HAPA children Essay

The present paper describes the results extracted from qualitative naturalistic ethnographic observation that was conducted among the sample of college students, both multi- (â€Å"Hapa†) and monoracial, to investigate their childhood experiences in regard to racial identity. The research immersed the concepts of â€Å"race† as a new social construct and of multiracial identity against the three coping strategies: a race-conscious, a race-neutral, and a class-conscious one. To reflect the multiplicity and worthiness of individual responses, the method of in-depth interview was chosen. Results showed that there is strong correlation between racial identity in comfortable/uncomfortable self-positioning and the socio-economic status of the family, psychological climate within a family, the presence/absence of role-models, and the degree of racial awareness in the broader (school) context. More research is needed to assess the type of correlation between multiracial identity in regard to â€Å"Hapa† children and educational level of their parents, the period of naturalization in the current locality, and gender of â€Å"Hapa† subjects, as well as the effect of coping strategies on multiracial identity. Introduction The word race refers to a class of people who are perceived as physically unique on the basis of certain traits, such as skin color, hair texture, and facial features. These unique features allow people to distinguish others’ origins based on their appearance. However, when interracial marriage became more popular, the population of mixed-raced children increased dramatically, and people can no longer identify others’ race based on their appearance. Interracial relationships became a trend and part of American culture. The U.   S. earlier census established six categories for race: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White, and Hispanic or Latino. However, in the 2000 Census there were already sixty-three categories for race (there were eleven subcategories under â€Å"Hispanic ethnicity† alone). Interracial marriages include unions among these 63 groups. Regardless of what types of ethnic groups are involved in the relationships, one important outcome of these relationships is children. An identity crisis has become the most debated issue about mixed-raced children. The research will focus on the identity development of one distinct mixed-raced group, the Hapa. â€Å"Hapa† is a Hawaiian word used to describe half-Hawaiian mixed-raced children. Nowadays, the word â€Å"Hapa† has become a popular term to describe half Asian and half White children. The research will compare the differences in developing identity between Hapa children (a mixed-raced group) and children of a single race. It is argued here that Hapa children tend to have a harder time when developing their identity in comparison to children of a single race. Cross’ model of Black racial identity development (Cross, 1971; found in Tatum, 2004, p. 117+) was adopted to assess individual perceptions and experiences in regard to race and identity within a sample of college students. Modern discourse on the issues of race and multiraciality was analyzed to identify four possible sets of factors (socio-economic status, the SES, acculturation, national origin, and demographic characteristics; in Morning, 2001, p. 61+) affecting self-identification in a race-biased context. The U. S. college students were recruited to participate in the survey on the point. The present research fits into the paradigm of qualitative, naturalistic and ethnographic research (Boas, 1943; Blumer, 1969; Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Woods, 1992; LeCompte and Preissle, 1993; in Cohen et al. , 2000, p. 136). (3) It is qualitative since it operates non-numeric data, i. e. the data is derived from observations and conversations and not from statistic analysis. The aforementioned respondents shared their feelings and attitudes on the point of racial issues in political, cultural, and social spheres in regard to phenotypical and ideological conceptualizations of â€Å"race. † The research is naturalistic since the testing of hypotheses took place in natural and naturalistic environments as opposed to artificial and controlled settings such as laboratories. The research is ethnographic since it dealt with people in their variety and subjectivity of perceptions but still constituting a cultural group (â€Å"Hapas†). Thus, the key characteristics of qualitative, naturalistic and ethnographic research being the set of flexible constructions of meanings on the issue of â€Å"race† taken by the â€Å"insiders† of a community can be observed here. The present research paper is structured along the traditional model. In the Literature review section, current interpretations of race, multiraciality and identity development are analyzed to be applied further to the current research. In the Method section, the research strategies and tools of the present investigation are discussed within the framework of qualitative, naturalistic and ethnographic investigation. In the subsequent sections, the data collected through the questionnaires and interviews is discussed. The Conclusion section summarizes the facts revealed in the survey and restates the hypothesis to arrive at the implications for the further study and practice in regard to the issues of race and identity. Literature review Spencer underlined that multiracial identity is deeply rooted in the assumptions â€Å"that race exists and that the offspring of persons from two different racial groups is a multiracial individual† (1999, p. 88). There is a popular concept of phenotypes or â€Å"physical expressions of genetic inheritances† (Ifekwunigwe, 2004, p. 4) lying in the foundation of the theory about human races. Recently, however, more and more researchers have started to argue the notion of â€Å"discrete or pure biological ‘races’† (Jones 1996, Rose et al. 1984; in Ifekwunigwe, 2004, p. 3). They stressed the importance of internal differences that persisted within a group modeled as a solid biological race. The modern concept of racial formation predicts that race is a social construct to a greater extent than a biological one. Ropp drew a bottom line in the argument stating that multiracial subjects did not fit into the biological race network (2004, p. 263). Omi and Winant defined the process of racial formation as â€Å"the socio-historical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed† (1994, p. 55). In the first edition of the book, they argued that â€Å"racialization [is the] extension of racial meaning to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice of group† (Omi & Winant, 1986, p. 64). Williams stressed that â€Å"races have been socially constructed in such a way that they have remained separate, monoracially-boundaried, exclusive, and unequal† (p. 168). The reference to races being created â€Å"socially† implies that people create the network of prejudices, attitudes and perceptions masking their personal and political bias by referring to skin, hair and other physical or â€Å"phenotypical† parameters.

The Station Nightclub Fire West Warwick, Rhode Island.

The Station Nightclub Fire West Warwick, Rhode Island. The building of the Station Nightclub was constructed in approximately 1946. Many restorations and repairs were made to the building since the time of construction by different owners to fulfill their business needs. The building was a wood-frame construction with wooden shingles on the exterior walls that also included a flat roof, but the interior walls surrounding the stage were staffed with sound proof polyurethane insulating foam. Windows were located on the north side of the building and on the east side of the front entrance.All of the windows had security bars on them (this could be an issue! ). The building had only four doors; a front main door, a bar side exit door, a platform exit door, and a kitchen exit door. The building was equipped with a fire alarm; however it was not connected to a nearby fire department alarm office. At the time of the incident, the building wasn’t protected by any sprinkler or extingui shment systems. The fire began at 11:07 PM, on Thursday, February 20, 2003. The band Great White was the main event of the night.After only half a minute into their performance, the pyrotechnics ignited the sound insulation (polyurethane foam) that was around the stage. The ignition of the polyurethane foam built up enough heat to ignite the wooden panels above the stage spreading the fire throughout the building. At first, the audience thought that the flames were a part of the show. Seconds after the audience realized that the fire was unplanned, they headed toward the main entrance trying to escape, not knowing that three other exits in the building existed.One hundred people lost their lives that day. Serving a population of 30,000 residents, the West Warwick Fire Department is first due on all fire/rescue and EMS calls for the 8 sq. mile district of West Warwick. West Warwick Fire Department operates out of four stations with a total of four engines, one ladder truck, two ambul ances, and one special hazards unit. When West Warwick Fire Department was dispatched to the address, a multiple casualty incident was put into effect due to the seriousness of events.They had to request for mutual aid from the encompassing jurisdictions for any apparatus and ambulances available. The end result was a combination of 583 fire, EMS, and police personnel including 57 ambulances (BLS & ALS) and two buses for transportation and shelter. The Local, State and Federal agencies were called to investigate the Station Nightclub fire incident and they found many issues. The polyurethane foam that was on the interior walls was the major factor in the Station Nightclub fire. It was easily ignited and also contributed to a faster fire spread within the building.According to NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, the interior finish is required to be Class A or B for general assembly areas with occupant loads of more than 300. It has been calculated that the number of occupants at the Station Nightclub was around 440-458 people, obviously well over this limit. The ignition of polyurethane foam gave out a magnitude of smoke and heat in such a short period of time and created mass chaos, thus resulting in a crowd-wide panic towards the initial entry point. Also NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, section 13. 2. 3. 6. states that the main entrance/exit shall be of a width that accommodates one-half of the total occupant load and shall be at the level of exit discharge or shall connect to a stairway or ramp leading to a street. If the owner of The Station Nightclub would have inspected the main point of egress and made sure it complied with the code, many lives would have been spared that night. The pyrotechnics was the main ignition source. The building owner should have had the approval and authorization for use of pyrotechnics. The NFPA 1126, Standard for the Use of Pyrotechnics before a Proximate Audience, section 13. . 2 Open Flame Devices and Pyrotechnics, states that â€Å" no open flame devices or pyrotechnic devices shall be used in any assembly occupancy unless otherwise permitted†. The owner of the Station Nightclub failed to comply with the regulations, which resulted in such dramatic incident in the history of U. S. Since the building of Station Night club was constructed approximately in 1946 and under different owners it was renovated into a restaurant and nightclub. At that time sprinklers would not have been required to be installed.Back in that period of time, sprinkler systems were not cost effective and technology was evolving. Later in the building’s life-span, fire damaged the building before this incident. The owner at the time of the fire damage reconstructed the building and no sprinkler systems were installed. At the time of the Station Nightclub incident in 2003, the building didn’t have any sprinkler system whatsoever. In the 2003 edition of the model codes, sprinklers would have been required if the building wa s a new construction. The Nightclub owner wasn’t aware of codes and regulations on the sprinkler systems.The National Institute of Standards and Technology engineers arrived at scene to develop a report on the Station Nightclub incident. Experiments and studies by the NIST team have shown that if the building was equipped with a sprinkler system, they would be able to control the fire, thus minimizing the number or chance of casualties. The NIST report also states that at the time of the incident, the nightclub had fire extinguishers, but they were not strategically placed throughout the building. So the building had the equipment, but no one knew where it was.NIST report also determines that even with fire departments first arriving unit at seen (less than five minutes), they could not have saved the structure in that situation. After all this being said, I think that the main reason that contributed to fire deaths was the occupant load and the point of egress. Most of the p eople rushed toward the main door resulting in serious chaos. People were crashing on top of each other and jamming the main entrance, limiting their escape. NIST report studies showed that one third of the people escaped through the windows and the sun room.From looking at the map of the building, it shows that the occupancy had only four exits including the main entrance. One of the exists was in the kitchen area, probably only known to the employees. This makes only three exits available for many people to escape, although the crowd probably only knew of the main entrance. After such a tragic incident, the NFPA developed a series of required codes and standards for public assembly occupancies. The reinforcing of the codes and regulations also came with them being easily accessible online not only for the fire personnel, but also to the public.If the West Warwick Fire Department did their inspection they would have noticed that the owner is not up to codes and regulations on the s prinkler systems in a public occupancy. Not only would they have found a lack in sprinkler systems, but they would have found a few other problems concerning the safety of the building. It was fire department’s priority to make the owner aware of the problems and provide accurate information to make him conscious that the building was not safe. Also, the West Warwick Fire Department should have done the follow up on the items that they were the most concerned about.The fire department should have stated the risks of not having the sprinkler systems installed given the history of that building. I find it crucial to have thorough and solid preplans of your district. Knowing your response area will help you prevent fires, period. From all of the investigations made by NIST and NFPA reports, they concluded that by adapting to the additional changes to model codes and regulations, most importantly making them known and strictly enforcing them, the safety of the public occupancies can be strengthened.It was sad to see the deaths of 100 people that day, but the only way regulations and safety can be updated is when people get hurt. Hopefully, this tragedy will help fire departments learn a lesson and put emphasis on preplanning. Work cited: http://fire. nist. gov/bfrlpubs/fire08/PDF/f08033. pdf http://www. nist. gov/el/disasterstudies/ncst/upload/StationNightclubEmergencyResponse. pdf http://www. nfpa. org/assets/files/pdf/research/case_study_nightclub_fires. pdf

