Hr Functions of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

HR Functions of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Lucinda West HSA320 November 12, 2012 Professor Dorothy Moore Strayer University Introduction The organization chosen is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (SJCRH). St. Jude is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research and treatment into catastrophic childhood diseases, mainly cancer. SJCRH opened on February 4, 1962 and was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas. Its mission is to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.St. Jude was the first institution to develop a cure for sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant and has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell programs in the country. St. Jude has developed protocols that have helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened in 1962 to 80 percent today. St. Jude researchers and doctors are treating children with pediatric AIDS, as well as using new drugs and therapies to fight infections. No family ever pays St. Jude for anything (Hospital).Challenges Based on the data I have collected, some of the possible challenges SJCRH can face as a result of Harassment, Increase in pay, and Labor Unions are the following. There is a credibility gap between Human Resources, Executive Management, and the other organizational departments. There are people in HR with a variety of background education and skill sets that are not necessarily specialized towards the field they currently hold. Individuals come into HR management with their past experiences as a psychologist or clerical supervisor to name a few.The previous experience they bring to the table normally sets the tone for their current outlook in HR. As a result of the changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with disabilities can expect to work in safe surroundings without being discriminated against on the basis of age, gender, race, religion national origin, or personal preference. Specialists in compensation monitor an organization’s wage structure to ensure that pay equity exists throughout an organization.They recommend changes in the wage structure that are consistent with pay changes in the local community, industry, and individual occupations as necessary (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). Line managers believe that HR hinders progress by frequently obstructing what a department manager wants or needs to do. HR utilizes the policy and regulations to further pad their case as to why certain things requested by the line staff cannot occur (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). An executive level of management has a say in the payroll system. This arrangement is uncommon since this practice is commonly a part of finance or the HR department.Naturally there is going to be some form of conflict. Additional challenges in managing the relationship between HR and Labor Unions are, labor relations becomes a part of HR when there is an issue that has to be resolved. Labor unions do not see HR as a cohesive unit that should even play a part in their bargaining process. They see HR as the enemy. In HR’s defense they hold and know the policies, regulations, & bylaws that everyone (Labor Unions & HR) has to abide by in order for it to a fair and just decision regarding the employee(s). Impact of Rules/LawsTherefore invoking The Civil Rights Act (Title VII) (1964) has led to greater regulation of the employer-employee relationship by the government. The Act prohibits setting limits, segregating or classifying employees or applicants for employment in any way that deprives them of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affects their status as employees because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Ethics are important in any situation involving management. HR involves people and their means of earning a living, the importance of ethics in creases.Ethical behavior is taught to students throughout their schooling. Reminders of the importance of conducting lives in an ethical manner are important. Ethics is an underlying priority to all involved in the implementation of electronic medical records. Health professionals are in favor of electronic medical and strongly believe ethics is an integral part in healthcare and technology. Health organizations must remain committed to quality, privacy, and ethics. Continuous education of employees on these issues, ethics will remain a consistent principle in healthcare and technology.Another law and regulation that is going to affect SJCRH is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996). HIPPA consists of five sections or titles. Titles I, III, IV, and V address the issue of continuity and the ability to renew health insurance coverage for employees who change employers or otherwise lose their jobs, promote the use of medical savings accounts, and establish stand ards for long term care coverage. HIPAA eliminated the possibility of individuals being denied coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions. It further requires insurance companies to provide coverage for small employer groups or to ndividual employees who lose their group coverage. The significant section of HIPAA has been title 2, â€Å"Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse, Administrative Simplification, and Medical Liability Reform. † The Privacy Rule has affected nearly all health care plans and all health care providers. Physicians’ offices, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, dentists, medical equipment dealers, billing services and others providing administrative services have all been required to implement systems designed to protect patient information in all forms.All subcontractors and suppliers coming into contact with patient information must comply with the Privacy Rule. Developmental Tools Healthcare employees expect their employers to provide: Infrastructure, HR practices and support which are linked to improved performance especially in relation to patient care and service innovations. Public service values may be a strong determinant of performance as it relates to patients, moderating potential short-term adverse effects of unmet expectations of the employer. Training is imperative.There has to be a shift in the orientation of the healthcare personnel. Extensive direction is required through in-service and basic training. The perception of their role as simply delivering government health programs needs to be changed to being agents of health development. They need to be sensitive to the local needs. In addition to technical skills, they will need social skills to negotiate with other sectors, and communication skills for organization and empowerment of communities. Initial collaboration between the employee and the employer are vital.Meeting with the employer to gain an understanding of what is expected from the empl oyee from the onslaught of the relationship is a vital key to forming and maintaining conformity and cohesiveness amongst them. Establishing weekly or bi-weekly meetings would foster a positive and uniform working relationship that would ultimately benefit the organization in the long run. Best Practices What is most important in position description is the job analysis. This would include a detailed breakdown of a particular position description.It is vital that all of the most current duties of a particular position be included in this description because at some point the HR Manager will have to refer back to the details of the position. If all of the details are not included the organization is left vulnerable to accusations of discrimination (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). A recruiting best practice would be to advertise internally then externally and having local job fairs at conferences, colleges and universities. There are four (4) suggestions for recruitment and retention.One ( 1) attract a new generation of workers. Attracting younger generations to the healthcare workforce is essential to maintaining staffing levels and bringing fresh ideas to the organization. Younger generations are drawn to high-tech fields and seek work-life balance. Keep in mind the recruitment of younger workers may require a shift in traditional recruiting techniques to include such social media outlets as Twitter. Second, focus on hiring the right people. Behavior-based interviewing versus skill-based interviewing can build effective, long-term teams.Peer interviewing provides additional insight into whether a candidate may be the right person for the job. Third, seek feedback. Conduct 30- and 90-day interviews to gauge the perception of new hires. This will enable timely action if expectations are not being met. Fourth, provide a competitive benefits package. Appropriate compensation is a must, but clearly goes a long way. Organizations can enhance benefit packages by offering o n-site child care, concierge services, flex scheduling and housing allowance, among other things (Jarousse, 2012).Conclusion SJCRH is the first of its kind to benefit not only the parents because their child is being treated by the best at no cost to them, but also to the child because they are the number one priority of the hospital; not the amount the hospital can milk the family for. Some of the challenges they will face are as a result of harassment, pay increase, and Labor unions. Human Resources, the executive level of management, and the other departments are not as cohesive as they should be because they should all have the same goal in mind.The laws and regulations enacted have all been designed to protect the patient and their personal information. References Fallon, L. F. , Jr. and C. R. McConnell, 2007. Human Resources Management in Health Care: Principles and Practice. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett, (October 2012). Hospital, St. Jude Children's Hospital Research. Quick Fa cts about St. Jude. Memphis, October 2012. Jarousse, (2012). â€Å"Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention. † American Hospital Association Health Forum: 2

A Study of The Two Marriage Proposals that Elizabeth Declines: Romance Versus Security Essay

