Green Computing Research Essay

The Green Computing research project is well underway and we have to select a research tool that will help with quality control. The choices are Cause and effect diagrams, control charts, Run charts, scatter diagrams, histograms, Pareto charts and flow charts. I am a huge fan of statistical analysis however; it is not one of the seven tools we have to work with. Therefore, I have chosen the Pareto Chart method to help with our quality control. A Pareto Chart will allow us to look at energy consumption over a period of time and break it down to what was the major factor leading to the increase or decrease. Therefore, we can evaluate changes made in hardware and processes and see which ones had the greatest or worst effect over that period. This will help to satisfy Ben and Ito’s concerns for the projects quality research and fulfill the company’s goal of reducing costs, increasing profit margin and at the same time becoming greener. This project should be fairly easy to map out. We will simply take a detailed analysis of the energy consumption of periods of time and then look to see what variables made different periods greater or less than others. The Pareto principle is sometimes referred to as the 80-20 rule (Schwalbe, 2011) where 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of the causes. This could also be considered inversely where 80% less energy consumption can be attributed to 20% better habits. This method can also easily be translated into a flowchart over time, allowing us to focus in on the energy consumption for processes, equipment and times of day. Once the problems or benefits are identified processes can be developed to act on them accordingly. The use of this method will help to break out the consumptions for the project team and leadership in a simple to follow diagram, that can be used in the decision making process. The Pareto tool works well when the processes can be easily categorized into benefits and detriments. Once the processes are categorized, then they can be prioritized. This is where the whole leadership team gets involved, to include the stakeholders. Then these prioritized categories can be made into a hierarchical structure with substance and value. This Pareto analysis chart is rather easy to produce in Microsoft Excel, which is a good thing because I am fairly competent with the process using MS Excel. We simply put in a table the consumption values during the determined period of study and then turn it into a chart and you have a visual of the consumption periods. We can then find the highest consumption periods and compare them to any changes or patterns differences from the lower periods. Then these values can be re-charted in another analysis chart to visually compare the major causes of energy consumption. In conclusion, the Pareto analysis will allow us to identify the major energy consumption issues or the major energy conservation savings factors and allow us to prioritize them in a hierarchical manner. Then the decision making process can begin to work to reduce the overall costs and save energy at the same time.

Australian Aborigines and Their Complex Kinship Essay

Aborigines have a complex system in relation to their social and marriage laws, based on the grouping of people within their society. To understand the complexities of their social organization, consider it this way: divide it first into three main parts. The first part is the physical structuring of society in terms of numbers – family, horde and tribe. Second, the religious structuring based on beliefs and customs, totems and marriage laws. (Kinship, 2005) These beliefs divide people into sections and subsections, totemic groups and clans. Third, there is also a kinship system that gives a social structuring. The social structuring and kinship system can become very difficult to understand for non-Aboriginal people, but is a natural part of life for Aborigines, and its details vary from tribe to tribe. There are three main aspects of Aboriginal social structure. The first aspect is the geographical structuring of the society. A tribe of around 500 people is made up of bands of about ten to twenty people each. (Australian, 2012) They join together for day to day hunting and food gathering activities. Each band of people can be called a horde. Within each horde are a number of families. The second part is the religious and totemic structuring of the society. On a religious level the society in much of Australia is divided into two moieties. Within each moiety are significant animals, plants, or places, which are of a highly religious nature. Each person, as well as belonging to one or the other moiety, is also connected to one or more of these subjects, called totems. The third part of their social structuring is the relationships between people, otherwise the kinship system. The kinship system allows each person in Aboriginal society to be named in relation to one another. When Aborigines acknowledge an outsider into their group, they have to name that person in relation to themselves, to allow that person to fit into their society, because they need to have in their own minds the kinship relation of that person to themselves, and that person must have a defined social position. The value of a kinship system is that it structures people’s relationships, responsibilities and manners towards each other. This in turn defines such matters as, who they will have look after children if a parent dies, who can marry whom, who is accountable for another person’s debts and who will care for the sick, weak and old. The kinship system allows individual naming for up to 70 connection terms in some tribes. (Australian, 2012) It is the system where brothers of one’s father are also called, in one sense, father. Cousins may be called brother or sister. A person knows who their real mother and father are, but under kinship laws, they may have similar family obligations to their aunts and uncles, the same as they would to their mother and father, and this is shared. These groups are further described as tribes. In Australia, tribes are really language groups, made up of people sharing the same language, customs, and general laws. The people of a tribe share a common bond and in their own language, their word for man is often the word used for the name of the tribe. For example, in Arnhem Land, people are called Yolgnu because Yolgnu name for man. People from another tribe are outsiders, because a tribe is like a small country with its own language, some tribal groups also use the term nation to describe themselves, such as the Larrakeyah tribe around Darwin calling itself the Larrakeyah Nation. (Kinship, 2005) Tribes were generally not a war- making group and people generally use their moiety or clan name to describe themselves individually, rather than their tribal name. There were an estimated 500 Aboriginal tribes in Australia at the time of European settlement. Out of all of those tribes about 400 of them are still together. (Australian, 2012) Throughout Australia the moiety system divides all the members of a tribe into two groups. These two groups are based on a connection with certain animals, plants, or other pieces of their environment. (Kinship, 2005) When a person is born into one or the other group it does not change throughout their life. A person belonging to one moiety has to marry a person of the opposite moiety. This is called an exogamous system, meaning that marriage has to be external to the group. The clan is an important unit in Aboriginal society, having its own name, territory and is the land-owning unit. A clan is a group of about forty to fifty people with a common territory and totems and having their own group name. (Kinship, 2005) It consists of groups of extended families. Usually, men born into the clan remain in the clan territory. Not all members of a clan live on the clan territory. The sisters and daughters of one clan go to live on their husbands’ clan territory. A horde is an economic group that consists of a number of families who band together for hunting and food gathering activities. (Kinship, 2005) A horde is not a distinct group in the minds of Aborigines. Different members of these groups may be contained within the horde. At the main camp, the horde separates into family groups who each have their own camp fire and cook and eat separately. A family group can be quite large, consisting of a man and his wives, the children from each wife, and sometimes his parents or in-laws. A man often has from two to four wives, ranging from one to more than ten. Today, most men have just one wife. Aboriginal custom all over Australia bans a person from talking directly to their mother in law. This rule applies to both men and women talking to their mother in law. (Kinship, 2005) To allow this rule to work, communication took place by using a third person. When food was divided and shared around campfires, a mother in law had a small fire of her own separate to her son in law or daughter in law and their spouse. Her own daughter or son would chat and bring over some of the meat, or perhaps a grandchild would sit with her and act as messenger between herself and her daughter or son’s partner. This is completely different from my own society. A man having more than one wife is frowned upon, we do not need to name a person to welcome them into our lives and we can certainly speak with our mother in laws. Our society is not as strict as that of the Aboriginal when referring to our kinship. Our kinship does not affect behaviors in my own life. I do not need to hunt, garden or eat with other people. References â€Å"Australian Aborigine†. Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclop? dia Britannica Online. Encyclop? dia Britannica Inc. , 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012 . â€Å"Kinship and Skin Names†. Central Land Council. Central Land Council Inc. ,2005 http://www. clc. org. au/articles/info/aboriginal-kinship.