Malaysia Traditional Games

INTRODUCTION Multi-racial society in Malaysia has a wide variety of cultural grasped from different roots. Culture was consolidated into a unique culture because almost every descent has custom forming their respective cultures. These include the likes cooperate economic activities, where the bond is strengthened and Forge Closer with brio events and entertainment. Many games were contested because of such customs. Traditional games have been able to form a part of life experienced by the ancestors communities respectively.Important foundation that guarantees the continuity of traditional games in the past is uniformity way our ancestors lived. Even since I was small they familiarize themselves with this state. Some of these games are now not played yet but is only known by the parents and grandparents. But still there are some children playing it today. Some of the games, including pride, kite, selambut, sepak raga, tops, kabaddi, mahjong, etc.. CONGKAK The word  congkak  is bel ieved to originate from old  Malay  Ã¢â‚¬Å"congak†, meaning â€Å"mental calculation†.The oldest  mancala  game boards were found in a ruined fort of Roman Egypt and date back to the 4th century AD by our Persatuan  National Geographic . After that, the game was likely introduced to Southeast Asia by Indian or Arab traders in the 15th century throughmerchants via Malacca , an important trading post at that time Congkak has simple rules that allow the boards to have different numbers of holes. Congkak boards are often made of teak or mahogany wood . Normally Congkak has two rows of seven circular holes and two large holes at both ends named â€Å" Home â€Å" . How to play?The game begins with seven game pieces (marbles or seeds) in each hole except â€Å"homes† which remain empty. Congkak requires two players . Each player controls the seven holes on his side and owns the â€Å"home† to his left. The goal is to accumulate as many pieces in your own â€Å"home†. On a turn, a player removes all pieces from one of the seven holes on his side. He then distributes them clockwise — one in each hole to the left of this hole — . This process skips an opponent's â€Å"home† but not a player's own â€Å"home†. The game ends when no pieces are left in any hole on both sides of the board.The players now count the number of pieces in their own â€Å"home† and see who has won. Director Ahmad Idham produced before 1 movie name  filem Congkak  at the year 2008 . If you wish to understand more about Congkak , can refer to this movie. WAU Now we are moving to the next part, namely â€Å"Wau†. For your general knowledge, Wau is actually farmer’s friend. Normally, farmers use it to represent a flying scarecrow in order to fend off birds from paddy fields. To prevent from over-using chemical substances to control the productivity of paddy, this may be an effective method to avoid har vested paddy from falling victim to the winged creatures.Somebody said that the sound made by Wau is an excellent lullaby for the farmer’s children. This is because the melody helps restless kids catch forty winks while the farmers could go about their tasks uninterrupted History of Wau Bulan shows that it is the brainchild of the Sri Wijaya empire, symbolizing Dewa Muda’s effort to reunify the empire. The young prince used the Wau as a canvas to map out the conquered districts using fine patterns and flowers. Before he went to war, Dewa Muda would meditate in a cave to gain some spiritual insights. He then exist the cave with a basic structure of Wau Bulan before he going off to war.After his return from a battle, the design kept on ‘growing’, symbolizing the strength of his empire; much to the pride and delight of his people. As a result, Wau Bulan could then said to derive its name from its tail which resembles that of a crescent, from the medium of tra nsportation for Dewa Muda to ascend to the heavens. Below are the steps for creating Wau your own. First of all, the spine of Wau is measured into 3 parts, then making the point of separation. Wau wing section will tie first. Wing that is tied will also be tied at the marked point of wau spine.Then, bind at the top and bottom of the tail spine and make sure that the balance in both sides. After that, attach the end of the tail for both left and right to the wing. For the waist of the Wau, make 2 semi circles from the bamboo stick to form a circle as shown in Wau Bulan picture above. Lastly, make the head Wau with binding half of the head with Wau wing with 2-inch distance from the spine. SEPAK BULU AYAM (CHAPTEH) The chapteh is one of the Asian games. Before the â€Å"chapteh† have approached to Malaysia , actually the sepak bulu ayam game already appeared in the 5th century BC in china.The earliest reference to a game of kicking a feathered object dates back to the 5th centu ry BC in China . At that time, the chapteh is used to train military men and later known as Ti Jian Zu or †kick little shuttlecock†. For the shaolin monks in Henan, they practiced the game to strengthen their martial skills. In Vietnam, the game is known as da cau, while in Indonesia they called it as sepak kenchi. In the 2003 SEA Games held in Vietnam,  capteh  was a prevalent sport. Internationally, Featherball Associations in Europe, USA and Turkey also show how international the game has become.In Malaysia and Singapore, the game also known as chapteh . The game was most welcomed by the malay citizen in the Malaysia, and become one of their traditional games. After that, the chapteh was accepted by other races and as variants of the name of sepak bulu ayam included capteh, chaptek and chatek seem to appear in Malaysia. DESCRIPTION Chapteh consist of feathers attached to a rubber or plastic sole. HOW TO PLAY The chapteh requires players to keep a weighted shuttlec ock in the air, usually using their feet, or other parts of the body may be used, except for the hands.It can be play individually or in a team. For individual, the longest time you keep the chapteh in the air, the higher the score you will get, the higher the chance to be champion. While in a group or team, a circle is drawn. The game is played in the circle with the first assigned player attempting to keep the  capteh  in the air until it falls to the ground within the circle. Then the next team member continues the count while playing in the circle. This continues until all team members have taken a turn in the game.The winning team is the one that scores the highest number of total kicks. BENEFITS The game can improve our hand-eye coordination. MAHJONG Mahjong is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players. While the single player tile matching game mahjong solitaire is familiar in the West, in Asia it is the four-player table version which holds predomi nance and has little in common with the solitaire version other than using the same tiles. Similar to the Western card game rummy, mahjong is a game of skill, strategy and calculation and involves a certain degree of chance.The game is played with a set of 136 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations use a different number of tiles. In most variations, each player begins by receiving thirteen tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the fourteenth drawn tile to form four groups (melds) and a pair (head). There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, stolen from another player and thus melded, the use of simples (numbered tiles) and honours (winds and dragons), the kinds of melds, and the order of dealing and play.However there are many regional variations in the rules; in addition, the scoring system and the minimum hand necessary to win varies significantly based on the local rules bei ng used. THE MAHJONG SET A set of mahjong tiles usually has at least 136 tiles (most commonly 144). Mahjong tiles are split into these categories: suits, honor, and flowers. Each rectangular shaped tile is about 1 ? inch x 1 inch x ? inch. The thick layer, the layer made of white bone or plastic is ? inch of the tile’s height, while the thin layer, the layer made of imitation onyx, is ? inch of the tile’s height.Each tile weighs about ? ounce and has a smooth texture, much like the smoothness of marble. This can be attributed to the fact that all sides of each tile, including the edges, are polished to the point where no roughness exists. This is usually the work of machines which have the capacity to obtain complete smoothness. The face of each tile (length 1 ? inch x width 1 inch) is carved with different letters or symbols. Due to the complexity of some of the characters and symbols, the designs are hand carved and filled in with paints of various colors. The tiles can be divided into 4 groups of 34 tiles each.Within each group, the tiles are divided among the five suits or series. Each of the 4 groups are identical. In other words, there are four tiles of each design (4 x 34=136). The remaining 8 tiles are flowers. Suits There are three different suits numbered 1 to 9, which are called simple tiles. They are bamboo, characters, and circles. Suit| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| Bamboos| | | | | | | | | | Characters| | | | | | | | | | Circles| | | | | | | | | | Honors There are two different honor suits: the winds and the dragons. The winds are east, south, west and north, and the dragons are red middle, prosperity and White board.They have no numerical sequence and there are four tiles of each honor (e. g. four Red middle tiles). Bonus Tiles There are only eight tiles: four flowers and four seasons. WindsEast,South,West,North| DragonsRed middle,Prosperity,WhiteBoard| FlowersPlum,Orchid,Chrysathemun,Bamboo| SeasonsSpring,Summer,Autumn,Winter | CHIN ESE YO-YO The Chinese yo-yo is a toy from China consisting of two equally-sized discs connected with a long axle. The Chinese yo-yo is kept spinning on a string tied to two sticks at its ends. Each stick is held in one hand.In modern times, it is used as a children's toy and as a performance tool in juggling and sometimes in Chinese ethnic dance. It is possible to perform a large variety of tricks with the Chinese yo-yo which can be as easy as throwing the yo-yo up into the air or tossing it around the user's back. It was found during the Ming dynasty; roughly 1386-1644. Design Chinese yo-yos were traditionally made of bamboo, which was very easy to break and not convenient for complicated tricks. Modern models, however, are now made of plastic for added durability. The sticks used with the yo-yo ontinue to be made of wood. Some Chinese yo-yos have grooves inset in the rim of the discs; these grooves cause them to make a whistling sound when spinning at high speeds. The sound allows the performer to gauge his speed and adjust the yo-yo accordingly. vs The Chinese yo-yo has been adapted in western countries as the diabolo. The Chinese yo-yo differs from the diabolo in two primary ways. First, the axle of the Chinese yo-yo is much longer than that of the diabolo. Also, the Chinese yo-yo has wheel-shaped discs, whereas the diabolo consists of two bell-shapes.The Chinese yoyo is also typically grooved and made of hard plastic, while diabolos are not grooved and usually made of a durable rubber material. How to play If you are right handed, follow the instructions precisely. If you are left handed, reverse the handedness of the instructions. 1. Place the yo-yo down on the ground directly in front of you. Put the string under the axle (the metal bit). 2. Roll the yo-yo over to your right foot, and let it stop. Then roll it over to the left or just back and forth, and lift the sticks into the air when it reaches the foot.This gives the yo-yo initial rotational moment um that stabilizes it when you lift it into the air. 3. Before it stops spinning, move the right stick up and down in a â€Å"hitting† motion. Try to imagine cutting a carrot with a kitchen knife. Try to keep this up as long as possible without the yo-yo falling off. 4. The yo-yo will naturally tilt away from or toward you. Do not fret; this is easily controlled. If the yo-yo is tilting toward you, move your right hand forward. If it is tilting away from you, move your right hand back. Do this while continuing to move the right stick up and down.This works by pushing against the top of the yo-yo with the string. 5. The yo-yo naturally tends to unbalance until you learn to keep it at consistent high speeds. Until then, you can rectify the balance of the yo-yo by moving the right stick it the opposite direction yo-yo is leaning, like if it's leaning forward, bring the stick backwards. 