Romance Versus Security. â€Å"It is universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.† These are the words of Jane Austen, and like many people of her time, she believed very much in the importance of finding a wealthy husband for young women. Jane Austen’s novel reflects the importance of marriage to many people around 1775. Although events such as the industrial revolution were sweeping the country, these were ignored and the life of a few middle class families in a country village were depicted. Marriage at this time was a way of securing a happy livelihood and relative happiness; love was not really a factor, marriage was a source of financial security. Being more of a convenience than a romantic affair. However this was beginning to become a factor as traditions slowly changed around this period. Still many women married to their advantage; there was still a very rigid class system although a new middle class was beginning to emerge. The alternative was life as a governess, which was not one of great social status. Jane Austen believed that marriage was â€Å"The only honourable provision for well educated young woman of small fortune.† This wasn’t a romantic union; it was a contract. A character that does value the importance of marriage for her daughters is Mrs. Bennet. † The business of her life was to get her daughters married.† This is because her current home, Longbourn estate, is entailed to a cousin Mr. Collins. This means when Mr. Bennet dies Mr. Collins is heir and the Bennet sisters would either have to rely on the hospitality of their male relative or become a governess. This soon becomes apparent to Mrs. Bennet and she sees it as imperative that her daughters are married off. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet receives two proposals of marriage the first from her cousin the bumbling Mr. Collins. The Bennet family had received a letter prior to his arrival; the impression put across is that Mr. Collins is long winded and all over a bit of a fool. This letter prepares the family and the reader for the arrival of a pompous egotist. Mrs. Bennet is excited about his arrival, as it is clear he is passing on marital business, causing great interest among the sisters and above all Mrs. Bennet. At the Netherfield ball he makes a complete show of himself as he lacks decorum and etiquette. His inability to dance is a cause of amusement to the characters and the reader. â€Å"The first two dances, however, brought a return of distress; solemn, apologising instead of intending.† He unwittingly introduces himself to Darcy and recieves a cold reception Whilst joining in the festivities, it becomes clear that Collins greatly admires Lady Catherine De Bourgh, his groveling adorations add to his foolery. He continues to examine every inch of the house comparing it directly to Rosings, in a very rude manner. Just as Collins tedious absurdness reaches its height, Elizabeth begins to fall for Wickham’s charms and stories of hate against Darcy and Collins proposal is unexpected and very unwelcome. Mr. Collins proposal to Elizabeth is a model of comical wit, and cannot be taken seriously, the very way he approaches the matter is ridiculous. â€Å"My reasons for marrying are†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Not romantically orientated at all, it is hardly going to win any woman’s heart, least of all Elizabeth’s. He breaks down his reasons, numbering them. And although Collins is sincere, the element of comedy is never lost as he is excessively formal and at great length tries to explain his reason, which is clearly unnecessary. â€Å"†¦Made Elizabeth so near laughing.† The sheer length reflects Collins long winded nature. He even manages to mention Lady Catherine De Bourgh. As he draws to the end of his speech Collins does attempt a little romance, but all in vain: â€Å"†¦The most animated language of the violence of my affections†. Elizabeth becomes a little alarmed and rightly so, as Collins thinks it impossible for her to refuse. â€Å"†¦You are too hasty, sir.† But Collins won’t brook a refusal and continues with his stilted speech until Elizabeth has had enough and forcefully rejects him. Mr. Collins assumes this is the usual behaviour of young woman and that Elizabeth is simply being coy. His ignorance adds to the comedy. It takes 5 firm rejections before he seems to accept her answer. This refusal was very brave of Elizabeth .So much so that it may even be considered foolhardy. She cannot be guaranteed another proposal of marriage. Leaving her future hanging in the balance. Mrs. Bennet is understandably distressed when she hears of Elizabeth’s decision. Mr. Bennet is more relieved. One can hardly see Elizabeth married to a character like Collins. Her intelligence would be stifled. Elizabeth shows spirit and a fiery independence. But she does risk a lot by turning Collins down. However, someone who felt they couldn’t afford to risk no other proposal was Charlotte Lucas. She sees their marriage as a practicality, she needs her home comforts and the security Collins provides. She is already 27 years old and in need of a stable future. This is a direct example of how romance is only beginning to creep into marriage. It is obvious to Elizabeth that there was no romance in Collin’s proposal as he almost instantly moves on and his â€Å"affections† change. When Darcy proposes, it seems unlikely that Elizabeth would dare refuse a second suitor. But as much as Elizabeth couldn’t stand Collins, she despises Darcy. This prejudice is fuelled from a remark Darcy made at the Netherfield ball, â€Å"She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.† This sparks a great dislike that continues to grow as the book progresses, by the time Darcy decides to propose, Elizabeth has been told by Wickham of his dealings with him and the interference of Bingley and Jane. Like Collins, Darcy is the last person Elizabeth would like to marry at the moment in time. Apart from the prejudice the timing is very off and she is already very agitated. Her prejudice and his pride combine to make the most incompatible two characters, however he is unaware. And in the same way that Collins lacked romance, Darcy’s opening line is hardly a compliment, â€Å"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.† Darcy goes on to describe her inferiority and low connections. Despite this rather confident approach, the proposal is flawed from the start. He proceeds to insult her and her true feelings are soon revealed. † I have every reason in the world to think ill of you.† Despite Darcy’s obvious feelings, Elizabeth makes her long standing dislike quite plain. When Elizabeth confronts him about the Wickham incident he doesn’t deny involvement but replies in a sarcastic manner, â€Å"Yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed.† By the time Darcy leaves Elizabeth is reeling, she can’t believe his feelings. Astonishment leads to anger, as he showed no sign of denying his involvements with the break up of Jane and Mr. Bingley. To turn down one marriage proposal was risky but to do so again must have been foolish, most women would have thrown themselves at Darcy’s feet. He is a wealthy handsome young suitor. However Elizabeth cannot be married to some one she despises. She makes it perfectly clear to Darcy that however he had proposed she wouldn’t have accepted, â€Å"†¦You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.† There is a rather ironic link that both men that propose are the only two men on earth Elizabeth wouldn’t dream of marrying. This is a great show of strength and courage. With a mother such as Mrs. Bennet it would be difficult to find any one who would be happy to take on such a family connection and Darcy makes it clear that to marry Elizabeth would be a â€Å"degradation† but nothing will deter him. The two marriage proposals are very different and very different outcomes; whether Elizabeth was foolhardy to decline two or not is debatable, but it is true to say she shows great independence considering her financial insecurity and social status. In turning down these proposals, was she ruining her chances of ever having a decent future?

A comparative study of small and medium enterprise banking services in Bangladesh and Canada

A comparative study of small and medium enterprise banking services in Bangladesh and Canada Women Entrepreneurs in Canada What is the typical Canadian woman in a business like? What kinds of businesses do Canadian women entrepreneurs choose to start and develop? How many women-owned businesses are there in Canada? Ive put together this collection of statistics on Canadian women in business to answer these questions and others like them. Facts and Figures on Canadian Women Entrepreneurs The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, 2013 There were 950,000 self-employed women in Canada in 2012, accounting for 35.6% of all self-employed persons. In 2010, Quebec had the highest proportion of majority-owned female SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprise) at 19 percent, followed by Atlantic Canada, Ontario, and then the Prairies and British Columbia. 47% are SMEs were entirely or partly owned by women. The proportion of women-owned businesses that plan to expand their business is generally higher than men. Approximately 51% of Aboriginal-owned SMEs belong partly or wholly to women. Among established businesses (non-start-ups), the percentage of female entrepreneurs rose from 27% in the early 1990s to 33% in 2012. The average net profit before tax of female-owned businesses has increased from 52% of male-owned business profits in 2000 to 89% in 2007. Majority female-owned firms with growth intentions are significantly more active in hiring new employees than majority male-owned firms. Majority women-owned SMEs represented over $117 billion per annum of economic activity in Canada. A greater concentration of women-run SMEs is present in certain sectors, such as professional services, accommodation, and food services. The percentage of young women (25-34) with a post-secondary degree or diploma has increased from 43% in 1990 to 71% in 2013. Women Entrepreneurs. Small Business Financing Profile. Jung, Owen. (2010). Ottawa: Industry Canada Small Business and Tourism Branch, October 2010. Majority female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (i.e., 51 to 100 percent of the ownership of the business is held by women) constituted 16 percent of SMEs in Canada in 2007. On average, female business owners were younger and reported fewer years of management or ownership experience compared with male business owners. Majority female-owned firms were more likely to operate in the tourism industry than majority male owned firms. Revenues earned by majority female-owned firms were still significantly less than revenues earned by majority male-owned firms in 2004 and 2007; however, before-tax net incomes generated by majority female-owned firms were comparable to net incomes generated by majority male-owned firms. In 2007, majority female-owned firms were just as likely as majority male-owned firms to seek external financing (17 percent request rate), in contrast to 2004 when majority male-owned firms were more likely to seek financing than majority female-owned firms (24 percent versus 15 percent respectively). Most majority female-owned firms that sought financing in 2007 were successful in acquiring at least some form of external financing; however, majority female-owned firms were less likely to be approved for short-term debt financing, such as lines of credit and credit cards, than majority male-owned firms (77 percent versus 94 percent respectively). There was little evidence of disparity with regards to interest rates or requests for collateral among majority female-owned and majority male-owned firms that were successful in obtaining financing. On the other hand, among SMEs that were denied debt financing, majority female-owned firms were significantly more likely to be turned down due to a poor credit history or insufficient collateral than majority male-owned firms. Among SMEs that intended to expand the size and scope of their businesses within two years (i.e., declared growth intentions), majority female owned firms were more likely to require external financing to fund their expansion plans than majority male-owned firms. Interestingly, majority female-owned firms were more likely to consider sharing equity in the business to fund their expansion plans than majority male-owned firms. In 2007, majority female-owned firms were more likely to declare growth intentions than majority male-owned firms. From 2004 to 2008, firms that declared growth intentions exhibited noticeably stronger growth in total revenue and full-time equivalents (employees) than firms that did not declare growth intentions regardless of owner gender. Action Strategies to Support Womens Enterprise Development The Canadian Task Force for Womens Business Growth. November 2011. In 2010, over 900,000 of the 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada were women. Canadian women business owners are on average less likely to engage in international trade compared to male counterparts. Key Small Business Statistics July 2012 Statistics Canada. There were 910 000 self-employed women in Canada in 2008, accounting for about one-third of all self-employed persons. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of self-employed women grew by 6.4 percent compared with 11-percent growth in male self-employment. Accommodation and food services industries have the highest share of businesses that are majority-owned by females, at 22 percent. Women Entrepreneurs of Canada 84% of women feel their business has reached a size they are comfortable with and dont want to grow, as compared to 37% for men. Women are also more likely to operate businesses in the servic e sectors rather than in knowledge and manufacturing industries, which traditionally enjoy higher growth potential and profitability. Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, Research and Public Policy: Barbara Orser. Tefler School of Management. The University of Ottawa. November 2007. Because this is a literature review, I have followed each quote from Ms. Orsers report with the complete references she refers to, as she cited them in the appendices of her paper. The majority of majority women-owned firms (85 percent) are micro- businesses employing fewer than 5 people (Carrington, 2006)(p. 15). Women are significantly more likely to operate firms in the services sectors and less likely to operate knowledge-based industries and manufacturing operations. The most common service sectors for women entrepreneurs were wholesale/retail, professional services and information/culture/real estate. (Carrington, 2006) (p. 17). The majority of self-employed women (62.7 percent) remain unincorporated solo workers concentrated within personal services and retail sales sectors (Hughes, 1999; 2006) (p. 17). Canada is a global leader in wom en’s entrepreneurship (GEM, 2000). The participation rates of Canadian women business owners are comparable to those in the United States and higher than those of other leading nations such as Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand (Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene, Hart, 2006) Are Women Shortchanging Themselves? Paul Lima. Globeandmail.com Business. November 10, 2006. a flexible work schedule is a greater motivator for women planning to open their own business (63%) than for men planning to do so (51%). 36 percent of men planning to open a business plan to do so to become wealthy, while only 23 percent of women planning to open a business do so for the same reason. The majority of women and men entrepreneurs (69 and 64 percent respectively) seem to be equally driven by a love for what they do or hope to do. Women are less likely than men to start a business because they want to be their own boss. Women are more likely to employ a spouse or a child and to be first-time business owners. Virtually equal amounts of male and female entrepreneurs listed their three main challenges faced when starting up a business as finding clients; keeping a steady workload and working long hours. Canadian Women in Business in Summary: The numbers of Canadian women entrepreneurs are still growing.On average, women business owners are younger and have fewer years of management or ownership experience compared with male business owners. Women entrepreneurs are much more likely to choose to start and run small businesses in the retail and service sectors. Women entrepreneurs do not make as much money as male entrepreneurs although the gap appears to be closing. Canadian women business owners are on average less likely to engage in international trade compared to Canadian male business owners.

