Chemistry: University and Study Area Essay

Introductory Chemistry 1405 for non-science majors is designed to meet the needs of students with no background in Chemistry or who are in need of additional preparation before taking Chemistry 1411. This course is concerned with the study of matter presented at an introductory level. The prerequisite for this course is DMAT 0091. Topics covered include: chemistry and measurements, matter and energy, atoms and elements, compounds and their bonds, chemical calculations, gas laws, solutions, acids and bases and nuclear reactions. This syllabus is your legal contract for this course. The first requirement is that you read it entirely. You are responsible for all of the readings and assignments as defined. Questions or issues requiring clarification are welcomed at any time. REQUIRED OR RECOMMENDED MATERIALS (ISBN FOR TEXTBOOK): Required textbook:Introductory Chemistry for Non-Science Majors, the pearson custom edition for Eastfield College, by Timberlake. This book can be ordered from the bookstore http://follett. com/. ISBN#: 1256414824. It is bundled with Eastfield custom edition lab manual for first part of the laboratory and homework code for Mastering Chemistry. Lab Supplies: You must order a lab kit CK-EF. Order your LabPaq online at http://www. labpaq. com. once you are sure to continue the class, as the returned policy is strict. For labPaq order call 866-206-0773 x 114. OR, go to www. labpaq. com/order here, and enter Log in ID: C 000091, Password, labpaq (all lower case) and Choose CK-EF. You can obtain any digital balance with an accuracy of 0. 1 grams. Recommended digital weight balance from NorthShore Care Supply ( http://www. northshorecare. com) is Triton T2 digital precision handheld scale, Item # 7400 ($19. 95). Other required materials:Laboratory Safety Goggles (may be purchased at campus bookstore) Scientific Calculator STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: 1. Demonstrate understanding of the subatomic particles and types of matter 2. Use the Periodic Table to identify metals, non-metals and metalloids 3. Make calculations using the metric system of measurements and significant figures. COURSE OBJECTIVES The course is to demonstrate a general knowledge of the basic concepts in chemistry, and to prepare the student for Chemistry 1411. CORE CURRICULUM COURSE OBJECTIVES: I. INTELLECTUAL COMPETENCIES: 1. Reading: The ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials such as book, documents and articles written at a level above the 12th grade level 2. Writing: The ability to produce clear, correct and coherent prose adapted to a purpose, occasion and audience at a level above the 12th grade level 3. Speaking: Ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent and persuasive language appropriate to a purpose, occasion and audience at a level above the 12th grade level 4. Listening: Analyze and interpret various forms of spoken and visual communication at a level above the 12th grade level 5. Critical Thinking: Think and analyze at a critical level 6. Computer Literacy: Understand our technological society, use computer-based technology in communication, problem solving, and acquiring information II. EXEMPLARY EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: 1. To understand and apply method and appropriate technology to the study of natural sciences 2. To recognize scientific and quantitative methods and the differences between these approaches and the other methods of inquiry, and to communicate findings, analyses, and interpretation both orally and in writing 3. To demonstrate knowledge of the major issues and problems facing modern science, including issues that touch on ethics, values, and public policy 4. To demonstrate knowledge of the interdependence of science and technology, and their influence on and contributions to, modern culture MEANS OF ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES The course learning outcomes are assigned in more detail for each chapter in various learning objectives. These objectives will be assessed by exam questions, terminology, study area quiz, assignment from mastering chemistry and written laboratory report. It is encouraged to start your weekly activities by understanding â€Å"terminology†, which will be followed by reading corresponding units in the textbook. You will continue working on â€Å"Study Area† quiz and Review Questions, and homework assignments from mastering chemistry. Finally, you will perform the lab experiments. These steps are written in order under â€Å"Things to do† in all the weekly activities. EVALUATION PROCEDURE: 1. Lab Grades: This online course of Chem 1405 uses the â€Å"Wet Lab† experiences from Hands-on lab, Inc. For the first five labs, students use the basic laboratory conceptual practice using Pearson published laboratory manual. After completion of five labs from Pearson published lab manual, students will use their purchased lab kits for the â€Å"Wet Lab† experiences and perform real chemical experiments using chemicals and standard techniques, in the convenience of their house. To ensure the credibility of the lab portion of this course, students will be asked to submit their picture showing their face at one or two specific steps of each experiment along with the data as reflected in their report. The specific steps where they need to submit their picture are well- written in the attached report form in the corresponding experiment on eCampus. Lab grades will be earned from their completed lab reports. These reports have to be typed in Microsoft office word and upload on ecampus in order to be graded, unless otherwise specified (Hand Written lab Report Will not be Accepted). You must use the report attached on ecampus under the folder â€Å"Lab #† of each week activities, and not the one that comes on the CD from LabPaq. You will get ZERO SCORE if you won’t use REPORT FORMAT UPLOADED on ecampus under the â€Å"Lab #†. However, to synthesize the conclusion and discussion of your result in the report, you can use â€Å"Lab Report Assistant† that comes in the CD with the CK-1 kit from Labpaq. The â€Å"Lab Report Assistant† can also be found on ecampus under â€Å"Start Here† button. The CD also has the introduction, safety enforcement agreement and the procedure to perform the lab. You have to sign; scan, and upload the safety agreement in the first week of the semester. Students have to upload the report on ecampus after the completion. The instructions on â€Å"how to upload† the report can be found in eCampus menu under the â€Å"Start Here† button. Students can purchase the lab kit, LabPaq CK-EF, from Hands-on Labs, Inc. Please log on to http://www. labpaq. com/ to order the kit. The lab kits also contain the manual of the experiments on CD. Students CANNOT PASS this course with a failing lab grade. A score of 70% or better and completion of 8/11 labs (cannot miss more than 3 labs) is required to pass the lab portion of this course. The lab reports has to be uploaded on eCampus by 11. 30 pm on the specific due date found on the course calendar. Late lab reports will be accepted but they will drop by 25% for each day the reports are late. Students are encouraged to read the helpful suggestions after they read the procedures on the CD and before they do the experiments. Similarly, it is advised them to complete the lab as early as they can and do not wait until the last minute. The lab schedules are found under the weekly activity for each week. 2. Weekly Activities: These are located under â€Å"Course Contents† button in eCampus. Every week the learning items are placed in the following order. 1. Things to do: Helps to figure out the things to do quickly 2. Learning Objectives: Helps to focus on the goals to learn units of the chapter 3. Powerpoint: Gives you the main direction of concepts for each chapter 4. Terminology: It is a quick guide to know the definition and brief concepts of the topics 5. Study Area Quiz 1 &2 (www. masteringchemistry. com/study area) & Key Concept 6. Assignment (www. masteringchemistry. com/study area) 7. Lab report: Attached on the†Lab #† folder. The lab manual is CK-EF from www. LabPaq. com 8. DO NOT BEG FOR THE EXTENSION OF DUE DATES! 2. 1. Terminology: These are copyright materials and should not be altered. These terms help you to understand the concepts and to prepare for the exam. Download the list of terms from eCampus on the folder â€Å"Terminology #† under â€Å"Week of #† from the ecampus menu†. Study the terminologies, read the corresponding section in the book and answer them concisely with examples. You can try this as many times as you want, and upload your final version on ecampus with the file name â€Å"Terminology #† (NOTE: Please see â€Å"How to load a document on ecampus under â€Å"Start Here† button) 2. 2 Study Area These are self check activities and students can attempt as many times as they want. It helps to understand the concepts as well as to prepare for the exam 2. 2. 1 Quiz 1 & 2 After log on to www. masteringchemistry. com/study area, answer the multiple choice questions. These are self check activities and you can try this as many times as you want, scroll down and email the final trial to yourself. Repeat this step for quiz #2. Copy and paste both the quiz 1 & 2 score and answers of all the questions in a new file called as â€Å"Study Area # 1† for chapter 1. Upload the â€Å"Study Area #† on eCampus. Follow the same procedure for all the chapters. (DO NOT EMAIL TO THE INSTRUCTOR) 2. 2. 2 Review Questions To complete this activity, please follow the same procedure as in 2. 2. 1. However, create a file name â€Å"Study #† where # is replaced by 1, 2, 3, and etc. for the corresponding chapter. 2. 3 HOMEWORK (ASSIGNMENT) You will use Mastering Chemistry for the online homework tutorial. This will help you to understand the various concepts and to prepare for the exam. You can go directly to mastering chemistry without going to eCampus, by log on to http:// www. masteringchemistry. com/site. Many of the problems come from the back of the book to help you figure out the right answer. Do not attempt the homework without preparing yourself. You have to study the practice problems and worked out examples related to various units before to attempt the homework questions. For first time registration and to be more knowledgeable about this system please log on to http://www. masteringsupport. com/videos. Your COURSE ID is for this course is MCADHIKARI89707 It is advised to complete the assignments in preparation for the tests. Late homework will worth’s 50% of the total possible points. Homework due dates will be shown in Mastering chemistry web site. It is recommended to do the homework questions little by little, rather than solving all the problems at one sitting. Once you have completed the homework assignments, you can revisit them even after the due dates during the preparation for the exam. The total score of the homework from all the chapters will be posted on your ecampus grade book at the end of the semester. DO NOT LOOK THE ANSWER before you solved the problems, if you do so, you will GET ZERO SCORE on that problem. Students have to take full responsibility of THEIR SCORE REPORTED correctly on the website. If you have doubt on any technical issue contact the technical support at 1-877-672-6877. You will get ZERO SCORE IF YOU EMAIL the answer of the ASSIGNEMENT to the instructors’ email. You must answer the assignment on the website. Mastering Chemistry Assignments Problems Chapter # of Problems Chapter 1: 15 problems Chapter 2: 13 problems Chapter 3: 33 problems Chapter 4: 15 problems Chapter 5: 15 problems Chapter 6: 15 problems Chapter 7: 15 problems Chapter 8: 15 problems Chapter 9: 15 problems GRADING SCALE: Total number of points possible for this course is 1055. The following scale will be used to determine the standard letter grade of A, B, C, D and F of ? 