Labor Relations Essay

With each of these scenarios also give the type of employer, the history of the worker at that company, the incident which arose, why it was a clear violation of employer policy, and what would be the likely result of arbitration of this issue if the employee acknowledged his wrong doing but asked to keep his job. Explain the reasoning for our considered outcome. When an employer has to discipline a unionized employee there are four steps to the grievance (infraction) procedure. In the first step the employee is given the grievance in an informal oral manner so a quick resolution can be made, and before a written record is established. The second step in the grievance procedure is to present the grievance to the industrial relations representative or (IR). The IR representative is familiar with the union’s contract and decides on a disciplinary action or if the grievance involves an employee discharge then the union will take it to step three. In step three the employee has union representation and the grievance is most likely settled at this step, if an agreement cannot be made then step four is the last chance to resolve the grievance or it goes to arbitration. Arbitration is a quasi-judicial process in which parties agree to submit unresolved disputes to a neutral third party for binding settlement. [ (Labor Relations, 10th Edition, 2009) ] (pg. 490). When an employee repeatedly breaks the rules and has been disciplined the union, employer, and employee write up a last chance agreement (LCA). This is an agreement drawn up by all parties stating that if the employee has another grievance violation within a certain amount of time the employee will be terminated. The type of employer that my three employees work at is a security company. The security company has hired all three as security officers and upon hiring they were informed of the company’s rules and the grievances that are imposed if the rules are not followed. All three employees have acknowledged the rules, and have signed a document stating that they understand the rules and the disciplinary actions taken if they break the rules. John, an officer at the security company, has never had any disciplinary actions against him since he started working for the company and has been a great employee thus far. John was involved in an incident while on duty with the company patrol vehicle. He has had an accident in the patrol vehicle and has run into a parked car while patrolling the parking lot. It is mandatory that if an employee is involved in an accident with a company vehicle while on duty a drug test is taken and if the drug test shows that John was under the influence (which he was) then that is grounds for immediate termination of his employment. John knows that this is a clear violation of company policy and has requested his union representative. If this disciplinary grievance goes to arbitration the likely result would still be the termination of John’s employment with the security company. The reason for my considered outcome is John was under the influence of drugs while on duty. There is a no tolerance policy for drug use especially while on duty, he could have done a lot more damage and very easily could have injured an individual in the process. Bill, an officer at the security company, has had issues with his behavior and attendance since he started working for the security company three months ago. It has affected his performance on the job and he has had two disciplinary actions against him in three months time. Company policy states that if an employee has three disciplinary actions in a 90 day period that is grounds for termination. Bill has just showed up late again for work and this will be his third grievance for the 90 day period. Bill admits his tardiness and swears that he will not be late again if he is given another chance to improve his attendance. Bill goes to arbitration and the likely result of the arbitration will be that Bill, the employer, and union will draw up a last chance agreement (LCA) for Bill to sign and abide by for a specific length of time. If Bill violates that agreement then it is automatic grounds for termination of his employment at the security company. The reason for my considered outcome of this scenario is because this is the most realistic way a company would handle this kind of disciplinary problem with an employee. Usually if an employee has had three disciplinary actions in a 90 day period that shows a pattern of undesired work behavior and the employer is going to want a last chance agreement to put an end to the undesired behavior. Bob, an officer at the security company, has been employed by the company for almost two years. Bob had a disciplinary action against him the second month of his employment with the security company. The infraction was a complaint of sexual harassment against one of his female co-workers at a previous job site. The complaint was investigated and Bob admitted to saying some inappropriate comments to his co-worker. The security company has a strict no tolerance policy on sexual harassment, but because Bob has admitted his wrong doing and the co-worker accepted his apology, Bob was permitted to stay employed with the security company and was put on a last chance agreement which he completed with no further issues. My considered outcome for this scenario was a bit light considering what Bob’s disciplinary action was for. The reason I considered giving Bob a second chance is that he acknowledged what he had done wrong and apologized to the co-worker that he had offended. Bob completed his last chance agreement he had made and has not had any other grievances since then. Bob probably did not think what he had said to his fellow co-worker would offend her like it did, and because it did he watches what he says and talks about while at work so he does not make the same mistake twice. Reference Fossum, J. A. (2009). Labor Relations (10th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Book Review Share Jesus Without Fear Essay

ABSTRACT Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay with Linda Evans Shepherd was written to inform the reader how important and how to share your faith with people. It is a book that tries to motivate and teach believers to be successful in sharing their faith (the gospel) in a simple but effective way. The author believes very strongly that â€Å"the success of sharing one’s faith is not about winning or bringing souls (people) to Christ it is all about obedience through faithfulness of the Christian (believer).†1 He reminds us that we cannot save people; the only thing we can do is share the gospel, our faith and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the author tells us that the only way to fail in evangelism, sharing one’s faith is if we fail to share – the sin of silence. In other words The author goes on to state that as few as 5 to 10 percent of the people in the average church have shared their faith in the past year and that means that 90% of us have chosen the sin of silence.2 The sin of silence means exactly what it says, â€Å"instead of sharing your faith you keep silent.† He goes on to divide people into two groups: 1) those who talk about the  lost and 2) those who talk to the lost.3 The author goes on to inform us of reasons why people don’t share their faith and then he removes all excuses by stating that one must drop the excuses and practice obedience to the Great Commission.4 The author then discusses the need to overcome fear when sharing one’s faith. The author then gives five simple â€Å"Share Jesus† questions that aid in starting a conversation that can be directed to an opportunity to share the gospel. The author goes on to explain each of these questions. By asking these questions Fay states the conversation can be easily steered towards Jesus Christ because these questions allow people to give their opinions freely. Once the door is opened to share, Fay then gives selected passages of Scripture that are to be used during the second step of evangelism. Let the Bible speak for itself. Fay’s main concept in this step is to have the person read the scripture aloud for themselves then ask them what it means to them. This gives them the Holy Spirit a chance to use their own voice to speak to their own hearts. If the person does not explain the scripture correctly, Fay asks them to read it again until they get the correct meaning. The author again reminds us that God will work through his word and that we do not have to try and do the work for him, God is God alone and will use the Holy Spirit to work in the person’s life. Finally, at the end of the book, Fay discusses the most common objections to accepting Christ, as well as giving suggestions how to overcome these objections when one is faced with them. In conclusion, the book is about sharing Jesus without fear. Being in obedience. It is about how to overcome fear in evangelism. The author uses many personal experiences as examples, which I found to be supportive of his method of evangelizing. The author stresses the importance of sharing one’s faith and that every believer should be aware of committing the â€Å"sin of silence.† CONCRETE RESPONSE When the book spoke of fear of sharing one’s faith, it reminded me of one of my personal life experiences at the beginning of my walk with Christ. In the beginning, I had the thought that I was not good enough to share Jesus  with anyone. After all, before being saved I was a drug addict, criminal and a prostitute. I always thought how I could even be worthy enough to represent Christ let alone speak about him. Part of the reason I felt this way is I could not forgive myself for prostitution. Thanks to my mentor, Lisa the woman who helped me come back to Christ knew I was having difficulty in sharing my faith with people because of this, ministered to me and through scripture (Romans 10:9-10 and Psalms 103:2) that Christ has saved me from every sin and remembers them no more. I learned that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus and am worthy to represent him. God showed me that I am more than good enough to share the gospel with others and because of what I have went through i n life I can give a better testimony of what God can and will do because he did it for me. Praise God I overcame the spirit of not being good enough and now I share my faith with anyone who will listen. REFLECTION As it relates to the book, I found the book to be very encouraging in sharing one’s faith. Fay firmly believes that everyone should be sharing his or her faith. I agree with this that every believer should be sharing Jesus with someone. The book for all practical purposes does outline a simple way to share faith. It gives detail on how to initiate a conversation, how to overcome fear and objections, how to use scripture and how to let the Holy Spirit have control. The author reminds us that we are not the ones who is saving people only God can do that and that all we have to do is not keep silent about Christ. I liked the way Fay uses Scripture to back up his approach and how he used examples of his personal experiences. However, one thing that I believe could have made the book helpful especially for those who have had rejection in sharing their faith would have been the mention of more personal experiences where rejection was the result. This would have helped the reader rel ate to rejection, as they would have read actual experiences of rejection that would help encourage them in the same situations. On the other hand, maybe Fay did not mention more rejection experiences because as he states throughout the book one cannot fail when sharing one’s faith. As long as one is willing to share and not keep, silent God can work with it. I have to say that until I read Fay’s book I did not think of not sharing one’s faith as the â€Å"sin of silence.† Now I can  see that it is a sin to be silent because God does tell us to witness, and share the gospel and if we are in disobedience in this area then we are sinning – whether intentionally or not. I also agree with the follow up advice Fay gives after someone receives Christ. Do not let them be on their own, find a church for them to be involved in so they can continue to grow in their relationship with Christ. Too many of us lead someone to Christ then we leave him or her to fend for himself or herself. Should not be! What I took from the book is the importance of evangelizing and sharing one’s faith. Not to be fearful and look for every opportunity to share Christ. I also learned that this is what all believers are called to do and if we do not then we are committing the â€Å"sin of silence.† We all need to be aware of people around us who need Jesus and take every opportunity to share Christ with them. ACTION This book has enlightened me in some areas that I need to improve in my life. I do evangelize whenever the opportunity arises but there are times that, I get so busy I do not notice those around me in everyday situations. In everyday situations, I do sometimes find it difficult to start conversations where they can be directed to sharing Christ. Therefore, I do like the approach Fay gives in his book. I also like the suggestion of a prayer list of actually writing down people’s names that we should be praying over. As a minister, I have people asking me to pray for them and sometimes I am guilty of forgetting their names when I am in prayer. A prayer list would help me remember not only those I should pray for but those who have asked for prayer. The book had many suggestions that I will start using. In the future, I plan to be more aware of people around me especially in everyday situations. Start to use some of the Share Jesus Questions and Scriptures Fay uses to direct conversations toward sharing Christ. I am going to start writing a prayer list that will enable me to remember those that need prayer and to pray for them diligently. I also plan to get a small pocket Bible with the Share Jesus Questions and Scriptures and have it with me at all times that I can be prepared when opportunities arise to share Christ. I believe this is a necessary change for me. It makes sense  that we need to be ready in any given situation to share Christ and many of us does not carry a big bible with us everywhere we go whereas a small pocket bible we can. I never thought of this until reading this book. This is what Fay does and it seems like a perfect solution to having scripture with you at all times. In conclusion, I have a better understanding and I am more encouraged in the area of sharing my faith and evangelizing. I really enjoyed the book and found it helpful in teaching other methods of evangelism than I have done. It has been encouraging to me to continue evangelizing wherever and whenever the opportunity arises not only then but also to look for those opportunities because opportunities to share can be often missed if we are not looking for them. As believers we need to share our faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Bibliography Fay, William with Shepherd Linda Evans. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1999.