The Boer War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Boer War - Research Paper Example Compared to the British troops, the Boers were not as disciplined and organized; they had no set uniform, and as soon as a confrontation broke out, they immediately gathered up to form a unit and elected a commander. The Boer troops had no proper uniforms or weapons and vastly depended on hunting guns in order to launch an offensive against the well-equipped British troops. Their weapons included field guns and pistols, and they were also armed with shotguns; most of the Boer troops often traveled with at least 8 days of supplies. Unlike the British troops, their marksmanship was not the result of intense training regimes, but was learned through experience. The Boers were not soldiers but mere hunters or farmers that earned them the name ‘Boer’. The people had no real access to ammunitions either, and when they ran out of proper weapons, they usually relied on stealing or capturing the weapons of the British.The British had realized that the only way they could subdue t heir opponent was by attacking their formation and not their position; which meant that they were trying to cut off their access to their supplies. Any sort of siege had seemed pointless for their excellent marksmanship that made any sort of progression towards their base completely pointless. They even had their ranges marked out with white stones and fired according to them and soon the British troops were ordered to avoid going near white stones on the ground.  Ã‚   Since the South Africans were devout Christians, many of the people did not believe.

Defining the Capabilities of Each Student Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Defining the Capabilities of Each Student - Essay Example Student achievement in their prospective fields could be materialized only through a proper understanding from the part of the teacher. It is very important to streamline the students on the basis of their respective potential and ability to grasp. This way, the levels of their achievement could be clearly demarcated both by the teacher and the students themselves. The key role of a teacher in the classroom must be that of a comprehending elder who is approachable on any area related to education. Even as the need for specialization is paramount, the overall personality of teachers makes a great difference in their role as facilitators. Students should be allowed the necessary freedom to communicate with teachers on any issue for which they need help. If there are specific needs from the part of the students who call for some research to be done by the teachers, they must be willing to do that effectively and with competence. An efficient teacher always succeeds in motivating students. This is quite often done through casual remarks in the class or gestures through which one could convince every student that they are specially taken care of. Students of all age groups seek attention inside and outside classrooms. The willingness to accept them as individuals capable of achieving certain goals in their life will help teachers guide them through the trials and tribulations of life and prepare them for success in life. It is very important to learn the names of one’s students, and to address them occasionally. This reassures them a lot and fulfils their needs of identity. Teachers have the duty to acknowledge the needs of students outside the classrooms as well.  

AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Paper - Essay Example ll as conduct of behavior expected of members of the accounting profession to ensure that the performance of their responsibilities are conducted within the ethical, moral, as well as legal laws and regulations and that which would assist in resolving ethical conflicts. These three purposes are most important because they provide the overlying frameworks which necessitated the development of the Code. For instance, for the first purpose, which emphasized the provision of guidance and rules to all members, are crucial to enable accounting practitioners to be explicitly directed on specific regulations required to behave and respond to challenging situations. The objective was clearly explained under the Conceptual Framework for Members in Public Practice which stipulated that: where members encounter challenges in terms of encountering threats in the performance of their duties with respect to their regular conduct of responsibilities with various stakeholders, the Code would assist in resolving potential conflicts in terms of discerning whether â€Å"there is a threat to the member’s compliance with the rules that is not at an acceptable level† (American Institute of CPAs, 2014, p. 25). In this situation, it was advised that the conce ptual framework approach should be consulted as a guiding principle to provide members with the needed responses. The primary purpose leads to the second most important purpose which is to understand the conceptual framework approach which would assist in the decision-making process of members. From the Code, it is deduced that the conceptual framework approach expounds on three important situations that need greater understanding: acceptable level, safeguards, and threats (American Institute of CPAs, 2014). As defined, acceptable level means â€Å"a level at which a reasonable and informed third party who is aware of the relevant information would be expected to conclude that a member’s compliance with the rules is not

Discuss the treatment of the sacrament of confession in Essay

Discuss the treatment of the sacrament of confession in Boccaccioâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s tale of Ser Ciappelletto, The Summoning of Everyman, and Hesseâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Narcissus and Goldmund - Essay Example In the spirit of a culture beginning to question the superficiality of dogma, Boccaccio transcends the cynical humor of Ciappelletto’s confession, and the friar’s absolution, reminding us that there is a divine immanence beyond and above the temporal, sometimes absurd practices of the medieval church. After Ciappelletto’s false confession, the narration muses that he may have, at the last, received forgiveness for his many sins, having â€Å"made so complete an act of contrition that perchance God had mercy on him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Boccaccio 89). But considering the evidence of his transgressions, eternal punishment is a much more likely fate. In other words, he may have fooled the friar and ultimately received canonization, but true justice is another matter Saint or no, Ciappelletto faces a verdict from which he cannot escape through bluff and deception. It is not given to us to know the final disposition of Ciappelletto’s soul but if eternal damnation is his lot, then it is a â€Å" manifest token of the superabundance of the goodness of God to usward, inasmuch as he regards not our error but the sincerity of our faith, and hearkens unto us when, mistaking one who is at enmity with Him for a friend, we have recourse to him, as to one holy indeed, as our intercessor for His grace† (Boccaccio 90). Confession has enabled Ciappelletto to â€Å"work the system,† to play on notions of holiness, seen through the prism of a worldly church, in order to receive absolution and achieve sainthood. His confession typifies the comparative spiritual impotency of the medieval church, itself a wan reflection of the true spirit it purports to embody. Flouting the sacrament, he has effectively lied his way to sainthood. But Boccaccio assures us that, for all his fabrications, Ciappelletto’s punishment surely must be all the worse in the next world for having â€Å"gotten away with it† in this

Charles Manson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Charles Manson - Essay Example At one time, she sold him to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. This waitress kept him until his uncle retrieved him a few days later. In 1939, his mother and uncle were thrown in jail for robbing a gas station and Manson went to live with another aunt and uncle who were quite religious. When his mother was granted parole three years later, however, Manson returned to his mother’s side, where they moved from hotel to hotel. Kathleen Maddox was constantly attempting to get rid of Manson, as she was not a good mother. In 1947, she attempted to have him placed in a foster home, but she could not find one available. This led to Manson being placed in Gibault School for Boys, where he stayed for ten months before fleeing to find his mother again. His mother, however, rejected him and he was then on his own. The first crime that Manson committed was the robbery of a grocery store. He did this in order to pay for a hotel room. A series of other robberies followed until he was caught and sent to a juvenile center. He escaped from this juvenile hall after only one day and after his recapture, he escaped from another juvenile hall four days later. This time, he escaped with another boy and the two of them committed a series of robberies on their way to the other boy’s uncle’s house. The robberies and escapes continued for years, as Manson was sent to different juvenile centers around the country, but none of them could hold him. He even was caught with a stolen car that he had used to rob gas stations in Utah. It was at these juvenile centers that it was concluded that Manson was aggressively antisocial. The first time that Manson was actually considered a dangerous offender was right before a scheduled parole hearing in 1952 when he held a razorblade to another boy’s throat and sodomized him. After this, he was transferred to the Federal Reformatory, which is where more dangerous juvenile

