Steven Truscott, A free man essays

Steven Truscott, A free man essays Many Canadian citizens take some of their fundamental rights for granted, especially those dealing with the criminal aspect. Today, when people are accused or arrested, they are guaranteed the right to consult a lawyer before giving a statement. With children, even more precaution is taken when they are accused of a crime. A parent or lawyer must be present at time of questioning, unless a statement is voluntarily given by the youth. Canada only adopted the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in1982. Even though the Bill of Rights was implemented, it was not clear in the rights of minors. Any cases involving youths prior to this time were subjected to the authoritys own interpretation of what the accused should be guaranteed. The pivotal 1959 Clinton Air Force cover-up that wrongly implicated Steven Truscott for the rape and strangulation of a twelve-year-old girl, Lynne Harper, is a perfect example of a case where the authorities abused their power, and it is evident through the way the investigation was handled, the violations of Truscotts rights, as well as disregard for the pursuit of truth. The investigation was handled poorly, as there were many statements overlooked and some even altered. A search party member discovered a raped and strangled body, which was later identified as Lynne Harper. The last person known to have seen Harper alive was a fourteen-year-old boy, Steven Truscott. He maintained that on a Wednesday evening he gave Harper a ride out to Highway 8 on his bicycle, so that she could look at some ponies. This statement is very significant because due to time restrictions, there is no way that Truscott could have brought Harper all the way out to Highway 8, manage to kill her, then make it home by 8:00 that evening where he was seen by his parents. Truscott also stated that after he dropped Harper off he rode down the road, looked back, and saw her climb into a grey 1959 Chevrolet. This is...

The Inspector directs on stage and manipulates audiences response Essays

The Inspector directs on stage and manipulates audiences response Essays The Inspector directs on stage and manipulates audiences response Essay The Inspector directs on stage and manipulates audiences response Essay Essay Topic: Literature I think that this play is very good at getting Priestley points across. After I had read the play it immediately made me think about the way I treat people. This is because in my view the way the message is delivered through the use of the character Inspector Goole, also the harsh reality of the story about the young girl, Eva Smith, and about her committing suicide. This is quite a selfish way to interpret the play and changing your ways, also the play is about not being selfish, looking after each other and working as one body, this is quite ironic. The way the inspector challenges Mr Birling, although Mr Birling is a powerful man. The inspector isnt afraid of who the inspector knows how do you get on with the chief constable? Perhaps I ought to warn you hes an old friend of mine. This doesnt scare the inspector which appeals to the reader. Also as soon as the inspector walks in the lighting changes from cosy to a harder light. This shows the presence of the inspector it shows that as soon as he walks in the atmosphere changes. Priestley wrote this play in 1947 but set it in the year 1912 just before the First World War and in the year of the titanic sinking. This technique called distancing. It enables the audience to think about times by reflecting on the past. He uses to help get his point across and also it helps give the impression of Mr Birling being pompous and stupid. This is as he refers to the titanic and calls it unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable he also comments on the thought of war, youll hear some people saying war is inevitable. And to that I say fiddlesticks. This makes Mr Birling look stupid as the audience of the time know that there has been a war, two wars. They are also aware that the titanic did sink. This helps to get Priestleys point across as; if Mr Birling looks stupid then it shows capitalism is stupid. The way in which it is set back in time adds to the importance of changing ways, as the end the inspector talks about if men dont learn there lesson soon then they will be taught it in blood and fire and anguish. This refers to the war and it gets the audience to think have they learned there lesson, as they will have probably lived through two wars and wont want to see anymore. The play was written just after the second war, in 1947, but everyone would still be feeling the effects of it. This helps Priestley to get the audience to reflect on their lives and to see what mistakes they have made and make them want to change as they wont want to go through anymore big ordeals like a war. Priestley had many time theories and influences while writing this play which helped him set it in a good way to get his message across with effectiveness. He was fascinated by the theories of time and he got his influences off P. D Ouspensky and J. W Donne. P. D Ousepensky believed that after death we entered the same life and are trapped in that cycle until we can learn from our past mistakes and break out of it. J. W Donne believed some people have the ability to see into the future and see the consequences of their actions. This second theory is visible in the play as after the Birlings are visited by an inspector, Inspector Goole, and questioned by him. After they have found he was fake, the police station ring up and say that an inspector will be on his way round to question them about a girl who has recently committed suicide. This gives them a chance to do the right thing and tell the inspector everything. Even though they have the chance to tell the inspector everything and do the right thing, the audience get the impression that only Sheila and maybe Eric will actually go through and admit what they have done. Even though none of the things happened are crimes against the law but just moral crimes, the Birlings are too ashamed to admit what they have done. Priestley has used Sheila as the character to help reinforce his point and she is what Priestley wants the audience to do. This is as she changes her views because of the events that happen in the play. This is what Priestley wants the audience to do think about what theyve done and change their views because of the play as they wouldnt want to think that they have made someone feel that bad. This play is still relevant to audiences in modern times as not everyone now treats people fairly. The difference is that in the modern era employees have unions, to protect them against unfair decisions from employers and give them more rights for all aspects of working, and national insurance cards and numbers. In 1912 when this play was set these things were just starting to begin. Before the inspector arrives to the Birlings house the mood is very natural and its very realistic. This is as the play is set in real time which means whatever happens on the stage would have took the same amount of time in real life, so it isnt set over weeks or months. As the play is set in real time it makes it seem much more realistic to the audience which would therefore shock them more. This is what Priestley wanted as it would make the audience go away from the play and think about how they treat people. That was also what Priestley wanted the audience to do. In the stage directions it comments that the Birling family and Gerald have had a good dinner, are celebrating a special occasion, and are pleased with themselves. It also comments that the lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder. This shows that the atmosphere is going to change when the inspector arrives, from the nice relaxed one to a very uneasy tense atmosphere. The opening stage direction also gives a lot of information about the characters and household. This gives us some clues about what the family are like and it would have given the audience some visual clues, which would have given them a little impression of the characters. From the first act we learn a lot more about the characters and the pleasant relaxed mood is continued through. In the first act Birling gives lots of advice to Eric, Sheila and Gerald. He thinks he knows more than he actually does like calling the titanic unsinkable and commenting that war is never going to happen. Also he gives his advice as the capitalist and industrialist representative. He tells his children that they should look after there selves and family none of that community and nonsense this shows he is a strong believer of the capitalist views. When the inspector arrives it is just after Mr Birling has made a big speech on looking after himself- and his family too, of course and also on capitalist vs. labour, which it is like when the inspector comes as Mr Birling shows the view of a capitalist and industrialist, whereas the inspector shows the view of a socialist. Birlings speech before the inspector arrives shows that the two are going to have completely different views. As the inspector is a socialist and believes in collective responsibility and looking after everyone, whereas Mr Birling believes that we should just look after ourselves and family. The inspector is shown in the play to be the antithesis of Mr Birling and this causes Mr Birling to not like the inspector. The inspector believes Mr Birling is wrong for discharging Eva Smith and comments about her asking for higher wages saying they might but after all its better to ask for the earth then take it. This shows that there wasnt anything wrong in just asking for higher wages. Although Mr Birling is a strong believer of the capitalist views when the Eric brings up the speech Birling has just gave on looking after yourself and family, Birling is keen to dismiss it and not talk in front of the inspector about it. This shows that although he has strong beliefs he knows the inspector has the opposite views and it shows that Birling is afraid to confront him about it. At the start of this play we are led to believe that it is going to be a murder mystery play but instead we find out it is a morality play. The reader wouldnt find out it is just going to be a morality play until it as finished. This would have made the ending a bit of anticlimax for the audience as they would have been expecting a big mystery to unravel whereas it ends more abruptly but it does have the added mystery of what is going to happen when the real inspector visits them. The inspector is at The Birlings household to investigate the suicide of a girl called Eva Smith. He goes into depth about the incidents running up to the death of this girl. This seems odd to the audience as they would have wondered why the inspector is asking questions about her being discharged from work as it bears no reference to her death and its not illegal so the inspector didnt need to investigate that. Also the other events running up to her death like her getting fired from her department store job, in Milwards, her relationship with Gerald and also her conversation with the group that helps women headed by Mrs Birling werent necessary in investigations. The only person out f the Birling family that the inspector needed to talk to was Eric, this is as his involvement with this girl, Eva Smith, was the only one out of the familys involvements with her that was illegal. But the way Priestley does these investigations into the other events such as Sheila getting her fired makes it seem like the events were illegal. Also the way Sheila feels extremely bad for what she has done helps add to Priestley getting the point across that all of these events were wrong. This helps him in his dramatic purpose as it helps make the audience feel that these events were bad. The audience would have been of similar class to Mr Birling so if Priestley could make them see that these events were wrong them it would change society dramatically. When the inspector is questioning his manner is very direct and forthright. He isnt scared of Mr Birling and still uses this style when questioning Mr Birling. Mr Birling tries to intimidate the inspector but the inspector isnt fazed by it and he carries on his style of questioning. This would have seemed very strange to the audience as the manner of the inspector is very rude and not like the manner of normal inspectors. Even when Mr Birling comments that he is very good friends with the chief constable and that he plays golf with him regularly the inspector isnt intimidated by this and answers dryly to him and very sarcastically as if he is mocking Mr Birling. The inspector contradicts, undermines and over-rules Mr Birling. He is always in control of the situation and it never seems that Mr Birling is in charge of the two. When Mr Birling is trying to ask why should you come here inspector- the inspector cuts right in which shows that he is in charge and it shows that he is the superior of Mr Birling so Mr Birling should speak when the inspector tells him too. The inspector is like this all the way though the play with Mr Birling and although Mr Birling tries many times to tell him that he doesnt like his manner and he should show respect, Birling I dont like that tone, the inspector pays no attention and carries on with his ways. The way he criticises the lack of care from Mr Birling and his manner is not what you would expect from a normal inspector. When the inspector is questioning Sheila he uses grisly details of Eva Smiths death which works as a shock tactic, not only to Sheila but to the audience as well. He uses some very emotive language which helps the audience and Sheila feel extremely sorry for Eva Smith. Throughout questioning Sheila he uses phrases and words like burnt her insides out and died, after several hours of agony this is the type of emotive and grisly language he uses too shock Sheila. She is different to her dad, Mr Birling, as she is very willing to accept responsibility for Eva Smiths death. This is how the inspector introduces collective responsibility to the family, through Sheila as she is willing to accept responsibility. As soon as she realises her connection with Eva Smith she feels extremely guilty and is willing to talk about why she got her sacked, but she doesnt try and justify it. When the inspector has finished investigating Sheila and moves on too investigating others then she acts as an assistant to the inspector. She tells her family that there isnt any point trying to pretend you didnt know her as the inspector will just cut you too pieces and prove you did. She asks questions of her own which helps the inspector in questioning, although she doesnt realise it does. Go on mother you might as well admit it Yes she is why? . She does this to help make her family see the same pint of view as her. Sheila is the first to realise that the inspector is not normal and is probably a fake. She says that its queer very queer when talking about the inspector to the family after he has gone. Although after they find out the inspector isnt real and all the family are happy, she still feels extremely bad and tells her family that we should change our ways although the inspector wasnt real he still spoke some truth and we should realise that we are treating people wrong. She isnt afraid of admit she is wrong and this is who Priestley uses to get his point across and help audiences to think about their personal experiences and change. The inspector isnt just bothered about facts that prove legal guilt but more of moral responsibility. This fits in with Priestleys underlying message as he wants people to change their views and think more about if they are being morally correct. The inspector, in his final speech, talks about there may be only one Eva Smith but there are millions more like her he is talking about social classes there and telling the Birlings and the audience that we need to help them. He doesnt just question the family but he also questions the class system and the attitudes they represent. He uses the family to show what is going wrong and right with the country. He uses Sheila to show that the young are changing there views which is good as they will pass it down so will mean that the problem might have disappeared in future years. But he also talks about poverty and that rich business men, like Mr Birling, arent doing anything to help the poor. In the inspectors final speech he predicts the first and second world wars which acts like a symbolism. He comments that if men dont learn there lesson soon they will learn it in blood and fire and anguish. This shows he predicts there will be a war if men carry on their ways. When the inspector leaves we still dont find out who he is. This leaves it as a bit of a mystery but he still makes a dramatic impact on the characters and audience. The way he isnt a real inspector adds to the dramatic impact. From the stage directions after the inspector leaves it shows how much of an impact he has had on the family and on the audience. Immediately after he leaves the family are stood there in thought. This is shown in the stage directions as it comments on all characters such as Sheila were it says Sheila is still quietly crying. This time were all the characters are in thought acts like a time for the audience to reflect on pass experiences and think about how they are going to treat people in future. The younger generation react to the inspector better then the older generation as they are much more willing to change their views and accept that the inspector is right, whereas the older generation feel that they dont have to change their ways as the inspector wasnt real so none of it counts. There is a final twist at the end of the play when they find out that a real inspector is coming around to ask them a few questions concerning the suicide of a girl. This would appeal to the audience as they would have wanted to see some justice. This is the effect of the inspector as even though the crimes werent legal crimes and just moral crimes the audience see them as crimes that should be punished. At the end of the play I immediately thought about how I treat people. It showed that Priestleys achieved his dramatic purpose. Although the inspector is not a realistic person it doesnt take anything away from the point of the play. After the play I didnt feel that because the inspector wasnt realistic that there wasnt anything to think about I still considered it very real and that it is important to think about personal past experiences and think about your views. I think the way the underlying message is put across is very clear and I think it would have challenged peoples thoughts. Priestleys techniques of getting his message a very successful and which makes the message clear and precise. I think this play is very good at getting its message across. Although it isnt as action packed as a modern audience would expect I still think it would be a good play to see and it would definitely help you to change your views.