90, ? 80, ? 70, ? 60 and ? 50, respectively, earned in the course. 810-905 = A; 808-719 = B; 718–629 = C; 628-538 = D; 537-0 = F Evaluation Items Points Quiz 1 45 Quiz 2 45 Quiz 3 45 Exam 1 100 Exam 2 100 Exam 3 100 Vocabulary 45 (9 submittals @ 5 pts. each) (mandatory) Homework 90 (9 submittals @ 10 pts. each) (mandatory) Study Area (quiz 1& 2) 45 (9 submittals @ 5 pts. each) (mandatory) Lab reports) 220 (11 @ 20 pts. Each) Study Area (Review Questions) 45 (9 submittals @ 5 pts. each) Syllabus Quiz 10 *Discussion Board 15 ______________________________________________________________________________ Total Points 905 *The instructor evaluates the overall performance of the student in all weekly activities DO NOT BEG FOR THE GRADE! PLEASE EARN IT!! Syllabus Quiz: A quiz over syllabus material will be taken on eCampus. The quiz worths 10 points. It will be used to determine if students have read the syllabus material. You may use your syllabus on the quiz. You may take it as many times as you like until the deadline. I advise you to take it until you score a perfect 10 points. The quiz can be found on eCampus under the syllabus quiz section. DISCUSSION BOARDS Participation in the thee Discussion Boards (DB) is required. The discussion boards are worth 5 points each for a total of 15 points. DISCUSSION BOARD ETIQUETTE This science course is based on scientific fact alone, not personal opinions. Please refrain from using the discussion board to express political viewpoints, as a dating service, to advertise any and all types of solicitation, from expressing religious viewpoints or quoting Biblical passages, or giving personal opinions. Please refrain from using any inappropriate language in the discussion boards. Please do not â€Å"sign† discussion boards. The discussion board will automatically be posted with your name. ***Failure to adhere to discussion board etiquette may result in the student being blocked from using the discussion board and a loss of points. EMAIL ETIQUETTE When sending an email message to an instructor there are a few guidelines to follow: 1. Address the instructor as Mr. , Ms. , Mrs. or Professor, and in subject line please mention your class and section number 2. Always include your name, course, and section number in the email. 3. Never use foul, vulgar, inappropriate, discriminatory, rude, or otherwise unprofessional language in the email. 4. Remember, the relationship between the student and the instructor is a professional relationship not a friendship; therefore, be sure not to include instructors in your forwarded emails to friends, chat rooms, or personal updates. 5. Email between the instructor and student is to relate to course, campus, or educational matters INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES: Withdrawal Policy (with drop date): STOP BEFORE YOU DROP For students who enrolled in college level courses for the first time in the fall of 2007, Texas Education Code 51. 907 limits the number of courses a student may drop. You may drop no more than 6 courses during your entire undergraduate career unless the drop qualifies as an exception. Your campus counseling/advising center will give you more information on the allowable exceptions. Remember that once you have accumulated 6 non-exempt drops, you cannot drop any other courses with a â€Å"W†. Therefore, please exercise caution when dropping courses in any Texas public institution of higher learning, including all seven of the Dallas County Community Colleges. For more information, you may access: https://www1. dcccd. edu/coursedrops If you are unable to complete this course, it is your responsibility to withdraw formally. The withdrawal request must be received in the Registrar’s Office by Januay 06, 2014. Failure to do so will result in your receiving a performance grade, usually an â€Å"F. † If you drop a class or withdraw from the college before the official drop/withdrawal deadline, you will receive a â€Å"W† (Withdraw) in each class dropped. Repeating This Course: Effective for Fall Semester 2005, the Dallas County Community Colleges will charge additional tuition to students registering the third or subsequent time for a course. This class may not be repeated for the third or subsequent time without paying the additional tuition. Third attempts include courses taken at any of the Dallas County Community Colleges since the Fall 2002 semester. More information is available at: https://www1. dcccd. edu/cat0506/ss/oep/third_attempt. cfm . Financial Aid: Students who are receiving any form of financial aid should check with the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from classes. Withdrawals may affect your eligibility to receive further aid and could cause you to be in a position of repayment for the current semester. Students who fail to attend or participate after the drop date are also subject to this policy. The Texas Success Initiative (TSI) The Texas Success Initiative (TSI) is a statewide program designed to ensure that students enrolled in Texas public colleges and universities have the basic academic skills needed to be successful in college-level course work. The TSI requires assessment, remediation (if necessary), and advising of students who attend a public college or university in the state of Texas. The program assesses a student’s basic academic skills in reading, writing, and math. Passing the assessment is a prerequisite for enrollment in many college level classes. Students who do not meet assessment standards may complete prerequisite requirements by taking developmental courses in the deficient area and passing them with a grade of C or higher. Additional information is available at https://www1. dcccd. edu/cat0506/admiss/tsi_requirements. cfm . Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is expected, and integrity is valued in the Dallas County Community Colleges. Scholastic dishonesty is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. As a college student, you are considered a responsible adult. Your enrollment indicates acceptance of the DCCCD Code of Student Conduct published in the DCCCD Catalog. More information is available at https://www1. dcccd. edu/cat0406/ss/code. cfm . Academic Dishonesty Course Contract: Academic dishonesty is defined in the District Catalog includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a quiz, a test, or assignment or lab work; plagiarism (including the internet); copying another student’s lab or lecture work; or allowing another student (even lab partners) to copy all or any portion of an assignment. All written assignments are to be in the students’ own words. Written assignments for both the lab and lecture works are to be completed solely by the student, not in collaboration with other students unless otherwise noted in the assignment or instructed by instructor in exceptional cases. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any student found to be violating any portion of the academic dishonesty policy will automatically receive a zero (without exception or discussion). Students repeating the course are not permitted to use any old assignments or graded materials. All written assignments must be new, not just modifications of old assignments. When working in partners or groups, each student is expected to turn in his or her original work in their own words. Exact (or overwhelmingly similar as per the instructors discretion) duplication of an assignment (in any form), from any group or partner set, will not be accepted, and a grade of zero will be given. If further clarification of this policy or explanation of actions that will be taken for any and all violations is necessary, please see the instructor. ADA Statement: If you are a student with a disability and/or special needs who requires accommodations, please contact the college Disability Services Office. Religious Holidays: Absences for observance of a religious holy day are excused. A student whose absence is excused to observe a religious holy day is allowed to take a make-up examination or complete an assignment within a reasonable time after the absence. Students must notify the instructor of any religious holiday that will impact his/her time in this course by no later than the certification date. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), the College may release information classified as â€Å"directory information† to the general public without the written consent of the student. Directory information includes: (1) student name, (2) student address, (3) telephone numbers, (4) date and place of birth, (5) weight and height of members of athletic teams, (6) participation in officially recognized activities and sports, (7) dates of attendance, (8) educational institution most recently attended, and (9) other similar information, including major field of student and degrees and awards received. Students may protect their directory information at any time during the academic year. If no request is filed, directory information is released upon written inquiry. No telephone inquiries are acknowledged. No transcript or academic record is released without written consent from the student, except as specified by law. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Food and Drink Policy Food, drinks, and tobacco products are prohibited in Eastfield College classrooms. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Children on Campus The institution strives to protect an environment most conducive to teaching and learning for all enrolled students. Children who are taking part in organized scheduled activities or who are enrolled in specific classes are welcomed. Minor children, however, should not be brought to the institution unless closely supervised by their parent. Minor children should not be brought into classrooms, laboratories or other facilities of the college. This practice is disruptive to the learning process. In the case of an emergency where the student-parent has no alternative but to bring the child to campus, classroom faculty or the administrative heads of other units have full discretion as to whether a child may be allowed to quietly stay in the location. These individuals may require that children be removed by the student-parent from the setting if, in their opinion, the presence of the child is deemed to be disruptive to the learning process. For reasons of security and child welfare the institution will not permit unattended children to be left anywhere on the premises. Parents who have problems with childcare should visit the Counseling and/or Advisement Center to receive referrals to childcare services in the area. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Eastfield College Email Policy Faculty and students must have and use a DCCCD account for all correspondence relating to academic coursework. For information on setting up a DCCCD student email account go to: http://www. dcccd. edu/netmail/home. html _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Obtaining Final Course Grades Using eConnect Final Grade Reports are no longer mailed. Convenient access is available online at www. econnect. dcccd. edu. Use your identification number when you log onto eConnect, an online system developed by the DCCCD to provide you with timely information regarding your college record. Your grades will also be printed on your Student Advising Report, which is available in the Admissions Office. ____________________________________________________________________________________Instructor Reserves the Right to amend this syllabus as necessary !!! A sample of lab report: ( For lab number 7 and up) Unless otherwise specified in a particular lab the sample and the grading scheme of the report is as below. Date:_________________ Name____________________.