The fall of Berlin Wall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The fall of Berlin Wall - Essay Example After German invasion of the Soviet Union and the end of Nazi war, the four nations decided to divide Berlin the capital of Germany into four parts. Thereafter, a Cold War ensued between U.S and Soviet Union leading to the division of Germany into East and West Germany with East Germany under control of USSR and West Germany under the other three superpowers that had united their occupations to form Federal Republic of Germany. A wall was erected to divide the two Germans thus preventing travel or communication with either side of the divide. However, in 1989 after much pressure from civic organizations in East Germany and after an announcement by USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev that â€Å"the days of monolithic Soviet Bloc were over† thus relinquishing its hold on former satellite states (Fulbrook 243; Turner 230) the ‘iron curtain’ of Europe came tumbling down. ... This led to mass movement of East Germans through Hungary-Austria border and others through Czechoslovakia while still others sought refuge in West Germany embassies in Prague and Warsaw until it reached crisis levels. There was shortage of housing in West Germany plus a strain on its economy. This was also a blow to the East as it lost much of its productive population. At first, German Democratic Republic (GDR) tried to imprison immigrants in Eastern Europe while conducting ‘house arrests’ in GDR to stop them but it did not work. Those who went and came back from the West came with new ideas and view of the world thus pressure began mounting on the government for reforms. This led to peaceful non-violent demonstrations, prayer meetings and discussions by churches. These Leipzig demonstrations were met with violence especially by the Stagi (secret political police) but in the end the SED led by Erich Honecker agreed to dialogue (Fulbrook 245). Honecker instituted few re forms but the GDR citizens were not satisfied. They wanted democratization and free elections. As such, the movement to the West continued and by September, more than 3500 GDR citizens in Hungary were demanding to be allowed to leave for the West (Turner 227). Some went to Warsaw to demand that West Germany embassy to allow them to leave for Federal Republic. Due to pressure by international media, SED allowed those in Prague and Warsaw to travel. However, in early October, it closed borders to GDR leading to unrest. Independent civic organizations such as the New Forum, Democracy Now Democratic Awakening, and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were formed. They were all demanding for free elections and removal of restrictions on travel. To appease the

Decision Paper Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Decision Paper - Case Study Example Presently, the school has two payment models, which are the fixed tuition fee system and the after care school payment. In both instances, there are variations with how much parents would pay; especially with the after care fee. With the tuition fee, the difference in amount of money to pay comes in as a result of existing discount systems for parents who qualify and fall within discount criteria. With the after school system, the difference comes in how many hours a student would be engaged in the system. This means that the billing system is complicated because of the differences. However, the billing system is typically manual whereby parents have to make payments directly to the vice principal and in her office. One other situation that creates a bit of difficulty with the present billing and information system; apart from its manual nature is that the payment procedure allows for two modes of payments, which are paying in bulk and paying in installment. Generally, this involves high cost and time for the vice principal in keeping records of various times of billing that payments are made. But for the inability of the information system to handle complex processes including the billing system of the school, the school would have grown beyond its present grade 3 level. The fact of the case is that because the information system is highly manual and complicated, the administrative term of the school hardly have any extra time to undertake administration programs that are centered on growth and expansion. If the principals and administrative term had for the past twenty (20) years dealt with something more advanced and modern, they would have spent less time managing the billing system of the school such that they could have concentrated their time on publishing for the physical expansion of the school. Diagrammatically, the billing and information system uses Microsoft Excel software that contain the following data about students and payments. Student Name Pa rent Name discount on fixed fees Monthly fixed tuition fee Monthly fixed after-care fee Discounted fixed fees Monthly â€Å"drop-in† fees Total monthly fee Payment received Amount paid to date Amount outstanding Business Process Improvement The shortcoming of the old system is its manual nature, which makes working on the billing system cumbersome, difficult and time consuming. It was indeed based on these shortcoming and weaknesses that the new information and billing system was designed. The new billing system embraces and encompasses the new approach to technological development because it has its entire operational component rooted in technological operations. This is to say that there is virtually no need and use of manual manipulations to get the new system to run or start and complete a billing process. The new billing system is typically an online process that gives parents the pleasure of making payments from the comfort of their homes and offices. This means that th ere is a major advantage whereby the need to walk distances from people’s home to the school to make payment has been eliminated. The role of the vice principal to spend almost three quarters of her duties and time in the school overseeing the payment of fees will also stop. This means that there is going to be more time for the school to concentrate on its new expansion

Looking for Alaska Essay Example for Free

Looking for Alaska Essay John Green’s 2006 novel Looking for Alaska personally affected me as I could relate to one of the main characters Miles (Pudge). The theme of belonging was also very relevant as this novel touches on the concern of Miles fitting into his new school and finding out how everything works at Culver Creek Preparatory. I directly can relate to Miles in this sense as I am still new and am trying to figure out how my new school works and also finding a friendship group that I am comfortable in. This novel is great because it raises questions about individuals understanding of true friendship, love, loyalty and having a sense of belonging. It shows the importance of truly living life to the fullest rather that just watching it fly by. The conflicts within the characters themselves lead readers inward to examine how much everyone needs a sense knowing where we belong. Pudge buys the cigarettes to show that he can be a part of his new friendship group’s crowd. A certain amount of peer pressure was probably involved, with Pudge worried about ‘fitting in’ and making friends. â€Å"The Colonel talked me into paying five dollars for a pack of Marlboro Lights I had no intention of ever smoking. † I think that by Miles giving into this peer pressure he would hope that it would make him feel more normal and apart of that what his friends were partaking in. The use of first person narrative point of view allowed me to experience things as Miles does. It gave me a deeper understanding of how he is affected by people, events and his own reactions and feelings as the novel progresses. This is no more clearly seen than in the event of Alaska dying, I was limited to Miles’ own feelings and emotions surrounding her death. The idea of guilt and loss becomes apparent as we see him struggle to deal with her death and the role he played in it, with him trying to figure out where he belongs. He experiences a loss of innocence as he is forced to re-evaluate his philosophy on life and find his own place in the world. Alaska’s death aids in Miles’ coming-of-age journey. â€Å"I felt the total loss of her, still reeling from the idea that she was not only gone from this world, but from them all† This can be very relatable for other audiences who might have suffered a great loss like Miles’. Looking for Alaska depicts many messages about one’s vital need to belong, some of which I can personally relate to. As well as other aspects of the novel that other audiences can personally relate to.