Psychology of language learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychology of language learning - Assignment Example Language Acquisition A great deal of a child’s acquisition of linguistic structure occurs during the first five years of life. This is the period when he is most active in discerning a set of underlying organizational principles of language from the expression that surrounds him. It is amazing how at a very young age, he is capable of abstracting meaning from direct experience with other language users depending on his own context. Beaty (2009) explains that even at an infant stage, the baby’s early nonverbal communication helps in preparing her for the spoken and written language to follow and at 6 months, she has become a language specialist, based on the sounds she hears most frequently. At 20 months, she may possess a sizable vocabulary if she hears adults around her talk to one another and to her all the time. Of course good hearing and sensitive listening are paramount to language development. According to Lightbrown & Spada (1999), like the first language,  "learner’s age is one of the characteristics which determine the way in which an individual approaches second language learning† (p. 68). Lindfors (1987) notes that the child’s language environment includes a set of specific sentences, however, it is not this set of sentences that he acquires, but deduces from these an underlying set of organizational principles and sound-meaning relationships. To illustrate, children as young as two do not talk by simply using the specific sentences they hear, but rather, they construct sentences according to their own early version of organized principles underlying the specific sentences they have heard. Perhaps due also to limited language and motor skills, the child’s early linguistic system is different from the adult’s and results in telegraphic and grammatically erratic sentences like â€Å"He no want to sit me.†, â€Å"I not like it†, and â€Å"He gived it to me.† Over time, his langu age system will be revised in many different situations, and his sentences will become more adult-like. For his own purpose, he builds his own rule-governed constructions as he has deduced from his environment and from interactions with others (Lindfors, 1987). Language has four elements, and these elements have related skills necessary to develop a proficiency in language. According to Larsen-Freeman (1986), the natural order that children follow when learning their native language in terms of skill acquisition is: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Crucial to the development of teaching approaches is an understanding of such processes involved in language use. Socio-cultural Theory of Language Learning According to Lev Vygotsky (1962), social interaction stimulated by speech is essential for language development. He also mentions that a supportive interactive environment can help the child to reach a higher level of knowledge and performance compared to what might be reache d through his or her ability to improve independently (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). To this socio-cultural perspective, Lightbrown & Spada (2006) contend that people obtain control and reorganize

WE ARE A COFFEE SHOP CHAIN IN CANADA AND WE ARE EXPANDING TO BRAZIL Essay

WE ARE A COFFEE SHOP CHAIN IN CANADA AND WE ARE EXPANDING TO BRAZIL - Essay Example Also, they need to understand the cross-sectional issues and have constant attention to securing public or private investments (Nag, Hambrick, & Chen, 2007). Secondly is the partnership management. There should be ability to negotiate and maintenance of the core relationships set for the enterprise benefit. The partners should work well, and every partner’s knowledge and expertise contribute to the business success (Hill & Gareth, 2012). Many skills should be available in the expansion of the business to Brazil like engineering and technical expertise, legal advice, business planning and marketing that the partners can provide. Therefore, there should be corporation among them to improve the success. Thirdly, there should be marketing and business planning. The entrepreneurs should be able to access the business planning along with marketing skills now that they are expanding their market segments. The business plan should be able to demonstrate the objectives, service, and product lines; setting up the supply chains and pointing out the revenue targets in the other country, Brazil. The plan should have the financing and investment requirements and the marketing strategies to reach the objectives (Vladimir, 2009). Therefore, the business planning helps the coffee chain to identify its target in Brazil and how to achieve its objectives of expanding their market. Fourthly, another important element is creating a long and short-term benefits management as Richard (2011) suggests. The short-term benefits should keep the stakeholders until the long-term benefits get achieved. The significant factor for success is that every stakeholder should feel that they are getting benefits from the effort they contribute to the business. The idea of expanding the market to Brazil should show a success plan in future and define more potential benefit to the stakeholders in the project development. Now that the business require a significant lead time before securing tangible

