Saturday, August 31, 2019

About Tragic Mulatto

The tragic mulatto is one of stereotypical terms used to describe someone with mixed racial Identity (halfback and half white). It has been shown In American literature during the 19th and 20th centuries, from the 1 8405. Often In many literary works, these light skinned Individuals who are characterized as â€Å"tragic mulatto† are assumed to be remorseful and distressed. Due t o their such complexity, they fail to fit in the â€Å"white world† or the â€Å"black world†. As such. He â€Å"tragic c mulatto† is depicted as the victim of the society in society divided by race, where there is no place e for one who is neither completely â€Å"black† nor â€Å"white†. The word â€Å"mulatto† is originated from the Portuguese and Spanish word mulatto, deer Veda from the word, mull (from Old Spanish, from Latin mÃ'Ëœlulls meaning mule, a hybrid o offspring off horse and a donkey. Many Europeans suspected the offspring between a White Euro pa ean and a Black African would live very long. Thus the main reasoning behind the derivation oft his term is that al such offspring would be born sterile and incapable of reproducing themselves.In literature, mulattoes were often unaware of their black heritage. Upon discovering their African ancestry, tragedy comes because such characters find themselves barred fro m white society and, thus, the privileges available to whites. Distraught at their fate as people of color, tragic mulattoes In literature often turned to seclude. In other Instances, they pass for white, abandon cut off part of their black heritage. In Dalton, such characters were frequently portrayed as salacious or troubled because of their mixed blood.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Books obsolete Essay

From the beginning of time paper books have been the soul means of historical documentation and the recording of stories, as to be passed down through the generations. With the new technology know as kindles, e-books, etc. the needs of paper books has drastically decreased. When it comes to storage, convenience, and quality, e-books will be giving paper books a run for their money. Here are the pros and cons of tablets vs. paper books and what might be more preferred in the later years to come. All readers know how much space books take up. They are under the bed, in the drawers of dressers, shelves filled to the brim with all kinds of stories waiting to be read. The inconvenience of needing a place to store all the books is the tricking situation. Unless the house has multiple floors with to many rooms to count, all these books are consuming valuable space. Without a personal librarian, finding certain books could be a lot harder then say having it on your tablet, looking up the name and its there in less then five seconds. This brings up the issue of finding certain books to buy through the e-book system. Not all books are available electronically, only the â€Å"popular†, newer books have come out as e-books. A reader cannot browse e-book store like a half-price-books, and none of the books will cost less then ten dollars. For those customers who enjoy clearance books, e-books will not go over smoothly if printed books stop being produced. Another aspect though, how convenient is it to order the book and as soon as its paid for you can start reading? No need to leave the house! On a rainy day this would not be argued against. Even renting a book is more convenient because there will be no lines to wait in or over due books, because one could not get to the library after work. Another point is lending a book to a friend, are one going to lend his or hers three hundred dollar tablet to someone who may have it for n amount of days? Books are meant for sharing information, and for opening other people’s eyes to different concepts. Children, as an example, like picture books being read aloud to them before bedtime, sure there colored tablets now a days but what if the picture is  spread across two pages? The entire allusion would not make sense without the whole imagery meant to explain what may be happening. Printed books can be read outside on a sunny day, maybe while floating in a pool. True, books are not waterproof but they are not electronics either. Highlighting, side notes, comments can be made; research is easier with a printed book. Flipping through pages, having several books open when doing research is more productive. With e-books one must go page by page to find information of only one book at a time. They get a glare when reading outdoors even when cloudy, and would never dream of having them by water. Even though e-books are said to be more portable then books, what is the difference if only one book is being brought? Yes, the e-book may be lighter but printed books are not necessarily heavy. Then come the issue of textbooks, which are usually heavy, but have many examples for the text they contain. Without the picture there to show you a visual, how does the rader know they are getting all the fundamental learning agents? Eyestrain is proven to be more common when involving computers then print on paper. In a dark room it is better to have a book light shining on the page then a screen bright with words on it. â€Å"Eyestrain occurs when your eyes get tired from intense use, such as driving a car for extended periods, reading or working at a computer†(mayoclinic. com). Reading it a lit room from print is a lot better then reading from a screen. One the other hand when it comes to reading the small print can be just as annoying. The e-book can make the text bigger for who may have bad eyesight. No magnifying glasses necessary for e-book users. When looking at the evolution of technology, certain products become outdated very quickly. As electronics become more advanced and are consistently being updated it may not be best to buy e-books because sooner or later the programs will only be met for the newest and most advanced technology out there. E-books have already been rapidly changing with the new things you can use them for. Tablets are now not only use for reading but for games, browsing the web, navigation, it’s becoming a bigger version of a smartphone without the calling aspect involved in it. So individuals will not just be buying it for reading purposes, which will end up as a minuscule â€Å"perk† of buying a tablet. However, all technology is not meant to last forever, they do have an expiration date in a sense, because the producers want individuals to buy another one when its eventually stops working as well as it did once. With printed books, as long as the owner maintains the condition of the item, could last many more years then a tablet. At the end of the day, the question of books becoming obsolete due to the creation of electronic books is not likely. Sure, e-books are useful and handy to have but, will never surpass the simplicity of reading a printed book. Paper books are more reliable then computer files; they do not â€Å"crash† and loose information. E-book tablets are becoming less and less meant for buying books and more used for entertainment purposes. As long as there are the individuals that enjoys holding the book in their hands, paper books will never cease to exist.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The relationship between math and future Research Paper

The relationship between math and future - Research Paper Example The world is getting technology oriented and we can even feel it today.   Technology permeates and affects every dimension of our life and it is expected that this trend will not only continue in the future but will become more intensive.   Virtually almost all product s will have a component of technology and engineering and as long as technology and engineering is involve, so does mathematics because technology and engineering speaks the language of numbers which is the domain of math.  Ã‚   Thus it can be inferred that a country’s competitiveness is directly correlated with its aptitude in math.  Ã‚  Ã‚   A country which has strong score in math tends to have a strong technological base to create industry such as the case of Japan who is the leading country in manufacturing electronic products (section for interview) and thus will have a greater chance to prosper.  Inversely, countries which have low aptitude in math cannot progress to manufacture technological pr oducts due to its shortcoming in math.   A classic example is the Philippines whose economy is still playing a catch up despite the fact that it is known to be proficient in English.   It still played as a catch up because its Math education deteriorated where its students only get a mean average of 34.41% in math (BusinessWorld).   As a result of this deficiency in Math, it does not have its own industry but is rather limited to assembly and outsourcing of manufacturing functions where the high paying industry still eludes the country because.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

History of Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

History of Jazz - Essay Example Armstrong also began playing on riverboats and brass band parades and spent most of his time listening to older musicians. However, he began his full career with the resignation of Joe Oliver from Kid Orys band and would continue with his musical dreams playing alongside other musical groups like the Tuxedo Brass Band. Therefore, this assignment seeks to discuss Louis Armstrong’s contribution in jazz music as well as the influence he had in the entire American society. Life and career of Louis Armstrong is a transition from New Orleans to Hollywood, television, Carnegie Hall and the tale of is successful musical career also depicts how jazz music evolved in American and the world beyond(Bergreen 10). The manner in which Louis played trumpet brought a revolution to the music world as he would join the list of most famous and favorite entertainers then and even in the modern society. Though 30 years has elapsed since his death, Louis’s work as a vocalist and instrumentalist still continues to influence the America music especially the jazz type. As a black who was working and living in the segregated black society, he used his music to represent civil right struggles and played an important part in changing the then America (Stein 23). In this case, the life and career story of Louis Armstrong depicts a musician who not only changed the genre he was representing but also the civil and political aspect of the society. Throughout the 1920s at his prime, Armstrong performed alongside various musical groups and began bringing changes to jazz musical genre when he introduced the extended solo. Before, his arrival, the arrangement of jazz music was highly orchestrated or, in other words, loosely structured (Gioia 15). In this case, the previous jazz had a Dixieland structure; a musical collection where no musician is allowed soloist vocal for an extended period. Within no

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Research Paper Example For instance, they offer prescription drugs for treating respiratory illness, HIV, hypertension and others. The parent company of Boehringer Ingelheim is C.H. Boehringer Sohn; in fact, they have affiliates such as Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation (Icon Group International, 2000). Nevertheless, this paper focuses on exploring compensation and benefit challenge faced by Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., and other recommendations for addressing this situation. Therefore, by achieving objectives in this research, the paper will make a substantial contribution to training literatures regarding compensation and benefit system. II. A Brief Historical View of the Organization Boehringer Ingelheim Company was established at Ingelheim am Rhein in 1885 by Albert Boehringer; In fact, during this period, this company had capacity to employ twenty-eight employees in Nieder-Ingelheim. Nevertheless, this company has grown over the years to become a multinational corporation, thereby supplying pharmaceu ticals to consumers from different countries around the world. Moreover, this company has a primary focus on various therapeutic areas such as respiratory, virological, metabolic, cardiovascular diseases, and other diseases that affect the central nervous system. In addition, the company has been actively involved in numerous research and development programs aimed at drugs and fine chemicals innovations. III. Assessment of Company’s Compensation and Benefit System Challenges In Boehringer Ingelheim Company, five years ago, their human resource system was decentralized. In this case, company’s human resource system was serving employees from different locations. Therefore, processes involved in offering human resource services to employees were disorganized because these human resource departments were managed by small groups of staff members. Besides, these groups were dedicated to oversee functions of human resource departments in Boehringer Ingelheim, and they could offer support to employees in this company, but they were not efficient. In fact, their inefficiency was caused by lack of required training and human resource tools, which were needed to improve their efficiency. Furthermore, this company experienced numerous errors within their compensation and benefit system, and inconsistency in the process of handling inquiries from their employees. Moreover, company management did not have a solution to these problems; in fact, they were undecided on whether to undertake strategies such as training or hiring more staff to solve these challenges (Icon Group International, 2000). The company management came up with an idea of seeking guidance from an expert in the field of human resource in order to facilitate positive transformation of company’s operations. In this case, the Watson Wyatt Company was chosen as partner experts due to their experience and in-depth knowledge in the field of h