The importance of integrity, trust and honesty Essay

The importance of integrity, trust and honesty - Essay Example This enhances the chances for others to have confidence in you. In this regards, the three virtues mutually co-exist. An honest person is usually genuine, real and true. Living an honest life with integrity entails living openly and revealing your true self to other people. Absence of honesty hinders development of meaningful relationships. Honesty therefore, perpetuates self-respect as well as respect for others. It imbues life with candor and openness. A dishonest person destroys the trust of people around. Honesty and integrity eventually yield trust. Trust is important as it perpetuates self-confidence. It is a key ingredient in any relationship, whether personal or a professional. Trust is a crux in developing credibility. Thus, lack of trust eliminates credibility. Lack of trust also destroys the foundation upon which a relationship could be build upon. Being a person of integrity on the other hand, is very important. Such a person never hides anything from the people around them. They are strong and perfect in their lives. Apparently, integrity promotes

Should professors be allowed to advocate their views on political or Essay

Should professors be allowed to advocate their views on political or social issues in the classroom - Essay Example This article would further give an overview about this topic and would clarify the position of professors educating their students rather then indoctrinating them. (Erin 2007) Indoctrination is a word commonly used by the critics of the professors. This word here means that the knowledge which is being given by the professors should not be one sided or unquestionable. It is unto the students to decide as to what knowledge is right and what is not. Thus the students are required to put forward their own views when the professors are teaching. However the criticism by different organizations about the professors has been counterattacked by the professors. These different organizations have urged the professors to bring in any other subject of study which is not relating to their course material. Anything which is related to the other course of study is not to be guide lined by the professor in the class. However the professors in response to his statement have said that every thing which is being stated in the class and is not in the course material has significant importance. And as in Michael Berube describes in his words that he teaches in his class on d ifferent subjects which are not even in mentioned in the course material. However he counters this action by telling that he can co-relate the topics on which he is teaching to the course materials.

Journal entry #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal entry #2 - Essay Example As revealed, through initially establishing a vision, termed as a writing workshop, teachers are able to experience the vast challenges in motivating students to write and therefore linking the vision to practical and contemporary applications. The challenges that were noted ranged from working within a limited time frame, limited space and resources; as well as the difficulties of working with other academic affiliates within the school setting. The findings indicated that the challenges faced by ESOL teachers and students parallel those experienced by native English speaking teachers; the need to adapt learning from various instructional media could not be replicated completely but should be tailored to the teaching style and situation; and finally, â€Å"teachers also need support and opportunities to work intensively over time with other teachers who are doing the same thing† (Peyton, Jones and Vincent 484). The article is deemed beneficial for teachers in terms of being apprised of the challenges faced when teaching writing for ESOL students; particularly through the provision of support and guidelines that would assist in encouraging students to develop and improve their writing skills. The lessons learned by the participants enhanced one’s awareness that these challenges were likewise experienced by native English speaking teachers and should therefore not preclude one from trying to motivate students to seek alternative means to improve their skills in writing through the suggested techniques, depending on the needs and resources

Module 4 - Case Training and Appraisals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module 4 - Case Training and Appraisals - Essay Example and development of skills eventually creating business leaders possessing exceptional business acumen with the ability to inspire people and prepare them for future challenges. The discipline of Human Resource Management introduced various methodologies for managing employee performance, these tools ranged from performance appraisals based on rating scales to objective setting and later on performance surveys were introduced. An essential element of these appraisals was the performance feedback given to the employee after the actual appraisal based on which development efforts were planned by the incumbent supported by the Human Resource department (Greenhaus et al., 2009). The distribution of rewards after the performance appraisal or resulting promotions made this area an important aspect for the employee hence the human element of biasness diluted the traditional appraisal process. To avoid the evils of biasness mostly exhibited by the supervisor and resulting disagreements from the subordinates, performance feedback was taken from multiple sources and 360 degree feedback technique was adopted by numerous organizations. The 360 feedback process reveals the blind spots in behavioral characteristics of the subject by collecting anonymous feedback from multiple sources usually termed as supervisor (s), subordinate(s), peers and customers. The process gives an effective account of one’s performance, highlighting the development areas without much biasness and since the feedback is coming from multiple sources there is a lesser probability that the subject would disagree with the results. The process itself is composed of three stages, preparation and initiation, collection of feedback and development stage. The first stage includes identification of working relationships within the organization determining the important factor of ‘who would rate who’, behavioral clusters are identified with each having a set of probing questions along with rating criteria;

Start Up Decisions and Adjustments Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Start Up Decisions and Adjustments - Coursework Example First, the business purchased the Green Theme Furniture for the business at $4,000 as opposed to the used furniture that whose cost was $2000 and the auto four high capacity espressos for $6000 as opposed to a two-cup espresso machine whose price was $3000. Such decisions came with an added cost as well as an added advantage; for instance, though the four-cup espresso maker was expensive, it was 30% faster than the two-cup espresso, thus guaranteeing fast and effective while serving customers, and therefore, lowering the demand for a large number of servers. In addition, the green theme furniture choice was aimed at attracting a wide variety of customers. Our business is located in a busy street, which includes businesspeople, students, and staff. Therefore, the furniture is supposed to fit their status and act as an attraction to many customers. In staff recruitment, we started with two managers, but later on added one more because the cafe opened on weekends. Six servers were hired and each was paid $7.75 per hour, however, their salaries were increased to $9.00 per hour as an effort of motivating them and avoiding the high turnover rate. The managers were paid $650 a week; however, their wages were increased to $670 to maintain them and reduce the rate of quitting. The prices of coffee were as follows, the small cup at $2.00, medium cup at $3.00 and the large cup went for $4.00. With the above prices, business was favorable and our customers suggested that our prices were great; however, there were long queues due to demand. The management decided to offer coffee in three different sizes as a means of product differentiation, whereby, this service differentiated our cafe from the rest by catering for all kinds of customers. In advertisement and promotion, the business preferred only newspaper for a start in order to minimize on costs. The operations decisions included opening hours, which raged from 9am to 9pm as from Monday to Saturday; however, the managem ent wished it had changed the opening hours from 9am to 8am in order to serve the ‘early birds’. If this decision had been made early enough, the cafe would have made some extra income. Nevertheless, there was no need of an insurance cover at first, as it was expensive; but with time, it will be considered. The business decision to purchase organic coffee was a tough one, as it is expensive compared to normal coffee. However, for the sake of our customer’s health, we had to compromise. Nevertheless, the prices should have changed due to the high price of organic coffee. Therefore, the small coffee cup increased by one dollar as the medium one increase by 50cents while the large cup remained the same. These changes are aimed at increasing revenues, while at the same time considering customers’ affordability; hence, the prices are not too high. Final modification on the business plan The main aim of this cafe business is to attract, satisfy, and retain custo mers, as they are the key to the success of business. The more customers the cafe retains, the more profits it accumulates. Therefore, the business is determined to maintain its position as the cost leader and still offer unique services, as strategies of attracting customers. The customer survey reports rate our customer satisfaction at 57%, which is somehow favorable;

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 29

Homework - Essay Example The affected age group being mostly children, the analysis is that OM generates indirect costs owing to lost time from school and work creating a significant social burden. A good nurse protocol for otitis media in children aged six to twelve years old should clearly define OM; identify its natural history without antibacterial treatment, measure relative effectiveness of these antibacterial regimens in prevention of clinical failure (Forgie and Zhanel et al., 2009, p. 457). Otitis media is the presence of purulent fluid inside the middle ear, which is associated with symptoms and signs of systemic or acute local illness. It is most prevalent during winter months in children especially six to seven years old and below. Otitis media is commonly seen after a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. It has been especially noted to result from dysfunction of the Eustachian tube preventing the effective drainage of middle ear fluid. The clinician or nurse should be aware that the client has an antecedent event, either an allergy or infection that results in congestion and edema of the mucosa of the middle ear, Eustachian tube, as well as the nasopharynx. Flow of the middle ear secretions is impeded following the Eustachian tubes congestion. This often increases negative pressure further causing fluid to be pulled into the middle ear. Increase in middle ear secretions causes growth of microbial pathogens resulting in otitis media. Treatment protocol in diagnosis and prescription establishes common pathogens as Streptococcus pyrogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Moraxella catarrhalis, as well as viral infection. Recent studies show that in 6 – 12 year olds infections have increased because of organisms that produce beta-lactamase and bacterial resistance to drugs (Barnett and Klein,

