Thursday, October 31, 2019

Book critique of monoculture by F.S Michael Essay

Book critique of monoculture by F.S Michael - Essay Example In particular, I do not practice the aspect of vegetarianism because of any specific reason since I do not have any particular end for it. However, this is reflected in different ways in the different chapters that are found within the book. Each of them aims at revealing how this issue is significantly undergoing change. The main point of this book is chiefly about monoculture. Its contents majorly revolve around the aspects of human beings that are experienced during day to day activities. This is because they mainly discuss whom we are, where we are approaching from and where we are headed towards. Thus, in monoculture one of such stories has taken over other stories and is narrowing down with a great level of diversity. As such it is creating some form of monoculture. The author discusses how the economic story rises especially with regard to how it can fundamentally change life. This is especially in relation to whom an individual is, what they know as well as whether they are r ight. As individuals go about the daily activities of their lives within a world that is driven by capitalism, people tend to lose touch with humanity as well as charity. The knowledge for the sake of freedom in the society is created by the control of a mono culture by the society. This is the case in every corner of life as Michael reflects in the issue of pervasiveness that is brought about by the attempt to privatize public goods. It is as a result of this that people have the right to choose the kind of services and goods that they would like to have within their lives.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Radical Reconstruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Radical Reconstruction - Essay Example Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, established the Freedmen’s Bureau intended to stop the lawmakers in the South from passing discriminatory legislation. President Johnson angered Radical Republicans by vetoing these laws but both were overridden by Congress which then rejected the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case that denied citizenship rights to freed slaves by passing the 14th Amendment. In addition, it provides that no state can â€Å"deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.This Amendment also gave the right to black men aged 21 and over to vote and run for public office. However, despite these reconstructive legislative efforts white on black violence became increasingly commonplace in the South.Ex-Confederate troops and southern loyalists formed paramilitary organizations to fight the Union Army to kill all blacks and any whites that opposed their cause. White vigilante organizations derailed Reconstruction and re-established ‘home rule,’ a term used to describe whites only in the government and legal system. Blacks were terrorized and threatened not vote and certainly not run for office. The devastated South never received economic help that had been previously promised by Lincoln thus never fully recovered economically. The oppression of Blacks likely continued to a greater degree and for a longer period of time due to Lincoln’s assassination. The cumulative amount of human misery caused by Johnson is incalculable.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Importance Of Scale In Ecology Biology Essay