Spirit Bound Chapter Thirteen

â€Å"THE HELL YOU CAN,† I said aloud to no one. â€Å"No, you can't,† said Lissa, with an expression that matched my own incredulity. â€Å"I know you've been learning to fight with fire, but you haven't done any staking.† Christian's face was adamant. â€Å"I have–a little. And I can learn more. Mia's got some guardian friends here that have been teaching her physical combat, and I've learned some of it.† The mention of him and Mia working together didn't do much to improve Lissa's opinion. â€Å"You've barely been here a week! You make it sound like you've been training for years with some master.† â€Å"It's better than nothing,† he said. â€Å"And where else are you going to learn? Rose?† Lissa's outrage and disbelief dimmed a little. â€Å"No,† she admitted. â€Å"Never. In fact, Rose would drag me away if she caught me doing it.† Damn straight I would. In fact, despite the obstacles and staff that kept blocking me, I was tempted to march over there right now. â€Å"Then this is your chance,† he said. His voice turned wry. â€Å"Look, I know things aren't†¦ great with us, but that's irrelevant if you're going to learn this. Tell Tatiana you want to bring me to Lehigh. She won't like it, but she'll let you. I'll show you what I know in our free time. Then, when we get back, I'll take you to Mia and her friends.† Lissa frowned. â€Å"If Rose knew†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"That's why we'll start when you're away from Court. She'll be too far away from you to do anything.† Oh, for the love of God. I would give them some lessons about fighting–starting with a punch to Christian's face. â€Å"And when we get back?† asked Lissa. â€Å"She'll find out. It's inevitable with the bond.† He shrugged. â€Å"If she's still on landscape duty, we'll be able to get away with it. I mean, she'll know, but she won't be able to interfere. Much.† â€Å"It may not be enough,† Lissa said with a sigh. â€Å"Rose was right about that–I can't expect to learn in a few weeks what it took her years to do.† Weeks? That was her timeline on this? â€Å"You have to try,† he said, almost gentle. Almost. â€Å"Why are you so interested in this?† Lissa asked suspiciously. â€Å"Why do you care so much about bringing Dimitri back? I mean, I know you liked him, but you don't quite have the same motivation here that Rose does.† â€Å"He was a good guy,† said Christian. â€Å"And if there was a way to turn him back to a dhampir? Yeah, that'd be amazing. But it's more than that†¦ more than just him. If there was a way to save all Strigoi, that would change our world. I mean, not that setting them on fire isn't cool after they've gone on killing sprees, but if we could stop those killing sprees in the first place? That's the key to saving us. All of us.† Lissa was speechless for a moment. Christian had spoken passionately, and there was a hope radiating off of him that she just hadn't expected. It was†¦ moving. He took advantage of her silence. â€Å"Besides, there's no telling what you'd do without any guidance. And I'd like to reduce the odds of you getting yourself killed, because even if Rose wants to deny it, I know you're going to keep pushing this.† Lissa stayed quiet yet again, pondering the situation. I listened to her thoughts, not liking at all where they were going. â€Å"We're leaving at six,† she said at last. â€Å"Can you meet me downstairs at five thirty?† Tatiana wouldn't be thrilled when she heard about the new guest choice, but Lissa was pretty sure she could do some fast talking in the morning. He nodded. â€Å"I'll be there.† Back in my room, I was totally aghast. Lissa was going to attempt to learn to stake a Strigoi–behind my back–and she was going to get Christian to help her. Those two had been snarling at each other since the breakup. I should have felt flattered that sneaking around me was bringing them together, but I wasn't. I was pissed off. I considered my options. The buildings Lissa and I were staying in didn't have the kind of front-desk curfew security that our school dorms had had, but the staff here had been instructed to tip off someone in the guardians' office if I got too social. Hans had also told me to stay away from Lissa until further notice. I pondered it all for a moment, thinking it might be worth Hans dragging me from Lissa's room, and then finally thought of an alternate plan. It was late but not too late, and I left my room for the one next door to mine. Knocking on the door, I hoped my neighbor was still awake. She was a dhampir my age, a recent graduate from a different school. I didn't own a cell phone, but I'd seen her talking on one earlier today. She answered the door a few moments later and fortunately didn't appear to have been in bed. â€Å"Hey,† she said, understandably surprised. â€Å"Hey, can I send a text from your phone?† I didn't want to commandeer her phone with a conversation, and besides, Lissa might just hang up on me. My neighbor shrugged, stepped into the room, and returned with the phone. I had Lissa's number memorized and sent her the following note: I know what you're going to do, and it is a BAD idea. I'm going to kick both your asses when I find you. I handed the phone back to its owner. â€Å"Thanks. If anyone texts back, can you let me know?† She told me she would, but I didn't expect any return texts. I got my message another way. When I returned to the room and Lissa's mind, I got to be there when her phone chimed. Christian had left, and she read my text with a rueful smile. My answer came through the link. She knew I was watching. Sorry, Rose. It's a risk I'll have to take. I'm doing this. I tossed and turned that night, still angry at what Lissa and Christian were trying to do. I didn't think I'd ever fall asleep, but when Adrian came to me in a dream, it became clear that my body's exhaustion had defeated my mind's agitation. â€Å"Las Vegas?† I asked. Adrian's dreams always occurred in different places of his choosing. Tonight, we stood on the Strip, very near where Eddie and I had rendezvoused with Lissa and him at the MGM Grand. The bright lights and neon of the hotels and restaurants gleamed in the blackness, but the whole setting was eerily silent compared to the reality. Adrian had not brought the cars or people of the real Las Vegas here. It was like a ghost town. He smiled, leaning against a pole covered in paper ads for concerts and escort services. â€Å"Well, we didn't really get a chance to enjoy it while we were there.† â€Å"True.† I stood a few feet away, arms crossed over my chest. I had on jeans and a T-shirt, along with my nazar. Adrian had apparently decided not to dress me tonight, for which I was grateful. I could have ended up like one of those Moroi showgirls, in feathers and sequins. â€Å"I thought you were avoiding me.† I still wasn't entirely sure where our relationship stood, despite his flippant attitude back at the Witching Hour. He snorted. â€Å"It's not by my choice, little dhampir. Those guardians are doing their best to keep you in solitary. Well, kind of.† â€Å"Christian managed to sneak in and talk to me earlier,† I said, hoping to avoid the issue that had to be on Adrian's mind: that I'd risked lives to save my ex-boyfriend. â€Å"He's going to try to teach Lissa to stake a Strigoi.† I waited for Adrian to join in my outrage, but he appeared as lax and sardonic as usual. â€Å"Not surprised she's gonna try. What surprises me is that he'd actually be interested in helping with some crazy theory.† â€Å"Well, it's crazy enough to appeal to him†¦ and can apparently overpower them hating each other lately.† Adrian tilted his head, making some of the hair fall over his eyes. A building with blue neon palm trees cast an eerie glow upon his face as he gave me a knowing look. â€Å"Come on, we both know why he's doing it.† â€Å"Because he thinks his after-school group with Jill and Mia qualifies him to teach that stuff?† â€Å"Because it gives him an excuse to be around her–without making it look like he gave in first. That way, he can still seem manly.† I shifted slightly so that the lights of a giant sign advertising slot machines didn't shine in my eyes. â€Å"That's ridiculous.† Especially the part about Christian being manly. â€Å"Guys do ridiculous things for love.† Adrian reached into his pocket and held up a pack of cigarettes. â€Å"Do you know how badly I want one of these right now? Yet I suffer, Rose. All for you.† â€Å"Don't turn romantic on me,† I warned, trying to hide my smile. â€Å"We don't have time for that, not when my best friend wants to go monster hunting.† â€Å"Yeah, but how is she actually going to find him? That's kind of a problem.† Adrian didn't need to elaborate on the â€Å"him.† â€Å"True,† I admitted. â€Å"And she hasn't been able to charm the stake yet anyway, so until she does, all the kung-fu skills in the world won't matter.† â€Å"Guardians don't do kung-fu. And how did you know about the stake?† â€Å"She's asked for my help a couple of times,† he explained. â€Å"Huh. I didn't know that.† â€Å"Well, you've been kind of busy. Not that you've even spared a thought for your poor pining boyfriend.† With all my chores, I hadn't spent a huge amount of time in Lissa's head–just enough to check in with her. â€Å"Hey, I would have taken you over filing any day.† I'd been so afraid that Adrian would be furious with me after Vegas, yet here he was, light and playful. A little too light. I wanted him to focus on the problem at hand. â€Å"What's your take on Lissa and the charms? Is she close to doing it?† Adrian absentmindedly played with the cigarettes, and I was tempted to tell him to go ahead and have one. This was his dream, after all. â€Å"Unclear. I haven't taken to charms the way she has. It's weird having the other elements in there†¦ makes it hard to manipulate spirit.† â€Å"Are you helping her anyway?† I asked suspiciously. He shook his head in amusement. â€Å"What do you think?† I hesitated. â€Å"I†¦ I don't know. You help her with most spirit things, but helping her with this would mean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ Helping Dimitri?† I nodded, not trusting myself to elaborate. â€Å"No,† Adrian said at last. â€Å"I'm not helping her, simply because I don't know how.† I exhaled with relief. â€Å"I really am sorry,† I told him. â€Å"For everything†¦ for lying about where I was and what I was doing. It was wrong. And I don't understand†¦ well, I don't get why you're being so nice to me.† â€Å"Should I be mean?† He winked. â€Å"Is that the kind of thing you're into?† â€Å"No! Of course not. But, I mean, you were so mad when you came to Vegas and found out what was going on. I just thought†¦ I don't know. I thought you hated me.† The amusement faded from his features. He came over to me and rested his hands on my shoulders, his dark green eyes dead serious. â€Å"Rose, nothing in this world could make me hate you.† â€Å"Not even trying to bring my ex-boyfriend back from the dead?† Adrian held onto me, and even in a dream, I could smell his skin and cologne. â€Å"Yeah, I'll be honest. If Belikov were walking around right now, alive like he used to be? There would be some problems. I don't want to think what would happen with us if†¦ well, it's not worth wasting time on. He's not here.† â€Å"I still†¦ I still want us to work,† I said meekly. â€Å"I would still try, even if he were back. I just have a hard time letting someone I care about go.† â€Å"I know. You did what you did out of love. I can't be mad at you over that. It was stupid, but that's how love is. Do you have any idea what I'd do for you? To keep you safe?† â€Å"Adrian†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't meet his eyes. I suddenly felt unworthy. He was so easy to underestimate. The only thing I could do was lean my head against his chest and let him wrap his arms around me. â€Å"I'm sorry.† â€Å"Be sorry you lied,† he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. â€Å"Don't be sorry you loved him. That's part of you, part you have to let go, yeah, but still something that's made you who you are.† Part you have to let go†¦ Adrian was right, and that was a damned scary thing to admit. I'd had my shot. I'd made my gamble to save Dimitri, and it had failed. Lissa wouldn't get anywhere with the stake, meaning I really did have to treat Dimitri the way everyone else did: He was dead. I had to move on. â€Å"Damn it,† I muttered. â€Å"What?† asked Adrian. â€Å"I hate it when you're the sane one. That's my job.† â€Å"Rose,† he said, forcibly trying to keep a serious tone, â€Å"I can think of many words to describe you, sexy and hot being at the top of the list. You know what's not on the list? Sane.† I laughed. â€Å"Okay, well, then my job is to be the less crazy one.† He considered. â€Å"That I can accept.† I brought my lips up to his, and even if there were still some shaky things in our relationship, there was no uncertainty in how we kissed. Kissing in a dream felt exactly like real life. Heat blossomed between us, and I felt a thrill run through my whole body. He released my hands and wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing us closer. I realized that it was time to start believing what I kept saying. Life did go on. Dimitri might be gone, but I could have something with Adrian–at least until my job took me away. That was, of course, assuming I got one. Hell, if Hans kept me on desk duty here and Adrian continued his slothful ways, we could be together forever. Adrian and I kissed for a long time, pressing closer and closer. At last I broke things off. If you had sex in a dream, did that mean you'd really done it? I didn't know, and I certainly wasn't going to find out. I wasn't ready for that yet. I stepped back, and Adrian took the hint. â€Å"Find me when you get some freedom.† â€Å"Hopefully soon,† I said. â€Å"The guardians can't punish me forever.† Adrian looked skeptical, but he let the dream dissolve without further comment. I returned to my own bed and my own dreams. The only thing that stopped me from intercepting Lissa and Christian when they met up early in her lobby the next day was that Hans summoned me to work even earlier. He put me on paperwork duty–in the vaults, ironically enough–leaving me to file and stew over Lissa and Christian as I watched them through my bond. I took it as a sign of my multitasking skills that I was able to alphabetize and spy at the same time. Yet my observations were interrupted when a voice said, â€Å"Didn't expect to find you here again.† I blinked out of Lissa's head and looked up from my paperwork. Mikhail stood before me. In light of the complications that had ensued with the Victor incident, I'd nearly forgotten Mikhail's involvement in our â€Å"escape.† I set the files down and gave him a small smile. â€Å"Yeah, weird how fate works, huh? They actually want me here now.† â€Å"Indeed. You're in a fair amount of trouble, I hear.† My smile turned into a grimace. â€Å"Tell me about it.† I glanced around, even though I knew we were alone. â€Å"You didn't get in any trouble, did you?† He shook his head. â€Å"No one knows what I did.† â€Å"Good.† At least one person had escaped this debacle unscathed. My guilt couldn't have handled him getting caught too. Mikhail knelt so that he was eye level with me, resting his arms on the table I sat at. â€Å"Were you successful? Was it worth it?† â€Å"That's a hard question to answer.† He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"There were some†¦ not so successful things that happened. But we did find out what we wanted to know–or, well, we think we did.† His breath caught. â€Å"How to restore a Strigoi?† â€Å"I think so. If our informant was telling the truth, then yeah. Except, even if he was†¦ well, it's not that easy to do. It's nearly impossible, really.† â€Å"What is it?