takes the initiative in sexual intercourse. Confronted with this lack of femininity in a woman, a man may feel tempted to dispute her womanhood. If this contention does not hold up in face of the evidence, he may instead begin to doubt his own masculinity and become sexually dysfunctional. Conversely, a handsome, gentle, and passive male may invite ridicule and may be denounced as a pervert or queer. Real women may regard him as less than a real man and therefore reject him as a sexual partner. However, the confusion goes still further. The notion that in every sexual encounter there has to be one active (masculine) and one passive (feminine) partner is so persistent that it not only ruins many heterosexual relationships, but also influences the behavior of certain homosexuals who feel compelled to model themselves after these stereotypes. By doing so, they give support to the curious belief that even in sexual relationships between members of the same sex, there always has to be one to play the man, while the other must assume the role of the woman. There is, in fact a general impression that every homosexual couple (whether male or female) consists of one active, masculine and one passive, feminine partner. People who hold this belief are, of course, at a total loss to explain phenomena like the famous homosexual elite troops of ancient Greece, which consisted entirely of male lovers. All of these views are based on a wrong conclusion drawn from a false assumption. The false assumption states that women are naturally passive, while men are naturally active. The wrong conclusion asserts that every passive person is playing a feminine role and that every active person is playing a masculine role. However, in actual fact neither sex nor gender need be characterized in this fashion. After all, in some human societies the role assignment for men and women is the reverse of our own. In short, there is nothing natural or definite about our sexual stereotypes. By the same token, full human equality will not be achieved until it becomes conceivable to both sexes that active and passive attitudes can be appropriate for either of them, and that even two active or two passive partners can have a rewarding relationship. This does not mean that, in an ideal future, all human differences will disappear. Indeed, once the old stereotypes have been discarded, the differences between individuals within each sex are likely to increase. Furthermore, under conditions of social equality, these individuals may also happily continue to play different gender roles. There should be no need to point out that there is nothing wrong with gender differences as such. They can greatly enrich our lives, as long as we understand that, in human beings, different does not have to mean superior or inferior. In other words, those who demand equal rights for men and women are not asking for drab uniformity, but for a social climate in which variety can flourish without being exploited. The following pages first elaborate further on the basic concepts of sex and gender and then offer a brief discussion of the different moral standards for men and women. Male Logic and Womens Intuition The split in our thinking between masculine and feminine is probably as old as language itself. Human beings seem to have a natural tendency to divide things into pairs: good/bad, light/dark, subject/object and so on. It is not surprising, then, that the male/female or masculine/feminine dichotomy is used to classify things other than men and women. Many languages actually classify all nouns as masculine or feminine (although not very consistently: for example, the Spanish masculine noun pollo means hen, while the feminine polla is slang for penis). This is perfectly natural; it is part of the way categorisation works in language. This does not, however, mean that it is right. It is probably unimportant whether a table or a chair is thought of as masculine or feminine. It may not even be very important these days whether we think of the sun as male and the moon as female (like the ancient Greeks) or vice versa (like most of the German tribes). However, when we start associating abstr act concepts like Reason or Nature with men and women, we run into serious difficulties. The association of Reason with men and Nature with women is well-known, and has been widely criticised. Aristotle defined Man as a rational animal, and by that he really meant men, not human beings. Unlike Plato, he saw women as less able to reason, hence less human and more animal. In Europe, well into the twentieth century, women were generally seen as somehow intellectually deficient. An English woman recently became Oxfords oldest graduate because although she had completed her degree course in the 1920s, at that time the university did not award degrees to female students. Presumably it would have decreased the status of the university to award degrees to an intellectually inferior sex! Nearly all societies, from hunting and gathering tribes to post-industrial nations, offer some kind of compensation to those who lose out in the status game. For example, among the practically matriarchal Zuni Indians of New Mexico, the economically powerless men were credited with the ability to make rain. Black slaves in the American South were thought to be naturally stronger (which they generally were), better at music and dancing (which they may have been) and more cheerful (highly unlikely for slaves, but a good justification for treating them badly). In the same way, women are compensated for their supposed inability to think rationally by a mysterious womens intuition. Attempts were made to justify this in biological terms; women were seen as naturally more emotional and/or in touch with Nature because of their strange biology (menstruation, hormones, vapours or whatever). This was about as scientific as the Zuni Indians theory that men could make rain. Men and women are, of course, biologically different. There are even significant differences in male and female brains; women, for example, have a thicker corpus callosum (the thing that connects the two halves of the brain). However, it is a giant leap from observing that there are neurological differences between the sexes to assuming that these differences correspond to the classic Reason/Nature or logic/emotion dichotomies. In