6. When you can keep the yo-yo level and with reasonable speed, try learning to throw and catc h it. This is done by simply pulling the two hand sticks apart rapidly, causing the yo-yo to fly up. To catch, simply position the string underneath he axle of the yo-yo. XIANGQI(CHINESE CHESS) Chinese Chess called as Xiangqi or Xiangqi in Chinese, it’s categorised under tactics and strategy game with only two players on each game. Besides, it’s one of the famous games among Chinese communities and played by adult as well as children. Actually, xiangqi has the meaning of ‘Elephant Game’, which Xiang refers to ‘Elephant’ while Qi refers to ‘Game’. The game regard as a war between two armies, Chu and Han, with the aims of capturing the enemy’s king, the player considered wins the game after successfully captured the enemy’s general.There is a river separate the two opposite sides that called as Chu River and Han Jie, meaning Han Border, which is a reference to the Chu-Han war. Xiangqi normally played on a board that co nsist of 10 lines long by 9 lines wide, the pieces are placed on the intersections of the line which also known as points. There are total of 32 pieces on the board with 16 pieces on each side. Normally, the pieces are designed with red and black colours while each piece labelled with different character. Piece| Point| | Advisor| | Cannon| | Chariot| | Elephant| | General| | Horse| | Soldier|Differences characters have different kind of movement on the board, player are not allowed to move the pieces to a point that already occupied by another piece of the same army or stack on it. But players are allowed to capture enemy’s piece by moved to the point occupied and remove the opponent’s piece from the board, the opponent piece is considered as being ‘killed’. The general is said to be â€Å"in check† when the general is in danger situation of being captured by the enemy player on his next move. At the same time, the player who’s going to captu re the general should announce the check immediately in order to warn the opponent side.If the general's player can make no move to prevent the enemy from capture the king, the situation is called as â€Å"checkmate† and the game is end. Xiang Qi origins from Asia but there are a lot of leagues and club all around the world. For example, there are United Kingdom Chinese Chess Association in Britain and Malaysia Chinese Chess Association in Malaysia. Today, xiangqi developed rapidly and now everyone can plays xiangqi game through online or even install the game in the computer. KABADDI Kabaddi in India is counted among the most common and widely played traditional sports.Kabaddi originated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, almost 4000 years ago. According to a legend, this game came into existence, when a boy hit another boy for this candy. The boy who was hit chased the boy who hit him, and hit him back and ran away. Kabaddi also known as the â€Å"Game of the Masses† is the game, one person play against seven people which requires both skill and power on behalf of the players, and it also combines the characteristics of wrestling and rugby. LEGENDS ATTACHED TO KABADDI Kabaddi is a rather simple and inexpensive game, and it does not require a massive playing area, or any expensive equipment.There are some ancient scripts that refers to the existence of kabaddi in India. In Mahabharata, Arjuna had a unique talent in the game of kabaddi, as he was able to go inside the wall of enemies, destroy them all and come back unscathed. According to the Buddhist literature, Gautam Buddha used to play Kabaddi for recreation. Morever, the game earned a lot of popularity in the Sourthen part of Asia. ORIGIN OF KABADDI Kabaddi is probably the only game of offence and defence in which attack is an individual attempt. The word ‘Kabaddi’ may have originated from the Tamil words kai (hand) and pidi (catch).MODERN DAY KABADDI The standard rules and regu lations for Kabaddi were also formulated in 1918; however, the rules were brought out in print in the year 1932. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation came into existence in the year, in 1972. This body was formed with a view to popularize the game in the neighbouring countries and also to organize regular National Level tournaments. India was also instrumental in including Kabaddi in the main disciplines of the XI Asian Games held at Beijing, China in 1990. This was a major landmark in the history of kabaddi in India, as India won the Gold Medal in this championship.India also won the Gold Medals in the succending Asian Games held in 1994 at Hiroshima, Japan and in the Asian Games held in 1998 at Bangkok in Thailand. India played an important role in introducing the game of kabaddi to the African countries, while hosting a demonstration sport in the Afro- Asian games, in 2002. India also successfully took part in the first World Kabaddi Championship held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Kaba ddi in india touched another milestone in 2004, when India hosted the first ever Kabaddi World Cup, in Mumbai.India became the winner of the World Cup, as well. India has produced a number of talented Kabaddi players, so far, who have earned international recognition. CHATURANGA â€Å"Chaturanga â€Å" is one ot the oldest brain in the game world, played in ancient India. The game considered to be the ancestor of moderm day chess and the kings and princes of ancient India. The Sanskrit word â€Å"Chaturanga† means â€Å"having four limbs or parts† and it was also used describe the Indian army of Vedic times, where a platoon had four division like elephants,chariots, cavalry,and infantry.The board of chaturanga â€Å"Ashtapada† (eight – square)†. Chaturanga was played during Gupta period. The game is presumed to be the common ances of the games of Chess,Shogi, and Makruk and it is related to Xiangqi and Janggi, as well. Banabhatta’ Harsha Ch aritha (c. 625)contains the earliest reference to the name â€Å"Chaturanga† . the game developed in Gupta India around the 6th century and 7th century, it was adopted as Shatianj in Sassanid Persia. Rhere are evidences like Sanskrit document, â€Å"Vasavadatta† from Subhandu that suggests Chaturanga as the ancestors of modern Chess.The pieces of Chaturanga had a lot of similarity with that of modern Chess. The pieces of Chauiranga were called as Raja(King), Mantri(Counsellor,ancestors of the Ferz), Gaja (Elephant,also named as Fil,later,Asva(Horse),Ratha(Chariot later called Rook) , and Pedati (Infantry of Pawns) . HOW TO PLAY The rules of moving the pieces in Chaturanga were also quite similar to that of modern Chess. The King was allowed to move as usual, but it had additional power. It could make Knight –move during the game, provided that it hasn’t been checked before it makes the knight move.There were no rule of castling in Chaturanga. The Counsell or in Chaturanga, was allowed to move one square diagonally and the Elephants used to move two squares diagonally. However, the Elephants was allowed to jump the intervening square. In Chaturanga,the rules of moving the Knight were the same as a usual Knight and the Rook or Chariot also moved like usual Rook. Though,the Pawns or soldiers in Chaturanga also moved like a usual pawn ,they were not allowed to make the double steps on it first move, like modern Chess.Acoording to the rules of Chatruranga, the Pawns could be promoted only when they arrived at the last rank of the board. However, promotions was available only to the type of pieces that was on the promotion-square in the opening setup. The main objective of a plyer in Chaturanga was to mate the opponent’s King . The player talemates its opponent was declared as the loser in Chaturanga. However, apart from the two-handed version of Chaturanga that has been discussed so far there was also another version named Chaturaj i, having four hands.There is game described in the Indian epic, Mahabarata that had similarity with that of Chaturaji. KHO KHO Kho – Kho is one of the most popular traditional sports in india. This games is an immense test of the participants’s physical fitness, strength, speed and stamina and it also requires a certain amount of ability on behalf of the participants. Additionally, many historians say that it is actually a modified form of Run and Chase. It is played by a team consisting of 12 players, where only 9 players enter the arena.In Kho-Kho, the participants simply need to chase and catch their opponents in order to win the game. In the ancient time, the game of Kho- kho was played on ‘ raths ’ or chariots in Maharashtra and it was known as Rathera. The main aim of the participants in the game of Kho-Kho is to catch the opponent by pursuit and to chase, rather than just run. RULES OF KHO-KHO The rules for Kho Kho were framed in the beginning of t he 20th century. According to the rules and regulation of Kho- Kho, each of the participating teams consists of 12players, though only 9players take the field for a contest.There are two innings in a match and an innings consists of chasing and running turns of 7minutes each. One player of the chasing team play the role of an active chaser and the remaining 8members of the team sit in their 8squares on the central lane, alternately facing the opposite direction. The active chaser stands at either of the posts and gets ready to begin the pursuit. It is mandatory for the members of the chasing team to put their opponent out by touching them with their palms and without committing a foul. The defenders try to play out the 7minutes, and the chaser keep on trying to dismiss them.There are 3ways through which a defender can be dismissed: * If an active chaser touches him with his palm without commiting a foul, * If the defender goes out of the limits on his own, or * If the defenders ente rs the limits the limit late. Usually, the defenders enter the limits, in batches of 3 and after the third and last defender of batch is out, the next batch has to enter the limits, before a Kho is given by the successful active chaser. The defenders are allowed to move on both sides of the central lane. However the active chaser does not have the permission to change the direction to which he is committed.He is also not allowed to cross the central lane. An active chaser can only change his position with a seated chaser, by touching him from behind by palm, and uttering the word kho loudly. A chase or attack is built up simultaneously through a series of Kho as the chase continues with a relay of chasers. There are an interval of 5minutes at the end of each of the innings and there is also a break of 2minutes in between the turns. Each of the sides alternates their positions between chasing and defending. There is no bar for the participants in the game of kho- Kho and people from all age can participate.The game can be played by men, women, and children of all ages and kho- Kho does not require a lot of equipments to play. The time limit for the game is not more than 37minutes. PLAYING FIELD OF KHO- KHO The game of Kho- Kho require a rectangular playground that is evenly surfaced, with dimension of 29m by 16m. There are 2 rectangles at the end which comprises of 2 wooden poles. The central lane is 907. 50cm long and across the small squares, lie 8 cross lanes which are 500cm long and 70cm wide. There are 2 posts at the end of central lane, which rise 120cm above the ground surface with a circumference of 30- 40cm.THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL GAMES AND MODERN GAME Game is a recreational activity whether for fun, leisure time or work. It can be done alone or in groups. Games usually have rules that must be followed by all . According to the playing terms and condition,there are some win and some lose, or draw. Games that involve physical activity are us ually called sports. Games are held until now but there is a difference between the first game and the game played now. Previous games such as wau game, dragon dance or top game features art that symbolizes the beauty and harmony of the people in Malaysia.These activities will normally be done in groups where they have similar interests. Each will share their energy, ideas, and time just to ensure that such activities can be implemented. While for the game now, usually computer games that does not symbolize anything and do not need to be done by a group of people and not to strengthen the bond between people like the game before. In addition, computer games will cause addiction among players. Players who are too addicted to the game will not care about their health, do not eat or sleep just to play the game.Those time games usually give different harmony with nature while nowadays games like computer games such as counter strike gives bad influence to boys. In turn this will contami nate the minds of the young people of this age. SUGGESTIONS TO PROMOTE TRADITIONAL GAMES * Promotion through mass media and multimedia such as TV advertising, internet social website such as Facebook, Twitter and so on. * Organization of activities by NGO – promotion via/through brochure,pamplets. * government roles – organise state,national and international level competitions among community. provides good infrastructure – such as, field,sports equipment. -organise awareness campaign – gives opportunities to upgrade the players skills. -gives rewards to player-such as trophy, cash money, giving honours such as â€Å"Dato†. * role of school authority – organise school level competitions among students. -actively involved in sports activities – upgrade their skills from school level. -sports school – give a lot of opportunities to many students who are expert and specialized in sports skills. -provides more bright future to ski lled players. traditional games as one of the co-curriculum activities in school. CONCLUSION Advances in technology have made the loss of what was once very proud heritage. But,do we aware of the fact that we inherited the traditional game? Sadly there are those among young people today do not recognize traditional games such as pride, kite flying, top-spinning, kite, kabaddi, yo-yo and so on. Many benefits to be derived from traditional games such as can strengthen bonds among people, nourish the body by sweating and can preserves the cultural heritage of ages.In addition, the state can promotes the game as one of the activities that need to be introduced to the tourists who comes to Malaysia. It will also be the pride of Malaysians. Unfortunately, Malaysian think about it they just want the excitement and follow all the latest technological changes which made them to forget the heritage that should be treated well. Therefore, teenagers can follow and continue the game technology b ut at the same time still maintain and uphold ancestral heritage. REFERENCES * Lau, H. T. Chinese Chess. Tuttle Publishing, Boston, 1985. ISBN 0-8048-3508-X. Leventhal, Dennis A. The Chess of China. Taipei, Taiwan: Mei Ya, 1978. (out-of-print but can be partly downloaded) * Li, David H. First Syllabus on Xiangqi: Chinese Chess  1. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 1996. ISBN 0-9637852-5-7. * Li, David H. The Genealogy of Chess. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 1998. ISBN 0-9637852-2-2. * Li, David H. Xiangqi Syllabus on Cannon: Chinese Chess  2. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 1998. ISBN 0-9637852-7-3. * Li, David H. Xiangqi Syllabus on Elephant: Chinese Chess  3. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 2000.ISBN 0-9637852-0-6. * Li, David H. Xiangqi Syllabus on Pawn: Chinese Chess  4. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 2002. ISBN 0-9711690-1-2. * Li, David H. Xiangqi Syllabus on Horse: Chinese Chess  5. Premier Publishing, Bethesda, Maryland, 200 4. ISBN 0-9711690-2-0. * Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. Kabaddi. Retrieved 7/05/2012. from  http://www. indianetzone. com/1/kabaddi. htm * Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. Chaturanga. Retrieved 7/05/2012. from  http://www. indianetzone. com/39/chaturanga_chess. htm * Wikipedia,Kho-Kho, Retrieved May 22,2012, from  http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Kho_kho