† I hesitated. Mikhail had helped us, but he wasn't in my circle of confidants. Yet even now, I saw that haunted look in his eyes, the one I'd seen before. The pain of losing his beloved still tormented him. It likely always would. Would I be doing more harm than good by telling him what I'd learned? Would this fleeting hope only hurt him more? I finally decided to tell him. Even if he told others–and I didn't think he would–most would laugh it off anyway. There would be no damage there. The real trouble would come if he told anyone about Victor and Robert–but I didn't actually have to mention their involvement to him. Unlike Christian, it had apparently not occurred to Mikhail that the prison break so big in Moroi news had been pulled off by the teens he helped smuggle out. Mikhail probably couldn't spare a thought for anything that didn't involve saving his Sonya. â€Å"It takes a spirit user,† I explained. â€Å"One with a spirit-charmed stake, and then he†¦ or she†¦ has to stake the Strigoi.† â€Å"Spirit†¦Ã¢â‚¬  That element was still foreign to most Moroi and dhampirs–but not to him. â€Å"Like Sonya. I know spirit's supposed to make them more alluring†¦ but I swear, she never needed it. She was beautiful on her own.† As always, Mikhail's face took on that same sad look it did whenever Ms. Karp was mentioned. I'd never really seen him truly happy since meeting him and thought he'd be pretty good-looking if he ever genuinely smiled. He suddenly seemed embarrassed at his romantic lapse and returned to business. â€Å"What spirit user could do a staking?† â€Å"None,† I said flatly. â€Å"Lissa Dragomir and Adrian Ivashkov are the only two spirit users I even know–well, aside from Avery Lazar.† I was leaving Oksana and Robert out of this. â€Å"Neither of them has the skill to do it–you know that as well as I do. And Adrian has no interest in it anyway.† Mikhail was sharp, picking up on what I didn't say. â€Å"But Lissa does?† â€Å"Yes,† I admitted. â€Å"But it would take her years to learn to do it. If not longer. And she's the last of her line. She can't be risked like that.† The truth of my words hit him, and I couldn't help but share his pain and disappointment. Like me, he'd put a lot of faith into this last-ditch effort to be reunited with his lost love. I had just affirmed that it was possible†¦ yet impossible. I think it would have been easier on both of us to learn it had all been a hoax. He sighed and stood up. â€Å"Well†¦ I appreciate you going after this. Sorry your punishment is for nothing.† I shrugged. â€Å"It's okay. It was worth it.† â€Å"I hope†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His face turned hesitant. â€Å"I hope it ends soon and doesn't affect anything.† â€Å"Affect what?† I asked sharply, catching the edge in his voice. â€Å"Just†¦ well, guardians who disobey orders sometimes face long punishments.† â€Å"Oh. This.† He was referring to my constant fear of being stuck with a desk job. I tried to play flippant and not to show how much that possibility scared me. â€Å"I'm sure Hans was bluffing. I mean, would he really make me do this forever just because I ran away and–â€Å" I stopped, my mouth hanging open when a knowing glint flashed in Mikhail's eyes. I'd heard long ago how he'd tried to track down Ms. Karp, but the logistics had never really hit me until now. No one would have condoned his search. He would have had to leave on his own, breaking protocol, and come skulking back when he finally gave up on locating her. He would have been in just as much trouble as me for going MIA. â€Å"Is that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I swallowed. â€Å"Is that why you†¦ why you work down here in the vaults now?† Mikhail didn't answer my question. Instead, he glanced down with a small smile and pointed at my stacks of paper. â€Å"F comes before L,† he said before turning and leaving. â€Å"Damn,† I muttered, looking down. He was right. Apparently I couldn't alphabetize so well while watching Lissa. Still, once I was alone, that didn't stop me from tuning back into her mind. I wanted to know what she was doing†¦ and I didn't want to think about how what I'd done would probably be considered worse than Mikhail's deeds in the eyes of the guardians. Or that a similar–or worse–punishment might be in store for me. Lissa and Christian were at a hotel near Lehigh's campus. The middle of the vampiric day meant evening for the human university. Lissa's tour wouldn't start until their morning the next day, which meant she had to bide her time at the hotel now and try to adjust to a human schedule. Lissa's â€Å"new† guardians, Serena and Grant, were with her, along with three extras that the queen had sent as well. Tatiana had allowed Christian to come along and hadn't been nearly as opposed as Lissa had feared–which again made me question if the queen really was as awful as I'd always believed. Priscilla Voda, a close advisor of the queen that both Lissa and I liked, was also accompanying Lissa as she looked around the school. Two of the additional guardians stayed with Priscilla; the third stayed with Christian. They ate dinner as a group and then retired to their rooms. Serena was actually staying with Lissa in hers while Grant stood guard outside the door. Watching all this triggered a pang in me. Pair guarding–it was what I'd been trained for. What I'd been expecting my whole life to do for Lissa. Serena was a picture-perfect example of guardian aloofness, being there but not there as Lissa hung up some of her clothes. A knock at the door immediately shot Serena into action. Her stake was in hand, and she strode to the door, looking out through its peephole. I couldn't help but admire her reaction time, though part of me would never believe anyone could guard Lissa as well as I could. â€Å"Get back,† Serena said to Lissa. A moment later, the tension in Serena faded a tiny bit, and she opened the door. Grant stood there with Christian beside him. â€Å"He's here to see you,† Grant said, like it wasn't obvious. Lissa nodded. â€Å"Um, yeah. Come on in.† Christian stepped inside when Grant backed away. Christian gave Lissa a meaningful look as he did, making a small head nod toward Serena. â€Å"Hey, um, would you mind giving us some privacy?† As soon as the words were out of Lissa's mouth, she turned bright pink. â€Å"I mean†¦ we just†¦ we just need to talk about some things, that's all.† Serena kept her face almost neutral, but it was clear she thought they were going to do more than talk. Average teen dating wasn't usually hot gossip in the Moroi world, but Lissa, with her notoriety, attracted a bit more attention with her romantic affairs. Serena would have known Christian and Lissa had gone out and broken up. For all she knew, they were back together now. Lissa inviting him on this trip certainly suggested it. Serena glanced around warily. The balance of protection and privacy was always difficult with Moroi and guardians, and hotel rooms like this made it even harder. If they were on a vampiric schedule, with everyone sleeping during daylight hours, I didn't doubt Serena would have stepped into the hall with Grant. But it was dark outside, and even a fifth-floor window could be a Strigoi liability. Serena wasn't keen on leaving her new charge alone. Lissa's hotel suite had an expansive living room and work area, with an adjacent bedroom accessible through frosted-glass French doors. Serena nodded toward them. â€Å"How about I just go in there?† A smart idea. Provided privacy but kept her close by. Then, Serena realized the implications, and she blushed. â€Å"I mean†¦ unless you guys want to go in there and I'll–â€Å" â€Å"No,† exclaimed Lissa, growing more and more embarrassed. â€Å"This is fine. We'll stay in here. We're just talking.† I wasn't sure whose benefit that was for, Serena's or Christian's. Serena nodded and disappeared into the bedroom with a book, which reminded me eerily of Dimitri. She shut the door. Lissa wasn't sure how well noise traveled, so she turned the TV on. â€Å"God, that was miserable,† she groaned. Christian seemed totally at ease as he leaned against the wall. He wasn't the formal type by any means, but he'd put on dress clothes for dinner earlier and still wore them. They looked good on him, no matter how much he always complained. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because she thinks we're–she thinks we're–well, you know.† â€Å"So? What's the big deal?† Lissa rolled her eyes. â€Å"You're a guy. Of course it doesn't matter to you.† â€Å"Hey, it's not like we haven't. Besides, better for her to think that than to know the truth.† The reference to their past sex life inspired a mix of emotions–embarrassment, anger, and longing–but she refused to let that show. â€Å"Fine. Let's just get this over with. We've got a big day, and our sleep's going to be all screwy as it is. Where do we start? Do you want me to get the stake?† â€Å"No need yet. We should just practice some basic defensive moves.† He straightened up and moved toward the center of the room, dragging a table out of the way. I swear, if not for the context, watching the two of them attempt combat training on their own would have been hilarious. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"So you already know how to punch.† â€Å"What? I do not!† He frowned. â€Å"You knocked out Reed Lazar. Rose mentioned it, like, a hundred times. I've never heard her so proud about something.† â€Å"I punched one person once in my life,† she pointed out. â€Å"And Rose was coaching me. I don't know if I could do it again.† Christian nodded, looking disappointed–not in her skills but because he had an impatient nature and wanted to jump right into the really hard-core fighting stuff. Nonetheless, he proved a surprisingly patient teacher as he went over the fine art of punching and hitting. A lot of his moves were actually things he'd picked up from me. He'd been a decent student. Was he at guardian levels? No. Not by a long shot. And Lissa? She was smart and competent, but she wasn't wired for combat, no matter how badly she wanted to help with this. Punching Reed Lazar had been a beautiful thing, but it didn't appear to be anything that would ever become natural for her. Fortunately, Christian started with simple dodging and watching one's opponent. Lissa was just a beginner at it but showed a lot of promise. Christian seemed to chalk it up to his instructive skills, but I'd always thought spirit users had a kind of preternatural instinct about what others might do next. I doubted it would work on Strigoi, though. After a little of that, Christian finally returned to offense, and that's when things went bad. Lissa's gentle, healing nature didn't mesh with that, and she refused to really strike out with her full force, for fear of hurting him. When he realized what was happening, his snarky temper started to rise. â€Å"Come on! Don't hold back.† â€Å"I'm not,† she protested, delivering a punch to his chest that didn't come close to budging him. He raked a hand irritably through his hair. â€Å"You are too! I've seen you knock on a door harder than you're hitting me.† â€Å"That's a ridiculous metaphor.† â€Å"And,† he added, â€Å"you aren't aiming for my face.† â€Å"I don't want to leave a mark!† â€Å"Well, at the rate we're going, there's no danger of that,† he muttered. â€Å"Besides, you can heal it away.† I was amused at their bickering but didn't like his casual encouragement of spirit use. I still hadn't shaken my guilt over the long-term damage that the prison break could have caused. Reaching forward, Christian grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her toward him. He balled her fingers with his other hand and then slowly demonstrated how to swing a punch upward by pulling her fist toward his face. He was more interested in showing the technique and motion, so it only brushed against him. â€Å"See? Arc upward. Make the impact right there. Don't worry about hurting me.† â€Å"It's not that simple†¦.† Her protest died off, and suddenly, they both seemed to notice the situation they were in. There was barely any space between them, and his fingers were still wrapped around her wrist. They felt warm against Lissa's skin and were sending electricity through the rest of her body. The air between them seemed thick and heavy, like it might just wrap them up and pull them together. From the widening of Christian's eyes and sudden intake of breath, I was willing to bet he was having a similar reaction at being so close to her body. Coming to himself, he abruptly released her hand and stepped back. â€Å"Well,† he said roughly, though still clearly unnerved by the proximity, â€Å"I guess you aren't really serious about helping Rose.† That did it. Sexual tension notwithstanding, anger kindled up in Lissa at the comment. She balled her fist and totally caught Christian off guard when she swung out and socked him in the face. It didn't have the grace of her Reed punch, but it took Christian hard. Unfortunately, she lost her balance in the maneuver and stumbled forward into him. The two of them went down together, hitting the floor and knocking over a small table and lamp nearby. The lamp caught the table's corner and broke. Meanwhile, Lissa had landed on Christian. His arms instinctively went out around her, and if the space between them before had been small, it was nonexistent now. They stared into each other's eyes, and Lissa's heart was pounding fiercely in her chest. That tantalizing electric feeling crackled around them again, and all the world for her seemed to focus on his lips. Both she and I wondered later if they might have kissed, but just then, Serena came bursting out of the bedroom. She was on guardian high alert, body tense and ready to face an army of Strigoi with her stake in hand. She came screeching to a halt when she saw the scene before her: what appeared to be a romantic interlude. Admittedly, it was an odd one, what with the broken lamp and swelling red mark on Christian's face. It was pretty awkward for everyone, and Serena's attack mode faded to one of confusion. â€Å"Oh,† she said uncertainly. â€Å"Sorry.† Embarrassment flooded Lissa, as well as self-resentment at being affected so much by Christian. She was furious at him, after all. Hastily, she pulled away and sat up, and in her flustered state, she felt the need to make it clear that there was nothing romantic whatsoever going on. â€Å"It†¦ it's not what you think,† she stuttered, looking anywhere except at Christian, who was getting to his feet and seemed just as mortified as Lissa. â€Å"We were fighting. I mean, practicing fighting. I want to learn to defend against Strigoi. And attack them. And stake them. So Christian was kind of helping me, that's all.† There was something cute about her rambling, and it reminded me charmingly of Jill. Serena visibly relaxed, and while she'd mastered that blank face all guardians excelled at, it was clear she was amused. â€Å"Well,† she said, â€Å"it doesn't look like you're doing a very good job.† Christian turned indignant as he stroked his injured cheek. â€Å"Hey! We are too. I taught her this.† Serena still thought it was all funny, but a serious, considering glint was starting to form in her eyes. â€Å"That seems like it was more lucky than anything else.† She hesitated, like she was on the verge of a big decision. At last she said, â€Å"Look, if you guys are serious about this, then you need to learn to do it the right way. I'll show you how.† No. Way. I was seriously on the verge of escaping the Court and hitchhiking to Lehigh to really show them how to throw a punch–with Serena as my example–when something jolted me away from Lissa and back into my own reality. Hans. I had a sarcastic greeting on my lips, but he didn't give me a chance. â€Å"Forget the filing and follow me. You've been summoned.† â€Å"I–what?† Highly unexpected. â€Å"Summoned where?† His face was grim. â€Å"To see the queen.†