Good Governance Essay Example for Free

Good Governance Essay Introduction The topic of this essay concerns about good governance namely what is it, what is its possible application in the formal and informal sectors added to its context, do the different ideological systems concord with it and lastly does it produce any, whatsoever, improvement or development in any sense and sector? And to answer to all that issues I will firstly define it, secondly discuss all its characteristics and indicators from the various organizations directly and/or indirectly involved with it and thirdly compare and contrast by analysing any situations within the main political orientations in which it is present or absolutely absent and the consequent effects. And finally I will try my conclusions to whatever it could produce with plausible recommendations. Well, the meaning of â€Å"governance in the normal daily use and the first one that comes straightforward to the mind is: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). The concept anyway of governance† is as old as human civilization and that is since human being felt the need to organise themselves by gathering in groups and electing among them those who will decide for the communities way of life, the eventual relation between the members and theirs with any other possible group around. However it is very recent when developmental professionals and different actors (international organizations, local, national and regional governments) noticed the relevance of governance on the causes that produce bad or good outcomes regardless the expected results  and the intentions behind. The increased use of the term â€Å"governance† good or bad, in the development literature is real and evident, but because bad governance is being absolutely regarded as one of the main causes of all evil deeds in all over the world, most of the International developmental institutions and financial donors have changed approaches by pretending from aid eligible poor countries to ensure good governance in order to have access to aids or loans. Not to ignore the fact that it is anyway the civil society, tacitly to ask, first of all, their relative governments for good governance if it ensures for a decent and better standard of life. The aforementioned definition implicates the automatic existence of decision makers whom are usually called actors by scholars and professionals. On the bases of this definition it can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Add to this that any analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing it and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision. Among the various actors Government, is the one per excellence, followed by the numerous local and regional ones in one side and the international or global institutions in the other. Within the same country there are for example, beyond the government that has the super power and final decision, other actors in rural and urban areas such as influential land lords, farmers, cooperatives otherwise known as associations of productive workers, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military etc. At the national level, in addition to the above actors, there are media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, and many others that may influence the decision-making and or condition the decision-making process. It is worth to remember any way that all actors except government and the military are grouped together under what is known as civil society. In some countries in addition to the civil society, organized crime syndicates also influence decision-making, particularly in urban areas and at the national level. Moreover it is normal to hear about formal and informal government structures and formal and informal sectors and that all of them are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. In some remote rural areas, locally powerful families may informally make or  influence decision-making and most of the time corrupted practices are the final outcomes. So governance may be a good or a bad one depending mainly on whether it is constructive and positively fruitful or corrupted and destructive. Unfortunately it is a real perception that, almost in the majority of the countries in the South of the world, there is an uncontrolled widespread corruption as a result of the bad governances of those minority, the elite in power with no distinction between the trio: Government, the military and civil society. But on the parallel carriage there is, at a global level, a huge campaign aimed to achieve some bettering improvement with the expectations to at least minimise all that corruption if not eradicate it at all. It is known how usually this minority misuse the governmental power to personal and or restricted group’s interest depriving in that way the civil society which represents the majority. If this sort of government in power is of a military extraction it makes the situation very difficult and worse because they, most of the time, impose themselves by intimidating the citizens and treating them as enemies, but the impact of their mismanagement will be discussed later. So the main problem in developing countries is a combination of power misuse, political immaturity and prioritising of personal interests to the communities expenses. The international community, in order to prevent further power misuse, promotes Good governance as the remedy to all that and in the intent to grant a decent standard of life to every single citizen regardless of her/his race, religion and social, political or ethnic group. It is not an easy target implementing it, and at the same not that hard but it, surely, needs or better demands, professionalism with some good deeds. Professionalism is the difficult task to answer since it requires competence, political maturity, responsiveness and responsibility. In other term, to have functioning governance toward the citizens interests and to achieve such governance there is, for the time being, eight major characteristics and several indicators to be fully implemented. These characteristics are the result of a long and hard work of scholars and professionals that offered their intellectual powerful services to the societies in order to find out the solutions for a better life, on common grounds, regardless the different political and ideological views. The eight characteristics are: Participation, Rule of law, Consensus oriented, Transparency, Equity and  inclusiveness, Effectiveness and efficiency, Accountability and finally Responsiveness. According to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UN ESCAP) these eight characteristics are defined as follows: â€Å"Participation Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Accountability Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law. Transparency Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms and media. Rule of law Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. Consensus oriented There are several actors and as many view points in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community. Equity and inclusiveness A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being. Effectiveness and efficiency Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Responsiveness Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.† In theory it is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. It is people centred matter trying to address gender inequalities. It is really vital and important from local level to global to achieve good governance, with the awareness that its achievement requires absolute professionalism and consciousness, two attributes that are unfortunately absent or worse than that, not considered especially in the South. Following this â€Å"new† approach the international community, leaded by the United  Nations different and various specialised organizations in collaboration with the International Financial Institutions with Bretton Woods institutions in the first place and some other world organizations, demands those countries in the South, who are always involved in corruption, to adopt good governance’s paradigm by modelling their governmental systems so that it might import huge changes and lead to better their country’s economical and social situations. The aforementioned institutions, after long and on-going hard research on what causes bad governance, and as the ones who perpetuate developmental progress, they use to propose solutions, which most of the times fail because of negligence regarding the way they approach and solve or deal with the problems and because of â€Å"disinterest† from both sides: the proposing and the recipient. However each and every institution has its own proposals, indicators and monitoring systems and some of them need revision and reconsiderations. United Nations institutions: The United Nations different institutions are for instance involved in developing country’s redressing developmental programmes according to their specializations and interests and it is sufficient the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as an example. In fact, their purpose is to tackle the main tragedies that mankind is facing now in most parts of the planet, with different intensity anyway between North and South. These problems are mainly the followings: -widespread poverty and hunger; -lack of primary education; -absence of Gender equality; -Increasing infant and child mortality; -absolute absence of maternal healthcare; -dangerous diseases such as HIV/AIDS; -mismanagement of environmental resource without sustainability; -misconception of what is a global partnership. And according to these problems the Millennium Development Goals are designed to: -eradicate extreme poverty and hunger -achieve universal primary education -promote gender equality and empower women -reduce child mortality -improve maternal healthcare -combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and -ensure environmental sustainability -develop global partnership development. These goals will be achieved and implemented not later than 2015. As seen they are eight goals focusing on the alleviation and tackling of those problems. Each goal has its own targets and indicators under the supervision of the appropriate different organization in order to measurably achieve developmental improvements in the poorest of the developing countries. In total there are 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. Regarding to the monitoring institutions there are for example concerning to health based programmes UNICEF, WFP, UNAIDS and WHO while to tackle poverty and hunger there are WB, IMF, FAO and UNICEF. UNESCO is concerned with educational problems while ILO (International Labour Organization) and IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) are more likely to deal with Gender inequality and women empowerment and so on. One of the eighteen targets [target twelve (12) of goal eight (8): Develop a global partnership for development] demands commitment to good governance, but at the other way round these goals are achievable only in an environment where good governance exists. It is a â€Å"cause† and â€Å"effect† at the same time. The expectations anyway and in any case are less encouraging because of unreasonable policies of some aid institutions that are not allowing a bettering situation, such as IMF and WB or the well known Bretton Woods Institutions. The Bretton Woods Institutions Good Governance One of the major causes of under development is represented by the heavy debts that plague these countries as a result of continuous increasing interest loans hardly repayable. Stabilisation, deregulation, devaluation, distortion of prices and many other interventions render developing countries life very miserable. The killing factor anyhow is represented by the Bretton Woods Institution’s Structural Adjustment Programmes (SPA) with the intention to help heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) repay or clear their debts in order to be eligible to new loans . But, these criticised institutions and related organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), dedicated from long time their efforts to help poorer  countries to overcome corruption, but unfortunately and sorely without positive tangible results, and this is because of their mismatching â€Å"rigid† policies and certain conditionals imposed on borrower such as Structural Adjustment Programme, that did n ot succeed to alleviate but, at the contrary, worsen the already existing conditions of poverty. The worse part is that IMF conditionals diminish the states authority to govern its own economy as national economic issue and not differently. But with the stabilisation programmes, deregulation, price distortion and privatisation of nationalised industries predetermined by the structural adjustment packages does not help the borrower to implement good governance. Equally the WB’s acting in partnership with the private sectors of a given country results in substituting the state which represents the primary provider of essential good and services. Imposing the reduction of government’s expenditure on food subsidies, education and healthcare or changing its import and export policies does not at all help developing countries to achieve good governance. This replacement usually ends in a shortfall of those services when most likely the condemned country is more in need. But now the Bretton Woods institutions realized that they need to review their policies in order to en able good governance to be achieved and the veracity of this is reported in the 1994 Naples summit communiquà © of the G-7’s countries. This communication clearly explicitly urged the need of reforms and reviews because of the Bretton Woods failure to achieve its primary mission of poverty alleviation. Reforming and reviewing the International Financial Institutions means they themselves need to practice and apply good governance and not pretending only from their borrowing members. If they succeed to change their policies in better then perhaps there will be a hope of improvement for the developing countries. All the above exposition concerns the theoretical side of good governance and it is very ideal and difficult to be realised in practice up to be considered a utopia. Nevertheless, the real fact is that good governance is absent from the international scenario and only few countries could be said to be close to implement it fully. Besides, the hilarious aspect of this assertion is that they are of different political orientation. This means that good governance does not require a certain political view than othe r. Examples of these politically differently  oriented states are: OECD, Japan, China and the Arabian Gulf countries. Good Governance and the main political systems and governing ideologies As stated before Good governance is not necessarily related to any of the political systems existing nowadays and this because countries with totally different