Anti-Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anti-Globalization - Essay Example Globalization is portrayed as a positive thing from which undeveloped countries can benefit. However an alternative view suggests something else. Some people are of the view that through the excuse of globalization the developed countries are exploiting the weak economies. They are making the undeveloped countries dependant on themselves and would eventually result in making them their slaves. The theory behind the movement was so strong and convincing that it brought together the ideological school of thoughts who believed in anarchism and communism, and the activists who have a much pragmatic approach to life. Before this movement nothing had worked in order to unite these two opposite forces. The ideology behind the movement is as I have previously mentioned, strong economies use the excuse of globalization to further strengthen their economies and in the process drain the weak economies. Basically, globalization is giving rise to accumulation of wealth and power. The strong are getting stronger and the weak weaker. The undeveloped countries have started becoming increasingly dependant on the developed nations and thus the developed countries are in a position to make or break them. One of the ba... They do not understand the basic value systems. For instance Pakistan's electricity company has been taken over by a Saudi company and now Pakistan is facing the worse electricity crisis ever. According to Noreena Hertz, in her book 'The silent takeover' "Corporations have become behemoths, huge global giants that wield immense political power" and in the process of their evolution, "justice, equity, rights, the environment, and even issues of national security fall by the wayside." This as we can see is very true. Another major issue is that anti-globalization activists believe that the concept of intellectual property has been overly dramatized and stretched. Now information and intellectual property which used to be possessed collectively by a country or an ethnic group is being retained by a smaller portion of people. Thus sharing of resources has finished. The people cling on to their intellectual property and share very little of it with others. Thus weaker people can not benefit from it and are at a loss. Generally they are the big companies who have retained this kind of intellectual property thus their market concentration increases. Labor issues are also a major back bone of the movement. Referring back to the privatization of Pakistan electric company we see that the developed countries are influencing the developing countries to privatize their businesses. This is because in their opinion privatization is a good thing and therefore they are forcing others to go for it too. However privatization causes unemployment for many of the employees. There have been many influential works seen in the movement. Examples of them include Naomi Klien's book 'NO Logo'. This book talks about the unethical side of the production processes of the multi

Security of our nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Security of our nation - Essay Example As a direct result of the fact that an increased level of interconnectedness and communication links diverse communities and individuals the world over, the nature and scope of existing threats to national security it might be posed by elements that would wish to do the United States harm has been drastically increased. Yet, in order to more completely understand the issues relating to domestic and international eavesdropping/spying that has been proven to exist by the leaks of whistleblower Edward Snowden and others, the following analysis will focus upon the key issues, the stakeholders involved within the scope of this espionage, and the technology involved. By regarding these issues and focusing on the political and ethical ramifications that these issues entail, the analysis will be able to pinpoint the way in which this issue is currently defined. Firstly, with regards to the key issues, it can be understood that the right and expectation to privacy is the first and most presci ent of all. Whereas constitutional scholars have argued for decades over whether or not the Constitution in and of itself guarantees or somehow implies a right to privacy, the fact of the matter is that this has come to be something of an expected norm within the American society and the way of life. As such, the revelations concerning the fact that millions upon millions of phone calls, emails, instant messages, social networks, chats, texts, and web searches are stored and analyzed by a litany of different computer algorithms and analysts has rekindled the debate and focused many individuals upon the key issue of privacy and the means through which personal information can or should be intercepted in the name of national security (Hill 19). The second key issue that exists within this particular analysis is whether or not a domestic spy agency is allowed to intercept communications of American citizens if these communications are not taking place between the individual and someone outside the country and/or taking place between American citizen and an individual who is a suspect or person of interest with regards to national security. This is the more ignored aspect of the debate. Ultimately, the intelligence agencies within the United States, the CIA, the DIA, the NSA, and a litany of others, are all bound by a central and constraining rubric. This central rubric concerns the fact that these agencies are not allowed to spy on United States is within the United States. However, the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden point to the fact that agency such as the NSA have flagrantly been ignoring this rule for years. In seeking to gain a greater deal of understanding with regards to the stakeholders of this particular issue, the reader can come to a simple understanding; that each and every individual within the United States and throughout the world is impacted by the actions that are being taken by the National Security Agency and other intelligence gro ups are tracking, recording, and monitoring the communications of individuals around the globe. This delineation of â€Å"everyone† as a potential stakeholder in this process is underscored by the fact that recent documentation and revelations by Edward Snowden and others have pointed to the fact that the information of

Recession of USA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Recession of USA - Research Paper Example The initial response included the criticism on the subprime mortgage crisis and how financial institutions exploited this market in order to book higher risks in the accounts. Subsequent discussions also included the failure of the regulatory bodies to have an effective check on the financial institutions and their behavior, role of fair value accounting as well as the greed and lust of financial institutions to focus on achieving short term profitability while ignoring the long term impacts of the same on the viability of the system. This paper will attempt to explore and understand as to what factors resulted in these crisis, how the crisis deepened, what was the initial response of the government, did it worked, how the policies of current administration are different from old and finally how does it measure to the short run and long run macroeconomics of the country. What caused the recession in US? A mild recession in US existed in early years of 2000s when US, after witnessing a decade of economic prosperity started to show the signs of economic recession. This recession however could not last longer as it only existed for less than a year. It is also important to note that such type of recession was also experienced by European Union and other developed countries also. This was however, considered as a natural reaction of the economy after reaching its peak in most of the developed countries including US. This was also a period when dot com bubble burst and top level corporate frauds and scandals started to emerge. During the early 2000 NASDAQ crashed due to the dot com bubble and FED also started to increase the interest rates. It is believed that the consistent and gradual increase in the interest rates by FED also contributed towards the creation of recession in the economy during early 2000s. (Ruddy, 2006) This was also a period of 9/11 when terrorist attacks on US resulted into the sharp decline in Dow Jones as well as its impact on different sector s of the economy specially airline industry. Further, US has to divert significant resources towards the war thus increasing the government expenditure. This recession however, was not as damaging as the recession which started to emerge during 2007 as a result of the financial crisis in the country. The current economic recession in the country is therefore a direct result of the financial crisis which started to emerge during 2007. The financial crisis in US started with the subprime mortgage crisis when the subprime mortgage holders started to default on their obligations. Subprime borrowers are those borrowers whose credit history is not good and they could not obtain the credit on normal terms and conditions. Due to their overall situation, they pose a greater risk therefore in order to lend them, it becomes imperative for the banks to charge them higher interest rates. Based on the risk and return criteria banks therefore started to lend to such borrowers in a bid to earn high er profitability while ignoring the risks associated with such borrowers. The issue however, became critical when the banks started to securitize their subprime mortgage portfolio and issued mortgage backed securities offering subprime mortgage portfolio as collateral. (BROOKS & SIMON, 2007). When subprime borrowers started to become delinquent on their obligat