Star government

But with the government moving to reduce the countrys reliance on subsidies for uel, energy efficiency and sustainability are becoming important elements for businesses to look into as a means of controlling costs. The pump price of fuel was recently raised by 20 sen. As a result of this a hike in the cost of almost everything else Is expected to follow. The need for energy efficiency Is particularly telling for the small and medium enterprises (SME) given that they don't always have the economies of scale that larger corporauons do.The rising cost of energy will be a new challenge for SMEs In their quest to stay ahead of the curve in Increasingly competitive markets. Kenmart: Being energy efficient is not Just about cutting your cost of energy. It is also about being more productive in using your energy. â€Å"Looking at the current situation, SMEs will need to look at alternatives to differentiate themselves In the market. Energy efficiency is not Just hype. It will help them to b e more cost-competitive,† said Kristo Kenmart, head of industry business for Schneider Electric Industries (M) Sdn Bhd.The Schneider Electric Group Is a French multinational corporation that specialises in energy management. It currently has operations in more than 100 tOf3 wages are rising and the price of petrol has gone up. This means a significant increase in cost for SMEs,† Kenmart said. SMEs can reduce one of their main cost components by being energy efficient, he said. Energy has become one of the strategic factors driving business decisions and competitiveness. Businesses and consumers are increasingly considering the energy efficiency of the products and services they buy and use to yield maximum return on investment (ROI).Governments are also starting to see the importance of supporting the energy- efficiency agenda among SMEs. Schneider Electric offers solutions for companies in a wide range of industries. The Singapore government estimates that energy costs make up about 13% of the operating costs for the countrys manufacturing SMEs and it recently announced a S $17mil (RM42. 8mil) allocation to help SMEs assess, monitor and improve their energy efficiency. The goal of the initiative is to help some 300 SMEs achieve at least 10% savings in energy costs over the next three years.Australia has similarly rolled out an energy sustainability programme for SMEs. Malaysia has yet to announce its Energy Efficiency Master Plan and there is currently little effort in addressing energy efficiency in the SME sector. However, the Government has pledged to reduce Malaysia's carbon footprint by 40% by 2020. Kenmart believes that the current economic condition in Malaysia will accelerate the awareness energy efficiency and efforts to educate companies about the need for it. We have seen some clients looking seriously into it. The number of companies doing this is growing daily. But being energy efficient is not Just about cutting your cost of energy. It is also about being more productive in using your energy or getting more out of the energy that you are using,† he said. Schneider Electric offers various energy-efficiency solutions or clients across all industries to boost the productivity of energy through technology and processes.The adoption of energy-efficient solutions among SMEs here is in its infancy, which spells plenty of growth opportunities for Schneider Electric to further explore this segment of business. â€Å"There is still a lot of opportunity to develop the business here. Certainly there are many challenges. But we have also seen many successes as well,† he said. He acknowledges that among the main concerns for many companies in implementing energy-efficiency solutions is the cost of implementation nd the ROI period, which is understandable given their limited resources.Notably, there is no one-size-fits-all kind of solution as SMEs vary in size and operations. Schneider Electric has carved out spe cific solutions for the various types of SME outfits according to the industries they are in, such as data centres, manufacturing and service providers. But Kenmart assured that Schneider Electric has documented the typical benefits and ROI for companies embarking on such solutions. He says the company's solutions also often include proposals on how to fund the adoption of nergy efficiency.

Contract Administration and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contract Administration and Management - Essay Example Furthermore, the federal act assists my small business by managing the certificate of competency program. The federal government gives some preference to certain small businesses when awarding government contracts. Since my business is unique in that not many businesses are of this nature or type, my business will be given preference. The federal act provides for affirmative action program where small businesses like mine are considered when awarding contracts. Organizational Chart I will be the general manager of my business. Since I cannot run the business alone, there are other persons. These are the internal contracting officer, the secretary, the chief engineer and the chief accountant. My work as the general manager is to oversee the smooth running of the business and to authorize big capital expenditures and projects. In addition, my work will also include strategic planning. For the secretary, her work will involve receiving business inquiries and handling all business matter , especially from the outside environment. The chief engineer will head a department; his work will include building airplanes and looking in ways of adopting the modern technology in manufacturing the airplanes. I will also be heavily involved in this department. The chief accountant will be responsible for the business revenues and expenditures and look for investment opportunities. She will as well be responsible for the business obligations as concerning remittances to the government (taxes).

Leadership & Ethics for Managers Unit 3 IP Research Paper

Leadership & Ethics for Managers Unit 3 IP - Research Paper Example The leader member exchange theory refers to the relationship built due to time pressure by leaders with the small group of followers. These members make in-group are highly trusted, get high privileges and have unbalanced attention of leader as compare to others that fall into out-group category. Relations of out group followers are formal with the leader and based on formal interaction; out-group members do not gain the reward that are controlled by the leader and have a smaller amount of leader’s time. In history when the relationship between leaders and provided followers begun leader categorized their followers into two groups â€Å"in group† and â€Å"out group† and stability seen in such relationships over time. Leader Member exchange model has been introduced in order to reward in-group employees that are most trusted and close to the leader and punish those who fall in out-group and not close to the leader (Liden, Wayne, & Stilwell, 1993; Wayne, Shore, Bo mmer, & Tetrick, 2002). It has been encountered that there is no such procedure through which leaders chose their in-group member, but they choose on the basis of similarities in characteristics of personality, attitude and demographic or it can be said that on a higher level of competence (Duchon, Green, and Taber, 1986). It has been found that leaders have differential attitudes among followers and members fall into in-group do the hard work, have a rating in higher performers, describe high level of satisfaction with their leaders and engage in citizenship behavior at work (Gerstner, & Day, 1997). Workers that are included in the in-group are more engaged, reliable, trustworthy and hardworking as compare to out-group members. In-group and out-group differences bring favoritism and create dissatisfaction among the members of out group. It has been found that favoritism has a damaging impact and costly

The Rise and Fall of Solyndra Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Rise and Fall of Solyndra - Research Paper Example A firm uses its particular strengths to compete in the marketplace while seeking to minimize the effect of its weaknesses. The case of Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer, is unique because it was the only company in the solar panel manufacturing industry of the USA that relied on silicon based technology. The Formation of Solyndra Solyndra was founded in 2005 by Dr. Christian Gronet and had its headquarters in Fremont, California. The company manufactured cylindrical panels of CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-diselenide) based thin film solar cells which, as it was believed, represented a superior technology having certain advantages over conventionally produced solar cells. Thus, the company hoped to have created its own niche within the industry. The sales revenues for 2009 and 2010 were $100 million and $140 million respectively, before a peculiar set of circumstances forced the company to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in 2011. The company claimed to have set up 1000 systems all around the world (The Solyndra Website, 2011). The Emergence of Legal and Other Issues Solyndra has been a company that was touted to be a success story exemplifying the usefulness of the Obama Administration’s green energy plan for the nation. The founder of the company was replaced by Bernie Harrison, an Intel veteran as CEO in September 2009. The company resorted to lobbying and had contributed a sizeable sum to the Obama campaign. Small wonder then- that out of 143 companies applying for a Federal loan, Solyndra was the first to receive a sum of $527 million from the Federal Financing Bank, under conditional guarantee from the US Department of Energy. By that time, it had already spent about $1.8 million lobbying for this cause. Further investigations have revealed that due to Chinese solar panels flooding the US markets, the company had been unable to compete effectively and had been forced to sell many of its products at below the cost of production. Moreover, as t he cost of silicon plummeted in the world market, it became more and more difficult to make a profit. It appeared that the company had chosen the wrong silicon based technology to make its products and was now bearing the brunt of this mistake. Controversies Surrounding the Company Ethical considerations notwithstanding, one might have expected that the loan from the Obama Administration would be used to correct an already worsening situation and that the company would try to claw its way of the abyss it had fallen into. Sadly, this was never the case. Investigations by the FBI and newspaper reports by the Washington Post and others have revealed that company executives and top management went on a spending spree following the approval of the loan. However, weakening demand in the light of competition from Chinese firms such as Yingli and Suntech was cited as a worry. Solyndra’s new plant was built from the proceeds of the loan and another $198 million from private investors. At the time of taking the loan, the company had promised to create at least 3000 jobs in the construction and solar manufacturing industries, of which 1000 would be US based. But it all came to nothing and Solyndra was forced to file for bankruptcy

Two Icons of Renaissance Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Two Icons of Renaissance Art - Essay Example While many renowned names involve in this artistic stream, there are few who hold their stands unmatched as the propagators of artistic cultures. Two of such names are Botticelli and Raphael who introduced and developed a personal insightful depiction of some contemporary concepts and universal portrayals. Two notable works of art from Botticelli and Raphael are The birth of Venus (Botticelli) and Mond Crucifixion (Raphael). Those two works of art are very much the representing pieces for their contemporary culture picking up classical foundations to mount with artistic rendering of subtle individual depictions. Heritage of classical ages During renaissance, new developments and imaginations of most artists had come out of the classical traditions of arts. Notably, modernism had not touched the world and breaking of rules was limited only up to the imaginations of artists. Thus, artist of earlier renaissance period opted to provide their insights to some traditional themes. Both The Birth of Venus and Mond crucifixion are grounded in deep Christian imagination of human conditions. As in The birth of Venus, the iconography does not entail a violation of themes dwelling in contemporary consciousness. Similarly, in Mond Crucifixion depiction of Jesus is portrayed as a calm figure even when crucified. Theological icons as Venus and Jesus had a very specific place in classical artistic culture. On the other hand church’s influences were quite dominant over artistic depictions till renaissance. However, during renaissance most of the painters and artists had been associated and were adorned by the church too. It is mostly the style, imaginative depiction of surrounding and use of different shades which had put those arts on steps ahead of the classical ages. Materials, Style and Colors As Botticelli belonged to an era when Oil paintings were not popularized up to an extent The birth of Venus was painted on tempera while Mond Crucifixion arrived at a time when popularity of oil paintings had overtook the use of tempera around whole Europe. Historically too, Oil paintings proved to be more facilitative compared to tempera. Tempera dries very fast and painters had to be very accurate in mixing the paint. Oil painting proved to be easier to use enhancing numerous opportunities to painters to use fast brushstrokes. Comparing The birth of Venus to Mond Crucifixion, the use of oil in the later provides much scope to paint the background while in The birth of Venus background is dissolved into sea with very keen strokes till the end which is quite essential in a tempera material. In both the paintings, use of colors and lights is straight away comparable as The birth of Venus provides a little fading effect towards the third dimension while Mond Crucifixion holds sharper colors and clearer lights to sustain with the aura of Jesus which is essentially to be preserved in the painting. The birth of Venus is visualized with the imaginative beauty of painter’s convictions to the relevant matter described by many earlier artists. Instead of the three Hours of Homer's hymn and Poliziano's poem, he shows us one fair nymph, in a white robe, embroidered with blue corn-flowers, springing lightly forward to offer Venus a pink mantle sown with daisies. In the laurel groves along the shore, we see a courtly allusion to the "Laurel who sheltered the

Is Money the Factor That Can Improve Society Assignment

Is Money the Factor That Can Improve Society - Assignment Example Muda, Japanese for waste, can come in many forms--all of which either add nothing to the finished product or nothing for which the customer is willing to pay. A few examples follow:   Transportation. Any required transportation of products or parts adds nothing from the customer's perspective. Therefore, it should be minimized or eliminated. It's common for plant redesign or reorganization to be among the first steps in a lean effort.   Overproduction. This occurs when a part or product is manufactured before it's needed--either before a customer has ordered it or before it can begin the next process in the production system. This results in a backlog of material that must be stored, which adds unnecessary expense and inefficiency. A truly lean enterprise isn't dependent upon speculative market forecasting for determining production runs.Work in progress. WIP can be caused by overproduction, poor scheduling or long and uneven cycle times. Lean companies ensure that each manufacturing process takes roughly the same amount of time by adjusting the processes themselves or the resources dedicated to each. Additionally, suppliers must be held accountable for the reliable delivery of their shipments.Also inherent to a lean production system is the idea of continuous improvement. The lean executive recognizes waste in any form as a singular enemy, the fighting of which is his or her primary responsibility. Because every p rocess includes some waste, the elimination of all waste is an unattainable goal. On the other hand, lean optimists recognize that this truth means the benefits of a lean system - if diligently pursued - are inexhaustible, too.

