How Successfully Did the Liberals Handle the Constitutional Crisis?

How successfully did the liberals handle the constitutional crisis in 1901 – 1911? In 1909 Lloyd George was the Chancellor, he was in charge of the countries money and how they spend it and how much they tax the public. He needed to increase the budget some how to pay for battle ships because England was in a arms race with Germany. When taxing the people he only wanted to increase the tax for the rich, he did not see it would be fair to increase the taxes for the already poor and those struggling to pay the tax already; however he came across a problem.The House of Lords had been the most powerful part of parliament, they had the power to block any bills and laws coming form the House of Commons. They had recently blocked the Education Act. This had been tradition for the past 200 years allowing them to dismiss any bill, this was incredibly bias though, most bills were passed to benefit the poor and to charge the rich. This bill would easily pass the Commons but not the Lords , Asquith’s solution was to ask King Edward VII (who had the highest power in the country) to create peers.In doing this the Liberals would be able to out vote the Conservative lords. The King agreed to this but he suddenly died in May 1910. This presented the Liberals with another step to over come. The next to the air was George V; his ambition was to get two parties to come to some kind of agreement without resorting to making new peers. A constitutional conference was held between June and November. The Conservatives offered to reform the composition of lords, but the liberals were determined to reduce the power of the constitution.The Conservatives also tried insisted the lords should have the power to veto any change in the constitution, enabling them to block the home rule for Ireland. Asquith was under strong pressure from the Irish to reject the Conservatives’ proposal. George V finally agreed he would create enough new peers to pass the parliament bill as lon g as the Liberal’s one a general election fought on this issue held in December. The Election left the Liberals and Conservatives with exactly the same number of seats, 272 each.However because the Liberals had a strong backing from Labour, who had 47 seats, and from the Irish Nationalists, who had 84 seats, the Liberals were able to rely on a working majority and would remain in government. This parliament act helped make the British constitution more democratic. They stopped the lord’s form controlling parliament and what happened to the country. For this reason alone I believe the Liberals were successful with the constitution crisis, however they would have not been able to do it alone, without the help of Labour and the Irish Nationalists the conservatives would have been in power.

The Design of Microsoft® Support Network 1.0

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation: The Design of Microsoft ® Support Network 1. 0 1. What factors suggest that Microsoft's PSS Division needs a more comprehensive and flexible approach for its service offerings? Admittedly, Microsoft's support services were not as good as those offered by some competitors. Several factors contributed to the nondescript nature of Microsoft services. Previous support service policy had been determined at the product level. Annually, each product manager negotiated with PSS over the type, extent, and pricing of services to be offered to customers along with their products. Because Microsoft had 150 products, the result was a hodgepodge of service offerings. Some products had no support services, some offered unlimited â€Å"free† service that was accessed by phone via a â€Å"toll† number, and still others provided extensive telephone service â€Å"for fee†. For customers, particularly those that owned and used several Microsoft products, the service offerings were confusing because it was difficult to know which service came with which product. Moreover, expert users felt that they were paying for services they didn't need on basic applications. At the same time, they could not get sophisticated support services on some of Microsoft's newly introduced line of highly technical advanced systems, even if they were willing to pay extra. 2. Based upon the guidelines that senior management has provided to Trish May, what product support strategy has Microsoft envisioned? Before the PSS task force started its work in December 1992, Patty Stonesifer, Trish May, and key team members, along with the input of Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Mike Maples, devised a set of goals that were to guide efforts and serve as the basis for all technical support programs. These included: †¢Microsoft technical support services should reinforce and enhance the high quality of Microsoft products. Bill Gates insisted on this goal. He maintained that Microsoft needed to deliver a comprehensive offering to the marketplace that was comprised of both high quality products and support services. Gates was willing to invest significant resources into technical support services to improve their overall quality and customer perceptions of them. †¢Choice, Quality, and Simplicity should characterize all technical support programs. Based upon several market research studies and experience, the task force concluded that customer satisfaction would be sustained by delivering technical support that met customer needs in three ways. First, support programs should offer customers a choice. Those who â€Å"did not want to pay for support they didn't need† should be able to buy software alone, at a price that did not include service costs. At the same time, customers that â€Å"wanted more support and were willing to pay extra for it† could also do so. Second, all technical support provided by Microsoft should meet or exceed industry standards for quality. Third, all technical support programs should be marked by simplicity; that is, customers should have little difficulty understanding Microsoft's offering and how it applied specifically to their needs. †¢Technical support services should be a â€Å"cost center† for the Microsoft Corporation. On this point, there was uniform agreement in the company. As managers saw it, Microsoft's â€Å"core competence† was its technology. Though important, technical support services were not seen as a potential source of corporate profits. Instead, Microsoft was prepared to invest in them in the short run, with the eventual goal of breaking even. †¢The Microsoft Corporation should be the technical service provider of â€Å"last resort†. Microsoft managers took progressive steps to leverage the work of PSS engineers. First, the development group engaged in continuous efforts to make all software as â€Å"user-friendly† as possible. Resulting reductions in user problems would lower demand for service. Second, managers initiated special efforts to give customers tools and information, so that they could resolve as many problems themselves as possible. Third, the firm would inform customers about and encourage them to use third party service providers (e. g. , VARs, dealers, ISVs) in their communities and industries. Finally, if the first three methods proved ineffective, then managers would actively directed customers to PSS personnel. 3. How should the Microsoft Support Network 1. 0 matrix be structured in terms of rows and columns? Early on in their analyses, the task force hit upon the idea of using a matrix to summarize the various service offerings. Members referred to it as the Microsoft Support Network 1. 0. The rows of the matrix would consist of major service groupings, while the columns would capture the differences in those services across product or customer segment categories. In turn, each element in the matrix would describe a specific service offering and include a fee structure. To avoid customer confusion, the group concluded that 4 rows and 4 columns should be the largest size of the matrix; however, no research had been done to confirm this. Although the concept of a service-offering matrix received enthusiastic and universal approval among Microsoft managers, there was widespread disagreement over the make-up of the rows, columns, and elements. Trish noted that the matrix could be constructed in several ways. Each had distinct advantages. 4. What implementation problems should PSS managers anticipate? How can PSS managers successfully overcome them? Main problem – to offer some free services for its software and if yes which ones. Such services should be implemented and delivered to customers, some for free and some for a little fee. Also there exist many different competitors who offer rivalry products for the better terms. For example Adobe gives its customers some cards on which they get bonus points and then have the opportunity to exchange them for the service delivered. Company also has a problem with communication and making its customer to understand what they are selling. There are cases when customers did not clearly understand what they are paying for or what problems will this software solve for them. Management first of all should allocate priorities, based on the overall corporate goal of the company. As far as I can see from the case company management clearly understands that they need something to change, they know that this something is the new support system more frequently working one. Also hey know that this would need investment and are ready to pay for it, because the most important they understand that without that system harmonic development of the company would be almost impossible. So as I think Microsoft first should listen to heir customers understand their needs clearly and deliver the value that way, cause without clear understanding what your customer wants good, workable strategy will be impossible to implement. And the last one Microsoft should understand that they do not need complicated software with many gadgets and etc. neither they are the experts (all of them) in the field of IT, so the one thing they want in easier solving of problem. If Microsoft will manage to this by better communication, more user friendly programs etc. it does not matter for the customer. Customer need problem solving not the exact product.

Diganostic Radiography Image Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Diganostic Radiography Image Evaluation - Essay Example plate, a good quality image would need to fulfill certain physical criteria for an accurate diagnostic yield, although some parts of it are contributed to by technical soundness of the process of imaging and some are contributed to by the factors essentially related to the patient. Whatever may be the reason, a poor image quality compromises the diagnostic yield, and in some cases, a reading or a diagnosis is not possible, where the radiographic plate needs to be rejected, and re-examination is mandated (Beutel et al., 2000). In this assignment, an evaluatory report of a radiographic image will be presented with a critical discussion about the reasons for it being discarded and a re-examination being recommended. While evaluating an image, it must be borne in mind that evaluation of image is dependent on human vision as related to the examiner. Since radiographic images are essentially black and white, it is to be considered that ideal white light has flat spectrum in which all wavelengths of lights are present. In practice white light sources approximates this property. The light which has no colour or is achromatic such as in radiographic plates has only one descriptor, which is its brightness or grey value. This light has a saturation of 0% and it contains only white light. However, when the saturation varies, it becomes difficult to differentiate between two adjacent differing shades of gray which are considered to be mixtures of varying blacks and whites. Therefore, it is also to be noted that equal distances in physical intensity are not perceived as equal distances in brightness. This occurs due to the fact that intensity levels are dynamic and hence must be measured and indicated log arithmically. Intensity levels must be spaced logarithmically rather than linearly to accomplish equal steps in perceived brightness (Dougeni et al., 2007). The most important parameter of an image is its resolution. The perceived resolution is also determined by the imaging