Monday, August 26, 2019

Menkiti Group Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Menkiti Group - Term Paper Example The use of company’s assets and supplies are restricted only for the means of conducting its business. Additionally, the use of its equipments shall strictly be in accordance to the company guidelines (W P Carey, 2008). Protecting proprietary and confidentiality information Information generated in the business is regarded as an important asset and are confidential for the company’s use. All the management staffs are therefore coded to maintain this information and its confidentiality entrusted upon them by the stakeholders (W P Carey, 2008). Complying with laws, regulations, policies and procedures The company intends to follow all the rules and regulations of the state. It is further coded as the personal responsibility of all the company officials to follow and maintain the legal specifications dictated by country’s law and order in regard to the company’s mode of operations. If any legal query of civil or criminal nature arises, the employees are direc ted by its code of conduct to cooperate fully to such issues (W P Carey, 2008). ... All business issues identified must be communicated by the employees to the responsible personnel only through the means of company communication system. Employees shall not use the means for their personal purpose. Users are also directed to safeguard all the confidential information generated from such communication (Brookfield, 2013). Responding to media, public and other inquiries Under this provision, employees are restricted to address any issue on behalf of the company unless permitted to do so. Hence, if there is any request from the media for any information pertaining to the company, the employees are directed to refer the same to the company’s communication department. Employees are also restricted from disclosing or commenting to any matter related to the company website on any of the social networking sites (Brookfield, 2013). Discrimination and harassment-free environment Through this code, the company discourages any discrimination on the basis of age, colour, r ace and gender. Such matters are provisioned to be thoroughly investigated and addressed to encourage employees in maintaining a hospitable working environment (Brookfield, 2013). Codes of conduct of Catullus Development Corporation Accounting and reporting Catullus provides fair, accurate and timely disclosure of reports and documents to Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). All employees are therefore expected to comply with the advised accounting procedures when maintaining company’s accounting, corporate books records and reports as well as financial statements. This code also directs that such data must not be inaccurate or altered. Hiding any important information is also discouraged through this code of conduct (Catullus, 2004). Corporate opportunities This code directs that

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Research techniques and approaches PowerPoint Presentation

Research techniques and approaches - PowerPoint Presentation Example The survey questionnaire was helpful in retrieving real time view of the respondents by presenting certain statements aimed at understanding respondent’s view on the particular variables (GAIMSTER 2011, 56). The responses provided by the respondents will be measured using Likert Scale as this will enable the researcher to determine the degree of agreement or disagreement of the respondent pertaining to particular statements. On the other hand, the interview guideline enabled the researcher to gather in-depth detail about the subject. For evaluating the gathered data scientifically, the researcher shall use the SPSS software (FLYNN & FOSTER 2009, 56). This software provides statistical trends along with the graphical presentation of these trends to help researchers in asserting the primary information and answer research questions. Statistical analysis of surveys: For the purpose of checking the reliability of the data and the hidden information in the form of patterns, the researcher shall use Regression analysis, Corn Bach Alpha test of reliability, one way Anova and Mean analysis (BLESSING, CHAKRABARTI & BLESSING 2009, 89). The data collected will be analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data will be analyzed using grounded theory methods. The hypotheses formulated for this study will be tested with the use of logistic regression and one-way Anova. Logistic regression is multiple regression but with an outcome variable that is a categorical dichotomy and predictor variables that are continuous or categorical (LAU 2012, 11). Quantitative data analysis was done to generate frequencies percentages and means. The resulting quantitative data will be interpreted using simple statistical method. The qualitative data obtained through open-ended questions and interview protocols wil l be analyzed by placing the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Cultural Relativism and Ethical Subjectivism Essay

Cultural Relativism and Ethical Subjectivism - Essay Example This research tells that Cultural relativism is the belief about defining human actions on the basis of cultural values of an individual. Different cultures may have different ideas of right or wrong and no idea can be considered as absolute. Ethical or moral subjectivism can be defined as the absence of definite or absolute moral right or wrong. It argues that individuals may have their own versions of moral values and no standard can be set by the society. The idea that reality cannot be absolute and relative is an attempt by the society to accept or sanction the differences between the people. Cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism both argue that there cannot be one correct solution to all problems and different people may perform differently in similar situations and they can still be right. Beliefs or attitudes of people are different and so they act differently in similar situations, and society cannot set a standard for what is right or wrong. An ethical subjectivist wi ll not believe in accepting absolute moral standards simply because of the fact that absolute moral standards cannot be known objectively. The absence of surety in the context of morality is the reason why subjectivism is supported by an ethical subjectivist. The idea is to allow an individual to think or act according to his belief simply because the ‘true reality’ is not known. Everyone is therefore entitled to believe in his or her version of morality. Cultural relativism also vouches for differences among people on the account of differences between cultural values. Culture can be regarded as one of the strongest influence on a person because it shapes an individual’s personality and thought patterns from childhood. This allows a cultural relativist to argue that different culture may have different interpretations of truth and therefore differences between cultures should be accounted for without arguing for a perfect realist view of truth. The similarity be tween these two viewpoints is that they both argue in favor of societal and individual versions of moral truths. Subjectivity and relativism are preached because we can only be relatively sure about anything. Individuals are allowed to behave differently on account of their culture or personal opinions because of this absence of surety when it comes to moral reality. The main criticism on both of these theories is that the society will be in a chaos if every person in the society starts to practice his or her own version of morality. Any idea about right or wrong cannot be left to the individual (ethical subjectivism) or a group of individuals (cultural relativism) simply because of the lack of rational thought that is embedded in all societies. This criticism of subjectivity and relativism springs from the idea that people cannot be trusted for they may, and do, err in their social judgments and society cannot be exposed to the madness of one or many. The reply to this argument by ethical subjectivist will base in a belief that human beings have an inherent sense of morality.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Blowfish Encryption Algorithm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Blowfish Encryption Algorithm - Essay Example Customers pay via credit cards for the purchased books that are delivered to them. In this scenario, any sort of security breach may inject an SQL injection or cross site scripting attack on the website can affect the business as well as customer confidence. Therefore, securing the systems as well as data communication on the web is essential to protect. This also implies to personal or customer data that is maintained and managed by the organization. For instance, E- commerce based organizations stores information of their customer related to credit card numbers, passwords, telephone numbers, address, bank details etc. It is the responsibility of the organization to protect and secure data privacy. However, there is not a single law that states how to handle customer information. For this reason, organizations sell or trade customer information with business partners and even to third parties. Likewise, sometimes the sole purpose of this personal data exchange is funds. Although, ev ery online organization has a privacy policy which states how they will handle and secure customer data but at the same time there is no verification criteria. In the following sections, we will discuss the protection of highly sensitive data by the best possible control i.e. encryption algorithms. Likewise, we will precisely discuss blowfish encryption algorithm and its integration with applications that are involved in handling customer highly sensitive data. Blowfish Encryption Algorithm As per computer desktop encyclopedia Blowfish encryption algorithm is defined as â€Å"A secret key cryptography method that uses a variable length key from 32 to 448 bits long. It uses the block cipher method, which breaks the text into 64-bit blocks before encrypting them. Written by Bruce Schneier, as a free replacement for DES or IDEA, it is considered very fast and secure† and as per network dictionary, it is defined as â€Å"Blow?sh is an encryption algorithm that can be used as a r eplacement for the DES or IDEA algorithms. It is a symmetric (that is, a secret or private key) block cipher that uses a variable-length key, from 32 bits to 448 bits, making it useful for both domestic and exportable use†. Blowfish is an encryption algorithm that was invented by Bruce Schneier in 1993 (Pachghare, n.d). It is constructed on a variable length key ranging from 32 buts to 448 bits that is considered to be perfect for both local and international use along with a solid encryption algorithm. After its recognition to be relatively solid encryption algorithm, it is gradually gaining acceptance. Some of the core features of blowfish algorithm include (Pachghare, n.d): Blowfish has a block cipher of block consisted of 64 bit The length of the key can be up to 448 bits On 32 bit microprocessor architecture, data encryption is supported at a rate of 18 clock cycles on every byte that is much quicker than DES and IDEA encryption. It is still free to use and is not patente d Memory requirements for blowfish are less than 5 kilobytes of memory. The semantics are simplified and is relatively easy to deploy. The design requirements for a blowfish encryption algorithm incorporates robust, simple to code, compact, easily modifiable and flat key space features (Anderson. n.d ). Likewise, flat key space facilitates random strings to be considered as a possible key from a required length. Moreover, it deploys data in massive byte