Cuban Collection Against the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Statutes and Enforcement, Organized Crime Coursework

Statutes and Enforcement, Organized Crime - Coursework Example Use of the RICO standard is what allowed Galante's employees and associates to be charged; under that statute, even belonging to his organization is a crime (Abadinsky, 2010, pp 369). Galante's organization was a group of companies involved in trash hauling, also called carting. He was the owner of twenty-five companies that among them controlled approximately eighty percent of the waste-hauling market in Connecticut and eastern New York state. At least forty other companies were found to have connections to Galante's organizations, and Galante himself was found to have connections to larger organized crime enterprises (FBI, 2008). One of the individuals charged as a member of this group was a member of the Genovese crime family, a group in New York City involved in several other cases of extortion and illegal gambling rings (FBI, 2008; Department of Justice, 2010). Also involved were several public officials, including a former mayor of Waterbury CT, Joseph Santopietro, â€Å"a fed eral drug agent, and a Connecticut state trooper† (FBI, 2008; News-Times, 2008). Galante's group was guilty of racketeering due to their organization of what the FBI calls a â€Å"property rights system† (FBI, 2008). ... This set-up caused an imbalance in the bidding system for the customer contracts, since the companies involved in this organization communicated with each other to rig the bidding. The lack of competition led to higher costs for the customer accounts; since these were primarily municipal customers, this meant higher prices for the individual taxpayers in these districts (FBI, 2008). Federal agents used wiretaps to determine which companies were connected to Galante's organization, and which were victims. Some of the phone calls that were intercepted even allowed them to warn potential future victims about the scheme. The key to the investigation was the use of an undercover agent working for a victim company. The undercover agent was eventually hired by one of Galante's companies as a salesperson, giving him unparalleled access to Galante's operation. The other method used to collect evidence against Galante was an analysis of his and his companies tax records (FBI, 2008). Galante wa s indicted by a grand jury at the same trial as twenty-eight of his co-conspirators, and was held awaiting trial without bail, though all others charged by the same jury posted bond. The charges at this point included â€Å"racketeering, extortion, conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, witness tampering and tax evasion† (News-Times, 2008). Galante was eventually convicted of â€Å"racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the IRS, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud† (Koonz, 2009). He was sentenced to the maximum federal prison term, eighty-seven months, and then an additional year under a plea bargain for violations of state campaign finance laws (News-Times, 2008). Additionally, all twenty-five of Galante's companies were forfeited to the federal

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Are issues of immigration and refugee status questions concerning human rights or just the basic rights of citizenship - Essay Example Immigration is the unidirectional inward movement of individuals into a population or population area, departure from ones native land to settle in another, or â€Å"entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence†. 1 Reasons for immigration are most often economic, though religious and political factors may also be present. Reasons such as unbearable economic conditions and poor future prospects in the home country are called â€Å"push factors†.2 Immigration for education, retirement migration to countries with lower living costs and migration for reasons of health are examples of ‘pull factor’ immigration. Immigration due to persecution, abuse, ethnic cleansing and war risks are examples of push factor immigration. Some immigration takes place for personal reasons, such as for being with family or loved ones. Very wealthy persons move to countries with liberal tax structures. Highly skilled persons or those with exceptional talent are often invited to immigrate. The definition of refugee now includes persons fearing persecution for ethnic or religious reasons, nationality, group membership or political opinion, and persons who have fled from their homes to other places in their own countries. Refugees are displaced persons, but not all are included in the definition of "refugee" under international law, such as internally displaced people. Refugee status is determined on the basis of interpretation of persecution and the grounds for determining status. Persecution has meanings that are liable to different interpretations. Grounds for determination of refugee status depend on the grounds for persecution: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. 4 Human rights are ‘The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life