Robinson fruit shoot market share Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Robinson fruit shoot market share - Essay Example To understand better preference and market share, it was worthwhile taking the time to study previous reports on the Robinson Fruit Shoot brand that had been compiled earlier by different studies. This helped the researchers go to the field with knowledge of the perception of the brand and an expectation of opinion. This, however, could, however, influence the objectivity due to response anticipation. From the studies done by Mintel, Fruit Juice, Juice Drinks, and Smoothies - UK - November 2012 and Fruit Juice and Juice Drinks - UK - November 2011 placed Robinson Fruit Shoot at number three and number two respectively as a market share player. They proved that the Shoot was popular among the other brands but was not in pole position as to control the market. That, therefore, seemed to suggest that more marketing and sales were required so as to make the brand the market leader. From another survey by Mintel for Cordials and Squashes in October 2012, there was increased demand for sof t and low alcohol drinks in the United Kingdom hence showing that there was an increasing market for the Shoot as more, consumers preferred soft drinks. The third survey used in the secondary research was Fruit Juices, Energy & Juice Drinks Market Report 2013 that showed the preferences of the children aged between 1 to 15 years, the target consumer group. The survey’s findings are important for the marketers of the shoot to execute a marketing plan that carters for the children’s taste and preferences.

Nutrition and Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nutrition and Stress - Essay Example According to the report findings the majority of foods consumed in such situations are but ‘convenience foods’ considered a quick fix to nullify the condition, at least in part. The ‘quick fix’ theory is, however, false, as the resultant flaw that result in the eating habits in times of stress inflict even more stress on the body, compounding other problems that combine to pose a further threat to the physical and mental health. To be more certain, most of the unhealthy food intake consumed in times of stress consist of consists of fast foods that more often than not replaces healthy meals.As the discussion stresses  poor eating habits has its consequences,   for   they encourages growth hormones that result in weight increases; a problematic condition that inhibits the body system from working effectively to control sugar levels in the blood, thus, creating a harmful imbalance. Accordingly, it is recommended that foods containing B vitamins, proteins and minerals be taken in a well-balanced diet to help the body to cope with stress. Proteins are, in fact, a necessary part in any food diet, for it assists in the growth and repairs of worn out tissues in the body. Foods rich in vitamin A and C, on other hand, help in rectifying poor vision and strengthening the immune system respectively. Minerals such as magnesium are necessary ingredients for muscle relaxations, which also combats stress; such foods include fish, eggs, meat, seeds, cheese, oil, milk, fruits, apple, green leaved vegetables among other cereals.

UC Students Essay Example for Free

UC Students Essay In this challenging era of competitiveness, survival and management of human beings has become a very difficult job to accomplish. The situation gets even worse when the individuals residing in any country does not have proper education and skills to keep them moving in the rough and resistive environment of competition and inflation. Therefore, in order to accentuate that management (Hancock Tyler, 2009) can be applied any situation we see that good and high quality education serves as the savior for the human beings around the world. No one can deny to the economic, social, moral and personal benefits quality education brings to human life as the fruits it bears are so unavoidable and obvious (McMahon, 2009). However, with every ray of light there comes its shadow as well and same is the case for good quality education. Though it renders unimaginable benefits and positive results towards students all over the world but on the other hand, like every good thing in this world it has a price that not many students across the globe can afford. This is the reason that most of the students that avail higher education at universities around the world works real hard in order to make both their hands meet and bear their personal as well as educational expenses. MANAGEMENT FUNCTION TO BE APPLIED The four basic functions of management are to plan, organize, direct and control (Nelson Economy, 2010). These functions fit well into the situation discussed in this essay. PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT Most of the universities around the world offer the flexible semester and convenient term system in order to allow the students to make the most of their time with greater feasibility coming from the perspective of course and curriculum. Usually the universities or higher educational institutes follow the practice of having or offering the biannual system or the two-semester system for one academic year to its national and international students. The first semester starts with the academic year and usually ends before the summer whereas the second semester starts after summer and ends in the month of November or more precisely in the mid of November (Colleges, 2009). These summer and winter breaks plays a very important role in helping the campus students in carrying on their studies as the students perform part time jobs and services in order to make money for paying the price of the quality education they are getting. The paper deals with the common problem on which the concept of management can be applied effectively (Rudra, 2009). This practice is true for the students of University of Canberra as well. However, a recent happening has given much rise to panic and anguish against the administration of Canberra University. This recent development accredited for creating uneasiness among the students of university is due to the fact that the university administration and the management board has decided to follow the practice of having three terms or semesters in one academic year instead of having twice an academic year.The university spokesperson says that these settings would be applied to all the national and international students studying in all departments of the university. RESPONSE TO THE DEVELOPMENT In response to this important and critical development, two contrary and opposing viewpoints have appeared. First viewpoint is that of the universities authorities, board of management and pupil in favor of this development. They belong to the school of thought that this development is in favor of students when viewed from their studies point of view, aspect of the quality of education they avail and their development of their skills and talents. The reason behind this statement is the fact that due to the three terms per academic year the students would be having ample time to continue their research work without any difficulty. According to this school of thought, the students have suffered a lot in terms of their research work as they could not manage to do research work up to the standards as recommended by research institutions. Therefore, practicing the three term practice per academic year is favorable and beneficial for the students and it is in best interest of their future (University of Western Australia, 2010). This reflects the concern of university management in the best interest of students. However, the other consideration in this matter is that of students who do different jobs in summer vacations as to carry on their studies and bear the educational expenses of the students. Though this is very alarming situation for many of the university students but in order to raise the standards of the research work carried out by university, it is important to implement this new development. CONCLUSION The essay concludes with the fact that the concepts of management can be applied anywhere in the world (Caproni, 2004), it can refer to any situation and can deal with the worst situation in a very logical and effective manner. Therefore, it is used not only in context of business but is also applied to the everyday life. Bibliography Caproni, P. J. (2004). Management Skills for Every Day Life: the practical coach. Pearsen Prentice Hall. Colleges, I. D. (2009). Australian Universities.Pennsylvania State University. Hancock, P. , Tyler, M. (2009). The Management of Every Day Life. Palgrave Macmillan. McMahon, W. W. (2009). Higher Learning, Greater Good: The Benefits of Higher Education. JHU Press. Nelson, B. , Economy, P. (2010). Managing for Dummies. Wiley-IEEE. Rudra, N. (2009, August 22). The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australia. University of Western Australia, D. o. (2010). Education Research and Perspectives. Department of Education, University of Western Australia.