Sources of Funds case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sources of Funds case - Essay Example Equity can be generated internally as retained earnings or generated externally generated as common share capital. A company may choose to use its retained earnings to expand its operations. This is because the cost of retained earnings is relatively lower compared to the cost of common share capital. The major drawbacks of this source of finance are that it is usually inadequate, and its use can easily expose a company to liquidity problems. Consequently, a firm can source equity through issuing of common shares. This source of funds confers several advantages. The first advantage is that this form of financing is a permanent source of capital because common shares have no maturity date. The company does not have any liability for cash outflows linked with the redemption of the common shares. This facilitates financing of long term projects. Secondly use of equity lowers the gearing level hence a company has a broader borrowing capacity. Thirdly, the shareholders may provide valuabl e ideas to the company’s operations. However, this method faces various drawbacks. First the floatation costs are higher than those of debt (Pratt, 2010). Secondly, equity is only accessible to companies that have fulfilled the capital markets authority requirements. Thirdly, it can lead to dilution of ownership of control of the firm by the shareholders. The second method of raising capital is debt capital. This form of capital can be in the form of debentures and corporate bonds. This source of funds confers several advantages. Firstly, the floatation costs are lower than those of common share capital. Secondly, since the interest on debt is tax allowable then the company enjoys a tax saving. This method of raising capital also faces various drawbacks. Default in payment of principal and interest can force a company into liquidation. Secondly, Providers of debt capital impose conditions, and many restrictive covenants hence it

Scientific Discovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scientific Discovery - Essay Example trick B Sharp discusses how Wells had established the connection of atomic bomb in his book Savage Perils where Wells extrapolated the work of British chemist named Frederick Soddy, who worked on radioactivity. It was remarkable that Wells has mentioned that term on the pages of his book ‘The World Set Free’ in 1914, which made it obvious that the forecast of the writers may prove to be very accurate. Dr. Patrick B. Sharp quoted that the term â€Å"atomic bomb† was coined by H. G. Wells and he was the one who popularized the same. The fiction of Wells led to a scientific breakthrough. The application of principles in atomic energy and radioactivity combined to create the â€Å"Atomic Bomb† that was used during World War II. The moral question was whether or not this astounding discovery is used for the betterment of the society or for destruction. It was analyzed by many groups that the contributions of the atomic bomb in military technology and misuse for war purposes, was real and could lead to death of millions of people. Despite the fact that it can be used as nuclear power to harness enormous energy, the moral responsibility of individual scientists in wartime was the bigger issue. The whole world is aware of what had happened when President Truman ordered to drop the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Japan feels the radioactive effect of destruction even today after more than 60 years. Today there are many nations in the world who has nuclear power and there is no guarantee that they would not use this technology to over-power their enemy, which will surely jeopardize the pursuit of life, liberty, or happiness of the common people. The atomic bomb dropping of America on Japan after World War II is the best instance that can be cited to prove the evil of this astounding scientific discovery. During that time, only few nations had nuclear power but today most of the nations have nuclear power, which they can use for acts of terrorism.

Strategic Corporate Fiance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Corporate Fiance - Essay Example From the above-mentioned table, it is quite evident that Net Asset Value of Marks and Spencer have increased for 0.03 bases point and is higher in 2011 than 2010. The company has net assets worth of ?1.72 in 2011 and ?1.69 in 2010, which clearly explains that the Net Asset Value is improving. 2) Cost of Capital (CAPM) In the table mentioned below, the computations have been shown for the weighted average cost of capital of the company, Marks and Spencer. The cost of debt of the company is 4% whereas the cost of capital of the company was found as 4.5%. The weighted average cost of capital of the company, which incorporated the value of debt and value of equity was found to be 4.33%. Cost of Debt       Rd = Annual Coupon    Current Bond Price          = 5    125       Rd = 4.00% Value of Equity Ve = Current Price of Share x Number of Shares outstanding = 3.76 x 1,600 = 6,016 Value of Debt Vd = Current Price of Bond x Number of Bonds Issued = 125 x 2,489 = 3,111                         100       Weights       Wd = Debt = 3,111 = 34.09%    Debt + Equity 3,111 + 6,016          We = Equity = 6,016 = 65.91%       Debt + Equity    3,111 + 6,016       3) Dividend Growth Model (DGM) In this section of the paper, computations for Gordon’s dividend growth models have been shown. ...       K – g    0.045 - 0.02       From the above-mentioned table, this information can be extracted that if the growth rate is zero, then the hypothetical ex-right price of share price of Marks and Spencer is approximately 377 pence. In contrast to that, if it is assumed that dividend grow at the rate of 2%, then there is an enormous increment in the share price of the company, which is around 693 pence. It can be stated that at the growth rate 0, the share price of the company of 363 pence is more appropriate than the share price at growth rate 2%, which is 693. The share price of 693 pence is highly optimistic. 4) Price Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) The following table demonstrates the Price Earnings Ratio of Marks and Spencer. Price Earnings Ratio    31-Mar-12 11-Jan-13 P/E Ratio = 376 = 11.56 times = 363 = 11.2 times       32.5             32.5       In the year 2011, the Price Earnings Ratio of the company is 11.56. Nevertheless, it reduced in the last year to 11.2 because there was a reduction in the share price of the company. The average price earnings ratio of the respective industry of Marks and Spencer is 8.5 times, on the other hand, the P/E of Marks and Spencer is 11.2 times. If the P/E of Marks and Spencer is compared with the industry average, then it can be stated the Price Earnings ratio of Marks and Spencer is substantially higher than the industry average. It reveals that the share price of the company is over-values as compared to its industry competitors. Task 2 Investment in stocks is something which can be extremely tricky for ordinary investors. This is because the investors lack in having capabilities regarding the pricing of the stocks. The pricing of stocks have turned out to be a key factor as a minor mistake in

Parental Substance Misuse the effects on Children Essay

Parental Substance Misuse the effects on Children - Essay Example Pregnancy and parenthood are important events to all people. They can serve as the spur for substance abusers to seek treatment, to continue treatment, and/or to seek assistance for their children. Parenthood may present a major opportunity for assisting clients in their treatment and assessing the needs of their children. This review has been prepared with the intention of encouraging efforts to respond to this opportunity in the United Kingdom. The proportion of women in drug abuse treatment programs or in need of drug abuse treatment has been increasing. During 2004, 30% of all admissions to drug treatment were female. (Rosenbaum, 2005) Much less is known and documented about the risks of child maltreatment associated with parental cocaine use. This is true despite the prevalence of cocaine use and evidence that cocaine dependency can substantially incapacitate the user (Robins, 2000). A May 2000 United Kingdom study yielded an â€Å"extremely conservative† estimate that some 2.2 million English are â€Å"hard core† cocaine addicts. Such users are reportedly over represented among the homeless and persons arrested for crimes. (Saunders, 2002) According to a study ‘The addicts who break into our homes, turn our neighbourhoods into war zones, and spread disease by selling their bodies are not casual, once-a-month users of illicit drugs-they are UK’s hard core addicts. The children of the hard core addict suffer even more severely, often from physical abuse, and always from neglect’. (Babbie, 2001) Generational continuity in the use of alcohol and drugs is documented in a number of recent studies (Coombs & Dickson, 2001). Adolescents are more likely to drink and use other drugs if their parents do. For example, Kandel and associates (2002) found that 82% of drinking families rise youth who also drink, while 72% of abstaining families produce