Dynamics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dynamics - Assignment Example Calculate the horizontal and vertical components of the mass. If the shaft rotating at 200RPM, determine the force excreted on the shaft. Ashaft rotating at 500RPM carries masses of A = 3kg, B = 4kg and C = 2kg at distances of 0.9m, 0.7m, and 1.7m from the shaft respectively. The angles of A, B, and C respect to horizontal are 40o, 130o, and 290o respectively. In an Epicyclic gearbox, the Annulus gear â€Å"A† is fixed and the input shaft is connected to the Sun gear â€Å"S† which rotates at 1800RPM. The Sun gear has 60 teeth and there are three planet gears â€Å"P†. The gear ratio between the Sun gear and Planet gear is 2:1.The input power is 45kW and the efficiency is 85%. Sketch a simple arrangement and calculate: Pass: All questions in section A (including all parts) must be attempted and answered. The assessment criteria and the learning outcomes for Pass grade must be met and fundamental understanding must be demonstrated on this assignment. Merit: All questions in section A (including all parts) and question B7 in section B must be answered with reasonable accuracy and with no major errors. A neat presentation and good communication of assignment is essential. The assessment criteria for Pass and Merit grade must be met and knowledge and understanding must be demonstrated on this assignment. Distinction: All questionsin section A and section B (B7 & B8) must be answered fully correct with no errors. All the criteria for Pass, Merit and Distinction must be met. A neat presentation of assignment including any references/ bibliography is essential. All the answers in section B must be synthesised and clearly justified. All the SI units must be clearlyshown in front of calculations, showing full understanding on this

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Problems and Aspirations of Youth Essay Example for Free

