Jcm Model

1)What is JCM model? Job characteristic model defines the task characteristics and its relationships with motivation, performance and satisfaction in work settings. It has a high potential to provide insights into the organizations structures or designs necessary for enhancing motivation. It is a potential tool for understanding motivation and devising strategies for motivating individuals.Relevance and utility of major JCM components in enhancing motivation in classroom settings are discussed It focuses on the behavior of the job 5 job characteristics- Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feed back- Structural elements 3 critical psychological states-experienced meaningfulness of work, experienced autonomy, knowledge of actual results 1 increased personal and work outcomes 1 growth need strength Unification of various structural elementsCause and effect of these structural elements to the psychological states Links the complementary literatures of education and psychological work 2)How might a team leader’s understanding of the JCM model enhance his/her effectiveness at improving the productivity of the work unit? Please be specific as possible. As team leader one of my responsibilities is to create, sustain and enhance the motivation of the employees. In order to achieve this I need clarity in the variety of skill sets present within my employees.For example, one of my team members is a very creative person. I perceive him as a very valuable asset to team especially when the team is in the â€Å"Analysis Paralysis† mode. He comes in as a zero gravity thinker and provides an out-of-box perspective. Because the whole team is ingrained in the problem, he brings in fresh-air and perspective to the problem and in many instances this perspective leads to the team to think in different directions which ultimately lead to the solution.One of my other team mates is very task oriented. He will do the task whatever it takes to complet e it. So when there is a project with tight deadline with methodical work involved then I choose this individual to complete the task. It is more of an adaptive approach which needs incremental innovation capabilities rather than breakthroughs. So identifying the individuals strength and aligning the tasks according to their strengths is critical for creating sustaining and enhancing the motivation of individuals in the team.The challenge is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the early stages of the team building efforts. This example gives an insight of identifying the skill set among the employees, aligning the task with the skill, appreciating the value the team members bring in to achieving the common goal- Success of the team, giving feedback on their performance and added value to the team’s success from their contribution, giving them the autonomy to perform their best for the benefit for themselves and for the organization.

Discipline Versus Child Abuse

Discipline versus Child Abuse Tiara Loving February 2, 2011 Criminal Justice 100 Homework Assignment #1 Is there such a thing as too much discipline? How far can a person go with discipline before it turns into child abuse? How do a person know if they are performing child abuse? These are the three main questions that raise a debate when the subjects discipline and child abuse are put in one sentence. What some people might call discipline others may say is child abuse. Gaining the knowledge and education of what is right and what is wrong is the key to preventing discipline from becoming child abuse.As stated in the American Heritage College Dictionary, discipline is defined as â€Å"training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior. † Child abuse is defined as â€Å"mistreatment of a child by a parent or guardian, including neglect, beating, and sexual molestation† on dictionary. com. Unfortunately, a parent or guardian training a child to prod uce a specific character or pattern behavior may lead to mistreating or neglecting a child unintentionally. It is legal to spank a child but it is also illegal to beat them.Spanking a child may be considered as light licks on the legs or bottom. Beating a child may consist of bruising or drawing blood. But what works for one child might not be any good for the other. One child can learn a lesson from a spanking but if a parent spank’s the other child, it might not have an effect on him at all. That is when alternatives come in. Either way a parent decides to punish that child, that parent’s point will be made or that child will have learned a lesson. There is nothing wrong with disciplining a child for doing something he was not supposed to have done.Punishing a child will serve as a warning to let that child know that if he ever did something bad again, there will be a consequence. There are many ways to discipline a child without performing child abuse. For example, if a child is at school and acts inappropriate towards his peers or the teacher, he can be giving a spanking, a timeout or some of his privileges can be taken away from him. That child might think the parent is being mean or obnoxious, but that entire time that parent is really showing how much they love and care for that child. As a kid, I would get into trouble a lot.Of course there would be a consequence, and a few words that came along with it. I will never forget the words my mother said to me as I received my spanking: â€Å"I am only doing this because I love you and I want you to do what is right no matter what the situation is. If I do not whip you, you will continue to do the same thing, so I have to teach you a lesson. † As I got older, I realized that she really cared. I felt that I did not want to embarrass her or myself any longer and that is when I decided that I was going to do what was expected of me.Parents have the right to lead their kids by example but th ey must do it the right way. On the other hand, damaging a child’s self-esteem, self confidence and making him feel unloved or wanted is considered to be child abuse. Why would a parent want to see their child suffer, especially without any cause? If a parent does not want another person or child harming their child intentionally, then why would that parent commit abuse? There are many examples of child abuse but I decided to press the issue on one example. A woman just found out that she has gotten pregnant.The pregnancy was unplanned and the baby’s father does not want to be a part of that new life, but she decides to keep the child. When the baby arrives, the woman is frustrated because she realizes she cannot take care of herself and the baby mentally, physically, emotionally or financially. The woman now decides to take her anger and frustrations out on the child and that is where the abuse comes in because she does not know what else to do. Sometimes not discipli ning a child can be considered child abuse as well.Everyone knows that a parent has to let a child be child. But when a parent lets the child get away with things a little too much, it is time to let that child know that enough is enough. Since that child feels that he has not been stopped before, he has the right to continue to do what he pleases. The parent needs to tell the child that they are the adult and he is the child will definitely set the boundaries. The parent is going to ruin that child if they let him into the world thinking that he can do what he please.That is the first step to abusing that child and others are going to do the same if do not step in to guide him. The parent has to learn to say ‘NO’ every once in a while so the child can get used to hearing that word. The parent has to know that they cannot be their child’s best friend and the child has to abide by their rules. If a parent does not start at home by forcing the rules upon the child, then they are giving the world permission to keep the abuse up. Again, the three main questions come to mind. Is there such a thing as too much discipline?How far can you go with discipline before it turns into child abuse? How do you know if you are performing child abuse? A parent might feel that no one can tell them how to raise their child. So they may feel the need to punish the child however they want. The parent says it is discipline. The outside world might say it is child abuse if they see a child is being mistreated in a way that they feel that is not right. A parent might have their own personal reasons to why they punish their child the way they do.Maybe it is discipline—then again it may be child abuse. There are people out in the world that feel that they can care for a child better than that child’s parent. Sometimes those people are eager to take that child that they feel are being abused away from that parent. I would tell those parents to choose a mo re logical way of what they do to their child and how they do it. However a parent decides to punish their child is on them. The parent just need be careful of how they do it because they might not have their child any longer–or even worse, thrown in jail!

Critical evaluation organization's Resources and Capabilities of Coursework

Critical evaluation organization's Resources and Capabilities of Starbucks in Thailand. (internal environment) - Coursework Example The company’s high return from its new investments, made in the booming market of Thailand, helps to capture the confidence and loyalty of its value chain partners and shareholders (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2010). Intangible Resources The company has gained a strong brand image in the global market, since the last forty years of its establishment, which has helped it to win active support of its business stakeholders in Thailand for its business projects. The quality product and valuable diversification have transformed the individuals of Thailand into loyal customers of the company. The efficient marketing strategy used by the company, for delivering new coffee deviations in the market, has helped it to gain popularity in the market of Thailand (Zhang and McCornac, 2013). Human Resources In Thailand, Starbucks Corporation uses wholly owned subsidiary model to expand its business. Roby (2011) found that human resource strategy of the company differs significantly with the change of entry mode or mode of business operation. As part of wholly owned subsidiary model in Thailand, 3 member core Store Development team works for the company to analyze the market potential of a particular store location and supervise the entire retail chain expansion strategy of the company (Getchee, 2013). Training and development of staff in different Starbucks stores in Thailand is being done in human resource departments of the team. Capability and skill level of staff in various retail stores of Starbucks is being enhanced through periodic training programs. Consideration of research works of Roby (2011) reveals the fact that Starbucks Corporation focuses on capturing local talents and individuals while expanding business in Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand or China because culture of these countries diverges significantly from western countries. To mitigate the cultural gap, in Thailand, the coffee retailing giant recruits more of Thai people who can understand local culture and customs and fulfil customer requirements in efficient manner. Therefore it can be said that Starbucks Corporation uses well defined human resource strategy develop talented and responsive human capital who can help the company to achieve business success in Thailand. Starbucks Capabilities Strategies in terms of Value Chain The value chain is the chain that denotes the various activities and services conducted by a firm in order to serve a valuable service or product in the market. Figure 1: Value Chain Diagram (Source: Porter, 2008) Inbound Logistic The company’s branch in Thailand offers a close-association among its investors, suppliers and customers in the market. Cocoa seeds have few cultivation fields worldwide. Thus, the company considers its suppliers to be very important as they supply the required raw materials to them at right time and place (Sridharan, Caines and Patterson, 2008). Operations The company claims that its primary operation in the m arket is to serve the world’s best coffee to the individuals. The Quality Strategy of

Web security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Web security - Essay Example This is because websites, web applications and web services, all being components of web security, create integral part of the daily operations of these industries and organisations. Information sharing or business or service delivery of these organisations now faces a lot of dangers. From invasion of their privacy, information theft, sabotage, black mailing to compromising corporate operation and end user activities. Web security analysis by various stakeholders has established that the web security threats typically result from mistakes in coding or programming the website, poor input and output sanitisation of a website. These mistakes have left a hole exploited by the hackers’ community to launch attacks on websites. The security of the web application, underlying operating system and computer network is at risk. The existence of exploit paths on a web system and the magnitude of that exploit path can be evaluated continuously to assess the risk level to the business. The type of web attack launched by hackers depends on many factors. Most factors are unique to the web attack as will be discussed in this essay. The essay will also examines the nature of these web attacks, details of their vulnerabilities, the risk levels they may raise and how to control or reduce the risk web attacks poses to organisational information and business operations. Web security risks in the name of defaced, hacked or web broken into have increased with the significant increase of the internet usage. A threat is anything that causes worry or fear, especially, because of the events there after (Consequences). Web security threats are increasing and causing big fear in organisations or individuals. According to Stuttard and Pinto (2008), the most serious attacks against web application are those that expose sensitive data or gain unrestricted access to the backend systems on which the application is running. Apparently, the total number of reported web