Women And Personal Status Law In Iraq Politics Essay

Women And Personal Status Law In Iraq Politics Essay Personal Status law is the term applied to those provisions in a states constitution that refer to the areas of marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance. In many countries these laws are constructed as part of a secular, civil code, with independent courts adjudicating disputes. Historically women have been much more sensitive to personal status laws, also referred to as family law, because of their position in the household as caregivers and matriarchs. The laws that pertain to personal status in Iraq have undergone three main periods of transformation; in pre-Gulf War Iraq, the original law of personal status was set in place on December 30, 1959; several of the provisions (articles) were then amended, a few dropped, and several more added throughout the 1970s; post-Gulf War Iraq was a crucial turning point in the transformation of the code when women began to see a decline in their personal status rights; the laws were altered yet again as a consequence of the U.S. led invasion in 2003 and the drafting of a new Iraqi Constitution. By looking at these three time periods and the prevailing political atmospheres, we can then see the negative transformation and state manipulation of the personal status law. The future of the status of women in Iraq and their rights as recognized in a personal status code will also be discussed. It will be clear from this examination that while women have been successful in exerting some influence on laws of personal status in Iraq, more often than not the laws have been manipulated as a political tool by those in power, irreverent of the needs or wants of the countrys female population. It is important to consider the development of international human rights perceptions in relation to the current debate in the Middle East. The purpose of this framework is to provide a foundation from which we can understand the source of significant tension between Sharia Law and Personal Status Law. Human rights formed in the West during the European Enlightenment. The idea that the rights of the individual should be of paramount importance in a political system emerged and the emphasis on individualism, humanism, and rationalism (Mayer, 44) is the basis for contemporary international human rights principles. These Western foundations do well to explain the cause of tension between the West and Islam over human rights but to understand where the source of tension lies, we must look at Islam as an institution. Islam is the cornerstone of Middle East culture and tradition. Regardless of modernization efforts, Islamic primacy still remains. The dominance of religion affects all aspects of life including the human rights discourse and, as a result, the Muslim position on human rights is complex. Muslims do not have a common belief about what the Islamic position on human rights is or the relationship of their cultural tradition to international human rights norms (Mayer, 11). The Middle East, by nature, is a deeply penetrated region dealing with the impact of Western persuasion throughout its history. Human rights concepts are just another standard that the Middle East has had to assimilate and apply to their countries. However, these concepts are also part of accepted international law and by acknowledging international law as the law of nations (Mayer, 12), Muslims are bound to these norms. Thus, Muslim rejection to international human rights on the basis of Islam is contradictory. Historically, there is no human rights tradition in Islamic civilization (Mayer, 73) and no existing criteria as to how Islamic institutions limit international human rights or is there any detail of what these restrictions would be. International law recognizes many rights protections are not absolute and may be suspended or qualified in exception circumstance such as wars or public emergencies or even in normal circumstances in the interests of certain overriding considerations  [1]  However, there are certain kinds of rights that cannot be limited. These include freedom and equality, equality before law, equal protection, fair and public hearing, freedom of religion, and equal rights in marriage, all of which are listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In addition to these absolute rights, the UDHR also includes definite standards regarding what constitutes permissible reasons for curbing human rights protections (Mayer, 76). For example, Article 29.2 states: In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.  [2]   A similar stipulation is also expressed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in Article 4: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, in the enjoyment of those rights provided by the State in conformity with the present Covenant, the State may subject such rights only to such limitations as are determined by law only in so far as this may be compatible with the nature of these rights and solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in a democratic society.  [3]   It is clear that there are specific guidelines to restricting limits put on human rights exist; so then how does Islam seem to infringe upon these principles? Under international law, Muslims and non-Muslims cannot be deprived of their rights. However, there is no regulation that states that fundamental human rights may be curtailedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦by reference to the requirements of a particular religion (Mayer, 76). Nevertheless, human rights in the Middle East are being controlled under Sharia law and as a result, the rights that are established under international law are being qualified by standards that are not recognized in international law as legitimate bases for curtailing rights (Mayer, 77). Thus, it can be concluded that Sharia law is in direct conflict with democracy and human rights. More importantly, the overall conflict lies in the relationship between culture and human rights (An-Naim, 142). Sharia law is an integral part of Muslim society as it is the personal law of Islamic society. Most of the human rights violations related to Islam are inflicted on women especially regarding Personal Status law. Women in Pre-Gulf War Iraq CONDITIONS IN 1959 The late 1950s were a time of great change for Iraq. After years of living under the British mandate system and the subsequent rule of a pro-British monarch, a revolutionary new regime came to power on July 14, 1958. Led by Colonel Abd al-Salam Arif and Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim, the forces that overthrew the monarchy were united more by their distaste of the ruling regime, rather than by ideological means (Tripp, 149). Qasim quickly took advantage of his new position, consolidating power at the top of the state, and appointing himself Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Commander in Chief (Tripp, 152). The Iraq he took over was poor and underdeveloped, but under Qasim progressive laws were passed and early on groups were allowed to organize (including the Communist Party) to address the concerns and needs of what had previously been neglected aspects of society. These organizations, though allowed to operate openly were nevertheless still beholden to the state. One such grou p was the League for the Defense of Womens Rights, or al-Rabita, officially recognized by the government in 1958 though it had been active underground since 1952 (Efrati, 2). Al-Rabita was funded by the Communist Party, but established by professional Iraqi women to create widespread access to the kinds of opportunities which their own more privileged backgrounds had granted them (Tripp, 154). In this spirit the group focused on educational opportunities and political participation. They were also active in helping to draft and pass the Personal Status Code of 1959. Before 1959, Iraq had no civil code that addressed matters of personal status, which are of particular concern to women. The 1940s saw the first wave of educated women in Iraq, as female doctors and lawyers graduated from state universities (Tripp, 155). The women who had started organizing in 1952 were committed to combating issues of child marriages, polygamy, and the difficulty of divorce for women compared to the relative ease of divorce for men. These women were active in helping to draft the 1959 law and their president, Naziha al-Dulaymi, used her position as the Minister of Municipalit ies (and the first woman cabinet member in Iraq) to sit on the panel of specialists who prepared the law. Resistance was strong among the Sunni and Shia ulama; the Sunni were afraid that the income and prestige of the ulama would suffer, while the Shia clerics saw possible codification of a civil personal law as an encroachment on the realm of their mujtahids (Efrati, 3). It is unclear why Qasims government pushed through with the groundbreaking Personal Status Law No. 188 on December 30, 1959 (Efrati, 3). A possible reason for the ruling could have been Qasims was interest in unifying Iraq, not because he was necessarily an egalitarian, but because consolidation of the state made control easier, thereby increasing and protecting his power base. THE LAW OF 1959 The Personal Status Law was issued by decree in 1959 and contained two distinct innovations: It unified personal status law for Sunnis and Shia. Personal status law was now codified and written into law. Judges could no longer determine the law according to their own religious training; they simply had to apply the new code (Brown, 5). The new law had its basis in Sharia but made expert religious opinion unnecessary, taking control over personal status and the fate of women out of the hands of the religious leaders and putting it into the hands of the state. Underscoring how important a rift this caused among the emerging secular state and the religious clerics, author Michael Eppel writes that Shiite religious leaders opposition to this law was a catalyst in the Shiite awakening in Iraq (158). This uniform law was enacted to erase sectarian divisions and subject everyone to the same rules of the state. Important provisions of the law included: A marriage age of 18 (article 8). In special cases this could be lowered to 16. Required a womans consent to her marriage (articles 4 and 6). Set forth sanity and puberty as essential to the capacity to marry (article 7). Prohibited arbitrary divorce. Set strict limitations on polygamy, requiring the permission of a judge which could only be granted on two conditions: 1) the husband was financially able to support more than one wife (article 4a) or 2) that there was some lawful benefit involved (article 4b). Stipulated that mothers had the preferential right to custody of their children. Custody was granted until the age of seven, with an opportunity for the court to extend the age if necessary (article 57). Required that men and women be treated equally in matters of inheritance. Considered talaq to be invalid if spoken by a man whose mental capabilities were lacking (i.e. in cases of intoxication or anger). Allowed women to seek divorce through judicial means on grounds of injury or familial discord (Efrati and Coleman). The law was not perfect and did in fact contain many loopholes. Women activists wanted tougher punishments for forcing women to marry, a ban on polygamy and temporary marriages, as well as protection against marriage by proxy, which could undermine a womans right to consent by substituting a male guardian. Activists were also upset that men retained the right of no-fault divorce, where women had to prove injury, and that a womans consent was not necessary to resume a marriage after a talaq divorce. At the same time, however, the law contained many provisions considered extremely liberal and progressive. The inheritance law was considered a radical departure from Islamic teachings. Womens groups argued that differentiating between men and women in the issue of inheritance was not suitable for a progressive society (Efrati, 12). Women were now entering the workforce and helping to provide for the family; therefore they should be allowed an equal opportunity to support their income with inheritances. When clerics decried this move, Qasim defended the provision by saying that the verse in the Koran calling for a daughters inheritance to be half that of a sons was a recommendation, and not a requirement (Coleman, 3). Whatever the reason for the creation of the 1959 uniform personal status law, its creation gave Iraqi women a vast amount of secular rights, and gave them the most progressive rights for their sex in the Arab world. CHANGES OVER TIME 1963-80 The decades of the 1960s and 1970s were characterized by coup detats and political unrest in Iraq, as well as by fluctuating economic wealth and development, all of which contributed to a redefinition of womens rights. On February 8, 1963 Abd al-Salam Arif lead a coalition of nationalist Nasserite army officers and Bath party members in a successful coup against the Qasim government, bringing a new regime into power (Eppel 202). The Arif government, comprised of Bathist and Arab nationalists, was not united on ideological grounds, and factions within the parties were quickly at odds with each other. In March of 1963 they fought to amend the personal status law, instituting slight changes regarding polygamy and repealing the provisions applicable to inheritance, replacing them with rules more consonant with the Sharia (Efrati, 4). Both Arif and Prime Minister Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr wanted to repeal the law completely which they saw as irreconcilable with Islamic law, but were prevented f rom doing so due to infighting (Eppel, 216). These changes to the law proved to be temporary and were later amended in the 1970s. In 1968 yet another coup was launched, this time by the Bath party against Arifs brother, who had gained control of Iraq upon his brothers death. The Bath party stood for the power and unity of the Arab nation, and they rejected the Sunni/Shiite rift as an obstacle to this unity (Eppel, 232). In this vein they did not move to repeal the 1959 status law, in part because of its secular nature and also because they needed women to contribute to a stronger Iraq. The idea was that by empowering women personally it would encourage them to participate economically and politically. To facilitate their agenda the Bath introduced many state funded organizations aimed at redevelopment. Much like al-Rabita was created as a state controlled channel for womens participation in society, so too was the General Federation of Iraqi Women (GFIW) created when the Bath regime came to power in 1968 (Joseph, 182). The womens groups of the 1970s and early 80s had a reciprocal relationship with the Bath leadership. GFIW members were taught that they must serve and be loyal to the party and the state, and were encouraged to participate in a expanding public domain of social, cultural, political, and economic activities, helping to build a more solid and economically viable state (Joseph, 183). Joseph also writes that GFIW staff spent considerable time encouraging, among the membership, affection and loyalty to the head of the party and state, Saddam Hussein (183). In exchange for their loyalty to the state, the GFIW was given the role of implementing the changes in the laws of personal status, were allowed to host conferences of activist women, and were elevated in the public eye by Saddam Husseins frequent pronouncements and public appearances