Problems and Aspirations of Youth Essay INTRODUCTION: Trying hands on contemporary writing and then reigning over hearts of millions is not that easy as has been proved by one of the prominent writers of the day – Chetan Bhagat. Very few authors have managed to reach out to such a wide audience as Chetan Bhagat. There is originality of content in his writings and when he writes people feel as if it is their story. He is a phenomenon that has affected everybody, touched everybody’s life. Indian Publishing shall now be divided into pre and post Chetan Bhagat. He has created those kinds of landmarks. Chetan Bhagat projects his readers’ viewpoint in his writings. According to him,† A writer’s first job is to strike a chord, and not to please elitist circles,† He does it by caring for his readers and listening to them,† It can’t be just the language, as it is simply the common language of the people. It is more about what is being said and communicated that strikes a chord.† Chetan strongly believes that the language should be colloquial- a popular fiction has to be a dialogue with the people on the streets. CHETAN BHAGAT:- A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Chetan Bhagat (born on 22 April,1974) is a contemporary Indian author who has written four novels namely :- â€Å" Five Point Someone- What not to do at IIT†, â€Å" One Night @ The Call Center†, â€Å"The 3 Mistakes of My Life† and â€Å"2 States: The Story of My Marriage†, respectively. He grew up in Delhi in a Punjabi family in an uncertain home environment where his parents used to fight a lot. His father, an army officer, was very strict and he wasn’t allowed to watch television or films. So, Chetan and his brother used to make up movie stories and perhaps that’s where this tact of writing all sprang up. Bhagat attended Army Public School (1978-1991), Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi (1991-1995), and then studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmadabad (1995-1997), where he was named â€Å"The Best Outgoing Student† He fell in love with his IIM Ahmadabad classmate Anusha and they eventually got married. His novel â€Å"2 States: The Story of My Marriage†, is a fictional version of his love story. After graduating from IIT and IIM, he joined Peregrine, a financial service company in Hong-Kong. It shut down in six months but Chetan stayed on in Hong-Kong for eleven years, moving to Goldman Sachs. It was to spite his boss that he started writing his first novel. No doubt it was a great moment for Bhagat but he was in a bank and dissatisfied. His boss was very bad. So to take revenge on him. He started writing in office. CHETAN BHAGAT’S WRITING STYLE AND CHARACTERS The secret to Chetan Bhagat’s success is he writes in ordinary English and it is reassuring for young people to know someone knows what they are going through. In other words, Bhagat’s writing style tends to be simple with linear narratives and vivid storytelling. His protagonists tend to be named after avatars of Hindu deity Vishnu, like Hari, Shyam, Govind or Krishna. All his books have a number in the title (e.g. ‘five’ in the first, ‘one’ in the second, ‘three in the third and ‘two’ in the fourth book.) When asked about this, Bhagat replied that he is a banker and he can’t get numbers out of his head. Bhagat, 35, is the first to admit that he is no Arundhati Roy, the Indian Booker Prize winning author and says he knows critics feel his books are shallow. But Bhagat, who enjoys a rock-star like popularity among his readers, aged mainly 13 to 30, said he has the ultimate riposte—â€Å"My books sell.† Bhagat says that he writes for ‘ordinary young people’ who feel suffocated by their parents’ desire for them to become doctors, lawyers, or engineers. According to Bhagat- Indian youngsters live under pressure-cooker conditions to succeed. There is cut-throat competition to win places in India’s elite universities with youngsters compelled to score highly from primary to high school. Entrance to top universities often requires ninety percent- plus averages and most children have afterschool tutoring to attain such marks. A paragon of this philosophy can be seen in his novel â€Å" One Night @ The Call Center†, where the hero, who answers the phone calls from clueless Americans about their cooking appliances, remarks,† Every cousin of mine is becoming a doctor or engineer,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.You can say I am the black sheep of my family.† Bhagat believes that India tends to have an academic and social revolution to prevent young people simply regurgitating what they learn without thinking. He wants to convey this message across to the Indian youth- even if they don’t get stratospheric marks, they are still entitled to a happy life; and it’s not the end of the world if they fail. He generally talks about youngsters’ worries, their anxieties and all those things which preoccupy them, by means of his writings. His writing subjects include parental academic pressure along with pre-marital sex, drinking and other topics taboo in socially conservative India. CHETAN BHAGAT’S NOVELS 1. FIVE POINT SOMEONE- WHAT NOT TO DO AT IIT! â€Å"Five Point Someone†¦.† was his first book which adopted a breezy, ironic tone to explore the lives of exam-oppressed students who cram to get into the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and then rebel against the stultifying atmosphere of academic competition. It features soft-drugs, binge- drinking, and an affair between a student and his professor’s daughter. To be clear, the story of â€Å"Five Point Someone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  revolves around three studentsHari, Ryan and Alok who come from three different backgrounds. The book is about their years in IIT Delhi and how they cope with the pressure of studies, family and relationships. The book was well received by the public, especially among the younger generation, and brought Bhagat a large following. It was adapted into a play by the theatre group ‘Madras Players’ and also by ‘Evam’. This book was adapted into a movie called ‘3 Idiots’, though Bhagat has stated that he was not involved in the scriptwriting in anyway, and was involved in a controversy with the director and the producer of the movie over crediting his contribution to the script. Directed by Raj Kumar Hirani, and starring Aamir Khan, R. Madhvan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, and Boman Irani in pivotal roles, it was released on 25 December, 2009. About a week after the release of the movie, ‘3 Idiots’, Chetan Bhagat claimed for the credit for the story and this credit row became a national issue. On January 1, 2010, Star News channel got Chetan Bhagat, Aamir khan and Abhijat Joshi- the so-called script writer, switched to each other at their respective places through Star News correspondents. During this programme, Chetan Bhagat claimed that before the release of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, neither he had been shown the preview of the movie nor given any participation in the script writing. At that time he was told that the adaptation of ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to ‘3 Idiots’, was just two to three percent or at the most just five percent and rest of the plot was different, but when the movie released and hit the Box Office as the biggest hit of the time, Chetan felt bad, because the story was not just five percent from his book rather it was seventy to eighty percent of his book. He kept mum for a week but when his fans and readers kept on asking him why he didn’t take any action or show any reaction against the makers, at that point of time Bhagat sought the shelter of the media and came into the lime-light with his credit claim. On the other hand Aamir khan in one of his interviews made it clear that there was no similarity between the movie and ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ and also as Aamir had not read Bhagat’s novel, Bhagat prohibited him to go through ‘Five Point Someone’, saying that both the movie and the novel were quite different from each other in story as well as plot. And now after the release of the movie, seeing it to be a big hit Chetan Bhagat is claiming for credit? It is quite wrong on his part because he wants to snatch the credit of Abhijat Joshi- the actual script writer of ‘3 Idiots’, who worked on the story along with Raj Kumar Hirani – the director. Aamir also interrogated Chetan Bhagat saying that Raju Hirani had directed ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ and its sequel ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, so Chetan Bhagat would claim that these two movies were also his creations! Aamir labeled Chetan Bhagat as publicity hungry writer. Chetan Bhagat defended himself by saying that the producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had told him that there was hardly any similarity between the movie and the novel apart from the five percent of loose inspiration. He added that he relied upon Vidhu and said so to Aamir prohibiting him going through ‘Five Point Someone’. It was only after the release of ‘3 Idiots’ that Chetan Bhagat realized that he had been duped as Vidhu kept him in dark by lying and that was why he claimed for credit. He said that as per contract signed between him and Vidhu, he had been promised full justice by displaying his name among the main star-cast, but his name was given towards the end among assistants’ names in the rolling cast. This really pinched him. At one occasion during the promotion of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, interacting with the media persons in a press conference when a press reporter asked Raju Hirani, Aamir and Vidhu Vinod about the authenticity of the story whether it was an original one or taken from Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’, Vidhu Vinod lost his temper. He raised his finger at that press reporter and asked him to shut up. This act of Vidhu further added oil to fire and the matter turned from bad to worst. All the news channels repeatedly telecasted Vidhu raising finger and saying ‘SHUT UP’. No doubt, the next day, somehow, Vidhu realized his mistake and openly apologized labeling himself a ‘BEAST’ and his action of raising finger and saying ‘shut up’- an insane or uncivilized act. When asked about Vidhu’s ill-mannerism from Chetan Bhagat, the later showed his gratitude to the media for bringing forth Vidhu’s real per sonality, as it would have been quite difficult for him to do so at his own level. A few days after this incident another interview with Chetan Bhagat was telecasted on news channel where he disclosed that Abhijat Joshi had threatened him to send a legal notice in his name if he ever claimed for the credit for the story again. Chetan Bhagat subsided for some time. It was a great shock to the fan-readers of Bhagat when a video clip of Bhagat’s interview on 24-12-2009 was telecasted on another news channel. It showed Bhagat in very high spirits saying that he had given his book ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to the makers of ‘3 Idiots’ just like a daughter and after watching the premier of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, it seemed to him that his simple daughter turned into a bridal-look, so he would definitely give five out of five points to the movie. Chetan Bhagat also appreciated the adaptation of ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to ‘3 Idiots’ and confessed that he couldn’t have done this if asked for as Raju and Vidhu have done and added that his family is quite happy over this. Bollywood News channel Lehren depicted this incident of credit claim row and Vidhu’s misbehavior mere a pre-planned drama to benefit both the movie as well as the book. 2. ONE NIGHT @ THE CALL CENTER It was released in India in October 2005 also to popular demand. This book was about six people who work at a call center and about a night when they receive a call from God. Noted Bollywood film director Rohan Sippy bought the rights from Bhagat, but later Sippy let the rights pass on to director Atul Agnihotri, brother-in-law of Arbaaz Khan. The movie version of the novel is titled as ‘HELLO’ starring Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Amrita Arora, Esha Koppikar, Gul Panag, and Sharman Joshi. Bhagat worked directly on the script of the movie, moulding it to fit the silver screen. However, the film did not succeeed commercially. ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ is a romantic comedy set in an office where bored young Indians try to resolve the mindless inquiries of Midwestern American Technophobes. The story is a comedy of romance and crossed lines. There are three main themes: ex-girlfriend, bad-boss, and God. The story revolves around six friends who are selling home appliances to the US from a call center in India. Each one has an issue with love. Call agent Sam works right beside the girl who has just duped him. He is dating someone he can’t stand just to get over her. Esha is just short of becoming a model. Two inches, to be precise. Vroom wants to change the world. Radhika is trying to manage her mother-in-law, and hold down her job. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America, and customers are queuing up to complain about white goods going wrong. On this night of a thousand phone calls, when life couldn’t look more dismal, one unique caller got on the line- God: and that call is going to change everything†¦.A romantic comedy of six friends kicking against the system, against their boss, and against each other. The fact that ‘One Night @ The Call Center’, was an enormous success in India is very strange or unusual and troubling. Although it may seem a feel-good story about Indian empowerment in a globalized world, but Bhagat finds no other way to reach a happy end but through a ridiculous and an unexpected event saving a seemingly hopeless situation and a series of morally reprehensible acts. One might be able to forgive him invoking God- the ultimate fall-back guy when nothing else works: but the mean-spirited and outrageous means he chooses for his characters to find happiness and satisfaction is beyond contempt. In the opening page, we are asked to do a task- think about something you fear, that makes you angry and one thing you don’t like about yourself. After a deep pondering, one may come up with an idea and plod on with the reading. When you reach the end of the novel you find yourself thinking about what you said in the beginning and viewing it in a different way- clever stuff, actually Bhagat’s writing style is so easy that you are soon swept along with the narrative. The novel has a prologue, in which author- Chetan Bhagat encounters a beautiful woman on a train-trip. She offers to tell him a story- but will do so only on one condition that he uses it for his next book. It is set at a call center, describing the events of a single night shift†¦..and she warns him (as well as the readers) to expect at least one unusual occurrence: â€Å"it was the night†¦.it was the night there was a phone call from God.† That’s a lot of pressure to put on a book- and since the phone call comes on page241, that’s also an awful lot of suspense to leave the reader in for a very long time. The story is narrated by Shyam Mehra, who works at the Connections Call Center. Here Indians man the phones all night, fielding calls from American consumers who are having troubles with their electronic goods. The company is kept afloat by its account with Western Computers and Appliances, but isn’t doing spectacularly well (â€Å"call volumes are at an all time low†¦.Connections is doomed†) and there is talk of â€Å"rightsizing† i.e. downsizing. Shyam works in the WASG bay which stands for the Western Appliances Strategic Group, handling home appliance issues i.e. people having trouble with their refrigerators, ovens, and vacuum cleaners. The novel focuses on Shyam and handful of his colleagues- a motley crew of Indians who, for a variety of reasons, have wound up in the same job. For quite a while ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ is fairly predictable; the characters and their personal stories are introduced, the bad boss is shown being bad, the American callers are unlucky. Bhagat does not do any of this particularly well, but it’s modestly engaging and there seem to be some possibilities. Priyanka’s sudden engagement to a Microsoft-man she has never seen, stirs the things up, and each of the characters has his or her own story which Bhagat at least offers a glimpse of. He is at his best in describing the workplace- silliness, dealing with customers and bosses, though not particularly creative or imaginative. Bhagat has a self-righteous and important streak that undermines much of his possibly valid social criticism. Claims of intellectual superiority hardly mask the pathetic inferiority complex they all seem to suffer from. At Connections they are taught: â€Å"the brain and IQ of a thirty-five-year-old American is the same as the brain of a ten-year-old Indian. This will help you understand your clients. You need to be as patient with them as you are when dealing with a child. Americans are stupid, just accept it.† It was quite surprising that the novel ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ was getting an American release, as Americans aren’t exactly shown in a flattering light here. The thirty five is equal to ten rule just makes one stunned. The Indian call center teaches all the agents that a thirty five year old American is as intelligent as a ten year old Indian child!! One would wonder how Americans will take this saying. Perhaps one sort of has to insult the people who call all night long to complain about idiotic problems now and then to stay sane and not end up screaming at them after one stupid question too many. The author does acknowledge that in spite of the vast intelligence Indians have, the country is plagued by corruption and thus very behind America. In a nutshell, it can be said that Bhagat raises valid issues and concerns- but does not take them in the least seriously, offering neither reasonable descriptions of the issues, nor any sensible way of dealing with them. The characters one finds working in these places like call-centers, the cross-cultural issues (some of which he even manages to begin to convey), the different faces of modernizing India, the family pressures especially on women; Bhagat even lays a decent foundation. But in going completely overboard like God! Operation Yankee fears! ; He undoes all of the promise of the book, and with his morally defective happy end, sends such a wrong message that one has to condemn the whole exercise. 3. THE THREE MISTAKES OF MY LIFE It is Bhagat’s third book, about cricket, religious politics and rebellious love. About how three friends get caught in a tangle to earn some money and fame, and how they sort it out. The book was published in May 2008 and had an initial print –run of 200,000 copies. The novel follows the story of three friends and is based in the city of Ahmadabad in western India where the author had begun his independent life and so this city is quite close to his heart. Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment has bought the rights for making a movie based on this, and it will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of ‘ROCK ON!’ fame. The book has fiction: sentiment, romance, social message, business, life, relations, religion and of course cricket. It’s the story about three friends Omi, Govind and Ish who are struggling to decide their goal. The story is presented through Govind’s eye; he is a brilliant student of mathematics. He has an aptitude and penchant for business and it’s his three mistakes of life that are presented along. Govind is a true Gujarati, interested in coming up on his own in life through business. Ishaan or Ish- a failure in studies but a great cricketer (obviously great in the local school team), has a passion in playing, teaching and watching cricket. Omi comes from a family of priests with no inclination of becoming a priest and just moves along with his two friends. The journey of these simple people in life, how their lives get affected by the worst disasters in Gujarat’s history is portrayed in a simple yet efficient way by Chetan Bhagat. This book also teaches you how your dreams crash into pieces by unexpected events but how with the support from people around, you get back on track, focus and rebuild your dreams. Vidya, Ishaan’s sister, a teenager with her eyes on Govind, represents typically homely Indian girls trying to lose their virginity and so-called boys feeling shy and guilty after having sex with them†¦. as Neha in ‘Five Point Someone’ and here Vidya in this novel. Ali, a gifted batsman and son of a local Muslim politician, plays a prominent role in the story. It’s the story of how Govind, Ishaan and Omi come up with a sports store in their area and how they achieve success in it by clubbing it with Math’s tuitions and cricket coaching classes. The writer has thrown in the angle of Ali a gifted batsman who is in need of coaching and as Ishaan is an avid cricket player whose passion lies in playing, teaching and watching cricket, comes in as Ali’s savior because he does not want a brilliant talent to be wasted. Then there is a love angle of Vidya and Govind thrown in. And to top it all Chetan Bhagat has placed the novel in the era when Ahmadabad suffered with a nightmare of an earthquake and riots. The book traces the lives of these characters and their trials and tribulations. This novel especially comes at a time when people only want to come up with excuses to show or feel how different they are rather than see the common aspects and bring oneness which can keep us together and achieve our common goal of growth, peace and prosperity. The language is simple, it connects well with the youth of India and the narration has improved as compared to the earlier novels. Chetan Bhagat has again proved that to be best novelist you don’t need fabulous vocabulary or you don’t need awesome critics review, all you need is a thread to connect to the plain minds of people. Truly this novel teaches you- life will have many setbacks. People close to you will hurt you, but you don’t break it off, you don’t hurt them more. You try to heal it. It is a lesson not only you, but our country needs to learn. The story involves some of the major headlines of early 2000 like the Gujarat earthquake, India-Australia test series, the 9/11 WTC attack and not to forget the Godhra train mishap. Apart from cricket, business and religion it also has the mesmerizing love story between Govind and Vidya the story is good, since the events are from recent past and it’s easy to connect with it. It can be completed in one sitting. But there are not many surprises as it has not gone away from Bhagat’s typical style of writing. It is less on humor content as well. Chetan has been very clever by stating ‘3 mistakes’ and you keep flipping the pages for knowing the other two mistakes as the first mistake you will come to know quite soon. It is a book with nice ingredients of real events and fiction perfectly cooked for a delicious dish. No mistake in giving it a read. 4. 2 STATES: THE STORY OF MY MARRIAGE This book is about how love marriages work in India and is again typical of him in the first person. It is like his first book ‘Five Point Someone’, expected to be inspired by his own life. The book is funny and completely different from his previous novels; perhaps this time Bhagat did not want to write about friends any more. ‘2 States.’ is about Krish and Ananya, who are from two different states of India. They are deeply in love and want to get married. But their parents do not agree. To convert a love story into a wedding, the couple has a tough fight ahead of them. Perhaps it is no secret that Chetan, a Punjabi and Anusha, a Tamilian, had to work hard to have both sets of parents agree to their relationship and subsequently their marriage. To provide a further glimpse into their personal story, Chetan decided to take up penning this book after leaving his banking job and having decided to become a full-time writer. While Anusha emphasizes that when Chetan announced to her for the first time this book would heavily lean on their life story, she indeed was a little wary. In fact Anusha also stresses that before writing the book, both Chetan and she spoke to their parents assuring them that it was not about them. While Chetan accepts that a lot of portions of the book have been dramatized at the insistence of his wife, he credits his fans for conceptualizing this book. When Anusha read the book, she loved the female lead, who is modern, liberated and educated. India is opening up and parents are learning to accept love marriages despite prejudices about caste. Bhagat has dedicated this book to his in-laws and it would be for the first time any Indian writer has dedicated a book to his in-laws. In fact Chetan Bhagat admits that one of the biggest challenges would be to make sure that his in-laws still want to talk to him after reading this book. He surprises us by saying that he hopes that his wife’s parents will still be his in-laws. But, interestingly, Anusha’s parents had actually flown down from kolkata to attend the launch of the book ‘2 States†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ There is no second opinion about this that Indian love marriages are not easy. It’s just the boy and the girl who fall in love, but everyone- i.e. both their clans, have to fall in love too. In the end, the boy and the girl start questioning whether there’s anything more left to it and even fight. But it’s important to know what parents think of your marriage. Parents still have the remote control when it comes to emotions. According to Bhagat- however independent you are, getting married without parents’ approval is not good for the relationship. No doubt parents’ protesting against children marrying outside caste or religion is archaic today, still there are some honour-killing incidents in the recent times. Bhagat inspires by saying that if all else fails, the parents should do it for the sake of country. ‘2 States†¦.’ we all know well, is the story of Bhagat’s own love marriage to a Tamil Brahmin. Bhagat found that his own marriage had scope for humor because this Punjabi-Tamil is a continuous thing and a lot of Indians can relate to it. The story is fictionalized but the feelings that Bhagat had gone through, are the same as what the characters experience. And of course it was difficult for him to convince his own parents to accept his Tamilian wife – Anusha, who was also a banker. So, there are jokes about Punjabis and Tamilians in this book. More importantly, Bhagat used it to address to his strained relationship with his father. Speaking about ‘2 States†¦.’, Bhagat says that the story is not a memoir, it was nice, the feeling of suspension of disbelief, but as it involves his own family, so he wants to make it clear that it is a work of fiction. That is why there are character changes and the dramatization is higher. Calling it a fluffy novel, Bhagat says that it is personal and treats the complex issue of inter-community marriages, the fun way. And sends home a bigger message of homogeneous society. According to Bhagat, homogeneity is important for a country to move forward. Today’s youth are traveling to different cities for studies and work, and they will meet someone; but parents are still rooted in prejudices that have to be addressed. To take his stand point firmly, Bhagat cites the success stories of Korea, Taiwan and China that have seen progress from a developing country by adopting homogeneity. Chetan Bhagat believes to do what your heart says. Knowing what you want and sticking to your decision is most important. And he himself did just that. He fell in love, knew what he was doing and followed his heart. And so, a book happened. Bhagat feels that his best stories are those drawn from his own life and experiences. The more personal the book, the more unusual and funny it becomes for him. People relate to it better because they know him, his wife and his twin sons. He strongly believes that the function of literature is to reflect society and by means of his novels he is causing some change in a large part of India, which is far more satisfying. AS A COLUMNIST Bhagat has an open-ended column in Dainik Bhaskar, a large Hindi newspaper and another at The Times of India, English daily. He says,†the main purpose of the books and films is to entertain, but the columns allow me to give my views on how the nation should be run.† His articles are written in simple English to achieve mass appeal. He also visits Educational Institutions in India to give motivational talks. ON TELEVISION Bhagat was a judge on a reality show by Star News called ‘Star Anchor Hunt’ AWARDS Chetan Bhagat has been honoured with ‘Society Young Achiever’s Award’ in 2004 and ‘Publisher’s Recognition Award’ in 2005.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Ethics From Immanuel Kant And John Stuart Mill