political orientations seem to succeed implementing it. Moreover these systems might be used as temporary solutions in certain difficult political moments regardless their main â€Å"normal† one. In the purpose to understand which of these systems could conciliate with what could be seen as good governance paradigm it is worth to remember them with some useful comments. There are two main different groups on which these systems are based namely collectivism and individualism. The first one considers human being the pillar around which to build a society with the result that the types of the societies are different as it is different the means to design it. What they have in common is the notion that one (king or dictator) or many men (majority) should rule the others. At the contrary the individualist are more philosophical concepts in respect to the other group. Under the umbrella of collectivism there are autocracy/ dictatorship/ despotism, communism, conservatism, democracy, fascism, imperialism, monarchy, pluralism, plutocracy, socialism and theocracy, and the individualist are: anarchism /nihilism, liberalism (classical), libertarianism, objectivism, capitalism, and the republic. Each of them has its characteristics and less or more they could be simply interrelated and or contradictory. -Autocracy, dictatorship and despotism, for instance, are very similar in term of definition and that is an uncontrolled supreme right of governing in a single person with the difference that autocracy is supposedly benevolent. But there is a paradox in the sense that anyway an autocrat needs a huge amount of force to subordinate perhaps an unwilling people and from autocracy we pass to dictatorship. An example of this sort of dictatorship could be the Russia of Stalin for instance. Dictatorship though is the main factor that unfortunately destroyed most of the countries of the South mainly in the decolonization decades (1950-1970) leading them to extreme poverty. It is clearly evident that this type of system does not favourite the achievement of good governance because lacks most of its characteristics such as transparency, accountability, consensus  oriented, and respect for human rights just to mention some. -Communism and socialism have the same collective view of mankind with the difference that socialism is a political system while communism is a scheme that tends to equalize the social conditions of life by collectivising the private property under the governing of the legislator (the State in socialism); a problem that could be mentioned is concerned with what socialists call supervision on freedom of expression just to preserve the community integrity and this represent a restraining factor. Moreover socialism’s paradigms contradicts and represses the private initiatives ignoring so the potentiality of the private on development. Lately in few western countries there is an acceptance of it but in a diluted fashion. This leads to think that socialism differently from communism could give birth a good governance if well managed up to realize at least the corresponding and similar characteristic of both: good governance and socialism. I think this is enough for our purpose but it can be otherwise developed. Opposing to socialism and communism there are, as secular antagonists, democracy and capitalism. Democracy is usually intended for two major modes: 1) retained and directly exercised by the people and 2) retained by the people but governed by a delegated periodically renewable constitutional authority, a popular representation. It relays on whatever the majority’s choice is sacrificing so the minority, even if represented by one single person. This is the same as dictatorship with the difference that in the latter is the single person who sacrifices the majority for his choice. The major difference between socialism and democracy lays in the way deal regarding the collective. Democracy uses to favour the powerful capitalists at the expenses of others with less economic and consequent social power. In this sense capitalism  exerts inequalities born from wrongly created adversarial. Nevertheless capitalism allowed technological progress to be achieved more rapidly than communism. Hence good governance might be implemented by these later systems albeit in a different way and intensity and there are no consistent and distinctive criteria to declare the suitability of one of them to the best achievement of good governance. Remember that all depends about good deeds and professionalism. -Monarchy is a currently used system in different part of the two hemispheres. As a rulership, in which a king or a queen, an emperor or empress, it holds unlimited power having similarity with autocracy or lately limited power (constitutional), usually inherited. It is proven that monarchy in these last centuries succeeded to implement good governance albeit with more suffering civil society. But seen that good governance is people centred system there should be a redressing effort and good intent. According to the other systems I think that they are either out of fashion such as fascism, imperialism or nihilism or have a temporary or transitory use such as pluralism, conservatism, libertarianism, liberalism, plutocracy, objectivism, theocracy and so on. Among these later systems pluralism seems, in my opinion, to be helpful to most if not totally of the African governments. According to an article on the web of freedom in the UK, pluralism is: â€Å"Government carried out by a process of bargaining and compromise between a variety of competing leadership groups (business, labour, government, etc.). Advocates of pluralism claim that it best serves the democratic ideal in a complex modern society, in which individual participation in every act of decision-making is impractical. According to pluralism, individual rights and interests are protected by a sort of extra-constitutional checks and balances: No single group holds the dominant power position, power is always shifting, and individuals can have influence on policy-making through being active in one of these power groups. Some claim that America is such a pluralistic society; other theories say that pluralism is in fact a myth and American society is elitist. Despite this pluralism is not limited, other than by the common sense of its participants. Therefore it is still, in essence, collectivist and adversarial.† Analysing this sort of definition it is easy to encounter, at least most of good governance’s characteristics such as participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. In 1994-5 I was following Yemen’s political crises during the controversy between the socialists system supporters from the south and the, let us say, non socialist promoters in the north. At the end came winner those from north  formed by a coalition of religious forces and the pseudo capitalist system in power. During the contention the President proposed a joint supreme governing power composed by three representative members of the main three forces: the president, a socialist and a religious leader stabilising so a sort of bargaining government and the result was that the socialist part lost the partnership. My aim anyway was to prove how pluralism worked in this crucial time and for this reason it is seen as a myth since good governance tends to be utopia matter. But nevertheless different countries of different political orientation nearly implemented its characteristics it means that other could succeed by trying it. There is nothing unachievable if there is the willpower to succeed and people are determined to obviate the obstacles. And to do so the actors need to, first of all, understand the nature of the obstacles and then analyse the eventual solutions without being second to none in decision making putting themselves in that way in a subordinated position. They need to be capable of bargaining and only by that way they can validate their voices over bargaining powers on the other side. Understanding your power, resource availability, willpower of bargaining through it and accepting compromises are attributes necessary toward good governance. Representing their civil society properly and honestly and prioritising their basic needs will put the actors in the position of enabling it to benefit from the outcomes. All these requirements are possible of realization if the roles of the three main components of a country are well defined and every component knows its limits, rights and duties. Those mentioned three parts are government, civil society and the force army in its different specialty. Only in the case these parts understand clearly their roles there will be the expected good governance, otherwise the developing countries will hold forever the heavily burdens now devastating their lives and live with it. Good governance and the trio: Government, Civil society and the Military It is absolutely necessary to have distinct these three groups in order to avoid any irregular and regrettable interferences among them. This simply means that government’s role is to rule and to make  decisions, to choose the ways of implanting those decisions while the Military is to defend the country from external aggression or to calm an internal subversive. Regarding the civil society it represents the groups and individuals out of the formal structure of government and the military. Concerning political development it represents the extreme expression of political parties. In it there are the opposing forces that recalls government and military’s misbehaviour. Therefore, if one of them interferes with the other’s role and tries to replace them there will be a chaotic situation, and to sort out or put a remedy will be afterwards difficult. Effectively this is what happens in many of the developing countries causing situations difficult to redress. Nepotism, tribalism, racism, clannish belonging and similar congregations are causes of misuse of power, public and private resources and denying basic human rights to whoever does not belong to their circle. Add to this the fact that if the replacing group are the arm forces, the atrocity of the consequences is very deep and bitter. After the decolonization, in most countries in the South there was a subsequent darkening governmental systems that, based on ignorance and limited professionalism and lacking any sort of political stability due to indecisions regarding to which big power block count lean on, ended in disastrous bad governance and continuous coup dà ©tat from military men. At the beginning this sort of endeavour was aimed for a patriotic purpose but the result afterwards become dictatorship and despotism. The general ideas of governing of creating nations become too hard to be accomplished and it is been replaced by personal enrichment. More these fool governors were enriching themselves the civil society was suffering deep poverty. These facts encouraged military men challenge their adversely rivals in order to access to that wealthy life at the expenses of their poor tribal partners and not any more the whole civil society. Moreover such economic patrimony did not stop them from stealing but they have created tribal-based hatred between the poor people and this ended in between failed states and under the denomination of poorest countries. A failed state is the result of internally not functioning one or externally not recognised and that because the damage is more o less incident. There are so partially or totally failed states or better states that internally function but there is non external recognition and vice versa. Anyway the internal malfunctioning ends  in overthrowing o r secessionism, situations that are to be avoided. Well then, it is time that developing countries leave this nonsense aggregation of tribe, race and similar clannish ones and move forward in order to accomplish decent standard of life becoming equal to the civilised world and to put an end to the greediness of their governors. They have just to ask good governance’s characteristics to be implemented or otherwise they will only regress in respect to the progressive globalizing world. From the above discussion it is clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality but this does not mean that is impossible. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieve it. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of transforming it into a reality. It is a matter of competence/professionalism and good deeds. Competency, or professionalism or skill or aptitude, is very decisive or better it represents the core of the power in the government. It is indeed a requirement. Regarding the good deeds the determining one depends mostly from the rich and free societies and the effort they decide to spend. Actually it is the international community’s interest to show good intents in reasonably and responsibly cooperating with and helping poorest countries all around the world otherwise whatever the outcomes will affect them seen that the whole world is becoming a small village due to globalisation. It is surely known how global warming for example is threatening the whole world. Good deeds from national to international level is required and the rich and free societies role. To support this thesis it is worth to mention the United States of America’ 60th president, John F.Kennedy who said in his inaugural Address in January 20, 1961: If a free society can not help the many who are poor, it can not save the few who are rich. Likewise President Mpaka of Tanzania quoting President Kennedy’s statement said in a speech: In a globalizing world, if we cannot help the many who are excluded in global prosperity, we cannot save the few who are included. In conclusion good governance will definitely improve development’s conditions all over the world if the varied development institutions work in favour of good governance. References: 1. UN ESCAP What is a GOOD GOVERNANCE? INTRODUCTION Recently the terms governance and good governance are being increasingly used in development literature at www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm (accessed 21 December 2004) 2. United Nations Millennium Development Goals. at www.un.org/millenniumgoals (accessed 27 November 2004) 3. Bretton Woods Project Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF. Good governance. 49 items. Fugitive in five-star hotel, IMF foots bill. at www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/goodgov/index.shtml 25k (accessed 24 December 2004) 4. Freedom in the UK google search engine: political systems (accessed 28 December 2004) 5. President J. F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961Kennedy.html ( accessed 23 December 2004) 6. Chakravarthi Raghavan, Mar 5, 1998 FINANCE: FUND/BANK SHOULD PRACTICE GOOD GOVERNANCE! At www.sunsonline.org.htm 14k (accessed 14 January 2005) ____________________________________________ Bibliography Kingsbury D. et al (2004) Key issues in development 1ST ed. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan

The Plays of Tennessee Williams Essay -- Authors

Tennessee Williams was known as one of the greatest and most controversial playwrights in American history. He once said â€Å"I believe that writing or any form of creative work was never meant by nature to be a man’s way of making a living, that when it becomes one it almost certainly loses a measure of purity† (Lewis 54). This statement shows that Williams was a genuine writer who used his plays and poems to express his own thoughts. Williams was known for his Southern Gothic writing style. This is â€Å"a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region are characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastic incidents† (â€Å"Southern gothic†). Some critics believe that Williams had sacrificed his talent for fame and fortune; however, other critics believe his writings were original works of art. When Williams’ lover, Frank Merlo, died he went into a deep depression and his writing began to suffer. His plays were becoming less and less desirable and the amount of time each was on Broadway was slimming down little by little. Williams’ beginning writings were works of art, but they became predictable as time went on. Although he did use a lot of recurring themes and symbols, each individual piece had a life and moral value of its’ own. Williams was born March 26, 1911. His mother and father were Edwina and Cornelius Williams respectively. His mother was the divine essence of a southern belle whose main focus was being of the social elite. His father was a drunken shoe salesman who would later be claimed as the reason for Williams’ homosexuality. Williams’ siblings include Rose and Dakin Williams. It is said that his only real company growing up was his sister and their Negro nursemaid, Ozzie. ... ..., Gilbert. Tennessee Williams and Friends. Cleveland: World Pub., 1965. Print. "One Arm and Other Stories." Goodreads. Goodreads Inc, 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. . Smith, Nicole. "The Tragic Figure of Laura in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams." Article Myriad. Article Myriad, 6 Dec. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. . "Southern gothic." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. . Print. "Tennessee Williams." - Quotes, Biography, Quote, Works, Festival, Poetry, Poems, Bio, Writing Style, Autobiography, Bibliography. N. p. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