Importance Of Scale In Ecology Biology Essay The concept of scale in ecology is seen as increasingly important in our understanding of the functioning of ecological communities and the interaction of individual species with the environment. This has been recognised globally by the awarding of the 2011 Crafoord Prize to Ilka Hanski for his work on the concept of metapopulations (www.crafoordprize.se). The importance of scale in ecology was only seriously recognised in the late 80s and 90s by ecologists (Krebs 1985; Wiens 1989; Levin 1992; Bissonette 1997). Krebs (1985) stated: the importance of scale in ecology is a focal issue for the 1980s as we attempt to gain a finer understanding of how ecological systems operate in the real world. This is further highlighted by the fact that Karieva and Anderson (cited in Wiens 1989 and Bissonette 1997) showed that about half of all studies conducted between January 1980 and January 1987 were done on plots a metre or less in diameter. The two major types of scale are spatial scale and temporal scale. Spatial scale can be considered in terms of grain size and extent. The grain size is the resolution of the sampling. It describes the size of an individual sample. A common example for grain size in ecology would be a quadrat. The extent describes the area (or volume) within which all the samples are taken. Temporal scale can be thought of as the frequency of sampling. The importance of scale when studying migrations was shown by Hanski and his colleagues (Hanski 1999, Hanski et al. 1994). Previous work has suggested that there are two types of butterfly populations; open and closed. This is due to the mobility of different species of butterflies with some migrating long distances like the monarch butterfly and others only a few kilometres. It was observed that the majority of species of butterflies in closed populations remained in their natal habitat patch. However, Hanski states that nobody had conducted extensive mark-recapture work simultaneously in many habitat patches (populations) to really establish the extent of migration. In other words he suggested that by looking at the metapopulation instead of population level, a better picture of the butterfly migration would be had (Hanski 1999). When this was done it was found that some populations were not as closed as they seemed (Hanski 1999, Hanski et al. 1994). Insect herbivores life-history strategies According to Bale (2002) there are six different types of life-history strategies found in insect herbivores: Methuselah. Growth and development is dependent on climatic conditions. The life cycle can last several years. For example, the periodic cicadas have a 13 or 17-year life cycle (Williams and Simon 1995). Stop go. Growth and development is controlled by environmental cues. It starts and stops in synchrony with seasonal changes. This can be seen in the heather psyllid Strophingia ericae (Miles et al. 1998). Grab it. There is close synchrony of life cycle with host plant phenology because the duration of the availability of the plant as a food resource is limited to an interval during the growing season. There is usually only a single generation per year. For example, in the spruce bud moth (Zieraphera canadensis) larvae surviviorship decreases significantly for those hatched 4-5 days after bud burst (Quiring, 1992). Keep trying. The host plant allows for continuous development during a limited growing period. Two or more insect generation may occur per season depending on temperature and host plant condition. For example, the southern pine beetle Dendroctonus frontalis can have up to five generations per season depenting on temperature (Rudinsky 1962). Hop about. The insect changes host plant depending on suitability. An example of this strategy can be seen in the moth Hyles lineata (Cates 1980). Never give up. In non-seasonal environments, continuous development occurs on a single host with several generations per year. In seasonal conditions, insects are adapted to survive unfavourable periods in any one of all stages. A seasonal synchronization mechanism may be included in the life cycle (e.g diapause and photoperiodic inhibition of development). An example of this strategy in seasonal conditions can be seen in the corn borer Pyrausta nubilalis (Babcock, cited in Masaki 1961) and in non-seasonal environments in the beetle Chelobasis perplexa (Strong and Wang 1977). When studying any aspects linked with growth and development in insect herbivores, it is therefore important to know what type of life-history strategy the study species displays when choosing the temporal scale of the study. A species with a never give up strategy can be sampled continuously throughout the year but this is not the best sampling process for a species with a methuselah strategy because growth and development is dependent on climatic conditions and, to study its whole life cycle, sampling would have to take place over several years. Temporal and spatial influence on community ecology Krebs (1985) recognised five traditional characteristics of communities that have been measured or studied; species diversity, growth form (e.g. trees, shrubs, herbs, and mosses) and structure, dominance amongst species, relative abundance of species, and trophic structure. Temporal changes to these characteristics are known as successions and lead to a stable climax community A climax is the final or stable community in a successional series. It is self-perpetuating and in equilibrium with the physical and biotic environment (Krebs 1985). Krebs describes the floral development of abandoned farmland in Oklahoma as example of plant succession. Booth (1941) analysed the different plant stages and their duration in the succession. His findings are tabled below. Table 1. Plant succession stage and its duration. (After Krebs 1985) Stage Duration of Stage Weeds 2 years Annual Grass (Aristida oligantha) 9-13 years Bunchgrass (Andropogon scoparius) 25+ years Tall grass prairie Climax vegetation The replacement of weeds by annual grass can be explained to be due to weed species producing chemical inhibitors that affected themselves but not the annual grass. A. oligantha can survive in a low nitrogen environment and nitrogen levels are low after crop abandonment. As the soil improves, the bunchgrass replaces the annual grass and in turn is replaced by the prairie grass. Temporal changes that occur in a stable community are known as cyclic changes. An example of this type of change can be seen in the population of lemmings in Greenland (Gilg et al. 2003). The collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) in Greenland is preyed upon by four species of predators; the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), the stoat (Mustela ermine), the snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca), and the long tailed skua (Stercorarius longicaudus). Gilg et al. were able to show that there is a 4-year cycle in lemming and stoat numbers. They were also able to predict this 4-year periodicity in lemming dynamics by constructing a predator-prey model. This and the Gilg et al. observations of the 4-year cycle were graphed and can be seen in Fig. 1 below. Fig. 1. The top graph is a visual demonstration of the lemming (black squares) and the stoat (grey circles) 4-year cycle based on field observations. The bottom graph demonstrates the cycle predicted by a model. (Gilg et al. 2003) They also highlight that there is a similar cycle in the arctic fox in Greenland. Using data from trapping records, they demonstrated that arctic fox numbers between 1935 and 1960 peaked at intervals of 4, 5, 4, 4, and 4 years. Like the changes in stoat numbers, they suggest that this cycle is due to changes in lemming densities. Spatial influence on community ecology is especially obvious when considering the theory of island biogeography put forward by MacArthur and Wilson (1967). This theory states that on an island, the number of species is proportional to the size of the island and its distance from the source population (usually the mainland). This theory does not work solely on island populations. It has been adapted to work on fragmented forests, lakes and ponds, caves, and mountaintops (Harris 1984, Lassen 1975, Culver et al. 1973, Riebesell 1982). Communities can have different species diversity depending on their latitude. Simpson (1964) recognised a north-south gradient in the abundance of mammals in North America. He identified a clear but irregular gradient with a minimum number of 13 species in a quadrat (240 km2) in one of the nothernmost areas (latitude 70Â °) and a maximum number of 163 species in one of the southernmost areas (latitude 10Â °). This gradient can be explained due to the warm temperatures found in the tropics which favour the diversification of the biota (Krebs 1985, Jacobsen et al. 1997). Krebs (1985) states that the increase in species diversity towards the tropics could be due to an increase in spatial heterogeneity. This influence has been recognised in forest ecosystems by Burnett et al. (1996) and in bird species diversity by Roth (1976). Another factor to this gradient might be that towards the equator diversity in species is greater because the area is greater and species richness is scale depe ndent; it increases with area (Willig et al. 2003). How communities are structured/evolve A community is formed from processes which occur at very large spatial and temporal scales such as speciation, vicariance, and dispersal (Holt 1993). Two types of community structures are the physical structure and the biological structure (Krebs 1985). The physical structure refers to the structures within which species distribute themselves, for example, trees and shrubs. Krebs (1985) recognised three components to the physical structure of communities; growth forms, vertical stratification and seasonality which will be discussed in the next section. The growth form refers to the architecture of a plant in terms of its form, method of branching and arrangement of its shoot system, and underground system if possible (Gimingham 1951). They can be classified into six major growth forms: Trees Lianas Shrubs Epiphytes Herbs Thallophytes All communities have a vertical structure. This stratification is associated with a decrease in light (Krebs 1985). Biological structure involves species composition and abundance, temporal changes in communities, and relationships between species in a community (Krebs 1985). Examples of temporal changes and relationships between species in communities were given in the previous section. All these characteristics of the community structure are interlinked. This is best shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2. The relationships between factors that influence the structure of a community. (After Krebs 1985) The evolution of a community is not dependant on individual biological components but of the pattern of interaction expressed in the community structure (Olson 1966). Although, it could be argued that changes in a species can change an interaction in the community structure (Brooks and McLennan 2002). Changes in one of the factors in Fig. 2. can contribute to the evolution of a community. The evolution of a community can also be thought of in terms of succession as a community changes until it reaches a stable climax community. The extent to which a community can evolve is dependent on species density. A community which has a number of species that is below equilibrium numbers has a greater chance of evolving than a community in equilibrium (Brooks and McLennan 2002). Factors influencing the structure and longevity of communities Seasonality is a major component of the physical structure of communities. The structure of all communities is affected by seasons, and seasonal events are important to the functioning of communities (Krebs 1985, Wiens 1974). It can also be considered as affecting the biological structure since the physical structure of a community affects its biological structure (Krebs 1985, Wiens 1974). Wiens (1974) states that the highly seasonal distribution of precipitation and production found in grassland habitats can influence the species abundance or the size of the resident population. He also describes how climatic irregularities can limit the number of species in a community, especially in large unfragmented grasslands where there are few places for opportunistic species to reside. He argues that in grassland which covers a small area, populations of species can take refuge in a different habitat type until conditions are favourable for them. Also, natural hazards (e.g. fires and floods) and anthropogenic influences can affect community structure (Zimmerman 1992, Dale et al. 2001). The longevity of a community is dependent on its resilience. Resilience indicates how fast a community can return to an equilibrium state after a perturbation (Pimm 1984). If a community is resilient it does not mean that it is unstable. In fact, Holling (1973) states that the spruce budworm forest community is highly unstable and because of this it is very resilient. Measurements of resilience are specific to a type of perturbation. A community can be resilient to one type of perturbation (e.g. low temperatures) but not at all resilient to another (e.g. increased nutrients) (Krebs 1985). Two factors that can affect the resilience of a community are patchiness and dispersal (Krebs 1985, Holling 1973). Some communities are resilient because they reside in a patchy environment. When a perturbation occurs in one patch, species can disperse to another patch until conditions are favourable again (Krebs 1985, Wiens 1974). Species composition and biodiversity can also affect resilience (All ison 2004, Griffiths et al. 2000). According to Pfisterer and Schmid (2002) greater number of species can express a greater range of responses to environmental perturbations. Differences in immigration/emigration between guilds, species, and kingdoms Different organisms have different success in migrating. For example, Walsh and Kay (1995) showed that when eucalyptus trees were introduced to New Zealand from the Australia, woodborers, sapsuckers and defoliators species immigrated to New Zealand to colonise the eucalyptus number of species being roughly equally distributed amongst the three guilds. At around the same time, pine trees from the North America were introduced to New Zealand. Half the amount of woodborer species that colinised the eucalyptus emigrated to colonise the pines while only a quarter of the numbers of sapsuckers that colinised the eucalyptus colonised the pines and no defoliators managed to establish in the pines. The succes of the insects, considered to be pests to trees, is due to the distance of their source population from New Zealand (Fig. 3). The insect that colonised the eucalyptus trees came from Australia and had no problem in immigrating. However, the insect pests to the pines originate from North A merica and would have had to travel a long distance to reach introduced pines. The defoliators could not emmigrate and synchronise their life history with the introduced pines. The woodborers are well-adapted to travelling long distances because their life history is isolated from their environment. Sapsuckers are not as well adapted to travelling long distances but only one female need to arrive at the destination to colonise because of their parthenogenesis capability. Fig. 3. An adaptation of the MacArthur and Wilson (1967) model for the prediction of the number of pests that can colonise a host. (Walsh and Kay, 1995) Insects have more success in establishing themselves in a new environment if they migrate on an east-west axis as opposed to a north-south (Kay, 2005). This is because there is more of a chance of phenological synchrony of pests and host in east-west dispersal because season reversal is encountered when travelling north-south. How does this assist our understanding of ecology on a local and global scale? When choosing scale one must be aware of the characteristics of the processes that might influence your study (if they are not the subject of the study themselves) and the characteristic of organisms in the study. For example, if we are studying the potential threat of an invasive herbivore insect to a community, it is not enough to study the community structure to see if it can accommodate the insect but the distance of the source population must be known as well and also the life-history strategy of the insect. Although spatial and temporal scales are usually positively correlated to achieve high predictability in a study (Wiens, 1989) this is not the case when looking at the evolution of a community. When studying succesion, a later sequence can survive longer than the investigator (Connel and Slayter, 1977). This means that you could be looking at the succesion of a local community in a small area using years of data. Hanski (1999) makes an argument of not restricting to a local scale when studying a local population. By looking at a more global scale you can make an inference on a local population. It is important to note that even when a community is in a stable condition, temporal changes can still occur and lead to population dynamics. These cyclic changes could affect data and therefore the temporal scale of a study done on species in a stable climax community would have to take this into consideration. For example, if one were looking at the stoat population in Greenland between 1996 and 1999 (Fig. 1.) one would assume that there is a pattern with number of individuals gently rising, unaware of the cyclic changes in their population. Since when we look at evolution we look at changes against time it is safe to say that time is the main process influencing the evolution of a community. This is visually demonstrated in Fig. 2. where time is on top of the diagram showing the factors that influence community structure. However, there is a spatial influence on the evolution of a community as well. Spatial heterogeneity, as previously discussed, can dictate the species diversity. Also, the species density (amount of species per area) affects the ability of a community to change. The theory of island biogeography can be applied on a local and global scale. The Culver et al. (1973) study on cave-limited species in the Greenbrier valley in West Virginia can be considered to be done on a local scale compared to the MacArthur and Wilson (1967) study on amphibians and reptiles in the West Indies using data collected by Preston (1962). On a global scale, we see that species diversity increases on a gradient from one of the poles to the equator. This can be attributed to the change climate, spatial heterogeneity, or simply because of the greater amount of space available towards the equator. Seasonality can have an ecological effect on global as well as local scale. On a local scale, it can effect species abundance and population density in a community. Seasonl irregularities can affect species diversities in spatially homogenous communities. On a global scale, seasonality can lead a community to be species specific. Some herbivorous insect cannot colonise certain areas because they are unable to synchonise their life cycle with the potential host plant phenology due to change in seasons. A communitys longevity is not dependent on how stable it is but on its resilience. A communitys resilience is influenced by how patchy is the environment it occupies. If its environment is heterogenous, species can disperse between habitat types to avoid perturbations. Biodiversity is also important for resilience and , as already mentioned, is affected by spatial and temporal forces. Success of migration in species is dependent on the scale of the migration. Walsh and Kay (1994) showed that woodborers, sapsuckers and defoliators had much more success in immigrating to New Zealand from Australia than from North America. There was also variation in successes to the emigration of the three guilds from North America due to the different influences that seasonality has on the guilds. In brief, the main conclusion of this review is that a study should not be restricted to one scale. When possible, different observations should be done on different scale. For example, when studying species diversity we know that it can be affected by spatial heterogeneity (local scale) and latitude (global scale). We have already established that different processes work on different scale but it is important to note that some processes work on multiple scales.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Balancing Inequality Essay -- Education

The California public school system is failing in educating children state-wide. One of the most difficult problems is budget, which affects tremendously children in poor areas. Children from these areas should have equal access to resources, programs and opportunities as those from more propitious communities. In order to close the gap of inequality, we all need to change the way California school system’s funding is allocated and put into use. First, we must increase the income tax of the richest people or the top two tax brackets and divide that extra tax money we collected to public schools in poor areas. This idea was mentioned in a research by professor Picus from University of California Rossier School of Education. Although the idea does not sound very fair to the richest people, it is what needs to be done for California school system to improve statewide. The gap of expenditure per student in higher and low-income districts is too great. According to Just Schools California, districts like Palo Alto spend more than $10,000 per pupil, while largely low-income communities like Lynwood spend around $6000 per pupil. There are rich people who donate a large amount of money to schools every year because they have a lot of extra money and they like to do their part for the society. In fact, the wealthiest Californians have a lot of extra cash even after they bought their Lamborghinis and holiday mansions. Increase the inc ome tax of these people by as little as 1% or 2% will not affect them much, but will benefit a lot to all Californian students, especially those in the poor areas. The reason this extra money will be given to only schools in low-income areas is because the current taxes on wealthier areas is high enough to gi... ..., we could provide every child in California with a better education and equality. Works Cited Picus, Lawrence O. Funding California's Schools: Past, Present and Future? Rep. 2006. Print. "$1B in Teacher Compensation under Attack | California Watch." California Watch | Bold New Journalism. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. . "Prop 13 Facts | Close the Loophole." Close the Loophole | Close the Prop. 13 Loophole. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. . Moore, Michael. Idiot Nation. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 128-46. Print. Conditions, Opportunities and Outcomes in California Public Schools. UCLA IDEA & UC/ACCORD, Jan. 2010. PDF.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia

The prostate gland is an exocrine gland found only in the male. Exocrine glands secrete chemicals to the outside of the body. It is a glandular organ and is found just below the bladder and at the top of the penis. It is normally about the size of a walnut and it surrounds the urethra which is the tube that brings urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. It is made of fibrous tissue and some muscle tissue. Anatomy The gland is divided into zones or lobes. The peripheral zone is the outside part of the prostate and this is where most prostate cancers are found.The central zone makes up about 25% of the gland and the transition zone makes up about 5% of the gland. The transition zone, however, is where are the hypertrophy happens. This part of the prostate is closest to the urethra so as it grows it puts pressure on and squeezes the urethra causing problems with urination. However, in benign prostate hyperplasia, the prostate grows and begins to cause the person problems. It is usually an age related disease which is nonmalignant. Large lesions grow on that central section of the prostate.It is believed that 60% of men over the age of 60 have BPH (Porth & Matfin, 2007). The exact cause is unknown but there are some risk factors which include age, history, race, dietary fat, and hormonal factors. The older one gets, the more likely to have it and African American men get it most often. When young the gland grows with the hormones testosterone and dihydrotestosterone and it is believed that in some men the hormones do not slow down and stop when they should so the gland continues to grow past what would be normal. Signs and SymptomsBPH causes compression on the urethra so it causes partial or complete obstruction of urine flow. As the obstruction increases (prostate gets larger), acute or emergent retention of the urine may occur with distention of the bladder. The urine that is left in the bladder when a man tries to urinate and is not able to empty his bladder causes a frequency to occur, consistently trying to empty the bladder. This usually becomes worse at night. When there is a lot of bladder distention accidents may happen every time pressure is put on the abdomen or when coughing causing pressure inside the abdomen.When urine is not completely emptied from the bladder the chances of a urinary infection occurs and this sometimes happens frequently. All of this develops in stages over time so there is often changes in the kidney and ureters because of the long time back up of urine causing hydronephosis which eventually begins to kill kidney gomeruli. If not treated early this can lead to renal failure. Diagnosis When making a diagnosis of BPH seven questions are at first ask. These questions are regarding incomplete emptying, frequency, intermittency, urgency, weak stream, straining, and nocturia.A final question relates to the quality of life the patient is having related to this problem. A history, physical exam and rectal exam is done. Also to be done are urinalysis, PSA, and serum creatinine as well as other blood tests. The urinalysis is done to detect bacteria or infection, the serum creatinine is used to estimate whether there is renal function problems and the PSA is used to screen for cancer. Our Patient JJ has BPH and he has symptoms of frequent or urgent need to urinate, he also has developed cysts in his urine and a urinary tract infection.All of these symptoms make sense because they are symptoms of the enlarged prostate putting pressure on the urethra. The urinary tract infection has occurred because of the retention of urine in the bladder. His treatment plan is medications and TURP or TIP. Treatment Treatment in the early stages is aimed at symptom relief, then there is a time of watchful waiting which is suggested by most physicians. There are presently medications that work pretty well for some time. These are Finasteride which reduces prostate size by blocking the effect of androgens on the prostate.This drug also cause atrophy of the prostate cells which can cause a 20% reduction in volume. The onset of the drug takes some time, sometimes 3-6 months but it usually works for some time. The side effects may be erectile dysfunction and decreased libido. There can also be the surgical removal of the enlarged prostate gland. This surgery can be done through the urethra, through a suprapubic incision, or through an incision in the peritoneum. The most commonly used way is called a TURP which is transurethral prostatectomy or through the urethra.The prostate is a very vascular organ and though this procedure is fairly simple to do, there is a great deal of bleeding on average and irrigations are often necessary post-operatively. There are presently many experimental treatments that it is hoped will provide less side effects. These include laser surgery, transurethral vaporization, transurethral microwave therapy, and transurethral needle ablation. There is also a new technique using balloon dilation but these effects at this time seem to be transitory. Stents can also be placed in those men that have major heart of lung issues and cannot tolerate surgical procedures.Treatment Plan So, JJ had symptoms of BPH which was treated by medication but his symptoms persisted and he had a TURP. This procedure after recovery relieved his symptoms and he is progressing quite well with most of his symptomology gone at this time. Conclusion BPH which is thought of as a cancerous condition of the prostate is a benign condition of the prostate. The symptoms which it causes are usually the method of treatment in the beginning and this may last for some time, but there may be a later need for a more aggressive method of treatment which at this time is the TURP.There are side effects of this surgery, some of them immediate because of the vascular condition of the prostate. This surgery, at this time usually solves the problem long term. There are many more less inv asive procedures being studied at this time. Our patient JJ is doing quite well after a TURP and will most likely not need a further procedure. It does not relieve him however, of the possibility of prostate cancer because that part of the prostate is still there so he will need to continue to have checkups. References Porth,C and Matfin, G. (2007). Pathophysiology. 8th ed. Lippincott: Boston Add textbook