Comparative Analysis of Two Films Essay Example for Free

Comparative Analysis of Two Films Essay Stereotyping can be defined as sweeping generalizations about affiliates of a certain gender, nationality, religion, race, or other group. Social stereotyping has been a worldwide issue for many years. More specifically, stereotypical assertions, based on both gender and race, have been a common theme throughout many 20th and 21st century films. Both Crash, directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, and Girlfight directed by Karyn Kusama in 2000, address the issue of stereotyping in their own unique way. Girlfight does this by placing a female in the spotlight of a sport that is predominantly dominated by males, whereas, Crash confronts our problem with racial stereotypes and racism, and the need to counter them, by focusing on the â€Å"crash† humans experience by encountering people that they actually are already linked to. Throughout the film Girlfight, the crowd may have been against Diana, but her determination allowed her to fight off skeptics outside the ring and her opponents in the ring. Crash is a movie that brings out bigotry and racial stereotypes. While one story revolves around a gender debate, the other approaches the argument from the aspect of race and ultimately both combat the greater social issue of stereotyping. The film Girlfight depicts the struggle of Diana Guzman, a high school girl, and how she overcomes gender barriers to dominate the boxing arena. Her mother passed away when she was young, and she lives with her father and younger brother, Tiny. They reside in the projects of New York City, a tougher area where the ability to defend yourself is basically a prerequisite. Her father forces Tiny to train at the local gym to become better suited to defend himself and that is where Diana is introduced to the sport of boxing. Setting is a key aspect of the film and director Karyn Kusama’s choice of realistic venues for each and every scene help create a documentary-like atmosphere. One scene that illustrates this quality is when Diana and Adrian learn that they will both be fighting each other in the final bout. The scene takes place inside the manager of the ring’s office; a small but well organized office. The camera pans from character to character as they discuss Diana’s next fight and the viewer is placed in the back corner of the office space. A key detail to be noticed is that the door is open and one can see that boxers are still training in the background. This gives the audience the idea that what they are viewing is very real, almost like a documentary, and Kusama’s film work adds to that with a picture that is both grainy and misty. The scene is also full of dialogue, which is a common attribute of any documentary. It seems as if the scene would have occurred even if the camera had not been rolling film. The realistic aspect correlates back to the underlying premise of the movie, gender stereotyping. At the time, female boxers were a rarity and Diana was an exception not only because of her gender but also because of her skill. The boxers at this gym are all male except for Diana who happens to be the main character in the film. This creates an immediate gender barrier the second that Diana steps in the gym merely because she isn’t of the norm. The film Crash attempts to tackle the issue of racial stereotyping though the stories of several characters who all turn out to be connected in some way, shape, or form. Anthony and Peter are partners in crime who hijack cars for a chop shop. Anthony believes that society is unfairly biased against blacks, and at one point in the film he justifies his actions by claiming he would never hurt another black person. Rick Cabot, district attorney of Los Angeles, and his wife Jean are two other main characters throughout the film. One scene that reinforces the use of stereotyping is when Anthony and Peter stroll a Los Angeles shopping strip. As they walk along, Anthony explains to Peter how whites are so quick to judge blacks at night. The dialogue throughout the scene is especially important because Anthony quickly changes from complaining about racial tendencies around him to hiding behind a handgun as both he and his friend hijacks a car. The audience sides with Anthony, as he begins his rant, but out of the blue, the two men pull a gun on an innocent couple and the audience is left in shock. Anthony states, â€Å"You couldn’t find a whiter, safer or better-lit part of this city right now, but yet this white woman sees two black guys who look like UCLA students strolling down the sidewalk, and her reaction is blind fear† (Crash). This statement draws light on the fact that we as humans tend to jump to conclusions often too quickly. Anthony and Peter had done nothing out of the ordinary but the town happened to be predominantly dominated by whites and that set off a red flag in Jean’s mind. Anthony flips the subject based on the fact that they are the only blacks in the area and asks Peter, â€Å"Why aren’t we scared? † Peter responds, â€Å"Cause we got guns? † and both men proceed to pull out their weapons and hijack the Cabot’s vehicle (Crash). This scene is greatly enhanced by the use of sound. As both of the couples stroll down the boulevard, one can hear a peaceful Christmas carol in the background, but as the men approach the Cabots, the music increases in volume and changes to a more upbeat, edgy track. The film does this in order to create tension between both sets of characters; it changes the norm and keeps the audience anxious. To reinforce this, the sound increases once more as Anthony and Peter peel out of the street with the stolen car creating a definitive point in the scene. By transitioning from calm to chaos, Haggis demonstrates how a simple misinterpretation, a stereotype, could pay dividends in the long run. Jean Cabot had suspected something was not right as soon as she locked eyes with Anthony. The fact that Anthony gave a rather thought-provoking talk on racial tendencies shows that stereotyping does not go unnoticed. An act as simple as interlocking arms with your husband as you pass two young, African American teenagers may seem like an act of safety to you but to the teenagers it is offensive. This also proves that this is not a one-sided debate. Both parties are involved and equally held responsible for their criticisms. In â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,† Aaron H. Devor discusses the distinction between gender and sexuality. Gender is typically based on anatomical differences between men and women, but does not necessarily match with them. In Diana’s case, she is a female yet she demonstrates masculine tendencies through her animosity and fury in the boxing arena. According to Devor, Diana fails to follow â€Å"the natural role† of her sexuality (Devor 160). Devor states, â€Å"persons who perform the activities considered appropriate for another gender will be expected to perform them poorly† (Devor 159). He point is valid because there are always cases when a male or a female may not fit the norm and fight off a society that is so fixated on masculinity versus femininity. This statement connects with the film Girlfight, in which Diana Guzman distinguishes herself by becoming a boxer, a sport dominated by males. Devor states that even if the athlete does succeed, it is a â€Å"reward with ridicule or scorn for blurring the gender dividing line† (Devor 159). The film Girlfight somewhat argues this statement because Diana was cheered as she finished her final bout against Adrian. Adrian was obviously the favored fighter, mainly due the act that he was a male, yet Diana pulled off the victory. The fact is that gender is socially and culturally determined; it is not biologically determined. At the time, boxing gurus failed to give credit to Diana by being an underdog and decided to instead critique and stereotype her based on her sex. Today more and more women have become boxers but there are still those that frown upon their presence in the ring. Even though people have become more tolerant, there are still some who are not willing to except things out of the norm, which is why society has not gained the balance it needs and social stereotyping exists. Gender stereotyping is a very serious issue in today’s society, but another dilemma just as grim is that of racial stereotyping. Larry Aubry’s Los Angeles Sentinel article titled, â€Å"Undoing Racism in American Cities,† argues how racism is still very much with us and is still a barrier to the realization of the American dream in the nation’s cities and towns. His main point is that in order to â€Å"undo racism† one must â€Å"move from being a part of the problem to becoming a part of the solution† (Aubry, par. 3). Throughout the film Crash, the main characters are given various opportunities to combat racism but instead act on poor judgment by stereotyping. The fact is that stereotyping never leads to a proper outcome. A proper outcome may not be what either party had intended but most of the time an ethical outcome is best. In Anthony’s case, he fumed on how whites were racist yet he became part of the problem by doing exactly what Jean Cabot had foreseen him execute. Anthony stereotyped against himself and further worsened the problem. According to Aubry, â€Å"there is a consensus that everyone is part of the problem in many different ways† (Aubry, par. ). Most people place the blame on others when in fact they escalate the argument. Stereotyping has set societies back time and time again and until society is guided by the fairness of its ideas, its politics, and its culture and not by the fairness of one another’s skin or gender, progress cannot be made. Girlfight attacks the issue from the gender side while Crash from the racial side. Stereotyping is vague in nature but both films key in on these issues through their storyline and cinematic techniques. Girlfight did this through a realistic portrayal of the life of a young female boxer and her struggles. Crash decided to create a segmented story in which characters interact through their abuse of stereotyping. If Anthony and Peter had decided not to go through with the car hijacking, both them and the Cabots would have been closer to the realization that they were in fact, out of line. In Diana’s case, the public is against her, even her father is against her, yet she knows she can fend off the skeptics. Social stereotyping is pervasive and without both parties grasping that fact, both racist and gender stereotyping will continue to exist.

Stages of Development Essay Example for Free

Stages of Development Essay Thus, he or she is â€Å"challenged† to identify which skills he or she lacks to reflect upon how to improve his or her thinking †¢ Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker wherein the individual is already taking steps to improve upon and understand his or her thinking. He or she is aware that improving his or her thinking is not just a necessity but a commitment †¢ Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker wherein the individual is not only taking the necessary steps to create a systematic way of thinking but he or she also criticizes if indeed the system is working. Self-reflection becomes a habit for the practicing thinker. †¢ Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker wherein the acquired system of thinking starts to pay off for the individual, gaining for him or her a deeper understanding of problems and better insight on the difference of egocentic and sociocentric thought †¢ Stage Six: The Master Thinker wherein the individual now has a fully integrated system of understanding and monitoring of thinking, that critical thinking is now intuitive. Master thinkers not only practice but are actively seeking ways to improve their thinking, exhibiting a deep commitment to the development of their consciousness Comparing the characteristics of each stage to his experiences, the writer concludes that he is at the Stage Three of Development Thinking. Since the writer has been exposed to different situations, people and philosphies, he is in the stage of seeking out his own system of thinking. Like a sift under a steady stream of sand, the writer opens himself up to a myriad of opinions, concepts and philosophies and tries to apply different aspects of these into his own consciousness. The Evolution of I I would like to think of myself as a rational thinker. In decision making, I seldom rush into actions without first analyzing each aspect of the problem at hand. I give weight to opinions, treating them as important factors in my reflections. However, I have the tendency to overthink things. My mind is sometimes deluged with so much advice and points of view that I sometimes lose my own thinking about issues. When this happens, I usually end up pleasing all sides and almost always regretting the decision. I have tried to create my own system of thinking which will aid me in decision making. My academic experience has been a rich source of these different systems since I am exposed to a myriad of individuals, each with his or her own unique thinking. In converstaions with friends, I would always probe their own systems of thinking in the hope of finding useful strategies to further my own system. One of the most common strategies that I have discovered is the technique of listing down the strengths and weaknesses or the pros and cons of each decision. I have adopted this technique and it is in this frame that I usually tackle problems. Although I have found it time consuming, listing down the differences between decisions gives me a clearer picture of their consequences. One instance of my application of this technique also happened in school. I was given a choice between which group to join for a final project in an English class. I could either join a group where the members were most of my friends or another group where all the members were merely acquiantances. My first reaction was to go with my friends since I was sure that I would enjoy doing the project. However, my subconscious implored me not to be rash and that was when I applied the pros and cons technique.