The expert system of Knowledge Management Assignment - 1

The expert system of Knowledge Management - Assignment Example First, they are prone to human errors, the people who compile the information may not have been accurate in that field, and this means that application of that knowledge will tend to be misleading. For this case, human beings are designing expert based technologies in different fields. This technology is expected to provide intelligence to human beings in solving challenges in the different areas. As a consultant I would advocate for the use of experts systems over knowledge based systems. The process of solving a problem starts with application of facts which are known and proceeding to complex ones in the specific field (Maher, 1986). This path of search has to move from the real problem to the solution or objective in question. The expert system is however challenged by a few rules that govern it. First, it should be understood that the experts system has to rely on human knowledge. The system acquires this knowledge though practice over time. Each information is fed into the syst em to make it effective. Human beings have the mandate of collecting the small pieces of information and accumulating it in a knowledge base. Expert systems may not be resourceful in reasoning about the processes which are involved. This implies that for an expert system to be effective, a human expert must feed information into it (Szakwani, 2007). One of the main advantages with an expert system is that it is able to make solutions to problems that would rather have involved a specialized expert, who in this case is a human being.

Pirates and Pointing Fingers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pirates and Pointing Fingers - Essay Example nto territorial waters were however drafted within the 20th century and must therefore be appreciated as good steps towards containing the global threat of maritime piracy. Back in 2007, Russia rose to become a pace setter in issues of maritime policy when it planted its flag within the Arctic ocean while expressing discontentment and discord in the manner maritime security has been handled over years especially within the high seas. Dodds (2011 63-73) critically analyzes the working of CCLS (Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf) as well as the various strategies that have been undertaken by coastal states towards the OCS (outer continental shelf). The study appreciated the efforts embraced by such states as Russia, Canada and Norway as well as member states to European Union on matters of controlling the maritime activity as favored by their geographic proximity to the high seas. As a discipline, political has risen to command great influence in the modern day studies as a discipline in the contemporary human society especially after the 20th century. Modernism and postmodernism have been distinctive disciplines with diversity of opinions especially in regard to human cultural diversity and the supremacy. Unlike the modernism principle that esteems ‘self’ even in matters pertaining to global effect, the postmodernism is much focused on pluralism and is much skeptical towards fundamental laws as well as the unchanging relations between individuals. Blacksell (2006, 169-171) shows that the oceans have been an integral part in human geography especially from the fact that the oceans occupy about 70% of the earth. Accordingly, he notes that even after human civilization, the better part of 20th century remained devoid of any form of control or political regulation on the oceans despite being greatly esteemed as a mode of transport. This lack of regu latory frameworks exposed sailors to greater risks from the terror groups and pirates who would not

How markets fail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How markets fail - Essay Example He said that despite the fact that there are economic thinkers such as the utopian and reality-based economic thinkers; market can still fail mainly because of the unseen variables. According to Cassidy, market can fail despite the fact that the prevailing conditions are favorable (403). To many, a financial crisis of such nature in an advance economy appears to be a phenomenon of the past. It is like diseases such as smallpox which are still found in poorer countries, but essentially eradicated from the developed countries. However, Cassidy warns that financial crisis can still occur despite the fact that the economy is advanced. Cassidy was aiming at responding to the disaster that hit the western banking system unexpectedly. The financial crisis occurred during the period when most people were expecting positive results. Both the utopian thinkers and real-based economic thinkers could not tell what was going to come. They could not anticipate nor imagined that the disaster would o riginate at home. All they knew was that there was a growing current account imbalance between the United States and china and that incase of any form of financial crisis, these two countries are likely to be the first one to experience the crisis. Most people believed that changes in technology and the impact of globalization had enabled the central bank to figure out the secret to conducting monetary policy in a stabilizing way. Because of this, most people including the economic thinkers believed that the central was equipped with necessary knowledge, skills and know how having kept the economy on track after a series of ups and down in the 1990s. Most economies did no even stop to ponder about the case of Japan, which experienced economic bubble despite the fact that its economy was advanced. They claim that it would have been a normal phenomenon to find a financial or banking crisis in Japan given that Tokyo, a hybrid economy, lacks real market economy like the Great Britain. U nexpectedly, the disaster struck the economy that was believed to be advanced and strong to resist the tides. Most people, including the economic thinkers had no real answers to the unexpected phenomenon. Cassidy had an idea of what might be the cause of the unusual breakdown. As mentioned above, Cassidy wanted to clarify the fact that in event of financial crisis, bankers do not have bigger responsibilities and therefore, no one should lay blame to them (405). Cassidy argues that even if bankers had tried their best to meet the interest of their shareholders, there is no assurance that would have fulfill the interest of everybody. This is because society, according to Cassidy has different believes and perceptions, which may not be good for banks. Cassidy asserted that the belief that most of the economist have about the market is a mere theory. He particularly criticizes the belief that most of the proponents of the free markets have about market behavior. Cassidy questioned wheth er producers and consumers in a free market can lead to a beneficial outcome for a whole society. He also questioned the argument brought forth by the famous economist, Adam Smith that states that market systems is similar to an enormous decentralized machine for conveying signals and that the resulting outcome is both efficient and stable. Cassidy cautiously explore various areas of these

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder - Essay Example No one can deny that people’s standard for being beautiful is first the value of one’s facial and body form. If one is shown a photograph of Jocelyn Wildenstein’s multi-million dollar face, he would not definitely approve of her to hit even the last number in the 50 million most beautiful women list. That may be rude but sometimes we just have to face the truth of how people evaluate beauty. Of course, one would wonder why Mr. Wildenstein’s paid enormous amounts for his wife’s surgeries. That face called by many as ugly might just be the prettiest in his eyes. In this case, the saying that goes, â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder† holds true. On a general note, people value the appearance of one’s face but sometimes, the value of a person’ overall appearance can change that. The Eye of the Beholder depicts how a woman came to realize what she values more in her personal view of beautiful. The storyteller who looked at he rself as ugly sought for professional help to become beautiful. However, when the artist thought she made a very good job, the main character realized that the value of beauty to her was being herself and having an identity. Perhaps the make-up artist beamed with pride with the change that she made in the physical appearance of her customer however, she was shocked with the reaction of the customer. She said, â€Å"I look terrible† (Suh, 189). ... With this, the protagonist says she feels negated. Furthermore, she says, â€Å"I have been blotted out and another face drawn in my place† (198). For the woman, she realized that being beautiful is not being like the other women. She valued her identity and that is what is beautiful in her eyes. â€Å"Hideous† was another word the main character used to describe herself when she looked at her new appearance. â€Å"I don’t even look human†, she continued, â€Å"Look at my eyes. You can’t even see me†. Maybe the protagonist was not really being unappreciative of the work of her make-up artist. She was acting so rudely because she felt she was turned into another human being. Or perhaps she might have been talking about her inner appearance. In the first place, she was the one who went to the shop to ask for help and the help was given to her. However, she might have felt that she betrayed her self and this made her feel terrible. She did not r ecognize her self anymore. â€Å"Hideous† might have been a word she used to describe her looks but it might have also been her description of her self because of the betrayal she committed. Coming from the shop, the main character went to wash her face and when she looked once again at her reflection, she thought, â€Å"I wasn’t pretty. But I was familiar and comforting. I was myself† (190). One could understand that another thing that the character values, is being one’s self. When she was observing herself in the shop, she said, â€Å"My face had a strange plastic sheen, like a mannequin’s.† She was disgusted at her reflection and she wondered if what she did was right. She questioned her appearance and considered it being fake. She was not her self therefore

Marketing planing gruop project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing planing gruop project - Assignment Example In a typical marketing mix, product offering plays the utmost level of importance and acts as a key aspect to draw customers. The dimension of product includes several constitutes such as branding, packaging, features and quality. At the same time, a few essential credentials such as concept, objective and uniqueness of the product are required. A product can be tangible and intangible. Tangible product has physical evidence, on the contrary, intangible product does not have a physical appearance, and thus, it can be asserted as a service (Lamb et al., 2008). Om Organics is a range of luxurious and chemical free personal care products has been developed for the conscious consumers who are willing to accept diverge to the current beauty industry standards. The product that will be offered to the target customers will include ‘Juicy Creme Lotion’. This product is primarily developed for nourishing and hydrating skin with freshly extracted mixture of fruits and juices.   Customer can find the detail regarding this product online by accessing the web address http://www.omorganicscanada.com/#!product/prd1/2038204345/juicy-creme-lotion. The key objective of the product is to change the traditional trend of beauty products, in order to ensure neither chemical and nor environmental effect. Use of petrochemicals or parabens has been strictly omitted. During the execution of this luxurious and beauty product (Juicy Creme Lotion), several ingredients have been used which include Aqua, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower), Camellia Oleifera (Camellia) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric  Triglyceride (coconut oil), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Stearate (and) PEG 100 Stearate, Silk Amino Acids, Cetyl  Alcohol, Glycerin,   Isopropyl Myristate, DL-Panthenol,  Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol (and)  Sorbic Acid, Allantoin, Psidium Guajava (Guava) Fruit  Extract, Ananas Sativus (Pineapple) Fruit