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Introduction to Reational Database - Essay Example A thorough research was conducted to address the above-stated issues with the system. There are several solutions available to address the issues pertaining to the development of an ICT infrastructure including an integrated information system based on some relational database management tool. There are two major application environments available to develop the system which includes a simple Management Information System and a Web-based Information Portal. Both of these systems can be developed on a relational database and are equally viable solutions. However, there are certain added features that a web-based Information Portal can offer to accommodate specific business operations. (Grehan, 2011).Speed Trans information portal is supposed to handle the heavy load of external transactions through e-commerce module and a quick access to information is a mandatory requirement of e-business clientele. These two business domain specific requirement are best met by a Web-based Informatio n Portal. Web-portals are more prone to security issues, therefore, a strong user authentication and authorization over a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) channel will be required to establish a connection to the system. Additionally, a strong security spectrum will be required to safeguard vital system resources from hackers and viruses. Special network protection technologies including software and hardware tools and mechanisms are required to be implemented to ensure secure, smooth and stable information portal implementation.  ... The company is presently working with various other firms to supply them with automobile spare parts on regular basis. The company operations require an online communication system with its own branch office and other firms. The system is also required to be integrated with the company’s information system. Moreover, the firms is experiencing a high growth in the business and the present ICT setup often faces bottleneck conditions to support the business operations in size and speed. The new system should be designed keeping in mind the future scalability requirements that may arise within at least three years from now. Speed Trans has initially launched a limited ICT setup which is now required to be expanded to a fully integrated Information System along with online communication capabilities to handle the workload of a medium sized enterprise. 3. Current Business Issues The current system has several issues due to its limited scope. These issues cause delay in business tran sactions, communications bottlenecks restrict the smooth flow of critical business information to and from business partners and clientele, due to lack of integration between various system modules the information stored in various systems cannot be used to provide business intelligence and decision support. These and many other business issues identified in the study are discussed in the following paragraphs; a) Lack of System Support Presently every business operations is not supported by the system and a hybrid environment of system supported and manual operations and transactions are used to achieve business objectives, e.g. system maintains business partners and clientele information but it does not support automated email module to ensure

Euthanasia or assisted dying issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Euthanasia or assisted dying issues - Essay Example She suffered from a condition that was so much in the heart (Daniel 2012). The deficiency of oxygen led to her big brain devastation or rather brain damage and thereafter the doctors vindicated that she suffered from vegetative state. The deficiency resulted from the heart malfunction that she developed so there was no proper intake of oxygen by the required blood vessel that is originating from the heart. The doctors’ report was after they had conducted several tests on her. The doctors were quite optimistic and hoped for the best for her. They tried several types of therapy ranging from speech and physical therapy as well as other experimental therapies. They thought that they would bring her back into a normal mental state. When the years passed by until 1998, Michael the husband to Terry filed a case in court for the removal of the feeding tube that was being used in the administration of food to his wife (David 2008). This was a petition that was highly rejected so much b y the parents, who reasoned and maintained a firm stand that their daughter was not mentally ill. The court again came in with their own ascertainment that Terry does not prefer to continue with the exercises that are making her life longer. The feeding tube was then taken away from her and later put back. When the judge from Pinellas County made a ruling that the feeding tube removed from the patient, many voices came up from many parts such as the federal government that obliged the then president George Bush to ascent to another law just to prolong her life. This was a sign in which they valued the loss of a life. Many should emulate this kind of valuation. Life is a special gift from God and it should therefore be valued and kept ablaze like the Lord provided it (Donna 2010). It is important to note that the utilitarian has to do with getting the best out of a situation. It is also important to highlight that utilitarianism is all about getting the best from joy and happiness wh ile you are suppressing the plights. The utilitarian position in this case of Terry Schiavo is that there was a rescue mission to save her from dying. In the case, there was a lot of thinking on how to maximize the utility. When she was put in the life support and the feeding tube used, there was the maximization of life as her life was prolonged. There was the removal of the feeding tube from the patient kind of led o the shortening of the life of Terry (George 2010). Again it is as well important to note that the action that was conducted to Terry was objective and the outcome was s ell meant to be on the positive end to Terry and her husband. I am therefore on the defending of the utilitarian act that was conducted to the patient. The principle of double effect in its stating says that a good exercise or action is dimensional. In the case of the patient, Terry, the principle was quite ideal as it authorized and allowed for the performance of the euthanasia for the good of Terry S chiavo. The action was morally accepted because its outcome was to do with saving life and not losing. The doctors had full knowledge on the action as they are the experts in the medical field (Janie 2012). It is important to highlight that the metaphysical presuppositions that underlie my approach in the case of Terry here are so broad. Considering the normal human assumptions, it

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Campaign Finance Reforms - Essay Example The purpose of this Act was to make campaign finance transparent. This was followed by a prolonged period of silence and restraint in this area. In the year 2002, the need for introducing reforms in campaign finance surfaced again. This led to the coming into existence of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (Nielsen 43). This Act assured that the private donors are not able to donate much money to the political parties and political contestants that are not legally regulated by the Federal Election Commission. This was indeed a big step towards reforming campaign finance. Still, there were some aspects of this reform that happened to be controversial in a legal context (Nielsen 43). This led to a Supreme Court ruling in the year 2010 in the famous Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission case, which declared this act to be unconstitutional (Nielsen 59). This Supreme Court verdict once again increased the role played by the corporate money in the American democracy. Thereby this ver dict has generated much public disapproval. This has indeed increased the need for more campaign finance reforms. It is a known fact that collecting campaign finance is a task that takes much time and attention of the Congress men. This diverts their attention from the real issues faced by the country. The politicians are greatly dependent on the private donors for campaign finance. Thereby, this increases the clout of the corporate and private donors in the American political system (Schier 41).

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Parkinsons disease - Essay Example Its prevalence in developed countries is just about 0.3%. (Breteler, 532) the percentage exceeds to one percent in individuals above sixty years that increases to three percent for individuals that are older than eighty years. (Huse, 1450) Within the USA, Parkinson’s disease affects nearly hundred to one hundred eighty individuals out of every 100,000 individuals and shows a yearly occurrence of four to twenty out of every 100,000 individuals. The prevalence of the disease increases with the rise in the aging of population. It has been estimated that there will be a rise in the occurrence of the disease in upcoming years; however its medical intrusions will participate to a great extent in combating with the extensive range of unmet requirements connected with the disorder. Statistics show a market of $5.9bn in the worldwide retailing of Parkinsons disease restorative therapeutics that is far more than the last year’s values which used to be $4.6bn. Incomes gained from the authorized Parkinsons disease remedies all over the world (in major countries like America, England and France) found out to be more than $2.2 billion in 2006. A rise of revenues that is equivalent to approximately $6.4bn is anticipated by the end of 2015. (Metz, 251) Due to advancement in the therapies a reduction in the number of deaths due to Parkinsons disease is expected in next five to ten years. The increase in the revenues is mainly due to the latest developments in drugs therapy that brings a reduction in the load of polypharmacy in individuals that are currently on the pharmacotherapy of the disease. A dynamic change in the market of Parkinson’s disease is expected mainly due to the leading therapeutics owned by the names like, GlaxoSmithKlines (GSKs), UCB-Schwarzs Neupro, Lundbeck’s Azilect and Teva etc. (Chrischilles, 410) This has also been observed that a huge portfolio

Assess How The Language Of Teenagers Has Changed Over Time Essay Example for Free