fact, some of these differences may even indicate the opposite. The left hemisphere of the brain generally deals with linear processing, as found in language and some types of mathematics, and this hemisphere develops faster in girls than in boys. The old 11 plus test of verbal reasoning used in British schools was actually adjusted to bring boys scores up to the level of girls! Whatever the case, it is a mistake to look at peoples brains and then decide that they must think in a certain way; it would be far better to try and find out how people actually th ink, and then to see if this corresponds to brain structure. When we talk about the way men and women think, we are actually dealing with not one, but at least three separate things: how men and women usually think, how men and women can think, and how we think men and women think. Usually when we think we are looking at the first or second subjects, we are actually only describing the third. Since our main guide to how people think is their language, the fact that in most cultures men and women talk in different ways, and about different things, may lead us to false conclusions about the way they think in general. Womens conversation tends to emphasise feelings more, which may also mean that they think about feelings more. It does not, however, mean that woman are more emotional. It is perfectly possible that men are just as emotional, but for social reasons they talk (and think) about their feelings less. Similarly, the fact that in most cultures men argue more about abstract things does not mean that men are naturally more logical, it just means that the things men prefer to talk about require logical argument more than they require expression of feelings. Obviously the more you argue, the better you get at it, hence the prejudice that men are somehow biologically more logical. This would be like assuming that I am biologically better at speaking English (my first language) than Turkish (my second). Problems also arise with the actual words we use: logic, reason, intuition and emotion. Logic is simply a set of principles for getting from something we already knew, to something we didnt. If we know that all cows eat grass, and we know that Daisy is a cow, we can use very simple logic to say that Daisy eats grass, even if we have never seen her eat anything. The more complex logic that we use in constructing philosophical arguments or designing computers is really only doing the same kind of thing. The word rational is a little more problematic, since it involves an assessment of aims and actions. If our aims are consistent with each other and our actions achieve our aims, then we can fairly say that we are behaving rationally. If we act in a way that prevents us from realising our aims, then we are behaving irrationally, or in other words, stupidly. For example, if I know that I will have a better relationship with my wife if I dont shout at her, but I still shout at her because I am in a bad mood, my problem is not that I am being emotional, it is that I am being stupid. The opposite of rational is not, then, emotional but irrational. If we set up a pair of opposites, rational/emotional, we are likely to make the assumption that women are more emotional and therefore irrational, which is a polite way of saying that women are stupid. While having strong emotions can sometimes interfere with your thought processes, this is not automatically the case. For example, I often get quite excited when I am working on a new theory or project, but this usually makes my thinking better, not worse. Strong negative emotions such as rage, jealousy or depression are usually the result of irrational thinking as much as a cause of it, and men are just as vulnerable to this type of stupidity as women. Intuition is an even trickier concept. We usually say that we arrive at an idea or solution to a problem intuitively when we know something without knowing how we came to know it. A scientist may arrive at a new theory because the idea just pops into his or her head, or even turns up in a dream. You may get an intuitive feeling that a person is dishonest without actually having heard them say something you know to be untrue. In both these cases, what seems to be happening is that the mind stores and sorts information unconsciously, providing us only with the end result of this process. There is no guarantee, of course, that this conclusion will be true; a scientist would still have to perform experiments to prove their intuitive theory, and you would probably want some hard evidence to prove that the person you feel is dishonest really does tell lies. There is therefore nothing particularly strange or mystical about intuition; it is something we do all the time. Why, then, do we talk about womens intuition, as though men never arrive at a conclusion without consciously following all the stages that were necessary to reach it? Again, the answer is probably linguistic. As we have seen, traditionally womens conversation is less formal, less argumentative, and more concerned with feelings than mens conversation. Intuitive conclusions are therefore more acceptable in an all-female group. Men, on the other hand, are expected to argue more, and to argue more logically, presenting evidence in a systematic way to back up their conclusions. It is less socially acceptable in an all-male conversation (or a conversation where the men are doing most of the talking) to say Well guys, I dont know why, but I just get this kind of feeling that e=mc2. We can see, then, that these pairs of opposites, logic/intuition and rational/emotional, are not only false, but also damaging, particularly to women. It therefore surprising that some feminists actually support a version of this patriarchal nonsense. Particularly at the more spiritual end of the Radical Feminist community, there is a tendency to glorify womens intuition and closeness to Nature, and to avoid logic as somehow male, as though it were a psychological problem resulting from too much testosterone. The fact that men often use logic, or at least logical-sounding arguments, to put women in their place is not a fault of logic, it is the fault of those mens sexism and lack of social skills. More innocently, men are often accused of being too cold and logical, not because there is anything wrong with their ideas, but