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 33

Case Study Example Both lines of product compete for the company resources. Recently, the standard line of furniture has seen a significant increase in sales. As a result, the company has increased the labor hours for this line. However, the customized furniture line still gains precedence due to its huge profit margin. The company’s founder is quick to note the company’s growth in his review (Rice, 2003). However, the finance department has revealed that the inventory has tied up huge amount of cash. As a result, the inventory holding costs continue to increase. Additionally, the increasing lead times is causing more delays in delivery of both lines of production. As a result, the company management has been forced to re-examine the impact of the standard line furniture on the entire production process. Qatar has adopted an economic model that has led to the boom especially in the furniture industry. Small-scale production of furniture is not enough to meet its growing demand. As a result, a number of large-scale furniture manufacturing companies have cropped up in all corners of the country. Under this section, an analysis is provided of the strength and weaknesses of Gulf Creative Ideas. Since its inception, the company sales have rose dramatically. It has identified affluent consumers as its target market. High-end consumers are less price-sensitive and provide unique design specification for their furniture. The company has exploited this niche fully and this as translated to its continued growth in revenue. Chapter 1 is concerned with the operation management: activities that oversee the production process. Under the organization chart, inventory management is part of these activities in the manufacturing process. Chapter 2 analyzes the need for a mission statement and the operation strategies that follows. Gulf Creative Ideas should focus on the strategies that augment its competitive advantage. With regard to the sixth chapter, quality improvement is a

Personal and Social Uses of ICT Essay Example for Free

Personal and Social Uses of ICT Essay I use ICT personally as well as socially and at home which is sometimes very helpful for me as I can do my work faster and in a better quality. Here are some examples of technologies I use: * Mobile Phone * DVD Player * Digital TV * Calculator * MP3 Player * Digital Camera * Digital Video Camera * Printer * Game Consoles * Email * Projector * Cds, DVDs * Telephone Personal Use of ICT: DVD Player and DVDs:: I use the DVD player personally and socially to watch films or even listen to music. I use the DVD player personally to watch films with my friends and family or listen to music personally. I use the DVD Player at school to present my projects on it or watch educational Movies on it. There are sometimes faults in DVD Players such as the CD sometimes gets stuck in there and the drive doesnt opens. There are many types of DVD cds used in the DVD Player, one of the latest type of Cds is a Flexplay DVD that takes care of the rental period itself it hits a chemical stopwatch when you open the package, and when your time is up (in 48 hours, say), the disc stops working. Now you can return it or give it to get recycled. The idea of using these type of Cds is that even snack bars are able to sell these DVDs in a rental price and once they are soled no one needs to worry because as I mentioned it will get deleted by itself. Once I used a DVD player to present a Movie clip during my project at school which was very helpful as I didnt had much to explain. Evaluation: Currently use a DVD Player with an unknown brand, the reason for this is as I got it as a gift with my m mobile phone from the mobile phone provider, but according to my research the more quality a DVD Player has the more likely it reads discs with special formats, but the disadvantage is that it mostly blocks DVDs which are pirated or copyright protected. Internet: I sometimes use the internet socially to chat to my friends as well as cousins. I sometimes also use the internet to download games as well as music or DVDs. I also use internet for online shopping which is very helpful as I am able to find products cheaper then anywhere else. Such as games which are a lot cheaper on the internet then in any shops. The disadvantage of online shopping is that there is a bit of chance of getting hacked. Evaluation: I currently have TalkTalk Broadband at home which meets my needs fully and is very helpful to me as researches can be done very quickly, as well as online shopping or communication can take place socially. Calculator: I use the calculator to calculate the price of any products I want to buy or I use it. Personannly, for example at school to calculate answers. I have used the calculator a few times during my maths lessons to help me to find the answers of questions which were to hard to work out by my own. There are a few types of calculator the most known are simple and scientific calculators. The main difference between simple and scientific calculators are that scientific calculator have got more functions and can work out difficult questions where as the simple calculator can mostly only add, subtract, multiply or divide. Evaluation: In this case a Calculator is the most efficient way to calculate difficult equations as working the answer out with the mind an a pen and pencil consumes a lot of time whereas a calculator is the most time efficient and accurate way. Printer: I use my Inject printer personally; I use it personally to print out any research or receipts of any items I have bought. I also use it to print out pictures by connecting my digital camera directly to my printer. I sometimes use the printer to print out interesting researches or any coursework personally for the school. As I have chosen applied science I have to print out a lot of courseworks so I believe that the printer helps me a lot in my daily life. Once I had printed out my coursework but I lost it by mistake so I just printed it out again which saved me time and was very helpful as I didnt had to do all the hard work again. I also use the printer for home use to print out pictures or interesting researches which may be shared amongst other house members or shown to someone at home. Evaluation: The reason I have decided use the Inject Printer is as the ink Cartridges can be bought very cheaply and have a long lasting duration. Also the printing speed is reasonable and if someone does not print a lot just like me that printer can be made to a perfect use. MP3 Player: I use my Mp3 player only personally to listen to music when I am on my way to my friends or even school. I can listen to my favourite sound tracks at any time I want to and anywhere I am without disturbing other people. The MP3 player is connected to the computer using the USB connection and then tracks can be downloaded and stored on the MP3 player. The main advantage of a MP3 player is that it has got a smaller size then a CD player and a smarter look. It also has got a bigger internal size and you can save your favourite tracks on it. If you use a CD player you always have to swap the CD if you want to listen to any different track which is a disadvantage as it wastes time and sometimes you dont even are in the mood to do it. I personally use the MP3 player not to get bored and it keeps me active and awake. Evaluation: Currently I use a Phillips A260 MP3 Player as it provides me with brilliant sound quality and is not to expensive to purchase. Also he purpose of an MP3 Player originally is to provide music in as good quality as possible. Game consoles: I use Game consoles for my personal life to have a bit of fun after doing hard work. Game consoles are not really helpful but it is fun to use them as you are able to play games such as football which would be hard to play outside if it would be bad weather. The advantage of Game consoles is that you can play multiplayer with your friends or family members. The best thing about game consoles is that the latest game consoles have got special function which make it even more fun for example the Xbox 360 is one of the latest game consoles which has got a Xbox live function, this is used to connect to the internet and play with someone you dont know if he has go the same game. Secondly it has got wireless pads which help you as normally a lot of people step over cables which may get annoying. You can also store music or DVDs on the Xbox 360 or even watch it. With the use of XBOX Live, Xbox can be used socially to play and communicate with other people using XBOX Live. Evaluation: Currently I have a XBOX Console; the reason for me buying this system was as I used to have a playstation 1 and as I got bored I decided to try something new, for this reason I bought the XBOX Console. Digital still and video camera: I use Digital cameras in my personal life which are helpful as I am able to take pictures or videos of the things I have enjoyed with my friends or family. There are many digital cameras available these days which are very helpful as most of the latest once have got a LCD screen at the back which helps you to view the picture during the time you are taking it or after you have taken it and show it to someone directly without giving them to photo shops so that they can create them for you. So basically you can retake the picture if you dont like it with out doing a lot of work. Of course there are some disadvantages such as that if your memory card is full you cant store any pictures any more and you have to delete some but now days you can get memory card with a very great size which make it able to take more then 200 pictures until it is full. The other disadvantage is that digital cameras take a lot of battery however there are special batteries called Nimah batteries which make it able for me to use the battery a lot longer until it is finished. I use the digital camera at home to take pictures of my family or cousins and then I can remind me using them or I just connect them to the printer and I got the pictures without even doing a lot of work. Evaluation: At the moment I have a Panasonic Digital Camera, the reason for this is as it has an external display as well as a night view system and a brilliant quality. Also it is not to expensive to purchase but provides full performance. The battery life is also not too bad for home use but can be upgraded if required. Social Use of ICT: Mobile Phone: There are many new mobile phone models out these days which have got a lot of functions and mobile phones get improved daily as more softwares and also hardwares are added to it. Examples of hardwares are: Bluetooth, Infrared, Camera, 262000 colour display etc. I use my Mobile Phone Socially to contact any companies for information about any products I dont know how to use. I also use a mobile phone personally to talk to my friends as well as my parents if I am not at home. I sometimes use my Mobile Phone personally to listen to music or play games on it. For example once I used my Mobile to contact my parents to inform them that I am going to come home later as I have got work to do. In these cases mobile phones are very helpful as you can talk to people anywhere the net is available. There are sometimes faults in mobiles such as sometimes if your Bluetooth is turned on viruses are able to attack your mobile and destroy the software so that the mobile can sometimes not work again. Evaluation: I currently use the Motorola L7 as it is reasonable cheap to purchase and does not weight a lot, also it is very thin so is able to fit into a pocket very easily, also it Is able to serve me with the requirements I have, these include: sending text messages, camera, phone Email: I use the Email software personally and socially to help me as it has got many advantages as well as some disadvantages. I use the Email software socially to contact my friends or sometimes remind them about anything such as the homework. I use it socially to email to companies for any inquiries I have or I use it to send emails regarding eBay to people to ask them about any information such as delivery time. The main advantage of the Email is that it is much faster then sending a letter and can be send to many people at the same time. Where as a letter has to be packed in separate envelopes and then the address has to be written on it before it can get send. The disadvantage of email software is that it may get hacked or sometimes even can contain a virus. Evaluation: Currently I have a Hotmail Email address, the reason for this is as Hotmail have a website very easy to use and new softwares are being developed by hotmail very quickly which may be a great help to me. Another reason for me using hotmail is as at the time I created my email address only hotmail email addresses worked in MSN Messenger and MSN Messenger was the only software to be able to provide webcam for free. Telephone: I use the telephone socially to talk to friends or even my cousins. I use it socially to make phone calls to company to contact them for any inquiries or for any help. Nowadays there are wireless telephones which have got a range of meters but are very helpful as you are able to use it and mover around with out any problems so they dont stop you from doing work and talking to mated or someone at the same time. The telephone is a very simple technology as the phone only has three parts named microphone, hook switch and a speaker. The latest phones however have got more technology in them so that in older phones you could hear your own voice which people found very annoying but in new phones it is not like that. I believe that the telephone will remain as one of the simplest devices. Evaluation: Currently I have a Phillips phone which was expensive but has an external loud and good quality speaker, is wireless and also has a function to send and receive SMS. The reason for me buying this phone was as it had the longest warranty and seemed to be the one with the functions I required and functions which were required at home. School Related Use: Projector: I use the projector socially at school to present my presentations. It is very helpful as it can make a computer screen or anything else look bigger then it really is. So basically you dont need to have a big screen TV to show it in a way so that the whole class can see it. Because of the projector I can present my work in a way that everyone can see it. The main advantage is that it doesnt weights a lot so that you are able to move it easily without any problem. You can not move a big TV easily. I once had produced my project on a projector which was very helpful as everyone was able to see what I was trying to say. The main disadvantage is that some projectors dont display the picture very clearly. Evaluation: Currently we have Epson Projectors at School which are very helpful and are truly the best way to meet the schools standards as Presentations or explanations can be presented to everyone very clearly. Microsoft office: I use Microsoft office socially at school and at home. I use it at school to write reports or produce risk assessments. Also sometimes I use Microsoft office at school to do my courseworks or save my research results. Microsoft office is very helpful and is used in many offices or even businesses. Microsoft office has a lot of functions and can be used for many purposes such as creating database. Microsoft office is also secure as you can password protect your documents so that even if someone steals it he will be unable to use it. The main advantage is that you can update your documents without rewriting it again and again. It also saves a lot of space and you can find your documents quickly. As normally you would use paper which will get together and it will be hard for me to store them somewhere so that they are safe and I can find them whenever I need them. I use Microsoft office a lot at school and it helped me a lot of times when there was a need to write letters I was able to write it quickly and in a descent layout , also a copy was saved which can be very helpful In case the letter needs to be resend etc. Internet: I use Internet at school to do researches. Also I use the Internet to find pictures and put them into my coursework. Internet is very helpful as it helps me in a lot of ways and if there would be no internet there would even be no email. I use the Internet at school to do my homework as well as find pictures for any courseworks needed any shops. The disadvantage of online shopping is that there is a bit of chance of getting hacked. Evaluation: I currently have TalkTalk Broadband at home which meets my needs fully and is very helpful to me as researches can be done very quickly as well as courseworks can be improved at a great speed and efficiently, this saves me a lot of time. Overall Evaluation: For my personal use of ICT as I have mentioned above I use a lot of technologies as they enable me to work more efficiently, save time, save paper work. I also personally and socially use technologies just to enjoy or have fun with such as the Game Consoles. I also use technology Socially at School such as Projectors, Computers but in this case they do not meet my needs up to the full limit as the Computers mostly seem to have a problem at School as well as the Personal Space Limit on the Computers does not meet my requirement. I personally believe this can be improved by making the computers much more stable and by improving the Space limits for each user. Also the Network Cards and Cables have some problems as the network crashes a lot of times which again does not meet my full requirement. At Home ICT is able to meet my needs as I use a Phone, Speakers, Computers, Modem and other technologies as mentioned above, but all of them work up there full capability and meet my needs. For this reason I do not truly require any more technology for home use, but for social use technology has still not met its full capability at every place such as at my school, as technology makes problems in some cases or could be set up more efficiently at my school. E.G As Network Cables are available and all the computers are networked the school should be able to set up the network in such a way that if one computer is updated with a new windows or software, the other computers should be updated automatically at the same time Conclusion: Finally I believe that the Technology will have along way to go and I am looking forward to see more interesting pieces of technology. I dont really know what I would like to get produced but I know that if something new and interesting product will get produced I will be looking forward to it. I hope that a new technology gets produced which will help us and the community.