Family First Alert

Family First Alert llc†, which is a company that supplies alert buttons and the service of monitoring those buttons for the elderly. At the time of this printing â€Å"Family First Alert llc† has been in business for eight years servicing and taking care of literally hundreds of elderly people. Dan has always cared deeply for older people and wanted to do something that would help them and make a difference in their lives. Many of the people that have and are currently clients of his company have written many letters thanking Dan for the service and the quality that they receive each month.When Dan started the company he did so because his own mother was in need of that type of service and the family had checked into different companies that offered the service, but were just not completely satisfied with everything they had found. This is when Dan decided to research the industry and learn all that he could about how it worked and how it could be improved on. This was t he birth of â€Å"Family First Alert llc†. Dan not only wanted to make a quality service, but he wanted to make it affordable as well to those that needed it. This is why â€Å"Family First Alert llc† has never raised their prices from the time they started to present day.Dan boast’s the lowest price in the industry today for the same service as the many other companies and is very proud of that claim. You can follow â€Å"Family First Alert llc† on the net at www. familyfirstalert. com or on Face book as well. Introduction: When I was born, my mother and father were forty and forty one years old. They were wonderful parent's and they raised my brother and sister and I with much love and care. They were there for us whenever we needed them and for whatever reason. Whether it was financial support or moral support they never failed to be there for any of us. We weren’t by any mearns financially well off, my father owned a hardware store and my mothe r was a secretary for the board of education.It didn’t matter to them though, because their kids always came first and if we needed something, they would find a way to get it. I remember one time my father coming home with a flu gal horn in his hand for me. I asked him where he got it and he told me that he had traded it for an antique ax and $50. 00. He didn’t have the money to go buy a new one, but he was willing to sacrifice something that he cared about for something he cared more about, Me. He loved collecting antiques and the ax was one of his collectables. This was a common thing in our household. I remember growing up having older parent's than most all of my friends. This was a real worry for me as a kid and when they started to get older and have some health problems my fears became a reality.I always told my mother who lived to be 86 that she would never have to worry about going into a rest home, that I would take care of her and she could always come live with me and my family. My father died at the age of 63 after having heart problems from what I feel was a result of a life of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. As I said before, my parent's were wonderful parent's and took care of us as best as any parent's ever could. It’s funny how things go full circle in life. Your parent's take care of you and worry about you when your young and then it’s your turn to return the favor in their later years. Because of their love for me and the love and respect that I had for them, I had always felt a responsibility for them and would do whatever I could in their later years.This article is an attempt to try to help others that are going through what my family and I did while taking care of our elderly parent's. I will attempt to go through some different stages that will hopefully help ease some of the burdens that you may face. I hope you will find the following information in someway helpful. As Time Begins to Pass, Drivin g Can Be A Challenge: When our parent's begin to hit those later years it can be somewhat like walking on eggshells. You might start seeing some small things that concern you, but try not to blow them out of proportion. They might be still driving their car and the thought might come to you to ask them to stop driving or you might even be so bold as to take their keys from them. This is where many children make a big mistake.Remember, it is very important for the elderly to be able to maintain self worth and dignity in their later years. Having a son or daughter tell them what to do or what not to do can really hurt their feelings and cause a lot of problems. It’s easy to understand this concern if the paren't has had some accidents or is not able to drive safely where they might be a risk to themselves or others on the road, but if this is not the case, respect them enough to allow them to have input into what they are wanting to do. The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel published a very good article online on December 26, 2012 where they outlined many good and useful tips for older drivers and their families.They stated that it’s important to help older drivers stay safe behind the wheel for as long as possible. Adult children can help aging parent's regularly maintain their vehicles. And if it's time for a new car, adult children can help identify choices with new technologies that can enhance safe driving, like reverse monitoring systems. Older drivers can brush up on their driving skills with AARP Driver Safety's course, which is specifically designed to help people 50 and older refresh their driving skills. Family members should observe an older loved one's driving by taking a ride as passenger and keeping an eye out for warning signs. It's important to look for changes in driving abilities. These signs include: – Frequent â€Å"close calls† or near-crashes. ?- Unexplained dents or scrapes on vehicles, fences, mailboxes, ga rage doors, etc. ?- Getting lost, even in familiar locations. ?- Difficulty seeing or following traffic signals, road signs and pavement markings. ?- Slower responses to unexpected situations, trouble moving the driving foot from the gas to the brake, and confusing the two pedals. ?- Misjudging gaps in traffic at intersections or on highway entrance and exit ramps. ?- Experiencing road rage or inspiring it in other drivers. ?- Easily becoming distracted while driving. ?- Difficulty turning around to check the rear view while backing up or changing lanes. – Receiving multiple tickets or warnings from law enforcement officers. ?Third, if you notice a pattern of warning signs and an increase in frequency, then it's time to initiate a conversation. â€Å"It's important that the right person initiate the conversation,† says Jodi Olshevski, a gerontologist and assistant vice president at The Hartford. â€Å"Research indicates that 50 ppercent of married drivers prefer to he ar about driving concerns from their spouses first, then doctors and finally adult children. Whowever initiates the conversation should have a sthrong rapport with the older driver. † ?Avoid bringing up the topic of driving during family gatherings.Instead, look for a quiet, private time when all parties involved will have privacy and minimal distractions. If the case is serious and they should not be behind the wheel then sit down with them and discuss it in a very loving way and try hard not to talk to them in a demeaning way. Remember, they have lived along time making their own decisions and have done pretty well on their own. They deserve to have your respect as they always have. Many times just sitting down with the elderly paren't and discussing your concerns and worries and why you feel the way you do, will allow them to look at things in a different way. Remember, they loved and took care of you for a long time and they cared about how you felt and I’m sure the y still do.If you truly show your love and concern for them as you speak to them, showing them respect and dignity, they might surprise you and see things more your way. Young or old nobody likes to be told what they are going to do. Often, if your concerns are put to them as â€Å"What do you think about this mom†, or â€Å"Dad, don’t you think it would be better if we did this†, they would be more excepting of the suggestion and not be as defensive. If the situation is serious and they will not listen after all you have done, it might require a more drastic approach. I feel that it is very important to hold the relationship between our parent's as most important.Having said that, you may not agree with the following tactic, but it may very well solve the problem. If I knew that my mother was dangerous on the road and that her well being and the well being of many other innocent people were at risk, I might be so inclined to contact a police officer friend or j ust talk to one about your concerns. I might explain to the officer that I feel that my mother could be a danger on the road and would he be willing to keep an eye out for her and see what he thinks. This is more easily done in smaller towns and communities but if you have that luxury, it might be worth your wild. I’m not an advocate for telling you to be dishonest to your paren't or sneaky, but we are talking about their well being here.Sometimes the less you say can be the best, if you know what I mean. If the officer feels that she is unsafe in her ability to continue to drive then he can take the needed steps on his end. This will accomplish the goal of her safety and also help you save face in her eyes as well. I do feel that you must be prepared to take up the slack in the event they voluntarily retire the keys or if they are taken by other mearns. If they lose their ability to move around that they have enjoyed for many years, this is going to be a life-changing event. As their offspring, we’ll need to be sensitive to this and be willing to make arrangements for them or be willing to transport them ourselves.Depending on the number of siblings we have and the availability of each, we can have a family meeting and work out who could be responsible for what week or what day or what church meeting or what ladies or men’s organization we would be able to drive them to. I would suggest that the paren't not be in attendance at this meeting. I remember times when my own family meetings were taking place and my mother was sitting there. Every once in a while there would be a conflict amongst us siblings with who could or couldn’t do what and my mother would just get frustrated and speak up and say, â€Å"Just forget it, I don’t need it†, or something like that. These types of situations can really hurt the paren't in so many ways. Most of all it makes them feel as though they are burdensome and can start them on a path of depression.Depression is a whole other issue that we will deal with later, but it is very serious. We never want our loved ones feeling in anyway that they are a burden. I always tried my best to let my mother and father know how much I enjoyed being there for them. I’m not saying that every moment was a vacation, but for the most part, I did enjoy being there for them and seeing the gratitude in their eyes. The paren't doesn’t need to be in the meeting anyway to solve logistical issues of who is going to transport and when or who is going to stay and what night. The paren't doesn’t need to be in on who will be taking care of getting the medicines ready each week.They just need to know that they don’t have to worry about it. The less they worry the better off they are. Bottom line is, work around them and make their lives easier. Business Affairs And The Elderly: There are many things to think about when it comes to taking care of business concerns. Ta king charge of making sure the paren't’s bills are taken care of is a huge worry off their minds. It’s important to know where all the legal documents are and just what there is to take care of. Make a list of all bills that need to be taken care of and the addresses to where the payments need to be sent. Check to see if there’s any balance on any of the accounts.Find out if there is any extra bills that are not utility type bills such as, monthly donations or Christmas club dues, or maybe they are sponsoring an over seas child each month. Evaluate at this time, (with the paren't) if the budget can continue to fund these things. In today’s world the task of taking care of the monthly bills is getting easier everyday, with the use of the internet. By going online, most bills can be paid on a monthly basis now with very little effort. This will most likely have to be set up for them being as though most elderly people are not internet savvy. I would also re commend if possible in your area, to have your paren't’s utilities put on a budget with utility companies. This will allow them to make easier payments and free up some of their capitol for other uses.Bills that are not reoccurring, like groceries, getting their hair cut or that weekly massage, will have to be taken care of the old fashion way, just do it for them. When it’s time to get groceries, go for them or have someone go, or if they feel they want to go, go with them. This is another example of allowing them to hold onto their dignity longer. Tell them, you love going to the store with them and ask them not to take that pleasure away from you. This gives them another example of your love for them and also allows them to get the help they need with getting the groceries. It may be a smart business move to put any large assets such as vehicles or the family home place and property into the names of all the children. It could probably be a smart move to talk to a l awyer that deals with estate planning who also offers Medicaid planning services in case you paren't might need government assistance with in the next three years. Often, if a paren't has to go to a rest home facility and they have much in the way of assets, they might find themselves in a bad financial spot, which could effect their forfeiting their property. Transferring assets may also put those that are receiving such property, eligible for being taxed on it. These are important things to think about and should be discussed with a qualified lawyer. Someone will have to agree to take on the position of power of attorney.If there’s only one child involved the decision is easy, but if there are more it can become a little bit troublesome. If your paren't has already decided which child this duty will fall to, do them a favor and respect those wishes. This is something that is probably going to be worrisome to them anyway. They will most likely worry that they may be hurting some ones feelings. Do all that you can do to let them know that you support what they have decided. It can be a lot of work being the person with power of attorney or the executor of the will. This person has to be willing to do the paper work and the research of assets if it is unknown. This person also bears the burden of making the final decision on most all the legal decisions to be made.If you’re not the one chosen in the family to do this job, please be patient with the one that is and show them your support. Usually, it is customary that the person doing this job is compensated by at least $5000. 