because they do not understand the unspoken rules of female conversation, in the same way that women are often accused of being illogical or emotional because they do not argue using the same language as men. If women reject logic and rely solely on feelings, they are left in the weak position of having to argue with feelings. Feeling that something is true does not make it true, and it will not convince anyone else that it is true either. You can say, I feel X, but the person you are arguing with can just as well reply, Well I dont. The result is that the argument usually goes nowhere. This is particularly damaging in arguments between men and women, since both sides are likely to go away with their prejudices strengthened; the men think women are subjective, emotional and illogical, and the women think men are impersonal, cold and over-intellectual. To justify their feelings of hurt at being beaten in an argument, the women concerned may go further and dismiss the whole thing as male logic, as though there were two types of logic, on for men and anoth

Video Game Violence Essay -- Legal Issues, Violent Video Games

â€Å"Video Game Violence Does Not Cause Violent Tendencies† An In-Depth Look at Video Game Violence and its Positives Effects â€Å"On Tuesday, November 2, while the rest of the country was voting, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the landmark case in which the state of California is petitioning for the re-instatement of a California law banning the sale of deviant or morbid violent video games to minors† (Macris). This case is a current example of the opponents of video games trying to prove video games are a bad influence on children and teenagers. Violent video game opponents have always tried to disprove the positive effects of video games. They also have been known to make up and mislead with tales of terrible side effects. This essay will prove to the reader that many of these various statements against video games and their creators are false. Contrary to opposition arguments, video games actually present benefits to gamers by reducing stress, providing entertainment, and helping to develop motivation that could not otherwise be achieved through conventional means. This essay will attempt to prove, that statements made regarding the inappropriateness of video games are untrue. The advantage of playing video games can be proven in their ability to enhance learning, hand-eye coordination, and this in turn can enable children and teenagers to do better in school. Violent video games can help overcome anxiety by providing entertainment without leaving the house, taking everyday stresses out on the characters in the game instead of real life, takes the adolescent’s minds off worries and stress of the outside world, and encourages children to stay out of trouble. Video games c... ... methodologies and the intrusion of ideology and scientific dogma† (Ferguson 11). Violent Video Games do not cause increased violent tendencies in youth and adolescents due to the fact violent video games have been around for years and in those years violence caused by teens have actually been dropping rather than increasing. Also, violent video games have been shown through research that the negatives are highly outweighed by the positives. Also, with the introduction of interactive gaming there are a new range of possibilities for violent video games. Such as sending a message to children about healthy activities by getting them off of the couch. So hopefully in five years violent video games will have moved to full interactive gaming so that it looks more real-life, but more importantly that it will still be a form of media that helps to relive personal stress. Video Game Violence Essay -- Legal Issues, Violent Video Games â€Å"Video Game Violence Does Not Cause Violent Tendencies† An In-Depth Look at Video Game Violence and its Positives Effects â€Å"On Tuesday, November 2, while the rest of the country was voting, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the landmark case in which the state of California is petitioning for the re-instatement of a California law banning the sale of deviant or morbid violent video games to minors† (Macris). This case is a current example of the opponents of video games trying to prove video games are a bad influence on children and teenagers. Violent video game opponents have always tried to disprove the positive effects of video games. They also have been known to make up and mislead with tales of terrible side effects. This essay will prove to the reader that many of these various statements against video games and their creators are false. Contrary to opposition arguments, video games actually present benefits to gamers by reducing stress, providing entertainment, and helping to develop motivation that could not otherwise be achieved through conventional means. This essay will attempt to prove, that statements made regarding the inappropriateness of video games are untrue. The advantage of playing video games can be proven in their ability to enhance learning, hand-eye coordination, and this in turn can enable children and teenagers to do better in school. Violent video games can help overcome anxiety by providing entertainment without leaving the house, taking everyday stresses out on the characters in the game instead of real life, takes the adolescent’s minds off worries and stress of the outside world, and encourages children to stay out of trouble. Video games c... ... methodologies and the intrusion of ideology and scientific dogma† (Ferguson 11). Violent Video Games do not cause increased violent tendencies in youth and adolescents due to the fact violent video games have been around for years and in those years violence caused by teens have actually been dropping rather than increasing. Also, violent video games have been shown through research that the negatives are highly outweighed by the positives. Also, with the introduction of interactive gaming there are a new range of possibilities for violent video games. Such as sending a message to children about healthy activities by getting them off of the couch. So hopefully in five years violent video games will have moved to full interactive gaming so that it looks more real-life, but more importantly that it will still be a form of media that helps to relive personal stress.