Ethics From Immanuel Kant And John Stuart Mill Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of KÃ ¶nigsberg. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the classic sequence of the theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment beginning with thinkers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.[1] A philosopher who lived a life of stringent discipline routine. He took a passionate interest in American and French revolution. Kant has various writings to his credit which include: General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (1755): in which he writes about the solar system Critique of Pure Reason (1781): is about his philosophical work in natural sciences mathematics. Critique of Judgement (1790): wherein he analyzes aesthetics biology. The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785): endeavours to show the foundations of genuine morality. The Critique of Practical Reason (1788): investigates implications of immorality for religion. Kants main concern is nature morality (starry heavens above and moral law within). He says that genuine morality i.e., a morality which is objectively and universally binding requires an a priori foundation. He adds that the universal basis of morality in man must lie in his rational nature, since this alone is the same in everyone. Thus a moral principle must be such that a man can will that all men including him should act upon it. Kant uses the test of consistency as the core of fundamental moral law which he calls categorical imperative: those actions are right which conform to principles one can consistently will to be principles for all men, and those actions are wrong which are based upon maxims that a rational creature could not will that all men should follow. Through the categorical imperative we can distinguish between right wrong actions. Kant emphasizes that it is not only the test but it is also the unconditional directive for behavior. It is binding upon everyone because each rational man acknowledges his obligation to follow reason. Thus categorical imperative is the only basis for determining our duties. He stresses that reason prescribes duty, and the moral law holds whether or not men actually follow it. In order to have an in-depth understanding of Kants philosophy we need to see how he built up his argument. Initially Kant carries out a critical analysis of the commonly accepted good things like health, wealth and friendship. He adds that the mentioned things are not good under all circumstances, but only in so far as they are conjoined with something that is unqualified good a good will. GOOD WILL represents the effort of a rational being to do what he ought to do, rather than to act from inclination or self -interest. Thus a good will appears to constitute the indispensable condition even of being worthy of happiness. Kant elaborates that good will is not good because is achieves good results. Even if it fails to attain the ends it seeks, it would be good in itself and have a higher worth than the superficial things gained by immoral actions. Kant mentions that reason is a very inefficient instrument for the achievement of happiness. He concludes that reason is not intended to p roduce happiness, but to produce a good will. Kant further explains the relation between good will duty highlighting that a good will is one which acts for the sake of duty. Indeed, human actions have moral worth only if they are performed from duty. He further says that even action in accordance with duty is not enough; only respect for duty, makes an action moral. Kant further differentiates praiseworthy behavior from moral action, he says that altruistic or selfless actions that result from feelings of sociability deserve praise and encouragement but they cannot be classified as possessing moral value. Moral worth of character which is highest of all is not brought out from inclination but from duty. Kant then puts forward his first ethical proposition wherein he states that an act must be done from duty in order to have moral worth. Taking this forward the second ethical proposition says that an act from duty derives its moral value not from the results it produces but from the principle by which it is determined. Taking the first two propositions Kant defines duty as the morally right action is one done solely out of reverence for the law and its unique and unconditioned worth is derived from this source. Third proposition which is a consequence of the first two expresses duty is the necessity of acting from respect for the law .For Kant the supreme principle or law of morality which the good man must follow is the Categorical Imperative. Rational beings as far they act rationally will always be guided by ethical principles or maxims which can be adopted by everyone else without generating any contradiction. Kant further distinguishes between categorical imperative and hypothetical imperative. Kant says that categorical imperative is an unconditional directive that prescribes actions to be done because of the moral worth of the maxim and not for the sake of some consequence that may result. On the other hand hypothetical imperative is a conditional directive which advises what ought to be done if a desired goal is to be achieved for example, One ought to tell the truth as a manner of principle is a categorical imperative, whereas if you want to avoid punishment, you ought to tell the truth is a hypothetical imperative. Kants first explicit formulation of categorical imperative requires an individual to obey a maxim which can, without contradiction, be willed to be a rule for everyone. This means that the essence of morality lies in acting on the basis of an impersonal principle which is valid for everyone, including oneself. Kant conceives the categorical imperative to be a two-fold test. It requires first, that maxims for moral action be universalized without logical contradiction and second, that they be universal directives for action which do not bring the will into disharmony with itself by requiring it to will one thing for itself and another thing for others. In one of Kants formulation of categorical imperative he talks of social implications, he emphasizes that it requires us to treat every human being as an end in himself and never as merely a means to an end. In brief, we should respect all human beings impartially and avoid exploiting anyone. Ends that are ends only because they are des ired give us hypothetical imperatives; but if there is an end in itself, the imperative to seek it is independent of desire and is therefore a categorical imperative. Kant shows the basic identity of the first and second formulations of the categorical imperative. Those actions which, on the first formulation, cannot be universalized without contradiction, example committing suicide or refusing to help the needy, will be seen on the second formulation to be inconsistent with the idea of humanity as an end in itself. Having brought to light with logical rigor the implicit pre-suppositions of the common mans awareness of duty and shown it to be a universal categorical imperative, Kant gives eloquent praise to pure moral philosophy and a word of caution to those moralists who would allow reason to be corrupted by empirical considerations. References: [1] Crane Brinton. Enlightenment, Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Vol. 2, p. 519. Macmillan, 1967. [2] www.wikipedia.com [3] E. Albert, T. Denise, S. Peterfreund Great Traditions in Ethics, 4th Edition, 1980. 2. John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill was the intellectual heir of the utilitarian movement in England. Mill dedicated himself to clarifying the teachings of his father, James Mill, and those of Jeremy Bentham, who championed the utilitarian doctrine. John Mill was nurtured and mentored to be an original thinker. Mills major works include: System of Logic (1843): which is his philosophical contribution wherein he defends the inductive method of logic, showing that general laws or universal principles must be derived from empirical facts. Principles of Political Economy (1848): wherein he relates the application of Utilitarian principles to Economics. Essays on Liberty (1859) and Considerations on Representative Government (1861): are classical statements of his social and political philosophy. Essay Utilitarianism (1861): is his only explicit contribution to ethics. Autobiography and Three Essays on Religion: both of which works were published after his death. John Stuart Mill did not attempt to originate an ethical theory, but rather to defend the ethical theory to which he was born. He modified and went beyond the utilitarian doctrine as it was propounded by his father and Jeremy Bentham. Bentham based his utilitarian philosophy on the principle that the object of morality is the promotion of the greatest happiness of the maximum number of members in the society. He proceeded on the premise that the happiness of any individual consists in a favorable balance of pleasures over pains. Consequently, those actions which tend to increase pleasure are called good and those actions which tend to increase pain are called bad. For Bentham The public good ought to be the subject of the legislator: General utility ought to be the foundation of his reasonings. To know the true good of the community is what constitutes the science of legislation; the art consists in finding the means to realize that good. To implement this social and political ideal, he constructed a hedonistic calculus by means of which pleasures and pains could be measured. In this way, good and bad acts and, consequently, good and bad legislation, can be evaluated in terms of such factors as intensity, duration, extent, certainty, propinquity, fecundity purity.2 Mill restates the Bentham doctrine. In his restatement, he goes beyond Benthams contention that the essential differences among pleasures and pains are quantitative, maintaining that they are also subject to significant qualitative differentiation. Mill accepts in principle Benthams doctrine regarding the basic role of pleasure and pain in morality viz. Individual psychological hedonism: according to which the sole motive of an action is an individuals desire for happiness that is for a balance of pleasure over pain. This is primarily a descriptive doctrine since it gives an account of the actual motive of the behaviour. Universal ethical hedonism: according to which the greatest happiness of the greatest number ought to be the individuals goal and standard of conduct. This is a normative theory in that it stipulates what ought to be done. In it is a principle by which actions are evaluated in terms of their consequences irrespective of the nature of the motive. However there are gaps between Individual psychological hedonism and Universal ethical hedonism: If each individual is motivated solely by the desire of his own happiness, there is no reason to assume that his actions will at the same time always promote the interests of the society The descriptive fact that men do desire their own happiness, does not imply the normative principle that men ought to act in accordance with this desire. In order to fill the gaps and harmonize individual psychological hedonism and universal ethical hedonism Mill takes recourse to the concept of Sanctions the inducement to action which gives binding force to moral rules. In Mills system of ethics, sanctions are rooted in the hedonistic motive, i.e., moral rules are acknowledged and obeyed by virtue of anticipated pleasures or pains There are both external and internal sanctions. External sanctions are forces of reward and punishment in the universe about us which control mens actions through their fear of pain and propensity for pleasure. But Mill cautions that presence of such external sanctions is not to be taken as true sense of moral obligation. Thus ultimate moral sanction must come from within. The force of an internal action derives from the feeling of pleasure which is experienced when a moral law is obeyed and the feeling of pain which accompanies a violation of it. Thus the greatest happiness principle can be sanctioned from within. Moreover by means of this doctrine of internal sanctions, Mill is enabled to reconcile the psychological theory that everyone desires his own happiness with the moral theory that one ought to act as to serve pub lic good. Looking at Mills work in detail we see that Mill defends the utilitarian doctrine by identifying misrepresentations and clarification of the principle. He opposes those who fail to associate utility with pleasure and pain. Mill then states concisely the doctrine of utility. He says that Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness (pleasure and absence of pain), wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness or unhappiness (pain and deprivation of pleasure).He further states that pleasures vary in kind and degree and some kinds of pleasure are more desirable more valuable than others. Thus quantity quality both need to be considered when estimating pleasure. Mill relates that superiority of one kind of pleasure over another is determined by those who have experienced both kinds. Further says that among those who have experienced both prefer the pleasure of higher faculties. Mill further discounts the judgment of those who abandon higher pleasures for lower ones by explaining that they are incapable either inherently or by lack of opportunity of enjoying the higher kind. The only judges are those who have tested the spectrum of pleasures (lower higher pleasures).Mill relates the greatest happiness principle to include the difference between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of pleasure. Mill puts forward the realistic description of happiness and a suggestion for the social means of achieving it. This is a clarification to the objections to the utilitarian doctrine. Another objection Mill discounts is the claim that Utilitarian morality is incompatible with acts of personal sacrifice which are so sacred in Christian culture. Thus he concludes that each individuals happiness is equal to that of any other. The greatest happiness principle is not essential as a motive for conduct but is essential as the rule by which conduct is judged and sanctioned. Herein moral evaluation is directed to actions and to the manner in which they affect the general happiness. Having removed the major misconceptions about the principle of utility Mill proposes to investigate its ultimate sanction. Mill states that it is our feeling for humanity which provides the ultimate sanction of the principle of utility and this Mill calls the internal sanction. Regardless of whether this inner feeling or internal sanction for mankind is inborn or acquired, Mill argues that it can be a powerful force and a sound basis for utilitarian morality. Mills moving description of the origin and nature of the feeling for humanity may serve as a fitting conclusion to his exposition of the greatest happiness principle. References: [1] E. Albert, T. Denise, S. Peterfreund Great Traditions in Ethics, 4th Edition 1980. [2] www.wikipedia.com (3) Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics highlights or stresses on the basic virtues of moral character the main concept being of virtue, practical wisdom and eudaimonia. The founders of virtue ethics are Plato and Aristotle, though roots can be traced back to Greek Philosophy and the Chinese dominant approach1. Virtue ethics refers to a collection of normative ethical philosophy that place an emphasis on being rather that doing. In other words in virtue ethics morality stems from the identity or character of the individual rather than being a reflection of the actions (or consequences thereof) of the individual. There are various debates on virtue ethics however the link that connects all is that Morality comes as a result of intrinsic virtues2 VIRTUE: PLATOS IDEA Plato followed the Socratic dictum Virtue is Knowledge. Platos thesis was that life of reason is the happiest best. This means that knowledge produces a harmonious man in the sense that when reason governs desires passions, a well balanced organized personality results. Such a person is a rational man who is the virtuous man and the happy man. For Plato a morally virtuous man is one who is in Rational, Emotional and Biological balance . In Platonic terms a virtuous man is one who is wise, temperate, courageous and just. In a virtuous man desires or passions function harmoniously under the governance of reason. Such a man sets his own inner life is his own master and is at peace with himself. Platos answer to what is a Good Life is that a life of reasoning is the best life. He has written in the Republic It is better to be unborn than untaught: for ignorance is the root of misfortune.3 For Plato: A man of knowledge is the virtuous man Life of reason(knowledge ) is the best life Ultimate knowledge on which moral virtue is based is the knowledge of the Good. By achievement of justice ,temperance and wisdom the whole soul becomes perfect and noble VIRTUE: ARISTOTLES IDEA Aristotles theory is that everyone wants to live the good life, the happy life. The term used for happiness is Eudaimonia. By happiness Aristotle seems to mean well being the fulfillment of our distinctive functions. Aristotle says that Eudaimonia is the highest good because it is sought for its own sake and nothing else that is justice is sought because it leads to good life. According to Aristotle the best way to achieve happiness (Eudaimonia) was to inculcate and exhibit those qualities that are most productive to live in a society. He states that extremes of character are not good. For Aristotle Virtue lies in the Golden Mean that is the right balance between the two extremes. He has called each of the extremes Vice and the mean Virtue4. Exceptions to the Rule: Not everything has a means No means for murder or theft Thus following Aristotles thought every person should develop his own character by inculcating habit of virtue. Thereafter good actions will become a habit e.g. a good person will take good decisions. This goodness shall then ripple to the society coming generations from their elders since virtue is taught by example rather than set of rules. The virtues identified by Aristotle are of 2 types: Moral Virtues: The habitual choice of actions in accordance with rational principles. Intellectual Virtues: The contemplation of theoretical truths and the discovery of rational principles which ought to control everyday actions. The first set of virtues is developed by habits the second by training and education. According to Aristotle we are not born with virtues that are we are inherently good or bad, we learn by inculcating habits having role models of virtuous people.4 Thus according to Aristotle A life of reason is the best and most pleasant and this life is also the happiest one. Happiness thus depends on actualization of ones rationality. A virtuous man lives according to reason thus realizing his distinct potentiality.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Comparative Coverage of Women Issues in Elite Press