Fundamental Strategies Towards Sustainable Construction Construction Essay

Fundamental Strategies Towards Sustainable Construction Construction Essay Abstract- Since the construction industry has great impact on the environment, the consideration of sustainable development through sustainable construction is needed. Sustainable construction is a way for the building industry to move towards achieving sustainable development, taking into account the environmental, socio-economic and cultural issues. Specifically, it involves issues such as design and management of buildings, materials and building performance, energy and resource consumption. Therefore, sustainable construction provides solutions that require optimization all sort of environmental impacts since global warming is no longer a remote concept but a real threat to the future of mankind. This paper is review of sustainable practice in construction industry. Mixed methods of quantitative research by way of questionnaire survey and qualitative research using semi structured interview will be applied. For the first stage of data collection, the quantitative method will be a pplied to identify the barriers in implementing the sustainable construction. On the other hand, qualitative method will be used to produce strategies for the Malaysian construction participants to implement the sustainable construction. Interview session will be conducted among experienced professionals in construction industry in order to generate their opinion towards the implementation of sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry. At the end of the research, discussion and recommendation will be covered, summarising the research content. This research is attempted to develop a framework policy of sustainable construction in Malaysia. A new strategies and guidelines seem to be part of the framework design. The framework derived from this research will be used as the criteria to benchmark the gaps in process and strategy for sustainable construction industry in order to capture good practices in terms of minimising environmental impacts and improve Malaysian read iness towards the sustainable issues. Keywords- Global warming, sustainable development, sustainable construction, environmental impact, policies Introduction The newly launched National Green Technology Policy in 2009 reflects Malaysian Governments seriousness in driving the message that clean and green is the way forward towards sustainable construction which will benefit current and future issues related to economic, social and environment and also quality of life. Such policy showed that government were seriously encouraged the efforts in tackling all related green issues in the country that complement the global vision on sustainable development. This research will be looking into the sustainable practices in Malaysian construction industry and will be focusing on the sustainable policy in other Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan which very much active in Green Technology and sustainable projects. The reason for this is to show the gaps that should be filled in by the policy makers in order to catch up with the current developments that have been happening in other countries. The purpose of this paper is to disclose the overall structure of the research that is currently being undertaking by the researcher. Therefore, it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss any findings from any of the research methodology adapted to date. PROBLEM STATEMENT Nowadays, one of the most pressing concerns for this industry is global warming which is an increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans as a result of the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere [1]. Global warming, sometimes called climate change, is causing an increase in the earths near-surface temperature due to changes in the atmospheric composition. Many scientists believe recently observed global warming is partially caused by greenhouse gas emissions from energy production, transportation, industry and agriculture [2] (Oh and Chua, 2010; Radhi, 2009). In Malaysia, the major contributor of the greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide emissions and the trend has been increasing every year since 1982. The global carbon dioxide emission has risen significantly from 19,380 million tons in 1980 to 31,577 million tons in 2008. It is predicted that carbon dioxide emission will increase to 40 billion tons in year 2030 if no tremendous effort are thrown in to mitigate it [3-4]. In addition, according to Dato Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui Minister Of Energy, Green Technology And Water in his speech in the ASEAN Affairs and the Malaysia-Europe Forum, greenhouse gas emissions in Malaysia has increased substantially by 13% and 32% per GDP and per capita respectively between 1994 and 2000. Malaysian total greenhouse gas emissions increased by 55% in 2000 when compared with the 1994 levels. Furthermore, he stated that Malaysias emission of CO2 per capita which is about 7.1 tonne per capita was higher than the average for Asia Pacific of 2.6 tonne per capita based on the National Communications Report. Since global warming has emerged as the most serious environmental issues of our time and since sustainability becoming an important issue of economics and political debates worldwide therefore, it is vital important for Malaysian construction industry to further implement the sustainable construction which eliminates the negative impact on the construc tion industry. At present, Malaysia is a population with about 27.73 million covering area of 329,750 km2 based on the latest census in 2008 and the GDP grew at an average rate over 5.7% during the last 6 years [5]. As such, being a fast industrializing country, it is expected that an increased need for more houses, buildings and public infrastructure. Due to that matter, the government introduces the Sustainable Concept that can be applied to the construction industry to maintain the ecosystem and built environment as well. While standard building practices are guided by short term economic considerations, sustainable construction is based on best practices which emphasize long term affordability, quality and efficiency (Isover, 2009). Sustainable construction, which has inevitably been dubbed green construction, describes the responsibility of the construction industry in attaining sustainability (Nazirah, 2009). Besides that, sustainable construction aims at reducing the environmental impact of a building over its entire lifetime, while optimizing its economic viability and the comfort and safety of its occupants (Aguilar, 2008; Isover, 2009; PediaPress, 2009). Furthermore, sustainable construction is all about maintaining a balance between the human need for buildings for shelter and business operations and infrastructure for higher quality of well-being at one hand, and preserving natural resources and ecosystems, on which we and future generation depend at the other hand (Singh, 2007; Nazirah and Aini, 2010). As mentioned previously, sustainable construction is seen as a way for the construction industry to contribute to the effort to achieve sustainable development. However, in Malaysia, the green movement is still at low level where sustainable projects in Malaysia are mostly at the pioneer stage [6]. She pointed out that the modest number of sustainable projects being built in Malaysia is a sign of the slow intake of the sustainability concept among construction prac titioner. Thus, this indicates that the concerted efforts by the government, non-governmental and education institutions have not fully penetrated into construction activities. Looking the above statement, it can be conclude that there is still lack of effort in the application of the sustainable concept among construction practitioner and this scenario shown that it seems difficult for the Malaysian construction industry to further implement the sustainable construction. Thus, more efforts are needed and should be directed towards realising the green agenda of the industry to enhance the level of environmental awareness and civic consciousness among the people to build sustainably in the future. Therefore, this research will identify the barriers in implementing the sustainable construction in Malaysian Construction Industry. Government policies have been recognised as important instruments in driving the market for sustainable buildings [7]. At recent, the green technology promotion was further emphasized in the 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010). This indicate that government were seriously encouraged the efforts in tackling all related green issues in the country that complement the global vision on sustainable development. The establishment of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water to replace the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia in early 2009 reflects Malaysias seriousness in driving the message that clean and green is the way forward towards creating an economy that is based on sustainable solutions. The launch of the new National Green Technology Policy in April 2009 by the current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, shall provide guidance and create new opportunities for businesses and industries to impact on the economic growth positively. The National Green Technol ogy Policy is built on four pillars which are seek to attain energy independence and promote efficient utilization, conserve and minimize the impact on the environment, enhance the national economic development through the use of technology and improve the quality of life for all [8]. The National Policy on Environment seeks to integrate environment considerations into development activities to foster long-term economic growth and human development and to protect as well as enhancing the quality of environment. Thus, the National policy is seen as a major catalyst of the governments strategies in order to promote sustainable construction since sustainable construction is a way for the building industry to move towards achieving sustainable development. More strategies and actions should be pursued actively to speed up the process in creating sustainable oriented construction industry which is paramount towards building a sustainable future. Therefore, this research is an attempt to address the issues of sustainable construction and what approaches needs to be implemented for sustainable construction in Malaysia. THE EMERGENCE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainability has become an important issue worldwide. There is a growing concern for sustainability due to severe negative impacts of human development activities in the earth. The term sustainable development is basically emerged from The World Commission on Environment and Development established by the United Nations in 1983 and now known as the Brundtland Commission. The report, Our Common Future in the publication of Brundland Report provided the most simple and widely used definition for sustainable development as development to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [9]. The concept was given currency at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, and reinforced at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002. UNCED saw the first global agreement on programmes for action in all areas relating to sustainable development, as documented in Agenda 21 [10]. During the United Nations Earth Summit held by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Rio de Janeiro (1992), a sustainable development was defined as improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco systems. This definition has an impact on the economic, social and environmental development and was later formally adopted worldwide [11]. This has lead to a growing concern around the world to improve the way of our development into a more responsible way without destroying the world we lived in. SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION Buildings, infrastructure and the environment are part of our living environment thus affecting our living conditions, social well-being and health. Hence, it is important to explore environmentally and economically sound design and development techniques for buildings and infrastructure for them to be sustainable, healthy and affordable, and also which encourage innovation in construction [11]. Previously, the concern on environment is relatively a small part of most of construction development. However, with the growing awareness on environmental protection due to the depletion of non-renewable resources, global warming and extremity of destruction to ecology and biodiversity impact, this issue have gain wider attention by the construction practitioners worldwide. Many efforts are being directed to build sustainable in construction world. The direction of the industry is now shifting from developing with environmental concern as a small part of the process into having the developme nt process being integrated within the wider context of environmental agenda [12]. With the implementation of sustainable construction, the construction industry is bound to bring about positive and proactive changes such as less pollution, waste and even constitutes to the well being of future generations. Therefore, the construction activities must work and comply with the need to protect and sustain the environment. As a consequence, achieving sustainability means achieving quality of life. Existing research shows that construction activities are a major contributor to environmental pollution [13]. Hence, sustainable development is an answer to reduce the major impact on the environment. Sustainable development requires the construction industry itself to be sustainable first. There are three elements that are related to sustainable development, which are economic, social and environment element [14]. Sustainable in economic includes increase profitability and competitiveness. Sustainable in social elements covers aspects of the delivery of buildings and infrastructures that meets the satisfactorily meets the requirement of the users and stakeholders. While sustainable in environment would consider the concerns on the conservation of natural ecosystems and minimization of environmental impacts and the consumption of energy and natural resources [10, 14]. Apart from that, sustainable construction is seems as a way for the construction industry to contribute to the effort to achieve sustainable development [6]. In brief, sustainable construction is the construction that contributes to the sustainable development. Abidin [15] suggested that the approach of sustainable construction will enable the construction practitioners to be more responsible to the environmental protection needs without neglecting the social and economic needs in striving for better living. Therefore, the challenge of the construction industry is to find the balance between three main pillars; environmental, economic and social in order for the construction industry to move towards sustainability. Since the construction industry has a great significant impact on the environment, the implementation of sustainable construction is a must. According to Tan, Shen and Yao [13] sustainable construction refers to the integration of environmental, social and economic considerations into construction business strategies and practices. It is the application of the principles of sustainable development to the comprehensive construction cycle from the extraction of raw materials, through the planning, design and construction of buildings and infrastructure, until their final deconstruction and management of the resultant waste. However Hamid, Noor, Kamar, Ghani, Zain, and Rahim [16] further explained that sustainable