Willa Cathers Death Comes for the Archbishop :: Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop: Novel and Narrative I found these definitions at an online guide to free online dictionaries: Main Entry: nar ·ra ·tive Pronunciation: 'nar-&-tiv Function: noun Date: 1566 1 : something that is narrated : STORY 2 : the art or practice of narration 3 : the representation in art of an event or story; also : an example of such a representation - narrative adjective - nar ·ra ·tive ·ly adverb Main Entry: novel Function: noun Etymology: Italian novella Date: 1639 1 : an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events 2 : the literary genre consisting of novels - nov ·el ·is ·tic /"nà ¤-v&-'lis-tik/ adjective - nov ·el ·is ·ti ·cal ·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb Main Entry: nov ·el Pronunciation: 'nà ¤-v&l Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, new, from Latin novellus, from diminutive of novus new -- more at NEW Date: 15th century 1 : new and not resembling something formerly known or used 2 : original or striking especially in conception or style <a novel scheme to collect money> I think that one of the hardest problems in distinguishing novel from narrative in DCA is, first of all, distinguishing between the terms "novel" and "narrative" themselves. A narrative seems to be, well, something that is told as a story, or at least being caught in the act of telling one of those stories. A novel seems to be, wait a minute, a narrative? What am I supposed to infer from that? Is this the sound of one hand clapping, Confucius laughing? Have I have been duped? As far as I can tell, all dictionary definitions and joking aside, Death Comes For the Archbishop is a solid mix of both prose and narrative, leaning a little heavier on the narrative side. Cather does explore her characters' humanity, following them and tugging the reader along from event to event, but we, the readers, only get the perspective of the fly on the wall at least, a shallow reading of the characters' feelings and emotions at best. We are never invited deep into the minds of her constructs as we are in most "novels." What Cather does do, though, is create an artistic rendering of the characters and the world that they live in. The reader can, with just a little imagination, see the heat shimmer off the desert, feel the sun beat down on them; they can create, from the general descriptions, characters of flesh and blood. The reader is given a series of snapshots, taken at different times, with nothing substantial to fill in the gapsthis separates it from the dictionary definition of the "novel" which follows, usually, a thicker chronology of the characters' lives.

Case: Circuit Board Fabricators, Inc.

Case: Circuit Board Fabricators, Inc. What type of process flow structure is CBF using? The company is using a batch shop process flow structure. CBF, Inc. bases its board fabrication process on the average job size or on its typical order. This means that the company proceeds with the manufacturing process in batches so as to meet the specific requirements per order. The typical contract that the company currently gets is 60 boards per order. However, due to persisting factory defects, they manufacture a total of 75 boards per batch in order to compensate for 20% of the boards that they typically reject during the process. Diagram the process in a manner similar to Exhibit 6. 7 We don’t have this Exhibit in our Handouts Analyze the capacity of the process The capacity of the flow process is at an imbalance. There is a significant amount of manual labor in this flow process in which human error must be taken into consideration. It appears that some of the stations may be run by an inefficient amount of operators. Lastly, with 6 employees on 6 machines for the final inspection, the end of the process should not take as long as it does. What is the impact of losses in the process in Inspection and Final Test? The impact of the losses in the system is quite extensive. It is stated that 15% of the board are typically rejected during an early processing inspection along with an additional 5% rejected during the final testing. This results in a production order increase of 25%. Ultimately, the first inspection should not be a bottleneck of this process and there should not be any rejected boards in the final inspection.