lauding the work and leaders of their organization (183). The Bath never let the GFIW go unchecked; women leaders were appointed by their party and its bu dget was derived from the state (Joseph, 182). What is most interesting is that it was men at the top of the Bath partys power structure that set forth the goals of the GFIW. One of these goals was to ensure the equality of Iraqi women with men in rights, in the economy and in the state (182). While other womens groups still operated, the GFIW took over as the main catalyst for the expression of female goals. With the creation of this group, women activists again channeled their energy into rectifying the changes made in 1963 to the personal status law, and to closing the loopholes resulting from the 1959 version. THE NEW PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION In 1970, members of the General Federation of Iraqi Women decided the time was right to push for a new personal status law to replace the 1959 code and more importantly the restrictive amendments introduced in 1963. They pushed for greater reforms, and formulated a draft for a new family law that was presented to the regime in 1975 (Efrati, 4). While not all of their demands were met, several amendments to the personal status code were included in Iraqs Provisional Constitution in 1970 and 1978. Among the important changes: Article 19 declared all citizens equal before the law (regardless of sex). Divorce was permitted by judicial proceedings if the marriage took place before 18 years of age or without a judges approval. Forced marriages were nullified if not consummated, and divorce was allowed where the marriage was not consummated. New punishments were set for forcing marriage and for preventing marriage. Punishments were set for marriages contracted outside of the court A man who contracted a second marriage (without judicial permission) could be imprisoned for 3-5 years. A wife now had legal grounds for demanding a divorce if her husband took a second wife without permission by a judge. A woman could now have a no-fault divorce if the marriage was not yet consummated and the marriage expenses were returned to the husband. Situations under which a woman could obtain a judicial divorce were clarified and expanded, ex) adultery. Maternal custody was extended to the age of 10. At age 15 the child could choose whom to live with (Efrati, HRW and Joseph). The law still registered several shortcomings. It did not forbid marriages by proxy, did not go far enough with the maternal age of custody, and lowered the possible marriage age to 15 (from 16) if a judge saw that special circumstances prevailed. Another major blow to the hopes of womens groups was that no ban on polygamy was included. Activists still opposed article 3(5) which allowed a judge to decide whether wives could be treated equally (Efrati, 7). They contended that judges were ill-equipped to make such a decision, and that equal treatment was an impossibility, citing as reinforcement the Quranic verse which states Ye will not be able to deal equally between [your] wives, however much you wish [to do so]' (7). Other articles that remained unchanged from the 1959 version included articles 34, 38, and 39, which allowed for divorce outside of the court, and ensured that equal rights to divorce were not granted to women (9). Still the changes in the 1970s, though slight, did enc ourage the womens movement. Also, in January of 1971, Iraq ratified the International Covenants on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR) and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both of which provided equal protection to women under international law (HWR, 2). The central question here is why did the Bath party pay attention to womens demands for greater opportunities and rights? Women activists had been vocal about instituting change since the 1920s, and though successful in seeing the 1959 law passed, they had not encountered many reforms since. Womens groups were partly responsible for the additions, but their activities alone do not explain the shifts in policy put into place by the Bath government. Among the new initiatives were Labor and Employment laws which passed, allowing women opportunities to participate in the civil service sector, maternity benefits that were introduced, as well as other legislation (HRW, 2). According to Human Rights Watch, the Iraqi Bureau of Statistics reported that in 1976, women represented about 38.5 percent of those in the education sector, 31 percent in the medical field, 15 percent of civil servants and 25 percent of lab technicians. Women were also accorded the right to vote in 1980. When one consid ers that the first female graduates of educational institutions didnt emerge until the 1940s, this participation is highly accelerated. This increased economic participation then paved the way for slight changes to the personal status law. As Joseph writes, In so far as freeing women from familial controls to participate in the labour force and the polity was needed for the state-building programme, some revision of the personal status laws became necessary and useful (184). Thus, during this time period, due to the economic expansion of the state, the regime saw fit to expand womens participation and facilitated this through political means, by amending the personal status law. WAR YEARS The 1980s and 90s were a hard time for all Iraqis, and women were no exception. Two wars and a decade of U.N. sanctions ensured that womens groups had other more pressing concerns than the continued fight to amend the personal status code. In 1972, with the nationalization of Iraqs main commodity, oil, the states wealth increased and an economic boom contributed to advancement in education and the workforce for women. By the 1980s and 90s a slow-down occurred as these resources were diverted to pay for the Iran-Iraq war and later to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf war that followed. Throughout these decades women again became a tool of the state. Whereas before they had been co-opted with political reforms, now women, under threat of personal or familial harm, were urged in the 1980s and 1990s to put the state first and family second. Loyalty to the state was absolute. Divorce was now used as a weapon of the regime. Noga Efrati writes, women were encouraged to seek judicial divorce if their husbands evaded or deserted military service, defected to the enemy side, were convicted of treason, or held foreign citizenship and refrained from returning to Iraq for more than three years (10). During these years the GFIW did manage to convince President Saddam Hussein to pass a few resolutions, in special cases, but to the advantage of only a small number of women. Women in Post-Gulf War Iraq Beginning in the 1990s women started to see a dramatic reversal in their personal status rights. Joseph writes that the modest legal advances for women would be precariously balanced against the costs the Bath would incur by antagonizing other constituencies (184). The constituencies he speaks of are those of the religious leaders and the tribal chiefs, the same people whose support Saddam needed to court in order to retain power throughout the wars. Saddam made a decision to embrace Islamic and tribal traditions as a political tool in order to consolidate power (HWR, 3). In this vein Saddam manipulated and created law wherever it served his political purposes. In 1988 he legalized honour killings in Iraq, permitting men to kill their wives or female relatives if they were judged to have dishonoured the family name by committing adultery, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Iraqi women and girls (Tripp, 227, HWR). This reversal was a concession to Shia clerics. Womens access to the public and private sectors (including education) were also cut in order to ensure jobs for men during wartime and to help appease conservative religious and tribal groups (HWR). A combination of depressed economic and political factors in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a regression of womens status and rights in Iraq, taking them back to traditional roles in the family. The 2003 Invasion and the New Iraqi Constitution With the U.S. led invasion in 2003, many activists both in and outside of Iraq expected a positive change in the status of women and hoped for the restoration of a progressive personal status code. The hope was that after removing Saddam from power, a new government, guided by an egalitarian Western power (the United States) would be able to resurrect and strengthen the original personal status law of 1959, ensuring more equal rights for women. Unfortunately it has been a bumpy road for female activists. The war and its aftermath have greatly reduced personal freedoms for all Iraqis, and attempts at preserving the personal status code have taken a back seat to preservation and personal safety. Progressives and women activists initially suffered a setback when in December 2003 the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), under the control of Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, the Shia cleric who leads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), passed Order 137 which seemed to set aside the 1959 personal status law (Brown, 6). Hakim had long been in opposition to the progressive personal status code, and used his opportunity as head of the rotating governing council to pass a measure that instilled Sharia and nullified the old code. According to Noga Efrati, women moved aggressively to fight Order 137, organizing a series of protests (1). One such protest drew activists representing 80 womens organizations, who carried placards that with slogans such as We Reject Decree 137 Which Sanctifies Sectarianism and Division in Iraqi Society and Family (1). Womens groups also held press conferences and high-level meetings with American provisional authorities to voice their concerns ov er the law, which in addition to nullifying an important code, was ambiguous and dangerous in its wording (Coleman, 3). Paul Bremer, leader of the Coalitional Provisional Authority, ended up vetoing Order 137, but the move by the Shia cleric foreshadowed the uphill fight women would have to face in a new, sectarian Iraq. In the final draft of the Constitution womens status in the new Iraq has not been clarified. In the October 2005 document, article 14 states that Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination because of sex, but it also states that no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam (Pollitt, 1). Whose version of Islam will govern is still up for debate. The law seems to indicate that Sunnis and Shia would be free to follow their own doctrine, and because it does not explicitly repeal or reference the 1959 law, scholars say the Constitution would appear to allow the continuation of the 1959 code of personal status for those who wanted to use it (Brown, 5). Sharia law could mean the return of unrestricted polygamy, divorce by talaq, honour killings, and a public death for perpetrators of adultery (Weinberg, 1). The picture becomes even more unclear when one looks at the Supreme Federal Court, also established by the Constitution. This Court will be made up of a number of judges and experts in Sharia and law (Pollitt, 1). It is unclear at this stage where there would be room for a civil court system. While the women of Iraq and the National Assembly managed to be successful in keeping the 1959 law intact, it seems that the country is destined to be divided along religious lines. Even if Iraq remains a unified country, the religious and sectarian splits in law could make adjudicating disputes incredibly difficult. What would happen in the case of a Sunni woman who is married to a Shia man? Would she have the right to visit a Sunni or secular court, or if the country reverts back to its patrimonial past, will she be forced to go to a Shia court. Perhaps she could pick whichever court is most advantageous to her cause. A Supreme Federal Court adjudicating on the basis of Sharia is also problematic for non-Muslims residing in Iraq. If Sharia is the law of the land, will non-Muslims also be subjected to it even though the constitution guarantees freedom of religion? The two main sects of Islam will most likely interpret family law differently, and women have gone from an even footing under secular law, to an unknown system that could test their resilience and forfeit their accustomed rights. Possible Transformations The fact is that the new Iraqi government has laid out a constitution which gives Islam a central role and which names the religion as a basic source of legislation (Pollitt, 1). Sharia has been recognized as a legitimizing factor, and therefore if women and moderates hope to advance the cause of womens rights in the new Iraq, they will probably have to do so within an Islamic framework. In the recent past women in other nations have also faced a change in their status, with different outcomes. One fear is the possibility of Iraq following in Irans footsteps, which would be a disastrous blow to the womens movement and to the hopes of those that wish to see Iraq modernize. With the coming of Irans revolution in 1979 and the attainment of power by religious clerics, the countrys progressive family law was suspended and within a few months new Sharia rulings lowered the marriage age to nine, permitted polygamy, gave fathers the right to decide who their daughters could marry, permitted unilateral divorce for men but not women, and gave fathers sole custody of children in the case of divorce (Coleman, 5). While a distinct possibility, this seems to be a fate Iraq has avoided with clauses in their Constitution that guarantee women an equal footing with men. Hopefully, Iraq will follow the letter of the law and will not suffer the same fate as Irans family law codes. Fortunately, there is precedent for a successful path to a change in womens status. Morocco and Indonesia have both seen extensive dialogue concerning their personal status codes, and each has discussed changes using Islam as a large part of their rationale. Morocco benefits from a large network of progressive nongovernmental organizations, which pushed to raise the marriage age from 15 to 18, abolish polygamy, equalize the right to divorce, and give women the right to retain custody of their children (Coleman, 5). As with Iraq, these progressive organizations were opposed by a large and vocal religious block within the country. In this case, the changes in the Sharia-based personal status laws were facilitated by a modernizing monarch, King Muhammad IV. He backed the reformers and in October 2003 presented Moroccos parliament with revisions to the law, defending his changes with references to the Koran and thereby placing the new law above reproach from religious leaders (Weitzman, 394). Iraq may not have the NGO strength of Morocco, but with the emergence of a charismatic, forward-thinking leader, as well as pressure from womens organizations and others from below, a reform along the lines of Moroccos experience could be achieved. In the case of Indonesia, grass-roots groups have started schooling women on Islamic jurisprudence so that they may hold their own religious debates. In 2004, Musdah Mulia, the chief researcher at Indonesias Ministry of Religious Affairs, proposed changes to the existing Sharia in the areas of marriage, polygamy, and the wearing of the hijab (Coleman, 5). She defended these changes in much the same way that King Muhammad of Morocco did, through references to