construction is the creation and responsible maintenance of a health built environment, based on ecological principles and by means of an efficient use of resources. In addition, sustainable construction is a way for the building industry to move towards achieving sustainable development, taking into account the environmental, socio-economic and cultural issues [11, 17]. Aguilar [18] pointed out that the adoption of sustainable construction practices also offers environmental protections as well economic advantages for consumers and communities offering substantial savings in the buildings life-cycle operating costs. Singh [19] further added that sustainability in construction is all about following suitable practices in terms of choice of materials, their sources, construction methodologies as well as design philosophy so as to be able to improve performance, decrease the environmental burden of the project, minimize waste and be ecologically friendlier. Consequently, sustainable construction deals with limited resources especially energy and how to reduce the impacts on the natural environment. Previous studies related to the research There were various research has been conducted in the area of sustainable construction and the quantity seems to increase over the years since environmental issues become more concerning worldwide. The research that has been done in the area of sustainable construction can be grouped into four which are research on sustainable practices, research on opportunities and awareness, research on materials and research on policy. The research that has been done in sustainable practices for instance is by Tan, Shen and Yao [13] which conducted a research on sustainable construction practice and contractors competitiveness which focuses on the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness. The findings showed that there is no unique relationship between the two variables. But using a long-term view, sustainability performance will have greater contribution to business competitiveness in the future. Whereas Chen, Okudan, and Riley [20] conducted a research on sus tainable performance criteria for construction method selection in concrete buildings. The study was based on a qualitative research approach. In her study, she has identified a list of possible opportunities and strategic directions for government and industry stakeholders consideration in view of the future development. While Shen, Tam, Leona and Ji [21] discussed major challenges of conducting project feasibility study to the sustainable construction practices with reference to Mainland China construction industry. The study demonstrated that there is a need for shifting the traditional approach of project feasibility study to a new approach for embracing the principles of sustainable development. Besides, Shafii [11] has done a research on sustainable Construction in the developing countries of Southeast Asia and found that the status of sustainable construction in Southeast Asia is still in its infancy. Reffat [22] in his research addressed the essential requirements for develo ping sustainable construction in developing countries including considering sustainability as a necessity, efficient management of resources, shared responsibility, quality improvement of construction processes and products, improving the capacity of construction sector, and the need for integrated research. The innovation of building materials and technologies as an opportunity of sustainable construction in developing countries is introduced. A tool for sustainable building is also presented. Mohamad [23] conducted a research on Principles of Sustainable Development in Ibn Khalduns Economic Thought which focused on the nature of pursuable development in the economic model of Ibn Khaldun. The researcher cursorily examines Ibn Khaldun famous work al-Muqadimmah, as well as the interpretations of his work offered by contemporary scholars. This research reinterprets those views and concludes that the economic growth theory of Ibn Khaldun suggests sustainable development if one opts for a moderate rate of integrated development. Ibn Khaldunà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s theory of development runs towards the same direction as that of Basic Needs, Dematerialisation, and de-growth in our time. Overconsumption, corruption of morality, and the greed for luxury are recognised the indicators of fall of civilisations which are taken here to be the indicators of unsustainable development. His views can guide Muslim countries in drafting development policy and also can be used by educators for promoting sustainable development in Muslim Countries. A research done by Destatte [24] discussed that foresight could be a major tool in tackling sustainability as well as one of the best methods of preparing sustainable strategies and policies since the efforts made to construct specific methods dedicated to building sustainable strategies seem rather weak. Futurists themselves underestimate the relationship between sustainable development and foresight, even if they are talking about sustainabl e planning. Research on opportunities and awareness for instance has been done by [6, 15] on awareness and application of sustainable construction concept by Malaysian developers. This study has been conducted to investigate the level of awareness, knowledge and implementation of sustainable practices based on the perceptions of the project developers in Malaysia. The findings was only large developers are beginning to take heed towards sustainable implementation in their projects. Due to limited understanding and the concern about cost, many developers are still reluctant and uncertain concerning pursuit of sustainability in their projects. Whereas in the research, The Way Forward of Sustainable Construction and Green Technology In Malaysia conducted by Hamid, Noor, Kamar, Ghani, Zain, and Rahim [10] investigated the challenges facing by the industry in developing sustainable agenda and discusses Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)s initiatives in implementing sustainable agenda. Fur thermore, he highlighted current research on sustainable construction and green technology and provides strategic recommendations as the way forward. While Shafii, Ali, and Othman [11] in their study focused on the public private initiatives, partnerships and international co-operations to support sustainable building development in Malaysia. The finding was there is increasing public awareness and interest in how buildings affect the environment, worker productivity and public health. As a result, both the public and private sector are beginning to demand buildings that optimize energy use; promote resource efficiency; and improve indoor environmental quality. Developers, owners, operators, insurers, and the public at large are beginning to value and market the benefits of sustainable building. Despite these responses and demand, the development in sustainable building is relatively slow; this in part, might be due to the lack of incentives and regulatory procedures to guide susta inable building construction. The Green Building Mission launched recently by the Malaysian Government is an indication of a promising effort to ensure sustainable production and delivery of the construction industry products to fulfill these demands. The paper also discussed on the trends, challenges and barriers for implementations of sustainable building with recommendations for establishing clear policy targets. Research that has been conducted on materials basically focused on the sustainable material in construction industry and based on laboratory oriented. For instance research conducted by Voo [25] presents an overview of the material characteristics of a Malaysia blend of ultra-high performance ductile concrete (UHPdC) know as DURA. The comparison studies show that many structures constructed from UHPdC are generally more environmentally sustainable than built of the conventional reinforced concrete with respect to the reduction of CO2 emissions and embodied energy. However, in this paper, the researcher intends to focus on sustainable policy. Generally, there is no similar thorough research which has been done by any other researcher in the Malaysian construction industry regarding on policy since Malaysia still do not have policy on the sustainable construction based on the preliminary interview that has been done with Encik Ishamuddin bin Mazlan from the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA). If any, it merely focuses on the Environmental policy for instance a research conducted by Ambali [26] on Malaysian Experience in Policy of Sustainable Environment. The findings of the paper have shown an empirical relationship between environmental degradations and indicators of human development activities in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world. However, the paper reflects some fundamental issues that need to be addressed by the government for future direction of its policy efforts towards protection of natural resources and the envir onment at large. Whereas Zhang and Wen [27] in her research, review and challenges of policies of environmental protection and sustainable development in China determine how best to coordinate the relationship between the environment and the economy by taking a look at the development of Chinese environmental policy in order to improve quality of life and the sustainability of Chinas resources and environment. Examples of important measures include the adjustment of economic structure, reform of energy policy, development of environmental industry, pollution prevention and ecological conservation, capacity building, and international cooperation and public participation. While a research conducted by Hezri and Hasan [28] views the recent history of Malaysias evolving policy response to development needs and environmental change as consisting of four distinct stages. Despite an impressive array of policy statements and strategies to implement sustainable development, many challenges remain today. A clear articulation of normative principles of sustainable development is of paramount importance, as is the monumental task of policy implementation. The article argues that the trajectory of Malaysias policy on natural resources and environmental issues bears the characteristics of path dependent evolution. At PhD level, Kumorotomo [29] discussed the process of decision-making on Indonesian fiscal decentralisation policy in order to explain policy changes and continuities. It focuses on developments from 1974 to 2004. Based on the review of the previous studies related to the research that have been discussed above there seems no study that has been done (yet) in the area of sustainable construction policy and this will be discussed by the researcher in this Master research. Therefore, the gap has been identified and in order to contribute to the existing body of knowledge. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this research is to develop framework policy for the Malaysian Construction participants to move towards sustainable construction. In order to achieve this aim the following objectives were identified: Objective 1: To determined the importance of implementing the sustainable construction in Malaysian Construction Industry. Objective 2: To identified the barriers in order to implement sustainable construction in Malaysian Construction Industry. Objective 3: To develop fundamental strategies in promoting the sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Research questions serves as a guide in fulfill the aim and objectives of the research. In order to resolve the research problem, the following research questions were applied: Research question for objective 1 What and why sustainable construction is important in the Malaysian construction industry? How important of implementation of sustainable construction in Malaysian? How sustainable construction can reduce the global warming or climate change in Malaysia? Research question for objective 2 What are the barriers in implementing the sustainable construction in Malaysian Construction Industry? How to minimise the barriers? Research question for objective 3 What are the strategies in promoting the sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry? What are the roles of various sectors in promoting the sustainable construction in Malaysian Construction Industry? 2.1 What are the roles of the government agencies? 2.2 Private sector? Developers? Contractors? RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology serves as a guide in achieving the aim and objectives of the study. This section would focus on the method of study to be carried out in order to achieve the objective of this research. In this research, mix method of questionnaire survey and case study will be applied. Quantitative Approach For the first stage of data collection, the quantitative method will be applied in order to identify the barriers in implementing sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry. Qualitative Approach On the other hand, qualitative method will be used in order to produce strategies to further implement the sustainable construction. Interview session will be conducted among experienced professionals who involved directly in construction industry. The aim is to generate their opinion towards the implementation of sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry. SIGNIFICANT OF THE RESEARCH This research will add to the body of knowledge that with the implementation of sustainable construction the construction industry is bound to bring about positive changes for instance less pollution, waste and even constitutes of well being future generations. This research is expected to develop a framework policy of sustainable construction in Malaysia. A new strategies and guidelines seem to be part of the framework design. This research will emphasize the importance of implementation of sustainable construction in Malaysian construction industry in order to sustain ecological system and enhance the social well being of all Malaysian citizens. Besides that, this research will identify the barriers in implementing the sustainable construction so that methods can be taken in order to minimise those barriers and finally come out with the strategies so that Malaysian participants can further implement the sustainable construction. Apart from that, the findings that meet the objective s of this research will open new fields for future researchers and academicians to carry out extensive researches on the topics concerned. In addition, data and output analyzed from the findings can be further referred or elaborated in any educational deliverance or scholarly materials. Therefore it is anticipated that this research will generate interests from the public, academicians and also practitioners. In short, the outcome of this research will affect various parties involved in construction industry including government and private agencies, construction suppliers and finally end users. Therefore, this research will certainly be beneficial to all parties. EXPECTED FINDINGS This research is attempted to develop a framework policy of sustainable construction in Malaysia since there is no specific policy on sustainable construction. Compared to other developed countries such as UK, Sweden and even our neighborhood countries like Singapore and Thailand have their own policies on Sustainable construction. Therefore, a new strategies and guidelines seem to be part of the framework design. At the end of the research it targets to improve the practice of sustainable policy is Malaysian construction industry and indirectly assists the developers, architects and contractors in improving the performance of our industry towards sustainable issues.