Apply structural andinstitutional explanationsof the behaviorof Essay

Apply structural andinstitutional explanationsof the behaviorof AustriaHungary until 1914 - Essay Example Austria was a quasi-independent state in the Middle Ages within the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburgs inherited the crown of Hungary with part of the Kingdom preserved from the Ottomans. The Ottomans were driven out of Hungary in 1669. Austria and Hungary were a personal union from1526 to 1848 under the Habsburgs (Fromkin, pp.11-16). Taking into consideration the status of the Hungarian Kingdom before the revolution, it can be seen that the kingdom was formally part of the Empire of Austria. Based on the Article of the year nineteen seventy, it was stipulated that the regnum independence with a separate Monarchy. The Empire of Austria had never lawfully included the Kingdom of Hungary. The policy was consistent with both public and constitutional law as discussed. The government of the Hungary Kingdom could be in a position of preserving a separate and independent budget since the begging of the personal union from 1527.The Hungarian budget was after the revolution of 1848 to 1849. The budget was independent too. Despite all these, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its customs borders. The borders separated the Hungarian Kingdom from the other parts of the Habsburg ruled territories. The union had made a consent/agreement customs union between the Austrian and Hungarian where they were to negotiate in every ten years. The contracts were also renewed and signed by Budapest and Vienna at the end of every ten years since both countries hoped to get mutual economic benefit from their relationship (Fromkin, pp.11-16). Austria-Hungary also declared war on Serbia on July twenty-eight in the year 1914. Austria-Hungary made a step further to mobilize for plan B against Belgrade. There was the need for the warring governments to defend and explain their decision, with the Germans publishing a first set of diplomatic papers in early August. The propaganda machinery of the government supported the decisions that

Marketing distribution management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Marketing distribution management - Essay Example Conversely, some consumers may not be willing or afford to pay the high price and therefore may purchase from a competitor. Microsoft Company utilizes value-added pricing strategy to sell its product in the market. In this perspective, the company determines the value of window operating system in determining the value to place on the product in the software market. The company sells the product at a high price because the product provides special, unique and valuable features not available in the market (Schindler  51). The strategy is the best for the company since it determines the cost of the product by what customers are willing to pay. On the other hand, the uniqueness and company’s brand name validate this pricing strategy. Traditionally, skimming and penetrating pricing approaches were used to determine the price of a new product in the market. Microsoft Company utilized the skimming pricing strategy in presenting the new window software in the market. The rationale behind this approach was to skim off the top of the market and therefore dominate (Schindler  96). On the other hand, penetrating pricing strategy involves introducing a new or innovative product at a low price in an attempt to gain a share of the

What dominates the relationship between the Mideast and the Western Essay

What dominates the relationship between the Mideast and the Western powers - Essay Example the worlds that are endowed with a lot of natural resources wealth, especially the oil deposits, which then make it one of the strategic sources of petroleum globally. In this respect, the resource question dominates the relationship between the Mideast and the Western powers, since despite the fact that the two ends of the world have major differences regarding the political, social and economic orientations, the Western powers must keep cooperating with the Middle East as a major source of raw material for their economy (Bew, n.p.). Thus, despite the fact that there is a high degree of violation of the human rights and other democratic principles that are held in high esteem by the Western powers, they still find it necessary to keep a cordial relationship with the Middle East, for the sake of continued benefit from the oil resource. It is even difficult to imagine what would happen should the Middle East severe its relationship with the West, since there would be a dire shortage o f the oil resource to the West, which is a major driving force for the Western powers’ economies. Market is yet another major factor that dominates the relationship between the Mideast and the Western powers. The Middle East offers a huge market for the Western Powers products on top of producing essential raw materials for those economies, such that trade with the Middle East is a fundamental determinant of the Western Powers dominance in global economy (Hourani, 45). During the World War II, the USA stationed its troops in Iran so that the troops would protect the Iranian oil deposits from being exploited for the advantage of the USSR (Fawcett, 102). Since then, the interest in the Middle East oil resource has informed the relationship between the western powers and the Middle East. In this respect, the Western powers have formulated their foreign policies such that they still reflect a cordial relationship with the Middle East, even when the middle East countries are advancing

Police Ethical Conduct Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Police Ethical Conduct - Research Paper Example The ethical codes of conduct of the police or the law enforcement officers have a significant role to play in the work of the police. One of the primary reasons requiring such ethical code is that the public, in general, would not accept a police department that is corrupted. The concept of ethics in this regard is associated with corruption, failure to act, gifts, and gratuities. In the recent times, in several countries including the United States, the corruption levels of the police officers have increased to great extents. Such corruption examples include officers not acting on criminal activities, acceptance of bribes, providing information that may put at risk an enquiry to issues or suspects of the investigation, involvement in the mission of a crime, making complaints that are fake and initiating actions by the court, failure to bear witness precisely, and forgery of police reports or official declarations for search or arrest warrants (Stering, 2004, p.37). The need for ethi cal police conduct is essential since if one police officer gets corrupted, it has a significant effect on other officers as well. In general, the public has a belief that the police are involved in corrupt activities and that they try to protect each other in their personal interests. However, police officers have been found to be proud of their profession and they tend to have values for the integrity and respect that are associated with their work. Generally, they try to perform their activities professionally and without being involved in corruption, such involvements meaning exception (Stering, 2004, p.37). The present study thus focuses on the ethical codes of conduct of the police officers also discussing the causes behind officers undertaking unethical decisions. Police Ethical Code of Conduct: The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics was in the beginning considered as an oath of a police officer rather than as an established code of ethics. However, there was an aspiration of hav ing an oath of office that could be used for graduation ceremonies. This desire led to the creation of a separate code of ethics and conduct for the law enforcement officers and the police.

Wheelchair Propulsion Forces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wheelchair Propulsion Forces - Essay Example Consequently, the Smart Wheel users group identified four parameters generated by use of a smart wheel that would be the most clinically relevant when attempting to improve preserve upper limb function. Smart Wheel is a measurement devices that attaches to a variety of wheelchairs, used in the clinical setting to measure parameters involved in movement of the wheelchair. These four parameters are: velocity, push force, push frequency and stroke length. It is these four parameters that will be analysed as part of this study. Wheelchair velocity can be best described as the speed in metres per second that the wheelchair will travel. â€Å"A velocity of 1.06 m/s represents the average minimum velocity needed to safely cross an intersection† (Hoxie RE 1994, as cited in Cowan 2008). This was chosen as a guide for this study for the purpose of discussion. They found that â€Å"velocity ranged from 0.8 to 1.6 m/s for propulsion on a level surface.† Newsam (1996) also conducted a study looking at the effects of terrain on propulsion. The research found that â€Å"when wheeling over carpet, the velocity of propulsion was reduced to 78% of normal walking velocity.† It also found that individuals with cervical lesions had an even slower velocity, suggesting that users with higher lesions must work near or at their maximum capability for basic community functions. In reference to wheel position and its affect on velocity little research is available. In a study by Walsh (1986) the relationship between seat position and linear velocity in wheelchair sprinting was investigated. Testing was conducted with nine male subjects with various physical disabilities, pushing at maximum speeds on an Ergometer. The results revealed no significant differences between the maximal linear velocities at each of the nine seat positions chosen for investigation. These findings

The role of a school leader during an era of high stakes accountability Essay Example for Free

The role of a school leader during an era of high stakes accountability Essay No doubt, the definition of the role of a school leader is has over generated debate amongst educationalist in America. This has left principals with the same questions. What is expected of them from the parents, students and their teachers? In this era of result oriented age, visionary leadership is an undisputed ingredient in the effective running of any organization especially a educational establishment like the school. This is why the governments have demonstrated interest in the development of programs, trainings and empowerment seminars for educators. The significant roles played by these set of people in the development of the nation can be left alone in their hands because they are producing the leaders of tomorrow that will develop the nation. This is why high quality and qualitative pedigree is required in handling of schools and educational organizations. The person of a school leader must understand that leadership is not about the title but the responsibility and the achievement of their objectives. The failure of any ward has been linked to the leadership and leader of the school. Parents do not ask themselves the same questions but they demand answers from their child’s school leader. This signify the enormous task attached to the position of the school leader as a failure on his /her path will lead to the poor quality of the academic results which further leads to withdrawal of wards by parents and without mincing words it will lead to the closure of the school. On the other side of it, even in business leadership error leads to the collapse of such company while effective leadership will generate improvement of the company. An example is former Ceo, of GE, Jack Welch. The world is moving fast and responsibility are been shifted the to the leaders whom they believe should not fail in discharging their responsibility for effectiveness. One of the important roles of the leader in this era of high accountability is effective communication. The ability of the principal to communicate between the important personalities will increase his/her chances of productivity as a break down of communication will lead to the collapse of the school.   The leadership style employed will hence the accountability simply because it will be a transparent administration. This will give room for broad base participation in the administration. Without this the role of creating effectiveness will be grounded as leadership is all about influence and not the post you hold. Intellectual stimulation has an important role of principal during this period as they are to encourage and work on the intellectual development of their students whose parents will be busy and have no time for them at home. Performance expectation and achieving the expectation have won the heart of parents, educators and even the government as tends to put smiles on the faces of their parents. Every average American parent has less than 5 hours for their children making their educational success in the hands of their teachers in school. No doubt the role of school leaders are constantly changing as they are also to serve in the capacity of parents, advisors and counselors to their students who may have difficulty in their studies or emotional issues that are afraid to discuss with their parent at home. In America today, life has changed and school leaders have gradually taken the important role of foster parent to their students towards productivity as they are the only person to be held responsible for whatsoever happens to organization. In conclusion, leaders are men who are always held responsible for whatsoever happens to their organizations either good or bad. This is the reason why they accountable for every single that happens within their school. Some leaders have suffered as a result of this while others have been praised. Reference: Mulford Bill. Changing roles and impact on school effectiveness. oecd.org Linda lambath.   Leadership at all schools nsdc.org webpage By Larry Lashway.   Role of the School Leader Revised July 2003. College of Education University of Oregon. Colin Powell. The art of leadership Michael Fullan. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership

Analysis of Decline and Rise of Various Business Activities in the U.K. Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Decline and Rise of Various Business Activities in the U.K. Essay In this task, I will need to decide what the core activity is in each of my two businesses and whether they are dealing with products, services or both. In the UK some of these business activities are becoming more common and others are becoming less common. I will need to find out the broad trends for these business activities and how they affect the businesses that I am investigating. The legal status of Freelance Audio Productions is an equal partnership between Martin and Nikki Rider. The company was set up in 1986, but has only been trading as Freelance Audio Productions for four years. The company doesnt make a product, the service it provides is audio production based which includes performance arts, supplying of equipment and supplying of production services and facilities. FAP falls into the category of the Tertiary Sector. There are many departments that operate within FAP, but there are two departments that control most of Freelance Audio Productions. These are Stage sound and Showbiz. Stage Sound. FAP Stage Sound has been in operation for fourteen years but has only been working under Freelance Audio Productions for the last four years. FAP Stage Sound specialises in renting out sound equipment and educating young trainees. FAP Stage Sound is a continuously growing business which is also shown in the trend of the tertiary sector. Showbiz. FAP Showbiz controls all of the private singing and dancing lessons and the Pop School. FAP Pop School is the newest addition to Freelance Audio Productions. The main target of this is to educate people, mainly children, form the ages of two upwards in the field of music and dance. Girls and boys of all ages learn to sing and dance and put together routines. Shows are then put on as large events where many tickets are sold but little profit is made. Graph showing the Tertiary sector total. (See Appendix 1) FAP and connections with the sectors. Freelance Audio Productions works under the tertiary sector in the departments of other services and education. The Stage Sound aspect of FAP comes under other services, and the private lessons and Pop School comes under education. (See Appendix 2) Freelance Audio has no direct connections with any of the other sectors, but, the other departments in the Tertiary Sector play a large part in the success or failure of FAP. Martin Rider has a community web site on the Internet, and does a lot of theatrical work. As the Internet industry is doing very well at the moment, and FAP is hoping to spread all over the UK, communications help a lot to promote this business. The best way to promote the business locally is while shows are going on. The department leisure includes theatre and public events, and locally, FAP is involved with all theatrical work and most public events. Leisure is one of the fastest growing industries in the tertiary sector which gives an indication on how well FAP should be doing. (Appendix 4) FAP can be affected by the secondary sector. The only way that FAP is affected by any other sectors is the fluctuations in manufacturing of electrical goods in the secondary sector. This can cause problems when attempting to purchase specialised equipment for shows or upgrading the current range of products. Conclusion. Although currently small, Freelance Audio Productions is growing very fast as a result of the tertiary sector departments that it is part of. Over the next few years, new contacts with other businesses in the UK will be made, and maybe other sectors will come as a part of the company. The legal status of Lantra is a charitable limited company. Lantra is owned and run by a board of directors. If Lantra goes bust or bankrupt, each director has a liability of one pound. Lantra has a very complicated range of services. Most of the services is education, training and policy work for the government. Most of the work is in the land based sector, which is to do with farming, agriculture and environmental conservation. Lantra sets the standards that the GNVQs are set upon. The GNVQs for land based studies is set by Lantra. There are three operating Companies which work under the umbrella company, Lantra. These are called, Lantra Awards, Lantra National Training Organisation and Lantra Agenda. These are explained in depth in the following text. Lantra Awards. Lantra Awards is a new organisation within the Lantra. The aim of this company is to provide an innovative and responsive awarding service. Lantra Awards assesses trainees, and if the needed standards are met, appropriate awards are rewarded to them. The awards given are recognised by the government and can help acquire a job or an apprenticeship. Lantra Agenda. Lantra Agenda training specialises in management training and consultancy services and the co-ordination of work based training. Agenda courses range from increasing personal dynamics and communication effectiveness to waste management and include a range of health, safety and quality assurance courses. Below are some of the services that Lantra Agenda Provide. Although some are training, they are referred to as a product as they are sold to external agencies also. Management training and business consultancy Business development consultancy Benchmarking Management and supervisory training Train the trainer programmes Vocational Programmes National Traineeships Modern Apprenticeships (Skillseekers in Scotland) Approves centre for N/SVQs Assessment and certification in key skills, hazardous operations and safety training and management. Lantra National Training Organisation (Lantra NTO). Lantra NTO has a wide ranging selection of activities which spans from conducting labour market research to supporting local training providers. The key role of Lantra NOT is to link government and industry. There are eleven industry groups that work in Lantra NTO. These are: agricultural crops agricultural livestock production horticulture landscaping environmental conservation game conservation fish farming agricultural and garden machinery fencing floristry professions allied to veterinary science Graph showing the Tertiary sector total. (See Appendix 1) Lantra and connections with the sectors. Lantra is a peculiar organisation as it is based in not only the tertiary sector, but the primary sector also. Lantra is primarily based in the tertiary sector as it deals with training, education, and the selling of a product, retail. Previously, Lantra was a primary sector, land based organisation. As recent trends show, the primary sector is in rapid decline (Appendix 3) so the company had to think up a new idea to save the business. This is when selling training courses as a product and the company Lantra Awards came into play. These two ideas brought Lantra into the Tertiary sector which is an overall higher earning sector (Appendix 1). This would have both increased the companies value and broadened the types of customers. If the Primary sector decreases, Lantra will be injured as the company still relies mainly on the land based agricultural departments. If the need for more farms arrives, this would be perfect for the training aspect of Lantra as the business would rocket. Conclusion. Even though Lantra is in the primary sector, which is decreasing, the departments which are in the tertiary sector provide a safety net and a higher income. I think that Awards and Agenda will take over and NTO will slowly disappear as the need for agricultural based activities is in decline.