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Richard III

Analysis of Richard III PassageMethoughts that I had broken from the Tower And was embarked to traverse to Burgundy, And in my company my brother Gloucester, Who from my cabin tempted me to walk Upon the hatches. Thence we looked toward England And cited up a 1000 fearful times, During the wars of York and Lancaster That had befall'n us. As we paced along Upon the dizzy terms of the hatches, Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling Struck me, that thought to remain him, overboard Into the toppling surges of the chief. O Lord, methought what hurting it was to submerge, What awful noise of Waterss in my ears, What sights of ugly decease within my eyes. Methoughts I saw a 1000 fearful wracks, A thousand work forces that fishes gnawed upon, Wedges of gold, great ground tackles, tonss of pearl, Incomputable rocks, unappreciated gems, All scattered in the underside of the sea. Some ballad in dead work forces ‘s skulls, and in the holes Where eyes did one time inhabit, there were crept— As 'twere in contempt of eyes—reflecting treasures, That wooed the slimed underside of the deep And mocked the dead castanetss that lay scattered by. ( I: IV:9-33 ) Clarence ‘s prophetic dream sequence in Act I scene Four Begins and ends with premonition, as we see the slaying of Clarence and besides visualize the eerie and supernatural glance of an underworld beneath the ocean as we see Clarence distressingly drown. The transition begins with Richard and Clarence puting canvas to Burgundy, reminiscing on the horrors of the conflicts they had won and lost together throughout the war of the roses. As their ship begins to destabilize, Clarence is cast overboard after seeking to forestall Richard from falling. The text leads us to believe this is inadvertent despite logic stating us to instantly presume this was planned by Richard. As Clarence distressingly drowns, he begins to depict the dark, supernatural underbelly of the ocean. Multitudes of lost wealth and hoarded wealth are seen alongside decomposing cadavers and the liquors of 1000s of work forces, work forces whose deceases, it has been suggested, Clarence was partially responsible fo r as a consequence of the recent overthrow of the monarchy. Clarence ‘s dream sequence is laced with both dramatic linguistic communication and baleful boding throughout. An array of poetic devices and literary techniques are employed to successfully reenforce major issues and subjects of the drama as a whole within this transition. Numerous subjects are reinforced and introduced in this transition such as the apposition of earthly wealth and human mortality, the upseting trust that Clarence has for Richard, horror and calamity, and besides the motive of the dark and the supernatural. Furthermore if we read the transition from a modern position we can integrate a Freudian reading when analyzing what seems to be Clarence ‘s subconscious head. Whilst watching Richard III, the character of Richard is hard to side with nevertheless at the same clip there is a certain appeal and inventiveness about him that is difficult to dislike. There are cases throughout the drama which help to demo Richard as a antic linguist and a sympathetic Machiavellian hero. However, at the same clip the dramatic sarcasm used in the signifier of Clarence ‘s weakness and naivete is perchance the most powerful illustration throughout the full drama which shows the cold and evil inner nucleus of Richard ‘s character. When Clarence dreams of Richard killing him, the text seems to propose that Richard did this by accident as Clarence says that Richard â€Å"in falling, Struck me, that thought to remain him, overboard.† [ [ 1 ] ] The manner Clarence has made a point of stating how Richard merely pushed him â€Å"in falling† is interesting as it makes us oppugn the dependability of Clarence ‘s history. This dramatic sarcasm plants because from an audience ‘s position we are already cognizant of the dark nature and pitilessness of Richard, moreover we know that Richard is in the procedure of engineering the slaying of his brother Clarence. These factors make us oppugn the â€Å"accidental nature† of Clarence ‘s narrative despite it being a dream. Could this dream in fact be a message straight from Clarence ‘s subconscious trying to warn him of his impending decease? We could in fact read this transition as Shakespeare trying to show a sixteenth century equivalent to Freud ‘s construct of the subconscious head. The audience is now to the full anticipating the impending decease of Clarence, and the incapacitated audience is forced to sympathize with him and get down to contemn Richard. The experience of this scene could be summed up by a quotation mark from critic Charles Barber, who believes â€Å"Clarence ‘s incredulity in his ain dream creates the feeling that Rich ard ‘s immorality is excessively monstrous for those around him to accept or conceive of, and therefore it amplifies our horror of Richard.† [ [ 2 ] ] The antecedently mentioned construct of Shakespeare meaning to demo the workings of Clarence ‘s subconscious is besides fascinating as it demonstrates a sample of a theory that was non to go popularly recognised for 100s of old ages. This element adds deepness and verisimilitude to the drama and besides adds to our hatred for Richard. Freud describes the unconscious head as â€Å"a reservoir of feelings, ideas, impulses, and memories that are outside of our witting awareness.† [ [ 3 ] ] It would look that these feelings are more perceptive in some ways than Clarence ‘s witting 1s. Somehow Clarence ‘s unconscious has picked up more about Richard ‘s character than his witting head. This poses an interesting inquiry, even to a modern audience, about the antic complexness of our heads. An audience who embraces this reading is likely to happen this idea provoking and be intellectually stimulated by this construct. If we take this transition to intend that th at Clarence ‘s unconscious head is seeking to state him something, so we besides read that his witting head is disregarding it for non merely does he presume his dreamed decease was an accident, but he subsequently goes on to province how his brother â€Å"loves me dear† and says to the liquidators ( hired by Richard ) that â€Å"if you be hired for meed, travel back once more, And I will direct you to my brother Gloucester, Who shall honor you better for my life.† [ [ 4 ] ] Clarence ‘s refusal to move upon this portents and moreover disregard his ain ego is important in demoing the power and use Richard is capable of. When the audience listens to Clarence ‘s history of his dream, the transition should render as extremely important as it foreshadows many of the events yet to come in the drama. When Clarence begins to submerge this is in fact an eerie prefiguration of his eventual decease, and more specifically submerging minutes subsequently in the scene. One critic has besides read this dream as besides boding the nightmare Richard himself experiences prior to the conflict of Bosworth in Act V scene V. [ [ 4b ] ] There is much boding throughout the drama, such as when Queen Margaret, a enchantress like character, is introduced. Queen Margaret begins to state curst prognostications as a acrimonious effort to revenge all of those who have antecedently wronged her. It is besides interesting to observe that through this transition, Shakespeare has included a subject that was popular amongst Renaissance literature, whereby earthly wealth is shown in apposition with human mortality. [ [ 4c ] ] This was a common concern among authors of the clip as earthly wealth ‘s value was questioned in many ways because of the realization that we can non purchase â€Å"life† and wealth will intend nil in the hereafter. While absorbing the address, we notice that there are infinite images in this transition that barrage us with this subject. The lost hoarded wealths are described to a great extent and often such as the â€Å"wedges of gold, great ground tackles, tonss of pearl, incomputable rocks, and unappreciated jewels.† However it becomes clearer why Shakespeare has made a point of making this when we consider this subject of human mortality versus earthly wealth. When we so go on to see â€Å"Some [ gems ] ballad in dead work forces â⠂¬Ëœs skulls, and in the holes Where eyes did one time inhabit† decease and wealth are non merely in apposition, they are basically merged as one. The manner the gems have been incorporated into the oculus sockets of the skull makes the apposition even more dramatic as they about seem as one entity because of the manner we associate the gems as eyes slotting into the sockets of a skull. This transition is besides important in the manner it introduces the motive of the Gothic into the drama. Clarence ‘s dream sequence accompanied with the eerie cursing of Queen Margaret subsequently in the drama, are both scenes which contribute to the Gothic elements of this drama through mentions to the supernatural and the unknown, and minutes of horror. Horror as a literary term can be described as â€Å"The feeling of repugnance that normally occurs after something terrorization is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced.† [ [ 5 ] ] We see horror in the transition when Clarence describes in item the scenes of the underworld and the nature of his painful drowning. Clarence explains â€Å"what pain it was to submerge, What awful noise of Waterss in my ears, What sights of ugly decease within my eyes.† This dramatic address forces the audience to get down to see the submerging themselves as Clarence uses powerful imagery such as the H2O in his ears and the hurting that he experienced. Furthermore the grotesque and macabre images of â€Å"a thousand work forces that fishes gnawed upon† besides help to dismay the audience. Supernatural elements that besides contribute to the Gothic feel of the drama are seen in another subsequent prognostication manner dream of Clarence ‘s where he sees the shade of Prince Edward, a Lancastrian whom Clarence had helped to kill. Edward begins to cuss Clarence as liquors begin to drag him below to the underworld. After analyzing Clarence ‘s dream in Act I scene IV, it can be concluded that Shakespeare has employed a scope of literary techniques and thoughts that help to reenforce and present of import subjects that permeate the full drama. Techniques such as dramatic sarcasm encourages us to appreciate the immorality of Richard, and the inclusion of a subconscious aid add deepness and machination to the drama. Furthermore the transition is a utile penetration into the drama as a whole through the debut of other of import subjects and issues of the twenty-four hours such as horror, the supernatural, and the apposition of earthly wealth and human mortality.BibliographyBarber Charles, Notes on Richard III, ( London, Longman, 1999 ) Devendra, Varma The Gothic Flame, ( New York: Russell and Russell, 1966 ) Radcliffe, Ann On the Supernatural in Poetry, Exert taken from New Monthly Magazine vol.16 No.1 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.litgothic.com/Texts/radcliffe_sup.pdf [ 22.4.09 ] Shakespeare, William, Richard III, ( London, The Arden Shakespeare, 2006 ) Strachey, James ( Trans. ) , ed. Anna Freud, The Necessities of Psychoanalysis, ( London: Vintage Books, 2005. ) [ [ 1 ] ] William Shakespeare, Richard III, ( London, The Arden Shakespeare, 2006 ) I.IV.19-20 [ [ 2 ] ] Charles Barber, Notes on Richard III, ( London, Longman,1999 ) p.75 [ [ 3 ] ] James Strachey ( Trans. ) , ed. Anna Freud, The Necessities of Psychoanalysis, ‘the unconscious ‘ ( London: Vintage Books, 2005. ) p.46 [ [ 4 ] ] William Shakespeare, Richard III, ( London, The Arden Shakespeare, 2006 ) I.IV 217-218 p.183 [ [ 4b ] ] Barber Charles, Notes on Richard III, ( London, Longman, 1999 ) p.96 [ [ 4c ] ] Ibid. [ [ 5 ] ] Varma Devendra, The Gothic Flame, ( New York: Russell and Russell, 1966 ) p.17

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The 12 Best Time Management Tips, Skills, and Strategies