Impact Of Globalization On A Developed Economy Economics Essay

Impact Of Globalization On A Developed Economy Economics Essay Globalization is used to describe variety kinds of related but separate, political, sociological, economic and business phenomena. In general terms, globalization refers to the increasing global interdependence of national economies and development of worldwide business competition, activities, and markets (Stonehouse, 2005). The most common definition and the one which usually used in international business is economic globalization, which means an international integration of tendency, such as information, labor, technology, products and capital (Ball 2010). Multinational corporations (MNCs), which majority supported by the industrialized countries governments, and international financial organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are the foundational agents in economic globalization. In addition, an accelerative number of small and medium-sized enterprises are involved in global business operations as partners in this processing (Ahmad, 2001). This paper wills analysis the processing of economic globalization, listing the drivers with evaluating the values, and then assessing the impacts on a developed economy and a developing economy respectively. Drivers of globalization Globalization increased the interconnections of economic between countries. Accord to the theory of Ball (2010) and Cavusgil (2008), there are five major kinds of drivers: Political: government eliminates barriers to trade and foreign investment. International firms both exporting and building production facilities in different countries to open new markets. Much of the industries in formerly communist nations are privatization to participate in the global competition. Technological: Customers could learn more about foreign goods and have more right to choose by the advances communications technology. Small companies become competing global by using the internet and network computing, which also leads a large number of companies to make transactions with E-commercial systems. Market: As companies globalize, they also become global customs. When firms saturated the home markets, they begin to send branch companies into foreign markets. There are 84% of worlds largest companies expect that global markets will generate the majority of their growth in the next five years (Dow Jones survey Cited in Ball, 2010). Cost: Economies of scale reduce the unit cost by globalize product lines. These costs include production, development and inventory costs. The company can move production or other parts value chain to low-cost country by take local advantages. Competitive: Globalization leads intensity increasing competition for whole corporations all around the world. New companies, abundant from newly industrialized and developing countries, have entered global markets in automobiles, computers, and electronics in order to obtain more competitive edge. These drivers which are the dominant force for economic integration have variety impacts on different economics depend on the particular situation. Developing economy Positive impacts Globalization can enhance socioeconomic development in the developing economies. A large number of researches have estimated the impacts of globalization on the long-run growth of output and agree that international trade and globalization are important factors for a developing economy to build a positive economic system. They point out that higher globalization policies can leads countries to have higher Steady State Growth Rates (SSGR) (Rao, 2009). Focusing on the FDI inflows, more advanced technology and manager method involved in the developing countries could directly accelerate the local economic growing (Marques, 2009). The extent of financial flows seemed to supplement the developing economies shortages of capital and to encourage their investment in some aspects such as the construction of infrastructural facilities (Spence, 2010). Besides, globalization leads growth of international business and Increasing competitive in the developing countries. The general principle in globalization is that the most competitive one is the most efficient (Knight, 2008). As the WTO and other organizations have Impact on the construction sector in developing countries during globalization, which help developing countries economic to grow, by allowing competition to break down the inefficiencies of industries that were hidden behind various barriers to trade (Ball, 2010, p.20). In order to be more competitive in world markets, local corporations must obtain advanced commercial technology in the form of purchase of capital goods, direct investment, and the right to use the international companys skill or knowledge. This process of liberalization leads governments to acquire more capability of competition for markets, social utilities and services (Spence, 2010). Finally, globalization provides developing economy more and better jobs. According to the comparative advantage theory, trade and FDI should take advantage of the plentiful labor in developing economy and so trigger a trend of specialization in domestic labor-intensive activities and, ultimately, an expansion in local employment (Rugman, 2009, p.5). FDIs cause positive employment impacts both directly and indirectly through job creation by suppliers and retailers; they also produce a tertiary employment effect by generating additional incomes and thereby increasing aggregate demand (Lall, 2004, p.75). Spiezia (2004, p.154) measures the exported and imported of labor-intensities and non-traded goods, and concludes that in 21 out of 39 sampled developing countries an increase in the volume of trade resulted in an increase in employment. He also finds that the impact of FDI on employment could increases per-capita income in general. In addition, globalization could decrease poverty. Indeed, the majority of developing countries, particularly fast-globalizing countries such as India, China, and Vietnam, experienced a significant decrease in the proportion of their population which is living below the poverty line. The World Development Indicators shows that the proportion of extreme poverty people in China fell from 56 to 31 percent between 1981 and 1999. In contrast, that countries rejected globalization, Including Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Ukraine are always the most impoverished countries in the world (Ball, 2010). Negative impacts The major negative impact on developing countries is globalization will lead a developing economy to greater volatility with reducing economic growth in short-time, particularly in the capital markets. The financial linkages of developing countries with the worldwide economic system have significantly increased in recent decades (Prasad, 2003). With the financial globalization, the proliferation of financial crises among developing economies are often viewed as a natural consequence of the growing pains (Prasad, 2003). The Asian financial crisis, thousands of firms went bankrupt during the recession in developing countries. As the global financial market continue to be unpredictable, opening up to capital markets can exacerbate such existing domestic distortions and lead to catastrophic consequences (Aizenman, 2002, p.4319). The expanding foreign-owned corporations in local economy came to be viewed as a threat to autonomy by a large number of governments with the reduction of tariffs and the elimination of quantitative restrictions. The economic strength of large companies is even larger than the local governments in many developing countries. For instant, the annual revenue of Wal-Mart is higher than the GDP of Poland, Israel and Greece (Cavusgil, 2008). The MNCs can lobby the government or sponsored the selection in order to benefit from changing the local economies and social structures (Knight, 2008). They can also affect the legislative process, benefit from government agencies. Besides, the MNCs also threat the survival of domestic firms due to the low competitiveness of domestic enterprises (Langmore, 2004). As a result, some traditional customs and industries are disappearing. Hoang (2006) argues that globalization leads to exploitation of labor in the developing countries due to the developed countries take the advantage of cheap labor. As all these foreign investment in the developing countries are pursuit of profits, some experts argue that a large number of MNCs employing child labor and paying slave wages. These sweatshops also provide miserable working conditions in Dongguan, China and Africa (Stonehouse, 2004). According to the theory of Beine (2008), globalization leads to brain drain in developing countries. It has opened country easily for free movement of labors, especially experts and professionals. This problem is mostly in developing countries such as India, China and Africa where some of the qualified personnel immigrate to developed countries to get jobs due to poor economic conditions and lack of good financial policies in their motherland. Developed economy Positive impacts Globalization is much better for developed economic growth. On average, countries that globalized more, the experienced growth rates could be higher, especially true for actual economic integration in developed countries with the liberalization on trade and capital. There is also evidence, that cross-border information flows promote growth (Drehera 2006, p.1080). Besides, with a fully integrated market of services, labor, capital and goods, increased internationalization leads to larger income and sales, which in leads to greater profit potential especially in exploiting emerging markets (Sledge, 2006). The multinational firms from developed nations realize much performance benefits from globalization and pay more sales tax to their government. Globalization also accelerates the MNCs to expansion with more performance. Firms always organize their value-adding actives according to availability of land resource, labor cost levels, skills, and capital quality, they could benefit from much lower unit cost levels and often get huger quality manufacturing when take a location advantages during globalization (Stonehouse, 2004). For instant, IT outsourcing could cut operational costs and stay competitive especially it leads to a 24-hour functioning of firms (Marques, 2009). Furthermore, during increasing expansion, the subsidiaries of foreign companies are becoming important roles in the industrial and economic life in many developed economies. As growing rapidly in Foreign Direct Investment and exporting in the developed countries, globalization has a positive effect on Industrial competitiveness (IC) (Zhang, 2010), which also means that MNCs could get more industrial productivity by increasing integration with the global economy through FDI and trade. The MNCs also can benefit from a diversification of risk by invest in variety kinds of nations. Furthermore, by setting labor-intensive and heavy industry into in developing countries and regions, developed economics put pressure on the local capital markets to  upgrade. MNEs form developed countries are becoming increasingly knowledge-intensive rather than labor-intensive (Narula, 2000). MNEs increase international competitiveness with continuous innovation in high-tech researches and production new high-tech products. Developed countries are shifting their industrial structure to tertiary-industry during globalization. For instance, U.S. has set information technology, aerospace technology, defense and biotechnology industries as its pillar industry (Hecker, 1999). Economic globalization also creates more conditions for transnational flow of high-skilled labor. The important determinants for the migration decision of individuals are economic factors. As rapid rates of economic development, which based on high technology industrialization, more and more MNCs demand for imported high-skilled labor (Skeldon, 2005). So developed countries attract a large number of foreign talents to immigrate in and make important contributions to their economics. As human resources have become the most important factor in competition, developed nations could acquire more productivity (Beine, 2008). Negative impacts Globalization could increase the unemployment rate and widen the gap between rich and poor in the developed countries. The major threat obvious from globalization is that trade with the Third World, which provides cheaper labor, will undermine the wages of less-skilled workers, and even leads to their intense unemployment, such as in Western Europe. From economic theory, which provides clear evidences for the situation that trade can increase the rewards of skilled workers while reducing the pay of the unskilled workers when they are facing international competition, importing skilled labor tend to displace unskilled workers (Irwin 2000). Rodrik (1997) fears that those who can adapt to economic change, such as capital owners, skilled labor, and experts, will increasingly edge out those who cannot, such as unskilled and semi-skilled workers. Mckay (2004) points out that the gap between rich and poor could be accelerated because of the increasing redundancy of low-skilled people. Similar as developing economics, globalization leads developed nations more interdependent. That means the developed economies suffer more from economic disruptions as the risks become more global. Globalization encourages free trade, which involves an increased cash flow, and then the redistribution of capital could become more liquidity. As Bagai(2010) argues that there are more widely risks than before due to the financial markets and institutions have more capability to disperse than past. Furthermore, the increasing financial innovation by developed countries leads the financial managers more possibility to underestimate the risks. The subprime crisis illuminates are errors of omission due to the financial managers ignore the regulatory discipline (Spence, 2010). Conclusion (2176 words) Globalization has became one of the most controversial political and economic issues recently. As Marx said globalization process is inevitable as progressive and praiseworthy (Jellisse,2009, p.35). However, globalization is a dual-edged sword. With MNCs set their workforce from overseas to obtain inexpensive labor, developing countries obtain higher employment rate, thus improving their economies and living standard. But it has also thrown up new challenges like growing volatility in financial market and brain drain. As regard the developed economics, globalization accelerates the MNCs to expansion and industrial upgrade and shift. Because the globalization process is leading by developed countries, although it leads to increase the unemployment rate, developed countries gain more benefits from international trade and investment such as take local advantages and shift their industrial structures. In all, as globalization can be managed by governments cooperating global, expanding tr ade by collectively reducing barriers and working together to fulfill the optimization of resource distribution, both developed and developing countries can deploy to reduce poverty and raise living standard at last (Stonehouse, 2004 ).