Effective Dementia Care Essay -- Health, Diseases

Dementia care offers support and services to an individual affected by the disease itself, which is dementia. It addresses the right and needs of the person with dementia and their families. Improving quality of life and changing attitudes towards dementia is the main goal of dementia care. Dementia care also provides quality of care, maintain dignity and promote health, security and comfort in consideration with the standard of care and ethical guidelines (Adams & Manthorpe, 2003). Understanding dementia care is necessary for those health care providers who are planning to handle dementia patients. Care worker should know their duties and responsibilities and have the required knowledge and skills to establish quality care. To find relevant information regarding dementia care the author is planning to build effective search strategy that will fabricates this essay. In fact, the author plans to use voyager at studynet to find relevant electronic books and journals using the â€Å"dementia care† as keywords. Furthermore, the author also plan to use PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Nursing Times, and British Medical Journal using dementia and dementia care as keywords, and the limitations set was Humans, Journal Article, English, Core clinical journals, nursing journals and must be published in the last ten years up to present. Dementia is now becoming a universal issue that really concerns developed and developing countries due to the increasing rate of dementia cases throughout the world. In terms of its prevalence and incidence worldwide, there is about 24 million people having dementia and this number will be double in 20 years time to an estimated number of 42 million by 2020 and 81.1 million by 2040 if mortality, preventi... ...emory impaired due to the disease process, their ability to feel and perceive emotions are still intact. They may not be able to complain it but they can feel it and it will contribute to make their physical, intellectual and emotional condition worse. Furthermore, care should not be base on the exchange of money it would be better if it is base on the responsibilities of the provider and rights of the recipient. Altogether, competent and compassionate dementia care requires knowledge, skills, positive attitude and values that will makes dementia sufferer feels that they are love, valued and worth by others. It can also help them become used to their condition. Additionally, successful dementia care demands effective leadership, developed quality care, adequate resources, competent staff and proper training, supervision and support for health care provider.

Essay --

Every business can operate because of five essential parts; Product creation, Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Delivery of your Product. Throughout this essay we will be juxtaposing the different aspects of the parts above and showing how each of them relate to capitalism and communism and how each of the essential parts can be shown differently through both capitalism and communism. Business varies extremely when in different environments and these two environments are drastically different and the most different environments that are possible. This essay will help understand how drastic the differences really are between the two markets. Communism Communism is a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Capitalism Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state Product Creation Product creation is an extremely important part in business operations. This is how business stay in the competition and come up with the best products. All business have a product creation department so they can always have new products coming out and have a reliable source to make these products. Communism and Capitalism can influence this department of business operations immensely. The Communist standpoint of product creation would cause businesses to create few products and the need for new products in a quick and timely manner would slowly decrease to a low steady rate of product creation. The Communist standpoint of product creation would also have an extremely large impact on the prod... ...ry of the products to be essential. would differ greatly between the two types of markets, however the markets are similar in a few ways. Communism and capitalism both have to deliver their products in a timely manner to their consumers and stay organized so they can profit from the deliveries. Businesses would differ extremely due to the fact that communism and capitalism are very different forms of government. These five essential parts (Product creation, Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Delivery of your Product) are the key factors in business and these two markets cause these factors to differentiate between the two types of markets. These two environments caused businesses to re evaluate their ways of marketing and getting consumers to get the products. Capitalism is the most fluent system of marketing, but communism has some valid ways of marketing as well.

Eating Disorders :: essays research papers

As field hockey began in late August I thought that she was a lot better, but, as time went on, I found out that she was not any better than when she left school last May. She was really getting worse. Living with someone that has an eating disorder is very hard. My college roommate, also my field hockey teammate suffers from an eating disorder called bulimia. She is now not playing field hockey because she is so bad that her heart can stop at any moment, and she could die. As an athlete there are many pressures to look and to be your best. Female athletes often try to lose weight to improve their game, to keep in shape or even just because of the pressures. Christy Henrich, a world-class gymnast, died in 1994 from anorexia. Her mother told Scott Reid (2005) of the Buffalo News was that, "the first thing [other athletes] told [Christy] was if there's something you want to eat, eat it and throw it up. That's the first thing you learn when you're on the U.S. national team." Pressures come from all over not just from your parents, coaches, teammates and fans. They can show up anywhere. There are many different kinds of eating disorders, from bulimia to anorexia to diet pill abuse to laxative abuse and many more (Otil,103). But the most common that we know of are bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia is a disease when a person eats a lot of food in a short amount of time (called bingeing) and then tries to prevent weight gain by purging. Anorexia is when you starve yourself in fear of gaining weight. As Richard Carey (1997) says in his article, an estimated in 1995 that 20% of college age women and 10% of adult women have suffered from eating disorders. An estimated 1,000,000 teenagers are affected by eating disorders. As many at 90% of all individuals with eating disorders are female this leaves only 10% of males. When it comes to losing weight there is a right way and a wrong way. For some of us we don’t know the right for the wrong. And that’s when an eating disorder steps in. Our body needs the chemical and neurological balance to be healthy. And when you resort in an unhealthy weight loss like not eating (anorexia) or bingeing and purging (bulimia) the chemical and neurological become unbalanced.