The 12 Best Time Management Tips, Skills, and Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips When you hear successful people talk about the secret to their success, time management often comes up. But what is this vague and elusive â€Å"time management† they’re talking about? What does time management look like in practice, and how do you make it happen when you’re already stretched thin and overwhelmed? It’s important for anyone who’s busy, overcommitted, or stressed to have an arsenal of concrete, effective time management skills to lean on when things get tough...and when things are easy too! Our expert time management tips will help you make decisions about how to implement time management skills and techniques to organize and guide your daily life, through the good times and bad. After reading our guide to time management, you’ll be prepared to design a personalized time management strategy based on the skills and techniques you learn about here. In this guide, we’re going to cover the following info for you: What is time management, and why is it useful? Top time management tips for reducing stress and increasing success Best tools to support your time management strategies So take some deep, calming breaths and settle in to discover some effective time management techniques! What Is Time Management? Why Is It Useful? When some people think about time management, the first thing that comes to mind is a meticulously color-coded planner clutched tightly between the jittery hands of the student body president or class valedictorian. While well-organized planners can definitely be involved in effective time management, time management is more than just those things. Time management is kind of a creative process: it’s curating the time that you have in your life. Think about what a museum curator does: they select, organize, and look after the items in a collection or exhibit. You’re essentially trying to do the same thing. If your life is the collection or exhibit, then your time, health, responsibilities, commitments, and goals are the â€Å"items† that you need to learn how to â€Å"select, organize, and look after.† Curators want museum exhibits to be beautiful and meaningful, right? We know you want the same thing for your life! That’s why thinking about time management as a creative, strategic process can be a really important mindset for you to take on. Thinking about time management in this way is important because- and you probably already know this from personal experience- everyone is stressed out. Really stressed out. How do we know this? Because teens said so themselves in a 2014 poll. In fact, nearly half of the teens self-reported that they were not doing enough to manage their stress, and 34 percent believed their stress would increase in the coming year. Additionally, most American adults are spending 40 percent of their time at work, and stress-related illnesses account for more than $190 billion dollars in health care costs per year. (That’s a lot!) So how do you transition from being totally stressed and overwhelmed to curating all the â€Å"items† in your life that probably feel like they’re the main source of your stress? By learning about different time management skills, making careful decisions about what will work best for you, and designing an approach to time management that makes you feel strong and confident. Does that sound like hard work? It can be, but it’s hard work that’s totally worth it in the long run. The first step to designing your own approach to time management- techniques, skills, and mindsets included- is learning about concrete actions you can take to manage your time. So let’s take a look at seven concrete actions you can take in our list of top time management tips! Our time management tips will help you stay cool, calm, and collected (unlike this girl, who's definitely stressed out). Our Top 7 Time Management Tips for Reducing Stress and Finding Success To help you become a curator of the â€Å"items† in your life, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of seven tips for effective time management for you. Now, remember: you know yourself and the items in your life better than anyone, so be choosy as you read our list of time management tips! (If you try to incorporate them all, you’re only going to end us more stressed out.) So as you look through our tips, make sure you consider what will work best for you, and then start imagining how you want your time management strategies to look. Tip #1: Assess the â€Å"Items† in Your Life Through a Time Audit We’ll talk more about tools you can use to do this later, but we think a good place to start with developing your time management strategy is assessing the â€Å"items† in your life: those responsibilities, commitments, and goals that make up the exhibit that is your life. You can’t curate something until you know what materials you’re dealing with, right? So start there. One approach that many time management experts swear by is the time audit. A time audit might sound scary, but it’s actually super easy to do. Just select an amount of time- seven days is often recommended- and keep record of how you spend your time throughout each day in that designated time frame. Why do a time audit? Because taking inventory of how you’re currently spending your time can help you identify the changes you need to make. When you do a time audit, you’re supposed to record everything . . . including the hour-long â€Å"break† you took to watch Instagram stories while you were supposed to be studying for your history exam. Once you’ve done a time audit, you’ll have another nifty resource on your hands: a list of all of your weekly responsibilities and tasks. You could develop the list from your time audit into a comprehensive list of recurring tasks and responsibilities, then evaluate the items on that list, KonMari style: for each task or commitment on your list, ask yourself, â€Å"Does this spark joy?† Then, keep or discard accordingly. Of course, we know you can’t â€Å"discard† your required math or English courses...but lots of students overwhelm their schedules with tons of extracurriculars because they believe that quantity equals quality to college admissions committees. Additionally, you’ll also figure out where you’re wasting the most time. (Hint: it’s probably the Internet.) Here’s a reality check for you, though: college admissions committees are more interested in seeing your commitment to excellence in a few well-chosen extracurriculars than in seeing that you were a member of a bunch of different clubs or organizations. Taking your list of responsibilities and commitments to task through the KonMari method can help you shave that list down so it only includes things that enable you to grow, thrive, and achieve results that are meaningful to you and to college admissions committees. Win-win! Tip #2: Learn More About Yourself Since you’re the primary curator of your time (at least, in an ideal world), it’s worth it to assess yourself as a part of your time management strategy development, on top of assessing all of the other â€Å"items† in your life. This one’s more of a meta-tip- we’re asking you to really think about who you are, how you function, your strengths and weaknesses, your needs...we’re asking you to self-assess, and then to make plans for time management based on that self-assessment. And, here’s another plus: self-assessing can actually be a ton of fun. Have you ever taken a personality quiz? We recommend setting aside some time to take a personality test or two, then seeing if the results tell you anything new about your personality. That’s one great way to self-assess! Some personality assessments that are commonly used in workplace environments and by colleges and universities include the StrengthsQuest, the Myers Briggs, and the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. (You can even take a Sorting Hat Quiz, which isn’t official, but it is fun.) So what exactly can you learn from personality tests that might help with your time management? Well, personality tests usually generate reports based on your responses that provide an analysis of things like: How you perceive the world How you make decisions What motivates you and what stresses you out Your top strengths and weaknesses How you respond to external pressures, like interruptions, distractions, or others’ expectations How you function in interpersonal relationships, like in a team environment or workplace Can learning about these aspects of your personality help you design effective time management strategies? You betcha. We recommend taking your results from these tests with a grain of salt, since no personality test out there is perfect, but getting to know yourself a little better can be really helpful when you sit down to make decisions about your time management strategy. Tip #3: Take Time to Make a Plan and Prioritize We’re going to talk more later about actual tools you can use to keep track of the plans you make, but right now, we just want to emphasize this: making a plan for your week, for your day, and for long-term tasks and projects is extremely important. In order to create plans that prioritize urgent items and make the most effective use of your time, management experts recommend focusing first on effectiveness, then efficiency. We’ll break those concepts down into concrete actions next! Focus on Effectiveness To make a solid plan, first assess the expectations, goals, or outcomes for your day, week, or specific task or project. Take ten minutes in the evenings to evaluate your goals for the next day and sketch out a plan for how you want to achieve those goals. Do the same thing at the beginning of every week. Map out which tasks you want to complete in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and how much time you think it should take to meet your goals for those tasks. Then do the same thing for long-term or multi-step tasks or projects. Carefully read the assignment sheet your teacher gave you for that research paper or final project. Highlight it and annotate it. Ask yourself or others: What should the finished product look like? Who else is involved in this task, and how do I get them to actively participate? What tools, resources, or information do I need to acquire in order to complete this task? Making plans is good. Letting your goals guide your planning makes your plans is even better! Focus on Efficiency The second step to making effective plans involves breaking your tasks or projects down into manageable pieces or stages. As you build your plans, start by asking yourself some questions: When must the entire task be completed, and how much time will it take? Which parts of the task are going to be the most challenging or time-consuming? Which parts of the task can I complete or prepare for early? Breaking big tasks down into smaller pieces can help you allocate your time to completion of that task appropriately. Breaking big tasks down into smaller pieces can also be really helpful if you’re prone to procrastination, or if you get so anxious about big, overwhelming tasks that you can’t get work done. A couple of tried and true approaches to getting yourself going on tasks you really don’t want to do include the â€Å"Swiss Cheese† Approach and the Pomodoro Technique. These methods have some differences, but both encourage you to allocate a small amount of time to working on something- say, twenty minutes- and getting one small piece of it done. Advocates of the Swiss Cheese Approach and the Pomodoro Technique claim that just getting started and getting a little bit done can often give you the confidence you need to push through and finish the bigger task. Even if that’s not the case- or if you don’t have time to finish the entire task in one sitting- these techniques help you chip away at a big task or project over time. If you’ve planned well, you should have plenty of time to complete big projects incrementally and meet both your goals and deadlines. When you're dialed in and focused, you maximize your time. Tip #4: Curate Your Environment Into a Full-Focus Zone Another key to managing your time well is managing your environment. But what does it mean to manage your environment? Here’s an example: researchers have found that increasing natural light in work environments can increase workers’ productivity by reducing negative factors like eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision. In other words, we’re talking here about how your physical environment affects what you get out of your available time. Now, we know that you have minimal control over your environment at school. But what about when the final bell rings and your time becomes yours again? That’s when you can really take ownership of curating a work environment that enables you to meet your goals and work efficiently. Some questions you can ask yourself to help curate your environment to maximize your time include: How does my workspace make me feel? Calm? Jittery? Restless? What could I change about this space to make it suit my needs? What is distracting me in this space, and is there a way to eliminate that distraction? What sounds, smells, tastes, textures, or visuals motivate me and help me focus, and how can I incorporate them into this space? Simple questions, right? But maybe you haven’t thought about your workspace in this way before. Maybe helping you focus and get your work done is just a matter of filling your workspace with some natural light, finding a more comfortable chair, or turning off your phone until you get your urgent tasks completed. So evaluate your workspace and figure out what’s best for you. Working in a space that works for you will decrease the amount of time you spend on physical distractions, which means you’ll be using your time more effectively! Tip #5: Take A Breather Managing your time effectively isn’t just about penciling work into every available second in your day. It’s also about scheduling in breaks so that you can get more out of your work time. Taking planned, meaningful breaks can replenish your energy and motivation when you start feeling sluggish or distracted. Taking a breather is an important time management technique! You could use the self-assessments that we talked about earlier to help you decide how to approach taking breaks. Taking fifteen minutes to stretch, grab a snack, or walk around outside for a few minutes can all be reinvigorating, but you’ll ultimately want to spend your break time doing something that works for you. What we don’t recommend is spending your break times doing something that could easily spill over into the next thing on your schedule, especially if that will make you anxious or upset. For example, if you pick up your phone to scroll through social media and you know you’re going to have a really hard time putting it down and focusing on your work again, just don’t get on social media. Save it for later, when your work is done. Work is important, but it's equally important to make time to relax! Tip #6: Make Time for the Things That Sustain You... You probably know people who skip meals, guzzle energy drinks, or only sleep three hours a night because they’re so busy and stressed. But research shows that sleep deprivation can contribute to various health problems and have negative effects on mood, memory, and concentration. And it’s pretty difficult to thrive if you aren’t fueling your body and brain properly. We understand that, when you’re already stressed and overwhelmed by the mountain of things you have to do, spending valuable time on eating, sleeping, exercise, and leisure can feel like a waste. The problem is, if you don’t dedicate some of your time to doing these things well also, it’s going to hurt your productivity in other areas. So make time to eat healthy, nourishing food, if you can. Take your time eating- enjoy it. Try to get eight hours of good sleep a night. Exercise in a way that makes you feel strong. Pay attention to how your body is responding to the pace of your life. Spend meaningful time with your family and friends. And reward yourself when you meet a goal! You work hard! You deserve to spend some of your time on meaningful activities besides work. Doing so will increase your positivity, and you can use that to catalyze productivity during your working hours as well. Tip #7: ...And Eliminate the Small Things That Don’t Saying â€Å"no† to things is easier said than done, but this is an essential part of effective time management. Even the most talented people can’t do everything, and they shouldn’t try. In order to be excellent at the things that you really want to do, you have to have enough time to learn, grow, and invest in those things...which unfortunately means you’ll have to say no to other things. Now, we’re not talking here about resigning from your officer position in the National Honor Society or dropping varsity choir. We’re talking about developing an instinct for when to say â€Å"no† to the little things that add up over time. These are the things that come up in the middle of the week that you didn’t plan for, the little favors or extra tasks that you’re randomly asked to take on. For example, if you hold leadership positions in organizations you’re involved in or if you’re known for being a high achiever in your extracurricular activities, your advisors or peers might ask you to take on more and more responsibilities because they know you’re awesome. But what can end up happening is that the same people take responsibility for things over and over, even though there are plenty of other people with extra time on their hands and not a lot to do. You could think of saying â€Å"no† to taking on more small things as an opportunity to let other people step up and learn how to lead or take responsibility. If you’re swamped one week and someone asks you to take on an extra task at your student council meeting, consider saying something like, â€Å"My plate is already pretty full this week, but I think Emma would do a fantastic job managing that task. I’ll come with you to ask her if she’d be willing to take the lead on that.† Saying â€Å"no† gives you more time to excel at the things that are meaningful to you. It also helps clear the clutter out of your brain and your to-do list. One of the neatest benefits, though, is that it gives other people the opportunity to shine. Who would’ve thought that effective time management could have such amazing benefits? Good time management comes down to having the right tools for the job. (Probably not these tools...but you never know!) 5 Best Tools To Support Your Time Management Strategies Now that you’ve read our top seven time management tips, we also want to hook you up with some time management tools that can play a role in growing your time management skills. Here’s the bottom line about time management tools: whether you choose from our list below or do your own research, it can be extremely helpful- even essential, for some people- to consistently use specific time management tools that support your developing time management skills. We live in a fast-paced world, and you don’t have to do it all on your own! We’re going to look at five different types of time management tools that you can use for different approaches to time management. Check them out and decide what works for you! Tool #1: Paper Planners Paper, you say? Nothing new and flashy about that. That may be true, but physically writing things down by hand helps you process information on a deeper level, which can help with mental recall later on. So that’s one big advantage of keeping a paper planner. If your school has strict rules about whipping out digital technology during or in between classes, a paper planner might be a good choice as well. Plus, there are a ton of options out there for planners that are aesthetically pleasing and designed for optimal productivity that also won’t break the bank. And an added benefit is that you can choose a design that fits both your needs and your personality! Advantages: Won’t crash when the WiFi does; fully high school-approved; great for detail retention; affordable (if you want it to be!) Cost: $8+ Tool #2: RescueTime If you’ve already been looking into time management apps, you’ve probably seen RescueTime mentioned all over the place. RescueTime runs securely in the background on your computer or mobile device, tracks your time spent on apps and websites, then generates a detailed report that lets you know how you spent your time that day. If you found the idea of doing a time audit (mentioned above in Tip #1) really appealing, RescueTime might be the app for you. Once you’ve used RescueTime to assess how you spend your time on your digital devices, you can even use it to set alerts that let you know how much time you’ve spent on a certain activity, block distracting websites for designated periods of time, and log highlights about what you accomplished during the day. If you’re looking for help actually managing your time spent on various tasks throughout your day, check out RescueTime! Advantages: Performs a daily time audit for you; keeps you accountable to your goals and schedule; manages distractions; supported by macOS, Linux, Android, and Windows platforms. Cost: The Lite plan is free, and you can upgrade to Premium for $9/month. Tool #3: Be Focused If you’re one of those people who gets easily overwhelmed by big picture stuff or you thought the Pomodoro Method (Tip #3) sounded cool, try out Be Focused, an app that segments out your workflow into timed increments and designated breaks. You can set your timed work increments and breaks to time frames of your choosing, and the app also generates a pie chart reporting how much time you spent on a given task and tracking your progress. In other words, it lets you add time-conscious structure to your day! There’s one downside to Be Focused, though. Unfortunately, this app is only available for iOS devices, but if you’re looking for a similar app for other devices, take a look at focus booster. Advantages: Handles the Pomodoro Technique for you; runs pre-programmed timers that you can use to guide your workflow Cost: $1.99 Tool #4: Google Apps This one’s a classic. Google Apps provides you with a lot of capabilities: emailing, archiving and organizing your files, creating slide presentations, and keeping up with a calendar are just a few. While you don’t have to use all of Google’s apps, if you’re interested in centralizing your schedule, email, contacts, and project files, this is a great option. Google’s can also be super helpful if you have to do a lot of collaborative projects, papers, presentations, or planning for events and activities too. Google Drive allows you to share media files with anyone who has an email address, and you can create and edit files collaboratively using Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Slides. And even better: the only thing you have to do to access these powerful tools is sign up for a Google account! There’s also a strong possibility that your future college or university will assign you a Google account once you get on campus, so getting familiar with the many different ways that Google Apps can aid you in your academic career right now could give you a jumpstart on being an A+ college student in the future. Advantages: Accessible wherever there’s an Internet connection; usually school-approved; lets you store everything in one place; easy file-sharing and collaboration capabilities; usable on mobile and desktop Cost: Free! Tool #5: Evernote If you’re a compulsive note taker or list maker, take a look at Evernote. Evernote provides a central location where you can store and organize notes, voice recordings, pictures, and videos. This app might also interest you if you like to meticulously archive your notes and materials using some kind of intricate organizational system of your own design. This is probably sounding similar to Google Drive, so here are a couple of features that Evernote has that Google Drive doesn’t. Evernote allows you to apply tags to individual notes, so if you have notes that fall under more than one category, for example, you can tag them accordingly. Evernote’s search feature is more granular than Google Drive’s as well: you can search the contents of notes, notebooks (collections of notes), tags, and even attachments. The freedom to design your own organizational strategy could be overwhelming to some people, though, so Evernote might be a great resource to take advantage of when you start feeling really confident in your time management skills. The only downside with this option is that, in order to access Evernote’s full capabilities, you’ll have to upgrade to Evernote Premium, which comes with a monthly fee. If you upgrade to Premium, though, you can access Evernote from any device, even when you don’t have WiFi or mobile data. Advantages: Enormous storage space; multiple options for organizing and labelling content; easy to save content you capture on-the-go straight into Evernote; work from any device, anywhere (with Premium) Cost: Free for Evernote Basic; $7.99/month for Evernote Premium What’s Next? Now that you have all the tips and tricks you need to start managing your time, let’s jump into planning. (Planning is your friend!) But getting started can be a little intimidating, so we’ve created timelines to make things a little easier. Here’s a complete planning guide to studying for the SAT (and one for the ACT, too). Are you a procrastinator struggling to get your time management skills in order? We’ve been there. That’s why we’ve developed cram guides to the SAT and ACT. Click here for the SAT cram guide and here for the ACT cram guide! The trick to getting into the college of your dreams is planning ahead. (Sensing a theme here?) Here’s our guide to choosing the right AP classes for you, so you can make the most of your high school career.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Advertisements and De Destruction essays