Development of Breast Cancer Campaign

Development of Breast Cancer Campaign Explain the rationale for the poster and evaluate approaches to communicating a health message. Kartsonaki Christini-Olga Communication in the Helath Care Context INTRODUCTION The main goal of many campaigns is to give priority on increasing early detection and probable prevention of a disease (Jacobsen Jacobsen, 2011). Patient postponement of asking for medical help after discovering symptoms is an important factor that leads to late stage diagnosis. Low cancer awareness (including knowledge about cancer symptoms, fear of cancer development, risk factors, treatment effectiveness or early detection results) is cultivating risk for patient delay (MacDonald et al, 2004). Campaigns that focus on public cancer awareness had been associated with progress in raising awareness and establishing early diagnosis of cancer, but the long-term benefits were dubious. Absence of evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions in an effort to promote cancer awareness is hindering development of policy and local action (Austoker et al., 2009). Knowledge of screening, screening uptake and self-checking behavior – for example breast checking (including breast s elf -examination) or testicular checking – may be considered to be important elements of cancer awareness. Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring type of cancer that imperils women in the Western world. It is estimated that today one out of nine women are affected by the disease. When it comes to age, the disease affects all age groups from 20 to 90 years. Chances a woman gets infected significantly increase with age, while the risk of developing the disease quadruples after menopause. Unfortunately, 25% of cases involve young women younger than 45 years (www.bcactionfund.org). One conjecture of the research findings in this paper is that well-established health campaigns may lead to positive results if they point to outcomes other than increased diagnoses. For example, intensifying fundraising options or enabling support groups for patients. Promoting early detection of chronic diseases that results in more effective, is associated with higher survival rates (Eyre, 2004) and inexpensive treatment at an early stage (Cohen, 2008), should be a significant public health field. CAMPAIGNS FOR BREAST CANCER Although efforts to increase awareness of breast cancer can be started about 1913, no ongoing organized efforts to increase breast cancer awareness existed until the mid-1970s, when a number of small advocacy groups began to publish information about treatment options and services (Lerner, 2002). The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), as event were established in October 1985 and is a high –profile nationwide campaign (Catalano, 2003). Its’s primary goal is to encourage regular breast examination so that disease can be diagnosed at an early stage. Moreover breast cancer funding continues to be a priority area for the federal government (Jacobsen Jacobsen, 2011). An increasing number of voluntary organizations, governmental agencies, and private corporations have sponsored various events like â€Å"wear pink† bracelet that show encouragement and support for those affected by breast cancer. Media coverage of breast cancer has increased markedly in rec ent years, and October months have received substantially more coverage than other months. Free or reduced cost mammograms have been offered to low-income and uninsured women (MMWR, 2005). Other campaigns include interventions as public education programmes to increase cancer awareness (Blumenthal et al, 2005; Skinner, Arfken Waterman, 2000). Educational programmes delivered in small groups increase breast cancer knowledge and screening uptake and promoting message dissemination to others in the social network . Multimedia programmes have been created to promote cancer knowledge and self-checking using posters, leaflets and shower gel in workplaces, health clubs and leisure centers (McCullagh, Lewis, Warlow 2005). Although mass media health communication strategies can effectively promote health education, and influence health awareness, decisions and practices (Haider Kreps, 2004), interpersonal communication channels are regarded as highly influential to persuade people to change health related behaviors (Yanovitzky Blitz, 2000).All the above trials were heterogeneous in terms of nature of intervention, populations and outcomes measured and therefore there are limited evidence of effectiveness of interventions to promote cancer awareness. There are good evidence that Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States promotes diagnosis of breast cancer at an early stage (Catalano et al, 2003; Gabram et al, 2008). POSTER- METHODS The poster communication channel consists of the main message that is summed up in the phrase â€Å"why should your life be hanging by a thread†, which is being projected and filtered through a mixed cognitive and affective message strategy. A cognitive message strategy is using reason to present arguments or facts to an audience that require cognitive processing. The main purpose of a cognitive message strategy is to create an advertisement that will have an impact on people’s beliefs or knowledge and suggest potential benefits. In the specific case of the breast cancer poster, the product is the examination and the benefit is prevention and reduction of the risk of cancer manifestation. The intention of this strategy is to present the audience with rational pieces of information about a product or service and then to motivate them to develop a positive feeling about that product (Clow Baack, 2007, p.201). In the poster the cognitive message strategy can be located within the risk information that is being presented with a ratio in relation to the number of women who develop cancer during their lifetime in Greece. We found some evidence that tailored print information was more effective than general information; tailored information increased average cancer knowledge scores by about 11% compared with no information and 4% compared with general information (De Nooijer, Lechner, Candel de Vries, 2004). Tailored print information modified attitudes towards paying attention to and seeking help for symptoms only very modestly compared with no information (de Nooijer et al, 2004). The second part of the poster method is the affective message strategy. This kind of approach attempts to evoke feelings or emotions and identify them with the product. Affective strategies are causing emotions that lead the audience to act favorably towards the presented good or service and subsequently affect their reasoning process (Clow Baack, 2007 p.203). The breast cancer poster is making an attempt to elicit powerful emotions and generate positive attitudes and decisions. People subjected to the message become more prone to choose examination and reduce that way the risk of being affected by cancer. The word â€Å"life† in the message is very powerful and demonstrates the positive side of affective message strategy. Emotional advertising is used here in combination with framing of risk strategy (negative frame). Switching from positive to negative feelings leads to the establishment of a more substantial emotional framework in which the audience feels compelled to make a decision. The emotion that is usually associated with risk is anxiety (Joffe, 2003). Anxiety, worry and fear are generally perceived as the intermediate goal of many risk communication efforts and in particular, public health communications (Lynch de Chernatony, 2004). Although the primary target is preventative behaviour, the feelings of anxiety, worry and fear are considered to be an essential part of the motivation initiation process. In the poster this is being presented with help of the visuals. A woman that has lost her breast makes people think about what they have to lose and re-evaluate their health priorities. The poster uses moderate fear to induce a certain amount of stress to the audience, because an existing anxie ty level can influence the effect of the message. High fear has been proven to be the least effective leading to blocking of information and inhibition of action. Moderate fear is the most effective (Mc Guire, 1968). In order to develop an effective communication framework, the poster features an unknown woman. A celebrity may be likeable or attractive, but he or she may not be viewed as trustworthy. Trustworthiness is the degree of confidence or the level of acceptance the audience places in the spokesperson’s message. A trustworthy spokesperson helps people believe the message. Likeability and trustworthiness are highly related and in that sense, anonymity eliminates the risk of failing to deliver the message due to a bad selection of a celebrity. At this point, use of the principle of similarity is being made. An ordinary every-day woman is someone people can relate to. The audience is more inclined to be influenced by a message delivered by a person who is somehow familiar. To take this even further, the appearance of an average person, helps overcoming the obstacle of optimistic bias. The optimism bias (also known as unrealistic or comparative optimism) is a cognitive bias that causes a person to believe that they are less at risk of experiencing a negative event compared to others. Taylor and Brown (Joffe, 2003) assert that 95% of the population exhibit unrealistic optimism in relation to a range of risks (Weinstein Klein 1996). A certain amount of flexibility in accommodating the needs of participating community is important for ensuring intervention integrity and can ultimately influence the effectiveness of the intervention. It is important to design and implement an advertising process that will help both researchers and communities understand each other’s perspectives, minimize the barriers of access to the specific service (examination) and ensure that the goals and priorities of both parties are met. In the poster this criteria is met in the informational piece about free examinations in Aretaiio Hospital (Westmaas, Gil-Rivas Silver, 2006). The poster is based on the Health Belief Model (HBM), which was developed in the 1950’s to predict individual response to, and utilization of, screening and other preventive health services. Accordingly, the response and utilization of disease prevention programs will be predicated on an individual’s perceived seriousness of the disease, severity of the disease, perceived benefit of services and barriers to accessing such service (Airhihenbuwa Obregon, 2000). In general the HBM is a rational-cognitive model and assumes a rational decision-maker. Most adolescents, and many adults, do not seem to approach the breast-cancer issue from such a logical perspective, but seem quite capable of discounting risks and optimistically perceiving themselves as invulnerable to harm. (Freimuth, 1992, p.101).The HBM which has been widely used to frame research studies related to the prediction of health-related behaviours in relation to health belief patterns, was selected as the frame of reference for the current study of Greek women’s breast cancer screening behaviours (Becker, 1974). Women’s self-reported breast cancer knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of support, and the components of the HBM (perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, cues to action, self-efficacy) were explored in this campaign (Sadler et al., 2007). The poster will be located on apartment billboards, n clinic waiting rooms, on pharmacy walls to maintain visual consistency (Clow Baack, 2007). Repeatedly seeing a specific image or visual display helps embed it in long-term memory. The final principle is to create an effective flow Except for the above poster, leaflets will be distributed at street events and the direct communication will be used due direct mailing to promote breast cancer screening, street promotion, outbound calls to women who signed application forms at the street promotions, small group educational sessions (Park et al., 2011).Therefore the interpersonal communication will be boosted with street promotions, direct mail-outs, and promotion of specialists’recommendations (Slater et al., 2005). Direct mail interventions may represent a more promising population-based strategy for promoting cancer screening including mammography. It is also a relatively efficient and inexpensive way to reach individuals in their homes, including people not typically exposed to mass media (Park et al., 2011). CONCLUSION More research is needed to evaluate the extent to which campaigns lead to cumulative increases in public awareness and year-round behavioral changes, to identify which types of awareness campaigns are most successful in achieving various well-defined outcomes, and to examine which segments of the population are most responsive to different types of awareness campaigns. REFERENCES Austoker, J., Bankhead, C., Forbes, LJL., Atkins, L., Martin, F., Robb, K., Wardle, J., Ramirez, AJ. (2009). Interventions to promote cancer awareness and early presentation: systematic review. British Journal of Cancer, 101, S31–S39 Becker, G. S. (1974). A Theory of Social Interactions. Journal of Political Economy, 82 (6), 1063-1093. Blumenthal, D.S., Fort, J.G., Ahmed, N.U., Semenya, K.A., Schreiber, G.B., Perry, S., Guillory, J. (2005). Impact of a two-city community cancer prevention intervention on African Americans. J Natl Med Assoc, 97, 1479–1488. Catalano, R., Winett, L., Wallack, L., Satariano, W. (2003). Evaluating a campaign to detect early stage breast tumors in the United States. European Journal of Epidemiology, 18, 545-550. Clow, KC. Baack, D. (2007). Executional Framework. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications. Third Edition. Pearson Education. 196-221 Cohen, J.T., Neumann, P.J., Weinstein, M.C. (2008). Does preventive care save money? Health economics and the presidential candidates. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 661-663. De Nooijer, J., Lechner, L., Candel, M., de Vries, H. (2004). Short- and long-term effects of tailored information versus general information on determinants and intentions related to early detection of cancer. Prev, Med 38, 694–703 Eyre, H., Kahn, R., Robertson, RM., ACS/ADA/AHA Collaborative Working Committee. (2004). Preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes: a common agenda for the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association. Stroke, 35 1999-2010. Freimuth, V.S. (1992). Theoretical Foundations of AIDS Media Campaigns. In: Edgar, T., Fitzpatrick, M.A. and Freimuth, V.S., Eds., AIDS: A Communication Perspective, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, 91-110 Haider, M., Kreps, G.L (2004). Forty years of diffusion of innovation: Utility and value in public health. Journal of health communication, 9 3-11 Jacobsen, GD Jacobsen KH. (2011). Health Awareness Campaigns and Diagnosis Rates: Evidence from National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Journal of Health Economics, 30 55-61 Joffe, MM. (2003). A Case-Control Follow-up Study for Disease-Specific Mortality. Biometrics, 59,(1) 115–125 Lerner, BH. (2002). Breast cancer activism: past lessons, future directions. Nature Reviews Cancer, 2 225-230. Lynch,J. de Chernatony, L. (2004).The Power of Emotion: Brand Communication in Business-to-Business Markets. Journal of Brand Management, 11(5) 403–42 MacDonald, S., Macleod, U., Mitchell, E., Weller, D., Campbell, N., Mant, D. (2004). Factors Influencing Patient and Primary Care Delay in the Diagnosis of Cancer Project. Final report to the Department of Health: Glasgow, Scotland McCullagh, J., Lewis, G., Warlow, C. (2005). Promoting awareness and practice of testicular self-examination. Nurs Stand.,19, 41-9. Mc Guire I,E. (1968). The Origin of Newtons Doctrine of Essential Qualities. Centaurus, 12(4), 233–260 MMWR. (2005) National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 54, 981. Park, K., Hyun Hong, W., Yeon Kye, S., Jung, J., Kim, G., Park, HG. (2011) Community-based intervention to promote breast cancer awareness and screening: The Korean experience. BMC, 11, 468 Skinner, C.S., Arfken, C.L., Waterman, B. (2000) Outcomes of the learn, share live breast cancer education program for older urban women. Am J Public Health, 90 1229–1234 Slater JS, Henly GA, Ha CN, Malone ME, Nyman JA, Diaz S, McGovern PG: Effect of direct mail as a population-based strategy to increase mammography use among low-income underinsured women ages 40 to 64 years. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2005, 14(10):2346-2352. Yanovitzky, I. Blitz, C.L. (2000). Effect of media coverage and physician advice on utilization of breast cancer screening by women 40 years and older. Journal of health communication, 5 117-134 Weinstein, N. D., Klein, W. M. (1996). Unrealistic optimism: Present and future. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15, 1–8. Wellings K, Macdowall W: Evaluating mass media approaches to health promotion: a review of methods. Health Education 2000, 100(1):9. Westmaas, JL., Gil-Rivas, V., Cohen Silver, R. (2006) Designing and Implementing Interventions to Promote Health and Prevent Illness. Foundations of Health Psychology. INTERNET http://www.bcactionfund.org/ ΙΔÎ ¡ÃŽ ¥ÃŽÅ"ΑÎ ¤ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽ £ ΔÎ ¡ÃŽâ€˜ÃŽ £ÃŽâ€"ÃŽ £ ΚΑÎ ¤ÃŽâ€˜ ÃŽ ¤ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽ ¥ ΚΑÎ ¡ÃŽÅ¡ÃŽâ„¢ÃŽ ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽ ¥ ÃŽ ¤ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽ ¥ ÃŽÅ"ΑÎ £ÃŽ ¤ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽ ¥ 1