Ancient Greek Deities and Their Human Characteristics Essay

The ancient Greek Gods and their myths have existed in the human imagination and spirit for as long as man has had the ability to pass down their fables. Since before the dawn of recorded events, when man was limited to oral communications, the people of ancient Greece recounted to each other and to succeeding generations a variety of myths and legends surrounding the everlasting anecdotes of these magnetizing heroes. Some of these stories were told for pure entertainment as shepherds would do to pass the time while tending to their flock. Others were etiological in nature, as renowned philosophers, such as Socrates and his prize student Plato, would discuss; debating their meaning or interpretation of life, love, and existence. There are even present day university courses being held in order to discuss the lives of these supernatural beings. These deities have been passed around for thousands of years, and have yet to cease capturing the interest of the human spirit. Man has always been fascinated by these great immortals and moreover by the stories surrounding them, and since universities based their coursework on the Latin and Greek, it was natural for psychoanalysis and medical diagnoses to create names from these fables. Their charm and allure is accentuated by their recognizable human attributes. Ancient Greek Gods, like man, have been known to love and lust, to be jealous and seek revenge, to be bitter and even petty, characteristics common to everyday man, making them memorable. The Greeks would relate the stories of these omnipotent entities who act capriciously, frivolously, and even immorally, making them unforgettable, their legends transcended time and culture. They were nothing like any deity known to man then or now. The ancient Greeks would seek haven and ask for forgiveness from these familiar sorts of Gods because the Gods understood the problems that plagued man. They assumed that if a mere mortal succumbs to the seduction of revenge, and seeks refuge in the Gods and Goddess, the Gods would have nothing but understanding since they themselves made the very same mistakes. The ancient Greeks began using the stories as an explanation for man’s eccentric and erratic behavior; using stories such as Pandora to explain evil in the world, and woman’s inherent curious nature. Though they lack the religious seriousness one might expect from a god, the sort of seriousness found in the Judeo-Christian’s image of God, they are nonetheless still omnipotent, in the eyes of ancient Greece. Of course the Judeo- Christians believed in one god, monotheism, while the ancient Greeks believed in many, polytheism. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, are three of the oldest, and most popular religions in the world today. The majority of the world’s view on how a deity would or should behave comes from these three faiths. These religions are monotheistic, believing in one and only one God. These religions are also considered to be Abrahamic, explained by the Encyclopedia Britannica to mean that all three identify with and emphasize that they trace their common origin back to Abraham, or recognize a spiritual tradition identified with him. The majority of the world’s population, 54% according to the ranking of the world religions by Preston Hunter (Hunter) identify with these religions, they believe in the scriptures brought down by their creator, and related back to them by a prophet, or in certain sects of Christianity, the Lord himself. In every one of these scriptures God is described as pure, divine, all knowing, all seeing, and moreover, unlike any human, God is not petty or jealous. His love for his creation is merely platonic, the way one might love a creation of his own. There is no gender; God is not male, nor female. In both Judaism and Islam, the word â€Å"God† is replaced by the genderless form â€Å"Allah† or â€Å"Ellah†, both meaning â€Å"The One†. He has no flaws, or errors, he does not mingle or mix with lessor beings, most of all he does not procreate with his creations. In some sects of Christianity, God has a son, Jesus, but even then it was defined as a conception like no other; from the womb of the Immaculate Conception (Mary, daughter of Amram) herself, and only to prove His existence and platonic love for His creations. â€Å"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.† John 3:16. – King James Bible Islam and Judaism argue that He has no family, no sons (except a Trinity-form Jesus), no daughters, no mother, and no father. There is none that came before Him, and none shall come after him. He is the one and only creator of the Heavens and earth. The Torah, the Hebrew bible bestowed upon Moses, the leader (and prophet) of the chosen people of Israel, mentions in chapter 45 verses six through seven: â€Å"I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord, that does all these things.† (Is. 45:6-7) Also described in chapter 112 verses two through five, of the Quran, the holy scripture of the Islamic faith sent down upon Mohammed [peace and blessings be upon him] the last prophet, â€Å"Say: [Oh Mohammed] He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and none is like Him.† (Surah 112 Ikhlas – Unity – vs. 2-5) In all of these religions the theory of God is that he is alone, without gender or partner, but in ancient Greece, the gods were many and of both genders, every aspect of the heavens and the earth were split among twelve deities. Some overlapped, sometimes causing feuds; while others were alone in their ruling. Before the twelve Olympians ruled there were other gods, and a beginning before the beginning. The mystery of how the universe was created is a challenging question that has been puzzling man since man first pondered upon it. Various explanations have been given throughout ancient times. Rhoda A. Hendricks, author of several books on classic civilization, recounts Hesiod’s (a Greek oral poet thought to have been alive between 750 – 650 B.C.) Version which closely resembles Gneisses â€Å"First of all Chaos came into being, and then Gaea, the broad Earth, the ever certain support of all the deathless gods who dwell on the summit of snowy Olympus, and also dark Tartarus in the innermost part of the broad-path earth, and also Eros, the fairest of the immortal gods, who relaxes the limbs and overpowers the resolution and thoughtful determination in the hearts of all the gods and all mankind† Gaea, Earth, united with Uranus, heaven, creating the Titans, six gods and Goddess. Among them was Cronus, their youngest son and the cause of the Titan’s downfall. Destroying his father and taking the crown Cronus became the supreme ruler. With his sister Rhea as his new bride, Cronus fathered six of the major Greek deities – Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia. The tradition for takeover was set, for Zeus followed in his father’s steps of killing the current ruler, Cronus, and marring his sister, Hera. From Hera and Zeus came Ares, the God of war, Hephaestus, the god of fire, and metal work, and Hebe, the Goddess of Youth (Hendricks). Being the philanderer he was known to be, Zeus had father many other Gods, and Goddess. Though the Greeks say Chaos was put in order, and the Earth was settled, I believe it had only begun, for these twelve Olympians (two more to be born later from Zeus) would create chaos like no man has ever known. Being Gods, supreme rulers of all that is supernatural and earthly, one would assume that humans were beneath them, but that was not the case for some of the gods. Instead of being above mankind they acted as though they were among the vulnerable; constantly battling each other in petty contests, than seeking a mortal’s approval. They would meddle and mingle with the fate of man just to satisfy their egos. For example the story of Helen of Troy was set off by a chain of events caused by the Gods being petty and narcissistic. Some might think of the downfall of Troy with the Trojan horse was the fault of Paris for being selfish, taking Helen away from Sparta and back to Troy with him. But poor Paris had no control of fate, but Zeus did. The story of Troy and also the beauty contest is a good example of how the human-like behaviors are involved. Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, an earthly woman married to the king of Tyndareus. Zeus, the king of the Olympians and ancient Greece’s very own Casanova, was infatuated with this magnificent woman. Ignoring the fact that she was married, and that he would be committing adultery, Zeus came down from Mount Olympus in the form of a swan and took advantage of unsuspecting Leda. From that night she bore his half-immortal children, one of which was Helen. Helen was said to be a beauty that no man had ever seen. She was compared to Aphrodite herself, the Goddess of love and eternal beauty; being part immortal didn’t hurt either. She was the bride of Menelaus the king of Sparta, and she was soon to be the love interest of Paris. But Paris wouldn’t have been able to take Helen from Menelaus if not for Aphrodite’s assistance. Paris, Prince of Troy, was asked by Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to judge a beauty contest. Again this was the doing of Zeus, for he had instructed Hermes, the messenger to the gods, to lead the Goddess to Paris to be the judge. Each of the Goddess promised him a reward if they chose them as the winner. Hera offered to make him the ruler over all man if she were chosen; Athena ensured him victory in all his battles, but it was Aphrodite’s offer that had won him over. The Goddess of beauty had promised the hand and heart of another beauty, Helen. And so as the story goes, Paris sweeps Helen off her feet and brings her home to Troy, focusing Menelaus to seek his brother’s aid in avenge his honor and reclaim his bride. The story does not end there, the Gods continue to meddle in the lives of their subjects; Athena, Hera and Poseidon frequently helped the Greeks, while Aphrodite and Ares defended the city of Troy (Hendricks), but sadly Troy is defeated in the end. In that one story along, we find the Gods behaving in petty and vengeful ways. They’ve ruining the lives of hundreds to satisfy their own selfish psyche. Zeus takes his way with Leda, knowing fully what this will cause. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena put Paris in a predicament he cannot win, and later Athena and Hera go against him and his people for simply disagreeing with them. At times the gods were simply selfish, and other times they were genuine. Some gods honestly and truly loved the mortals that prayed to them. These sympathetic gods would defy their elders and find ways to make their love immortal so they may join them in Mount Olympus. In the story of Psyche and Eros, (Cupid) Eros fell in love with Psyche, a mortal princess whose astounding beauty earned the anger of Aphrodite. Cupid, the son of Aphrodite and Ares (the god of war), was the god of desire, affection, and erotic love. Annoyed with Psyche, Aphrodite sent Cupid to prick her with one of his arrows which would have forced her to fall in love with the most hideous man in all of Greece; this only shows another great example of the god’s petty jealousness. Cupid went to do as he was instructed, but instead of putting Psyche under a spell, he accidently pricks himself and he is bound by the love spell of his own arrows. Aphrodite had forbidden Eros to be with mortal woman, which was hypocritical considering she herself had many affairs with mortal men, and so had her father Zeus. Of course Eros defies his mother and goes off to see Psyche anyways. The myths and legends from those times had done more than fascinate man; they inspired us to name medical and psychological terms after them. Things like phobia, which is usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in order to avoid their fear. Typically this was disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. A famous and common phobia is arachnophobia, the fear of spiders and other arachnids, such as scorpions. This came from the story of Arachne and Athena. Arachne was a great mortal weaver who boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy. Arachne refused to acknowledge that her knowledge came in part from the goddess. Offended by Arachne’s arrogance, Athena set a contest between the two weavers. According to the recordings by Ovid, a Roman poet and collector of classic ancient Greek myths, the goddess was so envious of the magnificent tapestry and the mortal weaver’s success, and perhaps offended by the girl’s choice of subjects (the loves and transgressions of the gods), that she destroyed the tapestry and loom and slashed the girl’s face. The brown haired goddess Raged at the girl’s success, struck through her loom, tore down the scenes of wayward joys in heaven. Ultimately, the goddess turned Arachne into a spider. A commonly used term of psychology is narcissism, the love and interest of only one’s self. This comes from the story of Echo and Narcissus as it is written in Thomas Bulfinch’s Stories of Gods and Hero’s. Narcissus was a handsome Greek youth who rejected the desperate advances of the nymph Echo. As punishment, he was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Unable to consummate his love, Narcissus â€Å"lay gazing enraptured into the pool, hour after hour† (Graves), and finally changed into a flower that bears his name, the Narcissus. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, narcissistic personality disorder is defined as â€Å"an individual who is excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity.† In other words can’t see anything past one’s own problems. Thanks to the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the story of Oedipus has become one of the most widely known psychological Greek myths in the modern world. However, because of Freud’s ‘Oedipus Complex’, many modern readers focus on his apparent love of his mother and hatred for his father; this in fact is not true to the Greek mythological tradition of Oedipus. As told by Robert Graves in The Greek Myths part II, Oedipus’s birth father Laius was married to Iocaste and ruled over Thebes. Grieved by his prolonged childlessness, he secretly consulted the Delphic Oracle, which informed him that this seeming misfortune was a blessing, because any child born to Iocaste would become his murderer. In an attempt to prevent this prophecy’s fulfillment, upon the birth of the boy Laius had his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl ( causing his ankles to swell and giving him his name Oedipus, translated to be swollen ankles); he then gave the boy to a servant to pass onto a shepherd from Corinth and then to another shepherd so on till he was in Polybus. Eventually Oedipus was adopted by the King and Queen of Polybus; because they two were childless they decided to raise him to be their own. Several years later Oedipus left Polybus in search of his birth place and parents. Soon he came upon a road and was rudely told off by his biological father, which he had no knowledge of at the time. The two engaged in a battle resulting in the death of Laius, unintentionally fulfilling the prophecy of his father’s death. Upon arriving in the city of Thebus after solving the sphinx’s riddle Oedipus was crowned king and was given the mourning queen as a bride He again unaware of their biological connection. He continues to rule as the King of Thebus, but once he found out that he married his mother and killed his father, he gouged his eyes out and wandered the desert for ages. As the story goes on we find elements of psychological disorders but, Oedipus himself did not suffer from Sigmund’s theory of what Oedipus complex was. In all this one can find the contrast between the Greek deities and the Abrahamic Gods. The contrast between the Abrahamic and the Greek gods has been shown to be extreme . The Abrahamic religions had the monotheistic God who was all-powerful and all-knowing. Although the Torah and Bible describe him as â€Å"jealous,† it was seen as meaning that he expected a strict following of the laws that he gave to the people. The Abrahamic God’s reasons behind the love and punishment were unclear to the followers, this was a test of their faith. God was not understood completely but was followed wholeheartedly. The Greek gods had behaviors that were very easily understood by the people. They acted in very human ways, although the â€Å"lightning bolt† of Zeus could not be defended against. Their stories relay their human like personalities. They would get angry over insults made by their subjects (Athena); they let their lusts carry them away (Aphrodite, and Zeus); they engage in petty feuds with one another (Aphrodite, Athena, Hera). Moreover, the Greek gods appear to humans and mingle with them, helping or hindering them and at times, making love with them. The Olympic Gods had the same physical and emotional characteristics as us. Mortal women could compare to Aphrodite’s beauty and Zeus could be out witted and fooled. Jealousy, anger, bitterness as well as love and compassion were signature characteristics of the God’s personalities. WORK CITIED: SOURCES 1. According to Greek Mythology: Pandora