Advertisements and De Destruction essays In the movie, Advertising and the end of the world, Sut Jhally talks about how advertising is affecting the world negatively. In the beginning of the movie Jhally talks about advertising as a culture. And how physical and simple things dont apply. Jhally stated that if an anthropologist came from mars and based our culture off of advertisements, they would think that we believe in magic, and that normal doesnt apply to us. Some advertisements even come into our personal lives and change our culture. He gives DeBeers as an example of how they have intruded into our lives. Later, Jhally talks about how the advertisements show people as being happy if we buy the product. Advertising tells us that the more we buy the happier we are going to be. Jhally gave us some statistics that show our happiness levels and our wealth levels. And our wealth has gone up but our happiness has stayed the same. Jhally then discusses a survey that they did, and asked people what made them happy. More often than not people said social things and not physical things. Social things are like friends, families, autonomy control, romance, self esteem, and relaxation. Physical things are like economic status, and houses. In the movie Jhally says that products cant provide you with social things, only material. Advertisements are used everywhere. And each one was expensive to make, ads are more expensive per thirty seconds than the biggest blockbuster hit. Jhally gave an example of Jurassic Park and how much it cost in comparison to an advertisement. The movie was something like 236 thousand dollars every thirty seconds an the commercials averaged at about 247 thousand dollars. An example he gave for commercials going to extremes, was the Timex commercial where they flew set builders in from England to the Red Sea to make a two story model of a watch. Now commercials have to do that sort of thing ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

A Single Case Evaluation of the Link Between Stress During and After Yoga Practice