Assess How The Language Of Teenagers Has Changed Over Time Essay The language of teenagers has changed radically over time, the use of slang and clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s are now commonly used in everyday English Language, in particular amongst teenagers. For this essay I visited a local high school to gain evidence of how teenagers express themselves and converse with peers and adults, including adults in authority. I also observed an anger management session and listened to the language used in this setting and also at break times. The findings of these observations are on a tape recording enclosed. The language of teenagers is greatly affected by television and pop music and this contributes to the change in modern day English and the phrases and slang that teenagers use, for example in the high school I visited the teenage boys used a lot of phrases and words that are used in rap music, a boy referred to his friends as homies rather that mates of pals the word homies is used a lot within American rap music. This shows how teenagers are influenced and how these kinds of words become popular amongst teenagers. Swearing is also part of modern day language and is very common and has increased hugely over the years, swearing is now socially accepted amongst teenagers and their peers, swearing has always been frowned upon in the English Language but has increased drastically through the past ten years. The change in language is obvious amongst teenagers and adults, most of the teenagers in the school I visited said that they would never swear at parents and teachers and it is disrespectful, although they would not be as concerned about swearing at someone the same age as them as it is not offensive anymore to their generation. This is because when the teenagers parents and teachers were growing up, swearing was seen as very offensive and a sign of disrespect. Case studies I asked a 15-year-old girl to find the five euphemisms that she would use for the following: (a) to die, (b) to urinate (c) to be a drunk (d) to say hello to a friend. I also asked a 15-year-old boy to do the same exercise, these are my findings: Chloe To die: to pass away, to kick the bucket, to be no longer with us, to have slipped away, to have kiffed it. To urinate: to go for a wee, to do a number one, to have a piss, to wet the daisies, to relieve myself. To be drunk: pissed, bladdered, wasted, trollyed, out of it. To say Hello to a friend: alright, hi, hiya. Lee To die: to kiff it, kick the bucket, passed away, to have gone to the pearly gates, passed onto the other side. To urinate: to have a piss, to have a slash, to drain the main vain, to go the bog, to shake the snake. To be drunk: wasted, bladdered, pissed, out of if, wankered. To say hello to a friend: alright mate, alright, how do, hi, or a head nod with no speech. The findings show that gender influences teenagers speech slightly the girls language is slightly more polite than the boys and the boy used a lot of slang when referring to the above words and phrases, the most obvious ones were the words used when the male teenager refers to passing urine as shake the snake, and drain the main vain these sayings caused much amusement to Lees male and female peers. The teenagers are showing how they contribute to new meanings for words and linguistic change. Euphemisms are one of the most fertile sources of new meanings, things that were thought to be to nasty to talk about directly were given polite but roundabout expressions. An example of this is when indoor plumbing was first installed into houses in the eighteenth century the room were first called water closet, this was soon abbreviated to W.C and then replaced by toilet, which had previously meant dressing table. These words are still seen as crude by many people and other euphemisms have came into force such as toilet, bathroom. The teenagers regularly referred to the toilet as the loo and bog. Sex is another area where euphemisms flourish amongst teenagers, in the nineteenth century Jane Austin wrote in her novel they had no intercourse but what the commonest civility required , Jane Austin would of not of expected the effect that this sentence would have on the modern day reader, in her time the word intercourse meant dealings between people. In the twentieth century the phrase sexual intercourse arrived this was used as a delicate way to refer to sex. This has now been shortened to intercourse, and this sexual sense is now so common that the teenagers in the school I visited found it impossible to use the word intercourse in any other sense. They also have their own words for sexual intercourse these words are not seen as offensive and are common in teenagers language. This shows how teenagers influence the change in word meanings and euphemisms in society. The teenagers in the school I visited also use a lot of clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s which, again is another sign of language change in todays society, adults are also guilty of using clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s in modern day English, which is were the Influence could of came from for the teenagers to use clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s in their everday language, some of the most popular clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s I heard amongst the teenagers were at the end of the day, I hear what your saying and basically. The most common one was you know what I mean Another chacteristic of teenage language is rising intonation at the end of a sentence. This has long been noticed as a characteristic feature of Australian English, and is also favoured by some speakers of American English and is very popular within the language of teenagers, this was something that I noticed whilst speaking to the majority of the class. To me as a listener, a sentence ending on a rise sounds like a question as if the speaker is saying She comes from Sydney?, rather than making a declarative statement. But in the last ten years or so, the popularity of Australian soap operas among British teenagers has led to the widespread adoption of this feature among younger people in the UK. It is too early to say whether this is short-term or whether rising intonation will become standard practice for a significant number of British speakers and the teenagers will make it more popular the more they use it. The increasing popularity of the rising intonation can be traced back to a specific event: the arrival in the UK of Australian programmes like Neighbours and Home and Away. Teenagers are big fans of these type of soap operas mean exposure to repeated instances of this feature has had measurable effects on the linguistic behaviour of quite large numbers of British speakers of all ages. Music such as rapping also influences teenagers and many adopt this way of speech some of these words appear below with the translations taken from a book of slang words: Bluh slurred pronunciation of Blood, meaning homie or friend. Bredren meaning mate, or ones audience. It derives from the Jamaican ragga scene, not the German. Buggin Acting weird or upset. Same as acting bug. Herb spliff, bud, dodo, doja, ganja, weed, etc. Wack Awful, cheap, stupid, weak, etc. Rarely spelled whack. Only preceded by wiggedy by the tragically ancient. Murk Murder. Also leave, as in Im finna murk. Peace. Punk Coward or arsehole (not in the anatomical sense). Bling excessively showy or expensive jewellery, cars, etc. From the supposed sound made by light bouncing off diamonds. Its first known usage was in The Silvertones Bling Bling Christmas. (Fo) shizzle, my nizzle (For) sure, my nigger, or alternatively, yes, dear. -izzle is a standard suffix. So shizzle could also mean shit (meaning good), shoes, shirt or shed. (Slang a bluffers guide.1999.pg22) Wigga a white nigger, a wannabe. This way of speaking seems very common nowadays, but I suspect if we were to listen to teenagers from London we would hear a lot more of these words as Londons rap scene is a lot more popular than that of the North West. David Crystal says Its very recent, this new rhythm that comes from rapping, Until recently, people have spoken in the rhythms of Shakespeare: tum te tum te tum. But this new hip-hop accent is rat tat tat tat tat. Its more common than Received Pronunciation these days. Hardly anyone speaks traditional RP any more maybe one or two per cent. (The language revolution pg22) As the language of teenagers changes there will be many linguistic changes and different features introduced over time, as teenagers are very impressionable it is easy to see why these changes spread so quickly. Bibligraphy The language revolution. 2002. David Crystal(Cambridge: Polity Press), Flappers to rappers- American youth slang-.Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster / Springfield, Massachusetts. 1996.) Socialinguistics : Nikolas Coupland and Adam Jaworski. Palgrave (1997)