Killer Angels - Chamberlain: A True Leader :: American America History

Killer Angels - Chamberlain: A True Leader Michael Shaara presented Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in his The Killer Angels not only as a courageous, heroic soldier with outstanding integrity, but depicted him using tremendous leadership skills in a large variety of situations. When we were first introduced to Chamberlain he gave a remarkably motivating speech to over one hundred starved and angry soldiers. With his passionate and honest plea he was able to break through their barriers of hate and betrayal and inspire them to fight for a belief even they could relate to. This act alone convinced me that this man was a talented leader and would have an impressive impact on The Battle of Gettysburg. After each confrontation where casualties occurred Chamberlain was sure to visit with each individual soldier or group of soldiers and be certain they didnt need the attention of a doctor. He also took time to get to know his men and build relationships with them. Through this act Chamberlain gained more respect, even, than Lee because his soldiers not only knew who they were fighting for, but also knew that if they died fighting for him they would die in honor under the command of a caring and passionate man. To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. This is a very hard thing to do. ~Robert E. Lee (The Killer Angels Pg. 191) Chamberlain showed what a good officer he was during the battle on Little Round Top. When he knew his troops were in trouble he had to order his own brother to help fill a spot, risking his life. Throughout the novel Shaara mentions how closely-knit the relationship between the two brothers was yet Chamberlain knew his duty to protect the Union armys flank and was willing to sacrifice both himself and his beloved brother Tom in order to fulfill it.

Effects of Modernity Essay -- essays research papers

The old-traditional way of life has vanished for ever. Today only villages and some small towns remind us of this kind of life, and as time passes, more people choose to abandon traditional way of life, to move to the â€Å"big city†. Modern way of life has nothing in common with the traditional one. Human habits, values, norms have changed. The most important of these social changes can be observed in human relationships, family economy, education, government, health, and religion. To be able to examine these changes, one has to compare traditional and modern way of life. In traditional societies, to begin with, there is a strong fellow-feeling; everybody is considered a friend and is expected to act this way, in case of personal or family crisis. In every-day life one would be happy to lend his neighbour anything he is asked without expecting anything in return. This fellow-feeling does not exist in modern cities, where the general rule taught to city-people when they are still children is: trust no one. The size and density of population, anonymity and high rate of criminality may be responsible for this kind of behaviour. Despite the fact that each city group chooses to behave this way for different reasons, the result will always be the same (Gans: 235-237). In addition to the change in human behaviour towards people outside his family, there is change in family life as well. The extended family providing all means of socialization and economic production, became nuclear, ...

Literary Analysis of Feminism Seen in Antigone and A Doll’s House Essay

Susan B. Anthony once said, â€Å"The true republic: men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.† In the plays Antigone, by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, strong women overcome restrictions and limitations placed upon them by their society and gender. In Antigone, Antigone chooses to defy Creon, her ruler, uncle, and a male authority figure, to support what she believes is right, which is burying her brother and respecting the gods. Though it was forbidden for her brother to be buried because of Creon’s decree, she resists, and in doing so, feels empowered and discovers what a strong woman she truly is. Similarly, in A Doll’s House, Nora is hindered by how the society in which she lives views women and their capabilities. After saving her husband’s life and keeping the secret of a forgery that could potentially destroy her marriage, Nora discovers that her husband is not who she thinks he is when he tu rns on her as soon as his reputation is threatened. Through leaving her husband, Helmer, she aims to make a life for herself and become her own person rather than just her husband’s â€Å"doll.† Both of these women, Antigone and Nora, make choices that are unheard of for their time periods and that demonstrate the importance of equal relationships between women and men. Through Sophocles and Ibsen’s plays, women in modern times can understand how women are repressed and subservient to men in male-dominated societies. An understanding of the restrictions placed on women requires an analysis of the characters’ submission to men, the expectations placed upon them by society, and their search to find their inner voices through their struggles to be heard. The expectations placed on women by society ... ...ce, and become independent women, even if they go against society’s or their male ruler’s wishes. Sophocles and Ibsen alike portray strong women who defy society’s expectations, do not bend to the wills of men, and who discover themselves while fighting for their rights. The actions taken by Nora and Antigone are remarkable for the time periods in which they live, especially with patriarchal societies. By analyzing these plays, women can determine how to become independent and not always conform to society’s expectations, just as Nora and Antigone do. Relationships between men and women are changing, through time, to become more equal and accepting of strong-willed women. Women worldwide are slowly shrugging off the chains of restrictions placed upon them by the males in their lives and are growing confident enough in themselves to make changes for the better.