A Single Case Evaluation of the Link Between Stress During and After Yoga Practice This is a description of a single case evaluation examining a relationship between stress during a test before practicing yoga and after practicing yoga. A single case evaluation is defined as a time series design used to evaluate the impact of an intervention or a policy change on individual cases or systems (Rubin Babbie, 2014). Stress during a test will be lower if the student participates in yoga on a daily basis. The observable indicators for my independent variable in the single case evaluation would be negative. It is negative because there is a significant problem present. In considering operational definitions some students not that practitioners might rely on the client’s complaint that a particular problem requires attention. Practitioners are using an operational definition that is they are persuaded to work on a problem on the basis of their observation of the extent of the client’s expressed difficulty or dissatisfaction with the problem. Thus, they could take prepared measures simply by having the clients indicate daily on a belief scale the degree of difficulty they felt they experienced with the problem that day (Rubin Babbie, 2014) For the case of my single case evaluation (stress levels during a test before and after yoga), the stress test could be used to test the level of stress in a person. The test would be done before the academic test. I would then participate in yoga and see if my stress levels go down before taking another academic test. Sources of Data When considering alternative sources of data (available records, interviews, self- report scales, or direct behavioral observation) (Rubin Babbie, 2014) Sources of data for my particular case would be the stress test or even direct behavioral observation in direct behavioral observation I would participate in self- monitoring where I would observe how I am feeling after participating in yoga before my test. Triangulation Triangulation is the use of two or three indicators. It refers to situations in which researcher are confronted with a multiplicity of imperfect measurement options, each having advantages and disadvantages. To maximize the chances that the hypothesized variation in the dependent variable will be detected, the researcher triangulates measures more than one measurement option is used (Rubin Babbie, 2014) In the case of my evaluation of stress during a test before doing yoga and after doing yoga the evaluators could also look at how hard the class is and also see if there is other factors stressing the student out that caused the high stress levels before the test. Data quantification procedures Frequency distribution is description of the number of time the various attributes of a variable are observed in a sample. Magnitude is the size or extent of something. Duration is the time in which something occurs. For my case I could use many of these terms. The one term that can be applied the most is duration. I could look at how long before the test does the stress occur and even examine how long the stress last. Baseline Baselines are control phases of repeated measures taken before an intervention is introduced. Ideally should be extended until a stable trend in the data is evident (Rubin Babbie, 2014). Five days leading up to the test the student had high levels of stress. There was a steady trend of stress. After the stress level test (the cardiac test) the levels of stress decreased. The test that I would be using to test the level of stress would be the cardiac test. The cardiac test consist of someone running on a treadmill as the level of stress is being calculated on a monitor. Intervention When looking up the definition of intervention variable the book referred me to mediating variable. Mediating variable is the mechanism by which am independent affected a dependent variable (Rubin Babbie, 2014). When it came to the intervention variable (yoga) my stress level dropped from a 4 to a 5. It stayed consistent on a 4 after my intervention was added. Visual Statistical The stress level before and after yoga was very similar. There was some changes, but not a change that was that noticeable. My intervention of yoga was not affective for the level of stress while taking a test. Substantive There really was no change in my numbers. The stress level did not decrease that much after the student participating in yoga.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Variable Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Variable Costing - Essay Example Product cost versus period cost Also known as inventorial costs, product costs are all those costs that are used in the acquisition and production of a product. They include direct labor costs, cost of direct materials and the manufacturing expenditure (Maher et, al 2006). They are normally assigned to an inventory account in the balance sheets and released from the stock as expenditure. Period costs are all the omissions in the product cost normally expensed on the income statement or report in the time of occurrence for example the office rent, administrative expenses and commissions on sale, which are expensed on the income statement during such periods of occurrence (Maher et, al 2006). ... The fixed manufacturing expenditure is incurred with the hope that the capital represented by these costs will be consumed in the manufacture of stock. Therefore these costs should correspond or rather be matched against the income attributed to the sale of such stock. Absorption cost needs the computation of expenditure rate for applying all the production expenses to the units that are produced during that period or else twin expenditure rates for variable manufacturing and fixed manufacturing overheads or multiple overhead rates in case the company uses the activity based costing (Hansen, et, al 2006). In variable costing, the validation is that the fixed manufacturing overhead shall be incurred in the short (er) term with no emphasis of the quantity of inventory that is produced. Even if the firm is not operating, a large portion of the fixed manufacturing overhead cannot be avoided in the short run hence the treatment of fixed manufacturing overhead as a period expanse. Though c onfusing in the sense that it implies only the direct manufacturing costs are capitalized, the fact is that the variable manufacturing overhead is also capitalized in equal measure. The name is far much less than ideal because not every variable cost is capitalized as the non manufacturing costs do not get to be capitalized as a portion of the stock or inventory in any circumstance. Usually, in variable costing, the cost of the ending stock is consisting of both the variable manufacturing overhead as well as the cost of direct manufacturing which is the materials and labor. Therefore, these are the costs for which the variable costing correspond the matching principle and as part of the inventory/stock, no other thing is

Define the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity for the Christian Research Paper

Define the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity for the Christian faith. Analyze the history and development of that doctr - Research Paper Example Basically Christian understanding concerning the Trinity starts from the two elements, namely His essense and His acts, which are the way of functioning of the three Persons in the Trinity. Human beings thus far haven't been able to have a frame of reference in order to explain the Mystery of Trinity and can never do that also. But only thing we can know is Logic cannot transcend divinity. If man's knowledge is like a drop of water, then the knowledge of God would be like an ocean which transcends all limits. Thus we don't have the eligibility, neither have we the capability to comprehend His mystery. His true entity no one can ever understand. Gregory of Nazianzen expresses God as, â€Å"One God, One in diversity, diverse in Unity, wherein is a marvel† (Second Theological Oration par. 1). We believe in His essence because we experience his energies. Rational bases even if are good, not always vital for stability of our faith. Still we have Scriptural resources, and historic t heological literatures which definitely help us to grasp enough about the mystery of the Triune God. Only whatever is necessary for our finite understanding is revealed by God. In this paper, the writer would try to analyse how important the doctrine of Trinity is for the Christians, further looking through the historical development of the doctrine and the firmness of the doctrine in the minds of the Christians. IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY: As we said at the outset, Christian faith balances upon the reality of God, His Triune existence. The doctrine elaborates the reality of God and explains the mysteries. It reveals God's personality. It says that God is not simply a supernatural entity but He is a person with a personality. It brings into light the function of the Godhead in three streams- The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, explaining their acts in history of humanity and the sole focus to redeem humanity from the clutches of sin and death. The Father, the fi rst Person in the Godhead is the sender of the Son who came down to earth, sacrificing all the glory of the Heaven, to offer Himself as a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of the entire humanity. The Father reveals the grandeur of His love for humanity through His Son. The Son is the second Person in the Godhead Who alone was qualified to do the task. He finished His work of bringing redemption for man by defeating death and overpowering the effect of sin. Moreover He became an ideal for being obedient, which was the very mistake of Man that brought sin into the world. Holy Spirit is the third Person in the Godhead Who is the transformer of human heart by the planting of Christ into his/her life through penitence, making him/her return from sin. He guides a person in the spiritual journey in this life making the person more like Christ every day. Without the Holy Spirit, the redemption offered by Christ cannot be experienced fully. â€Å"Redemption, therefore, in historic Christiani ty is initiated by the Father (Galatians 4:4), accomplished through the Son (1 Peter 3:18), and is applied by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)† (Samples par.3). Thus the whole process of redemption which is the core of God's mission in this world is not feasible without the Trinity i.e. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit all together. Trinitarian concept of God also solves another problem. According to St. Augustine, only the God Who is united in His plural nature can be loving. Unless God is plural in Himself and is solitary, then the

TheParableoftheSadhu- assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TheParableoftheSadhu- assignment - Coursework Example But this is just one side of the interpretation, for the various other key factors also have to be considered. (1) All the members of the group were fully exhausted and still had to cover a fair amount of distance, at such a high altitude. Had they decided in favor of taking the sadhu along with them, their progress on that treacherous snowy path would have been hindered. Their very lives would have then been endangered. Perhaps, the most vital factor, based on which, the group’s decision cannot be totally termed as being an unethical one is attributable to a key fact. Both McCoy and Stephen were vulnerable to altitude sickness, and in fact, the former already started to feel some of the symptoms, by the time the sadhu came into the picture. Overall, it (the decision) can be rated to be an intense dilemma related to ethical choice. (1) Owing to the decision of deserting the sadhu, the group went on to promptly finish their trek with minimal hassles. But that is just one side o f the coin, and there indeed was something that can be described as a kind of loss, for the group. All of them would have surely been bogged down by guilty feeling. As a matter of fact, McCoy himself admitted that the approach adopted towards the sadhu went on to prick his conscience, for a very long time.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Obesity is increasingly referred to as a global epidemic. Discuss the Essay

Obesity is increasingly referred to as a global epidemic. Discuss the causes and consequences of, and possible solutions to this - Essay Example The BMI of an individual is calculated from the proportion of their body height and weight. It’s a statistical calculation that can be done even with the use of a calculator as long as you have your exact height and weight information. A BMI reading of above 25 is also an indication of overweight that if not looked at may develop into obesity. The point of accessing the information about your body weight as easily as through dialing a calculator is to help people get easy access and use the information effectively. Obesity is an epidemic that is at a very fast rate spreading throughout the world. The first study to calculate the impact on the environment of growing waistlines has estimated that the adult human population weighs in at 287 million tons, 15 million of which is due to the overweight and 3.5 million due to obesity (Gray 2012). Thus a lot of emphasis should be put in addressing this epidemic before the condition gets worse. This paper therefore examines this global epidemic; the causes and consequences, and possible solutions. CAUSES Obesity occurs when energy intake from food and drink consumption is greater than energy expenditure through the body’s metabolism and physical activity over a prolonged period, resulting in the accumulation of excess body fat (Public Health England 2013). It, just like any other condition or disease has its causes that can be looked into and avoided or precluded in our day to day lives. Such a risky health condition if not well treated and addressed can be fatal and even lead to death. Its causes are; too much eating of high calorie food, living in too much comfort with little physical exercise, medical reasons and lifestyle choice (NHS Choices 2013). This are causes that can be avoide since they involve our day to day lives and activities. They are actions that an individual can make do with or without as long they have the will and motivation to always keep fit and healthy. Eating too much food that has high callorie is a habit that is developed as people grow. Callories are the energy content that is available in a specific diet and measures its value thereof. Foods such as hamburger, fries can add a lot of calories to the body if consumed in large amounts, and it is therefore paramount that they are kept in check. The average physically active man needs 2,500 calories to maintain a healthy weight, and the average physically active woman needs 2,000 (NHS Choices 2013). The large amounts should be distributed among the different food types that have the different nutritious values, and not to just starch or protein foods alone. Lifestyle choice is also another cause of obesity and can as easily be kept in check to avoid this condition just like the others. People tend to envy and enjoy lives that are to the human eye perfect but in actual sense not balanced at all. Obesity depends of fat deposits that take quite some time to accumulate is hence it develops gradually in a person and not in one day. Living a lifestyle that is stylish of; fast food regularly, too much alcohol, too much sugary food and dessert eventually leads to increase in weight (NHS Choices 2013). This is especially if these are taken in large quantities and in almost every meal of the day. The excess that is in the body and of no nutritious value get deposited to the adipose tissues in the body and become fats that bring about overweight and then obesity. Such a lifestyle