Comparative Coverage of Women Issues in Elite Press Comparative Coverage of women Issues in Elite Press of Pakistan, India Bangladesh Key Words: Mass Media, Print Media, portrayal, Women, Issues, treatment, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Elite Press, Visual, Textual, Analysis Introduction We are living in the twenty-first century and it is a heart-throbbing fact that still most of the sections of our society do not realize the importance of women in the socio-economic fabric. It would be deplorable if the status and the role of women were not appropriately perceived, since women are a part of society and share work and responsibility. Therefore, it is indispensable to upgrade the depiction of women and to strengthen the informational role of the media. Butt Mourion (1996) says that media are one of the modern ways to maintain and promote ideology and to relate it to the national needs, but also adds that to do this promotion, a grand number of projects and actions are required constantly by the state and the people as well. Media is playing vital role in dissemination of information, shaping and reshaping the perception and public views. The mass media have an essential role reporting wrong doing following up remedial action, mobilizing public opinion, brining about social change and highlighting positive developments. In fact, media and women issues coverage important topic in every era. The study is focused to analyze the visual and textual presentation of the women related news regarding social, economical and political issues in the elite press of major countries of South Asia which includes Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The study is important because before partition of the subcontinent these three countries enjoyed the status of united India. So these countries are having similar roots sharing common norms, values and society. In this study researcher is going to analyze the women issues in major newspapers of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh which include topics of news stories, tone of covered news, location of news stories in newspaper and amount of space is given to news. Through these aspects researcher will analyze whether the print media portrayal women image positive, negative or neutrally Media The life styles, socialization patterns, participation levels, cultural boundaries, political maneuverings, religious manifestations, educational standards, social hierarchy, and images of society these all sectors that influence by the media content (Sharma, 2005). The media is a vehicle used to inform as well as entertain the public. The media is a carrier of information, ideas, thoughts and opinions. It is a powerful force in influencing people perceptions on a variety of issues. Print media is oldest medium that educate, inform and entertain the people. In modern society is mass media responsible for construction and consumption of social knowledge and their meanings that use people make a sense abut world and act as social reality accordingly. Print media plays an important role in influencing public opinions and setting agenda for what is constructed as news. The print media which include newspapers, periodicals, newsletters and other channels are relied upon by the people as c redible source of information, education and entertainment. The print media are known for fearless criticism and service. The print media or newspaper is consists of current affairs news, articles, features, advertising. Newspaper normally publishes stories on local, national and international politics issues, entertainment, society, business, technology, education, agriculture, sports etc. Also editorials, columns and letter to editors on current issues publish in newspaper on particular pages. Print media started in these three countries with the Independence Day but some news papers were running before the partition such as Dawn, Nawa I Waqt and Jang (Pakistan) The Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Dainik Jagran (India) and The Daily Star. Women Women are an integral part of our society, and cannot be ignored due to less power and authority. They are created using the need for men and men, presenting them with a companion in the course of life. Although women are significantly in all areas of life, the long list of people in the treatment seems to be never ending. There is no denying the fact that in todays society, where women are still mostly male, is dominated by pine from the inferior place to put side-by-side with men because of social and stick are typically held social values. In fact, womens position in any of the countries varies according to the categories, regions, and rural and urban distribution unequal socio-economic development and the impact of tribal, feudal, and capitalist social formations on womens lives. Today Pakistani women have a better position than most of other Muslim women. However, on an average, the womens situation vis-Ã  -vis men are one of systemicgender subordination. However, awareness among Pakistani women to expand the educational opportunities increased from past few years. According to the United Nations development index, Pakistani women are better in gender equality, as women in India and Bangladesh. However women condition in India is worst as compared to other development countries majority of Indian population consist of female. Today average female life expectancy today in India in contrast to many others countries is below the standard line (Nautiyal Dabral, 2012). Majority of women deprived the basic facility of life such as food, health and education in India and also socially women life in India very terrible. Indian society gives the more dominancy and importance to male in any walk of life as well as male social development. The status of women in Bangladesh is defined as an ongoing gender battle, the prevailing political tide, who favors restricting the rights of women in the Islamic patriarchal patterns, and activism. The Bangladesh socio-cultural environment provides comprehensive gender inequity so that girls and women face many obstacles in their development. The girls are often considered the financial burden on the family, and since birth, they receive less investment in health, health care and education (UNICEF, 2007). In Bangladesh, women have made huge gains since the country gained independence in 1971. In the past four decades have seen increased political influence for women, better employment prospects, improving training and new laws protect their rights. Many of the women working in the States and other key positions but in issues like family violence, acid burning and rape are still persist. Media and Women The media portrayal both positive as well as negative issues of women as well as a powerful mechanism. Although the media has played an important role in highlighting womens issues, it has also had negative impact, in terms of perpetrating violence against women through pornography and images of women as a female body that can be bought and sold. (Sharma, 2005) the trend is increasing in media to represent women as victims are more alarming. Media reflects in its content the pattern of value in any society. According to (Sharma, 2005) for the purpose of promoting and disseminating information media play an important role and also it is main role in development of women in social and economic sectors. The way subjects dealing with women are treated indicated to a great extent the prevailing attitude of the society towards women. Everywhere the potential exists for the media to make a far greater contribution to the advancement of women. More women are involved in careers in the commun ications sector, but few have attained positions at the decision-making level or serve on governing boards and bodies that influence media policy. Womens appearance in sensational news stories such as glamour, sex, domestic violence and other forms of violence are still prominent (Nautiyal Dabral, 2012). Portrayal of women in the media is mostly unfair and imbalanced. They are under-represented which falsely implies that men are the cultural standard and women’s role in the social life is unimportant or negligible. Women are portrayed stereotypically that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views of gender. Their presentation in the media does not conform to their real role in the society. According to Patel (1995) the mainstream media like print more highlight the women physical body image side by side along stereotyped sexist images and the back page pin ups. She observed that one of the reasons for projection of patriarchal image of the society is disproportionate number of men in the key positions in media. As to the qualitative aspect of portrayal of women in the media that they are generally portrayed as unthinking, dependent and submissive beings with reproduction as their fundamental role. Women are either portrayed as ideal or deviant. Their real life feelings and b ehaviors are rarely depicted on screen. She is shown more in fantasy roles than her real life. Common woman in the society finds it hard to relate herself to the depiction of females in the media. The negative portrayal of women in the media not only does not correspond with the reality but also leads to promote unhealthy and harmful traits among the public. Statement of the Problem Press is prognostic the women in a totally immoral way according to society values in news. While these types of news became the sources of spreading obscenity, western style, trends and personalities are being highlighted quite indecently. The news about scandals, rapes, pregnancy, fashion shows, show-biz and private matters of wife and husband are being over played instead of the women development and social progress. The photographs related to these news are nude, and below the standards of morality. Newspapers are more focusing the sexual crimes are being highlighted in which women are badly humiliated. In fact, film stars and celebrities’ news are being accommodated as commodities. Hypothesis Whether or not Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh press portray women as commodities? Whether or not Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh press treating women issues in real sense and focusing social development? Whether or not Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh press portray women issues as sensational news? Objectives of the Study The objectives of this research, which can be specified on the spot to find the answer the following questions as below: To analyze representation of women in selected newspaper of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. To examine the quality of the women related news published in selected newspapers. To find out the selected issues related to women that are discussed subject matter or not. To understand whether or not women related news are treated as traditional approach in selected newspapers. To check the nature/style of news related to women issues in selected newspapers. To understand print media reporting patterns are favorable/ unfavorable towards women Printmediaportraystereotypicalimageof womeninnewsstories Nautiyal Dabral (2012) The journals are mostly qualified for modern society and could be said to be positively harmful to the development of women as conscious individuals aware of themselves and aware of the society around them. If a woman wins a beauty contest, magazines or newspapers in particular give much importance to the news and even take her photographs on cover page but, at the same time if a woman gets the Nobel Prize she gets limited coverage. Here the difference of judgment in womens issues is quite marked in our media. Similarly the daily newspapers rarely put womens news and their development. Rather they prefer reporting on rape, atrocities, crime, sexual harassment and abuse of women prominently in their columns. UNICEF, State of the World’s Children: The Double Dividend of Gender Equality, 2007 Mariam S. Pal (2000).Women in Pakistan: Country Briefing Paper. Asian Development Bank.ISBN971-561-297-0. Pakistan: Status of Women the Womens Movement. Womenshistory.about.com. 28 July 2001. Retrieved 2012-01-24. Women Education in Pakistan. Pakcitizen.com. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-24. http://hdrstats.undp.org/images/explanations/pak.pdf Jump up^http://tribune.com.pk/story/521279/pakistan-better-than-india-on-undp-gender-inequality-index/