Undesirable Behavior in Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Undesirable Behavior in Children - Essay Example Undesirable Behavior in Children Data provide evidence that aggression in preschool children is more common and stable. Friends can create change in aggression more swiftly in comparison to teachers and parents; however, the same cannot be said for all peers in the class. Some mechanisms are more effective than others in furthering a change in aggression state while half of the participants feel that a child can bring changes in another child's dislike. Additionally, researchers also found that chasing or running could play a bigger role in creating conforming behavior. Article: Increasing the Teacher Rate of Behaviour Specific Praise and its Effect on a Child with Aggressive Behaviour Problems Moffat (2011) investigated effectiveness of behavior specific praise (BSP) by teacher to improve the children behavior. Numerous studies suggest that behavior specific praise (BSP) by teacher is helpful in reducing antisocial behavior of the students. Participants were Tich – a kid of age 3 year and 9 month, and a teac her named Mona. Mona involved in this specific experiment possessed more than 20 years of experience as a teacher with students in the early childhood. Data were collected through observation methods. Mona and Tich were observed for 3 weeks to understand how Tich responded to the statements of Mona. Mona would reprimand Tich for any unacceptable behaviors but would never praise Tich for any pro-social behaviors. Mona was given proper lessons of BSP statements and informed when she failed to make BSP statement for Tich. The findings reveal that as the frequency of BSP goes up the rate of reprimands decrease. By week three, there are considerable changes in the teacher-student relationship. The relationship acquires a positive tone. At the end of third week, Mona and Tich both get a better understanding for each other. The researcher concludes that the higher the frequency of BSP statements, the higher the incidents of pro-social behaviors and the lesser the frequency of antisocial be haviors. Article: Media Exposure, Aggression and Prosocial Behavior during Early Childhood Ostrov et al. (2006) investigated the role of media exposure on preschool children. In the two-year longitudinal study, 78 preschool children and head teachers participated. The study also involved parental reports of media exposure in reference to physical aggression for boys and relational aggression for girls. The data from parents were collected through a questionnaire that gave feedback on their children's favorite shows, movies or videos. Data on children behavior in class room were collected through observation facilitated by videotapes. Data reveals that media exposure leads to physical and relational aggression during early childhood. Parental monitoring of media exposure in home leads to future and concurrent effects on children's social behavior with their peers. Exposure to educational media does not necessarily generate positive or pro-social behaviors. Also, too much media exposu re, in general, can create negative consequences for children in their relationship with peers. Researchers also found the relation between educational media exposure (EME) and violent media exposure (VME) regarding aggression and pro-social behavior of the children in their early childhood. Article: The Friendship Features of Preschool Children: Links with Prosocial Behavior and Aggression Sebanc (2003) investigated features of young children's friendship and also if these features had any association with aggressive and

Descartes I Think Therefor I Am Essay Example for Free

Descartes I Think Therefor I Am Essay -A statement by the seventeenth-century French philosopher Renà © Descartes I think; therefore I am was the end of the search Descartes conducted for a statement that could not be doubted. In the beginning, Descartes was in the process of figuring out his nature, using reasoning instead of experience. He had to start with a first premise which was indubitable. He found that I exist is something that is certain, and what follows must be certain as well. In the meditators search for certainty, he had to discard anything that was false or even open to the slightest doubt. He had to tear away all that was previously known to him, and with a new, stronger foundation, start anew. Descartes had conceded that he has no senses and no body. He also noted that the physical world does not exist, which might also seem to imply his nonexistence. Yet, to have these doubts, he must exist. He found that he could not doubt that he himself existed, as he was the one doing the doubting in the first place. For an evil demon to mislead him in all these insidious ways, he must exist in order to be misled. There must be an I that can doubt, be deceived, and so on. He then formulates the famous cogito argument, saying that he concludes the proposition I am, I exist is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind. He then questions what the I that exists is. He first thought that he had a soul, by means of which he was nourished, moved, could sense and think; and also that he had a body. All these attributes can be doubted, except the fact that he thinks. He can exist if any of the other attributes are not there, but cannot exist if he does not think. Further, he states that he exists as long as he is thinking. The meditator then concludes that in the strict sense, he is only a thing that thinks. In this statement, the Meditator finds his first grip on certainty after the radical skepticism he posited in the first meditation.

Principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework

Principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework Outline In this report I am going to be reviewing the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) looking at the principles, how they underpin our Early Years settings and are based on the theory of pioneers. I will then cover the value and importance of play and how this is a major part of childrens learning. I will outline how we got to where we are today with the EYFS Framework including the importance and the impact it has had on todays practitioners. At the end of the review I will look at how training and the continuing professional development of practitioners is essential. Principles Dictionary definition a truth or general law that is used as a basis for a theory or system of belief Oxford English Dictionary, third edition 2005 Early Years Foundation Stage principles: A unique child every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. Positive Relationships children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person. Enabling Environments the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending childrens development and learning. Learning and Developing children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected. Todays children are the main priority in every Early Years practice. The Early Years Foundation Stage must be underpinned by principles supporting every area of a childs development. They are all of equal importance and need to be in place when caring for children. They work together providing a stimulating and valuable practice, delivery of the EYFS and putting the legal requirements in to perspective. They also support childs needs and interest which means appropriate activities are delivered. Key pioneers and theorists such as Montessori and Margaret MacMillan have been studying how children learn for over 200 years. Through studying and observing children they realised and established what was important for a child to develop and learn. Margaret MacMillan came to her theory after noticing the affect poverty was having on children. She became aware of the importance of exploring the natural world, being outside in open spaces and receiving regular meals, bath time and plenty of sleep. As according to M.MacMillian In open-air nursery children had no examinations to sit, no formal structure to the day but had time to play, to run free in open spaces, feel the sun and the wind and explore the natural world.(how children learn pg24) Key pioneers and theorists still influence our principles and teaching today, as we ensure that childrens learning is extended and that they have access throughout the day to both the indoor and outside area and not just at set times. The outdoor area is now an extension of the classroom bringing the indoor areas outdoors including role play, writing, gardening, and caring for life stock. Childrens families who are on a low income are also offered free school meals to ensure the child received a healthy balanced diet and all children are given the time and space to rest throughout the day. Value of play Play is a powerful motivator, encouraging children to be creative and to develop their ideas, understanding and language. Through play, children explore, apply and test out what they know and can do Rumbold report pg7 56 All babies and children enjoy playing, it is an essential part of their growing up and is needed for children to reach their full potential. It allows the children to be in charge of their own learning and is used everyday, this allows us to see a lot more of their achievements rather setting the scene for them. Children are able to combine their play with learning in a safe environment as C.Macintyre (into VIII) states although the children might be seen to be just playing all the time they are learning, just as fast as they can Play supports a childs holistic development as PLAY play underpins all development and learning for young children. Most children play spontaneously, although some may need adult support, and it is through play that they develop intellectually, creatively, physically, socially and emotionally. Children can learn everything through play and it is an effective way of learning so it should be made fun and enjoyable for both the children and the parents. It is also important that children and practitioners understand they are allowed to play and that it is through play that they learn. When playing children naturally develop their skills and to act out and over come any issues they have in the immediate world. It is also where the children do their thinking, problem solving and use first hand experiences so it is important that the practitioners and parents enter the childrens world and encourage their play. Playing can take place anywhere not only in the classroom but the outdoor area as well and children need to be given time and space to place. The journey of Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum The journey of how we got to todays EYFS curriculum started in 1990 with the Rumbold report starting with quality. It researched in to the quality of education for under fives and how the process of a childs learning is just as important as the outcome. The report states Childrens imagination can be nurtured by responding to their curiosity. With encouragement and stimulation, this curiosity will develop into a thirst for, and enjoyment of, learning. Pg 7 56. In 1996 Desirable Outcomes were introduced consisting of six areas of learning: personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematics, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development, and creative development. The Curriculum Guidance was then set up in 2000 for the Foundation Stage children aged 3-5 years. It meant they had their own curriculum which supported their needs within the 6 areas of learning. Under each area then had set goals which gave guidance and structure to their education. Each chil d will achieve these goals at their own rate and are the foundation of their learning. It was then noticed that children under 3 also needed some guidance so in 2003 Sure start introduced a framework known as Birth to three: supporting our youngest children introduced. It takes a holistic approach in little stepping stones caring for children needs and routine. These are covered by four components: A strong child, skilful communicator, competent learner and healthy child. Today every practice is required to follow the Early years framework. It complies and supports all children from birth to five and separates from the National curriculum. It focuses on development, learning and care of the child. The framework The EYFS framework is one document which all settings working with children will have to comply with. It includes both education and care and is supported by the four principles (appendix). For a effective setting it is important that the following key points are in place. This has had a huge impact on practitioner as it ensures every childs development is being met and they are seen as an individual. Observing a child is an important part of the day-to-day role of a practitioner within an Early Years setting. As observing a child you are able to discover the childs interests, likes and dislikes, behavioral patterns, asses the childs stage of development and identify any patterns in the childs learning. S.Isaac pg 35 how children learn allowed adults to really get to know children, that their emotions were not hidden It can also highlight any concerns you may have and ensures that the child is seen as an individual with all its needs being met. Observing a child involves looking, listening and being activity involved. Assessing a child is of equal importance as observing them, as you use the information from the observation to identify the childs achievement and plan the childs next steps in their development and learning. Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development process EYFS Statutory Framework pg 16 2.19 In my own setting we are regularly observing children during play as this is when we feel we gain more from observing the children as they are more comfortable and demonstrate the skills that they have learnt. We then take the childs observation and record their achievements in their individual profiles and learning journeys. From looking at their achievements we then plan their next steps. This process is a continuous cycle as shown in the diagram. Planning There are three different types of planning Long-term, Medium term and short term all of which are important as they ensure all areas of a childs development are evenly met. It also ensures all the principles are being underpinned within the setting and that the children have access to a wide range of area including indoor, outdoor and a quiet area. Planning also enables areas of development to be linked together so the children are developing a range of skills and learning. In my setting the children are very much involved with the planning as we are interested in what the children want to learn. We use short-term weekly plans (Appendix) and review the activities each day including to see how successful they have been and to extend the childrens learning. Good planning is the key to making childrens learning effective EYFS FRAMEWORK principle pg12 2.8 Record keeping Keeping a record of childrens development is thoroughly important as it monitors a childs progress and achievements. Also highlights any patterns in a child development and is used as evidence to show parents, outside professionals and teachers. In my setting each child has their own Learning Journal which they are involved in. It consists of the child profile, evidence of their development and learning using photos, observations and their own work. This is shared between the child, their parents and the practitioners. Relationships with parents and importance of reporting to them Parents are a vital part of a childs learning as they are their main educators. A good relationship between the parents and the setting helps to build a strong connection which enables the parents to support their child and offer a continuity of expectations, experiences and behavior All families are important and should be welcomed and valued in all settings principle parents as partners 2.2 The parents also have an understanding of the EYFS and so understand how important it is for their child to play and how they their role as a parent is needed for them to develop. Within my setting we support the parents by making sure they feel involved and appreciated. We have an open door policy which allows parents to come and talk to a member of staff when they feel they need to. We also offer parent consultations, workshops, helping hand events and inform them of any information through meetings, newsletters, telephone calls and home/school diaries. Training Learning does not stop once leaving school you continue to learn throughout your life and within your professional career, today this is known as Lifelong Learning. So With frequent changes to the Curriculum it is important that practitioners continue to keep up to date with the training, as this helps them to develop on their knowledge and improve their skills within their career. It also allows them to reflect on their own learning experiences and to notice their achievements.