Explaining the Code Clause of the NMC

Explaining the Code Clause of the NMC The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the United Kingdom is a corporate body of professional health care practitioners that form a committee called the council. The function of the NMC is to establish standards for nurses and midwives that will provide guidance in education and training also guidance that are principles and is known as the code (NMC 2002:1). The code is a professional duty that is required to provide care to people, client or patient. It secures peoples rights, decisions and choices during their care (Thompson 2006). To explain the code there are details of principles that practitioners should apply to throughout their daily practice to maintain high standards of how to behave, present one self and the principles shown during the care for people. The first stage of the NMC code clause (NMC 2008:1) state, the people in your care, this applies to people and the public that requires the need for healthcare support in a people centred practice. In order to provide care for these people there should be an understanding as to what care mean, who accessing the services, how the care is implemented by providers, what interventions occur during care and why nurses and midwives should care for these people. It is also important to know why nurses and midwives care but is it the reason because of empowerment, choice, decisions, personal care, safety, financial decisions or is it the obligation of the pledge they have made to become a nurse. The second stage of the clause states, people must be able to trust you with their health and wellbeing and the trust is to know your patient well but how can these patient able to provide that trust and how to communicate with them collaboratively and providing the right information on how to establish that trust. There should be continuity to reinforcing the trust in patient through encouragement, and promotion of their health and wellbeing. Not only does that, it stated that trust is to be justified and reasons why, it is to make the care of people your first concern, treating them as individuals and respecting their dignity (NMC 2008:1). Is it by treating people as they are, keeping information confidential and working as a team with families also ensuring patients give their consent but respecting the dignity of people. In discussing the code clause is stated very straightforward to understand but there are challenges introduced to raise expectation of the nurses and midwives bu t keeping up-to-date with technology and encouraging patients to maintain their quality of life. Hence, the purpose of the NMC code is to support nurses and midwives within their role. NMC (2008, p4) states the code protects people that are ill, helpless, vulnerable and requires support in your care. This guidance applies to nurses, midwives, professionals and students. Its purpose is to establish principles for best practice whilst caring of people in all settings (NMC 2009, p5). NMC (2008:1) states that the code has three functions, conduct, performance and ethics. The principles of conduct expresses how nurses are expected to conduct inside and outside the profession, performance is based on the knowledge and skills gained to be confident and consistency to deliver safe practice in the role as a professionals and students. The ethical care are the principles applied towards prioritising patients care which includes concerns, needs and interest for the people. The People in question are the people within your care and they are the one that matters and requires advocacy. Graham (1992 cited in Roper et al 1996) states, advocacy is doing things for patients and nursing has change to a more patient centred care to encourage patient to be more self-sufficiency in making choices and decision about their care. They are the people we refer to as patient, user, individual or client, but their vulnerability requires support from these professionals. Parsons (1951:1987 cited in Stein-Parbury 2005, p9) viewed people as patients or clients and they are ill person with needs for support and advice from professionals, whom they can release all responsibility and decision for their health. However some patient may not be able to make such decision while other patient can be self caring by taking on the role of responsibility for their care Guadagnoli Ward (1998 cited in Stein-Parbury 2005, p.9) Goodman and Clemow (2008) believes that if patient is define d then their value will not be identified. Caring is the spirit of love that is reflected in care, it provides hope for patient of their wellbeing, offering empathy and compassion, by displaying principle and commitment during nursing practice Farmer (1994 cited in Alexander et al 2000:999). Patients have a significant role that is why we put them first but some people are neglected due to barriers by not accessing the service because of isolation and not able to access the information to get the care required. People who are accessing the service are the one that gets the treatment and the service when it is needed (Sale 2005). The process of nursing commence when an assessment is done by gaining as much information about a patient, this is also referred to a nursing diagnosis. The diagnosis is being able to describe the patient problem with the help of the activities of living model for nursing Marks-Maran(1983 cited in Roper et al 1996:57). The model will help identify health issue and the first concern is performing an as sessment to determine if the patient is capable of maintaining a safe environment, able to communicate by the questions asked about daily activities, the level of breathing during physiological measurement, assessment of eating and drinking during meal time and mobility during personal hygiene. From these assessments the nurse is able to identify the actual problem then make a care plan. The care plan includes the problems, goal and intervention. The problem is what the patient admitted with and the goal what the nurse intend to do and intervention should include how the care will be given. The next step is to implement the care by providing the care, including multidisciplinary teams, medication for treatment. An evaluation is made of the patient care against the goal that was set to determine an outcome of achievement if there are changes a re-evaluation can be made of the patients care (Roper et al 1996). The reasons why nurses care are through obligation, ethical and spiritual belief. We cannot as carer avoid the difference in care but why we continue to care is because mainly of three reasons. The first is the pledge we have made as nurses with the obligation to patient (Brykczynska 1997). The pledge is reaffirming the commitment as promised by the nurses and midwives to the people to provide a service to deliver a very high standards of quality in care DH(2010). Secondly, the ethical care of knowing the right question to ask patients when trying to make an important decision or how they should respond when a situation arises but seeing the goodness in the patients (Brykczynska 1997). Nurse use their intuition or inner feeling or just common sense to make decision (Thompson et al 2006:49:50), but as students the knowledge through practical learning teaches to make ethical decisions and remembering from their teachings or the error they should not make by reflecting on the right and wrong to evaluate a good ethical decision. Other ethical reasons to care are, through quality care, a care which is deserved and should be priority in care. The empowerment of patients, by offering the right to make decisions about their care and offering patients choices to develop confidence while receiving hospital care. This confident encourage them to take control of what is happening in their lives. There are difficulties when making choice and being assisted by a nurse is an important decision that will benefit their health. Decisions are important and should involve planning the minute patients are admitted into hospital (Evans and Tippins (2008 cited in E-learning, PEP Module, Decision Making, p.2). The personal care would be assessed following the Roper et al model for nursing. The assessment will include check for safety, nutrition, manual handling and other risk factors. Management has to make decision on staffing team but a team that will provide a balance in the care. The financial decision is important on the expenditure and management of resources to maintain the operation of care but mainly the quality of care for patients. The nurses care is to support spiritual belief by encouraging safe practice during psychosocial distress or pain. Being an active listener, relating to the patient and answering their question truthfully could be comfort or relief for the patient. Anon (2005 cited in Thompson et al 2006), states that nursing is the balm that nourish your restless spirit, while other patients thinks that a balm could solve the problem to their pain. In order for people to trust you, being knowledgeable about the patient is the first step to patients care and being able to communicate and interaction will establishing a relationship that will help to provide a clear understand to the individual. All data must be up-to-date and accurate about the patients care and information should be available for feedback to the patients. The balance in the healthcare is to respect the confidentiality of patients information that they share and through commitment of trust (Hinchliff 2008). A professional relationship is looking after the patients interest and taking on issues of consent, respect, confidentiality but utilising the practical skill, experience and knowledge accordingly. The offering of informed consent is giving permission but the professional line must not be overstepped. Hinchliff (2008:193) Jonsdottir et al.; Gallant et al. (2004;2002 cited in Stein-Parbury 2005, p.9) states that patient and their healthcares needs to work in p artnership during care. DH (2008,p3) reported that people should working collaboratively as a team which includes patient and their families, nursing staff, social carer and the public. Therefore collaborative work with a multi-professional team provides a wider care to patients by communicating with teams and individuals with different training background who shares a common goal to offer a service that include nurses, doctors, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, social workers, dieticians, speech and language therapist, pharmacist, psychologist, ward clerks, cleaner, healthcare assistance, staff management, midwives and IT Technical Support Staff that can be trusted. (Marshall et al (1979 cited in E-learning, PEP Module, Working with others 2009/2010:3). Trust is ethical values that are accepted in the best interest of patients and giving truthful answers to questions about their health. This is what patients expect but a positive behaviour is what inspires the trust from the patient. It is important to ensuring patient is informed to establish trust then in time the patient can be open to reveal information that will help their health and wellbeing (Hinchliff et al. 2008). DH(2010) reported that peoples trust has been destabilised due to poor performance of practice, he believes that with commitment of teamwork trust can be regained. A proposal was made stating that nurses and midwives should reaffirm their commitments to care. The aim of this proposal is to reinforce the trust and confidence in people which will also help to maintain their health and wellbeing. If the patient is ill or well their health should still be promoted with a balance in care and the approach of individuals with psychosocial dilemmas. The nurses role is imp ortant and along with their performance which reflect in the care given to patient. Nurses can maintaining their health and wellbeing by accepting the right support which will result in improvement in practices and wellbeing of patients. To maintain the quality of health and wellbeing for patients the initial care should begin within patients own environment with their family. Living a healthy life is manageable by people who are confident, strong and receiving support from other whilst others struggle to maintain their health due to difficulties in accessing support or refusing to accept any form of support. The NHS mentioned that a strategy is designed to include the care in communities by local authorities and care partners, to help make social changes for the people with the aim of reducing unhealthy living (DH, 2008). The NHS requires people to gain access to the treatment that is most effective for their health. The NICE guidance purpose is to promote health and wellbeing and evaluate the intervention during care. It is stated that treatment should be given to patient after an assessment by a competent and experience nurse (NICE, 2008) providing the patient offer consent to care and in return nurses respecting the patients right to make the choice they desire. A competent nurse role is having awareness but to provide a plan that reflect and analyse the problem. The nurse should be able to cope well from being organised to achieving efficiency during management of nursing care (Benner 1984). Patient safety should be the top of priority for quality care. The trust is gained by maintaining patients safety and one example is to reduce any infectious disease within their environment and safety include the healthcare who are the people that provides care (DH,2008). The nursing team is expected to respect individuals and their families, not to discriminate during care and avoiding any risk or threat to the right or safety of any patient (NMC 2004). We can assume nurses do care but the obligation that nurses have is through the contract of obligation when they first make the pledge to work as nurses. The nurses role involves the concept of care which is to provide a service to patient that is caring, the first stage of learning is from their parents, friends and experiences in life and the training received will improve their caring skills (Brykczynska1997). To be treated as an individual is treating a person with ethical principles such as respecting the rights, autonomy and dignity of patients also to promote the patients well-being (Thompson et al 2006). To offer patient advice on methods to help prevent ill-health and by promoting positive way of living and to have power of owns health (Wills 2007). The patients right during quality care are their entitlement to shorter waiting time for treatment. A targeting system has to be implemented that will motivates nurses to listen to patents and the public to meet their expectation. Patient has the right to have good communication to ensure they understand the treatment to be received (DH 2009). Reflecting on experience with patient whilst working as a student during placement, some of the principles that had to be delivered are respecting patients privacy when washing or dressing by pulling curtains and closing doors and knocking the door before entering patients environment. The rights of patients choice must be acknowledged and not to disclose patients confidentiality which is respecting human rights and dignity. Also patient should have the right to make choices during meal time of what to eat and when to eat or the choice to refuse medication but it is the nurses role to encourage the patient and possible giving more time and listening to reason for refusing medication DH (2010). Walsh and Kowanko 2002, cited in Dougherty and Lister 2008, enquired with patient about describing their dignity and how they expect to be treated with respect, however patients wanted dignity to include being patience and spending more time to listen and acknowledge patients views and considering the reasons for patients emotions. DH 2010) states that nurses must be accountable for their actions, thinking of patients interest, protecting the dignity of patient regardless of choices but treating with equal concerns and respecting belief. Nurses and midwives should find the NMC guidance really straightforward, depending on the level of role and responsibilities, however Tschudin and Jasper (2006; 2002) states, that the NMC code of practice will not be straightforward to escape difficult situation during care. A student nurse or a registered nurse with limited or no experience of a new setting and will begin their role as a novice and requires support by the policies of the workplace along with the NMC code rules to guide their performance during their role of practice. The advance beginner will be able to perform acceptable because of the experience gained and put into practice the principles learnt but taking their role very important. A competent nurse who is experienced for two to three years is a more aware nurse that plans and analyses but needs to develop speed within role. The proficient nurse learns from his or her experiences, reflecting in action and is able to make effective decision immediately. The expert nurse has a very knowledgeable background, remembers patients, recognises changes and manages clinical decision within his or her patients care (Brenner 1984:20-32). The changes that have been made of the framework for the Nursing and Midwifery Council are more straightforward to understand during the professional development of nurses duties and their role of responsibilities. The aim of the code is to protect the health and wellbeing of patients. It will be a continuous development in practice (Hinchliff 2008). The change in the guidelines can cause indecision and could cause unnecessary stress for individuals (Lewis 1951, cited in McEwen and Wills 2007). The use of the Roy Adaptation model could be used as a guide by manager to help nurses become more educate about the changes to the guidelines (McEwan and Wills 2007). Changes however, could cause the guidelines to create challenges for nurses role by raising the expectation also expecting continuous development of the way they should work by providing quality care that will help to extend the life span of patients. Nurses should keep up-to-date with the new technology of accessing patients information by taking on additional training. The challenge for nurses is to encourage patients to improve their health and wellbeing by accepting interventions that will improve their quality of life but not under mind patients choices. The improvement of knowledge about the advancement of treatment and broader area of intervention and increasing standards will result in improved outcomes. High quality work for staff and patient is difficult but ensuring skills are up-to-date and not ignored but the quality of the workplace comes with excellent leadership management that is beneficial for patients wellbeing DH (2010). In summary, the code expects profession conduct from all nurses and midwives during their performance in all situations and should reflect good principles of ethical practice. These ethical principles will deliver the right care and should include patient spiritual belief. The belief in providing the right care is reflected in the roles and responsibility of nurses and midwives, this is very important and a huge responsibility to be in a caring profession. The pathway from a novice to expert requires knowledge and continuous development. Whether or not the guidelines of the code appear simple the NMC has revised the code to make it more straight forward for nurses and midwives to understand and implement into practice of care. Caring is about identifying the people who may be patient, client or individuals and treating them with equal concerns, respecting the diversity of people that are able to access the service. These patients are vulnerable and require trust, security and the pro spect of improving their health and wellbeing and need to make the right decisions and choices whether good or bad but gaining informed consent. The dignity of patient should be respected at all times and gaining consent is an approval of trust to provide care but remaining within the professional boundaries. To ensuring this occurs, the respect for privacy is maintained whilst providing care of personal hygiene. Nurses make diagnosis during patient care with the help of a useful nursing model to gain information from patient which must be kept confidential. Keeping information confidential is a way of showing patient their trust is being respected. Nurses are hoping to maintain the trust that builds partnerships with patient and families that will including the professionals collaboratively to develop the patients health and wellbeing. The NICE guidance is to promote health and wellbeing for patients medication and the NHS (2010:9) promised, to promote high quality care for all. The code should not be difficult but it is a challenge that healthcare professional will work towards by raising the standards to give more power to patient in making decision about their care and safety. It is the nurses and midwives obligation of the pledge they have made to continue reinforcing care and the support will come from managers by providing the training to broaden the knowledge of our professional. The changes will require higher expectation and a service that is keeping up with technology. A change that will be challenging for nurses and midwives is to encourage patient to maintain their life span through health promotion. The code has its fulfilling purpose which is the responsibility to provide guidance to nurses and midwives, of the care that should be given within the professional role.