Monday, August 19, 2019

Sprawl and Small Businesses Essay -- Stores Retail Essays

Sprawl and Small Businesses During the past 15 years, I have seen my once-rural hometown of Washington Township transform into a maze of single-family housing developments and strip malls. This type of growth has not been gentle on the local economy, especially small businesses. Stores such as the mom and pop hardware store, a local mainstay for many decades, have been forced out of business by the construction of two Home Depots and a Lowe’s within a two-mile radius of the town’s main street. This negative aspect of sprawl has been a trend that has repeated itself nationwide in recent years. Mega chain stores, or big boxes, are a phenomenon that has spread all over the country, and has exploded in popularity in recent years. Contributing to this phenomenon are monster chain stores, such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Target, Kmart and Best Buy. The success of these stores has depended upon the saturation of the retail market in areas where they are built. For instance, Wal-Mart’s strategy of store placement is such that in urban areas, stores are placed within a 10-mile radius of each other and a 30-mile radius is created in rural areas. (sprawl-busters.com/hometown.html) The density of store placement can vary, depending on the presence of competitors in the area. By saturating the market, these stores are undercutting their competition and making it virtually impossible for their smaller competitors to survive, or even start up in a free-market economy. In addition to their planning strategy of market dominance, big box stores have other attributes that are difficult to compete with. These attributes are attractive to the consumer, but come at a detrimental price.... ..., these corner stones are becoming a dying breed. Although progress cannot be stopped, we must hope that ideas like town centers can catch on, and save our small businesses. References: 1. http://www.sharbell.com/washington/washmain.htm : Sharbell is the developer that is building the Washington town center. 2. http://www.sprawl-busters.com/hometown.html : â€Å"Home town America fights back.† â€Å"A citizens view of Home Depot: The Orange Wars.† 3. www.reason.com/9505/NICKwalmart.may.shtml : â€Å"Do Wal-Mart and Home Depot spell the end of Community?† 4. www.nlcnet.org : National Labor Committee Website. 5. www.tradelocal.org/arts/wrongwal.html : â€Å"What’s wrong with Wal-Mart?† 1999 6. www.lawmall.com/rpa/chap1.html : â€Å"Surviving the Invasion of the Mega Stores: The Impact of Mega-Retail Discount Chains on Urban, Suburban and Rural Economies†