The Metaphysics of John Duns Scotus :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

The Metaphysics of John Duns Scotus The ecclesiastical condemnation of Aristoteleanism and Arabian philosophy in 1277, which included some of the theses of Thomas Aquinas, had a profound influence on the subsequent development of medieval philosophy. Of course, opposition to Greco-Arabian philosophy was nothing new in the 13th century. Its opening decades had seen the newly translated work of Aristotle and Averroes forbidden; yet their vogue spread, and in the years that followed a reconciliation was attempted, with varied success, between Christian dogma and the 'new learning'. The 'heresy' of Latin Averroism as the end of the century only confirmed the suspicion of the traditionalist theologians that any Christian who accepted the credentials of Aristoteleanism must arrive at conclusions contrary to faith. The great condemnation of 1277 expressed their renewed reaction to Aristotle and left an even deeper impression on subsequent scholars of the inadequacy of philosophy and pure human reason, in the name of theology. If, as had been claimed, the 14th century is a period of criticism, it is above all, a period of criticism, in the name of theology, of philosophy and the pretensions of pure reason. The attitude of Duns Scotus (1266-1308) of the Franciscan Order, towards Aristotle and philosophy in general is seen in his Object of Human Knowledge. According to Aristotle, the human intellect is naturally turned towards sensible things from the way is must draw all its knowledge by way of sensation and abstraction. As a consequence, the proper object of knowledge is the essence of a material thing. Now, Duns Scotus was willing to agree that Aristotle correctly described our present way of knowing, but he did contest that he had said the last word on the subject and that he had sufficiently explained what is in full right the object of our knowledge. Ignorant of Revelation, Aristotle did not realise that Man is now in a fallen state and that he was describing the knowledge, not of an integral Man, but one whose mode of knowing was radically altered by original sin. Ignorance of this fact is understandable in Aristotle, but it must have seemed inexcusable in a Christian theologian like Thomas Aquinas. The Christian, Scotus argues, cannot take Man's state as his natural one, nor, as a consequence, the present servitude of his intellect to the senses and sensible things as natural to him. We know from Revelation that Man is destined to see God face-to-face.

The Illiteracy Problem in America :: Teaching Education Essays

The Illiteracy Problem in America It continues to be a big problem with the ranks swelling each year. Although safety nets are everywhere, illiteracy is still abundant. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 1998, ten million children between seven and eleven years of age performed below the most basic level of reading achievement. Illiteracy is not limited to children, teenagers, adults, a particular socio-economic level, or a particular race. When George, now 68, was a child he moved frequently because his father ran a small circus. He never stayed in one place long enough to learn how to read. Finally, he quit school, never to return. Now after retirement, he has decided to learn how to read. He arrived at the library reading room to find the door was locked. The sign indicated that a key was available at the information desk, but George did not know what the sign said. So he sat down and waited several hours for someone to open the door. Meh Chin from China, the mother of a third grader, is interested in communicating better with her children, who have already become fluent in English at an early age. Literacy programs should be an integral component of every community. Not only do these programs serve adults and foreigners, but they also serve those that live with the problems of poverty throughout their daily lives. In 2000-2001, 15.7% of students missed 21 or more days during the school year. Students who miss many days of school because of illnesses beyond their control often fall behind in their studies. Many literacy programs help these students excel in what otherwise would have been a deficiency in their learning. Opportunities abound to stamp out illiteracy at the federal, state, and local level. Are these enough? For those in need, maybe not. Most everyone’s needs are unique. National Family Literacy Program helps those families nationwide with literacy problems. In our own state of Florida, Governor Jeb Bush has set up the Governor’s Mentoring Initiative Program which has helped over 9,000 adults and children improve their reading programs.