Folklore Traditions and Paleontology

Folklore Traditions and Paleontology The scientific process frames information using empirical reason, a system that extracts valuable and seemingly unbiased facts of nature while often affording less room for sources of knowledge that defy its exacting methodology. As a result, information coming from oral histories, myth and ritual is not always regarded as valuable, or at least not as valuable as that which can be tested in a laboratory setting. Even so, traditions of folklore and so-called pure science have interacted across time, and the focus of this paper will be to question in what ways folklore has informed research in the field of paleontology. How did traditions of myth affect early impressions of dinosaur fossils, has folklore ever aided paleontologists work, and how have dinosaurs shaped myth itself these are all questions I intend to answer, focusing mostly on fossils and folklore indigenous to North America and East Asia. Like any other field, science reflects the changing perspectives of people through different time periods. By examining the role folklore plays in paleontology, I am also interested in tracking larger themes of skepticism toward non-Western sources, conflicts between scientific and cultural beliefs, and how scientists understanding of what constitutes valid information changes. It would be shortsighted to state the case simply as one pitting European viewpoints against those of Native American and Asian cultures. Beginning with Georges Cuvier and the theory of extinction, then later with Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution, Western ideas themselves have long had to contend with the Christian narrative of intelligent design. As scientist and historian Adrienne Mayor points out, even some Western folklore owe their beginnings to dinosaur fossils. I will be drawing much of my material from Mayors 2013 book Fossil Legends and the First Americans which discusses the additional obst acles encountered in accessing and publishing information from indigenous sources. All of this is to show how multiple perspectives often shape scientific studies and how the cut and dry methodology we often associate with Western research is often more nuanced than it appears. Dinosaur fossil finds have occurred as long as people have walked the Earth, and it is not surprising to see how myths from around the world take shape from encounters with dinosaur remains. Robert Plot in 1677 was likely the first to put a fossil discovery in scientific terms, though not without mythical overtones. Part of a femur later described as belonging to Megalosaurus was called Scrotus Humanum by Robert Plot who included it in his book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Coming long before dinosaurs were understood with any accuracy, Plot discusses multiple sources for the bone, which he does recognize as a thigh bone. He starts by suggesting it belonged to a Roman war elephant, then compares it to myths of giants, both in the Bible and in more modern history. Goliath features as evidence in Plots analysis along with a giant believed to have been in the Tartar army that invaded Eastern Europe in 1575: a Man of ordinary stature might go upright between his legs when he did st ride (Plot). He concludes that the bone is very likely a man or womans, one whose kind was perhaps wiped out by the Flood because the skeletons of modern humans have not shrunken by any remarkable degree. Apart from Robert Plots biblical references, his other observations are a blend of history and hearsay. Biblical references themselves are myths of their own kind, not so much in the sense of being fantastical, but insofar as they are stories used to explain reality. Taken in that light, they are equivalent to the myths about dinosaurs arising in Native American and Chinese folklore traditions. Given his time and place, myths naturally informed his judgement, even in a scientific study. The other notable feature of Plots observation is the idea that a catastrophe, such as the biblical Flood, was responsible for the disappearance of whatever could have had such a huge femur. Georges Cuvier, who made a huge contribution to the study of paleontology about a century after Plot, also appealed to the idea of catastrophes wiping out species, a view known as catastrophism. He used catastrophism to reason the phenomenon of extinction, an idea that at first conflicted with Cuviers own sense of the world as created perfectly by God. Why would a species go extinct if it was part of the divine creation, or why would God make it go extinct? The discovery of dinosaurs and the resulting theories about life did much in reshaping Western notions of natural history. Though some beliefs were upset by these large fossils, others were stabilized and encouraged. Cuvier, presumably after reconciling with the reality of extinction, developed his views on catastrophism largely with the help of Native American sources. Having never traveled to North America, he relied on interpretations of indigenous folklore, journals and actual fossil specimens sent by natural scientists (Mayor). Mayor discusses how Cuvier had amassed a considerable trove of material, among which were fragments of mastodon tusks recovered from a branch of the Susquehanna River; as it so happened, the Delaware and Lenape name for that section of the river is chemung, which translates to place of the horns (Mayor). Though it is not clear to what extent paleontologists have been led to excavation sites by the help of indigenous folklore, or in this case a simple translation and interpretation, it seems fairly likely that corroborations such as these proved helpful in some regard. Of course, what proved doubly helpful to Cuviers burgeoning theories was the existing Native American tales about the fossils they had found, which came to his attention through the work of Rembrandt Peale. Peale published a large amount of Native folklore, including the legend that the colossal creatures to whom the fossils belonged had once roamed the Earth, but were destroyed by a lighting bolt of the good Spirit in a brief but cataclysmic moment. Similar lore about the grandfather buffalo existed, no doubt because Natives had encountered the giant skeletons of Pleistocene bison which were widespread (Mayor). All this information reached Cuvier, who cited Peale in his own work and used Native myths of violent catastrophes to bolster his theories behind their extinction (Mayor). Again, though it is difficult to tell how much Native lore impacted Cuviers views, the very fact that he referenced their myths is what a skeptical scientist might deem an ad hoc hypothesis, convenient for how it upholds the perspective he already finds compelling. While Mayor shows how myths were useful to Cuviers understanding of North American natural history, along with that of other figures like Thomas Jefferson, Phil Senter in a 2013 article discusses how myths have also been used more recently to debunk scientific theories. Senters piece titled Dinosaurs and pterosaurs in Greek and Roman art and literature? An investigation of young-earth creationist claimsfocuses on how fossil observations made during the ancient Greco-Roman civilizations have been re-interpreted by modern Christians looking to debunk the theory of evolution. Illustrations that Senter describes as reflecting encounters with Mesozoic reptile skeletons are claimed instead to be those of mammals and reptiles common today in an attempt to cast doubt on the separation of humans and such animals by millions of years (Senter). As this case clearly shows, mythology is a tool that can also be used to discredit science. Though this may, for some, be more incentive to steer clear from incorporating folklore into scientific narratives, Senter proves that it can be redeemed with a little research. If not to improve the general understanding of a subject by expanding the context in which it is studied, then folklore approached through science presents a way to overturn misconceptions at odds with commonly accepted scientific theories. Folklore in paleontology, or what Mayor calls fossil legends, can also work the other way around, aiding our understanding of myth creation itself. For instance, the Western myth of griffins is possibly the result of traders along the silk route in Central Asia encountering skulls belonging to Protoceratops (Mayor Heaney). Instead of myths informing the study of dinosaurs and the history of paleontology, as is the case with Native American folklore and fossils discovered in North America, this is an example of how paleontology can contribute to the study of myth and ancient cultural exchange. Though this particular connection between griffins and dinosaurs is disputed by some archeologists, it does not detract from the reality that mythology and science taken together can add the multiple fields of study, such as anthropology and history in general (Tartaron). Another example of fossils informing cultural myths can be found in the popular beliefs of dragons in China. According to pa leontologist Dong Zhiming in his 1992 book Dinosaur Faunas of China, dinosaur remains from the Jurassic to Cretaceous Periods continue to be regarded as belonging to mythical dragons (Zhiming). In some parts of China, fossil remains are still extracted, crushed into powder, and consumed with the belief that they contain magical healing properties (AMNH). Similar beliefs were present in Lakota Native American culture. Beginning around the time of Cope and Marshs infamous Bone Wars, contact between indigenous figures and paleontologists was renewed. James Cook, a hunter who was friendly with the Lakota Sioux and who was shown a giant jawbone fossil by a man named Afraid of His Horses, introduced Othniel Marsh to famous Lakota Chief Red Cloud and persuaded the Sioux that Marsh was interested in bones, not gold. Marsh became good friends with Red Cloud, and incorporated the Lakota view that large fossils belong to extinct Thunder Beasts in his naming of Brontosaurus: Thunder Reptile (Mayor). Mayor also discusses Cooks ranch in Nebraska where Native Americans and paleontologists regularly interacted, but from which there is a frustrating lack of evidence directly linking Native folklore and knowledge to major excavation sites. In spite of that, the friendship of Marsh and Red Cloud is also testament to the role Native Americans personally helped in paleontological efforts. Though their myths did not accord with the scientists views, which by this time had outgrown Cuviers speculations, they show a clear awareness of fossils. Without getting into larger questions of discovery and what defines a paleontologist, I cannot help but underscore, as Mayor does in her book, the highly contrasting views that many Western scientists showed toward indigenous history. George Rogers Clark of the Lewis and Clark exhibition once wrote, I see no reason why [indigenous tradition] should not be received as good History, at least as good as a great part of ours, but the same broadmindedness was not forthcoming in other authorities. George Gaylord Simpson, professor at Columbia and Curator at the American Museum of Natural History, could not have been more dismissive of Native American claims to fossil discovery: Indians certainly found and occasionally collected fossil bonesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but these discoveries are no real part of paleontological history (Mayor). This quote is one of Simpsons many showing his blatant disregard for work done outside the framework of traditional scientific methodology. It is not an overstatem ent to suggest that he was simply racist. Yet this is equally a part of the history of fossil discoveries, and it is worth discussing to see how much naturalists and paleontologists across time may have deliberately limited their own knowledge by abandoning non-conforming sources of information. Many of paleontologys major steps forward were, and still are, occasioned by untraditional methods of accessing information. Folklore is hard pressed on its own to describe where fossil remains may be found, but the example of Marsh, as well as his nemesis Edward Drinker Cope, proves that it was at the very least a tool of communication between Western scientists and Native guides. Cope was not as intrepid as Othniel Marsh, but he did travel to the Badlands in South Dakota where he arranged to have a Sioux scout lead him to where the remains of Thunder Birds and Water Monsters could be found. At one spot, he recovered the skull of a duck-billed dinosaur as well as fossils from 21 other dinosaur species (Mayor). By accepting folklore as a means of communication, Cope and Marsh were able to receive help in finding these bones, not to mention persuade understandably hostile Natives that they were not interested in appropriating their land. Suffice it to say that someone who disregarded the possibility that Natives had any knowledge of fossils would not have been so lucky as to be led to major excavation sites , or at least not on friendly terms. As the Sioux tradition regards monsters from the ancient past as having been killed by divine lightning, they avoid touching the bones lest they incur a similar fate. This type of special, even sacred approach to the unknown is paralleled by the Chinese belief in the magical properties of dinosaur (dragon) bones. It is the argument of a less enlightened scientist to denigrate these cultural understandings of the deep past simply because they lack the same framework as Western scientific inquiry. Even within the sterile and precise parameters of paleontology, is there not some deep-seated awe of dinosaurs and the world they occupied? Is this not comparable to that of people who relate to it in terms of myth and lore? Yet another larger point to be gleaned from this comparative study of folklore and paleontology is how certainty can exist in multiple forms. The legend of Thunder Birds is as real to Native Americans as the efforts of geologic dating and excavation are to Western minds. To prioritize one over the other is to overlook the unique and intrinsic value of each as a system of knowledge in itself. The absurdity of disregarding non-Western fossil legends is increased all the more when one finds how the Greeks and Romans, the forbears of all Western civilization, also drew upon mythology in their own discoveries of fossils. In another book by Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters, she discusses how the Greeks also drew upon the oral culture of Homer and Hesiod. Much like Robert Plots speculations, Greek myths of monsters, giants, and titans were well known and held a place closer to reality than any modern reader of the classics might understand (Mayor). As such, giant bones found around the Mediterranean Sea also came with convenient explanations. Or like the example of dragon myths in China, it is even more likely that their myths themselves came from fossil discoveries. Interestingly enough, the Greeks also were of the opinion that lightning smote the oversized monsters of the past; the modern consensus in the scientific community about the actual demise of the dinosaurs b y asteroid collision is not very far off from this common myth. Yet again, the distinction between relied-upon science and the myths of world cultures come to remarkably similar conclusions despite accessing different knowledge sources in the process. Coming, at last, back to the question of whether folklore has played a role in paleontology, the answer is yes. This role, however, is marked by a departure from traditional scientific method what folklore adds to science instead comes via interpersonal relations, interpretive meanings and subjective experiences. In the case of Marsh, Cope and the Sioux, folklore itself may not have lead the naturalists to their excavation sites, but a respect for the tradition as it was, clearly did play a role. The overriding evidence presented in this paper shows that myths work indirectly, and indeed interdependently with paleontology. The examples of Chinese dragon lore and Western myths of griffins shows that working backward through paleontology can also explain myths. Incorporating myth and legend into the study of dinosaurs and their fossil remains creates a more interdisciplinary, and therefore deeper, study of dinosaurs and their histories. In the more nuanced paleontological discussions going on today about dinosaur appearance and primitive characteristics, it becomes clear how much scientists own subjectivity was formerly at play in the depiction of dinosaurs. Without evidence of feathers, for instance, scaly reptilian images become the norm, images that might have simply made the most sense to scientists rather than being empirically proven. Myth functions in much the same way. Robert Plot and Georges Cuvier, by making conclusions using biblical myth as well as Native American folklore, in Cuviers case, are excellent examples of how folklore influenced the early study of dinosaurs. Indeed, the founding fathers of paleontology are still extolled in spite of their now-ridiculous sounding evidence, which shows the racism lurking behind other naturalists work when they discredited on sight the knowledge of indigenous peoples. What I have especially tried to show is how folklore and fossil legends represent unique and equally valuable sources of information. Though their content might not be directly relatable to the study of a particular fossil in a specific period, there is ample evidence to show that having at least a respect for other traditions experiences with fossils can prove beneficial in unseen ways. We should never forget how ridiculous some formerly common beliefs about dinosaurs seem to us now, such as naked and sometimes anthropomorphic renderings made in the recent and distant past. Myth and folklore surround us and inform our thinking in more ways that we are aware of. Acknowledging this and respecting those traditions for what they are can only further our understanding. Works Cited AMNH. Natural History of Dragons. AMNH. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. . Asia-Pacific | Dinosaur Bones used as Medicine. BBC News. BBC, 06 July 2007. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. . Mayor, Adrienne. The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman times. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2000. Print. Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2013. Print. Mayor, A., Heaney, M. (1993). Griffins and Arimaspeans. Folklore, 104(1-2), 40-66. Plot, Robert. The Natural History of Oxford-shire. Newport Pagnell: Minet, 1677. Print. Senter, Phil. Dinosaurs in Greco-Roman Art? Palaeontologia Electronica. N.p., 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. . Tartaron, T. F. (2014). Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Greek World: Culture Contact Issues and Theories. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (pp. 1804-1821). Springer New York. Zhiming, Dong. Dinosaurian Faunas of China. Chinese Ocean Press, 14 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017. .

Faith, Reason, and Imagination Essay -- Christianity

Each of our faiths and reasoning are based on our cultural beliefs, behavior, and how we come to rationalize sense in our lives; along with a belief that does not require proof. Reason holds justification and intellectual faculty by which our conclusions are based via a truth or non-truth in why we are faithful. The enriched imagination that one holds is part of that â€Å"something special† which helps progress our lives to the next level giving freedom to feel, think, and wonder all the possibilities of life has to offer. Our existence as humans has allowed us this pleasure without reservation. Faith and imagination is all about truth and the belief in a higher power beyond man himself. Faith and imagination binds the power of God’s existence. However, in lack of evidence and that which is unforeseen; consequently, if we know the value of life and understand that which is right and wrong; it truly acknowledges God’s presence among us. when people reference a â€Å"miracle† has happened; most people that hold faith as a powerful source don’t just assume the miracle came out of nowhere without some concept of a divine attribute connected to faith. A miracle is not an act based purely on a violation of natural law, but an act of God’s law and his true existence. And if man is to find his true purpose of his existence and fulfilling his life, he must adopt faith and reason. I feel that Faith and reason are correlated in many aspects, and are vital to one another. Reason precedes faith in the process of knowing God’s existence and reigning power; although one cannot truly know the reasoning of something to be known without knowledge first. Faith is built on spirituality surrounding one’s cultural beliefs, behaviors, and ... ... Our faith as Christians should be in the ability to hold firmly and trust in the revelation of God’s word. Revelation must not be ignored. The Faith â€Å"surrounds† our reason with three key elements in mind, which are focused on human life, and God’s mysterious existence and power. Faith is justified in our reason and not just a state of mind to fill the void of reasoned knowledge. I believe there is a special knowledge that is centered and leads us to truth---and reason toward our obligations, commitments and how dedicated we are in Christ. He will certainly open the path of life for those who faithfully believe the inner testimony and followed his word. Work Cited The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Mothers Pearls :: Personal Narrative, Descriptive, Description

Mother's Pearls Around my mother’s neck was a necklace: a string of jaggedly spherical crystal beads. I don’t know why she chose that necklace for that night. Her sister’s wedding perhaps called for the touch of a family heirloom, or perhaps she simply liked the way it sat above her collarbone in a path of smooth stones. All the same, it was on this night that she chose to wear it — this favorite piece of hers — a gift from her late grandmother. On my mother’s lap I sat in a curl — no older than seven, with little patience for adults or conversation or wedding parties. With my ear to her breast, her voice reverberated as though echoing out of a dim cave in the wells of her chest. My mother’s boyfriend was tall and lanky. He had a reddish face and his ears looked as though they had been pinched by the lobes and stretched out an extra inch. His eyes were gentle, but I had no taste for men that were not my father, and was too shy to accept his numerous offers to dance, as my mother eased naturally in and out of conversation with the other women at the table. "She’s living in Corpus now." "That’s right. She married an optometrist, didn’t she?" "Sean Smithl." The band music, these women’s voices, the vibration of my mother’s chest, had all begun to blend into a slow rhythm, and I stared at the old women on the makeshift dance floor waltzing with their sons. Between my right fingers were the jewels that settled around my mother’s neck, that spiraled and entwined in the small of my hand, tightening at her throat, twisting effortlessly, the cool stones rolling over the tips of fingers, sliding across palm. Had my evening ended like this, the entire memory would have been lost in the pile of my past like any other childhood moment. But it did not. In a snap as quiet as the sound of a pin popping through fabric, my mother’s necklace unleashed from her throat, a ripple of beads falling to the floor like rain. She gasped, pushing me from her lap, leaving me wide-eyed and mesmerized by the glittering pellets that rolled and hopped off the carpet, some even reeling their way to the hard edge of the dance floor. Under the table, past the chair legs, she and her boyfriend bent over desperately, plucking the shimmering rocks and filling their hands with them.

Educational War Zone Essay -- Education, Bullying

On the afternoon of April 9, 2010 I found myself in a meeting with Kerri Evans, the assistant principal of Pleasant Ridge Middle School, and my son Nicholas. I was there because my son had become a victim of verbal abuse. It was shocking to learn that bullying has become such an epidemic in our school system. â€Å"Nearly 1 in 3 students is involved in bullying† (Hertzog, 2010). In a perfect world there would be no bullying. Kids wouldn’t get shoved into lockers, and they wouldn’t be beat up in the hallway. Students wouldn’t talk about another student behind their back because of their shape, size, race, or religion. In a perfect world this wouldn’t happen, but at that moment in our imperfect world it was happening to my son. The question is, why does it happen and what can we do to stop it? â€Å"According to a 2009 federal survey of school crime and safety, 32 percent of middle and high school students said they'd been victimized during the acade mic year, compared with 14 percent in 2001† (Tyre, 2010). Bullying was making its way into my home and affecting my life. It was then that I realized that bullying was a problem that needed to stop. Bullying in schools is escalating and becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and we must take action to eliminate it. According to Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series: Bullying in Schools â€Å"bullying has two key components: repeated harmful acts and an imbalance of power† (Sampson, 2002). Although bullying occurs in many other places, school is where bullying is most prevalent and most concerning. In schools, physical bullying is more common among boys. This is because boys are much more aggressive than girls. However, verbal bullying such as gossip is much more common among girls. â€Å"Physical bullying... ...n reaction that Rachel wrote about. (www.rachelschallenge.org) Bullying is a repeated harmful act that continues to affect millions of students every year. There is no stereotypical person that is a target for bullying; anyone can be its victim. There may not always be any signs of physical harm during these attacks, but our children always suffer emotional harm. Educating students, teachers and parents seems to be the only valid solution to this problem. There are many organizations that can educate the schools on this subject but for it to work people must care. Maybe one day, when enough people realize that this problem will not go away with out their help, we can eliminate bullying from our schools. In a perfect world there would be no bullying, but if you could ask Rachel Scott she would tell you we do not live in a perfect world, only a hopeful one.

A Brief History of English and American Literature Essay

The Norman conquest of England, in the 11th century, made a break in the natural growth of the English language and literature. The old English or Anglo−Saxon had been a purely Germanic speech, with a complicated grammar and a full set of inflections. For three hundred years following the battle of Hastings. this native tongue was driven from the king’s court and the courts of law, from parliament, school, and university. During all this time there were two languages spoken in England. Norman French was the birth−tongue of the upper classes and English of the lower. When the latter finally got the better in the struggle, and became, about the middle of the 14th century, the national speech of all England, it was no longer the English of King Alfred. It was a new language, a grammarless tongue, almost wholly {12} stripped of its inflections. It had lost a half of its old words, and had filled their places with French equivalents. The Norman lawyers had introduced legal terms; the ladies and courtiers, words of dress and courtesy. The knight had imported the vocabulary of war and of the chase. The master−builders of the Norman castles and cathedrals contributed technical expressions proper to the architect and the mason. The art of cooking was French. The naming of the living animals, ox, swine, sheep, deer, was left to the Saxon churl who had the herding of them, while the dressed meats, beef, pork, mutton, venison, received their baptism from the table−talk of his Norman master. The four orders of begging friars, and especially the Franciscans or Gray Friars, introduced into England in 1224, became intermediaries between the high and the low. They went about preaching to the poor, and in their sermons they intermingled French with English. In their hands, too, was almost all the science of the day; their medicine, botany, and astronomy displaced the old nomenclature of leechdom, wort−cunnin g, and star−craft. And, finally, the translators of French poems often found it easier to transfer a foreign word bodily than to seek out a native synonym, particularly when the former supplied them with a rhyme. But the innovation reached even to the commonest words in every−day use, so that voice drove out steven, poor drove out earm, and color, use, and place made good their footing beside hue, {13}wont, and stead. A great part of the English words that were left were so changed in spelling and pronunciation as to be practically new. Chaucer stands, in date, midway between King Alfred and Alfred Tennyson, but his English differs vastly more from the former’s than from the latter’s. To Chaucer Anglo−Saxon was as much a dead language as it is to us. The classical Anglo−Saxon, moreover, had been the Wessex dialect, spoken and written at Alfred’s capital, Winchester. When the French had displaced this as the language of culture, there was no longer a â€Å"king’s English† or any literary standard. The sources of modern standard English are to be found in the East Midland, spoken in Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and neighboring shires . Here the old Anglian had been corrupted by the Danish settlers, and rapidly threw off its inflections when it became a spoken and no longer a written language, after the Conquest. The West Saxon, clinging more tenaciously to ancient forms, sunk into the position of a local dialect; while the East Midland, spreading to London, Oxford, and Cambridge, became the literary English in which Chaucer wrote. The Normans brought in also new intellectual influences and new forms of literature. They were a cosmopolitan people, and they connected England with the continent. Lanfranc and Anselm, the first two Norman archbishops of Canterbury, were learned and splendid prelates of a {14} type quite unknown to the Anglo−Saxons. They introduced the scholastic philosophy taught at the University of Paris, and the reformed discipline of the Norman abbeys. They bound the English Church more closely to Rome, and officered it with Normans. English bishops were deprived of their sees for illiteracy, and French abbots were set over monasteries of Saxon monks. Down to the middle of the 14th century the learned literature of England was mostly in Latin, and the polite literature in French. English did not at any time altogether cease to be a written language, but the extant remains of the period from 1066 to 1200 are few and, with one exception, unimportant. After 1200 English came more and more into written use, but mainly in translations, paraphrases, and imitations of French works. The native genius was at school, and followed awkwardly. The Anglo−Saxon poetry, for example, had been rhythmical and alliterative. It was commonly written in lines containing four rhythmical accents and with three of the accented syllables alliterating. R_este hine thà ¢ r_à ºm−heort; r_à ©ced hlifade G_eà ¡p and g_à ³ld−fà ¢h, gà ¤st inne swà ¤f. Rested him then the great−hearted; the hall towered Roomy and gold−bright, the guest slept within. This rude energetic verse the Saxon scà ´p had sung to his harp or glee−beam, dwelling on the {15} emphatic syllables, passing swiftly over the others which were of undetermined number and position in the line. It was now displaced by the smooth metrical verse with rhymed endings, which the French introduced and which our modern poets use, a verse fitted to be recited rather than sung. The old English alliterative verse continued, indeed, in occasional use to the 16th century. But it was linked to a forgotten literature and an obsolete dialect, and was doomed to give way. Chaucer lent his great authority to the more modern verse system, and his own literary models and inspirers were all foreign, French or Italian. Literature in England began to be once more English and truly national in the hands of Chaucer and his contemporaries, but it was the literature of a nation cut off from its own past by three centuries of foreign rule. The most noteworthy English document of the 11th and 12th centuries was the continuation of the Anglo−Saxon chronicle. Copies of these annals, differing somewhat among themselves, had been kept at the monasteries in Winchester, Abingdon, Worcester, and elsewhere. The yearly entries were mostly brief, dry records of passing events, though occasionally they become full and animated. The fen country of Cambridge and Lincolnshire was a region of monasteries. Here were the great abbeys of Peterborough and Croyland and Ely minster. One of the earliest English songs tells how the savage heart of the Danish {16} king Cnut was softened by the singing of the monks in Ely. Merie sungen muneches binnen Ely Tha Cnut chyning reu ther by; Roweth, cnihtes, noer the land, And here we thes muneches sang. It was among the dikes and marshes of this fen country that the bold outlaw Hereward, â€Å"the last of the English,† held out for some years against the conqueror. And it was here, in the rich abbey of Burch or Peterborough, the ancient Medeshamstede (meadow−homestead) that the chronicle was continued for nearly a century after the Conquest, breaking off abruptly in 1154, the date of King Stephen’s death. Peterborough had received a new Norman abbot, Turold, â€Å"a very stern man,† and the entry in the chronicle for 1170 tells how Hereward and his gang, with his Danish backers, thereupon plundered the abbey of its treasures, which were first removed to Ely, and then carried off by the Danish fleet and sunk, lost, or squandered. The English in the later portions of this Peterborough chronicle becomes gradually more modern, and falls away more and more from the strict grammatical standards of the classical Anglo−Saxon. It is a most valuable historical monument, and some passages of it are written with great vividness, notably the sketch of William the Conqueror put down in the year of his death (1086) by one who had â€Å"looked upon him and at another time dwelt in his court.† {17} â€Å"He who was before a rich king, and lord of many a land, he had not then of all his land but a piece of seven feet. . . . Likewise he was a very stark man and a terrible, so that one durst do nothing against his will. . . . Among other things is not to be forgotten the good peace that he made in this land, so that a man might fare over his kingdom with his bosom full of gold unhurt. He set up a great deer preserve, and he laid laws therewith that whoso should slay hart or hind, he should be blinded. As greatly did he love the tall deer as if he were their father.† With the discontinuance of the Peterborough annals, English history written in English prose ceased for three hundred years. The thread of the nation’s story was kept up in Latin chronicles, compiled by writers partly of English and partly of Norman descent. The earliest of these, such as Ordericus Vitalis, Simeon ofDurham, Henry of Huntingdon, and William of Malmesbury, were contemporary with the later entries of the Saxon chronicle. The last of them, Matthew of Westminster, finished his work in 1273. About 1300 Robert, a monk of Gloucester, composed a chronicle in English verse, following in the main the authority of the Latin chronicles, and he was succeeded by other rhyming chroniclers in the 14th century. In the hands of these the true history of the Saxon times was overlaid with an ever−increasing mass of fable and legend. All real knowledge of the period {18} dwindled away until in Capgrave’s Chronicle of England, written in prose in 1463−64, hardly any thing of it is left. In history as in literature the English had forgotten their past, and had turned to foreign sources. It is noteworthy that Shakspere, who borrowed his subjects and his heroes sometimes from authentic English history, sometimes from the legendary history of ancient Britain, Denmark,and Scotland, as in Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth, ignores the Saxon period altogether. And Spenser, who gives in his second book of the Faerie Queene, a resumà © of the reigns of fabulous British kings—the supposed ancestors of Queen Elizabeth, his royal patron—has nothing to say of the real kings of early England. So completely had the true record faded away that it made no appeal to the imaginations of our most patriotic poets. The Saxon Alfred had been dethroned by the British Arthur, and the conquered Welsh had imposed their fictitious genealogies upon the dynasty of the conquerors. In the Roman de Rou, a verse chronicle of the dukes of Normandy, written by the Norman Wace, it is related that at the battle of Hastings the French jongleur, Taillefer, spurred out before the van of William’s army, tossing his lance in the air and chanting of â€Å"Charlemagne and of Roland, of Oliver and the peers who died at Roncesvals.† This incident is prophetic of the victory which Norman song, no less than Norman arms, was to win over England. The lines which Taillefer {19} sang were from the Chanson de Roland, the oldest and best of the French hero sagas. The heathen Northmen, who had ravaged the coasts of France in the 10th century, had become in the course of one hundred and fifty years, completely identified with the French. They had accepted Christianity, intermarried with the native women, and forgotten their own Norse tongue. The race thus formed was the most brilliant in Europe. The warlike, adventurous spirit of the vikings mingled in its blood with the French nimbleness of wit and fondness for display. The Normans were a nation of knights−errant, with a passion for prowess and for courtesy. Their architecture was at once strong and graceful. Their women were skilled in embroidery, a splendid sample of which is preserved in the famous Bayeux tapestry, in which the conqueror’s wife, Matilda, and the ladies of her court wrought the history of the Conquest. This national taste for decoration expressed itself not only in the ceremonious pomp of feast and chase and tourney, but likewise in literature. The most characteristic contribution of the Normans to English poetry were the metrical romances or chivalry tales. These were sung or recited by the minstrels, who were among the retainers of every great feudal baron, or by the jongleurs, who wandered from court to castle. There is a whole literature of these romans d’ aventure in the Anglo−Norman dialect of French. Many of them are {20} very long—often thirty, forty, or fifty thousand lines—written sometimes in a strophic form, sometimes in long Alexandrines, but commonly in the short, eight−syllabled rhyming couplet. Numbers of them were turned into English verse in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. The translations were usually inferior to the originals. The French trouvere (finder or poet) told his story in a straight−forward, prosaic fashion, omitting no details in the action and unrolling endless descriptions of dresses, trappings, gardens, etc. He invented plots and situations full of fine possibilities by which later poets have profited, but his own handling of them was feeble and prolix. Yet there was a simplicity about the old French language and a certain elegance and delicacy in the diction of the trouveres which the rude, unformed English failed to catch. The heroes of these romances were of various climes: Guy of Warwick, and Richard the Lion Heart of England, Havelok the Dane, Sir Troilus of Troy, Charlemagne, and Alexander. But, strangely enough, the favorite hero of English romance was that mythical Arthur of Britain, whom Welsh legend had celebrated as the most formidable enemy of the Sassenach invaders and their victor in twelve great battles. The language and literature of the ancient Cymry or Welsh had made no impression on their Anglo−Saxon conquerors. There are a few Welsh borrowings in the English speech, such as bard and druid; but in the old Anglo−Saxon literature there are {21} no more traces of British song and story than if the two races had been sundered by the ocean instead of being borderers for over six hundred years. But the Welsh had their own national traditions, and after the Norman Conquest these were set free from the isolation of their Celtic tongue and, in an indirect form, entered into the general literature of Europe. The French came into contact with the old British literature in two places: in the Welsh marches in England and in the province of Brittany in France, where the population is of Cymric race and spoke, and still to some extent speaks, a Cymric dialect akin to the Welsh. About 1140 Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Benedictine monk, seemingly of Welsh descent, who lived at the court of Henry the First and became afterward bishop of St. Asaph, produced in Latin a so−called Historia Britonum in which it was told how Brutus, the great grandson of Aeneas, came to Britain, and founded there his kingdom called after him, and his city of New Troy (Troynovant) on the site of the later London. An air of historic gravity was given to this tissue of Welsh legends by an exact chronology and the genealogy of theBritish kings, and the author referred, as his authority, to an imaginary Welsh book given him, as he said, by a certain Walter, archdeacon of Oxford. Here appeared that line of fabulous British princes which has become so familiar to modern readers in the plays of Shakspere and the poems of Tennyson: Lear and his {22} three daughters; Cymbeline, Gorboduc, the subject of the earliest regular English tragedy, composed by Sackville and acted in 1562; Locrine and his Queen Gwendolen, and his daughter Sabrina, who gave her name to the river Severn, was made immortal by an exquisite song in Milton’s Comus, and became the heroine of the tragedy of Locrine, once attributed to Shakspere; and above all, Arthur, the son of Uther Pendragon, and the founder of the Table Round. In 1155 Wace, the author of the Roman de Rou, turned Geoffrey’s work into a French poem entitled Brut d’ Angleterre, â€Å"brut† being a Welsh word meaning chronicle. About the year 1200 Wace’s poem was Englished by Layamon, a priest of Arley Regis, on the border stream of Severn. Layamon’s Brut is in thirty thousand lines, partly alliterative and partly rhymed, but written in pure Saxon English with hardly any French words. The style is rude but vigorous, and, at times, highly imaginative. Wace had amplified Geoffrey’s chronicle somewhat, but Layamon made much larger additions, derived, no doubt, from legends current on the Welsh border. In particular the story of Arthur grew in his hands into something like fullness. He tells of the enchantments of Merlin, the wizard; of the unfaithfulness of Arthur’s queen,Guenever; and the treachery of his nephew, Modred. His narration of the last great battle between Arthur and Modred; of the wounding of the king—â€Å"fifteen fiendly wounds he had, one might in the least {23} three gloves thrust—†; and of the little boat with â€Å"two women therein, wonderly dight,† which came to bear him away to Avalun and the Queen Argante, â€Å"sheenest of all elves,† whence he shall come again, according to Merlin’s prophecy, to rule the Britons; all this left little, in essentials, for Tennyson to add in his Death of Arthur. This new material for fiction was eagerly seized upon by the Norman romancers. The story of Arthur drew to itself other stories which were afloat.

Allegiant Travel Company is a leisure travel company Essay

Allegiant Travel Company is a relaxation travel organization concentrated on giving travel administrations and items to occupants of little, underserved urban areas in the United States. The Company works a traveler carrier showcased fundamentally to relaxation travelers in little urban communities, permitting it to offer air transportation both on a stand-alone foundation and packaged with the offer of air-related and outsider administrations and items. Furthermore, it provides air transportation under altered charge flying courses of action. The Company provides planned air transportation on restricted recurrence tenacious flights between little city markets and relaxation goals. Since Allegiant offers fares that are low, strict costs controls tend to be mandatory to achieve the desired profit margins. One of the cost control measure used by Allegiant is the use of MD-80 jets. The MD-80 jets incline to be preferable to the airline is that, at a price of four million Dollars, they are cheap to buy as well as maintaining (Yenee, 2004). These plans tend to be cheaper in comparison to the acquisition of the newer planes such as the Boeing 737. Allegiant withal prefers the utilization of MD-80 because they are facile as well as frugal to refurbish. The MD-80 agreeably is a dependable plane but with the emergence of the relatively better airplanes such as the Boeing 737, the MD-80 is becoming outdated day after day which why it makes much sense for Allegiant Air to acquire the better plane such as the Boeing 737. One of the key reasons as to why the Boeing 737 is superior to the MD-80 is that, the MD-80 carries with it the many nuisances in flights assessments of safety at times when there is increased concern regarding aircraft maintenance (Vasigh, 2012). Back in the day when the McDonnell Douglas-80 came to be first used, it was fuel-efficient compared to other planes. Today, however, the MD-80 is considered a fuel hog airplane with regards to the developments that have emerged in fuel efficiency in the year 1980 when it was first built. In addition to this, companies that use the MD-80 airplanes such as Allegiant Air have to have the airplanes retrofitted to comply with the more modern noise rules as compared to the Boeing 737, which does not (Yenne, 2004). One major reason the MD-80’s need a replacement by the Boeing 737 is the fuel efficiency. Airlines such as Allegiant, which tend to use the MD-80, suffer losses in fuel consumption of 25%-35% in comparison to the newer models of planes such as the Boeing 737. As crude oil prices play around $112 per barrel, it is clearer that the future for the MD-80’s is very limited. The latter also being based on the number of passengers that both MD-80 and the Boeing 737 take. The Boeing 737 can carry more passengers than the MD-80 by around 17 passengers. The 737 can take up to 189 passengers whereas the MD-80 can only take up to 172 passengers (Vasigh, 2012). Operating economics is one of the major determiners of what type of plan is best used to increase the profit margins, but relatively hard to evaluate as it is in the case of the two airplanes in comparison here- The MD-80 and the Boeing 737. Some of the variables to look at including the potential that the airplanes in discussion have to give financially. The potential that it has in terms of revenue as well as the contribution towards profitability that the two planes have to give should also consider. Flights’ crew expenses as well as the costs of fuel present a significant portion of total operating costs. The 737 with a better fuel economy and passenger comfort is the better option over the MD-80 to affect exogenous variables such as the customer preference so as to increase the profit margins. One of the aspects that the Allegiant should consider is the aspect of shifting from buying one plane for $5 million to buy $40 million to save about 30%-40% fuel costs. Looking at this from a short run perspective, it might not look akin to a very good conception but calculating these from a long run viewpoint (Vasigh, 2012). It is clear that the 737 is a better option. The latter is based on the fact the savings on fuel in the end outshine the $35 million of purchasing a 737 over the MD-80. Other monetary reasons as to why the MD-80 should be traded for the Boeing 737 is that the counts of cycle on the MD-80 frame in terms of depreciation. The MD-80 depreciates more than the 737 and it has to pay higher landing fees due to its noisy JT8D engine. References Vasigh, B., Taleghani, R., & Jenkins, D. (2012).  Aircraft finance: Strategies for managing capital costs in a turbulent industry. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Pub. Yenne, B. (2004).  Classic American airliners. Osceola, Wis: MBI. Source document

Loss Contingency for a Verdict Overturned on Appeal Essay

Accounting for a Loss Contingency for a Verdict Overturned on Appeal May 2007, W filed a claim against M for patent infringement. †¢ For the year ended December 31, 2007, management of M determined that a loss for this matter was probable and represented that the estimate of loss was in the range of $15 million to $20 million, with $17 million being the most likely amount of loss within the range. †¢ A jury trial took place in September 2009. †¢ The jury reached a verdict on September 24, 2009, and a judgment was ordered in favor of W. The judgment required M to pay W $18.5 million. †¢ In November 2009, M filed a Notice of Appeal with the Court of Appeals. †¢ In December 2010, the Court of Appeals issued a ruling in favor of M’s appeal and reversed the lower court’s ruling on the matter. This meant that the Court of Appeals overturned the jury verdict and the $18.5 million judgment against M. †¢ On January 6, 2011, W filed a petition for a re-hearing before the same panel of appellate judges against the reversal of ruling by Court of Appeals. †¢ On February 10, 2011, the appellate judges declined the petition for a re-hearing. †¢ On February 28, 2011, management of M determined this matter was closed upon discussions with in-house legal counsel. Required: 1. For the year-end December 31, 2007, financial statements, what amount should M record as a liability? 2. For the year-end December 31, 2009, financial statements, should M adjust its liability? If so, what amount should be recorded; and should the amount of the adjustment be considered a 2009 event or a prior period adjustment? 3. Should M record the reduction of the previously recorded loss contingency

Becky

The government, business, and consumers all have an important role a play in the field of environmental protection. The three components should form an interrelated system in which the government and consumers exert pressure upon businesses to act ethically in environmental matters, and business executives are committed to the issues of sustainable development that forms part of corporate social responsibility.Alan Larson in his remarks on corporate social responsibility addressing the National Policy Association Conference noted that although he believed in profit maximisation as the CEO’s primary objective, â€Å"in a global marketplace where reputation matters deeply, shareholder value depends more than ever on corporate values† (Larson 2001). Thus, corporations cannot be interested in profits as the only priority; instead, they should be interested in the situation on the planet in general.Just as â€Å"sustainable development† is an appropriate measure for s ocial progress, so â€Å"sustainable profits† should become part of the accounting vocabulary indicating that the corporation can â€Å"increase shareholder value by communicating to shareholders, employees, customers, regulators, and the general public how it is practicing environmental stewardship and social consciousness in its operations† (Larson 2001). Thus, business has an independent incentive to act ethically. However, Larson notes, the government can enhance this incentive by offering, for instance, the Award for Corporate Excellence only to environmentally conscious companies.Another way is to include the government regulations into guidelines of state structures, for instance, OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises or guidelines of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Consumers in the 1980s and later decades became aware of the influence of their purchasing choices upon the environment. Their responsibility to the environment , among other things, was included for discussion at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio under Agenda 21 (Yu ). Their role in sustainable consumption has to be defined through a range of consumer initiatives.Thus, the three parties can cooperate in enhancing environmental protection. References Larson, A. (2001, June 11). Role of the U. S. Government in Promoting Global Corporate Responsibility. Remarks to the National Policy Association Conference. Retrieved November 25, 2005 from http://www. state. gov/e/rls/rm/2001/3526. htm. Yu, N. (n. d. ). The Green Consumption Movement: The Roles of Government, Business, Academia, NGOs and Consumers. Retrieved November 25, 2005 from http://www. apo-tokyo. org/gp/e_publi/gsc/0315RES_PAPERS. pdf.

Implementing Sustainability in Certain Profession Essay

Implementing Sustainability in Certain Profession - Essay Example For example, the pits that remains after minerals have been extracted should be manage effectively to ensure that people living around those areas are free from any form of hazard that could jeopardize their lives. Therefore, as a professional mining engineer at Maaden Company, my responsibilities will include but not limited to, carrying out skillful and comprehensive investigation on areas of minerals deposits. Secondly conducting profitability assessment in collaboration with economist and geologist to determine how mining activities can be carried out in a profitable manner. The third responsibility will involve utilization of information technology systems such as computers software’s to compute cost that will be incurred mining. In addition, the computers systems will be applied in the preparation of project management plan for mining purposes. For example, mining engineer will be responsible for preparing a plan that will include the following elements; underground mini ng operations, pits, haulage pathways and open cut-operations (Hartman, Howard and Jan, p.37). The mining engineer will further be responsible for coordinating Maaden company mining staff and resources in a manner that promote sustainable development. Mining engineer will further work in liaise with geological engineers in designing, selection and outsourcing necessary materials such as mining machines, power and water to be utilized in mining. In addition, mining engineer will oversee mining construction by establishing a first aid tools that will be utilized to emergencies research execution in order to promote sustainable development in the mining industry (Hartman, Howard and Jan, p.37). The impact of mining Engineering remains remarkable in business environment today. Whereby, proper and effective mining has been one of the major sources of revenue in most countries. For instance, oil and gold exporting countries tend to obtain substantial amount of income from the sale of thos e minerals. This has further led to numerous positive economic impacts such poverty, employment creation and increase in GDP. In addition, a new invention in mining engineering has significantly to operation efficiency. Current Sustainability Initiatives in Mining Industry Over the recent times, various sustainability programs have been established after mining professional being criticized by the community for causing adverse environmental impacts such as land and air pollution. Therefore, various mining companies came together to establish a program commonly known as Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD). The key drivers for this program include: corporation among mining departments in reviewing performance against sustainable development. Inclusion of sustainable development initiatives into law has made mining companies and community to be responsible towards ensuring a sustainable business environment (International Council of Mining, p.7). The Mining Mineral and S ustainability Development program (MMSD) has been able to achieve the following developments over the recent times: Major mining companies had embraced periodic performance reporting requirements based on the key principles of sustainable development. Whereby, mining firms and investors have become responsible in ensuring that there is conformity in reporting and assurance based on the sustainable development requirements. Sustainable programs have helped the society to realize that mining can