Sunday, August 18, 2019

I Want to Learn to Take Risks Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay Exampl

I want to learn to take risks. I want to change my attitude about taking chances. Assessing my academic and extracurricular achievements, I am proud of my accomplishments. I see myself as an open-minded, goal-oriented person who achieves and succeeds through hard work and determination. How much of that success is a result of staying on comfortable ground? I began wondering about the range of my abilities when I attended Northwestern University's Theater Arts Program last summer. The theme of the institute, announced by the director, was: "Dare to fail gloriously." This idea encouraged participants to take bold risks on the stage. Over time I applied this philosophy to my acting and my life. I began the Northwestern program as a quasi-accomplished actress with a hunger to absorb all I could about acting. I emerged not only a well-rounded thespian, but also a more secure person with a new outlook. I knew that there was something about my life that I wanted to change and could change. Now, as I approach college, I am committed to continuing successes and occasional glorious fail...

Essay --

South Africa Presenter: Mr. Confidence Okoye Board: Prof. Donna Cooke Class & Location: MAN3611 & LA 243 Date: March 12, 2014 Time: 9:30 am Customs South Africa (SA) is a multicultural society and therefore has many diverse customs, communication styles and cultural values. Among all the 9 provinces and the 11 official languages, the text will focus on only four: English, Africans, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Zulu. The English speakers inherited most of their customs from the British after they were colonized. The Africans also inherited a portion of the Dutch settler’s food traditions like rusk and biltong. The rusks are dried biscuit and they are often served with tea or coffee. The biltong is a way to preserved meat in place of a cold fridge. Xhosa tribe is located at the eastern cape of South Africa. This tribe in particular has many customs which is expected of their people to follow so as to be recognized by the community [Academia]. Since the birth of a child, the Xhosa speaking tribe initiate the new born into their customs. At a certain age in a man’s life the culture mandates that the male undergo a circumcision ritual to transform him from being a boy to a man [Academia]. A man in this context means someone who can partake in community discussions, acquire or inherit wealth and to have a wife. This ritual last for 3 months and any male undertaking the process will be referred to as a â€Å"thing† or a dog, of no significant value to the community and his family, until they have completed the requirements of the ritual [Academia]. The males must overcome pain as the surgeon clips a portion of the penis skin. This male shall also repeat these words stated by the doctor, you’re a man and the boy says I am a man. And by d... .... "THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE." South Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . Deresky, Helen. International Management: Managing across Borders and Cultures: Texts and Cases. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson Education, 2011. Print Katz, Lothar. "Negotiating International Business - South Africa." N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-6. Rpt. in Http://instruction2.mtsac.edu/rjagodka/BUSM_51_Project/Negotiating/SouthAfrica.pdf. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Web. "Join Academia.edu & Share Your Research with the World." How Boys Become Dogs: Stigmatization and Marginalization of Uninitiated Xhosa Males in East London, South Africa. Qualitative Health Research Xx(x) 1-11. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. "Zulu Traditions." Reveal the Story of the Heavenly People – South African Tourism. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Growing Up Digital; Wired for Distractions.

It is globally accepted that the Internet has become a milestone in almost every walk of life, enabling us to get instant and free interaction with the external dynamic world. Nevertheless, the great impact of the Internet on the youth remains a moot question. Growing up in the digital information era, â€Å"the Net Generation† has a crazy passion for the new social media communicating platforms–cell phones, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.The concerned parents are beset with worries that their kids’ digital immersion has obviously led to their habitual distraction, which will directly make an adverse effect on their learning. ? ?Vishal Singh, the hero of this article, is surely an exact example of the â€Å"Digital Natives†, who are really lured by the digital realm. He’s totally indulged in making music digital videos and talented in filmmaking, seemingly, his future career. However, it is a pity that he â€Å"lacks the self-control†, which has led to his distractions in learning.It’s greatly touching how his parents won’t â€Å"put roadblocks in his way† and are willing to help him to achieve his dream of filmmaking. Additionally, deeply admirable, David Reilly, principal of Woodside High School where Vishal is studying, who sympathizes with his students and is generous enough to build a multimedia center to encourage them to display their digital wit. Markus Dworak, the Harvard neuroscientist who led the brainwave pattern experiments on 12 to 14 year olds, came up with some eye-opening results. When you look at vocabulary and look at huge stimulus after that, your brain has to decide which information to store,† he said. â€Å"Your brain might favor the emotionally stimulating information over the vocabulary. † By this he means that emotionally charged stimuli would always conquer lesser information. Matt Richtel uses examples of students who are growing up with digital technol ogies and, as they acknowledge themselves, the technology is taking them away from studying. Many parents buy a laptop to their offspring for education. In reality, it is a tool for entertainment and source of distraction.Sean’s statement that he â€Å"sometimes wishes that his parents would force him to quit playing and study† is quite shocking. In addition, many teachers struggle in the battle with iPods, text messaging, You-Tube or games to win the interest of the young generation. The attitude of Mr. Reilly – â€Å"meet them on their turf† as he teaches an audio class to students who are †at risk of tuning out school†. He is not saying that Vishal would get to filmmaking based purely on his portfolio, but he encourages him to master his academic skills too: â€Å"If you’re going to write scripts, you’ve got to read. ? Perhaps, Dr. Rich’s speech â€Å"Reclaiming Childhood from the river of Electronic Screens† wi ll inspire a movement. When it comes to digital distraction, it’s up to the young individual to determine if it’s becoming a problem. Indicators like low grade point, isolation, and weight gain are just some and they are there for a reason. If these don’t provide enough motivation to improve focus and prioritize then there might be more underlying, deep seated, issues that need to be dealt with and should involve parents.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Negative Effect of Devolution

Negative effects: The implementation of the local government in 1992 provided the impetus for local government units to assume greater roles and responsibilities in bringing about socio-economic development for their respective constituents. This is in view of the devolution in the provision of basic services such as health, social welfare, socialized housing, agricultural extension, tourism development, among others, from the national to local governments. The devolution of health services of the Department of Health (DOH) to the local government units was consonance with the national goals. The national vision signals the initial step for local communities as well as an opportunity for local government units to manage their respective health services in the most effective and efficient manner. Considering these meritorious objectives to attain the national vision, the devolution process also posed problems for the DOH and the local government units, particularly on the inadequate financial resources to undertake vigorous health service delivery programs. In Cotabato City, the constraint of insufficient budgetary resources was only one of the problems faced by the local government in the provision of effective and efficient ranged from the geographic location of its barangays, economic status of its population, inadequate health manpower and facilities, and pre-LGC (Local Government Code) situation. The location of the barangays and economic status of the population. People of various ethnic origins (T’boili, B’laan, Tagabili, Ubo and Tasaday) coming from as far as Aparri to Tawi-tawi populate the city of Cotabato. Majority of its population is composed of the Maguindanaoan tribe and people from the Visayan regions. Cotabato, as a participant in the Integrated Community Health Services Project (ICHSP) was included in the Local Health Accounts pilot phase as one of six provinces where local financial data was collected. About 60 percent of the population is composed of marginal farmers and fisherfolks, seasonal job workers, unskilled labourer and jobless individuals. Those belonging to this group live within the poverty threshold level as they earn an average gross family income of php6,000 and below per month. The remaining 40 percent accounts for the middle and high-income groups. This implies that majority of the people living in Cotabato are poor and disadvantaged and, therefore, most wanting of health and other basic services from the government. Accessibility and Transportation Constraints. The city’s geographical feature makes delivery of health services a major challenge to the local government. Brooks. Rivulets and creeks of various sizes criss-cross and traverse the city in all directions. Eight barangays can only be reached by water transportation. Three other barangays are not easily accessible by public transportation. Before it’s special project on health and sanitation, the city has been providing health care at the Main Health Center and eleven satellite stations. However, people in remote areas cannot avail of these services because of transportation difficulties. Inadequate Financial and Budgetary Resources. The Office of Health Services (OHS) had very limited financial resources. Its regular budget was just ssufficient to cover personal services and maintenance and operating expenses. Inadequate Health Manpower and Facilities. Due to financial constraint the OHS could not put up additional health facilities and employ much needed additional health personnel. Prior to its special project on health and sanitation, the city has only 11 health stations regularly manned by midwives. In terms of manpower, the OHS had only 39 regular personnel. These consisted of 4 doctors, 6 nurses, 11 midwives, 1 dentist, 1 medical technologist, 8 sanitary inspectors and 8 non-technical and administrative personnel. Such health facilities and manpower have been inadequate to cover the entire household in the city Adverse Pre-implementation Health Station. Until 1993, major health statistics and conditions indicate the need to give more focus in the delivery of basic preventivehealth servies to the constituent of Cotabato City, particularly to the disadvantaged groups living in the remote barangays. Based on the National Statistics Coordination Boards (NSCB) data for 1990, the city’s infant mortality rate was 44. 0 per 1,000 live births while maternal mortality rate was 182. 8 per 100,000 livebirths.