Employment Essay

The Organization that we selected as our topic of discussion in our Project Paper is the Wal-Mart Corporation. Sam Walton is the founder of Wal-Mart. He opened his first store called Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas in July of 1962. Their corporate office is currently located in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. incorporated its stores on October 31, 1969. In 1972, they started selling stock on the New York Stock exchange. Although, though the company has had controversial operational business practices they have grown to be the largest Retail Corporations in the world. In 1997, Wal-Mart was able to become the largest private employer in the United States. In that same year, their annual sales totaled over $105 billion. In 2010, Wal-Mart has over 2. 1 million employees worldwide. There 2010 fiscal year sales exceeded $400 billion dollars (Wal-Mart About Us, 2010). I have been a loyal customer of Wal-Mart for years. Therefore, I was shocked when I found out about some of Wal-Marts questionable unofficial policies through talks with friends and family members who worked for them in the past and some who currently employed by them. My mother in law worked for them from 2006 thru 2008. She was required to work 8-hour shifts without a lunch break on a regular basis. One of my cousins was required to clock out because he was about to be in overtime and continue to work to keep labor cost down. I decided to Google Wal-Mart, to see if other people experienced the same injustice. I was stunned to see some of the practices of this company I loyally supported. According to an article released by the Associated Press on 12/24/08 called Wal-Mart to Pay Workers Up to $640 Million it will pay as much as $640 million to settle 63 lawsuits over wage-and-hour violations, ending years of dispute. Wal-Mart faced 76 similar class action lawsuits in courts across the country as of March 31, 2008. These violations range from having employees clock out and continue to work without pay, denying them with lunch breaks that they are entitled to by law, non-payment for overtime worked. They have also had issues with discrimination against women, resulting, from denying them promotions and paying them less then their male counterpart even though they held the same position, and in some cases, women had seniority over the men (Associated 2008). It is widely known that Wal-Mart pays its associates below the average retail wages. In 2008, the average full time Associate (34 hours per week) earns $10. 84 hourly for an annual income of $19,165. That is $2,000 below the Federal Poverty Line for a family of four. In 2007, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott earned $29. 7 million in total compensation, or 1,551 times the annual income of the average full time Wal-Mart Associate. Consequently, large portions of their employees qualify to receive Government Assistance to support their families. They are well aware that they pay their fulltime employees below the poverty level. In fact, Wal-Mart actually encourages their employees to take advantage of the Government Assistant Programs (Wake Up Wal-Mart, 2008). Wal-Mart does not offer its associates affordable healthcare insurance benefits. According to Wal-Mart employees, when they complained about high the cost of the insurance and lack of coverage it offers their managers would simply suggest that they try to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. According to Wal-Mart Facts. om, If an average full-time Wal-Mart employee chooses the least expensive family coverage plan, they would have to spend over 20% of their income before the health insurance provided any reimbursement. An average full time Wal-Mart Associate faces a serious family health issue. They have to pay the entire out-of-pocket maximum for the least expensive health plan, which adds up to pay 53% of their income (Wake Up Wal-Mart, 2008). I am just a customer of Wal-Mart. I am an accountant, so I budget my money pretty well and I love a good bargain. However, when I look at this organization and their business practices all I see is greed. Therefore, as a customer I have to question my whether or not to continue to support this business if they persist on behaving in such an manner that is clearly unfair to its employees. This is not a struggling organization. It brings in sales exceeding $100 billion annually. Wal-Mart has the resources to make their employees NEEDS a priority. I would like to believe that they are sincerely willing to make the necessary changes. Wal-Mart’s management behaves immorally towards its employees. They do not value their employees’ needs, rights, or the labor laws that the US put into lace to protect them. Wal-Mart’s low price on everyday household products is what sets them apart from other discount retailers. Their employees help make it possible for them to dominate their competitors in the discount retail market and maintain their competitive advantage. It is essential for employees to feel that the company that employs them provides an ethical organizational culture in order for them to feel a sense of job security and to be motivated to be productive for the company. What is Organizational Culture? What type of OC does Wal-Mart reflect?  What effect does their OC have on employee job satisfaction, morale, and performance? What can management do to improve their employee relations? According to our text Organizational Behavior, 11th Edition, a company’s organizational culture is a shared set of beliefs and values within an organization. The culture is the behaviors that employees feel they are required to fit in order to meet the expectations of their organization (Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, & Uhl-Bien, 2010, p. 12). On of the OCI’s that the Human Synergistic Study addresses the Aggressive/Defensive Culture. The cultural norms are built upon a value structure whereby management puts its own interests before those of its key constituents—its customers, employees, suppliers, and even stockholders. Members place priority on doing what is best for themselves over the long-term best interests of their organization. Previous organizational successes (due to prior leadership, technological patents, or good business strategies) fuel the arrogance and short-term orientation of management and allow Aggressive/Defensive organizations to continue to appear effective—at least for a while. However, as shown by John Kotter and James Heskett’s study of 207 organizations (and consistent with research based on the OCI), this type of value structure prevents organizations from effectively adapting to changes in their environments and ultimately has a negative impact on their financial performance (Human Synergistic 2006). Your business strategies shift; your organization’s values should not. Organizational values guide employee actions and influence business practices. They help provide meaning for employees searching for an emotional connection to work each day. Also known as ground rules or operating principles, at their best values are actionable guidelines, not to be confused with abstract beliefs that are merely â€Å"held† or posted on a plaque (Organizational Values, 2008). † In an Aggressive/Defensive Culture, management tends to have very little value for people. There focus is on setting goals and meeting them by any means necessary. They are very competitive and want to devour the competition. Some of the characteristics of this type of culture are oppositional, competitive, motivated by power, and perfection. Managers may oppose things indirectly, stubborn, always has to be right, avoids admitting mistakes, resists suggestions made by others, and have a strong need to win or dominate. Their members do not feel any sense of job security. Employees typically believe that they have to go with the follow in an effort to avoid the label â€Å"troublemaker† in order to keep their job. They fears managements’ retaliation and often feel as though they are in a hostile work environment (Human Synergistic 2006). Staff turnover is near 20-year highs for many companies. Two research firms, Walker Information and Hudson Institute, recently joined forces to conduct a nationwide employee loyalty study. Their results confirmed that staff loyalty is in short supply. Only 24 percent of employees consider themselves truly loyal, committed to their organization and its goals, and planning to stay at least two years. Thirty-three percent of employees were high risk, not committed and not planning to stay. Thirty-nine percent were classified as trapped. They plan to stay, but are not committed to their employer. Among those who felt they worked for an ethical organization, 55 percent were truly loyal. For those who did not feel they worked for an ethical organization, the loyalty figure was 9 percent (Lowenstein 2006). Creating a culture within the organization that nurtures loyalty, commitment, advocacy and productivity from the moment the new hire walks through the door and throughout the lifecycle of the employee will go a long way to sustaining customer loyalty behavior. The good news is that employees, particularly those in customer service, seek trust and trustworthiness; and they desire to be active contributors to that effort (Lowenstein 2006). The benefits for business of adopting ethical human resource management practices and viewing employees as human capital to be developed and to provide a unique advantage in the marketplace can be utilized as part of a corporate social responsibility strategy. Effective corporate social responsibility requires that along with minimizing harm to the environment, a company needs to be aware of the social impacts of its operations and ensure that they are not harming human stakeholders (Tracey Lloyd 2009). The importance of health insurance as an employee benefit is also illustrated by the fact that more than one quarter of Americans report that they or an immediate family member have encountered job lock, passed up a job opportunity, stayed at a job they would otherwise have quit, or had not retired solely because they needed to keep the health insurance coverage they were receiving. According to another survey, employees are moderately satisfied with their benefits, with 39% of full-time workers reporting this, which is a rise from 32% in 2003 (Reddick 2009). Employers who hope to retain solid, hard-working employees should be prepared to offer basic employee benefits. In addition to salary, good benefits provide important resources that not only help build a positive working relationship between employer and employee but also promote good work habits and financial practices (Thompson 2010). Wal-Mart problem is their leadership style. It reflects many of the characteristics of an Aggressive/Defensive Culture. Its issues stem from them putting their interest before the needs of their members. It does not value its employees as of Human Capital. Employees are just another resource used to achieve the organizational objectives. Wal-Mart leaders invest a lot into making decisions and strategies that will get the best prices for their customers and keep their competitive advantages. Nevertheless, they are not investing enough time and effort in training managers on how to treat their human capital. As a result, managers are presented with problems that they have no been trained for and they avoid the issue or make bad decisions. I find it hard to believe an organization as large and successful as Wal-Mart can make these types of mistakes and they go unrecognized or resolved for so long. Several people had to have been complaining about the errors before having to go before a judge. Considering the validation of the errors during the trial investigation, it is safe to say that if Wal-Mart had done its due diligence prior to trial they would have resolved this pay issue. There is no reason a company of Wal-Mart’s size and resources could not have identified and addressed the discrepancy prior to it escalating to a court issue. Which raises the question of, was this done intentionally or their employees concerns or grievances are not a priority to them. This type of mmoral behavior ultimately leads to employees distrusting the company, resulting in a low morale, lack of motivation, and high turnover. Every company has a distinct set of characteristics that drives the decisions, practices, policies, procedures, and organizational goals, which in turn affects the organizations’ atmosphere. The biggest influences are going to come from the visions and standards that the Senior Leaders of the company. Wal-Mart’s employees do not feel any emotional connection or sense of value from their organization, which leads to a lack of job satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment. Of course, this is going to show up in how employees treat customers. All Wal-Mart has to offer is low prices, there is very little customer service. For example, I pulled up to customerservicescoreboard. com and some one posted this comment. â€Å"Wal-Mart has the worst customer service, worse yet, they ignore any inquiry and advertise that they value it†¦ I really have to commit to not shopping there any more†¦ lines are long, cashiers are slow and don’t even help put bags in carts. Their greeters wont get carts and roll their eyes, the bathrooms are a mess, the shelves are empty, I hope they get what they deserve†¦ ower customer count and lower profits†¦ today I tried once more and wasn’t disappointed, no carts, very long lines and best yet†¦ customer service said there was no manager on duty and there were not customer complaint forms†¦ go figure. mad at Wal-Mart 4/1/10 2:21PM â€Å". In order to change this Wal-Mart has to consider ways to attract and retain productive employees (Customer 2009). Another issue is the lack on emphasis on teamwork. Employees concerns and suggestions have no validity. They are not included in any part of the goal setting or decision making process on the individual store retail level. The â€Å"my way or no way† management attitude does not work. There has to be some compromise. SOLUTIONS Wal-Mart has to change their leadership style. The CEO and other major Leaderships need to take a more active role in establishing acceptable managerial behavioral procedures and rules to direct the organization. Instead of reacting to all of the bad press concerning their employee relations they need to take a more active approach to dealing with all of the stigmas attached to the company. For example, they can start by sending out a corporate communication-notifying managers and employees that the company is about to undergo so major changes to and are about to invest in an organization overhaul that will put just as much value in taking care of the associates that make their sales possible and they put into their valued customers. Wal-Mart can continue to ride the cloud of success with no regards to the long-term ramifications of lack of change, but these are the cost of avoidance. Change will be forced upon them one of two ways. The lawsuits will continue to come and the courts will make to settlements high enough that Wal-Mart will feel the financial sting of their unethical behavior. Secondly, they will start to see a significant decrease in their sales because of the poor customer services rendered by their distrusting, low morale, and unmotivated associates. Considering how large Wal-Mart’s organization is this change would be a major project they could consider doing it in-house, but I suggest they hire an outside consulting firm that to oversee the project in order to get some fresh ideas and strategies. Of course, they would be collaborating with Wal-Marts project team in order to what the deliverables are to complete the project. Wal-Mart Leaders need to ensure total participation by giving the project team the financial and staff resources needed to complete the project. The first step would be to perform a training needs analysis and determine where the practice and policy breakdowns are occurring. Then address the issue, by establishing a new uniform policy, updating the employee handbook, training managers and employees on the new policies, and finally enforcing it. This project will take about a year to prepared, reviewed, and implemented. Prioritization will be according to the most critical needs, such as proper employee pay protocol, anti- discrimination policy training, and team building programs. For example, have a workplace diversity class set up to teach managers how to cultivate diversity and to prevent discrimination. Require that managers have a complete training class annually. Address and investigate all allegations of discrimination immediately. Written documentation is required for discrimination allegation, investigation, and resolution steps that taken. The only way to ensure that employees feel a since of organizational justice is to uphold the companies policies on the matter. Consequently, immediate punishment is required if an employee found guilty of the allegation. Send out corporate communication, notifying employees of the companies’ commitment to improve employee relations. Send the communication via email and display it in high traffic areas. Express managements desire to include employees in some of the decisions that directly affect them by establishing an Employee Involvement Team to be apart of the project. That will help Management and employees address employee concerns and grievances, such as a fair and competitive wages and health insurance package. Allowing employees to be apart of the decision making process will help management get feedback on the best ways to go about achieving up coming goals, while building team commitment, loyalty, and moral. There will be annual policies will be reviews and revision if necessary. Managers and employees will complete skill assessment tests annually. There will be skill-training classes set up to teach managers how to promote effective communication and leadership abilities. Issue training results to department heads and certificates of completion to participants. Finally, collect feedback from the managers and employees to evaluate, results and feelings on the process improvements. Leave a comment section to get their feelings on the companies’ efforts to improve employee relations. Identify remaining problems and work with the In-house Project Team and the Employee Involvement Team to improve them.