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization Dissertation

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards - Dissertation Example However, the existence of dissimilar accounting practices can be a crucial challenge linked with the aforesaid procedure. In this similar context, ethical dilemma plays an imperative part in harmonising along with standardising the accounting standards as it concerns certain significant moral values that include honesty, reliability, durability and integrity among others. From research methodological viewpoint, both quantitative as well as qualitative research approaches have been taken into concern. Moreover, valuable data associated with this research study has been collected through the execution of structured interviews in the form of questionnaires that has been administered to the officials of the companies following different accounting standards like IASB and IFRS among others. Besides, hypothesis testing by utilising a statistical tool of correlation as a form of meta-analysis has also been considered for this particular research study. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Chapter 1 : Introduction 5 1.1Background 5 1.2Research Problems 6 1.3Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.4Methodological Overview 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 2.1 Importance of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards 10 2.2 Advantages of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 12 2.3 Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 14 2.4 Role of Ethical Dilemma in Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 15 2.5 External Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 17 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 19 3.1 Research Design 19 3.2 Data Collection and Evaluation 22 3.3 Ethical Consideration 24 Chapter 4: Findings 25 4.1. Benefit of Standardisation and Harmonisation to Its Users 25 4.2 Benefits Accordingly Achieved by Companies in the Recent Phenomenon 26 4.3. Role of Ethical Dilemma in Obtaining the Benefits from Standardisation and Harmonisation 29 4.4. Exte rnal Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 30 4.5 Hypothesis Testing 37 Chapter 5: Discussion 40 5.1. Reasons or Motivations behind Standardisation and Harmonisation of the Accounting Standards 40 5.2. Advantages and Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 43 Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations 49 References 53 Bibliography 61 Appendix 64 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background The perception of standardisation is fundamentally described as the process of creating uniform business methods throughout different locations or divisions. This particular concept tends to diminish the jeopardy of failure by consistently complying with the business related operational expenditures as well as the performance based objectives (Richen & Steinhorst, 2005). Relatively, the conception of harmonisation is commonly described as the adjustment of the inconsistencies or the differences prevailing amid var ious business policy standards, procedures, specifications and protocols (NSCA, n.d.). Contextually, the Accounting Standards (ASs) are primarily recognised as the specific guidelines which are duly authorised by the skilled professionals relating to any accounting, regulatory or government body. The ASs comprises the significant

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Japanese and American Films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Japanese and American Films - Essay Example Kiki's Delivery Service, a Japanese animated fantasy film was produced by Studio Ghibli in Japan on 29th July 1989. Hayao Miyazaki wrote it, produced and directed it as an adaptation of the 1985 novel that was of the same name by Eiko Kadono. Just as Harry Potter, Kiki’s delivery service was first a written novel that became popular and was later turned into a film that made it even more known. Its popularity among the targeted audience who were children led to it winning various awards. The film focuses its story on the main character, a young girl named Kiki. According to the writer of the book, a close understanding of the movie and the book portrayed the gulf between reliance and independence in teenage Japanese girls. Just like Kiki’s delivery service and harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone, a dog of Flanders was first written as a novel which was later produced as a film. The fact that they were all novels before being films is one of the similarities bet ween the three popular films. The screenplay was however written Robert Singer and Brodie which was entirely based on the novel. In 1999, Kevin Brodie directed the film which was shot in Belgium. Based on the original novel, a Dog of Flanders was the fifth film. It can be analyzed that the book versions of these films are very similar to the films. The producers strictly based the films on the characters in the novel, giving them life to help people understand and place a motion picture to the already well understood and loved books.

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization Dissertation

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards - Dissertation Example However, the existence of dissimilar accounting practices can be a crucial challenge linked with the aforesaid procedure. In this similar context, ethical dilemma plays an imperative part in harmonising along with standardising the accounting standards as it concerns certain significant moral values that include honesty, reliability, durability and integrity among others. From research methodological viewpoint, both quantitative as well as qualitative research approaches have been taken into concern. Moreover, valuable data associated with this research study has been collected through the execution of structured interviews in the form of questionnaires that has been administered to the officials of the companies following different accounting standards like IASB and IFRS among others. Besides, hypothesis testing by utilising a statistical tool of correlation as a form of meta-analysis has also been considered for this particular research study. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Chapter 1 : Introduction 5 1.1Background 5 1.2Research Problems 6 1.3Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.4Methodological Overview 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 2.1 Importance of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards 10 2.2 Advantages of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 12 2.3 Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 14 2.4 Role of Ethical Dilemma in Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 15 2.5 External Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 17 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 19 3.1 Research Design 19 3.2 Data Collection and Evaluation 22 3.3 Ethical Consideration 24 Chapter 4: Findings 25 4.1. Benefit of Standardisation and Harmonisation to Its Users 25 4.2 Benefits Accordingly Achieved by Companies in the Recent Phenomenon 26 4.3. Role of Ethical Dilemma in Obtaining the Benefits from Standardisation and Harmonisation 29 4.4. Exte rnal Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 30 4.5 Hypothesis Testing 37 Chapter 5: Discussion 40 5.1. Reasons or Motivations behind Standardisation and Harmonisation of the Accounting Standards 40 5.2. Advantages and Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 43 Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations 49 References 53 Bibliography 61 Appendix 64 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background The perception of standardisation is fundamentally described as the process of creating uniform business methods throughout different locations or divisions. This particular concept tends to diminish the jeopardy of failure by consistently complying with the business related operational expenditures as well as the performance based objectives (Richen & Steinhorst, 2005). Relatively, the conception of harmonisation is commonly described as the adjustment of the inconsistencies or the differences prevailing amid var ious business policy standards, procedures, specifications and protocols (NSCA, n.d.). Contextually, the Accounting Standards (ASs) are primarily recognised as the specific guidelines which are duly authorised by the skilled professionals relating to any accounting, regulatory or government body. The ASs comprises the significant

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Operations and Project Management Essay Example for Free

Operations and Project Management Essay If we consider the operational process of any organization for example a manufacturing industry, we find that most of such organizations use a bureaucracy structure. Tasks are divided in accordance to various departments. To complement these various departments and make work flexible, most organizations adapt a teamwork system which makes workers more effective in their duties as Styhre,2000, states. This chain of duties determines what will work best within the department area of control. Such an organization therefore must be spearheaded by an established board of directors. This team must have a vision for growth and direction of the entire organization. They are liable to the final decision making with regard to any proposals made by various departmental heads. Next the operations management team must be quick to gather or set goals and implement ideas working efficiently and making the most of available resources and opportunities. According to Hill,2000, they must be able to consistently evaluate the growth and diversity of resources and also any other managerial concerns of the organization. They must manage and ensure that the process of production runs efficiently and also determine whether the product is able to satisfy the current market. Hill further adds that, they must ensure also that the company is running profitably. The administration department is to administer and ensure that all the departments are running smoothly. The human resources department oversees the plight of the employees and their relationship with the employer. They visualize and implement any proposals, ideas, concerns, criticisms from the employees and adapt ways to keep the employees focused on the company’s objectives and plan on employees’ yearly evaluation scheme and remuneration. They are supposed to consistently look for ways to complement and motivate them in order to retain employees. The financial department works supportively with the accounts to present data including Local Purchase Orders. The logistics team must be able to properly evaluate minimal operating costs e. g. arket supply, raw materials and availability of cheap labor etc. They are to ensure the operational data and costs are rationalized including manufacturing and environmental costs. Procurement of materials, supplies and equipment, is also a duty vested on the logistics team. There is also the marketing department whose main function is to create or re-establish business opportunities and explore new markets for the finished goods in the case of manufacturing organizations or marketing of services for the service oriented firms. Another important component is the project management team which is supposed to propose new projects as well as plan for new ones and also implement the existing ones(Dilworth 2000). They must understand the demand of the market and how well they serve the corporate objective. In a manufacturing firm the chain of supply to the customer is the most crucial process. The production department ensures that the manufactured goods are of quality and are up to standard. Thorough attention is required especially to the products’ quality, cost and delivery because end product is of value than the raw material. Of equal importance is the customer services department whose role is to make sure that customers are satisfied with the services being rendered and how the same can be improved. Its significance derives from the fact that the customer is the pillar of any organization because they provide the market for the goods and services being traded and without whom there wouldn’t be continuity of any organization. Communication amongst all departmental heads is a crucial necessity for the successful operation of any organization and can only be accomplished by an information/IT analysis team. It ensures fast execution of duties. Throughout the organization, coordination and effective cooperation will make this process effective. The maintenance department maintains the company’s assets and also ensures that all repair work is done on time. These are some of the various departments and how they function to ensure effectiveness of the organization.