Philosophy: On the Elucidation of various Philosophers Essay

The Age of Reason is an impetus for arrival of new stance regarding cosmogenesis or natural philosophy since new scientific advancements are being discovered. During this time, Age of Reason becomes the emancipating precursor from shackles of dogmatism that held the classical skepticism and religious perspective of the cosmos. The principal precursor in the change of thought is Rene Descartes who rebels against the dogmatism of his present time, while providing valid arguments on doubting and on ideas in relation to Providence, thus his philosophy landscaped a new philosophical stance during the Age of Reason. Descartes is the first philosopher who goes against a prevalent thinking established during the Dark Ages, which only accepts ideas bounded by the church. Descartes’ definitive doubt is the mirror image of his definitive certainty. Having raised, as he claims, all possible doubts, he will be able subsequently to claim that whatever principles survive his skeptical scrutiny has been established with metaphysical finality. Classical skepticism, even if used as a methodological device, could support no such claim. With the emergence of a new idea, the balance, even if at present dramatically tipped, might always be restored or even tipped the other way. Ordinary doubting, and its sophisticated extension, classical isosthenia, are always contingent on the current state of knowledge. They offer no test for absolute certainty. The first point Descartes makes is that he cannot trust his senses without qualification, because they have often deceived him about objects that are barely perceptible or very far away. Nevertheless, this leaves untouched beliefs about objects close by and in plain view. To call these in question, he needs the dreaming argument. But even the dreaming argument, as Descartes understands it, leaves unscathed beliefs about things that are ‘very simple and very general’, and to undermine the credibility of these, he has to raise questions about his origin, nature, and relation to Providence, a line of thought encapsulated in the conceit of the evil deceiver. Moreover, even this final, hyperbolical doubt seems implicitly to concede Descartes some knowledge. This stratification of doubt imposes a corresponding stratification of knowledge. Through the progressive development of his doubt, Descartes effects a context- and subject-matter-independent partitioning of his beliefs into broad epistemological classes, ordered according to how difficult it is to doubt them. First in the order come the beliefs that are never doubted, subsequently to be identified as those that involve Descartes’ immediate knowledge of his own ‘thoughts’, whose exemption will be retrospectively justified on the grounds of their supposed incorrigibility. The progressive development of Cartesian doubt insinuates, without ever directly arguing for, a foundational conception of knowledge, the view of knowledge that sees justification as constrained by just the sort of context- and subject-matter-independent order of epistemic priority that is implicit in Descartes’ stratified doubt. One of the major criticisms in Descartes philosophical stance is its appeal to epistemological solipsism, which means that everything an individual thinks is to be considered as truth. In epistemological solipsism, all ideas that reside in the mind are indubitable truth, and those that exist in the external world are nothing but unnecessary hypothesis. The problem here is that Descartes failed to realize that the there is a certain extent wherein human mind cannot explain or elucidate certain ideas that can be elucidated through empirical ways. On Hegel Geist makes itself what it implicitly is, its deed, and its works; in that way it has itself before its own eyes as object. So is the spirit of a people. . . . In these its works, its world, the spirit of a people finds enjoyment of itself and is satisfied. Lectures on the Philosophy of History) We come to self-awareness by finding ourself in our ‘Other’, that which is distinct from us, set over against us. So if the Idea is to rise to self-consciousness, as the ultimate purpose of things demands, there will have to be something set in opposition to it which is its ‘Other’, and yet which is at the same time a reflection of it. And so there is: nature, concrete where the Idea is abstract, particular where it is universal, thing where it is thought, but none the less its embodiment and manifestation, in Hegel’s vocabulary ‘identical’ with it. Geist, the third element of the great triad, arises out of this opposition of intimately related items which provides the necessary basis for the emergence of self-consciousness. The better Geist’s grasp of this ‘identity’ the closer has the Idea come to full consciousness of its own essence. The dialectical progression which Hegel saw in cultural forms and social institutions, in short in the life of the human race, he also saw in the life of the individual; the fall from childhood happiness and its reattainment so hardly won, the suffering that goes with nobility of soul and the subsequent recovery of joy. He is also able to assimilate the story of the fall of man, treating it as mythical representation of aspects of the history of mankind which are then played out again in each human life. It tells of a fall from a state of unthinking, unknowing wholeness to one of separation and the pain that comes from consciousness of it. And in his diagnosis Hegel seizes another chance to link arms with a theme of romantic as well as religious literature: what brings this fall about is the increase of knowledge. ‘Would I had never gone to your schools! is Hyperion’s cry; and what so afflicted the graceful youth of Kleist’s tale was knowledge as well, the realization of his own beauty; for Schiller, writing ‘Die Gotter Griechen-lands’, it was the knowledge of the natural scientist which had banished spirit from the world and left it alien and hollow. Historicism for Hegel is defined as a means of understanding the world and all human activities in terms of the histo rical context of the world and such activities; anything is circumstantiated based on the history of a given phenomenon. Historicism is important because it concretized the mechanism of dialectical materialism such as the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis of the event. Organicism is a means of understanding a single developing organism operates on its interdependent parts, in order to grasp its whole meaning in terms of human psyche and behavior. Hegel develops this idea along lines indicated by his highly individual conception of logic and strongly encouraged by the communal romantic metaphysic. Precisely because the dialectic works, in Hegel’s view, with fluid boundaries, the connections it reveals to us are invisible to the understanding. Reason, by virtue of its appreciation of fluidity and its disdain for divisive conceptual barriers, in short by its acceptance of the romantic principle of Unity-in-Difference as a principle of logic, is to let us see the aspect of identity between items which Verstand had hitherto represented as unalterably different and opposed. Hegel’s dialectics influenced Karl Marx in conceiving a utopian society with his structuring of Dialectical Materialism. Hegel also influenced Marx in terms of his stance on master-slave relationship, which is viewed by the former as the prevalent form of government. Hegel rebels against it because the person is deemed as a thing. On Husserl My transcendental method is transcendental-phenomenological. It is the ultimate fulfillment of old intentions, especially those of English empiricist philosophy, to investigate the transcendental-phenomenological â€Å"origins† †¦ the origins of objectivity in transcendental subjectivity, the origin of the relative being of objects in the absolute being of consciousness. Husserl’s lectures of 1923–1924) Edmund Husserl’s transformation of phenomenology from an unfortunately named â€Å"descriptive psychology† to transcendental idealism thus extended the earlier critique of naturalism and psychologism in logic to philosophical naturalism generally. The crucial move in this transition is the methodological procedure of the pheno menological reduction, the suspending or â€Å"bracketing† or â€Å"putting out of action† all of the existential posits of the natural attitude. Considered as a â€Å"transcendental†, this operation first opens up the â€Å"absolute being of pure consciousness†, the â€Å"residuum of the world’s annihilation† (Residuum der Weltvernichtung). With it, phenomenology necessarily becomes transcendental inasmuch as phenomenological investigation is concerned to give an exhaustive description of this revealed region of â€Å"transcendental subjectivity† together with its structures of intentionality. Consequent to the phenomenological reduction, all reality (Realitat), ideal as well as actual, is exhibited as having being in virtue of â€Å"sense-bestowal† (Sinngebung), and indeed, the notion of an â€Å"absolute reality† independent of consciousness is as nonsensical as that of a â€Å"round square†. By the same token, â€Å"pure consciousness†, the ultimate origin of all â€Å"sense-bestowal†, â€Å"exists absolutely and not by virtue of another (act of) sense-bestowal†. It is the ultimate conferee of sense or meaning, the source of all representations, and so of all objectivity. Martin Heidegger position on second intuition is greatly influenced by Husserl. Like Husserl, Heidegger also espoused that in order to elucidate a phenomenon, one must take into account all the descriptive experience of that phenomenon, and this understood in Husserl’s term as intentionality and for Heidegger it is care. Hence, for Heidegger phenomenology is encapsulated in the catchphrase: â€Å"to the things in themselves†. Jean-Paul Sartre Transcendence of the Ego is greatly affected by Husserl’s intentionality. Sartre elucidates how the power of consciousness and intentionality can unravel or show the authenticity of object in relation to the being, and of course of the ontology of the being-for-itself. For Sartre, constitution should not be misconstrued as means of â€Å"creation† because the former should only be viewed in context of consciousness. Hence, constitution is a way of conceiving things that surrounds the being, or when being makes sense of the things that surrounds him/her. And through constitution, being is able to individuate himself/herself from other beings and the tings that surround the being. Thus, objects are elucidated in their own-ness and the object of consciousness is ego, which is a departure from Husserl. On the other hand, Soren Kierkegaard influenced Sartre in terms of objectification the being, which can lead to angst or nausea, and bad faith. Kierkegaard posits that the crowd can lead to the objectification of the being that can cause fear, and eventually leads to untruth. Sartre postulates that once the being is consumed by the others and being-in-itself, the being is automatically in bad faith and objectified, thus losing its authenticity. On Plato and Aristotle Plato’s theory of forms suggests that the world that we know of and that which we live in is not the real and objective world. This world is where the material objects exist, and the very material objects are not the essences of these very objects. Rather, in the Platonic view, real objects are the forms, such that latter is the very essence of these objects, that it is where objects of the material world are framed upon. These forms are not of this material world but exist instead in the world of forms or ideas. Thus, real knowledge for Plato is not the commonsensical notion of knowledge derived from what we directly experience through our senses but is rather the knowledge of the forms. To know and understand the forms is to know the very essence of things. Hence, this leads to the dichotomization of world of object and world of ideas, in which the latter is the end-all of all things, or the truth in-itself. Quite on the contrary, Aristotle believes that knowledge can be obtained empirically and that a grasp of the nature of things can be acquired through careful observation of phenomena. The senses of man, then, pose great centrality to Aristotle’s method of arriving at the understanding of objects. Through the use of sensory perception, one can obtain the critical facts which are directly observable from the object and are constitutive of its physical existence. The observation on objects allows one to acquire the basic information about the object. The corresponding sensory experience on the object creates the very core of what seems to be the ultimate components that comprise the very form of the object of the perception. The way the objects represent themselves before the senses is the real way things are as they are. Roughly speaking, the very form of the object is its unique characteristic which is primarily constitutive of its overall existence. The very essence of objects for Aristotle cannot be separated from the object itself and, hence, the way to understand the essence of a thing is to experience the object through sensory perception. Aristotle tries to arrive at generalizations out of specific observations. More generally, he attempts at proceeding to the general knowledge on the essences of things from an analysis of specific phenomena. This ascent from particulars to generalizations is considered to be inductive in principle and deductive to a certain extent since these generalizations derived can then be utilized as the general claim upon which specific claims can be inferred from. Yet, broadly speaking, Aristotle’s logic revolves around the notion of deduction (sullogismos). Aristotle then says of deduction: A deduction is speech (logos) in which, certain things having been supposed, something different from those supposed results of necessity because of their being so. (Prior Analytics I. 2, 24b18-20) Thus, the form of an object for Aristotle is its specific characteristic, its very essence or essential attribute manifested by its physical existence or the very fact that it is tangible, and this we can derive principally through the use of deduction and of logic in general to our immediate sensory perception of objects. On the other hand, Plato’s method of philosophizing is seen to be as deductive in nature. From an understanding of the universals or generalizations, specifically that of the forms, man can derive the particulars through contemplation on the objects, objects which are mere imitations of the forms in the Platonic sense. Thus, Plato’s mode of inference can be seen as a descent from the general a priori principles down to the specifics.