00 for taking it on. This should not be a source of contention between siblings because the job will require much work to do it right. My sister did it for our family and did it very well. She is the one that found the extra money that we (and our mother) didn’t know she had. She spent many hours on the job and did it graciously. She didn’t take a penny extra fo r it and that was an honorable thing to do if you’re so inclined to do so.It is also recommended that once the power of attorney has been decided on, to also have detailed in a document that names a second person who will take a look at all the bank statements on a monthly basis and do an analysis of all the financial records yearly. This person can be another family member or a professional accountant. It’s also important to try to find extra money for a later time. Using financial tools such as reverse mortgage can improve the cash flow of the elderly. Checking for benefits that your parent's might be eligible for such as a reduction in their heating bills or help with their prescription drugs can really make a difference. There are many avenues to get help out there but actually only about half the people who qualify for such help actually use it.When making purchasing or financial decisions on behave of your paren't, it is also wise to consult with other siblings i f there are any. Don’t make the mistake of making an important, or even a not so important decision without consulting the family involved. This will only open your self up to problems down the road. Someone will always have a different way to have handled it and will tell you about it. When you are in charge of the bills and the worries that come with it, the last thing you want to hear from a sibling is that you didn’t do it the right way or that your decision wasn’t done fairly. Look ahead and prepare in advance. Even the closes families have issues over money. Don’t be so naive as to think that yours will not.When you have done all that you can do to make the decision and the family can’t seem to come to an agreement on something, then it is your job as the executor or power of attorney to make that decision and everyone should support that decision, even if they don’t agree to it. The only other thing that you can do it to agree on (wit h the paren't) another non bias person, sort of a mediator to make any decisions that are in dead lock. This way no family member can be upset with any other family member. All these issues need to be understood and worked out well in advance so that there is no questions or misgivings later. It wouldn’t even be a bad idea for all family members to sign an agreement stating that they understand the way that procedures will go forth and they will abide by them.Of course, if the paren't is still healthy and able to make clear decisions, they are the ones that should set for the procedures and how things will be handled and they will be the ones having everyone else do the signing of understanding. Assets: It’s important to make sure the family knows just what the assets are. I know before my mother passed away, she was very worried that there wouldn’t be enough money to take care of everything. We were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough money to pay off her bills and pay for her arrangements. This was something my mother should never have spent anytime worrying over, but she did. After her death, my sister was going through some of her documents and found that she actually had much more money than she herself was even aware of.My father had investments in stocks and bonds that she didn’t even know about. My brother and sister and I ended up with much more inheritance than she ever knew. It saddened us all to think our mother worried so over this and didn’t have the peace of mind of knowing everything was going to be ok. If there had been some way that she could have known this before, if we would have just taken the time to find out before hand. Worry is hard on the elderly and knowing that she did so was upsetting. Find out what there is and what will be needed. Plan ahead for that time when you will need to know. Financial Help: Many Elderly are living on a very fixed income and can’t afford much in the way of extras.They must budget their income very carefully and some struggle to the point that they give up many things they really need. If your paren't is in a ssimilar situation and you or another family member aren’t in a position to help much, all is not lost. There are many programs available that could be of some help. Arrangements should be made early on for those times down the road where you paren't will most likely need some sort of services to help them get by. These types of services will most likely be that of some type of in home care such as health care, or some other type of service. These types of services usually can run upwards of 19 dollars an hour. For many elderly, this can add up to draining their nest egg pretty quickly.Plan far enough ahead that this situation will not come as a major shock to both their finances and there emotional well being. The local Social Services organization is a wonderful resource that should be tapped into. This organization ha s government funded grants and monies to help. If you contact them and explain your situation with them, very often they will be able to help in some way. Another fine organization is the Area on Aging services and the Community Action group that also can be of great help. They to have monies allocated from the government for helping the elderly. Local branches of the American Red Cross provide Americans with help paying electric and heating bills.Often these particular organizations are given a certain budget that they have to last for a certain quarter or even on a yearly basis, therefore, it is important to contact them as soon as possible to be able to receive such funds. These two organizations would definitely be a good place to start when looking for some assistance. Many utility companies across the country offer support and assistance to Americans to help them pay their electric bills. Sometimes the utility companies will out source the administration of the program to the United Way. By contacting the local United Way office, you can see if they are aware of any assistance or support provided by any of the utility providers.The Cancer Care Co-Payment Assistance Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance and cash grants to people who need assistance with paying hospital and medical bills that result from a cancer diagnosis. There are several programs that offer discounted and free prescription meducations. They include Dispensary of Hope, Together RX Access, NeedyMeds, and the Patient Advocate Foundation. The Meducations: I would first recommend that whowever is in charge of getting the meducations ready, get a weekly pill container to put them in. They even have these for the whole month if you want to do it that far in advance. This helps you organize the pills and keep track of them more efficiently.If the paren't is still seeing that they take the pills each day, these little containers also help them not to take th eir meds twice, thinking that they might not have. If the pills are gone, they know they have and if the pills are still in the container by evening, they know they forgot to take their meducations and can still do so. The responsibility of taking care of the paren't’s meducations can be very nerve racking, at least for me it was. Even when using the pill containers it can still be a difficult task. I think there was only a few times that I didn’t make a mistake while getting them ready for the week. I recommend after all the pills are in the container, that you to take the extra time and go back and check each container for the correct dosage. It’s better to be safe than sorry as they say.I remember when I was doing this job for my mother, it proved to be a very nerve racking job each week. It’s also very important that you stay up on refills so that you don’t get caught without a meducation during a weekend or a holiday when it might be difficult to get one. The pill containers seem to help with this as well, because you can see just when you’re getting low and when you need a refill. Do yourself and your paren't a very valuable favor by doing some of your own research on the meducations that they are on. Don’t always trust the doctors, they see thousands of patients during the week and may not be taking the time to always look and see if something they are prescribing is going to conflict with something else that they are on.This has happened more times than any doctor would like to admit. My own mother was on sixteen pills a day towards the end of her life and at one time wasn’t making a lot of sense with her words. At first, we thought she was just going down hill health wise and that maybe she was getting Alzheimer’s or something worse. She got to the point that she had to be put on Hospice care and was taken off most of the meducations and miraculously regained her clear thinking within just a few short days. This led to her being taken off Hospice care altogether. This was an eye opener to my family that many of the elderly are over medicated in today’s society. â€Å"Sometimes, less is more†, is really true.Any quick search on the internet these days can tell you what any drug’s side effects are and in many cases you might even be able to find out what drugs shouldn’t be taken with certain other drugs. It’s just good to be educated on what is going on because no one is going to care as much for your loved one as you are. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend you make a very clear typed page that shows all the meducations that your paren't is on and how often they take each one. I would make several copies of this document for family members to have. It’s a great idea to place one of them on the refrigerator, so that if an ambulance is ever dispatched to the home, it is in plain site for them to take it with them when transporting.This will alleviate much confusion on the way to the hospital and even after they arrive. Listed on this paper along with the meducations that they are taking, it is important to list any allergies or specific problems that you would want the ambulance crew to know about. The hospital will thank you as well, because they to will have to know this information once your paren't arrives and is diagnosed. Many meducations can cause the patient to be less alert and therefore more prone to falls. Some of these meducations can be sedatives, anti-depressants, and anti-psychotic drugs. People that are taking multiple meducations are at greater risk of falling. Know the side effects of all the meducations that you are taking.Most pharmacists these days include a brochure with the side effects for you to read when dispersing the meducations. Fall Prevention And The Home: The most common reason for injuries to the elderly are due to falls. Falls account for 70% of the cause of accidental deaths in America for elderly persons seventy-five years and older. More than 90% of hip fractures occur because of falls. One third of community-dwelling elderly and 60% of nursing home residents will fall each year. There are many reasons that an elderly person will take a fall and because of their age it can be a devastating experience and in some cases even result in death. I remember once staying ith my mother for the evening and she got up to go to the kitchen and the next thing I heard was a terrifying crashing sound. I jumped up and ran to the kitchen with fear in my heart and found my mother on the floor. It really scared me, but luckily she was not hurt to badly, except for a few scrapes here and there. As I helped her up I felt guilty for not jumping up as soon as I saw her going to the kitchen. The thought that I could have moved faster and gotten whatever it was that she was wanting and prevented her fall was all I could think of. Then I realized if I had no t been there at all, she might have been confined to the floor for several hours.Not that this eased my mind that much, but it did open my awareness to how quickly something like that can happen. I felt blessed that she had not gotten hurt any worse. There are many things to consider when making a home Elderly proof. Just like making a home child proof, there are things that need to be done for the elderly. One of the biggest issues that the elderly have is that they have a high risk of falling. You can alleviate some of this worry by making sure the following is taken care of. Is the home setup in a safe way for the family member? Are there things that can be done to the home to ensure that it’s a safe environment? It’s a good idea to include anti scald devices for showers and faucets that protect older skin.The skin of an elderly person can sustain serious burns much easier than a youthful person. Take the time to set the water heater to the â€Å"low† setting or at 120 degrees. My mother was having trouble getting in and out of her bathtub and we were afraid that she might take a bad fall in doing so. We decided to tear out the old tub and install a walk in shower unit. This way she could just step into it and sit on her shower seat. We found out later that this was a very smart move because of the fact that several weeks later her sugar level dropped and she passed out and laid in the shower for over three and a half hours with the water still running on her.If she would have still had her tub, she might have drowned. Many elderly over the age of 65 have a fall each year. Most of the time these falls occur right in their own home while doing the things they have done for years. Here are some quick things to think about that I have come across in trying to help prevent a loved one from a serious fall. * Make sure all rugs are secure. * Get rid of any throw rugs that are present. * Do away with any slippery surfaces that might be a hazar d to walk on. * If the loved one is bound to a wheel chair or uses a walker, or any other walking aid, make sure the pathway is clear enough for them to pass through without being a fall hazard. It’s sometimes a good idea to install handrails on both sides of the steps for better support. Many have even installed handrails in hallways to help prevent falls. * Make sure appliance cords are out of the way. Especially telephone cords and electrical cords. * Arrange furniture so that you can easily move around it. * Make sure furniture is easy to get in and out of. In some cases, purchasing a lift chair might be required. I would recommend shopping around when looking for these because there can be pretty big differences in price and quality. * Remove caster wheels from furniture. * Use a television remote control and a cordless phone. Avoid using floor polish or wax in order to reduce slick surfaces. * Keep commonly used items within easy reach. * A higher toilet seat can be ver y helpful to the paren't as well. These help by allowing the paren't to sit up higher and makes it much easier to get up from. * Put in a bedside light with a switch that is easy to turn on and off or a by a touch lamp. * Locate a telephone within the reach of the bed. * Adjust the height of the bed to make it easy to get in and out of. * Have a firm chair, with arms, to sit and dress in. * Install night lights where walking will be required. * Keep things off the floor that would create a hazard for walking at night to the bathroom. As mentioned before, a tub seat is a very safe way for the paren't to take a shower. These can be picked up in pharmacies or medical supply stores. * Add a nonskid mat to the bathtub. * Mounting a liquid soap dispenser on the bathtub wall will help prevent falls from trying to pick up fallen bars of soap. * Install a portable, hand-held showerhead. Physical Aactivity is very important: Up to 75% of elderly folks are not getting enough exercise in their lives. Regular exercise has so many health benefits in older adults when it comes to blood pressure, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, lipid profile, and neurocognitive function. Improvements in cardiovascular, metabolic, endocrine, and psychologic health are well documented.Regular exercise has proven to help improve the quality of sleep, cognitive function and even helps with depression and short term memory. Probably the biggest effect that exercise has on the elderly is they gain much in the way of m