Globalisation, Organisational Behaviour And Organisational Development

Globalisation, Organisational Behaviour And Organisational Development The modern world is smaller yet global market that undergoes rapid change. Today, we are confronted with the scenario of a changing workforce that is multicultural and diverse in beliefs, ethnicities and behaviours. For instance, in the United States one-quarter of the American workforce is represented by minorities with this figure expected to grow in the future. Also, women account for fifty percent of the paid workforce in the United States. This diversity presents organisations with both opportunities and unique challenges. A diverse workforce in a global market is great advantage, but while the benefits are obvious, there are also various issues that diversity throws up, these issues need attention for work to take place in peaceful and efficient manner. In this modern world that has been shrunk through transport and communication it is paramount for work teams to consist of employees with different traits and behaviours. It is the job of a manager to effectively manage these varied individuals and mould the behaviours to bring about harmony and benefit the organisation keeping in mind the companys core values and business aims. Organisational Behaviour is defined as, Actions and attitudes of individuals and groups toward one another and towards the organization as a whole, and its effect on the organizations functioning and performance. While Organisational Development is stated to be, Theory and practice of planned systematic change in the attitudes, beliefs, and values of the employees through creation and reinforcement of long-term training programs. Its objective is to enable the organization in adopting-better to the fast-changing external environment of new markets, regulations, and technologies. Both Organisational Behaviour and Development are interwoven and their concepts are capable of acting mutually. Some of the areas where they are used together could be in trust building exercises, team-work strategies, critical listening, cultural exchange and also behaviour modification. What is Behavioural Modification? All organisations are set up with particular core goals and aims in mind. Various resources including money, machines and manpower are utilised to achieve these goals. Modern businesses often refer to their Human Resources (manpower) as their biggest and most important asset and it is widely understood that this single resource plays a vital and irreplaceable role in the attainment of success and the achievement of an organisations objectives. Thus, human behaviour at work plays an essential role in the smooth functioning of day to day activities as well the targeted long term goals. It is essential for a manager to posses the skills to identify and predict undesired behaviour and bring about required changes in order to make human behaviour at work productive and supportive to the organisations goals. In business language the art of modifying and moulding human behaviour is known as behavioural modification. It is a conscious effort on behalf of a supervisor or manager to reinforce each successive step that moves an individual towards or away from a desired or undesired behaviour in the work environment. Behavioural modification is rooted to the fact that behaviour depends on consequence and is concerned with inducing new behavioural patterns in an individual that would benefit the organisation. What is Reinforcement? Reinforcement is a term that is heard often when discussing behaviour modification and is essential to conditioning. In such a context it refers to anything an individual might find rewarding. Reinforcement is related to the psychological process of motivation and is environmentally based. Reinforcers are external environmental events that follow a desired behaviour. Reinforcement could be either positive or negative and is likely to strengthen the response and increase the probability of repetition. Burrhus Frederic Skinner and his contribution to the field of Behavioural Modification B.F. Skinner, an American psychologist and professor at Harvard University is considered to be one of the pioneers of behavioural modification. Most modern day behavioural modification concepts are a result of Skinners work and his most renowned theory is the Reinforcement Theory. Skinners theory is based on the Law of Effect which states that an individual is highly likely to repeat behaviour when followed by favourable consequences (reinforcement) and tends not to repeat a particular behaviour when it is followed by an unfavourable consequence. The Reinforcement Theory Professor B.F. Skinner articulated the major theoretical constructs of the Reinforcement Theory. Skinner was of the opinion that internal requirements and drive of an individual are inconsequential and that individuals can be taught to exhibit behaviours based on events that follow the behaviour. The theory focuses on overriding unwanted behaviour and influencing required behaviour aided by the use of rewards and punishment that are dealt out as a consequence of the behaviour. This method of behaviour change is commonly known as operant conditioning. There are two essential prerequisites for the effective application of the Reinforcement Theory in real life scenarios, they can be found below. Managers must be able to find a consequence that is strong enough to have an impact on the targeted employee. Managers must be able administer a consequence in such a manner that it is easy for the employee to understand the relation between the behaviour that is targeted for change and the resulting consequence. According to the theory managers must know if they are required to increase or decrease the probability of an event. Once this has been decided a manager must then determine if the use of a positive or negative consequence is appropriate. Finally, a manager must consider if it is correct to apply or withhold the consequence to gain a desired behavioural change. The answer to these dilemmas is answered through four unique alternative consequences: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment and Extinction. They have been explained in greater detail below: Positive Reinforcement Positive reinforcement encourages behaviour by following a response with a favourable consequence. An employee who receives recognition or any other reward is likely to repeat the behaviour. It is advisable for management to have a dedicated program for positive reinforcement as it has been documented to increase job performance and satisfaction Negative Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement is often confused with punishment. While punishment is aimed at decreasing the probability of an undesirable act, negative reinforcement is the termination or withdrawal of an unpleasant consequence following a desired behaviour. Negative reinforcement strengthens and increases the repetition of the behaviour. Punishment The use of punishment as a managerial strategy is becoming more common. It is applied by confronting an undesired behaviour with an unwanted or uncomfortable consequence and it is meant to discourage repetition of the behaviour in question. Punishment discourages certain behaviour but does no have a direct impact on enforcing a positive behaviour either. Punishment has the potential to sour work relationships and thus must be used with caution after evaluation of all relevant aspects of the situation. Extinction Extinction is the act of withholding positive reinforcement with the aim of decline and eventual cessation of an unwanted behaviour. Extinction is equally capable of ending good/acceptable behaviour as well if the manager unknowingly fails to recognise an employees contribution over time. The most common example of unwanted extinction is when an employees suggestions and inputs are ignored by a superior, it often leads to the employee holding back his/her opinions in the future and the chance that a helpful input will never see the light of day increases. Something Wanted Something Unwanted Something Given is a reward and a positive reinforcement is punishment Something Denied is punishment is a reward and a negative reinforcement Reinforcement Schedules The timing of reinforcement is paramount to its success, in professional and academic circles the timing of reinforcement is referred to as reinforcement scheduling. In real life work settings it is next to impossible to continually reinforce desired behaviour. Since continuous reinforcement is not practically viable, reinforcement is commonly run according to an intermittent schedule. C.B. Ferster along with B.F. Skinner developed an intermittent system with the following four schedules; 1) Fixed Interval A reinforcer is applied after the passage of a certain period of time post the occurrence of the desired behaviour. e.g. A manager praises individuals in his team only once a week at the Monday morning meeting. In this case the interval is one week and the employee receives recognition for any amount of work done in that specific seven day span. 2) Variable Interval A reinforcer is applied at a random stage with no identifiable or definite period of time. e.g. The management team promotes an employee to position of higher authority after an eight month period after recognising his contribution and consistent performance over an unrelated period of time. 3) Fixed Ratio A reinforcer is applied only after a fixed number of desired events have passed. e.g. A sales executive receiving a bonus after hes achieved a certain targeted number of sales 4) Variable Ratio A reinforcer is applied only after a certain number of desired results, however, the number of desired results changes from time to time or with different situations. e.g. An employee receives time-off with pay or an award The above four schedules are referred to as methods of Partial Reinforcement, where responses are reinforced only part of the time. Reinforcement schedules and their effects on behaviour are explained further with the table below. Schedule Description When applied to Individual When Removed by Manager Organizational Example Continuous Reinforcement Reinforcer follows every response Fast method for establishing new behaviour Faster method to cause extinction of new behaviour Praise and recognition immediate to every response Partial Reinforcement Fixed Interval Response after specific time period is reinforced Some inconsistency in response frequencies Faster extinction of motivated behaviour than variable schedules Daily, weekly or monthly pay check Variable Interval Response after varying period of time (an average) is reinforced Produces high rate of steady responses Slower extinction of motivated behaviour than fixed schedules Promotion, Recognition, Transfer Fixed Ratio A fixed number of responses must occur before reinforcement Some inconsistency in response frequencies Faster extinction of motivated behaviour than variable schedules Piece rate, Commission on sales Variable Ratio A varying number (average) of responses must occur before reinforcement Can produce high rate of responses that is steady and resists extinction Slower extinction of motivated behaviour than fixed schedules Awards, Bonus, Time-off Source (Table): O.Behling, C.Schriesheim and J.Tolliver Present Theories and New Directions in Theories of Work Effort Journal of Supplement Abstract Service of the American Psychological Association 1974 A run of the mill behavioural modification technique consists of the following four steps: Stating the desired behaviour as objectively as possible Measuring the current incidence of desired behaviour Providing the correct consequence to reinforce the desired behaviour Maintain a systematic assessment of behavioural change post the behavioural modification program While the Reinforcement Theory is often criticised, the insights the theory provides into individual learning and motivation will always be of importance. Criticisms Limitations of Reinforcement Theory There are many criticisms levelled against the Reinforcement Theory, the strongest accusing the system of completely ignoring cognition amongst human beings. It has been argued that a purely theoretical approach fails to address the impact that any alternate motivations might have on human behaviour. The Reinforcement Theory also fails to explain altruism (selfless deeds) whose sole aim is to help another person. Looking past these criticisms the Reinforcement Theory does still have further limitations in practice, a few which are listed below. Limitations of the Reinforcement Theory 1) Reward and punishment are bound to alter from person to person based on personal preferences and also based on the circumstances under which they are dealt out. Rewards might vary in their attractiveness from one employee to the next and likewise punishment too can have a range of reactions from rage to total indifference. 2) Managers are often confronted with situations that require them to re-think their reward and punishment strategy as it is quite common for reinforcers to lose their value/effect as time goes by. Human nature, be it a child or grown professional causes us to lose interest or become oblivious to receiving rewards and reprimands once they are seen as a norm. Just like a child loses interest in candy as a reward, a professional isnt always driven by just the promise of a bonus or a few extra days of paid leave and can often be seen to expect it as part of normal procedure and not an incentive. 3) It is difficult for the manager to be in complete control of all sources of reinforcement. It is very common for an employees peer group to be a stronger reinforcer than any kind of punishment. 4) The system of rewards does not always bring about an internal change, the desired change is just a response to the reward offered. Once the reward is withdrawn, the likelihood of the employee reverting to old behavioural patterns is high. 5) Punishment is not always easy to deliver. It is an instrument that must be used with care. Punishment must be consistent and unavoidable, it must follow the undesired act closely (i.e. it must be immediate) and must also be firm. 6) Punishment can lead to anger, fear and a range of other negative emotions that are undesirable at work. These emotions will be associated with the manager or superior who inflicts punishment. Conclusion A