Video Games and Violent Children

Video Games and Violent Children Brittany Hern 02/02/2011 Critical Thinking and Composition Home video games, an industry worth $11 billion domestically that is now 30 years old, continues to be thrown into legal and moral debates regarding what age is deemed appropriate to participate. Video games, especially those deemed to be violent or rated â€Å"mature,† are at the center of the controversy. There are two sides to this debate. Video game companies and their supporters lead one side arguing that video games have no affect on children, and maintain that video games deemed â€Å"mature† are meant for those ages.The other side of this debate consists of psychologists and parents who argue video games are responsible for what they feel is a growing epidemic of increasingly violent and desensitized children. Video game companies continue to assert that the ratings issued by The Entertaining Software Rating Board (ESRB) are to be followed and any results stemming from ga mes being purchased against those ratings fall back on parents. There are five rating categories: Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adults Only. The ESRB rates every video game that is to be sold in the United States.Companies like Rockstar Games, which produces some of the most controversial video games, continue to maintain that their video games are produced for adults and are not marketed towards children. Rockstar developer Lazlow Jones was quoted in 2010 as saying â€Å"Our games are not designed for young people. If you’re a parent and buy one of our games for your child you’re a terrible parent†¦ † This quote came after the backlash of the release of another Rockstar Games title that was attacked for being too violent for children.Parents and psychologists agree the ratings are a first step in the right direction, but insist these titles should be pulled from shelves because the continuance of accessibility by children across America. Although t he ratings are in place, children in most states are able to buy video games rated â€Å"Mature. † In those states where identification is necessary, parents argue that homes often filled with adult gamers expose children in the same household to inappropriate video games. They contend that an epidemic of violence and desensitized children are the product of violent video games and not enough supervision.Numerous video game companies have turned to national crime statistics to prove their opposition wrong. Video games have been blamed for several high profile cases. One of the most infamous cases linking violence and video games is the massacre of 13 people at Columbine High School. Jerald Block, a researcher and psychiatrist in Portland, concluded that the two teenage shooters, both avid gamers, went on their shooting rampage after their parents took their weapon-based video game away.Linking video games to high profile violence around the country has not been uncommon. The Virginia Tech shooting was wrongly attributed to video games by several news stations and TV personalities around the country before it was concluded that the shooter did not play video games. Video game companies continue to point to crime statistics to disprove these links. Gaming gained mass appeal in the mid 1990’s and since then sales domestically have quadrupled. From 1995 to 2008, when the industry took strides, juvenile violent crimes fell 49. 3%.With these statistics in hand, video game supporters maintain that violent video games are not to be blamed for any acts of violence committed by underage gamers. The Federal government has played its own role in the debate on relating violence in video games to violent tendencies in children. In 1996 the US Marine Corps licensed a version of the then popular game Doom in order to train soldiers. Psychologists argue that if violent video games play no role in training children to become violent, why would the US Marineâ€℠¢s use a violent video game to train adults.Those against violent video games propose the question: If these adults are trainable via video games then why wouldn’t children, who are far more persuadable, take the things in the games as instructions or guidelines. In 2002, the US Army released a first-person shooter America’s Army in order to recruit soldiers and prepare those recruits for what the battlefield is like. Those against violent video games see this as a direct link between violent video games being a teacher and influencing rather than just being used as a form of entertainment.Furthermore, America’s Army, has been pointed out to look very similar to other first-person shooting games. There have been numerous studies conducted and while the results often are different, video game companies insist there is no formal research that shows any type of link that violent video games cause aggression. A study conducted in 2007 and published in the â€Å"Jou rnal of Adolescent Health,† consisted of 1254 participants, which were pre-teens in demographically diverse schools. The results showed that playing a â€Å"Mature† rated video game was a positive way to manage anger in half of the participants.While the study does say this could be an unhealthy way to manage emotions depending on the child, the participants correlated positivity with the â€Å"Mature† rated video game. Other studies have either been inconclusive and those ruling that violence is linked to violent video games have been dismissed by video game companies and supporters as being blind to other factors. The studies, they explain, do not divulge other contributing factors like a predisposition to aggressiveness, exposure to violence, and family dynamics; all factors that could contribute to violence.Those who oppose violent video games point out a 2000 FBI report entitled â€Å"The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective,† which documen ts likely characteristics of a school shooter. In their research, the FBI concluded that a fascination with violence-filled entertainment is a risk factor associated with a possible school shooter. The report lists â€Å"the student spends inordinate amounts of time playing video games with violent themes, and seems more interested in the violent images than in the game itself. Another study conducted was based on short-term effects of violent video games. The 2009 study conducted by members of the Department of Psychology from both Iowa and Kansas State University, had 91 participants and not only surveyed those participants, but monitored the heart rate to see if there was any deviation. The study added to existing literature that shows violent video games in fact increase aggressive behavior, aggressive feelings, aggressive thoughts, and arousal from baseline to post video game play.Whichever side of the argument you may land on, the opposition is fierce. The debate of whether v iolent video games produce violent children will rage on, both sides undoubtedly not losing any momentum with their opinions. Video game companies will continue to protect their multibillion dollar investment while parents and psychologists will continue putting pressure on lawmakers and the media to dive further into the numerous studies conducted on the possible link. References Barlett, C. , Branch, O. , Rodeheffer, C. nd Harris, R. (2009), How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggressive Behavior, 35:  225–236. Whitworth, D (2010, May 01). Red Dead Redemption hoping for emotional response. BBC. Retrieved 02/01/2011, from http://www. bbc. co. uk/newsbeat/10136311 Nizza, M (2007, July 05). Tying Columbine to Video Games. The New York Times. Retrieved 02/02/2011, from http://thelede. blogs. nytimes. com/2007/07/05/tieing-columbine-to-video-games/ O’Toole, M (2000) The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective. p. 0. Retrieved 02/01/2011, from http://www. fbi. gov/stats-services/publications/school-shooter Olson, C et al. (2007). Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls. Journal of Adolescent Health. Retrieved January 29, 2011, from http://www. jahonline. org/article/S1054-139X(07)00027-4/abstract. Croteau, S. (2010, November 26). Virtual Violence – Video game developers say blame misplaced. Telegram. Retrieved 01/31/2011 from http://www. telegram. com/article/20101126/NEWS/11260474/0/eworcester