Advertisements Information Or Manipulation Media Essay

Advertisements Information Or Manipulation Media Essay These are some of the common advertisements that we can see and hear in our everyday life. Advertisement according to oxforddictionaries.com means that a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy. Advertisements are everywhere around us. Whether we noticed it or not, it has been long existed. In fact in Egyptian time, they used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters to attract the consumers. With todays advancement of the media, the numbers of magazines increasing, newspapers, TVs and radio stations, people are bombarded with thousands of advertising daily. Advertising is in fact important because it creates awareness to the consumers about products that are available in the market. With the presence of the advertisement, it helps to increase the demand for a certain products. It also let the consumer to choose from a number of products available in the market. But does all these advertisement really give the information to the consumers or just plain tactics to manipulate us to buy or use the services? A lot of the advertisements nowadays are actually manipulating us rather than giving us the real information. The advertisers are in fact intelligent people. They know that normal advertisements that only contain facts are plain boring and seem dull. Therefore they created fantasies to make the advertisement look more appealing. We can clearly see that most advertisement created used our desire, such as sports, sexy women and superstars so that we become attracted and intend to purchase them. As an example this one commercial about a deodorant, AXE, that being use by this man. After he uses it, he is able to attract hot and sexy women towards him. People are being trick by such advertisement and they started to buy these products. After they put it on, they feel as they are the same as in the commercial. This clearly shows that they are playing with our emotions. Think wisely why they use such act. Does this have connections with the quality of the product they release to the market? We consumers should be more cautious to the method used in order to prevent us from being manipulated by the advertisers. Be alert that the advertisers worldwide are succeeding in making people change their lifestyle. In this case, they know that popular artist can play their role in making people especially their fans to follow their way. For example popular artist from Japan, Gazette. Their appearances: clothes that they are wearing and their hairstyle, are so cool that many fan decided to follow their style. By using such influence, most people dont mind in spending their money just to be same as their idol. Doing this kind of advertisements is in fact quite expensive. However, they are prepared to spend a lot of money in the advertising so that they can sell their products. It has been estimated that the price of a product may go up over to 40% due to advertisement costs. Still, due to the success of manipulating the consumers, the advertisers get a lot of money. As an example, according to Welt-Online, they reported that the US pharmaceutical industry spent almost double the amount on advertising ( 57.7 billion dollars) than it did on research (31.5 billion dollars). Yet few consumers noticed that they are the ones paying for every cent the US pharmaceutical spent for public relations, advertisements, rebates, packaging since they ordinarily get included in the price calculation. In the end the consumers will pay more to them while the advertisers gain more profits. Another interesting fact is that they also know how to attract people according their age group. In one case, they try to persuade a group of age between below 8 years old. According to American Psychological Association, they found out that young children are unable to understand and interpret televised advertising messages wisely and thus are likely to consider commercials as truthful, accurate and unbiased. This can lead to many problems like unhealthy eating habits as evidenced by todays youth obesity epidemic. The young children also being targeted as they can also persuade their parents to buy the things that they are being attracted to like toys, sweets and ice cream. One successful commercial like the car models from Hot Wheels where they had successfully sell thousands of their toys. As the children are unable to think wisely it is more likely easier to manipulate them by putting more of what they desire in the advertisement rather than supplying information. On one research , it is found that advertisers had spent more than $12 billion a year on messages aimed at the youth market. The average child watches more than 40,000 television commercials a year. This clearly shows just how they are willing to spend money in order manipulate the consumers rather than giving them much more useful information. The young ones are also not the only one being targeted by the advertisers. Todays adolescences are also being seduced by them. Most male adolescence love sports especially football. The advertisers take this chance by using the football stars in their commercial to market their product. It is likely of us nowadays to follow our idol way. No wonder some brands become top in their games as they are able to increase their selling products and gain more profit. One example of one popular brand company, Nike, where they hired Lebron James, a professional NBA player to be one of their ambassadors. The female adolescences also being manipulate by the advertisement. Not being biased but the female is most likely easy to be trick by certain advertisement. Just see how many women are willing to spend their money and time just for shopping. Younger women especially in Malaysia nowadays are attracted and had followed the Japanese style which also known as the Harajuku style that have been started by some of the popular artist like Ayumi Hamasaki and Kumi Koda.It is likely of them to answer like this: Well, this is the latest trend for the season. They buy things like clothes that are being considered popular for the season. Rather than What should I wear today? it has become What trend must I wear for today?. Not only just clothing, even other things like hairstyle, shoes and even skin color are being considered. It makes us set our mind that it is more important to look good rather than the real purpose of wearing clothes. This proves that advertisement manipulate rather than giving information. The advertisers also use tactics like the linking of sporting heroes and smoking through sports sponsorship, the use of cigarettes by popular characters in television programs and cigarette promotions. Like what is happening in India, as the actors smoke, the viewer intend to do the same thing as they feel it is macho to smoke. People rarely think deeply on the effect that might be faced by them on long term side as they think only for short time. Same thing goes to other products like alcohol drinks. The consumption of alcohol is being glamorized and shown without consequences in advertisements, music, magazines, television programs and even in movies. With the media overwhelmed by these kind of advertisements, no wonder more people especially the youngster below aged drink, even though the fact that alcohol bring harmful to the human body. Not all advertisement told the truth. Some of it sometimes hides the real information or facts that are supposed to be told to the consumers. In fact they are just sweet talk so that people will be attracted to what they offer. For example advertisement about shampoo that can make the hair smooth and straight. As nowadays people are eager to have such hair, they are easily influence by these kind of commercial and purchase the product without knowing the fact whether it really do make the hair to be as what they desire for or just bluffing. On top of hiding the real information they also send a blurry fact to the consumers. Just like a fog or mist that we encounter in the early morning, we cant see clearly of what we are facing in front of us. We are not sure whether it is safe or danger in front of us. This implies just the same as the blurry advertisement. It may be good for us and it may be the opposite. In summary, advertisement do contain both information and at the same time trying to manipulate the consumers. However based on the points given earlier, it clearly shows that most advertisement are actually manipulating the consumer rather than giving them full information on certain things. To prevent this from happening, the government should regulate on which advertisements are appropriate to be shown in the mass media so that less consumers are being trick by these kind of advertisement. Still, it is up to the consumers to be alert on what is happening so that they would be cheated easily by some advertisements. Work Cited: Advertising, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising [retrieved 7 September] Criticism of Advertising, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_advertising [retrieved 9 September] ADVERTISING: Information or Manipulation? http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/05/advertising-information-or-manipulation/ [retrieved 9 September] Information or Manipulation? Regulators Urged to Further Limit Ads Aimed at Children http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A659-2004Feb23.html [retrieved 12 September] ADVERTISEMENTS:Manipulation of innocent people http://isariamwende.blogspot.com/2005/05/advertisements-manipulation-of.html [retrieved 14 September] Power of advertising http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/4/13/lifefocus/6018920sec=lifefocus [retrieved 14 September]

The Death Penalty :: Cause and Effect Capital Punishment

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Valuable insight can be gained by understanding how the death penalty evolved and by understanding why many countries have abandoned capital punishment, while others still retain it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Historically the death penalty has been around a long time. Many countries including the United States have some kind of death sentencing. From around the sixteen hundreds is when the death penalty started to take place. The first man to be killed by the penalty was Daniel Frank, put to death in 1622 for some crime of theft. Since then the death penalty has almost always been a feature of the criminal justice system. Many states after a while outlawed the death penalty. To this day only a few remain outlawed but most have some kind of death sentencing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One cause of having the death penalty would be regarding legal issues. Many people know that if you break a law by means of stealing or killing you will be punished. In most countries that have capital punishment, it is used to punish only murder or war-related crimes. In some countries, like the People's Republic of China, some non-violent crimes, like drug and business related crimes, are punishable by death. In the eighteenth century, England would punish by death for pick pocketing and petty theft. And in other countries you even got your hand cut off. People steal from others everyday and the only way to reduce the number of people who steal is to set a law stating its consequences. If we did not have laws set forth for shop lifting, robbing banks, or killing someone then if no one got a consequence then it many crimes would take place each day. Many people do not steal because the fear of going to jail or having to pay large fines. Also if we didn’t h ave a law keeping people from killing others then many people would kill when ever and what ever they want. The Death Penalty :: Cause and Effect Capital Punishment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Valuable insight can be gained by understanding how the death penalty evolved and by understanding why many countries have abandoned capital punishment, while others still retain it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Historically the death penalty has been around a long time. Many countries including the United States have some kind of death sentencing. From around the sixteen hundreds is when the death penalty started to take place. The first man to be killed by the penalty was Daniel Frank, put to death in 1622 for some crime of theft. Since then the death penalty has almost always been a feature of the criminal justice system. Many states after a while outlawed the death penalty. To this day only a few remain outlawed but most have some kind of death sentencing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One cause of having the death penalty would be regarding legal issues. Many people know that if you break a law by means of stealing or killing you will be punished. In most countries that have capital punishment, it is used to punish only murder or war-related crimes. In some countries, like the People's Republic of China, some non-violent crimes, like drug and business related crimes, are punishable by death. In the eighteenth century, England would punish by death for pick pocketing and petty theft. And in other countries you even got your hand cut off. People steal from others everyday and the only way to reduce the number of people who steal is to set a law stating its consequences. If we did not have laws set forth for shop lifting, robbing banks, or killing someone then if no one got a consequence then it many crimes would take place each day. Many people do not steal because the fear of going to jail or having to pay large fines. Also if we didn’t h ave a law keeping people from killing others then many people would kill when ever and what ever they want.

Essay --

Adham Elnashai United States History During the Civil War and the American Revolution Americans didn’t only have to deal with their national policies, they also had to deal with their international relations with the rest of the countries in the World. The relations with other countries are also known as Foreign Policies. The overseas dimensions reflected onto the Civil War and Revolution Era. In 1861, 11 states seceded from the United States to form the Confederate States of America and over the course of the following four years, America fought to bring the Confederate States back under control. During the Civil War the Confederacy frequently required international support for its cause, often calling upon foreign support on its cotton exports to obtain it. The Union, on the other hand, strove to prevent other nations from recognizing the Confederacy as a legitimate nation and from getting involved in the Civil War. In an attempt to starve the Confederate economy and to cut it off from its international supporters, the Union engaged in a â€Å"blockade of Confederate ports† a move that was of questionable legality in international law. Despite the Confederacy’s significant international commercial bonds, the lack of definitive military victories for the South and the success of Union efforts to link the Confederacy with the institution of slavery finally prevented any of the European powers from officially recognizing or supporting the South. Figure 1 (Blockade Runners of the Civil War) One of Lincoln’s main strategies rested upon an effective blockade of the South's 3,500 miles coastline, embracing a dozen main ports and nearly two hundred bays and maneuverable rivers. This was almost impossible for a nation with only so... ...ement of space to portraying the barbarities. The most renowned U.s. prohibitionist pioneer, Frances Willard of the WCTU, existed in England in 1896; she raised trusts for Armenian displaced people in Britain and America. The United States, through resolutions, in the end chose to work by implication with different countries to secure the privileges of the Christian Armenians, as well as the wellbeing of American lives and property abroad. Protestant teachers gave by and large faultless reports of human rights ill-uses against Armenians. They and the American press, nonetheless, frequently stereotyped the "barbarous and barbarian Turks," inferring that they were racially or religiously inclined to torture and homicide. In toons from the presidential fight, descriptions of Turks reflected and strengthened such biases. Figure 3 (Turks threatening to expel Armenians)

Romania - Ecotourism in Romania Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fascinating Romania   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the eastern edge of Europe, Romania is perhaps best known for its Black Sea resorts, such as Mamaia and the Greco-Byzantine port of Constanta, and the Danube delta, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its rich wetlands and abundant bird-life. The Transylvanian Alps occupy much of the northern half of the country, the waters of their many spa resorts having been appreciated for their healing properties since Roman times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Romania offers a rich tapestry tourist attractions and vacation experiences unique in Central-Eastern Europe: medieval towns in Transylvania, the world-famous Painted Monasteries in Bucovina, traditional villages in Maramures, the magnificent architecture of Bucharest, the romantic Danube Delta, fairy-tale castles, the Black Sea resorts, the majestic Carpathian Mountains, spas and much more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Transylvania is also the legendary home of Bram Stoker's Dracula, based on an infamous medieval king 'Vlad the Impaler' whose spooky abode at Bran Castle may be visited. The northern half of the country is bisected by the great Carpathian Mountains, most of which are covered by pristine mountain forests which shelter one of Europe's last strongholds for large carnivore populations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Romania is a country with rich biodiversity (ecosystems, species and genetic diversity) and a high percentage of natural ecosystems 47% of the land area of the country is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The natural integrity of forest ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna, including 60% and 40% of all European brown bears and wolves, respectively. Europe’s largest wetland, the Danube Delta, also lies predominantly in Romania. Major grasslands, caves, and an extensive network of rivers, add to the ecosystem richness. Important for Romania as well as for all Europe, is that the territory of Romania is a confluence point between biogeographic regions between arctic, alpine, west and central European, pannonic, balkanic, sub Mediterranean and even eastern colchic. The high level of geographic diversity in Romania and the consequence of its location as a biological confluence place have produced a fl oral diversity that includes over 3,70... ...rs and of local infrastructure. It also promotes the technological progress, environmental protection activities, and the financial sector reorganization. The development and restructuring of these fields are prerequisites for the increased traffic of local and international tourists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well known for a long time on international scale, the Romanian hospitality proved to be, over the years and quite often, not only a characteristic of the Romanian people but, using the touristic language, a promoting instrument of the national offer on the international market, too. The idea of developing the tourism in Romania is based on this characteristic of the Romanians, and on the beauty of the Romanian village and landscape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Biography http://www.carpathians.org/l_rom.htm http://www.ce-review.org/99/2/lovatt2.html http://home.online.no/~romemb/tourism.htm http://www.grida.no/enrin/biodiv/biodiv/national/romania/robiodiv.htm http://www.responsibletravel.com/TripSearch/Europe/Country100204.htm http://aboutromania.com/photos.html http://www.factbook.ro/countryreports/ro/Ro_Tourism.htm http://www.factbook.net/index.html

Leadership For Health & Social Care Services

Person centred practice (PCP) or more commonly referred to as person centred planning is based on the principles of inclusion and taking a holistic approach when planning the care service delivery. There are five key features of PCP; The individual is at the centre of the plan. The plan will identify what is important to the individual and identify the individuals’ strengths and what support they will require to achieve their potential. The individuals support network are involved in the ongoing planning and reviewing process. The plan will promote community participation for the individual.The plan is a live document which is reviewed by all involved minimum every 6 months or when circumstances change. The care planning, monitoring and reviewing of care plans are key aspects to working with individuals and care workers. In line with PCP key aspects must be adhered to including legislation and policy to ensure the individual is at the heart of the plan & review process. Howeve r we must remember not to get caught up in the planning and administration process its self, we must remember the true purpose of the care plan. Such example of this can be seen by a quote from a Service User; â€Å"I don’t have a care pathway.I have a life. † (Scottish executive, 2005:5) Care plans must be done properly and all relevant parties involved. Some people may not know what a care plan is. When people don’t feel good they need support to be involved. After all, where’re planning their care and the individual must be at the centre of the plan. A Service User who contributed to the report Developing social care: service users vision for adult support, felt strongly that social care should be based on the social model; informing policy, practice and procedures (Beresford 2005).The Department of Health clearly states that it supports the social model of disability (DoH 2008a). This social model is underpinned by a range of legislation and policy wh ich steers the provision of person centred care. There are several Acts that underpin PCP. The human rights act 1998 sets a firm base line for pcp. The act covers the individual’s right to liberty and security, respect for private and family life, and the right for freedom of thought conscious and religion.This act sets a firm base line for good practice in health and social care by underlining the needs of the individual are paramount and that everyone has the right to receive quality care. Age Concern quote (2008) â€Å"the dignity needs and wants of older people must be put at the centre of their care, and Human Rights are the perfect vehicle to ensure this and deliver quality care services† Whilst drawing up a care plan there are several legislations and policies to adhere to, below I have listed a few which have an integral role in pcp.There is a statutory duty on public authorities to ensure they eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and to promote equ ality of opportunities between men and women. This is governed by the equalities act 2006 which makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of a person’s sexual orientation, religion and beliefs when providing a service and exercising a public function. This act has established a commission for equality and human rights (CEHR) which is responsible for promoting the understanding of human rights and equality, also challenging unlawful discrimination.The disability discrimination act 1995 main function is to stop discrimination for disabled individual, giving those equal rights and access to goods, facilities and services. This act states that providers are not allowed to treat the disabled less favourably because of their disability. Most companies and organisations that provide service, facilities or goods, be it either paid or free; both private and public bodies / companies must adhere to this act.One aspect of the NHS and community care act 1990 is that local authorit ies must conduct a needs-lead assessment which takes into account a person’s preference making it pcp. On the other hand a resources-lead assessment only takes into account the resources available and not the individual. In my area of work an example would be an individual would be sent to a day service where their preference would be a sit in service which would be more appropriate. This example goes against all principles of pcp.All care service providers are regulated by an independent body as outlined in the Care standard Act 2000. In Wales we are regulated by the CSSIW. This independat body carries out regular inspections to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and one of their key focus is Service User quality of life which is closely linked to pcp. In addition to legislation there are numerous policies in place to ensure compliance with pc care. The white paper Valuing people (DoH 2001) stipulates that person centred approach will be essential to deliver rea l change in the lives of people.Whilst this white paper is aimed at individuals with learning disabilities the principles can be applied to all types of care. The national service frameworks are long term strategies for improving specific areas of social care. PCP is a theme that runs through the white paper. We as care providers have minimum expectations which are required of us by the government; national minimum standards. These standards are not legally enforceable but are guidelines for providers and commissioners to judge the quality of a care service. There are many ways consent is established with individuals.During a PCP meeting the individual may be able to make their wishes and expectations known clearly. In which case the Service User will give consent. On the other hand the mental capacity act 2005 is in place to empower individuals who lack capacity to make their own decisions. There are five core principles; It’s assumed an individual has capacity unless an ass essment has taken place that determines otherwise. Individuals must be given appropriate support prior to making decisions (prior to a judgement being made to say the individual can not do so.Individuals have the right to make an unwise decision, by making an unwise decision it does not mean the individual lacks capacity. When an individual is assessed as lacking in capacity, any decisions made for them must be in their best interest. Any actions that are result of an individual lacking in capacity must be the least restrictive in terms of their basic rights and freedoms. By applying all these principles in a MDT meeting a decision can be reached which will be in the best interest of the individual.During the PCP/ MDT/ BIM the individual may have family, friends, HCP, advocate present to enable a holistic approach to the individuals care pathway. By using person centred practice positive outcomes can be achieved; by adopting all the above legislation, regulations, policies the indiv idual will receive the level of care and support they require, as decided by themselves and people who have the individuals best interests as paramount to the individuals care. In my role I have reviewed all documentation in relation to the primary assessment our Service Users undergo prior to our delivery of care.The assessment takes a holistic approach to the Service Users life, from mobility to cognitive function and is undertaken in the Service Users home with their preferred family member, social worker and any other health care professionals that have input into the Service Users life. Following a management and staff meeting and consultation with Service Users families and HCP to gather their feedback and views I have implemented changes to the documentation to make the assessment and subsequent care plan / file user friendly as needed by the Service User.By implementing this I’m ensuring compliance with regulations and legislation. I support my team to implement perso n centred practice in many ways. Adequate training as detailed in the care workers professional development plan and led by example, I believe being the best. PCP is discussed at management meetings which is then cascaded down to the care workers through their team meetings and supervision sessions.We have recently introduced a new format care plan, which I’m supporting the team leaders to complete using the active support model of care. During the recruitment process, all care workers undergo a 5 day induction period, during which PCP is introduced with the support of accredited dvd’s from Mullbery House and the new care worker is given the opportunity to demonstrate how they would apply pcp. Also a small library of reference books are available for care workers to loan for their professional development.I have recently supported one of the team leaders to review the manual handling care needs of a new Service User, no-capacity, who’s family were not familiar w ith manual handling techniques, by using techniques that were not prescribed the Service Users was being put at risk of injury as were the family. During the primary assessment this was discovered and immediately reported to myself. In conjunction with the team leader we contacted the social service to arrange for OT assessment, also we submitted a VA1 to inspectorate reporting our safeguarding concerns.During the OT assessment the Service User, family, social worker and our team leader was present to enable a best interest care plan to be drawn up. Several items of equipment were agreed and ordered, and care plan agreed by all. Several weeks later, the Service User is now in receipt of appropriate approved equipment and manual handling techniques which meets his needs. I have implemented a handover sheet for care workers prior to their delivery of care to new Service Users / from new care workers to ensure the Service User receives continuity of care.The handover takes place betwee n the primary assessor and the care worker. The care worker and assessor discuss the care plan and risk assessments. At the Service Users first call the care worker is introduced by the assessor. All the care workers are required to notify the office of any changes to the Service Users care needs or preferences immediately, care workers are also encouraged to discuss Service Users needs/ preferences during their 6 weekly supervision session. Care workers are made aware of changes to the care plan in the handover and during the monthly team meeting where all Service User changes are discussed.I’m in the process of reviewing policies and procedures, which will ensure we are Service User led and not service led. Service user active participation has many proven positive outcomes. Active participation may lead to increased confidence and self-esteem, the chance to acquire new skills, and improved material resources if for example it helps them to acquire paid employment. Active p articipation leads to greater satisfaction (Department of Health & Farrell, 2004) and improved quality of life (Wallerstein, 2006).For instance service users who have had greater control in decisions about the support they receive, report greater satisfaction and better health than those who have not. Beyond benefits to the individual, the participation process may also help create a stronger sense of community involvement. For active participation to succeed the culture of the company must allow for regular change and want to hear what the Service User has to say, take it on board and action it. All our Care workers are required to report to the office any feedback / comments/ changes from the Service User and the care work.Within XXXXXXXXX all new starter undergo a 5 day induction period, one element of this induction is active support. The care workers are given an insight into active support. Further training is made available periodically, training is an ongoing commitment to t he care worker professional development and the quality of service we provide our Service Users with. A good example of active support I like to use is, if the Service User enjoys cooking but is unable to bear their weight etc take the veg to them. The Service User may enjoy peeling the veg at the table or in their chair.This enables the Service User to take control of their meal preparation, giving them a sense of purpose and satisfaction. When we receive a referral the Service User may have already undergone the 6 week enablement package of care, after their discharge from hospital. In line with the care plan we encourage the Service User to remain independent and re-able the Service User to achieve their aspirations. To promote Service Users to actively participate in all aspects of daily living skills, during the primary / review assessment risk assessments must be agreed.This is not to prohibit the Service User from participate in daily living skills but to ensure we are suppor ting the Service user in a safe environment where risks have been assessed and minimised or where possible removed. During this process a person centred approach is paramount involving outside agencies, eg OT, family and friends, social worker, advocate. Adaptions, equipment, tele care etc may be available for the Service User to minimise the risk whilst promoting participation in daily living skills.