Massage Therapy

Annotated Bibliography and Critique: Massage Therapy September 19th, 2012 Introduction The alternative therapy I chose to research was Massage therapy. The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology defines massage therapy as â€Å"manual manipulation of soft tissue to promote physical and mental health and well-being. Forms of massage therapy can be traced back to ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, and Japanese civilizations† (â€Å"massage therapy†, 2008).I chose to do this topic for my annotated bibliography because I am interested in learning more about the benefits of massage and to understand ways of healing pain and discomfort through touch and manual manipulation. I believe that massage therapy is not only helpful in the relief of pain and discomfort but also helps in the emotional maintenance of romantic relationships. Article One Ho, Y. , Lee, R. , Chow, C. , & Pang, M. (2010). Impact of massage therapy on motor outcomes in very low-birthweight infants: Rand omized controlled pilot study.Pediatricsinternational, 52, 378-385. The purpose of this randomized trial was to â€Å"investigate the efficacy of massage therapy on stable preterm VLBW infants in promoting motor development, weight gain, and earlier discharge from the hospital† (Ho et al. , 2010, p. 378). Ho et al. suggest that â€Å"it is generally accepted that infants at 32 weeks gestational age and beyond may benefit from massage therapy† (Ho et al. , 2010, p. 378). This was a randomized controlled intervention pilot trial that studied infants whose gestational age was between 25 and 34 weeks with VLBW.Two types of massage interventions were performed on separate groups of infants for 15 minutes in duration. One intervention being 5 minutes of massage therapy with tactile stimulation in the first and third phases and physical activity phase in the second phase and the other therapy (sham treatment) consisted of gentle still touch producing no indentation in the ski n. Each treatment was done an hour after feedings. Daily caloric intake was recorded as well as bodyweight before intervention, at 36 weeks PCA, and after intervention.The results of this study were shown to be that out of the 24 infants that were involved, the â€Å"infants with poor initial motor performance had significantly more improvement in motor outcomes and shorter length of hospital stay following massage therapy than sham treatment† (Ho et al. , 2010, p. 381) Article One Critique Strengths of this article were the thorough explanation of the therapies done with the infants. This allows for easy replication of the study should anyone try and implement these types of massage therapies in hospital NICU’s.This article also outlined implications for future research suggesting that a large sample size would be beneficial for another study to have more accurate results. The author’s use and interpretation of the evidence lead to the same conclusion as was gi ven in the conclusion. Appropriate methods to gather evidence was used and measurements were done at appropriate growth stages. I believe that the results of this study were congruent with what the conclusion stated in the end.Shortcomings of this article are stated within the article saying that â€Å"the effect of massage on preterm infants’ motor developmental outcomes thus remains uncertain, and a study with a more rigorous study design is warranted† (Ho et al. , 2010, p. 378). Excluding certain infants from the study I believe was also a short coming in this article. They limited infants that had maternal drug addictions, congenital abnormalities, and genetic disorders. This was a limitation to this study because it didn’t allow for results to show if massage therapy could benefit these types of conditions in newborns.Limiting infants such as ones with congenital abnormalities may have allowed the results to show better growth in the overall group. For futu re studies infants with conditions such as congenital abnormalities or maternal drug addiction could be included as a third subgroup for testing of massage therapy to see if the benefits of this alternative therapy aids in their growth and development. Article Two Munk, N. , Kruger, T. , & Zanjani, F. (2011). Massage therapy usage and reported health in older adults.The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, 17(7), 609- 616. A randomized study was done to examine the impact of massage therapy in older adults with persistent pain compared to persistent pain clients who have not sought out the use of alternative therapies such as massage therapy. This article suggests that â€Å"high rates of persistent and acute pain have been reported by users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) including recipients of massage therapy (MT), with pain being the primary reason some adults utilize CAM treatments† (Munk et al. 2011, p. 609). Participants of this study were 60 – 92years from Lexington, Kentucky either from 500 randomly selected Feyette County voters or from surveys given out at massage therapy clinics. Surveys and questions were dispersed to each participant and answers were recorded. The results of this study were â€Å"mean annual income and years of education were significantly higher for those who utilized MT in the past year compared to those who did not indicate MT usage in the past year† (Munk et al. , 2011, p. 611).Furthermore, â€Å"participants who utilized MT in the past year had significantly higher incomes, more years of education, and greater cumulative CAM usage than those who did not report massage usage† (Munk et al. , 2011, p. 612). Article Two Critique The strengths of this article were that it suggested future studies to look into things such as policy change that would help with older adults being able to afford massage therapy or be covered under their benefits. Another strength of this artic le was that it lists its limitations, allowing future studies to build off of the limitations they had and continue with the study.Shortcomings of this article were that it didn’t talk much about the positives that older adults experience from massage therapy. I would have found it more beneficial to understand how older adults benefited from massage therapy in regards to their persistent pain. Another shortcoming of this article, as stated on page 609, is that â€Å"due to the limited existence of evidence-based studies, the benefits of MT are not well understood for older adults, especially in regards to pain† (Munk et al. , 2011, p. 609).As well, a wider variety of patients could be used to see how different types of people or conditions could benefit from massage therapy. This article was limited to only the Kentucky population rather than a wider variety of people. With this study being centered around a survey and data analysis I feel that surveys could have been sent out worldwide to get a better understanding of massage therapy and its benefits on a wide variety of conditions. More shortcomings were that there was no real measure of pain or how long it lasted for in the participants.This makes me wonder about the authors’ conclusion of massage therapy being â€Å"associated with self-report of less limitation due to physical or emotional issues† (Munk et al. , 2011, p. 614). The last short coming of this article was that there was no actual controlled massage therapy taking place, rather it was just assumed through self reports that massage therapy aided in the management of persistent pain. Article Three Sefton, J. , Yarar, C. , Berry, J. , & Pascoe, D. (2010). Therapeutic massage of the neck and shoulders produces changes in peripheral blood flow when assessed with dynamic infrared thermography.The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, 16(7), 723-732. The objective of this repeated-measures crossover experimen tal design study was to â€Å"determine the effect of therapeutic massage on peripheral blood flow (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 723). It is suggested that â€Å"MT may improve circulation to damaged or painful tissues, and thereby improve the delivery of metabolic fuels and gas in addition to accelerated waste removal†( Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 724). â€Å"Thus, massage treatment may improve tissue function and potentiate tissue repair by removing barriers to healing processes† (Yarar et al. 2010, p. 724). 17 volunteers were chosen for this study. â€Å"Using a blinded, randomized crossover design, each subject completed the control (C), light touch (LT) and massage (MT) conditions on 3 separate days, at least 1 week apart† (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 724). The participants were then scanned by dynamic infrared thermography (DIRT) and anterior, posterior and lateral thermal images were taken. â€Å"The key finding of this investigation was that the MT condition produc ed significantly higher skin temperatures when compared to the control condition in five zones† (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 27). â€Å"Importantly, significant changes were found in zones 9 and 13, areas adjacent to the massaged areas that did not receive massage treatment† (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 727-728). â€Å"These results suggest that a 20-minute MT protocol can increase skin temperature and peripheral blood perfusion to both the areas receiving massage treatment as well as areas adjacent to the treatment† (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 728). â€Å"The second key finding in this investigation was that the LT condition did not differ significantly from the C condition† (Yarar et al. , 2010, p. 728). Article Three CritiqueThe strengths and shortcomings of this article were that it was, to me, very difficult to read with the abbreviations throughout. There was only one method used for measuring the temperature of the skin following massage treatment after a few different methods were mentioned in the beginning. The strengths were that it outlined the changes in every zone after treatment, making it clear what areas benefited from treatment. Much time was taken into the discussion part to better understand the results that came of this study. The graphs on pages 729 and 730 are a great way of showing readers the different affects each treatment had on the zones.The use of DIRT to measure the surface temperature without touching the skin was beneficial to this study because it does not require direct touch to the skin. This allows for accurate results because contact with the skin could possibly increase temperature readings. However, I think further study into other methods of taking temperature could have been done to have more options and a wider variety of results. Different variety of massage therapies, such as relaxation massage versus deep tissue massage, could bring about different results as well. Perhaps with deep tissue massage ar terial blood flow would be encouraged throughout the body.The final shortcoming of this article I thought to be the small sample size of 17 participants. However, results were rather accurate due to each participant experiencing each of the 3 treatment types. Application to health care I believe these articles are all applicable to health care because each one is related to a type of condition or illness that could benefit from massage therapy. Low birth weight infants are born every day and finding an alternative therapy to helping with growth and development would help in reducing medical costs and helps in shortening hospital stays for the families affected.Aging adults are often affected by persistent pain from ware on their bones and joints. As an alternative of using harsh prescription medications, massage therapy would help with medical costs as well as lessen the complications and undesirable side effects that come with taking pills all the time. And lastly, massage therapy being used to help with peripheral blood flow to areas that may have little to no circulation can help with lessoning the chance of DVTs, decrease medical costs and improve healing time. ConclusionIn conclusion, massage therapy is effective in helping low birth weight babies with gaining weight and having shorter hospital stays as well as improvement in management of persistent pain and increase in peripheral blood flow. More studies could be done in regards to other positive effects that massage therapy has such as, mental and emotional health and well being. The articles reviewed in this annotated bibliography showed that very low-birth weight infants can benefit from massage in regards to promoting motor development and weight gain.Massage therapy in older adults experiencing persistent pain, according to self reported findings, improves limitation due to physical or emotional issues. And therapeutic massage helps with increased surface temperature aiding in peripheral blood flow . References Ho, Y. , Lee, R. , Chow, C. , & Pang, M. (2010). Impact of massage therapy on motor outcomes in very low-birthweight infants: Randomized controlled pilot study. Pediatrics international, 52, 378-385. Massage therapy. (2008). In A. Colman (Ed. ), A Dictionary of Psychology (3rd ed. ). Retrieved from http://library. troyal. ca:2139/view/10. 1093/acref/9780199534067. 001. 0001/acref- 9780199534067-e-9168? rskey=9C7gUq&result=1&q=massage%20therapy Munk, N. , Kruger, T. , & Zanjani, F. (2011). Massage therapy usage and reported health in older adults. The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, 17(7), 609-616. Sefton, J. , Yarar, C. , Berry, J. , & Pascoe, D. (2010). Therapeutic massage of the neck and shoulders produces changes in peripheral blood flow when assessed with dynamic infrared thermography. The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, 16(7), 723-732.