Digital Signal formatting

Digital Signal formatting Introduction: Digital Signal formatting is the process of transforming information from one format into another.. This is often used in many digital devices and for communication processes. A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete (discontinuous) values. By contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and other measurements of continuous systems. Now we discuss about in the detail signal format in digital systems. Non-return-to-zero format: One of the simplest ways to transmit digital data is by having a separate clock and data line. In this approach, a clock signal of constant frequency is synchronised with its corresponding data. Depending upon the preference of the designer, the data is either latched on the rising or falling edge of the clock. For a given data signalling rate that is the bit rate, the NRZ code have requires only one half of the band-width required by the ing. When we used to show data in an asynchronous communication scheme, the absence of a neutral state requires other methods for data backup to replace method used for error detection when using synchronization data when a separate clk signal is available here. NRZ Level itself is not a synchronous system but besides encoding that can be used in either a synchronous or asynchronous transmission environment that is with or with out an external clock signal involved in it. Because of that it is not strictly important to discuss how the NRZ-Level encoding act as on a clock edge and during a clock cycle since all transitions happen in the given amount of time represents the actual implied integral clock cycle. The real question is that of sampling the high/low state be received correctly provided the transmission line has stabilizes for that bit when the physical line level is sampled at the receiving end. However may be it is handy to see NRZ transitions as happening on the trailing clock edge in order to compare NRZ-Level to other encode methods such the given Manchester coding which require clock edge information and to see the difference between the NRZ Mark and NRZ Inverted signals. Uni-polar Non-Return-to-Zero Level: One is represents by the one physical level Zero is represented by an other levels which is a + voltage level. In the clock language the 1 transitions and remain highest on the trailing clock edge of the previous bit and 0 transitions or remains low on the trailing clock edge of the previous bit, or may be just the opposite. This allows for long series without change, which makes synchronization difficult. There is only the solutions are to not send the bytes or data without uses of transitions. The fig show a line represents the physical zero under the biased logical zero shows the less usually case of 1 being a higher voltage level. Non Return-to-Zero Space: One is represents by no change in physical level.0 is represents by the change in physical stage. In clock language the level transitions on the trailing clock peak point of previous bit to represent 0. That change on zero is used by High Level Data Link and USB. They avoid long intervals of time of no transition whether there may be, when the data contains long sequence of 1 bit by using zero bit insertion. HDLC transmitters insert a zero bit after five contiguous one bits except when transmitting the frame. USB transmitters insert a zero bit after six continuously 1 bits. The receiver at the far end use the each transition both from zero bits in the data and these extra 0 bits for maintain clock synchronize. The receiver rather than ignore these non zero bits. Non-Return-to-Zero Inverted (NRZI) NRZI-transition occurs for a zero Non return to zero, inverted is technique of detect a binary to a analog signal for transmission over some transmitter medium. There are 2 level NRZI signal has a transition at a clock boundary if there is the bit being sent is a logical one and doesnt having a transition if the bit being transmit is a logical zero. 1 is represented by a transition of the physical level. 0 has no transition. Also the NRZI may be take the opposite convention in Universal Serial Bus signalling, when in the Mode one transition when signalling zero and steady level when signalling one. The transition occurs upon the leading edge of the clock for the given bit. This distinguishes NRZI from NRZ mark. Even thoughr, even NRZI can have long series of zeros (ones if transitioning on o), so clock recovery can be difficult unless some form of run length limited coding is used on top. Magnetic disk and tape generally uses fixed rate RLL codes while USB uses bit stuffing, which is more efficient, but results in a variable data rate it takes lower levelto send a long string of 1 bits over USB than it does to send a long string of 0 bits. Return-to-zero The binary signal is encoded using rectangular pulse amplitude modulation with polar return-to-zero code Return-to-zero (RZ) describes a line code used in telecommunications signals in which the signal drops (returns) to zero between each pulse. Returns to zero modulation formats are becoming increasingly popular for long-haul optical fiber transmission systems at bit rates of 10 Gb/s and above. Previously, the benefits of RZ formats were often overlooked, because they require larger bandwidth than non-return-to-zero (NRZ) formats, and their generation typically requires two cascaded Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulators. In recent years, it has been shown that RZ can have superior performance over NRZ in certain regimes where chromatic dispersion and fiber nonlinearities are present [2]-[4], as the RZ pulse may exhibit soliton-like properties. In addition, RZ has greater tolerance to polarization-mode dispersion than NRZ Recent research has compared the performance of RZ with different modulation techniques, including binary ON-OFF keying (OOK) and binary differential phase-shift keying (2-DPSK ) RZ pulses are frequently generated by driving an MZ modulator by a sinusoidal drive waveform; we assume throughout this paper that RZ pulses are generated in this manner. We define the pulse duty cycle as TFWHM/TS, where TFWHM is the pulsewidth (full-width at half-maximum intensity), and TS is the symbol duration. Depending on the drive waveform amplitude and bias, RZ pulses can have duty cycles of 33%, 50%, and 67%. In particular, 67% RZ is often referred to as carrier-suppressed RZ (CSRZ). Biphase mark code: The biphase mark code is a type of encoding format for binary data streams. When a binary data stream is sent without modification via a channel, there can be long series of logical ones or zeros without any transitions which makes clock recovery and synchronization difficult. Streams encoded in NRZ are affected by the same problem. Using biphase mark code makes synchronization easier by ensuring that there is at least one transition on the channel between every data bit; in this way it behaves much like the Manchester code scheme. Every bit of the original data is represented as two logical states which, together, form a bit. Every logical 1 in the input is represented as two different bits (10 or 01) in the output. The input logical 0 is represented as two equal bits (00 or 11) in the output. Every logical level at the start of a cell is inversion of the level at the end of the previous cell. In BMC output the logical 1 and 0 are represented with the same voltage amplitude but opposite polarities, as shown in the following image: These coding provides a better results there is a change in the polarity at the minimum every two bits. That is not need to know the polarity of the sent signal since the information is not kept in the actual values of the voltage but in their change: in other words it does not matter whether a logical 1 or 0 is received.At last BMC code signal has 0 average DC voltage, therefore decreasing the necessary sending power and also reduces the electromagnetic disturbance generated by the transmission line. All these + aspects are achieved at the expense of doubling clock frequency. Manchester encoding: Manchester encoding offers distinct advantages over other digital encoding schemes. It has become a popular standard for low-cost radio frequency communication of digital data. In reality, Manchester encoding was the result of research done at the University of Manchester into phase modulation techniques used for reading and writing digital data onto a magnetic storage device. Since that time, Manchester encoding has gained wide acceptance as the modulation scheme for low-cost radio-frequency transmission of digital data. One of the most significant characteristics of Manchester encoding is its unique way of representing digital data. Rather than representing data Construction of Manchester-encoded data: Manchester encoding is very easy to construct. You simply combine the serial bits to be encoded with the clock running at the bit-boundary rate When you compare the Manchester-encoded output with the bit stream, youll see the same waveform. Decoding Manchester-encoded Data Decoding Manchester-encoded data is as easy as encoding it. You simply perform an exclusive-OR of the Manchester encoded signal with a logical 1 at the bit-boundary sample points, as shown in Fig. Differential Manchester encoding: A more esoteric version of Manchester encoding is a scheme called Differential Manchester encoding (DME). Think of it as Manchester encoding on steroids. DME is a more efficient encoding scheme because it requires less bandwidth than standard Manchester encoding. The overhead of transmitting a data stream using DME is less because it doesnt require a preamble, which is used by the DPLL to lock onto the clock frequency. Because of this, DME can be found in networks, such as fast Ethernet over copper twisted-pair wiring. DME differs from standard Manchester encoding in one simple way: Manchester encoding represents binary data based on a positive or negative edge transition at each bit boundary. DME represents data by the presence or absence of a transition between two bit boundaries. Simply stated, if a transition occurs between a bit boundary, its represented as a binary 0. An absence of a transition signifies a binary 1. As a complement to this reintroduction to the basics of Manche ster encoding for lowbit serial network applications, a second article is available online at Embedded.com. The article will leverage from the theory presented here and offer a practical, real-world example that illustrates the simplicity of implementing Manchester encoding into a real embedded design. AMI (Alternate Mark Inversion) encode format : AMI (Alternate Mark Inversion) is a synchronous clock encoding technique which uses bipolar pulses to represent logical 1 values. It is therefore a three level system. A logical 0 is represented by no symbol, and a logical 1 by pulses of alternating polarity. The alternating coding prevents the build-up of a d.c. voltage level down the cable. This is considered an advantage since the cable may be used to carry a small d.c. current to power intermediate equipment such as line repeaters. AMI coding was used extensively in first generation PCM networks, but suffers the drawback that a long run of 0s produces no transitions in the data stream (and therefore does not contain sufficient transitions to guarantee lock of a DPLL). Successful transmission therefore relies on the user not wishing to send long runs of 0s and this type of encoding is not therefore transparent to the sequence of bits being sent. The HDB3 encoding scheme is one of many which have been developed to provide regular transitions irrespective of the pattern of data being carried. Example of AMI encoding The pattern of bits 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 encodes to + 0 0 0 0 + (the corresponding encoding using HDB3 is + 0 0 0 + + ). High Density Bipolar Order 3 Encoding: The HDB3 code is a bipolar signaling technique (i.e. relies on the transmission of both positive and negative pulses). It is based on Alternate Mark Inversion (AMI), but extends this by inserting violation codes whenever there is a run of 4 or more 0s. This and similar (more complex) codes have replaced AMI in modern distribution networks. Conclusion: The Digital signal formats are the techniques by which we uses the digital data in different formats for uses of different purposes. It is mostly used as wide applications in communication fields. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and other measurements of continuous systems by using these different encoding or digital formats techniques. Refrences: website links: http://www.docstoc.com/doccash/signup/?doc_id=2507650 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/encoding_format_(digital) http://pdfdatabase.com/index.php?q=signal+formats+in+digitalfiletype=2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-return-to-zero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_encoding http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse473-05/ftp/i_5cod/sld006.htm http://www.tpub.com/neets/tm/112-2.htm http://www.osun.org/alternate+mark+inversion+encoding-doc.html Books: Computer Networks and data communication by Frauzan. Computer networks by J.s katre (tech-max publisher) Signals and system by Sanjay Sharma.