Phase Transformations in Metals

It follows that some of the parent phase volume disappears. * Transformation reaches completion If growth Is allowed to proceed until the equilibrium fraction Is attained. Two types of Nucleation 1 . Homogeneous: nuclei of the new phase form uniformly throughout the parent phase. 2. Heterogeneous: nuclei form preferentially at structural inhomogeneous, such as container surfaces, grain boundaries, insolvable impurities, dislocations, etc. Homogeneous nucleation: solidification of a pure material, assume nuclei of solid phase form In the interior of the liquid phase.There are two contributions to the total free energy change AC that accompany a solidification transformation 1 . The volume free energy Agave – which is the difference in free energy between the solid and liquid phases. Agave will be negative if the temperature is below the equilibrium solidification temperature. The magnitude of its contribution is the product of Agave and the volume of the spherical nucleolus (4/ 3 aorta ) 2. Surface free energy y: energy comes from the formation of the solid-liquid phase boundary during the solidification transformation. Is postlude; the magnitude of this contribution Is the product of y ND the surface area of the nucleus (nor) * the total free energy change GAG Is equal to the sum of these two contributions: GAG=4/3 aorta GAG_v+rattrap y * In a physical sense, this means that as a solid particle begins to form as atoms in the liquid cluster together, its G first increases. If this cluster (embryo) reaches a size equal to the critical radius, r*, then growth will continue with the accompaniment of a decrease In LEG. An embryo with a radius greater than Is called a nucleus.A critical free energy occurs at the maximum of the curve, which corresponds to the activation energy needed for the formation of a stable nucleus. Critical radius of a stable solid particle nucleus: ) Activation free energy required for the formation of a stable nucleus: ) This volume fre e energy change is the driving force for the solidification transformation, its magnitude is a function of temperature. At the equilibrium solidification temperature (or melting temperature) Tm, Agave Is O, and with decreasing temp It becomes Increasingly more negative.Agave temperature decreases meaning, nucleation occurs more readily at temperature below Tm The number of stable nuclei n*(having r>r*) is a function of temperature as well: 1 ) changes in T have a greater effect on than on he denominator. As T is lowered below Tm the exponential term decreases such that the magnitude of n* increases *another important temperature dependent step in nucleation: the clustering of atoms during short range diffusion during the formation of nuclei. The influence of temp on the rate of diffusion: high temp increases diffusion.Diffusion is related to the frequency at which atoms from the liquid attach themselves to the solid nucleolus, VT. Thus, low temp results in a reduction in VT. The nuc leation rate N is the product of n* and VT Heterogeneous nucleation has a lower activation energy than homogeneous because he surface free energy is reduced when nuclei form on the surface of preexisting surfaces. Growth occurs by long range diffusion consequently, the growth rate G is determined by the rate of diffusion, and its temperature dependence is the same as the diffusion coefficient (recall chapter that diffusion increases as temperature increases).Most phase transformations require some finite time to go to completion, and the rate is important in the relationship between heat treatment and the development of macrostructure * for solid systems the rate is so slow that true equilibrium structures are rarely achieved, equilibrium is maintained only if heating and cooling are carried out at SLOW unpractical rates. *for other than equilibrium cooling Superimposing: cooling to below a phase transition temperature without the occurrence of the transformation Superannuating: hea ting to above a phase transition temperature without the occurrence of the transformation

50 Important Facts You Should Know About Teachers

50 Important Facts You Should Know About Teachers For the most part, teachers are undervalued and underappreciated. This is especially sad considering the tremendous impact that teachers have on a daily basis. Teachers are some of the most influential people in the world, yet the profession is continuously mocked and put down instead of being revered and respected. A large majority of people have misconceptions about teachers and do not truly understand what it takes to be an effective educator. The Silent Majority As in any profession, there are teachers who are great and those who are bad. When adults look back on their years in school, they often remember the great teachers and the bad teachers. However, those two groups only combine to represent an estimated 5% of all teachers. Based on this estimate, 95% of teachers fall somewhere in between those two groups. This 95% may not be memorable, but they are the teachers who show up every day, do their jobs and receive little recognition or praise. Misunderstood Profession The teaching profession is often misunderstood. The majority of non-educators do not have any idea what it takes to teach effectively. They do not understand the daily challenges that teachers across the country must overcome to maximize the education their students receive. Misconceptions will likely continue to fuel perceptions about the teaching profession until the general public understands the true facts about teachers. What You May Not Know About Teachers The following statements are generalized. Though each statement may not be true for every teacher, they are indicative of the thoughts, feelings, and work habits of the majority of teachers. Teachers are passionate people who enjoy making a difference.Teachers do not become teachers because they are not smart enough to do anything else. Instead, they become teachers because they want to make a difference in shaping young peoples lives.Teachers do not just work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with summers off. Most arrive early, stay late and take papers home to grade. Summers are spent preparing for the next year and at professional development opportunities.Teachers get frustrated with students who have tremendous potential but do not want to put in the hard work necessary to maximize that potential.Teachers love students who come to class every day with a good attitude and genuinely want to learn.Teachers enjoy collaboration, bouncing ideas and best practices off of each other, and supporting each other.Teachers respect parents who value education, understand where their child is academically and support what the teacher does.Teachers are real people. They have lives outside of school. They have terrible days and good days. They make mistakes. Teachers want a principal and administration that support what they are doing, provide suggestions for improvement and value their contributions to their school.Teachers are creative and original. No two teachers do things exactly alike. Even when they use another teacher’s ideas, they often put their own spin on them.Teachers are continuously evolving. They are always searching for better ways to reach their students.Teachers do have favorites. They may not come out and say it, but there are those students, for whatever reason, with whom they have a natural connection.Teachers become irritated with parents who do not understand that education should be a partnership between themselves and their child’s teachers.Teachers are control freaks. They hate it when things do not go according to plan.Teachers understand that individual students and individual classes are different and tailor their lessons to meet those individual needs.Teachers do not always get along with each other. They may have personality conflicts or disagreements that fuel a mutual dislike, just as in any profession. Teachers appreciate being appreciated. They love it when students or parents do something unexpected to show their appreciation.Teachers generally do not like standardized testing. They believe it creates added unnecessary pressures on them and their students.Teachers do not become teachers because of the paycheck; they understand that they are usually going to be underpaid for what they do.Teachers dislike it when the media focuses on the minority of teachers who make mistakes, instead of on the majority who consistently show up and do their jobs on a daily basis.Teachers love it when they run into former students who tell them how much they appreciated what they did for them.Teachers hate the political aspects of education.Teachers enjoy being asked for input on key decisions that the administration will be making. It gives them ownership in the process.Teachers are not always excited about what they are teaching. There is usually some required content that they do not enjoy teachi ng. Teachers genuinely want the best for all of their students: They never want to see a child fail.Teachers hate to grade papers. It is a necessary part of the job, but it is also extremely monotonous and time-consuming.Teachers are consistently searching for better ways to reach their students. They are never happy with the status quo.Teachers often spend their own money on the things they need to run their classroom.Teachers want to inspire others around them, beginning with their students but also including parents, other teachers and their administration.Teachers work in an endless cycle. They work hard to get each student from point A to point B and then start over the next year.Teachers understand that classroom management is a part of their job, but it is often one of their least favorite things to handle.Teachers understand that students deal with different, sometimes challenging, situations at home and often go above and beyond to help a student cope with those situations.Teach ers love engaging in meaningful professional development and despise time-consuming, sometimes pointless professional development. Teachers want to be role models for all of their students.Teachers want every child to be successful. They do not enjoy failing a student or making a retention decision.Teachers enjoy their time off. It gives them time to reflect and refresh and to make changes they believe will benefit their students.Teachers feel like there is never enough time in a day. There is always more that they feel they need to do.Teachers would love to see classroom sizes capped at 15 to 20 students.Teachers want to maintain an open line of communication between themselves and their students parents throughout the year.Teachers understand the importance of school finance and the role it plays in education but wish that money was never an issue.Teachers want to know that their principal has their back when a parent or student makes unsupported accusations.Teachers dislike disruptions but are generally flexible and accommodating when they occur.Teachers are more likely to accept and use new technologies if t hey are properly trained on how to use them. Teachers become frustrated with the relatively few educators who lack professionalism and are not in the field for the right reasons.Teachers dislike it when a parent undermines their authority by denigrating them in front of their children at home.Teachers are compassionate and sympathetic when a student has a tragic experience.Teachers want to see former students be productive, successful citizens later in life.Teachers invest more time in struggling students than any other group and are thrilled by the â€Å"light bulb† moment when a student finally starts to get it.Teachers are often scapegoats for a student’s failure  when in reality it is a combination of factors outside the teacher’s control that led to failure.Teachers often worry about many of their students outside of school hours, realizing that they do not always have the best home life.