Facebook Effects on Society Essay

Nowadays, the social networking known also as social media has become a widespread subject among people, especially among teenagers. At its beginning, social media consisted of diverse dating websites. Now, most people consider that having a social media account means that you have a Facebook account. Facebook involves interactivity and the aim of it was, from the very beginning, to be able to add different people as friends and let those people know about the activities of their â€Å"new† friends. It was launched in 2004 and now is one of the most popular social media websites in the entire world. According to the last surveys in the field, Facebook changes and influences social relationships along with people’s ideas, thoughts and actions. There are several negative effects that Facebook has on the society, in general, and on the people, individually. Facebook causes addiction, which implies: less social interaction, distraction from another tasks and health issues. Since for many people searching and posting on Facebook has become one of the main daily activities, less social interaction begin to be one of the main negative effects that Facebook has on its users. Recent data shows that there are over 500 million Facebook users, which means 1 person in every 13 people on Earth uses Facebook. This social media website seems to be for people an escape from real life to a life where everything is fine and organized. In 2010, Pew Research Center created a survey on over 2,000 respondents about social networking influences and demonstrated that 92% of the social networking users have account on Facebook and 52% of them check their Facebook profile at least once a day. Overall, half of the actual Facebook users, which means 250 million people, checks their profile daily. And definitely, those who tend to check their profile many times a day are the ones who tend to get more attracted by the activities on Facebook and so, to be less interested in real life productivity. Christine Rosen, member of the Ethics and Public Policy Center from Washington, says † People who use networks like Facebook have a tendency to describe themselves like products†(BUGEJA 88). That less social interaction will begin once the Facebook users start feeling more connected with the others through Facebook. A research did by Alex Trimpe, student at Columbus College of Art& Design shows that â€Å"57% of people talk more online than they do in real life† (BATTISHILL). In addition, a report in Daily Mail confirmed that more than a third of the respondents spend less time on going out with friends than posting or chatting on Facebook. A percentage of 75 of the surveyed people have fewer friends since they started using Facebook as a way to keep friends updated and even if they realize they need more real meetings, Facebook is still the first choice for â€Å"hanging-out† and for meeting new people. This seems to be a new way of creating and maintaining friendship relations and Steven Strogatz, network science expert and PhD professor at Cornell University, confirms: † The distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances is becoming blurred. Users are spending time maintaining relationships with people they don’t really care about†. (JARVIS) Another of Facebook’s negative effects on society is the distraction from important tasks, which increases the inability to control important occupations such as working or studying. Michael Bugeja, professor and director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Iowa, named this generation † The Facebook Generation’ who text-message during class, talk on their cellphones during labs, and listen to iPods rather than guest speakers in the wireless hall†(Bugeja 85). Due to this extended presence on Facebook, the students encounter issues on tasks’ performances or in respecting due dates. For instance, a psychologist of the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies at Open University, Paul Kirschnera, and Aryn Karpinskib, a professor at Ohio State University, did a survey that shows that the average GPA of students without a Facebook account is around 3.86 while the Facebook users have a GPA of 3.06 (Choney). Paul Kirschnera affirmed in a Daily Mail article: â€Å"The problem is that most people have Facebook or other social networking sites, their emails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the background while they are carrying out other tasks†(Fleming). Facebook has a well developed entertainment value and, also, an informative value and both make people get involved in discussions or any other activities allowed on this website. Their curiosity or pleasure in what they see or read encourages them to spend more time â€Å"facebooking†. For example, checking the last posts on their friends’ walls, changing constantly their status or using Facebook chat. Any social media activity longer than a few minutes interferes with people’s main occupation, in students’ case, homework, and it makes difficult to keep them focused on what is really important. The experts advice Facebook users to take â€Å"tech breaks† and check their profiles after at least 15 minutes of working on other different tasks. Last, but definitely one of the most dangerous effects of Facebook on society is that it brings a series of health risks. According to a Daily Mail report, people who often use social media tend to be more isolated, and they find it difficult to communicate in person. Doctor Aric Sigman, member of The Institute of Biology, says in The Biologist, â€Å"This [isolated behavior] can increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart diseases, and dementia† (BBC News). These health issues are more likely to appear in someone who spends more time socializing online than he does on face-to-face contacts. In addition, Dr Sigman underlines that some hormones such as stress released or oxytocin hormones, which help people to start and maintain social relationships, are altered in the people who do not have an active social life and who share their emotions and thoughts through Internet. It explains why many people who overuse Facebook are more vulnerable to stress, nervousness and isolation. Another health risk caused by an excessive use of Facebook is the chaotic habit of eating that people have, especially teenagers. If they spend most of their time on Facebook, they tend to skip meals or eating unhealthy food. According to researchers, these habits could lead to diseases like bulimia or anorexia. A survey based on a sample of 600 Facebook users with ages between 16-40 and done by The Center for Eating Disorders, reports that 75% of the respondents do not like how their body looks and 51% of them compare their bodies with their Facebook friends’ bodies (Cowden). Doctor Harry Brandt, director of The Center for Eating Disorders mentions, â€Å"Facebook is making it easier for people to spend more time and energy criticizing their own bodies and wishing they looked like someone else [†¦] In this age of modern technology and constant access to SmartPhones and the internet, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to remove themselves from images and other triggers that promote negative body image, low self-esteem and may ultimately contribute to eating disorders† (Shaffer). Many people become obsessed with that ideal thin body and the results of the survey mentioned above underlines that people tend to pursue a weight-loss diet because they draw a negative image of their bodies when comparing with other users’ images. It is clear that, at one point, Facebook is enjoyable and its policy is not other than to bring people together faster and easier, though it still affects people’s lives in many ways. Some people are more liable to be isolated from real life, which include â€Å"in person† connections and real entertainment activities. Others end up losing their jobs or getting low grades, in students’ cases, because of the time spent on Facebook. Some could become sick because of the obsession of having that perfect body image, which Facebook promotes, and they start pursuing wrong diets plans, which lead to improper meals. A large numbers of surveys show the negative effects of Facebook to society and the doctors are also worried about the approach that society have for social media websites, especially Facebook. Generally speaking, Facebook mostly affects many people because they neglect real life and spend way too much time on chatting, posting on and checking their profile. The risks and the negative sides of social media will be reduced if the people will use a lower amount of virtual socializing. WORKS CITED BBC, News â€Å"Online networking ‘harms health’.† N.p 09.02.2009. Web. 18 Apr 2012. . Black, Nathan. â€Å"‘Facebook Depression’ Affecting Teens, Report Says.† Christian Post 29 March 2011, n. pag. Print. Bugeja, Michael. â€Å"Facing the Facebook.† Chronicle of Higher Education 27 February 2006, Daily Ed. n. pag. Print. Choney, Suzanne. â€Å"Facebook use can lower grades by 20 percent, study says.† N.p., 2010. Web.