Truman Capotes In Cold Blood: Comparison of Book and Movie Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "In Cold Blood" is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smith's internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You can't help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smith's case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is... Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: Comparison of Book and Movie Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "In Cold Blood" is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smith's internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You can't help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smith's case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is...

President Clinton’s Pentad Essay -- Burke Clinton Social Action Essays

President Clinton’s Pentad Throughout time, many theorists have studied modes of persuasion. The ancient Greeks focused on persuasive discourse in the public arena which allowed a democracy to function properly. However, more recently Kenneth Burke, a literary critic and philosopher, has also evaluated how our language influences social action. Yet unlike the ancient philosophers, Burke was interested in how not just public messages but all symbolic activity leads to persuasion of others. From this belief, Burke developed the theory of Dramatism which he defined as, "The study of human relation and motives by means of a methodical inquiry into cycles or clusters of terms and their function" (Hauser, 1998, October 30). He viewed life as a drama which contained a series of accounts with interacting parts that create meaning and persuasion (Gusfield, 1989). Burke coined many terms unique to his theory that he could apply to any situation involving persuasive communication. Therefore, Burke’s theory of Dram atism can be clearly illustrated by identifying his key terms and applying these to an instance of persuasive communication; however, this theory does not easily apply to other forms of communication. To begin, it is important to understand Burke’s main themes and the terms involved in each. Burke has three main themes in his theory: the necessary elements for a foundation which leads to persuasion, the tools needed to evaluate a persuasive situation, and the involvement of guilt in the outcome of the persuasive situation. A sequence of these three themes appear within persuasive communication. First, Burke focused his work on the use of persuasion in the social realm. Furthermore, in accordance with what was stated befor... ...his theory provides a clear understanding of rhetoric and its effects, but does not apply to all communication scenarios. Therefore, Burke’s theory of Dramatism is strong within a limited scope, but weak as an overarching theory of all communication. Works Cited Craig, R. (1998, November 9). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado. Desilet, G. (1972). Kenneth Burke’s Dramatism in Perspective. Santa Barbara. Griffin, E. (1997). A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Gusfield, J. (1989). On Symbols and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hauser, G. (1986). Introduction to Rhetorical Theory. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc. Hauser, G. (1998, November 2). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado. Hauser, G. (1998, October 30). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado.

Speeches in The Tempest versus As You Like It :: William Shakespeare

The speeches delivered by Prospero and Jacques each hold extensive contrasting differences. Both Prospero, the tempestuous protagonist in The Tempest, and Jacques, a minor melancholy character in As You Like It, see things in a dissimilar light. They have gone through things in their lives that have shaped their thoughts and opinions on certain topics. Prospero and Jacques’ show this in their moods and then in the subjects of which they speak. By perceiving the contrasting objects in Prospero and Jacques’ speeches, we find that they are quite different in character. Things that have happened, to both Prospero and Jacques, have had an effect on their moods. Before Prospero delivers his speech, he discovers that Miranda and Ferdinand are in love and declares happily, â€Å"It goes on, I see, as my soul prompts it† (Act 1 scene 2, (424-425). Then cheerfully adds, â€Å"So glad of this as they I cannot be, who are surprised withal. But my rejoicing† (Act 3 scene 1, (95-97). Jacques, on the other hand, when hearing Duke Senior state, â€Å"Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy† (Act 2 scene 7, (138-141) openly disagrees. He then proclaims, â€Å"to speak my mind, and I will through and through cleanse the foul body th’ infected world, if they will patiently receive my medicine† (Act 2 scene 7, (138-141). His view of the word seems to poison his mind resulting in his despondent mood. The events that occurred to Prospero and Jacques find a place in their thoughts and are responsible for altering their attitu des. The disposition of Prospero and Jacques’s speeches differ seeing as Prospero’s shows signs of happiness while Jacques’ only shows a depressing hue. Prospero shows a happy tint to his speech namely when he says â€Å"Be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended† (Act4 scene1, (147-148). Jacques, contrastingly, shows his ever-present melancholy personality by saying words that have negative tones such as â€Å"Mewling†¦puking†¦ whining†¦ [and] †¦unwilling† (Act2 scene7, (147†¦150). The attitudes that Prospero and Jacques have, reflect in the content of their speeches. Prospero speaks more about heavenly things while Jacques spends his whole speech addressing the life of man. Prospero seems to be fascinated by mostly spirits and heavenly structures as found in the following passage: â€Å"These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air †¦[along with] the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, [and] the solemn temples† (Act4 scene1, (148-153).

Participant Observation

Participant Observation Sports are important social mediums in our country, but basketball is the only sport where you can go to almost any park and play with complete strangers. While other sports involve diverse equipment and numerous amounts of players, basketball is a quick and easy game that only takes a court and a ball. While using the participant observation method, one can easily see how pickup basketball becomes a common stage for social interaction.While my original perspective of the sport was that of a friendly natured game among neighbors with a competitive aspect, my notes and observations revealed how diverse individuals who meet on the court can sometimes become aggressive to the point of hostility. As a gym member of 24 Hour Fitness, I regularly play basketball in their indoor gym. I chose the location in Hermosa Beach because of the diversity of players that attend there. Using the participant observation method, I was both observing and participating while taking notes (obviously not while playing, for that would be an incredible feat).In a time span of two hours, I ended up playing three games while observing six other games. The location I visited was crowded, while ten players were on the court (five against five), about twenty people were waiting on the sidelines throughout the night; however, this number changed as people grew either tired or impatient. On the sidelines was a list of names for people who wanted to play next. This called for a more organized system of who had next compared to parks where people keep track of who verbally called next.I found that about half of the players at the gym were African-American, while the rest of the players were mixed evenly between Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic. Certain players, based on body shape and skill level, were given different roles throughout the game. The ages of the players seemed to be mostly late twenties to early thirties, and at no point throughout my two hours being there did a woman enter the gym. Just as the demographics of the players were diverse, so was the gameplay.Some games were dominated by one key player, who scores most of the points, while other teams had strong team chemistry and relied on passing to the open player. I also noticed that when a team is dominated by one player that team usually ends up losing. The team that I played on was very pass oriented, while the team we played against was dominated by only two players. The other team assumed that since their other players were short and small, that they weren’t athletic enough to receive the ball, and because of this our team was able to double team the players who didn’t pass as much.Players match up to other players based on skill and body size, which is why I was guarded by someone very similar to me. I noticed that the biggest factor was height, meaning our tallest player guarded their tallest player while our shortest player guarded their shortest player. However, du ring almost every game players make switches according to skill level in order to have a more sufficient defense. Another important aspect of the game of pickup basketball is respect. When players call foul, even if they disagree with the call, the allow them to get the ball back.During game two, a person called foul but the player on the other team disagreed. As they began to argue about whether it was a foul or not, a teammate yelled out â€Å"respect the call†. After that he stopped arguing and gave him the ball. After I played, during the sixth game, a similar situation occurred in a more dramatic way. One player jumped and caught the ball, but flipped over another player, and landed straight on his back. After everyone saw he got up and was ok, the player through the ball â€Å"up top†, so they could check the ball out and play again.A player on the opposite team began to argue saying that he shouldn’t get the ball because his own player fouled him. After m uch hostile and loud arguing, I heard the injured player say, â€Å"if you really are that thirsty for the ball you can have it, if you really are that desperate for a win†. Everybody on the court agreed that the players allegation was a little too strict for a simple game of pickup basketball, and extreme competitiveness is frowned upon. Throughout the rest of the game the team did not pass it to him once, and before the game ended he quit.He became the focus of discussion for the rest of the night, as people began to criticize him behind his back. From my own personal experience, heated arguments over calls are not that uncommon in the sport of basketball, but usually from those with strong outgoing personalities. For the most part, the game is a civilized game where both teams compete for the win, and focus on teamwork and strategy. At the end of the day I found my perspective on this game had changed. The competitive nature of the game brought up the question: How importa nt is it to win? I observed that to some people the ules of basketball should be enforced strictly, so that the game is fair. However, the general consensus was that respecting other players safety and calls were more important. Nevertheless, I noticed that almost every game had some sort of argument that entailed. I concluded that there is a certain culture on the court that calls for a fair game and places winning as a priority. The sharp contrast to the other players who were only there for the fun and love of the game brings up questions on whether social or even economic backgrounds are what causes people to become so passionate about a seemingly frivolous game.