As English Short Stories Summary

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS AS LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: SYLLABUS 9695 NOTES FOR TEACHERS ON STORIES SET FOR STUDY FROM STORIES OF OURSELVES: THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012 CONTENTS Introduction: How to use these notes 1. The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allen Poe 2. The Open BoatStephen Crane 3. The Door in the WallHG Wells 4. The People BeforeMaurice Shadbolt 5. A Horse and Two GoatsRK Narayan 6. JourneyPatricia Grace 7. To Da-Duh, In MemoriamPaule Marshall 8. Of White Hairs and CricketRohinton Mistry 9. SandpiperAhdaf Soueif 10. TyresAdam Thorpe These notes are intended to give some background information on each author and/or story as an aid to further research and to stimulate discussion in the classroom. They are intended only as a starting point and are no substitute for the teacher’s and student’s own study and exploration of the texts. Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) The Fall of the House of Usher This is one of the most famous gothic stories from one of the masters of the enre and contains many of the traditional elements of the genre, including horror, death, medievalism, an ancient building and signs of great psychological disturbance. The mood of oppressive melancholy is established at the opening of the story and here readers may note an acknowledgement of the appeal of gothic fiction: while there is fear and horror, the shudder is ‘thrilling’ and the ‘sentime nt’ is ‘half-pleasurable’. At the centre of the story are mysteries, about the psychological state of Usher himself and about his sister’s illness and death. The story only offers hints and suggestions; there is an ‘oppressive secret’, while the sister, buried in a strangely secure vault, returns as if risen from the dead to claim her brother. In archetypal gothic fashion, a raging storm of extreme violence mirrors the destruction of the family and its ancestral home. Horror stories and horror films continue to have wide popular appeal and it is worth considering why this is so, and in what ways this story fulfils the appeal of the horror story. Why are Usher’s and his sister’s maladies never identified? What does Madeline’s escape from the vault suggest? Wider reading Other gothic tales by Poe include The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill Compare with The Door in the Wall by HG Wells The Hollow of the Three Hills by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Online Biographical material and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. online-literature. com/poe/ Stephen Crane (1871-1900) The Open Boat This story is based on Crane’s own experience, when as a war correspondent, the boat he was travelling on to Cuba sank. He and others spent a number of days drifting in a small boat before reaching land. The story explores the fortitude of men in a shared plight and their companionship in the face of danger. The narrative style is factual and plain, perhaps mirroring the honest practicality of the men in the boat whose story is being narrated. It engenders an admiration of the skilled seamanship and calm demonstrated by the seamen. The drama in the story comes from the waves; the seamen converse, swap roles and encourage each other under the guidance of the captain. When they eventually reach shore, death comes to one of them, who is ‘randomly’ chosen. Without obviously aiming for pathos, Crane achieves it with the oiler’s death. The story, like the seamen, betrays ‘no hurried words, no pallor, no plain agitation’, but achieves a real sense of loss at its conclusion. Wider reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane Typhoon by Joseph Conrad Compare with The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe How it Happened by Arthur Conan Doyle Real Time by Amit Chaudhuri Online Biographical material and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. nline-literature. com/crane/ HG Wells (1866-1946) The Door in the Wall As well as famous novels such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, HG Wells wrote numerous short stories, many of which show the author’s interest in fantasy and the improbable, but a feature of the stories is the way in which Wells creates a sense of truthfulness in his narratives. This was demonstrated when a radio broadcast of an adaptation of The War of the Worlds in 1938 caused panic in New York, and can also be seen in the narrator’s concern with the truth of the story at the beginning of The Door in the Wall. Here the narrator is retelling the story of someone else, who in turn tells it to him with ‘such direct simplicity of conviction’. This creates a tension which remains throughout the story, which on the one hand is ‘frankly incredible’ while we are assured that ‘it was a true story’. The temporary childhood escape into the paradisiacal garden is evoked with nostalgic longing, but remains inexplicable. The character’s final death leaves questions for the reader; it is either another inexplicable event, or some kind of solution to the mystery. Wider reading Try either of the novels listed above, or other short stories by Wells, such as The Country of the Blind or The Diamond Maker. Compare with The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe The Signalman by Charles Dickens The Moving Finger by Edith Wharton Online Wells’ biography and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. online-literature. com/wellshg/ An account of the New York panic can be found at: http://history1900s. about. com/od/1930s/a/warofworlds. htm Maurice Shadbolt (1932-1985) The People Before Maurice Shadbolt is one of the towering figures of New Zealand literature, winning numerous awards and accolades for his work, much of which examines the history of the country through narrative. The central characters in this story are carving out a farming existence on the land, and the importance of land ownership to the family is made apparent in a number of phrases in the story. The narrator tells us that ‘my father took on that farm’, he refers to the importance of ‘Land of your own,’ which becomes ‘your own little kingdom’. The suggestions of the history of the land come through the discovery of the greenstone adzes and attitudes to the land are brought to the fore with the visit of the Maori group. Although Shadbolt characterises Tom Taikaka as pleasant, courteous and patient, there is the constant underlying acknowledgement of the Europeans’ displacing of the Maori from their land. Jim’s attempt at restoring the greenstone to Tom is symbolic of an attempt at restitution, and the reader is left to interpret Tom’s reluctant refusal. The return of the Maori elder to the land in death, and his disappearance, is another indication of his unity with the landscape and again demonstrates the different attitudes to land held by the Maoris and the Europeans, attitudes which remain polarised in the brothers at the end of the story. Wider reading Strangers and Journeys or The Lovelock Version by Maurice Shadbolt Playing Waterloo by Peter Hawes Compare with Journey by Patricia Grace Her First Ball by Katherine Mansfield The Enemy by VS Naipaul Online Biographical information and a critical review of Shadbolt’s work is available at: http://www. ookcouncil. org. nz/writers/shadboltm. html This newspaper obituary is also interesting: http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article497710. ece RK Narayan (1906-2001) A Horse and Two Goats Narayan has written numerous novels and short stories, many of them set in Malgudi, a fictional but typical small Indian town. His characters are invariably ordinary peopl e finding their route through Indian life. Although A Horse and Two Goats makes no reference to Malgudi itself, it is typical of these stories, as Muni tries to live and ease the burden of his poverty. The story is narrated with the non-judgemental understanding and gentle humour typical of Narayan’s writing. The narration emphasises the insignificance of the village, and by implication the insignificance of its central character, who is coping with poverty and domestic struggle and seeks to ease his way by deceit and invention. The big deceit of the story, though, happens through misunderstanding and without Muni’s volition, Narayan creating comedy through the two parallel lines of attempted dialogue between Muni and the American tourist. Within the comedy, though, Narayan shows the different values of the two, the American’s dialogue concerned with acquisition and possessions, while Muni is concerned with history and spirituality. Wider reading The Guide (novel) and Malgudi Days (short stories) by RK Narayan Kanthapura by Raja Rao Compare with Games at Twilight by Anita Desai Of White Hairs and Cricket by Rohinton Mistry Online Information about RK Narayan is available at: http://www. eng. fju. edu. tw/worldlit/india/narayan. html Patricia Grace (1937-) Journey Patricia Grace’s first novel, Mutuwhenua, was significant in being the first novel published by a woman Maori writer, and she has become an important figure in Maori writing in English in New Zealand. Journey shows her interest in the Maoris’ traditional claims on land. The rather dislocated narrative, with limited punctuation and no speech markings, creates the effect of creating the old man’s perspective, although the narrative is written in the third person. This old man’s perspective, with its old Maori wisdom, is shown to be out of balance with ‘these young people’, the ‘cars and railways’, the new housing and the growth of the city. His journey into the city makes him feel more and more alienated, and this is accentuated when the narrative is interspersed with the interview dialogue. The official and the old man cannot make each other understand. There is no comprehension on either side of the other’s view of how land should be used, and the story ends with frustration, violence and disillusion. In this story, Grace suggests that traditional Maori governance of land has no place in modern government and planning. Wider reading Mutuwhenua (novel) or The Dream Sleepers and Other Stories (short stories) by Patricia Grace Playing Waterloo by Peter Hawes The Bone People by Keri Hulme Compare with The People Before by Maurice Shadbolt To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall Online Biographical and other information about Patricia Grace is available at: http://www. artsfoundation. org. nz/patricia. html Paule Marshall (1929-) To Da-Duh, In Memoriam The narrator in this story remembers her visit from New York to her mother’s home country, which to her is the ‘alien sight and sounds of Barbados’. The story hinges on the relationship formed between the young girl and her grandmother, Da-duh of the title. While the Caribbean is unfamiliar to the young girl, who sees it as ‘some dangerous place’, Da-duh wants to show off its qualities, and a competition is established between the girl and the grandmother, between youth and age, between modernity and tradition and between New York and Barbados, which culminates in the girl’s assertion of the height of the Empire State Building, which dwarfs all that Da-duh shows her. The young girl’s triumph, however, is tempered at the end of the story by ‘the shadow’ of Da-duh’s death. Wider reading This story is taken from Merle and Other Stories by Paule Marshall. Compare with Journey by Patricia Grace Online Information about Paule Marshall is available at: http://www. answers. com/topic/paule_marshall Rohinton Mistry (1952-) Of White Hairs and Cricket This story’s concern with age and mortality is reflected in the structure, beginning with the removal of the narrator’s father’s white hairs and moving to what seems to be his friend’s father’s terminal illness. In the space of the story the narrator has his own recognition of mortality and emerges from boyhood into the adult world. He moves from considering distasteful his task of removing his father’s white hairs to a full awareness of the process of ageing which he ‘is powerless to stop’. There are other signs of this process throughout the story: the loss of the childhood cricket matches, the increasing frailty of Mamaiji, the father’s vain hope of a new job. It is the encounter with the friend Viraf, Dr Sidhwa and the glimpse of Viraf’s father which gives the narrator his epiphanic moment. Wider reading This story is taken from the collection Swimming Lessons and Other Stories. You could also try the novel Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry. Malgudi Days by RK Narayan The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Compare with A Horse and Two Goats by RK Narayan To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall The Enemy by VS Naipaul Games at Twilight by Anita Desai Online Biographical material is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth73 Ahdaf Soueif (1950-) Sandpiper The narrator in this story is unwilling to disturb even ‘one grain of sand’, and this reflects her passivity as her relationship with her husband breaks down under cultural pressures. The relationship with him is carefully charted, almost historically, but it is significant that he is never named, and a sense of loss grows at the centre of the narrative. The narrative structure includes disconcerting juxtapositions between memory and the present to show the narrator’s sate of mind. The narrative describes a love between the two formed elsewhere; it is the return to the husband’s country which creates the cultural and family pressures on the relationship, including the loss of female independence, work and identity, which cause the couple to drift apart. Such concerns of conflicting cultural pressures are perhaps a natural concern of an author born and educated in Egypt, before continuing education in England. She now divides her time between Cairo and London. Wider reading This story is taken from a collection of short stories by Ahdaf Soueif, also called Sandpiper. The Map of Love is a novel which deals with a love affair between an Egyptian and an English woman. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Compare with To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Five-Twenty by Patrick White Online Biographical information about Ahdaf Soueif is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth227 Adam Thorpe (1956-) Tyres The narrative of Tyres is set against the tension of German-occupied France during the Second World War, where relationships are strained, little can be openly communicated and suspicion is rife. The brutality of war suddenly intervenes in the middle of the story with the killing of the suspected members of the French Resistance movement (the Maquis) and the villagers forced to view the bodies, their ‘guts†¦literally looped and dripping almost to the floor’, before the hanging of the ringleader from the village bridge. Set against this is the gradually developing love affair between the young lad learning to maintain vehicles in his father’s garage and the girl who cycles past each day. The young man’s narration leads the reader gradually to his final act of involvement with the resistance against the Germans and its effects; ill-luck seems to be the cause of guilt, and the final revelation of the age of the narrator shows how long that guilt and fidelity has lasted. In this story, Thorpe sets ordinariness – working on cars, changing tyres, a developing relationship – against extraordinariness – the Second World War and German occupation – to create a small poignant story of war. Wider reading This story comes from Adam Thorpe’s short story collection Shifts. His novel Ulverton is a collection of very different narratives which piece together the long history of an English village. Compare with To Da-duh, In Memoriam By Paule Marshall The Moving Finger by Edith Wharton The Taste of Watermelon by Borden Deal Online Biographical information and a review of Adam Thorpe’s work is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth95