Internet Privacy

Joyce Betts 03/04/2013 Week 4 Assignment Short Critical Reflection Paper The three Questions I have chosen are: * Online education has evolved over the last ten years as much as the cell phone. Given this, what have been some of the major improvements and changes in the digital classroom? In the 1900s, few universities had online classes. Today, online education is one of the most exciting and revolutionary aspects of our education. Ashford University is one of the top ten online schools, and by now you have a good understanding of how it works.Course management systems are software programs that define the online classroom environment. In late 2009, Ashford University made a change from Blackboard to eCollege software. Most educators believe that Blackboard is one of the most basic systems in distance learning. On the other hand, some people have called eCollege a â€Å"force to be reckoned with† (Babb & Mirabella, 2007,p. 162). With a growing demand for these systems among e ducational institutions, the developers will continue to put pressure on each other to improve their products.This benefits the student, because it ensures that course management software will continue to evolve and enhance the online learning experience. * What types of strategies can educators use to ensure their students are not â€Å"flaming† in a way that causes damage to others? Flaming is a term that describes an increasingly intense and vicious debate. Always avoid offensive language, and be sure to reread everything you write so that it cannot be interpreted as offensive in any way.Never share personal material about any other classmate in a post. Opinions are important to share, but do not make posts a stage from which to broadcast your personal views of life. Making sure each and every student understands the rules of proper etiquette. Finally, if you have a question about something you what to write or about what another student wrote, email your professor private ly. If I post a poem on my Facebook site and someone cuts and pastes it on their site is that a case for stealing my intellectual property?I do not think this is stealing my intellectual property. If you did not want it posted on other sites you need to copyright it. In conclusion, the dark side of the internet will always be with us. If you arm yourself with knowledge, install advances software protection, and license your intellectual property, you should have save experience. References: Bowles, M. D (2010). Introduction to computer literacy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Chapter 8

Distance still matters

Religion holds a mall part In distance because each religion has Its own values and beliefs therefore It makes It hard to understand one another. Administrative dimensions have a great absence of colonial ties. Each government has different views and political power. Government polices go back to cultural and political views. For example In some Muslim Countries they abide by the Shari law and in the u. S we have democrats and republicans. There's also an absence of shared monetary or political association.Geographic dimensions relate to stance because of physical remoteness. The size of a country can have an impact on power. The lack of sea or river access/ weak transportation can make it hard for goods to go in and out therefore it makes it hard to do business. The differences in climate can affect agricultural businesses. Economic dimensions have differences such as consumer incomes. In every country there are differences in costs and quality of material and natural resources. Eco nomic demand varies with income levels and the lifestyles that people are living.For example in the U. S. California has a higher rate of expenses compared to India, and that is because the nature of demand. Globally many foreign countries fear of no insurance in businesses. For example when a store is struck by a natural disaster there is no way of recouping the value of what that store costs unlike in America. In the four main dimensions: cultural, administrative, geographical, and economic, based on the art. Please describe them. Cultural dimensions have an impact on distance first off because of the different languages.There are different ethnicities ND there is a lack of communication between the different cultures, which makes it hard to understand each other. Religion holds a main part in distance because each religion has its own values and beliefs therefore it makes it hard to understand one government has different views and political power. Government policies go back to cultural and political views. For example in some Muslim Countries they abide by the Shari law and in the U. S we have democrats and republicans. There's also an levels and the lifestyles that people are living. For example in the U. S, California has a

Oppression Theory That Supports Horizontal Violence Process Essay

Nurses are known to be the devoted caregiver of sick patients. How can the patients get rid of their burden if their own caregivers are in conflict among each other in hospital settings? When there is conflict in such kind of environment, it is called horizontal violence, interpersonal conflict or bullying which is aggressive and destructive behavior of nurses against each other (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). It is an expression of oppressed group behavior evolving from feelings of low self-esteem and lack of respect from others which is supported by the theory of oppression. According to the theory stated by Woelfle & McCaffrey (2007), in order for the horizontal violence to take place in the nursing setting, oppression exists when a powerful and dominant group controls and exploits a less influential or easy target group. As a consequence the oppressed group displays low self esteem and self hatred as evidenced by anger and frustration (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). The theory of oppression helps to explain that the behaviors of horizontal violence aren’t directed at the individual but rather is a response to the specific situation where one feels fear of punishment that prevents the nurse from responding to the oppression. When people feel oppressed they feel inferior and powerless. These kinds of nurses who feel powerless behave aggressively towards peers to relieve tension because they can’t fight against their oppressor. That results to the display of emotion which victimize the colleague where the colleague or the coworker gets the feeling of vulnerability or prone to be hurt. The emotion or body language often includes rolling of the eyes, folding the arms or storming out of the room, using sarcasm, raised voice and shouting. These people manipulate the work environment while denying doing anything wrong and get satisfied from experiential difficulty and discomfort of others. These negative behaviors have obvious results in human mind leading to anxiety and stress at work. This cycle of denial maintains its own pattern of repeated action against the vulnerable group and allows the power relations to be unchallenged. Rather than fighting back and risking from the superiors/violence creators, the oppressed groups’ frustration is manifested as conflict in their own ranks with horizontal violence from coworker to coworker. Hence, people  begin to think this kind of behavior as a norm which they displace their feeling of aggression to another highly prone groups such as new grad nurse or student and even less confident coworkers. This cycle of behavior is typically described as horizontal violence (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). As an example, a coworker in a unit behaves aggressively in a reaction to their own part of stress by acting aggressively and displacing their anger to another same or lower hierarchical level group or coworker. Another coworker as a victim gets devastated with this behavior especially if the superior authority or managers don’t acknowledge the behavior. Hence the victim feels angry, frustrated and vulnerable continuing the cycle of horizontal violence. Rather than fighting back against the aggressor, this group accepts this as a behavioral norm which they unconsciously displace to other lower or same hierarchical level coworker such as grad nurse or the nursing students. These nursing students or grad nurses later learn to displace their stress to other with the verbal or nonverbal expression giving the feeling of vulnerability to the prone groups. Hence this cycle of oppression continues as a horizontal violence in the work place area as part of the work stress. Consequently the oppressed group often lack autonomy, accountability and control over their profession (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). Horizontal violence is a purposeful ongoing collection of often negative behaviors and actions that accumulate over time. Moreover, it includes repeated acts involving an imbalance of strength or power, in which one or more individuals engage in over time with the intention to harm other and create a hostile work environment. They displace their part of frustration to others in the form of negative verbal or nonverbal expression. The cycle of oppression continues which is supported by the theory of oppression. The result of horizontal violence affects nurses, nursing managers, other medical and administrative staff, patient and their family. It is clear that horizontal violence is everywhere in nursing today and can drastically affect the nursing area. When the tension is elevated in the patient care, nurses cannot perform their best which often lead to poor quality patient care (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). Reference: Woelfle, C. Y. & McCaffrey, R. ( July-September, 2007). Nurse on nurse. Nursing Forum, Vol 42(3), p123-131

The Issue with Sex Offenders at MySpace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Issue with Sex Offenders at MySpace - Essay Example Sullivan discusses the fallout of the seemingly innocuous experiment run by Wired News reporter Kevin Poulsen, in which Poulsen matched registered sex offenders against MySpace profiles and discovered hundreds of matches (116). MySpace’s response was to hire a third-party vendor to compare member profiles to registered sex offender rolls and â€Å"root out sex criminals from the site† (117). A debate arose, however, regarding the amount of time associated with the action that MySpace took. MySpace identified 7,000 profiles of members who were potentially on the registered sex offender rolls, but this action took several months. MySpace promptly deleted the profiles but did not notify authorities at the same time (117). Sullivan states that â€Å"the presence of 7,000 registered offenders on the site—and the time span required to remove them, raises inevitable questions about MySpace’s ability to keep its neighborhood safe† (119). Conversely, Texas A & M student Kevin Alexander wrote â€Å"MySpace Not Responsible for Predators†, an article discussing the experience of a 14-year old girl who met and was allegedly raped by a 19-year old man she befriended on MySpace (119). Alexander argues that the lack of age verification by MySpace does not preclude the responsibility of those using the service to act with caution and common sense (119). He believes that culpability resides with the parent and child who made poor decisions with tragic consequences (120). When setting up a profile, MySpace users must sign a waiver indicating that they understand that MySpace has no control over the actions of its users online or offline (120). The nature of the MySpace service limits the amount of power the company has over who is a member at any given time. Even the action taken in the previous example in which MySpace checked member profiles against the registered sex offender rolls would not have identified this particular situation as a threat to anyone. Online users should be aware of the dangers inherent to cyberspace usage, protect their personal information, and only consider meeting online acquaintances in secure situations. Additionally, parents should educate their children, monitor their online behavior, and not allow them to meet strangers without supervision (120). According to Alexander, by using MySpace, the mother, in this case, sends â€Å"the wrong message by deflecting the responsibility onto a Web site that has no control over sociopaths† (120). Both authors agree that there is a risk inherent to the use of services such as the one offered by MySpace. However, they differ in the assessment of who should assume the responsibility of mitigating this risk. Sullivan prescribes to the idea that companies are ultimately responsible to protect the end users of their products and services wherever possible. Sullivan implies that MySpace has a social responsibility to identify threats and take act ion to create a safe and secure environment, and to protect the children who use the service for fun and entertainment. Alexander believes that people must apply common sense and act in an individually responsible manner. Users should be cautious and careful in all online interactions, and should not depend on the company to do this for them.  

The Signalling theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Signalling theory - Essay Example Similarly, human interactions rely on signals most of the time. The signals enable people to identify some hidden qualities of the other person. The theory focuses on providing comprehension of the varied signals as well as noting, which are dependable. For example, in making decisions, employers and managers rely on the information they obtain from the signals they receive. For instance, in making decisions about capital structures and payout policies, a manager would rely on the existing arrangement and try to evaluate its effectiveness before deciding on the next step (Chang & Hong 2000). Signals according to the theory can be categorized into assessment and conventional signals. The assessment signals denote the signals that are reliable; that is, they are signals that tend to restrict individuals who do not pose the quality required by the signal from using it. For example, if a manager perceives the organization to be overvalued, he or she should not signal the stakeholders tha t the organization holds a better opportunity in the future to increase profits by increasing their payouts. This is because implementing the signal will lead to embarrassment of the manager as well as create distrust. The conventional signals on the other hand denote unreliable indicators. In most cases, the signals are external and can result in heavy consequences. For example, if a manager makes a decision based on the consumer behaviour; for instance, seeing that the consumers are making high purchases of a product, the manager decides to produce these in high quantities perceiving that the profits for the organization will increase. This can be a false signal, especially when the consumer is presented with another alternative for the same product. The manager will lose face before the investors and can even be dismissed from office. Therefore, it is imperative to first identify the aspects affecting the capital structure and payout policies of the organization before signalling the respective parties or making any major decisions (Notes on Signalling 2005). Cost appears to be major factor in the signalling theory. This is because prior to making any decisions, managers need to consider the expense. At times, some signals may be deceiving and may later affect the decisions made adversely in a negative way. For example, the target earnings of the business may seem promising in the next quarter of the business thereby making the manager decide on a high pay out percentage. This signal could be truthful or deceiving and will eventually impact on the decision made for pay outs. On the other hand, deceptive signals can be used to benefit the creator of the signal. For instance, a manager can signal stakeholders and potential investors that the organization is well off to making more profits by increasing the payout ratio for their dividends. This would make them invest more in the organization and thus, enable the manager to expand the business and increase pro fits (Pacheco & Raposo 2007). Managers face the basic responsibility of deciding on the amount to debt to be employed on the capital structure as well as determine the dividend percentages to be paid out (Barclay et al. 1992). Different theories have been established to identify the aspects that are relevant in identifying capital structures and payout policies. Among these is the signalling theory. Aside from cost, taxes have also been noted to be a vital aspect that affects the capital struc

Distinction Between Leadership in Educational Organisation and Essay

Distinction Between Leadership in Educational Organisation and Business Organisation - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that leadership has been an aspect of human civilization from time immemorial and has been exercised in ruling tribes to nations and in winning wars and facing adversities of natural disasters. Leadership is defined as â€Å"the ability to influence individuals and groups to work toward attaining organizational objectives†. While leadership, in general, remains essentially an influencing process, the styles of leadership vary greatly and to suit the different situations and follower profiles. While different schools of thoughts extend different views on leadership, they are grouped under four wide categories of trait, behavioral, situational and transformational theories. Trait theories believe that leaders have specific qualities and characteristics in them that make them a leader. Subsequently, leadership studies turned to leaders’ actions and behaviors. Leadership studies evolved further to accommodate the idea of situation al aspects that required different leadership styles. Alternative approaches have emerged in the form of Transformational vs. transactional approach. In order to compare and contrast the different styles of leadership adopted by two leaders in two different organizations, a leader in an educational organization – Principal of Washington Elementary School and CEO of Slim Line Limited – an apparel manufacturing International Joint Venture of MAST Industries USA have been interviewed.

Florence Nightingale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Florence Nightingale - Essay Example Upon making a list of nursing assumptions, the student nurse will describe her own personal beliefs with regards to nursing profession. Eventually, the key sources of information used in formulating the student nurse’s personal beliefs about nursing including the extent wherein the student nurse’s personal beliefs on nursing are relevant with the modern nursing will be tackled. For the conclusion, the question pertaining to what nursing is and what it is not will be answered based on the personal judgment and perception of the student nurse. The main purpose of writing Nightingale’s (1860/1969) â€Å"Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not† is to enable the professional nurses to have an idea of what nursing profession is all about especially when it comes to understanding how the professional nurses should render care and understand the well-being of not only the sick individuals but also their respective family members. As part of understanding the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of each individual, the book enables each nurse to have a better idea on how to treat and provide the different levels of care to sick individuals including their loved ones. Since Florence Nightingale herself is a devoted nurse, she intentionally wrote the book based on her personal experiences with regards to her personal management of nursing duties. For this reason, some of her personal teachings have become widely accepted in the modern nursing profession. Given that environmental factors significantly affect the physical health and emotional well-being of the patients, it has been noted by Nightingale that it is important for nurses to ensure that there is a clean and fresh air at an acceptable room temperature that flows around the patients’ surroundings aside from keeping the surroundings free from health

Human Resource Management in the Uk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management in the Uk - Essay Example The HR department must know how to measure performance in a global setting. The HR staff must pursue talent management initiatives for executives. The HR staff must revamp organizational capabilities and competencies to enhance the performance of company employees. The HR department must help the employees identify with and actively push for corporate global brands. In addition, international joint ventures, transfer of knowledge and foreign direct investment also pose several challenges to HR staff. The recurrent challenges refer to subsidiary to Company Headquarters relations and the management of expatriate employees. (Sparrow et.al., 2004). The effective deployment of human resources is a strategy which helps firms attain competitive advantage. The HR departments of UK companies respond to the needs of the firms as these participate in global competition. (Sparrow, et. al., 2004). Most UK companies start operations in the domestic marketplace. This set-up demands that all of the firm's facilities, employees, and customers within the boundaries of one country. In this context, employees may differ to a certain degree in terms of their regional or ethnic origins but the pool of employees is homogeneous. International firms consider their international markets as part of their domestic operations. This strategy requires that firms enter international markets by building production facilities in foreign countries. Multinational firms build facilities in different countries to make use of costs and production efficiencies. The HR problems tackled by multinational companies are similar to those faced by international companies. The HR department needs to consider the cultural, financial, legal, and economic linkages of several countries. (Sparrow, et. al., 2004). Transnational firms utilize modern, high quality products and services at minimum costs. These firms combine the strength of global efficiencies with local responsiveness. Transnational companies specialize in economies of scale and emphasize flexibility and mass customization of products. In this set-up, HR systems should encourage flexible production create synergies through the cultural differences. Multinational firms locate facilities in a particular country to tap that country's market. The transnational firms take into account the cultures, political, legal and economic framework to choose locations around the globe. These firms have multiple headquarters spread across the globe, which redounds to less hierarchy, hence, emphasizing decision-making. These HR systems attract, train and retain executives who are not only competent in cross-border transactions but are also competent in decision-making in flattened organizations. In a transnational firm, the HRM issue is to identi fy strategic advantages of a given set of labor resources. (Sparrow, et. al., 2004).In a study by Deirdre McCaughey and Nealia S. Bruning (2005) global corporations such as McDonalds and Hewlett Packard derive more than 60% percent of their revenues from international operations. The HR departments of these companies hire employees for foreign assignments as a strategic human resource strategy (Brewster, 1997). The assignment failure of expatriate employees is due to the failure of the HR Department to provide training to engage with people from varying cultures. Other

Shakespeares Use of Subplots in King Lear Essay

Shakespeares Use of Subplots in King Lear - Essay Example The author has rightly presented that King Lear main plot revolves around Lear’s bad decision making that sees him disowning his own daughter Cordelia who is faithful to him and awarding his two treacherous daughters Goneril and Regan with a portion of his immense wealth. The subplot kicks in when Earl Gloucester and his two controversial sons get introduced into the story of the play, the illegitimate Edmund and Edgar the loyal one. A clear relationship is seen between the main plot and the subplot by two characters who assume the leadership and fatherly role, King Lear and Earl of Gloucester, they are both deceived by their children. Characters that constitute the subplot in Earl of Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar touch on the reflection on the major acts such as betrayal and madness hence highlight major themes. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear subplot development elaborated by Earl Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar's characters has been influential in giving a strong sens e of resonance, contradiction and complication to the major themes of father-child relationship, reconciliation and good versus evil hence strengthening the fact that subplot as a literature tool is an important asset in plays or stories plot development and helps to boldly portray the important message intended. Resonance as a subplot aspect in ‘King Lear’ resonates or binds the subplot and main plot and helps in bringing out the major theme the play was intended to portray. Father-child relationship is seen to be twisted in both positive and negative way.

Team Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Team Work - Research Paper Example Most of the businesses prefer teamwork skills among an individual while evaluating him/her for the employment purpose. All companies realize that teamwork is highly essential as either the products to be manufactured are very complex and require teamwork efforts for the production purpose or a good product will be manufactured when a teamwork approach would be adapted for the entire manufacturing process. Thus, it becomes important to perform as a team while working in an organization. In teamwork, the members perform their function to meet the personal as well as the group objectives and goals. The members working in a group feel a sense of authorization and ownership while performing their functions within a group, as these members are committed towards the common goals and objectives that have been set by the group. The team members collaborate with each other and use their experiences and talents in an effective manner to improve the overall performance of the entire group. These members have the foundation of their success built on the trust towards the other members in the team where all the members in the team are encouraged to express their views, opinions, queries freely. The most advantageous part in a team work is that all the members have equal opportunity to participate in the decision making process within the organization, Moreover, there remains a level of understanding among all the members where they realize that the ultimate decision should be taken by the leader if the team as a whole cannot reach to any consensus agreement. Characteristics or features of an effective team 1. The team should have transparent goal The team goals must possess a specific performance objective, which would be expressed in a concise manner, so that it is clear to every member when the objective have been met. 2. The team should have result driven structure The team must operate and perform its functions in such manner that it produces results for the organization . If a team is allowed to develop the structure, then it provides best results. 3. The team should possess competent team members The team members chosen for participating in the group must have the potentiality of being competent enough. The members must have the ability to tackle with the level of knowledge. 4. The team should always have unified commitment All the team members must direct their efforts and to a common goal, where the individual efforts would have the ability to meet the unified commitment. The prime advantage of teamwork is the ability to combine the talents and skills. A team gets advantageous from a broad array of talent and skills, which is not possible to be possessed by an individual employee. Collaboration and leadership play important role in increasing the efficiency of the team work. It is the responsibility of a good leader to handle the team with such efficacy that it increases the performance of the entire team. At the same time, collaboration between the team members is necessary in order to improve the overall team work. The next part of the project would discuss about the importance of collaboration and leadership in teamwork. Team work and Collaboration Collaboration is one of the most important components of any team. It does not matter whether the team is big or small but collaboration is necessary in every

The Effects of War on Afghan Women, Children and Refugees Public Health Essay Example for Free

The Effects of War on Afghan Women, Children and Refugees Public Health Essay INTRODUCTION Armed conflicts have been major causes of disease, suffering and death for much of human history. The fatalities, injuries and disabilities suffered on the battlefield are obviously direct effects of conflict. But there are also health consequences from the breakdown of services and from population movements. The diverting of human and financial resources away from public health and other social goods contributes to the spread of disease. These indirect consequences of war may remain for many years after a conflict ends. Both the experience of conflict itself and the impact of conflict on access to health care determine the physical health and the psychological well-being of women and girls in very particular ways. Women are not only victims of the general violence and lack of health care they also face issues specific to their biology and to their social status. To add to the complexity of the picture, women also carry the burden of caring for others, including those who are sick, injured, elderly or traumatized. This in itself is stressful and often contributes to illness. Defining Terms Gender: The term gender includes both masculinity and femininity, not just one or the other. Across continents and cultures, established gender norms and values mean that women typically control less power and fewer resources than men. Not surprisingly, this often gives men an advantage in the economic, political, and educational arenas, but also with regard to health and health care. Certainly, there are instances where gender differences hurt mens health as, for example, when greater risk-taking among young men leads to higher accident rates, or higher levels of violence between men leads to greater death and disability . But, by and large, many health professionals believe that gender inequalities have led to a systematic devaluing and neglect of womens health. Children: are those who are still under the care of their parents. Who is below the legal age. After more than two decades of war, the health of Afghanistans people is ranked among the worst in the world. More than 800 children die every day, largely from preventable diseases. Nearly 1 in 4 Afghan children will not reach his or her fifth birthday, and their mothers do not fare much better. An Afghan woman is 100 times more likely to die of pregnancy-related problems than her American counterpart. These deaths are preventable. Since the fall of the Taliban, the Afghanistan Ministry of Health has been working steadily to improve access to basic health services specifically focusing on reaching women and children. Since early 2002, with funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Management Sciences for Health has been working with the Ministry of Health to establish a foundation upon which a national health care system can be built and health services can be delivered within Afghanistan. The Effects of War on Afghan Children and Women Public Health War is one of the most destructive human activity. It destroys not only the physical side of a person but it degrades the human dignity. These happens to Afghanistan. Today it has one of the world’s poorest human development. Among the population of 24 million roughly 10.7 million are children under the age of 18 and half of the remaining population is women. The crisis of more than 23 years has left devastating effects on the health and well being of millions of women and children. It has killed over 1.5 million people, including more than 300,000 children. An extensive review of   social, physical, and mental health of Afghan children with an aim to depict the severity and complexity of the situation induced by war of more than a decade. Child Vulnerability Indicators in Afghanistan Series of wars and drought for more than three years have threatened the survival and existence of tens and thousands of women and children. According to a survey 60 % of Afghan children have lost their family member, and 39 percent have lost their home. The burden of poverty falls heaviest on the children, who frequently abandon education in order to contribute to family income. They work on farms, collect water and firewood and scavenge the garbage cans for food scraps. In Kabul alone, more than 50,000 children work as shoe polisher, selling fruits or newspaper or begging on the streets. More than five million people with a huge proportion of children are internally displaced. More than 6 million displaced Afghans represent the largest single group of refugees world-wide. Alone in Pakistan approximately three million Afghans have taken refuge in the last few years. Children comprise 20 % of the total number. Poverty prevails, with 80% of people living below the poverty level. Adult life expectancy is 45 years for men and 47 for women. According to the UNICEFs estimations more than 5 million people-70 percent of them women and children rely on humanitarian aid to survive. 75% of the population living in rural areas have no access to any kind of health facilities. According to the UNICEF, 2001 the total number of under five population in Afghanistan is 728049. War induced displacement and famine have forced large populations to move towards big cities in search of food and shelter. Among the internally displaced populations majority is under five, approximately 429567 in Kabul, 80930 in Logar, 126000 in Wardak, 49700 in South Parwan and 41852 are in Kapisa. Displaced populations are exposed to an unprecedented scale of disease, deaths and disabilities. Reports show that one in every four children dies before his or her fifth birthday and one in five children is born in a refugee camp. Infant mortality is 165 (per 1000 live births), under five child mortality 257 (per 1000 live births) and prospects for improving child health are still dimmer. Maternal morality is one of the highest in the world, i.e., 1700 per 100,000. Poor obstetric care and illiteracy have been proved to have a direct relation to the infant mortality. The deteriorating child health has been out of focus for decades. Repeated wars, political turmoil and disasters have left grave effects on the physical and mental health of children. Post traumatic disorders, widespread infectious diseases, malnutrition have increased the sufferings of Afghan children to an unacceptably higher level. The situation of internally as well as externally displaced Afghan children is grim. The trend of childhood mortality in Afghanistan from 1955 to 1990 has remained almost static and has shown very little improvement change so far. Neighboring countries like China and Iran, both have achieved considerable decline in the under five mortality ranging from 225 to 38 and 239 to 45 respectively while infant mortality in Afghanistan is still 165 (per 1000 live births) and childhood mortality 257 (under five per 1000 births)11. Nutritional Crisis and War injuries among children According to UN agency around 120,000 Afghan children currently face famine. Iodine and vitamin A deficiency is largely noticed. Report from Terre Des Hommes determined that chronic malnutrition remained high, with 53.7% of children between 6–59 months stunted, including 27.3% severely stunted making children more vulnerable to disease. An estimated 7.5 million children and adults are currently at risk of hunger and malnutrition. Rights of children were seriously and widely violated. Girls’ right to education and sports is still overtly denied. Socio-cultural norms put additional restrictions on women and girls. Because of the current crisis it is predicted that about 20–40 000 children could die and around 10 million people will be forced to live on US$1 a day. It certainly impacts access to health services, health allocations by the governments, access to drugs against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, and child health. There are currently estimated 5.3 million vulnerable people inside Afghanistan. Country’s health system performance is paralyzed and extensively damaged during the war on terrorism. None of the children growing up today in Afghanistan has ever known peace. It is estimated that over 2 million Afghans suffered from mental health problems. UNICEF-supported study in 1997 found that the majority of children under 16 years in Kabul suffer from psychosocial war trauma. Ninety-seven per cent had witnessed violence and 65 per cent had experienced the death of a close family relative. Experts say that approximately 30%–50% of a population undergoing violent conflict develops some level of mental distress. There are estimated 10 million land mines, the equivalent of roughly one for every child. Reported by Save the Children survey, 85% of all unexploded ordnance (UXO) victims were children in Kabul, during the years 1990-94. Alone 3,000 injuries from landmines and UXO in 1999 have been reported. More than 130,000 Afghans under the age of 18 have been killed by land mines so far. Disease Profile Measles, cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, meningitis, hepatitis, typhoid, childhood respiratory infections, and diarrhea are the major killer diseases. Diarrhea alone causes the death of 85,000 under five children per year. Two to three million malaria cases with 6% P. falciparum were notified to the health authorities in the last few years. Similarly leis mania affects seriously women and children in Afghanistan. Immunization coverage is profoundly low. Lastly noticed overall mortality due to measles and related complications was 10.8% in Kabul. In South Asia, over 40 percent of the total confirmed cases of polio occurred in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2000. The mass migration of Afghans to Pakistan and to other neighboring countries has posed serious threat to the global polio eradication program. Moreover a tuberculin survey in Pakistan revealed that the prevalence of tuberculosis infection was 13.8% (May 1985) in a sample of 4108 Afghan children (average age of 8 years). Thirty-three percent had not received their BCG vaccination. A survey during the 1990–94 on cancer reported 22 % prevalence of 1655 children. 69% were males, 31% females Afghan refugees referred to the cancer hospital in Northern Pakistan. The Afghan Women In recent years more and more societies all over the world have begun to recognize the vital contributions of women to commerce, their communities, and civic life. Whether it be Afghan women voting in a presidential election or women starting micro-businesses in Ethiopia, the worldwide trend toward greater equality is clear. Yet the denial of womens basic human rights is persistent and widespread, as a 2005 United Nations Population Fund statement put it. ON DECEMBER 13, 2003, 502 members of Afghanistans constitutional Grand Council, or loya jirga, met in the capital, Kabul, to begin writing the document that would henceforth shape governance of an Islamic, representative democracy. Three weeks later, after at least two rocket attacks near the councils meeting place and even more explosive politicking among the councils members, the council emerged with a new constitution. Among those who watched the process with attention were Afghan women and their activist partisans in other parts of the world, who wanted the new constitution explicitly to reflect the rights and needs of women. They had particular reason to worry that the assembly gathered in Kabul would be hijacked by conservative extremists who would interpret womens rights narrowly using religion as an excuse, or who might eliminate mentions of womens human rights altogether. The Grand Council met just two years after the United States toppled the Taliban, the extremist party that had been in control of Afghanistans capital since 1996. The American objective was to destabilize a regime that had given refuge to Osama bin Laden and the leaders of Al Qaeda, whose bases were in Afghanistan. At that time, the United States linked its military agenda in Afghanistan with the need to liberate Afghan women from oppression. As First Lady Laura Bush put the matter in a national radio address in November 2001, The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists. Long before the current war began; the Taliban and its terrorist allies were making the lives of children and women in Afghanistan miserable. The first lady went on to assert that the removal of the Taliban from power would mean the liberation of Afghan women. For the next year, Afghan women were big news: There were books and reports, and pictures on the front pages of newspapers showing formerly illiterate women learning to read. Women began the work of reconstructing their lives by returning to the streets, to school, to work. Then the war in Iraq began, and Afghan women, and Afghanistans reconstruction, became old news. By the beginning of 2003, warlords in provinces who had been allies of the United States when it went to war against the Taliban were instituting measures themselves that were reminiscent of the Taliban era. Human Rights Watch reported in January 2003 that in the Western province of Herat, girls and boys would no longer be permitted to go to school together. Because most teachers are men, the ruling effectively shut girls and women out of an education. Other restrictions against interactions between the sexes were imposed; girls or women seen in public with a male might be taken against their will to a hospital to check for their chastity. These alarming trends coincided with a sharp drop in international scrutiny, although Afghan women themselves continued to seek access to good health, higher education, and equal pay for their work. Their experience in the last two years has made it clear that simply removing a dictatorial regime and installing a democracy does not automatically guarantee womens rights. Indeed, the challenges facing womens effort to make sure their rights are legally enforceable in the future highlight broad conflicts in Afghanistan between conservative and liberalizing factions of the future government and between forces competing to control interpretations of Islam in the public sphere. Islam is the prism through which human rights are articulated in Afghanistan, and it is it is therefore crucial for women that their rights to education, work, and freely chosen marriages be articulated in its terms. The importance of the relationship between Islam and rights is one supported by women. Indeed, Ninety-nine percent of Afghan women are Muslims, and their faith is extremely important to them. Most feel their rights are available to them through Islam, says Masuda Sultan, the spokesperson for Women for Afghan Women (WAW), a New York City-based grassroots organization of Afghan women and their supporters. Sultan explains that the number of women who frame their rights in secular terms is much smaller. Womens rights doctrine that would take Islam into account was in evidence in the making of the Womens Bill of Rights, authored in September 2003 by a representative group of 45 women who found ways to interpret relevant Islamic edicts in ways that amplified their human rights. The bill of rights was the achievement of a unique conference on women and the constitution sponsored by WAW. Organized with the help of the Afghan Womens Network and Afghans for Civil Society, the Kandahar conference brought women together to deliberate over how their rights could best be reflected in the constitution. Kandahar, unlike the more liberal capital, is one of Afghanistans most conservative provinces, and it was unclear until the day of the conference whether it would be secure enough for the gathering to take place. It was, but only under heavily armed guard. The conference participants comprised elite female decision-makers as well as largely illiterate everyday women from all over the country. For some, simply completing the trip, whether alone or in the company of a male relative, was itself a triumph. Over the course of three days, these women reviewed the 1964 constitution on which the 2003 draft was based and began composing the 16-point bill of rights, framed by the demand that the rights be not simply secured in the constitution but implemented. Some of the demands are basics on the menu of modern human rights: women require mandatory education, equal pay for equal work, freedom of speech, and the freedom to vote and run for office and to be represented equally in Parliament and the judiciary. But other points are specific to the situation of Afghan Muslim women and responsive to the recent forms of deprivation imposed by the Taliban and long-standing excesses based on tribal convention. There is, for example, the demand that women and children be protected against sexual abuse, domestic violence, and bad-blood price when one family compensates a second for a crime by giving them one of the familys women. There is a request for the provision of up-to-date heath services for women with special attention to reproductive rights. Under the Taliban women were denied healthcare by male doctors, who were not allowed to touch the bodies of women to whom they were not related, and severe restrictions on womens movements made it difficult for female doctors to supply healthcare. Women made it clear they wanted the right to marry and divorce according to Islamic law. At the end of the conference, the document was presented publicly to President Hamed Karzai, and women were promised that their rights would be incorporated explicitly into the new constitution. However, when the draft constitution was released in November 2003, there was no explicit mention of womens rights. Instead, the constitution granted rights to all Afghan citizens. As Ritu Sharma, the co-founder and executive director of the Womens Edge Coalition and Afifa Azim, the director of the Afghan Womens Network, argued in a joint editorial on the eve of the councils meeting, lumping together men and women in the text of the constitution, rather than clearly designating rights for women as well as men is an important distinction because Afghan women are not issued the identification cards given to men. Therefore, some men argue, women are not citizens and entitled to equality. A crucial question at the Grand Council was whether women would be identified separately from men in the final constitution. It was a triumph when the constitution that was released contained an article stating that The citizens of Afghanistanwhether man or womanhave equal rights and duties before the law. At the same time, other challenges remain. The introduction of womens rights to the national political agenda cannot itself be taken for granted while control of the country is still in question. Although it is true that on paper, the government of Afghanistan is headed by President Karzai and moving toward democracy along well established lines such as the creation of a constitution, the actual situation in many parts of the country do not reflect this shift in power. The Taliban have reasserted power in Southern and Eastern parts of the country. Indeed, in the few days leading up to the meeting of the constitutional Grand Council, coalition forces waged their largest attacks to date on Taliban members who threatened violence against the proceedings. As a recent Amnesty International report also noted, Northern Alliance commanders who committed human rights abuses under the Taliban government now hold government positions themselves (the October 2003 report, Afghanistan: No one listens to us and no one treats us as human beings. Where these commanders govern, womens movements remain as restricted, or nearly as restricted, as they did before they were liberated. So, one of the threats to womens rights is related to the ongoing danger to the entire nations stability as well as to the ability of the most conservative or militant actors in Afghanistan to influence the political process. Extremists exploit claims to Islam to intimidate women. This means that although women themselves frame their rights in terms of Islam, they can also be intimidated into making claims for interpretations that dont serve their needs at all. Sultan explains: Security is still a huge issue, and regional warlords and extremists are around. A woman who doesnt speak in terms that acknowledge Islam will face trouble. The affirmation of being Muslim is important because otherwise theyll be called infidels or be threatened or seen as secular or non-Muslim. in the view of Sultan and others who work closely with Afghan women, is to promote the education of women in Islamic law and history so that they can express their own rights as well as refute interpretations that do not serve them. As the legal system begins to hammer out laws that confirm the bases of the constitution, such knowledge will be increasingly important. Jurists are qualified in Afghanistan through higher education or training in Islamic law. As Sultan notes, these qualifications leave open the door for those trained informally by radical Islamist clerics to shape law. Womens education in the language, tradition, and law through which they understand their rights and themselves is a practical and necessary step in this context. This may appear counterintuitive to onlookers in the United States and Europe, whose recent revolutions in rights have often taken place in social and political contexts that opposed democracy to religion. Enhancing the rights of women by encouraging their access to religious education may also seem counterintuitive in the present media environment, which is saturated by the idea that Islam is inherently undemocratic. But women working for their rights in Afghanistan make it clear that both Islam and democracy are evolving practices that permit competing interpretations. It is their right to shape both in ways that confirm their identities as women, Afghan citizens, and Muslims. The needs of women and children; Refugees in Iran Since at least the 1970s Afghans have been coming to Iran, some in search of work, others to seek protection. The political dominance by the Taliban since 1995 has been a significant factor in the acceleration in the flow of refugees. Refugees who came in the 1980s were given green cards’ which entitle them to live and work in Iran, and to benefit from schooling and health care. In the early 1990s the government’s policy towards refugees changed in the face of the worsening domestic economic situation. After 1992 the authorities stopped issuing refugee cards. The vast majority of Afghans who arrived in Iran since 1992 are considered illegal and have no right to asylum. Furthermore, between 1992 and 1994 many thousands of refugees lost their legal status in a systematic campaign of confiscations of green cards from Afghans living in Khorassan province (bordering Herat). It is not uncommon to find families who repatriated under the UN-sponsored programmed in 1996 and 1997, who have returned to Iran because of hardship or fear of persecution. These families had to give up their refugee cards when they repatriated and now live as illegal’ refugees who risk being arrested if found. In such a situation it is extremely difficult to keep accurate figures on the number of refugees in Iran. According to recent official figures, there are about 1.4m Afghans in Iran at present, of which only 22,000 (1.7 per cent) are living in camps. The vast majority of Afghans live integrated into Iranian society scattered around the country, mostly in cities where they can get jobs but also in villages and settlements in rural areas. The refugees areas are Kerman, Shiraz, Sistan- Baluchistan, Mashad, Teheran and Shahriyar (Teheran province). The area in which refugees face the most difficulties (in the south- eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan), and highlighted the neglected issue of child labor. The most common types of work done by women and children and the income they earn. Work done at home includes shelling pistachios, cleaning wool, making brooms, cleaning saffron, making chains and carpet weaving. Children usually start work at an early age (sometimes as young as five years old). Once they reach school age, those who can get into school study about four hours a day at school and work between four and ten hours every day. Many Afghan children attend schools not formally recognized by the Ministry of Education and run by the Afghans themselves. There are at least 10 informal Afghan schools in Mashad and about 24 in Teheran, serving from 50 to 500 children each. NGOs such as Ockenden Venture and Global Partners have been supporting such schools for over a year now with their own funds and some funding from UNICEF. They have provided books and teaching materials, and have conducted eye tests for children and provided spectacles. Ockenden Venture has also organised some teacher training. MSF France has been carrying out a school health project in Mashad, and a local Afghan NGO (Relief Committee for Destitute Afghan Refugee Families) is helping to identify Afghan schools in Teheran and distribute books. Many questions remain unanswered as to why some children attend these schools and others do not. Aspirations versus reality The aspirations of Afghan women and children contrast heavily with the reality of the back-breaking, repetitive and poorly-paid jobs. The reasons for taking poorly paid and low-skilled work are illiteracy, being undocumented, having children to look after, and opposition from the husband or his family. The work has to be part-time, home-based and not requiring a green card’. One obstacle which the women identified also suggested its own solution. They said that their lack of familiarity with Iran, and particularly with job opportunities, means that they tend to take on the same jobs that other Afghan women are already doing. It was suggested that a job-search service would enable them to access information on other job opportunities. Education: the top priority Having seen the poverty of many refugee families at first hand, Afghan women needs to put income-earning opportunities as their top priority. In fact the top priority identified by almost all the groups was education: for the Hazaras it was education in general, but especially literacy; for the Pashtun women it was skills- training. They all believed that they could improve their own lives if they had some education. Solutions The impact of previous conflicts and recent war on children’s social, physical and mental health is enormous and needs a great deal of attention and commitment from the Government. While the debate of reconstructing Afghanistan is currently in progress, saving the future of nation and child health development must be a top priority. Joining these efforts, international assistance is direly needed to handle the deteriorating child health situation. Improving child health in Afghanistan is certainly a daunting task and will require committed and holistic efforts over period of years. Every aspect of child health needs to be dealt with an appropriate strategy. As evident from the facts that infectious diseases and war induced injuries contribute heavily to the current burden of disease, deaths and disabilities in Afghanistan. Therefore WHO’s strategies need to be universally adopted in the country. The strategy of integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) addresses five major killer diseases with a simple and cost effective manner. War has left tens and thousands of orphans. Fewer than five children currently make a large proportion of Afghan’s population and immediate attention. In the prolonged period of war tuberculosis control program was severely disrupted. Tuberculosis control network need to be immediately restored, drugs provided with the Directly Observed treatment; short course (DOTS) strategy among internally displaced and non-adhered patients. All interventions need to focus equally on providing rehabilitation and treatment for mental illnesses, robustly expand and include program for massive immunization in their essential package of services. All legal measures need to be taken to protect children’s rights and specially that of girls to education, health and social choices at all fronts. For Refugees Using focus group discussions in the context of understanding the problems and aspirations of urban Afghan refugees has given us a great deal of information to which we did not previously have access. In particular, the fact that the refugees were able to participate in drawing up recommendations regarding the future work of NGOs was a very positive experience. It encourages the beneficiaries themselves to think about their situation and to come up with solutions. It also gives the organisations working with refugees a much clearer picture of the hopes and fears of a refugee community. Past experience at ICRI has shown us that involving the refugees themselves in decision making improves the implementation process, bringing about better results. This does not mean that one method should replace the other, but rather that the methods should be regarded as complementary. We know that the single most important factor which determines the living conditions of refugees in Iran is their legal status. In Afghanistan Samar   bring to the forefront the health and human rights challenges that face Afghan women and children. A leading authority on these issues in her country, Samar founded the Shuhada Organization in 1989 to implement innovative programs in health, education, construction, and income generation that improve the lives of women and children in Afghanistan and those living as refugees in Pakistan. The Shuhada Organization has grown to become the largest female-led non-government organization in Afghanistan and operates an extensive network of hospitals, clinics, schools and shelters as well as numerous other programs and services for women and children. â€Å"Boston University is honored to host Dr. Samar as a visiting scholar,† said Gerald T. Keusch, M.D., associate dean of Global Health, BU School of Public Health, and director of the Global Health Initiative. â€Å"Her work to improve the lives and healthcare for Afghan women and children under extraordinarily difficult conditions has made her an icon in global health and her efforts will ideally lead to new policies that will advance the country’s medical and education infrastructure.† The recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2004 Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights, Samar is an international symbol of the steadfast courage required to demand basic human rights for women and children in Afghanistan. In addition to directing the Shuhada Organization, Samar served as the country’s first Minister of Womens Affairs during the interim government, leading the effort to restore economic, political, legal and social rights to women. In her current role as Chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, she oversees the conduct of human rights education programs across the country, implementation of a nationwide women’s rights education program, and monitoring and investigation of human rights abuses. The Global Health Initiative at Boston University was established to promote multi-disciplinary research, education, outreach and policy studies across and beyond the Boston University community, and to contribute to reducing disparities in health through the generation of new knowledge, the education of students as â€Å"global citizens,† and the development of partnerships with global health leaders, scholars, and practitioners around the world. In Afghanistans villages, provincial centers, and Ministry of Public Health; in clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies; in classrooms, workshops, and training centers—REACH is empowering the Afghan people to rebuild a health system damaged and neglected during more than two decades of war. A community health worker teaches a mother in a rural Afghan village how to care for her sick child. A young woman improves her literacy level to qualify her for midwifery training. An Afghan midwife attends refresher training about safe motherhood. A provincial health team develops an immunization campaign to protect children against common diseases. The Afghan Ministry of Public Health develops management systems and standards to improve service delivery. Over seven million men, women, and children have access to primary healthcare services. Increasing access to Afghan health services thru (REACH) Through a performance-based grants program and technical support for training and education, REACH has enabled expansion of Afghanistans child health, maternal health, basic obstetric care, and family planning services now accessible to 7.1 million people. REACH grantees have trained over 5,000 community health workers who are working in 14 of Afghanistans 34 provinces. Providing health education in Afghanistan REACH promotes health education and behavioral change that is improving the ability of individuals, families and communities to protect their health. REACH also provides health-based accelerated literacy training to qualify young women to enter nursing and midwifery schools. Strengthening health systems Working with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health to develop and implement national health policies, standards, and management and information systems, REACH is helping Afghanistan shape its healthcare system for the future. Through close collaboration with counterparts in Afghanistan and with the international donor and nongovernmental community, REACH is addressing immediate needs while ensuring that current activities are consistent with long-term development objectives. References: Armstrong, J., Ager, A. (2005, March). Perspectives on disability in Afghanistan and their implications for rehabilitation services. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 28, 87-92. Cultural Orientation Project. (2002). Afghanstheir history and culture. Retrieved October 20, 2004, from http://www.culturalorientation.net/afghan/atoc.html Cummins, C. (2002). The front linenursing refugees. Journal for Community Nurses, 7(1), 7. Daly, C. M. (1999). The paarda expression of hejaab among Afghan women in a non-Muslim comunity. In L. Arthur (ed.). Religion, Dress and the body, Oxford: Berg. Disability World. (n.d.) Epilepsy in the Afghan Village. Retrieved October 11, 2006, from http://www.disabilityworld.org/01-03_02/arts/afghan.shtml. Farella, C. (2002). Far and away: RNs give safety, solace to Afghan refugees. Nursing Spectrum, 6(9), 36-7. Gerritsen, A. A. M., et al. (2006). Physical and mental health of Afghan, Iranian, and Somali asylum seekers and refugees living in the Netherlands. Social Psychiatry and Physchiatric Epidemiology, 41(1), 18-26. Ghatrifi, D., Ghatrifi, R., Eivazkhani, S., Ghatrifi, M. (2006). Research on sexual and reproductive health and rights beliefs and traditions among Afghan refugees. Journal of Sex Research, 43(1), 18. Giger, N. J., Davidhizar, R. (2002). Culturally competent care: Emphasis on understanding the people of Afghanistani Americans, and Islamic culture and religion. International Nursing Review, 49(2), 79-86. Grima, B. (n.d.) Women, culture, and health in rural Afghanistan. Expedition, 44(3), 34-39. Halimi, K. M. (2002, February). Afghan refugees: The ugly truth. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 39(2), 200-2. Kemp, C., Rasbridge, L. (2004). Afghanistan. In C. Kemp and L. Rasbridge (Eds.), Refugee and immigrant health: A handbook for health professionals (pp.83-90). New York: Cambridge. Lindgren, T., Lipson, J. G. (2004, April). Finding a way: Afghan womens experience in community participation. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 15(2), 122-130. Lipson, J. G. (1993). Afghan refugees in California: Mental health issues. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 14(4), 411. Lipson, J. G., Hosseni, T., et al. (1995). Health issues among Afghan women in California. Health Care for Women International, 16(4), 279-286. Lipson, J. G., Miller, S. (1994). Changing roles of Afghan refugee women in the United States. Health Care for Women International, 15(3), 171-180. Lipson, J. G., Omidan, P. A. (1996). Ethnic coalitions and public health: Delights and dilemmas with the Afghan Health Education Project in northern California. Human Organization, 55(3), 355-361. Lipson, J. G., Omidian, P. (1992). Health issues of Afghan refugees in California. The Western Journal of Medicine, 157(3), 271-286. Lindgren, T., Lipson, J. G. (2004). Finding a way: Afghan womens experience in community participation. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 15, 122-130. McCaw, B. R., DeLay, P. (1985, August). Demographics and disease prevalence of two new refugee groups in San Francisco: The Ethiopian and Afghan refugees. Western Journal of Medicine, 143(2), 271-275.

Siren Song Essay Example for Free

Siren Song Essay The progressing theme of Yeats poem Easter 1916 is one which moves from the perspective of a pacifist lamenting the horrors and cost of violence, to an activist who has been so deeply impacted by the deaths of those around him who rose to action, that he is ready to act, violently if necessary, himself. In the poems opening, the speaker admits that he has very little familiarity with those who are considered revolutionaries. He remarks that I have passed with a nod of the head/Or polite meaningless words,/Or have lingered awhile and said/Polite meaningless words, (Yeats) which indicates not only that the speaker is disengaged from the revolutionaries at a political level, but also that the speaker has taken refuge in societal manners and mores. The implication of the repeated word polite is that the speaker of the poem is a good citizen, a law-abiding man with manners and social sensibilities. The ensuing stanzas of the poem trace the realization on behalf of the poems speaker that each of the revolutionaries who were killed were, themselves, good citizens, with manners and polite etiquette. In other words, the speaker of the poem begins to realize the revolutionaries are just like him: That womans days were spent/ In ignorant good-will, (Yeats) or This man had kept a school/And rode our winged horse; (Yeats) so that the speaker begins to see that his own lot is tied up with those he had previously tried to ignore. The strategy of presenting the poem in this fashion is to allow the reader of the poem, also, to make the same emotional journey as the poems speaker, moving from detached ambivalence to involved emotionality. One of the most powerful devices is its modulated refrain which reveals variations of the sudden emotional shift in the poems speaker: All changed, changed utterly:/A terrible beauty is born. (Yeats). The refrain indicates that violence or the will to do violence is terrible; but the communal reality of a shared community, race, and nation represents beauty and is, as such, an irresistible Siren Song and it is this observation in the poem that hits at the poems true anit-war theme: demonstrating that a nation, a race, a people cannot be broken or occupied without consequence.

Causes of Success at the Port of Savannah

Causes of Success at the Port of Savannah Erica Pearson Economic Geography The Port of Savannah is a vital attribute to Georgia’s economy and development throughout the years. But in the past recent years, its success has skyrocketed. The Port of Savannah is the fastest growing and increasingly the most important port on the east coast. The Port of Savannah specializes in the handling of container, reefer break bulk and roe roe cargoes. The Port of Savannah serves over 300 ports in about 150 different countries. The port has an import ratio of about 44.1% and an export ratio of about 55.9%, with about 88% container, about 6% general cargo, and about 6% bulk. Savannahs growth rate has it continuing to be the fastest growing port for all the major ports in the United States of America. Also, it is about three percentage points faster than the next fastest growing port. It continues to hold the fourth spot for ports in the United States. This is intriguing to me, what has caused the port of savannah to become so successful? Through my research I have fi gure out that it comes down to two things: Georgia Port Authority and the Savannah Economic Development Agency, and the construction of the Crossroads Business Park. This topic is interesting to me because starting in the fall of 2015, I will be interning at the World Trade Center in Savannah. The World Trade Center of Savannah is a member of the World Trade Center Association. The World Trade Center Association is an international business association with more than 320 offices in nearly 100 countries and more than one million associated businesses. The World Trade Center of Savannah has been a member since 2011. The better knowledge I have about the past and future development of the port of savannah and how it relates to the development to Savannah, Georgia, the United States, and the world; the better I will do at my job position. Before we talk about the port of Savannahs development, it is best to explain what the port of Savannah is. The Port of Savannah is a port located on theSavannah Riverin Georgia. The Port of Savannah is an important industrial seaport. Savannahs port has long been vital to the citys economy, and it an important port for exporting goods manufacture in the southeastern United States. The Port of Savannah is the fourth-largest and fastest growing U.S. container port. It has a convenient single-terminal design with two on-terminal Class 1 rail services, CSX and Norfolk Southern. It moves about 20 percent of the East Coast’s overseas containers. The port contains over 50 piers which are designed for multiple purposes, while others are specialized for specific types of cargo. To keep the Savannah port growing, future plans call for the deepening of the harbor. The first big contributor to the success of the port of Savannah is the Georgia Ports Authority. The port of Savannah is owned by the Georgia Ports Authority. The Georgia Ports Authority is the administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia that oversees the development, maintenance and operation of two seaports and two inland ports in the state. The Georgia Ports Authority was established in 1945 and is currently headquartered in Savannah, which hosts the vast majority of Georgias sea-based trade. In addition to trade, the Georgia Ports Authority seeks to protect the environment of coastal Georgia and to help improve the development of industry in the state. The port of savannah has become an important economic attribute along the east coast. Up to the 1990s, the port used to be dominantly focused on exports such as paper and chemicals. Savannah was a relatively small container portwith a small traffic load. The Georgia Port Authority has the responsibility to promote port and r egional development. They make strategies devised to increase container imports and promote Savannah as an economic hotspot of the south east. All this growth was because of three major trends: The first concern was demographic and commercial changes. This has attracted cargo that was usually transported through the north Atlantic ports of the East Coast. The second concern is investments in port infrastructures. This allows the port to provide additional capacity and shorter transit times. The third concern was investment in real estate and lower labor costs. This would enable Savannah to position themselves as an attractive place for companies to investment in warehousing and distribution. The logistics set up of Savannah was developed to give commercial opportunities to the inland areas. The biggest inland opportunity includes the Piedmont Atlantic region, this was helped developed by the Georgia Ports Authority. The Piedmont Atlantic region is areas like Atlanta, Charlotte, and etc. This area has a population of around 15 million. This populations and developments have been related number of logistics zones around the port. These zones were built because a set of advantages of the area. This is mostly related to the availability of land, short drayage distances, effective use of container assets and supply chain considerations. Savannah is a great example of the effect of the development of the logistics cluster can be on the local economy. For instance, Georgia has developed a significant export market of its poultry industry, which is carried in refrigerated containers. As such, this attracted large refrigerated warehouse facilities around Savannah, which accounts for 40% of American poultry exports. An important characteristic of the port’s traffic that has a notable impact is the balance between import and export cargo. For instance, while 1.43 million TEU of cargo were imported in 2013, 1.60 million TEU were exported. Maritime shipping companies find port of Savannah a good choice because there are many inbound and outbound ships and products needed to be moved. Therefore there is a lot of container rotation opportunities between inbound and outbound products and ships. Savanah also has the status of being a Foreign Trade Zone. This was helped obtained by the Georgia Ports Authority. The status of being a Foreign Trade Zone offers several operational advantages. Importers have the advantage to delay payments on their imports until they are leaving the Foreign Trade Zone and on their way to the stores or regional distribution centers. Savannah was granted Foreign Trade Zone status in 1984. The problem of space for logistics in the Savannah area now has change from a problem of under supply to now a problem of oversupply. This is for various reasons: there is the substantial growth of the logistics sector which has attracted new investments, the large areas of land that could be found near the port is not as vast as before, etc. Currently the Georgia Ports Authority is concerned about draft issues in the Savannah harbor. But the Georgia Port Authority is still anticipating a doubling of its traffic to 6 million TEUs within a 10 year range at the Port of Savannah This is particularly because of the expansion of the Panama Canal and the dredging of the Savannah harbor. They will expand it from its current depth of 42 feet to an expected depth of 47 feet. This requires several modifications of the existing terminal facilities, particularly the Garden City Container terminal. However, the overall setup should remain relatively similar. If these traffic projections actually are true, it will likely lead to a stage of additional development of logistics and manufacturing zones because the existing ones can’t handle that capacity level The second big contributor is the Savannah Economic Development Authority. The Savannah Economic Development Authority is an independently funded organization who works to support the economic development in Savannah and the local surrounding areas. It helps companies who are interested in relocating or expanding their offices to the Savannah area. One of the biggest contributions that the Savannah Economic Development Authority made was the construction of the Crossroads Business Park. The Crossroads Business Park is owned by the Savannah Economic Development Authority. The Crossroads Business Park was designed in 1988. It was the first logistic zones to be established in the port of Savannah area. But, it didn’t being operations until 1991. The Crossroads Business Park became the example zone as a business model and a development pattern that was copied to construct other zones in the port of Savannah area. The Crossroads Business Park is 1,661 acres facility. Inside there i s about 2.7 million square feet of warehousing space located directly adjacent to Interstate 95 within the City of Savannah. It is about 6 miles away from the Garden City Container Terminal, which is the main intermodal facility of the Port of Savannah. The Crossroads Business Park was made to help the first major distribution centers in the Savannah metropolitan area. The three things they help with are inbound retail, manufacturing, and education. Its main focus about inbound retail concerns, like breaking down the cargo to individual shipments that are being sent to regional distribution centers. When it comes to manufacturing concerns the only significant manufacturer is Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, a company that makes jets, and they have facilities in the Crossroads Business Park. The third concern which is education, to help combat the need of skills demand, particularly engineering needs, two campuses have been opened, Savannah Technical College and Georgia Institute of Technology. The development of the Crossroads Business Park, which was made by the Savannah Economic Development Authority, was made because there was no place around to provide adequate logistics space for large freight distribution companies. In 1986, the Savannah Economic Development Authority was trying to make contacts with two large companies who were interested in putting a location in the Savannah area. However, during that time period, savannah did not have the set up for such large corporations, and the two offers fell through. Around that same time the Georgia Port Authority was telling people that due to plans to expand and the expected increase in container traffic, there would be a shortage of land to make distribution centers. But there was an urgent need to find other ways to help deal with the shortage of land, the Savannah Economic Development Authority decided to take matters into their own hands. The first thing they needed to consider was location. It then contacted develope rs who might be interested in developing the location. However, global and national developers were not interested in developing logistics areas in Savannah because the port traffic was less than 500,000 TEUs and Savannah was not known as a logistics hub. Many developers thought that the risk was perceived to be too high. The Savannah Economic Development Authority then decided to develop the land on its own. The land around Savannah is about 60% of wetlands. This caused development and environmental issues on the locations and structure of the logistics zones in the area. Due to this issue, the Crossroads Business Park became the first logistics park in the United States of America to be developed over a large wetland area. After a very complex process, the Savannah Economic Development Authority received a permit to develop land on the Crossroads Business Park location. But, because of the wetlands, there is a very strict rules that companies had to abide by to ensure that they would not damage the wetlands. The Savannah Economic Development Authority offered packages to companies who located at the Crossroads Business Park. They made it so the land was completely ready for companies wanting to construct, and made it so that construction was faster than anywhere else and access to the infrastructure. For example, in 2000 Dollar Tree was able to begin construction of its distribution cen ter 30 days after the deal with the Savannah Economic Development Authority was made. This was a great advantage for Crossroads Business Park compared to other logistic zones, they were faster and had more infrastructure to offer. The great infrastructure accessibility advantages of the Crossroads Business Park was its proximity to I95, Garden city container terminal, two railroads, and the Savannah airport. The Crossroads Business Park gave direct access to I95 by a specifically built highway interchange. I95 is the most important highway on the East Coast and is a great advantage for companies’ road accessibility to national markets. It also gives companies’ access to I16, which takes you to Atlanta. The Crossroads Business Park is within 6 miles of the Garden City Container terminal, the main container terminal of the port of Savannah. The port handled 2.9 million TEUs in 2011. It has two near dock rail terminals nearby, one owned by CSX and the other by Norfolk Sou thern. They transited 235,000 TEUs in 2007, about 9% of the ports traffic. Crossroads Business Park is connected by rail and remain an option for users. Although not a huge advantage, the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport is located nearby. It is a medium sized airport that handled 1.6 million passengers and 8,400 tons of cargo in 2011. Another advantage not necessarily just in the Savannah area, but in Georgia as a whole is that the state of Georgia allows gross vehicle weights of 80,000 pounds and up to 100,000 pounds if you get special permits and equipment. In summary, the Georgia Ports Authority and the Savannah Economic Development Authority were the biggest contributors to the rapid success of the port of Savannah. Without their efforts, the port would not being doing so well. The port wouldn’t have the land for companies’ distribution centers without the Savannah economic development authority investing in the location sites and legally getting the permission to build on the wetlands. Without the Georgia Ports Authority, the infrastructure of the port of savannah area wouldn’t be as advanced as it is today. Savannah success began when the Savannah Economic Development Authority built tons of distribution warehouse complexes, initially with no tenants. But now, the distribution warehouse network around the port includes warehouses for retailers such as Target Corp., Home Depot Inc., Family Dollar Stores Inc., as well as cold storage for chickens. Which Georgia is the world’s biggest exporter for now. The a uthority of the Georgia Ports Authority got the port of Savannah where it is today. Together, the Georgia Port Authority and the Savannah Economic Development Authority put Savannah on top and to be the city and port to watch in these upcoming years. Works Cited About SEDA | Helping Businesses. About SEDA | Helping Businesses. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. Military. Port of Savannah. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. More than 9,700 Feet of Contiguous Berth Space. Georgia Ports Authority Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. Port of Savannah. CBRE. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. Port of Savannah Fourth-busiest, Fastest-growing in the U.S. Atlanta Business Chronicle. Widgets RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. Rodrigue, Jean-Paul. The Port of Savannah Logistics Cluster. The Port of Savannah Logistics Cluster. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. Savannah Surges as Major Port for Imports on U.S. Growth. Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 18 June 2015.

Dolce and Gabbana Perfume Advertisement Essay examples -- Papers

Dolce and Gabbana Perfume Advertisement I will be looking at the advert for the Dolce & Gabbana perfume. This particular advert is trying to persuade the audience to buy both the male and female version of the perfume. To analyse this advert I will be using the key concepts. The advert has 3 main colours in it. The first is a light brown colour that is the background to the advert and also the same colour as the skins of the models. This brown is a warm positive colour, which portrays a warm positive image to the perfume when you first set eyes on the image. The other two colours in the picture are black and white. The white is worn by the male and the black by the female. The white on the male model could connote purity and goodness, whereas the black on the female could connote an evil, mischievous side to her. The fact that they are both hugging passionately could connote to the audience that the D&G perfume brings the good and the mischievous together which will appeal to some readers. Black and white may also be used in this advert to provide a classy sophisticated look. The layout of the advert is very typical of a perfume advert in a magazine. The main body of the image is taken up by the 2 models entwined with only a small image of the actual perfumes at the bottom of the page. The reason for doing this is so that as the reader inspects the advert they will be drawn down the image and the final thing they will see and remember is the image of the perfumes with the brand name beneath it. This will then lock in the audiences memory rather than the actual larger images of the models themselves which are more there just... ...t that they should go buy it to aspire to be like the models featured in it. It is likely that this advert would be in a magazine aimed at this age group so the conditions they receive the advert should not affect its impact unless its put in a magazine or place which would receive the wrong audience who may be opposition or aberrant. In conclusion, the advert has a very sexy feel to it, which is created by the colours, mise en scene, and the characters involved. There is a definite target audience of younger adults, and the whole advert has a positive feel for the Dolce and Gabbana branding. The small amount of text produces more focus on the images which means the audience will connote its own meaning more than if they had to read reams of text. This should definitely help sell the product to its specific audience.

Teen Sexual Activity Causes Sexually Transmitted Diseases, AIDS, Pregnancy, and Emotional Trauma :: Expository Cause Effect Essays

Teen Sexual Activity Causes Sexually Transmitted Diseases, AIDS, Pregnancy, and Emotional Trauma Set aside the moral imperatives, the screams and shouts of the conservative masses, the legislators on Capitol Hill who know what's best, and religious scripture that denounces physical pleasure and there exists a very basic premise: Human beings have a preoccupation with sex. It was once stated that "our concern with sex is innate, as much a part of is as the blood and bone with which we were born." An absolutely truthful statement, the subject of sex has become prevalent in today's society. Prevalent, because every aspect, voice, form of communication, law passed, and free thought, expresses the opinion on the subject. Maybe centuries of society's need for "sexual oppression" which led to the "sexual revolution" of the twentieth century, is the cause for the entrance of human sexuality into the mainstream. Regardless of the when's, why's, and how's, the bottom line is that sex and the issues revolving, affect every human life, from pornography and abortion, teen pregnancy and laws concerning sexual violence. These heavily weighted issues that plague the minds of parents, lawmakers, teenagers, and religious leaders, often operate under the premise that everyone is having sex, and that no one believes in abstaining until marriage. So where is the lost voice that cries out and defends the small minority of young people that want to wait, and further doesn't anyone believe there are benefits to waiting to have sex? Those who condemn teenage sex and support abstinence are the same people who answer "yes" to the question. Unfortunately, that voice is not the voice that represents the teenage population. Young people who chose to wait have many different reasons why, and believe that there do exist positive effects of abstaining from sex until marriage. One of the most important reasons young people wait, is to avoid the risk of poor or unfavorable physical health. Sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and AIDS are all factors that claim the lives of millions of people every year. Avoidance of these health risks is an incentive to young people and probably the most positive effect of abstaining. No one doubts that sexual desire and needs do not exist, but there are alternatives to sexual intercourse. Teenagers can have a very healthy and active physical relationship with their partner and not have sex. These activities, which can be just as satisfying, carry a 100% less risk factor that sexual intercourse. Teen Sexual Activity Causes Sexually Transmitted Diseases, AIDS, Pregnancy, and Emotional Trauma :: Expository Cause Effect Essays Teen Sexual Activity Causes Sexually Transmitted Diseases, AIDS, Pregnancy, and Emotional Trauma Set aside the moral imperatives, the screams and shouts of the conservative masses, the legislators on Capitol Hill who know what's best, and religious scripture that denounces physical pleasure and there exists a very basic premise: Human beings have a preoccupation with sex. It was once stated that "our concern with sex is innate, as much a part of is as the blood and bone with which we were born." An absolutely truthful statement, the subject of sex has become prevalent in today's society. Prevalent, because every aspect, voice, form of communication, law passed, and free thought, expresses the opinion on the subject. Maybe centuries of society's need for "sexual oppression" which led to the "sexual revolution" of the twentieth century, is the cause for the entrance of human sexuality into the mainstream. Regardless of the when's, why's, and how's, the bottom line is that sex and the issues revolving, affect every human life, from pornography and abortion, teen pregnancy and laws concerning sexual violence. These heavily weighted issues that plague the minds of parents, lawmakers, teenagers, and religious leaders, often operate under the premise that everyone is having sex, and that no one believes in abstaining until marriage. So where is the lost voice that cries out and defends the small minority of young people that want to wait, and further doesn't anyone believe there are benefits to waiting to have sex? Those who condemn teenage sex and support abstinence are the same people who answer "yes" to the question. Unfortunately, that voice is not the voice that represents the teenage population. Young people who chose to wait have many different reasons why, and believe that there do exist positive effects of abstaining from sex until marriage. One of the most important reasons young people wait, is to avoid the risk of poor or unfavorable physical health. Sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and AIDS are all factors that claim the lives of millions of people every year. Avoidance of these health risks is an incentive to young people and probably the most positive effect of abstaining. No one doubts that sexual desire and needs do not exist, but there are alternatives to sexual intercourse. Teenagers can have a very healthy and active physical relationship with their partner and not have sex. These activities, which can be just as satisfying, carry a 100% less risk factor that sexual intercourse.

Women in The Birthmark Essay -- Birthmark Essays

â€Å"The Birthmark† – Women  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Everything he has to say is related, finally, to ‘that inward sphere.’ For the heart is the meeting-place of all the forces – spiritual and physical, light and dark, that compete for dominance in man’s nature. . . .† (McPherson 68-69). McPherson’s â€Å"heart† is the key to understanding the role of women in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"The Birthmark.†    Only imperfection is what nearsighted Aylmer sees in the birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek. But he is unfortunately oblivious to   the virtue in her soul, the deep beauty contained in the depth of her love for him. The wife’s virtue leads her onward and upward; the husband’s lack thereof and inability to appreciate virtue in his Georgiana leads him downward and downward.    The concept of women is established in the very opening paragraph of â€Å"The Birthmark.† The narrator introduces Aylmer as a scientist who found â€Å"a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one,† referring to his love for Georgiana. She is portrayed as having meaning in Aylmer’s life – not in first place, but in second place to his scientific interests.    Even after Aylmer has â€Å"persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife,† he is not capable of loving her properly, unselfishly, because he â€Å"had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion.† The narrator seeks to justify this error or lack in Aylmer by explaining that â€Å"it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy.† Already at the outset of the tale, the reader perceives that Georgiana is going to be shortchanged in this marriage. She is exposed to the problem initial... ...el . The Birthmark Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawBirt.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1    McPherson, Hugo. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Use of Mythology.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Stewart, Randall. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Female Characters.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Williams, Stanley T. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.

Use of Images in Understanding of Documents in Cross-Language Information Retrieval

The introduction of the research paper clearly gives the solution for Cross-Language Information Retrieval and that being used for image in understanding foreign languages.The author goes on to say that a document can be represented using series of images that has been drawn from significant terms in the document itself and therefore, because of this the document can be understood quiet simply as a whole or partly.The research clearly gives the introduction to CLIR. The researcher says that if the above mentioned technique works then there would be no requirement for, Translation as these images can be used for multi-lingual representation.Reduced dependency on lexicons. No need for maintenance. No need for human translation. No need for computer based translation.The technique would use images that are available on the internet. The researcher then tries to derive sub-sets of images of languages. The aim of the paper is to see how images can be used in document understanding, so tha t all the above advantages can be benefited from. The paper is a generalised research looking into the following areasWhether search terms and images are similar in meaning. Theory development what the subject understand from the images. Images for language sub-sets. Research into the uses involved. Research into the search categories of words and images returned.Research ContextThe research context takes the reader through the entire cycle of CLIR, how the research started and how it has evolved over the period of time. CLIR itself is described, defined and explained in different ways so that the reader can understand the depth of it.Documents are available in different languages and that requires the computer user to have at least a minimum understanding of the language to comprehend it. Document representation has not been that effective keeping in mind documents that far technical or that needs a higher level of understanding. CLIR is used inA multi-language search using only on e query language. Searchers understand the document but are not efficient enough to query in the same language.A person who does not understand English can retrieve documents in English by a query in their own language or a language they understand. All the above points are reflected in research done by Grefenstette (1998a), Oard (2001), Sanderson and Clough (2002), Pirkola et al (2001), Scott McCarley and Roukos (1998).According to Rosch et al (1976) object categorisation is done with reference to a ‘basic level’ categorisation. The basic requirement for CLIR is the World Wide Web (Scott McCarley and Roukos (1998), Ballesteros and Croft (1998a) and Grefenstette (1998a)) and available on-line documentations.Some of the approaches of CLIR are Document Translation, Query Translation (Dorr (1996), Resnik (1997), Hull (1998) and Fluhr et al (1998), Ballesteros and Croft (1998a)), Parallel Corpora (Scott McCarley and Roukos (1998)), Latent Semantic Indexing (Dumais et alâ₠¬â„¢s (1996)). The researcher has very effectively explained the different approaches to the CLIR explaining the methods adopted from the very beginning.The advantages and the disadvantages are clearly explained using references to Oard (1998), Scott McCarley and Roukos (1999). The enormity of pages (Google (2003)) makes indexing of documents in foreign languages very difficult to translate.   CLIR with images stated off with Sanderson and Clough (2002) research requires no form of gisting to judge the accuracy of the returned item because a correlation is got between the retrieved image and the searched text.The only area that the researcher does not explain is the kind of difference in subject, styles and types of recovery. So it is vague in understanding the possible errors or misinterpretation that can arise if these points are taken into account.Machine translation types (Hutchins and Somers (1992) and Somers (2003)) have been explained; direct, transfer and interlingua along with the limitations (Leech et al (1989)) have also been explained. Limitations being in the area of speed ((Somers 2003) and (www.speechtechnology.com (2003)), ambiguity (O’Grady et al (1996:270), (Hutchins and Somers (1992)).Context and Real World Knowledge (Somers (2003)), Problems with Lexicons (Reeder and Loehr (1998)), Not Translated Words (Reeder and Loehr (1998)), Unknown Proper Nouns (Ballesteros and Croft (1998a)), Compound Words (Hutchins and Somers (1992), Sheridan and Ballerini (1998)), New Words ((O’Grady (1997)), Document Context (Somers (2003)), Minority Languages (Somers (2003)), Babelfish (Hutchins and Somers (1992)) and Sub Languages (Somers (2003)) are all well explained with examples.

Institutional racism: it is real Essay

Power, wealth, and prestige. These are elements that humanity has been striving for since the age of man. Inherent in these objectives is struggle. Who shall be dominant? To whom shall the prevailing structure of society be based? In modern society the power, wealth and prestige has been the blanket that wraps Western European culture. Out of the hubris has emerged a backlash of outrage that many from different racial groups have expressed over the disproportionate number of power positions (CEOs, VPs, owners of football clubs, to owner’s of the local pub) that are Western European. This has become a standard or defined norm of rightness and often righteousness wherein all others are judged in relation to it. This norm is reinforced through institutional and economic power. It is the combination of these elements that makes complete power and control possible. Introduction Power, wealth, and prestige. These are elements that humanity has been striving for since the age of man. Inherent in these objectives is struggle. Who shall be dominant? To whom shall the prevailing structure of society be based? In modern society the power, wealth and prestige has been the blanket that wraps Western European culture. Out of the hubris has emerged a backlash of outrage that many from different racial groups have expressed over the disproportionate number of power positions (CEOs, VPs, owners of football clubs, to owner’s of the local pub) that are Western European. This has become a standard or defined norm of rightness and often righteousness wherein all others are judged in relation to it. This norm is reinforced through institutional and economic power. It is the combination of these elements that makes complete power and control possible. It is important to remember that an established norm does not necessarily represent a majority in terms of number; it represents those who have ability to exert power and control over others (Axelson, 1998). What is Institutional Racism? This type of power dominance is called institutional racism (IR). IR has its roots in racism which has many definitions: Racism: Attitudes, practices, and other factors that disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. Racism can be directed against any race, color or ethnicity. Some examples of racism are obvious, such as graffiti, intimidation or physical violence. Racial and ethnic slurs and â€Å"jokes† are other examples. Unfortunately, they are often ignored because people do not know how to deal with them. Other forms of racism are not obvious, such as discrimination in hiring and apartment rentals, or policies that disadvantage members of certain races, whether intentionally or not. Racism exists at three main levels: individual, institutional and cultural. (http://www. rose-hulman.edu/safezone/glossary. html) or Racism: The intentional or unintentional use of power to reinforce prejudice to isolate, separate, exploit and disadvantage other racial groups based on a belief in superior racial origin, identity or supposed racial characteristics. Racism is more than just a personal attitude; it is the systemic or institutional form of that attitude. Prejudice + Power = Racism. (http://www. lsuagcenter. com/en/administration/about_us/Human_Resources/Diversity_Center/dictionary/index. htm#R) or Racism: 1. An act of discrimination based on an ideology of racial superiority. 2. The institutionalization of collective prejudice resulting in a system of advantage based on one race having power over others. This subordination is supported by the actions of individuals, cultural norms and values, and the institutional structures and practices of society. (http://principles. ucdavis. edu/glossary. html#R) Institutional racism has just as many definitions: Institutional Racism – The conscious and/or unconscious belief in the superiority of the dominant racial group that manifests itself in the inclusion of other dominant racial group members and the exclusion of other racial group members. (http://www. lsuagcenter. com/en/administration/about_us/Human_Resources/Diversity_Center/dictionary/index. htm#I) or Institutional racism: The network of institutional structures policies, and practices that create advantages and benefits for Whites, and discrimination, oppression, and disadvantage for people from targeted racial groups. The advantages created for Whites are often invisible to them, or are considered â€Å"rights† available to everyone as opposed to â€Å"privileges† awarded to only some individuals and groups. (http://www. purchase. edu/Diversity/dictionary.aspx) or Institutional Racism: (Systemic Racism) Racism conveyed in practices, customs, rules and standards of organizations, including governments, that unnecessarily disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. They do not always involve differences in treatment. Educational requirements that are not related to actual job duties are an example. (http://www. rose-hulman. edu/safezone/glossary. html) Relevance of Institutional Racism The above definitions that define racism and institutional racism are varied in the context of their language. However, their ideas are inclusive, similar and are all correct depending on who uses that definition. A much more comprehensive definition of institutional racism would be: The intentional or unintentional use of power to reinforce prejudice to isolate, separate, exploit and disadvantage other racial groups based on a belief in superior racial origin, identity or supposed racial characteristics. conveyed in practices, customs, rules and standards of organizations, including governments, that unnecessarily disadvantages people because of their race, colour or ethnicity. They do not always involve differences in treatment. This subordination is supported by the actions of individuals, cultural norms and values, and the institutional structures and practices of society. Other forms of racism are not obvious, such as discrimination in hiring and apartment rentals, or policies that disadvantage members of certain races, whether intentionally or not. [name of student] The question that needs to be asked is, â€Å"Just how relevant in today’s modern society is institutionalized racism? † Look around and see who has key positions in the world’s various multinational companies. Take a look at sports teams and see who has ownership. Observe who is on the cover of the majority of magazines and look at who we follow as our cultural icons. Without the use of numerical and empirical studies and only utilizing the gift of sight it can be pronounced that the majority who has these positions are Western European. IR occurs when the structure of an organization, political system, or business allows racist attitudes to be integrated in its system. Such trends may occur within an institution without their intentional injection or inclusion within that institution. Examples of IR: people of colour under-represented and misrepresented on television, racially biased standardized tests used to determine who will be admitted to higher education programmes and institutions, reliance on low-paying immigrant labour by farms and factories. A branch of IR called â€Å"the glass ceiling† is one of the most pervasive forms of institutional racism (Massingale). The glass ceiling refers to the general tendency for the existence of an upper limit in the high ranks of corporations, above which it is rare for a minority to appear. The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, an American produced report states that only 29 percent of the nation’s work force is made up of white males, while those individuals hold 95 percent of corporate senior management positions (Massingale). One extremely controversial example of institutional racism is racial profiling. This involves creating a portfolio and list of criteria that is used by law enforcement to identify perpetrators.